nicksaviking

Unfortunately Brunanski has said he wants to coach, but he has no desire to be the manager.

You can't "develop" 92 MPH control pitchers into strikeout fueled aces, anymore than you can develop Ben Revere into a power hitter. Last year the Twins finally acknowledged this by drafting power arms early and trading for arms like Hoey and Oliveros. They're late to the party in believing strikeouts win games, and so far they are not as adept at identifying good power arms as the rest of the league is.

Wow, is the tension really this thick over Sean Burroughs? Second guessing the last couple of bench spots seems kind of petty. Those spots are pretty fluid for every team, you only get in trouble if you fill them with players you are too afraid to lose on the waiver wire. The last couple of guys always need to be expendable in case of injury, position need or a more a intreguing player becomes available through waivers, trade or free agency. This is sad for Burroughs as a person, but this is not significant news from a baseball standpoint.

Shake it off Frankie, a solo shot is not a big deal. Don't get yourself too worked up.

The doctors say it's normal inflamation after a surgically repaired joint. He's going to be fine, jump back aboard. Our team may stink but Morneau isn't dead and a bad baseball team is still more fun to watch than any of this reality crap on the other channels.

The Twins and Rochester have been on shakey ground for awhile now. I was hoping the AAA team would have eventually made their way into Iowa. The Twins affiliates in Beloit AND Cedar Rapids could help expand their regional influence into the Brewers/Cubs/Cardinals domain.

Well people could look at the injury like this. It sounds like it has been lingering awhile, which means no significantly terrible diagnosis has been made to this point. Lingering wrist ailments often turn out to be something like tendinitis. In the past, when Morneau has had more serious injuries, it is usually diagnosed more quickly. He's played through several, and had procedures done in the off season, but they knew what the problem was more punctually than this.

But that's only because the other teams in the AL don't have a 2nd catcher good enough that the team needs to find a way to put him in the lineup most nights. I'd venture to guess that 80% of fans think their team needs a better backup catcher. Butera is not going to be getting any significant action. This ship is pointing in the wrong direction, Gardy may like Drew Butera, but he's not going to give him playing time at the expense of job security, and he knows he's no lock for skipper in 2013 with another 99 loss season.

I'm pretty sure every downtrodden Twins fan has already internally resigned themselves to the fact that Albert Pujols is going to break his homerless streak against our favorite club. Anyone want to venture which pitcher will give it up during which game and in which inning? My money is off Burton in the 7th tonight.

Hughes seems like he'll be a perfect pick-up for one of the perenial NL bottom feeders. Teams like the Pirates, Padres and Astros seem to get the somewhat versitile former prospects who still have time to prove themselves. The Pirates and Padres specifically never spend any money so they really reach, hoping to find a diamond in the rough. Good luck Luke, here's hoping you find some regular playing time and make the most of it like Garrett Jones did.

You can almost always count on the first inning being his best over the last two seasons. This year he has yet to give up an earned run and his K/BB rate is 5/1 in the first. Joe Madden and Tony LaRusa would have already put Liriano in the back end of the bull pen if not outright given him at least an attemt to close. If Liriano is turned closer and performs well his trade value greatly increases. If he can't cut it, who cares? Capps can't cut it either.

There's no chance that the Boer as starter experiment is over is there? It seems he could use more seasoning developing other pitches, but had he remained a closer out of the draft, Ft. Myers likely would have been his destination to begin with.

This team used to win most of their one run games. The last couple years it seems almost every game is a one run decision but it ends in a loss. I'm not sure if the players just bought into the psychological impact of the Metrodome, but they definately aren't taking advantage of having a ton of runners in scoring postion.

He never does. Usually he plays well right about the time people start whispering about replacing him, stays hot for a month, than gets injured and gets replaced anyway. I'm thinking Dozier T - 30 days due to a pulled hamstring.

That could be a red flag, but throw out the mess that was last year, (and I'm only playing devil's adovcate here) perhaps he has been told to be more agressive this year seeing as the team has a legit OBP guy batting behind him in Carroll this seaon.

Ha, not too active tonight with the NFL draft going on I see. Either that or no one is too satisfied that the only guy most people consider a competent starter has already given up 5 runs in 6 innings. Edit: 5 runs in 5 innings, my mistake.

They'll be in their early 30's still when Sano comes up. Their production may not be an issue, just the difficult decision that comes with resigning a player past 32 years old. The Twins have a history of not extending their own players when they hit that magic number. It could change this time through I suppose. If Morneau stays a full time DH, he will probably have to settle for short-term, incentive based contracts like David Ortiz has been for the past few years. The Twins surely could budget for that if they think keeping him around is wise. Mauer will be 35 in 2018 when his contract is through. If he manages to stay a catcher that long it will probably mean he too will be forced into a short term deal. Unless the market changes, 35 year old catchers probably can't snag more than 2 years. If Mauer has moved postions, his value will probably depend on his production, specifically if his power ever returns. If it does not, he probably will not be able to get an expensive deal based mainly on being a high OBP/AVG guy who is likely playing a traditionaly power-expected postion like the corner infield or outfield. If that is the case the Twins can budget for him too if they think it's worth to keep him around. If he still has a .400 OBP and hitting 20+ HR with little injury concern, he might be able to still get a 4-5 year deal and I doubt the Twins would match that.

I initially thought this was a typo because I thought, Yes! absolutely right, vintage Frank Viola would absolutely be my first wish.

You're right, I haven't. About all I know about Span off the field is what he and Paul Allen discuss on his program. Span talks and sounds like he has taken up a leadership role, and PA has absolutely implied it. I can't remember if it was Anthony LaPanta or Roy Smalley, but when the prospect of trading Span came up not long ago, they stated he didn't like it becase he was an important leader on the team and the Twins had already lost so many. They could be blowing smoke, but they are all pretty well connected.

Nope. Every non-college player, even Mauer has had to spend an entire year at Beloit, but they should abandon that philosophy for Sano. This organization needs excitement, even fans who aren't as in-tune with the going-ons of the farm will start getting excited when they hear about a top prospect moving through the system at a faster than expected rate. From a development standpoint, Sano obviously needs to work on contact and defense, but his master attribute, his power, has already proven to be worthy of the level he is currently at. He can work on his few defiiencies at the next level while testing his strength against better compitition. Besides, aren't most of the Twins instructional staff in Ft. Myers anyway? If they are, it seems odd that they wouldn't want the top players spending more time there. I'm sure he won't be promoted any time soon, the decision will still come down to player control. The Twins won't want to let him reach the majors before he is 21-22 regardless of how he is playing as they would rather have him under his 1st contract from his 22-27 years instead of the 20-25 years. I don't like it, but I understand it's about money. I just feel like they cheat the whole game by doing so. Ted Williams would not be part of the 500 HR club, Ken Griffey Jr. would not be part of the 600 HR club and Robin Yount would not be part of the 3000 hit club if they were made to wait until they were 21 to be called up. Sano likely isn't in their class, and he may not be ready in two years, but I don't think the club should stand in his way if he is.

The leader part was more of a response to Shane's question of "why would we want to trade him when we have no one to replace him" two posts ahead of me, the post before me beat me to the board. I just meant he is also holding down one of the few (only?) leadership roles in the clubhouse which would also need to be replaced. Don't get me wrong, I'm open for trading everyone, and to do it right, TR needs to adjust his philosophy and start doing it when the players are hot. I just don't know that a powerless centerfielder who doesn't steal nearly as many bases as one might think, will be viewed as highly by other clubs as the Twins do. He very likely won't fetch the kind of return that the team should expect from an important cog in this fragile machine. Willingham on the other hand has a track record of power and is producing much more now than he likely will the rest of the season. If they have the guts to do it, the time to maximze his value may be soon approaching.

If Inge comes at the expense of Burroughs, who cares? Neither brings much to the plate but Inge can back up 2B as well as let the second catcher come into a late game situation to pinch hit. There is never any reason for the 3rd catcher ever to play unless an unlikely injury happens to starting catcher and the 2nd is the DH or already pinch hit. The scenario is so unlikely it should make a 3rd catcher irrelevant anyway put Inge can at least give some peace of mind. Like I said swap him in for Burroughs, sure, both are has-beens who likely have nothing to contribute what's the big deal? I wouldn't send Valencia down to do it though. If everyone is tired of him, just wait until his bat heats up a little and start shopping him. Young controlable thirdbaseman always have some value. He wont be cold forever, it's baseball, guys get streaky. A platoon of Burroughs and Inge would be asinine though. If taking Valencia out of the equation is the master plan, why not move Carroll over to 3B and call up Dozier? We're rebuilding, not restocking with decrepit vets, no organization needs Burroughs and Inge, let alone a young one.

After a hot start in which he was named the leagues player of the week, Morales has come back to earth. In the last ten games he has managed only seven hits and 2 RBI. Four of his last five games he has gone hitless and five times in the last ten has he had a two strikeout game. Dispite his recent struggles, Morales is still the Miricale's leader in OBP, AVG and OPS. Currently all three Ft. Myers OF'ers are struggling but hopefully the carrot of promotion entices all of them to a stronger performances.

Not to mention he might be the only leader in the locker room. I'm all for trading our guys while their value is high, perhaps Willingham, but Span may be the kind of player more valuable to the Twins than anyone else.

A pitcher taken this high always could be a bust. Someone mentioned we would not be happy if he turned out to be Jason Marquis, another mentioned Adam Johnson. Any of these pitchers could bust out, but these guys are all fireballers. This year and last have seen a large increase in velocity in the top pitchers in the draft. There normally aren't this many guys who regularly hit 95-97, Jason Marquis never had that kind of heat, nor does Wimmers, Gibson, or likely Adam Johnson. I think the bust rate with most of these pitchers is being widely overblown. Even if they do bust, a high velocity starter who can't cut it, usually turns into an even harder throwing bullpen arm. Either way, I don't see how Zunino or Buxton are any safer. One plays a position that limits offensive production and he has a high strikeout rate for a top of the draft college player. The other is playing very weak compition. Does Buxton remind no one of Donavan Tate? I haven't heard anyone compare the two despite the fact that they are both 5 tool, 6' 2", 200 lb rural Georgia, top 5 pick and best OF in their drafts? Tate went #3 3 years ago and is looking like a huge disappointment.