Buck Nasty

I agree with this. With Buxton losing a year of development and Hicks taking a step back, we probably have a full year and maybe two to cover before Buxton takes over for good. If Buxton/Hicks force their way into the line up earlier - great! Span becomes a very good 4th OF or could even hold a corner spot if he's playing well.

I have a deja vu feeling....there was another pitcher who got lit up/pitched poorly only to come out after the fact and say they were pitching hurt. Was it Slowey? Or was it Perkins when he was starting? I can't remember other than it didn't end well for that pitcher.

Find a reason to give him a short stint on the DL and give Meyer his start(s). It's 2015 audition time. I'm not sure I want to see Nolasco come rolling out of the pen right now with the way he's throwing. Give him a week or two to "get healthy" and maybe he comes back to salvage his season without being officially demoted.

I'd be fine if they dealt Perkins, but I doubt that would happen since they just locked him up. I wouldn't want them to deal Dozier though. I don't think he's peaked yet and I'm not convinced Santana/Polonco/Rosario etc. can be better than Dozier is right now. This team has so many one dimensional players that can either hit or play defense, they need to hold onto a guy that can actually do both. Dozier shouldn't be leading off. Get some good hitters around him and I think he'll be even better.

Just like the Twins have been doing along with every other team - forever. It seems pretty obvious that Meyer/May will be getting innings starting this year and/or next. Unfortunately, not every young pitcher works out. Here are the historical # of pitchers age 25 and under that pitched each season for the Twins the last 10 years: 2013 - 7 2012 - 5 2011 - 6 2010 - 4 2009 - 8 2008 - 5 2007 - 9 2006 - 7 2005 - 4 2004 - 7

Huh? You lost me there. Personally, I think you are on the wrong track with focusing so much on ages. I'm not sure what you are even proposing anymore since the top prospects at AAA are already 24 going on 25. Of those, several have already been up: Tonkin, Pressley (last year), Darnell. Seems like a lot of bellyaching over nothing if you ask me. Personally, I think you should focus more about the lack of offense and less about how old the back of the bullpen is.

It's just a difference of opinion. You and Jokin have some valid points. But the question is: Does the extra time in the minors help or hurt the top prospects? I think each player/situation is different. Bringing Hicks up early didn't seem to do him any good. Meyer is exciting, but he seems inconsistent at AAA and coming off arm trouble - maybe it's better to keep a lid on him vs. having him amped up for a few meaningless starts in the bigs. May seems ready and I'm pretty confident he'll get a shot this year. Tonklin was up earlier this year and got sent down based on performance. With the addition of Morales, it seems to me that they are going to run with it this year in a weak division. If that's the case - would you rather have vets or rookies playing?

Exactly. 31 year old Glen Perkins seems to be doing OK. I don't think we win the World Series in '91 without 36 year old Jack Morris or the '87 World Series without 36 year old Bert Blyleven. Regarding Jarod Burton, he's been ok player during his time here, but he is trending in the wrong direction based on year over year (FIP, WHIP). I think he's on the bubble right now based on performance - not age. These things always work themselves out based on what they do on the field.

Yohan Pino is your ace, followed by Pelfrey and Diamond. Correia comes back on a one year deal and they re-sign Nick Blackburn for Karma similar to what they did with Kubel/Bartlett. Hughes/Gibson/Meyer/May anchor AAA for depth until the GM decides they are ready. Nolasco is traded for Drew Butera or possibly Nick Punto. #World Champions

I think people get themselves in trouble when they try to over analyze. The guy has been getting people out for two years now. This isn't a week or a month hot streak. Teams don't get rid of guys because their BABIP is too low. They get rid of guys that are not performing i.e. giving up runs.

Why do people think Thielbar would be the guy? He's left handed. He's only 27 and has been very good for them. His career totals: 5-2, 2.31 ERA, 0.89 WHIP. If that gets a guy demoted then there's something wrong with the guys running this organization.

I just don't see how a team can carry four DH types on an active roster (Willingham, Arcia, Kubel, Collabello), especially since Mauer clogs up 1st Base. Collabello has been doing fine as DH - he should stay. Kubel has been swinging a good bat- he stays. That leaves Willingham/Arcia. I think Mastro stays up and Arcia goes down to find his swing. They just don't have enough spots to hide that many bad fielders. Mastro becomes the pinch runner/late inning defensive replacement for Kubel/Willingham.

I think this is just real life. If the people in charge like you, you will get a shot over someone else who may have out performed you. That was the case this year for both Bartlett and Kubel. They were flat out given spots on the team vs. earning them. Lucky for them, Kubel started off hot otherwise there would really be some griping going on right about now. As it is, everything I read into Gardy's quotes indicates Nunez will be up to take Bartlett's place. Maybe not instantly, but I'm convinced very soon. It's usually pretty easy to spot the "chosen ones" from listening to Gardy.

Aside fromMeyer – I don’t think they are any better than a year ago. Here are their career minor #’s: (Age)ERA/WHIP/K9 May (24): 4.07/1.36/10.73 Johnson(29): 4.38/1.46/6.36 Darnell(25): 4.04/1.35/6.22 Versus Hendricks(25): 2.94/1.09/7.54 Hernandez(25): 4.00/1.34/6.86 Albers (28): 2.86/1.18/7.45 I'd say Johnson/Darnell are a push to Hernandez/Albers. Let's be honest - none of those guys are anything to get too excited about. May vs. Hendricks....May certainly has a better arm, but Hendricks had better overall results in the minors and a quicker track to the majors. Remember, Hendricks was a top ten (team) prospect in 2011 and 2012 and then "poof" he was considered a bust at age 24 (same age as May is now).

Can I ask where you pull your data from/filters? I just ran a comparison from Baseball Cube, 2009-2013 MLB: ERA: Jackon 4.13/Correia 4.45 WHIP: Jackson 1.35/Correia 1.37 Innings: Jackson 968/Correia 829 (5 year averages = 193.6 and 165.8) 2013 Salary: Jackson $13M/ Correia $4.5M Jackson's averaging an extra 30 innings/year which has value. But considering their ERA and WHIP are similar, I can certainly see how someone can say Jackson isn't worth the extra $8.5M/Yr to a Correia.

3rd base is only one hole on this squad. Use the same positional WAR comparison for all other positions on this team. You'll find we are set at catcher (assuming Mauer's there). Dozier/Floriman seem fine. But we don't rank very well at: 1B, 3B, LF, CF, RF or DH. That's a lot of holes. I realize we have some prospects coming which should fill those spots. But like Plouffe, obviously none of those guys are sure things. It would be nice if these guys would rise to the occassion when given a chance (Arcia, Hicks, Parmalee etc.)

I read Deduno has a sore arm now. It got me thinking about this year...from memory: Nick Blackburn who had an outside shot at making the rotation has been hurt all year. Cole Defries who probably won a spot in the rotation out of Spring Training - out of the year Scott Diamond who was being counted on for stability had surgery during the off-season and has been ineffective all year. Vance Worely - Opening day Starter. Obviously wasn't healthy this year coming off surgery and is now out for the rest of the year. Sam Deduno - had a good shot of making the rotation after the WBC, but got hurt late in Spring and is now hurt again. Mike Pelphrey -Coming off TJ has shown flashes, but generally ineffective Kyle Gibson - Coming off TJ has shown flashes, but generally ineffective Anthony Swarzak - Had outside shot at rotation, but due to "horsing around" got a late start and ended up in the pen (where he's been great) Liam Hendricks - Made the team out of Spring, but didn't seem healthy. Eventually went on DL after being demoted to AAA Pedro Hernandez - Made some spot start, but not sure if he was 100% healthy this year. Recently on DL Alex Meyers - Big prize of off season, has been hurt for half the year. Alex Wimmers - Coming back from TJ That's all I can think of off the top of my head. It seems like pitchers are never healthy these days. The last healthy rotation I found for the Twins was back 2004: Santana (228 innings) Radke (219 innings) Silva (203 innings) Lohse (194 innings) They need to find a couple old-timey "Rubber Armed" guys for next year's rotation or their very good bullpen will certainly start burning out arms.

Wow. Seems like a pretty good deal for the Twins. I wonder where he'll be ranked on the Twins Prospect list? We are starting to collect some decent (ranked) arms at the lower levels: Kohl Stewart, Berrios, Ryan Eades, Mason Melotakis, Luke Bard, Stephan Gonsalves, Felix Jorge.

I'd be surprised if Albers is even part of the team next year. I think he's a good story right now, but I'm clearly not the only one who thinks MLB hitters will eventually catch up to that 85 mph heater. I wouldn't hate to be wrong on that - but we'll see. My prediction for next year: 1.) Free Agent signing (a front line guy this time please Terry) 2.) The return of either Correia or Pelphry (one - not both) 3.) Gibson (he must step up) 4.) Duduno (he's earned it) 5.) Worley/Hendricks/Defries (one of these guys will step up or they'll rotate in/out AAA) * Meyer/May hopefully will be at AAA and doing well

True. But you can record an out with one pitch and a strike out takes a minimum of 3 (usually many more). Also you can record 2 outs when a ball is put in play (i.e. grounder to short) far more often than a strike out/throw out. In a nutshell, it's ok to have a pitcher go 8 innings with 3 or 4 stikeouts vs. say a Liriano racking up K's but throwing 100 pitches in 4 innings.

I'm the first one to remind people not to get carried away regarding Berrios but you seem to be disregarding him because he hasn't played at a high enough level yet. He has really good stats AND he has a really good scouting report. And lets be honest a 43% K rate while walking 4 total batters is something that I haven't seen from an 18 yr old even if it is in rookie ball. full season ball will be his first big test but there are legit reasons to be excited about him. It just comes down to how much value you put into smaller sample sizes at lower levels. The last 18/19 yr old to rack up similar numbers at Elizabethon was probably Alex Smit. His second year (age 19) he racked up 0.81 WHIP and a 16.95 K/9. It's worth getting excited about. But it seems we both agree a full season in A ball will tell us a lot more about a player than Rookie level does.

LOL - yeah.....because we all know that there has never been a case where an 18 year old dominated rookie ball and then flamed out at higher levels. That was the point - a lot can happen between Rookie Ball and AAA, so I personally don't get too excited about prospects until they move a little higher up the ladder. And for the record, Shooter was 21 not 22 when he was drafted - not that it matters to my point. But for someone who starts off posts accusing others of not knowing what they are talking about....you would think they'd get their own posts right - lol!

Meh. I think these type of prospect ranking lists are purely for entertainment and don't mean too much to me. What's the criteria? Based on what they've done in the minors up to now? Based on potential ceiling? If it's the latter, then it's pretty subjective. I'd rather just look at the top performers at each position by level. Projecting guys in Rookie ball to be your "Top Prospects" seems to be a bit of an oxymoron. Those guys are the farthest away from the big leagues and you've had the least amount of time to evaluate them. A lot can happen on the way up the chain. Example: The last Twins pitcher to dominate Rookie ball like Berrios was Shooter Hunt. I do like to look at the lists when they come out. But like most of you, I rarely agree with the rankings.

I don't know.....you can't really put it on the player to say if he's pitching or not. That's why you pay your medical staff. Players are an investment beyond one season. There should be some sort of plan in place to limit the risk of injuries. My advice....The Nats should ask the Twins medical staff what they'd do and then do the exact opposite.