Twins Notes, and Week 12 NFL “Expert” Picks

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Here are the Week 12 picks from our Expert Panel! The Week 11 winner was Andrew Kneeland, so congratulations to him. Travis Aune is now tied with Dan Slowey in the overall standings through Week 11. There are eight people within three games of the leaders. Should be an interesting final weeks. If you want to see the overall standings and more, click here. Before we get to our Week 12 picks, here are a few other quick notes to get you through the Thanksgiving weekend.

• I hosted a very informal SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast last night. It was about 35 minutes of me talking Twins. There appeared to be some issue with the system so it could not be heard. But you can hear the podcast here.
• The first place you need to go is to Over the Baggy where Parker has linked to many Joe Mauer MVP articles.
• The 40 man roster was set last week, Granny Baseball takes a look a potential 25 man roster.
• Pat Neshek threw his final bullpen until spring training. He got to face Nick Freitas and 16 year old Max Kepler Tuesday. He said he added another mile per hour to his fastball and felt good about his slider. But sure to check out a few more interesting tidbits at Pat Neshek’s blog.
• Check out which three Twins were named Top 10 Dominican Summer League prospects according to Minor League Baseball Prospects.
• Again, you can follow me and SethSpeaks.net at Facebook, Twitter (@SethTweets), and probably other places too.  

WEEK 12 Picks

For our picks for the 12^th week of the season, click here.

Roger’s 2009 Twins Minor League All Stars

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Over at Twinkie Town, our friend Roger Dehring does a tremendous job keeping Twins fans updated on the Twins minor league system. Every Saturday, he produces his Weekly Twins Minor League Update. Recently, he provided a top ten list of Twins minor leaguers by position. He has developed a formula that looks at all Twins minor leaguers, and how they perform. The formula is complex but it involves a point system using several statistics and comparing them to an average number. He also factors in several other things including age and level of competition.  He has been using and tweaking his formula for a couple of years. It is not a prospect list, it shows actual performance. Anyway, about this time each of the last several years, Roger has posted his annual Twins minor league all-star team here. So, I am happy to welcome today’s guest writer, Roger Dehring.

Here are Roger’s 2009 Minnesota Twins Minor League All Stars:

            This year’s edition of the Twins organization all-star team follows.  This year’s team is comprised of those players who had the best seasons at their respective positions, regardless of level of play.  This team also includes at least one player from all of the Twins minor league clubs. 

The starting nine for 2009:

            Ben Revere-CF           Ft. Myers Miracle                             

            Brian Dinkelman-2B   New Britain Rock Cats

            Wilson Ramos-C         New Britain Rock Cats

            Chris Parmelee-1B      Ft. Myers Miracle

            Danny Valencia-3B    Rochester Red Wings

            Rene Tosoni-RF          New Britain Rock Cats

            Erik Lis-DH                New Britain Rock Cats

            Angel Morales-LF       Beloit Snappers

Trevor Plouffe-SS       Rochester Red Wings

The lead-off hitter is also the Organization’s Player of the Year, Ben Revere.  After flirting with a .400 Average for much of the 2008 season at Beloit, Revere had an excellent follow up season for the Miracle, missing the FSL Batting Crown by only .002 as he finished his season hitting .311/.372/.369 in 466 at bats with the league’s most hits (145), third most runs scored (75), third most steals (45 in 62 attempts) and fourth best OBP (.372).  Revere took more walks (40) than he had strikeouts (34) and reports indicate that he has improved defensively.  Look for Ben to move up to New Britain next spring with a trip to Minnesota in his future sometime late in 2011.

Our second baseman, Brian Dinkelman, had a special year for the New Britain Rock Cats.  Dinkelman was an Eastern League All-Star who had the league’s eighth best average (.296) with the fifth best on base percentage (.383).  Dinkelman led the Rock Cats with 38 doubles, which was also the second most doubles in the league.  Dinkelman surprised local fans with his productivity with 8 home runs and 65 RBI.  Some have questioned his range, however, seven errors in 129 games is a clear indication that he has a solid glove defensively. 

Perhaps the top prospect in the organization is our number three hitter, catcher Wilson Ramos.  After being named last winter’s Caribbean League Championship Series MVP, Ramos got off to a tremendous start before going on the disabled list with a broken finger which was followed by a leg injury that would cost him much of his season.  Ramos is again tearing up his winter league where he is hitting near a .400 Average with 6 home runs early in the VWL season.  Ramos led the Rock Cats in hitting at .317/.341/.454 in 205 at bats with 4 home runs and 29 RBI.  Perhaps the best defensive catcher in the organization, other than Joe Mauer, Ramos has everything one would expect to become a future major league star.  All that remains is the question of when his major league career will begin?

The cleanup hitter was considered the best high school power hitter in the draft when the Twins made Chris Parmelee their first round pick in 2006.  Although Parmelee has played a lot of right field the past few years, he split his time between right field and first base this season at Ft. Myers.  He also has played exclusively at first base this fall in the AFL, thus, I have him in the lineup as our first baseman.  Parmelee was one of the most productive hitters in this season’s pitcher friendly Florida State League.  He finished his season with 16 home runs, which were the third most in the league with a league second best 73 RBI.  He is a young man who draws a lot of walks, 63, which enabled him to just miss being in the league’s top ten on base percentages (.359) while his .441 Slugging percentage was seventh best in the league.   

The third baseman is a player we have all heard a lot about the past year or so, Danny Valencia.  After beginning his season back at New Britain this past spring, Valencia was on fire immediately following his promotion to AAA when he hit .360/.372/.573 in his first 19 games.  Valencia went on to finish his AAA season by hitting .286/.305/.466 in 269 at bats for the Red Wings.  Much has been written the past six months about whether or not Valencia is ready for the big show and whether or not he is the heir apparent for the Twins third base job perhaps as early as next spring.  There have been questions about his defense, his hitting at Rochester the last half of the season and why a young man who normally took a reasonable number of walks only walked 7 times in 71 games in AAA.  We won’t know what type of major league player Valencia will be until he arrives in Minnesota; however, we do know that he had an excellent season last year at New Britain and Rochester.  If he isn’t ready for the Twins third base job this spring, he must be very, very close.

The right fielder is a young man who made the jump to AA last year after playing only 44 games beyond rookie ball.  Rene Tosoni first came to our attention in 2007 when he hit .301/.407/.428 for Elizabethton in his first year of professional ball.  This past season, Tosoni, was the lone Twins representative in the Future’s All-Star game, was one of the top hitters for Team Canada in the World Cup and is now representing the Twins in the Arizona Fall League.  As could be expected for someone with such little experience, Tosoni struggled at New Britain for his first couple of months, however, had an excellent second half to finish with .271/.360/.454 in 425 at bats with 15 home runs (tied for eleventh most in league) and the league’s eighth best 71 RBI.  Seth recently reported from personal observations that Tosoni is an excellent defensive outfielder who can play all three positions.  He also reported that he needs to work on his at bats against lefties.  It is likely however, that someone with such limited experience should be able to continue to improve his game as he works his way up to the Twins.

The designated hitter is a young man the Twins drafted in the ninth round of the 2005 draft out of the University of Evansville.  Erik Lis has been one of the organization’s best hitters every year since his rookie season at Elizabethton.  This season was no exception as Lis was one of the Eastern League’s better hitters, finishing with a league seventh best 17 home runs, tenth most RBI (69), and twelfth most doubles (29).  Lis, who struggled with an injury the last few weeks of the season, had the league’s sixth best slugging percentage (.462) to go with a .283 Average and .353 OBP.  With Justin Huber moving on to Japan, the door should be open for Erik to move up to Rochester next spring where he will again be one of the better hitters in the league.

The left fielder is a young man who may have as much upside potential as any player in the organization, Angel Morales.  Although Morales can also play center field, he played mostly corner outfield positions with the Snappers after Aaron Hicks joined the team.  A very young man who won’t turn 20 until later this month, Morales is another young player who struggled during his first six weeks of the season.  He also adjusted and was one of the leagues better players during the second half.  Although limited to only 376 at bats by an injury that he battled during much of June, Morales was amongst the top fifteen home run hitters (13) with a team high 62 RBI.  Morales finished his season hitting .266/.329/.455 with 19 stolen bases in 25 attempts.  What may be most important for a young man who struck out nearly 40% of his at bats in 2008, he lowered his strikeout rate to 27.7%.  People who have seen him play have said that the ball explodes off his bat.  There is no question that he is a very raw talent, but his future is as bright as any in the organization.   

Shortstop Trevor Plouffe has always been very young for his league since the Twins drafted him in the first round of the 2004 draft.  This past season was no exception as Plouffe didn’t turn 23 until mid-season even though it was his second season at AAA.  None of his numbers stand out, yet, he had a very solid season hitting .260/.313/.407 in 430 at bats with 23 doubles, 5 triples, 10 home runs and 60 RBI.  Plouffe finished his year playing for Team USA in the World Cup where he had an excellent tournament playing with many of the best players from throughout America.  Although he continues to make what may be considered too many errors, people who watch him defensively say he is above average.    

The Reserves:

            Josmil Pinto-C Elizabethton Twins

            Brock Peterson-1B      Rochester Red Wings

            Steven Singleton-2B   New Britain Rock Cats

            Brian Dozier-SS          Elizabethton Twins

            Wander Guillen-3B     DSL Twins

            Oswaldo Arcia-LF      GCL Twins

            Aaron Hicks-CF          Beloit Snappers

            David Winfree-RF      Rochester Red Wings

Justin Huber-DH         Rochester Red Wings 

            The reserves are led by two members of the Division Champion Elizabethton Twins, designated hitter,  Josmil Pinto and shortstop Brian Dozier.  Pinto was the fifth best hitter in the Appy League with a .332 Average and the league’s best slugging percentage, .610.  Pinto also led the league with 13 home runs and had the league’s second most RBI, 55.  Brian Dozier stepped into the lineup when Tyler Ladendorf was promoted to Beloit.  Dozier, a 2009 draft pick, finished with the league’s second best average and on base percentage, .353/.417.

The Rochester Red Wings placed three reserves on this year’s team, right fielder David Winfree, first baseman Brock Peterson and designated hitter Justin Huber.  Although Peterson’s 316 at bats were a few short of the number needed to qualify for the league titles, his .304 Average and .376 OBP would both have been ninth best.  He also was the Rock Cats top hitter if one doesn’t include Jose Morales who spent about half his year in Minnesota.  David Winfree also had a special rookie season, hitting .273/.317/.460 with 14 home runs, 61 RBI and a team best 31 doubles.  Huber, who recently left the Twins organization for Japan, led the Red Wings with 22 home runs and 76 RBI while hitting .273/.356/.482 in 440 at bats. 

The Beloit Snappers are represented by center fielder Aaron Hicks.  Hicks began his season in EST before joining the Snappers where he hit a respectable .251/.353/.382 in his first season of A ball.  Hicks is considered a “5” tool player also stole 10 bases in 18 attempts with nearly as many walks (40) as strikeouts (55).  Hicks was honored recently when Baseball America named him the Midwest League’s Top Prospect.

The second baseman is Steven Singleton, who began his year in Ft. Myers before a mid-season promotion to New Britain.  Singleton hit .269/.329/.424 in 297 at bats at Ft. Myers.  As is not often the case, Singleton’s numbers soared when he arrived in New Britain where he hit .291/.319/.418 in 158 at bats.

One of this year’s best new players in the six team system was GCL Twins left fielder Oswaldo Arcia.  Arcia hit .275/.337/.455 in 167 at bats with a team best 11 doubles.  He had a team high 5 home runs which also was ninth best in the league.  Arcia, who didn’t turn 18 until this past May, stole 8 bases in 8 attempts.

The last reserve is third baseman Wander Guillen.  Guillen joined the DSL Twins in July when he was sixteen years old, then proceeded to lead the team in hitting at .336/.443/.409 in 110 at bats.  Although he didn’t have enough at bats to qualify, his .336 Average was the fourth best in the league while his .443 OBP tied teammate Romy Trinidad for fifth best in the league.       

The Starting Rotation:                      

            David Bromberg         Ft. Myers Miracle

Steven Hirschfield      Ft. Myers Miracle

Anthony Swarzak       Rochester Red Wings

B.J. Hermsen               GCL Twins

Adrian Salcedo           GCL Twins

            While at Beloit, David Bromberg led all of minor league baseball in strikeouts in 2008 with 177 in 150.0 innings.  This season Bromberg moved up to Ft. Myers where he led the Florida State League with 148 strikeouts in 153.1 innings.  Bromberg was named the FSL Pitcher of the Year and the Twins organization Pitcher of the Year while winning the second most games in the league, 13-4.  Bromberg finished his award winning season with a league fourth best 2.70 ERA and ninth best WHIP of 1.23.      

            Stephen Hirschfield began his season in the Ft. Myers bullpen before moving to the starting rotation when several starters moved up to New Britain.  Hirschfield joined Bromberg as one of the best starters in the FSL, where he had a 7-7 record with the league’s second best ERA (2.23) and best WHIP (1.03).  Hirschfield, who struck out 86 while walking only 31 in 117.0 innings, pitched so well that he earned an assignment to the Arizona Fall League.

            Twins fans are familiar with the third starter, Rochester’s Anthony Swarzak.  Swarzak had a 4-5 record for the Red Wings with a 3.28 ERA and 45 strikeouts with only 21 walks in 79.2 innings.  Considering that he allowed 10 earned runs in 8.1 innings in the two starts following his return to Rochester from the Twins and it is easy to see how dominant he was this season for the Wings.  Swarzak made 12 starts for the Twins, finishing with a 3-7 record, 6.25 ERA and 34K/20BB in 59.0 innings.   

            The fourth starting pitcher is one of two all-star starters from the GCL Twins, B. J. Hermsen.  Pitching in his first season of professional ball following his signing after the Iowa high school season last summer, Hermsen was as good as any pitcher in the Gulf Coast League.  Hermsen finished his season with a 6-2 record, the league’s third best ERA (1.35) and best WHIP (0.68).  Hermsen had 42 strikeouts in 52.1 innings while allowing only 4 walks. 

            The fifth starter is another young pitcher from the GCL Twins, Adrian Salcedo.  Salcedo also was one of the top pitchers in the league, finishing with a 3-2 record and the league’s seventh best ERA (1.46), fifth most innings (61.2), third most strikeouts (58) and eighth best WHIP (1.02).  What is most remarkable, however, is that Salcedo allowed only THREE walks or one walk every 20.4 innings or 0.44 walks per 9 innings pitched. 

The Bullpen:

Closer – Alex Burnett

Short Relief – Andrei Lobanov

            Short Relief – Anthony Slama

            Relief – Joe Testa

            Relief – Matt Tone

            Relief – Kyle Waldrop

            Relief – Zach See 

            The Closer is this year’s top rated pitcher, Alex Burnett.  Burnett had been a starter prior to this year including 2008 when he had an 8-6 record with a 3.76 ERA for the Ft. Myers Miracle.  In last fall’s Instructional League, the Twins began the process of converting Burnett to a short reliever.  He began this year back at Ft. Myers where he appeared in 18 games (22.2 innings) with a  2-1 record, 4 saves, 1.99 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 26K/7BB.  That performance earned Burnett a mid-season promotion to New Britain.  Whereas many pitchers hit a wall when promoted to AA, Burnett flourished.  His numbers were as good if not better than at Ft. Myers, appearing in 40 games (55.1 innings) with a 1-2 record, 9 saves, 1.79 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 52K/19BB.  I ranked Burnett as the top pitcher in the organization this year and indications are that he is now on the fast track to Minnesota.

            The left handed short reliever is a young man from Moscow, Russia who pitched for the GCL Twins this season.  Andrey Lobanov, 19, appeared in 15 games (22.0 innings) for the Twins with a 2-1 record, 7 saves, 0.82 ERA, 0.68 WHIP and 35 strikeouts (1.59 strikeouts per inning) with a Dominance Ratio of 2.333.  Perhaps more astonishing however, is the fact that Lobanov walked only 1 batter this season…or 0.41 walks per nine innings pitched.  Can Lobanov continue to dominate hitters as he moves up through the organization, only time will tell.  If he can, this young lefty may be special!

            The right handed short reliever is a young man we should see in Minnesota sometime next year, Anthony Slama.  Following a 2008 season when he was the Twins Relief Pitcher of the Year, Slama repeated that performance this year.  He began his season in New Britain where he appeared in 51 games (65.1 innings) with a 4-2 record, 2.48 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 93K/32BB.  Slama moved up to Rochester late in the year where he appeared in 11 games (15.2 innings) with a 0-2 record, 3.45 ERA and 19K/8BB.  Slama again led the organization this year with 29 saves while his 25 saves at New Britain led the Eastern league. 

            Joe Testa is a long reliever who had about as good of a season as any pitcher in the organization.  Testa began this year at Beloit where he was the Snappers lone all-star, appearing in 25 games (45.2 innings) with a 0-2 record, 2.56 ERA and 63K/23BB.  Testa moved up to Ft. Myers following the all-star break, where he appeared in 21 games (37.0 innings) with a 5-0 record, 1 save, 1.22 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and 53K/18BB.  Testa finished his season with an excellent 1.208 Dominance Ratio which was higher than any pitcher in the organization not playing rookie ball.

            Matt Tone was a fourteenth round pick in this year’s draft.  The left handed Tone was assigned to the Elizabethton Twins where he was as good as any reliever in the Appy League.  Tone compiled a 4-1 record in 16 appearances with 1 save, a 1.31 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 45K/23BB in 34.1 innings.

            Kyle Waldrop, who was one of the twins first round picks in 2004, had been one of the organization’s top starting prospects as he rapidly moved through the organization.  That all ended last year when he spent the entire season on the disabled list following shoulder surgery.  Waldrop returned this season working out of the bullpen at Ft. Myers and later in New Britain.  While in New Britain, Waldrop was one of the best relievers in the league.  He finished this season with the Rock Cats with a 2-3 record in 31 games (55.2 innings) with a  1.46 ERA and 30K/18BB.  Earlier, he appeared in 20 games for the Miracle with a 3-2 record, 3.09 ERA and 20K/7BB in 35.0 innings.  Perhaps his biggest achievement this season however, was staying healthy and pitching better throughout the year.

            The last reliever is Zach See who was signed as a non drafted free-agent this past winter.  See was another young reliever who had an incredible year with the GCL Twins this year.  He appeared in 13 games with a 2-0 record, 2 saves, a 0.69 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 34K/10BB in 26.0 innings.     

 

There you have it. Roger’s 2009 Minnesota Twins Minor League All Star team. What are your thoughts? If so, Send me an e-mail, or leave your Comments here.

Live Twins Chat at 12:30 Today

I will be taking your Twins-related questions from 12:30-1:30 this afternoon. I will open up the chat room 15-20 minutes early so you can get your questions in. We can talk about The MVP (the award will be announced at 1:00), the 40 man roster, free agents, trades, rumors, or anything.

If you are interested in getting an e-mail reminder, participating or watching the live chat, or reading the Archives later, please Click Here.

Hope you can Join!

Mauer for MVP?

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Do I think that Joe Mauer should win the American League MVP award today when it is announced at 1:00 central time today? Of course I do. I mean, he had one of the most historic seasons in baseball history even if you forget the disclaimer that he did it as a catcher. I also have to admit to being 100% biased in that opinion. It is an opinion that is shared by many people around the baseball community. However, will it be the opinion of enough of the 32 baseball writers that actually get to submit a vote for the award? We shall find out this afternoon.

Again, I am completely biased, so I thought it would be good to put together a smorgasbord of numbers to determine if we, as Twins fans, are completely accurate in our opinion that Mauer should be the easy choice. In writing that, I do fully acknowledge the concept that the definition of “value” is not and should not be 100% about the numbers. I fully believe that the Most Valuable Player is not the same thing as the Most Outstanding Player, although it can. I 100% believe that no one statistic should be used to determine value. I think that there is value in defense and that value should be a factor into the vote. That said, I still have not found a defensive stat that I believe shows that, although UZR (and the UZR family of stats) are probably the closest we have at this point. I believe that it is the League MVP, a measure of how much more value you had over all players, not just players at your position in your league. I believe that an MVP candidate should be from a team that competed most of the year for a playoff spot, but I don’t think that making the playoffs should be mandatory. In other words, if the Twins had lost Game 163 and not made the playoffs, would that have lessened what Joe Mauer did? Or, because Miguel Cabrera and the Tigers lost to the Twins, I don’t believe his case is lessened. That said, I have no problem with a voter dropping Cabrera’s value ranking following his late-season binge drinking and arrest on domestic dispute charges. Finally, I believe that this is an annual award, not a lifetime achievement award. So many in the media want Derek Jeter to win, almost as a Lifetime Achievement Award. No. First, that diminishes just how great a season he had in 2009, and second, that isn’t what this award is. He will get his Lifetime Achievement when he becomes a first-ballot, inner-circle Hall of Fame recognition.

I have become one of those fans/bloggers who finds less and less meaning in these postseason awards. I get more annoyed with people bashing Derek Jeter because he is loved by the media. I get annoyed by everyone who says that there is a certain number that is more important than another. I get annoyed by the stats-crowd that wants to throw a bunch of advanced metrics in your face and tell you how to think. But I also get annoyed by the people who, like I am becoming, find almost no meaning in the awards. The reality is that when a player is considered for the Hall of Fame, things like MVPs and Cy Youngs seem to matter. Ask Bert Blyleven. So, we can’t really say it means nothing.

So, what I want to do today is just throw a bunch of things out there for your own consideration. I want to look at the basic statistics, the raw numbers, because I do think that they matter. But it would be silly to simply overlook any of the advanced statistics when they can tell us something. So, let’s start with the basic statistics:

Player	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	G	2B	HR	RBI
Joe Mauer	0.365	0.444	0.587	1.031	138	30	28	96
Mark Teixeira	0.292	0.383	0.565	0.948	156	43	39	122
Derek Jeter	0.334	0.406	0.465	0.871	153	27	18	66
Miguel Cabrera	0.324	0.396	0.547	0.943	160	34	34	103
Kendry Morales	0.306	0.355	0.569	0.924	152	43	34	108
Ben Zobrist	0.297	0.405	0.543	0.948	152	28	27	91

Joe Mauer became the first player in a long time to win the True Triple Crown (BA, OBP, SLG). His rate numbers make him the leading candidate. But if you look at the raw numbers, you can see why many believe that Mark Teixeira is a very strong candidate. The others have been mentioned and have put up great numbers in their own right. Derek Jeter and Ben Zobrist don’t necessarily look like candidates by these numbers, but when you consider they are middle infielders, those numbers are much more impressive, as you will see below.

Player	RC	RC27	WPA	WAR	Dollars	VORP	WARP
Joe Mauer	128.0	9.85	3.64	8.2	$36.8	91.0	9.00
Mark Teixeira	128.6	7.73	3.58	5.1	$23.2	54.7	5.80
Derek Jeter	120.0	7.20	1.41	7.4	$33.4	72.8	5.70
Miguel Cabrera	122.5	7.55	1.59	5.4	$24.3	57.1	5.10
Kendry Morales	106.0	6.77	2.42	4.2	$18.8	39.8	4.00
Ben Zobrist	111.2	8.12	4.10	8.6	$38.5	61.0	7.60

Runs Created and Runs Created per 27 again are numbers attempting to show value, and the RC27 does so by looking at it as a rate. Ben Zobrist shows up quite prevalently when looking at these stats. First, he led the way in Win Probability Added, which measures each situation in a ball game and each player’s plate appearances has an effect on the game, depending upon the situation (Score, base runners, outs, etc.). Also, since he spent a lot of time at 2B, his value compared to other second basemen (WAR = Wins Above Replacement from FanGraphs.com, VORP, WARP, etc.). Of course, Derek Jeter’s value increases because he is a SS and Joe Mauer ranks highly as a catcher. My intent in showing these more advanced metrics isn’t to convince you to buy into them. I don’t necessarily buy into them. And, as you can see from FanGraphs.com’s WAR and Baseball Prospectus’s WARP, you can take different numbers with the same goal in mind and come out with different results.

Hey, if you only look at the basic stat lines, you will find a ton of players who are deserving of consideration. Guys like Kevin Youklis, Jason Bay, Jason Bartlett and even Michael Cuddyer put up stat lines that are very impressive. But in order to separate and distinguish, it can be quite helpful to look a little deeper.

• The Case For Joe Mauer – Lead the AL in Batting Average, On Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage, OPS. Played catcher which is not only the most demanding position to play, it increases his value above replacement players. He played very good defense. He led an (at times) make-shift starting rotation, and he played well down the stretch for a team that came from far back to win the AL Central.
• The Case for Mark Teixeira – The best player on the best team that money could buy in baseball. He led the American League in home runs and RBI, traditional stats that the baseball writers put much value in. He played 1B, but he was a Gold Glove winner.
• The Case for Derek Jeter – Put together one of his best seasons, all-around. He won another Gold Glove Award. Fans voted him the Hank Aaron Award winner, which is meant to go to the top hitter in the league (which is a bit silly). All those fun intangibles.
• The Case for Miguel Cabrera – His numbers are remarkably similar to Teixeira, although his defense improved, it’s nowhere near as good as Teixeira.
• The Case for Kendry Morales – His numbers were terrific too.
• The Case for Ben Zobrist – He played a lot of 2B, which means that his terrific offensive numbers were compared against average 2B, so his replacement player statistics are terrific. He also played all three outfield positions, all four infield positions, DH and PH for the Rays.
• The Case Against Joe Mauer – First and Foremost, Mark Teixeira had a tremendous season. Second, Mauer did miss an entire month of games. Fortunately for him, it was the first month. Remember in 2008, Carlos Quentin was an AL MVP favorite until he missed the final month of the season with injury?
• The Case Against Mark Teixeira – He was terrific, but the Yankees team as it was comprised in 2009 probably still would have won a ton of games without him. His numbers were great, but how much better were they than those of fellow AL 1B such as Morales, Cabrera, Justin Morneau (had he stayed healthy), Carlos Pena and others?
• The Case Against Derek Jeter, Kendry Morales, Miguel Cabrera and Ben Zobrist – All had tremendous seasons, and they should not be minimized, but simply put, this should be a two player race.

The winner will be announced at 1:00 central time, and I’m sure Twins fans will be waiting on pins and needles. I know it’s not a big deal, but it is still pretty cool to have an MVP on your roster… In 2010, the Twins will have two, regardless of what is announced! If Teixeira wins, Twins fans and stat heads alike will be outraged, but take a closer look, it may not (and probably shouldn’t be) the blowout that we all hope that it is.

What are your thoughts? If so, Send me an e-mail, or leave your Comments here.

Twins to Add Six to 40 Man Roster

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

I learned tonight that the Twins will be adding six players to their 40 man roster before Friday’s deadline for that decision. What I don’t know is who was removed from the 40 man roster. If the Twins don’t sign any of their internal free agents (Crede, Pavano, Cabrera, Redmond, Cabrera) before 11:00 tonight, they would still need to take at least one player off of their current 40 man roster to get to 40. If they want to have 39 or even 38 on their roster at this stage, it would mean that more would need to be removed.

Out of respect to the player or players that are removed from the 40 man roster, those that weren’t added, and to the Twins, I won’t post the names… but I would welcome your thoughts and comments. Please scroll down the page and check out my thoughts on Monday… I can tell you this. One player that the Twins will add to the 40 man roster was not even mentioned by me in that article.

To be honest, I’m not sure when I’m going to post the names (so be sure to check back from time to time). Maybe later tonight. Maybe tomorrow morning. Maybe I will wait until the Twins send out their press release. I’m really going back and forth in my mind about whether I should sooner, or if I should even post this. I can tell you that they will be adding four pitchers and two infielders. Obviously as soon as I am able, I will provide a little analysis.

UPDATE – Please note that if the Twins sign free agents or make trades, the 40 man roster can still be changed. One important thing to remember is that if a player is added to the 40 man roster, he can’t be removed for a period of time (I want to say six months). Also, I still do not know which player(s) have been removed from the 40 man roster, so I will update that at a later time.

 

Danny Valencia – The 25 year old 3B was an easy choice.

Alex Burnett – With what Burnett did in his first year as a relief pitcher at Ft. Myers and New Britain, he was also an easy selection.

Deolis Guerra – 20 years old and very talented. Another easy addition.

Rob Delaney – The reliever has been so dominant since he was signed. He too would certainly be selected in the Rule 5.

Loek Van Mil – He’s 7-1 and throws 97 mph. He had a very good year once he started pitching this year. He still needs more development time, but he has a chance to be quite good.

 Alright, those five were actually the five that I would have ranked the highest in terms of likelihood to be protected. The final one added to the 40 man roster was someone that I am more than a little bit surprised by.

Estarlin de Los Santos – The SS from the Dominican Republic is very talented. He just has not been able to stay in the lineup the last two years. He’s a flashy SS with good speed and lots of doubles and triples. I was actually going to call him a sleeper candidate in the 2010 Twins Prospect Handbook, but if he’s on the 40 man roster, he’s not much of a sleeper anymore. I just can’t imagine a scenario in which he would remain on a team’s big league roster for the entire 2010 season.

 So, who was left off? Who could be lost in the Rule 5 draft?

 According to my rankings of those available, here are a few that could be lost:

Steve Singleton – He can play three infield positions, hit for average, get on base and has good pop for a middle infielder. His success at AA late in the season says that he could make a big league roster and stick.

Brian Dinkelman – Dinkelman had a very strong season at New Britain. He hits the gaps for a lot of doubles. He’s an ideal #2 hitter in a lineup. As a four year college guy, he’s a little bit older, but he could definitely be ready to be a major league regular, either at 2B or as an infield/outfield utility type as he played quite a bit of LF in 2009 as well.

Santos Arias – Young pitcher from the Dominican. Very good fastball. Very good changeup. Still has a long way to go on a curveball/slider. He’s tiny, but he has been very durable. He could be worth a flyer for a team under development.

 Send me an e-mail, or leave your Comments here.

NFL “Expert” Picks – Week 11

Click here for the Week 11 picks from our Expert Panel! The Week 10 winner was Kevin Slowey, so congratulations to him. Let’s see how he and the rest of our group does this week.

Twins Notes

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Hopefully you have all had a chance to listen to last night’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast. Danny Valencia led off the show, and we talked about everything from his time in New Britain, his promotion to Rochester, playing winter ball in Puerto Rico, his thoughts on what it would mean to be added to the 40 man roster on Friday, his offseason and much more, including his thoughts on trying to make blogger TT happy! J Next on the agenda was a very good interview with Steve Singleton. We discussed his time down in Arizona, the level of play, what he’s learned about himself through playing there, his thoughts on what it would mean to be added to the 40 man roster, fantasy football, and much more. After that, I was able to discuss some other Twins related topics and answer a few questions. So again, if you haven’t yet listened to the show, you can listen to it by going here. It’s pretty cool to have two guests on last night who could conceivably both be with the Minnesota Twins sometime in 2010.

Speaking of podcasts, I will be a guest on Twins Talk podcast tonight at 9:00 p.m. central time which is hosted by Jack Steal of Fanatic Jack Talks Twins and also Topper Anton of Curve for a Strike. Also on tonight’s show will be Andrew Bryz-Gornia of Off the Mark.

The Twins have eight minor league free agents. According to Baseball America, they are: David Winfree, Brock Peterson, Alejandro Machado, Brian Buscher, Matt Moses, Oswaldo Sosa, Frank Mata and Reid Santos. It is likely that the Twins will try to retain a couple of them, but others they will just let go elsewhere. In my opinion, there are only three that they should try to retain.

• The first choice would be David Winfree. He is just 24 years old and had a very solid year in his first AAA season. He is a right-handed bat with some power. He may never hit for average and doesn’t get on base at a great clip, but I would think they would be happy to have him stay.
• Brock Peterson had a very strong second half in Rochester last year, arguably the team’s top hitter the last few months. He is another right handed bat with a little power. He plays 1B, and the Twins have a guy who plays there. They also have a backup in Michael Cuddyer and may end up signing a bench bat there as well. Also, Erik Lis has spent the last two years hitting well at AA New Britain. He likely will move up to Rochester. Also, Whit Robbins plays an excellent 1B and was an All-Star in AA Eastern League last year. He may have an opportunity to move up to AAA. If not, Peterson could be brought back, especially since Justin Huber is not coming back.
• Frank Mata is the third that I would try to bring back. He is a Tommy John survivor from a few year ago, and he throws very hard. He may or may not have a big league future, but I think he’s got the kind of stuff that is worth giving another year to.

There are several other former Twins minor leaguers who now find themselves as free agents. Since I follow the Twins minor league system so closely, I still am interested in following the careers of former players. Here are those players and the team that they played with in 2009:

• Bobby Korecky (Arizona), Trent Oeltjen (Arizona), Mariano Gomez (Atlanta), Luis Rivas (Cubs), Doug Deeds (Cubs), Michael Restovich (White Sox), Alexander Smit (Reds), Korey Feiner (Reds), Lew Ford (Reds), Levale Speigner (Marlins), Michael Ryan (Marlins), Casey Daigle (Astros), Tim Raines, Jr. (Royals), Henry Bonilla (Dodgers), JD Durbin (Dodgers), Danny Ardoin (Dodgers), Luis Maza (Dodgers), James Tomlin (Dodgers), Mike Lamb (Mets), Tristan Crawford (Phillies), Terry Tiffee (Phillies), Matt Kinney (Giants), Ramon Ortiz (Giants), Julio DePaula (Rays), Rashad Eldridge (Rays), Justin Jones (Nationals).

I apologize for not posting my thoughts on the Twins 2010 uniforms. Maybe I’m weird, but I just don’t find that to  be an exciting piece of news. I like them. They’re cool. I like the gray ones because they’re at least a little bit different. I know it’s all important, but I’d much prefer to talk about free agents, trade targets and 40 man roster decisions.

Chris Jaffe of The Hardball Times wrote a book called Evaluating Baseball Managers which will be released soon.  He provided a fun excerpt of the book. It was a section on Billy Martin when he was with the Twins in 1969.

As Joe Christensen mentioned in his blog today, the AL Manager of the Year will be announced this afternoon and Ron Gardenhire should receive strong consideration. I know that many blog readers disagree many times with Gardy, but he has to be considered for the award. My personal vote would go to Ron Washington of the Rangers, but then I could make a case for either Mike Scioscia or Gardy for 2^nd place. If Gardy finishes second yet again, he could officially be named the Susan Lucci of baseball!

Alright, that is it for today. Are there any other Twins topics of note? If so, Send me an e-mail, or leave your Comments here.

Danny Valencia on Podcast Tonight

One of the Twins top prospects, and certainly the prospect closest to big-league ready, Danny Valencia, will be a guest on tonight’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast. The show will air live tonight at 9:00 central time. This will be Valencia’s second appearance on a podcast. We will talk to him about his 2009 season, his offseason, winter ball, the possibility of being added to the 40 man roster, and much more.

We haven’t had a podcast in two weeks, so there are several other topics that we will cover to get all caught up. So, please check out the show live. We will be happy to take your questions in the chat room. There is also a call in number. Oh, and who knows? There could be more guests as well!

So, join us at 9:00 central time for the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast by going to www.BlogTalkRadio.com/SethSpeaks.

What Would You Do? 40 Man Roster Decisions

also avaialble at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Over the next week to ten days, the Twins will have to make some final decisions on their 40 man roster. There will be some tough decisions.

But before we get started, I should point out that it appears that Juan Morillo will now come off of the Twins 40 man roster as he has signed with a team in Japan. I wrote about that possibility here last week when I could come up with only one reason for his addition to the Twins 40 man roster. It appears that the Twins should have temporarily kept Justin Huber on the 40 man roster too as he is close to signing in Japan as well and the Twins may have got some money for him as well.

Technically the Twins have 40 players on their 40 man roster. However, the Twins five internal free agents will come off of the roster unless the Twins decide to sign one of them quickly. There are (too many) rumors about the Twins talking to Orlando Cabrera about playing 2B. That would be horrible, so we can assume that won’t happen. Right? There is also talk of conversations with Scott Boras regarding Joe Crede. Again, I understand some think that would be a good thing. Personally, I am just not a fan of that idea. Carl Pavano would be a solid #4 type of pitcher and the Twins should consider the idea of bringing him back, if the price is right. However, the assumption is that there will be several teams interested in his services, and hence, he probably would not sign quickly. Ron Mahay would make sense if the Twins didn’t have several other left-handers who could either start or be a second lefty reliever. Mike Redmond is a good guy and a good teammate, but bringing him back makes no sense.

So, I will work under the assumption that all five will be off of the 40 man roster, which would put the Twins at 35.

If you checked out the TwinsCentric Offseason GM Handbook (which is still available as an e-book or a print version), there was an article on the 40 man roster called “Nine to Note.” Information was given on nine players that the Twins should consider adding to the 40 man roster. Of those nine players to consider, two of them (David Winfree and Brock Peterson) were not added to the 40 man roster and can become free agents. The Twins can bring them back if they want, but they will not be added to the 40 man roster. And to this point, the only player added to the Twins 40 man roster was Juan Morillo, who was not even considered among the nine. And now I don’t look quite so dumb!

So, let’s get back to this week. Again, the Twins are likely going to be at 35 players on the 40 man roster. If that is the case, there are four spots available. However, are there others that can be removed from the 40 man roster? Last week, Justin Huber was removed. The Twins tried to take Armando Gabino off of the 40 man roster, but in doing so, he was claimed by the Orioles. So as the Twins make these decisions, they will have to consider a couple of things. If the Twins take the player off of the 40 man roster, would they be lost to another organization? Is the player that would be added better (or a better fit for need) than the one who would be removed? 

With that, let’s take a look at a few guys that the Twins could consider removing from the 40 man roster:

• Bobby Keppel – in 2009, the Twins saw what Keppel can be. They saw the very good and the saw the very bad, all within his three month stint with the team. Since he is out of options, he would have to make the Twins roster and stay on it, or potentially be lost. With Morillo and Bonser also out of options, and Pat Neshek likely coming back at some point, what are the chances of Keppel making the Twins roster?
• Boof Bonser, Jesse Crain and Pat Neshek – All three are arbitration eligible this year. All three have had injuries and missed time in the last couple of years. All three have experienced big league success. And, I am pretty sure that if taken off the 40 man roster, all three of them would be gone.
• Glen Perkins – It’s hard to imagine that he will be back with the Twins, but can he be traded?
• Drew Butera – Can’t hit. Led International League in Passed Balls, but still known to do a good job of calling games and throwing. Can’t hit. At all. There are a lot of backup catchers around who can throw runners out who will play for $750,000, if the Twins even needed that.
• Alexi Casilla, Matt Tolbert, Steve Tolleson, Nick Punto, Trevor Plouffe – They’re all the same. Play a little defense. Play a couple of positions. Hit once in a while, but not necessarily well. How many backup infielders are needed? Obviously Punto and his $4 million deal aren’t going anywhere. Casilla is out of options. Plouffe is at least young. He is probably the only player who would be lost if left unprotected. He would certainly be claimed.
• Deibinson Romero – He’s all about the tools, apparently. He’s a big guy, strong. And, the reality is that he hasn’t actually produced much since he was in the rookie leagues. He’s 23 already. The tools are all there. The effort has been questioned.
• Luke Hughes – I keep hearing people say that he could be removed. If he is, he would be claimed by the first team who could. He’s not going anywhere.
• Jason Pridie – very good defense. Left-handed bat who refuses to walk. Has some pop in his bat. With Carlos Gomez now gone, the Twins need a 5^th outfielder who can play all three outfielders, including centerfield. Other option would be to let him go and sign a veteran outfielder who could pinch hit. Pridie does have one more option year left.

OK, so we started at 35. Will the Twins sign any of those five internal free agents before the 40 man roster is set? How many from the current 40 man roster would you remove?

Now let’s consider the players who would have to be added to the 40 man roster or left subject to the Rule 5 draft. Note that if they are not selected in the Rule 5 draft, they would stay in the organization unless they are six year minor league free agents. 

The Obvious Additions:

• Danny Valencia – Whether everyone considers him the 3B of 2010, or the 3B of the Future, or a possible 3B, he has experienced success at each level including AAA. If left unprotected, he would be gone.
• Deolis Guerra – He’s 20. He showed much improved control in 2009. He’s got three potentially big league pitches. He’s had success in AA. Again, this is an easy choice as his potential alone makes him a target for some Rule 5 team.
• Alex Burnett – The Rule 5 is about finding players with either high upside and can be hidden on a roster, or about guys who can contribute to any degree with the big league club. Burnett fits into both categories as he could already contribute to a big league team’s bullpen and he has tremendous upside in a bullpen.

Must Strongly Consider:

• Loek Van Mil – He’s 7-1, and he throws 95-97. He should probably be in the obvious category too. His strikeout numbers don’t shout out at you, but the stuff does. Tall pitchers take a little longer to develop because they need to find their release point. As an international player, you can assume a longer learning curve too. Adding him to the 40 man roster gives three more years to develop. But again, his pitching angle and the velocity make Van Mil a likely choice.
• Rob Delaney – since being signed as a non-drafted free agent out of college in 2006, Delaney has dominated the minor leagues. He gets strikeouts and he walks very few. He struggled some in Rochester, but I think his track record makes him an easy choice. The fact that he could help a big league bullpen today makes him an easy choice. How many bullpen guys will they put on the roster? That’s the only question.
• Steve Singleton – Good glove. Can play 2B, 3B and SS. Can hit 2^nd in a batting order, or at the bottom of the order. Can hit for average. Is best when he is patient. Has good power for a middle infielder. Lots of doubles and triples. Can play very good defense.
• Brian Dinkelman – Put up terrific numbers in New Britain. Doubles machine. He is two years older than Singleton. Played a lot of LF once Singleton promoted to AA. That gives him a better chance of being added. Defense is not spectacular either place, but he does make almost all the plays.

Should at least think about:

• Santos Arias – The Dominican righty had a very good year in 2009 in Ft. Myers. Good fastball. Durable. Very good changeup. Has a lot of room to grow.
• Winston Marquez – Left-handed. Young. Throws hard. Good slider. Missed 2008 with injury and Twins were patient with him in 2009.
• Matt Fox – Again, he could pitch in the big leagues, in the back of a bullpen. He could handle it well mentally. And the former #1 pick has been able to get stronger and better each year since coming back from Tommy John surgery. Also, his cutter is very tough on lefties.

Others that are eligible include Juan Portes, Kyle Waldrop, Estarlin de Los Santos, Dustin Martin, Whit Robbins, Ramon Santana, Matt Williams, Brandon Roberts, Ryan Mullins, Frank Mata, Mark Dolenc, Rene Leveret, Jair Fernandez, and Alexander Soto.

Also, Rene Tosoni, David Bromberg and Anthony Slama do not need to be added to the 40 man roster at this time, so they will not be added.

Again, you’re starting at 35 players. You can take a few more off of the 40 man roster. You could quickly sign some of your internal free agents. You will want to add a bunch. Do you want to fill all 40 roster spots, or do you keep one or two open so that you can take a pick or two in the Rule 5 draft. What do you think? What would you do? Send me an e-mail, or leave your Comments here.

Last Day in Arizona

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Football picks – be sure to check out our panel’s Week 10 football picks here.

Thanks as always for stopping by the site. As you know, I went to the Phoenix Municipal Stadium this afternoon to watch the Phoenix Desert Dogs (the team the Twins players played on last year) and the Mesa Solar Sox (the team the Twins prospects player for this year).  The Mesa Stadium was about 13 miles from Downtown Phoenix. The cab ride out there… $35.00! And of course, they wouldn’t take any credit card, so I was at the Arizona Fall League game with $14.00. I had to get a program/media guide thing for $2.00. Oh, and the ticket itself was $6.00 (which is really a great deal!) So, I was down to $6.00. Fortunately, I was watching some of baseball’s top prospects in Arizona where it was 71 degrees, comfortable and exciting. I forgot the fact that I hadn’t eaten the entire time because I figured I should keep $6.00 for just in case.

I got to the stadium about an hour before the gates even opened. There were about six people there. They were all standing around outside the stadium, waiting for the Mesa team bus to arrive so that they could collect autographs. They were standing around talking baseball issues. One guy insisted Roger Maris was a Hall of Famer. Others said Kirby Puckett shouldn’t be. There was discussion of steroids in baseball and Pete Rose. They talked about collecting autographs and much more. It was entertaining. When the Mesa bus finally got there, that group went active. But most of the team just walked in the stadium.

One hour before game time (11:35), the gates opened. The autograph hounds went to the area by the Mesa dugout. Some members of players’ families to seats around the stadium. Scouts from major league organizations trickled in, sitting directly behind home plate. Me? I went in and just observed. I watched Alex Burnett, Spencer Steedley and Steve Hirschfeld play catch in the outfield grass. I sat by the dugout, just taking in the stadium and all that was going on. Mesa players would come out of the dugout and start out to stretch in the outfield, but each would quickly go over to the autograph seekers and sign for a couple of minutes. 

The game started and all three Twins hitters were in the lineup. Rene Tosoni was batting third and playing in right field. Chris Parmelee was batting fifth and playing 1B. Steve Singleton was at 2B and batting seventh. Since Hirschfeld started last night, he wouldn’t pitch, but I was hoping to see Spencer Steedley and Alex Burnett.

• 1^st inning – With Bryan Peterson on 3B and one out, Rene Tosoni dropped a soft line drive into left field for an RBI single. Chris Parmelee struck out swinging on a curveball in the dirt. In the bottom of the inning, with runners on 1^st and 2^nd, Grant Desme singled into right field, Tosoni charged and made a strong throw right to the cutoff man, holding the lead runner at 3B.
• 2^nd inning –  With Ryan Kalish on 1B, Steve Singleton lined a single to left field between the SS and 3B. He later scored from 2B on a single to RF by Bryan Peterson. Rene Tosoni popped up to 1B.
• 3^rd inning – Chris Parmelee drilled a line drive single up the middle to lead off the inning. Ryan Kalish got on with an infield single. Then Steve Singleton fell behind 0-2 before getting a fastball which he hit well over the right field wall. Rene Tosoni grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning. (Note – I’ve got video of the Singleton HR, a Tosoni RBI single and a bunch of pictures on my facebook page, which you can find here.)
• 4^th inning – Chris Parmelee hit a long fly ball to the CF warning track, just in front of the 410 sign. Steve Singleton struck out on a curveball to end the inning.
• 5^th inning – Spencer Steedley came into the game. It didn’t start out well. The first batter doubled down the right field line. Brad Emaus singled him to 3B. But then Steedley got lefty Matt Angle to strike out on a good fastball. Next, Darin Mastroianni grounded to Jose Iglesias who fed the ball to Steve Singleton who turned a very quick double play to get out of the inning.
• 6^th inning – Rene Tosoni was called out on strikes. In the bottom of the inning, Steedley got a groundout to start the inning. Danny Espinosa singled on a perfect bunt down the 3B line. Then came a very strange play. Corey Brown grounded to 3B Casey Kelly. He threw to Singleton at 2B who stayed in strong against the sliding base runner, threw to 1B where the runner was called safe. But the runner was also called safe at 2B, and I wish I had a replay. My guess is that Singleton had one foot on each side of 2B. I truly don’t know. But Singleton was charged with a “missed catch errors” which makes no sense either. Wouldn’t it be a fielder’s choice instead? Anyway, with one out, Grant Desme flew out to Tosoni in RF. The lead runner forgot how many outs there were and Tosoni got a nice, easy assist.
• 7^th inning – Chris Parmelee led off with a double down the left field line, the third ball he has hit very well since the strike out. With one out, Steve Singleton flew out to medium deep right field. Parmelee tagged up and went to 3^rd. However, the Dogs appealed to 2B and Parmelee was called out. Again, from the angle I was sitting at, it appeared that Parmelee tagged up legally. Steedley came out of the game. Singleton made two nice defensive plays in the bottom of the inning.
• 8^th inning – in the bottom of the inning, Singleton made a nice running grab on a pop up in foul territory. After a single, Jemile Weeks uncoiled on a long home run that essentially ended the game.
• 9^th inning – Tosoni struck out swinging. The game ended when Parmelee grounded weakly to 1B.

OK, so there is the game information… here are just some more observational things on the players. 

• Rene Tosoni – With the bat, Tosoni is solid. He does a good job of working the count. He has a quick bat and a good eye. He runs alright. He expects himself to get on base. He is confident. He isn’t real big, but he looks like a ballplayer. That said, he can’t hit left-handed pitching at all. I mean, even when he gets out against right-handers, they are solid at bats. Against lefties, he looks clueless. Fortunately, he still stays patient, so that gives hope that over time, he could get better. Defensively, he just looks like an outfielder. Good speed, but seems very good with the glove, and again, a strong and accurate arm.
• Chris Parmelee – He is a big guy; bigger than I would have thought, and not necessarily in a good way. But he is very strong. When he makes contact, it is solid contact. Today, he had a single up the middle, a deep fly ball to right CF and a double down the left field line. That’s a good sign that he uses the whole field. And, he is typically patient at the plate too. Defensively, he looked pretty bad on a pop up behind him near the 1B line, but other than that, he did a nice job of scooping balls.
• Steve Singleton – Seems to do better when he takes a couple of pitches, even if he falls behind. He will use the whole field. He’s not big, but he’s got a very strong swing. He has very quick hands. He can certainly hit a good fastball, but he can get out in front of offspeed pitched if mixed up well. Defensively, he had two errors in this game, but one was a ridiculous call by the umpire and shouldn’t have been called an error, and the other was a tough play to his backhand side. He has as quick a turn on a double play as I’ve seen since Luis Rivas. He holds his own at 2B on the pivot. He is very smooth defensively.
• Spencer Steedley – he’s a little guy, left-handed. Surprising that he’s able to hit 91-92 on the fastball based on his size, but now I can better understand why he does record quite a few strikeouts. Has a decent offspeed pitch .Today he threw strikes and was successful, but walks have really hurt him this fall. He looks like he can be a big league LOOGY if necessary.

There are certain players that just look like ball players, and I think that Tosoni and Singleton look like ball players. Parmelee looks Adam Dunn . Doesn’t look like a great athlete, but could have a ton of power. Here are some others that I think are worth watching:

• Bryan Peterson – Florida Marlins – OF – Wow!! This guy has some talent. Defensively, he is excellent. I saw him cover some serious ground in Centerfield today. He also made about three or four throws that showed off a tremendously strong and accurate arm. Offensively, he takes pitches and rips shots. Line drives, but he has some pop in his bat too. And he is very fast. He had two triples in today’s game.
• Danny Espinosa – Washington Nationals – SS – excellent glove, strong arm, good range. Good top of the order hitter who hits a lot of line drives and can bunt well.
• Nevin Ashley – Tampa Bay Rays – C – terrific catch-and-release, strong and accurate arm. And, he’s been hitting well in Arizona. Of course, he’s 25 and spent the full season in Hi-A ball, but seems to be some talent.
• Josh Bell – Baltimore Orioles – 3B – He is 6-3 and 235 pounds and he hits everything hard. That said, he appears to be a dead pull hitter.
• Grant Desme – Oakland A’s – OF – The power appears to be legit. He hit a home run today and hit some deep fly balls. The old saying is that the ball just sounds different coming off of his bat, and that is the case with Desme.
• Casey Kelly – Boston Red Sox – 3B/P – Kelly is 6-3 and listed at 194, but he looks a little bigger than that. Pretty solid glove at 3B. He’s so young and has a lot to improve upon, but again, he looks like a ball player. Obviously he’s got a very strong arm.
• Jose Iglesius – Boston Red Sox – SS – The Cuban defector signed a nice $8.3 million deal with the Sox. He is the 2^nd youngest player, still just 19 years old. He looks very young. He’s listed at 5-11 and 175 pounds, but he’s not that big. Next to Kelly, he’s tiny. Swings at everything. Decent speed, and just looks good out on defense.
• Starlin Castro – Chicago Cubs – SS/2B – He is the youngest player in the league, almost three months younger than Iglesius. He looked pretty smooth at 2B on Thursday night. He had to go to the dentist today though.

Finally, one other quick Twins related note. I learned the Mike McCardell was dropped from the Solar Sox roster at the end of October. He got some bone chips removed from his elbow. He is down in Florida rehabbing and doing very well.

I will be up early on Saturday morning and heading back to Minnesota. Getting away is great, but there’s nothing better than going home.  

What do you think? Send me an e-mail, or leave your Comments here.