Thrylos

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- Here is this week's installment: The biggest recent news from the Minnesota Twins (other than the product on the field) is that they outrighted Nick Blackburn and Tsuyoshi Nishioka off the 40-man roster to Rochester. What does this mean for these two players for 2013 is still unknown, but it will be interesting to see. Speaking of waivers.... One little detail because the rules are somewhat complicated: Blackburn and Nishoka did not get Designated For Assignment, they got outrighted. There are four types of waivers in baseball, all explained really well here (this is a must read and bookmark link) : Trade Waivers, Waivers for the purpose of granting a player his unconditional release (DFA), Outright Waivers and Option Waivers. The first kind is revocable and happen only in August, the other 3 are irrevocable. The difference between DFA and Ouright waivers is that if a veteran (Blackburn is that and Nishioka is not) refuses, in both cases he becomes a free agent, but in a DFA situation the team in on the hook for his contract while in Outright Waivers, if he refuses assignment he loses what is owed to him. You can find all the transactions by the Twins' Minor League affiliates last week here Tom Powers of the Pioneer Press is on a personal quest to find the scout who gave the thumbs up to the Twins to sign Tsuyoshi Nishioka. He also proposed some resolution, but leaves out door number three, which is exactly what the Twins are doing right now: Having discussions with Japanese teams to assume his contract. This is a great interview of Liam Hendriks by Minor League Ball's John Sickels. Hendriks admits that he has changed his delivery mechanics "several times this season", talks about his pitches and ponders why he has been so effective in AAA and not quite so much in the Majors, yet. Miguel Sano was the first draft pick in the Dominican Winter Leagues. He will play for his hometown Esrellas Orientales. The wife of a Twins' player wrote a guest blog here and she keeps her own full time blog here. Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah was defeated in a primary vote (link to a Dave St. Peter tweet). Not certain what that means for the future of the Twins there, since the county approved improvements in the Twins' Spring Training facilities and Hammond Stadium, which made the Twins renew their lease for 30 more years. Not sure whether papers were signed (I suspect so) but this is an intereasting story line to follow... And apparently this article in the Fort Myers paper, indicates that indeed there might be issues because the winner in the primary is lobbying against baseball spending and breaking the lease Picture day for the Twins a week ago and a Matt Capps sighting. Top row to the left number 55. He looks like he gained a few because of the inactivity. Speaking of rehabing (or not) Twins' pitchers on the DL,Carl Pavano's fastball is sitting at mid 80s, which is not very good for the Twins' prospects to get something for him this August or for his prospects to continue playing baseball next season Here is an interesting article about the Twins' A level affiliate Beloit Snappers' pitching coach Gary Lukas. Meanwhile, Beloit is the worse Twins' affiliate as far as attendance goes Another killer article by Tyler Mason on food and major league vs the minors. Here is an interesting article that, among other things, lists what the Twins did when they moved from an air-conditioned environment to Target Field to battle hot and humid days With the Twins looking more and more likely to get another high pick in the 2013 MLB draft, apparently, according to Baseball America the draft is pretty deep in high school Left Hand Pitchers, which is always desirable. One particular Twins' outfielder would not only be happy to move to the infield, it is where he played mostly before he became a pro. Also he was exclusively an infielder his first professional season. It seems that the Twins are looking for help at high places This is great work looking at Twins contracts, projected payrolls, Options of minor league players, rule 5 draft exposure and related topics. Looks like Ron Gardenhire found his next shortstop If you wonder what some major leaguers do during rain delays, check this out. And a certain Twins' player has been claiming falsely that he was his High School's mascot. And, no, it was not Drew Butera who was a professional clown for a while. Twins' product of the week is the Minnesota Twins Therma Base Hoodiehttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=B007V9B8CC. Because Winter Is Cominghttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=B007HJ84ZK The parting shot today brings us to happier times in the Twins' land. Spring training. Last week of March. The team is ready to get up North hopeful for a new season with the slate wiped clean. Tabula Rasa. Rick Anderson is pitching batting practice to a group of Twins' infielders and catchers not in that days' lineup and he is using what it looks like a four-seamer, and not his signature two-seamer, grip. Happy days. This has been a long season. Spring training 2013 is (almost) around the corner. Hope Springs Eternal. Just about 190 days left until Spring Training 2013. Go Twins! http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8431/7797669428_5885b91f9f_c.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- Here is this week's installment: The biggest recent news from the Minnesota Twins (other than the product on the field) is that they outrighted Nick Blackburn and Tsuyoshi Nishioka off the 40-man roster to Rochester. What does this mean for these two players for 2013 is still unknown, but it will be interesting to see. Speaking of waivers.... One little detail because the rules are somewhat complicated: Blackburn and Nishoka did not get Designated For Assignment, they got outrighted. There are four types of waivers in baseball, all explained really well here (this is a must read and bookmark link) : Trade Waivers, Waivers for the purpose of granting a player his unconditional release (DFA), Outright Waivers and Option Waivers. The first kind is revocable and happen only in August, the other 3 are irrevocable. The difference between DFA and Ouright waivers is that if a veteran (Blackburn is that and Nishioka is not) refuses, in both cases he becomes a free agent, but in a DFA situation the team in on the hook for his contract while in Outright Waivers, if he refuses assignment he loses what is owed to him. You can find all the transactions by the Twins' Minor League affiliates last week here Tom Powers of the Pioneer Press is on a personal quest to find the scout who gave the thumbs up to the Twins to sign Tsuyoshi Nishioka. He also proposed some resolution, but leaves out door number three, which is exactly what the Twins are doing right now: Having discussions with Japanese teams to assume his contract. This is a great interview of Liam Hendriks by Minor League Ball's John Sickels. Hendriks admits that he has changed his delivery mechanics "several times this season", talks about his pitches and ponders why he has been so effective in AAA and not quite so much in the Majors, yet. Miguel Sano was the first draft pick in the Dominican Winter Leagues. He will play for his hometown Esrellas Orientales. The wife of a Twins' player wrote a guest blog here and she keeps her own full time blog here. Lee County Commissioner Ray Judah was defeated in a primary vote (link to a Dave St. Peter tweet). Not certain what that means for the future of the Twins there, since the county approved improvements in the Twins' Spring Training facilities and Hammond Stadium, which made the Twins renew their lease for 30 more years. Not sure whether papers were signed (I suspect so) but this is an intereasting story line to follow... And apparently this article in the Fort Myers paper, indicates that indeed there might be issues because the winner in the primary is lobbying against baseball spending and breaking the lease Picture day for the Twins a week ago and a Matt Capps sighting. Top row to the left number 55. He looks like he gained a few because of the inactivity. Speaking of rehabing (or not) Twins' pitchers on the DL,Carl Pavano's fastball is sitting at mid 80s, which is not very good for the Twins' prospects to get something for him this August or for his prospects to continue playing baseball next season Here is an interesting article about the Twins' A level affiliate Beloit Snappers' pitching coach Gary Lukas. Meanwhile, Beloit is the worse Twins' affiliate as far as attendance goes Another killer article by Tyler Mason on food and major league vs the minors. Here is an interesting article that, among other things, lists what the Twins did when they moved from an air-conditioned environment to Target Field to battle hot and humid days With the Twins looking more and more likely to get another high pick in the 2013 MLB draft, apparently, according to Baseball America the draft is pretty deep in high school Left Hand Pitchers, which is always desirable. One particular Twins' outfielder would not only be happy to move to the infield, it is where he played mostly before he became a pro. Also he was exclusively an infielder his first professional season. It seems that the Twins are looking for help at high places This is great work looking at Twins contracts, projected payrolls, Options of minor league players, rule 5 draft exposure and related topics. Looks like Ron Gardenhire found his next shortstop If you wonder what some major leaguers do during rain delays, check this out. And a certain Twins' player has been claiming falsely that he was his High School's mascot. And, no, it was not Drew Butera who was a professional clown for a while. Twins' product of the week is the Minnesota Twins Therma Base Hoodiehttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=B007V9B8CC. Because Winter Is Cominghttp://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=biowriters&l=as2&o=1&a=B007HJ84ZK The parting shot today brings us to happier times in the Twins' land. Spring training. Last week of March. The team is ready to get up North hopeful for a new season with the slate wiped clean. Tabula Rasa. Rick Anderson is pitching batting practice to a group of Twins' infielders and catchers not in that days' lineup and he is using what it looks like a four-seamer, and not his signature two-seamer, grip. Happy days. This has been a long season. Spring training 2013 is (almost) around the corner. Hope Springs Eternal. Just about 190 days left until Spring Training 2013. Go Twins! http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8431/7797669428_5885b91f9f_c.jpg

Again... as I said when I put that link... and it is not an easy read. And W-L and ERA do not matter. Jeff Gray is 6-0 right?

Guess again. That would be Adam Wainwright. And this is where I am coming from (but it is not a simple read) And agreed. Diamond would be a good number 3 in a good team. The Twins need to look for number 1 and 2. And might have one of them around...

Are you saying that it's the Twins fault that Blackburn pitched so poorly? Actually, I too think think that it is the Twins' fault that let Blackburn pitch so poorly with them. That extension was so ill advised back then when he projected as a 5th starter at best.

Vasquez is starting for Rochester tonight. I think that either Hendriks or Swarzak is making the start in Blackburn's position.

The Twins will pay that. $8.5 M would cover Rochester's payroll for twenty years. The Twins pay all players salaries in the minors. The local clubs just pay for facility-related things.

One little detail because the rules are kind of complicated. They did not get Designated For Assignment, they got outrighted. There are four types of waivers in baseball, all explained really well here (this is a must read and bookmark btw) : Trade Waivers, Waivers for the purpose of granting a player his unconditional release (DFA), Outright Waivers and Option Waivers. The first kind is revocable and happen only in August, the other 3 are irrevocable. The difference between DFA and ouright waivers is that if a veteran (Blackburn is that and Nishioka is not) refuses, in both cases he becomes a free agent, but in a DFA situation the team in on the hook for his contract while in Outright Waivers, if he refuses assignment he loses what is owed to him. Thought to clarify that because it is way to complicated.

I think that Pavano has a serious shoulder issue that would require surgery and a year of rehab to fix, he will opt to not have it and will retire.

They put them through irrevocable waivers (not August trade waivers - things get confusing this time of the year) and nobody claimed him. I am pretty sure that they will do something with them before 2013. They are actively looking for a Japanese team to pick up Nishioka's contract (and that would be a win-win situation I think). Otherwise, Rochester will have a $8.5 M investment in 2013. I suspect that Blackburn might get an invite in Spring training...

There is Travis Harrison coming up who also is not a big boy (like Vargas or Adam Walker) and still does not have a position. And the OF situation is a bit crowded as is. I think that the Twins will try to keep Sano at 3B as much as possible. I'd love to be able to go back and read what they were saying about Koskie's potential at third

It all depends on what is going to happen in the off-season with trades of Veteran MLB players and with MILB FA signings and the kind of Spring Training he has. Hard to predict.

I cannot see how anyone gets criticized for getting on base in front of Willingham. If anything needs to be criticized is the bunt attempt with 2 on and no outs that did not work. But I guess people are used to smallball and not to taking walks and waiting for the bomb

Methinks that you got it wrong. It really is worth more to the taxpayer than the person who is going to the Lee County Sports Complex (game or not). Because the the fan will go where the Twins are spending their Spring Training. The Fort Myers taxpayer's job depends on the business that he or she is working for (and I am not talking about the Twins or the Miracle) is making enough money from those fans to pay them.

Lets assume that your $50 million is correct and there is $50 million in incremental spending in Lee County because of Twins. That means that the County gets $3 million in tax revenues. That barely pays off the "investment" in 30 years. But, over that time, the Twins would have asked for another $50 million and the $20 million the county still owes on the old Red Sox facility is not being paid. In reality, not all of the $50 million is incremental. Believe it or not, tourist come to Ft Myers for other things than Spring Training. Next, your claim that Ft Myers would lose 25% of the hotels and restaurants and 10% of the stores is laughable. Again, lets assume the $50 million total you claim is ALL INCREMENTAL to Spring Training and would go away if the Twins moved to a different location. That is 0.4% of all taxable sales in the county. Clearly certain facilitites taht receive economic "rents" because of their location to the stadium or are directly related to the tourist trade might be impacted, but that is far from your overstated claims. And, again, that is assuming taht all of the $50 million leaves. It would not. Lastly, your last comment addresses what the proper role of government should be. Local governments obviously have a role in sewer and water improvements and road construction. I would even argue that they could play some role in helping a project like improving Hammonds stadium (read above) and helping the Twins gain revenue (let them control the naming rights). But, $45 million to make these improvements is way beyond their role. If these improvements are needed, the Twins should make these improvements and charge the increases back to their customers, i.e. the Fans. If they cannot be charged back to the customers, then it clearly calls into question the true NEED for such improvements. OK let me put it this way (and this is the last effort I am going to make) : Nothing incremental. And it is an annual $50 million dollar fall to your community. Not to taxes not to county coffers. Just to businesses and their employees. And some of that tickles down as taxes (whatever). And, seriously, if the Twins were to go away, about a third of the Fort Myers area Hotels will go away, a third of the restaurants, a third of the gas stations and about 10% of the rest of the businesses. And about 20-30% of the local airport flights at least, which might make them shut it down. Unemployment at like 20% over there. Not a pretty picture. Just sayin'

Guess Steve Evans is it. Unless Steve Evans (or one of his teammates) wants to dispute it.

No... a couple shades darker. I did that whole google image searching thing and did not come up with a close match.

No. Not Gruver This is Gruver: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8289/7812538452_e1c69510d3_z.jpg And the unknown guy is taller than Gruver. Much

Ok. Methinks that we are talking about apples and oranges. There is a high lever economic analysis in this thread suggesting that the Fort Myers area is getting a good $25-50 Million at least a year because the Twins are holding Spring Training there. That's the financial impact. Tickets are little of this, taxes are little of this. Hotel rooms, restaurant meals and miscellaneous consumption is the bulk of the money that goes to the pockets of people in Lee County. You lose that and you lose about 25% of the hotels and the restaurants in the area and about 10% of the stores. Wanna go there? Feel free. Think of it as an infrastructure investment. If the county spends $10 million to add a lane to the highway do they get it back in their coffers? How about sewer and water improvement? Nope.

I have been going through some shots I took of Twins' players last March in ST and I just cannot remember who this guy is. LHP. 6'2" at least max level high A (I think), min GCL, could not be in the organization as of now. Here is the picture: http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8307/7812186878_09d3e68fc2_o.jpg Any Ideas? Thanks

Correct. Thanks

Vegas is an issue for other reasons, but both US Airways and Delta have many direct flights daily there; I suspect Southwest as well does. Not so many direct flights from Rochester, esp after Eastman-Kodak went belly up.

I think that the Forbes' appraisals could be wrong in some cases The Twins really jumped up in value with Target Field. I wonder what a shrewd investment in commercial real estate or even Apple stock of $40M in 1984 would worth today? (Actually $40 million of Apple stock in 1984 at $3.30 per share worth about $7.8 billion today at $650 per share.)

I think even for me who live on the Northeast, AZ to Fort Myers flights are about the same price; of course one could fly to Orlando for $99 from here in a 40 year old DC9 or 727, but that is a different story. I enjoy Fort Myers and have many fine memories from ST there, but I'd go to AZ in a heart beat if the Twins move there. The only issue I have with AZ spring training is that clubs share facilities. I enjoy being able to spend whole days in the minor league fields in the LCSC when the Twins have away games and watch the prospect and minor leaguers play. Or even spend a couple hrs in the MiLB fields before the Twins' home games. Not sure how the situation is in AZ as far as this goes in the shared facilities.

Originally Published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- This is the third instalment of this series. You can find the older ones here (most recent on top.) Promotions and demotions are listed under the team where the player currently plays (this means promotions to the Minnesota Twins will not be listed here) Here are the transactions in all levels in the Twins organization from August 11th until yesterday August 17th: Rochester Redwings (International League, AAA): 8/16 - Minnesota Twins optioned RHP Jeff Manship to Rochester Red Wings. 8/16 - Minnesota Twins optioned RHP Louis Perdomo to Rochester Red Wings. 8/15 - Rochester Red Wings activated 2B Tsuyoshi Nishioka. 8/15 - Minnesota Twins optioned SS Brian Dozier to Rochester Red Wings. 8/14 - Rochester Red Wings activated SS Michael Hollimon from the 7-Day disabled list. 8/13 - 2B Tsuyoshi Nishioka optioned to Rochester Red Wings. 8/11 - 3B Trevor Plouffe assigned to Rochester Red Wings(rehab). New Britain Rock Cats (Eastern League, AA): 8/17 - OF Rene Tosoni was outrighted to New Britain Rock Cats (removed from the 40 man roster) 8/16 - New Britain Rock Cats activated LHP Andrew Albers from the 7-Day disabled list. 8/16 - RHP Dave Bromberg assigned to New Britain Rock Cats from Rochester Red Wings 8/14 - RHP Luke French assigned to New Britain Rock Cats from Rochester Red Wings Fort Myers Miracle (Florida State League, A+): 8/16 - RHP Carl Pavano assigned to Fort Myers Miracle (rehab). 8/13 - RHP Kyle Gibson assigned to Fort Myers Miracle from Rochester Red Wings (this might mean that he was officially off the Rochester DL). 8/12 - Fort Myers Miracle placed LHP Pat Dean on the 7-Day disabled list 8/12 - RHP Kyle Gibson assigned to Fort Myers Miracle (rehab) from GCL Twins. Beloit Snappers (Midwest League, A): 8/12 - Beloit Snappers placed RHP Dallas Gallant on the 7-Day disabled list. 8/12 - Beloit Snappers activated RHP Cole Johnson from the 7-Day disabled list. Elizabethton Twins (Appalachian League, Rk+): 8/12 - C Michael Quesada suspended (50 days, tested positive for a banned diet supplement) 8/11 - C Kelly Cross assigned to Elizabethton Twins from GCL Twins. GCL Twins (Gulf Coast League, Rk): 8/12 RHP Carl Pavano assigned to GCL Twins from Fort Myers Miracle. DSL Twins (Dominican Summer League, Foreign Rk): No Transactions this week