stringer bell

I see he doesn't have quite enough plate appearances, but I would like to point out Didi Gregorius. His lifetime OPS is .742, his OPS vs. the Twins is 1.042. In 32 games vs. the Twins, he has 8 homers and 36 RBI. In addition, he has killed the Twins in postseason (4 games, 2 homers 9 RBI).

Dozier was my favorite when he was here. He autographed baseballs for me when he was a minor leaguer and the year he took over second base. I will take issue with you that he was a brief flash, however. In my opinion, he was the Twins MVP for four consecutive season and his OPS+ was above 100 four consecutive years. Oddly, his All-Star year was the weakest of those four years. He also put up a 98 OPS+ his first season as a regular, so for five years he anchored the team. Additionally, it was stated that Dozier wasn't a 5-tool player. When he moved to second his defense was rated very good, while never having a really high batting average, he did reach base at above .340 clip in three of those five years, he did hit for power, especially as a second baseman. While not a great speedster, Dozier stole 98 bases in 130 attempts and rated above average as a baserunner all but one of his five full years as a regular. Brian Dozier wasn't a superstar, but he was the best the Twins had from 2013-2017, the homers in 2016 were pretty special, but I think he was a better overall player in 2017 when the Twins made the wild card game.

I sat next to Burton's grandparents at an exhibition game, nice folks.They were from the rural south and the accent was thick. I cheered for Jared after that, but after a really good first year, he wasn't very good.

I think it should be noted how much the bullpen changed throughout 2019. For goodness sakes, the closer into May was Blake Parker and two other guys (Morin and Magill) had pretty important roles at some point in the season. Hildenberger was a key setup guy early until he performed his way out of it. Rogers became the closer (often working more than an inning) and Duffey and May claimed key roles, they added Romo for the stretch run. That is a lot of change, almost all for the better. I doubt that each reliever that breaks with the club (if there is a season) will be successful, but with the number of options on the current staff, the bullpen should be pretty good.

Zoilo's defense was outstanding in '65. He demonstrated outstanding range and made plays that few, if any, shortstops could make frequently. There were a lot more errors made by infielders in those days, but Versalles made up for many of those by ranging outside of the normal zone. Oliva was a great hitter in a pitcher's era. I hope he gets added to the Hall sometime.

MLB and the MLBPA agreed yesterday to accommodations for a shortened 2020 major league schedule. Many things are to be determined, especially since there is no firm date for the season to begin. I choose to be optimistic that there will be baseball this summer, perhaps without crowds in the stands. One thing agreed to unofficially was an expanded roster. The number that has been published is 29. I am going with that information and will now name the 29 players I expect will be on the roster for Opening Day 2020 whenever that happens. Pitchers--(15) Berríos, Maeda, Odorizzi, Bailey, Chacín, Dobnak, Wisler, May, Clippard, Stashak, Duffey, Romo, Littell, Thielbar, Rogers Catchers--(3) Garver,Avila, Astudillo Infielders--(6) Sanó, Arraez, Polanco, Donaldson, Adrianza, Gonzalez Outfielders--(4) Rosario, Buxton, Kepler, Cave Designated Hitter--(1) Cruz This would take the current roster, subtract Rich Hill and add both Thielbar and Chacín. My reasoning for this roster includes that the schedule will probably have doubleheaders and perhaps will fill some off days with games, meaning that a larger pitching staff in today's environment would be essential. I have included both Dobnak and Chacín, who have been competing for a starting spot and assume that either the Twins will go with a six-man rotation or that one of Dobnak or Chacín will be a "long man" in the bullpen. I assumed that if the staff were expanded by three that the Twins would add a lefty, even though specialists will be minimized by the three-batter rule. Having an occasional different look could be helpful. The fight for the 13th position player is over--they both win. I had thought Astudillo's ability to make contact and play many positions would win out over Cave's general competency, but with an additional position player spot available, both make the team. As for the pitching staff, it is murkier. First of all, Rich Hill has stated he could be ready to pitch in June. Suddenly, he might miss only a couple weeks or perhaps no time at all. Michael Pineda has two-thirds of his sixty game suspension to serve. I would expect that his suspension is prorated, much as service time will be prorated. If the season is 100 games, his suspension would be 25 games. There is nothing official, but that is what I will go with. I am assuming that Hill won't quite be ready when the season starts and that Pineda will have at least three weeks of suspension to serve. I think the Twins have seen enough of Chacín to want to see a bit more. He may not survive the return of Pineda and debut of Hill, but I don't think the Twins want to give up on him quite yet. Dobnak has pitched the best in exhibition games of those competing for a spot and he was outstanding last year in his brief time with the Twins. Wisler and Stashak both make the bullpen and there still is room for a lefty. I picked Thielbar over the others--Barnes, Clay and Coulumbe all had some moments, but I think Thielbar has pitched better. Hardy just had TJ surgery so he is out for 2020. I think a 29-man roster demonstrates the depth that the Twins possess. In other years, all of the players mentioned would easily make the Opening Day roster and more would have a chance. I have not added Devin Smeltzer to the 29, but believe he could be an option to pitch several doubleheader games if that happens. I don't really see him as a reliever and he has an option to use, so if he were called on to pitch as a long man, he could be shuttled to Rochester this year.

Absolutely. I would add that I take interest in any player who can wow us on defense, so I took special interest in Daal. Also, this article shows how tough it is to project young players when they are signing at 16. You can never be sure how they will develop.

Cruz has been a great addition. I expect he will do very well again during the (most likely) much shortened 2020 season. However, he'll be 40 this year and he will occupy the DH spot in the Twins lineup as long as he is on the roster. The Twins have a whole host of young players who can fill corner outfield/first base/DH in the very near future. Having guys with the flexibility to play in the field manning the DH is preferable IMHO. Unless they get a real bargain in signing him, I think the Twins should not commit to reupping Nelson during the season.

For almost totally the opposite reasons that I think Tony-O should be in the Hall of Fame, I think Kaat belongs there too. He won over 280 games and pitched in the majors for parts of 25 seasons. He reinvented himself after being traded to the White Sox and reinvented himself again as a relief pitcher. Of all color commentators I have listened to, Kitty is my all-time favorite. He holds a fistful of Twins all-time pitching records and won something like sixteen gold gloves.

I was eleven years old in '65. Zoilo Versales was the MVP and had a career year. Much credit for Zoilo's emergence was given to new coach Billy Martin. During the World Series, I was in sixth grade and was allowed to watch the games during lunch. Instant replay was in it's infancy. I remember watching Allison's great catch and then instants later seeing the replay--the old janitor (a German immigrant) yelled "he did it again!" My recollection is that the Twins '65 group was outstanding on both sides of the ball--Grant Perry, Kaat, Pascual and Boswell formed a really good rotation. Al Worthington and Johnny Klippstein anchored the bullpen. Bench players such as Don Mincher stepped up (Killebrew was injured). things didn't connect the last half of the decade despite having Harmon and Tony-O along with Carew starting in '67.

All good choices. I think of a couple of G-Men (Gaetti and Gagne) asunderrated although they won three championships combined for the Twins. Four of the five were position players. A couple more pitchers could get consideration. Jim Perry is one that comes to mind. Kevin Tapani is another that comes to mind.

Oliva and Mauer declined while members of the Twins. In Tony-O's case, there were several years in which he kept playing and was a shadow of his former self. Between '64 and '71 his lowest OPS+ was 129 and won three batting championships. Because his career was shortened and it was a pitching-friendly era, the counting stats aren't that impressive. I was still in school when he played, and was probably impressionable, but I think he belongs in the MLB Hall of Fame.

I was at the last game before the All-Star break in 2018. The Twins were playing the Rays, fell behind and rallied. There was tension and the dugouts emptied at one point. Dozier hit a walkoff grand slam in a game that took over four hours. I thought it might springboard the club into good things in the second half of the season, but they sold and the team floundered. Still a great memory.

Lewis played only SS this spring. I don’t think that is the track for a super-utility player. While Jorge Polanco is an asset as a shortstop, because of his bat and contract, I believe Lewis could at some time force the move of Polanco off of SS or traded. Perhaps Polanco could become a regular second baseman.

Seeing Rooker, Larnach, Kirilloff and Lewis in person turned out to be a highlight of this abbreviated spring training for me. I think the lefties are more ready now, but are corner OF/first basemen. I was glad that Larnach got a game in left field. I have a hard time seeing Rosario in a Twins uni for 2021.

I write this blog entry when I was expecting to do other things. I am in Fort Myers in 80 degree weather with just a hint of a breeze on a nice Thursday afternoon. What could be wrong? Well, actually, plenty. My significant other and I made plans for the rest of winter sometime in January. Because we had made an extended trip of the Christmas/New Year holidays and because we were planning a family gathering for the summer, we decided to stay in Minnesota for the rest of January and I decided I would stay in February until I could make it to spring training for my favorite baseball team. The plan was for me to drive to Florida by way of my daughter's residence in Indiana. I would be in Fort Myers by myself until she was on semester break and then we could enjoy a week together in Florida--baseball, beaches, warm weather--before driving back together so that she could be ready for college to start up again. Things often don't go as you plan them. The expensive ticket for her flight could now be purchased for pennies on the dollar. The Minnesota Twins and all of major league baseball have cancelled the remainder of spring training games. The Final Four won't happen, to quote a song "Broadway is dark tonight" and I would expect more cancellations going forward. This has brought me to think about what is important and what isn't. Having something like baseball to occupy my time is important. Filling that gap is essential. Having health is really crucial. I am thankful to be in good health at this time and I certainly don't want to get the coronavirus, even though it likely wouldn't effect me long term. Many people could die needlessly if measures aren't taken to diminish the acceleration of exposure. I'll do what I can to avoid getting the virus and spreading it to others. Oh yes. I did get to watch the future of the Minnesota Twins (IMHO). On Tuesday, in Clearwater, the starting lineup included Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, Brent Rooker and Royce Lewis. They all impressed me, particularly Lewis, who homered and made an outstanding defensive play at shortstop. If two or three of these prospects pan out, the pipeline will be intact and the Twins should be able to have a first-division lineup for most of the next decade. Today, before MLB's announcement suspending exhibition games, I watched Twins minor leaguers play. I saw Duran throwing absolute gas, Matt Wallner (big kid--6'5") looking good, but not making contact and I found out about a Twins prospect Seth Gray (4th round draft choice from Wright State) from his dad. I'll be a Gray fan now. Seems like a nice kid. Finally, as I was walking back to my car I saw a man walking over to a somewhat elderly guy wearing a Twins hat. Tony-O!. I waited until the conversation was over and asked Tony if I could take a picture. He said that we should make it a selfie, but that he couldn't sign autographs--bosses orders. I asked Tony how old he really was and he said something to the effect of "in America, I'm 81" with a chuckle. According to BB Reference, that is his correct age FWIW. I got back to my room excited about spending more days like today at the spring training complex, meeting icons and nice people from Twins Territory, and now it seems it is over almost before it started. Since I started writing this entry, Disneyland announced they were closing and March Madness was cancelled. This is serious stuff folks.

I read somewhere that the Twins were limiting his time in the outfield, which would probably give Jake Cave a leg up for the last bench position. Could playing a corner outfield position a couple or three days in a row impact Gonzalez’ health and/or availability?

Lewis looked great and the other top hitting prospects (Larnach, Rooker and Kirilloff) all looked pretty good. Kirilloff looked pretty comfortable at first and I was impressed with Lewis particularly in the field.

The only reason for adding him to the 40-man roster would be if he made the Opening Day (26 man) roster. Adding him only to option him would burn an option they don't need to use and leave one less spot on the 40-man roster for adding non-rostered players. Further, those not on the 40-man roster aren't in jeopardy of getting hurt and then drawing major league pay and service time on the injured list. It is likely the three potential sluggers (Kirilloff, Rooker, and Larnach) will get sent to the minor league side for more reps pretty soon, but there's no harm in having them around for now.

It is still really early to include or exclude a player in an open competition. Dobnak has been very good so far, Chacín has a bad inning, Thorpe is just now back and Smeltzer has been OK, I guess. There are three weeks left, lots of time to shine or sink.

I think Arraez is the real deal and will continue to be a high OBP guy with adequate defense. If he is a flash in the pan, there aren't any immediate answers, but giving Gordon a shot makes sense. I don't think Gordon has proven anything about his hitting and his defense in the minors from what I've seen is pretty average. He does have good speed, an ingredient the Twins lack and he's played a lot of shortstop so far. I question whether he is a good enough defender at short, as well. I don't think we can dismiss Gonzalez totally as an option at second base. He played little there mostly because the Astros regular when he was there was MVP candidate Jose Altuve. He isn't ancient-he'll be 31 later this month, and he appears to be able to adjust to whatever position he's asked to play (third base last year after not playing much there previously). Last year, the Twins had Arraez, Schoop and Adrianza to fill second. If they only have one other option than Marwin, I would like to see if he would get some run at second.

Using the rules as they existed last year, the Twins’ bullpen was very durable and more effective as the year progressed. I would expect Rocco to continue to make moves that keep everyone fresh. If the current bullpen stays healthy , they should be effective, no matter what rules are in place.

From a payroll standpoint, Maeda ranks as well as any of those considered.Let's not neglect to mention that the "cost" of his acquisition also included Brusdar Graterol.

I'll put it this way--how many players had their best season last year? For sure, Garver, Kepler, Berríos, Odorizzi, Polanco, May, Duffey and Rogers. Can we expect a number of these mostly young veterans to continue to get better? I don't think so, as a matter of fact, it might be a career year for a number of those guys. Among the players who were here last year,there aren't many who we can expect to be measurably better and there are a number of regression candidates. I think the Twins will continue to be good because they brought in more talent. They have a deep starting rotation, deep bullpen and a very good starting lineup. I doubt they'll win 100 again, but I think they should be favorites to win the division and perhaps get deeper into October. Nothing is guaranteed. They need to play with a chip on their shoulders.

Barring injuries, I don’t see any chance for a rookie or non-roster position player to make the 26-man roster. The top prospects should get a fair amount of at-bats. I’d like to see them all rake.