Pitcher Glen Perkins once told me that Eddie - with his bring-it-on view - was his all-time favorite teammate. No-blink player, and he came out smelling like a Rosie." He responded: "Eddie's risk/reward computations are different than most. Paul Molitor, Rosario's first Twins manager, was texted about Eddie's tag-up. They scored twice to tie it, then won it on Rosario's game-scoring single. The Braves were down 4-2 in the eighth, Eddie was on first, and he tagged up and made it to second on a routine fly ball to left. Thus challenged, here came Rosario the Magnificent: three home runs, nine RBI and 14 hits in the series, and most of all, putting the Dodgers on the skids with that three-run rocket to right in the decisive Game 6.īefore that, there was the clutch hitting and baserunning that gave Atlanta a comeback victory and a 2-0 lead in the series. Then came the Dodgers, defending champs, missing a couple of pieces, but still a loaded team with an overwhelming bullpen to finish games. The Braves made it past Milwaukee, with its excellent pitching and feeble hitting, in four games in the NLDS. "Their heartbeats slow down rather than speed up in big situations." Pederson was in the organization when Mientkiewicz was a Dodgers minor league coach a decade ago. "You never can say it's good to lose Ronald Acuna Jr., but with the outfield injuries, two of the players the Braves brought in were Eddie and Joc Pederson." "This was the perfect storm for Atlanta maybe the best thing to happen to the Braves in a roundabout way," Mientkiewicz said. Mientkiewicz was in Florida this week, helping coach a high school football team, out of baseball, but both thrilled and unsurprised to watch what Rosario has done as a leader in Atlanta's underdog run to the World Series. Two years after hitting 32 home runs and driving in 109 runs for the Twins, the message now to Rosario had become: "We'll give you away to save $2.5 million." Sandoval was released a few hours after the trade. On July 30, Cleveland traded him to Atlanta for Pablo Sandoval and cash. Rosario had some injuries and didn't produce in Cleveland. Cleveland wound up signing him to a one-year, $8 million deal. The Twins and 29 other teams were telling Eddie they did not consider him an eight-digit player. Instead, the Twins did not offer him a contract and he became a free agent. Rosario put in five-plus seasons in the Twins outfield and could have won $11 million to $12 million in arbitration after the 2020 mini-season. He will do everything in his power to prove you wrong." "The way to get the best out of Eddie is to tell him that he can't do something. The thing with Eddie always has been, he has to be challenged. He probably belonged in Triple-A by then. "I had him for eight games before he was promoted," Mientkiewicz said. Rosario was sent back to Fort Myers after his suspension concluded near the end of May. Sano missed the 2014 season with Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. Rosario and Sano were promoted to Class AA New Britain after 50-some games. When they would get Eddie mad, you would see nothing but rockets." Never saw three guys who had so much fun getting under each other's skin in batting practice. "They always took batting practice together. "Miguel Sano and Kennys Vargas were here at the same time. "I had Eddie in high-A at Fort Myers in 2013,'' said Doug Mientkiewicz, the former Twins first baseman who later became a manager in the Twins minor leagues. What the suspension did was delay Rosario's ascent in the Twins organization. The actual substance was never revealed, although rumor had it being marijuana. Then, it was announced in January that he had flunked an MLB drug test while in Arizona and would serve a 50-game suspension to start the 2014 season. This was the first look at Rosario and his speed, both afoot and with a bat, was impressive. The right side of the infield was Rosario at second base and Kepler at first. Buxton was the top prospect as a 19-year-old and in center field. The Twins' seven-player presence in the Arizona Fall League in 2013 included Byron Buxton, Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario.
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