John Bonnes

Aaron and John talk about the Twins' fifth-starter battle, staying healthy (knock on wood) in spring training, 13th pitcher and 13th hitter competitions, Uber with Al Newman, and dressing for the job you want. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. http://traffic.libsy...3?dest-id=74590 Click here to view the article

Aaron and John talk about the Twins' least-replaceable players, Jose Berrios' spring debut, DMV trips, Fernando Romero's visa problems, analytics flowing freely, Josh Donaldson's over/under, and KFAN returns. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. Click here to view the article

FORT MYERS - Baseball is back, baby. Ok, it was back two days ago when the Twins faced the Gophers, but that was kind of a buzzkill. And it was back yesterday, but it was a road game two hours away, and not even the players wanted to travel that far. But today it was at – as the Hammond Stadium announcer belted out – “the southern tip of Twins Territory.” It was a home game, in Fort Myers, and the crowded concourses a full hour before first pitch validates the urge you feel right now: to hear everything about it.It also means I’m breaking a vow. A couple of years ago, I swore I would forever go through an entire spring training visit without reporting individual results of games. Why? Because by reporting on them, it lends credence to them meaning something, and they don’t. None of them. And especially not early spring training games. But I also get it: we’re hungry for baseball. So here are a few notes about the Twins 5-5 tie with the Blue Jays. Berrios looked awfully good. He gave up a lead-off hit and the next batter hit a line drive, but it went right to second baseman Travis Blankenhorn, who caught it and turned an easy double-play. After that, he got his last four outs on strikeouts, and there is plenty of excitement about Berrios’ age-25 season. If Berrios can maintain his early season success over the whole season, the sky’s the limit. Miguel Sano spent the second inning taking the extra bases available to him. He got on base with a sawed off blooper. Advanced to second base on a ground ball to left field. Tagged up and took third on a fly ball to center field. Then tagged up again on a medium fly ball to left field. He didn’t look especially fast in any of those events, but he was easily safe on all of them. I don’t think it means anything, but it’s sure fun to see. Sergio Romo looked like he got a strikeout on a changeup to a right-handed batter in his third-inning appearance. It also looked like he got a called strike on a changeup to a right-handed batter two batters later. Romo threw a changeup 16% of the time last year – the highest rates in his career – but usually that pitch would be used against opposite-sided hitters as changeups tend to move toward the pitcher’s arm side. He could be experimenting with that pitch early in camp – or I could be wrong about the pitch. Either I or someone else from Twins Daily will ask him about it later this week. Lineup Stuff My theory on getting some idea of Twins manager Rocco Baldlli’s initial thoughts regarding batting order for this game looks … um … stupid, despite what we saw last year. The Twins only started three expected regulars for their home opener and they all hit right-handed, and so they batted second, third and fourth in the lineup. There’s not a lot we can glean from that. However, that meant we got to see Josh Donaldson hitting second, which could end up being his spot during the regular season. That’s the spot Donaldson has hit most often in his career, though he spent most of last year hitting cleanup for the Braves. The Twins leadoff hitter is likely Max Kepler or Luis Arraez, both of whom hit left-handed, so batting the right-handed hitting Donaldson in that spot would protect against a manager bringing in a left-handed reliever (or an opener) to attempt to neutralize the top two spots in the order. Last year’s #2 hitter, Jorge Polanco, is a switch-hitter, but he profiles as a left-hander with the bat: he posted a .891 OPS versus right-handers last year, and just a 728 OPS versus southpaws. It’s worth noting that the Twins may not see things the same way. Twins Daily followers on Twitter didn’t. They voted Polanco over Donaldson in the second spot, 46% to 41% in our poll on Friday. (Donaldson won the third spot in the lineup on Saturday.) You can add your two cents the rest of the week by following TwinsDaily on Twitter. For what it’s worth, the other two regulars in today’s lineup were Mitch Garver hitting third and Miguel Sano hitting fourth. One could make a pretty good case that Garver could hit third for a few MLB teams, but I expect him to be much further down the lineup for the Twins – perhaps as low as seventh or eighth. That shows just how deep this lineup is, especially with right-handed hitters. Prospects Getting Featured The Twins have been showcasing their prospects in these early games. Six of their top prospects started against the Gophers on Friday night’s game. Yesterday, top prospect Royce Lewis started at shortstop and number three prospect Trevor Larnach hit cleanup versus the Pirates. Today the Twins had Ryan Jeffers leading off in front of Donaldson, Garver and Sano. No pressure, kid. There’s a lot of buzz around Jeffers at camp this year. He’s a second-round pick of the Twins in 2018. He profiled as a bat-first player who had played catcher a bit in college but wasn’t expected to stick there. But Jeffers has worked hard to improve his defense while continuing to hit, including posting an .856 OPS in a limited stint (24 games) in AA last year. Twins Daily ranked the 22-year-old as our seventh best Twins prospect this month, and with Brusdar Graterol being traded to the Dodgers, he’s currently at number six. The Twins also started another top-20 prospect, 23-year-old second baseman Travis Blankenhorn, in today’s lineup, batting seventh. We ranked Blankenhorn as the Twins’ 18th best prospect this year, but he’s been bouncing around our prospect lists for four years. Last year he showed additional power, also at AA, and though he missed a good chunk of the season with an injury, the Twins added him to the 40-man roster this fall to protect him from the Rule 5 draft. Repeating his early success last year could go a long way toward re-establishing him as a top 10 prospect or even late season contributor for the Twins. He’s certainly being treated like a potential contributor with some early preseason playing time. He went 0-2 today, but drove in two runs with his efforts. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

FORT MYERS - Sunday afternoon’s game is the Twins’ Grapefruit League home opener and is also televised on Fox Sports North. Under managers Ron Gardenhire and Paul Molitor, that often meant a starting lineup loaded with Twins regulars for at least a couple of at-bats. That also gives the manager his first chance to start experimenting with a potential batting order. Will the same be true for Twins manager Rocco Baldelli?They were last year, or at least the top few spots were pretty close. This was a little surprising given that it was also a split squad day. In fact, you might remember that there was some concern about whether Baldelli would arrive in time for the home opener, as he also attended the afternoon road game in Sarasota, about 1.5 hours from Hammond Stadium. But the challenge of fielding two teams on the same day didn’t stop the top of the lineup from looking similar to what we saw in the regular season. Last year, the Twins top five spots in the lineup were pretty consistent for the first couple months: Max Kepler leading off, Jorge Polanco hitting second, Nelson Cruz in the 3-spot, Eddie Rosario hitting cleanup and CJ Cron batting fifth. That February day, Kepler didn’t play (not even in Sarasota). Instead Jorge Polanco lead off. But Cruz, Rosario and Cron all batted in the third, fourth, and fifth spots. The second spot, which belonged to Polanco in the 2019 season was occupied by Jonathan Schoop. (He only batted second spot four times in the entire 2019 season.) Also, guess who subbed in for Polanco at the leadoff spot? Luis Arraez, who was barely a blip on the prospect radar at that time. This year he is seemingly one of the top two options to lead off games, and it’ll be interesting to see who Baldelli has in that spot on Sunday afternoon. One reason it might not be Arraez? He might be playing on Saturday. Saturday's lineup hasn’t been announced yet, but the Twins open the Grapefruit League on the road, two hours away. Often, veterans don’t make that bus trip. However the Twins are required to have at least four players who are expected to be on the roster in their lineup. With Arraez being lowest on the seniority list, he will likely make the traveling team. The topic about who will bat leadoff spot in the lineup has been broached several times in the first week with Baldellii, but so far he has refused to hint at what he would like to see happen. Whether or not he tips his hand on Sunday, there are a myriad of other decisions to make up and down the order. If you’re interested in exploring these, I recommend you check out (and follow) Twins Daily on Twitter, as we’re crowdsourcing the Twins lineup with fans. But most of all, I suggest you stay tuned and check out Sunday’s game. It will be one of the few times early in the preseason that we’ll see a mostly full roster of projected starters. Even if it doesn’t give us any hints on what Rocco has in mind, it sure will be fun to see that loaded lineup. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

FORT MYERS - It seemed like such a great idea. Then came the first pitch. The Twins opened their 2020 preseason last night by defeating the Gophers 16-0 in a shortened seven-inning game. The idea around the event was exciting, and led to several fun developments. But the weather, conflicting schedules and the reality of the competition made the event land with a thud.The best moments for everyone seemed to be the pregame discussions. Several Twins or Twins alumni took time to speak with the Gophers players, including Sergio Romo and Tony Oliva. Derek Falvey, Thad Levine, Rocco Baldelli and John Anderson had their own gathering along a baseline to catch up, too. If nothing else, it’s nice to see visuals connecting the University’s historic baseball program to the Twins. Excitement for the game was high, if for no other reason than baseball was back. A home opener on a Friday night works for everyone, and the Twins cut ticket prices in half for the event, using it as a soft open to Hammond Stadium’s season. Finally, the Twins also used the event to highlight their deep farm system. The first six batters in the Twins lineup represented six of our recently announced top 20 Twins prospects. The Twins top prospect, Royce Lewis, led off. He was followed by top catching prospect (and seventh overall) Ryan Jeffers. Batting third was Twins Daily’s #3 prospect, Trevor Larnach. Our ninth prospect, Brent Rooker, hit cleanup. Finally, the top six were rounded out by Travis Blankenhorn and Gilberto Celestino, our eighteenth and twelfth best prospects. That’s an exciting lineup to roll out prior to Grapefruit League play. Several of those guys are likely to have big league careers, and will be depended on to help extend this Twins’ team’s competitive window. Those links above are worth clicking over to - you're going to excited about some of these guys. So this lineup was a must see if you follow the Twins farm system. Unfortunately, a few factors, some controllable and some not, but a damper on the festivities. Those lucky enough to be in Florida in February will get little sympathy from Minnesotans, but it was cold, and it got cold fast. The high for the day was 70 degrees, but that was about 7 AM. All day the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. By game time it was 59 degrees, cloudy and dark, with a cold wind gusting in from left field to pummel the often underdressed crowd. There was no way to avoid it. You can’t control the weather, but the Twins and Gophers will likely look at what they can do with the Gophers’ schedule if this event is to be repeated. The Gophers had to treat this as an exhibition game; they left their three best starting pitchers at home since a three-game set versus TCU started today. You can’t blame them; they had an overnight flight back to Minnesota to play in today’s game. As a result of all of the above, shivering fans watched an undermanned collegiate team face the Twins minor league All-Star team. The results were predictable: there were four runs scored in each of the first three innings of the game. It didn’t help that in the second inning, Rooker got hit by a pitch squarely in the helmet and had to leave the game. Per MLB Twins beat reporter Do-Hyoung Park, he cleared concussion protocol and is fine. Both teams decided in the sixth inning that the game would be stopped after the seventh inning, the length of a college game, rather than play through the ninth. The crowd was not disappointed with the decision. The larger realities around the event still made it worth attempting, and perhaps some tweaks and better weather will help if the event is deemed to be worth repeating. The game is an unwelcome but probably necessary reminder to both Twins/Gophers players, management and fans about the reality of baseball: it doesn’t always go the way you hope. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email Click here to view the article

FORT MYERS - Aaron and John talk about their first week together covering Twins spring training in Fort Myers, including news about Josh Donaldson, Kenta Maeda, Byron Buxton, Marwin Gonzalez, Miguel Sano, and serial killers in Houston. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeartRadio or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. http://traffic.libsy...3?dest-id=74590 Click here to view the article

FORT MYERS - Spring has a number of defined milestones that build towards the Twins Home Opener. Twins Fest . "Pitchers and Catchers Report." The first spring training game of the season. MLB Opening Day. And there was also today, when position players take the field and the Twins hold an open house at Hammond Stadium. Needless to say, Twins Daily was there.One of the draws are obvious: the players are back and on a stadium field. The other you have to visit to really appreciate: the concessions and beer in the stadium are all 50% off. We took it all in and you could have followed along in real time: just follow @TwinsDaily on twitter. Click here to view the article

FORT MYERS - A quick examination of the Twins payroll shows that it has not exceeded expectation, and gives some guidance to what we can expect in the future. It also raises an important question for the 2020 season. Truth 1: It looks like the Twins Opening Day payroll will be about $138MA back-of-the-napkin tally of the Twins likely roster ends up exactly the range we predicted when the offseason began. You can see the details below. Four months ago we pointed out they had as much as $70M to spend on three starting pitchers, though we didn’t expect a large chunk of that to be spent on a 34-year-old MVP-caliber third basemen. But the total matched expectation. Ultimately, they Twins spent about $39M of this year’s money on free agent or new starting pitchers: $17.8M on a qualifying offer to retain Jake Odorizzi for one year.$20M for a two-year contract to Michael Pineda (but it appears they only have to pay $7.5M or that this year due to his suspension).$7M to Homer Bailey on a one-year contract.$3-6M plus possibly more on Rich Hill depending on how much he pitches after returning from injury.$1M or so on Kenta Maeda, thanks to the Dodgers picking up all or almost all of his 2020 salary.Truth 2: That’s a starting point, but there are variables that could make swing higher or lower throughout the season. This is always true, and payroll can be also impacted by acquiring or dumping big salaries at the trade deadline. But the Twins have at least two contracts on the books that could change the total as much as $19M in a year, though one of those swings no longer really matters. Rich Hill has only $3M guaranteed, but can earn as much as $9M more depending on how many games he starts once he returns from elbow surgery midyear. For the purposes of the back-of-the-napkin number above, we estimated about $6M this year, which would require him to make nine starts. Kenta Maeda also has only $3M guaranteed. But he could make another $10M from starting games, though a more realistic ceiling is probably $8M. However, in the revised trade, the Dodgers agreed to pay his base $3M salary and up to $7M of the incentives. For the back-of-the-napkin payroll, we estimated he’ll cost the Twins about $1M this year. Question 1: So can the Twins spend any more? The Twins literally had a payroll $12M higher a week ago. When the Maeda/Graterol trade was first announced, the Dodgers weren’t providing any of Maeda’s salary, meaning the Twins payroll was on track for about $150M if he started throughout the season. Unless they had some way to dump $10M quickly, that suggests that Derek Falvey and Thad Levine either had budget or approval to go that high. This front office also has shown a willingness to add players during spring training if they see the right fit, or if injuries pop up during camp. Over the last two years they’ve added a starting pitcher (Lance Lynn), a designated hitter (Logan Morrison) and a super utility player (Marwin Gonzalez). That’s almost $30M of additional payroll added when we thought the team was likely done. That extra payroll room could come in handy at the trade deadline, too. Being able to add $10M of salary for the last two months means adding $30M worth annual salaries at the deadline. Of course, that often means acquiring payroll for 2021, and that could be a problem. Truth 3: Things get trickier in 2021. It’s hard to see eight months in the future, but the Twins will likely face challenges accumulating this much talent on the roster for the 2021 unless they up their payroll considerably or have some prospects step into some big shoes. A peek ahead at next year’s payroll estimates they will enter the offseason with a payroll of about $103M, while needing to replace a number of important players who will be free agents. Nelson Cruz, Jake Odorizzi, Homer Bailey, Rich Hill, Marwin Gonzalez and Trevor May will all be free agents, as well as several other Twins. That would leave them looking to add two starting pitchers, a designated hitter, and possibly some bench and bullpen help. Even with a modest increase in payroll to the mid-140s, that’s a little tight. Acquiring a high-priced impact player at the trade deadline would create further challenges. Twins payroll has been a limitation throughout the club’s existence. The Pohlad ownership is the focus of most of the current criticism, but people forget they were viewed as saviors for spending money when they took over ownership from Calvin Griffith. That reality isn’t unique to the Twins; the Red Sox and Cubs are coming under fire this year for limiting their payroll this offseason. Keeping track of where it sits and where it is going provides clues toward the future of the team. MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily (at spring training!) via Twitter, Facebook or email Download attachment: Payroll_2020.png Click here to view the article

The Twins stated offseason goal of adding impact pitching this offseason took form Thursday morning as Kenta Maeda introduced himself to Twins Territory at Twins spring training in Fort Myers. The path to get to that point was a winding one, including a lot of rejection, an enormous pivot, and a six-day trade ordeal. But make no mistake: had you asked the Twins if Maeda fit their definition of impact starting pitching at the beginning of their offseason, they would have quickly agreed.Maeda has been serving as both a reliever and a starter for the Dodgers, but he’s not a swingman. He came to the US as a 27-year-old after winning the Sawamura Award (the Nippon Professional League’s equivalent of MLB’s Cy Young Award) twice. He started in his first year with the Dodgers. For the last three, he has also been a starter who switched to a bullpen role late in the season. Twins CBO Derek Falvey addressed this in an interview earlier this week. “I would tell you this: we think he’s a starting pitcher,” said Falvey. “We think he’s a guy who can really impact our rotation.” Falvey saw the switch in roles as a postseason strategy. “My sense is that the way [the Dodgers] used him felt like it worked best for them as they went into their playoff series every year,” continued Falvey. “It had nothing to do with his ability to start and pitch.” What’s more, Maeda isn’t a guy who just fills out a rotation. He profiles as top-half-of-the-rotation starter. In 103 starts with the Dodgers, he has a 3.92 ERA, and 9.6 K/9. Last year his ERA was up a bit to 4.14 as a starter, but he became even better against left-handed hitters, holding them to just a .247 BA. He’s always been good against right-handers, who have a .199 BA against him for his career. Read that last sentence again. Even though his addition came as spring training began, Falvey claims that the Twins had targeted Maeda early in the offseason, and had engaged the Dodgers during the winter meetings. “We always targeted him as somebody - if the Dodgers would move him - that we would have interest in,” he revealed. When the Dodgers acquired David Price, suddenly, that window opened. Twins’ fans’ expectations may have been skewed by the team’s early offseason pursuit of high-impact (and high-dollar) free agent pitchers, and to be fair, Maeda would not have been slotted in the top five of this year's remarkable free agent class. But he would have been a half-step below them, along with Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda, which (along with Jose Berrios) makes the top four Twins' starters all formidable. He also has something that all other 30 teams would certainly value, and maybe the Twins more than most: a reasonable contract that keeps him under team control for four years at a guaranteed salary of just $3M per year. It is heavily laden with incentives, so if he ends up being an effective starter, he’ll make around $10M, but their budget is protected if something very bad happens. Compare that to the $118 million guaranteed dollars the Phillies gave to Zach Wheeler. The Twins are also protected another way. As the Dodgers recognized, Maeda can also be moved to the bullpen. He is not anxious to do so, and seems to be especially interested in starting in the postseason. In fact, that was the first question Japanese media asked Falvey earlier this week. But if, for some reason, the Twins do decide to put him in a high-leverage relief role, his history suggests he will thrive. In 42.1 innings of pitching relief, he has struck out 58 batters and walked just eight. In the postseason as a reliever, he pitched two innings or more in all but one appearance. That’s a weapon. You would be forgiven if you didn’t recognize all this on Thursday morning. Meada’s interview was a quiet spring training affair. It lacked the pomp and circumstance that Josh Donaldson’s press conference provided last month. Maeda carefully answered the Twins’ media’s questions through a translator, while a dozen Japanese media waited their turn. He talked of being honored to be part of the Twins organization. But this was a big deal. Maeda, the Twins and their fans hope that will become apparent in October. Click here to view the article

If you’re a Minnesota Twins fan, and especially if you’re a big enough fan to have found this site, you need to find a way to visit spring training in Fort Myers. If you’re not, I expect it is because you’re not sure what there is to do there. This story, which we’ll run annually on Twins Daily is to help you find the best stuff to do at spring training.I don’t remember which year I first attended spring training, but I remember the exact date when I decided I would never miss it again: February 28th, 2014. I remember that date because we all remember the winter of 2013-14, or as Minnesotan’s refer to it: “that really awful winter.” That doesn’t sound especially harsh, but when Minnesotans single out one winter as really awful, that’s high praise. They’re all really awful. But 2013-14 had the coldest average temperature of any winter since 1978, plus a ton of snow. It also saved the worst for last. February, which is when Minnesotans are desperately searching for a little hope, was an all-time crummy month. When I boarded the plane at MSP that day, I looked at my phone and it was -10 degrees Fahrenheit, which is 42 degrees below the average high for that day. And when I landed in Fort Myers it was 80 and sunny and I was thunderstruck by just how dumb I had been for the previous 47 years of my life. I’ve come to feel strongly that we’re all doing it wrong. We should all escape for at least a long weekend to Fort Myers. And since I also get dozens of people asking me for advice for spring training, I hope this story serves as both a guide and inspiration to plan your own escape. I’ve already covered the weather, but it’s worth pointing out that even if there wasn’t baseball, escaping to 80 and sunny isn’t just nice for the time you’re there, it also lessens the rage with which you shovel out the driveway after that DAMN SNOWPLOW guys comes by AGAIN. It’s the length of the Minnesota winter that is the real killer. Knowing your winter has a definitive break, even temporarily, is incredibly therapeutic. That is all true if there wasn’t baseball. But here’s the thing - there IS baseball. It is probably the most concentrated and accessible baseball you’ll ever experience. Visiting the CenturyLink Sports Complex Visiting the Twins complex to see players up close is a morning activity. The accessibility is highest in the morning when players walk to and from their practice fields. You can see the route below, but the best place to stake out is over in the concrete area by those columns on the right. That’s where you’ll see a lot of people hanging around by 10 AM or so. Download attachment: Player Fan Path.png The players go out and come back in shifts, usually starting 9:15 or so though sometimes later. They come back in around 11 or noon, and that’s the best time to shake their hands or get an autograph or picture. You have to be patient and you get what you get - the times vary, the players vary, it’s a loosely organized congenial activity. Sometimes they can’t or won’t stop, but often they do. Here are Stephen Gonsalves, Kyle Gibson and Jose Berrios in 2019 all giving autographs as they came back from their morning workouts Saturday morning. Download attachment: Pitchers signing autographs.png Scrumming up with other fans and rubbing elbows with the players is certainly a draw, but it’s also fun to watch the players practice their craft. Want to watch a practice session, including someone like Tom Kelly or Torii Hunter help instruct minor leaguers? You can do that. They even built stands: Download attachment: Practice Field and Stands.png Or want to watch players take batting practice? The batting cages are right here, and you can watch up close through that chain link fence upon which these banners hang. Download attachment: Batting Cages.png The same is true of throwing in the bullpen. Here we see La Tortuga waiting for some pitchers to report and work on some of their mechanics. Download attachment: Bullpen.png You don’t have to worry about parking on days where there aren’t games. The stadium doesn’t have any concessions, but most of the action is over by lunchtime, so you have your afternoons free to bake on a beach, if you like. Watching Prospects Any Twins prospect who is on the 40-man roster is with the big league team at the beginning of spring training. And may who are not are still invited as non-roster invitees, so check the spring training roster to see which of your favorite players are with the big league club. But if you are really into prospects, you’ll want to attend spring training starting the second week of March. That’s when the minor league camp starts up, so all of the fields are filled with top prospects and hopeful suspects doing drills and playing games. This includes many of the prospects that began spring training with the big club. When they are whittled off the roster, they move to the minor league complex. If you would like to know which prospects are working out at which level, stop by the minor league office. They have sheets that say which players are working out with which teams, (AA, AAA, etc.) and also the minor league game schedule. Watching Games And then the games start. Starting the last weekend of February, you will have real live baseball most days from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. There are games most every day, in more intimate minor league stadiums, with prices that are closer to the minors than the majors. Download attachment: Hammond Seats.png Plus, if the Twins aren’t home, Fort Myers is one of the few cities that hosts two minor league teams: the Red Sox park is just a handful of miles away. Or take a one-hour to three-hour road trip to follow the Twins. All the road games are no further than that. When To Visit Once per day at spring training, you’ll hear a player, Twins employees or media members ask out loud “What the hell day is it today?” The daily routine doesn’t vary much, meaning Tuesdays are the same as Thursdays are the same as Saturdays. That said, you may want to visit at different times during spring training depending on what you want to get out of it. If you want the best access to players, the time to come is before the games start. Pitchers and catchers start their workouts on a Wednesday. The following Monday the batters all need to be there for their workouts, but the truth is most are there several days earlier. Excitement is high, and the players are feeling fresh. The interaction is definitely higher early in spring training. If you want to see games, you have a choice. If you want to see the big names, visit at the end of March when most of the roster cuts have happened. The players who will be making the roster will be getting some extra innings, though they’ll still likely be pulled after two or three at-bats. If you want to see some top prospects, come early in the game schedule, when Twins coaches will go out of their way to make sure top players get a live-action look for their benefit. You can see some of these guys in later games, too, but it will be more hit-and-miss, and usually limited to late innings. Early in the schedule you might see them starting alongside Twins regulars. Quit Thinking About It and Do It For a baseball fan, it’s almost hard to believe a place like this exists. The bad news is that it probably won’t, not in exactly the same manner, even next year. The consensus opinion is that every year, all the amenities get a little nicer, but the access gets a little tighter. If that idea bothers you, I promise you - you won’t care. Find a way to get here. You’ll hear the pop of a mitt and feel the sun on your shoulders and you’ll wonder, like I did, why it took you so long. Download attachment: Gibson and Kid.png Click here to view the article

Minnesota Twins super-utility player Marwin Gonzalez addressed the media about his participation in the Houston Astros electronically-based sign-stealing scandal. He started with an apology. “I'm remorseful for everything that happened in 2017, for everything that we did as a group, and for the players that were affected directly by us by doing this and some other things," said Gonzalez. "That's why I feel more regret, and that's why I'm remorseful.”Gonzalez obviously wanted to make it clear that he most regretted how it impacted the fraternity of fellow ballplayers, some of who are on his team this year. Twins reliever Rich Hill was on the Los Angeles Dodgers team that the Astros beat in the World Series. Twins starting pitcher Jose Berrios was hit hard by the Astros in 2017 in his road start against them. Gonzalez plans to talk to them specifically. “I just got here yesterday,” said Gonzalez. “Obviously, we're teammates now and we're going to have a great relationship as I spend more time with these guys as a young family. Hopefully it's eight months, including spring training. That means that we're going to fight in the playoffs and try to bring a championship back to this city. That's plenty of time to talk. I'm sure we're going to have a great relationship.” The 2017 Astros won the World Series and Marwin Gonzalez had a career year, posting career-high numbers. It was later revealed that the Astros used electronic means to steal signals and then signal batters by banging a trash can in the dugout. Gonzalez was the recipient of more “bangs” than any other Astro, and his chase percentage on offspeed pitches point to him gaining a significant advantage that year. Gonzalez, a Scott Boras client, signed a two-year, $21 million contract with the Twins in late February 2019. The multi-positional every day player will be a free agent at the end of the 2020 season. MLB decided that the players involved in the cheating scandal would not be fined or suspended. In recent weeks, we have heard from former Astros players such as Dallas Keuchel and Charlie Morton. Morton talked at Rays camp on Monday and said, “Personally, I regret not doing more to stop it. I don’t know what that would have entailed.” Penalties and suspensions have been levied against Astros' management and their general manager and manager were both fired. They were also fined the maximum amount allowed by the Collective Bargaining Agreement and lost four draft picks, their first- and second-round picks in 2020 and 2021. This was Gonzalez's first time talking publicly about the revelations. He was not at Twins Fest last month as he continued to rehab from offseason knee surgery. After his media scrum, he communicated through the Twins that it would be the last time he addressed the topic this season. Click here to view the article

My 10-year-old son once caught a t-shirt from a t-shirt gun at a spring training game in Florida. He was disappointed that it was a hot pink girl's shirt. Still ... VICTORY!

Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic is reporting that the Red Sox’ examination of Twins pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol may have raised concerns before the deal is finalized. The Red Sox “evidently agree that he is not suited for a 150- to 170-inning workload” and, the trade could require an adjustment before the deal can be completed. The new twist highlights how teams (and fans) value relievers versus starting pitchers.In the now-delayed deal, the Twins acquired starting pitcher Kenta Maeda from the Dodgers in exchange for sending Graterol to the Red Sox. The surprising trade was announced Tuesday night, and Twins fans’ evaluation of the deal tended to vary depending on this very question: just how much upside does Graterol have? The other side of the trade is easier to evaluate. Maeda’s talent is considerable, and his team-friendly contract makes him even more valuable. But as recently as a month ago, the assumption was that the 100-mph-throwing Graterol would begin the season in the minors as a starting pitcher, keeping him on the path of becoming a rotational ace. That narrative was reversed when Twins coach Wes Johnson revealed that Graterol was preparing for a bullpen role a few weeks ago. Graterol served in that role in September and in the postseason for the Twins, but had been a starting pitcher to begin the season, before a shoulder impingement shelved him for three months. If he started the season in a relief role, it was unlikely he would ever return to the starter role for two reasons. First, he was expected to have tremendous success as a late-inning reliever with a triple-digit fastball and a plus-plus slider. But he also had never made more than 19 starts as a pitcher in any year, or pitcher more than 102 innings. His arm had never shown it could withstand a starter’s workload. “Value” is a tricky term, as it can mean a lot of things. The value to a team of a fire-throwing reliever versus a top-of-the-rotation starter can be debated. Because relievers are used more often, and especially because they are inserted into games in critical moments, they can impact more games in more meaningful ways than a starting pitcher. But starting pitchers pitch more innings, thus suppressing more runs. Those two values are depicted differently by different statistics. Wins Over Replacement (WAR) values innings pitched, and starting pitchers lead relievers in it every year. But Win Probability Added (WPA) values how much a player increased the probability of their team winning a game. High-impact relievers often lead pitching staffs in that metric. However, there is another meaning of value: rarity. It is usually harder to find starting pitchers than relievers. This has been especially true for the Twins, as their top-tier bullpen includes lots of reclamation projects, while they spent their offseason futilely begging “impact” starting pitchers to take their six-figure deals. So when the Twins, who are hungry for impact pitching and flush with relief arms, decided to move potential ace Graterol to the bullpen, it probably should have told us something. It probably should have told the Red Sox something too. Apparently it is now, and it’s significant enough that it is jeopardizing their signature offseason deal, including shedding over $40M in payroll this year. Click here to view the article