Shane Wahl

Some of these comments make me think we are on the Star Tribune's site . . . irrational nonsense.

It seems clear that Mauer needs a few more real days off--the current C/1B/DH ratio seems pretty good, but another slash for days off altogether might be helpful. If only, if only, they would have started that C/1B/DH ratio a few years ago. And, ironically, not starting Mauer a few more games here and there actually decreases the need for Drew Butera.

Pavano has got to rest that shoulder and get some velocity back so the Twins can get him pitching well enough again to be trade bait at the end of July. I don't know if there aren't better pitchers ready to take over for him (DeVries, Bromberg).

Maybe an earlier than late-season promotion to Fort Myers for Shibuya.

Yes, as Radke showed (and as Liam Hendriks will show), a pitcher can be successful around 90mph with good placement (on the black). The Twins pitchers are not pitching to contact--they're "aiming instead of throwing" with bad results.

Most blog entries are either not commented on, or the comments are very few. Not sure about your comments . . . Anyway, it take all kinds to have a diversified community of contributors. I could hardly describe the general atmosphere as "rose-colored"!!!

Still no need to dump Bates. Now if Parmelee struggles at Rochester and Morneau gets hurt again, what are they going to do?

This is a terrible decision. Should they move Perkins back too!? Dumb dumb dumb.

I didn't see that about Duensing before (been away for a day and a half). That's not a wise thing to do. I like your suggestion better!

MAUER batting SECOND!!!!! Plouffe on the bench.

I waited almost a full month to update the status of my "prospects to watch." I actually wish I could attribute the lag to laziness, but I was waiting for some of these guys to turn it around so that I would look smarter. It didn't really work out that well, but there is some progress: BELOIT: JD Williams, OF (Age: 21.6, SH): 111 PA, .222/.306/.313 (.619), 7/1/0, 11/34, 8/10. Williams is exciting and he is slowly hitting better as the year goes on. End of Year: Should finish 2012 in Beloit. Tyler Grimes, IF (21.11, RH): 119, .180/.311/.350 (.661), 9/1/2, 13/20, 4/6. Grimes is not hitting much at all, but he is drawing walks. EoY: Should finish 2012 in Beloit. Tim Shibuya, RHS (22.9) (SH-BOOYAH): 35 IP, 2.83 ERA, 30/7, 1.257 WHIP, 7.7/1.8 K/BB rate. Shibuya has been very good, with fairly similar projected numbers from last year, though the K/BB rate is down a bit (still fantastic though). EoY: Late season promotion to Fort Myers. FORT MYERS: Danny Santana SS/2B/CF (21.6, SH): 150, .301/.320/.425 (.745), 5/2/3, 4/16, 4/7. I love what Santana has done this year. He will need to gain some plate discipline this year so that he doesn't turn into the MI version of Ben Revere (though Santana clearly actually possesses power). EoY: probably ends season in Fort Myers, could be pushed in August to New Britain. Lance Ray, LF/RF (22.9, LH): 130, .239/.331/.440 (.771), 10/0/4, 16/28, 2/3. Very similar projections from last year's Beloit number, but with some added good news: Ray is striking out a lot less and drawing more walks. Mostly playing the corner OF positions, adding depth to the system there. EoY: likely to finish in Fort Myers, but could be pushed to New Britain in August. Matt Hauser, RHR (24.2): 20.2, 3.48, 19/6, 1.258, 8.3/2.6. Hauser has basically repeated his 2011 FTM performance, but with more control. EoY: Should be promoted to New Britain soon and will finish 2012 there. Pat Dean, LHS (23): 47.1, 3.23, 21/12, 1.415, 4.0/2.3. Dean's K rate is terrible. He's been effective, but he won't go anywhere with such a terribly low number of strikeouts. EoY: should finish at Fort Myers. NEW BRITAIN: Logan Darnell, LHS (23.3): 36.2, 5.40, 23/15, 1.500, 5.6/3.7. Darnell is struggling as well and the K/BB rate is really bad. Instead of building off of 2011's 5.9/1.2, he has gone backwards. EoY: should finish in New Britain. ----- I will call this a mixed bag at this point. Williams and Grimes are young and can still get it together. Dean and Darnell are very disappointing and make the lack of good left-handed pitching in the system even more apparent with their struggles. On the other hand, Santana and Ray are exceeding expectations somewhat, and Hauser and Shibuya are performing very well.

I waited almost a full month to update the status of my "prospects to watch." I actually wish I could attribute the lag to laziness, but I was waiting for some of these guys to turn it around so that I would look smarter. It didn't really work out that well, but there is some progress: BELOIT: JD Williams, OF (Age: 21.6, SH): 111 PA, .222/.306/.313 (.619), 7/1/0, 11/34, 8/10. Williams is exciting and he is slowly hitting better as the year goes on. End of Year: Should finish 2012 in Beloit. Tyler Grimes, IF (21.11, RH): 119, .180/.311/.350 (.661), 9/1/2, 13/20, 4/6. Grimes is not hitting much at all, but he is drawing walks. EoY: Should finish 2012 in Beloit. Tim Shibuya, RHS (22.9) (SH-BOOYAH): 35 IP, 2.83 ERA, 30/7, 1.257 WHIP, 7.7/1.8 K/BB rate. Shibuya has been very good, with fairly similar projected numbers from last year, though the K/BB rate is down a bit (still fantastic though). EoY: Late season promotion to Fort Myers. FORT MYERS: Danny Santana SS/2B/CF (21.6, SH): 150, .301/.320/.425 (.745), 5/2/3, 4/16, 4/7. I love what Santana has done this year. He will need to gain some plate discipline this year so that he doesn't turn into the MI version of Ben Revere (though Santana clearly actually possesses power). EoY: probably ends season in Fort Myers, could be pushed in August to New Britain. Lance Ray, LF/RF (22.9, LH): 130, .239/.331/.440 (.771), 10/0/4, 16/28, 2/3. Very similar projections from last year's Beloit number, but with some added good news: Ray is striking out a lot less and drawing more walks. Mostly playing the corner OF positions, adding depth to the system there. EoY: likely to finish in Fort Myers, but could be pushed to New Britain in August. Matt Hauser, RHR (24.2): 20.2, 3.48, 19/6, 1.258, 8.3/2.6. Hauser has basically repeated his 2011 FTM performance, but with more control. EoY: Should be promoted to New Britain soon and will finish 2012 there. Pat Dean, LHS (23): 47.1, 3.23, 21/12, 1.415, 4.0/2.3. Dean's K rate is terrible. He's been effective, but he won't go anywhere with such a terribly low number of strikeouts. EoY: should finish at Fort Myers. NEW BRITAIN: Logan Darnell, LHS (23.3): 36.2, 5.40, 23/15, 1.500, 5.6/3.7. Darnell is struggling as well and the K/BB rate is really bad. Instead of building off of 2011's 5.9/1.2, he has gone backwards. EoY: should finish in New Britain. ----- I will call this a mixed bag at this point. Williams and Grimes are young and can still get it together. Dean and Darnell are very disappointing and make the lack of good left-handed pitching in the system even more apparent with their struggles. On the other hand, Santana and Ray are exceeding expectations somewhat, and Hauser and Shibuya are performing very well.

Hopefully Appel or Zimmer win out here. I like them both more than Gausman, and I am not sold on taking Zunino either.

Standings: [TABLE] 1. Purdue 16-5 .762 39-10 .796 2. Penn State 13-8 .619 27-24 .529 Indiana 13-8 .619 26-26 .500 4. Michigan State 12-9 .571 33-17 .660 Nebraska 12-9 .571 32-19 .627 6. Ohio State 11-10 .524 30-22 .577 7. Minnesota 10-11 .476 28-25 .528 8. Illinois 9-12 .429 26-24 .520 9. Iowa 8-13 .381 20-26 .435 10. Michigan 7-14 .333 21-31 .404 11. Northwestern 6-18 .250 17-33 .340 [/TABLE] The Gophers have certainly struggled as of late, falling 5 spots in a few weeks. Purdue has clinched the title. Now here's a look at some draft prospects (15 listed, 22 Big Ten + Nebraska players were drafted in 2011): Purdue: Kevin Plawecki, R, © Jr. : 185 AB, .368/.459/.562, 17 doubles / 2 triples / 5 homers, 23 BB / 8 K, 3 SB / 6 SBA Eric Charles, R, (2B) Sr.: 195, .369/.440/.436, 11/1/0, 21/20, 16/19 Cameron Perkins, R, (3B) Jr.: 198, .369/.419/.545, 14/0/7, 12/13, 8/11 Nick Wittgren, RHP, Jr.: 31.1 IP, 2.01 ERA, 32K / 9BB Blake Mascarello, LHP, Sr.: 58.2, 1.69, 42/8 Minnesota: TJ Oakes, RHP, Jr.: 92.2, 1.94, 74/14 Penn State: Jordan Steranka, L (1B) Sr.: 206, .364/.391/.617, 18/2/10, 10/35, 2/3 Nebraska: Michael Pritchard, L (OF) So.: 185, .384/.441/.432, 9/0/0, 17/10, 6/9 Ohio State: Jaron Long, RHP, So.: 92.1, 1.85/59/10 Indiana: Sam Travis, R, (1B) Fr.: 202, .327/.411/.515, 14/0/8, 28/35, 4/5 Michigan State: Jordan Keur, R (OF) Jr.: 211, .365/.449/.427, 13/0/0, 25/23, 8/17 Ryan Jones, R, (2B) Jr.: 221, .371/.433/.498, 15/2/3, 27/17, 8/10 Torsten Boss, L (3B/RF) Jr.: 197, .325/.441/.492, 12/3/5, 36/39, 11/14 Tony Bucciferro, RHP, Sr.: 91.1, 3.05, 76/19 Illinois: Jordan Parr, R (IF/OF), So.: 189, .354/.401/.534, 13/3/5, 14/25, 6/16 Honorable mentions: Josh Scheffert, Joe Kurrasch, Lance Breedlove, David Garner, Joey DeNato

Standings: [TABLE] 1. Purdue 16-5 .762 39-10 .796 2. Penn State 13-8 .619 27-24 .529 Indiana 13-8 .619 26-26 .500 4. Michigan State 12-9 .571 33-17 .660 Nebraska 12-9 .571 32-19 .627 6. Ohio State 11-10 .524 30-22 .577 7. Minnesota 10-11 .476 28-25 .528 8. Illinois 9-12 .429 26-24 .520 9. Iowa 8-13 .381 20-26 .435 10. Michigan 7-14 .333 21-31 .404 11. Northwestern 6-18 .250 17-33 .340 [/TABLE] The Gophers have certainly struggled as of late, falling 5 spots in a few weeks. Purdue has clinched the title. Now here's a look at some draft prospects (15 listed, 22 Big Ten + Nebraska players were drafted in 2011): Purdue: Kevin Plawecki, R, © Jr. : 185 AB, .368/.459/.562, 17 doubles / 2 triples / 5 homers, 23 BB / 8 K, 3 SB / 6 SBA Eric Charles, R, (2B) Sr.: 195, .369/.440/.436, 11/1/0, 21/20, 16/19 Cameron Perkins, R, (3B) Jr.: 198, .369/.419/.545, 14/0/7, 12/13, 8/11 Nick Wittgren, RHP, Jr.: 31.1 IP, 2.01 ERA, 32K / 9BB Blake Mascarello, LHP, Sr.: 58.2, 1.69, 42/8 Minnesota: TJ Oakes, RHP, Jr.: 92.2, 1.94, 74/14 Penn State: Jordan Steranka, L (1B) Sr.: 206, .364/.391/.617, 18/2/10, 10/35, 2/3 Nebraska: Michael Pritchard, L (OF) So.: 185, .384/.441/.432, 9/0/0, 17/10, 6/9 Ohio State: Jaron Long, RHP, So.: 92.1, 1.85/59/10 Indiana: Sam Travis, R, (1B) Fr.: 202, .327/.411/.515, 14/0/8, 28/35, 4/5 Michigan State: Jordan Keur, R (OF) Jr.: 211, .365/.449/.427, 13/0/0, 25/23, 8/17 Ryan Jones, R, (2B) Jr.: 221, .371/.433/.498, 15/2/3, 27/17, 8/10 Torsten Boss, L (3B/RF) Jr.: 197, .325/.441/.492, 12/3/5, 36/39, 11/14 Tony Bucciferro, RHP, Sr.: 91.1, 3.05, 76/19 Illinois: Jordan Parr, R (IF/OF), So.: 189, .354/.401/.534, 13/3/5, 14/25, 6/16 Honorable mentions: Josh Scheffert, Joe Kurrasch, Lance Breedlove, David Garner, Joey DeNato

Well, he could DH instead of Doumit, who would catch instead of Butera . . . But yeah, I would prefer a Carroll, Dozier, Casilla infield right now. That's an improvement defensively and offensively. I did mention back in the winter somewhere that I thought a Morneau/Plouffe DH platoon would be a good option. Oh well.

Yeah, though the trade Span crowd will surely descend on Doumit soon enough. I personally like the idea of Mauer-Doumit-Herrmann in 2013 and 2014 instead of involving Butera in 1/4 of the games.

Haha. But that would involve signing somebody who clearly is not in the "rebuild" plan, even though he would be by getting playing time and then trading him. !!!

Here I find myself in a position of defending (not really at all) a guy who I have ridiculed and scorned the Twins for having on the roster. I named 8 guys who matter WAY more than Drew Butera. There are 22 or 23 guys who matter more, generally, and even if this joke is starting, there are likely a dozen or so who matter more. Obviously Joe Mauer should be trusted to call games for Diamond and Pavano. And Doumit too. But Butera is not doing the damage that Trevor Plouffe, Chris Parmelee, Danny Valencia, and those four SP have done already. He's playing a defensive position and they are starting at offensive positions or are starting pitchers for Christ's sake.

I am completely tired of this ridiculous false dichotomy between winning in 2012 and winning in 2013 and beyond. What's better in 2013 and beyond? Playing Chris Parmelee over his head instead of developing at AAA? Signing players with ZERO trade value like Clete Thomas and Eric Komatsu? Running out Plouffe again and again to show how much he sucks instead of trading him (essentially by now) for something? How about the trickle-down effect playing jokes at the upper levels has on the minor league system? The Twins should win more games in 2012 if they can. That will mean that they have some better players. And I guarantee you that the likes of Inge, Abreu, and Lee are going to be worth something as opposed to the nothing that Thomas, Komatsu, and a full-season of Plouffe is going to get. Getting three mid-level prospects is better than nothing if trying to rebuild, right? Meanwhile, maybe you win 5 more games and put more people in the seats, sell more jerseys, etc. The Twins right now have almost nothing to flip except for their second-best rebuilding piece, Denard Span. Ryan Doumit is the next one, but now John Bonnes is arguing that Doumit should stick around (Mauer-Doumit-Herrmann is going to be clearly better than Mauer-Doumit-Butera, certainly!). The Twins are getting nothing from Thomas and Plouffe, and probably very little from Komatsu (hopefully I am wrong about him). It seems totally crazy to me to think that even switching out true replacements (or clear improvements) who will likely be coveted due to their track records at the deadline is unacceptable to the "rebuild" crowd who apparently believes that any win improvement in 2012 must mean a detriment in 2013 and beyond. It's a couple of million dollars and you get more wins now and more wins later.

I guarantee you that Ray Chang does not post this OPS in 65+ plate appearances.

I don't understand the relevance here, especially given that they are not catchers.

The idea is that Drew Butera is not supposed to be on a team unless it is very good. You can complain about him now, but there are far bigger problems just with the offense. On the other hand, I have been adamant about having this joke player on the roster at all and how he CLEARLY is loved by Gardenhire, so he WILL start way too much.

You missed the point entirely. Of course, and this was clear as I actually stated "I hate Drew Butera as a baseball player," Drew shouldn't be anything but a organizational AAA catcher to help pitchers coming up the system, but how much complaining was being done in 2010 about him? Having a third catcher like that is a luxury on loaded teams.

For the love of all gods. Platoons are proven to be good options when you have the kinds of players that the Twins do (though they do need a another LH infielder . . . ). Plouffe and Valencia may not be anything beyond platoon players. And that's ok if they have platoon partners. I don't mind a Mastroianni/Komatsu platoon in RF for awhile (not what Gardenhire has done, of course).