Oswaldo Arcia: Twins didn't give 'opportunity to show what I could really do'

Let's forget the Oswaldo Arcia-David Ortiz comparisons for a minute (or maybe forever) when it comes to the Twins giving up on Arcia and pretty much giving him away to the Tampa Bay Rays last month. Instead, let's skip to some more tangible things: Why the Rays were interested in Arcia and how he felt about the way the Twins treated him.

First, though, some data. Arcia fans (and Twins front office skeptics) were quick to note a four-game streak by Arcia soon after the trade when he went 9-for-17 with a home run and two doubles. "Look! Look! It's Big Papi II!"

Since then, however, Arcia is 0-for-July., That's 20 at-bats, 10 strikeouts, no hits. "Look! Look! It's John Ryan Murphy's twin brother!"

Here's the full breakdown on Arcia's season.

So what did the Rays see in Arcia? Manager Kevin Cash talked about Arcia's potential with David Laurila of fangraphs.com before the All-Star break when Tampa Bay was playing Boston at Fenway Park: "We're intrigued a lot by him. If you go by what he's capable of, and what he shows in batting practice, he has quite a bit [of power potential]. It's probably more pitch recognition right now — that might be holding him up — but sometimes it takes guys a little bit longer."

Then, because they were in Boston, Cash looked toward the Red Sox dugout: "There's a guy over here who did pretty well with a second opportunity. I'm not at all comparing, but we'd like to see Ozzie get some consistent at bats and see how it plays out."

That "guy over there" was Ortiz.

But he did express some frustration with the Twins, telling Laurila: "I don't think I got the opportunity to show what I could really do. I know the class of player that I am. I don't know that I got the time to show that. You're going to struggle — there are ups and downs in this game — and you're going to make adjustments. Everybody in this room is making adjustments every day."

Arcia had more to say about his approach to hitting, the Ortiz comparisons and the nightmare of 2015, when he was sent to Class AAA Rochester and spent the rest of the season there.