Rosterman

The Twins Hall of Fame is basically a public relations move for the team, and not honoring anyone...even some front office or maybe a Wayne Hattaway longtime minor league guy, pretty much makes the concept even more outrageous, especially coming off the Chuck Knoblauch fiasco. When you look at the near 700 or so Twins, you can easily find one person, especially when you expand it out to front office, field personnel and the like. Anyone for Jerry Zimmerman!?!

What is amazing is the percentage of these guys THAT COULD make the majors, if not with the Twins, another organization. The Twins are about to have some 40-man roster problems in the near future.

Could just be a Visa issue.

It's a bonafide competition and I just hope the Twins bring the best candidate north and forget about salary owed, options or the like. Until the rash of recent relief pitching signings, always thought that at the least May could start in the bullpen, be the Swarzak player. May might ultimately be bettter suited for the bullpen. Nonetheless, the Twins have candidates for the firth, as well as a full rotation thatshould shine at AAA Rochester.

I bet the Yankees make him a spring training invite offer. But where he goes from there is hard to imagine. What would he look like pitching opening day at the new St. Paul Saints stadium as he makes his way back to the majors?!

I see no reason to have Pinto up in the majors if he is only going to catch, at most, once thru the rotation. Would rather see him catch everyday at Rochester for the first part of the season, see what Suzsucki does. But who do you add as the backup? Fryer? No way. Herrmann? Man, if you keep Pinto, you keep him so you can DH either if you wish. De San Miguel, the guy who played with every Twins minor league team in a season it seems, is back in the fold, but at AAA with Herrmann.2 Rohlfing. I was actually pretty surprised the Twins weren't able to move Suz during the trade deadline last year (a s well as Swarzak, Duensing, Burton or anyone not named Willingham). Maybe we do value many of our players too highly. That someone actually does want them on a major league roster.

Yeah, and Nick Gordon is there, but not signing anywhere, or did I miss it. Interesting the move of Sano and Buxton to the high-priced arenas. But looks like a full radio lineup, selfie pictures, and the kids Q&A looks interesting.

Amazing career as a coach and manager. In Mexico. Was always amazed that he will still at the plate.

Well, if Hunter hadn't department, and if Santana has stayed put, the Twins wouldn't have traded for Delmon Young and would've kept Garza, and we wouldn't have lost Bartlett either. Plus, the bodies like Jason Pridie, Philip Humber, Kelvin Mulvey et al would've never been on the field, as well as Carlos Gomez or J.J. Hardy, and whatever we got for Hardy. All at a cost of about $30 million a season for the past seasons. Span would've been cycled out and replaced by Revere, who would probably still be here. Maybe Morneau wouldn't have hit his head or Mauer a wall. Carl Pavano wouldn't have lost his slowball. And we would still have Joe Nathan and Pat Neshek in the bullpen, along with Jesse Crain and finally waving goodbye to Matt Guerrier. Which means we would never had added Jon Rauch or Matt Capps and Wilson Ramos would be behind the plate.

Will, the Twins just inked former Australian prospect Allan de san Miguel to a minor league contract. He spent a couple of lackluster seasons with the Orioles system, before bottoming out in the Frontier League last summer. He may offer depth at Rochester, depending on the status of Herrmann, Pinto, Fryer and Rohlfing. http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=desanm001all They also grabbed Carlos Paulino from the Pirates system, who most likely will fight for a job at Chattanooga. Paulino was originally drafted by the Marlins. http://www.baseball-reference.com/minors/player.cgi?id=paulin001car

Hicks in the minors. He needs to show that he can play in the majors, not just in spring training. He has to step up. Next year will be his out-of-options year, so he'll have to stick from them on or move on. Santana in CF. Escobar at SS. You have Buston in the wings. You may have Gordon fast-tracked and here in 2017. Does Santana move to short in 2016 and Escobar elsewhere. Is Santana the trading chip of Polanco or someone else shines in the minors. Do you keep either as a reserve for a few years. If you look at the Twins for 2015, the playing roster. We need a viable back-up catcher who can sit on the bench (not Pinto). We need a centerfielder who will keep us in the game (that would be Santana based on 2014). We need a shortstop then, and Escobar proved himself in 2014. We need a backup if either falters...we play musical chairs and have Schafer, we have (ugh) Nunez). We have to worry about backup for Mauer. We HAVE to worry about Vargas, is he for real. We have to still worry about Arcia who might need more seasoning. Of course, that is what spring training is all about. ANYONE NOTICE THAN SIGNED BACK ALLAN DE SAN MIGUEL for Rochester!

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2015/01/rockies-offering-charlie-blackmon-for-pitching.html The Rockies, who have a difficult time, attracting free agent pitching are supposedly dangling outfielder Charlie Blackmon out there for a starter. Is this a guy the Twins should look at. Can play both corners, also centerfield. Could be centerfield for now and move to a corner when Hunter leaves next year. Would also supply backup potential at designated hitter if Vargas falters. Do you dangle Kyle Gibson, perhaps, and a low level prospect for Blackmon. In the grand scheme of things, the Twins have Hughes, Santana, Nolasco locked into the rotation. They have Milone, Meyer, May, Pelfrey fighting for one spot, now they would fight for two. You still have Rogers and Darnell as backup in the minors, with Berrios and maybe even Stewart waiting to make a temporary splash. Would you trade Gibson for three years of Blackmon, who will enter arbitration after this season. I always considered Gibson sorta an odd man out, especially if he retains or even improves his value. I don't see him ever slotting as a number one or two, even though he could elevate himself into, say, a Tapani or Radke status at the very most. But don't see the need to take that gamble. He has to have some worth, as he showed what he can do in his second round in the majors, is still fairly young, under team control, and can be a potential 200-inning guy. But I actually see him as the odd man out, if not next year, at least by 2017. Trading him this off-season would open up opportunities for Meyer and May and still have the potential to not waste Milone or Pelfrey if they show life in spring training.

And approx. $44 million could come off of the above by next season. If Nolasco shines, he is tradebait for sure with one year remaining in his contract. Suzuki and Pelfrey and Hunter will become free agents. No need to pay more for Stauffer or Duensing. I would consider keeping Fein, although if he does dynamite set-up duties he could be a potential late season closer for a team and bring a couple of prospects. Milone, Nunez, Sheafer all can drop out of the plans for 2016. I don't think any of the minimum wage guys will be arbitration eligible (except for Escobar, and as a backup won't command as much) unless they fall in a super two, and the Twins could escape that if Hicks starts at the minors. Maybe Gibson reaches super two. I still think the Twins could add a $6-8 million outfielder/bench bat/DH/1st base guy and not suffer. I easily see that $8 million coming off it the Twins can pull a couple of trade deadline moves, just because they have back up starting pitching, bullpen help, or Sano and Rosario can play ball.

This is where you start thinking of any of these guys being tradebait for a piece to improve your puzzle. At some point, you get too many prospects coming up at the same time in the pipeline and a clog happens. You have to CAREFULLY judge who will be here in 2016 or 2017 and go from there. Houston may be facing a similar problem. Or you start flipping pitching prospects for more batting prospects. Either way, looks like the bullpen ahs strength, especially when you put names like Burdi, Reed, Cederoth and others from 2013 and even 2014 into the same playing field as 2012 guys.

Doesn't mean he'll stick. Just given a minor league spring training nod and a chance to return to pro-pro ball.

You can add a fifth outfielder (the minor league vet) to be DH. No one, really, at Rochester.

Yeah, you can argue Mussina 270 wins. Hey, how many wins did Pedro have? What is the criteria. Dominance (ala Morris). Longevity (ala Kaat). Have a medical procedure named after you (John). You can argue that Mussina (and Schilling) are on the edge, maybe a "Veterans Committee: inductee, but that group hasn't done too well in their opportunity to reward players overlooked by the writers. We don't want it to be a Hall of Fame of the Very Good, although there are a fair share of those guys in the Hall already, but it should recognize a few more players with distinct accomplishments (why isn't Oliva in the Hall, please).

Hicks and Arcia. We hoped one would be a superstar and the other better-than-average, combined with Rosario and Buxton and maybe even giving us a choice of tradebait. Now we hope there could be some value in Arcia before he becomes too expensive at too young of an age, but the fear of David Ortiz Jr. is still in the air. Hicks will probably surprise us and pull a Delmon Young, which makes him a temporary keeper, before playing into sub-standard land. At least we have Buxton and Rosario to dream about. And the hope that Walker wont be any worse ad probably better than what we have seen from Arcia so far. And what about this Jepler kid?

You can never have too much pitching, right?

The Twins do have MANY holes. Can we expect Santana and Vargas to replicate their 2014 season? Is Pinto for real as an alternative behind the plate. At what point do you give up on Hicks. What happens if Hughes doesn't shine and Perkins implodes. And do we have a backup plan for Mauer at first. The Twins have the pieces for the starting 25, but not much in reserve in many places if something happens. Are any of the minor league free agent signings really helpful to the team in the short-term?

The closer is a guy who trusts his stuff, can throw heat, and nowadays might be called upon to pitch 3-4 consecutive days before getting a night off. Doesn't happen much, but can,,,except that a team seldom sweeps series. Perkins is the closer in 2015. He will probably be a closer in 2016. At that point, he might still have tradable worth, or figures he doesn't want to go anywhere and stay with the Twins and become a lefty specialist for the rest of his career, which could be long because he IS a lefty. I agree that the concept of having at least two guys who can close causes a bit if a disarray with the other team. Moreso if you add that third set-up guy, preferably a lefty, and if you are comfortable NOT having your closer pitch a full inning. Seems closers do better if they start the ninth, let's say, then come in and have to get out a batter or two with the bases loaded. Of course, what UI jsut said is hogwash, as a closer has the heat and will challenge. Ultimately, the worth of a closer all depends on the portion of the batting order or bench they are facing. If it is the bottom of the order, you sit back. If it is the heart of the order, you worry and hope you have another guy or two to get you out of trouble if the closer is holding a single run lead. And most teams don't have benches to fear anymore (look at the Twins - Pinto, Schaefer, Escobar and Parmelee, for example). The Twins if they work it right, can have some closer creations that could be potential tradebait. Before last season, they should've heavily marketed Jared Burton. They didn't. Last season, Casey Fein was a marketable guy mid-season to a team looking for a temporary closing chip...maybe. By season's end, he lost that...and why they let Burton save in September instead of Fein or anyone else is beyond me (like the choice to start Swarzak - destroying his value - and if you had the slightest hint of not giving him a contract, give those innings to someone, anyone, who will be on the 40-man come spring). Of course, ALL the hard-throwing names look great on paper. We only have to remember Anthony Slama to get the butt kick that what looks good in the minors may not be the choice of the majors. But if you want to add 2, or three, arms from the system each year...the Twins look great for 2015-16-17, considering that we still have the likes of Tonkin and Achter and Wheeler for 2015.

Both are in a position that if they put together a great 2015, you consider cutting them loose and trading them before they become arbitration expensive. Let THAT be the worry of the other team. Arbitration is fine and all, but you often overpay, or have to over-extend, a player beyond what you really need. Of course, a lot depends on what they see in people like Polanco, Michael, Rosario and, of course, Sano. Nick Gordon is in the pipeline, too, albeit at shortstop. It is a ncie position to be in. But I would, sadly, grade Plouffe as a super utility guy as he hits 30 rather than a regular at third, and a weaker and expensive outfielder than you can find elsewhere. He does not become worth the expense. Dozier hits for power, steals bases, but still strikesout a lot, and not sure if you would consider giving him BIG $$$ over the longterm, either. You just gotta hope that they don't both tank, especially in the same year. Plouffe is NOT in a "we want you" status right now. Dozier has probably more worth than Trevor, but most teams would like to tackle a supposed cheaper free agent than an arbitration albatross.

Unless the Twins are in a sell-off mood come September, pretty much NO prospects that aren't on the 40-man will see the light of day. At a slim chance, Burdi, Zack Jones, Cedar.... could swivel in. If he's tearing up AA ball and has a taste of Rochester, Buxton could get some at bats, too. But the Twins will holdoff on Berrios and Stewart, as they did Meyer. So, in 2015 - Meyer, Sano, Rosario. We might see Rohlfing or Beresford, but just for the short-term. We have too many relievers to break in someone out of the blue - Oliveros, Tonkin, Achter, Darnell, Thompson Pressly all will get some time supplementing the Milones, Pelfreys, Grahams etc.

It will be interesting to see who and what prospects are bale to be absorbed or break into the Twins 25 by seasons end. Does it make the prospects, or current players expendable. And then who breaks in come 2016. It's a fine line between putting experience on the field and the prospect of talent that WILL perform in years to come. Usually the process is to wean in a player or three each season (the Twins did Santana and Vargas and May...but took a step backwards, or sorts, with Pinto and Arcia, and Hicks totally stalled). Can Santana, May and Vargas hold steady or improve while we get a look at Meyer, Rosario, Sano and any number of young relief pitchers? Who gets the boot. Will it be Hicks. Will Arcia be passed over. Will Plouffe's number be drawn. Will Gibson be moved because he is cheaper and controlled? Who is the real fodder on the 25-man from the bullpen and the bench?

Bsically, he shines in the minors and doesn't make the most of his opportunity (that one September aside) in the majors. He Ryan Radmanovich, or is it Mike Restovich. He could still be playing somewhere a decade from now, just getting cups of coffee in the majors, if he wants to.