stringer bell

I would assume the Twins will be behind a run or two and will want to hit for Suzuki quite as a few times. I would assume they would tie or go ahead somewhere between a few and a dozen times and if Pinto is DH, they would lose the DH. They would be locked in with Pinto at DH, unable to run or hit for him, except in the most desperate situations. I don't see Pinto as such a superior hitter that it would justify limiting bench moves on a regular basis.

DocBauer--I mostly agree with your comments about SS. Not in total agreement about your roster analysis. Here goes: Despite a "blah" ST, Presley has a spot. The battle is between Hicks and Mastro. If Hicks prevails, Presley slides to 4th OF and Mastro goes to Rochester. Two of three of Kubel, Colabello, and Parmelee will make the club. The loser of this grouping would compete for last man with Wilken Ramirez, Herrmann, Bartlett and a 13th pitcher. The Twins have to decide what is best for Pinto. If staying in the majors is the answer, he and Suzuki are the catchers. If going to Rochester is the answer, then Herrmann and Fryer compete to be Suzuki's backup. I don't think either Pressly or Thielbar make the club because two out-of-options pitchers will be pushed to the bullpen. Gibson could win the fifth starter derby, which would force Deduno to the 'pen and Worley or Diamond to DFA.

If a team uses their second catcher as the DH there is a real loss of flexibility. If Pinto were the DH, then Gardy couldn't run or hit for Suzuki without losing the DH. Hitting or running for Pinto would leave no backup for Suzuki for the balance of the game. It is different than when Maher was involved, since there was never a strategic reason to remove him from the game. Although Doumit was a slow runner, he was a switch hitter and a better hitter than any bench alternative, so flexibility was seldom an issue.

Saw the entire game in person. I thought all of the guys looked good on the mound, Herrmann had 2 knocks, but overall, there is a lot to do in a short time. I will watch tomorrow and hope for better results.

I saw Florimon today. He was with the minor leaguers. I think he may have taken BP with them, but he left just as I arrived. After watching Santana today and Bartlett yesterday, I look forward to Florimon's return.

Presley hasn't done anything to distinguish himself this spring. I have said that Hicks should start in Rochester, but no one else has staked a claim on center field.

Pinto will be 25 on Opening Day and he had less than 80 plate appearances at AAA. While I think he should go north with the Twins, I understand there are factors that could get him sent to Rochester. If he is the DH more than rarely, either he is a far better hitter than I thought or nobody on the team can hit.

Don't know how "Puckett" got into my thread title!??8

I am in Fort Myers with my brother. We plan to be at Hammond before noon. If anyone would like to socialize, I will be wearing a floppy Rock Cats hat and looking like I work at Target--red shirt and khaki shorts. Some threat of rain today--I hope they get the game.e in.

That is for guys that project. Colabello is 30 and has never projected. He's been among the best hitters in his league two years in a row, which earned him a big-league shot, but I doubt he would get close to 1000 PAs to prove himself.

The Twins have four soft-tossing lefty starters, one of whom is out of options!

I don't want to be provocative, but what were the Twins supposed to do? They have either established players or good prospects at almost every position. They tried to sign a fairly two established catchers and made offers to several starters. They could spend a lot of money extending players, but there really is no reason to do this. They have lost more than 90 games three straight years, they have top talent in their farm system that is mostly a year or more away (the top four prospects haven't played above AA, and only one has played a full (injury marred) season at that level. Premium free agents are going to be a tough sell until the team is truly on the cusp. They have money to spend in coming years, they can probably take on a large contract or two in trade and they have some great prospects getting close. I don't think that means the club should overpay for free agents and I don't think it means they should gut their farm system to acquire top talent via trade. Until this year, it appears that money not spent just went into the Pohlad's pocket. This year, they have shown they will spend. It gives us some hope that the team will spend again next year when the market and the team's situation may be considerably different.

I'm conflicted about Colabello. First of all, he's 30. Secondly, he failed in his big league trial last year. Thirdly, he's a DH who can play some 1B, and hitting (for power and average) is his only real tool. On the plus side, he tore up the minor leagues last year, has demonstrated real power, and he's a RH hitter on a club that lacks RH hitting. I think what sours me, though, is his awkward stance and long swing. He's done great so far this spring, but his hits have been almost exclusively against minor leaguers. I'll withhold judgment about his "improvements" this spring until he gets his hits against front-line pitchers.

Raley is not a Rule 5 guy. He was claimed when the Cubs designated him in order to outright him off their 40-man roster.

Hey Paul, where does Kepler start the 2014 season? Does he stay in Fort Myers?

Until Hicks finds his footing in Rochester, yes. I think Presley will be acceptable for then and the transition would be easy with Hicks taking over and Presley moving into the 4th OF role. I think Hicks needs more than 100 Triple A plate appearances to build his confidence. It also sends the wrong message to all the other young players. Just because he's a high draft choice with "tools" doesn't mean he can claim a spot on the big league roster. Spring training means something, but spring training stats mean pretty close to nothing. The Twins thought that Hicks could handle the major leagues, but he didn't. Hicks didn't perform well enough in Rochester to be called back in September. I think he now has to prove it outside of spring training that he's ready to go back to Minnesota.

I don't think real competition for roster spots or starting jobs starts until next week, but if there are some judgments being made, Kubel and Mastro are not helping their causes.

Presley is a 4th OF, who can play an acceptable center field. This is about Hicks' development. I disagree that he "did OK" at Rochester, he had a .650 OPS in about 80 PAs. I certainly don't think that he mastered the level. I would say that Presley "did OK" in Minnesota, but that only really qualifies him as a fourth OF, if that. Presley is 28. I doubt there is much more development left.

I'll go one step farther and say that the long-term solution isn't in the Twins system at this point. I don't know if Santana will develop into anything better than Florimon/Escobar as a hitter and his fielding currently isn't good enough to be a major league SS. Maybe he'll develop, maybe not.

To avoid Super 2, Pinto would have to wait until August. The extra year of team control would start a few days into May.

Hicks only had 25 ABs in June, so basically you are talking about one month where he hit satisfactorily. For one month, Trevor Plouffe was Babe Ruth. I firmly believe Hicks should and will start the season in Rochester. I presume a recall will happen early, but that depends on players' health and Hicks' performance. On Pinto, I think another month of Triple A won't hurt and might help and that it certainly will give the Twins control of his contract for another year.

I'm really hoping for Kyle Gibson to be much improved this year. He's no longer a young prospect, so I hope the breakthrough is this year. As far as Colabello goes, he is a hitter, so he has to hit. I just don't like his approach at the plate and major league pitchers worked him hard. I can't see him hitting big league pitching, but I sure hope I'm wrong.

Today, I will make one change from my earlier projections--I think Parmelee makes the team at the expense of Kubel. That moves Arcia to left and Willingham to DH more often. I think one clue to this will be if the Twins try Parm in left. Arcia has looked to be a bit more comfortable in right and if CP can play an acceptable left, they can leave Arcia alone at one position. I am still half-heartedly going with Bartlett as the 13th position player. IMHO, Escobar is a lock and Florimon is nearly certain to be ready and start at short. Escobar's rep is as a solid fielder at all three positions. I've seen some talk that it isn't really so, but I'll go with his rep. As far as defense goes, I think Escobar doesn't have great range at his best position (SS), which is why Florimon is viewed as the clearly better option there. Escobar would have to hit his way into the starting lineup and that is a tall order for him. Anyway, I'm going with Bartlett as a second utility guy and possible RH bench bat. His competition would be Colabello and Wilken Ramirez. Colabello is bat-first and a liability on defense. Ramirez is a three-position OF, who can cover CF for a day or two, not much longer. Here goes: Starters: Suzuki, Mauer, Dozier, Florimon, Plouffe, Willingham, Parmelee, Presley, Arcia. Bench: Bartlett, Escobar, Fryer, Mastroianni Starting Pitchers: Nolasco, Hughes, Pelfrey, Correia, Diamond. Relief: Worley, Swarzak, Duensing, Fien, Thielbar, Burton, Perkins. Deduno disabled, unless one of the twelve listed suffers an injury.

Good discussion, as always! There are a lot of points of view, but it seems the consensus is that the kids should play. I guess after three straight non-competitive seasons, it figures that calls for wholesale change should be louder than anything else. I tend to regard past performance more than "upside" or projection, so I do hold out hope for bouncebacks from Diamond, Worley, and Willingham. That said, I'm just not sure there's anything left with Kubel and Bartlett (age & injuries). Bat-first guys have to hit and I would classify Kubel, Hammer, and Colabello in that category. I don't think I would consider Parmelee "bat-first", he is decent in the OF and a pretty good 1B. IMHO, Hicks has to go back to AAA and master that level. It has been his history to struggle and then thrive at each level and he's not yet thrived at AAA. I hope he has a fast start and supplants Presley. I like Arcia and hope he wins a corner OF job, but he's got to do more than hit an occasional homer. He has the potential to be a great hitter, with a high batting average, but he needs to be more selective and cut down on the Ks. He probably has the least to prove at Rochester of those that being talked about in the roster discussion, but it's possible he spends some time there this year. I am a Pinto fan. I thought he earned his promotions last year and he thrived at each level. From what I've seen and read, concerns about his defense are overblown, but he isn't a plus defender although he has the tools to be that. Let's remember that he had less than 80 PAs at Triple A. Getting regular time there for a month or so might be better for his development that being a backup catcher. 40 days in Rochester would also give the Twins another year of team control. That probably fits into the equation, as well.

Way too early to make decisions about players. I am on record as predicting that Arcia's option will be used this year at some point. I expect that he'll still get over 500 PAs for the Twins, but I expect a stumble along the way. Perhaps sending him to Rochester to start the season and giving Parm one more chance will happen, but I'm sure the leash on Parmelee would be short. I don't think Kubel's spot is guaranteed, but if he hits the ball hard, they will make room for him. A question for you roster-watchers, if Florimon starts the season on the DL but only for a short time, do the Twins keep Santana on the club (he's on the 40-man) or add a non-roster infielder (Bartlett, Beresford, Bernier)?