Minnesota Twins Talk

I hope the Twins continue to invest time in Trevor Plouffe at 3B. He is not likely a solution, but if he does take a step with the bat and glove they will have filled a position that is very thin in talent. The other guy I wonder about is Deibinson Romero. He is quietly leading in New Britain in OPS at .784. It seems like ages ago that he considered a prospect so I was surprised he wasn't older than 25. His season is so quiet I am not sure anyone has adopted him as a prospect. I wonder about his defense. Any thoughts about his defense from those who have seen him or followed him over time?

This is according to Jim Bowden of ESPN. I hope this means the Twins decide to draft Kevin Gausman, RHP from Louisiana State. I hope they decide to pass on Byron Buxton, who is being compared to Matt Kemp and BJ and Justin Upton. I woould hate to see another HS OF taken since Aaron Hicks has still not shown much upside. Bottom line is they need pitching help that would be on the fast track and Kevin Gausman might be better than Appel.

If you guys had to guess what do you think the Twins lineup and pitching rotation will look like in two years? I am interested to see what everyone has to say.

There is a lot of talk here about rebuilding for a future championship attempt. Some people have talked about 2013, others about 2014. If you were the GM. what would be your target for the next championship run?

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/page/12531franchisedraft/espn-franchise-player-draft ESPN has the franchise mock draft going today, you get the entire major league rosters, you get to choose in a draft style who would you take, money isn't a hinderance. If you look at the site, the first 3 players taken by "the experts" are Kemp, Tulo, Kershaw I would love to start my franchise around Matt Kemp, this guy is fun to watch. The Dodgers came to MN last year, my friend and I were able to watch Kemp take batting practice, I could watch him all day take BP, seems like a perfect guy to start your franchise around. Who would you take???????/

What do you think Josh Willingham would be worth to a contender? 2 more years under contract for $7 million a year is pretty cheap and under control for 2 more years. I would love to keep him but I don't see the Twins willing to contend any time soon. At least you could possibly get a good young arm to rebuild the rotation around for him.

I have been carrying this Twins jersey around since I was a freshman in high school in 1997 to every TwinsFest or other autograph signing event, and have collected quite a few autographs on this beat up jersey. At one time I had been keeping track of who all signed it, but somehow I lost that document. I put together this nice little graphic (should be expandable) and was hoping the TwinsDaily crew would come to the rescue and help me identify the mystery signatures! I have numbered the unknown ones. If you think you recognize one of them, please let me know in this thread.

With the Twins having signed Carroll to a fairly small deal over the winter, and the current injury problems of his former team, the Dodgers (seriously, the team right now has about as many injuries as any given day in August last year for the Twins) have been said to be looking for help. Any chance the Twins try to take advantage of this need eventually (because right now Valencia isn't ready to return so they would be on shaky ground with the personnel in the infield)?

Here's the link. Twins will probably take either Buxton (#1), Zimmer (#3), Gausman (#5) or Correa (#6) with their first pick. MN prep pitcher, Mitchell Brown, is ranked #44. Best power bat available in this draft is Joey Gallo, ranked #33. Sickel's Twins mock had Twins taking Correa, Brown, JO Berrios (#49, exciting P.R. high school arm) and Purdue catcher Plawecki (#67). I'd be pretty happy if we got Zimmer, Gallo, Brown/Berrios with our first three picks.

in 31 ABs. Obviously, this is a small sample size. But, if he regains the composure he showed in his September call up, where and when do you see him fitting back in with the Twins?

After today, 1/3 of his hit are home runs. Normally, that would be an awesome stat, but after going 1 for 4 today, he is now 15 for 94. He actually RAISED his BA to .159. So...what's up with that?

Jon Heyman has a list of his Top 45 trade prospects posted today. http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/story/19216063/newlook-market-at-mlb-trade-deadline-loaded-with-pitching It includes the following Twins: 6. Morneau (although Heyman says he still isn't playing the field -- I guess I've been seeing a mirage out there) 13. Liriano 17. Capps 31. Doumit 32. Pavano Possibilities of trading most of these have been mentioned in other threads. No mention of Span.

It looks like Keri kind of ran out of time or ideas with this story. It recaps a bit how the Twins have ended up where they are, though I think we might argue with how much various points are emphasized. Here is the story: http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/28263/middle-relief-what-to-do-with-the-twins It doesn't really get into what to do now, other than "something drastic." I'd argue the approach should probably be the opposite - this franchise isn't a bold move away from contention. They need to plant a bunch of seeds and water liberally and use what advantages non-contention provides. Maybe the debate on what "drastic" means. Anyway, I was a li…

Tom Verducci's latest piece in Sport Illustrated goes deep into Dan Naulty's career and how much of it was enabled by steroid use. It's rather stunning. Thirty-three players appeared in at least one game for the 1994 Fort Myers Miracle. Only six of them reached the majors long enough to earn $500,000 in their careers. Half of those players are known PED users: Naulty, outfielder Matt Lawton (who tested positive in 2005) and pitcher Dan Serafini (who flunked a test in '07). There's quite a bit more, including a several other Miracle players who admit to steroid use. The notable exception is Dan Serafini, who doesn't see it as cheating at all (and he's the onl…

I've seen several people mention that one of the reasons we should dump Jeff Gray is because he's 30, implying that there is no way he'll improve beyond his career averages, and no way he could be a long term part of the Twins pitching staff. Why? Lots of players play well into their 30's and some into their 40's. And there ARE some guys who do improve considerably after they are 30. Perfect example: R.A. Dickey. He was drafted out of college when he was 22, played in the Rangers organization for 10 years doing nothing special, bounced around a bit, pitched for the Twins in 2009 and was largely written off as not a useful asset....and then in 2010, at the age of …

I was heads down and didn't get to watch today's game. The numbers look awfully good and they certainly couldn't gush enough about him in the post game. I'm looking for impressions from those who watched it. Leaving aside the obvious "He has to do it again and again and again....." thing, what did people think watching it. Notice anything different? I'm far more encouraged by a 9/2 K/BB performance that I was by his no-hit game last year.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Padres are considering signing Marquis. For them, this move makes sense because they currently have four of their starting pitchers on the DL, but just barely in the sense that Marquis is kind of bad.

On another thread, people were mentioning how the Twins have depth in relievers and they need to bring some guys up from AAA and "see what they have". So here's an interesting thought...on the assumption that the Twins would be willing to trade some of our AAA relievers to fill in other areas where we are weak, is it going to help or hurt their trade value to bring them up? Let's look at Slama. Right now he has a 0.42 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP at Rochester. That looks pretty damn great. Now, if we leave him at AAA, he might keep that line. If we bring him up to the Twins, it's pretty unlikely that he would. If we wanted to trade him, would he be worth more as a guy …

John Sickels over at http://www.minorleagueball.com/2012/5/26/3045117/2012-minor-league-ball-community-mock-draft-round-one completed a mock draft this weekend. He has the Twins taking Carlos Correa in the first round. Correa is his top ranked prospect.

By the numbers: 68 IP, 20 ER (2.65 ERA), 45K, 20 BB, 1.25 WHIP. Of course that is not projectable out, in all honesty, but it is worth noting. Unfortunately, Liriano is returning and Blackburn will relatively soon as well.

Blackie just got pulled in the 4th inning in Rochester. He was only marginally effective, but I'm guessing pitch count was also an issue. 3.2 innings, 68 pitches (41 strikes), 3 walks, 2 K's, 4 hits, 4 runs (3 earned). After 4 complete, Rochester leads 5-4. Hollimon 2 HRs, Carson 2-RBI double.

What's the status on Kyle Waldrop's rehab assignment? He hasn't pitched for Ft. Myers since May 14th. Did he have a setback, or is he working more in EST? I look to you, great Twins minor league minds!

According to Twins website, Washington did indeed take Erik Komatsu back. That was a short ride.

Guess we better immediately get rid of him rid of him right?

Anyone Miss the Robin's Egg Blue Jerseys? I do... I think we should go back to them. Modernized...of course... using the Carew days color scheme. Probably don't need the same color pants.

http://thebiglead.com/index.php/2012/04/01/bert-blyleven-shot-a-minnesota-state-lottery-commercial-with-animal-puppets/ Pretty entertaining. Catchy jingle!

If the Twins ever do decide to move the fences in at Target Field, they’ll join two other teams to contemplate the shift to improve offensive output. The season began with the Mets altering their fences in order to attempt to inflate their scoring at home. Now, both the Padres and the Mariners are weighing the pros and cons. The Seattle Mariners, whose lack of home run power appears to derive from the quality of personnel just as much as the home confines, are bandying the idea around this season. Per Larry Stone of the Seattle Times: Last month, the San Diego Padres, who have hit 166 home runs at home from 2009 through 2011 (in comparison, Toronto hit 146 at home …

Back in April when he had TJ surgery, the conventional wisdom was that Baker had pitched his last game as a Twin - why would the Twins pick up his $9.25M option for 2013? Now, with the implosion of the rotation and Liriano and Blackburn falling off the map, one has to wonder if that CW might be changing. Granted, he is not a #1 starter (and never will be) but he has been a reliable, steady pitcher the last few years, with decent numbers and winning more games than losing (even in 2011!). Even if Gibson makes a good recovery, there are still plenty of holes in the rotation, and while there will be free agent options out there, will they really be that much cheaper tha…

We've had posts like this in the past, but I think now is a good time for one. The Twins seem to be making a lot of questionable moves and now is your chance for some suggestions. Crazy or not, anything goes! Here is what I'd try. 1. Clean up the 40 man roster DFA Jeff Gray and Tsuyoshi Nishioka Add Anthony Slama, Sean Burroughs, and Pedro Florimon 39/40 Spots Filled 2.Promotions for the new open 25 man spot Move Danny Valencia to the Major League Twins. 3. Further Cuts Release AAA players Clete Thomas and Brian Dinkelman Promote Benson and Tosoni back to AAA 4. Oswaldo Arcia Watch him carefully and consider an advancement to New Britain.

This is a topic that I have been trying to figure out how to put into a blog, but I just can't. I think it's a good forum topic though. What is the difference between a #4 or #5 starter, a long reliever, a AAAA pitcher or a AAA Pitcher? As the Twins have gone from some veteran #4 and #5 starters to guys like Scott Diamond and PJ Walters and Cole DeVries, I can't help but think about this question. Diamond is a prospect in that, until last year, he really had put up very good minor league numbers. Walters is considered a AAAA pitcher who hasn't had a ton of success in AAA and very little in the big leagues. He's already 27. De Vries is 27 and just made his major leag…