gunnarthor

That would be awesome. I don't have a BP subscription but I know someone at BA listed him as the fastest "high school arm to majors" in the last draft. And some scouts liked him better than the collage pitchers. God, I hope he stays healthy. Twins have gotten some criticism (which I'm not sure is fair) about slow promotions of minor leaguers but the Twins had a bunch of our top prospects do two levels this year - Buxton, Sano, Rosario, Stewart (and the quick promotions for Arcia and Hicks).

I think things like shaving cream pies, snapping towels etc are more likely to go b/c the team is concerned about stupid injuries - Kendrys Morales a few years ago broke his leg at a home plate mash up, someone this year hurt their eye with the shaving cream pie - than concern over bullying.

Yeah, and you can add Felix Jorge and Minier (my favorite dark horse) to that list, too.

Da nada

Parks gave Buxton a future overall grade of 8 which he defended in the comment section: "I think this is a the first time I've ever had the balls to throw an 8 on the OFP. I'm often quite hesitant to go THAT high on any one tool or player, but the scale only works when 8s actually exist. Somebody has to be an 8. Might as well be Buxton."

Sure, when Ryan retired the first time the rip on the Twins was that we could develop and bring in pitchers but not hitters. Besides guys like Santana, Radke and Mays, guys like Garza, Liriano, Perkins, Slowey, Blackburn were all top 100 prospects. And they got some 2-3 WAR seasons out of home grown non-ranked prospects like Baker, Duensing and Swarzak to boot. They've had some bad luck in that department the last few years (Gibson is the first pitcher Johnson drafted to make the majors) but over the last decade + they've done all right.

It's concern that he won't be able to fix his command enough to start. Lots of moving parts in a big body like his so he could be too wild to start. Parks says he's one of the top 30 prospects in baseball so it sounds like he thinks he'll start but it's come up before as his floor.

Some notes from the podcast: Likes the Twins system a lot, called it the best system in baseball. It's a good combination of of high impact high ceiling but surprisingly safe depth. Compared it to a Cubs/Astros system with the best of both. Not a lot of low A flame outs. "If a guy like Berrios doesn’t reach his ceiling he’s still a good player." "Buxton is best prospect I’ve ever seen." "Great balance between impact and depth." Parks like Pinto behind the plate which is nice to see. Thought the org was great at getting talent from different areas – big credit to international scouts but made good trades as well. Gets talent from everywhere. Twins traditionally good with pitcher development; Can fix mechanics, don’t worry about taking time to develop them. Compares them well to St Louis (who is the best at it). Less turn over in MN office – is that a problem? Why do they have a fallow period if (13m in). Doesn’t really answer. Parks thinks priorities change – can’t get Alex Meyer if you’re competing. Thorpe – future #2 starter. Not every team thought to invest in Australian market like Twins did. Thorpe blew up recently with big velocity spike. (from 86-89 to low 90s and has body to add more). Kid is a “monster.” Smart, great feel for game. Twins have moderate success from non-traditional areas – Germany, Australia. Kepler – not as high. Others passed him in the system. No longer a first division type player. Might not hit enough power for corner or first base. New type of Twins pitchers – 20m in – seems to be a disconnect? Parks answer: maybe a market inefficiency at the major league level but at the minor league side he likes the pitchers they have now. These guys might not K a lot in the majors. Meyer could be a bullpen arm if control is an issue but he’ll miss bats no matter what. But Berrios is short, low margin of error, thinks he’ll be a good pitcher at ML level but might not have high K level. Jorge is more of a K-guy. Trevor May – "frustrates the hell" out of Parks. "Built like a horse" but has a command/feel issue. His posture on the mound isn’t good. Two good breaking balls but not a good feel for pitching yet. Guys will struggle at the ML level when they get there. Pinto will come back to earth. Maybe Buxton makes the majors next year. Buxton might be more athletic than Trout. Very special player. “Doesn’t know what he’s doing yet” “not even close to what he’s going to be.” Talked about his grand slam on a 98 mph fastball being just instinct at this point. One scout put his floor as Torii Hunter and his ceiling as “who the hell knows, maybe Willie Mays.” Pirates scouting director says Sano is the greatest Latin American player he’s seen in over 20 years. Interviewer aks, "Who’s a guy in this system not on the top 10 that we didn’t cover" – Gonzalez 4th round pick b/c of bad spring and character event (marijuana). Twins can fix his mechanics (likes what they did with Meyer) and already in his 90s. Thinks he’ll be a top 10 guy next year. Would their #11-20 be better than some orgs top 10? Yes, probably 3 or 4 teams. Angels, Tigers, A’s – lot of depth in the 11-20 but no impact guy. Adam Walker wasn’t even ranked but he could be a 1st division guy if it all comes together.

Just saw that. Pinto at #5 is surprising. They also like Jorge a lot. They call the farm system the best in the majors. That's encouraging. I don't have a BP subscription so I don't know what they say about the players but it's a good list. Nice to see 4 pitchers in it. Parks, in his podcast, gives a lot of credit to the org for accumulating talent.

I believe they paid 51m posting fee and then 60m to Darvish, so that's 110m for 6 years. Red Sox spent 100 for 5 years of Dice K.

Keeping in mind that I suck at these things, I think Arroyo ends up with a 2yr/16m type deal (could be a bit more on the money but I think the years are right). Kazmir gets another 1 year deal, I don't think anyone trusts him enough yet. Maybe he gets an option of some type. But I think 1yr/8m + lots of incentives if he's healthy. Nolasco seems to be in the 4yr/48m range. So, if that's right (or close), those three would cost the team 28m this year, 20m next year and just 12m the following two years. I could be way off on my guesses, though.

We have a ton of guys on our 40 man roster who would never be picked in the rule v draft - Parmelee, Colabello (are those two eligible or would they be outright releases? Either way, they wouldn't be taken), Herrmann, Hendriks, Hermsen, Iberra. Fryer has at least one thing that has shown to have value - strong catching defense. As for Herrmann's offense, sure, I'll take that bet. You can send me $5 bucks at the end of next season.

I think both say no but St Louis first. The trade doesn't really work for St Louis as theIy lose a ML ready SP and don't get one back. (Or a SS, which is what they really want). Twins probably say no b/c they are rebuilding and, whether they make it or not, Buxton and Meyer both have higher ceilings than OT and Wacha. And even if they like Wacha more than Meyer (which I don't think is certain), I don't think they'd ever trade Buxton for someone who missed most of last season with an injury.

Had heard the Span rumors but nothing about Revere. Looks like the Twins timed the trades pretty well last year.

Actually, a good defensive catcher might help our young pitchers. Someone posted an article here a month or so ago that showed that Gibson was one of the most robbed pitchers in baseball on strike calls. The theory being that Mauer was too big to let the umps see the bottom of the zone (where sinker guys throw) and Doumit couldn't frame worth crud. And Fryer is a better offensive catcher than Herrmann.

Yeah, if you recall, the 06 team chased down the Tigers (who had one of the greatest collapse in history). In his last 10 starts, the team went 7-3 while he threw over 60 innings to a 3.26 era. And that was after Liriano and Radke had gone down and Silva and Baker were crapping the bed most of the season. He was really big for us. And he pitched ok in game 2. Really wish he had had a better career.

Actually, I think it says the opposite. He's the only plus defender we have and I suspect Ryan would like to upgrade that but wanted at least one good defender back there.

Terry Ryan got Solimon for Buetera last year so maybe plus defensive catchers have more value than we think. Having one good defensive catcher is not a bad thing. It looks like the Twins have 36 guys on the 40 man roster and can easily cut Colabello, Parmelee, Hermsen etc if they need room. So I don't think there's much to worry about. I suspect it's much more likely that we add someone in the rule v draft than lose someone.

Here's the link twinscowboybulls (what a name) was referring: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/11/twins-making-strong-push-for-ricky-nolasco.html#disqus_thread

Multiple WS winning teams will give a little job security.

I'd pass on him. Florimon's defense is a lot better and Drew might very well be a product of Fenway. He put up a .222/.295/.392 line away from Boston last year. Most players' offensive numbers will take a big hit leaving Fenway. I'd rather the team try to add one more RH power bat for the corner/DH spot.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2013/11/olneys-latest-nolasco-twins-joba-royals-peralta-headley.html Not sure what I think of Nolasco - fangraphs likes him a lot more than b-r does. He's still pretty young and more or less durable. Sounds like someone is offering him a 3 year deal but he wants 4.

Yeah, I think if Mauer had hit the open market, he'd come close to 30m AAV. Maybe not 10 years but close. Remember, he would have been a free agent in the same offseason that teams gave Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford 20m+/year deals and the Yankees, Tigers and Red Sox all needed catching help.

Good trade. Too bad about Boof. He was really big for us down the stretch in 06.

Has anyone suggested a 3 year deal? I might have missed it but I think most of us seem to think it'll be in the 2yr/10m range, which would be fine.