Justin Morneau undergoes minor wrist surgery
September 30, 2011
Just 10 days after he underwent minor knee and foot surgery, Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau also had minor surgery on his left wrist on Friday morning.
Morneau underwent a stabilization procedure on the tendon in the back of his left wrist, general manager Bill Smith said in an email. Morneau will be in a cast for six weeks. This is the same wrist that landed Morneau on the disabled list in June.
Along with recovering from his three surgeries, Morneau is also still trying to shake concussion symptoms that popped back up about a month ago.
Nick...
Justin Morneau undergoes minor wrist surgery
September 30, 2011
Just 10 days after he underwent minor knee and foot surgery, Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau also had minor surgery on his left wrist on Friday morning.
Morneau underwent a stabilization procedure on the tendon in the back of his left wrist, general manager Bill Smith said in an email. Morneau will be in a cast for six weeks. This is the same wrist that landed Morneau on the disabled list in June.
Along with recovering from his three surgeries, Morneau is also still trying to shake concussion symptoms that popped back up about a month ago.
Nick...
Notebook: Free agents’ fates uncertain; surgery for Blackburn, Revere
September 29, 2011
MINNEAPOLIS -- After breathing a slight sigh of relief by avoiding a 100th loss in Wednesday's season finale, the Minnesota Twins must now put together an offseason game plan to fix a squad that lost 99.
And judging by how many things went wrong in 2011, that game plan will probably look a lot like Brad Childress' old Denny's-style play menu. Maybe larger.
"Every team's always looking for shakeups, and first you have to see what you have, and I know the biggest thing for us is health, we have to be healthy," manager Ron Gardenhire said Wednesday. "We have players who are...
Twins Daily: 99 losses is ‘a lot better than (expletive) 100′
September 28, 2011
MINNEAPOLIS -- A complete-game shutout by Carl Pavano coupled with a walk-off single by Trevor Plouffe helped the Minnesota Twins avoid loss No. 100 in the final game of the season with a 1-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.
The skinny
Pavano pitched around a leadoff triple in the top of the eighth inning to preserve a scoreless tie, and Plouffe's two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning sent everyone home happy.
With back-to-back victories to finish the season, the...
Twins Daily: 99 losses is ‘a lot better than (expletive) 100′
September 28, 2011
MINNEAPOLIS -- A complete-game shutout by Carl Pavano coupled with a walk-off single by Trevor Plouffe helped the Minnesota Twins avoid loss No. 100 in the final game of the season with a 1-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.
The skinny
Pavano pitched around a leadoff triple in the top of the eighth inning to preserve a scoreless tie, and Plouffe's two-out, RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning sent everyone home happy.
With back-to-back victories to finish the season, the...
AL Central Notes: Cuddyer, Indians, White Sox
September 28, 2011
The Twins finish the season with 99 losses, their most since 1982, and will officially select second in next year’s draft. Here's a sampling of links from the AL Central on the night that Minnesota avoided loss #100:
- Twins manager Ron Gardenhire told Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com that he'd like to have free agents Michael Cuddyer and Joe Nathan back in 2012 (Twitter links). MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes examined Cuddyer's free agent stock earlier in the month.
- The Indians announced that Sandy Alomar Jr. will become the club's bench coach in 2012. Tim Tolman, who was Manny Acta's bench coach this year, will transition into another role because of health reasons.
- White Sox GM Kenny Williams told Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times that he "absolutely" has a preferred candidate to succeed Ozzie Guillen as manager. Alomar Jr., Rays bench coach Dave Martinez and even Red Sox manager Terry Francona are candidates for the job, according to Van Schouwen.
- The White Sox wanted Logan Morrison from the Marlins for Guillen, according to Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald. Chicago relented because the Marlins were prepared to offer Bobby Valentine the job if they didn't get Guillen (Twitter link).
Notebook: Morneau wants payroll to stay up; Span ‘a little jarred’
September 28, 2011
MINNEAPOLIS -- The re-emergence of concussion symptoms sidelined Minnesota Twins' first baseman Justin Morneau on Aug. 28, and the decision to undergo mild knee and foot surgery on Sept. 19 officially shelved him for the rest of the year.
On Wednesday, Morneau spoke with reporters in the clubhouse about what turned out to be an extremely disappointing season.
"It's hard to find any positives in this season," said Morneau, who hit .227/.285/.333 with only four home runs in 288 plate appearances. "For myself, there's nothing positive I can take out of it. Disappointing is...
Twins Daily: Rene Tosoni’s grand slam helps stave off loss No. 100
September 27, 2011
MINNEAPOLIS -- Thanks in large part to a grand slam by Rene Tosoni, the Minnesota Twins avoided loss No. 100 with a 7-4 win over the Kansas City Royals at Target Field on Tuesday night.
The skinny
Tosoni played the hero in Sunday's win against Cleveland with a 10th-inning blast, and on Tuesday his sixth-inning grand slam broke the game open.
With the Twins leading 3-2, left-hander Sean O'Sullivan loaded the bases with nobody out to start the frame -- Danny Valencia blooped a single to right, and Chris Parmelee...
Twins claim Diamondbacks’ RHP Esmerling Vasquez off waivers
September 27, 2011
MINNEAPOLIS -- Let the roster shuffling begin.
Well, sort of.
The Minnesota Twins have claimed right-hander Esmerling Vasquez off waivers from the Arizona Diamondbacks, the team announced in a release on Tuesday.
Vasquez, who turns 28 in November, owns a career 4.66 ERA in 137 innings with 120 strikeouts, 80 walks and 12 home runs. In 121 1/3 career Triple-A innings Vasquez owns a 6.08 ERA with 93 strikeouts and 97 walks.
Vasquez's fastball generally sits between 93-94 mph.
To make room on the 40-man roster, the Twins transferred Alexi Casilla to the...
Twins Claim Esmerling Vasquez
September 27, 2011
The Twins announced that they have claimed right-hander Esmerling Vasquez off of waivers from the Diamondbacks. Minnesota transferred Alexi Casilla to the 60-day disabled list in a corresponding move that creates 40-man roster space for the club's new acquisition.
The D'Backs designated Vasquez for assignment on Friday, when they obtained Mike Zagurski from the Phillies for a player to be named. Vasquez, 27, appeared in 31 games for Arizona this year, posting a 4.15 ERA with 5.9 K/9, 3.9 BB/9 and a 35.5% ground ball rate in 30 1/3 innings. The 27-year-old Dominican appeared in 50-plus games for the D'Backs in 2009 and 2010, when he posted higher strikeout rates, walk rates and ERAs than he did in 2011.
