Dman

When Marwin came up to bat I was saying to myself automatic out here, rally over. He hits a pitch out of the strike zone all the way to the wall. I guess you have to leave spring training behind at some point. I was happy to be wrong and that was a huge, huge hit under pressure. Berrios was on fire and K machine today. I hope this team continues to perform like this. Very fun to watch. That was a good game for both teams just glad we came out on top especially on the opener

I really thought Austin was gone so a bit surprised he made it. Hopefully by keeping him a little longer they get something better back in trade. I just don't see him as long term fit on this team. Harper was a surprise as well. I fully expected that even though he earned the spot the Twins wouldn't want to put him on the 40 man and make him prove it for at least a month in AAA. Good for him and good for the Twins. I have no idea if he will be good in MLB or not but he was the best guys we had out there this spring IMO. I like the roster decisions they made knowing they are a short term solution as guys get healthy and I hope things work out well for everyone. I am still concerned about the pitching on this club no one has seemed lights out this spring other than Harper. I hope that changes with the start of season.

Had no idea who Harper was until this spring. I love the movement on his pitches and his K rate is nice as well. He has been good at getting out of jams with guys on base, too. It would be nice if he got the call but I can also understand if the Twins send him down and keep Moran or Guilmet to start the season. Harper hasn't had any MLB success yet and it might be nice to see he keeps throwing this well for another month before adding him to the 40 man and if he doesn't pitch well after being added risk losing him. He has proven he has the stuff to get guys out. Here's hoping this is the year he breaks through.

Hard to say what those 30 players would be making. That number 30 spot could be an 8M DH\Pinch hitter or a 4M platoon partner.

Fantastic article. Thanks for this. I have been wondering about all of those players and how they ended up playing for the Twins this spring. Their performances have been eye opening for me. I know it spring training and a SSS but I really like what several of the relief pitchers they brought in have done so far.

Yeah Magill has not looked good so far this spring. His WHIP is high and batters appear to be hitting him pretty hard so far this spring. He has a couple of weeks to turn it around but there is a lot of competition for those last spots in the Bullpen so he needs to bring it or he may be the odd man out.

Been extremely impressed with Harper so far. Lot's of movement on his pitches. Would like to see him make the 25 man but since we have him in the minors already he is likely going to have to wait for an injury to get his shot. I have been super surprised at his K rate and WHIP. He is dominating and daring guys to hit his stuff. I know small size so don't get too excited but if he keeps this up the Twins won't be able to keep him down much longer. I always thought Eades would be better in the pen than as a starter and it looks like that is going to be true. He has always had good stuff just seemed to have a hard time controlling it. Consistency start to start and inning to inning were his greatest issues. Looks like he might have put that behind him. He has been impressive for a while now. Hope they give him a long look would like to see if he can keep this up. I don't feel like the hitters have a chance this year. The 25 man is already tight so not likely to take a flyer on a AAAA guy unless we have injuries.

A little surprised that Wade got sent back down. Although I figured Cave would likely prevail I think Wade looked like the better player this spring. I know small sample size etc but I think Wade is a MLB caliber player. Everyone else who got sent down made sense.

Probably not 40 and you need to live with that 30 to 35% K rate. I think Rooker can do that if they need him too and if not at least he has options. Not sure I see room for Austin unless they go with fewer pitchers.

Yeah I was wondering if dealing with the Rangers was more of a way to make sure Granite didn't get claimed by anyone in the division. I think both Detroit and Chicago could use outfield help and Cleveland could use a good 4th outfielder. Best to get a deal outside the division. Granite doesn't have power but great speed can compensate for that as walks and singles can become doubles. I still think he is going to be a good player. Maybe not great but solid. However, I do like Cave and Wade better at this time so really no room for him here.

I kind of like the idea of payroll based divisions. It wouldn't be perfect but at least the monetary cap would create a level playing field for the division. It might shake up current team rivalries so might be a hard sell for some fans but it is one way to create fair competition at one level of competition. I don't see complete revenue sharing or a set cap ever happening in baseball. Too much at risk for the wealthy teams to revenue share and too much to lose for players with a specific cap that all teams could reach.

I think the solution is players are going to need to get to FA sooner to be paid what they are truly worth sooner. If more players hit FA in their 25, 26, 27 years then they can market their prime years and talent to the highest bidders sooner. The problem with that approach will be that small markets will have more trouble keeping the best talent on their teams as teams with greater monetary resources will have the advantage to buy the best performing players during their prime years. Everyone knows it doesn't make sense to pay for unproductive years anymore. Players only have so many years to maximize their earning in this sport. So something has to change if the players want salaries to stay high. It is going to be tough to make this work for both sides, but I would start by reducing the service time it takes fro players to reach FA.

Thanks! Yeah I get that. I guess I just misinterpreted what was being said. I guess I don't really care where Austidillo starts whether in AAA or MLB. Someone will get hurt eventually and he or one of the other guys can get called up. Will be interesting to see who they try and sneak through.

Right good point. Someone has to go and my argument was I don't think it should be Austudillo. I guess that still stands. Not sure what Die Hard means then thinking we can keep them all.

Maybe I misunderstood the question but just before Seths quote the thread was referencing who gets bumped off the 40 man. I thought Adrianza was out of options. Perhaps if he had referenced something it would have been more clear but I thought he was essentially saying cut loose Astudillo. Just optioning him to the 40 man doesn't solve the problem unless of course Adrianza does have options then I guess I am just wrong all the way around.

Yeah but Austudillo is the only player that has an elite skill, he doesn't strike out much. He puts the ball in play better than almost anyone in baseball. Also he has decent power (800 OPS) and his BA was pretty darn good last year. Granted all in a small sample size but he played well this winter too. I don't think it is popularity that keeps him around but his skill set. So I'd argue the opposite of what you are. As a baseball decision he seems to be the best option out of all those guys to me. I do agree first and third are really the only two positions he can play reasonably well defensively. Maybe catcher but the Twins don't seem to trust him much there. He is limited defensively but his offense has been really good so far. Find him a spot he can play and I think his ceiling is higher than any of the guys you listed.

I hate to say it but I am a little ho hum about this signing. Don't get me wrong Marwin is a solid and versatile player but he was not the droid I was looking for. Really wanted to see the team solidify the pitching staff but I guess they are happy with what they have. Does this mean that Sano is no longer the starting third baseman? That seems to be the only way this makes sense to me. Things suddenly feel a little crowded in the infield. Polanco, Schoop, Le Tortuga, Marwin are all good with the bat and can play their positions but currently someone needs to move. I guess we are waiting for injuries to thin the crowd. I should be excited heck I wanted the Twins to get this guy after we lost Escobar but after the Schoop signing and Polanco extension, Sano back in better shape, Wanting to see Le Tortuga play I am struggling be as happy as should be about this. This is a good signing. His verstality covers a lot of area's for us. Here's hoping this works out well for the team.

I was one of the doubters. I really thought the Twins had reached with that pick. Happy to be wrong. I hope he ends up proving everyone wrong.

Missed the extra year. That makes more sense.

I don't know. If I am the Twins I might want to see that sub 3 ERA before giving out the money Nola and Severino got. Granted he is a good pitcher as it is and will likely get better, He keeps himself in great shape. Still there is risk that this is who he is and while that 40M extension won't hurt the Twins much I just think they would be looking at a slightly lower number given the info they have. That being said I guess whats a few Million to just get the deal done. We could use his arm for as long as we can keep him. Hard to say who will be successful in the minor's. Here's hoping they can find some common ground.

My Bad on Larnach. I thought he was under 800 for OPS. I must have read that wrong. I don't know why but he hasn't gotten much love in the top 100 or top 150 lists. Must not be as well rounded as some but given his numbers so far the bat looks legit.

Nice to see Bowden give Thorpe some love. Thorpe's K9 has been real good and his WHIP OK. Seems like he should be up there. I am not surprised that he didn't include Larnach as he hasn't been around long and didn't completely dominate while at A ball. Javier didn't play last year so not surprised he isn't on the list. Rooker still has contact issue's and his only real skill is his power. So kind of one dimensional and with his age and the K rate not really someone who would be on my list. The only glaring omission from TD that I see is Balazovic. I think the group underestimated how good of a year the young man had in A ball. He was quite young for the level and seemed to kind of dominate most of the time.

Prospect ranking are subjective so not too surprised there would be variance. I would guess we would only have 3 to 4 players tops in the top 100. They would be Lewis, Kiriloff and Graterol, Possibly Larnach but with such limited at bats it is hard to say how he is viewed. I think about a dozen of our guys that could be in the top 200 need to have seasons where they prove their skills are translating. Some of those dozen players will fail to drastically improve, some will be injured and some will move up. Just have to wait and see what happens but I predict more Twins players in the top 200 next year.

If Kepler improves his batting average to say even 260 I think the Twins will be hard pressed to move him. His defense is close to elite for a right fielder. He has enough power to stay there and K and walk percentage are decent and could get better. He just needs to bring that average up and suddenly he is a great player. Cave's K rate is not great and while his defense would play in right I'm not sure his arm does. Cave's BABIP was also high last year while Keplers was low. Cave is probably the closest replacement for Kepler but personally I think right now Kepler is better and if Kepler improves a little I think he is definitely the better all around player in right field. Wade could probably play good defense in right and he has always had a good OBP but he lacks the power that you typically want your right fielder to have. You could take the trade off but again if Kepler improves his BA a little he looks like the better player. Kiriloff can play right and his bat would would play there but he would be at his very best an average fielder in Right. Personally I think Kiriloff is better fit in left field or first base as he doesn't have great speed for the outfield. He can certainly play outfield but his defense there will likely never be near elite. If Kepler improves his BA, keeps his K rate down and Walk rate up, keeps slugging 20 to 25 home runs per year then he is going to be tough to replace. If he improves I predict he will be a Twin through the life of his contract. I don't see anyone in the system with the number of tools he has and the ceiling he has for that position. If he stays who he is then, Yes I agree with you the Twins have lots of options. Those options all have there flaws but if he can't hit that will be a problem.

So Max truly is Max a Million now. Set for life way to beat the odds Max!