Tom Froemming

Twins Almanac is great because I get to learn about Twins history and shop for baseball cards (just added that Cuddyer Heritage card to my watch list).

The poll is still open, but I'm calling it early. Congrats to Ryan LaMarre!

Get your head outta the gutter! Sire as in a man of rank or authority. ... dastardly indeed.

The Twins play their final game in Fort Myers this afternoon, which means it’s time to name the 2018 Sire of Fort Myers. The crown has been shined, the cape dry cleaned and the scepter, uh ... scepted? Who decides who’s worthy of the title? The people, of course.So, what the heck is the Sire of Fort Myers? Well, it’s my ripoff of the Mr. Mankato moniker people who covered the Vikings invented to acknowledge the unheralded player who had the most impressive training camp. Good luck coming up with a new name for 2018, by the way. Mr. Eagan just doesn’t quite have the same ring to it. Anyway, how do we define unheralded? Well, I decided that anyone who was either not on the 40-man roster or hasn’t played in the major leagues yet qualified. And just to be clear, this is all about the player’s performance in spring training. It’s not about who is most likely to break camp with the team or who has the most potential. Without further adieu, here are the four players on the Sire of Fort Myers ballot: Ryan LaMarre This guy has been a beast. He’s hitting .487/.512/.795 (1.306 OPS) in 43 plate appearances and leads the Twins in virtually every offensive category. The starting outfield is obviously set, plus Robbie Grossman and Zack Granite are also on the 40-man roster. Over the winter, the front office brought in Chris Heisey, a veteran of nearly 700 MLB games, and Nick Buss, who was the Pacific Coast League batting champ last year. As if that wasn’t enough competition, they also recently traded for outfielder Jake Cave, who ranked second in the International League with a .554 slugging percentage (min. 250 PAs) last season. And yet here LaMarre is, still in camp with the big club. Seth wrote an excellent piece profiling LaMarre and his quest to crack the Opening Day roster. Fernando Romero El Toro’s time in big league camp as short, but oh boy was it sweet. Romero threw eight no-hit innings, struck out eight batters and issued just one walk before being optioned to the minors to get stretched out for the season. Romero, Twins Daily’s No. 2 prospect, recorded strikeouts against MLB regulars Caleb Joseph, Tim Beckham and Adam Jones in his first appearance and just kept rolling from there. LaMonte Wade Speaking of the crowded outfield situation this spring, Wade was another guy in that mix and he arrived at Fort Myers as advertised. Despite ranking 18th on the team in plate appearances, the notoriously-patient Wade led the Twins with eight walks this spring and hit .304/.469/.391 (.860 OPS) before being sent over to minor league camp. Nick Gordon Gordon’s never going to be the biggest guy on the field, but there was nothing skinny about this kid’s slugging percentage while he was in big league camp. He slugged a healthy .636, which was bested by only LaMarre and Miguel Sano among Twins hitters with at least 10 at bats. He had some sketchy moments at shortstop early on, but made some slick plays at second base prior to being reassigned to the minor league side of camp. Honorable Mentions D.J. Baxendale was a surprise candidate for the crown who emerged. Baxendale pitched five shutout innings and racked up six strikeouts this spring. Among his punchout victims were MLB regulars Josh Harrison, Gregory Polanco and Trey Mancini. Baxendale, the 2017 Killebrew Award winner for the Rochester Red Wings, gave up just three hits and did not walk a batter. Tyler Kinley showed impressive stuff and struck out 12 batters in 11 innings. Zack Littell gave up just one run over five frames to go with eight strikeouts. Jake Reed also surrendered just one run over six innings and had eight Ks. Brock Stassi hit .375/.464/.417. Willians Astudillo ... did you see that no-look pickoff throw? What about (this guy)? Remember, the players who are both on the 40-man roster and have already played in the majors (like Gabriel Moya and Ehrie Adrianza) are not eligible. Now it’s time to vote! Click here to view the article

Thanks Nick. I'm definitely guilty of that too. I think as a whole, Twins fans got so used to things going poorly over this most recent downturn that it's easy to flip into that doom and gloom mode anytime the littlest thing doesn't break right. Hopefully we're at a point now where some of that conditioning will start to fade away.

Thanks again everyone. Semi-colon? What am I, a doctor? Just kidding, of course I know what a semi-colon is. That's Bartolo Colon's other nickname, right? Because he's big like a semi truck.

We here at Twins Daily have basically been previewing the 2018 season for months now. If you’ve let yourself fall behind, no need to worry, there’s always time for a cram session. Here is a collection of articles that have been published this offseason that will help you prepare for Opening Day.You think you’re ready for the season? Not until you read all 50 of these articles. OK, that’s not true, but I think you’ll enjoy these: Latest News No Suspension For Miguel Sano | Seth Stohs Opening Day Roster Coming Clear With Thursday Transactions | Seth Stohs Twins with One Spot Left | Ted Schwerzler Jake Odorizzi Named Opening Day Starter | Cody Christie On the Division/Schedule Report From The Fort: The Twins Strength Of Schedule | John Bonnes Report From The Fort: How Weak Is The Al Central? | John Bonnes Minnesota's Wild Card Competition | Cody Christie Scouting Target Field’s Biggest Games of 2018 | Tom Froemming Lists! Top Ten Twins Players Under 25 (1-5) | Cody Christie Top Ten Twins Players Under 25 (6-10) | Cody Christie The Top 20 Minnesota Twins Assets: Part 4 (1-5)| Nick Nelson The Top 20 Minnesota Twins Assets: Part 3 (6-10) | Nick Nelson The Top 20 Minnesota Twins Assets: Part 2 (11-15)| Nick Nelson The Top 20 Minnesota Twins Assets: Part 1 (16-20) | Nick Nelson Depth Charts Position Analysis: Catcher | Nick Nelson Position Analysis: First Base | Nick Nelson Position Analysis: Second Base | Nick Nelson Position Analysis: Third Base | Nick Nelson Position Analysis: Shortstop | Nick Nelson Position Analysis: Left Field | Nick Nelson Position Analysis: Center Field | Nick Nelson Position Analysis: Right Field | Nick Nelson Position Analysis: Designated Hitter | Nick Nelson Catcher Report From The Fort: Can Confidence Carry Garver To Success? | Nick Nelson Backstop Battery Becoming an Asset | Ted Schwerzler Video: Slowing Things Down To See Jason Castro’s Silent Skill | Tom Froemming Infield Ehire Of Hope: Can Adrianza Seize A Prime Opportunity? | Nick Nelson What Needs To Happen For Joe Mauer To Be A Twin In 2019? | Andrew Thares Report From The Fort: Joe Mauer Will Give Up Hitting When You Pry The Bat From His Cold Dead Hand | John Bonnes Report From The Fort: Logan Morrison Is Staying Quiet (For Once) | John Bonnes That’s Offensive: Did Morrison’s Signing Fix Minnesota’s Biggest Flaw? | Cody Christie Brian Dozier: I'll Be A Free Agent | John Bonnes Outfield The (Temporary) Luxury Of The Best Defender On Earth | Nick Nelson Eddie Rosario And The Battle For Plate Discipline | Jamie Cameron Not So Fast: Is Eddie Rosario Already Losing a Step? | Tom Froemming Will Max Kepler Take the Next Step in 2018? | Tom Froemming Starting Pitching Report From The Fort: Time For Jose Berrios To Take Control | Nick Nelson Report From The Fort: Learning About Lance Lynn | Nick Nelson Report From The Fort: Jake Odorizzi Is Better Than You Think | John Bonnes Getting Rid Of The Bad Odor Might Be Izzi | Cody Christie Don't Panic Over Bad Breaks For Twins Rotation | Nick Nelson Adalberto Mejia: High Floor or More? | Jamie Cameron Twins Sign RHP Michael Pineda | Seth Stohs Hopes And Plans For Trevor May | Seth Stohs Can Phil Hughes Surprise Us? | Nick Nelson Expectations For New Pitching Coach Garvin Alston | Cody Christie Bullpen Report From The Fort: Fernando Rodney Relishes Your Pain | John Bonnes Get To Know Rule 5 Pick Tyler Kinley | Seth Stohs Can Addison Reed Become Minnesota's Bullpen Ace? | Nick Nelson The Minnesota Twins, Zach Duke and Best Practices | Parker Hageman Can Ryan Pressly Put It All Together? | Jamie Cameron Thursday at 2:05 pm CT, the Twins will open the regular season in Baltimore. We made it. Are you ready? Click here to view the article

Depends on what you're asking. Full time in terms of time commitment, or in terms of pay? Just kidding No, it is not a full-time job.

Thanks everybody! I regret to inform you that I will only be doing something like 150 of the game recaps this season (I'll find people to fill in the dozen or so games I miss).

I like the enthusiasm going on here, but I'm with Cody on this one. On paper, Cleveland is still a decent margin above the Twins. They lost a couple pieces, yes, but they were 17 games better than the Twins last year and did bring in some replacements. Yonder Alonso was actually a better hitter than Carlos Santana last season, and while losing Bryan Shaw hurts, they still have Cody Allen, Andrew Miller and a few more solid arms in the pen.

Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press reported this morning that Tyler Duffey and Alan Busenitz have been optioned to Triple-A Rochester, providing some clarity on who may fill out the Opening Day pitching staff. These cuts leave just 13 active pitchers remaining in Twins camp.Duffey has logged 262.0 innings for the Twins over the past three seasons, making 36 starts over the 2015-16 seasons before shifting to the bullpen for 56 appearances last season. He was being stretched out this spring, having pitched 12.2 innings over five official appearances. Alan Busenitz was a pleasant surprise last season, pitching to a 1.99 ERA and 0.98 WHIP over 28 games with the Twins. He had a 7.27 ERA in nine games this spring, but also struck out 11 batters over 8.2 innings. These moves seem to indicate that there is a very high likelihood that both Phil Hughes and Rule 5 pick Tyler Kinley will make the Opening Day roster. Hughes is coming off his second thoracic outlet syndrome procedure, but he's owed $13.2 million this season and can refuse a minor league assignment. Kinley has only made eight appearances in Triple-A, but if he doesn't break camp with the Twins he would be offered back to the Miami Marlins. For more on Kinley's chase to make the roster, check this article from Cody: Clock's Ticking: The Tyler Kinley Decision. Click here to view the article

This sucks. I'll give Polanco the benefit of the doubt and believe his story, but if this is really the case teams really need to start doing a better job of monitoring who these guys are working with in the offseason and what they're putting into their bodies. You're a professional athlete. It's not a mystery what substances are and are not legal. Get it together.

Unless there is a medical issue, I would expect Hildenberger to break camp with the Twins. La Velle wrote up a nice update on Hildy and what he's been working on. Kinley's status probably has more to do with things like whether or not they go with a five man rotation, where Tyler Duffey and Phil Hughes end up and how many guys Molitor wants available on the bench.

I can't believe Guzman is going to be 40.

The Twins will play their final game in Fort Myers a week from today. Can you believe it? The regular season is right around the corner, which also means we’re heading into the final leg of competition for Sire of Fort Myers.In case you missed it, here’s my introductory post regarding the title of Sire of Fort Myers. Basically, the goal is to crown the player who had the most impressive spring. The caveat being that player has to either have never played in the major leagues or not be on the 40-man roster. This is not about identifying the player most likely to break camp with the team, or the player who has the highest upside. It’s all about performance. The mantra this time of year is “spring training stats don’t matter.” That’s definitely in the case of established major leaguers, but there are some players who have something to gain from a strong spring. Earlier this week, the Twins added another candidate for the crown into the fold. New Twin Jake Cave qualifies, since he has yet to appear in the majors. Cave was acquired from the Yankees in exchange for 19-year-old pitcher Luis Gil. Cave went 0-for-3 in his spring debut with the Twins and was hitting just .158/.304/.211 with the Yankees. So while he’s a technically a candidate, he’s not a contender at this time. Who is? Well, here’s what I figure are the top five frontrunners for Sire of Fort Myers. Ryan LaMarre This guy has been incredible. LaMarre is hitting .500 with a slugging percentage of .857. He’s leading the team in hits, total bases, RBIs and runs scored. Among all hitters with at least 30 plate appearances this spring, LaMarre’s 1.357 OPS ranks 11th. Back in 2014, LaMarre successfully recovered from the same surgery that Miguel Sano is recovering from this spring. Fernando Romero Wow. Romero has logged eight no-hit innings in big league camp with eight strikeouts against just one walk. He was optioned to minor league camp, so it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll appear in another office spring game, but he still has to be considered among the favorites. How does Romero fit into the big picture? Cody did an excellent job of addressing that question earlier this week. LaMonte Wade Wade is getting plenty of looks down in Fort Myers, despite the fact that the Twins have no lack of outfield options in camp. The only non-roster player with more plate appearances than Wade are former major leaguers Chris Heisey and Gregorio Petit. Wade is hitting an impressive .304/.469/.391 and has a team-high eight walks. Nick Gordon Another key contributor to last year’s Chattanooga Lookouts club, Gordon has also been making the most of his opportunities. He’s hitting .409/.435/.636 and is tied for fourth on the team in total bases. He’s been making hard contact all spring and has flashed his speed on the basepaths, hitting a pair of triples. Tyler Kinley Kinley is getting a lot of work this spring, which is no surprise given the fact he was a Rule 5 pick. Only six pitchers have topped his eight innings pitched, and he’s second on the team with nine strikeouts. His near triple-digit fastball and 90 mph slider have turned heads, but he has also walked five batters and given up seven hits in eight innings pitched. Just Missed Erick Aybar is hitting .296/.321/.407 and looks like he has plenty left in the tank. He figures to get a lot of playing time in the final week of spring. Brock Stassi has had a strong showing, hitting .429/.500/.476. Bobby Wilson, favorite to fill the third catcher spot, hit a home run off Masahiro Tanaka. Zack Littell looked great, but with just five innings pitched he’s on the outside looking in. Jake Reed has a 1.50 ERA and eight strikeouts over six innings, but he also has a 1.82 WHIP. Here’s a package of highlights from the past couple weeks of spring training action, featuring a couple of these Sire of Fort Myers candidates. Someone who hasn’t been mentioned yet is catcher Willians Astudillo. He has just a .330 OPS in 16 plate appearances, but you gotta see the no-look pickoff, which is featured at about the 15-second mark. Click here to view the article

If we go single/double/triple, why is a home run not a quadruple? A grand slam can be a 4x4

Did you know that marine scientists are making an effort to replace the name starfish with sea star? Neither did I, but these are the kinds of things you learn when you have a toddler (who decided it’s so important to know all the animals and what sounds they make?) Anyway, maybe it’s also time for us baseballogists to review the game’s nomenclature. The purpose behind renaming the starfish is due to the fact that it’s not, in fact, a fish at all. Per National Geographic, sea stars are more closely related to sea urchins and sand dollars. Makes sense, right? It seems to me like we could apply that same logic to the following terms: Baseball: Let’s just start right at the top. Calling the game baseball makes sense, but calling the actual ball itself a baseball? That’s ludacris if you really think about it. If anything, it should be called a seam ball. Or, the way things are going lately, maybe a space ball. Foul line/foul pole: If you hit one of these two things, it’s a fair ball. So why not just call them the fair line and fair pole? No hitter: This one works, but I always felt like maybe it’s too on the nose. You don’t call a shutout a no runner or a no scoresy. No-no is pretty solid, but how about we start calling them blankers? This has a double meaning: 1) The pitcher has put up nothing but blanks on the scoreboard, and 2) The opposing hitters probably spent the entire game saying “mother (blank)-er” to themselves. Instant replay: Replay. Batting average: Hit percentage. “Batting average” isn’t nearly as descriptive as its brethren in the triple slash line (on-base percentage and slugging percentage). Lineup card: Beat writer photo bait. Extra innings: This will remain the term for major league baseball, but in the minor leagues this will now be referred to as the “Intentional Walk and Bunt Showcase.” Hall of Fame: National Museum of Baseball. In very fine print under that would be listed “also includes the Hall of Baseball Writers’ Popularity Club.” Sacrifice Bunt: Sacrifice out. Productive out: Advancing out. The productivity part of it is highly subjective. Scoring position: This term is still considered current, but Byron Buxton’s ability to score from first base has caused this to be transitioned into the “under review” stage. Small ball: This term is also currently under review. If the baseballs continue to be juiced, this will be updated to “bad-idea ball.” Umpire: This is still current, but in a transitional stage. Preparations are being made to change this to either Mr. Roboto, Johnny 5 or RoboCop. That’s all I could come up with for now, but it is your duty as a fellow baseballogist to contribute to this project. Please offer up your own update suggestions in the comments. Have something more to say? Perfect! Start your own blog here at Twins Daily.

Yes, Cave is on the 40-man. Here's the language used on the team's press release: "To make room for Cave on the 40-man roster, the Twins have designated first baseman Kennys Vargas for release or assignment."

Great stuff here. The audio quality is really solid, even on the clip you had from Falvey.

I think this article and a lot of the early comments are on point. It was great to see Joe have a renaissance season, but he's still a replaceable commodity, especially if this shift in the free agent market is going to continue. His OBP and defense (still getting over how badly he was robbed in the Gold Glove voting), make Joe particularly valuable to this team, but seeing Logan Morrison have to settle for the deal he did has to be an eye opener. Mauer is a franchise icon, will be in the Twins Hall of Fame and there will probably be a No. 7 gate one day, but I don't see any reason the front office should address his future until next offseason. So many of the other pieces influence Mauer's future/fit on this team. I hope enough of those boxes are checked that we see him back in 2019, but the folks in charge have every incentive to see how things play out.

I guess those comp balance picks are protected. Lynn is signing with the Twins and everyone is confirming that info from spycake, that they'll give up the No. 95 pick. Works for me.