Jim Crikket

Sano did make considerable improvements over the course of the season and I agree with giving him an opportunity to stick at 3B, even if it delays his arrival in Minnesota a year. Frankly, the Twins have several guys in their organization that people seem quick to say will need to be moved to 1B and/or DH. I don't think it will do the 2015-16 Twins much good if they have five 1Bs/DHs, no matter how well those guys hit. MWL pitchers definitely pitched around Sano, even when Vargas hit behind him. I have no idea whether that had the effect of Sano getting impatient and swinging at bad pitches or whether he just didn't have a great feel for the strike zone. I'm hoping FSL pitchers will challenge him more and we'll find out. I'm not real worried about the bigger ballparks cutting his HR totals much. I don't think too many of his HRs just eeked over the fence. If his HR totals drop, I suspect it will be due to facing better pitching.

In preparation for the first season of the new affiliation between the Twins and my hometown Cedar Rapids Kernels, I’ve embarked on a series of “get to know them” posts. The intention is to give my fellow Kernels fans a little bit of information about the Twins prospects we may be seeing in Kernels uniforms over the course of the summer, understanding full well that it’s impossible to know exactly who will fill the Kernels’ roster several months before Opening Day. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/KernelsTwins-300x168.jpg (Image: Kernels.com) In Part 1 of the series, I looked at the catchers that are likely to spend time in Cedar Rapids, as well as a few that could find their way here if things fall their way. In this post, we’ll look at corner infielders. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com.) A year ago, the Twins’ Class A team in Beloit had a couple of their biggest power-hitting prospects covering the corner infield positions in Miguel Sano and Kennys Vargas. The Kernels won’t have the organization’s top prospect playing third base for them in 2012, as Beloit did, but there are certainly some similarities between the Snappers’ corner infielders and those that are likely to be manning those positions in Cedar Rapids this summer. Rory Rhodes – Age 21 – Bats R/Throws R 2012: Beloit (Class A – MWL) and Elizabethton (Rookie – Appy) [TABLE] [TD=align: left]G [/TD] [TD=align: left]PA [/TD] [TD=align: left]BA [/TD] [TD=align: left]OPS [/TD] [TD=align: left]K [/TD] [TD=align: left]BB [/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]2B [/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]3B [/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]HR [/TD] [TD=align: right]70 [/TD] [TD=align: right]291 [/TD] [TD=align: right].236 [/TD] [TD=align: right].697 [/TD] [TD=align: right]75 [/TD] [TD=align: right]27 [/TD] [TD=align: right]11 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2 [/TD] [TD=align: right]8 [/TD] [/TABLE] http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Rhodes2012a-224x300.jpg Rory Rhodes As Twins fans well know, and as Kernels fans are likely to discover, the Twins have historically had quite a pipeline of players coming up through their system out of Australia. Rory Rhodes is yet another member of the fraternity from “down under.” While still just 21 years old entering the season, 2012 was the fourth year the Brisbane native played in the Twins minor league organization. Rory started the year with Beloit and struggled offensively, hitting less than .200 in his 26 games with the Snappers. (I did personally see him hit a HR in Cedar Rapids against the Kernels that went about as far as I’ve seen one hit to LF in recent years, however.) He fared better once back with E’town, but still struck out more than he and the Twins would like. Rhodes started his career with the Twins as a third baseman, but was moved across the diamond after a rotator cuff injury a couple of years ago. He did play several games in the outfield in 2012, however. At 6′ 7″ and 200+ pounds, it won’t be hard for Kernels fans to spot the Aussie, wherever he may be positioned on the field. Travis Harrison – Age 20 – Bats R/Throws R 2012: Elizabethton (Rookie – Appy) [TABLE] [TD=align: left]G [/TD] [TD=align: left]PA [/TD] [TD=align: left]BA [/TD] [TD=align: left]OPS [/TD] [TD=align: left]K [/TD] [TD=align: left]BB [/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]2B [/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]3B [/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]HR [/TD] [TD=align: right]60 [/TD] [TD=align: right]253 [/TD] [TD=align: right].301 [/TD] [TD=align: right].845 [/TD] [TD=align: right]51 [/TD] [TD=align: right]24 [/TD] [TD=align: right]12 [/TD] [TD=align: right]4 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5 [/TD] [/TABLE] The Twins used the supplemental first round draft pick they acquired by letting Orlando Hudson walk away as a free agent to draft Harrison with the 50th overall pick of the 2011 amateur draft. He held out until just before the 2011 signing deadline when he signed for just over $1 million, but the late signing meant he didn’t get any games in with any Twins affiliate in 2011. Travis spent 2012 with Elizabethton, where he put up plenty of offense with 21 extra-base hits, including five home runs. However, Harrison also committed 24 errors at third base in 143 chances covering 59 games at the position. By comparison, Sano committed 42 errors in 361 chances at the position for Beloit. In other words, for the second consecutive season, the Twins will apparently be looking at their Class A affiliate to determine if one of their most promising offensive prospects can learn to play a passable third base. Regardless of his defensive skills, however, Harrison is likely to be the Kernels infielder with the most promise. He appears to be a consensus “top 15″ prospect in the Twins organization among those who publish such ratings and had even been listed among the top 10 Twins prospects prior to the Denard Span and Ben Revere trades that brough a couple of highly regarded starting pitching prospects in to the Twins organization. D. J. Hicks – Age 22 – Bats L/Throws R 2012: Elizabethton (Rookie – Appy) [TABLE] [TD=align: left]G [/TD] [TD=align: left]PA [/TD] [TD=align: left]BA [/TD] [TD=align: left]OPS [/TD] [TD=align: left]K [/TD] [TD=align: left]BB [/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]2B [/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]3B [/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]HR [/TD] [TD=align: right]31 [/TD] [TD=align: right]136 [/TD] [TD=align: right].270 [/TD] [TD=align: right].817 [/TD] [TD=align: right]37 [/TD] [TD=align: right]19 [/TD] [TD=align: right]7 [/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]4 [/TD] [/TABLE] Hicks, who was drafted in the 17th round in 2012 out of the University of Central Florida, signed with the Twins in time to get half a season in with Elizabethton. Hicks split his time between 1B and DH with E’town, but apparently held his own on defense, committing just two errors in his 20 games at first base. He will need to make better contact, however, as he had six more strikeouts (37) than he had hits (31) on the season. If the Kernels happen to host their traditional “get to know the Kernels” event two days before the April 4 season opener and Hicks is a member of their roster, the event could double as a birthday bash for the big first baseman, who will turn 23 years old on April 2. It’s challenging to identify other corner infielders in the organization that could find their way to Cedar Rapids in 2013. It seems that, in all likelihood, the three guys listed above will get the lion’s share of innings at 1B, 3B and DH, with the odd outfielder or middle infielder taking a turn at 1B or 3B when manager Jake Mauer needs someone to fill in at one of the corners. However, injuries and promotions often mean players get opportunities to move up that they might not otherwise get. With that in mind, let’s at least take a look at some guys that could be called on… and called up… if necessary. Aderlin Mejia was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2010 and played his first year of professional baseball in the Dominican Summer League. He’s spent the past two seasons with the GCL Twins (though he did get a a few opportunities to move across the Fort Myers complex and suit up for the high-A Fort Myers Miracle in 2012). Aderlin hit well in 2012, with a .313 batting average and a .767 OPS. Perhaps most encouraging is that he struck out just 15 times in over 200 plate appearances. Mejia should perhaps be considered more likely to fill a middle infielder role, given that he played only 21 games at 3B last year and 27 in the middle infield, but if the Kernels need a 3B due to promotions or injuries, Mejia looks as likely to be a call-up option as anyone. Bryan Haar and Joel Licon almost look like identical bookends as potential first and third basemen, respectively. Haar was drafted by the Twins in the 34th round of the 2012 draft out of the University of San Diego. Licon was chosen nine rounds earlier than Haar out of Orance Coast College. Both signed in time to get a fair number of games in with the GCL Twins, where both put up identical .250 batting averages. Both struggled to make contact, with Haar racking up two fewer Ks than he had hits and Licon striking out two more times than he hit safely. Haar is strictly a first baseman and is already 23 years old, while Licon turned 22 in December and moved around a bit, playing 10 games in the outfield, 12 games in the middle infield and 22 games at 3B (in addition to 7 games at DH). While both are almost certainly going to be held back in extended spring training and start their years with one of the short-season rookie league teams, it’s possible either could be called on in Cedar Rapids if injuries and/or promotions leave the Kernels in need of a corner infielder later in the year. Finally, one of the more intriguing young (emphasis on young) corner infield prospects in the Twins organization is Javier Pimentel. Pimentel was signed, for over half a million dollars in bonus money, as a shortstop out of the Dominican Republic in 2010. After splitting 2011 between the Dominican Summer League and the Twins GCL team, Javier spent all of 2012 in the GCL at age 18, splitting his time mostly at 1B and 3B. His stat line was, to be frank, really bad. He didn’t hit. He didn’t walk. He struck out a lot. But if you assume the scouts who liked him enough to recommend that kind of bonus saw something in him that projects in to a Big League ballplayer, maybe we just need to be patient until he grows in to his frame and figures the game out. Then again, Javier was signed the same week in 2010 that the Twins signed Tsuyoshi Nishioka, so maybe their scouts just had one very bad week that year. It’s all but impossible for Pimentel to see Cedar Rapids this season, but for now, let’s just remember the name. While the Twins do have a history of drafting college age corner infielders, it’s pretty unlikely that they would send a brand new draftee to Class A the same summer he’s drafted, so we shouldn’t look for much corner infield help from the 2013 draft at least until the 2014 season. Next: Part 3 – Middle Infielders - JC

In preparation for the first season of the new affiliation between the Twins and my hometown Cedar Rapids Kernels, I’ve embarked on a series of “get to know them” posts. The intention is to give my fellow Kernels fans a little bit of information about the Twins prospects we may be seeing in Kernels uniforms over the course of the summer, understanding full well that it’s impossible to know exactly who will fill the Kernels’ roster several months before Opening Day. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/KernelsTwins-300x168.jpg (Image: Kernels.com) In Part 1 of the series, I looked at the catchers that are likely to spend time in Cedar Rapids, as well as a few that could find their way here if things fall their way. In this post, we’ll look at corner infielders. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com.) A year ago, the Twins’ Class A team in Beloit had a couple of their biggest power-hitting prospects covering the corner infield positions in Miguel Sano and Kennys Vargas. The Kernels won’t have the organization’s top prospect playing third base for them in 2012, as Beloit did, but there are certainly some similarities between the Snappers’ corner infielders and those that are likely to be manning those positions in Cedar Rapids this summer. Rory Rhodes – Age 21 – Bats R/Throws R 2012: Beloit (Class A – MWL) and Elizabethton (Rookie – Appy) [TABLE] [TD=align: left]G [/TD] [TD=align: left]PA [/TD] [TD=align: left]BA [/TD] [TD=align: left]OPS [/TD] [TD=align: left]K [/TD] [TD=align: left]BB [/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]2B [/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]3B [/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]HR [/TD] [TD=align: right]70 [/TD] [TD=align: right]291 [/TD] [TD=align: right].236 [/TD] [TD=align: right].697 [/TD] [TD=align: right]75 [/TD] [TD=align: right]27 [/TD] [TD=align: right]11 [/TD] [TD=align: right]2 [/TD] [TD=align: right]8 [/TD] [/TABLE] http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Rhodes2012a-224x300.jpg Rory Rhodes As Twins fans well know, and as Kernels fans are likely to discover, the Twins have historically had quite a pipeline of players coming up through their system out of Australia. Rory Rhodes is yet another member of the fraternity from “down under.” While still just 21 years old entering the season, 2012 was the fourth year the Brisbane native played in the Twins minor league organization. Rory started the year with Beloit and struggled offensively, hitting less than .200 in his 26 games with the Snappers. (I did personally see him hit a HR in Cedar Rapids against the Kernels that went about as far as I’ve seen one hit to LF in recent years, however.) He fared better once back with E’town, but still struck out more than he and the Twins would like. Rhodes started his career with the Twins as a third baseman, but was moved across the diamond after a rotator cuff injury a couple of years ago. He did play several games in the outfield in 2012, however. At 6′ 7″ and 200+ pounds, it won’t be hard for Kernels fans to spot the Aussie, wherever he may be positioned on the field. Travis Harrison – Age 20 – Bats R/Throws R 2012: Elizabethton (Rookie – Appy) [TABLE] [TD=align: left]G [/TD] [TD=align: left]PA [/TD] [TD=align: left]BA [/TD] [TD=align: left]OPS [/TD] [TD=align: left]K [/TD] [TD=align: left]BB [/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]2B [/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]3B [/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]HR [/TD] [TD=align: right]60 [/TD] [TD=align: right]253 [/TD] [TD=align: right].301 [/TD] [TD=align: right].845 [/TD] [TD=align: right]51 [/TD] [TD=align: right]24 [/TD] [TD=align: right]12 [/TD] [TD=align: right]4 [/TD] [TD=align: right]5 [/TD] [/TABLE] The Twins used the supplemental first round draft pick they acquired by letting Orlando Hudson walk away as a free agent to draft Harrison with the 50th overall pick of the 2011 amateur draft. He held out until just before the 2011 signing deadline when he signed for just over $1 million, but the late signing meant he didn’t get any games in with any Twins affiliate in 2011. Travis spent 2012 with Elizabethton, where he put up plenty of offense with 21 extra-base hits, including five home runs. However, Harrison also committed 24 errors at third base in 143 chances covering 59 games at the position. By comparison, Sano committed 42 errors in 361 chances at the position for Beloit. In other words, for the second consecutive season, the Twins will apparently be looking at their Class A affiliate to determine if one of their most promising offensive prospects can learn to play a passable third base. Regardless of his defensive skills, however, Harrison is likely to be the Kernels infielder with the most promise. He appears to be a consensus “top 15″ prospect in the Twins organization among those who publish such ratings and had even been listed among the top 10 Twins prospects prior to the Denard Span and Ben Revere trades that brough a couple of highly regarded starting pitching prospects in to the Twins organization. D. J. Hicks – Age 22 – Bats L/Throws R 2012: Elizabethton (Rookie – Appy) [TABLE] [TD=align: left]G [/TD] [TD=align: left]PA [/TD] [TD=align: left]BA [/TD] [TD=align: left]OPS [/TD] [TD=align: left]K [/TD] [TD=align: left]BB [/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]2B [/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]3B [/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]HR [/TD] [TD=align: right]31 [/TD] [TD=align: right]136 [/TD] [TD=align: right].270 [/TD] [TD=align: right].817 [/TD] [TD=align: right]37 [/TD] [TD=align: right]19 [/TD] [TD=align: right]7 [/TD] [TD=align: right][/TD] [TD=align: right]4 [/TD] [/TABLE] Hicks, who was drafted in the 17th round in 2012 out of the University of Central Florida, signed with the Twins in time to get half a season in with Elizabethton. Hicks split his time between 1B and DH with E’town, but apparently held his own on defense, committing just two errors in his 20 games at first base. He will need to make better contact, however, as he had six more strikeouts (37) than he had hits (31) on the season. If the Kernels happen to host their traditional “get to know the Kernels” event two days before the April 4 season opener and Hicks is a member of their roster, the event could double as a birthday bash for the big first baseman, who will turn 23 years old on April 2. It’s challenging to identify other corner infielders in the organization that could find their way to Cedar Rapids in 2013. It seems that, in all likelihood, the three guys listed above will get the lion’s share of innings at 1B, 3B and DH, with the odd outfielder or middle infielder taking a turn at 1B or 3B when manager Jake Mauer needs someone to fill in at one of the corners. However, injuries and promotions often mean players get opportunities to move up that they might not otherwise get. With that in mind, let’s at least take a look at some guys that could be called on… and called up… if necessary. Aderlin Mejia was signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2010 and played his first year of professional baseball in the Dominican Summer League. He’s spent the past two seasons with the GCL Twins (though he did get a a few opportunities to move across the Fort Myers complex and suit up for the high-A Fort Myers Miracle in 2012). Aderlin hit well in 2012, with a .313 batting average and a .767 OPS. Perhaps most encouraging is that he struck out just 15 times in over 200 plate appearances. Mejia should perhaps be considered more likely to fill a middle infielder role, given that he played only 21 games at 3B last year and 27 in the middle infield, but if the Kernels need a 3B due to promotions or injuries, Mejia looks as likely to be a call-up option as anyone. Bryan Haar and Joel Licon almost look like identical bookends as potential first and third basemen, respectively. Haar was drafted by the Twins in the 34th round of the 2012 draft out of the University of San Diego. Licon was chosen nine rounds earlier than Haar out of Orance Coast College. Both signed in time to get a fair number of games in with the GCL Twins, where both put up identical .250 batting averages. Both struggled to make contact, with Haar racking up two fewer Ks than he had hits and Licon striking out two more times than he hit safely. Haar is strictly a first baseman and is already 23 years old, while Licon turned 22 in December and moved around a bit, playing 10 games in the outfield, 12 games in the middle infield and 22 games at 3B (in addition to 7 games at DH). While both are almost certainly going to be held back in extended spring training and start their years with one of the short-season rookie league teams, it’s possible either could be called on in Cedar Rapids if injuries and/or promotions leave the Kernels in need of a corner infielder later in the year. Finally, one of the more intriguing young (emphasis on young) corner infield prospects in the Twins organization is Javier Pimentel. Pimentel was signed, for over half a million dollars in bonus money, as a shortstop out of the Dominican Republic in 2010. After splitting 2011 between the Dominican Summer League and the Twins GCL team, Javier spent all of 2012 in the GCL at age 18, splitting his time mostly at 1B and 3B. His stat line was, to be frank, really bad. He didn’t hit. He didn’t walk. He struck out a lot. But if you assume the scouts who liked him enough to recommend that kind of bonus saw something in him that projects in to a Big League ballplayer, maybe we just need to be patient until he grows in to his frame and figures the game out. Then again, Javier was signed the same week in 2010 that the Twins signed Tsuyoshi Nishioka, so maybe their scouts just had one very bad week that year. It’s all but impossible for Pimentel to see Cedar Rapids this season, but for now, let’s just remember the name. While the Twins do have a history of drafting college age corner infielders, it’s pretty unlikely that they would send a brand new draftee to Class A the same summer he’s drafted, so we shouldn’t look for much corner infield help from the 2013 draft at least until the 2014 season. Next: Part 3 – Middle Infielders - JC

I don't see any way the HOF Board pulls the voting from the BBWAA, thry. Not happening... especially not over one season of not electing anyone. Nobody was elected in 1996 and the walls didn't come crumbling down. I personally think that, eventually, most of the PED users will get elected. If it takes a few more years than it would have without their PED use, well... I wouldn't have made them wait, but hey, I can live with that being some kind of penance for the worst offenders, I guess. If it also means some of the cheaters who weren't quite as dominant (like Palmeiro for instance) not getting in at all, I'm not going to shed tears for that either. I just think people are getting all worked up over nothing... or very little. I dont think the BBWAA should be the morality police and I suspect that in a few years, most of them will come around to thinking the same way. If, in the mean time, a few of the clean (as far as we know) peers of the known PED users end up going in first, there's probably some justice in that, too. It's not like these guys got lifetime bans. If the mentality changes over time, as I think it will, the best of them will still get in eventually.

Yes. That's exactly where we are and, unfortunately, it's where we should expect to stay for many years.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1294-Hall-of-Fame-Flap-Brewing

I agree that it's going to be tough for Morris, but it does seem like when a guy hits his final year on the ballot, there are a certain number of writers who think, "I don't want to be the guy responsible for him not getting in," and will vote for the guy when they haven't in the past. If he had backslid significantly this year, it would have told me he had no shot next year. But he didn't, so... maybe. Biggio may have a shot, too, if you take in to account some number of voters will never vote for anyone on their first ballot and he could see his numbers increase accordingly. I didn't mention Kent and Mussina, Seth, because I guess I just see them as being a rung below the other three new guys next year. I see the strong first year class, with guys who have little, if any, connection to PEDs, probably being more problematic for guys who would be stretching to get the 5% to stay on the ballot than for guys like Morris and Biggio. I could be wrong.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=1292-Prospects-and-Projects-–-Projecting-the-2013-Kernels-Part-1

I'm actually glad that Morris seems to have pretty much retained all of his support from last year. I thought he might actually lose some votes with a number of voters sending in blank ballots or not voting at all. I think his votes will go up next year again, but whether he'll quite make 75% is certainly up in the air. Going to be excruciatingly close for Morris in his final year on the ballot, I'm sure.

Nobody gets the 75% necessary. Biggio comes closest. I'm sure there will be all sorts of people wringing their hands over nobody being elected, but I just don't see it being a big deal. There will be elections next year when Maddux, Thomas and Glavine become eligible.

One obvious hurdle to overcome is that you're taking home dates away from the affiliate, say Cedar Rapids. If you play one game in Target Field (as I believe the Timber Rattlers do at Miller Park), it means 3,000 paid admissions plus concessions, etc., that the Cedar Rapids organization loses. I would imagine that the MLB teams that do this kind of thing simply compensate the affiliate organization for lost revenues and additional travel costs that wouldn't otherwise be incurred for a home game, so it's not something that couldn't be overcome. I think it would be a great thing to do if the logistics could work out and it could generate more interest in the Kernels in Minnesota and maybe result in a few more fans driving down to CR from time to time. I'll try to remember to ask Doug Nelson, the Kernels GM, about the possibility next time I talk to him.

Yeah, I'm normally a big Verducci fan, but not in this case. I just can't stomach the "sportswriter as morality police" thing. I will say that, considering Verducci was one of the writers perhaps most responsible for eventually exposing the PED culture in baseball (maybe even THE writer most responsible), then if any writer has a right to this position, he's it. But where were the writers in the 1990s when all the juicing was going on? They were raising these same ballplayers up on their pedestals. For them to, now, claim the moral high ground while laying all the blame at the feet of the players, their union, the ballclubs and even the fans... well... that's more hypocracy than I can support. Any writer who publishes a ballot that excludes the PED users, should be required to start her/his article by reciting all of the work s/he did to expose the problem. At least Verducci can do that. Most others can't.

It's an interesting approach and one I haven't given thought to before. Now, if EVERYONE took that same approach, it would really screw around the numbers, wouldn't it?

Almost two weeks ago, I posted my take on this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. I listed the 10 players I would have voted for and then I predicted that none of the players on this year’s ballot would garner the necessary 75% support to be elected to the Hall by the actual voting members of the BBWAA this year. Wednesday afternoon at 1 pm CT, we will find out if I was right. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com.) http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Baseball-Hall-Of-Fame.jpg I thought, at the time I wrote my piece, that my prediction that nobody would be elected this year would be a “fringe” prediction. I’d seen some people predict Biggio would be a first ballot HOFer and others thought Piazza might have a shot or that Morris might finally get elected. But since I posted my opinion, I’ve noticed that a lot of people… including a significant number of voting members of the BBWAA… are likewise predicting that nobody will be elected. What’s getting a lot of attention, in light of those predictions, is the anticipated public reaction, should the BBWAA voters indeed throw a shutout. I guess that hasn’t happened in something like 15 years or more, so I suppose it is a bigger deal than I thought it would be. But really, I can’t believe people should be all that surprised, considering the combination of: An unusually large ballot. A significant number of big name players eligible for the first time, almost all of which carry the yoke of suspected or confirmed PED usage. Few carry-over players from last year that have slam-dunk HOF credentials, even absent PED suspicions. The bottom line is that if you want to try to make a case for NOT voting for them, you could do so for every player on the ballot, without even having to resort to the silly, “I won’t vote for anyone his first year of eligbility,” thing. That being the case, why should anyone be surprised if more than 25% of the voters do, in fact, choose to make a case for not voting for each player? Some people, though, think the result would be a travesty. Other than the Hall, itself, which could see attendance at the annual induction ceremony dwindle to an all-time low, since none of the inductees by the Veterans Committee are even still alive (should be a short ceremony, eh?), I’m not sure why anyone should really mind. I’ve read articles making the case that a shutout would indicate the process is broken… that the voters must be allowed to vote for more than 10 players. I disagree. If anything, I think it indicates that the process is working the way the Hall has always seemed to want it to work. They’ve liked that it’s a tough admission ticket in to that club. As I’ve written in the past, I don’t like the idea that many voting members of the BBWAA have chosen to designate themselves as the morality policy for potential HOF ballplayers. I just don’t think that they, as a group, are in any way morally superior to the players they’re sitting in judgment of. But, unless the rules change would be to clarify to voters that they must not hold suspected PED use against a player and instead must vote purely on his talent between the lines, changing the rules won't stop voters from exercising their right to stick it to Barry Bonds. No, letting the voters vote for more players will just make it easier for the borderline players to get elected. It would also make it much easier to get the 5% necessary to stay on the ballot for another year. Over time, I think we’d see ballots with 50-60 names on it. Is that really what they want? I hope not. Look, I believe Jack Morris is worthy. I believe Tim Raines is, too. I also am aware that with the high quality players scheduled to be added to the ballot in the next couple of years, it could very well mean those and other players I think are worthy will not ultimately be elected. That’s unfortunate. It’s also the way it’s supposed to work. The nervous nellies who would have us believe that we’ll have more years, in the future, where nobody is elected than we have when the writers do elect someone are just plain over-reacting. I know… sports writers over-reacting… hard to believe, isn’t it? But the rules changes being advocated would, I believe, be an over-reaction that would make the decision to give the league that wins the All-Star Game the home field advantage in the World Series seem thoughtfully well-measured, by comparison. Next year, we’ll see Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas and Tom Glavine added to the ballot. If we go through the process with those guys eligible, not to mention holdovers like Morris, Raines, Biggio and Piazza, and we still don’t see anyone elected, I’ll be shocked. Not gonna happen. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see three players elected in next year’s class. If the Hall did change the rules to allow voters to vote for, say, 15 players, you might see twice that many elected… maybe more. I’m a “big Hall” guy, but even I have limits and I don’t want to see Baseball’s HOF start to look like the NFL’s, where half a dozen or more players get elected every year. But that’s exactly what is likely to happen if you let voters check 15 boxes. How many writers would NOT consider Maddux, Thomas and Glavine among the 15 most worthy players? How many would take advantage of the relaxed standard to vote for Morris, Raines, McGriff, Martinez, or any of the other borderline players? Relaxing the voting rules to allow voters to put a check mark beside more than 10 players would be a stupid thing to do and I’m pretty confident the decision makers at the Hall of Fame will refrain from doing that. We should thank them for their restraint… and thank God that Bud Selig isn’t in charge of making the rules for the HOF. - JC

Almost two weeks ago, I posted my take on this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. I listed the 10 players I would have voted for and then I predicted that none of the players on this year’s ballot would garner the necessary 75% support to be elected to the Hall by the actual voting members of the BBWAA this year. Wednesday afternoon at 1 pm CT, we will find out if I was right. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com.) http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Baseball-Hall-Of-Fame.jpg I thought, at the time I wrote my piece, that my prediction that nobody would be elected this year would be a “fringe” prediction. I’d seen some people predict Biggio would be a first ballot HOFer and others thought Piazza might have a shot or that Morris might finally get elected. But since I posted my opinion, I’ve noticed that a lot of people… including a significant number of voting members of the BBWAA… are likewise predicting that nobody will be elected. What’s getting a lot of attention, in light of those predictions, is the anticipated public reaction, should the BBWAA voters indeed throw a shutout. I guess that hasn’t happened in something like 15 years or more, so I suppose it is a bigger deal than I thought it would be. But really, I can’t believe people should be all that surprised, considering the combination of: An unusually large ballot. A significant number of big name players eligible for the first time, almost all of which carry the yoke of suspected or confirmed PED usage. Few carry-over players from last year that have slam-dunk HOF credentials, even absent PED suspicions. The bottom line is that if you want to try to make a case for NOT voting for them, you could do so for every player on the ballot, without even having to resort to the silly, “I won’t vote for anyone his first year of eligbility,” thing. That being the case, why should anyone be surprised if more than 25% of the voters do, in fact, choose to make a case for not voting for each player? Some people, though, think the result would be a travesty. Other than the Hall, itself, which could see attendance at the annual induction ceremony dwindle to an all-time low, since none of the inductees by the Veterans Committee are even still alive (should be a short ceremony, eh?), I’m not sure why anyone should really mind. I’ve read articles making the case that a shutout would indicate the process is broken… that the voters must be allowed to vote for more than 10 players. I disagree. If anything, I think it indicates that the process is working the way the Hall has always seemed to want it to work. They’ve liked that it’s a tough admission ticket in to that club. As I’ve written in the past, I don’t like the idea that many voting members of the BBWAA have chosen to designate themselves as the morality policy for potential HOF ballplayers. I just don’t think that they, as a group, are in any way morally superior to the players they’re sitting in judgment of. But, unless the rules change would be to clarify to voters that they must not hold suspected PED use against a player and instead must vote purely on his talent between the lines, changing the rules won't stop voters from exercising their right to stick it to Barry Bonds. No, letting the voters vote for more players will just make it easier for the borderline players to get elected. It would also make it much easier to get the 5% necessary to stay on the ballot for another year. Over time, I think we’d see ballots with 50-60 names on it. Is that really what they want? I hope not. Look, I believe Jack Morris is worthy. I believe Tim Raines is, too. I also am aware that with the high quality players scheduled to be added to the ballot in the next couple of years, it could very well mean those and other players I think are worthy will not ultimately be elected. That’s unfortunate. It’s also the way it’s supposed to work. The nervous nellies who would have us believe that we’ll have more years, in the future, where nobody is elected than we have when the writers do elect someone are just plain over-reacting. I know… sports writers over-reacting… hard to believe, isn’t it? But the rules changes being advocated would, I believe, be an over-reaction that would make the decision to give the league that wins the All-Star Game the home field advantage in the World Series seem thoughtfully well-measured, by comparison. Next year, we’ll see Greg Maddux, Frank Thomas and Tom Glavine added to the ballot. If we go through the process with those guys eligible, not to mention holdovers like Morris, Raines, Biggio and Piazza, and we still don’t see anyone elected, I’ll be shocked. Not gonna happen. In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised to see three players elected in next year’s class. If the Hall did change the rules to allow voters to vote for, say, 15 players, you might see twice that many elected… maybe more. I’m a “big Hall” guy, but even I have limits and I don’t want to see Baseball’s HOF start to look like the NFL’s, where half a dozen or more players get elected every year. But that’s exactly what is likely to happen if you let voters check 15 boxes. How many writers would NOT consider Maddux, Thomas and Glavine among the 15 most worthy players? How many would take advantage of the relaxed standard to vote for Morris, Raines, McGriff, Martinez, or any of the other borderline players? Relaxing the voting rules to allow voters to put a check mark beside more than 10 players would be a stupid thing to do and I’m pretty confident the decision makers at the Hall of Fame will refrain from doing that. We should thank them for their restraint… and thank God that Bud Selig isn’t in charge of making the rules for the HOF. - JC

I'm curious what the average ages are for the Class A short season leagues, since that's the level that the Twins (and several other teams) don't utilize. It's also interesting to me that the average ages between Elizabethton and Beloit were ~2 years. Not sure what, if anything, that means, but it's interesting.

Since we’ve officially turned the calendar to 2013, it means Spring Training gets underway in just a few weeks and before you know it, we’ll be getting ready for Opening Day! http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/KernelsTwins-300x168.jpg (Image: Kernels.com) With this being the first year of the new Class A affiliation between the Twins and my hometown Cedar Rapids Kernels, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to bring more Kernels-centric writing to Knuckleballs and I figure there’s no time like the present to get started. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com.) Over the coming days (or perhaps weeks), I’m going to try to introduce most, if not all, of the players that we may expect to see wearing Kernels uniforms this summer. Granted, there’s no way of knowing with any certainty who we’ll actually find on the Kernels’ roster to open the season, but we can certainly make some educated guesses… and if I run out of those, I’ll just pull a few wild names out of thin air and talk about those players, too! The Opening Day roster will be limited to 25 players, but we’ll have no such limits here! It took almost no time at all for me to throw together a list of about 35 players in the Twins organization that look to me like reasonable bets to spend some time in Cedar Rapids this summer. Some will start the year in extended spring training and perhaps spend time with one of the Twins’ rookie league teams before, hopefully, getting promoted to Cedar Rapids. Others may open the season a rung higher on the organizational ladder with the High-A Fort Myers Miracle and miss out on being a Kernel altogether. But I’m relatively confident that most of the players we include in this series will wear a Kernels uniform at some point during the upcoming season. For the benefit of those Kernels fans who are less familiar with the Twins organization, we should probably explain that the Twins have two “rookie level” short-season teams below the Class A Kernels. The lowest level is the Fort Myers team in the Gulf Coast League and the next level up is Elizabethton TN in the Appalachian League. Those Kernels who earn a promotion out of Cedar Rapids will find themselves with the Fort Myers Miracle in the “high-A” Florida State League. Let’s kick off this series by looking at a group of catchers that Kernels fans might want to get to know. To my mind, the most likely catching options for Cedar Rapids to start the season would come from the trio of Jhonatan Arias, Tyler Grimes and Jairo Rodriguez. Here’s just a bit about them: Jairo Rodriguez - Age 24 – Bats R/Throws R 2012: Beloit (Class A – MWL) [TABLE] [TD=align: left]G[/TD] [TD=align: left]PA[/TD] [TD=align: left]BA[/TD] [TD=width: 41, align: left]OPS[/TD] [TD=width: 26, align: left]K[/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]BB[/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]2B[/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]3B[/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]HR[/TD] [TD=align: right]64[/TD] [TD=align: right]243[/TD] [TD=align: right].265[/TD] [TD=align: right].678[/TD] [TD=align: right]40[/TD] [TD=align: right]18[/TD] [TD=align: right]12[/TD] [TD=align: right] 0[/TD] [TD=align: right]2[/TD] [/TABLE] http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Rodriguez12a.jpg Jairo Rodriguez Outside of just six games at DH, Jairo made the rest of his starts behind the plate in 2012. He threw out 24 of 66 runners attempting to steal for a very respectable 36% throw-out rate. Rodriguez was signed by the Twins out of Venezuela and spent his first three seasons in summer leagues in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. He spent 2010 and 2011 playing in US rookie leagues and the full 2012 season at Beloit. At 24 years old, Rodriguez would be older than most players in the Midwest League, so even if Rodriguez starts the year in Cedar Rapids, I could see the Twins pushing him up to Fort Myers at the first opportunity, assuming he performs at acceptable levels. Tyler Grimes – Age 22 – Bats R/Throws R 2012: Beloit (Class A – MWL) [TABLE] [TD=align: left]G[/TD] [TD=align: left]PA[/TD] [TD=align: left]BA[/TD] [TD=width: 41, align: left]OPS[/TD] [TD=width: 26, align: left]K[/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]BB[/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]2B[/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]3B[/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]HR[/TD] [TD=align: right]105[/TD] [TD=align: right]381[/TD] [TD=align: right].202[/TD] [TD=align: right].653[/TD] [TD=align: right]99[/TD] [TD=align: right]43[/TD] [TD=align: right]17[/TD] [TD=align: right]3[/TD] [TD=align: right]7[/TD] [/TABLE] http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/GrimesJune2012z-225x300.jpg Tyler Grimes Grimes made 77 appearances at shortstop and 18 at second base (plus 1 at 3B and 7 as DH) in 2012. Grimes was drafted by the Twins in the 5th round of the 2011 amateur draft out of Wichita State. He has not hit the ball real well in roughly a season and a half at Beloit, though at least he has shown a little power. After the 2012 season, he spent time at the the Fall Instructional League learning the catcher position. Grimes could open the season with the Kernels, repeating Class A, or potentially be held back in extended spring training to work more on his catching skills with the Twins instructional staff in Fort Myers before starting his season. It will be very interesting to see how the catching experiment works out for Tyler. Jhonatan Arias – Age 23 – Bats R/Throws R 2012: Elizabethton (Rookie – Appy League) [TABLE] [TD=align: left]G[/TD] [TD=align: left]PA[/TD] [TD=align: left]BA[/TD] [TD=width: 41, align: left]OPS[/TD] [TD=width: 26, align: left]K[/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]BB[/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]2B[/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]3B[/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]HR[/TD] [TD=align: right]30[/TD] [TD=align: right]113[/TD] [TD=align: right].301[/TD] [TD=align: right].728[/TD] [TD=align: right]15[/TD] [TD=align: right]7[/TD] [TD=align: right]6[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [/TABLE] Jhonatan got in just 27 games behind the dish in 2012, but he threw out 11 of 30 attempted base stealers for a 37% rate. Of the three catchers I see as most likely to spend significant time in Cedar Rapids, he appears to have the most promising offensive skills. Arias was signed out of the Dominican Republic and spent 2007 and 2008 playing in the Dominican Summer League. In 2009 he played for the Gulf Coast League Twins and in 2010 he moved up to Elizabethton. In 2011, he split time between E’town and Beloit, but struggled at the plate in his time with the Snappers. During the 2011 Fall Instructional League, Arias reportedly was tried out on the pitching mound, but he spent 2012 in Elizabethton back behind the plate. If I had to bet, I’d expect the majority of the Kernels’ catching duties in 2013 will be shared by some combination of these three players, but there are a few younger catchers who spent time with one or both of the short-season teams in 2012 and could end up in Cedar Rapids at some point this season. If the Twins do decide to bring in younger catchers, look to see Bo Altobelli, Kelly Cross and/or Bryan Santy. Altobelli, who turns 22 in February, was drafted in the 21st round last June out of Texas Tech and signed with the Twins in time to get 18 games in behind the plate in Elizabethton. He hit just .230 and threw out just one of the 15 baserunners who attempted to steal against him. Cross will turn 21 during Spring Training. He was drafted in the 26th round out of his Texas high school in 2010. He signed his contract just before the signing deadline and caught three games for the GCL Twins that summer. He also spent most of the past two seasons with the same GCL team. He caught just eight games for Elizabethton last season. He hasn’t seemed to figure out what to do with a bat in his hands, yet, hitting just .167 in his GCL and Appy games combined during 2012, but he did throw out an impressive 47% of attempted base stealers (15 of 32). Santy played just 19 games for the GCL Twins in 2012 after the 22 year old was drafted in the 30th round out of the University of Washington. He not only threw out seven of the 16 runners who attempted to steal off him, but he also hit .296 and got on base at a .418 clip. Those are offensive numbers you won’t see in many other young Twins catching prospects. Of course, Santy was older than most of the pitchers he was likely facing in the GCL, which has me wondering whether the Twins might consider pushing him up a couple of levels over the course of 2013. If so, we might see him in CR. Finally, there are two other catching prospects that I would consider long-shots to see in a Kernels uniform this season. The Twins drafted Jorge Fernandez in the 7th round of the amateur draft last year, but Fernandez was drafted out of the International Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico and will just turn 19 in March. He caught 30 games for the GCL Twins last year with moderate success. I suspect he’ll spend all of 2013 in rookie leagues at either Fort Myers or Elizabethton, but I suppose there’s an outside chance he could find his way to Cedar Rapids late in the year. One other catcher, Michael Quesada, contributed a bit at Elizabethton in 2012. Quesada was a low round draft pick in 2010 but as he was signed out of junior college, he’s older than Cross. Like some others on this list, Quesada has struggled a bit at the plate, but has had some success throwing out runners. Quesada, however, was suspended in August after failing a drug test, so he will start the season completing the remainder of a 50-game suspension. Unfortunately, since he was on the Elizabethton roster when he tested positive, the suspension doesn’t pick back up again until E’town’s short-season schedule resumes in June, so it will be August before he can suit up for any affiliate. In my view, the Twins could stand to upgrade their catching at the low-minors level and I would not be disappointed to see them draft a college catcher or two in the top 10-15 rounds of the June amateur draft. With the accelerated signing period, I suppose that could result in Cedar Rapids seeing such a 2013 draftee behind the plate before the end of the season, but it’s not very likely. Next up: Part 2: Corner infielders. - JC

Since we’ve officially turned the calendar to 2013, it means Spring Training gets underway in just a few weeks and before you know it, we’ll be getting ready for Opening Day! http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/KernelsTwins-300x168.jpg (Image: Kernels.com) With this being the first year of the new Class A affiliation between the Twins and my hometown Cedar Rapids Kernels, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to bring more Kernels-centric writing to Knuckleballs and I figure there’s no time like the present to get started. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com.) Over the coming days (or perhaps weeks), I’m going to try to introduce most, if not all, of the players that we may expect to see wearing Kernels uniforms this summer. Granted, there’s no way of knowing with any certainty who we’ll actually find on the Kernels’ roster to open the season, but we can certainly make some educated guesses… and if I run out of those, I’ll just pull a few wild names out of thin air and talk about those players, too! The Opening Day roster will be limited to 25 players, but we’ll have no such limits here! It took almost no time at all for me to throw together a list of about 35 players in the Twins organization that look to me like reasonable bets to spend some time in Cedar Rapids this summer. Some will start the year in extended spring training and perhaps spend time with one of the Twins’ rookie league teams before, hopefully, getting promoted to Cedar Rapids. Others may open the season a rung higher on the organizational ladder with the High-A Fort Myers Miracle and miss out on being a Kernel altogether. But I’m relatively confident that most of the players we include in this series will wear a Kernels uniform at some point during the upcoming season. For the benefit of those Kernels fans who are less familiar with the Twins organization, we should probably explain that the Twins have two “rookie level” short-season teams below the Class A Kernels. The lowest level is the Fort Myers team in the Gulf Coast League and the next level up is Elizabethton TN in the Appalachian League. Those Kernels who earn a promotion out of Cedar Rapids will find themselves with the Fort Myers Miracle in the “high-A” Florida State League. Let’s kick off this series by looking at a group of catchers that Kernels fans might want to get to know. To my mind, the most likely catching options for Cedar Rapids to start the season would come from the trio of Jhonatan Arias, Tyler Grimes and Jairo Rodriguez. Here’s just a bit about them: Jairo Rodriguez - Age 24 – Bats R/Throws R 2012: Beloit (Class A – MWL) [TABLE] [TD=align: left]G[/TD] [TD=align: left]PA[/TD] [TD=align: left]BA[/TD] [TD=width: 41, align: left]OPS[/TD] [TD=width: 26, align: left]K[/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]BB[/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]2B[/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]3B[/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]HR[/TD] [TD=align: right]64[/TD] [TD=align: right]243[/TD] [TD=align: right].265[/TD] [TD=align: right].678[/TD] [TD=align: right]40[/TD] [TD=align: right]18[/TD] [TD=align: right]12[/TD] [TD=align: right] 0[/TD] [TD=align: right]2[/TD] [/TABLE] http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/Rodriguez12a.jpg Jairo Rodriguez Outside of just six games at DH, Jairo made the rest of his starts behind the plate in 2012. He threw out 24 of 66 runners attempting to steal for a very respectable 36% throw-out rate. Rodriguez was signed by the Twins out of Venezuela and spent his first three seasons in summer leagues in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. He spent 2010 and 2011 playing in US rookie leagues and the full 2012 season at Beloit. At 24 years old, Rodriguez would be older than most players in the Midwest League, so even if Rodriguez starts the year in Cedar Rapids, I could see the Twins pushing him up to Fort Myers at the first opportunity, assuming he performs at acceptable levels. Tyler Grimes – Age 22 – Bats R/Throws R 2012: Beloit (Class A – MWL) [TABLE] [TD=align: left]G[/TD] [TD=align: left]PA[/TD] [TD=align: left]BA[/TD] [TD=width: 41, align: left]OPS[/TD] [TD=width: 26, align: left]K[/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]BB[/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]2B[/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]3B[/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]HR[/TD] [TD=align: right]105[/TD] [TD=align: right]381[/TD] [TD=align: right].202[/TD] [TD=align: right].653[/TD] [TD=align: right]99[/TD] [TD=align: right]43[/TD] [TD=align: right]17[/TD] [TD=align: right]3[/TD] [TD=align: right]7[/TD] [/TABLE] http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/GrimesJune2012z-225x300.jpg Tyler Grimes Grimes made 77 appearances at shortstop and 18 at second base (plus 1 at 3B and 7 as DH) in 2012. Grimes was drafted by the Twins in the 5th round of the 2011 amateur draft out of Wichita State. He has not hit the ball real well in roughly a season and a half at Beloit, though at least he has shown a little power. After the 2012 season, he spent time at the the Fall Instructional League learning the catcher position. Grimes could open the season with the Kernels, repeating Class A, or potentially be held back in extended spring training to work more on his catching skills with the Twins instructional staff in Fort Myers before starting his season. It will be very interesting to see how the catching experiment works out for Tyler. Jhonatan Arias – Age 23 – Bats R/Throws R 2012: Elizabethton (Rookie – Appy League) [TABLE] [TD=align: left]G[/TD] [TD=align: left]PA[/TD] [TD=align: left]BA[/TD] [TD=width: 41, align: left]OPS[/TD] [TD=width: 26, align: left]K[/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]BB[/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]2B[/TD] [TD=width: 28, align: left]3B[/TD] [TD=width: 31, align: left]HR[/TD] [TD=align: right]30[/TD] [TD=align: right]113[/TD] [TD=align: right].301[/TD] [TD=align: right].728[/TD] [TD=align: right]15[/TD] [TD=align: right]7[/TD] [TD=align: right]6[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [/TABLE] Jhonatan got in just 27 games behind the dish in 2012, but he threw out 11 of 30 attempted base stealers for a 37% rate. Of the three catchers I see as most likely to spend significant time in Cedar Rapids, he appears to have the most promising offensive skills. Arias was signed out of the Dominican Republic and spent 2007 and 2008 playing in the Dominican Summer League. In 2009 he played for the Gulf Coast League Twins and in 2010 he moved up to Elizabethton. In 2011, he split time between E’town and Beloit, but struggled at the plate in his time with the Snappers. During the 2011 Fall Instructional League, Arias reportedly was tried out on the pitching mound, but he spent 2012 in Elizabethton back behind the plate. If I had to bet, I’d expect the majority of the Kernels’ catching duties in 2013 will be shared by some combination of these three players, but there are a few younger catchers who spent time with one or both of the short-season teams in 2012 and could end up in Cedar Rapids at some point this season. If the Twins do decide to bring in younger catchers, look to see Bo Altobelli, Kelly Cross and/or Bryan Santy. Altobelli, who turns 22 in February, was drafted in the 21st round last June out of Texas Tech and signed with the Twins in time to get 18 games in behind the plate in Elizabethton. He hit just .230 and threw out just one of the 15 baserunners who attempted to steal against him. Cross will turn 21 during Spring Training. He was drafted in the 26th round out of his Texas high school in 2010. He signed his contract just before the signing deadline and caught three games for the GCL Twins that summer. He also spent most of the past two seasons with the same GCL team. He caught just eight games for Elizabethton last season. He hasn’t seemed to figure out what to do with a bat in his hands, yet, hitting just .167 in his GCL and Appy games combined during 2012, but he did throw out an impressive 47% of attempted base stealers (15 of 32). Santy played just 19 games for the GCL Twins in 2012 after the 22 year old was drafted in the 30th round out of the University of Washington. He not only threw out seven of the 16 runners who attempted to steal off him, but he also hit .296 and got on base at a .418 clip. Those are offensive numbers you won’t see in many other young Twins catching prospects. Of course, Santy was older than most of the pitchers he was likely facing in the GCL, which has me wondering whether the Twins might consider pushing him up a couple of levels over the course of 2013. If so, we might see him in CR. Finally, there are two other catching prospects that I would consider long-shots to see in a Kernels uniform this season. The Twins drafted Jorge Fernandez in the 7th round of the amateur draft last year, but Fernandez was drafted out of the International Baseball Academy in Puerto Rico and will just turn 19 in March. He caught 30 games for the GCL Twins last year with moderate success. I suspect he’ll spend all of 2013 in rookie leagues at either Fort Myers or Elizabethton, but I suppose there’s an outside chance he could find his way to Cedar Rapids late in the year. One other catcher, Michael Quesada, contributed a bit at Elizabethton in 2012. Quesada was a low round draft pick in 2010 but as he was signed out of junior college, he’s older than Cross. Like some others on this list, Quesada has struggled a bit at the plate, but has had some success throwing out runners. Quesada, however, was suspended in August after failing a drug test, so he will start the season completing the remainder of a 50-game suspension. Unfortunately, since he was on the Elizabethton roster when he tested positive, the suspension doesn’t pick back up again until E’town’s short-season schedule resumes in June, so it will be August before he can suit up for any affiliate. In my view, the Twins could stand to upgrade their catching at the low-minors level and I would not be disappointed to see them draft a college catcher or two in the top 10-15 rounds of the June amateur draft. With the accelerated signing period, I suppose that could result in Cedar Rapids seeing such a 2013 draftee behind the plate before the end of the season, but it’s not very likely. Next up: Part 2: Corner infielders. - JC

Vargas is still just 22 years old and won't turn 23 until mid-season. That's really not at all "old" for high-A. The time he lost to his drug suspension certainly didn't help his development, but while he's not going to play gold glove defense any time soon, he can hit a baseball a very, very long way.

Great, balanced piece by Morosi Detroit Tigers outfielder Torii Hunter was quoted as saying his Christian beliefs would make it ?difficult and uncomfortable? for him to accept an openly gay teammate. - MLB News | FOX Sports on MSN

I believe that even those of us who held out hope a couple of months ago that there would be a genuine effort to improve the top of the rotation realize now that the "throw mud and see what sticks" approach is, indeed, the plan... again. As for the 6 man rotation approach, if you had 6-7 #3 starters, I might buy in to it because you could shave your bullpen by one arm. But when you've got 6-7 back-end starters, you need to keep a full contingent of bullpen arms. There's really no way to go with one fewer position player, especially when you don't exactly have a roster of offensive talent that you can count on every day.

So I guess it sounds like the Twins should just keep Gardy around a while. It certainly would appear that it's going to be some time before anyone has to be concerned about how well the team... and its manager... performs in the postseason.

While I certainly don't agree with every decision he makes as a GM, I have enormous respect for Terry Ryan as a baseball man and, particularly as a scout of baseball talent. I congratulate him on this honor.