birddog

Twins fans are justifiably on the warpath. Enough blame in this putrid season to go around for everyone associated with the Twins. This season hit us like the foul tip off Suzuki's mask hit him, and I think we are in more pain than he was. Still over 130 games left in the season, but not even the most optimistic fan would hope for anything other than a strong finish to the season. Mauer and Nunez are having great starts to the season, but neither provides enough punch to carry the team to victory. Very few bright spots, indeed, and we bring in Mastro, Kinzler (Ian would have been nice), Centeno, etc. What a joke and a slap in the face. We have to hope that Berrios and Duffey, the few bright spots, are here to stay and TR starts bringing up the young bullpen arms very soon. I've been a strong TR supporter, but my faith in him is heading down the same drain as the Twins' season.

I was disappointed when Meyer was pulled after pitching well for the first two innings, but not angry. Moli is still trying to win and rightfully so, so he went with experience in Milone. He still has confidence in him, though many of us fans do not. No way a manager can concede this early in the season. I agree Meyer should go back to starting at AAA. They brought up JR Graham and his 10.80 ERA to sit on the bench until Santana is activated. I do think Meyer will become a fixture in the rotation at some point this year, hopefully due to a trade of a current starter or two. Still a lot of the season left, and the changes we fans are screaming for will come at some point. Trade deadline is still almost 3 months off.

We all know that a significant trade will be painful as you don't get talent without giving up talent. It hurt last year when we traded Hu for Jepson.

And every night I pray he will.

TR didn't come back from cancer to sit back quietly and collect a check. He's a loyal baseball man who wants to see a winner here, so yes I do believe he will.

I never dreamed I would say this after watching JR's futile attempts to hit, but I agree that he should be playing more. This nightmare month has pretty much taken away any hope for a wild card spot in the playoffs, so we are no longer playing for this year but auditioning for the future. Suzuki is not in the future plans, so let's see if JR can improve with more AB's. He can't possibly get worse. I know I'm in the miniscule minority here, but I still have hope that TR will pull off a trade(s) to improve the club for this year and next. I am still shocked at our offense and ability to win games so far, and I pray that one day I wake up to find out that the Twins season and Dorothy's time in Oz were only bad dreams.

Thanks, Seth. I really enjoy reading this article every week. I follow box scores every day at MILB.com so it's nice to get insight on some of the names. Great to see the success for Berrios, Meyer, Gonsalves, Polanco, and other players who deserve to be brought up early this year or next. The Twins already have 40-man roster issues, but will really have some tough decisions to make in the next couple years. Twins appear to have a close-knit clubhouse and it seems as if the Twins' top trade candidates like Plouffe and Dozier provide much of the leadership. It would appear we need to make some three-for-one trades or almost-ready prospects for great young talent who don't need to be protected yet. I am one of the few who still has total trust in TR. Seth, what do you foresee TR doing to avoid losing some great prospects yet bringing about the best roster for winning a championship? Or maybe I should ask who you think stays and who provides the most trade value?

Having Torii's charisma had to make it more fun and less stressful playing last year.We read a lot about the dancing in the lockerroom and things he did to loosen up a tight clubhouse. As Gaetti said it's tough to hit when you've got both hands around your throat. And that is what it seems like, the pressure is getting to the young kids with no one to turn to or take the pressure off. I know I felt better about losses last year when they interviewed Torii.

If any of us were thinking playoffs this year, it would have been as a wild card and an early exit. 2017 is our first year with a realistic shot at world champs. For those of us who lived through the Twins early 1980's edition of rookie seasons for Hrbek, Gaetti, Bush, etc. it wasn't very often good baseball. But it was baseball with a future, and that is what this edition of the Twins is too. When you play young kids, you accept the bad with the good. Rosario will swing at any catchable pitch. Buxton is going to K a lot early, but he'll also give you some quality at bats when he looks like he's going to be a great hitter at some point. We will see in May or June why he is the prospect he is. Sano will strike out often, but more than likely it was a strike that he just missed and not a slider out of the zone. When they show each of them in the dugout during the game, they all appear to be studying the game, especially Buxton. They are doing their homework and will get better. Kepler has shown a frustrating Mauer-like knack of taking the first pitch strike no matter how hittable it is. If he becomes in-his-prime Mauerlike we'll certainly take that. We were all screaming at TR to "bring up the young kids and start the future now". Coming out of spring training it looked like hitting was going to be our strength and that the young kids were indeed ready. TR did what he thought was best for the organization, and if he thinks it best to send a few down he'll do that. I for one think if Torii was still playing we would not be where we are right now. His leadership was huge in the team's turnaround last year by keeping everyone loose. Once we win our first game I expect we'll win at least half our games the rest of the way, and if the pitching stays this good we'll win more than half. And if not, I'll be in this state of shock the whole season.

We would love these numbers.

Nolasco's ERA of 4.05 in ST would produce a good percentage of wins this year IF he can keep it up in the regular season. The Twins are going to score runs and will win most games if the opponents score 4 or less. If Nolasco is 3-1 with a near 4.00 ERA in late April or early May, TR will swing a trade minimizing the damage of his contract and eat a majority of it. I might be dreaming, but not even Nolasco in the rotation is going to hinder my excitement for this season. Heck, even Reusse is positive this year. If Berrios and Duffey prove they belong, we will see them soon enough.

His extra base hits will be big for us fans, but I think the number that produces his successful season will be the RBI's and in ST at least he appears to be clutch. We all hope Shane's numbers are closer than Seth's, but if he has a good rate of producing with RISP we can overlook subpar average or power numbers. Like Kang, I expect Park will start off a bit slow but I don't think he will be sent to AAA at all. If he does go down, I hope it is a result of Arcia's production and not Park's lack thereof.

I agree with most of the projections for Sano, but I get even more excited about the fact that if he averages 6 pitches seen per AB he should become an almost given 40+ HR man for many years to come if he stays healthy and learns better how to read pitches. He will indeed K a lot this year and in the future, but if they are swinging Ks and not looking we will have great entertainment most of his ABs. I like him at #3. If Mauer is again Mauerlike and getting on base at a near .400 clip, Sano will have many chances for RBI's. And if Park and Plouffe have good years hitting behind him, pitchers will have to challenge him. Sano loves a challenge!

Great article, Nick. I don't necessarily like Sano's odds of winning MVP this year, but we can dream! And if we prorate his first season stats, he will put up amazing numbers that, if the Twins have the success we hope for, should at least put him into the mix with Trout and Correa. I love to watch him hit. Not since Killebrew have I been this excited to watch a Twin hit. As stated he works so many counts full, and will capitalize on mistakes. Sure he strikes out much more than we'd like to see, but even his K's are an adrenaline rush. With Plouffe and Park hitting behind him, he should see more fastballs. If he can avoid injury in RF, Twins fans are in for the season we've been dreaming about.

Missouri is the "show me" state, so he has to prove himself and not go on his hype. As Seth stated, Buck starts slow at every level and his athleticism allows him to adjust. I expect him to hit sub .220 for the first 2-4 weeks but he will more than substantiate the Twins confidence in him with his defense. I think what he hits beginning in May is much more important, and I expect him to hit at least .270 as the weather warms up. I am so glad the future for Buck is finally here.

I agree with Seth's predicted roster and am fine with it. Depth is huge in MLB as it is a marathon, and I like the projected starters; however, we have young players ready when needed who just need a little more seasoning. In April, we all want to see our favorites playing, but reality means the young studs need to play and that means they go down. I am by no means a Nolasco fan (could he possibly have any?) but if we send Duffey down for a month to further work on his change and allow Nolasco to start 3 or 4 times, maybe that is what is best for the team. And I trust that TR--with Moli's input--will do what is best not just for now but for the long haul. I am sure DaveW is going to be disappointed no matter who goes North, but I don't think he understands how tough it is to manage a 40-man roster or handle options. Seth, three questions if you would: (1) What is your guess as to when we would see Kepler if he continues to pound the ball? (2) Other than injuries, who departs to make room for him? and (3) What player(s) surprised you the most at ST?

Nice to see the middle of the order guys out to a good start. Sano and Park displaying early power has me even more pumped up for the season to start. Is Mauer going to be Mauerlike this year or Puntolike again? If he is more the former scoring runs will be no problem. Looking forward to your updates, Seth, especially the minor leaguers.

I'm so excited for the Twins that I'm already checking box scores by the 3rd inning. I like the chances of all three in this article and agree that Kepler has a legitimate shot too. Watched Berrios pitch his game the other day as he was all over the place, but I loved his reply about his less than perfect outing: "next time I'll be great." I love the confidence some of these young kids exude and can't wait to see them at TF. It's been since Johann Santana that my son and I would go to a game at the last minute because he was pitching, but I think Berrios will have the same effect.

More walks than Ks is unbelievable for a hitter of his stature. I can't imagine him making the team out of ST, but if he continues what he did last year how do you keep him on the farm? There is always room for a player with the stats he had last year. Barring injuries, TR will be a busy man finding room on the 25-man for Buxton, Berrios, and Kepler hopefully sometime in May. Twins' future is going to be a lot of fun.

We all want Buxton to man CF this year right out of the gate. If Santana is the Danny from 2014 and not even close to his impersonation of 2015, we have a nice backup/placeholder in case Buxton is not ready to start the season. Danny has proven he can be a very valuable player, but if he is not closer to 2014 form, I'm not sure he warrants a spot on the roster. I hope he and Arcia are up to the task at hand for they have to make the team on their own merits and not the fact that they are out of options.

Once again we have to be suspect on prospects. I can't remember if Johann Santana had a good breaking pitch, but I do remember it was his changeup/fastball combination that made him one of the best pitchers in baseball. We'd all like to see Gonsalves develop a breaking pitch of equal quality, but no one can argue his success so far at the lower levels. At just 21 he still has plenty of time to add one more quality pitch to his arsenal.

Amazing how one bad year relabels a prospect. His age is getting up there for a prospect, but once he finds it he can still give us many years (hopefully) of the dominance we expected when we traded Span. If he gets that confidence back--either as a starter or reliever--he will be a huge asset to the Twins. The Twins are a young team with great young prospects waiting in the minors, some of whom will have to be trade bait to get immediate help. Not all of them will pan out, but you have to be excited for the next decade of Twins baseball.

Agreed you have to get lucky with HS pitchers.

His ratio of HR/inning is unbelievable. He is not getting the K's we would like to see from a power arm, but his ERA is good and if they are not getting solid contact off him that is the main thing. He will learn better mound sense and how to get a K in tight situations as he matures and gets more experience. Nice that we don't have to add him to the 40-man for a while when we will know better what his potential is.

May the best hitter and pitcher win the job--and not be handed it if he can not produce. I predict Arcia lives up to his potential big time this year. The Twins bench players will be so much better than in past years--actually deserving of a MLB roster.