J-Dog Dungan

Now that the season is over, I thought I would return to write down a few of my thoughts regarding this season. Download attachment: Dozier.jpg Third 90+ loss season in a row Yes, the Twins have once again lost over 90 games, after showing the possibility of maybe winning 70 even at the beginning of September. Of course, such a likelihood was lessened after Mauer was taken out with a concussion and Morneau was traded to the Pirates (GO PIRATES-WS 2013!) Still, the Twins' pitching completely fell off the cliff and couldn't even muster enough push to get Gardy his 1000th win. There was also a bit of a mess regarding who was even healthy enough to play the outfield during a portion of the season.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] All in all, there was some potential for a little improvement, and it didn't happen, which should be considered a very disturbing thing. Pitching, Pitching, Pitching The Twins ended the season dead last in starting pitching ERA (5.26). The starting staff also finished dead last in K's, behind the next to last team, the Rockies, by over 110 K's (the Twins' starters had 477 K's). For a team that is even hoping to compete within the next two years, this needs to be rectified ASAP. The Twins were lucky enough to finish with the 14th best ERA in the majors at 3.50; the relievers somehow managed to strike out 508 batters. So while there were a few holes in the relief corps this season, they certainly did enough to keep the Twins in plenty of games. Oh, the strikeouts. Oh, the humanity! The Twins also ended with one of the least productive offenses this franchise has ever seen; in the AL, only the Houston Astros, the new eternally rebuilding franchise in the MLB, struck out more times than the Minnesota Twins. The Twins are also near the bottom in most other major categories, like stolen bases, batting average, OPS, runs, hits, and several others. Developmental issues The Twins, like most teams, had to turn to their farm system to help supplement the production they were missing as key position players went down with injuries. It didn't always go well. Some of the better replacements were Josmil Pinto, who came up to replace Joe Mauer after he went down with his concussion, and, well, I can't think think of anyone else who played all that well. There were also several players who were expected to step up and replace key players. Aaron Hicks won the CF job out of spring training, and really did terribly at the plate (though he managed to save a little value by playing a fair CF). Chris Parmelee and Chris Colabello were expected to be solid role-players; instead they turned in very disappointing seasons. Trever Plouffe was given a full season to take hold of the 3rd base position, and instead took a step back both defensively and offensively. Darin Mastroianni was injured very early in the season, came back close to the end of the year and never really got going. Pedro Florimon, while not hitting for much average, did show a little pop and gave the Twins an above-average defender at shortstop. Bright Spots? While the Twins had a third consecutive 90+ loss season, there were three bright spots for the Twins season this year (there may have been others, but I am choosing to focus on these three). Brian Dozier- As it has been widely commented upon, Brian Dozier brought his career back to relevancy with an extremely solid final five months of the season. After searching out Tom Brunansky about a hitch in his swing, Dozier turned into a legit Top-5 second baseman, both offensively and defensively. He led the team in home runs, triples, at-bats and games played. He was second in stolen bases, doubles, hits, RBI and strikeouts. His 2013 campaign was so impressive to the Twins brass that they are even considering pushing Eddie Rosario, a converted outfielder turned second basemen, back into an outfielder to allow Dozier to stay at second. Andrew Albers- Everyone has heard the story of how he managed to convince the Twins to sign him by driving across a good portion of the continental US just to try out. Well, he finally managed to claw his way up the ladder into the Twins starting rotation. While his 2-5, 4.05 ERA isn't great, he started his major league career by nearly throwing two complete game shutouts. As teams began to get a bit more info on him, he became somewhat less effective, but he was able to pitch well enough that he should be given at least some consideration in being a part of next year's rotation. Caleb Thielbar- Thielbar was signed by the Twins off the St. Paul Saints' roster in 2011. After the 2012 season, the Twins added Thielbar to their 40-man roster and he was promoted to the majors in late May. In his first 17 major league appearances, Thielbar didn't give up a single run. He finished the season with a 1.76 ERA over 46 IP, allowing only 24 hits and 9 earned runs. He walked 14 batters, struck out 39 and opposing hitters hit only .154 off him. These three players were bright spots to Twins fans and everyone was cheering these players on. What's next? Well, next the Twins need to clear out their 40-man roster of players they aren't interested in keeping to make room for prospects who need to be added to keep them from being snagged in the Rule V draft. They have already started this process, outrighting Cole de Vries, Shairon Martis, Josh Roenicke and Clete Thomas to AAA Rochester. Several players that are likely to be added to the 40-man roster include: Logan Darnell, A.J. Achter, Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, Kennys Vargas and possibly Pat Dean. There should also be several spots left open for any free agents added (which will hopefully include several free agent pitchers.) Free Agency Lastly, the Twins should have nearly $20-$40 million available to spend on free agents this offseason. While there aren't any really big-name pitchers on the market this season, there are several- Matt Garza, Josh Johnson, Phil Hughes, Tim Lincecum, Scott Kazmir, and Jason Vargas- who will be available. I hope the Twins find the money and the will to sign at least one of these, as well as one or two others on a slightly lower tier. All in all, this has been another disappointing season for the Twins. They are currently in a waiting period, waiting for their top prospects to reach the majors. They haven't done much recently to improve the lot of their fans. They need to take a good look at several of the teams in the postseason this year and see at how, with lower payrolls, they have built their teams while many of the big-market teams are home on their couches, watching these lower-market teams play for a ring. I hope the Twins are willing to crack the piggybank and improve their roster. If they aren't, 2014 will be another long year for us Twins fans. Click here to view the article

Note from Seth - Thank you to J-Dog Dungan for stepping up last night and helping with the minor league report. It was very helpful! -------------------- The Twins made their game against Boston very interesting, waiting until the last inning to uncork the big hit they had been looking for all game, with the three-run home run from Mauer winning the game for them. ROCHESTER 6, TOLEDO 0 P.J. Walters made a rehab start for AAA Rochester. He lasted 2 innings, giving up no runs, hits, walks or K's. Esmerling Vasquez then tossed the next 4, giving up 2 hits, 1 BB, and struck out three and received the win. The game was ended early due to a rain delay after the top of the 7th.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] On the offensive side, the Red Wings were led by Parmelee who had a solo shot, single and a walk in 3 AB's and Evan Bigley, who hit a grand slam in a 5-run 6th for the Twins. Matt Carson, Wilson Ramirez, and Clete Thomas all had singles. NEW BRITAIN 8, ALTOONA 6 Blake Martin started for the Twins. He lasted just four innings, giving up 3 runs (2 earned) on 4 hits, 4 walks and 2 K's. Jose Gonzalez (earned the win) and Dakota Watts combined for 4 innings of 2 hit, 2 walk, 5 K ball. Edgar Ibarra and Matthew Hauser made things interesting in the 9th when they gave up 3 runs, all earned on 5 hits, but Hauser eventually closed it out for his first save. The Twins were led on offense by Aaron Hicks, who was 3-5 with a HR, 2 RBI's and 2 runs, and Chris Herrmann who was also 3-5 with 3 RBI's. Joe Benson was 1-4. James Beresford was 3-4 with an RBI. The Twins were also helped by the three errors that Altoona made in the game. FT. MYERS 5, ST. LUCIE 4 Cole Nelson got the start in this game for the Miracle. He lasted just 4 innings, giving up 4 runs, all earned, on 7 hits and 3 walks, and he struck out only one. Miguel Munoz got the win, pitching the next 2 2/3, giving up only 2 hits, 3 walks, and he struck out 2. Michael Tonkin got the save, his fourth, by pitching the last 2 1/3 innings, giving up 1 hit and 1 walk with 4 K's. Andy Leer, the 2B for the Miracle, had two hits and an RBI. Nobody else on the Miracle had more than one hit, but Josmil Pinto made his hit count, hitting a HR in the 6th that pulled the Miracle within 2 of St. Lucie. Just like New Britain, the Miracle were helped by the error in this game, St. Lucie had 3 errors and only 2 of their runs were earned. WISCONSIN 2, BELOIT 1 A close game in the Twins system that didn't go the Twins way. Jason Wheeler got the start for the Twins and took the loss. Usually reliable, he gave up 2 runs on 3 hits in the first, but he would give up only 3 hits and a walk through the next 7 innings, but it still wasn't enough. He also had 10 K's. DJ Baxendale pitched a perfect 9th, striking out the side. The only offense the Twins managed was a HR by Kennys Vargas. They had 4 walks and 5 other hits besides the HR, but the Snappers couldn't put anything together. Miguel Sano was 1-4 with his 22nd double and 2 K's. Rosario was 1-4 with a single. Unusually, the Snappers catcher, Matthew Koch, was caught stealing home. The Snappers were also 0-7 with RISP. DANVILLE 5, ELIZABETHTON 2 Angel Mata started for the E-Twins. He went 4 2/3, giving up all 5 runs (4 earned) on the strength of 3 hits and 4 walks. He struck out 5 and took the loss. Josh Burris took over the next 2 1/3, only giving up 1 hit and walked 2, but also struck out two. Tyler Herr pitched the 8th and pitched perfectly, striking out one. Luke Bard took the 9th and gave up 1 hit and struck out two. Unfortunately, the E-Twins were unable to get anything going offensively until the 8th. Before that, Danville pitchers Lucas Sims, Eduardo Castillo, and Rafael Briceno gave up exactly 1 hit, 1 walk, and 1 HBP. Jorge Polanco provided the E-Twins's offense tonight, with a 2-run shot off of Alex Wilson, his 2nd of the year with Quesada on 1st after another HBP. The only other Twins with hits were Travis Harrison, who singled, and Rory Rhodes, who singled and walked twice. The E-Twins were also 0-8 with RISP. GCL TWINS 7, GCL RED SOX 5 In a meeting of the lowest minor league affiliates of the MLB Teams, the Twins again came out on top, again in a come from behind fashion, but not quite as dramatic as with 2 outs in the top of the 9th. The game was looking dicey in the 1st, as the Sox scored 4 of their 5 runs against starter Austin Malinowski. His line was over after 2 1/3. He gave up 4 runs (only 2 earned) on 4 hits and one walk. He also struck out 2. J.O. Berrios took over at that point. He lasted 2 2/3, enough to get the win. He gave up 1 run (earned) on 3 hits, a walk, and struck out 6 men. Hung Yi Chen pitched the next three innings, giving up no runs, hits, or walks, and he struck out 3. Alex Muren earned the save, giving up a hit and striking out one and allowing no runs. The Twins were led by several men tonight, including Byron Buxton, John Murphy, and Bryan Santy. Byron was 2-4 with a triple and a HR, as well as 2 RBI's, 3 runs, a walk, and a strikeout. Buxton's average is now up to .214. Murphy went 1-4 with a double, but drove in 3, and scored a run. Santy went 2-3 with 2 singles, an RBI and a K. Hitters of the Day: tie between Evan Bigley (AAA) and Aaron Hicks (AA). http://projectprospect.com/files/media/content/Aaron-Hicks%20300x450%20 Hicks http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTa5vvWoiclVbM9of0HzsKJ8xc1hiFVOUeek1y56wfp_Q6pR1RYYJ5dqPXONw Bigley Pitchers of the Day: tie between the Red Wings and Jason Wheeler http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSvIrIk7-p4fW9GyhJ_BGLPYJP1OU4vsAI3XyHw8VNRLTOj8f6o Wheeler pitched a good game, but got no run support http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSnowvSVndoFph2BdGgeI-UxqynPeyWtKTuhsikhzsZNNiA-aneuQ Esmerling Vasquez picked up where Walters left off and won the game for AAA Rochester http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRJGI56fEyTodcUYYwuBQYto3Tw_h8ttpXeKBzcEEwK9KgoB_oQUw P.J. Walters pitched two perfect rehab innings in AAA Rochester @ Toledo--??? New Britain vs. Altoona--B.J. Hermsen (8-5, 3.20 ERA) Beloit vs. Wisconsin--David Hurlbut (4-5, 2.78 ERA) Ft. Myers @ St. Lucie--Tom Stuifbergen (4-4, 5.40 ERA) Elizabethton vs. Danville--Hein Robb (2-2, 2.81 ERA) GCL Twins off day Click here to view the article

Okay, two things wrong with this draft: 1. Hageman gets drafted by the Packers. That is just not cool. I would absolutely hate that happening. 2. I think most prognosticators have Matthews above Robinson talent-wise, but I guess his selection makes sense, I guess. Hey, if you are interested in really talking football (and you are a Vikings fan), head over to the Daily Norseman. We love new blood over there.

Does anybody know the chances that Michael Tonkin breaks camp this year? Seems like he's got a gun for an arm and he isn't afraid to use it!

Thanks for doing these again Thrylos, I really like the insight into who seems to have the upper hand in camp battles. Keep up the great work!

Sweet. Nice analysis. Hope his power does return, Willingham could potentially be a nice sell-high commodity if he performs well to the Trade Deadline this season.

Hey, love the draft (maybe not the Vikings pick, but that's just me). Got a suggestion for you: if you really want a place to shoot that Mock Draft out, head over to the Daily Norseman on SBNation. Great material over there

As everyone who stays caught up on Twins news knows by now, Ryan Doumit was traded to the Braves yesterday for Sean Gilmartin. When I heard about this news, it got me thinking. At the moment, the Twins have a high number pitchers on their 40-man roster. After they added Gilmartin, their 2013 AAA pitching group got even more crowded, and I have a feeling that more moves might be coming to fix that. The Twins' pitching rotation at the Major League level currently includes Phil Hughes, Ricky Nolasco, Kevin Correia, and Mike Pelfrey. That leaves one spot for a fair number of starters, including Scott Diamond, Sam Deduno, Vance Worley, and possibly even Andrew Albers, Kyle Gibson, and Anthony Swarzak. For the sake of argument (and because I am a huge fan of the guy), let's say Sam Deduno wins the spot (with the reasoning that, despite his age, he has great pitches and he is a real competitor). That leaves Diamond, Worley, Albers and Gibson without a rotation spot in the Majors for the time being (with Swarzak staying in the bullpen as the long relief guy). Not to mention that Alex Meyer is likely going to either start in AAA or move up to AAA partway through the season. This leaves the Twins with another logjam to lighten up, this time in the AAAA pitcher group. At the moment, they are looking for a part-time catcher, possibly a SS, and always looking to upgrade their starting rotation. Obviously, none of the AAAA pitchers are viable enough to turn into a good starting pitcher. However, it is likely that a package of two pitchers could possibly wrangle an okay package. I don't really have any idea of what kind of package would wrangle any non-C level prospect, but I would believe that Terry Ryan can make something happen. Give me ideas of what pitchers you think you might trade.

Just checked up on Deduno's status, and it appears that he will be ready for Spring Training according to Mike Berardino. http://www.rotoworld.com/recent/mlb/6077/samuel-deduno If he can stay healthy, I would imagine that the Twins look pretty hard at him for the 5th rotation spot, and if he does enough to deserve it, give it to him.

Honestly, I was just thinking about this. There are very few 2nd basemen out on the market, and I could see a team coming to the Twins for either Dozier or Rosario, despite whether or not Rosario is ready for the Bigs.

It has been a while since I have written a blog on this site, as I have been almost obsessively following the exploits of the Minnesota Vikings over on the Daily Norseman (and if you are a Vikings fan, head over there. The DN writing staff rivals the one here on Twins Daily). I have been popping in here from time to time, but I have found that following a team that has been losing as much as the Twins is hard on my spirit, so I have for the most part stayed away. Now that the season is over, I thought I would return to write down a few of my thoughts regarding this season. 1. 3rd 90+ loss season in a row- Yes, the Twins have once again lost over 90 games, after showing the possibility of maybe winning 70 even at the beginning of September. Of course, such a possibility was lessened after Mauer got taken out with a concussion and Morneau was traded to the Pirates (GO PIRATES-WS 2013!) Still, the Twins pitching completely fell off the cliff, and couldn't even muster up enough push to get Gardy his 1000th win. There was also a bit of a mess in regard to who was even healthy enough to play the outfield during a portion of the season. All in all, there was some potential for a little improvement, and it didn't happen, which should be considered a very disturbing thing. 2. Pitching, Pitching, Pitching- The Twins ended the season dead last in starting pitching ERA this season (5.26). They also finished dead last in K's as a starting staff, behind the next to last team, the Rockies, by over 110 K's (they had 477 K's). For a team that is even hoping to compete within the next two years, this needs to be rectified ASAP. The Twins were lucky enough to finish with the 14th best ERA in the Majors at 3.50; these relievers also somehow managed to strike out 508 batters. So while there were a few holes in the relief corps this season, they certainly did enough to keep the Twins in plenty of games. 3. Oh the strikeout-humanity!-The Twins also ended up with one of the least productive offenses this franchise has ever seen; only the Houston Astros, the new eternally rebuilding franchise in the MLB, struck out more times than the Minnesota Twins. They are also near the bottom in most other major categories, like stolen bases, batting average, OPS, runs, hits, and several other categories. 4. Developmental issues-The Twins, like most teams, had to turn to their farm system throughout the year to help supplement the production they were missing as key position players went down to injuries. It didn't always go very well. Some of the better replacements were Josmil Pinto, who came up to replace Joe Mauer after he went down with his concussion, and, well, I can't think think of anyone else who played all that well. There were also several players that were expected to step up and replace key players. Aaron Hicks won the CF job out of Spring Training, and really did terribly at the plate (though he managed to save a little value by playing a fair CF). Chris Parmelee and Chris Colabello were expected to be solid role-players, and instead turned in very disappointing seasons. Trever Plouffe was given a full season to take hold of the 3rd base position, and instead took a step back both defensively and offensively. Darin Mastroianni got injured very early in the season, and came back close to the end of the season and never really got going. Pedro Florimon, while not hitting for much average, did show a little pop and gave the Twins an above-average defender at shortstop. 5. Bright Spots?-While the Twins had a third consecutive 90+ loss season, there were three big bright spots for the Twins season this year (there may have been others, but I am choosing to focus on these three). 5a. Brian Dozier-As it has been widely publicized, Brian Dozier brought his career back to relevancy with an extremely solid last 5 months of the season. After searching out Tom Brunansky about a hitch in his swing, Dozier turned into a legit Top-5 2nd baseman, both offensively and defensively. He led the team in home runs, triples, at bats, and games played, and was second in stolen bases, doubles, hits, RBI, and strikeouts. His 2013 campaign was so impressive to the Twins brass that they are even considering pushing Eddie Rosario, a converted outfielder turned second basemen, back into an outfielder to allow Dozier to stay at 2nd base. 5b. Andrew Albers-Everyone has heard his story of how he managed to convince the Twins to sign him by driving across a good portion of the continental US just to try out. Well, he finally managed to claw his way up the ladder into the Twins starting rotation this year. While his 2-5, 4.05 ERA isn't great, he started his major league career by nearly throwing two complete game shutouts. As teams began to get a bit more info on him, he became somewhat less effective, but he was able to pitch well enough that he should be given at least some consideration in being a part of next year's rotation. 5c. Caleb Thielbar- Thielbar was signed by the Twins off the St. Paul Saints roster in 2011. After the 2012 season, the Twins added Thielbar to their 40-man roster, and was promoted to the Majors in late May. In his first 17 Major League appearances, Thielbar didn't give up a single run. He finished the season with a 1.76 ERA over 46 IP, allowing only 9 hits, and 6 runs (only 1 earned!) He walked three batters and struck out ten, and opposing hitters hit only .205 off of him. These three players were bright spots to Twins fans, and everyone was cheering these players on. 6. What's next?- Well, next the Twins need to clear out their 40-man roster of players they aren't interested in keeping on their roster to make room for prospects who need to be added to keep them from being snagged in the Rule V draft. They have already started this process, outrighting Cole de Vries, Shairon Martis, Josh Roenicke, and Clete Thomas to AAA Rochester. Several players that are likely to be added to the 40-man roster include: Logan Darnell, A.J. Achter, Max Kepler, Jorge Polanco, Kennys Vargas, and possibly Pat Dean. There should also be several spots left open for any free agents added (which will hopefully include several free agent pitchers.) 7. Free Agency-Lastly, the Twins should have nearly 40 million available to spend on free agents this offseason. While there aren't any big-name pitchers on the market this season, there are several pitchers like Matt Garza, Josh Johnson, Phil Hughes, Tim Lincecum, Scott Kazmir, and Jason Vargas. I would hope that the Twins would find the money to sign at least one of these pitchers, as well as one or two others on a slightly lower tier. All in all, this has been another disappointing season for the Twins. They are currently in a waiting period waiting for their multiple top prospects to reach the majors, and haven't done much recently to make the lives of their fans better. They need to take a good look at several of the teams in the postseason this season and take a look at how they have built their team around a lower payroll than many of the big-market teams that are currently sitting at home on their couches watching these lower-market teams play for a ring. I hope that the Twins are willing to crack the piggybank and improve their roster. If they aren't, 2014 will be another long year for us Twins fans.

Hey, if you are going to talk about bringing guys into the Hall of Fame, why not put Shoeless Joe Jackson in there along with Pete Rose?

I'm not sure if this was intentional, but Rochester is still playing meaning full games, unless AAA playoffs don't count?

He was indeed. I believe he was drafted by the Twins out of HS, but chose to attend college instead and the Cards got him earlier in the draft than when the Twins selected him.

I actually used this same argument when a Bleacher Report writer said Mauer wasn't worth the 23 million he is being paid.

That is true. That would be a deadly combo in the back of the bullpen (makes me wish that we had that combo; just imagine how good our bullpen would be then!)

Anorthagen-They already have Joe Nathan to close. Why would they need Perkins?

Good to see Rosario contributing again. It's been a while since I have seen his name pop up on these reports.

I have been quite pleasantly surprised about the results so far this year. Could this be the Twins' turn to play the team that turns it around after a few bad years (ala the Vikings of this year)?

Nothing about Colabello in AAA? He's hitting just as well, if not better, than Arcia is right now. If the Twins didn't have Parmelee and they traded Morneau, they could do worse than Colabello.

If you were tracking guys like Morneau, Willingham and Mauer, how would they be doing?