Seth Stohs

Baseball America posted its International League Top 20 Prospects list this morning. There was just one Twins player on the list. No surprise. #9 - JO Berrios.

Yeah, I think Mauer would struggle at 3B or in the OF. He's a 1B/DH. To me, the answer is simple. Play Plouffe at 3B four out of six games. (DH twice per week) Play Mauer at 1B four out of six games. (DH twice per week) Get Sano two starts each at 1B, 3B and DH. Keep them all fresh and keep their bats in the lineup. For as much as Mauer is bashed the last couple of years, he still gets on base better than others on the roster, and Sano needs people to knock in.

Here are the ballots: Seth: 1.) Dozier, 2.) Plouffe, 3.) Sano, 4.) Escobar, 5.) Hunter Nick: 1.) Dozier, 2.) Sano, 3.) Escobar, 4.) Gibson, 5.) Plouffe Parker: 1.) Sano, 2.) Dozier, 3.) Gibson, 4.) Mauer, 5.) Perkins John: 1.) Sano, 2.) Dozier, 3.) Hunter, 4.) Gibson, 5.) Mauer Jeremy: 1.) Dozier, 2.) Hunter, 3.) Sano, 4.) Plouffe, 5.) Escobar Cody: 1.) Dozier, 2.) Plouffe, 3.) Sano, 4.) Escobar, 5.) Gibson Steve: 1.) Dozier, 2.) Plouffe, 3.) Sano, 4.) Escobar, 5.) Hicks Eric: 1.) Dozier, 2.) Sano, 3.) Hicks, 4.) Escobar, 5.) Rosario

After handing out the 2015 Twins Daily Award for Most Improved (Aaron Hicks), Best Rookie (Miguel Sano) and Best Pitcher (Kyle Gibson), today we focus on the 2015 Minnesota Twins Most Valuable Player. Each year, it seems, there is some controversy on what the definition of “Valuable” is in baseball terms. Is it simply the best player? Is there a Leadership function to it? How about a clutch factor? How do you compare a guy who played nearly every game to a guy who was tremendous but missed half of the season? That was the decision our eight Twins Daily voters had to consider. The first half (and full season) of Brian Dozier had to be compared to the second half of Miguel Sano. There were other solid candidates as well which is why this ballot had the most variety in its vote. Image courtesy of Caylor Arnold, USA Today After handing out the 2015 Twins Daily Award for Most Improved (Aaron Hicks), Best Rookie (Miguel Sano) and Best Pitcher (Kyle Gibson), today we focus on the 2015 Minnesota Twins Most Valuable Player. Each year, it seems, there is some controversy on what the definition of “Valuable” is in baseball terms. Is it simply the best player? Is there a Leadership function to it? How about a clutch factor? How do you compare a guy who played nearly every game to a guy who was tremendous but missed half of the season? That was the decision our eight Twins Daily voters had to consider. The first half (and full season) of Brian Dozier had to be compared to the second half of Miguel Sano. There were other solid candidates as well which is why this ballot had the most variety in its vote. Each voter ranked their Twins MVP choices one through five. A first-place vote was worth five points. A second-place vote was worth four points. And so on. THE RESULTS (ballots will be shown in the comments below) Brian Dozier – 38 (6 first-place votes) Miguel Sano – 30 (2 first-place votes) Trevor Plouffe - 15 Eduardo Escobar – 12 Torii Hunter/Kyle Gibson – 8 Aaron Hicks – 4 Joe Mauer – 3 Glen Perkins/Eddie Rosario – 1 Our voters clearly found value in the players who spent the full season with the Minnesota Twins over Sano’s dominant second half. Brian Dozier led the Twins in several categories including Home Runs (28), runs scored (101) and Wins Above Replacement (3.5). Overall, a second half slump put his season-ending numbers at .236/.307/.444 (.751) with 39 doubles, four triples and 28 home runs. When the Twins were at their best (ten games over .500 at the All Star break), it was Brian Dozier who was leading the way. Through July 19th (his first 91 games), Dozier was hitting .260/.331/.520 (.850). He was also going back and forth with Blue Jays 3B Josh Donaldson for the MLB lead in extra base hits. Despite the incredible numbers, Brian Dozier was not initially named to the American League All Star roster. He was part of the final vote, but finished second in that voting. However, soon after that was announced, Dozier was named an injury replacement and was on the All Star team. He got one at bat in the Midsummer Classic and homered to dead center off of Pirates closer Mark Melancon. The #VoteDozier campaign and the fan support is something that he won’t forget. Dozier said, “How everything transpired leading up to the All Star game was amazing to see and kind of surreal experience for me to see all of the support from fans. I do not play for any personal achievements, but it was a great honor to be selected to represent the Twins in Cincy. I had a lot of fun.” Though he struggled in the second half, the Twins continued to stay in contention and finished above .500 for the first time since 2010. It was the first time that Dozier has been on a contending, winning Twins team. “For the first time in my career, I felt the feeling of what it’s like to contend for the playoffs, and that feeling is night and day compared to previous years. It hasn’t always been fun coming to the yard years prior, but I am being honest when I say I couldn’t wait to get to the field and win a big league baseball game. The game, the concentration level, the energy, the excitement all changes when you’re in contention and that was fun to see.” Some of that fun involved teaming with Torii Hunter. While Hunter was unquestionably the team leader in 2015, Dozier’s name is always brought up when it comes to who will lead the team when Hunter is gone. It is a role that Dozier embraces. “I have always embraced leadership roles from when I was younger until now, in every sport I played. First, in order to lead, you must learn how to follow, and this year was a good indicator of that alongside Torii. You have to trust your teammates and coaching staff in order to lead, and by doing that requires a lot, like doing the little things right, respecting the game, playing the game with hear and passion.” Regarding Hunter, Dozier added, “Torii taught me a lot on the field, and a lot off the field as well. A lot I can’t share – secrets – but overall, I picked his brain about numerous things on and off the field in order to embrace more leadership skills for the future.” Dozier’s second-half struggles were well documented. In his last 66 games, he posted a .619 OPS. Late in the season, he broke Bobby Darwin’s 43-year-old Minnesota Twins strikeout record. He took it in stride though, not caring at all about his own numbers, only about the Twins results. “I hate when people evaluate one’s season into halves or months or whatever. Just doesn’t make sense to me. Some days you feel better than others, which is typical for most of us.” However, between his presence at the top of the lineup and his solid defense (1.3 UZR, .990 fielding percentage), Paul Molitor just continued to put him at the top of the order. “To have the confidence from Mollie to run myself out there on a daily basis means a lot. There are a lot of times when I may not feel good physically, mentally or whatever, but I guarantee that I’m going to give you everything I’ve got for nine innings whether the results are good or bad. I also believe others on our team can say the same about themselves, and I believe that is why a lot of us this year meshed together well. We know how hard the game is and results are sometimes bad for long stretches, but if we gave each other everything every night, then that’s the respect from teammates you receive by playing every day.” Dozier was great in the first half, carrying the Twins to the second-base record in the league. He had the extra base hits. He had the defense. He even had the clutch hits. The most memorable came on July 10th. The Twins came into the bottom of the ninth down by five runs to Detroit. The scratched across a couple of runs. Dozier came to the plate with the team down 6-5 with two outs and Joakim Soria on the mound. He launched a ball well into the bleachers in left field to give the Twins an 8-6 win. It was his second walkoff home run of that week. That was the high point of the season for the Twins which says a lot in a season full of great moments and a lot of wins. Dozier said, “2015 was a unique season. We made major strides in our organization to get things going back in the winning direction.” However, he and his teammates are not satisfied. “I will never say it was a successful season though. We came up short of our goal, and it never feels good when you set to reach something and come up short. However, we did make strides and believe we are on the brink of something really special for many years to come in this organization. Always stay hungry for more in this game and never be satisfied. We can always get better in many different ways, and we will.” Dozier said he’ll start working out in December and then slowly get back into baseball activities. For now, he’s got a couple of other things on his mind. “My only focus now is limiting out on ducks every weekend and putting meat in the freezer, and to try and fix the slice in my golf game.” Congratulations to Brian Dozier, Twins Daily’s selection for 2015 Twins Most Valuable Player. View full article

Here is a breakdown of the votes: Seth: 1.) Gibson, 2.) May, 3.) Perkins Nick: 1.) Gibson, 2.) May, 3.) Perkins Parker: 1.) Gibson, 2.) May, 3.) Perkins John: 1.) Gibson, 2.) Perkins, 3.) Jepsen Jeremy: 1.) Gibson, 2.) Perkins, 3.) May Cody: 1.) Gibson, 2.) May, 3.) Pelfrey Steve: 1.) Gibson, 2.) May, 3.) Santana Eric: 1.) Gibson, 2.) Perkins, 3.) May

Duffey should be talked about more. His 7-8 weeks in the big leagues were remarkable. But 50 innings compared to 194 innings is hard to overcome. He came in 3rd or 4th in minor league starting pitcher balloting. Either way, he deserves a lot of attention and discussion.

MiLB.com's annual awards are known as MiLBYs. Several Twins players and more are nominated for awards. GO ahead and vote if you so desire: Top Starting Pitcher: JO Berrios Top Offensive Player: Max Kepler Best Team: Chattanooga Lookouts Best Farm System: Minnesota Twins Best Promotion: Red Wings: Miracle On Ice Night Best Photo: Joe Territo of the Red Wings with a photo called "Buxton Meets Silver" It's a great photo. Be sure to check it out.

Yeah, projecting anyone to be the next Jeter isn't really fair. However, there's no way to know. No one would have projected Jeter to be Jeter either. But I really like Gordon. I do think he's got the tools and he's got the makeup and he's got some of the intangibles (leadership, stuff like that) at a young age. I don't think he'll fly up the system. Might even be one year at a time, but I believe he can be a very good player for a long time. Of course, there's no way to type that or think that with 100% confidence.

Right, I feel like the Twins were one season behind the Cubs and Astros as their top prospect types came up late last year and early this year. As has been noted, Buxton and Sano lost a year due to injury or they would have both been up in 2014 and up most of this year, if not all. We saw others come up this year, and Berrios and Kepler still to come. I think the Twins did way better than I would have thought this year and hope they can take another step next year.

I would expect that Buxton will be #1 (or very close). I think Berrios will be top 25, and I think Kepler will be top 40. Gordon should be top 75, and I would assume Tyler Jay will be on the back end of the top 100.

No trade clause, and no, I wouldn't do it. Took Morneau 2-3 years to recover from his previous concussion, and he missed 2+ months late this year with another. I'll take my chances on Mauer coming back.

We began our look Twins Daily Award 2015 on Tuesday by naming Aaron Hicks the Twins Most Improved Player. Yesterday, Nick surprised no one when he wrote that Miguel Sano was named the Best Rookie. Today, we continue handing out some hypothetical hardware by naming the Best Twins Pitcher in 2015. In 2014, the Twins posted a team ERA of 4.57 which was 29th of 30 in baseball, ahead of only the Colorado Rockies. Fast-forward to 2015. The Twins reduced their team ERA by a half run, to 4.07. That was good for 19th in MLB and 10th (of 15) in the American League. Still not great, but a significant improvement from just one year ago. The pitching improvement was even more noteworthy when focusing on Twins starting pitchers. In 2014, starters posted an ERA of 5.06. That number included the remarkable performance of Phil Hughes. In 2015, Twins starting pitchers worked to an ERA of 4.14. That improvement is nearly one full run per game. That huge improvement came despite the fact that no starter put up numbers near what Hughes did in 2014. It is unlikely any Twins pitcher will receive a single vote for American League Cy Young. Image courtesy of Brad Rempel, USA Today We began our look Twins Daily Award 2015 on Tuesday by naming Aaron Hicks the Twins Most Improved Player. Yesterday, Nick surprised no one when he wrote that Miguel Sano was named the Best Rookie. Today, we continue handing out some hypothetical hardware by naming the Best Twins Pitcher in 2015. In 2014, the Twins posted a team ERA of 4.57 which was 29th of 30 in baseball, ahead of only the Colorado Rockies. Fast-forward to 2015. The Twins reduced their team ERA by a half run, to 4.07. That was good for 19th in MLB and 10th (of 15) in the American League. Still not great, but a significant improvement from just one year ago. The pitching improvement was even more noteworthy when focusing on Twins starting pitchers. In 2014, starters posted an ERA of 5.06. That number included the remarkable performance of Phil Hughes. In 2015, Twins starting pitchers worked to an ERA of 4.14. That improvement is nearly one full run per game. That huge improvement came despite the fact that no starter put up numbers near what Hughes did in 2014. It is unlikely any Twins pitcher will receive a single vote for American League Cy Young. Despite those facts, our Twins Daily panel of eight voters were unanimous in our choice for Minnesota Twins Pitcher of the Year in 2015. (Note that voters each voted for their top three pitchers. First place was 3 points. Second place was 2 points. Third place was 1 point.) Twins Daily Minnesota Twins Pitcher of the Year Results Kyle Gibson – 24 Trevor May – 12 Glen Perkins – 9 Mike Pelfrey, Ervin Santana, Kevin Jepsen – 1 point each Kyle Gibson was the Twins first-round pick in the 2009 draft out of the University of Missouri. He made his professional debut in 2010 and pitched for Ft. Myers, New Britain and ended that season with three starts in Rochester. He got off to a quick start in the 2011 season, but as the season went along, he began to feel pain in his elbow. He was shut down and had Tommy John surgery in September of 2011. Remarkably, he returned to the mound in early July of 2012, spending a month rehabbing with the GCL Twins. He made two appearances for the Miracle and ended the season with two starts in Rochester. It was a very quick recovery. In fact, he made six starts in the Arizona Fall League. He made his big league debut with ten starts for the Twins in the second half of 2013. In 2014, he made the Opening Day starting rotation and made 31 starts. He went 13-12 with a 4.47 ERA in 179.1 innings. In 2015, Gibson made 32 starts for the Twins. After missing time with injury in 2012, being able to make 31+ starts the last two seasons is important. Gibson said, “It means a lot to be able to make the 31 starts a year. If I want to become the best pitcher I can be, then being able to be relied upon every five days is important. There are always going to be injuries that pop up, but there is nothing you can do about those. Pitching better consistently will help the numbers take care of themselves.” He went 11-11 with a 3.84 ERA in 194.2 innings. He led the Twins in Innings Pitched, finishing with 30 innings more than Mike Pelfrey. Opponents posted an OPS of just .698 which was best of the six Twins pitchers with more than 100 innings on the mound. His Fielding Independent Pitching (FIP) and xFIP were second-best, behind just Trevor May. Despite the record, Gibson made strides in most every statistical category. His ERA dropped by 0.63. His WHIP dropped. He worked 15 more innings. He gave up less hits, and he struck out more batters. Last year, Gibson struck out just 5.4 batters per nine innings. In 2015, he struck out 6.7 per nine. Though he’ll never be considered a strikeout pitcher, the improvement is noteworthy and encouraging. Gibson said it was really “something that just happened. I talked a lot with Perk, May, and the other guys who get Ks just to see if they saw anything that could be changed. Worked some on high fastballs. If I go back and see the games I struck out the most, I bet I got ahead of the hitters more often. 2-2 and 3-2 aren’t really K counts. You have to be 0-2 and 1-2 if you want to see the K-count go up.” But the strikeouts still are not a big deal to Gibson. “Personally, I couldn’t care less about Ks. I think I had some of my best starts and got maybe just a couple of Ks in those. Sometimes they just swing and miss more often, and sometimes those same pitches get fouled off, at least with my sinker especially.” Through his pro career, the word “consistency” has been used in descriptions of Gibson. Terry Ryan would talk about how Gibson needed to be more consistent when he was in Rochester. His first full season (2014) was full of ups and downs. Even in his improved 2015 season, it was inconsistent throughout the year. In 18 starts before the All Star game this year, Gibson was 8-6 with a 2.85 ERA. “In the first half, my fastball command was pretty decent, but it was my off speed that helped me the most. My change up was as consistent as it has ever been. When I fell behind, my off speed command is what I used to get back into counts. Overall though, defense was also a big part of why I had a good first half. Not being a K guy means that defense is important to me, and they did an awesome job all year for me!” However, in 14 starts following the break, he was just 3-5 with a 5.22 ERA. Coming out of the break, he gave up at least five earned runs in four of his first six starts. However, he learned a lot from that, continued to work and aside from one start in September, he was very good again. “In August, my fastball command was pretty terrible. I was walking a lot of guys, and along with that, my off speed was not as good. That is a bad combination. At the end of August, I had decided to move to the third base side of the rubber. As I was working through that in my side sessions with Neil (Allen), we also worked on a few other things that helped with my consistency. It allowed for some different movement on my pitches since I was on the third base side of the rubber and also a bit more consistent release point. All of those things combined, allowed for a few adjustments, and in turn allowed for a bit better results.” On September 24th at Target Field against Cleveland, Gibson had his shortest outing of the season (2.2 innings). Six days later, at Cleveland, he tossed six shutout innings and struck out nine in a huge win for the Twins. A season for a pitcher (or any ball player) is all about making those adjustments. As important as any of his numbers, he gained the confidence of his teammates and the coaching staff. Had their 162nd game been meaningful, it would have been Kyle Gibson making the start on short rest. Gibson told Twins Daily, “It meant a lot to me that they had that confidence. We knew we were going to be in a bind once the double header was scheduled in Cleveland. I was lined up to pitch that last day versus Kansas City had we not been postponed, and for me, it was an exciting conversation to have with Mollie and Neil. I hadn’t pitched on short rest in my professional career, but I was very excited about the opportunity. Physically, I felt great and was ready for that challenge.” 2015 was a good year for Gibson and yet he’s already talked about things that he knows he can improve. He talked about needing to be better with the fastball up in the zone. He wants to be more consistent. He also really wants to improve his control. He walked 3.0 per nine innings. “More so than not this year, I did a TERRIBLE job of getting 0-2 and 1-2. That is something that HAS to change for next year. That will automatically cut out walks, which is something I have to do to take the next step and get better! Can’t walk guys…” Gibson is a smart guy, on and off the mound. He’ll start looking to 2016 in a little while, but for now, “It’s time to sit back and relax with my family.” That’s not to say he won’t think about baseball at all. “I’ll probably look back on 2015 more than looking ahead for right now, but that will change soon. I do think looking back is a great way to learn. So I will do a little when I start preparing for 2016. Not saying I will dwell on 2016 all throughout the offseason, but I do need to learn from a few things from this year. I am a visual learner, so the only way to do that is revisit those starts, and learn from watching video.” Congratulations to Kyle Gibson on being named the Twins Daily Twins Best Pitcher for 2015! View full article

Two things: 1.) Vargas is no Sano. He's just not. 2.) Ortiz sure bashed the Twins style, but he became the player he became because he crushed a lot of baseballs to left and left-center, off of or over, that Green Monster.

Buxton ended with 129 At Bats, so he is rookie-eligible next year. But yes, I should have had Berrios on that list, as well as Polanco and Meyer.

After the Astros shutout the Yankees last night in Yankees Stadium, tonight the baseball attention is shifting to the National League. The Cubs will take on the Pittsburgh Pirates. Consider this one-game Wild Card game will be comprised of two teams with 97 or more wins. It'll be a great pitching matchup too... Jake Arrieta, who has been the best pitcher in baseball in the second half, will take on Gerrit Cole in what should be a great pitchers' dual! Feel free to discuss here.

My favorite thing is that I think that the winner is pretty obvious and that there are four guys who probably could make a strong case. That's a good thing. Next year, we're looking at Buxton, Kepler, Chargois, Burdi and more could be coming up!

Look at the Top 5, those ahead of Max Kepler: 1.) Sano 2.) Buxton 3.) Orlando Arcia 4.) Kyle Schwarber 5.) Blake Snell That's an amazing list. Sano put up big numbers in the 2nd half in the big leagues. Schwarber wasn't that far behind him. Snell was BA's minor league player of the year and incredible. Arcia is a tremendous prospect. Kepler at 6 feels low (as does Berrios at 9), but there were some incredible prospects in that league this year!

Baseball America posted its Top 20 Southern League Prospects online today, and it is littered with Lookouts, and Twins. #1 - Miguel Sano #2 - Byron Buxton #6 - Max Kepler #9 - JO Berrios #14 - Jorge Polanco Obviously there were several others on that Lookouts roster that we as Twins fans like a lot that didn't appear on this list including, Adam Brett Walker, Nick Burdi, JT Chargois and others.

I hated the Wild Card at first, and now I like that there are two Wild Cards. I like the idea that winning the division matters. I've never hated the Yankees. I have hated some of the media over-glamification (which is also understandable) and maybe some of the calls they get, but i don't hate the Yankees. That said, I love what the Astros have done, and I'd love to see them win.

Just think, if the Yankees had decided when Tanaka had his strained UCL to have him have Tommy John surgery instead of rest and rehab, he wouldn't have pitched at all this year.

This is correct. I never even considered Escobar for Most Improved. First, he won it last year, and second, he put up very similar numbers last year.

At 7:08 Central Time, the Houston Astros and New York Yankees will begin the AL Wild Card game with the winner scheduled to play Game 1 of the ALDS on Thursday in Kansas City. It'll be Dallas Keuchel facing Masahiro Tanaka in the one game, winner advances playoff game. The Yankees obviously faced the announcement that CC Sabathia was going to enter alcohol rehab and will miss the playoffs. A-Rod has been their MVP this season. The Astros had a remarkable turn-around this season and won that 2nd Wild Card spot. Keuchel could win the Cy Young Award, but he has been much more effective at home. On the season, he is 20-8 with a 2.48 ERA overall. At home, he is 15-0 with a 1.46 ERA. On the road, he is 5-8 with a 3.77 ERA. So, get your predictions in and feel free to discuss throughout the day and throughout the game.

No question about that.