Call the Department of Labor. Age discrimination.

Keep going. If you cut 6 players and promote 6 to Rochester, you have to promote 6 to New Britain, 6 to Fort Myers, 6 to Cedar Rapids, 6 to Elizabethan, and 6 to the GCL team. And probably hope nobody gets hurt at any level because you could run out of bodies, at least at some positions, plus having people playing at levels they may not be ready for.

Your right Jim, but if we follow Shane's plan for the big leaguers, those posts would be back filled by talent acquired by trade.

I don't agree with your contention that these experienced AAA are blocking our prospects.  Our prospects have not yet proven themselves ready for AAA.

A AAA City deserves a watchable team.  The good people of Rochester aren't particularly interested in the Minnesota Twins.  They do, however like to watch a competitive team.  Sometimes these players spend several seasons with their team and that helps the fans take a rooting interest in the players and the team.

Also, having a few veteran AAA players helps teach the young players how to prepare, how to cope and how to behave.  Sometimes hearing something from a teammate can have more affect than hearing the same thing from a coach.  This year there have been several comments about how helpful Pino was to the education of Meyer and May. 

Lastly, these experienced AAA players may be useful to the Twins.  Who can tell what events may happen in the future.  The Twins may need one of those players.

Shane I don't totally agree on the concept of blocking. Perhaps I actually do but I have a different way of looking at it I guess. I would like to see a minor league philosophy were top prospects are playing with top prospects, developing chemistry and working together towards the big leagues. I see no value in filler players at each level and that is where I believe the team needs to adjust their philosophy. I'm gunna take some heat for these comments but I really think there is a benefit to having top prospects work together and figure it out together. Even if they are at slightly different maturity levels.

I think we agree but in slightly different philosophies. I find that I agree with you on the vast majority of your posts.

I'd rather see Hicks in the majors and Santana in AAA.  The Twins' brain trust is having Hicks "finding" his swing in AA (and I guess .285/.392/.423 means that it is still lost for someone) while having a marginal SS prospect learn how to play CF in the majors.

Alrighty.

Seriously, the blocking is a bit less of a problem this season, compared to other things...

Mark this down. Hicks will be gone by ST 2015.  He's is unreliable and only a personality transplant will save him.

AAA is a place for prospects. But it's also a place where do the best you can to stash quad-A players who you can call up as decent fill-in options when guys get injured at the ML level. Just because a player is a very good prospect at AAA doesn't mean he's ready to automatically contribute for the parent club when there is an opening, even temporarily. And quite frankly, expecting a AAA roster to just be brimming full of future MLers is kind of naive. (This somewhat true at all levels, of course) No matter the hopes and dreams that each prospect has, they are simply not all going to be MLers. So at all levels, you surround top prospects with decent prospects, maybe prospects, and just solid ball players for each respective level to put a full team on the field. And sometimes, just like a fringe ML signing, lightening strikes.

This season, at least, I'm disappointed with some of the AAA options the Twins have placed at Rochester, particularly in the OF. Though the pitching options haven't been as poor as some recent years. I'm still disappointed Romero wasn't brought up when Plouffe went down.

I think it's easy to say "drop these guys", but as has been pointed out, then you have to have said number of players READY to move up and take those spots. First at one level, and then the other. The Twins have made many promotions as of late, and if it weren't for injuries to Sano, Buxton and the suspension of Rosario, the promotions might have been more exciting and newsworthy.