Twins players reportedly 'shocked' by Eddy Julien demotion

Trevor Plouffe says Julien may have been told he was safe a week before the decision to demote him was made.

May 8, 2024; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins second baseman Edouard Julien (47) celebrates with teammates in the dugout after scoring a run against the Seattle Mariners in the eighth inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports | Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports

The Minnesota Twins are riding pretty high as winners of eight of 11 games and getting Royce Lewis back from injury in time for Tuesday's series opener against the Yankees, but the Twins demoting Eddy Julien to Triple-A St. Paul was reportedly a shock to some players.

"I think the Julien thing was a shock, I think for a lot of people," said ex-Twins third baseman Trevor Plouffe on SKOR North's Twins Show. "The Yankees are playing some of the best ball in all of baseball right now, having Royce is almost paramount in a series like this. That's a good thing, but definitely the Julien news, I think probably shocked quite a few people, especially some of the people that I talked to."

Julien was slashing .244/.343/.547 on April 27, but since then he has hit .168 with just14 hits in 83 at-bats.

"I don't think it's the wrong move necessarily, but my understanding was, even up until like a week ago when they knew Royce Lewis was coming back, he was kind of almost being assured that it wasn't going to be him," Plouffe said. "I think the thought process probably changed."

Plouffe said he sent Julien a message saying, 'Hey man, everybody goes through this.'"

"I think he will be better for it," Plouffe said, then predicting that Willi Castro could get ample playing time at second base with Julien in the minors.