DelawareTwinsFan

We pretty much need four outfielders on this team. Two have to be able to play centerfield. Doesn't leave much other than Mastro and Hicks. The thought of Clete being counted on to put the bat on the ball makes me a bit squeemish. I think he had four great AB's when he joined the team then couldn't touch any breaking ball. He probably should have tried to bunt. Unless he demonstrates he can hit a curve or slider, Thomas can't be a major leaguer. Gardy already has stated that Mastro can play second so that opens things up. Mastro has made this ball club on paper and has to really stink it up defensively not to make the team. Who leads off is pretty much the biggest question. I doubt Florimon, Dozier, Escobar or Carroll are capable of leading off but they should be considered too. However, in Gardy's world, there is that unwritten law that your position dictates where you hit in the order. I know this as true when I saw Drew Butera hitting third when he replaced Mauer. (Ack). 1) CF 2) 2B 3) C 4) 1B 5) LF 6) DH 7) RF 8) 3B 9) SS Fill in the blanks. Wierd isn't it?

I think we'll be loaded in the outfield and Willingham should be traded at the deadline for more solid pitching prospects and possibly a SS.

1 Mastroianni CF 2 Carroll SS 3 Mauer C 4 Willingham LF 5 Morneau 1B 6 Doumit DH 7 Plouffe 3B 8 Arcia RF 9 Dozier 2B Rotation Harden Diamond Worley Gibson Correia Pen Perkins Burton Duensing Pelfrey Pressly Fien Wood Swarzak Bench Parmalee Florimon Escobar Arcia will be a beast in spring training. So much so that he will win the right field job outright. Parmalee will move in and out of DH, outfield and 1B. Good on the bench for power. Ultimately, Florimon should win the SS position but with a young staff, Carroll is steadier and will also be good for Dozier as a solid veteran for a double play tandem. Plouffe will be fine at third and improvements defensively as the season progresses.

Exactly as I see it. His fastball barely breaks 90. No significant breaking pitch, hardly major league stuff. Guys with marginal stuff need to throw the right pitches at the right times and Mauer and Doumit aren't great game callers. Butera is pretty good (probably why Pavano liked him so much) but his bat is soooo bad, it hurts just as much on the other end. I'm hoping Steinbach teaches Mauer and Doumit a little something about the art of calling for pitches and framing pitches. If so, the whole staff will be better.

Very interesting. Seems the Twins are pretty aggressive on these acquiring these players (which they should be). Sano was a pretty nice get. If he ends up as a second baseman, that'd be just fine but would be less attractive mostly for the reason, that his range might be limited. Nevertheless, I hope they truly are interested. Regarding Cespedes, the guy was clearly impressive. I was cautious that he was coming from Cuba and looked rather "bulky", i.e. PED's. I don't know if that was a concern, but if he turned into a doubles hitter, I would have been dissapointed. I'm not totally convinced he isn't a juicer.

Not sure I agree for the following reasons... If my memory serves me correctly, major league baseball is played in the summertime. I also think players aren't required to live in Minnesota even during the season. During the summer, Minnesota is actually a rather lovely place, particularly areas north of the Twin Cities. I hear the hunting and fishing is pretty good. Pardon me if I've stated anything particularly obvious.

Maybe that Wild Thing's killer Z bordered Buzz cut will do the trick.

It'd be interesting to see how the type of pitcher fairs. It seems to me that umpires have trouble calling strikes with curve balls. They tend to look like high sliders but end up nearly in the dirt to get low strikes. Also with the great deal of movement Deduno gets, the ump really needs to pay attention. I agree that if he can tighten up the "shot pattern" his reputation will start to help him out. I really like this kids stuff, I hope they don't release him and keep working with him. I personally think he has ace stuff if he can harness it.

His range was a problem last year. He solve his throwing woes which seemed isolated to playing SS. The more he plays at third, the more he'll learn to anticipate where the ball will end up. He's got good reaction time, just not very comfortable yet. I'm confident he will learn to play the position. He's an excellent athlete, moves well defensively, better than Valencia in my opinion.

I see him as Joe Crede numbers, lots of homeruns but .250-260 BA. More important is him to learn to field the hot corner like Crede.

Worry for me is his plate discipline. If he can show that he can lay off the low and outside slider and the high fastball in spring training, then maybe he's ready.

We can't contend for a championship until the core group is close to their prime years. Interesting and fun is one thing but ultimately, Sano, Rosario, Meyer, May, Gibson, Nate Roberts, Levi Micheal, and Arcia will reach their potential around 2016-17 while being serviceable in 2015. They will need to push a few like Buxton and Berrios ahead of their timetable to get them all to peak similarly. Parmalee and Arcia will get there around 2014 or 2015 joining Mauer and possibly guys like Dozier and Plouffe (if they reach their ceiling) to form a potentially potent core that might get them into contention once again. Without pitchers other than Diamond could quickly derail that revival. Also, they ought to scour the college ranks for middle of the rotation arms for this years draft hopefully spending only 2-3 years in the minors. To actually contend for an AL Central championship, I believe the Twins will always have a chance.

Always felt Mauer was a prototypical #2 hitter. Great bat control, hits to all fields but maybe a bit too often to left. I would be concerned about his propensity to hitting into double plays. Am I wrong but does it seem that Mauer doesn't like hitting when runners steal?

I don't understand, the ability to keep a player for an additional year before they hit free agency seems to be a fan friendly maneuver. I know I would have loved to have Santana one more year. Same thing with Torii. Starting the clock early on players, especially those that haven't seen AAA yet seems silly unless you're Kirby Puckett or Joe Mauer.

I wonder how many losses a bad catcher can cause. Can't help but think about the sorry state of Matthew LeCroy's catching or throwing ineptitude. If every single becomes a triple or double, it can't be good. I remember when Dave Engle would inadvertently lob balls back to the pitcher with men on base resulting in stolen bases. All that being said, Butera is a liability offensively. I've often wondered if they have ever considered letting the pitcher bat and DH for Butera. Pitch framing seems less and less of an issue as the league buckles down on the accuracy of balls and strikes. There are very few really bad ball and strike callers anymore. Here's a question, who is calling the game these days, the catcher, pitcher or the manager? Who ever it is, I think the Twins need a lot of help. I do believe Butera's games seem to be better than Mauer's. In fact, I think Doumit calls a better game. Obviously it might be misguided statement if catchers don't play that much of a role. I guess what I'm saying is Mauer doesn't seem to call a good game.