Tokyo Twins Fan

I like the move since it frees up a spot for someone else on the 25 and 40 man. Carroll was a classy guy and good leader for the young guys, but we are now all about 2014. I guess Mastroianni needs to be put back on the 40 man. I would like to see us call up one of the young infielders (other than Escobar who we've already seen), but the only other guy on the current 40 man roster would be Santana. Doumit can't be activiated until Thursday, so I guess whoever comes up will be a short time replacement. Who else can play 3B on the current roster? Or will be stuck seeing Ploufee there everyday until September?

Again it doesn't need to be a young guy we can lock in for 4-5 but just a guy that can be solid for 2-3 more years and fill the Pavano role on the team. Arroyo (although is he a good mentor type), Santana, Westbrook, Jimenez (maybe a Maholm or Hughes). I just don't think Correia is that guy and we need a guy that can lead, mentor and take the pressure off of Gibson, Deduno and whatever other youngsters finally put it together (or as has been the case this year that stink the least). I don't see us going out and using that payroll on other positions unless we really see someone we like at a position where depth is not great in the system (SS).

I am all for bring up a bunch of the guys that are likely ready and letting them get their work in at the major league level Sano, Rosario, Arcia and Hicks. But we clearly do not have young pitching that is ready to move up. A rotation of Gibson, Deduno and two of Correia, Diamond, Worley, Hendricks or Albers (whoever comes out of spring training looking good), but we really need to get an upper level starter (not an ace, but someone that would at least be a 2 or 3 on a good team) that 1) can be a great mentor and leader to the younger guys, 2) can provide a good chance to win at least every 5 days so the young guys avoid long losing streaks and 3) that takes the pressure of the young starters to feel like they need to be a number 1 pitcher. To that end there are a few good FA pitchers who would fit the mold and I think if the FO does absolutely nothing else this off-season they at least owe it to the young pitchers (not to mention the fans) to spend some real money on a two to four year contract for a true top of the rotation type guy. See here for the top 40 available (note I would want someone from the top 20 who has at least a few years left and that would be a good clubhouse/mentor type).

The SS for the 2016 is not on the team yet. How about Trea Turner, assuming we lock in a top 5 pick he would move through the system rather quickly. That leaves Floriman as the utility guy. I happened to watch the original SS of the future for the Twins the other day when I saw Nishioka go 2-4 with a run scored here in Japan the other day while batting lead-off. His team got drubbed 11-1 so it was a fun game to watch.