jimbo92107

Turn your hip, and let it whip. It's a mantra for teaching kids to smack a ball off a tee. Once you get them squatting in a good stance, a kid doesn't want to step into the ball, crank the belt buckle towards second base and snap the bat through the hitting zone. They just want to wave their arms, like Butera.

Aside from the inflammatory title and personal attacks, I disagree with both the premise and the solutions offered by the author. First, why did the Twins lose almost 100 games two years in a row? Injuries, aging stars, bad luck, and the inevitable dip in talent level when a middle market team drafts in the lower half of the first round for several years. If your budget isn't $200 million dollars, you can't replenish your roster by simply whipping out the checkbook and signing a CC Sabbathia or an A-Roid any time you want. A middle market team needs to develop most of its talent from within its minor league system. Second, how much of the bad fortune can be blamed on Gardenhire and Ryan? Aren't these the same guys in charge when the Twins were winning division titles? This is like blaming a ship captain because the tide went down. Third, will bringing in Molitor and some other GM make the tide go up? No, of course not. Hicks, Benson, Arcia, Rosario, etc, will arrive no matter who's in charge, and then the team will get better, no matter who's in charge. I will grant that the current bandage approach probably won't work. When your pool of possible pitchers looks like a Tommy John encounter group, the probability that you will field a good staff of starters doesn't look very promising. Just like the last two seasons, the long-shot 'if's' are piling up so high that the chances of the Twins making it to the post-season are slim. However, once you acknowledge the inevitability of these large swings in talent level for mid market teams, then you realize we're in one now, and you realize that if you're going to remain a Twins fan, you'll have to be patient. If you expect your team to win its division every year, then you should buy a Yankees cap.

If both Benson and Hicks have better projected averages then Mastrioanni, then the Twins should just plant them in the outfield and leave them there. This team needs to give fans a reason to buy tickets. Their pitching staff is like a Tommy John convention, and they traded away their two best on-base guys. Give us something to make us smile!

Florimon .189 vs. Escobar .259? That's pretty much saying Escobar should be the regular SS. With that arm, maybe Florimon could try out for closer.

Twins Daily is the first site in my baseball group, and it was from the moment I first saw it. Well organized, not too much junk, and plenty of honest opinion. Good job!

Mark Appel may be a Scott Boras client, but he'd also be the best starting pitcher in the Twins organization the moment he set foot on the Target Field grass. His mechanics remind me of Mariano Rivera, with an incredibly direct transfer of power from body to baseball. He looks like he could dominate the league for a decade. Draft him and pay him, like Mauer. He's not just a horse, he's a derby winner.

I think LaBombo is pretty close on this one. Liam Hendriks is an efficient control pitcher, and his ceiling may well be something like a Kevin Tapani mid-rotation starter. I see no reason to downgrade my expectations for this young pitcher. His mechanics look good, he's a competitive guy, and he hasn't had a history of arm problems. Like a lot of young pitchers Hendriks had problems in his rookie season, mainly with sticking to his pitching strategy. This season I expect he will do a better job just throwing what the catcher tells him.

What if Gibson and Hendriks and Pressly look great this spring? What if Pelfrey and Harden come back strong from TJ and shoulder surgery? What if Hicks and Benson both smack 15 dingers, steal 20 bags, and play outfield like Dimaggio? What if Deduno reveals his 90mph knuckleball?

Pitch to contact. If you're going to employ a staff that tries to induce outs via poor contact, then behind the pitcher you're going to need fielders with fast feet, great gloves and strong arms. Given that, it wouldn't surprise me to see both Benson and Hicks start the year in the outfield, with Willingham and Parmelee taking turns at DH. It also introduces an interesting aspect to the race for third catcher. Chris Hermann can play both C and OF, which makes me wonder how good a hitter he'd have to be to supplant Drew Butera. And if he does, then where does that leave Mastrioanni? With the athletic Joe Benson in the mix, I'm not sure the Twins still need the current 4th outfielder. It's intriguing how a single factor - Joe Benson's hitting in spring training - could affect the overall makeup of the Twins starting roster.

Sam Deduno reveals his 90 mph total chaos knuckle ball, wins the Cy Young with 24-0 record, 0.25 ERA. And of course, 175 walks.

Clearly Aaron Hicks is an intelligent, perceptive ballplayer, which is why he is able to read a pitcher's balance, lateral motion and mechanics well enough to predict out-of-zone pitches. Whiffing on pitches comes from a flaw in a different skill set. Getting your hands to the right place for good contact requires developing a habit of tracking every pitch as if you're going to offer. Joe Mauer, of course, is great at that. Is he whiffing on pitches in the zone, or out of it? It may come down to a problem with his balance or stance. I'm guessing Hicks will cut down his whiffs with more experience. Meanwhile, it's hard not to feel giddy about this young man's future. Now more than ever, Twins pitchers will want a fast man with a great arm in center field.

I haven't seen any video of Arcia hitting. How does Arcia's lefty swing compare to Parmelee's? Whose swing does it remind you of?

When you spend $23 million dollars of your payroll on one player, the natural substitution would be two $10 million dollar starting pitchers and a $3 million dollar starting catcher. If the Twins had traded Joe Mauer, they would have gotten any team's first round draft pick, of course, or a top rotation starter. Then you keep Wilson Ramos as your starting catcher, a guy that looks to me like a young Terry Steinbach, and you compete in the division for the next five years. Would two solid starting pitchers plus a decent catcher be worth more to this team than Joe Mauer?

Wow, what a great draft position the Twins will have in 2013 and 2014! Without the run production of Denard Span, the team's run total may well decline by 30 or 40 runs. Aaron Hicks may prove to be a better defensive CF, but his inexperience with major league pitching will probably result in a frustrating year at the plate. Meanwhile, the Nationals will enjoy the services of a top-tier lead off hitter, and one of the most efficient, reliable center fielders in the game. Denard Span doesn't have a great arm, but what arm he's got he uses to best effect by getting himself into good position and making sure he's moving forward into the play. Span's professional attitude can only help the development of Bryce Harper, and his ability to get on base will provide plenty of opportunities to score runs for his new team. Alex Meyer looks like a good prospect, and the signature he drew on my baseball looked very nice. However, Denard Span looks a lot more like sure thing, which is why I'm sure the Nationals jumped on this deal. I think I might just spend more time watching the Nationals this season than the Twins.

I remember how Harmon used to do that snap throw from third base across the diamond. Zang! He threw like a catcher - powerful forearms - and had a very good glove. When he hit a baseball, it would come off his bat with a sound that was different from other players. It was a sharp, explosive bang, and the ball would come off his bat like a golf ball off a 7 iron. About the same loft, too.

Question for Sean Johnson: If a fan thinks he sees a promising HS player, is there a way to get video to a place where a Twins scout can see it? Would 30 seconds of medium resolution video be enough to make a quick judgment?

Can't we wait until the second week of spring training for the first round of wild guesses? We don't even know whose arms have fallen off yet!

What, can't he pitch with a flack jacket?

I see decent leg drive, not much torso, compact arm motion. With that body and that motion he should be able to fire fastballs all day. Unfortunately, his follow through sucks. For one thing, he doesn't finish ready to field his position. He also finishes erratically, his balance all over the place from pitch to pitch. Make him pitch blindfolded. He needs to learn to feel his balance.

I see zero need to acquire an outfielder from outside the organization, especially with all the talent coming up in the next few years. The battle for SS seems essentially a wash - Escobar has a more versatile glove, while Florimon has a stronger arm and more pop in the bat. Sadly, both have sub - .240 averages. I could see the Twins jumping Joe Benson over Aaron Hicks purely for contract reasons. Benson's a little more experienced, and he may have a little more power right now. That's one of the best competitions to follow this spring. If Hicks bangs a couple homers, then all bets are off. Pitching... Diamond and Worley will be good, and then we start rolling the dice. At least eleven men are going to vie for the last three starting slots in the rotation, and that's not counting the spring cattle call and Sam Deduno, who isn't listed on the roster but has pitched well in the winter leagues. Will one or two of these many candidates show solid stuff this spring? Probably. Will it last? Probably not. I expect a lot of movement in the 3, 4, and 5 slots this year. Situations like that usually don't turn out very well.

Twins are depending on a lot of long shots this year, but I don't consider Brian Dozier to be one of them. I think Dozier is going to be about what he looked like - Nick Punto with more pop. If he can get his average over .250, we've got a good middle infielder for the next several years.

Not so much learning how to pitch as learning to stick with his game plan. What I saw last year was Hendriks letting the opposition put pressure on him, rather than Hendriks putting pressure on them. Execute your game plan, then let the chips fall where they may. Hendriks has to learn to separate his job from his ego. Just throw the pitch your catcher calls, then get ready for the next one. One of two things always happens in sports: Either you are feeling pressure, or you are applying pressure. The nice thing is, when you're applying pressure, you don't feel it. Winners are always applying pressure.

I called it on Danny Valencia - 35 home runs, great defense, starting outfielder for the Twins for the next decade! Yo, whatcha think of me now, be-atch!

I don't get why some people are so ready to conclude that Liam Hendriks is a flop. Isn't it fairly common for a young pitcher to have a shaky rookie year? Frank Viola....no, wait. I won't go there. Hey, give the kid a chance!

Right handed, strong arm, not a great fielder, but power bat. That sounds more like a right fielder, not a first baseman. Bigger Willingham.