Parker Hageman

I'm going to say Anthony Swarzak will be the first reliever used as a starter in the 2012 season.

It would be interesting to see the WAR breakdown of all the draft classes (Any Twins Daily member want to take a shot at that?). I would think that the 1989 draft class might be the most successful of all those years.

According to the Tampa Bay Times, 27-year-old Elijah Dukes was arrested for possession of marijuana. The Times reports that Dukes' '11 Camero was pulled over around 1 AM in Tampa: This is like a scene out of Trailer Park Boys. Dukes gets pulled over by the cops. Cops come up the window. Dukes, in efforts to hide the drugs - which at this point has already been spotted by the police - tries to EAT THE ENTIRE bag, not just the weed inside of said bag. Because Ziplocks are so easy to swallow, the cops easily get the bag back out of his mouth. But wait, it looks like it doesn't matter whether or not they obtained the bag as Dukes had a fatty blunt rolled and sitting behind his ear. Oh, and this is the sixth time he's been arrested in the past year. You just can't make this stuff up.

Thanks for the glowing review!

Thanks for sharing Loosey. In all, I agree that the Twins offseason should be viewed as a positive one.

Thanks Apostle. Not sure if Andy needs my questioning but it is curious to me why he would prefer to move forward with getting Liriano to raise his arm angle/release point when he had so much more success with his methods in 2010. Yes, his release point/arm action has been a knock on him since he was in the Giants organization. He occasionally drops and he occasionally stretches to release more vertically -- as evidenced by the pitch f/x charts. More importantly, watching video of him while he is struggling you see that he rushes through his delivery and overthrows (pulls to the third base side, as both Anderson and Williams said) which causes him to lose command no matter which release point he has. In theory I agree with you. We saw Matt Capps last year suddenly decide to implement shifting spots on the mound depending on if there was a lefty or righty at bat. This was strange because he had never done that before in his career. In Liriano's case, he's been practicing the rubber shifting dating back to at least 2008 (video and pitch f/x quality before then are pretty tired). It was terrible for him in 2009 and 2011 (particularly against righties who hit a combined 34 HRs off of him) but it worked well in 2010. While I would not necessarily encourage the practice, I do not see it as a problem for Liriano.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?230-Gabbin-Grapefruit-Francisco-Liriano-s-Delivery

The 2011 season was quite a mess for Francisco Liriano. Coming off the solid 2010 season, expectations had been high for the lefty and instead of moving forward he regressed heavily, turning in one of the worst seasons among qualified starters. Command-wise, his 12.7% walk rate was the highest among pitchers with a minimum of 130 innings pitched. According to a recent John Shipley article at the PiPress, Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson offered up a cure for what he believes ails Liriano: This is an interesting assessment because this is not the first time that getting Liriano to pitch more “downhill” as been brought up. Following his eight-inning, nine strikeout performance against the Texas Rangers on June 12 of last year, the MLB Network crew took the opportunity to dissect the difference between the early season Liriano – the one who had gone 2-5 with a 7.07 ERA with a 21/27 K/BB ratio in 35.2 innings combined in his first seven starts – to the one who had just obliterated the future AL Champions. What MLB analyst Mitch Williams noted was that Liriano had a tendency of not “staying behind his head”. The former closer described this as rushing throw his delivery and that he would peel off towards the third base line with his momentum – just like Anderson said. This, noted Williams, resulted in a decrease in control. Williams and his on-screen partner Dan Plesac also highlighted a key difference between his June 12 domination and a clip from a 2010 start against Baltimore: Liriano’s arm angle. Here you see the screenshot and notice the tilt variation between the still on the left (from 2010) to the one on the right (2011). [ATTACH=CONFIG]164[/ATTACH] Williams said that Liriano’s 2011 angle was “much better” than his 2010 one and that gave him the ability to pitch “downhill.” Fangraphs.com’s Pitch F/X charts confirm that his arm was much more vertical on that day versus that of his 2010 outing against the Orioles: [ATTACH=CONFIG]165[/ATTACH] Release point vs Rangers 2011 [ATTACH=CONFIG]166[/ATTACH]Release point vs Orioles 2010 As we know by now, Liriano’s outing against Texas was not the pivotal turnaround moment that most hoped for (or that MLB Network predicted). Instead, he sputtered throughout the remainder of the season and walked 12% of batters faced. At some point during the early portion of the season, according to a source with the team, the Twins used visual aids supplied by the team’s videographer to show the left-hander how chaotic and random his release points had been at the season’s onset. Supposedly, they were working on getting Liriano to raise his release point. As Anderson mentioned to reporters, he feels that if Liriano stays “tall”, he will be able to create a better downward plane. Many people interpreted the Twins staff’s tinkering with Liriano in 2011 as a way to convert the strikeout pitcher into a finesse-type who pitches to contact. To which Anderson denies: Without question, Liriano has some inconsistent mechanics - he pulls off towards third, he short arms at times, his rushes through his delivery, he throws from various slots, etc – and you can understand why Rick Anderson is trying to iron him out. Anderson claims that the higher release point will get him to throw “downhill” more. Mitch Williams echoed that sentiment by saying the downward plane leads to a “fastball that explodes in the last four-to-five feet” and gets more drop on the slider. However, and with no disrespect to Mr. Anderson or Mr. Williams, but thus far the higher release point has seemingly done squat for Liriano. I understand that Rick Anderson has done wonders with plenty of pitchers but it is possible that what he describes as “his way” may not be the optimum position for Liriano. In 2010, according to pitch f/x charts Liriano’s release point appeared to be somewhere between 10 and 11 o’clock (a bit lower) while this past season he moved it up closer to 12 (a bit higher). In 2010, his fastball command was far superior and his slider showed more bite. This past season his exercised some of the worst command of a fastball among all qualified starters. Based on that alone, one may consider reverting back to the 2010 mechanics if, for nothing else, to rekindle that flame. In April of last season, I took a quick look at the difference between the 2010 and 2011 Liriano deliveries and found that in 2011 he was remaining tall (much like the Twins are encouraging him to do) but his follow-through lacked the same downward action that he showed in 2010. According to pitch f/x charts, it appeared that staying tall seemed to elevate his fastball. At that time, I figured the staff would try to get him to emulate his 2010 mechanics but it sounds like I was wrong. It is curious to me that instead of attempting to re-create the environment that propelled Liriano towards his second best season of his career, Anderson has been trying to mold him into pitching “his way” and throwing it “straight up” - a manner in which Liriano has struggled.

The White Sox obviously took the slow boat route with him, starting him in the Appy League with a bunch of 18 year olds even though he was a 22-year-old college graduate. By comparison, the Twins seem to start most of their college grad pitchers in Ft Myers (high-A). Carlos Gutierrez, Alex Wimmers and Kyle Gibson all started at high-A ball.

About trading away Jason Bartlett in '07 and not re-signing Nick Punto last year, so says MLB.com reporter and suave Californian Rhett Bollinger: Knowing Gardy's M.O., that sounds about right.

Citi Field is a very nice venue but (and this is going to sound old manish of me) it BLASTS music. I realize that music is apart of the game but it is insane at what decibel they pound the thump-thump music at. New York, amirite? I wholeheartedly recommend a burger at the Shake Shack - unbelievably amazing stuff.

I agree with everything Topper is saying. I would also add that if you have time, go to Captiva Island and have a few drinks at the Mucky Duck and watch the sunset. Truly an amazing spot.

Savvy move by Beane or is Manny destined to fail?

I don't believe they have beer for sale at that time -- if that's what you are getting at.

You can view the page at http://www.twinsdaily.com/content.php?228-Gabbin-Grapefruit-Terry-Doyle

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?227-Gabbin-Grapefruit-Terry-Doyle

La Valle had a good piece on Rule 5 pick Terry Doyle at the Strib today. The 26-year-old right-hander discussed some his route to the Twins organization, listening in on Internet radio at his home in Warwick, Rhode Island when he found out that Minnesota had drafted him. For their part, the Twins were impressed with Doyle’s performance in the Arizona Fall League in which he went while in the Chicago system and, as Neal writes, “Doyle he was dominant at times while going 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA in eight starts for the Mesa Solar Sox.” With their scouts on hand, Twins GM Terry Ryan told Neal that they were impressed by Doyle’s repertoire: Reaffirming the Twins scouting department’s belief in Doyle is Baseball America’s JJ Cooper assessment. Heading into the Rule 5 draft, Cooper wrote: Not to diminish the accolades of being anointed one of the league’s Rising Stars or what is perceived as solid stuff by Baseball America, Doyle’s small sample size dominance in the desert leaves some wondering if that was more enigmatic than breakthrough. After all, his batting average on balls in play was ridiculously low (.127) even for a workload of just under 30 innings. In a recent chat, ESPN.com’s prospect guru fielded a question regarding Doyle’s chances of being an impact player to which Law responded “[f]ringe guy. Don't see a big league role for him.” Again, Doyle appears to be a smart pitcher – as alluded to by both Ryan and Cooper – and majored in math at Boston College. During an interview with Fangraphs.com’s irreplaceable David Laurila, Laurila asked the math major what, if any, can Doyle as a pitcher derive from applied statistics. To which, the pitchers said: Reading that interview, you understand why Doyle is what has become the archetypical Twins pitcher – he throws strikes and he lets his defense do the work. What’s more is that he understands his limitations. He doesn’t have a devastating fastball but incorporates a cutter to provide a variety of movement. As Cooper said, he will use his secondary stuff early in the count to keep opponents off-balanced. Perhaps most important, he pounds the strike zone with all four offerings. This method has led to high ground ball rates and low walk-rates. Doyle’s road to Minnesota may be filled with plenty of hurdles this spring but, if he gets there, you can certainly envision him thriving in the organization’s pitching system.

La Valle had a good piece on Rule 5 pick Terry Doyle at the Strib today. The 26-year-old right-hander discussed some his route to the Twins organization, listening in on Internet radio at his home in Warwick, Rhode Island when he found out that Minnesota had drafted him. For their part, the Twins were impressed with Doyle’s performance in the Arizona Fall League in which he went while in the Chicago system and, as Neal writes, “Doyle he was dominant at times while going 4-0 with a 1.98 ERA in eight starts for the Mesa Solar Sox.” With their scouts on hand, Twins GM Terry Ryan told Neal that they were impressed by Doyle’s repertoire: Reaffirming the Twins scouting department’s belief in Doyle is Baseball America’s JJ Cooper assessment. Heading into the Rule 5 draft, Cooper wrote: Not to diminish the accolades of being anointed one of the league’s Rising Stars or what is perceived as solid stuff by Baseball America, Doyle’s small sample size dominance in the desert leaves some wondering if that was more enigmatic than breakthrough. After all, his batting average on balls in play was ridiculously low (.127) even for a workload of just under 30 innings. In a recent chat, ESPN.com’s prospect guru fielded a question regarding Doyle’s chances of being an impact player to which Law responded “[f]ringe guy. Don't see a big league role for him.” Again, Doyle appears to be a smart pitcher – as alluded to by both Ryan and Cooper – and majored in math at Boston College. During an interview with Fangraphs.com’s irreplaceable David Laurila, Laurila asked the math major what, if any, can Doyle as a pitcher derive from applied statistics. To which, the pitchers said: Reading that interview, you understand why Doyle is what has become the archetypical Twins pitcher – he throws strikes and he lets his defense do the work. What’s more is that he understands his limitations. He doesn’t have a devastating fastball but incorporates a cutter to provide a variety of movement. As Cooper said, he will use his secondary stuff early in the count to keep opponents off-balanced. Perhaps most important, he pounds the strike zone with all four offerings. This method has led to high ground ball rates and low walk-rates. Doyle’s road to Minnesota may be filled with plenty of hurdles this spring but, if he gets there, you can certainly envision him thriving in the organization’s pitching system.

Phil Mackey has some good information from pitching coach Rick Anderson on Liriano's struggles and (surprise, surprise), Andy attributes the lefty's woes to mechanical issues:

Without having seen Megan's video, I'm guessing she's a Tampa-resident that has been entrenched as Yankee territory since at least the mid-70s. Many of the residents in Tampa have thrown their allegiance to the Yankees particularly since they were the only game in town for a long while. Still...yucky.

Minor League Ball's John Sickels compares Twins prospect Miguel Sano and Royals prospect Cheslor Cuthbert. For Sano's projection Sickels writes: