Physics Guy

I saw Kvasnicka on the Saints roster. http://saintsbaseball.com/team/roster

Well, at least now Pelfrey gets his shot and we can boot him to the curb when he most likely sucks. If he doesn't, then we have trade bait.

Well Stringer, you got your wish regarding Hicks. I have to think that the Twins feel that Buxton may be ready sooner rather than later. Otherwise I would have thought they would have given CF to Hicks or Rosario for most of the year to see if they could hack it. It seems to me now that if he does well it's just icing on the cake. They seem ready to move on from Hicks. I suspect the AL Central is going to be a battle this year. I think the winner may end up under 90 wins. Chicago added some good pieces and Cleveland appears to be on the rise. I think Detroit is destined to slip this year. Martinez and Cabrera are having health issues and Verlander is a shell of his former self. Kansas City is likely to regress. I have the Twins optimistically pegged at pushing for a .500 record. It's conceivable that it might still lead to 5th place, but I think they will be improved. The pitching staff has a chance to be league average if Nolasco and Santana pitch near their career averages. I see no reason why the offense can't be near what they were last year, despite some candidates for regression.

I don't think so. Everything I have read is that he is not an option.

Yep, I thought that was pretty much what I was getting at. My guess is it was the second of the two options I posted. They didn't get blown away enough to compromise the team (their thoughts?, not mine) and have Pinto be their starting C.

It is my understanding that there were teams inquiring about Suzuki last year. They still didn't trade him. Since the Twins were in the midst of another poor season, and should have been trading commodities like Suzuki, that leads me to believe one of two things were going on. Either nobody was willing to give the Twins what they perceived as good value or they weren't willing to go with Pinto and the full-time catcher unless they were given a really good offer.

Suzuki was at the peak of his value last year at the trade deadline. He was available, but the Twins didn't get an offer they deemed was worth it. I doubt that changes this year IF he has a a similar year. By the way, that is a really big IF in my opinion.

Agreed and I think he will be the one Twin on these lists. I would argue he may be top 5.

Hughes and Plouffe are the only two I could see might be worth arguing. Hughes needs to pitch like the second half last year (2.97 ERA, 1.023 WHIP and 8K/9) and Plouffe needs to add some power back while maintaining his avg and obp. Would you take Plouffe over #9 David Wright or #10 Matt Carpenter? Suzuki had his best year of the last 5 at age 30. He is a serious regression candidate. If Santana can post a .750 OPS this year and be solid at SS, he will be in the conversation next year.

This week, ESPN has been running a feature where it lists the top ten at each position. They started with the OF and posted C today. http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/12567992/top-10-catchers 2B is the only position left to complete and the Twins have zero players on any list. Dozier should make that list, but is it any wonder we've lost 90+ for four straight seasons? You could argue that Perkins would have been on the list had he not faded at the end of the season. I can't think of anyone I would even argue for right now. For the Twins to take a step up, we need at least a couple of more players in the conversation.

I agree that this year's version has the potential to outperform last year's group, just not sure by how much. I would love it if Hughes can match 2014, but expect some regression albeit small. Nolasco has to outperform last year or he should be in the bullpen. I think we can expect Gibson to show a little more consistency and maybe a higher K/9. Santana should be a nice improvement over Correia. I'm fine with Millone hut he should not block May or Meyer when they are deemed ready. I think the improvement gets us to 76-82 wins.

My bad, Arcia in LF. (Palm to forehead.)

I hope you are correct because Gomez has received votes the last two years for NL MVP.

I would be mildly surprised if the Twins do not have Hicks in CF and Arcia in RF on Opening Day. I am all for giving Hicks one last chance in CF and I would be surprised if they gave the spot to Rosario without spending more time in AA to start the year. I can't see how you could send Arcia down and keep Hicks up. That said, my guess is they are both on a very short leash and Rosario pushes them out by May if they aren't performing.

Oh my God, I knew he was a hacker, but could somebody please give him the take sign this year? I loved the last line, "Problem is, he's got to actually run into one first."

I would agree with this. Focus and attention span seem to get in the way of his tools at times.

This computer has Windows 8.1 if that helps.

I've noticed the same problem. I am using FF35.01. I also use several computers, so I'll test this one.

He would probably be Option 4B. Same response at the end.

Quality 4th OF hopefully. Option 1 - Hicks finally figures it out and Schaefer is the 4th OF Option 2 - Hicks starts, Schaefer plays 2X a week against good RHP Option 3 - Rosario beats out Hicks Option 4 - Schaefer is the starter I hope we don't get to option 4.

If you are the President of that club, I'm pretty sure jorgenswest is the VP.

Can't say as I blame him. He's getting paid well to do nothing this year if he chooses. He's had three crappy seasons in a row. I might want to step away as well.

Thanks for sharing.

If I'm not mistaken, Giolito ended up having TJ surgery during his senior year in HS. He was being discussed for the #1 pick overall prior to the surgery.

I'm going to throw my two cents in. I'd like to see Hicks play 3/4 of the time, spelling him against certain RHP with Schaefer. I want to find out if Hicks can be a serviceable player for the Twins over the next 3-4 years. I know it's not the true platoon, but Hicks should not play on the short end of the platoon. If he is in MLB he needs to be playing the majority of the time. Having Schaefer face the tougher RHP could afford Hicks some time to build some confidence. I could see the platoon giving us decent defense and a .650 OPS out of the #9 spot in the order. Without a trade, I think this gives us the best defensive alignment as well. I see many clamoring for Escobar over Hicks based on last year's performance. It's hard to disagree strictly based on performance, but let me throw this at you: Escobar 2012 Age 22 146 PA .214 .278 .260 .537 2013 Age 23 179 PA .236 .282 .345 .628 Hicks 2013 Age 22 313 PA .192 .259 .338 .597 2014 Age 23 225 PA .215 .341 .274 .615 What's to say that Hicks can't do the same thing Escobar did last season? I would argue that minor league stats suggest that Hicks stands a better chance than Escobar.