John Bonnes

Aaron and John talk about the Twins' losing skid, six-year run of awful pitching, the planned front office regime change beyond just a new GM, similarities with Tom Kelly, Andy MacPhail, and Carl Pohlad, Tyler Duffey and Jose Berrios demotions, filling the roster with replacement-level talent, and Oswaldo Arcia's ongoing journey across baseball. 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

First, I'm really happy for Wimmers. His road here has been brutal. But ... are we really recalling a relief pitcher with control problems after sending down two guys who have control problems? It's not like Wimmers control has improved lately - he's walked five guys in his last four (all one-inning) appearances. I'm baffled as to what this organization is doing right now. I'm really not sure this move has Wimmers best interests in mind.

Owner Calvin Griffith responded to the Metrodome's dismal atmosphere by trading away all his veterans and rebuilding from scratch with a new wave of prospects. He responded to the Metrodome's dismal attendance with a different scorched earth policy.It was becoming clear that the 1.4 million attendance threshold included in the Metrodome lease was not going to be met, giving Griffith the option of breaking the lease and perhaps moving to another market. Local business leaders responded by mounting a ticket-buying campaign of the cheapest unused tickets available to artificially inflate the attendance. For instance, on May16, 1984, the paid attendance was 51,683, but the number of fans present was closer to 8,700. Flirtations with other markets, particularly Tampa Bay, were made, but instead local banker and business executive Carl Pohlad purchased the team in the summer of 1984. On the field, the team was growing – and experiencing growing pains. The promise of brighter days was apparent in 1984 when the Twins suddenly competed for the division, even though they had finished just 70-92 the year before. They led the AL West for all of August and found themselves tied for first place as late as September 23rd. But six straight losses, including blowing a 10-run lead versus Cleveland in the last series of the year, left them in second place. Those brighter days were also personified by a rookie call-up. Center fielder Kirby Puckett made his debut just 21 games into the season, hit .296 and finished third in the Rookie of the Year balloting. The next year he would collect his first MVP vote. These were previews. The feature presentation started in 1986 when Puckett hit .328 and added power to his resume, slugging 31 home runs. Over the next 10 years, he would finish in the top 10 of American League MVP voting seven times, make 10 straight All-Star teams, and win six Gold Gloves. His success endeared him to the fans, but not as much as his zeal for the game. The Twins would retire his number in 1997 and he was voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2001, his first year of eligibility. While Puckett signified an apparently brighter future, the Twins struggled in 1985 and 1986, in part due to an explosive bullpen. Closer Ron Davis became the symbol for the team’s failings, both supported and reviled by Twins fans. In 1985, after several blown games, a sympathetic newspaper story led to "I believe in R.D." t-shirts becoming fashionable in the Metrodome. But equally as popular was the trade that sent him and his 9.08 ERA to the Cubs in August of 1986. There were big changes off the field, too. Click here to view the article

It's a special midweek all-mailbag edition as Aaron and John enjoy 30th anniversary beers at Summit Brewery and answer listener questions about the Twins, Bob Mould in concert, foul balls and their first lie with frequent interruptions by The Voice of Reason. Click here to view the article

The Twins appeared to be ascending in 1977. The 'Lumber Company' made a charge towards the division title and over a million fans watched Rodney Carew fall just eight hits shy of hitting .400. But the team was about to go sharply downhill - before the next season even began. Part 5 of a 12-part series that breaks Twins history into fun-sized chunks.You can find more here: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 The roots of that decline could be traced back to late 1975, when an arbitrator’s ruling essentially struck down MLB’s reserve clause and granted players free agency at the expiration of their contracts. Griffith had a miserly reputation – the Twins built an advertising campaign around that very topic in 1976 - and baseball’s new economic reality hit the Twins hard. Before the 1978 season, both Bostock and Hisle signed with other teams and the offense suffered to the tune of 200 fewer runs. The team finished 16 games under .500 and attendance fell with it, down to just 787,000, which perpetuated the problem of retaining premier players. But even if the Twins had continued to draw fans, circumstances had deteriorated to the point where keeping a superstar like Carew with the club might have been impossible. For starters, Carew wanted more quality ballplayers around him to give the team better chance at winning. Moreover, the relationship between Carew and the Twins became irreparable after Griffith made several off-color remarks--some of a racial nature--at a Lions Club function in Waseca, Minnesota. Carew, due to become a free agent following the 1979 season, was traded for four players to the California Angels, where he would finish his career. Without their superstar, the Twins competed in two of the next three years. They finished above .500 in 1979 and had a surprise run at a division title in the second half of the strike-impacted 1981 season. But the focus was shifting from the present to the future, which would include overwhelming changes for the franchise. The first of those changes was a brand new indoor ballpark. The Metrodome was the result of a 1977 Minnesota Legislature stadium bill, but could only be built if the Vikings and Twins both signed a 30-year lease. Griffith, skeptical of the facility but intrigued by an increase in outstate attendance due to no rainouts, negotiated an out-clause: if the team failed to average 1.4 million in attendance over three consecutive years (a level the Twins had not averaged over a 3-year period in their history), he could break the lease. When the new stadium opened in 1982, the honeymoon lasted exactly one night. In its inaugural home opener, the Metrodome drew 52,279 fans amid much pageantry. The next night the club drew 5,213. By the end of the season, attendance would fail to reach the 1,000,000 mark. And by the end of the first week, Griffith started dismantling the team for a youth movement, trading quality shortstop Roy Smalley to the Yankees. Two more trades would complete the fire sale by the middle of May. The 1982 team, in their brand new home, would finish with 102 losses. But 1982 wouldn’t just be remembered for a record-setting number of losses for the Twins. It would also become known as the beginning of a new generation of Twins that would finally reach the mountaintop. Nineteen-eighty-two was the rookie season for Kent Hrbek (22 years old), Tom Brunansky (21) and Gary Gaetti (23), all of whom slugged at least 20 home runs. Starting pitcher Frank Viola (22) would also debut that season, pitching to battery-mate and rookie Tim Laudner (23). Griffith had put together the cornerstones of the next contending Twins team. But it wouldn’t be his Twins team. Click here to view the article

Aaron and John talk about the Twins' pitching and defense bringing them back to reality, Byron Buxton's latest stint in the minors, pitching staff comings and goings, Kurt Suzuki on trade waivers, Brian Dozier refusing to stop hitting homers, Miguel Sano's elbow problems, what to do with Trevor May, and the worst decisions you can make with food after the bar closes. 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

FWIW, Aaron and I had a discussion about Buxton learning to run into walls in our latest podcast: http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/podcasts/gleeman-the-geek-ep-269-sano-stays-buxton-goes-r4982 I know it was past the 45 minute mark...

I suspect it also could have something to do with his health, particularly his knees. He was hurt 7/6 running into the wall. He was hurt 7/1 running into the wall. He was hurt 7/8 (and carted off the field) running into the wall. He was hurt 7/31 when he tweaked his knee on the basepaths (and if I recall, he had run into the wall a few days before). Hopefully he'll get back a little confidence, work on some mechanics and get healthy. We'll see him in September and hope that next step comes. FWIW, I'm still not concerned.

Aaron and John talk about the Twins deciding to send down Byron Buxton after rumors of a Miguel Sano demotion, recapping the trade deadline, the run to avoid 90 losses, Max Kepler's power explosion, Jose Berrios rejoining the rotation, Eddie Rosario catching fire, and what to do about Jorge Polanco. Click here to view the article

Thanks to the MN Corn Growers, Aaron and John recap the trades the Twins didn't make (Kurt Suzuki & Ervin Santana) and the trades they did make (Eduardo Nunez, Fernando Abad, Ricky Nolasco & Alex Meyer) while drinking beer and eating a Royale with Cheese at Lyn-Lake's Iron Door Pub. 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

I think the only way you can dislike this deal is if you have a high opinion of Alex Meyer. I have probably been one of his biggest supporters, but I still like this deal. Meyer hasn't pitched since May and this year will be about a wash. Next year is his last option year. He showed a lot of hope in those three starts in April in Rochester, and I hope that's real, but a) it pretty much HAS to be real for this trade to not make sense and there is a real question if he's damaged goods at this point. Without those three starts, he's Pat Light, the other guy the Twins acquired today in the Abad trade, only with one less option year to put things together and maybe a higher ceiling.

Well, I really like this deal. Mejia is far from can't miss, but he's 23, he's in AAA, he's having a breakthrough year and seems to be getting stronger as he moves up the ladder. He's also a lefty. (By the way, to have a trio of southpaws at AAA and AA like Tyler Jay, Stephen Gonsalves and Adalberto Mejia?) The one thing I think will disappoint people is that I don't think there is anyway the Twins have in in the majors this year. He's at 108 innings. He only pitched 50 last year, and has never exceeded 105 in his professional career. I expect they shut him down in .... 30-40 more innings at the most?

It drive us even crazier than it does you. It's a limitation of the software. Here is my understanding, and Brock can correct me.... 1) We can merge two straight threads but the earlier thread always becomes the one we keep. 2) However, the same thing happens if we merge a story with comments to a thread - it keeps the earlier one, which is usually a thread with breaking news, which would be fine except.... 3) that it screws up the story. So we can't merge a breaking news thread with a story with comments without womping on the story and thus taking it away from the front page. I may not have all the details right, but we agree - we would love to have the comments from the original thread merged into the story comments. We just can't do it with this version. Sorry about that.

BTW, per Baseball America, Mejia wasn't suspended for a steroid, but for a weight-loss drug: Read more at http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/maturity-conditioning-aided-mejia/#1XbcZJG6msRs4yCG.99

I'll start this off... This is a hard thing to evaluate. I appreciate the methodology that was applied and the work involved. But I also would say there are at least a couple of significant factors that certainly don't work the Twins way. 1. The Twins drafted pretty low from 2008-2011 - and those are the players that are most likely to be producing WAR right now. I would expect them to be in the bottom third for those years, because they were in the bottom third of teams drafting those years. 2. The Twins top draft choices in the most recent years have been prep players as opposed to college players. The fact that Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios and Kohl Stewart are all 22 years old or younger has far more to do with weak WAR scores than their overall quality. This list might look a lot different in a few years as they gain WAR. I published this because I appreciate the attempt to quantify this stuff, and maybe Thrylos or some other members of the community can take this data as a starting point for even more analysis. But I don't know that it suggest that Deron Johnson lose his job.

In a special midweek podcast, Aaron and John visit Kyatchi on 38th and Nicollet and rank the Twins ten most valuable players, discuss Harry's Razor's new blades, watch their significant others geek out over Pokemon Go, and discover that Aaron is turned on by sushi. 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

Vikings bloggers from several sites are helping the community, and we would like to invite Twins Daily and Wild Xtra members to join the fun. For the next few weeks, we’ll be helping raise money for Vikings coach Mike Zimmer’s foundation whose mission is to better the lives of children through the “learning is cool” program, college scholarships and free youth football camps. You can contribute through this link.The campaign is called the #MoreThanWords campaign and several Vikings blogs are participating, including Vikings Territory, Vikings Corner and the Daily Norseman. The goal of all the MinnCentric blogs has been to build a supportive community of blogs around our passions, and this campaign is a great example of what can be done when they come together. They’re already raised over $10,000 for the foundation and I’m sure the Twins Daily, Vikings Journal and Wild Xtra communities can help that total go even higher. The Mike Zimmer Foundation honors Mike’s wife Vikki, who passed away in 2009. The Mike Zimmer Foundation’s programs include: Mike Zimmer’s “X’s O’s A+’s” Football Camp, a free camp that mixes football with the importance of studies.Mike Zimmer’s MVP scholarships and the Bill Zimmer Memorial Scholarship, which provide as much as $25,000 towards 4-year university degrees.Mike Zimmer’s Stand Out Students, a program that rewards elementary students who achieve honor roll status with awards and visits with Zimmer and Vikings players.We’re proud to have Vikings Journal, Twins Daily and Wild Xtra participate in this program. I hope you’ll find a few extra minutes and a few extra dollars to contribute to this campaign. There are some special giveaways for which you can qualify if you contribute even $10 to the campaign, but whatever you give, thank you for helping to support independent bloggers and the communities they are building. Gratefully, Twins Daily Click here to view the article