Thrylos

I think that the last part of Ryan's quote was misunderstood by the reporter... The actual quote was:

Another note for this point: Willingham entered the league as a catcher. They could move him behind the plate for a couple of innings if needed without losing the DH. If he starts putting the Catcher's gear on later in ST, that would be an indication that they will only have 2 catchers.

Actually if he exits, the Minor League Camp he will join will be in the Cactus League (White Sox)

Not necessarily... Too many lefties in the lineup as is (Span, Mauer, Morneau, Revere, Doumit -practically, Casilla - practically.) I still doubt that with the game late and close and a RH closer against the Twins anyone in their sane mind should PH Burroughs for Valencia or Carroll (if he PH for Carroll, they bring in a Leftie to face him, Mauer and Morneau)... With any of the Lefties against LH in late and close situations, Burroughs is neutralized. Hollimon being a SH, has the advantage there (plus he has been performing better...) Would he be repititious with Hughes there? Not necessarily... Hollimon has played a lot of SS and 2B, and Hughes can back up 1B, 2B, and 3B. I just hope that they go with the hottest backups when they move North

The only cut that surprised me was Bates. Win Nishoka being where he needs to be, that opens 2 spots (I assume that Hughes and Plouffe are in) for the Bench. Given that Hughes can back up all infield positions other than SS, and Casilla can back up SS, it is not necessary that they get another middle infielder up North. I thought that Bates had a chance, but apparently the Twins feel like Morneau is fine.

That's probably the understatement of the century Here are FranKKKKKKKKKKKKKie's full season numbers per catcher: Rivera: 3.86 ERA, 10 K/9, 2.8 K/BB, 1.21 WHIP Mauer: 5.31 ERA, 7.7 K/9, 1.6 K/BB, 1.58 WHIP Butera: 5.85 ERA 5.7 K/9, 0.9 K/BB, 1.63 WHIP When Rivera caught him Frankie was FranKKKKKKKKKKKKKie. Just for that the Twins should have a. kept him last season in the bigs and let him catch Liriano all the time (cannot remedy that) and b. should take him up North now.

Swarzak is out of options. Unless they trade him, he will be there.

Tall guy is Matt Maloney. Little guy to his right with the beard who kinda looks like Span is Louis Perdomo

Add Terry Doyle to the equation as well... This leaves 3 spots. I also got the feeling that a trade or 2 might be brewing as well...

Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch -- This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the last two games vs the Marlins yesterday and vs the Pirates earlier this afternoon. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. I will be updating them daily and post daily updates. Players who were assigned to the minor league camp were removed from the dashboards but kept in the rankings, denoted by "(MILB)". Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7203/6994319715_16772bb69b_z.jpg Here is what the Bullpen Battle Dashboard looks like today: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7063/6994319827_e0b06d8697_z.jpg Here is the ranking of the position player combatants today (based on position) : Catchers: ----- Rene Rivera 2.5 J.R. Towles 1,1 Drew Butera 1.0 Daniel Rohlfing 0.67 Danny Lehmann 0.28 Chris Herrmann 0.1 ---- Danny Rams -0.98 (MILB) Infielders: Chris Parmelee 3.0 Mike Hollimon 2.5 ---- Aaron Bates 1.3 Ray Chang 1.3 Brian Dozier 1.3 Luke Hughes 1.3 Brian Dinkelman 0.93 Tsuyoshi Nishioka 0.84 Sean Burroughs 0.78 Pedro Florimon 0.55 ---- Steve Pearce -0.31 (MILB) Outfielders: Joe Benson 1.9 ---- Wilkin Ramirez 0.43 Matt Carson 0.02 ---- Darin Mastroianni -0.01 (MILB) Rene Tosoni -0.07 Oswaldo Arcia -0.33 (MILB) Here is the ranking of pitcher combatants today: Liam Hendriks 54.5 Matt Maloney 54.3 P.J. Walters 54.3 Casey Fien 53 Jeff Manship 52.8 Kyle Waldrop 52 Jared Burton 51.4 Carlos Gutierrez 51.3 Luis Perdomo 51.3 --- Esmerling Vasquez 51 Daryl Thompson 50.8 Samuel Deduno 50.5 Lester Oliveros 50.3 (MILB) Aaron Thompson 50 (MILB) Tyler Robertson 49.7 (MILB) Scott Diamond 49 (MILB) --- Brendan Wise 47.8 Jeff Gray 46.5 Phil Dumatrait 46.2 Deolis Guerra 42 (MILB) Alex Burnett 41.3 Jason Bulger 38.3 Terry Doyle 31.3 As always you can find all Spring Training coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch here.

Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch -- This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the last two games vs the Marlins yesterday and vs the Pirates earlier this afternoon. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. I will be updating them daily and post daily updates. Players who were assigned to the minor league camp were removed from the dashboards but kept in the rankings, denoted by "(MILB)". Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7203/6994319715_16772bb69b_z.jpg Here is what the Bullpen Battle Dashboard looks like today: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7063/6994319827_e0b06d8697_z.jpg Here is the ranking of the position player combatants today (based on position) : Catchers: ----- Rene Rivera 2.5 J.R. Towles 1,1 Drew Butera 1.0 Daniel Rohlfing 0.67 Danny Lehmann 0.28 Chris Herrmann 0.1 ---- Danny Rams -0.98 (MILB) Infielders: Chris Parmelee 3.0 Mike Hollimon 2.5 ---- Aaron Bates 1.3 Ray Chang 1.3 Brian Dozier 1.3 Luke Hughes 1.3 Brian Dinkelman 0.93 Tsuyoshi Nishioka 0.84 Sean Burroughs 0.78 Pedro Florimon 0.55 ---- Steve Pearce -0.31 (MILB) Outfielders: Joe Benson 1.9 ---- Wilkin Ramirez 0.43 Matt Carson 0.02 ---- Darin Mastroianni -0.01 (MILB) Rene Tosoni -0.07 Oswaldo Arcia -0.33 (MILB) Here is the ranking of pitcher combatants today: Liam Hendriks 54.5 Matt Maloney 54.3 P.J. Walters 54.3 Casey Fien 53 Jeff Manship 52.8 Kyle Waldrop 52 Jared Burton 51.4 Carlos Gutierrez 51.3 Luis Perdomo 51.3 --- Esmerling Vasquez 51 Daryl Thompson 50.8 Samuel Deduno 50.5 Lester Oliveros 50.3 (MILB) Aaron Thompson 50 (MILB) Tyler Robertson 49.7 (MILB) Scott Diamond 49 (MILB) --- Brendan Wise 47.8 Jeff Gray 46.5 Phil Dumatrait 46.2 Deolis Guerra 42 (MILB) Alex Burnett 41.3 Jason Bulger 38.3 Terry Doyle 31.3 As always you can find all Spring Training coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch here.

Small Sample size or not, players make the roster based on a. their ST stats and b. on their capabilities (and previous records) For example. If a pitcher does not walk anyone in ST, it will be a good think to assume that he has pretty good control (because if you cannot find the plate, the opponent does not matter). The opposite is not always the case.

Willingham Boesch Francoeur Choo Rios

Span Jackson Cain de Aza Carrera

Han, Just coincidence. I cannot really get into what if situations, otherwise I would be charting Delmon Young as well Shane, yeah. You can weigh it any way you want it, thus the whole scores. Feel free to get rid of a single performance and see what happens (and that's the way it works in real life.) Trends are important. Look at Luke Hughes. When he was not right he was stinking up the place. When he got right, he is better...

Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the split squat games vs the Orioles this afternoon and vs the Red Sox tonight. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. I will be updating them daily and post daily updates. Players who were assigned to the minor league camp were removed from the dashboards but kept in the rankings, denoted by "(MILB)". Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7067/6988712791_69e4f500b8_z.jpg Here is what the Bullpen Battle Dashboard looks like today: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7191/6988712719_b3fa8df89d_z.jpg Here is the ranking of the position player combatants today (based on position) : Catchers: ----- Rene Rivera 1.8 J.R. Towles 1,6 Drew Butera 1.0 Daniel Rohlfing 0.67 Danny Lehmann 0.37 Chris Herrmann 0.1 ---- Danny Rams -0.98 (MILB) Infielders: Chris Parmelee 4.3 Mike Hollimon 2.1 ---- Luke Hughes 1.7 Tsuyoshi Nishioka 1.2 Sean Burroughs 0.78 Ray Chang 0.69 Brian Dinkelman 0.61 Brian Dozier 0.44 Aaron Bates 0.39 Pedro Florimon 0.01 ---- Steve Pearce -0.31 (MILB) Outfielders: Joe Benson 1.4 ---- Wilkin Ramirez 0.2 Matt Carson 0.15 ---- Darin Mastroianni -0.01 (MILB) Rene Tosoni -0.07 Oswaldo Arcia -0.33 (MILB) Here is the ranking of pitcher combatants today: Liam Hendriks 54.5 Matt Maloney 54.3 P.J. Walters 54.3 Casey Fien 53 Jeff Manship 52.8 Kyle Waldrop 52 Jared Burton 51.4 Carlos Gutierrez 51.3 Luis Perdomo 51.3 --- Esmerling Vasquez 51 Daryl Thompson 50.8 Samuel Deduno 50.5 Lester Oliveros 50.3 (MILB) Aaron Thompson 50 (MILB) Tyler Robertson 49.7 (MILB) Scott Diamond 49 (MILB) --- Brendan Wise 47.8 Jeff Gray 46.5 Phil Dumatrait 46.2 Deolis Guerra 42 (MILB) Alex Burnett 41.3 Jason Bulger 38.3 Terry Doyle 31.3 As always you can find all Spring Training coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch here.

Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- This is the latest update of the Twins' Bench Battle and the Bullpen Battle Dashboards, to track player performance to date this spring. Performances include those in the split squat games vs the Orioles this afternoon and vs the Red Sox tonight. You can read the basic premise behind the Bench Battle Dashboard here and behind the Bullpen Battle Dashboard here. I will be updating them daily and post daily updates. Players who were assigned to the minor league camp were removed from the dashboards but kept in the rankings, denoted by "(MILB)". Here is what the Bench Battle Dashboard looks like today: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7067/6988712791_69e4f500b8_z.jpg Here is what the Bullpen Battle Dashboard looks like today: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7191/6988712719_b3fa8df89d_z.jpg Here is the ranking of the position player combatants today (based on position) : Catchers: ----- Rene Rivera 1.8 J.R. Towles 1,6 Drew Butera 1.0 Daniel Rohlfing 0.67 Danny Lehmann 0.37 Chris Herrmann 0.1 ---- Danny Rams -0.98 (MILB) Infielders: Chris Parmelee 4.3 Mike Hollimon 2.1 ---- Luke Hughes 1.7 Tsuyoshi Nishioka 1.2 Sean Burroughs 0.78 Ray Chang 0.69 Brian Dinkelman 0.61 Brian Dozier 0.44 Aaron Bates 0.39 Pedro Florimon 0.01 ---- Steve Pearce -0.31 (MILB) Outfielders: Joe Benson 1.4 ---- Wilkin Ramirez 0.2 Matt Carson 0.15 ---- Darin Mastroianni -0.01 (MILB) Rene Tosoni -0.07 Oswaldo Arcia -0.33 (MILB) Here is the ranking of pitcher combatants today: Liam Hendriks 54.5 Matt Maloney 54.3 P.J. Walters 54.3 Casey Fien 53 Jeff Manship 52.8 Kyle Waldrop 52 Jared Burton 51.4 Carlos Gutierrez 51.3 Luis Perdomo 51.3 --- Esmerling Vasquez 51 Daryl Thompson 50.8 Samuel Deduno 50.5 Lester Oliveros 50.3 (MILB) Aaron Thompson 50 (MILB) Tyler Robertson 49.7 (MILB) Scott Diamond 49 (MILB) --- Brendan Wise 47.8 Jeff Gray 46.5 Phil Dumatrait 46.2 Deolis Guerra 42 (MILB) Alex Burnett 41.3 Jason Bulger 38.3 Terry Doyle 31.3 As always you can find all Spring Training coverage at The Tenth Inning Stretch here.

This does not happen in Baseball... NFL is a different story. Clueless about NBA and NHL, but if a contact is signed you owe that money to that player no matter what in MLB.

Drew got to make the team one way or another

You learn something every day, and not sure that this has always been here or whether it is part of the new CBA, but ESPN NY said in an article (talking about the Mets, but it is applicable for all MLB teams: ) Who is in that position (and still in the MLB camp) for the Twins? Joe Benson Carlos Gutierrez Liam Hendriks Chris Parmelee Rene Tosoni Kyle Waldrop Alex Burnett and Jeff Manship are on their last option season so it does not affect them

At least there is a good thing from all of this. His "tender elbow" of yesterday was diagnosed as "tendonitis" today. No ligament damage. This is really good news. If he goes to the DL, the Twins do not need a fifth starter until 4/14 or so. Thus, it could be a position player of a pen guy who makes the team. This person should have options and go back to Rochester when Baker returns without dealing with the waiver wire. Nice and clean. And this eliminates a bunch of people. If the Twins are going to use a 5th starter, I think that they will not mess with Duensing or Swarzak (or Maloney if he makes the pen) but the will use Hendriks who will go to Rochester once Baker is up. Nice and clean. Or so I hope.

Looks like Baker will start the season in the DL, so the opening day roster needs some reworking I suspect that Hendriks will be the 5th starter

Before we get too excited... Last Spring Blackburn went 3-1 with 1.73 ERA 1.08 WHIP 3 BB and 11 K in 26 IP. One thing though, he seems to get swings and misses this Spring, unlike times past, which is a good thing to see. Maybe Blac_burn found his K finally.

He is done

Delmon Young Alex Gordon Plouffe/Revere Dayan Viciedo Mickey Brantley