Steve Lein

It wasn't just 93-95 MPH fastballs and 88 MPH sliders in 2006, it was at times 95-98 MPH fastballs with movement and 90+ MPH absolutely unhittable sliders. That season was one of the sickest pure "stuff" pitching performances you'll ever see. Johan Santana won the Cy Young that year, but Frankie would have beat him for it easily if he hadn't got injured. Maybe that's part of the problem, he wants to be that guy again, but it's more likely it's just not there anymore after the surgery, so he needs to adjust, which I think he did in 2010. If he'd just be that version for now and in the future, that would still be pretty darn good.

Ya, the Twins may not have the payroll of a "small market" team anymore, but they're not exactly "big market", or even close to being so, either. Take for instance, these facts: - The Twins are 13th in Payroll this season - barely in the top half of baseball. - They are spending less than half of what the #1 team does. They are NOT spending over half of what the #30 team (Padres) does. Some math: (Twins payroll) - (Padres payroll) = $39 MIL dollars. (Yankees payroll) - (Twins payroll) = $103 MIL dollars... You see what's wrong there?... "Top half of baseball" or "Top 10" or "$100 MIL" payroll is not some benchmark for being "big market" like some would like you to believe... - A team like the Angels, armed with a very large new TV-deal, signed 2 free agents this offseason for roughly 4 times, and 12 times higher respectively, than the largest free agent contract the Twins have EVER handed out. Which, if you didn't know, happened this offseason as well. It was a deal for 3 years, 21 million total dollars, and the player's name is Josh Willingham. Now, what about that tells you this team is now a "big market" one? "Big market" teams go out and get impact players from other teams through free agency or trades. When have the Twins done this? The answer is NEVER. The payroll rose because the group of players they had developed and found success with, finally got past their league minimum and arbitration years and were due significant raises, not because they went out and acquired elite talent from elsewhere. The total payroll # may not exactly be "small market" and many will use Joe Mauer's contract as an example of why they are not, but they are still operated as a "small market" team when it comes to how they build the roster, and that's exactly the main difference one should consider in this argument -> Not the total $ amounts spent, but on WHO and HOW. That tells you all you need to know about "Big" vs. "Small" markets.

Ya, the velocity readings were still the first thing that made me go "what's up with Pavs?" before I even noticed the pitch f/x data. low-to-Mid 80's heat was not what I was expecting. Used to him being High 80's touching low 90's.

IowaHawkeyes - I like the line of thinking, and hope you're right being a homer and all q;) as he's the type of guy you pull for... There's just a whole lotta "but's" there...

I like Beloit's rotation the best, but that's mostly because 2 of the guys (Boer and Summers) should dominate (exp. college pitchers). Gruver could make an impression too. Fort Myers is also interesting as Dean, Salcedo, and Solimon could be very good for them. I worry about Hermsen. He'll probably do well in the FSL, but I fear how he'll be able to handle AA and AAA. Hopefully Wimmers can be a stud for New Britain, if he is, I see him pitching with the Twins late this year. Good luck Rochester.

One of my buddies is adamant that our amateur team all has walk-out music. Last year, one of my mine was the beginning of this (Local and good beat factor): This year, I think I'm going to add the beginning of this to the rotation (starting at about :12 sec in, Funny and play on words factor): I've probably spent an entire evening listening to music to find songs for this the past 3 seasons, it's very important. I want something that amps me up and gets the blood flowing before an at-bat.

This was one thing I noticed immediately watching the game and from Pitch f/x on the gamecast. Pitch f/x was calling all of his fastballs "changeups". It'd throw in "sinker" every once in awhile, but he obviously wasn't throwing that many changeups.

If any SP is going to hit the 200 IP mark, it's Pavs, not Blackie. Blackburn get's pulled early too often because he can't stop the bleeding when he gets rocked. Pavano usually recovers to finish at least 6. I didn't think Marquis would last long regardless until Baker's latest "no idea what the hecks going on with his arm" scenario, but I think he's going to fare far worse than projected here. I think you're a bit high on everyone in the bullpen, some more than others. Those numbers look like an excellent bullpen, and I don't think that's what we're going to get. Little high on Span, see more of a .750ish OPS from him, lets say .285/.360/ .400. If Morneau's doing well enough to be hitting .275, there's more than a .445 slugging percentage there. Also think you're quite a bit below what the RBI totals for this group would end up being. By my look, that's a team OBP in the range of .325-.340, which would be no doubt top 10 in baseball, maybe even top 5. Twins had 572 RBI last year with a collective .306 OBP (both marks were 27th in MLB). With those numbers, this roster would put up at a minimum 700 runs.

Breakout hitter, Upper Levels: Aaron Hicks. As mentioned by the others above, it's a make or break year for him, and I think he "makes" just like Torii Hunter at the same age. Best Hitter, Upper Levels: Joe Benson. I'll predict he'll be starting in the Twins outfield before August. Breakout Hitter, Lower Levels: Levi Michael. Hasn't played a professional game yet, and for this reason is underrated by many casual fans. He'll show why he was drafted so high and uncharacteristically placed at the A+ level to start his career. Best Hitter, Lower Levels: Oswaldo Arcia. Took Blackburn deep in the exhibition game vs. Twins and will do that to plenty of FSL pitchers before being promoted to New Britain mid-season. Breakout Hitter, EST: Max Kepler. Be prepared for him to shoot up the prospect rankings list, and I'm also (kind of) surprised he wasn't put on the Beloit roster to start the season. He was the best hitter I watched during Beloit's ST games as far as producing results. Best Hitter, EST: Niko Goodrum. Came on strong at the end of Elizabethton's season, and he does have some major power when he connects as I saw at Spring Training. If he can put on some muscles as he advances, look out.

I watched 5 or 6 Rosario at-bats while down at spring training. He does have a fast bat, but he didn't connect on anything all that well while I was watching. He's also built much more like Ben Revere than an Aaron Hicks, so the views that the HR power he showed at Elizabethton won't translate are probably correct, but there's still plenty of pop in there. For your viewing pleasure, here's some video of a few Rosario at-bats (That's Justin Morneau on deck in case you were wondering): http://www.twitpic.com/95y5y3 He gets some better wood on the ball in this one: http://www.twitpic.com/95y8nh

Read the link I provided above, this statement is flat-out not true.

I still would say it's a low-traffic gate, I've gone to plenty of games there and it's always one of the least crowded areas of the park (I'm talking during games when the smokers would be taking their smoke break there).

But I guess this just means I'll be exposing all my neighbors in the stands to my Grizzly Straight Chewing Tobacco and spitter bottle. Bet they'll enjoy that far less than they do my smoking in the designated smoking area... [Edit: been told Chewing Tobacco non-use is also enforced, though I see it all the time there]

The area was OUTSIDE the stadium, you're only going to be exposed to it if you join those out there or walk by. It also was located by a very low-traffic gate as it's only accessible from the streets surrounding Target Field in one direction. I understand the smell part as I myself do smoke and hate it as well, but this is America. And why is there not some room for compromise, such as making those who wish to smoke leave the property, but allowing re-entry into the stadium? Is this not reasonable? Other stadiums do this, and in fact, Target Field is now one of only 6 MLB stadiums with absolutely ZERO provisions for smokers that aren't required to be fully non-smoking due to state or city laws (4 are because of this) -> http://www.no-smoke.org/pdf/majorleaguebaseballstadiumpoliices.pdf

With Morneau DH-ing, sounds like it's going to be Ryan Doumit most of the time to start, but I'd expect a lot of Plouffe there as well to be able to keep Doumit healthy and available to Catch. Looks like Revere is going to roam whatever OF spot needs a break that day, and if a middle-infielder needs a break, Plouffe will play there too.

Just an FYI - Goodrum has a long way to go if he's going to "fill out". Dude looks as skinny as me (I'm 6'2", 155), but unlike me, he can mash the heck out of a baseball as I saw down at Spring Training. Couple pictures below to see what I mean. I liked what I saw of him hitting, in the third picture below, that swing resulted in the ball leaving the yard in a big way. But if we're basing where he ends up playing on him "filling out" beyond an infielder body type, I'd guess he's a sure bet to stick in the infield.

What pitch is Shibuya throwing in that photo? I don't think that's a 2-seamer (not a normal one anyway), his index finger is curled on the side of the ball and the middle and ring fingers are on the seams. Gotta be his changeup, right?

is this satire?! I hope you're right though q;)

tcarlic - I assume you're talking about my pictures?! (OP= Original Poster ?). Thanks for the compliment. And excuse me if I'm a little slow, but what is meant by "TTM" so I can look into it? heh.

To be honest, when Mackey started on 1500 ESPN, I liked his work and the new voice. He used Sabermetrics and sounded like a blogger (he was one before, still is to some extent). But it very quickly went to his head, and working with Reusse has further sent him down the path of the darkside. Striving to be a "heel" is one thing, but this isn't "professional" wrestling. If you're a heel here, you're actually a heel in real life, which is another way of saying you're a [redacted]. I can't listen to him anymore on the radio, but I'll still read his work for about the only reason that he gets quotes from players, etc... and can form a readable post. But he's got to realize that's not the same thing that's done by bloggers, who largely analyze and offer opinion, and can speak freely for a fanbase that feels the same way a good majority of the time. He's just a mouthpiece to me, really. It's also very rare he acknowledges a good counter-point to his own views, instead resulting to name calling, or telling you to get out of your mother's basement. Newsflash Mackey: there are many, many, many more successful "bloggers" who are also very successful in their professional lives, than there are not. Four of them run this site, several others contribute here and elsewhere. The platform is as big as it is because of the content that is produced. Quality content. It's very easy to recognize crap, and that doesn't get read. If the readership is shifting to the form of blogs instead of mainstream media outlets, I think that tells a lot more about what the audience wants to see/read instead of the accountability associated with the source. They want opinions. They want their team called out if they're struggling. They want someone to say what they're all thinking. And that's not guys like Mackey. Be who you are, recognize the differences between platforms, acknowledge the good things each one provides, and coexist.

I'm actually looking for Swarzak to step up into the righty-setup role. While he sits in the low 90's as a starter or when asked to throw multiple innings, he can ramp it up some in short stints. Much like Perkins last year, if they just pen him in as a reliever and leave him there, we should see better "stuff". Whether that translates to better #'s, who knows, but I like his chances as good as anyone else's here if he's not asked to start games.

Just wanted to start a thread about our budding German prospect, as I got to watch him play a lot this week and last down at Spring Training, and it appears others are there now or have been as well. I was very impressed, he stood out more than anybody I got a chance to watch. It seemed every at bat I watched he laced a line drive somewhere for a hit and raced gracefully around the bases. I wasn't paying much attention to defense, focusing on the pitchers and hitters for pictures, but he was making a big impression in the batters box. Anyone else have any thoughts? Video I took of him lining an opposite field double down the line: http://www.twitpic.com/8zswq4

Awesome to see the Prospect guys get some MLB action and have a good day!

It was an official MiLB ball

Shoot, I didn't notice you there Thrylos, I was standing in the shade of the trees behind the dugout for most of that game. Was standing behind the gun when Hermsen was throwing, and was also disappointed with his control and velocity, but he does get some good movement. TK is an absolute joy to listen to talking with his guys. Tommy Watkins is also great, gave me an assist on getting Sano's autograph the day before, then went out of his way to say hi again during this game. Most impressive guy I watched in camp hitting during games was Max Kepler. I'm no scout, but you notice when every at bat you watch he's lacing a line drive somewhere for a hit. Agree that Gruver looked impressive. Sano didn't play the day before while I was watching either, but earlier in the week got to watch a few at bats and some batting practice. He was the good luck charm coaching 1B this game though, think the fellas put up 3 or 4 runs (with the snowball fight assist from the Orioles) while he was out there.