stringer bell

Vargas at first? No one is listed. The Twins have impressive size at first base as well as on the mound. The outfield could have three all-league players. I think the infielders all have something to prove--hopefully some of them will provide positive answers. CR pitching could be pretty good. I think Berrios is on the fast track and will be the Twins' first under-21 player since Mauer. I liked what Melotakis had to offer and I hope he can stick as a starter. I didn't see Bard throw at all. I believe that Buxton will make Hicks either irrelevant or a corner outfielder. Kepler can really sting the ball and looks like a good athlete.

So Plouffe survived the day without further injury? That is progress. I am not worried about results from Plouffe against minor leaguers, I am worried about health. Who is Z Jones?

I saw Kepler in FtM and liked his swing. The ball sounds different when he hits it compared to most of the others (except Sano) and he is both good-sized and athletic. It looks like he has good speed. I hope to make it to Cedar Rapids at least once this summer as there are a lot of good prospects there.

Agree again with Mr. Brooks. Carroll, if he stays all year with the Twins, will probably get 390-395 PAs.

To me, it looks like it is coming down to Wilkin Ramirez vs. Drew Butera. Ramirez can get an occasional knock and it wouldn't stun anyone if he hit a ball over the fence. Butera's value is the defense he provides at his only position. I want Ramirez, but I expect Sweet Drew.

I'm convinced that the primary beneficiary of a Morneau or Willingham trade will be Arcia. He's probably already a better hitter than Benson, and if a corner opens up, he should at least be platooned. He has the added advantage of being a lefthanded hitter.

I watched the club in person for a week. I saw four games and watched the minor leaguers for parts of three days. I think going to spring training is something fans should do. You get to see the players up close, get to see the players before they are stars, and get access to the brain trust. I spoke to Terry Ryan for awhile and listened to him speak to other fans, as well. Here is my unprofessional evaluation of the 2013 Twins: Offense--small improvement. I expect improvement from the middle infield mostly because it can't get much worse. I also expect at least two of these three (Plouffe, Parmelee and Dozier) to thrive and establish themselves as big league regulars. Hicks won't hit for the average that Span did, but he's always had a pretty good OBP and he has some power. The Twins will start with four regulars 30 or over (counting Mauer who turns 30 next month) so it isn't likely those guys will be better than last year. Pitching--Slight improvement in the rotation, decline in the bullpen. While none of the starters look stellar, I expect overall improvement, sadly because they were so bad last year. Most everybody will probably get a chance and somebody will step up as Diamond did last year. Perkins will be the closer and I expect him to be pretty good. Burton was terrific last year--it's pretty tough to expect an encore from him. Most of the rest of the bullpen is filled with question marks. Defense--Marked improvement. I think Florimon or Escobar will get most of the innings at short and both are good defensive players. Dozier seems to have found his niche at second and Hicks is a gifted defender. Add in a reinvigorated Mauer catching more and throwing more effectively and the core of the defense looks very good. There will be limited range for the corner outfielders and questions about Plouffe's defense at third, but overall the Twins look much improved when they are in the field. Does this mean more wins? I expect a few more victories, but until they get more horses in the rotation, the Twins will still struggle to get close to .500.

I was also in Florida last week. I agree with halfchest's assessment of Dozier's play. He had a terrific defensive game Wednesday night. He has hit a bit better of late, including going deep today. I have a bet with my brother that Dozier will hit over .260 and I like my chances. The key will be whether Dozier dramatically improves his OBP. After being a pretty patient hitter in the minors, Dozier didn't take many walks and had several "giveaway" at-bats. It seemed to me that BD really was pressing and with a better mental outlook, he should do much better.

While I'm not totally averse to Mauer hitting second, I don't think it is as simple a proposition as OBP. Gardy seldom hits and runs with Mauer and he does like to put runners in motion. Traditionally, the best hitter in the lineup hits third and Mauer is the best hitter, despite not being much of a home run threat. I'm not sure if Dozier would be up to hitting second, but I don't doubt that Gardenhire will try it.

I agree 100% about Joe. While his hitting has been subpar, he's apparently healthy and isn't beating himself up too much when he doesn't get a hit. The strikeouts continue to be too high, but slumps happen. As long as he has an option left, it is fine to send him down and wait (hope) for Joe to harness his tools.

Hicks is a better fielder for sure. He also has shown patience as a hitter at every level and would profile as a leadoff guy. Mastro is older, no better at getting on base, and less impressive defensively. I hope that Hicks can demonstrate he can handle being a big leaguer without hurting his development and I believe he will. Mastroianni is a backup outfielder who has added value as a baserunner. His role should be as a fourth OF.

Yes, much to say but I am at work right now. I'll write quite a bit about Ft. Myers when I get home tonight (with the snow blowing outside!).

I think Benson gets this year to re-establish himself as a potential starter. If he isn't up to it this year, he probably joins the Clete Thomases of the world as guys that will kick around and hope to "find it" maybe with the Twins, maybe with someone else. I really like Benson's tools and I don't see any point in having him play once or twice a week and otherwise serving as a pinch-runner and defensive replacement. However, if he can't get it going this year, it's probably time to move on to the next class.

Benson has an option left, correct? I would expect that he will be sent down and play every day for the Red Wings. If he can get it going there, then the Twins can look at giving him a bit more sporadic playing time in the majors. However, if Arcia hits as I expect, he will probably be promoted when (not if) either the Hammer or the Big Canadian get moved.

It's kinda going in reverse order for the "non-locks"--Gibson, Hendriks have drifted down while the former long-shots (Deduno, Walters, De Vrieze) have moved up. I'm too confident that they'll all get their shot if they perform OK at Rochester, but Hendriks now has to pitch his way into the rotation (IMHO) or have D, W, D pitch their way out. I am in favor of a sixth guy beginning the season as the Twins long man, because with that staff there will be many opportunites to go multiple innings--besides if either De Vrieze or Walters doesn't make the rotation, they probably deserve a shot to go north. Besides the bullpen guys haven't covered themselves in glory anyway.

I just got back from Ft. Myers and I would like to remind all here of a couple of things: 1) While it is fun to speculate, the reality is that the roster will look considerably different by midseason and that everybody who is being considered will most likely have the chance to establish themselves at some time this year. 2) This season IMHO, is about players like Plouffe, Parmelee and Dozier (among position players) solidifying their role as big-league starters. I am betting on all three to thrive, but odds are one or more will fail and become failed prospects. On the pitching side, it is disappointing that Gibson was sent out early, but he will be the first call-up if he is effective at Rochester and it is a near-certainty that everybody in Rochester and New Britain who pitches well will get their chance with the Twins. FWIW, I think Hendriks and De Vries both start in the rotation as Diamond is brought along slowly, Walters makes the club as sixth starter/long man and Pressley gets a spot. My prediction is that Sweet Drew makes the club as the 25th man, despite little need for a third catcher.

I watched Diamond throw today and he looked pretty good. He signed autographs afterward and said his elbow felt good. I don't know when he'll be ready but I doubt it's more than a couple weeks into the season. Pressly and Burton had nice outings Wood survived to pitch two scoreless innings. Pelfrey and Burnett weren't very effective. Parmelee homered and walked (twice I think) and Benson had three hits.

My brother and I have been in Ft. Myers since Sunday night. My brother is talking about extending his stay next winter--good for him--but I'm sure I won't be down here more than a week in the near future. The weather has been cooler than last year and I've only gotten in the pool once. I'm playing golf tomorrow ahead of going to Jet Blue to see one more game before heading back to wintry Minnesota. This is my second year here and with the added experience I have seen more and experienced much more minor league activity. I have seen almost all of the Twins top minor leaguers, except for Berrios and Rosario, and I think the future looks pretty good. Sano and Buxton could be great players and JR seems particularly high on Buxton. There are oodles of Latin players and I noted an increased number of Hispanic coaches among the minor league staff. I'm not sure there's enough pitching in the lower minors, but perhaps that is the case in every camp. The big league team doesn't look too good. Part of that may be the absence of Mauer and until yesterday, Morneau. The starting pitching looks subpar and the bullpen is iffy. There doesn't figure to be much offense from the middle infield and the prospective corner OFs lack range. This rebuilding team is slated to start four guys over 30 on Mauer's birthday, which points to me that the Twins will almost certainly move someone by the deadline. The experience of watching Twins games is a good one. You see many people and get to know quite a few of them. The staff is friendly and helpful. It is worth it if any Twins' fan gets the chance.

I expect to getdown there at least once. My daughter lives less than a half hour away. Having seen most of these guys in the last two days, I really look forward to the trip more.

A little more from Ryan: Niko Goodrum has great tools, but isn't a great ballplayer--he needs to be much more consistent. He'll start in Cedar Rapids. Santana (the SS) isn't a big guy, but he's strong and tough. Our own AJ Petterson has a good chance to be a major league utility player. He can play second, short, third and the OF, plus he takes a good AB. Ryan likes a lot more about Buxton besides the tools. He's a good kid with the right make-up. Ryan discounted spring traiing performance (both positive and negative) and used Hermson as an example, saying that he's been terrible this spring, but he'll be fine this year. About two minutes later, Hermson left the mound with a pulled ribcage muscle or something according to Stu Cliburn.

Not much time, but here's a few (more later). He said Robertson threw the ball the best he had all spring last night. He needs to get righties out and he did with the changeup, Buxton is the fastest player they ever had "he runs with Bo Jackson". Sano doesn't move well enough at third "he's too big". Melokotas (early pick last year) will be a starter this year. When I asked if he liked his talent better this year, he said (pointing to the AA-AAA intrasquad game) "they're the same guys". When I mentioned the big guys he'd acquired in trade he said "when you talk about size, I always answer that Johan Santana is 5'11".

It's Tuesday and I spent a few hours watching minor leaguers. My first question is: who is the guy with the #88 Kernals uniform? I probably should know, but I don't. Secondly, I stood next to JR for half an hour and got some nuggets to report. I'll do that in a bit.

I also went to Port Charlotte and saw the TwinsRays game there. I went with my brother who has mobility issues. We were directed to handicapped parking across the highway and told we had to walk to the park, about a quarter mile away. Fortunately my brother had a "rascal" scooter--think of George on "Seinfeld"--but it otherwise would have taken a long time and much exertion for him to get to the park. Rant over. It was a pretty good game, few Twins big leaguers stood out but the Twins prevailed 6-4 in 10.

I watched minor leaguers on the back fields yesterday culminating with two intra-squad games. Some observations--1) There are a lot of Hispanic kids in camp. There are a number of Hispanic field staff and I'm sure that is necessary with all of those young Dominicans, Venezuelans etc. 2) The ball really jumps off the bat of top prospects--Sano and Buxton both homered in their games and Sano had a couple of impressive rounds of BP. Kepler looked pretty impressive, too. 3) Youth! Probably because I'm old, but these potential players are just boys right now despite a lot of impressive size.

I, for one, think that is good news.