I’ve been sitting on some information for a while, mostly because my sourse was neither confirmed nor sober, but what she had to say seems important to this post. Let me explain. The Twins started the season with Juan Castro playing shortstop because of his “veteran leadership” among other things that would be best described as intangible. Promising young Jason Bartlett was sent to Rochester so he could develop some leadership skills. It was a noble effort, despite what people might say.
Castro did all the right things while he was on the Twins roster. He didn’t make any boneheaded mistakes, although his range was limited, compared to Bartlett or Cristian Guzman. But he just made good decisions that you only get with a veteran who understands his game. I think it was for the best, showing Bartlett what kind of game the Twins expected in their system. In the meantime, Bartlett put up huge numbers in Rochester before he was finally called up.
When he made it to the majors, he was productive, getting on base, fielding his position, and generally making some solid baseball plays. Of course, Bartlett did make his fair share of baserunning and fielding mistakes that weren’t a testament against his physical abilities, but rather his mental maturity.
Which, according to my drunk source, was the more specific reason Bartlett was sent down. It wasn’t that Bartlett wasn’t a leader (ooh, double negative) it was more that he lacked the maturity to make a stake in the Twins roster. Initially, he demonstrated this behind closed doors, but after a few months of quite determination in upstate New York, he earned his way back onto the Twins roster. I fully support the decision to keep Bartlett in AAA the first part of the season, because the baseball clubhouse is a volatile thing. The stay on the farm helped Bartlett develp both as a player and as a person.
The question then, is what do the Twins do for next year? The answer is similar to the answer at second. The status quo is fine, but it will be important to have a capable utility player for spot duty. – Ryan
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