Shane Wahl

Brian Navarreto as my second pick.

Kepler makes a meager 25 guys taken! I know I am insane, but there are like 100 guys of interest!

While I don't like how Lookouts Look-ins sounds (say it out loud!), it keeps with the team name for consistency. Lookouts Ledger?

Anyone can take over for you for three weeks. Brett Lee needs you . . .

Adam Brett Walker III

There should be a Dude barometer. This season is starting out as full on pissing on the rug. We want to get to the CCR jam while smoking a joint Dude. That will not happen until Sano, Rosario, Buxton, May, and Meyer are all up. Even if they struggle, at least they will be up.

The pitching on this roster is sick. Most of them are guys many have never heard of, but this staff is loaded. And the catchers and outfielders are very good too. The question will be about the infield and whether or not Hinojosa, Vavra, and Kuresa are for real, and if Pat Kelly can improve upon a disappointing 2014 in E-Town. That they are sending him to Fort Myers confirms my view that the Twins are actually very high on him. This team is going to be crazy good, and they will be able to reload easily from below if some of these guys get promoted to Fort Myers (Gonsalves and half the staff, the entire OF, and Kuresa).

Actually, lightfoot, that is nice to know. I certainly don't want to steal players from other people who have a history with them just because I could be on the internet earlier in the day. I know if is first come, first serve, but I would understand someone being angry. I will probably still wait a bit and see who is left after an hour or two. Last year I was still rolling with Herrmann and JD Williams, and added Aderling Mejia and Danny Ortiz a bit later. And then even the great Lance Ray, who I thought was getting his groove back as he as actually promoted to AA. So, I might try to eventually top that and go for six by July.

I think it will finally be time for Niko Goodrum to shine. He will still draw walks and steal bases, but I have to think the contact and slugging will go up as well. He is still just freshly 23.

If Wimmers can stay healthy, I think he could jump into the top 20 Twins prospects again with a strong season. The system can "add" depth from within (if that makes sense) with some of these guys like Wimmers, Salcedo, Corey Williams, J.T. Chargois, and Luke Bard.

Pryor has real problems with walks.

Pryor has real problems with walks.

Meneses and Paulino don't really belong. The rest of this team is very, very solid.

Also, it's pretty baffling how Stephen Pryor, Pat Dean, and Argenis Diaz are still around.

Who do you think they will be? One pitcher, one catcher, and one infielder?

The best of Kentucky, Duke, and Wisconsin aren't winning any series or coming close to winning any series against the worst NBA teams. It isn't quite such a drastic switch for baseball, but even the actual Twins pitchers would cause trouble for many of these guys. And just forget about the offense for the Twins not pounding several runs each game against even Berrios. There is a difference between prospect-ceiling and prospect-where-they-are-right now. AA and AAA can get them closer to that ceiling (and yet it never hits until ample time in MLB). Also, Kepler instead of Peterson.

Up to 3/4 of these guys could/should replace members of the current 25-man roster (I have questions about Graham). Wheeler, Wimmers, Chargois, and Beresford each have some roadblocks (though Wheeler will surely get a chance this year). I would really like the Twins to end up trading both Plouffe and Escobar this year, and dumping Nunez. Sano, Polanco, and Beresford/Michael would be more than suitable replacements.

I have no idea who I want this year.

Do note that this was written several days before the Santana business.

The headline here is a reference--if you do not know, somehow--to a line from The Big Lebowski. It's the scene in the car where Walter has brought "the ringer" ("the whites") and The Dude loses it on him. The Dude is a very chill guy who smokes pot, listens to CCR, and bowls. But in this scene he yells (editing profanity) "You (screwed) it up! You (screwed) it up!" Walter responds with the quote in the headline.Well it's that time of year when the Twins opening day roster becomes finalized and many, including myself, are screaming what The Dude was screaming in the car. I mean it all seems ridiculous. Maybe not each individual move taken separately, but when looking at the totality--Milone, Pelfrey, Boyer, and Robinson as choices over May, Meyer, Tonkin/Oliveros/Achter, and Hicks/Rosario, on top of the additions of Hunter and Stauffer--it looks like a big roster mistake based on some strange notion of trying to compete with aging guys instead of rebuilding with younger guys. That's all true. I don't think the truth is on the Twins side here. This seems like a bizarre way to approach the season, especially since this doesn't mean merely having the young guys "earn" a promotion to the Twins . . . they are now forced to compete with one another in AAA and even AA in some cases. It seems like a rebuilding team promotes the young guys to get a sense of who is going to be worthy of keeping in 2016 and beyond. I cannot imagine any of those six--Milone, Pelfrey, Boyer, Robinson, Hunter, and Stauffer--being on the team in 2016. But screaming about this isn't going to do any good and it isn't good for oneself. It is indeed being very un-Dude. Here's a breakdown: A. It's baseball. Baseball isn't like bowling . . . but watching baseball is like bowling in that you do it for fun and you drink beer while doing it. B. There might be value in finding even one of those six guys who puts up a legitimate year that adds wins to the team this year. Stauffer and Hunter are the best bets there. ST stats mean very little. Stauffer is a good reliever. C. Maybe this new focus on the change-up will improve the staff, including Boyer. D. The young guys can all be together and work together and help each other out that way. Rochester suddenly has Rosario, Hicks, and Danny Ortiz in the OF. May and Meyer will be leading the rotation with the likes of Wheeler, Rogers, and maybe Duffey. Tonkin, Oliveros, and Achter are going to be in the bullpen with O'Rourke, Darnell (if I were Darnell, I would advocate for a full-time bullpen role), Hamburger and Pressly. Rochester actually should be full of prospects, which is rare. It should be good, and fun. E. Nothing is really stopping a mass movement upward. This isn't Gardenhire's team, so we don't really know what to expect. If the oldsters aren't getting the job done, then I do think Molitor will replace them. And this could include a Schafer-Robinson for Hicks-Rosario swap. First, Rosario is going to get some time at second base in Rochester, and thus he still has that going for the himself as another backup for Dozier. Second, Hunter is going to need days off, as will Mauer, and younger guys like Arcia and Vargas. There are innings and at-bats there. Also, with each passing day the Twins are paying Mike Pelfrey less and less. Milone and Stauffer aren't making all that much, and Boyer is making very little. They are all replaceable and will be replaced with one wave from AAA and then another from AA. F. We don't know what is going to happen, so let's just enjoy it. There are still a number of things to be excited about. First, a fully recovered Joe Mauer. Second, Santana and Vargas soph seasons. Third, Oswaldo Arcia is going to go ape this year. I guarantee that. Fourth, Eduardo Escobar is still going to get plenty of at-bats and be a doubles machine. Finally, a new manager and pitching coach. This is the most important thing. Those old, ridiculous days are gone. G. Being un-Dude is a terrible way to be. It's understandable that we are "not into the whole levity thing" right now. We have ideas about what should be done and the Twins make mistakes. But it is clear that this is still the beginning of baseball season and that is something to be quite pleased about. I do think that these problems are going to work themselves out. The September roster should be pretty sick. There will be trades made that will help support a minor league system that hopefully is seeing its last top 10 draft pick this year. There are still plenty of good things occurring outside of the decisions regarding players 21-25 on the Click here to view the article

Lee's situation, and Petersons, is the result of the Twins ramming down aging guys from above. Tonkin, Thielbar, Oliveros, and May are better than some 4 pitchers on the Twins right now. Think about removing those four from the picture, and I bet both Lee and Peterson are in AA.

Surprised, a bit, that Reed jumps over Peterson. There has to be some story about Peterson here . . . 65 strikeouts in 45 innings for Fort Myers last year. What am I missing?

Let him lose that money and come back. He will have served his "time." The people piling on about the wrongness of signing Santana in the first place is a bit much. It was a smart acquisition. He is just a cheater.

Hicks hits lefties well and Robinson is terrible against them. What if the real ceiling for Hicks is a 4th OF? Just immediately, there is going to be competition between Buxton, Rosario, Hicks and Arcia. Either Arcia or Vargas will be traded by this team, so maybe that alleviates some of this. The fact is that trades have to happen for Aaron Hicks to be a full-time starter for the Twins. But you know what? I would rather have Aaron Hicks as a lefty masher and 4th OF than all of these jokes the Twins have tried there for the last several years. Also, Hicks is going to be a great guy on the roster to move to any temporary starting role due to DL issues with Rosario, Buxton, Arcia, Kepler, etc. I would like to keep him around. It is weird to me to see a team just end prospects who don't become starters and then opt for has-been journeymen to fill out a roster.