Thrylos

Rhett Bollinger reports that Perkins has experienced soreness and will postpone his first scheduled bullpen that was supposed to happen tomorrow, indefinitely. According to Bollinger "Perkins, determined he wasn't ready to take that next step and will continue to build arm strength before getting off a mound." Also there, is reported that Perkins has been throwing from flat ground, but only fastballs. I think that 60 day DL starting next week might give the Twins some flexibility at this point.

The Cubs are not for sale in 2017... The Marlins are. The only team that is for sale potentially.

Exactly. It is a supply vs demand thing. Not much supply of MLB teams for sale

How about when a team loses because of Bill Buckner instances? Pretty similar. The other thing is that sometimes they do not know whether they want to walk someone intentionally or not and just happens after a 3-0 or 3-1 count. I am really against any of the proposed things to "speed the game", other than robotic umpires. That will speed the game really quickly, and get rid of several inflated egos

Nope. The only one who Heyman said the Twins "talked about" was Alvarez. The others are names he just threw up as a speculation.

FWIW, Pedro Alvarez is the only confirmed name here. The rest of the names are Heyman's speculations. I kinda been following him since he was a top prospect for the Pirates. I read something up there about "2 position versatility". As far as third base goes, Sano is a gold glover compared to Alvarez. That's the reason that Pittsburgh let him go. His positional versatility is DH only. He played 1B only 5 games with the Pirates before playing there with Baltimore last season, and he is worse at first than at third. I'd take Vargas there any day over Alvarez. The Twins need LH power. I would not mind seeing him hitting after Sano at the 5 spot. The only issue is that Vargas might be better last season, but 17 AB/HR players do know grow on trees (for reference last season Dozier was at 16.5 AB/HR and on the other hand Vargas was at 17.7.) I can go both ways here, maybe a platoon with Vargas might be the solution, since Alvarez has been usually sitting against LHP... Is there room for both? Maybe, but bye bye Grossman.

It is not August DFA Waives are not trade waivers and cannot be revoked

FG people? As opposed to TD people?

The Twins have bigger problems than Mauer at this point, and Mauer is hardly a problem....

Tommy Field can field indeed. Great clip. Loved to hear the word "murderized" at the end

Couple more former Twins: Rene Rivera with Puerto Rico and Fernando Abad with the Dominican

He is 19. He has to start at Fort Myers. Agreed. On the other hand, his isoP of about .100 at 19 is right on par with what Kepler's and Grossman's were at that point. As a matter of fact, Dozier did not get there until his age 24 season. His defense has improved a lot to above average. Not much speed, and arm does not matter at second base, so much more than an one tool...

Sano's MLB slash lines: age 22+23: .249/.346/.489, 16.7 AB/HR, 830 PA Davis's MLB career lines: age 22+23: .258/.304/.488 18.1 AB/HR, 736 PA There is similarity, but Sano does walk much more than Davis, which indicates better pitch recognition and has more HR power than Davis at the same age, which projects him to be a better player than Davis, maybe slightly, but definitely better. That OBP/isoD difference (.096 isoD for Sano and .046 for Davis is significant) as is that 7.7% difference in the AB/HR within that sample

Yes because his glove at 3B was challenged, but he has LF written all over him, and he will not be ready for a while (2020+)

Just noticed that they project the Twins to have the second best in the AL and third best in the majors team as far as defense goes, with 35.1 defensive runs above the average team. Pretty sure that this drives that 80 wins projection. Not sure where they came with that 35.1 number, and I could not found how the Twins did in that particular metric last year, but based on fangraphs' defense metric, they were the second worst team in baseball in 2016 with -45.7, so PECOTA really has then for a huge improvement for some reason

I don't mind this signing at all. Really smart guy who got a bad deal from Gardy and Andy (who did not like smart guys)... If anything he has the makings of a great pitching coach/mentor and I hope that he does this with the young Twins. Here is Breslow talking to Rosenthal regarding the reasons he signed with the Twins

Diaz is a 1B. Arraez should also be ready around 2019, and he is a second baseman. Javier likely around 2020 and his ceiling is higher than anyone mentioned. Palacios might rebound and he looks like he will stick at SS. Pretty nice pipeline.

I do take projection and potential into account But an 1-1 pick better be the real thing and Greene just is too risky for me. I need to see at least 2 decent secondary offerings and Greene is not there. He might be by draft time, or he might not. Good risk for mid 1st round, but if the only things you read are radar readings and "life in his fastball", caveat emptor

Agreed. But the point is that his secondary pitches are not that good. He throws an average slurve that he has a hard time commanding and he is learning a changeup that looks pretty awful right now. All you hear about is the fastball's velocity. One pitch pony, and if that pitch is the FB, no matter how good it is, too much of a risk to be taken at 1-1.

The Twins should learn the lessons of non extending players well into their late 30s. Unless he reverts to the Dozier we all know and love, as a free agent, he would want a 5 year/$20M contract, which will be for his age 32-36 seasons. Not good. I'd rather see the Twins invest that $ in extending Sano & Buxton & going after a top of the rotation free agent (or 2). Their middle infield pipeline is very healthy and they do not need Dozier. They need top of the rotation pitching very badly...

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- You can find the introductory segment in this series, including my criteria for eligibility to be a prospect and the list of the 2016 top 40 players who graduated as prospects or are not in the system, here. Here is my 2016 Twins off-season top 40 prospects list (summary of 1-40) for reference. This is the countdown for players ranked 51-55th in the system. You can find players 56-60 here, players 51-55 here, 46-50 here, 41-45 here, 36-40 here, 31-35 here, 26-30 here, 21-25 here, 16-20 here, and all segments in the series here. 15. Travis Blankenhorn (38) DOB: 8/3/1996; Age: 20 Positions: 2B Bats: L, Throws: R Height: 6'2", Weight: 208 lbs Acquired: Drafted in the 2nd round in 2015 Professional Experience: 2; Highest level: A (2016) ETA: 2020 Travis Blankenhorn was drafted by the Twins in the 3rd round of the 2015 draft from the Pottsville, PA Area High School as a third baseman. He started his pro career in the GCL where he played in 14 games (49 AB) hitting .245/.362/.408 with 7 BBs and 11 Ks, before he moved up to Elizabethton for the last 39 games of the season where in 144 AB he hit .243/.306/.326 with 11 BB, and 32 K. He started last season in Extended Spring Training before moving to Elizabethton where in 34 games (138 AB) he hit a robust .297/.342/.558 with 9 HRs, 7 2Bs, 1 3B, 8 BB and 33 K. He finished the season in class A Cedar Rapids where in 25 games (91 AB) he hit .286/.356/.418 with 1 HR, 5 2B, 2 3B, 8 BB and 28 K. Blankenhorn who moved to second base, a position that he is playing better than third, adjusted to the wooden bat much better in his second professional season. He has decent game speed, but will not steal many bases. His contact tool improved this season (.330 BABIP in Elizabethton and .403 at Cedar Rapids) and there is potential for further power that was realized with a .261 isoP in Elizabethton (.132 in Cedar Rapids.) The positional change to second base, along with the improvement in defense from his previous corner OF and IF positions, made him jump in the ratings as well. His bat might or might not play at corner positions and his glove is very suspect there. However at second base he has the potential to be a Todd Walker type of player, esp. if he curtails his strikeouts (27.5 % K% in Cedar Rapids and 22.1 in Elizabethton.) Better pitch recognition will help with selectivity, and Blankenhorn is young enough for one to believe that he will get there. Part of the problem is that LHPs make him practically worthless (.472 OPS and 54.2 K% against them in Elizabethton and .593 and 25 K% in Cedar Rapids, vs a star-like 1.107 and .832 OPS against RHPs in those stops) Likely 2017 path: Starting 2B at Cedar Rapids. 14. Engelb Vielma (23) DOB: 6/22/1994; Age: 22 Positions: SS Bats: S, Throws: R Height: 5'11", Weight: 155 lbs Acquired: International Free Agent signing 2011 Professional Experience: 5; Highest level: AA (2016) ETA: 2017 Engelb Vielma was signed by the Twins as an international free agent from the Venezuela on September 8, 2012 for a $90,000 bonus. The Maracaibo native has been moving really quickly through the Twins organization, mainly because of his glove appears ahead of what looks from afar as an average bat (career minor league .264/.327/.309 slash line.) Vielma had a highly quiet and mostly invisible break-through season with the bat in 2015 at high A Fort Myers. He hit .270/.321/.306, which at first sight is about the same .266/.313/.323, if not worse, than he did in Cedar Rapids in 2014, until someone looks below the slash lines: Vielma was the youngest position player at the Miracle team and the Miracle team slash line was .246/.319/.318, so he made better contact than the average. Power is not his strong suit, so looking at SLG% is misleading. If you look at component numbers, like wRC+, he had 93 in 2015 vs 84 in 2014. He is also maturing as a player taking advantage of his speed. He will not walk (7% BB%) or strikeout (14.2% K%) but will make contact and run. He had 24 sacrifices that season, and most of them (18) on the ground. He stole a career high 35 bases (but was caught 12 times). He started his first 8 games last season at Fort Myers rehabbing from an oblique strain before he moved to AA Chattanooga. There here played 90 games (314 AB), hit .271/.345/.318, striking out 62 times and walking 34. He went 10/18 in stolen bases as well. His wRC+ improved to a career best and close to a league average 97, while his K% dropped to 16.9%. His BABIP was .333, a couple of ticks above his career average in .310s. For some unfortunate reason, the improvement in Vielma's bat is invisible to the outside, which drives unfortunate characterizations like "punchless leatherwizard with a bat so light he may not even profile as a utility man despite an acrobatic brand of plus defense at short" from national writers who likely have not seen him play. This cannot be any further from the truth. A 97 wRC+ at AA with a plus defense projects as Ozzie Smith (career .666 OPS and 90 wRC+ in the majors with career best 119 wRC+ ) material. Vielma's detractors will also need to look at his .338/.407/.416 line in 2016 (and .301/.343/.341 in 2015) as a right hand hitter, which are exceptional. Vielma is the poster boy for stopping switch hitting. Why would someone with All-Star SS potential is ranked so low? For one single reason: Concentration lapses both on the field and the base paths make Vielma less effective than he should be. He is still 22, so there is a lot of time for him to mature (and learn how to hit right handers as a right.) When that happens, watch out. Likely 2017 path: On the 40-man roster with the Twins, likely starting SS at AAA Rochester with a potential trip to the majors. 13. Brusdar Graterol (28) DOB: 8/26/1998; Age: 18 Positions: RHP Bats: R, Throws: R Height: 6'1", Weight: 180 lbs Acquired: International Free Agent signing 2014 Professional Experience: 2; Highest level: Rookie/DSL (2015) ETA: 2020+ Brusdar Graterol was signed by the Twins as an international free agent from the Venezuela on August 29, 2014, three days after his 16th birthday, for $150,000. The Calobozo native made only 4 career starts in the DSL before he required Tommy John surgery and moved statewide the summer of 2015. His numbers in those 4 games, as a 16 year old, fully 3 years younger than the league, were video-game like: 11 IP, 17 K, 13.9 K/9, 36.2 K%, 1 BB, 0.8 BB/9, 34 K-BB%, 2.45 ERA, 1.19 FIP, 1.18 WHIP (.444 BABIP.) He made my 2016 off-season prospect list at number 28 ( He returned from the surgery well, throwing his plus to plus plus fastball at 94-97 mph, supplementing it with a crisp slurve at the 85-87 mph range and a work in progress changeup. He is throwing from a 3/4 delivery that causes deception between his pitches. Graterol is one of the few pitchers in the Twins' organization with top of the rotation stuff, but he will need a lot of work. Reports from Fort Myers say that he added about 40 lbs to his DSL weight the past season and a half. Definitely someone to keep an eye on. Likely 2017 path: EST and the GCL or Elizabethton rotations depending the Twins' draft. 12. Nick Burdi (3) DOB: 8/3/1996; Age: 24 Positions: RHP Bats: R, Throws: R Height: 6'5", Weight: 220 lbs Acquired: Drafted in the 2nd round in 2014 Professional Experience: 3; Highest level: AA (2015, 2016) ETA: 2017 Nick Burdi was drafted by the Twins in the 2nd round of the 2014 draft from Louisville as a Junior. The Hinsdale, IL was the Louisville closer his last 2 seasons and finished his Junior season with ridiculous numbers: 32 games, 37 IP, 18 H, 2 ER, 10 BB (2.4 BB/9), 65 K (15.8 K/9,) for 0.49 ERA, 0.76 WHIP and 18 saves. Burdi had the arm to bypass the minors and pitch directly at the Twins' pen in 2014, but he started the season in A Cedar Rapids (13 G, 13 IP, 26 K, 18.0 K/9, 48.2 K%, 8 BB, 5.5 BB/9, 33.3 K-BB%, 4.15 ERA, 1.33 FIP, 1.23 WHIP, .400 BABIP) and finished in high A Fort Myers (7 G, 7-1/3 IP, 12 K, 14.7 K/9, 42.9 K%, 2 BB, 2.5 BB/9, 35.7 K-BB%, 0.00 ERA, 1.35 FIP, 0.95 WHIP, .385 BABIP). Burdi started the Next season in AA Chattanooga, demoted to Fort Myers for inconsistency in the end of June and returned mid August. For the season Burdi pitched 30 games in AA (43.7 IP) walked 32 (6.6 BB/9, 10.7 K-BB%) and struck out 54 (11.1 K/9 and 26.3 K%) with a 4.53 ERA (3.99 FIP) and 1.65 WHIP (3.22 BABIP). In 13 games at Fort Myers (20 IP) he walked 3 (1.4 BB/9, 35.6 K-BB%) and struck out 29 (13.1 K/9, 39.7 K%) for a 2.25 ERA (1.37 FIP) and 0.75 WHIP (.275 BABIP). He finished the season in the Arizona Fall League, in a truly dominating fashion, when he pitched in 8 games (8 IP) walking 1 and striking out 11 (42.3K%, 38.5 K-BB%,) allowing no earned or unearned runs and only 2 hits with a .380 WHIP. Were it an isolated incident, his numbers in AA in 2015 could be of some concern; looking at the facts that a. other top relief prospects, like Reed and Chargois suffered there that season, and b. that Burdi dominated in the AFL, the concern is alleviated. Burdi was invited in the MLB Spring Training as a non-roster invitee, but quickly shut down with elbow concerns that were diagnosed as a bruised humerus. He pitched only 3 innings in Chattanooga last season for that reason, and has changed his delivery in order to help his healthy. Burdi is throwing a high 90s plus plus fastball that tops in three digits and supplements it with a plus to plus plus slider that sits at 89-90, creeping into the low 90s. He is also throwing a changeup. Burdi had has a violent delivery and his mechanics are concern both as far as his health and his command goes. Hopefully his recent changes in his delivery will address this, without taking away his effectiveness. Pitchers with high 30s K-BB% are rare to find and Burdi has closer potential, but he has to get healthy, stay healthy and keep command of his fastball, which has done at several levels so far. 2017 will be a rebuilding and cautionary season for him, as he is not invited to the Twins' Spring Training Likely 2017 path: Depending on health, Rochester or Chattanooga pen with a potential MLB call up this season. 11. Luis Arraez IF (24) DOB: 4/9/1997; Age: 19 Positions: 2B Bats: L, Throws: R Height: 5'10", Weight: 155 lbs Acquired: International Free Agent signing 2013 Professional Experience: 3; Highest level: A (2016) ETA: 2019 Luis Arraez was signed by the Twins as an international free agent from the Venezuela on November 3rd, 2013. The San Felipe native opened some eyes in his first professional season in the DSL hitting .348/.433/.400 (147 wRC+) in 31 games (135 PA). The next season he moved to the GCL where he continued his success hitting .309/.377/.391 (133 wRC+) in 57 games (233 PA). Last season he played for class A Cedar Rapids where he was the fifth youngest player in the Midwest League. He hit .347/.386/.444 (146 wRC+) in 114 games (514 PA). He continued the season in the Venezuelan Winter League where he hit .335/.382/.445 with 15 BB and 15 K this in 45 games (182 AB.) Other than Cedar Rapids where he was 31:51, Arraez has had at least equal strikeouts to walks, and his K% was never higher than 9.9%. His splits last season was pretty equal for the lefty hitting Arraez: .333/.378/.422 vs LHP and .351/.388/.450 vs RHPs. He finished the season with a .374/.398/.457 slash line the second half that included a very impressive .425/.444/.487 performance in August. His swing is compact with great bat control and plus bat speed, quick wrists and the ability to hit the opposite way. His power has been improving (0.052 to 0.082 to 0.097 isoP), his contact has remained fairly high (.374, .323, and .382 BABIP) and he has decent speed but not good base stealing instincts (career 21/37 SB). His play at second base has been improvin every season and he was +13 DRS last season in Cedar Rapids. Arraez is starting to look more and more like a two way player with All-Star bat potential, but he is still very young. It will be interesting to see how he will fare against higher level competition, but his VWL results are extremely promising. Likely 2017 path: Starting 2B at Fort Myers

11-15 here

who would you sit against LHP? The guy who is hitting .202/.271/.319 or the guy who is hitting .279/.308/.416 (Rosario) against them? Not sure that I get the bias against Rosario; the Mendoza line guy against LHP is Kepler...

They just signed Drew Stubbs with an invitation to Spring Training. Both in the Cleveland and Texas organizations past few seasons. Played with 3 teams last season, can play CF. He is 32.

Preordered it at Amazon. About $18 and change with prime. Looks interesting indeed. I suspect that Perkins will have plenty of time on his hands for reading...