Paul Pleiss

I'm still excited to watch this team play. And not just for the inexplicable offense. I enjoy watching Chris Colabello. I have a desire to want Mike Pelfrey to be good at throwing a baseball, and I cant explain why, but I like watching him pitch, he's a baby sasquatch. Brian Dozier is Robinson Cano. Or at least the player you think of when you think of Cano, plus better defense. Heck, I even enjoy making fun of people booing Joe Mauer. I like this team. Win or lose. Lots to complain about, like the strikeouts for the offense and the lack of them for the pitching staff, but hey, I like this team, I like the hope for the future and I even have hope the front office will keep spending money as the prospects develop.

I don't know why this Dozier SS idea keeps coming back up. He was miserable there when given the chance. He looks very good at 2B, making web gem catches and strong throws from the right side of the infield, but that doesn't mean it translates over to SS. His offense would be a welcome addition at any position, but moving him to SS doesn't solve any problems for the Twins, you'd still have a big hole in the middle infield. Dozier is excelling at 2B, just let him keep doing that. Florimon, Escobar, Nunez, it doesn't really matter. I like Escobar the best out of that bunch, but I think Florimon has the better defense, but marginally. None of those guys is the answer, they're all just place holders. For who? I don't know, and I'm not sure the Twin do either.

Nick, I agree Flo and Hicksy are generally offensive liabilities. Will Gardy actually start to platoon this year? It seems he MAY, especially with a roster that has some natural platoons, but will he? What's the difference between Fuld and Mastro? What's the answer if Flo goes down or continues to be an offensive black hole? Nunez isn't a hit first player, and his defense is suspect (at best), he's just not consistent. This team has a lot of corner IF/OF/DH guys, but not nearly enough up the middle. Is Eduardo Escobar the stop-gap at short? Is Fuld a legitimate contender to steal CF if Hicks can't hack it? And can he bridge that gap until the eventual (hopeful) rise of Buxton in 2015?

Cody Christie once admitted to drinking Coors Light, on purpose. I suspect he was drinking them last night when he gave the pitcher of the day to someone not named Yohan Pino. Seven scoreless innings is great for Vasquez, for anyone really, but a pitcher who strikes out 9 in 4 innings of work? I'll take that!

Is this where we direct all of our BOO MAUER comments? Kidding. Parker, once again great work looking beyond just the numbers and finding something deeper. BOO MAUER! Mauer is going to Mauer. Even with an increase in his K rate, he's still going to be a valuable member of this team. He's going to lose some "WAR value" from moving out behind the plate, but him being on base for the heart of the lineup to bring home is what he does. Joe Mauer singles and doubles, I'll take them all day, everyday.

Rally monkey!

Hello world. I'm looking for Seattle-area Twins fans to get together to talk baseball, enjoy some adult beverages and watch Twins games. Message me for details.

That 8th inning was so much fun. Listening to the radio broadcast while I toiled away at work was fun. Blue Jay fans would probably argue, but that was one of the best half-innings of baseball I've ever had the pleasure of enjoying.

12? I take the over. I think the number will be closer to 18.

Swag master himself, Danny Valencia, started a game at 2nd base for the Royals this season; it was the swaggiest move ever. But yes, this team seems to have an "edge" or whatever you want to call it. To use a Gardy-ism, this team is hungry, they're "getting after it" and they look like they're having fun.

Mike "Big Pelf/Little Sasquatch" Pelfrey. Jalapeno, mushroom, italian sausage, roasted garlic, and extra cheese.

I'd like to play a fun game where we try and guess the last date of the 2014 season where the Twins will be at .500 or above. I'm guessing it's next week.

Jarod "not a snowboard" Burton has looked terrible. Relievers sare fickle things, and while this is a small sample size, the numbers going back to last season don't paint a pretty picture. put him into some non-leverage situations and let someone else handle the pressure cooker situations. Let's see if he can fix himself, if not, see ya later, alligator!

Could be fun to see Hardy back in MN, a SS who can go both ways, fantastic. I agree with Reider, not sure he'd be bashing down any doors to sign in MN if he could get comparable money elsewhere. The Twins might be more willing to throw money at a SS next season as they continue their rebuild, but maybe Santana gets more consistent defensively as the season goes on and the Twins arent willing to sign a 4+ year deal for the aging Hardy.

The game could have become an instant classic, the "Snowball Game" Sadly, hold your puns, the game never was.

http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400_9483604.jpg Happy birthday to our very own Jay Corn! As a birthday present to Jay, Paul skipped the show! Without him Eric is free to heap all of the praise in the world on Brian Dozier, and he does. Jay Corn revisits his prediction that Josmil Pinto will hit 25 home runs (which is not looking so bad right now), and we wonder what might happen to Pinto's playing time when Josh Willingham and/or Oswaldo Arcia return from the DL and Chris Herrmann goes back to AAA. The jabbering continues with Logan Darnell, one of three AAA Left Handers in the Rochester starting rotation. Lots of beer talk this week, and Eric is a little over excited about his "bready beer" and then the gang goes Around the League. Enjoy the show! Source

For the first time in a long time we have a full week of Twins baseball to talk about on the podcast. We talk about Ron Gardenhire's 1000th managerial win, a couple of disabled list moves that brought both Chris Herrmann and Darin Mastroianni back to the Twins, and pontificate on what early season attendance numbers mean for the club going forward. You can download the new Talk to Contact (@TalkToContact) episode via iTunes or by clicking here. http://puckettspond.com/files/2014/04/glen-perkins-ron-gardenhire-joe-mauer-mlb-oakland-athletics-minnesota-twins-300x600.jpg We're running a promotional giveaway. Make sure to listen to the end for the details and your chance to win a 1991 World Series box set (#TwinsNickname). We are joined by Jeremy Nygaard (@jeremynygaard) of Twins Daily's Hang out and Talk Twins video/podcast (@TwinsHangouts) to discuss the roster moves, the Twins payroll in 2014 and what it means for the future of the franchise and if bringing in Stephen Drew is still a valid discussion point. You'll also hear the weekly standby's hitter/pitcher of the week, and around the league. We had to put the Down on the Pond segment on hold this week, but next week we'll be taking a closer look at Twins AAA pitcher, Logan Darnell. Thanks for the download. 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. Ratings and reviews have magical iTunes powers that will help the bullpen remember how to record outs. __________________ Follow me, @BaseballPirate, on Twitter. Check out the Talk to Contact Podcast (@TalkToContact) or email the show: talktocontact@gmail.com

http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400-431x431+0+39_9460241.jpg For the first time in a long time we have a full week of Twins baseball to talk about on the podcast. We talk about Ron Gardenhire's 1000th managerial win, a couple of disabled list moves that brought both Chris Herrmann and Darin Mastroianni back to the Twins, and we pontificate on what early season attendance numbers mean for the club going forward.We're running a promotional giveaway. Make sure to listen to the end for the details and your chance to win a 1991 World Series box set (#TwinsNickname).We are joined by Jeremy Nygaard (@jeremynygaard) of Twins Daily's Hang out and Talk Twins video/podcast (@TwinsHangouts) to discuss the roster moves, the Twins payroll in 2014 and what it means for the future of the franchise and if bringing in Stephen Drew is still a valid discussion point.You'll also hear the weekly standby's hitter/pitcher of the week, and around the league. We had to put the Down on the Pond segment on hold this week, but next week we'll be taking a closer look at Twins AAA pitcher, Logan Darnell.Thanks for the download. Source

Every week on the Talk to Contact podcast we try to highlight a player from the Twins minor league system. Sometimes we talk about the big name prospects, Byron Buxton, Miguel Sano and Alex Meyer, but more often than not we dig a little deeper to find guys that you probably haven't heard of. Back in February we took a closer look at Ethan Mildren, and the very next week we unofficially founded the Ethan Mildren fanclub when we had him on the show. You can listen to those two shows HERE and HERE. Mildren is a tall right hander, 6'4", 215lb, drafted by the Twins in the 12th round of the 2013 draft (350th overall) out of the University of Pittsburgh after his junior season and received $100,000 signing bonus. Twins scouting director Deron Johnson said "He won't light up the gun, he's 90-91 [mph], but he throws straight and we think he's a starter." Prior to being drafted, Mildren was a three year starter for Pitt. His junior year he pitched 114.2 innings and lead the Pittsburgh Panthers with 10 wins and a 2.35 ERA. He also showed the ability to go deep into games, with four complete games. He struck out 76 and was named an All-Big East selection. Mildren signed quickly and was sent down to Elizabethon where he pitched another 16.1 innings. It's a small sample size, and as a "polished" college pitcher you'd expect him to do well, and he did. He never gave up more than one run in any of his appearances and finished with a 1-1 record. Mildren posted a 1.65 ERA, 1.35 WHIP with 13 strikeouts and 7 walks. Mildren will need to improve his command as he moves up, as it's unlikely he'll be able to maintain a high-strikeout rate as he moves up the system. Mildren will start 2014 in Extended Spring Training (EST), surprising many who are close to the club's minor league who had him penciled into the Cedar Rapids rotation. Cedar Rapids opens the season with a 6-man rotation that includes Twins 2013 first round pick, Kohl Stewart. Mildren may head north to Cedar Rapids when the weather warms, or if any of the six Cedar Rapids starters falters or is injured early. Mildren has a four pitch repertoire. He works primarily off of his fastball, a good changeup and has both a slider and a curveball, but neither of his breaking balls is a plus pitch. He should get some starts in 2014, even though he's currently been assigned to the bullpen in EST. Ethan is on Twitter, and is more than willing to interact with fans and small-time podcasters from around Twins Territory. You can follow him @EMildren4040.

This week on the Talk to Contact podcast we were joined by Twins relief pitcher, Casey Fien. We discussed his professional career from a 20th round draft pick to back end member of a major league staff and everything in between, including the grounder he took off his ankle on Wednesday. And if you need a recommendation for a Thai restaurant in Uptown, Casey provides that too. Give the latest podcast a listen http://www.talktocontact.com/2014/04/episode-77-hot-dogs-and-casey-fien.html

The highlight of this week's episode is an interview conducted with the Twins relief pitcher Casey Fien. We discuss the path his career took as he made his way from a 20th round draft pick to an Opening Day roster and what his strategy is when he's out there on the mound. You can follow Casey on Twitter, @CaseyFien. You can download the new Talk to Contact (@TalkToContact) episode via iTunes or by clicking here. Besides talking to notable relief pitchers, we also spend some time "Down on the Pond" looking at the Opening Day starters for each of the Twins full-season minor league affiliates, and a hitter from each squad as well in preparation for minor league Opening Day.http://puckettspond.com/files/2014/04/casey-fien-mlb-minnesota-twins-photo-day.jpg To find out who took home the first regular season honors for Twins hitter and pitcher of the week you'll have to give us a listen, and there were actually a surprising number of candidates who've gotten the lumber out early this season despite what we've been saying all winter. Oh, and the trees are coming back to Target Field. Heck yeah! Thanks for the download. 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. Ratings and reviews have magical iTunes powers that will help Jason Kubel remember how to hit a baseball. __________________ Follow me, @BaseballPirate, on Twitter. Check out the Talk to Contact Podcast (@TalkToContact) or email the show: talktocontact@gmail.com

http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400_9433629.jpg The highlight of this week's episode is an interview conducted with the Twins relief pitcher Casey Fien. We discuss the path his career took as he made his way from a 20th round draft pick to an Opening Day roster and what his strategy is when he's out there on the mound. You can follow Casey on Twitter, @CaseyFien.Besides talking to notable relief pitchers, we also spend some time "Down on the Pond" looking at the Opening Day starters for each of the Twins full-season minor league affiliates, and a hitter from each squad as well in preparation for minor league Opening Day. To find out who took home the first regular season honors for Twins hitter and pitcher of the week you'll have to give us a listen, and there were actually a surprising number of candidates who've gotten the lumber out early this season despite what we've been saying all winter.Oh, and the trees are coming back to Target Field. Heck yeah! Source

Not being able to use the word stupid is stupid. Saying that I should avoid using the word stupid even when something is stupid is... stupid. Time to go back to baseball discussion.

As fans (short for FANATIC) we should be allowed a place to call organizational decisions stupid. I understand wanting to protect the forums from being a place where users are insulting each other, that I appreciate, but slinging mud towards the franchise on a FAN site should be allowed. Was putting Bartlett on the roster stupid? I think so. It's definitely a head scratcher. I'd take much more offense if people were throwing around terms like "retarded" or "gay" or other hot key words. Stupid? If that's offensive people should stay off the internet. I like this site. I like the users. I like the content. I just feel some of the moderation is a reach, as discussed above. And I am glad that this particular forum exists so we can have a discussion about moderation. That's a positive. If only we could get some more positive things happening on the field.

As a founding member of the unofficial Ethan Mildren fan club, I'll adopt him on behalf of the Talk to Contact podcast.