jokin

Brandon Peterson just keeps striking guys out. Lots of them. Looks like he needs to be throwing at the next level-->Stat. Sooo.... is he just the next Slama tease? Or is there any realistic thought in the org. that he can develop into something much better? Are they afraid of something that's holding him back?

Don't stop! He's in the absolute batting sweet spot, batting #2 between Buck and Sano, which strongly suggests he could stay on a lengthy run of success at the plate. I saw him play in CR, the kid has moxie oozing from his pores. If he further proves to suggest he has the chops to play SS, his stock is going to skyrocket, and gives the Twins a great problem to have, and not just a little bit of controversy if/when he's held back.

I asked once before on Peterson. 5 Ks in 2 IP, which is pretty much business as usual for this unheralded kid. So what's the deal? Is he the next Andrew Slama, or is he the Twins best kept secret bullpen weapon? Does he have the stuff to soon bust through two levels- right past guys with bigger reps?

And unfortunately, he's also apparently freshly out of a middle infield position?

He should have been pulled sooner, his somewhat violent motion is indicative of an injury future.

Idle time.... thinking of new nicknames for our new stopper... Anybody....? OK, I'll start... Tommy "Smoke and Mirrors" Milone

Great, now we have to put up with another Moanin' LIsa...

Escobar in the lineup?

Reportedly, the Mets and unnamed others kicked the tires and turned their noses. Was Terry asking too much in return? Meanwhile, today we've apparently found both our Team Igniter in the field as well as our Stopper on the Mound.

Playoffs or not, I'd still like to have 2.5 Aces... plus another possible college arm Ace soon on the way.

But will any of them be earned runs? The Twins are currently on a 37.1 consecutive innings string without scoring an earned run. It better happen today, what with Shark and Sale starting Saturday and Sunday.

Any significance for Duffey being the apparent #1 guy, for now? (For example, was Duffey moved up in anticipation of him moving up with a corresponding AAA promotion to replace Nolasco?)

I'll be in Chattanooga the first weekend in May, sure hoping that Berrios lines up for a Saturday or Sunday start (fingers crossed).

Based on early results thus far at the major league level, maybe you'll see your projected results over the course of 4-6 weeks.

I'm not surprised about the Reed jump, kudos to the Twins for the double promotion for Reed. But how about Indy-League refugee, DJ Johnson over Peterson? Is there even a TD write-up on Peterson somewhere? There must be reasons why he isn't in more favor with the staff. Despite the career 13.2 K/9, something obviously doesn't translate at this point to convince the braintrust to fast-track him along with the bigger names, and apparently, even some of the lesser names.

I counted 28 players, it looks like maybe two catchers and one pitcher too many. Any idea who is on the short list for DFA and DL or Demotion lists?

You won't find any evidence if they do or don't, as they would hire an investigative agency to do the leg work and approved proposed methodologies for seeking information would remain confidential. In the cases of Bonds, A-Rod, Clemens and some other frontline players, I'm fairly certain detectives were hired once the League came under fire for having looked the other way throughout the 90s, by some entity, be it a team or teams, or the League, in addition to legal authorities. And I would bet that the target's trash was searched. Yes, the Twins did get screwed, but I challenge you to demonstrate that Ervin Santana is some sort of "evil mastermind", this is also on the Twins for failing to heed the very basis and cornerstone of high-risk finance- Caveat Emptor.

Barring someone doing a Hicks MLB debut-like performance, agreed.

Rochester's first game is with Buffalo on Thursday.

The Kimbrel trade shows what all you can get for a top closer, and they got rid of enormous salary overhead, both with Kimbrel and BJ Upton. Makes you wonder what the Twins could have gotten for shipping Perkins and some other dead weight in 2013- sure, not as much as Kimbrel, but still, lots in return, for a superfluous closer on a rebuilding team. Being a hometown hero isn't all that, Terry.

Different uses of pitchers in the bullpen- including Perkins not always closing out the 9th. Turning Eduardo Escobar into Tony Phillips. Committing to Santana at SS before Spring Training. A commitment to more manufactured runs on the base paths. Installing proven mentors to encourage the youngsters to do things the Twins Way, Hunter and Santana. Oops. OK, it's not really all that much, is it? Mauer is still batting third, still no high OBP hitter leading off, the rotation is actually being praised for their "minimizing"*** talents, a bullpen that will likely have worse K/9 numbers than previously, the corner OF is still manned by DHs of the aging or defensive-butcher varieties and CF by below-replacement level, aging cut-outs *** Is this just a variation on Gardy's "gettin after it"?'n't

Looking at the every-day lineup, Hunter's insertion into the lineup is offset largely by Escobar's removal and couple that with the strong possibility that Santana is likely to be a defensive downgrade at SS, at least initially . Plus, there are too many negative offensive regression candidates that should more than offset the possible breakout and positive regression candidates- and regarding health, we still don't know how long Plouffe's wrist issues might linger, he didn't exactly indicate that his swing was healthy in ST. Overall, too many negatives about the 2014 and previous teams that were either woefully ignored or at best, just inadequately addressed by the GM. The pen looks to be worse than 2014, possibly much worse if Graham turns into a roster boat anchor- the hardest thrower save Perkins has never pitched above AA, and was ineffective at that level, while 3/5ths of the starting rotation has a good chance of repeating the early exits of 2014 followed by a series of musical chair replacements for 3/5s of the rotation- haven't we seen this bad movie before? The loss of probably 100+ innings not delivered by Santana, even at around a major league average level, will be crushing- given the proposed replacements at hand. We were all disappointed that May wasn't coming onboard as the 5th starter, as of now, this team now needs to look to replace two 5th starters- who may both turn out to be more like 7th- or 8th-level depth starters, May is likely to get the early call, perhaps as soon as May 1st, and that might help some.... but they appear forever-hesitant to be willing to throw Meyer into the rotation any time soon. The early season emphasis on intra-division ALC rivals in the schedule (28 of the first 35 games) by May 14, could mean that the Twins might be already deeply buried at the bottom of the division before major personnel moves are even contemplated. By the time the kiddie "cavalry" is summoned from the minors, the die will have likely been cast, and then comes the various learning curves of the rookies, how many will start off their MLB careers like Santana did last year? How many will struggle like May and Hicks did, and for how long? Just the fact that you mentioned that Aaron Hicks is a potential source of hope and rescue in CF shows what a long-shot for success this season has in store. Notwithstanding your glass half full prediction, which I admire and certainly hope comes to fruition- I've now lowered my own 2015 Twins W-L prediction to 68-72 wins, and I fear I may be a tad optimistic.

Actually, this is not absurd, it's what investigators do. Street-side trash has stood multiple court tests over the years as fair game and available to the general public for perusal in multiple munincipalities. You stated the problem well in the part I bolded, but with that reality, the dangers of going into this type of deal for a small-market team have to come into that very caveat. The risk and chances for getting burned for individual cheating are exteremely skewed toward the teams- who are not allowed to terminate contracts, fine or suspend, and they can't even authorize PED testing of their own players, or apparently, prospective players- shoiuldn't a medical screening exam for prospective employment, as well as continuing employment, contain a drug test, as it does for key employees in many industries for jobs that are so highly performance-related? And I did allow for the fact that Santana may have just started taking the PEDs, but the Twins still are prohibited as the club, individually, from protecting their investment (gamble) from the perpetration of fraud. This certainly does deflect the blame away from the Twins. But this built-in doubt for a bullet-proof clean player, thanks largely to the CBA, must be taken into account when taking on the risk of a 4-year deal when there are other red flags surrounding the deal, as well. (As Spycake put it so well just above in #186, "sorta playing with fire" by targeting these types of players). And if you had read my prevous two posts contained in this thread on this matter- I have twice accounted for the previous teams that Santana has played for- though they are not any less culpable- they are all not the team left holding the bag, either. (The MLB system is set up such that it rewards abusers to continue going undetected- and to its employers to ignore the issue- which corrupts the clubs' incentives for doing "the right thing." How many clubs to this date have self-reported discovered PED abuse? And it goes even farther than that. The book, Bloodsport, pointed out that Alex Rodriguez in 2007, along with at least 110 others, were allowed by MLB to use steroids through legal exemptions. And that as a direct result, A-Rod won the AL MVP award in that year.)

Well then, I guess Nick Nelson's article must strike you both as silly and driving you up a wall, as well. Nick asks a lot of questions, admittedly ex post facto, but still, questions that might have been more fleshed out when a team is considering its largest ever FA signing and committing at least $55M. First, you obviously haven't read up on the beneficial effects of stanozolol- this is easily obtainable with one mouse click- and doesn't involve outsized freak-muscles developed overnight. "No friggin way"? Nick certainly shows a way that the deal might have been questioned, and how the pieces of suspicion were there... and even though it's all admittedly speculation, there were and are red flags all over this deal. --- Due to his delicate elbow situation, the pressures and temptations to prolong his career in any way possible over the last two seasons- pitching on the thin margin of here-today/gone tomorrow one-year deals- must have been enormous. Much of the best detective work in getting to the truth in cases is greatly aided by going through people's garbage. And the "detectives" employing this technique runs the gamut- from archaeologists to insurance investigators to workmen's comp lawyers to law enforcement officers to private investigators- "Why Garbage Can Be A Goldmine" Hiring an investigative firm to do thorough background checks is a pretty inexpensive means at ensuring the viability of a $55M deal. I'm sure the Twins did something along these lines, obviously it wasn't thorough enough if Santana has been a user in years past, and given the current CBA agreement, there's practically nothing they could have done about it if he only started PED usage after he signed the new contract- but that seems unlikely. Yes, this is on Santana, and it appears he, and likely, his agent, perpetrated a fraud on the Twins. But given the bilker's built-in advantages in negotiating guaranteed contracts despite the fraud, the onus is even more on the Twins to avoid being suckered.

Thanks for posting, that post you responded to bothered me a lot. A lot of PEDs are on the WADA no-no list, but they aren't all created equal.