TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
As you would expect, a fair number of big league debuts as Twins on September 1, three of them were catchers.
Josmil Pinto (C) – September 1, 2013 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent on February 14, 2006. Debuted at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in a 4-2 Twins win. Pinto was the starting catcher hitting 8th in the batting order and was 2 for 4 with a double, also scoring once and knocking in a run.
Alexi Casilla
Alexi Casilla (2B/SS) – September 1, 2006 – Traded by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to the Minnesota Twins for J.C. Romero on December 9, 2005. First game took place in Yankee Stadium II in a Twins 8-1 loss to New York. Casilla entered the game as a pinch-hitter and drew a walk.
Terry Tiffee (3B/1B) – September 1, 2004 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 26th round of the 1999 MLB June Amateur Draft. Debuted in the Dome in a 4-2 Twins win over the Rangers. Tiffee entered the game in the sixth inning to play 3B and he had 2 at bats and he had a single and a double which knocked in two runs (tieing and winning).
Rob Bowen (C) – September 1, 2003 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd round of the 1999 MLB June Amateur Draft. Bowen debuted as a sub for A.J. Pierzynski in the 9th inning of a 10-2 Twins loss at the Metrodome going 0 for 1.
Pedro Munoz (OF) – September 1, 1990 – Traded by the Toronto Blue Jays with Nelson Liriano to the Minnesota Twins for John Candelaria on July 27, 1990. Debuted at the Dome in the Tigers 9-5 win over Minnesota as the DH hitting in the seven hole. Tough debut going 0 for 4 with 2 strike outs.
Lenny Webster (C) – September 1, 1989 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 21st round of the 1985 amateur draft. Webster debuted in the 9th inning in the Skydome as a defensive replacement at catcher in a Twins 7-3 defeat at the hands of the Blue Jays.
The Braves and Twins both improved their records to 3-9 Sunday by completing three-game sweeps of the Marlins and Angels, respectively. Atlanta and Minnesota are the first teams in major-league history to win three straight games immediately after starting a season with nine or more consecutive losses.
Noonie is earning respect in Minneapolis
Eduardo Nunez continues to make it look easy, going 2-for-4 in the Twins’ 7-4 win over the Brewers. That dropped-yes dropped-Nunez’ batting average to .545 this season, with 12 hits in 22 at-bats. Over the last 25 years, only one other Twins player maintained a batting average above .500 at least 20 ABs into a season. Josmil Pinto was 13-for-25 to start his brief MLB career in 2013, Kirby Puckett did it twice in the 1980’s (a 14-for-27 start in 1984, and 13-for-25 in 1987).
The Twins 25 man roster appears to be set and Chris Herrmann is the back-up catcher. How does that happen? There is probably no nicer guy that Chris Herrmann but what is he doing making the Minnesota Twins 25 man roster going into the season opener just a few days away.
I need some help understanding how this could have happened. I know that the back-up catcher is not going to make or break the team in 2015 but I would like to understand the logic in this move. Nobody owes me an explanation, I understand that, but this move just seems like one of the dumbest moves the Twins have made in some time. I used to wonder if Nick Punto had some dirt on then manager Ron Gardenhire but now I have to wonder what Herrmann has on Paul Molitor and Terry Ryan. The other candidates for this role on the team were Josmil Pinto and Eric Fryer.
Eric Fryer is the oldest at 29 and he is primarily a catcher although Baseball-Reference lists him as a catcher/outfielder. That is kind of bogus as Fryer has appeared in just two games in the outfield for the Pittsburgh Pirates back in 2012 and the Twins have not used him as anything but a catcher. The case can be made that Fryer is the best catcher of the trio of candidates and he can hit a bit (career .246 average) but with little to no power. If the Twins brain trust were interested in just having a good back-stop then Fryer was their guy.
Josmil Pinto is already 26 and is by far the best hitter of the trio but pretty much everyone agrees that his work behind the plate still needs improvement, then again what players name could you bring up that doesn’t need improvement in some phase of his game. Pinto has a career average of .257 but he also has 11 home runs in just 78 games. Pinto has had injury issues this spring and that set him back for sure but unless the man is not in good enough shape to play, he should have been on the Twins roster.
The 27-year-old Chris Herrmann is a catcher by trade but the Twins also use him in the outfield and at first base. Herrmann has the most big league experience of this group having played in 97 games but his career average is .196 with four home runs. Herrmann’s is neither a good hitter nor a great defensive catcher but he brings flexibility to the table. But I have to ask you this, what good is flexibility in your back-up catcher when you carry only two catchers? The idea is that he is your back-up catcher, he is not going to play outfield or first base. The Twins have first base and the outfield covered, do you use him as the DH? Why? You have plenty of players that can be the DH that can hit better than Herrmann. There is ZERO logic in having Herrmann be the back-up catcher on this team.
I know that in a couple of weeks that Herrmann will be in Rochester and Pinto will be in Minnesota barring some kind of injury to Pinto but it drives me crazy when the Twins make cockamamy moves like this. I understand that this ballclub has far more serious issues than who the back-up catcher will be but this moves just jumps out at me and screams WHY? If you know why, tell me because I need help here.
I missed the Minnesota Twins open house this past Sunday because I was feeling under the weather but I was feeling fine again on Monday so I headed out to the CenturyLink Sports Complex to check out the Twins pitchers and catchers on their first day at training camp under new manager Paul Molitor.
I don’t know why but I was surprised to see the Twins wearing their red jerseys during their first 2015 workout. The workout was already underway when I arrived. I believe that the Twins workouts normally start about 08:30 AM and finish up around 11:30 AM.
It is great to see the Twins out on the field again and getting ready for their first season under the tutelage of Hall of Famer Paul Molitor but all in all it was a pretty quiet day. There were a number of fans but not as many as I might have expected checking out the action getting pictures and a few autographs when the players work for the day was over. The one observation I would make after watching the first day is that it seemed much quieter and more business-like then what I remember from previous sessions under the Gardenhire regime. I didn’t see any horsing around or players standing around laughing and telling tall tales from their off-season exploits. Maybe it was just day one jitters and everyone getting acclimated but it seemed different.
Molitor was kind of what I expected him to be, standing around and observing the action and now and then taking a player aside and talking with him one on one. Maybe I missed it but I didn’t see Molitor smile once during the morning work outs. It might be just his personality or maybe it struck him exactly what he had stepped into during his first venture in managing. It will be interesting to see how the Twins players react to a manager that I think is much more of a distant old school Tom Kelly type than a players manager like Ron Gardenhire who seemed to be more interested in being part of the gang. Time will tell.
I haven’t seen TK down here yet so I am not sure if he will report when the position players show up or if his health concerns will prevent him from taking part in spring training this season. It was kind of odd not seeing the long time Twins coaching staff and instead seeing Eddie Guardado out on the field helping with pitchers fielding practice.
Your fun fact for the day, Twins pitchers are “a tall glass of water”, at least ten of them are 6’4″ or taller.
I did get a few pictures that you can check out on the right hand side of the page under “2015 Spring Training”.
Also joining the Twins will be Triple-A hitting coach Tim Doherty from September 2-14 while Red Wings Manager Gene Glynn will be with the Twins from September 15-28.
Aaron Hicks
Not much to get excited about here, just think how different things could have been had Byron Buxton. Miguel Sano, and Alex Meyer not been injured this year. Then again maybe we would not have seen Danny Santana and Kennys Vargas step up in the way they have so far this year. It will be interesting to see if Hicks has improved, he did well in New Britain and in Rochester for a while before he cooled off. When Rochester was making a push for a wild-card spot late in the season Hicks was not always a regular in that line-up.
The 2014 season is almost one-third over and the Twins are hanging around the .500 mark give or take a few games. You could argue that the Twins are playing better than expected and that might be true but the roster still has several players that do not belong on a good major league team. Today I want to talk about just one of them, outfielder Jason Kubel.
Jason Kubel
The 32-year-old left-handed hitting outfielder has no business being on this team. I am not even going to waste your time and mine by asking why the Twins organization spent $2 million to sign this guy in the first place after he hit .216 with five home runs and 92 strikeouts in 259 at bats for the Diamondbacks and Indians in 2013. As it turned out, both corner outfielders Josh Willingham and Oswaldo Arcia went down with hand injuries right out of the starting gate and having Kubel on the team helped to solve that dilema at least on a short term basis.
Now with Willingham and Arcia back in the line-up, why is Kubel still with this team? Pay the man the money you owe him, thank him for his service and send him on his way, you will be doing a service to both Kubel and the team.
Kubel has been dreadful this season. Kubel was signed to provide power and knock in some runs, todate he has hit one home run and plated 13 base runners. In 144 at bats he has struck out a team leading 51 times, that 35.42% of his at bats. Outside of Aaron Hicks and Willingham who has only appeared in 9 games, no one on the team has a lower slugging percentage than Kubel. Kubel’s play in the field is barely adequate.
Kubel is taking up valuable roster space on a team that is struggling to score runs. Going into the series final today again the Texas Rangers the Twins record in their last 9 games is 3 wins with 6 losses and they have scored more than 2 runs (four runs in one game and five in another) just twice. If you take those two games out of the equation the team has scored a total of 10 runs in 7 games which comes out to 1.43 runs per game. In 50 games this season the Twins have scored 3 runs or less 20 times. The Twins record stands at 24-26 but when you score 3 runs or less 40% of the time you either have to have amazing pitching or been just plain lucky, I think I will put the Twins in the lucky category.
Kennys Vargas
The Twins need to find a way to score more runs. How about if the Twins either release Kubel or send him to Rochester and bring up 1B Kennys Vargas from New Britain? The 23-year-old switch hitter might be a perfect fit for the Twins DH slot. Last season Vargas hit .267 with 19 home runs and 93 RBI in Ft. Myers. This season in New Britain, Vargas is hitting ..320 with 8 home runs and 34 RBI’s. With Gardy fretting about using back-up catcher Josmil Pinto as his DH, who knows, the 6’5″ 275 pound Vargas might be the next Big Papi in the making. What have they got to lose?
UPDATE AS OF MAY 29 – Did I forget to mention that including todays game against Texas, Kubel is 0 for his last 22 plate appearances and has not had an RBI since May 1st?
2013 has just about come to a close and spring training is 41 days away and the MLB free agent list still has numerous serviceable players looking for work. The plums of the free agent market have pretty much been plucked but there are still a few decent players out there. The fact that Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka was dangling in the wind probably has a lot to do with some of the top rated free agent starters still on the market not signing but now that he has been posted thing may start to break free. If you look at the available free agents you can see how some positions have been stripped bare and others still have innumerable free agents still in the unemployed corner. Strangely enough with everyone looking for starting pitching there seems to be plenty of arms still on the market, sure, they are not aces but they can certainly fill a spot in many teams rotations.
I thought it would be interesting to compare some of what I deem to be top free agents still looking for work to what might be the 2014 Twins team when they head to Chicago to open play in 2014. If you compare the free agent and the corresponding Twins player, who would you rather see in a Twins uniform? Don’t forget what it might cost to sign this free agent versus the player the Twins currently have because you don’t have an unlimited checkbook. This is just a fun little exercise to help you get through these cold snowy days in Minnesota as you wait the hear that “play ball” call once again. Are any of these free agents possible Twins in your eyes?
I don’t know how much it would take to sign Stephen Drew but I wouldn’t mind seeing him play some short here in Minnesota. I also would like to see Michael Young play some 3B instead of Trevor Plouffe while waiting for Miguel Sano to slide into that 3B position. Both probably looking for more than the Twins want to spend but if I was Mr. Ryan I would open my checkbook and get Drew’s John Henry on a Twins contract, he would be a huge upgrade and there is no prospect beating down the shortstop door in Minnesota. Tanaka would be a slick addition but I can’t see him wanting to play here plus the financial risk of paying that much for an unproven MLB player is more than I would like to do. There are a few relief pitchers that I did not include on this list that would be nice in the Twins bullpen too.
I used the ESPN MLB Free Agent tracker to determine who was still available, are there players on the list you would like to see in the home dugout at Target Field that I did not mention here?
According to a report by Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle earlier today the Twins and catcher Kurt Suzuki have reached agreement on a one-year deal $2.75 million base salary that also includes some incentives just two days after sending catcher/outfielder Ryan Doumit to Atlanta.
The 30-year-old Hawaiian was the Oakland A’s second round pick in 2004 and made his big league debut on June 12, 2007 against the Houston Astros. Suzuki took over the starting catching role in 2008 and kept the job until the 2012 season when the A’s started to platoon him more and more. In August 2012 the A’s traded him to the Washington Nationals after their catcher Willie Ramos was injured and he stayed there for a year before the Nats traded him back to Oakland in August 2013.
According to the MLB Rumors site, “Suzuki has thrown out 26 percent of opposing base stealers throughout his career, though that number fell to only 12 percent in 2013. He was significantly better in 2012, when he picked off 30 percent of potential thieves. In 2013, he was above average in blocking pitches, per Fangraphs, and was average in terms of pitch-framing, per Matthew Carruth’s report at StatCorner.”
Suzuki’s best season may have been 2009 when he hit .274 with 15 home runs and 88 RBI. Since 2009 his average has fallen each season to .242 in 2010 then .237, then .235 and finally last season to .232. I have always liked Suzuki and I think he will be a very good fit in Minnesota as he backs up Josmil Pinto (assuming his shoulder woes get resolved) and teaches him what it takes to be a starting catcher in the big leagues. I remember a few years back when Suzuki was coming back off an injury and some baseball show was following his workout in a swimming pool. I was amazed when Suzuki was standing in the pool about waist deep and he jumped straight up and landed on his feet on the edge of the pool, that was pretty cool. I am looking forward to seeing Suzuki in a Twins uniform and I really think he will hit better than he has the last few years. I think the Twins made a very nice move here and the price was certainly right.
The Twins off-season got started with bang yesterday when the Twins announced that six-time All-Star and former AL MVP catcher Joe Mauer was leaving the tools of ignorance behind and moving to first base full-time. The Twins having been saying all along that Mauer was free of his concussion symptoms and that he was their catcher unless they heard differently. But yet GM Terry Ryan needed to know for sure where Mauer was going to play in 2014. Mauer is a foundation player the team needs to build around and they need to know what building blocks they need and the sooner that Mauer made a decision on his future, the sooner Ryan can begin to assemble his team. So I can’t help but wonder how much pressure the Twins applied to Mauer to get him to make a decision on what position he wanted to call home in 2014 and beyond. I know that Mauer is a great player but how many baseball teams have waited on one of their players to tell them where he wants to play?
Mauer said the decision was both difficult but yet easy, I think I can understand what he is saying. Mauer had to be thinking he had a shot at being the Twins catcher for as long as he wanted and that down the line the Hall of Fame would be calling. But then Joe’s life changed when he got married after the 2012 season and before he knew it, he was the father of twins himself. Later in the 2013 season he suffered through a serious concussion and his season ended 6 week earlier then he had planned. Mauer is a proud man and giving up catching, something he has done his entire life had to be hard. But Mauer is also a smart man and he understands that family and health always comes first. Money will never be an issue for Joe and his family but his health could become a problem if he continued to catch. Mix in what his good friend Justin Morneau went through, all the other catcher concussion issues in 2013 and all the recent reports of football players and their problems and Joe really had no choice. Joe Mauer, always the team player and being the good guy he is stepped up and informed the Twins that his decision was made.
The griping is rampant that first base is a power position and it normally is but there have been a number of very good first basemen since 1960 that hit 15 or fewer home runs, knocked in 90 to 111 RBI and hit for a high average. Players like Rod Carew, Keith Hernandez, Mark Grace, and Pete Rose come to mind and they were pretty good players. It will be interesting also to see if moving from a tough position like catcher to an easier position to play like first base actually makes Mauer an even better hitter. Something akin to a pitcher moving from starting to relief and picking up a few MPH on his fastball.
Mauer moving to first base has huge implications on numerous players. I doubt that Justin Morneau entertained thoughts of returning to Minnesota anyway but this move puts an end to that possibility. Chris Colabello might as well call his agent and ask him to pursue a trade. Chris Parmelee instantly became an outfielder and sometimes first baseman. But who is going to replace Mauer behind home plate? The Twins have four catchers on the roster at the present time, Josmil Pinto, Chris Herrmann, Eric Fryer and Ryan Doumit. Each and every one of these guys has some warts, Doumit is a decent hitter but a poor catcher plus he had his own bout with a concussion last season, you have to wonder if he wants to catch any more. Herrmann seems like he has been around for ever but he is only 25 but I don’t think the Twins envision him as a full-time catcher. The 28 year-old Fryer can’t hit a lick and the Twins are the fourth organization that he has played with. That leaves us with Josmil Pinto, 24, who was a September call-up and appeared in 21 games hitting .342 with four home runs. With just 21 big league games under his belt and just 19 AAA games you have to wonder if he is ready to make the jump to the big leagues as a full-time catcher. Mauer only caught 5 games in AAA but Pinto is not Joe Mauer. You also keep hearing that Pinto’s catching skills still need work but you can use that excuse on most any catcher. The Twins could go out and sign a free agent veteran but does a team that lost 96 games two years in a row want to spend money on a veteran catcher? I am not sure I would but there is one catcher that I would sign if the price was right and if he was willing to come back to Minnesota. A.J. Pierzynski would be the one catcher I would be willing to spend a few dollars to sign. Why? Because the man comes to play every day, he can hit, he is a decent catcher that would help the Twins pitching staff, he can teach Pinto what it takes to be a big league catcher and most of all Pierzynski will teach the entire team what it takes to win. The Twins could do a lot worse than signing A.J. for a year or two.
Jason Bartlett
Almost lost in all the Joe Mauer news is the fact that the Twins signed former Twins shortstop Jason Bartlett to a minor league deal. The Twins originally acquired Bartlett from the San Diego Padres in a trade for Brian Buchanan in July 2002. Bartlett played short for the Twins from 2004-2007 but did not earn a full-time gig at short until 2007. Then after the 2007 season then GM Bill Smith sent him, Matt Garza, and Eduardo Morlan to Tampa for Delmon Young, Brendan Harris, and Jason Pridie. Bartlett spent 2008-2010 in Tampa before being traded back to the Padres who had originally drafted and signed him in 2001. Bartlett spent 2011 as the Padres shortstop but injured his knee early in 2012 and missed the remainder of the season and didn’t play at all in 2013. Now that Bartlett feels that his knee is healthy again he wants to play again and the Twins are going to give him that chance.
What I find interesting about the Twins signing the 34 year-old Bartlett is that he only plays short. Bartlett has played ever inning of his big league carer at short except for one inning back in 2004 when he moved over to second base for the Twins. This does not Bartlett much of a candidate for the utility man role. That means that the Twins are bringing Bartlett to push Pedro Florimon for the starting shortstop job. Florimon was rated one of the leagues better fielding shortstops but hitting .221 in 134 games has left a lot to be desired. Every team including the Twins claims to value defense, particularly up the middle, but in reality offense trumps defense. Particularly with a team like the Twins who had trouble scoring runs, you sacrifice some defense to score some runs. If Bartlett is healthy and shows that he can still hit, he could well be the starting shortstop when the Twins open the 2014 season.
Twins rookie catcher Josmil Pinto went 3 for 4 on Monday, with all three hits being doubles, leaving him with 13 hits in 23 at-bats, a .565 batting average, in seven games in the major leagues. Since 1980, only one player has had at least 20 at-bats and a higher batting average than Pinto in his first seven games in the big leagues; Jay Bruce was 15 for 26 (.577) at that point of his career.
Hot starts with minimum of 20 at-bats for the Twins rookies
Josmil Pinto (C) – September 1, 2013 – Signed by the Minnesota Twins as an amateur free agent on February 14, 2006. Debuted at the Rangers Ballpark in Arlington in a 4-2 Twins win. Pinto was the starting catcher hitting 8th in the batting order and was 2 for 4 with a double, also scoring once and knocking in a run.
Terry Tiffee (3B/1B) – September 1, 2004 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 26th round of the 1999 MLB June Amateur Draft. Debuted in the Dome in a 4-2 Twins win over the Rangers. Tiffee entered the game in the sixth inning to play 3B and he had 2 at bats and he had a single and a double which knocked in two runs (tieing and winning).
Rob Bowen (C) – September 1, 2003 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 2nd round of the 1999 MLB June Amateur Draft. Bowen debuted as a sub for A.J. Pierzynski in the 9th inning of a 10-2 Twins loss at the Metrodome going 0 for 1.
Pedro Munoz (OF) – September 1, 1990 – Traded by the Toronto Blue Jays with Nelson Liriano to the Minnesota Twins for John Candelaria on July 27, 1990. Debuted at the Dome in the Tigers 9-5 win over Minnesota as the DH hitting in the seven hole. Tough debut going 0 for 4 with 2 strike outs.
Lenny Webster (C) – September 1, 1989 – Drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 21st round of the 1985 amateur draft. Webster debuted in the 9th inning in the Skydome as a defensive replacement at catcher in a Twins 7-3 defeat at the hands of the Blue Jays.
