TheDean

Watching all these moves made early in a pretty aggressive manner reminds me of Beane's moves during the season. However, I feel like I can usually see the logic behind some of his moves, even if they're risky. I can't say the same for the Sox in this case. Will it improve them? Yes. Do they have a bright future? Yes (and adding Rodon to the mix soon will make the pitching top-notch). That said, they're giving up a lot of money, and a lot of lottery tickets (picks, prospects) for middling upgrades. I say middling not because they're bad players, but because the total benefit:cost ratio isn't the best. Closer or not, I'd rather not invest like that in relievers, and dealing prospects for a rental wouldn't be my approach to climbing out of the cellar. Then again, my opinions are probably skewed by being a bitter Twins fan who wants to see the Sox in a state of continual dumpster fire.

I think I agree with most of you. Ichiro would be neat from the baseball history perspective, but he's heavily decline phase. That said, he shouldn't be expensive, and would likely only need 1 year, right? As an aging veteran who isn't going to start every day, there would definitely be room for Hicks and Schafer to get their ABs too. He's only played 356 innings in LF, but they've all come with the Yanks, so at least it's recent practice. He grades out as a league average OF still in UZR. Someone who regularly watches the Yankees (bless your soul) would have to tell me if that matches the eye test or not. Hard to get excited about veteran signings, but then again, young exciting players want more than 1 year and they certainly want more each year than what the Twins want to pay. If I have to choose between the "Clete Thomas/Kubel/Colabello/Parmelee outfield adventures of sub .700 OPS and terrible defense" and a Torii/Ichiro option, I know which one I'd pick. If I had it my way, yeah, we pick up Rasmus or Melky or even Aoki, but I'm going to grade out the chances of those at "doubtful."

I think you have to keep Milone. I still think he can be better than the majority of the AAAA filler and career #5s we've had lately. Bottom line is that I think he'll be worth more to the Twins than $2.5 mil. Guys get injured, so you need depth. You can't pass up an opportunity to keep a guy with a decent MLB track record approaching what should be his prime for only $2.5 mil and the option to stash him at AAA. A lot of teams would snap up that opportunity in a heartbeat on the free market I think.

Also worth mentioning, Willingham got his start in Minnesota playing in the collegiate Northwoods League for Austin in 1998. I remember going to a few Minny Stars games in Austin as a kid; cool to think that at least one of the guys on the diamond back then eventually ended up in the World Series.

He had a good run. Watching him swat deep balls to the left field deck was one of the highlights from otherwise disappointing team seasons. His 2012 was maybe one of the best player-seasons we've had during the losing stretch. I'm happy that he was able to make this decision. How many players can look back and say that the last time he put on an MLB jersey, he was in the World Series?

I don't know if you heard: The Met's said that overpaying for aging, right-handed, former Twin corner outfielders with limited mobility is a major market inefficiency. How could they be wrong? Everyone should be doing it. I jest of course...but there's a strange bit of truth. I mean, if Cuddy was paid like he was, and Torii is sizing up quite a bit of interest...you'd have to think that Willingham is thinking hard about staying out of retirement.

I don't have enough baseball knowledge to confirm, but it seems to me that a guy with speed and sub-Mendoza average/pop should be the kind of guy that professional pitchers groove strikes to (and never walk). I mean, he had the 11th lowest ISO in the majors... but the 3rd highest BB% in 2014 (220 PA). Without context, I'd say that his vision and approach must be decent to scrape out so many walks. He gets on base nearly as much through walks as he does with hits. Basically, it's hard for me to believe that ML-caliber pitchers allow a guy to get on base like he does with his apparent lack of hitting ability. He must have some skill at the plate, right? At least in identifying pitches...and maybe his swing mechanics are messed up? Or maybe he doesn't, and we're looking at much too small samples here. Edit: Little reference here: Fangraphs sorted listing for BB%. Notice that all of the players in the top 30 sport respectable ISO. 100s seems to be the lowest. Pitchers like to pitch around guys with high ISO, and it results in high BB% for those players. Hicks and AJ Ellis are the huge outliers...no one is even close to their low SLG and lower AVG. It's all just odd to me. Explained with SSS?

FWIW, Hicks has been released by the Bravos de Margarita according to Berardino. Can't be a good sign, but can't be the end of the world either. His line was very much what we've come to expect from Hicks: .220/.381/.280.

Not sure why I always like alternates better, but that's still the case here. I have always liked the spring training/alternate look with the blue. And I know there's nothing more controversial than the throwback powder blues, but I really like them. I won't mind the new uniforms too much; I guess the gold does give it some "pop."

Definitely. Fielding and also speed on the basepaths. The fact is that he'll likely have trouble getting on base like he did last year in a Twins uniform. However, when he does get on base, he almost automatically scores on a well-hit ball. He is obviously quite proficient at wreaking havoc on opposing batteries trying to hold him at 1B. That's a worthwhile skillset that I'm willing to put in LF on a regular basis until something better comes along (whether through FA or promotion).

If the virus makes you into arguably Licey's most productive starter and cornerstone 3-slot hitter...it can't all be bad.

Really interesting stats. I feel like he (and Bruno) certainly must have worked to get the most out of the roster when it came to baserunning and walking. The roster didn't seem to have an exceptional natural knack for baserunning (outside of Dozier). I also didn't figure that the team ranked as highly as they did in OBP, just considering their struggles to employ a proper leadoff man, the strikout propensity of some of the players, and not having the >.400 OBP version of Mauer to tip the scales.

FWIW, the only Twins organization pitchers to log significant innings (>10 IP) in the DWL since the beginning of this decade are Deduno, Thompson, and Perdomo. On the flip side, they haven't had many Dominican pitching prospects in the system lately.

I suppose it makes sense from a 40-man perspective, and he's never crushed AAA in the same way that Parmelee and Colabello have in the past. I just think it's too bad that he hasn't gotten a September callup at some point. He's a guy who has rarely had a bad year with the stick and has spent nearly a decade on Twins farm teams. But hey, who knows, maybe he gets his chance if the Twins resign him and find 40-man space if they ship CC to Korea and Parms leaves without an arb offer. Not likely, but you never know. I think he's only been optioned once, so he'd have the advantage of having options intact to be that 26th or 27th guy.

Maybe someone who knows a little more about the Twins farm system could help me understand why Romero hasn't gotten a look in the bigs at some point over the years? He's been hitting pretty well at AA and AAA for nearly half a decade, but he's been passed over for the Chris's a number of times (C and P deserved their shots, H has positional flexibility). I'd like to see the Twins retain him as their upper level 3B depth seems to be mainly light-hitting MI converts (besides Plouffe and Sano). He and Danny Ortiz were the only Red Wings OPSing over .700 on the season not to get a shot in Minnesota. That said, if I were him, maybe I'd consider taking my services elsewhere if I knew of a place with a less obstacle-filled (Plouffe and Sano) path to the majors. Has it mainly been a question of his glove?

Find summarized Twins Organization statistics in Winter Leagues here. Boxscores in the VWL are here. Hicks's player page in offseason leagues is here. If you know some Spanish, the Bravos de Margarita homepage is here. They have up-to-date game stories, but their online statistics are from last year. Hicks's OPS is still up at .899 through 27 PAs; still pretty good. Edit: Should mention that he's been riding the pine for a few days. Last played on the 21st in RF. Went 0-3 with two walks.

If we view Santana as a SS and Escobar as UT, I don't know where we're going to get proper OF depth to field an acceptable team. There is most certainly room for acquisitions in the OF. In no particular order, names that have been brought up for the 2015 OF internally: Schafer: probably a good 4th OF - only startable against RHP Hicks: not yet starting caliber, maybe you make him prove he deserves a full-time role with VWL, Spring Training, and possibly AAA experience. Especially against RHP. Rosario: didn't perform well in a shortened AA season, hasn't seen a AAA game yet Sano scenario: Has no OF experience. He'll be using a newly-constructed elbow for the first time, aside from some practice in DWL and Spring Training. Hasn't seen a AAA game Buxton: Injury concerns abound, has barely played at the AA level Ortiz: Currently a strikeout machine, can't take a walk Parm: Fairly certain he's not ML-caliber with the bat or with the glove in a corner OF spot. "Good enough" in RF, but a lot of fly balls will drop if he's playing opposite Arcia. Arcia: He's our only "lock" in the OF. He's not going anywhere. Quiz time: which players mentioned above had a season OPS above .700 in the league where he ended last season? Answer: Arcia at .752 (OBP .300) and Ortiz .717 at Rochester with a .283 OBP. Offense obviously wasn't an issue for the Twins last year, but the OF offense numbers got a boost from Santana, Fuld, and Hammer, none of which should be a Twins OF for 2015. Defense was an issue for the Twins last year, and the big upside of most of the names in this group is that they're competent with the glove (Arcia, Parm, Sano wouldn't qualify).

Early in the season, I thought that Nunez was a good addition to ensure that we didn't see any more Florimon, but the problem with both Parm and Nunez is that they'd rate as "good replacement players." They're good to stash in AAA at ML minimum, but they're a burden considering their production if they get arb offers and have no options. The big "if" is whether Santana is a SS or not going into the season. If Danny is in the IF, Schafer could find himself with regular ABs, and Escobar is your bench utility guy instead of Nunez. Either way, Schafer is a keeper for now. He seemed similar to Santana in being a "sparkplug" type player, and he plays a position of need: competent outfielder with range.

With the Dominican Winter League (Liga Dominicana, aka LIDOM) opening play today, I thought it would be good to highlight some of the Twins or Twins minor leaguers that played in Winter Leagues last year and discuss the leagues themselves. This post focuses on the Caribbean Leagues, but feel free to add other leagues of interest to the discussion. DWL: Last year, some former high-profile Twins were crucial to Licey's bid to take the DWL championship from the Leonoes de Escogido, who were trying for a three-peat. A friend of mine is originally from Santo Domingo and tried to convey how raucous the championship really was as the bitter cross-town rivals faced off in a best-of-nine series in their shared home stadium, Estadio Quisqueya. Lew Ford was a late season addition and proved to be a clutch player for Licey in the posteseason, and old friend Jose Offerman managed Licey despite his tendency to have trouble following "the rules" during his career. Brief Twins callup Jorge Polanco was a key piece in los Leones' lineup at various points in the season (.294/.361/.383 - 180 AB), but his club could not come back in the series against Licey, losing 3 games to 5. The teams will face off again today at 7:30 in Santo Domingo at the former Estadio Trujillo, a replica of old Bobby Maduro Miami Stadium. Miguel Sano will attempt to return to form with his hometown club, las Estrellas de Oriente, where he only had 5 ABs last year before being shut down. Hopefully he'll get practice reigniting interest in a perennial basement dweller as the Estrellas are historically one of the most downtrodden DWL franchises. Danny Santana got significant at bats last year with his team, Aguilas Cibaenas, who are the second of the DWL's "big three" (along with los Leones and Licey). He performed well down the stretch. Maybe the DWL knows something we already know: the Twins lack quality Dominican pitchers. Only AA reliever Adrian Salcedo logged even a single pitch in the DWL, and he only played 2 outs for the Gigantes del Cibao. The Gigantes must have liked what they saw though, as they drafted Kernels youngsters Randy Rosario and Fernando Romero in consecutive rounds this year. VWL: The VWL started play earlier this month. I know substantially less about baseball in Venezuela, but I did keep track of Escobar and Arcia's notable success there last year. Arcia almost touched .500 SLG and .900 OPS. Pinto had a limited number of at-bats and little success. Many Twins system pitchers had bullpen roles in the VWL last year, and they were largely good at there jobs, most holding low ERAs. Oliveros and Ibarra are maybe the most recognizable names, though Aaron Thompson, Mark Hamburger, and Dakota Watts also had their chances in Venezuela. Aaron Hicks is playing in the VWL for the Bravos de Margarita this year and has 2 hits and 2 walks in 8 PAs so far. PWL: Play won't open in Puerto Rico till later this month. I also don't know much about baseball in Puerto Rico, but I kept track of what I considered to be the main three prospects from the Twins there: Danny Ortiz, Kennys Vargas, and Eddie Rosario. As for the numbers, Kennys had a decent but unspectacular performance for the season, while Ortiz and Rosario had mostly disappointing seasons, considering their expectations. All three had quite a bit of playing time last year (Rosario especially with AFL and PWL experience). If all three play again this year, I think each of them can improve. I know I've missed a lot, but that's why a great community like TD is here! Please add your thoughts, insight, observations, and inside knowledge.

I like this strategy from the standpoint that it probably allows the FO to nontender arb-eligible relievers and keeps a chunk of the team at league minimum. With the numbers that smarter posters than me are coming up with for a decent LF signing and the expected payroll ceiling, they might need more room. I think that rolling with young relievers could provide good results, should provide developmental experience, and will provide some budget savings. We're probably only talking a couple million here and there, but still. And you're right, addition by subtraction of the half season with two of Kubel/Colabello/Hammer/Arcia/Parmelee on the corners. One is fine, but two of them plus poor routes from Santana/Hicks was....tough to watch.

It's strange that the potential lineup options happened to shape up like that. Obviously the IF is a bit better balanced; Mauer is the only LH - Escobar, Vargas, and Santana (if SS) are switch. If I were the manager, and TR couldn't get me a RH LF, and the FO didn't want to try the Sano/Plouffe OF experiment that has been thoroughly discussed elsewhere...my options would be limited against both LH SPs and LOOGYs. I think it's important, in that case, to have Pinto/Suzuki ready to PH on off-days. That means more of a gambler mentality than Gardy ever had, or carrying Fryer/Herrmann too...

Haven't checked the stats, going off a bit of a gut feeling, but seeing as how the Royals pitching staff won them a game or two and has them poised to sweep every postseason game up till the WS, they might allow fewer balls to the OF. The fact that the Twins recorded fewer outs in LF than the Royals is simply remarkable to me. My guess is that Twins LFers had dozens more balls hit at them, but fewer recorded outs. Again, just a guess that maybe more is going on here than simply Royals outs>Twins outs.

With a new manager coming in, I'll be interested to see if he would ever PH Pinto late in the game without a 3rd catcher. That's perhaps the biggest issue with Pinto fulfilling the roles of backup catcher and most talented RH power hitter rostered at the same time (IMO, he edges out Plouffe and Dozier, not sure if Sano will be here yet in April 2015). We know which side of the debate Gardy fell on 99% of the time.

Yeah, if he could figure the fielding out, he's a prototypical RF: power bat, power arm, acceptable but relatively low range. He's not "toolsy," but he's got enough of the tools to be an acceptable RF. I think it's mostly in his head right now. Still, I sure liked him better in the corners than CC, Hammer, or Kubes...but that's not a high bar either.

I'll be curious to hear reports on Sano at the hot corner in the DWL. He was seen as "shaky, but improving" with regards to his defense at 3B before his injury. With a ligament replacement, how authoritative will he be with his throws to first? Will all the power be there, but missing some accuracy? Will the accuracy be there without power? Never thought I'd be saying it, but he could end up being a significant defensive dropoff from Plouffe since he's coming off TJ surgery. I think that he might deserve some time at AAA if the DWL isn't enough to get him into the groove of fielding tough ones at third. It could potentially be a situation akin to Pinto this year; he could end up on an assignment to Rochester solely on a defensive basis. DHing won't do him any good in terms of fielding, and it's occupied by Vargas/Pinto anyway.