Physics Guy

The only spots I really see is SS/Util and RP (and maybe 4th OF). Aybar and Feliz make sense as they could fill roles I don't see occupied by young players needing to play (assuming Dozier is dealt). Here's what I could see: C - Castro 1B - Mauer 2B - Polanco SS - Escobar/Aybar 3B - Sano LF - Rosario CF - Buxton RF - Kepler DH - Vargas Bench - Ryan, Park, Util IF (Esco or Aybar), 4th OF (Grossman, Schuck, Palka, Granite) SP - Santana and 4 among: Gibson, Santiago, May, Berrios, DeLeon?, Hughes RP - Feliz, Kintzler, Pressley, Perkins, Rogers/O'Rourke, Duffey/Chargois Does anybody know if May has options left? If so, he could work on a conversion back to starting in AAA. I suspect Hughes will be in the rotation if he is healthy or maybe as a long reliever out of the pen. I wonder if the Twins aren't waiting to trade Santana depending on what they get for Dozier.

Elite: noun 1. (often used with a plural verb) the choice or best of anything considered collectively, as of a group or class of persons.

Nats are in a much different spot than the Twins are. It's easier when you still have have Harper, Scherzer, Strasburg, Turner, et al. They have to be thinking now is their time.

How much, if anything would it take to get Urias?

A couple of quotes from KlawChat about some of the players being discussed: 7/21/16 Jack: Last week you said something like Jose De Leon doesn’t have a strikeout (or swing and miss) weapon. I’m trying to reconcile that observation with the fact that he keeps getting strikeouts. He’s been over 30% K% in both AA and AAA now. He’s got a high minors strikeout pitch that won’t translate? Can you give us some other examples of guys who generated these kinds of strikeout totals in the high minors who couldn’t translate any of that success to MLB? Klaw: History is littered with guys who had adequate K rates in the minors and couldn’t hold it in the majors. Sean Manaea punched out 146 in 121 innings in his first year in pro ball, but that hasn’t held up. I like De Leon as a prospect but see a limited ceiling because he lacks that out pitch – and you’re not telling me he has an out pitch, or what it is, but are just pointing to a stat line. 7/14/16 Nic: Noticed you had Kohl Stewart as an honorable mention in the top 50 piece. With him being in Double-A what kind of ceiling do you currently project for him? Klaw: I think he projects as a 3 or 4 starter. If you want ceiling, he’s going to have to miss some more bats, which he has the stuff to do but has not done, instead generating a lot of groundballs (which is still a good thing).

I really don't understand the hate on Gibson. In 2014/15 he was a 2.3/2.5 fWAR and 2.0/3.2 bWAR player. While that isn't great, he's still a solid starter. He stunk in 2016, but also wasn't healthy. He will still be cheap, so I see no reason to non-tender him. In my opinion, he still has some upside and they would be crazy to cut bait on him.

I know it probably feels like 6 years, but Span was the CF just four seasons ago.

Pretty generous by the scorekeeper there. Pretty sure that should be an E on Lawrie.

Once in awhile, but I pretty much stick with a Kramarczuk's Brat or Polish and a beer.

I saw the article on Star Trib first: http://www.startribune.com/minnesota-twins-serve-up-samples-of-new-food-for-upcoming-baseball-season/374594891/ I saw poutine and immediately thought of twinsnorth49.

Considering Plouffe is only +1.8 that past three years for dWar, you might be overshooting a bit for Sano.

I will echo the sentiment here. I very much enjoyed watching Cuddy, both as a Twin and when he moved on. The ending to his career was a bummer, but most are. Kudos to him for stepping down with money on the table. I would love to see the Twins bring him back. I'm not sure if he would be interested in moving back to MN, but would love to see him on the broadcasts.

After what happened to Mauer, I am fine with the Twins not going for the top shelf C. I'm happy with trying to be close to league average hitting with strong D at the catcher position. Yes, Sanchez is better, but I'd rather use resources elsewhere. The Nats were smart ( likely pushed by Boras) to move Harper out of catching.

Pretty darned well I'd say. I was shocked when I saw his stats a couple of months ago. He was only 26 this year.

11 for 11 throwing strikes last night. A considerable improvement. My guess is you are being facetious, HH, but here's my take. The first out was a called third strike and on the outside edge (marginal by Fox Track) and the swinging third strike was a slider down or out of the zone. He looked much more like he did in the first half. Let's hope he can continue.

I disagree with both posts with regards to Hicks playing a corner OF position. The average LF in MLB last year had a .702 OPS and the average RF was .768. I think Hicks should be able to be somewhere in that range. He would also bring an above average glove to the corner OF. His OPS may be more heavily weighted towards OBP, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. We have a number of potential power hitters who may not be great OBP guys. Hopefully Hicks balances that. Here are the OPS for the primary LF/RF for each of the playoff teams in the AL: Bal: .694/.729 Det: .912/.765 KC: .783, .710 LAA: .745/.776 Oak: .767/.763

Jumping in late, but had to comment. Dick just stated that Joe didn't walk much last year, just 60 times. Career rate is 12.1% and high of 14% two years ago. Last year was 11.6%. Being a broadcaster must be like being a politician, you can say what you want even if it really isn't true.

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

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.

Here's the spin on MLB Traderumors: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2014/12/twins-to-extend-phil-hughes.html

This is good news. Yes, this does expose the Twins to additional risk, but I don't like the statement that the Twins assume all the risk at the higher value. At last year's production, 13.2 M per season is still a bargain on the FA market. It is a gamble on the Twins' part, but they seem convinced that he has figured it out and they aren't paying big money for a pitcher into his mid-30's.

Agree completely. KLaw repeatedly scoffs at people in his chats who suggest giving up big packages for guys with one year left on their contracts.

While I lime Zimmerman, I wouldn't trade Dozier and Berrios/Stewart for him. You get one year of control. That's crazy, plus you have to pay big bucks to extend Zim. I had a Twitter chat with a guy that write for SBNation for the Nats. I asked about trading Dozier for Gio straight up. He thought it was reasonable, but slightly favored Nats since Dozier is cheaper. He thought Dozier for Zimm was too much since we only get a year. Why not wait and sign him in FA. They would have Gio for 3 years at 30-35M which would likely be palatable for TR.