Seth Stohs

Steele in FM. Stashak in EST. He didn't pitch much until late in minor league spring training, though he probably wasn't going to start the season in CR either way.

Threw a lot of innings for E-Town last year too. They didn't have starters go too long, so he would come out of the bullpen and eat up some innings. He's solid. Watched him twice when I was down there.

Understandable. I saw him throw a couple of bullpens, but not in a game... Reports last fall were him throwing really hard.

Re Polanco, they've already said that he'll be playing around the infield and Tovar will likely play the most at shortstop. The list I gave is just the list of the five starters... David Martinez may also start, or could be in long relief. Doesn't really matter what order they start in. Also, weren't they just walking around the clubhouse. There was no other rhyme or reason to the order of the announcements. I know Runzler was a BIG part of those Giants World Series teams... They're both lefty relievers on the AAA Red Wings roster... seem like a couple of guys who could wind up in the same sentence often. I'd be shocked if Strong is on the AAA roster. Same with Walden. Both are bullpen arms, probably in Chattanooga.

Nope... they will have to put one guy on the DL before Thursday.

I don't see much need for a traditional closers in the minors. This group should be guys used in various roles because those are the roles they'll have in the big leagues. The Twins don't need a closer. They have Perkins and Jepsen, and May and Pressly both have the stuff to be closers too.

Today on Periscope, the Rochester Red Wings announced their 2016 Opening Day roster. In 2015, the Red Wings put together a record of 77-67 for the third straight year (which is really quite remarkable, isn’t it?). They look to improve upon that record in 2016 and bring the International League playoffs back to Frontier Field.Several of the Minnesota Twins’ top prospects will begin the season with the Red Wings. Many of them are likely to spend time attempting to help the Minnesota Twins to their first playoff berth since 2010. As you look at this roster, it does help illustrate the type of depth that this organization has. That is something you will see through each of the four affiliates. THE COACHING STAFF Mike Quade returns for his second season as the Red Wings manager. The 59-year-old began coaching over 30 years ago and was the manager of the Chicago Cubs in 2010 and 2011. He will be joined on his staff by a couple of new coaches. Hitting Coach Chad Allen continues to work his way up the system. The former Twins outfielder was the Twins AA hitting coach the last three seasons. He has worked with several of the players on this roster. The pitching coach is Stu Cliburn. It is his 25th year in the Twins organization. He has been in the organization for well over a decade, the last several seasons in AA. He returns to Rochester where he was the pitching coach from 2006 to 2008. THE ROSTER The Rochester Red Wings roster is comprised of a good mix of young, high-ceiling prospects, some minor league veterans and everywhere in between. They are likely to be led by 2015 All Stars James Beresford and Taylor Rogers, but this is a nice, complete roster. (names in bold are on the 40 man roster) PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS Tyler DuffeyJose BerriosLogan DarnellPat DeanAlex MeyerDuffey’s name was written in pencil for a spot in the Twins rotation, but he struggled immensely with all of his pitchers this spring and will begin the season with the Red Wings.It is likely he won’t need to be there long. That said, it could be a race to the big leagues now between Duffey and Jose Berrios, one of baseball’s best pitching prospects. Berrios struggled with command this spring, but that hasn’t been an issue for him in the past. Expect him to put up strong numbers early again and to be up in the season’s first half.Let’s hope he’s not starting the 2016 Futures Game. Lefty Pat Dean was had a rough 2014 season in AA, but he was still pushed to Rochester last year. He had a terrific season and would up being added to the 40-man roster. The lefty will be joined in the rotation by fellow southpaw Logan Darnell. He began last year in the bullpen but moved back to the rotation and had an incredible month. In fact, some onlookers said that it was the best he had pitched as a pro. He was called up to the Twins but pneumonia meant that the Kentucky product didn’t pitch. He came off the 40 man but when he cleared, he went to big league camp and was among the final cuts. Finally, after being one of the best International League starters in 2014, Alex Meyer had a frustrating 2015 that found him in the bullpen. He debuted with the Twins, but it lasted just two outings. He gets another shot to start in 2016, though it may be just as an attempt to build arm strength, work on pitches and work out of more situations. PROJECTED RELIEF PITCHERS Right-Handers: JR Graham, Brandon Kintzler, Loek Van Mil, David Martinez Left-Handers: Buddy Boshers, Ryan O’Rourke, Taylor Rogers, Dan Runzler The Twins certainly went out and acquired lots of left-handers in the offseason, and most of them pitched well and will stick as the season starts. But there are good right-handed arms too. Let’s start with the guys on the 40-man roster. JR Graham and the Twins have been freed of the Rule 5 restrictions that caused him to need to stay in the big leagues throughout 2015. Hopefully Graham will be able to respond as well as Ryan Pressly did in the same scenario a few seasons ago. Ryan O’Rourke was called up midway through last season. He performed admirably against left-handers as he has throughout his career. He had a great camp. Rogers has been a quality starting pitching prospect since being drafted, but he went to big league camp with an opportunity to pitch out of the bullpen. After a slow start, he pitched well later. It is likely all three will surface with the Twins in 2016. Veteran Brandon Kintzler was among the final cuts. After missing most of last season, he signed a minor league deal with the Twins. If needed, he could be called up early in the season. Van Mil was with the Twins a half-decade ago until he was traded to the Angels for Brian Fuentes. He became a journeyman at that point but returned to the Twins late last year. 28-year-old David Martinez came to the Twins this year on a minor league deal. He pitched in a combined nine games for the Astros in 2013 and 2014. Buddy Boshers and Dan Runzler were both signed out of independent leagues, and both impressed in spring training. They throw hard and each have good breaking balls. If they get to the big leagues, it will mark a great story. PROJECTED LINEUP James Beresford 2B (expect that Beresford will play all around the infield)Jorge Polanco 3B (Polanco will likely play 3B, 2B, SS, and even some OF)Max Kepler LF (Kepler will play all three outfield positions)Kennys Vargas 1B (will also be able to DH)Reynaldo Rodriguez RF (can play both corners and first base)Darin Mastroianni CF (will play all three OF positions)Adam Brett Walker DH (will eventually get some time in LF, maybe 1B)John Hicks C (We’ll see Juan Centeno’s name in the lineup quite a bit too)Wilfredo Tovar (primary SS, but will play 2B and 3B as well)BENCH - Heiker Meneses, Stephen Wickens, Buck Britton, Juan Centeno This lineup has a good mixture of guys with plenty of AAA experience. A year ago, Beresford played in the AAA All Star game in 2015 and was named to the International Leagues’ Postseason All Star team. Reynaldo Rodriguez joined him on the Postseason All Star team. This spring, he helped the Colombian WBC team qualify for next year’s competition. Darin Mastroianni had a terrific spring training this year, hitting over .400 while playing all around the outfield. Wilfredo Tovar has big league time with the Mets in recent years. Known for his defense, he’ll bat lower in the lineup. There are also a couple of highly ranked prospects in this lineup. After a breakout season last year in Chattanooga, he was the Southern League MVP, Max Kepler is now a consensus Top 60 prospect in baseball. Jorge Polanco’s bat is MLB ready, but he needs to find a position he can play regularly. Adam Brett Walker has been discussed frequently in the Twins Daily forums because of his immense power and propensity to swing and miss. THE PROSPECTS Even with Tyler Duffey, Miguel Sano, Trevor May and Eddie Rosario all having graduated from prospect status, but the system is still strong. This Rochester roster has a couple of elite prospects and several players with tremendous upside. Here is a quick look at which Red Wings found their names in a variety of Twins Prospect Rankings and then which rank in the national rankings. Twins Prospect Rankings Twins Daily Top 10: Berrios (2), Kepler (3), Polanco (7), Meyer (8) Seth Stohs Top 30: Berrios (2), Kepler (3), Polanco (8), Walker (10), Meyer (14), Rogers (17), Jeremy Nygaard Top 30: Berrios (2), Kepler (3), Polanco (5), Walker (12), Meyer (14), Rogers (15), Cody Christie Top 30: Berrios (2), Kepler (3), Polanco (6), Walker (11), Meyer (15), Rogers (17) Nick Nelson Top 10: Berrios (2), Kepler (3), Polanco (8), Meyer (9) Steve Buhr Top 15: Berrios (2), Kepler (3), Polanco (8), Rogers (10) Baseball America Top 31: Berrios (2), Kepler (3), Polanco (6), Meyer (12), Rogers (14), Walker (17) FanGraphs Top 25: Berrios (2), Kepler (4), Polanco (5), Meyer (8), Rogers (16), Walker (25) Keith Law Top 20: Berrios (2), Kepler (3), Polanco (6), Meyer (10) John Sickels Top 20: Berrios (2), Kepler (3), Polanco (6), Walker (8), Meyer (11) Aaron Gleeman Top 40: Berrios (2), Kepler (3), Polanco (6), Walker (13), Meyer (14), Rogers (22), O’Rourke (38), Dean (40) Ted Schwerzler Top 15: Berrios (2), Kepler (5), Rogers (8), Walker (11), Meyer (12) MLB.com Top 30: Berrios (2), Kepler (3), Polanco (6), Walker (11), Meyer (12), Rogers (14) Baseball Essentials Top 20: Berrios (3), Kepler (5), Polanco (6), Walker (10), Meyer (11) Twins in National Prospect Rankings Baseball America: Berrios (28), Kepler (30), Polanco (99) MLB.com: Berrios (19), Kepler (44), Polanco (97) Baseball Prospectus: Berrios (17), Kepler (60), KATOH (FanGraphs): Kepler (1), Berrios (18), Gordon (82), Polanco (89) PREDICTIONS First Hitter Promoted to Twins: 1.) Jorge Polanco, 2.) Max Kepler First Starting Pitcher Promoted to Twins: 1.) Tyler Duffey, 2.) JO Berrios First Relief Pitcher Promoted to Twins: 1.) Brandon Kintzler, 2.) Ryan O’Rourke TWITTER FOLLOWS Rochester Red Wings: @RocRedWings Radio Voice: @JoshWhetzel Red Wings Radio Show: @RWRadioShow Beat Writer - Democrat & Chronicle: @KevinoDandC Also: @njrowan, @MorrieSilver8, @CJFee Click here to view the article

This week in Minnesota Twins history includes several opening week memories, and of course, one TV analyst's birthday. However, Bert Blyleven isn't the only TV personality in this week's almanac. Lots of interesting home runs, a trade and a big milestone. Check out what happened this week in Twins history!4/3/82: The Twins beat the Phillies 5-0 in an exhibition game, the first major league game played at the Metrodome. Pete Rose collected the new stadium’s first hit, and Bloomington-native Kent Hrbek hit the Dome’s first two home runs. 4/4/90: The Twins traded future-KARE 11 anchor, Mike Pomeranz, to Pittsburgh in exchange for Junior Ortiz and a minor league pitcher. Ortiz, who wore #0, is best-remembered as Scott Erickson’s personal catcher during the Twins’ 1991 World Championship season. 4/5/14: The Twins beat the Indians 7-3 in Cleveland for Ron Gardenire’s 1,000th managerial win. Leadoff hitter Brian Dozier homered on the second pitch of the game. Leading 7-1 in the 9th, 2001 Stillwater Area High School graduate and former Golden Gopher, Glen Perkins, gave up 2 runs before securing the Kyle Gibson victory. 4/6 is the birthday of Rik Aalbert “Bert” Blyleven, born in Zeist, Holland (1951). Blyleven grew up in Garden Grove, CA and was drafted by Minnesota out of high school in the third round in 1969. After only 21 minor league starts, Bert made his major league debut on June 2nd, 1970 at age 19. Blyleven went on to pitch for 22 seasons, 11 in Minnesota (‘70-’76, ‘85-’88). He is a two-time World Series champion, winning his first in 1979 as a Pittsburgh Pirate, and his second as a member of the ‘87 Twins. Blyleven won 149 games as a Twin, second only to Jim Kaat (190). His 3,701 career strikeouts rank fifth in major league history. Bert Blyleven was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 2011, his 14th year on the ballot. His number 28 is retired by the Minnesota Twins. 4/6/66: The Twins traded Nimrod, MN native and 1954 Sebeka High School grad, Dick Stigman and a player to named later to the Boston Red Sox for backup catcher Russ Nixon and second baseman Chuck Schilling who never appeared in a major league game for Minnesota and retired rather than accept a minor league assignment. Schilling became a math teacher in Long Island, NY. 4/6/73: Tony Oliva hit the first home run by a designated hitter in major league history off Oakland’s Catfish Hunter in the top of the 1st, driving in Rod Carew. Bert Blyleven pitched the first of his season’s 25 complete games in the Twins’ 8-3 victory. 4/7/70: Outfielder Brant Alyea drove in 7 runs to back winning pitcher Jim Perry in the season-opener. Alyea went on to collect 21 RBI in the Twins’ first 12 games, 19 of which came in Perry’s first four starts of the season. 4/8/88: The Twins beat the Blue Jays 6-3. Dan Gladden went 4-for-5 with 3 runs scored, 4 RBI and 2 home runs. He homered in the 1st and 8th and, and stole home off of David Wells in the 7th with Kent Hrbek batting. Gladden stole home three times in his career, twice in ‘88 and once in ‘89. He was caught attempting to steal home five times. Rod Carew stole home 17 times, and Paul Molitor 10 times. 4/9/00: The Twins hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in a 13-7 win in Kansas City. Already leading 6-0 entering the top of the 6th, Corey Koskie led off the inning with a base hit. Ron Coomer, Jacque Jonesand Matt LeCroy then proceeded to hit three consecutive home runs on four total pitches, Coomer and Jones hitting first-pitch homers, and LeCroy taking an 0-1 pitch out of the park. Coomer homered again in the 7th, again with Koskie on base. Eric Milton had retired the first 20 batters in order and had a two-hit shutout going into the 8th. After retiring the first two batters, including former Twin David McCarty, Milton allowed two hits and was relieved by Eddie Guardado. Guardado gave up an RBI single and then back-to-back home runs to Carlos Beltran and Jermaine Dye. He was relieved by Hector Carrasco who surrendered the Royals’ third consecutive home run to Mike Sweeney. It was the first game in major league history in which each team hit back-to-back-to-back home runs. The Twins are one of seven teams to have hit four consecutive home runs, doing so on May 2, 1964 in Kansas City versus the Athletics. With the score tied 3-3 entering the top of the 11th, Tony Oliva hit a leadoff home run, followed by Bob Allison, Jimmie Hall and Harmon Killebrew, giving the Twins a 7-3 victory. The Twins set the American League record by hitting five home runs in a single inning on June 9, 1966, also against the KC Athletics, but this time in Bloomington at the Met. The Athletics erupted for four runs in the first off Camilo Pascual, who only lasted ⅔ of an inning. Facing 1987 Hall of Fame inductee, Catfish Hunter, the Twins pulled within 4-3 on a Bob Allison RBI double in the 5th and a two-run Killebrew homer in the 6th. Then, in the bottom of the 7th, Rich Rollins and Zoilo Versalles connected for back-to-back homers off of Hunter to take the lead. Reliever Paul Lindblad retired Sandy Valdespino before allowing back-to-back homers to Tony Oliva and Don Mincher. The Athletics then turned to John Wyatt who allowed the Twins’ third consecutive home run, and the fifth of the inning, to Harmon Killebrew, his second of the game. Four National League teams have hit five home runs in an inning. The first time was in 1939 and the most recent in 2006. All four were against the Cincinnati Reds. For the history of the Minnesota Twins told one day at a time, follow @TwinsAlmanac on Twitter. For the stories of the Major Leaguers who grew up in Minnesota, like Major Minnesotans on Facebook and follow @MajorMinnesota on Twitter. Click here to view the article

There's two sides to it... 1.) like you said, people keep asking the questions, knowing the answers, but 2.) he could show a little maturity and not say such things, or phrase things differently.

First, Ryan isn't going to express exuberance when talking about pretty much anyone, particularly anyone who hasn't made it yet. Always something to work on... But Palka was my 25th or so Twins prospect this year. He's in a couple of Top 20s, and he's actually outside of many people's top 30s. I find him intriguing, but all the strikeouts are one reason he isn't ranked higher.

I guess I don't as a bad thing. I'm OK with that. I would expect a similar number this year, Probably 2-4 again this year. Nolasco and Tonkin are possibilities, via trade or release. Milone potentially via trade. Arcia potentially via trade. If the is a trade, it'd likely be for a key contributor at this point which would take prospects rather than necessarily Opening Day guys. Generally speaking, this is a good thing. Obviously with Berrios and Duffey at AAA, and they both will pitch significant innings for the Twins this year, there will be moves. There's no question about that. (unless something unforeseen happens with them)

I think that's the general thinking, but the high strikeouts in Korea (even compared to Kang) is at least alarming. That's 100% the concern in my mind.

I agree. I do feel like I'm a little maybe on the low end, and he absolutely could post an .840 OPS. Like Buxton, who could post a .640 OPS or an .800 OPS. I think those are the types of question marks throughout this team, but they're guys that they just need to go with. Joe Mauer could post a .670 OPS or an .800 OPS. Eddie Rosario could post a .600 OPS or an .800 OPS. Miguel Sano could post a .750 OPS or a .950 OPS. Eduardo Escobar could post a .620 OPS or a .750 OPS. Trevor Plouffe could post a .680 OPS or a .780 OPS. All these guys have to play, and a lot, and how they fit into those ranges will determine how the win-loss record looks at the end of the year.

Greatest near-complete sentence in Twins Daily history (well, I don't remember many individual sentences, but this is a great one!)... Suddenly yesterday he said that the Twins were doing Kennys Vargas wrong. His whining about Tom Kelly wanting him to use the field is annoying too, and old. Ironically, Ortiz his a lot of balls off of (and sometimes over) the green monster during his years with the Red Sox. The funny thing is that people seem to care what he thinks. Who cares if he thinks it's dumb for the Twins to move Sano to right field? I think it's the right decision for the Twins based on their current roster. Is he more right or wrong than me? I'm not claiming to be more right or wrong than him. It's an opinion. It's not facts, yet so many treat what he says like he knows. Ortiz couldn't play 1B and would have been awful in the outfield. He wasn't as good of an athlete as Sano, so it's not apples to apples. But, he's retiring, so we seem to care. All the while, he's showing that he hates the Twins for some reason, even though they did give him a great opportunity to start his career. And, frankly, with his frequent injuries and bad knees on the Metrodome turf, he should thank the Twins for letting him go. Don't forget, the Red Sox signed him in mid-March and gave him an opportunity to platoon with Kevin Millar to start the season. Good for him for taking off, whatever he did to do it.

The other thing to remember is that the Opening Day roster is the Twins roster for a fairly small sample size of the season. Consider last year, their Opening Day roster didn't even last until Opening Day. The Twins depth is what will sustain them over the course of the season, hopefully.

How many trades like that have there been in the last 20 years? There are few prospect-for-prospect trades. I guess there was Jesus Montero for Michael Pineda, but even when that happened the biggest talker was about how rare those trades are. I actually think it can be a good idea for clearing roster spots on the 40, but it takes just the right circumstances.

It's always easy to look to the future rather than the guys of the present who maybe haven't been what we thought or hoped they might be... But consider the amount of AAA domination that Tonkin has had compared to the amount of success that Nick Burdi, JT Chargois, Jake Reed and Mason Melotakis have had in AAA (or AA, if you will). If those guys become that, they will get plenty of chances, but you definitely don't want to lose a guy who throws 97 for nothing. Obviously the leash for Tonkin is fairly short, especially if those guys continue to pitch well. But I don't have a problem with him being on the roster.

I like Shane's numbers much better too, but you all know I'm such a negative guy. Ha! I do think he looks very capable.at the plate and certainly can be just fine at first base. I'm guessing that since we didn't see him even once at 3B, we know how good his defense might be there.

In early November, Twins fans were surprised to learn that the team had won the bid and had the exclusive rights to negotiate with Byung Ho Park. Park then helped Korea to the championship of the inaugural Premier12 event. Park homered in the championship game. Soon after, he arrived in Minnesota and signed a four-year deal. It was announced that he will be the Twins primary DH. He won a Gold Glove in the KBO, so he will also get some time at first base for the Twins as well. However, the Twins didn’t watch him in high school and many times over the last decade because of his glove. It was his bat and power potential that caught teams' eyes. He has spent most of the past five years playing for Nexon in the KBO. In that time, he has been the league’s top player. Over the last two years, he has homered 105 times. Each of the past three seasons, he has hit over .300, been on base at least 43% of the time and posted OPS well over 1.000. Park is certainly intriguing. No one should expect him to hit 50 home runs a year in the far-superior MLB. There will be an adjustment for Park and that will make predicting Park’s 2016 really difficult.Parks’ Nexen teammate in 2014, Jung Ho Kang signed with Pittsburgh and spent his rookie season with the Pirates. After a slow start, he played quite well and if not for a late-season injury, he was giving Kris Bryant a run for NL rookie of the year. Let’s take a look at Kang’s transition last year: 2014 Nexen (age 27) - .356/.459/.739 (1.198) with 36-2B, 40 HR, 68 BB, 106K 2015 MLB (age 28) - ..287/.355/.461 (.816) with 24-2B, 15 HR, 28 BB, 99 K Here is Byung Ho Park’s 2015 in Korea: 2015 Nexen (age 28) - .343/.436/.714 (1.150) with 35-2B, 53 HR, 78 BB, 161 K 2016 MLB (age 29) - We shall find out. While the numbers are pretty similar in the two players’ year before moving to MLB, there are some differences. Park had been better for longer. Park walked a bit more, but he struck out significantly more, and therein lies the concern. If it was just about those overall numbers, we could do some basic math and figure that Park would OPS somewhere around .780. But that strikeout rate is certainly more alarming coming into MLB than Kang’s was.Spring training has shown that Park can perform. He should not be overwhelmed. He hit three home runs, all on fastballs. He took quality at-bats. He drove in runs. He gave reason for optimism, and yet fans need to know that there will be some difficult moments and weeks for Park. Just like any rookie. But I’m more optimistic now that he can make the transition. So, what is in store for him in 2016? Below you’ll find my predictions for Park in 2016. KEY NUMBERS 29 - Though he is a rookie, and arguably a leading candidate for AL Rookie of the Year in 2016, he will turn 30 in mid-July. To some extent, he is what he is at this point. He’s actually closer to the end of his prime than the middle of it. However, he is still capable of adjusting, he certainly will have to, and we all hope he will. 105... but 303 - Yes, Park was a power hitting star in the KBO, knocking 105 home runs over the last two seasons. However, he also struck out 303 times in that same time frame. His strikeout rate was between 24% and 26% the last couple of years. I would predict that he’ll strike out closer to 30% in his upcoming rookie season. PREDICTIONS Byung Ho Park: 471 at-bats, .247/.318/.423 (.741), 23 doubles, 0 triples, 20 home runs. With the transition and the rough times I would expect Park to get a day off each week and maybe two days off in the rougher weeks. Remember that Molitor will want to get Oswaldo Arcia’s bat into the lineup on a somewhat regular basis and DH is a good spot for that. As you can see, I predict him to struggle. I think that .741 OPS will be right around league average, and maybe that’s pretty good for a rookie. My hope, of course, would be that we will see improvement from April to June, from June to August, and so on. He will hit some home runs. I feel like my number might be a little low, and he will hit doubles too. While those numbers might seem disappointing, I do believe that Park is going to be fine, and I think he’s shown enough that over the course of his four (and optionally five) years with the Twins under this contract, he will become a better than average hitter with even more power. YOUR TURN Your turn. Share your thoughts on and predictions on Byung Ho Park in 2016. We can take a look back at the end of the season and see how we did. PREVIOUS PREDICTIONS Kurt Suzuki/John Ryan Murphy Joe Mauer Brian Dozier Trevor Plouffe Eduardo Escobar Eddie Rosario Byron Buxton Miguel Sano Click here to view the article

I thought about mentioning or linking somehow to those stories, but 1.) They're old topics, 2.) he's playing RF this year and likely beyond

On July 1st, we learned officially that the Twins had called up Miguel Sano from AA Chattanooga and would be their DH the rest of the season. The Twins needed a bat, and Sano provided so much more than ever could have been hoped. He provided power in the middle of the lineup and a jolt that the Twins really needed. In fact, he was named the team’s MVP despite spending only half of the season with the big club. So, what is in store for him in 2016? Well, let’s try to put together a prediction, but then let’s sit back and watch and enjoy! Miguel Sano has been talked about for years. The Twins signed him for $3.15 million in October of 2009, but he was well-known in scouting circles for several years all ready. He was immensely talented, big, strong and growing. He had a huge year in 2013 and was invited to big league camp in 2014. Unfortunately, he missed the full season due to Tommy John surgery. He returned in 2015 and really struggled for the first month in Chattanooga. We found out last month that there was a lot going on in his personal life. But it wasn’t long into May when he took off and for the next six or seven weeks, he destroyed the AA pitching in the Southern League. He came to the Twins and played great. Along with being the Twins choice for MVP, he was also their top rookie. He finished behind only Carlos Correa and Francisco Lindor in Rookie of the Year voting. The Twins signed Byung Ho Park from Korea to DH and play some first base. They were unable to trade Trevor Plouffe (whether they tried to or not). Torii Hunter decided to retire. They insisted (and Sano consistently agreed) that they did not want him to be a full-time DH at 22 or 23. So the decision was made to have him move out to right field. Hunter was the Twins primary right fielder in 2015 though others played there as well. Twins right fielders hit .239 which ranked 27th in baseball. The .283 on-base percentage ranked 29th. The .400 slugging percentage ranked 22nd. Twins right fielders were 23rd in runs, 24th in doubles, 14th in home runs. Let’s just say that I think Miguel Sano will be able to help the Twins improve their rankings in right field.Word of Warning: I fear that Sano’s debut performance, along with the prospect status bestowed upon him for almost a decade now, may have set the bar unfairly high for the slugger. As you’ll see below, I am as guilty as anyone in that category. I think it’s important to remember that he will not turn 23-years-old until May 11. KEY NUMBERS 15.8% - Everyone knows that Miguel Sano will be breaking the Twins single-season strikeout record in 2016. Not only did he end up working a full count in 28% of his at-bats (hat tip Nick Nelson), but got on via the walk 15.8% of the time. Next highest in the American League last year was Mike Trout at 21%. It’s amazing to think that a guy who could break not only the Twins single-season record for strikeouts but also the MLB record puts together great at-bats. That said, if he can reduce the strikeouts, imagine how much more damage he can do. 15.8% of his plate appearances resulted in a walk, but don’t worry. It is highly unlikely that he will break the Twins record. In fact, Harmon Killebrew topped that number in eight seasons with the Twins, peaking in 1969 when he walked in 20.5% of his 707 plate appearances. And just for some comparison, Joe Mauer's best season in terms of walk percentage was 14.0% in 2012. His career walk rate is 11.9%. In other words, Miguel Sano will likely walk at a significantly higher rate than Joe Mauer ever has in his career. 3 - Miguel Sano should bat third in the Twins lineup most games for several reasons. First, it would sure be nice for him to get a plate appearances right away in the first inning. Sure, if he bats fourth, if he hits in the first inning, it is with a runner on base. However, for the same reason we don’t mind Brian Dozier putting the Twins ahead 1-0 in the first, having Sano make that possible each game is also good. If Dozier and Mauer are on base, it could be two or three to nothing. After the first inning, it is also possible that Byron Buxton will be on base when Sano comes to the plate. In 2015, Twins fourth batters came to the plate 688 times. Their number three hitters had 703 times. While it’s only 2.5 to 3.0 plate appearances per month, it adds up over the course of the year. PREDICTIONS Miguel Sano: 554 At-bats, .287/.398/.538 (.936), 37 doubles, 1 triples, 35 home runs. The Twins are going to want Sano in the lineup every day. He will continue to be thrown into right field, through the good, the bad and the ugly most days. When he isn’t, it is likely he will get quite a few games as a DH as well. That will allow Byung Ho Park to get some time at first base and give Joe Mauer a few days off.I don’t expect Sano to break the single-season MLB strikeout record (223), but he will certainly break Dozier’s strikeout record at 148.While I want to say that he won’t walk as often as he did in 2015 (15.8%), I have a hard time believing that he will walk any less. Hence, I gave him an IsoD of .111. I also think that he has the ability to hit for a decent average too. I’m not saying he’s going to hit .330 like he did for a half-season in Ft. Myers, but I don’t think .300 is out of the realm of possibility for him in time.As I was thinking through some predictions for Sano in 2016, one thought came to my mind. If Miguel Sano were to spend the full season with the Twins and stay healthy, what if he “only” hit 29 home runs. Would Twins fans be disappointed? There seems to be a general acceptance that he is a given to hit 35 homers a year, but that isn’t as easy as people want to think. That said, I put him at 35 home runs.If he were to post the .936 OPS that I suggest above, only six players in MLB had an OPS higher than that in 2015.YOUR TURN Your turn. Share your thoughts on and predictions on Miguel Sano in 2016. We can take a look back at the end of the season and see how we did. PREVIOUS PREDICTIONS Kurt Suzuki/John Ryan Murphy Joe Mauer Brian Dozier Trevor Plouffe Eduardo Escobar Eddie Rosario Byron Buxton Click here to view the article

I don't think that the fact that he hasn't before necessarily makes it certain that he wouldn't now. Obviously some would depend on how well (or poor) he is pitching if/when removed from the rotation, and maybe if there is some need in the bullpen at that time... And yes, to trade him, it would take taking on a bad deal or taking on 90-95% of his remaining contract.