Kuzul

Brian Dozier played his last game of the 2012 season on August 12. A year later, he has become the second-best player on the Minnesota Twins.

During that game, the Twins had a 3-2 lead over the Tampa Bay Rays entering the 10th inning. Alex Burnett loaded the bases with one out with the speedy Desmond Jennings standing at third, threatening to tie the game.

Jeff Keppinger hit a grounder to Dozier, who at the time was a shortstop. Dozier was presented with two options: Throw home and try to prevent the run or throw to second baseman Alexi Casilla to try and turn a double play.

Dozier opted for a third option, throwing to Justin Morneau at first. Jennings inexplicably sauntered home, tying the game, and the Rays exploded for four more runs in the tenth, putting the game out of reach.

The demotion

Dozier stood in front of his locker following the loss and defended his decision, saying that he was playing regular depth and Jennings is one of the fastest players in the league. He acknowledged that he could have gone for the double play, but it was a slow-roller.

“I could have tried to go to second, but to be honest, like Alexi said, there’s no chance. There’s no chance.”

He paused.

“And, to be honest with you guys, a smart infielder makes sure he gets and out right there.”

He said he was 100 percent certain that he could not have gotten Jennings at the plate. “My one little thought as I’m catching it was—it’s almost an impossible play on a slow roller—was to come back to second base as I caught it.”

Manager Ron Gardenhire said that he talked to Dozier about the play after the game.

“I got what his thoughts were,” he says. “He had good thoughts.

“Your two potions are to try and turn a double play, in my opinion, or go home. I just wanted to know his thoughts on the play. He’s out there; we’re not. Everybody has an opinion on where he should have thrown the ball, but I’m going to back my player here.”

Dozier sat in his chair outside his locker long after the interview was over, staring at the ground. After a few minutes, while the media lingered, waiting for starter Scott Diamond to emerge from the showers, he called over longtime Star Tribune beat writer La Velle E. Neal to discuss the situation once again.

Diamond finished his interview quickly and left a vacant room, save for Dozier. The loss had kept everyone outside of the locker room—nobody wanted to talk about it.

Dozier was still sitting, staring at the floor, in an empty room, when the media went back up to the press box.

Two days later he would be sent down to the minors.

“We were really trying to be patient because we know with a young player and a rookie he’s going to have his ups and downs,” said assistant general manager Rob Antony about the decision to option Dozier, “but it just got to the point where we felt it was better for him…to go down to Rochester and try to get his game in order.”

“It’s pretty tough, to be honest with you,” Dozier admitted, “but I know that I haven’t been playing good baseball, not what I’m capable of playing.

“I don’t want to be some .230, .240 hitting shortstop. I feel that I can be an offensive threat. I know I can.”

He would not be recalled in September.

Vast improvement in sophomore season

In the offseason, Dozier changed his number from 20 to 2, taking departed centerfielder Denard Span’s old digits, and had moved from shortstop to second base.

He immediately clicked with Pedro Florimon and proved to be a much better second baseman. His average runs saved per year per 1200 innings improved from 2 in 2012 to 13 in 2013 (per baseball-reference.com) and he reduced his errors from 15 to 3.

At the plate, Dozier’s numbers do not look much better—he hit .234/.271/.332 last season and is currently hitting .245/.315/.428—but the numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Dozier struggled in the beginning of the year, hitting .190/.227/.286 in May, hovering around .240-.250 in June and July and then exploding with a .327/.390/.712 line in August.

He not only believes that he is not a .230-.240 hitter, but that he can be a leadoff hitter with a high average.

“I got into a big slump in the beginning of the year as far as average,” he admitted recently, “[but] I believe I can turn the page. Hopefully in the near future, I’d like to be a .300 hitter.”

He said because he got into such a hole early in the year, he is just focusing on having good at-bats, but that appears to be working out well for him.

“What got me in a little trouble last year was taking my at-bats to the field and vice versa,” he says. “Some people say if you make a great play, take it into offense or something, but you have to have a light switch on offense and defense—you have to separate it completely and do it one at a time.”

ESPN1500 contributor Brandon Warne writes that in addition to great defense, Dozier has become the second-best player on the Twins because he made an adjustment after nearly being no-hit by Anibal Sanchez of the Detroit Tigers on May 24.

According to Warne, he spent that night and most of the next day working with hitting coach Tom Brunansky on planting his feet in order to plug some holes in his swing.

Since May 27, when his season OPS bottomed out around .500, he has hit .271/.355/.504 with 10 home runs, raising his total to 12—good for second on the team behind Justin Morneau, but ahead of Trevor Plouffe, Josh Willingham and Oswaldo Arcia.

Dozier has come a long way in a year and, ironically, has been hotter than ever at about the time that he was sent down last season. Twins Daily blogger Nick Nelson justifiably called his rookie season a disaster and wondered aloud if he would ever be an impact player in Minnesota.

“[When] you consider that Dozier was given an incredibly long leash, isn’t all that young and was never an exceptional prospect to begin with,” he wrote, “it’s pretty tough to dismiss his initial struggles as a fluke.”

Nelson was not the only person questioning his ability last year, but as the 2013 season has unfolded, more and more people are rocking Dozier’s No. 2 and he is making believers out of even the harshest of critics.

It’s amazing what a position change and another year in the majors can do.

Sympathy for Hicks and Diamond

While Dozier has been hotter than the Mississippi sun, rookie Aaron Hicks and third-year player Scott Diamond froze up like Target Field in April and were sent down at the beginning of August.

Hicks and Diamond had dichotomous paths to the majors.

Hicks was Minnesota’s first round draft choice in 2008 and was fast-tracked through the majors, never having played a game in Triple-A. Twins hitting coordinator Bill Springman called him a combination of Denard Span and Ben Revere—two players that the Twins dealt in the offseason, making room for Hicks on the team.

When he reaches his potential, the Long Beach native who passed on a scholarship to USC to join the Twins should have Span’s prowess at the plate and Revere’s range in the field.

Diamond, on the other hand, joined the Atlanta Braves as an undrafted rookie out of little-known SUNY-Binghamton in 2008 and was left unprotected in the Rule 5 draft, allowing Minnesota to swoop in and take him.

Like Hicks, Diamond struggled in his first season, going 1-5 with a 5.08 ERA in 2011, but established himself as the team’s best starter last year with a 12-9 record and 3.54 ERA. His ERA+, which adjusts for park size, jumped from 80 to 117.

His ceiling was always questioned, however, because as a soft-throwing lefty he did not have lights out stuff required to be an ace in the league. At best, he is a Jamey Moyer-type pitcher and probably will end up being a No. 3 starter in a functional rotation.

Both demotions came as a surprise to Twins fans. Diamond was considered the only sure thing in the rotation entering the season and the team was expected to give Hicks a long leash.

Former Twins outfielder Torii Hunter struggled early in his major league career, never hitting above .250 until his third season in the league and taking until his fourth year to earn an OPS+ of 100 and the expectation with Hicks, who entered the season with Hunter-like expectations, the thought was that he would have a lot of leeway to work with.

Defense was a focus for Hicks entering the year and, for the most part, he was pretty solid in the field. He provided a few highlight reel grabs and one famous run-in with Gardenhire.

He struggled at the plate, though, and while he his .280/.308/.400 June was promising, his .192/.259/.338 average was not high enough to keep him in the majors in August.

“You have to be able to produce and produce on a daily basis,” he acknowledged. “The past couple of weeks I haven’t been producing really well.”

Diamond knew that he wasn’t contributing either and felt that another stint in Triple-A could help his confidence and allow him to have more success getting deeper into games. He had only gone six innings in three starts since May 7.

“I have to face the facts that I haven’t been pitching well, haven’t been executing, haven’t been putting hitters away,” he admitted. “I really just haven’t given our team the best chance to win. If you’re not impacting the team and contributing at all, you don’t deserve to be here.”

Dozier drove Diamond to the airport on the morning of August 3, a day after he had been demoted, and had a long talk with him about what he used to do right.

“He got called up when I did in May (of 2012) and he was outstanding,” said Dozier in reference to Diamond’s second go with the Twins, “He was our best pitcher and so he’s had success. He just got away from the basics this year and he knows that.

“He feels he wasn’t attacking hitters like he always did and that was a big part of the conversation—attacking hitters. He was just trying to nibble, nibble, nibble and then you find yourself 3-2.”

Dozier also had a conversation with Hicks before the centerfielder left for Rochester. He feels that some time in Triple-A will help him work out kinks in his game and that it will open his eyes a little bit, letting him know that he has to work really hard in the majors to stay on the team, even with how naturally talented he is.

“He definitely has a lot of tools,” says Dozier, “but you see guys each and every day that have tools up here. What separates you from being a Triple-A player to the big leagues is being consistent.”

A major league player always throws to the right bases and knows when to take, when to swing and when to bunt in any given situation.

“I was a prominent example,” says Dozier. “If you do those things: Draw more walks, get more guys over, get your sac flies, you start to see on-base percentage and your average go up and everything. It’s a funnel. It’s one after the other.

“You have to be a total baseball player, really fundamentally sound. That’s what separates you.”

Dozier became that complete, or at least a more complete, player this year and, safe to say, with Hick’s natural talent he can be too.

Conclusion

Dozier’s improvement after his August demotion should be a good omen for Hicks and Diamond. Both players possess plenty of talent and have had their fair share of success at the big league level, but they also have multiple issues to work through down in Rochester.

Very few people saw the potential in Dozier last season, just as fans may now write Diamond off as a Rule 5 fluke or Hicks as an over-hyped prospect.

If we’ve learned anything though, it is to reserve judgment on a player. Dozier looks like he can be, at the very least, a strong defensive second baseman that can hit .280 with power. Diamond is capable of being a No. 3 pitcher in the rotation if he attacks hitters and Hicks has the talent to be a strong defensive outfielder that will vie with Dozier for the leadoff spot.

All three players were upset about being sent down, but sometimes an August demotion can do wonders for a player.

Just ask Brian Dozier.

All quotes were obtained first-hand.

Tom Schreier covers Minnesota sports for Bleacher Report and is a contributor to Yahoo! Sports.

Follow @tschreier3

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

If you’re a relief pitcher in the outfield bullpen and want to get a highlight, you need to get creative. Minnesota’s Jared Burton was up to the task.

No, a bullpen brawl did not erupt just as as the baseball sailed over the fence in the second inning of Friday’s double-header between the Twins and White Sox. 

According to Phil Miller of the Star Tribune, “When Chris Colabello swung at the John Danks’ second-inning pitch in Game 1, Brian Duensing jumped up in the Twins’ bullpen and yelled at Jared Burton, ‘C’mon — Punch me! Punch me!'”

They had reportedly been planning the prank for a long time, and we’re glad they did. 

Hat tip to NBC Sports for the GIF and the Star Tribune for the insight. 

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

There are three players that would bring in significant returns, and make headlines, if the Minnesota Twins traded them before the July 31 deadline: first baseman Justin Morneau, closer Glen Perkins and outfielder Josh Willingham.

Moving Morneau would mean putting a franchise player that has sold myriad No. 33 jerseys (and some No. 27s for the hipsters) in a different team’s colors—something that would be a poor public relations move.

Believe it or not, dealing Perkins might be worse. He is from Stillwater, went to the University of Minnesota and could easily be the long-awaited heir to Joe Nathan in the ninth (sorry Matt Capps…).

Finally, the fact that Willingham is still in a Twins uniform irks many fans. The 34-year-old slugger hit a career-high 35 home runs last season and could have brought plenty in return. Now he is injured and unlikely to bring much in return.

There are other players that could be dealt, and they will be addressed in the article, but for the most part the Twins are a young team and there is not much here that will bring much in return, so the team is better off holding on to the rest of their guys for right now.

Justin Morneau, the franchise player

Here is why this is a bad public relations move:

In the early 2000’s—in between the time that people thought the Twins were going to be contracted (2002) and built Target Field (2010)—there was a feeling that Minnesota would be a perennial contender in their new park.

It wasn’t far-fetched. After that drought from 1993-2000, the team had dominated the AL Central, could spend more money with the new ballpark instead of having to always do more with less and, most importantly, the team had two superstars: Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau.

The M&M Boys.

Mauer and Morneau were going to turn the Twins into Cardinals North—a small market team that, against all odds, beats all the big market teams in Major League Baseball.

(Quick aside: I always tell my friend, who is St. Louis native and a die-hard Cards fan, that Missouri is the south, not the Midwest. BAD IDEA. People from St. Louis are adamant that it is NOT the south.)

By trading Morneau, the team is admitting defeat.

People will remember how the 94-win team that opened up Target Field in 2010 became a 60-win team the next year.

They will remember that Minnesota got Carlos Gomez, jetsam and flotsam for Johan Santana.

They will remember that Gomez was traded for J.J. Hardy and then Hardy was subsequently traded to the Baltimore Orioles for magic beans.

They will remember that Hardy went on to be a hard-hitting shortstop while the man that replaced him, Tsuyoshi Nishioka, became one of the biggest busts in Japanese import history right behind your 2011 Toyota Camry that had an electrical failure.

Most of all, they will remember that the Twins traded Wilson Ramos, a potential backup for Mauer and his aching knees, for Matt Capps who served up more meatballs than Chef Boyardee.

Holding on to Morneau is the right call.

It is not just the fact that he is a fan favorite or that he is the second half of the M&M Boys or that he’s also from the Great White North. It’s that the Twins probably won’t get much in return for him.

Morneau has hit a few bombs this year, but Brian Dozier, Chris Parmelee and even Joe Mauer have more home runs than him. He could get that home run swing back, but at this point Morneau looks like a guy that will hit .300, drive in a few runs while playing first base.

He’s still valuable to the Twins, make no mistake about that, but general manager Terry Ryan and his men will not get enough in return to it to be worth trading him.

The baseball nerds will go nuts about this, saying Morneau isn’t worth what the team will have to pay to keep him in town, that some crazy statistic like xFIP, BABIP, UNICEF or CONCACAF says they should trade him for a second-tier pitching prospect, a couple maple bats and Ty Wigginton’s jock strap before he has less value than the Canadian dollar.

The only team that might overpay for Morneau is the Toronto Blue Jays. Although British Columbia and Ontario are completely different geographically, the Jays might want to bring the Canadian across the border. If the Twins can go international and get a solid return, then they should pull the trigger.

Otherwise, they should hang on to Morneau. I’m not trying to knock knowledgeable baseball people or advance statistics here, but No. 33 is closer to people’s hearts than any other number can measure.

Odds of moving: 15 percent

Glen Perkins, the hometown kid

Here is why the Twins should keep Perkins:

This is his home!

As a Shoreview native, I’m a little biased towards Minnesotans, but it isn’t like I’m begging the Twins to call up Cole De Vries. I’m asking them to hold on to one of the best closers in the game.

That’s not to say that I’ve ignored that Perkins is from Stillwater, played for the Gophers or is childhood friends with Mauer. But that is important! There are only four players from the Land of 10,000 Lakes playing in the bigs and three of them—Mauer, Perkins and Caleb Thielbar—are playing in Minneapolis. (Jack Hannahan is the Prodigal Son. He will eventually return.) Localization is huge in a small market! He’s ours!

Perkins has dominated hitters in the ninth by pumping 95 MPH fastballs at them and keeping them honest with the slider. He has a sub-2.00 ERA with 20 saves. His WHIP, which essentially measures a player’s heart rate, is 0.765. That’s good. (See baseball nerds, I don’t hate you and your fancy stats!).

Best yet, Perkins is under team control until 2016.

Unless the Twins get Miguel Cabrera for him, they should keep Perkins right where he belongs: In Minnesota!

Odds of moving: 10 percent

Josh Willingham, the late bloomer

Here are a few interesting facts about Willingham:

He went to the University of North Alabama, in his hometown of Florence, which had a Division II baseball program.

He was drafted in the 17^th round of the 2000 draft, played for the Miami Florida Marlins before they had color in their uniforms and the Washington Nationals when they were the Natinals.

Oh yeah, and at age 33 he hit a career high 35 home runs.

People are absolutely tweaking out that Minnesota didn’t trade him last year when he had good value. It seemed like a win-win: Willingham was signed for a bargain at three years, $21 million and could potentially bring them a few good pitching prospects in return. Plus, the outfield was getting crowed with Oswaldo Arcia, Chris Parmelee and Aaron Hicks.

Here’s the problem with dealing Willingham one year into a three-year deal: They will never get another bargain like him. While it happens, it is a bit dishonest for a team to ask a player to commit to them for three years and trade them after one.

Willingham also has a lot to offer as a veteran in a young clubhouse. He has also been a mentor for Trevor Plouffe, who exploded for 24 home runs last year.

On the other hand, he is not worth much on the open market right now. His left knee has given him trouble and after a cortisone shot and some time off, Willingham went under the knife.

The surgery was deemed a success, but the now 34-year-old outfielder will be on the disabled list for four-to-six weeks—meaning he won’t play again until long after the trade deadline.

For right now, it looks like the Twins will keep Willingham.

It’s not all bad, he still leads the team with 10 home runs and, hey, they can always deal him next year!

Odds of moving: 10 percent

Others

Minnesota could also deal Kevin Correia and Trevor Plouffe, but it doesn’t make much sense.

Correia has shown an ability to go deep into games and has thrived in the Junior Circuit after spending the first 10 years of his career in the National League. Because he has played well and isn’t worth too much on the open market, Minnesota would be wise to take the good pitching for another year and deal him next season.

Plouffe hit 24 home runs last year and is under team control until 2017. Yes, everyone knows that super-prospect Miguel Sano is a third baseman and the crack of his bat can be heard around the world, but there is no need to rush him to the majors and ruin his development.

Even if Sano comes up next season, Plouffe can always play a hybrid outfield-DH role with the team. It’s worth doing for a cheap player that possesses the power Plouffe does.

I know, I know, this article is kind of boring because I’m not putting anyone on the trading block, but consistency is key in baseball—especially with a young team. It’s better to allow everyone to grow and keep the producing players around than to scramble everything just for the sake of doing so.

That’s just rearranging the deck chairs in the Titanic and while this team may have hit an iceberg three years ago, there is a lot of young talent in Minneapolis and it doesn’t hurt for them to have some old guys talk to in the clubhouse during a slump.

Sometimes the best move is not to make a dumb one.

Tom Schreier covers Minnesota sports for Bleacher Report and is a contributor to Yahoo! Sports.

Follow @tschreier3

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

There are many ways to show your fandom of anything in this world. Quoting a movie word for word, knowing the complete backstories to every character on your favorite TV sitcom or drama, citing lyrics of a deep cut of your favorite artist, or watching your team’s games even though it has no shot at postseason play.

The Minnesota Twins are one of those teams. I’ll admit I haven’t been the most loyal Twins viewer over the past couple weeks with the NBA Finals and Stanley Cup being on, but now all we have left as sports fans is baseball.

As a side note, the NFL returns in less than 70 days.

So let’s look ahead at what might happen in the second half of 2013 with a prediction for every member of the Minnesota Twins.

While reading, keep in mind this deep-cut lyric from Bruce Springsteen’s “Living In The Future”:

“Don’t worry, darling. No, baby, don’t you fret. We’re living in the future and none of this has happened yet.”

Stats current as of Thursday, June 27.

Begin Slideshow

In my mind, Chris Parmelee is like a baby Trevor Plouffe. This is confusing, of course, because the latter is occasionally referred to as Babe Plouffe due to his ability to hit the long ball (and because of his Ryan Gosling looks). Plouffe, by the way, is a baby Josh Willingham. All three players are selective with what pitches they hit, occasionally get beaned and are power hitters at heart.

Willingham, of course, is nobody’s baby because he is all that is man. Willingham is the master; Plouffe and Parmelee are his disciples.

So, just to keep everything straight: Parmelee is 25, Plouffe is 27 and Willingham is 34, or as the good book says, “Willingham begat Plouffe who begat Parmelee.”

It may be hard for people to believe that I am comparing Parmelee to Plouffe. After all, Plouffe hit 24 home runs last year and Parmelee hit five. But there are similarities that go beyond their bats.

Plouffe is a converted shortstop that spent time in right field before settling in at third base. Parmelee spent most of his time in the minors playing first base, but moved to right field in order to accommodate Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer.

Parmelee raked in Triple-A, hitting .338/.457/.645 with 17 home runs in Rochester and put up similar numbers at all his stops in the minor leagues.

Two years ago, at age 23, he was brought up directly from Double-A—where he hit .282/.355/.416 with 19 home runs in two seasons—and killed it in his short big league stint. He hit .355/.443/.592 with four homers in 21 games.

Things slowed down a bit for Parmelee last season. He split time between Rochester and Minneapolis, hitting only .229/.290/.380 with five home runs in 64 games at Target Field. He spent 38 games at first base but had to move around the outfield in order to keep his spot on the team.

Parmelee has had spurts of greatness this season. He hit a bomb against the Orioles in Baltimore that probably landed in a different area code. He has played 60 games already and has similar numbers to last year—.223/.302/.346 with five home runs.

“I feel good at the plate,” he says. “The numbers aren’t where I’d like them to be. I’ll do whatever I can to get the runners in, get a run over—hit some balls hard and hit some soft ones for hits.”

“It all evens out at the end of the year.”

Parmelee is being pilloried for those numbers. While fans tend to acknowledge his ability to hit home runs, they say he hits too many squibblers that stay in the infield and too many fly balls right at fielders.

NBC’s Aaron Gleeman writes, “[The] jury is very much still out on whether Parmelee is part of the future anyway,” while acknowledging how well he played in his debut and during his stint in the minors.

In short, there is a feeling among many fans that Parmelee can take care of business in the minors but struggles to produce in the big leagues. The “Quad-A” label has been thrown around from time to time.

Take a look at Plouffe, though. He did not play at age 23, like Parmelee, but he batted .146/.143/.317 with two home runs at age 24 in 2010 and .238/.305/.392 with eight homers the next year at age 25. At that time, people were saying the same thing about him: He’s a great minor league hitter, but can’t produce in the majors.

After all, Plouffe reached Triple-A at age 22 but spent six seasons at that level. While his numbers were impressive (.261/.316/.449 with 47 home runs), they did not mean much unless he could replicate them in the big leagues.

Last season, however, Plouffe hit 24 home runs with a .235/.301/.455 line and probably would have hit 30 if he had not had a nagging thumb injury that set him back immediately after a hot streak. It is no coincidence that that production came both when he entered his prime at age 26, but also when the team assigned Willingham to a locker spot next to his.

This year, he is hitting .264/.344/.457 with five homers. But the injury bug got him again. He suffered a concussion and then had his calf flare up following an eight-game hit streak, but Plouffe returned to face the Tigers on his birthday and hit a home run to celebrate.

Safe to say, I think he’s doing just fine.

Here’s the similarity between the two Southern Californian sluggers: At age 25, people thought they were “Quad-A” players. But, remember, as soon as Plouffe entered his prime, at age 26, his production jumped.

And, for the record, Parmelee’s locker is right next to Plouffe’s.

The biggest difference between Plouffe and Parmelee is that it was the former’s bat that kept him in the lineup, where Parmelee’s defense is likely to keep him on the field.

Parmelee has an incredible ability to play the ball off the wall, which compliments his arm strength and allows him to throw players out at second or relay a ball to home plate.

“He works really hard at it,” says manager Ron Gardenhire. “He’s got quick feet, and he’s got a nice spin that’s under control—he’s very accurate with his throws.”

“That throw to second base is one of those throws where, if you play it off the wall well, he’ll have a lot of chances [to throw people out].”

Parmelee primarily played first base in the minors and people questioned his ability to man right field when the Twins placed him there this season. “It’s interesting that the Twins are using Parmelee in right field,” wrote Gleeman last year. “Because he figures to be below average there and played zero innings in the outfield for Rochester.”

Parmelee’s biggest asset in the field is his ability to play the ball off the wall; a task is more difficult than it appears.

“The wall here, it’s really tough,” says Gardenhire. “There’s a lot of things out there that it can hit.”

“It seems like there are 15 different surfaces out there, with the limestone fence, wood, padding, tin—a little bit of tin, concrete,” says Parmelee.

Yes, there is a little bit of tin in right field.

“Where the scoreboard is in right-center, the big screen, right above it is almost like a rain sheet of tin,” he continues. “Every once and a while, it’s pretty rare, but you see a ball come off that and just die.”

All the surfaces play differently. If the ball hits the scoreboard, it goes straight down. If it hits the concrete, it jumps farther than it would if it hits the padding. The wood is somewhere in between. The limestone fence is a complete wild card.

“It’s definitely repetition,” says Parmelee. “Sometimes there’s not much you can do about it. It’s just knowing how the ball is going to go.”

“If you know that the ball is going to hit the plywood, repetition tells you how hard it is going to come off and where you need to be.”

Every park has a unique design, so when Parmelee goes on the road, he will take time during batting practice to practice playing balls off the wall.

“We’ll have a guy, usually Scottie Ullger, our outfield coach, he’ll hit balls down the line just to see how [they play],” he says. “Just because sometimes stadiums come to a point and sometimes they curve, so during batting practice we’ll get out there on the first day and throw some balls off the walls.”

“He fields balls off that bat,” says Gardenhire. “He takes a lot of pride in it and that’s a start.”

Parmelee says he has the AL Central parks down for the most part, but playing in an unfamiliar park, like when they traveled to D.C. to play the Washington Nationals in the beginning of June, is particularly difficult.

“The places you go the least,” he says. “You definitely have to do a bigger refresher course.”

As soon as he finished his sentence, Willingham, who had just received a cortisone shot in his knee, walked by and gave him a purple nipple. Parmelee froze for a few seconds, waiting until he thought Willingham was out of earshot. “Ow!” he expressed in pseudo-anger, half chuckling as he said it. There was a smile on his face, but also a little wince once his shirt finally untwisted.

That too was a refresher course; a reminder that Willingham may be 34, may have just gotten a cortisone shot and may only be hitting .211/.352/.411 with 10 home runs, but he’s still the man around here.

All quotes were obtained first-hand, unless otherwise indicated.

Tom Schreier covers Minnesota sports for Bleacher Report and is a contributor to Yahoo! Sports.

Follow @tschreier3

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

Player: Logan Shore

Drafted by: Minnesota Twins (No. 860 overall)

Position: RHP

DOB: 12/28/1994

Height/Weight: 6’2”/190 lbs

Bats/Throws: R/R

School: Coon Rapids (Minn.) High School

Previously Drafted: N/A

Background

The University of Florida “Gator Nation” extends far and wide and has it’s tendrils in cities and towns all across the country. Thanks to Logan Shore, “the Nation” now also includes Minnesota. The Gators fought hard for Shore’s services, and thanks to his two-way capability, they’re getting a heck of a deal.

Shore is one of the top two-way players in this year’s class, but he’s likely to end up on the mound as a pro. Minnesota’s high school season begins in late April, so most teams have yet to get a real good look at Shore, but those who have have witnessed an incredible athlete capable of producing easy low-90s heat. Shore became the first freshman in Coon Rapids High’s history to make the varsity squad.

Full Scouting Report

Note: Numerical scores are on the conventional 80-point scouting scale, with the current score first and projected score second.

Body/Mechanics: 

On the mound, Shore has a fairly easy delivery. He utilizes a slow but relatively high leg kick. Has a quick release. Has a lithe, athletic frame. Should be excellent at fielding his position. Could stand to put on a little more weight. He’s an incredible athlete who plays shortstop and third base when he’s not on the mound. Shows fluid fielding motion. Shore’s mound presence is a definite plus as well. He has the mentality of an ace when he’s on the hill. He hit a rough patch during his junior campaign when he was felled with a lingering back injury.

Fastball: 55/65

Clocked in the 90-93 mph range; touched 94 mph on occasion in 2012; has no problem carrying velocity deep into games; pitch has some definite life and some sinking power; locates the pitch real well, especially down in the zone; should be a ground-ball machine; really tough for hitters to make consistent contact against his fastball; pitch has above-average potential.

Curveball: 45/60

Shore’s curve is his most developed breaking pitch; more of a cross between a curve and slider; has great sweeping action; has been his out-pitch during his prep career; velocity varies, but usually sits 74-79 mph; will need some definition in order to be a usable weapon at the professional level.

Changeup: 40/55

Has shown the makings of an above-average changeup; incredible movement on the pitch; needs more experience throwing the pitch to make it a usable offering; rarely has had need to use the pitch; control of change is limited at best.

Control: 45/60

Fastball is the only offering he has a real handle on; curveball and changeup are works in progress; both offerings should get better with more usage; can paint fastball pretty much wherever he wants, especially down in the zone.

Command: 40/55

Again, command of fastball is light-years ahead of his other offerings; could benefit from pitching in college; would allow him to sharpen command of all of his pitches, especially breaking ball; won’t ever be more than a middle reliever without improving command.

MLB Player Comparison: Alex Cobb

Projection: Ceiling as No. 3 or 4 starter; more likely career reliever.

MLB ETA: 2019

Chances of Signing: 30%

Few schools have been as determined to keep their top recruits as UF, and it’s actually had a pretty good retention rate the past decade. Shore’s passion for both aspects of the game, hitting and pitching, leads one to believe he’ll be headed to college where he can better decide the path he’d like to take. If he can bring along his secondary pitches and improve command of all his offerings, he could emerge in three years as a sure-fire first-rounder.

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Every year, I make the proclamation that this is the year the Kansas City Royals contend. Every year it turns out the same way.

Again the Royals have fallen on hard times, losing 14 out of their last 17 ballgames.

The Minnesota Twins, on the other hand, have hit a little bit of a hot streak by winning seven of their last 10 ballgames and pulling within 4.5 games of the first-place Detroit Tigers.

Sure, the Twins are still four games below .500, but they are within striking distance of first place. The question is, how long will they stay there?

The first step for the Twins is to dominate this Royals series.

On Tuesday, the Twins start a three-game set against the Royals in Kansas City, and it is absolutely crucial to sweep this series if the Twins want to be in the conversation at least until the All-Star break.

We are all set enough in reality that we know there’s not a really good shot that the Twins can win this division, but they have the ability to at least string us along for another month or so.

It requires a sweep of a struggling Royals team in Kansas City. That would give the Twins a good chance of closing in on the first place Detroit Tigers, who are starting up a series with the 31-25 Tampa Bay Rays.

After the Kansas City series, the Twins have a three-game series in Washington against the Nationals, then play at home versus the Philadelphia Phillies before the Detroit Tigers come into town for three as well.

The Twins are staring in the face of nine straight games against opponents who are under .500.

It’s time to put up or shut up.

If the Twins want to contend, they need to win a lot of ballgames over the next ten days.

It may seem like an obvious statement to make, win ball games, but this is your alert to tune back into the Twins if you checked out after that horrendous losing streak.

Tune in and watch a little ball. If you live in Minnesota, it’ll help make it feel a little like summer since the weather sure hasn’t.

If you really want to be proactive, buy some tickets for June 14-16 when the Twins take on the Tigers at Target Field.

Who knows? That might just be a weekend-long battle for first place in the American League Central.

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The Minnesota Twins‘ process of rebuilding their farm system will take another giant step next week when Major League Baseball conducts it’s annual June amateur entry draft.

A year ago, the Twins hit on many of their picks as Byron Buxton, Adam Brett Walker and D.J. Baxendale have had tremendous seasons in the lower levels of the Twins’ system.

In order for the team to turn around its fortunes at the major league level, it will need to have a similar draft to provide hope and depth at several positions of need.

To do that, the Twins will explore several options at the fourth overall pick and hopefully land a similar impact player like they did by drafting Buxton second overall a season ago.

Begin Slideshow

Buster Posey, Buster Olney and Buster Bluth from Arrested Development are all pretty successful Busters. Even Buster Brown, both the comic strip and the musician varieties, are on the list of top Busters. They are not on the list of busts, which is nothing like being a Buster.

A bust is simply defined as something or someone that had high expectations put upon them and did not meet those marks.

We’ve all been a bust once in twice in our lives, right?

But we’re not here to talk about my failures…unless this article goes horribly wrong. No, we are here to talk about the busts that have occurred in the Minnesota Twins’ draft picks.

This list focused on the last 20 years of Twins first-round draft picks. Stats are from each player’s respective Baseball-Reference minor league profile page.

So what are we waiting for? Just bust a move and click on that begin slideshow button.

Begin Slideshow

The Minnesota Twins have a sticky situation where they have a lot of players that can hit the ball for power, but few that can hit for average. On top of that, sluggers like Trevor Plouffe, Ryan Doumit and even Justin Morneau have gone through slumps this year.

The one player that does hit well for average, Joe Mauer, topped out at around .360 early in the 2013 and has recently dropped below .300.

In order to get the most out of its roster, Minnesota must make adjustments that will give guys days off and get other players at-bats.

The following are a few lineups manager Ron Gardenhire could use in the near future.

The Chris Parmelee at First Base Lineup

I think Parmelee is Plouffe’s long lost brother. Not only are they both in their mid-20s, from California and begin their last name with the letter P, but both players also hit for power, not contact.

Plouffe is currently hitting .229/.330/.446 with four home runs and five extra base hits.

Parmelee is currently batting .209/.300/.337 with three home runs and two extra base hits.

The former may be playing a little better, but Plouffe is also two years older than Parmelee and has gone on a tear recently, batting .286/.444/.786 with two home runs in May.

On the other hand, former MVP Justin Morneau is batting .238/.250/.286 with no homers this month and is looking like a shell of himself.

Parmelee is currently playing in right field, but has played first base and could move there to give Morneau time off. It would also give Minnesota the option of putting Plouffe in the outfield and starting either Eduardo Escobar or Jamey Carroll at third.

This is how that lineup would look:

Brian Dozier, 2B

Joe Mauer, C

Josh Willingham, DH

Chris Parmelee, 1B

Trevor Plouffe, RF

Oswaldo Arcia, LF

Aaron Hicks, CF

Eduardo Escobar, 3B

Pedro Florimon, SS

The Ryan Doumit at Catcher Lineup

I intentionally left Doumit out of the first lineup because he is slumping.

This year, he’s hitting below the Mendoza Line (.198/.270/.284) with zero power (no home runs, seven doubles). Last year, he hit .275/.320/.461 with 18 homers and 34 doubles in a career-high 134 games after coming over from Pittsburgh.

He is still a good defensive catcher, however, and as much as Mauer is willing to catch just about every game, he needs flexibility to play first base, DH or take a day off.

This also would allow Minnesota to go with two traditional table-setters at the top of the lineup and give Hicks the chance to move up in the order.

This is how that lineup would look:

Brian Dozier, 2B

Aaron Hicks, CF

Josh Willingham, LF

Justin Morneau, 1B

Chris Parmelee, RF

Trevor Plouffe, 3B

Ryan Doumit, C

Oswaldo Arcia, DH

Pedro Florimon, SS

The Murderer’s Row Lineup

I was texting with my friend from St. Louis the other day and he was listing off the Cardinals lineup. I laughed when I saw it, responding that it was all beef and no speed.

Mike texted back, saying that it was 100 percent American (this is the kind of guy that wraps his hot dogs in bacon and tucks them between ground beef).

The Twins players prefer to call this lineup Murderer’s Row.  Or at least Brian Dozier does. When the Mississippi native says it, it sounds so awesome that I can’t possibly call it something different.

So, without further ado, here is the Murderer’s Row:

Brian Dozier, 2B

Joe Mauer, C

Josh Willingham, LF

Justin Morneau, 1B

Chris Parmelee, RF

Trevor Plouffe, 3B

Oswaldo Arica (or Ryan Doumit), DH

Aaron Hicks (or Wilkin Ramirez), CF

Eduardo Escobar, SS

Conclusion

By just looking at stats alone, Minnesota’s lineup doesn’t look that impressive. Hicks is still well below .200, Doumit and Morneau are slumping and Parmelee and Plouffe are not hitting for average.

In fact, the Twins are in the bottom third of the league in terms of runs scored.

Actually sit down and watch the games, however, and you’ll notice that Hicks is getting more selective at the plate, Plouffe is hitting to opposite field (and with men on base) and Dozier packs a little more punch than you’d expect.

In short, there are a lot of improving players on this team, which leaves the Twins with a lot of options on game day and gives baseball fans in Minnesota a reason to believe that this team is going to turn it around sooner that everyone expects.

Tom Schreier covers Minnesota sports for Bleacher Report and writes for TheFanManifesto.com. Visit his Kinja blog to see his previous work.

Follow @tschreier3

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