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About a week ago, I started a thread entitled "A Few Random Thoughts". Since then, the Twins have continued to win games and (mostly) look promising doing it. I have assembled another helping of tidbits for discussion. I hope they generate discussion and debate. 1) Injuries have happened, most notably upcoming surgery for Miguel Sano. Those injured are Sano (1st base), Garlick (corner OF), and Kirilloff (corner OF/1st base). As usual, when injuries occur, they seem to cluster. First base options now are Luis Arraez and Jose Miranda. 2) Two starting pitchers remain on on the Injured List. Both look like they will be back shortly. If/when all return, Winder probably goes back to a long relief role. I would predict that someone will be injured or ineffective and that Winder doesn't spend much time in the long relief role in May, unless he is the one who is ineffective. 3) Dylan Bundy impressed me with his six innings of work in the game the Twins lost to Tampa Bay. He gave up four runs before he got an out, but still managed to limit the bullpen to two innings. That he gave up six runs shows how little margin for error he has without overpowering stuff. That he pitched six innings showed that he can make adjustments on the fly and be effective. 4) By trading both Mitch Garver and Ben Rortvedt, the Twins bet big on Ryan Jeffers, who hit below the Mendoza Line in 2021. Right now, it looks like an excellent bet. The batting average is subpar, but the OPS+ is over 100 and he is a good receiver. Gary Sanchez is not a perfect complement to Jeffers, but he has been okay behind the plate and not an automatic out. 5) The promotion of Jose Miranda highlights the importance of positional flexibility. I would expect that Miranda will get a lot of starts at first base, due to the injuries of Sano and Kirilloff, and that he is comfortable playing first probably led to his promotion over someone else. 6) I fear this might be a lost season for Alex Kirilloff. From the reports I've read, he is not pain-free and early results from St. Paul do not show a hitter who is able to mash at that level, much less the next level. My expectation for this season for Kirilloff was that he would establish himself as a major league regular on the way to a fine career. Now I am wondering if that ever will happen. 7) Last night, Caleb Thielbar and Tyler Duffey had good outings. Up to that point, both had had disappointing starts to their season. Both veterans seemed to have more zip on their fastball and Thielbar featured much better command of all his pitches. The bullpen pitcher who concerns me most is Emilio Pagan. Far too many walks and deep counts, combined with a propensity to give up home run balls worries me. He is being used in high-leverage situations and really hasn't hurt the team yet, but it's nervous time when he's on the mound. My list is a bit shorter than last week, probably because the team has played so well. Please discuss and comment. Thanks!

Byungho Park reassigned to the minors? 13 pitchers? The Minnesota Twins have made their final roster decisions for Opening Day 2017, which is on April 3rd and only 3 days away. They: assigned 1B/DH Byungho Park to minor-league campalong with OF JB Shuck, 3B Matt Hague, INF Benji Gonzalez, 1B/DH Ben Paulsen, and C Eddy Rodriguez [*]named LHP Adalberto Mejia their 5th starter [*]RHP Tyler Duffey will join the bullpen [*]will add C Chris Gimenez to the 40-man roster [*]optioned C John Ryan Murphy to AAA Rochester So that means the 25-man Opening Day roster, for now, is: Hitters/Fielders – 12 C – Jason Castro 1B – Joe Mauer 2B – Brian Dozier 3B – Miguel Sano SS – Jorge Polanco LF – Eddie Rosario CF – Byron Buxton RF – Max Kepler DH – Robbie Grossman Bench – C Chris Gimenez, INF Eduardo Escobar, UTIL Danny Santana Starting Pitchers – 5 RHP Ervin Santana LHP Hector Santiago RHP Kyle Gibson RHP Phil Hughes LHP Adalberto Mejia Relief Pitchers – 8 RHP Brandon Kintzler RHP Matt Belisle RHP Ryan Pressly LHP Taylor Rogers LHP Craig Breslow RHP Michael Tonkin RHP Justin Haley RHP Tyler Duffey On Disabled List LHP Glen Perkins (?), LHP Ryan O’Rourke, INF Ehire Adrianza, 1B/DH Kennys Vargas (?) Why “for now?” Because, obviously, everyone is most likely wondering how Byungho Park did not make the team after a great Spring Training where he hit 2 doubles, 6 HRs and had 13 RBIs among 19 hits with 6 walks and 15 strikeouts in 51 at-bats for a .353 average and a .414 on-base percentage. He showed that he’s worked on his swing and is taking better at-bats.There might be a few reasons. First off, he’s not on the 40-man roster and the Twins already have to add backup catcher Chris Gimenez to the 40-man roster. Assuming they’re taking Buddy Boshers off the roster for that spot, who else can you take off of it to find a spot for Byungho Park? Ryan O’Rourke? He’s on the 10-Day DL so he can’t be removed unless they move him to the 60-Day DL and he won’t be out that long. They could move Glen Perkins to the 60-Day DL and they still might but I believe he has to agree to that and he probably doesn’t want to be out until near the end of May if he can get back before that. There may be other players you could take off the 40-man roster but, obviously, the front office and the coaches like those players or they wouldn’t be on the roster. Second, yes, Park’s stats are impressive but, they’re also from Spring Training, which is hard to take seriously so, maybe the front office would like to see him continue that same type of consistent hitting and good at-bats in AAA. If he keeps mashing the ball like he did in Spring Training, he’ll most likely get called up to the big club. Or if Robbie Grossman or a reliever or someone else struggles early, they could make a move to recall him? Third, and this might be the biggest one, maybe Derek Falvey and Thad Levine are looking to acquire and/or move a player to make room for Mr. Park. By reassigning him to minor-league camp, some other teams might show some interest. We expect them to be looking for every possible way to improve this team. Why 13 pitchers? That seems unusual but, again, that doesn’t mean they’ll stay with 13 pitchers for the whole season or even a month of the season. The Minnesota Twins biggest problem (and need) has been pitching since the losing started 6 seasons ago. So, having 13 pitchers shows how bad it’s been. They might need that many to get through a week. If the starters are pitching bad, that bullpen can get overworked quickly. So, they might want to get a look at these guys in real games when it counts rather than just evaluate them in spring training. Some, if not all, pitchers are working on new mechanics, new pitches, and/or new grips on pitches, trying to get used to those new tweaks to their deliveries or adding a new pitch. They aren’t that concerned if they get hit hard during a game. Plus, having 13 pitchers could mean they are going to go with this starting lineup for awhile and let them play. They’re going to let Jorge Polanco and Miguel Sano figure out if they can stay at shortstop and 3rd base. The bench of Eduardo Escobar, Chris Gimenez, and Danny Santana gives them the flexibility to replace every position as Gimenez has played some 1st base, Escobar and Santana can play 2nd, 3rd or short and Santana can play in the outfield, too. Sano could play some 1st base and in the outfiel…uhh…no, let’s not go back to that. Anyways, this lineup does have some flexibility even if there are only 12 players. So, basically, let’s wait and see how it goes for the next 3 days before Opening Day. If they’re still the same after that, let’s give them some time to play it out for awhile and see what happens. It might not be as bad as you think. Thanks for reading our TwinsTakes. We’d love to hear your TwinsTakes. That’s why it’s… Our 'Takes, Your 'Takes, TwinsTakes.com!!!

The Twins will enter 2016 after recording their best record since 2010. They have added several young players, most of whom are here to stay. As of today, they have some gaps, but overall have a decent team returning for next year. Four players are slated to be free agents--Mike Pelfrey, Torii Hunter, Brian Duensing, and Neal Cotts. Perhaps a player or two will be non-tendered. Candidates would be Casey Fien, Eduardo Nuñez, and Blane Boyer. Here is my current projection for the Opening Day 2016 Twins. It will have no rookies making their debuts and no trade acquisitions and I will assume that only one free agent is re-signed, either Cotts or Duensing. Pitchers: (12)--Phil Hughes, Ricky Nolasco, Tommy Milone, Kyle Gibson, Ervin Santana, Tyler Duffey, Ryan Pressly, Alex Meyer, Cotts or Duensing, Trevor May, Kevin Jepsen, and Glen Perkins. Catchers: (2)--Kurt Suzuki and Chris Herrmann. Infielders: (8)--Kennys Vargas, Danny Santana, Eduardo Nuñez, Joe Mauer, Brian Dozier, Eduardo Escobar, Trevor Plouffe and Miguel Sano Outfielders: (3)--Oswaldo Arcia, Aaron Hicks, and Eddie Rosario Some of these predictions will look pretty silly, I'm sure. I expect Oswaldo Arcia to get a last chance to be a productive player. This along with Byron Buxton's poor offensive showing at the close of 2015 will be enough to get Buxton more AAA time. I would expect he will be patrolling center field before Memorial Day. Another candidate to make the team would be Max Kepler, who probably needs some time in AAA, but before 2016 is over will have a regular spot on the club. The backup outfielders would be the backup infielders and perhaps Escobar and I think it won't be long before an outfielder is promoted. I have Nuñez surviving another spring. He has had a good year in 2015. He's a pretty good hitter, has some speed and defensive versatility. It is very possible the Twins will choose to go another way with that roster spot. I have youngsters Vargas and Santana as bench players. I'm pretty sure Vargas has an option, so he could easily not make the team, but if Trevor Plouffe is traded, current DH Sano becomes the third baseman and Vargas could be the primary DH. Backup catcher is a problem. The usual suspects from this season appear, but perhaps Stuart Turner will hit enough to bring his strong defense to the majors. I don't expect it on Opening Day, but I think it will happen sometime in 2016. Three starting pitchers have long-term contracts. Until and unless they are shown to be ineffective beyond repair when healthy, they are in the rotation. The best starters then are Milone and Gibson. That leaves the heralded JO Berrios to spend some more time in AAA, which would also be a smart business decision. I have listed Duffey as a bullpen option, despite his good work in the last quarter of the 2015 season and Trevor May as a big bullpen arm. Taylor Rogers could convert to to relief and take a spot I've given to Duensing/Cotts. The Twins also could go with O'Rourke, more of a pure LOOGy. I think Ryan Pressly had an underrated season before getting injured and my hope is that Alex Meyer has found it as a relief pitcher--he's been effective for the last several weeks. Meyer, May, Jepsen, and Perkins could be a very effective game-closing combination. I didn't list Casey Fien or Blane Boyer, veterans who have performed quite well this season, and in Fien's case for several seasons. Unfortuanately for them, their stuff doesn't play as well in this high-velocity, high strikeout bullpen era.