TNTwinsFan

I had put spaces in...don't think they took...it looks pretty ugly.

Sign Wieters (SP?) in the offseason for 3-4 years. As far as the Bullpen goes; I think i remember seeing someone post that our Bullpen is and will be one of themost expensive in MLB. That needs to change. Perkins, Jepsen, May for sure. I bet Milone figures to be in the rotation or the long relief guy. Rotation of Hughes, Santana, Gibson, Duffey, Nolasco/Berrios sounds about right. I can't remember the name of the lefty starter in AAA who doninates Lefties but I wonder if he and/or O'Rourke could be our other lefties along with Perkins. Guys like Pressley help round out the rest of the pen. Then there is also Darnell, Dean, etc. who help provide some depth at SP. I also suspect Nolasco is the first one on the trading block next year (regardless of what we can get for him). That move is an addition by subtraction type move. Outfield will be a 4 person mix of Hicks, Rosario, Buxton, Arcia, and Kepler. Infield will be Plouffe, Escobar, Dozier, Mauer, Sano (DH), Vargas (Bench), Santana (Bench) Catchers Weiters, Suzuki Rotation: Hughes, Santana, Gibson, Duffey (will win 14+ games if he has 32 starts), Nolasco/Berrios Pen: Perkins, Jepsen, May, O'Rourke, Lefty from AAA, Pressley, Milone 92-94 wins Book it!

100% agree. Its Mauer that kind of clogs things up a bit. Once Kepler becomes the 4th OF/1B in the next couple of years, the Mauer issue will become even more glaring. Add in Vargas (if he figures things out) and Arcia (see Vargas) and ABWII (see Vargas and Arcia)...yikes! Gonna have to figure something out.

My question is, why weren't all three games sold out at Target Field this weekend?! That was essentially playoff baseball-must win-late-season meaningful games! What's going on?

Not able to watch the game...how did Sano look in the field that first inning?

ABW II should be considered for promo to AAA. Elevated level of pitching and hit him either in front of or behind Arcia until one gets promoted. Probably ought to bring up Kepler to AAA, too (once he comes of DL). Harrison should be right behind them or start next year in AAA. Not sure who they have in the OF at AAA now, but, time to move these three up.

Articles like this is why I live on this site! Parker, thanks for the analysis.

Looks like Kepler could be a fantastic alternative to Joe Mauer at 1B. Call him up, send Mauer to post concussion DL.

As to the velo questions...I was in Chattanooga a couple weekends ago and saw Berrios throw 91-95 consistently through 6. I was in Birmingham on Tuesday and saw Boer and Cole Johnson pitch in the second gsme of their double header. The fastest reading on the Birmingham gun from ANY pitcher that night registered at 91. That included their pitchers too. I believe its a stadium gun thing.

And his Double should have been a single.

Oh, and I may be a little biased but, Berrios gets my vote for Pitcher of the day!

Words cannot describe just how fast Buck went from Home to 3rd! Mark my words, he has a very good chance at MULTIPLE In Side the Park Home Runs at Target Field! I bet THAT would get the fans excited!

Seth, I was a little surprised too. But even his velocity was down a little. Openned the game at 91-94 with his FB. By the 6th it was 88-94. Maybe he was trying to "add and subtract" but he started missing his spots more frequently (I believe both of his walks came in his final two innings of work). Also, I don't believe the hitters he faced worked too many high pitch counts either. I didn't really keep track of that, but, the game moved at a decent pace so it doesn't make sense that he ran into too many high pitch counts. Me thinks if he can begin to consistently work into the 7th and 8th innings on a regular basis that his call to the bigs would be imminent.

Was at the Lookouts game tonight. Some take aways: Byron Buxton can flat out fly! The two triples he had were doubles for anyone else; his defense is SICK with Howitzer for an arm! For those scouts who have said he could play Gold Glove caliber defense today, I am a believer! Berrios is THE REAL DEAL! He will need to work on some more things before being brought up and also work on getting past the 6th, which he has yet to do this season. This outing was no different and you could tell he was a little gassed in the 5th and moreso in the 6th. ABW needs to learn to recognize and not swing at anything but a fastball. Too many swing and misses on anything that wasn't straight. Sano's first at bat ended with him turning over something offspeed and away leading to a weekly hit double play ground ball to short. He looked a little better in subsequent at bats and his double should have left the park (walls are pretty high at AT&T Park). For me, he really stood out on defense and made every play on every ball hit to him, including a couple of outstanding plays! One really tested his arm after he dove to his left and had to come up firing to get the runner at First. Very impressed with the way he played on that side of the ball, especially for a bigger dude. Polanco played well defensively and had a couple of really good at bats. I see him creating havoc on the Big League Club in the 8 or 9 spot someday. Its possible he could hit in the 2 hole, but I bet someone else will push him out of that spot and down to the last two spots. He made a nice play or two in the field, including a double play. I was a little disapointed D.J. Hicks didn't get a hit. It seemed like each time he came up to bat, there were ducks on the pond, but on this night, Hicks just couldn't manage to bring them in. Cole Johnson also was very good tonight: 2IP, 4Ks. The pitching was just very good all around: 14Ks on the evening. Berrios did give up the HR and an additional 2 runs when it looked like he got tired in the 6th (Worked himself into, then out of a bases loaded jam, giving up the two runs in the inning). Zack Jones worked quickly, hitting 97 once, but was steadily pumping fastballs in there at 96 (which made the group of kids in front of me wild with excitment and awe). He "only" got the 1K, but the Suns' hitters couldn't do much with Jones' offerings, as evidenced by the 1-2-3 9th he pitched. All in all, tonight was a lot of fun! Terrific atmosphere, great plays in the field, doubles, triples, and a home run (although it WAS by one of the bad guys, it was still fun) coupled with terrific pitching from Berrios & The Boys! Can't wait to do it again! Oh, and the tickets were $10 a piece! 'Murica cuz 'Murica!

Just bought tickets to see Berrios and the Bunch take on Jackson tonight! If I can take my focus off the game long enough, I will try to post an in-game thread tonight to keep folks updated.

Does any one know whether a team can drug test FAs before signing? Maybe there could be a NDA where the results are only known by the team and the FA? If this type of policybis already in place and was not employed by the Twins, well, that's their own fault. But, it seems like all the burden of testing is on some other regulatory body or MLB. Can anyone clear this up for me?

With the Twins by June 2015! Closing by June 2016!

Well, apparently his first order of player business is to have Danny Santana play SS. If true, CF is a hole to fill.

Player payroll wont be an issue for a while. Get this done! I think $7mil/5yrs, a Top 5 Minor League system, and two more World Series Titles than the Cubs would make him a better fit than the "good guys from Chicargo (Tennessee slang for "Chicago").

Cocain...nose clean...bwwwwaaaaahhhhaaaaahhaaa

Is it bad that I don't even consider Mauer in my thought process when evaluating even the near future of this team? Mauer seems to be an afterthought, someone who is almost irritating specifically BECAUSE he's on the periphery. Positive regression aside...I just feel like saying, "Damnit! Lead, follow, or get out of the way!"

I've been advocating this on other threads the last day or so and mike wants wins touched on it. One of the things the Twins ought to do is bring up the young RP flamethrowers who have demonstrated success for 2015. Burdi, Reed, Z. Jones for starters. No need to wait until mid-season. Do it right out of Spring Training. Also, as has been noted on several threads by multiple bloggers and posters here, the Twins had quality offensive production last season. Even accounting for regression, with marginal improvements from players like Arcia, maybe Plouffe, it may be safe to say the offense will hold its own. To beat a dead horse, defense is an area to be improved upon for next season. Maybe they go out and sign a Rasmus-type, maybe they dont and run with who they've got. Schafer seemed adequate in LF defensively. Maybe he regresses offensively and we end up having to depend on a guy like Hicks who is just as poor offensively. The outfield situation probably changes defensively with the addition of Buxton. Bottom line: take Burdi, Reed, Z. Jones north at the end of Spring Training; addition by subtraction of Willingham in LF defensively. Let the kids play now!

This may be the wrong thread....I juat cant help to think though that it is really time to stop messing around with marginal ball players at the MLB level. Cut the cord with some of these marginal pitchers in the bull pen too. The Twins have about 5-7 guys that would seem to have a significant impact next year stashed in the minors. Guys like Burdi, Z. Jones, Reed, Melotakis, etc. They've been lights out. Give these kids a shot and see what happens.

Rasmus...do it! Overpay if you need to. And Shields. Overpay there too.

Shields and a quality LF should do the trick. Shields on a 4-5 yr deal and that LF on a 2-3 yr deal. I dunno who that LF is...maybe Cruz? Poor defense there. Who else is out there?