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Twins Sign the O-Dog


The Twins have finally started addressing some of the pressing offseason needs, albeit rather late in the offseason.  Adding Jim Thome gives manager Ron Gardenhire a power lefty bat off the bench as well as a potential designated hitter candidate.  The Twins made an even more significant move on Thursday night, signing second baseman Orlando Hudson to a one year, 5 million dollar contract.  The O-Dog is a significant upgrade over whatever Nick Punto-Alexi Casilla experiment the Twins were planning on using.  Hudson bring with him four gold gloves, as well as a very solid bat.  While Hudson is by no means a star, he will bring consistency, defense and veteran leadership to a club that has struggled to make a deep run in the playoffs in recent years, despite having a very talented roster.  Looking over the Twins depth chart, it seems that third base is the only hole in the field that they need to fill, if they want to avoid the Brendan Harris-Danny Valencia experience.  Hudson is another cheap and savvy move by one of the consistently best run teams in baseball.

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Twins Sign Jim Thome


The Twins made their first big free agent move of the offseason, signing veteran slugger Jim Thome to a one year, 1.5 million dollar deal.  The Twins were desperately looking for some depth, power and experience to add to their bench and Thome fulfills all three of those needs.  While Thome is certainly past his prime at the age of 39, he can still provide the Twins with timely, clutch hits and a veteran presence in the clubhouse.  Twins manager Ron Gardenhire called Thome, “a great player, a great hitter and great for our clubhouse.”  Last season, Thome was able to post 23 homer runs and 74 RBIs in a mere 107 games.  While Minnesota has Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel firmly entrenched at first base and designated hitter respectively, Gardenhire will find ways to get Thome’s dangerous bat into the lineup.  As of right now, it looks as though Thome will have to do most of his damage as a late-inning pinch hitter and occasional spot starter.  Even limited to a bench role, there is no question that the future hall of famer will have a significant impact on the 2010 Twins.

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Twins Avoid Arbitration With Eight Players


The Twins entered Tuesday, January 19, with eight arbitration eligible players, including several who were integral cogs of last season’s squad.  However, by the day’s end, all eight had signed deals for the 2010 season.  Brendan Harris, the clubs 29 year old utility infielder, was the only player to sign a multi-year deal, earning 3.2 million over two years.  Carl Pavano rejuvinated his career in 2009 and saw a big jump in pay as a result, getting the most of the group with a one year, 7 million dollar deal.  Pavano will provide a veteran prescence in a young pitching staff in 2010.  Delmon Young finally started to live up to his massive potential last season and saw his salary more than double to 2.6 million.  Young staked his claim to the starting left field job in 2009 and should continue to hold it down in the future.  Newly acquired J.J. Hardy saw the second most money come his way on Tuesday, getting a one year, 5.1 million dollar deal.  Hardy will compete for the starting shortstop job in spring training.  Francisco Liriano was an absolute disaster in 2009, but his potential alone was enough to earn him a raise from 430,000 dollars to 1.6 million.  The Twins will look for Liriano to regain his 2005 form in 2010.  Three of the Twins’ most valued relief pitchers, Matt Guerrier, Jesse Crain and Pat Neshek, also earned significant raises.  While Neshek is returning from ligiment-replacement surgery, Guerrier and Crain will be looked to to anchor the Twins’ bullpen with Joe Nathan and Jon Rauch.

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Twins Invite 14 Non-Roster Players to Spring Training


The Twins took another step towards formulating their opening day roster by inviting fourteen non-roster players to spring training.  Among those chosen were four pitchers, three catchers, three infielders and four outfielders.

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Ranking the Twins Top 30 Prospects: #16-#15


16.  Rene Tosoni, Outfield – Tosoni is a very well-rounded player, who lacks any distinct weaknesses in his game.  However, he also lacks a truly dynamic strength and is stuck behind four other outfield prospects in the Twins system.  He has no distinguishing tool like Ben Revere’s hitting, Aaron Hicks’ athleticism, Angel Morales’ raw power and Joe Benson’s defensive ability.  Tosoni is also at least two years older than all four of the players I just mentioned, and is at least three years older than quickly rising prospects, Max Kepler-Rozycki and Michael Tonkin.  He was selected in the 35th round of the 2005 draft and has been a favorite of Twins’ management, relying on excellent fundamentals and grit rather true ability.  2007 and 2008 were typical years for Tosoni as he posted a strong batting average but little power.  However, 2009 brought about a change in his hitting approach.  Despite never having hit more than three home runs in a year before, Tosoni ended 2009 with 15 at double A.  But, usually a high batting average hitter, he struggled to a final number of .271.  Tosoni is a good enough prospect that he definitely has value, but is overshadowed by a very talented group of outfield prospects.  If he stays in Minnesota, don’t expect him to get much of a chance, but if he is used as a trade chip, Tosoni could be productive for another ballclub.

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Ranking the Twins Top 30 Prospects: #18-#17


18.  Josmil Pinto, C-DH – Pinto entered the Twins organization as a undrafted free agent out of Venezuela in 2006.  After two less than spectacular seasons, Pinto was no more than an afterthought in a shallow Twins talent pool.  However, superb offensive performances in 2008 and 2009 have seen him burst onto everyone’s radar now.  Pinto has demonstrated that he is a very gifted hitter, posting batting averages of .329 and .332 in the last two years respectively.  Never considered much of a power or speed threat, Pinto surprised some in 2009, swatting 13 home runs in a mere 205 at bats.  One of the biggest concerns with Pinto is his lack of a true position.  He started out as an outfielder and was eventually converted to a catcher, but it is widely believed that he profiles best as a designated hitter.  While Pinto has proven that he can dominate rookie level ball, he still needs to prove that he can produce in the upper reaches of the minors.  Still just 20, Pinto should continue to improve, although the Twins will have to make a decision on whether to add him to the 40-man roster relatively soon.  Look for him to begin 2010 in class A, with a possible promotion to class A advanced at midseason.

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Ranking the Twins Top 30 Prospects: #20-#19


#20.  Ben Tootle, Pitcher – Tootle is the first on this list of the four highly regarded pitching prospects that the Twins selected in the first three rounds of the 2009 draft.  The 2009 draft represented a return to fostering high upside pitching talent for Twins management, and Tootle is a perfect example of this new philosophy.  Tootle doesn’t have imposing size, but has a live arm with two already plus pitches.  His curveball is probably the best in his repertoire, but also has a good fastball that sits at 94-95 mph and can reach 99 mph.  Tootle is relatively small in stature, but has a crazy leg kick, from which he is able to generate much of his power.  He went to Jacksonville State, and while his numbers weren’t dominant, he went in the third round due to his potential and projectability.  Tootle’s biggest issue throughout his college career has been with his command, and the Twins hope that they can cure his wildness and harness his talent.  While Tootle has dynamic stuff, it is difficult to rank him because he has only pitched 6 innings at the professional level.  Albeit, those six innings were quite impressive, netting zero earned runs in six relief appearances.  Tootle is also an enigma because it is unclear how the Twins plan to use him.  A closer in college, there have been rumblings that the Twins might try to turn him into a starter in the minors.  Whatever the case, Tootle is a very intriguing arm in the lower levels of the Twins’ organization to keep an eye on.

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Ranking the Twins Top 30 Prospects: #22-#21


#22. Loek Van Mil, Pitcher – Van Mil is undoubtedly one of the most intriguing prospects not only in the Twins system, but also in the league as a whole.  Van Mil is just about as atypical a prospect as you find in the minor leagues: he was signed out of the Netherlands at the age of 20 and is over 7 feet tall.  The last three years have seen the Twins try to work with Van Mil to get him to reach his undeniable potential.  While he has progressed slowly, he proven himself at every level of the minors that he has reached thus far.  Van Mil has lights out stuff, but his size and inexperience contribute to random and severe bouts of wildness.  Despite his size, Van Mil has managed to work his way through the minors basically unnoticed, evidenced by his passing through the rule 5 draft in 2008.  2009 was his best year to date as he proved that he could consistently perform at the upper reaches of the minors, posting a 2.79 ERA across two levels.  Van Mil is likely to start 2010 at double A with promotions to triple A and the majors to come depending on his performance.  Twins’ management believes that Van Mil could ultimately be an important set-up man for them in the future as well as matchup hell for many major league hitters.

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Ranking the Twins Top 30 Prospects: #24-#23


#24.  Trevor Plouffe, Shortstop – Since being selected in the first round of the 2004 draft, and being awarded with a 1.5 million dollar signing bonus, Plouffe has struggled to distinguish himself in a system completely devoid of middle infield talent.  Despite his struggles, Plouffe is still the most advanced middle infield prospect in the entirety of the Twins system.  In fact, one of the primary reasons for the Twins’ big push on signing Miguel Angel Sano was their lack of young talent in that area.  While Twins’ management believes that he could one day demonstrate plus power for a shortstop, he has yet to show that thus far in his five year minor league career.  Plouffe spent all of last season in triple A, struggling to a .313 OBP, with a mere 10 home runs and 3 stolen bases.  However, what Plouffe lacks in offense, he makes up for in defense.  Plouffe possesses a cannon of an arm and can play above average defense at second base, shortstop and third base.  Twins’ management still believes that he can have a significant role on their team, evidenced by the fact that they added him to their 40-man roster last year.  Look for Plouffe to start off the season in triple A, with a promotion to the majors midseason depending on his performance as well as the play of Brendan Harris, J.J. Hardy and Matt Tolbert.     Plouffe should make it to the majors at some point in 2010 or 2011 as an infield utility man, but is unlikely to lock down a starting job with the Twins.

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Ranking the Twins Top 30 Prospects: #26-#25


#26.  Max Kepler-Rozycki, outfielder – Kepler-Rozycki is perhaps the greatest enigma in the Twins organization right now.  KR is a sixteen year old outfielder that the Twins signed out of Germany for an 800,000 dollar signing bonus.  That bonus is a record for an amateur player outside of the United States and Latin America, but the Twins believed enough in his talent to make the huge offer.  KR is as raw as they get, but has the potential to one day excel in all five tools: speed, arm strength, glove work, average and power.  In fact, one scout declared that “Kepler is the toolsiest kid we’ve ever had in Europe.  No question.”  The Twins signing of Miguel Angel Sano could have a positive effect on KR’s development as the spotlight will be shifted to the more heralded of the sixteen year olds.  It is very difficult to project how KR will actually perform in American professional baseball, and that is a large reason for why he is not higher up on this list.  KR is the ultimate unknown quantity.  He is blessed with dynamic tools and big time talent, but he is still extremely young and lacks any semblance of professional experience.  KR is certainly a guy for Twins fans to keep an eye on, but don’t expect to see him in the majors anytime soon.

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