John Bonnes

Aaron and John are joined at stops along the Grand Drunk Railroad by special guests David Brauer of MinnPost, Jack Moore of Sports on Earth, and Kate Agnew of Girls in Tech to talk about the Twins' season ticket holder survey, hanging onto Josh Willingham, maximizing your investment in tickets, moving to Minnesota from Wisconsin, the value of pitch-framing, fitting the lineup pieces together for 2015, the Brewers' closing window, and fighting for "official couple" status. You can listen by clicking below, download us from iTunes or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

Aaron and John take the podcast to Summit Brewing's "Backyard Bash" and talk about the status of Joe Mauer's concussion, position switching Hall of Fame credentials, Josmil Pinto's hot start for the Minnesota Twins, top prospects going to the Arizona Fall League, a new "official couple of the podcast" contender, Trevor Plouffe's ticking clock, the minor league affiliates' playoff runs, mailbag questions from listeners, and sweating to death. You can listen by clicking below, download us from iTunes or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

~ sponsored by Ticket King ~ There are those who rejoice at the end of a dismal baseball season. I’m not one of them. September provides some of the nicest weather Minnesota can dish out, a last hurrah before we face a six month frigid baseball vacuum. So grab a seat while you still can. We’ll help out by getting you close to some possible September callups who are looking to make a last good impression, while the weather is warm and the grass is still green.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Frontier Field (in Rochester, NY) The Twins AAA affiliate had an exciting year. After starting the season 2-12, the Rochester Red Wings charged back, gaining the inside track on the Wild Card by mid August. But they lost six in a row, leaving them to chase the Tigers’ AAA affiliate, the Norfolk Tides. But the Red Wings won their last three games of the year and when Norfolk stumbled in extra-innings on the last day, the Red Wings were celebrating a return to the International League postseason. They’re facing the Pawtucket Red Sox this week in the playoffs. What this means is that most of the Twins’ September callups have been delayed. The Twins (justifiably) feel that the kids will get a good experience in the IL playoffs, and it wouldn’t be fair to the rest of the team to pull a half dozen of their best players. So what you’re seeing below are still guesses, even though we’re nearly a week into September. It could be days or even as long as two more weeks before you get to see them at Target Field. Section 5, 12, 109, 119 (Scott Diamond & Cole De Vries) Last year was a dream season for these two. When the Twins badly needed starting pitching, Diamond (3.54 ERA) and De Vries (4.11 ERA) stepped forward to help stabilize the rotation. Alternately, this year has been a nightmare. De Vries has spent the whole year in the minors and been plagued with arm injuries; first it was his forearm and then his elbow. He recently returned to the Rochester rotation and threw seven scoreless innings, so there is hope that he’s finally recovered. If you’ve watched the Twins this year, you’ve seen Diamond. In fact, maybe you think you’ve seen too much of Diamond and his 5.52 ERA. But he’s sparkled like his namesake since being demoted to Rochester with a 2.41 ERA and five quality starts in six outings. Perhaps he’s found his way out of his sophomore slump. Section 8 and 9 (Josmil Pinto) Here’s a name you won’t have to wait for as he was called up a day before September, when Justin Morneau was traded to Pittsburgh. With seven hits in his first 10 at-bats, most fans have figured out what Pinto’s minor league track record shows – this guy can hit. In limited time (19 games) at AAA he hit .314 with a 819 OPS. In AA, he hit .307. In High A, .282. The question that has dogged him is just how good he is defensively. You’ll want to pony up for those seats behind the plate to see how he’s framing pitches and get a sense from the pitcher just how much he likes throwing to him. Pinto has already taken a couple steps forward this year. This is his chance to show he can take the last one. Section 114, 110 or 129 (Eduardo Escobar) Escobar made an immediate impression in April, hitting .378 with power as a reserve. Then came May, where he had four hits in 47 at-bats. By the time he was sent down in July, his batting average had slumped to .214. But in case you haven’t been paying attention, that’s not bad for a Twins infielder. Pedro Florimon’s batting average has slipped all year and currently sits at just .225. And at third base, Trevor Plouffe is only hitting .243, though he seems to have found a bit of a groove lately. Meanwhile, Escobar looks like a different guy in AAA-Rochester. His overall batting average - .307 - is impressive enough. But maybe even more encouraging is that he’s walking a lot more, almost twice as much as in previous AAA stints. Add them up and he has a .380 on-base percentage over 43 games for the Red Wings. So take your pick – get a seat close to home plate so you can see if hit batting eye has improved, or sit further away and check out his range at shortstop. Hopefully, you’ll see a different guy than you did in May. Section 236 (Michael Tonkin) Tonkin has lately rocketed through the Twins minor league system. He started 2012 at Low A, so he’s progressed four levels in two years. He’s been up with the Twins for a couple of cups of coffee, but most of his year has been spent in Rochester. He’s been dominant, but since the middle of August, he’s been much more hittable, giving up 11 hits and 8 runs in just five innings. Is he tiring? You’ll want to look him over in the bullpen to judge for yourself. Last Chance For some of these guys, September feels like a chance at redemption and for some of them, it represents the last step towards a dream. For seventeen more games, you can get a front row seat for that drama. In fact, just like for some of these players, this could be your last chance.

Aaron and John say goodbye to KFAN by broadcasting live from the Minnesota State Fair and topics included the Twins trading Justin Morneau to the Pirates for Alex Presley and (maybe) Duke Welker, not trading Josh Willingham to the Orioles, Josmil Pinto's call-up and future role, the level of optimism surrounding Brian Dozier, rebuilding versus scorching the earth, and how not to freak out over technical difficulties. You can listen by clicking below, download us from iTunes or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

I expected my head and heart would battle about trading Justin Morneau. But I didn't think that my heart would focus more on the future than the past. I expected my heart to focus on Morneau's glorious history with the Twins. If Morneau never plays again for the them (and I'm fairly sure he won't in the near future), he'll still rank fifth all-time in RBI, fourth all-time in slugging percentage and third all-time in home runs, as well as being one of just five Twins to have won an American League Most Valuable Player award. Despite having his career impacted by a concussion problem that cost him at least a year-and-a-half of his prime, he's a sure-fire inductee to the Twins Hall of Fame. But in Major League Baseball, a player is more than just his performance on the field. He is also attached to a contract and that contract affects how desirable that player is. In Morneau's case, he was attached to a contract that paid him $14M this year, or approximately $2.3M per month, which is an amount that far exceeded his production for most of the year. And that contract became at least as important as his performance for the last couple of months. For instance, two weeks ago Justin Morneau passed through waivers without being claimed by any team. Waivers is process by which a player is offered to each team, and if any team wants him, they can "claim" him. If they claimed Morneau, they risked the Twins just giving them Morneau and his contract, without any compensation. But nobody claimed Morneau. The risk of being stuck with Morneau's contract outweighed the value they expected to gain on the field, even for those teams chasing an postseason spot. In that light, my head is telling me that yesterday's trade is a victory for the Twins. They took a player who two weeks ago was passed over by the Pirates and turned him into an outfielder who is roughly equivalent to Clete Thomas and a somewhat promising right-handed reliever. This is a better return than Twins fans could have expected if Pittsburgh was also going to be responsible for that contract. "...if Pittsburgh was also going to be responsible for that contract." That's the part my heart is having trouble getting past. I'm not someone who rants about the Pohlad's billions and wonder why it isn't spent on my baseball team. I believe in budgets. I believe that a fiscally responsible business is admirable, and in fact necessary for it to truly be healthy long-term. But payroll was cut by $20 million this year. And this week they traded away Jamey Carroll for cash. And now the Twins traded away Morneau for a couple of fairly fungible prospects - which allows them to pocket another $2.6M. And my heart can't help but wonder if the Twins were more willing to eat that money - money which they certainly had in their budget already - what they could have received in return. The Pirates have some very tempting pitchers in their farm system, even if you overlook the top three names that would have been untouchable for any organization. And it's not like the money wasn't important to the Pirates. They admitted as much: If it was important to the Pirates, it must have been at least as important to the Twins. But why? They can't spend more on the amateur draft or international signings. They're both capped. They haven't bought any big name international free agents. They had trouble buying free agents last offseason. They even admitted they had budgeted tens of millions of dollars that they didn't spend. As a fan, it feels like the money is more important than the product. It feels like my favorite team's GM is more proud of the cash he saves ownership than the team he puts on the field. And it feels like trading away Justin Morneau was more about saving a few million dollars than trying to build for the future. So while my heart misses Morneau and what he did, what is really troubling it is the future. Are Terry Ryan's priorities in the right place? Is he ever going to be able to use the revenues that Target Field has provided. Does he fully understand the limits he faces when trying to spend money to build the farm system? That's the battle that my heart is waging right now with my head. Despite my head's best efforts, my heart is winning.

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. 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.

This season was supposed to answer some questions about the makeup of the next winning Minnesota Twins team. It has largely failed to do so. But there is still some time and some September callups which might provide some clues as to the proper moves to make this offseason. The Starting Rotation (recall Scott Diamond) I just deleted an introductory paragraph with a lot of stats because it showed you something you already know: the Twins starting rotation is very bad. It was very bad last year, too. And with no immediate help on the horizon, the question is whether the Twins can somehow avoid “very bad” again next year. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Ideally, the answer would involve giving time to younger pitchers with limited experience and some upside, like Scott Diamond, Liam Hendriks, Vance Worley and Kyle Gibson. However, Hendriks is here and Worley and Gibson are likely done for the year. That leaves Diamond, who has posted a 1.91 ERA since his demotion. In an ideal world, he would replace Mike Pelfrey, who would be traded for a Buterrific prospect from a contending team. Otherwise, shouldn’t Pelfrey have an innings limit after coming back from Tommy John? Isn’t he nearing it? Please? (Don’t get me started on giving Kevin Correia a two-year deal. No. Don’t. I’m not kidding. Be still.) The Bullpen (recall Michael Tonkin) The Twins one area of strength is the bullpen, so recalling Tonkin isn’t absolutely necessary. Tonkin was hit pretty hard on Sunday, and has already passed his career high for games this season. It would be understandable if he was just shut him down when Rochester’s season ends, especially if they rely on him down the stretch. But one way the Twins could continue to build for the future would be to trade some relievers. The Twins already look like they have four impact relievers – Glen Perkins, Jared Burton, Caleb Thielbar and Casey Fien. Seeing Tonkin in the majors could make them more comfortable shopping one of these guys, though trading relievers in the offseason (when there are so many free agent arms available) doesn’t seem especially profitable. Catcher (recall Josmil Pinto) This is maybe the least likely callup, but there is a good reason to consider it. Just like re-signing Justin Morneau adds to the glut of corner fielding types, so does Ryan Doumit’s guaranteed deal next year. The Twins have any number of players that could use at-bats from the DH or right field spots, which makes Doumit’s primary value that of a catcher who can step in 70 games per year without embarrassing himself defensively. In some ways, Josmil Pinto looks like a similar player. He has shown he can hit at each level but, like Doumit, his defense is questionable. Playing him (and Chris Herrmann) in September might give a hint as to how aggressively the Twins could shop Doumit, who isn’t particularly valuable, but can fill a valuable niche for some teams. It would also give the Twins some sense of their backup options if Mauer’s concussion doesn’t clear up immediately (and maybe give Mauer some extra rest). Center Field (recall Darin Mastroianni) We all wish Aaron Hicks was ready for the majors. Indeed, we all hoped he was. He wasn’t, and after some initial struggles in Rochester and then some injuries, he’s far from having mastered AAA. In fact, there is less evidence that Hicks belongs in the majors on Opening Day than there was at this time last year. So the Twins need to figure out what their center field options are. Playing Mastroiann and Clete Thomas as a platoon in September might hint as to whether the Twins need to spackle over that centerfield spot until Hicks is ready. (So might calling up Antoan Richardson and his.393 OBP, but I’m not holding my breath.) First Base/DH/Right Field/Left Field (recall Chris Parmelee) I’m also not holding my breath for this move, either. Three of these four spots are regularly tied up by veterans – Doumit, Morneau and Josh Willingham - and the leftover spot needs to be dedicated to Oswaldo Arcia as often as possible. That has left Chris Colabello on the bench a little too often - check that - a LOT too often considering he seems to be behind Wilkin Ramirrez and Chris Herrmann on the depth chart. Don’t get me wrong – Ramirez and Herrmann both should be evaluated as bench players, but I’d much rather evaluate next year’s possible first baseman. I can understand keeping Parmelee in Rochester. He is hitting just .223, and that isn’t the front office’s fault. But 2012's version of Chris Colabello who tore up the Eastern League had "Parmelee" stitched on his back and he’s four years younger and while he didn’t break through in his 242 at-bats this year, he didn’t crash and burn either. A September Parmelee/Colabello platoon makes sense as an experiment at any of three roster spots – first base, right field or DH – and its not like all the high-end talent in this lineup should prove an insurmountable obstacle. Shortstop (recall Eduardo Escobar) Instead, I suspect I’m going to see this. I’ll admit a bias against Escobar: he’s never hit (even in the minors), his defense looked downright crummy with the Twins and he’s the “return” we got for Francisco Liriano. On the other hand, I have become irrationally attached to Pedro Florimon; he shines defensively, teased a little with some early hitting and the Twins stole him as a waiver wire pickup. If you think that last point doesn’t really matter, then you don’t know me. But Florimon is now just 27 points of the 600 OPS I feared he would ultimately have. Escobar has been hitting in Rochester - .287/.364/.419. More encouraging is that the 24-year-old (2 years younger than Florimon) has 14 BB and 29 strikeouts, which is a bit better than the nearly 1:4 ratio he had in AAA prior to this season. Finally, Escobar’s defensive reputation is much better than he demonstrated in his fairly short time with the Twins. It makes sense to see if Escobar can reverse first impressions this fall. The problem is that if he succeeds, the Twins are right where they were to start the season – without any real answer at shortstop. But truthfully, that can be said for any number of positions. The Twins have more questions than answers. Perhaps September and it’s callups will provides some clues.

Aaron and John talk about Joe Mauer's concussion and potential position switch, September call-up possibilities, dating at the State Fair, where Aaron Hicks begins next season, runners in scoring position problems, staying up all night, the plan for Kyle Gibson, mailbag questions from listeners, not eating Justin Morneau's contract, and trying to stay realistic with Miguel Sano. You can listen by clicking below, download us from iTunes or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

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]