Month: March 2022

Former Twins pitcher Fred Lasher passes away at 80

Fred Lasher was born in Poughkeepsie, New York on August 19, 1941 and passed away in Altoona, Wisconsin at the age of 80 on February 27, 2022. Lasher grew up playing basketball and baseball for Poughkeepsie High School and the local Poughkeepsie YMCA. As a high school senior, Lasher had a 7-0 record and threw a no-hitter.

Lasher was invited to participate in a local All-Star game against some New York Yankee rookies that was attended by major league scouts. Joe Gall a scout for the Washington Senators liked what he saw and signed Lasher to his first pro contract in January of 1960 and Lasher was assigned to Wytheville Senators of the Appalachian League. He was known for a sidearm/submarine pitching delivery that earned him the nickname “The Whip,” and he picked up that delivery as a child by throwing rocks at his parents’ house.

Fred Lasher

Lasher attended his first big league spring training in 1963 as a talented but very raw pitcher, with a sidearm fastball but no curveball, and occasional control problems. The coaches taught him a three-quarters overhand delivery for his curve. After putting up good numbers in the spring, Lasher became a surprise addition to the Twins’ pitching staff.

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Twins shock everyone with their Carlos Correa signing

Carlos Correa

News broke just after midnight that the Minnesota Twins had signed free agent shortstop Carlos Correa to a $105.3 million three-year deal with opt outs at the end of each season. The deal has not been confirmed by the Twins ballclub but Correa has confirmed it. Twins fans were shocked and amazed as was I with the signing this morning.

After the Twins acquired shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa from Texas a few days ago and less then 24 hours later traded him to the Yankees, most Twins fans were baffled. Then news came out that the Twins were interested in FA shortstop Trevor Story and fans were excited but days went by and nothing happened until this mornings breaking news about Correa. I don’t think there was a single fan in Twins Territory that thought that the Twins would even consider going after Correa.

Even if Correa was to leave after just one season via his opt out it would give Royce Lewis and Austin Martin more time to develop and give the Twins more time to determine if either one could be a long term answer to the shortstop job. In the mean time it will be fun to watch Carlos Correa, the 2015 ROY, two-time All-Star and last years Gold Glove winner play shortstop in Minnesota. If you are looking for something to be critical of, it would be that he has just played more than 110 games twice in his seven big league seasons.

The FA signing of Correa was the latest in a series of moves made by Falvey and Levine in the last week that included trades with the Rangers, Yankees, and Reds. When you watch a Twins game this season in person or on TV you may need a scorecard to identify the players. I would say that we will see more moves before the season starts on April 7 when the Twins face the Mariners at Target Field.

Twins & Yankees agree on a blockbuster

Less than two days ago the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees agreed on a blockbuster trade but Twins and Yankee fans are in a quandary about what to think of the deal. Social sites for both teams seem to be up in arms about the deal with both sides thinking they got the short end of the stick.

The trade in question calls for the New Yorker’s sending 29-year old catcher Gary Sanchez and 30-year old third baseman Gio Urshela to Minnesota for 36 year-old third baseman Josh Donaldson, 27-year old shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and 24-year old catcher Ben Rortvedt.

It appears that there were multiple reasons to make the trade. The Twins seem to be looking to get out from under the $50 million the team owes Donaldson over the next two seasons and the Yankees have wanted to move Sanchez for some time. It is one of those situations where you swap my problems for your problems. The Yankees were in desperate need of a shortstop and the Twins had just acquired Kiner-Falefa from Texas earlier in the day. So in order for the Yankees to take Donaldson and pay him what he is owed the Yankees needed to get Kiner-Falefa in the deal and they wanted Rortvedt to replace Sanchez. Getting Donaldson and Kiner-Falefa made Urshela expendable and he was on his way to Minnesota.

Gary Sanchez
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Twins deal 2021 first round pick for 2011 first round pick

While most of us have been enjoying our week-end, the Minnesota Twins front office has been hard at work burning up the phone lines looking high and low as they work to improve the team. Today they made their second trade in as many days when they traded their 2021 first round selection (26th over all) RHP Chase Petty to the Cincinnati Reds for RHP Sonny Gray who himself was the Oakland A’s first round selection (18th over all) back in 2011 before moving on to the Yankees in 2017 and finally the Reds in 2019. The Twins also received right-handed minor league reliever Francis Peguero a 24-year old Dominican who pitched in High A ball in 2021.

This is one of those “potential for experience” kind of deals. A type of trade that the Minnesota Twins disdained over they years. In a way it is similar to the Kenta Maeda deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers for prospect pitcher Brusdar Graterol a few years back. The big difference in that deal was that Graterol was big league ready and Petty is straight out of high school and has all of 5 innings of pro ball under his belt. Another trade that comes to mind was the 2010 deal with the Nationals when the Twins traded catcher Wilson Ramos for closer Matt Capps and Twins fans were not happy campers. Capps went on to save 45 games for Minnesota over three seasons. Ramos is still catching in the big leagues after 12 seasons (seven teams) and has two All-Star games and a Silver Slugger on his resume. You just never know how these kinds of trades will work out.

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Twins and Rangers make a deal

It didn’t take long for the Minnesota Twins to make their first post lockout deal when they traded 31-year old catcher Mitch Garver to the Texas Rangers for soon to be 27-year old shortstop Isiah Kiner-Falefa and minor league right-handed pitcher Ronny Henriquez who pitched in AA ball after starting at High A.

Mitch Garver – Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-USA TODAY

Garver was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 9th round of the 2013 amateur draft and for all practical purposes was the best player the Twins selected in that draft. In addition, Garver was the best catcher drafted that year if you rank them by WAR and they got him for a measly $40K signing bonus.

Garver made his big league debut on August 19, 2017 at Target Field against the Arizona Diamondbacks as a pinch-hitter for Miguel Sano and struck out in his lone appearance in that game. Garver had a breakout season in 2019 as part of the Bomba Squad when he hit 31 home runs and was awarded the Silver Slugger award as the best hitting AL catcher. 2020 and 2021 were seasons that Garver would just as soon forget as injuries limited him to 23 and 68 games respectively.

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MLB is back in business

Play Ball!

Late yesterday I heard the news that MLB and the players had agreed on a new agreement and that Spring Training would begin on Sunday March 13. That is such great news to hear after all this time. Although it has no direct impact on me personally other than me being a long-time baseball fan, it is as if a big load was taken off my shoulders. It instantly put me in a better mood.

I understand that all 162 games will be played and the first two series that were originally cancelled will be made up somewhere at the tail-end of the season. The regular season opens on April 7 and a number of rule changes will take place. Both leagues will now use the designated hitter, 7-inning double-headers are history as is the extra-inning ghost runner at second base, the number of play-off teams increases from 10 to 12 and the Amateur Free Agent draft has a lottery system. Players can no longer be optioned to the minors no more than five times in a season. This is a few of the rules changes that have surfaced so far. I have also read somewhere that unvaccinated players will not be allowed to play in Canada and that they will not be paid or accrue service time. Another thing I read someplace that I find extremely interesting was when the MLBPA voted that all eight player representatives that was actually participating in the negotiations voted to reject this latest proposal but the other teams out voted them while the owners voted 30-0 to accept. Very Interesting!

So now the action shifts to the front offices that have been shut down from communicating with the other teams front offices as they battle to sign free agents and make trades to fill holes on their rosters. It should be a hectic time between now and and when the season begins to be sure.

Teams need to start selling tickets. I see that the Twins will start selling single game tickets on March 17 and that they will not charge fees for two days. Only two frickin fee free days after a 99 day lockdown? If the Twins and MLB had any smarts they would waive all ticket fees for 99 days and show their fans some respect for a change. Come on MLB, how about it?

In the mean time let’s get it on, Play Ball.