Tag: Duke Welker

The Twins trials and tribulations with finding starting pitching

The Minnesota Twins have a long history of problems developing starting pitching. Using 100 starts as a barometer, since 1961 the Twins have signed and developed just 11 pitchers in their system that have gone on to get 100 or more starts in a Twins uniform. The only first round pick in the bunch is Pete Redfern, three round tw0 picks, two round three picks, one fourth round pick, one fifth round pick, Brad Radke was an eighth round pick, one 29th round pick and an amateur free agent (Dave Boswell).

Since the June amateur free agent draft started in 1965 the Twins have drafted 31 pitchers in round 1 or as round 1 supplementary/compensation picks. Actually part of the Twins issues with starting pitching relates to spending money or the lack there of. The first two right-handed pitchers drafted by the Twins in round 1 were Dick Ruthven in 1972 and Tim Belcher (first overall pick) in 1983 who both refused to sign with Minnesota and went on to have long careers in MLB. The first left-handed pitcher drafted in round 1 to start any games was Eddie Bane and his Twins career lasted 25 starts. As I mentioned earlier, the draft started in 1965 but the Twins only drafted starting pitching in round 1 twice (Ruthven in 1972 and Bane in 1973) between 1965-1981. The first RHP that they drafted in round 1 that actually started a number of games (45 in Twins career) was Willie Banks who the team drafted in 1987. Since 2000 they have drafted a pitcher in round 1 a total of 17 times.

Starting pitching signed and developed by the Twins since 1961

Brad Radke
Rk Player GS From To Age G W L IP ERA
1. Brad Radke 377 1995 2006 22-33 378 148 139 2451.0 4.22
2. Bert Blyleven 345 1970 1988 19-37 348 149 138 2566.2 3.28
3. Frank Viola 259 1982 1989 22-29 260 112 93 1772.2 3.86
4. Dave Goltz 215 1972 1979 23-30 247 96 79 1638.0 3.48
5. Scott Baker 159 2005 2011 23-29 163 63 48 958.0 4.15
6. Scott Erickson 153 1990 1995 22-27 155 61 60 979.1 4.22
7. Dave Boswell 150 1964 1970 19-25 187 67 54 1036.1 3.49
8. Nick Blackburn 137 2007 2012 25-30 145 43 55 818.2 4.85
9. Allan Anderson 128 1986 1991 22-27 148 49 54 818.2 4.11
10. Pete Redfern 111 1976 1982 21-27 170 42 48 714.0 4.54
11. Roger Erickson 106 1978 1982 21-25 114 31 47 712.0 4.10
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 12/20/2016.

.

If you can’t find, sign, and develop your starting pitching, you only have a few options at your disposal, you could make a trade, you can sign a free agent, or you can find one on the waiver wire (ha, ha, ha). 

The option I want to write about here is the Twins attempts to trade for starting pitching since the turn of the century, a total of 17 years. Trading for starters hasn’t exactly gone as planned either.

Continue reading The Twins trials and tribulations with finding starting pitching

End of an era

The M&M era ended when the Twins announced on Saturday afternoon that they had traded 1B Justin Morneau to the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Alex Presley and a PTBNL or cash. Morneau has always been one of my favorite Twins players but it was time for the Twins to trade Morneau who was in the final year of his contract and at least get something for him before he became a free agent at the end of the season.

Justin Morneau
Justin Morneau

The Canadian born Morneau was selected by Minnesota in round 3 of the 1999 June amateur draft as a catcher. Morneau hurt his elbow in the Instructional League and was given a first baseman’s mitt after catching just 22 minor league games. Morneau advanced through the system quickly and on June 10, 2003 made his major league debut as the DH by going 2 for 4 (singled in first at-bat) for manager Gardenhire in a Twins 5-0 loss to the Colorado Rockies at the Metrodome. Morneau became the Twins regular first baseman on July 16, 2004 and has held that job ever since. Injuries have haunted Morneau since 2009 and he has not played more than 135 games since 2008 but he was on pace to surpass that number this year. Most people don’t realize that prior to his run of injuries Morneau played day in and day out and still holds the Twins record for consecutive games played with 319 between June 29, 2007 and June 20, 2009.

In his 11 years in a Twins uniform Morneau who is 32 has played in 1,278 games and has hit .278 with 221 home runs (third on the Twins all-time list) and 860 RBI’s in 4,749 at-bats. Morneau, a four-time all-star had 100 or more RBI’s four years in a row from 2006-2009. His best season was in 2006 when he hit 34 home runs and knocked in 130 and these numbers earned him the AL MVP award. Morneau worked hard to learn how to play first base and made himself a very good first baseman although a Gold Glove eluded him.

Alex Presley
Alex Presley

The Twins received 28 year-old outfielder Alex Presley (bats and throws left-handed) from Pittsburgh. Presley was the Pirates eighth round pick in 2006 and made his debut with the Bucs in 2010. Presley has yet to spend a full season in the majors and has played a total of just 204 games with 656 at-bats in four seasons hitting .261 with 16 home runs and 19 stolen bases. Presley has a career OBP of just .299 and has struck out 138 times. Presley is not considered much of a prospect and is probably best suited to be a fourth or fifth outfielder. Presley is expected to join the Twins once the rosters are expanded on September 1st.

I will miss Justin Morneau and we wish him the best in Pittsburgh where the Pirates will hopefully go deep in the playoffs. Personally I think it would be fun to watch a Pirates and Tigers World Series.

 

Duke Welker
Duke Welker

UPDATE AS OF OCTOBER 5 – The Twins & Pirates anounced that the player to be named later was 27-year old RHP Duke Welker. According to GM Terry Ryan, the Twins and Pirates agreed at the time of the trade on a group of players that the final player traded would be drawn from. The choice of which one to send to Minnesota was Pittsburgh’s.

 

 

Josmil Pinto
Josmil Pinto

The Twins also announced that they recalled catcher Josmil Pinto from Triple-A Rochester. Pinto appeared in 126 games this season between Triple-A Rochester and Double-A New Britain, hitting .309 (141-for-456) with 32 doubles, 15 home runs and 74 RBI. He was hitting .314 (22-for-70) with nine doubles, one home run and six RBI in 19 games for Rochester. The 24-year old from Valencia, Venezuela was signed by the Twins as a free agent on February 14, 2006 and was added to the Twins 40-man roster in November. Pinto will wear uniform number 43.