Tag: Joe Mauer

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.

Twins Trivia 2012 All-Star starters

The All-Star game is a not too far away and here is how I would like to see the American League All-Star starting positions filled. I tend to look at the All-Star game as a reward for the current season and not as a reward for an outstanding career, but I also understand that there are numerous ways to pick the team.

Catcher – 35-year-old White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski is having a fantastic season hitting .288 with 12 home runs and 41 RBI and easily deserves the starting role beating out the Twins Joe Mauer. Pierzynski has better offensive numbers and has caught 60 games while Mauer has caught only 33  games while playing 29 games at 1B/DH. Mike Napoli is the vote leader at this point but he does not deserve it.

1B – Got to go with 36-year old Paul Konerko of the White Sox here. Konerko has scored 36 times, hit 13 home runs and knocked in 39 more while hitting a league leading .342. Prince Fielder is my second choice and Fielder currently leads in the voting. Chicago 1B/DH Adam Dunn has 23 long balls with 53 RBI’s but he is hitting only .215 with about a “million” strikeouts and has played 1B just sparingly so he does not cut the mustard.

2B – New York Yankee Robinson Cano gets the nod at 2B over the Indians Jason Kipnis who is also having a very nice season. Texas 2B Ian Kinsler leads in voting so far.

SS – Elvis Andrus from Texas just beats out the Yankees Derek Jeter, who currently leads in shortstop voting.

3B – An interesting position to be sure with Mark Trumbo of the Angels and Miguel Cabrera of the Tigers playing third after moving over from 1B. As much as I like Cabrera as a hitter, I have to go with Mark Trumbo this season because he has slightly better offensive stats that Cabrera has put up this year. Neither are great defensive players at third base but it is what it is. The Texas Rangers 3B Adrian Beltre is the leading vote getter so far.

OF – In my mind the toughest position to pick for the American League is the outfield as there are numerous players here that are having stand out seasons but this year I go with Josh Hamilton from Texas, the Blue Jays Jose Bautista, and the Baltimore Orioles Adam Jones. A couple of rookies, the Angels Mike Trout and the A’s Josh Reddick are having great years and could be named to the team as well. The three leading vote getters at this point are Hamilton, Curtis Granderson of the Yankees and Bautista.

DH – I will give the nod here to the Red Sox David Ortiz who is having a banner season on a bad Red Sox team and he currently has the most votes as the DH but Edwin Encarnacion of the Blue Jays has been terrific this year and probably deserves to be an All-Star too.

SP – There is no one starting pitcher in the AL that stands out head and shoulders over everyone else this year but how can you go wrong by having the Tigers Justin Verlander take the mound for your team.

So that’s it, those are my American league starters in 2012 in Kansas City. The Twins will not get anyone voted in to start and I figure them to get only one player named to the team and I think that player will be outfielder Josh Willingham.

For the National League I will go with the following:

C – A tough pick for me here but I have to go with the Phillies Carlos Ruiz who is having a career year over the Giants Buster Posey the current leading vote getter. The last time I looked Ruiz was hitting .361 for God’s sake with an OPS of over a thousand.

1B – An easy pick of Joe Votto from Cincinnati and he is a run away vote leader at 1B. Adam LaRoche of the Nationals is also having a very nice season although his average is nowhere near what Votto is putting up.

2B – The leading vote getter in a close race is Dan Uggla of the Braves over Brandon Phillips of the Reds and I have to go with Uggla here but I can live wither either one.

SS – Starlin Castro who plays on a terrible Chicago Cubs team should be the starting shortstop but trails in the voting to the Cardinals Rafael Furcal.

3B – The Mets David Wright deserves to start at third base for the NL and to this point he is leading in the voting.

OF – Again not easy to pick just three here but I go with the Rockies Carlos Gonzalez, Ryan Braun of the Brewers and the Cardinals Carlos Beltran.

SP – A little usual here but based on performance during the first half of 2012 I have to go with the Mets R.A. Dickey as my starter.

Interesting facts about the MLB first-year player draft

The first-year player draft was initiated in 1965 and since then a total of 60,428 players have been drafted. During that time, a total of 8,493 players (14.05%), which includes drafted players, non-drafted players and foreign-born players, have appeared in at least one Major League game.

Since the first-year player draft was initiated in 1965, 21 players that were drafted went straight to the big leagues to start their professional careers with out playing in a minor league game. Most eventually ended up spending time in the minors. The only Minnesota Twins player to accomplish this feat was LHP Eddie Bane. The Twins drafted Bane out of Arizona State University in June of 1973 and Bane his big league debut at Met Stadium on July 4th. Bane ended up spending parts of three seasons in the big leagues with Minnesota and had a 7-13 big league record between 1973, 1975 and 1976. Former Twins pitcher RHP Mike Morgan was picked by the Oakland A’s out of high school in 1978 and went straight to the big leagues too.

Since the drafted was put in place, the Minnesota Twins have had more first round picks, 58, than any other big league team. Oakland is closest with 53 first round picks and Tampa has the least with 18.

The very first pick in 1965 was ASU outfielder Rick Monday who went on to have a long career. The first player to made it to the big leagues out of this draft was RHP Joe Coleman the 3rd over all pick with the Washington Senators.

The Twins very first rounder in 1965 was shortstop Eddie Leon out of the University of Arizona but he chose not to sign with the Twins. The following season (1966) the Twins picked 3B Bob Jones in round 1 and 20th over all and he never appeared in a big league game. The Twins picked Steve Garvey in round 3 in 1966 but he chose to go to college before starting his long 19 year pro baseball career.

In 1967 the Twins picked Steve Brye in round 1 and 19th over all and he became the first Twins drafted player to play for the Twins when he debuted in 1970 and went on to play for Minnesota between 1970-1976.

The Twins have had the first over all pick twice, once in 1973 when they took RHP Tim Belcher who chose not to sign with Minnesota and catcher Joe Mauer whom they took first in 2001.

In 1978 the Twins picked shortstop Lenny Faedo with their first pick and he played for the Twins from 1980-1984. A number of pretty good players were picked later, HOF Cal Ripken was picked in the 2nd round that year, Kent Hrbek in the 17th round and HOF Ryne Sandberg was picked in round 20. You never know…..

The last high school player to be picked 1st over all is shortstop Tim Beckham picked by Tampa in 2008.

24 drafted players have gone on to be selected to the Hall of Fame. To this point no player selected 1st over all has ever gone on to have a HOF career. The Twins have drafted two players who have gone on to HOF careers, Bert Blyleven in 1969 and Kirby Puckett in 1982.

Since 1965, 33.8% of the picks have been RHP, 13.6% have been LHP, 10.2% have been catchers, 24% have been infielders, and 18.2% have been outfielders.

64% of the players drafted in 2011 went on to sign big league contracts.

Of the 638 players on the 2012 Opening Day rosters, 23.5% were drafted 1-30 over all and 378 or 59.2% were drafted 1-150 over all (basically the first 5 rounds).

These facts have been derived from the 2012 First-Year Player Draft Selection Guide.

The BPP All-Time Dream Project

If you are a long time baseball fan and enjoy baseball history you should take a few minutes and check out fellow Baseball Bloggers Alliance member Graham Womack’s of Baseball: Past and Present story called The BPP All-Time Dream Project. According to Graham, “Over the past two months, I conducted a project having people vote on nine-player all-time dream teams. The idea was for voters to pick a team to win a one-off, sandlot game, the ultimate cosmic playoff. This wasn’t about a 25-man roster or designated hitters or relievers, just finding nine players to win a game. I received more than 600 votes in all from a mix of baseball figures, fellow writers, and others. To help with the presentation and do justice to the subject matter, I recruited a number of my favorite baseball writers and hired an illustrator, Sarah Wiener to create trading cards for each player. Like the cards? A complimentary set can be had for the first 100 people who donate $25 to 826 Valencia, a non-profit that teaches journalism to kids. We’re looking to raise $3,000 and, as of press time, we’re about halfway there. If everyone who reads this post donates even a dollar, we’ll shatter the goal. To donate, go here.”

Can you imagine what it would be like to watch this team play? No Minnesota Twins made the team but Washington Senators Walter Johnson is the teams starting pitcher. Some Twins that did receive votes are Joe Mauer, Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, Paul Molitor, Graig Nettles, and Dave Winfield. Check out the story, you won’t be sorry.

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.

My final trip to Hammond Stadium in 2012

I made my final trip to Hammond Stadium today and I had kind of an empty and sad feeling as I drove into the stadium parking area knowing this was my last trip here this season. Empty in more ways than one as it turns out because the fan parking area had very few cars and because many of the fields were sitting empty, void of the normal sights and sounds of baseball being played. Most of the Minnesota Twins had left for Port Charlotte to take on the Tampa Rays and the Rochester and New Britain teams had packed their stuff and headed out for the airport bright and early this morning to fly to their home cities to start their 2012 seasons. It is kind of weird to see the minor league teams break camp before the parent club does. The Beloit team will break camp on Tuesday morning and our own household will check out on Wednesday morning and begin the trek back to Minnesota. It has been a great spring here in southwest Florida and we have been blessed with great weather and the temperatures have been in mid 80’s for the past month and we have had hardly no rain, sure we had a few stray showers now and then, but that is about it. But all good things come to an end and Spring Training 2012 is just about history.

What did I see at the park today? I was lucky enough to be able to watch two games, on field 2 Beloit took on the Fort Myers club and on field 1 the extended players had another inner squad game. Before the Beloit/Fort Myers game both managers met with their respective clubs in the dugout and explained to their players what their expectations were this season both on the field and off the field. It was fun to eavesdrop on the two meetings and listen to Jake Mauer as he explained his signals and how the players should respond to a signal to let the coach know that they received it. It was also interesting to listen to Nelson Prada as he told his Beloit players exactly what their schedule was for the next two days and some housekeeping details like that he expected them to make sure their incidentals were paid up before they checked out and what kind of clothing they were expected to wear when they traveled. Once the games started, they were entertaining and fun to watch. The Beloit and Fort Myers game drew the most fans and maybe that was because Joe Mauer hit for his brothers Fort Myers club while Trevor Plouffe used his stick to help the Beloit team. Both Mauer and Plouffe batted each inning and both had their share of hits, Mauer in particular was really stinging the ball, on one at bat he almost took the pitchers head off.

On the other field I enjoyed watching Max Kepler and his friends do battle as they continue learning the game and fight to move to the next level. I am particularly interested in following Max’s career because Max is from Germany, the same country that I was born in. I first saw Max out on the back fields early in February, long before spring training started and he and a small band of players have been out on the field day in and day out working to improve their skills. We all look at the players in the big leagues and see how much money they make and how easy their life appears to us. We forget the blood, sweat, and hard work that it takes to get there and how many players never achieve that final step to the major leagues. The Twins have some nice young players and I will enjoy following them as their careers move forward.

 

Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez

I am not exactly shy and one of the things I enjoy doing is talking to the players when I can and even more so with the fans that are there to watch these young athletes as they do their best to learn and master the game of baseball the Twins way. Today I had a chance to talk to some wonderful folks from Illinois who were there to see Corey Kimes pitch. Corey must have a boat load of relatives following his career because I have run into some of Corey’s other relatives last week too. How cool is that to watch a member of your family work his butt off to reach the major leagues? I talked to a family of transplanted Minnesotan’s that now reside in South Carolina and still visit Fort Myers each spring to follow the Minnesota Twins. Then I saw a person talking on a cell phone that I recognized as future Hall of Fame catcher Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez. I took his picture of course and had a chance to ask Pudge if he would still play if someone came calling and he told me “no, I am done playing baseball, I am retired now”. Pudge was recognized by a handful of fans who asked and received autographs from this former All-Star catcher. Rodriguez was there to watch his son Dereck, a Twins 6th round pick in 2011 play in the extended game. Dereck is a 6’1″ 160 pound outfielder but if Dereck goes 160, it must be soaking wet with 10 pounds of rocks in each pocket. Pudge was watching both of the games and it was kind of funny listening to some of the fans as they talked amongst themselves and assumed that Beloit catcher Jairo Rodriguez was Pudge’s son. As Dereck batted, I tried to watch his Dad for a reaction to each pitch but I saw no reaction from Pudge what-so-ever, even after this swing and a miss for strike three.

Dereck Rodriguez swings at strike three

I also had an opportunity to run into JC from Knuckleballs.com and it was nice to chat with another Twins blogger far from home. It was sad though to think that I won’t see any more spring training until next year and I will miss that and the friends and acquaintances I have made at Hammond Stadium. See you again next year I hope! The 2012 baseball season is just about here, PLAY BALL!

As always I enjoy taking pictures and I have posted the ones I took today in my 2012 Spring Training pictures folder on the right hand side of this page. I will try to get the players identified tomorrow. There are over 700 pictures out there that I took this spring.

How they will finish in 2012

 

Mr. Einstein

With the 2012 baseball season just around the corner, if you don’t count that stupid two game series that the A’s and Mariners played and split in Japan, it is time for us here in Twins Trivia to look into the crystal ball and see what is in store for us this season. They say that baseball is a simple game, all you need to do is hit the ball, pitch the ball and pick-up the ball but I thought I would run it by Mr. Einstein just to be sure.

East

 1. Tampa Rays
2. New York Yankees
3. Toronto Blue Jays
4. Boston Red Sox
5. Baltimore Orioles
 

West

1. Los Angeles Angels 
2. Texas Rangers
3. Seattle Mariners
4. Oakland A’s
 

Central

1. Detroit Tigers (91-71)
2. Cleveland Indians (82-80)
3. Minnesota Twins (78-84)
4. Kansas City Royals (76-86)
5. Chicago White Sox (70-92)
 

The Detroit Tigers are far and way the best team in the division and should be up by 10 games at the All-Star break and have a cake walk the rest of the way. However; having picked the Tigers to win the AL Central, the team is certainly not without its problems. The Tigers defense if they continue to pursue going down the Miguel Cabrera at 3B path will be atrocious but I see manager Jim Leyland changing that plan before he gets out of April. But even after Leyland addresses the 3B situation, the Bengals still have defense problems at 1B, 2B, SS, and LF. It will be fun to watch the Tigers hit but when they are in the field it will be a totally different story. The Tiger bullpen is solid although there is no way in the world that closer Jose Valverde has another year in 2012 like he had in 2011. The Tigers other major issue is starting pitching where they have a reigning Cy Young award winner in Justin Verlander followed by Doug Fister, Max Scherzer, Rick Porcello and the Tigers just announced that Drew Smyly won the last starting spot.  Who is Drew Smyly? Fister, and Scherzer are workable starters on a pennant contender but Porcello and who ever the Tigers have slotted for number 5 will not cut the mustard and the Tigers are going to have to make some moves to fill those holes.

The Cleveland Indians continue to improve albeit very slowly and the team has worked hard to try to improve its starting rotation that includes Justin Masterson, Ubaldo Jiminez, Derek Lowe, Jeanmar Gomez, and Josh Tomlin. Twins cast-off Kevin Slowey could not make this starting rotation. Not a great starting rotation, but I have seen a lot worse. The Indians offense lost Gardy Sizemore to injury once again but Sizemore’s best days are now behind him anyway so that is not as great a loss as some may think. On offense the Indians need outfielder Shin-Soo Choo to bounce back after an injury plagued 2011, shortstop Asdrubal Cabrera to continue to show improvement after a breakout season last year, 2B Jason Kipnis to show that he is for real, Michael Brantley needs to prove he is a legit lead-off hitter, Lonnie Chisenhall to hit to his potential and to earn his way back as the Indians starting 3B, and for 35-year-old Travis Hafner to stay healthy and hit like he can as the teams DH.

I like the Kansas City Royals a lot because of the nice young players they have like Eric Hosmer at 1B, former 3B and now outfielder Alex Gordon, Billy Butler as the DH, Alcides Escobar at SS, and 3B Mike Moustakas. The Royals took a serious blow to the gut when closer Jokaim Soria went down with an elbow issue and will require TJ surgery but maybe the Royals dodged a bullet if free agent signee Jonathan Broxton can bounce back and become a workable closer once again, a long shot to be sure but still, a chance. The Royals starting pitching is what really needs to take a step forward if this team is to become a contender. Luke Hochevar anchors the rotation but he still young and is slowly improving. Jonathan Sanchez who was acquired from the San Francisco Giants has some potential and could become their number 2 starter. Veteran Bruce Chen continues to get his 10-12 wins each year although I don’t know how and Felipe Paulino slides in as the fourth starter although he could miss the first part of the season. Paulino has control issues but he can also strikeout some hitters. The fifth spot is open and the Royals would like to see youngster Danny Duffy lock up that spot. The Royals need to find a way to improve their starting pitching before they can be considered a serious challenger.

I pick the Chicago White Sox to finish in the Central Division basement. The mighty whities are a high-priced team that has under performed and is old to boot. White Sox GM Ken Williams has shown over the last few years that he doesn’t have a clue on how to be a big league general manager and the sooner he is fired the sooner the White Sox can once again can become a contender. The White Sox let Ozzie Guillen go as manager and hired the totally inexperienced former 3B Robin Ventura to manage this motley crew. The Sox have some proven starting pitching in John Danks, Gavin Floyd and Jake Peavy but Peavy is always hurt and you can’t count on him to be a solid contributor. Former Twins pitcher Philip Humber was a pleasant surprise for the Sox last season but he remains unproven. The Sox have moved the young fireballing Chris Sale out of the pen and into a starters role so his transition will be closely watched. Since the whities traded their closer Sergio Santos to Toronto during the off-season they are in need of a closer and it appears that Matt Thornton will start the season in that role but indications are that Addison Reed will take over the closers role before the 2012 season comes to a merciful end for the Chicago White Sox.

That bring us to the Minnesota Twins who unfortunately will finish third in this weak AL Central with a 78-84 record. 78 wins does not sound like much but it is a nice 15 win improvement after last years dismal showing. The Twins fired GM Bill Smith and put former GM Terry Ryan back in the driver’s seat but Ryan is driving a Chevy and Twins management is selling it as a BMW and this past off-season instead of going into a rebuilding mode after losing Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Joe Nathan and several others, the team decided to try to plug some leaks, drop their payroll by $15 million and see if they can regain their 2010 form. They signed 38 career utility player Jamey Carroll to be their starting shortstop, they signed Josh Willingham to provide some power as a corner outfielder and catcher Ryan Doumit to provide some pop as the back-up catcher. Last season catcher Joe Mauer had a horrible season hitting .287 and playing in just 82 games due to some mysterious injuries that still have not been explained but Mauer has worked hard this spring and you have to think he is back to being the All-Star catcher he should be. 1B Justin Morneau was even worse, hitting .227 with four home runs and playing in 69 games due to a variety of injuries but his major issue was the concussion he suffered in Toronto the previous season. Morneau started spring training playing 1B but midway through spring training he was hitting under .100 and the team decided that Morneau would be the primary DH this season although he would still see time at 1B but I would expect him playing first base less than 30 times this season. Morneau caught fire with his bat but still seldom makes an appearance at 1B in Florida. The Twins need Morneau to hit like he can and to stay healthy but that might be asking a lot based on what Justin has shown the past few years. The second baseman, often injured Alexi Casilla is in a make it or break it season and he has to prove he can play 150+ games, something he has never done. He has already missing games in spring training due to a sore knee. The leader of the Twins “fun bunch” is 3B Danny Valencia who is coming off a “sophomore slump” season in 2011 both with his bat and in the field. Valencia has to start to field at 3B like he cares and to hit more for average versus trying to be that dead pull hitter that he showed in 2011. A little humility by Valencia wouldn’t hurt either, Danny is not God’s gift to baseball even though he seems to think he is. Denard Span has to prove that he is over his own concussion and neck woes and that the Twins can count on him to play day in and day out in centerfield because he has a lot of ground to cover when Willingham is in left and Trevor Plouffe or Ryan Doumit is playing in right. Right field is probably a platoon between Plouffe, Doumit and maybe even Ben Revere who has a throwing arm like a pop gun. The Twins starting pitching is shaky at best and that is kind of funny because going back just a few years the Twins thought their starting pitching was a strength and some bloggers thought we had too much starting pitching but that was just before Kyle Gibson was deemed to need TJ surgery and Alex Wimmers had no clue where home plate was. Francisco Liriano has had a super spring and he is in his contract year but no Twins starter has shown as much “Jekyll and Hyde” personality as Francisco has. One day the man pitches a no-hitter and the next time out he can’t string two good innings together. Scott Baker can be really good but you can also count on Scott Baker to hit the DL at least once each season and this year he will start the season on the DL. I find Baker an interesting pitcher because he makes his living pitching high in the strike zone. What drives me crazy with Baker is that the man never shows any emotion. Get mad, slam your glove down, anything, just show me you are alive Scott. Carl Pavano is one of those guys that goes out and throws 200 innings and gives up 2225 hits but keeps his team in the game. This coming from a guy that had a huge contract with the Yankees between 2005-2008 and was hurt year after year while pitching in just 26 games. Nick Blackburn owns the Twins number 4 starting spot and the sinkerballing right hander is starting his fifth season in the Twins starting rotation. Blackburn, a pitch to contact guy has started at least 26 games each season although his innings pitched have decreased the last two years from a career high of 205 in 2009. Blackburn is one of those guys that gives hitters a comfortable collar but then there are other games when he gives up hit after hit. Blackburn has pitched a few big games for the Twins and has seems to rise to the occasion. The last spot in the starting rotation belongs to newly acquired Jason Marquis a 33-year-old right hander beginning his 13 big league season and is a lot like Pavano, gives up a lot of hits but keeps his team deep into games. Not a stellar rotation by any means but when they pitch well, the Twins have a chance as Gardy might tell you. How about the relievers? Who knows, the Twins resigned Matt Capps to be their closer after Joe Nathan hit the trail for Texas. Capps is not one of the elite closers in the league but does a team that is destined to finish under .500 need an elite closer? I don’t think so and I think Capps can be a good character on this team. Minnesota native lefty Glen Perkins had a breakout season both on the pitching front and out of Gardy’s doghouse. Perkins was outstanding last season and was the Twins best pitcher most of the year. Brian Duensing moves to the bullpen after a disappointing year in the starting rotation in 2011 and he should do a good job there based on what he has shown there previously. Matt Maloney and Jared Burton, both former Redlegs appear to have earned bullpen jobs. Anthony Swarzak is the long guy in the pen and sometimes starter and that role seems to fit him well. The final bullpen spot is still to be determined with Jeff Gray and Alex Burnett still battling it out as spring training winds down. Kyle Waldrop was in the running for the final spot too but he ended up taking a spot on the DL bench.

Ryan did what he could to get more offense on the field but in the process he sacrificed his defense, particularly in the outfield. The fact that the Twins will not have Justin Morneau at 1B will also hurt the other infielders who are used to having Morneau scoop their bad throws out of the dirt. The Twins have numerous holes but they do have some young players that are knocking on the door like Chris Parmelee at 1B, Brian Dozier at SS, Joe Benson in the outfield, Liam Hendriks as a starter and Carlos Gutierrez in the pen. It is starting pitching that the Twins crave but outside of Kyle Gibson and Alex Wimmers, their does not appear to be a lot there. If the youngsters do indeed turn out to be big leaguers, Ryan will have a core to build on. Deeper in the minors they have some players that could turn out to be stars in a few years. We as fans sometimes fall in love with our teams players and hate to see them go but baseball is like life, you have to keep moving forward and change is necessary, if you stand still,  it means that someone is gaining on you. Change is good, we need to embrace change. Going into 2011 Gardy and Smith talked about the need to add speed, no one talks about speed this year….. I wrote all this and didn’t mention Tsuyoshi Nishioka until just now, see how easy it is to forget?

When the smoke clears, Twins fans should be dancing on Target Plaza if this team can somehow play .500 ball, I unfortunately don’t see it happening in 2012. I just hope that the Twins play some exciting baseball the way it should be played and hopefully fans will still keep coming to Target Field to watch them.

Division winners – Rays, Tigers, Angels

Wild Cards – Yankees, Rangers

Tampa Rays move on to represent the American League in the World Series

Twins Trivia 25 man roster

With the 2012 season less than two weeks away it is still very difficult to predict to will be on the Twins 25 man roster when the Twins take on the Orioles in Baltimore on April 6th. That is not normal for the Twins of recent years but when you lose a few veterans to free agency and the team is coming off a 63-99 record you should not be surprised that there are questions everywhere. I do think the Twins will make a trade or two before the season opens and who knows who might suffer an injury that could change everything. An injury could dramatically change the starting line-up and who makes the 25 man roster on opening day. Here is how I see the team starting the season, I don’t think it will stay that way for long but here is how I see the Twins coming out of the starting gate.

Catcher – The starting catcher will obviously be Joe Mauer who hopefully can catch 120-130 games and play some first base and DH. His primary back-up will be Ryan Doumit. I think the Twins need to carry a 3rd catcher because Mauer and Doumit are both injury prone and will play other positions. I would not be surprised to see all three of their catchers playing in the same game now and then. The Twins third catcher this year will be J.R Towles (an easy addition to the 40 man roster) because the Twins will trade Drew Butera before the season starts to a team that needs a back-up catcher. The Twins are loyal to a fault sometimes and since they have no room in the majors for Butera, they will try to find him a big league job somewhere. Josh Willingham was a catcher earlier in his career so he could be an emergency back stop for Gardy too.

1B – The Twins black hole, the huge unknown. Justin Morneau should be here but I’m afraid we won’t be seeing a lot of Justin at 1B. If Morneau could regain his health, play 1B and even be 90% of what he was in the past, this Twins team would be dramatically better and the team make-up would be much different. The Twins primary first baseman for now and the forseeable future is Chris Parmelee but you will also see Mauer here and Doumit will also show up at first for  a few games and even Luke Hughes can play here if needed.

2B – Belongs to Alexi Casilla but Alexi has played over 100 games in a season only once and that was back in 2006 in the minors. The switch hitting Casilla could really provide a big lift to the team if he can stay healthy and play 150+ games but I think we can count on Alexi taking a mini vacation on the DL this year too. Casilla is a streaky hitter but he has provided some key hits for the Twins over the years. Terry Ryan has always been a Casilla fan but I think he is looking at this year as a “make it or break it season” for Alexi, he either proves he can do it this year or he is history. The back-up second baseman is Luke Hughes but Jamey Carroll can play second too. In an emergency Trevor Plouffe can also play there.

SS – Free agent acquisition Jamey Carroll will start the season at short but I don’t see him holding on to this role for long. Carroll has had over 400 at bats only twice in ten big league seasons, why should things change at 38 years of age? I think by mid June we will see the Brian Dozier shortstop era begin and Carroll who was signed for two years will become the utility player the Twins are looking for, albeit a bit on the expensive side. Casilla will play some short in a back-up role and if the Twins are really in dire straights, they can slip Hughes or Plouffe over there for a game or two.

3B – Should belong to Danny Valencia but he needs to prove he is a big leaguer. Last year was a real downer for Valencia both in the field and at the bat. Hopefully Valencia gets his head screwed on straight and starts playing like he can. Valencia is not the .311 hitter he showed us in 2010 but he is also not the .246 hitter he forced us to watch in 2011 either. Danny needs to adjust his attitude too, he is not a super star so he had better quit acting like one because Minnesota fans will not tolerate it. Hughes is Valencia’s back-up but Carroll and Casilla could play third in a pinch too. In the unlikely event that Valencia is really the 2011 version, hopefully Sean Burroughs is still with the Twins and can be called up. Burroughs can hit, although not with a lot of power and I see him as the last player cut and the Twins 26th man.

LF – Will be manned by Josh Willingham just like I said all along since the Twins signed him. Gardy announced that Willingham is his left fielder after trying Willingham in right all spring. It will be interesting to see how Twins fans react to Willingham as the Twins have not had a hitter like Willingham in some time. Josh did hit a career high 29 home runs in Oakland last season but he also struck out 150 times and had a .246 average. Willingham was a catcher earlier in his career so speed is not his game and he is 33 years old and now there are reports that his arm is not as good as the Twins may have thought. Back-ups here would be Ben Revere, Denard Span, and Trevor Plouffe.

CF – Will be patrolled by Denard Span. The fly in the ointment here would be if Span is not totally recovered from his neck pain or his concussion from last season. Span needs to stay healthy, hit at least .285 steal 25 bases and score about 100 runs if he wants to meet Twins expectations of him in the lead-off spot. The only other outfielder the Twins have to play center is the speedy Ben Revere and he can cover center but his hitting is not all it could be and he throws like a grandmother. The Twins say that Span’s throwing is improved but you can’t make silk from a pigs ear. With Willingham in LF and who ever plays RF be it Doumit, Plouffe, Parmelee, Span and or Revere will have to cover a lot of ground in center because they are the only two outfielders with any speed what so ever.

RF – I think you will see a number of players out here but I think that Ryan Doumit and Trevor Plouffe will get the majority of the time in right. But who ever the Twins put in right other that Span or Revere has to be considered a defensive liability. I think Twins fans will be shocked at how many balls don’t get caught in left and right this season. Who ever plays right might just be keeping the position warm for when Joe Benson gets called up later this season. Benson’s call-up may even move Span to RF.

Bench – Luke Hughes is out of options and is a nice hitter to have coming off the bench. Luke can play all four infield positions, just not well enough to be a starter in any of them. The second bench player is catcher  J.R. Towles who I think beats out Drew Butera. I know that Towles is a .187 hitter as compared to Butera’s .178 but Towles at least has a chance to be a better hitter, I don’t think Butera does. Towles is a good catcher too and earlier this spring I saw him playing 3B and he wasn’t too shabby for a catcher. Butera gets traded. The third member of the Twins bench is Trevor Plouffe the former SS/2B and now an outfielder. Plouffe has some pop in his bat and hopefully he can learn to play the outfield just as Michael Cuddyer did many years earlier and he can still play 2B/SS  if things get hinky for Gardenhire. Ben Revere has my final bench spot simply because the Twins need someone like him to take over in LF or RF late in the game when the Twins have a lead or to come off the bench as a pinch-runner to steal a base.

SP – Is all locked up assuming there are no injuries. Francisco Liriano coming off his best spring ever is pitching like his Twins career depends on it and it is about time. I am not going to get too excited  just yet with Francisco because I know how quickly things can fall apart for him. What a treat it would be if Liriano finally pitched like the ace many predicted he would be. Having said that, if someone offers me an arm and a leg with potential, I trade Francisco so fast it would make your head spin. Scott Baker has the potential to be a very good pitcher but he has hit the 200 inning mark just once in his seven-year career but he is only 30. What frustrates me about Baker is that when he gets some runners on base he turns the game into slo-mo. One more thing, Scott never shows any emotion, some would say that is a good thing, I would say hogwash, I have no problem when a pitcher comes into the dugout after giving up a couple of runs and slams his glove to the bench, show me your care Scott Baker! Baker is like Camilo Pascual in that he likes to take a summer break to the DL list once a year or so, count on it. Carl Pavano is not a great pitcher but he is one of those inning eaters who wants to win. Pavano can pitch on my team any time. Nick Blackburn is my number 4 SP, but I gotta say I don’t understand him at all. Blackie is a sinkerballer who has some great games and others that he just stinks, you just don’t know who you are going to get on any given day. When Nick is healthy, he can throw some innings. The fifth starter is the newest addition, Jason Marquis. I think you will find Marquis to be Pavano like except he gives up fewer hits but walks more batters and when healthy he too will give you 200 innings. The next starter in line should one of the five get hurt or traded is probably Liam Hendriks who could be a lot like Brad Radke if all goes according to plan. Maybe late in the season there may even be a Kyle Gibson sighting, that would be cool.

Bullpen – The Twins bullpen is anchored by closer Matt Capps and I don’t have nearly the issues with Capps that many other bloggers and fans have. He is not the 3 up 3 down kind of closer but he will get the job done when the scoreboard shows the Twins leading late in the game. If former Orioles manager and Hall of Famer Earl Weaver was the Twins manager today he would call Capps a “two-pack closer”.  That meant that Weaver, a heavy smoker could go through two packs of cigarettes as he watched his closer finally shut down the opposition. The set-up guys are left hander and Minnesota native Glen Perkins who escaped the Twins doghouse last season and found his niche with the ballclub and was arguably the Twins top pitcher in 2011. The RH set-up guy appears to be Jared Burton a free agent from this past off-season. Burton is only 30 but he has some injury baggage but a few years ago he was touted to be the Reds closer of the future. Burton has a nice career 7.6 SO/9 but the down side is that he also has a 3.9 BB/9, kind of a more experienced Alex Burnett. The left-handed former starter Brian Duensing will spend the season in the bullpen this year where he is probably better suited. The big right-hander Anthony Swarzak has lost some weight this off-season and some say he has locked down a bullpen spot but I don’t think he has pitched all that well this spring but he has not pitched poorly enough not to earn a spot in the Twins bullpen either. Swarzak is versatile and can pitch several days in a row and that makes him a Twin in 2012. The 28 year-old left handed Matt Maloney is a surprise to me. The former Cincinnati Redleg is striking them out right and left this spring and he has good control, yes, I know, spring training stats mean squat but you have to base your decision on something and that is all I have to go on right now. Maloney seems too good to be true but the Twins “have caught lightning in a bottle” before when they went searching for relief pitchers, maybe they did it again. The final bullpen spot I think is still up in the air between Alex Burnett, Jeff Manship and Kyle Waldrop, all right handers and all with some Twins experience on their resume. If you go strictly by the numbers this spring, Waldrop is the guy for you but Burnett has the most experience and according to Twins management, has upside going for him so I gave the final bullpen spot to the Alex Burnett.

So that is it, that is how I see the Twins roster shaping up for the 2012 season. I would like to tell you that the Twins will contend for the AL Central title this year but I just don’t see that in the cards. I do see the Twins roster turning over as the season moves along and players like Chris Parmelee, Brian Dozier, Joe Benson, Liam Hendriks, Carlos Gutierrez, Kyle Waldrop, Lester Oliveros and maybe Kyle Gibson taking on bigger roles at Target field. A number of Twins players will be out to prove that they are still bonified big leaguers this season. 2012 will be a season of change in Minnesota and the July 30 trade deadline could keep GM Terry Ryan real busy. Never the less, I am ready to see the Minnesota Twins open the 2012 season. WIN TWINS!

How about the batting order on opening day? here is how I see it.

Span – CF – bats left
Carroll – SS – bats right
Mauer – C – bats left
Morneau – DH – bats left
Willingham – LF – bats right
Doumit – RF – switch hitter
Valencia – 3B – bats right
Parmelee – 1B – bats left
Casilla – 2B – switch hitter
 

Morneau hitting fourth and Willingham fifth is just Gardy’s loyalty to Justin and reward for his years of Twins service. Morneau and Willingham will switch spots in the batting order very soon.

 

When is it time to start to worry?

The Twins spring training record through Friday, March 16th is 8-8. I think they are doing it with smoke, mirrors, and a little good pitching now and then. When you look at the Twins hitting and pitching this spring you have to wonder what the season holds in store. As a team, in 16 games and 528 at bats the Twins are hitting .237, slugging .322 and have a .319 OBP. The opposition is hitting .278, slugging .408 and have a .342 OBP. The Twins have hit 9 home runs and ground into 11 double plays and they haven’t even played a game in that cavernous Target Field where the Twins can’t seem to hit home runs. If you take the Twins 16 games played thus far and multiply it times 10, you get some scary numbers. I know, the Twins regulars aren’t playing all the time but let’s take a look at the numbers that the Twins proposed line-up for 2012 has put up thus far.

POS Name AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI AVG
C Mauer 23 1 7 0 0 0 4 .304
1B Morneau 26 1 3 0 0 0 1 .115
2B Casilla 25 5 9 1 0 0 0 .360
SS Carroll 23 1 1 0 0 0 0 .043
3B Valencia 24 4 9 2 0 3 7 .310
RF Willingham 20 3 5 0 0 1 2 .250
CF Span 24 3 10 0 0 0 1 .417
LF Revere 25 2 8 0 0 0 2 .320
LF Plouffe 25 2 6 1 0 0 2 .240
DH Doumit 22 0 5 1 0 0 1 .227
Justin Morneau

How can you not be worried about Justin Morneau and his total lack of power? How about Jamey Carroll hitting less than one-third his weight? Questions abound. Have I mentioned that the Twins pitching staff this spring has a 4.28 ERA and the opposing pitchers have a 2.71 ERA against the Twins? Lots of questions and issues and we are half way through spring training with 16 games left to go. It will make for an interesting couple of weeks for sure, stay tuned.

Did you know?

  • In addition to heavily scouting Australia, the Minnesota Twins also have the biggest presence of any team in Europe, so it was no surprise when they landed Max Kepler-Rozycki for $800,000, the largest bonus ever given to a European.
  • That Max Kepler-Rozycki is the son of two members of the German Ballet?
  • Joe Benson was committed to play running back for Purdue before he signed with the Twins?
  • Fort Myers has had more World Series-winning franchises train in it than any other city either in Florida or Arizona, Five franchises have won it all after training in Fort Myers in the spring: Athletics, Pirates, Royals, Twins, and Red Sox.
  • Target Field’s footprint is only 8.5 acres large, the smallest in major league baseball but it covers a total of 10.5 acres when looked at from above because portions of it extend over surrounding roadways.
  • That the Twins charge $10 for parking for a spring training game at Hammond Stadium? The Twins are tied with the Yankees, Phillies, and Rays for the highest parking rates while all the other teams in Florida range from free to $9.
  • The pen Joe Mauer used to sign his eight-year, $184 million contract belongs to Joel Lepel, the minor league field coordinator for the Minnesota Twins. Lepel was born and raised in Plato, Minn., and has worked for the Twins for 23 years, mostly as a scout. All of the amateur players he has signed, including Mauer, have used the same pen.
  • That one time Twins player Andy Kosco replaced Mickey Mantle at 1B in Mick’s final game on September 28, 1968.
  • Former Twins catcher Earl Battey who was not known for his speed was a star basketball player in high school and was offered a contract to play for the Harlem Globetrotters but he decided to play pro baseball instead.
  • Former Twins infielder and now the Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington replaced Cal Ripken as the Orioles shortstop in the eighth inning of a Sept 14, 1987 game ending Cal Ripken’s record consecutive-innings streak of 8,243, spanning 904 games.