Tag: Terry Ryan

Twins to sign pitcher Jason Marquis?

According to a report by Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports, the Twins are nearing a deal with 33-year-old right-handed starting pitcher Jason Marquis. Marquis had signed a two-year $15 million deal  with the Washington Nationals after declaring free agency after the 2009 season. In mid April of 2010 Marquis suffered a right elbow injury and missed 99 games before returning in August and finishing the 2010 season with a 2-9 record and a 6.60 ERA. Marquis started the season with the Washington Nationals in 2011 and was 8-5 with a 3.95 ERA before being traded at the trade deadline at the end of July to the Arizona D-Backs where he pitched in just 3 games and gave up 16 runs in 11+ innings before suffering a broken fibula in early August and ending his season.

Jason Marquis

Marquis was an Atlanta Braves 1st round pick in 1996 and made he big league debut with the Braves on June 6, 2000. Marquis pitched for the Braves between 2000-2003 before being involved in a big trade when the Braves sent Marquis, Adam Wainwright, and Ray King to the St. Louis Cardinals for JD Drew and Eli Marrero. Marquis pitched for the Cardinals from 2004-2006, the Cubs from 2007-2008 and the Colorado Rockies in 2009. Between 2004 and 2009 Marquis averaged 196 innings and 13 wins. Jason Marquis was an All-Star in 2009 and ranked second in the league in double-play grounders induced.

Jason Marquis is one of those “inning eaters” the Twins are apparently looking for and he fits the Twins mold of pitch to contact because in his 12 seasons in the majors he has given up 1,758 hits and 645 walks in 1,675+ innings while striking out 974. I am not sure what Terry Ryan and the Twins see in this guy and I sure hope that they don’t pay him very much but you have to figure he will get at least $5 million. Maybe Marquis will just be a placeholder in the rotation until they reach a point in the season when they can bring up a youngster and move Marquis along once again and hopefully get something in return. Then again, this is not a done deal, just a report of a possible deal so I can still hope it falls apart.

UPDATE December 22 – The Twins have announced that they have reached a one year $3 million deal with Jason Marquis.

This Day in Twins History – December 16, 2002

David Ortiz

The Minnesota Twins released 1B David Ortiz on this day back in 2002 to make room on the roster for shortstop Jose Morban, who was selected from Texas in the major league draft. Morban never appeared in a Twins uniform in the big leagues. The unheralded Ortiz was picked up by the Boston Red Sox as a free agent on January 22, 2003, for whom he has developed as one of the most accomplished sluggers in the game. In his six years with Minnesota between 1997 and 2002 Ortiz appeared in 455 games for the Twins and hit .266 with 58 home runs. With the Red Sox between 2003 and the present the left-handed slugging DH/1B Ortiz has hit .289 with 320 home runs in 1,287 games and he has made the All-Star team seven times in his nine seasons in Beantown. This has to go down as one of the Minnesota Twins worst moves ever and certainly not one of the best moves that Terry Ryan has made as the Twins GM.

If I was Michael Cuddyer

I can’t help but wonder what is going on with Michael Cuddyer. The winter meetings have wrapped up and the Twins still sit back and wait for a decision from Michael Cuddyer. Terry Ryan and Ron Gardenhire have made it pretty clear that they are chasing Cuddyer but apparently Cuddyer does not want to be caught. Yes, I know that his wife had twins earlier this week but are you telling me that they have not sat down and discussed a possible signing scenario before now?The numbers that are floating around that the Twins have supposedly offered the Twins former right-fielder are 3 years for $24 or $25 million. So I will put myself in Michael’s shoes and tell you what I may be thinking.

I have been in the Twins organization since 1998 and in the big leagues with the Twins since 2001. I will be 33 years old before the 2012 season kicks off and this just might be my last chance to sign a multi-year deal for significant dollars. Last year I made $10.5 million, $9.4 million in 2010, and $7.6 million in 2009. Between 2004 and 2011 (excluding my injury plagued year in 2008 when I only played in 71 games) I have averaged 141 games per year playing all over the field except catcher and shortstop and in 2011 I was the only Twins player selected to participate in the 2011 All-Star game. My wife and I work our butts off for the Twins Community Fund, I give up lots of my own personal time to interact with the fans, I never turn down an autograph request  and I see myself as a leader in the Twins clubhouse. My team sucked in 2011 and a number of players were hurt but some of them didn’t work all that hard to get back on the field, others just plain quit playing and some of the youngsters the Twins brought up had no business being in the big leagues yet. I play hurt because I know that the team needs my right-handed bat in the line-up and because I want to win. The Twins lost 99 games and changes need to happen, I understand that and I am all for it. I know we had a payroll of $113 million last year and we almost became the second team in history to lose 100 games with a $100+ million payroll and now management expects revenue to drop in 2012 so payroll has to drop accordingly, I get that too. What I have a problem with is why I should I take a pay cut for a team that lost 99 games when I was out there day in and day out working my butt off. Why should I have to take a pay cut from $27.5 million the last three years to $25 million? At this stage of my career I want a ring, what are my chances of getting a ring in Minnesota in the next two or three years? I have to think they might be better somewhere else. At first, I thought that Philly was a nice landing spot but it appears that has fallen through but now I am hearing that the Rockies might come across with a 3 year deal that could trump Minnesota’s offer and hitting in Colorado might be fun, but can they win a ring for me? We love Minnesota and we are comfortable living and playing there but damn, I feel like the Twins and the Twins fans just don’t appreciate what I have done here. To many it is all about dollars and cents but I am a human being and I should be valued for what I have brought to the table. I always knew that baseball was a business, but it is a hard and cruel business at times. Albert Pujols just signed a huge $250 million 10-year deal and he will be 32 in a couple of weeks. Is Pujols being paid this princely sum for what he will do or what he did in the past? I know, I know, I am no Albert Pujols but the comparison is he same, should I be paid for what I have done for the Twins in the past or what I will do in the future? I would hope a little of both but right now I am not feeling the Twins love so let’s just hold on for a while and see what else shakes out. Maybe it is time for me to see if the Twins have as much flexibility as I have shown them in the past.

For many of us fans and bloggers it is all about wins, we tend to forget that the players are real people with real families and real problems of their own. We tend to think of them as an inanimate object that we can discard if we find something better. We pull a dollar figure out of out butts and we say that player X is worth X amount of dollars but then again we don’t have to pull out our own wallets and turn over cold hard cash to pay the player salaries. We sometimes get too enamoured with players we see less frequently and we see all the warts on the home town players just because we see them day in and day out.

Cuddyer was originally drafted as a shortstop by the Twins in the first round (ninth over all) of the June 1997 amateur draft and signed with the Twins shortly there after. Cuddyer worked his way up the minor league chain and made his big league debut with the Twins on September 23, 2001 as the DH at the Metrodome. Cuddyer has been with the Twins for 11 seasons now and has been a fixture in right field playing 670 games there but he has also played 210 games at 1B and 171 games at 3B not to mention 79 games at 2B and his lone relief appearance on the mound in 2011. The only positions Cuddy has not played is catcher and ironically shortstop, the position that he was drafted to play back in 1997. Although Cuddyer may not be a superstar, he has been a very valuable part of the Twins organization for a long time. When I think of Michael Cuddyer, I see him as a true professional, he does what ever it takes to win and he represents the Minnesota Twins as well as anyone ever has and that includes Harmon Killebrew. Cuddyer and his wife are also very active in the community and the Twins Community Fund. I have seen Cuddyer interact with baseball fans during spring training and no one does a better job at that than Michael does and he talks with everyone. The Twins organization and Twins fans will miss Michael Cuddyer if he choses to sign elsewhere, I know I will, but then again the money to pay Cuddy does not come out of my pocket.

UPDATE as of December 16 – The Colorado Rockies have agreed to sign Michael Cuddyer to a three-year, $31.5 million deal, according to Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com

Slowey sent packing

The Twins have traded right-handed pitcher Kevin Slowey to the Colorado Rockies for a player to be named later. The 27-year-old Slowey was a Twins second round pick in 2005 and made his major league debut in Oakland against the A’s on June 1, 2007 in a no decision start.

Slowey has been with the Twins for 5 years and has appeared in 100 games, 90 of them starts and he has a career mark of 39-29 with a 4.66 ERA and a 1.29 WHIP. Slowey has had good control as shown by his 84 bases on ball in 532 innings but he has also given up 84 long balls. Durability however; is not Slowey’s long suit as evidenced by his five trips to the DL in five years and he has never thrown as many as 161 innings in any big league season.

In the spring of 2011 Slowey lost out in the battle for the starting rotation and the Twins moved him to the bullpen. Between April 1st and May 20th Slowey appeared in relief 6 times and had a 4.91 ERA. Slowey complained publicly that he was not suited for the bullpen and that his arm hurt and the Twins sent him out to rehab and then farmed him out to Rochester. Slowey was recalled later in the season and made 8 starts for the Twins and was the losing pitcher each time, giving up 36 runs in 45.2 innings.

But is wasn’t his poor pitching that sent Slowey packing, it was his attitude. The word was that Slowey had a reputation as a “club house lawyer” and that he was convinced that he knew the best way to pitch which did not endear him either to pitching coach Rick Anderson or manager Gardenhire. I don’t know if these reports are true or not but I can tell you that Kevin Slowey was very standoffish whenever I saw him during the past few years during spring training visits and he certainly did not go out of his way to interact with Twins fans.

I think that Terry Ryan was smart this month in saying publicly that Slowey was in his starting rotation plans for 2012 regardless if that was true or not. Personally I think that Slowey had burned too many bridges and Ryan was just trying to get as much as he could for Slowey. I sure would have liked the Twins to do better than a PTBNL for trading Slowey to the Rockies who had also expressed interest in Slowey last summer at the trade deadline. At least the Twins will get something versus just non-tendering him. The rumor has it that the Rockies are looking to move 3B/2B Ian Stewart who has been a disappointment in Colorado and that they were looking to get a couple of minor league pitchers in return. You would think the Twins would have very little to lose to have swung a deal that included Slowey for the 26-year-old left-handed hitting Stewart with good pop in his bat even if the Twins had to kick in something to sweeten the pot. It will be interesting to see what Slowey can do in the National league in Colorado.

UPDATE December 9 – The Twins announced yesterday that they have acquired right-handed pitcher Daniel Turpen from the Rockies as the player to be named later in the Kevin Slowey trade.

Welcome back Mr. Capps

Although the Twins have not officially announced the deal, the team apparently has agreed to sign free agent Matt Capps (pending a physical) to a one year $4.75 $4.5 million deal with an option for 2013 for $6 million with a $250,000 buyout. The Twins acquired Capps from the Washington Nationals in return for highly rated prospect catcher Wilson Ramos at the trade deadline in 2010 to solidify the closer role when Joe Nathan was out for the season with TJ surgery. Capps appeared in 27 games for the Twins in 2010 and posted a 2-0 record with 16 saves to go with his ERA of 2.00 and a 1.18 WHIP. Capps then started the 2011 season in the set-up role but when Joe Nathan struggled early on, Capps took over the closer role in mid April and had 15 saves before struggling in mid-July and giving the closer role back to Nathan. Capps finished the 2011 season with a 4.25 ERA and a 4-7 record with 15 saves. After the season ended both the Twins and Capps admitted that Capps was pitching with a sore forearm for a good part of the year. When Joe Nathan signed with Texas a week or so ago for 2 years for $14.5 million, the Twins needed a new closer.

A lot of people are going to hate this deal but I like it and I will tell you why. Matt Capps is only 28 and a proven closer who in the five seasons that he has been a closer has accumulated 123 career saves, that is 25 saves a season pitching for teams like the Pirates, Nationals and the Twins the last 1.5 years. If you take away his 5.80 ERA in 2009, Capps has posted ERA’s of 2.28 in 2007, 3.02, in 2008, and 2.47 in 2010. To you or me $4.75 million is a fortune but in the baseball closer world that is a good buy and I have no problem with it at all. I am not overly concerned about the $6 million for 2013 because it has a $250,000 buyout attached. The problem here is that most fans can’t get over the fact that the Twins gave up Wilson Ramos to get Capps but that is life and Twins fans and bloggers just need to move on.

With the Twins coming off a 99 loss season and questions about the health of Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and others, the Twins and Terry Ryan were smart to get an experienced closer for so little money. Plus, they know what they have in Capps and the man is a straight shooter, someone who is not afraid to stand up and accept responsibility for his actions. I was as frustrated with Capps as the next fan when he pitched poorly in 2011 but after finding out about the injury helps me better understand that situation. In addition, I give bonus points to any Twins player that WANTS to play given what many Twins players showed in 2011.

As for the lost supplemental draft choice? So what, draft choices are just that and how many draft picks realistically make the big league team? If you are lucky, 2-3 picks out of each years draft make it. Let’s also say for the moment that the Twins don’t sign Cuddyer and Kubel, how many supplemental picks is too many? How many supplemental picks can the Twins afford to sign? There is only so much money for draft picks each season. I always say, “a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush”.

So let’s check “closer” off the Twins needs list and move on to more pressing issues.

UPDATE December 7 – The Twins announced today that Capps has passed his physical and the deal is official.

Money can’t buy us happiness

The Twins opening day payroll in 2011 was about $113 million and the Twins finished last in the AL Central with a 63-99 record. Now the Twins are saying the payroll in 2012 will be around the $100 million mark but my guess is that it will be a bit lower than that, maybe closer to $95 million. It is easy to say that the Twins have to spend their way out of fifth place in the Central division but money alone is not the answer. Sure the Twins have a beautiful new ballpark but the Twins are far from playing with the big boys like the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, and the Cubs and their huge revenue numbers, even the Chicago White Sox had more in the revenue stream than the Twins did in 2010 according to Forbes Magazine. I thought it would be interesting to look back over the last 10 years and see how the AL Central division compared from a salary perspective and here is what I found using the Cot’s Baseball Contract site as my source. The chart below is in millions of dollars.

Year Twins Indians Tigers White Sox Royals Average Div. Win
2011 $113.23 $49.42 $106.95 $127.78 $38.17 $87.11 Tigers
2010 $97.65 $61.45 $133.99 $103.08 $74.98 $94.23 Twins
2009 $65.29 $81.57 $115.08 $96.06 $70.51 $85.70 Twins
2008 $56.93 $78.97 $137.68 $121.18 $58.24 $90.60 White Sox
2007 $71.43 $61.67 $95.18 $108.67 $67.16 $80.82 Indians
2006 $63.39 $56.03 $82.61 $102.75 $47.29 $70.41 Twins
2005 $56.18 $41.50 $69.09 $75.17 $36.88 $55.76 White Sox
2004 $53.58 $34.31 $46.83 $65.21 $47.60 $49.51 Twins
2003 $55.50 $48.58 $49.16 $51.01 $40.51 $48.95 Twins
2002 $40.22 $78.90 $55.04 $57.05 $47.25 $55.69 Twins
TOTAL $673.40 $592.40 $891.61 $907.96 $528.59

Since 2002, only one AL Central division team has advanced to the World Series and that was the 2005 Chicago White Sox team that beat the Houston Astros 4 games to zip. I know, you can’t win if you don’t spend money but it is all about how you use the money you do have. I guess I have not been paying too much attention to the dollars spent in the Central division and I was more than a little surprised to see that the Mighty Whitey’s have spent over $100 million in five of the last six years and that the Tigers have spent in excess of $106 million four years in a row. I find it interesting that the Twins spent more than the division average five times and less than the division average five times. You can find more Twins historical salary information on our Twins Salaries page.

It will be interesting to see how Mr. Ryan distributes the resources at his disposal in the next few weeks as the Hot Stove League heats up with the GM meetings taking place in a few days. I like free agents Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel as much as the next Twins fan but the Twins were 63-99 for a reason last year and changes obviously need to take place. I have no issue bringing back Cuddyer (although I don’t see it happening) for one year as insurance to cover for Morneau at 1B or to play RF but I don’t pay him more than $10 million. If you aren’t making changes than you are standing still and those moans and groans you heard at Target Field this past summer were the sounds of the other Central division teams blowing past us. It is easy to get complacent in baseball and think that all you need to do is throw your glove on the field and you will win without putting in the up-front work starting in Spring Training. I think a number of Twins players felt someone owed them the division title and 2011 was a hard lesson for everyone.

GM Ryan busy, Twins sign Ryan Doumit

Ryan Doumit being checked out by Pirates trainer

Holy Cow, GM Terry Ryan has been busy, on the job less than two weeks and he has signed Jamey Carroll and now today the Twins announced they have signed C/1B/OF Ryan Doumit to a $3 million one year deal pending a physical.  The deal apparently has some incentives and that is a good thing because the switch-hitting Ryan Doumit comes to Minnesota with some baggage. Injury type of baggage, in the form of a concussion history and that is not a good thing for a catcher.

Doumit was drafted in the 2nd round of the 1999 June free agent draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates as a catcher and has been in the Pirates organization ever since. Doumit made his major league debut in June of 2005. Although not rated as a strong catcher defensively, in his 7 big league seasons Doumit has played in 521 games but he has caught in 426 games, played the OF in 60 and played 1B in 35 games. Injuries have limited Doumit’s time in the line-up and he has never had more than 465 plate appearances in any of his 7 big league seasons.

OK, Ryan Doumit has an injury history but he is still a very nice pick-up and worth the gamble as I see it. Doumit has suffered injuries such as a broken thumb, broken wrist, and a fractured ankle not to mention the concussion issues I brought up earlier. He can play three positions and is a switch-hitter and will be 31 when the season starts in April. He has a little pop in his bat as his 67 home runs in 611 games attest and he has a .271 career average although he did hit only .250 in 2009, and .251 in 2010 but he hit .303 in 77 games last year.

I like the signing but if you think this will send Drew Butera packing you need to think again. Doumit is weak defensively and his strength is offense so there is no way that Gardy keeps him on the bench strictly as a back-up catcher day in and day out. Doumit will be in the line-up some where most of the time so Gardy still needs to have a back-up catcher available and that man will probably be Butera or another catcher with some defensive skills. If Doumit is the DH, Gardy will not want to risk losing his DH if he would suddenly need Doumit to catch. Even if Butera fails to make the team, I see no way the Twins do not carry three catchers next year. In spite of needing to carry three catchers, I like this signing and I give GM Ryan a big thumbs up. Keep working those phones Mr. Ryan, a starting pitcher would be nice and the outfield is still a big question mark.

Jason Bulger

The Twins also announced they have signed yet another relief pitcher to a minor league deal, this time it is former Angel Jason Bulger. Jason is a right hander and stands 6’4″ and goes about 210 and will be 33 in a couple of weeks. Bulger has been in the big leagues off and on with the D-Backs and the Angels since 2005 but has only appeared in 125 games with a 7-2 record. Bulger is another of those relief pitchers with control issues as his career mark of 5.1 BB/9 will tell you.

Finally, the Twins also announced that they plan to add another bronze statue of a former player outside Target Field next year but as yet the player has yet to be publicly identified. He would join statues of Harmon Killebrew, Kirby Puckett, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva and the late Twins owner Carl Pohlad and his wife Eloise. Who is it going to be? My guess would be Bert Blyleven and my dark horse choice would be Kent Hrbek. We will find out soon enough.

UPDATE November 23 – The Twins announced that they have officially signed free-agent catcher Ryan Doumit to a one-year deal worth $3 million.

Twins give two year deal to Jamey Carroll

According to numerous reports, the Twins are about to sign 37 year old free agent infielder Jamey Carroll to a two year $7 million deal pending a physical. The Twins front office states that have no comment. La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune also has reported that there is a potential for a third year (2014) for $2 million if Carroll makes at least 401 plate appearances in 2013 but it is a players option and Carroll can turn it down. Carroll has been in the majors since 2002 and has played for the Expos, Nationals, Rockies, Indians, and for the last two seasons, the LA Dodgers. Carroll is primarily a middle infielder but can play 3B and the corner outfields spots in a pinch.

Carroll has never has a starting position for an entire season and the most at bats he has ever had in a season is 463, but on the plus side, his name has not appeared on the Dodgers diasabled list in either of the last two seasons.

Jamey Carroll

Everything I have seen in print to this point indicates that Carroll will play shortstop but I don’t see that happening. Sure he will play some short but he will not be the Twins starting shortstop in 2012, that position remains to be filled. My thinking is that GM Ryan acquired Carroll to play 2B and fill in at SS and 3B as needed. Ryan has always been a big fan of Alexi Casilla so it surprises me a little to see him acquire Jamey Carroll.

I don’t care for this deal because it is guaranteed for two years and Jamey Carroll will be 38 years old before the 2011 begins. I see Carroll as a “steady Eddie” type of player who is there every day, can make the routine plays day in and day out and has a decent stick but with no power. Carroll is the type of player that a contending team picks up to fill a hole so why does a team coming off 99 losses go after Carroll? Most of the Twins bloggers seem to favor this deal but I wonder what their thoughts would have been if this signing was consummated under GM Bill Smith versus under Terry Ryan.

RHP Jared Burton

The Twins did announce that they had re-signed Brian Dinkelman to a minor league deal. Dinkelman had made his major league debut this past season with Minnesota and appeared 23 games splitting his time between 2B and the outfield. The Twins also signed free agent RHP Jared Burton. Burton is 30 and has pitched for the Cincinnati Reds off and on in relief since 2007. Burton fits in perfectly with the Twins love affair with big pitchers, he is 6’5″ and goes about 230. Burton throws a fastball in the low 90’s along with a cutter, a slider and a change-up. Burton has a career record of 10-3 with a 3.41 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. In 169 big league innings, Burton has given up only 151 hits to go along with his 143 strike-outs and he does a decent job of keeping the ball in the ballpark with a home run rate of 0.7 per 9 innings. Burton is the second former Reds pitcher to be acquired by the Twins in the last couple of weeks. The Twins claimed the 27 year old LHP Matt Maloney off waivers on October 31. Maloney is 6’4″ and about 210 but is a soft tossing, pitch to contact pitcher who was used primarily in relief for the Reds but he did start a couple of games. The Twins also claimed reliever Jeff Gray from Seattle on the same day. Looks like the Twins are getting ready for a competitive spring training with lots of players to choose from.

UPDATE as of November 16 – The Twins signed free agent shortstop Jamey Carroll to a two-year, $6.75 million contract in a deal that was formally announced today.

GM Bill Smith out and Terry Ryan back at the helm

GM Bill Smith

The Twins announced today that GM Bill Smith has been fired effective immediately and that former GM Terry Ryan has taken back the GM role on an interim basis that he had previously served in from 1994 to 2007 . Smith had taken over as the Twins general manager back in 2007 when Terry Ryan had resigned. Since Ryan resigned the GM role in 2007 he has been a special assistant in the Twins executive offices serving primarily in a scouting capacity. Ryan who has been with the Twins for over 28 years has always been in the middle of the action so he should be able to take back the GM role without skipping a beat.

During Smith’s four years as the general manager, the Twins have finished second once, first twice, losing in the first round of the playoffs each time and then came the horrendous last place finish this past season when the wheels came totally off. During Smith’s tenure, the Twins had a 332-318 record and played .511 baseball. According to reports, Bill Smith has been offered another position with the Twins organization but Smith has decided to take some time to think through his situation.

Terry Ryan (courtesy of SI.com)

I first heard the news about the Bill Smith firing this afternoon when I started out on my daily walk and I have to admit, I was shocked and my one hour walk gave me time to think and I have more questions than answers. I don’t see the Twins as an organization that makes knee jerk reactions and the wheels of change turn slowly in Twins Territory while second chances are a way of life here in Minnesota. I know that the Twins were just plain terrible this season and they did lose 99 games but still, I did not expect this from the Twins. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that Bill Smith should not have been fired, I am just saying that this has not been how the Twins have operated under the Pohlad flag to this point.

So why is Smith out and Ryan back in? I heard some reports that indicated that the Twins have been working on this change for the last week or so. The Twins I believe stated philosophical differences caused them to make a change. Boy, I would have loved to been a fly on that wall listening to what went on during those meetings.

Now that the Twins aren’t considered small market any longer does Twins ownership have higher expectations? With their 99 losses this season the Twins were just a game away from being only the second team in history to lose 100 games with a $100 million payroll. I think I heard that Twins season ticket renewals are running about 85%, does that play a roll? Or is it simply the fact that the Twins brain trust did not believe in Bill Smith’s long term plans for the team. I heard GM Smith say many times that injuries were the cause of the Twins poor play and maybe Smith was thinking that the only changes the Twins needed to make were minor tweaks and that a healthy 2012 team could once again compete in the AL Central? Or was he going in the other direction thinking that a complete rebuilding process was needed and the rest of the organization didn’t see things his way.

Bill Smith was never able to become the GM that Twins fans had hoped for. Who knows why, he got off to a quick start with his trade with Tampa for Delmon Young but that trade and numerous others just have not panned out in the long run and his handling of potential Twins free agents has been questioned on numerous fronts. Last year he lost most of his bullpen and his handeling of the Joe Mauer injury fiasco this year did not put the Twins in a good light.

I think the Bill Smith firing was not about a single event but a cumulative number of decisions that have finally caused Twins ownership and senior management to say enough is enough and that a change was needed before things really got out of hand. I also believe that this is a “shot across the bow” for manager Gardenhire, his coaching staff and any Twins players that are thinking that they can just sit back and enjoy their past successes. The Twins are a business and if they want to continue to pack Target Field they need to put a winning team on the field, or at least send out a team that shows the fans that they care about winning, something that was often not the case this past season. Here it is only November 7, it looks to me like it will be an exciting off-season in Twinsville this winter.

 

Another visit to Hammond Stadium

March 16, 2011 – I headed out to the Hammond Stadium today hoping to meet up with JC of Knuckleballs who just got into town the other day. Since we had not met before I had no idea who I was looking for and I had no cell number to reach JC but I did give JC my cell number and I was hoping he would call me. Well, to make a long story short, I ended up in a nice conversation with former GM Terry Ryan and during that conversation someone else joined us but we never introduced ourselves. After the conversation we each ended up going our separate ways and when I got back to the house I sent JC an e-mail saying it was too bad we did not hook up. This evening I checked my e-mail and I have a note from JC with a picture attached, the picture was of Ryan and I talking and JC was the guy that had joined us. What a small world indeed.

The conversation with Terry Ryan was very interesting, the man has been on the road all spring and today was the first day that he had really spent any time at Hammond Stadium at all. He said he is doing way more traveling than he did when he was the GM. I asked him a number of questions about numerous players but since I did not tell him up front that I was a blogger I do not think it is fair to write what he had to say in detail. But I think it is fair for me to say that he feels that Revere needs to keep playing and not sit on a Twins bench. Ryan mentioned that the Twins are not looking to trade a starting pitcher unless a need develops that needs to be corrected at some position because the chance of injury to starters is always there. Ryan reemphasized that the Twins like Diamond and that you need to be patient with Rule 5 pick-ups, using Johan Santana as an example. Terry also went into detail explaining that Alexi Casilla has all the tools to do the job at short, he just needs to grab the bull by the horns and get it done (my words). I really enjoy talking to Terry Ryan whenever I get the chance, he will always tell you what he thinks and he will challenge you if he thinks you are off base.

Other than that, there was nothing out of the ordinary going on since the Twins were playing the Mets at home today. I spent some time watching TK and Rick Anderson hold some pitcher fielding drills but other than that most of my time was spent watching the minor leaguers. We are getting to a point in spring training now where the open position battles are going full tilt and the Twins walking wounded are starting to see some game action, the only non participant so far continues to be Michael Cuddyer but hopefully he will be in action soon too.