DocBauer

A nice pickup to be sure. I don't care what team you are talking about, if you can aquire what is, or recently was, a top 10 listed prospect for an aging and decling player who is out of contract and doesn't fit in with your next season, you've done really well. Living in Omaha, I hear quite a bit about the Royals. They've actually had several pitching prospects, well regarded and rated, who have struggled to fulfill their potential. Who knows how this will turn out, but a great return. And a change of scenery could do wonders for him.

We all have to be careful here and temper our enthusiasm and expectations. Otherwise, we're all going to end up bald, with no finger nails, and the TD server will eventually meltdown from repeated posts demanding to know why 20yo Lewis Thorpe isn't already promoted to the bigs in a couple years. Until November 23rd, almost 2 full months after the ML regular season ends, almost 3 since the milb regular season ends, he will turn 19. Let that sink in. He's pitching in the Midwest League as a SP at 18 years old. Let me type that again, he's only 18 years old! And assuming the well reported speed gun at the Kernels park truly is slow by 2mph, not doubting-just saying, he's throwing up fastballs at 91-94 at 18 to guys usually 3-5 years older than him, along with other good to nasty offerings, striking out more than a batter an inning, and showing continuous game by game improvement. Oh yeah, he was in the GCL last year. It's hard to say where he would have been drafted were he in an American high school, which is where he would have been last year. Perhaps as high as the first round if well scouted and at a decent HS wherever. Regardless, he should be a rookie for someone right now in a rookie league. This kid is a super talent! Regardless of how well he finishes this season, age alone should bring him back to the Midwest League next season to begin. We'll see from there. But unless he falls under the same injury curse that has befallen other top talent this year, you'd think he'd get at least part of next season at Ft Meyers. New Britain at age 20??? Okokokok, I'm already doing what I said not to do and get ahead of myself.

I am also not concerned about 1 start from May. Even the best pitchers have clunkers. And top prospects also throw clunkers their first time out. Some toss a great first game, or two, then come video and scouting reports, and they may stink next time out, or so. One game, one start, nobody should have any great angst over it. I am also a Plouffe supporter, and have been a Plouffe hopeful, for some time now. Baseball 1st round picks are the hardest to define and predict of all sports for way too many reasons to even bother to get in to. Overall, I am not disappointed with Plouffe. He's worked very hard to improve himself and his game with obvious results. He's still relatively young, and still has around 1600 AB's is all. Slow but real development is taking place. There are a lot of quality ML players who mature later and have nice solid productive careers without being true stars. My disappointment, if any, is that I believe he has some true HR power available I don't think is out of reach. I like the doubles and other numbers to be sure. But I do think there's more power to be seen yet.

I've had a problem with about half my posts all scrunching together in to one mass paragraph. I have paragraph breaks. And once or twice I've listed items, such as points, or a lineup. And once again, it all becomes a run-on paragraph. Other times, everything prints out just as typed. Could it be a section issue? Could it be an IPad issue of some sort? Never had the issue before.

Great read. Thanks Seth!

C=Suzuki, Pinto 1B=Mauer, Vargas 2B=Dozier SS=Escobar/Santana, Nunez 3B=Plouffe LF=FA (unlikely but possible trade), Parmelee CF=Santana/FA (Hicks a possible) RF=Arcia Herrmann, Beresford, Hicks in the wings, along with Rosario possibly. Sano and Buxton a little further down the line. SP=Hughes, Gibson, Nolasco, Milone...May, Meyer, Pelfrey. Uncertain on #5 at this point. Whoever isn't is in the wings. Deduno and Pino could both be AAA filler/fill-in. Gilmartin and Berrios further down the line. PEN=Perkins, FA (strong hunch in my mind), Fien, Pressly-Tonkin, Swarzak, Thielbar, Duensing. Achter, Pressly-Tonkin, Darnell, Ibarr amongst others in a line. I see the Twins making one quality pen FA signing to keep the unit strong, and to not overly depend on too many youngsters at once. I believe Swarzak and Duensing are both back, at least initially, as fairly inexpensive veterans. There is competitive depth here however.

I got nothing. Except...first ever ML start, nerves and excitement can be a demon. Another start in 5 days? I sure hope so. I think it would be a mistake to just automatically send him back. In fact, I think a second start would be ideal at this point.

Jokin is right. The Twins have been playing the shell game for weeks now to flush out the rotation. If May struggles, not saying he will, or agrivates anything, again not saying, he could go back down for a start or two and come back up again. But forget paranoia, he's probably up for at least a few starts if not the rest of the season, probable. Pino could easily ride the shuttle again, and is a possible/probable for the DH mentioned. Could be time for Nolasco to come back up, and stay, as well. Unless we see a waiver trade or two, likely, or a DFA, less likely, I think we will continue to see more of the shell game the next few weeks until September when all bets are off. No matter what happens, Colabello has been a great story. And he's already experienced a dream few get to experience. The story on him might have finally reached its conclusion. And I think that's OK. I'm still not sure I'd bet against him though.

Great list Stringer. And a couple good responses as well. Not going to post a full list as you already covered 6 of my list. But I'd add the following: A) Nolasco. Maybe not yet, but by all reports thus far he's not facing anything serious and will offer a payoff starting next season. But more than that, his signing, and Hughes', even Pelfrey to a degree, and the signing of Morales shows a shift in the FO to go out and make things happen. The pure competitiveness of the Twins this season has been much better, regardless of final record. We haven't been...gosh I hate to say it...but we haven't been an embarrassment this season. C) Pohlad's comments a few weeks back. I don't know if the Twins are going to make huge moves this offseason or not, personnel or management, but him voicing his frustrations gives the impression he wants the Twins to rebound. And along with my point of actually going out and being aggressive in the last FA period leads me to believe that he will probably, hopefully, not be a meddling owner, he is impatient, and perhaps ready to move further forward. D) September. This, flat out, might be the first September in 4 years where there is something fun and hopeful to watch in September with promotions and auditions. E) Meyer and May. I know, they aren't truly MLer's...YET...but May will be tonight. And despite the heartbreaking seasons of Sano and Buxton, these two have shown and teased the kind of talent and ability to enthuse the Twins nation.

Sorry for the disjointed last post. I usually post on IPad these days, and for whatever reason, despite paragraph breaks, most of my posts end up showing no breaks and end up as long running paragraphs. I don't know what the issue is.

First of all, not a blatant attempt to suck up to anyone, but not only do I love TD as my favorite website, but I've shared it with non-Twins fans to simply show what is made available to us Twins fans, the pure quality of encapsulated information and community blogging, and I find extreme jealousy. I don't take the time to scout other opportunities for fans of other teams, but from what little I have seen, from said jealousy of acquaintances, and my own impressions of TD, I seriously doubt there's a site quite like this one out there. It's very hard for me to critique anything additionally for the site...but...were I to daydream a bit, I'd offer the following suggestions. (Sorry if some of them are repetitive) And sorry if I've missed anything new that I might have missed with the updates, but haven't had time to explore all the changes yet. 1) Direct links to Twins milb sites would be nice. I like to visit milb.com often, but it does prove painful at times to have to multi click and then multi backspace to check stats and the such. 2) I have to agree that bringing Gleeman over would be a natural move. 3) In regard to links, there is another Twins site that used to include links to other bloggers, including many of those here, which also included some local newspaper and columnists to the minor league affiliates. 4) Again, dreaming here now, but I really enjoy SD's perspectives on the Kernals, as well as those who visit them on opportunities. I wish there a way, in person experience, or via net interviews even, that we could have that personal connection to other teams, or, occassional articles or Q&A from coaches of milb teams. Again, kinda dreaming there. 5) I know this is far reaching hope, but it would be awesome if someone in the organization who could offer up perspectives and news about the players and teams. Moves, who's working on what, that kind of thing. Again, I'm daydreaming here and shooting for the moon. 6) On the site itself, if I offered one small critique, it would involve the front page offerings themselves. Over a slow day or two, rather than have a posted article that repeats itself in the right column, sometimes twice, I'd rather just have another post listed to make overall access a little more convenient. 7) I know we all have access to post in the forum and blog areas, but maybe a guest columnist would be fun. People outside to TD, possibly tied to the ML club or milb clubs, or even members here, to address the Twins, the past present or future of the Twins, covering baseball as a perspective, or even fan stories of their experiences or amateur "careers" as fans. Just daydreaming here.

I'd forget Berrios for 2015 at this point. Not that he isn't a stud. But with other options, he youth and somewhat limited time at AA this year, with more to come soon I hope, he's probably late 2015 at best. But we are looking at Hughes, Gibson, Nolasco, May, Meyer and Milone as 6, with a possible spot for Pelfrey, even temporary, if fully sound next year. Pino has shown just enough that I'd keep him around for Rochester, a possible pen role, and depth should anyone go down. Deduno and Johnson...hmmm...thinking Deduno might be brought back for the same reasons listed for Pino. Not sure about Johnson though. Especially with the listed depth, plus Gilmartin and Berrios on the way.

Great news! Exciting! And deserved. I just don't think you can doubt that he would have pitched the Futures Game and just stayed in Minnesota if it hadn't been for his calf injury. He needed to pitch a couple games after his DL stink to get back in the groove and get his legs under him. Shorter leash the first time out made sense. I had commented somewhere before that if his next start was an effective 90+ pitches or so, he'd probably make his next start for the Twins. When he wasn't as sharp as hoped for, I figured he'd get a third start before promotion. Guess the powers that be just wanted to see pitch count, and weren't as concerned with it being a so-so performance. I sure am glad to be wrong.

I have to agree with Jokin here. As a dreaded 3rd C option, Herrmann might also make the roster. Especially if the Twins rotation is strong enough to drop back to a 6 man bullpen. It's not that they need a 3rd catcher, but he could be a LH bat off the bench who could fill in here and there, with Pinto as a C and sometime DH. If Turner's defense is as good as advertised, and he posses decent power, even hitting from .225-.250 could make him a valuable backup. If he can hit .250+ he could be the starter. Thus far, seems Garver may have the better bat however, and if his defense is even close, probably the better option as a future starter. But yes, they're both just too far away for now to be counted on. Any opinion on Koch? I know he's down a bit this season offensively, but does anyone see him as a solid backup option?

Call me naive, or overly optimistic if you will, but I don't think the door is shut on Pinto. He has a strong arm, and despite questionable or inconsistent footwork, did a good job of throwing out runners in his milb career thus far. And there is little question that he posses a potentially quality bat overall, especially for the position. But even if he only develops in to an OK backup who brings a potent stick off the bench or at DH, that's not necessarily a bad ending. Plus, Suzuki's contract is not problematic to trade potential or even backup potential if Pinto makes a move. I do think having a quality, veteran game caller backstop, for veteran and young pitchers alike, is not a bad thing. I'm still in the Herrmann camp as a guy who could be a very useful player. I still point to his earlier success in the minors, and BA ranking him as a quality defensive player, before the Twins began to yo-yo him so much the past couple of seasons. Remembering that the most important part of being a catcher is defense, game calling, receiving, and to some degree, on field leadership, I like Turner's potential. If he can be any sort of average hitter, can tap some of his power potential, he could be anything from a top backup to a really good starter+. Garver might have an even better bat, and according to reports from SD, not to mentioning just behind Turner in college rankings defensively, he might be an even better player and potential steal. If Swim can play good defense, call a game and hit .290-.300, not sure I care if he has the power potential of Turner and Garver. And I'm still holding out some hope that Koch could be a quality backstop. From Pinto on down, there is nothing proven or guaranteed with any of these guys. But this is some of the best catching depth I can remember the Twins having since...since I suppose AJ and Mauer come to mind. Miller about the same time AJ took hold of the job. And that turned out quite well.

Agree with your points overall. In Escobar, Plouffe, Arcia and Santana, and even Parmelee, I just want to see them finish OK. Pretty much do what their doing, and have been doing. I'm not saying I don't want to see improvement, especially in the case of Arcia. But a big month or two, to me, isn't as telling as maintaining vs regression and a poor finish. In Mauer, I just want to see him finish healthy, and finish something close to the old Mauer, the way he was hitting before his injury, where he WAS looking like his old self. That could go a long way to feeling good about the lineup in 2015. I think we've all learned not to get too keyed up over September stats by themselves, which is one reason it's so neat to see Vargas up at this point. I like the idea of him getting two full months in as opposed to just that one month call up. Hicks, I just want him to keep working hard, making adjustments, carry over what he's done at New Britain up to Rochester now, and then fit in, do his best, no pressure or promises for next season, in his September recall. Pinto...hey, we aren't competing for anything, Suzuki is already proven and signed, so give Pinto starts and AB's. Period! And when he's not catching, we don't have a permanent DH anyway. Polanco needs to come up for September doesn't he? I'm not getting ahead of myself, I'm not looking for another mistake rush job, but he's already in the 40 man, has already burned an option for the year, so it would be anywhere from silly to stupid to not bring him up in September wouldn't it? Just for experience, a look-see, work with ML coaches, etc, etc.

Scotty, I do recall what you're talking about. I might be mis-remembering, but it seem to recall the team really liking the red uni options at first, but as you stated, baseball players being a superstitious lot, dumped them after those thrashings. The red options pictured are flat out SWEET! And I love the idea Minnie and Paul patch, whether on the chest or sleeve, with a nice big TC logo in the front. The hat would absolutely have to be red with a blue bill. (Possibly with blue and/or white piping on the bill or down the seems?) And you'd have to have a TC on the cap front as well. Someone get this done! Can we start a write-in campaign?

This! Great post Jokin. I think you might have hit it in the head. Let's be real folks, the Twins know how good Meyer can be, and that he is our top pitching prospect. Does anyone really think there is some conspiracy to keep Meyer down at AAA because...because...because...because they don't like him??? Because he really isn't as talented as first thought and they're afraid to promote him??? Sounds crazy right? You can argue until blue in the face, but for the most part, the Twins...right or wrong...have traditionally been consistent with their pitching promotions. A pitcher, position player for that matter, no matter how talented or productive, traditionally plays a half season at a level at least before being promoted to the next level. (This is a little less accurate in the low levels, especially for college players) Witness Berrios this season for example; already younger than most all players at his level, after a strong first half performance, he was promoted mid-season to a higher level where he became EVEN YOUNGER in regard to the league he had been playing in previously. There wasn't a hesitation because he had proven himself, appeared ready, and was building up his innings total after a full and healthy 2013. The Twins have always, again, right or wrong, followed a script whereby they increase a pitchers innings to a certain degree one year to the next. And like it to not, Meyer did miss time last season. If you want to accuse the Twins of being too conservative in their approach, then I guess you have an arguement I can agree with. However, as Jokin alludes to in his comments, is it really so terrible that the Twins want him to work on his change up, or whatever, a bit more, gain that little bit more consistency before coming up, to insure maximum possible success? FWIW, I advocated a 6 man rotation recently, as did Seth in his recent article. It provides a chance for the balance of the season to look at May, Meyer, and even Millone, to help prepare for next season, without taxing anyone's innings. As for Meyer getting some innings in the bullpen, it's not like anyone is talking about him becoming a reliever. It's about getting experience while maintaining his innings under control. There is a difference between a pitcher coming in from the pen to hold a lead in a pennant race, firing his best stuff, and having Meyer come in to pitch 2-3 innings and throw ALL his pitches in September.

I knew from reading the morning reports that Hicks was doing well at New Britain, but am pleasantly surprised at just how good a month he really had. Have to temper the enthusiasm though, doesn't mean he's fully turned a corner yet. I think we all get that. But it's very positive just the same! I'm also pleased to see that he will get an opportunity to play in Rochester for the next month. As someone pointed out recently, apologies for not remembering who, it's not as if Hicks was hitting against dregs at AA, but at Rochester he will face pitchers with at least a little more experience, a little more consistency, and some with ML experience. It's part of his building block, or re-building block, back to fulfillment of his potential. Now, in retrospect, I guess it's a shame they didn't make the move sooner. Demotion I mean. In theory, his June May have been his July and he might be starting his second month of AAA experience. I still believe that as part of his development/re-development, he should be recalled for September with theTwins this season to finish the season. The option is already spent, he will get to work with Twins coaches again, and it might do wonders to keep his confidence up that is being rebuilt. No promises, and he doesn't necessarily have to play every day, but he needs to come up and see some action.

Said it before...will say it again. Like many/most young pitchers, there is development that still needs to take place. Meyer is inconsistent enough, wild enough, that he doesn't economize his pitches enough yet. No big surprise, no indictment, just a fact. And the reason he hasn't been brought up yet. I get it. I can't fault the Twins for that, or being careful with him. However, there are very good reasons for his gaining ML experience this season to build for the future, hopefully in 2015, and definitively beyond. If they're worried about IP limits, he can still gain that valuable experience in a bullpen role for a month or so. Even just in September would provide still provide said experience. Despite not pitching overly well, despite possibly having a tired arm, how much do you suppose Gibson gained from his time with the Twins last season?

My apologies if I misunderstood or mis-interpreted your use of the word "pedestrian" when I read initially. Thought you were saying his stuff was pedestrian in comparison to Meyer, not simply more pedestrian than Meyer's pure stuff. My bad.

Oh my. He's a fill in player to keep a bench spot warm for now after the Fuld trade. He costs nothing but money for the rest of the season...what's left of it. He was a top prospect at one time. I've mentioned the Twins actually signing a quality CF/4th OF candidate for next season, along with a possible milb contract Rochester option for depth. Possibly not necessary with Hicks and Rosario any longer. What if this kid actually hits, or is signed to a milb deal and does well at Rochester as a fill in player? Again, this is just a flyer and fill-in player, not a big option.

No. All reports thus far is Nolasco is OK and just needs to stretch out. But...but...if there is something missed and the worse case scenario pops up, based on things Pohlad has said recently, the open payroll, and frustration mounting, mark my words...the Twins make a major move this off season.

Correia, a bag of balls, a couple pouches of Redman and a bucket of bubblegum. Grape flavor if necessary. Just bring back something of decent value in A ball. More to the point, an arm or athlete with talent who hasn't quite figured it out yet. I like our milb coaches. Oh, BONUS, forces us to fill a rotation spot with a prospect to finish out the season. Let me see....win....win...cool!

What Scotty said! I LOVE the red as an alternate. Love the idea of the Minnie and Paul on the sleeve. (Yes, move the Nike swoosh) Kind of torn between a nice TWINS or MINNESOTA script, especially in the silver-gray vs a really nice TC. But if hard pressed, guess I'd go with the TC. If I remember correctly, the Twins chose to abandon the red alternate a few years ago due to a string of losses while wearing them. (As if we had winning streaks without them. OUCH! Sorry) I know ball players can be superstious, but time moves on. This looks really nice! Although, could someone have posted a jersey other than Klingenbeck? It gives me shudders. (Sorry Scott, no disrespect intended) Seth, Nick, Jeremy, anyone, could you possibly forward some of this to anyone in the organization. This is really a cool idea.