Paul Pleiss

<img src="http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400-1796x1796+0+26_10245481.jpg" alt="itunes pic" /><br />After a week off celebrating 2014 and welcoming in 2015, the podcast crew was back together (minus a Rolf) to begin a new year of Talk to Contact radio gold. This week we make some New Year's resolutions on behalf of the Twins, to include Joe Mauer, Aaron Hicks and prayers for something (ANYTHING!) resembling a starting pitcher not named Phil Hughes. In this week's reviewing the roster segment, we take a look at the 2014 contributions of Caleb Thielbar, Ricky Nolasco and Oswaldo Arcia. We prognosticate on what 2015 will bring for the three and whether they will be a big part, or no part, of the 2015 Twins team. When we go Down on the Pond we discuss the future potential of minor league short stop Engelb Vielma, who played last season with low-A Ceder Rapids. Will he become the next great Twins star, or even crack the big league roster? And finally we spend more time than it probably deserved discussing the 2015 Hall of Fame balloting, elections and snubs. Enjoy the show. <a href="http://talk2contact.podomatic.com" class='bbc_url' rel='nofollow external'>Source</a>

An article I've been waiting all off-season to write: (Insert Twins player/prospect name) aint Harmon. fin. More than anything, I think this post just makes me wish that I would have gotten a chance to see Harmon play at the Met. My dad was lucky enough to catch a game or two there when he was a wee lad. Pretty neat.

I don't think that Polanco would move even if he hadn't had a successful, albeit very brief, MLB debut. I think the same goes for May. His body of work at AAA this season speaks for itself. If anything, I think his last seven starts for the Twins, more than his first few, are what you look at as far as possibly impacting his location on the list.

Also, I love that picture of Buxton.

Anyone able to share some of these numbers?

I dont understand why you're so low on Rosario. I think there's a better chance that we see Rosario than Sano. I may be an idiot (ask my wife), but I just don't see a way where we don't see Rosario by the seasons' end.

I'm all for not extending Brian Dozier, he's under team control for a few more years and will likely be into decline before the Twins need to lock him up and buy out any free agent years. Just keep waiting. The only reason I can see for extending Plouffe is to trade him, you turn his salary into a known commodity. Otherwise, what's the use in having Plouffe if you truly believe that Sano is the 3B of the near future? Is he a good enough hitter to be a corner OF guy? I don't think so, and I dont' think his defense would be very pretty either. Let them go year-to-year and pay the arbitrated values, no need to extend. Great piece of writing you did.

Are there any days/posts from 2013 that compete with the big days from 2014? Or has site growth, in general, pushed big days in 2014 well ahead of big days from 2013? Anything from even further back worth mentioning? Do you guys also have numbers for which post(s) have been the most hit/read this year/since the site went live?

I hope someone in the Twins front office is reading this, or something like this, and think long and hard before offering Dozier or Plouffe any sort of legthy contract.

Give me prospects, or give me death. I am excited that a lot of the names in your top 10 list are guys that have a legit shot of being a part of the 2015 Twins team. And while these guys will undoubtedly take their lumps at the MLB level, I'm excited to see them in KASOTA GOLD!

Phil Hughes' 2014 is the kind of season that gets you an extension. If Brian Dozier could have done what he did in the first half for the entire season... then yes, lock him up because it seems he's become superman... but I keep seeing far too much of Clark Kent to feel good about locking of Dozier.

WHY IS THE FRONT OFFICE SO AFRAID OF LETTING THE GUYS IN THE HIGH MINORS COME UP AND TAKE A SHOT AT GETTING OUTS? I think the present of Ervin Santana Claus and Stocking Stauffer make this team better, but I'm not sure that Stauffer is enough of an upgrade over guys already in the system to make it a good deal. I know there's no such thing as a bad one year deal... (except maybe Torii Hunter for 10.5 million.. yowzers!) Stauffer misses bats from the pen, and that's something the Twins need. Until last week I mentally thought the Twins pen was around league average for K rate... but they aren't even close to league average. You can never have enough arms... right?

Things said about Aaron Hicks "that man sure can take a walk." Everything else falls under the "if you can't say something nice, don't say anythign at all" policy. Mahalo for your kokua.

I just want the Twins to come out and tell me what the heck is going to happen to Alex Meyer in 2015. Bring him up to the big leagues and let him pitch, even if that means he has to coem out of the pen, it's time to take the kid gloves off this young man and let him see what he can do at the highest level. I'm tired of waiting. We're all tired ot waiting.

I can't wait to see Stauffer pitching in Kasota gold to start 2015 instead of Alex Meyer. This deal may make the Twins a better club on opening day, but I don't think it makes them better by the All-Star game.

You can download the new Talk to Contact (@TalkToContact) episode via iTunes or by clicking here, and if you want to add the show to your non-iTunes podcast player, this is the RSS Feed. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rZl6xXzEO6k/VJrNsvxH7yI/AAAAAAAAKds/tW7cZWGDkBk/s1600/phil-hughes.jpg Phil Hughes renegotiated a contract adding three more years to his deal and keeping him in Minnesota through 2019. This was such a momentous occasion that we asked the Twins Hangouts fellas, Seth Stohs and Jeremy Nygaard, to join us. I'll warn you up front that E Rolf had his potty mouth out again, and that the beer was flowing on the podcast, so if you have children, or sensitive grandparents in the room, you may want to go elsewhere to listen. We talk about Phil's new contract, and try to figure out exactly what the Twins acquisition of Tim Stauffer means for the organization going into 2015. For starters it means that Eric Fryer has been removed from the 40-man roster, but that might not be such a bad thing, depending on who you ask. We discuss the recent minor league manager assignments, and some other minor league news before jumping into our winter series reviewing the roster. This week we take a look at Casey Fien, Lester Oliveros and Eduardo Escobar. Thanks for listening and enjoy our show. [/url] If you enjoy our podcast, please tell your friends about us and take a couple extra minutes and rate and review us on iTunes. Ratings and reviews help us put toppings on our toast, and we love toast with toppings! Source

You can download the new Talk to Contact (@TalkToContact) episode via iTunes or by clicking here, and if you want to add the show to your non-iTunes podcast player, this is the RSS Feed. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rZl6xXzEO6k/VJrNsvxH7yI/AAAAAAAAKds/tW7cZWGDkBk/s1600/phil-hughes.jpg Phil Hughes renegotiated a contract adding three more years to his deal and keeping him in Minnesota through 2019. This was such a momentous occasion that we asked the Twins Hangouts fellas, Seth Stohs and Jeremy Nygaard, to join us. I'll warn you up front that E Rolf had his potty mouth out again, and that the beer was flowing on the podcast, so if you have children, or sensitive grandparents in the room, you may want to go elsewhere to listen. We talk about Phil's new contract, and try to figure out exactly what the Twins acquisition of Tim Stauffer means for the organization going into 2015. For starters it means that Eric Fryer has been removed from the 40-man roster, but that might not be such a bad thing, depending on who you ask. We discuss the recent minor league manager assignments, and some other minor league news before jumping into our winter series reviewing the roster. This week we take a look at Casey Fien, Lester Oliveros and Eduardo Escobar. Thanks for listening and enjoy our show.

I love that the Twins organization is deep with talent such that Max Kepler is not a top ten prospect. That is awesome.

Bring back the trees. Other than Morenau, I don't remember any players complaining about them, at least not any Twins players. They did bring some trees back in 2014. So that's a start. I enjoyed the links you had in your piece, especially the one about the AC in the dome, i hadn't read that before.

You had a lot of your 40-man decisions correct. I'm not sure I agree that Nunez could offer any value above replacement level as a utility or part time player. If SanDana plays SS and Escobar is your utiltiy guy, what's the point of Nunez? He's a bad hitting, poor fielding 2nd string utility guy on this ball club. I don't know why the Twins offered him arbitration, and I don't know how he makes this club out of spring training.

I like what both you and Parker are talking about here. The Twins shouldn't be worried about fielding a $100mil team. I think $125 is a reasonable expectation. The Twins, I believe, need to go out and find a veteran to play CF for a year, maybe 2. Yes, Byron Buxton is coming, but he's not here, and he may never be, as terrible as that sounds, and as much as I am an Aaron Hicks homer, 2 years after the experiment begun, do we think the third time will be the charm? Will Torii Hunter's alleged club house magic help Aaron Hicks see the light and become the player we all dreamed about after his breakout AA season? I don't like the idea of spending money just to spend money, but I feel like to some degree the Twins need to continue to throw money at their problems while they have money to spend. This roster isn't going to be expensive for a few seasons unless they bring in FA help, and I think that's exactly what they should be doing.

I think everyone wants a Kershaw or a Scherzer at the front of their rotation. But just a few years ago everyone wanted a Verlander too... and I'm not sure that's always the best way to handle it. I would love for the Twins to go sign Scherzer or Shields and give the club a legit front of the rotation as a 1-2 punch with Hughes, but I'm not holding my breath, and I'm not even sure it makes sense for this club. Let's give Hughes a chance to prove that 2014 was not a year long fluke. He was ace-like. Maybe it's time we give him credit for becoming one. As far as waiting for Meyer/Berrios et all to become an "ace" you can't keep waiting forever. I know we all dream big on the young arms coming up through the system, and Berrios could turn out to be the best of them all, but let's also be thankful for the guys that are at the MLB level right now that have the potential to be very good. Kyle Gibson very well may continue to make progress to becoming the pitcher we all used to dream he would become. He made huge strides from 2013 to 2014. If he can do that again this season he is a solid #3 starter. Trevor May showed at the end of 2014 that when his stuff was on he could be a strikeout king. Maybe he can get his nerves under control and be that guy every 5th day. Throw in Santana and a hopefully resurgent Nolasco and all of a sudden we are talking about an above average rotation. I think that right now, more than anything else, this team needs to improve their OF defense. Yes, Byron Buxton is on the way, but with Arcia and Hunter manning the corner spots this team is in trouble. Hicks/Schafer should be able to cover some extra ground, but Hicks especially, hasn't shown the ability to play servicable CF defense. Bad OF defense is going to make all the improvements in the pitching staff look a little worse. This team scored a lot of runs last season. Can they figure out how to keep the other team from doing the same?

I want you to be wrong Bill, so wrong. I really like Goodrum. I also like good rum. Which maybe explains why I'm still so high on Goodrum.

"Making a list, checking it twice. Terry Ryan got what he thought was nice." A nice turn of phrase.

I think Aaron Hicks will play 120+ games at CF. He doesn't need to get fixed. He's a human being. Maybe an attitude adjustment, maybe just another chance. I don't know, but he'll play at the MLB level, and that makes him a major league player. Everyone loves to talk about how Torii is a great clubhouse guy and a mentor. If that's the case, then Hicks should be on the way to getting "fixed" (but not losing his balls like my poor dog, Alfred).