Decisions, Decisions

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

The Twins will enjoy a day off on Monday after winning the final two games of their series against Baltimore to split the series. One of the great things about baseball is that you just never know what will happen. We saw enough of that. On Saturday night, with the bases loaded and one out, the Twins pinch hit Joe Mauer for Alexi Casilla. Mauer proceeded to strike out. Light-hitting Drew Butera came up and lined a single to left field to give the Twins two insurance runs. Who can predict that happening? No one. But things like that happen on the time in baseball. When Twins fans saw the team’s lineup on Sunday morning, some may have thought it was a “B” lineup. And out of necessity, it really was. Joe Mauer was back in the lineup, but only as a DH which meant that Jim Thome and Jason Kubel were out of the lineup. JJ Hardy needed another day off, and Orlando Hudson requested a day off (according to the manager) and got it. So Sunday’s lineup consisted of Nick Punto batting second, Brendan Harris and Alexi Casilla against one of the game’s best young, left-handed pitchers, Brian Matusz. So of course, Punto went 2-3 with a sacrifice fly and two RBI. Harris went 3-4 with a double. Alexi Casilla went 2-4 with his first double. Denard Span stole the show going 3-4 with a triple, three RBI and his eighth stolen base. Baseball, it’s a funny game, and it’s a great game.

But that said, the Twins have some fairly big decisions to make in the coming days:

1.)    WITH JOE MAUER HEALTHY AND PROBABLY ABLE TO CATCH A GAME AGAINST THE WHITE SOX, WILL THE TWINS SEND WILSON RAMOS OR DREW BUTERA TO ROCHESTER?

1. ANSWER 1.) This is a really easy question to answer. Wilson Ramos is a starter and a future star. This is the same story and explanation given at the end of spring training. It’s the same story and explanation given after Ramos had seven hits in his first two games. And it’s the same simple explanation and story now that he has gone 1-17 since his fast start. He is young. He has things to work on. He can get better and he will. But it is an easy decision; Wilson Ramos should go to Rochester.

 2.)    WHEN THE TWINS OPTION WILSON RAMOS TO ROCHESTER, WHO SHOULD THEY PROMOTE TO THE TWINS?

1. ANSWER 2.) This one is a little more difficult to answer. Since the Twins have three catchers and are short a relief pitcher, I think that is the direction to go, especially heading into a weekend series against the Yankees. Here are some options:

                                                              i.      Anthony Slama  The 26 year old right-hander is certainly the name that most Twins fans want to see promoted. He has been strikeout machine throughout his minor league career.  This year, he has 25 strikeouts and a 1.77 ERA and a 0.84 WHIP in 20.1 innings in Rochester. The only negative number on his resume is his nine walks. He’s as ready as he will ever be. The only thing against Slama right now is that he is not on the Twins 40 man roster, but that is easily remedied. Clay Condrey or Jose Morales could be put on the 60 Day Disabled List.

                                                            ii.      Rob Delaney – The 25 year old is 4-1 with a 3.32 ERA and a 0.89 WHIP in 19.1 innings, he has 21 strikeouts with just five walks. Delaney was added to the Twins 40 man roster this past November so he could easily come up.

                                                          iii.      Jose Mijares – The lefty has made his two scheduled rehab appearances in Rochester. If those went well, he could be taken off of the Disabled List. But he did poorly in both outings, so I don’t think it makes sense to push him back. Brian Duensing and Ron Mahay have both done very well in their left-handed reliever roles through the Twins first six weeks of games. When he is on, Mijares is better than either, and Duensing could be used as a long reliever, something the Twins don’t currently have.

                                                          iv.      Jeff Manship – As I just said, the Twins currently don’t have a long reliever. Duensing has not been stretched out at all yet. Manship is the best option for the role at Rochester. To me, this is an important role, and I think that Manship is the right decision, although I have no problem with either Anthony Slama or Rob Delaney being promoted.

 3.)    THERE ARE RUMORS THAT JJ HARDY COULD BE HEADED FOR THE DISABLED LIST. HE WILL BE EVALUATED ON TUESDAY. IF HARDY WERE TO REQUIRE A TWO-WEEK STINT ON THE DISABLED LIST, WHO SHOULD THE TWINS PROMOTE?

1. ANSWER 3.) Again, this is another questions with several answers, including:

                                                              i.      Trevor Plouffe – The 23 year old has now been in AAA Rochester for two full years. He is off to a solid start in 2010, hitting .288/.355/.468 with eight doubles, three triples and two home runs. A terrific guy, he has also shown improvement with the glove. Personally, I would like to see him get a two week opportunity to be the team’s starting shortstop.

                                                            ii.      Danny Valencia – The 25 year old got off to a very slow start. At one point, he was hitting .152, but an eight-hit weekend increased his average to .246. He has been much more consistent of late and is hitting .276/.319/.362 with nine doubles. He is currently on a 14 game hitting streak during which he is 22-59 (.373) with eight of his doubles. Defensively, he has just three errors on the season and has continued to show improvement. Valencia could take over at 3B with Nick Punto taking over at shortstop until Hardy is ready.

                                                          iii.      Luke Hughes – Hughes was the one promoted when Punto went on the Disabled List a couple of weeks ago because he was the hot hitter at the time. He is 3-16 in four games since his return to Rochester. He does have the ability to play 2B and 3B.

                                                          iv.      Matt Tolbert – We know how much Gardy loves Tolbert, and his ability to play three infield positions. He is currently hitting .231/.284/.333 with six doubles, a triple and a home run. He is 3-19 in his last five games.

1. Personally, I would be happy if the Twins promoted Trevor Plouffe or Danny Valencia. I would not be surprised at all if the Twins decided to promote Tolbert again.

SethSpeaks Sunday Minor League Hitter of the Day – Anderson Hidalgo – Beloit Snappers

SethSpeaks Sunday Minor League Pitcher of the Day – Mike McCardell – New Britain Rockcats

• As you know, Dan Osterbrock was promoted from Beloit to Ft. Myers and made his first start over the weekend. Danny Rams was promoted temporarily to New Britain due to the catcher situation at the Twins highest levels. Likewise, Jair Fernandez went to Rochester to back up Allan de San Miguel. When Ramos is sent down, these catchers will likely move back.
• Steve Hirschfeld was put back on the Disabled List for New Britain. Matt Williams moved up from Ft. Myers to New Britain.
• Liam Hendriks was promoted to Ft. Myers. His strong start at Beloit earned him the promotion.
• Beloit added swing-men Jhon Garcia and Eliecer Cardenas. Michael Tonkin was also promoted, and I would think that he would start. I must admit, that when I heard that the Snappers were adding a starter, I would have guessed Martire Garcia, Adrian Salcedo, BJ Hermsen or Blayne Weller would get the call ahead of Tonkin, but let’s just see how he is used and what happens.

Red Wings Report   

Sunday – Rochester 2, Louisville 5 – Ryan Mullins gave the Red Wings their best start in awhile. The lanky lefty gave up three runs on seven hits in 5.2 innings. He walked three and struck out six. Rob Delaney came in and got the final out of the 6^th frame. Jose Mijares came in and got two outs. He gave up two runs on two hits and a walk, but he did strike out two. Matt Fox got the final four outs, allowing just one hit. Brock Peterson went 2-3 with a triple. Luke Hughes hit a solo home run. The Louisville starter was Aroldis Chapman who gave up just the one run on four hits and five walks in 5.2 innings. He struck out six.  

New Britain Notes

Sunday – New Britain 1, Portland 2 – Juan Portes hit a single to drive in Ben Revere, who had been hit by a pitch and stole his tenth base. It was the only hit of the game for the Rockcats. Steve Singleton walked twice. Mike McCardell started and gave up one run on four hits in six innings. He walked three and struck out four. Henry Arias gave up a run on two hits and a walk in his inning. Chris Province threw two scoreless innings.   

Miracle Matters

Sunday – Ft. Myers – No Game Scheduled.

Snappers Snippets

Sunday – Beloit 1, Burlington 5 – Peter Kennelly made his first start of the season. He gave up three runs on six hits and a walk in four innings. Jhon Garcia threw two scoreless innings. Ben Tootle came in and gave up two unearned runs in two innings. Eliecer Cardenas then pitched a scoreless ninth inning. The Snappers managed just five hits. Anderson Hidalgo had three of them, all doubles. He already has eight doubles on the season.  

Any questions? Leave your comments here.

Roster Projections: Beloit Snappers

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Before we jump into my Beloit Snappers (Twins Low-A affiliate) roster projection, here are a couple of quick updates:

• Last night was one of my favorite episodes of The Show.

1. The first guest was Twins prospect Trayvone Johnson. This was one of my favorite interviews that I’ve done. The 2009 draft pick was selected as a catcher, but he has been moved to the mound. He was drafted out of high school, and explained why he had not played organized baseball for three years before the Twins drafted him last June. He is just a really good guy and I was very happy with the interview.
2. Next, JJ Stankevitz from the White Sox Examiner came on and we talked about the White Sox. We spent time talking about their starting rotation. I also asked for his thoughts on Gordon Beckham and how his name keeps popping up in rumors about Adrian Gonzalez. I asked for his thoughts on Carlos Quentin, Alex Rios, Paul Konerko, AJ Pierzynski, Bobby Jenks and more.  
3. Finally, Twins 17-year-old outfield prospect Max Kepler spent about 15 minutes answering questions. He is currently sidelined by some tendonitis in his shoulder, but talked about how his first spring training is going. We talked about his early baseball days in Germany and the reasons he signed with the Twins. He corrected me on some German pronunciations. It was a lot of fun.  So be sure to listen to The Show.
4. We also noted that the planned time for The Show throughout the season will be 9 p.m. central time on Sunday nights. I think it’s a good time. Generally, the Twins will play Sunday afternoon games (with a couple of exceptions). They will have ended a weekend series and will be about to start a new series. Hopefully that will mean more major league and minor league interviews can be done. Although I am working on adding other guests, Pat Neshek has already confirmed that he will be on The Show. 

• On another note, I will join Phil Mackey on am1500 (currently still KSTP, but will become ESPN Twin Cities on April 12^th) following the Twins game on Sunday. I will be in studio at 4:00. That should be a lot of fun, so tune in if you are in the Metro. If not, you can listen live online.
• I will be at Target Field on Saturday afternoon, hopefully watching the Gophers play Louisiana Tech. I say “Hopefully” because only the first 25,000 will be able to get into the stadium. But I’ll get in… I hope!
• Finally, I just wanted to mention that the Minnesota Twins 2010 Prospect Handbook is now available through Amazon.com, so get your copy here. 

 

The Beloit Snappers’ season also begins on April 8^th with a road series at Cedar Rapids. Starting on April 11^th, the Snappers begin their home schedule with games against Peoria. The Snappers will be again managed this year by Nelson Prada. Tommy Watkins begins his full-time coaching career as the Snappers hitting coach.

So here are my thoughts on the 2010 Opening Day roster of the Beloit Snappers:

The Hitters

	Beloit
C	Tobias Streich
1B	Michael Gonzales
2B	Derek McCallum
3B	Anderson Hidalgo
SS	Brian Dozier
LF	Chris Herrmann ( C)
CF	Aaron Hicks
RF	Steve Liddle
DH	Josmil Pinto
Bu C	Buddy Munroe
Bu IF	Matt Gaski
Bu OF	Reggie Williams
Bench	Jonathan Goncalves
DL	(Dan Rohlfing)
	(Adan Severino)

Analysis: The Twins have some quality catching depth in these low levels. In fact, yesterday I pushed Danny Rams up to Ft. Myers, in part, due to the number of catchers that could (or should) be in Beloit. Tobias Streich was the best defensive catcher in the 2009 draft, so he should be here. Buddy Munroe was drafted last year as well and is another defensive catcher. Josmil Pinto has a very strong arm, but he is not known for his defense. However, he has a tremendous bat. Chris Herrmann was drafted as a catcher last year, but he played only outfield in 2009. He moved to catcher in Instructional league, but with his bat, he needs to be in Beloit and needs to be in the lineup. I think that Aaron Hicks will go back to Beloit for at least six weeks. Steve Liddle signed quite late last year, but he’s an advanced hitter, from Vanderbilt, and should play here. The infield has some quality prospects as well. Michael Gonzales is a large man, but he can hit. He had a strong run last year for a few weeks at Elizabethton. Former Gopher standout Derek McCallum will be the primary second baseman. Fellow 2009 draftee Brian Dozier will play a lot at shortstop. Anderson Hidalgo will be at 3B. Reggie Williams is likely to play a lot, but he is a tremendous athlete and should be able to play the infield and outfield positions and be in the lineup most days. Matt Gaski is about the glove. Jonathan Goncalves is another solid athlete who will get plenty of playing time in the outfield. Its’ hard to find a place for Dan Rohlfing even after he was moved to the outfield from behind the plate last year. Also, Adan Severino was hurt most of 2009, so this will be a big year for him.    

The Pitchers

Beloit SP Liam Hendriks SP Tom Stuifbergen SP Edgar Ibarra SP Miguel Munoz SP Brad Stillings     CL Zach See 8L Nelvin Fuentes 8R Dakota Watts BP Matt Tone BP Kane Holbrooks BP Ben Tootle BP Tony Davis       (Matt Bashore)   (Shooter Hunt)   (Brian Kirwan)

Analysis: This gets a little bit tricky here. There are still a lot of good pitching prospects, but here are my thoughts. Liam Hendriks missed all of 2008 and last year started with Elizabethton before moving up to Beloit. I think he starts here again, but he could move up quickly. Tom Stuifbergen just knows how to pitch. He’s still very young, but he will do well. He was E-town’s top pitcher last season. However, toward the end of the year, Edgar Ibarra certainly put himself into consideration as well. Miguel Munoz is up and down, but he is probably the hardest thrower and working on other pitches. Brad Stillings was selected in 2009 and started with E-Town. He came up to Beloit but pitched out of the bullpen, so I would suspect that he will be a starter here to start the season at least.

Zach See signed as an undrafted free agent last year and pitched very well, good strikeout numbers. The three lefties that I have on this roster are all capable of dominating. Nelvin Fuentes also missed all of 2008. He pitched well in 2009, especially for Puerto Rico in the World Cup. Matt Tone and Tony Davis were both drafted in 2009. Tone dominated Appy League hitters. At one point, he went over 15 innings without giving up a hit, and over 18 innings without allowing a run. Tony Davis played for a couple of teams, but he ended the season on the New Britain playoff roster. Ben Tootle, when healthy, can approach 100 mph with his fastball. That’s how you get drafted in the third round. Hopefully he is fully healthy and strong in 2010. Dakota Watts was drafted in 2009 as well and played for three affiliates. Kane Holbrooks was a college All-American last year and the Twins got him after the 20^th round. He had always started but feels that he is probably better suited for relief work.

If Matt Bashore is healthy, he will definitely be starting somewhere, maybe even in Ft. Myers. It’s hard to tell what the Twins will do with Shooter Hunt. And Brian Kirwan will be back after missing all of 2009 with shoulder surgery.

So, who isn’t here? Who did I not put on a full-season roster?

Those top three pitchers at the GCL last year will probably all have a chance to pitch for Beloit at some point this season. On Tuesday night’s podcast, Adam Foster said that Adrian Salcedo was turning eyes. The 18 year old was hitting 93 mph with a sharp curveball and a very good changeup. BJ Hermsen also put up silly numbers last year in the GCL. Blayne Weller often gets overlooked because of those first two, but his numbers are right on par. All three could be with the Snappers by June, and if any of them go to Elizabethton, I would consider them favorites for Appy League Pitcher of the Year. Michael Tonkin is likely going to E-town, and I think that Martire Garcia may repeat at E-Town. Relief Pitcher Andrei Lobanov had an incredible 2009 in the GCL as well (1 BB, 35 K in 22 IP!), but I think he will go to E-Town too.

The young’ns (Miguel Sano, Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler) will all likely play for the GCL Twins. Sano and Polanco may go to the Dominican Summer League and play during Extended Spring Training.

ELIZABETHTON

It’s impossible to project the Elizabethton or GCL Twins rosters because they will also contain players drafted in the 2010 draft. The college draftees will mainly play in E-Town. But just to try to send a reminder of some of the other players in the Twins system, here are some Elizabethton “projections.”

	Elizabethton
C	Jhonatan Arias
1B	Kennys Vargas
2B	Daniel Santana
3B	Rory Rhodes
SS	Jairo Perez
LF	Matej Hejma
CF	Oswaldo Arcia
RF	Daniel Ortiz
DH	Wang-Wei Lin
Bu C	Nick Freitas
Bu IF	Hyeon-rok Choi
Bu OF	Brian Bistagne
Bench	Fred Hanvi
	Elizabethton
SP	Martire Garcia
SP	BJ Hermsen
SP	Adrian Salcedo
SP	Blayne Weller
SP	Michael Tonkin
CL	Andrei Lobanov
8L	Jose Gonzalez
8R	Jan Rehacek
BP	Peter Kennelly
BP	Jhon Garcia
BP	Jean Mijares
BP	Eliecer Cardenas
BP	Trayvone Johnson

I hope everyone has enjoyed this series of Roster Projections. Of course, I don’t have any inside information into these rosters, so they are just what they are, projections. I like to think that they may be fairly close, but we shall see in less than two weeks.            

If you would like, you can e-mail me, or feel free to leave your comments here.