Tag: Cy Young

I miss the old days

Kyle Gibson

The Minnesota Twins have announced that all their arbitration eligible players have been signed for 2017. All five pocketed some nice change but starting pitcher Kyle Gibson increased his pay by 394% from $587,500 in 2016 to $2.9 million in 2017.

Bob Gibson

For that kind of increase I would have expected a “Cy Young” award season but I don’t remember that being the case. Lets see, I remember a real good pitcher named Gibson, oh, that was a guy named Bob Gibson and he is in the Hall of Fame. He last pitched in 1975 and his salary peaked out at $175,000.

Our Gibson, Kyle was 6-11 last season with a 5.07 ERA and a 1.56 WHIP. In his 25 starts he pitched 147.1 innings and allowed 175 hits including 20 home runs. The man deserved a pay cut and not a pay increase of 394%, he should be pitching for the major league minimum this year of $535,000. But the MLB arbitration rules prohibit common sense like that.

In the old days they could give a player a maximum pay cut of 20%, that rule should still be in place. It is BS that baseball players get increases year after year no matter how bad a season they have. But that is the world we live in today. No one said that life is fair but things like this are just plain wrong.

Hey Kyle, don’t forget to increase your charitable contributions by 394% this year too. If you start 30 games in 2017 that comes out to almost $100,000 a start, you can afford it.

Twins starting pitchers that never finished what they started

Do you know what pitcher has started the most games for the Minnesota Twins and hasn’t completed a single one of his starts?

Mike Pelfrey
Mike Pelfrey

The Minnesota Twins franchise leader in starts without a single complete game on his resume is Mike Pelfrey but Pelfrey does have a couple of complete games with the New York Mets. Ironically former Senators and Twins pitcher Jim Kaat holds the Washington Senators franchise record for most starts with 11 and zero complete games and he did that between 1959-1960. Oddly enough three of the ten pitchers on the list below pitched for the Twins in 2016.

Twins leaders in starts with zero complete games

Rk Player GS ? G GF W L W-L% SV IP SO ERA BF
1 Mike Pelfrey 64 64 0 11 27 .289 0 341.0 197 4.94 1513
2 Boof Bonser 60 96 9 18 25 .419 0 391.2 317 5.12 1723
3 Kevin Correia 54 54 0 14 26 .350 0 314.2 162 4.49 1364
4 Pat Mahomes 51 114 26 18 28 .391 3 366.2 217 5.82 1635
5 Willie Banks 45 52 5 16 17 .485 0 259.2 191 4.61 1163
6 Glen Perkins 44 401 225 35 25 .583 120 618.2 502 3.83 2601
7 Sam Deduno 41 63 8 16 18 .471 0 279.0 198 4.26 1216
8 Tommy Milone 40 49 5 12 11 .522 1 219.2 154 4.79 968
9 Mike Trombley 36 365 132 30 34 .469 34 645.2 528 4.53 2815
10 Tyler Duffey 36 36 0 14 13 .519 0 191.0 167 5.42 838
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 11/20/2016.

The MLB record holder in this category is still active and he is Bud Norris (a free agent I believe) with 185 starts and zero complete games in the books between 2009-2016 while pitching for five different teams.

The MLB leader by the way, in complete games is Cy Young with 749 and Bert Blyleven leads the Twins in complete games with 141 which comes out to 41% of his starts. 

Twins masters of the pickoff

In baseball, a pickoff is an act by a pitcher, throwing a live ball to a fielder so that the fielder can tag out a baserunner who is either leading off or about to begin stealing the next base.

Twins career leaders in pickoffs

Frank Viola

Rk Player PO G W L W-L% SV IP ERA BF
1 Frank Viola 27 260 112 93 .546 0 1772.2 3.86 7450
2 Jerry Koosman 24 94 39 35 .527 7 601.1 3.77 2527
3 Mark Guthrie 20 240 29 27 .518 8 489.2 4.19 2101
4 Francisco Liriano 17 156 50 52 .490 1 783.1 4.33 3341
5 Roger Erickson 17 114 31 47 .397 0 712.0 4.10 3074
6 Allan Anderson 15 148 49 54 .476 0 818.2 4.11 3474
7 Dave Goltz 15 247 96 79 .549 3 1638.0 3.48 6887
8 Johan Santana 14 251 93 44 .679 1 1308.2 3.22 5281
9 Geoff Zahn 14 133 53 53 .500 0 852.0 3.90 3621
10 Jim Kaat 14 468 189 152 .554 5 2959.1 3.28 12385
11 Bert Blyleven 11 348 149 138 .519 0 2566.2 3.28 10542
12 Vic Albury 11 101 18 17 .514 1 372.2 4.11 1630
13 Jim Merritt 11 122 37 41 .474 6 686.2 3.03 2760
14 Jim Perry 10 376 128 90 .587 5 1883.1 3.15 7791
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 10/13/2016.
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Some interesting pickoff tidbits

Four time Cy Young award winner and Hall of Famer Steve Carlton pitched for the Minnesota Twins in a total of just eight games in his short stint in Minnesota in 1987-1988 and he had one pickoff and that was the last one in his illustrious career in which he picked off a MLB career leading 144 runners.

Tippy Martinez pitched for Minnesota in his final season in the big leagues in 1988 after pitching for the Yankees in 1974-1976 and the Orioles in 1976-1986. According to Wikipedia:

“Martinez may be best known for picking off three Toronto Blue Jays at first base in one inning during an August 24, 1983 game at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium. The Orioles, having replaced both their starting catcher and his backup while rallying to tie the game in the ninth inning, entered the tenth with reserve infielder Lenn Sakata in the game at catcher. Three consecutive Blue Jays hitters reached first base and each one, thinking it would be easy to steal a base on Sakata, took a big lead. Martinez picked off all three baserunners, then became the winning pitcher when the Orioles won the game on Sakata’s home run in the bottom of the tenth.”

Korean pitcher ordered to do community service for firing a pickoff throw at opponent’s head.

In 2014 Jon Lester of the Red Sox finishes his year having faced 346 batters with at least one runner on base, yet without having attempted a single pickoff throw.

“Earning” the big bucks?

American dollar bills raining down According to the MLB Salary Rankings the following players earned pocketed the biggest salaries in 2015. Some earned their money and others did not but it is fun to be an arm-chair quarterback and review the results. You can argue that nobody deserves the kind of money that baseball players receive today but you would be shoveling sand against the tide. Owners are willing to pay these players the big bucks because in some cases they want to win at any cost and in other cases because (in my opinion) they are just plain stupid.

Here in Minnesota we have Minnesota born Joe Mauer earning $23 million a year and he still has three years on his contract. Fans have been all over Mauer for his performance or lack there of for a number of years now but the complaining has gotten louder and more vocal since Mauer threw away his catching gear and bought himself a first baseman’s mitt. It hasn’t helped that the team lost 90+ games each season from 2011 through 2014 before turning things around in 2015.

  1. The highest paid player was Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw who pocketed a cool $32,571,428 in 2015. The Dodgers won their division with 92 wins but lost in the NLDS and they were done. Kershaw was the highest paid player in baseball in 2015 but an argument can be made that he was only the second best pitcher in the Dodgers starting rotation.  Kershaw has five more years remaining on his contract and each season will cost at least $34.5 million. Was Kershaw worth $32 million this year? I don’t think so, he had a good year but was not worth $32+ million.
  2. The second highest paid player in baseball this year was Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander at $28,000,000. Verlander will be 33 when he starts the 2016 season and he is guaranteed $28 million a year for four more seasons and then there is a $22 million vesting option for the following season (2020) if he finished in the top five in Cy Young voting in 2019. Did Verlander earn his keep in 2015? No way, he only started 20 games and won five of them, so the cost per win was $5.6 million. Ouch!
  3. The third spot on the big money list is a tie between pitchers Cliff Lee and Zack Greinke along with first baseman Ryan Howard at $25,000,000. Nobody won fewer games (63) than the hapless Phillies, the manager resigned, the GM was fired and Cliff Lee due to injuries contributed zero innings pitched to the Phillies cause. The Phillies have a team option on the 37 year-old Lee in 2016 for $27.5 million but more than likely will buy him out for $12.5 million. The soon to be 36 year-old Ryan Howard’s case for $25 million was darn just as bad. Howard hit .229 with a .227 OBP in 129 games. Howard has the Phillies on the hook for another $25 million in 2016 and a team option at $23 million in 2017 with a $10 million buyout. Howard should be arrested for “grand theft”. Lee was hurt but that is no excuse, he contributed zippo and hasn’t had double-digit wins since 2013. Dodger pitcher Zack Greinke had a very good season and if you argue that a good pitcher is worth $25 million a season then “the Donald” (Yes that is really his first name) is your guy based on his 19-3 record and 1.66 ERA.
  4. The next man up is King Felix, the ace of the Mariners staff. Felix Hernandez was 18-9 with a 3.53 ERA, it was his highest ERA since 2007 and he fell short of 200 strikeouts for the first time since 2008. However, he did all this for a team that won just 76 games. Hernandez who will only be 30 when the 2016 season begins earned his $24,857,000 salary in 2015 and will make between $25 million each season for the next four years. Oddly enough the team has a $1 million option on him in 2020 based on some injury stipulations.
  5. From  King Felix we go to Prince Albert Pujols the soon to be 36 year-old first baseman in the land of the Angels. Pujols who earned $24 million bounced back in 2015 with 40 round trippers and 95 RBI in 157 games but he hit only .244 and his OBP has been dropping like a rock since 2010. But Pujols has to love fantasy land because he will collect $25 million next season and then is guaranteed a million dollar raise each season through 2020. In 2021 when Pujols is 41 the Angels have a $30 million option and best of all, Pujols has a 10 year $10 million personal services deal with the team once he quits playing. We should change Pujols nickname from Prince Albert to Jesse James. Earth to Angels……..anybody there? This contract makes Joe Mauer’s deal look like child’s play. Next man up is another prince, Prince Fielder 1B and DH from the Texas Rangers. After missing most of 2014 due to injury the Prince bounced back this past season and was selected as the AL Come-Back player of the year. Keep in mind that Fielder has been in the big leagues for 10 full seasons and in nine of those seasons he played in 157 or more games and four times he played in 162 games. The man comes to play. The six-time All-Star hit .305 and had 23 home runs and 98 RBI also made $24 million this season and will continue to be paid at that rate for five more season’s. Only $18 million of the money is paid by the Rangers as the Tigers will chip in $6 million each year. Did Prince earn his money? You make the call, but I should tell you that 13 other major league players hit more than 23 home runs and knocked in more than 98 runs and did not make this kind of money. Let’s move on to the third of the $24 million dollar amigo’s, Mariners second baseman Robinson Cano. Cano has been in the big leagues for 11 season’s, nine of them with the Yankees. Cano is a very good player but at 33 years of age is on the decline. However, his salary is not as he is owed $192 million by the Mariners over the next 8 season’s and in his last season under this deal he will be 40 years old. Good luck with that deal!
  6. Next man up is Yankee 1B Mark Teixeira who earned $23,1215,000 this past season and is in the books to earn the same amount in his final year of his contract in 2016. Tex will be 36 early next season and last played a full season in 2011. Teixeira did hit .255 with 31 home runs this past year in that bandbox that they call Yankee Stadium. Can Tex look in the mirror and ask himself “Did I earned my pay?” I don’t think so, even in today’s world of inflated salaries you have to show up for work more than 69% of the time to make that kind of money.
  7. We move on to the fifth pitcher making this list, 35 year-old lefty CC Sabathia from the New York Yankees who made $23 million this past season. CC is guaranteed $25 million for 2016 and $25 million more in 2017 if he avoids a couple of injury stipulations. The man has made at least 28 starts a year in 14 of his 15 big league seasons, you have to give the big guy credit for that. Does he still pitch like a $23 million pitcher? No way!

This past post season only three of the teams mentioned above (Dodgers, Yankees and Rangers) made the playoffs and none of them advanced past the ALDS round. Just goes to show that money can’t buy you happiness. Let’s take a look at recent World Series winners and see how much money their highest paid player made.

2015 Royals – Alex Gordon at $12.5 million

2014 Giants – Matt Cain at $20 million (pitched total of 90 inning & did not appear in post season play)

2013 Red Sox – John Lackey at $15.25 million

2012 Giants – Barry Zito at $19 million (15-8 with a 4.15 ERA)

2011 Cardinal – Matt Holliday at $16.318 million

2010 Giants – Barry Zito at $18.5 million (9-14 with 4.15 ERA)

The fans keep pressuring team owners to sign their stars and acquire additional free agents to long-term deals. Just for discussion let’s assume a long-term deal is five years or longer. What percentage of long-term deals pays off for the team over the length of the contract? I don’t know of any study that has analyzed that but I believe that the percentage has to be low. Assuming that is the case, why sign players to these long terms?

I believe the main reason is that team owners feel they need to offer long-term deals to be competitive with the other teams competing for the same player. To me that seems just plain dumb. Offer the player a more lucrative deal for a shorter time frame and you will still get players to sign and you will save money and probably a roster spot. Another dumb move by team owners is the fact that they give players the option to bail out on a long-term deal after a certain number of years. Again, D-U-M-B! Why doesn’t the team get an option to terminate the deal after a few years if they wish to do so?

I am not trying to side with the owners here, I am looking to see how teams can avoid getting bogged down with a player or two on the roster making too high a percentage of the overall team payroll and thus making that team un-competitive because they can’t afford to pay the rest of their players.

On the other side of the coin star players draw fans and fans spend money, buy tickets, watch more games on TV and the teams revenue increases. But the excitement of signing a new player to a big deal is short-lived and then fans often turn on the player and the team for not performing based on the huge deal he signed. It appears to me that signing players to shorter deals lessens the owner risk and give the team the opportunity to sign another player and start the excitement all over again.

Joe Mauer 2015The Twins have a unique situation with the St. Paul born Joe Mauer. Mauer signed an eight year deal back in 2010 for $184 million with a full no trade clause. Now, Mauer who was a catcher at the time has moved to first base and his hitting no longer measures up. What do you do with a home born player making that much money, who will be 33 in April, hit 10 home runs and knocked in only 66 runs with a .265 batting average in 666 plate appearances primarily in the number three spot in your batting order? The Twins are not a team that can put a guy making $23 million on the bench and he has a full no trade deal. If you could trade him who would take him? The Twins would have to pay someone big bucks to take him but yet if you leave him in the line-up he is taking up a spot that is not producing as it should for a young team that is getting ready to make the playoffs. What kind of message does that send to the team and the fans? A heck of a dilemma, but have faith, all is not lost, baseball owners and GM’s have proven over the years that there is always somebody out there that is willing to take your deadwood off your hands because there is always a chance that he will have one more great season in him and that they can catch lightning in a bottle one more time.

This Day in Twins History – November 6

Jim Perry
Jim Perry

11/6/1970 – Minnesota Twins pitcher Jim Perry wins the American League Cy Young award in a close race. Perry receives 55 points to edge out Dave McNally (47), Sam McDowell (45), and Mike Cuellar (44). Perry is the first Twins Cy Young award winner.

Bill Campbell11/6/1976 – After having a career year with the Twins, reliever Bill Campbell becomes one of the first players to cash in on the new free-agent system. The reliever signs with the Red Sox for big money, a four-year, one-million dollar contract with an option for a fifth season.

11/6/2001 – MLB owners vote 28-2 to contract two teams before the 2002 season.  They tell the players’ association that the Minnesota Twins and the Montreal Expos are the targeted teams.  It was determined later that Carl Pohlad, the Twins owner voted for contraction.

11/6/2009 – The Twins trade outfielder Carlos Gomez to the Milwaukee Brewers for shortstop J.J. Hardy.

“Sweet Music” Viola back at work

Frank Vioa called the Metrodome home from 1982 - 1989. Second most wins in Dome history (59) and innings pitched (934.0). Viola was 3-1 in the 1987 postseason, winning Games 1 and 7 of the 1987 World Series.
Frank Vioa called the Metrodome home from 1982 – 1989. Second most wins in Dome history (59) and innings pitched (934.0). Viola was 3-1 in the 1987 postseason, winning Games 1 and 7 of the 1987 World Series.

Back in 1981 the Minnesota Twins used their first round pick (eleventh overall) in the June Amateur draft to select power hitting third baseman Mike Sodders from Arizona State University. With their second selection in the draft and 37th pick overall the Twins went after left-handed pitcher Frank Viola from St. John’s University. Just as an FYI, with the last pick in round two the New York Yankees selected Stanford outfielder John Elway. Elway would never play in a big league baseball game but he didn’t do to shabby throwing the football for the Denver Broncos. Would He Rather Be A Unitas Or A Mantle? Sports Illustrated, April 11, 1983

After just 286 games between “A” ball and “AAA” ball the Twins gave up on Sodders and traded him to the Chicago White Sox for outfielder Rusty Kuntz in June of 1983. By the end of 1984 Sodders was out of baseball without having put on a big league uniform. But this blog is not about Sodders, it is about the Twins second round pick Frank Viola.

Viola started his professional career in 1981 with the AA – Orlando Twins playing for manager Roy McMillan where he went 5-4 with a 3.43 ERA in 17 games (15 starts). In 1982 Viola started the season in AAA –  Toledo but was called up by the Twins in early June and made his debut on June 6th in a start against Earl Weaver‘s Baltimore Orioles in the Metrodome. Viola lasted just 4 1/3 innings that day giving up six hits, three walks, three earned runs and three strikeouts and left the game trailing 3 to 1. The Twins tied up the game later but ended up losing the game 7-5 in 11 innings. This inauspicious start may not have been what the Twins or Viola were expecting but it was the beginning of a wonderful 15 year big league career for “Sweet Music” that would include a World Championship in Minnesota in 1987 where he took home the Series MVP trophy. The following season in 1988 Viola won the AL Cy Young award as well as being named the AL Sporting News Pitcher of the Year. In his eight years in Minnesota Viola was 112-93 with a 3.73 ERA before money became an issue and the Twins were forced to trade him to the New York Mets on July 31, 1989 for Rick Aguilera, Tim Drummond, Kevin Tapani, David West and a PTBNL that turned out to be  Jack Savage. Viola played in New York for three seasons winning just 38 games but he won 20 of those in 1990. The three-time All-Star then moved on to Boston from 1992-1994, the Reds in 1995 and finished his big league career with the Bluejays in 1996.

After he retired, Viola coached baseball for Lake Highland Preparatory School in Orlando, Florida as well as the Florida College Summer League’s Leesburg Lightning. On January 26, 2011, Viola was hired as pitching coach of the Brooklyn Cyclones, the Mets’ Single-A (Short Season) team in the New York-Penn League. He was pitching coach for the Savannah Sand Gnats in 2012-2013.

All this leads up to the reason for this post, a nice story about Frankie in the Las Vegas Review-Journal that was written by Ed Graney on June 7th as Viola return to his job as pitching coach for the Las Vegas 51’s after under-going heart surgery. You think you have had a rough year? Take a few minutes and see what Viola has gone through.

Frank’s son Frank Viola III was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in 2004 and spent two seasons in rookie ball, ended up leaving professional ball and now is trying a come back with a knuckleball. Viola’s daughter Brittany is a diver who competed at the United States Olympic Trials in 2004 and 2008 and made the team for the 2012 Olympics.

This Day in Twins History – June 11

6/11/1964 – The LA Angels trade outfielder Frank Kostro to the Twins for 1B Vic Power and outfielder Lenny Green. Certainly not one of the better trades in Twins history.

6/11/1965 – The Twins sweep the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium by a 5-4 score in both games with the first game going 10 innings and the second game going 12 innings. Tiger reliever Terry Fox takes the loss in both games. Boxscore: Game 1, Game 2

 6/11/1972– Jim Kaat hits a home run off Cleveland pitcher Vince Colbert in a Twins 5-3 victory at Cleveland Stadium. This now stands as the last home run that has been hit by a Twins pitcher. Boxscore

Allan Anderson 6/11/1986– The Twins lose to the Texas Rangers 6-2 in sixteen innings at the Metrodome. The game is tied 2-2 after 9 innings and both starters, Charlie Hough for the Rangers and Allan Anderson for the Twins are still in the game. Anderson ends up going 10 and Hough keeps throwing that knuckler of his for 13 innings. The Rangers score 4 in the top of the 16th inning off Roy Lee Jackson for the win. Boxscore

6/11/2010 – Francisco Liriano ties a team record when he strikes out 7 consecutive Atlanta Braves batters in a 2-1 win at Target Field. Liriano used his slider to strike out Martin Prado and Jason Heyward to end the third inning. He struck out Chipper Jones on a slider, Troy Glaus on a change-up and Brian McCann on a slider to get through the fourth. Liriano opened the fifth by striking out Yunel Escobar on a slider and Omar Infante with a change-up. Jim Merritt also accomplished this feat on July 21, 1966 against the Washington Senators.

6/11/2011 – One of only three Cy Young Award winners (1970) in Twins history, right-hander Jim Perry was inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame today. Jim, 75, is the older brother of 72-year-old Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry. Between the two of them, the Perry brothers won 529 games and three Cy Young Awards, as Gaylord won the honor in 1972 with the Indians and in ’78 with the Padres. The Perry brothers are the second-winningest brother combination in baseball history behind Joe Niekro and Phil Niekro, who had 539 victories between them.