Brad Swanson

I would say that a first is fair. For instance, if you asked a team if they would rather have a LaTroy Hawkins-type player or the 28th pick, I'd think a lot of teams would take Hawkins (depending on price). However, the Twins also got a first-round supplemental pick, which seems really high. When Jacque Jones signed with the Cubs, the Twins got a 4th round supplemental pick. By the way, your avatar is terrifying.

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Hello again, Twins Daily. We are getting closer and closer to draft day. With a little over a week left until the Twins make their next draft choices, I present to you my recaps from 2001, 2002, and 2003. Just click the years to see which of those three drafts was the most handsome. Here is 2004: The 2003 draft produced Scott Baker and heartache. First-round pick Matt Moses never reached the Majors, marking the 3rd time in 6 years where the Twins' top pick did not play MLB baseball (not the video game, the real life). Adam Johnson was one of the three who made it, so I'm not sure that really counts. The solution to that problem? Have a whole mess of first round picks! The Twins had five in 2004. Five! They received a first and a supplemental first for both Eddie Guardado and LaTroy Hawkins. Both of those guys had their moments, but wow, that is just way too much compensation. The Twins would not complain. Would they cash in? 1st Round Picks They kind of cashed in. With the 20th pick, the Twins selected Trevor Plouffe. Plouffe was a high school shortstop and has proved to be a relatively valuable player due to his power and low salary. With the 22nd pick, the Twins selected Glen Perkins. Perkins did not pan out as a starter, but has become a reliable closer. The next three don't go so well. Kyle Waldrop at 25, Matt Fox at 35 and Jay Rainville at 39. Waldrop and Fox pitched briefly for the Twins and Rainville was out of baseball after 2009. Waldrop is having a really good season at AAA for Pittsburgh, but that's of little value these days. These five first-round picks have produced just under 6.0 WAR so far. I do expect that number to climb, mostly from Perkins and possibly from Plouffe. Ah, but what if? Let's keep Perkins. Other than Perkins, there are probably four names the Twins would rather have. Gio Gonzalez went 38th, right before Rainville. In the second round, Yovani Gallardo went 46th, Hunter Pence went 64th and Dustin Pedroia went 65th. What if the Twins had somehow hit the jackpot and left the 2004 draft with Perkins, Gonzalez, Gallardo, Pence and Pedroia? I believe MLB would just stop holding drafts and award the Twins the winners. Also, what if the Twins could have packaged their five firsts and traded up for Justin Verlander? That would be cool. Although, I'm not sure those five firsts were worth the second-overall pick, where Verlander went. Also, it's very cool to follow the rules, so this scenario is actually uncool. So many what ifs! Best Player Drafted Glen Perkins, which sounds like a nice fielded area to visit. Perkins did not thrive as a starter, as I mentioned before. He also did not appreciate the treatment he received from the organization. However, fences were mended and then immediately destroyed by Perkins' revived fastball. It seems that relieving agrees with Perkins, as he has turned into a dominant closer. Seems appropriate that he was compensation for losing Eddie Guardado. Worst Player to Reach MLB In 2010, Matt Fox made one start with the Twins, going 5.2 innings and giving up four runs, eight hits, two walks with no strikeouts. He then made three appearances with Boston, giving up two more earned runs in 1.2 innings. He never recorded a strikeout. At least not yet... He's still kicking around, pitching for the Mets' AAA team. The One Who Got Away Toronto's own Rene Tosoni! Tosoni was a 34th-round pick out of Terry Fox SS, which probably stands for Super School or something Canadian that I am not aware of. However, Tosoni wanted to pursue his dream of playing one year at Chipola College in Marianna, Florida, so he did not sign. Don't be too sad, we all know how this story ends. Best Name Eammon Portice, in the 17th round. He did not sign, but he made an impact with his name. Fun Facts Trevor Plouffe went to Crespi Carmelite High School, which sounds like a tasty candy bar. 32nd-round selection Nolan Mulligan was drafted three times, which seems appropriate. The Twins drafted Anthony Swarzak with the 61st overall pick in the second round. At least, that's what they want you to think... Twins' 18th-round pick Josh Rose was the inspiration for Seal's song, "Kiss from a Rose." 16th-round pick Matt Tolbert looks a little bit like a bird. Four of the Twins' five first-round picks reached the Majors. I think that's pretty good. All those drafted who made it to the Bigs Glen Perkins, Kyle Waldrop, Anthony Swarzak, Matt Tolbert, Matt Fox, Trevor Plouffe, and Rene Tosoni One Sentence Summary It would be impossible to convert five first-round picks. Link to the Twins' 2004 draft from Baseball Reference

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Hello again, Twins Daily. We are getting closer and closer to draft day. With a little over a week left until the Twins make their next draft choices, I present to you my recaps from 2001, 2002, and 2003. Just click the years to see which of those three drafts was the most handsome. Here is 2004: The 2003 draft produced Scott Baker and heartache. First-round pick Matt Moses never reached the Majors, marking the 3rd time in 6 years where the Twins' top pick did not play MLB baseball (not the video game, the real life). Adam Johnson was one of the three who made it, so I'm not sure that really counts. The solution to that problem? Have a whole mess of first round picks! The Twins had five in 2004. Five! They received a first and a supplemental first for both Eddie Guardado and LaTroy Hawkins. Both of those guys had their moments, but wow, that is just way too much compensation. The Twins would not complain. Would they cash in? 1st Round Picks They kind of cashed in. With the 20th pick, the Twins selected Trevor Plouffe. Plouffe was a high school shortstop and has proved to be a relatively valuable player due to his power and low salary. With the 22nd pick, the Twins selected Glen Perkins. Perkins did not pan out as a starter, but has become a reliable closer. The next three don't go so well. Kyle Waldrop at 25, Matt Fox at 35 and Jay Rainville at 39. Waldrop and Fox pitched briefly for the Twins and Rainville was out of baseball after 2009. Waldrop is having a really good season at AAA for Pittsburgh, but that's of little value these days. These five first-round picks have produced just under 6.0 WAR so far. I do expect that number to climb, mostly from Perkins and possibly from Plouffe. Ah, but what if? Let's keep Perkins. Other than Perkins, there are probably four names the Twins would rather have. Gio Gonzalez went 38th, right before Rainville. In the second round, Yovani Gallardo went 46th, Hunter Pence went 64th and Dustin Pedroia went 65th. What if the Twins had somehow hit the jackpot and left the 2004 draft with Perkins, Gonzalez, Gallardo, Pence and Pedroia? I believe MLB would just stop holding drafts and award the Twins the winners. Also, what if the Twins could have packaged their five firsts and traded up for Justin Verlander? That would be cool. Although, I'm not sure those five firsts were worth the second-overall pick, where Verlander went. Also, it's very cool to follow the rules, so this scenario is actually uncool. So many what ifs! Best Player Drafted Glen Perkins, which sounds like a nice fielded area to visit. Perkins did not thrive as a starter, as I mentioned before. He also did not appreciate the treatment he received from the organization. However, fences were mended and then immediately destroyed by Perkins' revived fastball. It seems that relieving agrees with Perkins, as he has turned into a dominant closer. Seems appropriate that he was compensation for losing Eddie Guardado. Worst Player to Reach MLB In 2010, Matt Fox made one start with the Twins, going 5.2 innings and giving up four runs, eight hits, two walks with no strikeouts. He then made three appearances with Boston, giving up two more earned runs in 1.2 innings. He never recorded a strikeout. At least not yet... He's still kicking around, pitching for the Mets' AAA team. The One Who Got Away Toronto's own Rene Tosoni! Tosoni was a 34th-round pick out of Terry Fox SS, which probably stands for Super School or something Canadian that I am not aware of. However, Tosoni wanted to pursue his dream of playing one year at Chipola College in Marianna, Florida, so he did not sign. Don't be too sad, we all know how this story ends. Best Name Eammon Portice, in the 17th round. He did not sign, but he made an impact with his name. Fun Facts Trevor Plouffe went to Crespi Carmelite High School, which sounds like a tasty candy bar. 32nd-round selection Nolan Mulligan was drafted three times, which seems appropriate. The Twins drafted Anthony Swarzak with the 61st overall pick in the second round. At least, that's what they want you to think... Twins' 18th-round pick Josh Rose was the inspiration for Seal's song, "Kiss from a Rose." 16th-round pick Matt Tolbert looks a little bit like a bird. Four of the Twins' five first-round picks reached the Majors. I think that's pretty good. All those drafted who made it to the Bigs Glen Perkins, Kyle Waldrop, Anthony Swarzak, Matt Tolbert, Matt Fox, Trevor Plouffe, and Rene Tosoni One Sentence Summary It would be impossible to convert five first-round picks. Link to the Twins' 2004 draft from Baseball Reference

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! The Twins lost three of four from the Tigers this weekend and have now lost eleven of their last twelve. Yikes. After flirting with .500 through six weeks, the Twins now have the second worst record in the American League. The Twins are 11th in runs scored and 11th in runs allowed. Bad combo, bro. The dream has died, as this team doesn't appear to have the talent to hover at .500 for a full season. The Front Office had a busy week too. Here is a list of moves that were made this week: Pedro Hernandez sent to AAA Caleb Thielbar called up to Minnesota Trevor Plouffe placed on seven-day DL. Chris Colabello called up to Minnesota and added to the 40-man roster Darin Mastroianni transferred to 60-day DL Vance Worley sent to AAA Tim Wood transferred to 60-day DL Oswaldo Arcia sent to AAA Samuel Deduno called up to Minnesota and added to the 40-man roster P.J. Walters called up to Minnesota and added to the 40-man roster Joe Benson placed on outright waivers and claimed by the Texas Rangers Wilkin Ramirez placed on seven-day DL Chris Herrmann called up to Minnesota WOW! Have you ever played in a fantasy league with that one guy who makes a billion moves per year? Even that guy is exhausted looking at this list. I don't think that any of the individual moves are all that upsetting alone. I don't like sending Arcia to AAA and I didn't like waiving Benson, but each move makes sense individually. When these moves are coupled with the Twins' poor play, the level of discontent within the Twins fan base only increases. The one move that wasn't made is probably the move that is most upsetting to Twins fans. Kyle Gibson was not one of the two starting pitchers called up, and since he was on the 40-man, his call-up would have made the Benson move moot. The Twins want Gibson to be more consistent and they want to further his development, but they made that choice at the expense of another young player who is now with another organization. The Front Office often has to make tough decisions. At times, their decisions look questionable and at times they look flat-out stupid. Personally, I don't see any flat-out stupid decisions in the list above. Some of the moves look smarter than others, but that's just the way it goes. Since things haven't been great in the past week or so, let's try to have some fun. On to the Madness! Random Photoshops http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QxKL7x7QfMw/UaKZMRUWNOI/AAAAAAAAAsw/bgQzL83ecPE/s400/belve.jpg We're off to a bad start. Here's the deal. I thought of this in the middle of the night. I woke up giggling, typed it into my phone and then executed it in the morning. All along the way, I was seeing how stupid it was, but I went through with it. I am a determined individual. As if some form of compromise, I decided that it was fine that it looks horrible. If you want some context, click here. I'm not sure the context really helps though. All is not lost, as the photoshop above did inspire this one: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E3ClfwpaSWc/UaKZTzDdvBI/AAAAAAAAAs4/mk3JveOGgNI/s400/just_the_ten_of+wayne.jpg See, all is never lost. And yes, I am obsessed with Gary Wayne. Random Link Grant Brisbee is just fantastic and I know I have linked to him before. However, he's just that good. Here is something he wrote about the Rafael Soriano/Bryce Harper kerfuffle from last week. It has great balance of gifs, analysis and calling a guy a dingus. KWL Chart Here is a KWL chart I made with Sam Deduno as the topic. Remember, the KWL chart tells you what I know, what I want to know and what I have learned. Pro-tip, click on it. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fYOX6aFNb_g/UaKZdHfMl-I/AAAAAAAAAtA/aVjlfDjt8L0/s640/KWL+Deduno.png Former Twin Update Danny Valencia is somehow back in the Majors. He has been acting as Baltimore's DH the past few games, which keeps him the court-mandated 50 feet from third base while holding a glove. Valencia is slugging over .600 and has two home runs in just five games! He, Alexi Casilla, and J.J. Hardy make up a third of the Orioles' lineup and yet they are 27-23. Baseball is wild. I look forward to watching Chris Parmelee patrol their right field area in a couple seasons. Kidding! Liz Thoughts Every so often I will present thoughts directly from my wife. Liz is a big-time baseball fan. She has some crazy ideas. She generally thinks all players are overweight and that their pants are too long. In addition, she has no patience for any form of poor play. She does not grade on a curve for young players, old players or injured players. That sounds so familiar... She had some thoughts on Gardy that I am going paraphrase in order to clean it up and clear it up: "Gardy gets tossed all the time! It's all an act. He doesn't even look that angry, he's just trying to get on camera and get attention. He shouldn't get paid for games when he gets thrown out. If I were manager, I'd get thrown out all the time and go hang out in the clubhouse and collect my check. (I tell her that he might be trying to fire the team up). That's stupid." Random Top 10 List The Twins head to Milwaukee for an early week series with the Brewers. There are only 47 players who have played for both the Twins and the Brewers in their career. That number seems low, but who am I to question Baseball Reference? Here are the Top Ten players who played for both the Twins and the Brewers, in order based on my own personal preferences: Paul Molitor - all-time great Brian Harper - combo of hitting/mullet Corey Koskie - Canada Tom Brunansky - bonus points for being traded for Tom Herr J.J. Hardy - very handsome Henry Blanco - purely sentimental Rich Becker - 1996 season Grant Balfour - Australia LaTroy Hawkins - he's still active! Carlos Gomez - "Joe Mauer, the first baseman, and the other guy" BTW - 47. Livan Hernandez. Link to something stupid I wrote I wrote something about how I would punish fans if elected to the Presidency and if the President had the power to punish fans. It's pretty stupid, so it certainly fits in this section. I'd say I'm half-kidding, half-serious, half-hungry. You can find it here. If you agree, please contribute to my Kickstarter campaign for President. Parting Haiku Lush curly blonde hair A wild and hot demeanor I will miss you Joe Have a great week everyone!

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! The Twins lost three of four from the Tigers this weekend and have now lost eleven of their last twelve. Yikes. After flirting with .500 through six weeks, the Twins now have the second worst record in the American League. The Twins are 11th in runs scored and 11th in runs allowed. Bad combo, bro. The dream has died, as this team doesn't appear to have the talent to hover at .500 for a full season. The Front Office had a busy week too. Here is a list of moves that were made this week: Pedro Hernandez sent to AAA Caleb Thielbar called up to Minnesota Trevor Plouffe placed on seven-day DL. Chris Colabello called up to Minnesota and added to the 40-man roster Darin Mastroianni transferred to 60-day DL Vance Worley sent to AAA Tim Wood transferred to 60-day DL Oswaldo Arcia sent to AAA Samuel Deduno called up to Minnesota and added to the 40-man roster P.J. Walters called up to Minnesota and added to the 40-man roster Joe Benson placed on outright waivers and claimed by the Texas Rangers Wilkin Ramirez placed on seven-day DL Chris Herrmann called up to Minnesota WOW! Have you ever played in a fantasy league with that one guy who makes a billion moves per year? Even that guy is exhausted looking at this list. I don't think that any of the individual moves are all that upsetting alone. I don't like sending Arcia to AAA and I didn't like waiving Benson, but each move makes sense individually. When these moves are coupled with the Twins' poor play, the level of discontent within the Twins fan base only increases. The one move that wasn't made is probably the move that is most upsetting to Twins fans. Kyle Gibson was not one of the two starting pitchers called up, and since he was on the 40-man, his call-up would have made the Benson move moot. The Twins want Gibson to be more consistent and they want to further his development, but they made that choice at the expense of another young player who is now with another organization. The Front Office often has to make tough decisions. At times, their decisions look questionable and at times they look flat-out stupid. Personally, I don't see any flat-out stupid decisions in the list above. Some of the moves look smarter than others, but that's just the way it goes. Since things haven't been great in the past week or so, let's try to have some fun. On to the Madness! Random Photoshops http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QxKL7x7QfMw/UaKZMRUWNOI/AAAAAAAAAsw/bgQzL83ecPE/s400/belve.jpg We're off to a bad start. Here's the deal. I thought of this in the middle of the night. I woke up giggling, typed it into my phone and then executed it in the morning. All along the way, I was seeing how stupid it was, but I went through with it. I am a determined individual. As if some form of compromise, I decided that it was fine that it looks horrible. If you want some context, click here. I'm not sure the context really helps though. All is not lost, as the photoshop above did inspire this one: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E3ClfwpaSWc/UaKZTzDdvBI/AAAAAAAAAs4/mk3JveOGgNI/s400/just_the_ten_of+wayne.jpg See, all is never lost. And yes, I am obsessed with Gary Wayne. Random Link Grant Brisbee is just fantastic and I know I have linked to him before. However, he's just that good. Here is something he wrote about the Rafael Soriano/Bryce Harper kerfuffle from last week. It has great balance of gifs, analysis and calling a guy a dingus. KWL Chart Here is a KWL chart I made with Sam Deduno as the topic. Remember, the KWL chart tells you what I know, what I want to know and what I have learned. Pro-tip, click on it. http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fYOX6aFNb_g/UaKZdHfMl-I/AAAAAAAAAtA/aVjlfDjt8L0/s640/KWL+Deduno.png Former Twin Update Danny Valencia is somehow back in the Majors. He has been acting as Baltimore's DH the past few games, which keeps him the court-mandated 50 feet from third base while holding a glove. Valencia is slugging over .600 and has two home runs in just five games! He, Alexi Casilla, and J.J. Hardy make up a third of the Orioles' lineup and yet they are 27-23. Baseball is wild. I look forward to watching Chris Parmelee patrol their right field area in a couple seasons. Kidding! Liz Thoughts Every so often I will present thoughts directly from my wife. Liz is a big-time baseball fan. She has some crazy ideas. She generally thinks all players are overweight and that their pants are too long. In addition, she has no patience for any form of poor play. She does not grade on a curve for young players, old players or injured players. That sounds so familiar... She had some thoughts on Gardy that I am going paraphrase in order to clean it up and clear it up: "Gardy gets tossed all the time! It's all an act. He doesn't even look that angry, he's just trying to get on camera and get attention. He shouldn't get paid for games when he gets thrown out. If I were manager, I'd get thrown out all the time and go hang out in the clubhouse and collect my check. (I tell her that he might be trying to fire the team up). That's stupid." Random Top 10 List The Twins head to Milwaukee for an early week series with the Brewers. There are only 47 players who have played for both the Twins and the Brewers in their career. That number seems low, but who am I to question Baseball Reference? Here are the Top Ten players who played for both the Twins and the Brewers, in order based on my own personal preferences: Paul Molitor - all-time great Brian Harper - combo of hitting/mullet Corey Koskie - Canada Tom Brunansky - bonus points for being traded for Tom Herr J.J. Hardy - very handsome Henry Blanco - purely sentimental Rich Becker - 1996 season Grant Balfour - Australia LaTroy Hawkins - he's still active! Carlos Gomez - "Joe Mauer, the first baseman, and the other guy" BTW - 47. Livan Hernandez. Link to something stupid I wrote I wrote something about how I would punish fans if elected to the Presidency and if the President had the power to punish fans. It's pretty stupid, so it certainly fits in this section. I'd say I'm half-kidding, half-serious, half-hungry. You can find it here. If you agree, please contribute to my Kickstarter campaign for President. Parting Haiku Lush curly blonde hair A wild and hot demeanor I will miss you Joe Have a great week everyone!

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! I had intended to run some errands this afternoon, but then I saw this tweet: Joe Benson is a member of the Texas Rangers organization... — Seth Stohs (@SethTweets) May 25, 2013 I was confused, but I knew this was an option. The Twins needed a 40-man spot for the immortal P.J. Walters, and Benson has been injured or terrible ever since his 2011 September call-up. Even in earning his 2011 promotion, he had basically played two full seasons at AA to get to Minnesota. It is still a confusing move. Then this tweet came along: Joe Benson was placed on outright waivers and claimed by the Rangers — Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) May 25, 2013 He was just outright waived, which pretty much says all you need to know about how Benson was looked at within the Twins' organization. In a lot of ways, he probably earned his reputation, after failing to grow as a player since leaving AA. Just take a look at how Benson has moved since September 2011: September 2011: Promoted to MLB, plays in 21 games, hits .239/.270/.352 and strikes out a lot (23-years-old, no experience above AA). Benson was also fined by Ron Gardenhire for wearing a suit in the clubhouse. This was a joke, but still extremely stupid and an event that lead to various eye-rolls from yours truly. Winter 2012: Baseball America lists Benson as the 99th best prospect in baseball. March 2012: Benson is assigned to AAA, Terry Ryan has this to say: "We just need to control the emotional part of his game; he gets a little excited," Ryan said. "We don't want to change his personality, I can tell you that, because he brings a little edge to him." April 2012: Benson gets off to an extremely slow start in Rochester, hitting .190/.286/.354 May 2012: Benson is sent to AA New Britain, where he does not hit any better. May 24, 2012: Benson has surgery to repair his left hamate bone, which sidelines him for six weeks. June 28, 2012: Benson returns to active play. July 16, 2012: Benson returns to New Britain. August 2012: Benson returns to not hitting well, hitting .109/.169/.200 in 14 August games September 2012: Benson is not part of 2012 September call-ups because he needs surgery on his left knee, which sidelines him for four months. March 2013: Benson does not perform well in Spring Training, is assigned to AAA. April 2013: Benson hits .217/.278/.337 at Rochester, starts losing starts to Clete Thomas. May 2013: Benson hits .162/.230/.221. May 25, 2012: Benson is put on outright waivers by the Twins and claimed by the Texas Rangers. That is a pretty sucky timeline for Benson. Not only is he not hitting well throughout, but he keeps getting injured and he keeps falling further and further from the Twins' good graces. I don't have many quotes or anecdotes regarding Benson beyond the two I shared at the beginning of the timeline. However, it is pretty clear to see that Benson did not fit in well with this organization. I really gristle at the Terry Ryan quote. I understand the desire to control the emotional part of his game, but if that is something he has been trying over the past two seasons, it isn't working. I won't claim this move was made due to Benson's personality, but if it was, then I really don't like it. I despise moves made based on personality. I mean, I named by blog after Kevin Slowey. However, there are definitely baseball reasons that justify this move, and I really hope that those were the only determinations. Getting back to Benson the player, he clearly has a lot to work on. He isn't hitting at all. Since he can't hit, he can't show off his good power and he can't utilize his good speed on the bases. His inability to hit has landed him on the bench, which makes it impossible to display his excellent range, speed and ability in the outfield. It's hard to look back at Benson's 2011 season with New Britain and not be intrigued. He hit .285/.388/.495 with 28 doubles, 16 home runs and 13 stolen bases. At his peak, I thought Benson could become a 20/20 player with an OBP around .350. When you add all that to his centerfield-quality defense and strong arm, the calculus is a great player who provides a ton of value. None of that works if Benson can't put the bat on the ball. A fresh start in Texas might be just what Benson needs. He'll join a new organization which may not hold any of the preconceived notions and opinions that Benson may have earned in Minnesota (perhaps, justifiably). Texas can already boast one outfield reclamation project in Nelson Cruz, and Benson is even younger. Benson won't become a Ranger if he doesn't work on his hitting. Maybe spending time with a new coaching staff will click with Benson and he'll work out the issues that are holding him back. I hope it happens, as I think there is a solid MLB player within Joe Benson. This was a move made out of necessity. The Twins needed to replace some struggling starting pitchers and made the determination that Benson would be the odd man out. Personally, I think there were better options, but I don't get to make those decisions. In the end, it was a justifiable move, but a move that could certainly come back and haunt the Twins. If Benson figures out the one area of his game that isn't working right now, he has enough talent and loud enough tools to "put it all together" and become the player the Twins obviously saw back in September of 2011.

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! I had intended to run some errands this afternoon, but then I saw this tweet: Joe Benson is a member of the Texas Rangers organization... — Seth Stohs (@SethTweets) May 25, 2013 I was confused, but I knew this was an option. The Twins needed a 40-man spot for the immortal P.J. Walters, and Benson has been injured or terrible ever since his 2011 September call-up. Even in earning his 2011 promotion, he had basically played two full seasons at AA to get to Minnesota. It is still a confusing move. Then this tweet came along: Joe Benson was placed on outright waivers and claimed by the Rangers — Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) May 25, 2013 He was just outright waived, which pretty much says all you need to know about how Benson was looked at within the Twins' organization. In a lot of ways, he probably earned his reputation, after failing to grow as a player since leaving AA. Just take a look at how Benson has moved since September 2011: September 2011: Promoted to MLB, plays in 21 games, hits .239/.270/.352 and strikes out a lot (23-years-old, no experience above AA). Benson was also fined by Ron Gardenhire for wearing a suit in the clubhouse. This was a joke, but still extremely stupid and an event that lead to various eye-rolls from yours truly. Winter 2012: Baseball America lists Benson as the 99th best prospect in baseball. March 2012: Benson is assigned to AAA, Terry Ryan has this to say: "We just need to control the emotional part of his game; he gets a little excited," Ryan said. "We don't want to change his personality, I can tell you that, because he brings a little edge to him." April 2012: Benson gets off to an extremely slow start in Rochester, hitting .190/.286/.354 May 2012: Benson is sent to AA New Britain, where he does not hit any better. May 24, 2012: Benson has surgery to repair his left hamate bone, which sidelines him for six weeks. June 28, 2012: Benson returns to active play. July 16, 2012: Benson returns to New Britain. August 2012: Benson returns to not hitting well, hitting .109/.169/.200 in 14 August games September 2012: Benson is not part of 2012 September call-ups because he needs surgery on his left knee, which sidelines him for four months. March 2013: Benson does not perform well in Spring Training, is assigned to AAA. April 2013: Benson hits .217/.278/.337 at Rochester, starts losing starts to Clete Thomas. May 2013: Benson hits .162/.230/.221. May 25, 2012: Benson is put on outright waivers by the Twins and claimed by the Texas Rangers. That is a pretty sucky timeline for Benson. Not only is he not hitting well throughout, but he keeps getting injured and he keeps falling further and further from the Twins' good graces. I don't have many quotes or anecdotes regarding Benson beyond the two I shared at the beginning of the timeline. However, it is pretty clear to see that Benson did not fit in well with this organization. I really gristle at the Terry Ryan quote. I understand the desire to control the emotional part of his game, but if that is something he has been trying over the past two seasons, it isn't working. I won't claim this move was made due to Benson's personality, but if it was, then I really don't like it. I despise moves made based on personality. I mean, I named by blog after Kevin Slowey. However, there are definitely baseball reasons that justify this move, and I really hope that those were the only determinations. Getting back to Benson the player, he clearly has a lot to work on. He isn't hitting at all. Since he can't hit, he can't show off his good power and he can't utilize his good speed on the bases. His inability to hit has landed him on the bench, which makes it impossible to display his excellent range, speed and ability in the outfield. It's hard to look back at Benson's 2011 season with New Britain and not be intrigued. He hit .285/.388/.495 with 28 doubles, 16 home runs and 13 stolen bases. At his peak, I thought Benson could become a 20/20 player with an OBP around .350. When you add all that to his centerfield-quality defense and strong arm, the calculus is a great player who provides a ton of value. None of that works if Benson can't put the bat on the ball. A fresh start in Texas might be just what Benson needs. He'll join a new organization which may not hold any of the preconceived notions and opinions that Benson may have earned in Minnesota (perhaps, justifiably). Texas can already boast one outfield reclamation project in Nelson Cruz, and Benson is even younger. Benson won't become a Ranger if he doesn't work on his hitting. Maybe spending time with a new coaching staff will click with Benson and he'll work out the issues that are holding him back. I hope it happens, as I think there is a solid MLB player within Joe Benson. This was a move made out of necessity. The Twins needed to replace some struggling starting pitchers and made the determination that Benson would be the odd man out. Personally, I think there were better options, but I don't get to make those decisions. In the end, it was a justifiable move, but a move that could certainly come back and haunt the Twins. If Benson figures out the one area of his game that isn't working right now, he has enough talent and loud enough tools to "put it all together" and become the player the Twins obviously saw back in September of 2011.

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! If you are interested, I have recaps from 1998 and 1999 as well. Just click on the years and you will be transported to a wonderful new world filled with bad jokes, silly puns and petty insults aimed at baseball players far superior to me. Here is my 2000 draft recap: Welcome to the new millennium!!!!!! Do you remember the Willennium? In 1999, the Twins finally added B.J. Garbe to their system. Coming off that massive high, the Twins had the second overall pick in 2000 and had to be pumping their collective fists and raising their collective roof. The Twins also had a second first-round pick, for reasons we will get to shortly. After two straight disappointing first rounds in 1998 and 1999, the Twins had to get that second overall pick right. Did they? 1st Round Picks Sadly, no. The Twins selected Adam Johnson, a right-handed starter out of Cal State Fullerton. Johnson had previously been drafted by the Twins in 1997, but did not sign. Elephants and Twins' scouts never forget, so when given another chance to land Johnson, they jumped. Johnson flopped. He only appeared in nine games and posted an ERA over ten. At least he has a unique name. But wait! The Twins were awarded another first (and a second for that matter) when Mike Trombley signed with the Orioles in the prior off-season. Mike Trombley was worth not one, but two picks! Wild. The Twins drafted Aaron Heilman out of Notre Dame, but he chose to go back to school instead of signing with the Twins. Outstanding. Ah, but what if? What if Johnson decided to be an accountant while in college? More appropriately, what if Johnson had signed three years prior? If he was already safely in the system, perhaps the Twins would have drafted a position player. Chase Utley was the 15th overall pick and I love Chase Utley. Imagine having Utley in the lineup for the last decade or so. I know he gets hurt a lot, but he certainly would have made the team a lot better. Adam Wainwright was drafted two picks prior to Heilman and I choose to believe that the Twins wanted him all along. If you believe, anything can be true. Best Player Drafted Kubes! I was actually surprised that Jason Kubel was drafted in the 12th round. I always assumed he was a second-round pick. I guess I just fail to see all 1s. Kubel's career WAR is just above six, which seems very low. He doesn't get much credit for his baserunning or defense. He has been an above average offensive player each year and was on a path to stardom before a nasty knee injury changed that path. He was a personal favorite of mine, and I fondly remember that game when he blasted a grand slam to complete the cycle against the Angels. Worst Player to Reach MLB Adam Johnson! Of course Adam Johnson! The answer to every "worst pitcher" question is Adam Johnson. The One Who Got Away Paul Maholm was the Twins' 17th-round pick but did not sign. I was never very impressed with Maholm when he pitched for Pittsburgh, but he has been pretty good for the Braves since they acquired him. I think the Twins would love to have a guy like Maholm right about now. Best Name Tagg Bozied again, just as it was in the 1997 recap. Oh yeah, the Twins drafted him twice too, this time in the second round! Fun Facts The Twins drafted Johnson and Bozied a combined four times and received -1.1 WAR for their troubles. The Twins used their second-round Trombley pick on J.D. "The Real Deal" Durbin. I am all for having personality. In fact, I'd probably give myself an obnoxious nickname too. But, you gotta back it up too. Durbin was still kicking around independent baseball last year, but hasn't thrown an MLB pitch since 2007. Adam Johnson debuted roughly one year after being drafted. He pitched his final MLB game on my 12th birthday, going one third of an inning, giving up six hits and six earned runs. He did get Carlos Pena to pop out. I've totally met Twins' 20th-round pick T.J. Prunty. Jealous? Fifth-round pick Edgardo Lebron is of no relation to NBA star LeBron James, as they have completely different names. Seriously, Mike Trombley was worth two picks! All those drafted who made it to the Bigs Paul Maholm, Jason Kubel, Aaron Heilman, Daniel Davidson, Jason Miller, J.D. Durbin, Josh Rabe, and Adam Johnson One Sentence Summary Adam Johnson (while making the head-shaking motion). Link to the Twins' 2000 draft from Baseball Reference

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! If you are interested, I have recaps from 1998 and 1999 as well. Just click on the years and you will be transported to a wonderful new world filled with bad jokes, silly puns and petty insults aimed at baseball players far superior to me. Here is my 2000 draft recap: Welcome to the new millennium!!!!!! Do you remember the Willennium? In 1999, the Twins finally added B.J. Garbe to their system. Coming off that massive high, the Twins had the second overall pick in 2000 and had to be pumping their collective fists and raising their collective roof. The Twins also had a second first-round pick, for reasons we will get to shortly. After two straight disappointing first rounds in 1998 and 1999, the Twins had to get that second overall pick right. Did they? 1st Round Picks Sadly, no. The Twins selected Adam Johnson, a right-handed starter out of Cal State Fullerton. Johnson had previously been drafted by the Twins in 1997, but did not sign. Elephants and Twins' scouts never forget, so when given another chance to land Johnson, they jumped. Johnson flopped. He only appeared in nine games and posted an ERA over ten. At least he has a unique name. But wait! The Twins were awarded another first (and a second for that matter) when Mike Trombley signed with the Orioles in the prior off-season. Mike Trombley was worth not one, but two picks! Wild. The Twins drafted Aaron Heilman out of Notre Dame, but he chose to go back to school instead of signing with the Twins. Outstanding. Ah, but what if? What if Johnson decided to be an accountant while in college? More appropriately, what if Johnson had signed three years prior? If he was already safely in the system, perhaps the Twins would have drafted a position player. Chase Utley was the 15th overall pick and I love Chase Utley. Imagine having Utley in the lineup for the last decade or so. I know he gets hurt a lot, but he certainly would have made the team a lot better. Adam Wainwright was drafted two picks prior to Heilman and I choose to believe that the Twins wanted him all along. If you believe, anything can be true. Best Player Drafted Kubes! I was actually surprised that Jason Kubel was drafted in the 12th round. I always assumed he was a second-round pick. I guess I just fail to see all 1s. Kubel's career WAR is just above six, which seems very low. He doesn't get much credit for his baserunning or defense. He has been an above average offensive player each year and was on a path to stardom before a nasty knee injury changed that path. He was a personal favorite of mine, and I fondly remember that game when he blasted a grand slam to complete the cycle against the Angels. Worst Player to Reach MLB Adam Johnson! Of course Adam Johnson! The answer to every "worst pitcher" question is Adam Johnson. The One Who Got Away Paul Maholm was the Twins' 17th-round pick but did not sign. I was never very impressed with Maholm when he pitched for Pittsburgh, but he has been pretty good for the Braves since they acquired him. I think the Twins would love to have a guy like Maholm right about now. Best Name Tagg Bozied again, just as it was in the 1997 recap. Oh yeah, the Twins drafted him twice too, this time in the second round! Fun Facts The Twins drafted Johnson and Bozied a combined four times and received -1.1 WAR for their troubles. The Twins used their second-round Trombley pick on J.D. "The Real Deal" Durbin. I am all for having personality. In fact, I'd probably give myself an obnoxious nickname too. But, you gotta back it up too. Durbin was still kicking around independent baseball last year, but hasn't thrown an MLB pitch since 2007. Adam Johnson debuted roughly one year after being drafted. He pitched his final MLB game on my 12th birthday, going one third of an inning, giving up six hits and six earned runs. He did get Carlos Pena to pop out. I've totally met Twins' 20th-round pick T.J. Prunty. Jealous? Fifth-round pick Edgardo Lebron is of no relation to NBA star LeBron James, as they have completely different names. Seriously, Mike Trombley was worth two picks! All those drafted who made it to the Bigs Paul Maholm, Jason Kubel, Aaron Heilman, Daniel Davidson, Jason Miller, J.D. Durbin, Josh Rabe, and Adam Johnson One Sentence Summary Adam Johnson (while making the head-shaking motion). Link to the Twins' 2000 draft from Baseball Reference

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Hi, Twins Daily! In the last few days, I have posted a few more draft recaps at my blog. If you missed them, and want to read about them, you can find them here: 1994, 1995, 1996. Here is 1997: Travis Lee was being a real jag and didn't want to sign with the Twins after the 1996 draft. The Twins did not want to duplicate that jaggery in 1997. They had a strict "no-jag" policy in '97, opting instead for super nice guys. In the end, the Twins drafted two very popular players and one (perhaps) unfairly unpopular player. They also drafted a guy who they would later draft much higher and with much worse results. Stay tuned! 1st Round Picks The Twins had two, as the aforementioned jag did not sign. The Twins had the 9th overall pick, and used it to draft Michael Cuddyer. "Cuddy," or "Cuddy Bear," as he would be affectionately called, took some time to get it going, but ultimately became a useful and versatile player, albeit one with a very red face. With their Lee pick, the Twins drafted Matt LeCroy. He looked like a teddy bear, so the Twins completed the Cuddy Bear/Teddy Bear combo successfully. Ah, but what if? I know that Cuddy was very popular, but Lance Berkman went 16th overall and was roughly four times the player as Cuddyer (by WAR, which I know, I know, it sucks, but just handle it, k?). Berkman has a semi-decent Hall of Fame case and a no-doubt Hall of Fame nickname - Big Puma. Would he have become Big Puma in Minnesota? He'd probably be Berky or LancePants, so I think everything worked out perfectly for all stakeholders. Best Player Drafted Well, well, well, if it isn't Mr. Nick Punto! Punto narrowly edges Cuddyer out by WAR, mostly because he was a great defensive player with good on-base skills and he battled just slightly more than Cuddy. Honestly, Nick Punto drew a lot of ire from fans, but was never the worst player on the team and not nearly as embarrassing as Denny Hocking and his frosted tips (unprovoked Hocking shot alert!). Of course, Punto didn't actually sign with the Twins. He went back to school (he's smart) and was drafted in the 21st round by the Phillies the following year. He would then come to the Twins in the 2003 Eric Milton trade. Worst Player to Reach MLB 25th-round pick Adam Johnson, who posted a -1.1 career WAR. You may remember Johnson as a first-round pick, but that would come a few years later. In fact... The One Who Got Away I'd argue that Johnson is the one who got away. If the Twins had signed him back in 1997, he wouldn't have been around to draft in the first round in 2000. If not him, Punto, but he eventually found his way back to the flock. Best Name Tagg Bozied in the 50th round. Much like the Terminator, "he would be back, later." Fun Facts The Twins drafted future backup quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo in the 34th round. He should have been in soap ads; seems like a huge missed opportunity. Michael Restovich, the Twins' second-round pick, went to Mayo High School. When you think of it, it's a Miracle that he Whipped himself to the Big Leagues. Right? The Twins drafted Tim Sturdy in the 23rd round. Oddly enough, he was 7' 5" and 155 lb. Michael Cuddyer was arguably a better pitcher than Adam Johnson The Twins drafted David Justice in the 49th round, which was later deemed illegal, as Justice was an established player with the Braves. It was worth a shot. All those drafted who made it to the Bigs Nick Punto, Michael Cuddyer, J.C. Romero, Matt LeCroy, Michael Restovich, Kevin Frederick, and Adam Johnson One Sentence Summary LEAVE NICK PUNTO ALONE!

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Hi, Twins Daily! In the last few days, I have posted a few more draft recaps at my blog. If you missed them, and want to read about them, you can find them here: 1994, 1995, 1996. Here is 1997: Travis Lee was being a real jag and didn't want to sign with the Twins after the 1996 draft. The Twins did not want to duplicate that jaggery in 1997. They had a strict "no-jag" policy in '97, opting instead for super nice guys. In the end, the Twins drafted two very popular players and one (perhaps) unfairly unpopular player. They also drafted a guy who they would later draft much higher and with much worse results. Stay tuned! 1st Round Picks The Twins had two, as the aforementioned jag did not sign. The Twins had the 9th overall pick, and used it to draft Michael Cuddyer. "Cuddy," or "Cuddy Bear," as he would be affectionately called, took some time to get it going, but ultimately became a useful and versatile player, albeit one with a very red face. With their Lee pick, the Twins drafted Matt LeCroy. He looked like a teddy bear, so the Twins completed the Cuddy Bear/Teddy Bear combo successfully. Ah, but what if? I know that Cuddy was very popular, but Lance Berkman went 16th overall and was roughly four times the player as Cuddyer (by WAR, which I know, I know, it sucks, but just handle it, k?). Berkman has a semi-decent Hall of Fame case and a no-doubt Hall of Fame nickname - Big Puma. Would he have become Big Puma in Minnesota? He'd probably be Berky or LancePants, so I think everything worked out perfectly for all stakeholders. Best Player Drafted Well, well, well, if it isn't Mr. Nick Punto! Punto narrowly edges Cuddyer out by WAR, mostly because he was a great defensive player with good on-base skills and he battled just slightly more than Cuddy. Honestly, Nick Punto drew a lot of ire from fans, but was never the worst player on the team and not nearly as embarrassing as Denny Hocking and his frosted tips (unprovoked Hocking shot alert!). Of course, Punto didn't actually sign with the Twins. He went back to school (he's smart) and was drafted in the 21st round by the Phillies the following year. He would then come to the Twins in the 2003 Eric Milton trade. Worst Player to Reach MLB 25th-round pick Adam Johnson, who posted a -1.1 career WAR. You may remember Johnson as a first-round pick, but that would come a few years later. In fact... The One Who Got Away I'd argue that Johnson is the one who got away. If the Twins had signed him back in 1997, he wouldn't have been around to draft in the first round in 2000. If not him, Punto, but he eventually found his way back to the flock. Best Name Tagg Bozied in the 50th round. Much like the Terminator, "he would be back, later." Fun Facts The Twins drafted future backup quarterback Marques Tuiasosopo in the 34th round. He should have been in soap ads; seems like a huge missed opportunity. Michael Restovich, the Twins' second-round pick, went to Mayo High School. When you think of it, it's a Miracle that he Whipped himself to the Big Leagues. Right? The Twins drafted Tim Sturdy in the 23rd round. Oddly enough, he was 7' 5" and 155 lb. Michael Cuddyer was arguably a better pitcher than Adam Johnson The Twins drafted David Justice in the 49th round, which was later deemed illegal, as Justice was an established player with the Braves. It was worth a shot. All those drafted who made it to the Bigs Nick Punto, Michael Cuddyer, J.C. Romero, Matt LeCroy, Michael Restovich, Kevin Frederick, and Adam Johnson One Sentence Summary LEAVE NICK PUNTO ALONE!

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Weekend Recap Welp. The Twins weren't really supposed to be good or even decent this season, so a 2-7 homestand isn't crazy. It's more disappointing, after what seemed like a such a positive start. Regardless, this franchise is clearly trending upward, even if this past week doesn't reflect that. The thing that struck me the most from the weekend was another shaky Scott Diamond start. I did a detailed breakdown of Diamond's 2012 and concluded that 2012 Scott Diamond was a good pitcher and if he can replicate what he did in 2012, he could have long-term success. You can read it here, if you missed it back in February. I looked at Diamond's stats from the first half of 2012 (when Diamond was a borderline Ace), the second half of 2012 (when Diamond was good, but not great), and the start of this season (when Diamond looks like he might be regressing). What is different? Here's a chart with Diamond's peripherals: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 612] [/TD][TD]K% BB% LOB% GB% LD% FB% HR/FB HR/9 BABIP xFIP ERA 2012 1st Half 13.9 3.7 79.3 59 20.3 20.7 14.8 0.91 0.285 3.57 2.61 2012 2nd Half 11.6 4.9 68.6 48.9 21.5 29.6 9.5 0.86 0.298 4.23 4.31 2013 9.8 5.5 70.6 47.4 19.7 32.8 13.3 1.36 0.318 4.62 4.99 League Avg (2012) 19.8 8 72.5 45.1 20.9 34 11.3 1.02 0.293 4.01 4.01 [/TABLE] 2013 Scott Diamond has looked a lot more like the 2012 second half Scott Diamond. He's getting fewer ground balls, and more of his fly balls are going over the fence. His walk rate is ticking upward and his strikeout rate is ticking downward. These numbers need to start reversing, or Diamond will have a very difficult time replicating his 2012 success. I looked at some PitchF/x data as well. The samples are small, so there isn't much significance. However, some trends are evident. Looking at this chart, it appears that his curveball is as good as ever: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 322] CB O-Swing% O-Contact% SwStr% 2012 48.2 52.4 15.2 2013 46.7 48.6 15 Average (2012) 29 63.8 9.1 [/TABLE] Batters still swing at a very high percentage of his curve outside the zone and they still make little contact. In addition, they swing through many of these pitches for strikes. That's good! However, this chart shows there are other concerns with the curve: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 307] CB LD% FB% HR/FB% 2012 24.8 27.4 11.6 2013 19.4 35.5 36.4 [/TABLE] Mainly, batters are hitting more curves in the air and many more over the fence. That's bad! It's still early, but not a great sign so far. Let's look at his change: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 323] CH Contact% Zone% SwStr% 2012 79.6 38.2 9.9 2013 90.6 46.4 4.4 Average (2012) 79.7 44.9 9.1 [/TABLE] His change was a pretty average pitch last year, but as his third pitch, it worked. This season, players are making better contact and rarely missing that pitch. He's throwing it in the zone more, and it's getting hit more. Not a great combo. Finally, here's a very small chart regarding his fastball: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 171] FB GB% 2012 56.5 2013 48.3 [/TABLE] Basically, the decline of Diamond's ground ball rate can be almost fully correlated to the decreasing percentage of ground balls Diamond has coaxed with his fastball. If you add it all up, Diamond has basically been this pitcher in 2013: A league-average ground ball pitcher, with low strikeout totals and a good walk rate. In 2012, Diamond was a ground ball pitcher with low strikeout totals and an elite walk rate. These aren't major differences, but enough to turn a good pitcher into a shaky pitcher. All that being said, it is still very early and I won't be convinced that Diamond is a different pitcher until at least a full season passes. Analysis! Now on to the Madness: Random Paint Image http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6BrODrCoooM/UZliXDRYS1I/AAAAAAAAAsI/fqKRIHNotTU/s320/Scott+Diamond.png I choose to remember this Scott Diamond, being ceremoniously carried off the field by his teammates after a series of spectacular starts. Random Plug/Former Twin Update - Randy Ruiz Ben Noble of Puckett's Pond posted a feature on a former Twin. I fondly remember Randy Ruiz and hopefully you do too. Plus, Ben's a really good dude and a great writer. If you remember Randy Ruiz as fondly as I do, you should check it out. Random Photoshop Byron Buxton hit a walk-off Grand Slam on Wednesday night. It was a bomb. Buxton has basically become the "next big thing" and fans are starting to clamor for Buxton's debut sooner than later. I don't know anything about his realistic ETA, but I do know that Nikola Pekovic of the Minnesota Timberwolves was clearly impressed, as he updated his crazy tattoo after he heard about Buxton's feat: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DpPLNpMv5iw/UZlieopHsqI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/iTQH5x5MDA0/s320/pek418.jpg Good gravy, that tattoo is crazy. Answering a random question from the Twins' Facebook page: Q: Best movie ever...where is The Beast? For context, this question was posted in reference to a picture of "Squints" and "Ham" from The Sandlot. A: The Beast probably died 10-15 years ago. A dog of that size likely had a lifespan of about 8-10 years. The dog was likely at least 2 or 3 when the movie was filmed and the movie is now 20 years old. Thanks for asking though, it's a super uplifting topic to discuss. While on the topic of The Sandlot, how come only two of the actors were present for this weekend? What are any of those guys doing right now? Shouldn't the Twins have been able to get 5 or 6 of those guys, at minimum. I bet if you give them free airfare, 20 bucks, and the chance to talk to people who think they're cool, they'd all be there. Typical cheap Twins, slashing payroll and stiffing Sandlot actors. Embarrassing. Random Top 12 List Here are the Twins' leaders in wRC+ for the month of May (as of 5/19/2013): Joe Mauer - 228 Oswaldo Arcia - 132 Trevor Plouffe - 123 Justin Morneau - 123 Jamey Carroll - 115 Pedro Florimon - 112 Ryan Doumit - 108 Aaron Hicks - 89 Chris Parmelee - 74 Eduardo Escobar - 55 Josh Willingham - 55 Brian Dozier - 19 Something I wrote I'm not going to link to them, but I have been recapping the past 25 Twins' drafts over the last week or so, and I'll have 1997 posted on Twins Daily tomorrow. I have been posting a new draft recap each day, on my blog - Kevin Slowey was Framed! This seems like a good time to thank Twins Daily for putting my 1993 recap on the front page. A lot of people read my recaps as a result; far more than I could generate on my own. I think it is downright amazing that John, Seth, Nick and Parker are so willing to share their hard-earned following with all of us aspiring writers. Thanks to everyone who operates this site, it is hands down my favorite site on the internet. Something stupid I wrote I'll link to this though. I'm not sure this even qualifies as writing, but it is stupid. What is Oswaldo Arcia doing with his arms? I have 13 theories, and a bonus Paint image to boot. Also, I did start a Facebook group for some reason. There are six likes, which is five more than I expected. If you are interested, you can find and like it here. Haiku The Twins may be down I refuse to frown or drown Haiku should not rhyme Have a nice week everyone!

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Weekend Recap Welp. The Twins weren't really supposed to be good or even decent this season, so a 2-7 homestand isn't crazy. It's more disappointing, after what seemed like a such a positive start. Regardless, this franchise is clearly trending upward, even if this past week doesn't reflect that. The thing that struck me the most from the weekend was another shaky Scott Diamond start. I did a detailed breakdown of Diamond's 2012 and concluded that 2012 Scott Diamond was a good pitcher and if he can replicate what he did in 2012, he could have long-term success. You can read it here, if you missed it back in February. I looked at Diamond's stats from the first half of 2012 (when Diamond was a borderline Ace), the second half of 2012 (when Diamond was good, but not great), and the start of this season (when Diamond looks like he might be regressing). What is different? Here's a chart with Diamond's peripherals: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 612] [/TD][TD]K% BB% LOB% GB% LD% FB% HR/FB HR/9 BABIP xFIP ERA 2012 1st Half 13.9 3.7 79.3 59 20.3 20.7 14.8 0.91 0.285 3.57 2.61 2012 2nd Half 11.6 4.9 68.6 48.9 21.5 29.6 9.5 0.86 0.298 4.23 4.31 2013 9.8 5.5 70.6 47.4 19.7 32.8 13.3 1.36 0.318 4.62 4.99 League Avg (2012) 19.8 8 72.5 45.1 20.9 34 11.3 1.02 0.293 4.01 4.01 [/TABLE] 2013 Scott Diamond has looked a lot more like the 2012 second half Scott Diamond. He's getting fewer ground balls, and more of his fly balls are going over the fence. His walk rate is ticking upward and his strikeout rate is ticking downward. These numbers need to start reversing, or Diamond will have a very difficult time replicating his 2012 success. I looked at some PitchF/x data as well. The samples are small, so there isn't much significance. However, some trends are evident. Looking at this chart, it appears that his curveball is as good as ever: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 322] CB O-Swing% O-Contact% SwStr% 2012 48.2 52.4 15.2 2013 46.7 48.6 15 Average (2012) 29 63.8 9.1 [/TABLE] Batters still swing at a very high percentage of his curve outside the zone and they still make little contact. In addition, they swing through many of these pitches for strikes. That's good! However, this chart shows there are other concerns with the curve: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 307] CB LD% FB% HR/FB% 2012 24.8 27.4 11.6 2013 19.4 35.5 36.4 [/TABLE] Mainly, batters are hitting more curves in the air and many more over the fence. That's bad! It's still early, but not a great sign so far. Let's look at his change: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 323] CH Contact% Zone% SwStr% 2012 79.6 38.2 9.9 2013 90.6 46.4 4.4 Average (2012) 79.7 44.9 9.1 [/TABLE] His change was a pretty average pitch last year, but as his third pitch, it worked. This season, players are making better contact and rarely missing that pitch. He's throwing it in the zone more, and it's getting hit more. Not a great combo. Finally, here's a very small chart regarding his fastball: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 171] FB GB% 2012 56.5 2013 48.3 [/TABLE] Basically, the decline of Diamond's ground ball rate can be almost fully correlated to the decreasing percentage of ground balls Diamond has coaxed with his fastball. If you add it all up, Diamond has basically been this pitcher in 2013: A league-average ground ball pitcher, with low strikeout totals and a good walk rate. In 2012, Diamond was a ground ball pitcher with low strikeout totals and an elite walk rate. These aren't major differences, but enough to turn a good pitcher into a shaky pitcher. All that being said, it is still very early and I won't be convinced that Diamond is a different pitcher until at least a full season passes. Analysis! Now on to the Madness: Random Paint Image http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6BrODrCoooM/UZliXDRYS1I/AAAAAAAAAsI/fqKRIHNotTU/s320/Scott+Diamond.png I choose to remember this Scott Diamond, being ceremoniously carried off the field by his teammates after a series of spectacular starts. Random Plug/Former Twin Update - Randy Ruiz Ben Noble of Puckett's Pond posted a feature on a former Twin. I fondly remember Randy Ruiz and hopefully you do too. Plus, Ben's a really good dude and a great writer. If you remember Randy Ruiz as fondly as I do, you should check it out. Random Photoshop Byron Buxton hit a walk-off Grand Slam on Wednesday night. It was a bomb. Buxton has basically become the "next big thing" and fans are starting to clamor for Buxton's debut sooner than later. I don't know anything about his realistic ETA, but I do know that Nikola Pekovic of the Minnesota Timberwolves was clearly impressed, as he updated his crazy tattoo after he heard about Buxton's feat: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DpPLNpMv5iw/UZlieopHsqI/AAAAAAAAAsQ/iTQH5x5MDA0/s320/pek418.jpg Good gravy, that tattoo is crazy. Answering a random question from the Twins' Facebook page: Q: Best movie ever...where is The Beast? For context, this question was posted in reference to a picture of "Squints" and "Ham" from The Sandlot. A: The Beast probably died 10-15 years ago. A dog of that size likely had a lifespan of about 8-10 years. The dog was likely at least 2 or 3 when the movie was filmed and the movie is now 20 years old. Thanks for asking though, it's a super uplifting topic to discuss. While on the topic of The Sandlot, how come only two of the actors were present for this weekend? What are any of those guys doing right now? Shouldn't the Twins have been able to get 5 or 6 of those guys, at minimum. I bet if you give them free airfare, 20 bucks, and the chance to talk to people who think they're cool, they'd all be there. Typical cheap Twins, slashing payroll and stiffing Sandlot actors. Embarrassing. Random Top 12 List Here are the Twins' leaders in wRC+ for the month of May (as of 5/19/2013): Joe Mauer - 228 Oswaldo Arcia - 132 Trevor Plouffe - 123 Justin Morneau - 123 Jamey Carroll - 115 Pedro Florimon - 112 Ryan Doumit - 108 Aaron Hicks - 89 Chris Parmelee - 74 Eduardo Escobar - 55 Josh Willingham - 55 Brian Dozier - 19 Something I wrote I'm not going to link to them, but I have been recapping the past 25 Twins' drafts over the last week or so, and I'll have 1997 posted on Twins Daily tomorrow. I have been posting a new draft recap each day, on my blog - Kevin Slowey was Framed! This seems like a good time to thank Twins Daily for putting my 1993 recap on the front page. A lot of people read my recaps as a result; far more than I could generate on my own. I think it is downright amazing that John, Seth, Nick and Parker are so willing to share their hard-earned following with all of us aspiring writers. Thanks to everyone who operates this site, it is hands down my favorite site on the internet. Something stupid I wrote I'll link to this though. I'm not sure this even qualifies as writing, but it is stupid. What is Oswaldo Arcia doing with his arms? I have 13 theories, and a bonus Paint image to boot. Also, I did start a Facebook group for some reason. There are six likes, which is five more than I expected. If you are interested, you can find and like it here. Haiku The Twins may be down I refuse to frown or drown Haiku should not rhyme Have a nice week everyone!

He's a 21-year-old professional athlete. I'd say it's almost certain that he is.

I would hope so, both legs all at once is a great way to fall down a staircase.

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Welcome back! In my never-ending quest to recap old drafts (feature ends June 4), I present to you, if you missed them: 1991 1992 Here's 1993, in all it's glory: The 1992 draft was a nightmare, but the 1993 draft was like the morning after a nightmare when you realize that none of what you experienced was real and that you are safe in your own bed, but then ohhhh there's blood on your pillow but wait it's just that your tooth fell out because you haven't been to the dentist in years and everything's fine except the tooth. You know, that old tale. 1st Round Picks Oh my, the Twins had 4 this year. They received two picks for losing John Smiley to free agency. If you remember back to the 1989 draft, you remember that Smiley was acquired in a trade for Denny Neagle, so that 1989 draft is the gift that keeps on giving. Also, the Twins received a first and a third when Greg Gagne signed with the Royals. So, the Twins selected Torii Hunter with their first first-round pick, which worked out well. They had the very next pick and selected Jason Varitek. He did not sign. They then got cocky and decided to draft by choosing hilarious names and selected Marc Barcelo and Kelcey Mucker with their next two firsts. Neither made the Majors, but both have funny names. Mission accomplished! Ah, but what if? Simple - what if Varitek had signed? He would have been the catcher for years, and likely would have bridged the gap to A.J. Pierzynski. Also, Scott Rolen went 46th overall, so he would have been great had the Twins employed a strategy where good players were sought instead of great names. Best Player Drafted Torii Hunter in a landslide. He has produced almost 50 WAR and was an extremely popular player in Minnesota. I wrote something long ago (six months ago) that investigated what could have happened if he had stayed in Minnesota through last season. You can read it here and enjoy it here as well. Worst Player to Reach MLB A lot of players drafted by the Twins in 1993 made it to the Majors. Many didn't play long, so the career WARs are bunched together. The worst was Kelly Dransfeldt with a -0.6 WAR. The Twins drafted him in the 7th round and he didn't sign. Therefore, the worst Twins draftee/signee is a tie between their 21st and 22nd round picks - Shane Bowers and Rob Radlosky. The fact that both made it to the Majors is remarkable, so we can ignore their stats. The One Who Got Away Varitek. Aren't you paying attention? Best Name Danny Peoples in round 59 of course. Fun Facts The Twins had four first-round picks, as I stated before. Only one donned a Twins uniform. How does one don? Benj Sampson was drafted in the 6th round and marks the first player with a missing letter in his name to be drafted to the MLB. Congratulations Benj! The Twins used their 3rd-round compensation pick on Troy Carrasco, who did not make it to the Majors. The Twins drafted Toby Dollar in the 4th round out of a Texas High School. He did not sign. He then must have had an illustrious career at TCU because he was drafted in the 29th round by the Dodgers three years later. Cost himself a lot of Dollars. Jason Varitek hates Minnesota. All those drafted who made it to the Bigs Torii Hunter, Jason Varitek, Alex Cora, Lance Carter, Danny Kolb, Javier Valentin, Kevin Ohme, Benj Sampson, Dan Perkins, Emil Brown, Ryan Radmanovich, Rob Radlosky, Kelly Dransfeldt, and Shane Bowers One Sentence Summary Even if only Torii Hunter had made it to Minnesota, the 1993 draft would have been a huge success.

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Welcome back! In my never-ending quest to recap old drafts (feature ends June 4), I present to you, if you missed them: 1991 1992 Here's 1993, in all it's glory: The 1992 draft was a nightmare, but the 1993 draft was like the morning after a nightmare when you realize that none of what you experienced was real and that you are safe in your own bed, but then ohhhh there's blood on your pillow but wait it's just that your tooth fell out because you haven't been to the dentist in years and everything's fine except the tooth. You know, that old tale. 1st Round Picks Oh my, the Twins had 4 this year. They received two picks for losing John Smiley to free agency. If you remember back to the 1989 draft, you remember that Smiley was acquired in a trade for Denny Neagle, so that 1989 draft is the gift that keeps on giving. Also, the Twins received a first and a third when Greg Gagne signed with the Royals. So, the Twins selected Torii Hunter with their first first-round pick, which worked out well. They had the very next pick and selected Jason Varitek. He did not sign. They then got cocky and decided to draft by choosing hilarious names and selected Marc Barcelo and Kelcey Mucker with their next two firsts. Neither made the Majors, but both have funny names. Mission accomplished! Ah, but what if? Simple - what if Varitek had signed? He would have been the catcher for years, and likely would have bridged the gap to A.J. Pierzynski. Also, Scott Rolen went 46th overall, so he would have been great had the Twins employed a strategy where good players were sought instead of great names. Best Player Drafted Torii Hunter in a landslide. He has produced almost 50 WAR and was an extremely popular player in Minnesota. I wrote something long ago (six months ago) that investigated what could have happened if he had stayed in Minnesota through last season. You can read it here and enjoy it here as well. Worst Player to Reach MLB A lot of players drafted by the Twins in 1993 made it to the Majors. Many didn't play long, so the career WARs are bunched together. The worst was Kelly Dransfeldt with a -0.6 WAR. The Twins drafted him in the 7th round and he didn't sign. Therefore, the worst Twins draftee/signee is a tie between their 21st and 22nd round picks - Shane Bowers and Rob Radlosky. The fact that both made it to the Majors is remarkable, so we can ignore their stats. The One Who Got Away Varitek. Aren't you paying attention? Best Name Danny Peoples in round 59 of course. Fun Facts The Twins had four first-round picks, as I stated before. Only one donned a Twins uniform. How does one don? Benj Sampson was drafted in the 6th round and marks the first player with a missing letter in his name to be drafted to the MLB. Congratulations Benj! The Twins used their 3rd-round compensation pick on Troy Carrasco, who did not make it to the Majors. The Twins drafted Toby Dollar in the 4th round out of a Texas High School. He did not sign. He then must have had an illustrious career at TCU because he was drafted in the 29th round by the Dodgers three years later. Cost himself a lot of Dollars. Jason Varitek hates Minnesota. All those drafted who made it to the Bigs Torii Hunter, Jason Varitek, Alex Cora, Lance Carter, Danny Kolb, Javier Valentin, Kevin Ohme, Benj Sampson, Dan Perkins, Emil Brown, Ryan Radmanovich, Rob Radlosky, Kelly Dransfeldt, and Shane Bowers One Sentence Summary Even if only Torii Hunter had made it to Minnesota, the 1993 draft would have been a huge success.

That would be fantastic. I would love nothing more than to find out that Arcia is a huge Beatles fan.