Rosterman

Yeah, good list. I seem to recall Terry Ryan praising Joe Benson as the second-coming, a real deal. Angel Morales sorta disappeared. Hicks is questionable and shouldn't be. Parmelee was a surprise, and is still a surprise. The number of players from this 50-man list (some still coming) that will make the majors is...mind-boggling. 3-5 maybe, and not all with the Twins?

When you start looking at unhealthy pitchers, you start looking at Pelfrey-ish starters to bring into camp. Why not add Johan Santana to the list. Instead you look at decent starters that just had a bad year with a contending team, or a starter that had bad support in their own ballpark. And you must scout them to see beyond their 5-16 record and 5.00 ERA. That's finding a diamond-in-the-rough to take a chance on, and the Twins did take a chance on Hughes, for $8 million. Milone was another guy they took a chance on, and may take an additional chance that he WAS injured last year, and at a cost of some $3 million (and Sam Fuld). I really don't see any names leaping out at me that other teams will pass on, or not take as big of a gamble on as the Twins did with Hughes (three years, most would give him one).

Tony Oliva! But it does help, especially from those that make the jump without going thru any of the academy settings. But, how do they handle themselves in Elizabethton and Cedar Rapids and Chattanooga and Rochester, New York. On the major league level, you should at least have a player personnel person who hangs around before and after the game when players do press, and also available for continued learning as each seasons rolls.

wait...Kenny Chesney? Can I get tickets, be first in line...oh, I have to buy a season ticket package to even be offered some. Dang!

Spring Training will shake things out. Do the Twins find a left fielder. Is Aaron Hicks sound. Does Escobar AND Santana light up the grapefruit league and you find a place for both. Is Nunez still on the 40-man. Escobar is a bargain as a backup, and no need to extend him, just go year-to-year.He is better than nothing, so far, but is truly replaceable as more prospects come forth...Polanco for example. Again, depends on what the Twins do about a bat for left field, but I would be happy if Hicks shines, Santana is at short, and Escobar is around to play middle infield or 3B if someone goes down and we have to bring up a Beresford or someone as a replacement utility guy, although if Santana would go down, I see Polanco getting more at bats. And, who knows, Sano may slug out Plouffe and take over third, pushing Plouffe into a battle with Arcia and Vargas for at bats.

If the Twins are seriously going to pursue a free agent (or two), then the players in question are not worth the monies, if the Twins are holding fast to their payroll figure of, say, $85. If the Twins are NOT going to pursue any free agent above and beyond a mid or low level name, then go ahead and negotiate arbitration on ALL the players. Swarzak and Duensing should be trade chips (and if you had even an inkling of not keeping them, they should've both been traded for something, anything, last July). Nunez (and even Schafer) are replacable players, but both were adequate producers last season and the only reason to keep them would be that they fulfill the backup positions you need and the bench that you could use. I would rather have them, at the moment, than say Beresford and Reynaldo Rodriguez on the bench. Milone is an interesting case. He's a lefty. Would you keep him, say, over the more expensive Duensing to fil the same role in the bullpen, a long relief guy who could also step in and start (wait, Duensing became a short guy last year...what!!!!!). So, it all boils down to numbers. Pretty much ALL the Twins arbitration guys (maybe not Fien or even Plouffe) if thrown into the free agent market would make more than they can in arbitration. Which is the pain of the system. Of course, arbitration rewards you for what you have done, in the past few years, for the team you play for. SO that evens out. But unless you truly want to stay with the team and take, perhaps less monies, you say bye-bye and face the real world that may give you an equally low paycheck next year and another release after the following season.

Debt retirement is not my problem, it is yours. Who did you borrow the money from and how you need to pay it back is a decision you made. If you make a profit and can pay it back sooner rather than later, are we supposed to jump up and down with joy that you are saving money on your investment? If you can't make a payment, I believe you have enough invested to borrow even more, especially since you run a bank. I seem to remember mumblings that Pohlad Dad had leveraged the Twins with the largest outstanding debt that major league baseball would allow him to handle. Better to have the cash and invest in other things, than to pay off what you have...sometimes. You don't lose money on debt in business...you write it off against profits in the long run.

I don't totally disagree with this concept, but the team does have to spend and take all the chances possible if they want to out-perform in the TC Market. They have to want my ticket purchase, my ear for the radio, my eyes on the television, my need to wear the logo on a hat and a player name on my back. What do they have to do to outperform in the TC Market. They have to win, they have to spin a favorable image, they have to make eye contact, they have to shake hands and get people out into the community more now than ever. There is a pretty diehard base of 10-13,000 season ticket holders. But where did the other 12,000 go and why. How do you get them back. Oh, and yes, the Twins do spend some of their kept 50% on bettering the organization as a whole - minor league facilities, more money on draft picks and such. They can only make so much profit without having to pay more on profits. Anything they can spend internally is a tax blessing, and some even increases the bottom-line worth of the organization. But, again, Target Field was approved and built to make the Twins more competitive, to push them into and keep them in the upper tier of teams due to quality of play, naming rights, more club seats and suites, advertising control and such. But it sounds like that unless the bodies do come, we can return to Metrodome-like rankings amongst baseball's business. I never did like the Target Field Marketing. But somehow it worked. And combined with the play of the team, if outperformed their expectations.

But you also run the risk of someone else gabbing Dougie for a spot if you wait too long, too. But, we also have the Jake Mauer factor to consider down the road, too.

And, it seems, that the Twins are always a bit behind in the "make an offer" stage. The thinking is that a top flight pitcher is $12-14 million, when reality is that they are now $16-20 million. And maybe they thought Nolasco was one of the best pitchers on the market, rather than in the middle of the pack (everyone thought Garza and Santana would sign for more). And Nolasco, like Corria the year before, jumped at what they thought was a good offer. You have to give Ryan credit for making offers to these guys, although when they did happen (and not after the fact), the support of such offers by folks on this board were "hat is he thinking." And the days of making an initial offer and hoping for negotiation seems to have passed when doing business for the new year begins. You put the best you can out there, and then the discussion is just over the years of the contract (multiply the $$$ of the average year). Baseball is a strange and foolish business. Only so many teams can absorb a $20+ million contract each season. Only so many players will be able to get $10 million or more before the wells start to dry up. ALL teams have roster considerations, from prospects to players on the rise, to grizzled old contracts that they wish they didn't have...but paying for the guy, so we have to do something with him. But back to the above comment. Yes, Ryan seems to be that guy at the auction house that makes the opening bid. Someone raises his offer. While he is thinking about offering a dollar more, ten other people raise the bar at least 30%. But a least he can say he made an offer.

The Twins don't want to hire a manager for just a season or two, yet they might, and that might be the reason to have Molitor. Almost like looking at the major league roster, the Twins don't have a lot of immediate spur-of-the-moment contingencies for replacements is something happens to someone. They tend to play safe grooming people for jobs. That is one reason they fill their minor league rosters with free agents, who can step into the majors if the call came, instead of pushing forward a prospect, more often than not. Who would the Twins bring in if they needed a new president. Would they pay $35 million to bring in someone from outside? Are they totally grooming Anthony to be the next GM, or is Krivinsky the man to go to for short-term? If they bring in someone from outside, what happens to the field staff. I found it interesting that Ryan wants a say in coaches. How do you hire a coach? Which ones are the msot valuable to be on the same track as the manager? Molitor was a coach under Gardy, but he was an add-on to offer a different perspective than the majority of the other guys, some just doing their jobs like Cuellar, Steinbach, holdovers Ullger and Vavra) and some bring new insight, Bruno. Would I want to be Moltitor and told we want Mienkiewicz up, kinda a manager in training, as it seems you may not want this job for a decade? No more so than hiring Dougie and having Jake Mauer on staff as a manager in training. Both Molitor, and especially Mientkiewicz, have worked with more than enough players, even had passing professional relationships with many, that they should be able to cull together a wonderful team...an extension of themselves, not just an extension of management of the organization. Man, if the Twins went outside and had 6 coaches that have never been a Twins uniform. They would panic. If the team loses again next season, they would never ever do that again (that we suspect). Better to play it safe. But still, what happens if we get a new general manager. What happens if we get a new president. What happens if the Saints outdraw the Twins in real people in the stands?

http://m.twins.mlb.com/news/article/99486764/twins-re-sign-mark-hamburger-six-others-to-minors-deals Hamburger, Oritz, Tony Thomas, Salcedo, Mike Gonzales, Jario and Reynaldo Rodriguez resigned.

What to do with Plouffe. My own long range thoughts, he loses the job in 2015 and becomes a super utility guy for the Twins. But he will also make around $5 million, be eligible for $7-8 in 2016, and if he gets any kind of playing time, break $10 million in arbitration in 2017. Holy Cow. The Twins cannot afford to keep him, but right now he has value coming out of spring training if anyone NEEDS a third baseman. Let them worry about arbitration. Sano will need to come up in 2015. But the Twins have no stopgap, unless you call him Escobar. Or if they bring back Nunez. And that may be the main reason to keep Nunez around for now, in case the Twins do wish to move Plouffe. I wished the Twins had added Debinson to the 40-man for September and gave him a 10-12 game looksee, especially since Plouffe did go down. Deb Romero would be smart and resign with the Twins with the knowledge that he may have the best short opportunity ever to make the major leagues with the Twins this coming season, or even out of spring training if he shines like he did last time. It is nice to see that the Twins MAY have some other choices: Haar, Goodrum, possibly Harrison, or at least one of the other five low minor league guys, as the general consensus (shades of Pedro Sandoval) is that Sano won;t stay at third. It would be nice to get to 2018 without a position change for Sano, but e will see. Do the Twins keep Plouffe. Is it worthwhile to sign him to a 3-4 year deal for $20-26 million, mainly to be a backup at third, first or the outfield (and maybe short...a super Denny Hocking). Or can we restock some positions with his value to another club and just call it a wash and if we ever want him back, get him at a much reduced single or duo year deal down-the-line. Escobar is now looking like a longtime signing just for his utility value. Is that something the Twins should also consider? Plouffe or Escobar. Who would you keep going towards 2016/2017.

I found it interesting the remarks about setting a coaching staff. The manager is the on-field boss, but the guys he surrounds himself with give their input and also have long leashes on doing the respective jobs so the manager doesn't have to do it all. The need to hire a field manager and the staff selected will impact the Twins from the top all the way down to the rookie league. There's at least three names from this year's coaching staff that could remain. There's three names of guys you could easily keep in the organization, from hitting instruction, to field manager, to roaming coach. There 2-4 guys I would consider for major league spots in the minors for sure, amongst them Dougie, Jake, Gene, Tommy. Even Sam Perlozzo would be a good choice for a bench coach. You could argue that the Twins could elevate Artega or Hernandez to the bullpen coach position, or bring in Ray Smith or Jeff Reed after their long tenure with the Twins. But any of these guys has to work with the new manager, be he in-house or out-house. I get the impression that the Twins still want someone who will keep the Twins Way going forward, not create ripples in a system already in place, but compliment it. And any other outside candidates will also be considered for other jobs in the Twins organization, or with the current field staff, if they wanted to jump ship our way. Is the December Winter Meetings the time that you need to have your field staff totally set? I think you can continue to make some deletions without field management approval, as well as add the necessary folks to the 40-man. You can also sign lots of non-roster players, who sort themselves out in spring training anyways. The big thing is to be able to set you AAA, AA and both A-ball staffs. Anyone catch that they hired Valezquez to be a pitching coach in the rookie league?

May and Darnell in the bullpen. Oliveros is out of options, right? Let Meyer start at Roch ester and see what happens. Maybe Pelfrey is right for the pen, too. Soft throwers like Pressley and Thompson and Thielbar are fodder, Achter and Burdi and major pluses in the wings. The Twins can afford to go arbitration with Swarzak and Duensing if they have the 40-man spots. Question is can they get value for them if the need is not there as spring training winds down. Fien should've been sold high in July/August. Possible he will be Burton of 2015. And why was Burton deemed closer when Perkins went down. Better to se anyone who would pitch in 2016 or 2016.

The thing is...it is only money. And the more money you have, the bigger mistakes you can make going towards a payoff that could, basically, wipe out your losses. The Twins signed Mauer, made him a franchise player (like Puckett before). If you take his salary out of the payroll equation and call him goodwill or marketing, which is really what it was and is and will be if he doesn't totally tank, you have more money. What, the last four years the Twins were paying Pelfrey, Blackburn, Baker, Nathan to pitch nothing for the team This happens. You plan for it. You absorb it. You jettison it at some point if you can and make it someone else's problem. You cut Pelfrey after spring training if he isn't ready. Don't send him to Rochester to block someone else. He's not in the plans or 2016. Do you keep throwing Nolasco out there just because he is owed money, and not play the rooked who is shining and the true future? Management has to eat crow, be willing to admit mistakes and move forward. Our management makes mistakes and seems to say "we are not going to overspend on first round draft picks," "we got burned on Japan and won't do that again," "we listened to fans and spent on free agents and look what happened, we won't do that ever again," "one of our guys is a free agent and he should take a hometeam discount because he shined for us and was vastly underpaid the past six years." Better yet: "Lock-in to your 2015 season ticket package and you'll get free $1 dome dogs at every game, ketchup extra though." When you make profits, you can gamble, for sure, with those profits. You may lose, but you may win.

With the Twins roster in its current state, all three, along with a catcher, would basically be the Twins bench, with Escobar at shortstop, Santana in centerfield and someone/anyone in leftfield. They would provide adequate protection for the infield and outfield. But, and here's my kicker, none of them SHOULD be a starter if someone goes down...give that job to any prospect, not matter how young of inexperienced, until the starter returns. And still, it is not a great bench. On paper, you have some punch in Parmelee, average getting on base Nunez, and speed in Schafer. If all three were one player, you would have a nice starter somewhere. But ALL THREE can be replaced by any number of other players cut at the last moment, that 26th or 41st guy. What hurts Nunez and Schafer is arbitration. How much are they worth. And do you expect to keep them around in 2016? Will they play and perform enough in 2015 that they can be traded for another piece of a mid-level prospect. Can you save a half million by having a odriguez in the outfield, or a Beresford in the infield, and still have the same results...solid journeyman performance with limited at bats. Again, none of these guys should supplant a regular or stop a prospect from play if a regular goes down. That is what bench and utility guys on last place teams do. They collect experience and time towards a higher payday while someone else holds down the fort. All three will remain on the 40-man, but any could be gone if the Twins sign a free agent.

Colabello will be cut from the 40-man before November roster is finalized. He just might resign as a free agent with the Twins. He has hit well at AAA. Parmelee remains on the 40-man until the Twins sign a free agent, any free agent. Then he could be expendable. If Colabello doesn't stay as a minors free agent, the Twins need to find someone for Rochester. Gonzales is interesting. Not quite ready for AAA. Not a need on the 40-man. Would he resign and start at AA. That would solve some problems. The Twins have to make a decision on what to do with Kepler, who has to come to the team in 2016, play a reserve role in 2017, and stay forever after that...as the new first baseman, perhaps? Shows the pain of adding players to the 40-man when they still need a lot of seasoning. Because of the monies tied up in him, the Twins fear losing him. They can't remove him from the 40-man unless he would really, really tank at High-A ball. Of course, the Twins have Sano. Or Plouffe pushed over. They really have no solid reserve if they lose Parmelee (who can't be optioned out and would probably go free agent if given the opportunity). If they would sign someone like Cuddyer, they would be protected in the outfield corners, at first and third base, and have a designated hitter if Vargas flounders. I say give Mike 2-years at $9-10...because YOU CAN.

Some of this should've happened this past season. Yes, we had Rosario disciplined. Buxton and Sano were hurt. Meyer was blocked by Deduno, Pino, Darnell and others. But you can still do the above (minus Pinto, who the Twins don't seem to want to be the catcher of the future) by adding a top flight starter who MAY be around for more than a season, extending Hughes, adding a bat to play leftfield, and adding some bench versatility. If you choose to advance Meyer, which the Twins should, you can always put May in the bullpen, and still keep him in mind for future rotation spots. You can jettison Milone to Darnell to the minors as backup. You write-off Pelfrey. You do give innings to Tonkin and Achter and every other able-bodied prospect, splitting their seasons between AAA and the majors as they adapt and show if they can compete. You give one last push to Hicks. You let Arcia improve his worth. Remember, Arcia is young, and we could have an arbitration albatross here where he actually hits his stride when he hits free agency. But, sadly, right now, today, the Twins do have to do everything and anything they can do to make the team exciting and put some wins, or competitiveness, on the board to fill the seats. They won't reduce ticket prices. Will fans pay to see a questionable rebuilding team? I say no, unless they do win games, too. If they have another season of 85-90 losses, and even if the prospects outshine any veterans, people still don't pay the big bucks to see TC Bear. They pay the little bucks, which will stifle the team even more, and then they have to figure out ways to spend less to still put more butts in the seats. You can have a surge, like the Royals finally did, and go deep into the playoffs and play in the World Series which will dramatically increase their ticket sales for another year or two. Or, again, like the Royals, you can be at the bottom of the pack and flatline out for a decade or so. The Twins are about to come very close to being in the bottom five in attendance (which also affects revenue from advertising, corporate sponsorships, concessions and the like). Like the current decisions being made on field management, do you go with what you have in the organization or go outside...the Twins also have to look at each and every player they have and ask "why do we want this guy to be a part of the team today and tomorrow." They have to see if the player has any market, any chance to be playing for the team not only in 2015 but in 2016 or 2017, and if the player is replacable by a prospect today or the near tomorrow, and if not, can they find someone better in the marketplace that will add to the team, allow some flexibility if a prospect does emerge. Pelfrey. You don't keep him because he costs $5 million. You keep him if he can pitch deep into a game and give you innings. Pinto. Can he catch? He had a great September a season ago. But if he can't catch, and doesn't figure into the plans, you push on another prospect, or bring in a solid defender behind the plate that is a true bench bat. If Santana plays short, is Escobar the utility guy? Where does that put Nunez? Or, better yet, if Santana becomes the centerfielder until Buxton, where does that put Hicks. Too often the Twins try to wring every last cent out of their investments and suffer the pain of play, rather than make hardline decisions. And, unlike Billy Beane, who is in a world all his own, they put too much worth into a good season and lose track of the flipping of a player (Willingham, Young, etc.). We can dream and praise prospects all we want, but look at a similar article about Baseball America looks at the 2009 draft. The Twins have three plays that made it to the majors and one (redrafted later) that is still in the system out of 50 players. The players: Gibson, Dozier and Herrmann. Another half dozen are still around, but didn't sign with the Twins and were redrafted by other tams. Only one (Mario Hollands) has made it to the majors. And with prospects, unless you do trade for otehr highend prospects, that is a good example of a prospects chances of making the majors. Maybe you get a pitcher of sorts. Maybe you egt a bat. Maybe you get a utility guy. We can hope that the Twins have May and Meyer in 2015. That Sano, Rosario, Buxton all make the grade. That last year's gems of Vargas and Santana hold. That the previous season of Arcia, Hicks, Pinto emerge victorious. That some guys like Achter, Tonkin, Beresford, Darnell fill in the holes. That Burdi, Stewart, Walker, Kepler make us forget names like Michael, Wimmers, hermsen existed at one time or another. Step One is choosing field management. If that choice fails this season, front office management will be in shambles and needs to be replaced. Step Two is to figure out what will get fans excited. Youc an't hype prospects because they might be the next Joe Benson (or Aaron Hicks). Step Three is to totally evaluate the worth of every player on the 40-man roster and the high minors and figure out if they are keepers, if you can get anything, anything for them, or do you cut your losses. Is Gibson a keeper, for example, or do you trade him when he may have worth. Is he a better pitcher than he has shown, or not. Step Four is to identify a free agent or two who adds a bit of marquee value, more promise than prospects, will play the game hard (Cuddyer, for example) and not totally block someone come 2016. Step Five is to market the team, and the way you market the team is to forget the bring the family to sunny Target Field (we can all go the new Saints Stadium in 2015) but by spending your money for on-field product. The money is there to spend, wisely or not (you do make mistake...accept that fact and move on.

Charlie in the Sunday St. Paul paper said Jake Mauer is now being interviewed, too. It doesn't hurt to get a perspective on what your club is like from those outside the organization. Any candidate could also be considered for the second in command coaching position, too. You do need to interview a variety of people. Also, if it truly looked like the Twins weren't open to an outsider, it would quickly spread that it isn't worth your time to interview. There is a deadline of sorts, hopefully by the end of the World Series. I think there might be a blackout on transactions and manager hiring while the series is on, to not take away from that spotlight. So expect an announcement once the series ends. You want the manager on board heading into winter meetings and such. You probably want the manager on board sooner rather than later so you can sort out your minor league assignments, like who could work with the new manager on the major league level. That is part of the interview process for Glynn, Mauer and Mientkiewicz, at least. Would they consider being a major league coach. I see the Twins strongly wanting to keep Bruno, Vavra, Steinbach in the organization, and I'm sure Cuellar is someone they don't want getting away, either.

Whatever the Twins do will be fine, unless they are losing bigtime. They have to look at the division. See the strengths and weaknesses. What it might take to be a wild card team, or what might placate the fans by at least approaching a break-even season if even half of the prospects pan out and the team plays to it's highs, not lows. At this point, the Twins can't afford to do nothing but wait and see and go into total rebuilding mode. Maybe they can tell us that we shouldn't expect anything but growing pains for 1015. It may also be the same in 2016. They will be bigtime in 2017. But everyone else could be bigtime, too.

Okay, you look at the team. You have to balance the plus with the minus. First, you have a $70 million payroll going into 2015. But you are probably closer to $45-50 million because you have some major downers. Nolasco is eating up something like $10+ million. Will he come back or not? If he doesn't, you don't get the glories of that expenditure. Same with Pelfrey. He's a $6 million writeoff. Mauer can return to the Mauer of old, but still, will he bring $20+ million of value to the lineup and the clubhouse. At this point, you have to bite and absorb these longterm committments and call them losses and move from there. If you egt something, anything of value from the players on the field, you will come out ahead. But you can't let the team as a whole suffer more because of it. Pretty much everyone else on the roster is a wash. Perkins has more life than most. Suzuc is a average catcher at a reasonable price, you could've tried for anotehr but had no guarantee. You might have paid close to his salary and still get less, and you have to be wary that you may get less in 2015, but you hopefully have adequate pipeline reserves. The outfield is a mess. We wait for Buxton, but he is only one-third of an outfield. Arcia is a work in progress that could get expensive as he hits arbitration without blowing people out of the water. Hicks is an enigma. You could actually sign an outfielder, even overpay a veteran for up to three years, and probably not kill the wallet. But you also have to think Oakland A's smart and be prepped to move that outfielder, or move that Suzucki, or move that Nolasco, the moment they show any glimmer of baseball sainthood. Why, because you supposedly have longterm variables in the system. But back to payroll. The Twins could spend $100 million. They have, in my estimate, $50 of reasonable payroll. They have $20 million in mistakes that need not count against the future. They should readily invest monies, partly because they do have the monies in the short-term to be wild and crazy and even eat more of the deadwood if it does happen, over the next five years. That current core of $50 million (even less when you take out Perkins and Suzuz) will even go down over time as the Sano, Buxtons, Polancos, Meyer, May, Stewarts et al advance in 2016 and 2017 and whoever else shines for 2018. The Twins have to create a competitive atmosphere. Something they were pretty decent as doing during the 2000s, but failing to take that next step that might put them into the playoffs and the World Series, partly because of money, partly because they don't play the game all that well. They play it safe, signing minor league free agents, hoping for that diamond (Scott) in the rough. But still not capitalizing on some of those diamonds and moving them when able and letting potential free agents walk, of players with super years then fail and become worthless. Too much rambling here, I apologize. But you don't get me to buy a season ticket by telling me you aren't going to competitively spend to improve the team, that I should be assured that the Twins will improve with the prospects (cheaper talent) in the system, and that I get 10% off on concessions. Payroll and how you spend it is the biggest marketing expense of any professional sports team. Players that you make mistakes on are like creating an ad that no one remembers, or that people laugh at and dismiss. You get the right player, you put the correct product on the field, you don't have to do ads, really, the team will sell itself! So that is where you put your focus. And you have 52% of your revenue to play with each and every year, in the least, and even more as revenue goes up!

What is the salary structure if you have been around the minors this long. If the Twins, say, reupped Hermsen, would they have to pay him more because he is staying with the organization? Does salary come into consideration, especially since some of these guys have made 40-man monies in the past, which is significantly more than a minor league salary. Any insight on this, Seth?

You have approx. 150 minor league roster spots to fill come the opening of the season, x-amount of players are disabled or in the training camp. You add 25-35 thru the draft. The Twins have some south of the border teams to draw from, too. Be interesting to see the 15-20 guys that played around the leagues last year, with 1-2 years of service time, that do get cut.

Was amazed at the age of he minors free agent kept at New Britain all year. Of course, had a full roster of them at Rochester. The bigger question is who advances from within the system. Do you want Farris, Rodriguez, Thomas and Vasquez at Rochester? Will Wilkin find another team that might give him a flyer. Is Rohlfing a replacement for Herrmann. Do you really need to protect Beresford and, if so, why did you promote Bernier over him in September. All these guys will weigh their chances of making the Twins in some way next season, or are they betetr served toiling in the systems of any other last place team. Danny Ortiz was a surprise to me when they advanced him and not Vargas to Rochester, although Vargas ended up with the better deal. If Ortiz can play first, he is more valuable. I see him as a possibility of getting a Rule 5 claim if the Twins resign him right away. He should be able to find work elsewhere easily. Hermsen is probably done. Will have to work his way back into an organization via the indy leagues. Hamburger will find a minor league job somewhere. Do we need him more than Kris Johnson, or Logan Darnell? He seems blocked. You hate to lose Salcedo, for example. And if you haven't felt the need to take a flyer on Guerra or Iberra yet, is there any season you will do so in the future. Gad, it is almost a complete roster of minor league free agents! Are there 25 true prospects that can replace all these guys in the high levels of the minor leagues? Yes and no. Just seems the Twins had a lot of AA-ball fodder last year. And AAA guys filling holes where you had no advanced prospects at AAA.