John Bonnes

Aaron and John talk about Sam Deduno being on thin ice, pitching prospects Alex Meyer and Trevor May being almost ready, the Twins sending mixed messages about now vs. later, Josmil Pinto's demotion, weird phobias, Trevor Plouffe and Aaron Hicks getting hurt, the end of the line with Jason Kubel, Vance Worley rising from the ashes in Pittsburgh, and how to become a cat person in one week. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com.

Sponsored by Summit Brewery Like a lot of the folksy sayings of baseball, the phrase a "can of corn" was popularized by a baseball announcer. In this case, that was Red Barber, the legendary play-by-play radio announcer for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Barber broadcast in the land of "dem bums" but hailed from Mississippi, and thus brought a folksy feel to his broadcasts that endeared him to his northern listeners. Barber would refer to a lazy fly ball that is easy to catch as a can of corn, but the phrase predated him. Barber didn't get his first broadcasting gig until January of 1930, when he filled in for a professor who was ill to read aloud a paper on bovine obstetrics. (I'm not making that up.) But the phrase has been found to be used in interviews with ballplayers as far back as the mid 1920s. Like a lot of baseball slang, it has since been extended to refer to any particularly easy task. As such, it has been suggested that it originated because catching a fly ball was as easy as "opening a can of corn" but per Dickson's Baseball Dictionary, the more accepted origin is more interesting.... It used to be that grocers had very high shelves. If a customer wanted something from a high shelf, they would call a grocer boy over who had a very long stick with a hook on the end. The boy would reach up with the stick and tip the item backwards off the shelf, where he would catch it with his hands or in his apron like a net. Thus, catching a very high fly ball was like the grocer boy catching that "can of corn" off the shelf. Every Thursday, Summit explores the origins of another odd baseball term, just in time for the weekend. Summit encourages you to get to the bottom your own life mysteries responsibly.

Aaron and John talk about the Kendrys Morales signing, Josmil Pinto's future being in flux, John's amazing dance moves at the KFAN party, Jason Kubel being let go, Nick Gordon and the Twins' draft picks, when to cut bait on Kevin Correia, trolling the Joe Mauer waters, wedding dock collapses, mailbag questions from listeners, and when not to get married for money. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com.

Sponsored by Snyder Gislason Frasier LLC Starting at 6 PM today, hundreds of "kids" (I'm 47. I can say that.) will be drafted by MLB teams and begin their dream career but before they get to The Show, they’ll be serving time in a economic system that is being called into question in federal court. At issue is whether MLB teams are using those players' dreams to conduct unfair – and even illegal – labor practices in the minor leagues. I learned more about this when I joined Chad Snyder and Mike Frasier of Snyder Gislason Frasier at a Twins game last week. That question is being raised in a California federal court by three ex-minor leaguers bringing a class-action suit against Major League Baseball, the Office of The Commissioner, Commissioner Bud Selig, and all the teams in MLB. At issue is whether MLB is violating the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) which was FDR’s landmark legislation that governs the length of work week, minimum wage, overtime pay and child labor laws. Certainly, it’s not hard to find evidence that minor league players are treated as serfs by the baseball industry. American minor leaguers do not get to pick their teams; they’re distributed via a draft. While a few get a big bonus, the vast majority get something closer to a couple thousand dollars to sign. Before they play for an organization they need to sign a Universal Player Contract (UPC) which grants MLB exclusive rights to the player for seven seasons, not even allowing them to play for a team outside the United States, or even retire. And while, in theory, the player can negotiate a salary during that time, in reality they can’t; many MLB organizations have a no-negotiation policy. This has resulted in salaries that, according to the lawsuit, range from $1,100/month in rookie and short-season leagues to $2150/month in AAA. In a recent story on Cedar Rapids Kernels players, catcher Alex Muren said he takes home about $660/month. And Twins players are some of the luckier ones. The Twins, unlike many teams, arrange housing for their players with local families. The Kernels also feed players before and after games. But the players are at the ballpark 10-12 hours per day, often six or seven days per week. And there is no provision for overtime. Simple division shows the players aren't earning anything close to minimum wage. But that’s the least of the extra time players put in. The UPC also dictates that those salaries are only paid for the months of the season. The players are not paid for spring training, extended spring training, instructional league, winter ball or winter training. And unlike their major league counterparts, the minor leaguers don’t belong to a union. In fact, the Major League Baseball Players Union (MLBPA) and MLB have collectively agreed to limit many aspects of compensation for the minor leaguers, including signing bonuses for players in the draft or who are signed internationally. The suit concludes: “Since minor leaguers do not belong to a union, nothing has prevented the defendants from artificially and illegally depressing minor league wages. Indeed, MLB's exemption from antitrust laws has only made it easier. Given that MLB carefully controls the entryway into the highest levels of baseball, and given the young minor leaguer's strong desire to enter the industry, MLB and the defendants have exploited minor leaguers by paying salaries below minimum wage, by not paying overtime wages, and by often paying no wages at all." Because of this, the suit is asking for damages and an injunction against the defendants for continuing these practices. But since the class-action suit was filed this winter, the teams and MLB have answered and given some hints as to the defenses they might use: Break It Down Some teams are asking that some of the charges get tried in different states. At the same time, the teams are arguing that different facts and different law should apply to each player. This could be a strategic move by which MLB breaks this class-action suit into separate lawsuits, none of which would be as damaging. Exemption One of the most common defenses for a FLSA suit is that the employer or employee is exempt, as there are many exemptions in the law. You might be surprised to find out that one of these is NOT baseball’s antitrust exemption. That covers a lot of things, but monopolies still need to pay their employees a fair wage. However, there is an exemption for seasonal “amusement or recreational” employees. Certainly, the “Boys of Summer” stereotype of baseball players would seem to support that category. But the suit was very careful to anticipate this defense, showing that players are working, or at least serving, their organization year-round. This could be one of the key points the federal court would need to decide. “Courts have been presented with this argument before, and have gone both ways,” explained Mike Frasier, who specializes in employment law. One court determined that bat boys for the Detroit Tigers fell under this exemption and another court found that the groundskeeping staff at the Sarasota White Sox facility does as well. On the other hand, another court determined that maintenance employees of the Cincinnati Reds do not qualify for the exemption. But none of those decisions were in California, which means the court hearing this case does not need to follow what those others did. Arbitration The federal court could rule that they shouldn’t be the ones to decide this case at all. One defense raised by MLB is that that the UFC has a provision in it for players and their organizations to resolve disputes: arbitration. Because of this provision, the players can't take the organization to court if MLB decides it should go to arbitration instead. But if MLB wants to play this card, they need to do so soon. If they engage in this lawsuit for very long without compelling arbitration, they may waive that right. MLB and the teams are asserting many other defenses, but these appear to be the strongest – or at least the ones that could most quickly win the case for them. There is a significant chance, given some of the defenses, that this case could head for a fairly quick dismissal. But if it becomes extended, it might raise some issues that MLB (and maybe the MLBPA) would be wise to consider. MLB was estimated to have revenue of 8+ billion dollars in 2013. Investing just 1% of that revenue would provide an extra $13,000 to each of their 6,000 minor leaguers, doubling or tripling their salaries. Perhaps it is time MLB considered that investment. Snyder Gislason Frasier LLC is a Minneapolis-based law firm committed to providing personalized service to their clients while cheering for the Minnesota Twins. Their talented lawyers can help you find innovative solutions to legal issues in many areas, including general business law, litigation, contracts, family law, employment law, and entertainment law.

Twins Daily is very excited to announce that you will now find our minor league coverage on Pioneer Press' website TwinCities.com. Twins Daily wants to reach as many Twins fans as possible, so we've always shared our content. You may have discovered us through one of our existing agreements with StarTribune.com, KFAN.com and ESPN.com. The Star-Tribune (and particularly Howard Sinker) was one of TwinsCentric’s earliest supporters. KFAN.com posts a story from Twins Daily every week, broadcasts Gleeman and the Geek, and will be broadcasting MLB draft coverage at 9:00 this Thursday night with Seth, Jeremy and myself hosting. And ESPN.com designated Twins Daily as a member of its Sweet Spot Network before Twins Daily even existed. But our agreement with the Pioneer Press will be our most extensive partnership yet. First, it’s going to bring more attention to our independent writers, which hasn’t been an easy option in the past. You’ll see all our minor league stories, including those contributed by other bloggers, on the left side of the TwinCities.com's main Twins page. Second, this is just the start -– there should be even more integration coming. Finally, everyone we’ve met from the Pioneer Press is an enthusiastic partner. They have been very supportive and complimentary of Twins Daily’s content and community, and aggressive in getting this implemented in a hurry. We would like to thank Twins Beat Reporter Mike Berardino, Vice-President of Marketing Lori Swanson and Sports Editor Tad Reeve for their optimism and working hard to make this happen. We’re very excited to see where working together takes us. We will to continue to grow new partnerships and expand existing partnerships with media that are interested in our independent and in-depth Minnesota Twins coverage. We don’t (and will never) believe in charging for our content –- baseball is our religion, and evangelists don’t charge admission. The Pioneer Press gets that, and we’re grateful that they’re willing to share our obsessive minor-league coverage with their audience. We hope we all enjoy the benefits it brings.

Aaron and John talk about Phil Hughes' impressive first two months, beating the new-look Yankees, why Jason Kubel is stealing at-bats from Josmil Pinto, Oswaldo Arcia and Josh Willingham returning, Aaron Hicks giving up switch-hitting, Jon Jay trade rumors, technical difficulties, Joe Mauer's struggles, and Ben Revere's shocking home run. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Twins beat the Yankees on Sunday, so you win today. Get 50% of a Large or XL pizza at PapaJohns.com when using the promo code 'TWINSWIN'.

Aaron and John talk about Oswaldo Arcia and Josh Willingham being ready to return, what the Twins will do with the No. 5 overall pick in the draft, how much time Aaron Hicks has left to show something, Alex Meyer and Trevor May doing well at Triple-A, biting someone's ear off, Glen Perkins' underrated excellence, Pat Neshek bouncing back in St. Louis, back-to-back Tinder dates, not having good stories any longer, and scouting college and high school players with special guest Jeremy Nygaard. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com.

Sponsored by Ticket King We're off by one crummy day. Such is the fickle nature of the baseball gods. Memorial Day has always been a special day for baseball in Minnesota, even before the Twins arrived. When the Minneapolis Millers and St. Paul Saints were the dueling minor league clubs in town, they would schedule home-and-away doubleheaders on Memorial Day, July 4th and Labor Day. Some of those games (and the ensuing brawls) were legendary. Monday's Memorial Day game at Target Field had a chance for that kind of excitement. The kids are off of school, the weekend chores are already done (right?) and they're even giving away 10,000 Kingsford grill tongs at the game. All that was needed was that premier pitching matchup.... And it's happening one day late. Tuesday night the Twins will send out developing ace Phil Hughes to face the Rangers perennial ace Yu Darvish. That, I'm afraid, is this series' hot ticket. If, like me, you're taking the family to see the Memorial Day game today, you might want to opt for bleacher seats in right field for a home run ball; Kevin Correia is squaring off against Rangers pitcher Nick Tepesch. Overview The truth is, you almost can't go wrong this week. Summer is truly here, and other than some chances of a thunderstorm, it looks gorgeous. It also helps that the word most used to describe the Rangers lately is "reeling." Or maybe"decimated." Both describe the recent news that slugging first baseman Prince Fielder will likely miss the rest of the year due to surgery on a herniated disk in his neck. It might not surprise you that the 275-pound Fielder has some spinal issues, and that might explain the significant dip in his stats over the last year-and-a-half. But Fielder has also been the model of durability, playing 547 consecutive games before being sidelined last week. It's rare that one would describe Fielder as a "tip" instead of an "iceberg," but in this case, it's true. His injury just adds to the plethora of injuries the Rangers have been facing. Three starting pitchers are hurt. Most of the infield has been out at one time or another. Four relievers are out, three of them possibly for the rest of the year. It's not hard to see the impact. Texas enters the series ranked 11th in runs scored in the American League and 11th in runs against. Their 25-25 record is still respectable, but it hides that they started the season 14-8, and have been sliding ever since. Even the GM, John Daniels, sounds a little defeated when he says quotes like "I haven’t ever been a part of anything like this — never across the board to this degree. You try to plan all offseason to give yourself depth. ... But there is a limit to how many premium innings you can replace, and how many premium offensive players you can replace. That sort of quote just breeds overconfidence, but the Rangers still stole a series from the Tigers this weekend, scoring a dozen runs in each of the last two games. The Twins have an opportunity to kick the Rangers while they’re down, and before they head to Yankee Stadium for a weekend series. Best take advantage of it. Yu vs Hughes At the very least, Rangers fans can look forward to every fifth day. Like Felix Hernandez last weekend, the Twins will get to face one of the very best pitchers in the American League on Tuesday night. Darvish sits near the top of the AL leaderboard in nearly every pitching category: ERA (2.35 - 3rd), strikeouts (73- 7th), WHIP (1.11 - 7th) and even WAR (2.4 - 2nd). Whether you like it or not,the Twins are getting to face a lot of very good pitchers this year. Let's not forget about Max Scherzer, Justin Verlander, James Shields, Chris Sale and Justin Masterson, all in the AL Central. But even among the best, Darvish can lay claim to being a King of the Hill. An interesting question is whether we're watching a Twins pitcher grow into that elite class. Phil Hughes has been demonstrating the same promise he showed as a minor league prospect now that he has escaped from New York. Hughes started slowly; in his first three starts he only went five innings in each and gave up four earned runs in each. But over his last six starts, check out his stats next to Darvish’s last six: [TABLE=width: 250] [/TD][TD]Hughes Darvish ERA 1.60 3.20 IP 39.1 39.1 WHIP 1.017 1.246 W-L 5-0 3-2 K 30 48 BB 1 15 HR 2 3 [/TABLE] Clearly, this is selective sampling. And Hughes may want to continue this trend for more than a month before we start comparing him to the best in the game. But there is hope that Tuesday night’s game could be close to a competitive affair. That’s not something that we could say too often over the last three years when a pitcher like Darvish came to town. As one might expect, tickets are getting scarce for Target Field now that the weather is heating up. Now is when having a local ticket broker on your side makes a lot of sense. Monday's game still has good lower level seats available, but the cheap seats are gone. Believe it or not, the Darvish/Hughes duel still has some $6 tickets available. Wednesday night's prices look inviting, too. Finally, Thursday's Twins day game tickets are so good you can't afford TO go to work. 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.

Sponsored by Switch My Trip Sometimes it's an overlooked performance that is a game's BigSwitch. Last Tuesday night's back-and-forth win over the Padres contained splashier performances, but believe it or not, the player with the biggest impact wasTwins reliever Jared Burton. That's why he's this week's Big Switch. But since we're still above the preview line, let's talk about the splashy. The headlines and morning radio focused on Kurt Suzuki's inside-the-park home run. In case you missed it, Suzuki hit a home ruin n the eighth inning that barely cleared the wall in left field but bounced back into play. The outfielder thought it was a home run (and you can see him signaling so) but it wasn't ruled that way initially. To Suzuki's credit, he trucked around the bases at full speed making the point moot and scored anyway. Because he did, the play did not need to be reviewed, so Suzuki was credited with an inside-the-park home run instead of a standard home run, making it the first inside-the-park home run for the Twins since 2007 when it was done by another catcher: Joe Mauer. The Twins are looking to switch things around this year. Every week, Metro Transit recognizes a Twins player who successfully switched the outcome of a game for the better.But that run was ultimately not the deciding run. It was important. We've talked about FanGraphs.com's excellent game graphs that track a team's probability of winning a game based on thousands of game logs before. That hit by Suzuki halved the Padres chances of coming back, which is fitting because it doubled the Twins lead from 4-3 to 5-3. But had Burton not been around the half-inning before, there might not have been a lead to double, and FanGraph's charts show that, too. The Twins had grabbed a 4-3 lead the inning before on a sacrifice fly by Josmil Pinto. Brian Duensing started the bottom of the seventh inning, replacing Twins starting pitcher Kevin Correia, who was in line for the "Win." But Duensing immediately put that win - both for the team and Correia - in jeopardy. Jedd Gyorko led off with a single, Duensing walked Yonder Alonso, and the Padres simply had to adopt a "get-em-over, get-em-in" strategy to tie up the game. The FanGraph's play log shows the game slipping away, too. In fact, when Duensing was pulled for Burton, despite trailing, the Padres were statistically favored with a 52% chance to win. Or, more precisely, a home team with runners on first base and second base and no outs, trailing by one run in the bottom of the seventh, have historically won the game 52% of the time. But the tying run didn't score and, in fact, didn't even advance. After retiring Cameron Maybin on a fly ball to center field, Nick Hundley on a pop foul to third and Chris Denorfia on a ground ball, the Padres' chances to win that game were down to 22%. In getting those three crucial outs, Burton increased his team's chances of winning that game by an astounding 30%. No player on either team affected the game more. It was also another step on the road back towards dominance for Burton.He struggled a bit in spring training and his first two weeks of the regular season were a nightmare. After a four-run outing against Toronto, his ERA stood at 14.40. He had given up runs in three of his five appearances and was demoted out of the eighth inning setup role to work lower leverage innings. But the seventh inning on Tuesday was not a lower leverage inning and Burton responded. He mostly has responded ever since the early season issues. Over his last 15 outings he has posted a 1.88 ERA, given up just 10 hits and has struck out 10 batters. But first impressions last. Twins fans may be overlooking that Burton appears to have switched the direction of his season. Just as he switched the direction of Tuesday night's win. Speaking things we might have overlooked, why drive yourself home after a Twins game when it means fighting traffic and paying for parking? Say 'Switch My Trip' for the next Twins game. Metro Transit can provide you and your whole family a train ride to the game. Planning your trip is as easy as clicking on this link.

Updated 5/24 - While all the previous mocks had the Minnesota Twins selecting shortstop Nick Gordon with the 5th overall pick in the MLB Draft, neither of the two released on Friday did. And the second hinted that the Twins could have some tough (but fruitful) decisions ahead. First, John Manuel released his 3rd mock draft and took things a step farther than he had in Mock 2, when he had high school pitcher Tyler Kolek falling to the Twins but the Twins passing on him to stick with Gordon. This time, they didn't pass: Then MLB.com released another mock draft, but this one was by Jim Callis, who is known as one of the more plugged-in writers in Major League Baseball. He also had the Twins selecting Tyler Kolek, but there really was no decision to be made - Nick Gordon had been selected by the Cubs the pick before. He also hinted that if things break right, the Twins could have their choice between Kolek, Gordon and prep catcher Alex Jackson depending on how the Cubs and Marlins feel about high school players. Photo courtesy of Rinaldi Photos Updated 5/20 - Who will the Twins choose as the fifth overall pick in the upcoming MLB draft? Oddly enough, in their latest mock drafts, Keith Law (ESPN.com), Jonathan Mayo (MLB.com), John Manuel (Baseball America) and Kiley McDaniel (Scout.com) all have the Twins picking the same guy. But how each gets to that point is very different. Overview This year’s draft features three high-upside pitchers that are at or near the top of almost everyone’s list. (There were four, by the way, but one needed Tommy John surgery.) Carlos Rodon – College left-hander from North Carolina State that everyone expected at the beginning of the year to be the #1 pick. He’s been good enough to still be, but others have also risen. Brady Aiken – A very polished high school left-hander from San Diego that has risen sharply to be one of the top pitching prospects. Tyler Kolek – A 250-pound high school right-hander with 101 mph fastball who will need to work on his command. Then there are some position players that are perhaps a half step lower, including Nick Gordon – a high school shortstop, Bradley Zimmer – a college center fielder and Alex Jackson – a high school catcher/outfielder. Arms First Two of the mock drafts have those three high–upside pitchers going first, second and third and in the same order. Both MLB.com and Scout.com have Rodon going first to the Astros, Kolek going second to the Marlins and Aiken going third to the White Sox. They vary in their fourth pick. Jonathan Mayo has the Cubs choosing Jackson, who many feel is the best all-around hitter in the class (and some feel might not stay at catcher because teams will want to promote his bat quickly). But Kiley McDaniel has the Cubs going with what many consider the safest pitcher in the draft – Aaron Nola, a right-hander out of Louisiana State. Nola is also a pitcher in whom the Twins reportedly have some interest. But both agree that the Twins would then choose Nick Gordon, who should be able to stay at shortstop throughout his career and has added strength. There have been lots of reports about the Twins zeroing in on him. One question raised by McDaniel is what the Twins do if he's not available – if he’s sniped by one of the teams in front of the Twins, particularly, the Cubs. Another question not raised is whether the Twins might take Jackson over Gordon as in McDaniel’s draft. Close But Not Quite Keith Law jumbles the picks a bit and has Jackson sneaking into the second spot, nabbed by the Marlins. In his scenario, the Astros grab Aiken, the catcher Jackson is grabbed by the Marlins and the White Sox grab the hefty Kolek. That gives the Cubs a shot at one of the three big pitchers – Rodon, oddly enough – and they snap him up. So by the time the Twins draft, the same names are on the board as they were for the MLB.com draft. The Twins still take Gordon in his scenario. An Arm Falls John Manuel, however, sees a scenario in which one of the bigger arms falls to the Twins and they need to make a decision. In his scenario, Rodon goes first, as he has in three of these four mock drafts. The Marlins grab the catcher/outfielder Jackson. Interestingly, Manuel mentions that he thinks the White Sox, who pick next, covet Jackson if he gets past the Marlins. In this scenario, he’s gone, so they take the left-handed prep pitcher Aiken. When the Cubs choose at fourth, Manuel has them passing on Kolek because a 250-pound high schooler officially qualifies as an “outlier,” especially for an organization that prefer’s college pitchers. So they go with Kyle Freeland, a college left-hander who is moving up the boards fast and provides the right mix of upside and risk. (The other drafts have Freeland being taken soon after the Twins, in the seventh or eighth pick.) That leaves the Twins with a big decision. They certainly haven’t shied away from prep pitchers like Kolek. But they have also spent a lot of time scouting Gordon. Manuel lays out the decision: “The Twins have done their due diligence on the top prep arms, and their emphasis on finding velocity in recent drafts could lead them to Kolek. But they’ve also done a lot of work on Gordon, whose middle-of-the-diamond athleticism is too much to turn down.” The Twins once again end up with the athletic high school shortstop, but I don’t think this will be the last time we’ll talk about a tough decision regarding Kolek and Gordon. We’ll update this story as more mock drafts are released. You can also check out the 46-page(!) MLB Draft thread on Twins Daily with several other mock drafts being noted throughout. Finally, you’ll find daily draft coverage on Twins Daily through the 2014 MLB Draft on June 5-7. Previous coverage included: Twins Daily’s scouting insider Jeremy Nygaard gave his Mock Draft v 1.0.

Aaron and John talk about the Twins' surprisingly decent first quarter of the season, management calling out Aaron Hicks through the media, Brian Dozier being one of the league's best players, Oswaldo Arcia going back to the minors, Chris Colabello turning back into a pumpkin, Kurt Suzuki proving to be a fine investment, and whether the Twins have something in Eduardo Escobar. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com.

Sponsored by Ticket King 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. 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? 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.

Aaron and John unpack the MLB/iTunes fiasco, reflect on a jumbled Twins roster, examine Phil Hughes turnaround, play a lot of GATG intros, cast a skeptical eye towards Danny Santana and Chris Parmelee, ignore their mothers and debate the size of Aaron's ego. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. The Twins took the series against the Tigers with a 4-3 win on Sunday, so on Monday you can take 50% off a large or extra-large pizza from PapaJohns.com by using the promo code 'twinswin'.

Sponsored by Switch My Trip Phil Hughes Big Switch pitching performance on Friday night successfully stared down a three-game losing streak and Justin Verlander. It was also his fourth straight quality start, suggesting that Hughes is in the midst of his own Big Switch. That switch is half of what we thought it would be, but half unforeseen, though maybe we should have expected it.When the Twins signed Phil Hughes this offseason to a 3-year, $24 million contract, reactions to the deal were split, with very little middle ground. The agreement was an easy target for criticism. Hughes record last year was just 4-14 with a 5.19 ERA. In what world did those numbers justify a three-year deal, let alone $24 million guaranteed? The Twins are looking to switch things around this year. Every week, Metro Transit recognizes a Twins player who successfully switched the outcome of a game for the better.The alternate view boiled down to one hope: like Snake Plissken, Hughes just needed to Escape from New York. Part of that argument was subjective. Hughes was once the top pitching prospect in the minors, the guy that Yankees wouldn’t trade for Johan Santana. He was called up as a 20-year-old, and even now is just 27 and approaching his prime. By all accounts his stuff has been better than his performance. He had faced the brightest of spotlights on the biggest of stages with the highest of expectations as one of the league’s youngest players. All of which could overwhelm anyone. But the other reason to get him out of New York was more objective: Hughes has always been hurt by his home ballpark. In particular, his tendency to give up long fly balls was hurt by Yankees Stadium’s smaller dimensions, especially in right field. For instance, last year Hughes gave up seventeen home runs in Yankee Stadium and just seven on the road. His ERA at home was 6.32, but 3.88 on the road. His record was 1-10 in the Rebuilt House that Ruth Built, but 3-4 everywhere else. Perhaps Hughes just wasn’t made to pitch in the Bronx Bandbox. So far, the home run theory is holding water. Hughes home run rate has dropped 40% to .9 HR/9 from 1.5 HR/9 last year. This year’s rate, by the way, matches his home run rate on the road last year. His 3.92 ERA also almost matches what he had on the road last year. Maybe this success isn’t such a surprise. But there is another change, too. Hughes walk rate (1.3 BB/9) is half of what it was last year (2.6 BB/9) and over his entire Yankees’ career (2.8 BB/9). This is probably also something we might have anticipated, though maybe not to this degree. Pretty consistently, when pitchers have come to the Twins and pitching coach Rick Anderson, we have seen a decline in walk rate. Of course, we’ve also see a decline in strikeout rate, which we’re also seeing with Hughes, from 7.5 K/9 down to 7.0. Still, that’s a trade worth making. Taken all together, there are some reasons to believe that this offseason’s best case scenario is coming true, and we’re watching a Big Switch in a player’s career. If so, instead of being foolish, the three-year deal the Twins signed would be brilliant. Hughes would be locked into a relatively affordable $8M contract through his 30-year-old season. It could work out well for Hughes too – that’s a good age to look for his next big deal, whether it is from the Twins or some other team. The contract, widely derided nationally, is paying off for both sides in the early going. Why fight traffic and parking? Say Switch My Trip for the next Twins game. Metro Transit can provide you and your whole family a train ride to the game. Planning your trip is as easy as clicking on this link.

Aaron and John review a plethora of weird roster moves, wonder about the impact of Joe Mauer's bat, discuss pineapple sauce with Lindsay Guentzel, endorse Eduardo Escobar, compare John's facial hair to Jack Morris' and interview Aaron's favorite bartender at Stella's. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]~~~ Sunday's win was big because it gave the Twins a series victory heading into a long and difficult road trip. It was also big because it gives YOU 50% off your order from PapaJohns.com on Monday with the promo code "TWINSWIN." ~~~