beckmt

Nice article. Two questions 1. What was the average age of these players when the good WAR were obtained. 2. Filter out the known or suspects steriod users(this will move the numbers greatly against the historical average). Tnks

White Sox have starting pitching which should be better than last year if healty. Offense with losses and some regression could be far worse. Bullpen is good. Team should be in most games, I do not feel they will score enough to compete, and if the issues start early, could wear the pitching down later in the year.

Play him as a starter unless there is the feeling he cannot do it.

Yankees may want this to beat Arod out of the rest of his contract. Morals issues, conduct detremental to baseball. They might try it. It also would help them retain Cano and keep his price down so they could avoid the luxury tax. Maybe the Yanks turned the suspections in.

I think it would be great if this is true. A-Rod should be a second time as hasn't he already admitted them before they were banned(and if you believe he stopped I have some land to sell you). Point on Cano may be right on because it is not Boris who would at least want to see what the Dodgers offered before he sent him back to NY. Braun has been caught and beaten it on the techicallity. Granderson does not surprise me as where did all the power come from when he went to NY.

For the same reason, why if the 2013 is being thrown away, why bring Gibson and Hicks up until May 2014. Then you will have all the parts in synch as far as control goes. My feeling is if Gibson and Hicks belong, please start them up here. It is the only way to not have all the parts and the ups and down at the same time. That is the Royals approach of how they have spent the last 27 years without a playoff appearence. It may be that Hicks is the fourth best outfielder by the time all of the other parts get here(Buxton,Arcia,Kepler,Nate Roberts and others). This is why you do not worry about service time. The only players I might think about are those with Scott Boras as an agent, as he will almost never sell a very good player to a mid market team unless they tell him to do it.

Do not know how Nate Roberts will do, but feel he is undervalued. An onbase machine can work for any ballclub. With the number of prospects the Twins have, it will be difficult for outfielders to advance. Thomas and Boggs may start here or AAA, but they will soon be pushed from the organization to make room for the prospects to get playing time. TR will have his hands full on evaluation as some of these prospects could be used to add to deals to bring pitching talent here.

This is the season for the Twins to figure out what they have. Carroll will fill the hole that fails(hopefully no more than one). Twins are running auditions for next year and 2015. If they happen to be better than expected this year great, but finding what they have is the main mission. Floriman is just getting the first shot at SS, just as Dozier is getting the shot at 2B. Hope they both make it, but do not expect it. Dozier has an extremely short time to prove it as the next wave will be here by 2015.

All are nice stories. Do not see Benson making the team, so twins have to find a pinch hitter. May have to wait and see, Arcia has probably missed too much of spring training to see how he works out. If he could make the team would solve some of the issues. Also going with 3 MI and another bat might work. Give it time. Thome while a good story, does nothing for this club.

Could be possible, fast risers are the type who have put it all together. Program worries me a bit, compitition may be weak most of the time.

Harden will not be ready until May/June at the earliest. Rest is open, Worley may have to find a third pitcher(hope he takes lessons from Bobby Cuellar), Diamond will probably not be ready for a week or two of the regular season, DeVires if he continues to pitch well, may get a shot(more of the Gardy/Anderson type than Deduno(who also is gone for two weeks)). Some will depend on if the Twins bring Gibson north.

Duensing is best suited as a lefty specialist. Unless he does differently this season, we can figure that will be his role, get a lefty out or face a righty that is inbetween 2 or 3 lefties. That puts him into a 7th or 8th inning role. Any talk of him being a starter is a waste.

Escobar may or may not make this club. Gardenhire has stated, he wants pop off the bench. 2 ulility infielders may be too much a luxury. That said any player who can play muliple positions and send Butera to Rochester has to be a gain.

That will be true, but there has to be a buyer for Willingham and Morneau that will pay a reasonable price for them. That may or may not happen, most clubs will not give decent AAA or AA pitchers for a rental player. That means either the Twins have to take suspects or hope the season brings an offer of some A pitchers that have a high upside(and also risk). It also means Willingham will probably be here this year unless the twins are overwhelmed by an offer. Morneau will be whether Parmelee makes it and if the Twins can get a decent offer.

This is what I have been advocating for a long time. Parmelee is no sure thing. If he is questionable than extend Morneau(or tender him and get the draft pick). It only makes sense.

The only reason the Twins obtained Liarano in the deal was because of arm issues. He had already been shut down once for the Giants. You can always hope there will not be injuries, but more pitchers seem to have them these days.

Agree with this. The issue is can Colabello hit major league pitching. We will have a chance to give him some starts when Morneau is gone for the better part of two weeks. Twins should use them an see if Colabello has anything to offer. But he will be gone too, bad move for him as this is his best chance to open some eyes.

Twins are a little lower on this list than Baseball America, but still 6 is a good number. Mystery was why Sano dropped so far. Maybe they pay more attention to batting average or strikeouts plus fielding. Would like to see the metrics behind the rankings.

Rosario could be here by the middle of next year(does well at Ft. Meyers and promoted this year to New Britian) It think it depends more on his glove work than his bat at this time. Assuming he makes it at New Britian this year, he would be at Rochester next year to start and then hopefully with the Twins. Santana is at New Britian this year and would probably start next year at Rochester. By the end of next year only one or at most two of the group will be with the Twins. We need to find out if any of the three can perform at the major league level.

Great idea. I am hoping Pressly makes the team straight up. He is a better upside option than Swarzak or Burnett. Wood and Roenicke are flyers, who would probably clear waviers if they do not make the club. Just do not like either Swarzak or Burnett. Maybe Peridomo could make this role also. Clear out the pitch to contact pitchers that have trouble hitting their spots.

Yes, he should be available for the right offer. I would have to be better than the rumors last year. The difference is that most teams will not give upside prospect pitching in a deal for a good outfielder

Gibson had a good first start. Will be nice to see him on the road as a starter against a good teams best players.

I think the Twins will start to show progress when Swarzak and Burnett are no longer with this club. I agree that Wood will probably have a spot to lose and Pressly will be kept if close. That leaves Roenicke and Burnett on the outside looking in. Swarzak will probably start on the DL and then be sent for rehab, so a decision will not have to be made on him until early May

Plouffe was not included because he has all of this year and probably some of next as I do not see Sano here until 2015-2016. He is more likely a person to be replaced by an FA if the Twins are good in 2014. He would have to have a bad year this year for that to happen.

There are a number of Twins prospects from the upper level of the farm system that will need to produce the spring and summer or risk the chance of being left behind or needing a different orgainization to get to the major leagues in because of the wealth of talent the Twins have coming. 1. Parmelee. He has the best chance of making it and also because of expectations the best chance of failure. His current shelve life is about 1/2 a season, because at that time the Twins will have 2 major decisions to make 1a. What to do with Arcia/Hicks/Benson because one of them is ready to play at the major league level(if not both). 1b. Morneau has come back to close to form and needs to be extended/traded based on Parmelee's output. 2. Benson. Nice ballplayer whose drop in the prospect rankings show how far the Twins farm system has come. If he does not show progress at the major league level this season, he risks being overtaken by Arcia, Hicks, Buxton, Roberts, Kepler for starters as Twins outfielders. My guess on Benson is that he does not make enough contact and is added to a package for more young pitching at midseaon or after the end of the baseball season. 3. Henricks. Liam Henricks has the most upside of any young Twins #4 or #5 starter type. He needs to put it together this year at the major league level or risk the Twins will fill out the starting staff from the pitchers aquired in trades this winter(Myers and May) or some of the other Twin young pitchers (Herman, Wimmers, Deduno,DeVires) to name a few. Once on that slippery slope he will have to prove himself better than the other options the Twins have. That will not be easy. AAA is littered with players who are great at AAA and do not have the stuff to produce at the major league level. 4. Dozier. Brian probably has all of this year to prove he belongs at the major league level. Failure to do so will probably label him as a utility infielder or a AAA player. Twins have Santana, Rosario, and Michael a year or two away. Twins also have the issue that by 2014 or 2015 they will be ready to step up to the next level and contend, so if middle infield spots are not taken, they may be more willing to spend money to bring in a proven player to fill the need. 5. Do not feel that either Floriman or Escobar will be more that a utility player here in two years. That also factors into how Dozier will have to claim a job or find a new home as both of Floriman and Escobar will probably never be high price players, so nice utility fits at a cheap cost.