Twins Promote Mulvey

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In what I would have to consider a bit of a shocking move, the Twins decided to promote starting pitcher Kevin Mulvey today, optioning Jose Morales back to Rochester. Mulvey came to the Twins in the Johan Santana trade and has pitched well considering his age and the Mets excessive rushing of prospects.

I can’t say that I understand the decision at all. He can pitch long relief, and I have been told that he really seems to understand pitching. To me, that means starter, not reliever, so is something more going on?

Or, is this a simple way of trying to showcase Mulvey for a potential July trade?

Let me know what you think… are you as surprised as me?

Second Half Predictions

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Depending upon how late I get home tonight, I hope to do an interesting posting giving some awards for the first half, with the help of many Twins related bloggers, writers and more. But today, I thought it would be fun to come up with some predictions for the second half. I’ll make a few predictions and then encourage you to leave your second half predictions as well. So here are nine from me:

• The Twins WILL make a trade at or before the July 31^st deadline for a middle infielder.
• Joe Mauer will NOT hit .400. In fact, I am going to go out on a limb and say that he will not even win the batting title.
• Justin Morneau will be vastly underrated and only because he plays first base.
• Denard Span will get the OBP up to and slightly over .400.
• Scott Baker will be the team’s top starting pitcher in the second half.
• Jose Mijares will be better in the 2^nd half than he was in the 1^st half.
• Jesse Crain and Alexi Casilla will not be with the Twins on August 1^st.
• Anthony Slama will be.
• Twins edge out Detroit to win the AL Central by one game.

Alright, your turn. What are your big predictions for the second half of the season?

• Again, if you are interested in purchasing a copy of the TwinsCentric Trade Deadline primer, it is $9.95. TwinsCentric.com was set up as well as a place to read more about the book and purchase if you like. If you have any questions or comments, we have set up a separate e-mail, so send an e-mail to TwinsCentric@gmail.com. I really appreciate all that the other writers did and have done, so please take a couple of minutes and check out The Twins Geek, Over the Baggy and Nick’s Twins Blog for tons of free content.

Quick Thoughts

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There are just two days on the calendar each year that do not have a game scheduled from one of the four major sports leagues (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL). Those are the day before the All-Star game and the day after the All-Star game. Of course, on the day before the All-Star game, we are able to watch the Home Run Derby. Although Joe Mauer and Carlos Pena fell short in a swing off against Albert Pujols, it was still good to see Mr. Mauer in the competition. It was equally good to see him not have to take too many home run swings. Now, I didn’t see his actual first round, but I did watch the swing off, and I know he had at least a couple of doubles in there! What about the day after the All-Star game? Well, the AAA All Star game can be watched. The fact that the Twins lone representative in the AAA game will be Justin Huber means there is pretty much no chance that I will watch it, but at least there is something!

The All-Star break is something that allows a little bit of a break for the players (except for those who have to give up their three vacation days for the betterment of the game), and maybe even a little bit for bloggers. Sometimes, you just need a day away. I know that writing up this site daily can be a challenge. I probably put about as much time per week into the blogging as I do at the job in which I actually get paid. But I do enjoy it. Baseball is my life’s passion. Outside of family, I believe that everyone needs a passion. Mine happens to be baseball, and specifically the Minnesota Twins organization. So as much work as it can be reviewing box scores and stats and writing opinions and theories while trying to be somewhat entertaining to develop an audience, when it is something you are passionate about, it somehow isn’t quite so bad.

So for today, I’m not going to write as much, but I still feel obligated to the readers that do choose to stop by my site every day to try to provide some new content. So here are a few little nuggets:

• First of all, I would encourage you all to listen in to last night’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast. The first part of the show, Travis Aune and I talked about the Twins minor league system, talking some about our first half surprises and the goings on with all six Twins affiliates. The second half of the show, I was joined by John Bonnes (The Twins Geek and one of the four authors of the TwinsCentric Trade Deadline Primer) and we talked a little about the book, but spent 20-25 minutes just answering questions from the chat room on various players whose names have been mentioned in rumors. Like the book, we obviously put a Twins spin on it. I thought it was a lot of fun having so much reader interaction and appreciate all those that listened and participated.
• Rochester and New Britain are both on their All-Star breaks. Rochester is represented by Justin Huber. New Britain is represented by Matt Fox, Anthony Slama, Whit Robbins, Brian Dinkelman and Futures Game MVP Rene Tosoni.
• Ft. Myers lost last night to Palm Beach by a score of 2-0. Mike McCardell pitched well, but the offense managed just four hits, two of them by catcher Jair Fernandez. McCardell gave up two runs on ten hits in seven innings. He walked none and struck out nine. Henry Arias and Joe Testa each struck out two in a scoreless inning.
• Beloit lost to West Michigan 7-3 despite out-hitting them, 7-6. James Beresford, Ramon Santana and Michael Harrington each had two hits. Santana notched his 18^th doubles while Harrington hit his 24^th. Bruce Pugh made his first start and went four innings. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on just one hit. He walked three and struck out six. Michael Allen threw the next two and gave up two runs (just one earned). Matt Williams gave up three runs in two innings. Billy Bullock came in and threw a perfect inning.
• Elizabethton beat Johnson City 8-6. Derek McCallum went 3-5 with a double. Paul-Michael Klingsberg had two hits. Chris Herrmann hit his fourth home run. Brian Dozier went 2-3 with a walk and a double. Angelo Sanchez got the start. In 5.1 innings, he gave up just one run on four hits. He walked one and struck out eight. Lefty Matt Tone came in and in one inning walked three and gave up one hit, but did not allow a run. Tony Davis got the final two outs of the 7^th inning, but first he gave up five runs on five hits and two walks. Kyle Carr struck out five in two scoreless innings for his third save.  
• The GCL Twins beat the GCL Rays 5-2 yesterday. Rory Rhodes went 3-5 with a double and a triple. Hyun-wook Choi had a double and a triple in four at bats. Matej Hejma went 2-4. Blayne Weller gave up only an unearned run over five innings. He gave up two hits, walked one and struck out four. Andrei Lobanov threw two innings and gave up a run on two hits. Dakota Watts struck out three in two scoreless innings for his third save.  

Again, if you are interested in purchasing a copy of the TwinsCentric Trade Deadline primer, it is $9.95 and you can purchase it at http://www.e-junkie.com/twinscentric/product/84822.php#2009+Trade+Deadline+Primer. If you have any questions or comments, we have set up a separate e-mail, so send an e-mail to TwinsCentric@gmail.com. I really appreciate all that the other writers did and have done, so please take a couple of minutes and check out The Twins Geek, Over the Baggy and Nick’s Twins Blog for tons of free content.

If you have questions or comments on anything, you can also leave your comments here.

SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast Tonight at 9!

Please tune in tonight to the SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast. Although I am out of town, I am going to attempt to host the show with a little help. During the first segment, I will again be joined by Travis Aune to talk Twins and Twins minor leagues. Then in the second part for the show, John Bonnes will come on and we’ll talk Twins and Trade Possibilities and such. We definitely welcome and encourage your questions in the chat room.

TwinsCentric July Trade Deadline Primer Available

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

 

So as you’ve noticed here the last week or so, I have been rather busy, and posts have generally been smaller, and I even missed a day or two. Life gets a little busy sometimes. So, what did I do to “help” that situation… Wrote another book! That’s right, over the last few weeks, a group of Twins bloggers including John Bonnes (The Twins Geek), Parker Hageman (Over the Baggy), Nick Nelson (Nick’s Twins Blog) and myself have joined efforts to write a book. Yes, that makes life less stressful and more relaxing!

Anyway, if you’re a baseball fan, one of your favorite times of the season is during the last half of July. Each and every team’s fan base spends countless hours thinking about and developing the perfect trade for their favorite team. Is my team a buyer or a seller? What are the strengths of the team at the big league level and deeper into the system? What are the weaknesses in the team’s lineup, defensively or on the mound? Sites like MLBTradeRumors.com are such a great thing during this time of year. But generally speaking, the Twins don’t get a lot of play nationally. So, we decided that we would help Twins fans with this situation. We have developed:

TwinsCentric

Trade Deadline Primer

2009 Edition

An Unapologetically Biased Guide to the 2009 Trade Season For Twins Fans Only

This 65 page electronic book contains over 30,000 words. It includes:

• Breakdowns of the Twins organization, looking at needs, both now and in the future.
• Team Reviews on the other 29 teams, looking at whether they are Buyers or Sellers, What they Need and What they Have?
• Thoughts on over 100 players that the Twins could, or should, have some interest in.
• Essays on the Twins situation in 2009 and 2010, what if the Twins don’t make a move, and more.
• And a very nice foreword by Phil Mackey of KFAN’s Twins Weekly, Phil Mackey.com and the Minnesota Poker Magazine.

If this looks like something that might interest you, please consider purchasing a copy for yourself. The e-book is available online through www.e-junkie.com, and can be purchased for just $9.95. To do so, it’s really quite simple, click here to pay via paypal.

If you have any questions or comments, we have set up a separate e-mail, so send an e-mail to TwinsCentric@gmail.com.

Mauer in HR Derby

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Joe Christensen just informed us that Joe Mauer has accepted an invitation to participate in the Home Run Derby next week in St. Louis. I actually think he will do well. I would like to see what he can do when he’s specifically looking to turn on some batting practice pitches from his old Cretin-Derham Hall high school coach. What do you think?

Coste Claimed by Astros

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Chris Coste was Designated for Assignment by the Philadelphia Phillies to make room for Raul Ibanez to come off of the Disabled List. He was claimed minutes ago by the Houston Astros where he will likely be teamed with fellow North Dakotan, Darin Erstad. I am somewhat surprised by this and yet, not completely. As Coste has frequently said, nothing has really ever been given to him, even the last couple of years. They brought in Ronny Paulino in the spring, and a month ago, they signed Paul Bako, another veteran catcher, and have been playing him more. I’m sure Chris is disappointed, but this could be a good opportunity for him. He will back up Ivan Rodriguez at catcher. Here is the note from Richard Justice of the Houston Chronicle. Obviously I wish him the best. Any thoughts?

Site Update

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Hi everyone, I just wanted to put out a quick update on this site and why I haven’t posted much the last couple of days. First of all, life and work are rather hectic right now. And, as the Twins Geek alluded to yesterday, I too am frantically attempting to do my part in putting together an e-book that you will be able to purchase and review starting next Monday. Seriously, I am very excited about what we are writing and I think that you will really enjoy it. It’s been a ton of work in a very short time, and a process full of lessons learned, but an end result that each of the bloggers involved should and will be very proud of. So again, please be sure to stop back on Monday morning to find out much more.

I will be posting another StarTribune.com/yourvoices blog tomorrow sometime. After chatting with Doogie Wolfson, we may do a tandem blog off of each others which should be good, so check out for that.

 

As you know, the Twins were swept by the Yankees. I ranted yesterday; they lost again, no need to rehash!

 

I want to point out a few highlights from Wednesday and Thursday’s minor league games:

 

Wednesday:

·         Jason Pridie – 3-5, 2B (16), HR (5)

·         Drew Butera – 2-4, HR (2)

·         Brock Peterson, 1-1, 3 BB

·         Jeff Manship, W(2-0, 3.93), 5.1 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K

·         Jesse Crain – 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 0 K

·         Rob Delaney – 1 IP, 2 K

·         Juan Portes – 2-3, HR (4)

·         Cole Devries – 7 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 0 ER in the first game

·         Luke Hughes – 4-4, 3-2B (3) in the second game

·         Rene Tosoni – 3-7, BB, 2-2B (19) in the double header

·         Deolis Guerra AA Debut – 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

·         Anthony Slama – 3 K in 2 shutout innings, 18^th save

·         Ben Revere – 2-5

·         Danny Rams – 3-5, 2-2B (7)

·         Chris Herrmann – 2-4, BB, 2B (7), SB (1)

·         Tyler Ladendorf – 2-3, BB, 2B (7)

·         Jonathan Goncalves – 2-4, 2B (2)

·         Tom Stuifbergen – 6 IP, 10 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

·         Nick Lockwood – 2-3, BB

·         Adrian Salcedo – 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K

·         Andrei Lobanov – 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 4 K

 

Thursday:

·         Kevin Mulvey – 8 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K

·         Alexi Casilla – 2-4, SB (9) – hitting .340

·         Matt Fox – 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K

·         Carlos Gutierrez – 1 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

·         Mark Dolenc – 2-3

·         Deibinson Romero – 2-4

·         Steve Hirschfeld – 7 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

·         Angel Morales – 2-4, 2B (9)

·         James Beresford 2-4

·         Ramon Santana – 2-5

·         Liam Hendriks Beloit Debut – 5.2 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K

·         Derek McCallum – 4-6, 2-2B (5)

·         Chris Herrmann – 2-6

·         Brian “Bull” Dozier – 2-5

·         Mike Gonzalez – 2-5, 2B (3)

·         Tobias Streich – 2-4

·         Matt Tone – 4 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K

·         BJ Hermsen – 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K

 

Minor League Notes –

·         Wang-Wei Lin broke his jaw diving to make a catch .He had surgery and is likely out for the season which is too bad because he got off to a great start.

·         Curtis Leavitt was released from the Beloit roster to make room for Twins 2^nd round pick, Billy Bullock.

 

Anything else going on? Have a great Friday

Mental Block

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I assume you all read the title and assumed I was talking about myself, but that is “Writers Block!” No, I’m talking about the apparent Mental Block that the Twins and their fans seem to have when it comes to the New York Yankees. Yes, they have an amazing tradition and history of incredible success. Yes, they are a team full of very talented players. No question. The lineup they rolled out last night was very good. But they are not invincible. The last couple of years, they didn’t make the playoffs.

The players all seem to feel a little extra pressure when they play the Yankees and it is quite evident on the field, especially with the bats! Perfect example of that was Michael Cuddyer’s bases loaded horrible at bat strikeout against a struggling AJ Burnett that probably was the key at bat in the game.

And to make it worse, the announcers keep reminding us of how great the Yankees are. And again, they are good, and they have great history. But to hear over and over again that “you can’t make any mistakes against the Yankees” or “you have to do all the little things right against the Yankees” or “You can’t beat yourself against the Yankees”, is a little ridiculous. I mean, think about it. You can’t do those things against the Red Sox either, or the Tigers, or the Royals. And seriously, Ron Coomer, we know you used to play for the Yankees and you’re still buddy-buddy with a couple of the guys, but you work for the Twins telecast.

Finally, the Twins have good players in their own right, and many of them matchup very favorably with the Yankees counterparts. Joe Mauer is the best catcher in the game. Justin Morneau doesn’t have to take a back seat to anyone at 1B (OK, maybe Pujols, but everyone has to do that). Denard Span is maybe the best leadoff hitter in the league. Jason Kubel, Michael Cuddyer and Joe Crede have provided good power at their positions. The starters are all capable of performing well, even against this lineup. Joe Nathan is every bit as good and as dominant as Mariano Rivera, just doesn’t have the playoff experience to get that same recognition.

I don’t know. Maybe I’m wrong! Maybe it is something else?! What do you think?

Twins Crushed

 

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net –

How about we not spend any more time thinking about the Twins 10-2 loss to the Yankees than necessary? Is that enough? Too much? OK, the crib notes would or could include. Scott Baker looked fully intimidated and weak against he Yankees lineup. At least they got through the final 5.2 innings by using only Brian Duensing and R.A. Dickey. Carlos Gomez made a couple of very nice catches in CF. The offense managed just four hits. Michael Cuddyer hit his 13^th home run of the season, so that’s good. Anything else worth mentioning? Let’s just hope that Glen Perkins can make us all forget that May start in the new Yankees Stadium and shut down that Yankees offense. He will have to because the Twins won’t score much against AJ Burnett.

Oh, and again, be sure to check back tomorrow when we may be able to let you in on a little information that has been teased here and a couple of other places over the last few days.

 

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Tuesday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – David Winfree, Rochester Red Wings

Tuesday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Frank Mata, New Britain Rockcats

 

TRANSACTIONS AND NOTES

·         As posted here last night, the Twins made several minor league transactions last night. New Britain put Jay Rainville on the Disabled List. 20 year old Deolis Guerra is moving up to the Rockcats. Luke Hughes is headed back to New Britain. It is not being called a rehab, but I have to assume he’ll be back up with the Red Wings in a few weeks, if he plays well. In subsequent moves, Michael Tarsi was promoted from Beloit to Ft. Myers, and Liam Hendriks was sent to Beloit from Elizabethton.

·         Be sure to check out an excellent Q&A with Matt Fox on Travis Talks from yesterday. Great questions, and clearly Mr. Fox spent some time on his responses.

 

ROCHESTER REPORT

Tuesday – Rochester 7, Syracuse 1 – David Winfree had a very strong game. He went 4-5 with his 10^th home run of the year. Danny Valencia was 2-4 with a walk and three RBI. Trevor Plouffe went 2-5 with his 13^th double. Jason Pridie went 2-5. Steve Tolleson was 1-3 with two walks and his fifth stolen base. Reid Santos made the start and threw five shutout innings. He gave up two hits, walked four and struck out four. Tim Lahey then threw three shutout innings. Sean Henn gave up a run on three hits in his inning.

 

ROCKCAT RECAP

Tuesday – New Britain 0, Connecticut 3 – Frank Mata made another start and was very good. In five innings, he gave up one run on four hits. He walked one and struck out one. Kyle Waldrop then finally gave up AA runs. He gave up two runs (1 earned) on four hits in two innings. Jose Lugo then struck out three in two perfect innings. There was little offense for the Rockcats, but Yancarlos Ortiz went 2-3 with a walk.   

  

MIRACLE MEMOS

Tuesday – Ft. Myers 7, Palm Beach 5 – Michael McCardell improved to 9-5 with this win. He went the first seven and gave up four runs (3 earned) on seven hits. He walked none (hit two batters) and struck out three. Spencer Steedley recorded his fifth save. He struck out three in two innings. He gave up only an unearned run. There was plenty of offense in this game. Ben Revere was 2-5 with his second triple and 31^st stolen base. Steve Singleton hit his seventh and eight triples in five at bats. Estarlin de Los Santos went 2-5 with his second double. Nick Romero was 2-4 with his sixth double. Chris Parmelee hit his 11^th homer, and Evan Bigley hit his second.    

 

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Tuesday – Beloit 3, Peoria 7 – Curtis Leavitt made his first start. He gave up five runs (4 earned) on five hits in three innings. He walked four and struck out two. Michael Allen gave up two runs on six hits in two innings. Blake Martin struck out five in two scoreless innings. Matt Williams pitched a scoreless inning. Not much offense for the Snappers, but Angel Morales went 3-3 with a walk.  

 

E-TWINS EXTRAS

Tuesday – Elizabethton 4, Princeton 3 – Chris Herrmann can definitely hit! He went 4-4 with his sixth double in this game. Tyler Ladendorf went 2-5 with his sixth double. Anderson Hidalgo went 2-4. Michael Gonzalez hit his first home run of the season. Angelo Sanchez started and gave up three runs in six innings. He allowed seven hits, walked two and struck out three.  

 

GCL TWINS THOUGHTS

Tuesday –GCL Twins – No Game Scheduled.

 

Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave your questions or comments here.