Metrodome Memories

1)  Miguel Sano  3b/ss
2)  Joe Benson  OF
3)  Eddie Rosario  2b/OF
4)  Aaron Hicks  OF
5)  Oswaldo Arcia  OF
6)  Levi Michael  SS/2b
7)  Liam Hendricks  RHP
8)  Kyle Gibson  RHP
9)  Chris Parmelee  OF/1b
10)  Brian Dozier  ss/2b

The Twins signed journeyman starter Jason Marquis to a one year deal worth $3 million.  At this point, while the Twins pick up the pieces, they need some innings eaters and Marquis is a guy who can fill that role.  Last year he split time with the Nationals and Diamondbacks and had a fair year.  Durability has been a concern because he hasn’t thrown more then 132 innings since 2009 (when he set a career high with 216 innings).

Still, for one year and $3 million, you really can’t go wrong.  You hate to throw it a throw away deal but the downside risk isn’t really much here.  What will be interesting is this will be Marquis’ first year in the American League so it’ll be interesting to see how he adapts.

The Twins signed outfielder Josh Willingham to a three year, $21 million deal.  Of course this came in light of Michael Cuddyer signing with the Rockies and he was paid $30.5 million so there’s some savings there.

Willingham had a career for the Athletics last year.  He belted 29 home runs and drove in 98.  His strikeouts were up but he also walked 56 times.  This is a guy who’s had an OPS+ of 115 or more in the past six seasons.  Durability is a concern though and he’s never played more then 145 games and the past four seasons, he’s played in 136, 114, 133 and 102.  When he’s healthy, he’s good but there’s always the chance he’s going to be out of the lineup for a few weeks at a time during the season.

With Joe Mauer’s catching days in question, the Twins signed a reliable back up in Ryan Doumit to a one year deal worth $3 million.  Officially, he’s the backup to Mauer but my guess is he sees plenty of time behind the plate in 2012.  He does have some versatility as well so he’ll probably play at first base and in the outfielder.

He’s a switch hitter and while he put up nice numbers last year, it was on limited time.  He only played 77 games during the season because of a collision at home plate.  He did hit .303 though and he sported an OPS of .830.  In his career, he’s a .271 hitter.

In general, I like the move.  It gives the Twins a bona-fide option at catcher at a spot where the Twins have plenty of question marks.  Ideally Mauer catches 130 games but I don’t see that happening so Doumit will be there to fill in the gaps.

The Twins found their shortstop.  Jamey Carroll signed a two year, $6.75 million dollar deal with the Twins and he’ll compete to be the teams starting shortstop in 2012.  My guess is, with his experience and the amount of money they’re paying him, he already has the job but I guess we’ll have to wait and see what happens coming spring.

Carroll gets a $2 million signing bonus, $1.75 million in 2012 and $2.7 in 2013.  There’s also a $2 million mutual option for 2014 but it vests if Carroll has 400 plate appearances in 2013.  Carroll has been solid for the Dodgers the past couple of years and while he’s usually played less then 130 games in a season, that trend has been bucked the past couple of season.  There’s not a lot of power, but Carroll has a solid strikeout to walk ratio and a career .356 OBP.

Thankfully, the Twins 2011 season over and it’s time to look ahead.  The prospect lists have coming up and Kevin Goldstein put his top eleven Twins prospect list out recently.  They have one five star and two four star prospects so let’s look at some of the details.

Topping the list is Miguel Sano who pitched in the Rookie League this year.  The third baseman has a ton of power and while he’s listed as a third baseman, he could slip to first base or even end up as a DH sooner rather then later.  Unfortunately, he’s a couple of years away from making the big league squad.

Eddie Rosario comes in second.  He’s the 2010 fourth round pick and he was also in the Rookie League.  He’s another power prospect and the team is trying to decide whether he sticks at second base or becomes and outfielder.  He should be at Low-A next year with Sano.

Rounding out the top five are Joe Benson (OF), Aaron Hicks (OF), and Oswaldo Arcia (OF).  Benson is major league ready and he could be a starter out in the outfield in 2012.

You know it’s bad when you have just three guys play in more then 100 games.  The Twins had the second worst offense in the American League behind just the Mariners and I think the big thing for the Twins to improve on is to just get healthy.  Full seasons from Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer would go a long way towards the Twins getting back on track.  Of course Michael Cuddyer could be gone and I don’t see Jim Thome coming back and those two were the Twins best hitters.  Jason Kubel is also a free agent.

No Twin drove in 80 or even scored 80.  Cuddyer, Jim THome , Kubel and Danny Valencia were the only guys to hit double digit home runs.  And pretty much nobody hit better then .285.  This team was just bad.  Tsuyoshi Nishioka was horrible at the plate when he was in therer and Drew Butera hit .167 and he managed to get into over 90 games.

That also brings up the question whether the Twins should focus on the farm system or whether they should go for some quick fixes.  I think the Twins have to think long and hard about any moves they make since you don’t want to throw good money after a mediocre result.

2011 was a stinker for Twins fans and that’s why it’s nice to go to a happier place and time.  The last time the Twins won it all was in 1991 and in that series there were plenty of memorable moments.  And then there was “The Game.”  The Twins won an impressive in eleven innings the night before on a walk off home run by Kirby Puckett to force a game six and that set the stage for Monday’s game seven with Jack Morris on the mound.

With John Smoltz on the other side, these two pitchers went head to head for over seven innings until Smoltz was pulled.  In the meantime, Morris kept pitching.  The game was scoreless after nine and Morris kept pitching.  He needed 126 pitches to get through ten and there was a chance he might have kept pitching had the Twins not put the Braves out of their misery when Gene Larkin had the walk off hit.

You can relive this game now.  A&E has put out a series of “Baseball’s Greatest Games” and this is billed as the best World Series ever.  Be sure to click on this link for all of the details and to find more great titles.  They also have the entire 1991 World Series.

The Twins made one last gasp but August has been a rough month for them.  They’ve lost four straight and they now sit just 2 1/2 games ahead of the last place Royals.  Of course when your disabled list contains a host of position players and pitchers, it’s always going to be tough no matter how good your team is.  What’s worst is they’ve now dropped three games to the Orioles who are one of the worst teams in the American League.

Yesterday was the third straight game they were held to one run.  The lone run came on a Justin Morneau double in the third inning.  He and Jason Kubel were the lone Twins to reach base twice with a hit and a walk each.

Kevin Slowey was roughed up and he fell to 0-2 on the season. He gave up five runs on seven hits and one walk with three strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings.  The pen pitched solid enough but you can’t get past scoring just one run.

The Twins try to avoid the sweep this afternoon.  Francisco Liriano throws against Jo Jo Reyes.

The Twins finally beat the Tigers, snapping an eleven game losing streak in Scott Bakers return.  The Twins are still in fourth and probably have a tough fight ahead of them but it doesn’t help when you drop all of these games against one of the top teams in the division.  Still, the Twins are near the top of baseball in attendance so someone must be buying Twins tickets.

It was Baker to the rescue though.  After missing a couple of weeks, Baker came back, won his eighth game and pitched five shutout innings.  He struck out five in those five frames and he gave up just three hits.  Joe Nathan pitched a shutout ninth and he picked up his seventh save of the season.

Delmon Young drove in a pair of runs.  Danny Valencia scored two runs and he hit a solo home run.

The Twins try to even up their series with the Tigers tomorrow.  It’ll be Rick Porcello against Francisco Liriano.

The Twins were one of the hottest teams in baseball for a while but now they’ve lost five in a row.  They had passed the Royals but now they’re percentage points back in last place. It doesn’t help that interleague play put them in the paths of the San Francisco Giants and the Milwaukee Brewers because those are two of the better teams in the senior circuit.

It’s also nice to see Joe Mauer back in the lineup.  He’s still not quite up to his usual self but just having him on the field is nice.  It’ll be interesting to see what happens if the Twins fall further in the standings.  Getting Mauer some much needed rest might be the way to go if the Twins are going to just fall out of it.

Francisco Liriano’s come back has been quite impressive.  He was horrible for a while but other then his last start, he’s been really good since throwing that no-hitter. His strikeout rate is low so hopefully he’ll pick that up but he’s reverted back to front of the rotation form.

Scott Baker has really turned into a workhorse.  His shortest outing in June was six innings and he picked up his first complete game of the season. I also like that strikeout rate.

I’m still watching Twins so don’t let up just yet.  The Dodgers are in town and they have their own problems.

The Twins can’t seem to catch a break.  They came from behind against the Tigers today and then blew a two run lead late in the game.  And then there was also the news that Francisco Liriano was put on the disabled list.  When it rains, it pours and the Twins could be sellers for the first time in a long time come the trading deadline.  They’re in dead last with a 17-35 record.  They’re 5 1/2 games back of the fourth place Royals much which might be tough enough to make up so the 14 1/2 games they’re behind the Indians seems pretty insurmountable.

Nick Blackburn lasted six innings today but he was roughed up for five runs.  He gave up most of the damage but he didn’t take the loss because that didn’t happen until the eighth inning when Alex Burnett gave up a run that turned out to be the game winner.  The Twins didn’t even whimper much in the top of the ninth against Jose Valverde so it was another loss.   No other team in baseball has more losses then the Twins right now.  And they’ve been horrible against the East with a 6-18 record.

Jason Kubel has been one of the bright spots.  He’s hitting .305 with a team tying high 5 home runs with 29 RBIs.  Blackburn and Scott Baker have gotten it done on the mound but you can have all the pitching you want but when your team has the fewest runs in all of baseball, it’s going to be tough to win games.

The Twins have a couple more against the Tigers then they have four against KC.  Maybe they can get on a role and at least get themselves out of the cellar.

The Twins finished the week 5-2, with the first game of the Indians series being postponed (to be made up in September). The injury prone Twins bats lit up for a 10-3 win. Tribe leftfielder, Michael Brantley, hit what appeared to be a three run home run in the fourth inning. Twins coaching staff disagreed and Ron Gardenhire, came out to argue. After further review, the home run was reversed to a ground rule double, costing the Tribe the game in a 4-3 loss. The Twins are hoping to get Joe Mauer back sometime this week.

The Twins went 2-5 this week, only winning one game of four against the Rays. Joe Mauer was placed on the 15 day DL with flu like symptoms. He showed up in the clubhouse earlier today looking paler and almost 12 pounds lighter. “I’m still not feeling very good,” he said. “I’ve been doing a lot better in the last couple of days though. You’re just beat up, like you normally are when you have any type of flu. It’s been beating up on me the last couple of days.” Hopefully Mauer will return soon enough and help lead his team to more wins.

The Twins are off to a to a slow start 9 games into the season. Twins reliever, Slowy, was put on the 15 day DL with shoulder issues. Alex Burnett was called up from Triple A to take his place. In the Twins recent 1-0 loss, Gardenhire tells Casilla not to hold his head down.  Castilla’s throwing error in the sixth led to the only run the game against the Athletics. Also in an act to try and get the bats jumpstarted, Gardenhire put Cuddyer in the lineup playing at second base for the first time since May 31^st, 2010. The Twins are off to a slower than expected start, but they aren’t worried, and being only a week into the season, they have no reason to be.

The Twins avoided a three game sweep today against the Blue Jays. Carl Pavano seemed to struggle in the Season Opener. J.P. Arencibia, the Jays nine-hole batter, went 3-for-5 with 2 homers, a triple and 5 RBI’s. Yesterday, Jays starting pticher, Kyle Drabek, in his MLB debut, struck out the side in the first inning, threw 5 1/3 innings of no hit baseball and threw 7 innings with only one run. It was a very impressive start for the Jays young pitcher. The Twins, though, avoided the sweep early today with a 4-3 win. Not the best start to their season but there is still 159 games left.

Twins second baseman Nishioka’s 13-game hitting streak was brought to an end yesterday after going 0 for 3 against Daisuke Matsuzaka. Yesterday was the first time the two faced each other since 2006 when both played in the Nippon Professional Baseball League. With the regular season around the corner, the managers start to slim the Spring Training roster down to the 25 man roster. Earlier today the Twins optioned infielder Luke Hughes and relievers Jim Hoey and Anthony Slama down. There are still 34 players left on the Twinkies Spring squad. More news on players optioned to Triple-A should come a bit later this week.

Michael Cuddyer and Jom Thome played in a minor league intrasquad game earlier this morning. Cuddyer has been experiencing discomfort in his left foot after having a wart removed on March 1^st. He played right field for three innings and went 2 for 4 with a two-run-homer. His pain and trouble with running the bases seems to have lessened in today’s game. Cuddyer said “today was a step in the right direction”. Cuddyer is expected to play another minor league game tomorrow. Twins fans are hoping he will be ready for the season opener less than two weeks away.

The Twins lost 6-3 to the Phillies earlier today, but there can be some positives taken away from it. Although all six runs were scored off Joe Nathan in 1/3 of an inning, Liriano had a quality start with three scoreless innings. Liriano is quite pleased with his spring training progression, after not liking his mechanics and feeling like “nothing was working”. After his performance today, with over 50 pitches, he felt a bit of a tight back. His focus on his mechanics is to stay back and not rush. Liriano could be ready at the start of the season.

Twins’ manager,Ron Gardenhire, has made up his mind for the season opener. Nishioka will start at second base, and Casilla will start at third base. The announcement was made yesterday morning before the Twins played the Rays. Gardenhire talked with Nishioka and was able to get him to admit he was more comfortable playing at second base. This came after Nishioka always responded to Gardenhire’s questions with something like “whatever you want me to do”. Gardenhire was happy Nishioka and him finally talked. He knew it would take sometime, but he is happy it happened now as opposed to during the season.

There don’t seem to be any major question marks with the Twins as Spring Training games approach. Cuddyer is expected to miss the first couple of games due to a bothering left foot, but he said it’s nothing to worry about this early in spring. Tsuyoshi Nishioka will make his first start in a Twins uniform tonight against the Red Sox. Twinkies manager, Ron Gardenhire, will be playing Nishioka at second base and at shortstop during spring. Nishoika should expect time at both positions along with Casilla. The Twins seem to be in good shape and ready to start real spring games.

Twin’s fans should  be happy with Spring Training underway. Liriano long tossed at 120 ft. and stated his sore left arm felt good after the toss. His next step will be throwing a bullpen session, which he is expected to do on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week. Slugger veteran, Jim Thome, return to his team, greeting everybody with smiles. Thome told the press that after battling plantar fasciitis in his left foot for almost a year and a half, his foot is finally healed and back to normal. His back is also feeling better,”All I can say is my foot feels good, therefore my back feels good. It goes hand in hand”. With an all around healthy Thome, he adds another threat to the Twinkies already deadly batting order, all the more reason for Twins fans to smile with Thome.

Catchers and pitchers report to camp Friday for the Twins with nothing but an AL Central Division three-peat in mind. Though much of the roster from last season is returning this season, there are still a few questions on Twins’ fan’s minds as the season nears. For one, there are six starters with five spots on the starting rotation. It is still uncertain if Tsuyoshi Nishioka, the Twins new Japanese middle-infielder will be playing second base or shortstop. But the question with the most wieght and possible impact would have to be, “Will Liriano come back and be the Lariano of old”? Only time will tell will all of these questions, but no matter the answer to any of them, expect the Twins to be finishing amoung the top in the AL Central. After all they’re only gunning for a three-peat…

With the Twins entering their sophmore season at Target Field, they also hope to win the AL Central again, and are making moves to do so. Left-hander Franscisco Liriano signed a one-year, $4.3 million contract with the Twinkies. Liriano was last season’s American League Comeback Player of the Year, going 14-10 with a 3.26 ERA. After Liriano’s elbow injury that many thought would swallow his career, the long road to recovery seems to have paid off. He missed all of the 2007 season and his 2008 recovery stint numbers were average. In 2009, Liriano recorded a personal best of 8 straight winning decisions helping the Twins to reach the AL pennant. If Lariano can remain healthy this season, the Twins look to have the starting rotation with the most depth in the AL Central.

The Twins locked up infielder Alexi Casilla to a one year deal and avoided arbitration with him in his first year of eligiblity.  The final tally is $865,000 which is a decent amount for a guy who’s played four seasons with the team.  He’s never played in 100 games, but he can play everywhere in the infield and he even picked up a game in centerfield in 2010.  His best season is still 2008 when he hit seven home runs and hit .281.  Of course his time could be limited with the acquisition of Tsuyoshi Nishioka but he plays enough spots to where he should get into close to half of the games the Twins play.

The Twins still have some work to do because they have five players still out there that could go to the arbitration table including Francisco Liriano.  The others include Matt Capps, Glen Perkins, Kevin Slowey and Delmon Young.

The Twins got one of their sluggers back today because they signed DH Jim Thome to a one year deal worth $3 million.  Thome will be 41 in August but he had a nice season for the Twins last year.  He belted 25 home runs in just 108 games and he absolutely killed right handed pitched (1.154 OPS).  He even managed to pick up enough votes to finish 18th in the MVP balloting.

If used right Thome is a huge asset even at his advanced age and for just $3 million, this is a nice deal and it gives the Twins a bump in the division.  Now we just need a healthy Justin Morneau on the field.  Also interesting is with 11 home runs, Thome will reach the 600 mark which will make for some nice media coverage.

With the Winter Meetings in the rear view window, it’s now time to look ahead and with not a lot of news, we get a mail bag column by Kelly Thesier.  She talks about the dome collapsing, the backup plan if the Twins don’t nab Carl Pavano and what’s going to happen with the Twins bullpen.

It’s nice to know the Twins have options whether they sign Carl Pavano or not.  Having Pavano in the fold would help in light of the signings made by the White Sox and Tigers, but their front five isn’t all that bad.  Kelly talks about how a Pavano-less rotation would include Francisco Liriano, Scott Baker, Brian Duensing, Nick Blackburn and Kevin Slowey.

I also liked the fact that Kelly dismisses the Twins going after Orlando Cabrera.  I like the idea of giving Alexi Casilla a shot to play side by side with Tsuyoshi Nishioka.

This is getting a little ridiculous.  The Twins once again not only got swept, but it was at the hands of the Yankees in a series where the Twins never really showed up.  Game one was close but two and three weren’t in a series where the Twins never got going at the plate.  Delmon Young went four for twelve and Denard Span went four for thirteen and those were the only Twins to hit above .300 in the series.

The pitching just wasn’t there either.  In all three games, the Yankees scored at least five runs.  Most of the damage came against the three starters.

Once again, the Twins will have to wait until next year.

The Twins have been less then impressive over the last couple of weeks but on the flipside, they haven’t had to win.  They’ve lost two of their last ten games and while you never want to go into a big series on a losing note, the rest that some of the Twins players got will hopefully do them some good.

It’s too bad Justin Morneau never made it back and while the Twins have done well without him, we sure couldn’t used his stick.  They’re not ruling out his return for the ALCS and that would be a huge pop to the team.

Francisco Liriano is throwing in game one and it was also nice that the Twins were able to set that up. Liriano hasn’t won against the Yankees, but his numbers are solid (around a three ERA and 26 strikeouts in 26 innings).  Of course CC Sabathia is going to be throwing on the other side so I’d expect this one to be a pitcher’s duel.

Quite a few Twins fans held their breath today when Joe Mauer left today’s game because of a sore knee. The good news is, it doesn’t appear to be serious and Mauer is listed as day to day.  With the White Sox all but dead, that will give the Twins the chance to rest Mauer in the final two weeks of the season.  It looks like for now, they’re just to wait and see how the knee looks tomorrow and go from there.