travistwinstalk

Let me give the caveat that this poll is just 1-2-3 in rotations. So who do you think has the best 1-3 in their rotation and sadly the Twins are not going to make the list so give me your choices and we can have a good discussion. 1. Philadelphia- Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels- I don't think their is any doubt that these 3 lead the pack as any of these three could plausibly win the Cy Young award this year and the reason that Philadelphia always will be in playoff contention. Will Be a huge deal for Philly to resign Cole Hamels who will be a free agent at the end of the year and won't be easy after the Matt Cain signing. 2. San Francisco- Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner- These guys might not have the names that the Philly trio has, but they might have more upside. Everyone knows how good The Freak, and Matt Cain are, but Bumgarner has huge talent and could join them in Cy Young contention this year. 3. Tampa Bay- You actually could go with top 4 with these guys as phenom Matt Moore starts year as 4th starter for Rays and may be the most talented 4th starter in baseball. The top 3 for Tampa are pretty good with James Shields, David Price, and Jeremy Hellickson making a very good trio. Price has the ability to be the best pitcher in baseball if he can learn to get his curveball over consistantly. Shields is the veteran who had a renaissance year in 2011 and is the emotional leader of this staff along with being really good. Hellickson is the guy that could make this unit special if he can build off his first year as a starter where he had a 3.04 era. This group is young and dominant and the sole reason why the small market Rays are in playoff contention every year. 4. Washington- This is a group that is not talked about alot, but I am in love with. Stephen Strasburg, Gio Gonzalez, and Edwin Jackson are questionable, but when on there is noone that is going to hit these guys. Strasburg, coming off Tommy John surgery gets the opening day assignment and still throws in the high 90's with dominant breaking pitches. In 2 years Stephen Strasburg is going to be the most dominant pitcher in baseball if you ask me. Then you got Gio Gonzalez who was Oakland's best pitcher with a 3.93 era and at 26 is only getting better. I really think Gonzalez's best years are ahead of him and could have a breakout year this year in Washington. Edwin Jackson signed a one year deal to build up value for a big contract next winter and Jackson is such an enigma as he has no hit stuff, but because of his walks he sometimes struggles. I would compare him to a right handed version of Twins pitcher Francisco Liriano as Jackson when on is unhittable, but he needs to become more consistant to get the big contract he craves. What I love about this trio is how young they are as Strasburg is only 23, Gonzalez 26, and Jackson 28. That is not even talking about Jordan Zimmerman who is in his 2nd season back from Tommy John and is primed to explode. If you talk strictly upside this rotation has the most upside of any in baseball. 5. LA Angels- This group has upside, youth, and solid pitching with Jered Weaver, Dan Haren, and C.J. Wilson. Weaver is the ace of this staff as he has filthy stuff that is so tough to hit. He had a 2.41 era in 2011 and that could have been the tip of the iceberg and he will win a cy young before he is done. Then you had Dan Haren who finally was healthy last year and put up great numbers going 16-10 with a 3.17 era to revitalize his career. He is such a good pitcher and the Angels got him cheaply when he was struggling with Arizona. My question is why has a guy who has been as good as he has been get traded so much. For a guy with a 3.59 career ERA why has he played for 4 teams and he is only 31. It is just crazy to me and I was begging the Twins to trade for him when Arizona was trying to trade him in 2010 as he is good and his salary is reasonable. Finally you got C. J. Wilson who has turned into one of the tougher lefty's in the game. It was obvious that he is not an ace that the Rangers were asking him to be, but he fits in perfectly in LA as their 3rd starter. Wilson went 16-7 with a 2.94 era last year for the Rangers and to get that from your 3rd starter that just shows you how strong this trio is. They are a big reason why they will be battling Texas for the Western Division title in 2012. Honorable mentions: New York Yankees Sabathia, Kuroda, Nova, Detroit Tigers, Verlander, Scherzer, Fister, Cleveland- Jimenez, Masterson, Lowe Those are just a few if you can think of any I missed or disagree just join in the discussion.

by my math I have Kyle Gibson, Wilkin Ramirez, Brad Thompson, and Phil Dumatrait on DL with Aaron Thompson on restricted list

I just read the press release from the Red Wings on their roster and there is no Phil Dumatrait listed on their roster so I am curious if he got released or what. Any info would be appreciated.

Lets be real Jason Marquis had a 3.95 era in 20 starts for the Nationals last year. His 3 starts for Arizona were bad, but such a small sample size and if you are looking at what he did this spring all i have to remind people is Denard Span a few years ago went like 2 for spring training and then hit over .300 for the Twins. What I am saying is Jason Marquis is not great, but I will take a 3.95 era out of my 5th starter any day of the week. He is not a bum like some are making him out to be and that is why the Twins are not going to let him be a free agent. They will ask him to go down but if he would rather not which is fine as he is a 100+ win guy for his career and is a big league guy then you put him in bullpen working with Rick Anderson until he is ready and if that means Alex Burnett has to go down and Anthony Swarzak has to make a spot start than so be it.

According to Phil Mackey of ESPN1500, Jason Marquis is no longer eligible for a stay on the berevement list after rejoining the Twins today in Fort Myers. Marquis threw a 54 pitch intersquad game today and both the Twins and Marquis agree he needs one or two more starts before he is ready to rejoin the Twins. So the Twins are in a pickle because they can't DL him because he is not hurt. So the team is left with two choices: Choice #1 Marquis has only used two option years in his career so he has a minor league option. If that is done he would have to stay a minimum of 10 days in the minors unless there was an injury on the big league team. That sounds like the answer right well this is where it gets tricky, being that Marquis has 5+ years of service time he can decline a demotion and thus choose free agency and that is something Twins won't do. So he would have to agree to go to minors or Twins wouldn't do that. Choice #2 The Twins can play with 24 instead of 25 until he is ready. It is unclear to me if he would be able to stay in Florida and pitch a intersquad game while on the Twins roster. If anyone knows definatively the answer to that let us know. You don't want to be a man short but the Twins might not have a choice. So my question is what do you think the Twins SHOULD do and also What do you think WILL happen.

My opening day lineup for Beloit would be this let me knowif you agree or disagree. C- Rodriguez 1b- Rhodes 2b- Rosario SS- Grimes 3b- Sano LF- Lin CF- Williams RF- Ortiz DH- Koch 1. Williams 2. Grimes 3. Rosario 4. Sano 5. Rhodes 6. Koch 7. Ortiz 8. Rodriguez 9. Lin

Here is how I look for the Rockcat lineup to look let me know if you agree or disagree C- Herrmann 1b- Hanson 2b- Beresford SS- Florimon 3b- Romero lf- Bigley cf- Hicks rf- Mastroianni Dh- Colabello 1. Mastroianni 2. Beresford 3. Hicks 4. Colabello 5. Herrmann 6. Bigley 7. Hanson 8. Romero 9. Florimon

I definately think at some point this year we will see Brian Dozier up with the Twins whether its because of bad performance or injury. The great thing about Dozier is he can play either position, but with Twins he will more than likely play SS with either Carroll or Casilla at 2nd. Nishioka on the other hand I think they are going to try to be more careful with. His confidence level is at zero right now so they are trying to rebuild him. Therefore I don't expect to see him in Minnesota barring injury until September as it is more important for them to turn him into the player they saw in Japan then the one that Twins fans saw last year.

Rizzotti has tremendous power that is why i have him hitting 4th. Carson has a good track record thats why i have him starting, but regardless Dinkelman is going to play a ton. Towles, Butera, and Rivera are interchangeable and each will play about the equal amount. The Reason I gave Butera the opening day start is just senority after spending the last 2 years with the Twins not that he will be the unquestioned starter for the Red Wings.

For those that are wondering there will still be some tinkering with the roster as this roster still has 26 guys on it. Two guys likely will be DL'ed by the opener on Thursday.

opening day lineup for rochester if you ask me is let me know if anyone disagrees C- Butera 1b- Bates 2b- Nishioka SS- Dozier 3b- Holliman LF- Tosoni CF- Benson RF- Carson DH- Rizzotti 1. Dozier 2. Nishioka 3. Benson 4. Rizzotti 5. Carson 6. Tosoni 7. Bates 8. Holliman 9. Butera

keep in mind that Fort Myers has 30+ players so some guys likely will get sent down to Belot and likewise guys will either be released or sent to Extended so the workgroups are subject to change.

Thanks Sanibel

Not right now, but if I get ahold of it I will be sure to let you know.

AL East 1. New York Yankees- Yankees have toomuch pitching and offense and will be helped by the return of Andy Pettitte. 2. Tampa Bay Rays- Will be carried bytheir pitching behind Price, Shields, and Moore. The Question is will they score enough towin. 3. Boston Red Sox- They have plenty ofoffense and should get a bounceback year by Carl Crawford. The question is who is going to step up afterBeckett, Lester, and Bucholz. 4. Toronto Blue Jays- Have a brightfuture and one of the best hitters in the game in Jose Bautista. The question is who will step up after RickyRomero and Brandon Morrow. 5. Baltimore Orioles- Are talentedoffensively led by Adam Jones and J.J. Hardy. However, their pitching is young and inexperienced so looks like anotherlong year for the Orioles. AL Central 1. Detroit Tigers- Probably the most completeteam in the American League after adding Prince Fielder. The question is the defense after MiguelCabrera moved to 3rd base and Fielder is not known for his defense. 2. Minnesota Twins- The Twins will bedetermined if Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau perform this year. They could be a playoff team or be a lastplace team depending on injury and their starting staff that needs to step up. 3. Cleveland Indians- The Indians areanother team that are up and down. Theycould challenge Detroit if Jimenez can be the ace the Indians thought they weregetting last year. 4. Kansas City Royals- The future isbright for the Royals as they have a bunch of great players like Eric Hosmerand Mike Moustakas who are only going to get better and better. The question is who is going to pitch for theRoyals this year. 5. Chicago White Sox- The White Sox areanother team who could challenge for a divison title or battle for lastplace. They will be led by their big 3in Jake Peavy, John Danks, and Gavin Floyd. The question is how does Adam Dunn respond after a rough opening year inChicago. AL West 1. Texas Rangers- The Rangers arestacked and look to improve on their back to back World Series losses by addingJapanese phenom Yu Darvish. The key isstaying healthy as they are stacked. 2. Los Angeles Angels- The Angels improvedbig with the signings of Albert Pujols and C.J. Wilson. The key for them is who steps up afterWeaver, Haren, and Wilson. 3. Seattle Mariners- The Mariners arerebuilding around Miguel Montero, Dustin Ackley, and most importantly FelixHernandez. They are a couple years away,but the future is bright. 4. Oakland Athletics- The A’s arebuilding their roster around Yoenis Cespedes. They have a lot of young players and some good young pitchers that giventhe time will develop. 1stRound Angels vs Rays- Rays DivisionRound Rays vs Yankees- Rays Rangers vs Tigers- Rangers ALCS Rangers vs Rays- Rangers I have the Rangers returning to the World Series for the third straight year because they have too much offense and after adding Yu Darvish they will be excellent. I will do the National League tomorrow and then give the pick for the World Series. Let me know if you agree with it or not and your picks.

It is that time again to start thinking about the NFL Draft now that it is about April. For Vikings fans it is exciting to have 10 draft picks this year to hopefully get 4-5 starters for the next 10 years. I will be doing one every week so enjoy and let me know what you think if you agree or disagree with picks. 1. Indianapolis Colts- Andrew Luck QBStanford 2. Washington Redskins- Robert GriffinIII QB Baylor 3. Minnesota Vikings- Matt Kalil OT USC 4. Cleveland Browns- Trent Richardson RBAlabama 5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- MorrisClaiborne CB LSU 6. St. Louis Rams- Justin Blackmon WROklahoma St. 7. Jacksonville Jaguars- Riley Reiff OTIowa 8. MiamiDolphins- Ryan Tannehill QB Texas A&M 9 CarolinaPanthers- Dontari Poe DT Memphis 10. Buffalo Bills- Michael Floyd WR Notre Dame 11. Kansas City Chiefs- David Decastro OG Stanford 12. Seattle Seahawks- Quinton Coples DE North Carolina 13. Arizona Cardinals- Jonathon Martin OT Stanford 14. Dallas Cowboys- Fletcher Cox DT Mississippi St. 15. Philadelphia Eagles- Luke Kuechly LB Boston College 16. New York Jets- Courtney Upshaw LB Alabama 17. Cincinnati Bengals- Mark Barron S Alabama 18. San Diego Chargers- Cordy Glenn OT Georgia 19. Chicago Bears- Peter Konz C Wisconsin 20. Tennessee Titans- Dre Kirkpatrick CB Alabama 21. Cincinnati Bengals- Melvin Ingram LB South Carolina 22. Cleveland Browns- Mike Adams OT Ohio State 23. Detroit Lions- Stephon Gilmore CB South Carolina 24. Pittsburgh Steelers- Dont’a Hightower LB Alabama 25. Denver Broncos- Michael Brockers DT LSU 26. Houston Texans- Stephen Hill WR Georgia Tech 27. New England Patriots- Whitney Mercilus DE Illinois 28. Green Bay Packers- Chandler Jones DE/LB Syracuse 29. Baltimore Ravens- Harrison Smith S Notre Dame 30. San Francisco 49ers- Kendall Wright WR Baylor 31. New England Patriots- Andre Branch DE Clemson 32. New York Giants- Doug Martin RB Boise State

First this was just a projection and 2nd that is 30 plus guys so some guys will be released and moved down so the roster you have is not a complete roster. But I am sure I forgot some names, that is going to happen all the time when the make projections. I agree Rohlfing will get most of the catching with Danny Rams playing alot of first and maybe some outfield. Trust me Michael and Santana will be your middle infield on most days so it doesn't matter that they are listed both at shortstop. Should be interesting when all moves are said and done what the Miracle's roster actually looks like.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?379-Fort-Myers-Miracle-Projections

The Fort Myers Miracle had a rough season in 2011, with a disappointing 63-76 record under manager Jake Mauer. Some of the frustration was due to injuries and others were due to just plain and simple lack of production. The Miracle will be back in 2012 with some familiar faces as the Miracle try to get back in the playoff hunt. They also will infuse some new talent that should make the summer very exciting for fans that turn out to HammondStadium 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. 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. 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 powerhitting 3rd baseman moves up from Beloit where he hit36 extra base hits including 15 homeruns 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 homeruns. 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 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 anotherseason 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 missed pretty much the entire 2011 season due to injury as he was limited to 12 innings. Bullpen Matt Hauser- The hard throwing Hauser returns to Fort Myers coming off a season in which he struckout 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 not 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. [ATTACH=CONFIG]462[/ATTACH]

Thanks made the change

I apologize for the mistakes I made on the Rochester roster, but I will try to do a better job in New Britain. With that being said the New Britain roster is more difficult because it is more fluid. Alot of the New Britain roster will be determined by what happens with the Rochester roster. Guys that don't make the Rochester roster, but that still hang around will likely go the New Britian. FYI if you think I got a lot wrong on the Rochester Roster you haven't see anything yet just because we just don't know. But I find it fun to guess who I think will be on these rosters so don't take my projections very seriously because they are just my guesses. Noone in the blogsophere knows how these rosters will be constructed. Terry Ryan and Mike Radcliffe are probably the only ones who know who is going to New Britain besides the few names that have been leaked out. However, for this exercise I am going to try and guess and see if i can guess and I welcome your comments on if you agree or disagree. By the way there are a few guys that I named to the Rochester roster that information has been released that they will be in New Britain so I have them on this roster. C- Chris Herrmann 1b- Nate Hanson 2b- James Beresford SS- Pedro Florimon 3b Deibinson Romero LF- Darin Mastroianni CF- Aaron Hicks RF- Angel Morales DH- Anderson Hidalgo Bench Danny Lehmann Evan Bigley Estarlin De Los Santos Pitching 1. David Bromberg 2. Pat Dean 3. Alex Wimmers 4. Logan Darnell 5. Bobby Lanigan Bullpen Bruce Pugh Dakota Watts Luis Perdomo Lester Oliveros Matt Hauser Tony Davis Steve Hirschfeld

I apologize for the mistakes I made on the Rochester roster, but I will try to do a better job in New Britain. With that being said the New Britain roster is more difficult because it is more fluid. Alot of the New Britain roster will be determined by what happens with the Rochester roster. Guys that don't make the Rochester roster, but that still hang around will likely go the New Britian. FYI if you think I got a lot wrong on the Rochester Roster you haven't see anything yet just because we just don't know. But I find it fun to guess who I think will be on these rosters so don't take my projections very seriously because they are just my guesses. Noone in the blogsophere knows how these rosters will be constructed. Terry Ryan and Mike Radcliffe are probably the only ones who know who is going to New Britain besides the few names that have been leaked out. However, for this exercise I am going to try and guess and see if i can guess and I welcome your comments on if you agree or disagree. By the way there are a few guys that I named to the Rochester roster that information has been released that they will be in New Britain so I have them on this roster. C- Chris Herrmann 1b- Nate Hanson 2b- James Beresford SS- Pedro Florimon 3b Deibinson Romero LF- Darin Mastroianni CF- Aaron Hicks RF- Angel Morales DH- Anderson Hidalgo Bench Danny Lehmann Evan Bigley Estarlin De Los Santos Pitching 1. David Bromberg 2. Pat Dean 3. Alex Wimmers 4. Logan Darnell 5. Bobby Lanigan Bullpen Bruce Pugh Dakota Watts Luis Perdomo Lester Oliveros Matt Hauser Tony Davis Steve Hirschfeld

dont sure on Suarez will have to look into it