travistwinstalk

As many can tell I am not a typical Twins blogger in that my posts are very infrequent. That is because I go to school in Texas and am very busy. I know everybody is busy, but for me my blogging is a hobby that I only do if I have time for it. I will blog more in the summer when I don’t have classes, but I felt the need the need to write my feelings with how everything is going with the Twins right now. As many of you know I was 30 years old when I went back to College and will graduate next spring. When I decided to go back to school there were tons of people that thought I was crazy. They said why would someone give up a job that were you were making a steady income to chase a dream. These people created a chip on my shoulder in that I am determined to prove to each of them including some in my own family that yes I can do this and do it well. I see this same chip on the shoulder of several Twins players. With the departures of Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, and Joe Nathan many have written off the Twins as a hopeless cause in 2012. Every prediction I have seen has the Twins fighting the White Sox and Royals for 3rd place behind Detroit and Cleveland. They say there are too many unknowns with the Twins with the injury situations of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Denard Span along with the lowering the payroll by 13-18 million over 2011. However, when I look at Joe Mauer I see a guy who has a chip on his shoulder much like I do. He is out to prove that people have forgot just who is and that is one of the best players in the game. He is out to prove that 2011 was an aberration, and that he is a catcher first and foremost. I see that same chip on Denard Span’s shoulder who is sick of hearing about how the Twins should trade him, that Ben Revere is a better centerfielder than him. Denard Span is one of the top 5 leadoff men in the major leagues and people will give him the credit he justly deserves. As a whole I see a team with a huge chip on their shoulder with a manager in Ron Gardenhire who just knows how to win. In case anyone forgot he has won six division titles in ten years as manager. This team will be better than what the so called experts think and those that undersell this team your in for a rude awakening. For those that think that the Twins have no chance to hang with the Tigers you will be wrong. Much like you can’t ever discount Bill Belichek and Tom Brady in a big game, you should also never discount the Twins when expectations are low and the Twins can be the underdogs Gardy loves to be. When they are underdogs the Twins have a tendency of just finding a way of getting it done. I know many are perturbed that the Pohlad’s cut the Twins payroll and my response is simply who cares. Since when did payroll determine who wins the world series. If that was the case the Yankees would win it all every year. By my Minnesota math I believe the Yankees have only won 1 championship in 11 years while having the highest payroll by a large margin. Teams are build with cohesiveness and working well as a team. I would much rather play the Twins way and that is develop their talent and if that means letting free agents go then so be it. I have come to realize for some people it wouldn’t matter what the Twins payroll is it would be too low. Mr. Pohlad would get crushed no matter what he did as he should have done more. What people need to realize is as much as this is entertainment for us it is a business for him as it should be. In what business do you spend your own money on the product besides at the startup of a company. When your established the business should run on its own and you should get a profit out of it. The fact that he spends 52% on payroll is a credit to him and he should’t be expected to do more even though some people will never give him credit. Those bitching about the moves Terry Ryan has done this offseason should be ashamed of themselves as he is working inside a budget. There was no way that Michael Cuddyer is worth 10.5 million anymore. He was never a superstar and his defense has slipped to below average. Credit Ryan for knowing that there was no way to sign Cuddyer at that figure so instead he signs Josh Willingham for seven million and to be honest Cuddyer and Willingham are very similar players. To be able to get a similar player for 3.5 million a year is pure brilliance by Ryan. Signing Jamey Carroll was also a good signing if you ask me as the Twins did not have the money to sign Jose Reyes and after last years debacle at SS they needed a steady hand at SS and that is what Carroll is and that’s steady. The coup of the offseason was signing Ryan Doumit for 3 million. Doumit is a .800 ops guy who can catch if something happens to Mauer. So in my mind with the budget they had and the moves he made Terry Ryan should get credit and not get bitched about. For those that say the Twins are not contenders with this roster you are wrong and you will be proven wrong over the next 6 months. The guy that people are really wrong about is Aaron Hicks who for some reason people are starting to doubt. Seems like your average fan just looks at a few numbers and judge that he is a bust. If you look deeper with his walk rate and his gap power you are looking at a stud. It irritated me when I read Baseball America’s prospect list and saw that Hicks had dropped from 45 before last season to 127 this year. I followed every game that he appeared in and I really don’t get it. He has the chance to be a 6 tool player in that he will hit for average, hit for power, got speed, great range on defense, tremendous arm, and incredible intangibles. I talked to a fellow blogger about Hicks and he asked me on a scale of 1-10 how good he would be with 10 being a hall of famer and I said 8, but I think more of a 9 now. He has all the tools you want in a prospect and I truly believe that he is going to be a stud. For those worried about the Twins system don’t be they have 15-20 players in their system that I believe will have the chance to be major league players. Then with all the draft picks they have in June the system will get better. It is probably middle of the pack now, but by the end of the year it will be a top 10 system if you ask me. My biggest peeve with Twins fans is they believe everything they read instead of investigating things themselves. You don’t have to take my word for it think about it yourself and come to your own judgement. Just because something is written doesn’t mean that it is true so form your own opinions is my best advice. I thank you for taking the time to read this and look forward to getting to know all of you much better in the future. If you have any comments or questions you can either leave a comment in the comment box or shoot me an email at travis_aune@yahoo.com. This was dated Febuary 3rd just wanted to get everyone on heres opinion of it. Click here to view the article

The Fort Myers Miracle had a rough season in 2011, posting a disappointing 63-76 record under manager Jake Mauer. Some of the frustration was due to injuries and more was due to just plain lack of production. The Miracle will be back in 2012 with some familiar faces as they try to get back in the playoff hunt. They also will infuse some new talent that should make the summer very exciting for fans as the Miracle try to return to the playoffs in 2012 for the third time in the last five years. Here is my roster projection for the Ft. Myers Miracle. This is just a guess so let the discussion begin.Download attachment: MiracleLogo.jpg C- Danny Rams- Bam Bam Rams comes back for a second season trying to build off of a decent rookie year with the Miracle where he had 27 extra base hits. 1b- Michael Gonzalez- Gonzalez moves up to Fort Myers after belting 15 home runs and driving in 76 runs in Beloit in 2011. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] 2b- Daniel Santana- The speedster moves up to Fort Myers after swiping 24 bases last year in Beloit. SS- Levi Michael- The Twins 2011 first round pick out of North Carolina makes his debut in the Twins organization with the Miracle. 3b- Jairo Perez- The power-hitting 3rd baseman moves up from Beloit where he had 36 extra base hits including 15 home runs for the Snappers in 2011. LF- Oswaldo Arcia- The phenom returns to the Miracle after combining for 40 extra base hits in three different levels in 2011. CF- Angel Morales- Morales returns to Fort Myers after a injury-plagued 2011 season that only allowed him to appear in 37 games. RF- Lance Ray- Ray moves up to Fort Myers where he tries to build on a 2011 season in which he hit 51 extra base hits including 16 home runs. DH - Nate Roberts- Roberts moves up to Fort Myers and tries to continue getting on base as he did in 2011 where he had a .443 OBP in 68 games Bench Anderson Hidalgo- Hidalgo returns to the Miracle coming off a season, in which he hit 29 extra base hits for the Miracle. Steve Liddle- Liddle returns for another year in Fort Myers after having 19 extra base hits in 2011. Josmil Pinto- Pinto returns to Fort Myers and will do some catching and some DHing. Reggie Williams- The crowd favorite, Williams returns to the Miracle for another season where he will play everywhere. Pitching Pat Dean- Dean returns to the Miracle for another season as he tries to build off his 2011 season. BJ Hermsen- Hermsen returns to Fort Myers coming off a very good 3.33 era, split between Beloit and Fort Myers. Adrian Salcedo- As one of the top prospects, Salcedo moves up to Fort Myers after going 6-6 with a very good 2.93 ERA last year with Beloit. Manuel Soliman- Soliman had a very successful 2011 in Beloit and moves up to Fort Myers trying to improve on his 7-11 record with a very good 3.97 ERA. Miguel Munoz- Munoz returns to Fort Myers hoping to stay healthy as he was limited to just 12 innings due to injuries. Bullpen Matt Hauser- The hard throwing Hauser returns to Fort Myers coming off a season in which he struck out 75 men in just over 63 innings. Clint Dempster- Dempster split 2011 between Beloit and Fort Myers and had 60 strikeouts in 68 innings. Jhon Garcia- Garcia returns to Fort Myers where in 2011 he had a solid 3.82 ERA for the Miracle. Edgar Ibarra - Ibarra returns to Fort Myers trying to rebound from his 5.16 ERA he composed in 2011 between starting and relieving. Caleb Thielbar- Thielbar signed in late August of last year (the first player the Twins have signed from the St. Paul Saints) will try to contribute to the Miracle bullpen. Jose Gonzalez- The diminuative Gonzalez moves up to Fort Myers coming off a 2.47 ERA including 13 saves in 2011 for the Snappers. Tony Davis- The hard throwing Davis comes back to Fort Myers after spending 2011 in New Britain and held his own, but because of the numbers I have him back in Fort Myers. The Miracle had a rough 2011. However, with that pitching staff, the guys that are coming back for a second season, and the infusion of talent from Beloit, there is no reason to think that the Miracle can’t contend for another Florida State League title. The fans in Fort Myers are in for an exciting summer where they will see some exciting baseball once again. Click here to view the article

Travis Harrison last night recorded not only his first Professional hit, but also his 1st professional homerun. With that said he also recored his 2nd and 3rd errors at 3rd base. On the season he is 1-11 with 3 errors in 3 games.

Please join me tonight at 9pm central for another edition of Travistalks Minnesota Sports Weekly and I will be joined this week by Chris Gates of the renowned Vikings website The Daily Norseman. We will be talking the Vikings draft, the stadium timeline, and look forward to the 2012 season. I really hope you will tune in as it should be a really fun show as everytime I have Chris on the show it is a fun show. Here is the link for the show, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/travistalks-minor-league-weekly/2012/06/12/travistalks-minnesota-sports-weekly. Join us tonight at 9pm it should be a blast.

Why do you have to throw water on good baseball. who knows if this can continue but can't we just enjoy the good baseball instead of saying they can't do this or do that. Just bothers me that instead of enjoying good baseball we feel the need to be skeptical if it continues just doesn't make sense to me.

Make sure to tune into a fun show tonight as I will be joined by Twins Daily's own Seth Stohs as we break down the draft and the Twins minor league system. You don't want to miss this as this is the first time in over a month that Seth and I have been live on the air so its must listen. The show is at 9pm central time at blogtalkradio.com. If you have any questions about the Twins picks or anything in the minor league system ask them in the chat room. Both Seth and I have done research so it will be a very entertaining show so plan on listening to the redebut of Travistalks Minnesota Sports Weekly podcast tonight at 9pm over at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/travistalks-minor-league-weekly/2012/06/05/travistalks-minnesota-sports-weekly.

A similiar case was Denard Span who was drafted in first round in 2002 and didn't become a Twins regular until 2008 that is 6 years of minor league time. then there is Michael Cuddyer who was taken 9th in 1997 and didn't make Twins debut until 2003. Even to the extreme Jason Kubel he was a 12th rounder who moved through the system and he spent 5 minor league seasons. What I am trying to say that Joe Mauer, Bryce Harper,and Ken Griffey Jr. are oddities and not the norm. Normally a high school hitter takes 5-6 years to get to the big leagues and thats just the way it is. So for those that think Buxton or Correa are going to be playing at Target Field inside the next 5 years you are fooling yourself that is not happening.

i dont know what safe is as there is not a safe pick in Baseball. Ill take the guy with the most upside and that is Buxton. He is a 5 tool talent who has a chance to be in the Matt Kemp, Justin Upton range. Will he get there probably not, but he has the most god given talent and I would have no problem if the Twins took the guy with the most talent that is left on the board every year. This year it is Buxton so they should take him and not worry because he doesn't fill a need right now. The thing about that is even a college pitcher wouldn't be ready for 2-3 years and who knows what the Twins will look like in 3 years. So the bottom line is take the best athlete available and worry about where he fits in later.

According to Jon Heyman the Twins are preparing to take Georgia HS OF Byron Buxton at 2 after Houston takes SP Mark Appel at 1. Report is unconfirmed but should not be a surprise. Thoughts?

Thing that we need to keep in mind is there are 50 rounds in this draft and the twins have 6 of the top 100 so it is way important to get those picks right than knitpicking between Buxton, Correa and Gausman. I am fine with any of those 3 the more important thing to me is the 5 other picks they have in the top 100 as they need atleast 2 of them to be major leaguers. The Twins are in a similar situation that the Vikings were in the draft that there are many needs so they need to take the best player available. However between 2, 32, 42 I think 2 of those 3 need to be pitchers so if you go Buxton or Correa at 2 then you need to take pitchers at 32 and 42.

Thsi is Sunday morning and will do a top 10 today and Tommorrow and i request everyone do the same. 1. Houston Astros- Mark Appel SP Stanford 2. Minnesota Twins- Carlos Correa SS Puerto Rico 3. Seattle Mariners- Byron Buxton OF HS Georgia 4. Baltimore Orioles- Kevin Gausman SP LSU 5. Kansas City Royals- Mike Zunino C Miami 6. Chicago Cubs- Albert Almora OF HS Florida 7. San Diego Padres- Kyle Zimmer SP San Francisco 8. Pittsburgh Pirates- Devin Marrero SS Arizona State 9. Miami Marlins- Courtney Hawkins OF HS Texas 10. Colorado Rockies- David Dahl OF HS Alabama

I believe Correa is rising up the charts and it wouldn't surprise me if Twins took him. On their board I believe Appel is the clear cut number 1 on their board so if Houston takes Buxton or Correa or Gausman the Twins will take Appel mark that down. Me personally the abuse at Stanford scares me so on my board I have Gausman ahead of Appel on my board. I have Buxton slightly ahead of Correa as best available followed by Gausman and Appel. I truly believe one of these 4 will be a Twin tommorrow night. Buxton, Correa, Gausman, and Appel. To be honest I would have no problem with any of them and think each of them can help the Twins win in the future.

Absolutely nothing against Rosario but each of these guys would be the Twins number 2 prospect followed by Rosario.

If the Twins take Buxton or Correa the plan will be more like Hicks than Sano as I believe they won't sign until the end so won't get much if any play in 2012. So the schedule likely would be if things go right is; 2013 Elizabethton 2014 Beloit 2015 FM 2016 NB 2017 Roch/Twins Could be longer if there is injuries and could be a half a year to a year shorter if they excel. Can't compare him to Mauer as both Buxton and Correa are raw and projects with high upside.

I wasn't specific i am not against Correa and if the Twins take him ill be on board with it. Any of those top guys would help the Twins farm system which is pretty bad right now. But if I was doing the choosing my pick would be Appel, but I think he is going to Houston so my next option would be Gausman followed by Buxton, Zimmer, and finally Correa.