John Bonnes

This is another good forum topic: who would team pick? It has to be the two most overpaid guys on the team right? Which means our pitching rep has to be Nick Blackburn. More thoughts: - Joe Mays is so happy he retired before this was enacted. - Think of how this would hold salaries and contract terms down. If you're Albert Pujols, are you really thinking there is no way you aren't battling for your life by 2018? - Heck, for a big contract, even a bad start to the season on a one year deal might be enough to get you represented. - Mauer will likely get to battle against his old battery mate, Johan Santana. - I wouldn't be shocked to find out that Gardenhire was privately lobbying hard to have Valencia be the rep.

I agree, but I like both the Twins and Royals better than the Indians or White Sox. ON Fanatic Jack's podcast last night I pumped up the Twins a bit and talked myself into them. I really feel like last year was an aberration in so many ways, and I see so many ways in which the team will "progress to the mean." Better defense, better offense, better starting pitching - and I don't trust the Royals pitching yet.

Aaron posted #26 -#30 tonight. 30. Matt Hauser 29. B.J. Hermsen 28. Pat Dean 27. Deolis Guerra 26. Manuel Soliman

Yesterday, the Tigers earned the top spot with 70% of the vote - but who's next? Just like yesterday, place your vote and then add to the thread below. We'll go again tomorrow for 3rd place honors.

I completely do this. Do hate it when one of your favorite caps is consistently unlucky? I do. I keep wanting it to be lucky, but all it brings is heartache. I blame myself and my favorite hat for the '08 season. I just couldn't quit it. And yes, I wish I wasn't serious.

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You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?233-Burroughs-Fairy-Tale-Ending

Third baseman and non-roster invitee Sean Burroughs reported to Twins spring training camp yesterday and apparently took some time to talk to reporters, as you'll find him in numerous stories today. That's not surprising. Burroughs is a good story - a Little League hero who rose to prize prospect, flamed out in 2007, fell into a life of substance abuse and returned to the majors as a bench bat last year. For now, it's a happy ending. For Twins fans, it has a chance to be happier still, because Burroughs has positioned himself to be in the right place at the right time. I was asked today how the Twins were the lucky team to sign someone with Burroughs’ upside to a minor league contract. The answer is a bittersweet one to Twins fans. Burroughs likely signed with the Twins because a lot could go wrong at the hot corner this year. Last year, a heap of unwanted attention was piled on Danny Valencia's defense, and when one plays for a manager like Ron Gardenhire, that's no small problem. But there was also the fact that the right-handed batting Valencia has simply not hit right-handed pitching, posting .242 batting average and just a 654 OPS in 660 plate appearances. For comparison, Nick Punto’s career OPS is 652. Considering right-handed pitchers account for 2/3 of the at-bats an everyday starter faces and suddenly Valencia’s future as a full-time player is in doubt. Enter Burroughs. Burroughs bats left-handed. Coincidentally, when speaking of Burroughs, Gardenhire specifically praised two areas in which Valencia has struggled: defense and clubhouse impact. ESPN 1500’s Phil Mackey asked Gardenhire about Valencia and passed along the following quotes: "He can pick it over (at third base)," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Very intelligent. As I said, very intelligent on the defensive side of the ball. Knows the game out there, positions himself well. Always did. And handles himself very well. (Rochester manager) Gene Glynn had him down in winter ball this year. He had him down in winter ball in Venezuela. He had great reports on him.... "Everything I've heard about him from winter ball, they told me he was one of those guys that everyone couldn't wait until he entered the clubhouse; he brightened up the clubhouse.” It's unlikely last year’s third base responsibilities would change by Opening Day. But it's not totally crazy to think that Burroughs could find his way onto the 25-man roster. Two bench spots might be in play. Luke Hughes' status is up in the air given his shoulder problems. Burroughs could replace him, especially if he shows he can fill-in at second base in a pinch. And the Twins have enough redundancy at catcher, shortstop and center field that Gardenhire could use that last roster spot for a bench bat instead of a bench glove. But whether he makes it right now or not, this story isn't over. We don't know the plot twists that will take place yet this spring or summer, but there is plenty of opportunity for all involved to live happily ever after.

Third baseman and non-roster invitee Sean Burroughs reported to Twins spring training camp yesterday and apparently took some time to talk to reporters, as you'll find him in numerous stories today. That's not surprising. Burroughs is a good story - a Little League hero who rose to prize prospect, flamed out in 2007, fell into a life of substance abuse and returned to the majors as a bench bat last year. For now, it's a happy ending. For Twins fans, it has a chance to be happier still, because Burroughs has positioned himself to be in the right place at the right time. I was asked today how the Twins were the lucky team to sign someone with Burroughs’ upside to a minor league contract. The answer is a bittersweet one to Twins fans. Burroughs likely signed with the Twins because a lot could go wrong at the hot corner this year. Last year, a heap of unwanted attention was piled on Danny Valencia's defense, and when one plays for a manager like Ron Gardenhire, that's no small problem. But there was also the fact that the right-handed batting Valencia has simply not hit right-handed pitching, posting .242 batting average and just a 654 OPS in 660 plate appearances. For comparison, Nick Punto’s career OPS is 652. Considering right-handed pitchers account for 2/3 of the at-bats an everyday starter faces and suddenly Valencia’s future as a full-time player is in doubt. Enter Burroughs. Burroughs bats left-handed. Coincidentally, when speaking of Burroughs, Gardenhire specifically praised two areas in which Valencia has struggled: defense and clubhouse impact. ESPN 1500’s Phil Mackey asked Gardenhire about Valencia and passed along the following quotes: "He can pick it over (at third base)," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Very intelligent. As I said, very intelligent on the defensive side of the ball. Knows the game out there, positions himself well. Always did. And handles himself very well. (Rochester manager) Gene Glynn had him down in winter ball this year. He had him down in winter ball in Venezuela. He had great reports on him.... "Everything I've heard about him from winter ball, they told me he was one of those guys that everyone couldn't wait until he entered the clubhouse; he brightened up the clubhouse.” It's unlikely last year’s third base responsibilities would change by Opening Day. But it's not totally crazy to think that Burroughs could find his way onto the 25-man roster. Two bench spots might be in play. Luke Hughes' status is up in the air given his shoulder problems. Burroughs could replace him, especially if he shows he can fill-in at second base in a pinch. And the Twins have enough redundancy at catcher, shortstop and center field that Gardenhire could use that last roster spot for a bench bat instead of a bench glove. But whether he makes it right now or not, this story isn't over. We don't know the plot twists that will take place yet this spring or summer, but there is plenty of opportunity for all involved to live happily ever after.

I completely do this. Do hate it when one of your favorite caps is consistently unlucky? I do. I keep wanting it to be lucky, but all it brings is heartache. I blame myself and my favorite hat for the '08 season. I just couldn't quit it. And yes, I wish I wasn't serious.

Aaron Gleeman is counting down his Top 40 Twins prospects over at his excellent blog. I thought I'd start a thread where we can provide links to each one as they come out and discuss all in one place. You can click here for #36 through #40 which are: 40- Kyle Waldrop 39 - Anderson Hidalgo 38 - Derek Rodriguez 37 - JaDamion Williams 36 - Tyler Robertson You can click here for #35 through #31 which are: 35 - Scott Diamond 34 - Jairo Perez 33 - James Beresford 32 - Terry Doyle 31 - Tyler Grimes Any thoughts about where they're ranked? Are there any you're really excited about?

Nice analysis Parker. I have a lot more to watch on Liriano than his body language, it seems.

I'm going with Tigers, though I think it will be closer than people think. I view them as fundamentally flawed, and if their starting pitchers outside Verlander don't improve from last year, they're no sure thing. I'll add this: there will be a division race in September. At least one of the other four teams are going to be pushing them. I'm just not sure which one, and I know the Tigers will be involved, so I'm picking them.

Let's do our division picks, poll style. Today I'll post a poll for who will win the AL Central. Tomorrow we'll eliminate the winner and post a poll for who will finish second and we'll repeat on Thursday and Friday. Don't just vote - give your reasons.

Very good. This would make an interesting forum topic: headlines you want to see become true. "Nick Blackburn aims to strike out batters, not suck." "Joe Mauer's claims he's going to 'Kick some 'bilateral ass.'" "Ben Revere: I'm totally gonna hit the ball past the pitcher this year." Please lord, start this topic.

It is our intention for this site to be a community, and so I thought I'd share some numbers with you all as we reach the 48-hour mark of the site being live. I'll preface this by saying: when we first conceived of this site, we guessed that we would get about 5000 page views of stories and about 1000 page views in the forum per day. Instead, through our first 48 hours, we're seeing the following: 431 Registered Users 6813 Unique Visitors 9269 Visits 44,034 Page Views I truly hope this is just the beginning of a much bigger community. It can go as far as you can take it. Thank you all so much for a kick start that has blown away our expectations.

It is our intention for this site to be a community, and so I thought I'd share some numbers with you all as we reach the 48-hour mark of the site being live. I'll preface this by saying: when we first conceived of this site, we guessed that we would get about 5000 page views of stories and about 1000 page views in the forum per day. Instead, through our first 48 hours, we're seeing the following: 431 Registered Users 6813 Unique Visitors 9269 Visits 44,034 Page Views I truly hope this is just the beginning of a much bigger community. It can go as far as you can take it. Thank you all so much for a kick start that has blown away our expectations.

I'll let Seth reply, because I know he's thought about this a lot more than I have. I will say this - just about anything like that is possible if it is a team effort. That is, if we organized members outside of Seth, Nick, Parker and I to bring that kind of information together consistently. That's really what we're trying to establish here: a community that can organize and do amazing things without it all being controlled centrally.

People seem awfully excited about a 25-year-old who has a half season of AA ball under his belt. Is it the AFL performance that is generating it, or are we all just rooting for a geek. I gotta say, geeks don't have a great track record with this coaching staff....

I think you might have more luck if you posted this in the forum on the Twins page.

There is nothing to do around Citi field, so I'd say get there early, explore and then stick around the attached bar (which is fun) afterwards. All the advice about CF is dead on. AS for Yankee Stadium, there is a neighborhood around there that will be hopping, so go even earlier. Monument park is supposed to be much easier to view, too. One last tip - a lot of these parks have tours on days that there aren't games. I assume you could to to Citi when NYY are in town and Yankees Stadium when the Mets are around. I bet that would be worth it.