Gleeman, Stankevitz Star on Tuesday’s Podcast

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net –

NOTE – Wednesday night, the guest will be 1500espn’s Phil Mackey, live from the Winter Meetings in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. The show is currently scheduled to start at 10:00, but be sure to check back as we might start earlier, especially if the Twins make any moves. If so, Fanatic Jack will be one of the guests, as he normally podcasts on Wednesday night but has decided not to have his normally scheduled show. This is still to be determined, so check back here to see if the show will start at 9:00 or 10:00. Mackey will be on the show starting at 10.  

The Winter Meetings have past its midpoint. As usual, there have been more rumors than transactions. It does appear that the league’s decision to push forward many of the offseason dates has created much more discussions about players than in many years in the past. Despite the lack of Twins transactions, there are plenty of Twins topics to discuss.  At 10:00 last night (and through Thursday night), I will continue hosting a nightly Twins Winter Meetings podcast with guests to discuss what we are hearing and where we go from there. Last night was the weekly SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast, so it was a full hour show. It was a good, thorough show and the guests were JJ Stankevitz, the White Sox blogger for Examiner.com, and Aaron Gleeman of Aaron’s Baseball Blog, Hardball Talk and many other gigs. You can listen to the podcast of last night’s show by clicking here.

(Note – On Sunday night, we started the Winter Meetings podcasts with guests Jim Crikket of Knuckleballs and John Bonnes of TwinsCentric and The Twins Geek. On Monday night, TwinCentric’s Nick Nelson of Nick’s Twins Blog was the guest. On By the way, if you would like to listen to the most recent SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast, with guest Danny Valencia, click here.)

The Twins have tried to stay under the radar, as they typically do, through the Winter Meetings so far. However, they have a lot of balls up in the air right now. Tonight we will discuss many Twins topics including the following potential cycles of events:

• Carl Pavano – The Twins clearly are interested in bringing Pavano back to their roster, but only at a price and for a length of time that makes sense. The Twins likely wouldn’t finalize any other transactions with big league starting pitchers until the Pavano situation is resolved. If he signs elsewhere, the Twins could move forward with the idea of bringing in a starter via trade or free agency. If he stays with the Twins, it is possible that the Twins would deal one of their current starters. However, Pavano would be wise to wait until Cliff Lee signs because some of the teams that don’t get Lee could target Pavano.
• Tsuyoshi Nishioka – The Twins have until December 26 to sign the 26-year-old middle infielder from Japan, but I assume they would love to get the deal done quickly. Why? Because signing Nishioka may be the catalyst to ending all of the JJ Hardy discussions. Whether or not we agree with moving Hardy and trusting Nishioka and Casilla to the Twins middle infield, it does appear that either he is being shopped or other teams are asking about his availability.
• Bullpen – With LaVelle’s note yesterday that neither Nishioka or his wife speak any English, if he is signed, the Twins will have to invest in someone to help them with their transition. Of course, they could just hire a translator for on the field and in the clubhouse, but they could also sign someone like Hideki Okajima or, as Parker wrote early today, Koji Uehara (who may be near a deal to return to the Orioles).
• Bullpen (Part II) – Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier are free agent relievers with several teams interested in their services. Crain likely priced himself out of the Twins budget, but it’s possible one or both of them could decide to return. Based on those decisions, the Twins will need to determine which minor leaguers they believe are ready to contribute, and they will have to add some depth.

Add to all of those decisions, the Rule 5 draft will take place at 8:00 a.m. on Thursday, and that all of the Twins front office will have meetings throughout the week. There are a lot of things up in the air right now, but as a few of them gain some resolution, the Twins will fill in quickly.

And again, if you would, I’d love to hear your feedback on the podcasts. What do you like? Not Like? What would you like to hear on the shows? Whatever you like. Please feel free to e-mail me.

And, in the Comments section, please feel free to consider it an Open Thread of Twins and Baseball discussion for the day! (again, be nice, and be respectful, please)

Winter Meetings Podcasts

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net –

The Winter Meetings podcasts continued last night with a very good show. Nick Nelson of Nick’s Twins Blog and TwinsCentric was the guest, and we spent a half-hour discussing lots of Twins-related, Winter Meetings topics. We discussed Tsuyoshi Nishioka, JJ Hardy, Carl Pavano, Jim Thome, Jesse Crain, Koji Uehara, Brandon Webb and many more players. We discussed the dollars and years that the early-signing free agents have received, and whether it is a trend, or just guys capitalizing early? What does it all mean for the Twins? If you haven’t listened to the podcasts in the past for some reason, why not start now? It’s simple, just click here.

And then if you are able to tonight, at 10:00 central time, I’ll be hosting the normally-scheduled SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast but there will be a definite Winter Meetings slant to it. Aaron Gleeman (of Aaron’s Baseball Blog and Hardball Talk and many other sites) will come on during the show to talk about the day’s news and topics, so it should be a lot of fun. I will try to get one or two other guests as well, so please check it out.

And again, if you would, I’d love to hear your feedback on the podcasts. What do you like? Not Like? What would you like to hear on the shows? Whatever you like. Please feel free to e-mail me.

And, in the Comments section, please feel free to consider it an Open Thread of Twins and Baseball discussion for the day! (again, be nice, and be respectful, please)

I Like This Top 10 List!

www.SethSpeaks.net –

I got an e-mail this morning from Bob Ingrassia (he built newsbobber and now works for Minnesota Public Radio) saying that he has posted his list of the Top Twins blogs with brief summaries of the Top 10. I’m grateful to have made the list since there are no fewer than 60 Twins blogs. See where I, and other Twins bloggers, ranked on this list. If there are any that you don’t check out and have bookmarked, it’s also a nice reference for you. Thanks to Bob and to all of the readers. Please feel free to discuss or add other Twins blogs to the list. If you want rank your own Top 10 or Top 60, cool. Leave your comments here.

Pitchers and Catchers Report

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net –

The words we have been waiting for over five months to hear. The Twins are among the last teams to report, but Sunday was reporting day for the Twins. So, spring training is upon us. The Twins hitters will be reporting by the end of the week.

I thought it would be fun to take a look back to the end of last season and see what has happened. Of course, just an hour after the conclusion of the Twins/Yankees ALDS series, the TwinsCentric Offseason GM Handbook was released. And, looking back at it, we are thrilled with how it turned out and how accurate we were (in many cases) throughout the 140+ page document.

• On November 5^th, the Twins traded Carlos Gomez for JJ Hardy. Short thoughts on the deal – Great trade. You take a chance on a guy with Hardy’s track record, especially if it only costs you your fourth outfielder.
• On November 7^th, the Twins picked up the 2011 option for Michael Cuddyer, which despite some dissenting opinions, was an obvious choice at the time that the decision had to be made.

 When the Winter Meetings started in early December, I posted a blog entry saying there were six things that the Twins needed to do. Obviously there are varying degrees of importance in each, but here is the run down.

#1 – Sign Joe Mauer – Well, it is rather well documented that this one is not yet complete. I know many Twins fans are starting to get a little nervous. I’m officially 0.05% nervous. In other words, it’s going to happen. It’s not ‘if’, but ‘when.’ Hopefully it will be by the end of the week. If not, hopefully it will be before Opening Day. If not, Mauer is taking a huge risk. I can’t imagine that his value will be any higher than it is right now. Once the season starts, the risk increases. And what is the gain? He could get $220 million instead of $200 million?  However, if he were to get hurt or something, the amount he could lose would be even more, in both years and dollars. In other words, I still have zero concern that he is going anywhere else. (Let me say this – if you’re looking for any more analysis on potential Mauer contracts. To be honest, I’m bored of the subject. We know that the contract will likely be 8-10 years and somewhere between probably $18-20 million per year. Deferments? No trade clauses? Incentives? I can’t really control what happens, and it’s exhausting to try to keep up with all the rumors which is why I’m not going to (and why I’m really excited to start talking about actual baseball stuff again!). It will happen. I’m not worried.)

#2 – Second Base – Signing Orlando Hudson for one year and $5 million was a great thing. Not only does he fill second base, but he also fits perfectly into the #2 spot in the lineup.

#3 – Add a starting pitcher – They retained Carl Pavano after he accepted arbitration.

#4 – Acquire a True #1/Ace Pitcher – Simply put, there were none available in Free Agency. John Lackey is probably a #2, and he got $80+ million. Josh Johnson signed an extension with the Marlins after they were basically forced to by MLB. Felix Hernandez wasn’t available. The Giants didn’t trade Matt Cain. There weren’t any options available, as would be expected. That said, the reports on Francisco Liriano’s physique, stuff and confidence in the Dominican Republic give Twins fans hope that he can return to a high level of performance.

#5 – Third Base – They signed Brendan Harris for the next two years. Nick Punto has another year left on his contract, plus an option for 2011. Matt Tolbert is still around. And, hopefully Danny Valencia is ready to go by June (if not by Opening Day). Luke Hughes is likely in the picture as well. In other words, there are enough options.

#6 – Veteran Bench for the Bench – I would say that Jim Thome would fit into this category. His track record speaks for itself. It will be intriguing to see how he is used and how much he is used. But for $1.5 million, this is a great signing.

 Add in that the team replaced Bobby Keppel with Clay Condrey, a vast improvement, and that Pat Neshek should be back at some point during the season while guys like Rob Delaney, Anthony Slama, Jose Lugo and Alex Burnett continue to make themselves more big –league ready and this was a terrific offseason. If that Mauer contract gets signed soon, it could be called ‘nearly’ perfect.

Here are a few Twins-related blogs for you to peruse:

• Check out Jesse’s Q&A with Twins Assistant GM Rob Antony. Lots of good insight.
• Check out Roger’s Minor League Weekly Update from the weekend.
• OMG MN Twins discusses which Winter Olympic sports various Twins players would compete in.
• Aaron Gleeman posted his choices for Twins prospects 6-10. \
• Granny Baseball takes a look at his choices as the Top 20 Prospects in Twins Camp.
• The Twins MVB hosted his first streaming Twins MVB Live, a streaming video of Twins talk which will air each Sunday night at 7:30.
• John Sickels posted a Q&A with Howard Norsetter, who is the director of international scouting for the Twins. I had some discussions with a few of the Twins international minor leaguers that day and they really have a lot of respect for Mr. Norsetter.

 Any other Twins stories or links, include them in the comments. Feel free to leave your comments here.

Where Are We Now?

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net –

Alright, it’s late on Wednesday night and I’m just getting home for the first time since Saturday morning. Quite a bit has happened while I was away, and I was able to blog a few times, but I still feel like I’m way behind even though with the All-Star break for the Major Leaguers, AAA and AA have been going on, so I haven’t been missing much. Getting back so late, and with the Twins 2^nd half not starting until Friday, I am going to wait a day to post my thoughts on some Twins awards for the first half. Let’s see, what has happens? Where are we?

• You may have heard, on Monday, TwinsCentric 2009 July Trade Deadline Primer released, and of course, John, Nick, Parker and I thank you all for your support of that venture, but also just for coming to our sites every day and either just reading or even participating. One of my favorite things about blogging is the interaction with other fans whether you agree or disagree. With the release of the Trade Deadline Primer, there are over 30,000 words that we can all disagree on. Fun! There are still two weeks before the deadline, and for some reason, I truly believe that the Twins will do something, and something of significance. I am in agreement with those who believe that if the Twins do nothing, they will stay right around .500 and likely finish in 3^rd (if not 4^th) place in the division.
• If you want to read a little unbiased opinion of the Trade Deadline Primer, fellow Star Tribune Your Voices blogger Doogie Wolfson wrote a review last night. Also yesterday, Aaron Gleeman blogged about the book. Thank you to both of them.
• Let’s see… Alexi Casilla was promoted after the game on Sunday when Matt Tolbert was sent down. Just yesterday, the Twins sent Jose Morales back to Rochester to bring up a pitcher. The choice was Kevin Mulvey, a starter. Although I was initially surprised somewhat, it isn’t hard to understand. Jesse Crain and Juan Morillo are still walking too many. Rob Delaney has experienced some bumps in Rochester, and Anthony Slama still has not seen AAA. I am very curious how this bullpen will play out, or what this move really signals, if anything.
• The bigger question I have is who will be starting for the Red Wings now that their top three pitchers (Mulvey, Anthony Swarzak and Brian Duensing) are all with the Twins. Jeff Manship, who has been in Rochester for less than a month, is probably the team’s ace. If pitchers are promoted from AA (Say… Matt Fox, Ryan Mullins or Cole Devries), then who moves up to AA? If Mike McCardell, Tyler Robertson or David Bromberg get moved up from Ft. Myers to New Britain, then who moves up from Beloit? It could be interesting.
• And with the promotion of Steve Singleton from Ft. Myers to New Britain on Tuesday, there are other questions. One would have to think that there is a chance that Brian Dinkelman could be promoted to Rochester now that the AA All-Star game is complete so that they both can get regular at bats. However, how do you allot playing time in the middle infield in Rochester if you’ve got Dinkelman along with Trevor Plouffe, Steve Tolleson, Matt Macri and now Matt Tolbert? Dinkelman and Tolleson have both played a little bit of LF, so that’s possible. It will certainly be interesting.
• Back to the trade deadline stuff, I’m normally one to trust the Twins minor leagues system and I still very much believe in the farm system’s depth. But again, I truly believe that a move is needed this year if they truly want to compete. That is the opinion that I have generally heard. But Travis Aune takes a little different perspective, one that I normally have had in the past. I encourage you to read his thoughts.
• Is it too early to start thinking about which six Twins minor leaguers the Twins will send to the Arizona Fall League? With the promotion of Singleton to AA, he certainly becomes an option. I spent some car time today thinking about this very topic. Typically the Twins haven’t sent a player there in back to back years. Last year, they sent Jeff Manship, Anthony Slama, Rob Delaney, Tim Lahey, Danny Valencia, Dustin Martin and Steve Tolleson. If that holds true, it becomes quite difficult to select which players would be selected. Another rule is that players from countries with Winter League teams can not participate. If healthy, I am sure the Twins would love to send Wilson Ramos there to get him additional at bats, but he will head back to Venezuela. So here are my guesses, and please feel free to agree or disagree with them. I think the three hitters will be: Rene Tosoni, Steve Singleton and Whit Robbins. If I were to name three pitchers today, I think they might send Michael McCardell (who could yet be promoted to New Britain, or go as a A-ball exception), Cole Devries, and Alex Burnett,  
• Speaking of Alex Burnett, check out the Q&A that Josh Johnson conducted with the Rockcats righty reliever.
• Nick Nelson ranted on the Madness of Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire… hard to disagree with the evaluation!
• At Over the Baggy, Parker looks at Three Signings as part of his First Half Review.   
• I accidentally watched the last few innings of the AAA All-Star game last night. Did You know that former Twin Michael Ryan is still playing? He plays for the New Orleans Zephyrs, the AAA Affiliate of the Florida Marlins. He apparently recently turned 32 years old. He doubles in the 8^th inning.
• Jesse from Twinkie Town investigates which Toronto Blue Jays relievers the Twins might have interest in.
• Finally, be sure to go to www.CoryHepola.com and check out his blog. But be certain to check out his video story on Danny Valencia. Cory has done some really good stories, but this one is right at the top.

Oh, and again, be sure to check back tomorrow when we may be able to let you in on a little information that has been teased here and a couple of other places over the last few days.

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Wednesday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – James Beresford, Beloit Snappers

Wednesday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Steve Hirschfeld, Ft. Myers Miracle – Tom Stuifbergen, Elizabethton Twins

ROCHESTER REPORT

Wednesday – Rochester – The AAA All-Star game was played last night in Portland, Oregon. The Twins/Red Wings representative was Justin Huber. He came in to pinch hit for the DH in the 5^th inning and hit a sacrifice fly. He went 0-2 in his next two at bats.  

ROCKCAT RECAP

Wednesday – New Britain – The Rockcats sent five players to the Eastern League All-Star game. Rene Tosoni started and played in CF the whole game. He was 0-4 with a walk. Brian Dinkelman entered the game at 2B and went 1-2. Whit Robbins pinch hit for the DH and went 1-2. Matt Fox pitched a perfect second inning, striking out one. It didn’t go as well for Anthony Slama. He started the ninth and got the first two outs. He gave up a run on a hit, a walk and a hit batter before being replaced.    

MIRACLE MEMOS

Wednesday – Ft. Myers 13, Sarasota 0 – Steve Hirschfeld got plenty of run support early as the Red Wings scored nine runs in the second inning. He didn’t need that much. The righty went the complete game route. He gave up no runs on three hits. He walked just one and struck out just two. He improved to 3-4 and dropped his ERA to 2.17. Ben Revere went 3-5 with a walk and his third triple. Estarlin de Los Santos went 3-6 with his fourth and fifth doubles. Nick Romero and Chris Parmelee were each 2-4. Mark Dolenc went 2-5. Alexander Soto was promoted to the Miracle about a week ago and hit his first home run.     

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Wednesday – Beloit 9, Burlington 3 – Liam Hendriks picked up his first Midwest League win. He gave up just one run on nine hits over 6.2 innings. He walked one and struck out four. Blake Martin gave up two runs on three hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. Matt Williams struck out three of the four batters he faced. James Beresford went 3-5 with his fourth and fifth doubles, and his ninth stolen base. Danny Rams went 2-3 with a walk and his first home run. Angel Morales was 2-3 with his 11^th double and ninth steal. Dominic de La Osa went 2-4 with his seventh double.   

E-TWINS EXTRAS

Wednesday – Elizabethton 4, Danville 2 – Danville is the one team in the Appy League that really gives the E-Twins some struggles, so it is good to see this win. Tom Stuifbergen led the way and improved to 3-0. The Dutch righty went all nine innings. He gave up two runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out seven. Of the 20 outs that he got on balls in play, 18 of them were ground balls. Derek McCallum went 2-4. Josmil Pinto was 2-4 with his fifth double and two RBI.

GCL TWINS THOUGHTS

Wednesday –GCL Twins 3, GCL Reds 2 – BJ Hermsen improved to 3-1 with a 1.54 ERA after giving up just one run on three hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out five. Andrei Lobonov struck out two in two scoreless innings, reducing his ERA to 0.96. Dakota Watts picked up his fourth save. He struck out three but gave up an unearned run in the ninth inning. Oswaldo Arcia went 2-4 with his first home run and three RBI.

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.

Podcasts, Drafts and Notes

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net –

Last night was a busy one. After getting home from work, I had to do several things with my computer to try to make it work better. At 7:30, I participated in my third fantasy baseball draft of the year. At 9:00, I still had eight more picks to make, but the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Twins Podcast was set to begin. So, for awhile there, I was doing both things. So that is why today’s posting may be a little shorter than normal.

·         Of course, if you missed it during the day yesterday, I posted my thoughts on the Twins most recent round of cuts.

·         If you weren’t able to listen last night, please be sure to listen to this week’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Twins podcast. Despite a few minutes worth of technical difficulties, the show was successful. The first guest was Twins pitching prospect Dan Osterbrock. He was followed by the Twins beat writer for TwinsBaseball.com, Kelly Thesier, who happens to be rooting strongly for one of the Final Four teams. And finally, we ended the show with Aaron Gleeman. Now I have to tell you that after about ten minutes of speaking with Dan Osterbrock, I had some technical difficulties. Not exactly certain what happened. But you will definitely be able to tell when it goes bad, and for the following six minutes, you hear a lot of incoherent rumbling, until I finally hung up and started over. But Dan was gracious enough to stick around and answer another question or two and the rest of the show seemingly went just fine.  

 

·         Over at Baseball Digest, our Twins writers continued our predictions of the major baseball awards. The series continued today with our predictions for the Rookie of the Year Awards.

·         Over the Baggy gives us a much more in-depth look at Drew Butera.

·         TwinsMVB was down in Ft. Myers, and this is one of the coolest things ever. I need some of these for my site!

·         The Baseball Savant provide the last word on the White Sox, and I agree!!

·         Phil Miller wrote an interesting article on Craig Breslow, or at least a former college teammate and friend of his at Yale. Matt McCarthy played at Yale before spending one season in the Angels’ minor league system. He kept a journal during that season and recently wrote a book called “Odd Man Out: A Year on the Mound with a Minor League Misfit” in which he reportedly told a lot of things that maybe shouldn’t be let out of the clubhouse, or some that may not have even been true. If nothing else, now I want to read the book. Miller also shared more in his blog Twins Now.

·         I’m not sure if you noticed, but I have now dropped the price of the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook – 2009, for both the hardcopy and the e-book.  

 

Any other Twins thoughts as the season approaches? Feel free to Comment here.

 

FANTASY DRAFT #3

Again, last night I participated in my third fantasy baseball draft of the spring. It is a ten team, 5×5 roto league. I have another fantasy baseball draft tonight (BB Digest Expert League) and another on Thursday evening. I believe that my final draft will be on Sunday afternoon.  Here are my draft picks. I had the #1 overall pick, which of course meant that I didn’t draft again until #20 (and then 21, and so on).

 

1.)    Hanley Ramirez – SS – Florida Marlins

2.)    CC Sabathia – SP – New York Yankees

3.)    Carlos Quentin – OF – Chicago White Sox

4.)    Jason Bay – OF – Boston Red Sox

5.)    Kevin Youklis – 1B – Boston Red Sox

6.)    Daisuke Matsuzaka – SP – Boston Red Sox

7.)    Geovany Soto – C – Chicago Cubs

8.)    Jon Lester – SP – Boston Red Sox

9.)    Francisco Liriano – SP – Minnesota Twins

10.)                         Yovani Gallardo – SP – Milwaukee Brewers

11.)                         Jay Bruce – OF – Cincinnati Reds

12.)                         Kevin Slowey – SP – Minnesota Twins

13.)                         Matt Weiters – C – Baltimore Orioles

14.)                         Alex Gordon – 3B – Kansas City Royals

15.)                         Kevin Gregg – RP – Chicago Cubs

16.)                         Jason Motte – RP – St. Louis Cardinals

17.)                         Fausto Carmona – SP – Cleveland Indians

18.)                         Jason Kubel – OF – Minnesota Twins

19.)                         David Price – SP/RP – Tampa Bay Rays

20.)                         Howie Kendrick – 2B – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim

21.)                         Billy Butler – 1B – Kansas City Royals

22.)                         Yunel Escobar – SS – Atlanta Braves

23.)                         Tommy Hanson – SP – Atlanta Braves

24.)                         Jed Lowrie – SS – Boston Red Sox

25.)                         Michael Cuddyer – OF – Minnesota Twins

26.)                         Chris Getz – 2B – Chicago White Sox

Weekly Twins Podcast at 9:00 Tonight!

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net –

Tonight is going to be yet another busy night for me. I have yet another fantasy baseball draft which starts at 7:30. I don’t know where we will be in the draft at 9:00, but I will be starting my Weekly SethSpeaks.net Minnesota Twins Podcast at that time. Be sure to tune in if you are able to. The chat room will be open for your questions, and the guest list is full, and I think pretty impressive. Here is the schedule for the show:

·         9:00-9:05 – Seth Introduction

·         9:05-9:20 – Dan Osterbrock, LH Pitching Prospect

·         9:20-9:38 – Kelly Thesier, TwinsBaseball.com

·         9:40-9:57 – Aaron Gleeman, aarongleeman.com

 

That should be a fun show, so I am looking forward to it. Please listen live if you are able, but if not, be sure to go there later and listen in. I’d love to hear your feedback!

 

OTHER NOTES

 

·         Over at Baseball Digest, our Twins writers continued our predictions of the major baseball awards. The series continued today with our predictions for the Cy Young Awards.

·         Nick Nelson previewed each of the American League teams and included a player to watch on each team.

·         Pat Neshek has remained quite busy in updating his blog, including some very impressive autographs received.

·         Josh Johnson took a look at where the four outfielders stand today.

 

We should be hearing about those final roster cuts and decisions within a day or two. Should be interesting! Any other Twins thoughts as the season approaches? Feel free to Comment here.

Prospect Watch: The Vote

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net –

Earlier today, I asked you to tell me what shows you watch on TV when there isn’t baseball available to watch. Thanks for the responses Now I am going to ask for your help again. However, this is something that you have helped me with before. For those of you who have been around SethSpeaks.net for awhile, you know of The Prospect Watch. Each year, I like to highlight the performances and statistics of some of the Twins top prospects. The last couple of years, I have asked you to help me determine who we will follow. So again, I would like you to vote for up to six Twins prospects that you most want to see included in the Twins Prospect Watch. The six players with the most votes will start the season in the Prospect Watch.

 

So pull out your Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook, check out my Top 50 Twins Prospect rankings, check out Aaron Gleeman’s top Twins Prospect review, or Josh Johnson’s Top 50 Twins prospects. The only criteria is that the player no longer have Rookie eligibility.

 

Pretty simple really… I will take your votes through Friday at 6:00 p.m. central, and over the weekend I will post the results. Just e-mail me your picks (again, up to Twins prospects).

Spring Stream

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net –

 

 

 

Good morning, everyone! Hopefully everyone had a chance to listen to and/or downloaded the Tuesday night SethSpeaks.net Minnesota Twins podcast which featured Phil Miller, Nick Nelson and John Bonnes. If you haven’t, be sure to do so if you would like.

 

 

Before getting too far, I would like to mention that there will be a SethSpeaks.net Twins Live Chat tonight. Be sure to check back later this morning for the time and details of the chat.

 

For today, I just have several Twins-related thoughts that I would like to share as well as some links to other articles for you to read. It is kind of a stream of consciousness blog, so excuse the informality! And have a great day!

 

·         First things first, I want to thank Aaron Gleeman for the kind words he said about me and this blog in his posting today on the Twins-related blogs that he reads. As you know, I started this site in May of 2003, in part, because of Aaron and The Twins Geek, John Bonnes. At the time, they were probably the only Twins bloggers, and they’re both still going very strong.

·         You will also want to check out Aaron’s Live Chat from yesterday afternoon. Maybe it’ll give you some ideas of possible questions to ask me tonight.

·         LaVelle was the first to report that, as I expected, Bobby Korecky was the player that the Twins took off of their 40 man roster to make room for Luis Ayala. Korecky was claimed by the Arizona Diamondbacks. The D-Backs must just watch for the Twins to make players available. Remember that they were the team that similarly claimed pitcher JD Durbin when the Twins took him off of their 40 man roster. They were the team that claimed Alex Romero when the Twins chose to make him available. Also, when OF Trent Oeltjen became a six year minor league free agent a little over a year ago, the Snakes signed him as well. It would appear that Arizona, despite a rotation that boasts Brandon Webb and Dan Haren may have plenty of openings in 2009. It might be a good opportunity for Korecky to spend a little big of time in the big leagues. Although the former Michigan Wolverine was not blessed with the prototypical size of a big league pitcher, he had a toughness and confidence that helped him succeed. He was very hittable, but he also ‘got the job done’ a lot! Although he got only limited time with the Minnesota Twins, Korecky has been a very valuable part of the Twins organization since he was acquired with Carlos Silva and Nick Punto after the 2003 season in the Eric Milton trade. He has been a minor league closer throughout that time, with the exception of the 2005 season when he had Tommy John surgery. It was the easy choice to take Korecky off of the 40 man roster to make room for Ayala. But I’m certain that it wasn’t an easy thing for many on the Twins roster as, at 29, he likely played with a majority of the players. That’s the human element of the long baseball season that we too often forget.

·         With Joe Mauer’s kidney surgery and recovery taking him out of early activities this spring, the team needed another catcher to catch bullpen sessions. Toby Gardenhire was down there preparing for minor league camp, so he was asked to officially join big league camp as a catcher. For the most part in his minor league career, he has been a middle infielder, but over the last couple of seasons, in an attempt to make himself more versatile and more valuable, he has occasionally donned the catching gear and caught bullpens. With so many pitchers in camp, all needing to throw, having plenty of catchers around only makes sense. What is strange to me is that there are actually Twins fans who are offended by this, by the manager’s son being brought in to camp. I don’t see the big deal… he is the team’s #8 catcher at big league camp. I don’t think we have to worry about him claiming a big league roster spot out of camp. He is catching bullpens. Who cares? If they would have had Tommy Watkins come in to do the same thing, would it matter?

·         I heard today that FSN’s Telly Hughes will not be working Twins games in 2009. Instead, he will be doing the same thing for FSN but for Milwaukee Brewers games. Good luck… Brewers fans!

·         Am I the only one that simply wants the Joe Crede situation to go away? I think I have been pretty consistent throughout the offseason on my stance on the 3B situation. I’m fine with improving the position if we believe it will be a significant improvement. Yes, I am comfortable with a Brendan Harris/Brian Buscher platoon, although I would much prefer Brendan Harris just run with the job! Adrian Beltre? Significant improvement, but I wouldn’t trade what the Mariners are asking for him. Garrett Atkins? No thanks. Casey Blake? Not a big leap forward. Mark Derosa? He won’t even play 3B for Cleveland, and I prefer Brendan Harris anyway. Ty Wigginton? No thank you. Joe Crede? I do like his power. He was an All Star in 2008 after hitting a bunch of first half home runs. If I believed that he could play even 120 games in 2009, I would be OK with the Twins signing him. I do think he would be a very slight improvement offensively and a significant improvement defensively. But we are also talking about a guy who has missed over half of his team’s games the past two seasons, a guy who has had two major back surgeries in the last year and a half (one of which didn’t work for very long, and the other which he is just getting back from). If he would be willing to sign a one year deal worth $2.5 million, I would be fine with signing him. I would even be happy to offer an additional $2.5 million for getting 450 plate appearances in 2009. I’d be willing to add another million dollars if he reaches 550 plate appearances. And another million dollars for 650 plate appearances. But I really don’t think that I would do any more than that. And again, I just want it over, and I imagine the Twins players, coaches and beat writers are thinking the same thing!

·         I had read that the Twins will have as many as ten players eligible for arbitration following the 2009 season, but I hadn’t spent much time really thinking about what the would mean. Which players would be eligible? And secondly, I get so tired of people whining about the Twins payroll when in reality, it is completely a function of having so many pre-arbitration-eligible players on their roster. So here is a quick list at which players will probably be arbitration-eligible at this time next year. In parentheses, you will see an estimate of what that player would potentially make in arbitration for 2009 if they perform similarly as they did in 2008. Please remember that most of these players are going to make less than $500,000 in 2008.

1.      Scott Baker ($2.8 million)

2.      Francisco Liriano ($2.4 million)

3.      Pat Neshek ($1.0 million)

4.      Brendan Harris ($1.5 million)

5.      Boof Bonser ($1.5 million)

6.      Jesse Crain ($2.5 million)

7.      Delmon Young ($2.2 million)

8.      Matt Guerrier ($2.0 million)

And these players will likely be Super-2 arbitration-eligible in 2009:

·         Carlos Gomez ($1.8 million)

·         Glen Perkins ($1.6 million)

Of course, we also have to remember that some of these players may have breakout years, and if so, those numbers could go up. If these numbers would be at all accurate, there is an extra $15 million in salary without making any roster changes. Add to that the increases due to the likes of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Joe Nathan, Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel, and you can see how quickly a payroll can increase over the next couple of seasons when they enter Target Field.

·         If you check out the Twins Geek articles the last couple of days, he has asked a few questions related to Delmon Young and his ‘split’ contract. As he points out, I was able to verify that Young is indeed out of options, so he can not be sent to the minor leagues without being put on waivers. And as much as anyone may not appreciate Delmon Young, I can’t imagine there would be more than a couple of teams in baseball that would not claim him. So, although a split contract is typical for players with less than three years of big league service time, it is probably not terribly necessary to even make mention of the split contract. Again, not a big deal at all, but certainly an interesting learning discussion.

·         KFAN’s Phil Mackey has done a terrific job at his site PMac. He has made his AL Player projections available for download on his site. He wrote a very interesting article on what happened to Glen Perkins late last year. And now he wrote a blog called The Curious Case of Michael Cuddyer which is very interesting.

 

That’s all I’ve got for now. Again, be sure to take in tonight’s SethSpeaks.net Live Minnesota Twins Chat and ask any questions you may have. If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to e-mail me or leave Comments Here.

Tuesday Tidbits – Weekly Twins Podcast Live Tonight at 8:00!!

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net –

I’m tired. I went to Madagascar at the theater tonight, then watched the end of that Monday Night football game. I’m tired.

BOOK UPDATE – By the way, the book is done! In fact, on Sunday night, I placed the big, bulk order for all of the pre-ordered books and a few more. Thank you to all of those who have paid already. If you haven’t paid yet, please do so. I hope to receive the books within a week to ten days, and as soon as I do, I will send them out. Be sure to check back here on Thursday night. I will provide a link for you to be able to order your own copies of Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook – 2009. Who wants to deal with that crazy day-after-Thanksgiving shopping fiasco? Buying Christmas presents online is the way to go. And the book is the perfect gift for any Twins fan! So again, check back for more details later in the week.

 

PODCAST TONIGHT – I am normally bad about posting the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast schedule early enough, but not this week. Here is the schedule for tonight’s live show, which starts at 8:00 central time.

8:00–8:05 – Seth Introduction

8:05-8:30 – Tim Dierkes, creator of the all-important MLB Trade Rumors, the best site online for any free agent and trade rumors around the league.

8:30-8:58 – Aaron Gleeman and The Twins Geek, John Bonnes, will join me for the last half hour. That’s a lot of blogging years in one podcast!

I think it sounds like a very good show, if I do say so myself. If you’re able to listen live, please join the Chat Room and ask questions. I will ask our guests.

 

OTHER

·         Baseball America is set to announce its Top Ten Twins Prospects on Tuesday. I have seen the list, and it looks pretty solid, like you would expect from Baseball America. In fact, I really can’t argue with it much. John Manuel did a nice job. It’s not like it is 100% the same as mine, but there aren’t any crazy picks either. Well, there is a highly ranked reliever, and I didn’t have him close to where he was ranked. If not for some limited time with the Twins, I don’t believe this reliever would have been anywhere near the Top 10, but I also understand his inclusion. Nice job, Mr. Manuel.

·         Random Question – Last year, Torii Hunter signed with the Angels on the Eve of Thanksgiving, the Twins/Rays trade happened right after Thanksgiving, Carlos Silva signed in Seattle, and the entire offseason was filled with Johan Santana trade rumors. This year, it is completely different. The Twins just don’t have as many things to deal with, at least not as many high profile issues to address. Third Base, sure, if the right deal presents itself. Shortstop, definitely an area where improvement would be good. The bullpen, not a big deal. Everything else appears pretty set. The Twins have just not been terribly involved even in rumors. There were all kinds of ridiculous Delmon Young rumors early in the offseason that likely had little backing. There were talks of Garrett Atkins, and there is the whole Casey Blake thing. This offseason is so different, and for the most part, that is a good thing. The only negative is that it will make the offseason so much longer. I still think that something major is going to happen, whether it is a surprise free agent signing (I agree that the Twins should not sign any of the type A free agents) or more likely, a semi-big trade. The rumors just have not really been there, at least nothing truly worthy of following. What do you anticipate the rest of the way out?

 

I’m going to keep this short, but again, please stop back from time to time. I anything happens Twins-related, you can read my analysis here. Have a great day!

          

     Any thoughts, please e-mail me, or leave Comments here.