Big Daddy H

If Hunter and Hicks both seem like late bloomers, why doesn't anyone give Benson more of a chance? He's very toolsy and is coming off an injury riddled season.

Lets give the old boy a chance. He pitched some good games last year for the Pirates. Also, Target field is not a homer friendly park so maybe hitters will just be hitting longer fly balls that can be caught. He will be more effective at home so lets position him that way, and pass him by when we are playing in a band box size stadium.

Where's Anthony Slama? Everybody seems to leave him in the dust.

The 32-year-old, who had a 51.2 percent ground-ball rate, which ranked tied for seventh in the National League.

You guys must really not like Terry Ryan and Kevin Correia. I post a positive note on Correia and it's gone in less then a minute. Simply amazing!

Kevin Coreia pitched some nice games when he was with the Giants. He pitched better last year then the year before. A new setting and a pitching friendly park may be just the ticket. He also may be learning how to be a better pitcher as many aging pitchers do. I cannot believe he will be as bad as Blackburn. What pitches does he throw, and at what speed? I think this should be at least part of the discussion.

" The difference is Slowey ERA in AAA is 5.14, Slama's is about 1.30. Plus Slama strikes out 13 per 9 innings name another Twin's pitcher that does that?"

Mr. Ryan, I agree with this letter. Anthony Slama now has 100 saves in our minor league system. He gave up only about 4 earned runs all year. I believe when a player does that well he should at least be honored with a reasonable chance to prove himself at the next level. He is not on the 40 man roster so that may be the problem. Also Anthony doesn't throw very hard and walks a few batters. I believe the Twin's coaches could solve the walking problem. Mr. Ryan you don't want to put him on the 40 man roster, at least tell him now that he will be given a fair shot in spring training so he doesn't lose his desire. For Anthony, for you, and for the Twin's it would be the right thing to do. Mr. Ryan, thank you for your time and consideration. Alan Harrer, Twins fan forever.

Coles numbers look pretty pedestrian for Triple A. I thought Slama deserved the first shot, or Manship since he was a starter and has been up before.

In the real world I wish we could get Jim Kaat to come in and work with our pitchers. He would get the respect of the players and he has a ton of pitching knowledge.

Three cheers for Anthony Slama!

This isn't just a discussion on a two bit minor league player. It is a discussion on a team philosophy. All the mistakes the players are making are being made by individual players that are trying their best. They have all played a long time and they all should know the basics of the game. For some reason players are afraid to make the plays, they're backing off a bit. Maybe there is too much pressure to perform or get the early hook. Now back to Slama. If the Twins are so unwilling to give him a shot, other players see that. They then become afraid their own performance may being a similar response from the Twins organization. This filters though out the player pool and all of a sudden you have a whole organization of players playing scared. This creates the problems we are seeing now at the major league level. Players who know better are playing in fear instead of for the joy of the game. It creates mistakes that normally would not be made from a confident player. Slama does deserve a chance. Maybe we should go with 4 starting pitchers going 6 inning and the bullpen finishing up the final three. That would make a place for Slama, take a little pressure off the starters since we don't have many good ones and give the pen some good experience for years to come.

Maybe the Twins should read this stuff. I think they might learn something., especially their coaches. We can't just exchange players, we have to give the current players a reason to believe there is a new plan that has a good chance of succeeding, like speeding up the pitchers in their time between pitches. It worked great for Jim Kaat!!! If not that, something else.

If for no other reason, it seems like Slama has given the Twins great value in the minors and deserves at least a fair chance to show his stuff. Especially when the starting staff's ERA is so laughable. I've been waiting to see Slama given an opportunity for 3 years.

I'm still not understanding why Slama's not given a fair chance? Has he done something to make him a black sheep?