Jim Crikket

If you thought I could just type a two word post, you REALLY don't know me, do you?

There will be all sorts of demands for the Twins "Top 10" prospects, but I've decided to go the direction of someone who's a little more of an underdog... but with potential. I'll select James Beresford, infielder with the Rock Cats. JC

I like it. The decision making process is stressful though! Do I adopt a Snapper I'll get a chance to see play a few times in Cedar Rapids this summer? Or one of my "favorites" who have already passed through the MWL and have moved up the ladder a bit closer to reaching his "dream"? So much to consider.

Sure I can, thrylos... I just did

This post was originally published at knuckleballsblog.com. I swear if there’s one thing I’ve grown more tired of than people using small sample sizes to “prove” how good or bad a player is, at this still-early point in the season, it’s people who do so while even admitting that they’re using small sample sizes. Let’s be brutally honest here, statheads, stats over a single two week period, even if it’s the first two weeks of the season, are almost completely worthless. That’s one reason that, despite the disadvantage I have of living in blacked out Iowa, I’ve made considerable efforts to hang out in the local Cedar Rapids sports bars as often as possible this month. This allows me to actually watch the Twins, rather than just look at the box scores, to judge who’s doing well and who isn’t. Naturally, it also gives me the opportunity to purchase overpriced beer and fried food, but that’s just a sacrifice I’m willing to make for my team and our readers. One thing about having a blog like this is that you eventually feel compelled to write something, even if almost everything you have to say has most likely been expressed elsewhere. With that said, here’s what I think about what I’ve seen of the 2012 Minnesota Twins: I don’t know what to think. Are they the team that might just as well have been using toothpicks for bats in their opening series sweep at the hands of the mighty Baltimore Orioles? (That’s the American League East Division LEADING Baltimore Orioles to you, Mack!) Or are they the team that took two of three games from Albert Pujols’ Angels? Or the one that got swept by Joe Nathan’s new buddies from Texas? Or the guys that have taken two out of the first three games from the Evil Empire in Yankee Stadium, no less? It’s probably just stating the obvious, but since that’s one of the things I do best, here’s a rundown of a few things we probably have found out about this season’s edition of the Twins: Spring Training numbers mean zip, zilch, nada, not a friggin’ thing. Remember all those good vibrations we were getting in March from Francisco Liriano? Three starts in to the season and he’s the same head case he was last year. Maybe he’ll turn things around yet, but man has he looked bad after being pretty much unhittable in Ft. Myers. For the second season in a row, Luke Hughes put up very impressive numbers in Spring Training. The same Luke Hughes who’s now been Designated for Assignment because the team needed his roster spot for Jason Marquis on Wednesday and Hughes is out of options. I suppose he COULD pass through waivers, but expectations are that some team will claim him and he’ll get a chance to join another organization’s Big League roster. Best of luck to Luke (unless he ends up with the F’ing Yankees or White Sox, of course). There was a lot of hand-wringing in Spring Training over Justin Morneau with many people pretty much writing off his career. He’s attacking the ball at the plate with an intensity we haven’t seen since before his head came in to contact with a Blue Jay knee at second base almost two years ago. Three home runs in the two games he’s played at Yankee Stadium so far this week isn’t too shabby. Josh Willingham can hit baseballs really, really well. Yes, defensively, balls hit in his direction can turn in to an adventure, but this is a fan base that’s been watching Delmon Young in LF for a couple of years… we can deal with Willingham. Especially if he keeps hitting the ball consistently. You can’t get much more consistent than starting the season with a 12 game hitting streak. Reports of the demise of Joe Mauer and Denard Span were a tad premature. Both are still really good at baseball. Mauer still hits in to too many 4-6-3 double plays, but as is the case with Morneau, we’re seeing a version of Mauer we haven’t seen on the field in far too long. Span looks poised to reclaim his spot atop the rankings of AL lead-off center fielders. Jamey Carroll is pretty much exactly what we thought he was… a solid shortstop that will field the balls hit near him and make good throws to first base. If the position hadn’t been such a disaster last year, that might not be big news, but I enjoy not having to hold my breath every time a ground ball gets hit that direction. Alexi Casilla is really bad… or really good… face it, none of us have figured that out for sure ever since the Twins got him in return for JC Romero. We still don’t know, but I like the Lexi that’s been playing in Yankee Stadium this week. The bullpen hasn’t sucked. Again, faint praise, perhaps. But given the angst most of us felt about the situation and the fact that a couple of guys that were counted on to fortify the pen have either been injured or pushed to the rotation, things could be much worse out there. I’m a bit nervous about Glen Perkins, though. So with all of this stuff going well, why the hell have the Twins lost twice as many games as they’ve won? The answer, of course, is a familiar one. This team has a rotation that simply is not very good and the pitchers are being backed up by a defense that’s not much better. I don’t need two weeks worth of statistics to tell me that’s a dangerous combination. Liam Hendriks and Anthony Swarzak have looked marginally promising. Carl Pavano looks to be what we all know he is… a marginal, but gutsy, innings-eater. Maybe Jason Marquis will be something similar. Nick Blackburn hasn’t been awful, but his ceiling isn’t terribly high, not to mention this “mystery shoulder tightness” thing he came down with this week. The bottom line is that we still really don’t know what to expect from this team after two weeks. The rest of April will continue to be a challenge, due to the brutal scheduling this month and the iffy pitching situation, but there’s nothing like a couple of wins against the F’ing Yankees at their place to raise spirits a bit. - JC

This post was originally published at knuckleballsblog.com. I swear if there’s one thing I’ve grown more tired of than people using small sample sizes to “prove” how good or bad a player is, at this still-early point in the season, it’s people who do so while even admitting that they’re using small sample sizes. Let’s be brutally honest here, statheads, stats over a single two week period, even if it’s the first two weeks of the season, are almost completely worthless. That’s one reason that, despite the disadvantage I have of living in blacked out Iowa, I’ve made considerable efforts to hang out in the local Cedar Rapids sports bars as often as possible this month. This allows me to actually watch the Twins, rather than just look at the box scores, to judge who’s doing well and who isn’t. Naturally, it also gives me the opportunity to purchase overpriced beer and fried food, but that’s just a sacrifice I’m willing to make for my team and our readers. One thing about having a blog like this is that you eventually feel compelled to write something, even if almost everything you have to say has most likely been expressed elsewhere. With that said, here’s what I think about what I’ve seen of the 2012 Minnesota Twins: I don’t know what to think. Are they the team that might just as well have been using toothpicks for bats in their opening series sweep at the hands of the mighty Baltimore Orioles? (That’s the American League East Division LEADING Baltimore Orioles to you, Mack!) Or are they the team that took two of three games from Albert Pujols’ Angels? Or the one that got swept by Joe Nathan’s new buddies from Texas? Or the guys that have taken two out of the first three games from the Evil Empire in Yankee Stadium, no less? It’s probably just stating the obvious, but since that’s one of the things I do best, here’s a rundown of a few things we probably have found out about this season’s edition of the Twins: Spring Training numbers mean zip, zilch, nada, not a friggin’ thing. Remember all those good vibrations we were getting in March from Francisco Liriano? Three starts in to the season and he’s the same head case he was last year. Maybe he’ll turn things around yet, but man has he looked bad after being pretty much unhittable in Ft. Myers. For the second season in a row, Luke Hughes put up very impressive numbers in Spring Training. The same Luke Hughes who’s now been Designated for Assignment because the team needed his roster spot for Jason Marquis on Wednesday and Hughes is out of options. I suppose he COULD pass through waivers, but expectations are that some team will claim him and he’ll get a chance to join another organization’s Big League roster. Best of luck to Luke (unless he ends up with the F’ing Yankees or White Sox, of course). There was a lot of hand-wringing in Spring Training over Justin Morneau with many people pretty much writing off his career. He’s attacking the ball at the plate with an intensity we haven’t seen since before his head came in to contact with a Blue Jay knee at second base almost two years ago. Three home runs in the two games he’s played at Yankee Stadium so far this week isn’t too shabby. Josh Willingham can hit baseballs really, really well. Yes, defensively, balls hit in his direction can turn in to an adventure, but this is a fan base that’s been watching Delmon Young in LF for a couple of years… we can deal with Willingham. Especially if he keeps hitting the ball consistently. You can’t get much more consistent than starting the season with a 12 game hitting streak. Reports of the demise of Joe Mauer and Denard Span were a tad premature. Both are still really good at baseball. Mauer still hits in to too many 4-6-3 double plays, but as is the case with Morneau, we’re seeing a version of Mauer we haven’t seen on the field in far too long. Span looks poised to reclaim his spot atop the rankings of AL lead-off center fielders. Jamey Carroll is pretty much exactly what we thought he was… a solid shortstop that will field the balls hit near him and make good throws to first base. If the position hadn’t been such a disaster last year, that might not be big news, but I enjoy not having to hold my breath every time a ground ball gets hit that direction. Alexi Casilla is really bad… or really good… face it, none of us have figured that out for sure ever since the Twins got him in return for JC Romero. We still don’t know, but I like the Lexi that’s been playing in Yankee Stadium this week. The bullpen hasn’t sucked. Again, faint praise, perhaps. But given the angst most of us felt about the situation and the fact that a couple of guys that were counted on to fortify the pen have either been injured or pushed to the rotation, things could be much worse out there. I’m a bit nervous about Glen Perkins, though. So with all of this stuff going well, why the hell have the Twins lost twice as many games as they’ve won? The answer, of course, is a familiar one. This team has a rotation that simply is not very good and the pitchers are being backed up by a defense that’s not much better. I don’t need two weeks worth of statistics to tell me that’s a dangerous combination. Liam Hendriks and Anthony Swarzak have looked marginally promising. Carl Pavano looks to be what we all know he is… a marginal, but gutsy, innings-eater. Maybe Jason Marquis will be something similar. Nick Blackburn hasn’t been awful, but his ceiling isn’t terribly high, not to mention this “mystery shoulder tightness” thing he came down with this week. The bottom line is that we still really don’t know what to expect from this team after two weeks. The rest of April will continue to be a challenge, due to the brutal scheduling this month and the iffy pitching situation, but there’s nothing like a couple of wins against the F’ing Yankees at their place to raise spirits a bit. - JC

I'll be a Vikings fan regardless of where they play. It might be different if they had ownership that simply bought the team and moved it right away, but that hasn't been the case. If the residents and politburo of the Socialist State of Minnesota decide their principles can't abide spending the money necessary to keep the team in Minnesota, why should that mean I change who I root for? I'm a Vikings fan, not a Minnesota fan.

I tend to agree with John, at least philosophically. Sending Hughes out leaves them short a back up middle infielder (sorry... Plouffe just doesn't feel any more like a legit option than Cuddyer did). But if the Twins felt that way, why not just ship out Gray yesterday instead of Hughes rather than waiting a couple of days and then losing Gray anyway and having to call up Nishi? It's kind of baffling, to be honest. Maintaining an 8-man bullpen just makes no sense 99% of the time. Then again, given the make up of the Twins current rotation, this situation might fall in to that left over 1%. This is all Liriano's fault, obviously. When you have a starter you can't even project to survive 3-4 innings, that forces you to make difficult, and ultimately bad, decisions. If his start Sunday turns out to be a really good one, then Hendriks is an option to send down to Rochester so he can continue getting starts while Swarzak stays in the rotation. But if Liriano lays another egg Sunday, I say they find a physical or mental impairment causing it and stash him on the DL.

I'm admitting that I was one person who advocated for the Twins giving a look to Jonathan Broxton during the offseason, but given the interesting way Broxton managed to blow a save tonight against the A's, maybe I need to give Terry Ryan credit for taking a pass. Broxton not only walked a couple of batters in the 9th, but he topped that off by hitting not one, but two consecutive batters to force in a run. Of course, the funny part was the cold stares the two hitters gave Broxton after getting hit... as if he threw at them on purpose. No, guys, he's just that bad.

Seth.... what, no mention of the new Rochester Red Wing left fielder? JR Towles survived a game in LF for the Wings. With Tosoni out for a bit, guess it's all hands on deck when you're carrying 3 catchers.

Hardy was playing SS on Friday vs the Tigers and seemed to be throwing OK.

To me, this comes down to what role the Twins see Revere playing over the next 3-4 years. If they really believe he's Span's heir in CF, whether that be later this year following a trade or a year or two from now, then I agree that he's better off playing every day in CF at Rochester than being the 4th OF in Minnesota. BUT... Benson is going to be in Rochester, too, right? And aren't there indications that the Twins believe Benson has greater potential to take over CF for Span? Wouldn't Revere then be taking CF innings away from Benson in Rochester? If they do feel Benson is more likely to be their CF over the next half-decade or more, then "4th OF and late inning guy" may be all that the organization is expecting Revere to be going forward. In that case, he might as well start filling that role right now.

I don't think that's necessarily the case, Seth. Gardy needs a 3rd catcher as a security blanket if he's going to use a catcher, be it Mauer or Doumit, regularly as a DH to protect against the unlikely event of his starting catcher getting nicked enough to leave a game, requiring the DH to catch and thus lose his DH for the rest of the game. But if, for example, Morneau is going to be the full time DH, while Doumit and Mauer both play defensive positions, the catcher getting dinged just requires defensive adjustments, but doesn't cost Gardy the DH for the rest of the game. If Mauer will be more likely to play 1B when he takes a day off from behind the plate than to DH, it's really not as big a deal to go with 2 catchers.

If he doesn't get a lot of at-bats, the best part about that is that it means Joe Mauer has stayed healthy all year. Otherwise, Doumit may have to play the super-utility role, where he plays someplace different every day, but even doing that, I think he'll get plenty of at-bats.

I hadn't heard that Willingham had done too bad in RF either, but during one of the rain delays today, Gladden made an allusion to Willingham not looking at all good in RF and that this move reflected the Twins accepting that. Granted, you have to consider the source. Revere clearly isn't going to be a starting MLB right fielder, so you may be right about this being a death knell for his chances. I figured that, realistically, he had until Benson could prove he can hit MLB hitting to make his case... but he may not end up having that long.

I don't see Theriot offering anything they don't already have internally. Hughes, Casilla and Carroll will handle the middle infield in some combination or another depending on who's performing well at any given time. Why would you need another utility IF? In an emergency, such as an injury, Plouffe can fill in while someone flies in from Rochester. Why would you want to give up any minor league talent of value for a guy who would just duplicate what you already have?

Nick Blackburn gave up the first runs of the spring for him today... cue all the experts to run their "Blackburn sucks" posts again.

Yeah he'll have to figure that out in Rochester.

Tarp on the field for 6 minutes before the sun comes out... ahhhh gotta love Florida weather.

If Carroll doesn't hit once the season starts, have to wonder how long it would be before you'd see Casilla back at SS and Hughes at 2B.

I see Willingham's move to LF to simply be a result of Revere no longer being assumed to be in the starting OF. The only need to have Willingham switch to RF was because Revere doesn't have the arm to play there. I agree that Revere is almost a sure thing to stay because he's the only guy who can give Span a rest occasionally in CF. But if they decide that's not important in April because of offdays or whatever, then it could be they think they need an extra infielder instead of an outfielder. Most likely I think they're just sending Revere a message that he doesn't have a spot guaranteed and he'd better work a little harder. When Benson shows he can hit MLB pitching, I would look forward to seeing him side by side with Span in the OF.

Hughes is making a bit of a statement. Another RBI. And here comes his Aussie buddy James Beresford to run for him.

Late game defense should still be improved. I'd expect to see Span and Revere filling two OF spots for the final inning or two, similarly to how Gomez and Span were used together late in games 3 years ago. I'm going to continue to hope Willingham isn't the liability that Young was, as well.

When it was determined Revere was best fit for 4th OF, where his speed can be used late in games as a PR and defensive replacement, the need for Willingham to change positions went away. Good move to send him back where he's more comfortable and let Plouffe and Parmelee battle for RF. If Morneau has to DH, putting Parmelee at 1B, maybe Doumit becomes the regular RF. As long as Doumit isn't the regular DH, the need for the 3rd catcher isn't nearly as critical because you don't lose your DH if your starting catcher gets nicked up. Honestly looks like things are coming together. It's kind of nice that there aren't a lot of "this guy deserves to be on the team but the Twins will keep that guy instead because of what they're paying him or he's out of options," things going on the way there seem to be most springs.

Pitching duel between Blackburn and Lohse? Whoda thunk it? Oops... or not.