twinsfan34

Ha! What a great clip. Good stuff. Man...I haven't 'caught' in about 15 years...even so, as with Seth, highest velocity I caught was probably touching 90. And it was a big difference of that versus 80-82 mph (what most HS pitchers were throwing in my time and area). Doesn't help being a database engineer and the morning iPhone reading emails has made me near sighted in one eye. I don't know what to think of the 'catch framing'...definitely some catchers are good at moving the ball around. But pitchers pitch. I pitched and caught (most every game I played was one or the other). Only issue I ever had with my catchers was show me the mit or do a 'flash' before hand. Some catchers didn't want to tip location, my thinking was I put it in the right spot, it won't really matter if they know it's there as long as it's not at the heart of the plate. The best 'pitch framer' catches don't correlate to the best pitching staffs. Even a cursory glance at the top pitch framing catchers and their teams will give away the 'best records' or winning teams doesn't have a high correlation to the catchers. http://www.statcorner.com/CatcherReport.php Wish I had the real totals - punch in the gut for not yet having trying to figure out the Retrosheet database and get it install into SQL.

Now THAT, is the inside scoop!!

It tickles me pick to see Santana, night after night, stay back, and lay out a rope, and hustle in for a double or triple. How does he keep hitting .320?! Just amazing, closing in on 400 ABs too.

I was very disappointed they didn't trade him at the deadline especially with guys like Street (Angels) going around for fairly decent package of prospects. Mauer gave us a hometown discount too. Could have easily got another $5-$8M per year from the Yankees, Red Sox, or Dodgers. One person's monetary choice is independent of W-L and performance correlations.

Change for the sake of change isn't good. I mean, we went from Tom Kelly to Ron Gardenhire. Was that a good change? Is Gardenhire the same manager who won AL Manager of the year in 2010 and was 2nd 5 other times...well just a product of the players or was he the reason they did well? I do acknowledge people can get 'depressed' and attitudes can change, we all change as we age - maybe that 'change' in Gardenhire, if the case, is not as conducive to success in managing? I don't think any manager combo of Earl Weaver, Sparky Anderson, Billy Martin, Tony LaRussa, etc etc would have got this team even above .500. As far as the GM, I think Terry Ryan dodged a TON of bullets this Fall in Free Agency. What if we had signed Stephen Drew, Ubaldo Jimenez, and Jarrod Saltamacchia in addition to our fine haul of Rickey Nolasco? I'd actually say that Suzuki and Hughes might be 2 of the top 5 signings in this past FA class. Take $M to WAR ratio.

I'm still hoping MLB takes away the 1st RD pick from the Astros this year so they don't get the #2 slot. Twins are sitting #5 today.

@Gunnarthor, Agree. Would have loved to see the order go 1. Sano 2. Buxton 3. Rosario 4. Pinto 5. Vargas 6. Kepler 7. Polanco 8. Harrison Garver was the 'choice' in my mind as he was clearly 'better' than what was expected while also being solid. A bit old for his class, but he was good all year. For me, only Vargas and Polanco really hit where we expected them to. Murphy was a pleasant surprise, although a very high K% even in the apply lg. The hope of 2015 is that Buxton has a similar Danny Santana/Aaron Hicks rise/position need and that Sano has a Vargas like appearance. Buxton would have to kill the AFL and have a solid Spring and then the CF is still a need position. A long shot. The more likely shot is Sano being added about the time Vargas is added in 2015. I don't know where Polanco fits in 2015. But he could be ready for some more MLB time. If Escobar proves 2014 is no fluke - that's great. Would allow Santana to stay in CF and Buxton to try to dominate AA/AAA vs be pressed to come up. I'm fine with either. So SS has options next year if our young players can repeat 2014. I have to believe Meyer starts 2015 with the Twins. He'll be 25. Start him or long reliever - but he'll be on the 40-man roster and it would seem the only reason he's not in MLB now is the 40-man roster issue. If he can't stick as an SP he'll fit in with one of the the hardest throwing bullpens in MLB by late 2015 (Burdi, Reed, et al). I hope Mauer would attempt to work on 3B this Fall/Winter. I'd love to see Pinto and Vargas break camp in 2015. Obviously, don't love their defense, but if Mauer can play 3B it means one of them isn't on the field defensively. Pinto, worse case scenario hits .225 AVG 20+ HR .310 OBP - in 500 PA, which isn't bad. Plouffe could provide some value in LF and platoon 3B. I'm getting head of myself and off-topic. Let's hope this is next year's list: 1. Sano 2. Buxton 3. Rosario 4. Pinto 5. Vargas 6. Kepler 7. Polanco 8. Harrison

Even before this year's draft assault on relievers, this was our farm system's strongest position. With the additions of Burdi and Reed, it might be the best in the minor leagues. The Twins MiLB teams... 1st - Least Earned Runs Allowed 1st - Least HR allowed 1st - K-BB% 1st - WHIP You CAN'T (really, you can't) get better than that. *These charts courtesy of mlbfarm.com

I think Berrios is ahead of Meyer. And I don't think it's close. 20 year old vs 25 year old getting a start and starts at AAA. Another interesting comparison would be Thorpe and Stewart. Both at class A. One is 19, the other 18. One has fairly good command, not particularly high K/9 though. The other, has high K/9, but also high BB/9. Is there also some leveling out here as far as prospects go? Has Thorpe gained ground on Stewart? Has Stewart increased the gap? Or has it remained steady?

Are you going to do relievers too? I'm actually very impressed with our relievers, both in this 2014 draft class and previous. Especially of note: Brandon Peterson Todd Van Steensel Dallas Gallant Nick Burdi Jake Reed

Debinson Romero isn't on the 40-man roster. They'd have to DFA someone (could be picked up by another team) to call him up. what's kind of a "oh" is if a guy is on the 40-man and in AAA when the playoffs have ended and is NOT called up. That list: Pryor, Florimon, Colabello, Johnson, Thompson Polanco is in AA, Kepler is at A+. http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/team/roster_40man.jsp?c_id=min Minnesota Twins 40-Man Roster Minnesota Twins 40-man Roster # Pitchers B/T Ht Wt DOB 61 Jared Burton R-R 6'5" 225 Jun 2, 1981 38 Logan Darnell * L-L 6'2" 210 Feb 2, 1989 52 Brian Duensing L-L 6'0" 205 Feb 22, 1983 50 Casey Fien R-R 6'2" 205 Oct 21, 1983 44 Kyle Gibson R-R 6'6" 220 Oct 23, 1987 45 Phil Hughes R-R 6'5" 240 Jun 24, 1986 53 Kris Johnson * L-L 6'4" 205 Oct 14, 1984 65 Trevor May R-R 6'5" 215 Sep 23, 1989 49 Tommy Milone L-L 6'0" 205 Feb 16, 1987 47 Ricky Nolasco R-R 6'2" 225 Dec 13, 1982 37 Mike Pelfrey Disabled List 60-day DL ** R-R 6'7" 250 Jan 14, 1984 15 Glen Perkins L-L 6'0" 205 Mar 2, 1983 63 Yohan Pino * R-R 6'2" 190 Dec 26, 1983 57 Ryan Pressly R-R 6'3" 205 Dec 15, 1988 Stephen Pryor * R-R 6'4" 245 Jul 23, 1989 51 Anthony Swarzak R-R 6'4" 210 Sep 10, 1985 56 Caleb Thielbar R-L 6'0" 195 Jan 31, 1987 64 Aaron Thompson L-L 6'3" 195 Feb 28, 1987 59 Michael Tonkin * R-R 6'7" 220 Nov 19, 1989 # Catchers B/T Ht Wt DOB 26 Eric Fryer R-R 6'2" 215 Aug 26, 1985 43 Josmil Pinto * R-R 5'11" 210 Mar 31, 1989 8 Kurt Suzuki R-R 5'11" 230 Oct 4, 1983 # Infielders B/T Ht Wt DOB 20 Chris Colabello * R-R 6'4" 220 Oct 24, 1983 2 Brian Dozier R-R 5'11" 190 May 15, 1987 5 Eduardo Escobar S-R 5'10" 175 Jan 5, 1989 25 Pedro Florimon * S-R 6'2" 180 Dec 10, 1986 7 Joe Mauer L-R 6'5" 230 Apr 19, 1983 24 Trevor Plouffe R-R 6'2" 205 Jun 15, 1986 11 Jorge Polanco * S-R 5'11" 165 Jul 5, 1993 39 Danny Santana S-R 5'11" 175 Nov 7, 1990 19 Kennys Vargas S-R 6'5" 275 Aug 1, 1990 # Outfielders B/T Ht Wt DOB 31 Oswaldo Arcia L-R 6'0" 220 May 9, 1991 12 Chris Herrmann * L-R 6'0" 200 Nov 24, 1987 32 Aaron Hicks * S-R 6'2" 190 Oct 2, 1989 67 Max Kepler * L-L 6'4" 205 Feb 10, 1993 9 Eduardo Nunez R-R 6'0" 185 Jun 15, 1987 27 Chris Parmelee L-L 6'1" 220 Feb 24, 1988 1 Jordan Schafer L-L 6'1" 205 Sep 4, 1986

Thanks for the writeup. Good to know who is likely to 'show up' come September. However, man alive, that list is depressing. I don't see any of those players getting over 45 career games. I'm with NicksaViking, bring up pitchers. Don't overwork starters (Hughes, etc) or the relievers for that matter for a season that won't lead to the playoffs. But give some guys who may be contributors or 'hopefuls' a shot at facing some MLB hitters while also preserving some of the players who we know will be regulars in 2015.

Buster Olney wrote this article (sorry, it's Insider) that kind of goes along the same lines as the thought I had based on my research so far. In having 'specialty' pitchers who well, are amazing, but fade out faster - he mentions Johnny Venters, a lights out left-hander for the Braves - who was arguably overused. He's asking for MLB to make rules to limit the use and warmup of relief pitchers. They'll come and go often and quickly - only a few physical marvels, Mariano Rivera, etc will survive most likely. They'll be the equivalent of the NFL running back, which has the shortest career length of all players. http://insider.espn.go.com/blog/buster-olney/post?id=7904 But pitching has really affected this game. Strikeouts are at all all-time high, batting averages are getting back to pre-mound change/Bob Gibson levels (1969 it changed). I definitely don't want the steroid use back - but would like to see Batting averages back up. I suppose Sabermetrics has also influenced hitters to go for the 2B/HR/SO result as it has more value/less risk than choking up with 2 strikes and making contact (single not as valuable) and the risk of a double play. Then there's shifts.

Vargas looks the part. Obviously, he's a bit limited in his positions though. DH/1B at most. Hughes - I honestly don't think the Angels have the prospects to make it work. Not that I would entertain it. I think (my feeling) Hughes and the Twins are a good marriage and neither would prefer to end it any time soon. I'm not as bullish on Dozier as some. That said, I think he's the right type of player to bring about a winner though. Plays hard, like-able by teammates, teammates respond to his leadership, and I believe will continue to grow as a player. He's a .230-.245 hitter (in over 1500 PAs), but I believe he can start to lay off of some poor pitches and make himself a .260 hitter. It's not great, I know, but with his BBs and power for 2B - he still has quite a bit of value as a .260 hitter. So I wouldn't actively shop him and I wouldn't trade him unless someone knocks my socks off - e.g. a top 25 prospect at AA or higher and 2 more in the top 150. The Vargas situation complicates the Pinto situation. I see both, at least until Pinto proves he's at least an average MLB catcher, as needing lots of ABs and both offer the most value (by least subtraction) at DH. Mauer, moving to 3B at least for one season (could be two more with Sano's status up in the air) would help. And I think, if Mauer feels he could do this, he will. That leads to Plouffe 2.1. Can he be a LF, slash, backup 3B, backup 2B type of guy? Prospects possibly in reach for ST 2015 and through 2015: AAA SP - Alex Meyer, age 25 SP - Trevor May, age 25 C/DH - Josmil Pinto, age 26 OF - Aaron Hicks, age 25 AA SS/2B - Jorge Polanco, age 21 OF/2B - Eddie Rosario, age 23 3B - Miguel Sano, age 21 OF - Byron Buxton, age 21 SP - JO Berrios, age 21 SP - Tyler Duffey, age 24 RP - Mason Melotakis, age 24 SP - Taylor Rodgers, age 24 A+ RP - Brandon Peterson, age 23 RP - Nick Burdi, age 22 RP - Todd Van Steensel, age 24 Outside of these guys, I don't see any other "prospects" (not counting those over age 25) as having a 'shot' at making the Twins roster in 2015. Where would any of these guys fit with the Twins needs?

I wonder if he curled his bat more (e.g. Gary Sheffield, Julio Franco) it would help prevent him from dropping his hands so much in the load phase of his swing.

I was actually looking for this article the day Buxton was shut down. My mind was aggregating the injuries. I was then comparing the other top systems: Cubs, Pirates, Astros. Cubs - have fared the best in avoiding the injury bug. Twins have had it the worst though. Then the Pirates, highlighted by Taillon's TJ and top 2013 pick Austin Meadows injuries. A quick glance over can be found by going to MLB's top 20 prospects per team. Twins: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2014/#list=min Cubs: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2014/#list=chc Astros: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2014/#list=hou Pirates: http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/prospects/watch/y2014/#list=pit

I've been reading a few old books, mostly interviews of great pitchers as I am putting together historic rosters for a PS3 game called MLB 14:The Show and so I am researching all the pitch types - what did Addie Joss through? What did Herb Score & Sam McDowell throw? How about Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax? Bill James & Roby Neyer's Guide to Pitchers has been incredible helpful - an interesting book/read if you want to know who had the best particular pitch over historical periods and all-time. All that to say, my research and study has led to many interviews where pitchers pretty much said they had 'this pitch' or 'that pitch' and the like...'from God' or 'the baseball Gods' or 'I was just meant to pitch'. And it would seem to fall in line with the number of injuries. Some just are blessed with the physical body to be a pitcher - arguably the hardest action on any professional athlete. The other thing I noticed was that most pitchers didn't throw a curveball or their screwballs or any thing with heavy wrist action but maybe 5-15 pitches a game. It was mostly a 'hop ball' (rising FB) or a 'heavy fastball' (sinker) or a what we know today as a cut fastball as well as lots of changeups to palmballs. We also saw a LOT of knuckleball pitchers. The curveballs, sliders, screwballs, etc were mostly used 'only as needed' type of scenarios - up until Sandy Koufax and Bert Blyleven types. JR Richard and others would throw slider, slider, slider, fastball, slider, slider, fastball, slider, slider....done at age 30. Then the 80's we see Roger Craig and others put a greater emphasis on splitters and forkballs and sliders and so forth. There were mostly rotator cuff injuries before, but not, the elbow injuries are becoming more and more prominent (more so than shoulder injuries even). That said - baseball is becoming a pitcher's game. How many arms will teams need though? Will a MLB team need 20-25 pitchers per year to get through a season, as injuries would take their toll each year with the idea of having to have pitchers with great sliders, curves, etc. (heavy wrist action pitches) The trick, I guess, would be if we run out of arms - e.g. not enough pitchers to meet that 20-25 pitchers per club needed? Versus having a team of 12-16 pitchers who have command, offspeed, cutters, fastballs, and another non heavy wrist action types of pitchers? Does the former (heavy wrist action pitchers) have enough supply and provide lower ERA (or opponent run production) than the latter? Most likely. So it's probably not good for individual pitchers, but would still be advantageous as it gets a better result in the box score.

Man alive. I have no words. Diving wrist injury. Sliding wrist injury. Hit by pitch. Hit by pitch. Hit by pitch. Diving for ball in outfield - concussion and knocked out. And he's only played 30 games!! Get him the Barry Bonds elbow guard, the Jeff Bagwell batting glove guard, and DH him the rest of the year. We already know he's a GG capable defender. Otherwise, shut him down. Get him healthy. And 0-for-3...3 strikeouts. Brutal.

I also am glad of how the Franchise is going. Moving the vets that needed to be moved. And moving prospects up. The good thing is many of our prospects are now within striking distance (AA) MLB - Arcia is 23. Vargas is 23. Santana is 23. AAA - Hicks is 24. May is 24. Meyer is 24. AA - Polanco is 20. Buxton is 20. Rosario is 22. Sano is about to be 21.

Beat. Appreciate this. Hope it was as fun for you to do as it was for myself to read.