Cody Christie

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan With Opening Day later in the week, it is time for my annual predictions for the 2012 baseball season. It is always fun to sort through all of the teams, players, and divisions to find out who will be the best of the best in the coming year. There are always going to be surprises along the way like the Diamondbacks were in 2011. The edition of the new wild card spots in each league will also add some spice to the race for the playoffs in the 2012 season. Over the course of the week, I will release my picks from a variety of areas. For the National League and the American League, I will predict the division winners, the wild card teams, and the major award contenders. Later in the week I will focus on the Twins and decide who is going to stand out in the major and minor leagues. Here is the breakdown of the schedule for the week. Monday: 2012 American League Predictions Tuesday: 2012 National League Predictions Wednesday: 2012 Twins Awards Predictions Thursday: 2012 Twins Minor League Award Predictions Friday: Links-N-Thinks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Each of the awards predicted below has been named after someone that optimizes that award for the Twins organization. There are some stars from the past and even one current MLB player, but all have had a significant place in Twins lore. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qwVK-jXvLZs/T3vHh3JVgpI/AAAAAAAABKo/-aIo95kI7HE/s320/MauerSpringTraining.jpg Harmon Killebrew MVP: Joe Mauer, C-1B-DH Runner-Up: Josh Willingham, LF Wild Card: Justin Morneau, DH 2011 Killebrew MVP: Michael Cuddyer, RF-1B-2B-P After a dreadful 2011 season, there is a chip on the shoulder of Mauer as he prepares for the 2012 campaign. He wants to prove to all of his doubters that last season was just an a blip on the radar of the outstanding career he is trying to put together. There is a good chance the Twins will try to get Mauer into the line-up as much as possible this year and that will mean more time at positions other than catcher. He brings the most value to the team when he is behind the plate but he is no use to the club when he is devastated by injuries from being a catcher. The Twins are going to win more contests when the manager can put a healthy Mauer into the middle of the line-up. He should return to being a top ten hitter in the American League and he could challenge for an unprecedented fourth batting title for a catcher. The Twins will also need players like Josh Willingham and Justing Morneau to be strong hitters in the middle of the order but the expectations are much higher for Mr. Mauer. He is being paid like one of the top players in the game and the former MVP should be able to strive for that level again in this year. For the Twins to rebound in 2012, they will need Mauer to be in top form and for him to be the leader of the club. Johan Santana Pitcher of the Year: Francisco Liriano, LHP Runner-Up: Scott Baker, RHP Wild Card: Liam Hendriks, RHP 2011 Santana Pitcher of the Year: Carl Pavano, RHP Last year was a rough year for many of the pitchers in the starting staff so it was hard to pick the best player out of all of the sub-par play. Many of the starting pitchers on the Twins are entering a contract year and the team is hoping this will bring out the best in the arms of their rotation. Liriano is one of the players that is pitching for his next contract and the Twins are still waiting on him to be the player they think he can be. At this point in his career, the dominant ace pitcher the Twins wanted from Liriano could be a figment of their imagination. But if there were any time to shine, it would be the year before he can test free agency for the first time in his life. In the offseason, Liriano pitched in the Dominican Winter League and the last time he was able to this he had a very successful season. The front office brass of the Twins is hoping to see more of the 2010 version of Liriano on the mound and he should glimpses of this in the spring. With injury concerns and age surrounding the other pitchers in the rotation, the Twins could be leaning hard on Liriano. This is a very scary proposition to many fans because of the inconsistencies he has shown in the past. If the team is successful in 2012, Liriano might have to become the ace of the staff. But if the Twins falter in the first half, Liriano could be a trade chip in July. Rick Aguilera Relief Pitcher of the Year: Brian Duensing, LHP Runner-Up: Glen Perkins, LHP Wild Card: Anthony Swarzak, RHP 2011 Aguilera Relief Pitcher of the Year: Glen Perkins, LHP The Twins tried to give Duensing a shot at being a starting pitcher for all of last year and that experiment didn't work out for the player or the team. He struggled to get right handed batters out and as a starter this is a critical task to accomplish on the mound. The Twins saw Glen Perkins, another lefty, burst onto the scene as the most consistent bullpen option for the team last year. Now the organization hopes to find similar success with Duensing shifting back into the role he had success with in the past. Perkins saw an increase in some of his velocity when he was shifted from starter to relief pitcher and the Twins can hope to see some improvements out of Duensing. The late innings seem to be set for the Twins with Matt Capps in line to get the closing opportunities and Perkins pitching as the set-up man. This could leave a handful of other players fighting for the 7th inning role. Duensing could fit into the middle to late innings very nicely and he could also be called upon to make a spot start at different points in the year. His versatility and comfort level as a bullpen arm should allow him to return to his former glory and reemerge one of the best options out of the bullpen. The team will need multiple arms to step-up this year for the team to be successful and Duensing is just one of the piece that could make this happen. Rod Carew Rookie of the Year: Chris Parmelee, 1B-RF-DH Runner-Up: Liam Hendriks, RHP Wild Card: Kyle Waldrop, RHP 2011 Carew Rookie of the Year: Ben Revere, CF-LF A couple of weeks ago, I was leaning toward some other options for my preseason pick as the Carew Rookie of the Year. Times have changed in Twins Territory and it looks like Parmelee could be here to stay with the 2012 Twins. A tremendous spring from Parmelee combined with Justin Morneau's move to DH has allowed the young man to start the season on the Twins 25-man roster. There is a good chance Parmelee will see a lot of time at first base but he has also shown some versatility with his ability to play right field. If Parmelee is going to be with the big league team, they are going to want him in the line-up for most games so his ability to play multiple position will help the manager put together the line-up. When the Twins called up Parmelee to make his debut last September, many fans had stopped paying attention to the Twins as they approached the 100-loss mark. Even though the fans might have given up on the year, Parmelee put up some numbers that caught the attention of those who were watching. He was able to hit for power with four home runs and six doubles in 76 at-bats but he also showed some patience by coaxing 12 walks. Parmelee has never played at the Triple-A level so it will be interesting to see how he handles his first full season with the team. His six years in the minor leagues were not nearly as good as the numbers he showed in September so the team needs more of the new and improved Parmelee to be a consistent hitter in the line-up.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan With Opening Day later in the week, it is time for my annual predictions for the 2012 baseball season. It is always fun to sort through all of the teams, players, and divisions to find out who will be the best of the best in the coming year. There are always going to be surprises along the way like the Diamondbacks were in 2011. The edition of the new wild card spots in each league will also add some spice to the race for the playoffs in the 2012 season. Over the course of the week, I will release my picks from a variety of areas. For the National League and the American League, I will predict the division winners, the wild card teams, and the major award contenders. Later in the week I will focus on the Twins and decide who is going to stand out in the major and minor leagues. Here is the breakdown of the schedule for the week. Monday: 2012 American League Predictions Tuesday: 2012 National League Predictions Wednesday: 2012 Twins Awards Predictions Thursday: 2012 Twins Minor League Award Predictions Friday: Links-N-Thinks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Each of the awards predicted below has been named after someone that optimizes that award for the Twins organization. There are some stars from the past and even one current MLB player, but all have had a significant place in Twins lore. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qwVK-jXvLZs/T3vHh3JVgpI/AAAAAAAABKo/-aIo95kI7HE/s320/MauerSpringTraining.jpg Harmon Killebrew MVP: Joe Mauer, C-1B-DH Runner-Up: Josh Willingham, LF Wild Card: Justin Morneau, DH 2011 Killebrew MVP: Michael Cuddyer, RF-1B-2B-P After a dreadful 2011 season, there is a chip on the shoulder of Mauer as he prepares for the 2012 campaign. He wants to prove to all of his doubters that last season was just an a blip on the radar of the outstanding career he is trying to put together. There is a good chance the Twins will try to get Mauer into the line-up as much as possible this year and that will mean more time at positions other than catcher. He brings the most value to the team when he is behind the plate but he is no use to the club when he is devastated by injuries from being a catcher. The Twins are going to win more contests when the manager can put a healthy Mauer into the middle of the line-up. He should return to being a top ten hitter in the American League and he could challenge for an unprecedented fourth batting title for a catcher. The Twins will also need players like Josh Willingham and Justing Morneau to be strong hitters in the middle of the order but the expectations are much higher for Mr. Mauer. He is being paid like one of the top players in the game and the former MVP should be able to strive for that level again in this year. For the Twins to rebound in 2012, they will need Mauer to be in top form and for him to be the leader of the club. Johan Santana Pitcher of the Year: Francisco Liriano, LHP Runner-Up: Scott Baker, RHP Wild Card: Liam Hendriks, RHP 2011 Santana Pitcher of the Year: Carl Pavano, RHP Last year was a rough year for many of the pitchers in the starting staff so it was hard to pick the best player out of all of the sub-par play. Many of the starting pitchers on the Twins are entering a contract year and the team is hoping this will bring out the best in the arms of their rotation. Liriano is one of the players that is pitching for his next contract and the Twins are still waiting on him to be the player they think he can be. At this point in his career, the dominant ace pitcher the Twins wanted from Liriano could be a figment of their imagination. But if there were any time to shine, it would be the year before he can test free agency for the first time in his life. In the offseason, Liriano pitched in the Dominican Winter League and the last time he was able to this he had a very successful season. The front office brass of the Twins is hoping to see more of the 2010 version of Liriano on the mound and he should glimpses of this in the spring. With injury concerns and age surrounding the other pitchers in the rotation, the Twins could be leaning hard on Liriano. This is a very scary proposition to many fans because of the inconsistencies he has shown in the past. If the team is successful in 2012, Liriano might have to become the ace of the staff. But if the Twins falter in the first half, Liriano could be a trade chip in July. Rick Aguilera Relief Pitcher of the Year: Brian Duensing, LHP Runner-Up: Glen Perkins, LHP Wild Card: Anthony Swarzak, RHP 2011 Aguilera Relief Pitcher of the Year: Glen Perkins, LHP The Twins tried to give Duensing a shot at being a starting pitcher for all of last year and that experiment didn't work out for the player or the team. He struggled to get right handed batters out and as a starter this is a critical task to accomplish on the mound. The Twins saw Glen Perkins, another lefty, burst onto the scene as the most consistent bullpen option for the team last year. Now the organization hopes to find similar success with Duensing shifting back into the role he had success with in the past. Perkins saw an increase in some of his velocity when he was shifted from starter to relief pitcher and the Twins can hope to see some improvements out of Duensing. The late innings seem to be set for the Twins with Matt Capps in line to get the closing opportunities and Perkins pitching as the set-up man. This could leave a handful of other players fighting for the 7th inning role. Duensing could fit into the middle to late innings very nicely and he could also be called upon to make a spot start at different points in the year. His versatility and comfort level as a bullpen arm should allow him to return to his former glory and reemerge one of the best options out of the bullpen. The team will need multiple arms to step-up this year for the team to be successful and Duensing is just one of the piece that could make this happen. Rod Carew Rookie of the Year: Chris Parmelee, 1B-RF-DH Runner-Up: Liam Hendriks, RHP Wild Card: Kyle Waldrop, RHP 2011 Carew Rookie of the Year: Ben Revere, CF-LF A couple of weeks ago, I was leaning toward some other options for my preseason pick as the Carew Rookie of the Year. Times have changed in Twins Territory and it looks like Parmelee could be here to stay with the 2012 Twins. A tremendous spring from Parmelee combined with Justin Morneau's move to DH has allowed the young man to start the season on the Twins 25-man roster. There is a good chance Parmelee will see a lot of time at first base but he has also shown some versatility with his ability to play right field. If Parmelee is going to be with the big league team, they are going to want him in the line-up for most games so his ability to play multiple position will help the manager put together the line-up. When the Twins called up Parmelee to make his debut last September, many fans had stopped paying attention to the Twins as they approached the 100-loss mark. Even though the fans might have given up on the year, Parmelee put up some numbers that caught the attention of those who were watching. He was able to hit for power with four home runs and six doubles in 76 at-bats but he also showed some patience by coaxing 12 walks. Parmelee has never played at the Triple-A level so it will be interesting to see how he handles his first full season with the team. His six years in the minor leagues were not nearly as good as the numbers he showed in September so the team needs more of the new and improved Parmelee to be a consistent hitter in the line-up.

With Opening Day later in the week, it is time for my annual predictions for the 2012 baseball season. It is always fun to sort through all of the teams, players, and divisions to find out who will be the best of the best in the coming year. There are always going to be surprises along the way like the Diamondbacks were in 2011. The edition of the new wild card spots in each league will also add some spice to the race for the playoffs in the 2012 season. Over the course of the week, I will release my picks from a variety of areas. For the National League and the American League, I will predict the division winners, the wild card teams, and the major award contenders. Later in the week I will focus on the Twins and decide who is going to stand out in the major and minor leagues. Here is the breakdown of the schedule for the week. Monday: 2012 American League Predictions Tuesday: 2012 National League Predictions Wednesday: 2012 Twins Awards Predictions Thursday: 2012 Twins Minor League Award Predictions Friday: Links-N-Thinks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [TABLE=class: tr-caption-container, align: center] [TD=align: center]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FOBJg5rfK8s/T3p1nwptkGI/AAAAAAAABKg/WL6-nLxO9wU/s320/votto.jpg[/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]Votto looks to power the Reds to the top of the NL[/TD] [/TABLE] National League East: Miami Marlins The Phillies still have quite the formidable rotation but they are an aging team that is already dealing with some injury concerns during spring training. The Marlins are looking to make a big splash in their new stadium and they got off to a good start this offseason in the free agent market. Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and Heath Bell were brought onto the scene along with former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. The addition of these players to a roster that already included Hanley Ramirez and Giancarlo Stanton should help to push the Marlins toward the top of the NL East. Josh Johnson got off to a great start last year but a shoulder injury forced him to miss the rest of the year. I like what the Nationals are doing in this division but they are still a year away from making the playoffs. The Phillies age will finally catch up to them and the Marlins will get hot enough in the final months of the season to steal away with the division. National League Central: Cincinnati Reds The NL Central could claim to be one of the most wide open divisions in baseball. The defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals reside in this division and they have to deal with the loss of Albert Pujols. Another team in the division, the Brewers, are also dealing with the loss of their big slugger Prince Fielder. The Pirates also surprised a lot of team's last year by putting together a decent first half before stumbling down after the All-Star break. One team in the division seems to have made all the moves this offseason to signal to the other clubs that they are going for it all in 2012. The Reds traded four players to the Padres to get their hands on right-hander Mat Latos. Less than a week later, they traded for left-hander Sean Marshall. There will be two rookies starting at key positions, catcher Devin Mesoraco and shortstop Zack Cozart, but the rest of the starting line-up should be full of players in their prime. Joey Votto is locked up for the long-term and he is ready to lead the Reds back to the postseason. National League West: San Francisco Giants In a division that saw the Diamondbacks reign last year, the Giants overwhelming pitching should dominate over the course of the season. Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Madison Bumgarner could all be in the Cy Young discussion at the end of the year. The club is coming off a season in which they scored the fewest runs in the NL but they are getting one of the best young hitters back in the middle of their line-up. Buster Posey missed a large chunk of last year after he got plowed over in a play at the plate. The team revamped their outfield by adding Melky Cabrera and Angel Paga to help with their offensive woes. Adding Ryan Theriot to their infield should add some speed to their line-up and Brandon Belt is a young prospect waiting to make a splash for the Giants whenever they find a position for him on the field. If the Giants can get to the playoffs, their talented rotation should take them deep into October. Wild Cards: Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates The Phillies are going to be in a tight battle for the division title with the Marlins but they will have to settle for one of the two wild card spots. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels anchor one of the strongest starting rotations in the league. Star players Chase Utley and Ryan Howard will be out for the beginning of the season. This mean that players like Hunter Pence, a potential MVP candidate, and newly resigned Jimmy Rollins will have to step up and carry the offensive load. Jonathan Papelbon was given a boatload of money to be the team's ninth inning man for the next four years. The Phillies showed they could dominate the regular season last year but this season could mark the beginning of their downfall. Yes, the Pittsburgh Pirates are one of my picks to win a wild card spot. This might sound like crazy talk but if someone had walked up to you at the beginning of last season and said Arizona would win their division, you would have laughed at them too. The Pirates were in the pennant race for the first half of last season as the team was over .500 but the wheels came off in the second half. In order to remedy some of these flaws the Pirates have focused on creating a veteran presence by adding Clint Barmes, Rod Barajas, Nate McLouth, and Casey McGehee. The team has young talent like Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen locked up to long-term deals so they can focus on being stars for the team. AJ Burnett and Erik Bedard could help the starting staff to make a turn in the right direction. It might be a long shot but the Pirates have a chance in 2012. National League MVP: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds Two seasons ago Votto was named the MVP as the Reds made a push to the playoffs out of the NL Central. Last season the Reds fell out of the pennant push but Votto continued to put up statistics that were worthy of him being considered for the MVP. I picked the Reds to finish at the top of the NL Central and the team will need everything they can get from their former MVP in order for this to happen. With Pujols and Fielder moving to the American League, some of the best competition for the MVP is out of the way for Mr. Votto. His giant contract extension that he signed yesterday means that Votto doesn't have to worry about his future because he is going to be the face of the Reds over the next decade. National League Cy Young: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants It could be fun to see how much the pitchers in the Giants rotation push each other throughout the course of the season. Lincecum, Cain, and Bumgarner form the core of the outstanding Giants staff and they could all finish near the top of the the Cy Young voting. In 2008 and 2009, Lincecum finished with back-to-back Cy Young Awards and he looks to enter an elite group of pitchers that have three trophies to their name. The Giants improved offense should help to get Lincecum some more run support and he is a perennial top finisher on the strikeout list in the NL. Last year's winner Clayton Kershaw and the big three in Philadelphia will have something to say about this award but Lincecum and his long hair will end the year on top. National League Manager of the Year: Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh Pirates Hurdle is entering his third year at the helm of the Pirates and this could be his year to finish as the manager of the year. If the Pirates find a way to sneak into the playoffs, Hurdle would deserve to win because no one is expecting his team to succeed. He managed the Rockies to the 2007 National League pennant and he hopes that the Pirates can surprise the baseball world much like his former squad. The American League looks much stronger than the National League at this point so any team that qualifies for the postseason will have a chance to represent the NL in the World Series. The Cardinal snuck in at the end of last year and ended up with the title and another surprise team could be lined up for the title in 2012. National League Rookie of the Year: Devin Mesoraco, Cincinnati Reds After the top notch crop of rookies I discussed for the American League in yesterday's post, the National League crop is very underwhelming. Star prospect Bryce Harper could debut later in the season for the Nationals but he will start the year in the minor leagues. Yonder Alonso will get plenty of playing time with the Padres but it can be tough for a power hitter to succeed in Petco Park. Young flamethrowers Trevor Bauer of the Diamondbacks and Drew Pomeranz of the Rockies could be asked to step into the middle of the pennant race in the NL West. In the end, Devin Mesoraco is slated to be the starting catcher for a team that could win their division this year. His offensive potential at a tough position and the fact he is starting the year in the big leagues will help to separate him from the pack.

With Opening Day later in the week, it is time for my annual predictions for the 2012 baseball season. It is always fun to sort through all of the teams, players, and divisions to find out who will be the best of the best in the coming year. There are always going to be surprises along the way like the Diamondbacks were in 2011. The edition of the new wild card spots in each league will also add some spice to the race for the playoffs in the 2012 season. Over the course of the week, I will release my picks from a variety of areas. For the National League and the American League, I will predict the division winners, the wild card teams, and the major award contenders. Later in the week I will focus on the Twins and decide who is going to stand out in the major and minor leagues. Here is the breakdown of the schedule for the week. Monday: 2012 American League Predictions Tuesday: 2012 National League Predictions Wednesday: 2012 Twins Awards Predictions Thursday: 2012 Twins Minor League Award Predictions Friday: Links-N-Thinks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [TABLE=class: tr-caption-container, align: center] [TD=align: center]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FOBJg5rfK8s/T3p1nwptkGI/AAAAAAAABKg/WL6-nLxO9wU/s320/votto.jpg[/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]Votto looks to power the Reds to the top of the NL[/TD] [/TABLE] National League East: Miami Marlins The Phillies still have quite the formidable rotation but they are an aging team that is already dealing with some injury concerns during spring training. The Marlins are looking to make a big splash in their new stadium and they got off to a good start this offseason in the free agent market. Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and Heath Bell were brought onto the scene along with former White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen. The addition of these players to a roster that already included Hanley Ramirez and Giancarlo Stanton should help to push the Marlins toward the top of the NL East. Josh Johnson got off to a great start last year but a shoulder injury forced him to miss the rest of the year. I like what the Nationals are doing in this division but they are still a year away from making the playoffs. The Phillies age will finally catch up to them and the Marlins will get hot enough in the final months of the season to steal away with the division. National League Central: Cincinnati Reds The NL Central could claim to be one of the most wide open divisions in baseball. The defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals reside in this division and they have to deal with the loss of Albert Pujols. Another team in the division, the Brewers, are also dealing with the loss of their big slugger Prince Fielder. The Pirates also surprised a lot of team's last year by putting together a decent first half before stumbling down after the All-Star break. One team in the division seems to have made all the moves this offseason to signal to the other clubs that they are going for it all in 2012. The Reds traded four players to the Padres to get their hands on right-hander Mat Latos. Less than a week later, they traded for left-hander Sean Marshall. There will be two rookies starting at key positions, catcher Devin Mesoraco and shortstop Zack Cozart, but the rest of the starting line-up should be full of players in their prime. Joey Votto is locked up for the long-term and he is ready to lead the Reds back to the postseason. National League West: San Francisco Giants In a division that saw the Diamondbacks reign last year, the Giants overwhelming pitching should dominate over the course of the season. Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Madison Bumgarner could all be in the Cy Young discussion at the end of the year. The club is coming off a season in which they scored the fewest runs in the NL but they are getting one of the best young hitters back in the middle of their line-up. Buster Posey missed a large chunk of last year after he got plowed over in a play at the plate. The team revamped their outfield by adding Melky Cabrera and Angel Paga to help with their offensive woes. Adding Ryan Theriot to their infield should add some speed to their line-up and Brandon Belt is a young prospect waiting to make a splash for the Giants whenever they find a position for him on the field. If the Giants can get to the playoffs, their talented rotation should take them deep into October. Wild Cards: Philadelphia Phillies, Pittsburgh Pirates The Phillies are going to be in a tight battle for the division title with the Marlins but they will have to settle for one of the two wild card spots. Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels anchor one of the strongest starting rotations in the league. Star players Chase Utley and Ryan Howard will be out for the beginning of the season. This mean that players like Hunter Pence, a potential MVP candidate, and newly resigned Jimmy Rollins will have to step up and carry the offensive load. Jonathan Papelbon was given a boatload of money to be the team's ninth inning man for the next four years. The Phillies showed they could dominate the regular season last year but this season could mark the beginning of their downfall. Yes, the Pittsburgh Pirates are one of my picks to win a wild card spot. This might sound like crazy talk but if someone had walked up to you at the beginning of last season and said Arizona would win their division, you would have laughed at them too. The Pirates were in the pennant race for the first half of last season as the team was over .500 but the wheels came off in the second half. In order to remedy some of these flaws the Pirates have focused on creating a veteran presence by adding Clint Barmes, Rod Barajas, Nate McLouth, and Casey McGehee. The team has young talent like Jose Tabata and Andrew McCutchen locked up to long-term deals so they can focus on being stars for the team. AJ Burnett and Erik Bedard could help the starting staff to make a turn in the right direction. It might be a long shot but the Pirates have a chance in 2012. National League MVP: Joey Votto, Cincinnati Reds Two seasons ago Votto was named the MVP as the Reds made a push to the playoffs out of the NL Central. Last season the Reds fell out of the pennant push but Votto continued to put up statistics that were worthy of him being considered for the MVP. I picked the Reds to finish at the top of the NL Central and the team will need everything they can get from their former MVP in order for this to happen. With Pujols and Fielder moving to the American League, some of the best competition for the MVP is out of the way for Mr. Votto. His giant contract extension that he signed yesterday means that Votto doesn't have to worry about his future because he is going to be the face of the Reds over the next decade. National League Cy Young: Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants It could be fun to see how much the pitchers in the Giants rotation push each other throughout the course of the season. Lincecum, Cain, and Bumgarner form the core of the outstanding Giants staff and they could all finish near the top of the the Cy Young voting. In 2008 and 2009, Lincecum finished with back-to-back Cy Young Awards and he looks to enter an elite group of pitchers that have three trophies to their name. The Giants improved offense should help to get Lincecum some more run support and he is a perennial top finisher on the strikeout list in the NL. Last year's winner Clayton Kershaw and the big three in Philadelphia will have something to say about this award but Lincecum and his long hair will end the year on top. National League Manager of the Year: Clint Hurdle, Pittsburgh Pirates Hurdle is entering his third year at the helm of the Pirates and this could be his year to finish as the manager of the year. If the Pirates find a way to sneak into the playoffs, Hurdle would deserve to win because no one is expecting his team to succeed. He managed the Rockies to the 2007 National League pennant and he hopes that the Pirates can surprise the baseball world much like his former squad. The American League looks much stronger than the National League at this point so any team that qualifies for the postseason will have a chance to represent the NL in the World Series. The Cardinal snuck in at the end of last year and ended up with the title and another surprise team could be lined up for the title in 2012. National League Rookie of the Year: Devin Mesoraco, Cincinnati Reds After the top notch crop of rookies I discussed for the American League in yesterday's post, the National League crop is very underwhelming. Star prospect Bryce Harper could debut later in the season for the Nationals but he will start the year in the minor leagues. Yonder Alonso will get plenty of playing time with the Padres but it can be tough for a power hitter to succeed in Petco Park. Young flamethrowers Trevor Bauer of the Diamondbacks and Drew Pomeranz of the Rockies could be asked to step into the middle of the pennant race in the NL West. In the end, Devin Mesoraco is slated to be the starting catcher for a team that could win their division this year. His offensive potential at a tough position and the fact he is starting the year in the big leagues will help to separate him from the pack.

With Opening Day later in the week, it is time for my annual predictions for the 2012 baseball season. It is always fun to sort through all of the teams, players, and divisions to find out who will be the best of the best in the coming year. There are always going to be surprises along the way like the Diamondbacks were in 2011. The addition of the new wild card spots in each league will also add some spice to the race for the playoffs in the 2012 season. Over the course of the week, I will release my picks from a variety of areas. For the National League and the American League, I will predict the division winners, the wild card teams, and the major award contenders. Later in the week I will focus on the Twins and decide who is going to stand out in the major and minor leagues. Here is the breakdown of the schedule for the week. Monday: 2012 American League Predictions Tuesday: 2012 National League Predictions Wednesday: 2012 Twins Awards Predictions Thursday: 2012 Twins Minor League Award Predictions Friday: Links-N-Thinks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [TABLE=class: tr-caption-container, align: center] [TD=align: center]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RcrqQC7zPSM/T3h6fHKAb6I/AAAAAAAABKQ/BBYjzhzoo8o/s320/PujolsAngelsMVP.jpg[/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]Pujols looks to point the Angels towards a title[/TD] [/TABLE] American League East: Tampa Bay Rays The Yankees and the Red Sox have some holes in their starting rotations and while the Rays aren't perfect, they have one of the best starting rotations in the American League. David Price, James Shields, and last year's American League Rookie of the Year Jeremy Hellickson sit at the top of the rotation. Matt Moore will get his first full year in the big leagues and many project him to be the ace of this staff in the coming years. There are young players at multiple positions on this team who are set to break through and make an impact on this club. Evan Longoria will put together one of his best seasons as a professional and be in the mix for the American League MVP at the end of the season. American League Central: Detroit Tigers The Tigers made a big splash in the offseason by signing Prince Fielder to a huge free agent contract but Detroit needed to fill a hole left by Victor Martinez getting hurt. Fielders addition to a team that is coming off of a strong performance in 2011 should vault the Tigers to their second consecutive AL Central crown. Justin Verlander will try to follow up his MVP and Cy Young seasons from 2011 by leading the Tigers through another campaign. A couple of injuries to the Tigers could open up the division for a team like the Royals, Twins, or Indians to push for the top spot. In the end the Tigers look very much like the team to beat in the Central but there could be some surprises out of the other clubs in the division. American League West: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Rangers have been the cream of the crop in the American League for the last two years but the new faces in LA could mean the end of the Texas stronghold on the division. Albert Pujols is coming off of a World Series Championship with the Cardinals and he is hoping the Angels will be in the same position at the end of this year. C.J. Wilson has switched sides in this AL West rivalry from the Rangers to the Angels and he hopes to add depth to a pitching staff that already includes Jared Weaver, Dan Haren, and Ervin Santana. Top prospect Mike Trout will start the year in the minor leagues but he is one injury away from making an impact with the big league squad. Wild Cards: Texas Rangers, New York Yankees The Rangers and the Angels should have quite the battle for the AL West title but in the end, the team from Texas is going to have to settle for one of the Wild Card spots. Yu Darvish has already become a rock star to the throngs of Rangers fans who attended spring training. Now the young phenom is going to have to prove himself during the regular season. Neftail Feliz is moving from the closer role to the starting rotation and Joe Nathan is taking over the ninth inning duties from Feliz. There is a lot of pitching in Texas but it is hard to win three consecutive American League pennants. The Yankees didn't need to make many changes to their powerful line-up in the offseason but they did complete one of the most intriguing trades of the offseason. The Mariners and the Yankees completed a deal that included two of the top prospects in the game. Michael Pineda, a powerful young pitcher, was coming off of a very good rookie year with Seattle before joining the Yankees. In order to get Pineda the Bronx Bombers had to give up slugging prospect Jesus Montero. Pineda showed up to camp overweight and out of shape and he will start the year on the DL. Luckily for the Yanks, they coaxed Andy Pettite out of retirement and they still have CC Sabathia as their ace. The AL East could see the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, and Blue Jays all fighting for two spots in the postseason. Let the battle begin... American League MVP: Albert Pujols, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim At the beginning of last season, there were question marks surrounding Pujols and his lack of production on the field. He had been so remarkably consistent in his first decade in the league that any shift from that pattern was hard to believe. He still ended the season with outstanding numbers and he helped to lead his team to the most important goal, a World Series Championship. After shunning the Cardinals and signing a huge contract with the Angels, Pujols will have a lot of pressure on him this season. During his 11 seasons in the National League, he finished in the top five in the MVP voting ten times. His first year in the American League should be more of the same story. American League Cy Young: Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox The American League East is full of tough teams who are going to make it tough for opposing pitchers to succeed but a strong left-handed arm could make it through the mess. Jon Lester has won 15 or more games in each of the last four seasons and he might be the ace of a rotation full of holes. After back-to-back All-Star seasons, the 28-year old lefty could be set to take the next step and make a big splash for the Red Sox. Boston should be in the pennant race for most of the season and Lester's performance could go a long way in deciding if they make the playoffs. American League Manager of the Year: Ned Yost, Kansas City Royals On paper, the Tigers are suppose to win the AL Central but what happens if the Royals are pushing them for the top spot during most of the season. There has been plenty made out of the young talent compiled by the front office of the Royals and this team could be only a year or two away from being contenders for a championship. Eric Hosmer has been on fire this spring and he could be in the MVP discussion at some point in 2012. In the end the Tigers will have too much firepower to allow the Royals to win the division but a strong second place showing should give Yost the Manager of the Year Award. American League Rookie of the Year: Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers There are many players already mentioned in this post that could be up for this honor at the end of the season. Matt Moore should be dominant for the Rays, Jesus Montero will try to find his swing in Seattle, and Mike Trout will eventually get his time with the Angels. In the end, it will come down to the performance of Darvish and Moore. Darvish has looked very good this spring and Moore turned heads with his playoff performance last year. It is a toss-up between these two young pitchers and in the end I picked Darvish out of what has the potential to be one of the best rookie classes in years.

With Opening Day later in the week, it is time for my annual predictions for the 2012 baseball season. It is always fun to sort through all of the teams, players, and divisions to find out who will be the best of the best in the coming year. There are always going to be surprises along the way like the Diamondbacks were in 2011. The addition of the new wild card spots in each league will also add some spice to the race for the playoffs in the 2012 season. Over the course of the week, I will release my picks from a variety of areas. For the National League and the American League, I will predict the division winners, the wild card teams, and the major award contenders. Later in the week I will focus on the Twins and decide who is going to stand out in the major and minor leagues. Here is the breakdown of the schedule for the week. Monday: 2012 American League Predictions Tuesday: 2012 National League Predictions Wednesday: 2012 Twins Awards Predictions Thursday: 2012 Twins Minor League Award Predictions Friday: Links-N-Thinks ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [TABLE=class: tr-caption-container, align: center] [TD=align: center]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RcrqQC7zPSM/T3h6fHKAb6I/AAAAAAAABKQ/BBYjzhzoo8o/s320/PujolsAngelsMVP.jpg[/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]Pujols looks to point the Angels towards a title[/TD] [/TABLE] American League East: Tampa Bay Rays The Yankees and the Red Sox have some holes in their starting rotations and while the Rays aren't perfect, they have one of the best starting rotations in the American League. David Price, James Shields, and last year's American League Rookie of the Year Jeremy Hellickson sit at the top of the rotation. Matt Moore will get his first full year in the big leagues and many project him to be the ace of this staff in the coming years. There are young players at multiple positions on this team who are set to break through and make an impact on this club. Evan Longoria will put together one of his best seasons as a professional and be in the mix for the American League MVP at the end of the season. American League Central: Detroit Tigers The Tigers made a big splash in the offseason by signing Prince Fielder to a huge free agent contract but Detroit needed to fill a hole left by Victor Martinez getting hurt. Fielders addition to a team that is coming off of a strong performance in 2011 should vault the Tigers to their second consecutive AL Central crown. Justin Verlander will try to follow up his MVP and Cy Young seasons from 2011 by leading the Tigers through another campaign. A couple of injuries to the Tigers could open up the division for a team like the Royals, Twins, or Indians to push for the top spot. In the end the Tigers look very much like the team to beat in the Central but there could be some surprises out of the other clubs in the division. American League West: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim The Rangers have been the cream of the crop in the American League for the last two years but the new faces in LA could mean the end of the Texas stronghold on the division. Albert Pujols is coming off of a World Series Championship with the Cardinals and he is hoping the Angels will be in the same position at the end of this year. C.J. Wilson has switched sides in this AL West rivalry from the Rangers to the Angels and he hopes to add depth to a pitching staff that already includes Jared Weaver, Dan Haren, and Ervin Santana. Top prospect Mike Trout will start the year in the minor leagues but he is one injury away from making an impact with the big league squad. Wild Cards: Texas Rangers, New York Yankees The Rangers and the Angels should have quite the battle for the AL West title but in the end, the team from Texas is going to have to settle for one of the Wild Card spots. Yu Darvish has already become a rock star to the throngs of Rangers fans who attended spring training. Now the young phenom is going to have to prove himself during the regular season. Neftail Feliz is moving from the closer role to the starting rotation and Joe Nathan is taking over the ninth inning duties from Feliz. There is a lot of pitching in Texas but it is hard to win three consecutive American League pennants. The Yankees didn't need to make many changes to their powerful line-up in the offseason but they did complete one of the most intriguing trades of the offseason. The Mariners and the Yankees completed a deal that included two of the top prospects in the game. Michael Pineda, a powerful young pitcher, was coming off of a very good rookie year with Seattle before joining the Yankees. In order to get Pineda the Bronx Bombers had to give up slugging prospect Jesus Montero. Pineda showed up to camp overweight and out of shape and he will start the year on the DL. Luckily for the Yanks, they coaxed Andy Pettite out of retirement and they still have CC Sabathia as their ace. The AL East could see the Yankees, Rays, Red Sox, and Blue Jays all fighting for two spots in the postseason. Let the battle begin... American League MVP: Albert Pujols, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim At the beginning of last season, there were question marks surrounding Pujols and his lack of production on the field. He had been so remarkably consistent in his first decade in the league that any shift from that pattern was hard to believe. He still ended the season with outstanding numbers and he helped to lead his team to the most important goal, a World Series Championship. After shunning the Cardinals and signing a huge contract with the Angels, Pujols will have a lot of pressure on him this season. During his 11 seasons in the National League, he finished in the top five in the MVP voting ten times. His first year in the American League should be more of the same story. American League Cy Young: Jon Lester, Boston Red Sox The American League East is full of tough teams who are going to make it tough for opposing pitchers to succeed but a strong left-handed arm could make it through the mess. Jon Lester has won 15 or more games in each of the last four seasons and he might be the ace of a rotation full of holes. After back-to-back All-Star seasons, the 28-year old lefty could be set to take the next step and make a big splash for the Red Sox. Boston should be in the pennant race for most of the season and Lester's performance could go a long way in deciding if they make the playoffs. American League Manager of the Year: Ned Yost, Kansas City Royals On paper, the Tigers are suppose to win the AL Central but what happens if the Royals are pushing them for the top spot during most of the season. There has been plenty made out of the young talent compiled by the front office of the Royals and this team could be only a year or two away from being contenders for a championship. Eric Hosmer has been on fire this spring and he could be in the MVP discussion at some point in 2012. In the end the Tigers will have too much firepower to allow the Royals to win the division but a strong second place showing should give Yost the Manager of the Year Award. American League Rookie of the Year: Yu Darvish, Texas Rangers There are many players already mentioned in this post that could be up for this honor at the end of the season. Matt Moore should be dominant for the Rays, Jesus Montero will try to find his swing in Seattle, and Mike Trout will eventually get his time with the Angels. In the end, it will come down to the performance of Darvish and Moore. Darvish has looked very good this spring and Moore turned heads with his playoff performance last year. It is a toss-up between these two young pitchers and in the end I picked Darvish out of what has the potential to be one of the best rookie classes in years.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first two games of the season have been complete and I can honestly say I have yet to watch a single pitch. One of the problems was that both of the contests were not on any major channel and the other issues was the games were being played very early in the morning. I still don't know how I feel about the first two games of the season being played in Japan. It is great to spread the game to international markets but I love when all of the games are being played in the first couple days and there is one game after another on ever ESPN station. With the way it is set up now, the A's and the Mariners have already played two of their games and it seems to take a little something away from the Opening Day that will take place in the US next week. The great thing is this is the last edition of Friday Links-N-Thinks before the Twins have their own Opening Day contest in Baltimore. In Fort Myers, the roster is starting to come together and the team looks close to being ready to make a push in the AL Central. Justin Morneau started to swing a good bat this week with multiple home runs. Joe Mauer has been hitting well for most of the spring and he seems ready to get back to his injury-free self. Francisco Liriano has put together some impressive outings and he could be poised to make a splash in the rotation for the Twins. Overall, it is the most wonderful time of the year as the wait for the beginning of the 2012 season is almost over. Here are a variety of stories from the last week that I enjoyed with a little humor splashed in for some fun. Enjoy the links and have a fantastic last weekend without Twins baseball. For those lucky enough to score ticket to the Twins home opener, the schedule of events for the day was released by the club. The 2002 Twins team will be honored and who doesn't want to see Denny Hocking throw out a first pitch. Betsy over at For Love of the Game continued her series of posts relating the Twins roster decisions to the popular Hunger Games novels. Not everyone will survive until the end but may the odds be ever in your favor. It is getting closer to the time for Twins fan Lindsay Guentzel to head to the MLB Fan Cave for the start of the regular season. Over at Knuckleballs Blog they posted a video update of her progress. The new website Twins Daily has been doing very well in their first five week of existence. David Bromberg and Anthony Slama look to bounce back after each had a rough 2011. Seth Stohs thinks both could work their way back on the big league roster in 2012. The ESPN Sweetspot blog has done multiple predictions for the AL this week and the Twins got a couple nods in some categories. The Cy Young votes are here and the Rookie of the Year vote could surprise you. Do you have the desire to see every uniform change that will be taking place across baseball this year? I am excited for the Twins to wear their Minneapolis Millers uniforms. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vboqEjHrzFs/T3Ur7cOcuFI/AAAAAAAABJ4/WnO59krIv78/s320/WillieMaysMinneapolisMillers.jpg Former Twin R.A. Dickey has made quite the name for himself in the Big Apple and this piece does a good job of showing who he is as a man. Carl Pavano is in the middle of a very weird extortion plot. Some people will do anything for a navy Range Rover with tan leather. Twins Fan from Afar is fine with the news that that Justin Morneau will be DHing. I read this headline and thought the old Ruben Sierra was still attempting to play with an MLB club. There was quite the Twitter war earlier this week between the local media and the rest of us so called "bloggers." John Bonnes wrote some of his thoughts on the controversy. Do you ever go to eBay and try and find cheap Twins stuff to purchase? Minor League Ball has been running a series of posts on the top players who are under 25 years old. John Sickels reminds Twins fans why we miss Wilson Ramos. Page 2 at ESPN.com did an interview with Chris Iles, the corporate communications manager for the Twins, to discuss their use of social media during games. Don Mattingly called Ozzie Guillen a bad name. It looked like Cristian Guzman could be back in the AL Central at some point during the upcoming season. The Indians released him but maybe now he can show up and throw out a first pitch with Denny Hocking. My Weekly Rundown Monday: Revere becomes outfield's odd man out Tuesday: Could Capps perform better than Nathan in '12? Wednesday: Gibson could be the 2013 Opening Day starter Thursday: Replacements could fill back end of the rotation Video of the Week: In the time Jim Thome spent in Minnesota, he was never asked to step on the field as a fielder and there was no reason for him to do this with the AL having the DH. Time have changed for Mr. Thome as he signed a free agent contract with the Phillies in the offseason. Now he is going to be forced to play at first base from time to time in order to get himself into the line-up. Here is the video proof that he can still make a tough play at first base. It wasn't the most graceful thing in the world but he got the job done.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The first two games of the season have been complete and I can honestly say I have yet to watch a single pitch. One of the problems was that both of the contests were not on any major channel and the other issues was the games were being played very early in the morning. I still don't know how I feel about the first two games of the season being played in Japan. It is great to spread the game to international markets but I love when all of the games are being played in the first couple days and there is one game after another on ever ESPN station. With the way it is set up now, the A's and the Mariners have already played two of their games and it seems to take a little something away from the Opening Day that will take place in the US next week. The great thing is this is the last edition of Friday Links-N-Thinks before the Twins have their own Opening Day contest in Baltimore. In Fort Myers, the roster is starting to come together and the team looks close to being ready to make a push in the AL Central. Justin Morneau started to swing a good bat this week with multiple home runs. Joe Mauer has been hitting well for most of the spring and he seems ready to get back to his injury-free self. Francisco Liriano has put together some impressive outings and he could be poised to make a splash in the rotation for the Twins. Overall, it is the most wonderful time of the year as the wait for the beginning of the 2012 season is almost over. Here are a variety of stories from the last week that I enjoyed with a little humor splashed in for some fun. Enjoy the links and have a fantastic last weekend without Twins baseball. For those lucky enough to score ticket to the Twins home opener, the schedule of events for the day was released by the club. The 2002 Twins team will be honored and who doesn't want to see Denny Hocking throw out a first pitch. Betsy over at For Love of the Game continued her series of posts relating the Twins roster decisions to the popular Hunger Games novels. Not everyone will survive until the end but may the odds be ever in your favor. It is getting closer to the time for Twins fan Lindsay Guentzel to head to the MLB Fan Cave for the start of the regular season. Over at Knuckleballs Blog they posted a video update of her progress. The new website Twins Daily has been doing very well in their first five week of existence. David Bromberg and Anthony Slama look to bounce back after each had a rough 2011. Seth Stohs thinks both could work their way back on the big league roster in 2012. The ESPN Sweetspot blog has done multiple predictions for the AL this week and the Twins got a couple nods in some categories. The Cy Young votes are here and the Rookie of the Year vote could surprise you. Do you have the desire to see every uniform change that will be taking place across baseball this year? I am excited for the Twins to wear their Minneapolis Millers uniforms. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-vboqEjHrzFs/T3Ur7cOcuFI/AAAAAAAABJ4/WnO59krIv78/s320/WillieMaysMinneapolisMillers.jpg Former Twin R.A. Dickey has made quite the name for himself in the Big Apple and this piece does a good job of showing who he is as a man. Carl Pavano is in the middle of a very weird extortion plot. Some people will do anything for a navy Range Rover with tan leather. Twins Fan from Afar is fine with the news that that Justin Morneau will be DHing. I read this headline and thought the old Ruben Sierra was still attempting to play with an MLB club. There was quite the Twitter war earlier this week between the local media and the rest of us so called "bloggers." John Bonnes wrote some of his thoughts on the controversy. Do you ever go to eBay and try and find cheap Twins stuff to purchase? Minor League Ball has been running a series of posts on the top players who are under 25 years old. John Sickels reminds Twins fans why we miss Wilson Ramos. Page 2 at ESPN.com did an interview with Chris Iles, the corporate communications manager for the Twins, to discuss their use of social media during games. Don Mattingly called Ozzie Guillen a bad name. It looked like Cristian Guzman could be back in the AL Central at some point during the upcoming season. The Indians released him but maybe now he can show up and throw out a first pitch with Denny Hocking. My Weekly Rundown Monday: Revere becomes outfield's odd man out Tuesday: Could Capps perform better than Nathan in '12? Wednesday: Gibson could be the 2013 Opening Day starter Thursday: Replacements could fill back end of the rotation Video of the Week: In the time Jim Thome spent in Minnesota, he was never asked to step on the field as a fielder and there was no reason for him to do this with the AL having the DH. Time have changed for Mr. Thome as he signed a free agent contract with the Phillies in the offseason. Now he is going to be forced to play at first base from time to time in order to get himself into the line-up. Here is the video proof that he can still make a tough play at first base. It wasn't the most graceful thing in the world but he got the job done.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m96du2wPpag/T3PdczZud3I/AAAAAAAABJw/4_LJaqtc3E8/s320/AnthonySwarzak.jpg The Twins went into the start of this spring with a little different feel in regards to their starting rotation. Last season there was a battle between six or seven players to fill the five roles needed to complete the starting rotation at the beginning of the year. This year the Twins seemed set with five players penciled in to occupy the rotation when the team would break camp for the start of the regular season. Francisco Liriano, Carl Pavano, Nick Blackburn, Scott Baker, and Jason Marquis were all set to be the five men to lead the pitching staff but some issues have arisen in the last week and it looks like the plan will have to change for the Twins. Baker has been dealing with some elbow tendinitis that has limited his ability to get on the field for some of his recent scheduled outings. In his last start on Monday, he suffered through a disaster as he got lit up for seven runs in 2 2/3 innings pitched. If Baker can't get stretched out before the start of the year, the Twins will have to look for some different options to fill his spot in the rotation. He was in line to get the home opener start for the Twins at Target Field on April 9 but it is looking more and more like someone else will be taking the mound that day. The other pitcher dealing with some off field family issues is Jason Marquis. His 7-year-old daughter was hospitalized after a serious bicycle accident and he has been away from the team for over a week. According to the team, he has been completing some throwing session while he is away but they still don't know when to anticipate him returning to the squad. Family matters are always going to take precedent over your job in the big leagues especially when it comes to a serious injury to a person's child. Fans of the Twins have been sending their thoughts and prayers to the Marquis family. But on the baseball side of things, his absence from the team leaves another spot open in the starting rotation. There are three pitchers who could be asked to fill the void left by Baker and Marquis. Liam Hendriks, Anthony Swarzak, and Matt Maloney are all being stretched out so they can be ready to step into the starting rotation if they are called upon. Hendriks and Swarzak were both part of the starting rotation at the end of the miserable 2011 season and Maloney is a new member of the Twins organization. Here is a brief look at each of these players and what each of their chances are to be in the rotation by Opening Day. Liam Hendriks 2011 Season: 6.17 ERA, 23.1 IP, 16 K, 6 BB, 1.500 WHIP, 4 games 2012 Spring: 2.40 ERA, 15.0 IP, 12 K, 5 BB, 1.200 WHIP, 6 games As the reigning Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year, the team was going to take a long look at Hendriks before deciding where he should start the year in 2012. He started last year in Double-A and he put up some impressive numbers on his way to making his debut for the Twins. During the 2011 season, he made only nine starts at Rochester for a total of 49.1 innings. This means there was a good chance the team wanted him to get in some more time at Triple-A before he was needed with the big league squad. He might be the most likely player to step into the starting rotation because he was the only one out of the three that was in line to begin the season as a starter. He is already able to throw 75 or 80 pitches in a game and that number could be higher by the time the Twins break camp. Anthony Swarzak 2011 Season: 4.32 ERA, 102.0 IP, 55 K, 26 BB, 1.343 WHIP, 27 games 2012 Spring: 3.86 ERA, 9.1 IP, 6 K, 4 BB, 1.393 WHIP, 5 games The Twins asked Swarzak to fill quite a variety of roles last season from late inning relief pitcher to long man out of the bullpen and even a starter here or there along the way. He seemed to adjust well to his varying role on the team and he pitched a near-no hitter on May 28 versus the Angels by allowing one hit over the course of eight innings. Swarzak was in position to make the 25-man roster as a relief option but that role might have to be adjusted in the next week and a half. Until the Twins get some of their other starters back on the field, Swarzak could be asked to go back to his role as fill-in starter. On Tuesday afternoon, Swarzak pitched 3 2/3 innings without allowing a hit against the Orioles. In the game he was able to throw 59 pitches so it is most likely that he would need a little more time to be fully stretched out. Matt Maloney 2011 Season: 9.16 ERA, 18.2 IP, 13 K, 4 BB, 2.143 WHIP, 8 games 2012 Spring: 0.00 ERA, 11.1 IP, 14 K, 3 BB, 0.705 WHIP, 7 games Maloney has put on one of the top performances so far in the spring for the Twins. His spring stat line looks unbelievable but it is hard to judge a player off of such a small sample size. Maloney's time in the majors last year with the Reds was not very productive so the Twins hoped a change of scenery would bring out the best in him. He spent most of the last four seasons stuck at the Triple-A level with a total of 80 innings pitched in the big leagues. For most of his career, he has been used as a starter and the Twins were trying to get him to be more comfortable as a relief pitcher. He may need to revert back to his old role of starter before the season begins so the Twins can have a full starting rotation. Maloney will take his perfect ERA to the mound on Thursday as he is scheduled to start the Twins contest against the Pirates. The lucky thing for the Twins is they have an off day worked into the early portion of their schedule so the team won't necessarily need a fifth starter for the first time through the rotation. In the grand scheme of things, the team will be able to survive with the likes of Hendriks, Swarzak, and Maloney as replacement players. The concern could be if these players are forced to take on a more permanent role in the rotation for a big chunk of the 2012 campaign.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-m96du2wPpag/T3PdczZud3I/AAAAAAAABJw/4_LJaqtc3E8/s320/AnthonySwarzak.jpg The Twins went into the start of this spring with a little different feel in regards to their starting rotation. Last season there was a battle between six or seven players to fill the five roles needed to complete the starting rotation at the beginning of the year. This year the Twins seemed set with five players penciled in to occupy the rotation when the team would break camp for the start of the regular season. Francisco Liriano, Carl Pavano, Nick Blackburn, Scott Baker, and Jason Marquis were all set to be the five men to lead the pitching staff but some issues have arisen in the last week and it looks like the plan will have to change for the Twins. Baker has been dealing with some elbow tendinitis that has limited his ability to get on the field for some of his recent scheduled outings. In his last start on Monday, he suffered through a disaster as he got lit up for seven runs in 2 2/3 innings pitched. If Baker can't get stretched out before the start of the year, the Twins will have to look for some different options to fill his spot in the rotation. He was in line to get the home opener start for the Twins at Target Field on April 9 but it is looking more and more like someone else will be taking the mound that day. The other pitcher dealing with some off field family issues is Jason Marquis. His 7-year-old daughter was hospitalized after a serious bicycle accident and he has been away from the team for over a week. According to the team, he has been completing some throwing session while he is away but they still don't know when to anticipate him returning to the squad. Family matters are always going to take precedent over your job in the big leagues especially when it comes to a serious injury to a person's child. Fans of the Twins have been sending their thoughts and prayers to the Marquis family. But on the baseball side of things, his absence from the team leaves another spot open in the starting rotation. There are three pitchers who could be asked to fill the void left by Baker and Marquis. Liam Hendriks, Anthony Swarzak, and Matt Maloney are all being stretched out so they can be ready to step into the starting rotation if they are called upon. Hendriks and Swarzak were both part of the starting rotation at the end of the miserable 2011 season and Maloney is a new member of the Twins organization. Here is a brief look at each of these players and what each of their chances are to be in the rotation by Opening Day. Liam Hendriks 2011 Season: 6.17 ERA, 23.1 IP, 16 K, 6 BB, 1.500 WHIP, 4 games 2012 Spring: 2.40 ERA, 15.0 IP, 12 K, 5 BB, 1.200 WHIP, 6 games As the reigning Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year, the team was going to take a long look at Hendriks before deciding where he should start the year in 2012. He started last year in Double-A and he put up some impressive numbers on his way to making his debut for the Twins. During the 2011 season, he made only nine starts at Rochester for a total of 49.1 innings. This means there was a good chance the team wanted him to get in some more time at Triple-A before he was needed with the big league squad. He might be the most likely player to step into the starting rotation because he was the only one out of the three that was in line to begin the season as a starter. He is already able to throw 75 or 80 pitches in a game and that number could be higher by the time the Twins break camp. Anthony Swarzak 2011 Season: 4.32 ERA, 102.0 IP, 55 K, 26 BB, 1.343 WHIP, 27 games 2012 Spring: 3.86 ERA, 9.1 IP, 6 K, 4 BB, 1.393 WHIP, 5 games The Twins asked Swarzak to fill quite a variety of roles last season from late inning relief pitcher to long man out of the bullpen and even a starter here or there along the way. He seemed to adjust well to his varying role on the team and he pitched a near-no hitter on May 28 versus the Angels by allowing one hit over the course of eight innings. Swarzak was in position to make the 25-man roster as a relief option but that role might have to be adjusted in the next week and a half. Until the Twins get some of their other starters back on the field, Swarzak could be asked to go back to his role as fill-in starter. On Tuesday afternoon, Swarzak pitched 3 2/3 innings without allowing a hit against the Orioles. In the game he was able to throw 59 pitches so it is most likely that he would need a little more time to be fully stretched out. Matt Maloney 2011 Season: 9.16 ERA, 18.2 IP, 13 K, 4 BB, 2.143 WHIP, 8 games 2012 Spring: 0.00 ERA, 11.1 IP, 14 K, 3 BB, 0.705 WHIP, 7 games Maloney has put on one of the top performances so far in the spring for the Twins. His spring stat line looks unbelievable but it is hard to judge a player off of such a small sample size. Maloney's time in the majors last year with the Reds was not very productive so the Twins hoped a change of scenery would bring out the best in him. He spent most of the last four seasons stuck at the Triple-A level with a total of 80 innings pitched in the big leagues. For most of his career, he has been used as a starter and the Twins were trying to get him to be more comfortable as a relief pitcher. He may need to revert back to his old role of starter before the season begins so the Twins can have a full starting rotation. Maloney will take his perfect ERA to the mound on Thursday as he is scheduled to start the Twins contest against the Pirates. The lucky thing for the Twins is they have an off day worked into the early portion of their schedule so the team won't necessarily need a fifth starter for the first time through the rotation. In the grand scheme of things, the team will be able to survive with the likes of Hendriks, Swarzak, and Maloney as replacement players. The concern could be if these players are forced to take on a more permanent role in the rotation for a big chunk of the 2012 campaign.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fYU2UP62ZjQ/T3IRQlhgHdI/AAAAAAAABJo/d4cJgdjU23I/s320/KyleGibsonPitching.JPG Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The injury to Kyle Gibson's arm last year put a damper on what was suppose to be a big season in his life. At this point last year, there were many who thought Gibson only missed out on a spot in the rotation because the Twins had too many other arms who were already on the big league roster. The overall consensus was that Gibson would be making his debut in 2011 and he would go on to be a member of the starting rotation for the foreseeable future. This plan didn't go exactly as the Twins had hoped and in September Gibson was forced to go under the knife for Tommy John surgery. The team's number one pitching prospect would be pushed to the sidelines for most of the next season and the organization had to start taking a hard look at some of their other pitching options. Liam Hendriks showed a few positive signs in the last month of the season but there are few other top prospects in the high levels of the minor leagues. When a player is coming off of a major arm injury like Gibson, it is hard to imagine him coming back and being ready to go at full force after taking 12 months to rehabilitate his arm. That being said, there is the possibility that Gibson could be in line to be the Opening Day starter for the Twins at the beginning of the 2013 season. A lot of things would have to go right before the first pitch of next year but there is enough evidence to make this look like it could be a possibility. The members of the starting rotation that are under contract for next year are few and far between. Francisco Liriano, Scott Baker, and Carl Pavano can all become free agents at the end of the 2012 season. This leaves Nick Blackburn as the lone member of this year's projected starting rotation that is under contract for the start of the 2013 campaign. It is scary to think of Blackburn as the Twins number one starter for next year but it also means an injury to his arm and the Twins could be looking in a new direction. The Washington Nationals have put together a blueprint for the Twins to follow when it comes to a top pitching prospect who is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Stephen Strasburg, the number one pick in the same draft as Gibson, has been working his way back from the same type of injury. Gibson's surgery was in September of 2011 and Strasburg went under the knife in September of 2010. Since the timeline for recovery is around 12-months, the Strasburg plan is a realistic one for the Twins to mimic. This would mean that Gibson could complete a variety of minor league starts to work his way back to the Triple-A level. If the team thought he was ready, he could make his debut at the end of the 2012 season. Last week the Nationals announced that Strasburg would be the team's Opening Day starter in his first full season back from surgery. Even with the honor of starting the first game of the season, Strasburg will be on an innings limit as the team has stated that he will only pitch 160 innings before being shut down for the year. It will be interesting to see if the Twins use a similar scenario with Gibson to try and reduce some of the strain on his arm in his first full season since the surgery. A lot will depend on how his body reacts to being back on the mound in the later portion of the upcoming season. Gibson is hardly the favorite to be on the mound for Opening Day next year but it isn't out of the realm of possibility to imagine a situation where he could be given the starting nod. He would most certainly have to debut at some point in the 2012 season because the team wouldn't allow a starter to be making his debut on Opening Day. The team would also have to be confident that Gibson was completely healthy and ready to handle the rigors of a full season at the MLB level. It might be in Gibson's best interests to get a handful of starts under his belt with Rochester before getting called up to take his spot in the starting rotation. It is also hard to know what the team will do on the free agent market. Will the Twins go after a big name pitcher to fill a role in the rotation? Could Liriano, Baker or Pavano be back with the club? These are questions to be pondered over by Terry Ryan and some of the other front office brass for the Twins. A situation where Gibson would be the number one starter on Opening Day could be a tough sell to fans of the Twins. Recovering from a major injury can be a tough road for a lot of players and the main hope for fans of the organization is to have a healthy and productive Gibson in the starting rotation for 2013.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fYU2UP62ZjQ/T3IRQlhgHdI/AAAAAAAABJo/d4cJgdjU23I/s320/KyleGibsonPitching.JPG Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The injury to Kyle Gibson's arm last year put a damper on what was suppose to be a big season in his life. At this point last year, there were many who thought Gibson only missed out on a spot in the rotation because the Twins had too many other arms who were already on the big league roster. The overall consensus was that Gibson would be making his debut in 2011 and he would go on to be a member of the starting rotation for the foreseeable future. This plan didn't go exactly as the Twins had hoped and in September Gibson was forced to go under the knife for Tommy John surgery. The team's number one pitching prospect would be pushed to the sidelines for most of the next season and the organization had to start taking a hard look at some of their other pitching options. Liam Hendriks showed a few positive signs in the last month of the season but there are few other top prospects in the high levels of the minor leagues. When a player is coming off of a major arm injury like Gibson, it is hard to imagine him coming back and being ready to go at full force after taking 12 months to rehabilitate his arm. That being said, there is the possibility that Gibson could be in line to be the Opening Day starter for the Twins at the beginning of the 2013 season. A lot of things would have to go right before the first pitch of next year but there is enough evidence to make this look like it could be a possibility. The members of the starting rotation that are under contract for next year are few and far between. Francisco Liriano, Scott Baker, and Carl Pavano can all become free agents at the end of the 2012 season. This leaves Nick Blackburn as the lone member of this year's projected starting rotation that is under contract for the start of the 2013 campaign. It is scary to think of Blackburn as the Twins number one starter for next year but it also means an injury to his arm and the Twins could be looking in a new direction. The Washington Nationals have put together a blueprint for the Twins to follow when it comes to a top pitching prospect who is recovering from Tommy John surgery. Stephen Strasburg, the number one pick in the same draft as Gibson, has been working his way back from the same type of injury. Gibson's surgery was in September of 2011 and Strasburg went under the knife in September of 2010. Since the timeline for recovery is around 12-months, the Strasburg plan is a realistic one for the Twins to mimic. This would mean that Gibson could complete a variety of minor league starts to work his way back to the Triple-A level. If the team thought he was ready, he could make his debut at the end of the 2012 season. Last week the Nationals announced that Strasburg would be the team's Opening Day starter in his first full season back from surgery. Even with the honor of starting the first game of the season, Strasburg will be on an innings limit as the team has stated that he will only pitch 160 innings before being shut down for the year. It will be interesting to see if the Twins use a similar scenario with Gibson to try and reduce some of the strain on his arm in his first full season since the surgery. A lot will depend on how his body reacts to being back on the mound in the later portion of the upcoming season. Gibson is hardly the favorite to be on the mound for Opening Day next year but it isn't out of the realm of possibility to imagine a situation where he could be given the starting nod. He would most certainly have to debut at some point in the 2012 season because the team wouldn't allow a starter to be making his debut on Opening Day. The team would also have to be confident that Gibson was completely healthy and ready to handle the rigors of a full season at the MLB level. It might be in Gibson's best interests to get a handful of starts under his belt with Rochester before getting called up to take his spot in the starting rotation. It is also hard to know what the team will do on the free agent market. Will the Twins go after a big name pitcher to fill a role in the rotation? Could Liriano, Baker or Pavano be back with the club? These are questions to be pondered over by Terry Ryan and some of the other front office brass for the Twins. A situation where Gibson would be the number one starter on Opening Day could be a tough sell to fans of the Twins. Recovering from a major injury can be a tough road for a lot of players and the main hope for fans of the organization is to have a healthy and productive Gibson in the starting rotation for 2013.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KZX8EGdYn68/T3EvATxuTVI/AAAAAAAABJg/5My-BrqTyAk/s320/Matt+Capps.jpg Original Post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Twins saw their long-time closer Joe Nathan leave the team in free agency this offseason. With his departure to the Texas Rangers, the organization turned to a familiar face to fill the closer role by signing Matt Capps. Before undergoing Tommy John surgery, Nathan had been one of the best closers in the game and he got a lot of guaranteed money to be the closer for the two-time defending American League champions. The Twins weren't ready to make this kind of offer to Nathan and the team seemed happy to settle for the cheaper option in Capps. Nathan's first spring with the Rangers has been a nightmare so far as he has struggled in his trips to the mound. In his very small sample size of five innings pitched, he has allowed eight earned runs on eight hits with three of those hits being home runs. His ERA of 14.21 looks more like a football score than a stat line of an elite closer. The 37-year old pitcher's statistics don't worry his pitching coach Mike Maddux as he focuses on Nathan trying to hone all of his pitches before the end of the spring. A lot of veteran pitchers can spend their outings during the spring working on specific pitches and location of those pitches so spring numbers can be taken with a grain of salt. Even with that said, there can't be too many fans of the Rangers who feel a lot of confidence in their newly signed closer. Capps hasn't had a perfect spring but he hasn't done anything to make the team think he can't handle the closing duties. In seven innings pitched, he has given up three earned runs on seven hits with two of those hits being home runs. Capps has also been getting some work in during B games because he was determined to pitch multiple innings at least once this spring. At the beginning of last season, Capps was called on to get outs in more than one inning and his arm didn't like the transition to this role. He had done this extra work in B games before every other season with the exception of last year. By considering all of this information, is there any way that Capps could end up performing better than Nathan during the 2012 season? One of the first things to consider when it comes to projecting the performance of these players is the difference in their ages. Nathan will be 37 for the entirety of the upcoming season and he has dealt with multiple seasons in his career with major injuries. Capps is nine years younger and he has a lot less wear and tear on his arm over the course of his career. Nathan is on the decline of his career and Capps should still be near the prime of his playing days. Another aspect to factor into performance is to reexamine the recent performance of these two players in the regular season. Both Nathan and Capps had some rough patches in the 2010 season and there were a few injuries the duo had to fight through to make it to the mound. Capps was very good in June with an ERA of under one but that was sandwiched between two terrible months in May and July with an ERA of over six. Nathan's second half of the year was much better than the first half and this is what gave Texas the confidence to sign him to a multi-year contract. The Rangers and the Twins play in two vastly different ballparks that play to different strengths of specific players. The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington has been known to carry the ball out of the park with it's combination of hot summer weather and hitter friendly dimensions. In the first two years at Target Field, batters have found some difficulty hitting the ball out of the park and there has been discussions about the dimensions be tough for batters. In 13 games and 60 plate appearances, Nathan has given up only one home run and four doubles in Arlington. Capps has a much bigger sample size at Target Field and he has allowed six home runs over 213 plate appearances. With that being said if I were a pitcher, I would much rather be pitching in the friendly confines of Target Field. Besides the Twins and Rangers having very different environments for their home ballparks, these teams are projected to have very different results in the 2012 season. The Rangers should be near the top of the AL West and they will be fighting to represent the AL in the World Series for the third consecutive year. The Twins are trying to rebound from one of the worst seasons in franchise history and many experts aren't picking Minnesota to finish anywhere near the top of the division. This should mean that Nathan will have plenty of more opportunities to rack up saves during the season. Capps might not be in line to have as many saves as Nathan but his other numbers could stack up very close or even better. Overall, the thought of Capps having a bounce back season would be a welcome sign to Twins fans looking for something to peak their interest in 2012. Nathan will still probably have a decent season on a team that should be very good. It would just be fun to see Capps end up with the better numbers at the conclusion of the season.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KZX8EGdYn68/T3EvATxuTVI/AAAAAAAABJg/5My-BrqTyAk/s320/Matt+Capps.jpg Original Post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The Twins saw their long-time closer Joe Nathan leave the team in free agency this offseason. With his departure to the Texas Rangers, the organization turned to a familiar face to fill the closer role by signing Matt Capps. Before undergoing Tommy John surgery, Nathan had been one of the best closers in the game and he got a lot of guaranteed money to be the closer for the two-time defending American League champions. The Twins weren't ready to make this kind of offer to Nathan and the team seemed happy to settle for the cheaper option in Capps. Nathan's first spring with the Rangers has been a nightmare so far as he has struggled in his trips to the mound. In his very small sample size of five innings pitched, he has allowed eight earned runs on eight hits with three of those hits being home runs. His ERA of 14.21 looks more like a football score than a stat line of an elite closer. The 37-year old pitcher's statistics don't worry his pitching coach Mike Maddux as he focuses on Nathan trying to hone all of his pitches before the end of the spring. A lot of veteran pitchers can spend their outings during the spring working on specific pitches and location of those pitches so spring numbers can be taken with a grain of salt. Even with that said, there can't be too many fans of the Rangers who feel a lot of confidence in their newly signed closer. Capps hasn't had a perfect spring but he hasn't done anything to make the team think he can't handle the closing duties. In seven innings pitched, he has given up three earned runs on seven hits with two of those hits being home runs. Capps has also been getting some work in during B games because he was determined to pitch multiple innings at least once this spring. At the beginning of last season, Capps was called on to get outs in more than one inning and his arm didn't like the transition to this role. He had done this extra work in B games before every other season with the exception of last year. By considering all of this information, is there any way that Capps could end up performing better than Nathan during the 2012 season? One of the first things to consider when it comes to projecting the performance of these players is the difference in their ages. Nathan will be 37 for the entirety of the upcoming season and he has dealt with multiple seasons in his career with major injuries. Capps is nine years younger and he has a lot less wear and tear on his arm over the course of his career. Nathan is on the decline of his career and Capps should still be near the prime of his playing days. Another aspect to factor into performance is to reexamine the recent performance of these two players in the regular season. Both Nathan and Capps had some rough patches in the 2010 season and there were a few injuries the duo had to fight through to make it to the mound. Capps was very good in June with an ERA of under one but that was sandwiched between two terrible months in May and July with an ERA of over six. Nathan's second half of the year was much better than the first half and this is what gave Texas the confidence to sign him to a multi-year contract. The Rangers and the Twins play in two vastly different ballparks that play to different strengths of specific players. The Rangers Ballpark in Arlington has been known to carry the ball out of the park with it's combination of hot summer weather and hitter friendly dimensions. In the first two years at Target Field, batters have found some difficulty hitting the ball out of the park and there has been discussions about the dimensions be tough for batters. In 13 games and 60 plate appearances, Nathan has given up only one home run and four doubles in Arlington. Capps has a much bigger sample size at Target Field and he has allowed six home runs over 213 plate appearances. With that being said if I were a pitcher, I would much rather be pitching in the friendly confines of Target Field. Besides the Twins and Rangers having very different environments for their home ballparks, these teams are projected to have very different results in the 2012 season. The Rangers should be near the top of the AL West and they will be fighting to represent the AL in the World Series for the third consecutive year. The Twins are trying to rebound from one of the worst seasons in franchise history and many experts aren't picking Minnesota to finish anywhere near the top of the division. This should mean that Nathan will have plenty of more opportunities to rack up saves during the season. Capps might not be in line to have as many saves as Nathan but his other numbers could stack up very close or even better. Overall, the thought of Capps having a bounce back season would be a welcome sign to Twins fans looking for something to peak their interest in 2012. Nathan will still probably have a decent season on a team that should be very good. It would just be fun to see Capps end up with the better numbers at the conclusion of the season.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]434[/ATTACH]A year removed from what could be called an exciting rookie season, Ben Revere looks as if he could be the odd man out in the battle for a starting outfield spot with the 2012 Minnesota Twins. On Sunday Twins manager Ron Gardenhire announced that Josh Willingham would start the year as the team's left fielder, the position he has played for most of his career. This was a switch from what the plan had been at the beginning of spring training. At that time, it seemed that the outfield would be composed of Willingham in right field, Revere in left field, and Denard Span as the center fielder. With only a few weeks until Opening Day, there has been a shift to the line-up. The organization hasn't specifically ruled Revere out for the final outfield spot as Gardenhire left the door open for Trevor Plouffe, Chris Parmelee, and Revere to win the starting right field job. But it was widely thought that with his lack of arm strength, Revere would not be a good fit for the right field job. In an interview over the weekend, Gardenhire doesn't seem as swayed by this anymore and Revere has started to see a little more time in right field. One of the most damaging quotes for Revere came from his manager over the weekend and this is what gave fans the first idea that he might have become the outfield's odd man out. "If he's going to be a part-time starter and a part-time extra guy, you've got to be able to play them all." This is a far cry from the Gardenhire who was disappointed to have to send Revere down to Triple-A after his first call-up in 2011. The rest of the roster might be coming together in a different way than was originally planned by the manager and it looks like Revere will be one of the players forced to shift his role. A lot of the Opening Day line-up will hinge on where Justin Morneau is slated to play for the Twins. If the team is forced to move Morneau from first base to designated hitter, this will cause the manager to do some more shifting to his line-up. In the original plan laid out by Gardenhire, Morneau would have played at first base with Ryan Doumit serving as the designated hitter. If Morneau is taking up most of the at-bats in the DH role, the team is going to have to find other spots for Doumit to play and one of those roles could be in the outfield. Another player is not making it easy for the Twins to send him to Triple-A for the start of the 2012 season. Chris Parmelee's hot play has stood out to the Twins and he has caught the eye of the manager and the front office. In 15 games, he has batted .286/.362/.571 with three home runs, a triple, and a double. He has also shown a much more disciplined approach at the plate as he leads the team with eight walks. In his minor league career, he has played 282 games in right field and this isn't much less than the 323 he has played at first base. Parmelee's ability to play both positions and his hot bat could sneak him onto the roster for Opening Day. With Parmelee's emergence and other roster question marks, Revere could be asked to fill a few different roles to start the year. If he were to fill a back-up outfielder role, he could be used as a late inning defensive replacement for some of the slower corner outfielders. As recently as 2009, the Twins did this with Carlos Gomez and Span filling two of the outfield positions late in games. The Twins used an outfield combination of Revere, Span, and Joe Benson over the weekend to see how these three gifted defensive outfielders could work together. Revere might not have put together a perfect rookie campaign but at the onset of spring training it looked like he was set to be a starting outfield for the Twins. He ended last season with a good last month of the season as he had his best month at the plate by hitting .311/.342/.368 in 24 games. It looks as if he will now be a roaming outfielder who fills in for players on their off days. He can also be a threat off of the bench in late inning pinch running situations and he can be used as a defensive upgrade for Willingham or whoever wins the right field job. There is a good chance Revere will still be on the 25-man roster but his role is in flux as the team tries to sort out the best roster to help the Twins rebound from a horrendous 2011 season.

Original Post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It felt good to get back to a full week of Twins coverage here at NoDak Twins Fan and after my vacation in Arizona it was great to get caught up on all of the happenings across Twins Territory. We are only a few short weeks away from baseball being played under the sun at Target Field. It will be a welcome sight to see the hometown nine take the field for the first time and for the memories of an awful 2011 to go away. The NFL continues to get all of the major headlines in the sports world but for fans of baseball there continues to be a ton of content to peruse through on a weekly basis. Here are a handful of the stories that I enjoyed from the last week with some fun stuff sprinkled in for a little spice. Twins Fan From Afar took a look at the Twins surplus of center fielders and which ones might be expendable in a trade. He even got a link on ESPN's Sweet Spot Blog. One of the biggest Twins stories of the week was the demotion of Tsuyoshi Nishioka to Triple-A. The NFL has the "Bounty-Gate" situation taking all the headlines and Seth Stohs wonders what the equivalent would be for MLB. Nick at Top of the First worked on some Twins roster analysis by examining the outfield situation. A Twins fan will be heading to NYC as part of the MLB Fan Cave. Lindsay Guentzel explained everything she went through to win the spot and thanked everyone who helped her. Baseball Reference released their Negro League database that covers 1903-1948. This is an awesome resource for an fan of the game. Forbes magazine ranked the Twins as the 14th most valuable franchise among MLB teams. The Houston Astros are one better so that's not a positive sign. It looks like former Twins shortstop JJ Hardy went skipping through the woods in his attempt to catch this ball. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I1BaW-FLXL8/T2vnNslI2LI/AAAAAAAABJQ/Z40QQ2I8vf4/s320/hardyskipping.jpg ESPN's SweetSpot Blog has been doing their "Over/Under" series in recent weeks and the good news is 65% of America thinks the Twins will win over 74 games. The Twins Armchair GM thinks the current crop of Twins players missed their World Series window but the next window could be right around the corner. With Nishioka being sent to Rochester, is there new life for Brian Dozier? Andrew at Off the Mark tackles this question. If you believe all of the rumors floating around at the trade deadline, Drew Storen almost became a Twin. He has a personalized Batmobile so that's pretty sweet. The Twins had the second pick in the Rule 5 Draft but Terry Doyle, the player they picked, was sent back to the White Sox this week. So much for that investment... Apparently I got out of Arizona right in the nick of time... On a more serious note, the Twins released six minor leaguers with a couple of surprises. It is part of the game but it is tough for guys that make their living playing baseball. My Weekly Rundown Monday: Grapefruit League could learn from Cactus League Tuesday: Seeing Lincecum made me miss having an ace Wednesday: Should Butera follow Nishioka to Rochester? Thursday: Rosario's infield transition continues Video of the Week: The Twins have another Mauer who plays a prominent role in the organization as the manager of the Fort Myers Miracle. Jake Mauer joined Brice Zimmerman to talk about the spring training experience for fans and the players with a focus on the minor leagues.

Original Post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It felt good to get back to a full week of Twins coverage here at NoDak Twins Fan and after my vacation in Arizona it was great to get caught up on all of the happenings across Twins Territory. We are only a few short weeks away from baseball being played under the sun at Target Field. It will be a welcome sight to see the hometown nine take the field for the first time and for the memories of an awful 2011 to go away. The NFL continues to get all of the major headlines in the sports world but for fans of baseball there continues to be a ton of content to peruse through on a weekly basis. Here are a handful of the stories that I enjoyed from the last week with some fun stuff sprinkled in for a little spice. Twins Fan From Afar took a look at the Twins surplus of center fielders and which ones might be expendable in a trade. He even got a link on ESPN's Sweet Spot Blog. One of the biggest Twins stories of the week was the demotion of Tsuyoshi Nishioka to Triple-A. The NFL has the "Bounty-Gate" situation taking all the headlines and Seth Stohs wonders what the equivalent would be for MLB. Nick at Top of the First worked on some Twins roster analysis by examining the outfield situation. A Twins fan will be heading to NYC as part of the MLB Fan Cave. Lindsay Guentzel explained everything she went through to win the spot and thanked everyone who helped her. Baseball Reference released their Negro League database that covers 1903-1948. This is an awesome resource for an fan of the game. Forbes magazine ranked the Twins as the 14th most valuable franchise among MLB teams. The Houston Astros are one better so that's not a positive sign. It looks like former Twins shortstop JJ Hardy went skipping through the woods in his attempt to catch this ball. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-I1BaW-FLXL8/T2vnNslI2LI/AAAAAAAABJQ/Z40QQ2I8vf4/s320/hardyskipping.jpg ESPN's SweetSpot Blog has been doing their "Over/Under" series in recent weeks and the good news is 65% of America thinks the Twins will win over 74 games. The Twins Armchair GM thinks the current crop of Twins players missed their World Series window but the next window could be right around the corner. With Nishioka being sent to Rochester, is there new life for Brian Dozier? Andrew at Off the Mark tackles this question. If you believe all of the rumors floating around at the trade deadline, Drew Storen almost became a Twin. He has a personalized Batmobile so that's pretty sweet. The Twins had the second pick in the Rule 5 Draft but Terry Doyle, the player they picked, was sent back to the White Sox this week. So much for that investment... Apparently I got out of Arizona right in the nick of time... On a more serious note, the Twins released six minor leaguers with a couple of surprises. It is part of the game but it is tough for guys that make their living playing baseball. My Weekly Rundown Monday: Grapefruit League could learn from Cactus League Tuesday: Seeing Lincecum made me miss having an ace Wednesday: Should Butera follow Nishioka to Rochester? Thursday: Rosario's infield transition continues Video of the Week: The Twins have another Mauer who plays a prominent role in the organization as the manager of the Fort Myers Miracle. Jake Mauer joined Brice Zimmerman to talk about the spring training experience for fans and the players with a focus on the minor leagues.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XZ4BnqAdoiU/T2qVBaec3DI/AAAAAAAABJA/pTpDj5rw4fI/s320/ux4BUKbr.jpg In recent years the Twins have struggled to produce quality middle infielders who could succeed at the big league level. There has been a steady stream of infielders to man second base and shortstop for the Twins during the last two seasons but no one has stood out above the crowd. During this offseason, the organization decided to try to create their own middle infielder by moving Eddie Rosario, one of the team's top hitting prospects, from the outfield to the middle infield. Last season with Elizabethton was outstanding for Rosario as he showed some great promise with a breakout campaign. He would be named the player of the year in the Appalachian League by hitting .337/.397/.670 in 67 games for the E-Twins. This offensive explosion was unexpected from the 19-year old after he only hit five home runs and batted .294/.343/.438 in 2010 with the GCL Twins. The Twins saw an asset that was still relatively young and thought they still had time to transform him into a middle infielder before he moved through the rest of the minor leagues. During his couple of seasons in the minor leagues, Rosario showed that he was an athletic player who was able to do a lot in the outfield. The Twins have an extra supply of athletic outfielders that are working their way through the Twins system. Ben Revere broke out for the Twins last season but waiting in the wings are Joe Benson, Aaron Hicks, and Oswaldo Arcia. As Twins Fan From Afar wrote about in a post earlier this week, this surplus of outfielders could mean the Twins would be willing to deal an outfield prospect. It also means that the decision to give Rosario a chance to use his athletic ability at another position was something the Twins needed to explore. The word out of the Twins complex in Fort Myers is that Rosario is working with Hall of Famer Paul Molitor and former Twins manager Tom Kelly on his infield footwork. Since he had a good arm in the outfield, it shouldn't be hard for him to make the throws at second base. As the Twins witnessed with Tsuyoshi Nishioka last year, the footwork while turning a double play can be a challenge. Rosario will has yet to play in a full season league for the Twins so this will give him four levels of the minor leagues to try and master his new position. With Rosario transitioning to second base, the Twins are in position to develop quite the infield over the next couple of seasons. Miguel Sano, the team's number one prospect, plays third base at the same level as Rosario. The Twins number one draft pick from last June, Levi Michael, could be the shortstop between these two players in Beliot at the start of this season. Fans who follow the farm system of the Twins are salivating at the thought of these players all reaching their full potential at the same time. This could be the core of a devastating Twins line-up of the future. There are so many more levels of the minor leagues for these prospects to get through in the coming years so it is a little early to be planning on a trip to the 2016 World Series. The Twins allow their players to spend time developing in the minor leagues and these players won't be rushed to Target Field. Rosario was facing a logjam in the outfield so a shift to second base could make his path to the Twins a little easier. He will need to continue to hit like he did last year but the quick hands of Mr. Rosario should fit nicely into the Twins middle infield of the future.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XZ4BnqAdoiU/T2qVBaec3DI/AAAAAAAABJA/pTpDj5rw4fI/s320/ux4BUKbr.jpg In recent years the Twins have struggled to produce quality middle infielders who could succeed at the big league level. There has been a steady stream of infielders to man second base and shortstop for the Twins during the last two seasons but no one has stood out above the crowd. During this offseason, the organization decided to try to create their own middle infielder by moving Eddie Rosario, one of the team's top hitting prospects, from the outfield to the middle infield. Last season with Elizabethton was outstanding for Rosario as he showed some great promise with a breakout campaign. He would be named the player of the year in the Appalachian League by hitting .337/.397/.670 in 67 games for the E-Twins. This offensive explosion was unexpected from the 19-year old after he only hit five home runs and batted .294/.343/.438 in 2010 with the GCL Twins. The Twins saw an asset that was still relatively young and thought they still had time to transform him into a middle infielder before he moved through the rest of the minor leagues. During his couple of seasons in the minor leagues, Rosario showed that he was an athletic player who was able to do a lot in the outfield. The Twins have an extra supply of athletic outfielders that are working their way through the Twins system. Ben Revere broke out for the Twins last season but waiting in the wings are Joe Benson, Aaron Hicks, and Oswaldo Arcia. As Twins Fan From Afar wrote about in a post earlier this week, this surplus of outfielders could mean the Twins would be willing to deal an outfield prospect. It also means that the decision to give Rosario a chance to use his athletic ability at another position was something the Twins needed to explore. The word out of the Twins complex in Fort Myers is that Rosario is working with Hall of Famer Paul Molitor and former Twins manager Tom Kelly on his infield footwork. Since he had a good arm in the outfield, it shouldn't be hard for him to make the throws at second base. As the Twins witnessed with Tsuyoshi Nishioka last year, the footwork while turning a double play can be a challenge. Rosario will has yet to play in a full season league for the Twins so this will give him four levels of the minor leagues to try and master his new position. With Rosario transitioning to second base, the Twins are in position to develop quite the infield over the next couple of seasons. Miguel Sano, the team's number one prospect, plays third base at the same level as Rosario. The Twins number one draft pick from last June, Levi Michael, could be the shortstop between these two players in Beliot at the start of this season. Fans who follow the farm system of the Twins are salivating at the thought of these players all reaching their full potential at the same time. This could be the core of a devastating Twins line-up of the future. There are so many more levels of the minor leagues for these prospects to get through in the coming years so it is a little early to be planning on a trip to the 2016 World Series. The Twins allow their players to spend time developing in the minor leagues and these players won't be rushed to Target Field. Rosario was facing a logjam in the outfield so a shift to second base could make his path to the Twins a little easier. He will need to continue to hit like he did last year but the quick hands of Mr. Rosario should fit nicely into the Twins middle infield of the future.

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [ATTACH=CONFIG]404[/ATTACH] The biggest story of the week so far in regards to the Twins was the club abandoning their Japanese experiment by demoting Tsuyoshi Nishioka to Rochester for the start of the 2012 season. Going into last season the Twins thought Nishioka could be their starting shortstop for the foreseeable future and the team invested $14 million to bring him to the United States. This experiment turned out to be a disaster and the Twins had to make a decision as to what they should do with him as the beginning of the season was moving closer. Nishioka will undoubtedly be the highest paid player in the International League but he still might have to fight for playing time on his own team. Another player that could follow in the footsteps of Nishioka before the end of the spring is Drew Butera. During the past two seasons, Butera has served as the back-up catcher on the Twins squad but his role increased last year with all of the injuries to Joe Mauer. Butera has proven to be one of the worst hitters in the big leagues with his career batting line of .178/.220/.261 in 142 games. The Twins were not satisfied with this output and brought in Ryan Doumit to take over some of the catching duties if Mauer is forced off of the field again in 2012. Only a couple of seasons ago, Butera was a rookie and the Twins were in the midst of a tremendous first season at Target Field. The team only needed Butera to play in 43 games during the 2010 season and he seemed to work well with Carl Pavano during that campaign. His defense ability seemed to make up for his offensive troubles over the course of the year. There were only small doses of Butera and when the club is in the midst of a 94-win season, the fans and the front office will be more willing to accept a little ineptitude at the plate. The Twins did not find similar success as a team in 2011 and this made it much easier to pick out the weaknesses in a line-up full of reserve players. Butera continued to struggle at the plate as he hit .167/.210/.239 with 12 extra-base hits in 254 plate appearances. He was proving to be one of the worst hitters in the history of baseball and it didn't help that his defense also seemed to take a step back. It was a rough year for many players on the Twins roster and Butera's weaknesses stood out because of his increased playing time with Mauer on the sidelines. The front office of the Twins realized they needed to find some other possibilities, as the team got ready for the start of the 2012 campaign. One of the most intriguing names that a lot of fans have been following this spring is J.R. Towles. The 28-year old catcher came over to the Twins from the Astros organization after he failed to make a significant impact on their big league roster in the last five years. For his career in at the major league level, he batted .187/.267/.315 in 155 games. While those numbers might not look the greatest, it seems that anything would be better than what Butera put together. Towles also showed some decent hitting ability during his early years in the minors and he has been successful at the Triple-A level in the past. This would seem to set up a battle royale between these two catchers for the third catching spot on the Twins roster. It seems to have been a close race so far and that might not bode well for Mr. Towles. In 10 at-bats so far this spring, Butera has three hits with one double and two RBI. Towles has the same number of at-bats but he has managed one less hit. On the bright side, he does have a game-winning home run and a couple of RBI to his credit. These are both small sample sizes and the similar numbers most likely mean the Twins will be looking hard at each player's defense in the coming days. If I were a betting man, I would still put the odds more in favor of Butera being the player who comes north with the Twins at the beginning of next month. The Twins tend to show a small amount of loyalty to their players but this might be hard to do with the way Butera has performed on the field in the last two seasons. A hot start for Towles with Rochester could put the pressure on the Twins to call him up and he is just one mysterious Mauer injury from making it back to the big leagues.