Cody Christie

The 2014 All-Star Game was finally given to the Twin Cities this week but there were plenty of other happenings for Twins Territory. Joe Mauer was placed on waivers and the national media freaked out over what turned out to be a none story. After sitting for over a week and then playing in a handful of games, Denard Span was finally put on the DL even though rosters expand this weekend. Chris Parmelee destroyed Triple-A pitching for most of the year and he finally got called up. Now he has to show his stuff at the big league level if they can find at-bats for him. While the news surrounding the Twins has been exciting, the play on the field has not been in the exciting category. The team is scuffling to say the least and it could be a long final month for the faithful that still head to Target Field. A crowd of under 30,000 was announced for the first time at Target Field this week and it is hard to believe there were that many people in attendance. It is tough to watch a team that is putting a poor product on the field. Fans like me will continue to follow even if the wins aren't exactly piling up over the next few weeks. It's a long Labor Day weekend so before you skip out of the office early make sure to check out this week's edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks." So far this season, the Twins have gotten very good production from some signings that were minor at the time. The Twins are getting close to being unwatchable. During the next couple weeks, it will be important for Trevor Plouffe to rebound. It sounds like the Dodgers asked the Twins about Justin Morneau before moving on to their mega-deal with the Red Sox. Here are some highlights from FSN's coverage of MLB announcing the 2014 All-Star Game in Minnesota. Joe Mauer set the franchise record for games caught by passing Earl Battey, one of the best players in team history. This behind the back play by Mauer is pretty sweet to see. With the season being very dark, there are some beacons of light for the Twins. In their 52nd year in Minnesota, the team is now official under .500 since coming to the Twin Cities. How far are the 2013 Twins from contention? Kyle Gibson is back in the rotation for Rochester which makes him one step away from the big leagues again. Gibson is also one of six players that will compete in the Arizona Fall League as representative from the Twins organization. There were multiple players from the New Britain Rock Cats named to the Eastern League All-Star Team for the end of the season. The lone GCL Twin to be named the their post season All-Star list was Jeremias Pineda. ESPN's Keith Law went to Beloit to see Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario and the rest of the Snappers. Former Twins outfielder Lew Ford hit his first home run at the big league level since 2007 (see Video of the Week). I loved this shot of him rounding third with a smiling coming across his face. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nxARY1FeXJQ/UEA2Z2xWIaI/AAAAAAAADME/_mRU-pXAVWg/s320/LewFordHR.jpg Poor Liam Hendriks indeed... Scott Diamond threw at Josh Hamilton and got in trouble for it so maybe he needs the ethics of throwing at hitters. For the second year in a row, the Twins will look to avoid 100 losses by the end of September. Adam Greenberg was hit in the head during his only MLB at-bat and he is campaigning for another shot at the big league level. Hank Aaron joined many other former sluggers saying PED punishments are not enough. Baseball might need to start thinking about getting collisions at home plate out of the game. Enjoy this week's edition of Mike Trout is amazing. Chipper Jones has gotten quite the wide collection of gifts as he makes his final stops in some NL cities. There are some bad things going on with the Rockies and their rotation plan is not the greatest. This song is going to get really old in the postseason. My Weekly Rundown Monday: What will the Twins do with Justin Morneau? Tuesday: Handling of young pitchers has changed Tuesday's Trip through the Minors Wednesday: If Joe Mauer was traded, where could he go? Video of the Week: Lew Ford hit his first home run since 2007 earlier this week. It was also great that it came off of Francisco Liriano. Ford would go on to hit another home run later in the week so he is on quite the nice run for the Orioles as they try to stay in the playoff hunt in the American League.

The 2014 All-Star Game was finally given to the Twin Cities this week but there were plenty of other happenings for Twins Territory. Joe Mauer was placed on waivers and the national media freaked out over what turned out to be a none story. After sitting for over a week and then playing in a handful of games, Denard Span was finally put on the DL even though rosters expand this weekend. Chris Parmelee destroyed Triple-A pitching for most of the year and he finally got called up. Now he has to show his stuff at the big league level if they can find at-bats for him. While the news surrounding the Twins has been exciting, the play on the field has not been in the exciting category. The team is scuffling to say the least and it could be a long final month for the faithful that still head to Target Field. A crowd of under 30,000 was announced for the first time at Target Field this week and it is hard to believe there were that many people in attendance. It is tough to watch a team that is putting a poor product on the field. Fans like me will continue to follow even if the wins aren't exactly piling up over the next few weeks. It's a long Labor Day weekend so before you skip out of the office early make sure to check out this week's edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks." So far this season, the Twins have gotten very good production from some signings that were minor at the time. The Twins are getting close to being unwatchable. During the next couple weeks, it will be important for Trevor Plouffe to rebound. It sounds like the Dodgers asked the Twins about Justin Morneau before moving on to their mega-deal with the Red Sox. Here are some highlights from FSN's coverage of MLB announcing the 2014 All-Star Game in Minnesota. Joe Mauer set the franchise record for games caught by passing Earl Battey, one of the best players in team history. This behind the back play by Mauer is pretty sweet to see. With the season being very dark, there are some beacons of light for the Twins. In their 52nd year in Minnesota, the team is now official under .500 since coming to the Twin Cities. How far are the 2013 Twins from contention? Kyle Gibson is back in the rotation for Rochester which makes him one step away from the big leagues again. Gibson is also one of six players that will compete in the Arizona Fall League as representative from the Twins organization. There were multiple players from the New Britain Rock Cats named to the Eastern League All-Star Team for the end of the season. The lone GCL Twin to be named the their post season All-Star list was Jeremias Pineda. ESPN's Keith Law went to Beloit to see Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario and the rest of the Snappers. Former Twins outfielder Lew Ford hit his first home run at the big league level since 2007 (see Video of the Week). I loved this shot of him rounding third with a smiling coming across his face. http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nxARY1FeXJQ/UEA2Z2xWIaI/AAAAAAAADME/_mRU-pXAVWg/s320/LewFordHR.jpg Poor Liam Hendriks indeed... Scott Diamond threw at Josh Hamilton and got in trouble for it so maybe he needs the ethics of throwing at hitters. For the second year in a row, the Twins will look to avoid 100 losses by the end of September. Adam Greenberg was hit in the head during his only MLB at-bat and he is campaigning for another shot at the big league level. Hank Aaron joined many other former sluggers saying PED punishments are not enough. Baseball might need to start thinking about getting collisions at home plate out of the game. Enjoy this week's edition of Mike Trout is amazing. Chipper Jones has gotten quite the wide collection of gifts as he makes his final stops in some NL cities. There are some bad things going on with the Rockies and their rotation plan is not the greatest. This song is going to get really old in the postseason. My Weekly Rundown Monday: What will the Twins do with Justin Morneau? Tuesday: Handling of young pitchers has changed Tuesday's Trip through the Minors Wednesday: If Joe Mauer was traded, where could he go? Video of the Week: Lew Ford hit his first home run since 2007 earlier this week. It was also great that it came off of Francisco Liriano. Ford would go on to hit another home run later in the week so he is on quite the nice run for the Orioles as they try to stay in the playoff hunt in the American League.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2193[/ATTACH] On a day when the biggest piece of news coming out of the Twins Cities should have been the Twins securing the 2014 MLB All-Star Game, most of the national attention was on the reports that Joe Mauer had been placed on revocable waivers. Fans and some members of the media got all in a tizzy by the thought that Mauer, the hometown boy, could ever leave the Twins. In the end, it seems like a whole lot of fuss for nothing because there doesn't seem to be much of a chance of Mauer and his massive contract leaving the Twin Cities. To the casual fan, it can be confusing at this time of the year to hear about players being put on waivers when the trade deadline has come and gone. The big deal pulled off between the Red Sox and the Dodgers can get fans thinking about what other big name players will be the next to move. It is rare to see big moves like this pulled off after the trade deadline because of all of the hoops that teams have to jump through to get a player to a team that truly wants to trade for them. A trade involving Joe Mauer would be similarly hard because he holds a full no-trade clause so any move for Mauer has to be approved by the catcher. A few notes about the waiver process: Many teams will place players on waivers at this time of the year and there is a pretty good chance that this isn't the first (or last) time Mauer has seen the waiver wire. Any MLB team can put a claim in on a player, the entire American League would get first crack at Mauer in reverse order of the standings. If no one in the AL claims, Mauer an NL team could put in a claim and once again it goes in reverse order of the standings. The club putting in a claim risks the chance that the Twins would just dump Mauer's contract on the without the Twins getting anything back in a trade. This means there are quite a few clubs that couldn't even think about it. Since no team put in a claim on Mauer, the Twins could work out a deal with any club at this point in the year. It would just need to be approve by Mauer because of his full no-trade clause. Reports have come out to say that the Twins place everyone on waivers so Mauer being place on waivers should be taken with a grain of sand. With all of that being said, it is interesting to think about the possibility of one of the best players in the game being dealt to a contender for a title run. There are plenty of obstacles in the way including Mauer's ridiculously large contract and his no-trade clause. Of course there would be teams interested in obtaining Mauer's services but only a few would be able to absorb this massive deal. There are plenty of clubs that are set in the catching department so they would have no need for Mauer but who else would be interested in the Twins' hometown boy? Let's take a minute and pretend that a deal for Mauer will take place. Here are five of the top teams that have the budget and room for a catcher to slide into their line-up. Yankees: The darn Yankees have the highest payroll in the game so adding one more big salary might not be too hard to handle. Before Mauer signed his big deal with the Twins, it was widely speculated that the Yankees would be interested and making a play for Mauer when he hit free agency. In the past, Mauer has performed very well at Yankee Stadium and the short porch in right field could help to bolster his offensive numbers. He has played 14 games at the new Yankee Stadium and he has hit .327/.439/.545 with three home runs and three doubles. One of the problems with the Yankees might be the age of the club and the fact that Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter could be forced to spend more time as the DH. The Yankees are set at first base with Mark Teixeria so where would Mauer get all of his at-bats? His catching duties have been cut back and it is expected for this trend to continue as he approaches age 30. Red Sox: The original report from Ken Rosenthal speculated about Boston being interested in Mauer because of their recent salary dump. Mauer has been a target for the Red Sox in the past and it is hard not to think that he could succeed in a Boston uniform. It's easy to imagine Mauer scattering balls off of the Green Monster on a nightly basis. David Ortiz is at the end of his career as a DH and Mauer could get some time at first without Adrian Gonzalez in the picture. With $142.5 million left on Mauer's contract, the Red Sox could have tried to jump for Mauer but this wasn't the case. Jacoby Ellsbury is due to get a contact extension at some point and the Red Sox just got rid of a lot of money in bad contracts. The idea of adding Mauer was probably too much at this point as the Red Sox look to go in a different direction. Angels: Los Angeles needs a catcher and they aren't afraid of spending money as they showed this past offseason with the editions of Albert Pujols and CJ Wilson. Do the Angels need another star at this point? They have all of the pieces to one of the best rotations in the game. Albert Pujols is the best hitter in this generation and Mike Trout is emerging as a once in a generation star. There are plenty of big names in LA and Mauer might get lost in the shuffle. With Pujols getting most of the time at first base, Mauer would need to find time at other spots. Some other bad contracts in LA make it seem like this deal would be tough to pull off for the Angels. If I'm Terry Ryan, I say, "Mauer for Trout, straight up." Then I pull the phone away from my ear because of the laughter on the other end. Dodgers: The new ownership group has shown their willingness to spend big money and adding another contract might not be that big of a deal. The absence of a DH in the National League seems like a draw back from Mauer moving to the Senior Circuit. Gonzalez looks to be locked in at first base so Mauer would be out of the line-up on a more regular basis to give his legs a rest from catching duties. He could always try the outfield but the Dodgers are sitting pretty well in that department as well. Making another big move could be huge for the Dodgers franchise but it doesn't seem like their roster is a good fit for Mr. Mauer. Cubs: Since Theo Epstein moved to Chicago, the Cubs haven't made too much of a splash. Adding Mauer to the fold could be a franchise changing move for a team trying to dig out of the lower levels of the National League. If the Red Sox were in love with Mauer in the past, it makes sense to think that Epstein would like to get the player and maybe rub it in his old team's face. Much like the Twins, the Cubs and Epstein are attempting to fix a club after a couple of rough seasons. Mauer's addition to the Cubs would make a splash but they are trying to turn themselves around for the long haul. It doesn't make much sense to bring in a deal like Mauer for the rebuilding process. So what do you think? Where would Mauer end up if he was traded?

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Even though they are a last place team like the Twins, the pesky Seattle Mariners have seemed to have the Twins number in 2012. For the second night in a row, the Twins couldn't get much offense going and it's tough to win games without scoring runs. The good news is that the Twins are getting closer to getting the second pick in next year's draft. Only the Cubs and the Astros have a worse record than the Twins so this recent stretch of poor play has pushed Minnesota ahead of Colorado. I spent the evening taking in some Independent League Baseball as the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks returned to Newman Outdoor Field. There was a Bobblelection held as fans had to pick between getting an Obama bobblehead or a Romney bobblehead. The first candidate to run out of bobbleheads would be declared the winner. It turns out that the Fort Myers Miracle are having a similar promotion on Thursday evening at their home game. ROCHESTER 10, BUFFALO 4 The Red Wings used a 5-run top of the ninth inning to separate themselves from the Bisons on Tuesday evening. Buffalo struck early for a couple runs but Rochester slowly pecked away before coming up big in their last at-bat. Rene Rivera and Tsuyoshi Nishioka each drove in three runs. Rivera had a home run and a double to his credit while Nishioka settled for a three hit night. Brian Dozier continues to struggle since his demotion as he went 0-4 with two strikeouts. Chris Parmelee had a hat trick with three strikeouts in the game. Sharion Martis picked up his third win of the year in a very strong outing. Over six innings on the mound, he gave up two runs on six hits with three strikeouts. Anthony Slama made things a little more interesting in the ninth by giving up a two-run bomb but he still picked up his 13th save on the year. NEW BRITAIN 4, TRENTON 7 A big 5-run second inning put the Thunder up big and the Rock Cats couldn't recover on this night. Steve Hirschfeld was roughed up for six runs in less than two innings of work. This made it a long night for the bullpen but Edgar Ibarra, Dakota Watts, Aaron Thompson, and Jose Gonzalez managed to make it through the rest of the game by only allowing one more run. The lone run came on a solo home run so it was a pretty good 6.1 innings from the bullpen forces. Josmil Pinto went 3-for-4 on the night with his first double since being promoted from Fort Myers. In the fifth inning, Deibinson Romero hit his 19th home run of the year. Nate Hanson also went 2-for-4 in the loss. FORT MYERS 10, BRADENTON 11 (7 INNINGS) FORT MYERS 4, BRADENTON 2 (7 INNINGS) The first game of the night turned into quite the slugfest as the teams combined for 21 runs on 19 hits. The Miracle entered the last inning down by six runs and they would storm back before falling a run short. Steve Liddle hit his third home run of the season and he had three RBI. Most of the dirty work was done by Angel Morales as he hit a grand slam in the final frame to make things interesting. With his RBI from earlier in the game, he finished with five RBI in the contest. Clint Dempster took the loss after giving up six runs in less than an inning on the mound. Compared to the first game of the night, the second game was a nice, tidy win for the Miracle in their double-header. A couple runs in the third and sixth innings were enough to push the team to a victory. Steve Liddle hit his second home run of the day and his two-run shot turned out to be the difference in the score. Daniel Ortiz was the only member of the Miracle to have more than one hit by going 2-for-4 with his 23rd double. Pat Dean earned his 10th victory by pitching five innings and surrendering two runs with five strikeouts. BELOIT 0, CEDAR RAPIDS 5 The Snappers put seven hits on the board but the pitching staff for the Kernals kept them from scoring a run in this game. Beloit only had one extra base hit in the game, a double off of the bat of Drew Leachman. Jairo Rodriguez went 2-for-3 and he was the lone player with a multi-hit game. The team left nine men on base and they missed the presence of Miguel Sano who was out of the line-up for the second straight night. Matt Tomshaw had an okay outing but he was still saddled with his fifth loss of the year. The team had three errors in the game including two from Adam Pettersen trying to fill in for Sano at third base. This meant that Tomshaw only gave up two earned runs during his five innings pitched. It was the third consecutive start that Tomshaw has lost. ELIZABETHTON 6, PRICETON 4 A solid offensive outing from the young E-Twins helped the team to the victory on Tuesday evening. Top draft pick Byron Buxton went 2-for-4 with two steals and two runs scored out of the lead-off spot. He was backed up by Niko Goodrum as he was 2-for-4 with a double and a triple in the game. Max Kepler continued to show his power stroke by hitting his 10th home run and stealing a base. Hein Robb started the game and gave up two earned runs on seven hits in a little less than five innings. Joshua Burris improved to a perfect 7-0 with the victory on this night out of the bullpen. He threw the last two innings and only allowed one man to reach base. --- Players of the Day for August 28, 2012 Hitter of the Day: Steve Liddle [ATTACH=CONFIG]2172[/ATTACH] Pitcher of the Day: Shairon Martis [ATTACH=CONFIG]2173[/ATTACH] --- A Look Ahead- Wednesday, August 29th Schedule Rochester: Off Day New Britain @ Trenton: LHP Logan Darnell Fort Myers @ Bradenton: RHP Tom Stuifbergen Beloit @ Wisconsin: LHP David Hurlbut Elizabethton @ Danville: RHP JO Berrios --- If you have any questions or comments on the minor league system, leave them in the comments sections so they can be answered by myself or one of the other readers.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]2153[/ATTACH] The biggest debate in the baseball world over the course of the last few months has been surrounding the Washington Nationals and their decision to shut-down Stephen Strasburg, one of the best young starting pitchers in the game. He is pitching in his first full season at the big league level and he only pitched at the end of last season since he was recovering from Tommy John surgery. Nationals fans see their team in first place and they want Strasburg to help the franchise reach the playoffs for the first time since the team moved to DC. Even with pressure from outside sources, the front office for the team is holding their ground and telling the media that Strasburg will be shut down at some point in the next couple weeks. Almost a decade ago, the Cubs were in a similar position with a young pitcher of their own but their approach to handling their young arm was a little different. As Tom Verducci wrote about in his piece yesterday, the Cubs and their coaching staff seemed to beat Mark Prior into the ground in his first season as a big league pitcher. He had pitched almost 170 innings by the time September rolled around and he would average 125 pitches in his last nine starts of the 2003 season. It was by far his best season as a professional but he would never be the same from that point forward. Some blame his overuse and others look at his poor mechanics but teams have never looked at young pitchers the same way since Prior's breakdown. With his minor league seasons taken into account, Prior had thrown 379 innings by the time of his age 22 season. This number seems to be large for a player and it also includes some of those outings with high pitch counts that aren't common in the present day game. Prior was the number two pick out of college in the 2001 draft and the Twins had the same pick in the draft that took place the year before Prior left college. The Twins took Adam Johnson, a right-handed pitcher, out of Cal State Fullerton. He didn't have quite the pedigree of Prior but he was trying to work his way to the big leagues through the Twins farm system. By the time he reached the end of his age 22 season, he had thrown 357 innings in the minor leagues, a number very close to Prior's total number of innings. Johnson would be out of the Twins organization after the 2004 season as he went on to play in independent leagues, the Mexican League, and eventually he joined the A's farm system. Prior would pitch over 100 innings in 2004 and 2005 but he hasn't pitched at the big league level since 2006. Were the Cubs and Twins following the same plan by pushing their young pitchers too hard? Things have sure changed in recent years for young pitchers. As touched on before, the Nationals have a lot of money and one surgery under their belt with Strasburg. This has caused them to be very cautious when it comes to their precious arm. As the baseball landscape has changed so has the approach to innings limits and pitch counts for different players. Matt Garza was taken by the Twins in the first round of the 2005 draft and the team watched his innings limit more in his younger years. A shift happened in the baseball world and it's hard to get through this time of the year without hearing about minor league pitchers reaching their limit and being shut down for the year or sent to the bullpen. Flash-forward to the present day and it seems as if every player is forced to undergo some kind of operation during their career with Tommy John surgery leading the way. Stephan Strasburg might seem like the case study to follow for teams looking to model their innings limits and pitch counts for a pitcher. The nice things for the Nationals has been to see how fellow starter Jordan Zimmerman has done since his own injury. The team followed a strict pitch count with him during his first full season back in 2011 and now the team has been rewarded with him having his best season as a professional. The limits worked for Zimmerman and the team hopes that the same will hold true for Strasburg. Fans of the Twins minor league system have been following the recovery of former first round pick Kyle Gibson as he makes his way back from Tommy John surgery. He is currently pitching with the Rochester Red Wings and it sounds like the team is happy to see him finish the year with that club. From there, he will most likely go to the instructional leagues or to the Arizona Fall League to continue his comeback. The Twins will be in a similar position to the Nationals next season with Gibson as he will be in his first full season since the surgery. There will undoubtedly be an innings limit for the right-handed pitcher in 2013 and he might have to be shut down early much like Strasburg. The Cubs pushed Mark Prior to the limit and the rest is baseball history. Now the world of pitching is all about innings limits, 100 pitch outings, and trying to find the right combination of rest and recovery. Tommy John surgeries seem to be a right of passage to make it to the big leagues and this comes in an era that has seen plenty of perfect games and no hitters. With baseball toughening their stance on PEDs, pitchers seem to have gotten back a little bit more of their edge on the mound and this makes young arms all the more valuable. Baseball will never be the same because of Mark Prior but he can't have imagined that it would be for this reason.

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[ATTACH=CONFIG]2133[/ATTACH] The buzz around the baseball world this weekend surrounded the blockbuster trade between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Boston Red Sox. In the deal, the Dodgers got Adrian Gonzalez, Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford, and Nick Punto. Besides dumping a ton of salary, the Red Sox got James Loney, Rubby De La Rosa, Allen Webster, Jerry Sands, and Ivan De Jesus. It is pretty amazing to see a deal like this getting done since players need to pass through waivers before being traded at this point in the season. One interesting note for Twins fans that came out after this big deal went down was that the Dodgers turned to Adrian Gonzalez after failing to get Justin Morneau. It was the second time this season that the Dodgers had contacted the Twins about a deal for Morneau The first time was around the trade deadline but the Twins passed at that time and it seems that the team passed on a deal for him once again last week. Morneau struggled on the field at the beginning of 2012 as he adjusted back to being a full time player for the first time in two years. There were plenty of question marks surrounding his health in spring training but he has put many of these issues to rest. After appearing in a combined 150 games in the last two seasons, Morneau has played in 103 contests and he is showing no signs of slowing down. He has hit .322/.368/.517 with 6 home runs and 11 doubles in the second half of the season which is much closer to the old MVP version of the slugging first baseman. There is one season remaining on the big contract that Morneau signed with the Twins back in 2008. The 31-year old outfielder is due $14 million for next season and that is a lot of money for a team that doesn't know if they will be in contention. With his big contract and looming free agency, there will continue to be rumors about the future of Morneau with the Twins. So the question remains, what will the Twins do with Justin Morneau? Since the trade deadline has come and gone, the only way Morneau could be dealt at this point in the season is by being placed on waivers. From the sound of the reports out of Los Angeles, Morneau has already been placed on waivers. If he was claimed by the Dodgers, that means that all of the teams in the American League passed on Morneau and most of the National League followed the same path. With all of that being said, a waiver deal seems unlikely at this point in the season When the offseason rolls around, the Twins could play off of Morneau's positive second half and try to work a trade to another club. Terry Ryan is back in the saddle for a full offseason and a Morneau deal could bring some prized possessions back to the minor leagues of the organization. Allowing teams to see that Morneau is fully healthy for all of 2012 could also go a long way to increasing his value in the trade market. There will be plenty of rumors surrounding Morneau this offseason and the winter meetings will be full of discussion on the slugger. If the front office feels that there aren't any adequate deals for Morneau in the offseason, they could hold on to the first baseman for the beginning of next year. His strong bat fits well into the middle of a line-up and the team might want to get some more value out of their former MVP. He could be a very useful piece if the team finds themselves in contention next year in the AL Central. Chances are that the Twins won't be in contention next season and a trade deadline deal might have to be struck for the star. Fans were unhappy with this year's deadline deal for Francisco Liriano so it might not be in the team's best interest to wait until next July for a trade to get done. There is always the chance that the Twins will hang on to Morneau through all of next season before he becomes a free agent. This would allow the team to consider a contract extension for the player who has only known the Twins organization. He will be 32-years old during the 2013 season and he might want a change of scenery as he starts getting closer to the end of his career. The lure of going to a club with more recent playoff success could be too much to turn down. Money will no doubtably play some kind of role in his choice but the Twins saw Michael Cuddyer and Joe Nathan leave for greener pastures this past offseason. While the Twins will have to make a decision about Morneau in the coming year, the elephant in the room is Chris Parmelee and his hot swinging bat in the minor leagues. Parmelee has been with the Twins on a few different occasions this season and it has been tough for him to find at-bats with the club at the big league level. If Morneau is still on the roster during next season, it could still be hard for the Twins to find at-bats for Parmelee. For the Twins, Parmelee would be a much cheaper option at first base since he would be making the minimum salary. He will also be 25-years old for the entirety of next season so the Twins need to see if he can handle playing at the big league level. The Twins will have plenty of choice to make in the coming months with a variety of players on the roster but the future of Morneau will be watched closely by all of Twins Territory.

I think Span and Morneau will be dealt but Willingham will stick around. It would be nice to get starting pitching back but it is more important to get good value back. I doubt the Twins will spend big money on a free agent starting pitcher. They haven't done it in the past so it would seem out of character for them to start now. Gardy isn't going anywhere. The Pohlads are too loyal but I could see some changes in the rest of the coaching staff. Dozier is going to get another shot to prove himself as the shortstop in September and in spring training.

Plouffe was a first round pick so the expectations have been high for him since the beginning. He also showed some promise during his time in the minor leagues. Valencia was a 19th round pick and he had some good seasons in the low minors that helped to get hopes up surrounding his future. But his slugging dropped significantly the higher he moved up the ladder.

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Happy Friday to everyone in Twins Territory! As a professional educator by day, I saw my summer come to an end yesterday with the start of another school year. It feels good to get back into the swing of things even though it's still hot and sticky outside. The Minnesota State Fair started yesterday and attending the State Fair is one of the things that I will miss most about living in the suburbs of the Twin Cities. The food, the fun, and the festivities of the State Fair are one of the great ways to put a close to the summer months. It has been a rough West Coast road trip for the Twins and it doesn't look to be getting any easier with a four game series versus the Texas Rangers this weekend. The Twins were swept by the last place Mariners of the weekend and they were only able to get one victory in Oakland. It could be a long weekend in Texas before the Twins head back to Minnesota for a four game series with Seattle, the team that just swept them. Let's not get down in the dumps on a Friday by looking back at the last dismal week for the Twins. There's no better way to spend part of your Friday than reading this week's edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks." At the beginning of spring training, it seemed like the Twins starting rotation could have a chance to keep them in contention but that plan went horribly wrong. There are still plenty of reasons to watch the Twins in the last few weeks of the season. Twins supplemental round draft pick JO Berrios has been making some noise on the field and he is hoping to make a difference in his homeland. Independent leagues can provide some solid minor league players to add depth to an organization. Is Ron Gardenhire's future in doubt? Sam Deduno has been a surprise so far for the Twins but it's hard to figure out how he is being successful. Who should be in the starting rotation for the Twins in September? Top prospect Miguel Sano and the rest of the Snappers got all dressed up for a recent game. It has been frustrating to watch the way that the Twins and their medical staff deal with injury situations. The latest installment includes Denard Span missing 10 days and we found out he's claustrophobic. Speaking of the medical staff messing up, Carl Pavano was given a new diagnosis this week and his season is done. The most exciting news of the week might be that RHP Kyle Gibson is returning to Rochester on his way back from Tommy John surgery. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ydTPhBBulCc/UDbTQUlXUbI/AAAAAAAADKc/PgELAr5wpbc/s320/KyleGibson.jpg Umpires get a lot of grief sometimes but this story is one of the most amazing of the week. Johan Santana tossed the first no-hitter in Mets history but he was shutdown earlier this week and won't pitch again in 2012. But his no-hitter was worth it, right? For the first time in 15 years, Orioles fans have the opportunity to purchase postseason tickets and it's always good news when Lew Ford has a shot at October baseball. In other Orioles news, former Twins slugger Jim Thome is ahead of schedule and ready for a rehab stint. One of my favorite shows on TV is Pawn Stars and this original Willie Mays uniform was worth a lot of money to the shop. Fans in Seattle showed up to honor their King after his perfect game last week. The Cleveland Indians should be in the midst of quite a run in the AL Central but multiple injuries over the last half of a decade to Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner have stopped that from happening. This was suppose to be the year that the Royals made some noise in the American League but that hasn't happened in 2012. Former Twins shortstop Jason Bartlett signed a 2-year, $11 million contract with the Padres before last season and he was released earlier this week. Michael Cuddyer's first year in Colorado hasn't gone exactly as planned. Gary Gaetti will get to manage Roger Clemens this weekend in a independent minor league baseball game. My Weekly Rundown: Monday: Mounting losses mean improving draft stock Tuesday: The Year in Twins Trading Cards: 2012 edition Wednesday: Thoughts on Blackburn, Nishioka moves Thursday: What could have been for Rene Tosoni Video of the Week: If you frequently visitor and reader of my post, you know that I enjoy the minor leagues and prospects in general. Cincinnati Reds farm hand Billy Hamilton stole his way into the record books this week by breaking Vince Coleman's record of 145 steals in 1983. Hamilton got his 146th steal and the speedster even made it third base for the record.

Happy Friday to everyone in Twins Territory! As a professional educator by day, I saw my summer come to an end yesterday with the start of another school year. It feels good to get back into the swing of things even though it's still hot and sticky outside. The Minnesota State Fair started yesterday and attending the State Fair is one of the things that I will miss most about living in the suburbs of the Twin Cities. The food, the fun, and the festivities of the State Fair are one of the great ways to put a close to the summer months. It has been a rough West Coast road trip for the Twins and it doesn't look to be getting any easier with a four game series versus the Texas Rangers this weekend. The Twins were swept by the last place Mariners of the weekend and they were only able to get one victory in Oakland. It could be a long weekend in Texas before the Twins head back to Minnesota for a four game series with Seattle, the team that just swept them. Let's not get down in the dumps on a Friday by looking back at the last dismal week for the Twins. There's no better way to spend part of your Friday than reading this week's edition of "Friday Links-N-Thinks." At the beginning of spring training, it seemed like the Twins starting rotation could have a chance to keep them in contention but that plan went horribly wrong. There are still plenty of reasons to watch the Twins in the last few weeks of the season. Twins supplemental round draft pick JO Berrios has been making some noise on the field and he is hoping to make a difference in his homeland. Independent leagues can provide some solid minor league players to add depth to an organization. Is Ron Gardenhire's future in doubt? Sam Deduno has been a surprise so far for the Twins but it's hard to figure out how he is being successful. Who should be in the starting rotation for the Twins in September? Top prospect Miguel Sano and the rest of the Snappers got all dressed up for a recent game. It has been frustrating to watch the way that the Twins and their medical staff deal with injury situations. The latest installment includes Denard Span missing 10 days and we found out he's claustrophobic. Speaking of the medical staff messing up, Carl Pavano was given a new diagnosis this week and his season is done. The most exciting news of the week might be that RHP Kyle Gibson is returning to Rochester on his way back from Tommy John surgery. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ydTPhBBulCc/UDbTQUlXUbI/AAAAAAAADKc/PgELAr5wpbc/s320/KyleGibson.jpg Umpires get a lot of grief sometimes but this story is one of the most amazing of the week. Johan Santana tossed the first no-hitter in Mets history but he was shutdown earlier this week and won't pitch again in 2012. But his no-hitter was worth it, right? For the first time in 15 years, Orioles fans have the opportunity to purchase postseason tickets and it's always good news when Lew Ford has a shot at October baseball. In other Orioles news, former Twins slugger Jim Thome is ahead of schedule and ready for a rehab stint. One of my favorite shows on TV is Pawn Stars and this original Willie Mays uniform was worth a lot of money to the shop. Fans in Seattle showed up to honor their King after his perfect game last week. The Cleveland Indians should be in the midst of quite a run in the AL Central but multiple injuries over the last half of a decade to Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner have stopped that from happening. This was suppose to be the year that the Royals made some noise in the American League but that hasn't happened in 2012. Former Twins shortstop Jason Bartlett signed a 2-year, $11 million contract with the Padres before last season and he was released earlier this week. Michael Cuddyer's first year in Colorado hasn't gone exactly as planned. Gary Gaetti will get to manage Roger Clemens this weekend in a independent minor league baseball game. My Weekly Rundown: Monday: Mounting losses mean improving draft stock Tuesday: The Year in Twins Trading Cards: 2012 edition Wednesday: Thoughts on Blackburn, Nishioka moves Thursday: What could have been for Rene Tosoni Video of the Week: If you frequently visitor and reader of my post, you know that I enjoy the minor leagues and prospects in general. Cincinnati Reds farm hand Billy Hamilton stole his way into the record books this week by breaking Vince Coleman's record of 145 steals in 1983. Hamilton got his 146th steal and the speedster even made it third base for the record.

It would be great to see Gibson find success at Triple-A before the end of the year. Hopefully, he will continue to improve his pitch counts and be ready for the start of spring training or maybe a trip to the Arizona Fall League.

I like the Avengers idea. Who would be Iron Man? And someone would most likely be put in a Black Widow costume even though it is a girl character.