TwinsGuy55422

I agree that it would be between Swarzak and Doyle. I think the nod would go to Swarzak based on experience, but if Doyle is really showing us something then I would give him a chance.

What's weird about the whole thing is that when the positive test first came out, Braun was claiming that it had something to do with a medication he was taking for an undisclosed medical problem. Yet when the actual appeal happens, they only argue the chain of custody? I guess we'll probably never know what really happened and that's what sucks about this.

Good points. This is why I liked the Jamey Carroll signing whereas so many people thought the Twins were just being cheap. Although Carroll is entering the twilight of his career, he will be a huge upgrade over what we got offensively and defenisively from the shortstop position last year. He will provide a veteran presence and will help the team while holding down the position until one of these two prospects is ready. Hopefully, Dozier and Michael will push each other in the minors and maybe sooner rather than later we will have the problem of having two major league ready shortstop prospects. It would be so nice to finally have that position solidified for a while.

I think Capps can bounce back and be a capable reliever. However, it just sucks that we pulled the trigger so early on signing him. It would have been nice to wait for the market to settle and get a better deal. If some other team had snuck in and made an offer during that time, it's not like we couldn't have replaced him.

I think this is a great posting and consistent with the frustrations I have been having with a lot of Twins fans I know. So many casual fans don't seem to realize that just because we have a lot more revenue with Target Field we cannot and should not just blindly spend money. It seems that I hear three catch phrases over and over: 1) How can they reduce payroll when they have a nice new ballpark and all this revenue?, 2) They told us if we build them a new ballpark they would have the money to prevent their free agents from walking, and 3) How can they not spend the money to keep a guy like Cuddy since he was the best thing they had going last year. I think people fail to realize that when the payroll was at about $115 million it was actually more than what was promised when Target Field was built, so as Twinsarmchairgm already stated, it makes sense not to make a lot of significant financial commitments going into a year where there are so many question marks. I think a lot of people forget that there is the possibility to make in-season moves if the season is going well. As far as people complaining about letting Nathan, Cuddyer, and Kubel walk, that does not mean the Twins are cheap. Would anyone have seriously wanted us to outbid the Rangers to keep a 37 year old reliever coming off TJ surgery who hasn't shown that he is going to regain his old form? People complaining about not signing Cuddyer probably frustrate me the most. People have gotten so endeared with him over small stretches of success that they overlook how extremely average he is. The offer the Twins made to him was extremely fair and maybe on the edge of over paying, so if he didn't want to take it then you just wish him well. You just don't over pay a fan-favorite who is an extremely average player when you are trying to recover from some of the stupid decisions that have been made in recent years. As far as the Mauer bashing goes, I am mainly frustrated with Jim Souhan. In at least two separate articles (one this past summer and one more recently) he has made bold accusations that there are a large number of anonymous teammates and employees within the organization that roll their eyes behind Mauer's back and cannot stand him. To me, that is just classless reporting. He is either exaggerating or if the claims are true but the people giving Souhan this information want to remain anonymous then you just don't report it. If you are going to attack a guy's character to that degree, then you better be able to name some names. I know this is kind of a long rant. I just get frustrated with people that want to throw an organization under the bus that has been successful for so long. Don't get me wrong, I think true fans will often criticize their team but it needs to be done intelligently, constructively, and without blindly accepting as fact assumptions that are thrown out in the media.

I think your opening day roster is pretty much spot on assuming there are no injuries. As far as players to watch go, I would like to mention Chris Parmelee. I think it will be interesting to see if he can build on his September 2011 success with a solid spring, especially since we don't yet know what we are going to get out of Justin Morneau!