jimbo92107

Agree with some of that, but some of it's premature or not needed. Pelfrey is okay for now where he is, and May in the pen is quite valuable. May is strong and resilient, and can step in for any of the starters to help finish the first seven innings. Graham is a keeper, exactly what this team needs, and is what May should also do. When you have a starting staff of 2's and 3's, there will be many times when you need good middle guys for three or four innings, or for spot starts. Having a pair of them is a big plus. Santana is improving. His fielding is excellent, better than Escobar's, and his hitting is gradually getting better. I would swap Arcia for Robinson right now. Need Arcia's lefty bat behind Sano against RH pitchers, although yesterday Plouffe did what I'm hoping Arcia will do after somebody pitches around Sano. Boom. Replace Boyer with JO Berrios, not Tonkin. It's still early enough in the season to do some essential experiments. Let's see if Jose can get guys out at this level. Valuable data. If Berrios can get guys out, we have our setup man at no extra cost. Might try Taylor Rogers and Tyler Duffy, too. Young pitchers get a taste from the bull pen.

A lot of line drive outs in this one.

This is what Ervin Santana is supposed to look like. Easy peasy.

Blend half a cup of strong coffee with a handful of walnuts, mix into the vanilla ice cream. Yum.

Le Grande Salame.

Once a week make them scrub their feet with Clorox Cleanup, and every other day spray their toes and shoes with Lysol. You'll never smell foot funk again. Dangerous chemicals rock!

Every one of these moves amounts to an experiment, and I have no objection to experiments. However, with the sheer number of promising players in the Twins farm system, it seems foolish to get rid of good young players for one-year rentals, aging veterans or former stars whose production is down or are coming off injuries. I would be especially wary of slick horse traders like Billy Beane. Frankly, Terry Ryan's best move long term may be to stand pat and let Molitor experiment with bringing up more minor leaguers from this system. Maybe Eric Fryer's not that bad. Maybe with enough good coaching Stewart Turner can hit his weight. JO Berrios might be the perfect add for a second half bull pen, along with Taylor Rogers. An outfield of Rosario, Buxon and Hicks RF would look great, with Arcia as the fourth OF/DH to hit behind Sano against righties. These are experiments, too. But they don't cost the system any of its talent.

Lewis Thorpe will come back a better pitcher in 2016, and dominate the minor leagues. He will be as determined and ambitious as Brian Dozier and Trevor May, studying how the great ones work their magic, and from that bag of tricks he will choose his own repertoire of ways to win. And it will be as cool as this rock I found: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/16.42cts_Lightning_Ridge_black_Opal.JPG That's what I'm hoping, anyway. ;-)

This Twins team isn't a flash in the pan, but it lacks the depth and experience to make a serious stab at a title. Once again, don't sell the farm before the harvest. There are waves of good players and pitchers arriving within the next two years. Let this birth happen naturally, don't force it. Least of all, we don't want some expensive short-term rental relief pitchers that won't be around when the full harvest is done. This has a chance to become a powerhouse team for a decade. Let the young players make their entrance and learn to play together. It's going to be a long, enjoyable ride.

A horrible start is when you blow out your elbow in the first inning. Getting your ass kicked by pro ballplayers is more like a rude awakening. Tyler Jay is enjoying his first exposure to lineups he can't just strike out with his raw stuff. Some of these guys can actually catch up to his heater, and hit a curve, if it's over the middle. That's why they were drafted. Now Jay will have to figure out how to improve his game, which is why it was so silly to suppose the Twins could just pop him into the mlb bullpen and expect a finished product. He's got pro-level stuff. Now he's got to learn to pick the corners with it, add and subtract, etc.

Acne and foot odor, the nightmares of every pitching prospect... ;-)

I would work out an extension for Trevor May first. He's building himself into a Dozier-level stud before our very eyes.

Great definition to frame the discussion. I'd say a stud is a guy that might make an all-star team at some point in his career, but not a perennial one. Brian Dozier is a great example of a guy that has made himself into a stud, made his first all-star team, and now we're wondering if he'll be back on a regular basis, which could wind up as a HOF career. But who would have called that outcome three years ago? Nobody, not even when I predicted he had a chance to be a Punto/Pedroia hybrid. I did NOT see his power going up to this elite level. By Cap'n's criteria, the Twins have an impressive number of potential studs in their organization, but at the moment I don't see anybody with the same level of magnesium flare brightness as we were seeing in Buxton and Sano. For instance, AB Walker could be a stud home run hitter, but he strikes out too much, and reportedly his defense is not stellar. Polanco probably could step in right now as a starting SS or 2B, but he's not proven to be better than Santana, and certainly not better than Dozier. Future stud maybe, but not elite. Kepler is developing into an all-around stud, possibly the fourth outfielder for the next decade. Could he develop power like Dozier did? Who knows. But unless he starts knocking balls over the wall like Walker or hitting nearly .400, that's not a phenom, and I haven't heard that he's elite defensively. However, if he's as determined and smart as Dozier, look out. Burdi is another possible stud closer with elite velocity. Let me know when he stops walking people after his demotion to high A. He needs to be more like Perkins, study how the great ones do it. Learn to pick all four corners at 100mph. Future stud, maybe. The most impressive ERA right now is Brandon Peterson in Chattanooga. HOF? A bit early for that. Future stud, quite possibly. Do relievers not named Rivera even count? Of the guys drafted/acquired to be studs (Meyer, Berrios, Stewart), Berrios seems the odds-on favorite to succeed, but there's no way to predict how his stuff will pan out against major leaguers. We'll see sometime this year. Meyer flamed out in two very rough, awkward appearances in the first half. He's got loads of work to do on his mechanics. Did he not play any other sports? He looks practically clumsy out there. Kohl Stewart is at the other end of the athlete spectrum, but he still appears a long way from being a great pitcher. If we could do a little head-swapping, put Berrios's head on Stewart's body... The underlying question about studs and phenoms is, can a team without a bunch of HOF players win a Series? Of course, the Twins did it, mostly with studs, not phenoms. Some guys are long-term studs like Torii Hunter, that never quite reach phenom heights in home runs, but otherwise could easily help a team win a Series or three. Others like Kirby Puckett do HOF things, but their careers are too short to reach the Hall. The Twins won a couple Series(zez) with a good group of studs that played their best ball when it counted. The Twins have several guys in the minors that might become studs or even long-term studs. Beyond that, guys like Wander Javier have a lot of proving to do. Meanwhile the mlb club appears to be stocking up on a lot of stud-or-better players, including a starting rotation of all stud or nearly stud level. Things are certainly trending in a good direction.

It's just too early for a "realistic" projection of a playoff lineup. What if Hicks loses his mojo? What if Sano starts scuffling? What if Buxton's thumb is slow to heal? What if this, that... Dave's projected lineup assumes a lot, but it does look good. If all his assumptions come true, I could go with that, other than maybe Pressly. At this point, I think Graham is better in the pen. By September, I think Graham will be hands-down the best middle reliever, with May a solid second.

Based on what I've seen lately, I'd be tempted to try this experiment: 1. Milone 2. Gibson 3. May 4. Hughes 5. Santana Then move Pelfrey to May's role in the pen. We've all seen that the Twins don't really have an "ace" per se, but Tommy Milone has been putting up ace numbers, so why not ride that wave? He's not the kind of guy that will get nervous just because he's number 1 in the rotation. It's simply more work for a pitcher that's currently doing his job better than the others. The Twins should be ready to make these kinds of adjustments whenever they can during the season, simply playing the odds.

But Dozier wasn't good enough to START the All Star game. Make your own justice, Doz!

Fantastic summary, Seth. One topic that might be interesting is all the comeback stories in the minors, from demotions to TJ surgeries. Hell, just the TJ stuff could cover a huge write up. Would you be interested in doing an article on "Comeback Kids" in the Twins system?

A meme is like a balloon that floats past your window one day, and you notice it has a face drawn on it. You think to yourself, "Oh, that's interesting." Next day the same balloon floats past your window again, and then again, and you start to wonder if somebody's playing a trick on you. It can take years to realize how many balloons are out there...in the ballooniverse. Best meme this season is definitely AB Walker. He is both the greatest home run hitter in Twins history, and the worst strikeout victim in Twins history. Nobody hits 'em farther or whiffs louder. Reminds me of Babe Ruth. They say his strikeouts were almost as impressive as his home runs. You have to admire the dedication of a guy that has decided to always swing for the fences. There's a quixotic romance about the Lost Cause that can bring a tear to your eye... To dream, the impossible dream...!

I will hold with my previous statement on dealing prospects: Don't sell the farm before the harvest. The Twins are NOT ready to make a serious bid to win the Series this year. The main problem is a lack of major aces among the starters. All five are good, but not a one of them is a dominant ace. Since pitching is at least 60 percent of the game (the other 40 percent is 90 percent mental), then it could be a massive mistake to trade good farm hands for a starting catcher that is only marginally better than Suzuki. Now, if you could get a Wilson Ramos, that'd be different... ;-) Meanwhile, Stewart Turner apparently is waiting for some kind person to explain the art of hitting to him in Chattanooga. Would it be possible, in theory, to withdraw just a tiny bit of the brains of Rod Carew, Paul Molitor and Tom Brunansky, then inject those brain cells into Turner? Then make him read Ted Williams's "The Art of Hitting," and maybe talk to Eric Fryer about why it's a good idea for a catcher to cut his swing down and hit for a decent average...

Tigers is just one example. Problem is, most playoff teams are going to have at least one ace that the Twins can't counter with one of their own. Major disadvantage. Two years from now, things could be very different. JO Berrios will be a starter, and Alex Meyer may miraculously develop command, tho it wouldn't surprise me if it took him another four years to finally stop walking people, then throwing cookies down the middle. What I saw in his sip of coffee was a tall, very awkward, immature pitcher, with great stuff but almost zero command. And he doesn't know how to hold runners either, which doesn't bode well for a reliever. On the other hand, the minor league system has several interesting guys that might get better. Dr. Hu might become another Tommy Milone, with a few more mph. Gonsalves might be up. Rogers and Taylor could be there. And of course, Tyler Jay, in some capacity. I'm going to make a wild prediction: Alex Wimmers will be in the starting rotation two years from now, and he'll be really good.

PopRiveter mentioned how the addition of Miguel Sano seemed to make the whole team stronger. Very true, and I think adding Oswaldo Arcia would be another key piece of that puzzle. Arcia is a player with significant limitations, but his strong suit - lefty power hitter that dominates rightie pitchers - is just what the Twins need batting after Sano against righties. If Rosario were more of a power hitter, this wouldn't matter so much, but right now the team doesn't have that one important component. Hunter and Plouffe have been taking turns trying to protect Sano, but the results are not great. Hunter still whiffs at too many outside curves, and Plouffe, tho improving, isn't as dominant against righties as Arcia. Looking at the second half, this team is definitely "for real," as in it's a threat to shake up the American League. The Twins are becoming the talented team of kids that nobody wants to face in the playoffs, because if they get hot, they can beat almost anybody. Almost. One factor that makes this team legitimate is starting pitching. The Twins have no "ace" per se, but they do have a solid group of guys that most teams would love in the middle of their rotation, and that includes the forth and fifth starters. Unfortunately, the same rotation that's so solid 1 to 5 is also the team's weakness once the playoffs begin. A team like Detroit will bring Price and Verlander for games 1 and 2. We've seen how tough it is for this team to do anything against Cy Young level pitchers, and the Twins have nobody on that level to counter. In a short series, the Tigers go Price, Verlander, Sanchez. If it gets to a fourth game, they bring Price again. Checkmate. A couple years from now, things may be quite different. By then, the Twins might have Jose Berrios as an ace, and even Alex Meyer. They may also have at least a few flamethrowers in the bull pen. However, right now they're pretty much stuck with the starters they've got, and even an improved bull pen won't be enough to get them past teams with shut-down starters. On the positive side, all the Twins starters are at this point battle hardened vets. Even Gibson no longer has the big up's and down's in his performance, and I expect them all to pitch like veterans if this team does get to the post season. If anything collapses, it would probably be the fielding and hitting of the rookies, not having played in the crazy atmosphere of playoff baseball. Best thing Molitor could do is tell them, "Nobody expected us to be here. We're the total underdogs, and we have nothing to lose. Play your asses off and see what happens. Let's put the pressure on them."

Trevor May looks like a better setup man than Blaine Boyer. Quicker delivery, more precision, and plenty of zip on that heater. Plus, he can go about six innings anytime.

Trevor Plouffe, you are officially HOT!

Both guys got tutoring from Paul Molitor to develop a super-quick swing. It's paying off very well.

Joe Mauer should be more willing to take walks, with Sano hitting after him.