Minnesota Twins Talk

With the cuts today, I am going to post my projected Twins roster. I would love to hear others thoughts on this if you agree or disagree. C Mauer 1b Morneau 2b Casilla SS Carroll 3b Valencia LF Revere CF Span RF Willingham DH Doumit Bench Butera Plouffe Hughes Burroughs I don't know if Burroughs deserves to make the roster, but I think he will as the Twins won't want to rush Brian Dozier into a starting job from AA. It goes against everything Gardy usually likes to do, but Casilla will be the backup SS. I can see at some point in 2012 where Dozier gets called up and either Casilla or Carroll gets moved to utility role. I just don't think now is going …

The last couple of weeks, Twins Daily readers have had the opportunity to vote for the preseason all-AL Central All Star Team. Here are those results: Catcher – Joe Mauer, Minnesota TwinsFirst Base – Prince Fielder, Detroit TigersSecond Base – Jason Kipnis, Cleveland IndiansThird Base – Miguel Cabrera, Detroit TigersShortstop – Asdrubal Cabrera, Cleveland IndiansLeft Field – Alex Gordon, Kansas City RoyalsCenter Field – Denard Span, Minnesota TwinsRight Field – Josh Willingham, Minnesota TwinsDesignated Hitter – Billy Butler, Kansas City RoyalsNow it is time to think about the preseason all-AL Central pitchers. Today, we’ll start with the starting pitchers. I’ll give y…

Just saw this in transaction. 03/21/12 Terry Doyle returned to Charlotte Knights from Minnesota Twins.

It sounds like the Red Sox have a 3-way race for shortstop this year. Jose Iglesias is the prospect: awesome glove but questionable hitting. His older doppleganger is Punto, who is 34 and starting a 2-year/$3M contract. And then there is Mike Aviles, who is Punto's opposite - suspect glove but occasionally he can really hit. He has a $1.2M/1-year deal. I think the way this will work is Aviles starts, Punto is on the bench and Iglesias is in AAA. But what if.... What if they decided to start Iglesias and - because Aviles offers a nice contrast - make Aviles the backup. And what if they called the Twins, who Punto has history with and who needs a utility infielder, an…

According to the Pioneer Press, Clark Calvin Griffith, 70, son of former Twins owner Calvin Griffith and now a professor at William Mitchell Law in St. Paul, is accused of "exposing himself" to a 24-year-old female student at a bar. Here are some details of what allegedly went down on January 24: Beyond the event that transpired on Victoria Street, likely near the bar Billy's On Grand, additional information emerged from the complaint in which Griffith was not yet familiar with: The Star Tribune's report has some further details:

[h=6]I'll be talking #Twins on Dizzo's Den (with Dom Izzo) on WDAY Radio (am 970 in Fargo) at about 6:30. Listen live: http://www.wday.com/pages/AM970Radio. [/h]

I'm generally a postive-type Twins fan (call me Seth-like in that regard), but I can't figure out why Alex Burnett has been kept at the major league levels this long. Without getting into specific statistics (I'll let the responders take this up), my research shows only an organizational belief that his "stuff" will develop. Can't they develop this in AAA (I honestly don't know his option status as of today). Someone convince me otherwise.

Just a little comp that went through my head earlier today. Can Manship follow Guerrier's path to becoming a solid relief arm? The similarities aren't hard to see: Both fairly ordinary prospects and failed starters with similar numbers in the minors (Guerrier: 3.54 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 7.0 K/9, 2.4 BB/9; Manship: 3.54 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 7.3 K/9, 2.3 BB/9), both broke into the majors in their mid-20s, both throw a decent ~90MPH fastball and complement it with solid breaking stuff that plays up in relief. One of Guerrier's best attributes was his durability, as he was among the league leaders in appearances almost every year, and that's an area where Manship has to prove hi…

The Twins have released three commercials of Sorta Deep Thoughts. Joe Mauer (prankster), Ron Gardenhire (grandma), Bert Blyleven (retired numbers), Carl Pavano (no matter how hard you work), Justin Morneau (likes hitting HR) and TC Bear (laughs at us). I think these are great!! What do you think? Which is your favorite?

Interesting piece. You can find it here. Also within this piece (towards the end) looks like Hollimon is getting a good look. The one think the will fallout from Mornaeu being a DH is that Doumit will be the backup C instead of the everyday DH and Parmelee will make the team instead of Butera. I can live with that last one.

Forbes has published it's annual "Business of Baseball" feature, providing financial analysis of all 30 MLB teams. The Twins rank 14th in value, down from 12th a year ago. Also, pretty much middle of the pack in revenues and operating income. The team's value rose only 4% last year (after rising 21% the year before). Only three teams failed to realize increases in value more than the Twins. The Royals value rose only 1%, while the Rays and Mets actually lost value. The Forbes article can be found here: http://www.forbes.com/mlb-valuations/#p_1_s_a0_

Yesterday's news that Morneau's wrist is still bothering him, along with the 3-30 spring training with no base hits and ESPECIALLY that Justin is talking about how he has been almost completely unable to pull the ball makes me wonder.... Under what scenario, outright of an obvious injury, do the Twins coax Morneau to begin the season on the DL? Is there one? Let's say he is stilll hitting .125 at the end of spring. He has asked to sit out every other day because swinging hard is making it hard for his wrist to recover. At what point do the doctors step in and say "It needs rest. You need rest." (And then come out and tell us all "He's got tendonitis. No biggee. He'l…

ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted today that talent evaluators that he spoke with has said that Twins middle infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka has looked "lost" both offensively and defensively so far this spring: And here I thought last year's performance was rock-bottom for Nishi...

Sounds like he's no longer a Twin.

You learn something every day, and not sure that this has always been here or whether it is part of the new CBA, but ESPN NY said in an article (talking about the Mets, but it is applicable for all MLB teams: ) Who is in that position (and still in the MLB camp) for the Twins? Joe Benson Carlos Gutierrez Liam Hendriks Chris Parmelee Rene Tosoni Kyle Waldrop Alex Burnett and Jeff Manship are on their last option season so it does not affect them

The Star Tribune did a write up over the weekend about the Twins search for an ace since Johan Santana left. I did a spin off piece this morning on my blog since I saw Tim Lincecum when I was in Arizona last weekend. The Trib listed seven pitchers in all of baseball that qualified as being aces. This got me thinking... If the Twins could have one of these players to build their rotation around, who would it be and why? Here are the candidates and I will let the discussion begin. Justin VerlanderCC SabathiaRoy HalladayTim LincecumCliff LeeClayton Kershaw

Chris Jaffe at the Hardball Times has a story celebrating Jim Kaat's signing with the Washington Senators. It's at: http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/20000-day-versary-jim-kaat-goes-pro/ He spends a fair amount of it examining Kaat's candidacy for the Hall of Fame.

According to the Star Tribune's Joe Christensen, Twins general manager Terry Ryan said that the team will be looking outside to find a utility player. Christensen speculates that Tampa might be a good trade partner for them: I don't know what this says Sean Burroughs, Mike Holliman or Pedro Florimon, who have been speculated as the Twins primary options right now. Johnson's been a bit of a whiff machine in the minors (2.5-to-1 K-to-BB ratio) as well as his limited time in the majors. So don't expect too much from his bat. What he does possess is the ability "pick it" at short and second, potentially giving the Twins a true "defense first" type play off the bench.

Today in our preseason AL Central vote, we finish out the offense by voting on the Designated Hitter. We will get to the pitchers soon. Be sure to vote for your choice for "Which AL Central Designated Hitter will have the best 2012?" Be sure to vote here. The Candidates (2011 stats) Minnesota Twins – Ryan Doumit - .303/.353/.477 (.830) with 12-2B, 1-3B, 8-HR, 30 RBI Chicago White Sox – Adam Dunn - .159/.292/.277 (.569) with 16-2B, 0-3B, 11-HR, 42 RBI Cleveland Indians – Travis Hafner - .280/.361/.449 (.811) with 16-2B, 0-3B, 13-HR, 57 RBI Detroit Tigers – Ryan Raburn - .256/.297/.432 (.729) with 22-2B, 2-3B, 14-HR, 49 RBI Kansas City Royals – Billy Butler - .291/.361/…

I think that such a move could be a win-win for the Twins. Someone claims him, he is gone (clean slate, other than the signing bonus.) He will probably not be claimed and will open another spot. Thoughts?

The time we've all been waiting for.... Nishi has been optioned to Rochester. Hopefully the coaches there can do something to still make the Twins investment somewhat usefull...

Today in our preseason AL Central vote, we finish out the outfield with the rightfielders. Be sure to vote for your choice for "Which AL Central Right Fielder will have the best 2012?" Be sure to vote here. The Candidates (2011 stats) Minnesota Twins – Josh Willingham - .246/.332/.477 (.810) with 26-2B, 0-3B, 29-HR, 98 RBI Chicago White Sox – Alex Rios- .227/.265/.348 (.613) with 22-2B, 2-3B, 13-HR, 44 RBI Cleveland Indians – Shin-Soo Choo - .259/.344/.390 (.733) with 11-2B, 3-3B, 8-HR, 36 RBI Detroit Tigers – Brennan Boesch - .283/.341/.458 (.799) with 25-2B, 1-3B, 16-HR, 54 RBI Kansas City Royals – Jeff Francoeur - .285/.329/.476 (.805) with 47-2B, 4-3B, 20-HR, 87 R…

With the Twins opening their season on a Friday afternoon a week into April, the Miracle, Rock Cats, and Red Wings will all have played their first games of the season the day before the Twins instead of starting the minor league schedule the typical few days later. I don't recall that happening before. What was the reasoning for the MLB schedule being pushed back? Minor League playoff considerations for the September call-ups?

I'm trying like hell to figure out how Nishioka cannot make the 25-man roster. The problem isn't that he shouldn't be on it - he CLEARLY shouldn't be on it. The problem is that I'm not sure who else they have to take a spot that is going to belong to a middle infielder. Here's what I've come up with.... 1) Give it to Brian Dozier - First, I don't think the Twins will want to call up Dozier unless he's going to play every day. Second, Dozier needs to convince Gardy that he can play shortstop. 2) Give it to Pedro Florimon - I just haven't heard anything about the guy really playing. Is he even in the plans? 3) Don't take a middle infielder - With Plouffe and Casill…

I'll be in Ft Myers on the 18th and 19th but it's an away game (to Boston which is in Ft Myers) and an off day. If I went to the Twins complex on either of those days, would there be anything to see? What I'd like to see are some of our minor league prospects instead of the major league team. Any chance of that or would that be off limits to visitors? Thanks,

In the seventh inning of today's game, Plouffe took himself out of the game after he seemingly stumbled running the bases. Has anyone heard what's up? The Twins bench situation already looks so thin that they are going to give that last roster spot to someone who has almost no business being in the majors yet. This would make things a mite worse.

Today in our preseason AL Central vote, we move from left to center field. Be sure to vote for your choice for "Which AL Central Center Fielder will have the best 2012?" Be sure to vote here. The Candidates (2011 stats) Minnesota Twins - Denard Span- .264/.328/.359(.687) with 11-2B, 5-3B, 2-HR, 16 RBI Chicago White Sox - Alejandro de Aza- .329/.400/.520 (.920) with 11-2B, 3-3B, 4-HR, 23 RBI Cleveland Indians - Ezequiel Carrera- .243/.301/.312 (.613) with 8-2B, 3-3B, 0-HR, 14 RBI Ezequiel Cabrera MILB - 287/.371/.348 (.719) with 8-2B, 3-3B. 2-HR, 25 RBI Detroit Tigers - Austin Jackson- .249/.317/.374 (.690) with 22-2B, 11-3B, 10-HR, 45 RBI…

Yesterday, Thrylos98 posted where fomer Twins players signed in the offseason. I thought it would be good and fun to have a forum thread dedicated to former Twins and Twins minor leaguers playing in big league camps. I figured we can post links to stories on former Twins, player daily stats, transactions, etc. Box Score Updates from 3/3/12 (Saturday): Jim Thome - Philadelphia - DH - 0-2 Tyler Ladendorf - Oakland - 2B - 1-1 Jason Kubel - Arizona - LF - 1-3 David Winfree - Arizona - 1B - 1-2 Henry Blanco - Arizona - C - 0-2 Michael Cuddyer - Colorado - RF - 0-1, BB Dusty Hughes - Atlanta - 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K Ron Mahay - Cincinnati - 1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 …

I was browsing Fangraphs, and I came across these interesting stats. In 2011, the Twins had a 9.8 WAR. In 2011, Jacoby Ellsbury had a 9.4 WAR. I hope 2011 is a year we can all look back on and laugh at. (The WAR calculations combine hitting, fielding, & base running for non-pitchers)

The TwinsDaily AL Central Preseason Team's infield is pretty well set. It's time to move to the outfield. Be sure to vote for your choice for "Which AL Central Left Fielder will have the best 2012?" The Candidates (2011 stats) Minnesota Twins - Ben Revere - .267/.310/.309 (.619) with 9-2B, 5-3B, 0-HR, 30 RBI Chicago White Sox - Dayan Viciedo - .255/.327/.314 (.641) with 3-2B, 0-3B, 1-HR, 6 RBI Dayan Viciedo MILB - .296/.364/.491 (.856) with 28-2B, 0-3B, 2-HR, 78 RBI Cleveland Indians - Michael Brantley - .266/.318/.384 (.702) with 24-2B, 4-3B, 7-HR, 46 RBI Detroit Tigers - Delmon Young - .268/.302/.393 (.695) with 21-2B, 1-3B, 12-HR, 64 RBI Kansas City Royals - Alex…