Puckett's Pond » Danny Rams

Twins Cut Nine Players

Fri, 16 Mar 2012 02:28:16 +0000

Lester Oliveros has been cut. It's a good thing the Twins don't need relievers! Photo by John Rieger-US PRESSWIRE

Bad news for pitchers Aaron Thompson, Tyler Robertson, Deolis Guerra, Lester Oliveros, and Scott Diamond and hitters Oswaldo Arcia, Steve Pearce, Danny Rams, and Darin Mastroianni. Those nine men will officially not make the Twins roster out of Spring Training, as they have been cut by the team. Arcia has been placed on the Fort Myers Miracle roster, Guerra, Oliveros, Diamond, and Robertson have been sent to AAA Rochester, and the others are going to the minor league camp to compete for positions.

Noted football coach Homer Simpson once said that cutting players is “the easiest part of any coach’s job,” but I’m sure it’s a little tougher for Ron Gardenhire and the rest of the Twins staff this year, since they have well over 60 players and can only take 25 north in April. On the plus side, after today’s 17-6 pounding at the hands of the Pirates, there are quite a few Twins pitchers who must be very grateful the team didn’t wait a few hours to make the cuts!

It’s a bit surprising that Oliveros was cut so early in the spring. I doubt that the cut was based on his performance in Fort Myers; he picked up the save yesterday, and he has given up just one run in three innings to go with four strikeouts. And it isn’t as the team thinks he lacks potential, since the 23 year old with a lively fastball was obviously high enough on the Twins radar to be worth trading Delmon Young for. Oliveros put up a respectable 4.05 ERA in 13.1 innings of work for the Twins late in 2011, long after Minnesota’s season was lost. Despite the cut, we have not seen the last of Oliveros. He is too talented, and the Twins’ bullpen situation is too weak, for him not to get a chance. Barring injury or an unexpected meltdown, Oliveros should get a call to the Show some time before early summer.

I also thought that Mastrioanni would get a longer look. Trevor Plouffe is not exactly an exciting option as the primary backup outfielder, and Mastrioanni’s ability to play center field should have kept him in the running a little longer. He’s basically a younger, more talented version of Jason Repko, and if Repko could stay on the Major League roster for two seasons, why not Mastroianni?

Arcia, Robertson, and Rams are still considered prospects, and none of them were a threat to make the Twins, so this is not really a setback for them. Guerra is also a prospect, one who thrived last summer after being switched to a relief role. Some might have considered him a darkhorse candidate to win a bullpen slot. He still may make an appearance with the Twins in 2012, but a poor showing this spring (15.00 ERA in three innings of work) did nothing to improve his chances.

MLB 2012: Twins Prospect Challenge

Paul Pleiss — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 09:00:15 +0000

Credit: Derick E. Hingle-US PRESSWIRE

Last week I reported on the origins of the Pleiss brothers’ Twins prospect challenge. A year into the process, a year that saw eight Twins make their MLB debuts, Eric and I decided to make a change to the prospect challenge. A quick review of the rules for the prospect challenge, in case any of you here on the Pond want to join: Each person gets to select a position player for each position, three RHP and three LHP. Any player chosen who debuts in MLB within three years of selection will earn one point. The person with the most points each year is declared the winner. Last year I picked Scott Diamond as one of my selections, and as a Rule-5 draft pick, he was virtually guaranteed to get called up to the Twins for his MLB debut when theyheaded north out of Ft Myers. To prevent easy pickings like this, and to put more emphasis on projections and predictions we made a very simple, and yet very challenging rule change. Going forward, no prospect who has played above AA is elligible for selection in the prospect challenge. In addition to the rule change, a year of following prospects and REALLY following the Twins from the top of the organization on down, I learned a lot that I’ll be putting to use for this year’s prospect challenge. (more…)

2011 Prospect Challenge

Paul Pleiss — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:45:04 +0000

July 10, 2011; Phoenix, AZ, USA; World pitcher Liam Hendriks during the 2011 Futures Game at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

Last year my brother Eric (@ERolfPleiss) and I made a trip down to Ft. Myers to see the Twins play a couple games and get our eyes on some of the up and coming stars of the organization. A couple weeks before the trip we each purchased a copy of Seth Stohs’ (@SethTweets) prospect handbook to help acclimate ourselves with the guys who would be wearing the high numbers at Hammond Stadium. As we worked our way through 170 pages of prospect goodness we each found ourselves drawn to different players and we began exchanging phone calls, e-mails, texts and tweets about who we thought would be the next big thing in Minnesota.

After a few of these discussions we decided the only way to settle the debate was to put our predictions down on paper. The winner would be declared the Pleiss family prospect guru and would be entitled to a case of beer at the losers’ expense. The rules for the first year were pretty simple, each of us would choose a player for each position around the diamond along with three right-handed pitchers and three left-handed pitchers. One point would be scored for each of the chosen players who made their MLB debut within three years. Follow the post after the jump to see which players Eric and I choose with our 2011 selections…

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