HitInAPinch

Yup, but with Falvey's late start, could we realistically expect anything else? I'm betting there will be changes, maybe starting around the All Star break. btw: Always like reading your comments.

IMHO: Kicking the tires. I mean, why not? I think it best to make sure Berrios is really ready this time around. Remember late last season, when the Twins started re-working Berrios' windup, while playing for the Twins? Not sure if this is a Falvey indictment on Twins past development of starting pitching.....

Maybe "Sigh Young"?

Buxton now seems to be locked in on the process. Having a voice like Torii Hunter doesn't hurt, either. It's a process, it's a start, it needs to be a "wash, rinse, repeat" thing for Buxton.

In a Rule 5 player, there's always going to be these types of questions. And there have been some pretty stunning successes, too. You can blame the Twins for over-using Pressly last year all you want, but what else could they really do? Better starting pitchers that can pitch deeper into games would be the best place to look. I'm hoping the 28 yr. old Pressly can bridge the bullpen gap to a Twins resurgence. Finally...

That track record ended with the firing of Terry Ryan. I don't really believe it is in Falvey's plans to hang onto Chapman very long. He's cleared a spot and taken on a guy that can easily be dumped if he doesn't get ontrack in a few MiLB games. Not much of a win, but still a win.

IMHO: a selection of Greene is not an "instant gratification" type move. If the plan is to use him as an RP would probably/possibly take 3 years. And that might be on the low side. Starter? Well, more. Gotta get those secondary pitches going. If the Twins go Greene, then they should be backing it up with more, young pitching prospects. Get them all together in one group. Seems to be what the Mets do... I do, however, have more confidence in Falvey and Levine executing a pitching development system than any other Twins leadership.

When pairing up a lineup of #4 and #5 hitters, think: Johnny Bench followed by Tony Perez. Max Kepler would be a perfect guy. I think Park could be the same, given a chance.

Sano worked with former MLB'er Fernando Tatis during the off-season. Hitting, fielding and if I recall correctly, diet and conditioning as well. The biggest thing: Sano initiated this. The dreadlocks, I have no answer for that. Polanco: Molitor credited third-base coach Gene Glynn with working with Polanco on his defense in Spring Training. Comment from Molitor from a week ago: "There haven't been many mistakes. Polanco has done a really nice job at improving his athleticism to make athletic plays, like improving on the run on plays to the five-hole. He's not overthinking those plays and making nice spin plays over the middle."

Great article! Sano's off-season commitment is really paying off. Reps are important at any position. Polanco is getting them consistently. BTW: Ozzie Smith didn't have a great arm. Seemed OK ;-)

"42.4% fly ball rate." Honestly, didn't realize it was that high. Having a young, athletic outfield behind you works wonders. Right place, right time! Yes, trading Ervin now makes sense. The return will be debatable: will the return match what Santana means to the Twins right now or what the other team values him at.

Until this past off-season, I would have been inclined to not offer a long term deal. Here's hoping other Twins prospects find their Fernando Tatis. I'm putting off the decision until later. I want to see what happens after the All Star break. I want to see if the lessons learned have stuck. That, and I'm a pretty cheap guy by nature. No Calvin Griffith, to be sure.....

The Twins seem to be in good shape as far as everyday player go. I have a concerns over the quality of the current and future Twins pitchers. So, the projection that needs to be done is, which player, Greene or McKay, projects to be the better pitcher in the short-term?

Couldn't it, wouldn't it, be more beneficial to Hughes and the Twins to sit Hughes, let him actually work on recovery and call up a MiLB starter or two to see what they've got? To me, this seems like a slap in the face-type wake-up call.

Oh, crap. There it is! That's what i get for posting before 3am LOL

Polanco has been much better and consistent playing time is the key at any position, any career. He still seems a little clunky at times. I like him better at 2nd. BTW: anyone else hate Baseball Reference's new format? Can't figure out how to get Polanco's splits.... EDIT: Figured it out. Go to a different site....

#5 Fill the bottom 3rd of the order with OBP guys. I've been kinda saying this for a while. LEN3 posted the same thing early this morning: "As the leadoff hitter, he is dependent upon the bottom third of the order to get on base for him." I'd move Mauer to the latter half of the lineup, Buxton to 7th, and Grossman and Polanco 8th and 9th. Or something like that. Using the bottom 3rd as a hitters graveyard should be a thing of the past.

I've been promoting the move away from Saves for awhile now. I like FanGraphs model: Shutdowns (SD) and Meltdowns (MD). "Shutdowns (SD) and Meltdowns (MD) were created as an alternative to Saves and Blown Saves in an effort to better represent a relief pitcher’s value. While the Save rule is odd and complicated, Shutdowns and Meltdowns strip away these complications and answer a simple question: did a relief pitcher help or hinder his team’s chances of winning a game? If they improved their team’s chances of winning by a certain amount, they get a Shutdown. If they instead made their team more likely to lose by a certain amount, they get a Meltdown." http://www.fangraphs.com/library/pitching/sd-md/ I'll read your stuff a little more closely when I get back from work. Overslept, is an understatement :-(

"What's Up, Pitches?" Nice. I don't have stats to support this, but I'm guessing his lack of 2nd half success is due to the large number of pitches he seems to throw each game.

With only 2 pitches, Duffey is a reliever. And at this point, I think that's where he belongs. Oh, there will be a couple SP positions opening some time this year. Longterm: Santana Looking good: Santiago, Mejía (hopefully) I don't have much confidence in either Gibson or Hughes. Gibson's salary is small enough that I'd be tempted to just release him, if necessary. Hughes still has THAT contract. With yesterday's start, I'd think seriously about sending him to the bullpen. Callup: Berrios and Gonsalves. I think the latter needs to be added to the 40 man, right?

So, when did we stop calling a sinker a sinker? James Shields has been well known for his sinker. Not one single time did Dick or Bert say sinker. ARGH! The namby pamby world we live in ;-) ahem, that being said...... Right now, Ervin is good for this pitching staff: a calm, steady and successful veteran in a sea of veteran misfits and young hopefuls.

Ah! There it is! Watching him last season, I couldn't figure out what was so weird about his delivery. I remember seeing a pause in Berrios' delivery. Question: last season his fastball looked pretty straight/flat to my TV eyes. Is that true? Pigment of my imagination??

Not really sure what Twins management is doing here, but can't really expect big changes in there first year..... Basically, I'm on the side of dumping the middling set of veterans the Twins have and aggressively move to the future. It would be very ugly, and many have not shown to temperament for such a thing. I believe the everyday lineup is pretty good, but definitely needs better defense. Any trade the Twins make for Dozier or Santana should include both a starting and relief pitcher. Berrios still needs to prove himself as a MLB pitcher.

Don't teams typically start a new season with extra SP's? The theory being, SP's aren't stretched out enough yet. My theory is: if you have a job that starts at a specific date, you should already be prepared for that job, that time, that date. Silly me.....

"Putting Miguel Sano in the outfield was an unmitigated disaster." Well, let's put things in context here. Trevor Plouffe was the starter at 3rd and there was Mauer and Park. The OF at the start of the season? Logan Schafer, Danny Mastroiani, Oswaldo Arcia and Danny Santana. I think there was another guy in there that I can't remember. My "eyeball facts" say that he was improving in RF on a pretty regular basis. In the end, Sano really really has the arm for RF. But his girth would have eventually caused a switch anyway. Unmitigated disaster? No. It was an effort to get his bat into a pretty crappy lineup. We should be over that 38 game experiment by now.... Back to the story: Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, and Eddie Rosario: Can we go ahead and say "Elite outfield defense"? Jorge Polanco: Still some missteps, but the footwork looks significantly better and his release quicker. Jason Castro: Suzuki's ranking was, where, again? Infield: I think things will change a lot this year. As Mauer moves closer to the end of his contract, I would think we'd see less of him on the field. I also think some MLB team will really be in need of a guy like Dozier for a playoff push.