Tag: Ben Revere

Twins active but lots of work remains to be done

It has been awhile since my last post but web site hosting issues have caused me a lot of extra work and taken me away from more fun activities like keeping up with the MLB Winter meetings and the changing Twins roster.

With the recent trades of former first round pick (2002) outfielder Denard Span to the Washington Nationals for 2011 Nats first round pick RHP Alex Meyer and just a few days later sending another former Twins first round pick (2007) outfielder Ben Revere to the Phillies for RHP’s Vance Worley and Trevor May the Twins and GM Terry Ryan have held true to their word that changes were coming and that they were going to snag as many pitchers as they could. These trades should also clear up any confusion that some Twins fans may still have had that the Twins were going to be “reload” and try to become a playoff team once again after suffering through two dismal seasons. The Twins are in a full-scale rebuilding mode but not the kind of rebuilding mode that we may have seen from the Twins in the past. In the past they would get rid of all their high salaried players and start from scratch but that is a much harder sell now days with the Twins just having moved into their new digs at Target Field in 2010. The Twins aren’t stupid, they know they can’t afford to totally alienate their fan base that they have built up with a with a new ballpark and a nice run since 2002 but they also know that they let their starting pitching fall into disrepair the last few years and in the process have lost 90+ games two years in a row. The team grew stale, changes were few and far between on the player, coaching and management sides and their “smoke and mirrors” approach to their pitching staff caught up with the team so quickly it seemed to catch the entire Twins organization off guard.

The Twins are not a huge market team but they can not plead poverty as they have in the past. The team has a decent fan base, a relatively new ballpark and ownership that has money to spend but I am not sure that they are willing to spend it. The Twins like to brag that they are one of the top organizations in baseball but when it comes to taking out their wallet to bring in some high-priced talent the team claims it is not all about the money. I understand if they can’t put Zack Greinke in a Twins uniform but I can’t get a handle on why you can’t get Joe Blanton for example if the Angels can get him for 2 years for $15 million. This team has just two starting pitchers going into 2013 and I surely don’t grasp why the team would supposedly make an offer to Francisco Liriano after his history with the team between 2005-2012. I think Terry Ryan is a very good GM but I sure don’t know what his logic is for this move. At least throw us a bone Mr. Pohlad, give us some new blood and something to at least give us some hope instead of having us pay to watch that same old crap. I understand loyalty but you can only keep hitting your head against the same old wall for so long before someone shows up to haul you away in a white coat. Show us some loyalty and a reason why we should pay big league prices to watch the Twins in 2013.

This Twins team has more holes than my fishing net but I still love baseball and every year teams come for nowhere to play winning baseball and I can only hope that the Twins will do so sooner than later. There are still serviceable pitchers out there on the FA market and I hope that Jim Pohlad lets Dave St. Peter and Terry Ryan know that his checkbook is there and he is willing to carack it open long enough to sign at least one if not two more starting pitchers. It all starts at the top. The recent splash the Twins have made in the trade market should be just the beginning of what the Twins need to do to become competitive again and not the final chapter.

Josh Hamilton is still a free agent and if Texas doesn’t resign him they could use a power hitting outfielder and if I were the Twins I would be happy to send Josh Willingham to Texas for a shortstop like Jurickson Barthelomeus Profar that could fill that shortstop hole at Target Field for many years to come. The Twins recently announced that they had signed 35-year-old pitcher Jason Lane who played the outfield for the Astros and Padres from 2002-2007 and turned to pitching in 2009. The team also signed 1B/C Jeff Clement who has played in the big leagues with the Mariner and the Pirates for parts of 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012 and hit .218 in 385 at bats. Why in %#@* do you spend the money on players like this? You don’t win with quantity, you win with quality, I am not sure the Twins look at it that way.

In the recent major league portion of the Rule 5 draft the Twins selected 23 year-old RHP Ryan Pressly from the Boston Red Sox. After starting since 2008 Pressly was turned into a reliever late in 2012 and pitched well in that role in the AFL over the last month or so.

It is still early in December and the 2013 season is several months away but the Twins brain trust needs to keep their nose to the grindstone if this team is going to break their two-year death grip on last place. If I was Ron Gardenhire, the way things looks right now, I would be signing on to the PC and updating my resume.

According to Elias

 

Jamey Carroll

Jamey Carroll homered for the Twins in their 4-2 loss at Chicago. Carroll, who has only 13 home runs in 3,388 career at-bats in the majors, snapped his streak of 1,348 consecutive at-bats without a home run (since August 9, 2009). Carroll entered the night with the longest current homer-less streak in the majors; that distinction is now owned by Kansas City’s Chris Getz (currently on the disabled list with 918 at-bats since his last four-bagger). No player had ended a homer-less streak as long as Carroll’s since Rafael Belliard went 1,869 at-bats between round-trippers from May 5, 1987 to September 26, 1997. Source: Elias

As far as the Twins homer-less streaks are concerned, Al Newman is first with 1,647 homer-less at bats and Ben Revere is next with 884 home-less at bats through yesterday’s game and his streak is still active. Carroll is now third on the Twins longest homer-less streak with 412 at bats.

Dumb move by Diamond

Scott Diamond

With the score tied 2-2 in the top of the third at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington with Ben Revere on second base, Twins catcher Joe Mauer worked the count to 3-0 when out of the clear blue, Texas Ranger pitcher Roy Oswalt plunks Mauer in the middle of his back just above the number 7. Gardy and the rest of the Twins seems a bit perturbed and had a few things to say to Oswalt from the dugout. Oswalt couldn’t have cared less and proceeded to strike out Ryan Doumit and Justin Morneau and was out of the inning. In the bottom of the third inning Scott Diamond retired the first batter and as Ranger outfielder Josh Hamilton was stepping in the batters box he appeared to be saying something to Mauer. Diamond who was not particularly sharp and had already thrown 53 pitches to that point threw the first pitch to Hamilton behind his head to the backstop and home plate umpire Wally Bell immediately came out from behind the plate and tossed Scott Diamond from the game. By that time Twins skipper Gardenhire was already flying out of the Twins dugout yelling and screaming at Bell who then wasted no time giving Gardy the heave-ho for the 62nd time in his career.

I have no issue with Diamond and the Twins retaliating by hitting the Rangers best player and I would have been upset if they hadn’t but why be so obvious about it by doing it so quickly? I have watched baseball for a long time and I know that a Twins pitcher had to protect his teammate but the timing was just plain stupid. The Twins and Rangers were tied and still early in the game, why throw at Hamilton there when you already know what the end result is going to be? That makes no sense at all and it was an emotional rookie mistake by Diamond. Mauer and his teammates wouldn’t have had any problem if Twins pitchers had gotten even later in the game. Wally Bell had no choice but to eject Diamond. So what did the Twins and Diamond gain by making such a unproffesional move? Nothing, they lost their best pitcher and manager for the rest of the game and they didn’t even hit Hamilton. This is just another display of the Twins lack of discipline and not thinking and when the game was over the Twins added another notch to the loss column.

This event is not over and there is more action to come in this four game series but for now Roy Oswalt and the Texas Rangers had a good laugh and another win in their pocket. That is why the Rangers are 73-51 and in first place and the Twins are fighting for a high draft choice in 2013. Hopefully Scott Diamond and the rest of the Twins have learned something here that they can use in the future to help them become a better baseball team.

UPDATE – MLB announced that Diamond has been fined and suspended for 6 games. Diamond has filed an appeal.

Twins that have not jogged around the bases

The home run hitters of baseball have been idolized by baseball fans for years, but what about those “Punch-and-Judy” hitters that just have not been able to put one out over the fence and haven’t even been lucky enough to get an inside the park home run? These guys probably could not hit one out even if you let them stand on second base and hit. A Punch-and-Judy is said of a hitter who tends to hit well-placed but weakly-hit balls for singles. The first reference was made by former Los Angeles Dodgers manager Walter Alston when asked about a home run by Willie McCovey of the San Francisco Giants. “When he belts a home run, he does it with such authority it seems like an act of God. You can’t cry about it. He’s not a Punch and Judy belter.”

From what I can determine, the player with the most at bats in the big leagues without ever getting a home run is Bill Holbert. Holbert was a catcher who played a little outfield and infield in 1876 and 1878-1888 with six different teams. Holbert is credited with 2,335 official at bats without hitting a single round tripper. But that was a long time ago and if you look at more modern times, the record holder is Tom “Rebel” Oliver, an outfielder with the Boston Red Sox from 1930-1933 who had 1,931 official at bats and 534 hits but not a homer in the bunch.

So let’s see who among Twins position players going back to 1961 with 100 or more at bats were or are true “Punch-and-Judy” type hitters and who had the most official at bats without a four-bagger on their Minnesota Twins resume.

Al Newman

Number 1 on this list is Al Newman. Newman played 2B/SS/3B for the Twins from 1987-1991 when they played in the Metrodome and Al had 1,647 at bats in a Twins uniform and he failed to hit a single home run. Newman also played for Montreal in 1985-1986 and for Texas in 1992. Between those three teams Newman had 2,107 at bats and he had one home run. Newman’s only career home run took place on July 6, 1986 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium off Atlanta Braves starter Zane Smith.

Number 2 on the list is current Twins outfielder Ben Revere. Revere has been with the Twins off and on since 2010 and during those three season he has 809 at bats through August 12, 2012 without a home run to his credit but he has a ways to go to catch up with Al Newman.

Number 3 on the list is SS/2B Houston Jiminez. Jiminez played for Minnesota in 1983-1984 and had 384 at bats in a Twins uni without a single home run. Jiminez also played for the Pirates in 1987 and the Indians in 1988. Jiminez had 411 career at bats without a homer.

Fourth on the list is SS Luis Gomez. Gomez played for the Twins from 1974-1977 and had 362 official at bats without a long ball. Gomez went on to play for the Blue Jays in 1978-1979 and the Braves in 1980-1981 but when his career ended he had 1,251 major league at bats and a “0” in the home run column.

In the fifth spot on this list is another current Twins player, 2B/SS/3B Jamey Carroll. Through today Carroll has 352 Twins at bats and he still has not cleared the fences. Carroll is in his 11th big league season and is playing for his sixth team and he has hit 12 home runs in his 3,326 career big league at bats.

Number six on our list is catcher Junior Ortiz. Ortiz played in the big leagues for 13 seasons with 5 organizations and he did hit 5 home runs in 1,894 at bats but as a Twins catcher in 1990-1991 he had 304 at bats and not a single home run. Maybe that is why he wore the number “0” on his back as a Minnesota Twin?

Lucky number seven on the list is yet another current Minnesota Twins player, fan favorite (NOT) Tsuyoshi Nishioka who has played 2B and SS. Nishioka has 233 big league at bats to his credit and zero home runs.

Eighth on the list is a Liriano, no, not Francisco but 2B Nelson Liriano. Nelson Liriano has 25 home runs in his 11 seasons and 2,216 at bats in the bigs but as a Minnesota Twin in 1990 he came up empty in the home run column in 185 at bats

Ninth we have another catcher, Jose Morales. Morales was with the Twins parts of 2007, 2009-2010 and hit .297 in 158 at bats but none of the long ball variety. Morales spent 2011 in Colorado and had 60 AB’s there but again came away without a home run.

Number 10 on the Twins homerless list is SS/2B Sergio Ferrer. Ferrer had zero home runs in 138 at bats as a Twin in 1974-1975. Ferrer played for the Mets in part of 1978-1979 and had 40 more at bats there with zero long balls.

Eleventh on the Twins homerless list we have 2B/3B Dan Monzon who came up void of any home runs in his 131 career big league at bats in 1972-1973 with the Minnesota Twins.

Our twelfth and final Minnesota Twins position player with 100 or more at bats with zero home runs is catcher Bruce Look. Look spent all of his 118 big league at bats with the Twins in 1968 and he had no luck hitting one out of the park.

So between these 12 position players we have 4,821 Twins at bats and not a single home run in the group. Isn’t it strange that three players (numbers 2, 5, and 7) on this list are currently playing for the 2012 Twins? That completes a look at the position players with 100 or more at bats with zero home runs on their Twins resumes. The two Twins pitchers with the most at bats as Twins with zero home runs are Mudcat Grant who had 298 regular season at bats in a Twins uni with no homers. We all know about the Mudcat’s home run in-game 6 of the 1965 World Series against the Dodgers and Grant did hit 6 home runs in his 14 year big league career but he did not hit any for the Twins. The other pitcher is Bert Blyleven who had 451 career at bats with zero home runs and 235 of these at bats were as a Minnesota Twins pitcher.

UPDATE AS OF SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 – Jamey Carroll homered against the Chicago White Sox pitcher Hector Santiago at US Cellular Field in the fifth inning of yesterdays game to end his Twins streak of 412 consecutive at bats without a home run. This streak of 412 homer less games moves him up to number 3 on the Twins list behind Al Newman and Ben Revere.

CORRECTION as of September 5, 2012 – It was brought to my attention that I missed outfielder Jason Tyner who had 442 Twins at bats before hitting a home run off Jake Westbrooke at Jacobs Field on July 28, 2007. Todate Jason Tyner career home run count stands at 1. This would put Tyner number 3 on the Twins list.

However; the original intent of my story was to list the Twins with the most at bats that had zero home runs on their entire Twins resume and not really to list the most consective Twins at bats without a homer, thus Jamey Carroll and Jason Tyner really would not belong on this list.

Did you know?

That going into Sunday’s finale against the Boston Red Sox that the Minnesota Twins are 24-28 on the road this season?

That in their last 9 games the Twins starters have posted a 2.20 ERA while allowing just three home runs and holding opponents to a .204 (46-for-225) batting average against? Starters have pitched 6 or more innings in eight of their last nine starts while getting 8 quality starts. The team has gone 7-2 over that stretch.

That Ben Revere has hit safely in a career-high 18 straight games since July 16, batting .364 (28-for-77) with five doubles, one triple, 10 RBI’s, 13 runs scored and just seven strikeouts? The 18-game streak is the longest since Torii Hunter hit in 23 straight games in 2007.

That the Twins have had four different 15-game hitting streaks this season: Josh Willingham has had two 15-game streaks and Trevor Plouffe had a 17-game streak. The four streaks of 15-plus are the most in baseball so far this season.

That Nick Blackburn is 17-34 in 70 career road starts with a 5.66 ERA in 402 innings?

That catchers Sal and Drew Butera are the first father-son position players to pitch in a major league game? Sal Butera pitched a scoreless inning for Montreal in 1985 and again for Cincinnati in 1986 while Drew Butera tossed a scoreless inning in Milwaukee earlier this season.

That Joe Mauer played in his 1,000th career game earlier this season becoming 17th member of the Twins to accomplish the feat?

That the Twins have not had complete game back to back victories since Joe Mays and Carlos Silva accomplished that feat back on May 19-20, 2005?

That the last Twins player to steal Home was Torii Hunter in Detroit back on May 4, 2002?

That Joe Mauer’s three-run ninth-inning home run off Alfredo Aceves yesterday was Mauer’s first career game-winning homer in the ninth inning or later? The last Minnesota player to hit such a blast at Fenway Park was Ron Washington on May 22, 1983.

 

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.

Heads starting to roll

After last nights 6-2 loss to the Angels at Target Field the Twins record stands at 8-22 (.267) and the team is 9 games out of first place after having played just 30 games. After the game the Twins announced that 3B Danny Valencia was optioned to AAA Rochester, pitcher Francisco Liriano was sent to the bullpen and that reliever Matt Maloney was designated for assignment.

Darin Mastroianni

In turn the Twins called up 26-year-old Darin Mastroianni from Rochester. The Twins had picked up Mastroianni on waivers from the Blue Jays this past February. Mastroianni started the season in AA New Britain where he played outfield in just 9 games hitting .143 before being promoted to AAA Rochester where he has hit .346 in 20 games and has stolen 10 bases in 11 attempts. In his 20 games in Rochester, Mastroianni has played in the outfield 15 times and played second base on 5 occasions. I have to say that I don’t understand this call-up at all, why do the Twins need another outfielder when they already have Willingham, Span, Plouffe, Komatsu, Parmelee and Doumit?  And, what about Revere? This move just makes no sense to me at all. Where and when are they going tp play Mastroianni and who do they have as a back-up infielder besides Plouffe? This is crazy.

PJ Walters

To replace Liriano in the starting rotation the Twins called up PJ (Phillip Dewayne) Walters. Walters is a former 11th round pick of the Cardinals in 2006 and has seen brief big league action with the Cards in 2009-2011 and he also appeared in one game for the Blue Jays in 2011 after being traded in a big 8-player trade with St. Louis in July of 2011. The Twins signed Walters as a free agent this past December. The 6’4″ 200 pound  right-handed Walters has started 6 games for Rochester and is 3-1 with an ERA of 2.70, a 1.17 WHIP with 25 strikeouts in 33.1 innings.

It is about time that Liriano has been sent to the bullpen but why call up Walters when you could have just swapped Liriano out for Brian Duensing in the bullpen? Granted, Duensing has been solid in the bullpen but he has big league starting experience while Walters has started 4 games with St. Louis.

Sending Valencia down makes sense as he has not played like a big league third baseman for some time either in the field or with a bat. Some time in Rochester might be just what Valencia needs for a wake-up call.

I know the Twins need to make some moves because they don’t want to announce before Memorial Day that they are already out of the running and ready to go into full-blown rebuilding mode but I would sure like to know how they explain the Mastroianni call-up. This reeks of a panic move. Just announce that the team is in fire sale mode and let’s move on, you certainly will not shock anyone with that announcement. I am sure that some Twins bloggers will call this another negative Twins story but I will argue this is just being realistic, this is one bad Twins team and the sooner it is broken up and a rebuilding effort is put in motion the better off we will all be. To this point the Twins have not used the rebuilding word claiming that once all their injured players came back that they would be in the hunt again, that was a line of bull last winter and it remains so today. Come on Mr. Ryan, throw us a bone and at least give us some hope here.

So why do Twins pick up Erik Komatsu

Erik Komatsu

Put me down under the confused column. Why would the Twins pick up Erik Komatsu? I have no problem sending Clete Thomas packing as he had 28 at bats in a Twins uniform and he hit .143 and he struck out 16 times, enough said. But why pick up Komatsu who is a Cardinals Rule 5 pick-up in December of 2011? Komatsu grew up in California and graduated from Adolfo Camarillo High School where he was a teammate of Delmon Young. Komatsu was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 8th round in 2008, missed most of 2009 with a concussion and hamstring issues and was traded to the Washington Nationals in July 2011. Komatsu has 348 minor league games under his belt and he hit .302 but he has never played above AA ball. I know he can play all three outfield positions and he has stolen 57 bases in the minors but he also got caught 24 times. It’s not like Komatsu is a corner outfielder with power potential. If the Twins don’t keep Komatsu on the roster they need to offer him back to the Nats. Why would the Twins want a player like this? If you want to replace Thomas why not pick up one of your own minor league players? What kind of message does this send to your own minor leaguers? Do the Twins think so little of their own minor league players that they feel they need to pick up players like Clete Thomas and Erik Komatsu? Put yourself in Ben Revere’s or Rene Tosoni’s shoes, what are they thinking? If the Cardinals thought that Komatsu had potential why didn’t they strike a deal with Washington and keep him? The only reason he made the Cardinals team this year anyway was due to all the injuries the Cardinals outfielders suffered. I would like to know why a player from another organization that hasn’t played AAA ball can play in Minnesota but when it comes to their own players they would prefer they get AAA experience first. Don’t tell me about Parmelee, I know he has no AAA experience but the Twins are hardly playing Parmelee this season anyway. I know this team is playing poorly and need some changes but a fourth/fifth outfielder is hardly the answer here unless………. the Twins know they are going to move some players soon and go into full rebuilding mode sooner than later. If that is the case, then the Twins can keep Komatsu on the roster all season and this move might make some sense. I just don’t know if Terry Ryan and the Twins brain trust knows where they are going, they seem to wander aimlessly so far this season grasping at straws.

Twins claim Clete Thomas on waivers from Tigers

Clete Thomas

The Twins announced today that they have claimed 28-year-old outfielder Clete Thomas (bats left and throws right) on waivers from the Detroit Tigers who had designated Thomas for assignment on April 12th. The Twins expect Thomas to be at Target Field tonight prior to Sunday’s game against the Texas Rangers. The Twins made room on their 40-man roster, by transferring right-handed pitcher Scott Baker to the 60-day disabled list. The Twins will make a corresponding roster move prior to adding him to the 25-man roster.

Michael Clete Thomas was first drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the fifth round of the 2002 amateur draft but did not sign and ended up being drafted by the Tigers in round six of the 2005 draft and he signed with the Tigers at that time. Thomas worked his way up through the Detroit minor league system before making his major league debut on March 31, 2008. Thomas appeared with the Tigers in 40 games in 2008, 102 games in 2009 and then spent 2010-2011 with the Tigers AAA team in Toledo. This season he appeared in 3 games with Detroit but had no plate appearances. In the big leagues, Thomas has appeared in 145 games hitting .253 with 8 home runs and is 5 for 5 in stolen bases. Thomas has played all three outfield positions while with the Tigers. In the minors, Thomas has shown the ability to steal a base with 148 steals in 192 attempts. In 2011 Thomas hit a career high 12 home runs with Toledo.

You have to wonder what the Twins see in Thomas and why they want to put him on the 25 man roster. Who will the Twins send down to make room for Thomas? My guess is that Ben Revere may well be Rochester bound if indeed the Twins keep Thomas. The other option of course is that the Twins are going to make some kind of a deal, maybe with Boston since the Red Sox just lost Jacoby Ellsbury for 6-8 weeks due to a shoulder injury yesterday and there have been rumors floating around that Clete Thomas was someone that the Red Sox were interested in. Were the Tigers trying to slip Thomas past everyone on waivers so that they could make a deal with Boston? Who knows.

Here are some thoughts on Clete Thomas from a Tigers blog at Motor City Bengals.

UPDATE: The Twins announced that Ben Revere was optioned to Rochester after Saturdays game.

Good, Bad, and Ugly

Yesterday was an interesting day for the Minnesota Twins and their fans with the news being good, bad and ugly.

GOOD – On a cool crisp spring evening at Target Field the Twins finally got off the snide and posted their first victory of 2012. After a 0-4 start to the season and not having the lead in any game since the season began, the Twins finally took their first lead of the season in the fourth inning on Josh Willingham’s third home run of the season.  Willingham by the way, has a hit in every game this season. With the 6-5 victory the Twins became the last team in major league baseball to post a “W” in the win column. Hopefully the Twins can now relax a little and start playing some good baseball. I can see it taking a some time for this Twins team to gel as it has a number of new pieces as Chris Parmelee or Joe Mauer covers first base, Jamey Carroll gets acclimated over at short, Josh Willingham takes over left field and Ryan Doumit, Trevor Plouffe, or Ben Revere play in right field. Not counting the changes to their pitching staff, that makes four new players in the eight positions on the field. It takes time to learn each other strengths and weaknesses and to play well as a team. The Twins will need to play some good ball because the Texas Rangers come to town on Friday and then Gardy’s boys play the Yankees and the Rays on the road before returning home to face the Red Sox and the Royals.

Bad – The bad news is that the Twins honeymoon at Target Field is over. Yesterdays crowd of 31,413 was the smallest crowd in Target Field history. With the team coming off a 63-99 mark a year ago and a tough 0-4 start in 2012 the fans have not been beating down Target Fields gates to buy tickets. You could see this situation developing late last season when the Twins were playing out the string and there were empty seats all over but at least those seats were bought and paid for and the fans stayed out because they had better things to do on nice fall days then to follow a baseball team that was playing poorly but the empty seats this year are just that, empty seats. If the Twins don’t put a winning team on the field, the empty seat count will rise, the revenue will decrease, and in turn the payroll will have to shrink. Twins fans have become accustomed to winning baseball and last years losing season was a tough pill to swallow but yet the fans still had hope entering this season as they expected their walking wounded in Mauer, Morneau, and Span to return true to form. Then the 2012 season opened and the Twins lost their four games. A tough break for the Twins for sure but it was not the poor start to this season that is causing the empty seats, it is last years record and the off-season acquisitions or lack there of that has the fans hesitant to open their wallets for Twins tickets in 2012. The new ballpark “smells” don’t last forever and now the Twins have to earn their ticket sales on the field.

Scott Baker

UGLY – The ugly news yesterday was the announcement by Twins starting pitcher Scott Baker that he will undergo season ending surgery to repair the flexor pronator tendon in his right elbow before he has even thrown a single pitch that counted in 2012. The expected recovery time for this type of surgery is about six months.

The 30 year-old Baker was drafted by the Twins in the second round of the 2003 amateur draft and made his big league debut in May of 2005. Scott has a 63-48 career mark in 159 starts during hs seven seasons in a Twins uniform. Although I have gotten on Baker for his lack of emotion and how he slows the game to a crawl when he gets runners on the bases, I consider Baker to be the Twins number one starting pitcher. Francisco Liriano probably has better stuff that Baker does but he does not seem to be as mentally savvy on the mound as Baker is. Sure, Baker takes a trip to the DL now and then but when Baker is healthy, he is a very nice pitcher who unlike most Twins pitchers can strike out a batter when needed. From Baker’s point of view, the timing couldn’t be worse as the Twins hold a 2013 option for $9.5 million that is now really in question. The risk to pick up the option is huge but can the Minnesota Twins who always seem to struggle to find starting pitching pass on a proven big league pitcher?

The Twins will miss Scott Baker in the starting rotation but there is always a silver lining, when one door closes, another opens and we will have to wait and see who will latch on to Baker’s spot in the starting rotation and run with it.