John Bonnes

Aaron and John talk about the All-Star experience, the Twins making it clear they should be sellers at the trade deadline, what to do with Kurt Suzuki, Aaron's illnesses, John's dancing, paying to get rid of Ricky Nolasco, details on the August pub crawl, why Danny Santana is rushed but young pitchers aren't, ex-girlfriends in the wild, Josh Willingham falling apart, and dwindling television ratings. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click below:

Aaron has the sniffles, so John, Parker Hageman & Kate Butler discuss the Kurt Suzki dilemna, the Twins buy/stand-pat decision, how to rework the home run derby and then play the much-rumored-but-rarely-heard "Beauty and the Beast" version of the Gleeman and the Geek theme song. For the second half, John goes to the Futures Game where he joins Jeremy Nygard and Seth Stohs in reviewing the progress and decline of the top prospects in the Twins systems at the traditional midway point while John tries not to dance to Panic At The Disco. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com.

Sponsored by RubricLegal.com UPDATE: We had a winner. Please congratulate joemama who will be attending the game on September 3rd. Nice job. Now you have a reason to watch the All-Star Game. To celebrate Minnesota being the center of the baseball world this week, Twins Daily’s Official Law Firm, Rubric Legal (formerly Snyder Gislason Frasier) is giving away front row tickets to a Twins game to a reader that guesses this year’s All-Star Game MVP. Just leave your guess in the comments below and we’ll pick a winner at random from the correct guesses. You’ll get four front row tickets to a Twins game this year for one of dozens of available games. Rubric has helped the Twins Daily community analyze some interesting and thorny issues for MLB, like challenges to MLB’s Territorial TV Rights and minor league labor practices. They can bring expertise in a wide range of legal issues to you, too. Check them out at RubricLegal.com.

Sponsored by Ticket King The baseball world is coming to your door, Minnesota. Get out there and soak up your city.You’ll have lots of opportunities. The All-Star Weekend is packed with TONS of opportunities to meet ex-Twins. Hell, even Twins Daily is getting into the act with a Happy Hour on Monday. Here is a rundown of some of the higher profile events and their prices as seen at TicketKingOnline.com. All-Star Fan Fest Here is the most inclusive and probably fan-friendly event of the weekend. It runs from Friday through Tuesday and includes a ton of activities and chances to meet your favorite Twins alums and other MLB greats for autographs, clinics, photos and Q&A sessions. The schedule is overwhelming. Tickets are $35 apiece ($30 for kids) and as little as half of that at Ticket King. You’ll also have multiple opportunities to watch some Society of American Baseball Research (SABR) panel discussions there. They include the History of Baseball in Minnesota, Statistical Analysis, Official Scoring, Twin Cities Stadiums and Toni Stone, an African-American woman from St. Paul who played in the Negro Leagues between 1937 and 1954. I’ll be participating in the one on Minnesota Baseball History at Friday at 2:00. 2014 All Star Sunday The Futures Game, which showcases MLB’s top minor leaguers, starts at 4:00. The celebrity softball game starts at7:30. I’ll let others dwell on the latter….. Obviously, Twins Daily is maybe more excited about the Futures Game than most other events this weekend. Three players from the Twins organization should be participating; Alex Meyer – Meyer is the top pitching prospect in the Twins organization and has spent the year impressing in AAA. After a recent rough stretch, he has bounced back strong in his last two starts with 17 K in 12 IP with just 3 ER. With those kinds of numbers, this may not be his only appearance at Target Field this year. JO Berrios – Berrios was recently promoted to AA as a 20-year-old, making him the youngest player at that level. He’s already thrown 101.1 innings this year with a 2.31 ERA and 113K in 101.1 IP. He also looks like a strong contributor to the Twins future. Kennys Vargas – With Miguel Sano laid up this year, Vargas has become the Twins most talked about minor league slugger. As a 23-year-old in AA, he has been the complete (hitting) package, showing power (.474 slugging perecentage), patience (53K and 35 BB) and good contact (.291 batting average). It’s unclear if the lumbering switch-hitter will be able to stay at first base, but his bat should be a welcome addition to the Twins lineup in the next year or so. Tickets are very reasonable for many seats; they’re comparable to a Twins game. 2014 All Star Workout and Home Run Derby Now we’re getting into the heavy hitters – literally. Twins fans may well have a fan favorite on both the AL and NL rosters. Current Twin Brian Dozier is going to try and yank those high fastballs into the left field bleachers. (I see 50 tickets available there at Ticket King.) And there are lots of rumors that Justin Morneau may be added to the NL roster if he isn’t voted onto the All-Star roster by the fans. Tickets are significant, and in a twist, it looks like they’re pricier in the bleachers where you have a chance of catching a home run ball. (Bring your glove.) You can get lower level infield seats for less than $200 (which is quite a bit below the price MLB charged, I think.) And if you can’t go, why not join us Monday night at Mason’s to watch the action with the Twins Daily posse? 2014 All-Star Game Either this is on your bucket list or it isn’t. If it isn’t, you’re off the hook. But if it is something that you’re going to want to do, this is your chance to do it. Any other year, you can add travel costs and hotel costs, which are off the charts. This year, you have a ticket cost and not much more. It is what it is: an exhibition which happens to exhibit the game’s biggest stars. It’s going to include Miguel Cabrera, Mike Trout, David Price, Andrew McCutchen, Yasiel Puig and Clayton Kershaw. There is going to be a lot of pomp and circumstance. There will be an unbelievable amount of hype surrounding Derek Jeter’s last All-Star Game. There will be a ballgame with a tremendous number of substitutions. And there might be a "Is it dusty in here?" Justin Morneau moment. Either you want to pay for that or not. If you do, it’s going to cost you. I see All-Star tickets going for as little as $347. It looks like the markup in my section, section 102, is a couple of hundred dollars over face value. So it’s going to cost you as much as a short vacation. I think I’ll remember it longer than most vacations I’ve taken. I’ll be there. You’ll find links to tickets for all the events in the above story and 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.

All-Star Game Hometown Rules Rule #1: When The Game comes to town, you have a party. Rule #2: See Rule #1. Far be it from Twins Daily to break the rules. Today, July 14th, we're throwing a party at Mason's Barre and Restaurant prior to the Home Run Derby. From 4:30 to 6:30 we'll have a couple of kegs of beer reserved to offer Twins Daily readers to thank you for all your support. We'll be joined by readers and writers of FanGraphs.com and possibly a special guest or two. We'll also be joined by Pete Rukavina, a Twins Daily member who is personally sponsoring the bash just because he's awesome, so please say thank you to Pete if you see him. We aren't charging, there are no tickets, and you don't need to RSVP. Given previous events, I'd suggest getting there early if you want one of the free beers. But even if you can't -- the All-Star Game is in town. Let's have a party.

Sponsored by Ticket King Given that the Twins’ season is balancing on the edge of a precipice, a showdown with the Yankees would usually be the last thing Minnesotans would want to see. But these are not your big brother’s Yankees; they lost a series to the Twins a month ago in Yankee Stadium. Add to that a long weekend, a retiring legend, an exciting new pitcher and (at least initially) gorgeous weather and you have a lot of reasons to grab some tickets to Target Field this weekend.Those Damn Yankees The Yankees have been stuck in the middle of the AL East since mid-May and their weaknesses start where we thought they would: an aging offense. Their lineup ranks 20th overall in runs scored, even behind the Twins. You’ll still recognize a lot of the names: Derek Jeter, Jacoby Ellsbury, Ichiro Suzuki, Carlos Beltran and Mark Teixeira – but they’re not the same guys you remember. The second highest OPS on the team belongs to leadoff hitter Brett Gardner. Teixera leads the club with an 810 OPS, which is lower than that of Josh Willingham (856) or even Yankees castoff Eduardo Nunez (841). The starting pitching isn’t a whole lot better, also ranking 20th overall in the majors in ERA. And even that is heavily skewed by the outstanding work of…well….let’s talk about him in a second. The rotation lost CC Sabathia to a degenerative knee condition and he won’t return until late July. Hideki Kuroda has been fairly average, and the Twins will try to prove that on Sunday. The back-end of the rotation is covered by household names like Phelps, Whitley and Nuno. THIS is the Ticket But the rotation has a hell of an anchor, making Thursday night’s ticket the prize of the weekend. Mashiro Tanaka will make his first appearance at Target Field. For both legitimate and illegitimate reasons, the Japanese rookie is in a strong position to win the AL Cy Young Award. The less legitimate reasons: he has eleven wins already and pitches in New York City. But he’s more than worthy. He enters this series with a 2.10 ERA. He has 127 strikeouts versus just 18 walks. And he’ll be among the league leaders in innings pitched after this, his seventeenth start. Not every guy that costs the Yankees $180 million is worth the cash, but Tanaka has matched and exceeded expectations. Plus, he’s facing Phil Hughes, the discarded Yankees prospect who has rejuvenated his career with the Twins. The last time he faced the Yankees he threw eight innings, giving up two runs and clinched the series winner in Yankee Stadium. You have my permission to get a little giddy about this game. Time To Say Goodbye The Yankees, Major League Baseball and the media have been keeping this very hush-hush, but Derek Jeter is going to retire after this year. So this will be your last chance to boo him. Make it count. MOR. The weather on Thursday night and Friday afternoon is going to be gorgeous. Saturday and Sunday look a little more cloudy, with a small chance of rain, so you might want to aim for the sunnier and warmer third base line for those games. Or, if you’re a complete pessimist, the covered seats in left field. Plus, the Twins are running holiday weekend promotions. Did you know on Thursdays the Twins offer $2 drafts from 5:30-6:30 to sip while watching batting practice? On Friday the Twins are giving away Lou Gehrig bobblehead dolls. You read that right – the Twins are giving away a Yankee bobblehead. They’re celebrating the 75th anniversary of Gehrig’s Farewell Speech. I offer this news without comment. The Twins regain a portion of their sanity on Saturday, offering Tom Brunansky bobbleheads to the first 10,000 fans. I should also mention that if you’re dating someone who has a Derek Jeter fetish, the Twins will be honoring him before this game. If that seems like an awful lot of celebration of a team that Minnesotans love to hate – and that the Twins need to beat – well, I agree with you. There is only one way to combat that, of course: show up. Even on a weekend like this, Ticket King has you covered. I count 140 Twins tickets available for Thursday night, including one block of 14 seats if you and a group want to have a happy hour to kick off the weekend and watch an awesome pitching matchup. Friday’s 4th of July afternoon game is perfect for the kids. Wow – there are Champion Club seats available for the Saturday afternoon game when they honor Jeter. Sunday looks like it might have the most availability. 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 talk about the pleasure of dominating the White Sox, Yohan Pino's impressive debut, Aaron Hicks going back to switch-hitting, Kyle Gibson's good run, Joe Mauer showing signs of life, Oswaldo Arcia swinging "too hard," Tony Gwynn's lasting legacy, and how to have fun and injure yourself at a 25-year reunion. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Twins win and so do you. On Monday, get a half price large or extra-large pizza from PapaJohns.com by using the promo code 'TWINSWIN'.

Sponsored by Ticket King Traditionally, a White Sox visit to Minnesota would be just what the doctor ordered for a struggling Twins team. Hopefully it will be again. The Twins are limping home after a 3-6 road trip and on a five-game losing streak, after losing in particularly gut-wrenching fashion on Thursday. But now they’re back in Target Field, playing on a warm summer weekend (with minimal rain forecast for most of the games) against a White Sox team they haven’t seen since early, frigid April.The White Sox are doing their best to help our boys out. For the second weekend in a row, the Twins are facing a division rival without seeing the opponent’s best pitcher. White Sox ace Chris Sale, who has a 2.20 ERA (that is not a typo), threw six innings yesterday so despite a four-game series, the Twins will miss him. (Or more accurately, it’s likely Sale that misses the Twins: he has a career record of 5-1 with an ERA of 2.42 against them in six games.) The Hot Ticket Remember last year when 27-year-old Andrew Albers blanked the Royals for 8.1 innings in his major league debut? That wasn’t just fun because Albers did well. It was fun because Albers wasn’t supposed to be here; there was almost no chance of him finding his way to The Show before the season started. The Twins are hoping to have lighting strike again on Thursday. Yohan Pino will be making his major league debut as a 30-year-old. Pino is also not supposed to be here, but the Venezuelan has been toiling between AA and AAA since 2007. This year is actually his second go-round with the Twins. He was a pitcher in their farm system until he was 25, when he was traded for Carl Pavano shortly after the trade deadline in 2009. Since then he has served time with Cleveland, Toronto and Cincinnati before returning to the Twins this year. His numbers in Rochester have been outstanding, no matter which ones you like. The traditionalists like the 9-1 record and the 1.92 ERA. Stats guys might be more impressed with 61 K in 61 innings, and a nearly 4:1 K:BB rate. Those numbers are even more impressive considering his “stuff” is considered less than pedestrian. He relies on a mid-80s fastball and a killer changeup. So you have the chance to see something special on Thursday: a guy who shouldn’t be here, with stuff that nobody thinks should play in the majors, could finish writing a dream story in his major league opener. Alternately, everyone could be right and he and his dreams could be crushed. You want drama? Go to a ballgame. A Legal Cuban Import The White Sox starting pitching ranks just above the Twins in ERA (27th overall) but their offense has been reborn since last year’s 29th ranked finish. This year they rank 8th, and a big part of that is their new slugging first baseman Jose Abreu. Abreu was signed out of Cuba this last offseason to a six-year, $68M contract, which is no small commitment to an unknown. It was the largest-ever contract given to a Cuban free agent – and it’s looking like a bargain. Abreu already has 19 home runs despite having an injury in May, and is slugging .596. Hitting right-handed, he’s actually been better against that side than against southpaws, and has shown no signs of slowing down as the league adjusts to him. The White Sox have essentially replaced Paul Konerko with Jose Abreu and not missed a beat, which is terrible news for the Twins, who haven’t had that kind of consistent power in the middle of their lineup since Justin Morneau’s relatively short-lived peak years. This will be Abreu’s first visit to Target Field. I wish I could say you better see him now of you might miss him, but he looks like he’s around to stay. Target Field Speaking of Target Field, in a pregame update with reporters last week, Twins GM Terry Ryan said that it looks like Target Field isn’t depressing home runs like it was in its opening year. A quick glance at the statistics shows he’s right. The Twins and their opponents have hit 56 home runs in games at Target Field. On the road they have hit 57. That’s a little misleading. The Twins have only played 32 of their first 69 games at home. But Target Field is certainly not depressing home runs the way it was early in its existence. Tickets look tight for Thursday night's game, but there are 10 tickets right behind the Twins dugout if you want to welcome Johan Pino to The Show. Friday your ticket could also get you a Harmon Killebrew 1965 All-Star Game bobblehead. If you want a closer view of Jose Abreu, there are lots of seats down the right field line on Saturday. And if you would rather get a home run ball from him, there are six sections in left field with some availability on Sunday. 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 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.