Seth Stohs

I think one or two of them will get up there about midseason. Sure, a couple of the FM pitchers may be better than a couple of the Chattanooga starters, but more important than just getting them there is making sure they're ready when the get there.

A good article and video interview with Gardenhire on his role and more: http://www.news-press.com/videos/sports/2016/04/19/83266854/

There are not a ton of hitting prospects in the system right now. Most of them are with the Twins at this point.

Nothing wrong with depth at all, but to get something (Jepsen) they had to give up something (Hu, Tapia). I hated the trade at the time too. I know my tweet when I was sitting in a Chipotle and read the news was not very positive. Ha!

And Santana, Hughes, Nolasco, Gibson, Tommy Milone, Tyler Duffey... And prospect-wise, he'd be behind Gonsalves, Stewart and Jay.

They're both at EST. I did have two people tell me that Cabbage hit his first EST home run yesterday.

I think 3 errors, but he's been playing quite well with the glove.

I guess I'm amazed by this response. First, he was a good manager and has given 25+ years to the organization. He worked hard and had a lot of success. Second, what do people think he's going to be doing? Do people really think he's lining himself up to be the next GM, because he has no interest in that. It's a title. The same title that TK has. Third, he is a coach, a teacher. I've had quite a few people tell me that he's been down in Ft. Myers the last week to ten days working with the Extended Spring Training group and he's really good. He's been helpful to players and coaches. Fourth, like many others in the minors (coaches and others), he'll file some reports and send them to people like Brad Steil and Terry Ryan and Paul Molitor and others. He isn't making decisions on them, just adding some thoughts and opinions on what the needed to work on and maybe how ready they are to move up. Fifth, who cares if he likes SABRmetrics? There are plenty of styles that can and will and have win/won in baseball and that will continue. Also, from what I'm told, he wasn't as anti-stats as people think. Sixth, Terry Ryan said yesterday that Gardy is signed through the end of the year (12/31), but that if he gets any inquiries from teams before then to manage, he will absolutely let him do it. So, the managing thing isn't out of the picture yet.

Molitor is the one who thought Santana was going to be great. AND, who kept playing him.

Polanco as a defensive replacement at 3B? He's barely played 3B. Molitor commented this morning that they see Polanco more on the other side of second base. Nunez is pretty good at 3B. I would have no problem with Kepler and Polanco being up if they would play even three games a week. But, Kepler has made one start in now 9 games. That's doing him no good. We'll see what happens with Polanco.

Certainly possible. We often forget how young Arcia is.

Hit at higher levels. He's had a very good first 12 games. Let's see where he is in 12 more games. I believe in Wade, but like we wouldn't make too much of a prospect having a slow first 12 games, we need to be a little careful with a hot first 12 games. He likely needs to work on everything. Without having seen the play, I can't really speak to the specifics. Like I've written before, in talking to Mike Radcliff down on the back fields this spring, he says Wade doesn't have any high-end tools, but he also doesn't really have a real big weakness either.

True enough... I wonder how many more 14K shutouts he'll have this year... Wade's got such a great approach!

We learned yesterday that the Minnesota Twins were going to be calling up infielder Jorge Polanco. Most likely, he will be taking Trevor Plouffe's spot on the roster as he heads to the disabled list with his intercostal strain. Polanco will likely be the Twins backup at all three infield positions until Plouffe is able to return. It brings up an interesting topic that we have seen a few times already this season. When should a prospect be called up to sit?When Danny Santana went on the disabled list, the Twins summoned outfielder Max Kepler from Rochester. He had played in just three Red Wings games before his promotion. In the eight days that he has been with the Twins, he has made one start and has just seven plate appearances and is 0-5 with two walks. His one start came against left-hander Carlos Rodon. Otherwise, he has been a late-inning defensive replacement. To be fair, that is exactly what manager Paul Molitor said he would be. It is understandable too because the team came out of the gates with their outfield set with Eddie Rosario in left field, Byron Buxton in center field and Miguel Sano in right field. There is no way that any manager would want to make changes to that after just one week or struggles, and he shouldn't. Those guys all deserve the opportunity to break out. Unfortunately, that meant that Kepler sat the pine. About a week ago, when the Twins put Glen Perkins on the disabled list, they promoted Taylor Rogers. In the six days since he has been up, he has faced two batters and got them both out. He has warmed up at least three or four times. Again, it's understandable. Rogers was not brought in to replace Perkins as the team's closer. Instead, he comes up at the bottom of the totem pole and there weren't a bunch of opportunities to get him in the game. When Fernando Abad was placed on the bereavement list, the Twins promoted Ryan O'Rourke. Now that Abad has been reinstated, O''Rourke stayed and Taylor Rogers was sent back to Rochester. Why? Molitor knows O'Rourke. He knows what he can do against left-handers, even in the big leagues. In the one game he pitched, he got the one left-hander that he was brought in to get, on one pitch. It was a tight, late-inning situation and Molitor went to O'Rourke, not Rogers. And now Jorge Polanco comes up and likely takes Trevor Plouffe's roster spot. Brian Dozier will play second. Eduardo Nunez will play third. Eduardo Escobar will play shortstop. Polanco may get a start or two over the next two weeks. He may even pinch hit once or twice. Unlikely Kepler, Polanco is not someone who will be brought in as a defensive replacement. Again, the move is completely justifiable. Assuming Danny Santana is back by the end of the week, Polanco or Kepler can go down at that time. Santana, being out of options, is OK as a role player, a guy who may get two or three starts a week. With another move likely coming in three or four days, it doesn't make sense to add someone to the 40-man roster and potentially lose someone else. It's why it was justifiable when Polanco was called up a couple of times each of the last two years, but just for a day or two. It's why calling up Kepler made more sense than adding Darin Mastroianni to the 40-man roster. But when it comes to high-upside talent like Kepler and Polanco (and Buxton too), they need to play. They need every day reps. Sure, they'd love to soak up the service time in the big leagues, and the checks are much larger, but when you're counting on guys to be a big part of the future, it's much better for them to be playing, even if that means AAA instead of MLB. In the 8 days that Kepler has been in MLB, he has seven plate appearances and maybe 14-15 innings in the outfield. In AAA during that same time, he would be hitting third, playing three outfield positions and likely have between 32 and 37 plate appearances while playing 65-75 innings in the field. Which is better for the player? The same thing with Polanco. For every day that he's sitting the pine with the Twins, he is potentially losing nine innings in the field and four or five plate appearances. That accumulates. For Rogers, the path is a little less certain, but there is absolutely a sense that he will be part of the Twins long-term plan. With the Red Wings, he would likely have pitched three times in a week, maybe accumulating five innings or so. That's a lot of situational pitching, and it's more learning how to work out of the bullpen. With O'Rourke, he too can be part of the Twins future. The team and the manager know what he can and can't do. To this point, he can be a very good situational left-hander, and the work he did in the offseason and the spring to add a pitch to make himself more competitive against right-handers may play out positively. But O'Rourke knows the bullpen. He is a little older and he understands and appreciates the role he will have. Rogers certainly appreciates the opportunity he was given this week, but many think that he can be a really good one or two inning type, and the fact that he hasn't really pitched out of the bullpen, he can develop and learn more by pitching. It's a tough thing. I mean, as fans, we've been waiting for young players to get opportunities, so it's fun to see them on the roster. But at the same time, it's best for the player's development to play. I'd like to say that it is best for the team long-term to have those guys playing every day in AAA to help them become better players. Where there can be debate is what is better in the short-term. Despite the 0-9 start, the Twins went into the season with playoff plans and aspirations. In doing so, the short-term matters too. Having Max Kepler or Jorge Polanco on the bench likely means that if someone is getting an off day, the Twins can start one of them and have a quality player in the game. At the same time, it can take a lot of years and maturity for a player to understand being a role player. Eduardo Nunez is a good example. He came up as the heir apparent to Derek Jeter as the Yankees shortstop. Instead, Jeter kept playing and playing, and Nunez became more of a role player. He struggled in that. However, in 2015, he was clearly comfortable with the role. He could play once or twice a week and when he played, he would be able to contribute. We're seeing that again this year. So, to play or not to play, that certainly is the question when it comes to prospects and calling them up. What is best for the player? What is best for the Twins? What is best short-term, and what is best long-term? How will a guy adjust to playing just a small role with limited playing time? And of course, how does the 40-man roster construction affect it all? --------------------------------------------------- Those questions, and likely more, come into play with each and every decision. So, with each player and pitcher, this kind of thought needs to be given. I'm going to quickly go through the exercise of guessing who will be called up if each player is injured. For this, we are going to assume that the player will be injured and on the DL for more than the 15 days. Player Hurt - Player Likely Called up Kurt Suzuki - John Hicks John Ryan Murphy - John Hicks Joe Mauer - Kennys Vargas Byung Ho Park - Kennys Vargas Brian Dozier - Jorge Polanco Eduardo Escobar - Jorge Polanco (extended time, Wilfredo Tovar) Trevor Plouffe - Jorge Polanco Eduardo Nunez - could be Polanco, but if extended, could go to James Beresford Eddie Rosario - Max Kepler Byron Buxton - Max Kepler Miguel Sano - Max Kepler Danny Santana - Max Kepler, but if extended, probably Mastroianni Oswaldo Arcia - Max Kepler Starting Pitchers: Tyler Duffey (Jose Berrios may enter this picture in a month) RH RP: JR Graham (though if Brandon Kintzler has an opt-out, that is possible). Alex Meyer is making himself an option right now too, though if he continues to succeed as a starter, they may want to keep him doing that. LH RP: Taylor Rogers. What do you think? Click here to view the article

I agree. I didn't like the trade at the time. Not only Hu, but I really liked Alexis Tapia too. But, it's hard to say that it wasn't a good deal for the Twins. Think about how many pitchers Hu would be behind in the Twins SP pecking order.

Walker played on Monday night for the first time in 8 days. He went 0-4, but it's good that he's back on the field. I tweeted a week ago that Burdi threw an inning in Extended Spring Training and felt fine. I saw that he threw again one of the last couple of days. Seems to have gone well. No update on Vielma yet.

Not to try to wriggle out of answering it, but these things typically take care of themselves. Guys who come off the 40 man roster are generally fairly easy choices. Any truly elite prospects will be added, and they'll have to make choices. They aren't going to make trades just to get out of weird 40 man roster choices...

They have the last 3-5 years.

They're definitely not doing that. He isn't a pitching coach and doesn't pretend to be.

On Monday afternoon, the Minnesota Twins announced the former Twins manager Ron Gardenhire had accepted a position with the organization. Gardenhire will serve as a Special Assistant to the General Manager, Terry Ryan.Among his duties, according to the press release from the team, will be "traveling to all minor league affiliates serving as a special roving instructor and evaluator." This is a role set up for Gardenhire, and yet it isn't a new role in the Twins organization. In fact, it's a role that Tom Kelly has embraced over the years. Kelly often traveled to the Twins minor league cities and worked with the prospects, but also watched the practices and games to evaluate. Ron Gardenhire, aside from the 2015 season, has been with the Twins organization going back to 1987. He was Tom Kelly's third base coach on the 1991 World Series championship team and remained on the staff until Kelly decided to retire. At the time, Gardenhire was the clear choice to take a young and talented group out of the contraction talk and led them to six division titles. He was the AL Manager of the Year once, though he finished second in the voting five times. In 2014, he became the Twins second manager to reach the 1,000 win plateau, joining Tom Kelly. Following that season, the Twins relieved him of his managerial duties. It was clear at the time that it would be just a matter of time before Gardenhire rejoined the organization. He took 2015 off, and he was in the running for the manager jobs in Washington and San Diego. When San Diego offered him a job in their front office, and he declined, it was inevitable that it was just a matter of time before he would rejoin the Twins. Certainly, there will be some who don't like this move. Some may chose to call it a "bringing back the band" type of move. Sure, there's some of that, just like there is when they ask Torii Hunter, Rick Aguilera and LaTroy Hawkins to come to spring training. Or, when they give similar jobs to the likes of Kent Hrbek, Tony Oliva, Rod Carew and others. The difference is that, like Tom Kelly, they're going to put Gardenhire to work. And that's a good thing. Terry Ryan trusts Gardenhire and they have a good relationship. Ryan will trust any evaluation done by Gardenhire. And, when it comes down to it, Gardenhire got to the big leagues as a player because of hard work. He got to the big leagues as a coach because of hard work and his ability to coach, and teach. And now he's going to be asked to spend some time back in the minor leagues, working and teaching young players. And that's a good thing. It's like when Terry Ryan came back as General Manager. Bill Smith was an obvious choice to bring back to the front office. He had done his job very well for 25 years before becoming the GM, and since his return, he has done a great job with the Hammond Stadium's renovations, with the minor league academy in Ft. Myers and he will be a big part of the new academy going up in the Dominican Republic. Bringing in and keeping good baseball people is important. Gardenhire certainly fits into that category. Soon, I'm certain, he will be inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame. It's great to see that he's back in the fold even before that happens. And finally, Ron Gardenhire has always been a terrific ambassador for Twins baseball and represented the organization well. He's tremendous in the community and will continue to be. Click here to view the article

Depends on how you look at it. Remember in his first start, he gave up three runs on four hits in the first inning. He then threw 5 shutout innings the rest of that game. Then he threw 6 shutout innings in his 2nd outing.

He's still very, very thing. His mechanics are terrific. He probably isn't going to get a lot bigger. More impressive, in listening to Brice Zimmerman (Miracle play-by-play guy) has mentioned (and tweeted) that Jorge is throwing 94-96. He's got three pitches. In 2015, he was remarkably consistent. He came into the season ranked in the low-20s (meaning 21-25) in most lists... I think he's moved up a little and by mid-season he could approach Top 15.

I don't know... ranking him #4 among Twins prospects when 1-3 were Buxton, Berrios and Kepler doesn't really seem like people were down on him... though I know some where more than others. Also, if he posts a .750 OPS in the majors someday, that would be pretty great. In 2015, just three shortstops that qualified posted OPS over .746 (Brandon Crawford, Troy Tulowitski and Xander Bogaerts), so that would be awesome.