John Bonnes

You know how in between innings, sometime the mascot comes out with a pneumatic gun and shoots t-shirts or hot dogs or whatever into the crowd? Have you ever seen him shoot out pizzas? Want to know why? Because there’s a lot better way to give away free pizzas. By now you’ve noticed that the Twins and Papa John’s have teamed up to offer 50% off pizzas using the ‘TWINSWIN’ promo code the day after a Twins win. What you don’t know is that Papa John’s is also giving away a few hundred pizzas this year to the Twins Daily community. And in a far less messy manner than having TC launch them out of a potato cannon. We’re going to start giving them away with this story. We’re going to give away 10 pizzas to Minnesotans who comment on this story, with the rules below. But as I am wont to do, I‘m going to make a broader heartfelt point. Hang in there. Pizza’s on its way. Twins Daily believes in the power of community. We believe we’re stronger as a group than we are individually, which is why Parker, Nick, Seth, Brock and I ditched our individual sites to make Twins Daily. We further recognize that this community is stronger because of all the individuals making contributions to it – writers, moderators, commenters, editors, contributors, supporters AND sponsors like Papa John’s. Furthermore, we believe that gifts like several hundred pizzas should support efforts to build that community, and to reward those who continually do so. Today, let’s work on getting people to join the community. To enter, just leave a comment below with a) your favorite Twin and your favorite kind of pizza. Unfortunately, the codes are only good for MN Papa John’s stores; apparently this potato cannon also has its limits. But if you win one and want to give it away to a friend in Minnesota (or a fellow Twins Daily member you want to honor), that’s fine. We’ll let it run through the weekend and then pick 10 participants randomly and send the winners a promo code for a free large, 2-topping pizza from Papa John’s. I’d like to thank Papa John’s for their sponsorship, and I’d like to thank our members who cooperatively work to make this a community which adds a great deal of satisfaction and enjoyment to our lives. Now get after it. The pizza party starts now. (Sans the pneumatic potato gun.) ~~~ Also, since the Twins beat the Blue Jays in the first game of Thursday's double-header, you can get 50% off a L or XL pizza from PapaJohns.com if you use the 'TWINSWIN' promo code. ~~~

~ sponsored by Ticket King ~ Often Blue Jays don’t migrate, staying in cold weather most of the year. This year’s flock follows their example, coming to town during a cold snap, confident they can feast on a Twins team they beat five times in six tries last year. They shouldn’t count on it; unlike their namesakes, these Blue Jays live indoors. So for hardy Minnesota Twins fans, which game is the best ticket? The History The Blue Jays aren’t often listed among the ranks of MLBs most depressing clubs, but last year they “celebrated” 20 years since their last postseason appearance.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Management (and ownership) certainly did their best to end the streak prior to last season, buying half the Marlins team at a Miami fire sale. But instead of lifting them to the top of the division, age and injuries sunk them to the bottom of the AL East. They’re faring a little better this year, scratching their way to one game over .500. That’s a pretty fine record considering they’ve had to face the Rays, Yankees and Orioles already this season. But then again, since they’re in the AL East, they’ll be facing those team another 47 times. Oh, and none of them are the reigning AL East champions. Maybe it’s not so hard to see why it’s been 20 long years for Blue Jays fans…. The Offseason Last year’s uninspiring performance meant very few moves this offseason. You can hardly blame ownership, who already had $137 million dollars sunk into the payroll. However, the Blue Jays apparently came very close to signing to free agent pitcher Ervin Santana this spring when five veteran (and highly compensated) players – Jose Bautista, Mark Buehrle, R.A. Dickey, Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Reyes – said they were willing to defer their salary to bring him aboard. It was so close to happening that the MLBPA (the players union) had been approached and approved the deferrals. The Ticket That didn’t happen, so the Twins won’t face Santana, and instead face the three starting pitchers with the worst ERA on the team. Don’t get too excited about that. As we count down to the best ticket, you’ll see there are plenty of challenges ahead…. #3 – Tuesday night – Brandon Morrow vs Phil Hughes. Morrow is the right-handed flame thrower and he struck out nine in his last game. He teased for years, seemingly broke through to stardom in 2012 and then suffered through a miserable and injury-filled 2013. This year his ERA is 5.73, but he sports a 13:2 strikeout to walk ratio. That bodes well for the Jays. If you like raw stuff, here’s your game. #2 – Wednesday night – R.A. Dickey vs Mike Pelfrey The former Mets teammates battle in the American League. Dickey (who you might have mercifully forgotten, played with the Twins in 2009), is a knuckleballer, so it was damn hard not to pick this as The Ticket. His ERA is 5.30, but he’s still just a little over a year removed from a Cy Young Award. Get seats as close as you can and watch that butterfly hiccup. #1- Thursday night – Dustin McGowan vs Kyle Gibson Who would choose Dustin McGowan over RA Dickey? The answer, of course, is “almost everyone, six years ago.” That’s when McGowan was 26 years old and looked like an upper-half-of-the-rotation talent. It was also the last time he won a game EXCEPT for last week, when he beat the Orioles to garner his first “W” since 2008. He’s 32 years old, now, has been through a litany of shoulder woes and is scrapping to stay out of the bullpen. I’ll be rooting for him, well, to lose, obviously, but to lose a tightly contested matchup to Gibson. Also, Thursday is a day game. And it’s supposed to snow on Wednesday. That might have had something to do with my ticket choice, too. ~~~ In past years the Blue Jays have traveled surprisingly well, but this is looking like a great series for bargain hunters. TicketKingOnline.com has $3 tickets for all three games – and I see four seats in the Champions Club for just $135 apiece on Tuesday night. That’s $100 less than I’ve ever seen those. Plus, if you use the promo code DAILYDOUBLE, you’ll be supporting Twins Daily and get 10% off. Whatever your needs, your local ticket supplier, Ticket King, can help.

Aaron and John's take a break from KFAN at Mason's and walk through the Twins various DL moves, review the trade for Eduardo Nunez, convince David Brauer to listen to the Talk To Contact podcast, wonder at the world going bat s*** crazy about Joe Mauer, notice Brian Dozier's power surge, call random strangers "Babygirl," consider surgery on Aaron's torn ACL, and find out how to sell Joe Mauer a car. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] Here's the breakdown: 2 Twins Game 4 Torn ACL 14 Rib Tips 18 DL Moves 26 Masons Food 27 Twins Trade 38 Bartlett’s Future 42 Babygirl 44 Trevor’s Defense 46 Aaron’s Stories 48 More Babygirl 56 Talk To Contact Podcast 64 Our Bar 68 Twitter’s Brand 74 Brian Dozier 76 Aaron Hicks 79 Return of Tanya 81 Buxton’s Wrist 83 Where’s Eddie? 84 Lou’s Return 86 Mauer’s Week 91 Mauer Buying A Car 98 Rioting Roommates 101 Hiring Randballstu 103 Why Taxis Stink ~~~ Thanks to the Twins win over the Royals on Sunday, it means that on Monday you can get 50% off a Large or Extra Large pizza when you use the “TWINSWIN” promotion code at PapaJohns.com.

~ Sponsored by Switch My Trip ~ Maybe the Twins knew what they were doing when they brought Kyle Gibson north from spring training. The Twins switched their plan by including Gibson on the roster and he switched around the direction of their homestand. They had signed four free agent pitchers over the last two years to fill the five spots in their starting rotation. That left one spot. Officially, Gibson was one of the candidates, but by no means the favorite.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] The competition was supposed to be between three pitchers – Vance Worley, Scott Diamond and Sam Deduno – all of whom were out of options, meaning they would need to be offered free of charge to other teams if they didn’t make the Twins roster. Gibson was not out of options, so the Twins could send him to AAA without fear of losing him. Instead, by the last week of March, Worley had been traded, Deduno had been moved to the bullpen and Diamond had been been demoted to AAA-Rochester. Gibson and his 2.20 spring ERA were traveling with the club to chillier climes. The colder weather has suited him. He won his first start of the year in Cleveland when it was 36 degrees with a 24mph wind. ~ 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 it’s his second start that garners the “Switch of the Week” award. The Twins had started their opening 2014 homestand 0-3 with the starting pitcher shouldering most of the blame in each of the three losses. One by one the free agents had dug the team an early hole. Kevin Correia had given up five runs in the first three innings of the home opener. Phil Hughes had given up four runs before the Twins got their first at-bat in the second game of the season. Mike Pelfrey gave up five runs in his first four innings on Thursday afternoon. Gibson started down that road: a wild pitch led to a run in the first inning. But he limited the damage and then held the line for the next five innings while the offense rallied for seven runs to put the game safely away. He thus earned his second win in two starts, tying the total he earned over 10 starts last year. He also kicked off a string of quality starts through the remainder of the Royals series. Whether it a happy coincidence or not, the Twins starting rotation has looked totally different since Gibson took the mound on Friday. It’s easy to be optimistic about his future. Before he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2011, Gibson was a top pitching prospect in the Twins minor leagues. After a year of recovery, his arrival last year was highly anticipated, which made the 6.53 ERA he posted that much more disappointing. But he was still recovering from the surgery, and approaching the team's innings limit for him when was recalled at the end of June. This year his arm should be more prepared for the challenges of a long major league season. But there are also indicators the suggest some caution. It’s unusual for a starting pitcher to have long-term success with a below average strikeout rate. Through two starts, Gibson’s sits at just 4.8, far below the league average of 7. It’s also unusual for a pitcher to have success if he’s walking nearly as many batters as he is striking out. Gibson has walked more (8) than he has struck out (6). So another switch isn’t out of the question, and it could be a switch for the worse. On the other hand, Gibson is a sinker ball pitcher – strikeout rate isn’t quite as important for a pitcher who relies on hitters hitting groundballs at his infielders. Whatever the future, though March and April, Gibson has been one of the Twins most pleasant surprises and most consistent starters, which is a switch that we all can embrace. ~~~ 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.