Thrylos

Deibi Romero arrived like 3 weeks ago and was ESTing. Good to see him up in CT, but should be in NY soon

And Souhan is trying (again) to make a point using: - Batting averages - ERAs - in a small sample size What's new? (OK, RBIs and quality starts are missing, I suppose)

let him play half a season at AA and then we can talk. And he is an OF not a first baseman. DJ Hicks is the first baseman in Cedar Rapids and he is pretty good with both the glove and the stick. But these guys need to prove themselves with better competition as they are older for the league in A ball. Hopefully they will move to Fort Meyers (sic) soon and then we can tell more.

My pleasure. Looks like the number 3 pick is up for grabs as well, since the guys who are rotating for the Twins are also rotating for Colorado (they got pick number 3.)

That's what Parmelee is. Heck, move Plouffe to first if you have to. You mentioned Vargas. Interestingly enough he has to be in the 40-man next season not to be exposed to the Rule 5 draft (MLB part) or in Rochester's roster for not to be exposed in the MiLB part of the draft. But Vargas is a DH.

Morneau's .283/.326/.394 with 2 HRs in 150ish PAs is worth $13 million? Really? I bet Colabello or Parmelee can put the same numbers or better with $12.5 million to save...

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- The 2013 MLB Draft is less than a month away (it takes place from June 6th until June 8th.) The Minnesota Twins have the 4th pick this season, and there is a lot of disagreement (as is with every draft in every season in every sport) about who is the best pick for them and who they will select. And 'tis the season for mock drafts, so I am presenting the picks experts (and non-experts) think the Twins will make, and see whether there is a consensus. I am listing all of the mock drafts to date since late March. If a particular writer made multiple mock drafts, only the latest version is shown. If you know of any additional mock drafts, please let me know. The picks are presented by mock draft date, mock draft place & name of the writer (with links to their web pages) and the name, school and position of the Twins' likely draftee. Regardless whether the Twins will pick any of these players, all these players are "names to know" for the 2013 draft: May: 5/11/13: MLB Draft Site (ebowser18) : Ryne Stanek, RHP, University of Arkansas 5/10/13: Sports Illustrated (Dave Perkin) : Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA) 5/9/13: Baseball America (Jim Callis) : Kohl Steward, RHP, St. Pius X High (TX) 5/9/13: My MLB Draft : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA) 5/9/13: 85% Sports (Eugene Tierney) : Sean Manaea, LHP, Indiana State University 5/7/13: Scout.com (Kiley McDaniel) : Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA) 5/7/13: Bleacher Report (Tim Rapp) : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA) 5/7/13: MLB Unique: Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA) 5/6/13: MLB Draft Insider (Chris Crawford) : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA) 5/6/13: Bleacher Report (Adam Wells) : Sean Manaea, LHP, Indiana State University 5/6/13: Bleacher Report (Mike Rosenbaum) : Kris Bryant, 3B/1B, University of San Diego 5/2/13: Crawfish Boxes (Anthony Boyer) : Kris Bryant, 3B/1B, University of San Diego 5/2/13: MLB Draft Prospects (Matt Garrioch) : Sean Manaea, LHP, Indiana State University 5/1/13: Boyd's Bets (Jim Boyd) : Kris Bryant, 3B/1B, University of San Diego April: 4/28/13: Through The Fence (Dan Kirby) : Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA) 4/18/13: Minor League Rundown : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA) 4/18/13: Sports City: Ryne Stanek, RHP, University of Arkansas 4/13/13: BH Picks: Ryne Stanek, RHP, University of Arkansas 4/12/13: The Baseball Draft Report: Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA) 4/11/13: Big League Futures (Kevin R) : Ryne Stanek, RHP, University of Arkansas 4/2/13 : Big League Futures (Matt Grabusky) : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA) March: 3/23/13: Minor League Ball (John Sickels) : Jonathan Denney, C, Yukon HS (OK) Based on this there are 5 names (alphabetically: Bryant, Frazier, Manaea, Meadows, Stanek) that rotate in most of the mock drafts as the Twins' pick. John Sickels and Jim Callis made different picks (HS C Denney and HS P Steward, respectively.) I do like Sickels' pick because Catcher is a position of need in the Twnis' organization at this point. Also, the conventional consensus wisdom is that RHPs Mark Appel (Stanford) and Johnathan Gray (Oklahoma) will be taken with the first 2 picks and will not be available for the Twins. I will probably update this at the end of the month as the draft nears. http://cdn1.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/10292683/mlbdraft.0_standard_352.0.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- The 2013 MLB Draft is less than a month away (it takes place from June 6th until June 8th.) The Minnesota Twins have the 4th pick this season, and there is a lot of disagreement (as is with every draft in every season in every sport) about who is the best pick for them and who they will select. And 'tis the season for mock drafts, so I am presenting the picks experts (and non-experts) think the Twins will make, and see whether there is a consensus. I am listing all of the mock drafts to date since late March. If a particular writer made multiple mock drafts, only the latest version is shown. If you know of any additional mock drafts, please let me know. The picks are presented by mock draft date, mock draft place & name of the writer (with links to their web pages) and the name, school and position of the Twins' likely draftee. Regardless whether the Twins will pick any of these players, all these players are "names to know" for the 2013 draft: May: 5/11/13: MLB Draft Site (ebowser18) : Ryne Stanek, RHP, University of Arkansas 5/10/13: Sports Illustrated (Dave Perkin) : Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA) 5/9/13: Baseball America (Jim Callis) : Kohl Steward, RHP, St. Pius X High (TX) 5/9/13: My MLB Draft : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA) 5/9/13: 85% Sports (Eugene Tierney) : Sean Manaea, LHP, Indiana State University 5/7/13: Scout.com (Kiley McDaniel) : Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA) 5/7/13: Bleacher Report (Tim Rapp) : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA) 5/7/13: MLB Unique: Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA) 5/6/13: MLB Draft Insider (Chris Crawford) : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA) 5/6/13: Bleacher Report (Adam Wells) : Sean Manaea, LHP, Indiana State University 5/6/13: Bleacher Report (Mike Rosenbaum) : Kris Bryant, 3B/1B, University of San Diego 5/2/13: Crawfish Boxes (Anthony Boyer) : Kris Bryant, 3B/1B, University of San Diego 5/2/13: MLB Draft Prospects (Matt Garrioch) : Sean Manaea, LHP, Indiana State University 5/1/13: Boyd's Bets (Jim Boyd) : Kris Bryant, 3B/1B, University of San Diego April: 4/28/13: Through The Fence (Dan Kirby) : Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA) 4/18/13: Minor League Rundown : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA) 4/18/13: Sports City: Ryne Stanek, RHP, University of Arkansas 4/13/13: BH Picks: Ryne Stanek, RHP, University of Arkansas 4/12/13: The Baseball Draft Report: Clint Frazier, OF, Loganville High (GA) 4/11/13: Big League Futures (Kevin R) : Ryne Stanek, RHP, University of Arkansas 4/2/13 : Big League Futures (Matt Grabusky) : Austin Meadows, OF/1B, Grayson HS (GA) March: 3/23/13: Minor League Ball (John Sickels) : Jonathan Denney, C, Yukon HS (OK) Based on this there are 5 names (alphabetically: Bryant, Frazier, Manaea, Meadows, Stanek) that rotate in most of the mock drafts as the Twins' pick. John Sickels and Jim Callis made different picks (HS C Denney and HS P Steward, respectively.) I do like Sickels' pick because Catcher is a position of need in the Twnis' organization at this point. Also, the conventional consensus wisdom is that RHPs Mark Appel (Stanford) and Johnathan Gray (Oklahoma) will be taken with the first 2 picks and will not be available for the Twins. I will probably update this at the end of the month as the draft nears. http://cdn1.sbnation.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/10292683/mlbdraft.0_standard_352.0.jpg

That floor in pay cuts is for players on arbitration and under club control. Morneau will be a free agent after this season and a club can sign him to a minor league contract if they both agree to it (not that it will happen.) I think that the Twins have to move on. They have a whole bunch of prospects coming up the ranks and Morneau (and Willingham and Doumit, btw, I put them on the same boat) will be blocking them. Would it be worth it to offer him maybe $2-3 M as a bench bat like they did with Thome a few years ago? Maybe, just because of the past. But I think they will be better off if they cut ties and let the young kids play.

Re: Meyer That bolded thing up there is another suburban myth. His career K/9 is 10 and K/BB is 3+ . These numbers show that he does not have a hard time controlling the ball. The only (alleged) issue with Meyer was that he (allegedly) has only 2 pitches. Methinks that's a whole bunch of bull too. But I saw him pitch

Care to add Miguel Cabrera's and Jim Thome's K% rate in the minors, just for comparison's sake? (hint: Sano is ahead) Power hitters strike out. Willingham this season strikes out at a higher pace than Sano. That strikeout talk is nonsense...

I wonder how many innings has Jason Parks watched Meyer and May pitch...

The reasons that Arcia is with the MLB club is that: a. he is on the 40-man roster b. Mastroianni is injured and Parmelee is slumping, so he can play every day if those things happen with Sano and Rosario we might see them as Twins next season. Plouffe/Morneau and Dozier are blocking them right now.

Of course. Agreed. You need lots of pieces to win games and titles (and a manager and coaches with winning attitudes and skills to manage them - which I think has been the biggest issue of the Twins in the postseason.) Yes you need a lot of pieces to win. A star catcher will not win (many) games all by himself. My point is that a star catcher is a harder piece to find than a star pitcher. Shorter supply.

Nah. It will be doing what the Astros did last season

I would have zero problems if the Twins picked anyone of Reese McGuire, Jon Denney and Nick Ciuffo with that first round pick. Getting a star catcher is much more difficult than getting a star pitcher and if they think they got one, they should go for it, and if they can save some $ in the process to sign a hard to sign high school kid in the later rounds, more power to them. Do the math: How many star catchers there are in the majors vs star pitchers.

That looks about right minus Shields plus Wimmers or someone else for the 5th starter

Wood will not be a Twin any time soon. He is going to the AAA DL with further shoulder issues

I'd add Diamond and Worley to that mix.... And other than HR/9 and GB%, DeVries' peripherals were better than Diamond's last season.

Small Sample Size

And people forget that for the same two years Kevin Slowey was more solid than Blackburn

Any idea of a. how Benson is doing in Rochester (hint: about as well as Hicks is doing in the majors) or b. who is playing CF in Rochester these days and how he is doing?

I did not miss that, but this confused me, because it talks about the future and someones alternate reality of the present (bold) : Morneau has not produced at decent levels since his injury...

Gardy better talk about the Doumit missed catch the other day, which cost the Twins the game. But, of course, it was Gardy who let Doumit play LF. That flip was nothing. If he picks on Hicks' fielding he should be picking on every other outfielder, since Hicks is much better that the others. And I am sure that the kid who just started to find his bat really needs that criticism right now... It will do wonders for him and the team. Let's see Willingham try to get to that ball. Gardy's got to go. He's been getting as curmudgeonly as Kelly was in his last years.

Morneau will be 32 in a week and has a line of .259/.303/.366 which is eeriely close to the .266/.305/.357 that then 25 year old Delmon Young had before he was traded. Nothing to build around an aging first baseman with a .669 OPS other than the ghost of Morneau's past (which is what most Twins' fans remember and think that Morneau might be again what he was when he was in his prime.) Sad to see him go like this, because he had been great for the Twins Mauer is a different story.