twins/mlb

Least worried about table setters at the top of the order. Worst or maybe best case scenario is Mauer batting 2nd. Best case is Hicks who got on base a lot in the minors leads off and Carroll who had a better OBP than either Span or Revere last year. Much more worried about what we have at the bottom of the order. Florimon, Escobar, Mastroianni, Butera. Not sold on Plouffe or Parmalee either.

Yeah, Plouffe is a long shot with his 20+ home runs. Jesus, I need to move out of here.

If whomever plays 2nd bats 2nd, let's hope Carroll wins the position. He can take a walk from time to time, whereas Dozier doesn't. I also don't think Ryan made the right moves to upgrade the pitching, at all. I guess we'll see.

Of course whoever plays center leads off and the second baseman bats second, that Mr. Neal, is mandatory in a garden ire line-up.

"Yeah, Plouffe is a long shot with his 20+ home runs":___ Ummm... maybe you failed to notice his 19 (NINETEEN) errors in only 119 games?!? Or his paltry BA of only .235 (which is pretty much in line with his avg. at the major league level of .231 - you cannot try and tell me you think a BA of .235 is actually good!)?! Or his less-than-stellar OBP of .301?? And despite his 24 HR's, he only had 55 RBI's last season. So he's very adept at hitting a meaningless solo shot. Great. Either his offensive production, or his defensive ability, needs to significantly improve (preferably both) to justify keeping him at the hot corner; or on the field for that matter.

"Yeah, Plouffe is a long shot with his 20+ home runs. Jesus, I need to move out of here." Not saying I've given up on him either. June and July he played like an all star at the bat. The other 4 months batting averages .121, .185, .161, and .218. I hope he does well but I wasn't sold on Valencia either. Few players sustain a level that is far above their minor league stats. I did think he (Valencia) would regress to a higher floor though. I do hope Plouffe does well and hope he becomes the biggest of our problems. I fear he will do poorly and still be the least of our problems. If you are out of here and think baseball is all about home runs I won't miss you. Cut the errors and improve the range, hit 20 homers with .260 BA and Plouffe is my man.

I'm warming to the idea of Mauer batting second. This was brought up last year a few times. When you have a player capable of reaching based almost half of the time, why not set the table for Morneau and Willingham. Bump up everyone one slot in the order. Then if Hicks gets on base, that's a bonus.