mikelink45

A catcher does not have to hit a lot to be valuable. I remember Del Crandall anchoring the Milwaukee Braves in the 1950s when they were a really good team, but he did hit 260s with a strong arm and a good behind the plate presence. Castro hitting in the 220s is way to low for my liking, especially on a three year contract. I hope we get Garver up and splitting time before the season is over.

I agree with you Seth, the changes in Bullpen use in the season have already happened with the KC demonstration that a set of relievers can save a team from a set of poor starters, but the use that Miller had in the Series is a playoff only situation. He was quoted in Sports Illustrated that he won't be used during the season like he was in post season because any reliever would burn out like that. What we need baseball to do is revise the SAVE RULE AGAIN because arbitration and salaries are based on that. Instead we need to see the save as the reliever who comes in with bases loaded and no outs and stops the bleeding right there (extreme case) regardless of the inning. I am still sorry to see Jay in relief and I read into this that the Twins are still committed to the old guard filling the rotation so the bullpen is the only option.

I would like to believe the Twins will start cutting on the balance of talent expressed and future potential and not just keep a guy like Haley because we invested what in baseball is a pittance for rule 5. Tonkin is in a rut and I cannot see change coming. I was critical with how long it took to bring him up and try him out, now I might be critical of a decision to wait too long. If Molitor likes WImmers let him be the player in the bullpen. We have Burdi, Reed, Chargois, Jay...in the minors, its a good time to start auditions. Get rid of Haley and Tonkin and use this position for the future and hopefully add Breslow to the cuts too. I would like to see Duffey, Mejia, and Berrios rotate starts and relief and see if we can get one to step up and better yet - all three.

We have had a lot of disappointments - Berrios adjustment, Tonkin adjustment, Duffey developing a third pitch (adjustment), Chargois adjustment - so where are the coaches that are coaching, helping the players adjust? Talent needs nurturing and development. I believe that is the role of the numerous coaches. Without that positive adjusting I would let Tonkin move on, I would let Mejia and Duffey rotate long relief and starting and hope that we get some trades and action that will let Berrios move into the rotation again.

Like the Twins, the Sox have to be hoping that the prospects develop into players. That is not a sure thing, but they got variety of players in the field and on the mound and seem to have a plan in play. Right now the Twins have half a plan - bats.

Did Souhan forget that we brought in old players on the ST roster, and in the FO to provide leadership. That discussion should be about Dozier Mauer being leaders not a 23 year old. If he is having fun maybe it is a sign he is relaxing and fitting in. As far as the phone, I was just on my porch with three seniors (and I am a senior) and all three of them had their phones in their hands, forget that criticism. Let ST play out and see what happens when it counts and he is playing the position he has always played instead of OF roulette.

Lets play for the future. If we have an idea of where 2018 might be we should start working players into that system. Dozier, Polanco, Buxton in the top three is great potential and I would love them to stick with it for at least two months to see if it will work. Mauer is not a 4/5 batter - Park, Sano fit better and I would not worry about their batting sides. Use them there. If Sano fails, move him down, not out. The end of the lineup is really interesting. Mauer, Rosario, Kepler, Castro could bat anywhere from 6 - 9, but I like Rosario or Kepler as an on base option for Doziers subsequent at bats. Remember that the first batter could potentially be lead off only in the first inning. I would have put Mauer and his OBP there, but I know they could never consider putting him 9 so I would take six, Castro 7 and Kepler/Rosario 8 and 9.

I am not happy with the composition of the bullpen. Haley does not impress, Wimmers is a schock, hopefully Kintzler does not have a Jepsen second year, and Pressly is not as consistent as I would like. You are probably right, but it is not a pen I really like.

Let's hope. His development is slower than fans would like, but not unreasonable for most MLB players. Only a few, like Trout, can turn it around so fast at such a high level, and I know we all hoped that Buxton might be at that level. I continue to hope that he will be on the Willie Mays track. Here are the stats for Mays first two years: Willie Mays Batting Stats for Years 1951 to 1952 Year Tm PA G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+ TB GDP HBP SH 1951-1952 NYG 667 155 591 76 157 24 9 24 91 11 5 73 77 .266 .349 .459 .808 116 271 13 3 1 That is Willie Mays - .266 average for two years. 274 his rookie year and 236 his sophomore season.

I felt that there were comments all Spring that hinted at the Berrios demotion. It would have been nice to see him get one ST start first, but more and more I feel like Berrios needs to go somewhere else. Let another team straighten out whatever is keeping him from prospering. I do not have faith that the Twins no how to do it.

The screwball used to be more common. A quick search brought up this list - Carl Hubbell. Cy Blanton. Luis Arroyo. Jack Baldschun. Bobby Castillo (taught the pitch to Valenzuela) Mike Cuellar. Warren Spahn (in the second half of his career) Not bad! If he can throw it well it is a real weapon. Good article on Hector and the pitch - http://ftw.usatoday.com/2016/03/hector-santiago-los-angeles-angels-screwball-fip-era-outlier-mlb Now if someone can bring back the Forkball that let Elroy Face go 18 - 1 as a reliever for the Pirates! http://articles.latimes.com/1989-08-13/sports/sp-694_1_elroy-face

My comment does not diminish what they want from Santiago, to me it is a question of which pitchers are more important to perform in front of the eyes of management, a vet they know or young players that are important for the future. Do not forget that Gibson is now a veteran. In both age and years of service he is not a young prospect any more. He is now beginning his fifth year in the rotation 32 - 38 with a 4.59 ERA at age 29 with an accumulated WAR of 5.

I love speed on a team - there is a reason everyone wanted Rickey Henderson on their team despite his hotdog antics. Speed disrupts the other team - both pitching and defense so wherever Buxton hits I hope he is not faced with a slow runner on base in front of him any more than is necessary. This lineup is fine except that Mauer does not do well in leading off despite the fact that his OBP would put him there. I think he has to see the pitcher for a couple batters before he is comfortable stepping in the box.

Here is a site that may help you answer your question, but first a quote from the site about someone we saw in Florida this spring: "Nothing about Vogelsong's career follows convention. From 2000-06, the pitcher struggled to a 5.86 ERA while bouncing between the rotation and bullpen for the Giants and Pirates. Vogelsong then headed to Japan to pitch for the Orix Buffaloes and Hanshin Tigers from 2007-09. While he pitched a little better abroad, posting a 4.17 ERA in the NPB, it wasn't as if he absolutely dominated the competition. And yet, here we are. After returning to the States to pitch for the Phillies' Triple-A affiliate in 2010, Vogelsong has been a cog in the Giants rotation. Since 2011, he's gone 39-35 with a 3.74 ERA, collecting two World Series titles and an All-Star appearance along the way. I know, it doesn't make any sense to me either. Life's weird." http://m.mlb.com/cutfour/2014/11/08/100650148/15-mlb-players-took-talents-japan-npb You might also enjoy reading this history of American Expats in the Japanese leagues: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_expatriate_baseball_players_in_Japan

My old mantra - we need a coaching staff that knows how to get players over the hump from great in the minors to at least productive in the Majors. We are wasting talent and the repetition of these events is a solid condemnation of the process. I also have a difficult time seeing Santiago going as the MLB starter and the two promising young pitchers going AAA and AA games. We know Santiago. He can stretch out versus the MIBL players as well as MLB. What does Paul have to see? Shouldn't he want to see the progress and potential of the young pitchers? Chargois does not bother me when I look at his performance, but I have to question the pitching coach and staff who did not help him progress during the ST season when players are supposed to be learning, developing...

I would hate to be in his position. What a maze he is trying to get through. He has some talent and he has some big flaws, I hope that this focuses him on those flaws. I think he should go to one of the Asian leagues because the majors seems to fall in love with the players after they batter Korean League pitchers. Good luck to him, it would be great to see him prove the teams wrong and he would not be the first to do so.

If the FO gets a plan that we can see and feel comfortable with. If the coaching staff figures out what everyone is supposed to do and communicates well with the players. If we are going to convert any more young starters to relievers or let them take the place of the old guys who are just place holders. If we can keep what fans are left.

I will look and see. I read it in the actual magazine. It is not on the webpage - it was in the text in their MLB team by team break down and was written by an unidentified scout. I was surprises. On their web page where they give the Twins a grade of D as their final winter report they reverse that by saying: "Minnesota got better at catcher (Jason Castro is an outstanding pitch framer), which could help lift an uninspiring rotation, but few of the players signed since we took an in-depth look at their off-season moves figure to do much to help the club improve on last year's 103-loss season." I have scanned the article - but they want a url for an image so here is what they said, "They gave Jason Castro a lot of money to their front-line guy. They had a good degensive catcher in Kurt Suzuki and let him walk. I would rather have Suzuki than Castro."

I wish you convinced me, but you did not. Call me the pitch framing skeptic - have you read the scouts report in Sports Illustrated - calling Suzuki a much better catcher? Play with stats all you want, Castro is okay, Santiago is a filler and neither are going to move the Twins up the standing - the only things we have going for us is that the White Sox are writing off this season, KC is going downhill, the Tigers only need a couple pulled muscles in their old crew!

Now this is the ultimate Spring Training optimism. We are undefeated until we lose. So we pencil in Hughes best - 18 wins, Gibson 13, Santana 16. and Santiago 13. Not bad. Wish I could believe in their past and not their present and also knew where the other wins would come from. So as the Grinch of 17 I can only hope I am wrong and you are right.

That is my concern too. I have been a big fan of his, but something is setting him back and I fear it might be mental more than physical because he has shown the tools. Who do we have that can really help him get past this obstacle?

Thanks for bringing this topic to the page. I would like to shift it slightly to the Twins. My biggest gripe with the "new" Twins approach is the lack of diversity in the FO and the Coaching ranks. I believe people make racist remarks without thinking that what they say is racist because it echoes the comments of their contemporaries, but when we use terms that misrepresent another culture and consequently demean them because they do something that the speakers culture does not do - that is racism. Different cultures celebrate in different ways which is why I travel and have spent time in numerous other countries, not in hotels, but in the countryside with the native people. We need coaches who not only understand temperament, but have the ability to convey things to others who misunderstand. World competition has helped us to sort out some of the racism, but in other ways has also highlighted it. I recommend the movie Pele and also the movie Race about Jesse Owens and also 42. There are more movies and more books, but we have to confront the judgmental statements and the racial overtones that are part of them. Many racial statements come from people in the majority race and they fail to see the implications. Take the American Indian. The book Undefeated by Steve Sheinkin about Jim Thorpe and the racism that the Carlisle Indians faced. How may American Indians in Baseball were called "Chief"? Or the book Hank Greenberg: The Hero of Heroes: John Rosengren and the antisemitism that abounded. It is uncomfortable, but real and it is a topic we need to confront. To a certain extent the WBC was a microcosm of this. It was terrible downplayed in the press, but not in other countries. It allowed players to play the way they like with people that understood them and then we get ridiculous statements from people like Kinsler. It is also one other thing, it is the continuation of the baseball unwritten rules - perhaps the stupidest set of rules every conceived, about what is right in the oppositions mind, whether it is legal or not. Thanks for the chance to express my thoughts.

This is not the pitching staff that moves us forward. We have discussed the rotation throughout the spring and the winter and it just does not make sense. Haley should go, Rule 5 players seldom make it - I wonder how many are still on the drafting teams right now - and Haley had a chance and did not grab it. Breslow is a mystery. New angle, new wishes, still a marginal, at best, performer. Chargois is the biggest spring disappointment, he has definitely not performed well and like Haley this was his chance to move up the list. Hughes has not looked good, despite all the he looked good despite giving up three home runs comments that are more hopeful than factual and his last outing did nothing to erase the memory of his previous one. The rotation can have everyone reach their best and still be in the lower third of rotations. I suspect that Berrios will go down which I am very sorry about, but he has not grabbed the opportunity. His line in the WBC Berrios, J PUR 1 0 5.40 1 1 0 5.0 2 3 3 2 1 6 0.60 does not give him a good argument. At least 5.40 is a better ERA than his major league total to date. On the other hand Santiago looks good Santiago, H PUR 1 0 2.08 3 0 0 8.2 9 4 2 0 5 9 1.62 until to look at his WHIP which is a full 1.02 more than Berrios. https://www.worldbaseballclassic.com/stats/

I would like to see him and Garver get a chance to prove themselves. The Twins seem to be quite set with their recent acquisitions.

What is really the most important point in this discussion is how many we can come up and not hurt the chances of our 103 loss team going forward. Boshers, Tonkins, Santana, Murphy...we have an abundance of potential drops and the future will not be harmed. I have not even listed half the potential cuts. I just hope this gets harder in the future.