stringer bell

Yep. Aaron Hicks would seem to be a CF where all five tools project to average or better and a switch hitter. If he puts a good 3/4 season in, he will be very valuable and if Buxton continues his development, very expendible. Much like trading a very good catcher (AJ) because Mauer was on the horizon, I think this is the best possible scenario for the Twins. Perhaps they would get the near major league ready SS or another stud pitching prospect or both.

The Twins had a Triple A team in Edmonton and then they had Salt Lake City for a few years. I remember a lot of marginal guys putting up great numbers, then coming to the majors and failing and flailing. It has to be a little bit more apples to apples comparison when comparing AAA stats. And still it is hard to project on stats alone. Chris Colabello being a very obvious example.

Where I differ Brock is that he is not Matthew LeCroy, who just couldn't throw well enough to catch or to use a different position, he is not Brendan Harris or Trevor Plouffe, who just didn't/don't have the tools to be major league shortstops. Pinto has the tools, and a very good work ethic. The rest of his defense can and should develop to be at least acceptable.

It seems to me that the difference between the optimists and pessimists is Pinto's defense. I think his defense will be more than adequate. His blocks pitches well, throws well, and hustles. His deficiencies seem to be the nebulous "managing a game" which can and should improve with experience. I think his bat plays from average to above average for a catcher and as I said I would think he will have an OPS+ north of 100 through the next few years. That is not Joe Mauer, but it is starter quality and many standard deviations above Sweet Drew.

I think "marginal" is a bit strong to describe Pinto's prospect status. I would say that he isn't top tier and doesn't have an All-Star ceiling, but he profiles to be an average to better-than-average starting catcher IMHO. I like my prospects closer to the majors, so I tend to overrate the guys that do well in AA and AAA, but Pinto's progression suggests to me that he can be an over 100 OPS+ bat and league average or better defense.

I am glad to see some rationality on Pinto. He, from where I'm sitting, has the tools to be a very good defensive catcher. As cmath pointed out, he needs to work on game management, but just about every young catcher needs to do that. I'm not sure I would put him in Ramos' range as a prospect because Ramos was much younger when he reached the bigs, but I think he can and will be a quality starting catcher for a good stretch if he remains healthy.

Mlbtraderumors.com says that Seattle might move one of their young middle infielders before Opening Day. They listed and compared Franklin and Miller. This is the kind of player I think the Twins should be looking for. Thoughts?

Presley is what he is, Mastroianni (if healthy) is what he is. They are both fourth OFs capable of playing center field. Hicks has the tools to be very good and earn a job as a center fielder somewhere. The performance was bad last year and all but guarantees him a trip to Rochester to start the season. I expect him up by Memorial Day and I hope he establishes himself to be a major league hitter and plus defender. Presley starts the season in center leading off, but is supplanted pretty early.

jmlease1--to borrow a phrase. If Hicks ain't starting, he ain't departin' (north to Minnesota). It would be foolish to the max to take a guy coming off a disappointing year and deposit him on the bench. I think the sentiment is similar with Pinto. Both guys have much less than a half season at AAA and might benefit from some more minor league seasoning.

It is "yuck" going north, but by midseason, I expect Pinto and Sano to supplant the veterans at catcher and 3B respectively. I also believe we'll see Hicks by Memorial Day. Add in a September recall for Buxton and the table is set for a much improved lineup going forward. Meyer and Gibson probably will get their promotions sometime this season, as well. I'm not terribly optimistic about the present, but the near future looks really, really exciting.

It is interesting that so many think of Hicks' defense as elite. IMHO it wasn't even average last year. He displayed the tools to be very good, but he had a bunch of bad jumps and misplays, especially early in the season. On the Arcia discussion, if he fails to improve this year, then talk about him as only a bat. A lot of young players depend on their innate gifts in the minors and learn to be better (defenders) as major leaguers. I think that Arcia has the tools to be average or better, but he has to work at it.

Pretty close to my projection. I have Bartlett making the club as the 25th player over Parmelee. I also have two out-of-options starters in the bullpen over Pressly and Thielbar. The Twins probably need a RH or switch hitter for that last position, Parmelee would replace LH hitters Kubel, Mauer, or Arcia.

Pretty much what Kwak said. I also believe that it far too early to assign DH duties to Arcia. He moves pretty well and has a good arm. I thought his defense was a couple increments worse than dreadful last year and he needs to really work on his defense, but he is young and the bat projects for him to be pretty good. Hick, OTOH, needs to be better with the bat to slide over to a corner. As Kwak was pointing out, if you want to diagram a team you need above average contributions from more spots than one or two and outfield corner could certainly by manned by someone with more pop than (I think) Hicks can provide. I like outfield defense as much or more as the next guy, but corner OFs need to hit and penciling in Rosario and Hicks just doesn't provide the pop needed unless everybody else is a star or superstar. I think Aaron Hicks has a chance to be a very good centerfielder, as good or better than Denard Span, but the next man up is going to be something special unless he gets hurt.

Disagree with you Mike. I don't think Hicks will ever hit enough to be an asset as a corner OF. I like him as a CF, but the best prospect in baseball is coming behind him. The optimum is for Hicks to up his value and for the Twins to trade him.

I would say it would be the absolute best time to trade him. I see the Hammer playing a lot of left field, with Kubel filling in there sometimes.

The Twins currently have about four players "on the bubble" for making the club this year who are out of options. By my count, Deduno, Diamond, Worley, and Parmelee are all out of options. Parmelee has a chance to make the club as the 25th guy and one or maybe two of the pitchers could go north (two if the Twins stash a starter in the bullpen). I'll give my quick guess on each of the four and then open it up for discussion: Pamelee is still youngish (26 next week), demonstrated the ability to play both first and an outfield corner, has a first round pedigree, and hits lefty. He's had just over 600 plate appearances and hasn't hit well since a September audition in 2011. I think it is just more than 50% chance he would be claimed. Deduno: He's 30, has quite an injury history, including shoulder surgery after the 2013 season, has shown the ability to induce weak contact, but also has historically had monumental control problems. Deduno had a good run in the 2013 season (ended by his shoulder injury) and has the calling card of unusual movement and break on his pitches. I think the injury history and age would scare off people and that Samuel would not be claimed. However, if memory serves, Deduno has been designated once already, so if he were DFAed, he could elect to be a free agent if unclaimed. Worley: A pretty good pitcher for the Phils until his elbow acted up. Worley was dreadful for the Twins last year. He may or may not have been a mirage or maybe he will never be the same after his elbow woes. If he doesn't make the Twins rotation or get a consolation spot in the bullpen, I think someone would take a chance on his success from not that long ago. Diamond: Quick, which current Twins pitcher had the best single-season qualifying ERA+ this decade? That's right--Diamond's 116 in 2012. Diamond will turn 28 at mid-season, throws lefty, but doesn't have anything resembling overpowering stuff. I think he would also be claimed because of fairly recent success. It goes without saying the I am assuming decent success and no recurrence of injuries during Spring Training.

Game 163, with Casilla's game winner, was the greatest game I can ever remember. It had everything including the walkoff in a win-or-go-home situation.

There will be improvement from within, I think. Also, I think that there will be a changing of the guard during the season this year. First, I doubt Willingham lasts the season as a Twins, secondly, younger higher-upside players should claim three positions sometime this year: Pinto (who, in my book starts in the minors), Sano, and Hicks. I don't think any of those three is on the Opening Day roster, but they will supplant the season starters and improve the offensive productivity going forward. Arcia will likely move forward and backup options look to be far better than Doug Bernier and Clete Thomas.

Picking nits here, but my math says that he is 28, but will play almost all of the 2014 as a 29 year old.

MLBTradeRumors (via Doogy) reports that the Twins have displayed no interest in Bonifacio. I am disappointed, but not surprised.

During the season AL teams get the first shot, during the offseason it is all of MLB, so the Twins do get the fifth shot to claim Bonifacio.

I'd would say that the Twins should claim him and almost certainly, they would win the claim (Houston and Chicago go first?).

Don't forget that Berrios' season last year was complicated by being part of the Puerto Rican team at the World Baseball Classic. He worked out of the bullpen there and didn't get much work. Then he was in extended spring for quite a while before going to the Midwest League and pitching for the Kernels. This year will be more ordered and routine. I expect he will be in Fort Myers for Spring Training and stay there as a member of the Miracle until at least midseason. I hope he gets a taste of AA after that. We should have a lot better idea of his ceiling and his role by the conclusion of 2014. I met JO at Cedar Rapids last year and I thought him to be all of six feet tall. He seems like a pleasant young man and he has a firm RH handshake FWIW.

Not to pick nits, but four months (the difference in age between Bonifacio and Mastro) is closer to the same age than a year apart. Also, Mastro is an outfielder only. He has had one season in the major leagues, in which he played in 77 games. He hits right handed only and has a noticeable platoon split. Bonifacio has played over 750 innings at second, short, third, and center and over 600 innings at the corner outfield spots. RiverBrian gave us quite a rundown on Bonifacio's movements, both from position to position and team to team. I presumed that if Bonifacio is acquired, he would be on the 40-man which would be another edge for him over Mastro. I actually think Mastroianni would and will make a decent fourth OF for someone, but I don't think he's a fit in Minnesota.

That the Twins teams have won only one postseason series since the extra level of playoffs was added is a black eye to an otherwise high point in Twins history--2001-2010 was exciting and there were a number of great players and good teams, but they couldn't get it done in postseason. I would love to see another decade (say from 2015-2024) where the Twins were constant threats to win their division and also have some success in the playoffs, hopefully winning one or more World Series. As far as success this summer, I think one prerequisite would be a better W/L mark, an improvement of 10 game or more. Secondly, the future must be served--Hicks, Pinto, Sano, Arcia, Meyer, Gibson, and Tonkin all need to go beyond getting their feet wet--and maybe we could see a cameo for Buxton and/or Rosario. I really want to feel optimistic about 2015 and beyond after this season.