stringer bell

Remember a few years ago when we thought Baker, Liriano, Slowey and Bonser would anchor the Twins staff for years? Things change. If all five of the young pitchers come close to their ceilings, that could be a pretty good rotation. In looking at my original post, the factors would include when they reach the Twins, their durability, whether they remain with the club. I would imagine that a #3 starter wouldn't have too many fewer starts than a #1 (maybe one or two per year), so since Diamond is a lock to start this season, he (and Worley) will have a leg up despite their lack of "aceness".

I voted for Diamond. I guess the reason is that he will be in the rotation starting this year and he has no health issues that I am aware of at this time. I am optimistic about all of these young guys. Diamond would be the senior member in five years.

Here are five young Twins pitchers. Which one will start the most games or the Twins in the next five years. Why do you think your guy will start the most games?

Unless the Bears go +2 or better in the turnover battle, the Vikings win this one. I'm saying 20-17 Minnesota.

Grab those lefthanders! While there aren't many righthanders who can succeed when throwing <90, there are plenty of lefties that do. Look no further than Diamond with the Twins. There are also plenty of left-handed hitters that are close to helpless against lefthanded pitching.

When I saw Revere was traded, it was the first question that occurred to me. I have like Benson for a long time and was really bummed by his lost injury-plagued season. He's had a cup of coffee in both Rochester and Mpls. I don't know if that gives him a leg up on Hicks or not, but Joe has real power and real speed. I hope he comes back with a strong season and is able to contribute to the Twins.

This is the most interesting thread I've seen here in a long time. How did I miss it? I guess I wasn't paying much attention to this site around the election.

Two threads in one! First I'll comment on Worley--In slo-mo that two-seamer looks hittable, but I'm sure it's an effective pitch. I think he'll be reasonably effective next year and given the Twins rotation, that is great news. CF defense--I saw quite a bit of baseball and Mastro is fast, but I don't think he is a great OF and I think he would be below-average in center. It is hard for a layman to judge what kind of jump fielders get, but my sense is that Mastro is below average there, he makes up for most of that deficit with good to great speed and his throwing is average. I saw Benson some in ST at both CF and RF and he made a couple of mistakes, but also made some outstanding plays. My guess is that he routinely gets better jumps than Mastro yielding more range with comparable speed, he has a real good arm as well. Hicks is reputed to be the whole package defensively--I only saw him hit on a minor league field--but I imagine he would still be a little raw. Gardy seems partial to the Jamie Carrolls and the Denard Spans of MLB--guys who turn outs into outs--over the fundamentally flawed (Plouffe, Nishi at SS), so I don't think any of these guys will win his favor until and unless they show they can make the routine plays 99.9% of the time.

It had to be done, I guess. I liked Revere, but didn't think the Twins could carry him and Span in the OF (not enough power). Now, both are gone. Who plays center next year? Aaron Hicks? Joe Benson? Mastro? Well, you can't say that Ryan had a do-nothing Winter Meetings.

LF and RF are the second and third least crucial defensive positions. Wasting Revere in RF didn't make much sense. My eyes tell me that Parmelee is slow, but acceptable as a RF--below average, but not dreadful. A team can live with that if the guy can hit and I think Parmelee can and will hit. Arcia, Hicks and maybe a comeback Joe Benson are waiting in the wings. Whoever starts on the corners may not be staying there for too long.

I have liked Casilla for some time and wish him the best. From the outside looking in, it seemed to me that he had matured and he did provide speed and defense. If Lexi gets to start a lot of game for the Birds and hits a little, plays a very good second base and steals a lot of bags, it would not surprise me. That doesn't mean that he should have been retained by the Twins.

I wanted the Twins to keep Casilla, but dollars and sense made it nearly impossible for Lexi to remain a Twin. If Casilla is the ninth regular, who provides premium speed and defense at second base, it is a fine situation. The Twins surely are not in that place. I always thought there was a breakout possible for Casilla, but it never happened since '08, when his surprise performance helped lift the team to game 163.

I find it far more significant that the O's UZR is high than whether or not JJ won the Gold Glove. I actually think he probably deserved it, but the Gold Glove is perhaps the worst award given by MLB. Several marginal defenders have won the award and some (Palmeiro) have won when they mostly have served as a DH.

I doubt the Twins will pursue an over-the-hill veteran to compete with Plouffe. Rule out Chavez and Inge. I doubt they go with a righthanded hitter also. I mentioned Jack Hannahan in another thread--he hits lefty, has the rep as a good defender, I'm sure he's available for next to nothing and has a Minnesota connection. The only real drawback is that he's basically a one-position player.

Nooo! Delmon has had two good postseasons but he was awful (perhaps too strong) during the regular season. Hard to believe that somebody hitting behind Miggy and Prince couldn't drive in 80 runs in 600 PAs.

While I agree that Casilla will be non-tendered, I wish they wouldn't. I think Casilla would be their best option at second and would offer excellent speed and defense to the team.

Best Twins news of the week! I truly don't see a reason, other than lack of effectiveness for Gibson not to start 2013 in the Twins' rotation.

My view of the Twins' offense. Way too little power, way too many one-dimensional players. There is power--Willingham, Doumit, Plouffe, Morneau and there is speed--Revere, Span, Florimon, Mastro. The sluggers can't run and the speed guys can't get XBHs. I've said long and loud that the team can't afford to carry two low-power options in the outfield plus little power at second, short and catcher. While I can't wait to see Hicks, combined with Revere/Span and somebody like Benson or Arcia running down everything, right now the club has to add power and IMHO that means they have to find steady ABs for Parmelee. Whatever the reason (maybe lack of talent), the Twins did a poor job of situational hitting.

Agree, Pig. It's probably more important that he gets his work in and stays healthy, but if he does that and pitches well, it will be great news.

The offense wasn't that good last year. I would point to Morneau and Doumit as having acceptable stats, but failed soooo often when the game was on the line. The middle IF was bad offensively and needs to improve. Many seem to think that dozier will hit better as a 2B. Is there any evidence for that? Actually, I think Dozier and Florimon should go mano-a-mano in ST for the starting SS spot with the loser ending up in Rochester. I am a minority of very few that wants Casilla as the Twins regular 2B, but failing that, it should be Escobar and Carroll dueling with the loser becoming the utility IF. One of Span or Morneau needs to go and perhaps both if the Twins think Arcia can make the jump.

I've always liked Carmona/Hernandez. In 2011, when both were struggling mightily, I thought a Delmon for Fausto trade made sense. Now, a year and a half later, I think taking a flyer on the guy would make sense.

C'mon Geek! "Assistant coach"? I know it is football season, but a coach is a coach. I do think that all of the clamoring for names to be coaches--Brunansky, Molitor, Visquel and to a lesser degree Redmond--is faulty logic. Just because a guy was a great player doesn't make him a great coach or manager. I think it is more important for the coach to be available to hit extra fungoes and pitch extra BP than it is that they have a stellar major league resume as a player. It seems to me that this requirement might be why Molly isn't a great fit. Coaches also have to get along with the manager and the players and one hopes they earn the player's respect. Perhaps a former star would have an easier time getting respect from the players, but I don't think it means that the Glynns, Vavras, and Gardenhires of the world can't win the respect of the players.

I guess I saw that Vavra and Ullger were reassigned from the get-go. The Twins are going to have a new hitting coach and a new bullpen coach. I don't know if anyone is guaranteed a job (Brunansky, Cuellar, and Glynn). In the coaching staff, they need to get younger, add at least one Hispanic coach and maybe someone that changes the atmosphere a little. I don't think the coaches should be scapegoats, but making changes after losing 195 games in two years should happen. The dynamics of the staff changes aren't available to us. I don't want to speculate and I don't think it is fair to do so.

Looking at what Anderson has had to work with, I can't be too critical of what he has done. That said, there has to be some price to pay for terrible results the last two years. While I don't blame any coach for the poor results, the results produced on the field are unacceptable and something needs to be changed.

I agree - if he can improve both offensively and defensively, he'll be a better player.Since Plouffe had played very little at third, I think it is reasonable that he will improve defensively. Ryan mentioned lateral mobility issues, which might be tough to fix, but Plouffe's arm was more accurate than I thought it would be while he didn't boot an inordinate number of balls either. Offensively, he's made strides two consecutive years. I think he'll OPS in the mid .700s, with a chance to be better.