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[ATTACH=CONFIG]4455[/ATTACH] Photo Courtesy of: Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports Article originally published on RantSports.com On June 12, the Colorado Rockies designated outfielder and leadoff hitter Eric Young Jr. for assignment and recalled right-handed reliever Chris Volstad from the team's Triple-A affiliate. While you already may have heard this news, and since no corresponding move has been made regarding Young since last Wednesday’s DFA, it should come as no surprise that I believe it is time for the Minnesota Twins to step up to the plate and grab a very talented and useful outfielder from the Rockies. Since Young was designated for assignment, the Rockies have 10 days to trade him, release him or place him on waivers. If the player clears waivers, he can then be outrighted to the minor leagues; however, if you read Young’s Twitter account, it sounds like Young has closed the chapter of playing with the Rockies. In a Tweet sent on June 12, Young stated, “Best wishes to the Rockies organization. Thank you for my time with you. Truly a blessing to be with the city of Denver. Thank you all for the support. Love you all. Always have faith in the man upstairs and in yourselves.” If you take that message into consideration, it sounds fairly certain that Young will be traded or placed on waivers instead of being sent to the minors. If he were to be placed on waivers or traded, the Twins should sprint to the front of the line to acquire this talented youngster. Young has appeared in 57 games this season and batted .242 with one home run, six RBIs and eight stolen bases. Over his career, Young is a .261 hitter with six HR, 40 RBI, 70 SB, a .329 OBP and -0.1 WAR over 313 games in five big-league seasons. Young also has the ability to play second base, which he has done periodically throughout his career, which should make him even more attractive to the Twins. The Twins currently are in dire need of a leadoff hitter, a short-term replacement for Aaron Hicks in centerfield and a solid everyday second basemen. Young, in my opinion, would meet all of the required characteristics that I have mentioned above. Sure he may not be an All-star caliber player or an above-average second basemen, but he surely could do better than what we are getting right now at second base and he could likely be acquired at a bargain price. You could argue that Young’s talents may not be maximized under manager Ron Gardenhire and his hesitation to steal a lot of bases, but I believe Young could still flourish if given the chance to earn a meaningful role on the Twins If you look back at his career, Young has never really had a chance to play on an everyday basis. That could be related to performance or it could be related to organizational depth, but right now the Twins have needs at multiple positions that Young could fill and he easily could become an everyday player with the team or, at a minimum, become a valuable player off the bench. While there have been no indications that the Twins are interested in Young, let this be the official notice to the organization that the team should pursue and look into acquiring Young’s services from the Rockies. This is your typical low-risk, high-reward type of move that the Twins love to make, so why wait to pull the trigger on such a transaction? The time is now to improve the team and fill it with talented players who could help the team out over the next few seasons at a relatively low cost. Young fits the mold; it’s time to bring him aboard. Brian Wille is a Minnesota Twins writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @BeeWill15 or “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4239[/ATTACH] Image courtesy of: onlineathens.com Article originally published on rantsports.com Once part of the young and emerging outfield known as the “soul patrol” along with Torii Hunter and Jacque Jones, Matt Lawton seemed to have a bright future and career ahead of him as an outfielder for the Minnesota Twins; but things never materialized like Lawton or the Twins could have predicted. Lawton spent the better part of seven seasons with the Twins before being traded to the New York Mets in 2001 in a trade deadline trade for pitcher Rick Reed. During his time with the Twins, Lawton made one All-Star appearance, in 2000, and accumulated career numbers of a .277 batting average with 739 hits, 72 HR, 384 RBI, a .379 OBP and 96 stolen bases in 771 career games. After the Twins traded Lawton, Lawton’s production and potential began a gradual decline that ended with his retirement following the 2006 season. Lawton did make one more All-Star appearance in 2004 with Cleveland, but never put up the type of consistent numbers that he did during his tenure with the Twins. For his career, Lawton ended up with 1,273 hits, a .267 batting average, 138 HR and 631 RBI over 1,334 career games. While those are respectable career numbers, based off the career trajectory of Lawton when he was with the Twins, some may see his career totals as underwhelming. However, few would rate his post-career life as anything close to “fulfilling his potential”. In August 2005, while he was still playing in the majors with the New York Yankees, Lawton tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. At the time, Lawton was only suspended 10 days during the 2006 season. After the test results were made public, Lawton told The Associated Press, "I made a terrible and foolish mistake that I will regret for the rest of my life." Unfortunately for Lawton, the suspension from baseball was only the start of bad things to come. Seven years after he retired, Lawton would yet again make a decision that he may end up regretting for the rest of his life. On April 11 of this year, Lawton was arrested by police in Harrison County, Mississippi and remained in custody a week later with no bond. Since the reporting of this case, no further information has been given regarding Lawton’s criminal status. The case was being heard in a court that handles family disputes, child support, and child custody issues so it is safe to assume that the arrest was made due to a family matter. Lawton does have two children, one boy and one girl, who both are under the age of 21. This is a troubling end to what once appeared to be a promising career for Lawton. One has to wonder what kind of crime that Lawton committed or what could have provoked him into committing such a crime, especially involving his family. Athletes are human and they do make mistakes, but it remains unfortunate that one of the players we watched turn around the fortune of the Twins in the late 1990s and early 2000s has made such poor decisions in his post-career life. We often like to pedestalize athletes for being part of a great turnaround or performing well for our favorite team or organization, but there is no rationalizing or justifying criminal actions whether it is before, during or after an athlete is in the media limelight. Sometimes, athletes do not know how to adjust to life after sports or how to live life without the spotlight. Lawton wouldn’t seem like a logical candidate to fall into this category, but he has succumbed to some of the many problems that athletes seem to run into after their careers are over. Now I’m not trying saying that athletes are the only type of people that succumb to crime and domestic problems, but it is alarming to see the number of times a former professional athlete has a run-in with the law. The reason we hear so much about these problems is likely due to the fact that they are the focus of media attention even after they retire and thus, we still hear about them when they make a mistake. I sincerely hope that this is lowest point that Lawton and his family must endure during Lawton’s post-career life. Hopefully, for Lawton and his family, they can move on from this incident and come away from it better people and a stronger family. Brian Wille is a Minnesota Twins writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @BeeWill15 or “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google

[attachment=6037:2529.attach] Photo Courtesy of: Jesse Johnson- USA TODAY Sports Article originally published on [URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2013/05/30/minnesota-twins-is-glen-perkins-recent-struggles-cause-for-concern/"]rantsports.com[/URL] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=arial][COLOR=#222222][FONT=Tahoma]Since [B]Joe Nathan[/B] suffered a season-ending injury prior to the 2010 season, the Twins have seen a vast array of pitchers audition to fill the role of closer. Even Nathan himself came back for the 2011 season to nail down a few saves, but the Twins have seen [B]Jon Rauch[/B], [B]Matt Capps[/B], [B]Jared Burton[/B] and [B]Glen Perkins[/B] try to lock down the closer job.[/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR] Of all of the candidates to emerge since 2010, Perkins has been the most dominant and successful of all, though he ranks second among the players listed in blown saves with nine in 37 career opportunities; only Capps has more, with 12 in 57 opportunities over three seasons with the Twins. Now you can look at Perkins’ blown saves statistic and you may start to worry, but I caution you to take into consideration all the factors before you worry yourself over nothing. Compared to the other candidates besides Capps, Perkins has appeared in more save appearances during his time with the Twins and since being named closer to start this season, Perkins has blown only two saves in 12 appearances. Compared to the days when Capps was blowing—whoops, I mean closing—games for the Twins, fans and coaches were on edge every time he took the mound; each save attempt was a journey and Capps never looked confident or comfortable when he faced adversity or had to work out of tough situations. Perkins, on the other hand, has the pure stuff and mindset to dominate hitters in any situation. Compared to Capps, Perkins is a welcome sight for a Twins’ bullpen that has been relied on heavily during the early portion of this season. The fact that Perkins has blown two saves early on this season and that Perkins has allowed a run in two of his last five appearances should be nothing to worry about for Twins’ fans. Perkins did come in to lock down his 11th save of the season on Wednesday night for the Twins in a 4-1 victory over the [B]Milwaukee Brewers[/B], but the irregularity of his save opportunities has to be taking a toll on his effectiveness; he can sometimes go days or weeks without a save appearance. This might affect his ability to remain sharp in save situations in spite of the appearances he makes in non-save situations. When given the ball during save opportunities on a consistent basis, Perkins can and will remain one of the more dominant closers in baseball today and will only get better as he gains more experience. Although Perkins ERA is a bit on the high side at 3.20, he still posts very strong overall numbers with a 1.02 WHIP, 13.98 strikeouts per nine innings and a 4.83 strikeout to walk ratio. Batters are hitting .194 against him on the season. Those numbers, plus the eye-test, should be what Twins’ fans and analysts should focus on instead of his ERA or blown saves. The season is early and like the rest of the Twins, Perkins is still growing into his role. It is crucial that Perkins gets the necessary development and experience now so he can be the dominant closer he is capable of being when the Twins return to contention. This is not the time for concern with Perkins, nor do I foresee where there should be any concern with Perkins during the rest of this season. Make no mistake about it, Perkins is the Twins closer. He’s the best option they have at closer and he will remain the most dominant reliever and best option to close out games for the Twins for the remainder of the season and into the foreseeable future. [I]Brian Wille is a [URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/teams/minnesota-twins/"]Minnesota Twins[/URL] writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter [URL="https://twitter.com/BeeWill15"]@BeeWill15[/URL] or “Like” him [URL="https://www.facebook.com/BrianWilleRantsportscom"]on Facebook[/URL] or add him to your network on [URL="https://plus.google.com/u/0/101730027510780138135"]Google[/URL][/I] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=arial] [/FONT][/COLOR] View full article

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4227[/ATTACH] Photo Courtesy of: Jesse Johnson- USA TODAY Sports Article originally published on rantsports.com Since Joe Nathan suffered a season-ending injury prior to the 2010 season, the Twins have seen a vast array of different pitchers to audition to fill the role of closer. Even Nathan himself came back for the 2011 season to nail down a few saves, but the Twins have seen players such as Jon Rauch, Matt Capps, Jared Burton and Glen Perkins try to lock down the closer job and few have succeeded. Out of all of the candidates to emerge since 2010, Perkins has seemed the most dominant and successful of all of the pitchers, even though he ranks second among the players listed in blown saves over his Twins’ tenure with nine career blown saves in 37 career opportunities; only Capps has more with 12 blown saves in 57 opportunities over three seasons with the Twins. Now you can look at Perkins’ blown saves statistic and you may start to worry, but I caution you to take into consideration all of the factors before you worry yourself over nothing. Compared to the other candidates besides Capps, Perkins has appeared in more save appearances during his time with the Twins and since being named closer to start this season, Perkins has only blown two saves in 12 appearances. Compared to the days when Capps was blowing—whoops, I mean closing—games for the Twins, fans and coaches were on edge every time he took the mound because each save was a journey and Capps never looked confident or comfortable when he faced adversity or had to work out of tough situations. Perkins, on the other hand, has the pure stuff and mindset to dominate hitters in any situation and has lived up to that mantra so far as a closer; so compared to Capps, Perkins is a welcomed sight for a Twins’ bullpen that has been relied on heavily during the early portion of this season. The fact that Perkins has blown two saves early on this season and that Perkins has allowed a run in two of his last five appearances should be nothing to worry about for Twins’ fans. Perkins did come in to lock down his 11th save of the season on Wednesday night for the Twins in a 4-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers, but the irregularity by which Perkins has been asked to operate on has to be taking its toll on Perkins’ effectiveness because he can sometimes go days or weeks at a time without a save appearance. This can affect his ability to remain sharp on the mound despite the opportunities and appearances he makes when there isn’t a save opportunity in place. When given the ball during save opportunities on a consistent basis, Perkins can and will remain one of the more dominant closers in baseball today and will only get better as he gains more experience in the position. Although Perkins ERA is a bit on the high side at 3.20, he still posts very strong overall numbers with a 1.02 WHIP, a 13.98 strikeouts per nine innings and a 4.83 strikeout to walk ratio with hitters hitting a combined .194 against him on the season. Those numbers, plus the eye-test, should be what Twins’ fans and analysts should focus on instead of his ERA or blown saves statistic. The season is early and like the rest of the Twins, Perkins is still growing into his role. It is crucial that Perkins gets the necessary development and experience over these next few seasons so he can be the dominant closer he is capable of being when the Twins return to contention over the next few seasons. Now is not the time for concern with Perkins, nor do I foresee a situation where there should be any cause for concern with Perkins at any point during the rest of this season. Make no mistake about it, Perkins is the Twins closer, he’s the best option they have at closer and he will remain the most dominant reliever and best option to close out games for the Twins for the remainder of the season and for the foreseeable future. Brian Wille is a Minnesota Twins writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @BeeWill15 or “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google

[ATTACH=CONFIG]4196[/ATTACH] Image courtesy of: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports Originally published on www.rantsports.com The Major League Baseball Amateur Draft is fast approaching and the Minnesota Twins are currently slotted to pick fourth overall. With the way the season has been going for the Twins, many fans are already setting their sights back on the future and the draft is always a good place to drum up optimism and hope for a struggling team’s future. Last season, the Twins took outfielder Byron Buxton with the number two overall pick in the draft and early indications are that the Twins hit a “homerun” with their selection. Buxton has lived up to the hype so far by hitting .324 with 59 hits, seven HR, 38 RBI, an astounding 35 walks and an OBP of .432 over 182 at-bats in 48 games for low Class-A Cedar Rapids. Buxton certainly has embraced playing at this level, but it soon may be time for the Twins to send Buxton on his way to high Class-A to see how Buxton matches up against better competition. Could the Twins have a fast-track outfielder on their hands like the Los Angeles Angels did with Mike Trout? It’s possible, but time will tell. When the Twins selected Buxton, he was widely considered the “best available” player on the board and some even argued that he was the most talented player in the draft; so by getting him with the number two overall pick, the Twins were very fortunate. Often, however, teams seem to debate whether or not to draft for “need” and “major-league readiness” or to take the “best player available” which may mean waiting a few years before the prospect is “major-league ready”. The Twins have often claimed to be subscribers to the “best player available” theory with their high picks and last year’s draft seems to fit that mold; but with another season underway and the Twins still struggling from a talent deficiency in their starting rotation, will need and “major-league readiness” overcome “best available” this year? There are plenty of pitching prospects that have been rumored to be on the Twins radar ranging from Mark Appel, Jonathan Gray, Ryne Stanek and Sean Manaea to Braden Shipley and Kohl Stewart. As of late, Stewart has been a hot name associated with the Twins; but no matter which prospect you take out of this list of pitchers—if the Twins decide to go in that direction—each comes with a certain amount of risk, weaknesses and talent. The same goes for position players like Austin Meadows, Kris Bryant and Reese McGuire who all have obvious talent, but are still raw and have their fair share of question marks surrounding their potential and future. So with that in mind, what should the Twins’ strategy be for the upcoming draft? Do they draft a pitcher simply because the rotation is in such bad shape or do they take the best available player and then continue to build pitching depth in the later rounds? For a team that is starting to restock its minor league system with some very talented players, I would personally subscribe to the “best available” theory once again for the Twins. Although money will play a significant role in who the Twins decide to choose, the position they play and their immediate readiness for the majors should not. The question the Twins should ask themselves, regardless of position, is which player is going to have the best overall career when it is all said and done; not which player will get here the soonest? I personally think a pitcher will still be the best player available when the time comes for the Twins to draft at number four and that is the position I believe they will choose from. The Twins are couple years away from returning to contention; not a few years from returning to the World Series, but a few from just returning to contention. With that in mind, the team has time to draft the best available prospect and let them develop in a timely fashion. There seems to be enough talented starting pitchers in the organization—albeit at low levels—that will soon be coming up to improve the major league staff; so drafting additional talent for the lineup would be ok as well. It is a crucial draft for the Twins, make no mistake about it; but if the team can continue to employ their theory of drafting the best available prospect, they will continue to inch closer to their return to contention and dominance. Brian Wille is a Minnesota Twins writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @BeeWill15 For more articles by Brian Wille check out his latest articles about Carlos Gomez's Departure from the Twins Nearly Three Years Later or Kyle Gibson Not Getting a Call to the Majors

http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/files/2013/04/Mauer1.jpgPeter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports He has hit third in the batting order and is now being asked to hit in the number two spot. He has a career .323 batting average, a .405 on-base percentage and averages 84 walks and 73 strikeouts a year. If you haven’t figured out by the headline or the description, the player being described is Joe Mauer. For the Minnesota Twins, Mauer stands as their franchise player, their starting catcher, normally hits third and earns a hefty $23 million a year. When you look at his career statistics listed above and take into consideration that Mauer has only 96 career HR and 591 RBI with only one season of 20 or more HR and zero seasons of 100 plus RBI, you begin to wonder how an organization can allow him to hit as their number three hitter in their lineup. The time has come to move Mauer out of the third spot in the batting order and into the place he should have been all along, leadoff. For most of Mauer’s career with the Twins, the team has had solid options to bat leadoff in front of him and thus, the need for Mauer to bat first was unnecessary. Players like Denard Span and Shannon Stewart were all better suited to hit leadoff in front of Mauer because they had the best blend of discipline, patience, speed and ability to make consistent contact; thus, Mauer predominantly hit second or third in those lineups. Traditionally in baseball, managers put their best hitter in the third spot in the batting order, their power hitters in their fourth and fifth spots and their fastest and top player at getting on base batting leadoff. While Mauer fits the mold as the Twins’ best hitter, he does not hit enough for power to merit remaining in the number three spot for the Twins in part because there rarely is enough players on base in front of him to drive in. This problem has been magnified even further this season with the struggles of Aaron Hicks hitting in front of Mauer, who is now hitting in the number two spot. Even there, the Twins have struggled to put enough players in front of him to utilize his hitting talents. With all of that in mind, if players aren’t getting on in front of Mauer, why not let Mauer get on base and let others drive him in? Why not use Mauer at the top of the lineup and let your best hitter accumulate more at-bats over the season while also driving in players who get on base at the bottom of the order? Quite frankly, I don’t know why not. If Mauer becomes the Twins’ leadoff hitter, the team can slide Hicks down to the bottom of the order where he can hit with less pressure and remain the starter in centerfield where the team needs him most. If Hicks doesn’t produce at the bottom of the order, then his shortcomings are less magnified because Hicks isn’t hitting at the top of the order. The Twins then could slide a high contact player like Eduardo Escobar into the number two spot for opportunities to advance Mauer into scoring position. Another intriguing option would be to move Chris Parmelee or Trevor Plouffe into the number two spot as solid contact hitters with less pressure to produce in the middle of the order. Whatever manager Ron Gardenhire decides to do in the number two spot is irrelevant if Mauer isn’t hitting at the top. Other hitters like Paul Molitor, Wade Boggs and Pete Rose were dominant leadoff hitters who weren’t the fleetest of foot and yet, they still succeeded and became some of the best leadoff hitters in history. Mauer could fit into a similar mold with the Twins and have the same career trajectory as some of baseball’s greats. His swing, plate discipline and consistency are ideal for a leadoff hitter, so what’s the big hold up? Gardenhire mustn’t fret about putting his best hitter at the top of his lineup because wherever he hits, he will produce; but if Gardenhire wants to get the most production out of his lineup as a whole and fully maximize the talents of Mauer on the Twins as they are currently constructed, he must install Mauer as the Twins’ leadoff hitter. So enough messing around Gardenhire, let Mauer leadoff! Brian Wille is a Minnesota Twins writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @BeeWill15 or “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google

http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/files/2013/04/Mauer1.jpgPeter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports He has hit third in the batting order and is now being asked to hit in the number two spot. He has a career .323 batting average, a .405 on-base percentage and averages 84 walks and 73 strikeouts a year. If you haven’t figured out by the headline or the description, the player being described is Joe Mauer. For the Minnesota Twins, Mauer stands as their franchise player, their starting catcher, normally hits third and earns a hefty $23 million a year. When you look at his career statistics listed above and take into consideration that Mauer has only 96 career HR and 591 RBI with only one season of 20 or more HR and zero seasons of 100 plus RBI, you begin to wonder how an organization can allow him to hit as their number three hitter in their lineup. The time has come to move Mauer out of the third spot in the batting order and into the place he should have been all along, leadoff. For most of Mauer’s career with the Twins, the team has had solid options to bat leadoff in front of him and thus, the need for Mauer to bat first was unnecessary. Players like Denard Span and Shannon Stewart were all better suited to hit leadoff in front of Mauer because they had the best blend of discipline, patience, speed and ability to make consistent contact; thus, Mauer predominantly hit second or third in those lineups. Traditionally in baseball, managers put their best hitter in the third spot in the batting order, their power hitters in their fourth and fifth spots and their fastest and top player at getting on base batting leadoff. While Mauer fits the mold as the Twins’ best hitter, he does not hit enough for power to merit remaining in the number three spot for the Twins in part because there rarely is enough players on base in front of him to drive in. This problem has been magnified even further this season with the struggles of Aaron Hicks hitting in front of Mauer, who is now hitting in the number two spot. Even there, the Twins have struggled to put enough players in front of him to utilize his hitting talents. With all of that in mind, if players aren’t getting on in front of Mauer, why not let Mauer get on base and let others drive him in? Why not use Mauer at the top of the lineup and let your best hitter accumulate more at-bats over the season while also driving in players who get on base at the bottom of the order? Quite frankly, I don’t know why not. If Mauer becomes the Twins’ leadoff hitter, the team can slide Hicks down to the bottom of the order where he can hit with less pressure and remain the starter in centerfield where the team needs him most. If Hicks doesn’t produce at the bottom of the order, then his shortcomings are less magnified because Hicks isn’t hitting at the top of the order. The Twins then could slide a high contact player like Eduardo Escobar into the number two spot for opportunities to advance Mauer into scoring position. Another intriguing option would be to move Chris Parmelee or Trevor Plouffe into the number two spot as solid contact hitters with less pressure to produce in the middle of the order. Whatever manager Ron Gardenhire decides to do in the number two spot is irrelevant if Mauer isn’t hitting at the top. Other hitters like Paul Molitor, Wade Boggs and Pete Rose were dominant leadoff hitters who weren’t the fleetest of foot and yet, they still succeeded and became some of the best leadoff hitters in history. Mauer could fit into a similar mold with the Twins and have the same career trajectory as some of baseball’s greats. His swing, plate discipline and consistency are ideal for a leadoff hitter, so what’s the big hold up? Gardenhire mustn’t fret about putting his best hitter at the top of his lineup because wherever he hits, he will produce; but if Gardenhire wants to get the most production out of his lineup as a whole and fully maximize the talents of Mauer on the Twins as they are currently constructed, he must install Mauer as the Twins’ leadoff hitter. So enough messing around Gardenhire, let Mauer leadoff! Brian Wille is a Minnesota Twins writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @BeeWill15 or “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google

After a drama filled game on Tuesday evening in which the [B]Minnesota Twins[/B] rallied to beat the [B]Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim[/B] in 10 innings, the teams were back at it Wednesday afternoon with the Twins having a rare opportunity to sweep a road series. The game was an old-fashioned pitcher’s duel throughout the game, but it was a blown call by an umpire that ultimately stole the show in the Twins’ 1-0 defeat. [attachment=6333:2959.attach] The Twins had runners on first and second base with [B]Justin Morneau [/B]up to bat and nobody out. Angels’ closer [B]Ernesto Frieri[/B] had been struggling mightily with his command and the Twins were poised to scratch across a few runs and possibly steal another game on the road, but all of that changed in the blink of an eye due to a crucial “judgment” error by the umpire. Morneau hit a soft, broken bat pop-up that was heading towards Frieri, who had plenty of time to make what appeared to be a routine play, when Frieri suddenly let the ball drop in front of him before throwing to first for the out. [CENTER] ~~~Originally published on [URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2013/07/25/umpires-error-jeopardizes-minnesota-twins-sweep-in-los-angeles/"]RantSports.com[/URL]~~~ [/CENTER] Now why would Frieri let the ball drop you may ask? Well it’s pretty simple: if Frieri lets the ball drop, he can then pick it up and turn a double play because the runner at first—if he is a smart base runner—will freeze on such a slow and low-level pop-up and will head back to first. By letting the ball drop and throwing to first base, Frieri ensured he would get Morneau out and also catch the runner at first—[B]Doug Bernier[/B]—in a run-down for the second out. You may be asking yourself: where did the umpire make the error? The answer is that Frieri should never of had the opportunity to let the ball drop in front of him. The umpire should have ruled the play an infield fly, which would have held the Twins to one out, and the runners would have returned to their respective bases and could advance at their own risk. Too often, fans and media members believe that an infield field fly can only be called if there is a pop-up that has occurred in the confines of the infield with runners on first and second base and less than two outs; but that understanding is mistaken. According to the [B]MLB[/B] Official Rules, by definition, “An infield fly is a fair fly ball (not including a line drive nor an attempted bunt) which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort, when first and second, or first, second and third bases are occupied, before two are out. The pitcher, catcher and any outfielder who stations himself in the infield on the play shall be considered infielders for the purpose of this rule.” The key words to pay attention to in the infield fly definition are “caught by an infielder with ordinary effort”. The fact that Frieri had time to see the ball in the air, decide to let it fall and be able to make a double-play should be evidence enough that something wasn’t right. With ordinary effort—or below ordinary effort for that matter—Frieri could have easily caught the low-hanging pop-up; thus, the umpire should have called an infield fly because it was a play that the infielder could have made with ordinary effort. There is no way the umpire could have argued that Morneau’s pop-up was a line drive because, by definition, a line drive is a batted ball that goes sharp and direct from the bat to a fielder without touching the ground. Morneau’s hit wasn’t sharp and if it were, Frieri never would have had the chance or choice to let the ball drop in front of him like he did. This missed call may seem insignificant due to the fact that the Twins are so far out of contention; but the fact remains that this type of a missed call could cost a team a decisive game down the stretch and thus, it needs to be called correctly. Contrarians will argue that the play was a “judgment call” by the umpire; but in my mind, the only judgment conducted on the play was by Frieri himself as to whether or not he should let the ball drop. That, baseball fans, sure sounds like an infield fly to me. [COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][I]Brian Wille is a [/I][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/teams/minnesota-twins/"]Minnesota Twins[/URL][COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][I] writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter[/I][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][URL="https://twitter.com/BeeWill15"]@BeeWill15[/URL][COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][I] or “Like” him [/I][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][URL="https://www.facebook.com/BrianWilleRantsportscom"]on Facebook[/URL][COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][I]or add him to your network on [/I][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][URL="https://plus.google.com/u/0/101730027510780138135"]Google[/URL] [COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][COLOR=#3E3E3E][I]To view more articles by Brian Wille, click [/I][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR][URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/author/brianwille/"]here[/URL] View full article

[attachment=6036:2529.attach] Photo Courtesy of: Jesse Johnson- USA TODAY Sports Article originally published on [URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2013/05/30/minnesota-twins-is-glen-perkins-recent-struggles-cause-for-concern/"]rantsports.com[/URL] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=arial][COLOR=#222222][FONT=Tahoma]Since [B]Joe Nathan[/B] suffered a season-ending injury prior to the 2010 season, the Twins have seen a vast array of different pitchers to audition to fill the role of closer. Even Nathan himself came back for the 2011 season to nail down a few saves, but the Twins have seen players such as [B]Jon Rauch[/B], [B]Matt Capps[/B], [B]Jared Burton[/B] and [B]Glen Perkins[/B] try to lock down the closer job and few have succeeded.[/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR] Out of all of the candidates to emerge since 2010, Perkins has seemed the most dominant and successful of all of the pitchers, even though he ranks second among the players listed in blown saves over his Twins’ tenure with nine career blown saves in 37 career opportunities; only Capps has more with 12 blown saves in 57 opportunities over three seasons with the Twins. Now you can look at Perkins’ blown saves statistic and you may start to worry, but I caution you to take into consideration all of the factors before you worry yourself over nothing. Compared to the other candidates besides Capps, Perkins has appeared in more save appearances during his time with the Twins and since being named closer to start this season, Perkins has only blown two saves in 12 appearances. Compared to the days when Capps was blowing—whoops, I mean closing—games for the Twins, fans and coaches were on edge every time he took the mound because each save was a journey and Capps never looked confident or comfortable when he faced adversity or had to work out of tough situations. Perkins, on the other hand, has the pure stuff and mindset to dominate hitters in any situation and has lived up to that mantra so far as a closer; so compared to Capps, Perkins is a welcomed sight for a Twins’ bullpen that has been relied on heavily during the early portion of this season. The fact that Perkins has blown two saves early on this season and that Perkins has allowed a run in two of his last five appearances should be nothing to worry about for Twins’ fans. Perkins did come in to lock down his 11th save of the season on Wednesday night for the Twins in a 4-1 victory over the [B]Milwaukee Brewers[/B], but the irregularity by which Perkins has been asked to operate on has to be taking its toll on Perkins’ effectiveness because he can sometimes go days or weeks at a time without a save appearance. This can affect his ability to remain sharp on the mound despite the opportunities and appearances he makes when there isn’t a save opportunity in place. When given the ball during save opportunities on a consistent basis, Perkins can and will remain one of the more dominant closers in baseball today and will only get better as he gains more experience in the position. Although Perkins ERA is a bit on the high side at 3.20, he still posts very strong overall numbers with a 1.02 WHIP, a 13.98 strikeouts per nine innings and a 4.83 strikeout to walk ratio with hitters hitting a combined .194 against him on the season. Those numbers, plus the eye-test, should be what Twins’ fans and analysts should focus on instead of his ERA or blown saves statistic. The season is early and like the rest of the Twins, Perkins is still growing into his role. It is crucial that Perkins gets the necessary development and experience over these next few seasons so he can be the dominant closer he is capable of being when the Twins return to contention over the next few seasons. Now is not the time for concern with Perkins, nor do I foresee a situation where there should be any cause for concern with Perkins at any point during the rest of this season. Make no mistake about it, Perkins is the Twins closer, he’s the best option they have at closer and he will remain the most dominant reliever and best option to close out games for the Twins for the remainder of the season and for the foreseeable future. [I] Brian Wille is a [URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/teams/minnesota-twins/"]Minnesota Twins[/URL] writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter [URL="https://twitter.com/BeeWill15"]@BeeWill15[/URL] or “Like” him [URL="https://www.facebook.com/BrianWilleRantsportscom"]on Facebook[/URL] or add him to your network on [URL="https://plus.google.com/u/0/101730027510780138135"]Google[/URL][/I] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=arial] [/FONT][/COLOR] View full article

[attachment=6035:2529.attach] Photo Courtesy of: Jesse Johnson- USA TODAY Sports Article originally published on [URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2013/05/30/minnesota-twins-is-glen-perkins-recent-struggles-cause-for-concern/"]rantsports.com[/URL] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=arial][COLOR=#222222][FONT=Tahoma]Since [B]Joe Nathan[/B] suffered a season-ending injury prior to the 2010 season, the Twins have seen a vast array of different pitchers to audition to fill the role of closer. Even Nathan himself came back for the 2011 season to nail down a few saves, but the Twins have seen players such as [B]Jon Rauch[/B], [B]Matt Capps[/B], [B]Jared Burton[/B] and [B]Glen Perkins[/B] try to lock down the closer job and few have succeeded.[/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR] Out of all of the candidates to emerge since 2010, Perkins has seemed the most dominant and successful of all of the pitchers, even though he ranks second among the players listed in blown saves over his Twins’ tenure with nine career blown saves in 37 career opportunities; only Capps has more with 12 blown saves in 57 opportunities over three seasons with the Twins. Now you can look at Perkins’ blown saves statistic and you may start to worry, but I caution you to take into consideration all of the factors before you worry yourself over nothing. Compared to the other candidates besides Capps, Perkins has appeared in more save appearances during his time with the Twins and since being named closer to start this season, Perkins has only blown two saves in 12 appearances. Compared to the days when Capps was blowing—whoops, I mean closing—games for the Twins, fans and coaches were on edge every time he took the mound because each save was a journey and Capps never looked confident or comfortable when he faced adversity or had to work out of tough situations. Perkins, on the other hand, has the pure stuff and mindset to dominate hitters in any situation and has lived up to that mantra so far as a closer; so compared to Capps, Perkins is a welcomed sight for a Twins’ bullpen that has been relied on heavily during the early portion of this season. The fact that Perkins has blown two saves early on this season and that Perkins has allowed a run in two of his last five appearances should be nothing to worry about for Twins’ fans. Perkins did come in to lock down his 11th save of the season on Wednesday night for the Twins in a 4-1 victory over the [B]Milwaukee Brewers[/B], but the irregularity by which Perkins has been asked to operate on has to be taking its toll on Perkins’ effectiveness because he can sometimes go days or weeks at a time without a save appearance. This can affect his ability to remain sharp on the mound despite the opportunities and appearances he makes when there isn’t a save opportunity in place. When given the ball during save opportunities on a consistent basis, Perkins can and will remain one of the more dominant closers in baseball today and will only get better as he gains more experience in the position. Although Perkins ERA is a bit on the high side at 3.20, he still posts very strong overall numbers with a 1.02 WHIP, a 13.98 strikeouts per nine innings and a 4.83 strikeout to walk ratio with hitters hitting a combined .194 against him on the season. Those numbers, plus the eye-test, should be what Twins’ fans and analysts should focus on instead of his ERA or blown saves statistic. The season is early and like the rest of the Twins, Perkins is still growing into his role. It is crucial that Perkins gets the necessary development and experience over these next few seasons so he can be the dominant closer he is capable of being when the Twins return to contention over the next few seasons. Now is not the time for concern with Perkins, nor do I foresee a situation where there should be any cause for concern with Perkins at any point during the rest of this season. Make no mistake about it, Perkins is the Twins closer, he’s the best option they have at closer and he will remain the most dominant reliever and best option to close out games for the Twins for the remainder of the season and for the foreseeable future. [I] Brian Wille is a [URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/teams/minnesota-twins/"]Minnesota Twins[/URL] writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter [URL="https://twitter.com/BeeWill15"]@BeeWill15[/URL] or “Like” him [URL="https://www.facebook.com/BrianWilleRantsportscom"]on Facebook[/URL] or add him to your network on [URL="https://plus.google.com/u/0/101730027510780138135"]Google[/URL][/I] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=arial] [/FONT][/COLOR] View full article

[attachment=6034:2529.attach] Photo Courtesy of: Jesse Johnson- USA TODAY Sports Article originally published on [URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2013/05/30/minnesota-twins-is-glen-perkins-recent-struggles-cause-for-concern/"]rantsports.com[/URL] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=arial][COLOR=#222222][FONT=Tahoma]Since [B]Joe Nathan[/B] suffered a season-ending injury prior to the 2010 season, the Twins have seen a vast array of different pitchers to audition to fill the role of closer. Even Nathan himself came back for the 2011 season to nail down a few saves, but the Twins have seen players such as [B]Jon Rauch[/B], [B]Matt Capps[/B], [B]Jared Burton[/B] and [B]Glen Perkins[/B] try to lock down the closer job and few have succeeded.[/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR] Out of all of the candidates to emerge since 2010, Perkins has seemed the most dominant and successful of all of the pitchers, even though he ranks second among the players listed in blown saves over his Twins’ tenure with nine career blown saves in 37 career opportunities; only Capps has more with 12 blown saves in 57 opportunities over three seasons with the Twins. Now you can look at Perkins’ blown saves statistic and you may start to worry, but I caution you to take into consideration all of the factors before you worry yourself over nothing. Compared to the other candidates besides Capps, Perkins has appeared in more save appearances during his time with the Twins and since being named closer to start this season, Perkins has only blown two saves in 12 appearances. Compared to the days when Capps was blowing—whoops, I mean closing—games for the Twins, fans and coaches were on edge every time he took the mound because each save was a journey and Capps never looked confident or comfortable when he faced adversity or had to work out of tough situations. Perkins, on the other hand, has the pure stuff and mindset to dominate hitters in any situation and has lived up to that mantra so far as a closer; so compared to Capps, Perkins is a welcomed sight for a Twins’ bullpen that has been relied on heavily during the early portion of this season. The fact that Perkins has blown two saves early on this season and that Perkins has allowed a run in two of his last five appearances should be nothing to worry about for Twins’ fans. Perkins did come in to lock down his 11th save of the season on Wednesday night for the Twins in a 4-1 victory over the [B]Milwaukee Brewers[/B], but the irregularity by which Perkins has been asked to operate on has to be taking its toll on Perkins’ effectiveness because he can sometimes go days or weeks at a time without a save appearance. This can affect his ability to remain sharp on the mound despite the opportunities and appearances he makes when there isn’t a save opportunity in place. When given the ball during save opportunities on a consistent basis, Perkins can and will remain one of the more dominant closers in baseball today and will only get better as he gains more experience in the position. Although Perkins ERA is a bit on the high side at 3.20, he still posts very strong overall numbers with a 1.02 WHIP, a 13.98 strikeouts per nine innings and a 4.83 strikeout to walk ratio with hitters hitting a combined .194 against him on the season. Those numbers, plus the eye-test, should be what Twins’ fans and analysts should focus on instead of his ERA or blown saves statistic. The season is early and like the rest of the Twins, Perkins is still growing into his role. It is crucial that Perkins gets the necessary development and experience over these next few seasons so he can be the dominant closer he is capable of being when the Twins return to contention over the next few seasons. Now is not the time for concern with Perkins, nor do I foresee a situation where there should be any cause for concern with Perkins at any point during the rest of this season. Make no mistake about it, Perkins is the Twins closer, he’s the best option they have at closer and he will remain the most dominant reliever and best option to close out games for the Twins for the remainder of the season and for the foreseeable future. [I] Brian Wille is a [URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/teams/minnesota-twins/"]Minnesota Twins[/URL] writer for RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter [URL="https://twitter.com/BeeWill15"]@BeeWill15[/URL] or “Like” him [URL="https://www.facebook.com/BrianWilleRantsportscom"]on Facebook[/URL] or add him to your network on [URL="https://plus.google.com/u/0/101730027510780138135"]Google[/URL][/I] [COLOR=#000000][FONT=arial] [/FONT][/COLOR] View full article

[attachment=6020:2514.attach] [FONT=arial]Image courtesy of: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports [/FONT]Originally published on [URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2013/05/28/mlb-draft-preview-should-minnesota-twins-draft-for-need-or-best-available-in-2013/"]www.rantsports.com [/URL] The [B]Major League[/B] Baseball Amateur Draft is fast approaching and the [B]Minnesota Twins[/B] are currently slotted to pick fourth overall. With the way the season has been going for the Twins, many fans are already setting their sights back on the future and the draft is always a good place to drum up optimism and hope for a struggling team’s future. Last season, the Twins took outfielder [B]Byron Buxton[/B] with the number two overall pick in the draft and early indications are that the Twins hit a “homerun” with their selection. Buxton has lived up to the hype so far by hitting .324 with 59 hits, seven HR, 38 RBI, an astounding 35 walks and an OBP of .432 over 182 at-bats in 48 games for low Class-A Cedar Rapids. Buxton certainly has embraced playing at this level, but it soon may be time for the Twins to send Buxton on his way to high Class-A to see how Buxton matches up against better competition. Could the Twins have a fast-track outfielder on their hands like the [B]Los Angeles Angels[/B] did with [B]Mike Trout[/B]? It’s possible, but time will tell. When the Twins selected Buxton, he was widely considered the “best available” player on the board and some even argued that he was the most talented player in the draft; so by getting him with the number two overall pick, the Twins were very fortunate. Often, however, teams seem to debate whether or not to draft for “need” and “major-league readiness” or to take the “best player available” which may mean waiting a few years before the prospect is “major-league ready”. The Twins have often claimed to be subscribers to the “best player available” theory with their high picks and last year’s draft seems to fit that mold; but with another season underway and the Twins still struggling from a talent deficiency in their starting rotation, will need and “major-league readiness” overcome “best available” this year? There are plenty of pitching prospects that have been rumored to be on the Twins radar ranging from [B]Mark Appel[/B], [B]Jonathan Gray[/B], [B]Ryne Stanek[/B] and [B]Sean Manaea[/B] to [B]Braden Shipley[/B] and [B]Kohl Stewart[/B]. As of late, Stewart has been a hot name associated with the Twins; but no matter which prospect you take out of this list of pitchers—if the Twins decide to go in that direction—each comes with a certain amount of risk, weaknesses and talent. The same goes for position players like [B]Austin Meadows[/B], [B]Kris Bryant[/B] and [B]Reese McGuire[/B] who all have obvious talent, but are still raw and have their fair share of question marks surrounding their potential and future. So with that in mind, what should the Twins’ strategy be for the upcoming draft? Do they draft a pitcher simply because the rotation is in such bad shape or do they take the best available player and then continue to build pitching depth in the later rounds? For a team that is starting to restock its minor league system with some very talented players, I would personally subscribe to the “best available” theory once again for the Twins. Although money will play a significant role in who the Twins decide to choose, the position they play and their immediate readiness for the majors should not. The question the Twins should ask themselves, regardless of position, is which player is going to have the best overall career when it is all said and done; not which player will get here the soonest? I personally think a pitcher will still be the best player available when the time comes for the Twins to draft at number four and that is the position I believe they will choose from. The Twins are couple years away from returning to contention; not a few years from returning to the World Series, but a few from just returning to contention. With that in mind, the team has time to draft the best available prospect and let them develop in a timely fashion. There seems to be enough talented starting pitchers in the organization—albeit at low levels—that will soon be coming up to improve the major league staff; so drafting additional talent for the lineup would be ok as well. It is a crucial draft for the Twins, make no mistake about it; but if the team can continue to employ their theory of drafting the best available prospect, they will continue to inch closer to their return to contention and dominance. Brian Wille is a Minnesota Twins writer for [URL="http://www.rantsports.com/"]RantSports.com[/URL]. Follow him on Twitter [URL="https://twitter.com/BeeWill15"]@BeeWill15[/URL] For more articles by [URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/author/brianwille/"]Brian Wille[/URL] check out his latest articles about [URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2013/05/27/carlos-gomez-another-former-minnesota-twins-player-that-got-away/"]Carlos Gomez's Departure from the Twins Nearly Three Years Later[/URL] or [URL="http://www.rantsports.com/mlb/2013/05/24/minnesota-twins-in-no-rush-to-promote-kyle-gibson/"]Kyle Gibson Not Getting a Call to the Majors[/URL] View full article