Trevor Plouffe Archives - Page 4 of 7

According to Elias

Trevor Plouffe‘s solo home run in the seventh inning would not appear to be notable at first glance, especially since the Twins would muster no more offense in their 9-1 loss at Oriole Park at Camden Yards last night. That long ball however was indeed historic – it was the 10,000th home run hit by the Twins/Senators franchise. They were the last of the 16 pre-expansion franchises to reach 10,000 home runs. The Twins have contributed 7,214 of those homers while the Senators hit 2,786. By the way, Plouffe also hit Twins home run numbers 9,999 and 10,001.

The Washington Senators’ longtime home field, Griffith Stadium, had very distant fences and high outfield walls. One of the most remarkable statistics in baseball history: In 1945, the Senators went through the entire season of 78 home games hitting exactly one home run in their own park – and that one was an inside-the-park four-bagger! This wasn’t in 1845; it was 1945! And that 1945 team was pretty good – finishing second, one and one-half games behind the Tigers, who would go on to win the World Series.

According to Elias

Trevor Plouffe was 4-for-5 with two doubles in the Twins’ win at U.S. Cellular Field. Plouffe is 16-for-35 (.457) against the White Sox this season. The only major-leaguer with at least 35 at-bats versus one team this season and a higher average than that is Freddie Freeman, who is 20-for-41 (.488) against the Nationals.

The June Free Agent Draft is just around the corner

The MLB First-Year Player Draft may not be as popular as the NFL draft but is is still a fun and entertaining event that many baseball fans wait for all year. In the NFL, the players drafted will be putting on that teams colors come Fall but in baseball a draftee might spend years in the minor leagues learning his craft before he ever gets a sniff of a big league clubhouse. There are web sites devoted strictly to the MLB draft and as draft day get closer and closer you can find “mock drafts” showing who your team will draft everywhere, 99.9% of them will be wrong but never the less it is still fun to look at them.

The first draft took place in 1965, it was introduced to prevent richer teams from negotiating wealthier contracts with top-level prospects and therefore, monopolizing the player market. Originally, three drafts were held each year. The first draft took place in June and involved high-school graduates and college seniors who had just finished their seasons. The second draft took place in January for high school and college players who had graduated in December. The third draft took place in August and was for players who participated in American amateur summer leagues. The August draft was eliminated after two years, and the January draft lasted until 1986. Rick Monday became MLB’s first draft pick after being selected by the Kansas City Athletics

MLB will hold day one of the 2014 First-Year Player Draft on June 5th at MLB Network’s Studio 42 in Secaucus, New Jersey. The Draft will be aired live on the MLB Network starting at 7:00 p.m. (ET). As is the case with most events of this type, the MLB talking heads will analyze the up-coming draft in a one hour pre-draft preview show.

The selection order of the First-Year Player Draft is determined by the reverse order
of finish at the close of the previous season. The Houston Astros will have the first overall selection of the 2014 Draft, marking the third consecutive year, and the fifth time in club history, that they hold the top selection (previous: 1976, 1992, 2012, 2013). It marks the first time ever that a club has the top pick in three consecutive years. In addition, the Astros are the third club in history to hold the top selection at least five times, joining the New York Mets and San Diego Padres (five each).

Six clubs, the Toronto Blue Jays (9th and 11th), the Kansas City Royals (17th and 28th), the Cincinnati Reds (19th and 29th), the Cleveland Indians (21st and 31st), the Boston Red Sox (26th and 33rd) and the St. Louis Cardinals (27th and 34th) have two selections in the first round. The Indians, Miami Marlins and Royals each have a league high four selections within the first 68 picks during the opening day of the Draft.

The Draft will once again feature Competitive Balance rounds, which were agreed upon as a part of the 2012-2016 Basic Agreement between MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association. The Competitive Balance rounds give clubs with the lowest revenues and in the smallest markets the opportunity to obtain additional draft picks through a lottery, which was held last July. The 10 clubs with the lowest revenues and the 10 clubs in the smallest markets were entered into a lottery for the six selections immediately following the first round of the First-Year Player Draft (picks 35-41; excluding pick 36, which Miami holds as compensation for an unsigned 2013 selection). The eligible clubs that did not receive one of the six selections after the first round, and all other payee clubs under the Revenue Sharing Plan, were entered into a second lottery for the six picks
immediately following the second round of the Draft (picks 69-74).

The Draft will have 40 rounds, and a club may pass on its selection in any round and not forfeit its right to participate in other rounds. Like each of the previous five years, the 2014 Draft will span three days. For day one on June 5th, MLB Network and MLB.com will provide live pick-by-pick coverage during the first round, Competitive Balance Round A, the second round and Competitive Balance Round B. The intervals between selections will last four and a half minutes during the first round and one minute during Competitive Balance Round A, the second round and Competitive Balance Round B. The Draft will resume at 1:05 p.m. (ET) on both June 6th and June 7th via conference call from MLB headquarters in New York City.

June 6th will cover rounds three through 10, and June 7th will cover rounds 11 through 40. Rounds three through 10 will have one minute between selections, and the remainder of the selections will be made without delays.

According to MLB, of the 853 players who were on 2014 Opening Day 25-man rosters,
disabled lists and restricted lists, a total of 650 players were selected in the MLB Draft. As ccould be expected, the earlier picks do in fact show the highest returns of Major League players, as the 143 players chosen in the top 30 selections amounted to 22.0% of the 650 Opening Day players who went through the Draft en route to the Major Leagues. Picks 31-60 generated 12.0% (78) of the players, and picks 61-90 turned out 10.0% (65), picks 91-120 generated 6.9% (46) and picks 121-159 generated 8.6% (56) players. Kansas City’s outfielder Jarrod Dyson is the latest draft pick in the Major Leagues on Opening Day rosters, he was chosen in round 50 of the 2006 Draft by the Royals.

The Twins have five picks in the top 140 owning the rights to the 5th, 46th, 79th, 110th and 140th selections.

Twins Draft History

The Minnesota Twins first selection ever (Round 1 – 9th over-all in 1965) was shortstop Eddie Leon from Arizona University but he chose not to sign with Minnesota. Leon went on to play for three big league teams but never hit it big playing in 601 games over 8 years hitting for a .236 batting average with 24 home runs.

The Twins have had the first pick over-all twice, in 1983 when they selected RHP Tim Belcher from Mount Vernon Nazarene University and again in 2001 when they selected catcher Joe Mauer from Cretin-Derham Hall High School. Tim Belcher chose not to sign with Minnesota but went on to have a long 14 year big-league career with 7 different teams putting up a 146-140 won/lost record. Joe Mauer has been with the Twins since 2004.

The current 25 man Minnesota roster has six players selected by the Twins in round one, RHP Kyle Gibson in 2009 was 21st over-all, outfielder Aaron Hicks in 2008 was 14th over-all, outfielder/Ib Chris Parmelee in 2006 was 20th over-all, 3B Trevor Plouffe in 2004 was 20th over-all, closer LHP Glen Perkins in 2004 was 22nd over-all, and 1B Joe Mauer who the Twins picked number one over-all in 2001.

A number of Twins first round picks have moved on such as outfielder Ben Revere who was 28th over-all in 2007, RHP Matt Garza who was picked in 2005 and the 25th over-all selection, outfielder Denard Span in 2002 number 20 over-all, outfielder Michael Cuddyer in 1997 was 9th over-all, and finally outfielder Torii Hunter who is still playing good ball with the Tigers was selected 20th over-all back in 1993. Hunter is playing in his 18th big league season at the age of 38. How time flies….

The first player to be drafted in the first round by Minnesota and make the Twins roster was outfielder Steve Brye who the Twins selected number one and 17th over-all in 1967. Brye debuted with Minnesota in September of 1970 and appeared in 697 games for the Twins between 1970 and 1978 hitting .258 with 30 home runs.

Five Years Ago – 2009 draft

The Twins selected Kyle Gibson number 1, catcher Chris Herrmann number 6, and 2B Brian Dozier number 8, all were picked after spending time in college. No other players drafted by Minnesota that year have made it to the big leagues.

Ten Years Ago – 2004 draft

The Twins selected Trevor Plouffe number 1-20, Glen Perkins number 1-22, RHP Kyle Waldrop 1-25, RHP Matt Fox 1s-35, RHP Anthony Swarzak in round 2, infielder Matt Tolbert in round 16, outfielder Rene Tosoni in round 34.

Travis Lee fiasco

Travis Lee was a Steve Boras client and was initially drafted as the second pick over-all in the 1996 Major League draft by the Minnesota Twins, but was declared a free agent by MLB through a loophole after the Twins failed to tender him a contract within fifteen days of the end of the draft. He then signed a four-year, $10 million contract with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Lee did not turn out to be the super-star everyone expected him to be but he did play in the big leagues from 1998 to 2006 appearing in 1,099 games hitting .256 with 115 home runs.

Will this years Minnesota Twins first round pick be stud or a dud? It could be years before we know.

Watching the Twins lose to the Pirates 2-1

We attended our final Twins spring training game yesterday as we watched the Twins lose 2-1 to the Pittsburgh Pirates. It was a sunny day albeit only 60 degrees at game time with a stiff wind blowing to left field. Ricky Nolasco started for the home town nine and pitched a strong 4 innings giving up just one hit while striking out three in his tune-up for opening day against the White Sox in Chicago. It was a fast paced (2 hours and 24 minutes) game with little hitting but it still had some interest when a mini bean-ball war broke out. Pirates starter Brandon Cumpton threw a pitch that catcher Kurt Suzuki was just able to get his face out of the way of and that started the ball rolling. Not too longer after that Anthony Swarzak nailed Tony Sanchez and then Oswaldo Arcia took one in the back and both benches ended up with a warning.

Swarzak’s pitching line came to an end after two innings when a line drive off the bat of Travis Snider struck him in the forearm, but Swarzak grabbed the ricochet and threw the batter out. As he walked off the field, the Pirates were yelling something at Swarzak and he stopped to yell back. Things got a bit testy before Swarzak was pulled away. The Pirates who had brought a lot of players to Hammond Stadium were all on the top step of their dugout ready to mix it up with the Twins but it never came to that.

The old saying is that if you give the team a freebie like the Pirates did when catcher Tony Sanchez dropped Arcia’s easy pop up behind the plate it will come back to bite you and it certainly held true here when Arcia hit a rocket out to right-center field that just cleared the fence for a home run and gave the Twins a short-lived 1-0 lead. The lead did not last long however, as the Pirates loaded the bases with two-out and a ground ball was hit to first baseman Joe Mauer who knocked it down and then panicked trying to pick up the ball and by the time he had it under control the Pirates runner from second base was racing home with the winning run and Mauer’s throw to the plate was too late.

Shortstop Pedro Florimon who is just coming back from an appendectomy was his normal self, he made an error on an easy play and then made a very nice play later in the game. With the bat, Florimon seemed lost but that is really nothing new for Pedro. Manager Gardenhire said after the game that maybe Florimon’s bat is not ready yet and he may not be in the opening day line-up. On the plus side the Twins did turn two nice double plays.

There were 6,585 fans at the game but we had very little to cheer about and it was so quiet for most of the game that you could hear a pin drop. There is not a lot of excitement with this Twins team this spring and with an 8-14 record which is second worst in the AL there seems to be little hope for the up-coming season.

The Twins pitching is not that bad but their hitting this spring is a whole different story. Let’s take a quick look at the batting averages for the Twins starters –

C – Suzuki – .200

1B – Mauer – .300

2B – Dozier – .255

SS – Florimon – .150

3B – Plouffe – .239

LF – Willingham – .056

CF – Hicks – .318

RF – Arcia – .256

DH – Kubel – .195

Between them the leading home run hitter has 2 (Arcia) and the RBI leader has 6 (Arcia again). Both Eduardo Escobar (9) and Chris Colabello (8) have more RBI then any of the starters and they are not assured of even making this team. I just can’t see this current line-up staying intact for very deep into the season. If this team gets off to a bad start there will be changes galore in no time. Before spring training started I thought this team had a chance to finish at .500 with the improved pitching, now I am thinking they will still be better than last year but will fall short of the .500 mark. The hitting on this team this spring is just plain appalling, where is that great hitting coach Brunansky now when they need him. I have not heard Brunansky’s name mentioned in weeks, is he still part of the coaching staff? Then again the case could certainly be made that you can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear….

But in the end it is still spring training and no one but the Diamondbacks has lost a game yet so there is still hope that the hit fairy will bless the Twins bats and that they will come to life in Chicago. Come on Twins, give me a reason to watch you play ball every day this summer. Please!

The hardest workers at Hammond Stadium so far are the construction workers

I went out to Hammond Stadium again this morning and hung around for a couple of hours talking baseball with other fans and watched some of the early arrivals hit and take some infield. Not much going on as yet. Some of the players I recognized today that were participating in early workouts of one variety or another were Trevor Plouffe, Jason Bartlett, Miguel Sano, Nate Roberts, Adam Walker, Lewis Thorpe, Wilkin Ramirez, Kyle Gibson, Jared Burton, Mike Kvasnicka, AJ Pettersen, and Amaurys Minier. These players and others that I did not recognize were working under the tutelage of some minor league coaches and Joe Lepel. After hitting, some of the infielders including Jason Bartlett and Miguel Sano took some infield on field 4 practicing their fielding and working on turning double plays. It was interesting watching Bartlett and Sano doing some of these infield drills on their knees. All in all there is not much going on out at the ballpark as yet with no players having officially reported. I would however expect that more players will arrive over the week-end and that the action will pick up next week. The people working the hardest at Hammond Stadium these days are probably the construction workers that are trying to getting things ready for the start of spring training. I took some more pictures today primarily of the ball players and I have uploaded them to the “2014 Spring Training” link you can find on the right hand side of this page. I will be out there again early next week and I will keep you updated on what I see going on at Hammond Stadium..

More of This and That

It is 10:30 A.M. and the ole digital thermometer shows a -11.1 degrees but at least it is bright and sunny. I a trying to put a positive spin on the brutal winter we are having here in Minnesota this year, an “old school” winter just like I remember them as I was growing up in Taylors Falls. Back in the days when I had to ride a rickety old school bus seven miles each way to and from school and I don’t remember school being cancelled due to the cold. I am sitting about 10 miles west of Target Field and I can picture what the ballpark must look like as it sits there snow-covered and frozen over. But in just a few months the snow will be gone, the grass will be green and baseball will once again be played there. We just returned from a week-long Caribbean cruise where the temps were always in the 70’s and 80’s and the water was in liquid form, it is sooooo easy to forget that winter exists when you are relaxing on a cruise ship. But it won’t be long and I will be hanging out at Hammond Stadium and I am anxious to see the improvements that have been made there. Maybe the Minnesota Twins themselves will show improvement too, you never know, stranger things have happened.

I read today that the Twins and Fox Sports North will telecast all the Twins home spring training games. BRAVO! Smart move by the Twins to give fans back here in Minnesota that can’t take a Florida trip for what ever reason to see some of the Twins prospects playing ball this spring. You give someone a taste of something good and you can count on them coming back for more. As they have for the last few years the Twins will broadcast all the spring training games on KTWN radio. For an old guy like me, there is something very relaxing when you get to listen to a baseball game on the radio.

Max Kepler at Home Sweet Home baseball camp

I have a ticket for TwinsFest on Saturday and I am excited about hanging out with some baseball crazy Twins fans and to see how the Twins will put on their first TwinsFest at Target Field, it will be interesting I think. The price for this event and the autographs keep climbing and I know it is a Twins Community Fund charity event but if the Twins are not careful they will price it out of reach for the average Twins fan. One of players I am most interested in seeing again is 1B/OF prospect Max Kepler who will be making his first trip to Minnesota and Target Field, hopefully he will be able to call this ballpark home in the not too distant future. Kepler has a busy off-season and one of those events had him participating in the Berlin Home Sweet Home baseball camp. It is always great to see Twins players giving their time to children and allowing them to get up close and personal with a baseball hero. Great job Max!

The Twins have agreed to transfer starter Andrew Albers to the Hanwha Eagles of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO), reports MLBTR’s Steve Adams. Albers has agreed to terms with his new club as well, making the deal complete. The 28-year-old Albers was a great story for the Twins last year but with the Twins free agent starting pitcher signings this past off-season Albers had little chance of making the team this year much less joining the starting rotation. Albers was originally a 10th round selection by the San Diego Padres in 2008 but was released prior to the 2010 season. Albers then hooked up with Quebec, an independent team in the Canadian-American Association and he spent the 2010 season there. The Twins signed the left-handed Albers as a free agent in March of 2011 and he made his major league debut with the Twins as a starter on August 6, 2013 in a 7-0 trashing of the Kansas City Royals. Albers won his first two starts as a big leaguer by allowing no runs on just 6 hits in 17.1 innings. Albers finished the season with a 2-5 record and a 4.05 ERA. Albers was named the Minnesota Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year for 2013. With a salary reportedly set to land in the “high six figures,” Albers stands to earn significantly more than he would have if he ended up in the minors. He also gets a chance to test the open market next year, as he will become a free agent after his season with Hanwha. Had he stayed with Minnesota, Albers would not have been able to become a free agent until 2019. Sounds like a win-win proposition for Albers and the Twins.

The big news in baseball yesterday was the New York Yankees announced signing of Masahiro Tanaka in a stupendous seven-year deal for $155 million. Tanaka is only 25 but if it was my money, I would have had a very difficult time spending it on a pitcher that has not thrown a single pitch in the major leagues. The Yankees were desperate for more young starting pitching and only time will tell if this was a smart move or not. This will be a fun story to follow in 2014. If I was going to spend that much money, I would have traded for David Price from Tampa and signed him to a long-term deal.

While I was out cruising the Caribbean MLB baseball announced that New York Yankees Alex Rodriguez‘s appeal was complete and that he had been suspended for the 2014 season. I have only one comment on A-Rod, this suspension is well deserved and I don’t plan to spend any more time writing about him in 2014.

Former Twins manager Sam Mele turned 92 just a couple of days ago (January 21). Mele took over as the Twins skipper from the fired Cookie Lavagetto during the 1961 season and led the team to the 1965 World Series which they ended up losing in seven games to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Mele remained the Twins manager until owner Calvin Griffith let him go during the 1967 season. Mele is now the oldest living person to wear a Minnesota Twins uniform. SABR bio. Happy Birthday Sam and many more!

I completed a fun interview with Ken Schrom, former Twins pitcher (1983-1985) and now president of the Corpus Christi Hooks (AA – Houston Astros) on Tuesday and I will post it here in the very near future so make sure you check that out. You can listen to Ken tell you how he was cut by a team that he was pitching for when he as actually part of the ownership group of the same team.

The Twins announced on January 17th that they have signed all three of their arbitration eligible players for the 2014 season when they agreed to terms with left-handed pitcher Brian Duensing, right-handed pitcher Anthony Swarzak and third baseman Trevor Plouffe on one-year contracts, avoiding arbitration. Duensing will earn $2 million in 2014, while Swarzak will earn $935,000 and Plouffe will earn $2.35 million. The last time the Twins went to arbitration was with Kyle Lohse in 2006 when Lohse was declared the winner when he asked for $3.95 million and the Twins countered with $3.4 million. The last time the Twins won an arbitration case was in 2004 when Johan Santana asked for $2.45 million and the Twins offered $1.6 million.

Earlier this month the team announced that single-game tickets for the 2014 season at Target Field go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. on Saturday, February. 22. In addition, tickets for the 2014 Home Opener against the Oakland Athletics on Monday, April 7 will go on sale starting at 4 p.m. on Friday, January 24 in conjunction with the start of TwinsFest. As in previous seasons, the Twins will apply variable pricing to all tickets for the 2014 season. Per-game prices for both single-game and season tickets will be based on factors such as time of year, date and opponent. The five-tier variable pricing structure will apply to all single-game tickets sold on Saturday, February. 22. Beginning the next day, Sunday, February 23, the Twins will apply demand-based pricing to all seating sections of Target Field for the 2014 season. Demand-based pricing, which prices tickets according to fan demand, is a practice that has now become very common. The system, which was implemented at Target Field in 2011, applies only to single-game ticket sales and does not affect Season Ticket Holder pricing. As of today I still can’t find any single game ticket prices on the Twins web site.

It makes me wonder

What the heck was Eddie Rosario thinking after failing his first test and then doing whatever he did to fail a second test? The Office of the Commissioner of Baseball announced yesterday that Minnesota Twins Minor League second baseman Eddie Rosario has received a 50-game suspension without pay after a second positive test for a drug of abuse in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Rosario is one of the Twins top prospects and has a bright future in baseball and he does something like this just before possible making his major league debut with Minnesota in 2014? I know that youngsters make mistakes and I sure hope that this one wakes Rosario up and gets him thinking straight again.”It’s disappointing, but now he has to pay the consequences and be accountable,” Twins general manager Terry Ryan said. “Losing 50 games, that’s a huge setback. That’s a lot of development time, a lot of learning that he’ll miss. It sets back his progression [toward] going up to the big leagues. But young people make mistakes, and hopefully he learns from it.”

What the Minnesota Twins TV contract pays them and what is the length of the contract? According to recent reports the Philadelphia Phillies’ new deal with Comcast SportsNet is for 25 years, and the contract is worth $2.5 billion in addition to an equity stake and ad revenue. The rights fee will be paid out on a schedule that increases about 3 to 4% per year, averaging out to $100MM per season over the 25-year term. An average of $100MM per season? That is a good start on your annual payroll.

Lucrative television contracts for Major League Baseball teams are not new. The New York Yankees signed a 12-year, $486 million deal with the Madison Square Garden Network in 1988, a deal that propelled them to an improved financial situation. While teams were trying to improve finances through the“stadium boom”of the 199s and early 2000s, the Yankees were again striking gold with television money. They formed their own network in 2002, and immediately began reaping the benefits. The Yankees received an estimated $85 million per year from YES beginning with the 2013 season, a figure that could pay off 41 percent of their projected payroll of $207 million before selling a single ticket, hot dog or jersey. Prior to the 2010 season, the Texas Rangers signed a deal with Fox Sports Southwest worth $80 million per year. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim raised the bar for television contracts in December of 2011 when they reached a $3 billion, 20-year deal with Fox Sports. None, however, can come close to the level of the deal struck between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Fox Sports late in 202. The deal will pay out an unprecedented $6-$7 billion over the next 25 years. That translates to $240-$280 million in revenue per year. But not all teams are on the same pay scale, the St. Louis Cardinals for example are stuck with a deal that pays out a paltry $14 million per year and does not expire until 2017. A number of small-market teams are locked into similar deals for under $20 million per year including the Florida Marlins ($18 million per year) and Pittsburgh Pirates ($18 million) that will certainly affect budgets for re-signing players and making bids on free agents.

If GM Terry Ryan is done tinkering with the Twins line-up. This off-season Ryan has stated repeatedly that the Twins needed starting pitching but that the Twins offense also needs help. Only the Houston Astros and Chicago White Sox scored fewer runs in the AL then the Twins sad total of 614. The Red Sox led the AL in runs scored with 853, that is a difference of 239 runs or 1.48 runs per game when compared to the Twins. I sure hope that Ryan doesn’t think that bringing back Jason Kubel on a minor league make good deal solves that problem. At this time the Twins payroll sits around $70 million with 3 arbitration eligible players in Brian Duensing, Trevor Plouffe and Anthony Swarzak that will probably get a total of $7 million or $8 million between them. After that most of the rest of the roster will not get much above league minimum so my guess is that the Twins will start the 2014 season with a payroll of about $85-$88 million, a jump of about $10-$13 million from the 2013 open day payroll. I was hoping for better coming off three miserable seasons in a row. I know that money does not buy you a pennant or happiness for that matter but I also know that you get what you pay for in the long run.

Why does 2B Brian Dozier get so little respect. Numerous fantasy baseball prognosticators have Dozier rated as one of MLB worst second baseman, rating him in the bottom 33% in all of baseball. I know he only hit .244 but he hit 18 home runs, scored 72 times, knocked in 66 runs and stole 16 bases. I know that fantasy baseball does not take defense into consideration and Dozier did pretty well with his glove but those are some pretty decent numbers for a middle infielder in spite of the low average. The Twins don’t seem to be doing anything to promote Dozier as an up and coming player either and you often hear that Rosario is the 2B of the future. Sometimes we just don’t appreciate what we have and keep thinking that the grass is greener on the other side of the fence. I say that Dozier will be better than you think and will become a leader on this Twins team that has no face to it.

Why shortstop Stephen Drew is still unsigned on the free agent market. I would love to see the Twins open their wallet and sign the 30-year-old Drew to a three-year deal for say $25 million. That is not cheap but I don’t see any shortstops in the Twins minor league system that are ready for the big leagues either.

What the date will be when Trevor Plouffe becomes Miguel Sano‘s caddie. Although I think that Miguel Sano will start the season in AAA Rochester, I see him in Minnesota as the Twins stating 3B before Memorial Day. I for one can’t wait to see Sano in Minnesota and Plouffe on the bench or with another team.

Just a few thoughts on a cold winter day in Minnesota when the high temperature today will stay below zero and the high temperature for tomorrow is predicted to be a -15 degrees. Holy Cow! I can’t wait to get down to Ft. Myers and catch some spring training action.

Keep what you have or do you take what is behind this door?

2013 has just about come to a close and spring training is 41 days away and the MLB free agent list still has numerous serviceable players looking for work. The plums of the free agent market have pretty much been plucked but there are still a few decent players out there. The fact that Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka was dangling in the wind probably has a lot to do with some of the top rated free agent starters still on the market not signing but now that he has been posted thing may start to break free. If you look at the available free agents you can see how some positions have been stripped bare and others still have innumerable free agents still in the unemployed corner. Strangely enough with everyone looking for starting pitching there seems to be plenty of arms still on the market, sure, they are not aces but they can certainly fill a spot in many teams rotations.

I thought it would be interesting to compare some of what I deem to be top free agents still looking for work to what might be the 2014 Twins team when they head to Chicago to open play in 2014. If you compare the free agent and the corresponding Twins player, who would you rather see in a Twins uniform? Don’t forget what it might cost to sign this free agent versus the player the Twins currently have because you don’t have an unlimited checkbook. This is just a fun little exercise to help you get through these cold snowy days in Minnesota as you wait the hear that “play ball” call once again. Are any of these free agents possible Twins in your eyes?

Position	Free Agents	Twins
Catcher	John Buck	Josmil Pinto
1B	Mark Reynolds	Joe Mauer
2B	Chris Getz	Brian Dozier
SS	Stephen Drew	Pedro Florimon
3B	Michael Young	Trevor Plouffe
LF	Chris Coghlan	Josh Willingham
CF	Reed Johnson	Aaron Hicks
RF	Nelson Cruz	Oswaldo Arcia
DH	Kendrys Morales	Chris Parmelee
SP	Matt Garza	Ricky Nolasco
SP	Ervin Santana	Phil Hughes
SP	Masahiro Tanaka	Kevin Correia
SP	Ubaldo Jimenez	Mike Pelfrey
SP	Bronson Arroyo	Sam Deduno
CL	Grant Balfour	Glen Perkins

Interactive Whiteboards by PolyVision

I don’t know how much it would take to sign Stephen Drew but I wouldn’t mind seeing him play some short here in Minnesota. I also would like to see Michael Young play some 3B instead of Trevor Plouffe while waiting for Miguel Sano to slide into that 3B position. Both probably looking for more than the Twins want to spend but if I was Mr. Ryan I would open my checkbook and get Drew’s John Henry on a Twins contract, he would be a huge upgrade and there is no prospect beating down the shortstop door in Minnesota. Tanaka would be a slick addition but I can’t see him wanting to play here plus the financial risk of paying that much for an unproven MLB player is more than I would like to do. There are a few relief pitchers that I did not include on this list that would be nice in the Twins bullpen too.

I used the ESPN MLB Free Agent tracker to determine who was still available, are there players on the list you would like to see in the home dugout at Target Field that I did not mention here?

According to Elias

Andrew Albers shut out the Indians last night 3-0 after he threw 8 1/3 scoreless innings last Tuesday in his big-league debut against the Royals. Albers is the first pitcher not to allow a run in either of his first two games in the major leagues, while pitching at least eight innings in each game, since Baltimore’s Tom Phoebus began his career with consecutive shutouts in September 1966.

Brian Dozier‘s solo home run and Trevor Plouffe‘s two-run shot accounted for the Twins’ scoring in Monday night’s 3-0 win over the Indians. Minnesota’s last 22 runs have been scored on home runs, the longest such streak by a major-league team since the Phillies scored 22 straight runs with homers back in 2002.

Taking a look at hitting streaks

Former Twins outfielder Micheal Cuddyer set a Colorado Rockies team record recently when he had a 27 game hitting streak from May 28 through June 30 for the Colorado Rockies. During his streak Cuddyer hit .372 with 6 home runs, 19 RBI and 17 runs scored. The longest Twins hitting streaks this season belong to Joe Mauer with 15 gamer and a 10 gamer, Trevor Plouffe with a 12 gamer and Justin Morneau with an 11 game hitting streak. The Twins have had some pretty good hitting streaks over the years but the longest streak of 31 games goes way back to 1980 and belongs to Ken Landreaux.

Twins hitting streaks over 15 games

Rk		Strk Start	End	Games	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BA	OPS
1	Ken Landreaux	1980-04-23	1980-05-30	31	125	13	49	5	1	2	19	.392	.937

2	Brian Harper	1990-07-06	1990-08-04	25	99	14	38	12	0	2	16	.384	.981

3	Lenny Green	1961-05-01	1961-05-28	24	94	14	34	9	2	0	11	.362	.955

4	Torii Hunter	2007-04-11	2007-05-09	23	94	17	35	12	0	5	19	.372	1.054
5	Cristian Guzman	2002-08-01	2002-08-25	23	97	16	35	5	0	2	12	.361	.841
6	Marty Cordova	1996-06-05	1996-06-29	23	91	16	35	10	0	2	18	.385	1.007
7	Kirby Puckett	1993-09-26	1994-04-20	23	97	16	34	8	0	2	21	.351	.895
8	Kent Hrbek	1982-04-17	1982-05-13	23	91	14	28	6	2	5	17	.308	.949

9	Shane Mack	1992-07-26	1992-08-18	22	88	13	40	4	1	1	9	.455	1.057

10	Ben Revere	2012-07-16	2012-08-07	21	90	17	34	5	1	0	13	.378	.862

11	Chuck Knoblauch	1991-09-02	1991-09-25	20	80	10	32	4	1	0	7	.400	.923
12	Ted Uhlaender	1969-08-16	1969-09-07	20	88	16	27	5	0	1	16	.307	.748

13	Nick Punto	2006-07-04	2006-07-28	19	75	12	30	6	2	0	12	.400	.979
14	David Ortiz	2002-07-17	2002-08-06	19	74	17	31	5	0	7	18	.419	1.258
15	Brian Harper	1993-07-20	1993-08-12	19	74	9	29	7	0	1	11	.392	.971
16	Roy Smalley	1979-04-29	1979-05-20	19	81	19	36	3	1	6	16	.444	1.234
17	Bob Allison	1964-06-12	1964-06-28	19	64	14	31	8	0	7	11	.484	1.530

18	Bobby Kielty	2002-09-18	2003-04-21	18	62	10	22	6	1	5	13	.355	1.132
19	Chuck Knoblauch	1997-08-07	1997-08-26	18	79	8	28	2	1	2	6	.354	.867
20	Gary Gaetti	1983-05-06	1983-05-27	18	76	9	25	5	0	3	8	.329	.887
21	Rod Carew	1974-09-07	1974-09-27	18	70	12	26	4	1	1	5	.371	.988
22	Rod Carew	1973-05-30	1973-06-19	18	77	17	31	3	4	3	8	.403	1.122

23	Trevor Plouffe	2012-06-30	2012-07-19	17	67	13	22	4	0	4	11	.328	.951
24	Jacque Jones	2001-09-30	2002-04-12	17	63	16	26	2	0	6	13	.413	1.230
25	Cristian Guzman	2001-06-08	2001-06-26	17	74	16	29	3	1	3	12	.392	1.004
Rk		Strk Start	End	Games	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BA	OPS
26	Paul Molitor	1998-08-31	1998-09-19	17	75	12	25	3	2	3	12	.333	.909
27	Chuck Knoblauch	1993-07-29	1993-08-18	17	69	12	27	5	1	1	4	.391	.978
28	Kent Hrbek	1991-08-11	1991-08-30	17	62	13	26	6	0	4	16	.419	1.203
29	Kent Hrbek	1990-08-21	1990-09-07	17	68	10	23	2	0	3	15	.338	.900
30	Kirby Puckett	1988-09-15	1988-10-02	17	72	17	33	8	0	2	19	.458	1.126
31	Kent Hrbek	1982-05-25	1982-06-13	17	69	12	28	1	2	5	19	.406	1.120
32	Tony Oliva	1970-05-13	1970-06-02	17	73	9	23	5	0	1	13	.315	.775
33	Tony Oliva	1964-07-16	1964-08-01	17	77	11	28	5	1	2	4	.364	.935

34	Orlando Cabrera	2009-09-19	2009-10-06	16	73	21	30	5	1	2	16	.411	1.010
35	Joe Mauer	2008-08-04	2008-08-24	16	63	13	22	0	1	1	10	.349	.870
36	Justin Morneau	2006-06-22	2006-07-09	16	59	13	26	5	0	6	16	.441	1.308
37	A.J. Pierzynski	2002-05-26	2002-06-14	16	60	12	24	7	2	2	7	.400	1.096
38	Matt Lawton	2000-04-13	2000-04-30	16	59	11	26	6	0	1	11	.441	1.121
39	Chili Davis	1991-07-21	1991-08-07	16	61	13	25	7	0	6	17	.410	1.313
40	Kirby Puckett	1991-07-06	1991-07-26	16	64	10	28	3	1	1	13	.438	1.033
41	Kirby Puckett	1986-04-16	1986-05-03	16	74	23	32	5	1	10	20	.432	1.394
42	Gary Gaetti	1984-08-05	1984-08-19	16	65	9	22	4	0	1	9	.338	.814
43	Mickey Hatcher	1983-07-20	1983-08-27	16	62	11	25	5	0	1	12	.403	.948
44	Dave McKay	1975-08-29	1975-09-17	16	60	4	20	3	0	0	10	.333	.743
45	Danny Thompson	1973-04-28	1973-05-17	16	65	7	22	4	1	1	11	.338	.810

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/27/2013.

Some pretty exceptional hitters on this list. Who appears on this list the most often? Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett each had four streaks of 16 games or longer. The biggest surprise on this list has to be Nick Punto with his 19 gamer back in 2006, the eighth longest hitting streak in Twins history.

Just for fun let’s take a look at what opposing hitters have the longest hitting streak when they face Twins pitchers over the years.

Twins opponent hitting streaks of 20 games or more

Rk		Strk Start	End	Games	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	BA	OPS	Tm
1	Ron LeFlore	1977-08-03	1981-09-11	26	108	29	43	2	13	.398	1.010	DET-CHW

2	David DeJesus	2008-09-11	2011-04-10	25	105	16	40	2	15	.381	1.027	KCR-OAK

3	Magglio Ordonez	2002-08-19	2003-09-10	23	90	19	32	10	20	.356	1.112	CHW

4	Jim Thome	1994-07-08	1996-07-18	22	90	20	36	7	16	.400	1.210	CLE

5	Ichiro Suzuki	2006-05-01	2008-08-06	20	89	17	40	2	3	.449	1.046	SEA
6	Paul Konerko	2006-07-26	2007-07-08	20	75	15	29	6	16	.387	1.180	CHW
7	Carlos Lee	2003-07-02	2004-07-27	20	82	14	31	4	17	.378	1.010	CHW
8	Rey Sanchez	1999-04-21	2001-04-07	20	74	13	33	0	12	.446	1.090	KCR
9	Rocky Colavito	1963-07-03	1964-07-22	20	78	17	34	9	25	.436	1.403	DET-KCA

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 7/27/2013.

Those of you that remember Ron LeFlore should take a few minutes to read this story published earlier this year. Even if you never heard of LeFlore, check it out.

Tag: Trevor Plouffe

According to Elias

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According to Elias

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