Seth Stohs

On Wednesday, the NFL decided to take the news headlines away from the other sports again by announcing the penalties for the Saints “Bounty” situation. Head coach Sean Payton was suspended for a year and the team will lose its next two second round picks. Others, such as Rams’ Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams, who was ‘credited’ with offering the bounties was also suspended. Bla Bla Bla… it’s football, so it really doesn’t matter. It’s baseball season. But the story did get me thinking… is there a baseball scenario that would be equivalent to Bounty Gate? What would a baseball manager have to do to warrant a one year suspension? Obviously, things like betting on baseball (see Rose, Pete) or accepting money to throw games (see Jackson, Joe and the 1919 Black Sox) will get a player or manager suspended for life. So that is a different scenario. Baseball has, and continues to fight, its steroid era in which players now get suspended 50 games for a first offense. Could a manager (or pitching/hitting coach) put a bounty on an opposing player? How would that scenario play out? One of baseball’s unwritten and very well known rules is that occasionally a pitcher will be instructed to hit an opposing player with a fastball in retaliation for one of his teammate’s being hit. Do you remember in 2006 when then-White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was so upset at rookie pitcher Sean Tracey for not throwing at an opposing batter that he sent him to the minor leagues and never called him back up. Around the same time, Guillen was very upset at veteran Jon Garland for not hitting an opposing batter in retaliation. If you recall, Guillen was not suspended or fined for his comments, lashing out against his players for not hitting opponents. Of course, if the pitcher does intentionally hit (and potentially hurt) the batter, the most he would get would be a six game suspension. Even if the batter charges the mound, the pitcher will likely only get a six games off, and the batter will probably get three games off. What if a manager told a player to charge the mound? And then the manager told one of his bench players, his 25th man, to beat up the opponent’s best pitcher in an attempt to not have to face him the next game? Using Ozzie Guillen as an example again, what about AJ Pierzynski’s antics? What if we learned that Guillen had offered a bounty to Pierzynski for taking out first baseman Justin Morneau? Maybe he would get a few thousand dollars for stepping on Morneau’s Achilles every time he ran out a ground ball? Maybe that's why AJ continued to do it? So, give it some thought. What would the baseball equivalent be to the Bounty Situation? I really can’t imagine a situation in baseball which would ever bring about the kinds of ramifications that this New Orleans Saints “Bounty” situation has. Then again, baseball’s that sport where you think you’ve seen it all and then something new happens. [ATTACH=CONFIG]409[/ATTACH] ---- At TwinsDaily, there is a ton of Twins information. Nick posted his Twins Centerfield Position Analysis. Twins Fan from Afar posted a nice blog on the Twins possible Centerfield Trade Bait. Parker wrote about Ron Gardenhire saying Brian Dozier will start the season in Rochester. In the forums, there are a ton of topics being discussed including the Twins ranking as the 14th most valuable baseball organization by Forbes. John asked if Justin Morneau could start the season on the DL. There was also discussion on the Twins sending Terry Doyle back to the White Sox. Terry Ryan talked about having six guys in mind for the #2 pick in the June draft. There was also a fun discussion asking readers to rank what order Brian Dozier, Chris Parmelee, Liam Hendriks and Joe Benson will be called up by the Twins in 2012. As we like to say at Twins Daily, come for the content, and stay for the discussion!

So, because they aren't on Top 100 prospect lists, they aren't capable of being solid, productive everyday players in the big leagues? Not sure. I think I'm pretty realistic about what these guys are and aren't, and that opinion has nothing to do with the spring stats or even September stats. I think all four (Benson, Dozier, Hendriks, Parmelee) have things that they can work on for a month or three in AAA. I think the Twins lineup is just fine as it is. Span, Carroll and Mauer are good OBP guys. Morneau is a concern, of course, but if his wrist is alright, he could be alright. Willingham, Doumit and Valencia all have 20+ HR potential. Revere can be better and Casilla is OK if he hits like he did after May 15... and of course before injury. There's no need to rush Benson, Dozier or Parmelee if all those starters are healthy. Hopefully they'll make their point about being big league starters by about the end of May and the Twins will then make room.

No conclusions were made in the article.

MLB.com's excellent writer Jonathan Mayo was able to watch some of the young Twins prospects play in a game this afternoon. He saw Adrian Salcedo pitch, and two of Miguel Sano's at bats. Check out his story to see why he wrote the following:

In a AAA game today against the Red Sox AAA affliate (Pawtucket), Rochester lost 4-3. PJ Walters started and gave up just two hits in three scoreless innings. The Red Wings got their runs thanks to Tsuyoshi Nishoka. The infielder hit a two run doubles, stole 3B and then scored on a wild pitch to give the Red Wings a 3-0 lead. But Deolis Guerra gave up a 3-run homer in the 8th inning that tied the game, and Sam Deduno took the loss by allowing a solor home run in the 9th.

Do people forget that those "retreads" that Terry Ryan got in the 90s, in bad seasons, brought minor leaguers that helped spur the runs of the 90s. This current MLB roster has plenty of very tradeable commodities if (or 'when' as most seem to prefer) the Twins are out of contention in June/July. The players they bring in could help the last couple of months of this year and team with Benson, Parmelee, Dozier, Hendriks, and the like to give the Twins a pretty strong, competitive team in 2014 or sooner.

I don't really think that Mauer has too many "on-field problems" to worry about. The only concern is that he (like many, many players in baseball) gets injured from time to time. I think the fact that he is able to stay out of the tabloids and away from the media is a good thing for him. Some want that attention. Some don't. Granted, we all know the issues from his quietness last year and we all wanted him to be a little more public and upfront, but that's not him, it never has been and he shouldn't change who or what he is because of the contract... Way too many people change when they get money.

(blank stare)

Nishioka will not get in the way of Dozier...

I'll say this... when the changes happened a few years ago that allowed teams an extra year to evaluate players, there are fewer and fewer players drafted in the Rule 5, much less sticking with the team that drafts them. #1 overall Rule 5 picks generally don't stay with the team that picks them. So, it's not like it was a bad pick. Based on his career numbers and a solid scouting report, it was worth a shot. It just didn't work out this spring. He could still be a very solid big league pitcher with the White Sox. Can't base what he is on a few spring training innings.

I don't know if I'm right on this or not... I don't think Nishioka will be in the organization terribly long. Clearly Dozier's going to be the starting SS. I would think that Florimon, Chang, Hollimon, Burroughs or others will get their playing time. Nishioka may get a game a week at SS (with Dozier moving over to 2B), but I suspect that he'll eventually be released or quit... I could be wrong.

That said, the decision for all of them to start in AAA this year is pretty easy, but it's great knowing that they're pretty close if needed!!

As a fan of Twins prospects, I am really happy to see Joe Benson, Chris Parmelee, Brian Dozier and Liam Hendriks are giving the Twins front office plenty to think about this spring!!

Wrong... in the first inning, you get the out, especially with the middle of the order coming up. Gotta get outs early in the game.

I think a month of starting at SS in Rochester would be perfect. It's about enough (probably 100 PA) to take the reigns and work on the final few things... by waiting until May 1 to bring him up, they potentially delay his F/A timeline for a full year. If, FJ, you don't think the team is going to win more than 70-75 games this year, yet the goal is to be better again for the following years, that year in 2019 may be more important anyway. I realize that worrying about 2019 in 2012 doesn't always make sense either, but for 1 month, I think that the 1 extra year is valuable. By waiting a month, you're not saving a ton of money because he would likely be a four-year arbitration guy and make money. You're saving the year. If they wait until late June, then you save the year and arbitration money. That all said, I'd be 100% fine if Dozier is the opening day starter at SS with Carroll at 2B and Casilla playing 2-3 times a week around the infield and pinch running.

Not at the #2 pick, but most mock drafts I've seen have him going closer to 20, and although it's unlikely he'd fall to the Twins supp 1st round pick, if he's there, I think they'd be all over him there.

I think he'll stick at Beloit all year because of the transition to 2B. But I woudln't be surprised if he's one of those that could spend 2013 in Ft. Myers and New Britain and be ready sometime in 2014. that would be very aggressive, and I don't anticipate that happening, but he's got a chance. But with the move to 2B, they're going to want to keep him comfortable.

Chris Nelson and Trevor Plouffe have had similar career paths to this point. THey're not necessarily the same player, but they were drafted out of high school in the same year and have each had some good moments but generally struggled in their careers. He still has a chance to be decent. I'd be good with any of those listed. I wouldn't give up much for any of them.

I was surprised to hear that they were thinking of starting him in Beloit, rather than Ft. Myers. Ft. Myers makes more sense. I really like Santana's range and arm... He could be a good SS too.

Appel, Marrero, Zunino, Fried... Maybe Giolito is still an option.

It could happen, but it shouldn't happen if he's playing pretty much every day in the spring. He should shut it down now for a week if he's planning on DLing to start the season.

Dozier, Hendriks, Benson, Parmelee

There was a reason that SP were able to throw 250-320 innings a season. They didn't always try to get strikeouts.

To be fair, it's not like Blyleven's K-Rate was very high either. 6.6 or so, I believe.