Sunday, March 9th

A guy that not alot of people talk about with the hope that Francise comes back to form and Livian Hernandez can get some people out has been the emergence of Scott Baker to Ace status. I will admit myself i was starting to lose faith in him with his insistance to throw the high pitch. Just because it works in the minor leagues doesnt mean it is going to work up here cause the hitters are much better. But he finally listened to the coaches and last year put up a very solid year and i believe he is the most solid pitcher we have right now and deserves to start on opening day. It wasnt always good for him though he came up as a heralded prospect but bounced up and down from Rochester to the Twins and vice versa because seemed like he would dominate in Rochester and come up here and get drilled. Like i said something clicked for him last year and he had a very solid year and he's only 26 years old and has a bright future with the Twins. but as the can see it wasnt always easy for him look at the stats he put up.
2004 high A 4-2 2.42
AA 5-3 2.43
AAA1-3 4.97
2005 AAA5-8 3.01
twins3-3 3.35
2006 AAA5-4 2.67
twins5-8 6.37
2007 AAA 3-2 3.16
twins9-9 4.26

As you can see he has dominated the hitters in the minor leagues but wasnt able to put it together until last year where he had a solid year. But knowing him he can do so much better i expect a much better year this year i think he has a shot to win 15 games this year with a ERA in the 3's he reminds me so much of a young Brad Radke with better stuff. I think with all the adversity Scott has been through he will be a better pitcher for it and him and Francise will lead the twins back to the central division titles much like Radke and Santana did.

what do you think of my page

trying to get feedback on what i can do to improve my page what you like,what you dont like let me know.

Yankees vs Twins

Twins vs Pirates

im doing something new every twins spring game where anyone can comment on the game and who they like and how they are doing. looking forward to it.

Beloit Lineup

CDanny Lehman
1b Rene Leveret
2b Chris Cates
ss estarlin de los Santos
3b Deibinson Romero
lf Rene Tosoni
cf Ben Revere
rf Danny Santiesteban
dh Ozzie Lewis

Pitchers
1.Mike Mccardel
2.David Bromberg
3.Micheal Allen
4.Micheal Tasi
5.henry reyes

bullpen
bradley tippett
danny hernandez
curtis leavitt
brian kirwann
Loek Van Mil
Dan Latham
Danny Rondon
another good team with alot of prospects let by Ben Revere who will be awesome and up to ft myers before long.

Fort Myers miracle lineup

C Wilson Ramos
1b Johnny Woodward
2b Brian Dinkelmon
ss Steve Singelton
3b Danny Valencia
Lf Edward Ovalle
cf Joe Benson
Rf Chris Parmalee
DH Whit Robbins

Pitching
1.Jeff Manship
2.Deolis Guerra
3.Tyler Robertson
4.Alex Burnett
5.Cole Devries

Bullpen
Anthony slama
Dan Leatherman
matt wiliams
Aaron Craig
Caleb Moore
Blair Erickson
Spencer steedley

another good lineup but the pitching is going to be phenomenal look at those starters those are a big part of my top 10 and they will be a reason the miracle have a good season.

New Britian Lineup

C Drew Butera
1b Brock Peterson
2b Matt Moses
SS Trevor Plouffe
3b David Winfree
Lf Juan Portes
CF Brandon Roberts
RF Dustin Martin
DH Erik Lis

Bench
Korey Feiner C
Kyle Geiger c
Steve Tolleson inf
Luke Hughes
Dwayne White

Pitching
1.Anthony Swarzak
2.Ryan Mullins
3.Oswaldo Sosa
4.Kyle Waldrop
5. Jay Raineville

bullpen
Robert Delaney
Frank Mata
David Shinkskie
Yohan Pino
Zack Ward
Errol Simonstich
Matt Fox

There are alot of good prospects here and if some of these pitchers can develop the twins are looking good at new britain.

Rochester Lineup

heres a lineup based on my twins lineup
C Jose Morales
1bRandy Ruiz
2bTommy Watkins
ss Alexi Casilla
3b Matt Macri
lf Jon Knott
cf Denard Span
rf Jason Pridie
dh Brian Buscher

bench
Eli Whitside C
Howie Clark INF
Darnell Mcdonald OF
Doug Deeds inf
Matt Tolbert inf

Pitching
1. Glen Perkins
2. Kevin Slowey
3. Kevin Mulvey
4. Brian Duesing
5. Brian Bass

bullpen
Randy Keisler
Julio Depaula
Casey Daigle
Ricky Barrett
Jay SAwarkski
Jason Miller
Bobby Koreky

anyone with any thoughts let me know

Saturday, March 8th

I have already done one but every saturday until the opener im going to put a projected twins roster up and see how much it changes for me from week to week and anyone disagrees let me know.
1. Carlos Gomez cf
2. Joe Mauer C
3. Micheal Cuddyer RF
4. Justin Mourneau 1b
5. Delmon Young LF
6. Mike Lamb 3b
7. Brenden Harris 2b
8. Jason Kubel DH
9. Adam Everett ss

Bench
Mike Redmond C
Nick Punto INF
Craig Monroe OF/DH
Garrett Jones OF

Pitchers
1.Scott Baker
2.Boof Bonser
3.Francisco Liriano
4.Livian Hernandez
5.Philip Humber

bullpen
Nick Blackburn
Dennys Reyes
Matt Guerrier
Juan Rincon
Jesse Crain
Pat Neshek
Joe Nathan

Friday, March 7th

First off i want to say i was impressed with Francise today for being his first start in 18 months his changup was good and his velocity will pick up and i believe his slider will come around. he gave up 2 hits and 0 runs in 1 and 2/3 innings and threw 40 pitches but its a good start.
Next i want to go through some of the position battles and say who i think is winning so far.
2b Punto vs Harris
neither one is really hitting very good to be honest and both will be on the team this spring punto is hitting .111 while harris is hitting a robust .083 this spring. I know harris is not hitting well now but i think he will be at 2b on opening day.
gomez vs Pridie vs Span
This battle i think is going to go on until the end of spring training because none of them are really taking the bull by the horns and earning the spot one day one guy has a good game and the next nothing and vice versa. so far this spring span is hitting .200, pridie is hitting .308 and gomez is hitting .235. I have actually changed my mind on this im gong with gomez because of the excitement he can bring to the team. Of course he will have his o fors but his defense and speed will put him in cf on opening day
Buscher vs Jones
This is an interesting battle i think Buscher has outplayed Jones but Garrett Jones is out of options and the Twins dont want to lose him so im thinking he will make the team out of spring training especailly with that memorable hr off chamberlian. Buscher has had a good spring so far hitting .375 to Jones' .182 but on opening day i think garrett jones will be there.
5th starter job
Kevin Slowey i think is still a favorite to get the job but he is not producing this spring with a 14.71 era and if he doesnt pick it up he wont make it but there is still time. The guys that have been making up ground are Nick Blackburn and Philip Humber along with Glen Perkins.
humber 0 runs in 4 innings after a bad game vs concordia and blackburn 0 runs in 3 innings when its all said an done i think Philip Humber is going to be the 5th starter with Nick Blackburn making the team in the bullpen.
its really early but those are some of the early results this spring see if they change.

Friday, March 7th

Top 50 prospects

im going to do a top 50 prospects with a few small tweaks and if they have 130 ab's or 50 innings they are out.
1.Deolis Guerra
2.Carlos Gomez
3.Tyler Robertson
4.Kevin Mulvey
5.Anthony Swarzak
6.Ben Revere
7.Jeff Manship
8.Trevor Plouffe
9.Philip Humber
10.Joe Benson
11.Glen Perkins
12.Brian Duensing
13.Chris Parmalee
14.Danny Valencia
15.Oswaldo Sosa
16.Nick Blackburn
17.Jason Pridie
18.Jay Rainville
19.Alex Burnett
20.Erik Lis
21.Wilson Ramos
22.Deibinson Romero
23.David Bromberg
24.Brock Peterson
25.Mike Mccardel
26.David Winfree
27.Ryan Mullins
28.Yohan Pino
29.Dustin Martin
30.Kyle Waldrop
31.Denard Span
32.Danny Rams
33.Juan Portes
34.Brian Dinkelman
35.Rene Tosoni
36.Brandon Roberts
37.Ozzie Lewis
38.Angel Morales
39.Matt Tolbert
40.Matt Macri
41.Micheal Tarsi
42.Dan Berlind
43.Jose Mijares
44.Cole Devries
45.Jose Morales
46.Brian Buscher
47.Drew Butera
48.Matt Moses
49.Zack Ward
50.Brad Tippett
heres my list everyone let me know what you think

Orioles vs Twins thoughts

Today the Twins hosted the Baltimore Orioles in Fort Myers and won the game 8-7 to bring their spring record to 4-3 and win their 4th straight win there were alot of positives and only a few negatives today and here they are.
Positives
Delmon Young- Delmon continues to mash the ball going 3-3 with 2 rbi's to bring his spring batting average up to a robust .615. Talk about making an impression the more i see of him the more im liking him he is a monster. I look for him to put up great numbers this year and in the future look out for him i think he is going to put mourneau to shame with his numbers which is saying something all i have to say to look out.
Craig Monroe- Craig came back from a minor calf injury with a 2 run single in the first to help the teams cause. Craig really bounced back and im happy for him cause if he can hit he will really help the team in late game situations when you need that big hit off your bench so today was a big day for him.
Alexei Casilla- Every game i see him play the more impressed im getting with him he has shown alot of improvement over last year in my opinion. he went 1-2 with a walk today and played good defense. He will probably start the season in Rochester but if Everett struggles dont be shocked to see him in a Twins uniform early in the season.
Mike Lamb- Lamber is really solidifying his starting 3rd baseman job this spring hitting the ball all over the park today he hit an rbi double and was 2-3 and is hitting .400 this spring and looks like he is going to be the guy at third this season.
Twins Bullpen- they did a good job today especially Juan Rincon he is really stepping up to make last year a thing of the past.

Negatives
Livian Hernandez- I dont know what to say except wow did he get hammered today. 3 in 10h 6r, but he is a veteran and he can bounce back from something like this. With Hernandez you know what your getting when his junk is not working his 85 mile per hour fastball is very hittable and there will be days like this. However you know what your getting him for is the innings and he will have more good starts than bad ones and i believe next time he will be effective.
Adam Everett- he went 0-3 today with 5 guys left on base. the reason we got him was for defense but hes only hitting .125 and with the way casilla is playing maybe the twins might consider cutting him. I dont know all im saying is he needs to step it up im not expecting 300 but 250 would be nice with that defense.
Overall many good things and anytime you win it was a good day, but there were a few things that were disappointing Pirdie had a chance to solidify his claim on cf and Hernandez could of made the questions go away but they didnt. The great thing about spring training is its long and the questions and battles usually have a way of working themselves out and hopefully this will too.

Thursday, March 6th

One of the biggest battles in spring training is the 5th starter job and by the way Kevin Slowey has looked so far he has opened the job open to a few guys. Dont get me wrong there is a long time before the opener but if he doesnt pick it up soon he will be on the outside looking in and based on that here are the contenders and how they are doing so far.

Philip Humber- 2 games 2in 1 hit 0 runs he didnt look good in the scrimmage against concordia but he has looked solid since and has put him back in the race for the 5th spot.
Nick Blackburn- 2 games 2 and a third innings 1 hit 0 runs he is the one who has really impressed me so far. Last year in a late callup he didnt look so good but i believe he is winning a job with a twins this spring if he keeps it up.
Glen Perkins- 2 games 3 innings pitched 6 hits 4 runs he has not looked good at all this spring if its possible he has looked worse than slowey and is costing himself a spot with the twins so he needs to step it up.
I think it is down to those 3 for the final spot saying that Liriano can start the season in the rotation. Like i said though its only march 6th there is a lot of baseball to be played and many more opprotunitys for these guys to impress the twins and find a way to make the team.
Today the Twins host Baltimore Orioles and should get a look at new oriole Adam Jones Livian Hernandez gets the start and looks like the return of Craig Monroe will happen today so it should be an interesting game at noon today.

Wednesday, March 5th

Today was a good day the first twins game i have been able to watch on TV and it was good too see because the Twins won 7-5 there was many positives a few negatives from the game but all and all im pretty happy with how the game went and here are some of good and the bad.
Positives

Delmon Young- I was really impressed with Delmon he hit his first home run of the spring and was 2-3 on the day and made a tough catch in the outfield with a tough sun. Like i have been saying im really excited about him this year i think its possible he could h ave a massive season im talking torii hunter numbers and that would be huge for the twins.
Alexei Casilla- I was also impressed with Alexei he looks very much improved from last season he went 2-3 and made some nice plays defensivly. I really believe in 2009 Alexei Casilla is going to be the starting SS.
Brian Buscher-I may be a broken record on the Buscher fan club but he looks much more improved. And look at him looks like he put on 15 lbs of muscle on him. i think he has a good shot to make the team going 1-2 and lining out for his out but i think he will be on the team.
Garrett Jones- I have been hard on him this spring but he really hit that home run today off Chamberlin well. Its going to be a great battle between him and buscher for that last roster spot.
Jason Pridie- I was really impressed with Jason today it was the first time i had seen him play and he looked phenomenal. he had 2 hits and stole a base and scored a run. I think him and span are going neck and neck for the cf job and could go either way.
Negatives
Carlos Gomez- Today was not one of carlos' best days went 0-5 at the plate made a horrible throw to home and misjudged a fly ball. They kept saying on ESPN how they think the Twins are going to keep him but i dont see it he is very talented but he has a lot to learn and time down in Rochester will do him good.
Kevin Slowey- Kevin looked like a very average pitcher giving up 3 runs on 5 hits in 2 innings leaving the ball up and getting hit hard. Thats 2 bad starts in a row this is not how you win a job and if he is not careful he is going to start the season in Rochester. That is something that i didnt think was going to happen at the beginning of the spring but is looking more and more likely wiht the way Blackburn has been pitching and Humber in his last outing. All I have to say is Kevin Slowey better pick it up or he wont start the season with the twins.
Jose Morales- He didnt have a very good day today either. He looked lost at the plate and made a horrible baserunning decision to try to go to third that may of been on Scotty Ulger but whoever mad that decision that was horrible.
Overall i was very impressed with the Twins and its getting me more and more excited about the upcoming season.

Tuesday, March 4th

This is the first of many updates on what i think is going to happen in cf for the twins this spring because things change by the day with them lets compare what they have done so far.

• Gomez-2-8 2 runs scored and 2 rbi's along with 2 stolen bases and many nice defensive plays in the outfield.
• Span-2-7 2 runs scored and 1 stolen bases with a few nice plays in the outfield and a more professional approach than he had last year.

• Pridie-3-9 1 run scored and 1 stolen bases with a few nice plays in the outfield and an ability to play anywhere.

So far Pridie has impressed me alot but my thinking is he is going to challenge Monroe for the 4th outfield job since he can play all over and spell young and cuddyer in lf and rf. My general feeling is its going to come down to gomez and span and right now i give a slight advantage to span but without a lot of confidence in that. I still think for many reasons gomez could use some more time in Rochester but it wouldnt suprise me if he is up here to start the season. The bigger issue with Monroe knicked up a little bit can Pridie beat him out for the 4th outfielder job. Keeping Pridie instead of Monroe would save about 3 million its not about saving money but Monroe should not stay just because he has a bigger name i believe he has to win that spot and he may still but it should be interesting. The Twins travel to st petersburg today to take on the Rays wiht Boof Pitching today should be an interesting afternoon with Span getting the start.

Monday, March 3rd

i could get into the fact that the twins had a good day yesterday with getting their first win andd jason pridie having a big day at the plate and Livian Hernandez having a good outing or The Francise having a good bullpen session but there is something more important for me to write about.
I have blogged about this before but its getting serious time the Twins absoultley need to get Joe Nathan signed he is to important to the future of the Twins. We have a few guys that probably could get the job done but that would hurt the bullpen and in turn hurt the starters cause you may see them throw more innings because lack of bullpen. I dont think Joe Nathan is being unreasonable in his contract demands just look at his numbers the last 4 years
2004 73 games 1.62 era and 44 saves
2005 69 games 2.70 era and 43 saves
2006 64 games 1.58 era and 36 saves
2007 68 games 1.88 era and 37 saves
You can put that up against any other closer in the league and in my opinion Joe has no equals at his position Mariano Rivera is on the downside and the closest is frankie rodriguez but he is not quite there. Look at what Francisco Cordero got from the reds 4 years 46 million and he cant hold Joe Nathan's jockstrap. I mean seriously this is getting serious the twins have about 3 weeks to get this done and mark my words if they dont get it done and they have to trade him at the deadline they will regret it for years to come. So my opinion give him 4 for 48 get it signed and not have to worry about the bullpen for 4 years. Im starting to get concerned about this but do whatever you have to short of a no-trade clause to get him signed. The twins are at a crossroads in their bullpen i just ask they make the right decision and sign Joe Nathan.

Saturday, March 1st

Twins lost another one last night to the Red Sox 8-3. I found there was some good signs and some not to good signs from last night.
Lets start with good Brian Buscher continued his roll early in camp with a HR and a nice defensive play. I may be in the minority but i think Buscher is coming north with the twins.
2. Carlos Gomez there is good and bad he threw out a runner at the plate with his rocket of an arm,but also threw to the wrong base and allowed a runner to advance. Carlos is so talented that he thinks he can throw out anyone and he needs to learn to hit the cutoff man and live to fight another day.
3. Boof Bonser pitched 2 good innings only giving up 1 hit. I think Boof is going to be one of the most improved pitchers on the team along with baker.
4. The one negative to come out of last night was Kevin Slowey he gave up 3 runs in 2 innings and was getting the ball up and gave up a homer to youkillious. Slowey needs to get the ball down to be effective because he doesnt have liriano gas so he needs to hit his spots and get the ball down. It opens up an opprotunity to some other people lets see how blackburn pitches today. Dont get the wrong idea slowey is still in the race but he cant have many more games like he did yesterday or he will find himself in Rochester

2nd base battle

Dont ask me why but i think the battle at second base is not as over as everybody would like it to be between Brenden Harris and Nick Punto. Dont get me wrong Nick Punto is a superb defensive player probably our best defensive infielder but lets just look at the seasons the two had last year.

Nick Punto: avg :210 hr 2 rbi 25 obp.291 slug .271 and ops .562 also ab 472

Brenden harris: avg.286 hr12 rbi 59 obp .343 slug .434 and ops .777 also ab 521

Really there is no comparision between the two Punto is better defensively but come look at the difference in the OPS its 200 points. The only reason i think there is a competition is because of gardy. Gardy loves punto last year no matter how bad he hit he stayed in the lineup every day i really hope that doesnt happen this year because brenden harris is 2 times the player nick punto is. Dont take it the wrong way Nick is a valuable part of the team cause he can play so many differnt positions but he should not be starting so i beg you gardy do the right thing and start harris at 2b.

Friday Febuary 29th

• first off i want to give a blog to a new and improved blog and website that i thought was really cool.

• twinsterritory.com everyone check it out i thiought it was really cool
• The Twins have a game tonight against the Boston Red sox to get the fort myers cup going
  
• Seth Speaks has a really good article up today
• Joe Christensen has a good article up today

All and all its a pretty good sports day for the twins fans and anyone looking to see some good twins info check them out.