Twins

His name invariably elicits a visceral response from Twins fans. When talking about how the 2015 pitching staff will shake out, nobody seems to like hearing him brought up.

Well, like it or not (and in most cases the answer is "not"), Mike Pelfrey was signed to a two-year deal during the offseason and is owed $5.5 million next year, so he'll get his chance.

I watched it all unfold, but I still have a hard time comprehending it. It feels weird -- almost oxymoronic -- to utter the phrase "American League Champion Kansas City Royals." This is a franchise that had been mired in a losing culture for nearly my entire life. Throughout most of the 2014 season, the Royals were very ordinary, lacking star power.

Yet, there they were in October, rattling off victories and completing a pair of impressive sweeps on their way to the World Series. Now, the Royals enter the 2015 campaign as reigning league champs, seeking to prove that last year's success was no fluke. Can they do it?

Today we conclude our series ranking the Minnesota Twins first-round draft picks. (At the bottom of this list, you’ll find the previous articles) The major league draft is one way for teams to add talent to their organization. However, it is not a perfect science. Unlike other sports, the trek to the big leagues can be a long and winding road.

With that, let’s look at the Top Ten Minnesota Twins First-Round draft picks:

Amidst their organizational swoon in recent years, the Twins have typically set a modest goal at the outset of each season: play meaningful games in September. That shouldn't be all that challenging, especially in the era of four wild-card teams, but it's an accomplishment that has eluded the Twins.

The offseason started off with a bang for the Minnesota Twins, whose winning bid for Korean star Byung Ho Park was announced just a week after the conclusion of the World Series. That news was followed a couple days later by the Aaron Hicks-for-John Ryan Murphy trade, but since then, it's been an awfully quiet couple of months for Terry Ryan and the front office.

Most conspicuously, the Twins have done nothing to address their questionable bullpen, outside of tendering a contract to Casey Fien and doling out a handful of minor-league contracts.

If the chilly Hot Stove season has got you down, keep in mind that we still have more than six weeks remaining until pitchers and catchers report, and as you'll see below, there are numerous options still available at areas of need for the Twins.

We spend the offseason analyzing the players, the team, the rumors, and the offseason moves. Surely, after all that, picking something as simple as whether or not a team is going to be any good should not be so hard, right?

For some, yes. And those folks are getting free Harry's Razor Sets.

Every year at least one player ends up making the Minnesota Twins 25-man roster out of spring training that few expected to do so at the outset of camp.

Let's examine a few of the top candidates among this year's non-roster invite group to latch on, and what kinds of roles they might play.

Aaron and John talk about the Twins' view from atop the AL Central division, the increasingly shaky back of the rotation with Phil Hughes hurt and Kyle Gibson struggling again, debating whether Tyler Duffey deserves another shot to start, weird Ervin Santana trade rumors, Miguel Sano's cold stretch, Nick Burdi and J.T. Chargois falling off the bullpen radar, and more Hunter Greene vs. Brendan McKay draft speculation. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link.