stringer bell

Great stuff Thrylos! I saw quite a bit of the action. I will echo the comment about Berrios. He looked too good for the opponents. I didn't realize how hard he was throwing.

There will be improvement from within, I think. Also, I think that there will be a changing of the guard during the season this year. First, I doubt Willingham lasts the season as a Twins, secondly, younger higher-upside players should claim three positions sometime this year: Pinto (who, in my book starts in the minors), Sano, and Hicks. I don't think any of those three is on the Opening Day roster, but they will supplant the season starters and improve the offensive productivity going forward. Arcia will likely move forward and backup options look to be far better than Doug Bernier and Clete Thomas.

I'd certainly like to see Pinto start the season as the Twins regular catcher, but I won't be overly concerned if Suzuki starts the season getting most of the starts. Pinto has a bit of work to do, having played just a month in Rochester. I hope he starts the season with the Twins, but if he doesn't, good play at Rochester will get him back to Minnesota soon enough. It's a long season, first of all, and secondly, everyone will get a chance to play and if Pinto is better, I trust he'll get plenty of work.

All good choices. Perhaps you could add Parmelee and Plouffe, who have tantalized the fan base for a few years but haven't sustained the productivity of their "hot" streaks.

On the first thought here, I agree that there will be a decision between keeping two or three catchers and logic indicates keeping two in this era where we see bloated pitching staffs. However, I doubt there will be any times where one catcher replaces the other when the Twins are in the lead. Pinch hitting the better hitter would probably only happen late and close or in extra innings. I have posted my take that Suzuki is a lock, Pinto has a very good chance to be the primary catcher, but it wouldn't surprise me if he started either on the DL or in Rochester. If they choose to keep three catchers, I think it gives Herrmann a leg up because he is pretty established as an outfielder and might get some reps in the infield this spring. Also, he is a left handed hitter and the other prospective receivers are all right handed. As far the rest of your blog-wow I disagree all over the place! First of all, especially with so many candidates for fifth starter out of options, I foresee 12 hurlers going north and probably another one stashed on the disabled list, that leaves only 13 position players. You didn't list Brian Duensing, but with all the right handed starters, a flexible left handed reliever would be a big asset. Next, with Escobar the ideal three-position utility infielder, I only see the need for only one backup infielder--Escobar. I can't see Bartlett beating out Florimon at short and I would expect him to head for Rochester or be released. For the outfield, you have both Hicks starting the year in Minnesota as a reserve. I don't buy that. I actually see no scenario where Hicks starts the season in Minnesota. Presley starts in center, with Mastroianni as his backup. Arcia moves back and forth between left and right with Kubel starting in the outfield some and DHing and the same for the Hammer. I'd love to see Parmelee step up and earn at-bats, but if he makes the club at all, he's probably a bench player at least to start the season. To balance things out, it would probably be wise to carry a right handed hitter to be a corner OF-1B.

The trade of Ryan Doumit seems to make acquiring a veteran catcher a necessity. It would be best if the veteran hit lefty and was above-average defensively, but there aren't a lot of guys like that available.

Oh yeah, exactly what I thought!

Yes, yes, and yes! Improvement has to come from within, although free agents to augment the staff this year make perfect sense. I have said on another thread that the players that will play supplementary roles need to be developed and last year was disappointing because only one guy, Dozier, stepped up and established himself. It would be great if half of the guys mentioned by Jim H establish themselves this summer. It would be great if one new pitcher steps up and is part of the future.

In most science fiction shows I have seen, somebody is in stasis (I hope I spelled it right and I am using it correctly). That means that the person or creature in question is in an unchanged state as time goes by. It is my opinion that the Twins basically spent 2013 in stasis. I expected at the start of 2013 the Twins would move some veterans, find out about some prospective regulars and start in the development of a starting rotation. None of that happened. almost all of what was unsettled going into the season is still unsettled. Ryan Doumit and Josh Willingham are still Twins and Morneau was on the team until September 1. The Twins have no more answers about their starting rotation than they did a year ago. Further, almost no positions have a regular. We Twins fans still have Chris Parmelee competing for a starting position and Trevor Plouffe as the nominal regular at third base. We don't know for sure if Joe Mauer will be the primary catcher, and we aren't sure who will start at any of the outfield spots. The aforementioned Plouffe and Parmelee are bigger question marks going into 2014 than they were heading into this year, along with Scott Diamond, Vance Worley, and probably Kyle Gibson. The team lost 90+ games again and really didn't move forward at all. Exactly one starting pitcher is guaranteed to be in the rotation next year and exactly one position player established himself as a major league regular. I find those results totally unacceptable for a rebuilding team. It makes 2014 a virtual certainty to be another losing season and has delayed the needed roster turnover until the coming season. I expected improvement this past season, whether or not it was reflected in the won/loss record. Instead we saw stasis.

I agree that both players were disappointing in 2013. I think it is to the point where Parmelee will have to win himself a spot on the 2014 Twins and if he doesn't hit, he will be sent to the minors. I believe he is out of options, so if he fails to stick with the team, he would be exposed and I don't think the Twins will worry further about losing him. Plouffe, OTOH, did play slightly better defense and lifted his average above .250. The power never materialized as it did in 2012. Providing the most charitable take I can for both players: Parmelee seemed lost and drained of confidence this year. Perhaps he will "find his mojo" and be the good hitter he was in September 2011 and at AAA in 2012. Plouffe has a miserable two months, but was otherwise more than serviceable and was one of few bright spots in September. He could benefit by healthy and productive players hitting in front of him. There is room for him to grow defensively and maybe the sight of Sano in his rear view mirror will make a more focused Trevor into a better ballplayer.

Good article, Nick. I agree with much you wrote, but have less patience. I think some of the talk needs to be backed up by a changed approach and new personnel. While I think Gardy is a good baseball guy and a good manager, his extension also symbolizes more of the same from a franchise that is a good bet to lose 90+ games for the fourth straight season. Ryan is doig a lot of talking and his rhetoric suggests to me that he hasn't bought in to the realities of this decade--that the Twins are a mid-market franchise, that the team needs to augment their talent by being a player in the free-agent market and that they need pitchers in the rotation that can make hitters swing and miss.

I could call it mixed feelings, I could call it being worn down by all the bad news from my favorite team, or maybe it is that I don't think it will make much difference whether Ron Gardenhire was retained. I can't get too worked up about the move. I heard the news and didn't respond. Maybe I'm numb. About 10 hours later, though, I'm starting to think about the whole process. What did Gardy do to get two more years? In my humble opinion, there was more justification to extend him a year ago than there is now. A year ago I thought Gardy should stay, but coming into today I thought it would be best for the organization if someone else took the helm. What does this move say about the Twins Front Office? Is three years of dreadful baseball acceptable? The Twins had one player make significant progress this year on a team where there were opportunities for many to make a place for themselves for the long term. Is that okay? In what area or what level did the Twins make real progress? After hearing Terry Ryan making circular arguments about free agency which virtually guarantee that there will be no top tier signing from the Twins and hearing him brand play as "unacceptable" but have no real plan to compete, I can't be optimistic. It seems the whole plan is "wait for Buxton and Sano" and that isn't a plan, it is just hoping. Ron Gardenhire is a good baseball guy and seems like a decent human being. I respect Terry Ryan's knowledge of the game of baseball and his ability to find talent. I just don't think either man fits in rebuilding a pretty good franchise and developing a team that can win it all. I hope my opinions are wrong, but I have seen precious little to refute my opinion.

I don't get the Ramirez love. He's an older basically career minor leaguer with no real obvious big-league strengths and a real stretch to put in center field. He would be on top of my DFA list. On the other hand, Mastro played most of last season for the Twins and demonstrated ++basestealing skills and enough defense to be okay in center field. This year was ruined by injury and he can't hit like he has since he returned to the Twins, but I think that Mastroianni breaks camp with the Twins in 2014 as the fourth OF and a platoon option for Presley.

I base my optimism for Pinto on 1) minor league performance--he swung at strikes in NB and Roch. He was very consistent--not many o'fers and a lot of game with a hit or walk. A lot of extra base hits. 2) Eyeball test--compared to Colabello, he looks like Paul Molitor. Quiet at the plate, not off balance, able to adjust to hit off-speed stuff. He hasn't appeared to be fooled very often. 3) Almost all of his hits have been hit hard--when he had three doubles, the ball was stung each time. He isn't dropping bloopers over the infielder's heads.

The Twins will finish their third straight losing season late this month. In a year where I expected they would not contend, they haven't but more to the point they have had precious few players step up and establish themselves. All true-blue Twins fans know that there is impressive talent on it's way to Minnesota, especially among the position players. What was needed this year was to have some of the current roster establish itself for the second half of the decade. With the exception of second baseman Brian Dozier, that hasn't happened. Looking forward to 2014, the Twins will have far too many moving pieces and unproven parts to contend. I viewed 2014 as the transition season where the Twins would become a good team again with a refurbished roster. It could still happen, but too much talent is unproven and there are several holes to fill. I expect quite a bit of off-season activity for the Twins--perhaps trading a veteran (Doumit or Willingham), probably adding a starter or two, but I will project 2014 as if no significant moves are made. Here is my Opening Day projections for both starting lineup and 25-man roster. Starting lineup: Presley CF, Dozier 2B, Mauer 1B, Willingham DH, Arcia LF, Plouffe 3B, Doumit C, Parmelee RF, Florimon SS, Correia P. 25-man roster: Starters--Correia, Gibson, Diamond, Pelfrey, Worley. Bullpen: Duensing, Thielbar, Roenicke, Fien, Swarzak, Burton, Perkins. Catchers: Doumit and Herrmann Infielders: Mauer, Dozier, Florimon, Plouffe, Escobar. Outfielders: Arcia, Presley, Parmelee, Mastroianni DH: Colabello, Willingham. The biggest and most important moving piece is Joe Mauer. I am projecting he will be a first baseman and third catcher, playing behind the dish less than 10 times in the coming year. Mauer being a first baseman makes it possible that Josmil Pinto could start the season as the Twins regular catcher--if the Twins don't move Doumit, I think that move will wait, but barring injury or severe regression by Pinto, it would happen. I've listed Colabello and Willingham as DHs. I expect they would play in the field fairly often, with Mauer DHing some. I've penciled in Plouffe at third despite his disappointing 2013, with Escobar as the only infield backup. I am not really sure that Parmelee will open the season as a starter, but with no acquisitions he has a path to starting in the outfield. I am projecting that Presley (a better Clete Thomas) will open as the center fielder (probably platooning with Mastro), but Aaron Hicks could win back center with a good spring training and probably will reclaim center field sometime in the first half of 2014. I have also included Pelfrey in the starting rotation. He may not be back, but if he isn't I would expect the Twins would sign a similar veteran. In summary, I am seeing a non-contender opening 2014. I expect the season to transition from subpar to something much brighter. The front office can speed the transition up by adding to the starting rotation and perhaps adding a middle of the order hitter. Many players will need to establish themselves, but I think the bottom-out phase will be reached early and that the club will be better and more competitive at the end of the summer than when they start in April.

The Twins put three minor league teams in the playoffs and have seen them all falter. Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers both were defeated 2-0 and Rochester trails 2-1 in a best of five series. The Red Wings will need to win two straight at Pawtucket to advance in the International League playoffs. When the Red Wings are eliminated, the Twins will call up a few of their players. Depending on injuries, that number could be as low as three or as high as five or six. My guess is that the Twins will recall only four guys--relief pitcher Michael Tonkin, 1B/RF Chris Parmelee, IF Eduardo Escobar and starting pitcher Scott Diamond. If a fifth player is recalled, I would guess that it would be Cole De Vries. All of these guys have seen time with the Twins and none profile as potential All-Stars. Notable in not being called up would be the Twins Opening Day center fielder Aaron Hicks. I have stated that Parmelee's role has changed from a guy given a job with a chance to establish himself to a guy who has to win a job. Parmelee could have a chance to win an outfield job or first base next year, but more likely will be competing to be a bench bat to start the year. Chris just hasn't hit enough to merit consideration to start at either first base or right field. He would figure to get quite a few at-bats upon his recall and the hope would be that some solid hitting would build his confidence heading into 2014. Escobar has had a good stint in Rochester. He hit .307 with an .880 OPS in nearly 200 plate appearances. He is regarded as a fine three position defender and should be a favorite to make the Twins as a utility infielder. If any of the three incumbent starters falter or are injured Escobar would be the #1 candidate to take their role. Being a switch hitter and seeing the platoon splits of two Twins' infield starters, Escobar could be in line for considerable playing time next year, whether or not someone struggles or is injured. Escobar has logged a lot of major league bench time in the last two years and his time in Rochester may have helped his development more than more pine time in Minnesota. It will be interesting to see how much he plays and whether he can continue to hit upon returning to the majors. Tonkin had a very good season. He started in New Britain and was a mid-season callup to the Red Wings. He had two appearances with the Twins, one impressive, one not so much in a blowout. Tonkin features a big fastball and a power slider IIRC. On a team with few power pitchers, the Twins would love to see him thrive for them next year. Tonkin seems to have struggled in his last couple weeks. I am not sure what to expect from him and if the team decided he's thrown enough, I guess he might not be recalled at all. I'm a Diamond fan. He went down to Rochester and after a rocky first appearance has pitched very well. Diamond is in the mix for a starting job in 2014 and a couple of good starts would help his confidence heading toward the new year. Diamond will start the Red Wings playoff game tonight, so how he throws would have a direct bearing on when and if he is recalled soon. Diamond's numbers at Rochester: 4-0 record, 33 H in 41 IP, 9 BB and 19 K and a 2.41 ERA. De Vries is my sneaky candidate for recall. He started 2013 on the Twins' DL after probably winning a spot in the rotation, had a couple setbacks, performed poorly, but since rehabbing he has been very effective. De Vries was a pretty effective major league pitcher in 2012. He hasn't been mentioned much as a candidate for the 2014 rotation, but a few good starts might open some eyes going forward.

Great season at a key time in Pinto's career. He really sets himself to be a key guy for the developing Twins of mid-decade.

Beyond the "patience" mantra, I am wondering about some specifics from the front office and field staff. I question how well they relate to the young guys, particularly the Hispanic players, and I think they need a better plan in dealing with prospects when they break in to the majors (e.g. Hicks and Arcia). The front office is culpable in going with limited pitchers (command and control, pitch to contact) and position players. They have been slow to delve into advanced stats and have been slow to go along with the power bat/power arm combo for a winning team. Further, I question whether the Twins have been prudent in valuing their assets and free agent assets.

Lots of candidates for the starting rotation. I think Gibson and Worley are good candidates for bounceback seasons. I would like to see the Twins sign Johnson and maybe Vargas. I think they should replace Morneau with Morales (more of a DH, but I like Mauer playing a lot of first) and Morales has negligible platoon splits. Casey Fien and Roenicke should probably be gone (hopefully the Twins could get something for Casey), Hicks needs to win back center field (I think he will) and Parmelee will need to re-establish himself as a big leaguer, probably starting as a bench player.

I haven't paid close attention to the Twins for the past couple of weeks. I was on the road last (long) weekend and have played golf in the warm weather every night. I caught part of the game yesterday and followed along as the Twins were swept today. My frustration level with the product on the field has reached new highs. I checked out the numbers for all of the players and besides the disabled Mauer, no one is an even average hitter for their position. Yesterday was a sloppy defensive game and I understand there were mistakes in the field on Tuesday as well. We've known all year that the pitching staff is subpar, but I thought the offense and defense would improve this year. It hasn't. Right now this team is as bad as either of the two 90+ loss teams that preceded it. My solution? Fire everybody. Gardy--gone. "Andy"--pink slip. Steiny and Bruno--you're gone too. Vavra and Ullger--part of the current regime--out the door. The architect of this mess (Terry Ryan)--retired or fired. The time for patience and continuity is over. Of the 25 guys on the roster right now, no more than a couple will be playing for the team when they are relevant again. Sweep the floor clean and start over. Besides this, high-quality guys might want to take over as GM or field manager because the farm system is loaded. I am sick of seeing non-competitive lineups and efforts in the last third of the season and tired of counting my team out by the 4th of July, if not sooner. While most of the guys I am calling to be fired are good baseball guys, and I don't think it is all the fault of any one person, it is time to quit trying to tweak the "Twins way" and going a new direction. I also won't mind seeing major shakeups of the "talent" on the field. Go young, with a small sprinkling of veterans, trade away or DFA the chaff and get started on becoming a dominant team in this decade instead of looking back at the competitiveness of the last one. If the one star (Mauer) isn't happy with this, ask him to waive his no-trade contract and get a real haul for him.

I checked the usual suspects for homers by a Twins second baseman. Bernie Allen hit 12 in his rookie year (1962), Rod Carew hit 13 as a 2B in 1975. Chuck Knoblauch hit 13 in '96, Todd Walker hit 12 in 1998, and the current single season home run leader as a second baseman is Tim Tuefel with 14 in 1984.

The Twins started 2013 with many question marks. The entire starting rotation was questioned (rightly), and new starters were introduced at 2B, SS, 3B, and RF. Center field was to be manned by a rookie who hadn't played above AA and several new arms were being deployed in the bullpen. The established players were Willingham, Morneau, and Mauer, with DH and backup catcher being handled by veteran Ryan Doumit. While not much was expected, the goal was to see some or all of the new player establish themselves, some of the pitchers to take a step forward and a larger core to be established for the next wave of high-profile prospects. If everything went right, the Twins could make substantial improvement in the W-L ledger and maybe threaten .500. If things went wrong, well there's next year and there wasn't a lot of money or years invested in the "bridge" players. With about 20% of the season remaining, there hasn't been much good news. Some players and pitchers (perhaps Correia, Pelfrey, and Florimon) have managed to meet low-bar expectations. Hicks and Parmelee (2/3 of the starting outfield) are in the minors, third baseman Plouffe hasn't hit enough or improved enough in the field to sew up a roster position for next year. Veterans Doumit and Willingham have regressed (Hammer was hampered by injuries) and Morneau is backing up a mediocre season with another mediocre season. The bullpen has been a success. They've been healthy and have handled their roles very well despite getting too much work. That is the second best news for the team on the field this year. The best news of 2013 has been the development and establishment of Brian Dozier as the team's second baseman. First the defense--Dozier has supplied more highlights than any other player on the team and on top of that, he has been fundamentally sound and steady. He has adjusted to second base incredibly well and seems to have mastered the double play pivot and the throws and angles in short order. Offensively, Dozier's numbers don't look that great--his average is in the .240s and he has struggled to get his OBP over .300--but Dozier has improved since a lousy April and May and he has demonstrated surprising sock for a middle infielder. He had 13 extra base hits in July and already has 15 in August, with a week to go. Dozier has hit 13 homers, second on the club and has a chance to set a home run record for a Twins second baseman. Dozier has batted leadoff more often than not since midseason. He's probably not ideal for that role, but is certainly the best option available for the Twins. For whatever reason, Dozier has also delivered best for the team this year when the chips were down. His splits with runners on, close and late, and RISP have been very good. He's second on the club in RBI, despite batting leadoff behind low OBP guys hitting in front of him. Dozier has earned the respect of his manager, and has cemented himself as a major league regular at age 26. He may be playing at his ceiling, but this level is good enough. Going forward, he is a regular or a pretty decent trade chip and definitely the biggest success story of the 2013 Twins.

Many ifs in the following scenario, but if Dozier proves to be a decent hitter with surprising power and a fine defender and Rosario "beats the door down" by continuing to hit as he advances through the minor leagues, the Twins would have decisions to make. One would be to move the superior defender back to shortstop to clear a spot for Rosario. The other option would be to trade one or the other.

My best friend from high school and me stay in touch but seldom see each other. We decided we would attend a game sometime this summer and he called me last week telling me that he had tickets given to him to see the Astros--yes! The Astros--today. We met and had lunch and then attended the game. The weather was pleasant (mid 70s and mostly cloudy) and the Twins should certainly have had a chance since they were playing the worst team in mlb. The Twins did prevail 3-2 and the crowd was again pretty good (over 34,000) and they appreciated the positive moments that occurred during the game. There really weren't many positive moments. Pelfrey was his struggling self, pitching into and out of trouble in almost every inning. Except for two big flies, the Twins' offense did next to nothing. There weren't many good fielding plays or long fly balls, except for the two that cleared the fence. Some observations: Carroll started at third and looks .......really old. He doesn't have much zip on his throws (I noticed he's played almost no SS this year), his ABs were pretty poor. Morneau had a couple good rips besides his homer. I'll let others at TD debate whether today was a blip on the radar or something else. When I looked at the lineup and the Twins bottom of the order, I saw Thomas (minor leaguer), Carroll (should be retired) and Bernier (minor leaguer) with Herrmann and Colabello also on the roster and I'm thinking not good thought about Minnesota's GM. Arcia hit a couple balls right on the nose including the game winner and the major difference between the Twins and Astros is that the Twins have a decent, functional bullpen. I listened to more espn1500 this morning than I have in months. I heard Jim Souhan call out Trevor Plouffe and say that someone in the Twins' FO told him that nobody wanted any of the Twins available at the deadline. I don't hold out much hope for the club for the rest of the year. I think an August trade would be helpful, but unless somebody starts hitting or pitching better, I don't think that will happen. The roster is relatively old with a lot of guys that have zero upside. Oh, well. The Twins won a game and I got to see an old friend. And Target Field is a really nice venue.

My best friend from high school and me stay in touch but seldom see each other. We decided we would attend a game sometime this summer and he called me last week telling me that he had tickets given to him to see the Astros--yes! The Astros--today. We met and had lunch and then attended the game. The weather was pleasant (mid 70s and mostly cloudy) and the Twins should certainly have had a chance since they were playing the worst team in mlb. The Twins did prevail 3-2 and the crowd was again pretty good (over 34,000) and they appreciated the positive moments that occurred during the game. There really weren't many positive moments. Pelfrey was his struggling self, pitching into and out of trouble in almost every inning. Except for two big flies, the Twins' offense did next to nothing. There weren't many good fielding plays or long fly balls, except for the two that cleared the fence. Some observations: Carroll started at third and looks .......really old. He doesn't have much zip on his throws (I noticed he's played almost no SS this year), his ABs were pretty poor. Morneau had a couple good rips besides his homer. I'll let others at TD debate whether today was a blip on the radar or something else. When I looked at the lineup and the Twins bottom of the order, I saw Thomas (minor leaguer), Carroll (should be retired) and Bernier (minor leaguer) with Herrmann and Colabello also on the roster and I'm thinking not good thought about Minnesota's GM. Arcia hit a couple balls right on the nose including the game winner and the major difference between the Twins and Astros is that the Twins have a decent, functional bullpen. I listened to more espn1500 this morning than I have in months. I heard Jim Souhan call out Trevor Plouffe and say that someone in the Twins' FO told him that nobody wanted any of the Twins available at the deadline. I don't hold out much hope for the club for the rest of the year. I think an August trade would be helpful, but unless somebody starts hitting or pitching better, I don't think that will happen. The roster is relatively old with a lot of guys that have zero upside. Oh, well. The Twins won a game and I got to see an old friend. And Target Field is a really nice venue.