Reusse lays it out for us. ScruFi wanted Neshek, he got Lohse. No surprise that ScruFi didn't Lohse.
ScruFi's opinion was able to win the day at the end of March, when the Twins were deciding on the 25-player roster to open the season.
He was allowed to keep rookie Francisco Liriano, rather than veteran Dennys Reyes, as the lefthander for the bullpen. He was allowed to install veteran Juan Castro as his shortstop, with switch hitter Luis Rodriguez on the bench and with Jason Bartlett shipped to Class AAA Rochester.
So Castro, that's ScruFi's idea. It sounds like he wants to dump Batista and try Bartlett at third. In other words, Castro, that's ScruFi's idea.
More great writing by Reusse. Not a single stupid one-liner. Just a great dissection of what is apparently a widening gap between the manager and the general manager. I'm still waiting for the here's-what-I-think column from Reusse. I think it's coming.
Update: Let me clarify something here. I'm pretty sure that there is no one on this team that ScruFi dislikes more than Lohse. With Neshek pitching very well in Rochester and considering the risk of exposing Lohse to MLB pitching (and our AA defense), which might cool off his trade value, I think it is a huge in-your-face by Terry Ryan to bring up Lohse over Neshek. Your thoughts?
He (Reusse) also had this gem:
"Bartlett's a mediocre shortstop defensively"
which is straight out of the Little Red Book. Bartlett is a better-than-average shortstop defensively, in my mind. He's got MUCH better range than Castro, and a much stronger arm. But Reusse has been sipping the cool-aid, apparently, and believes Bartlett is only a mediocre shortstop. He may not be able to look any further than the number of errors.
Basically, you don't get any sort of impression that Bartlett is better than Castro from that article. Rather, he barely implies that Bartlett might be better than Batista. If this is what passes for journalism these days (and sadly, he's the most inquisitive of the lot), I'll stick with blogs like this one.
Yeah, he does drink the kool-aid on Bartlett. It's pretty clear that Castro was been very bad defensively.
The one thing that mainstream media has is access. Reusse has been spending some time with ScruFi, no question. And, I think Reusse has some off-the-record information, which people like me could never get. So, I'll continue to read Reusse because he's the best of the lot.
Neshek is getting screwed, he's on the roster so it isn't like they have to make a spot for him. I would've sent Crain or Eyre down last month at this time with the way Neshek has been dominating and K'ing everyone.
What's up with the last bit from Reusse?
Bartlett's a mediocre shortstop defensively, so would it make sense to see if he could be an upgrade as the Twins' everyday third baseman?
Certainly, Gardenhire has an opinion on that, and perhaps he can get back to the point where his boss awaits it.
What does that mean? Would Gardy want Bartlett as his third baseman? Or would he speak out against such a move?
I think Reusse is saying that the GM doesn't listen to Reusse's opinion on personnel, period, right now. I don't think he's saying anything on what ScruFi thinks of Bartlett. But, maybe he does know.
Here I was hoping I could favor one guy's decisions over the other's.
Gardy wanted Liriano, Ryan wanted Reyes. Yay Gardy! (Although I'm sure Ryan just wanted to keep the kid starting.)
Gardy wanted Castro, Ryan wanted Bartlett (did he? it's not clear). Boo Gardy!
This could be fun to watch.
Gardy didn't seem to have much input to the Batista signing, so I have to figure Ryan told Gardy to give Batista some time to get going.
Knowing the Scrubbini Fixation, the "Gardy" position player roster moves have stunk, leaving the team with three utility infielders with one masquerading as a ML-level starting SS. Plus any manager pining for Shawn Wooten to join the team needs to have their head examined.
Not to discount the fact there may be differences of opion between Ryan and Gardenhire, after reading this (Reusse's article) I took the Tiffee call-up as more a sign that Ryan thinks Batista is done and that they'll need somebody other than Batista to play third on a more regular basis. Wooten was not going to help in that regard. Also, I think the pending Stewart return played a role in that Stewart may not go back into the field and Kubel will stay. That will limit the whole Redmond, Mauer, DH drama.
As for Neshek, the reasons not to call him up fits with Ryan's overall philosophy of not rushing his pitchers. Also,in regard the Lohse, (my thoughts are) that Ryan did not want to move Loshe because as last year was winding up he made it very clear he did not want 40% of his rotation to be rookies and two, they were not happy with how Lirano was locating his fastball and they also did not want to rush him into a starting Role. Maybe it was self-fulfilling, but when Baker tanked to me it makes a lot of sense why they just didn't let him struggle through it. The problems were comounded because Radke and Silva were also both sucking it up.
Ryan also knows that barring a WS appearance, this was to be Radke's last year and they have always be enamored with Lohse stuff and after last year I think they were hoping that he'd be able to step-it and become the #2 starter when Radke departed. While I still think he'll be traded, stubbornly I think despite Lohse's person non grata status, I think they are reluctant to part with him without getting something major in return. Ryan must think (speculation!) that if Lohse performs at the major league level they can point to that versus impressive stats in AAA ball.
Regarding Reusse's description of Bartlett's defensive prowess, I think it is a mix of Reusse's own assement (opinion) and also some insiding he's done as a part of his reporting. If anyon'e listened to either Saturday sports talk with Reusse or the Sunday show with Souhan, Reusse is quite opinionated about the scrubs masquerading as major leaguers on this roster.
It's true that Gardy's imput was major on Castro, but thet Twins also scouted him heavily and belived very much in his "magic" glove. Was it you who published Gardy's comment about Batista "They tell me he can still hit" - which just about says it all. In the end, I see this less as of a "screw you Gardy" from Ryan and more of Ryan positioning himself for his next series of moves.
At this point, I don't much care who is making the decisions; they're being made poorly, and that's what matters. Someone is keeping Bartlett in AAA, someone brought in Batista and Castro, someone tendered a contract to Punto, someone missed windows of opportunity to trade players while their value was high. Everyone in the organization is responsible to some extent.
Okay - with this Castro love from Gardy - will he be back next year. I say he will be signed to another two year contract and he will be a fixture in the lineup.
Bartlett will not ever be the starting SS here. Castro and Punto will again be sharing the duties. They resigned Rivas when everyone knew he was done. The same will happen with Castro. Gardy just has too much love for his pickin it and battling tail that we will get the same old "we get exactly what we expect with Castro."
Thus, Castro always meets the soft bigotry of low expectations, and he will be thrilled to resign with the only team stupid enough to make him a starting SS.
Okay - with this Castro love from Gardy - will he be back next year. I say he will be signed to another two year contract and he will be a fixture in the lineup.
The Twins have a $1 million option on Castro for next year, I believe.
It is a $1m option, with a $500k buyout. But the Hardball Dollars site also notes: "500 PA in 2006 voids the 2007 option; Unspecified incentives can increase the option to $1.2M vs. $100K buyout."
I'm not sure if "voids the 2007 option" means he becomes a free agent, or if it means his 2007 salary is guaranteed. Since "vesting" is usually the word used to describe the latter, I assume it means the former. If Castro gets about another 340 PA's this season, he should be off the books as a free agent.
Hard to believe that it would void the contract. Sure it isn't voidable?
Update: Will Young says this about Castro's contract: Castro's contract contains a club option for 2007 worth $1,000,000 with a $50,000 team buyout and he has the right to void it if he reaches 500 PA's in 2006,
That makes it voidable by Castro if Will is right. Something tells me he won't do that.
Another good place to look at contracts (link to Twins).
According to both the above and Will, Castro's 500 PA's would get him and additional $250,000 this year. Holy schnit. I can't get behind paying Castro $1.25 million.
Think of it. By bring Bartlett up and paying him a major league salary the rest of the way, they'd actually save money by avoiding Castro's bonus.
I suppose the idea is that if Castro is the regular starting SS, he might think he can get more than $1.25m or so on the free agent market next winter. Considering what some teams have been willing to pay Neifi Perez, maybe he wouldn't be wrong, either.
I'd still rather play Bartlett and then just buy out Castro's option after the season. But if he plays every day and gets his 500 PA's, there may be a nice upside to that in the long run, too.
Considering what some teams have been willing to pay Neifi Perez, maybe he wouldn’t be wrong, either.
Perez actually plays good defense, though, right? Anyone who sends a pair of eyes to witness Castro ought to see a no-hit, no-glove second baseman playing out of position.