Thrylos

It's the red hair they like. Not the Twins, but while in Japan, he really got a hold of a slider that became pretty effective and has been a good pitch for him. Add that to 3 more pitches (FB, slow CB and CH) and he does have quite an arsenal. But he is 33. On the other hand, he is better than Guerrier/Deduno/&Co were last season. I don't think that he is competing with Graham. I want to believe that Graham has a spot already. He is competing with the likes of Thielbar and the second loser (if has options) of the 5th rotation spot battle.

Boyer... Gee

There are already 2 lefties in the pen, so no need for a third, thus no need for Thielbar or Thompson. I think that both Graham and Boyer are ahead of them (as they should be) at this point. Also unlikely that either Milone or May will end up in the pen. They will be in a rotation. Twins' or Red Wings'.

Williams did the thing with Hamburger. The first one was earlier

re: "Keystone Kop moments". Kinda amazed that Hunter did not get 2 Es in that play (over-running the ball, moving runners to second and third & throwing at RF after that fact, allowing a run to score and moving the other runner to second.) That was the one "ER" for Graham. Hamburger did his own dramatics late at the game (with JD Williams a perfect supporting act,) but thankfully Liam Hendricks and Bobby Korecky did their team in

This is the third and last, but not least, segment in this series. You can find the first segment (fixing the bullpen) and the rationale for the series here, and the second segment (fixing the outfield) here. I think that the most important (and at times the hardest, or the easiest) thing to fix for the Twins is the team attitude.How do you measure attitude and how does attitude prevent a team from winning, and what is that "attitude" thing anyway. Isn't that the thing that your parents and teachers talked about when you were growing up, or something else. Well, as far as baseball goes, I will let former Twins' player and Texas Rangers' manager Ron Washington describe it in this 30 second video. To borrow Washington's words, a winning attitude is when you "expect to win" and "do everything you need to do to win". Arguably, the Minnesota Twins in the last couple of decades have had as a motto (at their best,) do all you can do (aka bust your tail) and you win some, you lose some. Those were exactly the words of a smiling Michael Cudduyer at the Twins' dugout, on September 30, 2008, after the Twins lost game 163 to the White Sox. Part of the reason they lost was that Cuddyer did not do what he needed to do to win, colliding with and forcing the ball out of AJ Pierzynski's glove to score. And giving it your all and being "good enough" has been the Twins' motto. And the majority of fans were OK with "good enough" during the '00s, winning the title of the weakest division in baseball about half of the time and then going belly up during the postseason when they played the AL East. And if the fans are happy with "good enough", and that is more than "good enough" as far as revenue goes, and you get a brand new ballpark and brand new season ticket sales, why even bother to think about fixing it? That was the Twins' past decade of "glory", in half a paragraph. And then the glory went south. What happened? Well, the Twins did not even do all they could do on the field and add that to a culture of favoritism in the clubhouse, where it did not matter to some whether the veterans did all they could do or not. But when people outside the inner circle opened their mouths, they were thrown under the proverbial bus. Add that to not expecting to win as a starting point, and you get 99 + 96 + 96 + 92. And most importantly, there has been no reason for even the most fervent Twins fans to believe that this team could win. Thus a drop in ticket sales, thus a drop in revenue, thus... To win, a team needs a leader who expects to win and make sure that his players and coaches do everything they need to do to win. Here was the most common expression of the previous Twins' leader during games the last several seasons (hanging on to the dugout railing optional) : Is this the expression someone who is doing all he needed to do to win and lead by example. Is this the expression of someone who expects his team to win? Or is this the expression of someone who looks defeated and solemn? Rhetorical question. There was not a more obvious time for me to see that the Twins players were not only not doing what they needed to do, but not even all they could do, and that this was OK with the manager and the coaches, than this particular game last spring training. Before I went down there last season, I did have hopes that with the changes they made in the rotation, plus some players improving, they had a chance to break even and have an 81-81 record. But after what I saw, I predicted that the Twins would end the 2014 season with a 70-92 record. That is the past, and tomorrow I am landing at Fort Myers, for a week-long stay and I'll be able to see how things are this year, but I have a feeling that they are heading in the right direction.Getting rid of their manager and pitching coach and replacing them with good baseball people and a Hall-of-Famer as manager will add about 10 wins this year. They also brought back Torii Hunter. It did not make much sense at the time, and I think that the guy is a p---k, plus he left the Twins' in free agency just for money and he added insult to the injury by signing with the Twins biggest division rival in his second free agency, but there might yet be something positive. As I indicated here, Hunter can help the young players (who were tainted by the Twins' clubhouse attitude, it is no secret) realize that they have to at least give it their all and lead by example. I have seen signs from Molitor that he is leading his players toward doing what they need to do. First example was the no-cell phone policy during game days, which was awful last season. Players need to focus in the game and not on their social media during game day. Second, he benched Aaron Hicks during a game for losing track of outs, a gesture that had not happened during a Twins' spring training since 1965, when Sam Mele, the Twins' manager, took Zoilo Versalles(the eventual 1965 MVP) out of the lineup because of lack of effort. And you know what the Twins did in 1965. Also, after a couple of mishaps on short fly balls and lack of communication between infielders and outfielders, Molitor had extra drills with the whole team for those circumstances. In previous years, veterans and the inner circle would be excluded and only few would participate in similar drills. There are a lot of positive signs that a realization has occurred that the team's attitude needs to change to win, and actual steps are being taken in this direction. I will know more about how things will play out in this department in ten days or so, after I return from Fort Myers, having seen the team play this spring. Last year I predicted that 70-92, based on what I saw, I hope that this year, it is the reverse... Click here to view the article

Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- Today the Twins were playing against the Philadelphia Phillies at Clearwater, so it was a back field day at Fort Myers, to have a better look at the Twins' prospects. Blustery and overcast day, which rained up in Clearwater enough to delay the Twins-Phillies start time and later in Fort Myers to wash everything out in the back fields at around the 8th inning. But there was some great action: At field three, the AAA players were playing against the Orioles AAA team and at field four, the AA players against another Oriole team. Later at field two the Twins high A and A teams had a scrimmage. Because of the weather situation at Clearwater, Ervin Santana stayed at Fort Myers, to join the AAA team, and it was the focus of attention. I am certain that there will be reports about his pitching, LEN3 was there, among others, and was watching carefully, but my attention was at field four at the Chattanooga team. I did see Santana throw 4 sliders in a row, which left a wide-eyed Orioles played unable to do anything but strike out looking (one was in the ground for a ball) and I had enough. For the Lookouts, the starter was DJ Baxendale, a pitcher who pitched the single most dominating game I have ever seen two years minus a day ago, and made it all the way to number 15 in my 2014 off-season Twins prospects list, but struggled mightly once he reached New Britain, so I was eager to see how he was pitching. He pitched with mixed results. His fastball was from 88-92 with excellent movement and excellent command in the first 3 innings. He threw (not enough times) a low 70s curve that did make knees buckle and he commanded it pretty well. However his high 70s slider was lacking command and his low 80s changeup was inconsistent. I am not sure whether that slider is a new introduction to his repertoire (did not have it back then) but it does not seem like it is working. Some of the changeups were great, with a lot of tailing movement away from LHBs, but others were on the ground. Most of the mistakes were on hanging sliders, and one happened with 2 outs, after Niko Goodrum dropped an easy double play ball while trying to take it out of his glove. I think that Baxendale has shown flashes, but was not the same commanding pitcher I saw previously. Staying with the pitching side for the lookouts, he was replaced by Madison Boer who was once a borderline Twins' top ten prospect, but looked really tentative. His fastball was at 89-92 with not much movement, but did induce a couple of fly outs, and was supplemented by a violent mid-80s slider that has a lot of bite and the makings of a really filthy offering, but at this point it is not a well commanded pitch. This season is a make or break season for Boer, I believe. With a couple more miles on his fastballs and command of his slider, I do see him as a potential reliever, but the problem is that the Twins have at least half a dozen more ready righty pen arms at this point. Tim Shibuya relieved Boer and did not change my mind from what I wrote about him a couple days ago here. This Chattanooga team is a powerful one. There were 5 home runs hit at that game. Two, one from Michael Gonzalez and Adam Walker (the Twins' number 31 prospect, who had a second one to the right field) hit the middle of the batter's eye at dead center, beyond the 405 feet fence, with Walker's being a screeching line drive, while Gonzalez' a monster fly. DJ Hicks added another one to the right center, which landed at the next field and Jason Kanzler, who is doing all he can to impress while keeping Buxton's Centerfield position warm, until the major league CF job is done and the AA outfielders get demoted, hit a fifth over the left field fence. Even though the home runs were impressive, I think that the best plate appearance was by the most powerful member of the Lookouts' team and it was not a home run: with Terry Doyle, a familiar face, on the mound for the Orioles, Miguel Sano went 0-2 on a questionable inside looking strike one and a swinging strike two. He took the next four pitches (all balls and some close) and walked right before the DJ Hicks' home run. This shows that Sano is maturing as a hitter and recognizing the strike zone, which is a great thing to see from the Twins' top prospect who has been criticized about "striking out too much" by some. .. A few interesting sightings at Field Two: Felix Jorge was back on the mound throwing his pitches with good velocity and excellent command after a fairly disastrous season split between Elizabethton and Cedar Rapids. Also at hand was the Twins' number six prospect, Amaurys Minier who played left field. He made an excellent fielding play at left on a ball that was caught by the (by then really heavy) wind and moved towards the infield and his swing can generate a lot of power. He has a very powerful build, but still a lot of athleticism. In a way similar to Sano at that age, he appeared like a man among boys in that field: A couple of parting thoughts from Field Four about the Twins' number 2 and 3 prospects: Jorge Polanco made a couple of difficult plays at shortstop look routine. I am not sure how the rumors about him not being a good shortstop fielder are spread and why, but every time I see him, I am looking at an above average shortstop play. Byron Buxton has a hard time with off-speed pitches. His last plate appearance went like this: FB- Looking Strike, CH - Swinging Strike, CH (dirt in front plate) - Ball, FB (high) - Ball, FB (inside) - Ball, CH - Swinging Strike - K. Interesting situation in the outfield involving Mike Kvasnicka who played left and Buxton: There was a play at left close to center and both were going for the ball, with Kvasnicka, very loudly yelling "I got it" and Buxton letting him get it. Good to see that the lesson from the last time those guys went after the same ball was fully learned. You can find all the 2015 Spring Training coverage from Fort Myers and beyond, here.

Nah, I am not giving them credit, how is humanly possibly to get credit for building some of the worst pitching staff year after year? What I am saying is that this metric potentially shows how the Twins are thinking. Another problem he is that if you have a handful of pitchers who are above average, one or two great and above and the rest below average, you will field a below average staff. Math. And, yes, they have been targeting pitchers at the average-above average area, instead of at the great to suberb area and expecting that they will perform above (and Hughes did last season.) I'd love to look at the last season the Twins were good (2006, or last time they were competitive 2010) to see how that staff would rank based on this metric. I suspect that they would have had at least 3 "superb" pitchers in 2006 and 3-4 great. That's what you need to compete... Also, nobody can excuse the fact that they were touting Diamond as their "Ace", given any single metric in the universe said that he was at best a mid-rotation starter (e.g he was the 58th best SP in SIERA.) Cannot excuse the results on the field, which is what really matters. The points I am trying to make is that a. hey there might be a method, and at least they are getting rid of the lesser pitchers (not sure what happened to Pino) b. there needs to be some gap analysis to figure out what made the Twins pitch worse than they looked on paper (OF defense e.g.) and hopefully address it, c. there is root cause analysis to be done when someone performs worse than expected (and performs better after he left the team) and address it and d. target some of the highest performing pitchers and not only average ones with the hope that will perform better. I am not making any excuses for that front office No excuses can be reasonably made for 99+96+96+92

There are a couple things in play here: a. Worley was pretty bad (and this was what his metric describes) and b. apparently the reason he was bad was mechanics and the Twins' pitching coach did not fix it, while the Pirates' did. No contradiction there, I did not get into the root causes...

Done deal, if you are in the ballpark tomorrow.

Cannot develop someone in the majors if you expect to win. Escobar can hold SS warm for Polanco. Santana is probably at the peak of his perceived value. The solution is easy: trade high.

So you think that Buxton will be hitting breaking balls by 2016? I still am not sure about that... Got to see to believe.

Yesterday I was about 70 feet from where that ball landed. It landed about a foot and a half ahead of his foot. The major problem with that was that he was playing too shallow. The good old days Liddle used to position OFs; if that is Vavra's job now, shoot me. But that was the major issue with that play.

I wish Wrong sport

Nice meeting you and John and families this morning. Bummer about the no-games, but I bet the kids appreciated it...

This is usually something that a pitcher could address with (let's say) a fastball in the mouth; quite effective (and in case of Milone's 83 miler, not that bad) re: Centerfield and 5th SP battles. I think that the Twins are in a position to bundle someone like Milone and someone like Hughes and another prospects and see whether they can get a major league centerfielder for a season or three, until Buxton gets ready... (and if someone asks me who that would be and made me have to answer, I'd say someone like AJ Pollock)

With the unbalanced schedules of these days, a team's record has a lot to do with its division's opponents'. I'd say that the Red Sox and Blue Jays improved, and Tampa and the Orioles stayed about the same (or they balance each other with Tampa slightly improving and the O's slightly declining,) so the Yankees who did not do that much other than age another year, got to decline. Vegas is generous in this case...

I don't see a reason for the Twins not to start with both Graham and Boyer. This would mean no Thielbar and no Milone (both have options). Then there is the Stauffer scholarship spot. Boyer pitched well when I saw him the other day. 3 solid pitches good command, but velo still not there. He also quit baseball last season, so part of the deal is to see whether or not he wants to do this. That's why the opt out

Great profiles, but I don't think that any of the players mentioned here are true 5 tool talents, and that includes Buxton and Gordon. I just don't think that Buxton will hit 25 or more HRs in a season, and, in addition to that, I have more ?s about Gordon. 5 tools is kind of a utopia. I can think of one single Hall of Famer the last 30 years who was a 5 tool player (Rickey Henderson) and his power was there for only his peak 3-4 seasons. Buxton profiles more like a good Tim Raines (with a clean nose) and 1 HR in 255 PAs for Nick Gordon...

bet you can do better by the City of Palms

I see zero reason for a Twins' fan to go to AZ for ST. And it is a pretty different experience at AZ because a. facilities are shared by 2 teams and b. you cannot get close to the prospects. Yuck.

Not sure if there still is one with the new CBA, but even with the old, a team can DFA someone and trade him to the team that claimed him.

I saw Graham pitch today and have a full log of each of his pitches here. After today, I will really be surprised if he does not make the team. That good and really great composure on the mount even after a mishandled ball by Santana on a Rohlfilng throw on a CS attempt got a runner to the third with one out. Color me impressed.

Milone was pretty awful today. 1st inning was mainly fastballs, but when you are throwing 83-86, it will be batting practice when they opponents time it, and that is what happened the second inning. He threw pure junk third and fourth. I am just allergic to junk ball pitchers. I think that the Twins can do better, and if they think he might have some value to someone else, maybe they can see what they can get. From Rosario's OBP, to Hicks' hitting and glove, to Schafer's glove and batting average, Robinson actually might have put himself on top of that competition and that is something that the Twins should not stomach. Let's see what Hicks + Milone or Rosario + Milone can bring as far as a Centerfielder goes...