mikelink45

This is one position I have no issue with. I did not like the way that they dealt with Pinto in the past, but right now he is not an option and no one else is ready. I assume Suzuki is a place holder and eventually one of the minor league catchers will emerge - just not this year.

We have waited four years to see our prospects and this year we are starting to see why the wait was worth it. Trade vets - Suzuki, Pelfrey, Millone, Mauer, Plouffe, but not the prospects. Lets bring more up. The bullpen is a mess, but can't we start rotating minor-leaguers in there? I agree with the writer who says we cannot compete with the St Louis level of team yet and that is where we want to get. Going back to one and out should not be our playoff goal.

Having seen Tonkin struggle for two years of up and down, I am trying to understand why so many see him as a good relief pitcher. I wonder why we keep going to him and not experimenting with some of the others who are also getting good minor league stats. Stauffer was just a mistake and I am pleased that they are moving on. Now the question mark for me is why Duensing continues to get used and is not subject to the same criticism. He has under performed all year. Finally, it is time to scrutinize Boyer - hope for the best to continue, but his recent outings have shown some bad signs.

You can write about any Twin and Mauer will show up. We still have him for a few years and what can we do about it? Drop him to 7/8 in the line up? Plouffe has put himself in the line for a long time too and deserves it, but he is a number 6 hitter. What is our problem getting the transition from minor to major leagues? We have Arcia, Vargas, Sano, Walker if we want power, but the question is - how do we get them to produce their minor league numbers in a major league line up? This article got me thinking about Mauer's contract - when it is up who will sign him? Is he near the end? The Twins cannot cut the contract to his true value so they have to drop him and then - will anyone be interested? Such a shame - from HOF candidate to a sorespot on the roster.

If Rosario can make the adjustment and if Buxton is the player we have all anticipated I would bring him up - give him a few at bats - send him down if needed. Polanco comes up twice for quick shots at the majors, can't we give Byron a small taste too?

Maybe he is one of those players who peaked early and we now have a career of average Joe

Our trades have not been great over the year, but if we truly have log jams of quality trades can be a key to success. The A's are down right now, but over the last decade or two they have shown how to trade high value players and leverage players who were ready to compete. We need to open space, bring up new players from the minors and then we will need to replace them so that the next wave gets put in place.

Now is good. I would have taken Hicks over Rosario, but on the other hand it this is just a two week call up for Arcia then it would be a great time to give Buxton a look at the majors and if he is ready they will not be able to send him down when the time comes.

Let's call up a new GM! The idea of filling the roster with nice safe guys is getting old. Hicks should get the Rosario call up and see if the lessons are in place, Beresford should get a seat on the MLB bench, Olivaros should be in the pen and in June we should see Buxton. Let's get a GM who is willing to make some moves that feature youth.

All the arguments over journeyman miss the real story line. In today's world we call them replacement players - the ones that score zero. They fill the places and are neither positive or negative. Plouffe is a replacement player and has value as that. He is not a journeyman, a star, an all-star, but he is good and he has a place.

It is true that they are young and the pitchers are older, but the really good ones get to the bigs when they are young and I am having a difficult time finding a record of Twins getting young players to the majors and seeing them take off and succeed. Beyond the Box Score had an article why has MLB been getting younger. Could be an anamoly but the Mike Trout, Bryce Harper, George Springer examples are starting to become more prevalent than in the days when Griffey jr. surprised everyone. In Baseball prospectus an article called Overthinking it states: Grant promotions too early or too often, and they risk jeopardizing his future by burying him on the bench or subjecting him to the mental and physical rigors of major-league life before he’s equipped to handle them. Delay advancement too long, and they threaten to sabotage his development in a different way, blunting his talents against inferior competition while more expensive players with shorter shelf lives take up space on the big-league roster. After some good graphs we get this eye-opening statement: As expected, the Twins led the pack in being slow to the bigs. Twins position-player call-ups accumulated an average of 2617 minor-league PA before making it to the Metrodome, roughly 200 more than the next-highest organization (the Angels) and a full season’s worth of action above average. For all of us who think the wait has been too long, this says a lot. Trying to remember that these reports are about a lot more than Buxton and Sano there are a lot of things to think about - like new management (not manager) at the top.

I think we have a real development problem with the Twins. We have the number 1 rated minor leagues and have had for a few years. Yes Buxton and Sano were hurt last year - we they the only reason we were number 1? Where are the break out guys. Arcia has moments, Santana has moments, Vargas has a September, Gibson is on and off, May - we hope will be good. But we have problems in starting, relieving, fielding, hitting - see the stats, Mauer leads with 269 and most would love to reach the Mendoza line. We have a bad outfield, our SS is the subject of this concern...We have had 4 terrible years and still nothing exciting. Houston blew it up, Cubs blew it up and they are hoping to rise, we brought in players like we only needed a patch and where are we and what is our hope?

Hicks is the only answer. So what if he failed the last two years - it is not the first time that has happened to a player. Get him in there and let him play center and bat 9th. Of course with the Twins batting averages - we have Mauer as our leading hitter with a .269 average (ESPN stats) Trevor Plouffe and Hunter .234. Suzuki .216 and the rest 200 or less and we are worried that Hicks might not hit when he gets up here! Anyone that can catch a ball would be refreshing. Hicks is batting 250. (Rochester website) Of course there is Pinto who is batting 314 And do not trade. We want Buxton up by July and anyone TR trades for stays and blocks - see the pitching staff.

Okay the Twins have had some success on the homestand, but please make us happier and start the transition. The minor league bullpen pitchers look ready, the major league - not so much. Lets start there.

I suspect he did, but is the bench the way to motivate Arcia? I do not know anything about him, but his talent has not evolved in the Majors and I put that on the coaches and the team. Figure it out. If you have a valuable employee help him reach his potential.

I keep talking about the Twins business model as well as their antiquated baseball strategy. Letting young players wear out in the minors instead of the majors makes no sense unless you are like the Yankees of old and just keep hoisting World Series Cups on to your shelf. But a bad team? However, it is a fact that MLB is a business and as such paying attention to fans in general and your most loyal in particular is important. I say bring up a minor league stud every homestand - make it exciting - see if you can fill some seats and maybe win some games. Do they want the best ball park to be an empty ball park?

Play Arcia - If Rosario beats him out fine, but not Shane Robinson and Schaffer and Nunez and Escobar. Give him confidence. Remember the old story about Mays going 0 for 24 (I think my memory is right on that) and Durocher told him he was the CF and he would stay in the lineup. He gave him both the chance and the confidence. Instead of grumbling about his attitude lets help him get a good attitude and help the line up too.

Sano and Buxton strike outs validate their being sent down. I hope this straightens out fast.

My biggest issue is the fact that we are a losing team, but we continue to backfill like we have a few holes and we can compete while the message from the organization has been (year 5 now) look at all we have in the minors. The Twins attendance has floundered. They depend on a lot more ticket buyers than those of us who read and respond to blogs, but they do not use their 20 - 25 roster spots to appeal to those who want to see the great minor leaguers in the major leagues. This is pure business public relations misses and sports are business. Even if the players come up, go back down, and have some lumps in the majors it is better than putting our a product where the response is boredom.

Nice list - levity is a good thing and if the Twins have a great weekend we will all be happier.

This is wonderful. It keeps me Twin focused even when the MLB club leaves me bewildered. Thanks. Lookout - they're coming

Sorry, but there is no place to misplace a concern on the team at this point.

All we can do is use TD to express our frustration with this 90 loss team keeping the blue chips in the minors when other teams demonstrate the ability to get their young players up while they are still young.

I would say that this combined roster would be my choice in any series with the current Twins major league team. In fact the AA team by itself would push the major league team. How many years now have the prospects been touted - they sure seem to be hear. By the end of the year I certainly hope we can stop saying they are on their way and say - they are hear. Look at Houston. The went in the tank and came back out of it during the time we have managed to stay a bottom feeder.

It looks like there is plenty of room for Sano to make a quick trip up here if not to the Twins. The infield look very weak, but it appears that we are in good shape in the majors there. Might need to trade pitching staffs with MN.