Updated Opening Day Roster

With the cuts today, I am going to post my projected Twins roster. I would love to hear others thoughts on this if you agree or disagree.
C Mauer
1b Morneau
2b Casilla
SS Carroll
3b Valencia
LF Revere
CF Span
RF Willingham
DH Doumit
Bench
Butera
Plouffe
Hughes
Burroughs

I don't know if Burroughs deserves to make the roster, but I think he will as the Twins won't want to rush Brian Dozier into a starting job from AA. It goes against everything Gardy usually likes to do, but Casilla will be the backup SS. I can see at some point in 2012 where Dozier gets called up and either Casilla or Carroll gets moved to utility role. I just don't think now is going to be the time and because of that I think Burroughs gets a job as a bench bat.

Pitching
1. Pavano
2. Liriano
3. Baker
4. Blackburn
5. Marquis

I look for Twins to not put Baker on DL instead skip him with the offday on April 10th and will make his season debut April 14th. That could change if Twins bullpen is abused in Baltimore then you DL Baker and bring up another arm, but I am projected that Baltimore series will go ok.

Bullpen
Capps
Perkins
Duensing
Swarzak
Waldrop
Burton
Manship

This is tough to figure as each have had good outings and some bad ones. Capps, Perkins, Duensing, and Swarzak are locks in my opinion. That leaves 3 spots with 5 guys vying for it and the next 2.5 weeks will determine who makes it. I believe that you could put Waldrop, Burton, Manship, Burnett, and Maloney in a hat and pick any combination and have a good chance of being right. I picked Waldrop as the Twins love his ground ball rate and has been excellent again this spring. Burton I picked because he has been a little bit better than Burnett so far and is out of options while Burnett has options remaining. Manship I picked because even though I am not real high on him the Twins are high on him. I would pick Maloney because of him being left handed, but this role will be long relief so it really is not that big of a deal. That is my opening day Minnesota Twins roster let me know what you think if you agree or disagree.

The thing that Burroughs has going for him is that he is left-handed. It would be good for the Twins to have a left-handed bench bat... in that scenario, Casilla becomes the backup SS.

I'm thinking more and more that this is opening a spot for Parmalee. Move Doumit to RF, Willingham to LF, Parmalee to DH, and Revere to the bench. I could see Towles replacing Butera as well.

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Originally Posted by travistwinstalk

the Twins won't want to rush Brian Dozier into a starting job from AA. It goes against everything Gardy usually likes to do

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This is a misconception about Gardy. Did you know that Gardy lobbied to have Dozier brought up last year but was denied? In any event, I would prefer the Twins take Dozier over Burroughs. He might have a couple things he can improve on but so what. He is good enough to play in the bigs right now and there is no reason he can't continue to get better while playing with the Twins as opposed to the Red Wings

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Originally Posted by diehardtwinsfan

I'm thinking more and more that this is opening a spot for Parmalee. Move Doumit to RF, Willingham to LF, Parmalee to DH, and Revere to the bench. I could see Towles replacing Butera as well.

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I don't see this even a little bit.

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Did you know that Gardy lobbied to have Dozier brought up last year but was denied?

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That is right, but he would have been called up to start, not to sit on the bench. It's the front office's job to make smart decisions on players. It's the manager's job to want the best players up with the team. The good thing is that Gardy and Terry Ryan always appeared to be much more on the same page than Gardy and Bill Smith.

I'm sure there is an understanding between Gardy and Terry Ryan whereby if Gardy tells Ryan that he wants Dozier as a starter, it could happen. If Gardy can't provide the scenario in which Dozier plays 5-6 games a week in teh big leagues, he'll go back down and they'll keep that 40 man roster spot open.

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Originally Posted by diehardtwinsfan

I'm thinking more and more that this is opening a spot for Parmalee. Move Doumit to RF, Willingham to LF, Parmalee to DH, and Revere to the bench. I could see Towles replacing Butera as well.

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Towels as backup catcher I could see. Doumit as a full time RF is a bad idea. If he and Willingham were in the outfield together, things would get ugly in a hurry. Willingham just won't be able to cover all of LF, at least not in Target Field. Parmalee is too young to be considered a full time DH anyway.

I'm excited about Parmalee as well. It looks like your lineup is trying to get Doumit, Willingham, Parmalee, Morneau and Mauer all in the lineup at the same time. That would be exciting yes, but probably not practical. If anything, you'd have Parmalee play RF (which he has done in the minors), Willingham in LF, Doumit DH. That would still leave some big questions in the outfield for defense.

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Originally Posted by Seth Stohs

The thing that Burroughs has going for him is that he is left-handed. It would be good for the Twins to have a left-handed bench bat... in that scenario, Casilla becomes the backup SS.

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Not necessarily... Too many lefties in the lineup as is (Span, Mauer, Morneau, Revere, Doumit -practically, Casilla - practically.) I still doubt that with the game late and close and a RH closer against the Twins anyone in their sane mind should PH Burroughs for Valencia or Carroll (if he PH for Carroll, they bring in a Leftie to face him, Mauer and Morneau)... With any of the Lefties against LH in late and close situations, Burroughs is neutralized. Hollimon being a SH, has the advantage there (plus he has been performing better...) Would he be repititious with Hughes there? Not necessarily... Hollimon has played a lot of SS and 2B, and Hughes can back up 1B, 2B, and 3B.

I just hope that they go with the hottest backups when they move North

http://www.twinsdaily.com/images/misc/quote_icon.png Originally Posted by Seth Stohs http://www.twinsdaily.com/images/but...post-right.png
The thing that Burroughs has going for him is that he is left-handed. It would be good for the Twins to have a left-handed bench bat... in that scenario, Casilla becomes the backup SS.

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Not necessarily... Too many lefties in the lineup as is (Span, Mauer, Morneau, Revere, Doumit -practically, Casilla - practically.) I still doubt that with the game late and close and a RH closer against the Twins anyone in their sane mind should PH Burroughs for Valencia or Carroll (if he PH for Carroll, they bring in a Leftie to face him, Mauer and Morneau)...

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I was just thinking about the same scenarios. Does anyone have quick access to Hollimon's vs Left/vs Right splits?
He might be the answer to the argument.

We need to see Burroughs play some more IF positions before any decision is made. Plus I know his defense hasn't been the greatest so far.

I can't see Gardy letting any team go North without a competent backup SS which makes me think they'll need somebody besides Burroughs and Hughes. If they are serious about Dozier I could see them giving him the starting job and keeping Casilla as the backup SS/2B. If they decide to give Dozier more seasoning I like Florimon, Chang or some other all glove type getting that last spot over Burroughs.

The only thing I differ with on your projections is the bullpen. Just a gut feeling, but I imagine the Twins will continue to give Alex Burnett every shot possible.

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Just a gut feeling, but I imagine the Twins will continue to give Alex Burnett every shot possible.

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I disagree about Burnett as he looks like a player the Twins rushed a little. He's only had 23.1 IP in AAA and he's getting rocked in Spring Training - he needs more time in AAA if only to get some confidence back in his game. Now they have guys that can take his place on the major league roster.

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Originally Posted by Seth Stohs

I don't see this even a little bit.

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Nor do I???

Dozier at SS and Carroll at 2B with Lexi backing up seems like the likeliest of scenarios IF they choose to go that route.

I doubt Burroughs makes the team, I would guess a middle infielder would over him since Luke Hughes can play third base as well. I'd bet Ray Chang would make it over Burroughs.

I think Maloney will make over Manship. Manship has an option left and will probably be a starter in Rochester with a chance to make the rotation in 2013.

I also think that Hollimon or Change will make it over Burroughs as they are more versatile. Burroughs would almost be an exclusive bench bat, like Thome was the past 2 years but without Thome's production potential.

It is really a coin flip as who the 3rd catcher will be and frankly it doesn't really matter between the 3 possibilities. Butera and Rivera are pretty similar offensively and defensively whereas Towles is potentially better offensively but worse defensively.

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Originally Posted by Neinstein

I was just thinking about the same scenarios. Does anyone have quick access to Hollimon's vs Left/vs Right splits?

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Hollimon has generally been quite a bit better against righties than lefties, especially when it comes to power.

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Originally Posted by Dilligaf69

Dozier at SS and Carroll at 2B with Lexi backing up seems like the likeliest of scenarios IF they choose to go that route.

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I would think IF Dozier makes the opening day roster--and that's a big if--he's at SS, but Casilla is the 2nd baseman with Carroll backing up both.

No way Manship breaks camp with the team. He struggled last year, and no matter what his stats look like this spring, he'll be in AAA. I look for Maloney to be in the bullpen on Opening Day, because of his ability to make a spot start and have a long relief role, while being a lefty specialist at times. I would also expect Burnett to make the team because of his experience from the past couple years, likely meaning Waldrop will not be up just yet.

As for the bench players, I "hope to Gardy" that he picks Towles over Butera. I am not expecting this though. I still consider Burroughs to be a toss up for making the club.