Minnesota Twins
Weekly Record 5-0
Pitcher of the Week: Scott Baker- Big Spot Scott has reappeared in 2011 and was totally awesome the last week. After getting off to a good start in April, Baker struggled a bit in May. Now in June he has been unbelievable again and has been even better the last week. In his last three starts Baker has been unhittable as he is 3-0 with an unbelievable 1.50 era. In those three starts he worked 24 innings which equals out to eight innings a start which is totally unbelievable for a guy a year ago that a guy that many thought had no heart. In those 24 innings he gave up just 18 hits, but what impressed me the most was walking only one batter while striking out an incredible 22 batters. Baker has always been very talented just because he got so much ability it is nice to see him coming back. People forget why he received that big contract in the first place and that reason is he is a very good pitcher. On the year Baker is 5-4 with a very good 3.24 era in 91.2 innings in 14 starts which is almost seven innings a start. He has walked 24 while striking out a very good 88 batters in his 91.2 innings so it doesn’t take a genius to figure out that is almost a strikeout an inning which would be a career high. I am surprised he has not gotten more play as a candidate for the All Star game as he is nineteenth in era, 25th in innings pitched, and most impressively tenth in era. He has three starts remaining before the break so it will give him time to make a bigger case inclusion in the 2011 All Star Game.
Hitter of the Week: Michael Cuddyer- It seemed like when Justin Morneau went out of the lineup Michael Cuddyer really stepped up in a big way. He has been absolutely raking in the last week. In the last week he has hit a robust .368 on 7-19 hitting with three doubles, a homerun along with two RBI’s and five runs scored. Cuddyer has been one of the few guys that haven’t missed time due to injury this year and having one of his better years of his career. Cuddy is hitting .280 with a team leading 10 homeruns and 28 RBI’s along with twelve doubles, scored 30 runs and drew 22 walks. He has a stat line of .280/.343/.451/.794 which is ok, but he is defiantly capable of doing much more. With all the injuries to his teammates though the production from Cuddy has been key as the Twins are digging themselves out a monumental hole that they put themselves in early in the season. That is why he is my selection as the Twins representative for the 2011 All Star Game in Arizona. Cuddy epitomizes what it means to be a Twin on and off the field and his numbers that he has put up this year have been key as the Twins attempt to do the unthinkable and win their seventh division title in the last ten years. If they are able to do that than Cuddy will be a catalyst and someone worthy inclusion as an all-star.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
Liam Hendriks: A flaming prospect
Liam Hendriks is a name that creates questions, excitement, pessimism, optimism, and flat out intrigue every time his name is called. Not much was known from the Australian born Hendriks when the Twins signed him from Perth, Australia on February, 25th 2007 at the age of eighteen. When he was signed right away you could tell that he was mighty raw, but also mighty talented. At the time the Twins were one of the few teams that scouted in Australia so they had a leg up which would also lead to them to guys such as Brad Tippett and James Beresford. However, it is becoming clear that Hendriks was the crown jewel out of Australia so far and why many other teams are going into Australia with a renewed vigor as they feel the Twins have had success so why can’t we. After signing with the Twins, Hendriks spent the 2007 season in the Gulf Coast League and put up solid numbers.
10 starts 4-2 2.05 era 44innings 41 hits 11bb 52 strikeouts 1.18WHIP
The thought from that season was that they had something in this guy as the low ERA, low walk total and more than a strikeout an inning would attest to. It was almost like they had found a diamond in the rough. Then came the news that Hendriks would have to miss the 2008 campaign due to a spinal cord injury. When that happened those that saw such potential in the 6 foot 1 inch 190lb righty wondered if he would be just another guy that had his career derailed due to injuries. However, Hendriks would not have anything to do with I can’t and came back in 2009 and split the season between rookie league Elizabethton and Class A Beloit. Where he put up the following numbers.
Elizabethton: 3 starts 2-0 3.71 era 17 innings 19 hits 1bb 13k
Beloit: 11 starts 3-5 3.51 era 66.2 innings 73 hits 15 walks 62 strikeouts
Those were solid numbers and something to build upon. However, those were not the type of numbers that he was putting up in the GCL a couple of years earlier. It can be said after his injury it was a miracle that he was even back on the pitcher’s mound. Those that saw him pitch came to the conclusion that he was better than his numbers would indicate. They claimed that the further out he was from his injury the better he would get. Man were they right as he started the season in Beloit before getting up to Fort Myers.
Beloit: 6 starts 2-1 1.32 era 34 innings 16 hits 4 walks 39 strikeouts
Fort Myers: 12 starts 6-3 1.93 era 74.2 innings 63 hits 8 walks 66 strikeouts
With the performance in 2010 Liam Hendriks was back on the map in prospect status as he rose up prospect charts. His numbers in Beloit were off the chart before quickly earning a promotion up to Fort Myers. There he was better yet until the injury bug hit him once again, but this one was not an injury so much as an illness. When it seemed like things could not go any better for Hendriks he came down with Appendicitis and missed over a month before coming back to start a couple games in September. However, you really need to put his 2010 season in perspective as he went 8-4 with a combined 1.74 era. The stat that just makes you go wow though was 12 walks and 105 strikeouts. Stop and think about that and realize just how impressive those numbers were and how much better they would have been if not for the illness. Being back healthy going into 2011 the Twins decided to challenge him and move him up to AA New Britain and he hasn’t disappointed so far.
New Britain: 12 starts 6-2 2.96 era 70 innings 66 hits 15 walks 64 strikeouts
Hendriks has not struggled one iota in the tougher league and has flourished as he has gotten a little bit better every month. In a five start stretch from May 19th to June 9th Hendriks only gave up six earned runs with five walks and 31 strikeouts. He has gotten his fastball into the 93-94 range and has really good off-speed pitches to get guys out. With the performances that he has had this season I started to wonder how high would he be in my prospect list because I had him in the top five and wondered if it was just me or if others saw the same things as I did. So I went to one of the most well respected prospect guys out there and that is Roger Dehring from Twinkie Town who puts a wonderful minor league column every Saturday morning.
I started out asking Roger what he considered Liam Hendriks strengths and weaknesses were and this was his response. “I see Liam's strengths as being a complete pitcher without any glaring weakness. The two weaknesses I see are: 1) a history of injuries, missing all of 2008 (although his injuries may be behind him as you cannot consider last year's appendectomy a baseball injury...just bad luck); and 2) coming from Australia, he doesn't have the experience US and Latin kids have; again not a knock against him just that he needs more work;”
The next thing I asked him was if he was surprised by Hendriks quick rise through the Twins system that is usually slow on promotions. His response surprised me a bit, “No, he was very good in the GCL in 2007 and is performing as well as one could have hoped for.”
Then I asked What does Liam Hendriks need to do from here on out in order to make it to the big leagues and his response, “Stay healthy and continue pitching like he has, ie, he just needs more work at the AA and AAA levels, then should be ready for the Twins.
Next, I asked him something that I knew I would get an informative and intelligent response from being a loyal reader of Roger’s blog. I asked Roger how high he would rank him in the Twins as I had my opinion, but wanted Rogers, “Considering that I am amongst a small group that needs to see Gibson dominate more at AAA as well as pitching deeper in the games, I would put Hendriks right up with Gibson as the top pitching prospects in the upper levels of the organization. Which means I would rank them as co-#1. Just plugged both players into my formula to see what type of seasons they are having. It is a rough look as I need league averages at the end of the year to be 100% accurate (also didn't adjust a couple numbers for roughly half the season). In any case, Hendriks scored 140.114 with Gibson at 124.665. If they continue playing as they have, Hendriks just may grade out as the top pitcher in the organization.” As much as I respect Hendriks opinion I still have Gibson rated a little bit higher. I do believe that Hendriks can be a very good major league pitcher while I think Gibson can be special. Not that I am right or Roger is right just two different opinions.
Next, I asked Roger the question that everybody related to minor league baseball wants to know and that is how high of a ceiling does Hendriks have and this was Rogers response, “Does he have what it takes to be a true Ace, we will see, maybe! I don't see him having Liriano like stuff, but I see him as potentially an Ace, but more likely a #2/#3 starter.” I agree with Roger in that I see Hendriks as a really good 3 and maybe even a two if things go right for him.
The final thing I asked Roger was whether he thought he thinks that Hendriks would keep improving and his response, “ Look at the progress he made this year. Most pitchers hit a wall at AA, and if they finally succeed there it may take longer than a year. With only half a season, twelve starts, at Hi-A, Hendriks moved up to AA and has been dominant. Some pitchers can come straight to the big leagues from AA after pitching like he has...although not likely with the Twins. So yes, I see him continuing to improve and expect he will dominate at AAA next year before being called up...probably as a September, 2012 call up.” I again agree with Roger in that he has the chance to get better and better.
Liam Hendriks should be someone that is a lesson for guys that have dealt with injuries as he was a guy that would not give up on the game he loves. He went from a guy that who knew if he would ever pitch again to a guy that is a top prospect and someone that has to be thought of in the Twins plans. Liam Hendriks is probably the most talked about prospect in all the Twins organization because he went from the lows to the highs in just a couple years. If Liam Hendriks can maintain his health and stay on the pitcher’s mound there is no reason why in a couple years he can’t be a part of the Twins rotation. With guys like Kyle Gibson and Liam Hendriks the Twins future is in good hands.
My Apologys to Roger for not double checking what I put out there it was an honest mistake on my part. I appreciate his help on this article and i hope the readers don't use that against myself or Roger as he is a great minor league guy and a better person so thank you for the help Roger.
10 starts 4-2 2.05 era 44innings 41 hits 11bb 52 strikeouts 1.18WHIP
The thought from that season was that they had something in this guy as the low ERA, low walk total and more than a strikeout an inning would attest to. It was almost like they had found a diamond in the rough. Then came the news that Hendriks would have to miss the 2008 campaign due to a spinal cord injury. When that happened those that saw such potential in the 6 foot 1 inch 190lb righty wondered if he would be just another guy that had his career derailed due to injuries. However, Hendriks would not have anything to do with I can’t and came back in 2009 and split the season between rookie league Elizabethton and Class A Beloit. Where he put up the following numbers.
Elizabethton: 3 starts 2-0 3.71 era 17 innings 19 hits 1bb 13k
Beloit: 11 starts 3-5 3.51 era 66.2 innings 73 hits 15 walks 62 strikeouts
Those were solid numbers and something to build upon. However, those were not the type of numbers that he was putting up in the GCL a couple of years earlier. It can be said after his injury it was a miracle that he was even back on the pitcher’s mound. Those that saw him pitch came to the conclusion that he was better than his numbers would indicate. They claimed that the further out he was from his injury the better he would get. Man were they right as he started the season in Beloit before getting up to Fort Myers.
Beloit: 6 starts 2-1 1.32 era 34 innings 16 hits 4 walks 39 strikeouts
Fort Myers: 12 starts 6-3 1.93 era 74.2 innings 63 hits 8 walks 66 strikeouts
With the performance in 2010 Liam Hendriks was back on the map in prospect status as he rose up prospect charts. His numbers in Beloit were off the chart before quickly earning a promotion up to Fort Myers. There he was better yet until the injury bug hit him once again, but this one was not an injury so much as an illness. When it seemed like things could not go any better for Hendriks he came down with Appendicitis and missed over a month before coming back to start a couple games in September. However, you really need to put his 2010 season in perspective as he went 8-4 with a combined 1.74 era. The stat that just makes you go wow though was 12 walks and 105 strikeouts. Stop and think about that and realize just how impressive those numbers were and how much better they would have been if not for the illness. Being back healthy going into 2011 the Twins decided to challenge him and move him up to AA New Britain and he hasn’t disappointed so far.
New Britain: 12 starts 6-2 2.96 era 70 innings 66 hits 15 walks 64 strikeouts
Hendriks has not struggled one iota in the tougher league and has flourished as he has gotten a little bit better every month. In a five start stretch from May 19th to June 9th Hendriks only gave up six earned runs with five walks and 31 strikeouts. He has gotten his fastball into the 93-94 range and has really good off-speed pitches to get guys out. With the performances that he has had this season I started to wonder how high would he be in my prospect list because I had him in the top five and wondered if it was just me or if others saw the same things as I did. So I went to one of the most well respected prospect guys out there and that is Roger Dehring from Twinkie Town who puts a wonderful minor league column every Saturday morning.
I started out asking Roger what he considered Liam Hendriks strengths and weaknesses were and this was his response. “I see Liam's strengths as being a complete pitcher without any glaring weakness. The two weaknesses I see are: 1) a history of injuries, missing all of 2008 (although his injuries may be behind him as you cannot consider last year's appendectomy a baseball injury...just bad luck); and 2) coming from Australia, he doesn't have the experience US and Latin kids have; again not a knock against him just that he needs more work;”
The next thing I asked him was if he was surprised by Hendriks quick rise through the Twins system that is usually slow on promotions. His response surprised me a bit, “No, he was very good in the GCL in 2007 and is performing as well as one could have hoped for.”
Then I asked What does Liam Hendriks need to do from here on out in order to make it to the big leagues and his response, “Stay healthy and continue pitching like he has, ie, he just needs more work at the AA and AAA levels, then should be ready for the Twins.
Next, I asked him something that I knew I would get an informative and intelligent response from being a loyal reader of Roger’s blog. I asked Roger how high he would rank him in the Twins as I had my opinion, but wanted Rogers, “Considering that I am amongst a small group that needs to see Gibson dominate more at AAA as well as pitching deeper in the games, I would put Hendriks right up with Gibson as the top pitching prospects in the upper levels of the organization. Which means I would rank them as co-#1. Just plugged both players into my formula to see what type of seasons they are having. It is a rough look as I need league averages at the end of the year to be 100% accurate (also didn't adjust a couple numbers for roughly half the season). In any case, Hendriks scored 140.114 with Gibson at 124.665. If they continue playing as they have, Hendriks just may grade out as the top pitcher in the organization.” As much as I respect Hendriks opinion I still have Gibson rated a little bit higher. I do believe that Hendriks can be a very good major league pitcher while I think Gibson can be special. Not that I am right or Roger is right just two different opinions.
Next, I asked Roger the question that everybody related to minor league baseball wants to know and that is how high of a ceiling does Hendriks have and this was Rogers response, “Does he have what it takes to be a true Ace, we will see, maybe! I don't see him having Liriano like stuff, but I see him as potentially an Ace, but more likely a #2/#3 starter.” I agree with Roger in that I see Hendriks as a really good 3 and maybe even a two if things go right for him.
The final thing I asked Roger was whether he thought he thinks that Hendriks would keep improving and his response, “ Look at the progress he made this year. Most pitchers hit a wall at AA, and if they finally succeed there it may take longer than a year. With only half a season, twelve starts, at Hi-A, Hendriks moved up to AA and has been dominant. Some pitchers can come straight to the big leagues from AA after pitching like he has...although not likely with the Twins. So yes, I see him continuing to improve and expect he will dominate at AAA next year before being called up...probably as a September, 2012 call up.” I again agree with Roger in that he has the chance to get better and better.
Liam Hendriks should be someone that is a lesson for guys that have dealt with injuries as he was a guy that would not give up on the game he loves. He went from a guy that who knew if he would ever pitch again to a guy that is a top prospect and someone that has to be thought of in the Twins plans. Liam Hendriks is probably the most talked about prospect in all the Twins organization because he went from the lows to the highs in just a couple years. If Liam Hendriks can maintain his health and stay on the pitcher’s mound there is no reason why in a couple years he can’t be a part of the Twins rotation. With guys like Kyle Gibson and Liam Hendriks the Twins future is in good hands.
My Apologys to Roger for not double checking what I put out there it was an honest mistake on my part. I appreciate his help on this article and i hope the readers don't use that against myself or Roger as he is a great minor league guy and a better person so thank you for the help Roger.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Players of the Week Part III
Fort Myers Miracle
Pitcher of the Week: Tom Stuifbergen- After getting off to a awful start to the season due to injuries and ineffectiveness Stuifbergen has been lights out the last 24 innings. In those innings he has only given up two earned runs. In his last three starts he has been awesome by going 2-1 with a unbelievable 1.06 era in 19 innings of work. In those 19 innings the righty only gave up 16 hits which is very good for someone who doesn’t throw extremely hard. He had a good 5/11 walk to strikeout rate in those three starts. After getting off to a awful April with a 10.00 era in two starts in the month of April and then spending quite a bit of time on the disabled list it was a good comeback. However, comebacks are something that the big righty from The Netherlands is used to after coming back from arm surgery. He has all tools to be a unbelievable prospect he just needs to stay healthy and become a little bit more consistant. This bout of dominance is not something that is totally unexpected, but it is something that the Twins brass have been waiting a long time to see. It will be interesting to see if this is a short term thing or if one of the most talented pitchers in the whole system has finally found himself and can be skyrocket up the charts as a prospect and a future Minnesota Twin.
Hitter of the Week: Aaron Hicks- After a terrible April Aaron Hicks has come out a blazing in the month of May and specifically the last week. After hitting just .211 with a .593 OPS in April, he turned it up to hit .286 with a .830 OPS in the month of May, and now in June he has turned it up even more by hitting 324 with an OPS of 889. Quite an improvement every month of the season for the talented center fielder. In the last week he has turned it up even more as he is hitting .324 on 12-37. He also contributed four doubles and two rbi’s along with nine runs scored. The stat that impressed me the most was the fact that he walked as much as he struck out as he walked nine times while also striking out nine times along with also stealing two bases in three attempts. He had a statline of .324/457/432/889. The OBP is out of this world and a number he probably will never attain again. However, it is worth noting that he has cut down on his strikeouts this year without seeing a decrease in his walks. A game that epitomizes Aaron Hicks was against Bradenton on June, 11th he went 3-3 with two doubles, a single, three walks and a stolen base. You can’t have a game better than that and that just shows the potential out of him. It will be interesting to see if he can keep getting better and hit .300 with a .400 OBP because those are the stats we need to pay attention to. It will be an interesting summer for Hicks as he tries to force the Twins hand into possibly getting him in New Britain to start 2012.
Beloit Snappers
Pitcher of the Week: Clint Dempster- For the second consecutive week Dempster won pitcher of week honors for the Beloit Snappers. He just seems to be getting better and better for the Snappers and it is a mystery to me why he is still in Beloit. With that being said I expect him to join the Miracle to start the second half of the season. His numbers on the year are quite impressive as he is 2-2 with a great 2.12 era in 23 games including four saves. In the last week he has gotten even better by giving up only two runs in 14.2 innings which spanned ten games including two saves. In his 14.2 innings he only gave up seven hits and my Perham High School math tells me that is one hit for every two innings. He had an impressive walk to strikeout rate with three walks and 15 strikeouts and held opponents to a .143 batting average. You can’t get much better than what Dempster has done this season and a lesser person would allow the fact that he probably should have been demoted get to him, but if it is bothering him he is not showing it on the field. It will be interesting to see how long it is before Clint Dempster is promoted up to Fort Myers and more importantly how he does when he gets up there.
Hitter of the Week: Lance Ray- After getting off to a horrid start in April, Ray has continued to get better and better. After hitting just .162 in April with a .588 OPS, before rebounding in May to hit .280 with a .806 OPS and improved again so far in June by hitting .317 with a .843 OPS. However, as good as those numbers have been his numbers the last week have been out of this world. In his last ten games Ray is hitting .419 on 13 for 31 along five doubles, three rbi’s and scored six runs. He also walked two batters while striking out eight times and stole two bases on three attempts. He had a stat line of .419/.486/.581/1.066 the last ten games. With that said due to his awful month of April he is hitting just .249 with a .744 OPS. The big thing that Ray does is just keep getting better and if he does by the end of the year he will put up some very solid numbers. He is not a huge prospect, but he is starting quality and it will be interesting to see what kind of numbers he will put up at the end of the year.
Pitcher of the Week: Tom Stuifbergen- After getting off to a awful start to the season due to injuries and ineffectiveness Stuifbergen has been lights out the last 24 innings. In those innings he has only given up two earned runs. In his last three starts he has been awesome by going 2-1 with a unbelievable 1.06 era in 19 innings of work. In those 19 innings the righty only gave up 16 hits which is very good for someone who doesn’t throw extremely hard. He had a good 5/11 walk to strikeout rate in those three starts. After getting off to a awful April with a 10.00 era in two starts in the month of April and then spending quite a bit of time on the disabled list it was a good comeback. However, comebacks are something that the big righty from The Netherlands is used to after coming back from arm surgery. He has all tools to be a unbelievable prospect he just needs to stay healthy and become a little bit more consistant. This bout of dominance is not something that is totally unexpected, but it is something that the Twins brass have been waiting a long time to see. It will be interesting to see if this is a short term thing or if one of the most talented pitchers in the whole system has finally found himself and can be skyrocket up the charts as a prospect and a future Minnesota Twin.
Hitter of the Week: Aaron Hicks- After a terrible April Aaron Hicks has come out a blazing in the month of May and specifically the last week. After hitting just .211 with a .593 OPS in April, he turned it up to hit .286 with a .830 OPS in the month of May, and now in June he has turned it up even more by hitting 324 with an OPS of 889. Quite an improvement every month of the season for the talented center fielder. In the last week he has turned it up even more as he is hitting .324 on 12-37. He also contributed four doubles and two rbi’s along with nine runs scored. The stat that impressed me the most was the fact that he walked as much as he struck out as he walked nine times while also striking out nine times along with also stealing two bases in three attempts. He had a statline of .324/457/432/889. The OBP is out of this world and a number he probably will never attain again. However, it is worth noting that he has cut down on his strikeouts this year without seeing a decrease in his walks. A game that epitomizes Aaron Hicks was against Bradenton on June, 11th he went 3-3 with two doubles, a single, three walks and a stolen base. You can’t have a game better than that and that just shows the potential out of him. It will be interesting to see if he can keep getting better and hit .300 with a .400 OBP because those are the stats we need to pay attention to. It will be an interesting summer for Hicks as he tries to force the Twins hand into possibly getting him in New Britain to start 2012.
Beloit Snappers
Pitcher of the Week: Clint Dempster- For the second consecutive week Dempster won pitcher of week honors for the Beloit Snappers. He just seems to be getting better and better for the Snappers and it is a mystery to me why he is still in Beloit. With that being said I expect him to join the Miracle to start the second half of the season. His numbers on the year are quite impressive as he is 2-2 with a great 2.12 era in 23 games including four saves. In the last week he has gotten even better by giving up only two runs in 14.2 innings which spanned ten games including two saves. In his 14.2 innings he only gave up seven hits and my Perham High School math tells me that is one hit for every two innings. He had an impressive walk to strikeout rate with three walks and 15 strikeouts and held opponents to a .143 batting average. You can’t get much better than what Dempster has done this season and a lesser person would allow the fact that he probably should have been demoted get to him, but if it is bothering him he is not showing it on the field. It will be interesting to see how long it is before Clint Dempster is promoted up to Fort Myers and more importantly how he does when he gets up there.
Hitter of the Week: Lance Ray- After getting off to a horrid start in April, Ray has continued to get better and better. After hitting just .162 in April with a .588 OPS, before rebounding in May to hit .280 with a .806 OPS and improved again so far in June by hitting .317 with a .843 OPS. However, as good as those numbers have been his numbers the last week have been out of this world. In his last ten games Ray is hitting .419 on 13 for 31 along five doubles, three rbi’s and scored six runs. He also walked two batters while striking out eight times and stole two bases on three attempts. He had a stat line of .419/.486/.581/1.066 the last ten games. With that said due to his awful month of April he is hitting just .249 with a .744 OPS. The big thing that Ray does is just keep getting better and if he does by the end of the year he will put up some very solid numbers. He is not a huge prospect, but he is starting quality and it will be interesting to see what kind of numbers he will put up at the end of the year.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Players of the Week Part II
Rochester Red Wings
Pitcher of the Week: Andy Baldwin- After getting off to a terrible start early in the season Baldwin has gotten a little bit better as of late. After having a 7.24 era in April he has slowly, but surely brought his era back down to respectable levels. His ERA in the last six weeks has been in the 3’s just where Rochester was hoping it would be all season. In his last three starts Baldwin has gone 0-2 with a respectable 3.32 era in 19 innings of work. That would equal out to over six innings a start which is very decent. Baldwin at age 28 was a veteran free agent that was supposed to solidify the rotation for the Red Wings and really has not done so. In those 19 innings he gave up just 16 hits along with a impressive two walks and thirteen strikeouts. The only thing that he has struggled with lately and really all year has been giving up the gopher ball. In his last three starts Baldwin has given up six homeruns in those three starts. On the year he has given up fourteen homeruns in 58 innings which is way too many for a starting pitcher. If Baldwin can continue to be more consistent the Twins can their money out of their investment in Andy Baldwin.
Hitter of the Week: Aaron Bates- Aaron Bates has been quite a surprise since signing at the beginning of May. Even though he is not a big time prospect as he is 28 years old and was without a team at the beginning of the year. However, since his signing with the Red Wings he has been totally on fire. In his last ten games he is hitting .333 on 13-39 with a homerun and four rbi’s along with two doubles and scored five runs. He also walked three times while striking out a few to many times by striking out 14 times in 39 at bats. He had a strong .372 on base percentage along with a .462 slugging percentage for an ops of .834. Aaron Bates has put up numbers that normally would be begging for a promotion. However, with his age and his productivity Ifind it hard to believe that he would get a promotion. However, he is a very solid AAA player that will continue to be productive for the Red Wings during the summer.
New Britain Rockcats
Pitcher of the Week: Liam Hendriks- If you want to talk about a prospect coming into his own that is exactly what Liam has done in 2011. He has gone from a good prospect to an elite prospect. Lately, he has been just filthy on the mound especially in his last three outings. In his last three outings Hendriks is 2-0 with a 0.90 era in twenty innings of work he only gave up two earned runs. Everyone let that sink in for a minute two runs in 20 innings. He only gave up 18 hits and anytime you can have less hits than innings pitched you are doing your job. Hendriks is not overpowering as he throws in the low 90’s so he is the quote on quote pitch to contact type of pitcher so he is going to give up some hits. In those twenty innings he walked only three batters while striking out an impressive sixteen batters. Liam Hendriks has really established himself as the ace of the Rockcats rotation and put him in contention as the top pitching prospect in the organization. If I had a vote right now I would name Liam Hendriks as the the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the year. It will be interesting to see if he can keep it up as so far it has been very impressive.
Hitter of the Week: Jair Fernandez- After missing out the first five to six weeks of the season due to a broken hamate bone. He has come back and done decent for the Rockcats. However, the Rockcats have really struggled offensively the last week or so. If it was not for the Rockcats strong pitching they would be struggling in the standings. Fernandez had a solid week as he played a lot due to the shortage of players. Fernandez hit .267 on 8-30 along with two doubles and a homerun with six rbi’s. He also had an impressive eight walks in those 30 at bats with just nine strikeouts. He had a very impressive .421 on base percentage with a .433 slugging percentage for a OPS of .854. Fernandez is an offensive catcher who won’t wow you with his defensive capabilities so he has to hit in order to stay in the lineup. If he can continue to hit at this level he will continue to be in the lineup and contribute to the Rockcats as they try to make a run at a playoff spot.
That are the players of the week for the Red Wing’s and the Rockcats. Check back tomorrow as I finish my look through the organization as I will look at the players of the week for the Fort Myers Miracle and the Beloit Snappers. Then also check back Thursday night after Twins Minor League Weekly as I will present another player profile similar to the one I did on Aaron Hicks last weekend.
Pitcher of the Week: Andy Baldwin- After getting off to a terrible start early in the season Baldwin has gotten a little bit better as of late. After having a 7.24 era in April he has slowly, but surely brought his era back down to respectable levels. His ERA in the last six weeks has been in the 3’s just where Rochester was hoping it would be all season. In his last three starts Baldwin has gone 0-2 with a respectable 3.32 era in 19 innings of work. That would equal out to over six innings a start which is very decent. Baldwin at age 28 was a veteran free agent that was supposed to solidify the rotation for the Red Wings and really has not done so. In those 19 innings he gave up just 16 hits along with a impressive two walks and thirteen strikeouts. The only thing that he has struggled with lately and really all year has been giving up the gopher ball. In his last three starts Baldwin has given up six homeruns in those three starts. On the year he has given up fourteen homeruns in 58 innings which is way too many for a starting pitcher. If Baldwin can continue to be more consistent the Twins can their money out of their investment in Andy Baldwin.
Hitter of the Week: Aaron Bates- Aaron Bates has been quite a surprise since signing at the beginning of May. Even though he is not a big time prospect as he is 28 years old and was without a team at the beginning of the year. However, since his signing with the Red Wings he has been totally on fire. In his last ten games he is hitting .333 on 13-39 with a homerun and four rbi’s along with two doubles and scored five runs. He also walked three times while striking out a few to many times by striking out 14 times in 39 at bats. He had a strong .372 on base percentage along with a .462 slugging percentage for an ops of .834. Aaron Bates has put up numbers that normally would be begging for a promotion. However, with his age and his productivity Ifind it hard to believe that he would get a promotion. However, he is a very solid AAA player that will continue to be productive for the Red Wings during the summer.
New Britain Rockcats
Pitcher of the Week: Liam Hendriks- If you want to talk about a prospect coming into his own that is exactly what Liam has done in 2011. He has gone from a good prospect to an elite prospect. Lately, he has been just filthy on the mound especially in his last three outings. In his last three outings Hendriks is 2-0 with a 0.90 era in twenty innings of work he only gave up two earned runs. Everyone let that sink in for a minute two runs in 20 innings. He only gave up 18 hits and anytime you can have less hits than innings pitched you are doing your job. Hendriks is not overpowering as he throws in the low 90’s so he is the quote on quote pitch to contact type of pitcher so he is going to give up some hits. In those twenty innings he walked only three batters while striking out an impressive sixteen batters. Liam Hendriks has really established himself as the ace of the Rockcats rotation and put him in contention as the top pitching prospect in the organization. If I had a vote right now I would name Liam Hendriks as the the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the year. It will be interesting to see if he can keep it up as so far it has been very impressive.
Hitter of the Week: Jair Fernandez- After missing out the first five to six weeks of the season due to a broken hamate bone. He has come back and done decent for the Rockcats. However, the Rockcats have really struggled offensively the last week or so. If it was not for the Rockcats strong pitching they would be struggling in the standings. Fernandez had a solid week as he played a lot due to the shortage of players. Fernandez hit .267 on 8-30 along with two doubles and a homerun with six rbi’s. He also had an impressive eight walks in those 30 at bats with just nine strikeouts. He had a very impressive .421 on base percentage with a .433 slugging percentage for a OPS of .854. Fernandez is an offensive catcher who won’t wow you with his defensive capabilities so he has to hit in order to stay in the lineup. If he can continue to hit at this level he will continue to be in the lineup and contribute to the Rockcats as they try to make a run at a playoff spot.
That are the players of the week for the Red Wing’s and the Rockcats. Check back tomorrow as I finish my look through the organization as I will look at the players of the week for the Fort Myers Miracle and the Beloit Snappers. Then also check back Thursday night after Twins Minor League Weekly as I will present another player profile similar to the one I did on Aaron Hicks last weekend.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Twins players of the week
I am starting a new thing over here at travistwinstalk.blogspot.com and that every Monday I will be bringing you pitcher and hitter of the week . With the pitchers I go back to their last three starts for the starting pitchers and last 10 outings for the relievers. I will be going back to the last 10 games for the hitters. I will also talk about promotions and demotions that happened in the current week for the teams. It will be kind of a one stop shop for minor league information. I will also be doing the Twins in the player of the week awards as well. Also check back Thursday night after Twins Minor League Weekly as I will be posting another Twins minor league player profile. I really enjoyed doing the one on Aaron Hicks and hope you come back either late Thursday night or read with your coffee on Friday Morning to learn about Twins prospects.
Minnesota Twins
Pitcher of the Week: Carl Pavano- The mustache has really bounced back from a rough month and a half to show the stuff that made the Twins resign him in the offseason. In his last three starts Pavano is 1-1 with a very good 2.63 era in 24 innings of work he has only given up seven runs. If you go a little bit further back it is even more impressive as in his last six starts he is 1-1 with a 2.51 era. So after getting off to a rough start Pavano has righted himself to be the innings eater we all thought he would be. On the year he has already put in 85.1 innings in thirteen starts so if you multiply that out to making 32 starts like he did in 2010 he would have over 200 innings once again. The only concerning thing is his strikeout rate as he only has 26 strikeouts so far this season in April and May while in 2010 he had 42 in that same time period. He is never going to be a strikeout pitcher, but you would expect more strikeouts than that. He went two straight games without a strikeout and that just can not happen. He has improved with that in his recent string getting three to four strikeouts a game and that is just fine. It will be key for the Twins to get back into the AL Central race for Pavano to keep being an innings eater and a staff leader.
Hitter of the Week: Delmon Young- Delmon Young has been the most disappointed hitter in the Twins lineup all season long. However, he came on the last week in a big way as he hit .407 on 11-27 with three doubles, a homerun, and three runs scored. Granted some of the hits were bleeders that were not hit very good, but .407 is .407. If Delmon can keep it up the Twins lineup could go from good to lethal with a healthy Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau along with good years from Michael Cuddyer and Denard Span. Young can not keep hitting the way he is right now, but if he can hit .300 with more extra base hits that would be huge. In 2010 Young hit .298 with 21 homeruns and 112 rbi’s. So far this year he is hitting .246 with two homeruns and 17 rbi’s. Young has to pick it up for the Twins to have any chance to get back in the AL Central race they need closer to the type of numbers he had in 2010.
Those are the weekly winners for the Twins and tomorrow I will bring the same awards for the Rochester Red Wings and the New Britain Rockcats. Then on Wednesday, I will bring the awards for the Fort Myers Miracle and the Beloit Snappers.
Minnesota Twins
Pitcher of the Week: Carl Pavano- The mustache has really bounced back from a rough month and a half to show the stuff that made the Twins resign him in the offseason. In his last three starts Pavano is 1-1 with a very good 2.63 era in 24 innings of work he has only given up seven runs. If you go a little bit further back it is even more impressive as in his last six starts he is 1-1 with a 2.51 era. So after getting off to a rough start Pavano has righted himself to be the innings eater we all thought he would be. On the year he has already put in 85.1 innings in thirteen starts so if you multiply that out to making 32 starts like he did in 2010 he would have over 200 innings once again. The only concerning thing is his strikeout rate as he only has 26 strikeouts so far this season in April and May while in 2010 he had 42 in that same time period. He is never going to be a strikeout pitcher, but you would expect more strikeouts than that. He went two straight games without a strikeout and that just can not happen. He has improved with that in his recent string getting three to four strikeouts a game and that is just fine. It will be key for the Twins to get back into the AL Central race for Pavano to keep being an innings eater and a staff leader.
Hitter of the Week: Delmon Young- Delmon Young has been the most disappointed hitter in the Twins lineup all season long. However, he came on the last week in a big way as he hit .407 on 11-27 with three doubles, a homerun, and three runs scored. Granted some of the hits were bleeders that were not hit very good, but .407 is .407. If Delmon can keep it up the Twins lineup could go from good to lethal with a healthy Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau along with good years from Michael Cuddyer and Denard Span. Young can not keep hitting the way he is right now, but if he can hit .300 with more extra base hits that would be huge. In 2010 Young hit .298 with 21 homeruns and 112 rbi’s. So far this year he is hitting .246 with two homeruns and 17 rbi’s. Young has to pick it up for the Twins to have any chance to get back in the AL Central race they need closer to the type of numbers he had in 2010.
Those are the weekly winners for the Twins and tomorrow I will bring the same awards for the Rochester Red Wings and the New Britain Rockcats. Then on Wednesday, I will bring the awards for the Fort Myers Miracle and the Beloit Snappers.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Aaron Hicks on the Rise
From the moment that Aaron Hicks was drafted by the Twins in the first round, 14th overall in the 2008 draft out of high school in Long Beach, California much was expected out of him. Hicks had a full ride to USC so it took 1.7 million to sign him. Hicks was another in the long line of toolsy outfielders that the Twins love to draft. However, what made him different was the fact that some teams saw him as an outfielder and others saw him as a pitcher. What made him so different than most high school outfielders is he also pitched and could throw 95 miles per hour. When someone can throw that hard normally it is a no brainer that they should pitch. Hicks made it clear to teams though that he wanted to play outfield and that is where the Twins saw him as a prospect. That is why the Twins had no problem using their pick on him knowing that they would be able to sign him due to the fact that he wanted to play outfield. Aaron Hicks signed on August 3rd and was assigned to the GCL league to finish off his season and here are the stats he put up.
45 games .318 avg 4hr 27 rbi 10 doubles 4 triples 28 walks32 strikeouts 12SB .409/.491/.900
That was enough for talent scouts to salivate over Hicks and for most prospect guru's to put Hicks at the top of most Twins prospect lists. He really had it all he could hit for average by his .318 batting average. He could hit for power as his eighteen extra base hits would attest to. He could steal bases as his twelve stolen bases would show. He had great range in center field; he had a cannon for an arm. The tool that probably was the most impressive though was his eye at the plate as he had just about as many walks as strikeouts. That is key in a prospect as it keeps you out of slumps if you are able to take walks on a consistent basis and he showed that in the GCL.
In 2009 he skipped Elizabethton totally and went up to Beloit. It is not hard to figure out that he struggled a little bit as a 19 year old in Beloit. He put up decent numbers, but not what many expected out of him and that is when the doubt started to creep into prospect people’s minds how good can this guy really be.
2009: 67 games .251 avg 4 homeruns 29 rbi's 15 doubles 3 triples 40 walks 55 strikeouts 10 stolen bases .353/.382/.735OPS
Aaron Hicks numbers all across the board were a little bit down from the year previous and that should not have come as any big surprise since he skipped a year of development and getting up to Beloit at the age of 19. However, what impressed me so much was his obp was over a hundred points higher than his batting average then an incredible 40 walks in only 251 at bats. Being that he was young for his level and that he did not wow scouts in Beloit caused him to repeat Beloit again in 2010.
He improved immensely after starting out the season 1-31 and then was much better the rest of the year. In 2010 Hicks put up decent numbers for the Snappers;
2010: 115 games .279 avg 8hr 49 rbi's 27 doubles and 6 triples 88 walks 112 strikeouts 21 stolen bases .401/.428/.829OPS
I know that people expected more out of Hicks in 2010, but the key thing is he showed improvement in just about every stat except strikeouts which was disappointing. However, I was really surprised that some dropped him in Twins prospect lists even though he improved from year to year. Aaron Hicks strengths and weaknesses are many so I asked prospect guru Seth Stohs what he felt were Hicks strengths and weaknesses and he had this to say, "His strengths are pure athleticism, patience at the plate, and his speed, while his weaknesses are He's very raw, immense talent, but will take a while to put it all together." I agree with him on those, but what I like most about his game is that he is improving year to year. It may not show up on the boxscore from day to day, but when you look at his numbers at the end of the year the numbers are better than he had the year before. Look at this year in April he hit just .211, then in May he hit .286, and so far in June he is hitting a robust .348. If you go from May 1 the last six weeks Hicks has hit .299 which just shows how he is very good at making adjustments and improving parts of his game. The bottom line is Aaron Hicks is a slow starter so you just got to throw out his April numbers every year and go by what he does from May on.
Another question that I asked Seth was his struggles hitting left handed and if he thought that Hicks needs to stop switch-hitting. So far this year he is hitting .325 with a .857 OPS hitting right handed, while hitting .217 with a .650 OPS hitting left handed. This is Seth's perspective, "I don't think switch hitting is holding him back at this point. To maximize the type of player that he can be, it would be great if he would be able to switch-hit. Because he is so raw, and the organization can and will be patient with him, we need to be patient with his overall development. He is very good defensively, running things down and obviously throwing. But he has other things to work on, like instincts, base running, etc. It’s all part of the plan and the process. They need to play it out for at least the remainder of the season, if not another year." I would agree with Seth on this as his numbers hitting left handed has improved even since I started researching this piece. He will be much more valuable if he is able to switch-hit so I think we need to just give it some time.
The next thing I discussed with Seth is what does he need to do to keep advancing and his response was, "The main thing Hicks has to do to advance is just be more consistent, obviously that means the offense, but also the defense and the base running. That is not unusual and the only way to improve is through playing." I agree that Hicks has to become more consistent as thus far in his career he is a very streaky hitter as when he is hot he is really hot and when he is cold he is freezing.
The next thing I asked Seth was when can we expect to see Aaron Hicks in a Twins uniform, "Best case would be for Hicks to spend the entire 2011 season in Fort Myers and advance to New Britain next season. If he succeeds there you could see him early in 2013." I really agree with Seth on that assessment as he is only 21 years old which is quite young for the Florida State League. Even if you have him spend a year in FM, a year in New Britain, and a year in Rochester he would make his debut with the Twins at the young age of 24 which is still young for the big leagues.
The last thing I asked Seth was what position would he be best served playing and he said, "Although I think he can certainly play centerfield, right field may be his best position. He has got great speed, but he is not Ben Revere. His arm defiantly profiles to right field." I totally agree and being that he can play center field he will give Gardy the flexibility to play any of the three outfield positions if need be. I really view Hicks as a young version of Carlos Beltran who I totally feel will be special. His eye at the plate really excites me and I really believe his power at the plate will come to someday be a 20-25 homerun a year guy. I see him being the perfect number two hitter in the Twins lineup hitting in front of Joe Mauer for years to come. For those that have given up on him or felt that he has not lived up to what you thought he was going to be well I think you’re really wrong. I think in a year or two Aaron Hicks is going to be a top five prospect in all of baseball. I think he has as much upside as anyone out there and the key for him is just getting out there and playing every day and getting better. He has gotten better every season and he just needs to keep doing that and if he does that than the sky is the limit for my number one choice for Twins prospects. Maybe I am in the minority now who still believe he is going to be special, but I truly that if Harmon Killebrew was the past, Joe Mauer is the present, and then Aaron Hicks will be the future as in franchise players
45 games .318 avg 4hr 27 rbi 10 doubles 4 triples 28 walks32 strikeouts 12SB .409/.491/.900
That was enough for talent scouts to salivate over Hicks and for most prospect guru's to put Hicks at the top of most Twins prospect lists. He really had it all he could hit for average by his .318 batting average. He could hit for power as his eighteen extra base hits would attest to. He could steal bases as his twelve stolen bases would show. He had great range in center field; he had a cannon for an arm. The tool that probably was the most impressive though was his eye at the plate as he had just about as many walks as strikeouts. That is key in a prospect as it keeps you out of slumps if you are able to take walks on a consistent basis and he showed that in the GCL.
In 2009 he skipped Elizabethton totally and went up to Beloit. It is not hard to figure out that he struggled a little bit as a 19 year old in Beloit. He put up decent numbers, but not what many expected out of him and that is when the doubt started to creep into prospect people’s minds how good can this guy really be.
2009: 67 games .251 avg 4 homeruns 29 rbi's 15 doubles 3 triples 40 walks 55 strikeouts 10 stolen bases .353/.382/.735OPS
Aaron Hicks numbers all across the board were a little bit down from the year previous and that should not have come as any big surprise since he skipped a year of development and getting up to Beloit at the age of 19. However, what impressed me so much was his obp was over a hundred points higher than his batting average then an incredible 40 walks in only 251 at bats. Being that he was young for his level and that he did not wow scouts in Beloit caused him to repeat Beloit again in 2010.
He improved immensely after starting out the season 1-31 and then was much better the rest of the year. In 2010 Hicks put up decent numbers for the Snappers;
2010: 115 games .279 avg 8hr 49 rbi's 27 doubles and 6 triples 88 walks 112 strikeouts 21 stolen bases .401/.428/.829OPS
I know that people expected more out of Hicks in 2010, but the key thing is he showed improvement in just about every stat except strikeouts which was disappointing. However, I was really surprised that some dropped him in Twins prospect lists even though he improved from year to year. Aaron Hicks strengths and weaknesses are many so I asked prospect guru Seth Stohs what he felt were Hicks strengths and weaknesses and he had this to say, "His strengths are pure athleticism, patience at the plate, and his speed, while his weaknesses are He's very raw, immense talent, but will take a while to put it all together." I agree with him on those, but what I like most about his game is that he is improving year to year. It may not show up on the boxscore from day to day, but when you look at his numbers at the end of the year the numbers are better than he had the year before. Look at this year in April he hit just .211, then in May he hit .286, and so far in June he is hitting a robust .348. If you go from May 1 the last six weeks Hicks has hit .299 which just shows how he is very good at making adjustments and improving parts of his game. The bottom line is Aaron Hicks is a slow starter so you just got to throw out his April numbers every year and go by what he does from May on.
Another question that I asked Seth was his struggles hitting left handed and if he thought that Hicks needs to stop switch-hitting. So far this year he is hitting .325 with a .857 OPS hitting right handed, while hitting .217 with a .650 OPS hitting left handed. This is Seth's perspective, "I don't think switch hitting is holding him back at this point. To maximize the type of player that he can be, it would be great if he would be able to switch-hit. Because he is so raw, and the organization can and will be patient with him, we need to be patient with his overall development. He is very good defensively, running things down and obviously throwing. But he has other things to work on, like instincts, base running, etc. It’s all part of the plan and the process. They need to play it out for at least the remainder of the season, if not another year." I would agree with Seth on this as his numbers hitting left handed has improved even since I started researching this piece. He will be much more valuable if he is able to switch-hit so I think we need to just give it some time.
The next thing I discussed with Seth is what does he need to do to keep advancing and his response was, "The main thing Hicks has to do to advance is just be more consistent, obviously that means the offense, but also the defense and the base running. That is not unusual and the only way to improve is through playing." I agree that Hicks has to become more consistent as thus far in his career he is a very streaky hitter as when he is hot he is really hot and when he is cold he is freezing.
The next thing I asked Seth was when can we expect to see Aaron Hicks in a Twins uniform, "Best case would be for Hicks to spend the entire 2011 season in Fort Myers and advance to New Britain next season. If he succeeds there you could see him early in 2013." I really agree with Seth on that assessment as he is only 21 years old which is quite young for the Florida State League. Even if you have him spend a year in FM, a year in New Britain, and a year in Rochester he would make his debut with the Twins at the young age of 24 which is still young for the big leagues.
The last thing I asked Seth was what position would he be best served playing and he said, "Although I think he can certainly play centerfield, right field may be his best position. He has got great speed, but he is not Ben Revere. His arm defiantly profiles to right field." I totally agree and being that he can play center field he will give Gardy the flexibility to play any of the three outfield positions if need be. I really view Hicks as a young version of Carlos Beltran who I totally feel will be special. His eye at the plate really excites me and I really believe his power at the plate will come to someday be a 20-25 homerun a year guy. I see him being the perfect number two hitter in the Twins lineup hitting in front of Joe Mauer for years to come. For those that have given up on him or felt that he has not lived up to what you thought he was going to be well I think you’re really wrong. I think in a year or two Aaron Hicks is going to be a top five prospect in all of baseball. I think he has as much upside as anyone out there and the key for him is just getting out there and playing every day and getting better. He has gotten better every season and he just needs to keep doing that and if he does that than the sky is the limit for my number one choice for Twins prospects. Maybe I am in the minority now who still believe he is going to be special, but I truly that if Harmon Killebrew was the past, Joe Mauer is the present, and then Aaron Hicks will be the future as in franchise players
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Final May Awards
Fort Myers Miracle 29-29 1.0 games back
- Pitcher of the Month: Andrew Albers- It really came down to two guys for this award in Andrew Albers and Tom Stuifbergen. Albers was just a little bit better than Stuifbergen in the month of May. That is not to take anything away from Stuifbergen who put togeter a very a good month of May. Albers was just dominant in the month so that is way he earned the award. Albers went 2-1 with an awesome 1.80 era in six outings including a couple spot starts and a save for the Miracle. Albers pitched 21.2 innings and gave up 22 hits so about a hit an inning which is normal for a pitch to contact pitcher like Albers is. The key though is if you are going to give up hits you can not give up walks and he was excellent in that part of his game as he only walked three batters in those 21.2 innings which is like 1.5 walks per 9 innings. He also struck out fifteen batters so that was impressive as well. The stat that won me over was his ground ball rate of 4.38 which means he is a ground ball machine and why you can give up some hits if you throw ground balls you will get a lot of double plays. The only thing about him that concerns me is he is 25 years old and still in Fort Myers. I would love to see him get a chance in New Britain to see if he can continue to pitch like this because if he spends the whole year in Fort Myers guys will start to pass him by and he is way too talented for that to happen.
- Hitter of the Month: Aaron Hicks- After getting off to another rough start in April he came on strong in May and is doing even better in June. Every year since he was drafted Hicks has struggled in May, remember last year when he started 1-31 at the plate. It was not that bad in April this year, but he definately is a streaky hitter who was the class of the lineup for the Miracle in May to keep them in the pennant race. In May Hicks hit .286 up from .211 in April with two homeruns and twelve rbi's along with seven doubles and fourteen runs scored. He also had an impressive 14 walks along with 22 strikeouts. Hicks also stole six bases in seven attempts. He had a stat line of .286/.390/.440/.830 which is quite good. The reason that Aaron Hicks doesn't go into prolonged slumps is his good eye at the plate and will take walks. As he moves forward that will be a big thing for him. The Twins like to go a year at a time for promotions with him so you are still looking late 2013 or early 2014 before you see Aaron Hicks patrolling the outfield for the Twins.
Beloit Snappers 28-30 11.5 games back
- Pitcher of the Month: Clint Dempster- The left handed reliever for the Snappers has been excellent all year for Beloit, but was even better in May. Dempster has a 2.40 era on the year so its not like it was just one good month that did it for him. However, in May he took it to the next level for the Snappers as he went 2-1 with an awesome 1.50era in eleven games including picking up two saves. Dempster worked eighteen innings for the month and only gave up eleven hits. He had a impressive walk to strikeout rate as he only walked four batters in those eighteen innings while striking out a batter an inning with ninteen strikeouts. At only 21 years old Dempster is still young for his level and I look for him to get a callup to Fort Myers at the All-Star break as he has definately earned it. He has put behind him the disappointment of struggling as a starter in 2010 and has become the best pitcher out of that bullpen for the Snappers and a key to them trying to make it to the playoffs.
- Hitter of the Month: Nate Roberts- Nate Roberts had quite a month of May after coming up to Beloit after the injury to Oswaldo Arcia. Roberts hit .302 with seven doubles and a triple along with twelve rbi's and an incredible 25 runs scored. He showed great patience at the plate with sixteen walks while only striking out only 13 times. Roberts also stole four bases in five attempts. He had a stat line of .302/.456/.396/.852 and the thing that impresses me the most is the .456 on base percentage. Roberts has struggled in June, but in May he showed he can be a good table setter and get on base and score a lot of runs. At age 22 Roberts is about right for Beloit, but you would think he needs to get up to Fort Myers by the end of the year in order to stay on the proper age track. But you can't take his month of May away and see if he can build on it going forward.
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
May Awards
Rochester Red Wings 23-32 12.0games back
- Pitcher of the Month: Carlos Gutierrez- Carlos had a very solid month for the Red Wings in May as he has gotten on the cusp of a call-up with the Twins. After getting off to a slow start in April Gutierrez was much better in May. Carlos went 1-1 with a very good 2.75 era in the month. He pitched in 12 games while working 19.2 innings and only gave up 16 hits so he was very strong. There are times the era can be a mirage if someone is giving up a lot of hits, but in May Carlos gave up less than a hit an inning which is very good for a pitch to contact pitcher who relies on guys pounding the ball into the ground. He cut the walk total down as he only walked seven guys in 19.2 innings. The walk total is the thing that he needs to work on and the thing that has kept him from the Twins so this is a positive step. The stat that impressed me most was his 4.22 ground out rate which is unbelievable and just shows you how many ground balls he gets. Gutierrez has the chance to be very special for the Twins and if he can keep his walk total in managable levels then he can be a big part of the Twins future out of that bullpen.
- Hitter of the Month: Aaron Bates- Aaron Bates signed with the Red Wings and just started hitting and hasn't stopped since. He was out of baseball to start the season and has been the best hitter for the Wings. In May he was awesome as the backbone of the Wings offense. In 19 games with the Wings he hit .317 with four doubles along with two homeruns and 11 runs scored. He also drove in five runs for the Wings. However, the stat that impressed me was the fact that he had more walks then strikeouts and that is a big stat in my mind. He walked twelve times while only striking out ten times. His OBP was a healthy .434 thanks to the twelve walks he accumulated. His stat line was .317/.434/.476/.910 OPS which is very good for a month. Bates is 27 years old and was out of baseball to start the year so he is not a prospect by any means, but he is putting together some very good numbers especially at the plate. He is a very good AAA player and it will be interesting to see if he can keep it up as the spring turns into summer.
New Britain Rockcats 30-25 4.5 games back
- Pitcher of the Month: Brett Jacobson- I know some will argue that guys like Liam Hendriks, Steve Hirschfeld, and Bobby Lanigan deserved it over Jacobson. They will say look at the walk rate out of Jacobson and I can't disagree with that statement. However, the name of the game in pitching is to not give up runs and he did that awesomely in May. Jacobson split the month between the bullpen and the rotation after the injury to David Bromberg. Jacobson appeared in eight games while getting four starts and was just awesome. Jacobson went 1-0 with a miniscule 1.54 era in 23.1 innings while only giving up 14 hits that says how hard he is to hit. The problem with Jacobson and the reason that could derail his prospect status is the walks as he has walked 26 batters in 37.2 innings which is way too many. In May he walked 17 in only 23.1 innings which is about 7 walks per 9 innings. There is no sugarcoating it that needs to change or he won't be anything. The flipside is he strikes out 7 per 9 innings as well which is very good. The thing about Brett Jacobson is if he can get his control improved he can be dominant and one of the top relief prospects in the Twins organization, but if he can't he will end up playing overseas so it really is all up to him.
- Hitter of the Month: Evan Bigley- Evan Bigley was quite streaky in May, but when he was on he hit the cover off the ball. Bigley got off to a slow start in April, but really turned it on in May and led the Rockcats offensive attack. In May Bigley hit .301 with three homeruns and 18 rbi's along with an incredible ten doubles and three triples and an impressive 17 runs scored. He put up a very good .301/.363/.544/.907 line. The slugging percentage was the most impressive thing as he put up sixteen extra base hits for the month. That is a great month for just about anybody. For those of you who had given up on Bigley as a prospect you were wrong and he will continue to improve and improve. I think another good month out of Bigley could fine himself being promoted up to Rochester as he has developed into a legit prospect for the Twins and someone I am excited to see developed and see if he can make it up to the Twins before the end of 2012.
- Tommorrow I will conclude my look at the month of May with looking at the Fort Myers Miracle and the Beloit Snappers so come back to look at it.
Monday, June 6, 2011
May Awards
I know this is a little bit late, but my nephew graduated from high school and I had to help get ready for the party. That doesn't mean that I have not been paying attention to the minor leagues because I totally have. You can listen to Twins Minor League Weekly with myself and my co-host Seth Stohs of http://sethspeaks.net every Monday and Thursday night from 10-10:45pm at blog talk radio. We go over the box scores of that nights games, on the Monday show we go over who has been hot the last week, and then on the Thursday show we highlight some guys that don't get a lot of attention, but who work just as hard so be sure to tune in. Now back to the reason of this blog I will be doing a hitter and pitcher of the month at all the teams including the Twins. The one prerequisite is the player has to be on the team when I do the awards to be eligible for player of the month. That means if they got a promotion or a demotion they are ineligible for the awards. Meaning the player has to be on that roster today to be eligible to win player of the month. I enjoy your comments or questions and you can either leave them in the comment box or shoot me an email to travis_aune@yahoo.com. Thanks and enjoy.
Minnesota Twins 21-37 12.5 games back
Minnesota Twins 21-37 12.5 games back
- Pitcher of the Month: Nick Blackburn- I am not going to pretend to understand how he does it, but the month of May the last two years have been unbelievable. In the last two May's Blackburn has gone 8-0 with a average era of 2.59 in 11 starts. Hopefully he has a better June in 2011 than he did in 2010 where he imploded and ended up in AAA. I think he will though as long as he can remain healthy. In May though in six starts Blackie went 3-0 with a very good 2.53 era. Nick pitched 42.2 innings including a complete game which is over seven innings a start. He only gave up 35 hits which is way down from his career averages as Blackie has always given up more than a hit an inning so it is excellent for him. The only thing I can knitpick a little is he is walking more guys this year than in years past, but he is not walking a ton as he walked 12 guys in 42.2 innings so it is less than three walks per 9 innings. The stat that really impressed me more than any from Blackie was that he held opponents to a .227 batting average in May way down from the .316 he gave up in April. Nick Blackburn was one of the top pitchers in baseball in the month of May and here is hoping that he can build on this because if the Twins want to make a historic comeback they need Nick Blackburn to be a middle of the rotation starter much like he was in May.
- Hitter of the Month: Alexi Casilla- I never ever thought that I would be writing this as I have been as hard on Alexi Casilla as anybody. However, especially starting the second part of May until now Casilla has been the best hitter in the Twins lineup. Take a moment and reread what I just wrote because writing that myself I am having a hard time believing it. Before we go ahead to just May look at the last six weeks from Casilla. In those games Casilla is hitting .329 with five doubles and three triples. Those are what the Twins were hoping they would get out of Casilla when they allowed JJ Hardy and Orlando Hudson to leave after the season. He struggled so mightily the first six weeks that most of us had given up on him. In May he put it all together as he hit .288 with three doubles, three triples along with five rbi's and five walks with three stolen bases in five attempts. He had a stat line of .288/.351//.424/.775 which is way better than April where he only had a OPS of .427. Can Casilla keep it up probably not, but I do think he needs to have an OPS in the .600 range going forward. I really think that Casilla has a chance to be a catalyst for the Twins going forward and it will be interesting to see how he does.
I will be back with the Rochester Red Wings and New Britain Rockcats tommorrow so make sure to come back for those.
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Minor League Update 5/15/11
Rochester Wrap
Charlotte 2 Rochester 0 5inn
Charlotte 2 Rochester 0 5inn
- The Red Wings had their game with Charlotte ended after just five innings yesterday to drop to 14-20 on the year. Andy Baldwin got the start for Rochester and went 4.2 innings and gave up two runs on six hits along with a walk and four strikeouts to drop his record on the year to 2-3 and brought his era down to 6.68. Offensively, the Red Wings did not get much going against Charlotte starter and former major leaguer Jeff Marquez as they could only muster two hits in this one. Rene Tosoni went 1-3 at the plate with his seventh double to bring his average up to .286. Jeff Bailey also went 1-3 at the plate with his third double.
- Today, the Red Wings continue their series with Charlotte as Anthony Swarzak gets the start for Rochester. Gametime is at 1:15 in Charlotte.
New Britain Bits
New Britain 6 Portland 3
New Britain 4 Portland 0
- In game one Deolis Guerra got the start for the Rockcats and was much much better than he had been. Guerra went the first five innings and allowed just a run on two hits along with three strikeouts to raise his record to 3-4 and lower his era to 9.85. Tyler Robertson pitched the last two innings and gave up two runs on two hits along with two walks and five strikeouts. With the two runs allowed Robertson's era ballooned to 4.50 on the year. Offensively, the Rockcats were led by Yangervis Solarte who went 2-2 with his team high 14th double and 19th rbi to bring his average up to .362. Mark Dolenc went 2-2 with his 13th rbi. Chris Parmelee went 1-3 with his 11th double and 24th rbi along with two runs scored. Evan Bigley went 1-2 with his 10th double and 21st rbi and a run scored. Dan Rohlfing went 1-3 with his second double and drove in two runs.
- In Game two Brett Jacobson got the start for the Rockcats and was good. Jacobson went the first three innings and did not give up a run without giving up a hit, but he did walk four batters along with two strikeouts. With the three shutout innings Jacobson saw his era lower to 2.78. Ryan Mullins made his return to New Britain by working three shutout innings of his own to pick up the win. Mullins gave up two hits along with a walk and two strikeouts. Santos Arias pitched a shutout inning of his own on one hit to lower his era down to 8.10. Offensively, New Britain was led by Chris Hermann who went 1-3 with his second homerun since his promotion and two rbi's to bring his total up to 10 with the Rockcats. Steve Singleton went 2-3 with his 13th double and eighth rbi to bring his average up to .295. Deibinson Romero also went 2-3 with his sixth double to bring his average up to .261. Chris Parmelee went 1-2 with a walk including his first triple of the year.
- Today, the Rockcats try to stay in first place as they continue their series with Portland as Steve Hirschfeld gets the start for New Britain. Gametime is at 12:35 in New Britain.
Fort Myers Minutes
Fort Myers 4 Daytona 1
- The Miracle came off a rough series with Dunedin to rebound last night to beat first place Daytona by a score of 4-1. Matt Schuld had his best start of the year last night for the Miracle in the win. Schuld went six innings and gave up a run on only three hits along with a walk and a career high nine strikeouts. Schuld improved his record on the year to 3-0 and lowered his era down to 4.22. Blake Martin then came on and pitched two shutout innings with four strikeouts to lower his era down to 3.20. Bruce Pugh pitched an impressive 9th inning to pick up his sixth save of the year. Pugh struck out all three batters he faced to lower his era down to 3.71. Offensively, the Miracle were led by Aaron Hicks who went 1-4 with his fifth double and 13th rbi. Steve Liddle went 1-3 with his third double. Brian Dozier went 1-4 with his fourth triple of the year. James Beresford and Nick Romero also added base hits.
- Today, the Miracle continue their series with Daytona as Kane Holbrooks gets the start for Fort Myers. Gametime is at 4:35 in Daytona.
Beloit Business
Beloit 6 Quad Cities 4
Quad Cities 6 Beloit 2
- In game one of the double header they got great starting pitching and held on for a good quality 6-4 win. Adrian Salcedo got the start and was very good once again for the Snappers. Salcedo went 6+ innings and gave up 4 runs although more importantly was that only two of them were earned along with two walks and a strikeout. It was not as good as some of his other starts but it was solid although you would like to see a few more strikeouts. Ryan O' Roarke then came in and pitched a shutout inning of work to pick up his first save of the year. With the shutout inning O' Roarke's era on year to a very good 1.76. Offensively the Snappers were led by Gunner Glad who went 1-3 at the plate with his fourth double and drove in his ninth and tenth runs of the year. Daniel Santana went 1-3 with his fourth double and his sixth stolen base. Wang Wei Lin, Jamaal Hawkins, and Nate Roberts each contributed a base hit in the win.
- In game 2 of the doubleheader it did not go as well for the Snappers as they fell to Quad Cities by a score of 6-2. Michael Tonkin got a spot start in the nightcap and was ok going three innings and giving up two runs on four hits along with a walk and two strikeouts to raise his era up to 6.98. Blayne Weller then came on and went two innings and gave up four runs although only two of them were earned. He also walked an incredible five batters along with a strikeout to take the loss and move to 3-1. Jose Gonzalez pitched the last two innings and did not give up a hit along with two walks and three strikeouts to lower his era down to 2.40. Offensively the Snappers were led by Wang Wei Lin who went 2-4 at the plate with his 11th rbi and brought his average up to .273. Daniel Santana went 1-3 with his fifth double. Andy Leer, Nate Roberts, Michael Gonzalez, Danny Ortiz, and Lance Ray each contributed a base hit, but the Snappers could not put it together to score runs as they left six guys on base in this one.
- Today, the Snappers continue their series with Quad Cities as Andrei Lobanov gets the start for Beloit. Gametime is at 2pm in Beloit.
Sunday, May 15th
Twins Talk
Blue Jays 9 Twins 3 11 innings
Blue Jays 9 Twins 3 11 innings
- For those of you that are expecting me to go negative about the Twins you are wrong because times like this test a true fan's meddle. All us Twins fans have been spoiled the last 10 years with 6 division titles in those 10 years. Most small to mid-market teams have peaks and valley's and right now the Twins are going through one of their valleys. Even though they likely won't return to postseason play for the 7th time in 10 years they can still have a decent season. Trust me it will get better as their is no chance they will continue to play like this. As they continue to get healthier and more confident they will win more and more. The problem is they have dug themselves such a hole it is probably too much to dig themselves out of. I will continue to watch and cheer for the Twins no matter how bad it gets and I encourage everyone to stay positive as it will get better.
- Yesterday at Target Field the Twins lost their 7th game in a row this time in heartbreaking fashion to the Blue Jays. After leaving eleven guys on in the first ten innings the Twins bullpen imploded and gave up six runs on only four hits along with four walks to blow the game. Glen Perkins was the tough luck loser as he started the debacle and gave up a leadoff hit to Corey Patterson before departing. He got the loss thanks to Jim Hoey giving up a two run homerun to Jose Bautista. In a more positive thing Nick Blackburn got the start and was awesome once again. Blackburn went 7.2 innings and only gave up two earned runs on just five hits along with two walks and a career high eight strikeouts. Blackburn had a 3-2 lead going into the eighth inning before giving up a swinging bunt single to Yunel Escobar then something unfortunate happened. Corey Patterson hit a drive to right center that Denard Span even though he gave it all he had couldn't quite get to as it went off the tip of his glove for an rbi triple. With the three runs allowed Blackburn lowered his era on the year to 3.70. Matt Capps then came on and pitched 1.1 perfect innings with two strikeouts to lower his era to 3.93. Glen Perkins then came on and pitched a scoreless innings with a walk and a strikeout before giving up the hit and moving his record to 0-1 and upped his era to an unbelievable 0.92. Jim Hoey then came in and was awful as he did not get an out while giving up three runs of his own on only one hit along with walking two to increase his era to 9.72. Jose Mijares then came in and was worse yet as he faced four batters and gave up two hits and walked the other two along with giving up two runs to raise his era to 5.40. Alex Burnett got the last three outs to lower his era to 7.00.
- Offensively they had thirteen hits, but were only able to push three runs across and that was the biggest reason they lost. When you leave 12 guys on base you are not going to win very many games. The Twins were led by Michael Cuddyer who went 3-5 at the plate with his fourth homerun of the year and his sixth rbi to raise his average to .248. Justin Morneau went 2-5 with his ninth double. Danny Valencia went 2-4 at the plate along with a costly error in the first inning. Denard Span and Trevor Plouffe also contributed two hits for the Twins.
- Today, the Twins finish their series with the Blue Jays as Brian Duensing gets the start and will be opposed by Brandon Morrow of the Blue Jays.
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
looking ahead to 2012
I know some will say that I am jumping ship by looking forward to 2012, but we need to be realistic. Only the Twins of 2006 have come back from 10 games down and won a division title since 1917 so the odds are not very high that this team will make it back into postseason play this year. Do I think Cleveland will come down to earth some and that the Twins will play much better in the summer months well of course I do. Do I think it is possible for the Twins to make it back into postseason play yes I do, but a lot of things would have to go awful right for the Twins and a lot would have to go wrong for the rest of the divison as the Twins are in celler at 12-21 a whopping 10 games out of first. This question has to be asked whether the Twins are in the playoffs or if they aren't so I thought it would be fun to look at the decisions the Twins Front Office will have after the season barring a lockout that I think is very unlikely. I will go player to player and give his contract status and also what is status is with the team.
Joe Mauer- Their is no doubt the season may have turned out differently if Mauer had not gotten injured. He likely will be back by the first of June and hopefully puts up Joe Mauer numbers. Going forward a decision has to be made about whether to move Joe Mauer off of catcher. The Twins owe Mauer 7 years 161 million so Mauer will definately be back. My idea of what to do with him is the same thing I have heard others say and that is have him catch about 90 games with another 30 games at first base and 30 games as the DH. Whenever Mauer would play first I would have Morneau be the DH. I think a key to the Twins winning in the future is keeping Joe Mauer on the field and that is the best way to do it.
Justin Morneau- I still believe that Morneau will get it going and be the Justin Morneau Twins fans have come to expect. It is only 33 games into the season, but Morneau is only hitting .212 on the year. The bottom line is Morneau will be back no matter what because the way he is hitting right now no one would take the 28 million he has on his contract after this year. The thing about it is if Morneau comes back and hits the way he has in the past then the Twins need to seriously consider extending him. The 14 million per year is very managable on the payroll, however the injury risk with Morneau is great after missing great parts of 2009 and 2010 due to injury. With that being said if Morneau keeps hitting like this it will be a moot point.
Tsuyoshi Nishioka- Nishioka will be back in 2012 on the second year of a three year contract. We still don't know what we got in Nishioka after getting hurt so early in the season. I think with his arm strength Nishioka will be the second baseman in 2012 as he tries to build on this year.
Alexi Casilla- I think Casilla is spending his final year with the Twins if he even makes it through the year. Casilla has been given opportunity after opportunity to be a key player for the Twins, but he just has not been able to do it.
Danny Valencia- Valencia has been going through somewhat of a sophmore slump so far as has been consistantly in the .220's and .230's. He has driven in a team hight 18 runs though, but he has made some baserunning lapses and his defense has been inconsistant. However, he is the best 3rd baseman since Cory Koskie so he will definatly be back.
Delmon Young- Delmon Young has two things going against him. First he has missed quite a bit of time due to a rib injury. Second and probably most important he is making 5.4 million this year and due a jump to the 8-9 million range I look for the Twins to move him to try to acquire a shortstop and possibly bullpen help. Young's value is very high after his great season in 2010 so I look for them to captalize on it to get some good prospects especially with guys like Tosoni and Revere just about ready to start next season.
Denard Span- Denard Span has reestablished himself as a cataylst in the Twins offense at the top of the lineup. I still think he would be a better left fielder than a centerfielder, but am resigned to the fact that they will keep him in center for the next few years. The Twins have Span signed to a reasonable contract as long as he keeps his high on base percentage in 37-38 percent range. Span is owed 15 million over the next 3 years with a 9 million option for 2015 so it is very reasonable and at only 27 years old he is part of the solution in the Twins likely retooling operation.
Michael Cuddyer- This is a tough one for me as I value him as a person and he is solid, but his defense is detoriating and his price tag will likely be higher than I am willing to pay. At age 32 and making 10.5 million in the last year of his deal that is too rich for my blood. If he was willing to take half of that I would look to bring him back, but that is not going to happen. The writing is on the wall when the Twins would not talk to him about an extension in the offseason so I look for the Twins and Cuddyer to go their seperate ways this offseason.
Jason Kubel- Before the season I had my mind made up that 2011 would be Jason Kubel's final year with the Twins. However, he has looked like a different hitter this year by hitting close to .350 all year. He has not tried to hit homeruns and has got big hit after big hit. There is still 4 and a half months to go but he is starting to be in my plans. The more he has played in the outfield the more comfortable I have become with him in the outfield. At age 28 he is a younger version of Cuddyer and if he can continue to do ok against lefty's I would probably bring him back on a 2-3 year deal as a part time outfielder and part time dh.
Jim Thome- The clock seems like it is running out on Thome as a player as a 41 year old it seemed like his bat was slow even before he was injured. Here is hoping he can get the 9 more homeruns he needs to get to 600 so he can walk away into the sunset as this will be Jim Thome's last year in a Twins uniform.
Drew Butera- Drew Butera is an ok backup catcher as he is fine defensively, but he absolutely can not hit. With my plan for Joe Mauer the Twins are going to need a better hitting backup catcher. Nothing against Drew Butera, but hitting .112 is just not going to get the job done so I don't look for him to be back.
Carl Pavano- I don't know if this is a early in the season thing, but Carl Pavano has looked really old as of late. Being that they owe him 8 million next year it is going to be difficult to move him but I look for the Twins to find a taker to make room for Kyle Gibson in a Twins uniform
Nick Blackburn- That was another bad contract for the Twins as Blackburn is due 11 million the next two years after this season. His pitching has been so up and down that the Twins could not move him even if they tried.
Francisco Liriano- Liriano is such a tease as his no hitter would attest to, but he is so inconsistant you can't give him a long term contract. I would make him available and see what kind of offers you can get and if a team really values him I would jump on it. I don't think the Twins are going to get the kind of offers that they want so I look for Liriano to be back.
Brian Duensing- Duensing has been a pleasant surprise for the Twins and since he is signed so cheap he definatly will be back and possibly be signed to an extension.
Kevin Slowey- With so many other holes on the team keeping Slowey is not something that should be done. They need to move him and get the best package that they possibly can.
Joe Nathan- I feel bad for him, but Joe Nathan is not getting the job done and their can be no loyalty when it comes to business. Nathan has had a great Twins career, but it will come to an end after the season.
Matt Capps- Capps is not a dominant closer, but he does get the job done so i would give him a nice 3 year deal to continue closing for the Twins.
Overview
coming off Books
I have aproximatley 40 million coming off the books after this season in the moves that I have laid out so that should be plenty to become a better team.
Tentative 2012 lineup with additions that i am suggesting
C- Mauer
1b- Morneau
2b- Freddy Sanchez
ss- Nishioka
3b- Valencia
Lf- Revere
Cf- Span
Rf- Kubel
Dh- Mike Napoli
Bench
Hughes
Tolbert
Steve Singleton
Repko
Lineup
1. Span
2. Revere
3. Mauer
4. Morneau
5. Napoli
6. Kubel
7. Valencia
8. Sanchez
9. Nishioka
Pitching Rotation
1. Liriano
2. Baker
3. Gibson
4. Duensing
5. Blackburn
Bullpen
Capps
Perkins
Mijares
Michael Wuertz
Diamond
Hoey
Burnett
Let me know what you think if you disagree with me or agree with me I would love to know what you think. You can either leave a comment in the comment box or shoot me an email at travis_aune@yahoo.com.
Joe Mauer- Their is no doubt the season may have turned out differently if Mauer had not gotten injured. He likely will be back by the first of June and hopefully puts up Joe Mauer numbers. Going forward a decision has to be made about whether to move Joe Mauer off of catcher. The Twins owe Mauer 7 years 161 million so Mauer will definately be back. My idea of what to do with him is the same thing I have heard others say and that is have him catch about 90 games with another 30 games at first base and 30 games as the DH. Whenever Mauer would play first I would have Morneau be the DH. I think a key to the Twins winning in the future is keeping Joe Mauer on the field and that is the best way to do it.
Justin Morneau- I still believe that Morneau will get it going and be the Justin Morneau Twins fans have come to expect. It is only 33 games into the season, but Morneau is only hitting .212 on the year. The bottom line is Morneau will be back no matter what because the way he is hitting right now no one would take the 28 million he has on his contract after this year. The thing about it is if Morneau comes back and hits the way he has in the past then the Twins need to seriously consider extending him. The 14 million per year is very managable on the payroll, however the injury risk with Morneau is great after missing great parts of 2009 and 2010 due to injury. With that being said if Morneau keeps hitting like this it will be a moot point.
Tsuyoshi Nishioka- Nishioka will be back in 2012 on the second year of a three year contract. We still don't know what we got in Nishioka after getting hurt so early in the season. I think with his arm strength Nishioka will be the second baseman in 2012 as he tries to build on this year.
Alexi Casilla- I think Casilla is spending his final year with the Twins if he even makes it through the year. Casilla has been given opportunity after opportunity to be a key player for the Twins, but he just has not been able to do it.
Danny Valencia- Valencia has been going through somewhat of a sophmore slump so far as has been consistantly in the .220's and .230's. He has driven in a team hight 18 runs though, but he has made some baserunning lapses and his defense has been inconsistant. However, he is the best 3rd baseman since Cory Koskie so he will definatly be back.
Delmon Young- Delmon Young has two things going against him. First he has missed quite a bit of time due to a rib injury. Second and probably most important he is making 5.4 million this year and due a jump to the 8-9 million range I look for the Twins to move him to try to acquire a shortstop and possibly bullpen help. Young's value is very high after his great season in 2010 so I look for them to captalize on it to get some good prospects especially with guys like Tosoni and Revere just about ready to start next season.
Denard Span- Denard Span has reestablished himself as a cataylst in the Twins offense at the top of the lineup. I still think he would be a better left fielder than a centerfielder, but am resigned to the fact that they will keep him in center for the next few years. The Twins have Span signed to a reasonable contract as long as he keeps his high on base percentage in 37-38 percent range. Span is owed 15 million over the next 3 years with a 9 million option for 2015 so it is very reasonable and at only 27 years old he is part of the solution in the Twins likely retooling operation.
Michael Cuddyer- This is a tough one for me as I value him as a person and he is solid, but his defense is detoriating and his price tag will likely be higher than I am willing to pay. At age 32 and making 10.5 million in the last year of his deal that is too rich for my blood. If he was willing to take half of that I would look to bring him back, but that is not going to happen. The writing is on the wall when the Twins would not talk to him about an extension in the offseason so I look for the Twins and Cuddyer to go their seperate ways this offseason.
Jason Kubel- Before the season I had my mind made up that 2011 would be Jason Kubel's final year with the Twins. However, he has looked like a different hitter this year by hitting close to .350 all year. He has not tried to hit homeruns and has got big hit after big hit. There is still 4 and a half months to go but he is starting to be in my plans. The more he has played in the outfield the more comfortable I have become with him in the outfield. At age 28 he is a younger version of Cuddyer and if he can continue to do ok against lefty's I would probably bring him back on a 2-3 year deal as a part time outfielder and part time dh.
Jim Thome- The clock seems like it is running out on Thome as a player as a 41 year old it seemed like his bat was slow even before he was injured. Here is hoping he can get the 9 more homeruns he needs to get to 600 so he can walk away into the sunset as this will be Jim Thome's last year in a Twins uniform.
Drew Butera- Drew Butera is an ok backup catcher as he is fine defensively, but he absolutely can not hit. With my plan for Joe Mauer the Twins are going to need a better hitting backup catcher. Nothing against Drew Butera, but hitting .112 is just not going to get the job done so I don't look for him to be back.
Carl Pavano- I don't know if this is a early in the season thing, but Carl Pavano has looked really old as of late. Being that they owe him 8 million next year it is going to be difficult to move him but I look for the Twins to find a taker to make room for Kyle Gibson in a Twins uniform
Nick Blackburn- That was another bad contract for the Twins as Blackburn is due 11 million the next two years after this season. His pitching has been so up and down that the Twins could not move him even if they tried.
Francisco Liriano- Liriano is such a tease as his no hitter would attest to, but he is so inconsistant you can't give him a long term contract. I would make him available and see what kind of offers you can get and if a team really values him I would jump on it. I don't think the Twins are going to get the kind of offers that they want so I look for Liriano to be back.
Brian Duensing- Duensing has been a pleasant surprise for the Twins and since he is signed so cheap he definatly will be back and possibly be signed to an extension.
Kevin Slowey- With so many other holes on the team keeping Slowey is not something that should be done. They need to move him and get the best package that they possibly can.
Joe Nathan- I feel bad for him, but Joe Nathan is not getting the job done and their can be no loyalty when it comes to business. Nathan has had a great Twins career, but it will come to an end after the season.
Matt Capps- Capps is not a dominant closer, but he does get the job done so i would give him a nice 3 year deal to continue closing for the Twins.
Overview
coming off Books
I have aproximatley 40 million coming off the books after this season in the moves that I have laid out so that should be plenty to become a better team.
Tentative 2012 lineup with additions that i am suggesting
C- Mauer
1b- Morneau
2b- Freddy Sanchez
ss- Nishioka
3b- Valencia
Lf- Revere
Cf- Span
Rf- Kubel
Dh- Mike Napoli
Bench
Hughes
Tolbert
Steve Singleton
Repko
Lineup
1. Span
2. Revere
3. Mauer
4. Morneau
5. Napoli
6. Kubel
7. Valencia
8. Sanchez
9. Nishioka
Pitching Rotation
1. Liriano
2. Baker
3. Gibson
4. Duensing
5. Blackburn
Bullpen
Capps
Perkins
Mijares
Michael Wuertz
Diamond
Hoey
Burnett
Let me know what you think if you disagree with me or agree with me I would love to know what you think. You can either leave a comment in the comment box or shoot me an email at travis_aune@yahoo.com.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Can the Twins rebound?
The bottom line is the Twins are not playing very good right now as their 12-20 record would attest to. It is not very hard to figure out why though as they are missing Joe Mauer, Delmon Young, Jim Thome, and Tsuyoshi Nishioka who combined for 55 homeruns and 246 rbi's in the 2010 season. Granted none of the guys just mentioned were off to a very good start in 2011, but you know they are going to come around. The biggest reason for concern though is the start of the pitching staff in Carl Pavano and Francisco Liriano as they both have era's over six. This is not something that should be sneezed at as we are five-six weeks into the season and you would think that you would know what you got at the top of your rotation. If it was not for Scott Baker and Brian Duensing the Twins would be in much worse shape than they are and that is saying something as the Twins currently trail Cleveland by 9.5 games. Another problem has been the dismal performance of Justin Morneau. Currently Morneau is only hitting .202 on the year after being a .284 career hitter including hitting .300 three times. The thing with Morneau is none of us know what he is going through as he suffered a serious brain injury last year and he was not able to work out this winter due to the concussion. He did not swing a bat for over 8 months so is it that big of a surprise that he is not hitting. I think we all myself including were expecting too much too soon for Morneau. This was a very serious injury and I am sure he is just thankful that he is even playing. A judgement on him can not be made over 32 games and those that have given up on him are going to be wrong. With all those things that have gone wrong so far in 2011 the important thing is there is still 130 games to be played so it is too soon to give up on this team. The question is what do the Twins need to do to get back in the race.
The first and last thing that needs to happen is for the Twins to get healthy especially Joe Mauer. The Twins can not and will not win without Joe Mauer. He is the biggest contributer for the Twins and they need him. When Joe Mauer is well Joe Mauer the Twins have the capability to beat anyone and get on a run of great play. It was obvious that Mauer was not right early in the season so just as important to getting him back is getting him back when he is healthy. With Drew Butera, Steve Holm, and now Rene Rivera holding down the catching position that has been an automatic out. Getting Mauer back would take the pressure off of everyone else. Getting Delmon Young back will be big as he is coming off a career year in 2010 and adding him just deepens the lineup. Getting Nishioka back really stabalizes one of the worst positions in all of baseball in middle infield whether he plays second or short. Really a key to things is getting the players healthy.
The biggest thing that needs to improve if the Twins can rebound is the pitching staff. Other than Scott Baker, Brian Duensing, Glen Perkins, and Matt Capps the pitching staff has been awful. That has to change or there will be no turnaround. Francisco Liriano's no hitter hopefully will be the beginning of a turnaround because he has way too much talent to keep pitching like that. Carl Pavano won't pitch like he did last year, but he is a much better pitcher than he has shown lately so he is a key to getting back. The bullpen needs to become more consistant as they move forward. Joe Nathan, Alex Burnett, Jose Mijares, Jim Hoey have all been so inconsistant and they need them to develop some consistancy. Another area that needs to improve is their defense as it has shoddy at best. A great part of past Twins teams has been their defense and it has not been good this year. A big part of it has been the changing of players with all the injuries so it could help with the return of health. If some of these things happen its possible for the Twins to get back in it. The Twins dug themselves quite a whole and probably will need Cleveland and Kansas City to come back to the pack some, but the Twins can't worry about them they need to get healthy and put together some better play. If those things happen I really believe that the Twins could be in a pennant race again this summer.
The first and last thing that needs to happen is for the Twins to get healthy especially Joe Mauer. The Twins can not and will not win without Joe Mauer. He is the biggest contributer for the Twins and they need him. When Joe Mauer is well Joe Mauer the Twins have the capability to beat anyone and get on a run of great play. It was obvious that Mauer was not right early in the season so just as important to getting him back is getting him back when he is healthy. With Drew Butera, Steve Holm, and now Rene Rivera holding down the catching position that has been an automatic out. Getting Mauer back would take the pressure off of everyone else. Getting Delmon Young back will be big as he is coming off a career year in 2010 and adding him just deepens the lineup. Getting Nishioka back really stabalizes one of the worst positions in all of baseball in middle infield whether he plays second or short. Really a key to things is getting the players healthy.
The biggest thing that needs to improve if the Twins can rebound is the pitching staff. Other than Scott Baker, Brian Duensing, Glen Perkins, and Matt Capps the pitching staff has been awful. That has to change or there will be no turnaround. Francisco Liriano's no hitter hopefully will be the beginning of a turnaround because he has way too much talent to keep pitching like that. Carl Pavano won't pitch like he did last year, but he is a much better pitcher than he has shown lately so he is a key to getting back. The bullpen needs to become more consistant as they move forward. Joe Nathan, Alex Burnett, Jose Mijares, Jim Hoey have all been so inconsistant and they need them to develop some consistancy. Another area that needs to improve is their defense as it has shoddy at best. A great part of past Twins teams has been their defense and it has not been good this year. A big part of it has been the changing of players with all the injuries so it could help with the return of health. If some of these things happen its possible for the Twins to get back in it. The Twins dug themselves quite a whole and probably will need Cleveland and Kansas City to come back to the pack some, but the Twins can't worry about them they need to get healthy and put together some better play. If those things happen I really believe that the Twins could be in a pennant race again this summer.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Pitcher and hitter of the month for April
I don't have time to write any comments about my choices for each of these awards, but Ill put the winner and their April stats along with another choice that could have won the award and let you decide if I made the right decision. If you have another name that you would like to nominate let me know that too by leaving a comment in the comment box or shooting me an email to travis_aune@yahoo.com.
Twins
Scott Baker- 1-2 3.16 era 5 starts 31.1inn=6.1 per start .239 OBA
Twins
Scott Baker- 1-2 3.16 era 5 starts 31.1inn=6.1 per start .239 OBA
Brian Duensing-2-1 2.91 era 5starts 34inn= 6.8 per start .264 OBA
Glen Perkins- 0-0 0.75 era 11games 12 innings .225 OBA
Hitter of the Month
Jason Kubel- .351 avg 2hr 10rbi 9 doubles .392/.511/.903 stat line .278 vs leftys/.365 vs rightys
Denard Span- .298 avg 1hr 5rbi 4 doubles and a triple .354/.385/.739
Rochester Red Wings
Pitcher of the Month
Kyle Gibson- 0-1 3.15era 4 starts 2oinn= 5inn per start 4bb 21k .221oba
Scott Diamond- 1-1 3.48era 4starts 20.2inn=5.1inn per start .208 opponents batting average
Hitter of the Month
Trevor Plouffe- .282 avg 6hr 13rbi's 4 doubles and a triple 11 runs scored .344/.590/.934 stat line.
Ben Revere- .293 avg 0hr 5rbi's 2 doubles, 7 stolen bases 10 runs scored .330/.315/.645 stat line
New Britain Rockcats
Pitcher of the Month
Cole Devries- 0-0 0.00era 7 games 4 saves 14.2inn 3 hits 1bb 21 strikeouts .063 OBA
Steve Hirscfeld- 1-0 2.05era 4starts 22inn= 5.5 per start 5bb/18k .190 oba
Hitter of the Month
Yangervis Solarte- .359 avg 2 homeruns 12 rbi's 9 doubles and a triple, .367/.577/.944 line
Joe Benson- .295 avg 2homeruns 12 rbi's 8 doubles and a triple .360/.500/.860 stat line
Fort Myers
Pitcher of the Month
Kane Holbrooks- 0-4 2.43 era 5 starts 29.2 inn=5.84 per start .248 OBA
Dakota Watts- 0-1 3.12era 5 saves 8 games 8.2 inn .273 OBA
Hitter of the Month
James Beresford- .325avg 0hr 8rbi's 2 doubles and 8 runs scored .353/.350/.703 stat line
Danny Rams- .338 avg 1hr 10rbi's 4 doubles and 2 triples .392/.500/.892 stat line
Beloit Snappers
Pitcher of the Month
Adrian Salcedo- 1-1 2.78 era 4 starts 22.2 innings= 5.55 per start 6bb/19k .259 OBA
Logan Darnell- 1-1 2.78 era 4 starts 22.2inn .148 OBA
Hitter of the Month
Danny Ortiz- .377 avg 6hr 15rbi's 7 doubles and a triple with 16 runs scored .429/.768/1.197
Oswaldo Arcia- .352 avg 5hr 18 rbi's 8 doubles and a triple with 18 runs scored .420/.704/1.124
Twins Organization Pitcher of Month for April: Cole Devries
Twins Organization Pitcher of Month for April: Danny Ortiz
Stream of Consciousness
Hello everyone my name is Travis Aune and I am the author of Travis Twins Talk a blog I have had for a couple of years and sometimes the information is constant, but because I am also a college student sometimes it is not as constant. I have finals this week and then graduate on Friday with an Associates before I move on to get my Bachelors so I guess I am trying to explain why my posts have not been as often as other bloggers. That does not mean I am any less of a Twins fan because I am a huge Twins fan as I never miss a game along with Co-hosting Twins Minor League Weekly every Monday and Thursday night with Seth Stohs at 10pm central. I still try to read some other Twins blogs and listen to podcasts when I have an opportunity and I can honestly say that the amount of negativity surrounded the Twins blogging community and on Twitter is making me sick to my stomach. Twins fans should be ashamed of themselves right now. Are the Twins playing like we are accostumed to them playing right now of course not, but the amount of whining and complaining by so called Twins fans is unbelievable. I remember the 2000 season when the Twins threw guys like Matt Kinney, Sean Bergman, Hector Carrasco that was a bad pitching staff. They counted on position players like Matthew Lecroy, Jason Maxwell, Chad Allen, and last but not least Butch Huskey. That right there was a bad team, but in the darkness their was a glimmer of light as guys like Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones, Christian Guzman, Corey Koskie, Brad Radke, Johan Santana were getting their start. I remember that season all too well as day after day I sat and watched them compete their best every night and lose every night. The reason I continued to watch as a Twins fan is I knew things would get better as the Twins had a plan and that plan led to six division titles in nine years along with two mvp awards, multiple silver slugger awards, a manager of the year award, and most importantly hours and hours of enjoyment for Twins fans.
Now we are in 2011 the Twins are 12-19 and 9.5 games out of first, but instead of hearing about how can the Twins can get back in the race all I hear is about how this person sucks and that person should be replaced. Cmon guys this is the Twins they have given us so much enjoyment through the years and when they have a little bit of trouble you all jump ship and go negative. The thing I have always prided myself about being a Twins fan is we always stick by our team even when things are not going well. Right now it feels like I am cheering for the Yankees as every time they lose a game people are bitching that it was someones fault and someone should be benched, sent to the minors or released. Do I wish guys like Mauer, Young, Nishioka, and Thome were playing right now of course I do, but they are not so it doesn't help to bitch instead we should be cheering for guys like Butera, Tosoni, Revere, Hughes, Casilla to do well and not bitch everytime they get an out that they should be benched. The final two points that I feel I need to make is one, the Twins have had more success than just about any organization in baseball the last 10 years and we should trust that they will figure things out because the negativity is really getting sickening. Some nights I go on Twitter and all I see is this player sucks and that player sucks and it makes me sad. Justin Morneau didn't play for 8 months and had a very serious brain injury so I think we can give him a benefit of more than 31 games before we want to throw him overboard. All he has done for the Twins I think he has earned the Patience of Twins fans. I for one get frustrated sometimes when the Twins can't hit a pitcher, but the big picture is the Twins will figure it out they always do. Will they go to the playoffs again who knows, but its fun to find out. My final point is all the negativity towards manager Ron Gardenhire I think is the dumbest thing in the world. This is Gardy's 10th year as a manager and has taken teams to the playoffs six of those years and finally won the manager of the year award last year after many years he should have won it. Seems like the team goes through adversity every year and with Gardy's steady hand they find a way to make it through it a stronger team. The fact that some blame everything on Gardy is so stupid that I should not even answer that. So Gardy goes from the Manager of the Year to someone that should be fired that is so ridiculius. Mark my words the Twins will be in contention in August and all these tribulations will make the team stronger and more tight knit. I am going to get off my soap box now and just encourage before being critical look at the big picture and trust that the Twins know what they are doing as they haven't had a bad 10 year period and I for one am so thankful that the Twins give me hours of entertainment every week and makes me fall further in love with the great game of baseball every day. God Bless
Now we are in 2011 the Twins are 12-19 and 9.5 games out of first, but instead of hearing about how can the Twins can get back in the race all I hear is about how this person sucks and that person should be replaced. Cmon guys this is the Twins they have given us so much enjoyment through the years and when they have a little bit of trouble you all jump ship and go negative. The thing I have always prided myself about being a Twins fan is we always stick by our team even when things are not going well. Right now it feels like I am cheering for the Yankees as every time they lose a game people are bitching that it was someones fault and someone should be benched, sent to the minors or released. Do I wish guys like Mauer, Young, Nishioka, and Thome were playing right now of course I do, but they are not so it doesn't help to bitch instead we should be cheering for guys like Butera, Tosoni, Revere, Hughes, Casilla to do well and not bitch everytime they get an out that they should be benched. The final two points that I feel I need to make is one, the Twins have had more success than just about any organization in baseball the last 10 years and we should trust that they will figure things out because the negativity is really getting sickening. Some nights I go on Twitter and all I see is this player sucks and that player sucks and it makes me sad. Justin Morneau didn't play for 8 months and had a very serious brain injury so I think we can give him a benefit of more than 31 games before we want to throw him overboard. All he has done for the Twins I think he has earned the Patience of Twins fans. I for one get frustrated sometimes when the Twins can't hit a pitcher, but the big picture is the Twins will figure it out they always do. Will they go to the playoffs again who knows, but its fun to find out. My final point is all the negativity towards manager Ron Gardenhire I think is the dumbest thing in the world. This is Gardy's 10th year as a manager and has taken teams to the playoffs six of those years and finally won the manager of the year award last year after many years he should have won it. Seems like the team goes through adversity every year and with Gardy's steady hand they find a way to make it through it a stronger team. The fact that some blame everything on Gardy is so stupid that I should not even answer that. So Gardy goes from the Manager of the Year to someone that should be fired that is so ridiculius. Mark my words the Twins will be in contention in August and all these tribulations will make the team stronger and more tight knit. I am going to get off my soap box now and just encourage before being critical look at the big picture and trust that the Twins know what they are doing as they haven't had a bad 10 year period and I for one am so thankful that the Twins give me hours of entertainment every week and makes me fall further in love with the great game of baseball every day. God Bless
Saturday, April 23, 2011
NFL Mock Draft 3.0
1. Carolina Panthers- Cam Newton QB Auburn
2. Denver Broncos- Marcel Dareus DT Alabama
3. Buffalo Bills- Vonn Miller LB Texas A&M
4. Cincinnati Bengals- A.J. Green WR Georgia
5. Arizona Cardinals- Blaine Gabbert QB Missouri
6. Cleveland Browns- Julio Jones WR Alabama
7. San Francisco 49'ers- Patrick Peterson CB LSU
8. Tennessee Titans- Nick Fairley DT Auburn
9. Dallas Cowboys- Tyron Smith OT USC
10. Washington Redskins- Robert Quinn DE North Carolina
11. Houston Texans- Aldon Smith LB Missouri
12. Minnesota Vikings- Jake Locker QB Washington
13. Detroit Lions- Prince Amakamara CB Nebraska
14. St. Louis Rams- Cameron Jordan DE California
15. Miami Dolphins- Mark Ingram RB Alabama
16. Jacksonville Jaguars- D'Quan Bowers DE Clemson
17. New England Patriots- JJ Watts DE Wisconsin
18. San Diego Chargers- Ryan Kerrigan DE Purdue
19. New York Giants- Mike Pouncey OL Florida
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Muhammad Wilkerson DE Temple
21. Kansas City Chiefs- Anthony Castonzo OT Boston College
22. Indianapolis Colts- Gabe Carimi OT Wisconsin
23. Philadelphia Eagles- Jimmy Smith CB Colorado
24. New Orleans Saints- Brooks Reed DE Arizona
25. Seattle Seahawks- Nate Solder OT Colorado
26. Baltimore Ravens- Brandon Harris CB Miami
27. Atlanta Falcons- Cameron Hayward DE Ohio State
28. New England Patriots- Derrek Sherrod OT Mississippi St.
29. Chicago Bears- Cory Liuget DT Illinois
30. New York Jets- Phil Taylor DT Baylor
31. Pittsburgh Steelers- Danny Watkins OG Baylor
32. Green Bay Packers- Adrian Clayborn DE Iowa
2. Denver Broncos- Marcel Dareus DT Alabama
3. Buffalo Bills- Vonn Miller LB Texas A&M
4. Cincinnati Bengals- A.J. Green WR Georgia
5. Arizona Cardinals- Blaine Gabbert QB Missouri
6. Cleveland Browns- Julio Jones WR Alabama
7. San Francisco 49'ers- Patrick Peterson CB LSU
8. Tennessee Titans- Nick Fairley DT Auburn
9. Dallas Cowboys- Tyron Smith OT USC
10. Washington Redskins- Robert Quinn DE North Carolina
11. Houston Texans- Aldon Smith LB Missouri
12. Minnesota Vikings- Jake Locker QB Washington
13. Detroit Lions- Prince Amakamara CB Nebraska
14. St. Louis Rams- Cameron Jordan DE California
15. Miami Dolphins- Mark Ingram RB Alabama
16. Jacksonville Jaguars- D'Quan Bowers DE Clemson
17. New England Patriots- JJ Watts DE Wisconsin
18. San Diego Chargers- Ryan Kerrigan DE Purdue
19. New York Giants- Mike Pouncey OL Florida
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Muhammad Wilkerson DE Temple
21. Kansas City Chiefs- Anthony Castonzo OT Boston College
22. Indianapolis Colts- Gabe Carimi OT Wisconsin
23. Philadelphia Eagles- Jimmy Smith CB Colorado
24. New Orleans Saints- Brooks Reed DE Arizona
25. Seattle Seahawks- Nate Solder OT Colorado
26. Baltimore Ravens- Brandon Harris CB Miami
27. Atlanta Falcons- Cameron Hayward DE Ohio State
28. New England Patriots- Derrek Sherrod OT Mississippi St.
29. Chicago Bears- Cory Liuget DT Illinois
30. New York Jets- Phil Taylor DT Baylor
31. Pittsburgh Steelers- Danny Watkins OG Baylor
32. Green Bay Packers- Adrian Clayborn DE Iowa
Sunday, April 17, 2011
NFL Mock Draft 2.0
1. Carolina Panthers- Cam Newton QB Auburn
2. Denver Broncos- Marcel Darius DT Alabama
3. Buffalo Bills- Vonn Miller LB Texas A&M
4. Cincinnati- AJ Green WR Georgia
5. Arizona Cardinals- Robert Quinn DE North Carolina
6. Cleveland Browns- Julio Jones WR Alabama
7. San Francisco 49er's- Patrick Peterson CB LSU
8. Tennessee Titans- Nick Fairley DT Auburn
9. Dallas Cowboys- Tyron Smith OT USC
10. Washington Redskins- Blaine Gabbert QB Missouri
11. Houston Texans- JJ Watt DE Wisconsin
12. Minnesota Vikings- Prince Amakumara CB Nebraska
13. Detroit Lions- D'Quan Bowers DE Clemson
14. St. Louis Rams- Aldon Smith DE Missouri
15. Miami Dolphins- Mark Ingram RB Alabama
16. Jacksonville Jaguars- Cameron Jordan DE California
17. New England Patriots- Jake Locker QB Washington
18. San Diego Chargers- Ryan Kerrigan DE Purdue
19. New York Giants- Mike Pouncey C Florida
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Anthony Castanzo OT BC
21. Kansas City Chiefs- Gabe Carimi OT Wisconsin
22. Indianapolis Colts- Nate Solder OT Colorado
23. Philadelphia Eages- Jimmy Smith CB Colorado
24. New Orleans Saints- Aldon Smith LB Missouri
25. Seattle Seahawks- Derrek Sherrod OT Mississippi St.
26. Baltimore Ravens- Torrey Smith WR Maryland
27. Atlanta Falcons- Akeem Ayers LB UCLA
28. New England Patriots- Muhammad Wilkerson,DT Temple
29. Chicago Bears- Aaron Williams CB Texas
30. New York Jets- Phil Taylor DT Butler
31. Pittsburgh Steelers- Kyle Rudolph TE Notre Dame
32. Green Bay Packers- Cameron Hayward DE Ohio State
2. Denver Broncos- Marcel Darius DT Alabama
3. Buffalo Bills- Vonn Miller LB Texas A&M
4. Cincinnati- AJ Green WR Georgia
5. Arizona Cardinals- Robert Quinn DE North Carolina
6. Cleveland Browns- Julio Jones WR Alabama
7. San Francisco 49er's- Patrick Peterson CB LSU
8. Tennessee Titans- Nick Fairley DT Auburn
9. Dallas Cowboys- Tyron Smith OT USC
10. Washington Redskins- Blaine Gabbert QB Missouri
11. Houston Texans- JJ Watt DE Wisconsin
12. Minnesota Vikings- Prince Amakumara CB Nebraska
13. Detroit Lions- D'Quan Bowers DE Clemson
14. St. Louis Rams- Aldon Smith DE Missouri
15. Miami Dolphins- Mark Ingram RB Alabama
16. Jacksonville Jaguars- Cameron Jordan DE California
17. New England Patriots- Jake Locker QB Washington
18. San Diego Chargers- Ryan Kerrigan DE Purdue
19. New York Giants- Mike Pouncey C Florida
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Anthony Castanzo OT BC
21. Kansas City Chiefs- Gabe Carimi OT Wisconsin
22. Indianapolis Colts- Nate Solder OT Colorado
23. Philadelphia Eages- Jimmy Smith CB Colorado
24. New Orleans Saints- Aldon Smith LB Missouri
25. Seattle Seahawks- Derrek Sherrod OT Mississippi St.
26. Baltimore Ravens- Torrey Smith WR Maryland
27. Atlanta Falcons- Akeem Ayers LB UCLA
28. New England Patriots- Muhammad Wilkerson,DT Temple
29. Chicago Bears- Aaron Williams CB Texas
30. New York Jets- Phil Taylor DT Butler
31. Pittsburgh Steelers- Kyle Rudolph TE Notre Dame
32. Green Bay Packers- Cameron Hayward DE Ohio State
Friday, April 8, 2011
NFL Mock Draft 1.0
It is that time of year again where all the top college players converage onto NYC for the NFL Draft. I know there is a lockout, but that doesn't mean this won't be a great day for these young men who have worked their whole life for this moment. With the draft quickly approaching I thought it was time for the first of my mock drafts. Let me know what you think.
1. Carolina- Cam Newton QB Auburn
2. Denver- Marcel Dareus DL Alabama
3. Buffalo- Blaine Gabbert QB Missouri
4. Cincinnati- AJ Green WR Georgia
5. Arizona- Vonn Miller DE Texas A&M
6. Cleveland- Patrick Peterson CB LSU
7. San Francisco- Robert Quinn DE North Carolina
8. Tennessee- Nick Fairley DT Auburn
9. Dallas- Tyron Smith OT USC
10. Washington- Julio Jones WR Alabama
11. Houston- JJ Watt DE Wisconsin
12. Minnesota- Da'quan Bowers DE Clemson
13. Detroit- Prince Amukamara CB Nebraska
14. St. Louis- Corey Liuget DT Illinois
15. Miami- Mark Ingram RB Alabama
16. Jacksonville- Aldon Smith DE Missouri
17. New England- Cameron Jordan DE California
18. San Diego- Muhammed Wilkerson DT Temple
19. New York Giants- Mike Pouncey C Florida
20. Tampa Bay- Ryan Kerrigan DE Purdue
21. Kansas City- Phil Taylor DT Baylor
22. Indianapolis- Anthony Castonzo OT Boston College
23. Philadelphia- Gabe Carimi OT Wisconsin
24. New Orleans- Adrian Clayborn DE Iowa
25. Seattle- Jimmy Smith CB Colorado
26. Baltimore- Brandon Harris CB Miami
27. Atlanta- Nate Soldier OT Colorado
28. New England- Akeem Ayers LB UCLA
29. Chicago- Derreck Sharrod OT Mississippi State
30. New York Jets- Cameron Heyward De Ohio State
31. Pittsburgh- Aaron Williams CB Texas
32. Green Bay- Brooks Reed DE Arizona
Friday, March 25, 2011
Utility Decision
With the spring season coming to the end next week it is likely the final decisions for the Twins needs to be made. More than likely 22-23 of the roster decisions are decided so it is just those couple of decisions that have to be decided. I thought it would be interesting to take a look at the final roster spots and how I think it will turn out.
- Utility spot: Luke Hughes vs Matt Tolbert- If you would have asked me this question a week to ten days ago I would have said it would be Hughes in a landslide. However, as the spring has unfolded and the Twins have saw more and more of pitchers that will start the season in major league uniforms Hughes' numbers have plummeted. He has gotten plenty of playing time as his 63 spring at bats would attest to. He went a stretch where he did not get a hit in four straight games and with Gardy wanting to see more of him he has been playing most of the game so thats some serious at bats. He hit his team leading sixth homerun of the spring yesterday along with his team leading fifteen rbi's. However, he has seen his average plummet to a high in the .350's to now just .254. On the other hand Matt Tolbert has put together a Matt Tolbert type of spring. He is Mr. Steady in that he will not put up good numbers, but he will work his butt off and he can play four to five positions so he is very versatile. He is called Nick Punto Jr. for a reason by people as he does a lot of the same things that Punto did except his defense is not in Punto's class. He actually has hit better this spring than he normally will as he is hitting .306 in 36 at bats. At the end of the day this decision is tougher than I thought it would be as Tolbert has caught up to Hughes with Luke's struggles the last week to ten days. Then there is Tolbert is great defensively compared to Hughes so that has to come into account. I could change my mind before cut day on Wednesday, but my pick is Luke Hughes slightly and here is my reason why. The Twins lineup is very lefthanded and when teams bring in a tough lefty the twins are handicapped. So by having a guy like Hughes on the bench it will allow Gardy to bring gardy to bring Hughes off the besch to get a big hit. Tommorrow I will discuss the big bullpen decision so check back tommorrow.
- Today, the Twins face the Orioles in Fort Myers and Scott Baker gets the start for the Twins as he tried to get ready for the start of the season. Gametime is at 12:05
Friday, January 7, 2011
Are the Twins done spending
With the Twins likely signing Carl Pavano today after months of hand wringing by Twins fans the question has to be asked is this the team the Twins will bring to Fort Myers with them for Spring Training in about six weeks or is there room in the payroll to sign a Jim Thome or possibly a Brian Fuentes. The best way to figure out that is look at what the Twins have on the books already and see what the future holds for the Twins going into spring training.
C. Joe Mauer- 23.0 When the Twins signed Joe Mauer to the massive 8 year 184 million dollar deal last March Twins fans knew there would always be a lack of flexibility in the payroll, but that is just something you just need to do. Unless your the Yankees when you have superstar players you need to cut corners in other parts of your team and it is no different for the Twins.
1b Justin Morneau- 14.0 The Twins owe Justin Morneau 3 years and 42 million left on his contract. If he is healthy that is a market level contract for someone of his skill set and maybe even a little below market value. However, the last two years Morneau has had difficulty staying healthy so this contract does not look as good as it did two years ago. Here's hoping that Morneau can stay healthy this year and make his contract look fair.
2b Tsuyoshi Nishioka 3.0 The Twins made their first foray into Japan by bringing in the talented middle infielder into the fold and signing him to a 3 year 9.25 deal with a team option for a fourth year. No one knows how good he is going to be for the Twins, but he hit .346 in Japan last season so there is some hope that he can hit close to .300 and play good defense. He is such an unknown that it is hard to say whether this was a good signing by the Twins or a mistake.
SS Alexi Casilla- 800,000* The asterisk means a arbitration estimate for Casilla. Alexi Casilla gets one last chance to prove that he can be a every day player for the Twins. If he struggles this year he likely will not come back in 2012. So there is some pressure on Casilla to show what he has shown in flashes over a full season. If he fails Trevor Plouffe will be waiting in AAA awaiting the call.
3b Danny Valencia- 500,000* There has not been a rookie with the kind of impact that Valencia made last year in a number of years for the Twins. Valencia proved he can hit for average with some occasional power along with playing great defense. The key for Valencia in 2011 is to prove that 2010 was not a fluke and he is the 3rd baseman the Twins have been waiting for.
LF Delmon Young- 5.25*- Delmon Young had a breakout season for the Twins last year and is entering his 2nd try at arbitration this winter. Young is under team control for two more years and will be a free agent after the 2012 season. With the season that Young put up in 2010 there is some thought that maybe the Twins should try to sign him long term right now. I would wait to see if 2010 was an abberation or a sign of things to come as Young is only 25 years old. Here is hoping that last year was just the beginning for Delmon and he is in a Twins uniform for many years to come.
CF Denard Span- 1.0 After signing a five year 16.5 deal last spring training there was hope that Denard would take his game to the next level and add some stolen bases to his game. However, Span had his worst season as a Twin in 2010 including getting picked off 9 times and having career lows in batting average, on base percentage, and OPS. Those are the only stats that matter for a guy like Span so this is a big year for him to show last season was a fluke and he can get back to being the player we all hope he can be.
RF Michael Cuddyer 10.5 Michael Cuddyer was another one that did not have as good of a year in 2010 as he did in 2009. After hitting 32 homeruns in 2009 Cuddyer's total dropped in 2010 to 14 homeruns. Cuddyer is in the last year of his contract so it is a big year for Cuddy as he heads towards free agency.
DH Jason Kubel- 5.25 Jason Kubel is another guy that is in the last year of his contract. Kubel saw his batting average drop from .300 in 2009 to .249 in 2010 and saw his OPS drop from .907 down to .750 so 2011 is a huge year for Kubel. With Chris Parmelee knocking on the door Kubel really needs to step it up in 2011 if he wants to remain with the Twins.
Bench
C Drew Butera- 500,000 Butera returns for a second season as the backup catcher for the Twins. Offensively he is not someone you count for much, but defensively there are not a lot better defensively behind the plate. He will be back in 2011 and the hope that he can improve a bit offensively.
Inf Matt Tolbert- 500,000 With the Twins on a tight budget the Twins will likely turn the utility role over to Matt Tolbert who is not good, but he is cheap.
OF- Jason Repko 600,000 Jason Repko returns for a second season with the Twins as he did an outstanding job as a extra outfielder in 2010 and will do another good job in 2011.
PH Luke Hughes- 400,000 if the Twins decide to turn the page on Jim Thome then Luke Hughes would likely get a chance to win a roster spot. Hughes has a injury history, but when healthy he is a very accomplished hitter and I believe could do well.
Offense Salaries: $65.3 million
Pitching
1. Francisco Liriano- 4.5 After being at the lows of a 5-13 season in 2009 that led him to go to winter ball after the season to regain his confidence and having to battle for a roster spot in spring training. Liriano really took a step forward in 2010 by winning a career high 14 games and a solid 3.62 era. To be honest if not for all the innings he pitched in winter leagues he may have been better as he ran out of gas towards the end of the year. It will be interesting to see Liriano rebound in 2011.
2. Carl Pavano- 9.0 That is taking for granted that Pavano gets a 2 year deal for 18 million that is being reported. Pavano pitched 221 innings in 2010 which was the second most of his career so it will be interesting to see if he can do it again. By the Twins signing him they are gambling that he can.
3. Scott Baker 5.0 There was not a pitcher on the Twins last year that was as frustrating as Baker. Baker was one of the highest paid pitchers on the team last year and was not real good. Going 12-9 with an era of 4.49 is not what Twins fans were expecting out of their opening day starter. Baker has two years and 11.5 left on his deal along with a 9.5 club option for 2013 that the team is highly unlikely to pick up the way that he is pitching. Scott Baker will play a huge factor whether the Twins can win their third straight AL Central Title or not.
4. Brian Duensing- 500,000 Brian Duensing was outstanding once he joined the rotation last year and was a big reason the Twins were able to make the playoffs. With Carl Pavano likely returning Duensing will have to earn a rotation spot once again and that is nothing new for him. I look for him to come up big like he has every season at the major league level.
5. Nick Blackburn- 3.0 Nick Blackburn is as big as an enigma that I can find not only on the Twins, but in all of baseball. When Blackie is good he is very good, but when he is bad he is really bad. For example in May and August Blackburn went 6-1 with a 2.38 era. However, in April, June, and July he went 2-7 with an era over 8 which led to his demotion to AAA. So if the Twins can get the good Blackburn instead of the bad one then the Twins could be pretty good.
Bullpen
Joe Nathan- 11.25 Joe Nathan missed the entire 2010 season because of Tommy John surgery so it will be interesting to see if he is ready to start the season. Pat Neshek struggled coming back last season, but a guy like Billy Wagner came back even better. That is the biggest question mark on the Twins this year is what to expect from Nathan as that will be key in determining the AL Central race.
Matt Capps- 7.5 Matt Capps came over last season at the deadline and saved 16 games in 18 opportunities. So if Joe Nathan is not able to take back the closer's role than the Twins have a good one in Capps and even if Nathan does return to old form the Twins have a pretty good 1-2 combo at the end of games.
Jose Mijares- 500,000 Jose Mijares had a subpar 2010 season battling injuries and struggling with his weight. When he is good Mijares is a very good left handed pitcher out of the bullpen, but when he is not then he is not very good. He needs to return to the 2009 form if the Twins want to be back in postseason play.
Pat Neshek- 625,000 Pat Neshek returns to the Twins bullpen in 2011 and the hope is he can return to 2008 form. Neshek lost velocity after Tommy John surgery so the big thing is if he can get his velocity back. Another thing is his control as he was not as pinpoint as he was and that is to be expected as Liriano had the same problem.
Jim Hoey 800,000 Hoey was part of the J.J. Hardy trade and has some major league experience with the Orioles in 2006-2007 before suffering a shoulder injury. After surgery it took him a couple years to get back to possibly help at the major league level. The positive thing about him is he throws 95 and can strikeout some guys. The thing that you need to watch as he walks to many guys so he definately is a project.
Kevin Slowey- 2.75 There is some thought that the Twins might deal Slowey to get a good reliever, but with the age of Pavano and the durability issues so Slowey should stay. Slowey had a tough 2010 and the Twins really need Slowey to return to his previous form.
Scott Diamond- 400,000 The Twins selected Diamond in the first round of the rule V draft and will give him a chance to make the team out of spring training. He has a chance to be servicable for the Twins so it should be very interesting.
Pitching Payroll 43.8
Total Payroll: 109.1
C. Joe Mauer- 23.0 When the Twins signed Joe Mauer to the massive 8 year 184 million dollar deal last March Twins fans knew there would always be a lack of flexibility in the payroll, but that is just something you just need to do. Unless your the Yankees when you have superstar players you need to cut corners in other parts of your team and it is no different for the Twins.
1b Justin Morneau- 14.0 The Twins owe Justin Morneau 3 years and 42 million left on his contract. If he is healthy that is a market level contract for someone of his skill set and maybe even a little below market value. However, the last two years Morneau has had difficulty staying healthy so this contract does not look as good as it did two years ago. Here's hoping that Morneau can stay healthy this year and make his contract look fair.
2b Tsuyoshi Nishioka 3.0 The Twins made their first foray into Japan by bringing in the talented middle infielder into the fold and signing him to a 3 year 9.25 deal with a team option for a fourth year. No one knows how good he is going to be for the Twins, but he hit .346 in Japan last season so there is some hope that he can hit close to .300 and play good defense. He is such an unknown that it is hard to say whether this was a good signing by the Twins or a mistake.
SS Alexi Casilla- 800,000* The asterisk means a arbitration estimate for Casilla. Alexi Casilla gets one last chance to prove that he can be a every day player for the Twins. If he struggles this year he likely will not come back in 2012. So there is some pressure on Casilla to show what he has shown in flashes over a full season. If he fails Trevor Plouffe will be waiting in AAA awaiting the call.
3b Danny Valencia- 500,000* There has not been a rookie with the kind of impact that Valencia made last year in a number of years for the Twins. Valencia proved he can hit for average with some occasional power along with playing great defense. The key for Valencia in 2011 is to prove that 2010 was not a fluke and he is the 3rd baseman the Twins have been waiting for.
LF Delmon Young- 5.25*- Delmon Young had a breakout season for the Twins last year and is entering his 2nd try at arbitration this winter. Young is under team control for two more years and will be a free agent after the 2012 season. With the season that Young put up in 2010 there is some thought that maybe the Twins should try to sign him long term right now. I would wait to see if 2010 was an abberation or a sign of things to come as Young is only 25 years old. Here is hoping that last year was just the beginning for Delmon and he is in a Twins uniform for many years to come.
CF Denard Span- 1.0 After signing a five year 16.5 deal last spring training there was hope that Denard would take his game to the next level and add some stolen bases to his game. However, Span had his worst season as a Twin in 2010 including getting picked off 9 times and having career lows in batting average, on base percentage, and OPS. Those are the only stats that matter for a guy like Span so this is a big year for him to show last season was a fluke and he can get back to being the player we all hope he can be.
RF Michael Cuddyer 10.5 Michael Cuddyer was another one that did not have as good of a year in 2010 as he did in 2009. After hitting 32 homeruns in 2009 Cuddyer's total dropped in 2010 to 14 homeruns. Cuddyer is in the last year of his contract so it is a big year for Cuddy as he heads towards free agency.
DH Jason Kubel- 5.25 Jason Kubel is another guy that is in the last year of his contract. Kubel saw his batting average drop from .300 in 2009 to .249 in 2010 and saw his OPS drop from .907 down to .750 so 2011 is a huge year for Kubel. With Chris Parmelee knocking on the door Kubel really needs to step it up in 2011 if he wants to remain with the Twins.
Bench
C Drew Butera- 500,000 Butera returns for a second season as the backup catcher for the Twins. Offensively he is not someone you count for much, but defensively there are not a lot better defensively behind the plate. He will be back in 2011 and the hope that he can improve a bit offensively.
Inf Matt Tolbert- 500,000 With the Twins on a tight budget the Twins will likely turn the utility role over to Matt Tolbert who is not good, but he is cheap.
OF- Jason Repko 600,000 Jason Repko returns for a second season with the Twins as he did an outstanding job as a extra outfielder in 2010 and will do another good job in 2011.
PH Luke Hughes- 400,000 if the Twins decide to turn the page on Jim Thome then Luke Hughes would likely get a chance to win a roster spot. Hughes has a injury history, but when healthy he is a very accomplished hitter and I believe could do well.
Offense Salaries: $65.3 million
Pitching
1. Francisco Liriano- 4.5 After being at the lows of a 5-13 season in 2009 that led him to go to winter ball after the season to regain his confidence and having to battle for a roster spot in spring training. Liriano really took a step forward in 2010 by winning a career high 14 games and a solid 3.62 era. To be honest if not for all the innings he pitched in winter leagues he may have been better as he ran out of gas towards the end of the year. It will be interesting to see Liriano rebound in 2011.
2. Carl Pavano- 9.0 That is taking for granted that Pavano gets a 2 year deal for 18 million that is being reported. Pavano pitched 221 innings in 2010 which was the second most of his career so it will be interesting to see if he can do it again. By the Twins signing him they are gambling that he can.
3. Scott Baker 5.0 There was not a pitcher on the Twins last year that was as frustrating as Baker. Baker was one of the highest paid pitchers on the team last year and was not real good. Going 12-9 with an era of 4.49 is not what Twins fans were expecting out of their opening day starter. Baker has two years and 11.5 left on his deal along with a 9.5 club option for 2013 that the team is highly unlikely to pick up the way that he is pitching. Scott Baker will play a huge factor whether the Twins can win their third straight AL Central Title or not.
4. Brian Duensing- 500,000 Brian Duensing was outstanding once he joined the rotation last year and was a big reason the Twins were able to make the playoffs. With Carl Pavano likely returning Duensing will have to earn a rotation spot once again and that is nothing new for him. I look for him to come up big like he has every season at the major league level.
5. Nick Blackburn- 3.0 Nick Blackburn is as big as an enigma that I can find not only on the Twins, but in all of baseball. When Blackie is good he is very good, but when he is bad he is really bad. For example in May and August Blackburn went 6-1 with a 2.38 era. However, in April, June, and July he went 2-7 with an era over 8 which led to his demotion to AAA. So if the Twins can get the good Blackburn instead of the bad one then the Twins could be pretty good.
Bullpen
Joe Nathan- 11.25 Joe Nathan missed the entire 2010 season because of Tommy John surgery so it will be interesting to see if he is ready to start the season. Pat Neshek struggled coming back last season, but a guy like Billy Wagner came back even better. That is the biggest question mark on the Twins this year is what to expect from Nathan as that will be key in determining the AL Central race.
Matt Capps- 7.5 Matt Capps came over last season at the deadline and saved 16 games in 18 opportunities. So if Joe Nathan is not able to take back the closer's role than the Twins have a good one in Capps and even if Nathan does return to old form the Twins have a pretty good 1-2 combo at the end of games.
Jose Mijares- 500,000 Jose Mijares had a subpar 2010 season battling injuries and struggling with his weight. When he is good Mijares is a very good left handed pitcher out of the bullpen, but when he is not then he is not very good. He needs to return to the 2009 form if the Twins want to be back in postseason play.
Pat Neshek- 625,000 Pat Neshek returns to the Twins bullpen in 2011 and the hope is he can return to 2008 form. Neshek lost velocity after Tommy John surgery so the big thing is if he can get his velocity back. Another thing is his control as he was not as pinpoint as he was and that is to be expected as Liriano had the same problem.
Jim Hoey 800,000 Hoey was part of the J.J. Hardy trade and has some major league experience with the Orioles in 2006-2007 before suffering a shoulder injury. After surgery it took him a couple years to get back to possibly help at the major league level. The positive thing about him is he throws 95 and can strikeout some guys. The thing that you need to watch as he walks to many guys so he definately is a project.
Kevin Slowey- 2.75 There is some thought that the Twins might deal Slowey to get a good reliever, but with the age of Pavano and the durability issues so Slowey should stay. Slowey had a tough 2010 and the Twins really need Slowey to return to his previous form.
Scott Diamond- 400,000 The Twins selected Diamond in the first round of the rule V draft and will give him a chance to make the team out of spring training. He has a chance to be servicable for the Twins so it should be very interesting.
Pitching Payroll 43.8
Total Payroll: 109.1
- The question then has to become can the Twins afford Jim Thome or Brian Fuentes or is this the end. It really depends on what the end payroll will end up being. If the payroll is 115 million then yes they can afford one of the two, but not both. However, if the payroll is 110 the Twins are likely done. So let me put it out to you if the Twins can afford one of the two who would you sign Jim Thome or Brian Fuentes. You can leave your comments in the comment box.
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