Kirby_waved_at_me

Kemp, Crawford, and Ethier are the guys the Dodgers want to move. Joc Pederson, Scott Van Slyke, and Yasiel Puig are the Future. LA won't want to move all three guys at once, but I think at least one of those three guys will be traded in the offseason. Whether or not the Twins have the right package of players to get one of those guys remains to be seen. Gerardo Parra, Justin Upton, Cespedes, Austin Jackson, and Drew Stubbs are just a few of the guys that will be due to be free agents after 2015. If their current teams can't (or don't want to) extend them, they may be trade candidates during the offseason or in 2015.

I thought 4 straight losing seasons was emulating the Royals. ba-dum-tiss.

What a tease! I come here to find these things out - well, here and MLB Trade Rumors. Haven't seen anything yet.

I think it's interesting that Worley is throwing more two-seam fastballs and less four-seam fastballs - that has to be a coaching decision, right? There was a lot of digital ink spilled over Hughes' tinkering with his repetoire and choosing to stick with the high heat and re-incorporating the curveball - It's possible Worley would have improved if the Twins had kept him on another year.

oh boy. Swarzak is getting another start? What is the over/under on him making it through the 5th inning?

Well - yeah - I could have clarified it as "still" a problem this April, after having a year of not having a solution in CF.

I definitely agree with the CF depth issue - it was obvious to TD readers in April that was a problem after heading North with Bartlett as the only back-up. I think I read somewhere that Fly Balls are more likely to turn into outs than ground balls (and of course, more likely to turn into outs than line drives) - if the Twins can find the right mix of fly ball pitchers and speedy outfielders, perhaps they can even improve upon the success of the Pirates. I think the problem this year is that they had a lot of Line Drive pitchers instead of flyball pitchers or ground ball pitchers.

Based on an interview he gave earlier in the year about his improved defense, It sounds like he's matured into a veteran player that values working hard to improve every day. Once that cast comes off I bet he'll be looking to make next season another memorable one. He really showed some skills at the plate and at third.

On Worley - it's possible that The Pirates had the best possible combination of coaching, teammates, ballpark dimensions, conditioning and dieticians to work in Worley's favor. He has had a much better season this year because pretty much every metric has improved for him. Some players just don't fit a team's philosophy, others are really in tune with what a team is trying to do. I think it's not all that different from College QB's that are great at running the offense that a particular coach has put together, but when they move to the pros, all of that goes out the window because they are now working outside of the system that emphasized all their strengths and minimized their faults. All of this is to say that the Twins should know what kind of players are right for their system, and should be able to either adjust the player to fit system, or adjust the system to fit the players. Target Field is considered a pitchers park because it has a decent amount of fair territory in the OF. That means guys like Denard Span and Ben Revere could thrive defensively using their speed. Santana has been able to use his speed to really flourish out of position in CF this year. Schafer has had a nice couple of months in Left and Center as well. More athletic, fast guys in the Outfield will play to the strengths of the ballpark. If you have a pitching staff that is more flyball than groundball happy, again, need to have that OF defense to be strong. Emphasize the strengths of the team and as much as possible minimize their faults.

Exactly, that's why I included the dig on TR not finding an outfielder last offseason. Hughes was very valuable - I think he also is gaining a reputation for being a leader in the clubhouse. The way he's handled the $500,000 bonus he fell short of earning I'm sure is getting him all kinds of brownie points. Gibson probably still wants Hughes to pay for dinner, though.

Dozier is the team leader in WAR - but Santana came in a played out of his normal position and saved us all the embarassment of having Chris Parmelee play in CF a few times a week. Hughes and Suzuki make Terry Ryan look like a genius (until you glance into Left Field). Until his injury, Perkins was his usual lights out self, and he gave us the local-boy-does-good highlight of the year by getting the save in the All-Star Game. And Plouffe should get whatever the Twins version is of most improved player - His defense really took a turn for the better. Eduardo Escobar really showed the Twins something this year too - all those doubles! I'd have to go with Dozier 1st, Hughes 2nd, and Santana 3rd - They are all pretty close, though. Suzuki and Perkins would be 4 and 5. Dozier mixed speed and power, played nearly every game of the year (maybe too his detriment), didn't ruin anyone's day on defense, and scored a ton of runs. He also gets the bonus cherry on top by emerging as a vocal team leader.

I think the Twins were the right mix of bold and conservative with Hughes' workload this year - he pitched a career high in innings (he's never gone 200 innings before). I think the pitches per inning stat is a pretty good argument, though. Hughes has taken himself out of some games this year, it seems like he's at peace with the season he's had (I mean, he should be pumped after breaking a ML record and having his best season in years). It's too bad that he was a little short, but in the end I don't think it was mis-management. He had a start pushed back due to a rain delay earlier in the month, so he actually could have had another whole start at the end of the season. Next season, I bet he gets a longer leash. He's proven that he's the lead dog in this rotation.

I would definitely be the jerk who would grind out that at bat. Doesn't matter if it's a 15 run lead in the bottom of the eighth - I'd be locked in 100% to try to prevent Hughes from getting that bonus. "Hey Pinto, tell me what's coming - Hughes will make as much in a bonus check for getting me out right here as you're making ALL SEASON." As a fan, I would hate my guts!

Awesome - 10,000 posts! That's dedication! Congratulations.

An example of a worthless win stat: Say a guy throws seven shoutout innings, then is replaced in the top of the eighth becuase he's thrown 125 pitches already. The game is tied 0-0 heading into the eighth. In the top of the inning the reliever gives up 3 runs, giving our starter a ND. in the bottom of the inning, the home team rallies, scoring 5 runs and the final score after another scoreless inning is 5-3. The guy who came in and gave up 3 runs is technically the winning pitcher....

Here's a list of Ten great pitchers (they happen to have the highest WAR this season): Clayton Kershaw - drafted 7th overall in 2006 (the Twins picked Parmelee with pick #20, right before Ian Kennedy) Corey Kluber - Drafted in the 4th round in 2007 (Twins selected Ben Revere in Rd 1, C Danny Rams in Rd 2, OF Angel Morales in round 3, their last pick before Kluber was selected) Chris Sale - drafted 13th Overall in 2010 (Twins picked RHP Alex Wimmers at #21, Taijuan Walker was selected by the Mariners a few picks later) Felix Hernandez - international free agent signed in 2002 from Venezuela (Twins Drafted Denard Span in the first round, a few picks before Matt Cain went to the Giants - international signings by the Twins in 2002 included pitcher Alexander Smit from the Netherlands, infielder Luke Hughes from Australia and .. Jose Mijares from Venezuela) Cole Hamels - Drafted 17th overall in 2002 (before the Twins picked) Max Scherzer - drafted 11th overall in 2006 (see Kershaw) Jake Arrieta - drafted in the 5th Round in 2007 (See Kluber, Twins 4th rd pick was 3B Reggie Williams) Adam Wainwright - drafted 29th Overall by Atlanta in 2000 (Twins had the #2 overall pick and selected Adam Johnson) Johhny Cueto - international free agent signed in 2004 from the Dominican Republic (Twins drafted Trevor Plouffe in Round 1, then Glen Perkins as a supplemental pick in Rd 1, one pick before Phil Hughes, and Kyle Waldrop, Matt Fox, and Jay Rainville was also a supplemental pick in Rd 1 for MN- Twins did not have big international signing of their own that year that I could locate.) Dallas Keuchel - Drafted in the 7th Round of the 2009 draft (Twins drafted Kyle Gibson in round 1, then added Pitchers Matt Bashore, Billy Bullock, and Ben Tootle; 3B Derek McCallum; Catchers Tobias Streich and Chris Herrmann before Keuchel was drafted). Kershaw, Sale, King Felix, Hamels, Cueto and Keuchel are still with the team that originally drafted/signed them.

Hughes' quote "some things aren't meant to be" - I think it's a good attitude to have, he really surprised everyone in the league with a brilliant season. If the Twins get some decent Outfielders behind him and another starter to share the load with him (that starter might be on the roster already), I bet he gets 210 next year.

Yes, but it was a Career high for innings pitched by Hughes, so it is impressive even coming up short that he did as much as he did.

The other part to this is that he did get a bonus for reaching 180 innings, and a second bonus for reaching 195 innings. Should he get a third bonus for not reaching 210 innings? As others have noted, he made 31 other starts this year. That last out could have come from any of 30 of those (he did have one complete game). I do think it is a nuanced argument for both sides. It would be a win for Hughes obviously, and possibly a boon for the Twins' chances of landing another free agent if they feel the Twins treat their players better than another suitor might.

I think if the pitcher "win" is at all significant, it would be for starters only. Once the bullpen gets involved, which of the relievers was pitching in the half inning before your team took the lead is mostly irrelevant. Holds and saves would be of value because they denote that a lead was preserved. For a starter, as others have mentioned, to get the Win a Starter has to last long enough (more than half of the game) and allow fewer runs than his opposing starter. A lot of that is out of the Pitcher's control, so the "Quality Start" stat seems to be a compromise. Personally, I think the Quality Start isn't quite good enough - 6 or more innings, 3 or fewer runs might be a great outing for Kevin Correia, but the team with a rotation full of guys that aren't better than that will lose a lot of games.

"Just 14?" -Gardy Burton will more than likely not be getting his option picked up, though I don't know for sure that it will mean he signs with another team. $3.6MM might be too steep given his performance in 2014, but th Twins and Burton might try to stick together by signing a smaller deal with an extra year on it (would be a mistake in my opinion, but I get the sense that there is mutual interest in having Burton in the Twins' bullpen next season). Swarzak sounds like he's in TR's doghouse a bit, but maybe Ryan was just upset that he was making a bunch of spot starts. I think it might be the end of the line for Swarzak, though. Same for Pino, Thielbar, and Duensing. Pino ended the year with an injury, and the Twins seem to have more intriguing options for that AAA/MLB shuttle Starter for 2015. The two lefties couldn't reliably get lefties out, I would be surprised if both came back. I hope that the Twins can find suitable options for the bullpen in 2015 without spending much (or anything) in free agency.

$500,000 is almost the salary Kyle Gibson had for the whole season. Other guys that made 500,000 or a little more this year - Josmil Pinto, Colabello, Stephen Pryor, Aaron Hicks, Eduardo Escobar, Thielbar, Parmelee, Milone, Arcia, Fien, Brian Dozier. I think it's probably a good thing that Hughes doesn't make a big deal out of it. He shows leadership / team unity by not vocally calling to get the bonus. On the other hand, some of the guys on that list could be in line for significant future paydays that would like include performance bonuses, I bet they'd want the Twins to set the precedent that bonuses can be earned for performing up to the threshhold as well as beyond it. I agree that giving Hughes the bonus makes the Twins more attractive to possible free agents. Suzuki had those "games played" bonuses this year, Gardy has done everything he can to help Suzuki get there (in addition to Suzuki playing above expectations).

Was it Gardy's call for Dozier to bunt or was Dozier bunting on his own? I agree that either way Gardy should be instructing Dozier specifically to not bunt in the first inning.

dang Hughesie is throwing another gem!

it's the Danny Santana show today... not a bad program, even the re-runs are good.