John Bonnes

Well, they'll have time together in Rochester this year for some of it to rub off....

Nick, I couldn't agree more about worrying about his age. My personal sense, not backed by stats, is that I worry about the age of hitters, not pitchers. But I wonder how valid that is. It would be interesting to see how the age of pitchers when they are introduced to the majors correlates with their future. I have't because I think that would include a lot of "noise" or be a prime candidate for the "correlation vs causation" argument; generally a good pitcher is a good pitcher early, so they tend to make it to the majors earlier. It would also be interesting to take a look at tall pitchers and see if they tend to develop later. It sure seems like it took Randy Johnson a long time to move from "curiosity" to "ace" but I wasn't paying as much attention to age at that point. Anyway, I guess my point remains: age is just a number for pitchers and shouldn't factor into the decision to rush a pitcher. I'm glad to hear from Seth that this is only his first option year. We might be impatient, but we have a lot of time to iron this stuff out.

The keyword for the second week is "clean". The week starts on 3/15.

I didn't know this was happening, but apparently the the Chattanooga Lookouts, the Twins newest AA franchise, has been sold? MLB just approved it this month: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/sports/professional/story/2015/mar/03/major-league-baseball-approves-sale-chattanooga-lookouts/291318/ There are a lot more details in this story: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2014/dec/11/chattanooga-lookouts-sold-to-atlanta-partners/277604/ Price is believed to be $12-$13M. It's being sold to a group that also operates a couple of other franchises: Anyone know much about the other franchises they operate? Seems like we might have some insight into how the TinCaps are doing out here.

Aaron and John talk about Eddie Rosario's chance of stealing the center field job from Aaron Hicks, Mark Hamburger's case for a bullpen spot, another chance to win Twins season tickets from the Minnesota Corn Growers at MNFarmTeam.com, Spider-Man the internet repair guy, Joe Nathan being a mess, Kevin Correia finding a new home, eating salads at Mac's Industrial, getting into soccer, big spoons and little spoons, and AL Central cliches. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. http://traffic.libsyn.com/gleemangeek/Ep_185_Rosario_and_the_Iron_Door.mp3 View full article

In 1970, for the second straight year, the Twins won their division but were swept out of the playoffs by the Baltimore Orioles. It wasn't obvious at the time, but the team would not make another postseason appearance for 17 years. That doesn't mean they were bad. The Twins remained marginally competitive over the next decade or so, but injuries and age chipped away enough to lower them from elite to mediocre. Killebrew turned 35 in 1971 and would never again hit even 30 home runs in a season. Oliva hurt his knee on a shoestring catch in June 1971 and would never again garner MVP votes, which he had done for eight straight years. Killebrew departed the Twins after the 1974 season and retired a year later. A year after that, Oliva played his last major league game. Part 5 of a 12-part series that breaks Twins history into fun-sized chunks.You can find more here: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 |Part 4 Rod Carew, however, bounced back from his 1970 injury and resumed his Hall of Fame career. He won batting titles every season from 1972 through 1978, except for 1976, when he missed it by two hits. He was an All-Star every year from his rookie year in 1967 through 1984. The clubhouse was handed to manager Frank Quilici who guided the team to nearly a .500 record from 1972 through 1975, but they never finished higher than third in the division, and never fewer than eight games back. The results took their toll on attendance. The Twins did not break the 1,000,000 attendance mark for the first time in 1971, but it wouldn’t be the last. The Twins didn’t reach that mark again until 1977, thanks to Carew’s stellar season, a new manager, and a “Lumber Company.” The manager was Gene Mauch, a veteran manager from the National League who also happened to be a former member of the St. Paul Saints and Minneapolis Millers. He took over the Twins in 1976, and, despite the midseason trade of Bert Blyleven, the Twins posted a winning record for the first time since 1970. The next year was even more exciting, and over 1,100,000 Twins fans watched it live. The Twins offense, known as the “Lumber Company,” scored 867 runs and featured career years from Larry Hisle (119 RBI) and Lyman Bostock (.336 batting average). That level of run support helped make a 20-game winner out of Dave Goltz, who posted a 3.36 ERA. On August 23, the Twins were 18 games above .500 and a game back of the Royals. A late season fade to fourth place and 84 wins didn’t diminish the return of interest to the franchise. That interest was further fueled by Carew’s remarkable 1977 season. He entered June hitting .365 but proceeded to gather hits in every June game save the one on the 18th. On July 1st he was hitting .411 and would keep his average above that level through July 10th, about the same time he was on the cover of Time magazine. He would not reach .400 again, but finished the year with a .388 average, eight hits shy of the magical mark. It would be the zenith of Carew’s career with the Twins. But things turned sharply downhill that offseason. Next up: Bottoming Out View full article

Mark Armour and Dan Levitt have a guest post at John Thorn's MLB blog this morning. This is a short essay on the history of Baseball Operations, riffing off Moneyball, which serves sort of as an introduction to their new book. http://ourgame.mlblo...-the-evolution/ Give yourself some time to read it. It's a meal, not a snack.

Just a reminder that you can continue to enter this contest using "ethanol" this week (and multiply your chances of winning by six by tweeting/facebooking the return message.)

Thanks for letting me know guys. I think I know what the problem is.

And I had Wolves season tickets for years with a friend. They're coming soon, I promise.

Why in the world would we launch a soccer website, especially before a basketball web site? There are three good reasons. The first is that soccer coverage in Minnesota has been mostly ignored by corporate media. (If there is one thing that gets a bunch of bloggers blood boiling, it’s seeing corporate media ignore something worthy.) The second is that the local soccer team, Minnesota United, has possibly the most fun and creative fan group the Twin Cities has ever seen. Just stroll through this gallery of pictures by photographer Jeremy Olson (who is providing many of the pictures for the site) and tell me you don't want to be a part of this. But the biggest reason is that we have a lot of brilliant soccer writers locally that should be heard. I’m not overstating this. Several have nationally recognized blogs that have drawn thousands of regular readers. They are passionate, obsessive, analytical and entertaining. Seriously, they’re so good they’re going to make you like soccer. Jon Marthaler, who many of you know either from The Sportive Podcast or his satirical work at TwinkieTown or his SoccerCentric blog on the StarTribune.com, recognized the irony of these three facts. He has been bothering us for a couple of years to do something about it. At some point, it became less work to just appease him. Or that’s that I tell him. The truth is that we do this because we love people who love stuff, and these guys love this stuff. I think there is a good chance that you’re going to love this stuff too, even if you’re determined not to. That’s a good thing. Finding stuff to love is life’s work. So please swing by and let us know what you think about the new NorthernPitch.com. I think you’ll see why we felt it was important to add this to the MinnCentric sites. And maybe you’ll even fall in love. Image courtesy of Jeremy Olson of http://www.digitalgopher.net/Sports/Minnesota-United-FC/ View full article

I run a little little counter to the sabrmetric mantra about leadership. I do believe it is important. I believe that some players and coaches can impact the players around them. And just because we can't measure it, doesn't mean it isn't important. But I also think it is an awfully tricky thing to about which to write and to cover. It is easy to see some types of it and hard to see other types of it. And the disproportionate coverage of it makes me uneasy as an analyst. It can also often be a lazy, cliche-riddled story that one writes when there is nothing else to write. And it can become a crutch taking away from real analysis. And it certainly helps when the "leader" always gives good quotes to the media. It's easy to reward him for that. I don't doubt that Torii has a fair amount of leader in him. But I also wonder just how much some of the other guys have that isn't paraded in front of the cameras or isn't credited to them because they aren't as accommodating to the media.

You STILL have a chance to win a 20-game season ticket package for two people from the MN Corn Growers Association. Here is how you can do it: 1. Go to MNFarmTeam.com. Click on the link that says: "Click here for your chance to win a Minnesota Twins season ticket package for two!" 2. Where it says "Enter The Keyword" enter the keyword for that week. This third week (3/22-3/28) the key word is "renewable". 3. Enter your name and email so they can contact you if you win. 4. When you do that, it'll give you back a Twitter and Facebook message. If you share it, you'll get another FIVE entries in the contest. The contest goes on for this last week, so make sure you subscribe on get it done today! What are you waiting for?

Aaron and John talk about whether the Twins should sign Brian Dozier to an extension, Paul Molitor's quotes about managing philosophies, chatting with Adam Czech of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association about a season ticket package giveaway contest for listeners, 612 Brew's new cans and where to get them, Mike Pelfrey as a starter only, and the difference between live radio and recorded podcasts with a drunk, show-crashing woman. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. http://traffic.libsyn.com/gleemangeek/Dozier_Extension_and_Season_Ticket_Giveaway.mp3 Image courtesy of Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports View full article

After a disappointing 1968 season that included a hamstring injury to Harmon Killebrew in the All-Star Game and a seventh-place finish, changes were made for 1969. Billy Martin, who had managed the AAA team in Denver the year before, was installed as manager. Martin’s aggressive style would make headlines on and off the field. On the field, the Twins, a team known for its power, displayed a renewed interest in running wild on the bases. In the second game in which Martin managed, he had Rod Carew steal home. Carew would do so another six times that season, which at the time apparently tied a major league record. The Twins four triple steals that year did tie the major league record. In one game on May 18th, both Carew and Cesar Tovar stole home in the same at-bat. More astounding? Killebrew was the batter. Part 2 of a 12-part series that breaks Twins history into fun-sized chunks.You can find more here: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Martin’s well-known aggression off the field boiled over in early August, when it was revealed that he had become involved in a bar fight in Detroit–against his own player. And not just any player, but Dave Boswell, who would go on to win 20 games that season. Both Boswell and Martin required stitches from the incident. But there is no question that the team responded to Martin. They finished with 97 wins, capturing the newly formed West Division by nine games. The postseason was not as kind. In the first American League Championship series, the Orioles swept the Twins, who lost two extra-inning affairs in Baltimore. When they came back to the Met, Martin started journeyman Bob Miller over Jim Kaat. The Twins lost that game 11-2, and Martin was fired at the end of one exhilarating season amid media and fan outrage. Replacing Martin was Bill Rigney, a former player and manager for the Minneapolis Millers. He could rely on several outstanding performances in his first year as manager. Oliva (.325 batting average) and Killebrew (41 home runs) finished 2nd and 3rd in 1970’s AL MVP voting and Jim Perry won the Twins first AL Cy Young award with a 24-12 record, throwing 278.2 innings with a 3.04 ERA. Together, they would lead the Twins to another division in 1970, despite several significant injuries. Most detrimental were the torn ligaments in Rod Carew’s knee, limiting him to just 51 games. A different injury led to the debut of a future Hall of Fame inductee. Bert Blyleven, only nineteen years old, was called up to replace the injured Luis Tiant in the rotation. Blyleven would win that first game (despite giving up a home run to the first batter he faced) and nine more that year while throwing 164.1 innings. It was the last time he would not throw 200 innings for the rest of the decade, and he exceeded 270 innings each year he was with the Twins until he was traded in 1976. He would retire 22 years later with 287 wins, a career ERA of 3.31, and the third most strikeouts in baseball history. The Twins won the division comfortably by nine games, but again couldn’t take the pennant, which they lost in three games to the Orioles for the second year in a row. It wasn’t obvious at the time, but the team would not make another postseason appearance for 17 years. Next up: Gene Mauch, Rod Carew and the Lumber Company View full article

Here they are.... Odds to Win the 2015 AL Central Chicago White Sox 9/4 Detroit Tigers 9/4 Cleveland Indians 12/5 Kansas City Royals 9/2 Minnesota Twins 18/1 Really? The White Sox are co-favorites with the Tigers to win the AL Central? Can I bet the opposite side of that?

Over at Vikings Journal, I just wrote up a post comparing the growth in MLB payrolls and the NFL salary cap, given the news that the NFL salary cap went up about $10 million this year. I came up with a somewhat surprising result. I don't want to double-post a thread in our forums, but you may want to check it out if you're interested in that sort of thing.

Aaron and John sample beers at Lynlake Brewery and talk about everyone (except themselves) being in the best shape of his life, Paul Molitor's new clubhouse rules, Torii Hunter's oft-discussed leadership, Johan Santana's latest comeback with the Blue Jays, the power of rhetoric versus analysis, Jordan Schafer vs. Aaron Hicks, the Twins trying to find a leadoff hitter, managing expectations for Miguel Sano, and mailbag questions. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. http://traffic.libsyn.com/gleemangeek/Episode_183_The_Best_Shape_Of_His_Life.mp3 View full article

Aaron and John talk about the Twins' top 10 prospects, Ron Gardenhire's plans for 2015, the big Miguel Sano comeback, eating and drinking at New Bohemia, Nick Punto's retirement, billion-dollar TV deals, how to get a proper anti-social haircut, Jose Berrios going topless, moving day, and mailbag questions. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. http://traffic.libsyn.com/gleemangeek/Episode_182_Topless_Aaron_and_Talkless_Haircuts.mp3 View full article