roger

Wimmers has a tender elbow. They don't think he will miss more than one start. Please!!!!!

With two pitchers currently with gimpy arms, maybe they won't send a pitcher down. With Mauer playing a few games a week at 1B and Morneau playing there a few games a week...Parmelee isn't going to see a lot of action. Wouldn't surprise me if the players sent down is Parmelee!

The USA total includes 27 players. Baker and Waldrop were both included because they were on the 25 man roster (on the disabled list). Marquis wasn't eligible for berevement leave as that ends at seven days. Thus, the Twins actually optioned him to New Britain, thus, removing him from the 25 man roster.

That would leave Rochester with only two catchers. Would they be able to continue playing? Or would they have to forfeit their games?

John, Shouldn't you have included the two players that the Twins are paying $3.0mm each to when writing this rather than going with USA Today, who fails to include them? Adding Marquis and Nishioka increases the Twins opening day payroll to what it actually is...$100,085,000. Granted, Hendriks $480,000 should be deducted as he would have been in Rochester if Marquis was with the team. I would expect (I don't have USA Today's 2011 numbers) that five and a half to six million changes the relationship between the Twins and other teams significantly and they are not fourth and fifth in terms of dollars and percentage.

Why would Baker agree to anything less than $9.5mm with the Twins? It is likely that Baker is healthy enough to be in Florida and throwing during the FIL in late September/October. So the Twins will have a good indication of how his comeback is looking. If things look good, you either pick up the option or negotiate a multi year deal at less than $9.5mm. If you want to retain him, the safest route for the Twins would be to pick up the option and sign a new deal with him after next spring training.

You have to include Matt Carson in that outfield. Is a toss up whether Carson or Dozier is their best hitter. I agree that this is a good move as Revere needs to play every day. He needs to work on the little things that will make him a good major leaguer. Things like bunting for base hits, etc!

Yes John, I still believe that Hughes can be a solid second baseman. His biggest problem this year is lack of time playing there. You will recall he missed nearly half of spring training because of his shoulder injury. I don't recall him playing many games at second base this spring, maybe a handful. Give him some regular reps at second and he will be solid with acceptable, not great range. Let him play a game or two every two three weeks and you are going to get errors, much as you would for any young player.

I watched last night's game when Gutierrez was laboring, very wild. Later in the inning, the trainer came out and removed him. It has been reported this morning that it is some type of shoulder injury. No wonder he didn't look good if he was dealing with that.

Rosario has been a premier base stealer since he was signed. In his rookie professional season two years ago, he led the GCL in stolen bases.

As far as the conversation about Hermsen is concerned, I see him making it. I look at him and see a future Nick Blackburn, which will have a place as a future Twins #5/#6 starter (I am optimistic future starting rotations are going to be better than current...a few years out, please!). As for who is the best rotation, my vote goes to New Britain. Andrew Albers is going to have a very good year and Luke French will be awesome in AA, assuming he stays there awhile. All fans and the Twins need Wimmers to be what Hendriks was a year ago. Hirschfeld will be what he was last year, a solid innings eater. To be the top rotation, they need Darnell to pitch as well or better at AA as he did at Fort Myers last summer. The surprise at Beloit will be Gruver, who I think will be very good. I don't know how long Summers will stay in the rotation, but if he does, I rate the three draft picks from last year, Boer, Summers and Gruver, as very, very good.

Two major differences this year. One, they no longer receive revenue sharing from the rest of the league. I don't know the exact numbers, but I believe it was in the $10-$15mm range. Two, they will be paying about $6mm more to sign draft picks. That is a reduction of net revenue greater than the $15mm reduction in opening day payrolls.

If you think Mr. Ryan was in Bill Smith's ear on every move, you don't know Terry Ryan. Out of respect to Bill Smith, he would only provide advice when asked and clearly stay out of the way. As for keeping Bill Smith, that was also an excellent decision. Smith has very little if anything to do with baseball operations. He is back doing things for the organization which he is very good at. Things like working with Lee County on the plans to renovate/upgrade Hammond Stadium. Those are the business type of things Smith will do a very good job at. I respect the organization for, 1) knowing Mr. Smith was the wrong choice for G.M.; 2) Bringing back an experienced G.M. who was as good as any; and 3) keeping Mr. Smith and reassigning him to something he is good at.

I love the new guy in Rochester. Now they are playing small ball!

John, I believe if this team has another 99 loss season, we won't have to worry about Gardy. He will retire either towards the end of this season or after the season. This type of losing gets to him and he will exit without being fired.

At the time I recall that no one signed Ortiz until late spring, March I believe. Ortiz blossomed in Boston. Now the reasons why may be another discussion, but not signing him was not a mistake at that time.

Thanks for the update Seth. There is one kid I have a question about, Markus Solbach? He was great last year in the GCL.

Disregard Seth, I see you were posting this info as I was typing. What is the saying about great minds?

Goodmorning Seth, Couple questions regarding a few guys MIA. Did I miss Nate Fawbush getting released? He isn't on any of these rosters. I also didn't see catcher Phil Chapman anywhere. He was the GCL Twins top hitter (average) last year. One other recently signed guy who is MIA is Billy Killian? Finally, when Aaron Thompson was suspended the Twins said they were sticking with him. Is he in EST as well? As always Seth, Thanks!

Thats your opinion. Mine is different. I read the New Britain Herald every morning during the season as well as reviewing every days boxscore. What I gained from that is that both, Bigley and Dolenc, were effective. They consistantly helped the Rock Cats win which is why they are back when so very many big names are no longer in the organization. Will either ever play for the Twins, thats a long shot at best. Doesn't mean they won't be effective in AA.

Seth, As I wrote on Saturday, the more I look at the lineup the more I like it. Hicks is the big prospect guy and if he can come thru, wonderful. But Herrmann is for real and a very good hitter. Don't underestimate Dolenc and Bigley, who both were solid hitters last year and should be even better this year. Mastroianni hit over .300 in the EL two years ago and stole 46 bases. Beresford gets on base a lot because of a good batting average (needs to take more walks) and Colabello could be huge plus. Then there is Romero who keeps coming back after being written off. Not the big names like last year, but very solid lineup that should score a lot of runs.

Seth, I really like this roster and am hopeful that the 2012 Red Wings make a run for a playoff spot. One big question is whether or not Hendriks comes back down in a couple weeks. If he does it will be huge. But I got a feeling Mr. Ryan is right when he talked about giving Hendriks the ball and he may not give it back. What do the Twins do if Hendriks pitches so well they have to keep him?

To be successful, Kevin needs the pinpoint control he once had. He was never the same pitcher after the wrist injury several years ago.

My favorite has to be Bosse Field in Evansville, Indiana. My son's legion team played there about fifteen years ago. Beautiful ballpark in a wooded park setting. It has a wooden roof over the grandstand with brick outfield walls. The most unusual part of a game is listening to all the foul balls roll around on the wooden roof. Many of you have seen it because some of the movie "League of their Own" was filmed there. I always joke that my son played center field where Madonna did. Built in 1915, it is one of the oldest ballparks in America that has been consistantly used for baseball since that time.

I think Hughes will be the Twins starting second baseman, if not on opening day then whenever Casilla has the first of his injuries this year. I expect that once he gets the starting job, Hughes ain't giving it back! If he can get 500ab, I see him hitting 20+ home runs with a .270-.280 average. He will also play solid, but not spectacular defense.