Cody Christie

Sandlot 2 or Sandlot 3. Not sure why they wanted to re-make a good movie. Plus one of the re-makes follows the basic plot line from the original movie.

I would be scared to stand in against him if I were Morneau. Sounds like Liriano doesn't know where the ball is going.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q9yTJA0HubY/T0u2kqT2SdI/AAAAAAAABGo/0my5j4SyCow/s320/Dozier+Twins.jpg One of the Twins biggest offseason investments was in the form of 38-year old middle infielder Jamey Carroll. The versatile free agent was brought to the organization to help solidify a middle infield that waffled through a gargantuan amount of issues in 2011. He seems to get better with age and the Twins are hoping their two-year investment in the elder statesman can continue to lead to success from this player. Some look at Carroll as the stopgap to another middle infielder who is working his way through the minor league system of the Twins. Last season Brian Dozier found great success on the field in his time with the Miracle and the Rock Cats. In 2011, he led the Twins organization in runs scored (92) and triples (12) and was third in hits (157), stolen bases (24) and total bases (241). This performance led the Twins to honor him with the team's Minor League Player of the Year Award. Dozier is a former 8th round pick of the Twins back in 2009 and he has spent the last three seasons moving his way up to the Double-A level. Since he has never seen time at the Triple-A level, there is a good chance he will start the 2012 season in Rochester. But what happens if he gets off to a hot start with the Red Wings? How long would the Twins wait to call him up? In the middle of May, Dozier will turn 25 and this comes out of the fact that he was drafted out of college and this makes him a little older than some of the other top prospects for the Twins. Many of the other top prospects that he played with in New Britain have already made their debut with the Twins at the end of last year. Joe Benson and Chris Parmelee were both call-ups in September but they had each been in the Twins system for longer than Dozier and they were higher draft picks. Dozier started the 2011 campaign with Fort Myers and the situation was different for Benson and Parmelee. Benson played all of 2011 with the Rock Cats and Parmelee got a taste of New Britain in 2010 and ended up back there for all of 2011. Out of all of the players in the same draft as Dozier, none of them have made their debuts with the big league squad. Kyle Gibson, the team's first round pick from 2009, seemed like he was on his way to debuting in 2011 but an elbow injury kept him from reaching the MLB level. Chris Herrmann, the club's best catching prospect, has shown the organization a lot of positive things over the last three years but he might still be a year away from making it to Target Field. The organization was impressed with the way that Dozier handled himself in the Arizona Fall League at the beginning of this offseason. In 26 game for the Mesa Solar Sox, Dozier hit .296/.358/.454 with 27 runs scored and 11 extra-base hits. In an interview on 1500 ESPN on Monday, Paul Molitor talked about Dozier needing to work on his consistency and this could be one of the reasons the team decided that Dozier needed time in the AFL. If he can continue his patient approach at the plate, the consistency should follow him to the start of his big league career. In a farm system in desperate need for middle infielders, Dozier stands out as the one player most ready to make an impact for the Twins in 2012. In search of other middle infielders, the Twins have switched Eddie Rosario, one of the organization's top prospects, from outfield to second base. All of last season was spent in the Appalachian League with Elizabethton for Rosario so he still has multiple seasons before he could make it to the big leagues. This move might help the Twins with their long-term plans but right now Dozier is the one middle infield prospect who looks ready to become a major league player. How long will fans have to wait for this to happen? Only time will tell... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Original Post from http://nodaktwinsfan.com

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q9yTJA0HubY/T0u2kqT2SdI/AAAAAAAABGo/0my5j4SyCow/s320/Dozier+Twins.jpg One of the Twins biggest offseason investments was in the form of 38-year old middle infielder Jamey Carroll. The versatile free agent was brought to the organization to help solidify a middle infield that waffled through a gargantuan amount of issues in 2011. He seems to get better with age and the Twins are hoping their two-year investment in the elder statesman can continue to lead to success from this player. Some look at Carroll as the stopgap to another middle infielder who is working his way through the minor league system of the Twins. Last season Brian Dozier found great success on the field in his time with the Miracle and the Rock Cats. In 2011, he led the Twins organization in runs scored (92) and triples (12) and was third in hits (157), stolen bases (24) and total bases (241). This performance led the Twins to honor him with the team's Minor League Player of the Year Award. Dozier is a former 8th round pick of the Twins back in 2009 and he has spent the last three seasons moving his way up to the Double-A level. Since he has never seen time at the Triple-A level, there is a good chance he will start the 2012 season in Rochester. But what happens if he gets off to a hot start with the Red Wings? How long would the Twins wait to call him up? In the middle of May, Dozier will turn 25 and this comes out of the fact that he was drafted out of college and this makes him a little older than some of the other top prospects for the Twins. Many of the other top prospects that he played with in New Britain have already made their debut with the Twins at the end of last year. Joe Benson and Chris Parmelee were both call-ups in September but they had each been in the Twins system for longer than Dozier and they were higher draft picks. Dozier started the 2011 campaign with Fort Myers and the situation was different for Benson and Parmelee. Benson played all of 2011 with the Rock Cats and Parmelee got a taste of New Britain in 2010 and ended up back there for all of 2011. Out of all of the players in the same draft as Dozier, none of them have made their debuts with the big league squad. Kyle Gibson, the team's first round pick from 2009, seemed like he was on his way to debuting in 2011 but an elbow injury kept him from reaching the MLB level. Chris Herrmann, the club's best catching prospect, has shown the organization a lot of positive things over the last three years but he might still be a year away from making it to Target Field. The organization was impressed with the way that Dozier handled himself in the Arizona Fall League at the beginning of this offseason. In 26 game for the Mesa Solar Sox, Dozier hit .296/.358/.454 with 27 runs scored and 11 extra-base hits. In an interview on 1500 ESPN on Monday, Paul Molitor talked about Dozier needing to work on his consistency and this could be one of the reasons the team decided that Dozier needed time in the AFL. If he can continue his patient approach at the plate, the consistency should follow him to the start of his big league career. In a farm system in desperate need for middle infielders, Dozier stands out as the one player most ready to make an impact for the Twins in 2012. In search of other middle infielders, the Twins have switched Eddie Rosario, one of the organization's top prospects, from outfield to second base. All of last season was spent in the Appalachian League with Elizabethton for Rosario so he still has multiple seasons before he could make it to the big leagues. This move might help the Twins with their long-term plans but right now Dozier is the one middle infield prospect who looks ready to become a major league player. How long will fans have to wait for this to happen? Only time will tell... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Original Post from http://nodaktwinsfan.com

Maybe it is only the Nishioka part that I am scared of

According to Phil Mackey in practice today the Twins 2nd team infield was composed of 1B Mauer, 2B Dozier, SS Nishioka, 3B Burroughs. It's a long shot but is it scary to think the team could field this line-up of infielders at some point this season?

You're right. I looked at his Baseball Reference page really quick. My bad...

Reports out of spring training have speedster Ben Revere working on his bunting with Hall of Famer Rod Carew. If Revere can master the art of the bunt, he could be much more valuable. Any time he is on the bases, he is a threat to move around and score. Thoughts?

I was listening to the radio when he made the comment. I blew it off because he was basically saying that all Twins bloggers should be in the press box if they want to form an opinion about the organization. As bloggers, we don't know what is going on behind the scenes.

I was very excited when I saw these quotes about Gibson coming out. Hopefully everything continues to stay on track and he will be able to be ready for his debut in 2013.

The Twins took Jason Varitek with their first round pick in the 1993 MLB Draft (21st Pick) but he failed to sign with the team. The Red Sox went on to draft him the next year and he is forever etched in their club's history. Any thoughts on Varitek as he is set to retire?

Moneyball was shut out at the Oscar's last night but that's nothing new for baseball themed movies.

I think Oliveros is an intriguing candidate but I could see him starting the year and Rochester before getting a call-up

I agree with this that it should be interesting to see what Willingham does and judge from there. I feel like Hardy could have done whatever he wanted when he was at the plate but he wasn't healthy enough to make that big of an impact. It's hard to get into an offense rhythm when you aren't on the field.

I think Dozier is going to make it hard for the Twins to send him to Rochester

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ulWg3yFFHgg/T0qAasJmnII/AAAAAAAABGg/21V2xjLUogM/s320/ZumayaTwinsInjury.jpg Terry Ryan tried to make a move that he thought could be one of the important additions to the Twins prior to the start of the 2012 season. Joel Zumaya had been often injured since his rookie year in 2006 but the thought of a hard throwing right-handed pitcher was too much for the Twins to pass up. The honeymoon phase did not last long for Zumaya and the Twins as bad news came out of Ft. Myers over the weekend. The team had only been in spring training for a handful of days before Zumaya left the mound on Saturday with right elbow discomfort. An MRI on Sunday revealed the hard throwing righty has a torn ulnar collateral ligament and this type of injury usually results in Tommy John surgery. The recovery time from this injury is usually around 12-months so Zumaya's time with the Twins was over before it even really started. Before his injury, Zumaya offered hope to a bullpen that struggled to produce on the field last season. The thought of a healthy Zumaya in a seventh inning role leading up to Glen Perkins and Matt Capps was something fans could look forward to at Target Field. Now the Twins will be looking for a variety of right-handed options with little experience at the big league level to step up and produce on the big stage. There are a handful of familiar names that will now be fighting for a late inning role with the club. Anthony Swarzak and Alex Burnett saw time out of the bullpen last season with Swarzak also filling in as a started on 11 occasions. Burnett found some struggles in his 50.2 innings as he posted a 5.51 ERA with a 1.401 WHIP. Swarzak had some up and down moments but showed he could handle a long relief role and making the occasional spot start. There is a good chance that the organization will be looking to these players to prove they can handle some of the pressure of late inning situations. Lester Oliveros was one of the key pieces brought to the Twins as part of the Delmon Young trade and the rookie showed some positive signs in his limited action with the club. After dominating in the lower levels of the minor leagues, Oliveros found some sticking points in his travels to the MLB level. His marginal experience at the big league level is a strike against him and the club will surely take this into account when making a final decision on the bullpen. For the second year in a row, the Twins have a bunch of pitchers in camp in hopes of finding a few options that will be serviceable as bullpen arms. The team had to add Danny Rams, another catcher, to the big league camp in order to have enough men to catch the 33-pitchers with the club. Names like Jason Bulger, Casey Fien, Jeff Gray, and Esmerling Vasquez will be given every opportunity to show they belong as right-handed options for the 2012 Twins. Most of the available free-agent right-handed relief pitchers have been scooped up by this time of year as clubs were making their final additions before pitchers and catchers reported to spring training. MLB Trade Rumor lists five right-handed relief pitchers who are still on the market. This list includes Dany Baez, Jason Isringhausen, Sergio Miltre, Tony Pena, and Michael Wuertz. All of these options are bottom of the barrel relief arms but the Twins could take a flyer on Wuertz who is a Minnesota native and only a couple seasons removed from a career year in 2009. Overall, the Zumaya signing was a good move but luck didn't fall on the Twins side. Luckily for the Twins they are left with a big chunk of the rest of spring training to find out who will be able to fit into a right-handed relief role with the team. To some of the players mentioned above, this should be seen as a major opportunity to be part of the bullpen turnaround for the Twins. Let's hope some of them take the opportunity and run with it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Original Post from: http://nodaktwinsfan.com

Hopefully it is nothing major. The Twins need something to go right for the bullpen to be successful this year. the front office for the Twins seemed excited about what he could bring to the organization. It seems like history is repeating itself and Zumaya's history is hard to ignore. Fingers crossed for no bad news

I'm going to visit my grandparents in Arizona so I won't be seeing the Twins. I am planning on going to a Royals/Giants game as well as making a few other stops at practices for different teams. Maybe I will stop in and visit Cuddy with his new team.

When I heard about this yesterday it shocked me. It sounds like a very terrifying situation for a player to go through

Thanks for including me in the recommended posts!!

Working on his Mario fireball throwing skills.

Overall, I like how that line-up looks from 1-9 but it will be tough for all of those guys to pan out and make it to the MLB level. There are so many question marks when all most of the players are still multiple years away from appearing at Target Field.

These quotes are very scary. I hope they are just some frustration out of Morneau and that everything will turn out fine. He is in camp and hopefully he can get back into a rhythm with the club. Maybe this can all be a thing of the past but I doubt it at this point.

Well spring has sprung across the baseball world. Pitchers and catchers from MLB teams have reported for duty in Florida and Arizona. The position players for the Twins have also made their way to Ft. Myers and the team will begin full squad workouts in the coming days. It is a great time of year to be a fan of baseball. There is hope in the air and every team is on an even playing field. There can be surprises around every turn and no one knows who will take home the World Series Trophy at the end of the year. I got my season tickets delivered this week and I got to pick out seats for Opening Day at Target Field. The offseason is over and it is time to get the 2012 campaign underway. Enjoy this weeks version of "Friday Links-N-Thinks" with plenty of headlines coming out of camps at this early juncture of spring training. To correspond with the start of a new season, a brand new Twins mega-site was launched by the TwinsCentric crew. Make sure to bookmark Twins Daily as some of my work has already been featured on the site. A Minnesota Twins fan has made the top 30 finalists for the MLB Fan Cave. Lindsay Guentzel is headed to Arizona to see if she can make it to NYC for 2012. The Twins Armchair GM looked at the Keith Law's Top 50 prospects for the June Draft and how the Twins will fare with the number two pick. In preparation for the draft, Seth Stohs took a look back at the Twins draft history since 1987. NBC's Hardball Talk site gave Ron Gardenhire the quote of the day earlier this week. Over at Twins Rubes, they tackled the issue of who should start in CF for the Twins. After I posted the Rays terrifying new mascot in last weeks links, they have a promotional giveaway that might be just as scary. Twins Fan From Afar tries to decide what the Twins should do with Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Brian Dozier at the start of 2012. The Twins haven't had an All-Star left fielder since before I was born. Former Twins prospect Wilson Ramos showed up to Nationals camp with a new tattoo as a reminder of the horrific events surrounding his kidnapping in Venezuela. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-z2U8jAZbyLI/T0bE40f7RKI/AAAAAAAABGY/JKhzcfqxNSo/s320/RamosNewTatoo.jpg Everyone kind of already knew the Yankees didn't push themselves to win the division in 2010. They were content getting healthy and playing the Twins in the first round. Former Twins infielder Cristian Guzman found his way back into the AL Central. Prospect list continue to trickle out with Baseball America releasing their top 100. Miguel Sano is high on the list but who else joins him? Is there one postseason award the Twins could be favored for this year? Seedlings to Stars tried to make sense out of the new CBA and how it will impact the 2012 MLB Draft. Puckett's Pond posted about the players who are out of options for the Twins and there is a good chance that not all of them will make the team. My Weekly Rundown: Monday: Twins will use Nathan's blueprint for Zumaya Tuesday: Blackburn shooting for a bounce back season Wednesday: To block the plate or not to block the plate? Thursday: Twins headlines turned into Oscar movie plots: 2012 edition Video of the Week: As I mentioned before, Lindsay Guentzel is trying to be one of the fans selected to watch every MLB game this season from the comfort of the MLB Fan Cave. First she made the top 50 finalists and now she has qualified for the top 30. This means she is getting closer to representing Twins Territory on a big stage. Here is a look at her audition video: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Original Post from http//nodaktwinsfan.com