stringer bell

Does anyone want to see Clete Thomas play for the Twins in 2014? Doug Bernier? Wilkin Ramirez?

BTW, I hope Dozier gets some RBI and overtakes Morneau for the team lead. Not sure if that will happen.

I am on a personal mission to lengthen this game thread. Is Brian Dozier the Twins MVP if Mauer doesn't return this year?

Kind of like Dozier at second base.

Did you pass that line to Groucho in the '30s?

Tough error for Trevor. Probably makes up for a few "hits".

Plouffe is stroking the ball quite well. If only he could maintain that, he might have a future with the team.

Good point, Chief. BTW, did you have a good time at the Minn./NM State tilt?

Good inning for Albers, equally good inning for Rogers. Hey, I didn't know Rogers was that good--they named the Jays' home park after him (Rogers Centre).

I'll stick with my baseball team. Pro football only interests me because of fantasy. Best wishes to Albers and the Twins.

I agree with much that rosterman wrote. I don't believe in promotions for guys who haven't performed well in the minors or who won't be playing. I don't see that a couple of the players Joel mentioned have anything to offer more than the guys he was calling to DFA. A week or so I wrote a blog entry entitled "fire 'em all" and I stand by that for the management team, not that they are horrible, but is right now time to change the attitude, the culture, and the faces of the people running this team. On the field, the trials of Pinto, Presley, Arcia, and any call-ups will matter a bit. I have said since April that the success of this season will be about establishing positions on the team and only Brian Dozier has established himself, so ultimately this season will go down as a failure over and above the team's record.

nyuk, nyuk, nyuk!

It seems to me that every prospective free agent starter falls in one of the following four groups: 1) costs too much 2) not that good 3) won't come here 4) injury prone I guess the answer is to not sign anyone.

Mauer will be 31 next year and will have been primarily a catcher for his entire professional career. He has played 56 games at first and right field for one game. While I don't doubt he could be a good third baseman or corner outfielder, I don't see the point of trying to convert him to one of those positions, since he hasn't played there and there is a gaping hole at the position he has played. He is by far the Twins best hitter and a position where he would be very good defensively (seen that already) and yet not as physically demanding makes total sense to me. Mauer has lost a step or two already from his days behind the plate. I'm in favor of him helping the team by hitting and being an asset at a "low leverage" defensive position.

Arcia--I think he has the necessary tools to be an okay corner outfielder. Comparing him to Dozier is apples and oranges. Dozier's positions in the majors are crucial defensively. We have Hall of Fame corner outfielders who never approached average defensively. Corner outfielders and first basemen need to hit and the last two days have been heartening in that regard for Arcia.

Dozier only played 84 games last year. He was on the club from May to August and I doubt he'll even be eligible for Super 2 Arbitration one year hence.

I heard the Gophers' AD talking about that last week. It won't be on the Big10 Network, but Teague said that it would be televised somewhere. I don't know what network that is and I couldn't find it on my TV listings.

Looks like there will be a Game 5. 8-0 Red Wings in the 5th.

BP. How can somebody be so effective for a number of starts and then go poof!

2-0 Red Wings after 4. Diamond has danced around five hits but induced two double plays. Escobar has made three errors in three games.

I am surprised that Arcia is playing left with Mastro and Clete starting in right. I guess the Twins want to try him in left, especially if they have a right field-only guy they want to play.

A couple of thoughts--if Mauer is moved from catcher in order to protect his health, why use him there at all? I think that when Mauer isn't the primary catcher, he will be the emergency catcher only--catching when someone gets hurt in-game or when a game goes extras and the benches are exhausted. The Twins have had three catchers primarily because their "face of the franchise" is a catcher. In order to get Mauer in the lineup when he's not catching, they've felt more comfortable having two backups. If Mauer is the emergency catcher, they would be just fine with Pinto and Herrmann (or Doumit and Herrmann to start 2014). I agree that the potential extreme versatility offered by Herrmann can make him a valuable bench player, but the fly in the ointment is that Chris really isn't that good of a hitter. He's probably overperformed at the major league level this year and he has a .220 BA and .683 OPS. There aren't many sure things--I thought Parmelee was going to be a good offensive player after he hit so well in September '11 and backed it up with a dominating stretch in Rochester. Pinto seems to have figured out how to hit pretty well, but I'll believe it totally after he has a few hundred plate appearances. Colabello is old for an unproven player, a liability in the field, looks awkward a lot, but he hits homers. I am curious to see what his numbers look like.

I guess I see Presley as a better version of Clete. He'll probably be an adequate lead off guy, a pretty good defender, and versatile enough to play all three spots if and when Hicks returns. I doubt the Twins give up totally on Chris Parmelee, but I don't think they will hand him a job either. I think he makes the Twins out of ST as a backup 1B/RF and if he hits he sticks, if not he is DFAed and probably ends up with another team.

The Twins will finish their third straight losing season late this month. In a year where I expected they would not contend, they haven't but more to the point they have had precious few players step up and establish themselves. All true-blue Twins fans know that there is impressive talent on it's way to Minnesota, especially among the position players. What was needed this year was to have some of the current roster establish itself for the second half of the decade. With the exception of second baseman Brian Dozier, that hasn't happened. Looking forward to 2014, the Twins will have far too many moving pieces and unproven parts to contend. I viewed 2014 as the transition season where the Twins would become a good team again with a refurbished roster. It could still happen, but too much talent is unproven and there are several holes to fill. I expect quite a bit of off-season activity for the Twins--perhaps trading a veteran (Doumit or Willingham), probably adding a starter or two, but I will project 2014 as if no significant moves are made. Here is my Opening Day projections for both starting lineup and 25-man roster. Starting lineup: Presley CF, Dozier 2B, Mauer 1B, Willingham DH, Arcia LF, Plouffe 3B, Doumit C, Parmelee RF, Florimon SS, Correia P. 25-man roster: Starters--Correia, Gibson, Diamond, Pelfrey, Worley. Bullpen: Duensing, Thielbar, Roenicke, Fien, Swarzak, Burton, Perkins. Catchers: Doumit and Herrmann Infielders: Mauer, Dozier, Florimon, Plouffe, Escobar. Outfielders: Arcia, Presley, Parmelee, Mastroianni DH: Colabello, Willingham. The biggest and most important moving piece is Joe Mauer. I am projecting he will be a first baseman and third catcher, playing behind the dish less than 10 times in the coming year. Mauer being a first baseman makes it possible that Josmil Pinto could start the season as the Twins regular catcher--if the Twins don't move Doumit, I think that move will wait, but barring injury or severe regression by Pinto, it would happen. I've listed Colabello and Willingham as DHs. I expect they would play in the field fairly often, with Mauer DHing some. I've penciled in Plouffe at third despite his disappointing 2013, with Escobar as the only infield backup. I am not really sure that Parmelee will open the season as a starter, but with no acquisitions he has a path to starting in the outfield. I am projecting that Presley (a better Clete Thomas) will open as the center fielder (probably platooning with Mastro), but Aaron Hicks could win back center with a good spring training and probably will reclaim center field sometime in the first half of 2014. I have also included Pelfrey in the starting rotation. He may not be back, but if he isn't I would expect the Twins would sign a similar veteran. In summary, I am seeing a non-contender opening 2014. I expect the season to transition from subpar to something much brighter. The front office can speed the transition up by adding to the starting rotation and perhaps adding a middle of the order hitter. Many players will need to establish themselves, but I think the bottom-out phase will be reached early and that the club will be better and more competitive at the end of the summer than when they start in April.

The Twins put three minor league teams in the playoffs and have seen them all falter. Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers both were defeated 2-0 and Rochester trails 2-1 in a best of five series. The Red Wings will need to win two straight at Pawtucket to advance in the International League playoffs. When the Red Wings are eliminated, the Twins will call up a few of their players. Depending on injuries, that number could be as low as three or as high as five or six. My guess is that the Twins will recall only four guys--relief pitcher Michael Tonkin, 1B/RF Chris Parmelee, IF Eduardo Escobar and starting pitcher Scott Diamond. If a fifth player is recalled, I would guess that it would be Cole De Vries. All of these guys have seen time with the Twins and none profile as potential All-Stars. Notable in not being called up would be the Twins Opening Day center fielder Aaron Hicks. I have stated that Parmelee's role has changed from a guy given a job with a chance to establish himself to a guy who has to win a job. Parmelee could have a chance to win an outfield job or first base next year, but more likely will be competing to be a bench bat to start the year. Chris just hasn't hit enough to merit consideration to start at either first base or right field. He would figure to get quite a few at-bats upon his recall and the hope would be that some solid hitting would build his confidence heading into 2014. Escobar has had a good stint in Rochester. He hit .307 with an .880 OPS in nearly 200 plate appearances. He is regarded as a fine three position defender and should be a favorite to make the Twins as a utility infielder. If any of the three incumbent starters falter or are injured Escobar would be the #1 candidate to take their role. Being a switch hitter and seeing the platoon splits of two Twins' infield starters, Escobar could be in line for considerable playing time next year, whether or not someone struggles or is injured. Escobar has logged a lot of major league bench time in the last two years and his time in Rochester may have helped his development more than more pine time in Minnesota. It will be interesting to see how much he plays and whether he can continue to hit upon returning to the majors. Tonkin had a very good season. He started in New Britain and was a mid-season callup to the Red Wings. He had two appearances with the Twins, one impressive, one not so much in a blowout. Tonkin features a big fastball and a power slider IIRC. On a team with few power pitchers, the Twins would love to see him thrive for them next year. Tonkin seems to have struggled in his last couple weeks. I am not sure what to expect from him and if the team decided he's thrown enough, I guess he might not be recalled at all. I'm a Diamond fan. He went down to Rochester and after a rocky first appearance has pitched very well. Diamond is in the mix for a starting job in 2014 and a couple of good starts would help his confidence heading toward the new year. Diamond will start the Red Wings playoff game tonight, so how he throws would have a direct bearing on when and if he is recalled soon. Diamond's numbers at Rochester: 4-0 record, 33 H in 41 IP, 9 BB and 19 K and a 2.41 ERA. De Vries is my sneaky candidate for recall. He started 2013 on the Twins' DL after probably winning a spot in the rotation, had a couple setbacks, performed poorly, but since rehabbing he has been very effective. De Vries was a pretty effective major league pitcher in 2012. He hasn't been mentioned much as a candidate for the 2014 rotation, but a few good starts might open some eyes going forward.