Larsbars08

It's great to know that he can play that role if need be. However until he proves that he can't be a starter he should be a lock to make the rotation next year. Pelfrey and Milone shouldn't be starters next year, and in a perfect world May and Berrios should round out the rotation next year. May deserves every chance to prove himself as a starter. Nolasco has been a flop and frankly is a sunk cost at this point. I think it's likely that the starting 5 next year out of Spring Training will be Gibson, Hughes, Santana, Nolasco and May. Despite the contract, Nolasco should have the tightest leash. I assume Berrios will have a spot as soon as the Super 2 deadline passes. Duffey seems like a great depth pitcher to have, assuming his last two starts are more indicative than the first.

Well, it's not my money, so I'd say it's a great way to spend 4 million dollars.

I think Travis Harrison is a bit underrated here. I know that you have him trending up, but his stat line has been quietly very impressive. I know we've been waiting for a power burst from him that may not ever happen, but his OBP has been very impressive and his power numbers have been trending up recently. I don't know if he'll be a big league regular or replacement level guy, but a guy with a career .370 OBP and still pretty young for his level will always have a place on a big league team.

How long is Aaron Hicks going to be stuck at AAA? He's killing it at Rochester right now and seems like he deserves another shot at CF really soon.

I posted this on a different thread, but it's on topic so I'll include it here. I don't have any problem seeing him come up in September. Edit: I think my suggestion is a combination of the aggressive and conservative approach. Please let me know if I'm missing anything.

I think you have to follow the Tampa Bay Rays model, with the occasional overspend on signing your guy when he's still young to an extension. Developing pitching is hard, as the Twins have found and prone to bad luck, but if you draft wisely, spend wise money on the international scene, you should be able to have a pretty good stable of young arms. You can't always be lucky enough to draft a David Price or Matt Moore, but they turned Shields and Davis into young legit pitching prospects and Will Myers as a cherry on top. Honestly, spending big on pitchers in free agency scares the hell out of me. The track record is scary enough. Plus, people complain about Mauer and his contract enough as it is. Imagine if the Twins actually spent 90-100 mil on a guy like Sanchez or some other premiere free agent pitcher and he wasn't Cy Young or got hurt. I just think its too risky for a team that will never swallow payroll like the Yankees or Dodgers.