Seth Stohs

It’s the same with every team in every city, be it the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox , the Seattle Mariners, the Houston Astros, or the Minnesota Twins. Each team has fans that are willing to be patient, think logically and give the benefit of the doubt to players and front office personnel whose jobs are much tougher than it looks on TV. Each team has fans that are ready to jump off of a bridge with every loss, feeling the need to place blame on someone, a player, the manager, a hitting coach or the front office. And of course most fans lie somewhere on the spectrum in between those two extremes. There are the fans who (semi-) jokingly suggest that the Twins will go 0-162. Well, to them, I’d say, “Maybe they’ll go 158-4!” There are those that are very impressed with the stability that Jamey Carroll has brought to the shortstop position in the first four games. The other side will say, “Sure, but he can’t hit.” Then the other side will respond with, “but he’s already got three walks and has taken many very good at bats. He isn’t a power guy, but he does get on base!” Josh Willingham has a ton of brute power. He’s hit both of the Twins home runs so far, and just missed a third yesterday when the ball hooked just foul down the left field line. He is a right-handed Jim Thome and we should expect commercials with him walking around with a big, blue ox soon (at least when he gets done bowling!). Others will point out that he has two errors already and does a nice job of turning doubles into triples. The team is hitting just .153 through four games. Only Cleveland has a lower batting average. Some will say that the offense was overrated. Others will say that Joe Mauer won’t hit .150 this year. Jamey Carroll will hit and get on base. Ryan Doumit can hit. The offense will be fine. In reality, it’s probably somewhere in between. As good as Carroll’s and Doumit’s track records are, no one can predict the future, especially when switching leagues and being over 30, etc. The word “fan” comes from the word “Fanatic.” We all know that. But the definition of ‘fan’ can vary for every person. Some feel an obligation as a fan to bash every decision that a player, manager, coach or front office makes. Some fans are just fine with all of the decisions that a team makes, trusting that they have experience and know what they’re doing. Again, most are somewhere in between. For me, there have been plenty of moves that I haven’t agree with over the past few years, and yet, I’m willing to give the player and the GM the benefit of the doubt until I’m proven right or wrong. For instance, when the Twins traded Wilson Ramos for Matt Capps in 2010, it really upset me. No Twins blogger or prospect-ranker was higher on Ramos than I was. In fact, I had a blog back in 2008 when Ramos was still playing in High-A Ft. Myers, I first laid out my plan for 2012 that included splitting catching and DH time between Ramos and Joe Mauer. I was generally bashed for my feelings at the time. Ramos may never been an All-Star, but he would have been a nice piece to still have. I didn’t like Capps at the time of the trade, and yet, he did very well for the Twins in 2010. I wasn’t surprised when he pitched poorly in 2011, and I was shocked when the Twins brought him back in 2012 and gave up a draft pick. Then again, I’m willing to see how it turns out, and I certainly hope that Wilson Ramos pitches great. On the other side, I was a huge proponent of the Twins signing Mike Lamb before the 2008 season. They signed him for two years and $6.6 million. He was coming off of two straight seasons with an OPS over .820. He was only 32, and although no one expected him to be great, we certainly expected more than a .598 OPS in half of a season. There are no absolutes in baseball, at least not when it comes to free agency or other transactions. So, ask yourself… what kind of fan are you? If the “everything the team does is correct” belief is a TEN, and a “nothing this team does is right” is a ONE, what is your level of fandom? There is no right or wrong answer to this. It is OK to question decisions that the team makes. It is OK to give the team the benefit of the doubt. Does your fandom change when the team is winning versus losing? Should it? At the end of the day, what kind of fan are you, and what kind of fan do you want to be?

It’s the same with every team in every city, be it the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox , the Seattle Mariners, the Houston Astros, or the Minnesota Twins. Each team has fans that are willing to be patient, think logically and give the benefit of the doubt to players and front office personnel whose jobs are much tougher than it looks on TV. Each team has fans that are ready to jump off of a bridge with every loss, feeling the need to place blame on someone, a player, the manager, a hitting coach or the front office. And of course most fans lie somewhere on the spectrum in between those two extremes. There are the fans who (semi-) jokingly suggest that the Twins will go 0-162. Well, to them, I’d say, “Maybe they’ll go 158-4!” There are those that are very impressed with the stability that Jamey Carroll has brought to the shortstop position in the first four games. The other side will say, “Sure, but he can’t hit.” Then the other side will respond with, “but he’s already got three walks and has taken many very good at bats. He isn’t a power guy, but he does get on base!” Josh Willingham has a ton of brute power. He’s hit both of the Twins home runs so far, and just missed a third yesterday when the ball hooked just foul down the left field line. He is a right-handed Jim Thome and we should expect commercials with him walking around with a big, blue ox soon (at least when he gets done bowling!). Others will point out that he has two errors already and does a nice job of turning doubles into triples. The team is hitting just .153 through four games. Only Cleveland has a lower batting average. Some will say that the offense was overrated. Others will say that Joe Mauer won’t hit .150 this year. Jamey Carroll will hit and get on base. Ryan Doumit can hit. The offense will be fine. In reality, it’s probably somewhere in between. As good as Carroll’s and Doumit’s track records are, no one can predict the future, especially when switching leagues and being over 30, etc. The word “fan” comes from the word “Fanatic.” We all know that. But the definition of ‘fan’ can vary for every person. Some feel an obligation as a fan to bash every decision that a player, manager, coach or front office makes. Some fans are just fine with all of the decisions that a team makes, trusting that they have experience and know what they’re doing. Again, most are somewhere in between. For me, there have been plenty of moves that I haven’t agree with over the past few years, and yet, I’m willing to give the player and the GM the benefit of the doubt until I’m proven right or wrong. For instance, when the Twins traded Wilson Ramos for Matt Capps in 2010, it really upset me. No Twins blogger or prospect-ranker was higher on Ramos than I was. In fact, I had a blog back in 2008 when Ramos was still playing in High-A Ft. Myers, I first laid out my plan for 2012 that included splitting catching and DH time between Ramos and Joe Mauer. I was generally bashed for my feelings at the time. Ramos may never been an All-Star, but he would have been a nice piece to still have. I didn’t like Capps at the time of the trade, and yet, he did very well for the Twins in 2010. I wasn’t surprised when he pitched poorly in 2011, and I was shocked when the Twins brought him back in 2012 and gave up a draft pick. Then again, I’m willing to see how it turns out, and I certainly hope that Wilson Ramos pitches great. On the other side, I was a huge proponent of the Twins signing Mike Lamb before the 2008 season. They signed him for two years and $6.6 million. He was coming off of two straight seasons with an OPS over .820. He was only 32, and although no one expected him to be great, we certainly expected more than a .598 OPS in half of a season. There are no absolutes in baseball, at least not when it comes to free agency or other transactions. So, ask yourself… what kind of fan are you? If the “everything the team does is correct” belief is a TEN, and a “nothing this team does is right” is a ONE, what is your level of fandom? There is no right or wrong answer to this. It is OK to question decisions that the team makes. It is OK to give the team the benefit of the doubt. Does your fandom change when the team is winning versus losing? Should it? At the end of the day, what kind of fan are you, and what kind of fan do you want to be?

Agreed. They absolutely should not make a move this early. They need to let the season play out a little bit. Obviously Jamey Carroll is going to get some hits this year and continue to play terrific defense (minus the dive that could have been a DP yesterday). Joe Mauer will hit over .150. They will have more than 3 players hit over .200.

Just for fun speculation... Brian Dozier is not in the Rochester Red Wing lineup today... Ray Chang gets the nod at SS. OK, I'm sure it's just an off-day, probably...

Be sure to check out Twins Fan From Afar's blog on Alex Wimmers' AA debut last night... http://www.twinsdaily.com/entry.php?671-Alex-Wimmers-First-AA-Start-He-Belongs-Up-Here

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?416-Monday-in-the-Minors

Twins minor league affiliates had not won a game since Friday. All four affiliates lost on Saturday. Rochester was the only team to play on Sunday, but they lost. On Monday, the Twins affiliates were back to their winning ways as all four teams won. Not only that, but some of the organization’s top prospects either continued to hit or broke out a little bit. Eddie Rosario, Brian Dozier and Danny Santana continued to rake. Meanwhile, Miguel Sano had a special day, and Levi Michael and Aaron Hicks put together their first really good games with the bat. Who knows what will happen tomorrow, but here is what happened in the minors on Monday (and that one Sunday game): ROCHESTER 3, BUFFALO 5 (SUNDAY) On Sunday, the Red Wings were the lone Twins affiliate that played. Cole DeVries got the start and gave up two runs on six hits in 3.2 innings. He walked two and struckout four. Jeff Manship came in and went 3.1 perfect innings, striking out four. Casey Fien gave up two runs on six hits (including a homer) in two innings. Rene Rivera went 2-3 with his first homer of the season. Brian Dozier was 1-3 with a walk. ROCHESTER 3, BUFFALO 2 (MONDAY) Brian Dozier was the big story again for the Red Wings on this night. Dozier went 2-4 with an RBI double and a two-run home run, giving the Red Wings the 3-2 win. Ray Chang was 2-4. Tsuyoshi Nishioka went 1-3 with a walk. The single gives him one hit in 16 at bats. Sam Deduno was solid in his first start. He gave up two runs on five hits and two walks in five innings. Carlos Gutierrez struckout three in two scoreless frames. Tyler Robertson pitched a scoreless 8th inning. Anthony Slama struckout two in a scoreless ninth to record his second save. NEW BRITAIN 6, HARRISBURG 3 Alex Wimmers first start of the 2012 season was a huge improvement over his 2011 debut. In 4.1 innings, he gave up two runs on six hits. He walked two and struckout three. Deolis Guerra threw 2.2 innings without allowing a run. Daniel Turpen struckout two and walked on in two innings. He gave up one run. Aaron Hicks hit his first AA home run, a three run blast. He later added an RBI single. Deibinson Romero was 3-4 with his third double. Evan Bigley was 2-3 with his second double. Darin Mastroianni went 2-5 and stole two bases. FT. MYERS MIRACLE 3, JUPITER 1 Adrian Salcedo started for the first time this season and although he was a little wild, it was a good start. The lanky right-hander gave up just one run on two hits in four innings. He walked three and struckout three. Edgar Ibarra gave up three hits but no runs in 2.2 innings. Ricky Bowen got the next four outs. Bruce Pugh recorded his first save, striking out two in one inning. Levi Michael had his first big game. He went 3-4. Josmil Pinto was 2-4 with his first double. Danny Santana was 2-4. Jairo Perez hit his first home run of the year. BELOIT 9, KANE COUNTY 7 Miguel Sano has three hits in 13 at bats this season. The first was a grand slam, and on Monday, he hit a two-run homer and a three-run homer in lifting the Snappers to a win against the Cougars in Kane County. He had plenty of help on this day. Former Gopher AJ Pettersen went 3-4 with a triple. Eddie Rosario went 2-4 with a walk. He stole his second and third bases. Jhonathan Goncalves went 2-5. Rory Rhodes walked three times. Daniel Ortiz and Tyler Grimes each hit a double. Jason Wheeler made his professional debut on Monday. He gave up one run in a nervous first inning, but that was it. He went four innings and gave up five hits, walked one and struckout three. Matthew Tomshaw gave up three runs on five hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. Bart Carter gave up two runs on one hit and three walks in 1.1 innings. Michael Tonkin got the next four outs. Corey Williams recorded the save despite allowing one run on one hit in his inning. He struckout two. --- Players of the Day for Saturday, April 9, 2012 Hitter of the Day – Miguel Sano (photo from Rinaldi Photo... follow them on Facebook!) [ATTACH=CONFIG]561[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day – Edgar Ibarra [ATTACH=CONFIG]562[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead – Tuesday, April 10, 2012 Schedule Rochester @ Syracuse – 12:05 (CST) – RHP PJ Walters (vs Mets top pitching prospect Matt Harvey) New Britain vs Harrisburg – 5:35 (CST) – LHP Luke French Ft. Myers vs Jupiter – 6:05 (CST) – RHP Marty Popham Beloit @ Kane County – 12:05 (CST) – LHP Matt Summers --- If you have any questions or comments on the Twins minor league system, players, teams, etc., leave them in the Comments and I’ll try to answer them!

I don't know if the power is gone, or if it's the affect of Target Field... How many times the last two years has he flown out to the warning track in LF at Target Field (probably a couple dozen)... most of those would have been HR in Metrodome. I don't think the power is gone. The HR are down because of the ball park and the type of hitter he is. If you got into the SethSpeaks.net archives from the day that the Twins and Mauer finalized the 8 year, $184 M extension, I wrote that it would never make sense from a baseball perspective... but that was the position that the Twins were in. If they had let him walk, fans would have whined about that too.

I think he'll spend the full year in Beloit, but if he can put the ball in play more and show that he really is a good defensive 3B, he could move up by the end of June... What we often forget, because it doesn't always show up in a box score as readily, is that there are more parts to the game than just hitting... he's got a lot of things to work on, but he has amazing potential.

The beauty is that both home runs today were hit to the opposite field which means he stays back well and uses the whole field... that's a very good thing!

Not certain that "complete" is the right word. I mean, he's got amazing power, but he's got a long way to go. He's the most exciting prospect the Twins system has had since Mauer/Morneau/Kubel. If he can learn to put the ball in play more, he will be special!

I'm not sure what that means? You think he won't all year... or he's just off to a slow start through 4 games... as several others in baseball are?

AJ Pierzynski

Beauty of baseball... 5 runs against Arrieta, Hunter, Hammel... Assumption is they won't be able to hit Wilson, Weaver and Haren... But you never know... could score 5-6 a game! Gotta love it!

Twins Lineup for their Home Opener: Denard Span CF Jamey Carroll SS Joe Mauer 1B Justin Morneau DH Josh Willingham LF Ryan Doumit C Danny Valencia 3B Trevor Plouffe RF Alexi Casilla 2B SP: Nick Blackburn

I don't know. Boston me struggle to be .500 this year.

I completely agree with you that race had no part of your ortiz decision. my comment was actually related to people call each other idiots. that said, there are certain words that we simply can't have on the site.

come on everybody. play nice. We shouldn't have to tell people not to call each other names on these boards. we can be homers. We can be a realists. we can share of different opinions. there should be no name calling, no bashing of peoples intelligence. there are no absolutes in baseball. . Period. please, do not let this become just another negative, insulting, name calling forum. thank you for your consideration!

I appreciate that. Thank you!!

Doumit is catching. Sorry for the error.

Twins Lineup: Denard Span CF Jamey Carroll SS Joe Mauer 1B Justin Morneau DH Josh Willingham LF Ryan Doumit C Sean Burroughs 3B Luke Hughes 2B Ben Revere RF Anthony Swarzak SP