TR Interview

by JS22 on Jan 18, 2007 6:24 PM EST

I saw this over at Baseball Digest Daily and had one thought after reading the interview recap- what does this mean?

"The re-signing of Rondell White has clouded the left field picture as well. Was the move to bring back White an indication that Jason Kubel has still not completely recovered from knee surgery? "Jason is 100%, and he can play defense. We expect to have him in the outfield in Spring Training. He's not limited to playing DH." Ryan continued, "But we brought back Rondell White and he can play out there too. The guys will have to earn their spots, but going into camp, I'd say that Rondell White is our left fielder."..."

This left me puzzled- we haven't heard snot about Kubel since the second surgery, and we find here that he is 100% and can play D, but RonDL is our LF going into ST? I am wondering if this is TR expressing concern over possibly re-injuring Kubel's knees. Could this be a replay of the Castro controversy (and I'm not talking about the Bay of Pigs here)? Better yet, is this TR playing hard to get? While I doubt the latter, I'd like to think that TR doesn't sleep with anyone on the first date-

I like RonDL as much as the next person, in fact I took to calling him RonDH after he returned to good looking form last year- but for God's sake give a healthy Kubel a chance.

you can find the rest of the interview here:

http://www.baseballdigestdaily.com/bullpen/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=189& ;Itemid=39

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Regardless of their true...

...motivations, I'm okay with Kubel at DH to begin the year, or some sort of timeshare between Kubel and White in LF and DH. Keeping Kubel off the turf full-time is a good goal. 100% healthy for Kubel now is different than, say 100% healthy for Cuddyer.

Looking at it another way, Gardy showed a tendancy to sub Lew Ford for both Kubel and White late in games for defensive purposes. If Kubel is the DH, then he'd stick in the lineup and be around to hit 'til the end of the game. If White's in LF, he might lose an AB here or there to Ford.

by ubelmann on Jan 18, 2007 7:22 PM EST reply actions

I buy the idea of timesharing-

But I'm not sold that it is TR's plan- can you post the projections for Kubel from pecota? I know that it takes into account 06 and his injury so it won't be a lock to predict his performance, but I would like an idea of what a Kubel DH could produce-

by JS22 on Jan 18, 2007 8:30 PM EST up reply actions

I forget...

...what the exact number was, but it wasn't overwhelming. As I recall, there wasn't a big difference between White and Kubel in terms of hitting performance, but I can't check the PECOTA's at the moment.

by ubelmann on Jan 18, 2007 8:33 PM EST up reply actions

Also

Also, whether it is true or not, which is up to debate, the Twins, and especially Gardenhire don't believe that White can hit well in the unique DH position. However, TR's comments make me somewhat optimistic that there will be some form of time share out there. My ideal situation would be White slowly adapting to the role over time and Kubel playing out there most of the time.

"Baseball is great because you can't take a knee or kill the clock. You have to put the ball over the plate and give the other guy his damn chance." C Stengel

by AdamOnFirst on Jan 18, 2007 9:52 PM EST reply actions

Yes

I see it as a gradual thing as well. But I expect that, by the end of the season, Kubel will be the everyday left fielder and White the everyday DH. It's just a question of comfort levels at this time: White's more comfortable in left, and Gardy's more comfortable with him out there until the bad taste in everyone's mouth from White's time as a DH gradually wears off. I know I still need a mint once in a while to cover up that taste.

Joe Mauer for MVP (for real).

by cmathewson on Jan 18, 2007 11:11 PM EST up reply actions