Seth Stohs

Of those three, Sano is the fastest, and probably by quite a bit.

Updated to include prospects 1-5.

I often wonder how my life or life in general would have been different if there had been Facebook at Twitter when I was in high school. I know there are negatives to it, but I don't think people should generalize that they are bad because there are bad apples. Facebook has a way of bringing people together that can be positive. And, Twitter is the greatest invention ever... if used for what you most enjoy. For me, it's baseball, the Twins and sports in general, as well as some news sources and more. It's replaced the newspaper.

I agree. He had a nice stretch when he was DHing most every day, but he fell pretty flat after that. Took him a while to get going in Rochester. We know his Defense isn't going to be great, so he needs to hit very well.

I love that they're televising this game! And I really love that they're playing the prospects... and Perkins. For me... we always get to see the regulars... I want to see the minor leagues! Thursday when they play the Red Sox, the starters will get a few innings at least.

In my opinion, Plouffe being at 3B is a bigger reason that he won't come up as a 3B than his weight is. He weighed in at 262 a year ago at Spring Training. He said he typically loses 5-8 pounds during spring training and played between 250 and 255. He said that's about what he played the 2013 season at and people talked about his defense being solid. No one is saying he's going to be a Gold Glove third baseman, but I have little concern that he can play the position. Long term? I'm less sure.

MLB.com's Spencer Fordin wrote about Twins SS/CF Danny Santana. He learned centerfield on the fly last year and yet held his own with the glove while putting up numbers that he never put up in the minor leagues. He hit .319 with 41 extra base hits. He makes the move back to his natural shortstop position. Paul Molitor really believes in Santana's ability to play the position as he saw him for many years as he rose up the ranks. Molitor, of course, saw Robin Yount make the move from shortstop to centerfield and isn't worried about Santana's ability to play shortstop.

Star Tribune's LaVelle Neal wrote about Kyle Gibson. A year ago, he came to spring training looking to make the Opening Day roster while at the same time waiting with his wife for her to have the couple's first child. Their daughter just took her first steps. Gibson made the Opening Day roster and got through his first full season. He wants to be more consistent. He also wants to get more strikeouts while not losing his ground ball abilities. This is a terrific article.

KARE 11's Dave Berggren spent a day with Twins 3B Trevor Plouffe. He did a commercial, rode a bike, did an interview, went through drills, and more in his day. Kind of a fun look at one of the Twins most popular players.

1500 ESPN's Derek Wetmore wrote a fun article on Miguel Sano. Obviously he discusses the power. And, he talks about the concerns on defense with good quotes from Molitor about needing to be athletic at third base. He's fine now, but as he ages, he'll need to work even harder to be able to stay there. He also wrote about his weight, but he's right where he was at this time last year, before Tommy John surgery: He's not worried about his fitness or his nutrition: But... the power... legit!

The thing that is going to bother me if he were to sign that contract... as soon as he get an injury or even just takes a day off, or (Yikes) has a down year, many in these forums will turn on him quickly... That's the thing that bugs me the most. It's a constant, and it's unfortunate. Of course, if he goes year to year, some will say that his only care was maximizing his value, rather than giving the Twins a team-friendly deal.

I wrote about the possibility of the Twins and Dozier working out a long-term deal. I asked who would say no to a 6 year, $45 million deal? In it, I looked at what he would get from year to year if all he did was what he has done the last two seasons. I think we're hearing more of a 6 year, $40-42 million range. The risk is on both sides, for sure. One way to alleviate some of that concern for the Twins would be to cut it down to a 3-year contract. Could do something like 3 years, $12-13 million. That way the risk for the Twins is lower and for Dozier, he would still have a year of arbitration remaining. Could also do a 3-4 year deal with a series of creative options.

FSN's Tyler Mason got to Ft. Myers this week and he was able to get a one-on-one interview with Twins GM Terry Ryan. They discuss openings in the starting rotation, the backup catcher, centerfield and competition at shortstop. He discusses his health as well as the health of Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton. It's a very thorough, solid interview. Well worth the read. Which parts stand out to you?

I like the breakdown... My saying the last 2-3 years has been that the importance of a strong and deep minor league system is that it gives a better percentage of one or two of them becoming pretty good. I'd never put someone in the Hall of Fame category. I just don't think that's fair to anyone. I'd like to see 1 guy become a perennial All Star, get to 5-6 of them (or more) in his career. I'd like to see 3-5 of them become solid everyday regulars, the kind that may get to 1-2 All Star games but always be a reliable player. And then if 3-5 of them become part-timers, bullpen options, that would be great. It's fun to look at these lists 5-8 years later and just see how they look.

If there is anyone who would be able to handle a multi-year deal, it's Dozier. I'd be curious of the terms before making any strong statements for or against the deal. We've written about it a lot here. There are good reasons to, and there are good reasons not to. For him, I hope they get something done. If not, he'll get more (possibly) in the long run. The risk would be nearly entirely on the Twins, the longer the deal.

Last month, Twins Daily posted its Top 20 Prospects. In previous years, we had just done the Top 10, but the Twins system is so strong that we felt that we should highlight twice as many prospects this year. In reviewing the prospect list, there are several very interesting topics that came up.The first thing that became apparent were that there were a few clear groupings that create some interesting discussion. THE ELITE PROSPECTS 2014 was a rough year for Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano. Buxton suffered from several injuries and never was able to get into any sort of rhythm. Miguel Sano missed the entire season with Tommy John surgery. However, elite tools are elite tools. Byron Buxton not only remained the #1 prospect in the Twins farm system, but he ranked #1 or #2 in all of the major national prospect rankings as well. Why? His elite tools, his speed, his defense and his arm. Meanwhile, most believe in his hit tool and believe he will be able to hit some home runs too. Miguel Sano has as much power as anyone in minor league baseball, including Cubs’ 3B prospect Kris Bryant. His missed season does not change that. Sure, it may make some question his ability to throw as hard, but he had an ‘80’ arm before, so if he lost a little zip, he’s probably still got ‘70’ arm strength. Questions regarding his ability to play 3B are no more or less than a year ago. Sano remained a top 20 prospect in baseball. The hope for both of these guys is that they can be organization-changing talents. They are both still just 21 years old and have plenty of time. THE THREE TOP PITCHERS Twins Daily’s final ranking had Jose Berrios at #3, Kohl Stewart at #4, and Alex Meyer at #5. However, we all acknowledge that there could be compelling arguments to ranking each ahead and behind each other. All three of these guys were Top 10 prospects one year ago. Berrios was the choice for Twins pitcher of the year in 2014 after pitching at three levels, pitching in the Florida State League All -Star Game and the Futures Game. Stewart fought injuries again and a lack of strikeouts, but he’s still just 20 years old and has as much potential as anyone if he can be healthy. Meyer is clearly the closest to the big leagues and has a chance to be a top of the rotation starter soonest, possibly by late 2015. All have a chance to be good MLB pitchers. THE MIDDLE INFIELDERS Jorge Polanco became the youngest player to debut with the Twins since Joe Mauer in 2004 when he was called up as a 20 year old in May. Nick Gordon was the Twins top draft pick in 2015, a shortstop out of high school with great baseball genetics. He clearly has the higher upside, but also presents a larger risk because he has a long way to go. CLOSE TO THE BIG LEAGUES The Twins have struggled over the past four years. There’s no questioning that. They have had a top-five draft pick each of the last three seasons. All three of those players rank in the Twins Daily top-six prospects. Twins fans, understandably, want to start seeing the fruits of the Twins strong farm system and player development in recent years. For each of the Top 10 prospects, we added an ETA in their profile. Two of the Top 10 prospects debuted in 2014 (Polanco and May). The year 2015 was shown as the ETA for seven of the Top 10 prospects, and in reality, it is possible that as many as eight of the Top 10 could debut with the Twins in 2015. The only two that really have little opportunity to debut in 2015 would be Kohl Stewart and Nick Gordon, the last two first-round draft picks out of high school. MORE TOP 10 TIDBITS In the Top 10, we had five hitters and five pitchers.All five pitchers are right-handed. Should that be a concern? Probably not. Lefties Lewis Thorpe (#11), Stephen Gonsalves (#13) and Taylor Rogers (#15) are all found among prospects 11 through 15.Two relief pitchers made the Top 20. Nick Burdi (#10) and Jake Reed (#18) were both 2014 Twins' draft picks. Burdi was the team’s second round pick out of Louisville, and Reed was their fifth round pick out of Oregon.The oldest player among the Top 20 is Trevor May (#9). He was the only one on the list not to be born in the 90s. The 25-year-old was born in September of 1989. Alex Meyer was close, born January 3, 1990.The youngest player among the Top 20 is Amaurys Minier (#20) turned 19 just over a month ago. Thorpe turned 19 in late November. Nick Gordon turned 19 in late October.Who is on the Twins 40-man roster? Miguel Sano (2), Alex Meyer (5), Jorge Polanco (7), Eddie Rosario (8), Trevor May (9) and Max Kepler (12).Who were non-roster invitees to Minnesota Twins' spring training? Byron Buxton (1), Jose Berrios (3), Taylor Rogers (15), Tyler Duffey (16) and Stuart Turner (17).Who was next? In our rankings and discussion, Chih-Wei Hu would have been Prospect #21 had we chosen to extend the list beyond 20. Others who were strongly considered included (alphabetically) C Mitch Garver, RHP JR Graham, RHP Zack Jones and RHP Aaron Slegers.TD Top Prospects 16-20TD Top Prospects 11-15 TD Top Prospect #10: Nick Burdi TD Top Prospect #9: Trevor May TD Top Prospect #8: Eddie Rosario TD Top Prospect #7: Jorge Polanco TD Top Prospect #6: Nick Gordon TD Top Prospect #5: Alex Meyer TD Top Prospect #4: Kohl Stewart TD Top Prospect #3: Jose Berrios TD Top Prospect #2: Miguel Sano TD Top Prospect #1: Byron Buxton Click here to view the article

Yeah, there is no excuse for those comments. I don't get people who just tweet like that, or comment on sites like this like that. It just benefits no one. If I'm one of the presidents of a college that those idiots go to, I'd consider kicking them out of school. I don't mind Schilling at all. I probably agree with about half of what he says/writes... But anyone who think that the responses he (and his daughter) got on twitter are OK or can come up with excuses for them... I can't ever get that.

i think, personally, that he can play the position adequately and maybe even pretty well for a while. At some point, hopefully in his late 20s or early 30s, he probably won't, but worry about that when we/they get there. He's a good athlete.

I tend to agree with this.

I'd agree that the quality of umpiring is probably a bigger factor, along with the quality of the hitters. That said, I think that catchers can certainly help their pitchers. I talked to several of those Cedar Rapids pitchers who give a lot of credit to Mitch Garver and Michael Quesada for working with them. But, the pitching coaches and managers also need some credit for some philosophy. The catcher's job is then to take that game plan and philosophy and put it ito a game call. Some college catchers call their own pitches. Many don't. The Twins have their catchers call pitches as part of their learning. They won't second guess them, per se, but they spend a lot of time just asking what the thought process was for various pitches. Remember also that the catchers may also be told, I need Pitcher A to throw at least 15 changeups today, so that has to factor in. There is a lot of that kind of stuff going on, especially in the lower levels. All the while, they continue to work on hip flexibility and pitch framing and positioning and more... Oh yeah, they are also trying to work on their hitting. It's the toughest position to really judge from a prospect standpoint because there is just so much that goes into it.

Pretty sure that nicksaviking was right. Billy Beane played a short while with the Twins and was as bad as he was in other teams. Thankfully, he was smart and has become a very good GM. Billy Bean was an OF with the Tigers who came out after his career. He now works for MLB.

It qualifies because it appears to be something different. One of the big questions heading into spring training has been How is Paul Molitor different from Ron Gardenhire? Obviously that will play out over the course of the next year or two (And some of it we won't be privy to), but specifically, what is different about how he is choosing to run spring training? And also, what new ideas is Neil Allen going to bring in?

I think the Dozier is kind of the "given" for HR power, if there is one. I definitely think that Arcia and Vargas are the two guys that have the chance to be 30 HR guys, or at least 25 HR guys if they can take a little step forward this year. Hunter will be fine. Like you said, there's no reason to think he'll hit 17 or more in 2015, but I think 12-15 would be reasonable. That decline should be nullified by an increase from Mauer. The bench does have Pinto, but other than him, there really isn't a power-hitter off of the bench. Finally, it'll be interesting to see if Sano gets an opportunity, and if so, how much.

Star Tribune's Phil Miller wrote a very nice article on veteran Blaine Boyer who is with the Twins on a minor league contract. He also has an opt-out in his contract so that he can become a free agent at the end of March if he doesn't think he's going to make the roster. A couple of years ago, he left the game of baseball. He made his comeback with the Braves last year because he didn't want to have the What If factor. He has prioritized his family as well, which is always good.