stringer bell

I have not been impressed by Darnell in his SSS with the Twins or from his numbers at AAA. I know he did well at the end of 2015 for the Red Wings, but I don't think he's got enough stuff to get out big league hitters. I'd rather have Rogers, Cotts, Sipp or Bastardo, or Melotakis (in that order). Otherwise, I think the projected composition of the bully is about right. Fien doesn't really fit for me, but what's done is done.

My interpretation and that of every court until 2001 was that the "right" is a collective right and not an individual right.

The history of the Second Amendment isn't as cut and dried as that. It wasn't until very recently (historically speaking) that the Supreme Court defined the Amendment as the right for individuals to keep and bear arms. I still don't believe that is the correct interpretation.

I was in favor of non-tendering Fien. As noted above, he's a big league pitcher, but he is on the wrong side of 30 and his peripherals are slipping. Maybe the single salvation could be that he still can be optioned, so he can provide depth without standing in the way of a higher-upside setup guy.

Many of the non-tenders have been announced and all should be known in the next half hour. Are there any players that should interest the Twins? The only two that would seem to fit IMHO would be relief pitcher Cesar Ramos, formerly of the Angels, and David Lough, who played last year for the Orioles. Lough would be a fourth or fifth OF, he's had some successs as a hitter against RH pitching and is regarded as a good defender at all three outfield spots. Ramos is LH and breathing, but posted pretty good numbers for the Angels, altough he didn't pitch in a lot of high-leverage spots.

With the two option years, Hicks will be able to shuttle back and forth from Rochester, if needed. In addition, he would be the third catcher in September. It sounds like his defense is really good, which is the most important thing for a guy in that role.

I think he's the new Herrmann-Fryer-Butera. A backup in the event one of the catchers is injured. Ideally, he would have options so that if Zuke or Murphy was dinged, he could be recalled without disabling the dinged player.

mlbtraderumors.com has Milone pegged at $4.5M, not $7M. I would submit that what Milone provided to the A's and what he provided to the Twins last year is worth far more than $4.5M. The argument isn't about money, it's about consistency and quality. Milone's worst season ERA+ was a 90 where he stunk it up for the non-contending Twins in 2014. Hughes, Santana, and Nolasco each have at least two seasons where they were worse. Unless he somehow becomes Jamie Moyer, I get that what the Twins got from Milone last year is about as much as they can expect in any year, but his numbers are beyond passable, he is a good pitcher. We don't know if Duffey will come close to duplicating his SSS performance of 2015, we don't know which of the veterans will step up in 2016, we don't know if Berrios is ready. We can assume that at least one of the guys will disappoint or be injured. With so many uncertainties, having a more sure thing (Milone) as the fourth or fifth starter more than makes sense.

It's a near certainty that Santana makes the club out of Spring Training. He will get chances to play in the first month. A year halfway between '14 and '15 would make him a valuable performer. If Buxton is deemed not to be ready, I wouldn't be opposed to seeing Santana trying to recapture his success of 2014 as the Twins' center fielder.

Mega-concur! That was my point about the Royals getting more than fifty starts from the likes of Vargas, Guthrie and Young. The Twins don't have one or two or three guys who we can be certain will be better than Milone. Milone is arguably the most consistent and proven starter in the Twins stable. On Fien, he's 32 and best utilized in the sixth and seventh inning. I'd much rather give those innings to Pressly, Alex Meyer or one of the AFL guys.

Milone is a better pitcher than Happ, 88 mph fastball and all. The World Champions gave 24 starts to Jeremy Guthrie, 18 to Chris Young and nine more to Jason Vargas. I would take Milone over all of them. He has value. Too much to let go for nothing.

I think Cotts could be an asset on a one-year deal. He pitched okay for the Twins last year and IIRC pitched better in higher leverage situations.

The non-tender deadline is Wednesday. mlbtraderumors.com provided a list which included Ben Revere and started a nice thread about the former Twins outfielder. The same article listed no Twins. Technically, Trevor Plouffe, Eduardo Escobar and Kevin Jepsen could be non-tendered, but that won't happen. A case certainly could be made for non-tendering Casey Fien and Eduardo Nuñez. Currently, there really isn't much need for Nuñez as a second utility infielder (after Danny Santana) and an near-emergency outfielder. That would change with a trade of Plouffe. I expect Plouffe to go and Nuñez to stay. Fien has been reliable and pretty consistent. He is an extreme flyball pitcher who doesn't strike out many, which means his margin for error is pretty small. He's also 32 years of age, not ancient, but he's probably seen his best days. While he wasn't the reason the Twins' bullpen rated near the bottom overall, he isn't part of the solution either. I think the Twins should cut bait on Fien. Edit: Seth has started a similar piece in the articles section. I forgot Tommy Milone, who I think should be offered arbitration for certain. You can comment on Twins' non-tenders here: http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/to-tender-or-not-to-tender-r4298

That's a .288 OBP, .302 Slugging and .590 OPS.

Just a clarification--Benson signed with Miami and played for their AA team where he hit .264. Joe's only major league experience was the "cup of coffee" that he got with the Twins. Further, his success has been only as high as AA--his AAA numbers are a slash line of .288/.302/.590 in over 400 PAs. I think the chances of him making the Twins are pretty slight. That said, maybe just maybe, what he needs is to be fully healthy and fully comfortable and he could reach his considerable potential. I always liked Benson and wish him the best.

Revere would be a nice fit. I don't know what he would do as far as the two out-of-options young guys (Santana and Arcia), but he could provide protection in the event Buxton isn't ready, he could be a capable leadoff guy with game-changing speed, and a decent fielder despite his arm. With both Arcia and Rosario able to play right, I don't think we'd have to worry about seeing Ben in right field. I'd love to see that top two hitters being Revere and Buxton--catchers would have some anxiety.

I am surprised that a thread wasn't started earlier for this event. Obviously, it is a trajedy for three people to lose their lives, but it also raises issues that will play large in the coming election. Guns, domestic (non-Muslim) terror and attacking a place that the anti-abortion activists have put a big target on--Planned Parenthood. The talking points for the left wing are there: 1) Few, if any, restrictions on firearms allow a person not fully sane to have enough firepower to kill dozens, if not more, 2) Not every religious zealot says "Ali Akbaa" when committing their acts of senseless violence. 3) If myths and exaggerations go unchallenged, legitimate and legal operations can become targets of the aforementioned religious zealots. It isn't the same thing, but in terms of loss of life, this shooting resulted in three deaths, the same number as was lost at the Boston Marathon bombing. I do wonder if three people were killed by an Islamic extremist, how the story would be covered.

I'm not in the camp that wants to acquire another outfielder. If Buxton is sent to Rochester, having Santana trying to recapture 2014 might be a good idea.

I spent Thanksgiving in New York City, visiting my son and his fiancée and seeing some sites. No, I didn't find Dave W, I guess I didn't look. Anyway, I did attend my first, and probably only, Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. We arrived early and found a place to stand across from Fox News. We saw the parades, floats, minor celebrities and Santa. A women standing next to me asked me if I was from Minnesota, since I was wearing a coat that said "Mayo Clinic" on it. She said that she had grown up in Hinckley and then moved to Scottsdale. We chatted for awhile and finally starting talking about children. She said that her son played for the Twins. I said "oh really" and shared with her that i was a Twins fan for life and that I often contributed to Twins Daily. She said her son was Aaron Slegers and that he was the tallest player in the Twins system--6'10". I remembered Slegers, but couldn't recall which Big Ten school he attended. She said he went to Indiana and that his catcher was Kyle Schwarber, who has made a name for himself. Aaron made it to AA in 2015, after having a nice season at High A Fort Myers. I really don't know if how highly regarded he is, but it does highlight the many players in the minors--how hard they work and the odds against any but the premium prospects to make it to the majors. After a 160 inning regular season, Aaron Slegers works out every day, but hasn't done any throwing and won't for a while. There were more events and a great turkey dinner put on by my son and his fiancée, but it is cool to have met someone with a connection to the Twins a long way from home.

I don't think it is easy to find a guy who is a suitable center fielder, who can be flipped at the deadline and who will sign a one-year deal. I don't think any player signs a contract wanting to be shipped somewhere else at the team's disgression at midseason. They aren't pieces of meat. I've said before that the Twins are intriguing because they have so many moving pieces. There is great potential for success with the many individuals, but also risk of regression or failure. My thought is that there are a many solutions and a lot of them will come through. The highest ceilinged guys are Buxton and Sano and I think the Twins are counting on them, Sano right now and Buxton very soon.

Prior to the Aaron Hicks trade, many Twins fans, including myself, figured that Byron Buxton was ticketed to the minor leagues to start 2016. Hicks had performed well enough in center, Eddie Rosario had staked out a starting corner spot and Oswaldo Arcia comes into 2016 out of options, leaving Buxton without an easy path to the starting lineup. Buxton is still a rookie (one AB short of qualifying last year) and is regarded as one of the top prospects in all of baseball. Here are some factors that should go into the decision on where to start Buxton in 2016: Need--There isn't an incumbent center fielder for the Twins. Hicks was traded, Rosario seems better suited to a corner, last year's fourth OF Shane Robinson has signed with Cleveland. Buxton is clearly already a plus defender in center, so it could be the Twins will need him to claim center field from the get-go. Service time--Because of his mid-season call-up and subsequent six week stay on the major league disabled list, Buxton has logged over half a season of service time. He won't be eligible for Super 2 arbitration two years from now, but the club would have to leave him in the minors for four months to gain an additional year of team control. For all intents and purposes, service time should be no factor in where Buxton is playing in 2016. Development--Buxton may be better served by dominating Triple A. Each young player is different in this regard. It didn't appear to be necessary for Miguel Sano or Rosario, but it did seem to help Aaron Hicks. The club will have to determine what is best for their brightest prospect who will turn 22 in three weeks. Buxton seemed to have trouble with off-speed and breaking pitches and perhaps coming up with confidence after facing AAA hurlers may help him. The Twins have universally lauded his work ethic and dedication, so it will mostly depend on what they think will most benefit the crown jewel of their farm system. To summarize, there is again a large hole in center field that Buxton will eventually fill. Service time should be no issue in putting him on the big league roster and he won't be a platoon or bench player. It will all come down to what the Twins think is the right move in Buxton's development. As the offseason wears on, I am becoming more and more convinced that the Twins will start 2016 with Byron Buxton as their everyday center fielder.

Two episodes in...........me likey.

Thanks to all-contributors, owners, even lurkers.

I just caught up yesterday and wow! You just don't know what will happen next. Great cast, great dialogue, memorable characters.

I'm a white man who grew up in an all-white village and really didn't meet another black person until I went to college. I have made the acquainance of several black people and have compared notes enough to see that their perception of events is often far different than mine. Ferguson, Baltimore, Cleveland and now Chicago, going back as far as the OJ trial shows that intelligent people can look at the same situation and see different things. Media plays a role in this, as well. Skewed views of race are offered on the news and in entertainment. Realism just doesn't exist.