Thrylos

That. The Twins were very charitable in bringing in Gardy back after 99 and 96 losses and kept his buddies as coaches (other than shuffling the deck). The changes after those 2 awful seasons in a row were very small and Gardy and Co were unscratched. (Like Stelly and Jerry were the 2 who needed to be thrown under the bus...) I also thing that if the Twins are not respectable, Ryan will probably go away too... he is part of the mess as well. Gardy will resign after the season and pick up another hobby (like TK did with horses)

Topic-related (and probably fell through the cracks on sports coverage these days) : Because of the situation with the interest rates these days, Hennepin county was able to do some creative buying back and refinancing debt, that makes them pay the whole debt they occurred for TF about 10 years earlier, which means that they save more than $50 M. I wonder whether some of that $ might go towards any future improvements of the area. And that is money already budgeted and "spent".

I wonder whether they are going to have another concert (or a tractor pull or the like) right before the AS game in 2014, like they had last season and having this season. The OF grass was hideously damaged by that concert. I'd rather see them keep their baseball only venue, (big league) baseball only and keep the field in top-notch shape, before they want to venture into "improvements".

Depends on the players. And one of the reasons might sound kinda funny: There is a 30-40 degree temperature deference between Fort Myers, FL and New Britain, CT in April. Some of the Caribbean folks, esp. pitchers would have a hard time in the cold in April and you don't want them to blow arms and elbows. Also, some of the AAA MiLB signees have clauses in their contracts that makes them FAs once they reach a point without going to the bigs and some of them will suck so bad that will be cut. So some others will have to start in AA and A+ and at some point they will be pushed up.

I suspect that Arcia and Roberts will both start at AA. Also, I suspect that one of Benson/Hicks might make the big club. You need to take into consideration the Boggses/Ramirezes/Thomases of the world in AAA too. I suspect that Boggs will be the leadoff hitter in Rochester... Plus at least one of Escobar/Florimon/Dozier will not be with the Twins (and maybe more, pending acquisitions) and they will have to figure in the equation

Hard to think of Colabello as a prospect at the ripe age of 29.5 starting the season... He is just a minor leaguer at this point, like the other 30 somethings there. Not that he is not good. He might actually end up as the Twins' 1B this season or next if things fall his way. But a prospect he is not

Damn. I have to agree with you (scary) my last tweet minutes ago: Thrylos 98 ‏@thrylos98 So Torii Hunter in addition to being a had been and a redneck he is a bigot (glad the #MNTwins got rid of him) : http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mlb-big-league-stew/torii-hunter-having-openly-gay-teammate-difficult-uncomfortable-003930197--mlb.html …

I hope that I am wrong, but I see Colabello suffering the Randy Ruiz and Anthony Slama blues in this organization... Slama aside, the similarities with Ruiz are astonishing (can really hit MiLB pitching, barely given a chance because he is better suited to DH.)

Or a Visa for that matter

Guerra did pass through waivers with nobody claiming him and he was outrighted to AAA. He is not on the 40-man roster any more.

I think that he is ahead of Devon White at this point as far as speed in concerned (plus Devon was a similar player and shared a last name with RonDL White, so that is not a good thing to wish anyone ). For me it is any place between Vince Coleman and Rickey Henderson depending on power and pitch recognition development. He is fast. Faster than Revere and GoGo fast. Griffey was always a 70-80 power prospect and and 60 speed prospect

The idea of batting Mauer leadoff reminds me of the idea of batting Wade Boggs leadoff for some reason and that worked considerable well for his club. Back to the original question: too early to tell. Let's figure out who are the 25 who are going North first, see how they did in ST (eg. how many walks did Hicks take from MLB-pitchers) and then we can talk more...

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- 'Tis the time of the year when BBWAA writers who have ballots for the Hall of Fame voting, as well as everyone else, indicate who they want to be in the Hall of Fame. There are a lot of those lists and most of them come without much explanation and most of the picks are somewhat subjective (of the type: "Jack Morris should be in because he was the best post-season pitcher like ever"). Also, you have the steroid witch hunters sharpening their arrows and tightening their bows trying to make it all "alright". Furthermore, you have the people who think that because someone is a "nice guy", he should be in (Dale Murphy supporters now and Jim Rice supporters earlier fall into this category.) What are my ground rules for crating a Hall of Fame Ballot (and even though the word "objective" is on the title, this is the list of the subjective criteria I am using - and one has to use subjective criteria, since there is no objective direction from the Hall on when someone should or should not be in): You cannot "punish" one type of PED users (steroid users) and not another. So either all deserved players are in or all out. Since MLB listed amphetamines or "greenies" in the PED banned list, lots of the enshrined players should be out, according to the ones who are on the Steroid witch hunt, starting with Hank Aaron, who in a televised interview with Bob Kostas, admitted to have taken greenies. All in or all out. Period. Otherwise it is a hypocrisy akin to that of a pro-lifer supporting the death penalty. So, in my ballot, they are all in. No time for witch hunts I believe that the Hall of Fame should not be the Hall of Very Good (or with the recent addition of the likes of Jim Rice, the Hall of All Stars). Only the best players of an era should be there. A handful. The very best I would like to find an objective criterium to use to rank players. And since this is a lifetime achievement, career WAR is as close as it gets. WAR takes care of the era and included hitting, fielding and base running for position players, and it is adjusted for position so it is pretty holistic (and helps obliterate arguments that someone who is a Catcher or a Short Stop could be lighter hitting than an OF/1B and still in the Hall. That is all reflected in the number). Some people indicate that pitcher WAR is useless; my take is that (since it is a cummulative achievement award) for this exercise works pretty well (and the data below show it) unless it is for a reliever. Without further ado, here is a list of all players in the 2013 ballot, in decreasing WAR (Baseball-Reference style), including recently selected players in blue backgrounds. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8084/8322198894_e281e170d6_o.jpg The players in green (Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Jeff Bagwell and Curt Schilling) will have my vote. The players in yellow are in a bubble (based on the previously inducted Roberto Alomar and Barry Larkin) and will get some votes. There are 11 playes in yellow and green and only 10 spots. Lee Smith will always get votes, but his WAR is just too low compared with that of Goose Gossage (whom I consider borderline) Players like Dale Murphy, Jack Morris, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa do not belong in the Hall. You heard it correctly: Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa do not belong in the Hall of Fame. And not because they used steroids potentially. They do not belong because their numbers are not good enough. Objectively. Not witch huntingly. Roger Maris of 61 in 61, whose record was broken, has a career WAR in the 30s, btw. So here you have it. And there will be the McGwire and Sosa debate (for the wrong reasons) and the Morris and Murphy debate, but objectively, none of these guys should be in.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- 'Tis the time of the year when BBWAA writers who have ballots for the Hall of Fame voting, as well as everyone else, indicate who they want to be in the Hall of Fame. There are a lot of those lists and most of them come without much explanation and most of the picks are somewhat subjective (of the type: "Jack Morris should be in because he was the best post-season pitcher like ever"). Also, you have the steroid witch hunters sharpening their arrows and tightening their bows trying to make it all "alright". Furthermore, you have the people who think that because someone is a "nice guy", he should be in (Dale Murphy supporters now and Jim Rice supporters earlier fall into this category.) What are my ground rules for crating a Hall of Fame Ballot (and even though the word "objective" is on the title, this is the list of the subjective criteria I am using - and one has to use subjective criteria, since there is no objective direction from the Hall on when someone should or should not be in): You cannot "punish" one type of PED users (steroid users) and not another. So either all deserved players are in or all out. Since MLB listed amphetamines or "greenies" in the PED banned list, lots of the enshrined players should be out, according to the ones who are on the Steroid witch hunt, starting with Hank Aaron, who in a televised interview with Bob Kostas, admitted to have taken greenies. All in or all out. Period. Otherwise it is a hypocrisy akin to that of a pro-lifer supporting the death penalty. So, in my ballot, they are all in. No time for witch hunts I believe that the Hall of Fame should not be the Hall of Very Good (or with the recent addition of the likes of Jim Rice, the Hall of All Stars). Only the best players of an era should be there. A handful. The very best I would like to find an objective criterium to use to rank players. And since this is a lifetime achievement, career WAR is as close as it gets. WAR takes care of the era and included hitting, fielding and base running for position players, and it is adjusted for position so it is pretty holistic (and helps obliterate arguments that someone who is a Catcher or a Short Stop could be lighter hitting than an OF/1B and still in the Hall. That is all reflected in the number). Some people indicate that pitcher WAR is useless; my take is that (since it is a cummulative achievement award) for this exercise works pretty well (and the data below show it) unless it is for a reliever. Without further ado, here is a list of all players in the 2013 ballot, in decreasing WAR (Baseball-Reference style), including recently selected players in blue backgrounds. http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8084/8322198894_e281e170d6_o.jpg The players in green (Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Jeff Bagwell and Curt Schilling) will have my vote. The players in yellow are in a bubble (based on the previously inducted Roberto Alomar and Barry Larkin) and will get some votes. There are 11 playes in yellow and green and only 10 spots. Lee Smith will always get votes, but his WAR is just too low compared with that of Goose Gossage (whom I consider borderline) Players like Dale Murphy, Jack Morris, Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa do not belong in the Hall. You heard it correctly: Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa do not belong in the Hall of Fame. And not because they used steroids potentially. They do not belong because their numbers are not good enough. Objectively. Not witch huntingly. Roger Maris of 61 in 61, whose record was broken, has a career WAR in the 30s, btw. So here you have it. And there will be the McGwire and Sosa debate (for the wrong reasons) and the Morris and Murphy debate, but objectively, none of these guys should be in.

This is really good news. Hopefully he will have a monster season. Unless the Twins are in contention, they should trade him at the deadline. It is all downhill from now and Sano will be ready for that 1B job sooner than any extension will expire.

And the Marlins won two World Championships since the Twins won their last one...

The probability of them signing Lohse is about 0%. Not with Gardenhire around. The Bourne (sic) objective is intriguing as a sign and trade but: a. There are limits on when you can trade someone you just signed (so teams would not do exactly what you propose) And he will be around for a season blocking a Twins' prospect (or 2) b. Signing a veteran you don't need to this kind of a contract, you are a torn ACL in ST away from having an albatross of a contract.

Lock? Not yet. He probably needs at least 2-3 decent seasons and up to 5 more total seasons (play out his contact). Too early to tell - he just has 9 season under his belt. After their first 9 seasons, Juan Gone, Darryl Strawberry, and Doc Gooden were "locks" too. Is Pudge a "lock"? is Piazza a "lock"? Is Pedro a lock? Is Bonds a lock? Those are more meaningful discussions. I just have a hard time talking about HOF credentials of players in their prime. Give them time.

The Vikings successes have done nothing to the fans' perceptions of the Twins. Even in the season that they were cheated out of a Superbowl by the Taints and the officiating crew who wanted to atone for Katrina, while Gardy's club was doing its regular postseason routine. Always too much slack for the Twins' and their leaders for the same fanbase who wanted to bury the Vikings and their leaders, this Millennium.

I think that it is too hard to tell because the procedure is too new. FWIW, part of Harden's issue allegedly was that shoulder was "loose" and there was too much movement. Possibly restriction of movement might benefit it. This is pure speculation and I guess we will find out. I would also suspect that it might depend on individual mechanics as well...

Harden did not have rotator cuff surgery. He had shoulder capsule surgery. Details here in a SF Chronicle article. They are related procedures, but not identical. Here is a pictorial of a rotator cuff surgery. The Capsule surgery involves the tendon group underneath the one shown in the picture (Supraspinatus). There is a list of pitchers who had the procedure in the article (including Johan Santana) and the consensus is that there are not enough data points to figure generalized pitcher performance outcomes after the procedure.

Jairo Perez was released from the organization under a veil of secrecy last summer, with no explanations given (apparently it was for "unprofessional contract detrimental to the team and such".) Ended up finishing the season with the Wingnuts and AirDogs... Romero along with Carroll and Sobolewski are the internal choices (and maybe some of the other middle infielders like Escobar and Florimon); but TR went out and looked for more (offering a contract to Hannahan, according to his words), which means that he is not happy with the internal choices. Really there is not much there... And I really think that Plouffe is getting his act together and needs encouragement (and not a fire underneath him...) and he is not part of the problem the last couple seasons.

There is no way that Colabello is the third baseman, but I will not count him out of the 1B/DH situation, esp. if Morneau gets traded or Parmelee has a slump in ST. Colabello has been invited to the Spring Training with the big club this season.

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- The Twins' General Manager has been on the record many times this offseason indicating that he would like to get someone who will "push" Trevor Plouffe at third base. The Twins' field and front office staff are unhappy with Plouffe's defense in the hot corner. Plouffe has had his moments there, but he is still learning the position. Let us not forget that the powers of being who feel that Plouffe is inadequate defensively are the same who gave starting roles at third base to Brian Buscher and Brendan Harris, who, arguable were worse defenders than Plouffe, plus Buscher has played the position all his life. And that happened in contending Twins' teams. Regardless, for some reason getting another player who can play third base is a priority for Terry Ryan for the Twins to rebound from consecutive 99 and 96 loss season. Who would that player be? There are three internal options: Jamey Carroll, Deibinson Romero and Mark Sobolewski. I have already discussed the last two here. For some reason, it seems that Terry Ryan does not like these options (Only Carroll was invited in Spring Training) and had an offer out to light hitting 33 year old Jack Hannahan whose greatest claim to fame is that he is Minnesotan; he snubbed the Twins and elected to sign a 1 year $2 million dollar contract with the Twins. I suspect that Ryan will not be bringing back Nick Punto or sign Chone Figgins. The pickings out there at the major league level are really slim and all remaining are aging utility players with very weak bats plus Scott Rollen who is old but serviceable mulling retirement or returning to the Reds. But, this would be the team to take 24 HRs away from a RHB (Plouffe) to install a light hitting third baseman. Are there any other possibilities? Looking at the list of the minor league free agents, here are the ones who are still available and at least decent defensively and offensively at third base. I suspect that unless Ryan chooses any of the aforementioned internal options, one of these folks would be it: Shawn Bowman, 29, RHB Audy Ciriaco, 26 RHB Brooks Conrad, 33, SHB Mike Costanzo, 30, LHB Ruben Gotay, 30, SHB Michael Hollimon (re-sign) 31, SHB Kevin Howard, 32, LHB Tug Hulett, 30, LHB Andy LaRoche, 29, RHB Mario Lisson, 29, RHB Matt Mangini, 27, LHB Jimmy Swift, 26, RHB Your guess is good as mine http://www2.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Florida+Marlins+v+Baltimore+Orioles+K-gk-OWIiA6l.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- The Twins' General Manager has been on the record many times this offseason indicating that he would like to get someone who will "push" Trevor Plouffe at third base. The Twins' field and front office staff are unhappy with Plouffe's defense in the hot corner. Plouffe has had his moments there, but he is still learning the position. Let us not forget that the powers of being who feel that Plouffe is inadequate defensively are the same who gave starting roles at third base to Brian Buscher and Brendan Harris, who, arguable were worse defenders than Plouffe, plus Buscher has played the position all his life. And that happened in contending Twins' teams. Regardless, for some reason getting another player who can play third base is a priority for Terry Ryan for the Twins to rebound from consecutive 99 and 96 loss season. Who would that player be? There are three internal options: Jamey Carroll, Deibinson Romero and Mark Sobolewski. I have already discussed the last two here. For some reason, it seems that Terry Ryan does not like these options (Only Carroll was invited in Spring Training) and had an offer out to light hitting 33 year old Jack Hannahan whose greatest claim to fame is that he is Minnesotan; he snubbed the Twins and elected to sign a 1 year $2 million dollar contract with the Twins. I suspect that Ryan will not be bringing back Nick Punto or sign Chone Figgins. The pickings out there at the major league level are really slim and all remaining are aging utility players with very weak bats plus Scott Rollen who is old but serviceable mulling retirement or returning to the Reds. But, this would be the team to take 24 HRs away from a RHB (Plouffe) to install a light hitting third baseman. Are there any other possibilities? Looking at the list of the minor league free agents, here are the ones who are still available and at least decent defensively and offensively at third base. I suspect that unless Ryan chooses any of the aforementioned internal options, one of these folks would be it: Shawn Bowman, 29, RHB Audy Ciriaco, 26 RHB Brooks Conrad, 33, SHB Mike Costanzo, 30, LHB Ruben Gotay, 30, SHB Michael Hollimon (re-sign) 31, SHB Kevin Howard, 32, LHB Tug Hulett, 30, LHB Andy LaRoche, 29, RHB Mario Lisson, 29, RHB Matt Mangini, 27, LHB Jimmy Swift, 26, RHB Your guess is good as mine http://www2.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Florida+Marlins+v+Baltimore+Orioles+K-gk-OWIiA6l.jpg