gman

I remember the catch. It was a great play and was the main thing I remember about Sandy. After that, I was always waiting for him to come in as a defensive replacement and make another great play.

He hasn't broken don't from lack of rest but from sudden and violent stops. Slamming into a wall, stopping a baseball with his hands or skidding into a base. Resting doesn't prevent that.

Sarcasm?

I think our triple A staff will be as good a staff as any we've had since I can't remember. We'll also have numerous everyday players working towards a job on the big league roster. Some may start the year at double A, but that may only be because there isn't a triple A opening.

The Twins have had their share of first round misfortune, maybe its time for us to see the other side of that wheel. A guy that fly's through the system and starts pushing other guys out of the way before he even gets here. because I don't doubt some players and coaches are looking over their shoulder and wondering what position he'll wind up at. This team in a year's time could go from maybe a possible allstar to 6 or 7 players deserving of votes. I know, wait until it gets here.

As far as arms and speed go this is probably the best pen the Twins have ever put together. Hopefully the starters get closer to averaging 6 innings per outing. With that the Twins will still use 3 relievers per night, with a different guy every night who can throw 100mph, sometimes 2. This "could" turn every game into a 6 inning game.

Many pitchers add a couple more mph to the fastball after working with a professional staff for a few months. I'd look more for increased spin rates and a much improved change-up in improve his pitchability. Everybody works harder on command and control, so I'd expect some improvement there.

I'd go with a whip of less than 1.2 and innings pitched in the range of 135-150. A 9/3 strikeout to walk rate per nine innings.

Sometimes, in Larnachs case, management needs to make room for up and comers. Sometimes they need to quit automatically rewarding repeat failures, in the case of Sabaro and Cavaco.

I think it comes down to health and how everyone is doing. All things being equal, I would give the game to Gray. But I also think there is no wrong choice.

Why not add pitchers when available? If you wind up with 3 sore arms during spring training or early in the year, its a good thing so see what's out there. Even if they keep them, I doubt they are on the 40 man roster very long. Besides they may want an extra arm or 2 for live BP.

Most players, I think, change positions after they're drafted. Probably the fewest shifts are made by average hitting catchers. Frequently good hitting catching prospects are moved to other positions. Players drafted at shortstop seem to be shifted the most and the fastest. A good athlete who can hit, run and throw, I don't think needs to waste a couple more years in the minors learning a new position. Get him some experience at 2 or 3 positions. Send him to the pros and let him work himself into a position.

I expect all three could wind up in someone's minor league system next year should the Twins decide to drop them or simply not include them on the 40 man at year end. As far as Cavaco and Sabato go, we have players in the minors passing them by and pushing for roster spots. For Balazovic though, pitching is always critical and he was steadily cruising through the system and I think everyone was expecting him to be pitching for the Twins this year or at least challenging for a spot in the majors. Hopefully he gets it together this year soon.

I just someone of the expected 3 starting outfielders can hit over 230 otherwise we have a lot of automatic outs in the outfield.

I'd like to see a solid vet at second base who can hit 275 with 30+ homers. Oh wait we have one. Polanco should slot in at the third spot in the lineup and maybe lead the team in rbi's and have an ops over 800. He should get meaningful time off this year before he breaks down which would help him avoid any long down time.