Thrylos

A league of their own. Interesting story, horrible baseball.

I will get a bit technical here but there is no difference "between optimisms and reality". There is one reality. Some of us chose to respond optimistically to it, while others pessimistically. I just cannot write the season off before a single Spring Training game pitch has been thrown. Remember 1987? Remember 1991? Remember 2001? I do.

Thanks for sharing! Wishing you the best of Spring Trainings and great luck the coming season

This is a regular weekly feature at The Tenth Inning Stetch and is partially reposted here. You can find the original here Here is this week's installment (heavily influenced by Spring Training) : Wishing my best to Joel Zumaya, who's career with the Twins for all practical purposes ended last Sunday. Several media outlets have mentioned that he is considering retiring from baseball and becoming a professional fisherman. Terry Ryan indicated that the Twins most likely will replace Zumaya from within the organization, which opens another position in their pen. I looked at the potential possibilities here yesterday. In another interesting story from the Twins' camp, we learned that Doumit will not be part of the first base rotation, J.R. Towles has hopes on sticking with the big team, and that Luke Hughes might actually take batting practice today. Yesterday he took swings without a ball and felt good, according to himself. Meanwhile there are reports that Revere's arm has been stronger this offseason. Paul Molitor on ESPN 1500 mentioned that yesterday Revere threw over the head of the cut-off man (Nishioki) in practice. Interesting to see how this develops. Another thing we learn yesterday is that Ron Gardenhire opened his mind and the Revere LF- Span CF- Willingham RF he (almost) wrote on stone this offseason, might not be it, if it does not make sense. Good to hear. A former member of the Twins' World Championship teams, is selling Fish Tacos, while a current Twins' pitcher is clearing the Fort Myers seas from sharks A recently departed Twins, has alreadymade his presense felt in his new team's clubhouse, while another of his former teammates who pitched last season with the Bridgeport Bluefish, is now an Angel I bet that you did not know that there is an annual MLB groundskeeper's convension and an MLB Groundskeepers Hall of Fame. I didn't. Now we all do. The Twins' player Tweet of the week award goes to Ben Revere with this one. When Ben retires from baseball, he has a bright future in fortune cookie script writing. Niko Goodrum gets second place with this advice. Also from the tweet deparment, Ben Revere thinks that a certain fast food joint, holds the secret to hitting home runs You can read the remaining article, including the picture of the week and the word of the week here

This is a regular weekly feature at The Tenth Inning Stetch and is partially reposted here. You can find the original here Here is this week's installment (heavily influenced by Spring Training) : Wishing my best to Joel Zumaya, who's career with the Twins for all practical purposes ended last Sunday. Several media outlets have mentioned that he is considering retiring from baseball and becoming a professional fisherman. Terry Ryan indicated that the Twins most likely will replace Zumaya from within the organization, which opens another position in their pen. I looked at the potential possibilities here yesterday. In another interesting story from the Twins' camp, we learned that Doumit will not be part of the first base rotation, J.R. Towles has hopes on sticking with the big team, and that Luke Hughes might actually take batting practice today. Yesterday he took swings without a ball and felt good, according to himself. Meanwhile there are reports that Revere's arm has been stronger this offseason. Paul Molitor on ESPN 1500 mentioned that yesterday Revere threw over the head of the cut-off man (Nishioki) in practice. Interesting to see how this develops. Another thing we learn yesterday is that Ron Gardenhire opened his mind and the Revere LF- Span CF- Willingham RF he (almost) wrote on stone this offseason, might not be it, if it does not make sense. Good to hear. A former member of the Twins' World Championship teams, is selling Fish Tacos, while a current Twins' pitcher is clearing the Fort Myers seas from sharks A recently departed Twins, has alreadymade his presense felt in his new team's clubhouse, while another of his former teammates who pitched last season with the Bridgeport Bluefish, is now an Angel I bet that you did not know that there is an annual MLB groundskeeper's convension and an MLB Groundskeepers Hall of Fame. I didn't. Now we all do. The Twins' player Tweet of the week award goes to Ben Revere with this one. When Ben retires from baseball, he has a bright future in fortune cookie script writing. Niko Goodrum gets second place with this advice. Also from the tweet deparment, Ben Revere thinks that a certain fast food joint, holds the secret to hitting home runs You can read the remaining article, including the picture of the week and the word of the week here

in which way? other than the fact that they were not liked by Gardy? I'd rather see them trade Gardy than those two...

Alright. And I shoot straight too and the universe knows that I am not a huge Ryan or Gardenhire fan (to put it mildly...), but I love to play Devil's advocate, so here is what I think: I think that Perkins will be fine. I think that Duensing should have never been in the rotation in 2011 and will be fine in the pen as a LOOGY (as long as the manager of the millennium does not let him face too many righties). I think that Capps will be fine, if he feels good. I pretty much take those 3 as givens. Let me know if you disagree. Rewind to 2004 Spring Training. The Twins had 2 left over pitchers (Romero and Rincon) and a bunch of "misfits", including a guy who they designated as their closer who was decent as a late inning reliever, an injury risk but not "established" (Nathan), 3 waiver wire/cheap signs (Guerrier, Roa, Fultz) and a kid (Crain). That pen on paper was very very iffy. Let me know if you disagree. But they made it happen. We both know that Burnett is better than what he has shown in the majors because he was rushed after a stellar season in New Britain at age 21. He might put it together this season. Always like Swarzak, but being a swingman in the pen took his toll on him. If they hand him a job and let him do it, he might surprise. Doyle has potential. Oliveros is 24 years old. All it will take is one of the others to step up... I really do not see bringing is another washed up veteran benefiting this team at this point...

about time Speaking of, has Pudge declared retirement yet? The Twins should sign him to a Minor League contract and have him play with his kid in GCL league this season

With Pavano and Marquis gone, Liriano a free agent and Baker with a very expensive option, the Twins' rotation will look a lot different a year from now...

If I remember correctly, the 2004 bullpen was comprised by a couple of leftovers (Romero, Rincon) and a bunch of bupkis (for the non-Yiddish speaking folks out there, it means "nobodies"), like Roa, Fultz, Guerrier and Nathan and a couple of young kids like Balfour, Crain who stepped it up. This can happen this season as well...

Just thought of something... but I need to check with you TC people for accuracy: If I am correct, Mr Phunn himself is a radio guy and not a sports reporter, correct? And he himself has not been to clubhouses and locker rooms recently. So he just basically told himself to shut up. Nice.

I heard that little rant too... He was refering to the negativity in the blogosphere after the Zumaya injury related to Ryan not having a plan B after Zumaya. Agreed it was to rile people up and I really gave it as much thought as Souhan's rants Regardless, I think that the one thing that radio personalities really underestimate is the frustration of the Twins' fans (and bloggers) after last season, which got compound by a. the team not really making any drastic changes to react (even to the medical staff) and b. the MLB player payroll was cut. Right or wrong there is a lot of frustration going on there

Let's see how spring training goes, and how the first month of the season go, and then I might agree that Ryan would have to react...

Aaron Bates, he really raked over in Puerto Rico this winter and will fight for a bench spot, esp if Morneau is not 100%

This was originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch and partially reposted here for space considerations. The original can be found here. Joel Zumaya left the mount on Saturday with elbow discomfort, cutting his workout short. Terry Ryan announced on Sunday that an MRI showed that he has torn his UCL, will undergo Tommy John surgery and not pitch for a month. It is unclear whether the Twins released him yet, but at this point that is a technicality, because by releasing him they will save $450,000 and pay him only the guaranteed $400,000. There are 32 remaining pitchers (64 arms) in the Twins' spring training camp. From those, I would argue that the following 9 are locks to make the team, leaving 23 players to fight for 3 open bullpen spots. Here is a list of my locks: Rotation: Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Francisco Liriano, Jason Marquis, Carl Pavano Pen: Matt Capps, Brian Duensing, Glen Perkins, Anthony Swarzak (3 open spots) Lets examine the remaining 23 pitchers a bit closer. The following is a list of the pitchers in the Twins' camp broken down by whether they are in the 40-man roster or not (there is a spot available now that Zumaya is not with the team) sorted alphabetically. I also list their age, whether they are left-handed or right-handed, whether they are starters or relieves, their 2011 MLB average fastball velocity (they do have to replace someone who touched triple digits), their career major league and minor league numbers and their off-season fall or winter league numbers. Here is the list: On the 40-man roster: Alex Burnett RHP, 24, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 93.3; reliever MLB Career: 98.1 IP, 5.40 ERA, 1.485 WHIP, 6.4 K/9, 1.57 K/BB, 4.60 FIP, 4.64 xFIP MiLB Career: 519.2 IP, 3.41 ERA, 1.201 WHIP, 7.0 K/9, 2.97 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Scott Diamond LHP, 25, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 88.8; starter MLB Career: 39 IP, 5.08 ERA, 1.744 WHIP, 4.4 K/9, 1.12 K/BB, 4.36 FIP, 4.87 xFIP MiLB Career: 565.1 IP, 3.77 ERA, 1.415 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, 2.46 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Terry Doyle RHP, 26, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : N/A; starter MLB Career: N/A MiLB Career: 422.2 IP, 2.94 ERA, 1.143 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 3.93 K/BB 2012 Winter (AFL): 27.1 IP, 1.98 ERA, 0.62 WHIP, 5 BB, 22 K Jeff Gray RHP, 30, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 92.9; reliever MLB Career: 88.2 IP, 4.57 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 5.1 K/9, 1.61 K/BB, 4.47 FIP, 4.41 xFIP MiLB Career: 409.2 IP, 3.56 ERA, 1.225 WHIP, 6.6 K/9, 2.98 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Deolis Guerra RHP, 23, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : N/A; reliever MLB Career: N/A MiLB Career: 680 IP, 4.95 ERA, 1.413 WHIP, 6.5 K/9, 1.94 K/BB 2012 Winter (VWL): 26.2 IP, 3.71 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 7 BB, 23 K Carlos Gutierrez RHP, 25, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : N/A; reliever MLB Career: N/A MiLB Career: 321 IP, 4.07 ERA, 1.430 WHIP, 6.4 K/9, 1.68 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Liam Hendriks RHP, 23, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 90; starter MLB Career: 23.1 IP, 6.17 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 6.2 K/9, 2.67 K/BB, 4.10 FIP, 3.66 xFIP MiLB Career: 375.2 IP, 2.78 ERA, 1.089 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, 5.72 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Matt Maloney LHP, 28, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 86.8; starter MLB Career: 80 IP, 5.40 ERA, 1.450 WHIP, 6.1 K/9, 3.18 K/BB, 5.48 FIP, 4.57 xFIP MiLB Career: 890.1 IP, 3.27 ERA, 1.178 WHIP, 8.3 K/9, 3.34 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Jeff Manship RHP, 27, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 90; starter MLB Career: 64 IP, 5.63 ERA, 1.609 WHIP, 6.2 K/9, 1.76 K/BB, 4.35 FIP, 4.57 xFIP MiLB Career: 574 IP, 3.54 ERA, 1.268 WHIP, 7.3 K/9, 3.24 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Lester Oliveros RHP, 24, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 93.9; Reliever MLB Career: 21.1 IP, 4.64 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 5.5 K/9, 1.18 K/BB, 3.35 FIP, 4.71 xFIP MiLB Career: 275.2 IP, 3.21 ERA, 1.288 WHIP, 11.2 K/9, 2.84 K/BB 2012 Winter (VWL): 20.1 IP, 1.33 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 9 BB, 18 K Tyler Robertson LHP, 24, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : N/A; starter/reliever MLB Career: N/A MiLB Career: 616.1 IP, 3.69 ERA, 1.379 WHIP, 7.9 K/9, 2.47 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Kyle Waldrop RHP, 26, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 88.4; reliever MLB Career: 11 IP, 5.73 ERA, 1.455 WHIP, 4.1 K/9, 0.83 K/BB, 4.93 FIP, 4.44 xFIP MiLB Career: 779 IP, 3.63 ERA, 1.276 WHIP, 5.7 K/9, 2.91 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Not on the 40-man roster: Jason Bulger RHP, 33, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 91.6; reliever MLB Career: 133 IP, 4.33 ERA, 1.406 WHIP, 9.3 K/9, 1.84 K/BB, 4.49 FIP, 4.17 xFIP MiLB Career: 405 IP, 3.80 ERA, 1.398 WHIP, 10.9 K/9, 2.58 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Jared Burton RHP, 33, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 90.7; reliever MLB Career: 169 IP, 3.41 ERA, 1.325 WHIP, 7.6 K/9, 1.96 K/BB, 3.97 FIP, 4.39 xFIP MiLB Career: 340.2 IP, 3.46 ERA, 1.253 WHIP, 8.6 K/9, 2.56 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Samuel Deduno RHP, 28, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 89.2; reliever MLB Career: 5.2 IP, 3.18 ERA, 2.118 WHIP, 11.1 K/9, 1.75 K/BB, 4.99 FIP, 3.57 xFIP MiLB Career: 738.1 IP, 4.29 ERA, 1.423 WHIP, 9.6 K/9, 1.88 K/BB 2012 Winter (DWL): 6 IP, 1.50 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 4 BB, 13 K Phil Dumatrait LHP, 28, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 91; reliever MLB Career: 151 IP, 6.20 ERA, 1.781 WHIP, 5.8 K/9, 1.08 K/BB, 5.76 FIP, 5.33 xFIP MiLB Career: 883.1 IP, 3.66 ERA, 1.396 WHIP, 6.7 K/9, 1.59 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Casey Fien RHP, 28, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 91.5 (2010) ; reliever MLB Career: 14 IP, 8.36 ERA, 1.643 WHIP, 5.8 K/9, 1.50 K/BB, 6.81 FIP, 5.41 xFIP MiLB Career: 311 IP, 3.07 ERA, 1.125 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 4.43 K/BB 2012 Winter(DWL): 30.2 IP, 4.40 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 8 BB, 31K Luis Perdomo RHP, 28, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 93.6; reliever MLB Career: 61 IP, 4.87 ERA, 1.508 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 1.62 K/BB, 5.52 FIP, 4.12 xFIP MiLB Career: 313 IP, 3.65 ERA, 1.310 WHIP, 8.4 K/9, 2.06 K/BB 2012 Winter(DWL): 21.1 IP, 2.11 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 3 BB, 16K Aaron Thompson LHP, 25, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 88.1; starter/reliever MLB Career: 7.2 IP, 7.04 ERA, 2.478 WHIP, 1.2 K/9, 0.17 K/BB, 8.50 FIP, 7.08 xFIP MiLB Career: 783 IP, 4.37 ERA, 1.483 WHIP, 6.7 K/9, 2.15 K/BB 2012 Winter (DWL): 21.2 IP, 6.10 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 4 BB, 3 K Daryl Thompson RHP, 26, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 91.2; starter/reliever MLB Career: 17.1 IP, 8.31 ERA, 2.192 WHIP, 3.1 K/9, 0.50 K/BB, 6.92 FIP, 6.63 xFIP MiLB Career: 711.1 IP, 3.73 ERA, 1.247 WHIP, 7.5 K/9, 2.96 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Esmerling Vasquez RHP, 28, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 93.4; reliever MLB Career: 137 IP, 4.66 ERA, 1.496 WHIP, 7.9 K/9, 1.50 K/BB, 4.50 FIP, 4.90 xFIP MiLB Career: 512.1 IP, 4.55 ERA, 1.440 WHIP, 8.4 K/9, 1.73 K/BB 2012 Winter (DWL): 9 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 7 BB, 9 K P.J. Walters RHP, 27, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 88.8; starter/reliever MLB Career: 51 IP, 7.24 ERA, 1.529 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, 1.82 K/BB, 5.86 FIP, 4.40 xFIP MiLB Career: 702 IP, 4.06 ERA, 1.345 WHIP, 8.5 K/9, 2.73 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Brendan Wise RHP, 26, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : N/A ; reliever MLB Career: N/A MiLB Career: 424.1 IP, 3.37 ERA, 1.317 WHIP, 4.8 K/9, 1.77 K/BB 2012 Winter (ABL): 4 IP, 0 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 3 BB, 2 K So this is how it looks on paper... Who has a chance to make the team? for analysis, please continue to the orginal article at The Tenth Inning Stretch

This was originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch and partially reposted here for space considerations. The original can be found here. Joel Zumaya left the mount on Saturday with elbow discomfort, cutting his workout short. Terry Ryan announced on Sunday that an MRI showed that he has torn his UCL, will undergo Tommy John surgery and not pitch for a month. It is unclear whether the Twins released him yet, but at this point that is a technicality, because by releasing him they will save $450,000 and pay him only the guaranteed $400,000. There are 32 remaining pitchers (64 arms) in the Twins' spring training camp. From those, I would argue that the following 9 are locks to make the team, leaving 23 players to fight for 3 open bullpen spots. Here is a list of my locks: Rotation: Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Francisco Liriano, Jason Marquis, Carl Pavano Pen: Matt Capps, Brian Duensing, Glen Perkins, Anthony Swarzak (3 open spots) Lets examine the remaining 23 pitchers a bit closer. The following is a list of the pitchers in the Twins' camp broken down by whether they are in the 40-man roster or not (there is a spot available now that Zumaya is not with the team) sorted alphabetically. I also list their age, whether they are left-handed or right-handed, whether they are starters or relieves, their 2011 MLB average fastball velocity (they do have to replace someone who touched triple digits), their career major league and minor league numbers and their off-season fall or winter league numbers. Here is the list: On the 40-man roster: Alex Burnett RHP, 24, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 93.3; reliever MLB Career: 98.1 IP, 5.40 ERA, 1.485 WHIP, 6.4 K/9, 1.57 K/BB, 4.60 FIP, 4.64 xFIP MiLB Career: 519.2 IP, 3.41 ERA, 1.201 WHIP, 7.0 K/9, 2.97 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Scott Diamond LHP, 25, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 88.8; starter MLB Career: 39 IP, 5.08 ERA, 1.744 WHIP, 4.4 K/9, 1.12 K/BB, 4.36 FIP, 4.87 xFIP MiLB Career: 565.1 IP, 3.77 ERA, 1.415 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, 2.46 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Terry Doyle RHP, 26, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : N/A; starter MLB Career: N/A MiLB Career: 422.2 IP, 2.94 ERA, 1.143 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 3.93 K/BB 2012 Winter (AFL): 27.1 IP, 1.98 ERA, 0.62 WHIP, 5 BB, 22 K Jeff Gray RHP, 30, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 92.9; reliever MLB Career: 88.2 IP, 4.57 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 5.1 K/9, 1.61 K/BB, 4.47 FIP, 4.41 xFIP MiLB Career: 409.2 IP, 3.56 ERA, 1.225 WHIP, 6.6 K/9, 2.98 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Deolis Guerra RHP, 23, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : N/A; reliever MLB Career: N/A MiLB Career: 680 IP, 4.95 ERA, 1.413 WHIP, 6.5 K/9, 1.94 K/BB 2012 Winter (VWL): 26.2 IP, 3.71 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, 7 BB, 23 K Carlos Gutierrez RHP, 25, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : N/A; reliever MLB Career: N/A MiLB Career: 321 IP, 4.07 ERA, 1.430 WHIP, 6.4 K/9, 1.68 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Liam Hendriks RHP, 23, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 90; starter MLB Career: 23.1 IP, 6.17 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 6.2 K/9, 2.67 K/BB, 4.10 FIP, 3.66 xFIP MiLB Career: 375.2 IP, 2.78 ERA, 1.089 WHIP, 8.2 K/9, 5.72 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Matt Maloney LHP, 28, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 86.8; starter MLB Career: 80 IP, 5.40 ERA, 1.450 WHIP, 6.1 K/9, 3.18 K/BB, 5.48 FIP, 4.57 xFIP MiLB Career: 890.1 IP, 3.27 ERA, 1.178 WHIP, 8.3 K/9, 3.34 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Jeff Manship RHP, 27, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 90; starter MLB Career: 64 IP, 5.63 ERA, 1.609 WHIP, 6.2 K/9, 1.76 K/BB, 4.35 FIP, 4.57 xFIP MiLB Career: 574 IP, 3.54 ERA, 1.268 WHIP, 7.3 K/9, 3.24 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Lester Oliveros RHP, 24, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 93.9; Reliever MLB Career: 21.1 IP, 4.64 ERA, 1.500 WHIP, 5.5 K/9, 1.18 K/BB, 3.35 FIP, 4.71 xFIP MiLB Career: 275.2 IP, 3.21 ERA, 1.288 WHIP, 11.2 K/9, 2.84 K/BB 2012 Winter (VWL): 20.1 IP, 1.33 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 9 BB, 18 K Tyler Robertson LHP, 24, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : N/A; starter/reliever MLB Career: N/A MiLB Career: 616.1 IP, 3.69 ERA, 1.379 WHIP, 7.9 K/9, 2.47 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Kyle Waldrop RHP, 26, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 88.4; reliever MLB Career: 11 IP, 5.73 ERA, 1.455 WHIP, 4.1 K/9, 0.83 K/BB, 4.93 FIP, 4.44 xFIP MiLB Career: 779 IP, 3.63 ERA, 1.276 WHIP, 5.7 K/9, 2.91 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Not on the 40-man roster: Jason Bulger RHP, 33, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 91.6; reliever MLB Career: 133 IP, 4.33 ERA, 1.406 WHIP, 9.3 K/9, 1.84 K/BB, 4.49 FIP, 4.17 xFIP MiLB Career: 405 IP, 3.80 ERA, 1.398 WHIP, 10.9 K/9, 2.58 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Jared Burton RHP, 33, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 90.7; reliever MLB Career: 169 IP, 3.41 ERA, 1.325 WHIP, 7.6 K/9, 1.96 K/BB, 3.97 FIP, 4.39 xFIP MiLB Career: 340.2 IP, 3.46 ERA, 1.253 WHIP, 8.6 K/9, 2.56 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Samuel Deduno RHP, 28, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 89.2; reliever MLB Career: 5.2 IP, 3.18 ERA, 2.118 WHIP, 11.1 K/9, 1.75 K/BB, 4.99 FIP, 3.57 xFIP MiLB Career: 738.1 IP, 4.29 ERA, 1.423 WHIP, 9.6 K/9, 1.88 K/BB 2012 Winter (DWL): 6 IP, 1.50 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 4 BB, 13 K Phil Dumatrait LHP, 28, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 91; reliever MLB Career: 151 IP, 6.20 ERA, 1.781 WHIP, 5.8 K/9, 1.08 K/BB, 5.76 FIP, 5.33 xFIP MiLB Career: 883.1 IP, 3.66 ERA, 1.396 WHIP, 6.7 K/9, 1.59 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Casey Fien RHP, 28, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 91.5 (2010) ; reliever MLB Career: 14 IP, 8.36 ERA, 1.643 WHIP, 5.8 K/9, 1.50 K/BB, 6.81 FIP, 5.41 xFIP MiLB Career: 311 IP, 3.07 ERA, 1.125 WHIP, 9.0 K/9, 4.43 K/BB 2012 Winter(DWL): 30.2 IP, 4.40 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 8 BB, 31K Luis Perdomo RHP, 28, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 93.6; reliever MLB Career: 61 IP, 4.87 ERA, 1.508 WHIP, 8.1 K/9, 1.62 K/BB, 5.52 FIP, 4.12 xFIP MiLB Career: 313 IP, 3.65 ERA, 1.310 WHIP, 8.4 K/9, 2.06 K/BB 2012 Winter(DWL): 21.1 IP, 2.11 ERA, 0.80 WHIP, 3 BB, 16K Aaron Thompson LHP, 25, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 88.1; starter/reliever MLB Career: 7.2 IP, 7.04 ERA, 2.478 WHIP, 1.2 K/9, 0.17 K/BB, 8.50 FIP, 7.08 xFIP MiLB Career: 783 IP, 4.37 ERA, 1.483 WHIP, 6.7 K/9, 2.15 K/BB 2012 Winter (DWL): 21.2 IP, 6.10 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 4 BB, 3 K Daryl Thompson RHP, 26, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 91.2; starter/reliever MLB Career: 17.1 IP, 8.31 ERA, 2.192 WHIP, 3.1 K/9, 0.50 K/BB, 6.92 FIP, 6.63 xFIP MiLB Career: 711.1 IP, 3.73 ERA, 1.247 WHIP, 7.5 K/9, 2.96 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Esmerling Vasquez RHP, 28, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 93.4; reliever MLB Career: 137 IP, 4.66 ERA, 1.496 WHIP, 7.9 K/9, 1.50 K/BB, 4.50 FIP, 4.90 xFIP MiLB Career: 512.1 IP, 4.55 ERA, 1.440 WHIP, 8.4 K/9, 1.73 K/BB 2012 Winter (DWL): 9 IP, 3.00 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 7 BB, 9 K P.J. Walters RHP, 27, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : 88.8; starter/reliever MLB Career: 51 IP, 7.24 ERA, 1.529 WHIP, 7.1 K/9, 1.82 K/BB, 5.86 FIP, 4.40 xFIP MiLB Career: 702 IP, 4.06 ERA, 1.345 WHIP, 8.5 K/9, 2.73 K/BB 2012 Winter: N/A Brendan Wise RHP, 26, 2011 MLB Average FB (PitchF/X) : N/A ; reliever MLB Career: N/A MiLB Career: 424.1 IP, 3.37 ERA, 1.317 WHIP, 4.8 K/9, 1.77 K/BB 2012 Winter (ABL): 4 IP, 0 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 3 BB, 2 K So this is how it looks on paper... Who has a chance to make the team? for analysis, please continue to the orginal article at The Tenth Inning Stretch

Music to my ears Love WPA, btw a couple of questions: a. Survey says, Joel Zumaya's WPA is 2.38 over 5 seasons; please find a reliever at that price who can do better b. Can we have a write up about Mike Cuddyer's WPA?

alright busted. I do not know who that Strasburg guy is and I quit following baseball since Walter Johnson hanged them but I looked at that video (great video btw) and it is so darn hard to take screenshots from youtube, esp when Seaver is throwing 100 mph heat out there. But check this out: and it is at the far end of his delivery (after he does the splits) but it clearly has the path of the ball pretty much marked... See that smiley face? That, my friend, is an inverted W delivery....

Inverted W haven't heard of that witch hunt thing since Mark Prior Alright, here is a picture of someone delivering a pitch, not only with the "inverted W" (kinda hard to see from that ankle) but while doing the splits on the mount.... Horrible mechanics? Horrible pitcher? Injury risk? Any guesses on who he is? (and don't try to read the flie name )

I'd say Oliveros, but Gray/Burton/Bulger/Vasquez et al, might think differently

As far as A ball and high A ball, distance from the parent club does not make much difference (there is just not that much interaction and/or player movement). Now, as far as AAA goes, that is a whole different story. Other than the Jays (who have their AAA club in Vegas), the Twins' AAA is the longest distance from their parent club in pro ball. This is not too good. That's where there are opportunities, not in single A ball...

I have zero problem with the Zumaya signing. I'd rather see the Twins "gamble" for someone with a high upside than playing it safe with mediocre signings. And they are down $400K. Good seed money for a kid whose career is pretty much done as a player. Bringing in a mediocre veteran reliever or two would not have made much difference (as a matter of fact thay got 3 of those in camp in Gray, Burton and Bulger, albeit in better terms.) I really feel confident that some of the younger pitchers in the camp will step it up and make things happen for the Twins this season...

"If the Twins were serious about contending this year, they should have signed or traded for a legitimate middle-of-the-rotation starter to take 180-220 innings, all of which are by definition winnable or losable games, since they are after all starting a tied game." Would you be happy, if they signed a guy who could pitch 216 innings, with an ERA around 4 and win 15 games? If so, those were Jason Marquis' numbers in Colorado (of all places) in 2009...

Reporting Day 3/6. First full practice 3/8. First games on 3/14 I have all the games, opponents and locations here.

Ryan was live on ESPN 1500 radio a bit ago (with Souhan, so there was a lot of directed negativity) and practically he did not say anything more. They are concerned and especially because of his history. Looks like the Twins will know the MRI results later today and they will probably go on twitter (with about 6 reporters in Ft Myers now) pretty fast I suspect. I did a little exercise and now that the notebooks are all posted, I was looking for quotes about Zumaya from the Twins and I think that it might be better than what we thought initially. If you care, I compiled that stuff and kinda came to a conclusion here.