Update - I was going to wait to post Roger's update for Spring Training on Sunday, but there is a bit of a trade rumor, some good gossip in there, and if nothing else, something worthy of discussion. I just couldn't sit on it until tomorrow, so I am posting it today. Check it out here.
Also, a great article in the Philadelphia Daily News saying that there is nothing more that Coste needs to do!
Monday, March 27, 2006
POSITIONAL BATTLES
Good morning everyone! I hope everyone had a great week. Mine was very busy. Well, busy but fun. I participated in two fantasy baseball drafts. If you are interested in them, click here for my first draft, and here for my second draft. I posted who was taken with each pick, as well as a few thoughts on each of my picks. Today, I will be discussing the Twins position battles as we get closer to the start of the new season. But, we will have other Twins Notes, and our updates on Twins camp from Roger. There will be more on Chris Coste. And, I am sure we will touch on a number of topics.
But the main topic of discussion today will be expressing my thoughts on the position battles that the Twins manager, General Manager and coaching staff have to make in the next week. Do you realize that one week from today will be Opening Day!? How long have we been waiting for this? Within one week, all of our questions will be answered. Who will be the shortstop? Who will be the right fielder? Who will be the Twins lefty out of the bullpen? We will know who the 25 man roster is, and the games will begin. Six months of preparation have led us to this point. But again, the team did go into camp with a few questions about their rosters. Have they answered any of them yet? Let's see... and of course, I would love to hear your opinions on these topics as well. So, please e-mail me, or feel free to post some Comments down below.
FIFTH STARTER
There was some debate about who should be the Twins fifth starter. To me, it has never really been a question. To me, Scott Baker has done absolutely everything that he has needed to do to earn the job. He was a high draft choice out of college. He moved up from Ft. Myers to Rochester in his first full season. Last year, he had a great year at AAA and when called upon to help the Twins, he came through. This spring, he has done well. In 17 innings, he is 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA. He has walked five (uncharacteristic) and struck out 12. If there is any concern, it is the four homers he has allowed. However, when it really counts, I think we know what we will get from Baker.
The other option is Francisco Liriano. Now, he had a monster 2004 season in which he did well at New Britain before absolutely dominating the International League. He came up to the Twins and we got to see exactly what he can be. Liriano can be dominant. He will likely strikeout well more than a batter an inning. But Terry Ryan did tell us that the reason they were being smart with him is because he needs to control his 98 mph fastball. He has the dominating slider and changeup, and when he does finally get a chance, I think we all know that he will be ready and he will be very successful. But we have to remember that he is just 22 years old. We also have to remember that the WBC probably cost him much of any chance to be in the team's starting rotation. He was in the bullpen for The Dominican Republic and only got a handful of innings there. He has pitched just four innings for the Twins this spring.
So, the question for Ron Gardenhire and Rick Anderson is whether to take substance or potential. We know Baker can be very successful right now. We know that Francisco Liriano could be dominant right now. But to me, Baker has earned the job. Last year was really the breakout year for Liriano, so let him go back to Rochester and work on that fastball, and build up his arm strength so that by May or June, when the Twins trade Kyle Lohse, Liriano can enter the starting rotation and really be ready to dominate and help the Twins win.
Seth's Thoughts - Scott Baker should absolutely be the Twins #5 starter. However, I think that Francisco Liriano will be a star, and he should be in the Twins rotation by May or June... just hopefully not in place of Baker!
LEFT-HANDED BULLPEN GUY
It is a natural segue from that fifth starter job to discussing the lefty bullpen guy. The reason? Well, because for the Twins, the best pitcher for the role is Francisco Liriano. If he were to take over that role, he could absolutely dominate left-handed hitters. That 91 mph slider and changeup make it difficult for lefties to hit. Ron Gardenhire wants Liriano in his bullpen. Terry Ryan does not want to stunt his growth by limiting his innings pitched.
The other options are Dennys Reyes and Darrell May. Fact is that neither of those options breathes much confidence in a manager. I mean, Darrell May came into the game against the Reds on Saturday and gave up home runs to Adam Dunn and Ken Griffey Jr., and a single to Scott Hatteberg, all lefties. Now, you can say that Dunn and Griffey are two very prolific power hitters and they will hit home runs. However, those are the types of situations that May may be asked to come into, and he will be expected to be able to get those guys out. May is a soft-tosser. He does not have the 'stuff' to succeed in that role. In 14 spring innings, he has struck out eight and allowed four home runs.
Dennys Reyes has not allowed an earned run in 3.2 innings over three appearances for the Twins this spring. Now, Reyes, if you look at his career stats, has never been very good. However, he does throw 91 at times. That is far from dominant, but it means that he could get a strikeout at times. Of course, looking at a reliever's ERA over 3.2 innings is not exactly fair. I mean, he could give up four runs in his next outing and get just one out and his ERA would jump from 0.00 to 9.00. Also, he pitched for Team Mexico in the WBC and his ERA approached 7.00.
Seth's Thoughts - Basically, neither of the two options is very good. However, I would probably pick Dennys Reyes over Darrell May... and just hope. I just am against having Liriano pitch in the bullpen. So many people want to say that Johan Santana pitched out of the bullpen for a couple of years, and look how he turned out. Well, to me, that is a horrible argument. Remember that Santana came to the Twins as a Rule V pick and had to remain on the Twins 25 man roster all season despite the fact that he had not pitched above the Class A level. Liriano is a starter, and he is ready to be a starter, so I agree with Terry Ryan that Francisco Liriano needs to start.
SHORTSTOP
The fact that there is even any debate at this position is completely ridiculous! I just don't understand Ron Gardenhire's thinking on this. Of course, I don't understand why Terry Ryan felt the need to re-sign Nick Punto to even give Gardy the option.
Candidate #1 is Jason Bartlett. The 26 year old is ready. He has nothing more to prove at AAA. Even last year, he hit .330 down there. His defense is vastly improved. Apparently some people are upset because he dropped a pop up in a game last week. Well, if you know anything about baseball, you know that errors do occur on routine plays too. Even Ozzie Smith, Brooks Robinson and Bill Mazeroski made errors on easy plays. So, using one error is terrible reasoning. Offensively, Bartlett has definitely had a plan when he goes to the plate. He is hitting .382/.500/.441 with two doubles. He has walked seven times and struck out just five times in 39 plate appearances.
Candidate #2 is Nick Punto. He is being given every chance to play this spring. Although he is not playing poorly, I think his full-season track record from a year ago tells us all we need to know about him. This spring, he is hitting .310/.333/.357 with two doubles. He has two walks and five strikeouts in 44 plate appearances.
Candidate #3 is Juan Castro. I don't think that he is actually a candidate for the starting job at all. Although he is adequate defensively at SS, he is vastly overrated. Secondly, he just can not hit. He had a 'good-for-him' season last year, but first, it still wasn't very good and second, I doubt he could even duplicate that. This spring, he started as Team Mexico's starting shortstop. But after committing three errors in five games and hitting well under .200, he was replaced in the starting lineup in that final game against Team USA by Alfredo Amazega. Enough said! To make it worse, he hurt his wrist and is yet to play in a major league spring training game for the Twins yet.
Seth's Thoughts - Of course, I believe that Jason Bartlett has earned the job and should play the position in 145 or more games this year. I don't mind a guy like Punto or Castro on the roster, just not as a starter or a guy who will bat more than about 100-150 times in a year. I also see no need to have two such guys on the roster. To me, it would make sense to have one guy who can play the middle infield positions, and one guy who can play the corner positions, really only as backups. The Twins could do this by keeping one of Punto or Castro (or Luis Rodriguez or Luis Maza), and then Terry Tiffee could make it as the guy who could play 1B or 3B.
RIGHT FIELD
This is really a three man race, and all three have shown what they can do this spring.
Candidate #1 is Michael Cuddyer. I don't know if he is more relaxed not playing 3B, but this spring, he has certainly done what it would take to earn the starting job. In 34 plate appearances, he hit .500/.600/.750 with a double, two homers and six RBI. He walked six times and struck out four times. These are excellent numbers. I think he earned the job, but then he strained his oblique muscle and has missed a week and could miss at least another, possibly even starting the season on the Disabled List.
Candidate #2 is Lew Ford. In his two-plus seasons with the Twins, he has done everything that they have asked him to do. He has played all three OF positions, and played them well. He has hit anywhere from leadoff through seventh in the lineup. His best skill offensively is his ability to take a lot of pitches which would make him an ideal leadoff man. He even spent much of last season as the team's DH despite the fact that he could make an argument for being better defensively than at least two of the three starting outfielders. This spring isn't going so well for him offensively. He is hitting .222/.300/.472 with a double, a triple and two home runs. He has stolen three bases. Although he is clearly the best defensively of the three candidates, he may be hurt in the battle by his versatility. The fact that he can play all three OF positions makes him very valuable as a fourth OF.
Candidate #3 is Jason Kubel. Although he is probably the most gifted hitter of the three, his is probably the weakest defensively of the group. That said, he probably has the best arm too. Now, he did miss the entire 2005 season after shredding his knee. He definitely appears to be back to normal this spring. I am actually surprised that he hasn't even had to take a day or two off with some swelling. That is a good thing and should alleviate concern about the knee. He has primarily DHed and pinch hit this spring, but has also seen time in both left and right field. This spring, he is hitting .256/.327/.349 with four doubles and seven RBI. He has walked five times and struck out four times (a rate he has had throughout his minor league career) in 48 plate appearances.
Seth's Thoughts - All along, I have been saying that I thought that the smart thing to do would be to start the season with Jason Kubel playing every day at Rochester. Unless he proved himself 100% healthy and far out-hit the competition, I just think that there is no need to rush him back. Kubel will be a superstar, but proceeding at this point with some caution would be a good thing. Kubel does appear to be healthy, and he still looks great at the plate, but I still think a month or two at AAA would be good. If for nothing else, to get his legs under him again. I would call up he and Francisco Liriano in late May and give them my complete confidence. Now, if Michael Cuddyer is unable to go to start the season, then I think that Kubel is the guy to start in right field. I just agree that Lew Ford is valuable in his ability to play all three OF positions. To me, Ford should play twice a week in right and once in left and once in CF, at least early in the season.
LONG RELIEVER
Darrell May is an option. He has been in the big leagues for a number of years, and even had one 'good' year for the Royals when they had their aberration a few years ago. Assuming he does not win the lefty set up man role, May could still make the team in this role.
Willie Eyre is also competing for this job. He had a monster 2005 season. He was excellent out of the bullpen last year in Rochester. He was even better in Venezuela this winter as he was the pitcher of the year. This spring, he has pitched 12.1 innings in seven games. He has no record, but a 1.46 ERA. He has given up 10 hits and three walks, and he struck out ten.
Seth's Thoughts - Another no-brainer. Give the job to Willie Eyre. He's a long-time minor leaguer. He's been in the Twins system for years. He has done everything in the minors. Also, the team kept him from signing a very lucrative deal elsewhere by putting him on their 40 man roster. May is not on the 40 man roster.
THE ROSTER
So, looking at my thoughts above, here would be my current thoughts on the roster that the Twins should take north with them to start the season:
C - Joe Mauer
1B - Justin Morneau
2B - Luis Castillo
3B - Tony Batista
SS - Jason Bartlett
LF - Shannon Stewart
CF - Torii Hunter
RF - Michael Cuddyer (or Jason Kubel)
DH - Rondell White
Backup C - Mike Redmond
Util IF - Nick Punto
Util IF - Juan Castro
Backup OF - Lew Ford
Pinch Hitter - Terry Tiffee (or Ruben Sierra, if he were healthy)
SP - Johan Santana
SP - Brad Radke
SP - Carlos Silva
SP - Kyle Lohse
SP - Scott Baker
CL - Joe Nathan
SU - Juan Rincon
SU - Jesse Crain
SU - Matt Guerrier
SU - Dennys Reyes
Long - Willie Eyre
Seth's Thoughts - I like the starting lineup. I really like Redmond as the backup catcher. I like Ford as the fourth OF. However, I don't like the two backup infielders when that means just one backup OF. The problem likely comes from feeling the need to have a guy like Ruben Sierra, who is really just a pinch hitter, on the roster. Now, I actually appreciate this role. I like the idea of having a veteran presence ready to pinch hit. Sierra, although he was hurt and struggled last year, still has a lot of respect in the league. He can hit, and he can hit for some power. He is a proven run producer, and I have no problem with him being on the roster. Now, Terry Tiffee in that same role is not the same. Pinch hitting is not something that everyone can do. That is why I prefer a veteran who understands that he won't succeed every time. But again, the lone problem I have with the hitters on this roster is that there are two utility infielders. When Jason Kubel comes up, Cuddyer would return to the bench, and I would assume that one of those two would be traded or somehow released.
As for the pitching staff, it does appear pretty well set. The only other major decision to make has to do with the role of Francisco Liriano and how they end up using him.
Any thoughts on what the Twins should do? Feel Free to e-mail me, or leave some Comments below.
Just a few Twins notes, links and comments
I know in the past that I have talked about The Baseball Card Blog. There are frequent updates of very interesting baseball card related topics, all in fun. Well, a Twins fan, Blake Meyer, took that concept to the Twins. He has been collecting baseball cards of Minnesota Twins since 1975. He will be discussing his Twins cards with pictures and stories, and it really should be very fun and interesting. So, be sure to check out Blake Meyer's Minnesota Twins Baseball Card Collection.
As much as I love the Chris Coste story, I really loved when the Twins called up 31 year old Chris Heintz last year for September. After 10 seasons in the minors, he left the Rochester team to be with his wife who had the couple's first child. While home, he got calls from Terry Ryan and Jim Rantz and they told him that they wanted him to come up to the Twins for the month. What a great story, especially now that the Twins have kept him on their 40 man roster. He will spend much of this season at Rochester as well. Jim Mandelero of the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, who did a great Q&A on this site last year, wrote a very nice article, further expanding upon the wonderful Heintz story!
Mandelero wrote a couple more great articles over the weekend. One was on Francisco Liriano's roster spot. The other article was on another Red Wings pitcher, Boof Bonser.
David Dorsey's blog discusses what Christian players do on Sunday morning during the season. It discusses Baseball Chapel, a league-wide organization to bring the church to the players.
Nick & Nick both post their predictions for the 2006 season.
Aaron's got Twins Notes, and he seems to disagree with me on Liriano in the bullpen.
Wow! Pat Neshek got to meet a mafia man!!! OK, a former mob man!
Any thoughts on the Twins? Please e-mail me.
ROGER'S SPRING TRAINING THOUGHTS
After taking Friday off from baseball to see what else to state of Florida has to offer, Roger was back at Twins camp on Saturday. (Not sure if he was on Sunday, if so, I'm sure I'll get an e-mail, and you will see it here tomorrow!) Here are Roger's Thoughts from Saturday, what he witnessed at a minor league training camp game.
SATURDAY'S REPORT
Good morning Seth,What a wonderful day for baseball yesterday. Was rather cool for the Floridians with a game time temp in the high 60's. With the Twins on the road, Bon and I decided to watch the Beloit Snappers take on the Capital City Red Sox (the BoSox Class A team). Stopped at Wendy's off I-75 for a quick lunch and on to Field #3 behind Hammond Stadium for the 1:00 start.Shortly after getting to the ballpark, noticed a gal sitting in the front row of the bleachers (there are only 3 rows) who seemed like she knew a lot about the Twins. Said hello and learned that she was Dianna who maintains the Ft. Myers blog and continues to update us throughout the season about what is happening at the Twins base. Dianna, was great meeting you and I for one really appreciate all the information you continue to provide us throughout the year. Thanks.Manager Jeff Smith learned that he would have a new starter as Joe Nathan made the start for the Snappers. Joe sailed through an easy first inning with a K, K, F-9. They were trying to get him around 25-30 pitches so he came back out for the second inning. The first hitter in the second swung late but hit a hard ball right down the right field line for a double. The next hitter followed with another ball into the right/center gap for another double, moving to third on the throw home. The next batter sent a fly ball to medium center for F-8. Danny Santiesteban was in center and made an excellent throw towards the plate holding the runner. Another single followed, scoring the second run before Nathan got out of the inning with 2 strikeouts...and throwing 35 pitches. Considering that the Snappers never were able to tie the game, Joe Nathan was credited with the loss!!!Found myself having a little trouble setting up my scorecard early in the game...which was caused by the fact that each team was batting 10 players (using 2 DH's). I guess in spring training, they make up the rules as they go along...as long as both teams agree prior to the game. The Snappers starting lineup was Yancarlos Ortiz (ss), Josh Land (lf), Henry Sanchez (DH1), Marion Knowles (DH2), Dustin Bensko (1B), Caleb Moore (c), Andrew Thompson (2B), Larry Jones (rf), Danny Santiesteban (cf), and Toby Gardenhire (3B).Prior to the game I learned that Danny Berg and Jose Leger had been given catcher's equipment and were now listed on the roster as catchers. Leger did come in to catch in the 6th, however, Berg came in and played third for Gardenhire. It seemed as if the Snappers could never get back into this one following the Red Sox taking a 2-0 lead in the second. Defensively, Gardenhire made a real nice play on a bunt (no one on base) with one out in the third. In the 4th, a shot was hit right at centerfielder Danny Santiesteban. He froze, then broke backwards as the ball shot about 5' over his head to the wall in center, resulting in an inside the park home run with two outs. At the time it looked like a real poor play by Danny, however, later in the game a similar hit by a Snapper (Leger in the 8th) player froze the Red Sox centerfielder. He recovered and made a leaping grab for the out, however, there may be something about the sun and background that makes it difficult to pick up a hard shot straight at the centerfielder.The wheels came off the Snappers wagon in the 9th. Frank Mata came on to pitch with the score 4-3, Red Sox. Mata had been an excellent short reliever in 2004, however had surgery and missed all of 2005. It is remarkable how much he looks like Carlos Silva on the mound. Perhaps a bit shorter, however, a very similar build. The leadoff hitter hit a ball up the middle that Yancarlos Ortiz made a nice play to get to, however, threw the ball up the line towards home for an error. That runner stole second prior to the next batter being walked. A wild pitch put runners and second and third, and a passed ball brought in a run with the other runner advancing to third. The third batter struck out, however, was safe at first due to another passed ball. The next batter actually did strike out for the first out. That was followed by a double scoring the second run and a hard shot to second that came out of Thompson's glove for an error. With one out and three runs in and the day getting late, the Red Sox left the bases and the Snappers came up for their half of the 9th...as I said, sometimes things are a little loose in spring training. It should be mentioned that Leger came in to catch in the 6th and this may have been his first game action as a catcher.Was an interesting day on the mound for the Snappers. Joe Nathan had a 1-2-3 first followed by a two run second. Adam Hawes came on and threw the second, third and two outs of the fourth, allowing another two runs on 3 hits, 2 walks and 1 strikeout. Hawes is a good sized pitcher who has good velocity on his fastball and an incredible breaking ball that he was continually throwing for strikes. Ryan Mullins came on with two outs in the 5th, striking out the #3 hitter with a runner on 3rd. Mullins continued to pitch 3 more innings with a final line of 3.1ip, 0 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and 2 strikeouts. Mullins appeared to throw hard, but not overly hard...he seemed to be an experienced pitcher who knows how to pitch. Was hitting his spots and didn't appear to be working hard. A couple soft flies in the 6th, a couple weak infield grounders and another late swing fly to right in the 7th, followed by another infield grounder and two flies to right in the 8th and Mullins sat down. Was a very nice performance by another very good looking lefty...how many good lefties does this organization have? One final thing about Mullins is that he has a very unusual leg kick in his delivery motion. Kinda similar to someone cocking a gun, don't recall ever seeing anything exactly like it.Yancarlos Ortiz led off the game for the Snappers with an excellent bunt down the first base line. He has remarkable speed and the play wasn't even close. After flying out to left in the 3rd and striking out in the 6th, Ortiz got a nice one out single in the 8th and came around to score the Snappers third run on a sacrifice fly by Jilmer Arratia who came on in the DH1 spot for Sanchez in the 6th. Arratia also had a double into the right field corner in the 6th, driving in Mark Robinson who had hit a single to right batting for Josh for Land (Robinson had a double in the 8th when he dropped a lazy popup just fair down the LF line). One of the reasons I wanted to watch the Snappers rather than Ft. Myers (who had Johann Santana starting...and a lot more fans watching) was that I wanted to see Danny Santiesteban play. After striking out in his first at bat, Danny hit a hard shot over the center fielder's head in the 5th with one on and two outs. Danny also made two perfect throws, hitting the cutoff man on both. Other offensive highlites would include a hard single into the left field gap by catcher Caleb Moore in the 2nd and another single up the middle in the 5th, scoring our first run from first when Santiesteban hit his double to the center field fence. Moore is not as big as I would have envisioned him, but looks like he is a real good hitter. Josh Land contributed a double and walk in his two plate appearances. Finally, Henry Sanchez hit a couple solid foul balls, however, ended up grounding to the pitcher and watching a called strike three in his two at bats.The game started promptly at 1:05 and finished close to 4 o'clock. Was cool and windy with the wind blowing out. A nice drive back to Naples in time to meet friends for dinner. We are off to the Twins game today vs. Tampa Bay. Bon will appreciate sitting in a stadium with actual seats rather than bleachers.Roger
Hi Seth,Before I get to yesterday's game, how bout those Badgers. Our women beat the Gophers for the National Championship and the men are on to Milwaukee and the Frozen Four. Congratulations to a good friend, former Olympian and NHL'er Mark Johnson. He has done a wonderful job coaching the Badger women. An interesting side note is that when Jeff Sauer retired and Mike Eaves got the men's head coaching job, everyone thought that Mark (who had been Sauer's top assistant) would be leaving Madison. Mark and Leslie have a large family with all their kids at various stages of grade and high school. Mark chose to keep his family in Madison rather than disrupting the kids with a move...and took the women's coaching job. I am certain there are times he wishes he were a head coach in the WCHA or perhaps in the pro's...but I expect he knows that he made the right decision for his family.Now, yesterday's game. The highlights were Brad Radke's first inning, Tony Batista's three excellent defensive plays at third, Lew Ford's dramatic play in right field which ended up as a triple, Lew Ford's hustle getting the Twins back in the game, Luis Castillo's continued professional at-bats, Joe Mauer's rocket shot over first for a triple, and Angel Garcia dominating three starters in the 9th. The low lights were Nick Punto's putred throw on what should have been a routine play, our total lack of doing anything against their 6'9 lefty after the first inning, Brad Radke's second inning, Lew Ford not making what would have been a spectacular catch above the wall, Tony Batista's several poor at-bats, and Jason Kubel being overanxious in the bottom of the ninth...swinging at the first pitch for the final out.It appears that when Kubel is brought in as a sub with one or two at bats or to pinch hit, he is not as effective as he is when starting and getting 3-4 at bats during the game. This may be because he hasn't played for over a year...and could be a reason to get him to AAA for a month or two where he can play every day with 4-5 at bats without the pressure of a big league race. On Saturday he started and went 2-4, yesterday, he did not look good in his two at bats when he replaced White at DH late in the game.Tony Batista made three of the better plays I have seen in awhile. The first was a play to his left that he picked up the ball and threw off balance to first while still running straight towards second. I expected the throw to pull Tiffee off the bag, but it was right on target for the out. The next play was a slow dribbler to third that he charged, barehanded the ball and made another accurate throw. His throws doen't appear to be cannons (such as Cuddyer's strong arm), but they are reasonably hard and every throw he makes seems to be a chest high strike. The final play was a hard hit ball down the line, I would think 3-4' fair. He made a nice backhanded stop a step to his right and fired another strike for the out. He doesn't have great quickness, however, seems to get to balls to his left that I wouldn't expect him to. And his arm is very accurate. With that said, I don't know what difference playing on the fast Dome infield will make. On the other hand, his stance is weird and he appears to have a slow bat...can't see where his power comes from.Jason Tyner came on in the late innings and got two very key hits. Don't know what their plans are, but this kid can and should be in the major leagues. Has absolutely no power, but seems to continually get clean singles with an occassional double or triple in the gap or down the line. A fast outfielder who can play all three positions, I look for him to go to AAA and will return in September at the latest...assuming he resigns, I look for him to be on the 2007 roster.Jay Sawatski came on to pitch an inning late in the game. The lefty closer was at Ft. Myers last year and is currently working with the New Britain group (will be lots of changes as players move around this last week). He has an unusual delivery, as he extends his arm straight behind him in his wind up...with it almost stopping while extended straight towards second base. Yesterday, he got absolutely pounded by the Devil Rays who had kept their starters in for the entire game. Sawatski had a phenominal beginning the first half of last year followed by a so-so second half. He doesn't throw hard and granted, he was pitching against major league starters yesterday...however, he will need to step it up if he is going to be successful at AA.After Sawatski put the Twins in a hole, Angel Garcia threw a spotless 9th. He is a big kid (listed at 6'7, 230 in the media guide) who is every bit as big as the listing. Throws hard and appears to have a good off speed pitch. Pitched at Beloit last year doing well when he was healthy, however, spending some time on the DL which has been the problem for the past several seasons. Is currently listed on the Ft. Myers roster. But when healthy, this kid who was a #2 selection in 2001 immediately after they selected Mauer, could dominate. Last year (November, 2004) the Devil Rays selected Garcia as the #1 selection in the Rule 5 draft...returning him to the Twins rather than keeping him on their roster for the entire season. This year the Twins drafted Jason Pridie (OF) in the Rule 5 draft from the Devil Rays. Was there a reason Garcia made his one appearance of the spring yesterday against Tampa Bay? Is there a deal in the making with us sending Garcia to TB, therefore keeping Pridie and sending him to AAA? In my opinion, it appears we have lots of guys like Pridie (Tyner, Deeds, Romero, Torres, etc). Based on the inning I saw this kid pitch yesterday, I would keep Garcia in my organization as he is only a 22 year old kid with what appears to be a very lively arm.One tidbit from the stands. Prior to the game I was talking to ex-Twin minor leaguer and ex-Gopher Brian Raabe's dad who was sitting directly behind Bon and I. Raabe is now a banker in Forest Lake, works part-time with a couple other ex-players in a baseball camp, and has a part-time position and draws some compensation from the Twins (didn't say what that means). Anyway, he made a comment that Terry Ryan was considering moving Scott Baker for a shortstop. My thought was that if they moved Baker it would be for a third baseman...but he said no, the discussion had been for a shortstop. Don't know if there is any validity to this comment, however, through his son he has a direct line to the people in the front office who make these decisions.Today we are off to Marco Island and hopefully a nice lunch somewhere on the water. Tomorrow it will be back to the minor leagues, Wednesday I believe we will see Silva start and Liriano in relief, then home on Thursday. Hope all is well up on our Northern Border,RogerAny thoughts on the Twins minor leagues, or do you have any specific things that you would like Roger to look for at the minor or major league camp, let him know by leaving some Comments below, or Send me an e-mail.