John Bonnes

So what's the option that everyone is pining for? Doumit at DH? I think everyone is OK with that, but a) that's only a recent option, now that Morneau seems to feel like he can play first base and what other good option is going to take over right field? Parmelee? Is he going to be any better defensively? Clete? Sure, defense is better, but he was waived for a reason. Plouffe? Fine versus righties, but Gardy was already doing that even with Doumit in the lineup. Revere? In right field? How does that make sense? What am I missing? I honestly can't figure out what people are criticizing.

I gotta agree with one_eyed_jack - this has absolutely not been an issue this year. If your wish is that Gardy play both Doumit and Mauer in the same lineup, you're getting your wish. There have only been three times they haven't, and at least two of those times Doumit was kept out of the lineup because Gardy wanted to get a bench player a start (the 2nd game of the season and Clete's first game with the Twins.) If anything, this thread should be praising Gardenhire for his decisions this year, not criticizing him. Maybe he's turned a new leaf. There certainly isn't much evidence that he's obsessed with keeping them out of the same lineup.

Here's a premise for winning in the playoffs. I wonder how one could research it.... In the playoffs, when matchups become important, the teams who have the most weapons tend to do well. For instance, a team that is well-rounded: some speed, some power, good defense, starting pitching, solid LH and RH relievers - can find themselves facing a team that is one-dimensional (say, lots of power) and find ways to out maneuver them. They can use their bullpen to play L/R matchups more, because they can get away with it. They can squeak out a run ina close game. They can disrupt the pitcher with some stolen bases. In that way, maybe power becomes a crutch. It's valuable during a long season, but it keeps a team from developing it's other weapons?

I haven't been able to watch every play of the game tonight (1st game vs NYY) but that diving stop by Casilla in the 8th was awesome, and the jump DP turn was impressive, too. There is NO WAY Hughes makes that play in the 8th. I think you can argue tht Hughes offense makes up for his defense versus Casilla, but I don't think it's reasonable to suggest he's on par with Casilla defensively.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?439-MLB-Payroll-By-The-Numbers

Every year USA Today examines the salaries of the Major League Baseball teams and their players and publishes them. Let's see that their numbers tell us about the Twins recent payroll cut.... Swimming Upstream Twins payroll went from $112.7M last year to $94.1M this year, a decrease of $18.6M or 17%. Overall, MLB payrolls increased 6%. If the Twins payroll from 2011 would have increased 6%, the payroll would have been $119.5M, $25.4M more than actual level. Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel and Joe Nathan are making $25M this year with their new teams. Prince Fielder is making $23M with the new contract he signed with the Tigers. The top 3 free agent pitchers this year – CJ Wilson, Yu Darvish and Mark Buehrle – all have contracts that are back-loaded or, in Darvish’s case, come with significant money going back to his Japanese club. Because of that, those three are making less than $25M this year combined. Not Alone The Twins were not the only team to cut payroll. 13 of 30 MLB teams cut payroll. For instance, the Yankees cut payroll, too. They went down $4.7M to $197.9M, which is still $100M more than the Twins. However, the Twins had the fourth biggest cut in payroll in dollars, and the fifth biggest cut in payroll by percentage. But the Twins were not the AL Central’s biggest cut. That honor goes to the White Sox, who cut their payroll $30.8M. They’re still the second biggest spenders in the AL Central. The Twins are 3rd, $2.8M behind the Sox. The Rise Of The Midwest Of the top five teams with the greatest boost to payroll, three of them are in the AL Central. Fifth is the Kansas City Royals, whose payroll rose from $36.1M to $60.9M, which is still $34 million less than the Twins. That 69% increase represented the second biggest percentage increase in MLB. Fourth is the Detroit Tigers, who increase payroll $26.6M to $132M. Almost all of that can be attributed to signing Prince Fielder. And second is the Cleveland Indians, who spent an extra $29.2M to raise to $78.4M. The Miami Marlins, who moved into a new ballpark, had the largest increase, both in pure dollars and by percentage. Their payroll increased by $61M, more than doubling their payroll last year.

Every year USA Today examines the salaries of the Major League Baseball teams and their players and publishes them. Let's see that their numbers tell us about the Twins recent payroll cut.... Swimming Upstream Twins payroll went from $112.7M last year to $94.1M this year, a decrease of $18.6M or 17%. Overall, MLB payrolls increased 6%. If the Twins payroll from 2011 would have increased 6%, the payroll would have been $119.5M, $25.4M more than actual level. Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel and Joe Nathan are making $25M this year with their new teams. Prince Fielder is making $23M with the new contract he signed with the Tigers. The top 3 free agent pitchers this year – CJ Wilson, Yu Darvish and Mark Buehrle – all have contracts that are back-loaded or, in Darvish’s case, come with significant money going back to his Japanese club. Because of that, those three are making less than $25M this year combined. Not Alone The Twins were not the only team to cut payroll. 13 of 30 MLB teams cut payroll. For instance, the Yankees cut payroll, too. They went down $4.7M to $197.9M, which is still $100M more than the Twins. However, the Twins had the fourth biggest cut in payroll in dollars, and the fifth biggest cut in payroll by percentage. But the Twins were not the AL Central’s biggest cut. That honor goes to the White Sox, who cut their payroll $30.8M. They’re still the second biggest spenders in the AL Central. The Twins are 3rd, $2.8M behind the Sox. The Rise Of The Midwest Of the top five teams with the greatest boost to payroll, three of them are in the AL Central. Fifth is the Kansas City Royals, whose payroll rose from $36.1M to $60.9M, which is still $34 million less than the Twins. That 69% increase represented the second biggest percentage increase in MLB. Fourth is the Detroit Tigers, who increase payroll $26.6M to $132M. Almost all of that can be attributed to signing Prince Fielder. And second is the Cleveland Indians, who spent an extra $29.2M to raise to $78.4M. The Miami Marlins, who moved into a new ballpark, had the largest increase, both in pure dollars and by percentage. Their payroll increased by $61M, more than doubling their payroll last year.

So you would have paid him $6.375M this offseason? That essentially means swapping Delmon for Willingham.

JakeE141414! Congrats! You'll be getting a CASE of Salted Nut Rolls from Pearson's to celebrate the inclusion of their iconic candy bar at Target Field. (I'll email you to get your address.) We 74 members get all the answers right and Eric was the winner of the random drawing. Here were the answers to the trivia questions: 1. Five Twins have won the AL MVP award, including Mauer, Morneau, Carew and Killebrew. Name the fifth: Zoilo Veralles in 1965. For a great recap of the '65 season and how Versalles put together that season, I recommend the book "Cool of the Evening" by Jim Thielman. 2. Name the iconic Boston catcher the Twins originally drafted in the 1993 amateur draft, but never signed: Jason Veritek. Four years later the Twins signed a different catcher out of college, AJ Pierzynski. 3. Name ALL THREE Twins players involved in the famous 5-4-3 "two triple plays in in one game". Gaetti, Newman and Hrbek. Quite a few people missed this one, including one of the TwinsCentric members , but a lot of them look like the just had a brain cramp, like the person who included Brian Harper. 4. How many Twins have homered in the All Star game? Only two. Kirby Puckett and Harmon Killebrew, though Killebrew did so multiple times. 5. 52,279 people attended the first Twins games in the Metrodome. What was the attendance for the 2nd Twins game ever in the Metrodome? 5213. By the end of the week, Calvin Griffith started dumping veteran players, and he made three such trades by the middle of May. When national writers would ask me how bad the Metrodome was for baseball, this was my go to example. 6. The Twins had a popular advertisement where Calvin Griffith said "I love that kid!" Who was he talking about? Butch Wynegar. In the commercial, it was said that Wynegar loved the game so much he would play baseball for free. Griffith's response: "I REALLY like that kid!" Thank you everyone for playing!

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You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?435-Gleeman-the-Geek-Ep-36-Radio-Radio

In which Aaron and John take the podcast to the radio with their KFAN debut and talk about Clete Thomas' big first impression, Ben Revere's demotion to Triple-A, what the rotation looks like after injuries to Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn, why Liam Hendriks is sticking around, what the future holds for Francisco Liriano and Alexi Casilla and what Delmon Young and porn have in common. Here are: the podcasts the rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podcast on iTunes (where you can also subscribe and leave reviews) and our new sponsors: KFAN & Pickpointz.

In which Aaron and John take the podcast to the radio with their KFAN debut and talk about Clete Thomas' big first impression, Ben Revere's demotion to Triple-A, what the rotation looks like after injuries to Scott Baker and Nick Blackburn, why Liam Hendriks is sticking around, what the future holds for Francisco Liriano and Alexi Casilla and what Delmon Young and porn have in common. Here are: the podcasts the rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podcast on iTunes (where you can also subscribe and leave reviews) and our new sponsors: KFAN & Pickpointz.

i assume Thompson has to be put on the 25 man roster and that he's out of options. so it's not just about finding room on the 40 man. Stringer Bell is right that the obvious choices, Gray and Burnett, haven't looked back so far, so maybe the Twins would be hesitant to send Burnett (the obvious choice because he has options) down.

So now with Clete being picked up and (probably) Revere being sent down, any chance Mastroianni gets demoted again?

Clete Thomas is 28, bats left-handed, and had the majority of his playing time in the minors as a center fielder. He initially projected as a possible lead off hitter, but his stats in the minors suggest a fourth outfielder is more likely. Last year, he hit 12 home runs in AAA, but he's only hit 41 in his seven year minor career. In 440 plate appearances in the majors, he hit .253 with a .336 OBP and just a .391 SLG. He's a decent pickup, maybe even an above average fourth outfielder who has the versatility to cover center field. He's also battled some injuries, including Tommy John a few years ago.

I assume Thomas is out of options and that's why he was available, right? That would mean the Twins entire bench is out of options.

Most of Thomas' time in the minors he played CF.

I'm happy if Revere is going to get to play everyday someplace else. It's been an absolute waste of his time for him to be with the Twins.

So does this mean he's back to playing in the outfield? He was playing 2B in New Britain, right?

This is the 3rd time Gardy has used taht Opening Day lineup this season. I don't think he was able to use the Opening Day lineup last season even a second time.

I'M embarassed to admit this, but other than the closer, do other pitchers have warmup songs? I dont' think I've really noticed.