Brad Swanson

I'm live now and I'm calmed down. You're right.

. Now Mauer K's? Cut him.

I'm like 15 mins behind the game, and his may have been said but I can't check because of spoilers, but there's no reason Parmelee should have been bunting. I'm on the fire Gardy bandwagon now. I'm volatile.

Buyers or Sellers The Rockies are sitting just below .500, but they are actually closer to the NL West lead than a Wild Card berth. They haven't made the playoffs since 2009 and their best offensive players are approaching 30. Their farm system is not impressive either, so the future might be now. After finishing third worst in all of Major League Baseball in 2012, hovering just below .500 is a large improvement and worthy of seeing what they can buy with savvy trades. Although, mortgaging the farm system that they do have does not seem to be in the cards. A recent report from Danny Knobler indicates that they may use this weekend's series against Los Angeles to determine if they are buyers or sellers. Seems like a good idea to hinge that decision on one series. [ATTACH=CONFIG]4793[/ATTACH] What They Need The Rockies were linked to Ricky Nolasco until he was dealt to their division rival Dodgers, so you know they want starting pitching. Their rotation is surprisingly solid, as they have three starters with an ERA+ above 124. However, Roy Oswalt went on the disabled list this week and he had been pretty awful prior. The Rockies bullpen isn't filled with big names, but they are getting big performances from their closer Rafael Betancourt and their left-handed set-up man Rex Brothers. The rest of the bullpen is less impressive, although they did recently acquire Mitchell Boggs from the Cardinals. Boggs has been atrocious this season, but has had success in previous seasons. Surprisingly, the Rockies may have their greatest need on offense. They are using Todd Helton at first base. That's right, the same Todd Helton who shook Thomas Edison's hand when Edison invented the phonograph. He has been with the Rockies since the Hoover administration, so they might be hesitant to replace him. What Might Work The Rockies haven't been linked to any offensive players via trade rumors, so unless the Rockies are tired of eating dinner at 4:30, they may not be a Morneau match. Morneau is nearly 100 years younger than Helton (actually 7) and has been much more productive this season, with an OPS+ of 101 compared to Helton's 83. The Rockies aren't in the market for a closer, but could use a bullpen arm, most likely from the right side. Casey Fien might seem like a good fit, but his fly ball rate in Colorado could lead to sadness. Of course, that's the Rockies' problem, right? Brian Duensing would become their third best lefty reliever, behind Brothers and Josh Outman. He's probably out. The Rockies could still be in the market for a fifth starter, to replace the ineffective and injured Oswalt. Kevin Correia's a fifth starter and he has NL experience. Win win! Short of a fifth starter or a replacement for Zombie Todd Helton, the Twins and Rockies don't seem like a great match on paper. Sleeper Targets Earlier, I mentioned the Rockies poor farm system. That doesn't mean there aren't a few intriguing names to consider. Here are a few that caught my fancy. Eddie Butler - RHP - High A - 22 years old Butler is rapidly rising through the Rockies' system and rapidly elevating his profile as a prospect along the way. He breezed through low A Asheville posting a sub-2 ERA and sub-1 WHIP before earning a promotion to high A Modesto. At Modesto, he has struck out 55 batters in 52.2 innings pitched, while only issuing 17 walks. Butler has lovely stuff and might top out as a number 3 starter, but he's far from there right now. Jayson Aquino - LHP - Low A - 20 years old 20 years old? Left-handed? Already moved a level this season? Sounds good to me! Aquino is a guile lefty, with a low 90s fastball, projectable changeup and developing curve. In 28 innings this season, he has struck out 21 batters and issued only 6 walks. He just moved up to Low A Asheville and made his debut last Sunday. I don't see any reports of added velocity, so he might be who he is, but a guile lefty can easily slot as a 4th or 5th starter. Juan Nicasio - RHP - MLB - 26 years old You may remember Nicasio from the time he tried to catch a ball with his face. After suffering that extremely scary injury, Nicasio has been far from impressive. However, there's always a chance that getting a pitcher out of Colorado can help turn a career around. Nicasio has really struggled in 2013, but prior to this season he had posted solid strikeout numbers and decent walk rates. As a minor leaguer, he appeared to be capable of even better than that. He's a low risk, high reward target and likely could be had as a reclamation project. Dream Target Trevor Story - SS - High A - 20 years old A top 100 prospect prior to the season, Story is having a dreadful time at the plate. His .212/.285/.358 triple slash hardly screams "dream target." However, a little perspective is in order. He's 20 and playing in high A. He's coming off a 2012 season when he slugged over .500 in full season ball. He's a pure shortstop with a strong arm and good range. He doesn't have a loud tool, but each of the five are average or better. He's going through an adjustment period and now might be the time to pounce. If the Twins traded Glen Perkins for Trevor Story, I would be elated. He could be the Twins' shortstop for a lot of years.

I really enjoyed this post and I appreciate the amount of research you put into your writing. I think that the concept and role of closer is a bit overrated, but good closers are not overrated. I'm not sure that makes perfect sense, but if you have an excellent pitcher who also happens to be your closer, I think that has value, especially if that player is cheap. Perkins is cheap and effective. Sometimes the closer role hamstrings managers, but if used properly, a late-inning reliever like Perkins is far from overrated.

I like that, kind of an instant karma/deal with the devil scenario. You get to play for the winner, but we're going to take your career. Very creepy.

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=2062-20-Twins-Trades-The-Knoblauch-Debacle

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! I also wrote a summary of the Kevin Tapani trade earlier this week. You can find it here. An unhappy superstar hoping to rekindle the team success he achieved in his rookie season. A budding dynasty looking to add a couple final pieces to a Championship-level team. Later, batteries. You know what I'm talkin' about. The Trade: BREAKDOWN! The Minnesota Twins traded Chuck Knoblauch to the New York Yankees for Brian Buchanan, Cristian Guzman, Eric Milton, and Danny Mota. Knoblauch would play four up-and-down seasons with the Yankees, but would win three World Series Championships. He famously lost the ability to throw from second to first, and thus was no longer the overall excellent player he was in Minnesota. He was still an excellent offensive player in '98 and '99. Guzman became the Twins' starting shortstop in 1999, at the age of 21. He would remain in that role for six seasons and he was at times a very exciting player. Milton immediately entered the rotation and gave the Twins 165 starts over the next six seasons. He will also be the subject of one of these features in a few weeks. Buchanan debuted in 2000, showed some power, but was gone by 2002. Mota pitched 5.1 innings for the Twins in 2000 and was out of baseball after the following season. How did I feel at the time? Angry. The Twins had completed their fifth straight losing season and now they were trading their best player? What gives? After the '94 season, Kent Hrbek retired. After the '95 season, Kirby Puckett retired. In '95, the Twins traded Scott Erickson, Kevin Tapani and Rick Aguilera. It was adding up to be too much. I distinctly remember being very angry about this trade. Why make the trade? This trade was coming down the tunnel for quite some time. Knoblauch famously asked for a trade late in 1997, tired of losing, as evidenced in this article from the Star Tribune: "Finally, late in 1997, the Twins were swept in Kansas City, and on the long, depressing ride from the ballpark to the airport, Knoblauch called his agent and said he wanted a trade. 'I was just dejected,' he said. 'The losing got to me. I wasn't handling getting beat up on a pretty consistent basis.'" Tom Kelly clearly wanted him to stay, so he employed some reverse psychology: "When the request leaked to manager Tom Kelly, any vision of a graceful exit vanished, Knoblauch said. He remembers the manager suggesting to the media -- Kelly doesn't remember saying this -- that Knoblauch wanted out of Minnesota because he didn't think his teammates were good enough." "When TK made that statement, it was like a seismic shift, because he had a lot of control over the organization," Knoblauch said, seeming stunned, still. "I love him, looking back on everything, I do, but I just think people pay attention to what he says -- the people of Minnesota, the fans. And I think that's why there was so much hate or hostility toward me when I came back. He probably thought I was abandoning them ... but I just wanted to win." This explains his desire, but doesn't necessarily excuse it. Of course, if Kelly did say that, then he was being a lame-o. The Yankees were a match because they were trying to build a dynasty and had some impressive prospects. This LA Times article outlines how Terry Ryan felt right before the trade: "I think everybody involved would like to have that happen," Twin General Manager Terry Ryan said. "The Yankees would like to have that happen. I've said we would like to get this done as soon as we can. I think everybody in the organization would like to have this behind us." This was a difficult situation for Ryan. He had a superstar who publicly wanted out and not a lot of teams in the bidding. The Yankees were offering a good package (which included 3 million bucks, so you know that helped) and it was best for the Twins to get it done before the 1998 season started. According to this article from the New York Times, Knoblauch wanted to go the New York, so that worked out well: ''I think New York would be a great place to play,'' he said. ''When you open the season, you want to know you're going to be competitive and going to have the chance to win. I think if you ask any Yankee players right now, they'll tell you they got a chance to win. I think every player wants to have that.'' Of course, something clearly changed for Knoblauch when he started playing there. There is simply no way that his throwing issues weren't mental, and the biggest change from good throwing Knobby to bad throwing Knobby was the change of scenery. However, you can see why New York would be the choice of a player who wants to win. Analysis This was a fantastic trade for the Twins. They unloaded an unhappy player and acquired two six-year starters. Guzman did not develop as many had hoped, but he did provide good value at a premium position for over half a decade. The trade worked for the Yankees too. They got two very good offensive seasons from Knoblauch and he helped them win three straight World Series titles by filling a need on their team. He retired much sooner than anyone would have guessed, but did so with four Championships on his resume. So, the trade worked for both teams. Why did it hurt so much? Why do Twins fans still hate Knoblauch? Why is it possible that one of the greatest Twins of all time may never be enshrined in their Hall of Fame? No one likes to feel slighted. Knoblauch was smart enough to see that the Twins were not going to win anything significant in his career. He made a calculated and understandable decision to ask for a trade to a better team. He did what was best for Chuck Knoblauch, but he did it at the expense of the millions of fans he had in Minnesota. He never said anything bad about our State or the Twin Cities, but he certainly was not fond of the Organization by the end. He hurt his fans in Minnesota when he spoke the truth, mostly because it was a truth that we didn't want to face. I was angry with him when he was traded, but I understand things from his perspective now. The Twins were bad and they weren't getting any better. He did sign a contract with the team, but he also watched as that team shipped off many of his teammates in prior seasons, while they were under contracts the Twins agreed to. Loyalty goes both ways, and sometimes, it goes neither way. Who won the WAR? Knoblauch for the Yankees: 7.4 Milton for the Twins: 14.7 Guzman for the Twins: 7.5 Buchanan for the Twins: 0.3 Mota for the Twins: -0.1 WAR won by the Twins! One Sentence Summary If I ever saw Chuck Knoblauch on the street, I'd huck a battery at him; a battery of respect.

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! I also wrote a summary of the Kevin Tapani trade earlier this week. You can find it here. An unhappy superstar hoping to rekindle the team success he achieved in his rookie season. A budding dynasty looking to add a couple final pieces to a Championship-level team. Later, batteries. You know what I'm talkin' about. The Trade: BREAKDOWN! The Minnesota Twins traded Chuck Knoblauch to the New York Yankees for Brian Buchanan, Cristian Guzman, Eric Milton, and Danny Mota. Knoblauch would play four up-and-down seasons with the Yankees, but would win three World Series Championships. He famously lost the ability to throw from second to first, and thus was no longer the overall excellent player he was in Minnesota. He was still an excellent offensive player in '98 and '99. Guzman became the Twins' starting shortstop in 1999, at the age of 21. He would remain in that role for six seasons and he was at times a very exciting player. Milton immediately entered the rotation and gave the Twins 165 starts over the next six seasons. He will also be the subject of one of these features in a few weeks. Buchanan debuted in 2000, showed some power, but was gone by 2002. Mota pitched 5.1 innings for the Twins in 2000 and was out of baseball after the following season. How did I feel at the time? Angry. The Twins had completed their fifth straight losing season and now they were trading their best player? What gives? After the '94 season, Kent Hrbek retired. After the '95 season, Kirby Puckett retired. In '95, the Twins traded Scott Erickson, Kevin Tapani and Rick Aguilera. It was adding up to be too much. I distinctly remember being very angry about this trade. Why make the trade? This trade was coming down the tunnel for quite some time. Knoblauch famously asked for a trade late in 1997, tired of losing, as evidenced in this article from the Star Tribune: "Finally, late in 1997, the Twins were swept in Kansas City, and on the long, depressing ride from the ballpark to the airport, Knoblauch called his agent and said he wanted a trade. 'I was just dejected,' he said. 'The losing got to me. I wasn't handling getting beat up on a pretty consistent basis.'" Tom Kelly clearly wanted him to stay, so he employed some reverse psychology: "When the request leaked to manager Tom Kelly, any vision of a graceful exit vanished, Knoblauch said. He remembers the manager suggesting to the media -- Kelly doesn't remember saying this -- that Knoblauch wanted out of Minnesota because he didn't think his teammates were good enough." "When TK made that statement, it was like a seismic shift, because he had a lot of control over the organization," Knoblauch said, seeming stunned, still. "I love him, looking back on everything, I do, but I just think people pay attention to what he says -- the people of Minnesota, the fans. And I think that's why there was so much hate or hostility toward me when I came back. He probably thought I was abandoning them ... but I just wanted to win." This explains his desire, but doesn't necessarily excuse it. Of course, if Kelly did say that, then he was being a lame-o. The Yankees were a match because they were trying to build a dynasty and had some impressive prospects. This LA Times article outlines how Terry Ryan felt right before the trade: "I think everybody involved would like to have that happen," Twin General Manager Terry Ryan said. "The Yankees would like to have that happen. I've said we would like to get this done as soon as we can. I think everybody in the organization would like to have this behind us." This was a difficult situation for Ryan. He had a superstar who publicly wanted out and not a lot of teams in the bidding. The Yankees were offering a good package (which included 3 million bucks, so you know that helped) and it was best for the Twins to get it done before the 1998 season started. According to this article from the New York Times, Knoblauch wanted to go the New York, so that worked out well: ''I think New York would be a great place to play,'' he said. ''When you open the season, you want to know you're going to be competitive and going to have the chance to win. I think if you ask any Yankee players right now, they'll tell you they got a chance to win. I think every player wants to have that.'' Of course, something clearly changed for Knoblauch when he started playing there. There is simply no way that his throwing issues weren't mental, and the biggest change from good throwing Knobby to bad throwing Knobby was the change of scenery. However, you can see why New York would be the choice of a player who wants to win. Analysis This was a fantastic trade for the Twins. They unloaded an unhappy player and acquired two six-year starters. Guzman did not develop as many had hoped, but he did provide good value at a premium position for over half a decade. The trade worked for the Yankees too. They got two very good offensive seasons from Knoblauch and he helped them win three straight World Series titles by filling a need on their team. He retired much sooner than anyone would have guessed, but did so with four Championships on his resume. So, the trade worked for both teams. Why did it hurt so much? Why do Twins fans still hate Knoblauch? Why is it possible that one of the greatest Twins of all time may never be enshrined in their Hall of Fame? No one likes to feel slighted. Knoblauch was smart enough to see that the Twins were not going to win anything significant in his career. He made a calculated and understandable decision to ask for a trade to a better team. He did what was best for Chuck Knoblauch, but he did it at the expense of the millions of fans he had in Minnesota. He never said anything bad about our State or the Twin Cities, but he certainly was not fond of the Organization by the end. He hurt his fans in Minnesota when he spoke the truth, mostly because it was a truth that we didn't want to face. I was angry with him when he was traded, but I understand things from his perspective now. The Twins were bad and they weren't getting any better. He did sign a contract with the team, but he also watched as that team shipped off many of his teammates in prior seasons, while they were under contracts the Twins agreed to. Loyalty goes both ways, and sometimes, it goes neither way. Who won the WAR? Knoblauch for the Yankees: 7.4 Milton for the Twins: 14.7 Guzman for the Twins: 7.5 Buchanan for the Twins: 0.3 Mota for the Twins: -0.1 WAR won by the Twins! One Sentence Summary If I ever saw Chuck Knoblauch on the street, I'd huck a battery at him; a battery of respect.

These articles are really great. I appreciate the level of research that is included. I would agree that keeping Correia is probably the way to go, considering the return he would likely demand.

This seems exceedingly pessimistic. What about the Knoblauch trade? The Pierzynski trade? The Gomez trade? The Milton abd Romero trades worked out well too. Sure, there many trades that did not work out in the Twins' favor, but no franchise has a 100% success rate. Shameless plug: I'll be recapping all these trades and much, much more at my blog over the next month or so. The link is in my signature and I need to go take a shower.

Troy Glaus?

This is outstanding, thanks for sharing! It's very cool to see Twins Daily represented at Baseball Prospectus!

Huge was an intentional exaggeration, but I think this organization is in much better shape than last year. The team is more competitive, if not that much better, and the farm system is much stronger. I should have written that part better, but I was trying to save room for information about my pants and Denny Hockingbird.

I take full responsibility for jinxing him tonight. I agree, though. He has been one of the best stories this season.

That's just solid material right there. She must have loved J.C. Romero!

The more we learn about pitch framing, the more I begin to wonder the same thing. For a pitcher who needs to be very fine with his command, it would seem pitch framing would be especially important for Diamond. As you have pointed out in the past, Doumit rates as the worst catcher as far as pitch framing goes in the league, so getting him away from Diamond and letting Mauer frame for Diamond might make a big difference. Thanks for sharing the numbers!

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=2043-Monday-Morning-Madness-July-8-2013

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! The Twins dropped two of three in their series against the Blue Jays and in the process, they dropped to eleven games below .500. The Twins are on a 70-win pace, which would be a huge improvement and a giant disappointment at the same time. Prior to the season, if you had told me the Twins were going to win 70 games, I'd have laughed so hard that my pants would have fallen down. I never wore belts. After the first third of the season, I had officially adjusted my expectations and pants. Now, I don't know what to think or what to wear in preparation. Here are a few thoughts I had from the Blue Jays series. Scott Diamond Scott Diamond was brutal on Sunday. He was brutal in the innings when he gave up runs and he was equally brutal in the innings when he didn't give up runs. After the first inning, I looked down at my dog and said, "Diamond doesn't have it today." He looked up at me, yawned, and went back to sleep. He was walking batters and he wasn't getting ground balls. Those two factors pretty much ruin a Scott Diamond start. He earned the right to be in the rotation last season, but that right is slipping away quickly. If he throws like this through July, I'd call up Liam Hendriks and see if he's learned anything new with Rochester. Mike Pelfrey Pelfrey got much better results compared to Diamond this weekend, but I thought he looked pretty awful as well. He didn't give up any runs and he wiggled out of some jams, but I thought that he was getting hit pretty hard and things could have been a lot different if a few balls had been hit into different locations. They weren't, so you have to credit Pelfrey with a good start. However, I'm not convinced that he is back on any sort of right track at this point. We'll see; I am always wrong, so that's a point in Pelfrey's favor. Brian Dozier Who the raspberries is this Dozier character lately? Here is Dozier's wRC+ broken down by month (100 is league average): April - 66 May - 38 June - 151 July - 184 My goodness. Dozier has been a great hitter for the past month or so. It's never really as simple as one stat, but here are Dozier's line drive rates in those same months: April - 22.8% May - 14.5% June - 20% July - 30.4% Bonanza! Just watching Dozier hit, you can see that he looks more comfortable and he is really laying into the hittable pitches that he gets. It's been fun to watch him succeed, as he has a winning smile and great head of hair. Oh yeah, and having a good second baseman is cool too. Joe Mauer and Glen Perkins Congratulations to two very deserving All-Stars in Glen Perkins and Joe Mauer. I'm sure they will read this, right? Mauer was a no-doubter, and was voted in by the fans. Perkins was selected because Jesse Crain was hurt. Perkins deserved it without being a replacement, but it's still cool that he has been honored. I hope he gets to pitch in the game. He's probably my favorite Twin pitcher since Johan Santana. Now that we have honored these Minnesota heroes properly, let's get to some madness! Random Photoshop http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TrJ5I_NjV0w/UdoUsS4Gj6I/AAAAAAAAAv0/Ks34KTSWrQI/s320/denny+hockingbird.jpg What do you think? I call it "Denny Hockingbird." He has frosted feathers and frosted tips! If you like player heads on bird bodies, then make sure to check out my blog, Kevin Slowey was Framed!, on Thursday. I've got something special for you. Answering a Random Facebook Question Ugh. I'm not sure why I keep doing this. Going to the Twins Facebook page and looking through the comments is like repeatedly rubbing your face onto a dirty block of ice. Regardless, I found this gem and I have a decent answer for this "fan." Question - Sorry am a MN fan but don't see why? Perkins could see going but Joe? Pay him way too much! As not produced! Answer - He's the best catcher in the American League and it isn't really all that close. They already did pay him way too much, so you got your wish! Congrats! Two Twins make the All-Star game and most of the comments are about how undeserving Mauer is, how it doesn't matter because the team sucks and that more ex-Twins made it than current Twins. This is a Facebook "fan" page. I'm exhausted. Fun Stat Caleb Thielbar pitched two scoreless innings on Satuday, bringing his streak to 19.2 innings to start his career. Since 1916, only five pitchers have had longer streaks to start their career. Brad Ziegler has the record, at 38 innings. Here is the rest of the chart, with a list of players Thielbar still has to conquer: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 500] [TH=align: center]Rk[/TH] [TH=align: left][/TH] [TH=align: right]Strk Start[/TH] [TH=align: left]End[/TH] [TH=align: center]Games[/TH] [TH=align: center]IP ▾[/TH] [TH=align: center]H[/TH] [TH=align: center]R[/TH] [TH=align: center]ER[/TH] [TH=align: center]BB[/TH] [TH=align: center]SO[/TH] [TH=align: center]HR[/TH] [TH=align: center]ERA[/TH] [TH=align: center]Tm[/TH] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD=align: left]Brad Ziegler[/TD] [TD=align: right]2008-05-31[/TD] [TD=align: left]2008-08-12[/TD] [TD=align: right]29[/TD] [TD=align: right]38.0[/TD] [TD=align: right]21[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]11[/TD] [TD=align: right]17[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0.00[/TD] [TD=align: left]OAK[/TD] [TD=align: right]2[/TD] [TD=align: left]Fernando Valenzuela[/TD] [TD=align: right]1980-09-15[/TD] [TD=align: left]1981-04-09[/TD] [TD=align: right]11[/TD] [TD=align: right]26.2[/TD] [TD=align: right]13[/TD] [TD=align: right]2[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]7[/TD] [TD=align: right]21[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0.00[/TD] [TD=align: left]LAD[/TD] [TD=align: right]3[/TD] [TD=align: left]Dennis Eckersley[/TD] [TD=align: right]1975-04-12[/TD] [TD=align: left]1975-05-25[/TD] [TD=align: right]11[/TD] [TD=align: right]23.1[/TD] [TD=align: right]12[/TD] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]12[/TD] [TD=align: right]20[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0.00[/TD] [TD=align: left]CLE[/TD] [TD=align: right]4[/TD] [TD=align: left]Victor Santos[/TD] [TD=align: right]2001-04-09[/TD] [TD=align: left]2001-05-12[/TD] [TD=align: right]8[/TD] [TD=align: right]22.1[/TD] [TD=align: right]11[/TD] [TD=align: right]3[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]15[/TD] [TD=align: right]11[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0.00[/TD] [TD=align: left]DET[/TD] [TD=align: right]5[/TD] [TD=align: left]Victor Cruz[/TD] [TD=align: right]1978-06-24[/TD] [TD=align: left]1978-07-29[/TD] [TD=align: right]13[/TD] [TD=align: right]21.1[/TD] [TD=align: right]9[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]14[/TD] [TD=align: right]21[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0.00[/TD] [TD=align: left]TOR[/TD] [TD=align: right]6[/TD] [TD=align: left]Caleb Thielbar[/TD] [TD=align: right]2013-05-20[/TD] [TD=align: left]2013-07-06[/TD] [TD=align: right]17[/TD] [TD=align: right]19.2[/TD] [TD=align: right]5[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]7[/TD] [TD=align: right]17[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0.00[/TD] [TD=align: left]MIN[/TD] [/TABLE] Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used Generated 7/7/2013. Who thinks he can get there? Fun Baseball Card from the past One of my all-time favorite baseball cards is this one: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dbn4xfoaB8k/UdoVB-l_CNI/AAAAAAAAAwI/_9gkuq8zi3Y/s320/gary-pettis.jpg Man, what charisma! It's a great card because of the story behind it. That is not Gary Pettis. It's his 15-year-old brother. If you can't tell that this is a child by looking at this image, then you don't know how old people look. The switch-a-roo is one thing, but the pose by the younger Pettis is the icing on the cake. Then, I found out that Topps decided to make a deliberate error card in their Archives set this year to memorialize this Pettis error. Here is the card, this time with Dylan Bundy's little bro: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_6Ef59u4qQY/UdoVBm8AeGI/AAAAAAAAAwE/_GK4wHDi-fM/s1600/2013-Topps-Archives-Errors-Dylan-Bundy-215x300.jpg Pretty cool, Topps. The original, as always, is still the best. No one has the natural charisma of Gary Pettis' brother. Parting Thought I try very hard to remain non-controversial. However, it seems that when I applaud Joe Mauer for being great, it draws the most negative response. I guess I don't get it. The simple fact remains that the Twins will be a much worse team when Mauer isn't on it. He makes outs at a lower rate than anyone in Twins history. Here is the list of Twins with the highest career OBP (minimum 2500 plate appearances): Mauer - .404 Rod Carew - .393 Chuck Knoblauch - .391 Harmon Killebrew - .383 Matt Lawton - .379 Hey, Matt Lawton! The point is, Mauer is great. Sorry if that is too controversial for you. Have a great week, everyone!

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! The Twins dropped two of three in their series against the Blue Jays and in the process, they dropped to eleven games below .500. The Twins are on a 70-win pace, which would be a huge improvement and a giant disappointment at the same time. Prior to the season, if you had told me the Twins were going to win 70 games, I'd have laughed so hard that my pants would have fallen down. I never wore belts. After the first third of the season, I had officially adjusted my expectations and pants. Now, I don't know what to think or what to wear in preparation. Here are a few thoughts I had from the Blue Jays series. Scott Diamond Scott Diamond was brutal on Sunday. He was brutal in the innings when he gave up runs and he was equally brutal in the innings when he didn't give up runs. After the first inning, I looked down at my dog and said, "Diamond doesn't have it today." He looked up at me, yawned, and went back to sleep. He was walking batters and he wasn't getting ground balls. Those two factors pretty much ruin a Scott Diamond start. He earned the right to be in the rotation last season, but that right is slipping away quickly. If he throws like this through July, I'd call up Liam Hendriks and see if he's learned anything new with Rochester. Mike Pelfrey Pelfrey got much better results compared to Diamond this weekend, but I thought he looked pretty awful as well. He didn't give up any runs and he wiggled out of some jams, but I thought that he was getting hit pretty hard and things could have been a lot different if a few balls had been hit into different locations. They weren't, so you have to credit Pelfrey with a good start. However, I'm not convinced that he is back on any sort of right track at this point. We'll see; I am always wrong, so that's a point in Pelfrey's favor. Brian Dozier Who the raspberries is this Dozier character lately? Here is Dozier's wRC+ broken down by month (100 is league average): April - 66 May - 38 June - 151 July - 184 My goodness. Dozier has been a great hitter for the past month or so. It's never really as simple as one stat, but here are Dozier's line drive rates in those same months: April - 22.8% May - 14.5% June - 20% July - 30.4% Bonanza! Just watching Dozier hit, you can see that he looks more comfortable and he is really laying into the hittable pitches that he gets. It's been fun to watch him succeed, as he has a winning smile and great head of hair. Oh yeah, and having a good second baseman is cool too. Joe Mauer and Glen Perkins Congratulations to two very deserving All-Stars in Glen Perkins and Joe Mauer. I'm sure they will read this, right? Mauer was a no-doubter, and was voted in by the fans. Perkins was selected because Jesse Crain was hurt. Perkins deserved it without being a replacement, but it's still cool that he has been honored. I hope he gets to pitch in the game. He's probably my favorite Twin pitcher since Johan Santana. Now that we have honored these Minnesota heroes properly, let's get to some madness! Random Photoshop http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TrJ5I_NjV0w/UdoUsS4Gj6I/AAAAAAAAAv0/Ks34KTSWrQI/s320/denny+hockingbird.jpg What do you think? I call it "Denny Hockingbird." He has frosted feathers and frosted tips! If you like player heads on bird bodies, then make sure to check out my blog, Kevin Slowey was Framed!, on Thursday. I've got something special for you. Answering a Random Facebook Question Ugh. I'm not sure why I keep doing this. Going to the Twins Facebook page and looking through the comments is like repeatedly rubbing your face onto a dirty block of ice. Regardless, I found this gem and I have a decent answer for this "fan." Question - Sorry am a MN fan but don't see why? Perkins could see going but Joe? Pay him way too much! As not produced! Answer - He's the best catcher in the American League and it isn't really all that close. They already did pay him way too much, so you got your wish! Congrats! Two Twins make the All-Star game and most of the comments are about how undeserving Mauer is, how it doesn't matter because the team sucks and that more ex-Twins made it than current Twins. This is a Facebook "fan" page. I'm exhausted. Fun Stat Caleb Thielbar pitched two scoreless innings on Satuday, bringing his streak to 19.2 innings to start his career. Since 1916, only five pitchers have had longer streaks to start their career. Brad Ziegler has the record, at 38 innings. Here is the rest of the chart, with a list of players Thielbar still has to conquer: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 500] [TH=align: center]Rk[/TH] [TH=align: left][/TH] [TH=align: right]Strk Start[/TH] [TH=align: left]End[/TH] [TH=align: center]Games[/TH] [TH=align: center]IP ▾[/TH] [TH=align: center]H[/TH] [TH=align: center]R[/TH] [TH=align: center]ER[/TH] [TH=align: center]BB[/TH] [TH=align: center]SO[/TH] [TH=align: center]HR[/TH] [TH=align: center]ERA[/TH] [TH=align: center]Tm[/TH] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD=align: left]Brad Ziegler[/TD] [TD=align: right]2008-05-31[/TD] [TD=align: left]2008-08-12[/TD] [TD=align: right]29[/TD] [TD=align: right]38.0[/TD] [TD=align: right]21[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]11[/TD] [TD=align: right]17[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0.00[/TD] [TD=align: left]OAK[/TD] [TD=align: right]2[/TD] [TD=align: left]Fernando Valenzuela[/TD] [TD=align: right]1980-09-15[/TD] [TD=align: left]1981-04-09[/TD] [TD=align: right]11[/TD] [TD=align: right]26.2[/TD] [TD=align: right]13[/TD] [TD=align: right]2[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]7[/TD] [TD=align: right]21[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0.00[/TD] [TD=align: left]LAD[/TD] [TD=align: right]3[/TD] [TD=align: left]Dennis Eckersley[/TD] [TD=align: right]1975-04-12[/TD] [TD=align: left]1975-05-25[/TD] [TD=align: right]11[/TD] [TD=align: right]23.1[/TD] [TD=align: right]12[/TD] [TD=align: right]1[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]12[/TD] [TD=align: right]20[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0.00[/TD] [TD=align: left]CLE[/TD] [TD=align: right]4[/TD] [TD=align: left]Victor Santos[/TD] [TD=align: right]2001-04-09[/TD] [TD=align: left]2001-05-12[/TD] [TD=align: right]8[/TD] [TD=align: right]22.1[/TD] [TD=align: right]11[/TD] [TD=align: right]3[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]15[/TD] [TD=align: right]11[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0.00[/TD] [TD=align: left]DET[/TD] [TD=align: right]5[/TD] [TD=align: left]Victor Cruz[/TD] [TD=align: right]1978-06-24[/TD] [TD=align: left]1978-07-29[/TD] [TD=align: right]13[/TD] [TD=align: right]21.1[/TD] [TD=align: right]9[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]14[/TD] [TD=align: right]21[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0.00[/TD] [TD=align: left]TOR[/TD] [TD=align: right]6[/TD] [TD=align: left]Caleb Thielbar[/TD] [TD=align: right]2013-05-20[/TD] [TD=align: left]2013-07-06[/TD] [TD=align: right]17[/TD] [TD=align: right]19.2[/TD] [TD=align: right]5[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]7[/TD] [TD=align: right]17[/TD] [TD=align: right]0[/TD] [TD=align: right]0.00[/TD] [TD=align: left]MIN[/TD] [/TABLE] Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used Generated 7/7/2013. Who thinks he can get there? Fun Baseball Card from the past One of my all-time favorite baseball cards is this one: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Dbn4xfoaB8k/UdoVB-l_CNI/AAAAAAAAAwI/_9gkuq8zi3Y/s320/gary-pettis.jpg Man, what charisma! It's a great card because of the story behind it. That is not Gary Pettis. It's his 15-year-old brother. If you can't tell that this is a child by looking at this image, then you don't know how old people look. The switch-a-roo is one thing, but the pose by the younger Pettis is the icing on the cake. Then, I found out that Topps decided to make a deliberate error card in their Archives set this year to memorialize this Pettis error. Here is the card, this time with Dylan Bundy's little bro: http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_6Ef59u4qQY/UdoVBm8AeGI/AAAAAAAAAwE/_GK4wHDi-fM/s1600/2013-Topps-Archives-Errors-Dylan-Bundy-215x300.jpg Pretty cool, Topps. The original, as always, is still the best. No one has the natural charisma of Gary Pettis' brother. Parting Thought I try very hard to remain non-controversial. However, it seems that when I applaud Joe Mauer for being great, it draws the most negative response. I guess I don't get it. The simple fact remains that the Twins will be a much worse team when Mauer isn't on it. He makes outs at a lower rate than anyone in Twins history. Here is the list of Twins with the highest career OBP (minimum 2500 plate appearances): Mauer - .404 Rod Carew - .393 Chuck Knoblauch - .391 Harmon Killebrew - .383 Matt Lawton - .379 Hey, Matt Lawton! The point is, Mauer is great. Sorry if that is too controversial for you. Have a great week, everyone!

Perhaps we could convince all righties to convert to knuckleballers.

A .700 OPS is pretty close to league-average this year. Hicks is already a good defender and he is a good to great base runner. I'm not just talking stolen bases, but his reads on batted balls, taking an extra base, etc. if Hicks can post 4 months of that overall level of performance as a 23-year-old with no AAA experience, then a 4th outfielder is an extremely pessimistic outlook.