Wilson Ramos

[Big Tom]

Shame he didn't break camp with the big club.

Hard to believe he was batting .179 at Rochester after the 4 for 5 debut.

I hope to see very little of Butera while Joe's heel heals.

[waterbound]

Butera wasn't terrible, he's at least good on the defense.

It sure would be nice to see more of Ramos now, at least as long as Mauer's out.

[mr_jman]

Yeah I don't think anyone should base one good hitting performance vs. one bad one, after only one game. Ramos could come back and go O'fer against Detroit in a game or 2 and Butera could get a chance and have a nice day at the plate. Jumping the gun a little bit, but still nice to see a very good rookie show some pop in the absence of Mauer!

Hope it works out and he continues to have good days at the plate! Baseball tonight made a big deal about his day and I think there is something online about him on ESPN or something to that extent (might be up tomorrow)

[going4it]

Butera has played 4 games and has 1 hit in 13 at bats. That is more then one game. But I was surprised by Ramos after hearing how he was doing in the minors. Lets hope that it continues while Joe is on the shelf.

[JBMasterAngler]

Looks like we acted waaaaaay too soon in signing mauer

[Dylan33]

Mauer who?

[hcmpls1]

WOW! This guy is good!

[Big Tom]

WOW! This guy is good!

So when Morales is healthy and hopefully returning to that .328 form from last year, the question is which one to trade.

And the question that is even more fun to try and answer is what do we get?

[hcmpls1]

Originally Posted By: hcmpls1

WOW! This guy is good!

So when Morales is healthy and hopefully returning to that .328 form from last year, the question is which one to trade.

And the question that is even more fun to try and answer is what do we get?

Great problem to have if you ask me! ;-)

[Esox_Magnum]

He's young yet and been with the Twins for 6 years already. Must be nice playing for a Major team at 16. Be interesting to see what happens come trading time.

[JBMasterAngler]

I don't know how many teams would be willing to add mauer's salary to their payroll, so we might not be able to trade to anyone except the yanks.

[hcmpls1]

I'm pretty sure he was talking about trading Ramos or Morales...Mauer is here to stay.

[Harmonica Bear]

Ah-hem He looks good and the talk of his potential has been around for awhile, but two games hardly makes career. I don't think we need to get too excited yet. I think he was only batting a buck-something in AAA. I also think his defense needs improvement behind the plate. A couple of misssed back handed stabs on what I thought were blockable wild pitches with runners on base didn't look so good. That being noted, at 22, the sky is the limit.

Oh yeah, and Mauer ain't going no where

[Big Tom]

I'm pretty sure he was talking about trading Ramos or Morales...Mauer is here to stay.

Correct. Assumed that went without saying.

Take a look at what a lot of teams have for average out of the catcher spot. Detroit, for example, is getting about .140 out of theirs. This guy has also demonstrated in Spring Training and two short games he has some strength.

The Twins have had the luxury of decent hitting catchers all the way back to Brian Harper; excepting Laudner, further back than that.

Ramos or Morales should bring a pretty nice return in a trade when the timing is right and Joe's replacement when/if he moves from catcher is already in the system.

[hcmpls1]

I know Spring training is Spring training but he batted an even .400 this Spring with 30 at-bats. Point of reference, Thome had 33 at-bats and Mauer had 45 at-bats this Spring. Ramos got his cuts. The ONLY reason he wasn’t brought up with the club was to give him everyday playing time in AAA. While he wasn't even at the Mendoza line in AAA, averages are averages for a reason. He got off to a slow start. Ramos shows promise of being a solid .330+ hitter in the big leagues... I'm not ready to say he's going to be a perennial contender for the batting title or anything but he has a good eye and a nice swing.

[solbes]

So when Morales is healthy and hopefully returning to that .328 form from last year, the question is which one to trade.

I would ask, which one can we convert to play third base? It doesn't seem like we will get Mauer to convert, although it would add years to his career if he did.

Morales used to play 2nd and is a switch hitter. His arm is pretty questionable though, can't remember him throwing out too many base runners on a steal. Ramos bats right, also good, but as far as I know does not have experience behind 2nd or 3rd base. A reliable hitter behind 3rd base is one of the largest missing pieces to this team.

[Big Tom]

Back to earth with an 0-3 and maybe a little overboard and premature on Ramos but consider this:

He is the first Major League rookie to record at least seven hits over his first two career games since Nanny Fernandez did it for the 1942 Boston Braves.

[JBMasterAngler]

He didn't get a hit tonight, but did you see the fear in the pitcher's eyes when he came up to bat in the 9th? You could practically give him an RBI for that wild pitch.