Category: General Blogging

This is a general blogging category.

Watching the Twins lose to the Pirates 2-1

We attended our final Twins spring training game yesterday as we watched the Twins lose 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was a sunny day albeit only 60 degrees at game time with a stiff wind blowing to left field. Ricky Nolasco started for the home town nine and pitched a strong 4 innings giving up just one hit while striking out three in his tune-up for opening day against the White Sox in Chicago. It was a fast paced (2 hours and 24 minutes) game with little hitting but it still had some interest when a mini bean-ball war broke out. Pirates starter Brandon Cumpton threw a pitch that catcher Kurt Suzuki was just able to get his face out of the way of and that started the ball rolling. Not too longer after that Anthony Swarzak nailed Tony Sanchez and then Oswaldo Arcia took one in the back and both benches ended up with a warning.

Swarzak’s pitching line came to an end after two innings when a line drive off the bat of Travis Snider struck him in the forearm, but Swarzak grabbed the ricochet and threw the batter out. As he walked off the field, the Pirates were yelling something at Swarzak and he stopped to yell back. Things got a bit testy before Swarzak was pulled away. The Pirates who had brought a lot of players to Hammond Stadium were all on the top step of their dugout ready to mix it up with the Twins but it never came to that.

The old saying is that if you give the team a freebie like the Pirates did when catcher Tony Sanchez dropped Arcia’s easy pop up behind the plate it will come back to bite you and it certainly held true here when Arcia hit a rocket out to right-center field that just cleared the fence for a home run and gave the Twins a short-lived 1-0 lead. The lead did not last long however, as the Pirates loaded the bases with two-out and a ground ball was hit to first baseman Joe Mauer who knocked it down and then panicked trying to pick up the ball and by the time he had it under control the Pirates runner from second base was racing home with the winning run and Mauer’s throw to the plate was too late.

Shortstop Pedro Florimon who is just coming back from an appendectomy was his normal self, he made an error on an easy play and then made a very nice play later in the game. With the bat, Florimon seemed lost but that is really nothing new for Pedro. Manager Gardenhire said after the game that maybe Florimon’s bat is not ready yet and he may not be in the opening day line-up. On the plus side the Twins did turn two nice double plays.

There were 6,585 fans at the game but we had very little to cheer about and it was so quiet for most of the game that you could hear a pin drop. There is not a lot of excitement with this Twins team this spring and with an 8-14 record which is second worst in the AL there seems to be little hope for the up-coming season.

The Twins pitching is not that bad but their hitting this spring is a whole different story. Let’s take a quick look at the batting averages for the Twins starters –

C – Suzuki – .200
1B – Mauer – .300
2B – Dozier – .255
SS – Florimon – .150
3B – Plouffe – .239
LF – Willingham – .056
CF – Hicks – .318
RF – Arcia – .256
DH – Kubel – .195
 
Tom Brunansky
Tom Brunansky

Between them the leading home run hitter has 2 (Arcia) and the RBI leader has 6 (Arcia again). Both Eduardo Escobar (9) and Chris Colabello (8) have more RBI then any of the starters and they are not assured of even making this team. I just can’t see this current line-up staying intact for very deep into the season. If this team gets off to a bad start there will be changes galore in no time. Before spring training started I thought this team had a chance to finish at .500 with the improved pitching, now I am thinking they will still be better than last year but will fall short of the .500 mark. The hitting on this team this spring is just plain appalling, where is that great hitting coach Brunansky now when they need him. I have not heard Brunansky’s name mentioned in weeks, is he still part of the coaching staff? Then again the case could certainly be made that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear….

But in the end it is still spring training and no one but the Diamondbacks has lost a game yet so there is still hope that the hit fairy will bless the Twins bats and that they will come to life in Chicago. Come on Twins, give me a reason to watch you play ball every day this summer. Please!

Barely a week left in spring training and things are not looking good

Vance Worley
Vance Worley

The Twins announced yesterday that RHP Vance Worley, who posted a 13.50 ERA in spring training, was sent outright to Class AAA Rochester on Friday. In order to send Worley to AAA Rochester, Worley has to clear waivers, which he did. That means that every team in baseball passed on Worley, who finished third in National League Rookie of the Year voting in 2011 with the Phillies and was last year’s Opening Day starter for the Twins. Was does that tell you about the 26 year-old Worley if no team in baseball is willing to take a chance on the guy that was 3rd in ROY voting just a couple of years earlier when pitchers are in such demand? Are the Twins wasting a AAA roster spot and possibly delaying some others pitchers development by having Worley there? If I was the Twins I would have the “Vanimal” on a very short and tight leash.

Twins GM Bill Smith traded outfielder Ben Revere to the Phillies in order to acquire Worley and minor league pitcher Trevor May in December 2012. The only saving grace from this trade is if May becomes a decent starting pitcher for Minnesota in the near future.

We were at Tuesday’s game when Worley had his last start this spring for the Twins and it was a pitiful performance as the Tampa Rays pounded the Twins to a tune of 11-3. Worley lasted just 2 and 2/3 innings and gave up 11 hits (including 6 doubles) and walked 2 while giving up 7 earned runs. If I remember correctly there was not a blooper in the bunch, the Rays were crushing the ball. As I said earlier, the Twins lost that game 11-3 and we left after 7 innings with the Twins trailing 8-1 and we hardly ever leave games early. The Twins had 8 hits and 9 walks in that game and could only muster 3 runs, that is some bad baseball. When we attended a rained out game against the Cardinals earlier this month we were able to send in our $10 parking ticket for a refund, I wonder if I should send in my parking ticket for this game to Dave St. Peter and see if I can get a refund because of the Twins poor play that night? Maybe I will.

Rob Antony
Rob Antony

The other day acting GM Rob Antony made some strong comments about outfielders Aaron Hicks and Alex Presley not stepping up this spring to earn the centerfield starting job and the lack of hitting by free agent signees Jason Kubel and Jason Bartlett. I applaud Mr. Antony for saying what is on his mind and being honest about the state of this ballclub and I wish more of the Twins organization were as honest. I really expected this team to play close to .500 ball this year (and I still think they can) but based on what I have seen todate the team and its fans could be in for a long season. We all know that spring training means next to nothing as far as team regular season wins are concerned but the Twins play does send a message to Twins fans on what they should expect this season. Spring training is winding down and has about a week to go, the Twins had better start playing some better baseball soon if they want to see fans butts in the Target field seats this year.

The team started off spring training full of optimism in spite of GM Terry Ryan’s cancer diagnosis but the Miguel Sano injury seemed to drain the life right out of this team and its staff. Now is the time for manager Ron Gardenhire to step up and show his stuff by playing what he thinks is his best line-up and getting this team ready for some real baseball. The Twins strategy should be simple, the best players get the jobs and if they don’t cut the mustard then it should be “next man up” until this team starts to show some life and energy. Twins fans deserve to watch a team that wants to play and to win!

Learn a bit about prospect Lewis Thorpe

Lewis Thorpe
Lewis Thorpe

Jake Seiner did a nice piece on MiLB.com a few days ago about Twins pitching prospect Lewis Thorpe that I thought you might enjoy reading and you can check out here. Thorpe pitched for the GLC Twins at the age of 17 last season and was 4-1 with a 2.05 ERA and a 0.864 WHIP. In 44 innings he allowed only 32 hits while striking out 64 batters. It will be interesting to see how Thorpe does as he moves up the Twins minor league ladder. Thorpe who was given $500,000 to sign is expected to start the season with the Cedar Rapids Kernels.

 

Top Twins rookie starting pitchers

The Twins have a reputation now days of bringing their young players, particularly their young pitchers along very slowly but that has not always been the case. In today’s game pitches are counted and innings are watched from year to year to make sure that pitchers do not have a huge jump in innings pitched from one year to the next. We fans sometimes complain about how long it takes a player to reach the majors but think what its like for the team itself. They draft the guy and then they have to pay him as he develops his skills, they get no return on their investment unless the player reaches the major leagues and becomes a successful player. The temptation must be huge to push the guy along to get a quick return on the money spent, but if you push him too quickly all kinds of bad things can happen.

Let’s take a look at the case of RHP Roger Erickson who the Twins drafted in round 3 of the 1977 June amateur draft. Erickson signed and was sent to “AA” Orlando where he pitched 109 innings in 16 games (14 starts) with 10 complete games. This is all after he pitched in college that spring. I was not able to locate any of Erickson’s college stats. The next year Erickson gets a spring training invite and makes the 1978 Twins starting rotation. The 21-year-old rookie makes his major league debut when he starts the second game of the season for the Twins and beats the Seattle Mariners 5-4 at the Kingdome. Erickson goes on to start a club leading 37 games for the Twins with 14 complete games and an amazing 265.2 innings pitched. Erickson finished the 1878 season with a 14-13 record with a 3.96 ERA , a WHIP of 1.306 and 121 strikeouts. Erickson was not a strikeout pitcher but more in the mold of a Brad Radke type of pitcher.  In 1979 Erickson went 3-10 with a 5.63 ERA in 21 starts (zero complete games) and 123 innings, in 1980 his record was 7-13 with a 3.25 ERA in 191.1 innings and in 1981 Erickson went 3-8 with a 3.84 ERA in 91.1 innings. In May of 1982 after a 4-3 start the Twins had seen enough and traded Erickson and catcher Butch Wynegar to the New York Yankees for pitchers Pete Filson and John Pacella and infielder Larry Milbourne and a suitcase full of cash. Roger Erickson pitched in a total of 21 games for the Yankees in 1982 and 1983 and at the age of 27 his big league playing days were behind him. Erickson tried to come back in 1984, again in 1987 and still again in 1989 in the minors with the Tigers and the Cardinals but he never again put on a big league uniform.

This is one of baseball classic cases of pitcher abuse, a situation where Twins manager Gene Mauch and pitching coach Camilo Pascual could not see the forest for the trees and killed a promising career before it really had a chance to get started. Erickson’s career ended prematurely at the age of 27 primarily because he pitched too many innings at too young an age. When he last pitched in the big leagues he was just 27 but he had already been in the majors for 6 seasons and he had already logged almost 800 innings with 265 of those in his first season. In the end the Twins lost a promising pitcher and Roger Erickson was robbed of his career. A loss-loss for both sides. Just a sad story all around.

Almost every day you hear about another big league pitcher having forearm or elbow tightness and the next thing you know they are off to see Dr. Andrews or someone like him to get a second opinion before undergoing “Tommy John” surgery. Are there more problems of this type now even with all the attention given to limiting innings and pitch counts. What are today’s pitchers doing differently that is causing these problems? Is it all about the fact that the pitchers today seem to throw harder than the pitchers of the past did? Are pitchers just not getting enough rest between seasons end and the start of the next season? Or maybe it is just the opposite, maybe the pitchers are not throwing enough? Is specialization of the athletes at much younger ages adding to the pitching arm woes? Or have these problems always been there and we just called it elbow tendonitis or a sore arm in the past and prescribed rest and/or retirement?

 

Roger Erickson
Roger Erickson

Here is a list of Twins pitchers who have thrown at least 100 innings in their rookie seasons. *

Rk Player IP GS Year Age G CG SHO W L W-L% SV H BB SO ERA BA
1 Roger Erickson 265.2 37 1978 21 37 14 0 14 13 .519 0 268 79 121 3.96 .263
2 Jim Hughes 249.2 34 1975 23 37 12 2 16 14 .533 0 241 127 130 3.82 .255
3 Paul Thormodsgard 218.0 37 1977 23 37 8 1 11 15 .423 0 236 65 94 4.62 .280
4 Ken Schrom 196.1 28 1983 28 33 6 1 15 8 .652 0 196 80 80 3.71 .266
5 Nick Blackburn (RoY-8th) 193.1 33 2008 26 33 0 0 11 11 .500 0 224 39 96 4.05 .292
6 Gary Serum 184.1 23 1978 21 34 6 1 9 9 .500 1 188 44 80 4.10 .266
7 Brad Radke (RoY-9th) 181.0 28 1995 22 29 2 1 11 14 .440 0 195 47 75 5.32 .275
8 Scott Diamond 173.0 27 2012 25 27 1 1 12 9 .571 0 184 31 90 3.54 .274
9 Eric Milton 172.1 32 1998 22 32 1 0 8 14 .364 0 195 70 107 5.64 .282
10 Joe Mays 171.0 20 1999 23 49 2 1 6 11 .353 0 179 67 115 4.37 .270
11 Vic Albury 164.0 22 1974 27 32 4 1 8 9 .471 0 159 80 85 4.12 .259
12 Bert Blyleven 164.0 25 1970 19 27 5 1 10 9 .526 0 143 47 135 3.18 .232
13 Kevin Tapani (RoY-5th) 159.1 28 1990 26 28 1 1 12 8 .600 0 164 29 101 4.07 .264
14 Les Straker 154.1 26 1987 27 31 1 0 8 10 .444 0 150 59 76 4.37 .257
15 Mark Redman (RoY-6th) 151.1 24 2000 26 32 0 0 12 9 .571 0 168 45 117 4.76 .281
16 Glen Perkins 151.0 26 2008 25 26 0 0 12 4 .750 0 183 39 74 4.41 .301
17 Bill Zepp 151.0 20 1970 23 43 1 1 9 4 .692 2 154 51 64 3.22 .266
18 Frank Viola 126.0 22 1982 22 22 3 1 4 10 .286 0 152 38 84 5.21 .302
19 Pete Redfern 118.0 23 1976 21 23 1 1 8 8 .500 0 105 63 74 3.51 .241
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/12/2014.

* = From 1947 through 1956, each BBWAA voter used discretion as to who qualified as a rookie. In 1957, the term was first defined as someone with fewer than 75 at bats or 45 innings pitched in any previous Major League season. This guideline was later amended to 90 at bats, 45 innings pitched, or 45 days on a Major League roster before September 1 of the previous year. The current standard of 130 at bats, 50 innings pitched or 45 days on the active roster of a Major League club (excluding time in military service or on the disabled list) before September 1 was adopted in 1971.

Nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon

I spent Saturday afternoon at Hammond Stadium going back and forth between fields 2 and 3 where I watched the Twins Ft. Myers Miracle and Cedar Rapids Kernels take on the Orioles Frederick and Delmarva teams. I focused mainly on the Ft. Myers and Frederick game but I was also able to watch the other game because the fields are so close together.

Jose Berrios started for the Miracle and pitched 3 scoreless innings and was followed on the mound by Tyler Duffey and David Hurlbut. Duffey pitched well but Hurlbut got knocked around pretty good in his couple innings of work.  The Twins however; were up big by the time Hurlbut took the mound and the Twins ended up winning 7-3.  The starting line-up for the Miracle had Mitch Garver catching, Dalton Hicks at first, Logan Wade at second, Ryan Walker at short, Travis Harrison at third, Max Kepler in left, Zack Granite in center and Adam Walker in right. Catcher Bryan Santy hit the games only home run, a long blast well over the left field fence.

A couple of observations from the game. Right fielder Adam Walker is a big guy and he hit 27 home runs for Cedar Rapids last season but today his play in RF left something to be desired. There were several balls hit to right that he seemed to pull up on and let the ball drop in front of him for singles that could have been caught with a better jump on the ball. First baseman Dalton Hicks is listed at 6’5″ and 228 and I am not sure when they last had Hicks step on a scale because the man has to be at least 250 and a case could be made that he could have easily stretched his long single into a double had he hustled down the line a little more. Later in the game manager Doug Mientkiewicz moved Travis Harrison from 3B to left field and Joel Licon came in to play third. Harrison continues to struggle in the field (although not in this game) and the Twins are trying to find a position for Harrison because he has some pop in his bat. I think you will see more and more of Harrison playing a corner outfield spot rather than the “hot corner”.

Joel Licon being helped off the field
Joel Licon being helped off the field

I mentioned Joel Licon because an inning or so later he ended up getting beaned but fortunately the ball seemed to catch mostly helmet. Licon started heading to first base but stopped about half way there and dropped to one knee. After a couple of minutes Licon left the game but he looked dazed as he sat on the bench. Hopefully Licon will be OK and not suffer any concussion symptoms but when that ball hit his helmet the loud bang got everyone’s attention from both fields.

I took a number of pictures during the game and will try to get them posted on Monday.

Twins rookies with 100 or more hits

A quick look at Twins rookies over the years and how many hits they had in their rookie season. To make the list they had to have 100 or more hits in their first season in the big leagues.

Oliva, Tony 6

Rk Player H Year Age G AB R 2B 3B HR RBI SB BA
1 Tony Oliva (RoY-1st) 217 1964 25 161 672 109 43 9 32 94 12 .323
2 Rich Rollins 186 1962 24 159 624 96 23 5 16 96 3 .298
3 Lew Ford 170 2004 27 154 569 89 31 4 15 72 20 .299
4 Kirby Puckett (RoY-3rd) 165 1984 24 128 557 63 12 5 0 31 14 .296
5 Kent Hrbek (RoY-2nd) 160 1982 22 140 532 82 21 4 23 92 3 .301
6 Chuck Knoblauch (RoY-1st) 159 1991 22 151 565 78 24 6 1 50 25 .281
7 Bernie Allen (RoY-3rd) 154 1962 23 159 573 79 27 7 12 64 0 .269
8 Luis Rivas 150 2001 21 153 563 70 21 6 7 47 31 .266
9 Rod Carew (RoY-1st) 150 1967 21 137 514 66 22 7 8 51 5 .292
10 Carlos Gomez 149 2008 22 153 577 79 24 7 7 59 33 .258
11 Tim Teufel (RoY-4th) 149 1984 25 157 568 76 30 3 14 61 1 .262
12 Joe Mauer 144 2005 22 131 489 61 26 2 9 55 13 .294
13 Zoilo Versalles 143 1961 21 129 510 65 25 5 7 53 16 .280
14 Marty Cordova (RoY-1st) 142 1995 25 137 512 81 27 4 24 84 20 .277
15 Butch Wynegar (RoY-2nd) 139 1976 20 149 534 58 21 2 10 69 0 .260
16 Bobby Darwin 137 1972 29 145 513 48 20 2 22 80 2 .267
17 Chad Allen 133 1999 24 137 481 69 21 3 10 46 14 .277
18 Jimmie Hall (RoY-3rd) 129 1963 25 156 497 88 21 5 33 80 3 .260
19 Bob Randall 127 1976 28 153 475 55 18 4 1 34 3 .267
20 Tom Brunansky 126 1982 21 127 463 77 30 1 20 46 1 .272
21 Dan Ford 123 1975 23 130 440 72 21 1 15 59 6 .280
22 Ron Washington 122 1982 30 119 451 48 17 6 5 39 3 .271
23 Cesar Tovar 121 1966 25 134 465 57 19 5 2 41 16 .260
24 Ben Revere 120 2011 23 117 450 56 9 5 0 30 34 .267
25 Gary Gaetti (RoY-5th) 117 1982 23 145 508 59 25 4 25 84 0 .230
26 Jerry Terrell 116 1973 26 124 438 43 15 2 1 32 13 .265
27 Bobby Mitchell 113 1982 27 124 454 48 11 6 2 28 8 .249
28 John Castino (RoY-1st) 112 1979 24 148 393 49 13 8 5 52 5 .285
29 A.J. Pierzynski 110 2001 24 114 381 51 33 2 7 55 1 .289
30 Willie Norwood 109 1978 27 125 428 56 22 3 8 46 25 .255
31 Mark Salas (RoY-8th) 108 1985 24 120 360 51 20 5 9 41 0 .300
32 Corey Koskie 106 1999 26 117 342 42 21 0 11 58 4 .310
33 Lyman Bostock 104 1975 24 98 369 52 21 5 0 29 2 .282
34 Dustan Mohr (RoY-8th) 103 2002 26 120 383 55 23 2 12 45 6 .269
35 Steve Lombardozzi 103 1986 26 156 453 53 20 5 8 33 3 .227
36 Rick Sofield 103 1980 23 131 417 52 18 4 9 49 4 .247
37 Denard Span (RoY-6th) 102 2008 24 93 347 70 16 7 6 47 18 .294
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 3/10/2014.

Who will be the next Twins rookie to join this list?

Checking in again from Fort Myers

Max Kepler in 2014 STI know I have not written much lately but sometimes I just don’t feel like rehashing all the same stuff that all the other Twins blogs and writers are writing about day in and day out. It is still too early in spring training for me to get a good feel for what this years Twins team will be like but there is certainly more to like this year then what I have seen in the past. I am out at the ballpark about twice a week but I have not actually seen a Twins spring training game as yet. We went to Thursday’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Hammond Stadium in spite of rains that had been forecast for darn near a week and who would have guessed that the weather guesser’s would be right this time. Shortly after we arrived at the ballpark it started sprinkling and before long the rain came down and the winds started to howl. There isn’t much cover at Hammond Stadium when the wind is blowing the rain sideways and after almost two hours the game was postponed. Normally a long rain delay like this would not be much fun but in this case it was just the opposite because my wife and I got to spend the entire rain delay chatting with Max Kepler‘s mother Kathy. What a charming and gracious lady she is and Jackie and I had a wonderful time waiting out the rain with her even if we didn’t get to watch a baseball game. Max must enjoy his mothers cooking because in his first spring training with the big club he is 6 for 12 with 4 runs scored and 2 RBI. Max will get sent down soon but he is leaving a nice memory with Rob Antony, Ron Gardenhire and the rest of the Twins coaching staff. The day after the postponement I noticed in the local paper that I can even get my $10 parking pass refunded if I mail it back in to the Twins. That is kind of nice surprise because back at Target Field that does not happen.

Click on the image to make it larger
Click on the image to make it larger

During one of my visits to Hammond Stadium I ran across this sign in front of the Twins ticket offices. Before the rains started this past Thursday I saw this same sign on the field next to the batting cage although I did not see any actual fans taking batting practice. I am not sure how many swings you get or anything else about this promotion but I think it is kind of a cool idea. I know that $40 is kind of steep for the average person but the money does go to the Boys and Girls clubs of Lee County. I will have to check back with the Twins to see how this promotion is being received. They should take this promotion back to Target Field and give away a Twins season ticket to each fan that can hit a home run in his first swing.  I think there is at least one big league team with a promotion something like this.

Dr. Frank Jobe, a pioneering orthopedic surgeon who was the first to perform an elbow procedure that became known as Tommy John surgery and saved the careers of countless major league pitchers, died this past Thursday at the age of 88.

Tommy John and Dr. Frank Jobe in 1974
Tommy John and Dr. Frank Jobe in 1974

Jobe performed groundbreaking elbow surgery on Tommy John, a Dodgers pitcher who had a ruptured medial collateral ligament in his left elbow. The injury previously had no solution until Jobe removed a tendon from John’s forearm and repaired his elbow. John went on to pitch 14 years after the operation on Sept. 25, 1974, compiling 164 more victories without ever missing a start because of an elbow problem.

‘‘When he did come back, I thought maybe we could do it on somebody else,’’ Jobe told The Associated Press in 2010. ‘‘I waited two years to try it on somebody else, but we had no idea we could do it again.’’ Jobe initially estimated John’s chances of returning to the majors at less than 5 percent. He later said 92 to 95 percent of patients return as good, if not better, than before the surgery. The surgery has since become common practice for pitchers and players at every level of baseball. I wonder how many career’s this man saved?

It is already March 9th and the Twins play their first game that counts on March 31st, that is not very far away and no one has a clue as to what the Twins outfield will look like. The fifth spot in the starting rotation is still up for grabs and the entire bench is in the TBD category. Cuts will begin shortly and the position battles will heat up, it will be fun to see who can stand the heat and who folds under the pressure. Even if Gardy tells you that you are going north, you should not get too comfortable, I have a hunch that flights between New Britain, Rochester and Minneapolis this year are going to be pretty busy.

Tough break for Sano and Twins fans

Acting GM Rob Antony verified this morning that Miguel Sano, one of the Twins top prospects is out for the 2014 season and will be under-going “Tommy John” surgery sometime next week. Sano has had elbow issues off and on since late last season and had been shut down this past winter but was given the green light in late January to resume baseball activities. Sano made a strong throw on a slow roller during an inter-squad game on Thursday and felt something in his elbow. Sano was removed from the game shortly thereafter and had an MRI on Friday afternoon. This morning Sano learned the results and nows faces surgery and a long and difficult recovery.

 

Miguel Sano
Miguel Sano

This is such a tough break in so many ways for both Sano and the Twins but at least it is a definitive diagnosis and steps can now be taken to get the issue remedied. The moaning has already started among some Twins fans that surgery should have been done right away last fall and that rest seldom corrects these kinds of issues but to me it just makes no sense to have any kind of surgery unless there are no alternatives. All lesser invasive options needs to be exhausted before surgery is selected and I think that the Twins and Sano went about this the right way. For a player that loves playing baseball as much as Sano does, this has to be heart breaking and particularly disheartening when this was probably going to be the year that he first put on a big league uniform. For the Twins who come off three consecutive 90+ losing seasons it hurts when a young up and coming slugger has to lose a year of development. I know I was expecting to see Miguel Sano playing 3B for the Twins at Target Field at some point this season and it just seems like another kick in the gut to many Twins fans that were hoping to see one of the Twins prospects arrive in Minnesota. But many times what appears to be a door closing may actually lead to another opening so now we just have to wait and see what is behind door number two. Good luck Miguel and here is to a swift recovery.

Most of the Twins players had already left for JetBlue to play the Red Sox in the first exhibition game of the season by the time I arrived at Hammond Stadium yesterday so it was a relatively quiet day. I watched players like Aaron Hicks, Josh Willingham, Joe Mauer and numerous others taking batting practice. It was interesting watching BP as Rod Carew and other coaches looked on and gave the hitters situations such as “bases loaded” and then told the hitters where they wanted them to hit the ball. I was amazed at how often these guys put the ball exactly where they were asked to hit it. But thn again this was BP and not a game situation. Later I watched Rod Carew as he had a number of players work on their bunting skills. Some of these hitters looked like they had never been asked to bunt in their life. I can’t help but wonder how players in a big league ST camp can be such poor bunters.

Bill SpringmanI had a chace to spend a few minutes talking with Bill Springman the Twins minor league hitting coordinator who has had the job since 2007. Springman was fun to talk with about his job, travel and all the former Twins players that he has tutored over the years. Springman loves the Twins organization for many reasons and feels it is one of the best organizations that you can possible work for. One of those reasons is GM Terry Ryan and Springman has great respect for Ryan and how he runs his operation. I am hoping to hook up with Bill again this summer and get his view-point on how the future Twins are doing in the system.

There was just a few players on one of the minor league fields getting in some early workouts but the entire minor league contingent will be arriving in the next few days and soon those fields will be buzzing with activity. It is always fun watching those groups when they start playing games in the next week or so.

The Twins have 64 players in camp, 29 pitchers, 8 catchers, 15 infielders and 12 outfielders. It won’t be long before those numbers start to dwindle.

Looking at Twins 2014 ticket prices

2013 Twins ticket imagesThe Minnesota Twins  have lost 90 or more games for three consecutive years and although individual game ticket prices were not lowered for the 2014 season, ticket prices at least remained flat from the previous season for the first time since the 1997 and 1998 seasons.

The variable ticket pricing plan that was instituted in 2006 with 2 tiers jumped to 3 tiers in 2009 and 5 tiers in 2013 remains unchanged in 2014.  The tiers are still called “extra value”, “value”, “select”, “premium” and “elite” and the number of games in each of the categories did change slightly from 2013. The “extra value” games are the cheapest priced games and there are 12 of them this year versus 8 last year but all of these games fall in the colder months of April and September. The next step up is the “value” plan and the number of games in this category dropped from 16 last season to just 8 in 2014. The “select” category is pretty much the middle of the line and this is pretty much the Twins baseline for ticket prices. The number of games in this category increased this year to 40 games from 32 last year. The next step up is the “premium” games and the Twins decreased the number of games in this category from 16 to 9. The top of the line category is the “Elite” games and this category of games jumped from 9 to 12 games. It would be interesting to find out how the Twins determine for example what games fall into the “Elite” category. The world champion Boston Red Sox are in town in May but those mid-week games are only classified as “select” games probably because school is still in session. The four Yankee games are of course “Elite” as are two games against the Detroit Tigers on a late August week-end but 6 of the 12 “Elite” games are against the mighty Chicago White Sox although each 3-game series falls on a week-end in June and July. The Twins strategy this years seems to be to put half the games in the middle “select” tier and then split the other 41 games fairly evenly between the lower tiers and upper tiers.

Individual tickets went on sale February 22 but those prices were only in effect for one day because as of February 23 demand-based pricing kicked in for the rest of the year and the Twins will determine ticket prices on a daily basis based on demand, weather and market conditions.

There are 12 (15% of games but all in April and September) “extra value” games, 8 (10% of games) “value” games, 40 (49% of the games) “select” games, 9 (11% of games) “premium” games, and 12 (15%) “elite” games.

The Twins did tinker with ticket prices within the various tiers but in the end it comes out to basically a wash although the lower classified tiers dropped a bit in average price and the high-end went up a bit. The average ticket price for a “extra value” game in 2013 was $16.68 and this year it dropped to $15.68. The average ticket price for a “value” game in 2013 was $23.47 and this year it dropped to $23.37.The average ticket price for a “select” game in 2013 was $30.68 and this year it remains at $30.68.The average ticket price for a “premium” game in 2013 was $37.89 and this year it goes up to $38.00.The average ticket price for an “elite” game in 2013 was $44.68 and this year it went up to $45.68. If you attend an “elite” game you will pay about three times as much for your seat as you would if you attended an “extra value” game. Same seat, same game of baseball but the tier designation determines how much money stays in your wallet.

Club president Dave St. Peter stated just prior to TwinsFest that he hoped that the Twins can hit the 2.5 milion mark in attendance in 2014, a slight increase over their attendance in 2013. Their 2013 average of 30,588 ranked the Twins 17th among 30 teams in major league baseball. The club’s full season-ticket equivalent base has dropped steadily from 25,000 in 2010 their first season at Target Field to last year’s 19,000 and is only projected to reach 17,000 by Opening Day 2014.

Who took the money?

Joe MauerLet’s take a quick look and see how much money the Minnesota Twins highest paid players over the years have taken to the bank. Strikes me as kind of odd that six names on this list are pitchers.

1. Joe Mauer has been making $23,000,000 a year from 2011-current. Joe also cashed in for $12,500,000 in 2010 and $10,500,000 in 2009.

2. Justin Morneau was paid at the rate of $15,000,000 per season from 2010-2013 but he also made $11,600,000 in 2009 and $8,400,000 in 2008.

3. Johan Santana made $13,000,000 in his final season in a Twins uniform in 2007.

4. Torii Hunter pocketed a cool $12,000,000 in his last year in a Twins uni in 2007.

4. Ricky Nolasco will make $12,000,000 this season.

6. Joe Nathan took $11,250,000 to the bank from 2009-2011 even though was injured all of 2010.

7. Brad Radke cashed for $10,750,000 in 2004.

8. Michael Cuddyer took $10,500,000 home in 2011 in his final season in Minny.

9. Carl Pavano was paid $9,000,000 in 2012 and he went 2-5 with a 6.00 ERA in the 11 games he started.

10. Rick Reed might not have liked pitching for the Twins but he had no problem taking the $8,000,000 the Twins paid him in 2003.

There were several players that had big buck contracts but their time in Minnesota was so limited they are not on this list. Phil Nevin was making $10,472,409 in 2006 when he played in 16 games as a Twin. Bret Boone was making $9,000,000 in 2005 and he appeared in just 14 Twins games. Brian Fuentes was making $9,000,000 in 2010 but he only appeared in 9 games.

 

Harmon Killebrew
Harmon Killebrew

Harmon Killebrew was probably the greatest Minnesota Twins player of them all and here is what Harmon earned over the years that he played. The MLB minimum salary in 1970 was $12,000 and in 2014 it is $500,000. Not a bad job if you can get it.

1954 – $6,000 plus $4,000 bonus
1955 – $6,000 plus $4,000 bonus
1956 – $6,000 plus $4,000 bonus
1957 – $7,000
1958 – $8,000
1959 – $9,000
1960 –  $20,000
1961 – $27,000
1962 – $33,000
1963 – $46,000
1964 – $48,000
1965 – $54,000
1966 – $61,000
1967 – $66,000
1968 – $70,000
1969 – $80,000
1970 – $90,000
1971 – $110,000
1972 – $125,000
1973 – $105,000
1974 – $90,000