Tag: Rochester Red Wings

End of an era

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

Justin Morneau
Justin Morneau

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

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

Alex Presley
Alex Presley

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

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

 

Duke Welker
Duke Welker

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

 

 

Josmil Pinto
Josmil Pinto

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

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

Jeff Clement
Jeff Clement

Rochester (AAA – International League) first baseman Jeff Clement is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. In seven games for the Red Wings, Clement hit .375 (12-for-32) with two home runs (including a grand slam), 12 RBI, three doubles and three runs scored. In Rochester this season Clement has played 1B in 47 games and served as the DH in 53 games. In 104 games and 425 plate appearances the 29-year-old Clement is hitting just .218 but he does have 15 home runs and 62 RBI.

Clement is in his ninth season of pro ball and has appeared in 152 big leagues games, 75 with the Seattle Mariners in 2007-2008 and 77 with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2010 and 2012. The Twins originally selected Clement in round 12 of the 2002 June amateur draft out of Marshalltown High School (Iowa) as a catcher but he chose not to sign and went on to attend USC.  He was then drafted by the Mariners with the third overall pick in the 2005 First-Year Player draft. Although drafted as a catcher, Clement has only caught 35 big league games and he last caught in the majors in 2008. Clement signed as a minor league free agent with the Twins in November of 2012 and has spent all season in AAA – Rochester.

A little of this and a little of that

When I listened to the Twins radio broadcast of their game against the Astros on Sunday while waterproofing my deck I found it amusing that Dan Gladden and Cory Provus seemed to be making fun of the Astros high strikeout total this season. I guess they both forgot that the Twins batters are no slouches themselves when it comes to not making bat contact. As of this morning Astros batters have struck out 1,034 times in 110 games, that averages out to 9.4 KO’s per game. The White Sox follow with 925 strike outs, the Red Sox have 909 strike outs and the Twins are next with 902 strike outs for an average of 8.4 per game. Had Willingham not gotten injured and Hicks played a full season in Minnesota the Twins might put up a serious challenge to Houston. Even without Willingham and Hicks the Twins are on pace to strikeout 1,356 times this season and blow away their previous team strikeout record of 1,121 that the 68-94 Twins of 1997 set.

On the good news side we have the Twins grounding into a total of only 60 double plays, the fewest in the league. The Orioles have the next fewest with 68.

Although the Twins seldom hit into double plays, stealing bases is not one of their strength’s as they have pilfered just 36 bases, only the Tigers with 29 and the Mariners with 35 have less.

The Twins OBP this season is .312. The Tigers and the Red Sox at .345 have the best OBP and as you might guess the Astros .299 trail the pack. The league average is .320. The Twins best ever OBP was .357 in 1996 while a .299 OBP in 1968 is the lowest full season OBP in Twins history.

Opposing batters have found Twins pitchers to be their league favorites as they have compiled a .278 batting average against Minnesota’s chuckers. Oddly enough, Twins pitchers have only given up 102 long balls ranking second best in that category behind the 86 given up by the Tigers.

Drew Butera
Drew Butera

There was a lot of speculation leading into the July 31 trading deadline that a number of Twins would be calling a new zip code home. When the trading deadline passed the Twins had made only one trade and he wasn’t even on the Twins 25 man roster at the time when GM Terry Ryan sent catcher Drew Butera to the Los Angeles Dodgers for a player to be named later or cash. The non-waiver Major League trading deadline has been July 31st since the 1986 season. Apparently that date is not necessarily circled in red on the Twins calendar of things to do. As a matter of fact, between 2000-2013 no team has made fewer trades in July then the Twins have. In the past 14 July’s the Minnesota Twins have consummated 15 trades.

July trade activity by club from 2000-2013

39 – Pirates, Padres
37 – Red Sox
36 – Cubs
35 – Dodgers
31 – Yankees
29 – White Sox, Indians, Rockies
28 – Royals
27 – Reds, Giants
26 – Orioles, Astros, Mets, Rangers
25 – Phillies
24 – Mariners
23 – Diamondbacks, Braves
21 – Marlins, Brewers, Cardinals
20 – Nationals/Expos
17 – Tigers, A’s, Blue Jays
16 – Rays
15 – Twins, Angels

Back on July 15 the Twins sent Oswaldo Arcia, Eduardo Escobar and Chris Parmelee down to Rochester and the next day called up catcher Chris Herrmann and infielder Doug Bernier. Herrmann has been with the Twins off and on but it was a long-awaited return to the big leagues for Bernier who saw action in just two games in a brief stay with the

Doug Bernier
Doug Bernier

Colorado Rockies back in 2008. Bernier has been in the minors since 2002 and has over a 1,000 minor league games under his belt. Though his primary position is shortstop, Bernier has played all over the diamond including pitching a couple of times but he has not ever squatted behind the plate. Bernier has spent time in the Yankee and Pirates organizations before hooking up with the Twins this past February. Todate Bernier has appeared in 10 games for the Twins and is hitting .261. It appears that the Twins will be letting Jamey Carroll go after this season or possibly trading him in a waiver deal this month and are auditioning for a new utility infielder. So far Bernier appears to be able to handle the role and I am sure he will be much cheaper than Carroll not to mention 6 years younger.

 

Andrew Albers
Andrew Albers

The Twins also recalled 27-year-old left-handed starter Andrew Albers from Rochester. Albers was originally drafted by the San Diego Padres in 2008 but shortly thereafter injured his elbow and had to undergo Tommy John surgery missing all of 2009 and then was released by the Padres. Albers spent 2010 pitching in an independent league in Canada and showed enough promise to be signed by Minnesota prior to the 2011 season. This year Albers was 11-5 with a 2.68 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP in Rochester. Albers has pitched 132.1 innings this year in 22 starts allowing 124 hits while striking out 116. Albers is expected to make his major league debut against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday. It will be interesting to see what Albers can do in the big leagues, he has not had an ERA over 3.75 on any team he has pitched for. Albers will be wearing number 63.

Manager Ron Gardenhire needs 20 more Twins victories in the remaining 54 games to reach the 1,000 win plateau as the Twins skipper. With his position at risk, it would be a real shame if Gardy can’t get those 20 wins. I hope he gets those wins and many more as the Twins manager.

 

 Twins Minor League Standings as of August 5

AAA Rochester is 63-54 and in 1st place

AA New Britain is 54-60 and in 5th place 16.5 games out

High A Fort Myers is 67-41 and won first half title but is currently in 4th place in the second half at 22-19 but only 1.5 games out

Low A Cedar Rapids is 67-43 and won the first half title and is leading the second half with a 27-15 record.

Rookie Elizabethton is 19-23 and in fourth place 8.5 games behind

Rookie GCL Twins are 19-19 and in third place 2 games behind

DSL Twins are 27-26 and in fourth place 7.5 games behind

Michael Tonkin recalled and Thielbar put on bereavement list

Michael Tonkin
Michael Tonkin

The Minnesota Twins announced after last night’s 13 inning 4-3 loss to the Tampa Rays that they have placed left-handed pitcher Caleb Thielbar on the bereavement list to attend the funeral of his grandmother.

The Twins recalled right-handed pitcher Michael Tonkin from Triple-A Rochester to replace Thielbar on the 25-man roster. The 6’7″ Tonkin is 23 years-old and was selected by the Twins in round 30 of the 2008 June amateur draft out of Palmdale High School in California and signed for an over slot $230,000 bonus. In his sixth season of pro ball, Tonkin has made stops at all the minor league levels and has a career 17-17 record with a 3.09 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP in 340.2 innings. Tonkin has a 9.1 SO/9 and a 2.4 BB/9. Tonkin became a full-time reliever in 2011 in Beloit and has not started any games since. Tonkin started 2013 in New Britain but was moved up to Rochester  after 13 appearances.

Tonkin, who wears number 59 made his major league debut in Tropicana Field today a good one when he appeared in relief and pitched 1 and 1/3 scoreless innings with one strikeout (Evan Longoria) and no hits allowed. Tonkin threw just 12 pitches, 8 for strikes, unfortunately for Tonkin and the Twins, they lost their fifth straight game. Tonkin is the 37th player and 19th pitcher that the Twins have used this season.

Kyle Gibson called up

Kyle GibsonTwins fans have waited for the Minnesota Twins to call up their 2009 first round pick (22nd over all) for some time and that day has finally arrived for Kyle Gibson. Gibson will join the Twins in Miami today but is not scheduled to start until Saturday at Target Field against the Kansas City Royals.

Gibson was born in Greenfield, Indiana on October 23, 1987, just two days before the Twins won their first ever World Series. The Philadelphia Phillies drafted Gibson in the 36th round in 2006 but Kyle chose to attend the University of Missouri instead. Gibson pitched for the Missouri Tigers in 2007 and 2008. In his two seasons there he pitched in 47 games, starting 14 and he had 2 complete games. Gibson put up a 17-7 won/lost and also recorded 7 saves. In 2007 he pitched in 67.2 innings and had a 4.12 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP. In 2008 in 86.2 innings he had a 3.84 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP. During his college career his SO/9 ratio was 10.1.

The Twins made Gibson their first round selection in 2009 and the general perception was that Gibson fell to number 22 over all due to an arm injury. Gibson signed with Minnesota for a reported $1.8 million bonus and started his career in Ft. Myers in 2010 but after going 4-1 there he was bumped up to New Britain where he posted a 7-5 record with a 3.68 ERA. The Twins then promoted Gibson to AAA Rochester where he started 3 games and had a 1.72 ERA with a 0-0 record and Gibson was on the fast track to Minnesota. But sometimes things don’t go as planned, in Rochester in 2011 Gibson was 3-8 with a 4.81 ERA in 18 starts before being sidelined with a sore elbow. Gibson had TJ surgery on November 7, 2011 and returned late in 2012 pitching a couple of games in Ft. Myers and two more in Rochester before pitching in six more games in the Arizona Fall League. Gibson started 2013 in Rochester and todate has a 7-5 record with a 3.01 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in 15 starts. Kyle has 2 complete games this season and has 79 KO’s in 92.2 innings.

Unless Gibson falls flat on his face, he is in the Twins rotation to stay. However; you have to remember that Gibson is coming off TJ surgery so the Twins have him on a pitch limit this season and although that number has not been announced, it is assumed to be around 130 innings. With almost 93 inning under his belt already, we will probably only see Gibson for about 40 innings over the remainder of this season so if he goes about 6 innings in each start, that is only 6 or 7 starts before packing it in for the season.

The 25 year-old 6’6″ and 210 lbs. righty will wear number 44 on the back of his Twins uniform when he debut’s against the Royals on Saturday. Glad to have you with the Twins Kyle and I hope your stay is a long one.

Twins Minor League Players of the Week & Month

Andrew Albers
Andrew Albers

Rochester (AAA-International League) left-handed pitcher Andrew Albers is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week. In two starts for the Red Wings, Albers went 2-0, pitching 15.0 innings allowing just four earned runs (2.40 ERA), with 11 strikeouts and just two walks. The 6’1″ and 195 lbs. 27 year-old Albers was signed by the Twins as a minor league free agent in 2011 but was originally selected by the Padres in the 10th round of the 2008 First-Year Player Draft from the University of Kentucky. In 12 starts with Rochester this season Albers has thrown 67.2 innings allowing 71 hits, striking out 60 and posting a 3.06 ERA. Previous winners this season include (in order): pitcher Tyler Duffey, infielder Miguel Sano, outfielder Adam Walker, infielder Jorge Polanco, pitcher Kyle Gibson, infielder Chris Colabello, pitcher Logan Darnell and pitcher Taylor Rogers.

MINOR LEAGUERS OF THE MONTH: Rochester (AAA – International League) infielder Chris Colabello is the Twins Minor League Player of the Month for May. In 20 games for the Red Wings, Colabello batted .425 (34-for-80) with 12 doubles, six home runs, 20 RBI while scoring 15 times. Colabello, who was signed as a minor league free agent in 2012, was added to the Twins roster today as the 26th man in time for today’s DH. Fridays Twins /Nats game was rained out and is being made up today. Major league rule allow teams to add an extra player for a doubleheader. The rule’s intent is to allow teams to add pitching, but the Twins are already carrying 13 pitchers and have an off day on Monday, so Gardenhire chose to add an extra pinch hitter

Rochester (AAA – International League) left-handed pitcher Aaron Thompson is the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Month for May. Over a combined 11 appearances between Rochester and Double-A New Britain, he posted a 1.26 ERA in 14.1 innings and allowed 2 earned runs while holding opponents to a .143 batting average with a a 0.70 WHIP. Thompson, 22, was signed by the Twins as a minor league free agent in 2011 after being originally drafted in the first round by the Miami Marlins in 2005. Albers is in his 5th year of minor league ball after missing all of 2009 due TJ surgery. During his minor league career Albers has been primarily a starter going 21-7 with a 2.64 ERA and has averaged 7.7 KO/9.

MINOR LEAGUE GAME TELEVISED: FOX Sports North announced plans to televise the Cedar Rapids Kernels vs. the Kane County Cougars minor league game live at 12:00 p.m. on Monday, June 10. Coverage will begin at 11:30 a.m. with a live version of “Spotlight: Next Generation,” an in-depth look at the Minnesota Twins farm system with an emphasis on the Class A team in Cedar Rapids. The telecast is designed to educate fans about up-and-coming Twins players, FOX Sports North will profile some of baseball’s top prospects, including Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano. Anthony Lapanta and Roy Smalley will anchor the telecast from the FOX Sports North studio with Marney Gellner reporting from Cedar Rapids. Key members of the Twins front office, including Paul Molitor and Dave St. Peter will also join the telecast to help showcase the Cedar Rapids Affiliation.

Twins call up Walters, lose Benson and break 10 game losing streak

PJ Walters
PJ Walters

The Minnesota Twins announced prior to todays game with the Tigers in Detroit that they have selected the contract of right-handed pitcher P.J. Walters from AAA Rochester. Walters started 12 games for the Twins in 2012 going 2-5 with a 5.69 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP. Walters started strong and finished strong in 2012 but in between he had 5 games where he gave up 25 earned runs. The 28 year-old Walters has also seen big league action with the Cardinals (2009-2011) and with the Blue Jays in 2011. The Twins had signed Walters to a free agent contract in December 2011 and then in October 2012 Walters became a free agent again only to resign with Minnesota a couple of days later. This season Walters made nine starts for the Rochester Red Wings, going 4-2 with a 3.31 ERA (54.1 IP, 20 ER), 46 strikeouts, 16 walks and one complete game.

Benson, Joe 2013Additionally, the Twins reported that AAA Rochester outfielder Joe Benson was claimed off outright waivers by the Texas Rangers, making room for Walters on the Twins 40-man roster. Benson was drafted by the Twins in the second round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft. Benson had appeared in 21 games for the Twins in 2011 and in 74 at bats hit .239 with 6 doubles, 1 triple and no home runs and struck out 21 times. Benson has had injuries issues the last couple of seasons and the Twins brain trust has seemed to lose faith in a player they once though would be their five-tool center fielder of the future. I hate to see Benson leave the Twins but I wish him the very best.

The Twins beat the Tigers 3-2 this afternoon and broke their 10-game losing streak. The Twins scored 3 in the first and then hung on behind Walters 6 solid innings (2 earned runs) and a number of relievers before Perkins finally closed the door on the Twins losing streak. Gardenhire did not get to take part in the Twins post game celebration as umpire Joe West had excused Gardy earlier in the game. Who knows, with the Twins on a 10 game slide maybe West thought he was doing Gardy a favor?

Max Kepler
Max Kepler

Twins prospect Max Kepler continues to have some arm issues that he has been rehabbing since earlier this spring. Now,, after appearing in a couple of games, pain has returned and now Kepler has been diagnosed with tendinitis tendinosis so he will be shut down for about the next two weeks. Hopefully this Twins prospect can get healthy again soon and join the Cedar Rapids Kernels which is where he was expected to open the season.

I also wanted to let everyone know that I just added my 1,000th item to my Today in Twins History page and I will continue to add new items frequently as we move forward to continue to add Twins history to the Twins Trivia site. Make sure you check in frequently to keep up with what has transpired each day in Twins history.

Caleb Thielbar up and Pedro Hernandez down

Caleb Thielbar
Caleb Thielbar

The Minnesota Twins announced today that they have recalled left-handed pitcher Caleb Thielbar from Triple-A Rochester. Thielbar made 17 relief appearances for the Red Wings posting a 3.76 ERA (26.1 IP, 11 ER) with 34 strikeouts while allowing just eight walks. Thielbar was originally drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in round 18 of the 2009 amateur draft. Thielbar, 26, was signed by the Twins as a minor league free agent on August 18, 2011 after pitching for the St. Paul Saints.

Thielbar joined the team in Atlanta this evening wearing uniform number 56 and wasted no time making his big league debut and becoming the 29th native Minnesotan to wear a Twins uniform. Gardy brought Thielbar in to pitch in the 7th inning and Thielbar gave up a hit to the first Braves batter but then retired the next six batters striking out three and allowing no runs in his two innings. Thielbar threw 25 pitches in his big league debut and 20 were strikes.

To make room for Thielbar on the 25-man roster, the Twins optioned left-handed pitcher Pedro Hernandez to Triple-A Rochester. Hernandez made eight appearances (six starts) for the Twins this season.

 

 

 

Twins Minor League Player of the Week

 

Chris Colabello
Chris Colabello

Rochester (AAA – International League) 1B Chris Colabello is the Twins Minor League Player of the Week In seven games Colabello hit .560 (14-for-25) with four doubles, three home runs, eight RBI, six runs scored and three walks, posting a .607 on-base percentage and a 1.080 slugging. This season the right-handed hitting 1B is hitting .348 (57-for-164) with 15 doubles, 11 home runs and 33 RBI in 43 games. The 29-year-old was signed by the Twins as a minor league free agent February 2, 2012, after playing Independent ball for seven seasons in the Canadian-American Association. There is a nice story about Colabello here. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Colabello in a Twins uniform sometime this year, the man has earned his shot.

Tsuyoshi Nishioka is history

A Minnesota Twins Press Release today states that Tsuyoshi Nishioka has been given his unconditional release as of today at his request. Nishioka’s release saves the Minnesota Twins $3.25 million in salary and buyout in 2013.

Nishioka who has been in the Twins organization for the last two seasons released the following statement. “I would like to thank the Twins organization for helping me fulfill my dream of playing in Major League Baseball. I take full responsibility for my performance which was below my own expectations. At this time, I have made the decision that it is time to part ways. I have no regrets and know that only through struggle can a person grow stronger. I appreciate all the support the team and the fans in Minnesota and Rochester have shown me. Arigatou gozaimasu.”

Nishioka was not able to achieve the expectations that the Minnesota Twins organization had for him when they purchased and signed him back on December 16, 2010 from the Japanese League Chiba Lotte Marines. Nishioka suffered a broken league on April 7, 2011 while playing second base in a game at Yankee Stadium II in just his sixth big league game. Nishioka played in just 71 games (68 in 2011 and 3 in 2012) for Minnesota and hit .215 in 254 plate appearances while scoring 14 runs, knocking in 20 and stealing 2 bases in 6 attempts. Nishioka spent most of 2012 in AAA Rochester where he hit .258 in 431 plate appearances.

Nishioka had his problems with the stick but he also looked bad in the field playing both 2B and shortstop. In observing Nishioka in spring training in 2011 and 2012 he seemed to spend most of his time working out on his own and did not seem to really take any interest in being a part of the team. The way I see it, the Twins lucked out when Nishioka asked for his release and I’m sure they wasted no time granting his release before Nishioka had time to change his mind. Now the Twins can put that money to a better use and also have a roster spot open for a player that has at least some chance to help the Twins organization down the line. The Tsuyoshi Nishioka signing will go down in Twins lore as one of the worst player decisions that the Twins organization has ever made. Bill Smith who was the GM at the time paid his dues for his part in his fiasco and the scout(s) that recommended this signing should also pay with their jobs. Loyalty is a good thing and people make mistakes but the Twins have gone out of their way to hide the names of the scouts involved in the Nishioka signing and it is about time that those involved take some responsiblity for their actions before the book is closed on this chapter for the final time.