Brandon

There are 12 relievers on that list that had a 9k per 9 innings or better and a few more that were close. Pretty soon our relievers will strike out more that our starters.

I've been writing about this in the Forums section and updating it since the Twins have traded their vets. The Twins are likely to finish either 3rd 4th or 5th worst record at this point. Houston is not guaranteed the 2nd pick of the draft if they have to sign the 5th pick whom they agreed to a handshake agreement with and then reneged and is being pursued by the union. Then Houston will be over slot bonus and forfeit their next 2 first round picks. They may get to keep the 2nd and loose their other pick so what do I know.

I would like to know how these guys on the list (top 6 and honorable mention) stack up as propsects. how many are potentially 3 and 4 starters as well as 1 or 2s?

The talent was bad and this is a team in transition. There have been some bright spots. I am ok with bringing the gang back next year to see what they can do. If we are not a .500 team or close to it next year then changes will have to be made as we have several building blocks in place and a power offense moving forward. If Nolasco can at least go back to being an average starter we have 3 decent starters for next year and we have a few solid bullpen arms on the way. With that we should be a .500 team. We are having a bad September because we messed with the staff by adding and playing the extras for a tryout which I why the rest of this season doesn't bother me too much. If we went with a 25 or 27 man roster to win as many games as possible I would be disappointed with a sub .500 September.

So on offense we have youngsters: Arcia, Santana, Hicks, Pinto, Vargas, Escobar, and vets Dozier, Plouffe, Suzuki, and Mauer. Parmelee, Nunez and Schaefer on the bench. I see the basics of a solid lineup an with Sano and Buxton ready around the Allstar break and Walker and Polanco by the end of the season we will have options The bullpen is solid as is but there are a few pitchers on the way up that throw real hard. so were good there. The rotation has the usual: Hughes, Gibson, Nolasco then Millone, May, Meyer, Pino, Pelfry and eventually Berrios. I don't know if any of the other starting pitchers will make the climb and be ready next year so the Twins may want to add a AAAA starter just in case. We used 11 starters this year. So as I see it we need a AAAA starter for depth and maybe a better back up C and maybe a LF if Hicks and or Schaefer cant cut it for now.

Hicks has through next season to impress the twins. I think this September is more about Hicks showing he can hold his own or do better than he's done so far. Bernier deserves a callup. I am ok with him as a possible bench call up for him next year if there is an injury. He is a solid insurance policy for the bench. There is a solid chance that this type of playing time will have him consider staying here in the offseason if the Twins ask him back. As far as the bullpen arms go, I don't want to get into who stays or who goes too much as our bullpen is currently pretty solid and not too expensive. Burton seems to be a given to be gone but with the rest who knows. Hermann hasn't hit yet but could be serviceable 5th OF/ 3rd C/ 3rd 1B if he could I for average or with some power or field better. I hope Colabello can still get that Korea contract for 1 million this offseason. would have loved to see him make it for a few seasons as a back up OF/1B/DH/ Pinch hitter off the bench but guess Parmelee will be that guy. Florimon/ Bernier only 1 should stick around to be bench insurance. defense vs bat Overall though I am excited to see that we are a few pieces away from being competitive. Our offense is improving to league best and we still have 2 super prospects coming up. We are currently set for the 5th pick in the draft if the season ended today. And we have Pitchers who are almost here. (Berrios and Meyer)

Looks like we have multiple options at several positions. I like our bench Parmalee, Nunez, and Schafer, Pinto is the better back up C cause then we have a power LH and RH batter off the bench and speed Rotation is fine but Shields for 3 or 4 years would be nice. I don't think we could get the other top rotation pitchers for that short of a contract. SS should belong to Escobar as has been a top 5 SS offensively in the AL. Santana Should be able to take over if the need arises. He should definitely be starting somewhere. LF we have Schaefer, Parmelee, and then either Plouffe or Santana when Buxton and Sano comes up or we could sign a 1 year stop gap like Hunter 1 year 10 million is not too much. I think our bullpen will have more of a turnover during the season next year. we will probably head to spring training with a similar pen and make transitions throughout the year like we did on our offense this year.

I feel old now. I remember reading your blog back in 2002 or2003. It was your second season blogging as there were a few articles from the previous season. when your kids were in elementary school. I found your blog In a web search for Twins news on accident. I went on to your site and read and article or 2 and it was exactly the kind of news I wanted to read about so I started reading the previous articles and went back to the previous season. I have been reading your stuff ever since.

Most of the injuries listed were minor injuries lasting a few weeks. there were only a few that were season altering. Buxton and Sano, Then Zach Jones, JT Chargrois (Chargrill), Luke Bard, Randy Rosario, and Fernando Romero. The rest of the injuries were of the few week variety so that happens. big deal. One of the injuries as a judgment injury that resulted in a 50 game suspension.

I think both should be kept with Escobar playing some 3rd and LF and some back up 2b while Santana should get a lot of time in CF. both still get lots of time at SS and at other positions while we wait for the 2 super prospects to arrive.

I would pick up his option if we didn't have a bunch of arms coming up.

Actually the foreign contract was for a million. Albers got 800,000 and the twins probably got 500k for that contract. I hope Colabello does get the Sept call up. I don't see him as a starter here but as a bench bat for the corner OF, 1B and DH and RH pinch hitter he could be ok for that.

So we have: Millone Pryor Adams PTBNL and savings of 7-7.5 million plus opens some spots for young players. for Morales Fuld Willingham Corriea With the Twins headed in a downward spiral thee moves makes sense. If they would have been competitive and been around .500 then not necessarily.

C: Suzuki, Pinto, 1B: Mauer, (Parmelee, Vargas) 2B: Dozier (Escobar) 3B: Plouffe, Nuñez (Escobar) SS: Santana (Nuñez, Escobar) LF: Hicks (Nuñez, Parmelee) CF: Schaefer (Parmelee and Santana) RF: Arcia (Nuñez, Parmelee) DH: Vargas (Mauer, Pinto) Starting Pitchers Nolasco Hughes Millone Gibson May Meyer, Gilmartin, Darnell, Berrios, and Duffy ready for the call. I almost think someone gets traded here. Bullpen: CL: Perkins SU: Fien SU: Pelfry Loogy RP: Theilbar RP: Deunsing Long RP: Dedunno Long RP: Pino There are lots of options here too with Burton, Tonkin, Swarzak, Oliveras, Ibarra, Pressly, and Burdi who I think will be up sometime in the 2nd half of the season.

maybe, maybe not, He will be close to his innings pitched and there is being able to come up and face live major league hitters. It m not be enough for him to gain situational experience, but he can get the initial experience of being up out of the way.

The Twins could call up Meyer after the AAA season to get a couple of starts and the Twins could limit him to 4 or 5 innings at most per start so he can get 12 -15 innings of experience up here and have Corriea come in and follow up after him to pitch 2 to 4 innings if he is still on the roster or have May follow him and go 4 innings. too so they both get 4 innings per appearance at the end of the season. That way they get the experience and keep the pitch count low.

If Meyer lowered his walk rate he'd be in the majors. You will not get enough outs in the majors to offset 5 walks per 9 innings long term in the majors. Matt Batts. if that isn't a baseball name then I don't know what is. I remember Tapia as 1 of the 2 international players from the top 30 we signed that year. He was a high dollar signing so good to see him showing we were right to sign him. It looks like we have numerous pitching prospects in the minors now. How much is the offense in the minors changing the last few years as the offense in the majors has dropped noticeably.

Give it time the Twins will start moving these guys up and in to their major league bullpen over time. Burdi will probably start the changing of the guard at some point next year. Its nice to see both Wimmers and Melotakis doing well after making the jump to AA.

Remember how upset we got when we a no CF options? We keep trading our CF for solid rotation candidates whose last name starts with M. so we needed a replacement through this season and possibly next. He has speed so he does have some value. May be we can find the hitch in his swing that is keeping him from being a solid hitter.

I was going to say the same thing.

Burton is better than Corriea. I would DFA Corriea and keep the 5 man rotation. and in September I would have Darnell in the pen. Meyer does not need to be here if he isn't starting. the Twin are not going to call him up to be in the pen.

I think he can hit .280 with 25 2Bs with 1 walk per 10 AB for the next 2 seasons. If it was longer than that age will start to creep in. I think he'll be fine for his age 31 and 32 seasons. Brian Harper hit like that through age 34. based on that and a bunch of other research I would be more concerned with his age 34-36 seasons. That's when he brakes down for good in my estimation.

I am more happy than I thought I'd be with the Corriea signing. I went from pure anger to almost tolerable. However he needs to go now or very soon like after his next start a the latest. as far as grading he events of today: Getting a Starting Pitcher with ability at a low cost for a 4th OF is amazing though we no longer have a backup CF again. A++ Signing C Suzuki for 2 year 2 Million contract is A (that was the number floating around here for an extension) Not trading Corriea or releasing him is an incomplete though the grade gets worse each start he makes here after. Because his starts need to go to May and Meyer or I guess it could be about the draft order next season. we need to loose more games to get a better draft spot next year. Willingham - I am indifferent on trading him. I don't see a ready player to step in so I guess its more for the ability to loose games and save money for the draft pick next year or If TR can find another over pay. Overall Terry Ryan gets an A in my book. I am shocked at how little the Rays got for Price. They should have extracted some cash and a PTBNL from Seattle and Detroit each so they could get more prospects and operating cash.

He was traded for the Orioles #3 prospect Eddie Rodriguez or something like that. I am terrible at remembering names. but the Twins tried to get him for Willingham last year. I do remember that.

Prediction for an august trade: The A's need Fuld because their CFs are injured again. In a few weeks they will be fine (I am guessing) Fuld for Willingham after August 15th.