Tag: Bill Smith

MIA

 

July 19, 2010 – Have you seen this man? Clay Condrey, otherwise known as the “Twins Invisible Man” was signed by the Twins back in January for about $900,000 to bolster the bullpen. The 6’3” right hander with a sinker, cutter, curve-ball, change-up, and a four-seam fastball was targeted for a key role in the Twins pen but to date the man has not fired a single bullet in a Twins uniform in a game that has counted. Now there is talk that he will have season ending surgery and may never appear in a Twins uniform. You spin the wheel on some of these free agents and sometimes you come up with a dud, I think Bill Smith has that sinking feeling.

Twins sign Jim Thome, why?

Jim Thome

January 27, 2010 – The announced that they have signed 39 year old DH Jim Thome to a one year deal for $1.5 million with another $750,000 on the table as incentives based on at bats. Thome, a left handed hitter and a five time all-star will begin his 20th season in the big leagues in 2010 having played for the Indians, the Phillies, the White Sox, and last year he split time between the Sox and the Dodgers. The man has hit more home runs against the Twins than any other player, 57 I believe and his career home run count stands at 564. I have enjoyed watching Jim Thome play baseball over the years and I have read numerous articles stating how nice a guy he is and how he helps many a charity. But I have got to ask, why would Bill Smith and the Twins sign Jim Thome? Where do you play him?

The Twins already have a nice DH and part time outfielder in the left handed Jason Kubel. Everyone is in agreement that Kubel will remain the primary DH so what do you need Thome for? The man has not put on a glove in anger since 2007 so there is no chance of him playing in the field short of a major calamity. A pinch hitter off the bench you say, let’s look at what Jim Thome accomplished as a pinch hitter for the White Sox and the Dodgers last year. For the Sox, Thome had 9 plate appearances as a pinch hitter and had nothing but a walk to show for his efforts to go along with his 4 strikeouts. As a Dodger, Thome had 17 plate appearances in which he struck out 7 times and had 4 singles and 3 RBI’s. Yes, 4 singles, no doubles, no triples, and no home runs. I am not saying that Thome is washed up, but some players are not suited to getting off the bench and taking their hacks once a day or once every several days and Thome’s history albeit short does nothing to make me think he can fill the role as the big bopper of the bench. Let’s assume for a moment here that Thome does pinch hit and bloops a single down the right field line, you think Gardy is going to let him run and clog up the bases and kill a rally? No sir, Gardy is too smart for that so he will burn another bench player running for Thome. So to get this rally going we have burned at least two bench players. If you decide to play Thome as the DH then either Delmon Young or Kubel probably sits, what is the point of that? Carlos Gomez was traded to solve the crowded outfield problem and now here once again we have found a new way to keep Young from playing full time. If the Twins don’t think that Young can fill their outfield role full time, then they should just trade the guy and be done with it. Geez, enough is enough already.

Even by today’s standards $1.5 million is still a lot of money and I think Bill Smith just threw it out his Target Field window. Why not save that money and pool it with the money they still have to spend to fill either the 2B or 3B hole and get a player that can really help this team. Smith’s master plan for 2010 is obviously well beyond me because I just don’t get it. I am also amazed at how the local press and bloggers all seem to be in favor of this signing. Again, I ask why?

Kouzmanoff traded to the A’s

January 16, 2010 – It has been reported that the San Diego Padres have traded 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff to the Oakland A’s and now the door is quickly closing on any hopes of the Twins getting a major league caliber 3B. The free agent market at 3B is drying quickly up with Joe Crede, Melvin Mora, and Andy Kennedy as the last men standing and there are rumors out there that the Orioles are hot on the Crede trail. I am not sure that Mora is any improvement over what we currently have at playing third now and we certainly don’t want Adam Kennedy.

So what do the Twins do, they still have holes at 3B and 2B? The 2B free agent market still has Orlando Hudson who would be a great pick-up and Felipe Lopez who would also be a nice fit but after that it drops down to Ronnie Belliard and of course Adam Kennedy again.

It seems that the Joe Mauer salary negotiations are already impacting the team that the Twins can put on Target Field. The Twins need to sign Mauer but they find themselves between a rock and a hard spot because they have a pretty solid team but they have two major holes in their infield. If the team is going to seriously contend, the Twins need to bite the bullet and spend the money to fill at least one of the two holes and probably play Punto in the other position. If they do nothing, they still end up with a high salary team with diminished hopes of making the playoffs and you can already hear the “time to rebuild” chatter starting to gather momentum.

You can bring Danny Valencia up and play him at 3B but he is not ready. The sad part is that neither his hitting not his fielding is ready to play in the big leagues, if either his glove or his bat were ready, it would be easier to throw him in the fire and suffer with the other but that is not the case.

I guess that is why Mr. Smith makes the big bucks, to make these kinds of decisions, but here we are, about a month away from spring training and the Twins have two major holes in the infield and Mauer is still not signed for the long term. Do something Mr. Smith, show us you are breathing and that there is more going on at Target Field then just everyone “patting themselves on the back” for the great ballpark that will open in April. If nothing else, at least bring back Joe Crede, maybe he can play 3B at Target Field five days a week. I think the ball is in your court Mr. Smith, I know you have been working hard and that you have really been getting after it, but now it is time we see the fruits of your labor.

Twins Acquire Pavano

August 7, 2009 – The Twins apparently have acquired right handed starting pitcher Carl Pavano from the Cleveland Indians who have been trading everyone in sight the last few weeks. Pavano has a long history of injuries but this year he has not pitched all that badly and he certainly can’t hurt the Twins rotation. I doubt he will be around to see Target Field but for 2009 he is a decent addition. To me this smacks of a desperation move by the Twins and GM Smith but with the young staff pitching as poorly as they have been, you have to try something. The Twins still have a huge uphill fight to win the division but at least this is a step in the right direction.

I would guess this means that Liriano or Perkins goes to the bullpen for the immediate future and that is not all bad, either way you take a weak link out of the rotation and maybe help the bullpen where Keppel has shown time after time that he does not belong in the big leagues. Who will the Twins send packing to add Pavano to the roster? I would guess it has to be Keppel…..it just has to be. But when it was all said and done it turned out to be R.A. Dickey who was sent back down to Rochester. Kind of surprising to me I guess, not that Dickey has been that great but he has been put into some wicked spots by Gardenhire and I think deserves to be with the Twins more than Keppel does.

Twins trade for shortstop Orlando Cabrera

August 2, 2009 – The Twins traded for some middle infield help getting shortstop Orlando Cabrera from the Oakland A’s for minor league shortstop Tyler Ladendorf who was a 2nd round pick in the 2008 Free Agent draft but was not rated as a top 10 prospect in the Twins organization. Ladendorf was in Elizabethton in 2008 and started there again this year but after hitting .410 in 61 at bats was promoted to Beloit. Ladendorf is an athletic player who the A’s see as a possible 3B down the line.

Orlando Cabrera, 34 years old is in his 13th season of major league ball having played for the Expos, Red Sox, Angels, White Sox, and the A’s. Cabrera got off to a slow start with the A’s in 2009 but his numbers are still looking pretty good as he is hitting .280 with 4 home runs and 41 RBI’s to go along with 11 stolen bases for a team that is not a fan of the stolen base. The A’s usually batted Cabrera in the 2 spot and that is probably what the Twins will also do sliding Mauer and the rest of the boys down one slot. Cabrera has probably lost a step over the years but he should be an adequate shortstop for the Twins for the remainder of the season and the added stability of a consistent number 2 hitter to go with a consistent player at short should help the team. Cabrera has won two gold gloves in his career.

Now if the Twins could have just acquired Freddy Sanchez from Pittsburgh, but that is a whole different story and we won’t go there. I applaud GM Smith for making this deal because I think it will help the team on a number of fronts. It is easy to “fall in love” with your prospects and I often think that the Twins consider their prospects a lot more valuable than others may see them. But sometimes you have to sit back and say to yourself, why do we have prospects? The answer seems simple, it is so they can become major league players and help the Twins win, right? If so, then why is it so difficult to trade prospects for someone who is already a proven big league player? I am not saying you trade all your prospects, I am saying that when you have a shot at a division title, and that chance does not come around that often, then you go for it and make some deals if they can help your club over the hump. I am not saying that Cabrera will win the division for Minnesota but he will help the ball club.

This team still has holes to plug in the bullpen as we have seen recently. Hopefully Smith can swing some deals in August to remedy that situation but it is tougher when the players have to clear waivers. The starting pitching has also been atrocious lately but before we throw them all under a bus let’s see what happens after the sizzling hot Angels leave town. It will be interesting too what Mark Grudzielanek can do at 2B once he is ready to play and from what I hear, that is not far away. When that time comes, who gets sent down or moved, Casilla again?

So how would I rate GM Smith’s actions during this trading deadline? I will be generous and give him a “C” and remind myself that getting Orlando Cabrera to play short is better than getting poked in the eye with a sharp stick.

Twins and GM Smith Must Make a Deal

July 27, 2009 – When you have a shot to win the division, you go for it. Don’t worry about how you will do in the playoffs; just find a way to get there. As the Twins prepare to play game number 100, the Twins find themselves in third place just 4 games out of the lead in a weak AL Central division, if they were in another division they would probably be double digit games out of first and looking towards 2010 and Target Field. The teams ahead of the Twins, the Tigers and White Sox are not great teams; they both have weakness that have kept them from jumping out to a commanding lead. I think any of the three teams can win; they just need to show some consistency, something all of them have been lacking.

Twins GM Bill Smith has said that he is working hard. I too am a believer in hard work but the bottom line here is results, just working hard does not cut it. I have seen Francisco Liriano, Jesse Crain, Nick Punto and many other Twins working hard but if the results are not there, then the player is not doing what he is paid to do. Smith has been working hard but where are the results? Smith made a big splash right after he got the job when he made the “big trade” with Tampa to get Delmon Young. Now that trade is not looking so great but we all need to remember that not every trade turns out to the winner, you hope it will be when the deal is done, but you win some and you lose some. To me, GM Smith appears to be gun shy, burnt once he is afraid to swing that deal for fear of being on the short end again. I know the Twins ownership in the past has been patient with team management but Carl Pohlad is no longer around and we don’t know how the younger Pohlads will react in the future. I see this as a defining year for Bill Smith and this week might just make or break Smith as a big league GM. It is time for Bill Smith to step up to the plate and at least swing at the pitch instead of watching it zip by for strike 3.

The Twins have been built from within and depend heavily on their own drafted players. Even though only 12 of the current 25 man roster is Minnesota signed and raised so to speak, it is the core of the team with players like Cuddyer, Kubel, Mauer, Morneau, Span, Perkins, Baker, Blackburn, Slowey, Mijares, Crain, and Duensing. The SP that will take Slowey’s place when he has season ending surgery is Anthony Swarzak, another home grown starter. Ok, that is all fine and good, but how many of those young players in the Twins farm system mature into full fledged major leaguers that eventually become core players that will help the Twins win some games? I am not talking guys that will play a year or two and move on, I am talking real honest to goodness everyday players that contribute. Let me ask this, why don’t the Twins trade Ben Revere? You can’t tell me that the Twins would ever consider an outfield of Span, Gomez, and Revere! Revere has to have some good trade value.

I myself am a conservative “glass is half empty” type of guy but as I grew up I was always taught that “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”. For me in baseball that translates to making a deal for a 2B like Freddie Sanchez even though I have to give up some potential. The way I see it, I can always draft another potential next year and in the mean time I have a 30 year old former batting champion, three times All-Star, and Gold Glove capable 2B hitting number 2 in my line-up. My God, this is a no brainer; get the deal done Mr. Smith. How much more can you hope to get from your minor leaguers then what Sanchez can give you right now? What are the odds you have a 2B in your system anywhere close to Sanchez? You need a reliever too and there are a number of them out there like Heath Bell, Mike Wuertz, Matt Capps, and George Sherrill that are waiting for a new home, Minnesota might be a great place for them. While you are at it Mr. Smith, how about trying to get Ian Snell from Pittsburgh, he is unhappy there and wants to be traded and he might just be a bit late maturing.

I can’t end this story without getting on Gardenhire a little. Gardy has always enjoyed micro-managing and his hunt for the hot hand is really frustrating and irritating. It is ironic to me that Gardy talks about letting the players play and yet he wants to control every aspect of every game. Looking for the hot hand is like timing the market, in the long run you will lose more then you win. The team shows no consistency because Gardy can’t come up with a consistent line-up or batting order. To some degree his hands are tied with the outfield situation as it is with Cuddyer, Span, Gomez, Young, and sometime outfielder Kubel. Gomez has not proven that he deserves to play full time but he is the crown jewel in the Johan Santana deal so he has a longer leash then he probably deserves. Cuddyer, Span, Young and Kubel all deserve full time positions. I know Young has not played up to his capabilities this year but some guys need to play every day if they are to contribute and I think Young is one of them. If you are not going to play Young, then get him out of the doghouse and trade his butt for what you can get. Sometimes you can improve a team through subtraction. Gardy is loyal to a fault, Nick Punto does not deserve to be an everyday player but yet Gardy moves him from SS to 2B hoping that Punto will finally find out what the bat should be used for. I think the Gardy is having a bad year at the helm.

Bottom line, the Twins and that includes Smith and Gardenhire need to make some changes if they hope to move into Target Field in 2010 as the AL Central Division (or maybe even better) defending champs.

July 29 Update – Ian Snell gets traded to Seattle Mariners and Freddie Sanchez gets traded to the San Francisco Giants today. The Twins? They have done zippo so far but they are working hard……….

Time for Gardenhire and the Twins to get serious

June 3, 2009 – So approximately 1/3 of the baseball season is behind us and the Twins record is 26-27, good enough for second place in the weak Central Division behind the Detroit Tigers. So what does the rest of the year look like for the Twins as they play their final season at the Metrodome? Can we expect to see some playoff baseball at the Dome come October?

In spite of the fact that Mauer and Morneau are hitting the cover off the ball, the team hitting overall is just middle of the pack in the AL. The Twins rank 6th in both home runs and average, 7th in runs scored, and 8th in total bases. Span is doing what a lead off hitter should but his OBP could stand some improvement. Cuddyer has come on strong but now he has another hand injury. Kubel is hitting over .300 but I would have expected more than 5 home runs from him after 2 months of baseball. Crede is doing what the Twins pay him to do, good in the field and flashes some nice power but strikes out frequently, exactly what I thought we would get when he was signed, a nice addition. That takes us to the weak spots, 2B, SS, and one of the outfield positions.

What about the pitching? As you may have suspected, not so good. In the 14 team AL, the Twins are 11th in ERA, 12th in strikeouts, have given up the 3rd most hits in the league, and only the Yankees and the Orioles pitchers have given up more long balls. On the plus side, the pitching staff as the fewest walks and is 4th in the league in WHIP. The Twins rank 1st in the league in fielding and have only committed 19 errors in 53 games.

So what do I think has to happen for the Twins to contend for a playoff spot? First and foremost I think that Gardy needs to do a better job at managing what he has. The way I see it and I think history supports me is that no team will get into the playoffs with platoons in 3 different positions. I am not a Delmon Young fan but you have to play the cards you are dealt and as much as it pains me to say this, Gardy needs to make Young his full-time left fielder and put Span in center field day in and day out. Gomez’s role is to come in and play defense for Delmon when the Twins have a lead in the late innings. Casilla needs to play 2B every day, either he becomes the player he should be or the Twins will have learned that he is not a regular 2B and they can pursue one in the off season. That leaves the shortstop hole and I have said many times on this site that Nick Punto should not be considered a regular and would lose his job by Memorial Day. Well, he is on the DL and he hasn’t hit a lick. The best the Twins can do at this stage is put Harris at short and let him play or they can trade for a shortstop that can field and hit. The pitching I think will improve, Baker should come around and Liriano is what he is. He is no longer the “franchise” as he was portrayed before his injury. Liriano will be good some days and bad others but he is a serviceable pitcher. Slowey and Blackburn are pitching well. Swarzak is still unproven after only two big league starts but if he can hold his own, I would move Perkins to the bullpen when he returns from his latest injury. The bullpen is not fantastic but is workable assuming that Crain can regain his form. I do think that Gardy has to quit using Crain for more than one inning at a time though. There is no better closer than Nathan.

Bottom line? This team needs some stability and some clear role definition before it gets better and this is the manager’s job. Gardy, (a utility player himself) has to quit “falling in love” with utility players like Punto and Tolbert and play his best players full time. Since we don’t live in a perfect world that means that you have to give up something to get something. In the case of the Twins, they need to give up some fielding to get some more hitting from 3 spots in the line-up that have contributed next to nothing with their bats so far this season.

As for GM Smith, he should be looking to find the Twins a shortstop and if that means giving up some prospects, so be it. The Twins haven’t exactly stolen players in their most recent deals with the Mets and the Rays so maybe Mr. Smith can swing a better deal for the Twins this time. Make it so Mr. Smith!

Twins split against the Mariners

April 10, 2009 – The main idea behind this web site is to write about Twins/Senators history but now and then I will continue to write a little about the present day Twins, I just mention that because I don’t want you to get upset with me that you don’t see me writing daily about how the Twins are doing. Having said that, I still want all of you to keep coming to www.Twinstrivia.com to check and see what might be new on the site today.

I obviously follow the Twins closely and attend about 20-25 games a year and we were out at the Dome on Wednesday and saw the Twins beat the Mariners 6-5 from our regular seats down the first baseline right next to the visitors bullpen. What seemed a little odd to us this year as we looked back towards the infield was how bright the lights seemed to be, I am not sure if they upgraded the wattage or just adjusted the lights but it can be painful looking towards the Twins dugout as the lights seem to shine directly in your eyes.

The Twins won the middle two games and lost the first and last game to what appears to be a bad Mariners team, and Seattle didn’t even have Ichiro in their line-up. When you consider how lucky the Twins were to win game 2 in the bottom of the ninth against Seattle closer Morrow who I think will become a very good closer, Twins management can’t be too happy with the Twins start at home in 2009.

I dislike having to play what I consider to be bad teams at the beginning of the season because these so called bad teams don’t think they are bad this early in the season and they play as if they can win. A bit later in the season these bad teams know they are bad and give up once they get a few runs down or wait for something bad to happen which will cause them to lose. On the other hand, if you play against the good teams early on, I think the opposite happens, they are nothing special right now but as the season progresses they gain confidence and know that they are good enough to come back against any deficit, it is just a matter of time before they take the lead and win the game.

Twins hitting after four games is below average with Morneau, Crede, Gomez, and Punto all hitting .200 and under and no Twins hitter has more than 4 hits. Cuddyer, Crede, and Gomez are striking out at a furious rate and to be honest I don’t expect that to improve very much. Crede I expect to strikeout a lot, some goes for Gomez as he learns to hit in the majors but I expect Cuddyer to do better than he has so far.

Twins pitching is about where I expect it to be at this point in the season with an ERA of 4.25. I think Liriano, Slowey, and Blackburn can all pitch better then they have so far, I think first game “jitters” hurt them all and I would expect better performances from them as we get to their second and third starts. The Twins miss Baker but hopefully they can get him back next week. Outside of Nathan the bullpen has been nothing to brag about but hopefully they too will pitch better in future outings.

I fear that the Twins outfield situation will be a constant source of irritation as Gardy tries to shuffle 4 or 5 outfielders and give them all playing time. You can already sense Gardy’s frustration when he is asked who is playing in the outfield “today”. I was absolutely sure that the Twins would trade Delmon Young before spring training ended but it didn’t happen and now I think the Twins will pay the price. An uncertain line-up causes problems, maybe not today, or tomorrow, or next week, but it will cause problems down the line, mark my words. The Twins are paying Cuddyer too much money to sit him plus he is a very good right fielder so he needs to play. Span is the lead-off hitter and he needs to play. Gomez is the exciting and talented center fielder that is the crown jewel in the Santana deal and why would you hinder his development, so he has to play. Now and then Gardy will put Kubel in left just so he remembers how to play outfield when it comes time for inter-league play. That leaves Delmon as the odd man out, sure, he is not complaining now, but the season is less than a week old and he is waiting and watching to see how things develop. Span had a terrible spring and that had to give Young hope for more playing time but now that the season has started, Span seems to have picked up his hitting and he is on the plus side of .300. As the days progress Young will become more and more disenchanted with his role on this team and he will let Twins management and the media know about his feelings about riding the bench. The problem the Twins and GM Bill Smith have is that the longer they wait and the more disenchanted Delmon becomes because of a lack of playing time the lower the return will be for this young outfielder that many feel still has great potential. The Twins and GM Smith put themselves in this box and they need to find a way to get something of value as quickly as possible for Delmon Young whom they had to part ways with Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett to acquire. Right about now I would take a top notch set-up man and a minor league pitcher to two for Delmon and send him on his way, there is such a thing as addition through subtraction.

Twins Comings and Goings

February 21, 2009 – So Bill Smith finally landed that 3B in Joe Crede that he said that the Twins did not need since he was happy with Buscher and Harris. Crede is a very nice addition for both his bat and his glove plus the Twins got him on the cheap, just a $2.5 million base with incentives based on at bats that could pay him up to $7 million. Where he will bat is still undetermined but I see projections all over the board from the 5 hole to the 8 hole.

Now the hot rumor is that the Twins have made an offer for relief pitcher Juan Cruz in a sign-and-trade deal with Arizona. Again, if the Twins can add him to their bullpen he will be a plus; it will be very interesting to see what Minnesota has to give up.

That still leaves some unfinished business for Mr. Smith; he still needs to clean up the outfield situation where he has too many players and not enough positions. I have talked to a number of people and most of them feel that the Twins will not move any of them but will mix and match them getting all of them some at bats. The logic behind keeping them all is that Span, Gomez, and Young make very little money and the Twins can afford to keep one of them on the bench. I don’t see it that way at all, you need to play your best players as much as possible and good players need to play regularly, not be taken out of the line-up when they go 0-4 with 3 strike-outs. If the Twins mix and match then Span, Gomez, Cuddyer, Young, and Kubel will all be unhappy. If you bench one of these guys then you have another unhappy scenario, The Twins are not the Yankees, the Twins like a happy clubhouse and happy players. Delmon Young has to be traded and I think the Twins brass realizes that and will make a move before spring training is done. The Twins should be able to get a nice starting pitcher for Delmon, someone that they can put in their rotation because I just don’t see Perkins making it in the rotation for very long before an injury strikes him down. I think Bonser has been their ace in the hole if a rotation spot opened up but now with that sore shoulder, who knows what is in store for the Boof man.

Twins Deadline Trade History

July 28, 2008 – If you look at the last 10 years, the Twins have not been real active at the trade deadlines in July and August but they have made a number of trades and more often than not, they have been a seller versus a buyer. None have been what you could call real blockbuster deals. The trade they made for outfielder Shannon Stewart in 2003 is probably their best acquisition at a trade deadline. Here is a quick look at the deals they have made:

7/31/98 – Traded Greg Swindell and Orlando Merced to the Red Sox for John Barnes, Matt Kinney, and Joe Thomas.

8/25/98 – Traded Mike Morgan to the Cubs for Scott Downs.

8/3/99 – Traded George Williams to Houston for Josh Dimmick.

7/16/00 – The Twins send Butch Huskey and Todd Walker to Colorado for Todd Sears.

8/31/00 – The Twins send Midre Cummings to the Red Sox for Hector De Los Santos.

7/28/01 – The Twins acquire Todd Jones from the Tigers for Mike Redman.

7/30/01 – The Twins acquire Rick Reed from the Mets for Matt Lawton.

7/12/02 – The Twins send Brian Buchanan to San Diego and acquire Jason Bartlett.

7/16/03 – The Twins acquire Shannon Stewart and Dave Gassner from Toronto and part ways with Bobby Kielty.

8/31/03 – The Twins acquire Jesse Orosco and send Juan Padilla to the Mets.

7/31/04 – The Twins send Doug Mientkiewicz to the Cubs and get Justin Jones in return.

7/11/05 – The Twins acquire Brett Boone and cash for a player to be named later.

7/31/06 – The Twins send Kyle Loshe to Cincinnati and get Zach Ward in return.

8/31/06 – The Twins acquire Phil Nevin and trade Adam Harben to the Cubs.

7/30/07 – The Twins trade Luis Castillo to the Mets and receive Drew Butera and Dustin Martin.

8/15/07 – The Twins send Ramon Ortiz to Colorado and receive Matt Macri.

Looking at this list it appears that very few of the trades that have made a huge difference either for the Twins or for the other teams. Maybe with Mr. Smith at the GM helm it will be different in 2008 but I am not holding my breath. The latest rumor has the Twins looking at bringing Latroy Hawkins back to town and I would not mind seeing him sitting in the Twins bullpen.