Minnesota Twins Talk

After watching some replay of last nights game against detroit i noticed that whenever casilla got the ball and gave one of his lazy side-arm, submarine flips to 1st, mauer would give him a little extra evil-eye stare. Anyone else notice this? Maybe some annoyance at it. I know gardies blood pressure probably goes up every time.

http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/cutfour/index.jsp?c_id=min#contentId=36623336 Hardly revalatory, but kind of interesting. I find it interesting they want to keep him anonymous. And I'll admit, I have never thought about how he does his job....

Word up folks. Trev is back on the scene. How do you TD participants think he will do in his return from the Disabled List? My Take: 2-4, Single, HR, 1RBI, 1BB, 2 Runs, 2 K, No Errors. Your Take?

Or was it just me? Dick Bremer said this (oh so innocently) : "At this point last season Delmon Young was still property of the Minnesota Twins... And even Jim Thome was a member of the Twins" I've seen people fired for less. This was an awful thing for Bremer to say and I don't know whether the guy is a true bigot or not, but Delmon Young deserves at least an apology for that. Just sayin...

http://www.twincities.com/twins/ci_21282940/shooter-now-minnesota-twins-target-field-now-more The main story here is that the Twins don't have any plans to move the fences after this season, and I'm glad to hear that. But I found the conclusion a little flawed and I think it's because Shooters examination is a little flawed.... Just figuring the average home runs hit, it could be that the Twins are just very good/bad at hitting home runs, or their pitching staff if very good/bad at giving them up. Instead, one usually compares the total home runs that both the Twins and their opponents have hit at home vs the road. If you look at it that way, Target Field is once …

Boston RedSox Great, Baseball Lifer and American Hero (WWII) Johnny Pesky has died at the age of 92. R.I.P. Mr. Pesky

According to Star Tribune The Twins likely will decline next year's $9.25 million option for righthander Scott Baker, making him a free agent, but it's possible the sides will agree to an incentive-laden deal. Baker had Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery on April 18. He started throwing again this past week and expects to be pitching off a mound by late October, with no limitations by spring training. "I truly believe I'm going to come back 100 percent, if not better, after what I've had to put up with the last two years," he said. He turns 31 on Sept. 19 and is 63-48 with a 4.15 ERA in seven seasons with the Twins. "I like it here," Baker said. "I'm not saying the…

Both are from Janesville, WI. http://gazettextra.com/news/2012/aug/12/ryans-family-tree-has-many-branches/

After missing 21 game, the Minnesota Twins make it official, announcing that third baseman Trevor Plouffe is off the DL. In his short two-game rehab stint in Rochester, Plouffe went 0-for-8 with a walk and two strikeouts. Not surprising to anyone, the Twins will opt to send Tsuyoshi Nishioka back to Rochester as the corresponding move.

They didn't DFA Nishioka, just optioned him.

Here are the lines of four starting pitchers who have split time between Rochester and Minnesota: Diamond Roch-- 34.2 IP 1.21 WHIP 7 BB 26 K 2.60 ERA Minn-- 79.0 IP 1.18 WHIP 12 BB 45 K 2.62 ERA Hendriks Roch-- 60.1 IP .85 WHIP 14 BB 48 K 1.79 ERA Minn-- 38.1 IP 1.75 WHIP 10 BB 23 K 7.04 ERA De Vries Roch-- 70.0 IP 1.21 WHIP 10 BB 50 K 4.37 ERA Minn-- 30.0 IP 1.10 WHIP 8 BB 21 K 3.00 ERA Walters Roch-- 42.1 IP 1.20 WHIP 8 BB 29 K 2.76 ERA Minn-- 36.2 IP 1.53 WHIP 14 BB 23 K 5.40 ERA Diamond has basically done just as well with the Tw…

What do you guys think about the Twins making a run at him this offseason? He seems to be handling the majors pretty well and has some pop in his bat. This would allow us to move Dozier to 2nd base and would give us a nice young middle infield. I realize some of his offensive numbers may be skewed a bit by Coors Field, but I think he would be worth a shot. The Rockies won't have much use for him unless they move TT or Rutledge to a different position.

In the three weeks that remain before rosters can be expanded, the Twins are pretty certain to make some moves. First, Trevor Plouffe will be activated from his rehab in Rochester which will force someone to be sent down. The people's choice for demotion would be Nishioka, but it isn't a sure thing that the move will be made. There is a chance that the Twins will go down to 12 pitchers and add another bench player. That could mean that a pitcher on the current staff, such as Manship or Perdomo could be sent down and Nishi would stay. Meanwhile, two or three pitchers are knocking on the door. Pavano has pitched a rehab start and Walters has made two rehab starts at…

I went to the game last night. It was Joe Mauer sideburns night, so plenty of people were donning the fake sideburns (some as mustaches, some as Groucho Marx style eyebrows.) The Twins got whipped by the Rays. After the game they had some big time slow pitch softball players put on an home run hitting exhibition. We were sitting in the 2nd row of the 2nd deck of the Home Run Porch in left field--prime seats for catching home run balls. After the game there was some fireworks. I took some video and uploaded it to YouTube Unfortunately, the battery in my phone was really depleted so I didn't get some of the r…

Has been traded to the Red Sox according to the radio just now!

Craig Malveaux wrote a really good article on the Twins Cole De Vries who contemplated retirement several times throughout his minor league career. http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/165665686.html?refer=y

My second favorite baseball team, the Rays, are in town this weekend and I'm thinking about going to the game tonight. Tell me your stories of prices you've received from scalpers--where you found the scalpers, what price you paid relative to face value, and how close to game time you bought the tickets. I've seen them along 6th St. and Butler Square, hanging out by Hubert's, Glueks, The Alley, etc.

I'm getting a little sick of the negativity and the refusal to accept reality at face value. Examples: Deduno is doing well.....so let's talk about how the twins pitching staff is probably going to screw him up Willingham is hitting more homers than anyone ever in Target Field and is a crowd fave and a clutch hitter.....we better trade him now. Scott Diamond has been the most stable and reliable starter we have, and has done a fantastic job this year....but he's still at best a poor man's someone or other and won't really turn out to be great Mourneau is finally returning to pre-concussion form, and is doing well, and is strating to improve against lefties....…

Last season Diamond pitched 162 Innings between the minors and majors. So far he has tossed 149 innings this year. With the number of games remaining he could accumulate 10 more starts which would put him at around 220 innings by seasons end if they don't shut him down at some point. Do you think that they will let him pitch through the end of the season or will they shut him down around 200 IPs? I believe that they will shut him down when rosters expand in September to give Hendricks and/or Walters some innings.

Now that the trade deadline has come and passed, it's time to wonder about waivers. Now, when a player is DFAd, he is taken off the 40 man roster, and can be claimed by any team who would get him right away. Or, of course, they could work out a trade. In August, players can be put on Revocable Waivers. Remember that for a 40 man roster player to be traded after July 31, he has to clear waivers. This is what that refers to. Teams put most of their players on waivers in an attempt for them to clear waivers. IF they clear waivers, they are still on the 40 man roster and can be traded. If they are claimed, the Twins have a couple of choices. First, they could let t…

According to MLB Trade Rumors: The Twins have signed Taiwanese pitching prospect Chih-Wei Hu for $220K, reports MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez. The 18-year-old right-hander reportedly runs his fastball into the low-90s.

I readily admit I'm not great at figuring out WAR so can someone explain this to me. Morneau has a 119 OPS+ and 1 bWAR to Adrian Gonzalez 117 OPS+ and 2.5 bWAR. Gonzalez has played in 20 more games and is considered a better defensive player but, even taking defense out, seems to have a much bigger WAE lead. Gonzalez plays in a hitters park so he does have a bunch of doubles, even though Morneau has more homers. Does WAR not take ball parks into account?

You know who I'm talking about. I don't even have to mention his name. Once Bert and Dick turn on you, there really is no hope left. I say he shouldn't dress in a twins uniform again. Don't even give him the option of going back to Rochester. Just cut ties and be done with it.

From the StarTrib: Diamond, 24, reached his own milestone, becoming the first Twins pitcher to reach 10 victories in a season since 2010. But he was happier for his fellow countryman, Morneau, the fourth Canadian-born major leaguer to reach 200 homers. I wonder where Diamond stands in the pantheon of Canadian pitchers to reach 10 victories? How about Canadian players with last names starting with the letter 'D'? Does anyone else find the inevitable notation of so-and-so being Canadian to be superfluous and annoying? It seems that Canada gets more play in this area than Venezuela or the Dominican Republic. Why make a distinction as to nationalities when a mileston…

Patrick Reusse's Star Tribune article: http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/165529976.html?refer=y

I know I'm gonna get ripped for this but with the exception of Willingham and sometimes Plouffe, Twins could have the best defense in baseball if they added two great gloves at SS and 2B. With so many pitch to contact starters this might make a greater impact to the overall team era for starters than adding an ace. Possibilities might be Yunel Escobar or Zack Cozart at SS and Darwin Barney or Jason Kipris at 2B.

Atlanta might non-tender the 26 year old former all star instead of paying him about 5.9m next year. The article mentions the Twins might be a team willing to make a trade this offseason for Jurrjens. Obviously, he's been horrible this year but he was pretty good in 08, 09 and 11 and is still young. He was never much of strike out pitcher and managed only 4.7 k/9 in AAA this year before being recalled and going on the DL. He's certainly not going to be an ace but, if it works out, he could be a good and cheap back of the rotation starter, good for 20 starts and 140 innings or so, as he pitches himself back into shape. I think he'd be an interesting non-tender pick u…

I know this may be a bit outside the box, but what about using Parmelee as trade bait for a 2B or pitcher? I am a big supporter of Morneau and believe he can continue his play as of late into the future. Yes, I understand the history of injury, but he is an MVP and is a huge part of Twins lineup. But consider for a moment if Morneau gives us 4 more good years and Vargas ends up to be a pretty damn good prospect as well. I don't think it is that crazy to see if Parmelee can be used to bring in someone the Twins desperately need.

Fort Myers Miracles' play-by-play man, Brice Zimmerman, tweeted out that Hammond Stadium's radar gun was registering Carl Pavano's fastball at 85 and his "curve" (which I believe he meant change) at 75. That's just slightly below his average velocity on the year - which was down prior to his injury. In his first inning of work, Pavano surrendered a home run but recorded a strike out and got two more ground outs.

Found this online [video=youtube;Q3b5aOelFL4] Looks like Twinsdaily makes a cameo around the 2:40 mark