DJL44
Jun 08, 2009 May 31, 2012 31 7031
a fan of
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AAA players who could help the Twins
by DJL44 on May 17, 2012 5:36 PM EDT
on Twinkie Town
These players should be fairly easy to obtain. To make the list they had to be signed as minor league free agents this past offseason. There are several players who could be useful stopgaps. We'll start with a name well known to many Twins fans.
Dan Johnson - 1B - .301/.470/.585 for Charlotte. I doubt the White Sox are going to need him. Bring the hometown kid back and let him get some playing time. I was on board with signing Johnson this offseason and keeping Parmelee in AAA.
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Variable Pricing for all Twins single game tickets
Prices for all single game tickets will fluctuate with demand. Not sure how this is balanced out with promotions, group sales, etc.
Why doesn't INSERT TWIN hit home runs?
by DJL44 on Nov 9, 2011 6:05 PM EST
on Twinkie Town
Target Field has ranked as the worst park in the AL for home run hitters. I nicked the list from someone who nicked it from ESPN. There were 43% more HR hit at Metrodome.
ESPN HR Factors, 2009-2011 by park.
Bill Smith has a plan!
You can summarize it like this:
1) Find a shortstop
2) Find enough starting pitching to bump Swarzak and Duensing to the bullpen
3) Find a backup catcher who can hit
4) Offer fair contracts to Cuddyer and Nathan but don't break the bank
Hicks going to the Arizona Fall League
P Cole DeVries, Scott Diamond, Brett Jacobson, Bruce Pugh
C Chris Herrmann
IF Brian Dozier
OF Aaron Hicks
No Bromberg, looks like he'll have to get his innings in winter ball
Wimmers Blows Up
ESPN Insider article on Wimmers' first start. He couldn't find the plate and was placed on the DL
Thoughts on minor league assignments
by DJL44 on Apr 6, 2011 2:51 PM EDT
on Twinkie Town
Seth has the list of minor league assignments here and there are a few surprises. I'd like to run through them here and get your thoughts.
Liriano not doing his exercises
Liriano is experiencing shoulder soreness because he didn't keep up on his offseason workouts. Baseball is hard. Players who don't prepare flame out. This is why we have the Liriano trade rumors.
John Gordon retiring after 2011
Thanks for the memories Gordo. Can you convince Gladden to go with you?
over 1 year ago
DJL44
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MLB.com article on Aaron Hicks
I learned quite a few new things in this article. Hicks didn't start playing baseball until he was 12. His dad played in the minors. He's a terrific golfer. There's more in the article - like whether he should dump switch hitting.
Jim Perry - Twins Hall of Famer
Jim Perry elected to the Twins Hall of Fame. Not a bad choice at all.
Cal Ripken on JJ Hardy
"...when I watch shortstops, I watch all the things that happen once the ball is hit, and J.J. is always in the right spot. He's always in the right place for the cutoff and relay. He does the little things that I notice. That's the first thing you need - a take charge, active guy in the middle of the field. It looks like he has good leadership qualities and makes good decisions."
Mauer 8th in MVP voting
by DJL44 on Nov 23, 2010 3:37 PM EST
on Twinkie Town
Joe Mauer finished 8th in the MVP voting. Delmon Young was 10th. Jim Thome picked up two 10th place votes to finish 18th. Josh Hamilton wins MVP. Some unusual players received votes - see after the jump.
ROY Voting
Valencia 3rd in AL ROY voting
The "Take What You Need From the Royals" Plan
by DJL44 on Nov 4, 2010 3:30 PM EDT
on Twinkie Town
The crux of this plan is pulling off a blockbuster deal with the Kansas City Royals. The Royals have exactly the players the Twins need to fill their holes and become a favorite among the contenders.
First off, I'd offer arbitration to almost everyone knowing only perhaps one or two relievers will accept.
Sign JJ Hardy to a 3 year $21M contract.
Then I'd get on the phone with KC and try to give up as little as possible to obtain what I need. I think they could get this deal done.
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Fielding Bible awards announced
Twins did pretty well in the voting
Morneau 7th @ 1B
Hudson 2nd @ 2B
Punto and Valencia received votes @ 3B
JJ Hardy received votes @ SS
Joe Mauer 4th @ C
Carl Pavano received votes @ P (for some reason)
Twins Free Agents and Elias status
by DJL44 on Oct 5, 2010 2:21 PM EDT
on Twinkie Town
Using the reverse engineered Elias bureau ratings on mlbtraderumors.com here is the list of Twins free agents and their status for draft pick compensation.
Minnesota Twins - Large Market Behemoths
by DJL44 on Sep 24, 2010 12:33 PM EDT
on Twinkie Town
Interesting story at Minnpost about how the economy of the Twin Cities is performing relative to the rest of the country and the midwest in particular. It shows MSP emerging as the second largest economy in the midwest as Detroit fades.
Chicago is a clear #1 but in baseball terms the White Sox have to split that market and they clearly get the smaller share of the pie. Now that the Twins have Target Field to maximize the revenue they capture, could we be rooting for the team that has the unfair market advantage in the division? Are we ready to abandon being the underdog and walk around (literally) with a target on our back? The numbers from the article follow:
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2010 Fans Scouting Report
Tango Tiger's annual fan's scouting report
Calvin Griffith was a racist
Good article about the racial factors involved in Carew leaving the Twins.
Gardenhire hopes to get Punto activated, suggesting he could use the infielder even as a pinch bunter and have him "jog" to first base.
Thome understands his limitations. He can't catch up with an inside fastball anymore, though he'll hit a mistake 300 miles. Many pitchers work Thome on the outside third of the plate in the hope he'll pull a weak grounder. But Thome can still drive the ball to the opposite field, so he uses the old George Brett approach: Look middle-away, stay back and hit the ball where it's pitched.
KC road trip
I am 90% sure I'm headed to KC the last week in July for the Royals series and a trip to the Negro Leagues museum. I'm also planning on going to see Beloit @ Burlington on the way back Wednesday. Anyone else going to KC? Any hotels to avoid?
Infielders on the mend?
JJ Hardy reporting to Beloit for a rehab start. Casilla took BP and could head out for a minor league rehab mid-July. My guess is Valencia and Tolbert head back to Rochester, in that order.
Willie Banks playing for Newark
Willie Banks has found his way back to the mound after a rough patch.
Front office tips it's hand
by DJL44 on Mar 23, 2010 9:56 AM EDT
on Twinkie Town
In the Rob Antony Q&A at Over the Baggy (recommended read!) he tips his hand on Casilla
"When we go out and get an Orlando Hudson, we think Casilla could be an everyday second baseman. We just aren’t ready to bank on that right now. He hasn’t shown enough. If he had backed up last year like he had in 2008 then you might not do an Orlando Hudson. But for a year, now we’ll see if Casilla gets another look, another season to see if he’s ready to handle it. If not, we’ll have to go get somebody else."
That's a pretty strong confirmation that Casilla is making the roster.
The whole interview is very good: http://overthebaggy.blogspot.com/2010/03/twins-and-statistical-analysis.html
Is Joe Mauer the best Twin ever?
by DJL44 on Mar 1, 2010 3:27 PM EST
on Twinkie Town
While contemplating the value of Mauer in his upcoming years for contract negotiation purposes, I found myself wondering if Joe Mauer’s recent greatness was underrated historically. I’m already convinced he’s the best catcher the Twins have ever had; catchers just don’t win batting titles with regularity. However, what I really wanted to know is if Joe Mauer was the best player to ever wear a Twins uniform. I decided to use a “peak” measure because some of the better Twins have had some of their best seasons with other teams. Also, I didn’t want to reward a player for games played as a Twin, I wanted to see greatness.
In order to bound the discussion and create a starting point I decided to use the best 3 Twins seasons as defined by Chone’s WAR (http://www.baseballprojection.com/war/playerindex.htm). I used a separate database to sort out best Twins player seasons to speed things up. The conclusion I reached initially from this investigation is…
Damon to the Tigers
Johnny Damon reaches agreement with the Tigers on a 1 year $8M deal. This inches the Tigers closer to the Twins.
Blyleven on the brink
by DJL44 on Jan 2, 2010 10:20 AM EST
on Twinkie Town
Bert Blyleven and Andre Dawson were the top returning candidates from last year's Hall of Fame ballot. Based on reported ballots it looks like Bert has a very good chance of breaking through the 75% threshold on this ballot. Baseball Think Factory is keeping track of ballots from reporters who have listed their choices. There are approximately 600 ballots yearly. With 72 ballots counted, Blyleven has 83.3% of the vote - third after Alomar and Dawson. Barry Larkin is a strong 4th with ~60%. The BTF tally has historically been high for Bert but by no more than 5%.
The numbers are in Bert's favor for induction in 2010 with Roberto Alomar and Andre Dawson.
White Sox continue their trend of overpaying for mediocrity
by DJL44 on Dec 15, 2009 2:07 PM EST
on Twinkie Town
Let's look at the offseason moves of the closest division rival, the White Sox.
Exercise options on Freddy Garcia and Matt Thornton ($3-5M)
Cut DeWayne Wise
Give Mark Kotsay $1.5M to spit seeds on the bench
Acquire Mark Teahen for Chris Getz and Josh Fields and give him a $14M 3 year deal to be a below average 3B
Sign older than dirt Omar Vizquel and on his last leg Andruw Jones to join Kotsay on the bench.
Give $3M to JJ Putz coming off injury, dump DJ Carrasco
Send 2 minor league pitchers for the opportunity to pay Juan Pierre $9M for the next 2 seasons so he can play a little bit better than DeWayne Wise.
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