Thursday Night, May 22, 2008
Everett to DL, Macri Recalled
Oh, and the Twins lost what must have been a horrible game to watch this afternoon. 10 innings, and a loss and lots of walks and bad pitching. Just not good.
Adam Everett's shoulder/arm is just really bad and he is going to have to go back on the Disabled List. That was reported earlier in the day and there was talk that the Twins might call up Trevor Plouffe or Luke Hughes from AA New Britain. In both cases, it would make sense and if either were called up, you would want them playing every day. The negative with promoting them is that it would take away an option year and start the dreaded arbitration clock as neither are on the team's 40 man roster. Brian Buscher was another name mentioned. He is obviously on the 40 man roster, but he is essentially the same player as Mike Lamb, so that didn't make sense. And then late in the game, the Twins announced that they were calling up Matt Macri. I hadn't even thought about him as an option, but with that in mind, I think it is a good call. Macri is on the 40 man roster, so an additional move (like putting Pat Neshek on the 60 day DL) did not need to be moved. Macri can play three or four infield positions. He bats right handed which means that he can play 3B when Mike Lamb doesn't. The Twins needed a right handed bat off the bench anyway since Howie Clark also bats left handed.
A lot of people may be disappointed, but I have a hard time being too upset about this move. First, Macri has been in the Twins sights for a long time. Don't forget that they actually drafted him in the 17th round in 2001 out of high school in Des Moines, Iowa. They knew that he was planning on going to Notre Dame, but had they not been able to sign Joe Mauer, the rumored plan was for the team to make a big attempt to sign Macri. While at Notre Dame, he was their starting shortstop until he had to have Tommy John surgery. That really slowed his career, but he was still a fifth round pick by the Colorado Rockies in 2004. He came to the Twins last September in exchange for Ramon Ortiz. When David Winfree decided not to go to the Arizona Fall League, Macri filled in and played well. That earned him a spot on the Twins 40 man roster. And that brings us to today.
Why am I not more disappointed? I think Matt Macri can be a solid role player. And let's take a step back and remember who he is replacing. The three Twins infielders on the Disabled List right now are Nick Punto, Matt Tolbert and Adam Everett. I fully believe that given the opportunity, Macri could out-produce all three of them. And if he performs to the level of a replacement level player, well, that may not be worse than the three guys on the DL.
And hey, I'm always happy for a guy who gets to make his big league debut. Good for him!
UPDATE - I just learned that Felix Molina will be heading to Rochester. After parts of four seasons in New Britain, he finally gets to Rochester where he is the type of player that will fit in well with the other sub-replacement level types that are currently in that lineup. It certainly is a curious move, but I guess if it is just short term, then no need for the real prospects like Trevor Plouffe and Luke Hughes to advance. Plus, like I mentioned the other day, it is just as easy for the Twins to promote them from AA as AAA.
One quick note - Travis from Travis Talks has just updated his Top 50 Twins Prospects list. As you can imagine, it is going to be a bit different than mine, or yours, but it's interesting to look at still.
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