J-Dog Dungan

The Twins have several highly-touted prospects that are currently climbing through their system. The prospect that is most likely to make his debut this year is Brian Dozier, who is a solid middle infielder who took this year in the Minors and turned it into his breakout season. Unfortunately for the Twins, they have several other highly-touted prospects that are all playing the same positions. For Chris Herrmann, this isn't a problem, as he could finally be Drew Butera's nightmare as he is a catcher who actually has the ability to hit for average. For guys like Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario, and outfield prospects like Aaron Hicks, Oswaldo Arcia, Joe Benson, and Max Kepler, this prospect crunch might mean that they have to be even better than they already are to get the Twins to play them, as the Twins have a lot of good prospects, but no where to put them. Revere, Willingham, and Span, unless they suffer injuries or decline in their play, look to be the Twins starters in the outfield for the next three years and beyond. In the infield and especially at third base, Sano and Rosario are behind guys like Valencia and, if he has a good spring this year, Burroughs. The twins also have their 2011 1st round draft pick, SS Levi Michael, who is projected to be the Twins' answers to their headaches at short and projected to be a killer pairing with Brian Dozier. This means that the Twins will have to be making decisions in the coming years as to how they give younger players with high upside the Major League experience they need to succeed, while keeping around enough veterans so that they have a leadership role in the team. What moves do you think the Twins will make to give prospects like Sano, Rosario, Hicks, Arcia, Benson and Kepler the playing time they deserve, once they reach the big leagues?

Especially with all the talent that is wafting towards the Twins from the lower minors, it seems as though, with the exception of our starting pitching staff because, except for Gibson, we don't have many great starters, we will have a very home-grown team that has a lot of upside. With that home-grown talent not costing very much, we could, when this talent wave hits, go out and have more money to spend on higher-upside starters and even relievers. Therefore, I feel the Twins are kind of in a buffer zone, with several good players here already, but several more with significant upside on the way. Terry Ryan knows this, so the moves he made this offseason go towards that youth movement that shall be arriving soon; he brought in Carroll on a 2-year deal, and he is expected to be the bridge to Brian Dozier arriving. If any of the Twins highly touted outfield prospects finally show that they are ready for the bigs, they could take over for Willingham when his deal is up. Also, Chris Parmelee appears (or so it seemed when he was called up last September) that he could take over for Morneau if necessary. These deals are classic of Ryan, and he knows that he just needs to buy time until about 2014, when prospects like Rosario, Sano, Arcia, and others are expected to arrive in the show.

As you said in the article, I don't really see Doumit playing much at first, but the Twins do have several possible options besides Morneau. The ones that I would trust the most at first would be Mauer (because he is most likely going to end up there anyway) and Parmelee, although he needs to prove that the call-up last year wasn't just a streak of really good hitting.

I think that you need to have more faith in the fact that Terry Ryan has been doing his job very well for longer than I have been alive. He knows what needs to be done to win, and if anyone in baseball could prove that making "Moneyball"-esqe decisions actually do help your team, I would choose none other than Ryan or Billy Beane himself to lead the team. He has an idea of what to do, unlike Smith, and he has the know-how and experience to pull it off. The Twins just need to prove to the rest of baseball that they have overcome the struggles from the troubles they had last year, and everyone will be saying how smart the Twins were for picking and choosing who they did to come or go.

I think that you are right about the Tigers definately losing many runs per game now that their infield looks like: 1b: Fielder; 2b: Inge/Santiago; 3b: Cabrera; SS: Peralta. You can't win games with that defense, but if they produce, they will win with their offense. The Twins need to do better both at fielding and producing at the plate to have a shot at contending this year. The good thing about having down years is that you get good draft picks, and the Twins definately need to score some big ones to help them out in their minor leagues.

With so many options going into Spring Training, and with so few spots left to claim, the Twins seems to have most of their lineup and pitching rotation already set. But with 66 guys in camp, they are clearly being prepared in case the injury bug returns and continues to bite them. There are so many interesting stories in camp, but you have to wonder: How much will each of these guys need to do to consider being taken north with the team? Lets face the truth. In almost all predictions, the Twins are slated to place fourth or fifth in this division, and with the talent that the Tigers have with them, and the year that the Twins had last year, who can blame them. Just remember, going into 2011, the Twins were expected to finish within the top two slots in their division, only to suffer through a massive amount of injuries and drop to last. With 66 players in camp, and with only about 3-4 spots left, the Twins are looking to have a seriously stocked Minor League (AAA) in case they need reinforcements. The especially interesting players that the Twins will for sure be keeping an eye on are Joel Zumaya, who is coming off several major arm surgeries and hasn't pitched since 2010, Sean Burroughs, who is looking to latch on and catch with a team after returning to baseball, Jason Bulger, who is also looking to have a good spring and hopefully make the club, Jared Burton, who is also coming off of arm surgery, and J.R. Towles, who is looked at as a very close replica of Drew Butera. With all these and many more candidates for only very few slots, the Twins will have to use good reasoning in who they choose to bring north with them. While many people think that they have a slot on the team locked up, with what happened last year in the rearview mirror, Gardy will want to break camp with the best team possible. If several non-roster invitees surprise them, they might have to find room on the roster for them, even if it might mean knocking down someone with a little more experience. For now, unless they have a seriously loaded contract, I would consider that there are several previous Twins who will have a hard time making the roster if they don't perform to the best of their abilities, whether or not they have options remaining.

With so many options going into Spring Training, and with so few spots left to claim, the Twins seems to have most of their lineup and pitching rotation already set. But with 66 guys in camp, they are clearly being prepared in case the injury bug returns and continues to bite them. There are so many interesting stories in camp, but you have to wonder: How much will each of these guys need to do to consider being taken north with the team? Lets face the truth. In almost all predictions, the Twins are slated to place fourth or fifth in this division, and with the talent that the Tigers have with them, and the year that the Twins had last year, who can blame them. Just remember, going into 2011, the Twins were expected to finish within the top two slots in their division, only to suffer through a massive amount of injuries and drop to last. With 66 players in camp, and with only about 3-4 spots left, the Twins are looking to have a seriously stocked Minor League (AAA) in case they need reinforcements. The especially interesting players that the Twins will for sure be keeping an eye on are Joel Zumaya, who is coming off several major arm surgeries and hasn't pitched since 2010, Sean Burroughs, who is looking to latch on and catch with a team after returning to baseball, Jason Bulger, who is also looking to have a good spring and hopefully make the club, Jared Burton, who is also coming off of arm surgery, and J.R. Towles, who is looked at as a very close replica of Drew Butera. With all these and many more candidates for only very few slots, the Twins will have to use good reasoning in who they choose to bring north with them. While many people think that they have a slot on the team locked up, with what happened last year in the rearview mirror, Gardy will want to break camp with the best team possible. If several non-roster invitees surprise them, they might have to find room on the roster for them, even if it might mean knocking down someone with a little more experience. For now, unless they have a seriously loaded contract, I would consider that there are several previous Twins who will have a hard time making the roster if they don't perform to the best of their abilities, whether or not they have options remaining.