nytwinsfan

Thanks, that's some quality info!

According to this tweet below from the Lookouts' account, Sano is out of the lineup again tonight for the second night in a row. Anyone heard anything about whether this is (1) to have him work on things (which happened once earlier in the year), (2) disciplinary, or (3) injury-related? Hopefully it is just number (1).

Thanks Parker. This is kind of the elephant in the room. Hughes seems confident he can regain last year's level of performance, and I really hope I can.

Uggh, that is horrible. Hope he is ok in the long run.

NOT Berrios. The others, maybe.

Agreed, he needs to be better than Butera at the plate to make him worth more than a backup. But my point is that he doesn't have to be way better than Butera.

I hope so.

Yes, it is 2015, someone somewhere must have video of that ITPHR. Please please submit it.

I would argue (and have argued) that the largest organizational weakness in the Twins' depth chart is at Catcher. Not to say that Suzuki isn't a decent major league catcher -- he is -- or that there aren't some decent minor league catching prospects -- there are -- (Pinto, Turner, Garner, J. Fernandez, Silva) but they don't appear to have the upside of the Twins' current major leaguers and prospects at pitcher, outfield, corner infield, and middle infield. (Pinto has that kind of upside as a hitter, but the Twins don't seem to trust his defense as anything beyond a catcher of last resort). So it is for this reason that I am even more excited about Stuart Turner's offensive uptick over the last 10 days and in May as a whole than I am about the uptick in production from other prospects like Buxton, Sano, and Kepler (and I am pretty excited about those). Turner over the last 10 games: .235/.350/.471 (.821) with 6K/6BB and 2 HR. Turner in May: .222/.364/.463 (.827) with 10K/12BB and 3 HR. Turner Overall: .215/.320/.346 with 24K/16BB. The story seems to be that Turner's K/BB ratio, which was already pretty good, has improved dramatically in May, and he has found some power. Keep in mind that Turner doesn't even need to be a "good" hitter to be a valuable major league starting catcher. Because of his universally acclaimed defensive abilities, he just has to be serviceable (i.e., a step up or two from Drew Butera at the plate). It looks like he at least has the potential for that. Turner may never be a line drive hitter that makes lots of good contact, but if he continues to achieve a decent or good K/BB ratio and shows even decent power, he could be a real asset behind the plate for the Twins as early as 2016.

No trading Sano, Buxton or Berrios for Hamels. Just no. Other prospects I would consider, but really, I'd rather not trade for anymore pitchers. We have some good pitching prospects in the pipeline, and may draft another one (including maybe a college one) this year. The biggest long-term organizational need in my opinion is catcher, and even that we have a couple of guys who could be decent.

Sano hit is 9th HR tonight and is now hitting .248/.348/.503 (.851) on the year. In May he is hitting .311/.381/.589 (.970). So far, albeit with especially small sample size for LHP, he is also showing some serious splits with an OPS of .782 against righties and an OPS of 1.263 against lefties. All in all, plenty to be excited about in Sano's bat, which looks like it has more or less shaken off all or most of the rust.

Agreed as a general approach, I just don't think Cameron is/will likely be the BPA. He's also asking for above slot money, which seems ridiculous to me.

Susac, plus a pitching prospect?

Sano with a huge night tonight, going 3 for 5 with two Home Runs, his 7th and 8th of the year. He is now hitting .231/.336/.496 (.831). There's also this: https://vine.co/v/eKU0Bna1ilJ

Baseball Prospectus just dropped a Buxton prospect profile, which has a ton of interesting info and tidbits. The reviews of all five tools are glowing, of course, but the real take-away is how he is working hard to adjust to better pitching. He sounds like a smart hitter, who knows what the flaws in his current approach are and what he has to do too adjust.

Isn't it just as (or more) plausible that he knows his control has to improve and he's dialing it back slightly in an effort to do that?

Give Hicks another week or two, and if he doesn't fall off a cliff, call him up.

Don't get me wrong, I'd be thrilled for the Twins to get Rodgers at 6. The only pick I'd prefer is maybe Tate. I just really doubt it will happen.

What is the scenario where Rodgers falls to 6? I could see Arizona and even Houston not taking him, but how would Colorado and Texas not take him? Yes, I know neither team needs another SS prospect, but still, I just can't see that happening (even though I'd be thrilled if it did).

This is so informative. Hopefully the moderators will push this to the front page. Thanks!

Big, important question: How does Polanco's defense compare with Santana's at SS? Most of the knocks I've heard on Polanco's SS defense relate to his arm, not his quickness or hands. Because it seems like at least until Gordon is ready, which could be 3-4 years easily, those are the best two options at SS (Goodrum might be a dark horse candidate), and Polanco's better BB% and K% seem to clearly make him a higher upside hitter than Santana. UPDATE: Check out Jokin's report on Polanco's arm and defense here: http://twinsdaily.com/topic/18044-the-chattanooga-lookouts-you-cant-stop-them-you-cant-even-hope-to-contain-them/ Sounds like he may be the SS of the future.

Folks, I hate to be the bearer of good news, but in his last 10 games, Sano is hitting .265/.381/.588 (.969) with 3 HRs, 7 BB and 9 Ks. Needless to say, that is the kind of production we would LOVE to have from him at AA. Perhaps not coincidentally, this string of production started only slightly after Dougie kept him out of the lineup for a few games to work on some mechanics. Between Buxton and Sano, it sure does seem like Mientkiewicz and his team know what they are doing.

Sano with a big night last night, including a HR, a double, and a walk. And no errors! Sano is now hitting .198/.327/.440 (.767), including .265/.381/.588 (.969) with 3 HRs, 7 BB and 9 Ks in his last 10 games! He's definitely on an upward trajectory, which is something to get excited about.

Very high praise from Fangraphs' Kiley McDaniel for Berrios' start last night. Very excited and hope he can make it to the big leagues by late summer.

Sick pickoff move by Berrios tonight: https://twitter.com/SidewalkGM/status/596848773315301377 Also, very high praise from Kiley McDaniel: