Steve Lein

I hated this paragraph the most: "The Twins see value in Correia making at least 26 starts in each of the previous four seasons. They feel he was on his way to 190-plus innings last season when the Pirates dealt for Wandy Rodriguez for the stretch drive and bumped Correia to the bullpen. To them, $5 million a year for a back of a rotation guy is reasonable." While I agree $5 million a year is reasonable for a back of the rotation guy, when you consider the production Correia gave Pittsburgh each of those 4 seasons, it's laughable. This is the same type of production the Twins got out of Sam Deduno, Cole Devries, P.J. Walters, and Liam Hendriks last year. But also, if $5 Mil a year is reasonable for a Correia, how in H-E-Double-Hockey-Stick is $7.5 MIL not for a McCarthy/Saunders/Marcum. When, you know, they might actually be something more than a back of the rotation guy. Baffling... And finally: "they are not going to pay what they think is too much for average pitching." Yet, as we seem to agree, they'll overpay for below-average pitching.

You know, you're probably right. I'm discrediting Cuddy a bit, which I'm not trying to. I don't think he's top 10 (playing with the baggy in the Metrodome helped give him a reputation), but I imagine he'd be in the conversation. So lets put him up there about even with Hicks, at 70. I probably discredit Revere a bit too in "speed", quick may be better than fast. (I'm a really big fan of Hicks defense, since you noticed) There are still questions about Hicks bat. Average doesn't stand out, still lots of K's (3rd in ESL in 2012). I don't think the defensive profile was ever questioned. But that's why 4th OF's are often defensive wunderkinds with not much of a bat. Still have to have one of those to be a top prospect, and on its own will get you a helluva lot further (See Sano, Miguel).

What ScottyB said. Many teams wanted to draft Hicks as a pitcher and he threw mid-nineties as well. And from what I'm recalling from predraft discussions about Hicks' and Buxton's pitching leading up to their respective drafts, Hicks would have been considered the better pitcher.

These are how I'd rate the guys you mention: -Cuddyer's Arm Strength: 60/65. Definitely above average, but not on Hick's level. -Revere's Speed: I'd have to think he's at least a 70/75. In my opinion, he's more "quick" than "fast", which is not to say he doesn't have elite level speed, it's just that I've seen a lot of people say Hick's would beat him over distance. -Thome's Power: Definitely an 80. Sano's the first prospect Twins have had that I can remember even being mentioned in 80 raw power territory. Willingham is about a 60/65. -Casilla's defense: 60. He showed the talent of a better defender, but the inconsistency hurt him a lot. -Hunter's defense: Based on his 9 Gold Gloves, he's an 80. But I honestly believe Hick's has a better overall package, better speed, bigger arm. It's hard to touch Hunter's instincts though.

They're probably all "for real" shortstops, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are blue-chip prospects in a defensive capacity, either. Not as good as Escobar/Florimon, probably a bit better than Dozier. I have the most hope for Goodrum overall, he's looked the part when I've seen him, though he could use some bulking up.

If you're interested in stuff like this, I highly recommend subscribing to sites such as Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus (there are many others as well). Keith Law often has scouting reports with values on the scouting scale if you're an ESPN Insider too. John Sickels at MinorLeagueBall is one of my favorite prospect guys. In my experience, it's actually pretty hard to find the scouting scale numbers on tools for players in a "free" capacity. Just for fun, here’s how I'd rate some of the Twins prospects best tools (with the 20-80 scale values being future MLB potential) based on what I think I know and read: Hitting: Oswaldo Arcia, 65. Eddie Rosario, 65. Power: Miguel Sano, 80 (best power prospect in Minors, like Giancarlo Stanton of a few years ago) Speed: Byron Buxton, 80 (Seen it said he's fastest RH-hitter down 1B-line since Bo Jackson) Defense (OF): Aaron Hicks, 70 Defense (IF): Danny Santana, 60 (probably others to consider here) Arm Strength (OF): Aaron Hicks, 70/75 Arm Strength (IF): Sano, 70/75 (Also has a cannon, which is why I see him in RF if 3B doesn't work out, and not 1B. But that's also assuming his body doesn't outgrow his athleticism).

Hate that they had to deal one of my favorite's in Denard Span, but I'm glad he went to a team with colors where I can still get away with wearing my "Let's Get Denarded" T-shirt, and oh, I love the trade for 2 reasons. 1) Twins were never going to spend the money on pitching or deal the prospects that they needed to in order to right the ship in 1 year, and 2) This is the exact type of pitcher (even if it's only "potential" at this point) they need to acquire, one with top of the rotation stuff. If you wanted pitching that would contribute this year, you weren't going to get a top of the rotation guy for Span. You were going to get a #3 ceiling pitcher. Personally, I think the Twins have plenty of #3-#5 type's already. It would have taken Span+one of their top prospects, and probably another MLB-er to get a #1 or #2, and whatever money they had to pay him. Meyer has risk, but he's got everything else the Twins currently don't in a pitcher. This is a good thing. As a final note, I don't think it's out of the question for a 23-year-old pitcher with his stuff to move quickly through the minors if he's on. Let's hope he's on.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. Doesn't matter how fast you are when you only hit a ball further than 300 feet when there's a blue moon, if we're talking triples. Revere had 20 extra base hits total this year between AAA and MLB, and has only had over 20 XBH's in a season once in his career, at Beloit in 2008 when he hit everything thrown at him. You should be applying this statement to Hicks, who actually can and does hit the ball into gaps, and some say he's faster than Revere over distance (like going 1st to 3rd, and long runs after fly balls in the OF). And this is coming from a guy who is a big fan of Revere as well, but as you said, he has his limitations.

I love Kepler as a prospect. I've seen him a few times now, and this year compared to last was a big jump in on-the-field production. At Spring Training this year he was playing games with the Beloit squad, and he was their best in-game hitter bar none in the 4 games I watched. I was actually flabbergasted after seeing what he did with them for that week that he wasn't on that team at all this year. Can say he's the first prospect where seeing him in-person bumped the opinion I had formed from reading/researching/etc... considerably upward, especially in the hitting department. Another guy who needs to skip a level after playing the same league 2 years in a row is Nate Roberts. Why they made him repeat Low-A this year is beyond me, plus, he's already 23. Might have set a record for runs scored if he'd played a full schedule with Sano, Vargas, et. al. hitting behind him.

As for reasons Hicks repeated low-A at Beloit: He didn't start playing there in 2009 until halfway through the season (67 games total), was in Florida for Extended Spring Training. I chalk it up to wanting to give him a full year on the circuit in 2010.

I'm like Shane, I think Hicks only fell to #3 on my prospect list at the beginning of this year (He was #1 the 2 years prior). He's a guy where when you see him amongst all his teammates, you'd have a really hard time saying someone else looked more athletic. Then there's his CF defense, which you can't dismiss (Dirty Little Secret: He covers even more ground in CF than Ben Revere can). What I saw in his hitting numbers as he "struggled" was a guy who would put it all together if he just swung the bat more often, which I think he did this year. Also not mentioned, was the increased havoc he brought to the basepaths this year. He had 60 SB in his first 4 seasons combined, swiping them at a 65% success rate. This year he swiped 32, at a 74% success rate. Best thing development-wise this year was seeing his drastic Lefty-Righty splits disappear completely, and he was actually better from the left side than right (.282 from left, .277 from right), though he still shows more power when batting righty.

and FYI - Buxton was also named the Appalachian League top prospect: http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/rankings/league-top-20-prospects/2012/2614085.html

You just explained it yourself. Revere isn't worth nearly as much as Span in a trade. If you want good pitching in a trade, you have to give something of good value up too.

Since he was brought up I've been telling people who keep saying they want to see a higher OBP from Revere, that it's just not going to happen because he's too good at making contact when he swings. He does function like a leadoff hitter in the sense that he'll look at a pitch or two before getting serious about taking a cut, but when he does, he's going to hit it somewhere in play. Take for instance these stats: Ball-In-Play %, and 5 or more pitch Plate Appearances. Revere: 86.1%, and 119 in 489 PA's (24.3%). Span: 80.3%, and 172 in 507 PA's (33.9%). Mauer: 72.7%, and 219 in 572 PA's (38.3%). I'm not going to fault a guy for hitting the ball too much, but it is who he is. His OBP will always be a function of his batting average, and to want a bigger OBP-split you have to somehow change the type of hitter he is or put strict limits on him, as you suggest.

^ This.

Sano was "arguably" the best power hitter in the Midwest League?! Heh, I don't think there's an argument to be made for anyone else!

Brock, I advise you to look at photo's of Puckett from 1991, they're not any different... As for the hits argument, yes a poor stat, but basic indicator of differences as hitters. It's almost apples to oranges despite similar OPS's, which you prove here: ...And Lofton is the one 70's HR behind. Fact is, despite his place on WAR lists, Kenny isn't close to a slam dunk to make the HoF, yet we've already agreed Kirby is unquestionably worthy. I'd say that means they're not as comparable as you're saying outside being CF's.

Lofton began his MLB career at age 24, just like Puckett did, but unlike Puckett, he got to play until he was 40. Lofton's career hit total? 2428. less than a season's worth of more hits than Puckett. They aren't comparable players to me as hitters, Puckett was far more durable and routinely put up 200+ hit seasons (5/12) as a #3 hitter, Lofton did it once in his career (1/17) as a leadoff man. Very poor comp, in my opinion.

Well let's do some math, he ended his career 696 hits short. In his age 33-35 seasons he hit .307. Say he regressed down to .300 after that, if he got the average amount of AB's each season after that based on those years (which is 533), he'd average 160 hits a season. 696/160 = 4.35 seasons. Considering he averaged 134 games played in those seasons (before that he never played less than 146 except his rookie season), I'd wager that's a conservative estimate. He was still a great hitter when his career was abruptly stopped, so yes, I'd say he easily got there considering players routinely played to age 40 and beyond in that era. Hell, Puckett was a better career hitter than Paul Molitor, and Molitor posted .330+ averages more often than not after age 35. By OPS, Puckett's age 35 season was his 5th best ever and trailed his top mark by only .026 points. He wasn't turning into some scrub as a hitter like you seem to be suggesting. Was he a great fielder anymore? No, but that wasn't affecting his batting.

I think that was "Baseball Stars" where you could create and develop a player. Don't quote me on that - it has been a long time. The original R.B.I. was MLB players only and with a few franchise teams and the NL and AL All-Star Squads. Yep, I have Baseball Stars 1 and 2 for my NES (1 is better than 2). Game was light years ahead of it's time, and is still my favorite baseball game of all time. But no, Baseball Stars didn't have a code, it was battery backup saved, had to go to a special "Quit game" menu to save correctly. Then you hope the battery lasts until the next time you play!

Ugh. I disagree with this so hard. (the only way I'd give you a pass for saying this is if you are on the lower end of your 20's or even younger than that, you just wouldn't know any better) 10 consecutive All Star appearances, top 7 in MVP voting 7 times, 6 Gold Gloves, 6 Silver Slugger Awards... If his career hadn't got cut short, he'd have easily reached 3,000+ hits (keep in mind, only 28 players in baseball history have done that), and in fact would have been one of the quickest players ever to reach that mark, as he was the second fastest ever to 2,000 hits. Sporting News named him one of the greatest 100 baseball players of all-time (#86, there are 207 players in the Hall of Fame) He was signed to an at the time largest contract in MLB history in 1989. He was the original Twins HR robbing CF. His personality was the icing on the cake, not the other way around. I'm ashamed by this and feel your Twins fandom should be revoked. (his post career issues are another story, but not his on-field performance or impact on the game of baseball as a whole)

Like the list, though I'd have Benson in there somewhere over Vargas. Ya, he put up some big numbers in a short sample, but he's a DH. I also like the optimism about Sano sticking at 3B. I really really really hope that can happen, but I'd bet $$ he's in RF when he debuts with the Twins.

(apologies in advance for the long comment, I've been on the Slama Bandwagon for years) Some career AAA numbers of current Bullpen arms for the Twins and others given the opportunity Slama has not: Player A: 198.2 IP, 219 hits allowed, 101 BB's, 1.435 WHIP, 142 K's, 3.94 ERA. Player B: 254 IP, 290 hits allowed, 78 BB's, 1.449 WHIP, 186 K's, 3.97 ERA. Player C: 205.2 IP, 186 hits allowed, 54 BB's, 1.167 WHIP, 193 K's, 3.46 ERA. Player D: 33.2 IP, 32 hits allowed, 15 BB's, 1.396 WHIP, 39 K's, 4.01 ERA. Player E: 23.1 IP, 31 hits allowed, 9 BB's, 1.714 WHIP, 21 K's, 5.79 ERA. Player F: 201.2 IP, 208 hits allowed, 51 BB's, 1.284 WHIP, 120 K's, 3.21 ERA. Player G: 188 IP, 192 hits allowed, 87 BB's, 1.484 WHIP, 126 K's, 4.07 ERA. Now, you might look at those numbers and say, okay, a few of them maybe are/were worth a look. But keep in mind, these are all RELIEF PITCHERS. None of those numbers are dominant. Not a single one with an ERA below 3.00, and only one who has managed to strikeout more than 1 batter per inning. Now of course, I give you the same career AAA line for Anthony Slama: 154.1 IP, 105 hits allowed, 74 BB's, 1.160 WHIP, 191 K's, 2.27 ERA. This isn't rocket science, the guy deserves a chance. I understand fully that he doesn't have the "stuff" that maybe some of those other guys above do (A through G: Jeff Gray, Jeff Manship, Casey Fien, Tyler Robertson, Alex Burnett, Kyle Waldrop, Luis Perdomo) and he walks quite a few (but is actually not worse than a few of those guys either in that regard), but do you want outs, or "stuff"?! Is he the second coming of Pat Neshek? Probably not. Is he a shoe-in for MLB success? I wouldn't go that far either, but there's gotta be room for him on a team this bad.

Tommy John surgery is a pretty big reason to temper expectations (which is what I'm doing, it's not that I'm "down" on him), and like I said, if he gets back to his 2010 form...

Gibson, Berrios. I need to see some success from Berrios above the Rookie Leagues before I start projecting him anywhere, so I disagree (for now) on that one. If Gibson returns to his 2010 form, I'll agree with that, but that's not going to happen this year, or likely next year, while they limit him coming back from surgery. So basically that means we have 1 guy who might be a #2 when he gets to the majors in the entire system right now. That's the best we have, which quite frankly, is pathetic. And exactly "ditto" to Mike Wants Wins 5 points and everything else he says above. The only place the Twins are ever going to get high-end pitching is in the draft. Since that's the case, they have to draft it.