St. Paul Pioneer Press--Star Tribune

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Q&A with Minnesota Twins GM Brent Sufuguy.

St.Paul Pioneer Press--Star Tribune- How do you feel about your club going into the 2012 season?

GM Brent Sufuguy- We feel that we have some very strong young pieces to build around and a veteran pitching staff that we feel will provide us will a quality chance to win each day we compete. With that being said there are areas of the club we are looking to improve.

SPPPST- What are those areas? How do you plan to fill them?

BS- Finding a catcher to tutor Hank along for the next season or two is big for us this off season. Also, adding a veteran middle infielder to provide production with Gordon and Jed have days off. Outfield is filling in nicely, but don't rule us out of making a run at an elite outfielder...or infielder for that matter. Our biggest hole is an ace starting pitcher. Those types of players don't come around everyday. We have money to spend on the club in free agency, but will spend it wisely.

SPPPST- What does your batting order/starting line-up look like today?

BS- CF Lorenzo Cain, 3B Placido Polanco, LF Adam Dunn, DH Michael Cuddyer, 1B Freddie Freeman, SS Jed Lowrie, 2B Gordon Beckman, C Hank Conger, RF Jon Jay. We have a good mix of athleticism and power, along with some righties and lefties and a couple guys that switch hit.

SPPPST- Good mix of veterans and young guys, too. What about the rotation?

BS- We have a good mix of veterans there too, led by Myers and Wolf. The rotation will be filled out with Jason Vargas, John Lannan, Clayton Richard. Richard is coming off injury, but we like him sliding into the five hole and giving us good outings.

SPPPST- Looking to the future, your club has a solid farm system. What does this team look like in 2015?

BS- This team probably looks a lot different in four years. We have a few guys that will retire, leave via free agency or be moved. Our farm is strong and our 2015 line-up will reflex that. I see a line-up looking like this:
2B Billy Hamilton, CF Lorenzo Cain, 3B Will Middlebrooks, DH Jonathan Singleton, RF Ryan Kalish, LF Christian Yelich, 1B Freddie Freeman, C Hank Conger, SS Adeiny Hechavarria.
Obviously things can change in that amount of time, but we are very happy with the direction the club is heading.

SPPPST- Good luck this off season!

BS- Thanks! Pitching and catchers report in 65 days!

Keep up-to-date on all Twins news by checking our page in the Minnesota Twins team thread.

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St. Paul Pioneer Press-Star Tribune Mid Season Report

The Twins sit at 77-75, 2 games over .500 and 42 games behind Detriot for 1st place in the Central Divison. Although the division title looks out of reach, they find themselves 13.5 out of the last WildCard spot, not an unachieveable task.

-Twins rely heavily on their offensive. Leading the American League in Home Runs with 105. Second in Runs and RBI with 343 and 364, respectively. Top five in AVG, OBP, and Slugging.

-Twins pitching staff is overall quite weak. Finding themselves in the bottom five of all pitching statistics with the exception of Saves. Injuries and lack of depth have played a big part in the Twins pitching woes.

-Young Guns: Will Middlebrooks, Ryan Kalish, Alex Presley and Andrelton Simmons have all joined the big league squad and contributed from the start. The emergence of their year players have made many veteran players available via trade. Jed Lowrie has already been moved, and a Michael Cuddyer trade is on the horizon.

-2012 Draft begins for the Twins with the selection of another pitcher RHP Lance McCullers. After picking six pitchers in last years draft, the position remains a priority for the organization.

-Trade Rumors swirl around all veteran players. Twins GM Brent Sufuguy is openly shopping DH Adam Dunn, 3B Chipper Jones, Closer Brett Myers, and all relief pitchers.

-A look to the future: 2015 Twins Roster
C Hank Conger, 1B Jonathan Singleton/Freddie Freeman, 2B Eddie Rosario/Adeiny Hechavarria, SS Andrelton Simmons, 3B Will Middlebrooks/Nick Castellanos, LF Christian Yelich/Yasel Puig, CF Billy Hamilton/Anthony Gose, RF Jon Jay/Ryan Kalish
SP Mike Montgomery, SP Chris Archer, SP Andy Oliver, SP Alex Colome, SP Andrew Chafin

Keep up-to-date on all Twins news by checking our page in the Minnesota Twins team thread.

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Heading into the 2014 season, St. Paul Pioneer Press and Star Tribune writers are proud to announce their top 15 prospects from the Minnesota Twins organization.

1) Carlos Correa
2) Kyle Zimmer
3) Aaron Sanchez
4) Garin Cecchini
5) Kyle Gibson
6) Mike Olt
7) Michael Foltynewicz
8) Alex Colome
9) Colin Moran
10) Lance McCullers
11) Courtney Hawkins
12) Anthony Ranuado
13) Jon Gast
14) Zeke Spruill
15) Josmil Pinto

The Twins have a diverse group of prospects topping the list. Ranging from multiple positions and level throughout the organization.