StormJH1

It's one of the bizarre things about Gardy that he gets a lot of credit as a manager (and much of it deserved, I think), but then he has his positions flipped in the wrong direction two years in a row now. Last year, Nishioka was thought to be a shortstop, but they worried about his arm. So Casilla was the guy, and Nishioka played a week at second, sucked, then got his leg broken because he didn't appreciate that MLB'ers threaten bodily harm if you don't jump up on a double play ball. So, Nishioka heals, and then is rewarded for all of that with a shot at shortstop, which was equally as disastrous. Plouffe sucked too, so you would think that Casilla's comparatively steady effort there would be even more appreciated. Except that Gardy doesn't like Casilla very much, so we go looking for a new SS. Fine. But the guy they signed is basically a David Eckstein-like "tweener", steady enough at 2B, but not really dynamic range or arm for SS, ESPECIALLY as a 38 year old. And he puts him at SS. Look, I've been blowing smoke all offseason about how Carroll is not a SS and this is a bad move, but I'm convinced enough that Carroll is not going to play 140 games at SS this year that I'm not even worrying about it any more. The carousel continues...

This is really tough, but I agree with this exact order. I think Ramirez has the best likelihood of being both a plus with his bat and pretty good at defense. Peralta can rake (and that's on a good lineup), but I've heard he's below average defensively. Asdrubal has potential, but is hurt a lot. Escobar is still young, but I'm not convinced he can hit in the bigs. Carroll is the only guy on this list who ISN'T REALLY A SHORTSTOP, but I put him 4th instead of 5th because he is a veteran with a track record, and I think he's shown he can at least avoid getting out pretty well. If you really feel optimistic about this team, continue following these "positional rankings", and if you're being honest with yourself, ask how we really stand up position-by-position. It's easy to look at an overall squad and feel good about "your guys", but when you break it down, it isn't too pretty. But whatever, I'm more excited for the new season every year at this time!

I've only seen bits and pieces of Summer Catch, but I had to share that I listened to a podcast with the director of that movie, and he said that Freddie Prinze Jr. was the worst athlete he's ever had to work with in a sports movie. He said they had to do tons of work to make it look like it was actually him throwing the ball, and that it would have been easier if they case Jessica Biel as the pitcher.

I was watching a highlight clip and was also quite surprised. He's still listed as #19 on the MLB roster. And retire Radke's number?!?! C'mon, for real? I know that the fans here like guys who were loyal to their squad for a long period of time, but it shouldn't be easier to get your number retired by a ballclub than it should to even be CONSIDERED for the Hall of Fame. Hrbek didn't have a prayer of being a Hall of Famer - he was never even a Top 5 first basemen in the AL even in his best years (seriously, look it up), and now every little Twins fan is going to look at that retired number and think he was some legendary player. He was not. He was a very good player playing in an era with a lot of great 1st basemen, and he basically ate his way out of the league because he didn't take care of himself.

Great take, I thought this was a much more balanced view of Casilla in light of what other teams are doing at that position... People say "the Twins never have power guys", but of course, it isn't true...they've developed or acquired a fair amount of them, but they're all outfielders and 1st basemen. They haven't even tried to use 2B or SS as a legitimate source of run production for several decades. Well, J.J. Hardy would be a lone exception to that rule - they HAD it right with him, but bailed absurdly quick on that experiment and headed back to slap hitters. I like Casilla just fine. He isn't among the biggest problems on this club. But sometimes you can have a "passable" options at several positions, and then you put it altogether and realize: "Crap! We don't have enough offense on this team". In other words, my fear is that the "whole" of the Twins is less than the sum of Casilla, Carroll, Span, and Revere added together. None of those guys are "terrible" at what they do, but that doesn't make the Twins a good "team".

For the most part I totally agree with you...Revere and Span in center are probably a draw because Revere's range is offset by his arm. The point of the thread is "Where is Revere most valuable?", and I guess what I'm arguing is "BENCH", or "Pinch runner/Defensive Replacement". A healthy Span has a much higher ceiling than Revere. Either of them would probably be fine as the CF, but playing both of them means we aren't even trying for power at two of the three OF positions. And it's not like we have Boston's infield in terms of power, either.

My point was exactly the opposite...Revere and Span probably should NOT both be on the field. There were grumblings early out of spring training that Plouffe had a chance at winning the RF job, which puts Willingham back to his more familiar spot in LF. I don't know if that will be the case or not, but even if that did happen, you can't just pencil in Span for 150 games this year as if there's no reason to worry about his health. With the roster we have, I think some type of Doumit/Plouffe platoon in RF, Willingham in LF and Span in CF (unless injuries force Revere to take over) gives us the best chance of actually scoring runs this year. I recognize that Revere was drafted at a time when the organization had all but given up on Span (2007), but it DOES matter if Revere is now supposed to be a starting LF, and you're treating him as such instead of trying to draft or acquire a legitimate corner outfielder. We can only hope we'll get that some day in the form of Hicks, Arcia, Sano (if he moves to the OF), etc.

It isn't a question of excellence by "No. 8 hitter" standards, or even by "Alexi Casilla" standards. The title of the article was "Position Analysis: Second Base". I agree with you that .265/.322/.377 for Casilla is appropriate, just like ".230 and awesome defense at 3B" was appropriate for Nick Punto, but a HUGE deficit to overcome compared to other third basemen in the league. Fact: Alexi Casilla has never played in more than 98 games in a single season (6 years in the bigs) Fact: Alexi Casilla has a career OPS of .647. Fact: The league average OPS for second basemen last year was .692 (Granted, Casilla's, in limited duty, was .691). Fact/Opinion: Alexi Casilla is not an above-average defender at 2B. I don't know advanced metrics very well, but his Rtot/yr (Total Zone Fielding Runs Above Average) is -10. I don't think Gardy or even the average Twins rube considers him a "good" defender. Obviously, Casilla is the best option for the Twins at 2B on Opening Day, given the options they have. My point is that not every team has a #8 hitter as their 2B, or pays them only $1.4 million. I think Casilla is similar to Jamey Carroll in the sense that fans look at some numbers for them, and assume that they will play about 130+ games at 2B and SS respectively (which neither of them have EVER done) and provide their career-best numbers. If that happens, then I will clearly be wrong, and the Twins will be "solid" at second base. That was not the case last year, when the combination of Nishioka, Casilla, Plouffe, Hughes, Tolbert, and probably others I'm forgetting (haha, Cuddyer) led us to a 99-loss season.

I think Kipnis is legit. He already showed the power in his first partial season in the bigs. If the guy hits .260 with 20 HR's at second base, could you imagine the Twins EVER having a guy who did that? And for those who think Casilla is better than Beckham (or Kipnis), what exactly are you basing that on? We know what Alexi Casilla's ceiling is. We'd kill to have even the 2008 Casilla back on this team. Beckham was only 24 last year and already has more ability to produce runs than does Casilla. He only made 8 errors at second over close to a full season also. I'd take either of those guys in a heartbeat.

I think 22nd feels about right to me, and here's why... I get the sense that a lot of Twins fans are increasingly optimistic about this farm system. In some respects, that's fair. One of the knocks on them has traditionally been that they don't develop any power hitters, and with Miguel Sano as a signature prospect, we have one best potential power bats in the minors. Any time you can point to one guy who is doing everything right, it makes you feel pretty good about the overall product. But then again, look at the difference a year makes. Everyone said Aaron Hicks was a legit prospect, and he has done NOTHING in the minors so far. Kyle Gibson, who fell to us because of injury risks, is now...injured. Then there's guys like Parmalee and Benson who will be "over-ripe" by the time they stay in the majors, but I have high hopes for both of them. Beyond a few key guys, however, it thins out extremely quickly. Most of the guys that supposedly make this a good farm system are guys like Sano and Oswaldo Arcia, who are so far away from the majors that you expect them to get better. And the biggest problem, for me at least, is the absolute dearth of pitching talent, particularly power arms. Where are they? Granted, we have a big draft coming up with all of the compensatory picks we received. The Twins could go heavy on pitching and middle infielders, and I might feel better by the end of the season. But until then, I think it's a very unbalanced system with a few bright spots, but lacking in too many areas to fully restock the major league team from within.

Thanks for the write up and the discussion topic, but I'm going to have to disagree with the satement "there are a number of solid options to plug in at second". Vehemently. Let's just discard Dinkleman and Dozier altogether, both of whom very well may end up being serviceable major leaguers, but have done nothing to guarantee that so far. Dinkleman is 28 and carried a .640 OPS at AAA last year. Dozier has progressed slowly through the minors also, and is not a top prospect, but will probably get a look soon. Nishioka? Whatever "solid option" means in MLB, Nishioka represents the opposite of that. I've seen some reports from Spring Training that he's even more of a trainwreck this year. Which brings us to Alexi Casilla. I like Casilla just fine...he probably IS the utility infielder that can cover both 2B and SS that this team is looking for, except we're so shallow up the middle that he's required to start somewhere every year. And Gardy doesn't even like him because when Matt Tolbert kicks a routine grounder into right field, we all know that the toolsy American kid gave it his darndest...whereas when someone like Casilla does it, he must have been lazy or something. Casilla should be a #8 or #9 hitter on virtually any lineup in baseball. His career OBP is .310. He's never played 100 games in a season, despite getting a legitimate opportunity to do so year after year. Yes, he looks like Omar Vizquel compared to Nishoka, but I hope that isn't our standard. When you look at some of the 2B coming up in this league like Dustin Ackley and Jason Kipnis (not to mention the players that are already stars), we're woefully behind in this position as well.

I think this is a very legitimate question, and one that needs more attention. To treat Revere like a left fielder basically sets him up for a career as a 4th outfielder. If not for his arm, I'd be willing to give him center field and just deal with the sucky bat. But I have a feeling we're going to see more than a few bloop singles to the right portion of CF leading to runner's on first taking the turn and heading to 3rd. Not to mention sac flys and Revere trying to get it back to the cutoff man from the warning track. Seriously, they should just have him it about 80 feet to Willigham and let him do the rest of the work...Revere's arm is THAT bad. But if you put him in LF and Span in CF, that DOES hurt your offense. Guys like Ryan Braun, (pre-Chicago) Adam Dunn, and Willingham can play LF, and those guys are legit run producers. We're already "punting" at high run production at SS, 2B, and maybe even 3B if Valencia doesn't figure it out. While I don't want the defense to suck, at some point, we need to treat these positions more like the Detroit Tigers and less like the Seattle Mariners.

This is a non-issue to me really because there is no way Doumit ends up an everyday 1B, even if Morneau shuts it down completely. Mauer will probably be there often enough if Morneau can play, and if Morneau is out, then either they hand it to Parmalee (which, I think he should get a look anyway) or get a trade/FA. Doumit is going to miss time because of injury this year...it's going to happen. When he's not hurt, I think he helps if nothing else just to cut Butera's starting time in half. If Butera still gets Pavano (?), then I could see Doumit catching one other pitcher (maybe Liriano, since Gardy more or less blamed him for "hurting" Mauer last spring with his wildness), and Mauer taking the other three games. The biggest misconception I keep hearing is that Doumit is some type of legit bat that needs to be in the lineup, kind of a utility version of Willingham. That's garbage - Doumit, at his best, is a .290 hitter with about 12 HR power. This is not guy that will just "rake" anywhere you put him, I seriously think Plouffe could put up similar numbers if given enough games, and I don't mean that as a huge compliment to Plouffe.

I don't know anything about the defense of the options at Triple-A, but how can a big league club be in this bad of a situation in the middle infield?! Nishioka was NEVER a sure thing, and even had he worked out, you need to journeyman depth at SS at the AAA level in case of injury, etc. I would much rather have seen a "Butera"-type player at SS last year than catcher...someone who can at least field the position, even if their bat offers nothing. It's not like the combination of Nishioka and Casilla were driving balls off the wall last year exactly... I know Plouffe was bad, but there HAVE to be better options somewhere in the organization at SS, defensively speaking. And yes, I would absolutely want a utility backup that can play SS, given that option #1 is 38-year old Jamey Carroll, who isn't even really a shortstop.

This debate is ridiculous. Yes, you can look at virtually any hitter's numbers for the Twins (including even Delmon's 2010 career year) and it seems as if the Twins hitters do better on the road than at home. But, so what? I think it's pretty clear the park trends towards being a pitcher's park. But BOTH teams play at the park. And whether the Twins are winning their division (2010) or losing 99 games (2011), OTHER teams were hitting more HR's against the Twins than the Twins were hitting both home and away. This team does not target pure power hitters, favoring "toolsy" guys at many positions where other teams would employ a "Dan Uggla" over an "Alexei Casilla", or even a "Matt Wieters" over a "Joe Mauer". Therefore, even if we concede that Target Field favors pitchers, why on Earth would we want to move the fences IN when we the Twins almost ALWAYS have less powerful lineups than their opponents? Mauer's grounders up the middle or 200-ft doubles into the gaps wouldn't even be home runs in some little league parks, but I'd be willing to bet guys like Bautista, Adrian Gonzalez, and Mark Texiera would benefit from having a few more of those warning track shots end up in the stands. Also, on a different note, I was looking for data on this, but I do not believe that Target Field (due to its somewhat cramped surroundings) has a particularly large area of foul territory, which favors hitters in different ways.

It wasn't just Souhan. LaVelle, Reusse, and virtually every local commentator on Twitter that was at that conference live came away with that same feeling from the content and tone of what he was saying. And even if Morneau was 100% sunshine, the fact that he had symptoms as recently as JANUARY (last month) means there is zero confidence that he's over these problems now. For people who can't understand this, think about a 33-year old slugger who comes back the next year and just falls off the face of the Earth. A guy like Mo Vaughn or Greg Vaughn who was once an elite hitter, and then loses just a bit of bat speed and reaction time, and suddenly they can't even hit .200. Morneau's ability to focus has been compromised by concussions. The changes may only operate on the level of one-thousandths of a second, but that's enough in baseball to completely wreck a hitter's swing. I really wish he could play, but I'm glad he has the proper perspective on this if he can't.

Interesting take. I've said all winter that the most surprisingly under-reported item discussed in the offseason was Mauer's transition to 1B. It became pretty clear last year (during the short stretches where Mauer was available) that Gardy using that lost season as an experiment to figure out how else they can use Mauer in the field. People have been more focused on Morneau this year and his comeback, which has suppressed the "Mauer to 1B" talk. But let's face, the odds are strongly against seeing Morneau for a 100 games this year, and if the concussion issue is still there, he may not even play 10. He also has several other injuries that could pop up even if the head is okay. Mauer definitely changes his approach when he's hurt. I think people assume that all the criticism of him stems from the fact that he was a #1 pick, hometown hero, and this 6'5" guy that should have power. I think what frustrates them more is that you can just tell what his approach is when he gets up to the plate, and it isn't one of a guy who wants to be a star or a team leader. He reminds me of how I felt in Little League...I was a big kid and a good player, but I wasn't a power hitter. I was more focused on doing good for the team, and was just as happy to walk or slap a single somewhere because that would pass the buck to the NEXT guy, who may strike out or strand all the runners on base. Mauer's like that too, to a degree...he plays scared. He's a great hitter and very confident in what he does, but he either doesn't know or doesn't want to be the guy that's asked to carry the team. And that bothers the hell out of me as a fan. When Mauer's hurt, he doesn't seem to have ANY interest in driving the ball, whereas he would normally pick his spots and occasionally turn on one. I don't think he can stay healthy at catcher, but I think the start of this season is huge. I think he gets down on himself easily, and if he gets to May and only has a homer or two, I think he's on pace for another 9-12 homer year. Also agree with the guy above who said that hitting at Target Field affects his approach at OTHER ballparks, as well.

This is a great topic, even if it's been discussed before, though I think it's a little unfair to throw it just on Vavra. The "Twins Way" goes much deeper than just hitting the ball the other way instead of pulling it. It's a culture that takes on an almost religious personality in that it discourages personalities that stick out from the "mold" and prefers toolsy, well-rounded players over guys who have glaring weaknesses in their game to go with their considerable upside. Even in a bizarre, parallel universe where guys like Manny Ramirez and A-Rod wanted to come play here (and we could afford them), the Twins front office wouldn't have any interest in having guys like that on their team. Guys like Ortiz and Hardy are the best examples, but sometimes players just do better after changing scenery, and it isn't always an indictment on that team. (Look at how much Jose Bautista moved around before he caught on). Danny Valencia is a good example of this now. I follow him on Twitter, and I've seen him in post-game interviews. I really don't think he's a bad guy - he's a product of "The U" and he's certainly a little conceited/arrogant. But so what? That isn't a reason to run him out of town. And maybe he, like Hardy, would be a .270, 25 HR guy if they stopped messing with his approach. Who knows. But I do feel like black and Latin American players (for the most part) do not feel comfortable on this team, and I don't like that about the Twins. Not when three of the names hanging in the rafters are Oliva, Carew, and Puckett. There are exceptions to this rule, of course, but there are too many examples to the contrary. And I wish this organization would just focus on bringing in the best PLAYERS, and stop worrying about how coachable they are, or if they're only in it for themselves. Baseball is much more of an individual sport than football or hockey - you can win championships with selfish players. And selfish or not, I don't think it's in anybody's best interest to try and change professional ballplayers to all hit the ball like Carew (or Nicky Punto).

I feel awful for the dude himself, but we can stop talking about Zumaya pretty soon because he'll never play for the Twins, and probably will never play again. The guy was 100% green lighted and couldn't even make it through Spring Training. This was always the risk, and part of the reason that I felt like our bullpen was absolute garbage heading into 2012. Since 2009, they've basically deleted Nathan, Crain, Mijares, Guerrier, and Rauch without making any other significant additions (except retaining Capps, who isn't that good). You had to assume that Zumaya would get hurt, because he always has gotten hurt. So what does that leave you with? Many organizations have the ability to just promote from within and get new relievers, but the Twins CANNOT. When you don't believe in power arms for starting pitchers, then you don't even have the option of moving failed starters into the bullpen. Honestly, would you rather have Jamey Carroll for 3 million, or two or three of the relief pitchers on the market that signed for about 1-2 million?

It's true, but really, what the team needed was ANY MLB-caliber shortstop that could at least field the position with some range. This organization seems to limit themselves to white guys at SS and C, when many of the skilled players at those positions happen to be Latin players. I really don't get it. I don't think there's a conscious discrimination on the Twins part, but it's literally been 20 years without them establishing a long-term relationship with a player at either of those positions that didn't fit the "mold", which is "white, humble, and toolsy". Players like Jose Morales, Wilson Ramos, Orlando Cabrera, Orlando Hudson, and Luis Castillo (the latter two of which are second basemen) got barely a look with us and then were just discarded in favor of the next Butera, Punto, Tolbert, Redmond, Bartlett, Plouffe, and so on. Look at what Rafael Belliard did as the "Punto" of the Braves for all those teams in the 90's, he was insanely valuable as a defensive replacement. Yes, Sano is a Latin American prospect and the best prospect in the system, but he won't be a SS either. This organization should be stocked with guys who can at least field the position at the AAA level, but they seem more preoccupied with finding the next Greg Gagne or Brian Harper, and it baffles me.

I've seen/heard Law on Twitter/podcasts, and he is a little more optimistic on the Twins than are most people. I think there is some hope with Sano, Arcia, and Rosario that we get a star player out of that (reserving judgment on Hicks until he does ANYTHING in the minors). What's alarming to me is that you never seen any Twins pitchers on a Top 100 MLB prospect list, and it's not like we're "stocked" on the Twins now as it is. I realize the Gibson injury was partially to blame with that, but injury issues were what led him to fall to us in the first place. You need to stockpile power arms more than any other asset because the majority of them will (a) get hurt or ( run into some crippling problem with their control that prevents them from being effective MLB'ers. Still, swing and miss on a power arm and you may end up with a reliever. When you top-end goal is to draft guys who "may become Juan Pierre" (Ben Revere), you may end up with nothing.

I had that same thought. This list seems to be pretty heavy on guys who are very nearly big-league ready. Sano's an obvious exception to that rule, but he's clearly our best prospect. BA is favoring guys like Benson over Arcia and Hicks, but I think Hicks is a good example of why that can be a good approach. If they haven't shown anything yet as a professional baseball player, i's tough to put them in these ranks.

They have Sano's ETA at 2014. Really, without Sano, the Twins' prospect outlook is pretty bleak. And remember that Hicks was on a lot of these lists the past few years, and his stock is plummeting until he figures something out. I think the Twins are actually overrated by the prospect lists because they still overripen some of these guys (Benson, Parmalee), even though most 99-loss teams would have given these guys a much more significant look. Therefore, we have guys in the minors who are more likely than not to be just average major leaguers, but hope is reserved until we actually see them get a shot. One thing here that should be particularly alarming is: "Where are the Twins' pitchers?". I think the talent evaluators have caught onto the fact that you really can't "scout" for the next Greg Maddux or Jamie Moyer. Heck, you can't even "scout" for a Brad Radke, really, because the vast majority of starters who don't strike guys out eventually run out of luck, and then they're just getting hit. I suppose Kyle Gibson was an attempt at a power arm, and he'd be on this list if he hadn't gotten hurt. Other than that, it's a good thing we play in a pitcher-friendly park...

Anything is possible, but let's not get too carried away. Towles is a career .187 hitter over 484 plate appearances. He also struck out 95 times over that stretch. By comparison, Jason Marquis is a career .197 hitter over 625 plate appearances, during his time batting in the NL.

I like the Towles signing, though I didn't realize until I checked his numbers just how bad his MLB hitting has been. At 28, he's basically a failed prospect, and his career line looks pretty much like Butera's. Except that Towles actually hits any time them they sent him to AAA, whereas Butera never really hit at the AA or AAA level. So, Towles is kind of like a "4A" player, whereas Butera is a guy that probably never should have gotten a shot except that Mauer fell to hell, we bailed out on Wilson Ramos and Jose Morales, and he's "Sal Butera's kid". We don't really have "3 catchers", we have 2 and a half. We have no idea if Mauer can actually handle catching 3 or 4 times a week, but if he can, then I think they're hoping they can tolerate Doumit on the other days. But the odds of either Mauer or Doumit getting hurt are pretty freakin' good, so Towles has probably a better chance of getting significant time with the MLB club this year than does any other 4th string catcher in baseball.