John Bonnes

Looking over Gardenhire's record, he didn't have his first losing season until his sixth season as manager. And he didn't have his second until his 10th season as a manager. He also one Manager of the Year once, but finished second five times and third another time. That's seven Manager of the Year top three finishes in 13 seasons.

I'm surprised, as the podcast which we did last night (and which will be posted soon) will make clear.

Fantastic. I can't believe Dan stayed in there for the second pitch.

It's just so early to evaluate. Last year, there were 4, then there were three, then there were four, etc. It's hard to say right now.

Because this is your last chance, that’s why. Three weeks from now the bottom is going to drop out and you’re going to be faced with five months of winter and six months without baseball. Plus the good lord has smiled on us with 70-degrees-and-sunny weather and the baseball gods have smiled on us with a weekday play-hookie game. If that isn’t reason enough to nab some cheap Target Field seats this week, then I don’t think we can be friends.Diamondback Drama I’ll grant you that the final matchup is a little goofy. This year’s divisional alignment changes mean the Twins final home series is going to be an inter-league affair against the Diamondbacks, who I wasn’t sure the Twins have ever played before. Turns out they have – they swept the Twins as recently as 2011 – but this is their first trip to Target Field. The last time they visited MInnesota was in 2009 when the Twins swept them. If you think the Twins' year has been a bummer, Diamondbacks fans would like to have a word with you. Arizona is one of only three teams with a worse record than the Twins. And while the Twins seem to be (ever so) slowly making some progress, the D-backs are in full meltdown mode. Three years ago they won 92 games and made the playoffs. The last two years they finished at .500 and missed the playoffs. But this year, they are battling Texas for the worst record in the majors. The slide is costing people their jobs, from the players to the front office. Tony LaRussa was brought in midyear to become the club’s “Chief Baseball Officer” and earlier this month he removed GM Kevin Towers from his responsibilities. It also appears that manager Kirk Gibson is on shaky ground, as he has lost any player support he had. Their big offseason acquisition, slugger Mark Trumbo, has been hurt most of the year and the club is wondering if he would make more sense with an American League team, so there is talk of trading him. The Draft Race The Twins (relative) success on this homestand has helped make going to games interesting, but they are in danger of hurting their MLB draft position. Here are where things sit going into Sunday’s games: Texas Rangers – 61 wins Arizona Diamondback – 62 wins Colorado Rockies – 64 wins Minnesota Twins – 66 wins Boston Red Sox – 67 wins Houston Astros – 68 wins Chicago Cubs – 69 wins This series creates a unique opportunity: if the Twins get swept, they would be within a game of Arizona to improve on their MLB draft order. Understand, I’m not someone who roots for that, but it’s nice to know we’re covered either way. That’s the Ticket The Twins will be trotting out their three best pitchers for this series, which is also heartening. Ricky Nolasco has been looking more like the guy the Twins thought they signed, with a 3.09 ERA over his last five starts. He’ll start Monday night.Kyle Gibson takes the mound on Tuesday night. He's been the opposite of Nolasco, but finally had a decent outing last week after struggling through the last two months. He’s at 165 IP, which is already 13 more innings than he has ever tallied in his professional career. A 175 inning year would be yet one more step forward for him this year.But the ticket I want the most is Wednesday’s afternoon tilt. Phil Hughes will be on the mound, making the last start of his breakthrough year. He passed 200 inning in his last start and still has a sparkling 3.61 ERA and 181 strikeouts. Plus, the forecast that afternoon is 73 and sunny. We aren’t going to get many more days like that this year. We’re going to get none where we get to watch baseball at Target Field. Click here to view the article

What a difference a year makes. Not only did the squad reporting to this years 2014 Florida Instructional League look much different than last year but so did the newly renovated facility. When entering the new Player Academy, you're greeted by a large hill that was constructed for new strength exercises and a sign stating "This is Twin Territory" with a 12 ft picture of Kirby Puckett and the quote: "And we'll see you tomorrow night!" Around the corner is more signage showing the Twins past success and telling everyone "The Road Begins Here". While waiting around, I was able to find the itinerary for this past Thursday. Further down is the brand new three-story housing unit and office for the Players' Developmental Academy, and let me tell you, the Twins did this right. That is except for the marked up rates they charge the players for simple things such as contact solution. I sweet talked my way into the first floor unit and it was nice, furnished with ping-pong tables, pool tables, conference rooms and offices. The walls are decorated with blown up old school Twins baseball cards and ESPN The Magazine covers with Baseball America magazines strewn about and the MLB network playing on flatscreen TVs. The players live on the second and third floor and room with a teammate unless they have family. http://twinsdaily.co..._54_2650658.jpg http://twinsdaily.co..._54_2137116.jpg http://twinsdaily.co...092_54_5368.jpg http://twinsdaily.co..._54_3229073.jpg http://twinsdaily.co..._55_2970033.jpg http://twinsdaily.co...2_55_709594.jpg http://twinsdaily.co...2_55_318386.jpg http://twinsdaily.co...2_55_806154.jpg The best part of this experience is that I'm the only "regular" person out there with all these players, coaches and trainers. With the 10am game cancelled due to wet conditions, the day started off as a fizzle and I was honestly about to leave but who do I see come out of the Academy Complex but Bryon Buxton and the rest of the Instructional League squad. Buxton was the first player out and has definitely hardened over the last two years since I've seen him in that he doesn't like the chit-chat or pictures or autographs as much as when he was fresh out of a small Georgia high school. Following Buxton were the rest of the Instructional League positional players minus Nick Gordon. The pitchers stayed behind in the Complex listening to a Rasmussen speech and watching video. http://twinsdaily.co...92_55_49675.jpg http://twinsdaily.co..._55_2091421.jpg http://twinsdaily.co..._55_1545438.jpg http://twinsdaily.co...2_55_259464.jpg At 9:30 the position players reported to what they loving refer to as "The Hill". At first glance it doesn't appear ominous but if you talk to any player out there, they hated it by the end. The first player taken was Miguel Guzman (and boy, can he fly) while the catchers were all picked near the end with Alex Swim getting the notorious last pick and crying about it. Kanzler ended up with Rainis Silvia, Jorge Fernandez, Nelson Molina, Trey Vavra, Tanner English,Tyree Davis, Rafael Valera and Stu Turner. , before deciding on slow-fast-slow placement of runners and picking Rainis Silvia to go first, which Rainis was pleading not to do. Jorge Fernandez is quiet the character: very verbal with encouragement, a quick wit and always cracking a joke. I said that I wasn't impressed with last year's strength and conditioning regime. This time around leadman Eric Beiser pulled out a great drill. It included a tremendous number of difficult exercises on that hill. Tommy Watkins, the FIL manager, loves giving his players crap, riding them hard. Most of the players thought he was joking when he said we're hitting after this but he was serious. , , Believe it or not, this drill killed several of the players with three of them puking. Tyree told me, "I never had to do this even in football. They said you work every muscle but I only feel it here (quadriceps). I know what I'm doing this offseason (pointing to the hill). I've never had to workout like this before." http://twinsdaily.co...2_55_216006.jpg http://twinsdaily.co...2_55_225568.jpg http://twinsdaily.co..._55_1355596.jpg Buxton just stood on the sidelines and watched as he's nowhere near in shape. He's only hitting in the the cage at this point. Tyler Kuresa asked Buxton if he had done this drill before which Byron replied "Yeah, but I was in shape then." , thus making Kanzler group having to hit second and clean-up the hill and collect balls in the cage.http://twinsdaily.co..._55_3714793.jpg While the positional players were finishing up with their drill, the pitchers came out at about 10:30 AM. Many of the positionals asked if the pitchers had to do the same drill, and received an emphatic "NO!" in reply. To which Tyler Kuresa replied back, "Gotta work on covering first today?" Eric Rassmussen asked Field Coordinator Joe Lepel if he had two catchers that weren't tanked so . Of course, that was after the pitchers played catch and long toss for 20 minutes. After JT Chargois finished I was able to call him over and get him to talk briefly about his recovery processs and . According to JT, the arm is feeling the best it has in a long time but he's having trouble with his location and command. He says he doesn't know how hard he's throwing which I'm sure was a lie, but according to a source he was 96-98 mph in his last outing. He's throwing mainly fastballs at this point and that's all he threw in his side session. The source I talked to said they plan to take it slow with JT, possibly starting off in extended spring training and/or Fort Myers and see from there. From my perspective Chargois seems like a genuinely nice kid and I wish him the best of luck but don't think he needs too much because that ball just explodes out of his hand. The pitchers then reported off to the inside arena while the hitters continued to hit in the cages. The rain started to come and I departed. Hopefully next week the rain subsides enough to get a game in when I'll be back the 27th. I hope you enjoyed the ramblings of a baseball fan. http://twinsdaily.co...2_55_232454.jpg *I have no affiliation with any club, organization, company, etc the above blog is just one baseball fan's look inside the not often covered Florida Instructional League. Click here to view the article

I feel for you loss, and I'm not being sarcastic. It's even more frustrating when it appears it was due to a mismanaged mess. I hope you'll continue to write, even if you can't focus as much on the Twins AA team.

The recent success of Kennys Vargas had me wondering about the other Twins slugger we were supposed to see this year. So I checked in with Jon Paley, one of the producers of Ballplayer:Pelotero which documented the struggles Twins prospect Miguel Sano faced when signing with a major league team.“Sano's update is going as planned,” said Paley. “We were filming with him down in Fort Myers a few weeks ago and he seems very comfortable throwing and taking his first couple swings in the cage. Everything is looking good for him to make a full recovery for next season.” And if you think Twins fans are anxious for his return, you should try talking to Paley. Paley was midway through a second documentary about Sano called The MIguel Sano Story, which details Sano’s rise through the minor leagues. The problem is it is supposed to end when he makes the majors. “Miguel's injury pushed back the timeline for the documentary,” Paley confessed. “We are committed to following wherever his story goes, so when he got sidelined for the season it meant a whole new storyline for us.” So the documentary filmmakers have followed the story. “We have been filming with Miguel throughout his surgery and rehabilitation,” says Paley. “Our next shoot will take us down to the [Dominican Republic] this November to film the birth of Miguel's first child. After that, we hope to see you all again at spring training.” So how far are we from seeing the sequel? Despite the delay, they’ve been working on other aspects of the film. “We have already started editing the film but it is a long process,” Paley revealed, “especially since we have 5 times as much footage this time around. Once we've got the film together we will start looking at the best ways to get it out there, in theaters, online, and in fans' hands.” In the meantime, you can help make the film a reality by visiting their relaunched website MiguelSanoStory.com. You can also get the latest information on their progress. “We encourage fans of the film to sign up for our mailing list to stay in touch with all the developments on the film and follow Miguel's progress as he works his way towards his big league debut.” At the site you can also find videos, photos, articles and outtakes from the film, as well as shop for #powerbanana t-shirts, and other cool swag from the project. It won’t be until spring that we see Miguel back in action. It likely won’t be until summer that we see him at Target Field. And it will be later still that we get the inside story of his minor league journey. Hang in there, Twins fans, and in the meantime, check out MiguelSanoStory.com for updates and a lot more fun stuff. Click here to view the article

Aaron and John are joined by special guest Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune to talk about Ron Gardenhire handling all the losing, Trevor May's turnaround, Danny Santana's rookie season, whether the timetable for contention has been pushed back, Tommy Milone being damaged goods, the value of stealing bases beyond the numbers, Doug Mientkiewicz as a managerial candidate, comparing Delmon Young to Carlos Boozer, the value of a pitching coach and why it's a baseball fan should not be a beat reporter.You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. The Twins salvaged the last game versus the White Sox yesterday, and as a result, you can get 50% off a large or extra-large Papa John's pizza on Monday at PapaJohns.com by using the promo code TWINSWIN. Click here to view the article

Aaron and John are joined by David Brauer at Mason's Barre and talk about September callups, the Twins marketing survey and whether the Twins are really a culture of accountability.You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it atGleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below.. Click here to view the article

The best team and the best player in baseball are coming to Target Field this weekend. You might want to change some plans. The Best Team The Angels have the most wins in baseball with 83 victories. I didn’t see this coming, but I don’t feel too bad – neither did Las Vegas.Vegas set the over/under on season wins for Los Angeles at 86.5, which the Angels could break before they leave Target Field. I stupidly thought that was crazy high. After all, this was a team that imploded last year with only 78 wins after winning 89 games the year before. Their starting pitching ranked 22nd in the majors in ERA. There was talk of firing manager Mike Scioscia at the conclusion of the season, though he hung on. And after making big splash after big splash for the last several offseasons, their winter was deafeningly quiet. This felt like the beginning of a very long death rattle. Nope. The pitching staff completely rebounded , moving up to 9th in the league in ERA. Pair that with an offense that is 4th in runs scored. While the rival A’s received praise for their aggressive trade deadline moves, the Angles not only have established a 4.5 game lead in the AL West, they overcame a 3.5 game deficit in early August to do so. That included a four-game sweep of the A’s last week. The Best Player Speaking of Vegas, Angels centerfielder Mike Trout is now a 1/8 favorite to win the AL MVP Award that has eluded him thus far. That means if you want to bet that Trout will win the AL MVP, you need to pony up $800 to win $100. If Vegas will still take those odds, you might want to mortgage the farm, because it’s a lock. It’ll be interesting to see if the sabrmetric community rallies around him this year, like they did the last two years when he led the AL in Wins Above Replacement (WAR), only to finish second in the AL MVP voting. Because this year he doesn’t lead the league in WAR. That honor belong to Oakland’s Josh Donaldson who has a 6.9 WAR compared to a 6.6 WAR for Trout. Trout may win the award in what has been his worst full year in the majors. There are two differences. First, his batting average has slipped considerably this year. He entered the season with a .314 batting average and is hitting “only” .285 this year. The 40 point decrease from the 2013 has led to a 60 point slump in on-base percentage and OPS, although his OPS is still third in the league. In fact, he is still well-represented across the batting leader boards. Trout ranks 4th in slugging, second in runs scored, first in total bases, fourth in home runs and second in RBIs. He also ranks first overall in offensive WAR, which points us to the other area in which he has slipped….. According to defensive metrics, Trout has taken a step backward in center field this year. In 2012, Ultimate Zone Rating (UZR) ranked him as very good in center, and last year he was slightly above average. This year he is below average although Inside Edge Fielding doesn’t seem to agree. In fact, it shows him reaching more “Unlikely”, “Even” and “Likely” plays than he did lat year. Still, it appears he deserves the trophy this year, regardless of whether you’re an old school or new school baseball fan. He certainly deserves the cost of a ticket. I’ll be taking advantage of one of the last good weekends this year to watch an MVP in action. Click here to view the article

I think I speak for most of Twins Territory when I double-negatively say that I will never NOT want to beat the White Sox. It’s sure nice of them to come back for one last visit, even if it’s just a two-game series. It’s also nice of them to kind of suck. September Sprints and Swoons One can spin doctor this pattern either way, but after 12 years the pattern itself is pretty clear: Twins manager Ron Gardenhire’s teams rise to the occasion when they need to, but fall to pieces just as severely when a season is hopeless.Below are the 12 years of the Gardenhire era. The first column is the year. The second is how close the Twins were to the top of the AL Central when September started. And the last two columns were how they did in September: Download attachment: Gardenhire_Sept_record.jpg With the possible exception 2008, a season in which they finished September under .500 but still forced a 163rd game, the pattern has been consistent. When Gardenhire’s team is within range of a division title, they win games. When they are not, they don’t. That has been particularly true last three years, when the club’s September record has only been 27-55. The Twins entered this month 15.5 games back. That doesn’t bode terribly well for the team. Sox Sliding However, the White Sox are in a similar bind. While the Twins had a rough August, going just 11-18, the White Sox were even worse, finishing the month with just nine wins, including a seven-game losing streak. They entered the month just three games under .500. They exit the month thirteen games under .500 and playing out their second consecutive hopeless year. Hopeless years seem to be a similar issue for White Sox manager Robin Ventura – or maybe much, much worse. The White Sox August swoon is reminiscent of their swoon last September, when they also found themselves hopelessly out of the AL Central race. As bad as the Twins finished 2013, the Sox were actually worse, finishing the month 7-21. But Ventura’s problems could go beyond keeping a second division team motivated. He might just have trouble maintaining a team’s focus for an entire year. Chicago also finished Ventura’s first year dismally, posting an 11-17 record in September and missing the playoffs after starting the month atop the AL Central. You might think a guy with that record might feel a little heat, especially from a fan base as passionate as that of the White Sox. If so, it’s not obvious: instead he’s being praised by local media for getting better all the time. (Too bad his teams aren’t.) ITPS! (It’s the Pitching, Stupid!) The two-game series gives the Twins a chance to tie the White Sox for fourth place in the division after returning from a seven-game road trip against first place teams. But if the Twins want to show any kind of improvement over last year, it’s going to have to be the pitching staff that leads the charge, and that is looking less and less likely. We’ll start with the season-long stats: the Twins overall ERA is 4.56, 28th in the American League. The starting rotation’s ERA is 5.12 and that is dead last. Also, it’s getting worse instead of better: August’s team ERA was 5.51. (Again, last in the majors). The two guys starting against the White Sox – Tom Milone and Trevor May – have combined to allow more than a run per inning, which means they have a combined ERA over 9.00 as Twins. Both should be seemingly fighting for their jobs, but at this point it isn’t clear if they are or not. Neither seems to be in danger of losing his spot this September. Neither one is likely to be someone the Twins will trust enough to ink into their rotation in 2015. So both are as likely to win a spot in 2015 based on their performance next spring as this September. Twins fans may want to view the next two homestands similarly; this is extended spring training. It’s up to you as to whether you want to view that as a positive or negative, but I’ll go with the former. We’re going to see a lot of new faces, build some hope for next year, and suck the marrow out of this wonderful weather we’ve had this summer. If this winter is anything like last winter, we’ll be treasuring these September contests, win or lose. But yeah, it would be nice if we could win some games, too. Click here to view the article

In a shortened show, Aaron and John broadcast live to an enthralled audience at the Minnesota State Fair. They discuss the odd roster move that cost the team Sam Deduno, the miserable year that top Twins prospects endured and then tackle the decisions the Twins will (or should) make in the upcoming offseason. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it atGleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. Click here to view the article

Twins Daily and Vikings Journal break all kinds of rules. But if you just repost your video and tweet it, that'll work.

As part of my ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, I'm challenging all Twins Daily, all Vikings Journal writers and my podcast partner, Aaron Gleeman, to do their own ice bucket challenge. Just videotape it, tweet it and copy me in the tweet. For each one, Chrissie and I will donate $50 in memorial of Bev Benson, my friend Bob's mom, who was afflicted with this terrible disease. For more (and to see me get very cold) check out the video. This is open to anyone who writes on any of the blogs on these sites. For those of you that have already done the challenge, tweet out the evidence and I'll be happy to include you in the donation pool. Thanks, John Click here to view the article

Here’s the latest Vikings Journal Top 10: 1. ESPN suggests that Teddy Bridgewater is already washed up. Bo Mitchell brings some sanity to the party. 2. Should (can) the Vikings trade Christian Ponder to the Rams? 3. Are the Vikings as resistant to analytics as the Twins? 4. Matt Cassel got the nod and it was the right decision. 5. No Juice Podcast co-host Dan Anderson breaks down the Vikings win totals with his best/worst/most likely analysis. 6. Arif Hasan predicts the Vikings final 53-man roster and then finds 53 cut players that could help.7. What’s trending, what’s worth defending and what might be ending? 8. Can Cordarrelle Patterson to reach 1000 yards receving? 9. Adrian Peterson is drinking the purple Kool-Aid. 10. Long interviews with offensive coordinator Norv Turner and defensive coordinator George Edwards. Click here to view the article