Devlin Clark

Thanks for the kind words and the wonderful comment. I have no doubt we will see Matt pitching in the majors soon!

One of the Twins strengths this season has been its ability to pitch. Whether it's from the starting rotation or the bullpen, the staff has been fantastic this year. However, one prospect who was moving up and hoping to be a part of this staff, Matt Canterino, the Twins #9 ranked prospect by MLB.com is out for the year with Tommy John surgery. I recently caught up with him to find out how things are going in his recovery, where he's at in the rehab process and a more! DC: how's the rehab going? Where are you at in the process? MC: Rehab is going very well! I am regularly throwing bullpens twice per week, and I have just started touching 90 miles per hour again. The elbow has been recovering well, and the goal is to start throwing to hitters around the middle of September. DC: What has the process been like this time for you compared to previous injuries? MC: It’s different this time because there is more of a set structure for a return from surgery. In the past, when I’ve attempted rest and rehab for my lingering elbow issue, the limiting factor was always waiting for my elbow to feel healthy enough to throw. With surgery, it’s been more about dealing with the slow progression of a 13 month long recovery. DC: When you first got hurt with this injury, what was the biggest hurdle for you? MC: My biggest hurdle was figuring out if surgery was the right course of action for me. My UCL tear was not something that obviously needed surgery at the time of injury, but after multiple failed attempts to rest and rehab my forearm and elbow, it became clear that Tommy John Surgery was the best option. DC: Has this injury and rehab been more mentally or physically tough/challenging for you? MC: I would say the mental aspect of seeing an entire season go by without playing is the toughest part. I really wanted to contribute and help the Twins organization this year, but it just didn’t work out. I’ve gotten over that melancholy feeling a bit by really honing in on some of my development goals as a pitcher during my current build up. DC: How do you feel you're progressing as it relates to being fully healthy? MC: I feel extremely confident in my ability to come back as a better pitcher than what I was pre-surgery. DC: Where have you been able to rehab at? MC: I’ve been rehabbing at the Twins Complex in Fort Myers since the start of Spring Training, and will continue there through the season. DC: How has your family support assisted you in getting through this rehab and your previous ones as well? MC: My loved ones are the best at helping me keep my head on straight through this process. There are always ups and downs when dealing with injury and rehab, so to have someone I can vocalize those situations to and trust their input on how to keep level-headed and optimistic is beyond important. DC: Have you heard anything from the Twins recently and how often do you keep in contact with them? MC: I am in contact with coaching staff everyday at the facility, and they do a great job of mapping out the rehab process for me. Everyone is optimistic about my progression thus far. DC: How far removed from your surgery are you? MC: My surgery date was August 24th of 2022, so I am just over 11 months out. DC: Last question Matt, what is your off-season rehab going to look like and will it ramp up as you approach ST, and do you anticipate being full healthy for ST? MC: The goal is to be built up and healthy for next Spring Training. My buildup through the end of the season is still subject to some change, but, for the most part, the hope is to have a regular off season this Winter and be fully primed for a healthy 2024. Thanks to Matt for taking the time to catch up with me via Twitter. Follow me on Twitter @devlin_clark84

Todd Walker debuted for the Twins on Aug, 30, 1996 against the Brewers in Milwaukee. He went one for five in his debut. I recently sat down (via Zoom) with the former Twins second baseman. We touched on a lot of topics from his thoughts on the recent MLB Draft being an LSU Alumni, his draft day experience, what it was like to be a major leaguer, he shares a fantastic Kirby Puckett story, and he doesn't mince words on seemingly always being in TK's dog house. That is a comment you don't wanna miss! In the below clip, I asked his thoughts on the idea that hitting coaches who played MLB are more effective and better than those who don't. Here was his reply. https://twitter.com/Devlin_clark84/status/1679333299334905856?t=Ut6Skzhkk28lFp5M6AvPlg&s=19 One of the most important postseason moments of Walker's career came after he left the Twins, as a member of the Red Sox in 2003 (Aaron Boone walk off series). He goes into amazing detail about that series in particular, as well as the conversation that was had on the mound in the infamous "Grady leaves Pedro in" moment. Hear Todd answer a fan question, as well his thoughts on marketing in MLB, what he thinks of fan Mail, and his favorite teammates. The entire 87 minute interview can be found on my YouTube Channel. Be sure to like and subscribe to my channel and spread the word. Doing a giveaway at 100 Subs. https://youtube.com/@MLBTheShowPodcast

This is a VERY fair point and 1 of which I did take into account. I didn't want to continue the pattern bc then I'd have to include the Joham trade which brought Gomez in etc. I also wanted to show the full spectrum of the trade in terms of what the Twins gave up. Yes the Hardy trade as an outlier is the worst, but then others would say "Why didn't you include Gomez in this article bc he traded Hardy for him" so I widened the spectrum. I appreciate you reading and thanks for the idea!

Delmon Young has a 100RBI season in a Twins uniform. Can't call that bad just bc of that

You're probably right. I don't know the reason we traded him.

I read moreso that it was to free up the position for Nishioka. Which is brutal if true.

If you're like me, you find yourself scrolling baseball reference pages or Wikipedia to see what former Twins players are up to, post playing career. Maybe you're not like me, maybe you actually have a life. Well, I don't, but I do enjoy doing Wikipedia and bREF rabbit holes. Recently, I was talking with a friend on Twitter and he asked me what I thought the worst trade in Twins history was, the ones that came to mind immediately were more recent: Sam Dyson, Mitch Garver, Taylor Rogers, etc. But I decided to stick with the trades made since 2000. The reason for that is that is when the Twins really became relevant again, when we knew that contraction wasn't going to be moving our team. With that said, I scoured long and hard looking at almost every trade we've made since 2000 and although the Jamie Garcia trade is up there, I still think the trade I'm going to outline below is worse and I'll list my criteria. As always, please let me know what you think, follow me on Twitter @Devlin_clark84 and without any further wait, let's get to it: Before I tell you what the trade is, I want to lay out the parameters of how I came about this. First of all, ALL stats shown below are courtesy of baseball reference. I wanted to also show the production over a 5 year period as I felt that this gives us a great sample size and can exclude fluke or lucky seasons, one offs, etc. So here is the breakdown: I will say that some of the post trade stats are incomplete and you'll see why as we progress. The trade happened on November 6, 2009. We will be looking at the 2008,09 seasons for each player, the 2010 season, as well as the 2011,12 seasons to see a wide scope of production and to try and fairly explain why this is the worst trade in Twins history. The Twins trade 24 year old Centerfielder Carlos Gomez to Milwaukee for SS JJ Hardy. Let's look at the 2008,09 seasons for both players so we can get a scope of who and why the trade was made. (Stats shown below are for both seasons combined) Gomez (age 22 and 23 seasons): 290 games, .248 AVG, 10HRs,87RBIs, 73 OPS+, 2.6 WAR. Hardy(age 25 and 26 seasons): 261 Games, .260 AVG, 35HRs, 121RBIs, 98 OPS+, 5.3 WAR Coming into the trade, based on nearly 300 games the last two seasons, the Twins were going to be the clear beneficiaries of the trade. Hardy not only had better numbers, but also played a premium up the middle position. The Twins were poised to win the trade. Let's look at how the 2010 season played out for both guys (avert your eyes, Twins fans): Gomez(age 24 season in 2010): 97 Games, .247 AVG, 5 HRS, 24RBIs, 18SBs, slashed .298/.357/.655 which produced a WAR of 0.6. Surely, Hardy would have a better season with the Twins than Gomez had with the Brewers? Well... Hardy (age 27 season in 2010): 101 Games, .268 AVG, 6HRs 38RBIs, slashed .320/.394/.714 which produced a WAR of 1.3 Not as bad as Gomez, but still not great. Despite this, after the 2010 season, the Twins still looked like the obvious winners on this trade, it's when you look at not just the next two seasons, but what happened next that show this to be the worst trade in Twins history. On December 9th, 2010 the Twins and Orioles pulled off a trade. The Twins sent SS JJ Hardy and UTIL Brendan Harris to the Orioles. We got $500,000 in return and two minor leaguers, Brett Jacobson and Jim Hoey. It's what happened next that show my point: Gomez (2011-12 season with Milwaukee, ages 25,26 seasons): 231 Games, .248AVG, 27HRs, 75RBIs, 53SBs, 94 OPS+ which is a 4.5 WAR combined. Hardy(2011-12 in his age 28,29 seasons): 287 Games, .252 AVG, 52 HRs, 148 RBIs, 96 OPS+, good for 7.5 WAR. Hardy in the 3 seasons following the trade(2011,12 and 13) hit 30,22 and 25 HRs respectively. Gomez became a first time all star in 2013 and again in 2014. He finished ninth in MVP voting in 2013 and sixteenth in 2014. He also won a Gold Glove in 2013. Hardy won a Gold Glove in his second season in Baltimore in 2012 (also in '13), as well as the Silver Slugger and became an All Star in 2013. So why is this the worst trade ever for the Twins? Let's examine what they got from a numbers standpoint: Brett Jacobsen never made the majors. So since I am using MLB stats, he's a non factor in this trade. Jim Hoey in 2011 for the Twins: 26 Games, 5.47 ERA, 75 ERA+, 5.58 FIP, good for a whopping -0.6 WAR. To summarize what the Twins gave up, received and then how the players did after the trade: From the trade in 2010 to the end of the 2012 season the Twins got a WAR of 0.7 (1.3 from the Hardy 2010 year, and a -0.6 from Hoey in 2011.) Hoey never played again after 2011 in the majors. The Brewers thrived and got 5.1 WAR between 2010-12 with Gomez and those weren't even his best years. (In 2013 he had a massive 7.6 WAR season and in 2014 had a 4.7 WAR season, all told, the five years after the trade through the end of 2014, Gomez produced a total of 17.4 WAR.) The Orioles also won the trade with Hardy, getting a 7.4 WAR player the next two seasons, who played a premium position, was an All Star, Silver Slugger and GG winner. From 2010-14, Hardy was worth a massive 15.4 WAR(1.3 of those was 2010 with MIN) So the Twins ended up getting $500,000, a player who never made the majors, and a pitcher who produced a -0.6 WAR, and gave up a SS who produced 14.1WAR the next four seasons and a CF who produced a 14.8 WAR and finished top-20 MVP twice. When you factor everything in, the fact the Twins were going to be the winners based on the two previous years of Hardy and Gomez' careers, the fact that Hardy produced a higher WAR then Gomez in the first full season of the trade, and then the ineptitude of the Twins to give him up and get absolutely nothing back (literally a Negative war player) makes this, for me, the worst trade in Twins history. As always, leave a comment below and let me know what your thoughts are! Can you think of a recent trade where we got less back and other players produced more in the last twenty three years?https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hardyjj01.shtml https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/g/gomezca01.shtml

Thank you sir. Will be posting an article too.

It's on my YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@MLBTheShowPodcast

You'll wanna watch the video as your question was asked!

These are great questions, I will definitely throw one at him!

Folks, my next guest on my podcast will be former Twins second baseman Todd Walker. The episode takes place on Wednesday. Drop any questions you have below and I'll pick a couple to be asked!

I aint learnt them book learnings yet. Auto correct definately got me.

I ain't learnt them book learnings yet.

I ain't learnt the book readings yet.

Thanks for reading!

Thank you very much, it was a fun exercise to read about and see everyone's choices and the reasons.

Interesting. For you, is the drop off between a Puckett to Hunter bigger than a Killebrew to a Morneau? I agree that you need to pick the positions you'd most regret losing out on and then going back for what's left.

This is great feedback and I may just alter the list at some point and the budget too!

I am interested that SO many people picked Jeff Reardon over Aguilera and Nathan. Aggy obviously won the chip in 91 and Nathan has more 40 save seasons and overall saves than anyone in team history. For those who chose Reardon: what made you choose him?

If money is no object this is correct.

Youre not wrong about Ron Davis.

I thought maybe the ban shift would help him but it hasn't.

Its the debate that never ends. Whose on your all time Twins team? We all agree on the consensus top 4 of Carew, Killebrew, Oliva and Puckett. But after that who? Are you taking Guzman over Gagne? Gladden over Mack? Aguilera over Nathan? This is a lot harder than you think because you have a budget, $33 is the budget. You have to create the BEST Twins team with just $33 and *ALL* positions must be represented. What strategy are you gonna use? What positions are you gonna pay up for? Are you gonna take Killebrew at 1st over Morneau and Hrbek? Are you gonna go with the top 4 mentioned above and use $20 of your $33 there? Let's have some fun and see some unique lists. Remember, the entire objective is to create the best Twins team you can, using just $33 dollars.