Tag: New Britain

Twins fill coaching vacancies

Twins General Manager Terry Ryan announced today that he had filled the three open coaching staff positions by naming Tom Brunansky as the hitting coach, Bobby Cueller as the bullpen coach and Terry Steinbach as the bench coach and catching instructor.

Brunansky who had a 14 year big league career played for the Twins from 1982 – 1988 and has been a hitting coach for AA New Britain in 2011 and AAA Rochester this past season. The 52 year-old Brunansky also played for the Angels, Cardinals, Red Sox and Brewers replaces Joe Vavra who will serve as the 3B coach and infield instructor in 2013. Vavra has served as the Twins hitting coach since 2006.

Cueller, 60 has only pitched in 4 big league games (Texas Rangers in 1977) but he pitched in the minors for 11 seasons from 1974 to 1985. Cueller just wrapped up his ninth season in the Twins’ organization and fourth consecutive as the Red Wings pitching coach after serving as Double-A New Britain’s manager in 2008. Cueller has also served as a major league coach for the Seattle Mariners in 1995-1996, the Montreal Expos in 1997-2000, the Texas Rangers in 2001 and for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2006-2007. Over the years Cueller has coached Cy Young award winners Pedro Martinez, Randy Johnson and is credited with teaching Johan Santana is change-up. Cueller also has a history with Carl Pavano. Cueller replaces Rick Stelmaszek who served as bullpen coach for five different Twins managers since 1981. The fact that Cueller is fluent in Spanish will also help the staff to better communicate with their Spanish-speaking players.

Terry Steinbach will take over the bench coach position from Scott Ullger. The 50 year-old former big league catcher spent part of 14 seasons with the Oakland Athletics (1986-96) and Minnesota Twins (1997-99), after playing college baseball at the University of Minnesota. Steinbach has been a guest instructor in spring training for the Twins for the last 13 years.I find it interesting that the Twins would give Steinbach who has not coached or managed in the big leagues the bench coach role that is normally given to experienced coaches and managers. Scotty Ullger will coach 1B and instruct the outfielders. Ullger has no big league outfield experience but he did play some outfield back in the minors back in the 80’s. Ullger has also served as the Twins manager in the past when the umpires have decided that Gardy needs a time-out, I wonder who fills that role now. I guess I just don’t see Ullger managing from 1B.

Rick Anderson will retain his pitching coach role and will be the only coach that will be doing the same job as he has done in the past. Over the past month or so Hall of Famer and former Twins DH Paul Molitor has mentioned that he would be open to a coaching role but GM Ryan quickly put a kibosh on that stating that “Molitor was not a fit at the present time” but no other reasons have been provided. My guess is that the Minnesota Twins who always like to project a squeaky clean image don’t feel that Molitor who has had substance abuse issues and other personal problems in the past fits in their plans at the current time. I personally have no issue with that and when I have observed Molitor during his spring training stints he seems to prefer to do his job and interact as little as possible with Twins fans who would like to spend some time chatting with him or getting his autograph. Heck, Tom Kelly spends way more time interacting with the fans then Molitor does. I asked Molitor to stop for a quick picture after spring training practice one day this spring and he acted like I asked him for 2 hours out of his busy schedule.

New Britain to host 2013 Eastern League All-Star game

New Britain Stadium

According to milb.com, The Eastern League has announced that the New Britain Rock Cats will serve as the host of the 2013 Eastern League All-Star Game. The game will be played on Wednesday, July 10, 2013 and will feature teams representing the Eastern Division and the Western Division. The two-day All-Star festivities will also include additional community events beginning on July 9 and continuing through July 10.

“We are extremely honored that the Eastern League has chosen the Rock Cats to host the 2013 All-Star Game,” said Rock Cats owner Josh Solomon. “This is going to be a terrific event for baseball fans and families throughout the region and we look forward to showcasing the future stars of major league baseball right here at New Britain Stadium.”

“The Eastern League is very excited to be bringing our premier event back to New Britain after the city previously served as an outstanding host of the event in 2003,” said Eastern League President Joseph McEacharn. “The event will be returning to New Britain next season thanks in large part to the efforts of their new ownership group, led by Josh Solomon, to deliver this event for their fans. Connecticut’s longest continuous professional sports franchise is celebrating its 30th Anniversary in New Britain in 2012.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Deibinson Romero

Infielder Deibinson Romero is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. The 25-year old right-handed hitting Romero hit .375 (6-for-16) with a double, two home runs and had seven RBI’s in four games for Double-A New Britain. Romero signed with the Twins as a non-drafted free agent in 2004.

Romero is slowly progressing through the Twins minor league system playing primarily 3B but also plays some 1B as needed. In his 7th minor league season, Romero has 2,230 minor league at bats and has a career average of .264 with 56 home runs but 29 of those have come in the last two seasons. Romero is not a threat on the bases.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

outfielder Oswaldo Arcia

New Britain outfielder Oswaldo Arcia is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for July 15-21. Arcia appeared in eight games for the Rock Cats hitting .370 (10-for-27) with two doubles, three home runs and 13 RBI while scoring eight runs. The 21-year-old Venezuelan, was signed by the Twins as a non-drafted free agent in 2007, he was ranked by Baseball America as the fifth best prospect in the system prior to the 2012 season.

The left-handed hitting Arcia started the season in Ft. Myers playing in 55 games before being promoted to New Britain where he has played in 29 games. In 2012 Arcia has 356 plate appearances and is hitting .312 with 12 home runs and 63 RBI’s. Arcia who is willing to take a free pass, has walked 31 times and has a .901 OPS.

Arcia was signed by the Twins at the age of 16 and is in his 5th season of pro ball. Arcia played for the “World” team in the 2012 Futures game and went 1 for 2 with a double.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Rochester relief pitcher Luis Perdomo is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for July 8-14. Perdomo made two relief appearances for the Red Wings, tossing 2.1 scoreless innings, with no hits allowed, no walks, two strikeouts and two saves. The right-hander is in his first season in the Twins organization after signing as a free agent this past November. Perdomo started the season with Double-A New Britain going 4-4, 2.75 (39.1 innings pitched, 12 er) in 26 games. Luis is 2-1, 1.50 (12.0 ip, 2 er) with five saves in eight games for the Red Wings this season.

The 28-year old Perdomo was originally signed as an amateur free agent by the Cleveland Indians in 2003 but since then has been with the Cardinals, Giants, and Padres before signing as a FA with Minnesota. Luis has been in the minor for 7 season posting a 21-30 record with a 3.48 ERA, a 1.26 WHIP and strikes out about 8.6 batters per 9 innings. Perdomo has pitched in the big leagues with the Padres in 2009 appearing in 35 games and in 2010 but that season he pitched in just one game.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Aaron Hicks

New Britain switch-hitting outfielder Aaron Hicks is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for June 30-July 6. Hicks, 23, batted .381 (8-for-21) with one double, one triple, one home run, two RBI and six runs scored in six games for the Rock Cats. The athletic Hicks was drafted out of high school by the Twins in the first round (14th overall) in the 2008 First-Year Player draft. Prior to the Twins drafting Hicks, a number of teams saw Hicks more as a pitching prospect than as an outfielder.

In his fifth season of pro ball Hicks has a career average of .266 with 29 home runs and 78 stolen bases but he has also been caught stealing 35 times. In 75 games and 312 plate appearances in New Britain this season, Hicks has 8 home runs with 18 of 26 stolen bases and has a .264 batting average but he has struck out 72 times. Hicks remains one of the Twins top prospects.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Evan Bigley

New Britain outfielder Evan Bigley is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for June 16-22. The 25 year old right-handed hitting Bigley, 25, batted .550 (11-for-20) with one double, two home runs, six RBI and six runs scored in five games for the Rock Cats. Bigley was the Twins 10th round pick in the 2008 First-Year Player Draft out of Dallas Baptist University. In his 5-year minor league career Bigley had appeared in 497 minor league games playing all three outfield spots while hitting .273 with 43 home runs and 15 stolen bases in 36 attempts.

UPDATE – Evan Bigley was named Eastern League Player of the Week for the period of June 18-24.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

New Britain (AA) catcher Chris Herrmann is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week for May 19-25. Herrmann, 24, played in five games for the Rock Cats and went 9-for-19 (.474) with two doubles, three RBI’s and four runs scored. Chris had back-to-back four hit games on May 21-22. Herrmann was first picked by the Baltimore Orioles in round 10 of the 2008 MLB draft but chose not to sign with the O’s. Herrmann, who was then drafted by the Twins in the sixth round of the 2009 First-Year Player draft after being drafted out of the University of Miami. Although drafted as a catcher, Herrmann spent 2009 as an outfielder before starting to catch in 2010 and in his 330 minor league games todate, Herrmann has actually played more game in the outfield (145) then he has caught (137). The 6′ and 200 pound lefty handed swinging Herrmann has a career minor league batting average of .259 with 21 home runs and 16 stolen bases.

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

pitcher BJ Hermsen

The Twins Minor League Player of the Week for May 12-18 is New Britain (Eastern League – Double-A) right-handed pitcher B.J.  (Brett Joseph) Hermsen. Hermsen, 22, made 2 starts for the Rock Cats, going 2-0 allowing just four runs over 14.2 innings. BJ struck out five and did not walk a batter in either start. Hermsen, who was drafted by the Twins in the sixth round of the 2008 First-Year Player draft, entered the season having appeared in 56 games (53 starts) in the Twins minor league system after being drafted out of West Delaware High School in Iowa where he played on the varsity team all four years and was also an All-State athlete in football and basketball. When he wasn’t pitching for his high school team, he was usually playing shosrtstop and was a pretty good hitter ending his high school career with 57 homeruns, which was 5th all-time in Iowa history. The 6’5″ Hermsen throws in the high 80’s, usually around the 86-89 mark and throws a four-seam and two-seam fastball, along with a curveball and change-up.

Heads starting to roll

After last nights 6-2 loss to the Angels at Target Field the Twins record stands at 8-22 (.267) and the team is 9 games out of first place after having played just 30 games. After the game the Twins announced that 3B Danny Valencia was optioned to AAA Rochester, pitcher Francisco Liriano was sent to the bullpen and that reliever Matt Maloney was designated for assignment.

Darin Mastroianni

In turn the Twins called up 26-year-old Darin Mastroianni from Rochester. The Twins had picked up Mastroianni on waivers from the Blue Jays this past February. Mastroianni started the season in AA New Britain where he played outfield in just 9 games hitting .143 before being promoted to AAA Rochester where he has hit .346 in 20 games and has stolen 10 bases in 11 attempts. In his 20 games in Rochester, Mastroianni has played in the outfield 15 times and played second base on 5 occasions. I have to say that I don’t understand this call-up at all, why do the Twins need another outfielder when they already have Willingham, Span, Plouffe, Komatsu, Parmelee and Doumit?  And, what about Revere? This move just makes no sense to me at all. Where and when are they going tp play Mastroianni and who do they have as a back-up infielder besides Plouffe? This is crazy.

PJ Walters

To replace Liriano in the starting rotation the Twins called up PJ (Phillip Dewayne) Walters. Walters is a former 11th round pick of the Cardinals in 2006 and has seen brief big league action with the Cards in 2009-2011 and he also appeared in one game for the Blue Jays in 2011 after being traded in a big 8-player trade with St. Louis in July of 2011. The Twins signed Walters as a free agent this past December. The 6’4″ 200 pound  right-handed Walters has started 6 games for Rochester and is 3-1 with an ERA of 2.70, a 1.17 WHIP with 25 strikeouts in 33.1 innings.

It is about time that Liriano has been sent to the bullpen but why call up Walters when you could have just swapped Liriano out for Brian Duensing in the bullpen? Granted, Duensing has been solid in the bullpen but he has big league starting experience while Walters has started 4 games with St. Louis.

Sending Valencia down makes sense as he has not played like a big league third baseman for some time either in the field or with a bat. Some time in Rochester might be just what Valencia needs for a wake-up call.

I know the Twins need to make some moves because they don’t want to announce before Memorial Day that they are already out of the running and ready to go into full-blown rebuilding mode but I would sure like to know how they explain the Mastroianni call-up. This reeks of a panic move. Just announce that the team is in fire sale mode and let’s move on, you certainly will not shock anyone with that announcement. I am sure that some Twins bloggers will call this another negative Twins story but I will argue this is just being realistic, this is one bad Twins team and the sooner it is broken up and a rebuilding effort is put in motion the better off we will all be. To this point the Twins have not used the rebuilding word claiming that once all their injured players came back that they would be in the hunt again, that was a line of bull last winter and it remains so today. Come on Mr. Ryan, throw us a bone and at least give us some hope here.