Just stop it!
March 16, 2010
With the potential loss of Joe Nathan this 2010 season there has been a lot of crazy talk.
It is coming from people who are knowledgeable about baseball and the Minnesota Twins.
What is the crazy talk? The talk of moving Francisco Liriano to the closer position to replace Nathan this year.
Liriano
The Twins have been very high on Liriano’s progress this off season and one would have to believe that if the season started tomorrow that Liriano is the number five guy in the rotation. So why on earth would you want to stifle what has been a productive off season by moving Liriano to the closer position?
Moving Liriano into Nathan’s role causes a solid pitching rotation to suffer. Although Brian Duensing has been pitching well in the grapefruit league, the 27 year-old still has some time to mature more as a pitcher in the major leagues. Another option for that fifth spot in the rotation would be Glen Perkins, but he has struggled this preseason and will very likely be optioned to Triple A Rochester before the season starts.
Some people are pointing out that Jarrod Washburn is still without a team and although the Twins might be able to get him at a discount, he is still a gamble. What Washburn will show up? The Washburn that threw in Seattle and posted a 2.64 ERA or the Washburn that struggled in Detroit with a 7.33 ERA. Washburn has been a roller coaster ride his entire career and the idea that he is coming off a knee injury has to scare most clubs.
Another reason Liriano is not a good choice for Nathan role is his mental toughness. Lets face it, the kid gets rattled easily. Last year he was like a broken record. The first time through the opposing line up, he was incredible. The second time through the line up, he would struggle. And once the opposing team would start to get a few hits, he would seem to implode right in front of our eyes.
A closer needs to have an attitude of invincibility and although there is no doubt that Liriano has the skill set to be an incredible closer, his confidence is suspect.
Internally the Twins should take a hard look at moving Big Jon Rauch into the role. He has the confidence, experience and talent to fill the role and deserves a fair shot at the position. Rauch could be given a few months to fill in and if he is struggling the Twins could start to look at some players from outside of the organization.
If the Twins are sure that Rauch is not their closer, then externally Jason Frasor of the Toronto Blue Jays would be a good choice. Frasor is seasoned veteran that has experience with the role of closer. More importantly he comes with a relatively small price tag.
So going forward, let us not speak of this harebrained notion of moving your best option for a late rotation starter to the closer position and start looking at some realistic candidates for the role.
First cuts and bad days
March 14, 2010
This post was delayed (got to watching the Pirates blast the Yankees on Sunday and forgot to hit the “Publish” button).
The Twins announced the first cuts of the 2010 season today. Among those optioned today were pitchers Jose Lugo, Deolis Guerra and Loek Van Mil, infielder Estarlin De Los Santos, outfielder Rene Tosoni and catchers Daniel Rams and Jair Fernandes.
Tolbert
Joe Christensen reported about the horrible day Matt Tolbert had yesterday. With the recent additions of JJ Hardy and Orlando Hudson, as well as the fact that the Twins don’t have any options with Alexi Casilla, Tolbert really can’t afford to have days this.
No one wants to see anyone on the current roster struggle. You might be able to just pass his performance off as a real bad day at the office, but it might also turn out to be the one day that tipped the scale in favor of sending Tolbert back to Rochester in a few weeks.
Span rewarded with five-year contract extension
March 13, 2010
Denard Span waited for his chance to get to the majors. Then he waited for an everyday starting position. Now that he is an everyday starting center fielder the Twins have decided to reward Span for his patience.
The club announced today that they have signed Span to a five-year, $16.5 million contract. The deal reportedly includes a $9 million option for the 2015 season and a $500,000 buyout.
“We go through a pretty good checklist of criteria before we enter discussions with a player about a long-term contract, and he has certainly been an integral part of our ballclub for the last two seasons,” general manager Bill Smith said Saturday. “We thought the time was right. It’s a big deal for him. It provides him with a lot of security. It provides us some certainty with our leadoff hitter and center fielder.”
With another two years until Span was eligible for arbitration, the new deal will cover the remainder of Span’s time with the club as well as a buy out in his first year of free agency if the club picks up the option.
Span will make $750,000 this season, $1 million in 2011, $3 million in ’12, $4.75 million in ’13 and $6.5 million in ’14 under the new contract.
“It shocked me a little when they came to me at the beginning of Spring Training to talk about this,” Span said. “It’s something that my agent and I, we were prepared for the scenario and we talked about it. But when they came and threw the idea up in the air, it was just a good feeling. It’s just a good feeling to have something like this done.”
Span was brought up in 2008 to fill in for an injured Michael Cuddyer in right field. Span impressed the organization while there and when Cuddyer came back from injury, Span replaced a struggling Carlos Gomez in centerfield. Span ended the year finishing sixth in the American League Rookie of the Year balloting.
In 2009, Span was relegated to being the 4th OF, but quickly was turned into the clubs everyday outfielder. As Gomez struggled, the Twins put Span in center field for most the year until Cuddyer replaced and injured Justin Morneau at first base and Span returned to right field.
Many writers and analysts were predicting Span to be a bust for the Twins in 2009, but Span was far from a bust. Span recorded a .311/.392/.415 that was over shadowed by the Major League batting champion. Span was third in the league behind Derek Jeter (.409) and Chone Figgins (.395) for on-base percentage with his .392.
Drafted by Minnesota in the first round of the 2002 First-Year Player Draft, Span has a career batting average of .305 (282-for-925) with 32 doubles, 17 triples, 14 home runs and 115 RBIs in 238 games.
Odds & Ends: 03-12-2010
March 12, 2010
The anticipated loss of Joe Nathan for the year has been stressful for club and caused a lot of speculation in what is turning out to be a productive preseason. The club has sent the MRI and CT scans of Nathan’s injured elbow to other experts in the field for a second opinion. Until then, Nathan has been working out to stay in shape and is trying to strengthen the elbow without aggravating the injury further.
Although the chances of Nathan pitching this year are slim to none, Gardenhire is supporting Nathan by insisting that Nathan is still the clubs closer until he learns differently.
The Twins have some good internal candidates for Nathans position with Jon Rauch, Matt Guerrier and Jose Mijares leading the short list. Rauch would be a good fit, as he has the experience and mental state of mind to do the job. Moving Guerrier to the role would be another good option, but would create another gap in the bullpen for middle/long relief. Mijares has the skill set to fill the role as well, but this option raises some questions with his ability to deal with the stress of a closing situation.
The Twins have been exploring bringing a closer from outside the organization, but have little room to spend more money with all of the recent signings this off season. Our hopes are they at least try the internal candidates to start the year and if they are not working for the club, look for another closer before the All-Star break.
Perkins gets scouted?
La Velle E. Neal III reported a few days ago, that there were several scouts in attendance (including Blue Jays, Rockies and Pirates) as Glen Perkins took the mound in Florida on Tuesday. The lefthanded Perkins ended up giving up two hits (although according to most accounts one of them should have been an out) and a walk in the seventh. Perkins was able to salvage the inning without giving up any runs.
The fact that the scouts were there to watch Perkins pitch is rather surprising as he doesn’t seem to be a good fit for any of the clubs mentioned. The Twins made it known in the off season that they were shopping the young pitcher, but no suiters were found.
The Twins organization should keep a high price tag on the Minnesota native. At age 27 the left hander has a modest 4.73 ERA and some moments of outstanding work on the mound. Last year he struggled in his sophomore year in the starting rotation, but is looking to start fresh with the club after last years grievance with the Twins was settled.
Jim Souhan
Jim Souhan wrote an article suggesting the Twins might have to consider trading Joe Mauer as talks have yet to yield a contract extension.
Souhan must be trying rial his readers up, as any talks about trading the best catcher in baseball right now is extremely premature. Anyone who is familiar with Mauer’s agent Ron Shapiro knows he likes to keep negotiations quiet and out of the media. The fact that most fans and media talk about a “hometown” discount is ridiculous and would not win Mauer and Shapiro any friend with the Players Association.
Shapiro’s list of clients included Cal Ripken, Jr., Jim Palmer, Brooks Robinson, Kirby Puckett, and Eddie Murray. All those players (with the exception of Murray) played their entire careers with the clubs they started with.
Shapiro is regarded as one of baseball’s most respected agents and will take his time to do what is best for his client. At this point, it comes down to one of two issues. Either the Twins will not want to pay Joe Mauer his fair market value (which will be very high) or Joe Mauer wants to try and play for another organization. Our best guess is that the two parties are close to a deal and are working out the details on how it will be structured.
Everyday Eddie
The Washington Nationals released 39-year-old reliever Eddie Guardado on Wednesday. Guardado had been considering retiring after last year because of problems with his knee. Guardado felt the Nationals were seriously interested in the him and decided he could handle one more season. Guardado had a horrible showing for the Nats, giving up seven hits in two innings pitched. As for now Guardado will be rejoining a long list of free agent lefty relievers unless he retires.
Twins interested in Jason Frasor?
March 10, 2010
Bob Elliott of the Toronto Sun posted a message on Twitter saying that the Twins are interested in Blue Jays reliever Jason Frasor and the Jays had sent two scouts to a Twins game on Tuesday. With closer Joe Nathan possibly needing season-ending surgery, the Twins may be looking at viable replacement options.
Frasor has spent six seasons in Toronto and had an ERA of 2.50 with 56 strike outs and 16 walks in 57.2 innings. Frasor also had 11 saves in 14 opportunities but with Kevin Gregg signing with the Jays in the offseason, Frasor may be expendable. Frasor is set to earn $2.65MM in his final season before hitting free agency.
Others are also looking at Frasor, though, as the Chicago Cubs have expressed interest in the reliever after Angel Guzman suffered what could be a career-ending injury.
With a low salary and in his final contract year, Frasor may be a good option to temporarily fill the gap of closer if Nathan is put on the shelf. The Twins also have some trade options such as Glen Perkins or Alexi Casilla to send to Toronto if a trade is needed.
Nathan’s season in jeopardy?
March 9, 2010
The Twins announced today that Joe Nathan has a tear in the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. Nathan will wait two weeks to let the swelling go down and work with trainers to see if he can pitch this season or possibly season-ending Tommy John surgery.
Bill Smith is sending the results to Dr. James Andrews for a second opinion. From them they will give it some time to rest before re-evaluating the situation. Nathan stated that he is willing to do whatever gives him the best shot to help the team out, but will make a quick decision so the team will have time to do what is necessary.
The Twins All-Star closer has been a major force out of the bullpen for the past six seasons adding up a total of 246 saves and setting a club record last season with 47. If Nathan’s season is lost, the Twins will have a huge hole to fill in the bullpen. With the team already testing payroll limits, they may have to look within to close the gap.
If Nathan needs surgery, potential candidates to fill his spot are Jon Rauch, Jose Mijares and Pat Neshek. Francisco Liriano, also comes to mind but may be better used in the starting rotation.
We wish Nathan the best of luck.
Blackburn signs 4-year deal
March 7, 2010
The Twins have signed pitcher Nick Blackburn to a 4-year $14MM contract, buying out all of his remaining arbitration eligible years. The deal also comes with an $8MM club option for the 2014 season.
Blackburn has been a mainstay in the starting rotation for the past two seasons, starting in 33 games each season and finishing with an identical 11-11 win/loss record, with an ERA of 4.05 and 4.03. While he is not a strike out pitcher, averaging only 4.43 per nine innings and has yet to pass 100 per season, Blackburn has great control and averages 1.80 walks per nine innings.
General manager Bill Smith stated that management tries to identify players in the offseason that are a good fit for multiyear contracts and said that Blackburn fits the bill. “He’s had two remarkably consistent seasons. He threw 200 innings last year, and he’s pitched a lot of big games for us over the last two years,” said Smith about Blackburn.
Having Blackburn in a Twins uniform through at least 2013 is a great move by the Twins. Now, if they’d only sign the player that looks a lot like Blackburn but a couple inches taller and wears a catchers mask, than there would be cause for a celebration.
Justin Morneau another Canadian comedian
March 4, 2010
So there have been a lot of good comedians to come out of Canada. John Candy, Jim Carrey, Michael Meyers, Norm Macdonald, Rick Moranis and now Justin Morneau.
When number 33 hangs up the glove and bat, he could probably move right into a stand up gig in an upper midwest circuit.
Gardenhire was giving the slugger some grief recently after the Canadian mens hockey team lost to the US team at the Olympics. He shared his cell phone conversation with everyone-
Gardenhire: “Sorry, Charlie. What a hockey game.”
Morneau: “(Expletive) me.”
Gardenhire: ” Ah, Canada will play for the gold. Don’t worry about it.”
Morneau: “This is when it’s really hard to be married to an American.’”
Just the other day, Joe Christiensen arrived in Florida for coverage of Spring ball and he quoted another gem from Morneau. As one might expect, the fair skinned JoeC appeared even more pasty white in front of the regular crowd in Florida to which Justin Morneau shook his head and quipped “The sun’s free.”
There have been some other gems and maybe can aggregate them here in the future.
Mauer’s agent to meet with Twins
March 4, 2010
Joe Mauer’s agent, Ron Shapiro, arrived to the Twins spring training camp on Wednesday night. While Shapiro usually makes the trip down to Fort Myers every spring, this visit may be more than that as an agreement between the Twins and Mauer on a contract extension has not been finalized.
It is expected that Shapiro and the Twins management will hold a face-to-face meeting to talk about a contract extension for Mauer. The two sides have been in negotiations over the phone for several weeks, but the talks will more than likely heat up with the personal meeting. Mauer stated during TwinsFest that he does not want the contract situation to be a distraction during the 2010 season.
In other Mauer news, the one BBWAA voter that did not give Mauer first place on his AL MVP ballot has come clean as to why he did it. Keizo Konishi, the baseball writer for the Kyodo News in Seattle, stated that the MVP should be decided between the Tigers and Twins as they went down to the wire. Konishi then picked out who was most important to their team. In doing so, he came to the conclusion that the Tigers would be greatly different without Miguel Cabrera and the Twins would still be better than the Tigers without Mauer.
Konishi can say what he wants, but we here at Twins Digest are sticking to our initial thought that he voted against Mauer as he beat Ichiro Suzuki for the batting title for a second consecutive year.
Mijares hit by line drive
March 1, 2010
Jose Mijares was drilled in the left arm by a line drive hit by Jason Kubel during batting practice on Sunday. After being hit, Mijares dropped down to the ground for a few minutes before walking off the field. Pitching coach Rick Anderson said that Mijares is doing well and that it just hit the fleshy part of the forearm. Good news to hear as Mijares is a left handed reliever.
Mijares was throwing without a screen in front of him, and although manager Ron Gardenhire would prefer that his pitchers use them, it is up to the pitcher whether or not to use a screen. Luckily, Mijares was seen later in the day smiling in the clubhouse while just having a wrap around his arm.
