Brian Dozier will man shortstop for Rochester during their AAA playoff chase. Photo by Jesse Johnson-US PRESSWIRE

Brian Dozier got the axe after Tuesday’s game; he’ll be playing for the Rochester Red Wings for at least the next couple of weeks. My first reaction to the news was that it seemed a little harsh, but then I looked at Dozier’s stat line, and wow, he really has been bad. Dozier is hitting just .234/.271/.332 for the season, which means his OBP is actually worse than Tsuyoshi Nishioka’s .278 mark from last year. It’s hard to argue against demoting any player with worse numbers than Nishioka. Then again, Dozier is actually hitting quite a bit better than Alexi Casilla, who has a .220/.259/.301 line. This team has received some truly worthless hitting from its middle infielders.

I am certainly not ready to declare Dozier a failure. Yes, he’s a little old for a rookie, but he’s still a rookie. I’ve always thought Dozier’s minor league production looked a lot like that of former Twin Jason Bartlett. Seedlings to Stars has compared him to current Twin Jamey Carroll. Both of those players were late bloomers, so I have some confidence that Dozier will be better in the future. Given that MLB rosters expand in two weeks, this demotion will be a short one, and I expect it to be the last one for Dozier.

Speaking of players having trouble hitting, Trevor Plouffe has gone 0-12 since his return from the Disabled List. It’s probably just a fluke, but it could also be related to Plouffe’s injury. In a season where so much has gone wrong, Plouffe’s power spike is arguably the most promising turn of events. I hope he can snap out of the slump and prove those home runs were not a fluke.

I’ll close with some wildly irresponsible trade speculation.

Prior to the trade deadline, the San Francisco Giants were looking for a hitter. There didn’t appear to be any substantial rumors linking Minnesota and San Francisco, but the Giants apparently did inquire after Justin Morneau. And it was thought that the Twins would be willing to deal Denard Span and/or Josh Willingham for a very high price. Now that SF outfielder (and All Star Game MVP) Melky Cabrera has been suspended for a PED violation, they’re probably wishing they would’ve made the Twins an offer; losing Cabrera is a huge blow to their offense. Going into the offseason, this might make the Giants a potential trade partner for the Twins. They will want to contend in 2013, and I’m guessing they won’t be too eager to re-sign Cabrera. The Giants pitching to spare, and two time NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, who is having a down season, will be in his contract year. Is it completely ridiculous to imagine them dealing Lincecum for a hitter? Perhaps a former MVP who, like Lincecum, is in his contract year, making a ton of money, and coming off a down season?

Yeah, that’s probably ridiculous. But on an off-day with a lot of free time, it’s fun to speculate. And I’ve heard dumber trade proposals in my time.

Francisco Liriano: Not DFA... yet. Photo by Jesse Johnson-US PRESSWIRE

Good morning, Twins fans. Our favorite team now sits at 7-21. There has to be some sort of bright side to suffering through all this losing; I’ll try to write a post about it sometime soon.

Francisco Liriano was not a bright side yesterday. Once again, Liriano seems to have done the absolute minimum necessary to keep his job. He managed to make it through five innings but again yielded four runs. He also issued three more bases on balls, which brings his season total to 19 walks in 26.2 innings pitched. The only inning where Liriano looked good on the mound was the second. In that inning, Liriano struck out Mark Trumbo and Howie Kendrick with a couple of his best sliders. Then Vernon Wells worked out a long at bat before hitting an infield single, so even that inning was not completely encouraging. All in all, Liriano has been the most consistent starter for the Twins. In every one of his starts, he has allowed either four or five runs, and he has pitched either four or five innings in all but two. And aside from his first start against Baltimore, Liriano has at least three walks in each of those short starts.

Say what you will about the Twins, but you can’t say they aren’t stubborn. Ron Gardenhire stated that they are going to “keep running [Liriano] out there.” I guess they’re trying to prove some sort of point, but I’m not sure what it is.

Two new Twins got their first hits with the team yesterday. New acquisition Erik Komatsu actually earned a pair of them after going hitless in six at bats at Seattle. His first hit in the third inning mercifully ended all the speculation that Weaver might throw another no-hitter. Maybe it’s crazy, but Komatsu just might have the potential to be a fan-favorite on this sorry team. He plays with a rookie’s energy, he seems to know how to get on base (though that skill might take time to develop at the MLB level), and he has an interesting side gig as a musician. Also, he played the song “Fight for Your Right (to Party) as his walk-up tune yesterday. That decision was presumably an homage to recently-deceased Beastie Boy Adam Yauch, and it should help make him popular among lovers of Generation X music.

Dozier’s already a fan favorite by virtue of succeeding in the minor leagues for a team that is terrible at the Major League level. He flied out a couple of times and grounded out in his first three at bats, but he lined a single in the eighth, long after any sensible person (including this writer) had stopped watching the awful game. Dozier also displayed some impressive range at shortstop by making an impressive play on a gounder. If, like this writer, you turned off the television long before that play happened, you can watch it here.

Finally, Rochester pitcher Cole DeVries has been on a tear this season. Since his 2008 season at Fort Myers, the former Gopher has never put up any sort of impressive numbers. But through five starts in 2012, DeVries has a 2.89 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 28 innings. At 27 years old, DeVries is a big longshot to ever become a regular starter in MLB. But given that the Twins have only one competent starting pitcher on the MLB club (Carl Pavano), and that the team has no chance of being competitive this year, they have nothing to lose by calling DeVries up and giving him a chance to start a few games.