Twins Fan From Afar

I have a hard time accepting that the best candidate for this job -- by all accounts *the* dream job for hundreds of the best baseball minds across the country -- is currently on the Twins' staff.

Let's not forget that May was one of the better starters last season. He actually was quite good (despite a couple clunkers that people like to mention often). 200 "good" innings from May is much, much more valuable than 60 "great" innings out of the pen. Same is true of any pitcher, of course.

His walks/9 are 1.87 this season. Dramatic, career-changing improvement in that area.

Been mentioned elsewhere, but the corresponding move was that Nate Hanson was released. A MN guy, a nice guy, a player of many positions and a team-first guy. So, bummer for Nate.

Steve is a great guy. I've seen him do readings for his books out here. Actually lives just a few miles north of me. Definitely a wonderful writer and MN treasure (even though he wasn't born in MN).

What a strange season. I didn't think the Twins would be playing decent baseball as the calendar switched to July. I didn't think that Byron Buxton would be up, after his essentially lost 2014 season. I didn't think Trevor May would be (as of late) the team's most dominant starting pitcher. And I sure didn't think this proverbial ragtag bunch of misfits would -- if the season ended today -- be a wild card contending team.I thought 2015 would be the season where players like Oswaldo Arcia, Aaron Hicks, Kennys Vargas, Trevor May, Danny Santana, and Alex Meyer would get extended opportunities to figure it out by playing games that, after May or June, really didn't matter. You know -- let them take the Rochester shuttle, figure out the league, and hopefully come back ready to contribute in 2016, when players like Buxton, Miguel Sano and Jose Berrios were ready to join the team. But here we are. As it turns out, games in July will matter. It will matter this season whether Trevor May can be the reliable starter we want him to be; it will matter whether Kennys Vargas can hit consistently enough to stay in the lineup and contribute to a winning team. I don't think this team can keep this pace for the rest of the season, but they don't have to, in order for things to get interesting. The trade deadline is just over five weeks away, and if the Twins somehow stay within a few games of that last wild card spot, I really wonder what will happen. The decent play and the current standings put the front office in a potentially interesting position. After four awful, awful seasons, the organization can hardly sit idly by if the team has another good few weeks and stays in the hunt. There are places for improvement -- bullpen, shortstop, designated hitter. But there are also guys the Twins drafted, developed, and have shown patience with, that deserve opportunities to succeed, fail, and learn in those positions. Isn't that, after all, a major component of a rebuild? Sure, the best DH on the trade market makes the Twins better for the next three months, but that person does not make the Twins a World Series contender, or, perhaps, even likely to win the AL Central. And while that guy gets the at-bats, Vargas, and even Miguel Sano (who should be up relatively soon) sit and gather dust -- or at the very least, don't improve. Last season especially, I loved to criticize Terry Ryan. It was easy. Low-hanging fruit sometimes. And Gardy. But I'm honestly not sure what buttons Terry Ryan should press this July if the team keeps hovering near the wild card, and I'm not sure how much Paul Molitor should press Ryan. I firmly believe that the organization owes -- yes, owes -- the fans something after the last four miserable seasons, and after ownership admitted not pushing enough in "the good years." But this is certainly not the year to go all-in -- to trade good or great prospects for a rental player, no matter how good that player is. For better or worse, we all -- fans and organization -- are way too far into this rebuild to scrap important segments of it for an unrealistic pennant chase. Perhaps the best-case scenario is that, over the next month, the Twins slowly but steadily fall out of the wild card race. 2015 will still be a vast improvement over 2011-2014, and the rookies can get valuable, (relatively) low-stress experience. But that isn't very satisfying, is it? I want this team to keep it up. For the love of God, I want Mike Pelfrey to be the best pitcher in the American League, and I want Alex Meyer to come out of nowhere and become a great set-up man. I guess I want this raw, strange team to force Terry Ryan and Paul Molitor to get creative. Find out a way (not just Alex Meyer and Miguel Sano) to improve this team without sacrificing the future. Potentially a tough task, but it would be nice to have confidence in the front office once again. Click here to view the article

What a strange season. I didn't think the Twins would be playing decent baseball as the calendar switched to July. I didn't think that Byron Buxton would be up, after his essentially lost 2014 season. I didn't think Trevor May would be (as of late) the team's most dominant starting pitcher. And I sure didn't think this proverbial ragtag bunch of misfits would -- if the season ended today -- be a wild card playoff team. I thought 2015 would be the season where players like Oswaldo Arcia, Aaron Hicks, Kennys Vargas, May, Danny Santana, and Alex Meyer would get extended opportunities to figure it out by playing games that, after May or June, really didn't matter. You know -- let them take the Rochester shuttle, figure out the league, and hopefully come back ready to contribute in 2016, when players like Buxton, Miguel Sano and Jose Berrios were ready to join the team. But here we are. As it turns out, games in July will matter. It will matter this season whether Trevor May can be the reliable starter we want him to be; it will matter whether Kennys Vargas can hit consistently enough to stay in the lineup and contribute to a winning team. I don't think this team can keep this pace for the rest of the season, but they don't have to, in order for things to get interesting. The trade deadline is just over 5 weeks away, and if the Twins somehow stay within a few games of that last wild card spot, I really wonder what will happen. The decent play and the current standings put the front office in a potentially interesting position. After 4 awful, awful seasons, the organization can hardly sit idly by if the team has another good few weeks and stays in the hunt. There are places for improvement -- bullpen, shortstop, designated hitter. But there are also guys the Twins drafted, developed, and have shown patience with, that deserve opportunities to succeed, fail, and learn in those positions. Isn't that, after all, a major component of a rebuild? Sure, the best DH on the trade market makes the Twins better for the next 3 months, but that person does not make the Twins a World Series contender, or, perhaps, even likely to win the AL Central. And while that guy gets the at-bats, Vargas, and even Miguel Sano (who should be up relatively soon) sit and gather dust -- or at the very least, don't improve. Last season especially, I loved to criticize Terry Ryan. It was easy. Low-hanging fruit sometimes. And Gardy. But I'm honestly not sure what buttons Terry Ryan should press this July if the team keeps hovering near the wild card, and I'm not sure how much Paul Molitor should press Ryan. I firmly believe that the organization owes -- yes, owes -- the fans something after the last 4 miserable seasons, and after ownership admitted not pushing enough in "the good years." But this is certainly not the year to go all-in -- to trade good or great prospects for a rental player, no matter how good that player is. For better or worse, we all -- fans and organization -- are way too far into this rebuild to scrap important segments of it for an unrealistic pennant chase. Perhaps the best-case scenario is that, over the next month, the Twins slowly but steadily fall out of the wild card race. 2015 will still be a vast improvement over 2011-2014, and the rookies can get valuable, (relatively) low-stress experience. But that isn't very satisfying, is it? I want this team to keep it up. For the love of God, I want Mike Pelfrey to be the best pitcher in the American League, and I want Alex Meyer to come out of nowhere and become a great set-up man. I guess I want this raw, strange team to force Terry Ryan and Paul Molitor to get creative. Find out a way (not just Alex Meyer and Miguel Sano) to improve this team without sacrificing the future. Potentially a tough task, but it would be nice to have confidence in the front office once again.

Really good, Tony.

This was great. Thank you.

Great post and insight. I always wondered what the Rock Cats guys thought about these appearances. But even if they were inwardly uncomfortable or wished they were somewhere else, they always projected kindness. Unrelated comment: the fact that food/food money is sometimes used successfully as an incentive tells me all I need to know about milb pay.

I feel like the main question is actually how many games he plays, as games played will likely be indicative of his health. If he ends up playing 155 games, he likely stayed healthy and I'm willing to bet put up "normal" Mauer numbers. If it's a season of 130 games played, it's fair to guess he was injured/playing through injuries again.

I'm curious, too, about the most read or commented on stories from this past season.

FWIW, I was told that Jeff Smith requested an assignment that was closer to his home in FL.

I rarely comment on articles anymore, but I actually logged in to my account just to say "well done."

Fair enough. Guess I would say 1/4 of Nolasco happened, and probably like 2% of May's career. A little context is important.

Jury is very much out on May, Meyer, Nolasco.

Ron Gardenhire took the fall yesterday for four seasons of disgusting baseball. That decision was correct. Baseball is a business. And lately, business hasn't been good for the Twins. After the press conference, I was left thinking, "Well, that was pretty good as far as those things go. Very Minnesotan, really. But why the hell does Terry Ryan still have a job?" And it's still bothering me today.2014 Kevin Correia. 23 starts. 4.94 ERA. Johan Pino. 11 starts. 5.07 ERA. Sam Deduno. 8 starts. 4.6 ERA. Anthony Swarzak. 4 starts. 4.6 ERA. Logan Darnell. 4 starts. 7.13 ERA. Mike Pelfrey. 5 starts. 7.99 ERA. Tommy Milone. 5 starts. 7.03 ERA. Kris Johnson. 3 starts. 4.73 ERA. 2013 Mike Pelfrey. 29 starts. 5.19 ERA. Scott Diamond. 24 starts. 5.43 ERA. Pedro Hernandez. 12 starts. 6.83 ERA. Liam Hendriks. 8 starts. 6.85 ERA. PJ Walters. 8 starts. 5.95 ERA. Cole De Vries. 2 starts. 10.80 ERA. 2012 Nick Blackburn. 19 starts. 7.39 ERA. Liam Hendriks. 16 starts. 5.59 ERA. Anthony Swarzak. 5 starts. 5.03 ERA. Carl Pavano. 11 starts. 6.00 ERA. PJ Walters. 12 starts. 5.69 ERA. Jason Marquis. 7 starts. 8.47 ERA. Esmerling Vasquez. 6 starts. 5.68 ERA. As Gardy and Ryan both noted, the reason the manager got canned is because the team didn't win enough games. For sure, Gardy was a contributor to that. Guys were played out of position, he refused to platoon players, the Twins are among the least likely teams to shift defensively, he used his closer in a very limited, sometimes nonsensical role, and I have huge concerns about his ability to handle player injuries. Those are just a few things, though. Sure, maybe those decisions cost the Twins three, four, five games a year. Maybe more. Maybe less. Tough to tell. But the point is, a manager's role in the playing of the game itself is limited. I keep going back to Terry Ryan. Gardy's job was not to set the roster; it was to play the players on the roster, be the "field manager." Take a look at the motley crew of pitchers, games started and ERAs that I listed above (note: for guys that both started and relieved, I just used their combined ERA -- but you get the picture. Note also, I didn't include guys like Trevor May or Ricky Nolasco, who were bad this season but should improve -- there's a difference between a prospect like May learning the big leagues, or a veteran like Nolasco having a career-awful year, and Cole De Vries.). For 2012, that list accounts for 76/162 starts; for 2013 it was 83 starts; and for 2014 it was 63 starts. Those are huge chunks of the season where the Twins were trotting out starting pitchers, and sometimes relievers masked as starters, who gave the team little chance to win. That failure is not on Ron Gardenhire. There's no way that Gardy said, after a bunch of awful starts, "Terry, I just know Jason Marquis is gonna turn the corner. Give him more time." Or, "Pedro Hernandez -- I need that guy starting right now!" Are you kidding?!?! I'm sure Gardy lost tons of sleep over his team's pathetic starting pitching, which, incidentally, continually wore down what may have been decent bullpens. Yes, Gardy defends his players publicly, but what manager wouldn't want great starting pitching? What manager wouldn't beg his general manager for help as his team gets shelled every night? I know what you're thinking: I've completely forgotten the part of the narrative where Bill Smith ruined the organization and Terry Ryan is rebuilding it, and where Ryan is one of the best baseball minds out there. But if there's one thing Ryan can be faulted for, it's failing to draft/develop/acquire better-than-average starting pitching -- and this goes back quite some time, long before Bill Smith. A team can acquire players via the draft, the Rule 5 draft, trade, international signing, and by the free agent route. The Twins have always needed better starting pitching. For the love of God, Brian Duensing started playoff games! Ryan, by and large, has failed to get his manager good pitching. The team, understandably, is reluctant to part with prospects. The best prospects are just now beginning to get to the majors--note that the Twins did not draft May or Alex Meyer-- and it wasn't until last off-season that Ryan went out on the free agent market to spend real money. Too little. Too late. For Gardy, at least. Look again at that list. 76 starts. 83 starts. 63 starts. Just for fun, imagine that, in just 20 of those starts each year, the Twins had had a starting pitcher who could go six innings and give you a 3.5 or 4.0 ERA. I'm not even talking about a superstar. Just a better-than-average pitcher. Might the Twins win half those games? Perhaps. Imagine what another 10 wins would have made you think about the Twins' 2014 season. 80 wins and 82 losses sounds a hell of a lot better than 70-92. In the end, Gardy had to go. He was past his prime, the Twins have a bunch of young guys coming up, and sometimes change for the sake of change is reason enough. But I can't get over the feeling that Ryan somehow is coming off unscathed in this mess, as if he has life-time tenure, when in reality the Twins' record is as much a reflection on him as it is on Gardy. Click here to view the article

Great, great comments. A note on the farm system: I never meant to slight the good work that TR (and staff) have done there. Yes, it's arguably about the best system in baseball. 2 things about that, though. First, the farm system is in great shape, in large part, because the Twins have had top 5 picks every round for 3 seasons. Byron Buxton was a great pick, of course, but as Gleeman noted, he was also a "gift" for being the second worst team in baseball. Second, thought TR has done great things with the system, you cannot simply eschew one thing (mlb level pitching) in favor of another (stocking the system) when there are financial resources in place to do better. And everything I have read indicates that there was more money available. If you add up (just spitballing) money spent on guys like Pelfrey, Marquis and Correia, you might end up with a decent pitcher. Again, great thought-provoking comments.

2014 Kevin Correia. 23 starts. 4.94 ERA. Johan Pino. 11 starts. 5.07 ERA. Sam Deduno. 8 starts. 4.6 ERA. Anthony Swarzak. 4 starts. 4.6 ERA. Logan Darnell. 4 starts. 7.13 ERA. Mike Pelfrey. 5 starts. 7.99 ERA. Tommy Milone. 5 starts. 7.03 ERA. Kris Johnson. 3 starts. 4.73 ERA. 2013 Mike Pelfrey. 29 starts. 5.19 ERA. Scott Diamond. 24 starts. 5.43 ERA. Pedro Hernandez. 12 starts. 6.83 ERA. Liam Hendriks. 8 starts. 6.85 ERA. PJ Walters. 8 starts. 5.95 ERA. Cole De Vries. 2 starts. 10.80 ERA. 2012 Nick Blackburn. 19 starts. 7.39 ERA. Liam Hendriks. 16 starts. 5.59 ERA. Anthony Swarzak. 5 starts. 5.03 ERA. Carl Pavano. 11 starts. 6.00 ERA. PJ Walters. 12 starts. 5.69 ERA. Jason Marquis. 7 starts. 8.47 ERA. Esmerling Vasquez. 6 starts. 5.68 ERA. Ron Gardenhire took the fall yesterday for 4 seasons of disgusting baseball. That decision was correct. Baseball is a business. And lately, business hasn't been good for the Twins. After the press conference, I was left thinking, "well, that was pretty good as far as those things go. Very Minnesotan, really. But why the hell does Terry Ryan still have a job?" And it's still bothering me today. As Gardy and Ryan both noted, the reason the manager got canned is because the team didn't win enough games. For sure, Gardy was a contributor to that. Guys were played out of position, he refuses to platoon players, the Twins are among the least likely teams to shift defensively, he uses his closer in a very limited, sometimes non-sensical role, and I have huge concerns about his ability to handle player injuries. Those are just a few things, though. Sure, maybe those decisions cost the Twins 3, 4, 5 games a year. Maybe more. Maybe less. Tough to tell. But the point is, a manager's role in the playing of the game itself is limited. I keep going back to Terry Ryan. Gardy's job was not to set the roster; it was to play the players on the roster. A "field manager." Take a look at the motley crew of pitchers, games started, and ERAs that I listed above (note: for guys that both started and relieved, I just used their combined ERA -- but you get the picture; note also, I didn't include guys like Trevor May or Ricky Nolasco, who were bad this season but should improve -- there's a difference between a prospect like May learning the big leagues, or a veteran like Nolasco having a career-awful year, and Cole De Vries.). For 2012, that list accounts for 76/162 starts; for 2013 it was 83 starts; and for 2014 it was 63 starts. Those are huge chunks of the season where the Twins were trotting out starting pitchers (sometimes relievers masked as starters) who gave the team little chance to win. That failure is not on Ron Gardenhire. There's no way that Gardy said, after a bunch of awful starts, "Terry, I just know Jason Marquis is gonna turn the corner. Give him more time." Or, "Pedro Hernandez -- I need that guy starting right now!" Are you kidding?!?! I'm sure Gardy lost tons of sleep over his team's pathetic starting pitching, which, incidentally, continually wore down what may have been decent bullpens. Yes, Gardy defends his players publicly, but what manager wouldn't want great starting pitching? What manager wouldn't beg his general manager for help as his team gets shelled every night? I know what you're thinking: I've completely forgotten the part of the narrative where Bill Smith ruined the organization and Terry Ryan is rebuilding it, and where Ryan is one of the best baseball minds out there. But if there's one thing Ryan can be faulted for, it's failing to draft/develop/acquire better-than-average starting pitching -- and this goes back quite some time, long before Bill Smith. A team can either draft, trade for (other otherwise acquire through the Rule 5 draft, for instance), or sign players as free agents. The Twins have always needed better starting pitching. For the love of God, Brian Duensing started playoff games! Ryan, by and large, has failed to get his manager good pitching. The team, understandably, is reluctant to part with prospects, the best prospects are just now beginning to get to the majors (note that the Twins did not draft May or Alex Meyer), and it wasn't until last off-season that Ryan went out on the free agent market to spend real money. Too little. Too late. For Gardy, at least. Look again at that list. 76 starts. 83 starts. 63 starts. Just for fun, imagine that, in just 20 of those starts each year, the Twins had a starting pitcher who could go 6 innings and give you a 3.5 or 4.0 ERA. I'm not even talking about a superstar. Just a better-than-average pitcher. Might the Twins win half those games? Perhaps. Imagine what another 10 wins would have made you think about the Twins' 2014 season. 80 wins and 82 losses sounds a hell of a lot better than 70-92. In the end, Gardy had to go. He was past his prime, the Twins have a bunch of young guys coming up, and sometimes change for the sake of change is reason enough. But I can't get over the feeling that Ryan somehow is coming off unscathed in this mess, as if he has lifetime tenure, when in reality the Twins' record is as much a reflection on him as it is on Gardy.

Just want to make this point here, because it should factor into how this narrative is viewed, and I feel like it is being obscured/ignored: These past few weeks the Twins paid Hughes 2 bonuses, each in the amount of $250,000, for reaching other inning plateaus. So he did earn $500,000 in inning bonuses this season. So I wouldn't say that his season ends without a bonus -- it just ends without this third bonus.

I don't title the articles, sorry.

Thanks, guys. Appreciate the comments.

You've probably heard the news by now that the Twins are out, and the Colorado Rockies are in, as New Britain's class AA affiliate. It's been a strange few months here in Connecticut on the baseball and political fronts, culminating with yesterday's news. Back in June, Rock Cats managing partner Josh Solomon triumphantly (and surprisingly) announced from the steps of Hartford City Hall that the Rock Cats would be moving from their longtime home of New Britain to a brand new stadium in Hartford, effective for the 2016 season.That announcement shocked many, including the entire New Britain community, which apparently had been left in the dark and were at no point appraised of the fact that the new Rock Cats owners were negotiating with other parties with the goal of leaving Hardware City. I'll be honest -- I would go so far as to call Solomon's behavior arrogant. But the plans for the stadium were nice, and if you accept the fact that the team's owners were going to leave Connecticut for another city if they could not get a deal in Hartford (I don't), well, then I guess it's better to keep AA baseball in Connecticut than to let it go. When Solomon made this announcement, he indicated on the radio that the Twins were aware of and supported the move, though they had no part in the negotiations. My, how things changed in 3 months. For starters, the new stadium deal has become a diisastrous headache and was not, as Hartford's mayor stated during that initial press conference, a "done deal." Hartford, like many other cities, doesn't have much money to spare. So when news broke that the city of Hartford would be financing part of the stadium through about $60 million in bonds, many bristled at the idea. Solomon and Hartford's mayor had a lot of explaining to do -- not just for the financing of the stadium, but for their purported secret negotiations to get out of New Britain. Here's a good read on that subject. Now, we're at the end of September, and there still is no stadium deal in Hartford. After a request-for-proposal process, the mayor's office reviewed 3 different stadium plans, and selected one plan to forward to Hartford's city council. That plan is interesting in that it includes much more than just a ballpark, Specifically, a brewery (with brewpub and outdoor patio), a grocery store, and commercial and residential development are all part of this comprehensive plan. The financing is very complicated, so I'll condense it to one sentence: the city of Hartford still will be paying millions of dollars to partially finance this project, but is not bonding the money. In fact, when all is said and done, it could be just as expensive as that initial $60 million figure that was floated under the original proposal. The new proposal has not yet been fully vetted by the council, and I have no indication that it will be approved any time in the near future. So where does that leave the Twins? Well, you know by now that it left them in Chattanooga, Tennessee. A minor league player development contract (PDC) is for a minimum of 2 years. 2015 is the last season under the Rock Cats' lease with the city of New Britain--the city owns the ballpark-- but 2016 is, as you get by now, uncertain. I'm not sure how the Twins could have signed a 2-year (minimum length for a PDC) deal for a facility that hasn't been built, and the details of which haven't even been agreed upon. I can hardly blame the Twins for exercising some caution. As you can read here, the Twins also reportedly had concerns about the quality of the playing field in New Britain (not the first time I had heard that) and the team's travel schedule. The Colorado Rockies, however, were apparently happy to come to Connecticut. So where does his leave the Rock Cats? Well, they're lucky to have a team. There's no real penalty possible -- if no one voluntarily affiliated with them, baseball would have assigned them a team. But I think Colorado could be a good fit. They're similar organizationally to the Twins, and of course we'll get to see Justin Morneau or Michael Cuddyer on a rehab assignment next season (hopefully not, actually). But here's my sneaking suspicion, which I have long harbored: the Rock Cats owners eventually want a local team. The New York Mets affiliation in Binghamton is up after the 2016 season. If that doesn't get renewed, I look for the Rock Cats to team up with the Mets. It makes tons of sense. Perhaps that's why the Rock Cats-Rockies deal is only 2 years. Most importantly, where does this leave me? First, a little disappointed. The Rock Cats were a great tie to Minnesota for me. The Rock Cats were my niche. The Rock Cats were my hobby. The Rock Cats grew to comprise probably 75% of this blog at times. I'm especially bummed I won't get to see Buxton, Sano (again) and several others come up next season. But, as you know, I've had a tough time writing on the team this past season. Between work and life, I couldn't get out to the ballpark nearly as much as I wanted to. I'll still go to Rock Cats games now and then. I'll be excited if they open a new stadium in Hartford. But that's about it. As of today, I think I'll cover the Chattanooga Lookouts "from afar" to the best of my ability. We'll see what I can come up with. Click here to view the article