Seth Stohs

Today, Jim Souhan wrote the Dozier/Free Agent article with the not eating fried foods angle. http://www.startribune.com/brian-dozier-sounds-willing-to-walk-away-from-twins-after-season/475776713/

I can confirm that Sano was not the last person interviewed by MLB investigators. Hopefully that scenario is over soon. As for him being 0-8 with 3 Ks, Pretty sure that means nothing. Nothing to worry about with that.

That's why the velocity is just a part of it. He'll have to almost recreate himself. Some do, some don't. Worth trying.

If he's not where he needs to be by Opening Day, you DL him... keep him on a program and get him a rehab assignment. I mean, at the end of the day, he is coming off of his 2nd TOS surgery in two years. Shouldn't expect him to be at 100% right now. How he did today means nothing. But obviously the velo will need to work itself up. So, let spring training run its course. Use the DL. Use the rehab time. See where he's at, and make the call at some point.

90 minutes of transcribing doesn't sound too fun to me. Ha! But I should be doing it, just for future stories on these guys or the topics we cover.

Unless you have boycotted baseball news for the last several days, you are likely aware of the fact that the Minnesota Twins signed DH/1B Logan Morrison. The Twins Geek reported that Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey told Morrison all along that Mauer was the first baseman and that Miguel Sano is his third baseman. He said that Logan Morrison would be the team’s primary DH. So, what might that mean for the likes of Robbie Grossman and Kennys Vargas? Let’s consider the options.First, we have to note that the Twins do not have to make this decision right now. Because they had DFAd JT Chargois late last week, the Twins 40-man roster was down to 39. So with the addition of Morrison, the Twins roster is back up to 40. Second, we have to acknowledge that Kennys Vargas and Robbie Grossman are likely the two players most likely to be affected by the addition of Morrison since they are the two guys who would have been the primary DHs. However, Grossman has the ability to play both outfield positions. That is important since Kennys Vargas can DH and also play a little first base. Those are the two positions that Joe Mauer and Logan Morrison can play. I mean, Morrison has played some outfield, but he’s played a total of 14 games in the outfield over the past five years. The Twins could cut Robbie Grossman and pay only a portion of the $2 million he was awarded in arbitration. That is a possibility. But with Mauer and Morrison, Vargas is so redundent. And when the team gets only so many bench spots, versatility might be more important. Last year, the Twins were able to get a fourth option for Vargas, but he is now out of options. In other words, he can’t be optioned to AAA in 2018 without being placed on waivers and potentially claimed by another team. In that scenario, the Twins would get nothing in return for him. Unless the Twins sign more players to MLB deals, the front office does have until March 27th to decide what they will do. March 27th is the final day of spring training. It is also the day that Erick Aybar has an opt-out. As I mentioned in my Roster Projectionearlier in the week, Aybar’s spot on the Opening Day roster may have a lot to do with whether or not Miguel Sano is able to be on the Opening Day roster (DL or suspension). If Aybar is added to the roster, that is when someone would need to come off of the DL. Now, the front office is wise to wait. Hey, in the next month, Mauer could get hurt. Morrison could get hurt. Having Vargas around as long as possible makes sense for depth purposes. If the Twins do go with a four-man rotation and a 12-man pitching staff, maybe they will decide to keep Vargas and Grossman on the roster. In the meantime, there are other options. The front office could consider trading Vargas. Teams certainly know that he is available, so they may be receiving some calls. They can hold out in hopes that they could receive a B- prospect for him, but at the end of spring, they might be able to get a C prospect for him. Maybe. A more elaborate study can be done by someone reading this to determine which American League teams might want a DH/1B. There could be interest in Vargas from a National League team as a pinch hitter or part-time first baseman too. In the past, there were often rumors of interest from teams in Korea in Vargas. While that might be more difficult to do at this time of year, it isn’t completely impossible. What's next for Kennys Vargas? I mean, he just needs to keep playing, getting his at-bats and working hard. At this point, he's essentially getting at-bats to show 29 other teams what he can do. I would guess that his agent has already contacted the Twins about attempting to trade him, and that may happen, but it's also wise for the Twins front office to take their time with that. So now it’s your turn? First, based on current players in the Twins system, would there be any way to have a roster that includes Kennys Vargas? Who do you think the other options might be? If you’re Derek Falvey and Thad Levine, what would you do? Click here to view the article

No matter how you slice it, spring training is always too much of a small sample size to really know those answers. What you're looking for by the end of spring training are: 1.) Is Phil Hughes feeling comfortable and strong, and does his fastball velocity stay in that 91 range, tip up or down. 2.) Are Buxton and Rosario putting together quality plate appearances,, looking like they have an understanding of the strike zone, etc. 3.) With Kepler, you're looking for competency against lefties, like he's staying down on pitches, not swinging at the slider away, stuff like that. And then when Opening Day starts, you just hope.

It's a night later than normal, but this week's Seth's Twins On Deck Podcast was a lot of fun, with five really strong guests. Starting at 8:00 central time, you can listen live to Episode 8. Of course, if that time doesn't work for you, feel free to download it at the same link after the show's completion. You can also find it on iTunes by searching "Minnesota Sports Weekly."First on the show tonight was the first overall pick of the 2017 draft, Royce Lewis. The infielder was fantastic as always, talking about his offseason, camaraderie with teammates at the academy in Ft. Myers and much more. Lewis was followed by former Twins prospect and current Miracle hitting coach Steve Singleton. We discussed his playing career and transitioning into coach. We also talked about the collaboration between hitting coaches at all levels of the system. Also, how tough can the Florida State League be? Prospect Trey Cabbage, who ended 2017 with the Kernels, batted third in our show lineup. We'll discuss his high school days, the transition to the pro game and his 2017 season. Also look ahead to his 2018. Infielder Sean Miller found out in January that he was heading to big league camp. He's been working out with the big leaguers as an additional non-roster invitee. He's played in pretty much all of the Twins games so far. We'll discuss his time in the Arizona Fall League, big league camp and look ahead to 2018. Finally, former Gopher and Twins prospect AJ Pettersen came on to talk about a variety of topics his playing days for the Gophers, in the Twins system and transitioning to his coaching career at Chanhassen High School. Find out what else he's up to post playing career. It was a super fun show, (Listen Here). Thank you to the guests and everyone else for listening. Click here to view the article

The Twins have now played four spring training games. The regular season is only a month away. Many spots on the roster are pretty well set, but there are still some jobs up for grabs. Today, we’ll take a first run at an Opening Day roster. There are already a couple of disabled list moves, and there could be more of those, or other transactions. But, knowing what we know right now, we’ll attempt to make predictions and discuss the other options.So here is my first attempt at projecting the Twins Opening Day roster for 2018… I encourage you to read my thoughts, develop your own and then post your thoughts and projections in the comments below. THE HITTERS (13) Catchers (2): Jason Castro, Mitch Garver Jason Castro will be the primary catcher. He will likely catch 110-120 games, so the question will be who can start behind the plate in the other 40-50 games. The front office, at least to this point, has not provided Mitch Garver with any real competition for the #2 catcher spot. And, frankly, that is the right decision. Garver has hit at each level on the way up the system, including a big 2017 in Rochester. It’s his time to get a full season of service time. Also, his bat should play against left-handed pitchers and more. Infielders (7): Joe Mauer, Brian Dozier, Jorge Polanco, Eduardo Escobar, Logan Morrison, Ehire Adrianza, Erick Aybar, Miguel Sano (DL or suspended) The starting infield is pretty well set, pending the Miguel Sano situation. Joe Mauer will be the main first baseman. Logan Morrison will play some first but primarily DH. Brian Dozier will start at second base. Jorge Polanco will be the shortstop. Miguel Sano will get a lot of time at third base when he’s able to play, but he’ll also likely spend plenty of time as the DH. Until then, Eduardo Escobar will get a lot of the playing time at third base. When Sano is on the roster, Escobar again the primary utility infielder. In that scenario, Ehire Adrianza will most likely fall back to the second utility infielder. In that scenario, The addition of Erick Aybar is interesting. If Sano is not on the active roster, Aybar likely becomes the second utility infielder along with Adrianza. When Sano then is active, it will be interesting to see how the Adriana/Aybar situation plays itself out. Still in the game: Kennys Vargas remains on the 40-man roster, but unless there is an injury, it’s hard to imagine a spot on the 25-man roster. Since he’s out of options, I would assume that the Twins will be looking to deal Vargas for something. Outfielders (4): Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Robbie Grossman Nothing falls but raindrops. The starting outfield remains intact from last year. Rosario had a bit of a breakout season in 2017. Byron Buxton was tremendous in the secomd half and won not only the Gold Glove but the Platinum Glove as well in 2017. Kepler had a similar 2017 as he had in 2016, and we’re all hoping that he’ll take a step forward in 2018. The defense is strong. With the additions of Morrison and Aybar, the fourth outfield spot is now up for grabs. Robbie Grossman and Zack Granite are the two options, so there may be a bit of a competition. Right now, I’m projecting Grossman because he’s out of options and Granite has two options remaining. POSSIBLE LINEUPS Since it’s more fun to consider the Twins lineup with Miguel Sano in it, that’s what I’ve done below. Primary lineup versus RHP: Joe Mauer 1B, Brian Dozier 2B, Jorge Polanco SS, Miguel Sano 3B, Logan Morrison DH, Eddie Rosario LF, Byron Buxton CF, Max Kepler RF, Jason Castro C. Versus LHP: Joe Mauer 1B, Brian Dozier 2B, Jorge Polanco SS, Miguel Sano 3B, Logan Morrison DH, Byron Buxton CF, Eddie Rosario LF, Mitch Garver C, Max Kepler/Robbie Grossman RF. THE PITCHERS (12) Starting Pitchers (5): Ervin Santana (DL), Jose Berrios, Jake Odorizzi, Kyle Gibson, Adalberto Mejia, Phil Hughes Will the Twins add another starter? Should they? Ervin Santana will miss the first month of the season with his finger injury. Obviously as soon as he is ready, he jumps right back into the rotation. Jose Berrios has a chance to take a big step in 2018. Acquiring Jake Odorizzi recently for Jermaine Palacios was a very nice trade. Kyle Gibson? We can all hope that he truly figured something out over his final 12 starts last year. If he can be that for the full 2018 season, that’s going to be huge for the Twins. I think there are two spots open in the Twins rotation until Santana comes back. I think Adalberto Mejia comes in with the first opportunity to win the job. I think that Stephen Gonsalves and Aaron Slegers also have at least some sort of chance to win a spot. But for right now, I’m going to put Phil Hughes as the fifth starter for right now. I mean, it would be great if the second thoracic outlet surgery is the charm. Reports from his first spring start indicated that he was hitting 91 mph with his fastball. That’s a good start. It will also be very interesting to see how the Anibal Sanchez situation plays out. He has the non-guaranteed contract, so I think he’s going to have to pitch real well to make the ball club. Trevor May and Michael Pineda are on the 60-day disabled list already. Bullpen (7): Fernando Rodney, Addison Reed, Trevor Hildenberger, Ryan Pressly, Zach Duke, Taylor Rogers, Tyler Duffey. The Twins front office made over the bullpen, to some degree. Veteran Fernando Rodney comes on as the team’s closer after a 39 save 2017 in Arizona. In 55.1 innings, he struck out 55. Addison Reed got a two-year deal. He’s been a strong reliever throughout his career and has 425 strikeouts in 401 innings. Hildenberger came up in June last year. By the end of the season, he was Molitor’s go-to guy in the bullpen in any situation. Ryan Pressly continues to be interesting. While he needed to spend time in AAA in 2017, he continues to have the best stuff in the organization. He throws hard and has that breaking ball. Taylor Rogers was as reliable as any left-handed reliever in baseball the first three months of the season last year. He was probably over-used a bit and slowed in the second half. The addition of veteran Zach Duke should really help the Twins bullpen. He returned very quickly from Tommy John surgery last year and pitched well. Tyler Duffey gets my choice for a job in long relief. Of the other six spots, there really isn’t anyone who should work more than two innings. And if the Twins decide to go with an eight-man bullpen to start the season, Phil Hughes might be the right choice because he too can eat innings and make those fifth-starter starts. Others in Contention: Alan Busenitz also became very reliable down the stretch for the Twins last year. John Curtiss got called up right before September. Gabriel Moya came up from AA after helping the Lookouts to the Southern League championship. Dietrich Enns could be another long-relief candidate if he pitches well in spring. Tyler Kinley is the team’s Rule 5 pick, which in many years would give him the advantage. It may not for this year’s Twins team. The Twins want Fernando Romero to get stretched out as a starter, but his fastball/slider combination may be really, really intriguing to the Twins staff, especially in the second half. In one month, the Twins will have broken camp and be preparing for Opening Day. So there is a lot of time left and a lot can happen. Who knows? The Twins could potentially add another player, or two, or three. What are your thoughts? What does your roster look like? Click here to view the article

Yup, it's Lamont... It's also Eye-Bar, not Ay-Bar... And, Shay-Gwaa, not Shar-Gwaa Pronunciation is fun.

According to Jon Morosi, the Twins have an agreement with DH/1B Logan Morrison. In 2017, he had a career year in which he hit 38 home runs. Also per Morosi, the Twins will give him $6.5 million in 2018 that does come with escalators that could make it a two-year, $16.5 million deal. Darren Wolfson has also tweeted that it is a done deal. The Twins do have an open 40-man roster spot that he can take when the deal becomes official.Darren Wolfson hinted at strong interest from both sides on Saturday night, as well as last week on his Scoops podcast. Morrison is a left-handed hitting first baseman and designated hitter. He played some outfield earlier in his career. He is a big man who was always touted for his power potential. As a 29-year-old, he broke out with easily the best year of his career. He hit .246/.353/.516 (.868) with 22 doubles, 38 homers and 85 RBI for the Tampa Bay Rays. Morrison will likely get a lot of at bats as the Twins Designated Hitter, though he can also spell Joe Mauer from time to time at first base. His best defensive position is clearly DH, though. The question for you all is this... was his 2017 power showing an anomaly, or was it a sign of things to come? Tom wondered what if Morrison made sense for the Twins. Cody wrote about Morrison's breakout season in 2017. Click here to view the article

LaVelle E Neal from the Star Tribune is reporting that the Twins will sign shortstop Erick Aybar to a minor league contract. The veteran of 12 major league seasons will join the Twins at spring training soon. He'll compete with Ehire Adrianza for a utility infield spot or be the second utility man option for the time Miguel Sano is either on the disabled list or potentially suspended.Aybar debuted as a 22-year-old in 2006 with the Angels and remained in their organization through the 2015 season. He was an All-Star in 2014. He split 2016 between Atlanta and Detroit, and he played in 108 games for the Padres in 2017. There have been rumors (or guesses) that the Twins might be making a move because of the DFA of JT Chargois which opened up a 40-man roster spot. However, this is a minor league deal which doesn't - at least not yet - require addition to the 40-man. Erick Aybar is known for his defense at shortstop. In fact, he won a Gold Glove in 2011. He hit .234/.300/.348 (.648) with 15 doubles and seven home runs last year in San Diego. In his career, he has hit .271/.313/.372 (.684). The Dominican turned 34 in mid-January. More to come if details present themselves. Click here to view the article

Gophers starting lineup added.

They've pretty much all played in the Northwoods League. The Cape Cod League remains the most elite summer collegiate wood bat league, so it's a pretty big deal to get an invite to play there. Pretty much all of the guys that don't go to the Cape go to the Northwoods League. Some go to some of the other smaller ones too.

I'm not sure, but he's always been a defense-first catcher.

Tonight, we have a baseball game to watch on our televisions. At 5:05 central time, the Minnesota Twins will take on the Minnesota Gophers. Sure, it’s “Just” an exhibition game, but it’s a baseball game. As noted earlier, the Twins lineup will be filled with non-roster invites and minor leaguers, but that’s OK. Today, I thought it would be fun to get to know some of the Gophers players so that as you’re watching you know a little about the Twins opponent.Those that have listened to my Twins On Deck podcast know that I try to chat with a Gophers player each episode. Consistently, those guests have said that this Gophers team could have a real strong offense with several veteran players. The pitching has a lot of talent, but they’re quite young. In their first weekend of games, five Gophers pitchers made their college debut. Here are some quick notes on some of the players you’ll likely see tonight. Luke Pettersen - (Episode 1, Episode 7) - It’s a last name that is familiar to Gophers and Twins fans. Pettersen is a college senior from Minnetonka High School. Last year, the second baseman led the Gophers with a .354 batting average. He hit .400 (8-20) in the Gophers season opener with a couple of doubles. You remember Luke’s older brother AJ Pettersen who was a starting infielder for the Gophers and reached AA after being drafted by the Twins. Micah Coffey - (Episode 6) - Coffey has mostly played first base so far this season. The senior from Illinois hit .340 last year for the Gophers and .370 in Big 10 play. He was named second-team All Big Ten. When the Twins and Gophers played in 2015, Coffey pinch hit and went 0-1. He played last summer in the Cape Cod League. Jordan Kozicky - In the Gophers season opener on Friday at Georgia Tech, sophomore Kozicky homered in his first two at-bats. And it was his 21st birthday. He was a freshman All Big 10 a year ago and hit .325 with four homers. The Minneapolis Southwest grad redshirted his first year, so he is draft-eligible this year. Toby Hanson - (Episode 2) - Hanson was a third-team All Big Ten selection a year ago and led the team with 57 RBI. He hit .319 with 23 extra base hits. The Delano grad played a lot of right field in the team’s opening weekend in Georgia. He started the exhibition against the Twins his freshman season and went 0-2. Cole McDevitt - McDevitt was a first-team All Big Ten performer last year when he hit .296 (.314 in Big 10 play). The catcher is a junior who went to high school at Eastview. His brother, Ty, is the Gophers pitching coach. When he hasn’t caught, he’s had time at first base and DH already this year. Terrin Vavra - Twins fans are aware of the Vavra name. Terrin’s father Joe was a long-time coach for the Twins, serving in several roles. His older brothers, Tanner and Trey, were both drafted by the Twins in recent years. Terrin may be the best of the group. He’s been the Gophers starting shortstop since his freshman season. A junior now, Vavra hit .308 in 2017 for the Gophers, but he turned it on in Big 10 play, hitting .395. Last summer, he played in the Cape Cod League. Eduardo Estrada - Estrada was Mr. Baseball his senior season at Litchfield High School. Estrada played in the infield in high school and he’s moved around a bit in college. He’s now in the outfield, though he’s probably best at DH. Alex Boxwell - (Episode 3) Boxwell is a senior from Coon Rapids. He missed a lot of time last year with injury. He returned but wasn’t at 100 percent. In fact, he was supposed to go to the Cape Cod League but didn’t because of the injury. Boxwell led the Gophers in home runs (6) and stolen bases in 2017. Ben Mezzenga - A junior from Totino-Grace, Mezzenga got an opportunity to play 50 games last year and hit .296, but he got on base at a .415 clip. A good outfielder, Mezzenga is a speed guy Eli Wilson - Wilson is back for his sophomore season. A year ago, he hit .319 in 24 games for the Gophers. His father, Dan Wilson, was an All American catcher for the Gophers who had a great career and still works in the Mariners organization. Riley Smith - Riley Smith is in his junior season. He Oklahoma native played in just 23 games last year after playing 36 games as a freshman. As for pitching, it’s hard to know who the Gophers will have pitch against the Twins. They likely won’t have their top pitchers pitch as they’ll pitch in their weekend series in Port Charlotte where they’ll play Boston College, Chicago State and Mount St. Mary. Nick Lackney, a junior left-hander, threw six shutout innings against Kennesaw State in his first start. Brett Schulze threw four innings of shutout ball against Georgia Tech in his season debut. He is a sophomore. As I mentioned, five freshman pitchers debuted over the weekend. Josh Cullver, from Omaha, recorded a three-inning save in the first win. Woodbury’s Max Meyer, who the Twins drafted in 2017, made his debut on the mound and the next day at the plate. He’ll pitch and hit for the Gophers. Ryan Duffy is a lefty from South St. Paul. Patrick Fredrickson is a 6-6 freshman from Washington. Sam Thoresen is a right-hander from Minnetonka. Reggie Meyer was a freshman when these two teams played. He gave up a home run to Jorge Polanco in that game. The Twins and Gophers will play an exhibition game. It’ll be a good opportunity for both teams. It’ll be a memory that will last a lifetime for the Gophers players. Twins Lineup: Zack Granite - CF Gregorio Petit - 2B Nick Gordon - SS Chris Heisey - DH Brock Stassi - 1B Nick Buss - LF Ryan LaMarre - RF Jordan Pacheco - C Taylor Featherston - 3B Stephen Gonsalves - SP Gophers Lineup: Luke Pettersen - 2B Micah Coffey - 1B Jordan Kozicky - 3B Toby Hanson - RF Cole McDevitt - C Terrin Vavra - SS Riley Smith - LF Alex Boxwell - CF Gabe Knowles - DH Jeff Fasching - SP Click here to view the article

On Thursday at 5:05 (central time), the Minnesota Twins will play their first game of spring training, an exhibition game against the Minnesota Gophers. Earlier in the week, we learned that lefty Stephen Gonsalves would get the start, and on Wednesday, we saw the Twins lineup for the game. Frankly, many might have seen the Twins lineup and found themselves asking “Who are these guys?” several times. Today, I’ll try to help answer that question to some degree. Below you can get to know a little bit about the Twins non-roster invitees before watching them on your TV.Normally I like to post a "get to know ‘em" type of article on the Twins non-roster invites as soon as it is announced. However, since at that time there were so many free agents still available and the Twins list was not real large, I figured there would be several more players added on minor league deals. To this point, I believe the Twins have added just one non-roster player, Chris Heisey, since the original announcement. The Names You Know Let’s start with the (few) players from inside the Twins organization who received an official invitation to Major League spring training. RH RP Jake Reed is a non-roster invite for the third straight year. A year ago, he was sent down on the final day of camp. Unfortunately, in the final game of spring, he pulled a muscle in his side and missed a couple of months. It took him a while to get back to his old self, but when on, he’s got a good fastball with a lot of movement and a slider that can miss bats. The 25-year-old was a guest on Seth’s Twins On Deck podcast on Monday and discussed many topics. He is expected to pitch on Thursday. Nick Gordon returns for his second big league spring training. One of the Twins top prospects, Gordon continues to work at shortstop. He’ll bat third for the Twins on Thursday. Long and lanky and very talented, Gordon had a great first half to his 2017 season, his age-21 season in AA Chattanooga. He struggled in the second half, and against southpaws, but has great talent and will likely have a long big league career. LaMonte Wade is a Top 20 Twins prospect by nearly all evaluators. The outfielder received his first invitation to big league spring training in January and was one of the Twins representatives at the Rookie Development symposium. Known for his tremendous approach at the plate, he has walked more than he has struck out at every level he’s played at in his young career. He’s a solid defender at all three outfield spots. The one part of his game that will likely still improve is his power production. Brian Navarreto is also in his first big league camp this year. The backstop has not hit much in his career, but he has the ability to be an elite defender behind the plate. He has thrown out more than 50% of would-be base stealers in his career. Obviously there are a lot of pitchers in camp, and they need plenty of catchers to catch those bullpens. Michael Kohn is in big league camp with the Twins for the first time, though he was in the organization a year ago. Kohn is a 31-year-old right-handed pitcher who has spent parts of five seasons in the big leagues, between 2010 and 2015 (four with the Angels, one with Atlanta). He was injured that season. Last year after the season began, the Twins were able to sign him to a two-year minor league contract. He spent 2017 rehabbing and working in games at several of the Twins minor league levels. That’s why they signed him for two years (with the encouragement of Torii Hunter). I think there’s a decent chance he’ll pitch for the Twins in 2018. In addition to these four players, the Twins have had several players who arrived early for minor league come over and work out with the club. I know that Nelson Molina, Sean Miller and Chris Paul have spent the last couple of days working out in big league camp. There are likely others as well. The Names You May Not Know These are the guys that the Twins have signed from other organizations to minor league deals. Myles Jaye - RHP - The 26-year-old was drafted by the Blue Jays and spent a few years in the White Sox organization. He was in the Tigers organization in 2016 and 2017. Between AA and AAA, he went 5-12 with a 3.95 ERA in 161.2 innings. In 2017, he went 4-13 with a 3.96 ERA in 131 innings. However, he also pitched in five games for the big league club and made two starts. It didn’t go well. He went 1-2 with a 12.08 ERA. In 12.2 innings, he gave up 18 runs on 18 hits and ten walks, and he struck out just four. That’s why he became available following the season. Bobby Wilson would seem to be the #3 catcher on the depth chart at this point. Jason Castro and Mitch Garver should be the Opening Day catchers. The 34-year-old Wilson has spent a lot of time in the big leagues. In parts of eight seasons between 2008 and 2016, Wilson played in 324 games between the Angels, Diamondbacks, Rays, Rangers and Tigers. In my offseason blueprint, I mentioned that with all of the Twins pitching prospects, the Twins should go get a veteran to work with them and help prepare them for the big leagues. Wilson fits that mold. Willians Astudillo fits a different kind of mold. The 25-year-old stands 5-9 and weighs in at at least 225 pounds. He is more of an offensive catcher. In 36 games last year at AAA Reno, he hit .342/.370/.558 (.928) with 14 doubles and four home runs. The Twins brought in a few infielders with some big league experience as well. Again, with the pitchers in Rochester, defense is a key. In addition, manager Joel Skinner will have the ability to play a lot of these guys at several positions and help them increase their versatility. Gregorio Petit has spent parts of five seasons in the big leagues going back to 2008. He played in 25 games for the A’s in 2008 and 2009. He then got back to the big leagues in 2014 with the Astros. Then he spent some time in 2015 with the Yankees. In 2016, he played in 89 games for the Angels, doubling his previous number of games played in the big leagues. He spent 2017 in the minor league system of the Blue Jays. He’s played a lot of both middle infield positions. Taylor Featherston played in 101 games for the Angels in 2015. In 169 plate appearances, he hit just .162. He hit .115 in 28 plate appearances for the Phillies in 2016. In 2017, he played in 17 games for the Rays and hit .179. Even in the minor leagues, he hasn’t been a big hitter, but he’s shown the ability to play all three infield positions. Brock Stassi was one of the best stories of 2017 spring training. After the 33rd round pick spent six years in the minor leagues, Stassi made the Phillies Opening Day roster. He played in 51 games for the Phils, mostly as a bench player. The Twins didn’t have a first base prospect in the upper levels, so Stassi can fill that role. The Twins also signed a few outfielders, guys with some success in the upper minor leagues and some big league time. Chris Heisey is the guy with a lot of big league time. From 2010 through 2014, he was a regular in the Cincinnati Reds lineup. In those five seasons, he played in 543 games and hit .247 with 50 home runs. He played in 33 games for the Dodgers in 2015. He’s played in 121 games for the Nationals over the last two years. He played some center field early in his career, but the last few years, he’s played primarily in the corners. Nick Buss won the Pacific Coast League batting title a year ago when he hit .348 for the Padres’ AAA affiliate. He hit .348/.395/.541 (.936) with 19 doubles, eight triples and 11 home runs. He did play in eight games for the Dodgers in 2013. He also got into 36 games for the Angels in 2016. Again, he’s mostly a corner outfielder who has continued to play some center field and a little first base. Ryan LaMarre is a 29-year-old outfielder who has played in 29 big league games over the past three years. He played in 21 games for the Reds in 2015. He then played in five games for the Red Sox in 2016 and three games for the A’s in 2017. He has a total of 37 MLB at bats and has just two hits. He was a big speed guy earlier in his career and still has played primarily in center field. So there you have it. Most of the non-internal invitees will be depth at AAA to start the season and be available for short-term call ups if needed. Gordon and Wade and Reed are the prospects to follow throughout the year. Click here to view the article