jokin

Who mentioned statistics?....I could only state an opinion based on two televised appearances, of course, he then got hit pretty hard in his 3rd appearance since being drafted, as well...so there's that...just sayin' is all, nothing about statistics, which remain impressive--->Let's give Burdi some time to develop and see how he translates to professional ball. (Hopefully it's a very short period of time, but for now, what we know for certain is that that FB looked somewhat hittable, for whatever reason(s) in 3 straight college appearances).

Is this as simple as a "first things first", let's let him focus on one priority at a time, thing? Meaning, perhaps he moves up soon right after a start for the home fans in the Futures Game....?

Except for the fact that there's also "A-". NY-Penn League and Northwest League.

The New York-Penn League is classified as "A-". The Midwest League is "A".

I encourage you to do a search for "Mitch Garver" on this site. SD Buhr gave a very strong first-hand account for Garver's defense this year at Cedar Rapids. Sounds like a take-charge guy. And a guy who was ranked in college just behind Turner and one other top Catcher over his last 2 years at New Mexico.

Ivory Thomas is a very, very curious case. I never saw him play, but he is listed at only 5'9", and until this year, he had had good BB% rates in the GCL and his last 3 years in college, but nothing like his 30.6% rate this season. (That rate of 30.6% BTW, is easily the best in all of MiLB for those with at least 120 PAs....the next closest number was "just" 20% for someone in AA in the Astros organization http://www.fangraphs.com/minorleaders.aspx?pos=all&stats=bat&lg=all&qual=120&type=1&season=2014&team=0&players=0&sort=4,d). And even more curious, Thomas's HBP% in his last 3 years in college was 7.2%- as he was plunked 40 times in 137 games. Had Thomas continued to pursue that aspect to his colorful "hitting" repertoire in Cedar Rapids, his OBP would have been closer to .450. In Thomas' senior year playing at the NCAA D-II level, he was first in his athletic conference, winning both the Batting Title (.383) and OBP Title (.523), so at one point anyway, he was more than just a modern-day Eddie Gaedel.

Bases on Balls *** 1.) Deibinson Romero - Rochester - 34 2.) Jorge Polanco - Ft. Myers - 33 2.) Mitch Garver - Cedar Rapids - 33 4.) Kennys Vargas - New Britain - 32 5.) Dalton Hicks- Ft. Myers - 31 *** Hereby noted as the "Aaron Hicks Somewhat Meritorious Performance Below the Call of Duty Award"...as the actual winner for the Twins minor leaguer Base on Balls award can now be revealed.....it was in fact, Ivory Thomas, who had 37 walks for Cedar Rapids. He took the separation between BA and OBP to the greatest extreme I've ever seen- BA of .163....and....OBP at an incredible .433. But perhaps foreshadowing Aaron Hicks, Thomas had a 32.2% K-rate and alas, was asked to move on on June 12. Best of luck, Ivory!

Some were questioning if Suzuki was through playing full-time after 2013. He had tapped himself out at his 6th year arb-contract high- $6.45M. It turns out Billy Beane knew what he was doing in letting Zuke get away: Obviously, the A's are defying the odds and are getting great years from all three catchers, after acquiring Jaso in a 3-way deal in January. Together, the 3-headed catcher alignment makes only $3.3M combined. Classic Billy Beane moneyball. But that doesn't mean that Terry Ryan got fleeced. Ryan got Suzuki on a bargain-basement price, and the gamble clearly has paid off for both parties, Suzuki won too, by betting that he could clearly beat out Pinto for the full-time gig- thus enhancing his chances for another decent contract after 2014. I gotta think there's still a chance to deal Suzuki for a decent young prospect (think a High-A version or better of Butera for Sulbaran) by the deadline, and then they still can take a good shot at re-signing him in the offseason. The guy has got "leader" and "future coach or manager" written all over him.

Well this time, we know for sure it's not for lack of "consistency." Dean, Duffey, Rogers and Vasquez are "blocking" him in New Britain. Vasquez is 32, it seems that he should move on to Rochester in a long-relief role there or in New Britain, or as a replacement for Diamond. It seems like a waste to have him taking starts instead of Berrios.

Welcome back, ChristyM. Unfortunately, the Twins are recently quite familiar with your earthy style of excess roster management.

I generally concur with your summary. Couple fine points: -Is there anyone that disputes that Suzuki's hitting prowess is unsustainable? -Is there anyone that disputes that Suzuki's arm is pretty weak? -Suzuki is one of the best at making like a hockey goalie and demonstrating his mastery of rebound control. -I generally strongly disagree about how one learns to call a game. Pinto presumably was at every pre-game pitcher/catcher meeting and learns from Suzuki on how to prepare a game plan. Further, I would presume that the Twins coaching staff, when Pinto is on the roster, go over how Suzuki calls a game, pitch-by-pitch, with the expectation for Pinto to implement it himself from these daily lessons. Gardy, of course, saw fit to basically hand over the catching duties to Suzuki, as the Twins again, are at cross-purposes in 2014- ie, developing or winning at all cost.

I'm well aware of how things were done in the old days with pitchers. My reference was to the modern era of highly specialized roles for pitchers. The Cardinals and others have taken a different approach, and have pushed their most talented, and obviously future starter prospects, into short-term major league relief roles, and gained some success with it, and importantly, without creating huge injury issues. On the issue of old pitchers. The Twins now have a bevy of pitchers in AAA and AA knocking on the door. The FO did have a choice, and still have a choice. How is it even possible that the Yankees have one-third of the 30+ veterans that the Twins are currently rostering? As we saw in 2011, an aging staff can suddenly collapse due to age and injury. Have the Twins forgotten what that was like already? There are clearly now multiple pitchers in AA and AA who are being blocked by nine, count them, nine 30+ year old guys, most of whom won't be around the next time the Twins are serious contenders. Valuable developmental innings are being lost to the likes of Jarod Burton, who should have been dealt after 2012- because that's what a rebuilding team does with aging vets. That leads into "craft perfection", while Meyer appears to now have significant shoulder issues, he didn't in May, and it's arguable that he would have benefited more from getting 10 innings in a relief role with the Twins. If anything, he might have staved off the shoulder issues that appear to have set in again as a full-time starter in Rochester. Meanwhile, May has taken a back seat to 3 other lesser prospects in terms of getting a major league look-see. What was it that merited Darnell, Johnson and Pino- three guys with clearly a much lesser chance of being part of the long-term solution- of getting a shot before May and Meyer?

It sure would be nice if we have a better pinch-hitting option than Fuld hitting for Florimon with the game on the line.

Yup. And it wouldn't surprise me in the least if there's a deal in the works as we write.

I think that's the wrinkle that is mind-blowing, he defies the elements of the grinder-looking Catcher stereotype. Off the field he comes off as a pretty unassuming dude, turns out he's a Hawaiian Clark Kent. At least three times this weekend after witnessing the pounding he was receiving, I was convinced he would have to be removed from the game, turns out he's also a Hawaiian Superman.

I don't think anyone is expecting Suzuki to keep hitting like this. By the same token, Suzuki, besides being a very good athlete, but despite his physical shortcomings behind the plate, has been especially valuable over his career for the aspects of catching that are difficult to quantify. Take a gander at this article from Zuke's time in Oakland, some two years ago, it rings true with what Powers has written, and obviously, Buster is sold, too: http://www.ibabuzz.com/athletics/2012/06/25/kurt-suzuki-is-still-the-guiding-hand-for-as-young-pitchers/

Excellent question. And one that I posed to our resident Cedar Rapids Kernels expert, SD Buhr quite recently. Mr Buhr seems to be of the opinion that Garver handles his catching duties quite well for Low A ball. And therein lies the rub. Garver is too old for this level and I am of the opinion that his development is being hampered by not being challenged more by his own peer/age group. Sharing of the catching duties is par for the course in the minors, and Garver's bat potentially plays well as a part-time DH. But you're right, the Twins likely want two of their best catching prospects on separate teams. But they did play together last year at E-Town, and Garver caught in 5 less games than Turner, but played more games overall, counting his turns as the DH. Clearly, Turner is thought to be the better prospect behind the plate and he outperformed Garver at E-Town, as he jumped straight to High A ball....but there's no denying that Garver has responded to the challenge with the year he's having with the Kernels.

This one is easy, and it's a head-scratcher as to why it hasn't happened all ready- Brad Nelson- who should be sent packing, either to another organization, or flipped with Vargas.

Yup. It sure seems like Pinto should greatly benefit from having Suzuki there as a mentor. I think this Fangraphs study can alleviate some of the decline concerns for catchers, especially someone as tough and resilient as Suzuki appears to be: If you see the blue line for catcher decline phase, surprisingly, catchers actually age better than the average position player after age 32. While I hold no illusions that Suzuki will ever have another year like this at the plate, the rest of his skill set would seem to fit nicely into a transitional role evolving from full-time to part-time catcher over the length of the contract. It also puts the Twins into a terrific position should/when they decide to become sellers. In the short-term, they should be able to get something very good back in return for Suzuki from catcher-short/prospect-rich teams like the Orioles and Nats. And in the longer-term, the Twins can entertain the notion of offering Suzuki another contract in the offseason.

This guy would give you one:

Tom Powers with a great story about Twins catcher, Kurt Suzuki, who is turning out to be almost as good a FA signing as Phil Hughes. And as Powers tells it, perhaps he is the key behind the Twins pitching resurgence since May 1 http://www.twincities.com/sports/ci_26013341/tom-powers-scrap-iron-suzuki-guiding-twins-pitching: Besides his game-calling, pitch-blocking skills and leadership- reasons enough for me to support the Twins bringing him in this year- because of how he's been mostly used over the past few years, I was unaware of Zuke's Iron Man nature -and how critical it is to know you've got a guy at the toughest everyday position that fully embraces the concept of playing everyday, no matter what. If anyone watched all four games in the White Sox series, you gained full witness to the fact that the pounding that Suzuki took behind the plate was not for the faint of heart. What Powers relays in the box quote below were just two of the "highlights" of the wince-worthy-wounds that Suzuki endured this weekend: Evidently, the concept of "day games off after night games" is one that Scrap Iron is either unfamiliar with, or hardily disdains. Perhaps Suzuki has only temporarily found the fountain of youth. But it's interesting to note, he had his best years at the plate in 2008 and 2009 when he was playing full-time and 147-148 games. With the demotion of Josmil Pinto, Suzuki has lately been on pace to catch close to 130 games. Powers ends his column with an endorsement of extending Suzuki for a year or two, and I'm inclined to agree, even if he only (more than likely) hits at his career averages. And even if he can't throw out many base stealers. After reading this article, it sounds like Twins pitchers would also endorse this move in retaining the human suggestion box.

Looks awesome. Great work (and no more scrolling off-screen:jump:)

Not so much, besides the 33.3% K-rate:

Arcia has circled right back to where he was at the end of ST- check that, he's putting up as bad, or worse numbers lately for June (OPS .527), than Hicks put up in April or May of this year (OPS .551 & .526). Only one player in all of baseball has a lower Contact % than Arcia in June (~58%)- and he's only getting 40% of his pitches thrown for strikes- the book is definitely out on him, and he needs to make adjustments for patience in his approach at the plate- STAT. I think it would soon be past time for optioning him to Rochester- if only the Twins had someone to call up in his place.