roger

Ryan was interviewed on one of the stations last night (I think it was ESPN 1500). Didn't hear the interview, but heard them play back a comment he made. A comment that is consistant with what he has been saying since the season ended. He said that their money would be used for pitching. He also said they would tweak the lineup a bit. But he was clear that the majority of their money would go to the pitching staff.

He's no longer considered a catcher. He's a first baseman. Thanks, I hadn't followed him since he left the Mariners.

Remember when Romero was added to the 40-man roster while at Beloit? After a disappointing season, including injury, he was removed a year later. He has quietly moved up the ladder and following last year's all-star season is again a real prospect. Doubt he will be in contention for the third base job this year, but by September or spring, 2014 he could be.

If I recall, the Twins tried very hard to sign him following the draft. He chose instead to attend college. That worked out well as he was the Mariners first round pick, #3 overall. I believe he set some type of national home run record while in high school. Most likely will be at Rochester, although they now have four catchers (Clements, Fryer, Herrmann and Lehmann) which seems a bit crowded. Will Lehmann begin another year at AA? Or is this a sign that Butera could be on his way out as a non-tender candidate? On the other hand, the Twins always like to have a couple AAAA catchers around.

Now that your big day is behind you, Congrats! I second everything Mr. Crikket said above. They, Bonnie in my case, always know and are always right. Even when we are sure we are.

With comments like this, calling Mr. Ryan a con man or liar, I respectfully request that Seth and the others here restrict you from access to their site. And what is more telling about your comments above, Mr. Ryan wasn't the general manager before and during the 2011 season.

Where is your apology for what you called Mr. Ryan?

I will give Mr. Ryan his due. He is the biggest con man since P.T. Barnum!!! He is quoted last spring as saying he expected the twins to compete for the central division title. Now as for those incredible central division titles that we did win , remember how strong and mighty our division was. The twins would have been in last place in the eastern division.!! That makes Mr. Ryan a genious? Look at the studs he brought in last year. Jason Marquis. He sure put the fear in opposing batters. A part timer in Doumit? A shortstop who was ready for the baseball nursing home in Carrol? He did get some power from Willingham, but look at his batting average. Pitching and defense win championships!!! Where are they? We had the highest era in the al. we were tied for last in home runs in the al. We had a below average team batting average in the al. I almost forgot about our Japanese star,but then his performance was quite forgetable. Do I need to go on any further about Mr. Ryans genius? Trader T, I am waiting for your apology to Mr. Ryan. He has earned our respect. Whether or not we agree with every move he makes, your comment about him was unrespectful and in poor taste. Step up and do the right thing!

I try to not comment to most of these statements, however, this is just plain disrespectful to a man who has dedicated his life to the Minnesota Twins organization. I for one believe you owe Mr. Ryan an apology.

I expected Pinto, however, am a bit surprised that they added 8. Expect they will make a move or two before the Rule 5 draft as they certainly will want to look at potential starting pitchers. Most likely to be moved could be Fields.

Seth, The toughest decision is going to be what to do, or not do, with Salcedo. Highest ceiling of all the pitchers at risk except Gibson. But after missing nearly all of last year and pitching at Hi-A, would he really get drafted? And if he does, could he stick with a team? Like you, I have been looking for their announcement since Friday You also didn't mention Josmil Pinto. I can't see the Twins having five catchers on their roster, but Pinto had an awesome year and may be the best 'catcher' in their system.

John, Kepler is that athletic speciman teams in every sport drool over. He stands 6'4, runs like a deer and has a big time arm. He is fast enough to play center, but will probably end up in a corner outfield spot. He has the body and swing that suggests he should develop reasonable power, which began last year at ETon. He has a physical gift and all the tools to become that coveted five-tool player. And with his pedigree, I expect he can dance on his toes. Coming out of Germany, he didn't have the experience and didn't play against the level of competition you would expect from players in the U.S., Dominican Republic or Venezuela. Everyone knew he would require more time to develop than your typical prospect. After a couple ok years in the GCL and Appy League, he had his first big year last year when he repeated at ETon. What can he become? I see his ceiling as a corner outfielder who will hit over .300 average with a good walk to strikeout ratio which should put him well over .350 OBP. As for power, I see a reasonable number of doubles, nearly double figures in triples and over 20 home runs. Add twenty or so stolen bases at an 80% success rate and you have a very valuable player. As for his arrival date? I see him breaking in late in 2015.

John, I am confused about the point you are making. It seems you are saying that someone who has done well at AA should be ranked higher than someone in rookie ball. Is that your point? Yet, you state that Hicks and Rosario should be rated higher than Buxton and even Sano. Considering Rosario and Sano played at the same level (Beloit) last year, you lost me.

I am in 100% agreement. I don't see Terry Ryan ever admitting to the public that they are playing to be in contention in 2015, even if that is the plan.

Nine of the ten pitchers with the most innings pitched (25.0+) had ERA's of 2.43 or less. Montanez was best at 0.36 with Lo and Rosario both under 1.65. But Sanudo, Gibbons, Jorge, Landa, Minnesota's own Austin Malinowski, and De La Cruz were all between 2.00 and 2.43. Incredible group of young arms. Will they all make it? Of course not. But with nine exciting young arms one would think at least a couple will someday be pitching at Target Field.

Thank you!

Good morning Seth. I think there are two locks (Gibson and Hicks). Then there are three more of which I think they will add one or two. They are Hermsen, Pugh and Tonkin. Pugh passed through last year, yet was much better this year. Tonkin is very good, but how many Hi-A relievers get picked? Hermsen I think will also get added. Santana is another prospect who could be lost, but again was a Hi-A player. Not many A ball players get selected.

As we approach the hot stove league season, this is a good read as we begin to guess at what Mr. Ryan is thinking. If you look at what the Twins have paid young players in the past, you will see that your estimates for players such as Dozier, Florimon, Plouffe, Parmelee, Escobar, Mastroianni, DeVries, Hendriks, Burnett and Fien are probably high. Most will earn at or near the minimum of $490,000. With these ten players on your roster, that is a savings of a million plus. It is also unlikely that Burton and Duensing will each make $3.0mm. Regarding Guerra, it is as likely he will be removed from the 40-man roster as it is that he will be with the Twins when they break spring training. I expect what to do with him will be an interesting discussion when the front office meets for their meetings in a few weeks.

+1, 54 to some of us is just a kid, eh old nurse?

There were several times during that book when I was having problems continuing to read. He really had to be one of the very special people this nation has ever known. I wonder if Nishioka's personal life also was part of this decision. I know it was announced that he was getting divorced. I wonder if that isn't final if going home may give him a chance to get his family back together.

A. J., congrats on a very nice season both for the team and you personally. I expect everything is a bit hectic right now with your big day rapidly approaching. Will you Dad be presiding over the ceremony? Have a great winter!

First off, I said overqualified. Benson had very good numbers at New Brittain. They were not good enough to make him an All Star for the Eastern league. All reports I read and can go back and find deal with Benson having an attiude at Rochester. There is no mention of an injury. The hand soreness developed after he was a New Britain and could have well been caused by him punching a wall yet again. His performance with a bat at Rochester was poor. 100 plate appearance is an adequate sample size to give him a chance to work it out. Your comment about 'Benson having an attitude at Rochester' is not an accurate description of what I understand the problem was. This statement tells me he was a problem and 'having an attitude' would indicate something negative. To discuss the problem, one needs to begin with discussing Benson's very competitive nature. The problem at Rochester as I have heard from their announcers and people writing in the Democrat and Chronicle was that his competitive nature combined with an early slump caused him to get very down on himself as he tried to improve his results, ie, he was putting tremendous pressure on himself to do better. To me, that is not an attitute problem. Perhaps to you it is. He dealt with two injuries this year. The hand injury was not soreness, it was a broken hamate bone which required surgery. Again referring to local writers, they referred to a specific game when it happened. Making a statement about 'him punching a wall yet again" is throwing things out on the internet that just should not be there. If you have something to support such a claim, please let us know where it came from. As for not being injured at Rochester, we don't know if that is true. We know when his hand was injured and that was after he was demoted to New Britain. He later had knee surgery. I have not seen anything telling us about when his knee was injured, perhaps Seth knows more. What I can gather is that it was something he was dealing with and the doctors went in to clean it out. When in surgery, they found it was more serious than they thought and instead of being a few week recovery he was shut down for at least four months. Without knowing exactly what was involved with the surgery, it appears he had been dealing with a knee problem for some time which may, or may not, have been present while in Rochester and may, or may not, have affected his play. Twins Daily is an exciting and wildly successful blog with tremendous readership. Please don't put things out there that are merely speculation. Again, if you have specific information supporting your position please provide it so we all will know more about what really happened to a very talented and athletic young man.

Thanks for the roster Seth. The two most interesting tid bits I get from the roster are, 1) German Minier being there as a 16+ year old who hasn't played in the D.R. Tells me they are very high on this young man and want to get started; and 2) Seeing Kennys Vargas will be there. After missing most of this year with his suspension and odd rules that turned 50 games into about 125, he needs all the work he can get. Secondly, being invited tells us the Twins remain high on him and aren't ticked off because of his mistake. Seth, I had heard several times recently that Kyle Gibson would be working in Fall Instructs before going to Arizona in early October. Is he there and just not included on the roster? Speaking about A. J. above, do you think he wasn't invited because of his wedding this fall? Thanks Seth, have a wonderful weekend!

I certainly agree with your top three and expect that for what its worth, the three D's are penciled into the #3-#5 spot for next spring. Like many of you, I see Duensing as their top left-handed set-up guy with Swarzak staying in long relief. I also see five others who will compete for a spot in the rotation in spring training, with Hendriks having the best shot of breaking in. The others are Walters, Vasquez, Hernandez and Nick Blackburn, who remains a member of the organization who is unlikely to go anywhere as long as someone would have to pick up a $5.5mm contract. I expect Gibson will begin his season in Rochester where they will limit his innings a bit so that they don't have a Strasburg situation later in the year. I see him as being one of the first guys they go to early in the season when someone is injured or falters. I also expect Mr. Ryan will sign at least a couple minor league guys (like Dudino and Walters this year) who will get a look in spring training and provide depth at Rochester. I also think there is a good chance he will sign Scott Baker to an incentive heavy contract. I don't see Baker being ready for the Twins on opening day, however, could join Gibson as someone to step in and improve the rotation come late May or June. That leaves two holes to fill with one being their top guy. Hmmmh!

+1. As for those who don't want someone from within the organization, Glynn is new to the organization this year. The people in Rochester, such as Jim Mandelaro, speak very highly of Glynn as a manager and person. Huge improvement over Tom Nieto who was hated there. Has a ton of coaching experience with several good organizations. Have wathced a lot of Rochester games this year and he has a mediocre team playing very well. Also has a local tie as he is originally from Minnesota.