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
Josh Willingham hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning to give the Twins a 3-2 win over the A’s last night. It was the first time since 1995 that a Minnesota player erased a deficit of two or more runs with a walk-off homer. The last Twins player to do so was Kirby Puckett with a three-run blast in a 7-6 win over the Mariners.
The Twins starting pitching situation this year is in dire straights. Coming into the 2012 season the Twins starting pitchers were expected to be Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano, Carl Pavano, Nick Blackburn and Jason Marquis. Not a great group of starters by any means but you had to think they would keep the Twins near the .500 mark. But things don’t always go as planned and after Monday’s game the Twins have played 35 games and their record stands at 10-25, the worst record in all of baseball.
The Twins starters are rated as last in the American League with a 7-20 record and a 6.30 ERA. The starters are pitching just slightly over 5 innings per start with no complete games. Opposing batters are hitting .315 off the Twins starting staff and the the next closest starting rotation is the Yankees starting staff and opponents are hitting them at a .282 clip, a huge difference. On the other end of the spectrum, the Chicago White Sox opponents are only hitting .226 against the Mighty Whities starters. Twins starters have given up 234 hits in just 187 innings. If you combine the hits and the walks, the Twins starting rotation has a 1.55 WHIP. Twins starters have also given up the most runs, most home runs and they have struck out the least amount of opposing hitters.
So why is Minnesota starters pitching so bad as compared to the AL teams? Where did the Twins starting pitchers come from? I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the starting staffs of the AL teams and see what we come up with.
New York Yankees
1. CC Sabathia (31) – signed by the Yankees as a free agent in December 2008. Was originally a 1st round pick, 20th over all of the Cleveland Indians in 1998 and made his major league debut in 2001.
2. Ivan Nova (25) – signed by the Yankees as an amateur free agent in 2004, drafted by the San Diego Padres as a Rule 5 pick in December 2008 and returned to the Yankees in 2009 and made his major league debut in 2010.
3. Hiroki Kuroda (37) – signed by the Yankees as a free agent in January 2012. Was originally signed by the Dodgers as a free agent in December 2007 and made his major league debut in 2008.
4. Phil Hughes (26) – drafted by Yankees in round 1 and 23 over all in 2004 and made his big league debut in 2007.
5. Andy Pettite (39) – drafted by the Yankees in round 22 of the 1990 draft and made big league debut in 1995.
Boston Red Sox
1. Jon Lester (28) – drafted by Boston in the 2nd round of the 2002 amatuer free draft and debuted in 2006.
2. Clay Buchholz (27) – drafted by Boston in the 1st round and 42 pick over all in the 2005 amatuer free agent draft and made his big league debut in 2007.
3. Felix Doubront (24) – signed by Boston as an amateur free agent in May 2005 and made his big league debut in 2010.
4. Josh Beckett (31) – acquired via trade. Originally a 1st round pick and 2nd over all by the Florida Marlins in 1999. Made big league debut in 2001.
5. Daniel Bard (27) – drafted by Boston in 1st round and 28 pick over all in 2006 and made big league debut in 2009.
Baltimore Orioles
1. Jake Arrieta (26) – Orioles 5th round pick in 2007 and made big league debut in 2010.
2. Tommy Hunter (25) – acquired in a trade and was originally a 1st round pick and 54th over all of the Texas Rangers in the 2007 amateur free agent draft and made his big league debut in 2008.
3. Jason Hammel (29) – acquired in a trade and was originally a 10th round pick by Tampa in 2002. Made his big league debut in 2006.
4. Wei-Yin Chen (26) – signed as a free agent in January 2012 and made his big league debut in 2012.
5. Brian Matusz (25) – drafted by Orioles in 1st round and 4th over all in 2008 and made his big league debut in 2009.
Tampa Rays
1. Jamie Shields (30) – drafted in round 16 by Tampa in 2000 and made his big league debut in 2006.
2. David Price (26) – drafted 1st over all in the 2007 draft by Tampa. Big league debut in 2008.
3. Jeremy Hellickson (25) – A Tampa 4th round pick in the 2005 draft. Made big league debut in 2010.
4. Matt Moore (22) – Tampa’s 8th round pick in 2007 and made his big league debut in 2011.
5. Jeff Nieman (29) – Tampa’s 1st round pick and 4th over all in 2004. Made big league debut in 2008.
Toronto Blue Jays
1. Henderson Alvarez (22) – signed by Toronto as an amateur free agent in 2006. Big leaqgue debut in 2011.
2. Ricky Romero (27) – 1st round pick by Toronto and 6th over all in 2005. Big league debut in 2009.
3. Brandon Morrow (27) – acquired in trade from Seattle who picked Morrow in the 1st round and 5th over all in 2006. Big league debut in 2007.
4. Kyle Drabek (24) – acquired in trade from Philly where he was their 1st round pick and 8th over all in 2006. Big league debut in 2010.
5. Drew Hutchinson (21) – Toronto 15th round pick in 2009 and made big league debut in 2012.
Texas Rangers
1. Derek Holland (25) – Texas 25th round pick in 2006, big league debut in 2009.
2. Colby Lewis (32) – Texas 1st round pick and 38th over all in 1999. Big league debut in 2002.
3. Yu Darvish (25) – purchased from Japan and signed as free agent in January 2012. Debuted same year.
4. Matt Harrison (26) – acquired in trade from Atlanta. He was the Braves 3rd round pick in 2003. Made debut in majors in 2008.
5. Neftali Feliz (24) – acquired in trade from Atlanta. He was signed by the Braves as an amateur free agent in 2005 and made big league debut in 2009.
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim
1. Jered Weaver (29) – Angels 1st round pick and 12th over all in 2004. Big league debut in 2006.
2. Dan Haren (31) – acquired via trade. Was a St. Louis Cardinals 2nd round pick in 2001. Big league debut in 2003.
3. CJ Wilson (31) – signed as a free agent in December 2011. Rangers 5th round pick in 2001 and made big league debut in 2005.
4. Ervin Santana (29) – signed by Angels as an amateur free agent in 2000 and made big league debut in 2005.
5. Jerome Williams (30) – signed as free agent in June 2011. Originally picked in round 1 and 39th over all by San Francisco Giants in 1999. Big league debut in 2003.
Oakland A’s
1. Bartolo Colon (39) – signed as free agent in January 2012. Originally signed by the Cleveland Indians as amateur free agent in 1993. Big league debut in 1997.
2. Brandon McCarthy (28) – signed as free agent in 2010. Originally picked by the White Sox in round 17 in 2002. Big league debut in 2005.
3. Tommy Milone (25) – acquired via a trade with Washington. Was originally a Nats 10th round pick in 2008. Big league debut in 2011.
4. Jarrod Parker ar(23) – acquired in a trade with Arizona. Was originally drafted by D-Backs in 1st round and 9th over all in 2007. Big league debut in 2011.
5. Tyson Ross (25) – drafted by A’s in 2nd round 2008. Big league debut in 2010.
Seattle Mariners
1. Felix Hernandez (26) – signed by Seattle as an amateur free agent in 2002 and made big league debut in 2005.
2. Jason Vargas (29) – acquired in a 3 team trade in 2008. Was originally a Florida Marlins 4th round pick in 2004. Big league debut in 2005.
3. Kevin Millwood (37) – signed as free agent in January 2012. Originally a Braves 11th round pick in 1993. Big league debut in 1997.
4. Blake Beavan (23) – acquired in a trade from Texas. Originally a Rangers 1st round pick and 17th over all in 2007. Big league debut in 2011.
5. Hector Noesi (25) – acquired in trade with the Yankees. Originally signed by Yankees in 2004 as an amateur free agent. Big league debut in 2011.
Kansas City Royals
1. Bruce Chen (35) – signed with KC as a free agent in 2009. Was originally an Atlanta Braves amateur free signee in 1993. Big league debut in 1998.
2. Luke Hochevar (28) – was drafted by Royals in 1st round and 1st over all in 2006. Big league debut in 2007.
3. Danny Duffy (23) – Royals 3rd round pick in 2007. Big league debut in 2011.
4. Jonathan Sanchez (29) – Acquired in trade with the Giants. Originally was the Giants 27 round pick in 2004 and made big league debut in 2006.
5. Felipe Paulino (28) – Purchased from Colorado Rockies in May 2011. Was originally signed by the Astros as an amateur free agent in 2001. Big league debut in 2007.
Detroit Tigers
1. Justin Verlander (27) – was the Tigers 1st round pick and 2nd over all in the 2004 draft. He made his big league debut in 2005.
2. Rick Porcello (23) – was the Tigers 1st round pick and 27th over all in 2007. Made his big league debut in 2009.
3. Max Scherzer (27) – acquired in trade with Arizona. Was originally drafted in 1st round and 11th over all by Arizona in 2006. Made his big league debut in 2008.
4. Doug Fister (28) – acquired in trade with Seattle. Was originally picked by the Mariners in round 7 of the 2006 draft. Made MLB debut in 2009.
5. Drew Smyly (23) – was the Tigers 2nd round pick in the 2010 draft. Made big league debut in 2012.
Cleveland Indians
1. Justin Masterson (27) – acquired in a 2009 trade with the Red Sox. Was originally a 2nd round pick by the Red Sox in 2006 and made big league debut in 2008.
2. Derek Lowe (39) – acquired in a 2011 trade with the Atlanta Braves. Was originally picked in the 8th round of the 1991 draft and debuted in the big leagues in 1997.
3. Ubaldo Jiminez (28) – acquired in a trade with Colorado. Originally signed as a amateur free agent back in 2001 with the Rockies. Made big league debut in 2006.
4. Josh Tomlin (27) – was drafted by the Indians in the 19th round of the 2006 draft. Made big league debut in 2010.
5. Jeanmar Gomez (24) – signed as an amateur free agent with the Indians in 2005. Made his big league debut in 2010.
Chicago White Sox
1. Jake Peavy (31) – acquired in a trade with the Padres. Originally picked by San Diego in round 15 of the 1999 draft. Big league debut in 2002.
2. John Danks (27) – acquired in a trade with Texas. Was originally a 1st round pick and 9th over all in 2003. Big league debut in 2007.
3. Gavin Floyd (29) – acquired in a trade with the Phillies. Was originally a Phillies 1st round pick and 4th over all in 2001. Made big league debut in 2004.
4. Chris Sale (23) – drafted by the White Sox in the 1st round and 13th pick over all in 2010 draft. Made big league debut just 2 months after being drafted and after pitching in just 11 minor league games.
5. Philip Humber (29) – selected off waivers from Oakland in January 2011. Originally drafted in 2004 in the 1st round and 3rd over all pick by the New York Mets. Made big leage debut in 2006.
Minnesota Twins
1. Francisco Liriano (28) – acquired in trade with San Francisco in November 2003. Was originally signed for the Giants as an amateur free agent in 2000. Made big league debut in 2005.
2. Carl Pavano (36) – acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Indians in 2009. Originally drafted in the 13th round by the Red Sox in 1994. Made big league debut in 1998.
3. Nick Blackburn (30) – drafted by the Twins in round 29 of the 2001 draft. Made big league debut in 2007.
4. Jason Marquis (33) – signed by Twins as a free agent in December 2011. Was originally an Atlanta Braves 1st round pick and 35th over all in 1996. Made big leaague debut in 2006.
5. Liam Hendriks (23) – signed by the Twins as an amateur free agent in 2007 and made his big league debut in 2011.
6. Anthony Swarzak (26) – drafted by the Twins in round 2 of the 2004 amateur draft and made his big league debut in 2009.
7. Scott Diamond (25) – A Rule 5 pick by the Twins from the Atlanta Braves in December 2010. Was originally signed by the Braves as an amateur free agent in 2007. Made big league debut in 2011.
8. PJ Walters (27) – Signed with the Twins as a free agent in December 2011. Was originally a St. Louis Cardinals 11th round pick in 2006 and made big league debut in 2009.
9. Scott Baker (30) – out for the 2012 season with TJ surgery. Was a Twins 2nd round pick in 2003 and made big league debut in 2005.
The Twins current starting rotation of Pavano, Marquis, Blackburn, Diamond and Walters is made up of one 1st round pick, an 11th rounder, a 13th rounder, a 29th rounder and an amateur free agent.
If you look at the rest of the current 5 man starting rotations for the 13 other AL teams you have a total of 65 pitchers and here is how they break down.
25 of the 65 (38%) were first round picks
12 of the 65 (18%) were signed as amateur free agents
5 of the 65 (8%) were 2nd round picks
3 of the 65 (5%) were Japanese baseball free agents
2 of the 65 (3%) were 3rd round picks
2 of the 65 (3%) were 4th round picks
2 of the 65 (3%) were 5th round picks
1 of the 65 (2%) was a 7th round pick
2 of the 65 (3%) were 8th round picks
2 of the 65 (3%) were 10th round picks
1 of the 65 (2%) was a 11th round pick
2 of the 65 (3%) were 15th round picks
1 of the 65 (2%) was a 16th round pick
1 of the 65 (2%) was a 17th round pick
1 of the 65 (2%) was a 19th round pick
1 of the 65 (2%) was a 22nd round pick
1 of the 65 (2%) was a 25th round pick
1 of the 65 (2%) was a 27th round pick
The AL team with the most first round picks in the starting rotation is the Chicago White Sox with four starters in Danks, Floyd, Humber and Sale and the Cleveland Indians are the only team with no first rounders in their starting rotation. But just because you are a first round pick does not mean that you will make the teams starting rotation that drafted you as only 13 of the 25 or only 52% of the first round picks end up starting for the teams that drafted them in round 1. Of course many other 1st rounders either do not make the starting rotation or do not make it to the big leagues at all.
Since 1972 the Minnesota Twins have drafted 27 pitchers in the first round, 8 out of high school and 19 out of college. Three of their picks did not sign with the team. RHP Dick Ruthevan was picked in round 1 and 8 over all in 1972 but did not sign and went on to start 332 big league games. RHP Tim Belcher was the Twins 1st round and the first over all pick in 1983 but he did not sign and he went on to start 373 big league games. The Twins drafted RHP Derek Parks in round 1 and 10th over all in 1986 and turned him into a catcher. The Twins picked RHP Aaron Heilman in round 1 and 31st over all in 200o but Heilman did not sign and went on to start 25 big league games pitching maninly in relief. This may be hard to believe but since the draft started in 1972, the most career starts that any Twins 1st round pick has ever had in a Twins uniform is 45 and that pitcher was Willie Banks who the Twins picked in round 1 and number 3 over all in 1987. Banks started 45 games with a 16-17 record before being traded to the Chicago Cubs for pitcher Dave Stevens and catcher Matt Walbeck. The next higest number of starts for a Twins 1st rounder is 44 and that belongs to Minnesota native Glen Perkins who is currently a Twins top reliever. Only 10 of 27 first round pitchers picked by Minnesota in the first round ever started a game in a Twins uniform. Only 5 of 27 Twins first rounders have started 100 or more career big league games and they are Dick Ruthven, Tim Belcher, Todd Ritchie, Mark Redman, and Matt Garza. 15 of the 27 Twins first round pitchers have never started a single big league game.
With that kind of a record in taking pitchers in the first round, I have to wonder if the Twins should even try. Then again, you could argue that they are due to get a good one…..
The Twins, held to one hit by Seattle Mariners Felix Hernandez and Steve Delabar last night after being no-hit by the Angels Jered Weaver on Wednesday, now have accumulated a total of just nine hits over their last four games, the fewest hits over a four-game span by any team in modern major-league history (that is, since 1900). Minnesota surpassed the previous four-game low of 10 hits, done by the California Angels in 1969 and by the Reds in 1993.
47 hitless at bats for the Twins came to an end when Jamey Carroll hit a single in the first inning against the Mariners yesterday. That was the longest hitless streak by a major-league team since the Padres went 47 at-bats without a hit in June 1995. Source: Elias
Chris Parmelee’s run in the seventh inning last night snapped the Twins scoreless streak at 25 innings. It was the Twins first run since scoring three in the eighth inning in Monday night’s 4-3 loss against the Angels in Anaheim. The scoreless streak was the longest by a Twins team since they went 26 consecutive innings without scoring a run from July 31-August 3, 1994. Parmelee’s double in the seventh inning last night was the Twins first extra-base hit since Alexi Casilla’s double in the eighth inning Monday night in Anaheim. The Twins went 92 plate appearances between extra base hits. The Twins 65 extra-base hits are the fewest among American league teams this season. Source: Twins Game Notes
The Twins won for the first time last night when being out-hit by their opponent (1-12), it also marked the first time (in game number 25) that the Twins held their opponent to two runs-or-less.
Tonight’s Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez is a true Ace. King Felix has gone at least 6.0 innings in 172 of his 211 games started (81%), including 92 of last 101 starts (91%), and 6 of 6 so far in 2012. 29 of 32 (91%) in 2011.
Samuel Benedict Perlozzo was born in Cumberland, Maryland on March 4, 1951. Growing up in Maryland, Sam enjoyed playing football and baseball and was probably better known as a football player playing running back and safety but his lack of size kept him from pursing the gridiron. Sam earned a baseball scholarship to George Washington University where he played for three seasons from 1970 to 1972. In his final year, Sam was the star of the team hitting .345, leading the nation in stolen bases and getting named as an Academic All-American. Sam ended up signing a free agent contract with the Minnesota Twins on August 15, 1972. Perlozzo started his professional career in “A” ball with Fort Lauderdale in 1973 and played in Dubuque in 1974 and Reno in 1975. Back in those days some of the big league clubs had co-op teams where a team was made up of players for several big league clubs so even though Sam was signed as a Minnesota Twin, he did not get to play on a team of Twins minor leaguers until he joined the Orlando team in 1976. Sam Perlozzo made his major league debut on September 13, 1977 at Comiskey Park replacing Bob Randall at 2B in the seventh inning but he did not get an at bat that day. Sam ended up playing in 10 games for the Twins in 1977 going 7 for 24 (.292 average) and scoring 6 runs. As it turned out, those 10 games would be the only games that Sam played in a Minnesota Twins uniform as he spent 1978 in AAA Toledo. In the spring of 1979 Perlozzo and the Twins had reached an agreement that if Sam did not make the Twins ballclub coming out of spring training he would be granted his release and that took place on March 30, 1979. Perlozzo signed with the San Diego Padres and spent the season playing in Hawaii before getting a September call-up. Unfortunately for Sam he was suffering from a groin injury at the time and only got two at bats with the Padres before being carted off the field after he reinjured his groin. That my friends marked the end of Sam Perlozzo’s big league playing career. In January of 1980 the Padres sold Perlozzo to the Yakult Swallows of the Japanese League and Sam played ball there in 1980 hitting .281 with 15 home runs and 43 RBI’s in 118 games. In 1981 Sam joined the New York Mets as a player/coach in AAA Tidewater but after that season, Sam, who was 30 at the time, walked away from his playing days and moved into coaching and managing.
Perlozzo managed various teams in the Mets minor league system from 1982-1986 winning three league titles while never having a losing season. Perlozzo ended his minor managing league career with a 364-263 (.581) record in five seasons. The following season (1987), Sam was promoted to the New York Mets as a third base coach and he stayed in that role through the 1989 season. Perlozzo then went on to coach for the Cincinnati Reds from 1990-1992, the Seattle Mariners from 1993-1995, and the Baltimore Orioles from 1996-2005. In August of 2005 Perlozzo was named as the Baltimore Orioles manager after Lee Mazzilli was let go. After nearly two years at the helm, Perlozzo could not get the Orioles over the hump and on June 18, 2007 Sam was replaced by Dave Tremblay as the O’s skipper. Sam then returned to coaching with the Seattle Mariners from 2008-2009 before joining the Philadelphia Phillies as a coach in 2009. Perlozzo is still coaching with the Phillies and has now been a big league coach or manager for 25 straight seasons. Sam obviously loves the game of baseball. In the off season, Sam lives in Tampa, Florida and enjoys playing golf and spending time with family and friends. Sam’s son Eric was drafted by the Orioles in the 2007 amateur draft.
You can listen to the Sam Perlozzo interview by clicking here. Be sure to check out our other interviews with former Twins players by going to the Interview Archives page, there are 35 different interviews you can check out.
When the Minnesota Twins open the 2012 season in Baltimore on Friday, April 6 it will mark the 32nd time in 52 season openers that the team has opened their baseball season as road warriors. As a cold weather team, the Twins have only played the seasons first game at Met Stadium five times (63,65,66,71,81) and fifteen times at the Metrodome. In their short history at Target Field the Twins have never opened the season at home. The Twins have not charged out of the gate on a winning note over the years winning only won 24 and losing 27 season opening games. You can make a strong case that their first ever game as Minnesota Twins on April 11, 1961 in Yankee Stadium when Pedro Ramos shut out the New Yorks Yankees 6-0 on just 3 hits was their greatest season opener ever. The most frequest opening day opponent for the Twins has been the Oakland A’s. The Twins have played the Oakland A’s on opening day ten times (the last time in 1990), eight times in Oakland and twice at home (at the Met in 1981 and at the Metrodome in 1987) and the opening day series between these two teams is tied at five game each. The Twins have drawn the Seattle Mariners as opening day opponents four times, twice at home and twice on the road and the Twins have yet to beat the Mariners on opening day.
Pitcher Brad Radke has taken the mound for the Twins on opening day nine times including seven in a row between 1999 and 2005. Radke’s record on opening day was 4 wins, 2 losses, and 3 no decisions. Kent Hrbek has started 12 games at 1B on opening day, the most games that any Twins player has played at any position on opening day. A number of players have started opening day at their position nine times but Hrbek is still the leader in that category.
The Twins have opened the season in Baltimore only once before and that was back on April 11, 1967 in Memorial Stadium when Jim Kaat took the mound for the Twins but before he retired a single batter, the Orioles plated four runs and held on for a 6-3 win. The Twins only other season opener against the Baltimore Orioles occurred on April 2, 2007 at the Metrodome when the Twins behind starter Johan Sanatana and home runs from Torii Hunter and Justin Morneau won 7-4.
Here is who the Twins have faced and how they have fared on opening day.
| TEAM | WON | LOST | HOME | AWAY | YEARS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yankees | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 61,65,88,89 |
| Indians | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 63,64,04 |
| Orioles | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 67,07 |
| Royals | 2 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 69,74,02 |
| White Sox | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 70,93 |
| Oakland A’s | 5 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 72,73,77,79,80,81,86,87,90,91 |
| Rangers | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 75,76 |
| Mariners | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 78,82,05,09 |
| Tigers | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 83,84,96,97,01,03 |
| Red Sox | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 95 |
| Blue Jays | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 98,99,06,11 |
| Rays | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 00 |
| LA Angels | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 08,10 |
| Cal. Angels | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 85,94 |
| Brewers | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 71,92 |
| Senators | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 68 |
| KC A’s | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 62,66 |
| TOTALS | 24 | 27 | 20 | 31 |
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 OriolesWest
1. Los Angeles Angels 2. Texas Rangers 3. Seattle Mariners 4. Oakland A’sCentral
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
I don’t understand, why major league baseball is opening the 2012 baseball season in Japan? The Oakland A’s and the Seattle Mariners will open the season by playing two games in the Tokyo Dome on Wednesday and Thursday of this week and because of the time difference if any A’s or Mariners fans want to watch their teams play the first two games of 2012 they have to tune in at Midnight on the west coast. Then, after playing a couple of games that count, both of these teams play several exhibition games in Japan and then come home and play more exhibition games before once again playing some games that count in the standings.
What is MLB thinking? Why deprive fans of Oakland or Seattle the right to open the season at home or for that matter why should baseball fans in general not get to watch the first games of the 2012 season unless they are willing to trade a nights sleep? Baseball is America’s pastime and opening the season after the long winter away from baseball in a foreign country is just plain wrong. This will be the fourth time that MLB has played the opener in Japan, following the New York Mets and Chicago Cubs (2000), the New York Yankees and Tampa Bay (2004), and Boston and Oakland (2008) and I can’t for the life of me figure why. I am sure there is some financial benefit to somebody but I don’t know who. Why in Japan, why not in the Dominican, Puerto Rico, Australia, or even Cuba. Is MLB looking to put a big league team in Tokyo? That is years away at best.
What is the point of sending two teams over 6,000 miles one way to Japan to show off Americ’a great game by sending teams like the Oakland A’s and Seattle Mariners who last year lost 183 games between them. I know Ichiro plays for Seattle but MLB has a number of players that are better than Ichiro is right now. If MLB tried to send the some contending teams to Japan on a schedule like this there would be all kinds of h*^# raised. Then after playing two games in Japan the rest of the MLB season does not open until April 4th, a week after Oakland plays Seattle in game one, how dumb is that?
MLB should be ashamed of themselves for not playing the first games of 2012 in the United States, this is America’s pastime for God’s sake and not playing that first game here is a major error on the part of MLB. I have scored it as E-CS, error on Commissioner Selig.
Here is an article in the Daily Yomiuri on how they look at the up-coming Mariners-A’s series.
I was born in Cuba and signed by super scout Joe Cambria and the Washington Senators as a amateur free agent prior to the 1960 season but I never played for the Washington Senators big league ballclub. I finally made the big leagues with the Minnesota Twins but I appeared in only 37 games in a Twins uniform. I then went on to play for the Atlanta Braves, the Houston Astros, the St. Louis Cardinals, the Oakland A’s, and the Texas Rangers. I was in the majors for parts of seven seasons and I played in 436 games. I had 1,038 plate appearances in the big leagues but I was not what you called a power hitter as I never hit a big league home run. I did however, play all nine positions in the big leagues. After my playing career ended, I spent many years in the Seattle Mariners organization performing numerous duties. One of my duties for the Mariners was in scouting and I am credited with signing Edgar Martinez and Omar Vizquel. Who am I?
UPDATE: The answer is shortstop Marty Martinez.
The Twins finished the 2011 season with a 63-99 mark and lots of folks including the Twins management blamed the clubs poor finish or at least a big part of it on injuries and that is difficult to argue as the team used the DL list 27 times. The Twins often brought up rookies to fill these openings. How did these rookies perform?
This past season the Twins led all of baseball in games played by rookies with 493, followed by the Mets with 442 and the Mariners with 403. On the other end of the spectrum the rookies only played in 57 Brewers and 73 Rangers games and you know where these teams finished. If you look at rookie plate appearances, the Twins postion playing rookies had 1,805, way ahead of the team closest to them, the Mariners who sent 1,484 rookie batters to home plate. These Twins position rookies ranked in the middle of the pack in base on balls percentage at 6.9%, ranked seventh best in strikeout percentage at 18.2%, were in the middle of the pack with a .245 batting average, and if you look at WAR, the Twins number was 1.0 with the Nationals the highest at 5.8 and the Rockies the lowest at -1.6 .
Looking at the Twins rookie pitchers as compared to all of baseball , the team used fewer rookies there than most teams did this past season. Twins rookie pitchers appeared in 124 games putting them 11 fewest and Twins rookies threw 169.2 innings, only the rookie pitchers for the Cardinals, Pirates, Cubs, Giants and Red Sox threw fewer innings. These Twins rookies finished with a 5-14 record with a BB/9 of 4.03 and 5.36 K/9, hardly something to shout about. On the other end of things, rookies threw 545.1 innings for the Royals, 527.1 for the Astros, 489 for the Mariners, and 426 for the Braves. These same Twins rookie pitchers posted an ERA of 5.15 trailing only the Giants at 6.40 and the 6.10 Red Sox. The Twins rookie pitchers did not pitch a lot but when they did pitch, they pitched poorly.
I took a look at the Twins rookies as compared to the rest of the American League rookies over the last 10 years and where the team finished and here is what I found.
| Year | Rookie plate appearances | AL rank | Rookie innings pitched | AL rank | Division finish |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,805 | 1 | 169.2 | 13 | 5th |
| 2010 | 631 | 7 | 88 | 12 | 1st |
| 2009 | 368 | 11 | 306.1 | 8 | 1st |
| 2008 | 1,512 | 2 | 491.2 | 2 | 2nd |
| 2007 | 520 | 8 | 222.1 | 9 | 3rd |
| 2006 | 305 | 10 | 376.1 | 7 | 1st |
| 2005 | 1,238 | 2 | 246 | 6 | 3rd |
| 2004 | 1,519 | 1 | 95.1 | 12 | 1st |
| 2003 | 426 | 9 | 130.1 | 10 | 1st |
| 2002 | 962 | 4 | 201 | 9 | 1st |
| AVG | 928.6 | 5.5 | 232.7 | 8.8 | 1.9 |
I am not sure you can reach any definitive conclusions from these numbers like rookies = trouble but they are still fun to look at. For example, the Twins finished last in 2011 when their rookie position players had more plate appearances than anyone but you compare that with 2004 when their rookie position players again led the league in PA’s but the team finished first.
But one thing that you can take away from this is that Gardy and pitching coach Rick Anderson are not big fans of young rookie pitchers based on the fact that the Twins rookie pitchers have been consisently in the bottom half of the division in innings pitched each year averaging just 232.7 innings and a ranking 9th of 14 teams. Twins rookie pitchers have only finished in the upper half of league innings pitched 3 three times in 10 seasons.