GM Ryan busy, Twins sign Ryan Doumit

Ryan Doumit being checked out by Pirates trainer

Holy Cow, GM Terry Ryan has been busy, on the job less than two weeks and he has signed Jamey Carroll and now today the Twins announced they have signed C/1B/OF Ryan Doumit to a $3 million one year deal pending a physical.  The deal apparently has some incentives and that is a good thing because the switch-hitting Ryan Doumit comes to Minnesota with some baggage. Injury type of baggage, in the form of a concussion history and that is not a good thing for a catcher.

Doumit was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1999 June free agent draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a catcher and has been in the Pirates organization ever since. Doumit made his major league debut in June of 2005. Although not rated as a strong catcher defensively, in his 7 big league seasons Doumit has played in 521 games but he has caught in 426 games, played the OF in 60 and played 1B in 35 games. Injuries have limited Doumit’s time in the line-up and he has never had more than 465 plate appearances in any of his 7 big league seasons.

OK, Ryan Doumit has an injury history but he is still a very nice pick-up and worth the gamble as I see it. Doumit has suffered injuries such as a broken thumb, broken wrist, and a fractured ankle not to mention the concussion issues I brought up earlier. He can play three positions and is a switch-hitter and will be 31 when the season starts in April. He has a little pop in his bat as his 67 home runs in 611 games attest and he has a .271 career average although he did hit only .250 in 2009, and .251 in 2010 but he hit .303 in 77 games last year.

I like the signing but if you think this will send Drew Butera packing you need to think again. Doumit is weak defensively and his strength is offense so there is no way that Gardy keeps him on the bench strictly as a back-up catcher day in and day out. Doumit will be in the line-up some where most of the time so Gardy still needs to have a back-up catcher available and that man will probably be Butera or another catcher with some defensive skills. If Doumit is the DH, Gardy will not want to risk losing his DH if he would suddenly need Doumit to catch. Even if Butera fails to make the team, I see no way the Twins do not carry three catchers next year. In spite of needing to carry three catchers, I like this signing and I give GM Ryan a big thumbs up. Keep working those phones Mr. Ryan, a starting pitcher would be nice and the outfield is still a big question mark.

Jason Bulger

The Twins also announced they have signed yet another relief pitcher to a minor league deal, this time it is former Angel Jason Bulger. Jason is a right hander and stands 6’4″ and goes about 210 and will be 33 in a couple of weeks. Bulger has been in the big leagues off and on with the D-Backs and the Angels since 2005 but has only appeared in 125 games with a 7-2 record. Bulger is another of those relief pitchers with control issues as his career mark of 5.1 BB/9 will tell you.

Finally, the Twins also announced that they plan to add another bronze statue of a former player outside Target Field next year but as yet the player has yet to be publicly identified. He would join statues of Harmon Killebrew, Kirby Puckett, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and the late Twins owner Carl Pohlad and his wife Eloise. Who is it going to be? My guess would be Bert Blyleven and my dark horse choice would be Kent Hrbek. We will find out soon enough.

UPDATE November 23 – The Twins announced that they have officially signed free-agent catcher Ryan Doumit to a one-year deal worth $3 million.

Dumatrait a Minnesota Twin once again…..sigh!

Phil Dumatrait

When the Twins let Phil Dumatrait walk last month I was a happy camper. Now I find out that the Twins have inked Phil Dumatrait to a minor league deal. I gotta tell you, I am not a Phil Dumatrait fan and I just don’t see why the Twins would bring him back. I know that in 45 games he had a 3.92 ERA but that is very deceiving, the man threw 41+ innings but in the process he gave up 45 hits and 25 walks while striking out 29 batters giving him a 1.69 WHIP. That is just plain terrible, the Twins don’t need relievers that put more men on base via the walk.

I know he is left-handed and breathing and only 30 years of age but there have to be other relief pitchers out there that can do a better job than Dumatrait. We can only hope that this is one of those insurance policies that we all sign up for and hope that we never have to use. The best scenario would be for Dumatrait not to make the team next season and spend the summer in Rochester wearing a Red Wings uniform. If Dumatrait makes the Twins pitching staff out of spring training, I fear it will be a long and tough summer for the Twins next season.

The Twins and the Disabled List (DL)

The Twins had a miserable season in 2011 and many blame the Twins slide into the AL central basement on the number of injuries that the Twins endured. But looking at the numbers, injuries alone do not explain the Twins dismal play. The Twins came out of spring training in excellent health but it didn’t take long before players started dropping. It was like a contagious disease all season long, one injury after another. How do you explain it? No one can I think, just a matter of bad luck, sometimes, maybe it was brought on by not knowing how to play your position properly as in the case of Tsuyoshi Nishioka. Later in the season, after the Twins were beaten down and out of the race it seemed like some players just gave up and found it easier to sit on the bench than to get out on the field. The Joe Mauer mystery still remains unanswered. It appears to me that the Twins have several players that do not want to go to the gate unless they are feeling 100%, hell, no one feels 100% everyday. In the real world there are people going to work day in and day out regardless of how they feel for a whole slew of reasons. These players need to understand that they are letting their teammates, fans, and themselves down when they let a minor injury keep them from taking the field. I felt bad for Gardy because he had to make excuses for these malingerers. I wonder what it will take to get some of these guys to “suck it up” and play some baseball? But you think the 2011 Twins had injury problems, check out some of these sad but apparently true injuries that occurred to the boys of summer in a piece that was published back in September of 1992. You may find some former Twins on the list.

So what is the MLB DL and how does it work? In simple terms it works like this. A player may be placed on either the 15-day or the 60-day disabled list, usually depending on the severity or the expected recovery time of the injury. A player may be shifted from the 15-day to the 60-day DL at any time, but not vice-versa. The player may not rejoin the team until 15 or 60 days has elapsed; however, a player’s time on the DL may exceed the specified number of days. Something the Twins know very well. In addition, if a player is sent to the 60-day DL after August 1, he may not return to the active roster for the rest of that season.

The 15-day DL does not count the player on the active roster (comprising the 25-man roster until September 1), whereas the 60-day DL does not require the player to be counted on either the team’s active roster or its 40-man roster; however, a team’s 40-man roster must be full in order for the option of a placement on the 60-day disabled list to be available.

In 2011 MLB instituted a change to the DL policy where as a new 7 day DL was put in place specifically for concussions and brain damage. MLB also put in place a paternity leave policy this season where a team can replace a player who is an expectant father on the roster for 1-3 days in order for them to attend the birth of their child.

Until the late 1980s, there were 10-day and 21-day disabled lists. The number of players who could be placed on each list was limited, and there was much less flexibility about when they could return to action. Back then, players with major league contracts were not allowed to go to the minor leagues for rehabilitation.

But getting back to the Twins situation, I took a look at the Twins injuries for the last 10 seasons 2002-2011 and here is what I found.

Year Record Finish DL Moves DL Days Out for the season
2002 94-67 1st 14 700 Duvall (P)
2003 90-72 1st 10 430 none
2004 92-70 1st 14 593 Mays (P)
2005 83-79 3rd 11 578 Kubel (OF), Balfour (P)
2006 96-66 1st 10 403 none
2007 79-83 3rd 15 995* Liriano (P), Machado (P)
2008 88-75 2nd 11 487 none
2009 87-76 1st 12 551 Bonser (P), Neshek (P)
2010 94-68 1st 18 760 Condrey (P), Nathan (P)
2011 63-99 5th 27 785 none

 * = In addition to Liriano and Machado being out for the season, Perkins, Crain, White, and Rabe all spent 95 or more days on the DL

The table above seems to indicate that the Twins usually average between 10-15 DL moves in a season but the last two seasons have seen a jump in the number of DL moves to 18 and 27 respectively.

From a trainers perspective, like the rest of the Twins organization, changes are few and far between. Up until 2011, the Twins had a head trainer, an assistant trainer and a strength and conditioning coach but in 2011 they added a second assistant trainer.

2002 – Jim Kahmann (HT), Rick Mcwane (AT), Randy Popple (SCC)
2003 – Jim Kahmann (HT), Rick Mcwane (AT), Randy Popple (SCC)
2004 – Jim Kahmann (HT), Rick Mcwane (AT), Randy Popple (SCC)
2005 – Rick Mcwane (HT), Dave Pruemer (AT), Randy Popple (SCC)
2006 – Rick Mcwane (HT), Dave Pruemer (AT), Randy Popple (SCC)
2007 – Rick Mcwane (HT), Dave Pruemer (AT), Perry Castellano (SCC)
2008 – Rick Mcwane (HT), Dave Pruemer (AT), Perry Castellano (SCC)
2009 – Rick Mcwane (HT), Dave Pruemer (AT), Perry Castellano (SCC)
2010 – Rick Mcwane (HT), Dave Pruemer (AT), Perry Castellano (SCC)
2011 – Rick Mcwane (HT), Dave Pruemer (AT), Tony Leo (AT), Perry Castellano (SCC)

 

Popple and Castellano each have served as strength and conditioning coach for 5 years. When Popple was the SCC, the Twins averaged 541 DL days per season, during the last 5 years under Castellano, the Twins have averaged 716 DL days. coincidence? Maybe. Of course you can’t compare apples to apples here because the players change but still, 175 DL days difference.

We all have an opinion on what Twins we think are always hurt and always on the DL but the table below will show you over the last 10 years who has been on the DL most frequently. The table covers the years of 2002 through 2011 and players that have two or fewer DL trips are not listed.

Player DL appearances Season with the Twins
Nick Punto 9 7
Joe Mauer 6 8
Francisco Liriano 5 7
Kevin Slowey 5 5
Scott Baker 4 7
Alexi Casilla 4 6
Michael Cuddyer 4 11
Justin Morneau 4 9
Glenn Perkins 4 6
Grant Balfour 3 4
Lew Ford 3 5
Torii Hunter 3 11
Corey Koskie 3 7
Jose Mijares 3 4
Pat Neshek 3 5
Luis Rivas 3 6
Shannon Stewart 3 4
Rondell White 3 2

Former Twins pitcher Charlie Lea dead at 54

Charlie Lea

Former Montreal Expos and Minnesota Twins  pitcher Charlie Lea who was born to military parents in Orleans, France on December 25, 1956 was found dead yesterday of an apparent heart attack at his home at the age of 54. Lea was drafted by the Montreal Expos in 1978 and made his major league debut with the Expos on June 12, 1980. Lea was a mainstay in the Expos starting rotation between 1980 and 1984 before an arm injury derailed his career. Lea pitched a 4-0 no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants on May 10, 1981 at Stade Olympique Stadium in the second game of a double-header and in the process became the first French born pitcher to pitch a major league no-hitter. Lea was an All-Star in 1984 and was the starting and winning pitcher for the National league. Lea had to sit out the 1985 and 1986 season due to injuries and came back with the Expos in 1987 with little success. Lea signed a free agent contract with Minnesota in February of 1988 and was in the 1988 starting rotation all season, finishing with a 7-7 mark with a 4.85 ERA in 23 starts. Charlie Lea retired from baseball after the 1988 season.

In recent years Charlie Lea served as a radio broadcaster for his home town Triple-A Memphis Redbirds. Broadcast partner Steve Selby remembered Lea’s “easy-going style”. 

“It was like you were sitting in a rocking chair on the porch,” Selby said. ”And he was so unassuming. You would have never known he had played major league baseball unless you asked him. So many analysts are quick to tell you ‘When I played major league baseball . . .’ Charlie never did that.

“It’s obvious he had inside knowledge of the game and wanted to tell you what he knew. A lot of players distance themselves from the game because their careers may not have ended the way they wanted. Charlie was positive about everything. We became good friends. There’s a huge hole in my life right there.”

Charlie Lea pitched in the big leagues for seven seasons and finished with a 62-48 record with a 3.54 ERA in 152 games with 144 starts.

Twins give two year deal to Jamey Carroll

According to numerous reports, the Twins are about to sign 37 year old free agent infielder Jamey Carroll to a two year $7 million deal pending a physical. The Twins front office states that have no comment. La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune also has reported that there is a potential for a third year (2014) for $2 million if Carroll makes at least 401 plate appearances in 2013 but it is a players option and Carroll can turn it down. Carroll has been in the majors since 2002 and has played for the Expos, Nationals, Rockies, Indians, and for the last two seasons, the LA Dodgers. Carroll is primarily a middle infielder but can play 3B and the corner outfields spots in a pinch.

Carroll has never has a starting position for an entire season and the most at bats he has ever had in a season is 463, but on the plus side, his name has not appeared on the Dodgers diasabled list in either of the last two seasons.

Jamey Carroll

Everything I have seen in print to this point indicates that Carroll will play shortstop but I don’t see that happening. Sure he will play some short but he will not be the Twins starting shortstop in 2012, that position remains to be filled. My thinking is that GM Ryan acquired Carroll to play 2B and fill in at SS and 3B as needed. Ryan has always been a big fan of Alexi Casilla so it surprises me a little to see him acquire Jamey Carroll.

I don’t care for this deal because it is guaranteed for two years and Jamey Carroll will be 38 years old before the 2011 begins. I see Carroll as a “steady Eddie” type of player who is there every day, can make the routine plays day in and day out and has a decent stick but with no power. Carroll is the type of player that a contending team picks up to fill a hole so why does a team coming off 99 losses go after Carroll? Most of the Twins bloggers seem to favor this deal but I wonder what their thoughts would have been if this signing was consummated under GM Bill Smith versus under Terry Ryan.

RHP Jared Burton

The Twins did announce that they had re-signed Brian Dinkelman to a minor league deal. Dinkelman had made his major league debut this past season with Minnesota and appeared 23 games splitting his time between 2B and the outfield. The Twins also signed free agent RHP Jared Burton. Burton is 30 and has pitched for the Cincinnati Reds off and on in relief since 2007. Burton fits in perfectly with the Twins love affair with big pitchers, he is 6’5″ and goes about 230. Burton throws a fastball in the low 90’s along with a cutter, a slider and a change-up. Burton has a career record of 10-3 with a 3.41 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. In 169 big league innings, Burton has given up only 151 hits to go along with his 143 strike-outs and he does a decent job of keeping the ball in the ballpark with a home run rate of 0.7 per 9 innings. Burton is the second former Reds pitcher to be acquired by the Twins in the last couple of weeks. The Twins claimed the 27 year old LHP Matt Maloney off waivers on October 31. Maloney is 6’4″ and about 210 but is a soft tossing, pitch to contact pitcher who was used primarily in relief for the Reds but he did start a couple of games. The Twins also claimed reliever Jeff Gray from Seattle on the same day. Looks like the Twins are getting ready for a competitive spring training with lots of players to choose from.

UPDATE as of November 16 – The Twins signed free agent shortstop Jamey Carroll to a two-year, $6.75 million contract in a deal that was formally announced today.

Thank you to all the Veterans out there

Veterans Day Flag images

Please make sure that you thank any Veteran that you meet today and every day. They sacrificed to make sure that you get to enjoy life as you know it today. We here at Twinstrivia.com send our best wishes and a hearty THANK YOU to all the Veterans for their service to our country.

GM Bill Smith out and Terry Ryan back at the helm

GM Bill Smith

The Twins announced today that GM Bill Smith has been fired effective immediately and that former GM Terry Ryan has taken back the GM role on an interim basis that he had previously served in from 1994 to 2007 . Smith had taken over as the Twins general manager back in 2007 when Terry Ryan had resigned. Since Ryan resigned the GM role in 2007 he has been a special assistant in the Twins executive offices serving primarily in a scouting capacity. Ryan who has been with the Twins for over 28 years has always been in the middle of the action so he should be able to take back the GM role without skipping a beat.

During Smith’s four years as the general manager, the Twins have finished second once, first twice, losing in the first round of the playoffs each time and then came the horrendous last place finish this past season when the wheels came totally off. During Smith’s tenure, the Twins had a 332-318 record and played .511 baseball. According to reports, Bill Smith has been offered another position with the Twins organization but Smith has decided to take some time to think through his situation.

Terry Ryan (courtesy of SI.com)

I first heard the news about the Bill Smith firing this afternoon when I started out on my daily walk and I have to admit, I was shocked and my one hour walk gave me time to think and I have more questions than answers. I don’t see the Twins as an organization that makes knee jerk reactions and the wheels of change turn slowly in Twins Territory while second chances are a way of life here in Minnesota. I know that the Twins were just plain terrible this season and they did lose 99 games but still, I did not expect this from the Twins. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that Bill Smith should not have been fired, I am just saying that this has not been how the Twins have operated under the Pohlad flag to this point.

So why is Smith out and Ryan back in? I heard some reports that indicated that the Twins have been working on this change for the last week or so. The Twins I believe stated philosophical differences caused them to make a change. Boy, I would have loved to been a fly on that wall listening to what went on during those meetings.

Now that the Twins aren’t considered small market any longer does Twins ownership have higher expectations? With their 99 losses this season the Twins were just a game away from being only the second team in history to lose 100 games with a $100 million payroll. I think I heard that Twins season ticket renewals are running about 85%, does that play a roll? Or is it simply the fact that the Twins brain trust did not believe in Bill Smith’s long term plans for the team. I heard GM Smith say many times that injuries were the cause of the Twins poor play and maybe Smith was thinking that the only changes the Twins needed to make were minor tweaks and that a healthy 2012 team could once again compete in the AL Central? Or was he going in the other direction thinking that a complete rebuilding process was needed and the rest of the organization didn’t see things his way.

Bill Smith was never able to become the GM that Twins fans had hoped for. Who knows why, he got off to a quick start with his trade with Tampa for Delmon Young but that trade and numerous others just have not panned out in the long run and his handling of potential Twins free agents has been questioned on numerous fronts. Last year he lost most of his bullpen and his handeling of the Joe Mauer injury fiasco this year did not put the Twins in a good light.

I think the Bill Smith firing was not about a single event but a cumulative number of decisions that have finally caused Twins ownership and senior management to say enough is enough and that a change was needed before things really got out of hand. I also believe that this is a “shot across the bow” for manager Gardenhire, his coaching staff and any Twins players that are thinking that they can just sit back and enjoy their past successes. The Twins are a business and if they want to continue to pack Target Field they need to put a winning team on the field, or at least send out a team that shows the fans that they care about winning, something that was often not the case this past season. Here it is only November 7, it looks to me like it will be an exciting off-season in Twinsville this winter.

 

Welcome to the new site!

Welcome everyone to the new Twinstrivia.com web site. I have worked hard for the last five months to get this site launched. I have all kinds of ideas on things I would like to add in the future but everything takes time and to this point I have had all I can do just to get the basics out here that I had on my old site at Microsoft Office Live. 

This site will continue to be primarily a Minnesota Twins historical web site but will continue to have current Twins info as well. My goal is for this site to be the “go to”  Twins historical web site that everyone can use to find out what they need to know about the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful past. Now and then you will also see posts about the 1901-1960 Washington Senators so you can learn more about the Twins franchise history that goes back to 1901.

I have had Twinstrivia.com up as a site since November 2007 and I transferred as many of my old posts/blogs as I could and you can find most of them in the October archive but a few posts from 2011 can be found in the November archive as well.

I don’t know if you can tell but I am really excited about this WordPress site and I am looking forward to what the future will bring. If you have some ideas on what I can do to make the site better, please let me know. In the mean time, enjoy the site.

Juan Berenguer interview

Juan Berenguer

Our most recent interview was with pitcher Juan Berenguer. Juan Batista Berenguer was born in Aquadulce, Cocle, Panama on November 30, 1954. The 5’11” and 186 pound right-hander pitched for seven big league teams during his 15 seasons in the major leagues including the Minnesota Twins from 1987 through 1990. To find out more about Juan, his big league career and to listen to the 38 minute interview with Senor Smoke, just click here. I think you will enjoy it.

Nathan‘s option declined

 

Joe Nathan

October 25, 2011 – The Twins announced this afternoon that they have declined closer Joe Nathan’s $12.5 million club option for 2012 and instead will instead exercise a $2 million buyout which makes Nathan a free agent. GM Smith has indicated to Nathan, who be 37 on November 22nd and his agent that the Twins would like to resign the 37 year reliever but at a lesser price tag.

Nathan has been with the Minnesota Twins since 2004 and is the Twins all-time saves leader with 260 passing previous leader Rick Aguilera (254 saves) this past season.

It will be interesting to see if the Twins can resign Nathan this off season and if so, how much will it cost. But before I try to resign Joe Nathan, I go back to the Washington Nationals and try to swing a deal for closer Drew Storen and shortstop Ian Desmond and I give up Ben Revere, Kevin Slowey and a minor league prospect. If the Nats don’t want Revere but want Denard Span instead, I still do the deal without the minor league prospect. Nathan has obviously been a great closer but he is coming off a serious injury and he will be 37 years old before next season begins. How much is he worth to a team that lost 99 games in 2011 and has many holes to fill? In my opinion I don’t sign him to more than two years and I offer him $14 million for those two years. If Nathan feels that is not enough, I let him walk and I look for a closer.