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Minor League Report...November 7, 2009

2009-11-07T14:22:03Z

A couple items of note this week include the Twins outrighting Brian Buscher to Rochester. This cleared a 40-man roster spot before the five free agents are removed in the next week. Why this was done at this time remains a mystery? My best guess is that the Twins were in discussion on some deal from which they may have needed an open spot on their roster. It turned out to not be the case with the J.J. Hardy deal. Maybe during the Hardy discussions there were other players under consideration or there could have been another deal (perhaps Tampa) being discussed that would have required an extra roster spot.

On a more serious note, Seth Stohs reported yesterday that Wilson Ramos injured his knee in Thursday's game in Venezuela. I had noted when reviewing the boxscore that he was removed from the game in the bottom of the fourth inning after drawing a walk. He finished the game with a 1-1 night, a walk, double and 2 runs scored. So whatever the injury was either happened on a play at the plate or he ran the bases, scored and then was removed. I believe that Ramos is a Top 10 prospect and I don't mean in the Twins organization, rather, in all of baseball. He was hitting better than anyone in the VWL (.403/.460/.766 with a league high 6 home runs and 23 RBI in 77 at bats) and getting him healthy for spring training is the most important concern the Twins have this winter....well, maybe second most important behind signing another catcher to a contract extension!

They say when you go to an Arizona Fall League game it is like going to a minor league all-star game. That makes today's AFL Rising Stars Showcase a special day for prospect junkies and scouts. This year's Number 1 overall pick, Stephen Strasburg, has been scratched from appearing in this game because of a strained arm. Strasburg has a 3-1 record in four starts with a 5.28ERA, 15.1 innings and 17K/5BB. The lone Twins representative in this game will be outfielder Rene Tosoni.

Mesa was 4-2 this week to improve their record to 9-12 and move into a tie for second place, 3.5 games out of first in their three team division. Rene Tosoni was 4-18 and is now hitting .254/.338/.390 in 59 at bats. Chris Parmalee was 2-12 this week, yet continues to lead the Solar Sox with 3 home runs and 16 RBI in 53 at bats. Steve Singleton was 4-11 and is hitting .300/.302/.440 in 50 at bats. Steve Hirschfield had his best outing of the fall in last night's 11-1 win, allowing 1 hit in 3.0 shutout innings with 2K/0BB. Hirschfield lowered his ERA to 11.17 with 11K/3BB. It will take all fall to get his ERA down to a good number after giving up 6 earned runs in 0.1 inning on October 20th. Steven Steedley pitched 2 shutout innings to lower his ERA to 5.00 in 8 games, 9.0 innings with 6K/12BB. Alex Burnett has appeared in 7 games with 6.2 innings, 6K/7BB and 4.05ERA. Michael McCardell has pitched 8.2 innings with a 7.27ERA and 11K/5BB.

Armando Gabino made his first appearance this week for Aguilas in the DWL, pitching 0.2 inning with 1 strikeout. Estarlin De Los Santos didn't play a lot last year for Gigante and didn't get a lot of hits when he did. This is not unusual for a young player in a veteran winter league like the DWL. Although most of the major league players haven't arrived De Los Santos is playing regularly early this year, hitting .277/.320/.319 with a 2-7 week in 2 games this week.

Juan Morillo did not appear in any of Toros games this week, however, Jose Lugo appeared in two. Lugo has been one of his teams better relievers having appeared in 8 games, 8.0 innings with a 2-1 record, 3.38ERA and 7K/3BB. Over in Venezuela, Winston Marquez did not make any appearances this week.

Aragua improved their record to 9-14, moving into a fifth place tie 8.5 games out of first. Frank Mata has been one of their better relievers with a 2-1 record in 10 games, 16.1 innings with 10K/5BB. Mata's 3.31ERA is the best on the staff of any pitchers with over 4 innings of work. Justin Huber hit his second and third home runs with 5 RBI last night in the Tigres 9-6 win. Hopefully Huber, who is hitting .300/.400/.517 in 60 at bats with 14 RBI, will be back with the Twins next season.

With Carlos Gomez gone it will be interesting to see who will be the Twins extra outfielder next spring. Many assume it will be Jason Pridie but Dustin Martin may have something to say about that. After an excellent spring training last year Martin had what must be considered a disappointing season at Rochester. Any chance he has to earn that spot next spring begins with his performance this winter in Venezuela. After a slow first week or so, Martin has raised his average to .293/.400/.467 with 3 home runs and 16 RBI in 75 at bats. With all the top center fielders in the organization at least a couple years from being ready to help the Twins, Martin may be an option to fill a reserve spot next spring.

"I am going to create a lot of RBIs for Morneau, the catcher and the other guy."

2009-11-07T01:04:48Z

Today's trade of Carlos Gomez for J.J. Hardy ends an era of hilariously bad English. As the Twins add to their ever-growing list of players whose names begin with the letter J (double points for Hardy!), I thought it might be fun to take a look back at Gomez's Twins career. What is your favorite Gomez memory/quote/moment?

For me, the highlight of Gomez's time with the Twins has to be the 2008 game where he hit for the cycle. In an early May 2008 game, Gomez became the first Twin in 22 years to hit for the cycle. Gomez was also the first Twin to cap off his cycle with a single since Lyman Bostok, pictured below in 1976:

As you can see, it was a different era of baseball.

(Side note - talk about a bizarre game. Gomez hits for the cycle, Nick Punto gets ~~5 consecutive home runs~~ 5 RBIs, and Livan Hernandez(!) took a shutout into the 9th inning).

Gomez's cycle began with his leadoff homerun in the 1st. Rather than the usual home run trot, Gomez dashed around the bases, clearly excited. When asked about it after the game, Gomez explained: "The game today started too late. I say, ‘Let me run the bases quick so the game goes fast.’"

That game is a symbol of Gomez to me. It offers many examples of his unique style of English. It epitomizes the promise that Gomez has, the excitement that Twins fans felt for what Gomez might become.

While Gomez still arguably has that potential, he failed to realize it in 2009. Here's hoping that Go-Go develops into the player we thought he could be, even if it doesn't happen with the Twins.

Poll

Your feelings about Gomez being traded?

Kent Hrbek as a Rookie

2009-11-06T20:01:13Z

A few weeks ago I posted an email interview with Howard Sinker here that I'd originally done for my defunct Twins blog. Here's another item from the blog, about Kent Hrbek's rookie year, 1982:

In early May, 1982, Kent Hrbek was leading the American League with eight homers and 22 RBIs in his rookie season, at age 21. Twins PR director Tom Mee called him “the best player to come into the American League since Mickey Mantle.” Hrbek had been hitting around .400 for a while in A ball in Visalia, California, in 1981, and wound up hitting .379 that year, leading all North American professional ballplayers. He’d signed with the Twins in 1979 as a 17th round pick out of Kennedy High School in Bloomington, down the road from the Met, for a $30,000 bonus. Calvin Griffith, the Twins owner, scouted him personally, and said: “Give him the money.”

Hrbek and the Twins opened up the Metrodome with an exhibition game against the Philadelphia Phillies in ’82, and Kent hit the Twins’ first homer in the place. He talked about going to games at the Met as a kid: “I used to sit out in left field or right field. I think I started going to games when I was about 8 years old, which would’ve been the year Carew was a rookie.”

Twins’ manager Billy Gardner said of Hrbek: “He’s hit everywhere he’s been. No reason he won’t keep hitting up here.” He’d had knee cartilage surgery in ’79, then went to Wisconsin Rapids and the Midwest League in 1980, batting .267, with 19 homers and 76 RBIs, then an enormous .379 at Visalia with 27 homers and 111 RBIs. I assume he led the California League in those three categories for 1981.

He went right from Visalia to the Twins and, in his major league debut on August 24, 1981, he hit a 12th-inning homer off George Frazier for a 3-2 victory at Yankee Stadium. Hrbek said: ”Whenever people ask me about my biggest thrills, I tell ‘em my first game wasn’t bad.” He added of the A.L. pitchers: ”Hopefully they won’t catch up with me within the next 20 years.”

I’d remembered Hrbek, more than anything else, as a fairly good-natured but subtly aggressive big guy, to put it gently, who specialized in homers and was one of the crew that led the Twins to the two titles in ’87 and ’91. I thought of him as a classic Minnesotan who, along with Gladden and Puckett, was at the core of those ’87 and ’91 Twins. I had no idea he once hit .379 or any memory of him being a standout rookie. Take a look at his 1982 season, game by game, here.

As a P.S., I got two comments on this post, both saying Hrbek, not Cal Ripken, should have been rookie of the year in '82. I'll reprint them here. One from "Rick":

Hrbek finished 2nd in the Rookie of the Year balloting just below Cal Ripken. He actually had a better year then Ripken but the Twins were pretty bad so that didn't help his cause. Plus Ripken had a lot of pre-season hype, a better lineup surrounding him, and a father already coaching in the majors. But Hrbek should of been the Rookie of the Year.

And another from John Swol, who runs the Twins Trivia site:

I have to agree with the previous commentor, There was no question that Hrbek should have been ROY but with us being here in "flyover land" he was robbed. Hrbek was a very good player but I wonder how good he could have been if he had really worked at the game. I think what we all saw was his natural ability.

And NOW THE OFFSEASON BEGINS!

2009-11-05T18:55:28Z

I anxiously wait to see who each team jettisons, or which players declare free agency.

I can't wait to see the list of minor league free agents. Anyone from the Twins Rochester roster returning?

The talk can begin about trades and such, but somewhat stilled as teams wait to see who will gain arbitration or free agency, too...which is round #2 of the free agent madness.

Contracts, who wins and who losses.

Plus, it is Awards time? Joe Mauer MVP? Who gets the gold gloves.

It's not too early to plan for spring training and 2010, baseball as it should be played in Minnesota, outdoors amongst the snow, rain and smoke from the garbage garage!

2010 Free Agents

2009-11-04T00:19:52Z

Given all of the speculation regarding Iwamura today, I thought I would lay out the free agents for people to see. Here are the players up for free agency in 2010 according to Cot's Baseball Contracts.

A = type A free agent; B = type B free agent; *means club option

Second Basemen
Marlon Anderson NYM
Ron Belliard LAD (B)
Jamey Carroll CLE
David Eckstein SD
Orlando Hudson LAD (A)
Akinori Iwamura * TB
Omar Infante ATL
Felipe Lopez MIL (A)
Mark Loretta LAD
Placido Polanco DET (A)
Freddy Sanchez * SF (A)

Shortstops
Orlando Cabrera MIN (A)
Juan Castro LAD
Alex Cora NYM
Bobby Crosby OAK
Adam Everett DET
Alex Gonzalez * BOS
Khalil Greene STL
Ramon Martinez LAD
John McDonald TOR
Marco Scutaro TOR (A)
Miguel Tejada HOU
Jack Wilson * SEA

Third Basemen
Adrian Beltre SEA (B)
Geoff Blum HOU
Craig Counsell MIL
Joe Crede MIN
Mark DeRosa STL (B)
Pedro Feliz * PHI
Chone Figgins LAA (B)
Troy Glaus STL (A)
Jerry Hairston NYY (B)
Mike Lamb MIL
Melvin Mora * BAL (B)
Juan Uribe SF

Starting Pitchers
Brandon Backe HOU
Josh Beckett * BOS
Erik Bedard SEA (B)
Daniel Cabrera ARZ
Bartolo Colon CWS
Jose Contreras COL
Doug Davis ARZ (B)
Justin Duchscherer OAK (B)
Adam Eaton COL
Kelvim Escobar LAA
Jon Garland * LAD (B)
Tom Glavine ATL
Mike Hampton HOU
Rich Harden CHC (B)
Livan Hernandez WAS
Tim Hudson * ATL
Randy Johnson SF (B)
John Lackey LAA (A)
Cliff Lee * PHI (A)
Braden Looper * MIL (B)
Jason Marquis COL (B)
Kevin Millwood * TEX
Brett Myers PHI
Vicente Padilla * LAD (B)
Carl Pavano MIN (B)
Brad Penny SF
Odalis Perez WAS
Andy Pettitte NYY (B)
Joel Pineiro STL (B)
Sidney Ponson KC
Jason Schmidt LAD
John Smoltz STL
Tim Wakefield * BOS (B)
Jarrod Washburn DET
Brandon Webb * ARZ (B)
Todd Wellemeyer STL
Randy Wolf (A)

Since the list itself is a little dull, how about I spice it up with a question. What are the chances we could pry Omar Infante from the Braves as our second baseman? He's not a type B player, but has a career hitting line that isn't too bad for a 2nd baseman ( .264 .310 .391 .701 ) and still has good defense. Those offensive numbers aren't great, but then again he's only 27 and the average for his last three seasons is about .285 .340 .390 .730. Not bad. His 2009 contract was 1.85 million.

Organization Review (Corner Outfielders)

2009-11-03T23:47:02Z

With all the positions reviewed to date, there aren't many more than ten players in the organization playing at each position. Doing the corner outfielders together means that the top ten will include more prospects that have a legitimate chance of someday playing with the Twins. As with all the previous reviews this isn't meant to be a prospect ranking, rather, it is a ranking of the top ten corner outfielders based on their play this past season.

The Tenth ranked corner outfielder is a former first round pick, Matt Moses. Since being the 21st overall pick in 2003, Matt moved through the system the first few years at a pace expected of a first round selection. His best year was 2005 when he hit .306/.376/.453 with 7 home runs in 265 at bats for the Ft. Myers Miracle. That excellent start earned Moses a promotion to New Britain where he hit .210/.275/.366 in 186 at bats. With the exception of a brief move up to Rochester in 2007 when he hit .224 Average in 174 at bats, Matt has been in New Britain for the past four plus years. This season Moses hit .224/.274/.353 in 255 at bats to be the 47th ranked player in the organization after ranking 45th in 2008. Moses is again a six year minor league free agent and with several outfielders moving up from Ft. Myers, it is unlikely that he will return to the Twins next year.

The ninth ranked outfielder has a name Twins fans are very familiar with, Steve Liddle. Steve was the Twins 15th round selection in this year's draft out of Vanderbilt University. The nephew of the Twins bench coach with the same name, Liddle was the Elizabethton Twins leading hitter following his signing the last month of their season at .360/.441/.520 in 50 at bats with 2 home runs. Liddle's excellent short season earned him my #38 ranking in his first year of professional ball.

The eighth ranked outfielder is a young man who attended college in Mankato, Mark Dolenc. Dolenc, who was the Twins 15th round selection in 2006, began his career in the GCL with promotions of one level each year. Last season Dolenc hit .260/.338/.347 in 389 at bats for Beloit to rank as my 46th best position player. This season Mark moved up another level to Ft. Myers where he had his best season, hitting .288/.332/.394 in 386 at bats with 27 stolen bases in 33 attempts. Dolenc, who moved up 12 spots in this year's ranking to #34, should move up another level next year to New Britain and if he again shows improvement he is someone the Twins will begin to consider as a player who just might join the major league club some time a few years in the future.

The seventh best corner outfielder is a young man who was with the DSL Twins in 2008, Oswaldo Arcia. Arcia was one of the top two hitters for the DSL Twins last year, hitting .293/.343/.432 in 229 at bats. This season Arcia came to the U.S. in late March and went on to be one of the GCL top hitters. Arcia hit .275/.337/.455 in 167 at bats with a team best 11 doubles and 5 home runs which also tied for ninth best in the league. This young man, who turned 18 this past May, ranked as my 30th best player and is another name we will hear a lot of over the next few years when talking about all the top outfield prospects in the organization.

The sixth best corner outfielder was the Twins tenth round pick in 2008 out of Dallas Baptist University, Evan Bigley. Bigley had an excellent rookie season at Elizabethton where he hit .300/.360/.587 in 213 at bats with a league second best 14 home runs and 47 RBI. That perofrmance for the championship Elizabethton Twins earned Bigley my 28th ranking. This season Bigley moved up a level to Beloit where he hit .307/.340/.446 in 101 at bats, earning a mid-season promotion to Ft. Myers. Bigley continued to hit very well for the Miracle, .280/.336/.405 in 328 at bats to move up a spot to #29 this year. Look for Bigley to return to Ft. Myers next spring, however, any improvement should earn him another mid-season promotion to AA.

The fifth best outfielder is a young man the Twins obtained from the Mets in the Luis Castillo trade, Dustin Martin. Martin had an excellent season in 2008 at New Britain, hitting .290/.355/.447 in 510 at bats with 34 doubles, 8 triples, 10 home runs, 72 RBI and 22 stolen bases in 33 attempts. Martin went on to play for the AFL champion Phoenix Desert Dogs where he hit .314/.397/.449 in 118 at bats. Martin's excellent 2008 was rewarded by the Twins with an invitation to join them in spring training. Martin had an excellent spring with the Twins, yet, didn't have the season many expected with Rochester where he hit .254/.319/.351 in 422 at bats. Martin, who did have a team high 26 stolen bases in 34 attempts, finished his season as my 25th ranked player after being ranked 12th best last year. Martin is playing winter ball with the Aragua Tigres in the VWL, where he is off to an excellent start at .311/.419/.525 in 61 at bats.

Ranking fourth best is the Twins second round pick in 2006, Joe Benson. A young man who could also be a center fielder, Benson was a highly recruited running back out of Joliet Catholic with all indications that he would now be at Purdue if he hadn't signed with the Twins. Benson hadn't played a lot of baseball when drafted and has always been considered a "raw" prospect who many believe has the physical ability to develop into a "five tool" player. After solid but unspectacular seasons at Beloit in 2007 and 2008, some were surprised that the Twins promoted Benson to Ft. Myers this year. Last season Benson missed nearly half of his season at Beloit with a back injury after hitting .248/.326/.382 in 254 at bats with 16 doubles and 17 stolen bases in 28 attempts to rank as my 48th player. Benson was off to a tremendous start this season when he broke his hand hitting the dugout following an at bat in a game that he already had multi hits. Even though Benson missed about two months, he finished his season hitting .285/.414/.403 in 263 at bats with 5 home runs and 14 stolen bases in 21 attempts. Benson took a big step forward this years towards becomming the type of player the Twins have always believed he could be. Moving up 25 spots in this year's ranking to #23, I look for Benson to move up to New Britain next year where he will continue his development so that he is ready to join the Twins sometime in 2011.

The third best outfielder is a young man who was also very raw when drafted by the Twins in the 15th round of the 2004 draft (what is it about drafting outfielders in the 15th round?). Juan Portes was selected out of a Boston area high school as a middle infielder. He played a lot of second and third base, however, with questions about his defense he moved to the outfield in 2008 at Ft. Myers. After hitting .327 Average for the GCL Twins in 2004, Portes had several solid seasons at Elizabethton, Beloit and Ft. Myers in 2005-2007. Portes repeated at Ft. Myers in 2008 where he hit .270/.319/.395 in 456 at bats with 21 doubles, 12 home runs and 54 RBI, finishing as my 29th ranked player. Portes was promoted to New Britain this year and rewarded the Twins by being the Rock Cats second best hitter. Portes hit .297/.366/.434 in 327 at bats with 21 doubles, 3 triples, 6 home runs and 7 stolen bases in 10 attempts...moving up 10 spots to #19 this year. Portes, who is playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic this winter with Aguilas, has played six years in the minor leagues and will be a free agent. Although it is unlikely that Portes will be added to the 40-man roster, it is likely that the Twins will be interested in bringing him back for another season.

The second best corner outfielder is a young man who has also been an outfielder for only the past two seasons. David Winfree was drafted as a third baseman in the 13th round of the 2003 draft. Winfree had several lows in his Twins career including a period in 2006 when he left the team for personal reasons with the high being named the Twins Minor League Player of the year in 2005 when he hit .294 Average at Beloit with 16 home runs and an organization high 101 RBI. Winfree moved to right field in 2008 at New Britain where he hit .252/.319/.450 in 453 at bats with 27 doubles, 19 home runs and 87 RBI. Winfree was invited to spring training this year where he played very well. Winfree was promoted to Rochester this year where he was one of the best players on a team that had a disappointing season. Winfree hit .273/.317/.460 in 422 at bats with a team high 31 doubles, 14 home runs and 61 RBI. After finishing 2008 as my 13th ranked player, Winfree's excellent season at Rochester moved him up five spots to #8. Winfree is another player that likely is on the bubble of those being considered for the 40-man roster. Will he be gone if not added is the question? If not, look for Winfree to return to Rochester next season with a callup to the Twins likely when a powerful right handed bat is needed.

The top ranked corner outfielder is a young man who has played a lot of baseball this year, Rene Tosoni. This young Canadian began his season in New Britain following a year at Ft. Myers where he was the Miracle's leading hitter when he broke his foot and missed nearly two-thirds of the season. Even though Tosoni had played less than half a season of baseball beyond Elizabethton (2007), Tosoni's promotion from a Twins organization that does not rush players tells us a lot about what they think of his abilities. Their evaluation was confirmed when Tosoni was selected as the Twins lone representative in this summer's Futures All-Star game.

Tosoni, who turned 23 this July, hit .300/.408/.414 in 140 at bats for Ft. Myers in 2008 to rank as my 17th ranked player. Tosoni began this season at New Britain in a much publicized slump, yet, made the necessary adjustments to finish at .271/.360/.454 with 25 doubles, 4 triples, 15 home runs and 71 RBI in 425 at bats. Tosoni left the Rock Cats a few days before their play-offs to join Team Canada in the World Cup where he was one of his teams top hitters. Tosoni then joined the Mesa Solar Sox where he is now playing in the prestigious Arizona Fall League. Ranking as the #3 player this season, Rene Tosoni appears to be a prospect who will have an excellent career with the Minnesota Twins beginning some time after September, 2010.

Minor League Report...October 31, 2009

2009-10-31T12:08:26Z

Good morning from beautiful South Carolina. Every week this time of year we find a few more Twins organization players reporting to their winter teams, although players who were with the Twins won't be reporting for several more weeks.

Following a few year's when the Twins representatives in the AFL played with the top team in the league, this year's version of the Mesa Solar Sox are struggling with a 5-10 record and find themselves in last place in their three team division. After a 0-10 start, Chris Parmalee is hitting .268/.360/.634 in 41 at bats while leading the Solar Sox with 3 home runs and 15 RBI. By comparison, Boston's Ryan Kalish (some may remember his name as one of several players talked about in the various Santana scenarios) is second on the team with 8 RBI. Rene Tosoni is hitting .268/.367/.439 while leading the team with 2 triples. After a hot start, Steven Singleton is hitting .282/.293/.436. Michael McCardell has made 3 starts (8.2 ip) with an ERA that shot up to 7.27 following his last outing when he gave up 5 earned runs. Spencer Steedley has struggled with his control in his first 6 games (6.0 ip) with 3K/10BB for a 6.00ERA. Alex Burnett appeared in 5 games (4.2ip) with a 5.79ERA and 4K/5BB. Steve Hirschfield, who was one of the top pitchers in the organization this year, has pitched 4.1 innings in 5 games with 7K/2BB and a 20.77ERA.

Wilson Ramos continues to hit like a man with a mission with last night's 2-4 game becomming the norm. Early this season, Ramos is 25-62 with 18 runs scored, 21 RBI, 6 doubles, a triple and 5 home runs. Ramos is responsible for 34 of Aragua's 109 runs. After a slow start Dustin Martin has been hitting much better of late at .264/.385/.453 in 53 at bats. Martin is second on the team with 14 RBI. Justin Huber is hitting .283/.377/.348 while Jonathan Goncalves is 2-11. Jason Jones has a 5.00ERA in 4 starts with 18.0 innings. Frank Mata has been great, with a 2-1 record and 3.18ERA in 7 games (11.1 innings). Oswaldo Sosa has a 5.40ERA in 1.2 innings while Edgar Ibarra did not appear in any games this week. After a terrible first week, Aragua has improved to 7-10 and moved up to sixth place in an eight team league.

Pedro Guerra (Ace of this year's DSL Twins) has been very good for Lara in the VWL, appearing in 5 games this week with 7 hits, 5 runs (2 earned) and 6K/5BB in 7 innings. Guerra has a 4.09ERA early this season. Winston Marquez had been outstanding for Lara until last night's start that they lost 11-1. Marquez gave up 6 hits and 4 runs in 5.0 innings to raise his ERA to 5.40 for the season. He has started 4 games with 12K/6BB in 21.0 innings.

Juan Portes has appeared in one game for Aguilas of the DWL. Estarlin De Los Santos is hitting .250/.314/.313 in 32 at bats for Gigantes of the DWL. Juan Morillo didn't make any appearances this week while Jose Lugo appeared in 2 games (2.2 innings) with 2 hits, 2 runs and 1K/1BB.

Will be travelling the next few days so it will be mid-week before I get back to the position reviews with the corner outfielders. Will also be completing my first ever Top 20 after I have completed all the position reviews.

Gomez vs. Young

2009-10-30T06:47:53Z

There's been a lot of talk about what to upgrade on the Twins but one thing that the Twins also need to consider is making a decision on who to start between Gomez and Young. They're both still very young (23) which is the average age at AA, however Gomez just played his 2nd full major league season and Young his 3rd. They both still have tons of potential even though they haven't become the players we hoped they would just yet.

It' been said many times here and elsewhere that it has not helped either of them to be sitting on the bench. For the players sake and for the Twins sake they need to decide on one and send the other away. It's a tough decision as whoever they ship away could come back to haunt them because both have all star ceilings (remember I said ceiling, not what I expect).

I really don't have a ton of time to break everything down statistically so I'll leave that up to anyone who feels the initiative to do so. I just felt like this was a debate that could/should take place in its own fanpost. My personal opinion is to keep Gomez. He already is a great defender and if he never develops offensively he'll at least give us great defense. Gomez also allows the Twins to use Span at a corner which improves the defense and allows the Twins to not have to worry about at 4th/5th OF being able to play Center as Span can still slide over there as needed. Gomez might not be the better hitter yet, but he does appear to be working on his patience as his walk rate went up 2.5% while his K rate went down 3% (Delmons both went the other direction). He never got a consistent shot at starting this year and my hope would be that he would improve those numbers even more in the future as a result of everyday play. So now it's your turn what do you think and why?

Poll

Oops, now who do you really keep

Target Offseason

2009-10-26T21:24:37Z

With the Twins headed to Target Field in 2010, they should focus on fixing and filling the glaring holes that they have on their team. With the burden of the dome off their backs, Target Field will bring in additional revenue for the Twins to use in the upcoming years, but for this offseason, why not spend a little more then your payroll? The Twins managed to sneak away with the Central Division in Game 163, but they lacked fire power in the NY series (again!), going 3 and out. The Twins must fix their needs this offseason in order to bring October Baseball into Target Field in its opening year.

The Twins need quite a number of factors to fit in with their already strongly built foundation. All of these factors may not have to be filled this offseason, but certainly I expect and hope for a few of them to be filled.

Twins Needs: SP (Ace type), 2B, SS, 3B, RP

Twins Excess: LF/RF, Utility, 2B, Minor League (AAAA)

Starting Pitchers: Before the Trade Deadline, the Twins acquired Carl Pavano, who did quite well for the Twins down the stretch in helping securing a post season berth. I would not at all be averse to the Twins bringing back Pavs for another season, but I would like them to look at a few names before deciding to bring him back.

Erik Bedard, Ben Sheets, Rich Harden, Chris Capuano, Doug Davis, Justin Duchscherer, Jon Garland, Brandon Webb, Jarrod Washburn, Brad Penny...

All of the above pitchers have their ups and downs, but all are pitchers who I would approve in a Twins uniform. Of the above pitchers that I see joining the Twins, Doug Davis, Jon Garland and Jarrod Washburn are the only pitchers that I can reasonably see in the Twins uniform for the right money.

Pretend for a minute that the Twins did sign Doug Davis. The Twins starting rotation would then look like this: Baker, Slowey, Duensing, Blackburn, and Davis.

Seth Stoh's presents an argument for the Twins to attempt to sign Florida Marlins ace Josh Johnson. Do I think that this is a good idea? For the right money, I do. If the Twins could get Josh Johnson for Delmon Young + Philip Humber + Tolbert/Casilla/Buscher, I would think that it was a very good deal for the Twins.

Second Base: At second base this year, the Twins ran into multiple problems. Casilla started off the year at 2B, batting second in the order. Due to mental issues on defense, and his inability to advance Span or be the second leadoff hitter, Casilla was quickly demoted. Then, Gardenhire tried Tolbert, whose first round with the Twins was a disaster. Then, Gardy stuck Punto there, who he seemed to like in that spot, and Punto held 2B for the remainder of the year, despite hitting .212 prior to September.

The Twins must find a way to finally solve the roller coaster ride at 2B. Since Luis Castillo, the Twins have had troubles finding the perfect 2B - a high OBP, low SLG, above average defender. Who is available for the Twins on the FA market?

Akinori Iwamura, Orlando Hudson, Felipe Lopez, Mark DeRosa, Placido Polanco

Those are the 2B that I could stomach seeing in the blue and red of the Minnesota uniform next season. Polanco is a Type A, Central Division foe, 2B. Twins are leery of offering deals to type A players, let alone from the Central Division. An exemption to that was made this past season when the Twins obtained Joe Crede from the White Sox. However, would the Twins be willing to give up a draft pick to the Tigers for Polanco? I do not think so. Polanco certainly fits the Twins idea of a 2B and Gardy would love his production in the lineup. However, his type A status especially, will be the downfall of Polanco.

I personally would like to see Akinori Iwamura (only because Hudson will most probably be out of our price range). Iwamura is the prototypical Twins 2B and would fit nicely in the 2/8 spot in the order. Iwamura provides solid defense and a steady bat and would be a great addition for the Twins at 2 years/8 million (Punto money).

Shortstop: While the Twins went out at the Trade Deadline and signed Orlando Cabrera, who helped the Twins win the Central Division, I do not believe that he will be back in the Twins uniform. Cabrera certainly helped develop some of the young latin Twins players and provided his normal last minute heroics in game 163. Shorstop has been another gaping hole for the Twins since they traded away Bartlett, but especially moreso since the days of Cristian Guzman. Gardy has tried Punto, Harris, Tolbert, Castro, and others at SS but has found nobody (at least to Twins fans liking) in any of his experiments.

Once again, this roller coaster must be solved quickly as Twins fans get impatient for the coming of a new SS with no prospects on the immediate horizon. Who is available?

Orlando Cabrera, Marco Scutaro, Miguel Tejada, John McDonald, and J.J. Hardy (via trade)

The Twins could always bring back Cabrera, but I hope they do not try him out again unless they sign a decent 2B. Scutaro and Tejada will be out of the Twins price range. McDonald is a Punto type player but with better defense; if he can be had for 1 year/2 million, I would like him over Punto at SS, but again this must come with the condition of a decent 2B, as I would not like a middle infield of Punto/McDonald - entire defense, zip for offense.

Personally, I would love it if the Twins would chase and obtain J.J. Hardy from the Brewers. Hardy had a bad season in 2009, and was sent down in August to AAA, while Escobar was brought up. The Brewers appear set to trade Hardy as the management really likes Escobar's potential. With Hardy's bad season and his demotion, the common idea is that Hardy could be had for a middle rotation pitcher plus a low ball prospect. A trade that I would propose to the Brewers would be Perkins plus Bromberg. Bromberg is high on the Twins list, but a low ball pitcher and certainly with the Twins ability to gauge players potential, they will quickly be able to fill in his vacancy.'

If Perkins plus Bromberg, or Perkins + McCardell/Fox/Mullins/Waldrop, I would hope that the Twins would obtain Hardy. With the addition of Hardy, they would solidify SS for a couple years and possibly more, if the Hardy is open to an extension.

Third Base: The Twins signed Joe Crede for 3B in 2009 and Crede did an admirable job in his year. Would the Twins possibly be open to bringing Crede back for another year while Valencia develops some more in the minors? Maybe, and Crede looks to be the only option on the market.

Personally, I see the Twins standing pat at 3B this offseason, or possibly bringing back Crede, again on an incentive based contract. I see the Twins starting the year with Crede or Harris/Tolbert/Punto at 3B, then bringing Valencia up at the end of May/beginning of June. The Twins appear comfortable with Valencia, and I do not see any reason to cheat Valencia of his opportunity to prove his worth.

Relief Pitchers: Twins management signed Jon Rauch and Ron Mahay in August to complete their midseason trades. Twins bullpen improved greatly with these signings and I see no reason for the Twins not to bring these pitchers back this next year. Still, its always good to see what is available among the RP FA Market.

The only names I am really interested in on the free agent market are Chad Cordero and Brandon Lyon, and I see the Twins bringing back Ron Mahay, who will also be in his FA year. Lyon is a type B, former Detroit Tiger. I see the Twins pursuing Lyon, though with several pitchers coming off the DL in 2010, I cannot see an aggressive pursuit of the Lyon. Twins will have Pat Neshek and Boof Bonser back in 2010. Neshek and Bonser provide the Twins with two missing pieces and allow the Twins to cut some fat (i.e. Bobby Keppel).

If the Twins go with their traditional 12 man staff, 7 of which will be relief pitchers, here is who I envision in the Twins bullpen in 2010.

Nathan - CL
Rauch - SU
Mijares - SU
Guerrier - SU
Neshek - MR
Mahay - LOOGY
Bonser/Liriano - LR

Who do I hope to see out of Minnesota come 2010?:

Delmon Young, Matt Tolbert/Alexi Casilla, Brian Buscher, Bobby Keppel, Glen Perkins, Jesse Crain

Of all the above positions that I have outlined, who do I want the most from every position?:

Doug Davis/Josh Johnson - SP, Akinori Iwamuri - 2B, J.J. Hardy - SS, Joe Crede - 3B, Brandon Lyon - RP

In the above Q&A, Who do I see in a Twins uniform next season?

Doug Davis, J.J. Hardy

Ideal Twins Staff:

Johnson - SP
Baker - SP
Slowey - SP
Blackburn - SP
Duensing - SP

Span - LF
Hardy - SS
Mauer - C
Morneau - 1B
Kubel - DH
Cuddyer - RF
Crede - 3B
Iwamura - 2B
Gomez - CF

Redmond/Morales - backup C
Tolbert - Utility
Valencia - 3B
Strong Bench Bat

Nathan - CL
Rauch - SU
Guerrier - SU
Mijares - SU
Lyon - SU
Mahay - LOOGY
Bonser/Liriano - LR

Realistic 2010 Twins Staff:

Baker - SP
Slowey - SP
Davis - SP
Blackburn - SP
Duensing - SP

Span - LF
Hardy - SS
Mauer - C
Morneau - 1B
Kubel - DH
Cuddyer - RF
Valencia - 3B
Punto - 2B
Gomez - CF

Morales/Redmond - backup C
Tolbert - Utility
Harris - backup 3B
???/Huber - strong bench bat

Nathan - CL
Rauch - SU
Mijares - SU
Guerrier - SU
Neshek - MR
Mahay - LOOGY
Bonser/Liriano - LR

Even those two changes has really given the Twins a new look. I would be perfectly content with only those two players on our beloved Twins. I think they would provide significant improvements to an already strong core unit.

Poll

What is the important position/s to fill?

Again, loyalties?

2009-10-26T04:25:02Z

So, the Yankees are ALCS champs. Again. Aren't we all thrilled?

I personally now have zero interest in watching baseball any longer. I could not care less about either team playing in the World Series. As much as I would like to see the Yankees lose, I really don't want to see the Phillies win either. Such a quandry, right? Anyway, now that it's determined who will be playing in the World Series (for all the glory, etc etc), where do your loyalties lie? The Evil Empire or the Other East Coast Team? Do you even care anymore? And why, Angels, whyyyy?! :(

P.S. How much do you miss Twins baseball already? It's only a couple weeks into the offseason and I'm already jonesin' for some Baby J, Cuddy, and Big Game Blackbeard.

Poll

Who would you like to see as World Series champs in 2009 (or possibly 2010 with all these crazy off days)?

New York Yankees

37 votes

Philadelphia Phillies

213 votes

The umpires

56 votes

Baseball is dead to me

155 votes

461 votes | Poll has closed

Another Dead Offseason

2009-10-25T05:31:17Z

I love our Twins, I love the TC logo, and TC Bear. I will miss the dome, but embrace Target Field (Not to be mistaken for Target Center...Geniuses). I long for many more seasons of the M n M boys, because frankly just M boy is kind of boring, but as a Twins fan, I am used to being let down, and I am afraid to say it, but this offseason is going to be no different.

If the Pohlad family are good for anything, it's proving that they can get by on the cheap with this organization. They have won numerous Division titles on low budget teams. Why should this offseason be any different? They proved that with just a tweak in house and adding a low risk veteran they can make an improbable push and win yet another division pennant. The problem is that many Minnesota fans are saying, "enough is enough." Why should we settle for "One-and-Done's" when other teams are continuously getting better. We need to go out and at least add a strong pitcher. I hear Lackey is going to be available, and hell, I'd be satisfied with a Bedard or Harden. We need to solidify the middle infield. Valencia at Third sounds nice for next year, and lets pair him next to Tejada, and put Casilla back at second. He may not be any better than Punto, but at least he has an upside. I'm tired of giving Punto chance after chance to waiver around the Mendoza line, and never come up clutch. Casilla didn't play well, but at least he could improve. Punto is going nowhere fast, but yet Gardy's affection for mediocre utility players with below average bats (Which is what he was), continues to pencil him in somewhere. Maybe after Mauer leaves, and trots off into the sunset to fade into the crowd in NY or LA we can try Punto behind the plate. At least catchers aren't expected to produce with the bat. Tejada may be a pipe dream, but it would be nice. People continue to talk about trading for the likes of an Uggla, or a JJ Hardy, but we really don't have much to offer a team that we can afford to give up. Sure we could dump off a starting pitcher, but look how well that worked for us in the Garza deal. I'd rather get something for Gomez and potentially Crain or Liriano, but I don't see us snagging a starting second basemen or shortstop above what we have now. Maybe JJ Hardy would come for that, but Uggla? No way. We need to shore up one of those spots; however, maybe putting some money into a free agent second basemen like Orlando Hudson isn't a bad idea. We have a few SS's that could platoon with Harris and Punto at short, or maybe we resign Cabrera, making our infield look a little better at the plate, even if Cabrera is an adventure in the field. I would like the looks of a Vilencia, Cabrera, Hudson, Morneau infield, or maybe a Vilencia, Tejada, Casilla/Cabrera, Morneau. I don't care who or what as long as they are an upgrade, and can cause us to be rid of Punto.

My other concern is our Outfield. It's a good concern, but a concern nonetheless. We have Cuddy, Span, Gomez, and Young all outfielders, as well as Kubel who will probably stay predominately DH again, as he should. Cuddy is obvious at right field, that makes perfect sense, and if we keep Gomez, and he can be semi consistent, even if he's only hitting .230 or .240, he would be center field, and then we would have Span in left, leaving Delmon Young the odd man out. Some people are ok with this, and think we should trade him, coming off a hot end of the season. I couldn't deny that is an intriguing idea, but I don't think the market for a slow, limpy, clumsy left fielder is that high, especially one with mediocre hitting abilities. I say we either A) Trade Morneau (OMG) and put Cuddy at first, leaving Young in his natural right field, or B) Trade Cuddy (Slight OMG) and put you guessed it, Young in his natural right field. Young played right all through out his career in Tampa Bay, and then he gets here and we throw him in left. Doesn't make sense to me. Let me look back to my two aforementioned trade scenarios for a minute. Trade one was getting rid of M n M number two Justin Morneau, which is a sickening thought, but he has a high value, which would bring us potentially a starting pitcher, or a good relief pitcher and some prospects, and would free up some money. Cuddy showed that at least for a short time, he could play first more than serviceable. I was impressed, and like I stated before we could get a decent amount for Morneau. The other deal, which makes much more sense, is trade away Michael Cuddyer who still has some high value, which would net us either a solid position player and a prospect or two or a strong pitcher and a prospect or two, or a few prospects. I would hate to see him go, but we need to cut something in order to position ourselves for a strong season next year. Especially when you have Detroit, Chicago, and Kansas City all sporting solid to extremely good starting rotations.

As a Minnesotan, I'm tired of falling victim to the "Middling infielder at low cost," or "Veteran arm to add some leadership," scenario that this team is pulling. It's a scam to say we brought in Ramon Ortiz, or Livan Hernandez for any other reason than to save some coins. Come on Twins, open things up a bit. Let's see a strong offseason, not a boring one.

Poll

Are the Twins going to be active this hot stove?

Baseball's Unspoken Corruption

2009-10-25T03:29:56Z

Baseball has a big problem. One that threatens the credibility of the game.

No, it's not steroids, nor runaway contracts, nor mal distributed team revenue, though each of these is bad enough.

Baseball's biggest problem right now is tying its post-season schedule directly and unalteringly to T.V. network requirements. In other words, games can only be played (or must be played) when the TV network decides.

This phenomenon has completely changed the post-season vis-a-vis how teams are built and compete during the regular season. And, it demeans, diminishes and degrades baseball as a sport. Furthermore, it is fundamentally unfair to the players who are expected to perform at peak levels as professionals.

Check this out: since winning their respective divisions, being the two best teams in the American League, the Yankees and the Angels have played only 8 games over the last 3 weeks. That's 8 games in 20 days.

Partly because they each swept their division series, the Yankees and the Angels have played just eight games in 20 days since the end of the regular season.

That's not even taking into consideration that, since both the Angels and the Yanks clinched their divisions a week ahead of time, they cruised into the playoffs on autopilot. How are players supposed to maintain their peak performance when they only play once every three days?

Yet, the Twins, who also won their division, albeit in a one-game playoff on the Tuesday after the end of the season, had to race to New York on a "champagne flight" the same night after conquering the Tigers in order to play a Wednesday game in New York.

So, let's get this straight: the Angels and Yankees have been sitting and waiting for the better part of a month for the playoffs, but a team, like the Twins, have to beat hell to New York on the same day they clinch a division because the playoffs can't wait?

Why is post-season baseball like this?

The reason for the elongated schedule is the recent change in the start of the World Series. From 1985 through 2006, the World Series was scheduled to start on a Saturday. Then baseball and the networks concluded that Saturday was a dead night for ratings. They built a few extra days into the schedule, which pushed Game 1 to a Wednesday.

Oh, television ratings?

Here is America's past-time, revered because it is played EVERY SINGLE DAY (almost) throughout the summer, with a long history of characters, franchises and amazing games--all predicated on a team's ability to persevere and adapt as a unit to the daily grind.

And yet, when it comes to the final few series of the year, baseball becomes something else. One game here, then a break, then a game, then a travel day, then a game, then a break, then a travel day.

Don't take my word for what this change is like at the level of a team. Here's the Angels' manager:

“Ridiculous,” Scioscia said. “I don’t know. Can I say it any clearer than that? We should have never had a day off last Wednesday. We should never have three days off after the season. You shouldn’t even have two days off after the season.

“It just takes an advantage away for a deep team, which everybody feels very strongly is an asset. It takes that advantage away and I think that’s something that Major League Baseball hopefully will consider looking at.”

What MLB is looking at is making as much money as they can from TV revenues. Like so many things in our culture, the "marketplace" has become more important than the product itself, because the bottom line is money, not quality of product.

This has happened time and again, and first began when shippers realized that certain apples "looked better" after handling and a couple of weeks in boxes than the heirloom varieties that tasted better. Give them apples that "look" good, but not the ones that are good.

Maybe this would be acceptable if it weren't so diametrically opposed to the reality of regular season baseball. The playoffs are now going to favor the teams with a BIG STARTING PITCHER and a couple of ace relievers. I mean, how many times do we have to watch Captain Cheeseburger throw a game? We are rewarding teams who have the ability to hide behind just a couple of key players. Over and over again all the way to the championship. The time is not far away when a single pitcher wins all FOUR games in a championship series. Mark my words, it will happen.

Mainly though, baseball is just wrong about this. When you give up the every day drama, you lose connection with the fans. This is not like football. All the media hype, reporters filing meaningless stories about this or that. It's baseball. The only real thing to do is to play. And play every day. And may the best TEAM win.

Unfortunately, though, at least during the post-season, MLB has decided that playing baseball regularly is not something they can afford to do.

As a result, game 7 of the World Series is now scheduled for November 5th. November 5th!!! If the weather cooperates. If not, they will play it the following spring. So much for the "Days of October" or "Mr. October."

Truly, this is the very definition of corruption. And someone, somewhere has to stand up and call this ridiculous practice of first setting the TV schedule, then the baseball teams who will meet it, for what it is. Kudos to Mike Scioscia.

Redmond determined to keep playing

2009-10-25T01:13:06Z

According to MLB.com, Mike Redmond is determined to try his hand in the free agent market this winter in hopes of continuing to play somewhere in major league baseball. I am not in any position to analyze his worth over Morales or Butera or Ramos so I'll leave that to the heavy lifters here on this site.

Apparently Redmond brought a lot of good energy to the clubhouse, and every team needs some veteran leadership. In addition, it sounds like Redmond is interested in coaching and might be an effective coach for the organization, so it might be beneficial to keep him around. Nonetheless, I find it hard to believe he is worth keeping after a season where he "batted a career-low .237 with two doubles, seven RBIs and a .588 OPS in 135 at-bats. He also threw out only five of 40 runners while behind the plate."

No matter how raw Morales is, its hard to imagine he wouldn't be a significant upgrade over that.

Poll

so who should be the backup catcher next year?

Offseason

2009-10-24T04:27:45Z

They need to somehow find a way to trade for Brandon Webb who is in the last year of his contract and the Diamondbacks are looking to trade him anyway, trade one of the three perkins/gomez/liriano for JJ Hardy to fill the much needed shortstop vacancy, and finally they need to trade for 2nd baseman Dan Uggla which the Marlins are looking to cut some salary and of course trying to get even younger. Let Pavano go as well as Cabrera which would make their team look like this:

STARTING LINEUP:

C- MAUER (12.5) 1B- MORNEAU (14) 2B- UGGLA (5-7)

SS- HARDY (4-5) 3B- PUNTO (4) LF- YOUNG (2.5)

CF- SPAN (440k) RF- CUDDYER (8.5) DH- KUBEL (4.1)

BENCH:

C- MORALES (440k) INF- TOLBERT (440k) INF- HARRIS (1) OUT- PRIDIE (440k)

STARTERS:

SP- WEBB (8.5) SP- BAKER (3) SP- SLOWEY (440k) SP- BLACKBURN (440k) SP- DUENSING (440k)

BULLPEN:

RP- MANSHIP (440k) RP- GUERRIER (2.5) RP- RAUCH (2.9) RP- MAHAY (1.5) RP- MIJARES (440k)

RP- CRAIN (2) CL- NATHAN (11.25)

That totals about (90-93) million

That is with trading Liriano, Perkins, Gomez, along with a few prospects to get those UGGLA, HARDY, AND WEBB.

Minor League Report...October 24, 2009

2009-10-23T20:20:30Z

Gonna be heading to the airport at 5am tomorrow, so will try to get something out this afternoon. As of now, we all are aware of the minor league manager changes announced this week. Tom Nieto fresh off his playoff season in New Britain is moving up to Rochester. Jeff Smith off two wonderful winning seasons in Ft. Myers moves up to New Britain with Jake Mauer moving across the parking lot from the GCL Twins to the Miracle. The managers in Elizabethton and Beloit appear to be staying put. No announcement that I have seen on who will take over the GCL Twins...but my best guess is that it will be local favorite Tommy Watkins (I have no knowledge that this will happen, merely a guess).

The defending Caribbean champion Aragua Tigres are off to a tough start after losing three of five this week for a 3-8 record. Wilson Ramos had hits in all five games with three 2-hit games and one 3-hit game. At 18-48, Ramos is now hitting .375/.434/.771 with 5 doubles, 1 triple, 4 home runs, 14 runs scored and 15 RBI. He also has struck out 9 times with 4 walks. Justin Huber is hitting .357/.471/.429 in 28 at basts with 2 doubles and 4 RBI. Dustin Martin is hitting .182/.317/.273 in 33 at bats with a home run and 4 RBI. Pitcher Jason Jones has started three games with 13.1 innings and a 4.73ERA with 7K/2BB. Short reliever Frank Mata has a 2-0 record in 5 games, 8.1 innings with a 2.16ERA and 3K/4BB. Oswaldo Sosa, who is back from his nearly season long injury, has appeared in two games with 1.2 innings and a 5.40ERA. Edgar Ibarra has appeared in two games with 0.1 inning, 0.00ERA and 1K/0BB.

The Mesa Solar Dogs aren't doing much better in the AFL with a 3-6 record. Steve Singleton leads the Twins representatives, hitting .273/.273/.500 in 22 at bats with 2 doubles, a home run and 3 RBI. Rene Tosoni is hitting .238/.333/.571 in 21 at bats with 2 triples, a home run, 2 RBI and 4 runs scored. After going hitless in his first ten at bats, Chris Parmalee is hitting .190/.308/.429 in 21 at bats with 2 doubles, a home run and 3 RBI. Of the four Twins pitchers, only Michael McCardell is off to a good start with 5.0 innings and a 3.60ERA with 7K/4BB. Steve Hirschfield has appeared in 3 games (2.1ip) with a 27.00ERA and 5K/1BB. Alex Burnett has also appeared in 3 games (two were very good) with 2.2 innings and a 10.12ERA and 4K/5BB. Spencer Steedley has appeared in 4 games with 4.0 innings and a 6.75ERA and 2K/9BB. It is very early for the pitchers, but it is also a very short fall season.

Juan Morrillo has appeared in three games for Toros in the DWL, pitching 1.1 inning with a 0-1 record and 13.50ERA with 1K/1BB. Jose Lugo has also appeared in three games for the same team, pitching 3.1 innings with a 1-0 record, 2.70ERA and 3K/2BB. Estarlin De Los Santos is playing a lot of shortstop for Gigantes and is currently hitting .313Average in his first 16 at bats. Alexi Casilla is also on Gigantes roster (hasn't played as of yet) as is catcher, Alexander Soto. DSL Twins Ace Pedro Guerra is pitching for LaGuaira in the Venezuelan league, appearing in four games this week with 5.2 innings, 9 hits, 6 runs (4 earned) and 7K/3BB.

Is Wilson Ramos making a statement that he is ready to play for the Twins in 2010?

The Dome: The other perspective

2009-10-23T08:17:33Z

So we have at last arrived at the point the dome will be deflated and filled with water to become the world's largest swimming pool and ice rink (during winter), but I am not a dome-basher and never have been, so it is with some sadness that I think about the dome disappearing from the baseball world.

Immediately, I hear incredulous cries of, "What? Have you lost your last ounce of sense?" Baseball was meant to be played on grass and in places where the natural elements can be felt enveloping the lucky fan who attends. To this I say, "BAH!" One man's trash is another's treasure.

I went to few Twins games as a lad. My father worked long hours and baseball games were a bit extravagant in his mind, but I did manage to get to a couple of games at the Old Met. I went with some lads from our church once and saw Tony-O tie the game up in the 9th with a home run down the right field line (only to realize that the organizers had only planned on staying 9 innings and we had to leave--that was crushing). I also saw a mammoth home run to deep left field (where I seemed to be seating the few times I managed to get to a game) by the Killebrew. It was going to land right in the aisle about 5 rows below me and I thought, “I am going to play the bounce and glove that sucker,” but alas, a hotdog vendor with an empty plastic container caught the ball in his container. I was a bit miffed to see that happen, but hotdog vendors are part of baseball. Those were the fond memories, but there were also some memories I don’t look back at with fondenss.

When I was older, I went to a Vikings game and sat in right field in the bleachers; it was so cold, I really couldn't feel my fingers or my bum. The Vikings won, but it was miserable to be there really. Of course the drunk behind us helped us freeze our keesters by dumping a large quantity of Hamm's beer on us and our wooden slats. It's all part of the game and fun--aaaahhh, NO, sorry! (I also got slivers where the sun doesn't shine, but I suppose that the new ballpark will have plasti-seats, so that part will be OK.) And, lest you think, "Ahhh we're talking baseball here sonny," I also attended a Twins' night game at the Old Met in mid-September. It was so cold that we had to sit on our hands and we could see our breath. And, speaking of outdoor parks in general, I took a trip to Oakland to watch the A's play the Twins at the Coliseum. The expected heavy thunderstorms that were supposed to ruin the game, never materialized until the middle of the night. They cancelled the game hours before the game even started, so my trip to Oakland was washed out without any rain falling!

Enter the Dome. I went there often with a pal of mine to watch the Twins play. Man we saw some great games; we never cared if it was raining, sunny or snowing. Sure the PA system is campy and echoes all over the park; sure the baggie in right field looks, ahhh, baggie or a giant blue bicycle uniform. Sure Kong hit the ceiling with the mystery ball. It was all part of the charm to me.

I also loved to feel that whoosh of air as one passed through the entry way. It was like entering a different kingdom. The field was always green and had that bounce, which I thought was great. Fenway has the Monster and outfielders have difficulty playing the carom off that wall. Wrigley has the wind and high-sun, both of which give fielders fits at times, and the Dome has that puffy grey ceiling. “Don’t take your eye off the ball Willie Wilson because you might just lose it and have it bounce over your head.” And, the dome has the baggie and its line-drive-deadening effect and crazy bounces too, but they could be mastered with a bit of practice.

Of course the number one reason I love the Dome is that the Twins won their only two World Series within the confines of that Dome. Minnesota professional sports teams have only those two championships. The name Gene Larkin is known simply because of a fly ball hit to left field inside that dome! And Frankie V. played his sweetest music so he could go to Disneyland (and shortly thereafter to the arch enemy’s camp), inside that Dome. I have to associate the historical names of the great teams with the Dome as that is where I saw those players excel: Brunansky, Hrbek, Gagne, Aguilera, Blyleven (yes, even he), Gaetti, Gladden and of course, Kirby. Kirby was a Domer. He played half of all of his games under the Teflon. He didn’t complain about it, he took advantage of it.

So it is with a bit of sadness for me that games will no longer be played in the Dome. I have tons of great memories that came about inside that giant popover that I will never forget them. Additionally, I will never have a chance to take my Japanese wife to a dome game. She’s always wanted to go but that chance is lost. For the few of us who loved the Dome, we will miss her. And to her I say, "Thanks for the memories." And mark my words, someone, somewhere next year when everyone is full of love and joy for the new stadium is going to slip up and say, “You know I think that one might have gotten through at the Dome.”

Organization Review (Third Base)

2009-10-23T00:42:45Z

Tonight we will close out the infield with a look at the top ten third basemen in the organization. Like the middle infield spots, third base is another position of immediate need for the Twins. Is there someone in the organization who can be expected to fill that spot in 2010?

The tenth ranked third baseman in the organization is Juan Richardson. A native of the Dominican Republic, Richardson was signed as a 20 year old non-drafted free agent in the winter of 2007. Richardson, who also catches when needed, began his Twins career in the GCL where he hit .317/.364/.401 in 202 at bats. He spent most of 2008 at Elizabethton with a late season callup to Beloit where he hit .206/.268/.230 in 126 at bats to rank as my 89th player in 2008. Richardson spent much of this season on the DL, however, hit .271/.317/.288 in 59 at bats at Beloit before closing out his season by hitting .210/.231/.226 in 62 at bats for the Miracle. Although his play was limited, his solid start at Beloit moved Richardson up nine spots to #80 in this year's ranking.

The ninth ranked third baseman is a young man from Australia who didn't turn 18 until the end of July. Rory Rhodes began his professional career with the GCL Twins as a third baseman, however, at 6'7 there may be some question whether he remains at that position. In a year where everything was a first for this young man, he hit .198/.264/.272 in 116 at bats. The 74th ranked player in the organization will likely return to the GCL for a second season and it is also likely he will be a much improved player in 2010.

The eighth ranked third baseman is former Gopher, Nate Hanson. Hanson began his career with the Twins following the 2008 draft by hitting .215/.348/.344 in 93 at bats for the Elizabethton Twins to rank as my 86th ranked player. This season Nate moved up to Beloit where he showed considerable improvement, hitting .253/.322/.353 in 360 at bats to move up 32 spots to the #54 ranking.

A young man, who would have broken the top 50 had I included players from the DSL Twins, is Wander Guillen. Ranked as the seventh best third baseman in the organization, Guillen didn't begin play for the DSL Twins until shortly after the July 2nd International signing date. This young man didn't turn 17 until late August, yet, led the DSL Twins in Average (.336) while tying all-star Romy Trinidad for a team best .443 OBP. Guillen appeared in 31 games with 110 at bats while showing tremendous discipline for a young player by striking out only 23 times with 19 walks. By comparison, one of the Twins top young prospects for the GCL Twins this year, Oswaldo Arcia, hit .293/.343/.432 for the DSL Twins as a 17 year old in 2008. Although the Twins don't announce who they promote to the GCL each year until after the big league club leaves Ft. Myers, look for this young man to move up to the GCL next spring.

The sixth ranked third baseman is a prospect the Twins added to their 40-man roster following an injury plagued 2008 season at Beloit. After hitting .316/.406/.506 for the Elizabethton Twins in 2007, D.J. Romero moved up to Beloit last year with high expectations. After a slow start, Romero battled several injuries before showing improvement at mid-season when he broke his leg while falling into a dugout going after a foul ball. Romero finished his season at Beloit hitting .268/.309/.396, yet the Twins showed us their opinion by protecting him from the Rule V draft. After a solid spring training with the Twins, Romero was assigned to Ft. Myers where he showed spurts of the player the Twins believe he can be. He too often found himself overmatched by the strong pitching of the FSL however, finishing his season with .222/.308/.314. Although his average wasn't great, he was producteive with 18 doubles, 3 triples and 5 home runs with 56 RBI in 424 at bats. Romero moved up 20 spots in this year's ranking to #47 and likely will return to Ft. Myers in 2010.

The Fifth ranked third baseman is a young man who was the Twins fourth round pick in 2007, Reggie Williams. Although Williams plays several positions, he split time in Elizabethton this year where he hit .250/.316/.462 in 156 at bats with 7 home runs and 25 RBI. Williams moved up 31 spots to a #40 ranking this year after a 2008 season with the GCL Twins where he hit a solid .286/.358/.440 in 84 at bats playing mostly second base. Considered a raw but exciting player when drafted out of the Los Angeles inner city programs, Williams had nearly half of his hits go for extra bases this season.

The Fourth ranked third baseman is the player that Williams shared time with at Elizabethton, Anderson Hidalgo. Signed as a free agent out of Venezuela prior to the 2006 season, Hidalgo hit for averages of .310 and .305 in his first two seasons in the VSL and DSL before leading the 2008 GCL Twins with a .364/.448/.466 season. Unfortunately, his 88 at bats were a few short of the minimum needed to qualify or he would have been the GCL leading hitter. His numbers were good enough however to rank him #38 in my year end rankings. This season Hidalgo moved up to Elizabethton where he hit . 291/.379/.469 in 175 at bats with 6 home runs to again rank as the #38 player in 2009.

A few years ago the Twins acquired a young man from the Colorado Rockies in a late season trade. They had drafted Matt Macri out of high school, however, he chose to attend Notre Dame University. They maintained their interest in him and picked him up in a late 2007 trade. Macri played briefly for the Twins in 2008, hitting .324/.361/.441 in 34 at bats during a season when he would be my 22nd ranked player after hitting .259/.323/.466 for the Red Wings. Matt was one of the players who the Red Wings were counting on this season, however, it wasn't meant to be for either he or the Wings. Macri finished 2009 by hitting .225/.296/.400 in 365 at bats in what had to be a disappointing season and a year that would not have his name called for a return to the Twins. Matt is the 26th ranked player this year and the third ranked third baseman in the organization.

Our second ranked third baseman is Luke Hughes who was the organizaiton's #4 ranked player in 2008 following a season that saw him hit 18 home runs at New Britain and Rochester while missing about a month in the middle of the season. After a torrid start at New Britain, .319/.385/.551 with 15 home runs in 285 at bats, Hughes went on the DL then later moved up to Rochester where he hit .283/.325/.453 in 106 at bats with 3 home runs. Hughes didn't get off to a good start this spring as he missed parts of the first few weeks of spring training then left the Twins for the WBC. When he returned, he was assigned to Rochester where he hit .259/.344/.481 in 135 at bats with 6 home runs. Luke again battled an injury that put him on the DL. The Twins had moved Danny Valencia up to Rochester while Hughes was out so when he returned they assigned him to New Britain where he would be able to play every day. Hughes closed out his season by hitting .250/.320/.445 in 200 at bats with 6 home runs to drop 10 spots in this seasons ranking. There is no question that this young Australian has significant power in his right handed bat. The question has always been about his defense and what his best defensive position is. I have recently read several reports that indicate that his defense at third base isn't as bad as many feared and with his power he certainly should have a major league career ahead of him. The bigger question may be whether or not it will be with the Twins?

The top ranked third baseman is a young man who many still wonder why he was available for the Twins to draft in the 19th round of the 2006 draft. After battling several nagging injuries his first few seasons with the Twins, Danny Valencia made everyone take notice when he was the leading hiter in the FSL at the all-star break last year at .336/.402/.518 in 220 at bats with 5 home runs and 44 RBI. Valencia was promoted to New Britain and after beginning very slowly, finsighed with a respectable .289/.334/.485 in 266 at bats with 10 home runs and 32 RBI to rank as the 6th best player in the organization. This season began back at New Britain where he hit much as he did in 2008, .284/.373/.482 with 7 home runs and 29 RBI in 218 at bats. When Luke Hughes was injured, the Twins promoted Valencia to Rochester where he hit .360/.372/.573 in 75 at bats before the all-star break. That start had everyone clamoring for him to be called up to the Twins to the point that Ron Gardenhire commented on several occassions that he wasn't ready for that final promotion. Valencia cooled and many have been critical of him for doing poorly during the second half. Yet, the truth is that he hit for averages of .287 and .283 in July and August before going into a slump in September when the team played only 8 games. Valencia finished his season by hitting .286/.331/.424 in 269 at bats for the Red Wings with 7 home runs and 41 RBI to drop a spot to the 7th ranked player this year. Danny continued to not strike out to much (37 in 269 at bats), however, the bigger question is why did he draw only 8 walks after having 31 walks compared with 40 strikeouts in 218 at bats in New Britain. Is it the change to a new environment? Was it a different level of pitching? It remains to be seen as are the Twins plans for him in 2010.

Danny Valencia and Luke Hughes are both close to being major league ready and both appear to be hitters who will have some success at that level. Although Valencia is considered a solid defensive third baseman, there are questions about Hughes defensive abilities. Is one of the two ready to man the hot corner full time in 2010? The answer to that is unknown, however, it is unlikely that the Twins will want to pin their hopes on a potential championship season on the performance of an untested rookie. Thus, it is likely the Twins will sign someone over the winter while they take a second look at both of these young players again next spring before sending them out for more seasoning.

A year ago the Twins were telling us they were very high on a third baseman further down in the organizaiton, D. J. Romero. Moved up a level following a low A season at Beloit that he missed much of with injuries may have been to big of a step. Expectations of Romero's future aren't what they were last year, yet, a very good 2010 could put him right back on the Twins radar as a top prospect. The player that I see as someone that we need to watch very closely however, is a young 17 year old who had a tremendous season in the Dominican Republic this year, Wander Guillen. It's a long way from the Twins Dominican academy to Target Field, however, this young man is someone who just might make that journey.

Estarlin de los Santos, Fort Myers Miracle

2009-10-22T22:25:18Z

Estarlin de los Santos has gotten off to a good start in the Dominican Winter League. He was with the Fort Myers Miracle and he is my favorite player on this team I am following this year, the Gigantes in the Dominican Winter League. He is fast, made a number of good plays in the field, and has a 4 game hit streak to start the season. Check it out at my blog: http://dominicanbaseballguy.blogspot.com/

I really like him a lot, though he only has A ball experience.

John Sickles' Top 2010 Twins prospects

2009-10-20T22:21:16Z

From MINOR LEAGUE BALL

For Me Personally there were about 3-5 guys with a 1/3 letter grade too low.... but there were guys in Bullock and probably Salcedo that I expected to be C+ Guys.... so.....

Overall tough grades, too many relievers mentioned, and No Rene Tosoni or Deolis Guerra in top 20...!!!!

wow, but interesting and good ( I like Stuiffbergen over Hendricks and Slama over Delaney for example)

sister site link

1) Aaron Hicks, OF, Grade B+: Excellent tools, numbers are better than they look on the surface. I think he'll break out in 2010.
2) Ben Revere, OF, Grade B: Kenny Lofton ceiling, Juan Pierre midpoint, Joey Gathright basement.
3) Kyle Gibson, RHP, Grade B-: Would be a Grade B+ at least if not for the injury concern.
4) Wilson Ramos, C, Grade B-: Power and defense are positives, main question is weak walk rate.
5) Adrian Salcedo, RHP, Grade B-: Best of the pitchability right-handers in a system full of them.
6) Billy Bullock, RHP, Grade B-: Borderline C+; great stuff but will he throw strikes?
7) Angel Morales, OF, Grade C+: Could make a case for B-. Very good tools, numbers are better than they look on the surface, needs to improve discipline.
8) Danny Valencia, 3B, Grade C+: Needs to improve strike zone judgment and glovework to get a job in 2010.
9) Chris Parmalee, OF-1B, Grade C+: Lotsa power, draws walks, other skills are unimpressive.
10) Miguel Sano, SS, Grade C+: I really have no idea how to rank him at this point. Might turn into Miguel Cabrera, could fizzle in A-ball, no way to know yet.
11) Carlos Gutierrez, RHP, Grade C+: Ground ball machine. Could rank as high as seventh.
12) Joe Benson, OF, Grade C+: Excellent tools and is showing signs of skill development. Could also rank as high as seventh.
13) David Bromberg, RHP, Grade C+: Classic Twins pitching prospect, relies on pitchability rather than pure stuff.
14) B.J. Hermsen, RHP, Grade C+: Great rookie ball performance, projectable, need data from higher levels.
15) Ben Tootle, RHP, Grade C+: High-ceiling arm, needs to improve command.
16) Anthony Slama, RHP, Grade C+: Deceptive delivery with high strikeout rates, tough on right-handed hitters, could slot into middle relief role in 2010.
17) Matt Bashore, LHP, Grade C+: Could rank higher if he stays healthy.
18) Tom Stuifbergen, RHP, Grade C+: Could be a Grade C. Another pitchability guy. Gets lots of grounders.
19) Jeff Manship, RHP, Grade C: Possible fifth starter or long relief type.
20) Tyler Robertson, LHP, Grade C: Stock has dropped a lot, but looks like a potential LOOGY to me.

OTHERS (all Grade C right now): Oswaldo Arcia, OF; Alex Burnett, RHP; Rob Delaney, RHP; Brian Dozier, SS; Deolis Guerra, RHP; Chris Herrmann, OF; Steve Hirschfeld, RHP; Luke Hughes, INF; Max Kepler-Rozycki, OF; Bobby Lanigan, RHP; Andrei Lobanov, LHP; Jose Lugo, LHP; Derek McCallum, 2B: Mike McCardell, RHP; Josmil Pinto, C-DH; Trevor Plouffe, SS; Tobias Streich, C; Brad Tippett, RHP; Mike Tonkin, RHP; Rene Tosoni, OF; Loek Van Mil, RHP, Blayne Weller, RHP.

I think Guerra and Tosoni should be C+s also Ramos a B and Valencia a B-, also probably Angel Morales as well...

Don't drive angry; don't drive angry!

2009-10-20T01:24:58Z

So here we are again--different year same story.

I do hate the Yankees
I do not like the Angels
I do not like the Dodgers
I do hate the Phillies

...so much for postseason enjoyment. I think I'll cheer for the Vikings. You see what you have done to me TWINS? I am considering abandoning baseball to cheer for the Vikings; that's how low I have sunk this time.

This may sound like sour grapes; well, actually I guess it is sour grapes. Why do the Twins play like that whenever they play against the Yankees or the Red Sox? Did anyone notice the distinct difference between the way the Twins played the Tigers (full of confidence and swagger) and the way the Twins played the Yankees (like children of the corn)? They actually did few things that would make anyone believe that they won the Central. The Yankees looked beatable!!!!!!!!!

The Twins led in every game, but never held the lead for even two full innings! The Twins swiped what, two bases? This, despite the fact that opposing teams were stealing bases at over 70% against Posada. EVERYONE should have been trying to steal against him. Did the Twins hit and run against their slower opponents? NO! Did the Twins try to bunt with Captain Cheeseburger on the mound? NO! Did the Twins hit like -.700 with runners in scoring position? YES! Did the Twins have 900 runners left on base? YES! The Yankees simply hit home runs so they didn't have to worry. (And did anyone notice the difference in the Yankee dugout when they scored a run compared to the Twins? Where was that us against the world spirit?)

The Twins gave us all hope with the way they played in September. No way could they catch the Tigers, but they did!! And RG gets a lot of credit for that; however, NONE of that carried over into the games agains the Yankees. I don't care if your tired--it's the playoffs! The adrenalin should be flowing like Niagara Falls.

The bottom line is this. The Twins play the same way every time they enter the playoffs under Ron Gardenhire and company. This year looked no different to me than any other year they have entered the playoffs. RG has still not learned tha the playoffs are a different animal than the regular season. Nothing could have magnified this more than his statement after the first two losses: "Now we're going to have to take some chances." As much as anyone would hope and wish that the regular season and the playoffs are the same; they are not. The Twins did not play every game like it was Game 7 and for that, we sit here watching the Yankees and Angels play (except some of us who cannot tolerate doing so--and they are showing the games because of Matsui).

Sorry, LESSON STILL NOT LEARNED, but I have vented, and please let the poison arrows rain from the sky. I don't mind,; I've been critical of RG and the Twins in the past. Whew! Now I'm done. Bring on 2010.