jimbo92107

When I look at the Twins starting lineup this season, I see a stopgap solution. The only established power hitters are Willingham and Morneau, and both could be gone by mid-season if a contender needs help. The middle infield I would generously describe as 'iffy,' and the pitching staff is once again a long shot at rising to mediocre. The good news is, there's hope. Not at the major league level, of course, but it looks like several promising young players are bubbling up through the minor leagues, and their ETA's fall anywhere from 2013 to 2016. In light of that, I'll be watching and cheering for all kinds of teams this year, mostly in the minor leagues. Go, someday maybe Twins!

I have a question for Matthew Tomshaw or anybody else that may know. When a pitcher injures his elbow or shoulder, I have to assume he's doing something wrong. What is it that so many pitchers are doing wrong that results in all these injuries?

Gotta agree with Nygaard. Might as well cheer for a team that's got good players coming up. Colorado is a team that never appears to be going anywhere. Seattle has looked good a few times, and it's on the coast, so there's other stuff to see if you're going to be driving a long way.

What I saw from Scott Diamond last season was a lefty whose pitching motion was highly deceptive. Every delivery looked the same, yet he managed to change speeds, locate up, down, left, right, and also to control the depth of the pitch. He didn't blow people away with power, but he routinely kept hitters off balance, inducing just the kind of bad contact Twins coaches want. Whether or not Diamond can build on last year's promise may well depend as much on the skill of his defense as on his own skills as a pitcher. He kept it off the sweet spot, but somebody still has to catch the ball.

If the Twins are sub-.500 while Justin Morneau catches fire the first half, there will be contending teams willing to cough up prized prospects (but not starting pitching) for his services. When he's healthy, Morneau can dominate a baseball game, and he's still one of the better 1st basemen in the league.

Time between pitches is another factor affecting Joe Mauer's longevity at catcher. I hope Twins pitchers re-dedicate themselves this season to spending less time wandering around the mound between deliveries. Everybody in the whole wide world will appreciate it, including Mauer's knees.

Aaron Hicks's age is one difference, but another huge difference is that the Twins have several options in the outfield this year. They already know that Darrin Mastroianni can handle CF duties if Hicks has trouble out there. Masto isn't a great hitter, but he brings a fair amount of skill as a lead-off man and base runner. If Hicks has trouble handling major league pitching, they can bring up Joe Benson, especially if Benson looks good this spring. That's probably plan A or A1 anyway. They could even bring up Oswaldo Arcia in a pinch. The Benson/Hicks competition should make an exciting storyline this spring. Whoever hits better may well start in CF for the Twins, and the runner up will play CF for Rochester. Contrast that with the situation in the middle infield last year. After Nishioka flopped, they brought up Brian Dozier, even though he wasn't hitting very well in Rochester. Problem was, neither was anybody else. They probably figured that Dozier at least would bring some defensive stability at SS or 2B, but then Dozier let his hitting woes affect his fielding, and then his whole rookie season started looking bad. A rookie's confidence can be ruined by early failure. The numbers say they're not making it, and the fans booing tells them they're not making it. Sending Dozier down may have rescued his career. What Terry Ryan said does sound plausible, and I hope it's true. Brian Dozier seems like the kind of scrappy, max effort player that every team needs. I'm hoping he develops into another Nick Punto, but with more pop in the bat. This 2013 season will definitely reveal what kind of player Dozier is.

Exactly. I think we read the same article. Killebrew understood that sports figures have an opportunity to show everybody how to live. People can point to Killebrew's statue and tell their kids, "That guy did everything the right way, right down to signing his autograph so you could actually read it."

Gotta agree on Benson, I'm pulling for him to make the team. On the other hand, we all know Aaron Hicks already would be an excellent defensive CF, and his bat is probably as good as Benson's, so something's got to give. Now we see why the Twins traded away Span and Revere. Even with them gone, it's still a logjam in the outfield with all these talented guys coming up. It's a safe bet that at least a couple of these guys will eventually become serious stars.

If you haven't seen Trevor May up close, think Joe Mauer's cousin, with a little heavier build. He is a large, strong human, and appeared very bright and friendly when he signed my little league baseball. When I asked him what his best pitch was, he paused for a second, then said, "My sinker, but I've got a good curve, too." Nice guy, but his signature looks like two unreadable loopy squiggles. In fact, of the 8 minor leaguers that signed my ball, only 3 had readable signatures, Tonkin, Theilbar and BJ Hermsen, who had the coolest looking signature. Yo rooks, learn to sign stuff so the fans can read it!

I think Dozier and Florimon both can swing the bat. The question is when, and where. The approach thingie is supposed to be Tom Brunanski's department. He appeared to help with Parmalee, so maybe he can help with the two young infielders.

Top draft picks, yeah! Go Twins! And there's got to be a pony under all this horse manure!

I told Aaron Hicks he would be the center fielder this year, and he seemed okay with that. I asked Kyle Gibson how his arm felt, and he said it feels fine, which means at least twelve wins from him. I also got Trevor Plouffe to promise to hit 30 home runs this year. Specifically, he said, "Please go away, you're bothering me." Sounds like a promise to me. I also entered the national anthem contest. I didn't hit many notes, but I think I yelled the loudest.

The saddest part is that being fat is not natural at all. It's a product of a culture whose food has been perverted by industries pushing artificial, addictive crap stuffed with preservatives, antibiotics and weird growth hormones. Result: America is large, fat, slow and unhealthy. And we can't stop eating the crap that is killing us. It ain't just great baseball careers that are being snuffed, it's all of our lives.

If Capps ever learned to throw a straight change with that same fastball motion, batters would screw themselves into the ground trying to hit it. But he didn't.

Bring back that goofy R.A. Dickey guy. Watching batters wave at his knuckle balls was hilarious!

All caps is a feature you can turn back on, but first you have to get your Anonymous membership card.

The Braves look like they're stocking up their outfield almost as much as the Angels. Should be an interesting season seeing how all these mega-moves pan out.

If Morneau puts in a healthy first half, then he and Willingham will be major trade bait for various contending teams. At that point I expect to see at least two of Hicks, Benson and Arcia on the big league club. Although I think Arcia has more potential, I figure Benson will get the look first. Hicks I'm assuming will be up either right out of spring or sometime during the first half.

Oooo, forgot about the Slamster. He get mofo out, mon! Very deceptive delivery, but arm fall off too much! Twins might as well give Slama a full tryout, let him pitch himself off or on the team. If he breaks down again, I figure he'll disappear into AAA and elsewhere. You'd think by now the Twins would have learned, don't sweat the details when a man gets guys out. Ask R.A. Dickey.

Doesn't throw quite as hard as Greinke, but Berrios is going to be a major pitching star. Look at his poise on the mound, the alertness, the command. I see some Greinke, but his delivery doesn't look very hard on his arm. Berrios just needs to throw a few thousand more pitches to hone his form, get better accuracy. With his athletic balance on the mound, it will definitely happen. He'll be picking the corners with that slider in the major leagues within three years.

Polanco's got a lot more power hitting right. Hitting left his hip pull looks unnatural. Harrison at third looks like his shoes weigh ten pounds each, and he will be a total sucker for change-ups the way he lunges forward in the box.

I forgot, Bruno is coming in as hitting coach. Yeah, I agree that he's been very, very good for Parmelee, and I think he can do the same for Plouffe and maybe even Florimon. Twins need a hitting coach that's not afraid to let 'em bash the ball when the time is right.

I sure hope Trevor Plouffe hasn't reached his precipice, because that denotes a Nishioka death spiral into the canyon of failure and despair, and a possible airplane ride to Japan. Instead, I hope Plouffe is reaching the apex, the tip top of a large, massive mesa of a 40-plus home run career stretch. In fact, I predict he will start swinging the bat just the way he did during his amazing 2012 hot streak. What's to stop him? If his hand is fully healed, then it's just a matter of remembering what he was doing, which is certainly on video. He studies the video, talks it over with the hitting coach, gets the feel of that swing back, and get ready to blast some baseballs. Of all the many 'ifs' this coming season, Plouffe getting his swing back is one thing I'm pretty sure will happen. The guy can pulverize baseballs. Pitchers beware.

Hicks. He's the most solid of all the young outfielders. No major weaknesses as a hitter or fielder. Great arm and excellent range in center. As for pitchers, it's a crap shoot, and the dice look dicey. Maybe the Twins will get lucky in this year's cattle call of damaged goods, maybe they'll find another Burton. Young pitchers, unless they're obvious stars, usually don't make a huge difference in their first year.