Riverbrian

That's a question for TR. He's a Red Wing now and if he keeps up the pitch spotting. Minnesota is next.

I like his D and he's hitting .300 at the bottom of the order. If anyone has a problem with Casilla. Shut up;) He's not Utley in his prime. Don't hold it against him.

BTW... I miss Gomez. IMO... Gomez was a case of being rushed. He wasn't ready for the bigs. It wasn't the fans murdering Gomez... It was Gardy because of the bonehead stuff. He was 12 years old and in the majors because someone had to strap a uniform on... Just to represent the Santana deal. Span was MLB ready at the time. Gomez wasn't necessary. Gomez shouldn't have been traded to Milwaukee. He should have been just arriving to the majors around the time of the trade. With the skill set that Gomez has. There is no way I trade him for an oft injured low on base SS.

What's the word I'm looking for... Oh yeah... I remember. "UNCLE".

Luke French is a lefthanded starting pitcher for the New Britain Rock Cats. At the age of 26, Luke French has had a cup of coffee in the show. 155 innings of Folgers in your cup to be exact with the Tigers and Mariners over 2009 and 2010. Returning to the majors is the best part of waking up and Luke appears to be wiping the sleep from his eyes through 5 starts and 30 innings of work thus far pitching for the Rock Cats in 2012. French is currently pacing the New Britain starting staff with a 1.80 ERA and a WHIP under 1.00 at 0.967. That's 30 innings of work, he has given up 17 hits, 12 walks and only 18 strikeouts. Without a calculator in hand, you could surmise that those numbers add up to a lot of balls put in play and thus far the majority of those balls find a glove somewhere on the field. Throughout his career, French was never the type to knock you out as he seems to prefer the rope-a-dope style. He is the ultimate pitch to contact pitcher, never eclipsing triple digits in strikeouts, in any year. Luke was Born in Kansas but he achieved his high school All American status while attending High School in Littleton Colorado. This brought him to the attention of the Scouts and led to an 8th round selection by the Detroit Tigers in 2004 which was the same year the Tigers grabbed Justin Verlander in the 1st round. Luke reported to rookie ball that year and despite never having overwhelming stats at any level he steadily progressed up the ladder and French made his debut in a Tigers uniform at the age of 23 in 2009 and after 5 starts and a respectable 3.38 ERA and 1-2 win loss record. He was traded to the Mariners, part of the deal that netted the Tigers Jerrod Washburn. Luke was excited about the trade because he admittedly grew up a huge Mariners Fan. However, his time in Seattle wouldn't last long as he finished up 2009 making 7 starts and posting a 6.63 ERA. He split time in 2010 between Seattle and Tacoma which is one of the shorter MLB-AAA MLB hops, distance wise, that you can make. Luke finished 2010 with 13 starts for the Mariners and 4.83 ERA. 2011 was a disaster, pitching for Tacoma exclusively before the team he loved DFA'd him in August. The culprit for his tossing was a 6.27 ERA. Now Luke is picking up the pieces after signing a minor league contract with the Twins in January and so far, obviously, so good and as long as he keeps hitting his spots, who knows, maybe he'll find his way back. Seth Stohs sent me a private message stating that Luke has been called up to AAA Rochester. I couldn't find any news that confirmed this but Seth is probably all the confirmation you need. One Last note... I actually looked up what the Origin of the last name "French" was. Interestingly enough... It's not French in Origin, it's IRISH!!! This makes me laugh, and it's a wonderful quirk in the world of Geneology. Kind of like getting a Cat and naming it "Dog".

More so then the impressively bad trades that netted nothing in return. This is the biggest failure of the Bill Smith regime. The nearly complete collapse of a once highly ranked farm system under his watch. I don't know who's fault it is, I don't know if this was just bad luck or something that was bound to happen. All I know is that it happened under his watch. 28 Million in pitching contracts are coming off the books this year. 28 Million!!! The Twins spend 28 million on this pitching staff and that doesn't even include Blackburn.

lol... my ideas should be ripped to shreads. What are the odds that everyone on this board agrees with me. What I'd like to see is more plans put together by others. I think they would be interesting reads. I should have titled the thread either: A: If you were the GM B: Your blue print for the Twins return to title contention C: I have way too much time on my hands D: I just did this because my wife wanted me to mow the lawn

I like him... Parker is up with the A's now and he had a real nice first start for the A's. I don't see the A's in contention and I don't think they would pay for Span because. However, Parker will be available in a couple of years. He will break out and the A's will trade him for two prospects just like they did with every other pitcher.

No complaints from me. He's been taking his focusing meds.

Pence for Cozart, Bailey for Reddick, Beltran for Wheeler, Latos for Alonso, Sanchez for Cabrera, Jackson for Rasmus. It's happened before. It Still doesn't prove that the Rangers trade Perez for Span however but Denard would be a good fit in Texas.

I'm worried about needing to throw in the towel later in the season but I still have the towel. Go Twins!!!

Here's Mine: 2012 Trade deadline deals July Span: Traded to Rangers for 21 year old LHP Martin Perez Of anyone on the squad. Span fetches the biggest return. Gotta get a potential #1 #2 pitcher in return. I think the Rangers go for it because they will be in contention and Hamilton and Cruz hardly ever stay healthy and Span is in upgrade over Murphy. If the Rangers won't part with Perez for Span... Throw in a low level guy like Kepler or something if necessary. Morneau: Traded to Yankees for Kevin Whelen and Adam Warren Assuming Health... I'll project Morneau at around .270 BA and 12 Homers in July. Considering the slow start...These numbers could attract the Yankees... They might take a chance if the Twins assumed 6 million of his 2013 Salary. With those numbers and health... The Yankees would love his left handed bat for the DH role. Whelen would be an addition to the bullpen possibly setup and Warren a #4 or #5 candidate for the rotation. Capps and Carroll: Traded to Reds for Donnie Joseph Assuming Capps doesn't totally implode. Title Chasing teams are always looking for experienced bullpen help at the deadline. I'm not sure if the Reds do this deal or not because Joseph is left handed and rated pretty high. Throw in a low level guy like Kepler or something to complete the deal. Off-Season Trades: Danny Velencia traded to Rockies for Eric Young Jr and PTBNA. Rockies may take Velencia to hold 3B down for a year to give Arenado another year to season. They don't seem to have room for EY Jr. I'll take him for his speed and multiple position ability. 2013 Free Agents: James Shields (6 Year Deal - 90 Million) Jake Fox: 1 year deal 400,000 Resigned: Doumit (2 year deal - 8 million) The 2014 Free Agent Pitching looks light... If you are looking at 2014... You need to get your guy in the 2013 free agent class. The Big Boys will be chasing Hamels and Greinke. The Twins could get competitive here and use the 28 million off the books and give Shields the deal he is looking for and pray for health. CJ Wilson signed for 5 years 77 Million. Jake Fox: Is a backup at 3B-RF-1B and provides the C ability and he has Power. Just might park one on occasion. Good cheap guy to have on your bench. SP: Shields, Perez, Gibson, Blackburn, Hendriks, Warren, Diamond, Swarzak CL: Perkins RHRP: Hembree, Whalen, Burton, Waldrop, Burnett LHRP: Joseph, Deunsing, Maloney C-1B: Mauer, Doumit, Parmelee 2B-SS: Casilla, Dozier, Nishioka 3B-RF: Willingham, Plouffe, Fox LF-CF: Revere, Young Jr, Hicks, Benson Starting Lineup Batting Order (Projections AV-HR-SB) Revere LF (.290-1-45) Dozier SS (.280-8-15) Mauer C (.310-10-10) Willingham RF (.270-30-5) Doumit DH (.260-14-1) Parmelee 1B (.260-20-1) Plouffe 3B (.240-15-5) Hicks CF (.260-10-20) Casilla 2B (.290-5-20) Estimated Payroll -- 81 Million including 6 Million payed to Morneau/Yankees 2014 Free Agents: Matt Garza... 6 Years - 90 Million Ben Zobrist... 3 Years - 30 Million Kendrys Morales... 3 Years 24 Million Boone Logan... 3 Years - 18 Million Garza has matured and the Twins pony up the money. Gardenhire will be OK with this because he is managing the Mets by 2014 and is happy he doesn't have to put with him. Ben Zobrist Signed at age 33 for 3 Years. A nice contract for Morales who will see nothing but DH with the Angels. Boone Logan... Should be the top reliever available in 2014. SP: Shields, Garza, Perez, Gibson, Hendriks, Warren, (Appel? -- 2012 1st Round Pick) CL: Perkins RHRP: Hembree, Whelen, Burton LHRP: Logan, Joseph, Duensing, C-1B: Mauer, Doumit, Parmelee, Morales 2B-SS: Zobrist, Dozier, Young Jr. 3B-RF: Willingham, Plouffe, Fox (Sano called up when Arb Clock is Right-- Plouffe traded for prospects) LF-CF: Hicks, Revere, Benson Starting Lineup and Projections Revere LF (.320-1-60) Mauer C (.330-20-5) Morales DH (.320-30-1) Willingham RF (.250-30-1) Parmelee 1B (.280-25-1) Sano 3B (.230-20-6) Zobrist 2B (.250-20-15) Dozier SS (.300-10-10) Hicks CF (.270-20-30) Estimated Payroll: 103 Million OK... Don't tear it apart too much... A bunch of wild assumptions with this... Obviously it won't work this way. Just spend a Sunday putting it together for fun. BTW... in my World. The Twins Win the World Series in 2014 and for that you are all very welcome.

I think the scariest thing about the Twins current situation is the lack of pitching in the organization as a whole. The current Twins pitchers on paper do not look sufficient to compete at a high enough level(On Paper). Scouts and rating services do not list anybody in the farm system as top level pitching prospects outside of the injured Gibson. This is clearly a What if... because it's too early to throw in the towel. I'm hopeful that the Twins will have a decent year but when the reality of the Twins pitching staff on paper sets in... Plus the lack of pitching prospects at the upper farm level... If you are honest... most of us believe that this could be a long year... making it two long years in a row. If everything this year goes like we kinda deep down fear... I think the Twins have to go young in 2013 and target for 2014 as the year to get back to AL Central title contenders. Pavano, Baker, Liriano, Marquis and Capps will be gone next year and that will free up 28 Million in Salary. Don't have to spend it all in 2013... Target for 2014. You obviously can't trade Capps for Bryce Harper. So put together somewhat reasonable trades and we will try to assume the other team goes for it. The Twins probably can't sign Cole Hamels if the Yankees and Phillies are competing for him. To make it easy... Let's assume Health for everybody even Morneau. If you got a bunch of time to sort through it all... Build your squads 2013 and 2014 below. It would be interesting to see what everyone would do.

Nice Post... Made me Laugh...

Chief... you are a smart guy and I enjoy your posts. You know your stuff... With Revere it's the Eye of the Beholder thing. I look forward to Revere starting on my favorite baseball team. I think Revere will hit plus .300... He will devolop a better batting eye and add more walks to his game. I think he will get better at gapping some balls at the major league level for more double and triples. I think he will reach on errors because of double clutches and hurried throws. I think he will make highlight reel catches. I think his arm strength will be minimized by playing LF and the range he has will allow the CF to shade toward RF to better support Willingham in RF. Yes Willingham in RF. I think Revere has plenty to offer and I look forward to it. I just don't expect him to hit many (if any) dingers. Kind of like... I don't expect Adam Dunn to hit above .250. I guess it all depends on what you like in a ball player. I think he's a sparkplug and he can bat leadoff and even if he doesn't hit leadoff... It would be great to have a .300 hitter (with more walks when they come) in the the #9 spot for when the lineup turns over. The #9 spot is also a table setting spot. Revere is fine in AAA to work on some things now but he is nearly ready and I'm ok with him right now in the majors as well.

Would you mind listing your 18? I'm planning a family trip east. I have ballpark choices. Had Fenway on my list for sure. Was thinking PNC as well but you got Camden higher. The other choices are Washington, Philly and NY Mets.

The More I think about this... Span has to stay healthy and productive and if he does... Span has to go at the trade deadline. With his talent and contract... Span could fetch a Top End young pitcher for a desperate contending team. The Rangers for example may give up Martin Perez in return. If the Angels are pushing and Hamilton goes down for a spell like he always does. With all the Money the Rangers spend... They would certainly consider Span very attractive with his friendly contract. 2 years from now... Perez, Gibson, Hendriks. It's a start. Add in a good fast rising college age starting pitcher in the draft this year(i know big IF). We have 30 million in pitching coming off the books. Maybe make a strong push for James Shields with that money(I know it's the Twins... But Hey... Go for it and hope he stays healthy throughout his contract) or don't spend it and make a push for 2014 free agent. 2014 doesn't look so bad... Shields, Perez, Gibson, Hendriks, Appel?... Sano may be ready a little early who knows... Mauer still under contract. Willingham is signed for 2014... Revere and Parmelee will have more seasoning. Hicks might be ready to go. Dozier. Just need a 2b... Kendrick as a free agent next year? or a 2014 free agent. Yeah, I know there are holes with this... I typed it in 3 minutes. I think you make 2013 suck and get ready for 2014. Get a couple of draft choices this year and next and next... And don't screw it up from a scouting standpoint. One more thing... Draft Pitching, Pitching and More Pitching... Stockpile it in the draft. Arms are always breaking down and half of the draftees won't work out. Draft as much as you can and trade excess for position players if you manage to build excess.

Inge could only be signed for backup duty. Burroughs would be shown the door. That is the only way it makes sense. Inge as a starter, everyday type. No Way... As a backup his multi positional value is what makes him interesting... Emergency Catcher... to help calm "the Fear" 3B, 2B and 1B. As a Backup... More value then Burroughs.

I agree however you are wrong. Everything you say is true but not quite. Inge could still be the third catcher in case Doumit slips on a patch of ice In the 8th inning and Mauer is DH. Inge shouldn't replace Velencia but he could replace Burroughs. I'm not saying I'm for this... Just saying I can see a roster fit.

Luke French

lol... Yeah that would make me say "put it on the board... Yes". I would also snap out of it by thinking "touch em all".

When the North Stars left... I said Goodbye... Rooted against Dallas and still do today. They won't take my loyalty with them. It screwed my NHL experience. Tried to be a Blues fan but it wasn't cementable because I couldn't watch em. Been trying to get it back with the wild but the Jets are getting my attention now. So I'm torn... So please Get a stadium built... I don't want to go through that again. New NFL team... Without a doubt would be the Browns... That's a fan base that got hosed by Modell and the move to Baltimore. Kept it together and got a new team. Rabid fan base and a true underdog. Ugly uniforms... How working class can you get.

lol!!! No that was actually the removal of the hose!!!

Guys like us shouldn't ever be accused of jumping off the bandwagon... We are the bandwagon... Enjoy Seattle... Check out Pike Place before the game. Forget the fish tossing... Just enjoy the food... It's a better value then the Safeco Sushi.

Too late... I've already pretended that we gave 15 dollars to the tigers to take Delmon Young.