Month: June 2012

Some miscellaneous Twins thoughts

Ryan Doumit

Yesterday the Twins announced that they had signed a $7 million two-year extension with 31-year old switch-hitting catcher/DH/OF/1B Ryan Doumit. In 60 games Doumit is hitting .272 (.290 as a LHB and .230 as a RHB) with 7 home runs and 33 RBI’s while catching in 28 games, DHing in 23 games and playing in the outfield in 6 games and at first base in 1 game. Doumit who is making $3 million this year will get $3.5 million per season over the next two years. I have no real issues with this extension as Doumit gives Gardy and the Twins someone that can catch when Joe Mauer is not and he does have some pop in his bat. We should keep in mind however; that Doumit is primarily a back-up catcher and DH and though he has appeared in the outfield on 6 occasions, his lack of speed makes the Twins outfield very poor defensively when you have Doumit patrolling right and Willingham in left regardless if you have Span or Revere playing in center field. I read this signing as an insurance policy and the Twins brain trust saying that Joe Mauer will be behind the plate less and less as they years go by.

Brian Dozier

I find it tougher and tougher to watch Brian Dozier day in and day out as the Twins shortstop. I understand that the Dozier is the Twins shortstop of the future and I know that he has to play in order to improve but I am getting frustrated both with his hitting and his play in the field. Dozier is never going to be a power hitter but yet too often it seems like he is trying to hit one out of the park. We don’t need power from Dozier, we just need him to get on base and not be the automatic out that we are seeing now. In the field Dozier seems to be lackadaisical at times and he needs to learn to make the routine play time after time and to know when to just hold the ball and not make a stupid off-balance throw to first.  Dozier has only played shortstop for the Twins in 47 games but sometimes I think his body language comes across as someone who has been in the “bigs” for a long time and that he has earned the starting shortstop job due to his great play. Well, in my eyes Brian, you are just a rookie trying to prove that you belong in the majors and you may think you have arrived but you are just starting to earn your stripes. I have no issues with mistakes if you learn from them but when you don’t, it might take a trip back to Rochester to refresh your memory on what it takes to be a big leaguer.

As I write this, the Twins record stands at 30-45 and they have the worst record in the American League. It is the end of June with the All-Star game just around the corner and it is time for GM Terry Ryan to start implementing his plan to improve the Twins. I think we all agree, with the possible exception of Dick Bremer, that the Twins are going no where this year. I had predicted the Twins would finish 78-84 this season but the home town boys will need to go 48-39 the rest of the way to make that come true. So what do the Twins do? The Twins need to start making some trades, but who do you trade and what are you looking for in return?

The fact that there are two wild card teams in each league this year for the first time will have a definite impact on the trade market. If you look at the AL East you see that all five teams are less than eight games out of the division lead and no team is more than 3 1/2 games out of a wild card spot so it is unlikely any of these teams will throw up the white flag very soon and start putting players on the market. More than likely they will be looking for help in their quest for the playoffs. In the AL West the Texas Rangers have the best record in the AL but the Angels are coming on strong and are only 5 1/2 games back and tied for a wild card spot. Oakland and Seattle are realistically out of the playoff race and could make players available soon. In our own AL Central you can make a strong case that the White Sox, Tigers and Indians are all in the hunt for a division title since they are all within either 6 games of the division lead or a wild card spot. Even the perennially bad Kansas City Royals with young and up and coming position players albeit matched with poor pitching are 6 games or less out of the division lead and/or a wild card spot. Only the Twins are hopelessly out of the running for the playoffs. That means that in the AL, 3 or 4 teams are looking to unload players while looking to the future while 10 or 11 teams are looking for immediate help. In the NL, you have a similar scenario with only five clubs, the Cubs, Padres, Rockies, Astros, and Brewers probably out of the playoff hunt. So no matter how you slice it there are probably only 8 or 9 teams that are looking to move players and 21 or 22 teams looking for help so I would think this will make for a sellers market this year. You couple that with injuries to key players and you should have teams fighting tooth and nail for the few players that might be made available.

I heard Terry Ryan state in an interview a few days ago that he sees no Twins players as untouchable and I could not agree more. Sure, Joe Mauer has a no trade clause and other players may also have limited no trade clauses in their contracts but as Ryan stated, you always listen, you always want to find a way to get better. You should always be looking to improve your team and maybe that is where the Twins have gone astray over the last decade when the team has made the playoffs six times between 2002 and 2010. It is easy to get comfortable and stick with what got you to the playoffs in the first place. Change is difficult for everyone but it is necessary because without change you are stagnant and believe me, only one team is on top of the heap each season and all the others are looking, plotting, and trying to find a way to get to be the very best. We fans and bloggers fall into the same trap, we fall in love with certain players and hate to see them go because they

Terry Ryan (courtesy of SI.com)

have given us pleasure over the years. Someone in baseball once said that they would much rather trade a player a year or two too early rather than trade them a year too late, but it is hard to do. Ryan has a tough job on his hands but I think he is up to the task and it will be interesting to watch him and the rest of this organization as they rebuild a ballclub that fell over the edge very quickly in 20111. In my opinion, the Twins should listen to offers on everyone on the roster but they must trade Francisco Liriano for as much as they can get. Moving Liriano is a risk, but a risk worth taking because both teams involved in this trade are taking a risk and both Liriano and the Twins need a change. Liriano will never be a consistent pitcher long-term but he can get hot in streaks and that might be just enough for another team that needs some short-term help. That is the thing about the playoffs, it is so difficult to get there that when you have an opportunity to make the playoffs you have to take that shot and sometimes that means that you make a trade that you know is not good for your team long-term but it might be just enough to take you over the top now. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that the Twins need to have a fire sale and send everyone packing, I am just saying that the Twins have some players that other teams find valuable and if the Twins can improve their team long-term by making a deal, they need to get it done. There is an old saying that “it is always the darkest before the dawn” and hopefully the Twins new beginning is just around the corner.

Chris Parmelee

I am a Chris Parmelee fan and I think that the Twins need to do something with him very soon. I just don’t understand how the Twins organization can have the 24-year old Parmelee with just 15 games of AAA experience just sitting and rotting away on the bench. Either play him or send him back to Rochester but don’t just sit him and send him up to bat 16 time between June 8-27. It is a disgrace that the Twins treat a prospect like this.

Twins Trivia 2012 All-Star starters

The All-Star game is a not too far away and here is how I would like to see the American League All-Star starting positions filled. I tend to look at the All-Star game as a reward for the current season and not as a reward for an outstanding career, but I also understand that there are numerous ways to pick the team.

Catcher – 35-year-old White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski is having a fantastic season hitting .288 with 12 home runs and 41 RBI and easily deserves the starting role beating out the Twins Joe Mauer. Pierzynski has better offensive numbers and has caught 60 games while Mauer has caught only 33  games while playing 29 games at 1B/DH. Mike Napoli is the vote leader at this point but he does not deserve it.

1B – Got to go with 36-year old Paul Konerko of the White Sox here. Konerko has scored 36 times, hit 13 home runs and knocked in 39 more while hitting a league leading .342. Prince Fielder is my second choice and Fielder currently leads in the voting. Chicago 1B/DH Adam Dunn has 23 long balls with 53 RBI’s but he is hitting only .215 with about a “million” strikeouts and has played 1B just sparingly so he does not cut the mustard.

2B – New York Yankee Robinson Cano gets the nod at 2B over the Indians Jason Kipnis who is also having a very nice season. Texas 2B Ian Kinsler leads in voting so far.

SS – Elvis Andrus from Texas just beats out the Yankees Derek Jeter, who currently leads in shortstop voting.

3B – An interesting position to be sure with Mark Trumbo of the Angels and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers playing third after moving over from 1B. As much as I like Cabrera as a hitter, I have to go with Mark Trumbo this season because he has slightly better offensive stats that Cabrera has put up this year. Neither are great defensive players at third base but it is what it is. The Texas Rangers 3B Adrian Beltre is the leading vote getter so far.

OF – In my mind the toughest position to pick for the American League is the outfield as there are numerous players here that are having stand out seasons but this year I go with Josh Hamilton from Texas, the Blue Jays Jose Bautista, and the Baltimore Orioles Adam Jones. A couple of rookies, the Angels Mike Trout and the A’s Josh Reddick are having great years and could be named to the team as well. The three leading vote getters at this point are Hamilton, Curtis Granderson of the Yankees and Bautista.

DH – I will give the nod here to the Red Sox David Ortiz who is having a banner season on a bad Red Sox team and he currently has the most votes as the DH but Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays has been terrific this year and probably deserves to be an All-Star too.

SP – There is no one starting pitcher in the AL that stands out head and shoulders over everyone else this year but how can you go wrong by having the Tigers Justin Verlander take the mound for your team.

So that’s it, those are my American league starters in 2012 in Kansas City. The Twins will not get anyone voted in to start and I figure them to get only one player named to the team and I think that player will be outfielder Josh Willingham.

For the National League I will go with the following:

C – A tough pick for me here but I have to go with the Phillies Carlos Ruiz who is having a career year over the Giants Buster Posey the current leading vote getter. The last time I looked Ruiz was hitting .361 for God’s sake with an OPS of over a thousand.

1B – An easy pick of Joe Votto from Cincinnati and he is a run away vote leader at 1B. Adam LaRoche of the Nationals is also having a very nice season although his average is nowhere near what Votto is putting up.

2B – The leading vote getter in a close race is Dan Uggla of the Braves over Brandon Phillips of the Reds and I have to go with Uggla here but I can live wither either one.

SS – Starlin Castro who plays on a terrible Chicago Cubs team should be the starting shortstop but trails in the voting to the Cardinals Rafael Furcal.

3B – The Mets David Wright deserves to start at third base for the NL and to this point he is leading in the voting.

OF – Again not easy to pick just three here but I go with the Rockies Carlos Gonzalez, Ryan Braun of the Brewers and the Cardinals Carlos Beltran.

SP – A little usual here but based on performance during the first half of 2012 I have to go with the Mets R.A. Dickey as my starter.

This Day in Twins History – June 26

1964 – Gerry Arrigo pitches the Twins first ever one hitter when Mike Hershberger singles to right leading off the ninth inning and breaks up Arrigo’s no hit bid but the Twins prevail 2-0 over the White Sox at Met Stadium in the first game of a doubleheader. This is the first time a Twins pitcher has thrown a one hitter and the first time a Twins pitcher has accomplished this feat at the Met.

1985 – Minnesota’s Ken Schrom one-hits Kansas City at the Metrodome, but needs a 2-run single from Roy Smalley in the bottom of the 9th to secure the 2-1 victory. Willie Wilson’s 3rd-inning single is the only Royals hit. The is the first one-hitter that a Twins pitcher has thrown in the Metrodome.

Maybe Liam Hendriks can make history tonight by becoming the Twins first hurler to get a one hitter at Target field, I will be out there watching. Twins pitchers have thrown 15 one hitters over the years and the last one was thrown by Scott Baker on August 31, 2007. Bert Blyleven has thrown the most one hitters, three, while pitching in a Minnesota Twins uniform. There have been 26 one hitters thrown against the Twins over the years with the last one thrown by Zach Stewart of the Mighty Whitey’s at Target Field last September.

Matt Capps to DL and Tyler Robertson called up

Tyler Robertson

Various reports have the Minnesota Twins putting closer Matt Capps on the DL and calling up lefty reliever Tyler Robertson from Rochester. This will be the first call to the big leagues for the 24-year Robertson who was drafted by the Twins in the third round of the 2006 Amateur draft out of Bella Vista High School in Fair Oaks, California.

In his seventh season in the Twins minor league system, the 6’5″ Robertson has pitched for Rochester this season appearing in relief in 33 games, with a 2-2 record with a 3.77 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. In his 28.2 innings Robertson has given up 26 hits, struck out 33 and walked 13. Robertson was originally a starter but has pitched exclusively in relief in 2011-2012. Welcome to Minnesota Tyler!

Rochester Red Wings’ Sean Burroughs turns life around

There is a very interesting story written yesterday by Jim Mandelaro of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle about former Twin 3B and now Rochester Red Wing player Sean Burroughs. I urge you take a few minutes and read the article that you can find right here. Burroughs has led an interesting life to be sure.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Evan Bigley

New Britain outfielder Evan Bigley is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for June 16-22. The 25 year old right-handed hitting Bigley, 25, batted .550 (11-for-20) with one double, two home runs, six RBI and six runs scored in five games for the Rock Cats. Bigley was the Twins 10th round pick in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft out of Dallas Baptist University. In his 5-year minor league career Bigley had appeared in 497 minor league games playing all three outfield spots while hitting .273 with 43 home runs and 15 stolen bases in 36 attempts.

UPDATE – Evan Bigley was named Eastern League Player of the Week for the period of June 18-24.

This Day in Twins History – June 24

June 24th has been an interesting day in Minnesota Twins history over the years, here are some of the events that occurred on this day.

1955– Harmon Killebrew hit his first major league homer, off lefty Billy Hoeft at Griffith Stadium, but the Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators 18-7. Killebrew would later say that, of all the home runs he hit at Griffith Stadium, the home run off Hoeft was the longest he ever hit in Griffith. Twenty years later, on September 18, 1975 Harmon, wearing a KC Royals uniform hit his last career home run, a blast to left field off Twins hurler Eddie Bane in a Royals 4-3 victory at Met Stadium over the home town Minnesota Twins. In his career, Killebrew smashed 246 home runs at Met Stadium.

1968 – In a one game series, the Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 1-0 in County Stadium in Milwaukee in a game called after 5 innings due to rain. The reason the game was played in Milwaukee was that in 1968, Bud Selig, a former minority owner of the Milwaukee Braves who had been unable to stop the relocation of his team three years earlier, contracted with the Allyn brothers who owned the White Sox to host nine home games (one against each of the other American League clubs) at Milwaukee County Stadium as part of an attempt to attract an expansion franchise to Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

1977 – Ralph Garr of the White Sox homered off Minnesota’s Paul Thormodsgard in Minneapolis. It came in the third inning with two men on and no one out. Jim Essian, the runner on first, thought the ball might be caught by the Twins’ right fielder, Dan Ford, so he retreated towards first base. Garr was watching the flight of the ball and passed Essian after rounding the bag. He was credited with a single and two runs batted in.

1984 – 2B Tim Teufel gives the Twins a 3-2 win over the White Sox with a three-run inside-the-park walk off home run with one out in the bottom of the ninth at the Metrodome.

1989 – Twins outfielder John Moses is asked to pitch at Fenway Park in an 11-2 loss to the Red Sox. John threw one scoreless inning giving up a walk but only faced 3 batters with the team turned a double play behind him. John is the fourth Twins position player to pitch and this is the fifth occurrence of a Twins position player pitching for the Twins.

Don’t forget to check out This Day in Twins History each and every day.

Are the Twins pitchers in trouble in Cincinnati?

Located on the winding banks of the Ohio River in downtown Cincinnati, the GABP (Great American Ball Park) serves as the home of the Cincinnati Reds, baseball’s first professional franchise. The ballpark officially opened for the 2003 season, making 2010 its eighth big-league season.

At least 1 home run has been hit in each of the last 59 games at Great American Ball Park, dating back to a homer less game vs the Giants on July 29, 2011, making it the longest active ballpark homer streak in the major leagues and the longest home run streak in GABP history. There have only been 60 homer less contests in the ballpark’s 764 games. Only twice in the park’s 10-year existence has there been a streak of 2 straight games without a home run by either team and there never has been a 3-game homer less stretch at GABP. Earlier this season, there were 29 home runs hit during the home stand from May 21 – May 27 (Reds 17, Braves 6, Rockies 6), a new GABP record for HR during a home stand of 7 games or fewer and including a single-game record 9 homers in the finale (Rockies 5, Reds 4).

The GABP is a bandbox and in 2012 it ranks second to Arizona’s Chase Field (1.84) in home runs allowed at 1.80 per game. Safeco Field in Seattle is the toughest place to hit a home run with on 0.45 long balls per game. This year Target Field ranks 18 out of 30 as far as home runs hit is concerned and their ratio stands at 0.90 . With Twins pitchers having given up a major league leading 93 home runs this season it could be a long week-end for Rick Anderson’s chuckers. The Twins physical therapists better be ready to massage some of those Twins pitchers neck muscles as they might suffer from whip-lash before this 3-game series comes to an end.

This Day in Twins History – June 22

Rod Carew

1970 – In the fourth inning of the Twins game against the Milwaukee Brewers in County Stadium, Rod Carew suffers a serious knee injury with torn cartilage and torn ligaments when Brewers 1B Mike Hegan rolls in to Carew at 2B trying to break up a double play. According to Rod Carew in his book “Carew”, my leg snapped back and went crack! He goes on to say that 2B umpire Jake O’Donnell had heard the crack and vomited. Carew was hitting .376 at the time, underwent surgery and ended up in essence missing the rest of the season. Rod did return for 5 at bats late in September but did not get a hit. Carew had only 2 plate appearances against the Orioles in the ALCS with no hits.

Calvin Griffith

1984 – In a teary home plate ceremony before the Twins-White Sox game at the Metrodome, Calvin Griffith and his sister, Thelma Haynes, sign a letter of intent to sell their 52 percent ownership of the Twins to Minneapolis banker Carl Pohlad for $32 million (some reports state it was $36 million) ending the longest family ownership of a team in baseball history. Griffith and his sister had been involved with the franchise since 1922, when they were adopted by owner Clark Griffith when the team was the Washington Senators.

 

According to Elias

The Minnesota Twins’ 2-1 victory over the Pirates on last night was their first win this season when they scored two or fewer runs. That leaves the Detroit Tigers as the only team in the major leagues that has not won a game in which it scored either one or two runs.