DocBauer

Prospects alone, nobody on the big league club, you honestly nailed it about as spot on as could be. Just a couple debatable points. 1) Good chance Turner and Garver could be flip-flopped. 2) I think Kepler and Walker are 2 of the most intriguing prospects in the Twins system. In fact, if we just did a top 10 prospect list based on intrigue, they'd be in the top 4 Thorpe and Gonsalves for me. I think Kepler could be outstanding in the OF, but wonder if he isn't the next full-time 1B at the end of the day. And I'm not sure about Walker on the bench vs being a full time OF or full time DH, or a split thereof, vs being a true reserve. 3) I know I'm a Big Red homer, but my bench would find room for Christiansen. I have a very strong feeling about him as a multi-dimentional, productive, multi-positional reserve.

PS, why all the hate for Nunez? OK, so he's only so-so with the glove, but he's no butcher. He can hit a little, he has some pop, he can run, and he offers some positional flexibility. Isn't that what you want in a utility or second utility player on the roster? I don't think he's long term for the club, Beresford, Michael and Polanco could and should all push him at some point this season or the end of this season. But for the now, I'd hold on to him. In the context of professional sports, he's not going to cost you much of anything to bring in and have around. He might even surprise a little. There is enough potential available to do so.

Torn on Duensing and Milone. Personally, I don't feel either has a very long tenure left with the team. There are youngsters on the rise that are near ready, could be ready really soon, or should/could be ready by season's end. But in the current state of roster affairs, I could easily see both with the club for the time being. First, neither is really very expensive. I think both have a shot at the pen in 2015, though Milone has at least a limited shot at the rotation. Duensing is not old and is healthy and has a decent track record overall. He's a strong candidate for a bounce back season. But I could also see either, or both, allowed to leave or be traded. (trading seems more logical and obvious to me) I even wonder if St Louis could be interested in either as part of a trade as they have dealt away a couple pitchers already this offseason. Unless either of them really shines this season, my hunch is both of them, either or both depending how the rest of the offseason shakes out, is gone by 2016 regardless. Darnell, O'Rourke, Gilmartin and Rogers are just a couple youngsters that could be ready soon for a spot somewhere on the roster to join Thielbar. In fact, I'm not so sure Darnell isn't ready right now for a bullpen spot! My best guess at the end of the day, I believe both are offered and retained. That doesn't mean both are kept!

Ignoring the trade Dozier idea because...he's damn good...we don't know for sure about options to replace him just yet...and I think he has room to definitely get better. I want to look at Twins control and his somewhat late-blooming age and side on the "wait one more year" side of things. But I can't and won't. Because...he's damn good...we don't know for sure about options to replace him just yet...and I think he has room to definitely get better. SD made some great points/comments earlier. Were it me, I'd put forth a 5 year offering right now. I'd consider 6 years, but I just like 5 better from the Twins "hook" perspective. And if I'm Dozier, I might like 1 less year as well, allowing for possible FA one year earlier down the road. Regardless...this is a deal that offers financial cost control for both parties, investment and dividend/security. But as previously mentioned, I would balance the years of the contract more by front-loading more. This accomplishes the goal of allowing greater financial flexibility for the Twins in a couple of years when they start to offer extensions and the such, but also makes Dozier that much more attractive to other teams should they decide to make a deal, not being on the hook for such a large deal at the end of the contract.

Valid point. And partially to that end, does his reputation and the reputation of the Rays do anything to enhance the Twins as a destination place for FA pitchers?

This. The entire "pitch to contact" philosophy is sound. Absolutely nothing wrong with the general job Anderson did over the years as PC for the Twins, especially in the dome with the budget available. What would you have your pitchers do? Not throw strikes? Dance all day around the strike zone? My thinking though, somewhat alluded to here already, is that intentionally or not, all pitchers, their stuff and approach, became pigeon-holed in to the directive.

I have absolutely no problem with this, and am very intrigued by the choice. I don't care if he doesn't have ML coaching experience yet. No-one has ML coaching experience until they get their first shot. He's been around some, and most recently worked with an organization that has a reputation for producing some quality pitching talent. I would have been happy with Mason for the same reasons. As well as Willis based on reputation I've heard and the ML success of his pupils. Also wondering if Glynn had something to do with a recommendation here. I believe there has been a shift in philosophy with the Twins the past few seasons in regard to drafting and trading more power arms. This is an area, ML pitching coach wise, where I was in favor of that "outside" voice. All 3 of these guys could have provided that. Excited to see what affect he brings.

I'd add Gilmartin and Wheeler. Both left handed, have some stuff and track record, the possibility of helping in the next season or two...and...well...left handed. I find Adam of interest, and I'd hate to trade Willingham for absolutely nothing, but I don't think at this point I'd protect him. I think he's too much of a mystery to do so, and I suspect he's too much of a mystery for anyone to take anyway. Glad to see Michael finally showing a pulse last season. But the heartbeat is weak enough still that I doubt anyone will snag him. And if they did, Santana, Dozier, Escobar, Nunez, Beresford and soon Polanco should prevent us from missing him. I'd hate to risk losing Goodrum, who I find very intriguing, and who I feel got a bit of the shaft with moving around so much last season, for various logical reasons. But I just don't think anyone is going to save a roster spot for him at this point.

Generally, I have to agree and think this is not only realistic, but well thought out and quite probable. I am, however, going to offer a few counterpoints that I feel strongly about. I'm betting on Hicks at Rochester and an acquisition such as Bourjos for CF. I keep Nunez, and work him hard in ST at ALL INF spots and some OF to see what he can actually do. Maybe I'm the only one, but I like him as my 25th man. Parmelee over Colabello. Honestly, he can play 3 spots half way decent, and probably earned it last season....finally. I know that's one too many position players, but there are injuries and the such, so I'm allowing myself 1 extra for now. May is in the rotation and not Meyer. There are 2 reasons. One is that May actually finished pretty well and even flashed a few times to end '14. I think he'll build on that. And this gives him a leg up on Meyer at this point. And the second reason is that Meyer can begin the season in the pen, work and gain experience, and then slide in to the rotation later on in the season, thus keeping his IP under a bit more control as his career high thus far is 130 I believe. He can pitch long and middle relief, maybe get a start or two, and slide in to the rotation around mid season. Not ignoring the possibility of Pelfrey actually helping in the bullpen, but still think the Twins will make a low cost veteran move ala Burton a couple years ago.

Agreed! Can we please temper hopes and dreams with just a small dose of reality? Sano hasn't played a game above AA and missed the entire past season. Buxton got in to ONE game at AA and missed a huge portion of the season overall. Rosario served a 50 games suspension, started behind the 8 ball, and had an uneven season to say the least. Sano and Buxton are supreme talents, and Berrios a legit top 10 team prospect with loads of ability. And every single prospect is different than every other single prospect in regard to developmental time. But a nice AFL to work on his game, develop his game, and remind us all why he is a top prospect doesn't mark Rosario as a starting OF out of ST. Yes, it would be cool if it happened, but are you really going to bank on it? And after missing a whole season Sano will be ready a month or two in, if not right away, dusting away a year of failed opportunity as if it were 1st base dirt on a pick off play? And Buxton will use his partial high A season, half a game at AA and solid, limited AFL to vault to the starting CF job for the Twins by mid-season just because? We need options. You keep Plouffe because he's solid to good and you need him for now. You really need to find someone to help with CF. And you need someone to help in LF because...well because of LF. The best options are clearly Rasmus and Rios. Rasmus can play CF, should be quite good in LF. Rios is older, has played a little CF, but is a corner OF. Rasmus might cost more being younger, Rios might be had on a 1 year deal. Rios is also RH, which plays to TF and the lineup perhaps a bit better than Rasmus's LH bat. Honestly, I'm OK with either one. They both bring value, but Rasmus will almost certainly cost more, though I wonder if he's looking for a multi year deal, or a make good 1 year offer. I just hope the Twins are pro-active to make a move.

I am going to disagree here. Conjecture is a bad knee lead to a loss in velocity and a poor season. In his last 3 seasons in Cleveland, 2 good and 1 not so good, he pitched a combined 96 GS, 615 IP, 512 SO's vs 229 which is better than a 2-1 ratio. That is not a junk balling 4th or 5th SP.

Point: every season there are former disappointments and washouts who suddenly become anything from a borderline star, to a quality starter, to a nice useful player. Schafer is young enough to have developed, had a light come on, be in the right place at the right time with the right coaching, etc. Stud? Seriously doubt it. But solid contributor? Absolutely. Counterpoint: He's never come close before despite talent and being a top rated prospect. Why now? The investment to being him back is small, potential return solid, and you'd be silly not to. He could earn a share of an OF spot, or at least provide a solid glove and PR/SB ability off the bench. And you're only looking at 1 year for now. He's a better, more talented Tyner. But hey, you need bench guys to contribute as well.

Now, to be fair...A) a AAA club often has a couple older players to flesh out the roster, and hopefully give the parent club a little charge if someone becomes disabled, and this list looks more than a little but different had Buxton not been hurt most of the season and Rosario not gotten off to a late and disappointing start due to his suspension. You could even consider tossing Hicks in to the mix as well, had he not been rushed. 2014 might have been his rookie ML season, not a second disappointing one.

Rasmus on a 1yr, possibly 2, I'm ok with. He can run, has power and can play defense. Unless we overpay for him, even hitting lower than expected/hoped he doesn't kill and can actually contribute. But his best fit is LF. Rios is the guy I like here. He's just young enough, always been a good athlete, and has a previous history to indicate a bounce back season is possible. 1 yr at $5M-ish or a 1 yr with a possible option year filled with the traditional raises and incentives? Rios in LF should be solid to good defensively with a RF arm. 75% of his old self he'd hit .250-.260 with double digit HR and SB with high 20, low 30 doubles. All of this would far outshine anything we got from LF last year, offensively or defensively. (All due respect to Schafer's month with the Twins)

I really hope the Twins aren't missing something with Christiansen. He is a well built and talented overall athlete who was an All Big 10 SS previously. Not saying he has SS projection at this level, but I have to wonder about playing some INF in a reserve/developmental role. Particularly 3B. I keep thinking a former SS with a good arm and nice athleticism should be getting a look there. Any word Seth on him seeing time at 3B?

Hopefully earthy this season, both Zach's should be fun to watch. Did we potentially get a couple of steals in Murphy and English? I understand the whole SSS and age vs level debate, but Murphy really excelled and I believe English won a Gold Glove or two didn't he? Man, if the lightbulb could turn on to even 70 watt brightness Williams could be a nice, valuable player. If he could hit or approach full 100 watt status we could have something there. Reminds me of Angel Morales some in regards.

I think a lot of people will be eating some crow after this season in regard to Nolasco. The only thing, S I've said before, that he's guilty of is getting hurt in his first year with the Twins and then trying to play through it. If the only thing he does is just pitch to his career norms, we're talking 30+ starts and 190+ IP, a low 4 ERA and 12-14 wins. Career norms. Not only do I think anyone would take that, it's probably better than anyone on this list will do. Not that I'm not in favor of adding someone somewhere.

I don't mind the 1year idea at all. You haven't tied up big money or multiple years. That gives you flexibility to re-sign said FA for a fair extension, or trade them at the deadline if you've got a nice return and someone else ready to step in. A re-sign is simply not going to be some big $20M deal, which means you are flexible to re-sign and still look at extending Hughes. And the trade option bring back a solid player, and possibly provides a little more time for a May or Meyer if not ready or regress a little. And it allows the parent club to, oh, I don't know, actually March out a quality starter to the mound?

Masterson yes. Pretty much anyone else on the list a big no. What's with the love for Anderson? I don't get it. Unless he gets totally healthy and totally durable real quick, this is a guy who has topped 30 starts once in his career, hit 19 once, 13 once and 8 games started is the 4th best in his ML career. Billingsley may be toast, but he's a much more intriguing option. Maholm, also from the Dodgers, is also an intriguing option. But a TJ and flexor tendon problem in 2 years for Billingsley and an ACL for Maholm mean milb contracts.

Yes. True. But only to a point. People simply HAVE TO STOP with the Mauer bashing. Is he perhaps overpaid? Did he just happen to have the best year of his career in a contract year? Yes and yes. But it could be argued most top athletes are overpaid. Even in the context of multi million player contracts in baseball, in all sports, you could point to a lot of players that are "overpaid" for a variety of reasons. So Mauer may not be Johnny Bench and Babe Ruth rolled in to one. Who said he was supposed to be? He is a local kid done good. He's a quality guy with a great story. He's a multiple All Star, Gold Glove winner and Silver Slugger winner. Gleeman recently did a piece on his site where he compares Mauer and Molitor through their age 31 seasons. And guess what? In most categories, Mauer ranks ahead of his HOF manager. And before we just bury the guy and put a RIP above his name, can we give him this offseason to work his normal routine and get ready for 2015? This time last year he was still trying to recover from post concussion syndrome. Go talk to Koskie and Morneau about what they went through before you pile on Mauer.

Yes. And not just for baseball sake, but for their own. Even though the majority of Latin players tend to maintain permanent residency in their home countries, in fact, they spend over half their year in the US. Just being able to order food, shop and live daily they are better off learning English. Gladden May have learned little to no Japanese in his 1 season, but had he been there longer he undoubtedly would have learned some, even by accident.

More or less agree completely. But with a couple tweaks. I like Rasmus because he CAN play CF. But I think I'd prefer him to play LF, knowing he can help cover CF, as can Santana here and there possibly. Small trade or inexpensive FA, I'm looking for another Schafer type to bring in to compete with Schafer and Hicks for probably two jobs, primary CF and 4th OF, or a combo/platoon to share those two spots. I want defense and speed for the bottom of the order, and whatever hitting, OB and power I can get. I have a few other ideas for SP signings, but Santana is definitely one of the tops. He's talented, generally consistent, but generally not dominating. He's probably the top SP in the second group of available FA's. Despite his overall ability and numbers, he simply isn't an $18-20M per pitcher. Your $15M per is about right, give or take a little. I think one low cost Burton-like RP should be in order. Totaled up, that's somewhere in the $25M range of moves barring a big market swing either way. IF the Twins keep Duensing and Milone, that outs the Twins around $100M.

I have to agree, unfortunately. I have mentioned Hunter before as a serious consideration on a 1yr deal to infuse experience, leadership and a still capable RH bat with pop and RBI potential. (Doesn't hurt that it would just be neat) But my stance has changed due to, what appears to be, a precipitous drop in defense. Now, I'd still be on board if he could handle LF, which is where he'd project. But I'm not sure that's really an option either. Could he be a decent 4th OF, PH, part time DH? Yes. But I don't think that's what this team needs. We need a full time LF contributor. Cuddyer would make much more sense being younger than Hunter, still productive, and providing the same intangibles. But the Rockies seem determined to keep him at this point. Rios on a fair deal for 1yr, possibly with a fair option and buyout, as a bounce back candidate? Still can run a little, has a good arm, would play LF now and could potentially still provide a nice RH bat?

As a side note, how about a great story line? Local boy plays at the local university, goes on to a HOF career and even spends time at the end of his career with the local baseball team. He then has a reportedly solid career as a scout and instructor for the home town team before becoming it's manager. Hollywood rejects scripts that are this tailored and neat.

Let's just say Molitor was the odds on favorite since day one. The point is??? The Twins interviewed several candidates, and multi-interviewed some of them. This was all for public show and perception? Say what you will about the Twins way of doing things, but they've never been accused of being covert or disingenuous in how they do business. The fact that an odds on favorite ultimately won is the reason they were labeled the favorite to begin with. And let's not forget we are talking about a successful, cerebral HOF player who not only made an imprint on the club last season, but has been given glowing reports from the very minor league players we are all aching to see turn the Twins franchise around for the next era of competitiveness.