Jeremy Nygaard

I thought the same thing... but it's not like Colorado or Chicago are in the tropics either, so he's gonna have to deal with it.

That's crazy that only six guys from the 2009 draft are still in the organization. Wow!

Nah, feel free... the more information the better. The only thing I would ask is that you use the same format for the heading.

A month and a half ago, Baseball America ranked Chris Anderson as the 7th best draft prospect in the Atlantic Sun. In fact, I believe he was listed as a RHP/1B. Obviously since that point, he's done a lot of things that have helped him improve his draft stock. I think the thing that makes the draft so much fun is that we don't know exactly what teams look at... long-term past success? recent success? signability? the list goes on and on... From what I've gathered the Twins want to draft the state of Minnesota without making "favor picks". I can't say with 100% certainty, but I would be shocked if the Twins reached far in an effort to bank money. In talking to a Twins scout last month, he flat-out told me that the Twins would be more likely to take a guy with a high price tag and shave later than save early to spend later. His reasoning was simple, you don't know who's going to be around later. I also think - from a PR standpoint - it would be a hard sell to make a savings pick. As the draft approaches, I fully anticipate the Twins will start talking about "five names" they've narrowed on; they'll be the top 5 talents and the Twins will take one. They know they need pitching and that's the route they'll go, unless their top hitter available is viewed to be "head and shoulders" (the exact words they used about Buxton) better than their next pitcher.

Nice reports from the guys at Perfect Game on Friday Night's game. PG: Manaea-Windle lives up to billing (It appears to be one of the free articles on the site as well.)

Anderson and Windle have posts because there had been a lot of discussion about them, mostly because they are local guys, yes. Partially, too, because they are pitchers and pitching once a week is easier to update than position guys. Do Bryant and Frazier deserve threads based on the fact they could be top 4 picks? Probably. It's just not something I have the time to update after each game. I know you're big on Bryant and he's been a monster, feel free to start a thread.

There were 237 people in attendance to see Anderson pick up his 3rd win (and the team's 6th) on Friday night. Game log updated above. Anderson didn't have his best game statistically, only striking out 5. (He had averaged over a K/IP in each of his previous outings.) Anderson doesn't have a lot behind him, so he's going to rely on striking guys out - and as a result, throw more pitches. His 112 seems pretty tame after throwing nearly 140 two outings ago.

Stanek looked better, though his stats didn't show it. Sunday's - yes, Sunday's - game log added.

The roster has been updated to reflect all the recent moves. Obviously there are 42 players (among them 22 pitchers), but that number is a little misleading as four pitchers (Diamond, Swarzak, Harden, Perez) are expected to start the season on the DL. Simply put, here are the roster battles: LOCKS: Mauer, Doumit, Morneau, Carroll, Florimon, Dozier, Plouffe, Willingham, Parmelee, Mastroianni. That leaves three spots... Centerfield - Aaron Hicks vs Joe Benson 3rd catcher - Drew Butera vs Eduardo Escobar (who would serve a utility role as well) Utility/extra outfielder - Eduardo Escobar vs Ray Olmedo vs Wilkin Ramirez vs Brandon Boggs (vs Jim Thome) Pitching-wise... LOCKS: Correia, Pelfrey, Worley, Perkins, Burton, Duensing. With Diamond and Swarzak expected to start the year on the DL, that leaves six spots. Favorites - De Vries, Wood, Fien Contenders - Deduno vs Hendriks vs Walters, LHPs Robertson vs Hernandez vs RHPs Roenicke vs Burnett vs Pressly vs Perdomo (Though I would prefer Deduno over Hendriks to start the year, I would be concerned about adding Deduno knowing that he might get squeezed when Diamond is healthy. He would be lost on waivers. Once he's up, he'll need to stay up... unless he absolutely implodes. In short, he'll need to win the #4 job for me to add him.)

From what I've gathered, he's the Twins top SS target, with Crawford being less certain to stick at SS. Both getting mid- to late-first round grades. Unless he demonstrates new power, I don't see him jumping up boards, but could be a possibility in the 2nd, though I'd bet on him being gone by then. (Which could put the PR kid in play.)

I think that was probably the pre-season report. As far as current college arms go, Appel, Manaea and Gray probably all could be projected as top-of-the-rotation guys based on the swings and misses they got. Though others are down on Manaea after Friday's start, I'm not and I don't think the Twins, who love success in the Cape, are either. I've said all along that Manaea would need more time in the minors and that remains true. He areas of need are fixable, all in a left-handed package.

As he sat about a dozen seats away from me, sounds about right. I find it interesting that he talks about "early in the game" and "in the ninth inning", because he left after the 3rd and I didn't see him again until the 8th. Obviously, I'm not sure where he was (all of his stuff was still at his seat), but I thought Manaea was at his best in the middle innings - still hitting 94 and that was where he got most of his strikeouts. Law would have a better basis for comparison to Gray than I would, but hearing that he likes Gray more than Manaea is encouraging, because I'd be happy with Manaea. Here's an with Manaea after the game. He sounds optimistic that his ankle will quickly heal, but his face said a different story.

Manaea's first inning from last night... I give the radar reading after every pitch. [video=youtube_share;LNG8gMP81Eg]

If anyone gets a copy and could post it, that would be interesting to see who is playing with each team.

Windle's first inning from last night... [video=youtube;kfJ-jQCTJOE]

Sean Manaea proved himself to be an elite draft prospect tonight. You can read more about his game on his thread.

I will have video of Manaea's (and Windle's on his thread) first inning of the game posted later. Some quick observations about him... His fastball was good, 91-94, hit 95 once, and, for seven innings, nearly unhittable. His slider was in the high-70s and also got a number of swings-and-misses. There was a pitch he threw, maybe in the 3rd, to a lefty - acted like a curveball - that was completely filthy. All-in-all, the amount of times a Gopher player swung through a Manaea pitch was probably in the 17-20 range. Obviously those are stats that get you drafted high. There were a few parts of Manaea's game that need work. First, when there is a runner on base, he really slows down. Snails pace down. He doesn't have a good move to first, he isn't particularly quick to home and wants to pitch out of a windup. He threw the ball to first probably a dozen time and at least four times could have been called for a balk because he steps over the imaginary 45 degree line towards home. Even before all of that, whenever he's pitching with a runner on base, he takes a funny little knee-lift step before coming set. It's weird - not sure why he does it - and didn't look all that beneficial. Who knows... His 9th inning was also very interesting. He gave up a sharp single to start the inning off. He struck out the next batter swinging on a 91 mph fastball at the eyes. He gave up another single and had runners on the corners with one out. The next batter went 2-0 before fouling a ball towards the 1B bullpen. The Indiana State fielder made a nice move getting the ball back before the runner could tag up. Up came the Minnesota DH batting .148. He missed the zone three times before working the count full. He then missed low - check-swing - and walked the bases full. The first pitch to the next batter was a couple feet short of home and went squirting towards the Indiana State dugout. The ball, runner and Manaea all got there at the same time. It looked like the runner got his hand under the tag to me. The guy I was with thought he was out. The interesting thing was Manaea tumbled toward the backstop and the ump didn't make the call until making sure he still had the ball. Had he called him safe, the runner from 2nd would have touched home before Manaea could have gotten back. In the celebration, Manaea rolled his ankle as well. All told, Manaea looked like a top pick. I don't see what he could do to drop out of the Top 4. I got to the Dome at 5:30 to scout the scouts... hard to tell who was from where. There were at least 30 radar guns out. While there are areas to improve his game, there wasn't anything alarming, though he'll need to improve his pickoff move/speed with runners on. It was a good game at the very least, well worth the $8 ticket.

Manaea, who if you've read anything about him, appears to be a goofball, just tweeted a picture of himself jumping on a hotel bed. I told him to get comfy in Minneapolis and his response was that it is 'actually pretty sweet here'. Not that it changes the fact I think he'll go before #4, but still neat that he'll interact with baseball fans on Twitter.

This doesn't prove or disprove anything (and I compile this for a Fantasy Baseball league, not just because...) but here's an idea of what the "experts" think. BA Top 100 - Buxton (10), Zimmer (24), Gausman (26) Callis Top 50 - Buxton (8), Gausman (23), Zimmer (24) Cooper Top 50 - Zimmer (14), Gausman (15), Buxton (21) Lingo Top 50 - Buxton (9), Gausman (30), Zimmer (31) Manuel Top 50 - Buxton (10), Zimmer (27), Gausman (28) Baseball Prospectus - Buxton (8), Gausman (13), Zimmer (41) Keith Law - Buxton (22), Gausman (26), Zimmer (27) MLB.com - Buxton (19), Zimmer (34), Gausman (37)

Stanek not only dropped on my board, but has also dropped to the #3 spot in Arkansas's rotation. It is early, but still not what you'd want.

Re: Denney. Text from Twins scout: 1st rounder, Top 10 might be high, seeing him Monday in Phoenix. Hopefully I'll be able to get more then...

If, today, we're comparing Buxton and one of Appel/Manaea/Gray/Stanek to Gausman and Frazier, I'm taking the pair with Buxton in it. I like Gausman a lot (and I'd put him right in that other mix), but Buxton is a much better prospect than Frazier. Different, but better. I think it will work out for the Twins because I believe there will be a really good college pitcher that hears his name called when the Twins are on the clock.

Today's moves (players optioned or reassigned) as well as players knocked out of the WBC are reflected above.

Interesting read on Manaea. ESPN LINK

I agree with you completely, gunnarthor. I am really curious to see how many teams look at the Astros and Blue Jays approach and try to do the same thing. There were a handful of teams that took similar, though more subtle approaches last year, and I know that scouts within organizations were not pleased with how rounds 3-10 went, some calling it a "complete joke". There were a handful of players that got $1,000 signing bonuses.