Thrylos

JC, you cannot talk about "Small Sample Sizes" and false conclusions made based on those, and then dish Liriano in the same breath because has has underperformed in a small sample size

If you look at Capps' career FB velocities, you'll see that the 2009 and 2010 values are an aberration. His career average FB has been at high 92s every other season so getting back to that might not be much of a surprice and might not indicate health issues. Plus it is early in the season and most pitchers' velocities are a bit off from their season peaks. This off-season he developed the splitter and has been using it in games with some success. Still too early. Let's see...

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Yesterday, I have written why Luke Hughes got a rotten deal but the Twins, but I think I let another reason out: this was a great way for Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire to get his consanguine Drew Butera up to majors, claiming that he could use 3 catchers. Interestingly enough, Stealing a page from Pontius Pilatus' book, Terry Ryan, the Twins' interim GM, washed his hands from accountability on player personnel decisions in the Twins' organization, especially the Luke Hughes release, attributing those decisions to Ron Gardenhire and proclaimed that his role is "just" that of a facilitator (last paragraph in the linked article.) So Terry Ryan's role is to "facilitate" Ron Gardenhire's personnel decisions. Yesterday, within half day after I tweeted this, my fears about Gardenhire's true intentions were confirmed by Rhett Bollinger the Twins' MLB.com beat writer... Also in the last paragraph of this writeup by La Velle Neal and in the last paragraph of this one by Rhett Bollinger, albeit a bit subdued by quotes of Gardenhire not being sure of what he wants to do and that he wants "to do the right thing" (unfortunately, the time for the latter has passed...) Here is the reason why Luke Hughes was released: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7124/7094507787_d053a7396b_o.jpg When that decision will be announced, expect to hear about how that will provide the club with versatility and about how much better Drew has been hitting this season in Rochester. Meanwhile, hints like the ones I mentioned previously about Butera's ascent to the major leagues will be coming slowly and steadily... I hope that the Twins' fans and ownership have long enough memories and hold accountable the people who are responsible for losing...

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- Yesterday, I have written why Luke Hughes got a rotten deal but the Twins, but I think I let another reason out: this was a great way for Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire to get his consanguine Drew Butera up to majors, claiming that he could use 3 catchers. Interestingly enough, Stealing a page from Pontius Pilatus' book, Terry Ryan, the Twins' interim GM, washed his hands from accountability on player personnel decisions in the Twins' organization, especially the Luke Hughes release, attributing those decisions to Ron Gardenhire and proclaimed that his role is "just" that of a facilitator (last paragraph in the linked article.) So Terry Ryan's role is to "facilitate" Ron Gardenhire's personnel decisions. Yesterday, within half day after I tweeted this, my fears about Gardenhire's true intentions were confirmed by Rhett Bollinger the Twins' MLB.com beat writer... Also in the last paragraph of this writeup by La Velle Neal and in the last paragraph of this one by Rhett Bollinger, albeit a bit subdued by quotes of Gardenhire not being sure of what he wants to do and that he wants "to do the right thing" (unfortunately, the time for the latter has passed...) Here is the reason why Luke Hughes was released: http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7124/7094507787_d053a7396b_o.jpg When that decision will be announced, expect to hear about how that will provide the club with versatility and about how much better Drew has been hitting this season in Rochester. Meanwhile, hints like the ones I mentioned previously about Butera's ascent to the major leagues will be coming slowly and steadily... I hope that the Twins' fans and ownership have long enough memories and hold accountable the people who are responsible for losing...

For starters: After a 99-loss season the only change that was made was to get rid of someone who was a titular head. The medical staff has been proven incompetent by the day. No change. The manager and his staff led this team to a 99-loss season. No change. No other changes in the front office or in the minor leagues other than a couple in Rochester to appeace the locals in a contract year. Look at how the Red Sox performed in 2011 (compared to how the Twins did) and look at what the Red Sox did because they did not meet expectations (compared to what the Twins did not do.) The Red Sox got rid of the Manager and General Manager who brought them a World Series and ended what they thought it was a curse of around an eon long. Because they underperformed. That is the sign of an accountable organization. The Twins who underperformed much worse did nothing (other than hack a titular head, shuffle the deck) and go their mary way of being happy with not winning since 1991.

Waldrop has 3 option years remaining

Agreed. But with that comes accountability for decisions when they do not pan out like in 2011, 2008, 2007, 2005, plus on the post-season rosters. And unfortunately nobody ever holds Gardenhire accountable for mediocrity, they just attribute it to external factors (like injuries, "luck", etc) or find enough excuses (and I am sure that we will see some here in reply to this .) Fortunately, after the 2011 debacle the tide has started to turn and at least a large amount of Twins' fans do realize that someone should be held accountable when the team does not win...

Here is comes from the horse's mouth: (paraphrasing) Gardy said that next week they will have 12 pitchers and there is a chance they will have 3 catchers. All a plot to get Drew again in the majors.

John Shipley published a nice tidbit about the relationship of Ryan and Gardenhire in one of his stories yesterday. Here is a direct quote (italics) from the interim GM (emphasis mine) : So apparently Gardenhire is extremely involved in roster decisions and not "playing with what the GM gives him". Gardenhire was responsible for the Twins' latest roster decision and will probably be for the next as well. Very interesting to see the interim GM washing his hands proclaiming that his role was "just facilititating". Very interesting, especially in light of everything he was saying about "accountability" across the organization when he was named the interim GM last November...

He did but looking at the roster (unless I counted wrong) without counting Baker, they have only 39. Link of the official roster here

Yes, having a 3rd catcher and especially Butera makes no sense at all, but this is Gardenhire we are talking about... For some reason he sees something in Butera the rest of the world does not...

John, I think that your #5 is a valid reason, as long as it concerns their own players vs. free agents (Cabrera, Hudson, Crede and Carroll are not too fleet of foot). As far as Bill Smith goes, I think that he was just a titular head. Ryan was always part of the decision making process...

I understand Mackey's argument for Nishioka coming back and might make sense - and if that happens Plouffe is full-time 1B/OF/DH, but I think that Gardenhire will try to make everything possible to get Butera up to the majors again.

It was never clearing a spot on the 40-man roster... Can easily place Baker on the 60 day DL to clear one. Space on the 25 man was necessary

The 40-man spot was never a problem (could have put Baker on the 60 day DL to open one if needed but was not needed because Marquis was already on the 40-man roster ). The 25-man spot was the problem. Because Hughes is out of options, in order to be removed from the 25-man roster, he had to be removed from the 40-man as well... Just a clarification that is lost in the details...

Got to have a little fun with that MC Hammer song and the result was this: JD Hammer: Can't Catch This. Enjoy

I think that right now, conclusions can be made about the NFL draft only The MLB rule 4 draft is still far away. A couple of wildcards in those lists you see out there: The people who make the lists spend time scouting in the US and centered on certain areas in the US particularly. At some point later this spring we will start hearing about talent in Puerto Rico and Canada. Also, some of the kids, esp. high school would have developed until last time seen by the people who make lists. Still too early, but I think that the Twins should get the pitcher with the highest potential (which is different that the 'most ready now' pitcher) with the #2 overall pick

Dave Winfield too

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- By now the fact that the Twins have designated Luke Hughes for assignment to clear a 25-man roster for Jason Marquis is old news. I have always felt that Luke Hughes was a player with a lot of potential but for some reason the Twins did not see that and unfortunately might be added to a list of players including David Ortiz, Sergio Santos and Garrett Jones who have flourished after the Twins released them. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7264/6947325476_e4a0b9fc13_o.jpg Why Luke Hughes got a rotten deal by the Twins? He was not given a chance when he deserved it, but was by-passed for lesser players: In 2008 when he was 23 years old,in a season split between Rochester and New Britain he hit .309/.369/.524 with 18 HR. If Brian Dozier has these numbers in 2012 in Rochester at age 25 and he is not with the Twins in 2013, there will be cries of "bloody murder" all over. Instead of giving Hughes a chance to a starting job in 2009, the Twins signed 34 year old Orlando Cabrera, 31 year old Joe Crede, and acquired 28 year old Brendan Harris. In addition they gave additional bench and starting opportunities to Matt Tolbert (27) and Brian Buscher (28) who never had any talent. Luke Hughes has a rare talent: He is a power hitting middle infielder who can be a late bloomer. Luke's career major league isoP is .118 in 335 plate appearances. Hiscareer minor league slash line is .268/.330/.419 (.155 isoP) up to his age 26 season. This compares pretty nicely to Dan Uggla's career MiLB numbers (.276/.347/.442, .166 isoP) who had to be a rule 5 pick up afterhis age 26 season to flourish. Luke Hughes has Dan Uggla potential which was either not seen or not appreciated by the Twins http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7275/6947325536_be77e1daee_o.jpg Luke Hughes is a versatile player: There have been rumors recently around Luke Hughes. By now Twins' fans with an open mind know how those originate: usually when the team (read Ron Gardenhire) does not like someone, certain writers are given tidbits to spread around. Slowey and Perkins (during his grievance season) are a couple of recent examples; even more recently the manager and the interim general manager were publicly saying that they were frustrated by Scott Baker's unwillingness to "let it rip", while the guy had a torn UCL.) The rumors that you will hear about Luke Hughes is that a. he is not a versatile player and b. his defense was suspect. To kill this right away, Luke played all positions in the field, including pitching a scoreless inning (one hit allowed) in a game with the New Britain Rock Cats in 2007, other than Catcher; this season Gardenhire himself named him the Twins' emergency catcher. So if that is not being versatile, I am not sure what versatility is. As a matter of fact, Luke has played more positions than Michael Cuddyer (who cannot play LF) who has been a darling of his manager and thus the Twin Cities media. Luke Hughes is an above average fielder. The second part of the rumor mill you will hear is that Luke Hughes is not a "good enough fielder" (and ironically this will start from the same people who were starting Mike Cuddyer at 2B and CF last season.) The fact is that in limited opportunities on the field in 3 seasons in MLB, his fielding has been 4.1 runs above average based on Fangraphs' fielding WAR. He saved 5 runs above average based on Baseball Info Solutions defensive runs saved above average. In 319.3 innings his UZR/150 at 2B has been +6.8, and in 282 innings, his UZR/150at 1B has been +11.0. They are lesser players still with the Twins. There is absolutely no reason the Luke Hughes should be designated for assignment and Sean Burroughs and Jeff Gray remain with the Club. Do the Twins really need 13 pitchers? Terry Ryan spoke about accountability when he was named the interim manager. I hope that he holds himself and his field manager accountable for their decisions. I wish the best luck to Luke Hughes who has been in the Minnesota Twins' family for 10 years. Hopefully he will pass waivers and be in Rochester and come back with the Twins under better front office and field management circumstances http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7179/7093396495_dfb5f74075_o.jpg

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- By now the fact that the Twins have designated Luke Hughes for assignment to clear a 25-man roster for Jason Marquis is old news. I have always felt that Luke Hughes was a player with a lot of potential but for some reason the Twins did not see that and unfortunately might be added to a list of players including David Ortiz, Sergio Santos and Garrett Jones who have flourished after the Twins released them. http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7264/6947325476_e4a0b9fc13_o.jpg Why Luke Hughes got a rotten deal by the Twins? He was not given a chance when he deserved it, but was by-passed for lesser players: In 2008 when he was 23 years old,in a season split between Rochester and New Britain he hit .309/.369/.524 with 18 HR. If Brian Dozier has these numbers in 2012 in Rochester at age 25 and he is not with the Twins in 2013, there will be cries of "bloody murder" all over. Instead of giving Hughes a chance to a starting job in 2009, the Twins signed 34 year old Orlando Cabrera, 31 year old Joe Crede, and acquired 28 year old Brendan Harris. In addition they gave additional bench and starting opportunities to Matt Tolbert (27) and Brian Buscher (28) who never had any talent. Luke Hughes has a rare talent: He is a power hitting middle infielder who can be a late bloomer. Luke's career major league isoP is .118 in 335 plate appearances. Hiscareer minor league slash line is .268/.330/.419 (.155 isoP) up to his age 26 season. This compares pretty nicely to Dan Uggla's career MiLB numbers (.276/.347/.442, .166 isoP) who had to be a rule 5 pick up afterhis age 26 season to flourish. Luke Hughes has Dan Uggla potential which was either not seen or not appreciated by the Twins http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7275/6947325536_be77e1daee_o.jpg Luke Hughes is a versatile player: There have been rumors recently around Luke Hughes. By now Twins' fans with an open mind know how those originate: usually when the team (read Ron Gardenhire) does not like someone, certain writers are given tidbits to spread around. Slowey and Perkins (during his grievance season) are a couple of recent examples; even more recently the manager and the interim general manager were publicly saying that they were frustrated by Scott Baker's unwillingness to "let it rip", while the guy had a torn UCL.) The rumors that you will hear about Luke Hughes is that a. he is not a versatile player and b. his defense was suspect. To kill this right away, Luke played all positions in the field, including pitching a scoreless inning (one hit allowed) in a game with the New Britain Rock Cats in 2007, other than Catcher; this season Gardenhire himself named him the Twins' emergency catcher. So if that is not being versatile, I am not sure what versatility is. As a matter of fact, Luke has played more positions than Michael Cuddyer (who cannot play LF) who has been a darling of his manager and thus the Twin Cities media. Luke Hughes is an above average fielder. The second part of the rumor mill you will hear is that Luke Hughes is not a "good enough fielder" (and ironically this will start from the same people who were starting Mike Cuddyer at 2B and CF last season.) The fact is that in limited opportunities on the field in 3 seasons in MLB, his fielding has been 4.1 runs above average based on Fangraphs' fielding WAR. He saved 5 runs above average based on Baseball Info Solutions defensive runs saved above average. In 319.3 innings his UZR/150 at 2B has been +6.8, and in 282 innings, his UZR/150at 1B has been +11.0. They are lesser players still with the Twins. There is absolutely no reason the Luke Hughes should be designated for assignment and Sean Burroughs and Jeff Gray remain with the Club. Do the Twins really need 13 pitchers? Terry Ryan spoke about accountability when he was named the interim manager. I hope that he holds himself and his field manager accountable for their decisions. I wish the best luck to Luke Hughes who has been in the Minnesota Twins' family for 10 years. Hopefully he will pass waivers and be in Rochester and come back with the Twins under better front office and field management circumstances http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7179/7093396495_dfb5f74075_o.jpg

I've been thinking about that overnight and here is a summary of my thoughts on the subject: 5 reasons why Luke Hughes got a rotten deal by the Twins

Got to define "productive" better, but I think that Revere will have higher career WAR in the majors that Cuddyer. Guess my answer is "True" too.

Well, they could have removed Nishioka from the 40 man roster to add Bowden I don't like this move. Burroughs is not as good a player as Hughes is and Gray does not belong to the majors. I think that this is going to be another Garrett Jones/Sergio Santos regreatable move for the Twins. At least Ryan is still "interim"...

Bad move... Burroughs or Gray should had been DFA'd.

This article has more information. He is 20 years old and will be coming over in June probably to join one of the rookie leagues