3rd Base

I will be continuing my series on the Twins position by position look into the Twins organization. Today i will be moving onto the 3rd base position hope everyone enjoys it and let the comments continue. I am very excited about this position because we have some of the best talent in the whole system at this position so enjoy.

Twins

• Mike Lamb- Mike signed with the Twins as a free agent over the winter to solidify the 3rd base position while some of our younger prospects work their way up. This is the 3rd organization for Mike after previously playing for Texas and Houston before joining the Twins. The Twins signed him to a 2 year contract with a team option that could keep him here till after the 2010 season. Mike is a career .281 hitter in 852 games so he is a very solid hitter. His problem is he has not gotten the chance to get regular at bats and thats why he was attracted to the Twins. After going through the nightmare season last year with Nick Punto the Twins jumped at signing a professional hitter. I look for Mike to have a good year this year for the Twins i look for somewhere betwee .270-280 with about 20 hr and 80-85 rbis. I really think Mike has found a home in Minnesota and will be a pleasure to watch for the next 3 years.

Rochester

• Brian Buscher- Brian has been up and down with the Twins the last couple seasons and does a lot of things well. Last season he showed flashes of being a good quality 3rd baseman. But, like a lot of young players he has lacked consistancy to be at the major league level. Another thing he really needs to work on is his defense because honestly its not very good. The good thing about him is he can hit and because of that i expect to see Brian up with the Twins at some point this season. If he can continue to hit and work on his defense i think he can be a quality backup for the Twins in the years to come.

New Britain

• Luke Hughes- Luke is a very solid 3rd baseman he does a lot of this right and doesnt make a lot of mistakes. Defensively he is very strong and offensively he is getting better ever year. He signed with the Twins as an undrafted free agent in 2002 and slowly and surely has worked his way up to New Britain. Honestly, I think he is a solid player but not a great player and with the guys that are behind him he could get passed up, but that should not take away from the fact he is a good player that possibly if he keeps working could make the majors as a utility man.

Fort Myers

• Daniel Valencia- I am super excited about Daniel like i said I believe he is the future 3rd baseman for the Twins. He was drafted in the 19th round in the 2006 draft and since then he has dominated everywhere he has been. He has a nice glove at 3rd and man can he hit he is a career .297 hitter who is fast and can hit for average and hit for power. I really believe the sky is the limit for this kid if he continues to do what he has already done and keep developing as a hitter. I am really excited about him and i think we have found the 3rd baseman of the future.

Beloit

• Deibinson Romero- He is another guy i am really high on he has an excellent glove and a really good bat. Deibinson is a career .315 hitter that knows how to hit and if he can continue to develop like he is he will be outstanding and challenge Valencia for the starting 3rd basemen job with the Twins in a few years. Deibinson was an undrafted free agent in '04 and has gotten better and better every year and if that continues look out. The only thing i would like to see out of him is a little more power he has only hit 9 career home runs but i also think that will come. Deibinson Romero is definately someone to keep your eye on and dont be surprised to see him in a Twins uniform in a few years.

Thursday, April 10th

I am going to start a new daily update piece. It is very similiar to what Seth does with his tidbits from every level. I am really getting into following the minor leagues and i thought it would be cool to write about things going down in the minors. It will be a little different than Seth's so hopefully you all enjoy it.

Red Wing Wrap
Norfolk 7 Redwings 2

• POG for the Red Wings
• Brian Buscher-Brian had a good game going 2-4 with a HR and 2 rbi's to be the Red Wing player of the game.
• Brian Duensing had a tough luck outing giving up 6 runs with only 1 of them earned. He should be ok not worried about him.
• Hope its not a trend but the Red Wings have 6 errors in the last 2 games they need to pic it up.
• Today: Rochester at Norfolk 11:15am Phillip Humber tries to get off the schnide after a tough first start.

New Britain Business

New Britain 4 New Hampshire 3

• POG: Ryan Mullins- Ryan put together 6 solid innings to get his first win of the season. He went 6 innings and gave up only 2 runs.
• The Rock Cats continue to struggle with the bats
• Ben Julianel struggled in the 9th but found a way to get the job done and pick up the save.
• Brock Peterson hit his first HR of the season hopefully one of many
• Today the Rock Cats have the day off before they head to Portland to take on the Sea Dogs

Fort Myers Musings

Fort Myers 9 Clearwater 3

• POG: Johnny Woodard- Johnny got his first hits of the season to go 3-6 with 2 rbi's.
• Jeff Manship had another outstanding start giving up 3 runs in 5 innings while getting his body into shape.
• Daniel Valencia is showing he is a man among boys at this level scoring 2 more runs and walking 2 times. Won't be long before he will be promoted to New Britain.
• Today the Miracle finish up their series with Clearwater with Phenom Deolis Guerra getting the start. Game time is 6 PM in Clearwater.

Beloit Beat

Beloit 1 Peoria 0 game 1

Peoria 4 Beloit1 game 2

• POG: Steven Hirschfeld- Steven went 5 shutout innings in his first start of the season to get his first win. He only gave up 3 hits and walked 2 while striking out 3.
• The Snappers bats continue to struggle
• Chris Parmalee had a hit in 3 at bats he is someone to keep a watch on

Wednesday, April 9th

I will be continuing my series on the Twins position by position look into the Twins organization. Today i will be moving onto the Shortstop position hope everyone enjoys it and let the comments continue.

Twins

• Matt Tolbert- I know Adam Everett is starting right now, but i think he is a stopgap and i look for Tolbert to take over the job by midseason so i am going to write about Matt. In all honesty, Matt Tolbert is an overacheiver who at every level has proven people wrong and thats no different than with the Twins. He went into Spring Training being told he had no shot to make the team, but he proved people wrong again. Don't get the wrong idea Matt Tolbert is very talented, but people didn't think he was talented enough to make it to the majors. I love watching Matt play because he personifies everything that i think being a Minnesota Twin should be. He hustles on every play, he is a team first player, and most important he will give up his own stats to make the team better. Matt was a 16th round pick by the Twins in '04 and last season at Rochester he hit .293 with 6 hr and 53 rbi's. I really like Matt and i think he will be starting at short next season as long as he can keep imporving on defense.

Rochester

• Alexi Casilla- I'm not as high on Casilla as some other people are. What we need out of him is speed and defense and his defense has really stunk thats part of the reason he didnt make the team out of spring training. However, he is very fast and has a good swing at the plate. If he can improve on his defense there is no reason to think he wont be up next year and possibly starting becuase he is the most talented SS we have in the system.

New Britain

• Trevor Plouffe- I am very high on this kid i believe the sky is the limit for Trevor. The Twins drafted Trevor with a first round pick in '04 draft and appeared like he was going to be the next in a long line of quality Twins shortstops. However, he struggled last year for the Rock Cats on defense and offense. He struck out 89 times in 121 games so he needs to work on his plate discipline and his defense. I think '08 is a pivotal year for Trevor's development. If he can put last year behind him, which i think he will he will be outstanding. My gut feeling tells me Trevor Plouffe will be the starting shortstop for the Twins when they open their new ballpark in '10.

Fort Myers

• Yancarlos Ortiz- He is another Twins shortstop that is great with the glove, but terrible with the bat. He only hit .212 with Beloit last year and got the promotion to Fort Myers. Defensively he is very solid, but the key for him to keep advancing is learing how to hit as a professional. But with his glove he is worth having around and someone you should keep your eye on.

Beloit

• Ramon Santana- So far this year the Snappers have been splitting up the SS duties so i thought i would write about Santana because he is an interesting player. Ramon signed with the Twins as an undrafted free agent in 2004. So far in his career he has really struggled with the bat, but has been outstanding with the glove. If he is going to move up though he needs to hit better because you have to hit a little to keep moving up. However, lets not take anything away from him he is excellent defensively and if he can improve the bat he will be worth keeping an eye on.

The Twins SS position depth has a lot to do with how Alexi Casilla and Trevor Plouffe continue to develop if they are able to keep developing we should be fine there, but if not we might have to look outside the organization. But in my opinion we are sitting ok at SS and is not a position we need to worry about.

Q & A column

Today i was able to have a Q & A with Seth over at Seth Speaks and it was very informative and shed some light on some things i was wondering about because i am so new at this. I hope you all like it and i am going to try to get a Q & A column every week so i hope you all enjoy.


Seth-
Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions i really appreciate it.
TT: Lets start with how you got involved in your blog and how it has come to be as big as it is.
SS: About five years ago, I was at home trying to find baseball stuff to read, so I did a google (or probably Yahoo back then) search for "Twins Dork." Well, the Twins Geek site popped up, and through there I learned of Aaron Gleeman's blog and the Dickie Thon Twins Fan Forum. I figured I'm not too dumb, have opinions on the Twins, why not start my own blog. It started slowly, but over time, it really picked up. I went from 15-25 hits a day, to a mention by the Twins Geek that got me up to 100 for a day. then Aaron would mention my site. Gradually over time, it went to a couple hundred hits a day. Now, there are generally four to six thousand hits a day which makes it a lot of fun.

TT: What is your view on the Johan Santana trade when it comes to the prospects the Twins brought in?
SS: Like all Twins fans, I followed all of the rumors throughout the offseason. I wondered frequently if we were about the hear about the deal. It took forever and like many, I finally got to the point where I didn't want to discuss it until it was over. So many names were thrown out in the media. that is great for the Twins because it raises the level. I admit mixed feelings with the deal. I believe that the Twins not only needed top prospects in return, but I thought that quantity of prospects were important for the organization as well. Carlos Gomez or Fernando Martinez? I could go either way, but the Twins need was a CF, not a corner guy where the Twins are set for the next 3-5 years. Carlos Gomez or Jacoby Ellsbury. Sure, Ellsbury looks like a sure thing, but he doesn't have nearly the upside as Gomez. He's also a couple years older. Philip Humber fell down on lists as well after Tommy John surgery, but he's now in Year 2 back after a very solid return from the surgery. He's close and could help the Twins right away if needed. Kevin Mulvey could be a #3 and he appears to be the type that will make it and have some success, even if not an ace. He will be solid! And finally, Deolis Guerra's upside is tremendous and I'm glad he was part of the deal. He has an amazing ceiling, but I'm glad that the Twins have decided to go slow with him. I really believe that all four will come up and help the Twins over the next several years. I think the deal had to be made and will prove to be a great deal for the Twins. What other deals were truly on the table? We'll never know, but I don't think we can assume that any were better, and with prospects, that can't really be judged for several years anyway.

TT: Do you view Daniel Valencia as a future starter at the Big League Level?
SS: I certainly do. In a way, I'm glad that they are starting him back at Ft. Myers. I'd like to see him succeed for six to eight weeks and then take over the hot corner for New Britain. With Mike Lamb signed for two years, the Twins should feel no need to rush him. Brian Buscher and Matt Macri would be adequate replacement level types for the next year or until Valencia is ready. So, I would think that Valencia could be the Twins starting 3B by 2010.

TT:How high of a ceiling do you see for Valencia?
SS:He'll need to cut down on the strikeouts and probably find a way to walk a little bit more. But I can see him as a future .280/.350/.480 type of ceiling. Very solid, borderline all star.

TT: Who do you view as the Shortstop of the future?
SS: As of today, I still believe that Trevor Plouffe is the Twins SS of the future. In part, I believe that because I still see Alexi Casilla as the 2B of the future. I can see Casilla being the Twins SS in 2009, with Plouffe likely playing in Rochester, but by 2010, I can see the two teaming for double plays up the middle.

TT:Do you view Anthony Swarzak being as a future Twin if so how effective do you see him being.
SS: Certainly I think that Swarzak is a guy that the Twins will bring up at some point. I had him ranked 2nd in the organization (behind only Tyler Robertson) in my Top 50 Twins prospects at the end of last season. Reports are that he still has just two pitches, so that is limiting, but I think those two pitches are good and he has experienced a lot of success. That said, the Twins have a lot of pitching prospects, Swarzak right there among the top, and he is very close. The Twins will have to add him to the 40 man roster after the season, so they can also be patient with him. Let's not forget that there is always the option of trading some of the pitching prospects.

TT: What is your view on Jeff Manship?
SS: Manship is one of my favorite Twins prospects. He's easily a top 10. He is several years after his Tommy John surgery now and has been healthy. He's got a good fastball, but his big pitch is his curveball. I was also happy that he began the season at Ft. Myers, but like Valencia, I think 6-8 weeks of success there should have him moving up to New Britain. That is the level in which college pitchers tend to first struggle. It will be interesting to see how he performs with the Rockcats before we really know how good he can be. I expect him to succeed because he doesn't walk a lot of hitters and he just seems to understand how to pitch. Plus, he's a nice guy who has done a couple of Q&As on my site and participated in the NFL "Expert" Picks panel this offseason.

TT: Do you see Brock Peterson ever making it to the major leagues?
SS: I do, and yet 2008 is a very important year for him. As a 49th round draft pick, the odds certainly are not in his favor. However, the odds of him making it to AA weren't good either, and he has done well. Last year, something happened at the midway point of the season. He stopped striking out and started walking more, without losing his power. I think that he can be a solid backup to Justin Morneau as well as a DH option and right-hander off the bench. However, he will have to show again in 2008 that his 2007 success was no fluke. He has to have a solid year. Because of the depth at Rochester, the Twins can afford to not push him more than they neeed to which allows him to further develop. But don't forget that Danny Matienzo had a monster year at AA about three years ago. He was sent back to AA the following year and struggled the whole year. The next year, he was out of the organization. That's why 2008 is very important for Brock Peterson.

TT: What kind of ceiling do you see for Deolis Guerra?
SS: The 18 year old is already 6-4 and strong. He's got a fastball that touches 95 and people say his changeup is already advanced. He will need that curveball to become truly a top level prospect. But again, he's young, and unlike the Mets, the Twins are going to be willing to let him advance fairly slowly. I think that is smart. Let him develop that third pitch. But I think that ceiling for Guerra means a couple of Cy Young awards. But it's impossible to know what an 18 year old phenom in Hi-A ball will do in 3-4 years. Health is the biggest key.

TT: What letter grade would you give the Twins Minor League System and why?
SS: B-... Outside of Carlos Gomez and Deolis Guerra, there aren't a lot of blue-chip prospects. But there are a LOT of 2nd tier pitching prospects, guys that could be #3 and #4 types of pitchers. I think that is very important and a strength for the organization. As we know, there are not a lot of high level bats in the organization and the hitting prospects, for the most part, are in the lower levels, so they can improve or drop in status. But there are a lot of minor leaguers who could provide depth to the Twins even now. So, that is why I will still say that the minor leauge system is above average overall.

thanks for your time i really appreciate it

Tuesday, April 8th

I will be continuing my series on the Twins position by position look into the Twins organization. Today i will be moving onto 2nd base position hope everyone enjoys it and let the comments continue.



Twins

• Brenden Harris- Brenden is a interesting player that just came into the Twins organization in the Delmon Young trade. I really like how flexible he is in that he can play 2nd,ss,and 3rd which is a must for infielders in the Twins organization. I know he hasnt shown it yet this year, but i think he will bring an improvement over Jason Bartlett. He is a good hitter with decent power and a good glove. Last year was his first full season in the Majors and put up good numbers he hit .286 with 12 HR's and 59 rbi's in 137 games. He was a journeyman early in his career going to 5 different organizations before his breakthrough season last season. With not alot of depth at 2nd base i think Brenden has a chance to start at 2nd for the next few years. What he needs to do is show last year was not a fluke and if he can do that he will be fine.

Rochester

• Matt Macri- Matt is a very flexible infielder who plays 2nd,ss,and 3rd also. He was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 4th round of the '04 draft and joined the Twins in a late season trade for Ramon Ortiz. His best position is 3rd base but i wanted break him down because we really dont have a 2nd basemen at Rochester. Howie Clark gets alot of playing time but i dont see much future for him so i thought i would write about Macri because i see a brighter future for him. He is a career .282 hitter who plays good defense and has a little pop in his bat. I dont look for him to have huge upside but its possible for him to make it to the majors as a utility man as early as next season.

New Britain

• Steven Tolleson- He is a solid second baseman that has worked his way up to the Rock cats. He hit .285 last season with 79 BB's and 27 stolen bases to earn the promotion to the Rock Cats. For him to improve he needs to work on cutting down his strikeout total he had 97 strikeouts in 487 at bats. It was a real credit for him to rebound when he got demoted from Ft Myers back down to Beloit. I dont see much of a outlook for him but every organization needs solid players to show how to play the game the right way and should be commended for it.

Fort Myers

• Brian Dinkelman- He was selected by the Twins in the 6th round of the '06 draft and has been pretty solid so far in his Twins career. He is a career .277 hitter who plays good defense and is finding his swing. He is slowly working his way up going from elizabethton to beloit and now to fort myers. He has a very good eye at plate which helps the team and he is off to a good start this season so hopefully he can keep it up. Its a little early to judge how he is going to be but he is off to a good start and worth keeping an eye on.

Beloit

• Steven Singleton- The Snappers don't really have a natural 2nd base so Steve has been playing there this season. Steve was a 11th round selection in the '06 draft. He put up a decent '07 season with the Snappers and is back for another season. He hit .271 in 102 games so he has shown that he can hit, but for him to take the next step he needs to get better discipline at the plate. Look at last year he only had 8 walks compared to 47 strikeouts you would like to see that ratio close to 50-50 in a middle infielder. Its too early to tell but its worth keeping an eye on him.

To be all honest our 2nd base position is weak by any standards and was hurt worse when the decision to move Alexi Casilla to shortstop was made. The Twins have to hope Brenden Harris turns out and they need improvement at 2nd out of every level in the system.

Twins 2 games Royals 1 game

The Twins just finished a series with the first place Royals and there was some good things that happened from it and a few concerns.

• Matt Tolbert has really impressed hitting .444 for the young season and has proven that he can play at the major league level.


• The starting pitching continues to impress with 3 good starts again


• Joe Nathan is worth every penny the Twins paid him getting 2 more saves this weekend.


• The Biggest thing was the revitalization of Justin Mourneau who hit 2 HR's and 7 RBI's in the 3 games and made a defensive play that was a web gem.


• Carlos Gomez once again showed what happens when he gets on base.

The Negatives

• Mike Lamb continues to struggle on the year hitting only .100 on 2-20 hitting. I believe he will come out of it he's too good of a hitter but for this lineup to succeed we need Mike to be a force.
• Craig Monroe continues to struggle and if this keeps up makes you wonder if last year was a trend and not a anomaly like we were hoping it would be.

All in all it was a good series and the important thing is winning series. So far they are 1-1 in series this year and they need to win every series. Now they head on first road trip to Chicago, Kansas City and Detroit and it will be a good test for this ballteam to see where they really are as a team so far.

Monday, April 7th

Today i am going to continue my series on the Depth of Twins minor league system one position at a time. Yesterday i started with the Catcher position and i hope everyone enjoyed it. Today i will move on to 1st base hope everyone enjoys.

Twins

• Justin Mourneau- I really like Justin as a player and a leader for this organization. His power numbers are great he is the first person to hit 30 Hr's in back to back season's since Gary Gaetti did it in 1986-87 so thats quite the accomplishment. The thing people dont give him credit for though is his defense. It will never be confused with Doug Mientkiewicz's defense but there are not many people in history that are in that league,but he has improved it every year until now he is solid and doesnt hurt the Twins. I look for Justin to keep getting better and better. I see a 40 HR season in his future and he is one of the Cornerstone's of the Twins, so it was nice that they locked him up long term because in a few years what they paid him will be a discount. If he is able to stay healthy the sky is the limit for Justin Mourneau and i look for him to put up Killebrew type numbers and will be remembered as one of Minnesota Twins great icons.

Rochester

• Randy Ruiz- Randy has been a career minor leaguer who has jumped around quite a bit. The Twins are his 9th organization that he has been a part of and he is only 30 years old so that should tell you alot about him. The guy can hit a ton at the minor league level, but not enough to make it to the show. He was really impressive this spring with the Twins that if they need a hitter dont be surprised to see him up this year. However, I dont see alot of future for the guy he is a career minor league player and that is all he is going to be in my opinion.

New Britain

• Brock Peterson- Brock has been an interesting player for quite a while. He was drafted in the 49th round in '02 so you can tell the Twins did not expect a whole lot out of him, but he has outshined a lot of guys that the Twins were expecting more out of. He is a career .272 hitter with 64 HR's in 5 seasons so those are some decent stats. He is solid with the glove too so a promotion to AAA this season is not out of the question. The problem is i dont see him ever making it to the majors with Twins with Justin Mourneau standing in his way. Even without Mourneau, he is just a solid player not outstanding, but not terrible. If things go right for him i see him as a backup in the majors i just dont see that happening with the Twins.

Fort Myers

• Johnny Woodward- Johnny was a 3rd round pick of the Twins in the '04 draft and struggled a little early on, but he had an outstanding '07 season. He started out with Beloit where he hit 10hr's and 31 rbi's in only 66 games which earned him a promotion to Fort Myers where he did good there too. Right now he is splitting time with Whitney Robbins but i see Johnny getting most of the playing time as the season moves on. He does alot of things well, but the thing that really impressed me and jumped out at me when i looked at his stats is his eye. He had 58 BB's in only a 117 games which shows me that he has a good eye at a plate which is huge watching a player develop. It's still too early to see how he is going to develop, but you would hope he would develop a little more power as he goes along because thats what the Twins need is power off the bench. The bottom line is the future is bright for this kid so keep an eye on him.

Beloit

• Garrett Olson- The Snappers really dont have a true firstbasemen on their roster especially when Chris Parmalee got sent to the outfield so Garrett has been playing first base this season. To be all honest Garrett has really struggled with the snappers with a .219 average there last year. He is still really young though and could figure it out. I think its way to early to give up on the kid its just he needs to figure things out and the sooner the better.

As was the case with catcher the 1st base position starts and ends with Justin Mourneau thats why it was so important that they signed him long term. Brock Peterson and Johnny Woodward have some talent and are guys worth keeping your eyes on to see how they develop and if they can help the big club in a few years.

Sunday, April 6th

i am starting a new topic today that i think will be interesting i hope everybody thinks so too. Every day i am going to write about a player at every level at one position. and what i think of them and what i think of their future based on their past and future outlook. Today i will start at catcher

Twins

• Joe Mauer- My view on Joe is i think he is the best defensive and offensive catcher in the game and the sky is the limit. The only question is can he stay healthy for a whole season. It started in '04 when he only played in 35 games because of injury and then last year when he played in 109 games. If he can stay healthy the sky is the limit for him based on his career .313 average. I really believe he will be fine and when its all said and done he will be a hall of famer and i just hope we can keep him in a Twin's uniform his whole career.

Rochester

• Jose Morales- My view on Jose is I think he has a lot of talent and has put up some solid numbers in AAA the problem is his path to the majors is blocked by Joe Mauer and Mike Redmond. That said he is pretty good defensively not in the league of Mauer or Redmond, but not bad at all and offensively he is very good. I view him as an ok prospect at catcher but i dont see him anything more than a third catcher for the Twins and there are better catching prospects in the Twins organization. I view him as a career AAA player who would probably be better served in another organization where he would get a better chance to play.

New Britain

• Drew Butera- My view on Drew is I think he is excellent defensively, however he struggles a bit with the bat. I base that on the fact that he is a career .213 hitter in 3 seasons in the minors. When it comes to Defense though you are not going to find many other catchers with the Defensive capabilities that Drew brings. His Arm is very strong and he has good flexibility to block pitches and he calls a good game. He is a very smart catcher who if he can improve his hitting could become a solid 2 catcher. I look for Drew to make it to the majors whether its with the Twins or another team i think Drew will be a major league player in 2 or 3 years.

Fort Myers

• Wilson Ramos- Now this is the top catching prospect in the entire Twin's organization. I have a lot of hope for this kid he is very good defensivly, but what i really like about him is his potential Offensivly. He has dominated in every level the Twins have put him at and he is only 20 years old. I view him as the long term answer if the Twin's ever decide to move Joe Mauer to another position. He has everything a team is looking for in a catching prospect and i am really high on him. I look for him to reach the majors around the '10 season when the Twin's move into their new stadium.

Beloit

• Daniel Lehmann- To be honest i dont know alot about this guy he played in rookie ball last year and struggled. He got promoted to Beloit this year and the hope is that he can find his game offensively and improve catching with the Twin's taking him in the 8th round out of Rice. I really dont see alot of future for the guy but he needs to develop an offensive game and develop a better work ethic or he wont be in this organization very long.

GCL

• Danny Rams- There is a lot of pressure on this guy considering that the Twin's drafted him in the 2nd round of the '07 draft. Its a very small sampling so i dont know how much he can base what he did last year on the fact that he only played 27 games. He hit .258 with 22 strikeouts in 97 at bats. His plate discipline is something that he is going to have to work on, but he is someone to keep an eye on for the future based on how highly the Twins Brass viewed him coming into the draft.

The Twins catching position starts and ends with Joe Mauer that is why its so important for the Twins to sign Mauer long term again because other than possibly Wilson Ramos they really dont have anyone to take his place. I would really welcome comments on this let me know if you liked it or not and if you want me to continue with this theme at other positions.

Liriano is he ready?

A big thing that i have found a lot of discussion about in other websites is whether Francisco Liriano is ready to be in the majors or if the Twins should take their time with him. I am going to give you my opinion and i want some feedback to see if you agree with me or you think the Twins should do something different. My website from now on is going to be more user friendly and not so much just my opinions. I will still state my opinion but i welcome everybody else's opinion too so we can have a good conversation about topics.
Francisco Liriano as pretty much any Twin fan knows had Tommy John surgery about 18 months ago and is trying to get back into pitching shape. He had a visa problem so he was 9 days late for camp. He got himself in pitching shape and started throwing harder and harder. To be honest, his first few starts were not very good but i think he was just getting used to pitching again. However, his last couple starts were Liriano of old and put himself back into the talking to go North with the team. Gardy decided he wasn't ready and sent him to Fort Myers for a start and Rochester for a start. The real question should be why what did he do in those starts in Spring Training to deserve a demotion to the minor leagues. Seems like everytime i hear Gardy say anything about Liriano it is negative and that gets underneath my skin a little because the guy is working his butt off to get back and your manager calls you fat and says your not ready when he had a better spring than half the pitchers that made it. Thats fine if he is not ready to hand him a spot in the rotation. The thing that irritated me was yesterday when Kevin Slowey strained his bicep that will make him miss atleast 1 start and the thought of bringing Liriano now was brought up and he went off. Saying he is not part of any plans when it comes to Slowey and that he is not ready and that he will have to make 2 starts atleast. It just seems to me like the logical thing to do was bring him up and put Slowey on the DL and if Blackburn keeps it up send Slowey to Rochester and if Blackburn is faltering send Blackburn to Rochester. But instead Gardy dismissed that thought almost like he has it out for Liriano. Granted it Looks like Liriano was not in the best shape he could be when he reported for spring training, but come on he is the future of this organization and he should be treated with the respect he deserves.
Everyone im really curious what you think about that whole deal any feedback would be appreciated.

Revamping the Website

i want to know what you guys want on the website so im asking you in the comments box to give me some ideas that you would like to see on this website and see how that goes. Thanks for the people that look at my website and tell your friends because its going to be a much better website from now on.

Wednesday, April 2nd

The first 2 days of the season have made a few things pretty clear to start the season

• The Starting rotation is going to be up and down and i think we expected that. Monday Livan Hernandez was really good giving up 2 runs in 7 innings. Then last night Boof Bonser wasn't terrible but wasnt good either he got hit pretty hard. The defense saved him some runs and he has to pitch better than that if we are going to have a successful season.
• To be expected the hitters are struggling a bit swinging the back. I bet if you look at all the scores the pitchers have an advantage over the hitters to begin the season. It usually takes time for the hitters to get their timing down and before people start jumping off the bandwagon i think they should give these guys a chance. I have said it before and still think the hitting will come around and be the strength of the team so chill out everyone.
• When Carlos Gomez gets on he is a difference maker. In the first game he got on 3 times and stole 2 bases and scored 2 runs and the Twins won. Last night he only got on once and the Twins lost. I dont think its a coincidence and you will see that alot this year when he is getting on base the Twins will win and when he isn't they will lose.

Tonight the Twins and Angels battle in game 3 of their series tonight with Nick Blackburn making his season debut versus the Angels Joe Saunders opening pitch is 7:10 pm hopefully the Twins can get back on track and get back into the winners circle.

NFL Mock Draft 3.0

1. Miami Dolphins- Jake Long OT Michigan
2. St Louis Rams- Chris Long DE Virginia
3. Atlanta Falcons- Glenn Dorsey DT LSU
4. Oakland Raiders- Darren Mcfadden RB Arkansas
5. Kansas City Chiefs- Ryan Clady OT Boise ST
6. New York Jets- Vernon Gholston DE/Lb Ohio State
7. New England Patriots- Leodis Mckelvin CB Troy
8. Baltimore Ravens- Matt Ryan QB Boston College
9. Cincinnati Bengals- Sedrick Ellis DT USC
10. New Orleans Saints- Keith Rivers LB USC
11. Buffalo Bills- Malcolm Kelly WR Oklahoma
12. Denver Broncos- Chris Williams OT Vanderbilt
13. Carolina Panthers- Jeff Otah OT Pittsburgh
14. Chicago Bears- Chad Henne QB Michigan
15. Detroit Lions- Rashard Mendenhall RB Illinois
16. Arizona Cardinals- Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie CB Tennessee St
17. Minnesota Vikings- Derrick Harvey DE Florida
18. Houston Texans- Aqib Talib CB Kansas
19. Philadelphia Eagles- Limas Sweed WR Texas
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Desean Jackson WR California
21. Washington Redskins- Kenny Phillips S Miami
22. Dallas Cowboys- Felix Jones Rb Arkansas
23. Pittsburgh Steelers- Branden Albert G Virginia
24. Tennessee Titans- James Hardy WR Indiana
25. Seattle Seahawks- Kentwan Balmer DT North Carolina
26. Jacksonville Jaguars- Phillip Merling DE Clemson
27. San Diego Chargers- Gosder Cherlious OT Boston College
28. Dallas Cowboys- Brandon Flowers CB Virginia Tech
29. San Francisco 49ers- Mario Manningham WR Michigan
30. Green Bay Packers- Sam Baker OT USC
31 New England Patriots- Forfeited
32.New York Giants- Dan Conner LB Penn ST

New Britain RockCats Roster

C Drew Butera
1b Brock Peterson
2nd Felix Molina
ss Trevor Plouffe
3b Luke Hughes
LF David Winfree
Cf Brandon Roberts
Rf Matt Moses
DH Erik Lis

Pitchers
1. Ryan Mullins
2. Anthony Swarzak
3. Yohan Pino
4. Oswaldo Sosa
5. Jay Rainville

Bullpen
Kyle Aselton
Armando Gabino
Jay Sawatski
Jason Miller
David Shinskie
Ben Julianel
Zack Ward

Rochester Red Wings Roster

C Jose Morales
1b Randy Ruiz
2b Alejandra Machado
ss Alexi Casilla
3b Matt Macri
Lf Jason Pridie
CF Denard Span
RF Jon Knott
DH Brian Buscher

Reserves
Eli Whiteside backup catcher
Tommy Watkins inf
Darnell Mcdonald of
Howie Clark in/of
Garrett Jones in/of
Pitchers
1. Glen Perkins
2. Nick Blackburn (i know he made the team but will be back down when liriano goes north)
3. Philip Humber
4. Brian Duesing
5. Kevin Mulvey

Must say thats a pretty solid top 5 atleast 3 of them will spend time with the twins this year.

Bullpen
Bobby Korecky closer
Julio Depaula
Ricky Barrett
Carmen Cali
Casey Daigle
Danny Graves
Zack Day

im going by a 25 man roster if im wrong on this let me know

Monday, March 31st

OPENING DAY

Happy opening day everyone today is a day we have been waiting for. Tonight the Twins open the '08 season against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The return of Torii Hunter should be interesting to see how the Twins' fans are going to react to him to see if he is cheered or booed or what. Now im going to do some projections where i think some Twins players are going to end up this year.

Joe Mauer: .325 average 12hr 68 rbi's
Justin Mourneau: .290 average 37hr 131 rbi's
Brenden Harris: .268 average 15hr 71 rbi's
Adam Everett: .234 average 2hr 35rbi's
Mike Lamb: .278 average 22hr 85rbi's
Delmon Young .292 average 24hr 101 rbi's
Carlos Gomez: .262 average 8hr 33 rbi's 52 stolen bases and 101 runs scored.
Michael Cuddyer: .278 average 21hr 105 rbi's
Jason Kubel: .265 average 10hr 52 rbis
Craig Monroe: .270 average 15 hr 52rbi's

PITCHERS
Livan Hernandez: 14-11 3.96 era
Boof Bonser 10-7 4.45 era
Francisco Liriano- 15-4 2.91 era
Kevin Slowey 12-6 4.12 era
Scott Baker 14-5 3.35 era
Joe Nathan 1.91 era 41 saves
Pat Neshek 2.24 era
Jesse Crain 3.31 era
Juan Rincon 2.82 era
Dennys Reyes 3.32 era
Matt Guerrier 2.96 era
Brian Bass 4.34 era

RECORD
91-71

Sunday, March 30th

today is time for my national league predictions

EAST
1. New York Mets
2. Atlanta Braves
3. Philadelphia Phillies
4. Washington Nationals
5. Florida Marlins

Central
1. Chicago Cubs
2. Milwaukee Brewers
3. St. Louis Cardinals
4. Cincinnatti Reds
5. Houston Astros
6. Pittsburgh Pirates

WEST
1. Los Angeles Dogers
2. Colorado Rockies
3. San Diego Padres
4 Arizona DiamondBacks
5. San Francisco Giants

Postseason Awards
MVP: Alfonso Soriano
Cy Young: Johan Santana
Rookie of the Year:Kosuke Fukudome
Comeback Player of the Year: Andrew Jones

10 Bold Predictions
1. Joe Torre will lead the Dodgers to the Playoffs
2. The Chicago Cubs will return to the world series for first time in 52 years
3. The San Fransisco Giants will flirt with the record for losses in a season but come up just short
4. Alfonso Soriano will go 40-40 this year
5. Johan Santana will win 25 games this year
6. The Houston Astros will lead the NL in Runs Scored
7. The Houston Astros will lead the NL in Runs Allowed
8. Mark Teixiera will lead the Braves to the wildcard
9. The Philadelphia Phillies will be the disappointment of the NL
10. The Cubs will beat the Mets in the NLCS but lose to the Tigers in World Series

Saturday, March 29th

Predications for the American League for 2008

EAST CENTRAL WEST
1. Boston 1. Detroit 1. Anaheim
2. New York 2. Minnesota 2. Seattle
3. Toronto 3. Cleveland 3. Texas
4. Tampa Bay 4. Chicago 4. Oakland
5. Baltimore 5. Kansas City

Postseason Awards
MVP: Miguel Cabrera
Cy Young: Justin Verlander
Rookie of the Year: Adam Jones
Comeback Player of the Year: Francisco Liriano

10 Bold Predictions
1. Fausto Carmona will have a better year than C.C. Sabathia
2. Francisco Liriano will win 15 games
3. The New York Yankees will not make the playoffs
4. The Minnesota Twins will win the Wild Card
5. Jacoby Ellsbury will spend half the season in AAA
6. Seattle will finish under .500
7. Ozzie Guillen wont make it through the season
8. Dontrelle Willis will lose more than he wins
9. Carlos Gomez will steal 50 bases
10. The Detroit Tigers will win the World Series

Friday, March 28th

Ok i now this is going to go against the grain a little bit but im going to go off on the Twins organization a little bit. I dont normally do something like this because usually i agree with the decisions Ron Gardenhire and the Twins front office makes but i think this one is just plain stupid. Today after the game the Twins optioned Francisco Liriano to Class A Fort Myers which they say is only for a couple of starts. All i know is that his last 2 starts have been better than any Twins starter has posted this whole spring.
9innings pitched
1 run allowed
3 hits allowed
4 walks
12 strikeouts
All i know is he is ready for the season and he should be going north with the Twins. Gardy said he is not ready and needs a couple more starts that is hogwash he is more ready than anyone else. A part of me thinks this is punishment for showing up late, which wasnt his fault, and second for leaving Arizona early last fall. I hope im wrong on that cause thats petty and mean and not looking out for whats best for the ballclub. It wont be a big deal but i really think the Twins can contend and i think by the end of the year Liriano is going to dominate again. So if they miss the playoffs by 2 games they will have nobody to blame but themselves.
Other than that its great that opening day is upon us and everyone is an optomist and to end this i will make one bold prediction this is the last opening day in the next 7 or 8 years that wont be started by Francisco Liriano aka "The Francise"

Monday, March 24th

Here is the 2008 version of your minnesota twins to start with

1. Carlos Gomez CF
2. Joe Mauer C
3. Michael Cuddyer RF
4. Justin Mourneau 1B
5. Delmon Young LF
6. Jason Kubel DH
7. Brenden Harris 2B
8. Mike Lamb 3B
9. Adam Everett

Reserves
Mike Redmond
Nick Punto
Craig Monroe
Matt Tolbert

Pitchers
1. Livan Hernandez
2. Boof Bonser
3. Kevin Slowey
4. Nick Blackburn
5. Scott Baker

Relievers
Brian Bass
Matt Guerrier
Juan Rincon
Dennys Reyes
Jesse Crain
Pat Neshek
Joe Nathan

My thoughts on the roster is i agree with it for the most part i think Gomez is going to bring alot of excitement to the team so i was glad he made it. I think it will only be a couple weeks before Liriano is back up and Blackburn is back in Rochester. The only change i would of made is have Philip Humber make it instead of Blackburn i think he outpitched him. But all in all its a pretty good roster and it should be fun to get started.

Liriano still hurt?

i read an interesting article on MLB.com about how the Twins are worried about Francisco Liriano and if he is lying about how he is. To paraphrase Gardy is wondering if Liriano is still hurting and lying to him about it. He used an example this fall where he said he was going to stay in fall instructional league and the next day he took off. The Twins are wondering if the reason he has struggled so much this spring is because it is still hurting in the elbow. Gardy says he doesnt know that but it worries him because he has lied to him before IE: 2006 when he said he was fine all year and then later saying he was hurting all year.
Im not going to lie im concerned about him because the Twins need Liriano in the future to be all they can be. We have alot of big pitching prospects but none in the league of Liriano. This year i dont care about wins and losses with him i just want to be extra careful to make sure his elbow is sound and not hurting. Even if he sat half the year to get him confidence in his elbow and his pitches is more important than what he will do this year. For the Twins to become the team in '09 and beyond we need Liriano to be that ace we all know he can be. Maybe im just jumping to conclusions but i think its better to be cautious with him then callous and lose him for a long time.