Paul Pleiss

Who's the next Twin to win the combo award? Should Subway sponsor players who earn both, adding them to their B-list celebrities who talk about how awesome Subway cold cut combos are? I think yes.

This is a Ricky Nolasco I could get used to seeing on the bump every 5th day.

I really hope the Twins hang onto Babe Plouffe. No need to send him packing this winter in a trade or other means. Miguel Sano missed the season and hasn't played above AA. The Twins need a 3rd basemen, that 3rd basemen is Trevor Plouffe. If you wanted to argue that Santana will be the everyday SS and Escobar slides over to 3rb duties, maybe I could entertain that argument, but I don't think we've seen enough for Santana at SS to give him that job over Escobar. Escobar hasn't been great defensively, but he makes the plays he needs to make, he's young, cost controlled and seems to be getting better. Plouffe has done nothing this season to lose his job. Make Sano steal it from him.

i'm guessing Correia ends up being traded for straight cash homie.

One spot to address? Until the Twins have a starting rotation that looks like Detroit (when healthy), Oakland or Los Angeles, there are more spots to address. I understand there are guys under contract and guys moving up the system, but front of the rotation talent is what this team truly needs, and right now, that help is a long way off. As far as upgrading LF? I'm not sure that makes sense. The Twins have plenty of big boppers, 1B/DH types who can provide this team offense, I'd be more than happy with them putting AAAA guys out there, or having two speedy CF types to give the OF some added range (which will help the staff immensely). Rick Anderson is not a complete failure, he's a terrible pitching coach as far as I'm concerned, but he (or maybe indirectly the Twins front office) has been able to find reliable relievers to fill the bullpen. No need to upgrade with plenty of arms in the upper levels of the system who can fill those rolls. lots of failed starters who could move there too. I'm looking forward for some of the college power arms the Twins have drafted the last couple seasons finally making an impact with that big velo Twins fans have been clammoring for.

Is Stuart Turner the next great Twins catcher?

Does this sandwich have room for a sponsor? Paul's pastrami, prosciutto, provolone, peppers, poupon and pickles on pumpernickel sounds good to me.

How long before Twins Daily starts arranging out of town trips for all Twins road series? I want in on that. Is the Territory Train still a thing that exists?

The Twins head to KC after an off-day to take on the first place Royals (!!?!) with the following matchups scheduled Ricky Nolasco v Danny Duffy (8-11, 2.53 ERA) Phil Hughes v Yordano Ventura (10-9, 3.40 ERA) Tommy Milone v Jeremy Guthrie (10-10, 4.32 ERA) Do the Twins have a chance to take the series? They face Duffy, Ventura and Guthrie for the 2nd time in the last 2 weeks, a combination that resulted in 2 wins and a loss for the Royals when they visited Minnesota. Nolasco has been a wreck all season, all I want from him is pain-free innings so he can come back next year and perform. I don't think he can keep KC in check, nor do I expect the Twins offense to continue scoring a million billion runs every night. Phil Hughes represents a real chance at a victory every time he takes the mound, he walks no one and even misses some bats, something other Twins pitchers should take note of (it's allowed, even encouraged fellas!). If the Twins bats can muster a couple of runs Hughes may very well be able to quiet the fans in KC and allow the Twins a chance at a series victory. Tommy Milone, who gave up 6 runs in 1.1 to these same Royals a short 10 days ago, will try to redeem himself under considerably dryer conditions. Guthrie hasn't been great and strugged in his last outing against the Twins, giving up 5 runs but still earned a victory thanks to a rain-soaked 7 run 2nd inning. I think Tommy pitches considerably better in KC, but that the Royals keep on Royalsing and take the series 2-1. How's that for optomism? What are your keys to the series?

Trading Hughes seems like a bad idea. What do you hope to get in return for him? This team needs quality pitchers NOW, not guys who can debut in the big league 3 years from now and then take their lumps. Don't fire Bruno, or Terry Ryan, hell, you could even avoid firing Gardy if you get rid of Rick "I don't know how to caoch pitchers" Anderson.

I hope Joe Mauer turns into a terminator. A terminator of baseballs. Or Baseball Darth Vader. Either is acceptable.

Trevor May can throw his glove, he can bash a water cooler, he can try to brake a bat over his knee, just so long as the Twins continue to let him pitch every 5th day. I like the emotion, but I do agree he needs to control it. I think "nerves" or whatever you want to call it, has been a part of his early struggles. he's a very cerebral pitcher, and I think he's getting rattled and losing compuser, causing him to struggle more. Shake it off, come back and do better. I still have high hopes for Trevor May.

More evidence that throwing a baseball with precision and velocity is difficult, even for the best of the best. Hitters are better than before, they seem a heavier dose of mid-90s+ fastballs and as a result, i belive, are better trained to murder high-80s low-90s pitching. See entire roster of Twins pitchers for confirmation of the latter.

Drafting and developing players seems to be the way the Twins hope to succeede. I also think that trading minor league pieces also plays into the draft and develop model. If Meyer and May become succcessful they'll be in that trade category, but their success, I beleive, will also be becasue of twns developmental staff in MiLB. Looking forward to your hitters list.

More change ups. Gibby has been up and down all season. I like him when he's on and curse him when he's down. Hopefully 2015 we see a much more consistent K Gib.

There's no reason to move Plouffe off of 3rd base. Miguel Sano hasn't played above AA and spent the season on the shelf. I'm excited about Sano's potential, but Trevor Plouffe has turned his potential into an everyday MLB caliber third basemen. Let him keep playing until Sano or some one else pries the job from his cold dead hands.

Beans (aka Pinto) seems like the perfect guy to have on your 25-man roster as a back-up catcher/bench bat and random DH guy. He hits the ball and can catch when needed. So he's not great, no big deal, he's not there for his bat. He isn't so bad that he's costing the team games, even if Glen Perkins doesn't like throwing to him. I mean seriously, Eric Fry-cook Fryer (whose only saving grace is that he is manly and doesn't wear batting gloves) or Beans? I'll take Beans over the Fry-cook everyday.

It's Eric with the potty mouth, for the record.

This week on the podcast we are joined by the great Rob Neyer (https://twitter.com/robneyer (@robneyer),http://robneyer.com/, http://www.foxsports...-a-bit-outside) a real baseball writing celebrity. Also on this episode is Eric's potty mouth. You've been warned.You can download the new Talk to Contact (@TalkToContact) episode via iTunes or by clicking here.We discuss why we hate the teams we hate and then jump into all of the Twins news from the last week. Most of it involves pitchers, and most of those pitchers have been bad. But not Joe Mauer. Joe Mauer has been vintage Joe Mauer. Tune in for all the fun. Enjoy the show. You can follow Cody on Twitter (@NoDakTwinsFan) or read his writing at NoDakTwinsFan, and you can find Eric on Twitter (@ERolfPleiss) and read his writing at Knuckleballs, and you can find Jay Corn on twitter@Jay__Corn! If you enjoy our podcast, please take a couple extra minutes and rate and review us on iTunes. If you enjoy our podcast, please take a couple extra minutes and rate and review us on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are pretty cool, you guys. Click here to view the article

Is Todd Van Steensel the best name in the organzation right now? Zach Granite is pretty good too, but TVS takes the cake for me. -P

I don't quite recall my Twins15. In no particular order: Alex Meyer Trevor May Kyle Gibson Phil Hughes Glen Perkins Brian Dozier Danny Santana Kurt Suzuki Kennys Vargas Oswaldo Arcia Aaron Hicks Miguel Sano Josmil Pinto Eddie Rosario Jorge Polanco

Aaron Hicks is saved! Yes! To quote Metallica... "and nothing else matters..."

The Twins are getting better by both addition, and as this posts shows, subtraction. The guys the Twins are calling up from AAA this season are a lot better than DeVries, Hernandez and Walters.

And yes, I think Vargas breaks camp with the Twins based on current roster/organzational construction. I think a lot will change this off-season, but probably a good chance the big fella stays wth the club when they leave Fort Myers for Minnesota next spring.