Seth Stohs

Much has been made about the Twins' aversion to making young slugger Miguel Sano an everyday designated hitter. But it hasn't been just Sano, The club has avoided committing regular DH at-bats to any single player for several years now. There were five teams that had a player DH at least 100 games in 2016: the Red Sox (David Ortiz, 140), Tigers (Victor Martinez, 138), Royals (Kendrys Morales, 138), Angels (Albert Pujols, 123) and Mariners (Nelson Cruz, 107). Four more teams had a DH meet that mark in 2015: the Yankees (Alex Rodriguez), Rangers (Prince Fielder), Astros (Evan Gattis) and A's (Billy Butler). That's nine of the 15 AL teams who've had a player meet the century mark in games at DH the last two seasons. How about the rest of the league? Image courtesy of Ken Blaze, USA Today Much has been made about the Twins' aversion to making young slugger Miguel Sano an everyday designated hitter. But it hasn't been just Sano, The club has avoided committing regular DH at-bats to any single player for several years now. There were five teams that had a player DH at least 100 games in 2016: the Red Sox (David Ortiz, 140), Tigers (Victor Martinez, 138), Royals (Kendrys Morales, 138), Angels (Albert Pujols, 123) and Mariners (Nelson Cruz, 107). Four more teams had a DH meet that mark in 2015: the Yankees (Alex Rodriguez), Rangers (Prince Fielder), Astros (Evan Gattis) and A's (Billy Butler). That's nine of the 15 AL teams who've had a player meet the century mark in games at DH the last two seasons. How about the rest of the league? You have to go back to 2011 to the last time the Orioles (Vlad Guerrero) and Rays (Johnny Damon) had a 100-game DH, and 2010 for the Blue Jays (Adam Lind) and Indians (Travis Hafner). The White Sox have had their share of veteran sluggers, but the last time they had a player DH in 100 games was 2008 (Jim Thome, who also reached 99 games at DH in '09). That would be the longest drought without an "everyday" DH, except for the fact the Twins have them beat ... by a decade. The last Twins player to DH 100 games? Paul Molitor in 1998 (he also accomplished the feat in '97 & '96). The last time the Twins even had a guy DH in half their games was in 2009 (Jason Kubel, 82). Things were especially unstable at DH last season. Miguel Sano and Byungho Park shared the team lead in appearances at DH with just 36. Joe Mauer (34), Robbie Grossman (19) and Kennys Vargas (13) also had at least 10 games at DH. The only other teams to fail to have a player reach even 60 games at DH were the Yankees (led by A-Rod's 57 games) and A's (led by 53 games at DH for Khris Davis). But it's not like that was all by design. Of course, if Park continued his hot start Paul Molitor would have gladly penciled him in at DH 100-plus times last season. Park had a .900 OPS through his first month and a half in the big leagues before falling apart. And maybe Terry Ryan would never have brought in Park if the team didn't feel it was too early to make 23-year-old Sano an everyday DH. To be fair, that was an entirely sensible approach to take (deciding to put him in right field is another discussion). Even the greatest designated hitters of all-time spent many of their younger years in the field. Any discussion about great designated hitters has to start with David Ortiz, right? Despite being in his mid-20s, the Twins were primarily DHing Ortiz in his last three years in Minnesota, but he played first base in 79 games over his first two seasons in Boston. Once he turned 29, Ortiz never played in more than 10 games in the field in a season. Chili Davis mostly played outfield prior to coming to Minnesota in 1991 and switching to DH as a 31-year-old. Jim Thome was a third baseman through age 25 and didn't switch to DH until joining the White Sox at age 35. Paul Molitor played all over the diamond before becoming a primary DH at age 35. Edgar Martinez primarily played third base until he was 32. Harold Baines was an outfielder before he switched to DH in his age 28 season. Frank Thomas was one of the biggest dudes to play the game, but even he played more first base until he was 30. One last bit of DH info fun, since the DH was instituted in 1973 the Twins have had a 100-game DH 12 times. That's the exact number of seasons David Ortiz played at least 100 games as a DH. Here is the list of Twins' leader in DH games for each season (over 100 games in bold): 16: Miguel Sano/Byungho Park 36 15: Miguel Sano 69 14: Kennys Vargas 40 13: Ryan Doumit 49 12: Ryan Doumit 48 11: Jim Thome 59 10: Jim Thome 79 09: Jason Kubel 82 08: Jason Kubel 85 07: Jason Kubel 36 06: Rondell White 54 05: Matt LeCroy 63 04: Jose Offerman 39 03: Matt LeCroy 63 02: David Ortiz 95 01: David Ortiz 80 00: David Ortiz 88 99: Marty Cordova 85 98: Paul Molitor 115 97: Paul Molitor 122 96: Paul Molitor 143 95: Pedro Munoz 77 94: Dave Winfield 76 93: Dave Winfield 105 92: Chili Davis 125 91: Chili Davis 150 90: Gene Larkin 43 89: Jim Dwyer 73 88: Gene Larkin 86 87: Roy Smalley 73 86: Roy Smalley 114 85: Roy Smalley 56 84: Randy Bush 88 83: Randy Bush 104 82: Randy Johnson 66 81: Glenn Adams 62 80: Jose Morales 85 79: Jose Morales 77 78: Glenn Adams 100 77: Craig Kusick 85 76: Craig Kusick 79 75: Tony Oliva 120 74: Tony Oliva 112 73: Tony Oliva 142 View full article

We've got just four more votes to go... help me with some names:

From Press Release: MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, MN – The Minnesota Twins announced today that Thad Levine has been named the club’s Senior Vice President, General Manager. “I’m thrilled to add Thad Levine to the Twins baseball operations leadership team,” said Twins Executive Vice President, Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey. “I couldn’t envision a better partner to help return championship-caliber baseball to Minnesota. Thad’s leadership and management experiences across all facets of baseball operations make him the perfect fit for the role, and I’m looking forward to executing our vision together.” Levine, 44, has spent the last 11 seasons as the Assistant General Manager for the Texas Rangers after being appointed to that role in October of 2005. He spent the previous six seasons in the Colorado Rockies organization, working as Senior Director of Baseball Operations in 2005, Director of Baseball Administration from 2002-04 and Assistant Director of Baseball Administration from 1999-2002. His career in baseball began with the Los Angeles Dodgers in business development in 1999. “As I embark on what I hope to be the most impactful phase of my career, I would like to thank the Pohlad family, Derek Falvey, Dave St. Peter and the Minnesota Twins fans for giving me the opportunity to join the Minnesota Twins family,” Levine said. “I am inspired to work for the Twins franchise, known as being one of the best organizations in all of professional sports due to the stalwart leadership of the Pohlad family, commitment of its loyal workforce, talent of its players and unflagging loyalty of its fans.” As Assistant General Manager for the Rangers, Levine assisted President of Baseball Operations and General Manager Jon Daniels in all areas of major league operations, including player acquisitions, roster composition, contract negotiations, statistical and financial analyses and also oversaw the Rangers international scouting department. “I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the owners of the Texas Rangers, Ray Davis, Bob Simpson, Neil Leibman, Ken Hersh and Brent Clum, as well as my dear friend and mentor Jon Daniels,” Levine added. Levine has marketing experience with Coca-Cola, The Rockport Company and Reebok, Ltd. Additionally, he served on the Board of Directors of the Sports Challenge Leadership Academy and Texas Rangers Charitable Foundation, and was the Co-Founder of Meaningful Wins, a charity fantasy football organization. The Virginia native earned a bachelor’s degree from Haverford College in 1994 where he played baseball and earned a Masters of Business Administration from UCLA in 1999. Thad and his wife, Claudette, have two daughters, Greta (8) and Tess (4), and a son, Quinn (6).

The below infograph is interesting with some good information on Thad Levine... the Twins new Senior Vice President and General Manager... http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/min/fan_forum/infographics/meet-levine/ https://twitter.com/Twins/status/794200122267549696

In my opinion, the ideal hitter's purpose is this: 1.) Know the strike zone. 2.) Know areas within the strike zone that you can crush the ball. 3.) If you get that pitch, crush it. 4.) If it's not a strike, don't swing at it. I'd never advocate walking as a hitter's purpose, though reading those four things should say that if the pitcher doesn't throw strikes, take the walk.

I want to state this, and I think it came out in the article, but maybe not. 1.) I believe managers often over-manage in the playoffs. 2.) Joe Maddon and Terry Francona are both great managers. 3.) Maddon made some decisions that I would questions. That doesn't mean I'm smarter than him, just that we disagreed... which again, fits the second-guesser mold. 4.) All managers will make decisions in game that fans will agree with or disagree with. It doesn't have to be - and shouldn't - always be based on certain things. They have inside information that none of us do. 5.) I think Grady Little getting fired - basically for that one decision - is crazy.

On Wednesday night, World Series Game 7 was played in Cleveland. And what a game it was. I’m biased as a Twins fans into saying that the 1991 World Series was the greatest of all-time. The 2016 Game 7 was right up there. There were big plays, big hits, big defensive plays. There was good pitching. There were questionable calls by umpires, and by the managers. The game had everything. Congratulations to the Chicago Cubs on their World Series championship. Image courtesy of Ken Blaze, USA Today On Wednesday night, World Series Game 7 was played in Cleveland. And what a game it was. I’m biased as a Twins fans into saying that the 1991 World Series was the greatest of all-time. The 2016 Game 7 was right up there. There were big plays, big hits, big defensive plays. There was good pitching. There were questionable calls by umpires, and by the managers. The game had everything. Congratulations to the Chicago Cubs on their World Series championship. As with any baseball game, there are usually a series of plays, calls or decisions that can affect the final outcome. In the playoffs in general, and especially in a World Series Game 7 atmosphere, the second-guessing is done by millions and millions of people across the country, around the globe. Let’s be honest, social media makes it very easy. Frankly, second-guessing (or first-guessing, if you prefer) is part of the allure of baseball. It’s a game that so many played when they were young. It’s a game that doesn’t appear to be anywhere near as hard as it is. It’s a game in which everyone can be questioned. It’s part of what makes Twins Daily successful. Every decision a GM makes can be argued and discussed. A manager’s lineup construction or in-game tendencies can be questioned. Pitcher-catcher pitch-selection is always up for debate. Generally speaking, I try not to take any real hard stands on those types of things. I may not understand, but I’d say with certainty that the person making the decision (GM, manager, player) did so with a lot more information at his fingertips than I would have had. The World Series provided plenty of opportunity for second guessing. Here are just some examples. It has been well over a decade since a starting pitcher has thrown games 1, 4 and 7 of the World Series. The game has changed and teams seem to prefer to use their pitchers on more rest rather than pitch their starters on short rest. Terry Francona chose to go with a three-man starting staff in the World Series (Corey Kluber, Trevor Bauer, Josh Tomlin) rather than go with a fourth starter. Meanwhile, Maddon’s Cubs rotation included Jon Lester, Jake Arrieta, Kyle Hendricks and John Lackey. To be fair to Francona, he’s had to piece things together from a starting pitcher standpoint throughout the playoffs. He hasn’t been able to use two of his best starters, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar, in that role. He used Ryan Merritt for one game in the ALCS. What will some fans may think? The game has changed. Starters don’t do this, and the numbers generally back up the fact that when a pitcher works on short-rest, the numbers aren’t as good. (What I was thinking? When Cleveland had a 3-1 series lead - after Kluber pitched well on short-rest in Game 4 - I may have gone back to Merritt to start Game 5. Bauer hasn’t been on - even when he wasn’t bleeding out - this postseason, and Tomlin wasn’t very good most of the year. I would have started Bauer in Game 6 with Tomlin in relief, if necessary. But I have no problem with going back to Kluber for Game 7.) What was Francona is thinking? He’s thinking that his starter only needs to give him five innings before he’ll start going to his dominant bullpen of Brian Shaw, Andrew Miller and Cody Allen. In doing so, he is able to limit the number of pitches that his starter throws in each game and cumulatively. In Game 7, Cubs starter Kyle Hendricks - who is the favorite to win the NL Cy Young Award this year - gave up one run over 4 ⅔ innings. He issued a walk - that should have been a strikeout if not for a missed strike call - and Joe Maddon removed him from the game. Hendricks isn’t dominant. He’s a pitcher in the Brad Radke mold. But Hendricks was pitching well. Jon Lester, who started Game 5, warmed up in the bullpen. For a long time. With Jason Kipnis coming up, Maddon went to Lester. How it panned out isn’t as important as the process (for this discussion, at least, obviously the results are all that matter in a Game 7 situation) for our discussion. Kipnis nubbed a ball down the third base line. David Ross, who came into the game when Lester did (replacing Willson Contreras), threw to first and it got away, allowing runners to go to 2nd and 3rd. Lester then bounced a slider that hit off of Ross’s helmet and toward the 1B dugout, far enough that two runs scored on it. In the moment, it didn’t look like the decision would pay off. (To make it more interesting, Ross hit a solo home run to dead center off of Andrew Miller to bump the Cubs lead back up to 6-3. Lester settled down and got out of the 5th inning. He worked scoreless 6th and 7th frames and got two outs in the 8th as well.) What are fans are thinking? Hendricks is pitching well, and he’s had a good year. We don’t care about pitcher wins, the stat, but it’s hard not to feel bad for Hendricks who deserved better. What’s Maddon’s thinking? This is Hendrick’s third time through the lineup. I’ve got Lester, who has been warming up a long time. If I don’t go to him now, he’ll have thrown too many pitches in the bullpen and won’t be available. In the end, Maddon’s job is to use information he has to make the best decision with the goal of winning that one game. And then the big one… In Game 6, the Cubs had a big lead in the 7th inning. Joe Maddon decided to bring Aroldis Chapman into the game. He got out of a situation, but then despite the Cubs adding on more runs, Chapman remained in the game. What do many fans think? Chapman isn’t really a multiple inning guy and what if he’s needed in an actually close game in Game 7? Will he be available to pitch? What was Maddon thinking? First and foremost, he’s thinking win Game 6. If they don’t do that, there is no Game 7. Win Game 6 and worry about Game 7 when it comes. The Result - Clearly Chapman was not himself in Game 7. Sure, he hit 101 and 102 a couple of times, but it wasn’t the same. He wasn’t as sharp. He looked tired. He gave up a two-run, game-tying home run to Rajai Davis. Then again, he got the final out of the eighth and worked a perfect ninth inning. Was it completely because of his excessive usage the night before? It’s impossible to say. It is something that Joe Maddon will likely ask himself over and over again in the offseason. Game 7s are always great. Do you ever wonder how the 1987 or 1991 World Series might have been different if Twitter and blogs would have been around then? Let’s be honest, Twitter was still in its infancy when the Twins were last in a playoff series. Remember when Grady Little decided to stick with his ace, Pedro Martinez. The decision backfired. The Red Sox lost. Little was fired. Joe Maddon made several very questionable decisions in Games 6 and 7. Using Chapman for so long in a blowout. Taking Hendricks out of the game in the 5th inning for no reason. Having Javier Baez attempt a safety squeeze bunt on a full-count with a runner on third and one out? The decision to fire Little, in my opinion, was silly. I’m certainly not advocating for Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer to fire Maddon. I do think that the playoffs magnify everything, and Maddon made some questionable choices. And you know what… he also helped bring the Chicago Cubs their first World Series title in 108 years! At the end of the day (or even into the morning of the next day), we were able to witness two great baseball teams who both had long World Series droughts play an epic Game 7. We are all winners for it, even the second-guessers. ---------------------------------------------------- Why did I write an article that really has little or nothing to do with the Minnesota Twins? Honestly, while watching Game 7, my thought was… this type of second-guessing of a manager is so much more fun than questioning whether Paul Molitor should bring in Pat Light or Pat Dean to replace Andrew Albers with the Twins down 8-2 in the 5th inning of a mid-September game. I long for the days of questioning Ron Gardenhire decisions in the playoffs! View full article

Those weather gods any relation to the baseball gods? I prefer Cleveland win, even if I can' say/type their team name.. Mainly cuz I just hate that the Cubs fans believe in this curse stuff. Good for MLB/Fox that they're in there and they're in a 7th game. I actually like a lot of the Cubs young players... And yes, I will actually watch Game 7 tonight... probably.

Reminder... this will become available after the final out of the World Series, Game 7, tonight...

The Vote for #16:

Game 7! What's not to like... Which "curse" will end tonight? I can guarantee one of the will win! Here are the lineups: CUBS Dexter Fowler CF Kyle Schwarber DH Kris Bryant 3B Anthony Rizzo 1B Ben Zobrist LF Addison Russell SS Willson Contreras C Jason Heyward RF Javier Baez 2B SP: Kyle Hendricks CLEVELAND Carlos Santana DH Jason Kipnis 2B Francisco Lindor SS Mike Napoli 1B Jose Ramirez 3B Lonnie Chisenhall RF Rajai Davis CF Coco Crisp LF Roberto Perez C SP: Corey Kluber

Pretty sure I referenced Baerga (as Boom Boom) and Tartabull. Missed Oliveros. Also missed Brian Navarreto who is from Puerto Rico but was drafted out of high school in Florida.

The series shifts back to Cleveland for at least one more game. What's going to happen after an off day yesterday? Here are the lineups: Cubs Dexter Fowler CF Kyle Schwarber DH Kris Bryant 3B Anthony Rizzo 1B Ben Zobrist LF Addison Russell SS Willson Contreras C Jason Heyward RF Javy Baez 2B SP: Jake Arrieta Cleveland Carlos Santana DH Jason Kipnis 2B Francisco Lindor SS Mike Napoli 1B Jose Ramirez 3B Lonnie Chisenhall RF Coco Crisp LF Tyler Naquin CF Roberto Perez C SP: James Tomlin

https://twitter.com/twinsdaily/status/793490852131635201

https://twitter.com/twinsdaily/status/793088802881474560

Nothing official, but comparing it to previous years, I will guess that they'll report around March 12 and first games against other teams would be maybe the 18th or 19th.

The Twins clearly have made a concerted, focused effort in Puerto Rico in recent years. It's a good thing as the island with about 3.6 million people has really produced a lot of baseball talent. Hiram Bithorn became the first Puerto Rican-born player in Major League Baseball when he debuted for the Chicago Cubs in 1942. He went 27-26 with a 3.04 ERA over those two seasons before spending two years fighting in the Navy in World War II. He returned and spent parts of two more seasons in the big leagues. The stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital, is named in his honor. Here is a look at history of players from Puerto Rico in MLB since then with a focus on those in the Twins organization. Image courtesy of Rick Osentoski, USA Today The Twins clearly have made a concerted, focused effort in Puerto Rico in recent years. It's a good thing as the island with about 3.6 million people has really produced a lot of baseball talent. Hiram Bithorn became the first Puerto Rican-born player in Major League Baseball when he debuted for the Chicago Cubs in 1942. He went 27-26 with a 3.04 ERA over those two seasons before spending two years fighting in the Navy in World War II. He returned and spent parts of two more seasons in the big leagues. The stadium in San Juan, Puerto Rico's capital, is named in his honor. Here is a look at history of players from Puerto Rico in MLB since then with a focus on those in the Twins organization. Since Bithorn joined the ranks of big leaguer in 1942, a total of 257 players from Puerto Rico have spent time in Major League Baseball. The Twins have had quite a few players from there as well. A list of players from Puerto Rico is quite impressive. There are been three players from Puerto Rico who are currently in baseball's Hall of Fame with a couple more who either will be shortly or at least deserve strong consideration. The most recent inductee is the great Roberto Alomar. Orlando Cepeda had a tremendous playing career. But if you talk to people from Puerto Rico, Roberto Clemente is the greatest player from the island. Clemente passed away in a plane crash delivering relief goods to Nicaragua on New Year's Eve of 1972. He was just 38-years-old and had a couple of years remaining in a career. He had reached the 3,000 hit club in his final game. Players from the country have frequently made attempts to get Clemente's Number 21 retired. Ivan Rodriguez is one of the greatest catchers of all-time and should join those three in the Hall soon. 2017 is his first year of eligibility. Sandy Alomar, Jr., and Benito Santiago were a couple more catchers who had great careers. Speaking of catchers, Bengie, Jose and Yadier Molina are all from Puerto Rico too. Carlos Delgado is the all-time leader in home runs for a player from Puerto Rico. He hit 473 in his career and drove in 1,512 runs. Juan Gonzalez hit .295 with 434 home runs and 1,404 RBI in his career. Bernie Williams and Jorge Posada were huge parts of those strong Yankees teams in the 1990s. Ruben Sierra had a terrific career, hitting over 300 home runs and playing 20 years. Javier Vazquez's 165 wins is most in MLB history by a player from Puerto Rico. Juan Pizarro won 131 games over his 19 season MLB career. Willie Hernandez won a Cy Young and MVP for the Tigers in 1984. Jose Cruz (and Jose Cruz, Jr.). Danny Tartabull. Jose Vidro. Mike Lowell. Jose Oquendo. Juan Beniquez. Carlos "Boom Boom" Baerga. Carlos Beltran just completed his 19th season in the big leagues. He has hit .281/.354/.492 (.845) with 536 doubles, 78 triples, 421 home runs, 1,536 RBI and 1,522 runs scored. He won the Rookie of the Year award as a Royals outfielder in 1999, has played in nine All-Star games, won three Gold Gloves and two Silver Slugger awards. After two years of construction, the Carlos Beltran Academy, a high school for kids in Florida, Puerto Rico. The academy accepts kids ages 14 to 18, and kids get instruction from MLB players. Its first graduating class was in 2013, and since then, several players have been drafted by MLB teams. Some of today's brightest young stars are from Puerto Rico. Carlos Correa, Javier Baez and Francisco Lindor grew up in Puerto Rico. Two of the top pitching prospects in baseball, Jose Berrios and Jose De Leon, are also from the island country. TWINS IN PUERTO RICO The Twins have had many players from Puerto Rico. Some of been good. Others, maybe not so much. THE PAST For instance, lefty reliever Juan Agosto posted an 8.86 ERA in 17 games for the Twins in 1986, but it was just a blip in his 13 seasons in MLB. Here are more players from Puerto Rico who spent time in a Twins uniform: Orlando Merced - 13-year career, signed with Twins before 1998 season. Traded at July deadline for Matt Kinney and more. Jose Morales - Catcher who spent parts of three seasons with the Twins, mostly as a backup. Vic Power - Already had four All-Star appearances and won some Gold Gloves before coming to the Twins in 1962. Spent the next three seasons with the Twins and won Gold Gloves all three seasons. Rene Rivera - Played 53 games for Seattle from 2004 to 2006. Resurfaced in the big leagues as Twins backup catcher in 2011. Still just 33, he is a well-respected backstop who has caught over 100 games two of the last three years. JC Romero - Came up with the Twins as a starter in 1999. Shifted to bullpen in 2002 and went 9-2 with a 1.89 ERA in 81 innings. Seven of his 14 seasons were with the Twins. Javier Valentin - Debuted in September of 1997 before backing up Terry Steinbach for the Twins the next two seasons. Then didn't play for the Twins (four games) three years later. Went on to play six more seasons in the big leagues. He is now a coach for the GCL Twins. Junior Ortiz - He wore the number zero. Just two of his 13 MLB seasons were with the Twins, but he was Scott Erickson's personal catcher in 1990 and 1991. Jesus Vega - Had 41 at bats in 16 games for the Twins in 1979 and 1980. He hit five homer runs in 71 games for the Twins in 1982. THE PRESENT The present also looks a lot like the future. Kennys Vargas burst on the scene with a strong power display the last two months of 2014. He struggled in 2015. In 2016, he got another chance and had a very strong July. He's out of options, so he'll likely make the Twins roster in 2017. Eddie Rosario was a surprise April call up in 2015, but he stayed, and he played very well. He filled out the stat line with double figures in doubles, triples, home runs, and he led the league in outfield assists. 2016 was a struggle for the free swinger. Juan Centeno came to the Twins as a minor league free agent before the 2016 season. He spent most of the season as the Twins backup catcher. Jose Berrios is a big part of the Twins future. He debuted in 2016 to mixed results. We saw glimpses of what could be through a lot of thestruggles. THE FUTURE There are several minor leaguers in the Twins system from Puerto Rico. OF Edgar Corcino split 2016 between Ft. Myers and Chattanooga. JJ Fernandez was drafted as a catcher, but he has transitioned to the outfield in Cedar Rapids. Lean Marrero was drafted as a 17-year-old outfielder in 2015. He's spent these two seasons in the Gulf Coast League. IF Nelson Molina started 2016 in extended spring training, but he came up to Cedar Rapids and had a very nice full-season debut. Jose Miranda was one of two Twins supplemental 2nd round pick this year. The shortstop debuted in the GCL. Dereck Rodriguez is the son of Ivan Rodriguez. He was drafted by the Twins and spent three seasons as an outfielder before moving ot the mound. He struggled early in 2016 with the Kernels, but the light appears to have switched on. He ended the season pitching well in Ft. Myers. The players from Puerto Rico that I have talked to are all so proud of their country and their countrymen. Jose Berrios takes pride in what his friends Javier Baez and Francisco Lindor are doing this postseason. Nelson Molina and JJ Fernandez talked about how much it meant to them when Kennys Vargas, Eddie Rosario and Jose Berrios were called up to the big leagues. That kind of pride is infectious! Residents of Puerto Rico are US citizens. It has been a territory of the United States since 1898, the Spanish-American War. It's a small island. In fact, the widest spot across the island is approximately 40 miles wide. In addition to tourism, he island exports many products, but may be best known for its rum. And its baseball players. Great baseball players. View full article

Not sure how it ended, but somewhere around mid-season, Garver's pitch framing stats were really good, well above average. Turner's were average. I mean, take that for what it's worth.

With the WBC going on, MLB spring training will start up earlier in 2017! Pitcher and Catchers will report on Monday, February 13. First workout the next day. The rest of the team is to report on Saturday, February 18, with the first full-squad workout on the 19th. They will play 35 games, the first on February 25th. The team will also host two games against WBC teams in early March, one against Team USA, another against Team Colombia. Minnesota Day is March 12. That's always fun.

North Shore Nine is a Pirates blog. They're doing a series on potential trade targets for the team, and Brian Dozier's name is on the list. I find it interesting just because of the names that they would offer for Dozier, and compare it to what I would expect the Twins to acquire for Dozier. Comments interesting too. http://northshorenine.com/EBH8y

From his AFL report, MLB.com's Josh Jackson wrote a nice piece on Twins LHP Mason Melotakis. He was scheduled to pitch in Arizona two years ago, but he instead had Tommy John surgery. He was on the fast track, but obviously surgery delayed things. He's handled them in stride. In his first year back from Tommy John surgery, he threw 33.1 innings over 36 appearances. Basically, he is one year behind JT Chargois in terms of return. And we can draw some similarities in how they were/are being handled. In their first years after surgery, neither pitched more than 1 inning in any appearance or worked on back-to-back days. That can be controlled better in the minor leagues. As frustrated as some were with Chargois not being up sooner in 2016, the organization (understandably) wanted to put him into some multi-inning appearances and back-to-back game situations to see how he rebounded. Again, those things can be controlled in the minors. Once Chargois got to the big leagues, we saw him pitch often more than an inning and frequently in back-to-back appearances. It should be considered a WIN for the Twins organization in successfully bringing him back. I would expect the same as far as how Melotakis would be handled in 2017... He's got plus-stuff and a late-inning mentality. He has a chance to be really good in the near future. http://www.milb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20161031&content_id=207516072&fext=.jsp&vkey=news_milb&sid=milb

Game 5, Sunday night in Chicago. Cleveland leads the series 3 games to 1. Here are the lineups: Cubs Dexter Fowler CF Kris Bryant 3B Anthony Rizzo 1B Ben Zobrist LF Addison Russell SS Jason Heyward RF Javier Baez 2B David Ross C Jon Lester SP Cleveland Carlos Santana LF Jason Kipnis 2B Francisco Lindor SS Mike Napoli 1B Jose Ramirez 3B Lonnie Chisenhall RF Roberto Perez C Tyler Naquin LF Josh Tomlin SP

I think there are plenty of reasons not to buy anything of Vargas's July stats... but they were good. The general theory/thought is that in September (and March) numbers have to be taken with a degree of caution because they often happen against younger guys too. It's just a saying.