jokin

Confirmed. Hicks in the Wings lineup tonight for Milone's debut, and batting 6th and in LF, not CF. Wings lineup in LOU: Bernier 3B Beresford 2B Pinto DH Herrmann C Romero 1B Hicks LF Farris CF Rahl RF Florimon SS Milone LHP

Ibarra swapped spots with Hicks. But Buxton did take the day off yesterday....so maybe something else is up.....still only 24 on the Rock Cats roster.

The future is now.....Jordan Shafer starts tonight in LF.

Seth, is it at all curious to you how downplayed this move is playing out? As we've discussed elsewhere, Antony first brought this up on Sunday, but no one on the Twins beat was aware of it until this afternoon. Also, are Ibarra's days now numbered as better arms are moving to the front of the line?

If he's in the lineup tonight, he'll get all he can handle in "crafty veteraniness", with former White Sox pitcher, Dylan Axelrod, going for Louisville.

Bingo. And that little nugget of non-correlation is the dagger in the heart to the overstated concern about the number of walks. It's a completely different worry for the typical Twins pitcher, management obviously needs to adjust their expectations and philosophies for the talent differential. For example, getting May's BB/9 number down this season with his more pedestrian stuff made a lot of sense, for Meyer, not so much. Lots of Ks, BBs, GBs and weakly hit balls in play means few baserunners in scoring position, more double plays and stranded runners, all of which should eventually translate to very good FIP/xFIP/ERA results. For the record, Meyer ranks first in the IL in K/9, K%, KL%, LD% at 13.4%, second in IFB% at 11.6% and KS% at 15.5% , while he's 5th in GB% at 46.1%. Seems like a pretty good combination for major league success, BB's nothwithstanding.

Nope, Edgar Ibarra was demoted to New Britain. No wonder, he was really struggling on Sunday.

Ahh, good get, I see that the Wings just placed HIcks on the website roster in the last hour or so. Yesterday was an off day for New Britain, so there's no reason why Hicks shouldn't be in the Wings lineup tonight in Louisville, I believe they were carrying 14 pitchers (counting Milone), so presumably Hamburger got back on his shuttle between AAA and AA. Former White Sox starter, strikeout specialist righty, Dylan Axelrod, is starting for Louisville. He lost out in the numbers game in Chicago and Cincy picked him up.in a cash transaction a couple weeks ago. I can't remember, does Hicks still hit left-handed?

Talk about soft-pedaling an announcement on the part of the Twins. Supposedly announced on Sunday morning on K-TWN, but nobody else has picked this up? I guess no one can find the station on the radio dial? And still nothing on the Wings Twitter account or website.

And LEN3 didn't know as of this morning at 7 AM. The Twins are really keeping this move under the radar. This did actually happen, right?

Why is this such a hard concept to grasp? It obviously worked for Gibson, and he is nowhere near the potential MLB pitcher that Meyer can become.

Pretty much where I'm at. It's such a difficult set of skills to master, and strategies to employ (and second-guess). And just when you think you've seen everything, something unique in either strategy or outcome, or in this case, both, happens. (IE., the Royals 4 infielders on the right side of 2B against Parmelee, the second baseman was practically right behind the first baseman holding Dozier at 1B- and then Gordon "trapped/caught" Parmelee's fly- leaving the umpiring crew in a quandry on where to place Dozier if the play call was overturned and ruled a hit).

I could have just about posted an identical message. Basketball was my primary sport, but it really has become inferior, despite sporting some of the very best athletes, the selfish play, predictability of the course of the game, cartoon caricature players, and the interminably tedious replay system that destroys game-flow, it has become largely unwatchable. Watching the Spurs throughout the playoffs, and especially in (literally and figuratively) destroying the Heat franchise was the one saving grace last season. Football is overmanaged and little too predictable with the pass-happy approach of the modern NFL, but superior defense again ruled the day in the Super Bowl, the Seahawks overwhelming performance on D was one for the ages.

I agree with the latter part of your post, but I admit to being hopelessly addicted to baseball. The Twins have lost over half of their TV audience from 2010, but it looks like there is a floor of support right around the current level- I'm not sure how you square the Business Journal report with the Forbes report of a loss of viewers from 73,000 to 71,000- that's only a 2.7% drop-off year-over-year. which is practically statistical noise. BTW, Mike.....How do you watch on ESPN if you don't have cable?

Wait a minute here....I thought I read from many on Twins Daily that Span's value had completely collapsed after the trade?

Yes Cap, especially after watching the game in Louisville on Sunday night, it does get frustrating. As Will Middlebrooks said earlier in the season: "Who did (Meyer) infuriate enough to keep him down here? Are there really 5 better starters in Minnesota than him?" If the Twins intent here is to wait for perfection in Meyer in terms of...(take your pick): mechanics, control, command, third pitch.... they are going to be waiting for a long, long time. FWIW, the Wings weren't exactly sporting a lot of prospects in their lineup, either. Hermann was on the DL . Florimon was playing 3rd (throwing error), presumably to learn how to become a utility player (he is hitting a lot better than earlier in the season). Pinto looked OK behind the plate, but he did have a communication mix-up that led to a run scoring on a wild pitch. At the plate, he's become a much different hitter than he was with the Twins, as he's become extremely selective in his approach (he rapped out two hits on the night). The best-looking position player was Danny Ortiz, who looked good in LF and takes the exact opposite approach at the plate from Pinto. He just missed a home run that went foul and he got the barrel of the bat- and was really dialed in way ahead of the pitches coming his way- all night....he had at least one hard hit ball in all 7 PAs. He ended up with 4 hits and two doubles. Over the last 20 games or so, he's batting about .290, with close to an .800 OPS, he looks like he has the chance make a pretty good ML 4th OF, but I'm not sure how he looks in CF.

The problem was not well on the way to being corrected two years ago. The Twins had just drafted Berrios and Bard, still no Meyer or May on the roster. Virtually everyone in the system two years ago (except Gibson) has busted, is on the DL, or is still an uncertan prospect, at best. With so much uncertainty about pitching arms, the Twins still need to be stocking the shelves w/ high-upside arms. As we have seen this year with the arm, shoulder and calf problems from May, Meyer, Berrios and Stewart, like most teams, the Twins are only a couple of TJ/Rotator cuff surgeries away from being closer to bereft yet again of pitching prospects.

Just to put things in perspective here, take a look at these numbers: 7.9--7.1--8.2--5.7--4.5 vs. these #s: 3.1--3.7--4.4 These are the BB/9 numbers for ages 21-25 for Randy Johnson vs. ages 22-24 for Alex Meyer- in the minor league phase of their careers. Johnson's minor league K/BB rate was 1.40, by contrast, Meyer's K/BB rate is nearly double that of Johnson @ 2.78. Now take a look at these numbers: 5.38 4.92 6.79 6.16 These are the BB/9 results for Randy Johnson's first 4 full-time years in the Major Leagues. Johnson's K/BB rate through his first 4 seasons was 1.54. After seeing Alex Meyer in person on Sunday, I'm more convinced than ever that the walk rates are an overblown concern, approaching red herring status. Meyer's stuff is so overpowering and unhittable, the streak of wildness is more a feature of his intimidating ways than a detriment to his overall effectiveness. Like Johnson before him, there's no reason to think that he can't improve his command and control over time....if anything, the numbers indicate that Meyer appears to have a head start over Johnson in this area.

Yeah, Thry, that was the first thing I was looking for. He went from the dugout straight out to RF and did long-toss with Pinto before taking the bullpen mound Not sure if he does his band work earlier on in the pre-game, either in the dugout or in the OF.

The Ballpark Alex Meyer started for the visiting Rochester Red Wings last night against the Louisville Bats at Louisville Slugger Stadium located on the banks of the Ohio River in downtown Louisville, Kentucky. I was fortunate enough to be in the area with my travel schedule, and when I saw that Meyer was the scheduled starter, I surmised this might be the only chance to see Big Unit 2.0 pitch in 2014 and the decision became an easy one. As they say, it was a great night for baseball, temperature in the low 90s, with a gentle SW breeze blowing left to right across the beautiful LSS stadium, which affords both full downtown skyline views as well as glimpses of two rugged steel bridges that span the Ohio River, as well as the State of Indiana just across the waterway. For those of you not familiar with the ballpark, it first opened in 2000, and the baseball bat maker, Hillerich and Bradsby, bought the naming rights- the Louisville Slugger Museum and Factory, as well as The Yum! Center, The Muhammad Ali Center and Stevie Ray's Blues Bar are just a few blocks west down Main Street. The park entrance is just a few steps from the Main Street curb, and first viewing promises a rich experience with its all-brick-and-iron facade (the building front area is a restored 19th Century train shed). Statues of Louisville natives Pee Wee Reese and Paul Hornung are located at opposite entrances to the stadium, as well as a streetside mini-brewery and sidewalk cafe seating. Once inside the park, one quickly notices the wide and 360 degree continuous concourse, all of the wonderful amenities standard in a modern ballpark, plus along with the stunning panoramic view of the park confines. They even have a row of small pine trees directly in front of the CF batters eye. Needless to say, quite an impressive AAA park, one I would strongly recommend if you are in the area. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f4/Louisville_Slugger_Field.JPG Warm-up Although we had seats behind home plate, my family and I were free to roam anywhere in the park. And of course, during Meyer's pregame warm-up routine, about two dozen Twins fans congregated near the Red Wing right field line bullpen to get an up close and personal look at Alex Meyer taking his warmup throws, practically from an arms-length distance. Under the very watchful eyes of Wing trainer, Larry Bennese, Meyer went through his routine, throwing to Josmil Pinto. Meyer obviously maintains a commanding presence, as he slowly worked his way up from easy, to intense, in his approach. One immediate red flag I noted was how flat the FB looked, and the second was the lack of big movement on the 90MPH+ new 3-finger change. It's supposed to have some new and improved "nice run and sink", I made a mental note to watch for the pitch motion during the game. It looks like he might be tipping that pitch a bit, as well. But on the plus side, Meyer maintained an easy motion, even as he heated up all the way to game-ready....and he appeared to be focusing on repetitive mechanics...and most importantly, he showed absolutely no signs of discomfort or favoring of his shoulder in any way. Meyer's Performance Meyer started out with a very efficient first inning. In 13 pitches, he threw 9 strikes, although he fell behind the first two batters with breaking balls out of the zone. He hit 97 on the gun frequently, but got his first swinging strikeout on a nasty slider, 1-2 in the count, darting out of the zone. The other two outs were a weakly hit fly ball and ground ball. Meyer's second inning was likely indicative of why the Twins are proceeding so slowly with the pitcher. As good as his delivery looked in the 1st inning, in the 2nd, it all turned a little sloppy. 21 pitches thrown in the inning, of which 10 were balls. After getting the first Louisville batter out on a ground ball after 2 pitches, Meyer continued throwing mostly 97 MPH fast balls, but continually missed badly in a 5 pitch walk to the next "Bat" up. The next man hit a ground ball single on yet another 97 MPH fastball. With two runners now on, Pino paid a visit to the mound, the next man worked the count to 3-1 (one of only 4 PAs that resulted in 3 or more balls in the count) before Meyer coaxed a pop up out out of his slider. Finally, with an assortment of all of his pitches, Meyer worked out of the jam with a 6-pitch ground ball out to end the 2nd. Meyer made the necessary mental corrections for the 3rd inning. His form had returned to his first inning smoothness, and he noticeably looked like he had shifted a gear in intensity, as well. He threw 6 pitches, all strikes, getting two ground balls and striking out another with two consecutive change ups taken for strikes. Meyer continued looking like a man amongst boys in the 4th. After getting another swinging K on the changeup...he opened up with the second batter in the inning with a devastating 99 MPH fast ball, his first of the game, followed in succession with another strike at 98, again. On a 1-2 pitch, the Louisville batter meekly flied to Danny Ortiz on an 82 MPH slider. For the last man in the 4th, Meyer quickly got ahead, 0-2 with 97 MPH fastballs, and relied on a series of sliders and changes fouled off, before getting the third out on a swinging strike at a slider in the dirt. 18 pitches in the inning, of which 13 were strikes, and now my pre-game concerns were being answered, as we were seeing some really good movement in the breaking pitches that was resulting in keeping the batters guessing and in survival mode, with a series of weak foul balls.. Meyer continued throwing a succssion of 98 MPH heaters in the 5th, while toying with trying to get more command on his breaking pitches for an out pitch. After striking out the first batter swinging on a 98 special, he lost the next batter on 3 straight poorly thrown breakers. Not to be dissuaded, Meyer went right after the next man- 2 more devastating 98 MPHers, and then two sliders, the second of which resulted in a weak flailing attempt and Meyer's 6th K of the day. A weak 6-4 ground out on yet another 98 FB ended the inning. After 5 innings, Meyer now sat at 73 pitches with 48 strikes and 6 Ks. He was sailing through the Louisville lineup, riding on a 4-0 Rochester lead, and having given up only one hit, and only one hard hit ball. However, it was clear that he wasn't gong to be around long, as AJ Achter was warming in the pen as Meyer's 6th inning began. After the leadoff man hit a ground ball single back through the middle, Meyer again got a K looking, on the change up. One out now, and Meyer opened up the next man with a change and two sliders, all for balls. Meyer then threw a 99 MPH fastball that appeared to be right down the middle, but the umpire called it Ball Four- still throwing nearly 100 MPH with his pitch count in the 80s!. Meyer now had runners on 1 and 2 with one out. He then went 98 FB, 83 SL (ball), 98 FB and then 81 SL in the dirt for a swinging Strike 3- and he recorded his 8th K in 5.2 innings. Although looking completely in command of the game, he had just crossed the 90-pitch threshold, thus giving way for AJ Achter. And then Achter promptly walked the next man to load the bases, which was followed by a mix-up in communication between Achter and Pinto, resulting in a Wild Pitch and a run scored. After a two-run double, the inning was over, but with the score now 4-3. As we can see, although Meyer was charged with 2 ERs, it was not an accurate reflection of how truly dominant his performance actually was. To reiterate, in the 5.2 IP, he struck out 8, walked 3, and gave up only 2 ground ball hits. He had his highest swinging strike ratio of the year, at just under 23%, 55% GB rate, and again, only 2 LD in 22 batters faced. I don't think I can overstate the point that this performance last night looked more like a training exercise on Meyer's part than a competitive game while he was pitching- it just looked that easy for him. Over his last seven starts, Meyer has posted a 1.77 ERA in 40.2 IP, with a 1.06 WHIP, 10 K/9, 28.1 K%.... while limiting opposing hitters to a .159 batting average. The Verdict The conclusion I came to is that the reports of his progress are accurate, Meyer appears to be fully healthy and it's very easy to ascertain- he's utterly unafraid to air it all out whenever he feels the need. He is working hard on improving his command, especially with the change, and that, along with the innings and pitch count limitations, are what's keeping Meyer from pitching for the Twins. After Sunday's game, I feel my previous opinion that Meyer is too advanced for AAA hitters has been confirmed. The only question still up for debate is: where would Meyer's next step in development best be served?...AAA or with the Twins? My vote is he would be pitching this Saturday in the open starting slot against Samardzija and the Oakland A's, but of course the Twins will want Meyer's first appearance to be at Target Field. I will remain skeptical, but hopeful, that with Meyer now at 112 IP, his remaining 28 innings or so will be after a call-up to the big club for the Big Unit 2.0 on the next homestand....perhaps Monday, August 18 vs. Kansas City, which would line up nicely with his current schedule. http://www.milb.com/assets/images/7/4/2/73696742/cuts/640_Meyer_Joe_Territo_Rochester_Red_Wings_ex8h5np5_d0em3gcv.jpg

Beane is proud of building his teams primarily via trade, not from within.

3 years of team control

As GMs go, there's BB, and there's the rest. Baseball America hates him, but look at what he has put together without dumping salary year after year for "prospects"

Yes X 3

Great pickup great trade. New problems in the OF. And now they have to move KC and someone else in the rotation.