Physics Guy

1970 here and if I made it through the 70's and early 80's, I'm not quitting now. Plenty of good young players to watch. Santana seems to put together nice at-bats that belie his big-league experience. Vargas and Arcia can give the ball a ride, albeit surrounded by many not-so-pretty at-bats.

This is pretty much what I was thinking as I read through all of the posts. I'd like to see Glynn come up and work with Molitor. Molitor could use his experience on the bench. Promote Doug to AA or AAA to continue working with our top prospects. Saying that, I also wouldn't be opposed to Doug being hired.

Stringer - I think something may be physically wrong with Masterson. His BB/9 is almost 5 and his average fastball velocity is down over 2 mph (91.6 to 88.9). If we are signing somebody, I'd like to shoot a bit higher. Hughes' velo had stayed pretty consistent.

From what I see, the prevailing opinion is what I see happening: Hughes Gibson Nolasco May Millone/Meyer/Pellfrey (please no!) What I want to happen: Scherzer/Lester Hughes Gibson Nolasco May/Meyer AAA - Millone and Pellfrey What Ryan might be willing to do: Shields/Iwakuma Hughes Gibson Nolasco May/Meyer From what I can tell, they have about $60M committed to next year and cold afford one of the top 4 FA available above. I don't see them getting into a bidding war for Scherzer or Lester but think Shields or Iwakuma might be realistic.

Without knowing much about him, Beresford strikes me as a guy who could fill the utility IF role for a few years at the big league level. The only way that happens is if Plouffe or Escobar get traded in Sept to a team in need. Is he capable of playing a solid SS at the major league level?

Before even reading most of the post I would have put it around Nolasco money also.

Starting 3B until somebody takes his spot from him. Valuable bench player until he slides or prices himself out of a bench spot.

That article doesn't make sense. Walking boot on Sunday when he injured it on Saturday, but then he explains it happened in an Astro's game we lost 10-4 (which was on Tuesday). Anybody else confused?

Download attachment: joe-benson.jpg It has been a tough offseason for many readers of Twins Daily. What started out with great promise, trades involving Span and Revere, has ended with a big thud. In the eyes of many, the Twins failed to shore up their biggest weakness from last year, the rotation. As I read thread after thread on the Twins Talk forum over the past couple of months there was a decided negativity about the direction of the Twins. Twins fans have felt that Terry Ryan did not live up to his pledge to improve the rotation. While I am disappointed that more wasn't done, I think we are in better shape now than we were at the end of the season. As they say, hope springs eternal. I am encouraged by the positivity displayed on the forum over the past couple of weeks. Maybe it is due to Spring Training.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] ESPN released a Top 100 Prospects list as well as organizational rankings that gave Twins fans something to be positive about. It's easy to get excited about these prospects, but many are years from contributing for the Twins (Sano, Buxton, Rosario, Kepler). In that vein, I thought I would put a different spin on the Top 10 Prospects list. I have put together a list of the top 10 players that I think have a chance to break in with the Twins this year. I'm stretching the term "prospect" for some of them, so bear with me. The rankings are based on probability that they can make it to the show as well as their chances of performing well. I have eliminated players who have spent significant time in the majors already such as all of the MI candidates as well as Robertson (40GP). So here goes my first blog attempt: #10) Alex Meyer - I don't see it happening this season, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. At best Meyer would be looking at a September callup. Meyer is only 3 months younger that Trevor May, but could use more seasoning. It would take a breakout season for him to get a look. #9) Chris Colabello - He will be 29 this season and is too old to truly be a prospect, but I think he stands a chance as a bat off the bench if and only if Morneau and/or Willingham get traded. It would be nice to have a RH bat with some pop to platoon with Parmelee on occasion against tough LHP. #8) Anthony Slama - Put me in the "Free Slama" camp. I still don't understand why he hasn't been given a chance. Jeff Gray gets 52 IP last year??? That being said, the Twins don't seem to think he can get big-league hitters out. I think several of Roenicke, Pressley, Swarzak, Burnett and Robertson would have to fail for him to get a chance. #7) Trevor May - He threw 100+ innings in AA ball last year. If he can find his command this year, he could push his way up the pecking order fairly quickly. He will be 23 this season and shouldn't be blocked by the retreads sitting in AAA. Meyer seems to have slightly higher upside, but May seems to be higher up the ladder at this point. #6) Caleb Thielbar - Following a solid showing in AA and AAA last year, Thielbar was added to the 40-man roster this offseason. It appears as though he has passed Slama up in the eyes of the Twins. Like Slama, it would take some bullpen issues for him to be given a chance this year. #5 Chris Herrmann - At this point we start to get to players with a reasonable chance of making it to the show. If either Doumitt or Mauer were to get hurt, Herrmann should be the replacement. If Butera were to get hurt, I would guess the Twins turn to Rivera instead. Signing Doumitt to an extension hurt Herrmann's chances this year. His OF versatility certainly helps. #4 Oswaldo Arcia - Arcia had a breakout season at AA last year and is likely close to being ready. If he were called up, he should be playing everyday. A Morneau or Willingham trade/injury or ineffectiveness/injury for Parmelee would be the likely reason. Right now he is probably blocked and should start at AAA. #3 Joe Benson - I hesitate putting Benson ahead of Arcia, since I think Arcia is the better prospect. This is more about opportunity. Benson has the ability to play CF which is open for the taking. If he can re-establish his status, he has a decent chance this year. His arm and power also play in RF which helps his cause if Mastroianni grabs the starting CF gig. #2 Kyle Gibson - Gibson would have been #1 at the end of the season. By all accounts he threw well at the end of the season, actually throwing harder than he did prior to surgery. The surgery is what will hold him back. He's as near a lock as anybody to play for the Twins this year. He just may not start the season with them to control his innings. #1 Aaron Hicks - Ladies and Gentlemen, your next CF and leadoff hitter for the Twins. Barring a major setback in Spring Training, I'd have to say he's nearly a lock to start the season with the Twins. This pick is all about opportunity. The trades made by the Twins indicate they feel he is ready. He finally started showing the potential the Twins felt he had this past summer in New Britain. His minor league numbers compare favorably to Torii Hunter with more plate discipline. Click here to view the article

If Lewis is on Twitter, somebody needs to send him a link to that poll. Lewis is an idiot. I wish more players would do this and make teams stop playing the shift. I am always disappointed by the lack of bunting ability major leaguers have. When the third baseman is playing shortstop it really shouldn't be that hard to bunt for a base hit.

It benefits you as a fan in that it allows young players a chance to prove themselves in preparation for future years. Trading Correia allows Meyer/May to start for the Twins and get their feet wet, rather than waiting until next year. You are correct in that the players we get for the vets may not ever pan out, but Correia, Willingham, Morales and Suzuki are all potentially gone at the end of the season. If they can get something of value, why not? I don't advocate just dumping them for a bag of balls, but I think Ryan has been able to make trades for good prospects in the lower levels (think Butera for Sulbaran).

I want them to stay competitive, but players who have the ability to help for the next few years need to have priority for playing time. The following players need to be shopped to see what they might get: Willingham, Correia, Morales, Suzuki I would not want to trade Suzuki unless they can get more than a marginal prospect. The first three on that list all have potential replacements ready to go. I would like to see only 12 pitchers on the roster to allow a stronger bench with more options. This means one of Burton, Guerrier, Swarzak or Deduno are traded/released/DFA'd. By August 1: C - Suzuki 1B - Mauer 2B - Dozier SS - Escobar 3B - Plouffe LF - Arcia CF - Santana RF - Parmelee Bench - Fuld, Fryer, Colabello, Nunez, Herrmann I'd actually rather see Hicks in CF and Santana at SS, with Herrmann in AAA. I just don't see that happening. I would like to see Hicks in AAA soon if he keeps hitting (.354 BA in last 15 games). SP - Hughes, Gibson, Nolasco, Meyer, May Bullpen - Perkins, Fien, Duensing, Guerrier/Burton, Thielbar, Deduno, Swarzak

I hate the Yankees, but this sucks. I will be shocked if he doesn't end up having TJ surgery. Barely three months in MLB and he's on the shelf.

Yep, Hicks catches that one.

Great managing there by Gardy. If you are going to pinch run Parmelee, do it right away. After Morales was held at third he just looked like an idiot making the change then. Nobody probably even thinks about it if he leaves Morales in.

Well, it sounds as though the flaw in Nolasco's delivery may have been injury. Anderson may get a pass on this one. It sounds as though Nolasco may have been concealing it also.

This is pretty much where I am at. My tipping point however will be if they can't help Nolasco right the ship. He has a much longer period of sustained quality in the big leagues than Worley.

Yeah, shortly after posting I remembered Hughes. He's turned out pretty well. I agree that Anderson may have had some impact on Santana, but that was a long time ago.

I know this isn't about Worley, but I think it is pertinent to the thread. What about Nolasco? I know we aren't talking about ace material, but how can he stink so bad? Is Anderson looking at film to discern changes from last year? If there are noticeable changes, are they working to correct them? They have invested too much money in him to not get him straightened out. I've felt that Gardy and Anderson were pretty good at their jobs, but unless we start to see some improvement from the team, maybe it's time for a change in scenery. I'm having a hard time remembering the last pitcher the Twins brought in that actually showed marked improvement with the Twins.

Yes, this is absurd. To put it another way, he gets over seven outs per hit.

I'm going to re-post my comment in the Correia thread: Thought I'd revisit this after tonight's start. Correia will most likely make it much longer than most are/were hoping for. Although it's pretty hard to complain about his last 6 starts. 36 IP, 41 H, 4 BB, 20 K, 3.50 ERA and 1.25 WHIP He's not going anywhere unless, A) he puts up several straight stinkers and May forces the Twins' hands or he continues with what he has done the last month and garners something in trade. Edit: Sorry John, your post came in after I started reading the thread.

Thought I'd revisit this after tonight's start. Correia will most likely make it much longer than most are/were hoping for. Although it's pretty hard to complain about his last 6 starts. 36 IP, 41 H, 4 BB, 20 K, 3.50 ERA and 1.25 WHIP He's not going anywhere unless, A) he puts up several straight stinkers and May forces the Twins' hands or he continues with what he has done the last month and garners something in trade.

Just read that Duke Welker had Tommy John surgery. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/06/nl-notes-dodgers-brewers-morales-zimmerman-welker.html While I have doubts that either would be major contributors on the big league club, Johnson is sure helping the Red Wings.

Later in the month I am taking a road trip with some buddies to St Louis and KC. On Friday we plan to watch a Quad Cities River Bandits game at Modern Woodmen Park. It looks like a pretty cool park. Has anybody been there and have any recommendations on seats or things to do following the game?

They need to return to AM, but it needs to be WCCO, not 1500. They weren't much better reception-wise than KTWN.