John Bonnes

The Minnesota Twins made three roster moves today, the most significant of which was optioning outfielder Joe Benson to AAA-Rochester.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Benson had been nominally competing for the Twins centerfield spot with Aaron Hicks and Darin Mastroianni this spring. In addition, left-handed pitcher Pedro Hernandez was also optioned to Rochester and right-handed reliever Luis Perdomo was reassigned to minor league camp. Benson was always the longest of shots to win the center field job. Last year he struggled in AAA, was demoted to AA and finished the year with microfracture knee surgery. He also started slowly this spring, though he showed his potential later with a home run and some extra-base hits. The 25-year-old will try to regain his prospect status in Rochester this year. The Twins received Pedro Hernandez (along with infielder Eduardo Escobar) last year when they traded away Francisco Liriano at the trade deadline. The 23-year-old posted a 5.19 ERA in his four starts at Rochester last year before ending the season on the DL with a strained rotator cuff. Luis Perdomo threw 17 innings for the Twins last year, posting a 3.18 ERA, but he struggled with his control and was dropped from the 40-man roster this offseason. In addition, the Twins made some minor league cuts as well.

In their Minnesota Twins podcast, Gleeman and the Geek talk about Kyle Gibson's early assignment to Triple-A, going to Dinkytown on St. Patrick's Day eve to see John Mulaney, Samuel Deduno starring in the World Baseball Classic, if the Twins are becoming more aggressive promoting minor leaguers, the Brass Kings, the differences between baseball and football playoffs, Deolis Guerra's scary injury, the lack of Jim Thome news, and going deeper down the bar-buying path. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Here are: the podcasts the rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podcast on iTunes. Or just click below:

You’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone that doesn’t think the Detroit Tigers are the favorites to with the AL Central, including those who generate MLB futures odds. But Vegas has also tagged them with the highest over-under number in the American League: 93 games. Vegas picked a similar number last year and the Tigers disappointed.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] They won the division, but they only won 88 games, and only their dominance of head-to-head matchups with the White Sox saved them from an ignomnius fate. After adding Cecil Fielder in the offseason, their offense was only slightly above average, though playing in Comerica Park might skew that a little. They bolstered their starting pitching staff by acquiring Anibal Sanchez but their bullpen remained full of question marks. To their credit, they further improved this offseason. They retained Sanchez and replaced Delmon Young with Torii Hunter. But maybe best of all, they’ll add Victor Martinez to their lineup as he is fully recovered from the ACL surgery that cost him all of 2012. So start with 88 wins, add a full year of Martinez, a full year of Sanchez, swapping Hunter for Young….and they pretty clearly approach that number. I’ll add in a more ethereal reason too: sometime it seems like it takes a team of superstars a year or so to remember that games won’t be just handed to them. However, 93 is a huge number, so it’s hard to take the over – but that’s the point. If it was lower, everyone would bet it. Which way would you go?

Aaron and John talk about Aaron Hicks' odds of being the Twins' Opening Day center fielder, the pros and cons of service time shenanigans, dreaming of buying a bar together, betting on the over/under win totals for every American League team, why the AL Central is once again underwhelming, the dangers of parallel parking, Ryan Doumit and evaluating catcher defense, unprofessional bathroom breaks, and the stability of one-run games. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Here are: the podcasts the rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podcast on iTunes. Or, just click below:

There are great rewards and great risks in doing something new. We know a thing or two about that at Twins Daily. We also know a thing or two about passion and experimentation and rejecting the limitations older corporate entities might embrace. (Or try to enforce.) I think these are core values with which our members empathize. If they didn't, I think they'd get their Twins fix someplace else. It has been harder to find local sponsors that embrace that same attitude. But today we welcome our first, and given their history, I wonder what took us so long to find each other. In 1986, Summit tackled a stodgy industry by trusting consumers to get past old habits by brewing new experimental products of exceptional quality. They took great risks and we've all received the great rewards. In the brewer’s interview for their new Unchained series beer, brewer Gabe Smoley talked about the impressive measures he took to make sure that his beer would really be 100% organic: I think that’s the DNA of Twins Daily too, and I think it’s the DNA or our community. So, please raise a glass and welcome Summit to Twins Daily. I'm glad we found each other.

Can any season for the Kansas City Royals, who have only finished above .500 once since strike-shortened 1994, really be considered a disappointment? Maybe not, but last year was close. Last year was supposed to be the year the the Royals perennial rebuilding efforts finally paid off. Vegas gave them an over/under of 80.5, giving them even odds at that elusive .500 year. It wasn't to be. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Their offense was below average (20th in runs scored) and their pitching was worse (23rd in combined ERA). They won only 72 games. Their starting rotation was especially bad, posting an ERA of 5.01. That's the area they attacked this offseason. Last year's Opening Day starter, Bruce Chen, goes into the season and their fifth starter. A trade with the Rays netted them James Shields and Wade Davis. Another trade with the Angles brought them Ervin Santana. And they re-signed Jeremy Guthrie, who was outstanding for them after a midseason trade with the Rockies. Despite all those improvements, Vegas is cautious, giving them an over/under of 78.5, two games worse than they expected last year. It looks like those that bet the over last year may need a little reassuring to make the same bet this year. I don't blame them. The Royals were 11 games under .500 by April 24th last year. Five months is a long time to wonder why the hell you thought this year would be any different for the Royals. For the record, I think this year might just be different. If I had to choose one way or the other, I'd take the over on that 78.5, but .... there is just no way I'm laying money on that number. Let me rephrase that: there is no way I'm laying money on that franchise. I expect the good people of Missouri understand. After all, they are the "Show Me" state. Make sure you're heard, too. We'll review these at the end of the year.

So, you think you know what's going to happen in the AL Central? Let's find out. Every year Vegas takes bets on how teams will do over a full year. This represents an unbelievable opportunity for someone who iss super confident in their baseball statistics, because it eliminates the "sample size" excuse. So have at it. We'll start on the south side of Chicago. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The White Sox won 85 games last year, finishing second in the AL Central. However, their expected wins, which can be a slightly better indicator of the next year's record, was 88 wins. In fact, sabrmetrically, the White Sox might have been a little better than the Tigers who only had 87 expected wins. The Sox lost the division because they lost 12 of eighteen head-to-head matchups versus the Tigers. If they're 9-9, we would have had another Game 163 in the AL Central. But that success was a huge surprise. Vegas pegged them to only win 74.5 game last year, but enormous years from Adam Dunn, Alex Rios, Jake Peavy and AJ Pierzynski, as well as the midseason pickup of Kevin Youkillis, propelled them to unforeseen heights. Your belief in the White Sox depends on what you think of those years. Pierzynski and Youkillis are now gone, and the White Sox had a very quiet offseason. Almost be definition that means there should be some regression. But how much further will it go? Far enough that Rios goes back to to his .265 on-base percentage or Dunn hits .159 or Peavy nibbles at just 111.2 inning? Because that's what happened the year before. Vegas sees some regression, giving an over/under of 80.5. I felt the regression would be a little worse, down to 78 - but I have to be honest with myself: I hate that damn team. While I'd love to root for them to finish under .500, I don't trust myself to be totally subjective when it comes to these kind of back-of-the-napkin evaluations. So ultimately, this is one I probably don't bet on. You, however, kind of can. click on the survey below. Make your voice heard on which way the White Sox season will go. And then right it down in the comments so you can check it again in six months. We'll relook at each of these next October and see how we did. Get the Poll Creator Pro widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox! Not seeing a widget? (More info)

Twins Daily's bloggers were busy this weekend. Especially if you're looking for six different stories to help you to pass the time in a snow storm... Eric Johnson point out that all the advanced stats in the world don't have the same impact as a great ballplayer's name. So which Twins prospect's names are the best and which one needs to make a change? What better way to pass your time today than doing a crossword puzzle of Twins pitchers? You can thank John Swol for putting that together for us. If you're enjoying some Twins history, Brad Swanson compares Greg Gagne to every other middle infielder since 1983. (And maybe the Twins aren't as bad at developing middle infielder as we thought.) Cody Christie wonders just what is stopping the Twins from signing Jim Thome? If warm climates are on your mind, Thrylos uses Bill James "Game Score" to track how each hopeful Twins player is faring in their battle for a roster spot. And if colder climates on on your mind - well, you're not alone. Axel Kohagen is wondering just what Twins Opening Day is going to look like if spring doesn't pick up the pace. It isn't pretty.

Aaron and John talk about Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire's future, the latest with Jim Thome, Tom Kelly's opinion of Brian Dozier, Liam Hendriks' place in Australian history, late-night World Baseball Classic watching, storming the court, Joe Mauer's twins, questionable television viewing habits, one half of the podcast's "official couple" looking for new league members, going global, and being full of beans. Here are: the podcasts the rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podcast on iTunes or click on the link below. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] .