Dr. Evil

Why would we extend any of them? Rosario maybe. Berrios in another year.

The sooner the leash on the Buxton/Sano farce is pulled the better. Start not planning around them.

I feel he should be placed in the number 5 spot.

I hope Astudillo makes the 25. I see him as being valuable on many levels. One of them being that he is fun. I'm optimistic about the new coach having a positive effect on this young group. I like what is being said by him about having fun and playing loose. Should fit this group well. The new additions to the roster seem better than Dozier, Morrison and name your DH of the day. Pendida working out, Bux and Sano staying healthy would be pluses obviously. There's enough "ifs" and I hope a few work out.

Very interesting article. Gets me jacked knowing we have these great prospects.

Loved this post! Awesome!!!

I love the pick up mainly because it sets a target out in front of the guys you hope will take the next step while providing them with an example of the work ethic it takes to get there. Great pickup by management.

I like this article and agree with the idea.

Two philosophies come to mind regarding MLB playing time. a. Earn it through results. b. Get chances due to perceived "ceiling." The Twins have believed in his ceiling and continued rolling him out there(when health has permitted it) even when his results have been poor. So, regaining a year of service time should not overshadow their belief in him as a player. First and foremost, the best "ability" is availability. His frequent injuries have prevented him from gathering any career momentum. I hope the extended offseason gets him free of any lingering injuries and he finds a way to tweak his playing style in a direction that keeps him on the field.

I find it unlikely that he might stay healthy and learn to hit at the major league level. Until both occur, I yawn at his hissy fit.

I would say they decided Cron is a better option(and I agree) and Austin is a candidate as a bench bat against LH pitching. I wouldn't arrange any offseason upgrades around him as it seems like some suggest.

I would bet on the side of Cruz significantly out producing that platoon while setting the bar for players to learn from. I contend that the intangible benefit vastly out values the platoon as well.

Take the elite bat and ask questions later. Put him out in front of your young core to chase, emulate and learn from. Clearly it is needed. Coaching the kids up is only part of it. They need to see how a thoroughbred hitter goes about his business on a day to day basis.

I have zero faith in Sano and Buxton blossoming or even staying healthy. Let alone accomplishing both. I would be planning for the season as if they are not core players. It seems a bit irresponsible to plan around them at this juncture.

An evolution in catchers head protection that goes well beyond the current state seems past due.

Enjoyed this article. Stewart has a place on this team IMHO and you seem to have nailed it.

Trade Kepler. Sign McCutcheon. Kepler, I'm not bullish on a breakout.

Makes sense provided we got something of value back. If not, it's just a give away.

The utility infielder should be the next best infielder you can get on your roster through paying him. Not just a marginal major leaguer that you settle for because he's not good enough to be a starter. That's building a deep versatile roster with flexability to line up against RH/LH offensive splits. It's a valid idea that jkcarew has.

So you're sayin it doesn' actually defy reality. Interesting.

"Out of touch with reality" is rude, insulting and unnecessary.

Too much harshness shown to jkcarew. I understand his/her reasoning and it has validity.

Here is the way I would construct the non-pitching portion of the roster. It's the batting order I would begin with too. Included are the positional free agents I would like. LeMahieu 2B R Rosario LF L McCutcheon RF R Cron 1B R Polanco SS SW Astidillo DH and utility guy R Sano 3B R Castro C L Buxton CF R Bench: Garver RH Cave LH Adrianza SW Kepler, Austin traded Thanks for reading. This was fun.

McCutcheon to lead the OF.

I would be fine with the Twins forgetting about the rule 5 draft indefinitely. Tired of discussions about it littering this site. Rule 5 is something that needs changing or eliminated in the CBA. It's the single biggest offseason annoyance to me. Who gives a shart.