beckmt

Dozier has about another year to prove himself. Hicks I think will stay, needs to walk and hit a little better. Parmelee is the question, he needs to hit and is not. He may already be on the way out.

Agreed. He has about a month, or the Twins will seriously have to consider extending Morneau and cutting Parmelee or seeing if another player can provide production at first base if Morneau is traded.

If you are down on Oliveres, why did you not drop Wimmers from the list. A probable pitch to contact guy in the majors with TJ surgery does not seem to be a good risk.

Roberts may be a little low, but has not played much this year due to injuries. Always have good feelings about onbase machines.

Great article. Agree with most of the comments. Gibson should be up after 1 - 2 more good starts in Rochester. Do not want the prospects to be so overwhelmed that they lose confidence and become useless to the team. Hope Thielbar becomes useful and can replace Duensing as the Twins Left Handed Reliever.

And maybe Ryan feels the same way about him as other scouts, too much risk. We will find out

Nice to see the wins. Tigers will need bullpen help, but will probably get it. Baltimore will be another test, hope the Twins do well. First month will be somewhat telling. Hope the Twins are .500 or over at the end of April.

Like the Reds better than the Cardinals, but all are very close. Depending on Roy Halliday, Phillies also have a chance, but their window is closing. Diamondbacks are also a contender, but do not seem to match up with the rest of these. Should be an interesting summer.

Benson needs to tear it up at AAA and that might not be enough if Arcia also tears up AAA. This is Benson's last shot with the Twins, so he could be traded as a throwin for some pitching(Houston perhaps).

Twins should take the best available player. If that is one of the three pitchers, so much the better, but hope it is not Appel. See what happens, but do not need another toolsy outfielder.

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

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

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.

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.

Twins with no pitching and Astro's with no farm system and a bad major league club have the furthest to go. Indians may be good this year with their moves and Cubs have a ways to go, Colorado is a mystery and may need a complete overhall. 4 of these will probably be on the bottom again this year.

My gut tells me that neither Swarzak or Burnett makes this team, will have Roneicke and Wood in there place. My also have Pressey here. That would be good for the pitching staff. Perez was a surprise, but maybe. Rest of lineup was as expected.

It is sounding like he does not want to be here, unless the Twins grant him a large contract now. Too bad, that is not going to happen, but if Parmalee fails, we may wish they had. Morneau sees a rebuild until about 2015, he wants to be paid and play for a winner. Maybe we need to trade him at the end of spring training if both Parmalee and Arcia have good springs. Hate to see him go.

I agree on Rosario, he plays a position of need and hopefully we be able to play the position or will go down in the rankings.

Don't forget Nate Roberts, who does nothing but get on base. Would put him in the top 10 until proven otherwise, probably at 10.

This is a sort out year anyway, do not risk his future to rush him back. Just more opportunities to find what we have in the upper minor leagues. At least Rochester will have a good rotation.

It was about time. Hopefully some of them will show up starting in 2014 for the relievers.

Glass half full or half empty. Starting pitching could implode again and Twins could lose 100. Worley does not recover from surgery, Pelfrey is toast, Correra is reincarnation of Marquis, Diamond regresses to second half pitcher. Center field and middle infield are black holes on offence. Twins trade remaining big contracts in midseason to aid in restocking farm system(Morneau, Willingham). Other side is starting pitching is only slighty below average, Hicks, Parmalee and Pouffle become major offensive aids and the bullpen is solid so the Twins finish around .500. This is what makes baseball interesting and why you play the games.

Parmalee is the key. A slow start could doom his career. That will make the decision on whether to trade Morneau.

Twins have some prospects at A or AA ball. Rosario and Santana along with Levi Michaels. It is possible some of these will be ready in 2015 or maybe 2014. Here is hoping that happens.