Seth Stohs

I'm encouraged... with Liriano it's always been about that BB to K ratio... Most spring training numbers mean pretty much nothing, but it is encouraging to see Liriano with the K:BB rate. Hopefully it bodes well and he can be traded in July for a big haul!!

I'll be talking #Twins again tonight at 6:30 on Dizzo's Den on WDAY Radio in Fargo with @DomIzzoWDAY. Listen Live here: http://www.wday.com/pages/AM970Radio

If I recall, Guerrier had a few outings like Manship had today during his Twins tenure.

If healthy, yes... but I think the question is Manship or Burton... Or at least it should be. Up until today's outing, it was a pretty even situation.

Like I said, Jack, you've got to give me more than just one outing in a spring in which he's been otherwise dominant... You've got to give me more than 3.2 innings in an-injury-filled 2011.

That is very concerning and interesting because he had been throwing 88-92 earlier in the spring.

And, you can't use today's outing as any case for "over the last two years." Of course, he did throw a DP ball that Hollimon had an error on which may have meant a quick inning.

... if only for the moment!

Morneau's 2B allows us to get back to being excited about Mauer, Morneau, Willingham in the middle of the lineup!

It was also Vavra that Young listened to when he had that big season two years ago.

We all from Minnesota and probably Twins fans... but generally no one wants to be the 'homer' so I don't think there is much homerism... although my accidental pick of Mauer was about a round or two too early!

Please explain, and please use Games Pitched and Innings Pitched in reliever situations ONLY to make your case.

Just an FYI, last Sunday I participated in a 14 team, 25 round draft... I posted the draft round by round, and fans can use it as part of a cheet sheet or just to see where people went in one draft... (Note, I had a problem with the Auto-Pilot in the early rounds. That's how I got Mauer, Ackely and Weeks. Oops!) http://www.twinsdaily.com/showthread.php?491-Seth-s-First-Fantasy-Baseball-Draft-Live-Coverage

Sure, but we all know 15-20 plate appearances in spring training is not the only piece of the equation. 40 man roster spots, other position needs. All depends on how much value you give to 20-25 plate appearances. Hollimon has given himself a chance and I'm not a big Burroughs backer, so I'd be fine with Hollimon. He's had a good two weeks. I hope when I project next week, Hollimon's still hitting and he's played some at SS and all the infield positions. But track record plays into this too. Don't get me wrong. I hope Hollimon keeps it up. I also know back-to-back 0-4s and his OPS drops to .892. Again, I personally prefer Hollimon just for power potential from the 25th man, but my projection is based on what I think will happen as opposed to what I would do.

I couldn't give you an example. I'm guessing it's happened (I can't imagine more than a handful of times in history). But the rule is that a player just signed can't be traded before (some date in) May or June without the player giving his approval.

At the $750,000 that Punto made last year with the Cardinals, I would have been thrilled to have him and his glove back (and the Twins could have used him... when healthy!). The 2 year, $3 million contract he has now is more than fair for what he brings as a utility player. He would have to OK a trade before late May because he was just signed this offseason as a free agent, but I don't think that would be an issues. I just think that I'd rather go with Casilla as the utility guy at this stage. Same price, one year commitment.

I'm with John, I'm just so curious about what this experience will be like, the day to day, the guests... it'll be amazing!

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?353-Two-Weeks-To-Opening-Day-Roster-Projections

The past two weeks, I have attempted to project the Twins Opening Day roster. This week, we’ll try it again. I still believe that there are 20 “Givens” at this point, two weeks before Opening Day. I also believe that the five remaining positions are all pretty intriguing and could have several possibilities at this point, especially since there are some injury questions with Scott Baker and Justin Morneau. There are still 39 players in Twins big league camp which means 14 players need to be sent back down before the season starts. The manager, coaching staff and front office has some tough decisions. Terry Ryan stressed competition in spring training, and he has received that! The 40 man roster is not an issue as the Zumaya injury and Terry Doyle's return to the White Sox allows some flexibility too. (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, Drew Butera I switched from JR Towles back to Drew Butera. Frankly Butera hasn't done much, but JR Towles and Rene Rivera have not done anything to warrant being added to the 40 man roster to take the spot. Infielders: Justin Morneau, Alexi Casilla, Danny Valencia, Jamey Carroll, Luke Hughes, Sean Burroughs Last Friday, I was still assuming that Tsuyoshi Nishioka would make the roster. He was sent down on Monday. That leaves the final spot on the roster for Burroughs, Michael Hollimon, Pedro Florimon, and Brian Dinkelman (especially since Ron Gardenhire has indicated the Brian Dozier will start the season in Rochester). Right now I give a slight edge to Burroughs (who is also not on the 40 man roster) because he bats left handed and although he doesn't have any power, he puts together solid at bats. I am curious how much playing time Florimon and Hollimon get over the next week. Florimon definitely has the best glove and arm of the three, but the lesser bat. Hollimon struggled with the bat last year between New Britain and Rochester, but he did hit 18 home runs. I like his bat best of the three because of the power, but he'll have to show he can play enough defense for a role player. Outfielders: Ben Revere, Denard Span, Josh Willingham, Trevor Plouffe No change. Starting Pitchers: Carl Pavano, Francisco Liriano, Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Jason Marquis No changes. Baker threw two scoreless innings in a AAA game on Thursday, but if he needs to start the season on the DL, Liam Hendriks has stepped up as the guy who would make a start or two if needed. Bullpen: Matt Capps, Glen Perkins, Brian Duensing, Anthony Swarzak, Jeff Manship, Kyle Waldrop, Matt Maloney The first four are givens. Terry Doyle was sent back to the White Sox. I really believe that the final three spots are up for grabs between Manship, Waldrop, Maloney and Jared Burton. For some reason, I sense that Alex Burnett isn't completely out of the competition and if he pitches well over the next ten days, he could earn a spot again. I would also add that Jeff Gray is on the 40 man roster and out of options. I'm not certain why he has pitched so few innings in "A" games this spring, but I have to believe that because he's out of options, he'll at least be given some innings the next week or so. For this week's projections, I took Jared Burton out and put Jeff Manship back on. Maloney is pitching well and is out of options (is it fair, or unfair, to point out that he's having a very similar spring as Dusty Hughes had last year!). Manship and Waldrop have been pitching very well. They do have options remaining. Jared Burton has continued to be very good, but because he is on a minor league contract, he can be sent down. What are your thoughts? Discuss what your roster looks like? [ATTACH=CONFIG]420[/ATTACH]

Could do it either way... I prefer Carroll's OBP in the top part of the lineup... but it could be a situation where Dozier starts 5 out of 6 games at SS. Carroll and Casilla each get 3 starts a week at 2B, and one of them get a start at SS each week.

I tweeted Mackey, asking if there was any comment or reasoning for Willingham in LF. Mackey's response was that Gardy really likes Plouffe in RF. so, my thinking is that you could have the following scenario: vs RHP - Revere in LF, Willingham in RF vs LHP - Willingham in LF, Plouffe in RF -- > Certainly adds some power vs LHP with those two in it!!!

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Great article, and I'm completely on board with moving Carroll to 2B to make room for Dozier... but probably in a month... His SS defense... too early for us to know at this point because we've likely only seen him play there 2-3 times in the last year. Would need to see him more consistently. Casilla as UT raises questions at 3B - Casilla played there two years ago when he was the UT guy, and Luke Hughes can give Valencia a day off. If Valencia is healthy, he's good for 155 games. Super 2 status - I'm not worried as much about the Super 2 status as I am about keeping his rights for another season. If he comes up right away, he becomes a free agent after the 2017 season. If the Twins wait until May 1 to call him up, he will be a Super 2, but he won't be a free agent until after the 2018 season. Just for the chance that he really takes off, I'm willing to wait a month!