lee_the_twins_fan

This is exactly why we need Hicks here at the beginning of the season. We don't have an effective leadoff hitter. *There's news the Twins are seeking Scott Podsednik . He would be a good addition to the team, but the question is where? As the CF? As a fourth or fifth outfielder? If the Twins got him, and kept all of their present players, he could be an effective #2 hitter. But I don't think he's an effective defensive CF; he would be a 4th or 5th outfielder.

Terry was right not to trade Morneau. I expect him to play a full year here in 2013 – and not be traded. If he does well, I suspect the Twins will work with him on an extension.

GM Terry Ryan says he wants someone to push Trevor Plouffe at 3B. Yet no one has been signed as a FA for this purpose. No one has been received in trade for this. Assuming no one is signed before ST, that leaves just those on the 40-man roster, or those on the invite list. Let's look at the likely candidates to play 3B: ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *BA/OBP/SLG/OPS Trevor Plouffe * * * * * *3 years * .231/.295/.423/.718 Jamey Carrol * * * * *11 years * *.276/.354/.344/.698 Eduardo Escobar * *1 year * * * .217/.278/.261/.539 Other infielders on the 40-man roster have little or no experience at 3B. Among those on the Invite list: ** * * * * * * * * * * * * * * level * * * * BA/OBP/SLG/OPS Chris Colabello * * * *AA * * * * .284/.358/.478/.836 Ray Olmedo * * * * * *AAA * * * .271/.321/.354/.675 Deibinson Romero *AA * * * * *.262/.343/.427/.769 Mark Sobolewski * * AA * * * * .267/.310/.419/.729 Please note: Romero and Sobolewski are the only ones that are primarily 3B. Sobolewski also played 23 games at AAA last year, but batted only .188. Olmedo is primarily a SS, playing also 2B and 3B. He has 114 games split between the minors and major leagues. Colabello, who arguably has the best hitting ability, is probably the worst fielder at 3B among the group; he has 115 games at 3B in the minor leagues. Escobar has about 42 games' experience – total – in the minors and MLB as a 3B. Of course, Plouffe himself has about 171 games, total, at 3B. Jamey Carroll has the most major league experience – with 269 games at 3B. Romero has lots of experience at 3B in the minor leagues – 519 games. Sobolewski has 416 games at 3B in the minor leagues. Brian Dozier has 20 minor league games' experience at 3B – but only 1 at AA, and 2 at A+. What's a little scary to me is the lack of experience at 3B (minors or majors) among the 40-man roster candidates. Think about it: Escobar and those on the invite list start the season in the minors. Carroll starts a game at 3B, gets pinch-hit for by Plouffe, and Plouffe gets injured. Who takes over at 3B for the rest of the game? We all know Manager Gardenhire likes to have three catchers on the 25-man roster. But this would leave the team with only two people with experience at 3B. Meanwhile, for example, if the Twins have Dozier, Florimon, Plouffe and Carroll they would have at least three who can play 2B. Again, Carroll has the most experience. All of this points to my conclusion that – all other things equal in spring training – Ray Olmedo is the best person to bring up as the extra infielder, the one to challenge Plouffe. *He has decent stats at AAA. He can play 2B, 3B and SS. He gives Gardenhire more options at all three positions. I think he's better than Escobar at this point. What do you think?

It was March 6, 2006 when Kirby died. I'll never forget it – it was on my fiftieth birthday. He was a great player and a great human being – despite what came out after he retired. Who will ever forget Kirby's walk-off home run in game six of the World Series? He was a franchise player and great addition to the Twins.

I'd rather see Ray Olmedo get a shot to compete with Plouffe for 3B.

Really??? Why are we even considering either one? I guess Inge would be the better defender at 3B - better than Plouffe, but I think we use Carroll *as the 3B backup. If we need to sign either one, we offer only a minor league contract with an offer to Spring Training. Make it a competition.

If all of those things happened, the Twins would be way better than .500. They'd take second in the conference. Despite people's aversion to Correia, he's a better pitcher than you think. Their starting pitching will be way better than last year. * *I expect Parmelee to do about the same as last year – not encouraging. He'll be down in AAA with Hicks or Arcia or both in the majors. Harden, Pelfrey and Gibson are the biggest question marks.* If the Twins can gel together and start out strong, they could have a very good season. I believe they will be better than last year. If BeckMT's list of things happen, they're an 88-win team. If not, they're an 80-win team. If the wheels fall off the bus completely – which I don't expect given the players they have signed – they're a 75-win team.

Good interview, Seth. But what I want to know is if he can and would be willing to play 3B. Maybe he would be the one who could push Trevor Plouffe.

Too bad he wasn't a better 3B. He might make the team as a backup. *If I were him, I think I'd find a college team somewhere in the next week or so, and practice at 3B... Practice, practice, practice...Then come to spring training with a little more skill at 3B. *Six weeks of practice defending can't hurt. It might be the deciding factor.* I'd love to see him make the team.

If you look at Hicks' OBP in AA, it was .384, pretty good, but not as good as Mauer's. If Hicks does well at spring training, he should probably be leadoff hitter. If not, put Mauer there. In addition to just more at-bats, since Mauer looks at a lot of pitches it would give the batters behind him more of a chance to see pitches too.

Another oddity: Of the 18 non-pitchers on the Twins' 40-man roster, how many throw left-handed? Only one: Chris Parmelee. (Several bat left handed, but throw right-handed.)

Does anyone else find it weird that of the 11 pitchers on the Twins' list of top 20 prospects, only one is left-handed? Corey Williams. Of the 22 pitchers on the 40-man roster, six are lefties (a pretty normal split, I would think). Just food for thought.

Shane; I agree with your MI analysis. But I doubt the Twins will bring up Ramirez, Boggs or Colabello, unless one of them excels in spring training. I agree I'd rather see Herrmann over Butera – but I doubt the Twins FO sees it that way. Your pitching staff looks right, except I think Pelfrey WILL be ready. If Harden is also ready, Robertson will the odd man out. The OF situation is more complex. Arcia and Hicks appear ready or near-ready to start. I think the Twins would want them to play every day, however – at whatever level. One of the two of them I expect will be brought up about June 1 to extend their control. Here's what i suspect the Twins will do: Use Willingham, Mastroianni and Parmelee in the outfield for the first two months. if one needs a break, they have Plouffe, Doumit and others who can play in the outfield. It doesn't give much backup for CF, but Mastroianni can handle it for two months. Then around June 1, either Arcia or Hicks will be brought in – either as an injury replacement, or as a replacement for ineffectiveness. Then Mastroianni becomes the fourth outfielder. That leaves two roster spots open. One goes to Escobar. The other goes to someone who is a spring training invitee. I'm going to say it's someone we haven't even signed yet. Of those on the ST invite list, yeah, Boggs might be it. I'm guessing he won't be there yet. Even with Benson's talent, he bombed last year. I don't think he's ready yet for the big show, at least not right out of ST. Arcia and Hicks will be with the team sometime in 2013. I think the ONLY reason Hicks is not up at the start is to not begin his ML service. One will be up by June 1; the other may be up even before then, if there's an injury. Hicks has more experience in CF, and therefore has the edge. Without any ML injuries, I expect Hicks to be the one called up about June 1. But if there is an injury, Arcia could be up before then. It's a complicated mess. And yes, the roster is not settled.

I was very disappointed Nate Roberts was not on the Twins' top 20 list. Is it his defense? I saw him (on TV) in the AFL championship, and he's got some real speed – he's starting to steal some bases. He hits around .300, his OBP is .433 and he scored 60 runs in 76 games. I suspect he was kept in Beloit last year because the team had a lot of OF talent in AA and AAA, some of which will move up now that Span and Revere have been traded. Hopefully he'll start 2013 in AA. I see a real future for this kid.

According to the Twins website, the Twins now have 40 players on their 40-man roster. If they add another player, who is most likely to get dropped from their present roster?

Didn't live up to the expectations of his contract? You're joking, right? In this day of moving players around to different positions, and the expectation to protect Mauer foKevin h of the rest of his contract will weigh on HOF voters, but he remains one of the best hitters in the game – average-wise, if not power-wise. His on-base percentage has been great, and I consider him to be a strong leader off the field as well. I fully expect Mauer – several years from now – to become a major league manager, perhaps even with the Twins. Some people expect too much when a player signs a big contract. But I'd rather have Mauer than four Kevin Correias. He works hard and he's a great player. It's premature to think about if Mauer could make the HOF. He's (hopefully) got another 10 years or so of baseball left in him. Let's ask this question again in five more years.

I'm probably an eternal optimist, but I think this move could be OK. Pelfrey pitched great in 2010; yes, he had a down year in 2011, but his ERA was 2.29 in 2012, before the surgery. It'll be interesting to know how well he does in his recovery from the surgery.*

Carroll and Florimon are lined up as the Twins middle infielders. I don't see that changing. Could we use a better SS who hits better and fields better? Sure – but you can say that about every non-pitching position. I agree with you on Jurrgens. Mastorianni will be the Twins' CF to start the year; come June 1, we'll see Hicks or Arcia or Benson or – as a long shot – Nate Roberts ready for the Big Show. We have a lot of OF talent in the minors, almost ready. Buxton won't be up this year, but he just adds to our OF strength.*

The Twins are NOT going to trade Mauer. Mauer has a no trade clause, and he won't want to go anywhere. I don't think they'll trade Morneau or Willingham either. They're done trading, for now. Hopefully they will sign a really good starting pitcher, or two.*

This trade makes no sense – for the Twins. A) We're looking for pitching. Why trade our last two pieces of any value for someone who may be a flash in the pan? I'm sorry, but I don't see this happening. And C) Plouffe is not going to second base. Maybe to OF, but not 2B.

First people complain that Terry Ryan isn't doing anything. Now in the past 12 days he's traded two CF, acquired five pitchers (three through trade, one Rule 5 draft and now a FA). Yeah Correia isn't one of the top pitchers available. But he's durable, and he's better than most of the pitchers we had last year. You have to start somewhere.* We still have two more spots in the rotation to fill, barring injury, and I'm still counting on TR to come through with a #1 starter.*

Jack Hannahan can't be considered even as a backup middle infielder – he's played one game in five years at 2B and 9 at SS. He's played 39 at 1B and 451 at 3B. The bottom line is, he's a 3B. Other than maybe 1B, you really cannot consider him at any other position. That said, for the right price, he might be OK, but I'd like someone who can actually play more positions. I don't see him as a DH, and we already have lots of people who can play 1B (Morneau, Mauer, Doumit, Parmelee among others). If Hannahan is just backing up Plouffe, and is not able to handle any other position, he'll mainly be riding the bench. Like Gardenhire, I'd just as soon have someone who is more versatile, unless he's our starter. Daniel Santana hit .286 last year at Fort Meyers (Advanced A). He's on the 40-man roster as a SS. I suspect he'll be at AA in 2013. Let's hope he progresses quickly.

Twins pitching was pretty bad in 2011 too :-) I think we're seeing eye to eye though. True.

And Willingham's contribution added to the field's home run numbers.

Yes, I did not realize that... Interesting it was 10th in runs scored, 11th in hits and 14th in home runs in 2012. In 2011, however, it was 21st in runs scored, 20th in home runs and tied for 11th in hits. I suspect Minnesota's bad pitching last year contributed to the increased run production on ESPN's chart. It appears the field has essentially leveled out between pitching and hitting.