Jeremy Nygaard

I really hope it's a pitcher mostly because of the lack of top-of-the-rotation starters in the system, but it's been mentioned before: the Twins just haven't had the opportunity to take a lot of those types of guys at the bottom of the first round. Kyle Gibson, because of the injury concern, is the lone exception that pops into my head. Kyle Zimmer just threw a complete game, 3 hit, 11 K, 4 BB shutout over the weekend. He's relatively new to pitching, so his upside is incredible. Byron Buxton isn't just "another" OF though. The Twins haven't had a lot of chances to draft "Justin Upton-types" either. Regardless, when June rolls around, we'll have our opinions, but it's going to be hard for the Twins to screw it up. In five years, we may disagree.

Ditto. Appel, Gausman, Kyle Zimmer, Buxton, Zunino...

There is definitely a lot of middle infield bodies vying for A-ball playing time. A lot of names have been referenced above, but that's not including other guys like Nick Lockwood and J.D. Williams. Daniel Santana played a lot in CF after Grimes and Bryant showed up in June. When I saw him play, he look (understandably) uncomfortable out there. My best guess (from last fall anyway): Fort Myers: Tyler Grimes (SS), Daniel Santana (MINF/CF), Anderson Hidalgo (3B), Jairo Perez (3B/2B/OF), Reggie Williams (UTIL) Beloit: Miguel Sano (3B), Eddie Rosario (2B), Tyler Grimes (SS), Adam Bryant (SS), Nick Lockwood (SS/2B), J.D. Williams (SS/OF), AJ Pettersen (SS) EST: Niko Goodrum (INF/OF), Javier Pimentel (SS), Jorge Polanco (SS) I also wonder if there is a chance that Rosario stays around in Fort Myers in April to continue how to learn the second base fundamentals and keep him out of the cold. I wondered the same about Sano, but he just seems too good. I know Revere and Hicks both started years in EST before coming to Beloit.

I'd say there is a chance the Twins could sell his rights to a Japanese team. Maybe enough to cover his buyout.

The Twins essentially can make five spots pretty easily, if they needed to. Joel Zumaya (60-day DL), Terry Doyle (since he's not making the big club, he'll be off the 40-man one way or the other), Jeff Gray (out of options and hasn't been considered in the bullpen race as of late), Nishi (obviously) and Darin Mastroianni (plenty of capable AAA OFs, though I saw Mastroianni got some reps at 2B earlier this week). Though I don't think they'll need all that room, it makes adding Jared Burton, Brian Dozier/Sean Burroughs and J.R. Towles pretty easy (and harmless).

Baseball America just released it's newest installment of Prospect Pulse and it's much more encouraging than the last one. Corner OFs (of 30): 7) Joe Benson and 14) Oswaldo Arcia (Arcia also listed as breakout prospect of the group.) Center fielders (of 30): 17) Aaron Hicks First Base (of 20): 8) Travis Harrison and 14) Chris Parmelee Second Basemen (of 20): 6) Eddie Rosario Third Base (of 30): 1) Miguel Sano Shortstops (of 35): 13) Levi Michael, 26) Brian Dozier and 33) Niko Goodrum (Michael also listed as breakout prospect of the group.) That's 10 of the 165. The average per team is 5.5. Pretty good showing, even though 7 guys are at least 3 promotions away.

Nishioka will be off the 40-man roster by Opening Day. He'll still be in Rochester - it's not a secret he's not worth the money he's being paid - and collecting a pretty big paycheck.

Done. There's now a group called TwinsDaily on ESPN.

Is there anyone down in FM (or otherwise) that has been able to get their hands on the entire minor league roster? If so, please post.

I've been running a tournament contest for a few (dozen) years. It's done over email and Excel. If you're interested, email me at nygaard@baldwin-telecom.net. It can cost as little as $1 or as much as $8. If you respond, you're obviously not obligated to partake. Jeremy

That is cool. Good luck with Blyleven. A buddy of mine sent something to him a couple years ago and he got back a list of his prices. And that was before he was in the HOF.

That makes sense. I had picked up the 8x10 at a booth where if you bought X, you got one free. So I figured I'd give it a shot. I just edited the post to reflect the three I got in the mail today: Parmelee, Herrmann and Arcia.

If the Vikings were to end up with the first pick in 2013 and draft Tyrann Mathieu, it would easily become the biggest blunder they've ever made in the draft... and there have been quite a few! Unless he runs an 4.2 40, he's a mid-first round pick. There is no way he cracks the Top 5. Matt Barkley will have to suffer a bad injury or extremely suck to not go #1.

Though I’ve never been a huge “autograph-hound”, I have enjoyed hanging around the “Down on the Farm” section at TwinsFest. I do that mostly to get a chance to converse with the players, but I also usually get a ball or 8x10 signed as well. As I started to find 8x10 photos of players online and at TwinsFest, I figured it would be worth a shot to send them down to Spring Training and see what happened. I thought I’d start a list and share it; maybe it will help some of you who are interested. Please share your stories as well. Sent out on February 27th (8x10 photo unless noted): Brian Dozier Sent out on March 7th (8x10 photo unless noted): Dan Gladden (World Series Sports Illustrated) Unsent: Kyle Gibson (photo with Gibson; plan to send to Ft. Myers during rehab) Kent Hrbek (plan to send to Target Field) Francisco Liriano (have heard he doesn’t sign) Jim Thome (plan to send to Phillies complex) Previously successful: Niko Goodrum (sent 3/7; received 3/17, outer plastic was signed, I'll give him a pass; he's still learning.) Max Kepler (sent 3/7; received 3/17) Eddie Rosario (sent 3/7; received 3/17) Miguel Sano (sent 3/7; received 3/17) Denard Span (photo of myself with Span taken at TwinsFest; sent 3/7, received 3/15 personalized with note, "Jeremy, I'm definitely better looking than you! :)" Funny stuff!) Oswaldo Arcia (sent 2/27; received 3/10) Chris Herrmann (sent 2/27; received 3/10) Chris Parmelee (sent 2/27; received 3/10) Tom Kelly Jason Kubel (playoff scorecard) Pat Neshek Angel Morales Joe Mauer (returned, unsigned with a small card) Successes in person: Aaron Hicks (game ball in Beloit) Dan Osterbrock (ticket stub after no-hitter in Beloit) Previously unsuccessful: Rod Carew

Though I’ve never been a huge “autograph-hound”, I have enjoyed hanging around the “Down on the Farm” section at TwinsFest. I do that mostly to get a chance to converse with the players, but I also usually get a ball or 8x10 signed as well. As I started to find 8x10 photos of players online and at TwinsFest, I figured it would be worth a shot to send them down to Spring Training and see what happened. I thought I’d start a list and share it; maybe it will help some of you who are interested. Please share your stories as well. Sent out on February 27th (8x10 photo unless noted): Brian Dozier Sent out on March 7th (8x10 photo unless noted): Dan Gladden (World Series Sports Illustrated) Unsent: Kyle Gibson (photo with Gibson; plan to send to Ft. Myers during rehab) Kent Hrbek (plan to send to Target Field) Francisco Liriano (have heard he doesn’t sign) Jim Thome (plan to send to Phillies complex) Previously successful: Niko Goodrum (sent 3/7; received 3/17, outer plastic was signed, I'll give him a pass; he's still learning.) Max Kepler (sent 3/7; received 3/17) Eddie Rosario (sent 3/7; received 3/17) Miguel Sano (sent 3/7; received 3/17) Denard Span (photo of myself with Span taken at TwinsFest; sent 3/7, received 3/15 personalized with note, "Jeremy, I'm definitely better looking than you! :)" Funny stuff!) Oswaldo Arcia (sent 2/27; received 3/10) Chris Herrmann (sent 2/27; received 3/10) Chris Parmelee (sent 2/27; received 3/10) Tom Kelly Jason Kubel (playoff scorecard) Pat Neshek Angel Morales Joe Mauer (returned, unsigned with a small card) Successes in person: Aaron Hicks (game ball in Beloit) Dan Osterbrock (ticket stub after no-hitter in Beloit) Previously unsuccessful: Rod Carew

...well that's interesting... And potentially very costly.

20 game pack (plan F). Section 239. I started in 2008 after receiving a call from the Twins basically offering a partial flex plan at a reduced rate. Went to a flex 40 in 2009 and kept a similar plan after the move to Target Field.

I don't have the lists in front of me, but it would be interesting to see how many of the starting pitchers named are guys the Twins never had a shot at.

They had it in the magazine that came out earlier this week. The rest of the positions will be in the next magazine in two weeks. I'll double-check catchers when I get home tonight, but I'm pretty sure Herrmann wasn't on it.

I just looked through my notes from last year, Vargas has 32 games of his suspension left to serve, so he'll be eligible to return May 9th. I guess a combination of Larson/Rhodes could work for awhile. Kyle Knudson saw a little action at 1B in 2010. I know that Kepler has been getting some work at 1B too, that would make an even more interesting prospect-laden infield.

On Baseball America's list for Right-handed Pitchers (70), Left-handed Pitchers (40), Relief Pitchers (25) and Catchers (25), the Twins have a grand total of one player represented. I think it's safe to say the rest of the positions will be better represented (Parmelee, Rosario, Sano, Michael, Benson, Arcia, Hicks), but definitely not a "strong" farm system by any means.

I'd be surprised if Michael doesn't start the season in a full season league.

With Gonzalez repeating already and Vargas suspended, there is a big question mark surrounding who will be playing first base. The rest of the infield should be stacked though.

It sounds like Stuif is dealing with a shoulder and foot thing coming into camp too.

You keep all three somewhere. Call it "Mornsurance".