perkins7

Now I'm by no means an expert or even avid amateur on pitcher development, but it strikes me that you mention the Rays in the same argument as the A's and the Cards. Wacha and Gray are exceptions in the sense that their ability was enough to start with something resembling success in the majors (a fair amount of success too!). The Rays, however, have an approach that is actually much closer to the Twins' than you're giving them credit for in some sense. They hold their pitching guys at each level for the entire season with rare exception, and they have arguably had the best 1-5 rotation in baseball year in and year out since Friedman took over. The main difference between the Twins and the Rays (as far as I can tell) is the commitment to a conditioning and training program that leads them to have far fewer injuries (especially ones requiring surgery) each year than the Twins. Although I don't have easily referenced numbers to cite for this, the Rays have had very few of their pitchers require TJ than the Twins and that's in large part due to the patience in developing and conditioning these young men so that they are maximizing efficiency (i.e. number of innings each season) and minimizing injury. The Twins' approach seems more to value establishing consistent performance at each level, the keyword there being "consistent", and moving prospects up when they demonstrate success. I got a little wordy saying it, but the Rays do not develop pitching talent like any other team. They set the standard by which other teams should try to repeat.

Although we're fortunate to now have a ballpark considered among the best, I will always have a special place in my heart for the giant concrete marshmellow. Some of my favorite memories... - My first Twins game. I was 5 years old and my mom decided it was time for my first Twins game. Paul Molitor was only a few hits away from 3,000 and I was given a commemorative full-size bat for the day which I still have. What better way to start being a fan of the greatest baseball team ever. - Countless cheap home run porch seats in left field! - Dollar dome dogs! 'Nuff said! - Although not Twins-related, my first Vikings game with my dad in the 2009 divisional round against the Cowboys. We kicked the crap out of them too! - The last Twins game in the Metrodome ever, game three of the 2009 ALDS. Farewell, sweet prince...

AJ, thanks for your writeup! I've always wondered what it looks like behind the scenes when players need further medical attention. I'm applying to medical school a year from now so to combine a story like this with my love for all things Twins is great! Slightly off-topic, but do you happen to know what Dr. Stuebs specialty is? I've always been curious as to the career path for physicians on professional sports teams. I feel like most are orthopedic specialists, but that's mostly just a guess on my part. Do you have any idea?

If nothing else, now Gardenhire has a new rookie to throw in the doghouse if they rattle off another 10-game skid for not doing things the "Twins Way":s-instagib:

What a bizarre baseball career. Thanks for the great read!

Communism!!! Communism!!! This is 'Merica foo!

I'm not sure what the huge perceived drop off is in CF if we were to head into this season assuming Span would be traded (and it's safe to say almost all of us assumed he'd be traded). Mastroianni is really not much different from Ben Revere in terms of overall production and value. Their OBP and OPS are essentially identical, and although Revere has an elite average, it's much harder to sustain OBP if you're solely a singles hitter, whereas Mastroianni has shown some ability to draw walks and with time could prove to hit for higher average (he was a higher average player throughout the minors). Mastroianni steals bases at a more successful rate (21 SB/3 CS, 87.5%) than Revere (40/9, 81.6%), albeit with less sample size but still fairly significant. I think the doom and gloom of predicting an awful season now that Revere's gone isn't rooted in the reality that he was overrated. Awesome, fun to watch, great for the fans, and a human highlight reel, but overrated and the Twins got a great deal from the Phillies for him, considering he's really not too different from Mastroianni at all.

Personally, I would rather see the Twins wait for trade offers for Morneau until the deadline and shop Willingham this offseason instead. Willingham's contract is much more moveable than Morneau's for a team looking to add power on the cheap, and he's under team control for the next two years as opposed to Morneau's one year. Also, the likelihood of Willingham repeating his numbers from this last season is not as high in my opinion as Morneau improving on his numbers from last season. In summary, Willingham has more value as a trade chip than Morneau and could yield much more this offseason than Morneau could. That being said, I would like to see the Twins hold on to Morneau until the trade deadline when a team (like the Rangers, A's, Orioles, etc...) become real desperate for a quick power fix and a potential playoff push. If Morneau's numbers improve from last year (which I'm of the opinion that they will given his improvement over the course of the season last year, particularly towards the end of the season), a team might be much more willing to give up a top-tier arm or middle infielder for him. I would personally love it if the Twins could get some type of middle infield prospect for Morneau, but what we want and what the Twins are prone to do have been two very, very different things lately...

I agree, Cory Provus does a really good job of making sure you can enter into the game at any time and paints the scene. He's easy to listen to.

Awesome stories man! Thanks for giving us insight into minor league life! I'm in college now so I definitely can relate to the time management tidbit. Good luck with your next couple of games!

I really would've liked to see Hughes still in the system. Probably one of the few semi-bright spots last year with his power and average defense. Not saying he's a prodigious hitter or a defensive wizard, but he was certainly very serviceable and reliable as a utility infielder. There's almost no doubt that he'll get picked up very quickly, and I wish him best of luck wherever he goes.

This is so spectacular. Also of note is the lack of desire by General Ryan to revamp "Defensive Efforts" through mercenary reinforcements when those reinforcements were extremely cheap and signing one year deals for mere 2-3 millions of dollars. Woe is us come 8th innings to be!