John Bonnes

Aaron and John visit Brothers Bar & Grill, home of the 2017 Winter Meltdown, and examine the three veterans the Twins signed this week, arbitration agreements, Winter Meltdown speaker LaTroy Hawkins' extended career, where the Twins payroll ranks, bone-in vs boneless wings and Aaron's pint glass collection. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the link or play button below.http://traffic.libsy...3?dest-id=74590 Click here to view the article

Sorry folks - the event is sold out. Those of you who got tickets will be able to pick them up at the check-in desk at the event, which is at Brothers Bar & Grill from 4:30-7:30 PM on January 28th. See you then!You loved LaTroy Hawkins. (There were also times that you also likely hated LaTroy Hawkins.) But after a 21-year MLB career that lasted until he was 42 years old, I expect you respect LaTroy Hawkins. And we KNOW you want to hear from LaTroy Hawkins. Here’s your chance. LaTroy Hawkins will be the headline speaker for the Twins Daily Winter Meltdown, for which you can buy tickets (until they sell out) starting at 8AM tomorrow, January 12th,. Hawkins not only had a remarkable nine year Twins career, but just kept going and going and going, retiring as the only active pitcher who had thrown in over 1000 games. You likely remember “The Hawk” from the end of his Twins career, posting a 2.00 ERA as a shutdown reliever in 2002 and 2003 when the Twins were suddenly winning Central Division crowns. Hawkins has recently returned to the Twins as a special assistant and will share thoughts about his career and the team on Jan 28th at the Winter Meltdown. He’ll be joined by a very special guest, Jack Goin. Goin is the Director of Baseball Research for the Minnesota Twins, and has been with the Twins for fourteen years, including managing their contract administration and tenders prior to moving to baseball research in 2011. He currently oversees the baseball research department, advance scouting process and development of the internal information systems in Baseball Operations. You can also occasionally find Jack in the Twins Daily forums, as he graciously provides no-nonsense answers to questions from Twins Daily’s members. Twins Daily’s Winter Meltdown is just two blocks from Target Field Plaza on the Saturday night of Twins Fest at Brothers Bar & Grill. It’s mostly about 200+ baseball fans getting together to celebrate the next season, but your $25 ticket also gets you: A chance to hear from and meet LaTroy Hawkins and Jack Goin.A Twins Daily Winter Meltdown Pint Glass with Brock Beauchamp's fantastic design (picture below).Two complimentary local craft pints from 612 Brew.Fantastic raffle prizes , including a Byron Buxton signed batI can’t stress this enough: we’ll sell out. Maybe very fast. Please come back to this page tomorrow (Thursday, 1/12, 8 AM) and buy your tickets. We wish we had more. As the Winter Meltdown has gained notoriety over the last few years, the raffle prizes have markedly improved. This year, thanks to AME Sports, we have our best grand prize ever: a Byron Buxton signed bat. But the list goes far beyond this top prize. You can also win…. Download attachment: Buxton_Byron_Sunglasses_US_900.jpg Our host, Brothers Bar and Grill, in addition to gift cards, is providing a one-of-a-kind prize: a front-and-center table during their Opening Day KFAN live broadcasts by Paul Allen and The Common Man. Brothers has hosted KFAN personalities since Target Field opened, and it is always a huge event that fills up quickly. But you’ll have your prime spot as they review their “Duckies and Bunnies” or “Tough Love” previews of the upcoming season. In addition to the Byron Buxton signed bat, AME Sports will be providing a Tom Kelly signed baseball to the winner of our Twitter #TDMeltdown challenge. Just tweet out a picture of the Winter Meltdown with the hashtag #TDMeltdown and you’ll be entered to win. And there is no limit to how many entries you can submit. And that’s not all from AME Sports. They also provide unique player appearance events, such as their upcoming appearance with Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk on Jan 18th. Last summer that included an appearance by Eddie Rosario, and you can win a signed photo of Eddie from the event. 612 Brew, in addition to the free beer and pint glasses they’re providing, will also be providing some 612 Brew swag as raffle prizes. And beer fans can also win a leather-bound Minnesota Craft Beer Passport & Taproom Guide. You can commemorate your tasting experiences with this stylish leather book containing pages dedicated to every taproom in the state. Download attachment: BlueOceanWinterMeltdown_400.jpg We’ll also have autographed copies of the 2017 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook (which you can buy right now), written by Seth Stohs, Jeremy Nygard and Cody Christie. Plus, you can also qualify for free copies of the Baseball Prospectus 2017 Annual, edited by Aaron Gleeman. You can also preorder it right now. But you can only get a shot at all this great stuff if you buy a ticket, and they’ll go fast. Bookmark this page because they’ll be on sale right here at 8 AM this Thursday, January 12th. They will sell out, so please get here as early as you can. And, of course, the raffle prizes are just a fraction of the event. Tomorrow we’ll announce our special guests and you can find all the rest of the details below: It’s cold. It’s snowy. We all need something to melt away this winter. We need a Winter Meltdown. Twins alumni and management will again join us just a couple blocks from Twins Fest on January 28th for the Twins Daily Winter Meltdown. There will free beer, hot stove talk and fantastic raffle prizes, so bookmark this page, because our remaining tickets will be available right here on Thursday morning at 8:00 AM. We will absolutely sell out. Download attachment: Pint-Glasses_900.jpg This year’s Meltdown will be at Brother’s Bar & Grill from 4:30 to 7:30PM on Saturday the 28th. You can walk over from TwinsFest because Brothers is just a couple blocks away on 5th and 1st Avenue. Not only will you get to gather with Twins Daily writers and 200+ Twins Daily members to talk Hot Stove, but it will include: A Twins Daily Winter Meltdown Pint Glass with Brock Beauchamp's fantastic design (picture above).Two complimentary local craft pints from 612 Brew.Raffle prizes (announced Tuesday).Interviews with special Twins guests (announced Wednesday).It’s only $25 (if you can get tickets).We’ll announce the raffle prizes tomorrow, which includes a grand prize that had our writers literally texting “Wow!” (Seth, no, you cannot win it.) On Wednesday we’ll announce a guest speaker that Aaron Gleeman (who will also be joining us) says is one of his favorite Twins. You’ll be treated to two fantastic locally brewed beers from 612 Brew in Northeast Minneapolis. This is 612 Brew’s fourth year sponsoring our Meltdown and has supported various Twins Daily and Gleeman and the Geek events for several years. You can find their beer in all over the city, including your local liquor store, at US Bank Stadium, and of course in their famous taproom. The tough part will be getting tickets. We’ve sold this out every year. Tickets will go on sale Thursday morning RIGHT HERE at 8:00 AM for just $25. A special pre-Christmas sale took care of most of our inventory, so I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you find a way to stop by TwinsDaily.com this Thursday morning (1/12) and get your tickets while you still can. Please join us for our biggest event of the year. It’s easy, it’s affordable, it’s crazy fun and you’re going to be kicking yourself that weekend if you can’t be there. Stop by tomorrow and Wednesday for more news on our prizes and guests or follow us on Twitter and Facebook. Click here to view the article

Aaron and John are joined by Robert Kasak of 612 Brew to: discuss whether Brian Dozier will stay a Twin,take a quiz on the MLB Draft and gauge its significance,review the Twins spring training non-roster invitees and what it says about about the team's management and their new philosophies andreveal additional details about the Winter Meltdown on Jan 28th.You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below.http://traffic.libsy...3?dest-id=74590 Click here to view the article

Aaron and John are at New Bohemia Uptown to evaluate final offers for Brian Dozier, discuss other potential additions to the starting rotation and bullpen, debate waffles versus pancakes and answer mailbag questions. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. Click here to view the article

Question: What would you do if you found Scott Erickson, Jacque Jones, Mike Pagliarulo, Tim Laudner or Dave St. Peter in your Holiday Stocking? Answer: Let them out. Make some nog. Maybe call 911. There is no wrong answer. Through 12/25, for just $15 (regular $25), you can buy pre-sale tickets to the Twins Daily Winter Meltdown. We are offering this quietly, to people that visit the site in the dead of winter.The Meltdown is Saturday, Jan 28th, from 4:30-7:30. That's the same night you'll be in town anyway, going to TwinsFest. It'll be at Brothers Bar in Downtown Minneapolis, just two blocks from Twins Plaza. Entry includes a pint glass and two free 612 Brew beers, plus you could have met all of the above at our Meltdowns the previous three years. (We're not letting the cat out of the bag yet who our special guests are this year until after the new year.) There will also be some sweet raffles and door prizes, as well as plnety of time to talk Hot Stove and order some of Brothers' great food. Warning: These sell out. Plus, we're only offering 100 at this sweet price. So even if your holiday shopping is done, you might want to grab some ASAP. Or, let your family know THIS is what you really want. Or buy a pack and give your friends, family and coworkers a night to remember in the dead of winter. We'll see you there. BUY HERE NOW Click here to view the article

Aaron and John review Dozier trade rumors, wonder about an Ervin Santana trade, debate Twins payroll limits, give their holiday gift-giving tips (including a special deal from Harry's Razors), examine the perceived #1 overall pick in the MLB Draft, tour 612 Brew's new brewing equipment with Robert Kasak and give a little info on this year's Winter Meltdown. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. Click here to view the article

Aaron and John talk about Rule 5 pick Justin Haley, Brian Dozier trade rumors, Terry Ryan's new job, Paul Molitor re-thinking Byron Buxton, face tattoos, Hunter/Cuddyer/Hawkins rejoining the organization, wedding gift rules, Wilson Ramos vs. Jason Castro, and Northgate Brewery's hanging canoe. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below.http://traffic.libsy...3?dest-id=74590 Click here to view the article

When it was leaked that the Twins had hired 33-year-old Derek Falvey to oversee their baseball operations, it was easy to make comparisons to 1985, the last time the Twins went outside their organization to hire a new leader. That time, they found 32-year-old Andy MacPhail. But parallels between the two situations don’t end at the winning candidates' ages, and the challenges and solutions that MacPhail faced and came up with provide some interesting insight as to what we might see next.The Situation The situations are eerily similar. The year before, the 1984 Twins had a very successful year, raising hopes. In fact, they competed for a postseason spot right until they were swept in their last series of the year. ***This is an excerpt of one of several features from the Twins Daily Offseason Handbook. To read this and more, be sure to download your FREE Twins Daily Offseason Handbook now.*** (P.S. In fact, they lost their last six games, a streak which started when they were just a ½ game from the division lead. That included perhaps the two most heartbreaking losses between the years 1970 and 1992, and they were back-to-back. One was yet another blown lead by Ron Davis and then the Twins blew a 10-0 lead with Frank Viola on the mound. After that game, Gary Gaetti offered his appraisal of his own throwing error that led to a seven-run inning: “It’s hard to throw with both hands around your neck.”) (P.P.S. “Twins Worst Losses.” How did Twins Daily not produce that series in this year of all years? Apparently, it’s also hard to blog with both hands around your neck.) The success in 1984 raised hopes, because the team was filled with promising youngsters. Kirby Puckett had debuted that year. Kent Hrbek had been snubbed for the All-Star team. Seven of the nine starters in the lineup were 26 years old or younger. But 1985 started poorly. After winning their first two games, the team fell into a nine-game losing streak. (Again – sound familiar?) They rebounded with a 10-game winning streak, but on June 20th, they were only 27-35 and in sixth place in the division. Like this year’s team, a change was made, but in their case it was the manager who was fired. Billy Gardner was replaced by Ray Miller, and the team limped to a fourth place finish in the division, fourteen games back. By then, the new owner, Carl Pohlad, had determined that the organization needed to modernize from the decades-old management structure that Calvin Griffith had in place. But rather than fire team “interim” president Howard Fox, he looked for young blood to help evaluate things first. That included interviewing the relatively inexperienced MacPhail. MacPhail was probably best known for his father, Lee MacPhail, who built the Orioles powerhouses of the 60s and 70s. Andy didn’t exactly have high hopes about the interview. In Doug Grow’s book “We’re Gonna Win Twins”, MacPhail admitted, “I’d never managed anything. I was flattered they wanted to talk to me. I came in, I met with Carl and Jim, answered a series of questions, and went back to Houston.” Sure enough, the Twins didn’t get back to MacPhail for months. But in June, they interviewed him again once they got a better feel for how the baseball-side was (or wasn’t) working. In August, MacPhail was hired, but not as General Manager. The Organization MacPhail was the Vice-President of Player Personnel. That position still reported to Fox, but ultimately his position was closer to the one Falvey will inaugurate: examining, organizing and overhauling the ball club with a long-term view, instead of paying attention to the more immediate roster needs. MacPhail started with the scouting department, and that’s when the Pohlad’s fears were confirmed. Again, in “We’re Gonna Win Twins”, MacPhail recalled his reaction to seeing the Griffith-era scouting reports: “They had their scouting reports on little 3 x 5 cards,” MacPhail said. “And I don’t mean a 3 x 5 card for each player. Each card was for a whole team. It was just incredible. I don’t mean to put them down. That organization came up with great players over the years. But things were changing in baseball. I think the median age for their scouts was about seventy-three. They had two scouts living in North Dakota, which is not exactly rich in baseball talent. But they didn’t have anybody in Texas.” To clean up that mess, MacPhail plucked someone from another organization. He tapped the New York Mets midwest scouting supervisor: Terry Ryan. Ryan was also only 32 years old, but that wouldn’t be the most controversial of his younger hires. Adding New Blood At the end of the 1986 season, the Twins decided to make another change at manager. Ray Miller had never really worked out and so Fox designated third base coach Tom Kelly to hold down the position for the rest of the year. MacPhail was charged with finding the next manager for the 1987 season. ***To read the rest of this feature and more, be sure to download your FREE Twins Daily Offseason Handbook now.*** Click here to view the article

In the light of rumors regarding the Dodgers piquing the interested of the Twins, John is joined by Nick Nelson and Parker Hageman at Iron Door Pub to evaluate possible trade returns for Brian Dozier, the new Twins hitting coach, Aaron's Casper mattress infatuation, the Twins arbitration decisions, Rule 5 draft pick options and John's insane wingspan. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. Click here to view the article

Various thoughts: 1. No way they target Puig. None. 2. I wonder if DeLeon cannot be included (and obviously not Urias), if a deal can get done. What about something w Alex Wood, Alvarez and, say, Sheffield or Buhler? 3. How about including C Austin Barnes in a deal. He's 26, but looks like an upgrade on Murphy - good D & framing catcher only w loads of plate discipline.

Aaron and John talk about the Minnesota Twins agreement with Jason Castro and debate Aaron's level of Thanksgiving spirit. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below.http://traffic.libsy...3?dest-id=74590 Click here to view the article

Aaron and John talk about the Twins parting ways with Trevor Plouffe, whether Hector Santiago might actually stick around, dropping Adam Walker's power, Thanksgiving recipes made easy, adding six prospects to the 40-man roster, trying Harry's Razors for free, Ron Gardenhire's new gig, and paying tribute to friend of the podcast Adam Czech. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. http://traffic.libsy...3?dest-id=74590 Click here to view the article

Aaron and John talk about rising free agent prices and new revenue streams, the Twins' rumored pursuit of Jason Castro and the catching market, the firing of hitting coach Tom Brunansky, Levine vs. LaVine with Robert Kasak of 612 Brew, the odds of a Brian Dozier trade, buying nostalgia with NES Classic Edition, and answering mailbag questions from listeners. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below. Click here to view the article