John Bonnes

FT MYERS - John recaps why Jake Odorizzi is better than you think he is (or was), looks at where Twins payroll will be NEXT offseason and fanboys over Jorge Polanco a bit. Listen here OR, if you would like to add this podcast to you iTunes podcast app, see below for instructions. It'll take just a couple of minutes.To add this podcast to your iPhone podcast app, do the following: 1. Open up this page in your iphone and copy this link: http://twinsdaily.libsyn.com/rss 2. Go into your iPhone podcast app and click on the "Library" tab at the bottom and then click on "Edit" in the upper right-hand corner: Download attachment: Subscribe 1.jpg 3. Click on "Add a Podcast by URL..." Download attachment: Subcribe 2.5.jpg 4. Paste the link you just copied into the dialog box and click on 'Subscribe'. Download attachment: Subscribe 3.5.jpg Now you'll get every episode delivered to your phone to listen to whenever you want. Click here to view the article

FT. MYERS - Today Jake Odorizzi takes the mound for a new team and a new season, putting his “bad” 2017 year behind him. That was the narrative as he was shopped by the Rays this offseason: Odorizzi got worse, he was hurt, he gave up too many home runs, all his numbers went backwards. But in that bad year, he had a 4.14 ERA, which would have made him the Twins third best pitcher. Perhaps he was bad compared to the rest of the loaded Tampa Bay rotation. Or perhaps he was bad compared to the previous standards he set. How would he evaluate it?“Below average,” replies Odorizzi. “I built a rapport of being better than that. I guess it comes with the territory. I guess when you decline a little bit, people just automatically say it’s a horrible year.” It was a decline from the 3.69 ERA the year before, which was a decline from the 3.35 ERA in 2015. But his 3.71 ERA over that stretch would be a welcome addition to the Twins. So would the 500.1 innings which would make him one of the most durable starters on the staff. Getting away from just ERA, some of his other numbers were more alarming. His walk rate climbed while his strikeout rate held steady. That 4.14 ERA is fortunate given those. So how would he explain his “below average” year? “I pitched through a back strain for the majority of the year,” explains Odorizzi. “Then I took some time off in July. When I came back, my numbers were back to normal.” He’s right. Odorizzi went on the disabled list July 26. He was back just two weeks later on August 9. His ERA before the move was 4.47. Afterward, his ERA was 3.51. His strikeout rate was up a bit, too. But the biggest improvement was in his weakest area: he gave up a lot fewer home runs. That’s been a perceived weakness for the flyball-prone Odorizzi for the last two years. Even after the time on the DL, he gave up a home run about every seven innings. That’s about average for a major league pitcher last year. But before the injury, it was every four(!) at-bats. Odorizzi is convinced that the injury had him changing his mechanics and that was affecting the control of his fastball. “My fastball location was way below what it normally is. Just part of the mechanics. I was trying to open up my front side earlier to take some pressure off [my back],” explains Odorizzi. “It was more of a side-to-side pitch and rotational instead of straight down through pitches. Usually my pitches are on target but miss up and down, but now they were missing left and right, and that lead to balls being left over the plate more often, which I’ve done in the past and it affects my home run rate. So I know exactly why stuff happened.” Odorizzi says there shouldn’t be any carryover. He hasn’t had back injuries in the past, and this one was coupled with a strained hamstring on the same side, which may have been a contributing factor. This offseason he was far more careful with lifting that could affect his back, and took up Pilates regularly to work on his flexibility and core. If he’s right, and Odorizzi is back to “normal” that’s very good news for Twins fans. Odorizzi’s career ERA is 3.83, which is the lowest of any probable starting pitcher in the Twins rotation. It certainly is a lot more promising than the tandem of Hector Santiago and Bartolo Colon who combined for a 5.39 ERA in the 29 starts they made last year. Even if Odorizzi duplicates his "bad" 2017, he represents a 20-run improvement over those two. The Twins brain trust might not have been able to convince Yu Darvish to come to the Twins Cities, but the 27-year-old Odorizzi has the pedigree, the history and now hopefully the health to make a very positive impact on the Twins rotation. Hey, you're only getting half the story. For the rest of our spring training coverage, check out tonight's Nightly Wrap, which has all the stuff we didn't have time to write in one small 10-15 minute audio file that you can listen to on your smartphone or PC. Over 400 people check out yesterday's initial episode. We think you're going to love it. Click here to view the article

FT. MYERS - From Minnesota Twins spring training, John recaps a big day, including Miguel Sano's first action at third base, Logan Morrison being introduced to the press, and Derek Falvey discussing the state of the roster and and the potential for additions. Click below to: play this episode.see the page for this episode.subscribe to future episodes. Click here to view the article

FT MYERS – Logan Morrison knows his secret. And he’s not telling it to you. The Twins introduced their new designated hitter to the media on Wednesday, and boy can he talk. He talked about his teammates. He talked about the slow offseason. He gave his new manager a nickname. And he talked about all the things that led to his breakthrough year, without really talking about anything in particular that led to his breakthrough year.“There’s a lot of things, you know? I think having a daughter helped keep things in perspective,” says Morrison. “Being able to press the reset button. I remember early in my career taking 0-fers home. And then you take them home and they tend to kind of stay with you when you go to the field the next day. And you find yourself chasing pitches, prolonging slumps, things like that. For me, I think the ability to take every day as a new day has helped me out a lot. Baseball is just a game. Also, I have a theory about the JFK assassination.....” OK, I made up that last sentence, but you get the idea. Not that settling in as a family man isn’t something that can motivate. It does for many of us. But what we’re really asking about is something a little bit more concrete. I mean, if there isn’t a question with the words “launch angle” in this press conference, Parker could burst into blue flame. Fortunately for all of us (and most of all for Parker), there was. “You know, I definitely have looked at it,” Morrison explained. “But it wasn’t something I just started. But it maybe clicked for me a little bit last year. You look at film. You see how they do it and then you go and try to apply that. But to find the feel that you want to is the main thing that a hitter looks for. And being able to find that feel consistently last year should help me this year.” So he found the feel of launching balls to the moon? That’s the trick to hitting 38 home runs? That still doesn’t provide a high degree of confidence that his success will continue. Or that he knows why he had that success. Are we sure he does? Twins Chief of Baseball Operations Derek Falvey is sure he does, because Morrison explained it to him quite clearly when asking him for a job. “Logan will be the first to tell you that he feels like he’s made some adjustments,” says Falvey. “And that sometimes you see a spike in a season, and you figure it may have come out of nowhere and you’re not sure of exactly why? Logan can articulate the things that he did, and felt like he made adjustments to allow him to tap into the power that he’s always had.” In fact, Morrison's articulation was an important reason why the Twins signed him. “That’s key,” says Falvey. “I think any time you go into a conversation with a player about a change or a big year, I’m always asking. And sometimes it goes the other way - when a guy struggled. What was it? Why? If you can articulate – and we can back it up with some scouting information, some data or otherwise - then we feel a lot better about the projection moving forward. I think in his case, that’s exactly where the conversation went. He knew the things he had done to change. Got a better feel for who he was as a hitter, and that helps for sure.” Cool. So what were those adjustments? “I’ll leave that to Logan, to the extent that he feels comfortable sharing whatever that is,” replies Falvey. “I think there’s always a competitive edge and advantage for him. But there’s a lot of things out there on fly balls and how things have changed., Every guy does it differently. I don’t think it’s one size fits all. He certainly made some some adjustments that really helped him.” Looking at those stats, we see an increased launch angle, more home runs, more strikeouts and more walks. Is it as simple as just swinging for the fences? Maybe. He certainly is thinking of himself more as a power hitter these days. “I never thought of myself as a power hitter,” says Morrison. “Being able to embrace that, I think, has helped me hit. I’m going to strikeout. I’m going to walk. I’m going to hit homers and do some damage and hopefully there’s guys on base.” Indeed. Morrison has a chance to do some real damage being inserted into a Twins lineup that led the American League in runs after the All-Star break. But he isn’t going to tell us how. Click here to view the article

Tonight's wrap includes additional notes on Brian Dozier's expectations for free agency, why Jake Odorizzi struggled last year, Lewis Thorpe's health and what Paul Molitor likes about Nick Gordon. It's an eight-minute audio file that you can listen to on your smartphone or computer by clicking here. If you have any problems, or have any questions you would like me to address tomorrow, put them in the comments below.Download audio. Click here to view the article

You both may be interested to hear that I talked with Dozier a bit about the free agent market and what he expects next year. I'll include it in the Twins Daily Nightly Wrap later tonight.

FWIW Thrylos, he talked about it because I asked him about it in a one-on-one interview. He's not parading around talking about it. I give him props for being willing to talk about a very sensitive topic.

FT. MYERS – If you’re a Twins fan hoping for a contract extension between Brian Dozier and the Minnesota Twins, prepare for some disappointment. It sounds like Dozier is resolved to hit the free agent market at the end of the season. He’s even excited about it. “You mentioned “intriguing.” [Free agency] is very intriguing,” said Dozier. “And it’s something that to get excited about. I feel like it’s always a goal of anybody at this level to reach free agency. And that’s no disrespect to this organization because I love this organization. It is all I know. But I do know I’ll be a free agent at the end of the season.”It is not clear if there have been any discussions between the Twins and Dozier this offseason. Dozier didn’t want to go into the details, and also wanted to emphasize it is not a distraction. “I don’t want to elaborate too much on this, but I will say: my focus really is just on this year. All that stuff takes care of itself," said Dozier, when asked about possibly his last spring training as a Twin. “But also at the same time, I do know this is it. I mean, this is it. I’ll be a free agent.” Of course, hitting free agency doesn’t necessarily mean that he won’t be on the Twins next year. It is the organization that he has been with since he was drafted out of the University of Southern Mississippi. So it isn’t safe to assume that this is his last year with the Twins. “I’m not going to say anything is going to happen or anything,” said Dozier. “But I do know: I’m a free agent at the end of the year.” Ok then. Apparently Brian Dozier will be a free agent. Click here to view the article

FT. MYERS - It's all the thoughts, rumors, speculation and notes that don't make it into our stories. It's the nightly wrap. Tonight's focuses on a pregame injury, learning what a balk is in spring training, the suddenly competitive roster battles and a possibly overlooked bullpen arm. It's eight minutes long and you can ask questions for tomorrow night's Wrap below. Download it here.Download it here. Click here to view the article

FT. MYERS - I don’t think I’ve ever noticed a pitcher, after finishing his start in a spring training game, walk straight to an umpire and have a couple of minutes conversation with him before walking back to the dugout. But that’s what Phil Hughes did after his start today. So what was he talking about?“[Catcher Mitch] Garver took a foul tip off the mask and I asked [the umpire] ‘If I go up and see how he’s doing, if that would count as a mound visit,’” said Hughes. “And he said ‘As of right now, yes.’ Which I thought was surprising, because when a guy takes a ball off a mask, we’re just checking to see if he’s all right and give him a second. We’re not talking about strategy or anything. So he said as he understands it right now, it’s ‘yes’ but he wouldn’t be surprised if there are some memos that go out that clarify.” That’s in reference to the new rule implemented by MLB this year to speed up the pace of the game. In a regulation game, a team can now only have six visits to the mound. That includes everyone, not just the coaching staff. Catchers and other fielders are included, too. The loneliest spot on the baseball diamond is becoming even lonelier. But nobody knows the details yet, and so it’s become an interesting topic around the ballpark the last couple of days. Yesterday Addison Reed had a quick conversation with catcher Jason Castro midway between the mound and home plate, and Reed wasn’t sure if that would count or not. Hughes was given the scenario of an umpire catching a foul tip of the mask and the catcher goes to the mound to give him a minute to recover. Would that count as a visit? “I think would also count as a mound visit – if he could remember that you did it,” said Hughes. I would think there’s going to be a little bit of wiggle room as they see how it plays,” suggested Manager Paul Molitor. “Hopefully we’ll get a little more clarification tomorrow.” Tomorrow, Joe Torre, who is in charge of MLB umpires, is coming to camp and he’ll be meeting with Molitor and other Twins officials. One would think that player safety (and common sense) would trump concerns about game length in this case. But it’s another example of the concerns players raised: that simple rule changes can have unforeseen consequences. Hughes Champing At The Bit The Twins beat the Cardinals 5-4 in a home game on Monday afternoon. It marked the spring debut of Erick Aybar and starting pitcher Phil Hughes. Hughes was registering 91 mph on the radar gun, threw first pitch strikes to all seven batters he faced and said he felt good after. It’s likely that none of that means anything, and even Hughes acknowledges that, including the feeling good part. “I’m going to have to get to that 100-pitch mark to really have an idea,” said Hughes. “But for two innings and 27 pitches, it felt good.” Obviously, one can’t expect anything from Hughes this year, but you have to root for him. He talked today about how he was a little more amped up than he expected to be. The threat of losing something might be providing that much more incentive. But “want to” isn’t going to give him back his health or velocity. He’s in the same spot as we are: just keep watching and see what happens. Click here to view the article

The Big Story dropped, as the Twins have a deal in place with slugger Logan Morrison. You can find Twins Daily stories on it here, here and here. Oh, and here. But to some of us old timers, there was even bigger news: the possible return of the infamous bullpen cars. That’s the most fun and fairly straightforward news that resulted from a long interview with MLBPA Executive Director Tony Clark regarding pace of play. That nostalgic, semi-ridiculous, totally unnecessary lovable, promotional crutch of my youth is what you’ll want to hang onto – we’ll get back to it – because once you leave that simple idea, things become a lot messier.In fact, messy is the best way to describe MLB and the length of their games. The games are longer because they’re messy. The solutions are messy. The positions of both the league and the MLBPA are messy. And the agreement that was reached for this year’s games is messy, too. Even the use of the word “agreement” is messy. The MLBPA worked with the league on the issue, but opposed most of the solutions. As a result, the agreement simply said that the MLBPA would not oppose the changes, which is safe to do because they had almost no power to oppose. The solutions are messy, so I’ll provide a link to the details. The summary is this: only six visits to the mound per game, and that includes the catcher. Commercial breaks between innings will be slightly shorter. And for now, there will be no clock for anything this year, with the suggestion that the players will try to police themselves. But it’s certainly not ruled out for next year. The MLBPA’s position on the changes is messy, too. Certainly the players would love to make sure that they don’t spend an extra hour at the ballpark. “Players don’t want to be in a position where they’re playing three-and-a-half or four hour games,” Clark says, and he went back to that point repeatedly. But what is less clear is what they’re willing to propose. Because there are game integrity issues about which the players are concerned. We’ve seen changes that were supposed to improve the game have unintended consequences, like instant replay totally changing how stolen bases are called. The concern is that rule changes will impact the game. “It’s not a matter of not appreciating advancements in the game. It’s not that,” says Clark. “As it relates to a pitch clock or not a pitch clock, the guys - on its most fundamental basis – just don’t believe that a pace of game violation should potentially change ... the outcome of a game.” In this case it’s the players who are being the baseball purists. By doing so, they’re at odds with their own self-interest in shortening the games.But they're not alone. The fans face the same dilemma. “Baseball games are too long” is becoming as ubiquitous a cliché as “MTV doesn’t play music videos” but the truth is that for the last decade game times were fairly steady prior to the past six years. Per Baseball Reference, the first time that MLB games averaged over three hours was in 2000, likely a result of the offensive explosion of that era. But it retreated, and didn’t exceed that mark again until 2013. Like players, fans also care about the time of the game so long as it doesn’t affect their team. By all means, if the opposing team’s closer is taking too long in between pitches, they should be penalized. But if your slugger needs to readjust his batting gloves for the fifth time, you want that to be his prerogative. Of course, it’s easy for fans and players to be conflicted, because ultimately they don’t get much say. That could change in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement, which is still four seasons away. We’ll find out if the players really want to oppose impacting the games and how important it is. Is it really important enough to open a new front in the negotiations with management? Are they willing to give up something financially for their fundamental belief on the integrity of the game? (And, more cynically, is that one of the reasons that MLB is pushing this agenda to annoy the players?) The MLBPA’s position would be strengthened if they released some concrete proposals, and that’s where we might see the return of bullpen cars. Clark gave some background information about that idea, sort of tongue-in-cheek. It was the result of talks about reducing the time of pitcher changes, which average almost three minutes per change, since pitching changes are going up in frequency. Bullpen cars were one idea to help. “And it was a nostalgic one that any fan who has been around the game, and has loved our game as long as a number of them have, can appreciate the days when there were cars,” clarified Clark. Bullpen cars! It’s nice to see one idea that fans, ownership and players can agree on. We’ll need to wait on it, but we’ll also be waiting for the owners and players to sort out the rest of this pace-of-play mess. Twins Notes The Twins beat the Rays 5-4 on Sunday afternoon in their Grapefruit League home opener. Kyle Gibson started, was relieved by Addison Reed, who was followed by Ryan Pressly, so a fair number of potential Opening Day roster pitchers appeared. The lineup also contained several probable starting players. After the game, manager Paul Molitor revealed that Joe Mauer and Miguel Sano will likely make their first spring training appearance on Wednesday, presumably in the home half of the split squad games scheduled that day. Furthermore, the current plan is to have Sano play in the field, though he didn’t specifically say if it would be at first base, third base, or center field. ;-) For more notes and speculation today, I’d encourage you to check out a new feature on Twins Daily that we’re trying out: Twins Daily Nightly Wrap. It’s all the inside stuff we couldn’t fit into the column in a short audio file that you can listen to on your smart phone or computer. Let us know how you like it. P.S. No, but seriously, the bullpen car will be awesome. This is a no-brainer. Make them super fast to speed up gametime. Sponsor the hell out of them. So long as it's a car wearing a baseball cap, we, the fans, are IN. Click here to view the article

Every day we're in spring training, there are lots and lots of notes and speculation that can't fit into our stories. So we're going to talk about those for 10 minutes or so occasionally in the Twins Daily Nightly Wrap. You can listen on your smart phone at work at this link. Tonight's topics include Logan Morrison, Miguel Sano's health, a conversation with MLBPA Executive Director about the slow free agent market, Kyle Gibson's turnaround and arbitration process and Ervin Santans's finger.Listen here. Click here to view the article

Aaron and John conduct an emergency long-distance podcast about the Minnesota Twins signing Logan Morrison and then go back to talking about various other topics including listener questions. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click this link. Sponsored by Sota Stick and Bark Box. http://traffic.libsy...3?dest-id=74590 Click here to view the article

It appears that LoMo is indeed, the big story. Fortunately, there are already lot on the site for him. And, yes, even if Romero absolutely dazzles this spring, he would need a number of injuries to put him the discussion to make the team.