SBNation.com User Blog: cmathewson

Santana likely done for his career

cmathewson — Fri, 29 Mar 2013 14:05:51 -0000

Santana likely done for his career

Poor Johan. He tore his anterior capsule in his shoulder, the same one he had surgery to repair in 2011 (the same surgery Rich Harden received). If he comes back from a second such surgery, he will be the first pitcher in history to do it. In any event, he's out for this year at minimum.

BTW: Has any pitcher ever signed a long-term $20+ million-per-year contract and given their team the value they paid for?

Deduno injured

cmathewson — Sat, 23 Mar 2013 17:09:38 -0000

Deduno injured

From LENIII Apparently, Deduno strained his groin in the wet conditions in the final game. He could be out a while. Then he'll have to build up arm strength again. I'd say it'll be May before he can be an option for the rotation.

Twins look to add two proven starters

cmathewson — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 18:13:41 -0000

Twins look to add two proven starters

Terry Ryan confirms pretty much what I have been calling for since September.

New coaches

cmathewson — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 17:05:32 -0000

New coaches

Twins add Bruno (hitting), Bobby (bullpen) and Steiny (bench and catching) to coaching staff.

Santana Injured Again, Done for the Season

cmathewson — Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:37:47 -0000

Santana Injured Again, Done for the Season

After he threw the no-no, I wondered on this blog how he would recover. The answer is not well: 3-7 with an 8.27 ERA since throwing a career-high 134 pitches in that game. This isn't the first time a major injury has followed an excessive pitch count.

Looks Like the Nishi Experiment is About to End

cmathewson — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 18:57:44 -0000

Looks Like the Nishi Experiment is About to End

Terry Ryan has some candid comments about the error-prone infielder.

Twins Trade Danny V to the Red Sox for GCL Prospect

cmathewson — Sun, 05 Aug 2012 20:10:43 -0000

Twins Trade Danny V to the Red Sox for GCL Prospect

Jeremias Pineda is a 21year-old "prospect" with great numbers in the GCL. He might be the oldest player in the GCL, so his numbers, which are quite good, need to be tempered some.

Twins Option Parmelee, call up Deduno

cmathewson — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 00:13:25 -0000

Twins Option Parmelee, call up Deduno

Joe C. confirms what we have been ~~speculating~~ predicting around here all week.

The Next Twins Starter: Sam Deduno?

cmathewson — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 18:10:59 -0000

The Next Twins Starter: Sam Deduno?

He's got a great track record and is the best starter at AAA. I say he's worth a shot in lieu of Blackburn. Your thoughts?

Twins Sign Dominican Prospect Amaurys Minier

cmathewson — Mon, 02 Jul 2012 17:10:29 -0000

Twins Sign Dominican Prospect Amaurys Minier

Courtesy of LEN III. The signing bonus is $1.4 million for the 16-year old. Apparently, he's similar to Miguel Sano: A power-hitting shortstop who's expected to become a third baseman in time. The main difference: He's a switch hitter.

Twins Sign Top Pick Buxton

cmathewson — Tue, 12 Jun 2012 04:49:13 -0000

Twins Sign Top Pick Buxton

According to the Strib.

Welcome to the Family Byron!

Hendiks likely to start on Saturday

cmathewson — Sun, 10 Jun 2012 19:52:17 -0000

Hendiks likely to start on Saturday

The next time the Twins need a fifth starter, it will likely be Liam Hendriks.

Poll: How long 'till a Trevor Plouffe DFA?

cmathewson — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:04:38 -0000

We are watching the unraveling of a once promising prospect. Trevor Plouffe's line through 5/16/2012: .124/.274/.210 with numerous errors and misplays in the field. He is now incapable of doing much at all to help the team. At what point do the Twins decide to cut their losses? It can't get any worse than this.

Poll

When will the Twins cut their losses on Plouffe?

The end of this week

12 votes

They'll give him a month of starting at third base, and then bring Valencia back

52 votes

They'll keep him 'till his batting average falls below the Mendoza line. Oh wait...

11 votes

Never! Trevor Plouffe forever!

44 votes

119 votes | Poll has closed

Scott Baker to Have Elbow Surgery, Out for the Season

cmathewson — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 22:46:48 -0000

Scott Baker to Have Elbow Surgery, Out for the Season

Tendinitis? That's some medical staff we got, eh?

Opening Day Line-up

cmathewson — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 22:30:17 -0000

Opening Day Line-up

Ryan Doumit in RF and batting sixth, Chris Parmelee at 1B and batting eighth. No surprises here.

25-Man Roster set

cmathewson — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 14:56:08 -0000

25-Man Roster set

Via LENIII: The Twins reassigned Dozier, Dinkleman, Towels and Fien to the minor league camp, leaving 27 active players, two of whom (Baker and Marquis) will start the year on an inactive list.

More cuts: Benson and Manship among them

cmathewson — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 15:02:05 -0000

More cuts: Benson and Manship among them

Joe C. is on top of things as usual. One note from the report saddens me: The Twins cut both Matt Bashore and Ben Tootle from the minor league camp. Both were high draft picks who suffered injuries early in their careers and never recovered enough to warrant second and third chances, apparently.

Ryan: Parmelee could start at first base on Opening Day, with Morneau as the primary DH

cmathewson — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 23:31:32 -0000

Ryan: Parmelee could start at first base on Opening Day, with Morneau as the primary DH

That is one way to avoid needing a third catcher, since Doumit would just be the backup catcher with Morneau DHing.

Tom Powers: Brian Dozier is the next big thing

cmathewson — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 15:46:32 -0000

Tom Powers: Brian Dozier is the next big thing

Good read.

Morneau feeling good

cmathewson — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 16:10:43 -0000

Morneau feeling good

Everybody breath in through the nose, and out through the nose. Four seconds for inhale, four seconds for exhale. In with relief, out with panic.

Mauer Looks Forward to Healthy Spring

cmathewson — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 04:38:07 -0000

Mauer Looks Forward to Healthy Spring

I've been saying this stuff all winter, but it's worth repeating. Having Joe Mauer healthy going into spring training is huge.

Rob Neyer on Scott Baker

cmathewson — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 04:34:29 -0000

Rob Neyer on Scott Baker

Why do the Twins underappreciate Scott Baker? Because he's a fly ball pitcher.

OT: StarTribune.com does not want your business

cmathewson — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:39:50 -0000

This is just a short rant about the Strib's recent policies. First, they require you to subscribe to the digital version of the paper. You are allowed to use the home page, and to open up to 20 articles per month. After that, you are blocked from opening without first subscribing. This is true even if you have a subscription to the paper. I am a Sunday subscriber, but I would still need to pay for the online version. I have to pay even for the blog content for which they pay nothing, such as TwinsCentric. And subscriptions are per computer. My wife and son would need to subscribe as well.

OK. Fine. It's not that good anyway. I can content myself with the Pioneer Press. And at least I can scan the Strib's home page for breaking news and such. That's what I thought for the first couple of months. Nope. Now they have an ad function that runs in the background on the home page without any way of turning it off. If you come to the home page, be prepared for a barage of audio ads that launch automatically and cannot be turned off without exiting the site.

We shall see how this works. But I predict disaster. The PiPress offers much the same content for free. It is easy enough to access that content. Even long-time Strib readers will convert rather than paying for the likes of Jim Souhan or listening to ads just to scan breaking news. I used to run an online magazine that got 2.5 million unique visits per month. The fewer the UVs, the less able we were to sell ads. I'm wondering how the Stribs ad sales people are liking the fact that their traffic just cratered. Well, it won't last long. The Strib will be the gazillionth online property to try pay per click and fail.

Twins sign Zumaya

cmathewson — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 19:48:00 -0000

Twins sign Zumaya

Not yet confirmed. But it looks like a done deal. Hopefully, the Twins can keep him healthier than the Tigers could. When healthy, he can dominate.

Update: Joe C. Confirms

Some Good News on Morneau

cmathewson — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 01:09:41 -0000

Some Good News on Morneau

It's no exaggeration to say that how good the Twins are in 2012 hinges on Morneau's recovery from post-concussion symptoms. As he said, he won't know how he's doing until he starts seeing live pitching. On a related note, 38 days until pitchers and catchers report.

Joe C. confirms: Twins in the hunt for a right-handed reliever

cmathewson — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:21:13 -0000

Joe C. confirms: Twins in the hunt for a right-handed reliever

Apparently, rumors of the offseason's death have been greatly exaggerated.

Joe C. makes the case very well. They have room in the payroll. They obviously have need. And they have opportunity. My bet: Dan Wheeler, as has long been speculated. But I wouldn't mind seeing Michael Wuertz in a Twins uni either. Place your bets in the comments.

Gardy Santa

cmathewson — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 21:55:38 -0000

Gardy Santa

RT @Twins: #Twins add OF Oswaldo Arcia, RHP Carlos Gutierrez, LHP Tyler Robertson to Major League...

cmathewson — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 21:25:04 -0000

RT @Twins: #Twins add OF Oswaldo Arcia, RHP Carlos Gutierrez, LHP Tyler Robertson to Major League roster. Outright Bromberg to Rochester.

@JoeCStrib

Former Twin Charlie Lea dies at 54

cmathewson — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 04:38:19 -0000

Former Twin Charlie Lea dies at 54

He pitched for the Twins for one season--1988. It was fun listening to Herb Carneal call games when Lea was on the mound. Herb had a way of making him sound like a good third starter behind Viola and Blyleven. Looking at the numbers, I know now he was no great shakes. But he was a guy you loved to root for.

Onion: Twins Continue Clawing Their Way Down to Bottom of Standings

cmathewson — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 01:13:51 -0000

Onion: Twins Continue Clawing Their Way Down to Bottom of Standings

This would be funny if it weren't true.