scottz

I just finished reading the June 9th Minor League wrap up, and I am really happy for Walker and the season he is having. It is so fun to look at our options of young (<25 years old) outfielders from AA, AAA, and the big club. How do you rank these guys? Buxton obviously is number 1, but then what? I think a case could be made for Walker, Rosario, Kepler, Arcia or even Hicks depending on one's personal preference for power, defense, speed, potential/upside or whatever. And what of Danny Ortiz, who almost never gets mentioned in the discussion of minor league OFs? Is Harrison 8th in this list of 8? If we trade, who do we trade and when do we trade? All I know is that I'm not fit to be GM, because I just don't know the answers. Rosario (Age 23; Twins - .298/.310/.440; Red Wings - .242/.280/.379) Hicks (Age 25; Twins - .262/.303/.321; Red Wings - .336/.415/.561) Arcia (Age 24; Twins - .276/.338/.379; Red Wings - .167/.195/.222) Ortiz (Age 25; Red Wings - .283/.332/.492) Kepler (Age 22; Lookouts - .299/.347/.490; Miracle - .250/.308/.333) Buxton (Age 21; Lookouts - .270/.336/.473) Harrison (Age 22; Lookouts - .269/.370/.401) Walker (Age 23; Lookouts - .263/.317/.585) (For the record, I *think* my personal ranking is Buxton, Rosario, Walker, Arcia, Hicks, Kepler, Ortiz, Harrison. What's yours?)

I don't know what they will do, but I believe they would go to a 6 man rotation and carry 13 pitchers before demoting May. I also don't believe they will trade Graham, as I think they believe they have a Rule 5 that will stick and contribute. Molitor has relied on Thompson too many times for me to think they would demote him either. Obviously just my thoughts. Edit: Ah, I see - you said trade FOR Graham and then option him...that is a more likely possibility, but I think he simply stays on the roster.

I think you mean Madrigal Boomgrader.

The game I was at was a lovely day with the roof open, and I thought it had wonderful sight lines and ambiance, so maybe I'd feel differently if it were closed in airplane hangar mode. The only thing I didn't like was the rather small cup of beer for a rather high cost.

I don't see how Safeco belongs on this list. I'm very confused. My ranking of current stadiums that I've been to: 1) Safeco Field 2) Camden Yards 3) Target Field 4) Kaufmann Stadium 5) Miller Park 6) Oakland Coliseum My ranking of dead stadiums that I've been to: 1) Yankee Stadium 2) Memorial Stadium (Baltimore) 3) Metrodome 4) Comiskey Park I feel like I've been to way more MLB stadiums than that, but try as I might, that's all I remember.

I'll go with Murphy.

Frankly, I'm disappointed this thread didn't start with the national anthem. Please rise.

Asterisks are just another long-haired liberal-wackadoodle way of suppressing my right to say whatever the h-e-double-hockeysticks I want to say!!! And that's a FACT. So I'm going to turn this into politics if I WANT to turn this into politics! I just don't want to. Take that, you bunch of conformist sheeple. Also, go Twins.

Atlases are very underrated. This has been my Circus Boy Opinion Update.

I got to my first game of the season today, with my wife on our anniversary. If there is one good thing about a team coming off four 90-loss seasons and a 2-6 start is that on a beautiful weekday, you can find the tickets you want at the price you want with minimal haggling. My thoughts and observations: 1) My first time in the bleachers at Target Field - I love watching games from left field and today didn't disappoint. Escobar interacted with the crowd a lot, and after throwing a ball to the crowd, my wife declared, "What a really nice man." 2) I like going to baseball games with my wife, who is not a huge baseball fan, but likes the game experience, especially on a lovely day. She watches the game differently than I do and pays a great deal of attention to things like the player facts on the scoreboard. "Kennys worked at a barbershop before he was drafted? Good for him. That's good, honest work." I laughed for about 30 seconds because, in spite of that statement, she is not 70-plus years old. Or 60- or 50-plus. 3) I called Kennys' home run, before the at-bat started ("watch out now, he might hit one over our heads") and before the pitch ("here it comes now. Over our heads."). 4) It seemed there was a fair amount of sloppy play in the infield, but a couple of great catches in the outfield by Cain and Dyson...really wonderful gets. 5) Aaron Thompson's hair could rank well in the State Hockey Tournament All-Hair Team. 6) There's something great about a packed stadium in the middle of a pennant race. In a completely different way, there is something great about large sections of empty seats early in the season on a perfect day. Or for that matter, there is something great about a game on a blustery, cold day on a town ball field on the edge of a bean field. Baseball doesn't care about the teams playing or their place in the standings or the uniforms worn by the players or the number of witnesses. Baseball exists in a plane all its own. When we show up to join in, it welcomes us, and we share in its patient splendor. My goodness, do I love baseball.

7 walks?! They need more seasoning.

Could I get Greg Peavey?

Is it OK if I start a chant that goes: FREE ESCOBAR, BUT NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF ARCIA VERSUS A RIGHTHANDER! ?? It's a little wordy, but if we add some claps and foot stomps and make sure we have our breathing in the right spots, then I think it will really catch on.

There will be plenty of times to sit Arcia. Facing a righthander is not the time to do it.

Hicks didn't seize the opportunity, and Rosario will be given some time at AAA. I wish CF were different, but Schafer was OK for us last year. Given all that AND that both Arcia and Hunter are feared to be terrible defenders, it makes sense to me to have Robinson as the 4th OF. Assuming Arcia and Hunter are 3-4 spots apart in the batting order, one of them should almost always be in a spot to be pinch ran for around the 7th-9th inning, getting perhaps 1-3 innings of improved defense for our (questionable) bullpen, depending on game situations. If Hicks or Rosario lights the world on fire in AAA for a month and Schafer struggles, then one of them comes up and Robinson goes down, and Schafer takes over Robinson's role. A question I would like to have answered is whether the position players have also been throwing their Neil Allen change-ups more often, in preparation for mop-up duty if the starter has an off day and the bullpen has to start pitching in the 5th.

I only voted for the Royals in this poll, but I would have to say I go something like: 1) Twins 2) Royals (I think their uniforms are fantastic, and as a kid I liked George Brett, Dan Quisenberry, Freddie Patek, U.L. Washington (and his toothpick), Frank White, and Bret Saberhagen) 3) Cubs (WGN and lovable loser status) 4) Dodgers (My mom grew up in SoCal as a Dodger fan and the '77, '78, and '81 Series were intensely watched in my home. '77 and '78 also initiated my dislike of the Yankees.) The Red Sox probably used to be on this list, because of guys like Yaz, Dwight Evans, Fred Lynn, and Jim Rice, along with lovable loser status, but once they started winning and everyone in New England started acting like winning-entitled chowderheads, they slid off my list.

Not to quibble with your analysis, but TC Bear is a candidate to regress, don't you think? Take care now. Good talk.

In order for the Twins to go 0-162, everything would have to go completely wrong. In your opinion, which is the least likely to go wrong? Never mind...it's been 13 minutes. Thanks anyway - good talk.

Ride the comedy roller coaster. Funny, funny, not funny, not funny, not funny, then funny again, purely because of the commitment to the bit. The Common Man has made an entire career on committing to the bit. 2015 is the year of the Circus Boy Update.

This doesn't make any sense to me. Do you mean Circus Boy Update After 1: 0-0? That would certainly clear things up.

I'd like to go on record that I am in favor of every 2015 game thread having Circus Boy scoreboard updates.

I agree, but I think part of the problem (at least at how it seems to be perceived by Pelfrey and probably by many fans) is that he doesn't think he was outpitched. I can't argue with him. What were the criteria if it were an open competition, as Pelfrey was told? Were the Twins relying on measurable data like Thrylos posted? Other measurable data? Subjective data? I doubt we will ever know, but obviously Pelfrey and the Twins disagree on the outcome of the competition. Oh well. That happens. In any case, I hope our minor league big boy pitching prospects tear it up, and I hope Milone either is absolutely brilliant or the Twins win every one of his games 10-9. I hope Pelfrey gets answers if he has asked questions to management and pitches well in the bullpen. I like hope.

From the Star Trib: Pelfrey, who posted a 1.32 ERA in 13 2/3 innings this spring, was informed that he will open the season in the bullpen, a role he has never held in the major leagues. Pelfrey said he is “frustrated and a little upset” over the move. “I was told in December [it would be an] open competition,” Pelfrey said. “I don’t know what happened. I wasn’t outpitched.” He's absolutely right that he wasn't outpitched. I'd also be frustrated and upset if I was told something that wasn't true and it affected my employment. I was hoping May would be the winner of this battle, but I think Pelfrey has a right to be bothered. That said, he would probably be best served by either getting over it and doing his best to get ready for the bullpen or by going to talk to Terry Ryan away from reporters to see if there are any options for trades. Talking about wanting to be traded in the press only lowers your trade value and therefore, lowers the likelihood of being traded, even if the press brought the subject up.

Ugh. And Reusse LOVES Arcia, so if he is writing this, I assume Ozzie has been pretty bad. Come on, Ozzie.

For myself, it isn't that I'm in a rush to see him, it's more that I've personally seen or have an idea of the other options and I'm not particularly interested in those options if the team thinks Rosario is a better option. I'm not going to pitch a fit if they decide to go with a Hicks/Schaefer platoon (which could be kind of effective and fun for end of game substitutions), but if management wants to take a flyer on him, I'll be excited to watch him go at it. Rosario is the most interesting option to me. So that's my answer anyway.