Seth Stohs

Doyle hit Sean Rodriguez. Rays announcers say it happens a lot. Joyce got another grounder to 1B for a force out at 2B.

Good to see Terry Doyle get the start today in Tampa for the Twins. I like that he's starting in that he'll see more big league hitters. The Twins have (obviously) a big decision to make on him and it'll be good to see him against good hitters. Hopefully he steps up.

The Twins had a Venezuelan academy and a team in the Venezuelan Summer League up until about 4-5 years ago when the civil unrest made it far too dangerous. The VSL is down to 4-5 teams now for that very reason. It's far too dangerous to send players to Venezuela. The Pirates, Mariners, Rays, Reds, Phillies and Tigers had teams there in 2011, and I know that recently one more got out of there. They've done alright in Venezuela. They signed Ramos. They signed Arcia. There are quite a few players that the Twins have still managed to sign from VZ. The Twins have been very active in the Dominican since giving Sano $3.15M in 2009. They have signed Jorge Polanco, Javier Pimentel, and 3-4 of the top pitching prospects from Central America the last several years. They signed the top player from Panama last year.

Alexi Casilla singles under the glove of Hellickson on the first pitch.

Listening to the Rays' broadcast. Game to begin at 12:05 CST.

Yesterday, Thrylos98 posted where fomer Twins players signed in the offseason. I thought it would be good and fun to have a forum thread dedicated to former Twins and Twins minor leaguers playing in big league camps. I figured we can post links to stories on former Twins, player daily stats, transactions, etc. Box Score Updates from 3/3/12 (Saturday): Jim Thome - Philadelphia - DH - 0-2 Tyler Ladendorf - Oakland - 2B - 1-1 Jason Kubel - Arizona - LF - 1-3 David Winfree - Arizona - 1B - 1-2 Henry Blanco - Arizona - C - 0-2 Michael Cuddyer - Colorado - RF - 0-1, BB Dusty Hughes - Atlanta - 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K Ron Mahay - Cincinnati - 1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

Fenway, Yankees Stadium, Camden Yards... I'm also really looking forward to seeing that minor league park in Quad Cities (with the bridge) in June with the Territory Train trip!!

The other half of the Twins players are headed across Ft. Myers to check out (and play in) JetBlue Stadium against the Red Sox. Here is that lineup: Ben Revere LF Tsuyoshi Nishioka SS Rene Tosoni RF Aaron Bates 1B Luke Hughes DH Sean Burroughs 3B Ray Chang 2B Rene Rivera C Darin Mastroianni CF Pitchers: Francisco Liriano, Jared Burton, Esmerling Vasquez, Phil Dumatrait, Daryl Thompson, Jason Bulger, Kyle Waldrop, Liam Hendriks

The Twins have a split-squad double-header today and lots of guys are playing. Here is the lineup for the Twins against the Rays today: Alexi Casilla 2B Jamey Carroll SS Trevor Plouffe LF Chris Parmelee 1B Danny Valencia 3B Brian Dinkelman RF Steve Pearce DH Drew Butera C Joe Benson CF Pitchers: Terry Doyle, Scott Diamond, Luis Perdomo, Aaron Thompson, Lester Oliveros, PJ Walters, Casey Fien

I was really happy for David Winfree when the Diamondbacks added im to the 40 man roster in November.

the quirks of Target Field will affect everyone. It's not like Span has played a lot of RF there. Speed, athleticism have little or nothing to do with playing RF at Target Field which is the reason that I think it makes sense. I want Revere and Span covering the ground of LF and RF.

I have no idea, John. I've thought Willingham in RF made the most sense the whole time.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?273-Twins-Top-Tampa-7-3-in-Spring-Opener

This afternoon, the Twins made their official spring training debut and they came away with a 7-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. This got off to an ominous start for the Twins. Starter Carl Pavano gave up a two-run, first inning home run to Matt Joyce. In the bottom of the first, David Price hit Jamey Carroll in the helmet with a fastball. Carroll quickly got to his feet and went to first base. (He said later he was fine. It was a glancing blow.) Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau each struck out looking to end that inning. Pavano pitched a scoreless second inning and then the Twins bullpen gave up just one more run the rest of the way. Here are some of the highlights from the Twins Spring Opener (Feel free to add to the list): Denard Span went 2-3, and the time he got out, he stayed down on a tough Price pitch and grounded out. Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau left the game healthy. Mauer drove in a run with a 3rd inning single. Morneau drove in a run with a 5th inning. Ryan Doumit was 1-2 with a walk and a double. Danny Valencia drilled a double to the right centerfield gap. Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 2-3 with a long triple over the right fielder's head. Chris Parmelee went 2-2, although he did have a base running gaffe late in the game. Chris Herrmann came in late and drilled an RBI single. Matt Maloney pitched the 8th inning and struck out the side. My assumption is that Wayne Krivsky was smiling while watching that! Brian Duensing threw two scoreless innings. He was followed by one scoreless inning each from Matt Capps, Glen Perkins, Alex Burnett and Maloney. Anthony Swarzak gave up one run in the 9th inning. Cory Provus made his debut as the Twins play-by-play voice and it's clear he will do a good job. What other observations did you take from the Twins first spring training game?

This afternoon, the Twins made their official spring training debut and they came away with a 7-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays. This got off to an ominous start for the Twins. Starter Carl Pavano gave up a two-run, first inning home run to Matt Joyce. In the bottom of the first, David Price hit Jamey Carroll in the helmet with a fastball. Carroll quickly got to his feet and went to first base. (He said later he was fine. It was a glancing blow.) Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau each struck out looking to end that inning. Pavano pitched a scoreless second inning and then the Twins bullpen gave up just one more run the rest of the way. Here are some of the highlights from the Twins Spring Opener (Feel free to add to the list): Denard Span went 2-3, and the time he got out, he stayed down on a tough Price pitch and grounded out. Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau left the game healthy. Mauer drove in a run with a 3rd inning single. Morneau drove in a run with a 5th inning. Ryan Doumit was 1-2 with a walk and a double. Danny Valencia drilled a double to the right centerfield gap. Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 2-3 with a long triple over the right fielder's head. Chris Parmelee went 2-2, although he did have a base running gaffe late in the game. Chris Herrmann came in late and drilled an RBI single. Matt Maloney pitched the 8th inning and struck out the side. My assumption is that Wayne Krivsky was smiling while watching that! Brian Duensing threw two scoreless innings. He was followed by one scoreless inning each from Matt Capps, Glen Perkins, Alex Burnett and Maloney. Anthony Swarzak gave up one run in the 9th inning. Cory Provus made his debut as the Twins play-by-play voice and it's clear he will do a good job. What other observations did you take from the Twins first spring training game?

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?270-Happy-Opening-Day-of-Spring-Training-Games

Happy Opening Day of Spring Training Games! No, it doesn’t have quite the same ring to it as Happy Opening Day! Then again, Opening Day should be a national holiday (in my mind, at least). In about an hour, the Twins will take the field at Hammond Stadium to take on David Price and the Tampa Bay Rays. The Twins are going with what should be their primary lineup (with the Ben Revere/Trevor Plouffe/Left Field “platoon”) much of the season. There are so many big dates and events in baseball. Last month, we were all excited to hear the phrase “Pitchers and Catchers report!” There is the All-Star game, the trade deadlines, September call-ups and the World Series. If you’re a big fan of the Hot Stove, you get excited about things like the GM Meetings, the Winter Meetings, the day that 40 man rosters need to be set, the day arbitration needs to be offered and later accepted or declined. For Twins fans, January brings the Winter Caravan and Twins Fest. So, why is opening day of spring training games exciting for me? Two words – Box Scores! That’s right! By later this afternoon, you can read them online and in tomorrow’s newspapers. Granted, the box scores of early spring training are typically much, much larger than in the regular season because so many players play. We can follow the Twins games and see several things. How are the players vying for roster spots performing compared to each other? How are the younger players and the non-roster invites doing? How are the stars from other teams doing, particularly those players who switched teams in the offseason? I also enjoy looking at box scores and seeing how former Twins and former Twins minor leaguers are faring elsewhere. Box scores have been a huge part of baseball and fandom since Henry Chadwick invented them in 1859! [ATTACH=CONFIG]243[/ATTACH] Over the next month, the Twins and all of the other teams in baseball will be playing games almost every day. With so many players in Twins camp, they even have a few split-squad games to allow many more players to play. With minor league camp starting next week, some of the players in big league camp will be sent across the parking lot by the end of next week. There may be a few roster spots up for grabs right up until days before Opening Day. Another reason for Twins fans to be excited today… Cory Provus will be making his debut this afternoon as the play-by-play voice of the Twins. And it all goes back to the fact that Opening Day should be a national holiday. The spring training openers are a reminder that Opening Day is fast approaching and another 162 game season is about to begin!!

I only have one concern with Plouffe moving to RF and Willingham back to LF in this scenario. Willingham and Span will play most days and so when Revere plays for Plouffe, he'll most likely be in RF, and that is a bad thing with his arm. I guess I'd keep Plouffe in LF and treat it more like a platoon, even if Plouffe gets more ABs against RHP.

In this article, Jim Souhan suggests that sources are telling him that Trevor Plouffe could win the Twins starting RF job. Josh Willingham would then move to left field, and Ben Revere would be the team's fourth outfielder. Terry Ryan says that Ben Revere is the front-runner to start, but that Plouffe certainly will be given an opportunity to win a starting job. Souhan opines that Plouffe's two advantages over Revere are his ability to hit the ball with authority and to throw the ball with authority. Going back to last year, when Revere was creating excitement for Twins fans, Paul Molitor was on his weekly 1500espn interview. He was asked about Revere and, without straight-out saying it, he inferred that the organization viewed Revere as a 4th outfielder. What do you think?

Yeah, I didn't have an issue with Felix Jorge being on the list... Like Josh said though, I wouldn't have him in a Twins Top 50... yet. He is in my Top 5 DSL Twins prospects in the Twins Prospect Handbook this year.

Tomorrow's Twins lineup was posted in the Game Threads earlier today. Keep the discussion going there.

"why would the Twins have a guy adjust at 33 years old?" In Willingham's case, cuz he's 33 and there is a lot less ground to cover in RF than LF.