Minnesota Sports Forum

I think Danny Santana has a good chance to be a keeper at SS. All the tools are there. Two triples today too. Looking at his NB numbers last year and he produced there as well. Didn't I read somewhere that Florimon was hurt? Any chance Santana makes the opening day roster? 22-years old, but hey, if you deserve it you deserve it.

Camden wrote:I think Danny Santana has a good chance to be a keeper at SS. All the tools are there. Two triples today too. Looking at his NB numbers last year and he produced there as well. Didn't I read somewhere that Florimon was hurt? Any chance Santana makes the opening day roster? 22-years old, but hey, if you deserve it you deserve it.

He's got a chance, cam, but it would be unusual for a SS to skip over AAA. Gardy loves him though...says his improvement in the past two years is "night and day". There are two things he needs to work on. Making routine plays in the field (averaged 29 errors per year past three years) and plate discipline (doesn't take many walks). By all reports he made great strides in these areas in the Dominican this winter. One thing we know about the guy is he can flat out fly...10.6 seconds to get to third on his first triple today! Santana says he's almost as fast as Buxton.

Floriman had his appendix out 10 days ago, but he's already hitting in the cage so Santana is going to have to beat him out. My best guess? Santana makes an error or two in ST and gives the Twins a good excuse to start him at AAA. I think he's our SS of the future though, and with him hitting 9th and Buxton leading off, that will be a lot of speed in the lineup back to back.

Camden wrote:Correia had three scoreless innings against the Jays. The Vanimal pitched three scoreless innings today. Good stuff.

Good to see the Vanimal start out strong after his 25 pound off-season weight loss. Our pitching looks like it could be deep this year (said LST with his typical March optimism :) ). Lots of opportunities for mid-season trades.

LST, do you know anything about Kennys Vargas aside from his stats? Guy looks like he could be our 1B of the future (I realize Mauer's here, but still). Impressive minor league work. Still young.

Camden wrote:LST, do you know anything about Kennys Vargas aside from his stats? Guy looks like he could be our 1B of the future (I realize Mauer's here, but still). Impressive minor league work. Still young.

I didn't follow him until I saw a photo of him this spring.....huge man! Kind of David Ortiz size, and apparently when he hits home runs in batting practice, they go a long way. I agree that he has a chance to be our 1b of the future. He's been around for awhile, but still is only 23. I like the fact that he hits more home runs every year as he moves up. Good average too, but needs to cut down on his K's.

His walk rate is pretty good for a strike out guy though LST 50 walks last year to 105 strikeouts. He's interesting prospect because he seems to get better and better. Wasn't he suspended for 50 games like two years ago for banned drug that speeds up your metabolism?

Nice article about Vargas in this morning's Star Tribune. He's good friends with Big Papi, and Ortiz is mentoring him. Eddie Guardado says he has more power than Big Papi did at his age. It's gonna be interesting to watch this guy develop.

Jester, I think he did have some issues with a drug he was taking to lose weight. Ortiz is telling him he will need to control his weight to succeed.

Good to see Buxton get his first home run...he's been struggling at the plate this spring. No such thing as a routine ground out for him...he is greased lightening on the base paths.

Very good outing for Hughes too. One hit and one walk in three scoreless innings, and only needed 38 pitches.

Update on the starting rotation. The suspense on the number 5 starter is all but over. The Vanimal and Diamond have been terrible, and Deduno has been lights out. Lavelle's tweet yesterday: "Deduno: three innings of nastiness. No hits, one walk, 2 strikeouts". I think Deduno may be poised for a special season.

On the other hand, the club isn't hitting at all, and there are too many questions in the lineup. Injuries/illness have kept 3 potential starters (Hicks, Arcia and Florimon) out of the lineup, so CF, RF and SS are question marks. Gardy's love affair with Suzuki leaves us with a catcher who can't hit. Spring is supposed to be a time for optimism, but I'm having a difficult time getting excited about our offensive potential.

Earlier in ST we were slapping the ball around pretty nice. Apparently that's fallen off. And I always had Deduno as a lock for the rotation out of spring if he was healthy. It's Pelfrey I'm worried about when regular season starts, but you already knew that. :thumb:

At least Joe still looks like Joe at the dish. MauerForMVP??