Outlier

I think we'll know he's reached a higher level when we see: an average of ~7 innings per start and an improved K/BB rate, one closer to 3.00 than 1.52.

I hope we give consideration to signing Kendrys Morales. The offense is starting to show its colors and Kubel, Parmalee, and Colabello are at the top of list of those who are struggling.

And Jorge Polanco's hit streak ends at 16.

I expected a move to be made if he struggled last night, and I'm a little surprised nothing has happened. He hasn't pitched well this year, but at least the first few starts he averaged 6+ innings; now it's closer to 4. If for no other sake than that of the bullpen, it's a shame if he gets another start. And for the record, I haven't been a KC hater. When he signed, I had no issue with 2 years. Oh, what a fool I am.

I'm really sorry for the delayed reponse! I watched it through MiLB.com. It appears that the home games for the Great Lakes Loons are televised.

While not off to the fastest start in his first taste of full season ball Engelb Vielma, hitting 9th in the order, is sporting a .172/.200/.241. He does have 4 RBI as well as 1 SB and 1 CS. He has played all 8 games at SS and committed 2 throwing erros in his first game, but has had none since. I watched some of of the Kernels game on the old computer screen yesterday. He speed was evident, unfortunately I saw him field no grounders (Eades had only 4 GB outs) though he handled a pop up like a pro. He seems to lack much power and appears to be more of a slap ball hitter whose speed could be a great aid to his hitting. But time will tell what he develops on the offensive side.

Engelb Vielma, SS Born: 6/22/1994 Listed at 5’11”, 151 lbs Bats: SH Throws: RH Signed out of Venezuela as a 17 year on September 8, 2011, Vielma spent his age 17 season playing in the DSL. In 157 AB’s, he hit .268/.354/.331 with 27 SO’s and 18 BB’s and 16 SB in 21 attempts. He played 35 games at SS and 6 at 2B with 18 E’s at SS and 0 at 2B. In 2013 he spent the bulk of his time playing in the GCL but had 6 games with the Elizabethton Twins in the Appy League. In total, he hit .234/.318/.253 in 154 AB’s totaling 30 SO’s to 16 BB’s. His SB totals were down with 8 in 11 attempts. He totaled 42 games at SS with 12 errors and 6 games at 3B with 2 E’s. Despite having played only 6 games at Elizabethton, he’s starting 2014 in full season A-ball playing for the Cedar Rapids Kernels. Based on reports, as I have not yet seen him myself, he’s touted as a plus defender with a strong arm, and a bat that is still developing. Phil Miller has a post regarding Vielma with comments from Radcliffe include, “He can really field. I mean, wow.” The full post can be found here: http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/vielmas-slick-shortstop-play-dazzles-twins/ Vielma’s defense, “crazy nutty speed,” and “very strong arm” are also touted over at the Tenth Inning Stretch Blog, found here: http://tenthinningstretch.blogspot.com/2014/03/twg-training-report-from-fort-myers.html And, while he was hard to find on most experts top Twin’s prospects lists, Keith Law had him at #11.

Haha, yes it's important to have player name spelling memorized! Didn't we learn this during the Mientkiewicz era?

Engelb Vielma, please

One argument against Hicks in AAA could be if Dozier went to AAA last year instead of struggling for almost 2 months in the Majors, would he have made the turn around? Perhaps Bruno, et al are best equipped to get him where he needs to be regarding your concerns.

I've felt all along that Pinto has a better chance to make the roster than it seems you have. Perhaps I'm just a dreamer. It seems like he may be the best DH bat they have. He could DH 2-3 days and he could catch 2 days a week until they see the improvement they need. Pinto never caught every day in the minors (<60%) so I wonder if they would ease him into the role and do work with Steinbach and be mentored by Suzuki rather than send him to the minors.

Thanks for the great follow-up and additional information, Jim.

While I don't necessarily disagree, and my thoughts since first hearing about the suit have been along the same lines, my mind has come up with a few possible arguments to the other side. I'm sure others have more knowledge than I, but here they are? Do MLB organizations profit from minor league teams and games? My assumption is no, not directly. Obviously, these minor league teams are their farm systems from which they hope to garner major league talent, but do they make any profit from these players while they are in the minors? I assume any profits gained go to those minor league organizations, so shouldn’t they be at least as responsible for their players’ compensation? Why would an organization that profits nothing be expected to pay higher wages to players who will never benefit them at all. And don’t forget, if they believe that player may, possibly, have a chance to benefit them in the future they receive signing bonuses. Looking solely at the issue from the perspective that this is a business, increased pay from MLB teams may not make a lot of sense. Should they all get bonuses when they first sign? Perhaps, but continuing pay (or an increase in the current pay)? If the games were better attended, if ticket prices were increased, if the minor league organizations made more profits, perhaps players should be paid from them. But if minor leagues make very little money, shouldn’t the players? Granted, I don’t know what the minor league organizations take in, but if the margins are slim, then is that reason the players pay is so low? And, if the margins aren’t slim, then perhaps those organizations need to compensate those players one way or another.

Isn't it great the Twins are finally going to Petco! I can't wait, and I'm really hoping a couple of the young guys are up by then. Though it's a bit of a pipe dream, I'd love to see Sano.

Can you or anyone please explain why Fangraphs WAR (Pelfrey at 2.1) is accurate and Baseball Reference WAR (Pelfrey at -0.3) is not.

Won't be able to watch it live, but a question I have is: If Kyle Gibson's poor performance in the major may in part have been due to fatigue, will the Twins handle Alex Meyer any differently to avoid a similar poor debut (assuming he debuts in the second half)?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but your math of adding those 3 pitchers equating to 8 wins above the 2013 record assumes they are replacing 0 WAR pitchers. The pitchers they would replace (Worley, Albers, Pelfrey, Hendriks, Diamond) weren't 0 WAR pitchers, they were negative WAR pitchers, so I believe the net gain is closer to 12-13 wins above the 2013 record.

I'm curious as to what causes Aderlin Meija to be left off of a top 50 prospects list.

That is quite a log jam, and you didn't even count the guys who don't make the majors such as Hendriks, Worley, Diamond, Albers, Walters, etc.