Dman

While I agree that possibly none of these flame throwers might make it I fail to see how we are keeping our eyes on the "prize" when picking up a 27 year old ne're do well pitcher and sticking him on 25 man.

I don't know exactly what the FO see's and I really can only follow box scores and second hand reports to get my information. So I don't get to see the whole or big picture. That being said I still have my opinion. I agree that when they need roster space they seem to have weeded out guys that are older, injury prone and with fewer options. I get that it makes sense to some degree but to me that doesn't make losing them any easier. Bard seemed to be coming around and all indications were he had good stuff. It was tough to lose him but thing is we could only keep so many relievers on the 40 man so risks needed to be taken. Same with Burdi, who given how Atlanta viewed him was a long shot to recover and stay healthy. Clearing space is necessary. I get it and I was fundamentally OK with those moves until the Rule V draft and the Kinley selection. I get that Kinley appeared to have found himself but given how smitten the FO was with Haley last year and how that turned out I didn't like the pick. Also tying up a 25 man spot with the risk involved quite frankly seemed reckless to me. My thinking is they are going to tie themselves to someone who cannot be moved up and down to AAA who has had literally no success in the upper levels and they are getting rid of relievers in the system who have had decent success in the upper levels but may be running out of time? The risk reward factor never sat well with me. Then they try and sneak Chargios through and fail. That is the one that finally set me off. I think if he can stay healthy he is a difference maker in any bullpen. He has an option left for this year and they could move him up and down if needed. A much better situation than the Kinley situation and IMO just as good an arm with a more proven track record. Personally I think they failed on that one. Kinley did pitch extremely well his first shot in spring training so maybe I get to eat some crow this year but if he falters and they have to let him go and Chargios goes on to a great career then I am not going to be afraid to say I told you so. Every decision is a gamble and I get that but I personally think they are going to lose this one. If Kinley makes it through the year with decent numbers I will take my helping of crow. If not I reserve the right to throw crow at the FO.

I am going to hate seeing him play well for another team. This front office has to stop the rule V nonsense.

I agree with nytwinsfan. Love your lists because they are very different and they include the international players at a much earlier level than most prospect evaluaters. you had Graterol on your lists long before I saw him on others. Not sure that I agree with all your takes but odds are you know much more about these players than I do. Thanks for sharing the list!

We'll see. He made it a whole season the year before with a 1.6 era and 41 K's in 36 innings in AAA. Maybe you are right and his arm still isn't right but I haven't heard anything about his condition. Maybe he is Alex Meyer II and if that is the case then it is probably time to move on I guess time will tell.

Yeah makes you wonder if they did it just to spite the Twins for not giving them Dozier for what they wanted.

Granted I don't have the information the Front Office does about Chargios but frankly I am a little pissed. Kinley better be one hell of a pitcher or I am going to be bitching all year about that move. I get that there are probably Four guys in the minors possibly ahead of Chargios or close to him in Curtis, Busenitz, Moya, Jay and then maybe Duffy and May as well. I get that you can't keep everybody and only so many relievers can stay on the 40 man but he really had a dominant season in AAA not that long ago. It feels way to early to give up on him. I hope I like the corresponding move or else I think this really sucks and was a poorly planned move.

Yeah you are right, light on hitters there. I was thinking Wade and Granite and maybe White as well for AAA. They might not quite reach your "good" level but they are in the Twins top 30. That being said we are in better shape with the young hitters we have in MLB than we are with pitchers. There are quite a few interesting starter and reliever options in AAA this year.

I personally like it when they go with High school guys in the early rounds. They can be more expensive to sign but given recent history those picks seem to work out better for us (Kiroloff, Gordon, Badoo, Miranda, Lewis). I am sure they will go BPA but I like going high school in the first round especially since we have extra money with the extra 2nd round pick we might be able to sign someone who slipped a little. I would even go high school in the second round. After that it doesn't matter much to me. Twins have been pretty good at mixing it up so hard to say what they will do. Right now we have a good mix at most levels. High A and AA could use more talent but AAA and low A are full of talent right now. My big hope is that they can find quality pitching in the draft. Feels like we are a little short when it comes to high quality starters.

I really like your article but I still don't know what to think of the acquisitions. A part of me is happy that the FO is doing something but also dumbfounded and scared that they might be wasting precious time with the window of talent they have. I hope they are the smartest men in the room so to speak and make these moves work out. The thing is it feels like a crap shoot to some degree. If they do turn both of those pitchers around I will be one happy Twins fan but if this is sort of the same thing we always get by grabbing out of the bargain bin I will be extremely disappointed.

They are hoping he rebounds? He might and I mean might as unlikely start the season OK but he has been very injury prone. Doesn't feel like a good match. I loved it when he pitched against the Twins. Always knew the batters would have a good day. Hopefully the front office knows something I don't.

I wanted Darvish but my mind keeps going back to when Detroit got Sanchez. The first two years of that deal looked really good. After that not so much. It is a big gamble with pitchers into the mid and late thirties. I can see why the Twins were interested but only up to a point. 5 Years was apparently as far as they were willing to go and maybe a certain AAV but I hope not. My guess is the Cubs get two to three good years out of Darvish and then hope he remain at least a worthy number 5 starter after that. I still hate that we missed out on him but all I can hope now is that the Twins find a better way to spend that money.

I like that you have international players in your lists. No one else seems to give them much thought. I am a box score watcher and Nunez caught my eye early in the season and late in the season. the DSL had some real talent this year and GSL did as well. I am happy to see you put some of these guys on lists. Thank you!

I will silently eat my plate of crow if the Twins get him. The signs just don't look promising to me. FWIW I hope I am wrong.

Yeah if the Twins are balking at moving up to 150 to get him I gotta believe Chicago is willing to outbid teams at this point. They are in the middle of their window as well so if want another ring or two they need to solidify their rotation. Looks like the price is set and the Twins would likely need to go much higher than the competition to get him. I just don't see it happening.

I've got to believe the Cubs essentially have him already. The announcement is just a formality. I don't see why the Cubs would want or need Giminez except to pair him with Darvish.

It is a big jump from AAA to the majors for pitchers. Berrios looked untouchable in AAA and miserable in the bigs. Some transition better than others. That being said I am not against trying the young guys. I agree with Mike in that they should gain experience and get better as the year goes on and if they fail miserably there appear to be fall back options for the 4 and 5 starters. Most teams don't like doing that though. Each win early in the season is precious as the FO wants to keep fan interest up throughout the year. Money talks. Best to start with vets until they fail as they have proven they can handle MLB and have stats that give a better indication of performance. Rookies are generally just to prone to making big mistakes. So best to take that risk when the season looks lost or injury's force your hand.

Hmmm I am surprised by those numbers. I thought most teams\pitchers would be closer to 20 seconds than that. I assume 20 must be a reasonable amount time as that is the number they tested with. I just thought there were already a majority of pitchers that were at or around 20 seconds I guess that assumption was way off then.

How close are the averages though? Like I said I didn't hear of any issues in minor league ball.

I agree I don't think the pitch clock will be much of an issue. I don't remember there being any issues with them in the minors. If someone can bring up problems they had that would be nice to know but I don't remember any. Commercials are the biggest time challenge but those won't change because revenue is too important to owners and ultimately players as their salaries depend on revenue. At any rate I am for some changes. If they don't work well then fine roll them back but all indications seem to point to these changes not impacting much and hopefully they get players more focused on keeping the game moving.

Well if ten minutes isn't that big of a deal then making them pitch a couple of seconds faster isn't that big of a deal either. For most pitchers this won't really even affect them. Personally picking up the pace appeals to me and I love baseball too.

He certainly seems to have the right mind set to be successful. I really liked the scouting report on Bechtold. I thought that the Twins got good value in picking Bechtold and Del Le Tora at 5 and 6. I am hoping they prove they can make it.

I was surprised that since he was offered a three year deal that the Twins didn't offer an option for the third year. Guy must believe in himself and will test the market again after two years.

I'll be following just about everyone in Cedar Rapids. There is an abundance of talent at that level. I am most interested in Javier, Kirillof and Lewis. All have very high upside and full season ball should tell us a lot how quickly they can move through the system.

I was thinking about this group right after MiLB was done for the year. It looks like an all-star lineup to me. Not sure what they come up with for pitching at least to start the year but they have the bats to be a very, very tough team to beat. It can be a big jump from the Appy league to Cedar Rapids so no guarantee everyone starts out well but pretty much everyone in that lineup has the potential to be an impressive hitter. I can't get to Cedar Rapids to see them but maybe when the play in Beloit I can get there. I am just as excited as you are. I expect a lot of these guys to end up in Fort Meyers by the mid point so not sure about your championship aspirations.