Hosken Bombo Disco

^ and I just read that Cole Hamels has said his arm doesn't feel right. Ouch. Again, there might not be a better time to trade Correia than right now.

Nope me neither. I very much agree. Guzman and Rivas had their cup of coffee together at age 20-21. A J saw MLB time at age 21 and was full time catcher by 25.

I do agree with Seth that you want to pull for him and I think Collabello could help us if we pick his spots/at-bats smartly, if the team has useful data to apply to help them pick their spots. I do agree with John too, that just being away from the very top level through the prime years of the 20s is a physiological disadvantage. I agree with the player in the Gibson instance. Gibson's appearances in AAA in 2013 do not signal someone rehabbing an injury. Six innings per start and two complete games. 6 IP per start is what the guys in the majors were averaging. This will be a good year for Gibson. Bring him north!

and that would be a fantastic ST story for sometime in mid to late march, about how Pinto and the other young catchers are connecting with the various older pitchers; throw in some nuance, good quotes, and behind the scene anecdotes. Strib?

It's of very little consequence in the long run, but with Buxton not hitting i'd just bat him near the bottom when facing MLB pitching from this point forward, this year, next year, whenever. Until he consistently starts raking. Why even take the small risk of a Hicks repeat. go Twins!

It's too bad what your seeing from Bartlett.

Good summary of where we're at right now, John, much appreciated. I like jorgenswest take and agree with Kwak, we could see a lot of veterans.. hey if it wins games, then run with it.. I disagree with much of our position shifting. I include DH in that. (I am referring to the team in general, not statements this article.) For example, when will we need Chris Herrmann to play the outfield? We're happy for him but, how well does he catch? I understand there's lineup juggling and that guys need to learn new positions now and then. But when I hear a coach repeatedly quoted as saying we can "play this guy anywhere" it starts to feel like it's a team in a rec league. Just my perception. I think back to all the very good Twins teams, and most of the guys had a set position in the field and a regular place in the batting order. Not these teams ..maybe I'm still scarred by Cuddyer playing 2B. If I were pretend GM I would make a clean slate and start by evaluating how guys hit and field according to their primary positions. This is a good year to start fresh with some new approach like that.

it was sort of a cheap shot at the Strib and I'm not proud.. :/ ...Most of it has to do with their firewall and not Miller, Len, or Souhan (who has the phenomenal feature on Buxton). And Berardino is fantastic.

My impression is the same as both of you, that they like Worley and Gibson, and Deduno is ticketed for the pen. Antony suggests the Twins will let the spring develop and not make any decisions on the fifth spot before they have to, which is a course of action I can't find fault with. By my reading, the chances are slim to none they are planning to deal Correia. Very little discussion of the offense or position battles in this particular piece. Antony expresses the concern for Terry Ryan, his health and recovery above all else, and I sense an underlying current in the article about how much Ryan really means to the team in a pure baseball sense. Overall some very good nuggets but nothing earth moving like what is coming from Berardino (does the Strib cover spring training anymore or did they get hit with the budget axe this year - j/k.)

Arizona Diamondbacks - 80.5…UNDER Atlanta Braves - 87.5...OVER Baltimore Orioles - 80.5…OVER Boston Red Sox - 87.5…OVER Chicago Cubs - - 69.5…OVER Chicago White Sox - 75.5...UNDER Cincinnati Reds - 84.5…UNDER Cleveland Indians - 80.5...UNDER Colorado Rockies - 76.5…OVER Detroit Tigers - 89.5...OVER Houston Astros - 62.5...OVER Kansas City Royals - 81.5...OVER Los Angeles Angels - 86.5…UNDER Los Angeles Dodgers - 92.5…UNDER Miami Marlins - 69.5…UNDER Milwaukee Brewers - 79.5…OVER Minnesota Twins - 70.5...OVER New York Mets - 73.5...UNDER New York Yankees - 86.5...OVER Oakland Athletics - 88.5…UNDER Philadelphia Phillies - 76.5…UNDER Pittsburgh Pirates - 83.5…UNDER San Diego Padres - 78.5…UNDER San Francisco Giants - 86.5…OVER Seattle Mariners - 81.5…UNDER St. Louis Cardinals - 90.5...OVER Tampa Bay Rays - 88.5…OVER Texas Rangers - 86.5…OVER Toronto Blue Jays - 79.5…UNDER Washington Nationals - 88.5…OVER Tie breaker: The two AL WC teams will be: Boston New York Tie breaker 2: The two NL WC teams will be: Atlanta San Francisco

I also agree. One more acquisition will be too much. This will be said a lot in the coming weeks, but barring an unpleasant surprise, Gibson needs to start. The AAA staff and the rest of the organization have done all they can with him. It's got to be up to the major league coaching staff now to get him on track. Last year, it was the right call, to start him in Triple A, but not this year, even if it means skipping some Correia/Pelfrey turns early or sending one of those guys to the bullpen.

Don't settle for anything less than a million, Mike. Don't let him do that to you. :-)

Exceptional writing by Souhan. I hope Minnesota treats Byron Buxton well.

Matt Holliday had this surgery done at this stage in his career -- in '01 before he reached the majors.

Ah yes, the regulatory regime. The welfare state. We are against them until we are for them, me included. A recent poll, if you trust polls, shows that West Virginians have actually lost patience with the pollution of their environment and would support "doing something" to fix it… or in my words, not trusting the free market to police itself. And because we are a civilized nation, we help people who are no longer able to help themselves, in the workplace or wherever. I think it's a pretty good deal. Anyway, you have mentioned the signing bonuses -- that needs to be considered in this debate, no doubt. That might be a pretty strong argument against the minor leaguers. But I'd bet not a majority of them get that windfall bonus (I could be wrong), which circles back to the original complaint. Maybe there should be a minimum signing bonus? Not sure. Or scrap the new bonus structure and level them to some degree? That would no doubt upset the union and Scott Boras, which I can live with. I am not against a young guy in his late teens or early twenties scraping by on a minimum wage, in the name of character building or living the dream, or whatever. But there would seem to be other moral and legal questions with the way the owners are operating their systems -- not paying a minor leaguer during spring training really stands out. As others have suggested, aside from the signing bonus issue, maybe the Twins should pay a higher minor league salary, which in theory should draw better talent into the system (all scouting being equal). Better minor league talent competing for spots on the major league roster would be a tangible benefit to the major league team, to the bottom line. Maybe a team or two is already doing that, I don't know. I'm not knocking the Pohlads, as they are running the business they inherited as best they see fit. You defend the right of the CEO of General Motors to pay a pittance -- how about the idea that the Twins follow the lead of Henry Ford instead and forego some personal gain to pay employees what they are really worth? That's what some of us would like to see.

Exactly what I was thinking. A test of his patience but a chance to see the game from a new perspective too.

The 1991 winning run hustles it to second…

There's Joe Nocera of the New York Times who regularly reports on (eviscerates is a more accurate and justified term) the latest NCAA shenanigans with respect to its labor forc-- er, I mean, its student athletes I will watch for it.

I agree diehard- I would have believed the players were put up in an extended stay and given a somewhat generous stipend, if not a generous salary. The free agency cases of the 1970s showed pretty clearly to me that veteran major leaguers at that time (Messersmith, Catfish, et al) weren't being paid what they were worth. Jump ahead, and the ordinary person is too busy to know that minor leaguers today are being exploited in the same manner as major leaguers were before. Thanks to Seth and Thrylos for their figures and the others here for their first hand experiences. Great thread topic. I have nothing to add other than it's unfortunate that both MLB owners and union leaders will not even listen to what their employees are asking for until a lawsuit is filed - such is the "litigious" culture we bemoan today but seem unwilling to address.

*groan* Seriously though, if he can again get his fastball back into the high 80s regularly, he will pitch again. I think every Twins fan is rooting for him. He won't pitch again for the Twins though, as our pitching philosophy is to attack the strike zone -- no snark intended -- and Santana is now a pitcher who needs to be more crafty. This is what Santana himself said when he came back in 2012 after his first surgery. His K/9 in 2012 was 8.5, which is amazing if you think about it.

I agree, Hughes is an excellent "change of scene" candidate! I do believe he'll be a different pitcher here. Some of those Yankee Stadium home runs might still become Target Field doubles, but having Buxton and Hicks in the outfield soon will also help.

I am bumping this comment -- Ramos has been on the field less than Mauer.

Sounds like a good idea. I might even consider Meyer for this even though he doesn't have the Strasburg/Price/Hernandez pedigree from your list. Buxton & Meyer really seem to have their head in the right place though.

Even in an era of 33% participation in the playoffs, that would seem to be a heavy haul early this year, to face those playoff-caliber teams consecutively. Of course the obvious, politically correct response is that "we need to play them eventually / everyone plays the same schedule. On a related note. One thing that has really got my attention in the past several years has been the "win this series" argument. "We have a chance to win a series." You even hear that after the Twins take the first two games of a series -- why not just go for the sweep? Mathematically yeah, winning a three game series all season long is a sure winner. It's a fine radio talking point for rubes like us... As a coaching philosophy, or in a player's post game comment or something the GM tells the media on Sunday mornings, it's groan-inducing. Yet we hear it all the time now whenever the Twins get hot. Anyway, rant over. :-) Just win, baby.

You may have penciled in Bartlett as 25th man, but it would appear the Twins have him in ink. I haven't read the story yet. Hopefully this is just a guy shagging fly balls for fun (Bartlett) and a reporter idly looking for something to write about. Hopefully.