Seth Stohs

I think you're right in the sense that Benson shouldn't be a 4th OF quite yet. I'm glad that the Twins stuck with him through that initial struggle, realizing he was so far behind after being hurt all of last season and not being able to play and train throughout the offseason either. He's been much better and likely needs to continue to play most every day. I like Wilkin Ramirez. Loved when they signed him a year ago. He's still not old and does have power. I like that he's right-handed and could platoon with Parmelee as well as pinch hit.

Santana played in the first televised game, I believe. Hicks and Arcia started on Friday night in a televised game, and Colabello came in for the second half of the game.

Did you also find the statement he issued soon after this story originally came out: School of Roch: Statement from Valencia

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1461-The-Cuts-Continue-7-Twins-Reassigned

On Sunday morning, seven players from Minnesota Twins spring training were told that they would not be on the Twins Opening Day roster. The most intriguing name of the bunch was infielder Chris Colabello. This leaves the Twins with 42 players on their spring roster. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3519[/ATTACH] Here are the players sent to minor league camp: Chris Colabello was last year's feel-good minor league story. He has had a great past 12 months. At this time last year, he has just signed with the Twins after being named Baseball America's Independent Leagues player of the year in 2011. He made the New Britain roster and was a mainstay in the middle of their lineup all season. He received the invite to spring training and made a name for himself on a national (international?) level with some big games and big hits for Team Italy in the WBC. He returned to the Twins late last week. He will likely spend most of the season in Rochester this year, but don't be at all surprised if the Twins call his name if they have a need for a bat. Brian Dinkelman hit .301 for the Twins in 2011 in a part-time role. He spent all of 2012 with Rochester and didn't play a lot due to injury. He provides the Twins with depth in the corner outfield spots as well as the right side of the infield. Clete Thomas got some time with the Twins in 2012 after spending his entire career in the Tigers organization. He returned to the Twins on a minor league deal after hitting for power with the Red Wings. He'll return to Rochester this spring and play all around the outfield. Mark Sobolewski was selected by the Twins in the minor league portion of December's Rule 5 draft from the Blue Jays organization. He showed well for himself in Twins camp, displaying good defense. He likely would have competed with Deibinson Romero for playing time but Romero has still not arrived from the Dominican Republic due to visa issues. Deolis Guerra came off of the 40 man roster last November, but he returned on a minor league contract. He pitched very well in the Venezuelan Winter League and was excited to represent his country in the WBC. Unfortunately, shoulder pain was diagnosed as a blood clot. He will be having surgery in the near future. Shairon Martis was invited to big league camp after coming to the Twins in a minor trade last summer. He didn't pitch much for the Twins before joining Team Netherlands in Taiwan, and then Japan, and now in San Francisco for the WBC. He should factor into the Red Wings pitching staff this season. Eric Fryer got time with the Pirates the past two season. He played well in spring, but he could find himself in either New Britain or Rochester. The Twins now have 42 players in big league camp including 22 pitchers (5 non-roster), 4 catchers (1 non-roster), 9 infielders (3 non-roster) and 7 outfielders (2 non-roster).

It is a tough thing... Because we love seeing that kind of passion. It's a lot of fun to see. But in MLB, it is greatly discouraged. Danny Valencia was bashed for playing with 'swag.' I remember watching Pascual Perez who was incredibly animated on the mound, and he was basically told to stop. It isn't encouraged in MLB, and it's considered in poor taste. It's a double-edged sword.

This is awesome... fun look at what these people do beyond the baseball field. I have a ton of respect for these guy. I remember that 1998 HR race between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. McGwire was a mess, didn't want to talk. Didn't handle it well at all. Sosa was great. Cool and Calm. While answering questions during post-game interviews in both English and Spanish. It was then that I really began appreciating what the players from other countries have to overcome.

My sense is Benson and then probably Colabello or Clement.

Like I said, you can look at it however you want. In watching pretty much every game last year, at no point did I say, Man, Doumit is a terrible catcher or doesn't frame the ball well. As far as whether we should look at what the Twins will do or what they should do, I'm not smart enough or arrogant enough to think that my method of thinking is more right than theirs. They aren't even arrogant enough to claim that every decision they make is the right one.

There's nothing wrong with great clubhouse guys. We all have jobs and want to work in a positive environment. I just think people are all different. Some are quiet. Some are louder.

If it was about the USA winning and always winning, maybe MLB should force all players to play. They could say that players must be citizens of the country they play for. Puerto Rico could be part of the US, the same way that Curacao is part of the Netherlands. Adrian Gonzalez could have played 1B for the US.

Mauer hit nearly .500 in the WBC. He did his part... Nothing he can do to help the other guys hit better. Rah Rah is great and looks good, but it doesn't make people better.

Walters is also not on the 40 man roster, so I think if he comes up, it'd be for more than just a little while until someone comes off the DL. And, the reality is that Correia is going to be in the rotation... regardless of spring stats at all.

In the Org Depth Chart Outfielders article I wrote last week, I noted that Nate Roberts tore his meniscus after the AFL. He had surgery and he will likely miss a little bit of time at the start of the season. I think there was some chance that he would have started at New Britain, but now, they're going to want him around Ft. Myers at the start of the season since that's where their rehab facilities are. They'll want to get him to AA by the end of the year. After the year, they'll need to decide if they're going to put him on the 40 man roster or not.

I saw nothing while watching Doumit catch a ton last year taht told me that he shouldn't be catching. I don't think I'll ever be able to buy stats for framing pitches. I really don't. I think that if he isn't getting those close pitches to be called strikes, some of that has as much to do with inexperienced or wild pitchers that aren't going to get umps calls too. Regarding Deduno. He's earned the right to be a starter, but I wouldn't have him ahead of De Vries or Hendriks at this point. The 40 man roster situation is also a factor at this point in the season.

HE was a 15th round pick after a very good career offensively at Vanderbilt which is obviously one of the best baseball programs in the country. He hasn't necessarily hit like one would hope in the minors, but he's hit some home runs. He also missed the early part of last year after having shoulder surgery and it took him awhile to get going. Really rough start. It's not nepotism.

90-94 on the fastball, primarily at 91. Looks like a good slider at 81-82. Works fast. Throws strikes. Looks like a pretty decent pitcher!

Dozier will be fine, but that is a good reminder that a couple of months in AAA isn't ever going to hurt anyone.

This is a forum about the roster projections. The White Sox and Twins made the deal. The TWins could (we don't know) get 13 years of service time and the White Sox got 2 months of bad pitching from Liriano. At that point, he became a free agent. So what Liriano does from this point on has nothing to do with the Twins/White Sox trade. Everyone talks about how the last 2-3 weeks of spring training are more telling than the first 3 weeks. The Twins decided to stand by Benson due to his talent and upside rather than focus on his injury-plagued 2012 season. After missing all that time last year and not being able to do baseball activities all offseason, it's no surprise that he started slow. I still project Hicks to be the starter, but if Benson stays hot, makes contact, takes a few walks and plays defense, it's not completely over yet.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1460-Twins-Option-Arcia-Roster-at-49

On Saturday morning, the Minnesota Twins announced that they had optioned outfielder Oswaldo Arcia to Triple-A Rochester where he is likely to begin his 2013 season. Arcia was the Twins minor league hitter of the year in 2012 when he combined to hit a combined .320/.388/.539 (.928) with 36 doubles, 8 triples, 17 home runs and 98 RBI between Ft. Myers and New Britain. He played very well in the Venezuelan Winter League. [ATTACH=CONFIG]3517[/ATTACH] Unfortunately, soon after arriving at his second big league spring training, he was sidelined with a strained intercostal (muscle in the side). He was unable to play ntil last weekend, but he has been in the lineup most days since. After yesterday's announced moves, the Twins also send catcher Danny Lehmann back to minor league camp. That means that the spring training roster is now down to 49 players. There are still 24 pitchers (7 non-roster), 5 catchers (2 non-roster), 11 infielders (5 non-roster) and 9 outfielders (4 non-roster). That number will need to get down 25 before Opening Day, although there will likely be at least a couple of players on the Disabled List as well.