stringer bell

Nice Crash Test Dummies reference! Hard to know exactly what goes on in negotiations.

Will the Twins make a trade or sign a free agent who will make the 25-man roster in April?

Intentionally throw a pitch up in the zone? Sacrilege!

In 901 plate appearances, Parm has a small overall reverse platoon split. If you put his split this year against LH pitching together with his split last year vs. RH pitching, he would have put together a pretty good year (something over an .800 OPS)!

As I stated above, he would then have the option to become a free agent. Given that the Twins situation is terrible for him, I can't see him accepting assignment to Rochester. I don't see this as the end of the road for Parmelee. Of the two Chrises let go by the Twins, I think Parmelee has the much better chance to stay in the majors and also a better chance to be a real contributor to his next team. Best wishes to him.

This time Parmelee has the option to become a free agent. I would guess he is about certain to go that route. I think his role would be on a National League team since he has played almost exactly as many games in the OF as 1B. He could be a pinch hitter and double switch candidate and a LH alternate at either corner in the OF and first.

I have a generally favorable opinion of the Santana signing because I really believe you can't have too much pitching. It pretty much takes care of spending for other needs (outfielder w/ above average defense), but the position player side of the equation is in much better shape than the pitching side. It seems to me that something always happens and guys who weren't in the top six or seven to start the season make multiple starts. The trick is what to do with all of the starters until the inevitable breakdowns occur. Terry Ryan is a good GM (IMHO), so I think he can find a way to get all of the guys innings and work either in the starting rotation, the bullpen or Rochester. Also, I think having a tradable commodity isn't a bad thing.

I'm not a fan of the Hunter signing and I am skeptical of him providing intangibles to make the Twins a winner. Hunter serves as a great example and he does compete, but the key is performing on the field. I disagree with the veiled reference that the Twins don't try or that they give up. Just because they are, by and large, "nice guys" doesn't mean they want to win more or less than vocal, emotional players. I don't think that judging by spring training appearances is a good idea.

The Rule V guy needs to be listed, perhaps in his own category. I would quibble with listing Thielbar, especially, as established. He has less than two years service and an option remaining. If he isn't any more effective than the second half of last season, I can see him being sent out.

Trying to be fair to both sides of this argument: Mauer is one of the top four or five all-time hitters for the Twins. His '09 season might have been the best ever by a Twins player. Part of the reason for his success has been his ability to "do what he does" no matter what is going on around him. If he wants to be a Hall-of-Famer, he now, for the first time really, has to make adjustments in his hitting--more swings early in the count, use the whole field, try to drive more hittable pitches--and it remains to be seen whether that will happen. It shouldn't be a shock to see him hit a homer and right fielders should not be able to work on their hangnails when he's hitting.

It is possible to bounce back and have a good year at age 32. Here are age 32 stats from the Twins Mount Rushmore: Carew--.853 OPS 139 OPS+ (batting champ), Tony-O-- .915 OPS 154 OPS+ (batting champ), and Harmon--1.011 OPS 177 OPS+ (MVP). I'm cheating a little bit with Harmon's numbers--they are listed as age 33, but he had a mid-season birthday and divided his season almost equally before and after that birthday. Carew had his MVP year at 31 and was traded after his 32 year, never reaching those heights for the Angels. Tony was injured and never the same after his 32 year and Harmon's 32/33 year was his best, followed by another great season, a good season and then rapid decline.

I am in the camp that wants to add Bourjos. He would immediately be the best defensive player the Twins have at any position and it is a key one. It would address the biggest weakness the Twins have on the position player side--outfield defense--and would not cost much more than a second tier prospect. That move would also put Aaron Hicks in a position where he has to earn a promotion back to the big leagues.

Expanding the topic to include Plouffe, here is what we have: Dozier--A floor of an above-average second baseman, ceiling of perhaps All-Star. Not yet arb-eligible and under team control for four more years. Santana--Wide range between his floor (one flukey good offensive season w/ unproven defense) and his ceiling (.300 hitter w/ great speed, range and rocket arm). He needs to prove he can be an everyday SS defensively. Plouffe--Forgetting his "Babe Ruth month" a few years ago, the floor is mid-range regular 3B. The ceiling is top quartile 3B. He is entering his second year or arbitration and has a Top Ten prospect behind him in the minors. Escobar--Floor of quality switch-hitting 3-position infielder. Ceiling of capable regular SS. He's still young and has improved with increased playing time. If one is to be moved, it is Plouffe. Escobar is a short-term replacement and Sano is the long-term answer at third. Before it is safe to trade Escobar, the Twins need to know about Santana. To me, Dozier is the lynchpin of a dramatically improved Twins team, especially given his contract situation, keep him.

I don't know about mentors and sounding boards, but I do think Aaron Hicks, in particular, may have felt like an outsider in the Twins' clubhouse the last two years. There has been a fairly large Hispanic contingent building with the Twins and a large number of white players, but Hicks was the only African American and the coaching staff was also all white, with the exception of the a Texas Hispanic bullpen coach. For a guy that many thought was hard to reach, the Twins had no one with much of a comparable background (maybe Plouffe, but of course he is white). I gather from the bits and pieces that I have learned of Hicks that he wasn't born and raised on the streets or in poverty. He has a relationship with his father (and his mom?), so he isn't the stereotypical black kid from the projects. Does he have simmering racial issues? I sure don't know, but for all of our country's talk about being color-blind, it is undeniable that racial cliques develop in profession clubhouses and locker rooms. Aaron Hicks' clique was a committee of one.

By the conclusion of the season, Mauer was pretty good at first base. He's got a longer reach than most and probably more athleticism than most first basemen. As I said earlier, every first baseman is hit-first and defense isn't the most crucial at first base, but I think Mauer held his own or more defensively.

Jamie, I would argue that every first baseman is hit first. Morneau had a fine year in the rarified air of Denver, but I doubt he will sustain it. In addition, he's got a cranky back and quite an injury history besides the concussions and he'll play most of 2015 at 34. Mauer is under contract for four more years. Get used to him at first base.

Not specifically at jaimedude, but goodness, we want to improve the defense by putting a 32-year old who has played nine innings in the outfield in his career in left field? Fagetaboutit. I think the prudent thing is to leave Mauer alone and see if he can be a top quartile first baseman for the duration of his contract. The club need more athletes and youth, not adding decline-phase hit first (or only) first basemen and corner outfielders.

You certainly have a point. It is important to remember that African-Americans are Americans, but the disturbances in Ferguson and Staten Island show that the AA culture do have different views of events than majority whites do. I do believe that part of Aaron Hicks struggle is the isolation he has felt as the only African American on the team for most of his tenure with the Twins. Hunter's presence might help in that regard. However, Hunter's presence in and of itself won't make Hicks a better hitter.

They are #25 in the CFB tabulation and finished #26 in both the AP and USA-Today polls, so a victory would guarantee a ranking at the end of the season. I wanted to see the Gophers play in a New Year's Day bowl and the Citrus is as good as they could do this season. I barely remember them losing a game to Wisconsin in the early '60s which denied them another trip to the Rose Bowl and I thought well they'll get their chances in the future. It's more than fifty years later, and even with all the Bowls expanded, they finally play on New Year's Day for the first time in 52 years. I'll take it.

Yeah, I agree with Bark. I wrote about Mauer early this offseason and my primary thought was that Mauer, really for the first time in his career, will have to make adjustments. Yes, he needs to pull more pitches, and yes, he should swing at more meat pitches early in counts. Yes, he needs to be in the best shape of his life so that some of those 350 foot fly balls find the seats. I can't see him hitting .270 again, but I can see him as productive with an average around .300, if he drives in more runs and has more extra-base hits. Mauer looked like a certain future Hall-of-Famer, but continued futility might make him into another Dale Murphy, who never made it to the Hall. If Mauer remains a .270 hitter with big platoon splits, he could become a platoon player as soon as some time this year and the #3 spot in the lineup could be forfeited to someone else.

I am not sure if Pinto might be moved or if he simply loses out to another catcher acquired in the next month. If the Twins acquire a better complement to Suzuki, Pinto could end up in Rochester waiting to be traded or for an injury. I guess it won't be Masterson according to media reports (of course according to media reports, Torii would not have signed in Minnesota), but getting someone in the rotation that has a chance to be as good as Hughes was in 2014 is something that should be done.

The signing of Torii Hunter has brought off-the-field issues back to the fore for the Twins. Part of the reason for signing Hunter has been for clubhouse leadership, mentoring of young players, and also bring back fans to the park. Hunter's pros and cons in these areas have been analyzed more than the break on Phil Hughes' spike curve. I weighed in on several threads saying that it wasn't possible to measure if there would be any effect and I doubted there would be much effect anyway. This commentary does bring up questions about the Twins' clubhouse and whether a lack of leadership has been at the root of the Twins' struggles for the last four years. I am of the opinion that talent and winning are much more a component than whether Torii Hunter or Kirby Puckett are a positive clubhouse influence. I think that some of the guys who have been looked at as clubhouse leaders are more likely just the gregarious guys who give good quotes to the media. The Twins have had a succession of nice guys who are accessible such as Dozier, Cuddyer, Hunter and Puckett. I don't know if all of them were truly leaders or just media darlings. Guys like Joe Mauer have never been vocal, but they might be leaders just as well. To me, it is still much more about talent than it is about attitude.

Before the Arizona Fall League began I started beating the drum for Eddie Rosario to make the Twins out of spring training in 2015. The signing of Torii Hunter as a free agent makes an already long shot into a near impossibility, barring injury. That is all right because we can project and predict all we want on Twins Daily and only highlight when we are right! Since Hunter's acquisition has occurred, I decided I would try to project again who will come north with the 2015 Twins. Here's my latest take: Pitchers: (12) Phil Hughes, Kyle Gibson, Rickie Nolasco, Alex Meyer, Justin Masterson, Mike Pelfrey, Lester Oliveros, Brian Duensing, Caleb Thielbar, Michael Tonkin, Casey Fien, Glen Perkins. Catchers: (2) Kurt Suzuki, unknown backup catcher acquired in Pinto trade Infielders: (7) Joe Mauer, Brian Dozier, Danny Santana, Trevor Plouffe, Kennys Vargas, Eduardo Escobar, Eduardo Nuñez. Outfielders: (4) Oswaldo Arcia, Jordan Schafer, Shane Robinson, Torii Hunter I originally was going to include Milone in the starting rotation and Meyer or May in the bullpen. Milone has an option remaining and I think the Twins will want to see what they have with Meyer, who has still not thrown his first major league pitch at age 25. They've seen a bit of May and both he and Milone will get a shot. I also believe the Twins will sign one veteran for the starting rotation. I have been calling for Masterson since before the '14 season was over. He's my pick to have a Hughes-like breakout. In the bullpen, two hard throwers are in line to get a real shot this year--Tonkin and Oliveros. Pelfrey succeeds Swarzak as the long man, hopefully getting little work in the first month or so. It wouldn't surprise me to see Big Mike get another shot at starting. If he's fully healthy, Pelfrey can be more than serviceable. That just hasn't happened in his two-year tenure with the Twins. Young reinforcements are on the doorstep for the bullpen. I hope the Twins are willing to transition to younger, harder throwers as the season progresses. I have not named a backup catcher to Suzuki. I think the Twins will be looking to trade Pinto or trade for a backup catcher that fits with Suzuki--that would be a youngish defense-first LH hitter. I don't know if such a guy exists, but if the Twins can find such a player, they can and should snap him up. Barring a trade, the starting infield is set. Santana gets the nod at short, although other factors could move him back to the outfield. Escobar is the utility guy, who gets starts at second, short and third. Nuñez is the 25th man, capable of starting at short, third, and left, also right and second in a pinch. I have stated that Aaron Hicks must have AAA time to prove himself, rebuild his confidence and master the next level that he hadn't handled up to now. That means a platoon of minor league signing Shane Robinson and waiver claim Jordan Schafer are my center fielders. I expect Rosario or Hicks to claim the job from Schafer by Memorial Day, but when the Twins open in Comerica Park on Bert Blyleven's birthday, I'm going with the non-prospects to start the season. I expect much better performance from the back end of the rotation, enough the negate any regression Hughes might suffer and enough to lift the Twins close to contention and with a surprise or two, above .500. Here's my opening day lineup assuming Verlander gets the nod for the Tigers: SS Danny Santana RF Torii Hunter 1B Joe Mauer 3B Trevor Plouffe LF Oswaldo Arcia 2B Brian Dozier DH Kennys Vargas C Kurt Suzuki CF Jordan Schafer P Phil Hughes

I can cheer for Torii Hunter despite his views on gay marriage. I can think of him as entertaining, gregarious and engaging while not believing that he will make the team better "outside the lines". His performance on the field will determine whether or not the Twins made a good signing when they paid him $10.5M per year.

Perhaps this deserves a different thread, but I think it is hard enough to quantify events on the field and I believe it is nearly impossible to figure out how valuable Hunter will be in off-the-field areas. Some have pointed out Hunter's "warts" while others have emphasized his popularity with teammates, fans and the media. I see him as extremely popular with the media and fans, not universally revered by teammates. Perhaps he will be a huge positive influence on his teammates resulting in more victories, but more likely his presence won't make much difference. In the broader scope, I am of the opinion that "chemistry" and "team unity" are fueled more by success on the field than the other way around. I think the Twins will win more games next year because they will have a bit more talent and particularly a better pitching staff and that the two highest-paid players will have much better seasons than they did in 2014.