Spring Training 2017

[longstrangetrip [enjin:6600564]]

I don't know...I'm baffled by the Park demotion. He had far and away the best spring of any Twin and by all reports was carrying himself with much more confidence and looking forward to a productive season...his slugging average was over .700 I think! And then we send him down and instead keep a marginal player (Grossman) with a gimpy groin. Just a bizarre choice. I haven't talked with one fan today that is on board with this move. I get that Park wasn't on the 40-man, but there were several moves the Twins could have made to amend that. I want to be excited about the new braintrust, but this doesn't help.

Who would you have let go to add Park? I think there are some...un worthy candidates. :)

Another question how exactly do you know that Park is a superior player to Grossman? Will Grossman be the guy he was last year when he was basically terrific all but one month with the bat? Idk I'm guessing he regresses but it may be worth finding out what he can do for now. That OBP was crazy good last year.

My son and I talked about this at breakfast yesterday (fully expecting Park would be the DH), and agreed Michael Tonkin should be let go. He was terrible last year, and has continued his ineptness this spring. I've never seen a fastball with less movement.

You're right, monster...we don't know that Park will be better than Grossman. But I think the preponderance of evidence is that Grossman is a journeyman and Park has huge potential. He put up great numbers in Korea, and recent evidence doesn't show that much of a drop off in production for players coming here from Korea. His first bad season ever was last season, when it turns out he had a broken hand most of the time the was in the bigs. He showed up this spring confident and healthy, and put up the kind of numbers he put up in Korea...and most of his production was against front line pitchers, not minor leaguers. And beyond hitting, Park is a plus defender at first while Grossman is an adventure in the outfield, and Grossman isn't 100% healthy with a groin injury. The word in town here is that Mollie really wanted Park and Wimmers, and is pissed that he lost the argument...it sure seemed like it in his interviews yesterday.

Edit: Actually, releasing Tonkin was our second choice. Our first choice was to return Rule 5 pitcher Haley to the Red Sox. I know teams don't like to admit failure and give up on Rule 5ers, but Haley is a wasted roster spot.

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Some good news and bad news yesterday on the minor league front. The good news is that one of my favorite prospects, Aussie Lewis Thorpe, appears recovered from TJ surgery. He had his third outing and looked sharp...I think he is a potential front line starter.

The bad news is very bad news, I think. I read somewhere that Nick Gordon is going to start the season at 2b in AA. He was supposed to stick at SS, so this is a signal that they didn't like what they saw this spring. With Dozier and Polanco better suited for 2b and no other strong prospect at SS in the system, this is not a good development.

[bleedspeed]

The plan must be to have Hunter Greene pitch and play SS.

So who is playing SS at AAA and AA? I hope you say Park in AAA. :-)

[Monster]

The plan must be to have Hunter Greene pitch and play SS.

So who is playing SS at AAA and AA?

I assume Veilma is playing SS at some level. The last I heard from multiple articles and people was they were playing Gordon at both SS and 2b. I don't really get why. Roy Smalley said that's what they were going to do and he didn't say it was weird or anything so maybe it's not nuts but it seems weird to me but what do I know.

[bleedspeed]

In Hunter we trust. (future Ace and SS)

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/hunter-greene-possible-no-1-pick-in-2017-mlb-draft-hits-100-mph-in-latest-outing/

[Monster]

LST my brother's list of guys they could take off the 40 man either to add players they have in the organization or otherwise (waiver) was in order Boshers Tonkin Santana and Adrianza. My feeling is they are going to give guys as much opportunity to prove themselves one way or another. I think some of the guys like Tonkin and Santana are on a pretty short leash. My brother and I have texted a lot about Santana. We both think he has talent but I'm in the camp that he hasn't shown much of anything in 2 years in any phase of the game. What is he good at? I think he could be first to go once Adrianza gets healthy or if another team dumps a more worthwhile versatile guy. My brother things they are looking for pitching more than postition players which also makes sense.