Parmelee has been destroying AAA pitching this season, and if there was a spot for him to get regular playing time with the Twins he would assuridly be up with the big league club. Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer are sharing the duties at first, with Mauer and Ryan Doumit behind the plate and all three of them plus Josh Willingham sharing the DH duties there is just NO ROOM for CP up in Minnesota.  Parmelee struggled mightily early in the season for the Twins (.194/.278/.320 in 38 games in the first half), but Brunansky and Ingraam worked their magic on him. Can they do the same with Dozier?

Dozier’s defense has not been great this season, his range has good (in the top 3 in the AL in range factor/game) and he’s only committed 6 fielding errors…but he’s also committed 9 throwing errors. For a guy who already has a somewhat suspect arm for a short stop, when he gets to the balls in the holes, the Twins need to see him make good throws. A total zone rating of -6 is not something the Twins can afford from their everyday SS. I think Dozier’s arm is good enough for him to stay at shortstop, and from what I’ve seen this year his range and defense are not the problem, but his problem at the plate leaves something to be desired.

Twins shortstop Brian Dozier stretches out for a ground ball. Photo Credit: Jesse Johnson-US PRESSWIRE

Dozier has struggled to take walks this year, something he has shown ability to do in the minors (.350+ OBP the last 3 seasons in the minors). This year with the Twins Dozier has 58 K’s to go with only 16 walks, that’s not very good. I fully expect to see Brian back with the Twins after the Rochester season ends, and to be in the mix next season when the Twins report to Ft Myers for spring training, but he will need to get his bat going if he wants to be the Twins everyday shortstop again in 2013.

We might see this guy again very soon. Photo by Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

Despite the Twins’ lowly 5-9 start to the season, recent wins at New York and Tampa have given fans a glimmer of hope that the team might be competitive. Still, there are some rough edges on this Twins squad, and at some point they will need to call on some minor leaguers to fill holes or give them a boost. While Rochester and New Britain’s rosters are not stocked with potential superstars, there are a couple of players who could help, and they are almost ready to burst through the door into the Major Leagues.

In Rochester, lefty starter Scott Diamond has impressed in his first three starts. The 25 year old has earned a quality start in all three attempts, and he owns a 1.47 ERA in 18.1 innings with 14 strikeouts. Diamond did not allow a run in his first two trips to the mound against Syracuse and Pawtuckett, but he did surrender three in his last start versus Scranton Wilkes-Barre. Scranton is a hostile environment, filled with paper salesmen and deranged beet farmers, so we can forgive Diamond for that one.

Diamond’s struggled last season with a 5.56 ERA at AAA and an unimpressive performance in his stint with the Twins, but those struggles might be an anomaly. Before 2011, he had never posted an ERA above 3.50 in a full minor league season. In 2010, he earned a 3.46 mark between AA and AAA and struck out a respectable 7.0 batters per nine innings. He’ll never be ace material, but with luck Diamond could develop into a decent number three or four starter. That would certainly help the Twins feel better about trading fireballer Billy Bulluck to the Braves in order to keep him.

The Twins’ rotation has been the biggest weakness by far, and if things do not improve post haste, they will need to turn to Rochester for answers. Given his early season success and the fact that he is on the 40 man roster, Diamond has to be the first in line for a callup. He was set to make another start versus Lehigh Valley today, but rain intervened and postponed it a day. If Diamond shuts down the opposition again tomorrow, it will become increasingly difficult to keep him off the Major League team, especially if Francisco Liriano (scheduled to pitch Sunday in Tampa) delivers a fourth consecutive terrible start.

At the plate, Rochester middle infielder Brian Dozier got off to a sweltering start. Last Saturday, after he slapped two hits against Lehigh Valley, Dozier’s average stood at .441. He has since cooled down a bit, but he still owns a .310/.375/.466 line that would seem to erase all doubts about whether he could continue to hit the way he did in 2011. Dozier was one of the last players cut from the Twins during Spring Training. According to manager Ron Gardenhire, Dozier just needs to fine tune his approach to ground balls, and he’ll be ready for the Majors.

There are more obstacles in Dozier’s way than in Diamond’s. First, he is not on the 40 man roster, which means that Minnesota would have to drop a player from the roster in order to bring Dozier aboard. Earlier this week the Twins caused a minor firestorm by designating Luke Hughes for assignment. That move shows that the Twins do not have anyone they consider expendable on the 40 man roster right now; if they did, they would never have risked losing a hitter like Hughes. That could change, of course, if a Twin suffered an injury and had to hit the 60 day Disabled List. The other obstacle is that calling up Dozier would speed up his arbitration eligibility, a move that could cost potentially cost the team millions of dollars a few years down the road. If Dozier gets called up early in the season and becomes one of the top 17 percent of 2012 rookies in terms of service time, he would be eligible for arbitration after the 2014 season rather than 2015. Thus, his arrival could be delayed a few weeks. But if he continues to hit, that delay may become much shorter.

One other notable player who may make an appearance soon is Deolis Guerra. As recently as last summer, Guerra seemed to be speeding down the highway to Bustville. But then the Twins shifted him to the bullpen, and suddenly a new pitcher was born. Guerra, who had never posted an ERA below 4.89 in four previous seasons with the Twins, has been virtually unhittable this year. In six outings totaling 10.2 innings, he has struck out 10 batters against only one walk, and he has allowed only one run.

Guerra is on the 40 man roster, so that will not be a problem preventing his advancement to the Majors this season. He would probably need a stop in Rochester along the way; Guerra did see some AAA action in 2010, but that was before his rebirth as a reliever. Fortunately, the Twins might be able to afford to wait for him. In a development that is nothing short of shocking, the Twins’ bullpen has been quite effective so far.

Despite the obstacles, all three of these players are turning heads, and it would be a safe bet that all three will don a Twins uniform at some point in the season. Hopefully they will continue to play so well that the Twins are forced to speed up their arrivals in Minnesota.

This leads to some potentially interesting questions. Is Rochester the best option for the Twins’ AAA team? Do the Twins want to explore other options? While we’re at it, do the Red Wings want to explore other options?

Rochester's Frontier Field is home to the AAA Twins. But for how long? Photo from http://www.milb.com/images/2008/12/04/oTx6DuYM.jpg

That last one may be key. A minor league team is a business just like any other sports team, and they need to try to make money from tickets, concessions, and merchandise sales. As with any other team, those revenues are usually higher when fans can go to the park and watch a team that usually wins its games (makes sense, doesn’t it?). The difference with a minor league team is that they are at the mercy of the MLB club as to which players they can put on the field to try to win those games. The past few years, the Twins have not exactly provided the Wings with a winner – they’ve dropped more than 90 games in back to back years. Furthermore, some have speculated that other teams like Toronto and the Mets might want a team in upstate New York, so there could be some competition for the Red Wings.

The Red Wings are one of the oldest teams in professional baseball, having been founded back in 1877 (24 years before the franchise that is now the Twins). According to their website, they even spent a season in the Majors in 1890, back when the American Association was considered a Major League. Usually only minor league players get called up to the Majors, so that’s quite an achievement for a whole team!

The Twins have had a contract with Rochester since 2003. Prior to that, the spent a couple of seasons with the Edmonton Trappers. The Trappers became an Expos affiliate, then they went kaput after 2004, just like Montreal did. Before Edmonton, Minnesota had a team in Salt Lake City from 1994-2000 (the Salt Lake Bees used to be the Portland Beavers, who were also a Twins affiliate).

So where would the Twins go if they parted ways with Rochester? There are quite a few possibilities. According to the source linked above, there are 14 AAA squads whose contracts are set to expire after 2012. Along with Rochester in the International League, Buffalo, Indianapolis, Lehigh Valley, and Pawtucket are up for renewal. In the Pacific Coast League, Albuquerque, Fresno, Iowa, Las Vegas, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans, Oklahoma, and Reno run out at the end of the year. Some of those cities are almost certain to stay with their parent clubs. Pawtuckett, for example, is just an hour away from Fenway Park, and that city has never hosted any team other than the Red Sox. On the other hand, it is not unusual for a AAA team and an MLB team to part after a long relationship. Before the Twins came to town, Rochester had been an Orioles affiliate for over 40 years.

There are a couple of Midwestern teams in that list. A Midwestern affiliate would probably cut down on travel costs and make it more convenient for the team brass to keep an eye on their prospects. A closer team would also make it easier for dedicated Minnesota fans to get in the car and take a road trip to a AAA game. Iowa, right next door, would be a great fit if the Twins could somehow talk them into abandoning their 30 year relationship with the Cubs. Indianapolis has no such lengthy relationship with the Pirates, so that might seem like a possibility. Las Vegas and New Orleans are big enough to be MLB cities, so their might be some advantages to putting a team there. On the other hand, there might be too many distractions in those places that would make it too easy for prospects to get into some off-the-field trouble.

I have to admit some bias here – I live on the West Coast, and I’d be thrilled to see the Twins move their AAA operations to the Pacific Coast League. My city of Sacramento hosts the Athletics’ affiliate, the Sacramento River Cats, so if the Twins got a PCL team, I’d be able to see them visit town at least once per year. I’m sure there are some East Coast Twins fans who feel the opposite.