Seth Stohs

On Sunday morning, Brian Dozier, JR Towles, Brian Dinkelman and Casey Fien were all re-assigned to minor league camp. The moves have mean that the Twins roster is essentially set. Dozier came into camp hoping to make a strong impression and it would be an understatement to say he did. He displayed strong defense that appears to give the Twins coaches and front office confidence that he can be an every day shortstop. He hit well, including three spring home runs. It's safe to say that he'll head to Rochester knowing that if needed, the Twins will not hesitate to bring him up. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] JR Towles appears to have won the 3rd catcher job... on a team that will start that season with two catchers. He had a nice showing in the spring, hitting two home runs. Brian Dinkelman had a rough season in Rochester a year ago, but he hit .301 in his time with the Twins and again showed well for himself with the bat in spring training. His ability to play 2B and the corner outfield spots defensively likely mean that the Twins wouldn't hesitate to promote him if needed. Casey Fien was another of the big surprises of spring training. The former Tigers' reliever put up very good numbers and made a case to be on the opening day roster. Again, the bullpen could be a revolving door in 2012, and Fien may find himself with the team at some point. The moves essentially have set the final Opening Day roster for the Twins. C: Joe Mauer, Ryan Doumit INF: Justin Morneau, Chris Parmelee, Alexi Casilla, Luke Hughes, Jamey Carroll, Danny Valencia and Sean Burroughs. OF: Denard Span, Josh Willingham, Trevor Plouffe, Ben Revere SP: Carl Pavano, Francisco Liriano, Liam Hendriks, Nick Blackburn, Scott Baker (DL), Jason Marquis (BL) BP: Matt Capps, Glen Perkins, Brian Duensing, Anthony Swarzak, Matt Maloney, Jared Burton, Jeff Gray, Alex Burnett Any thoughts? I'm ready for Friday against Baltimore!! Let's get this season started!!

This blog was written by Twins minor league pitcher Tim Shibuya. The right-hander was the Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year last year, and he will be starting for the Beloit Snappers as the 2012 season begins. Here are his thoughts as spring training comes to an end. As the end of Spring Training nears, the positives and negatives that you only think about at the start of camp start to become a reality. Friends you have played with for a while might get moved to a higher level as they have earned a job and showed they can play at the next level. Others get bumped down by either poor play, a player being reassigned from big league camp, or a combination of the two. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Then there is the worst news a player can get, that they have been released and it is time to part ways. The usually quiet morning atmosphere in the clubhouse is always more sullen when teammates are cut. It is tough to see your friends, acquaintances, and teammates pack their bags and head for the airport for the trip home. Your only hope for them is that they are able to get picked up by another team and continue to follow their dream on the windy road to the Big Leagues. However, like many events down at Spring Training, you must take the information, digest it, and move on and get yourself ready for the day. You are never safe, so you must refocus and make yourself a better player that day. The coaches have emphasized focus and mental toughness this Spring and these days are perfect to be able to apply those skills to situations. As soon as you start worrying about if you are going to make a team, get cut or anything like that, doubt creeps into the mind and you cannot perform your best. Each day that I have a uniform on my back is a good day, and an opportunity to wear that uniform one more day. On the other side of things, a nice aspect about Spring Training coming to a close is that your team starts to become more defined and you get to play a few games with the guys who will be with you for most of your season. The number of players getting shuffled from different levels decreases and you are able to start building team chemistry and understanding how each infielder and outfielder does certain plays. Despite all of the time playing on different teams, we are starting to come together already and are having a good time doing it too. And now for the interesting Spring Training event of the week. On Tuesday of this week we were informed that if we are going to play for the Rochester, New Britain, or Beloit teams, we needed to pack up most of our stuff and put it in a duffel bag so a moving truck could take the bags to their respective locations. The truck left on Wednesday so we didn’t have much time to decide what we needed to keep in Ft. Myers, and what we could send off and be without for a week. I spent a fair bit of Tuesday night flipping a coin to see what I should send up to Beloit. And as is customary with my brain, I second, third, and fourth guessed myself packing and unpacking a variety of items, until I made an executive decision to just pack everything I could into one bag and just deal with it. I wish I had made this decision earlier in the night, but oh well, I guess it was a good way to pass the time.

According to Todd Zolecki of the Phillies mlb.com site (via twitter), The Twins acquired 1B Matt Rizzotti this morning from the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for "cash considerations." The 6-5, 255 pounder was the Twins 46th round pick in 2004 out of high school. He was then the Phillies 6th round pick in 2007. Last year at AA Reading, he hit .295/.392/.511 with 34 doubles, 24 homers and 84 RBI. He walks a bunch, and he strikes out a bunch. The left-handed hitting 1B will likely play in Rochester, along with Aaron Bates at 1B. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] More to come.

It's hard to believe, but after a long 2011 season and a very long offseason, Opening Day is just one week away for the Twins and the rest of baseball (except the A's and Mariners, I guess.). I have been doing these weekly roster projections for for weeks, and it's a lot of fun. As much as we like to think our roster projections a month out look pretty solid, it's impossible to know. No one could have predicted that Chris Parmelee would perform so well. And who knew with the bullpen. Think about this. I posted a roster projection last Friday, and by Sunday, the Twins helped clarify things and my projection was already outdated. With one week to go, a few more spots on the roster have appeared to be solidified, but there are still question marks. Obviously injury concerns with Scott Baker and Kyle Waldrop have affected things, and we continue to keep the family of Jason Marquis in our thoughts as they remain with their daughter who was in a bicycle accident just over a week ago. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] There are still roster moves to be made. Some have really impressed this spring, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. As a side note, the full-season minor league seasons actually start the day before the major league opener. Keep tuned to Twins Daily. When we get any official information on the major league and then the minor league rosters, this will be a great place to find that information and discuss it. (The players in Red are players that I believe are givens to make the roster (obviously pending injury). Those in black are potentially up for grabs. Discuss my selections and be sure to post your roster projections in the Comments as well.) Catchers: Joe Mauer, Ryan Doumit I have had JR Towles as the third catcher, and I have had Drew Butera retaining his spot. This week, I am going to project that the Twins will go with just two catchers. I don't know how comfortable Ron Gardenhire will be with that arrangement, and frankly, despite the fact that I don't like the idea of a third catcher, I do like the idea of Ryan Doumit getting a lot of at bats, and without a third catcher, I don't think that he will get as many. Infielders: Justin Morneau, Alexi Casilla, Danny Valencia, Jamey Carroll, Luke Hughes, Chris Parmelee, Sean Burroughs Clearly the stories here have been Justin Morneau playing solely first base over the past 2-3 weeks and the play of Chris Parmelee. I'm not convinced that Parmelee is really ready or that it is best for his development to be on the big league roster. Thats a major reason, although not the only one, that I don't necessarily think that it is best for the Twins to have him in the big leagues. I made the argument earlier in the week that Luke Hughes could start at 2B with Casilla being a utility player. I don't think that would happen, but I would like to see Hughes get some time. Carroll has started hitting a little bit of late, but there are no concerns with him. The final bench spot does appear to be between Dinkelman, Burroughs, Butera and JR Towles. Dinkelman has had a very good camp and could be making the Twins brass consider him as a viable LH Pinch hitter option. Dinkelman or Burroughs would need to be added to the 40 man roster. Although Gardenhire did say a couple of weeks ago that Brian Dozier would start the season in Rochester (which is good), he remains in camp and continues to impress. Outfielders: Ben Revere, Denard Span, Josh Willingham, Trevor Plouffe No change, in terms of who will likely be in the outfield, but plenty of change in the alignment. On Sunday, Gardenhire announced that Josh Willingham was moving back to Left Field and (no surprise) Denard Span will start in center field. He also said that Ben Revere will be the 4th outfielder. That means that Right Field will be manned by Trevor Plouffe, Ryan Doumit and Chris Parmelee, as well as by Revere. Starting Pitchers: Carl Pavano, Francisco Liriano, Nick Blackburn, Liam Hendriks, Scott Baker, Jason Marquis The top three spots appear set, and Baker and Marquis are the other two starters. However, it is still unclear whether Baker will need to start the season on the Disabled List or whether Marquis could be put on the bereavement list to start the season. In my opinion, at least one of those scenarios are pretty likely to happen, and that's why I have added Liam Hendriks to the starting rotation. I can't quite put him in red because it's possible Baker and Marquis will be ready for opening day. Although Baker and Marquis are both on the roster (and should be red), I put them in green to note that is where the question mark in the rotation lies. Bullpen: Matt Capps, Glen Perkins, Brian Duensing, Anthony Swarzak, Jared Burton, Matt Maloney, Jeff Gray,Kyle Waldrop, It's fairly clear that the Twins have set six spots in their bullpen at this point with Burton and Maloney grabbing hold of two more spots. Kyle Waldrop was certainly the favorite for that last spot and may be in red now if not for some inflammation in his elbow. He will likely begin the season on the DL. So, the final roster spot is up for grabs between Jeff Gray, Alex Burnett and Casey Fien. At this point, it come down to what makes sense. Burnett has been there the past two years, but he has really struggled in camp (and the last two seasons). Fien has pitched just fine, but he hasn't been put into early situations in the game, against big league hitters, so although his numbers look terrific and he's pitched well, it just doesn't seem that he's likely (although he is still there). Gray was a name that I mentioned last week as a guy not to forget. He didn't get many opportunities in "A" games the first couple of weeks of camp, but he's on the 40 man roster and he's out of options, so I hoped he would at least get a shot. He's pitched a couple of times and done pretty well. He's had quite a bit of (unimpressive) big league time, but I think he's the guy who gets that spot out of spring training. What are your thoughts? Discuss what your roster looks like? The season is getting close, and I'm getting excited! I hope everyone else is too!

Following a 99-loss season, the Twins had many more transactions than most offseasons. A couple of those transactions may have been considered minor to most, but definitely stood out to me. Shortly following the season, the Twins chose to designate reliever Anthony Slama for assignment. He was removed from the 40 man roster, cleared waivers and was outrighted to Rochester. When the Twins announced the additions to their 40 man roster in late November, they also announced that they had removed David Bromberg from the 40 man roster. Like Slama, he cleared waivers and was outrighted to Rochester. Although I personally disagreed with both decisions, the Twins were ultimately proven correct in these decisions. In each case, all 29 other major league teams could have claimed them for nothing and chose not to. Because neither has been in the organization long enough to be considered six-year minor league free agents, once they cleared waivers, the Twins were able to send them to the minor leagues. Because each team could have claimed him for nothing, it was unlikely that a team would pay $50,000 to select them in the Rule 5.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] In January, the Twins announced that a dozen pitchers would be non-roster invites to spring training, competing with 22 pitchers on the 40-man roster, including Joel Zumaya and Rule 5 pick Terry Doyle. However, David Bromberg and Anthony Slama were not invited to big league camp. In other words, after years of successful pitching in the Twins organization, it took one injury-riddled season for each to seemingly be removed from the Twins short-term plans. I would suggest that Twins fans should not forget about these two talented right-handers. DAVID BROMBERG Bromberg was the Twins 32nd round pick in 2005 out of Palisades High School. He didn’t sign, but instead he went to Santa Ana College and signed with the Twins early in 2006 and a Draft-and-Follow. His career started out well right from the start: · In 2006, he went 3-3 with a 2.66 ERA in the GLC. · In 2007, he was the Appalachian League Pitcher of the Year. For Elizabethton, he went 9-0 with a 2.78 ERA and led the league with 81 strikeouts (in 58.1 innings). · In 2008, he led all of minor league baseball with 177 strikeouts (in 150 innings) with the Beloit Snappers. · In 2009, he was named the Florida State League Pitcher of the Year. He went 13-4 with a 2.70 ERA. He led the league with 148 strikeouts in 153.1 innings. · In 2010, he moved up to New Britain and went 5-5 with a 3.62 ERA in 17 starts. His strikeout rate to 5.9 K/9 (it had never been below 8.7 K/9 previously). He moved up to Rochester where he went 1-4 in nine starts. However, he posted a 3.98 ERA, a career-low 1.15 WHIP and struckout 8.1 per nine innings. · Following the 2010 season, Bromberg was an easy choice to add to the Twins 40 man roster (along with Joe Benson, Chris Parmelee and Rene Tosoni). · Bromberg had a nice, albeit brief, showing at big league camp in 2011 and began the season back with the New Britain Rock Cats. · Unfortunately, in a late-April start, he was hit in the forearm by a line drive. He broke his ulna and after surgery, he did not pitch again until late in the season. ANTHONY SLAMA Like Bromberg, Slama spent two years at Santa Ana College. He then went to the University of San Diego. Following his junior year, the Twins made him their 39th round draft pick in 2006. He didn’t sign, and instead pitched his senior season at USD. However, before the 2007 draft, he signed with the Twins. Like Bromberg, Slama has found success at every level since: · After signing, he went to Elizabethton and recorded four saves in six appearances. He struckout ten in 7.1 innings. · He then moved up to Beloit where he was 1-1 with 10 saves and a 1.48 ERA in 24.1 innings. He struck out 39. · He put up video game numbers in 2008 in Ft. Myers. He went 4-1 with 25 saves. He posted a 1.01 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. In 71 innings, he walked 24 and struck out 110 (13.9/9). · In 2009, he moved up to New Britain where he went 4-2 with 25 saves. In 65.1 innings, he posted a 2.48 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP. He struckout 93 and walked 32. He ended the sdedason with 19 strikeouts in 14.2 innings in Rochester. · He began 2010 with the Red Wings and in 65.1 innings, he walked 32 and struckout 74. He was 2-2 with 17 saves and a 2.20 ERA and a 1.12 WHIP. · On July 21, 2010, he pitched a scoreless inning against Cleveland. He gave up a hit, walked none and struck out two. He made four other appearances and struggled. In 4.2 innings, he gave up four runs on six hits and five walks. He did strikeout five. · Slama then spent most of spring training fighting an elbow injury and he struggled in Rochester in April. In 27 games with the Red Wings, he posted his best Red Wings numbers. He had a 3-2 record with a 2.92 ERA and a 1.16 WHIP. In 37 innings, he walked 16 and struckout 42. He made two appearances with the Twins in 2011. He threw 2.1 scoreless innings, gave up no hits, walked two and struckout three before being sent back down. · His season was cut short when in late July an MRI revealed a flexor pronator muscle strain in his right elbow. He was shut down for the season. The 28-year-old Slama is not a flame-thrower. He sits between 90-92 with the fastball and many say he has a deceptive delivery. His stuff isn’t off the charts, but his strikeout rates absolutely are. He has had control problems at time in the past, but his ability to get strikeouts has really helped him. In the meanwhile, the Twins have signed, claimed and drafted several pitchers who throw in the mid-90s and have even less control and come nowhere near the strikeout numbers (or any of the numbers) that Slama has, even in the upper levels. All Slama has done is dominate at every level. On the other hand, 24-year-old Bromberg has also pitched well up to AA and in a short AAA stint. His fastball sits 88-91. He has a four-pitch mix. Just two seasons ago, he weighed in at over 260 pounds. He worked incredibly hard and got down to 210 pounds. That, work ethic, was often the question with Bromberg. No longer. He is one of the hardest workers in the organization. The concern with Slama remains the elbow, although to this point in the spring, his elbow is feeling very good. With Bromberg, he had a broken forearm, but it has healed. His injury was not elbow or shoulder related. 2011 was a lost season for both Anthony Slama and David Bromberg. Both are no longer on the Twins’ 40 man roster. However, Slama will start the 2012 season in the Rochester bullpen where he should continue to dominate. Bromberg will be starting for the New Britain Rock Cats to start the 2012 season. In other words, both will start the 2012 season where they started the 2011 season. It’s possible that both of them will end up the season back on the 40 man roster, and potentially on the big league roster.