Last Day in Arizona

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Football picks – be sure to check out our panel’s Week 10 football picks here.

Thanks as always for stopping by the site. As you know, I went to the Phoenix Municipal Stadium this afternoon to watch the Phoenix Desert Dogs (the team the Twins players played on last year) and the Mesa Solar Sox (the team the Twins prospects player for this year).  The Mesa Stadium was about 13 miles from Downtown Phoenix. The cab ride out there… $35.00! And of course, they wouldn’t take any credit card, so I was at the Arizona Fall League game with $14.00. I had to get a program/media guide thing for $2.00. Oh, and the ticket itself was $6.00 (which is really a great deal!) So, I was down to $6.00. Fortunately, I was watching some of baseball’s top prospects in Arizona where it was 71 degrees, comfortable and exciting. I forgot the fact that I hadn’t eaten the entire time because I figured I should keep $6.00 for just in case.

I got to the stadium about an hour before the gates even opened. There were about six people there. They were all standing around outside the stadium, waiting for the Mesa team bus to arrive so that they could collect autographs. They were standing around talking baseball issues. One guy insisted Roger Maris was a Hall of Famer. Others said Kirby Puckett shouldn’t be. There was discussion of steroids in baseball and Pete Rose. They talked about collecting autographs and much more. It was entertaining. When the Mesa bus finally got there, that group went active. But most of the team just walked in the stadium.

One hour before game time (11:35), the gates opened. The autograph hounds went to the area by the Mesa dugout. Some members of players’ families to seats around the stadium. Scouts from major league organizations trickled in, sitting directly behind home plate. Me? I went in and just observed. I watched Alex Burnett, Spencer Steedley and Steve Hirschfeld play catch in the outfield grass. I sat by the dugout, just taking in the stadium and all that was going on. Mesa players would come out of the dugout and start out to stretch in the outfield, but each would quickly go over to the autograph seekers and sign for a couple of minutes. 

The game started and all three Twins hitters were in the lineup. Rene Tosoni was batting third and playing in right field. Chris Parmelee was batting fifth and playing 1B. Steve Singleton was at 2B and batting seventh. Since Hirschfeld started last night, he wouldn’t pitch, but I was hoping to see Spencer Steedley and Alex Burnett.

• 1^st inning – With Bryan Peterson on 3B and one out, Rene Tosoni dropped a soft line drive into left field for an RBI single. Chris Parmelee struck out swinging on a curveball in the dirt. In the bottom of the inning, with runners on 1^st and 2^nd, Grant Desme singled into right field, Tosoni charged and made a strong throw right to the cutoff man, holding the lead runner at 3B.
• 2^nd inning –  With Ryan Kalish on 1B, Steve Singleton lined a single to left field between the SS and 3B. He later scored from 2B on a single to RF by Bryan Peterson. Rene Tosoni popped up to 1B.
• 3^rd inning – Chris Parmelee drilled a line drive single up the middle to lead off the inning. Ryan Kalish got on with an infield single. Then Steve Singleton fell behind 0-2 before getting a fastball which he hit well over the right field wall. Rene Tosoni grounded out to the pitcher to end the inning. (Note – I’ve got video of the Singleton HR, a Tosoni RBI single and a bunch of pictures on my facebook page, which you can find here.)
• 4^th inning – Chris Parmelee hit a long fly ball to the CF warning track, just in front of the 410 sign. Steve Singleton struck out on a curveball to end the inning.
• 5^th inning – Spencer Steedley came into the game. It didn’t start out well. The first batter doubled down the right field line. Brad Emaus singled him to 3B. But then Steedley got lefty Matt Angle to strike out on a good fastball. Next, Darin Mastroianni grounded to Jose Iglesias who fed the ball to Steve Singleton who turned a very quick double play to get out of the inning.
• 6^th inning – Rene Tosoni was called out on strikes. In the bottom of the inning, Steedley got a groundout to start the inning. Danny Espinosa singled on a perfect bunt down the 3B line. Then came a very strange play. Corey Brown grounded to 3B Casey Kelly. He threw to Singleton at 2B who stayed in strong against the sliding base runner, threw to 1B where the runner was called safe. But the runner was also called safe at 2B, and I wish I had a replay. My guess is that Singleton had one foot on each side of 2B. I truly don’t know. But Singleton was charged with a “missed catch errors” which makes no sense either. Wouldn’t it be a fielder’s choice instead? Anyway, with one out, Grant Desme flew out to Tosoni in RF. The lead runner forgot how many outs there were and Tosoni got a nice, easy assist.
• 7^th inning – Chris Parmelee led off with a double down the left field line, the third ball he has hit very well since the strike out. With one out, Steve Singleton flew out to medium deep right field. Parmelee tagged up and went to 3^rd. However, the Dogs appealed to 2B and Parmelee was called out. Again, from the angle I was sitting at, it appeared that Parmelee tagged up legally. Steedley came out of the game. Singleton made two nice defensive plays in the bottom of the inning.
• 8^th inning – in the bottom of the inning, Singleton made a nice running grab on a pop up in foul territory. After a single, Jemile Weeks uncoiled on a long home run that essentially ended the game.
• 9^th inning – Tosoni struck out swinging. The game ended when Parmelee grounded weakly to 1B.

OK, so there is the game information… here are just some more observational things on the players. 

• Rene Tosoni – With the bat, Tosoni is solid. He does a good job of working the count. He has a quick bat and a good eye. He runs alright. He expects himself to get on base. He is confident. He isn’t real big, but he looks like a ballplayer. That said, he can’t hit left-handed pitching at all. I mean, even when he gets out against right-handers, they are solid at bats. Against lefties, he looks clueless. Fortunately, he still stays patient, so that gives hope that over time, he could get better. Defensively, he just looks like an outfielder. Good speed, but seems very good with the glove, and again, a strong and accurate arm.
• Chris Parmelee – He is a big guy; bigger than I would have thought, and not necessarily in a good way. But he is very strong. When he makes contact, it is solid contact. Today, he had a single up the middle, a deep fly ball to right CF and a double down the left field line. That’s a good sign that he uses the whole field. And, he is typically patient at the plate too. Defensively, he looked pretty bad on a pop up behind him near the 1B line, but other than that, he did a nice job of scooping balls.
• Steve Singleton – Seems to do better when he takes a couple of pitches, even if he falls behind. He will use the whole field. He’s not big, but he’s got a very strong swing. He has very quick hands. He can certainly hit a good fastball, but he can get out in front of offspeed pitched if mixed up well. Defensively, he had two errors in this game, but one was a ridiculous call by the umpire and shouldn’t have been called an error, and the other was a tough play to his backhand side. He has as quick a turn on a double play as I’ve seen since Luis Rivas. He holds his own at 2B on the pivot. He is very smooth defensively.
• Spencer Steedley – he’s a little guy, left-handed. Surprising that he’s able to hit 91-92 on the fastball based on his size, but now I can better understand why he does record quite a few strikeouts. Has a decent offspeed pitch .Today he threw strikes and was successful, but walks have really hurt him this fall. He looks like he can be a big league LOOGY if necessary.

There are certain players that just look like ball players, and I think that Tosoni and Singleton look like ball players. Parmelee looks Adam Dunn . Doesn’t look like a great athlete, but could have a ton of power. Here are some others that I think are worth watching:

• Bryan Peterson – Florida Marlins – OF – Wow!! This guy has some talent. Defensively, he is excellent. I saw him cover some serious ground in Centerfield today. He also made about three or four throws that showed off a tremendously strong and accurate arm. Offensively, he takes pitches and rips shots. Line drives, but he has some pop in his bat too. And he is very fast. He had two triples in today’s game.
• Danny Espinosa – Washington Nationals – SS – excellent glove, strong arm, good range. Good top of the order hitter who hits a lot of line drives and can bunt well.
• Nevin Ashley – Tampa Bay Rays – C – terrific catch-and-release, strong and accurate arm. And, he’s been hitting well in Arizona. Of course, he’s 25 and spent the full season in Hi-A ball, but seems to be some talent.
• Josh Bell – Baltimore Orioles – 3B – He is 6-3 and 235 pounds and he hits everything hard. That said, he appears to be a dead pull hitter.
• Grant Desme – Oakland A’s – OF – The power appears to be legit. He hit a home run today and hit some deep fly balls. The old saying is that the ball just sounds different coming off of his bat, and that is the case with Desme.
• Casey Kelly – Boston Red Sox – 3B/P – Kelly is 6-3 and listed at 194, but he looks a little bigger than that. Pretty solid glove at 3B. He’s so young and has a lot to improve upon, but again, he looks like a ball player. Obviously he’s got a very strong arm.
• Jose Iglesius – Boston Red Sox – SS – The Cuban defector signed a nice $8.3 million deal with the Sox. He is the 2^nd youngest player, still just 19 years old. He looks very young. He’s listed at 5-11 and 175 pounds, but he’s not that big. Next to Kelly, he’s tiny. Swings at everything. Decent speed, and just looks good out on defense.
• Starlin Castro – Chicago Cubs – SS/2B – He is the youngest player in the league, almost three months younger than Iglesius. He looked pretty smooth at 2B on Thursday night. He had to go to the dentist today though.

Finally, one other quick Twins related note. I learned the Mike McCardell was dropped from the Solar Sox roster at the end of October. He got some bone chips removed from his elbow. He is down in Florida rehabbing and doing very well.

I will be up early on Saturday morning and heading back to Minnesota. Getting away is great, but there’s nothing better than going home.  

What do you think? Send me an e-mail, or leave your Comments here.

Update from Arizona

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Football picks – be sure to check out our panel’s Week 10 football picks here.

Good morning, everyone! This may not be a real long update, but I thought I would send a quick site update and some thoughts on my first Arizona Fall League experience. After going to four classes/sessions at the Green Build show in Phoenix, I quickly did what I could to get to Ho Ho Kam Stadium in Mesa. Game time was 6:35 mountain time. I rushed a couple of blocks to the lite rail station only to find out that if I had boarded that train, I would have headed west instead of east. Good thing I couldn’t figure out the system. I had to walk two blocks further to catch the train going east. So, I got on the train and about 18 miles later, I was in Mesa, the end of the lite rail track. So, I call the taxi cab company, and 20 minutes later, the cab driver picks me up. I tell him that I’m going to the stadium, gave him the address, and he had no clue where it was. None. So, we went back west quite a ways before he realized we couldn’t be going the right direction. What should have been a $10.00 was suddenly a $25.00 trip. Fortunately the guy realized he got lost and only charged me $15.00. But I was there, in the fourth inning.

And, the only Twins player that played in the game was Steve Hirschfeld. He gave up two runs on one hit in three innings. He walked three and struck out three. Yes, he went the first three innings. Remember, I got there in the fourth inning. I was really hoping to see Hirschfeld pitch.

But that is OK. It was still a lot of fun to be there. It was fun to be one of 536 people in attendance. I don’t know if that counts the section of scouts behind home plate. As a baseball fan, going to the Arizona Fall League is just one of those things you have to do. It was cool being that close to the field. It was great watching outdoors baseball in mid-November. It was actually pretty cool, weather-wise, as well, and yet really comfortable. And again, it’s baseball. It’s some of the best prospects in the game. Josh Vitters, Cubs 3B prospect looks like he’s about 15 (he’s actually 20). Starling Castro is only 19. Orioles 3B Josh Bell just looked like a ball player. Corey Brown is an OF for the Phoenix team (and the A’s) was 3-3 with two walks and a homer off of Hirschfeld. Remember Adam Loewen? He was a pitcher for the Orioles, or at least a pitching prospect, for several years and got many opportunities with that team. But injuries really stunted his career. He was moved to the OF a year ago, and now he is hitting .179 for Phoenix. PJ Phillips was Mesa’s CF. He is with the Angels organization. He looks like a very young Torii Hunter. He’s tall and lanky and fast. He is Hunter circa 1998.

Many of the players on both team are up on the top step throughout the game. Steve Singleton was frequently encouraging teammates. Rene Tosoni looks so similarly to Michael Cuddyer.

I know that I can’t wait to see the game on Friday afternoon. I hope to get there on time, or maybe even early. Fortunately the two teams play in Phoenix this time. I will pay particular attention to the Twins players. So at some point, be sure to check back for more information.

What do you think? Send me an e-mail, or leave your Comments here

Weekend in Arizona; Singleton Plays Hero

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Real briefly, I thought it would be good to catch up on what happened for the Twins minor leaguers down in Arizona, in the Fall League, this weekend.

On Friday, the Mesa Solar Sox lost to Surprise 7-3. Rene Tosoni started in LF and was the leadoff hitter. He went 1-4. Chris Parmelee hit fifth and played 1B. He went 0-3 with a walk and is still looking for his first hit. Spencer Steedley came in threw 34 pitches, 17 for strikes. In 1.2 innings, he gave up no runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out two. Steve Hirschfeld came in to pitch the 6^th inning and struck out two in a 1-2-3 inning.

On Saturday night, the Solar Sox played the Peoria Saguaros. They were down 4-1 going into the bottom of the 7^th. A two-run homer cut the lead to 4-3. Two walks later, Steve Singleton came to the plate and hit a long, three run homer to right field to give Mesa a 6-3 lead. Alex Burnett came in an struck out two in a scoreless 8^th inning, and they held on for win. Singleton batted second and played 2B. He was 2-5 in the game.

It’s always fun to see how the Twins prospect perform in the Arizona Fall League, playing against many of baseball’s top prospects. Singleton is certainly off to a strong start. So far, he is 5-14 with two doubles and a home run. If you would like to share your thoughts, please click here.

Twins in AFL Championship Game Today

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This afternoon at 1:35, the Minnesota Twins farmhands will have a big hand in the Phoenix Desert Dogs attempt to win their fifth straight Arizona Fall League championship. You can watch it live on mlb.tv.

 

Rochester Red Wings manager Stan Cliburn is the manager for the Desert Dogs. He is sending Twins prospect Jeff Manship to the mound to start for the Desert Dogs. Manship is 2-1 with a 5.01 ERA this year. In 31.1 innings, he has walked just three hitters while striking out 29. Last year, Nick Blackburn was the AFL Pitcher of the Year and the winning pitcher in the AFL Championship game. Tim Lahey, Rob Delaney and Anthony Slama will be ready in the bullpen if called upon.

 

The lineup will also contain all three Twins hitting prospects. Steve Tolleson will be batting second and playing Shortstop. Tolleson has been a great surprise with the bat. He has hit .383/.449/.543 with seven doubles, a triple and two home runs. He has also stolen seven bases. He has walked 11 times and struck out 16 times in his 107 plate appearances. Dustin Martin is batting sixth and playing in LF. Martin has also been quite impressive. He has hit .314/.397/449 with five doubles, a triple and three home runs. He has also stolen seven bases. He has struck out 37 times and walked 17 times in 136 plate appearances. Danny Valencia is batting eighth and playing 3B. Valencia has been disappointing with the bat this fall, but his glove work is spectacular. He has hit .209/.254/.270 with seven doubles. In 122 plate appearances, he has 25 strikeouts and seven walks.

 

The will get to face arguably the best pitching prospect in the Arizona Fall League, Tommy Hanson of the Atlanta Braves. The Braves have said that they would not consider dealing him, even for Jake Peavy.

 

It should be fun to watch, and I will add some notes based on the game itself, so check back from time to time.  

 

Top of 1^st – Jeff Manship struck out the first two batters he faced, and then got the third out on a weak ground ball to 1B.

Bottom of the 1^st – Steve Tolleson grounded out  to 2B.

Top of the 2^nd – Jeff Manship is throwing hard. The first batter was Jeff Larish of the Tigers. On a 2-2 pitch, Manship jammed Larish, but it was a single down the 3B line. Danny Valencia played it well and made a strong throw, but Larish beat it out. On the very next pitch, Manship got another groundball to Valencia, who fielded it, made an accurate throw to 2B to start a double play. Manship then got ahead 1-2 on the next batter before walking him. On a 2-2 pitch to another Tigers minor leaguer, Casper Wells, he hit a double to the right centerfield gap. Eric Young bobbled the ball. The run scored and Wells went to 3B. Two strikes later, Manship jammed Van Pope, and he popped up to 1B for the third out.

Bottom 2^nd – With two outs (both on strikeouts), Dustin Martin flew out to medium deep left centerfield.

Stan Cliburn is being interviewed. Wish he could have talked about some of the Twins, or at least Manship!

Top 3rd – Manship got the first out on an easy fly ball to centerfield. Matt Young of the Braves organization lined a single that 2B Chris Nelson dove and knocked down, keeping it in the infield. On the next pitch, a ground ball to SS Tolleson was played well and it was an easy double play to end the inning.

Bottom 3^rd – Chris Nelson led off with an infield single. On the first pitch, Danny Valencia turned on a fastball and grounded to SS. The force out at 2B was made, but Valencia beat the throw to 1B, so it was just a fielder’s choice. Rockies speedy outfield prospect, and son of a former big leaguer, Eric Young, Jr. worked out an impressive walk. Twins prospect and another son of a former big leaguer, Steve Tolleson then struck out on three pitches, a fastball on the outside corner and two sharp curveballs.

Top 4^th – I’ve lost video for some reason, but maybe that’s ok. Manship gave up a single up the middle to Logan Morrison to lead off the inning. Jeff Larish followed with a home run to give Mesa a 3-0 lead. He got Tyler Flowers to fly out to CF. That was followed by back-to-back singles by Scott Cousins and Casper Wells. Got video back! Manship struck out Van Pope and got Will Rhymes to fly out to CF.

Bottom 4^th – Dustin Martin hit a fly ball to the warning track in RF for the third out of the inning. Hanson is absolutely dominant!

Top 5^th – Jeff Manship started the inning with a strikeout of Matt Young. Jason Donald singled after an eight pitch at bat. Logan Morrison then walked on five pitches. Manship fell behind Jeff Larish, but on a 3-2 pitch, he got a ground ball to 2B for a force out. Cliburn came out and took Manship out. Rob Delaney, aka Big Daddy, is coming in. Delaney coaxed Braves catching prospect Tyler Flowers into a pop up to end the inning.

Analysis – Manship’s numbers won’t look great. Three runs in 4.2 innings isn’t great. However, having now seen him pitch, I think he has a chance to be very good. Four good pitches, throws pretty hard. Delivery is max-effort, almost like Jesse Crain… but more balanced. Delaney, for one batter, showed a lot of movement. It’s maybe a slider, more of a cutter.

Bottom 5^th – With one out, Danny Valencia drilled a deep line drive/fly ball off the wall in dead center. He showed very good speed for a big guy and turned it into a triple off of Hanson. The announcers, Vinny Micucci and Jonathan Mayo of MLB.com, said that the fence in centerfield is deeper than most pasrks in the big leagues. Valencia scored on a ground out.

Top 6^th – Delaney stayed in the game. Scott Cousins flew out to CF. He then got a pop up in the infield that needed a diving catch. The sun must be tough! Van Pope doubled. Will Rhymes slowly singled up the middle, allowing Pope to score easily. The final out came on a line out to Valencia.

Bottom 6th – Hanson is out… Tolleson grounded out to 1B. The next three batters reached, including an RBI single, so Dustin Martin came up with two on, one out and down 4-2. Martin doubled down the 1B line, driving in one and advancing the other runner to 3B. After a Chris Nelson strikeout, Danny Valencia singled in two runs to give the Desert Dogs a 5-4 lead! Pitcher Change. Another single scored Valencia and they were ahead 6-4.

Top 7^th – Andrew Bailey from the A’s is now pitching. The first hitter grounded out to Tolleson in the hole in short. He showed an adequate arm. With two outs, Dustin Martin made a very tough catch look pretty easy.

Bottom 7^th – Tolleson led off the inning again. This time, he worked out a walk. He sure looks like a top of the order type of hitter. After a fly out, Tolleson stole second base easily. He got a huge jump. After an intentional walk, Josh Donaldson (1B with A’s) hit a long, three run homer to give the Desert Dogs a 9-4 lead. A lefty (Aaron Thompson – Marlins) was brought in to fact Dustin Martin. Martin fell behind 1-2 before fouling off some pitches and working the count full. He then grounded out to SS, but he definitely stayed in there well against the lefty. After a Chris Nelson single up the middle that he turned into a hustle-double, Valencia was intentionally walked. An RBI double meant that Eric Young, Jr. was intentionally walked. That brought Steve Tolleson to the plate… again. After a pitching change, Tolleson struck out. Phoenix 10 (9 in last two innings), Mesa 4.

Top 8^th – First batter popped out to Tolleson for the first out. The next two innings struck out.

Bottom 8^th – After the first two batters got out, a single gave Dustin Martin one more plate appearance. Unfortunately, he struck out.

Top 9^th – Three outs late, and the Phoenix Desert Dogs have their fifth straight Arizona Fall League championship!

 

Congratulations to Danny Valencia, Steve Tolleson, Dustin Martin, Jeff Manship, Robert Delaney, Anthony Slama and Tim Lahey… and manager Stan Cliburn!                                                                 

           

     Any thoughts, please e-mail me, or leave Comments here.

 

Quick Notes

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RADIO APPEARANCE TODAY (Really!) – I was bumped yesterday, but today I will be on The Fan am740 in Fargo, on Wednesday at 12:15 p.m. I will be on during the noon hour with Dan Hammer of The Dan Hammer Show. It should be fun talking about the Twins and any other topics that he would like to talk about. So, if you are within a one-hundred or so mile radius of Fargo, try to tune in. If not, and you’re interested in listening, the station does have an online option to Listen Live. Check it out if you have a chance and let me know what you think.

 

PODCAST LAST NIGHT – There was another SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast last night. It was on live from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. central time. I thought it was a good show, although thrown together very quickly. Also, with Aaron Gleeman on KFAN at the exact same time, I imagine more people will listen to the podcast throughout the week than listened live. That’s alright! Here were the guests:

·         Tom Swift – Swift is the author of a book on Minnesota’s first baseball Hall of Famer, Chief Bender. The book is titled Chief Bender’s Burden. Now, Bender was a Hall of Fame pitcher in the very early 1900s. He was also a Native American. Although he was allowed to play in the Major Leagues, he was not treated well. But his personality, patience and perseverance made him truly an American hero, and yet, his name is not as well known as other heroes. That is too bad, and this book is a wonderful account of what Chief Bender endured and the great story that his life was. Please check out Tom Swift’s website for information on how to purchase your copy of Chief Bender’s Burden.

·         John Meyer – Joe Benson was going to be on for about 15 minutes to discuss his offseason, but he notified me that the time just wouldn’t work. We will get him on again though. On quick notice, John Meyer really stepped up and helped me out by coming on the show. Meyer is the writer of a Twins blog called Minnesota Twins Most Valuable Blogger. He is about to celebrate his first year of blogging this weekend. Good for him! We talked about several Twins topics from the MVP award, to 3B options, to the bullpen and much, much more.

·         Nick Papasan – The final guest of the evening is a Twins prospect that I really think will be worth watching over the next couple of years, Nick Papasan. The 20 year old infielder was the Twins 24^th round pick in 2006. He signed late and spent 2007 with the GCL Twins before a shoulder injury prematurely ended that season. He had a terrific spring training in 2008 and hit .389 with four extra base hits in just ten games with Elizabethton before injuring his hand on July 4^th. He missed the remainder of the season. He gave us an update on his hand and his offseason as well as his thoughts on the Twins organization, working with Paul Molitor and his goals.   

 

BOOK UPDATE – Nothing really new to update. I just wanted to take a quick opportunity to thank the bloggers who have taken time to post nice comments on me and the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook – 2009 on their sites. Here are several links to the blogs that mentioned my site. I ask that you take a minute or two and check them out. If they are not already in your list of Favorites, please consider adding them:

·         The Twins Geek

·         Aaron Gleeman

·         Nick & Nick’s Twins Blog

·         Josh’s Thoughts  

·         Stick & Ball Guy

·         Twins Fix

·         Taylor’s Twins Talk

NESHEK SURGERY UPDATE – Pat Neshek’s wife Stephanee updated his great fans in the message board of Neshek’s blog. She reported that the surgery was successful, as is said after every surgery, but she said that they were told it went better than that. You’ll have to check out the full note from Stephanee on the message board for more specifics, but she pointed out the Pat is tired but resting. Again, we wish Pat and his whole family the best through this time!

 

WEEKLY OFFSEASON ROUNDTABLE – I have agreed to participate in a weekly roundtable with some other Twins bloggers over at Twins Territory. This week, our panel answered three Twins related questions. Be sure to check them out.

 

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE UPDATE – The Phoenix Desert Dogs lost 14-8 on Tuesday to Peoria. 

·         Steve Tolleson went 2-3 with a walk and is hitting .386.

·         Anthony Slama came in to pitch the 7^th inning. He gave up four runs on three hits and two walks in the inning. He struck out one.

·         Tim Lahey came in for the 8^th inning. He gave up one run on one hit.

·         Rob Delaney pitched the 9^th inning. He was perfect and had one strikeout.  

Any thoughts, please e-mail me, or leave Comments here.

Plenty of Topics

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RADIO APPEARANCE TODAY – I will be on The Fan am740 in Fargo, on Tuesday at 12:15 p.m. I will be on during the noon hour with Dan Hammer of The Dan Hammer Show. It should be fun talking about the Twins and any other topics that he would like to talk about. So, if you are within a one-hundred or so mile radius of Fargo, try to tune in. If not, and you’re interested in listening, the station does have an online option to Listen Live. Check it out if you have a chance and let me know what you think.

 

PODCAST TONIGHT – There will be another SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins podcast tonight. It will air live from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. central time. Of course, you will also be able to hear it as a podcast throughout the next week, if you are not able to listen live. Early this afternoon, I intend to post a schedule of guests. So be sure to check back.

 

BOOK UPDATE – On Monday, I received two copies of Version Two of the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook – 2009. I have to admit that it looks pretty good, much better than version one! I have noticed a few things that I would like to edit and change around a little bit, but it is very exciting to see this project really coming together nicely. I want to thank everyone who has already pre-ordered their copy, or copies in many cases, of the book. A big thank you to all of you who have already paid. So again, I will be taking pre-orders for Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook – 2009 through Thursday (or maybe Friday morning). If you want to know a little more information about the book including pricing, payment and such, please click on this link. I still believe that we are on schedule for it to be available online right before Thanksgiving. But if you would like to pre-order the book, or several copies of the book (for a discounted price), check out the pre-order details and send me an e-mail. Again, if there are any retailers (book stores, sports card shops, convenience stores, etc.), please e-mail me for a pricing plan. 

 

Neshek Surgery Update

LaVelle E Neal informs us that Pat Neshek will be having his Tommy John surgery on Tuesday in the Twin Cities with the team’s doctor, Doctor Buss. Obviously we hope that it goes perfectly, that Pat is able to work through the process to recovery and be back and raring to go for the 2010 season.

 

Also in LaVelle’s article, he made a couple other nice notes:

·         Congratulations to Twins Director of Minor League operations Jim Rantz on being named the very first winner of the Sheldon “Chief” Bender Award for all of his great work in player development. Obviously it is a very well deserved honor.

 

40 Man Roster Decisions

In the same article, LaVelle also mentions that the Twins have to have their 40 man roster decisions made by Thursday, November 20^th. That is this week.  This was going to be my main topic for today, and I do think it is a good topic for discussion. So, the Twins are at 31 roster spots taken. The math mind in me tells me that they could add as many as nine more players to the roster by Thursday. It is also likely that they will leave one or two roster spots open for free agent signings or to be able to draft in the Rule V draft. Here is how I would separate those who need to be added to the 40 man roster without being subject to being taken in the Rule V draft.

 

The Easy Choices

These guys clearly have to be added to the 40 Man Roster:

·         Trevor Plouffe – Twins first first round pick in 2004 out of high school. He is still just 22 years old and has a half-season of AAA under his belt. Still could be a big league regular.

·         Steve Tolleson – drafted out of college in 2005, Tolleson really showed in 2008 that he has a big league future. Offensively, he may be very close to ready. Defensively, a lot of work could be done. He is already 25.

·         Anthony Swarzak – a second round pick in 2004 out of high school, Swarzak went 5-0 with a 1.80 ERA in seven AAA starts. As bad as he was at AA this year, he’s got tremendous potential. Just turned 23.

·         Brian Duensing – Duensing was the Twins first 3^rd round pick in 2005 out of college. He climbed up the system quickly, but has now spent a year and a half at AAA. Just waiting for the opportunity.

·         Luke Hughes – Signed out of Australia in 2002, he has been eligible to be drafted the last two years in the Rule V draft. He would not sneak through after his breakout 2008 season.

·         Wilson Ramos – He signed with the Twins in 2004 at the age of 16. He is a tremendous offensive and defensive talent at a premium position. He would be lost if he wasn’t protected.

Not much to add to this section. I mean, as titled, these are the easy choices. I believe any of these six would be drafted if left available.

 

Have to Consider

There is a second tier of prospects that has to be considered. With the six names above certain to be added to the 40 man roster, we are left with 37 players on the 40 man roster. So the Twins could add one to three more players to their roster. The following players have to at least be considered, but some of them simply will not be on the 40 man roster due to space. So who do you pick?

·         Drew Butera – Can’t hit, but all reports indicate he is excellent behind the plate. Could be Twins #3 catcher as early as 2009.

·         Tim Lahey – He was the #1 overall pick in the Rule V draft in 2007, but came back to the Twins. Throws hard, but numbers not great. Could be taken again.

·         Erik Lis – he is a hitting machine, with no defensive position. However, if a really bad team needs a DH/PH, he could get a shot. Doubles after doubles!

·         David Winfree – yes, the low average and some strikeouts, but he is one of few Twins minor leaguers capable of hitting 20 homers. He also is still very young considering he’s spent two years in AA.

·         Zach Ward – Had a really good first half in New Britain bullpen, just OK in second half. But he and his slider are worth consideration.

·         Deibinson Romero – signed as free agent in 2004, he is a tremendous talent, but two major injuries in 2008 may keep him from being drafted.

·         Ryan Mullins – I’m not high on him, but another 3^rd round pick in 2005 draft, he is left-handed.

·         Jay Rainville – like Plouffe and Swarzak, he was taken in the 2004 draft. Missed all of 2006. Solid in 2007. Struggled early in AA in 2008, but still so young.

·         Kyle Waldrop – missed all of 2008 with shoulder surgery. But another 2004 high school pick with a lot of ability. Scouts saw him in Instructs. Could he be taken?

Since I said that the Twins could add anywhere from one to three of these, I will give you my top four picks within this group. If I had to decide, here is how I would rank them:

1.)    Jay Rainville, 2.) Erik Lis, 3.) Zach Ward, 4.) David Winfree.

 

A Couple More…

Here are a few more that would probably surprise me if they were drafted, but there may be some reason.

·         Yohan Pino – was eligible last year and not taken. Two injuries in 2008 and didn’t perform as well means I don’t think he would be drafted this year either.

·         Juan Portes – hit a lot in real low minors, hasn’t done much in two years in Ft. Myers. He also doesn’t have a real position.

·         Danny Berg – another Australian, Berg could be the next Luke Hughes… or just another minor leaguer.

·         Matt Fox – Another 2004 draft pick, he was eligible in 2007 as well and not taken. He had another solid season at Ft. Myers, but isn’t a big prospect. That said, he could be ready soon though.

·         Rene Leveret – the big man from St. Maarten has been in the system for awhile. Moved up to Beloit at midseason and kept hitting.

·         Edward Ovalle – did a lot of good in his second season at Ft. Myers. Does a little of everything. A poor man’s Alex Romero?

·         Matt Moses – Ummmm… No thanks!

·         Brandon Roberts – speedy centerfielder with leg issues… I think the Twins would be OK if he was taken.

·         Jay Sawatski – he is left-handed. I’ll give him that!

·         Brock Peterson – went backwards a little in 2008, but still made it to AAA. Not bad for a 49^th round pick.

 

It is likely that the Twins have known since the organizational meetings what choices they will make. They will let the world know by Thursday (or on Thursday). It should certainly be interesting! I’d love to hear your thoughts.

 

Arizona Fall League Monday Update

·         The Phoenix Desert Dogs lost 4-3 on Monday to Peoria.  

·         Steve Tolleson was back in the lineup after missing a few games with some nagging injuries. He went 1-4 with a walk and his sixth double. He also stole his sixth base.

·         Danny Valencia was 0-4 with two strikeouts. LaVelle pointed out that he has just one error. I’m not at all worried about Valencia’s bat, so to see him doing so well defensively makes me believe in his ability more.

·         Dustin Martin went 1-4.

·         Jeff Manship started and gave up two runs on two hits and a walk in three innings. He struck out two. He was also named as the team’s starting pitcher in the league’s championship game this weekend.

Any thoughts, please e-mail me, or leave Comments here.

 

 

Casey as a Bat… for the Twins?

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

 

BOOK UPDATE – If you haven’t pre-ordered your copy (or a copy for that huge Twins fan that is so tough to buy Christmas presents for) of my soon-to-be-released book, I am taking pre-orders for Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook – 2009. If you are looking for information including pricing, payment and such, please click on the link. I hope to make it available online right before Thanksgiving. However, if you would like to pre-order the book, or several copies of the book (for a discounted price), check out the pre-order details and send me an e-mail. Again, if there are any retailers (book stores, sports card shops, convenience stores, etc.), please e-mail me for a pricing plan.  

 

Twins Make Offer to Casey Blake

On Friday, LaVelle E Neal broke the news that the Twins have prepared paperwork and sent a contract offer to the representatives of free agent 3B Casey Blake. My initial thought was, “Here we go again!” Another veteran, likely past his prime. But I didn’t think that was really fair. What do we know about Blake, and can he make the Twins better? Would signing him make sense on some level? Here were some of my thoughts.

 

·         He is from Iowa and grew up a Twins fan. Does this mean anything? Not really, unless along with that comes a willingness to sign a “hometown” discount a la Paul Molitor, Terry Steinback and Dave Winfield.

·         He is a great guy, a great teammate. Again, this is something that the Twins like, and for good reason.

·         He was with the Twins organization for several years. Is this good or bad? Well again, there could be some familiarity with how things are done. The basic Twins system has not changed much since 1986 when Tom Kelly took over the reigns. However, 2002 was the last year that Blake spent with the Twins before heading elsewhere. Michael Cuddyer is the only Twins player around who played with the Twins at that time. Of course, Cuddyer’s name is all over rumors now as well. Oh, and I guess Eddie Guardado would have been a Blake teammate, but it is quite unlikely that the Twins would bring him back.

·         Blake is 35 years old. This isn’t a horrible thing. The concern comes in the contract. Would he be willing to sign a two year contract when rumors indicate he could get three, if not four?

·         According to Jeff Passan’s free agent tracker, Casey Blake is the #22 free agent on the market. He is the top 3B on the list. Of course, that is what it is. Remember that Mike Lamb was the #2 3B on the free agent market a year ago, behind only Alex Rodriguez.

·         He made $6.1 million in 2008. He should expect a raise. My guess is that the first Twins offer will be more in the range of two years and $14 million with a 2011 option and a $1 million buyout. That won’t do it.

·         I have heard people say that Blake provides a lot of versatility. He can play 3B, but also 1B and RF (as well as DH, obviously). A review of Baseball-Reference.com reminded me that he had spent the 2005 and 2006 seasons as Cleveland’s primary RF. In 2008, he played 133 games at 3B and 29 games at 1B. In 2007, he played 145 games at 3B and combined for 19 more games between 1B and RF. Going back further, he played 292 games at 3B between 2003 and 2004, with 39 at 1B. Versatility is good if crazy events happen in the game. However, what does it mean for the Twins? He can play 1B… Great! The Twins have a pretty strong 1B who should be able to man that position at least 155 times during the season. RF? Well, Michael Cuddyer is still around, and if he is dealt, a move of Delmon Young back to RF makes some sense, unless they keep Denard Span over there. In other words, it is more than unlikely that Blake would see any time in the outfield. DH? I think Jason Kubel showed enough in 2008 that he is the team’s DH Blake could DH from time to time against tough lefties. In other words, versatility is a wonderful thing, but in my mind, it is not a deal breaker.

·         I am not going to throw a bunch of numbers at you about defense. One, I question most defensive statistics. I have looked at them, and basically what they say is that he is about an average defender. Compared to Brian Buscher, he is a bit of an improvement. Brendan Harris made some great plays at 3B, but his range is pretty non-existent. So defensively, Blake would be an improvement over a combination of Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher, but just not that great.

·         So, the question remains, how much difference would there be between the Buscher/Harris platoon and Casey Blake? Let’s try to see if we can figure it out:

o   Casey Blake in 2008 – He went 147-536 (.274/345/.463) with 36 doubles, a triple, 21 homers and 81 RBI. He walked 49 times and struck out 120 times.

o   Brian Buscher in 2008 (against righties) – He went 55-174 with nine doubles, no triples, four homers and 40 RBI. He walked 16 times and struck out 30 times.

o   Brendan Harris in 2008 (against lefties) – He went 40-151 with 14 doubles, a triple, a homer and 14 RBI. He walked 13 times and struck out 33 times.

o   Note – In the platoon, Buscher and Harris would theoretically only bat against either a lefty or righty. Of course, there would be overlap, but we are thinking in theory, so bear with me.

o   Combined in 2008 (Buscher/Harris) – 95-325 with 23 doubles, a triple, five homers and 54 RBI. They walked 29 times and struck out 63 times.

o   Now, we need to ‘normalize’ the numbers to assume every day play, which is what Blake would get. In other words. We need to assume that the Buscher/Harris platoon would get the same number of at bats as Casey Blake would get. It would be better to ‘normalize’ to the number of plate appearances, but using the same number of at bats (536) meant just one difference in walks, so it is very close.

o   The Platoon in 2008-Normalized – 157-536 (.293/.351/.416) with 38 doubles, two triples, eight homers and 89 RBI. They would walk 48 times and strike out 104 times. (Please note that these are not official numbers in any way. It doesn’t include things like HBP or SF, etc, so it is just a number to give an idea. In fact, it is likely that the OBP would be slightly higher.)

o   Looks pretty similar to me. Blake’s OPS was .808. The Platoon would be .767. That is a 5% difference, with Blake being better. Of course, the platoon would hit for a higher average with Blake hitting more home runs, hence the higher slugging percentage. The 21 homers to just eight homers is noticeable. Blake also strikes out a lot. Also, do we think that Blake would hit 21 homers for the Twins? As Joe Christensen noted on his blog, the Metrodome was the most pitcher-friendly AL stadium in 2008.

·         The platoon of Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher will make about $850,000 in 2009. Casey Blake will likely make at least $7 million in 2009.

·         Would signing Casey Blake make the Twins better at 3B? I think so. But will it have a significant difference on the 2009 Twins? I really don’t think so.  

·         Would signing Casey Blake keep the Twins from acquiring a SS that can actually significantly improve their SS production in 2009? That is the big question. What would signing Casey Blake keep the Twins from doing at other positions?   

 

Arizona Fall League Weekend Update

·         The Phoenix Desert Dogs played Friday and Saturday against Mesa. They lost 15-7 on Friday and 8-1 on Saturday.

·         On Friday, Dustin Martin went 1-3 with a walk, his fifth double and his fifth stolen base. Anthony Slama pitched a perfect inning. In fact, he needed just three pitches to get all three outs.

·         On Saturday, Martin went 1-4. Danny Valencia went 0-3.

Venezuelan Winter League Update

·         After a horrific start, Luke Hughes has been hitting much better of late. He is now hitting .304/.345/.468 (24-79) with three doubles, two triples and two homers. He has walked three times and struck out 17 times.

·         Wilson Ramos has cooled off. He is now hitting .271/.271/.313 (13-48) with two doubles. He has not walked and struck out eight times.

·         Jose Mijares has been quite good. He is 1-1 with five saves and a 0.79 ERA and a 1.06 WHIP. In 12 games, he has pitched 11.1 innings. He has walked four and struck out 12.

·         Bobby Korecky hasn’t. He is 1-1 with a 6.00 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP. In 11 games, he has thrown 15 innings. He has walked six and struck out 11.

·         One to watch would be Danny Rondon. He is 1-1 with a 5.51 ERA and a 1.65 WHIP. He has thrown 16.1 innings in 12 games. He has six walks and nine strikeouts. Not great numbers but not that he pitched for Elizabethton in 2008 whereas Korecky split time between Rochester and the Twins.

 

Any thoughts, please e-mail me, or leave Comments here.

Wednesday Notes (and Neshek Joins the Podcast)

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

PODCAST UPDATE – Last night’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Twins Podcast was another successful show. Here is the guest list, with some comments:

·         Jonathan Mayo – The first guest was Jonathan Mayo. He is a Senior Baseball Writer for MLB.com and you see a lot of his work at MiLB.com. He does a lot of work on the minor leagues and covering baseball’s draft. He also wrote a book that came out last spring called Facing Clemens: Hitters on Hitting Against Baseball’s Most Intimidating Pitcher. The book is excellent and gives several interesting perspectives on hitting against Clemens. There are chapters on Cal Ripken, Ken Griffey, Jr. and even the Twins Torii Hunter who we all recall never got a hit off of Clemens. Unfortunately the book, which had a foreword written by Clemens himself, was literally printing when The Mitchell Report came out. That may have hurt sales. We talked about the book for quite some time. It really is a great book, so if you’re at all interested, please go to JonathanMayo.net.

·         Mark Hamburger – Following Mayo, we spent about 10-12 minutes talking to the Minnesota native, former Twins prospect and current Texas Rangers prospect. You recall that he was the player traded to the Rangers in exchange for Eddie Guardado in August. The interview was really great. Mark did a great job of telling what it was like going to a Twins tryout camp, and when the team told him that they wanted to sign him. We talked about his 95 mph fastball and what other pitches he throws. We also talked about Rangers President Nolan Ryan and when Mark first saw him! It was really just a very fun interview, and it’s always fun to see the local players do well, so we wish him the best.

·         Pat Neshek – Speaking of local players that we wish nothing for the best for, Pat Neshek called in to the show and we talked about what happened to his arm since the last time we had talked to him and everything was going so well. He talked about the whirlwind that his life has been since last week when he felt the pain. We talked about his meeting with Dr. Buss, the Twins doctor, who Pat has a lot of confidence in. It is very clear that he is disappointed. You can hear it in his voice. He’s very open. He feels like he is letting a lot of people down. But the reality is that he has done everything to the best of his ability and along the plan, so it just happened. He’s got a great perspective, and I think we all know that he will get through this. Again, we wish him the best. And, I know I really appreciate the fact that on such a long, tough day, he took 15 minutes out of his evening to call in and update us.    

 

BOOK UPDATE – If you are at all interested in a copy of my soon-to-be-released book, I am now taking pre-orders for Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook – 2009. If you are looking for information including pricing, payment and such, please click on the link. I hope to make it available online right before Thanksgiving. However, if you would like to pre-order the book, or several copies of the book (for a discounted price), check out the pre-order details and send me an e-mail. Several have mentioned the book on their blogs, and I really appreciate that, so here are some of those links.

·         I mentioned this the other day, but I again want to thank Mike McFeely from the Fargo Forum who wrote about this blog and the book at his blog The McFeely State of Mind.

·         PLEASE READ – Call to the Pen wrote a blog about me the other day that is somewhat comical and somewhat eye opening!

·         Cory Hepola wrote an entry on his blog (SethSpeaks… Listen Up!) about this book, including some background on how we know each other. Seriously, it’s very well written! 

 

Here are some more thoughts and notes:

·         Aaron Gleeman posts several very interesting Twins notes.

·         Josh Taylor tells us which players that he would add to the Twins 40 man roster before the Rule V draft. Personally, I would flip-flop Ryan Mullins and Trevor Plouffe in his list, but other than that, it makes sense. One name I haven’t mentioned previously in this discussion is Wilson Ramos. Seeing that he signed with the Twins in 2004, he is also eligible. He would certainly be taken.

·         Nick Nelson wrote a great article on the two Twins players who received votes for AL Rookie of the Year. He basically is saying that both Denard Span and Nick Blackburn were not highly regarded by Twins fans coming into the 2008 season and both were excellent. Really, a great article.

·         Over the Baggy penned/typed a good article asking Is India the next MLB Market?

·         The Twins Geek noted that Bad Things Come in Threes.

·         Please check out the updated standings in the SethSpeaks.net NFL “Expert” Picks. I’m moving up!! 

·         Over at Twinkie Town, cmathewson was able to get an Exclusive Interview with Baseball America’s John Manuel and they discussed Twins prospects. It is as good as anything I’ve read!

·         Joe Christensen wrote a good article on Neshek’s injury and surgery.

·         The main take away I have from the article, and it’s the same thing I have believed all along. The Twins bullpen should NOT be a top priority this offseason. Joe Nathan equals no worries. Matt Guerrier has been one of the game’s best, most consistent relievers over the last three years. Take away two horrific months in 2009, and he has been very good. The offseason should do him wonders. Jesse Crain was overused in 2008 as well, coming off of major shoulder surgery. He was quite solid much of the year and one of the game’s better relievers until his 2007 surgery. He should get better. Craig Breslow will be back. If Dennys Reyes is going to get JC Romero-like money from someone (3 years, $12 million), then let him go. However, I agree that this situation does mean that they should offer him arbitration. Worst case, he accepts and you have him for one more year. Best Case, he doesn’t accept it and the Twins get a supplemental first round pick in 2009. I am a fan of Jose Mijares, but let’s not forget the small sample size that he had in the big leagues. Also, opposing hitters had not seen him. I believe he will be a very good reliever for many years, but let’s not make him the next savior based on nine or ten outings. Phil Humber and Boof Bonser are not great relievers yet, but both of the stuff and talent to be very solid. I would regard Robert Delaney and Anthony Slama a notch below Mijares, but they could be solid if necessary. Guys like Ricky Barrett and Mariano Gomez could come back and both could contribute to the Twins at any time. And all of those minor league arms that we like, guys like Anthony Swarzak and Jeff Manship, maybe Kevin Mulvey or Yohan Pino, they could help as well. I thought it a little surprising that Carlos Gutierrez’s name was mentioned in the article, but there is a lot of depth. I just would not put finding a strong reliever as a high priority.

·         In addition, I have been asked several times about the Twins trying to get Huston Street along with Garrett Atkins for a package including Michael Cuddyer and a Nick Blackburn-type pitcher, and maybe another prospect. I think that this blog and others have shown that Atkins is still not much better than a Harris/Buscher platoon. And let’s not forget that Huston Street lost his closer’s job in Oakland to Brad Ziegler. I just don’t see Street as an upgrade over either Guerrier or Crain. Would I mind getting him for cheap, sure, but I think we know that isn’t going to happen.    

 

Arizona Fall League Update

·         The Phoenix Desert Dogs played both Monday and Tuesday. Here are how the Twins players did:

·         On Tuesday, Danny Valencia and Dustin Martin combined to go 0-8 with four strikeouts. The both had played better on Monday. Valencia was 1-4 with a walk and his sixth double. Martin was 1-3 with a walk, a sacrifice fly and his fourth double.

·         Steve Tolleson went 0-3 with two walks on Monday, and he got the day off on Tuesday.  

·         Tim Lahey came in to close the game on Monday. It didn’t go well. He got two outs, but couldn’t get the third before the winning run scored. He gave up three runs on three hits and two walks.  

·         Rob Delaney gave up a hit in a scoreless inning. He struck out two.

·         Twins Fix has a very good interview with Jeff Manship.  

Any thoughts, please e-mail me, or leave Comments here.

Weekend Updates (and Minor League Free Agents)

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

BOOK UPDATE – If you happened to check out this site on Sunday night or Monday morning, you saw the announcement that I am now taking pre-orders for Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook – 2009. Scroll down this page or click here for that information including pricing, payment and such. I have submitted an order to receive one more final review copy. I hope to make it available online right before Thanksgiving. However, if you would like to pre-order the book, or several copies of the book, check out the pre-order details and send me an e-mail. I also want to thank Mike McFeely from the Fargo Forum who wrote about this blog and the book at his blog The McFeely State of Mind.  

 

I hope everyone had a great weekend! I know it was a little chilly in Minnesota. Hopefully all of the deer hunters out there had good luck and were safe. Our favorite pro football team in Minnesota (the Vikings, in case you were wondering) tried to give away a game that they dominated, but they found a way to beat the Packers. Anytime you can do that is great. It was nice to see Adrian Peterson redeem himself that final drive after his rant and fumble earlier in the quarter. Our favorite Division I college football team in Minnesota (OK, I probably have to tell you that it is the Gophers!) lost were destroyed by the worst team in the Big 10, Michigan, on Saturday. The Wolves? I don’t know. I think they lost again! The Wild? Ummm… I have no idea. I saw that that Gophers Women’s Basketball team beat Minnesota State University in Moorhead on Sunday, so… good job. And most importantly, both of my fantasy football teams appeared to win! So with that, here is a quick Weekend Update.

 

MINOR LEAGUE FREE AGENTS – On Friday, 561 minor league players became free agents, free to sign with any other team. Several Twins minor leaguers were on the list:

Minnesota Twins (13)
RHP: Julio DePaula (AAA), Danny Graves (AAA), Tom Shearn (AAA)
LHP: Ricky Barrett (AAA), Carmen Cali (AAA), Mariano Gomez (AAA), Jason Miller (AA)
1B: Garrett Jones (AAA)
2B: Felix Molina (AA)
SS: Sergio Santos (AAA)
OF: Joe Gaetti (AA), Darnell McDonald (AAA), Tommy Watkins (AAA)

 

I thought it would be good to go through the list and try to determine which the Twins should try to bring back and which they should let go.

 

·         Julio DePaula – He was recently removed from the Twins 40 man roster. He had a really disappointing 2008 season after two really good years previously. Can he reclaim his prospect status? I don’t think that he will, but one of the Twins needs is in the bullpen, and having depth is good. I think it would be good to try to bring him back and then just hope that he can keep the ball down the way he had before 2008.

·         Danny Graves – The former All-Star closer came to the Twins after a year in Independent League baseball. He had lost a lot of velocity, but over the year, some of it came back. He did really well in the bullpen at Ft. Myers and New Britain, and even in Rochester. Unfortunately, the Red Wings needed a starter and the Twins decided to stretch Graves out and get him starts. It didn’t go well. That is not a knock on Graves. He isn’t a starter. All indications are that he was a terrific teammate, but he’s in his 30s and the Twins can do with or without him. I’d let him go.

·         Tom Shearn – When the Graves experiment didn’t work, and the Twins took more Rochester pitchers and no one from New Britain was ready, the team signed the veteran Shearn. He came in and did a solid job for the Red Wings in the second half of the season. However, he is not worth bringing back. There are a lot of guys like this who can be brought in to fill a spot once the season has started. I wouldn’t resign him.

·         Ricky Barrett – He was on the 40 man roster for a couple of years but kept getting hurt, so after the 2007 season, he was removed from the 40 man roster. He has been mostly healthy the last two years and pitched pretty well. He has always been able to get strikeouts; the problem has been too many walks. Maybe there is something more, but in my mind, I would bring him back as we just can’t guarantee what guys like Craig Breslow or even Jose Mijares will do in 2009, even if we want to assume they’ll both pitch well.

·         Carmen Cali – Gardy doesn’t like him. He’s not very good. I would let the veteran go.

·         Mariano Gomez – It is hard to believe that he never got above AA in all his years with Cleveland because he was impressive from the start with the Twins. He made a strong impression in Spring Training and really pitched well, especially in the first half, for the Red Wings. I would bring him back in the same role as Barrett, as guys at AAA ready to be called up if necessary.

·         Jason Miller – I still think that the Twins were not very fair to Miller in 2007. He had spent many years doing well, working his way slowly up the Twins system. He finally got a promotion to the Twins in mid-2007. He pitched well in three straight outings. Then he had an absolutely awful outing against a very good Angels team. He was immediately sent back to Rochester and taken off the 40 man roster. He spent the rest of that year in Rochester. This season, he was demoted to New Britain where he again did not pitch well. Now, am not saying that he is some great pitcher, he’s not, but I didn’t think that was handled real well. If you can’t already tell, I would let Miller go, and I hope that he gets an opportunity with another team.

·         Garrett Jones – Why would Jones want to come back? He plays 1B and DH, and a little bit in the OF. There just isn’t a spot on the Twins big league roster for him. He had an amazing 2^nd half of the 2008 season and hit with good power. When September recalls happened, he was not even promoted. That tells us everything we need to know. Jones deserves an opportunity. He finally put it together in AAA and I think he will have plenty of options for where to sign. He needs a change of scenery.

·         Felix Molina – He has been playing 2B at New Britain for four seasons now. The Twins have plenty of middle infield prospects including Brian Dinkelman in New Britain and Steve Singleton who is probably ready for the level too. The way the Twins do things, I wouldn’t be completely shocked if Steve Tolleson started the season back at New Britain. There just isn’t room. And again, I would just think that Molina would want an opportunity. I would let him sign elsewhere.

·         Sergio Santos – He was claimed by the Twins early in the year after the Blue Jays put him on waivers. He was OK, nothing spectacular with the Red Wings. Personally, I would sign him, bring him to big league spring training and see what you’ve got. Not many with the organization have really seen him. Start him again at AAA, but if it doesn’t go well early, he can be released shortly. Or whenever Danny Valencia moves up to the Red Wings.

·         Joe Gaetti – The Twins acquired Gary’s son one day from the A’s. The next day, he was in the New Britain lineup. In his first at bat, he homered. While rounding first base, he tore his Achilles and missed the rest of the season. He needs to be in AAA, either in the OF or at DH. I would definitely bring him back if he is interested because he does provide right-handed power. He is already 27 or so, so the string doesn’t need to be long. But I think it’s worth the risk.

·         Darnell McDonald – He unfortunately missed a lot of time in 2008. But when he has played for the Red Wings, he has been their best player. He hits for average, power and has tremendous speed. That said, we know he can not hit a major league breaking ball and with the Twins OF set for the next half-decade, I have no idea why he would want to come back to the Red Wings. I know that those in Rochester would probably like it.

·         Tommy Watkins – Like Miller, the long-time Twins minor leaguer finally got The Call in mid-2007. The good glove, little hit infielder came up to the Twins and actually hit fairly well in limited at bats until an injury cost him the rest of that season. It’s too bad because he had basically become the Twins 3B for the moment. The last couple of years, he has played in the outfield more in Rochester. A tremendous teammate and a great guy, I think his future is in the Twins minor league coaching staff, but he may want to play another year or two, just for another opportunity. Personally, I wouldn’t re-sign him, but if the Twins did, it wouldn’t bother me at all.

 

So there you have it, the guys who ended their 2008 seasons with the Twins and have now become Six-Year Minor League free agents. We hear so much about the major league free agents and talk about them. We talk about what GM Bill Smith has to do in terms of trades and big league roster management. But it can sometimes be overlooked just how important these minor league signings and such are. There is a lot more to being a big league GM than big league roster management. That’s why there are guys like Mike Radcliff and Rob Antony and a whole staff of people who assist in this work.  

UPDATE – after writing this, I see that Joe Christensen posted about the minor league free agents as well.

 

Here are some more thoughts and notes:

 

·         Aaron Gleeman gives his thoughts on rumors about Garrett Atkins. Josh Johnson wrote about Atkins on Friday. So did Nick Nelson. Here are my thoughts from last Thursday on it.   

·         LaVelle reminds us of when the various postseason awards will be announced, who he thinks will win, and more.

·         Over the Baggy posted Part 4 of What Could Have $50 Million Bought Your Team series.

·         We are finally finishing up the voting on the Twinkie Town Top 50 Twins Prospects. Be sure to vote for prospects #47-50.

·         Roger Dehring posted his weekly Twins Minor League report. He also posted his Twins Minor League Hitter ranking, a list that has been considered controversial, but has proven to be a solid indicator of big league contribution.

·         This is a little dated, but MLB.com announced that it had named Ben Revere as the Twins Minor League Hitter of the Year and Mike McCardell the Twins Minor League Pitcher of the Year. Both are very deserving.

·         Earlier in the weekend, Joe C posted about several players that the Twins are rumored to be inquiring about. I do have some interest in JJ Hardy, but not for the cost. The name on the list I am most intrigued by is Yunel Escobar. However, I am also smart enough to realize that the Braves are the front-runner in the Jake Peavy sweepstakes, and Escobar is a big part in that deal. So, I’m not willing to get overly excited about that possibility yet.    

 

Arizona Fall League Weekend Update

·         The Phoenix Desert Dogs played Mesa on Friday and Saturday. On Friday, they were tied at six in the 11^th inning when it was suspended. On Saturday, they lost 2-1.

·         On Friday, Jeff Manship gave up four runs (2 earned) on five hits and a walk. He struck out eight.

·         Steve Tolleson went 1-5 with a walk and his fifth stolen base. However, he also committed three errors in the game at SS. He has 11 during the AFL. That certainly curbs my enthusiasm about his chances of making the Twins Opening Day roster. On Saturday, he went 0-3 with a walk.

·         Danny Valencia went 0-0 with a pinch hit walk on Friday. On Saturday, he was 0-3 with a walk.

·         Dustin Martin went 0-1 as a pinch hitter on Friday. On Saturday, he went 3-4 with his third doubles and his second home run, the team’s lone run of the game.

·         Tim Lahey came in for the 11^th inning on Friday. He walked the one batter he faced before the game was called.

·         Anthony Slama pitched a scoreless sixth inning on Saturday.

·         The Twins Geek wrote about the Twins bullpen in 2009, highlighting the Twins three pitchers in the AFL.    

Any thoughts, please e-mail me, or leave Comments here.

NFL “Expert” Picks – Week 10

also available at www.SethSpeaks.net -

Quick Update today before getting to the Week 10 FB Picks.  It’s been another long week! I was out of town from Monday morning through Thursday morning. If you haven’t yet checked out Tuesday night’s podcast, please do by clicking here. I thought was another good show thanks to Jeff Dooley and Phil Miller.

  

·         Congratulations to Joe Mauer who won his first career Gold Glove Award yesterday. The Twins catcher is obviously very deserving. In fact, he probably should have a few of those already. Carlos Gomez should have won one too, but instead Torii Hunter did. Of course, this is ridiculous, but I stopped getting too upset about Gold Glove winners awhile back because their entire voting system is more than ridiculous.

·         Cmathewson posted his Twins Top 40 prospect list and it is generating a lot of great comments. Be sure to check it out.

·         Also, the Twins Prospect voting continues at Twinkie Town. We are currently voting for prospects 40-42 and determining who will be next.

·         Aaron Gleeman has posted a tremendous two-part series on the Twins minor leaguers, first the hitters, then the pitchers. It discusses the Twins prospects relative to the league that they play in, their age and a couple of other factors. It is very interesting!

·         Josh Johnson takes a look at Kevin Kouzmanoff, a player I have just about zero interest in the Twins trying to deal for.

·         According to Baseball America, the Twins have re-signed lefty reliever Ben Julianel. They released Wilmer Guanchez, Lee Martin, Khol Nanney, Michael Mopas and Eric Santiago. The week before, they had released Jakub Hajtmar.

Arizona Fall League Update

·         On Wednesday, the Phoenix Desert Dogs lost to Mesa 11-5. Danny Valencia batted fifth and played 3B. He had a double in four at bats. Dustin Martin played LF and batted sixth. He went 1-2 with two walks.

·         On Thursday, Phoenix and Mesa played again, and this time Phoenix won 4-2.. After striking out in his first three at bats, Steve Tolleson hit a two run triple to give the Desert Dogs a 3-2 lead in the 8^th inning. Danny Valencia went 2-4. Dustin Martin was 0-3 with a walk. Rob Delaney struck out two in a perfect 8^th inning.  

·         Jeff Manship did update his AFL blog.

Please feel free to e-mail me at SethSpeaksNet@hotmail.com or Comment Here.

NFL “Expert” Picks

The Panel and The Standings

If you would like to know more about our panelists, or get up to date standings, click here. Here are the updated standings from our group through week eight:

The Week 10 Picks

for the panel’s picks, please go to www.SethSpeaks.net.