If you follow the tremendous work of 1500 ESPN's Phil Mackey, you know that every Sunday, he posts an updated 25 man roster projection. Phil is in Ft. Myers and talking to players, coaches and front office personnel, so he may have some insider information. But, I think that we can all do our own roster projections because until we get to April and the team has to announce their 25 man roster, anything can happen. I hope to post my projection updates each Friday and hope that you will leave your projections in the comments and discuss.
The players in Red are players that I believe are givens to make the roster (obviously pending injury). Those in black are potentially up for grabs.
Catchers: Joe Mauer, Ryan Doumit, JR Towles
Although Towles isn't exactly an exciting prospect like he was 5 years ago, he likely is an improvement over Drew Butera. If the team insists on three catchers, I now believe Towles tops Butera.
Infielders: Justin Morneau, Alexi Casilla, Danny Valencia, Jamey Carroll, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, Luke Hughes
It certainly doesn't sound like the Twins really want to keep Nishioka around. I personally think that in terms of a pure utility infielder, Ray Chang would be the right choice. I think Luke Hughes is on the bench for power, if he is not placed on the disabled list.
Outfielders: Ben Revere, Denard Span, Josh Willingham, Trevor Plouffe
As much talk as there has been about Plouffe taking over in LF with Revere as the 4th outfielder, Plouffe will have to improve tremendously with the glove for that to happen consistently.
Starting Pitchers: Carl Pavano, Francisco Liriano, Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Jason Marquis
No changes, no surprises here, although Terry Doyle and Liam Hendriks have looked good in their couple of outings early in spring.
Bullpen: Matt Capps, Glen Perkins, Brian Duensing, Anthony Swarzak, Jared Burton, Jeff Manship, Terry Doyle
The first four appear set. Burton was the non-roster invite who garnered the most attention coming in to camp, and he's been good so far. Too many people have forgotten about Jeff Manship as a bullpen option, and he's been good. If Terry Doyle continues to pitch well, the Twins will certainly want to keep their Rule 5 investment. It is early, and we know guys like Kyle Waldrop, Alex Burnett, Lester Oliveros, Jeff Gray, Esmerling Vasquez, Matt Maloney and others will try to make an impression. I admit as well that I am intrigued by Brendan Wise as well. Those last three names are certainly debatable and subject to change over the next three or four weeks.
What are your thoughts? What does your roster look like?
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