John Bonnes

The Big Picture The Red Sox season has been a mess. Check that – the Red Sox season, offseason and end of last season has been a Hoarders-episode-sized mess. There was last September’s meltdown, firing the coach, firing/losing their GM, naming a new GM, overruling the GM about the new coach, who then alienates several team leaders one of whom ends up being traded…. Download attachment: Bobby-Valentine-becomes-B-007.jpg And they’re still just one game out of BOTH wild card spots. There are a lot of desperate people in Bosox management who are feeling some heat right now. I can’t imagine a group-think that would be riper for a desperate, possibly stupid, trade. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Why They Will Trade With The Twins The Red Sox starting pitching is 27th in ERA. Sure enough, the rumor mill has them pursuing several pitchers, including a report from CBSSports.com’s Jon Heyman that links them to Francisco Liriano. Liriano makes sense, both because he’s someone they could leverage this year but also because they certainly have the means to entice him to stick around if things work. One could also imagine a sabrmetrically inclined organization coveting Liriano’s 3.62 xFIP. As for the lineup, they're likely set. They rank second in the majors in runs scored and Jacoby Ellsbury just returned. The Red Sox could certainly find room for Denard Span in one of the outfield corners, but if Ellsbury is healthy, they already have an elite leadoff hitter. Their focus is going to be on the rotation. Why They Won’t Trade With The Twins They might have a different starting pitcher at the top of their list. Yesterday ESPN’s Buster Olney tweeted that the Red Sox were “aggressive in the pursuit of Ryan Dempster,” the Cubs right-hander who will be a free agent this offseason. Dempster makes sense for the Red Sox – he’s a veteran having an outstanding year, and the Cubs GM is Theo Epstein, who was the GM of the Red Sox last year. That means the management of these two teams knows each other, which is both good and bad for making a trade. On the one hand, Epstein certainly knows the prospects he would be chasing, and the Red Sox probably have a good idea which of their prospects Epstein likes best. On the other hand, this wasn’t the cleanest breakup in the world. The Red Sox also might be hesitant to deal with a GM that knows their strengths and weaknesses as well as Epstein. Conclusion You can certainly add the Red Sox to the list of possible suitors for Liriano. And even if they do match up better with the Cubs and end up with Dempster, that’s not bad news for the Twins. It means one less high upside pitcher on the trade market, without appreciably shrinking the teams looking for one. Trade Targets Xander Bogaerts – SS It’s unlikely the Twins will land Bogaerts, the top prospect in Boston’s organization, but they’ll ask, and I don’t put anything past Boston’s management team given their recent track record. Bogaerts is as highly touted – maybe even higher – as Miguel Sano. He’s 19 years old, he’s already in High A ball and he’s doing well (.287, 12 HR) there. Plus, he’s a shortstop. He would be a GREAT get. Ryan Lavarnway – C/DH The Red Sox have a 27-year-old catcher, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, who has already slugged 17 home runs. They also have a promising AAA 24-year-old catcher available. Lavarnway looks like an IDEAL complement to Joe Mauer. He’s right-handed and has hit for a ton of power (34 HR last year between AA, AAA and the majors). Much the way Doumit has, Lavanrway could play catcher when necessary, but his bat could play anyplace when Mauer is catching. Matt Barnes – RHP Drafted last year, the 22-year-old Barnes has already made his way through Low A and is starting at High A. Even at that level he has 63 K vs 15 BB in 59.1 IP. He’s considered polished with a 93-95 mph fastball and three other pitches. Anthony Ranaudo – RHP Ranaudo deserves mention because he’s 22 years old, put up decent stats in A Ball last year and is arguably the Red Sox second best pitching prospect. But he’s struggled this year and been shut down with shoulder fatigue, so it’s unlikely he would be someone the Twins would (or should) gamble on. Henry Owens – LHP He’s left-handed, 6’ 7”, 19 years old and has 97 K in 68.2 IP in Low A ball. He’s inconsistent, resulting in a 4.72 ERA, but there is a lot of upside here. It would only be fitting if he was part of the package the Twins received for the enigmatic Liriano. Click here to view the article

Let’s be clear: ultimately, it’s about the wins. I get into at least a half dozen debates per month where I feel the need to remind people that all this fun baseball stuff we analyze – coaching tactics, offseason pickups, roster changes, revenue tendencies, trades, minor league development – are not goals in and of themselves. They are the means to an end. And that end is wins. That said, even if the Twins somehow win the AL Central, 2012 will answer several questions that will seriously impact the rest of the decade for Twins fans. Besides the wins, let’s take a look at five other developments worth paying attention to if you’re a Twins fan. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Can Sunk Money Stay Healthy? Download attachment: e94cbcd3-7eae-4e7a-b28f-6406d20a5a35_mn1.jpg Between Joe Mauer ($138M), Justin Morneau ($14M), Denard Span($11.25M) and Nick Blackburn($5.5M), the Twins will end 2012 with $168.75 million dollars of future money ties to four guys that have had trouble staying healthy. If they can stay healthy and productive, then the team is likely competitive. But if not, the Twins may well want to consider creative ways of getting those salaries off the books, including trades that involve eating some salary or early retirement packages. Can Minor League Talent Fill Some Gaps? Much of this question will play out on a much smaller (and rundown) ballpark that is 315 miles southeast. In Beloit, Wisconsin, the Twins lower-A affiliate, the Beloit Snappers, may be fielding the Twins infield of the future, featuring consensus Twins number one prospect and third baseman Miguel Sano, top draft pick and shortstop Levi Michael and top prospect (and possible second baseman?) Eddie Rosario. The Twins should anticipate a lot of turnover over the next few years and will be looking for breakthrough years from those guys or players even closer to the majors, like outfielders Joe Benson and Ben Revere or first baseman Chris Parmelee. Every name above either is perceived to have a limited ceiling or is still pretty far from contributing to the majors. A big step forward by several of them completely changes the perceived future of this team. But if you look again, all of those names have something else in common too…. Where Will The Pitchers Come From? In the same way that the Twins lost most of their outfield (Delmon Young, Jason Kubel, Michael Cuddyer) this last year, they’ll likely lose most of their starting rotation before 2013’s Opening Day. Carl Pavano, Francisco Liriano and Jason Marquis are all free agents. Scott Baker has a $9.5M option which will be prohibitive if he can’t stay healthy. Only Nick Blackburn is a sure thing to return. Ooh, goody. Unfortunately, the Twins top prospects in the minors aren’t pitchers. Liam Hendricks was called up last year and might be able to fill a middle-of-the-rotation role. It’s possible Kyle Gibson could recover sufficiently from Tommy John surgery to contribute as a major league starter next year. And then you get to guys whose futures are more borderline. There’s a reason the Twins were so aggressive in adding waiver pickups who were pitchers this offseason, and it will be interesting to see if they’re active at the trade deadline in picking up some young arms. Or there is another mid-summer event they might leverage…. Can the Twins Take Advantage of a Historical Draft? There ain’t a lot of bright spots to a 99-loss year, but the second overall draft pick is one of them. That’s also the advantage of losing several high-performing free agents like Cuddyer and Kubel – the team gets extra draft picks back as compensation. Between that top pick and the quantity of top-75 picks the Twins have (and the new capped compensation they will pay these youngsters) the Twins have never had a draft loaded with this much opportunity, and likely won’t again for decades. It is the perfect chance for the organization to gas up a car that feels like it is running on fumes. Can Twins Revenues Continue Rising? Speaking of running out of gas, that’s exactly what it felt like to the scalpers last year. The lull and disinterest that set in caused the front office to put spending back into a lower gear. A less dismal season might reaffirm fans faith in the team and reaffirm ownership’s faith in its fans. A renewed financial strength will help this team plug holes over the next couple of seasons, perhaps offsetting the other transitions that seem likely to take place. Click here to view the article

I don’t want to trade Justin Morneau. I don’t want to be rational about it. I want to clutch onto his comeback, keep it for my own, separate it and gaze at it among the dreck that this (and probably next) season has become. I’ve waited for this, I’ve craved it, and dammit, now I want it. Download attachment: www.toromagazine.com-justin_morneau_twins.jpg We’ll see if I feel the same way in a couple of months, because that’s when the decision will need to be made. For there to be a decision, Morneau needs stay healthy, and he needs show the same kind of production occasionally that he’s shown this week. Those are two huge “Ifs.” And even then, would there be a market for his $14 million/year contract that goes through 2013? I think so. A quick look at the standings and depth charts show a few teams that might be interested. Let’s count down the top four that jump out at me…. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] #4 – Pittsburgh Pirates – I doubt that the Pirates, who only have a $51 million payroll, would be willing to take on Morneau’s $14 million salary. I also don’t know if they view themselves as in contention, sporting a .500 record. But right now, they are just three games back of the Reds in a very weak NL Central. And their first base situation is a complete disaster: right-handed hitting Casey McGehee is hitting .184 and left-handed hitting Garret Jones is hitting .189 this May. If the Pirates find themselves close to contention at the end of July, their will be a lot of pressure to do something to boost their anemic offense, and it should start at first base. If the Twins can help the Pirates with the Morneau’s salary, one would think they could be compensated with some decent prospects. #3 - Cleveland Indians – This is a developing situation. First baseman Casey Kotchman has been ineffective. They also have Matt LaPorta, who is raking in AAA, but has a career line of .238/.304/.397 in the majors. Plus, at 27 years old, it’s not like he’s really a prospect any more – more like another option. Their big left-handed bat, Travis Hafner, is just coming back from an injury, and his health is always a question mark. And all bets are off if Carlos Santana has his own concussion problems. But with there are enough ingredients here to keep a watchful eye. Their first base situation is terrible. They’re contending. Hafner’s salary comes off the books next year. They showed last year they’ll be aggressive when it comes to trades. With the right mix, they could be very interested in acquiring, even overpaying, for Morneau. #2 Toronto Blue Jays – I don’t know if Toronto, who is a game over .500 but in fourth place in their division, really views themselves as being a contender. But if ever they were going to make a push, it might be a good idea to do so in a year that there are two wild card teams and the Red Sox are busy imploding. Their initial first base solution, Adam Lind, was demoted to AAA. Morneau’s left-handed bat would look pretty nice with the right-handed bats of Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion. Oh, and I don’t know if you’ve heard this or not, but Morneau is from Canada. #1 Miami Marlins – Here’s the right mix of contention, spending and frustration. The Marlins trail the Nationals by just a couple of games. They have certainly signaled to the baseball world this offseason that they aren’t afraid to spend some money in their new ballpark. And 24-year-old prospect Logan Morrison is declining in his third major league year, hitting just .233 with a .323 slugging percentage. Finally, their lineup is desperately in need of a strong left-handed bat to balance the right-handed bats of Hanley Ramirez and Giancarlo Stanton. The NL East looks like it’s going to be a bit of a mess all year, and winnable by any number of teams. (In fact, I could probably add a fifth team from that division – the Mets – to this list if I thought they were for real.) A pickup like Morneau is the kind of puzzle piece that GMs in that situation can get awfully excited about. Click here to view the article

This Thursday night, from 5-8, there is a unique and fairly intimate Twins event going on that I want to let you all know about. Tix for Tots and the Twins are co-hosting a fundraiser to help Tix for Tots distribute unused tickets from all over the Twin Cities to underprivileged kids. REGISTER HERE It'll have four of your favorite things: Download attachment: 119.jpg Twins - The event is in Located in the Metropolitan Club at our favorite hangout…Target Field. It will include an opportunity to talk Twins with Hall of Famer Paul Molitor, KFAN'S "Twins Geek" John Bonnes and noted Minnesota baseball historian Stew Thornley. The exclusive Q&A format allows attendees to ask those burning questions they most want answered. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Food/Drink - Fabulous appetizer spread throughout the evening. Also featured is a complimentary wine tasting featuring wines from St. Michelle Winery. There is also a cash bar. Cool Stuff - We have a very nice silent auction with a blend of affordable and exclusive items. Included are a suite for a Twins game in 2012, Batting Practice buddy for a youth at a Twins game, signed memorabilia from the Twins, Vikings, Wild and Timberwolves, vacations, and more… Doing Good - Proceeds of this event support Tix for Tots, a local nonprofit organization that has provided over 125,000 ticket opportunities to see the Twins alone since 2001. Over 350,000 total tickets have been provided to children in need since inception, valued in excess of $2 million. Through these tickets, kids have seen sporting events, concerts, theater, museums and a variety of other performances. These experiences provide hope, inspiration and an sometimes just an escape for kids dealing with a host of issues that impact their present and future. REGISTER HERE I've worked with Tix for Tots since their inception, and can assure you that they are a lean, volunteer-based organization that provide an escape to kids that can be in some pretty dark places. Plus, it's going to be a great event, giving you an opportunity for a heck of a date night or a memorable evening with friends. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Dozier Field.jpg Per a tweet by Pioneer Press beat reporter John Shipley, the Twins are only calling up two players as September callups. Eduardo Escobar, a middle-infielder acquired when the Twins traded Francisco Liriano, and Luis Perdomo, a right-handed reliever who pitched for the Twins earlier this year, will join the Twins tomorrow. This means that shortstop Brian Dozier, who spent most of the year with the Twins, and reliever Anthony Slama, who gave up just four earned runs in Rochester this year, will not be joining the Twins. It also means two top prospects from New Britain (AA), Aaron Hicks and Oswaldo Arcia, will also not be on the team. It also means the Twins have three open spots on their 40-man roster. Click here to view the article

Sponsored by Ticket King [/hr]Download attachment: Hernandez_Felix_Face_US_720.jpg It's no secret: the hot ticket for this weekend's Mariners' series is Sunday’s afternoon game. Let’s see why: Series Preview Seattle isn't terrible. They enter this series a .500 team, which puts them in the middle of the AL West and the midst of a very large pack of teams that are somewhat viable Wild Card teams (which includes the Twins, by the way.) They’re also on pace for the 81.5 games that Vegas expected them to win this year. That’s a lot better than they did last year when they won 71 games. It’s easy to say the difference it the offseason signing of Robinson Cano. Cano, however, has been disappointing. He is still hitting for average (.301) and getting on base (.356), but his power has disappeared. The regular season is one-fourth complete and Cano has one home run. Joe Mauer has more home runs than Cano. Kurt Suzuki is out-slugging him. Download attachment: Cano_Robinson_Standing_US_720.jpg You'll likely get to see Cano no matter which game you go to. He's played in every game this year for Seattle and has played second base in all but two of them. Pitching Matchups However, you'll only get to "King" Felix Hernandez on Sunday, which is the first reason Sunday’s game is the hot ticket this weekend. Hernandez has not been disappointing. He's been Hernandez: three-ish ERA, among the league leaders in strikeouts and on pace for 230 or so innings. That’s been his profile now for 10 years - and he's just 28 years old. He'll be facing Twins pitcher Ricky Nolasco, who is pitching better than his 5.51 ERA suggests, but that's damning with faint praise. Nolasco has a 3.86 ERA since May rolled around, and his hit rate (11.4 H/9) suggests he's been a little unlucky. Seattle isn’t a bad bet to assist his turnaround; the Mariners are twelfth in the AL in runs scored. But if you can’t see Felix, at least you won’t have to watch Kevin Correia take the hill. Mercifully, Twins fans won’t see him starting at Target Field until the next homestand – if he’s still in the rotation. On Friday, Kyle Gibson (who has also been struggling lately) faces a rejuvenated Chris Young. On Saturday night, bring some extra cash for an extra round of beers, because Samuel Deduno faces Roenis Elias, a left-hander from Cuba that looks like he’s every bit as wild as Deduno. Weather But the best reason that Sunday is the hot ticket is because it’s going to be relatively hot, especially in the seats down the Target Field third base line. The forecast is for sunny and 70 degrees, which would be only the fourth time this year it’s reached 70 degrees. Hopefully, this is the game that turns around the weather for the better this year. Don’t you want to be a part of that? [/hr]Friday night is going to be on the cool side, but there are lot of tickets available, including some in Row 8 of Section 3 if you want a closeup view of Cano at second base. Tickets are quite a bit scarcer for the first Saturday night game of the year. And tickets are scarcer still for Sunday, though I see a pair just above the Mariners dugout that would be nice. All are an even better deal if you use the promo code DAILYDOUBLE, which will get you 10% off and supports Twins Daily. Whatever your needs, your local ticket supplier,Ticket King, can help. Click here to view the article

Following their third straight year of having their season torpedoed by a dismal starting rotation, the Minnesota Twins went on a free agent spending spree like Twins fans had never seen before. Within a month, they committed $86M to four players, including handing out their two largest contracts in team history. Download attachment: Nolasco_Ricky_Peace_720.jpg Those increases were not just a result of the inflated price of free agents. The top contract, a 4-year, $49M commitment to Ricky Nolasco, more than doubled the biggest contract the Twins had previously paid to a free agent, which was signed by Josh Willingham for 3-years and $21 million. Within a week, they topped that contract again, enticing Phil Hughes to ink a 3-year deal for $24 million. But this isn’t just about the amount of money. This also ran contrary to the Twins historical attitude towards signing free agent starting pitchers. Their biggest FA pitcher contract before this year was their much maligned 2-year, $10M deal with Kevin Correia. Other than that, they’ve never paid more than $5M – and that was to Livan Hernandez in 2007. So the deals with Nolasco, Hughes and a subsequent 2-year, $11M deal with Mike Pelfrey represent the three biggest contracts they’ve ever given to starting pitchers – and they all happened within a month. During the press conference in which they signed Nolasco, Terry Ryan was asked by Wally Langfellow of Minnesota Score magazine whether or not this reflected a change in philosophy for the Twins. “No, This isn’t a change in philosophy. We’ve always said, if we need to do something... Now we have the resources to do it. There’s no doubt, if we were still in the Metrodome, this probably wouldn’t happen. But we’re in Target Field. We’ve got more revenue and resources, certainly. This is a nice opportunity. We need pitching. We went out and got it. As people recall, we tried to retain [Johan] Santana or retain Torii Hunter. To some extent, we just didn’t have the wherewithal. We would not hesitate to jump into free agency. I don’t think it’s the greatest path, because it is risky. We all know that. Free agency is not the answer. It’s a help and a supplement to a roster. But if you’re relying on free agency year-in and year-out, it’s not gonna work. Now we’re in a situation where we need help. We need immediate help. And this is the reason Ricky is sitting here. But I don’t see this as a big change.” I don’t know if it’s a change in philosophy, but something sure changed. Hopefully, 2014 will show it is a change for the better. Click here to view the article

Lord help me, but I love offseason speculation. It’s a weakness. If you really want to immerse yourself in the offseason rumor mill, the Twins Daily forums are the place to be. Below are some of the highlights from the last 24 hours. As always, have fun and play nice. Was Francisco Liriano offered a one-year deal by the Twins? Turns out the Twins aren’t the only team thinking about Carl PavanoKnow how the Twins always praise how Bruce Chen pitches? He’s available. The Boston media is insisting that the Red Sox chase Joe Mauer. Meanwhile, the Twins seem to be telling them to go away. Is Josh Willingham available? Should he be?[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Download attachment: mlb_g_tryan2_sy_600.jpg Click here to view the article

Does Revere's Defense Make Up For Delmon's Offense? Last week in a thought exercise, I wondered if who we could expect more out of this year – Delmon Young or Ben Revere. One offensive, one defensive. One defensively laughable, one offensively infuriating. So let’s look, sabrmetrically, at what each should be worth offensively and defensively next year. Download attachment: Delmon-Revere.jpg [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Offense I like using a very basic sabremetric stat to measure offensive production for players: Bill James’ Runs Created (or RC). Basically James discovered that by looking at the number of walks, hits, doubles, triples, homeruns and at-bat a team had, he could give a pretty good estimate of how many runs they scored that year. Then he used that same formula for players. (If you’re looking for more on Runs Created, I did a short story on it back in April you might want to check out. That theory is that basis for a huge chunk of the sabremetric work out there. It also started the alphabet statistical soup that people like to mock. If you want to be able to explain the basics of this stuff to people, it’s a good start.) Runs Created has been through all kinds of formulas and there are all kinds of pet derivations for it. I’m going to just pull mine from ESPN.com for both players. Delmon Young created 51 runs last year, 89 the year before and 76 &45 in his first two years with the Twins. My gawd, was he really here four years? I guess time flies when you’re flailing at first pitches. He’s probably good for somewhere between 50 and 90 runs, so I’ll go with 70 as a nice round figure. Revere played in 117 games with 481 plate appearances and created 46 runs. It’s not safe to assume he’ll be playing full time this year, but just so we can compare apples to apples, let’s assume he gets another 90 AB. That would give him about 55 runs of offense, about 15 less than Delmon. Defense The most widely used defensive metric, Ultimate Zone Rating (or UZR) also uses runs as its measuring stick, though this time it is runs in comparison to the average defender. We’ll take that number and add it to (or subtract it from) our offensive runs. We’ll get those numbers from FanGraphs.com. Young has been bad defensively, but did you know that according to UZR he has really improved over the last two years? Last year he only cost the Twins three runs compared to the average left fielder, seven runs better than 2010 and 11 runs better than the year before that. My guess is that Young costs between 0 and -15 runs, and so I’ll got with -5. Overall that leaves him with 65 runs. Revere is also a little hard to measure. His UZR in left field was also negative, but he only played there for a few games, so it’s hard to count on UZR. However, in center field he saved 10 runs, and that translates to 15 runs if he had played there full time. Generally, you would see that number go up in left field, just because the average left fielder is worse defensively than the average center fielder. So 15 runs seems safe, and it could be as high as 20. Let’s stay with 15. And the cry goes up: But WHAT ABOUT HIS ARM? Well UZR takes an outfielder's arm into account. So for now, let's go with it. Parenthentically, it should be a fascinating year for Twins fans as they watch a thought experiment play itself out in reality. Enormous range. No arm. Which is more important to an outfielder? I think it’s going to be “range” in a landslide, but I wonder if I’ll feel the same way after this year. That gives Revere 70 runs and Delmon 65. I wouldn’t take it as definitive proof that Revere is going to be more valuable than Young, but they’re a lot more comparable than I would have thought. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: 612_Brw_720.jpg Aaron and John take the podcast to 612 Brew's inaugural Octoberfest and talk about Ron Gardenhire's two-year contract extension, why no one knows anything about managers, Rick Anderson and the entire coaching staff staying on one-year deals, the first batch of 40-man roster cuts, getting together to watch Francisco Liriano and Justin Morneau, big fish and survival of the fittest, and starting your own craft brewing business. You can listen by clicking below, download us from iTunes or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Click here to view the article

1st of a series Download attachment: atlanta-braves.jpg Buyers or Sellers They sure aren’t selling. The Braves only real competition in the NL East is the Washington Nationals, over whom they hold a 6.5 game lead. But they’re unlikely to take that lead for granted. Last year they won 94 games – and got knocked out in the one-game Wild Card playoff. The year before they collapsed down the stretch, losing eight of their last ten games (including their last five), finishing one game out of the playoffs. This is not a franchise (or fan base) that is going to feel like they’re all set. What They Need Which is a little weird, because they’re just about all set, as the Twins learned when they were swept by them earlier this year. The Braves starting pitching ranks 2nd in the NL in ERA. Their offense ranks 4th in runs, but they’re that “low” because their big free agent acquisition, BJ Upton, has just a 594 OPS. That isn’t going to last. However, there have been multiple reports of the Braves evaluating others teams' relievers. That’s a little odd, because Craig Kimbrel has been fantastic as their closer. However, they lost two left-handed setup men, Eric O’Flaherty and Tommy Venters, to Tommy John surgery in the same week in May. That’s left Luis Avilan, whose numbers look good, but 18K in 33 IP don’t inspire confidence. Neither do the 13 walks that go with them. What Might Work Last year at the deadline, and indeed in the offseason, there were lots of rumors about the Braves and Twins talking about a deal. That was because the Braves needed a center fielder (which they filled by signing BJ Upton) and some right-handed power (which they fixed by trading for his brother Justin). However, the Twins have three effective left-handers in their bullpen right now. Caleb Thielbar is unproven, but has been deadly against lefties. Brian Duensing represents a more senior option who would still not require a king’s ransom. And Glen Perkins would give the Braves the best lefty-righty combo to close games in Major League Baseball. As the Braves evaluate relievers, they’ll certainly approach the Twins. Sleeper Targets Here are some names from down the prospect list who could conceivably interest the Twins in any non-Perkins deal: Jose Peraza – SS – Low A – 19 years old He’s skilled enough defensively to, project staying at shortstop, but he also showed some pop last year in Rookie League. This year, he’s only at .256/.317/.339, but he also just turned 19. He’s a guy the scouts often like: toolsy and projectable. Luis Merejo – LHP – Rookie League – 18 years old He dominated in the Gulf Coast Rookie League last year, striking out 53 in 41 innings. He’s back there this year, but he could make his way up to A ball and there is some thought he could move fast. Cody Martin – RHP – AAA – 23 years old Martin wasn’t on any Top 10 Braves list because he’s a command-control pitcher. But this year he’s posting a 2.45 ERA between AA & AAA and has 95 K in 88 IP (and just 74 hits). And those rates are not out of line with his numbers every other year. Don’t forget – Atlanta is the organization from which the Twins plucked Scott Diamond. Dream Target Mauricio Cabrera – RHP – Low A – 19 years old The Braves top two remaining pitching prospects, JD Graham and Sean Gilmartin, are both on the shelf right now with injuries. So let’s look for a bigger arm a bit further down the ladder. Baseball Prospectus described Cabrera’s arm as “ridiculous” with a fastball that can work in the mid to high 90s. He needs to develop secondary pitches and command, though he has the makings of a slider right now that could be very good. If he progresses, he could be a top of the rotation arm. If not, he could still be a dominant reliever. If he were to be part of a package, there could be lot of excitement about the future of the Twins rotation with him joining Kohl Stewart and JO Berrios in the lower minor leagues. Each day in July, we’ll be publishing a profile of a MLB and whether there is any possible fit for a trade with the Twins. Tomorrow: The Washington Nationals Click here to view the article

Download attachment: kermit-banjo.jpg On the #1 Minnesota Twins podcast, Aaron and John talk about the Twins resurgence and other reasons for optimism, the latest developments regarding the Twins #4 overall pick in the 2013 MLB Draft, John's musical instrument of choice, whether Pedro Florimon is for real, answer questions from readers, wonder what moves the Twins might make, discuss Mike Pelfrey's future, the 2015 lineup and Aaron's feature in the Star-Tribune. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Here are: the podcaststhe rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podcast on iTunes.Or, just click on the link below: Click here to view the article

Aaron and John talk about pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training, Justin Morneau's discouraging quotes about his health status, Sean Burroughs' odds of making the roster, Aaron's ongoing car saga, John's marriage, and a bunch of mailbag questions. Here are: the podcaststhe rss feed if you want to subscribe andthe podcast on iTunes (where you can also subscribe and leave reviews). Click here to view the article

Download attachment: turman2.jpg Aaron and John return to 612 Brew and are joined by a couple guests: Parker Hageman of Twins Daily and 612 Brew's head brewer Adam Schill. Together, they recap a ridiculously short week for the Twins, admire Big Papi's speech, wonder from whom will Oswaldo Arcia take playing time, explain why you should subscribe to Minnesota Business magazine, catch up with some top Twins prospects with hot starts, explain what happened after the last podcast, review the Darin Mastroianni injury saga, and summarize Dick Bremer's and Bert Blyleven's discussion on "cybermetrics." [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Here are: the podcaststhe rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podcast on iTunes.Or click below to listen. Click here to view the article

Some spring training moves are bearing fruit. The question is when they will be most ripe? Glen Perkins hasn't been especially effective this year, but he still profiles as possible closer long term, with well over a strikeout per inning. Even better, this spring he signed a deal that keeps his salary team-controlled through 2016 at a level considerably below that of a closer. So how should the Twins play that? On the one hand, they could trade him now to a team that finds a left-handed reliever (with closer potential) especially appealing. Or they could turn him into a closer later the year and (provided he excels and stays healthy) he becomes even more valuable. Or, I suppose, the team could hang onto him in the hope that the next competitive Twins team could still have him around. But that is by far the riskiest of the choices. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The Twins flexibility is enhanced by another spring addition. Jared Burton has been more effective than Perkins (or closer Matt Capps) this year, despite handling earlier innings. He also has quite a bit of history being an effective reliever from before he joined the Twins. Finally, with 28 strikeouts and just 3 walks in 26 innings this year, he also looks like a possible closer. Burton has another year after this one before he turns a free agent, and he just turned 31 years old. If the Twins were to ponder trading away Perkins any time over the next year, they could prepare by putting Burton in the same position that they put Perkins in spring training. Namely, offer him a long-term deal at a setup man's salary which puts him first in line when there is an opening at closer. Or, they could just shop him around at the trade deadline. Or I suppose they could keep him as Perkins insurance. In some ways, the road block here is Capps. With his closer role, he's blocking two guys who are probably going to be more effective. If the Twins can trade him - even if it is for very little - it allows them to increase the value of at least Perkins and put Burton in an heir apparent role, providing incentive for a long-term deal. And if he becomes the closer, and they mine the minors/waiver wire for yet another arm, they can move him.... This is how a non-competitive team can, fairly quickly, add core talent to their system. The team can afford to give relievers a chance to rediscover their stuff. They can afford to invest innings in them, even high leverage innings. And until the core pieces of a competitive team are in place, they can afford to let other competitive teams fight over these developed assets. The question isn't if they should do it. The question is when the fruit should be picked. Download attachment: Jared Burton.jpg Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Morneau_Justin_Smiling_US_600.jpg Aaron and John talk about Justin Morneau going unclaimed on waivers, the rotation being heavy on mediocrity for 2014, getting blocked by a documentary film crew, free agent pitching options for the offseason, how to be a fan by way of Andrew Albers, adventures in dog-sitting, drinking vs. not drinking, winning bets on Nick Blackburn, and Doug Mientkiewicz brawling. You can listen by clicking below, download us from iTunes or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Click here to view the article

Download attachment: kyle-gibson-futures-games.jpg In this week's Minnesota Twins podcast, Aaron and John talk about expectations for Kyle Gibson's promotion, where Aaron Hicks rehab stint will take him, Wilkin Ramirez' setback from a concussion, Trevor Plouffe's trade value, Antoan Richardson's eye-popping OBP, Oswald Arcia's quiet success, trade speculation, the upcoming zombie apocalypse and answer mailbag questions. You can listen by clicking below, download us from iTunes or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Click here to view the article

Two huge trades went through yesterday and both of them impact the Twins to some degree. Yankees Acquire Ichiro Suzuki Yesterday the Yankees acquired Ichiro Suzuki (and cash) for little more than a lesser prospect and a waiver wire pickup. It had been reported that they had explored trades for both Denard Span and Shane Victorino of the Phillies, so this gives the Twins one less suitor to court. But it doesn’t properly reflect the market. Download attachment: Ichiro07232012.jpg In nearly all respects except name recognition, Denard Span is worth quite a bit more than Ichiro to a major league team. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Ichiro is 38, comes with a price tag over $6M for this year, is a free agent at the end of the year, and his OBP is just .288. (For reference, Tsuyoshi Nishioka’s OBP last year was just 10 points lower.) Span is 28, will cost the team $1M, is under contract for two more years (plus a 3rd year team option) and has an OBP of .340. Finally, Ichiro had trade veto rights, so he was only going to go where he WANTED to go. This was a salary dump, and possibly a favor to Ichiro, which is very different than a Span trade would be. But it does mean one less team is interested in Span, taken by a player we didn’t really know is on the market. That doesn’t mean that the market has dried up. As far as lead-off hitters go, there are still plenty of options: Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Baltimore and the Dodgers could all be labeled “borderline desperate” for a high OBP player. So could the Nationals, who incidentally approached the Twins about Span last year. The more I look at it, the more I believe that some team is going to talk themselves into Span at the deadline. He’s a better fit for more teams than has generally been acknowledged. Tigers Acquire Anibal Sanchez When the Marlins, who had seemingly pushed all their chips into the middle of the table this offseason, announced they were looking to sell off key players, it was bad news for the Twins. The Marlins have plenty to offer teams looking to get better. That includes right-handed pitcher Anibal Sanchez, who is becoming a free agent at the end of the year and positioned to do even better than Francisco Liriano on the free agent market. He was traded yesterday to the Detroit Tigers along with Omar Infante, a starting second baseman. In return, the Tigers built a package around starting pitcher Jacob Turner, who entered the season as an “A” prospect, though he’s struggled a bit in AAA and the majors this year. They added a couple of “C” prospects too. Meanwhile, there were multiple reports that the Cubs had an agreemenent to trade Ryan Dempster to the Braves for a package that include Randall Delgado, another “A” starting pitching prospect who has struggled a bit this year in the majors. This suggests that right now, eight days before the deadline, aggressive (or risk-adverse) teams are willing to overpay with borderline “A” pitching prospects for an exceptional pitcher. That doesn’t mean the Twins have received that kind of an offer. Dempster was clearly valued higher than Liriano. Sanchez is at least comparable, and certainly has been more consistent. (Also, since the Tigers are in the Twins division it was unlikely they would want to trade the Twins a prospect that will face them for years to come.) There are still a few hands to play before we find out where Liriano ranks in the trade market. Lots of additional names could hit the market - or they could not. The Phillies are negotiating with Cole Hamels. Zach Greinke and Matt Garza both suddenly have injury concerns. Either way, there are still plenty of teams interested in Liriano. But so far, the market seems to be dictating that the market for moving a pitcher like Liriano is strong. We’ll see in the next week whether it gets better or worse. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Willingham.jpg Oddly, a lot of sabrmetric geeks I know don’t like the Win Probability Added (WPA) statistic. I don’t want to speak for them as to why, but the comment I hear that drives me the craziest is something like “All you have to do is see that Erik Komatsu was more valuable then Ben Revere to understand that it is worthless.” It drive me crazy because 15 years ago, I would hear the same question from baseball traditionalists when I’d suggest that an on-base machine like Bobby Abreu was more valuable than a guy with 20 more RBI. And I would say “Yes, that’s exactly what that means.” And I felt confident because: wins for a team correlates closely with run differential and the runs a team scores mirrors closely their On-base Plus Slugging (OPS) and a team’s OPS built is on their players’ OPS and Bobby Abreu has a crazy good OPS.And they would say, “That’s nice that you have all those correlations and stuff, but Abreu only had 79 RBI last year!” They might agree with the method, but couldn’t accept the results. To me, that’s just being closed minded. Similarly, I believe in the method of computing WPA. Here’s how it works: Analyzing dozens of years of baseball, you compute every game situation and how often a team in that situation won or lost the game. So, for instance, a home team that has runners on the corners and one out and is down by a run may have won games 55% of the time. Give the batter and the pitcher credit for how much they change those probabilities. So if the batter bounces into a double play, and the percent chance drops to 30%, then the batter loses .25 points and the pitcher gains .25 points. Do this for every play of every game throughout the year. It’s not perfect – it doesn’t take into account fielding. If also isn’t especially predictive. And a player who plays a lot has plenty of opportunities for negative scores as well as positive scores. However, it also is not dependent on other players; the player who is on third isn’t affected by the batter who grounds into the double play. And it rewards players who make big hits – hits that change the course of the game. Finally, if you look at the players with the highest and lowest WPA at the end of the game, it is almost never a surprise. It lines up with who you, as a fan, thought the heroes and goats of the game were. In fact, I have rarely heard anyone criticize the method. It’s fairly simple to understand and, though it means handling a lot of data, the logic is straight-forward and elegant. But the results…that’s a different story. And that will be the case when you see the Twins WPA this year. Today we’ll start with the hitters and get to the pitchers next time: Download attachment: WPA Hitters.jpg I suspect few people have trouble with the top two names on the list. Willingham not only had an enormous positive impact in games amongst Twins, his is one of the highest in the majors. It is the 2nd highest, right now, in the American League, sandwiched between Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera. (Actually, Cabrera is fourth. Edwin Encarnacion is in 3rd, .05 points above Cabrera. And fifth in the AL belongs to the next name on that list – Joe Mauer. He’s currently above Prince Fielder but a few percentage points. For all the talk about how “clutch” Mauer might not be and how many double-plays he grounds into, Mauer has had an enormous positive impact on the Twins this year. Statistically, it’s not debatable. On the other hand, I suspect some folks are going to have trouble accepting that Ryan Doumit and Ben Revere have, offensively at least, cost the Twins several wins. Statistically, both have been fairly strong, but overall, they’ve had a lot more negative impacts on games than positive impacts so far this year. Because of that, they rank lower than subs that aren’t even with the team any more like …. well, Erik Komatsu. That doesn’t mean the statistic is worthless. It just means Revere (and Doumit) didn’t have the offensive impact that we would have like to have seen. Of this, I’m confident. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Dempster_Ryan_600-321.jpg One of the more interesting times in every offseason is when the rhetoric goes away and the choices become, often painfully, clear. Rock, meet Hard Place. The Hard Place is where the Twins are: fronting a rotation with Scott Diamond next year. Diamond, by Twins general manager Terry Ryan’s own analysis, is a #3 starter. He’s clearly scouring the winter meetings for upgrades. But like Charlie Brown at Halloween, all he’s getting is a whole lot of Rock. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Here are the available pitchers who could be considered an upgrade over Scott Diamond. (FYI – These guys are all profiled in the TwinsCentric ffseason Handbook.) Tell me which one you think the Twins should go after. Zack Greinke – Will likely get a nine-figure deal over at least six years.Jake Peavy – Re-signed with the White Sox for 2 years at $29M with a vesting option for a 3rd year.Hiroki Kuroda – Re-signed with the Yankees for 1-year/$15M.Dan Haren – Available. He’s getting “getting interest from lotsa East-coast clubs.”James Shields – Only available via trade, and probably not to the Twins after they traded away Denard Span.Edwin Jackson – Available. Most recently rumored to be courted by the Angels.Anibal Sanchez – Reportedly called a 4-year/$48 million offer from the Tigers a few weeks ago “insulting.” Says he is seeking a 6-year/$90M offer.RA Dickey – Available via trade from the Mets. The price for him is “very high.”Brandon McCarthy – Still available. However, several teams have expressed an interest in him including “the Red Sox, the White Sox, the Cubs, the Royals, the Diamondbacks and the Twins – and the Angels and Rangers are also expected to join in.”Ryan Dempster – The 35-year-old has been linked with the Twins, Diamondbacks and Brewers and is searching for a 3-year deal, likely for around $13M per year.Kyle Lohse – Represented by Scott Boras. ‘Nuff said. Each of these guys (with the possible exception of Haren or maybe McCarthy) is pushing for (and probably likely to get) $13-$15M per year. Also, each is looking for a deal at least one year longer than any fiscally sane club would want to give them. Thus, this is the “interesting” time, or, if you prefer, “hellish.” It’s looking more and more like teams are going to need to pay to play. We can look at a 5-year/$65M deal for Jackson or a 3-year/$33 million deal for McCarthy and say that’s “crazy,” and we’re probably right. But we can’t do that and then rip Ryan for not upgrading the rotation, or settling for names like Brett Myers, Kevin Correia, Joe Blanton or John Lannan. This is the way free agency works. The vast majority are overpaid. It is the nature of the system. When a player signs with the one team that offers him the most money, instead of the 29 that think that much money is too much, odds are that is too much. We can rip the Twins for putting themselves into this position – this is why minor league development is so important – but that ship has sailed. If we want to focus on the problem at hand, the choices seem to be overpay or settle. Rock or Hard Place. Which way are you going to go? Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins have announced they have traded Justin Morneau to the Pittsburgh Pirates for outfielder Alex Presley and a player to be named later who was later identified as reliever Duke Welker. Download attachment: Morneau_Justin_Happy_US_720.jpg Morneau, who was drafted by the Twins in 1999, moved into 3rd place on the Twins all-time home run list just last night when he passed Tony Oliva with his 221st career blast.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] It also provided the deciding run in a 3-2 win over the Texas Rangers. If he does not return to the Twins, he will also rank high on the Twins leaderboard, including slugging percentage (4th - .485), RBI (5th - 860) and extra-base hits (5th - 526). He will almost certainly become a member of the Twins Hall of Fame when he is eligible. Morneau had been the subject of trade rumors for months as he was becoming a free agent at the end of the year and had the second highest salary on the non-contending ballclub. The Pirates have agreed as part of the trade to pay the approximate $2.3M he will still make this year. The initial player who was announced was Alex Presley, a 27-year-old outfielder who has bounced between AAA and the Pirates for the last four years. During that time, he's hit .261 with a .718 OPS over 699 plate appearances while mostly playing corner outfield spots. He's had considerably more success in AAA, where he posted an 837 OPS while playing mostly in centerfield. As a left-handed hitter, he profiles as a player similar to, albeit a slight upgrade to, Clete Thomas. Later, the second player, Duke Welker, was announced. Welker is also 27 years old and serves as the closer for the Pirates AAA affiliate. This year he struck out 64 batters in 61 innings with a 3.25 ERA and a 1.279 WHIP. He profiles as a serviceable right-handed reliever. Click here to view the article

In today's 6-3 loss to the Tampa Rays, the Twins pitchers didn't have a great day. Starting was Ricky Nolasco, whose prefix is already slowly turning from "Mr." into "Most Expensive Free Agent the Twins Ever Signed." (MEFATES?) Anyway, Mr. Nolasco threw two scoreless innings, but five of the seven opposing batters hit the ball hard. Fortunately, the last of those hard hits was right at first baseman Chris Colabello who turned a nifty double-play. I'm not saying there should be any concern. It's March 2nd. I'm just saying there is clearly work to do. The blast that hurt the most was given up by Anthony Swarzak to Evan Longoria. Longoria does stuff like that against all kinds of pitchers and nobody expects Swarzak to be immune. But Swarzak also gave up three other hits to guys not named Longoria, albeit all of them pretty good hitters. Swarzak isn't on anyone's list of concerns this year, due to some very effective pitching last year. But it's not like his strikeout rate spiked or a walk rate plummeted last year. He just gave up a lot fewer home runs and hits. Today, that formula didn't seem as comforting as yesterday. We also got to see the recently acquired left-hander Brooks Raley, who induced three efficient ground balls in his first inning and then watched several pitches get tattooed to left field in his second inning. Finally, we got to see top pitching prospect Alex Meyer's 95+ mph fastball up close. Unfortunately, the Rays batters were seeing it too. He gave up a run in each inning and four hits total, though he wasn't helped by his defense in the eighth inning. One could draw a comparison from this game to last year's pitching woes and a slew of other memorable six-run games, but that would be a little silly. This was just an early spring training game featuring a couple of big leaguers and a lot of minor leaguers and nobody should feel too bad about losing to the Rays in any case. So instead, let's call it a reminder that the Twins this year are likely going to go as far as their pitching will take them. To their credit, they showed they understood this with their offseason moves. But those moves still need to work. Twins Takes There was an interesting subplot in today's game. Versus Tampa Bay's young right-handed phenom Alex Cobb, manager Ron Gardenhire started Jason Kubel, Oswaldo Arcia and Chris Parmelee. The three of them are all left-handed corner outfield/designated hitters, and there is a decent chance that only two of them come north with the team. Kubel, who most assume will be the team's primary designated hitter, started in left field. He went 0-3, though he had some hard hits. Batting as the designated hitter was Chris Parmelee, who homered yesterday. He also hit fifth, one spot in front of Oswaldo Arcia, which struck me as a little odd, seeing as I've assumed Arcia would make the team over Parmelee. Parmelee singled again today. Arcia, who played right field, hit a home run in the fifth inning. We've talked a lot about how "options" may make forecasting a bullpen a little tricky, but I wonder if they might not have an impact here, too. Parmelee is out of options. Arcia is not. And Kubel was awfully fragile last year. If the Twins believe Parmelee is ready to turn the corner, it might make the most sense long-term to go north with Kubel and Parmelee. They could keep Arcia in reserve at Rochester for a couple months in case Kubel goes down or Parmelee flails. Keep an eye on how each is used. Click here to view the article

by Nick Nelson Download attachment: GameDay Scorecard.jpg If you're not familiar with the Twins' Official $1 Scorecard, you should be. It's sold at the program stands near the entrances to Target Field, and it's only one buck. How many things can you buy at the ballgame for a dollar? Aside from providing the necessary tools for a scorekeeper to do his/her thing, the scorecard also includes content that changes for each series. Even if Nick Nelson wasn't the guy supplying that content this year, I'd highly recommend picking up a copy each time you make it out to the park. It may be the best value at Target Field. Below you'll find an excerpt from the Twins' side of the next coming scorecard, which will be available during the Orioles series when action resumes after the All-Star break. ~~~ Notable Trade Deadlines for the Twins With the non-waiver trade deadline just a couple short weeks away, here’s a look at some memorable past deadlines during the Ron Gardenhire era: [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] 2003: Twins trade OF Bobby Kielty to Blue Jays for OF Shannon Stewart and SP Dave Gassner. The Twins carried an eight-game losing streak into the All-Star Game, pushing them 7.5 games out in a division they’d been on top of for much of the first half. Needing an offensive spark, they acquired Stewart during the break and installed him as their leadoff man. They never looked back, going 46-23 the rest of the way as Stewart hit .322/.384/.470 and even picked up a few MVP votes. 2004: Twins trade 1B Doug Mientkiewicz to Red Sox, receive SP Justin Jones in four-team swap. This move was more about clearing space at first base for Justin Morneau than loading up for the stretch run. It worked out well for both sides – Mientkiewicz won a World Series that year in Boston, while Morneau was an MVP two years later. 2005: Twins acquire 2B Bret Boone from Mariners. Remember Bret Boone? The offense-starved Twins hoped to catch lightning in a bottle by snagging the former star slugger, but he proved to have nothing left in the tank. Boone batted .170 in 13 games for the Twins and was done as a big-leaguer after that. 2007: Twins trade 2B Luis Castillo to Mets for OF Dustin Martin and C Drew Butera. In one of the only “sell” moves that the Twins have made in the past 10 years, they unloaded the veteran Castillo and his salary for a pair of prospects. The purpose was to compete while making room for Alexi Casilla, but the Twins didn’t make the postseason that year. 2009: Twins trade SS Tyler Ladendorf to Athletics for SS Orlando Cabrera. Cabrera flashed impressive pop after coming over on July 31, hitting five homers down the stretch including a key blast in the Twins’ AL Central tiebreaker victory over the Tigers. 2010: Twins trade C Wilson Ramos to Nationals for RP Matt Capps Seeking to shore up the closer position, the Twins dealt away their top catching prospect for the experienced right-hander. Capps was very effective the rest of the year, though he’s had some ups and downs over the rest of his tenure in Minnesota. ~~~ You can find more, including previews of each team for just $1 just inside any gate at Target Field or at any gift table. Click here to view the article

Download attachment: WIRED_Story.jpg There is no doubt that the internet changes how we consume sports, both positively and negatively. But does it also change the way we think? In the October 2013 issue of Wired, Clive Thompson examines the benefits of blogging and online posting for the writers, the readers and the world. Essentially, he argues that the deluge of information to which we are exposed everyday is changing how we think for the better. And it is a deluge:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Thompson isn’t delusional about the quality of most of that content: Thompson’s first point is that focusing only on the content is a mistake. The more important effect is that people are writing, instead of just reading. And writing changes how we learn and think, usually for the better. Because when you write about something, especially publicly, you pay a lot more attention. He cites studies where students change the way they learn when they know they must present their knowledge to an audience, even if the audience is small. Thompson’s second point is that the impact is further multiplied when it is exposed to a community who can take the ideas and run with them. Leaps forward in knowledge often happen simultaneously and independently. This implies that those breakthroughs aren’t just due to the individuals. They’re building on previous work; the time is ripe for a breakthrough. That’s why there are scientific research journals and standards for citing each others work. They were attempts at a global network before there was the internet. The internet drives that collaboration to a whole new level. As an example, Thompson tells the story of Ory Okolloh, a blogger who wrote about Kenya during the 2007 upheaval over elections. Trying to track all the incidents was overwhelming. She openly asked for a way readers could submit them directly to Google maps. One of her readers took that request to a friend who was a developer and they quickly cobbled a tool. When Okolloh started her blog about Kenyan politics, she wasn’t trying to develop an indispensable worldwide aid tool. She just wanted to study Kenyan politics. But her interest turned into a blog which turned into community which turned into a network. Big things can happen, both internally and externally, when one graduates from reader to writer. ~~~ If you would like to contribute to some of the discussions on TwinsDaily, you might want to start by registering. You’ll then be able to post comments to our stories, or discuss the latest Twins rumors in our forums. You even get your own Twins blog. If you want to learn more about this topic, follow the link to the Wired story at the top of this article. You can also check out Clive Thompson’s new book Smarter Than You Think, a study on how technology is making us smarter. The Wired story is an excerpt from this book. Click here to view the article

~ Sponsored by Ticket King ~ There are lots of good reasons to go to any number of the Twins games versus the A’s this year, but … I mean, c’mon …. there is really only one game to go to. Monday is the home opener. You know where you need to be. The Long Winter Download attachment: BkZfFbPCcAAZ27W.jpg We’ll start with the obvious – because you’ve been waiting for six months to watch a live baseball game. Actually, odds are that you’ve been waiting a lot longer than that, seeing as the Twins attendance in September was pretty dismal. The field is green, the weather is going to be relatively warm, it’s been a brutal winter and there are trees back in Target Field. Correia’s Return It would be nice if it featured one of the free agent pitchers the Twins signed, but instead it’s going to feature last year’s ace, Kevin Correia, who already had a roller-coaster of a game in his first start. He gave up only three runs over six innings, but when he threw his last pitch, the Twins were down 3-2 and had about a 30% chance to win the game. However, in the top of the seventh, the Twins scored three runs giving them an 80% chance to win and get Correia the “W” without throwing another pitch. Download attachment: Correia_FanGraphs.jpg It all evened out for Correia, much to Twins fans chagrin. Glen Perkins blew the save, allowing the White Sox to tie the game in the ninth and so Correia got a “no decision.” Then Sam Deduno and Kurt Suzuki teamed up to lose the game in the 11th on a wild pitch. You can see the FanGraphs.com chart that shows the Twins/White Sox chances of winning that game to the right. Tough Road Download attachment: Kazmir vs.jpg The Twins should have their hands full this series. The A’s won 96 games last year, 94 the year before, won the AL West both of those years and took six of seven versus the Twins last year. For the opener, the A’s will have Scott Kazmir take the hill, who they signed this offseason to replace Bartolo Colon. Kazmir spent last year torturing the Twins when we was with the Cleveland Indians. He started five games against the Twins, threw 31 innings and had just a 1.45 ERA in those games. In fact, one could make a case that Kazmir should send the Twins a thank you note for the 2-year, $22 million contract he got. Without those games against the Twins, his overall would’ve climbed from 4.04 to 4.67. It’s Not Too Late Download attachment: TK_Opening_Day.jpg There are still tickets available for the home opener, and they won’t break the bank – I currently see some for as low as $14 apiece. Plus, it’s not like you need to take even a half day off; the game is at 3:00 so just get permission to blow out of there a little early. And if it is too late – as in, you are reading this on Monday night, take a look at the afternoon games later this week. The second and third games of the year always have incredible bargains for seats, and Wednesday it’s hitting 70 degrees for the first time this year. All you have to do is find a way to get out there by noon. (Oh, and it’s dollar dog day, too.) ~~~ Ticket King has all kinds of seats available for this matchup. You can impress an important client in the Champions Club, or give your kids a memory, even if it's from the the upper deck. Plus, if you use the promo code DAILY DOUBLE, you’ll be supporting Twins Daily and get 10% off. Whatever your needs, your local ticket supplier, Ticket King, can help. Click here to view the article