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.

Not sure if this has been posted before, but this is a recent scouting report that is pretty optimistic. http://www.minorleagueball.com/2015/6/26/8841633/twins-prospect-nick-gordon-scouting-report-and-projection I think strength is a big issue right now. His walks and strikeout numbers seem to indicate at least a decent approach at the plate without any red flags. From the article above, the writer seems to think that Gordon could pack another 20 pounds or so of muscle onto his frame without sacrificing speed.

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.

The thing about Mauer's contract is that I don't think it has ever stopped the Twins from going out and signing anybody. There have been plenty of valid reasons not to go out and try and sign the big money guys, and the general lack of quality players on the big league team the last 4 years has had much more of a effect than $23 million dollars invested in Mauer each year. Even with the free agent spending bonanza (relative to previous years) the last couple years, the Twins payroll is still below $100 million. The players who will make the Twins a contender will be extremely cheap for the next 4 to 6 years at which point Mauer's contract will be over.

I'm not expecting dominance at New Britain, although it wouldn't exactly surprise me. But I do wonder what is left for Berrios to learn in Ft. Myers.

I think he's got to be on the verge of a promotion to Rochester. Of course I find that I'm much more optimistic about player's promotions than is warranted considering the Twins history. I'm not sure there's much more he needs to prove at AA. He's doesn't really need to learn a position, considering he's a DH/1B (probably more the former than the latter).

Ahh, my mistake then.

Someone else mentioned that the Twins want him to pitch in the FSL first half playoffs. I would guess that as soon as the playoffs are done, he will be promoted. It's silly to keep him down, especially since a rotation spot just opened up in AA with Gilmartin being promoted.

Is it possible that Berrios goes up to AA to take Gilmartin's spot in the rotation?

I really don't want a college reliever as a their 2nd round pick. I'm hoping they pick a prep pitcher.

I've repeated that line before and I've seen it mentioned many times. But is there any kind of official confirmation on that?

The slider is his best pitch and his out pitch, so the fact that he isn't throwing it and still nearly striking out 7 batters per 9 is impressive. I think they wanted him to work on his fastball command and his changeup.

I had read that he wasn't throwing his slider at the beginning of the year, but I didn't know he was continuing to not throw the pitch. I wonder if they will let him throw it this year. Maybe they want him to get older and stronger before he starts to use it in pro games. It will be exciting to see his numbers when he's unleashed.

He won't be available in the 2nd round. I was saying it might be worth it for the 5th overall pick. Especially if Aiken, Rodon, Kotek, and Jackson are all gone. Risky as all hell though.

I would kind of like to see the Twins take a flyer and draft Hoffman. He was considered a consensus top-3 pick before TJ surgery, and as much as TJ surger scares me, a guy with his talent doesn't come around very often. Considering his lack of leverage, he'd probably sign for less, which could free up money for the Twins to throw at someone in the 2nd round with some signability issues. Nick Gordon sounds good, but I haven't really heard anything about the offensive side of his game? Has anyone seen any good scouting reports on him?

It might be rough for a bit, but if Pinto is the catcher of the future than he needs more reps playing catcher. I'd dangle Suzuki at the trade deadline for something, a prospect and maybe a 4th outfielder. If nobody is willing to give anything, than I'd keep him and then consider giving him an extension. But there's no reason not to wait until after the trade deadline.

I'll be interested to see where he is at the all-star break. So far the BB/9 ratio is significantly better, but I would like to see it stick over half a season before I'm a believer. He's a guy who probably will never be Mr. Consistent, but if he can limit his wildness than he'd be a pretty damn effective pitcher more often then not. Plus, as much crap as Rick Anderson gets, pitchers in Twins uniforms tend not to walk so many guys.

A 20% k rate from a power hitter is pretty damn good to begin with. Even if he starts regressing towards that, anything below 20% from a hitter with his power is icing on the cake. Count me in on the Vargas bandwagon. He's a guy I've been interested in but he's been around for a while. I was surprised to see he's only 23. Is he a top 10 prospect by the end of the season?

He's still far from being a top prospect and you would normally hope to see his stats go up after a 3rd straight year in the same league. I do think that he will be promoted to AA in June with the first real wave of promotions. He's about league average age in the FSL and when promoted to the EL he will be a solid year younger than league average. We need to see whether this is a mirage brought on by familiarity or if he has truly figured something out.

I had totally forgotten he had pitched in that. 120-130 IP sounds great as long as he still has the gas in August.

His K/9 rate has been climbing steadily as well. His first three starts he had a k/9 rate under 5. The last three starts it's been around 9 k/9. I remember reading an article at the beginning of the minor league season where he was interviewed and said that the Twins had him working on specific pitches during games. I think it's likely that he's been given more leeway in what he throws the last 3 starts or so. Considering the strikeout numbers he flashed last year I think strikeout numbers like this are more indicative than the early stars suggested. They are definitely going to be controlling his innings this year. He'll probably follow the Berrios schedule and throw around 100 or so innings this year. He only threw 20 in pro ball last year so his innings are probably going to controlled for most of the year if not all year. Also I think it very unlikely he ends up in Ft. Myers unless he starts making people look silly. The main criticism of him was that he was more of a thrower than a pitcher still and needed to learn to refine his game. Eades and Slegers are probably the first guys to get promoted.

I think it's a little early to say they missed on Eades. Lets see where he is in a month. It would be nice if he could dominate right away, but there's a reason he fell to the second round. I generally prefer them taking the high upside guys in the first few rounds, but considering they took Stewart 4th overall last year, I'm willing to give them a little leeway on drafting someone who is considered to be more of a "sure thing". I think he's a guy who once he gets a little bit more familiarity with CR will improve tremendously. He's never been a high K/9 guy so hopefully once the weather warms up he, his numbers will as well. Also, is this finally the year that Levi Michael makes out of Ft. Myers?

Mauer has the 3rd highest career OPS of catchers through his 10 year career. If you go by career WAR he is the 12th best catcher already, and his 7 year peak 5th overall, behind Gary Carter, Johnny Bench, Mike Piazza and Ivan Rodriguez. All of whom are or will be in the HOF. He has an outside chance this year to pass Pudge in the WAR-7 peak this year if Mauer can put up all-star caliber numbers. Mauer might not be a 1st ballot HOF, but he'll get in.