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TwinsGeek.com

A blog by John Bonnes in Twins Daily

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Entries in this blog

Does Torii Hunter's Contract Bode Will For Josh Willingham Trade?

Torii Hunter had 12 or 13 teams chasing after him?!? And signed for two years and $26M? Then how much must Josh Willingham, who hit twice as many home runs as Hunter last year and makes half as much, be worth?   I thought of this question on Sunday as I was podcasting with Aaron Gleeman. A quick look at the top free agent outfielders made me even more interested. Below are the top five free agent outfielders. Let’s go through them as a general manager who is looking for right-handed power in an

The Twins Binary Hope

In the latest Gleeman and the Geek podcast, Aaron Gleeman and I argued, as we are apt to do. Among the questions raised was one that stuck with me: what is the goal of baseball’s regular season? Certainly, it is to make the playoffs, but beyond that, is there an advantage to posting a high win total?   The answer to that question influences the path one thinks the Twins should travel this offseason. The AL Central champion had only 88 wins last year, the lowest amount for any division. It is not

Gleeman and the Geek: Ep 67: Trade Rumors and Claire Forlani

Aaron and John talk about trade rumors, last week's aftermath and "the older gentleman" not paying his bar tab, terrible facial hair, local media moves, which starting pitchers Twins fans should dream about, having a Joe Maddon fetish, Claire Forlani and effective advertising, Denard Span versus James Shields, targeting Braves and Rays, and where to hide the dead prostitutes before next week's episode. Here are:     the podcasts the rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podcast on iT

Gathering The Pitching Rumors For The Hot Stove

This weekend is the unofficial start of the Hot Stove Season, because this weekend the MLB General Managers are having their annual offseason meetings in Indian Wells, California. It's not the more hyped "Winter Meetings" that take place next month, but it's still 30 GMs and their assistants, all in the same place, and rumor-mongering galore. Irresponsible, glorious, rumor-mongering.   Twins fans have more reason than most to pay attention. Terry Ryan indicated in his TwinsCentric interview that

The Case For Trading Span

We're approaching the time when a long-time Twins player is going to be traded away. It will likely be Denard Span.   In our interview for the 2013 Offseason Handbook, Terry Ryan was careful, but stated the obvious. When talking about Chris Parmelee being a regular, Ryan admitted "We're going to try and fit [Chris Parmelee] in there somewhere, without tipping my hand too far."   Fitting Parmelee into the lineup as a regular means playing him at first base or in right field. That means moving one

Twins Will Seek Competition For Trevor Plouffe

In the TwinsCentric interview with Terry Ryan last week, (the 9-page entirety of which you can find in the 2013 Offseason Handbook), we asked about his confidence in Trevor Plouffe.     If the Twins are looking for competition, they had one such candidate this year, but Sean Burroughs became a free agent. Burroughs was an interesting option because he hit left-handed, and the right-handed hitting Plouffe still has a big split (911 OPS vs LHs/ 691 OPS vs RHs) against the more plentiful side of th

Gleeman and the Geek: Ep 65: Warm & Fuzzy WolfHammerl

The Minnesota Twins add some coaches and drop some players. From Surly Darkness Days, Aaron and John review their beers against thrash metal, break down the changes, wonder what the new coaches mean, debate the relative value of Ron Gardenhire, recap their motorcycle adventure, review the players who have been droppped, collect on old debts, speculate on might fill the 40-man roster spots, wonder if Scott Baker will re-sign and tease the next podcast including an interview with Terry Ryan.

If Twins Will Trade Justin Morneau, There's A Way Toward Contention

According to the Washington Post, the only legitimately good first baseman on the free agent market, Adam LaRoche, is in talks to re-sign with the Nationals. In the 2013 Offseason Handbook, I think the next best option we found was Carlos Lee, who slugged just .365 (and is 36 years old.) What’s more, there aren’t a lot of good options on the free agent market to move to first base. For instance, Kevin Youkilis is available at third base, but if he can play third base (and it looks like he can) h

Twins Purge Matt Capps And Seven Others From 40-Man Roster

The Twins cleared eight players from their 40-man roster yesterday in moves that affected suspects, prospects and Matt Capps. Because there were actually forty-three players on the 40-man roster, the moves left five spots open which will be filled throughout the offseason by free agents and other new players as well as Twins prospects that the organization wants to protect.   Of the eight, the biggest name was former closer Capps, who was acquired by the Twins by trade in 2012 and has signed two

Terry Ryan: Twins Will Chase "Pretty Darn Good" Pitcher

In our TwinsCentric Offseason Handbook, we’re including a transcript from a 45-minute meeting "State of the Twins" interview with Terry Ryan. As you can imagine, an 8000-word interview covers a lot of topics, including:   the strengths of the new coaching staff, Joe Mauer’s future at catcher, additional offseason priorities beyond starting pitching, how Twins approach waiver wire or minor league free agents, thoughts on the state of the Twins minor leagues, his evaluation of the Twins midd

Gleeman and the Geek Post Mortem: Episode 63

After our weekly podcast, Aaron & I are going to try doing a short video that recaps the podcast and gets into other silliness.   [video=youtube;O6ib6uwW63M]   Immediately following episode 63, Aaron evaluates the podcast & comments further on the state of the Twins farm system while John mocks him from behind the iPhone's blinding light.   Make sure to tune in next week, when we brave the new frontier of landscape mode.

Waiting Impatiently For The Offseason

I’m having trouble getting into the second round of the playoffs. I don’t really want either the Yankees or the Tigers to make the World Series, which means I can’t even root for the American League. The official team of The Voice Of Reason™ - the Phillies – is also out for the first time in years. But part of it is because I’m ready for the next act.   The offseason.   Oddly, I don’t think I’ve looked forward to an offseason this much in years. For starters, it’ll be nice to see what a Terry Ry

On Writing, Coaching and Paul Molitor

“If I want to write about baseball, what should I do?”   It isn’t uncommon that I’m asked this question by some well-meaning younger person who is trying to find their spot in what feels like a crowded world. Bluntly, but as tenderly as I can, I usually say:   “Write. Preferably, about baseball.”   I’m blunt, because there are so many ways to write about baseball. Start a blog. (If you want an instant Twins audience, you can used the one you have here.) Or write an email to friends. Or use a for

Gleeman and the Geek: Ep 62: Coaching Changes and Seth Stohs

The Minnesota Twins blow up their coaching staff, so Seth Stohs joins Aaron and John to talk about Ron Gardenhire's leash, the TwinsCentric Offseason Handbook, what the shopping plans are for free agent pitching, casting ballots for team MVP, why no one seems to want Paul Molitor, the futures of Trevor Plouffe and Liam Hendriks, how to lessen the upcoming outfield logjam, and why long podcasts are the best podcasts. Here are:     the podcasts the rss feed if you want to subscribe and the

Should Twins Emulate White Sox?

Vegas picked the White Sox to finish fourth in the AL Central this year, pegging them to win about 74.5 games. Chicago's season essentially ended last night when the Tigers clinched the division, but that means the Pale Hose' playoff hopes lasted until October, about four (five?) months longer than the Twins. They also made anyone who bet the “under” in Vegas look like a fool, exceeding Vegas preseason estimate by 10 games and counting.   I am one of those fools. In our Gleeman and the Geek podc

Gleeman and the Geek: Ep 60: Tickle Me Pink

Aaron sips a pink libation. John begs their listeners to take a quick survery for recruiting sponsors. Then they chat about whether Sam Deduno belong, whether the Twins can and should re-sign Scott Baker, how one characterizes the starting pitching market, Liam Hendriks first "W," the MLB television deal and what it means for the Twins payroll, the switch from Beloit to Cedar Rapids, and honors bestowed by Baseball America on some Twins prospects. Then they answer mailbag about the Minnesot

Deep Starting Pitching Market Is A Lucky Break For Twins

I may have exaggerated a little. I know – shocking for a blogger.   For months I’ve been saying that this free agent class of pitchers is almost historically deep. That might be a little strong, unless you think history only goes back as far as 2007. Because based on the dollars that were thrown around, 2006-2007 was an unbelievably lucrative free agent starting pitching market – for the players. It didn’t work out nearly as well for the owners.   The top two contracts given out that year were u

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