Bullpen Blows Up

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Top 11th: LA Angels

 

- B. Keppel relieved J. Nathan

- M. Cuddyer in right field

- D. Span in right field

- D. Young in left field

- E. Aybar walked

- G. Matthews Jr. singled to left center, E. Aybar to third

- H. Kendrick hit for R. Willits

- H. Kendrick singled to shortstop, E. Aybar scored, G. Matthews Jr. to second

- J. Crain relieved B. Keppel

- C. Figgins reached on bunt single, G. Matthews Jr. to third, H. Kendrick to second

- M. Izturis singled to shallow center, G. Matthews Jr. scored, H. Kendrick to third, C. Figgins to second

- B. Abreu singled to shallow right, H. Kendrick and C. Figgins scored, M. Izturis to third

- J. Rivera walked, B. Abreu to second

- R.A. Dickey relieved J. Crain

- K. Morales singled to right, M. Izturis scored, B. Abreu to third, J. Rivera to second

- M. Napoli struck out looking

- E. Aybar grounded into fielder’s choice, B. Abreu scored, J. Rivera to third, K. Morales out at second

- G. Matthews Jr. struck out swinging

6 runs, 6 hits, 0 errors

LA Angels 11, Minnesota 5

Nope, the Twins didn’t really NEED any bullpen help. I know. In Gardy’s pre-game presser, he said that he was in Bill Smith’s office from noon on, and he knows that every effort was made to acquire bullpen help. But still. How is Cla Merideth doing for the Orioles so far? (OK, three games and 2.2 innings, but just one hit, no walks, and he was acquired for a 31 year old utility outfielder.) The asking price on Heath Bell was ridiculous. No question. Not sure Jon Rauch was the answer either, but this has been a problem for two seasons.

Who is next? Juan Morillo? How about Rob Delaney? I’m sticking to my guns… my guess is Anthony Slama.

Anyway, sounds like it could be Brian Buscher heading down to Rochester tomorrow to make room for Orlando Cabrera. Joe Mauer hit a LONG three run homer. Matt Guerrier gave up a leadoff, game-tying home run to Mike Napoli, and then he was excellent. Twins lose 11-5, but it shouldn’t have been that bad.  

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Friday on the Farm

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As the Twins and Angels are now into extra innings, I figured I’d get a quick blog posted on the Twins minor league system from tonight. There were some very impressive performances.

MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Friday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Drew Thopmson, Beloit Snappers

Friday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Tom Stuifbergen, Elizabethton Twins

ROCHESTER REPORT

Friday –Rochester 4, Gwinnett 2 – Kevin Mulvey fought control the first few innings of this game. Through three innings, he had thrown 62 pitches. Just 30 of them were strikes. But he still managed to go six innings. He gave up two runs on four hits and four walks. He struck out nine and got credit for the Win. Juan Morillo threw two shutout innings, striking out three. Rob Delaney pitched a scoreless ninth to record his fifth save. Justin Huber had two doubles in four at bats. Jason Pridie went 2-5 with his 19^th double. Jose Morales was 2-4 with a walk, and Trevor Plouffe went 2-5.   

ROCKCAT RECAP

Friday – New Britain, Bowie – Postponed by Rain.   

MIRACLE MEMOS

Friday – Ft. Myers 6, Clearwater 1 – Michael Tarsi improved to 3-1 with five innings. He gave up only an unearned run on four hits and two walks. Matt Williams and Henry Arias each threw two scoreless innings. Chris Parmelee, Rene Leveret and Estarlin de los Santos each went 2-5. Parmelee hit his 19^th double and Leveret hit his 14^th double.    

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Friday – Beloit 3, Ft. Wayne 2 –Bobby Lanigan had a great start. The righty went 8.1 innings and gave up two runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out ten. Billy Bullock got the final two outs after giving up a hit and a walk for his first save. Drew Thompson went 2-5 with his first homer of the year and his second stolen base. Danny Rams went 2-3 with a walk. Ozzie Lewis was 2-4 with his 15^th double and fourth stolen base. Nathan Hanson went 2-4 with his 16^th double.    

E-TWINS EXTRAS

Friday – Elizabethton 2, Burlington 1 – After having games postponed each of the past three days, the E-Twins were finally back on the field. Tom Stuifbergen took the mound and dominated. He gave up only an unearned run over eight innings to improve to 4-0. He gave up three hits, walked none and struck out seven. Tony Davis got his third save with two strikeouts in the ninth. Brian Dozier went 3-4. Derek McCallum went 2-4 with his eighth walk.

GCL TWINS GOINGS ON

Friday – GCL Twins 2, GCL Red Sox 1 – Jairo Perez led the offense again. He went 2-4 with his third stolen base. Kennys Vargas went 2-3 with a walk and his sixth double. Blayne Weller had another strong outing. He went five shutout innings. He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out three. Raynard Doran gave up a run in his inning. Edison Alvarez, Kelvin Mota and Zach See each threw a scoreless inning See struck out two and recorded his first save.     

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

Twins Trade Ladendorf

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Orlando Cabrera, it is… The A’s SS was acquired by the Twins in exchange for SS Tyler Ladendorf. The good news… they didn’t have to trade Danny Valencia. The bad news… Ladendorf has a chance to be special too. The Twins 2^nd round pick in 2008 started on fire at E-town this year before being promoted to Beloit where he was hitting a little over .200 in a dozen games or so. Don’t  fool yourselves, the cost for Cabrera was high. It is likely that Ladendorf would have ranked in the top 15 Twins prospects, maybe top 10. That said, Ladendorf likely would not see time with the Twins for about three or four years, so it is a fair deal.

It will be interesting to see who is demoted? Alexi Casilla, probably?

But also, don’t fool yourselves, this trade was made to keep the players happy. Cabrera is not much of an improvement over Brendan Harris offensively at SS, and his Defense this year has not been good either. At 34, don’t expect his range to improve. He isn’t a good hitter, but likely Gardy will put him in the lineup in the 2^nd spot right away tonight.

Comments I have heard from other Twins bloggers is that the deal is not going to make the Twins better, but simply to appease the players. With the Mauer situation, that is not a minor thing.

Now, if the Twins want to actually make themselves better, they need to get a starting pitcher. Doug Davis is the guy I would probably target.

The Live Chat will start in about 20 minutes, so be sure to check that out.

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

SethSpeaks.net Trade Deadline Live Chat at 1:00!

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July 31st. The Trade Deadline. We’ve been talking about rumors and names and needs for a month now, but at 3:01 central time this afternoon, the deadline will be past. Will the Twins make a move? We shall see.

I will be hosting a Trade Deadline Live Chat at 1:00 and will happily answer your questions about the deadline, trades that have or will happen, trades that don’t happen, the Twins, their minor leaguers and anything. It should be a lot of fun, so get your questions in. I will open up the chat room about 15-20 minutes before 1:00 so

So if you want to sign up for a reminder, participate in the live chat or read the transcript later, please Click Here.

Trade Deadline Live Chat at 1:00 Today

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net - 

Today is the day… At 3:00 central time, the trade deadline will be passed and life can return to normal. As of about midnight last night, FoxSports.com was reporting that the Twins and A’s had a much better day of negotiations to bring Orlando Cabrera to the Twins. I fear that will happen, but hopefully it won’t be a big prospect. As we can imagine, if the Twins do nothing, it will be very interesting to see how the clubhouse reacts. Which players will go off and which will say the right things. 

Starting at about 1:00 this afternoon, I will be hosting SethSpeaks.net Trade Deadline Live Chat to talk about the Twins, the trade deadline and any other topics. I will take your questions until 4:00 at which time I will be heading back to the Metrodome. 

It will be a busy day, so expect updates here if and/or when things happen:

Any thoughts on the day? What do you think?   

TWINS, ANGELS SERIES

After a day off, the Twins will get back to baseball tonight when the Angels come to town. Will the Twins be able to turn the tables on the Angels in the Metrodome? Leave your thoughts here. 
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT

Thursday – SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Angel Morales, Beloit Snappers

Thursday – SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Steve Hirschfeld, Ft. Myers Miracle  

ROCHESTER REPORT

Thursday –Rochester 1, Gwinnett 2 – Yohan Pino was good, but the Red Wings offense wasn’t in the loss. Pino went 6.1 innings and gave up two runs. He allowed just three hits, walked four and struck out five. Rob Delaney got the final five outs. The Red Wings had seven hits. Trevor Plouffe went 2-4.    

ROCKCAT RECAP

Thursday – New Britain 2, New Hampshire 1 – I would say that Michael McCardell’s adjustment to AA is going quite well. In this game, he gave up one run on three hits and a walk in five innings. Carlos Gutierrez then threw two shutout innings. Alex Burnett got two outs before Anthony Slama struck out four in 1.1 innings of scoreless work. It gave Slama his 21^st save. Brian Dinkelman went 2-3 with two walks. Luke Hughes and Juan Portes were both 2-4.   

MIRACLE MEMOS

Thursday – Ft. Myers 0, Clearwater 2 – Steve Hirschfeld was excellent again and gets little to show for it. He threw six shutout innings and gave up just three hits. He walked none and struck out seven. Dakota Watts came in and gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. He struck out two. Joe Testa got the final out but not before giving up a hit and a walk. The Miracle managed just four hits. Chris Parmelee hit his 18^th double.   

SNAPPERS SNIPPETS

Thursday – Beloit 10, Great Lakes 11 (12 innings) –Angel Morales had a big game. He was 4-5 with a walk and his 14^th double. Nate Hanson went 3-5 with his 15^th double. Drew Thompson and Tyler Ladendorf were both 2-6 with a double. James Beresford went 2-6 as well. Dan Osterbrock got the start and gave up four runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked four and struck out seven. Michael Allen gave up a run in his two innings. Kyle Carr came in and gave up three runs on a hit, a hit batter and two walks in just 0.2 innings. Billy Bullock then gave up two runs (1 earned) on three hits and a walk in 1.1 innings. He struck out three. Steve Blevins struckout four in two shutout innings. Bruce Pugh got two outs in the 12^th, but gave up an unearned run for the loss.   

E-TWINS EXTRAS

Thursday – Elizabethton, Johnson City – Postponed by Rain again. 

GCL TWINS GOINGS ON

Thursday – GCL Twins 3, GCL Reds 4 – Jairo Perez just keeps hitting. He went 3-4 with his fourth double. Alejandro Machado was making a rehab appearance and went 2-3 with a walk and two stolen bases. Oswaldo Arcia went 2-4. Michael Tonkin started and gave up three runs on six hits in six innings. He walked none and struck out eight. Leonardo Parra threw two shutout innings. Andrei Lobanov gave up only an unearned run in his two innings to take the loss. He struck out four.    

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