jimbo92107

Trade Vargas to Boston, so he can hit 500 home runs for them and make the FO look like idiots...again. Kidding. Sort of.

This is exactly what should happen to a player that has worked his butt off, improved every aspect of his game, played unselfish baseball, avoided personal scandal, and stayed loyal to the organization that drafted him. Congratulations to Brian Dozier for building himself up for the next phase of his career. Clearly he deserves to finally get a huge paycheck and possibly play for a real contender, instead of the perennial bargain basement Minnesota Twins. I hope he lands on the Dodgers, Cubs, Yankees, or some other contending team, and I hope he gets paid in wheelbarrows full of Benjamins.

The biggest questions are on the mound, as usual. If the Twins don't sign a Lynn or Cobb, then I go back to my preference to use 2018 to try out every plausible prospect in AAA and AA. Certainly it's time for Gonsalves, probably Romero. No reason not to give Stewart a cuppa, and Felix needs another taste. Meanwhile, Tyler Jay was supposed to be on the verge the day he was drafted, and John Curtiss didn't embarrass himself last September, did he? Not sure why the Twins signed Aybar, whose career is about done. Who really thinks he's going to produce like he did five years ago? Better to keep Granite or Grossman, and let Adrianza continue as the Super U, unless somebody like Nick Gordon catches fire this spring. Oh, I can already smell the green grass of spring! Sorry, I'm in San Diego. Minnesota's grass is under a couple feet of snow right now, so my brother tells me...

Whaaat? Adrianza played very well last season. He came from injured long shot to excellent super utility man, and his bat played far better than expected. Ten years younger Eric Aybar kicks everybody's butt, sure. But now? Aybar's career is winding down, where Adrianza is still in his physical prime, and possibly getting better.

For a while the Twins seemed to think throwing a baseball really fast meant that a guy was destined to be a pitcher. Apparently it takes a little more than that. Why can't the Twins manage their drafts and minor leaguer pitchers like the Rays?

I heard the golf cart is a converted Tesla Roadster. Well, that's what I heard!

Frank Viola sucked his first season up. Every time something would go wrong, he'd blow his top, get mad, then lose command. Fortunately, he got better after that. I'm all for bringing up the kids and letting them take their lumps. Personally, I'd bring up the top five pitching prospects right away. Gonsalves, Romero, Jorge, Jay, and Stewart. Bring 'em all up, see how they do. Let the veterans advise them how to prepare. Let them know that initial failure is the most probable outcome, and that getting sent down to AAA is not punishment, it is regrouping and learning. If I'm not mistaken, this is how the Rays do it.

Recommend beckmt's comment. I'm not a stat guy, so maybe somebody here can tell me about the history of pitchers that had arm trouble in the minors making it in the majors. Is early arm trouble usually the kiss of death for a young pitcher? And then what about guys that have arm trouble twice or more? I have a feeling the success chart takes a steep dive, especially after two or more problems.

24 to 32 seems to be the age range of MLB players, with a few exceptions proving the rule. Aybar seems about worn out for the majors. As some have said, he might fill in for a few weeks if somebody gets hurt, but he's not a starter anymore.

Two catchers is better than one anyway. The long season takes a toll on any man's legs squatting for nine innings behind the dish, not to mention all the bumps and bruises. Most solo catchers start to wear out after mid season. Platooning helps both guys stay fresh, and if one goes down, the other can step in without making adjustments. I like this pair of catchers. Castro is fine overall, and Garver's ticket to the bigs was supposed to be his hit tool, so maybe he'll round into a better offensive threat. Best of all, both guys have reasonably good guns down to second.

Memory Lane, thanks.

This does appear to make the 2018 season a more interesting proposition. Even with Santana out for a month, Odorizzi can help keep the team reasonably close to .500 until Santana returns. Meanwhile, the experiments with all five top-ten prospect pitchers can happen.

The staff strength in the pen is part of the hint. If your bullpen is strong, you can afford to experiment with the starting rotation. That is exactly what I expect this season from the Twins FO. I think they stayed away from high-priced deals so they can try out guys like Gonsalves, Romero, Jorge, Jay, and Stewart, along with several other non-prospects, some of whom are now on the Spring Training roster. This is the year we find out if any of the guys in AAA and AA have something special to offer the big league club, and which ones need to go back down and work on something. I predict an interesting season, but not a playoff season. Lots of up's and down's.

This is our BIG HINT: The Twins are going to use 2018 as a season-long tryout for every plausible pitching prospect in AAA and AA. If you thought 2017 was musical chairs in the starting rotation, you ain't seen nothing yet. Expect to see half again more candidates try their hand at pitching in the majors. Wouldn't surprise me to see 25 different starters this season.

Nah, I get the feeling Gonsalves has a lot more natural stuff in his arsenal than Milone, who always walked a tightrope between success and disaster. Gonzo can bring reasonable heat in the low 90's. Milone was stuck below 90 most of the time.

Liriano had upper 90's heat and a wipe out slider. He still has the wipe out slider. Gonsalves will survive on the art of pitching, not on any one devastating pitch. Let's hope he gets good support from Twins catchers when he's called up.

"To this point, Falvey and Levine have been awfully protective of their chips." Chips is a good comp, but we all must acknowledge that for several young minor league pitchers, the Twins do not yet know what color those chips are. Gonsalves, Romero, Jorge, Jay, and Stewart all sit in the Prospect List within the top ten. Each of these guys could become at least a solid major league pitcher, and any of them could debut in the 2018 season. After all the time we have waited and watched these young men earn their way up the ladder, it is time to start seeing what they, and other possibles, have to offer the major league club. A lot of people here at TD think that 2018 is the first year that the Sano/Buxton wave starts to reach its peak. To me, it's still a little early, which means it's too early to spend major bank on expensive free agent hurlers. The Twins FO risks stifling the progress of in-system arms while possibly wasting tons of money on FA's with a team that's still not quite ready to support them offensively and defensively. For comparison, I offer the 1987 Twins. The major pieces of that puzzle got to the majors in 1983, so it was four years before they suddenly made the quantum jump from worst to first. Meanwhile, the Puckett/Hrbek wave did show tons of promise, upsetting division rivals and causing trouble throughout the league with improbable comebacks and creative collapses. That is where this Twins club stands right now. They are going to show talent, but the results are going to be uneven. Into that mix, let us see if we can find the next Frank Viola. Maybe it's Gonsalves. Maybe it's Romero. Maybe somebody else. This is the year of the young stud pitcher for the Minnesota Twins. One or more of these minor league prospects is going to have to show why they're in the top ten. Eat yer Wheaties, boys.

On the other hand, to ensure fattest contact there's nothing quite like hitting a fastball right back where it came from. Fortunately they don't train guys like Sano and Stanton to do that... ;-)

Also, guys that slug get paid a LOT more than ground ball hitters.

Curious: How did Kirilloff hurt his TJ ligament? Were his throwing mechanics incorrect, or did he simply overdo it with hard throws?

I could see Lewis 3B, Javier SS, Polanco 2B, Sano 1B. Whew!

Milles gratis, Mr. Bob. Good form on the swing, but he looks pretty tight. When Rooker loosens up and gets some rhythm, he could uncork some long shots.

Hughes should retire before his arm falls off. Good career, hang 'em up.

Anybody got some minor league footage of Rooker? It'd be fun to see.

Wow, that is such a simple, clean kinetic chain on Enlow's delivery. See how he brings his throwing hand in tight to the right side of his neck? That's where the energy-efficient final stage comes from. Similar to how Andy Roddick hits a tennis ball 140 mph. It's also where Enlow's tight spin comes from; the same energy can be channeled through the ball or around it. He's got a good pro curve right now, and his heater explodes out of his hand. With that delivery, his changeup might be difficult. He's got so much velocity in his hand. Also I like the down plane of his delivery. Bert will like that, I bet.