gman

I would like to see Duran get his feet wet at the major league level this year and be key part of the rotation next year. Whether that is a solid number 4 or better for his first full year. It would be great to see Duran and Balazovic fill 2 spots in that 5 man rotation in 2021.

Just my opinion. Since both Rodgers and Garver were drafted as 4 year college seniors that made them older to start their professional careers. Obviously there is a certain amount of training and learning going on with college ball. Still that 4 year age difference places them at an older "bloom" stage. I would be more apt to agree with the late bloom label if they were drafted as 18 year old high school seniors and "made it" as 28-29 year olds. In Mays case he was injured for 1 1/2 years. Hardly unusual for pitchers these days. Still it places him that much older to the point when he is considered to have succeeded.. Maybe we could set some ground rules to determine what makes a player a late bloomer.

Would you say that Kepler bloomed? He came up a year before Garver and the same year as Rodgers. I'm not sure that at this same time last year that I would say Kepler has bloomed. Or is this considered an overall age thing versus a time spent in the majors?

Do we suppose that Sano knew about moving to first base when he signed that extension?

I think the Twins should sign the best free agent defensive shortstop available. Someone who could come in the 7th inning or later. Slide Polanco over to second and Arraez to the bench. With their lineup, opportunities should arise to really nail down wins with a stronger defense and good bullpen.

Rocco proved to be a cautious manager last year in regards to resting players to keep them fresh and free as possible from nagging injuries. With Gonzalez as our super sub, as well as Adrianza et al we have a pretty strong bench. This strong a lineup also gives any rookie who could be knocking on the door an opportunity to get his feet wet without pressing to be "the star".

How long til spring training starts? Might set another record for runs scored and homers.

Lets have a spring battle for first base and 4th outfielder. We have seemingly 4 good prospects to try at these 2 positions, who may be better than anyone we can sign or trade for. Our own rookies aren't always the worst options. The same with the 4th & 5th starter position.

I like seeing Arraez bat leadoff. Which would probably only be 1 time per game. However, every other time he comes up he would bat after Buxton, assuming Buxton bats 9th.He would probably give Buxton the best opportunity to steal bases. After Buxton steals second, or gets another double, an Arraez single scores him and it wouldn't matter how far the hit goes.

Well he didn't sign with the White Sox. Or the Yankees..

I thought the same thing about comparing him to Wheeler the previous 3 years. Also, Wheeler has a history of arm problems. I am not saying Glausman is better but I could see him fitting him at #4.

Let Rooker and Raley fight it out in the spring. Someone has to bat 8th.

The thought that we have Kiriloff, Rooker, etal possibly coming makes this similar to the Schoop position last year. Arbitration is a 1 year signing.

I think you offer Cron.arbitration. He could wind up being this years Jonathan Schoop. If someone comes in and beats him out of the position, great.

Some of the numbers will depend on lineup construction. If Buxton bats 9th and Arraez bats first, then (#2) Buxton could easily get into that 50+ steal category also based on 130 games played. Arraez has the patience and skill at the plate to get Buxton more steal opportunities, whereas Kepler swung at a lot of first pitches. On the other hand anyone batting behind Buxton will probably get more first pitch fastballs, which Kepler could do more damage on but Arraez will probably still get more extra base hits thus impacting (#4). Anyway I look at this potential lineup that(#1) projection looks mighty soft.