TRex

His elbow might be 'good to go', but having a ligament is not the same as a successful return from Tommy John! I am not very good with the advanced metrics, but the first thing I see is a very young lefthander who, in his only dominant season (2010), threw 40% sliders and (not surprisingly) blew out his elbow the following year. In addition, the slider accounted for the vast majority of his pitch value (slider 1.84, 2-seam 0.45, other fastball -0.5, change-up -1.5). Hey, this sounds familiar! I was becoming hopeful when I saw his 2012 stats, but became depressed when I saw that his 4 of his 6 end of the year starts were against the Twins, Indians, Red Sox and the Mariners. His final two starts, in a pennant race the A's did win, were against the Angels and Detroit and he got hammered (8 runs in 9 innings). Sounds really familiar! Finally, I see a pitcher whose BB/9 has gone from 1.76 in 2010 to 4.23 last year (OBTW, he walked 4 in those last 9 innings in 2012). That just seems like someone who either doesn't HAVE the stuff anymore, or doesn't TRUST it. It took Francisco Liriano 4 years, ~600 innings, and perhaps some bizarre "Rookie of the Year" mojo to bring his walk rate down to 3.5 (from >5 in 2011 and 2012). Is Anderson there yet? Will he be there in 2014 or 2015? If so, will he walk in 2016 just as we are ready to be competitive? I hate this... I started out not wanting to trade for another slider specialist, but now I have talked myself into it. Maybe Terry Ryan has talked himself into it as well, since in the news conference introducing Phil Hughes, he said something like "this situation is a lot like the Liriano situation last year, and maybe we can be on the other side of it this time"! Could it be a Freudian slip?

It was just a tongue-in-cheek poke that their biceps (and hat sizes) are more like Mantle's than Bonds'.

Actually, it may resemble the game from 60 years ago more closely than the game 6 years ago!

Just a couple of nits to pick (especially since I really like Rosario as a prospect)... First, you do realize that Rosario is only 4 months younger than Arcia, right? Second, Arcia was a MONSTER at AA last year, with an OPS of .955 while Rosario (at an age 8 months older) hit 'only' .755. I don't think a 200 point difference constitutes a 'little less power'. In regards to promotion for the vast majority of prospects, I think it is more important to focus on what the player can't do (or does not do well) instead of what they CAN do. Yes, I realize that Rosario's bat may be ready for the AAA test, but I really want him to be a second baseman and if he is still struggling with the glove, I don't think you will see what his bat is truly capable of.

I know it is a bit naive, but you wonder if maybe he had a couple of pills left over and 'self medicated'.

I don't know... I think there was quite a lot of (positive) concern that grew out of Winter League ball in past years over Liriano and Deduno. However, it seems likely that it is easier for pitchers to deal with sporadic playing time than hitters. OBTW, did anyone notice that Arcia has heated up and now has 5 HR over 50 AB (with on OPS of 1.050) (http://mlb.mlb.com/milb/stats/org.jsp?id=min).

Why is it NOT assumed that the Twins were contemplating removing Welker from the 40-man roster and, even if he made it through waivers unclaimed, he would choose free agency over signing with a team he has never played for? So, rather than losing him for nothing (and knowing that Pittsburgh would welcome him back), why not arrange a good-will trade? In addition, did anyone notice that Matt Sosnick was Johnson's agent? Should we also not assume, then, that the Twins know how Johnson will react to being removed from the 40-man roster? I am sure he realizes the opportunity he has with the Twins whether on the 40-man or not. It just seems odd to me that these moves (i.e. positions 39, 40 and 41 on the 40-man roster) sometimes generate as much angst as if/when/whom the Twins will sign as free agent pitchers which, to me, is a logarithmically more important decision!

How about 'Black Jack' Morris?

I think it is important to re-iterate that he likes Tavares' HIT tool more than Buxton's. He has said repeatedly that Buxton is the better prospect.

I'm not sure Charlie Sheen would be much help either !

Sorry, Jeremy, I didn't quite understand what you were saying... Would these two players end up with 4 option years because of their debut year in full season ball?

... so you think that all Top-10 guys should fall in the Elite category? In my mind, not even all of MiLB's Top-100 are Elite prospects. Someone who exemplifies my thinking is Kyle Gibson, who was very deserving of his spot but not what I would ever call 'Elite'.

In regards to why Mejia didn't make the top 50, also realize that the slick-fielding James Beresford, who hit over .300 with a .360 OBA in AA and AAA didn't make it. Top prospect lists are more about ceilings than floors... but it doesn't mean Mejia (or Beresford) won't have a significant MLB career!

Can you make a Qualifying Offer if you only give a 1 year contract? IIRC, you didn't get compensation under the old rules unless the player was on a multi-year deal.

... putt putt isn't the new word for 'night putting' is it Spalding?

You guys do realize that, as a short lefty with a sore shoulder in low-A ball, he has about 1% chance of ever having a significant major league career? Would you rather find $100 bill on the sidewalk or a PowerBall ticket? And if you find a PowerBall ticket and I only find the $100 bill are you also going to dance and wave it in my face? What about the second time around? This ended up coming out wrong, but what I really wanted to say is that you may not always want to trade for the longshot, high upside guy... either based upon situation (e.g. when you don't have a defensive-minded catcher on your staff of Cy Young hopefuls as LA did) or need (e.g. you need a guy who can give you some innings in the Majors right away).

Don't forget he went to Instructional League and the international tournament, so I imagine he is in the 70 inning range. I don't know if he is on CRs opening day roster, as that gets a 'good' pitcher ~130 innings. However, I think he may start in the MWL prior to mid-June before the Appy league starts.

I thought we should have a thread for general AFL news/notes. Alex Meyer is starting for Glendale today in their game at Surprise. This should be an especially 'fun' start to watch via the internet because the Gameday setup at Surprise is able to give pitch velocities! If anyone hasn't seen the video that Seth posted earlier (Alex Meyer, RHP, Minnesota Twins (Arizona Fall League) ? October 18, 2013 on Vimeo), it's a MUST watch!

Insofar as there IS an annual 'Baseball America' ranking of minor league farm systems, I think your title is a little disingenuous. It should have correctly referred to Matt Eddy FROM Baseball America ranks Twins system 7th... but I would guess you already knew that, but chose to stir the pot (or poke the animals) anyway!

Should we understand that to interpret that Landa has better secondary pitch(es)? If so, what is it and does it grade out as plus?

I know comparing a #30 ranking to a #27 ranking is like comparing two prospects Sickel's rates as C+, but since you actually put numbers on them... why do you like Landa better than Rosario? Landa is also listed at 6' even, and a lefty who throws 93-95 as a starter will almost certainly make it to the big leagues (if his shoulder holds up).

As with everything else pitching-related, I blame it on 'Pitch to Contact'!

No JUGS readings from the game, but it looks like Meyer had another good (not great) outing. He went 4.1 innings, giving up 3 singles, a walk and a hit batter while striking out 3. Only 1 person reached 2nd base, and that was with 2 outs. The only caveat is that it took him 70 pitches, and if you look at the (somewhat unreliable) Gameday pitch location he was really wild. I looks like if he can refine his command he has Ace potential, which is something I don't think we even said about Santana (who looked really good, but not Ace-like before he was recalled from AAA with that nasty changeup, IIRC).

When I hear Molitor talk, it sounds like TK to me... he doesn't mince his words and will go after a player with the "drive in two but let in three" comment even after a win. I wonder how it will go over in the clubhouse to have someone so openly critical (demanding may be a better adjective) be 'under' the rah-rah Gardy. I imagine the play-off between the dour TK and the buddy-buddy Gardenhire worked great, but good-cop/bad-cop always works better if the 'bad cop' is the one in control!

JB: I agree wholeheartedly with you on this... but your unwritten implication is that Saunders' representatives gave the Twins a chance to top the Mariners offer. Other than for players re-signing with the same team, I don't think agents go back and forth prostituting the other teams offer very often (although you could argue they should). And isn't it just as likely that Seattle was given the chance to match the Twins offer?