Friday Links-N-Thinks

Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan

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Another week has come and gone for Twins Territory and the hometown nine have started to stir the pot a little bit when it comes to their roster. Brian Dozier, the organization's minor league player of the year from 2011, made his debut earlier in the week. He has been impressive so far and the Twins hope he can continue to play at a high level.

After leading all American League third basemen in games played in 2011, Danny Valencia has found himself back in Triple-A. In 2010, Valencia looked great for the Twins but he has failed to get back to that form in the last two years. His minor league track record suggested something like this might happen and now the Twins might try and trade Mr. Valencia.

Speaking of not being in form, Francisco Liriano has struggled mightily for the entire year and it was time for a change. After the team skipped his spot in the rotation, he still failed to produce results on the mound. For the time being, he has been moved to the bullpen and the front office called up PJ Walters to take his spot in the rotation.

The Blue Jays come to town this weekend with a chance to gain ground in their division since the two teams in front of them will play each other. Toronto's best slugger Jose Bautista has been struggling to start the year and much like with the Angels and Albert Pujols, the Twins don't want to wake the sleeping giant.

• Baseball America released their first version of a mock draft. Who will the Twins take at number 2? Their pick may surprise you...
  
• Standford's Mark Appel will be one of the first pitchers selected in the draft but he doesn't seem to be pitching up to expectations.
  
• John Sickles at Minor League Ball put together his supplemental round mock draft where the Twins have two high picks.
  
• Chris Parmelee made the roster out of spring training and now he has been sitting on the bench. So what happened to Chris Parmelee?
  
• The Twins have seemed to rush some prospects to the majors in recent memory so it might seem like the club is opening their presents too early.
  
• It's looking like the Twins will be sellers at the trading deadline and Twins Fan From Afar looks at the time of players they should target.
  
• Along the same lines as above, The Twins Armchair GM writes about the possibility of the Nationals still being interested in Denard Span.
  
• If you don't know a lot about Brian Dozier, make sure to read this post by Seth Stohs.
  
• A blind man named Reggie Deal is going to 30 parks in 30 days and he will be at Target Field on Friday.
  
• Former Twins pitcher Dan Osterbrock had some bad words to say about his former team.
  
• Alexi Casilla is near the top of the leaderboard in glove flips so far in 2012.
  
• This list of least productive positions in baseball has too many Twins on it.
  
• A few weeks ago I posted a picture of Robert Andino and how playing in Baltimore had taken away his smile. Well the Orioles are near the top of the division and this means his smile came back.
  

• Scott Diamond had a great first start for the Twins but what can be expected from him going forward?
  
• Pitching to contact seems to be the Twins method for selecting pitchers but is it a good thing?
  
• A high school baseball team in Arizona forfeited their championship game because the other team had a girl starting in the middle infield.
  
• Would Twins fans want to see the Pohlad family sell the team?
  
• Jim Pohlad did come out and voice his support of Ron Gardenhire and Terry Ryan this week.
  

My Weekly Rundown

• Monday: Dozier won't be savior of Twins offensive woes
  
• Tuesday: Tuesday Night Minor League Round-Up
  
• Wednesday: Ranking the best debuts by current Twins
  
• Thursday: Guerra moving quickly toward Target Field
  

Video of the Week: Earlier this week,