gunnarthor

You're reading that out of context, it was discussing the HS position players the Twins have taken and what happened to them. While the Twins have never used their first overall pick on a HS pitcher, they have picked three in the first round in that same time span - Rainville, Waldrop and Boyd. I'm not sure why it's a problem in not taking HS pitchers, as opposed to other types of players.

I had heard that before, too. Twins and Rockies were both high on Span but not necessarily all teams. I think baseball teams have a much wider diversity of how they view prospects than casual fans who rely on a handful of websites.

Obviously, this means nothing but on minor leagueball's latest mockdraft they have Guasman goine #1 and the Twins taking Zunino.

I think this year's group is not that enticing. Obviously, last year's group was mind blowing so comparing it to that isn't that fair but Zunino and Buxton have higher ceilings and Zunino, IMHO, is more likely to reach it than any of the pitchers. Now if Giolito (sp) hadn't hurt his arm, I'd probably be pushing to draft him. The Twins have drafted a ton of pitchers in a draft before - the 04 draft they took 4 pitchers in the first and supp round. In 09, they took pitchers in the first 3 rounds. I just happen to think that the most talent they can get, right now, is taking Zunino or Buxton.

I'd probably grab Buxton or Zunino if Buxton's gone (actually, that's what I think the Twins would do. I like Zunino more). All the SP have big question marks, I think Zunino and Appel are the safest picks. I think Appel makes it to the majors quickly but he might not be the ace you'd like to grab at #2. Zunino seems like a stud and can stick at catcher. And the Twins can use their supp and second round picks on pitchers.

I'm worried that he's hurt, too and will need surgery. Seems the Twins luck, lately. With our pen, though, I don't know where they can move him, it's not like we have a lot of solid options (aren't both Guerra and Gutierez hurt right now?). We've argued this on your old website but I don't think the Twins care much about how 'pretty' his saves are, so long as he gets them done. And there is something credible about not having your best bullpen arm as your closer. For now, I think the Twins will just have to stick with it and hope. I'd keep looking at the waiver wire but a Jessie Crain type isn't likely to be found there.

I probably agree but keep in mind they also want him to improve his defense. Let's see where he is in a month. If they still aren't challenging him, then send him up. But he is still striking out a bunch so they are giving him some problems.

Some Twins fans are too stuck on the AL East thing. In 07 we finished under .500 yet had a winning record against the AL East. 31 games out of 162 isn't significant enough to worry about. Yes, it would have been nice if our Twins had won that series. Liriano and Crain gave away Game 1, Pettitte killed us in game 2 and Duensing was starting game 3 in NY. It happens. Strong LH pitchers, like CC and Pettitte, aren't a good matchup for us.

Hicks was the Twins 1st round pick in 2008, #14 overall. 6'2", 185 lbs, he's a toolsy OF whose stock had slipped the last few years. Baseball America ranked him # 39, 19 and 45 the first three years but didn't rank him in their top 100 after a somewhat disappointing 2011 season. BA still ranked him the Twins 4th best prospect. MLB's Jonathan Mayo was a bit higher on him, ranking him #72. So far, his 2012 season has been very promising. Currently, he's hitting .276/.362/.534 with 4 doubles, 1 triple and 3 HR at AA. He has a respectable 9BB/15K and his defense is strong. He's always had some split problems, he's better against lefties, but he's showing improvement early this season against right handed pitchers. Two of his HR's came hitting left-handed and his patience at the plate has allowed him to get enough walks to erase the difference in BA between the two sides. It's early but Hicks might have the best combination of tools within the organization. If he posts a nearly .900 OPS at AA this season, he should fly back up the prospect rankings and give the Twins another ML ready OFer.

Interesting idea. Several catchers went to 3b instead of (or before) first. I think Riverbrain is right though that if they do that, he should have tried it a bit in ST. But it might be something to consider down the road.

I'd probably give him a shot but he certainly won't be a savior. But he can't be worse than Liriano at this point.

Aaron Hicks

Posts like this drive me nuts. Lots of silly accusations that can't be proven (Twins ruined Liriano), that have been rebutted or useless stats not relevant to our team -what's our record vs AL central teams that we play 18x year as opposed to the Yanks, who we play 6 or times? The AL central was not a cheap division when we were winning it - the 06 Central had 3 teams win 90 games and it was the reining WS champion White Sox who came in third. If that ever happens in the AL east, ESPN will produce a 2 hour long documentary about it. It wasn't that long ago that the Rangers finished 21 GB, in second place no less, in the AL West with a losing record. "Gardy has coached the most talented players in Twins history since 2002 and has accomplished nothing." Where to begin? First, I guess he's also couched the least talented players in Twins history since 2002. And to say we've accomplished nothing is sad. They've won a lot and done it with far less than most other teams. It's incredible that some Twins fans seem to think all those division titles, wins and development of MVPs, Cy Young winners, all-stars and solid trades meant nothing. The Twins have lost 5 playoffs in a row b/c they haven't been the best team. It's pretty simple. The Twins teams avg about 92 wins, the teams we've played in the first round avg about 101 wins. People are shocked that an 87 win team (pitching Baker in game 163) lost 3 straight to a 103 win Yankee team that won the WS? None of that means that this years team shouldn't be criticized. I already mentioned my thoughts/concerns but early panicking doesn't seem necessary yet. I'm hopeful that this team finishes over .500 but I don't think it will. I suspect we'll finish with something around 70 wins and come in fourth. But they've only played 16 games.

It's probably a bit early to panic. They laid an egg in Balt but played better against the Angels, blew a couple winnable games against both the Rangers and Yankees. Losing a 3 game series to the Rays isn't horrible. But at the same time, I'm not sure if some of their problems, mainly starting pitching, is going to get better. I like Hendriks but he'll have growing pains, Pavano, Marquis and Blackburn will all have moments but will also have their share of horrible outings. It looks spooky but I think we should see where they are in a month before panicking.

Trading Span for a Hunter Pence like deal makes sense - two top 50 prospects + 2 more young, upside guys. I'd wait to make sure the Twins aren't in contention in June/July and to see how Benson is doing at AAA to make sure we have a CFer. But I really don't think the Twins are that far away from being good again. Hicks is looking good at AA, Michael is showing great plate discipline at Ft Myers, the #2 pick should be pretty good. Dozier should come up soon. Our pitching is thin but we'll have a lot of money to sign one good starter, if we want to, and Gibson will be back next year. Hendriks will have more experience.

Go here: http://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2012.shtml

I think Gardy is more or less riding the hot hand but also likes his defense and Domit isn't hitting all that well right now. I think you'll see something similiar to how he split Dustin Mohr and Keilty back in 02.

This has been a fun site, esp since the ESPN message boards went to heck. Nice format, good discussions. Well done.

It's early but a healthy Mauer, Morneau and Span + Carroll over anyone at short last year + Willingham/Domit to replace Cuddy/Kubel is a nice little offense.

I agree with most of John's posts. The last bench player isn't worth all this fuss.

True, but the perception that the Sox cleaned house after expectations weren't met isn't real either.

Actually, Francona quit and their GM took a better job. And your comment about not winning since 1991 is ridiculous. That mindset that only a world series is a winning season is laughable. Baseball has one of the most uneven playing fields in all sports. You're ignoring the vast resources other teams had, and won less with, over the last decade while blaming this team for not winning? Makes no sense. While you don't seem to think changing the GM, bringing on Krivsky (sp), and giving Radcliff more say on the upcoming draft are all pretty big changes, I do. Last years team was destroyed by injuries. It's boring to say that, but it's true. I don't see why you throw away a successful major league coaching staff over that. I wish I knew enough about medical staff to confidently say that ours are incompetent but I don't. Smarter baseball people than me (or you) reviewed the problem last year and didn't make any change.

I'm not sure why you don't think there hasn't been accountability in this organization? I mean, you picked the four seasons the team didn't make the playoffs. There wasn't one single decision (or 10) that made or broke those four seasons. And if Gardy's the reason we failed to make the playoffs four times, does he get credit for the six times he did make it? I guess the anti-Gardy faction of Twindom confuses me. It's like they think he's an all-powerful puppet master or something.

If we bring up a 3rd catcher, why not Rivera? He seemed to catch Liriano well. I'm not sure catchers have much impact on the SP but at this point, why not try?

I could see him on the Mauer-path. Spend this year in A ball, start next year at A+ with midseason promotion to AA. Debut in the majors at 21. The Twins take some shots for being slow with prospects but looking at their elite prospects - Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, Liriano - all were in the bigs by 22. It's the Plouffe's and Valencia's that don't debut until 25.