A Fan's Confidence...

Here's how I break down the 2010 Twins 25 man big league roster after a week of play. I'm rating the players (1 through 25...1 being the best) based on my confidence level as a fan that they'll succeed in a given circumstance...batting, fielding, pitching and/or miscellaneous.

1. Joe Mauer - He is just simply ridiculous. Premier player on both ends.
2. Justin Morneau - He seems to always falter at the end of the season, but he saves our team a lot of outs with some of his scoops on errant throws to first base.
3. J.J. Hardy - Too high...? No, he's got more range than Bartlett and a stronger arm. Anything he does in the 7 hole batting wise is a plus. I laugh when I think about Orlando Cabrera's fielding prowess (mostly lack of) after watching this guy play.
4. Denard Span - Solid all around. I don't think he's gotten off to the greatest start, but he still works counts as a leadoff hitter and his fielding is way above average.
5. Nick Blackburn - Doesn't have the greatest "stuff", but his knack for keeping the team in the ball game and also eats up valuable innings. He works fast as well.
6. Michael Cuddyer - I still think he's a guess hitter (and why teams don't continually throw sliders...I do not know), but even with that said he provides valuable pop from the right side, and his right arm out in the outfield is respected.
7. Carl Pavano - He battles his tail off (as Gardy would say)...he eats up innings, he may walk a few but he's pitching around the guy rather than not being able to actually find the strike zone like most of our pitchers struggle to do. He's a solid veteran pitcher that is very much needed in the starting rotation.
8. Orlando Hudson - A pretty good switch hitting bat in the number 2 hole. He hasn't been tested fielding wise, but staying in on the throw (while a sliding baserunner is trying to take him out) while turning the double play has been impressive.
9. Matt Guerrier - He's the Morneau version of our pitching staff. Starts off strong, struggles, then tries to regain his form towards the latter part of the year. Even with that said, he's the most consistent pitcher in our bullpen.
10. Jason Kubel - He could probably be a few spots higher, but I don't think he'll have the year he did last year. I don't believe he'll get as many fastballs served up to him now that he's a known commodity around the league. His performance in the Yankees playoff series from last year still has me down on him.
11. Jesse Crain - He was horrible last year. Yet, so far in the first week he's been really solid...he's got the best "stuff" by far out of bullpen. Guerrier has a nice breaking ball, but Jesse brings nastier pitches to the table.
12. Jim Thome - As a Twins fan...you're always skeptical about the old veteran that the team is bringing in. However, Jim Thome gives us quality at-bats with a good chance to give us even more pop in the line-up. He better keep doing this...because he really doesn't offer us too much more.
13. Scott Baker - One of the worst so-called "aces" of their team's staff. He doesn't have great stuff. He works at an extremely slow pace and it doesn't help that batters foul off thousands of pitches. He looks as if he's going to have a mental breakdown on the mound. All this adds up to a .500 pitching record...which isn't bad, but we've been waiting for this guy to turn the corner for about three years.
14. Kevin Slowey - I like him. I also don't think he has great movement or velocity on his pitches, but at least he seems to have a plan against the hitters...even if it doesn't materialize in his favor.
15. Jon Rauch - He's living on the edge like Eddie Guardardo in his save attempts. I think the move was smart and simple by the Twins to just have him assume the duties, but I just don't know how he'll handle the big boys (Yankees and Red Sox) when we're in the pressure cooker.
16. Delmon Young - I'm still not a fan of Delmon. He's been hot in the first week, but I still think he has some poor at-bats in clutch situations (swinging at first pitch when pitcher is struggling). The weight loss has helped some, but he's still a liability in left field. I've seen a runner take an extra base simply by how casually he approached a single hit right at him.
17. Brian Duensing - Mijares may want to watch out, before Duensing takes over the lefty late inning duties. Not powerful, yet works the corners with a variety of pitches. I like him...he came up big in some tight spots last year and has done so as well this year.
18. Nick Punto - Pitchers better recognize that we're in an even year...and that my friends is when Nick Punto takes the league by storm. On a serious note...he's batting nine (where he belongs) on a club that needs him for his defense more than his offense. His play at third has already been substantially better than his competition (Brendan Harris). His bat can't get worse than it was last year...he'll improve easily.
19. Pat Neshek - He hasn't killed us, but I just don't think he looks anywhere near his form two years ago. His delivery is not as funky, thus his ball doesn't have the same movement. I just think he's more hittable than ever.
20. Franciso Liriano - He seems like he's in better spirits this year, but I still see the same issues with his game. His whole delivery is out of control, which means he's walking batters and crappy ones on top of that.
21. Brendan Harris - His bat is decent. I'll give him that edge over Punto. However, his defense and range at the hot corner is not a good fit for him. He's running out of positions in my mind. I think last year was evident that he's not fit for the middle infield. It hasn't happened yet, but I believe he'll be Morneau's backup to 1st base here and there when he needs a rest.
22. Alexi Casilla - I like Alexi's game...his bat and glove are not exactly in the "consistent" category, but he adds another dimension to this unathletic plodding club. He's gotten big clutch hits for this club in the past, but there's just something with being a Latino Twins ballplayer (Gomez, Casilla, Liriano, Mijares) that just hasn't mixed for the last few years.
23. Alex Burnett - I saw one outing in his hometown of Anaheim. I thought he looked sharp in a blowout. We'll see if he gets any quality work in a more meaningful game down the line.
24. Jose Mijares - He came on the scene two years ago and impressed me. Since the start of last year, he has been the one of the biggest disappointments. He's got one of the easiest gigs...Gardy usually uses his late lefty in the bullpen for specific matchups against lefthanded batters. They may not even pitch to two batters, much less an inning. Yet, this guy continues to struggle finding the strikezone with all his TWO pitches in his arsenal.
25. Drew Butera - It's cool that his dad caught in the Major Leagues as well, but do I really have to watch this kid attempt to bat at this level during day games that Mauer doesn't play?

SBG