minn55441

My question from last year was how much did Castro stick around and help Wilson and Garver during his recovery period. Was he around the team helping on a daily basis or did he skip town? I remember I thought this was the ideal situation last May, Garver getting the majority playing time with Castro serving as a mentor. This is of course if Castro sat in on the daily pitching meetings to help orchestrate that days matchups. I have never seen Castro as the catcher on a winning team, I did think he could help Garver to eventually become an above average receiver.

What do you always hear from free agents? I want to go someplace where I can win a championship. At age 60. I really don't think money is the main concern. He wants to go some place where he can win. The Twins and the Cubs both have strong minor league systems, will that be the determining factor? Would you rather face the Cardinals, Pirates, Reds and Brewers or is your road to the postseason easier facing the Royals, the fast fading Tigers, the Indians and White Sox? If I'm turning 60 and know this is my last chance to put myself in a position to win a world series, I would ask myself where can I win. What situation gives me the best shot of making the post season. What organization would benefit the most from the skills I could bring to the job? I'm not sure money would be the deciding factor. I think Joe will decide based on the probability of winning a world championship. Period.

How much of this success can we contribute to the arrival of Kennys Vargas? Not to say that Vargas is hanging around the cage giving him pointers, but there is something to be said about peer pressure. Up until this point, Arica has been the young bull. The young power hitting prospect on the team. With the arrival of Vargas, Arica now has someone roughly his age on the team with a similar skill set. Arcia is competitive, you can see it in everything he does. With the recent arrival of Vargas and the early success he has had not only hitting for average but also hitting the long ball, I can see this as a real wake up call for Arcia. I can see him not wanting to be upstaged by one of his team mates. There is something to be said for team dynamics and I don't think it is a coincidence that Arcia started hitting at essentially the same time that Vargas arrived on the big league club.

Apparently he was not happy in Oakland. Felt he had pitched well enough to stay out of AAA. I wonder how much of that frustration was related to his service time and the fact that he could miss super two status? If I remember correctly our own Glen Perkins had the same issue, I think he even went so far as to file a grievence with the union. Many thought he would never play in Minnesota again as he demanded a trade. I wonder what the real story is benind this? If we wait a week to bring him up and he misses the opporutnity to become a super two how would he handle that?

Nice recap thrylos. I think the key thing, as you mentioned is that this is December. Things tend to sort themselves out by April. Injuries, performance and trades will take care of most of the current questions we have and it will seem obvious what needs to be done.

Twinslover, I agree. He should not have returned until he started to hit. Why even bother sending him to Rochester in the first place if 0-8 is good enough to get you back in the everyday lineup. I don't like the message it sends. 0-8 is ok and 0-12 for the twins is acceptable now at the major lead level. I remember Plouffe hitting two balls hard out of those twelve, but it missses the point. You have to earn your time in the majors. If you need more flexibility, promote Florimon, give Parmelee some time at third. We are in the midst of a losing season, but we still have to try and win games. Does a guy that doesn't have a hit in a month, give us a better shot at a win this game or are there other options? Let's experiment a little. Masty at 2B. At least he has proven he can hit.

The fact that Terry Ryan went out and signed Carroll, instead of a more long term solution to our SS problem is very telling. There were options on the free agent market this winter. We could have picked up a 32 year old Barmes, but instead we took a 38 year old player for less money. I don't think it was Terry trying to fill the spot on the cheap, but instead he sees the future arriving within two years. Dozier is 24 or 25 and I think Michael is around 21. Levi Michael was a 3 year starter on a good college baseball team. He was widely viewed as far and away the best SS in college baseball entering his junior year. Although he played almost every game his Junior year, he was happened by injuries that did affect his performance. Even with the lingering injuries he performed well and lead his team to the college world series. I will be really surprised if he isn't at New Britian next year. From double A is it s short trip to the Twins as both Joe Benson and Chris Parmelee found out last September. Jamey Carroll is definately a stop gap until Dozier and Michael progress. I think Dozier gets the first chance. Hopefully he gets a full season in Rochester and then a September call up. I would love to see Dozier fight for the starting SS spot with Carroll in 2013 and for 2014, hopefully that competition would become one between Dozier and Michael. I love the fact that we take flyers on these high school kids, but when we draft 3 and 4 year college players they should be able to move through the system at a much quicker pace.

I agree with most of your points but you didn't include any discussion about Levi Michael and how his progression through the minors will also play into these decisions. Michael was our number one pick and has yet to play a single game for us due to injuries. I have heard that he will probably get his start in either Beloit or for the Miracle, either way I would expect him to move quickly to the same level as Dozier. For me the best case scenario would include two quality players fighting for one major league roster spot. I had high hopes for Nishi last year but after watching him for a year, I have no confidence in him at all. I wasn't just the physical limitations but even more importantly the mental errors that he made. I could see multiply mistakes every game from being in the wrong spot for a cut off throw from the outfield to minor things like indecision with where to throw the ball. He needs time in the minors, but like you I don't want to see him taking playing time away from legitimate prospects like dozier and Michael.