Thread: What would the 25 man roster look like? What do you think?

Hughes is not bad defensively at second. Maybe last year was an aberration, but he was ok at first and second last year.

The reverse of 3 should happen for Nishioka. I maintain that they need to get the most value of the second half of his contract. This means starting him in Rochester so he plays every day instead of pinch-running every game. Also, if Carroll gets hurt midgame, Casilla can move over and Plouffe can be involved as well.

It is known that Butera and Rivera are not valuable major league catchers. The choice should be between Towles and Lehmann until later in the year and Chris Herrmann.

I like Nick's roster but now that Zumaya is out who replaces him. Terry Ryan is looking to go find someone internally who will this be? Also, will this move everyone else up the bullpen pecking order and move the new guy in to mop up last guy in duty?

Lineup:
CF Span
SS Carrol
C Mauer
1B Morneau
RF Willingham
DH Doumitt
3B Valencia
2B Casilla
LF Revere

Bench:
UTIL: Plouffe
UTIL: Nishioka
UTIL: Hughes
C: Butera
IF: Burroughs

Starting Rotation:
1: Pavano
2: Baker
3: Liriano
4: Blackburn
5: Marquis

Bullpen:
CL: Capps
SU: Perkins
LH: Duensing
RH: Burnett
RH: Manship
RH: Swarzak
RH: Doyle

Exciting. Would like to see a power arm( Guerra, Oliveros, etc.) make the bullpen out of camp, but unlikely til an injury occurs. Also, would like to see Hendriks break into that rotation by June. I think if we are 10 + games out in June, we will see Hendriks, Parmalee, Benson, Guerra all in Minneapolis for the remainder of the season.

Well, twinscowboysbulls, you have 26 guys, but everyone is hitting on the issues of 3rd/4th bench players (depending on Hughes' availability, I think he's a lock if healthy) and the last three bullpen slots (with Capps, Perkins, Swarzak and Duensing).

1. Carry that 3rd catcher (Butera)? Nishi? I think it's Plouffe and Hughes, Nishi and Burroughs, no 3rd catcher right away. If Doumit handles the backup catcher role 40x/year (can "framing a pitch" be taught at this point?) with Joe healthy, we don't need Butera, and he can't pinch hit, so he's useless. So in situations last year where we would have used Butera (Mauer day off, Mauer on 1st, Mauer DH), we can put Joe on 1st and have Justin DH, or give Joe a day off, Plouffe can DH, Joe is the available pinch-hitter late. The situation that we then avoid is having Joe be a DH on his days off - he either needs to play 1B or take the day off, so that blue moon scenario of losing the DH if Doumit gets hurt while Joe is DH doesn't happen. If Justin can't play 1B every day, I still think between Burroughs, Hughes and Doumit we can cover 1B and Justin can DH a lot. If he can't even DH, then we need Parmelee, but he just takes Justin's roster spot.

Plouffe is backup in right/left, with Revere the backup in Center with Plouffe moving to left - I don't see Gardy moving Willingham around. Then with Hughes, Nishi and Burroughs, you ensure that Plouffe never plays infield again, gives you a little replacement speed with Nishi, gap power with Hughes and Burroughs, and at least a chance for a late-inning pinch-hit homer from Plouffe.

2. Last 3 bullpen spots - I think Manship is more long relief and I don't see us carrying two of those guys. So it's Burnett, Doyle and Oliveros with plenty of guys knocking on the door. I do think Gutierrez will see time relatively early in the season as we'll need someone to handle late-inning RH situations, and I don't trust Burnett, Doyle or Oliveros to do that, though Perk's splits against RHers is pretty good, and Duensing could be a LOOGY in late innings plus start a LH-heavy inning even if that's the 7th or 8th.

I like one of Burton, Bulger or Oliveros to take Zumaya's spot. My gut tells Oliveros is the guy, but the "experts in the locker room" types like LaVelle seem to love Bulger. Should be fun to watch it all play out.

As long as Hughes is healthy and/or Burroughs is ready to backup 1b, I don't think we need a 3rd catcher. If Mauer or Doumit have to play 1b more than once a week, I'd rather see Butera up here than Parmalee, at least at first. Yes, Butera can't hit worth a damn, but we know he can catch. Parmelee has only played 20 games at the Major League level and NONE at AAA. I think he would benefit a lot more from starting in Rochester instead of rushing him straight to the Bigs.