minn55441

It's hard to disagree with anything that was written in the article. However, with some decent pitching things tend to look a lot better. Where that pitching will come from is the question. Nothing we haven't already heard before.

Thanks for the info Jim. We appreciate all of the info you have provided in the last few weeks.

If you are looking to get as close the field as possible. Look at Field box on Stubhub. These are down both of the baselines, past the infield dirt. Keep an eye on stubhub, you may not find first row for dirt cheap, but keep an eye out for the first 5 rows, as was mentioned as the game gets closer the prices usually drop. If you wait until the last minute, tickets in the first 5 rows may or may not still be available. I would think you can find them well below cost even now. dugout box is an option as well, but these tickets tend to hold their value a little longer, especially right behind the Twins dugout. good luck.

As much upside as Parmelee at 3b? Florimon as the starting SS for a winning major league baseball team is wishful thinking at best. Some players improve, some regress. I think Florimon has the skills to be an everyday SS in the majors, if he improves. I guess I would say I'm optimistic more so that "wishful". I don't have a chance to interact with the players, so I don't know their attitude, demeanor or how they react to instruction. As an observer from a distance, it appears that Florimon has the skill set, the question is does he have the little extra it will take to push him over the top? Apparently you feel that Florimon has already peaked, as far as his performance on the field. I see flashes of good play both at the plate and in the field. I think it is still too early to call him all glove/ no bat. Right now he needs to improve in both areas, however I would maintain that it is more a matter of becoming more consistent at the plate and more consistent in the field. He has looked very good in both areas at times. I say give him a chance to earn a starting spot, but make sure he has more competition that what we currently have on the 40 man roster.

Why? Because they've shown such skill at evaluating and developing middle infielders over the past decade or so? This is the quote We're not going to name a starting lineup (for 2013) or anything like right now, or even later, but I really like him out there. I think there are things he can get better at ... but I like him. "We are not naming him the starting SS in 2013" I agree with this statement. "There are things he can get better at" I agree with this statement. I think he has some upside. I like the way he plays. There are players that still progress at 25, 26 and even 27 years of age. Does he need to improve? yes. Is he capable of improving his play? I guess he is the one that has control over that.

I'll take Gardy at his word. "We're not going to name a starting lineup (for 2013) or anything like right now, or even later, but I really like him out there. I think there are things he can get better at ... but I like him. I like Florimon. I'm not ready to name him the starter in 2013 as Gardy mentioned. I hope he has more competition for the job than Dozier and Carroll. With that said, I would expect them to try and find depth, if not better options at 3B, SS and 2B in addition to our obvious need for starting pitching. Should we go out and get a legitimate starter at one or more of these spots? If the price it right, make the deal. If what has been mentioned by many that the options this off season will be severely limited at SS, I would not over pay for a player that isn't much of an upgrade to what we already have. I think Florimon still has some upside. He seems to have the confidence at both the plate and in the field. Now he has to back it up, with some more consistent play.

Thanks for posting the link Shaun 15 home games and only 11 road games in April with 4 open dates. I wonder if we will finally get hit with some real spring weather? So far we have really been blessed with 3 years of warm temps in the spring.

Ok, we shot down the Parmelee at third experiment before it even got off the ground. I still want to find a spot for Parmelee and the only openings I see are at 3B, SS and 2B. I think Justin is back and the only starts he will be giving away next year at first will be for Joe. I just can't see Parmelee and Doumit splitting time at DH for a whole season. I hope I'm wrong about Plouffe. It would be nice to have a productive player at 3B that can make the routine plays. I'm not proficient with the fielding statics, but how has Trevor done at 3B so far? In my mind he hasn't passed the eye test. As far as I know, his thumb issues have not affected his fielding.

Plouffe had another error at third last night, however once again the official scorekeeper called it a hit. Don't get me wrong, I have wanted to find a spot for Plouffe ever since he made it to the majors. I would have actually given him a longer lease at SS, thinking he would eventually work his way out of his throwing problems. I just don't see him coming up with the ball, when it is sharply hit in his direction. The guy is a great athlete, seems like a good team mate, but to play in the majors, you have to contribute with the glove or the bat. I think Plouffe is below average in both areas. I hope you are right and that the thumb is bothering him. He had a great run prior to the All star break. Although I don't think he will even turn into an average fielder at third, we can overlook his fielding shortcomings if he returns to that guy that stuck with Willingham homer for homer for a while. Like I mentioned, If Plouffe is the answer, that is the end of the discussion. I have a feeling that we are now seeing the real Plouffe and that we will continue our search for a third basemen. Parmelee needs to find a home. If you can hit, being average in the field will work.

I think there is a majority opinion that we have to find AB's for Parmelee. We have a boatload of good outfielders, we are really short of talent at every position in the infield, except first base. Can Chris Parmelee play any worse at third than Plouffe? Other than the 6 week run where Plouffe hit every thing that was thrown near the plate, I would have to give him a failing grade in 2012. He has continued his inconsistent play in the field and his hot streak didn't last that long. I think we are now seeing the real Plouffe. If we stick with him at third we will see inconsistent play in the field at best and flashes at the plate but more than likely a .245, 12 HR, 45 RBI guy. Would it really hurt to give Parmelee 20 games at third base to end the season? Just to see what we have? I have always thought he showed some pretty good glove while at first and I really think he will have more consistent at bats than Plouffe, if given the chance. We are heading into the offseason with question marks at 3B, SS and 2nd. It sure would be nice to see someone grab one of those spots with some solid play over the final 3 weeks of the season.

Curious if we will loop both Houston and the Rangers into the same road trips. Nice if they were in April or May, as that would make a pleasant early season road trip.

In an earlier thread on this topic, someone mentioned that we would likely be playing the national league east as our interleague opponents, so that would mean that we will probably travel to the Braves and the Nats. This year we were actually matched up with the NL central (cubs, pirates, reds, brewers), but because the Brewers are already our rival or just the out of wack 6 team division, for some reason the Phillies were added.

Very nice and well written.

I don't read Souhan and I take what bloggers say with a grain of salt, which is to say their opinion is worth what I paid to read it. I pay close attention what Terry, Gardy and the other team officials have to say, because they are the ones that actually make an impact. With that said, I have a lot of faith in the Twin's organization, probably more than what most on this site would admit to. I see TR making changes to improve the long term health of the Twins organization, things like picking up minor league free agents. Taking a rule 5 here, making a small trade there. I can see TR making a couple of FA signing like he did last off season, Doumit and Willingham, only have them be pitchers. His strategy will get us back to respectability and eventually to a competitive position. My point is that we are in a position, where our core group of players are good enough, so that if we add enough quality pitching we can return to be competitive sooner rather than later. I am a Terry Ryan fan. I am happy with the decision to bring him back. I think he will eventually prove that he is up to the task and will return this franchise to contending for a title within 5-7 years. I would hope that we can make a one time exception to his long standing beliefs and go out and get a quality starting pitcher to lead this staff. From what I have read from Terry Ryan, Rob Antony, Wayne Krivsky et al, I don't think they see the need to break from the game plan. We are on a long slow recovery. Please let me know if I have a false understanding and there are comments from someone in the Twins baseball operations staff, that have stated that they plan on signing a quality starting pitcher to a long term deal and that we will win the division title next season. Seth you are probably correct in that TR has always held his cards close to the vest and that there is no advantage to tipping his hand at this point.

Thanks for keeping us updated.

The question is if TR can pluck a similar number of minor finds this off season. If he can, is that enough to correct the path of this organization? From what I have read recently, that is TR plan this off season. No big splash. No starting pitchers signed to multi-year deals. Just another year of minor deals. A player here, a player there. If the twins were dealing from a position of strength, by that I mean a plus .500 club with plenty of players currently at Rochester just waiting for their shot, this strategy would work. As we have a discussed, that is not the current situation of this franchise. I don't think another successful season of making minor moves is going to move us far enough to be competitive. I know Ryan doesn't believe in concept of overpaying for starting pitching, but at this point we have no choice.

How realistic would it be fore TR to sit down with Gardy at the end of the season and ask him replace all of his coaching staff? Two consecutive 100 loss (give or take a few) seasons call for some consequences. If faced with the choice of everyone going or Gardy sticking around with an entire new staff, I think he would decide to just end it. I have always been a big Gardy supporter and would hate to see him leave, but we have all seen that a change is needed at this point. I think Gardy is loyal to a fault and would rather fall on the sword himself than start replacing the guys that have been with him since the beginning.

No Span? No Willingham? Any word on why either of these two would need to miss today's game? Did span have a setback? I thought Willingham's neck stiffness was just a one day thing. Plouffe being sloted in the DH for defensive reasons?

Sean McAdam from Red Sox insider is already commenting on an early draft of the 2013 schedule. Here is is a link to the article. http://www.csnne.com/baseball-boston-redsox/redsox-talk/Red-Sox-to-open-vs-Yankees-in-draft-of-2?blockID=761293&feedID=3352 Apparently teams have been forwarded an early draft. Anyone have access to the Twin's? Interested to see how the addition of the Astro's to the AL will affect the Twins. This should be a big change with season long interleague play and the potential road trips.

Wow, lots of trouble with pop ups and fly balls today. Wasn't sure Josh was going to catch that one.

Is that you, Gardy? They just installed Wi-Fi in the Oakland dugout this morning.

Why did we have Dozier up all season with this guy playing in Rochester. I don't care if hits .500 or .200 if he can keep making plays like that every game, we need him at short.

It's obviously all in his head. He just needs a win to know he can do it and he belongs on a major league roster. Once he relaxes a little, I would think that he can have the same success he had in Rochester.

John, I think we all can live with the rules, the key will be how stringently they will be enforced. Will every post be reviewed? Will you rely on posts being flagged by members to ultimately be reviewed and then deleted? I have quickly posted thoughts or opinions without taking the time to look up my facts only to learn after the fact that I was wrong. When this has happened, other posters have pointed out my errors or corrected my points by actually looking up the information. They have always done so in a professional manner, at times with humor, but never by being called a name or in a condescending manner. I have witnessed other posters receive very harsh treatment for similar mistakes to the ones I have made and I'm all for limiting the individual attacks, however I'm not sure how this will be put into practice. If the post sits out there for 4 to 6 hours before it is removed, it still has the same effect.

This is what caught my eye from the article. With numbers like those, the 18-year-old right-hander has made his debut season look easy. According to him, however, it's been the opposite. "It hasn't been easy," Berrios said. "I've been working really hard just to do well here so far. Everything I do goes toward my goal of making it to the big leagues someday." Sounds like the kid knows what he wants and knows he has to work for it. It will be interesting to see how this maturity moves him through the system. He will be fun to watch over the next couple of seasons.