stringer bell

How come I love it when Plouffe goes oppo, but hate it that Colabello always does?

"Plieff"?

Did he say which Wednesday? Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

Maybe I'm a pitching fan, but I thought the ump's zone was very tight. I thought he threw strike three to Kipness.

Still in Florida, Halsey?

Gibson seems like a nice kid. I hope he is a nicer pitcher. Good to see him go up and in on a couple of Tribe hitters.

That isn't the Tribe manager, is it? I believe it is his dad.

I didn't know we had a "Doser" on the Twins! Also, it's nice to score a couple, but ooh, what a tight zone.

For the linguists here--"grey" or "gray", what's the difference?

Numbers probably not as important as "non-competitive at-bats". If a guy looks hopeless more than half the time, it probably is time for them to take a day off. I'm not saying that is the case with Arcia, I just haven't seen enough regular season ball (day games on work days).

Dick and Bert were right for once. Pelf had the ball sinking for three innings and suddenly not so much. Also, he lost command of the strike zone, he walked his last two hitters on nine pitches, I believe. And now for something completely different. Today's game is on Fox Sports 1. I haven't followed this too closely, but I presume Fox, like NBC, has a cable sports channel. Again assuming that they are going to run their Saturday regular season games on the cable sports channel and then run post-season games on the regular network. AmIright?

I can't remember how many times last year when the Twins won games when they were behind and facing the closer in the ninth inning. It wasn't many. Obviously, Chicago's closer isn't an All-Star, but he was designated the closer and the Twins beat him.

1) The Twins aren't very good. The White Sox aren't very good. 2) Trevor Plouffe had more good at-bats in three days than he has had in any of several months. He still managed to make a bad throw and get thrown out at home, but Plouffe just might be a good enough hitter to keep around . 3) For veteran players, spring training means nothing. For others, it doesn't mean much. 4) The Twins were within an eyelash of winning two of three despite their two best hitters going 1-23. 5) A leaky bullpen and a parade of 3-5 starters doesn't make me feel great about the pitching. 6) Maybe we fans should ignore the results of the last two games because the games were played in horrible conditions. 7) Minnesota isn't going to be winning many games if they keep getting out-homered by a 6-1 ratio.

I think the proper word would be "privacy". I don't think we should speculate beyond what has been reliably reported.

I can't get on the Colabello bandwagon. He's too old to be considered a prospect and too limited. He had a nice double on Opening Day, but again he seems to only be able to drive the ball to right and right-center. I'll also wait to be convinced on Escobar. Otherwise, I like the upward trends for the other players.

I still don't have that big of a problem with trading for Capps when they did. I have a problem with trading a young guy at low ebb and I have a problem with re-signing Capps the next year.

Mason Melotakis

I don't know whether Burton or Duensing will "stink up the place". I don't expect both to be doing so in Minnesota. Along with Willingham, those two guys are easily the most likely to be traded. I'm not on board the Danny Santana bus. The kid has to show that he can hit and play major league defense.

Cuddyer was my all-time favorite. I now have settled on Dozier as "my guy". I have a half-dozen that I will cheer a bit harder for--Gibson, Pinto, Duensing, Burton (met his grandparents), Perkins, and Plouffe--and some have pretty good stories--Colabello & Pelfrey--so they are easy to root for.

Two parts to the backup catcher as DH: 1) The DH replaces the catcher and the team loses the DH. This never happened with the Mauer/Doumit duo. Why? There was no real strategic reason for either guy to be replaced. Mauer being the best hitter on the team and Doumit being a top 5 hitter on the team and being a switch hitter. The only reason to replace either would be to run for the slow-footed Doumit. However, with Suzuki and Pinto as the two catchers, Gardy would pinch hit for both if he has good LH options. This would either tie his hands for pinch hitting or expose the loss of DH situation much more often. 2) Using the emergency catcher. Would only happen if both catchers went out of the game. Obviously again with Doumit/Mauer it didn't happen because they never were hit for, but with Suzuki/Pinto, it could happen, because the Twins should hit for Suzuki close and late and might on occasion hit for Pinto against a tough right hander.

Thanks for an evenhanded view of the 25 man roster. The two Jasons plus Hicks and Colabello didn't have much major league success in their last go-rounds, but as you stated, they took jobs from no one and Hicks and Colabello performed well in the spring.

Sure, the Twins top two minor league prospects suffered injuries and a Double A pitcher had TJ surgery. On the major league level, the Twins had one significant injury--Florimon's appendectomy--which occurred before camp started. Looking at the transactions page, just about everyone else has suffered some significant injuries to players slated to contribute this year. In that respect, the Twins have had a successful spring. How's that for a glass half full?

I guess I hold Florimon as more valuable than you do. I don't think anyone will designate someone with more value than he has shown. Colabello, OTOH, isn't a proven major leaguer, AAA and spring training notwithstanding. Two spots on the 40-man--claim at least one guy to supplant someone on the current 25 man roster.

I think he can be a much better hitter than Cuddyer. Really needs to make contact more often.

Well, maybe the Twins are doing something right. There are several players being designated with the rosters needing to be finalized and some of them could help the Twins. They have two spots left on the 40-man and it appears they can make room on the 25-man (Colabello and Bartlett) if they need to do so.