Reider

I agree that an upward trend falls into the hands of the young guys. It will be guys like Hicks, Arcia, Gibson, Meyer, Buxton, Sano etc.. that turn this team into a contender again. I know the Twins have only played 2 games this year, but Hicks is already off to a better start than last year. That's a positive. Willingham and Plouffe need to hit this year or they both need to go. Their defense is not that good and if they can't hit there's no point keeping them around.

What team is he playing for this year?

Hicks - This guy has all the tools to be a very good and exciting MLB player Deduno - I enjoy watching him pitch Florimon - I enjoy watching him play SS Pinto - I hope he turns out to be a really good MLB hitter. I liked what I saw from him last year at the plate But there's obviously a bunch of other players I like as well, Mauer, Perkins, I was a big Burton fan until he took a step backwards last year. Dozier is improved and is growing on me. I didn't mind Kubel when he was a Twin before. I enjoyed watching Willingham and Plouffe put balls into the seats a couple of years ago. I hope they both have rebound seasons. I hope Buxton, Meyer and Sano turn out to be good ones for us.

For me that's not an incentive to go out and get MLB extra innings with my cable package. I used to have it, but it costs more than MLB.tv and the games were in standard definition. I just get MLB.tv now because it's cheaper, the games are in HD and I can watch whenever I want. Perhaps things have changed since 2011, but I doubt it's cheaper than just getting MLB.tv.

Yeah, they'll score runs, but not enough unless the young guys improve and the veterans put up good numbers. Ideally it would be nice if Hicks could get it together at the major league level, so we have a decent lead off hitter.

This assumes that Bartlett is better than Florimon at this stage of his career, which he still has yet to prove.

I'm not going to disagree with you because I really don't know a whole lot about Mitchell, but the guy deserves some respect. He had a nice spring training at the plate. Everybody was Collabello this, Collabello that, but not a single person said anything about Mitchell. He hit .400, .444 OBP, 1hr, 6RBI's, which is better than a lot of players who made the cut. Speaking of guys who made the cut, I'm indifferent about Bartlett and Kubel making the team. The Twins are hoping Kubel still has something left in the tank and they gave Bartlett the benefit of the doubt because he's been out of baseball for a while. Guys like Mastroianni, Parmelee, Presly, Diamond etc.. have all had plenty of opportunities to prove that they belong in the MLB level long term. Odds aren't good that they'll have career years, but I'm not going to get upset with the Twins for giving Bartlett and Kubel another opportunity. Worst case scenario is they don't work out and guys like Parmelee can always get called back up. I would have been fine if they kept Presly as the 4th outfielder. It really doesn't matter a whole lot. The Twins are trying to make something work without spending a lot of $.

On paper the starting rotation and bullpen have more depth this year. 4 capable starters plus Gibson, who will hopefully pitch good enough to stay with the club this year. There are concerns about the bullpen, but with the addition of Deduno and possibly Tonkin, the Twins should be just fine. I hope Burton doesn't take another step backwards, but there's more depth this year, so it's not overly concerning to me. Defensively, it will be similar to last year. Respectable up the middle, but a bit weak on the corners. Joe Mauer will make the odd mistake at first, but he'll do just fine. The offense is the big question mark for me. I wasn't overly impressed with the hitting this spring training. It doesn't appear that the offense will be good this year, but if everyone hits the way they have in the past or the way many think they can hit in the future, this team could win more games than last year. Hitting would have to be down right awful in order for the Twins to lose 100 games this year. Odds are, the Twins will finish with a record similar to the last 3 seasons.

Moving Deduno to the bullpen and giving Gibson the 5th spot makes sense for a few different reasons. Deduno is obviously good enough to be a starter or pitch out of the bullpen, but I like the depth that this move provides. The possibility of the starting rotation and bullpen both improving over last year is something I won't argue with.

Although I didn't appreciate JJ Hardy's defensive skill set as much as Florimon's, I was just fine with him as the Twins' SS. And I'd welcome him back. I enjoy watching balls fly into the bull pen as much as I do watching great plays defensively. Folks who are not happy with Florimon, just remember that we had JJ Hardy and somebody in the front office (or on the bench?) decided that he would be better off playing for someone else. Instead of being unhappy with Florimon, perhaps your frustration should instead be directed towards the person(s) responsible for us giving up JJ Hardy.

This is an excellent post and I couldn't agree more. Lots of Twins fans don't get it, but you do. SS is a very special position. It's a very important defensive position. It's also important to have good chemistry and skill between your middle infielders. Some stats show that Florimon is top 5 defensively and if you're top 5 at the MLB level, how can you argue against labeling him elite at his position? Some stats show him not being top 5. You can manipulate numbers to show your point of view in many aspects of life. As someone who grew up playing SS competitively and have watched SS's come and go in the MLB, I truly appreciate Florimon's skill set. Florimon has a defensive skill set that only comes around every so often. Him and Dozier built good chemistry last year, which is very important on a team that produces a lot of ground balls or at least tries to. It's very wise of the Twins to at least give Florimon another opportunity to at least improve a little bit at both offense and defense. There's no doubt in my mind that Florimon has the skill set to be #2 defensively in the MLB behind Simmons, and although I'm not as optimistic about his offense, it's possible that he can learn to strike out less, which will hopefully improve his hitting statistics a little bit. Twins fans do not even know what they have in Florimon. This guy is an absolute treat to watch defensively and I have no doubt in my mind that him and Dozier will build upon their chemistry from last year and you'll continue to see an amazing display of defense in our middle infield this year. Is that not what we have wanted for a long time? Stats aside, just watch the games, watch how Florimon plays defense. You don't need stats to see that the guy is a fantastic SS, you just need to understand how difficult it is to play SS at the level he plays it.

Have you watched any spring training games? Escobar does not look that good defensively (limited sample size). Better than Florimon? Escobar seems to be putting up better numbers with his bat in the limited amount of AB's he's had, but defensively, you have no idea what you are talking about. As I've said many of times in the past, Twins fans don't even know what they have in Florimon. Defensively, Florimon was arguably a top 5 last year and has the tools to be a #2 this year. Escobar on the other hand? I don't think so. He has a lot of work to do defensively. That and the fact that his defensive tools simply aren't as good as Florimon's. There are some things that you just cannot teach. Florimon "has it" defensively. Him and Dozier work very good together.

Not so fast. Escobar really hasn't looked good to me defensively this spring. Missed a fly ball behind him, which he should have caught, double clutched and was unable to throw a guy out at first, etc.. and that was just in the one game. I think it's too early in spring to be giving Escobar the starting job. I"m not convinced that his offense is good enough to make up for his defense.

There's no reason to panic. If Pinto is going to be a good MLB hitter and hold his own defensively, then we might as well keep him and offer contracts to FA SS's next off season or until someone signs. JJ Hardy is going to be a free agent next off season and there will also be other options over the next couple of years. There will also be other trade options as well. Most of the young guys are still in the minors and / or still trying to establish themselves as MLB players. There's plenty of time to get a SS, if and when the Twins are ready to move on from Florimon.

I'm definitely a Pinto fan. He's not the greatest catcher, but he sure can hit. And with the Twins hoping for the young guys to step up, why wouldn't the Twins want Pinto's bat in the line up if he is out-hitting Suzuki? Only time will tell how Pinto pans out, but I have a good feeling about him at this point. As far as Chris Herrmann goes, I don't mind him. He's decent defensively and how could you forget his 10th inning Grand Slam against the Angels on July 23rd, 2013, while making an emergency start for Joe Mauer? He can hit for power, but obviously Pinto appears to be a better hitter.

Deduno was fantastic in the WBC last year and was arguably the Twins' best starting pitcher last year, if you give consideration to his shoulder issue. His success is much more recent than Worely's or Diamonds. I'd be surprised if there was zero interest in him from other MLB teams.

Success is usually measured by wins, playoff appearances, and Championships etc.. However, looking at the big picture with the Twins, the team is in a rebuilding phase and are in the process of developing young players. Perhaps over the next couple of seasons, success can arguably be measured by the amount of progress the young guys make. I"m undecided on how I define success in 2014, but I want to see good fundamentals, effort, and a team that never gives up regardless of what the score is. I want to see the coaches and manager make sound baseball decisions and I want to see the GM continue to build a future contender.

Escobar will have an opportunity in spring training to prove he deserves a starting spot just like everyone else in camp.

I'm a bit concerned with the offense, but Joe Mauer is not one of my concerns. I can see another 90 loss season, but if all goes right, I can see the team taking a small step forward as well. I guess we'll just have to see how things play out. Either way, I don't expect a large step forward or backwards this year.

Playoffs Drew: .344 OPS

I've had MLB TV for a couple of years and will be getting it again this year. From what I recall, there were some spring games on MLB.TV, but not a lot. Most of them were not on there. Hopefully they have more games televised in the future. I'll be happy if all 16 of those games marked as being televised on FSN, end up being on MLB TV.

This is how I feel as well. I'd like to see the Twins sign Garza, but it wouldn't be a huge risk to give this guy an opportunity if it's the route the Twins want to go.

I am from Saskatchewan (the same province Albers is from). Hockey is obviously important here and this province supports the Saskatchewan Roughriders (Canadian Football League) big time. Baseball isn't as big here, but there was definitely some buzz around the province when Albers was pitching for the Twins. I have heard nothing but good things about him.

Albers already showed us what he can do last year, the question is if he can be consistent moving forward. I don't think there's a team on this planet that wouldn't be interested in a (left handed to boot) pitcher who could consistently throw 7 shut out innings game in and game out. Obviously that is not likely to happen, but he definitely got the Twins' attention last year. He'll get a fair shake, even though the numbers aren't in his favor this year with all of the SP signings. I can see him starting the year off in AAA and if he is consistent down there, the Twins will call him up when they need him.

I can see Florimon's defense staying the same or slightly improving, but his offense is where I"m a little bit less optimistic. Some on this message board don't think he will even be able to put up a .300 OBP in 2014 and for all we know, that could be true. However, one area I believe Florimon can improve is his strike out ratio. If he strikes out less, then those numbers you posted are not unachievable even if they do appear to be a bit optimistic. And if those numbers are achieved, then obviously he would be a very good value @ $500,000 when you consider that his defense likely won't decline, but rather stay approximately the same or be slightly better and that Drew will likely cost at least $10m/year. I really don't think fans need to panic about signing Drew. There are options out there and there will be more over the next couple of years, some of which we have already discussed in this thread and some, which we don't even know about yet. I know the Twins have the $ to spend, but it really won't destroy the team if Florimon is given another chance and / or other options are considered down the road (e.g. Hardy, international prospects etc).