stringer bell

Shocking.

Rather than one big deal, I foresee Ryan making a series of small trades a la the Doumit deal. Trading a pitcher who has had success in the recent past (like Diamond and Worley) should net a decent prospect. If Ryan plays his cards right, he can get guys not yet on the 40-man and also have 40-man space for possible promotions of Myer, Sano and the like.

Colabello does provide more balance than Parm. If CC was a capable fielder and Parm had options left, I would see the balance tipped towards the RH hitter. Losing a player because the bench has better balance has not happened a lot for the Twins. I maintain that IMHO Chris Colabello is a great story but he's short on major league talent. I hope he proves me wrong.

A quibble or two mudcat: Parmelee won't be eligible for arbitration for two more years. I really don't think cost matters in any competition between the Chris & Chris. The fact that Colabello has options left, probably matters, but so does his age and lack of ability in the field.

On the first thought here, I agree that there will be a decision between keeping two or three catchers and logic indicates keeping two in this era where we see bloated pitching staffs. However, I doubt there will be any times where one catcher replaces the other when the Twins are in the lead. Pinch hitting the better hitter would probably only happen late and close or in extra innings. I have posted my take that Suzuki is a lock, Pinto has a very good chance to be the primary catcher, but it wouldn't surprise me if he started either on the DL or in Rochester. If they choose to keep three catchers, I think it gives Herrmann a leg up because he is pretty established as an outfielder and might get some reps in the infield this spring. Also, he is a left handed hitter and the other prospective receivers are all right handed. As far the rest of your blog-wow I disagree all over the place! First of all, especially with so many candidates for fifth starter out of options, I foresee 12 hurlers going north and probably another one stashed on the disabled list, that leaves only 13 position players. You didn't list Brian Duensing, but with all the right handed starters, a flexible left handed reliever would be a big asset. Next, with Escobar the ideal three-position utility infielder, I only see the need for only one backup infielder--Escobar. I can't see Bartlett beating out Florimon at short and I would expect him to head for Rochester or be released. For the outfield, you have both Hicks starting the year in Minnesota as a reserve. I don't buy that. I actually see no scenario where Hicks starts the season in Minnesota. Presley starts in center, with Mastroianni as his backup. Arcia moves back and forth between left and right with Kubel starting in the outfield some and DHing and the same for the Hammer. I'd love to see Parmelee step up and earn at-bats, but if he makes the club at all, he's probably a bench player at least to start the season. To balance things out, it would probably be wise to carry a right handed hitter to be a corner OF-1B.

I certainly agree. Most teams only carry two catchers and probably have about one issue per year where someone other than the catcher has to get behind the dish or they lose their DH. The Twins were in the more rare position where the other catcher was often the DH, but with Mauer now at first and Doumit in the ATL, that will no longer be an issue. I view Herrmann as a player who is as much an outfielder as a catcher. It is a bonus to have a guy on the bench that can also catch. The question is whether Herrmann is a good enough player to merit being on a major league roster, even with the bonus of being a third catcher. I don't think so, but it could be a debatable topic. The way the projected roster shakes out right now, the Twins don't need another weak LH hitter on the bench who is an outfielder. Now if they have such a guy and he is a capable third baseman--that's a horse of another color.

I really doubt that Buxton will see the majors before the rosters are expanded. The questions are whether Hicks will be able to reclaim center field in the first half of the season. Then the question would be whether Presley or Mastroianni (or Parmelee or perhaps Plouffe) would be manning the corners. I do expect Hammer to be moved, unless he Twins roll boxcars on all of their question marks and contend.

I've tried to bring (my view) of reality about Chris Herrmann. While I don't consider him more than a role player as a third catcher/outfielder, he does hit left handed and play a decent corner outfield. He has more major league experience at a younger age than Eric Fryer. While I didn't pencil him in to make the 2014 Opening Day roster, I think he is a bit better of a bet than 50%. I wasn't aware that Fryer had logged considerable innings in the outfield in the minors, but I still see Herrmann as the more versatile player with the added advantage that he hits lefty, while none of the other Twins catching candidates do so.

Which roster Seth? The 40-man or do you mean he is safe to make the team out of Spring Training?

The way I see it is that Herrmann is a third catcher. Fryer is a backup catcher. If the Twins keep two catchers and one of them isn't Pinto, it wouldn't surprise me at all for Fryer to make the club. If Pinto and Suzuki are the two catchers, Herrmann has a chance to make the club as a PH/C/OF.

That's got to be painful!

What is Youk going to make? I realize he's going to Japan, but I thought I saw something saying he was going to get $5-7M.

Not sad, not angry. Colabello's is a nice story. He got to play major league baseball after being passed over for years. He just couldn't hit at the mlb level at least in a part-time role. Best wishes to him.

Don't give up on Hicks. Certainly not for a man without a position. I would love to see Hicks rebuild his value so that he would have high value when Buxton is ready.

I wrote last fall that I would trade Aviles for Plouffe. I don't see Aviles as a full-time 3B, but he truly is versatile and is probably a better overall hitter than Plouffe, although Trevor has more power and is younger. Aviles failed as a regular shortstop after a Rookie of the Year season. I think he is a bit stretched as a SS, but he can play there and is capable at the other IF positions. As noted above, I recall the verdict on Plouffe in the OF was incomplete, if not a total failure. I remember Plouffe looking less than comfortable over there. IMHO, Plouffe is now a 3B, who could move over to first if his bat would play there.

Personally, I don't think Herrmann looks like the typical catcher. He looks like an outfielder when he's out there and he runs pretty well. However, I think the primary reason why Chris Herrmann has already seen the majors, and why he has a chance to make the club out of spring training is his versatility. If he were a catcher only, I don't think he would be nearly as intriguing. I don't see anything that indicates that Herrmann will be anything close to a league-average hitter.

I think it will primarily be Kubel, with Hammer getting several starts against LH pitching. If Colabello makes the club, he might get quite a few starts at DH vs. left handers.

Thank you Monkeypaws for putting Suzuki's offense in perspective. Here is the thing about defense, especially catcher defense--I just don't think many measures are both fair and accurate. I expect that Suzuki is an average defensive catcher and that some of his strengths behind the dish can't be measured such as working with pitchers. I hope the division of labor is about 2.5/1 Pinto, but it would not surprise me if Suzuki gets more work. As a matter of fact, I wouldn't be stunned if Pinto started 2014 in Rochester or on the disabled list. Suzuki is OK as a fill-in and I think he'll be better as a backup.

Just a couple of notes about potential Twins on the Opening Day roster: I think Aaron Hicks has clearly played himself onto the Rochester roster to start the season. Barring injury, the Twins will keep Sano at Rochester to at least delay free agency if not avoid Super 2 status. That is the business of baseball. Further, Miguel could probably benefit from a little AAA time. Suzuki's signing means adios to Herrmann unless Gardy feels like he needs a third catcher who can play capably in the outfield. I have Pressly and Tonkin going to Rochester, even though both look like they could be decent in the 'pen. I presumed Worley/Diamond both make the team, one as the fifth starter and one as 6th starter/long reliever. The other assumption is that Deduno starts the season on the DL. Finally if Colabello can rake in the spring, he might make the club in place of Parmelee. I chose Parmelee because he's out of options, but for a relatively young guy to be a pinch hitter/bench player might not work out, so perhaps there is a chance that Colabello breaks camp with the Twins. It looks like this particular roster leans left a bit, so maybe Colabello as a bench bat/RH DH might be a better fit, although I just can't see him hitting as a major leaguer.

I find that remembering stuff from '87 bleeds into '91. I was ready to say I waved a Homer Hankie at home during '87, but didn't know if they were only introduced during the World Series and then common later on. Also, I couldn't pin down the year or years that I spoke at length to Darrell Miller and Dennis Martinez, although I remember talking to Miller as an Angel in one of the games immediately after the dome deflated (partially).

Yes, but I can edit! Suzuki for Herrmann, I suppose, although I think Gardy would like the flexibility of keeping Herrmann since he's also a capable corner OF.

Kubel has a minor-league contract with a $2M contract if he makes the team, plus incentives. I think Sano and Hicks start in Rochester, for sure.

The holidays are almost here and many of us won't have much time to check Twins Daily until after New Year's. I'm going to throw out my final projections for the 2014 Twins' 25-man roster and my best guess for an Opening Day lineup using only those under contract: PITCHERS: Ricky Nolasco Kevin Correia Phil Hughes Mike Pelfrey Scott Diamond Vance Worley Anthony Swarzak Caleb Thielbar Brian Duensing Jared Burton Casey Fien Glen Perkins CATCHERS: Josmil Pinto Kurt Suzuki INFIELDERS: Joe Mauer (1B) Brian Dozier (2B) Pedro Florimon (SS) Trevor Plouffe (3B) Eduardo Escobar (util) OUTFIELDERS: Oswaldo Arcia (LF-RF) Darin Mastoianni (LF-CF-RF) Alex Presley (CF-LF) Josh Willingham (LF-DH) Chris Parmelee (RF-1B) Jason Kubel (LF-RF-DH) Starting Lineup: Presley cf Dozier 2b Mauer 1b Willingham lf Arcia rf Plouffe 3b Kubel dh Pinto c Florimon ss Nolasco p

If they can get him to work faster, a lot of people would like Pelfrey more. I saw two of his games in person and he pitched OK in both, but got a loss (Twins were shut out) and a no-decision (Arcia hit a game-winning homer after Pelf left) in those starts. Obviously with his WHIP, he had a lot of runners on base and he worked at an iceberg pace with runners on. Also, he tended to nibble and run into a lot of long counts. Maybe more confidence in his stuff this year will make him more aggressive and assertive.

Yeah, I saw his rundown on mlbtraderumors and thought the same thing.