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Blog Entries posted by Steven Buhr

  1. Steven Buhr
    A year ago, Jake Reed was beginning intrasquad workouts in Eugene, Oregon, as he prepared for his junior year at the University of Oregon. In the subsequent 12 months, the Twins' prospect has seen a lot of the U.S.A. while pitching for the Ducks, then the Twins Rookie level team in Elizabethton, Tennessee, followed by the Cedar Rapids Kernels, and a trip to Fort Myers for instructional league. Now, he's a member of the Salt River Rafters in the Arizona Fall League.
     
    Reed was the Twins' fifth round draft pick back in June, which means you won't find him on any of last offseason's "Top Twins Prospects" lists. You won't likely have to look too far down this year's lists to find his name, however.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/JakeReed11.png
    Jake Reed

    After signing with the Twins, he made four appearances in Elizabethton before being promoted to Cedar Rapids. Between the two stops, he put up a 0.29 ERA over 20 relief appearances. He struck out 39 batters, while walking just three.
     
    That kind of work earned him a coveted spot in the Arizona Fall League where, as difficult as it may be to believe, he's actually improved his ERA to a perfect 0.00 in his first six appearances for the Rafters.
     
    As you might expect, Reed is pretty happy with how his professional career has gone, thus far.
     
    "It's been just a great experience," Reed said on Tuesday, before the Rafters beat up the Glendale Desert Dogs 14-2. "Just from the time I got drafted, with my parents there in Eugene with me, to sitting here now in Arizona. To still be playing in the fall, it's pretty special. It's been a great ride. I couldn't have wished for a better first half-season."
     
    Reed was one of two Twins prospects, along with outfielder and top Twins prospect, Byron Buxton, who were named to represent their team in the AFL's "Fall Stars Game" this Saturday. Not bad for a guy who was surprised when Kernels manager Jake Mauer and pitching coach Ivan Arteaga gave him the news that he was headed to Arizona this fall.
     
    "When {Mauer) called me in, there was a couple weeks left in the season. I knew the Miracle were going to be in the playoffs, so I thought I was maybe going to be going up there to help them," Reed recalled. "But they sat me down and originally Ivan kind of played a joke on me and asked if I wanted to go play (winter ball) for him in Venezuela. I was like, 'oh yeah, make four grand a month,' and I said, 'absolutely.' He said, 'No we were just kidding. We're sending you to fall league.'"
     
    Most AFL players have at least reached Class AA, but organizations are allowed a very limited number of roster spots for players who have not reached beyond Class A ball. That says something about how the Twins view Reed.
     
    Mauer and Arteaga told Reed that the Twins minor league director, Brad Steil, had contacted them and asked whether they thought Reed was ready for AFL, where he'd be facing a number of the top prospects in baseball.
     
    "They thought I was," said Reed. "They asked me if I wanted to and obviously I wasn't going to turn that down.
     
    "It was a big surprise for me. I was pretty shocked. I'm not saying I don't think I deserved it, but with the guys that come out here normally, it's the bigger prospects and it's my first half season, so in that aspect, I didn't expect it much."
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/JakeReed2.png
    Jake Reed gives a helping hand to a grounds crew member who took a corner a bit sharp

    Often, organizations are cautious about sending pitchers to Arizona the year they were drafted due to the number of innings they've racked up on their arms, between their final college season in the spring and their first partial season of professional ball in the summer. That wasn't an issue for Reed, however.
     
    "I'd started my first two years of college so I was accustomed to going 100 innings a year and I threw 40 maybe in college and 30 in the summer, so I was only at 70. I had more in my tank. The inning limit hasn't been an issue at all."
     
    It's not like they overtax the arms in Arizona, anyway. Each club carries about 20 pitchers to make sure none of them are overworked. Even relievers, like Reed, typically will pitch an inning or two and then get a couple days off before their next appearance.
     
    Fall League is an opportunity for Reed to show what he's got in front of a large group of scouts from literally every organization in professional baseball, but it's also a chance to hone his craft. Reed was told the Twins wanted him to work on his change up, on "tightening up" his breaking ball and on stopping the running game.
     
    Of course, his 0.75 WHIP means he's not getting many opportunities to work on controlling that running game this fall.
     
    "I haven't thrown a change up much," Reed admitted, "but my breaking ball, at times, has been a lot better than it has been. I think the biggest thing, though, is just maintaining the command that I had all summer. Getting ahead of guys, not walking guys.
     
    "As long as I keep throwing strikes, I think I'll keep doing alright."
     
    While Reed and half a dozen other Twins farmhands have been toiling in the Arizona sun, Twins General Manager Terry Ryan has been looking for a new manager. Reed and the others are following that story closely, as you can imagine.
     
    "Absolutely," Reed confirmed. "Ultimately, that's where we want to end up and ultimately, we want that to be our manager. Right now it seems kind of far-fetched, but hopefully, that's the guy we're going to be playing for eventually.
     
    "Yeah, we all follow everybody on Twitter, so we all see what's going on. We keep up with it. All the Twins are next to one another in the locker room. Whenever we see a new Tweet about another guy, we're always talking about it. But you know what, we trust Terry (Ryan), we trust everybody else in our organization to get somebody that will turn this thing around for us. We hope to be a big part of that, especially the young guys in our organization."
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/JakeReed3.png
    Jake Reed watching team mate Vincent Velasquez (Astros) warm up

    Reed and the others are getting a little taste of what it's like to be treated like a big leaguer during their time in Arizona. Games are played at Major League spring training facilities and Salt River plays their games at the complex shared by the Diamondbacks and Rockies. The Rafters use the D'Backs' big league clubhouse.
     
    It didn't take Reed long after arriving to figure out he was no longer at the Twins' minor league facility in Fort Myers, where he had been working during his time in the postseason instructional league.
     
    "The facilities in Ft. Myers are great, don't get me wrong, but going from a big locker room with hundreds of lockers to the big league locker room at a big league facility, it honestly kind of took my breath away," Reed said. "There's twelve TVs in there, I mean everything you can imagine in a locker room. Unbelievable. Then obviously, getting to play here every day, it doesn't get old, for sure."
     
    Reed had a chance earlier in the summer to get another glimpse of what it means to be a Major Leaguer. Joe Mauer and Rick Nolasco had concurrent rehabilitation assignments in Cedar Rapids and that experience stands out in Reed's mind as a highlight of his time with the Kernels.
     
    "When Joe and Ricky came, that was pretty special. Joe Mauer is such a great guy, and Ricky is, too, but just having him in the locker room was pretty special. Just seeing him go about his work and how he respected the game when he was playing and how he talked to other guys on the other team when they'd ask him questions. Just a great guy.
     
    "On his way out, before he left, he went around the locker room and shook everybody's hand. So that was unbelievable to me, a guy of that stature being able to take the time to shake every single person's hand in the locker room was pretty special."
     
    The Twins are already showing signs that they may be rebuilding their big league bullpen in 2015. Reed's performance at all levels this year has him in position to be fast-tracked by the organization if he can keep performing.
     
    Reed's success has even altered his own expectations of himself heading toward 2015.
     
    "It's definitely different now than it was when I signed and playing in Cedar Rapids," he acknowledged. "I don't know what's out of the picture for next year, because I haven't had the chance to talk to Terry or anybody else in the organization. They want to see guys excel in the minor leagues and prove that they're ready for the big leagues, but I'm not sure. I'm sure I'll have a better idea here pretty soon. We'll see what happens. We'll see where I go for spring training. There's just a lot up in the air."
     
    Reed has not heard, yet, whether he'll be getting an invitation to the Twins' big league spring training camp.
     
    "No, that's the thing, too. I think I'll have a better idea here pretty soon, because it's kind of important when you want to get your body ready for a certain time, you want to be in shape for a certain time. So hopefully I find out soon."
     
    Reed started to say he would not be disappointed if he doesn't get the invitation to the big league camp in February, but then smiled and corrected himself.
     
    "I will be disappointed," he admitted, "but I'll understand. Ultimately, it's not up to me, I just need to keep pitching well and hopefully it works out in my favor."
     
    But that's a matter for another day. Right now, Reed has a couple more weeks of pitching in the Arizona heat and then a well-deserved break.
     
    "I've literally been pitching for over a year straight," Reed said, alluding to having started his workouts at Oregon a year ago. "I'm starting to kind of feel it now. A break off of throwing would be nice."
     
    Pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers by mid February, so it may not be a very long break for Jake Reed.
  2. Steven Buhr
    Immediately after the Minnesota Twins’ 2014 season ended, General Manager Terry Ryan announced that longtime manager Ron Gardenhire would not be returning to his job in 2015.
     
    That was three and a half weeks ago and we still don’t know who will be guiding the Twins on the field next season.
     
    But we’re getting closer.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/Lovullo-600x420.jpg
    Torey Lovullo (AP Photo)

    (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    After considering, by my count, at least seven or eight candidates during the first two weeks of the offseason, Ryan set aside the managerial search while he holed up in Fort Myers with his staff for their annual week of postseason organizational meetings (though reports are that he did find time for a second interview with Doug Mientkiewicz while in Fort Myers).
     
    Coming out of those meetings, media reports indicate that several candidates have been informed they are no longer being considered and, while the Twins are characteristically tight-lipped on the subject, it appears that the list of potential skippers has been whittled down to three: Paul Molitor, Doug Mientkiewicz and Torey Lovullo.
     
    Looking at them, it would appear that there isn’t a lot of difference. All three are white, middle-aged men. Mientkiewicz is the youngest, at 40; Molitor the oldest at 58. Lovullo splits the difference at 49.
     
    There's not a lot of “diversity” readily apparent by looking at them, so if Ryan is going to make good on his pledge to add more of a Latin presence on the staff, it will need to come from among the coaches that he and the eventual manager hire.
     
    But when you dig deeper, you see that there are plenty of differences between these three gentlemen and if you’re the Twins, you have an opportunity to make a statement with this hire concerning what traits are most important to you, as an organization. The question is, what kind of statement are you looking to make?
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Molitor.jpg
    Paul Molitor (Photo: SD Buhr)

    If you’re looking to say, “We have a youth movement brewing and we are going to do what we did when we hired Tom Kelly – hire a manager that has already spent time watching, evaluating and coaching the young players who will form the core of the next generation of Twins players,” then your first choice is Mientkiewicz. He has had two successful seasons in Fort Myers while managing Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Jose Berrios and the rest of a very talented “class” of minor leaguers currently rising up through the ranks.
     
    Paul Molitor gets a few points in this category, too, however. He spent time as a roving minor league instructor prior to his one season on the Twins’ major league bench, so he also has a lot of familiarity with these rising stars.
     
    If the statement the Twins want to make is, "We want the most qualified man for the job of managing a Major League baseball team," the decision becomes a bit murkier.
     
    Molitor does not have a single day of experience as a manager at any level of professional baseball. If managing only involved the work required between the time you fill out a line-up card and the final pitch of the game, I don’t think experience would be an issue for Molitor. It’s hard to imagine any circumstance arising that he has not prepared for during his Hall of Fame playing career and his time on coaching staffs at various levels. Anyone who has had even a short conversation with him about baseball will likely tell you that his baseball IQ level is off the charts. Also (and this is important), he apparently understands that he can always learn more and is open to doing so.
     
    But game management is not all a manager has to do. There’s media relations and public relations and front office communication and clubhouse relations… and… and…
     
    It’s a big job and while I don’t think it’s impossible for someone who has never managed at any level before to be successful, I do think that having some amount of experience in a managerial position is helpful. Without it, Molitor would very much be “learning on the job” when it comes to off-the-field aspects of the position for a year or two.
     
    For whatever reasons, family or otherwise, Molitor has chosen not to take opportunities to get that experience by managing at the minor league levels. Should that disqualify him from consideration? Absolutely not. Should he get a free pass on this factor if other qualified candidates have emerged who HAVE that experience? No. He made the decision not to take that route and if that turns out to be a determining factor in him not getting the job this time, so be it.
     
    If the Twins had narrowed their choices down to Mientkiewicz and Molitor, I would not consider the former’s two years in the Fort Myers dugout to be much, if any, of an advantage. Other managers in the Twins organization, such as Gene Glynn (AAA), Jeff Smith (AA), Jake Mauer (low A) and Ray Smith (rookie) all have far more minor league managerial experience than Mientkiewicz.
     
    Yes, Mientkiewicz has had successful teams both years in Fort Myers, but take a look at his rosters those two years. If you can’t win a few games with those guys, you really are in the wrong line of work.
     
    Personality-wise, you have very different men. Molitor seems to bring a cerebral intensity to the game, while Mientkiewicz is all about the fire and he doesn’t even pretend to contain it.
     
    Both would bring a familiarity with the Twins organization to the job, without the baggage of being one of “Gardy’s boys.” There are various reports and rumors out there concerning how well (or not well) these guys got along with the Twins’ former manager, but it’s probably safe to say neither would be prone to adopting any approach to managing simply because that was the way Ron Gardenhire would have done it.
     
    So, depending on what he decides is the most important quality in a manager, Terry Ryan has an acceptable internal choice in either Molitor or Mientkiewicz.
     
    Want someone who will get in the face of players and umpires? Doug’s your guy.
     
    Want a brilliant baseball mind? I doubt you could do better than Molitor.
     
    Want someone open to utilizing more advanced analytics? Molitor appears so inclined, though there are indications Mientkiewicz is more of a “gut feel” kind of guy (though, to be fair, the amount of detailed analytics available to minor league managers is limited and their job is more to develop talent than to win games).
     
    Want someone who has the credentials as a player to garner respect among the troups? Molitor’s a Hall of Famer and Mientkiewicz has a World Series ring and sufficient MLB experience to give him plenty of credibility.
     
    If you want someone familiar with the players who are moving up through the organization and are preparing to arrive at Target Field over the next two or three years, both men have that familiarity, though in somewhat different amounts.
     
    The only thing neither man has would be the, “fresh set of eyes,” that some would consider helpful, if not critical, to this organization.
     
    Which brings us to the third finalist for the Twins managerial job, Torey Lovullo.
     
    Lovullo has nine years of experience managing in the minor leagues, including time at both the AA and AAA levels, which neither internal candidate can say. There is little doubt that, of the three, he would be the most prepared to handle all aspects of the job on the first day he’s in the position.
     
    Lovullo has experience as a “second-in-command” bench coach at the big league level. Molitor was part of Tom Kelly’s bench staff for a time and was a hitting coach for the Mariners for one year. All of that experience is at least a decade old, however. He was on Gardenhire’s bench this past season. Mientkiewicz has not held a field manager/coach job above Class A.
     
    From all accounts, Lovullo has a baseball mind and eye for detail that may not be quite on par with Molitor’s, but isn’t all that far behind it.
     
    He not only is “open” to new ideas, he has a history of actively seeking them out.
     
    Based strictly on a managerial/coaching résumé, there doesn’t appear to be much doubt that Lovullo is more qualified, right now, to be a big league manager.
     
    But we all know this choice doesn’t just come down to that factor. We knew it when Terry Ryan told the media that he would be looking at both internal and external candidates, that what was important was finding the “right” person, but that, “ideally,” that choice would come from inside the organization. We’ve known it all along.
     
    Here is what Lovullo does not have:
    Experience as a Major League manager
    Significant successful Major League playing experience (Lovullo was, in today’s parlance, a “replacement level player,” who saw big league time as a utility infielder in eight seasons, but played in over 100 games just once, putting up a .224 career batting average)
    Direct experience within the Twins organization

    The first two points are really not factors at all. None of this group of finalists has big league manager experience and I think history has pretty much borne out that experience as a player in the majors is not predictive of success as a manager. He successfully climbed the ladder and reached “the Show.” That should be all the credibility he needs with a group of young players who have been doing the exact same thing.
     
    But then there is the final bullet point.
     
    And really, that’s what we knew it would come down to all along, isn’t it?
     
    An objective look at the qualifications of these three guys (albeit an outsider’s look, given that we aren’t privy to information in background checks or reference checks, etc.) would seem to tell us Torey Lovullo is the most qualified of the group to manage in the Major Leagues.
     
    But will Terry Ryan and the rest of the Twins’ leadership really be comfortable turning over the manager’s office to an outsider – someone who they have absolutely zero experience dealing with outside of a job interview that reportedly went extremely well?
     
    If Mientkiewicz doesn’t get the job, he’ll almost certainly remain in the organization, either back in Fort Myers or in Chattanooga, most likely.
     
    But if Molitor doesn’t get the gig, there is probably some serious doubt as to whether he would remain in the Twins organization at all. Make no mistake, he has been a valuable resource in the roles he’s played with the Twins, whether as a roving minor league instructor or a coach with the Twins. Passing him over may cost the organization that resource, altogether.
     
    Given the competition he’s up against, I don’t see Mientkiewicz getting this job. I think it’s down to Molitor and Lovullo.
     
    When it comes right down to making that decision, I don’t think Ryan and Jim Pohlad will give the position to even a highly qualified outsider. I think we’ll be seeing Paul Molitor named the manager within the next week or so.
     
    If that’s the case, I’m fine with it. I like Molitor and I think he could be successful in the role, given the right coaching staff and resources (both in terms of players and technology) to compete.
     
    Choosing Lovullo, on the other hand, would not only surprise me, but give me a little extra optimism that things at One Twins Way are actually changing and while I already have considerable respect for Terry Ryan, making this sort of choice will significantly raise that level of respect.
     
    It would be an uncharacteristic choice. It would be a bold choice.
     
    It also, I am coming around to believing, would be the right choice.
  3. Steven Buhr
    The Minnesota Twins are holding their annual “organizational meetings” in Fort Myers this week. As newsworthy baseball stories go, that bit of information ranks quite a bit below the MLB postseason games and their seemingly nightly extra-inning games and walk-off finishes.
     
    What exactly are the organizational meetings? Well, in Hollywood’s version of Moneyball, you may remember seeing Brad Pitt as Oakland General Manager Billy Beane gathering a few guys around a table in a room and tossing out names of players they might want to pursue acquiring for the following season. That may have fit screenwriter Aaron Sorkin’s needs, but it doesn’t come close to meeting the needs of a real life professional baseball organization.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/ToDoList.jpg
    Reports have estimated that as many as 100 members of the Twins staff may participate in the meetings this week. That may seem like a lot of people, but the Twins have a lot of work to do.
     
    The Twins hold these meetings every October, but this year’s gathering could be the most critical such gathering in years.
     
    Over the coming days, weeks and months, the Twins need to
    Hire a new manager for the first time in over a decade.
    Work with said new manager to assemble a seven-person big league level coaching staff.
    Assign manager and coaching duties to every level of minor league affiliate.
    Determine which, if any, of their minor league free agents to attempt to retain.
    Determine at which minor league level to place a significant number of their top young prospects to start 2015.
    Determine whether to offer arbitration to a few members of their current big league roster.
    Identify potential MLB level free agents and/or trade targets to pursue once the World Series is completed.

    Some of the items on that to-do list are not common tasks for this organization, but even for some of those that are on the list every postseason, the stakes this year have risen significantly.
     
    First order of business: Identify and hire a new manager
     
    When it comes to deciding who should manage the Twins in 2015 and beyond, a seeming significant majority of fans agreed on one thing – it shouldn’t be Ron Gardenhire. OK, that group (which included me) got their wish. Gardenhire will not manage the Twins going forward.
     
    There is far less of a consensus concerning who SHOULD manage the Twins and, obviously, that’s a far more important question than simply coming to an agreement on who should not.
     
    A fair number of fans seem to feel that anyone the Twins could pick would be better than Gardy. I beg to differ.
     
    Say what you will about the man who managed the Twins for the past 13 years, every year there were MLB managers who were worse at their job than was Ron Gardenhire. Some of those managers were newly hired by their organization. Some were getting their first opportunity to manage at the big league level.
     
    Of all of the confirmed candidates, both internal and external to the Twins organization, that have been identified by the media, exactly one of them would not be making his MLB managing debut on Opening Day 2015 if he is hired by the Twins.
     
    The Twins have had just two managers since Ronald Reagan second term as the US President wrapped up. That can lead fans to feel a certain level of complacency, as if it’s unlikely or even impossible for the Twins to make a bad hire. But they can and they have. Ray Miller, who preceded Tom Kelly in the job, managed just 239 games for the Twins before being axed.
     
    As was the case when Miller was hired back in 1985, the Twins are widely viewed as being on the cusp of a new era of competitiveness, with a number of highly touted young prospects nearing completion of their minor league apprenticeships. Making a bad hire could dangerously impede the club’s reemergence in to relevancy in the American League Central Division.
     
    I agree with Terry Ryan. It’s not important if the new manager comes from within the organization or from the outside; whether he has prior experience or not; whether he is multi-lingual or struggles just to speak coherent English.
     
    What matters is that the choice is the right choice. Unfortunately, there’s no way to know with certainty whether that’s the case immediately (though I think we can pretty much be certain that a significant – and vocal - segment of the fan base will think it is not the right choice, regardless of the final decision).
     
    Assembling a big league coaching staff
     
    While not as highly visible as their selection of a manager, the final make-up of the Twins’ MLB coaching staff is arguably as important. The manager has to run the clubhouse and make out the line-up card and deal with the media and be the public face of the team. But it’s his coaching staff that will spend far more time working with directly with the next generation of Twins players.
     
    When you look at the names of the players likely to wear Twins uniforms for the next several years, it’s not hard to project that as many as one-third of them in any given year will be Latin American natives. Some of them speak passable English. Many do not. It’s easy to say, “they should be learning English,” and – over time – they will. But even above the obvious need for coaches who can communicate with these players in their own language, it’s equally important to have coaches familiar with the culture from which those players have come.
     
    I hope the next Twins manager is more open to using advanced metrics in his game-day decisions (or at the very least, is far less openly dismissive of the idea). But let’s be honest, no manager has the time to pour over all of the information that’s going to be available to him and determine which is helpful how to apply it every day.
     
    That makes it just as critical to have coaches who have experience doing exactly that and, where they don’t have such experience, they have minds open to learning and applying new things.
     
    Finally, Tom Brunansky certainly appears to have done a good job as hitting coach and if the Twins don’t move quickly to retain him, I think they risk losing him to another organization. I would hate to see that happen.
     
    Minor league assignments
     
    For the past few years, the Twins have pretty much nibbled at the edges when it comes to making adjustments to their staff of minor league managers and coaches. They’ve moved a couple guys around every year, but largely there has been a fair amount of consistency at every level, from non-complex rookie ball at Elizabethton through AAA in Rochester.
     
    That’s normal when you have stability among the big league staff and, given the highly acclaimed status of the Twins minor league organization, you would perhaps like to see such stability continue.
     
    But when there are eight spots at the big league level open, it’s hard to imagine we won’t see some of those openings filled from within the current minor league managing/coaching ranks.
     
    Ray Smith has been managing at rookie level Elizabethton for 13 consecutive years (21 years overall) and is likely to continue there, but it would not be hard to imagine Gene Glynn (AAA), Jeff Smith (AA), Doug Mientkiewicz (hi-A) or Jake Mauer (A) in the Twins dugout next season. Two of them, Glynn and Mientkiewicz, have interviewed for the manager vacancy, an indication of how highly the Twins think of both men, while Smith and Mauer have each been managing in the Twins organization for longer than Glynn and Mientkiewicz, combined.
     
    If the Twins hire a manager from outside the organization, that manager is likely to bring in a few additional outsiders with him. If the Twins hire from inside the organization, one might hope that they similarly insist that the new manager include some outside blood among his staff.
     
    But in any event, given the Twins’ history of rewarding loyalty, it is almost impossible to imagine a Twins big league coaching staff without the presence of some number of coaches from within. That may well include one or more current minor league manager or coach, especially considering that they all will be familiar faces and voices to most of the Twins prospects due to arrive in the big leagues over the next couple of years.
     
    By and large, most of the field managers and coaches in the minor league organization look to advance up the organizational ladder, just like the players do. When there are wholesale coaching changes made at the big league level, it would be at least mildly surprising if there were not similar adjustments to the minor league assignments.
     
    Just as is the case with players, some of the staff may move up, some may look at the new landscape and decide their paths to the big leagues might be more open in another organization and, unfortunately, some will not be retained by the Twins, as minor league hitting coordinator Bill Springman and Fort Myers pitching coach Gary Lucas have already found out.
     
    Some fans have become so disgruntled with the Twins' lack of success at the big league level that they will be satisfied with nothing less than a clean sweep of every manager and coach in the Twins' system.
    That's not going to happen, nor should it.
     
    The Twins may indeed have become too insular and every organization benefits from adding quality people from the outside. Organizations also benefit from identifying and promoting quality people from within.
     
    The Twins are in a unique situation this offseason in that they have room in the organization to do both.
  4. Steven Buhr
    It's the offseason, so that means we are already deep in thought and discussion concerning 2015 roster construction for the Minnesota Twins.
     
    I reserve the right to change my mind, of course, but my preliminary thought on the subject has resulted in a conclusion I wasn't expecting.
     
    Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano should both be Minnesota Twins on Opening Day 2015.
     
    True, General Manager Terry Ryan has some time before he has to give much thought to such an un-Twins-like idea.
     
    (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    Ryan can spend October finding a manager, gathering with his staff for organizational meetings in Florida and putting together a minor league field management organization.
     
    But when the final out is made in this year's World Series, it's time to get serious about this roster. When he does, maybe Buxton and Sano should part of his plan.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Buxton31.jpg
    Byron Buxton

    My thoughts aren't firmly in place yet, but it occurs to me that, if we're all so certain that the Twins' GM needs to think a bit differently than he has in the past when it comes to hiring a manager and coaching staff, maybe it's time to think a bit differently about how he treats his future superstars, too.
     
    So, even if you think I've lost my mind (and I may ultimately conclude the same thing), hear me out for a moment.
     
    I think most Twins fans would like to see improvement in two specific areas next season.
     
    First, as seems to always be the case, we want another top-tier starting pitcher. Maybe Ricky Nolasco will bounce back or maybe he won't. If he doesn't, Phil Hughes is going to need help at the top of the rotation. Even if Nolasco does rebound, I'd love to have him as my #3 starter rather than my #2, if I could land a bigger fish in the offseason.
     
    The second area of relative consensus is that the outfield must improve.
     
    The Twins scored enough runs in 2014 to be a competitive baseball team. They simply didn't keep opponents from crossing the plate nearly enough. If the starting pitching was problem number 1A, the outfield defense was certainly 1B.
     
    Fixing the starting pitching is easy enough. You shell out the money to lure one of the top free agent starters. If you're not willing to do that, you might reach for another Phil Hughes-type, but I'm not enthused about that approach. I think you go for the top guys or you just load up Trevor May and Alex Meyer to go with Hughes, Nolasco and Kyle Gibson and get Jose Berrios ready for an early call-up when it becomes necessary.
     
    As tired as we all are of losing 90 games, making a managerial changes takes a little bit of pressure off in terms of the 2015 season. For the first time in about three years, you don't enter the season with the staff coaching for their professional lives.
     
    So, if you can't (or won't) add a true difference-maker to your rotation, you can simply accelerate the advancement of those minor leaguers that you feel are closest to being ready.
     
    Which brings us to the outfield dilemma.
     
    The outfield situation is only a dilemma because of Byron Buxton. Without his presence looming, you could address the outfield just like you do the starting pitching - go out and get the best guy you can buy or trade for on the market.
     
    But Buxton's presence means (1) the Twins won't add someone on a high-dollar long-term deal that would "block" Buxton, and (2) no centerfielder on the free agent market with designs on a long-term deal is going to want to come to Minnesota, anyway.
     
    That appears to leave the Twins with two options. Either they identify a short-term solution they can sign/trade for or they keep the status quo, using Jordan Schafer or Danny Santana until Buxton is deemed ready for prime time.
     
    With expectations dampened and a new manager in the dugout, however, maybe it's time to just say, "screw development," and throw Byron Buxton out there right from the start.
     
    And while you're at it, do the same thing with Miguel Sano.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/SanoST11-742x1024.jpg
    Miguel Sano

    These two guys are going to be the cornerstones of the Twins for years to come, so why not just get them in the game right now? Sure, they'll struggle. But if they don't arrive until 2016, you have to assume they'll struggle some, then, too.
     
    Okay, I know, we can think of a number of reasons NOT to do this. They both essentially lost their entire 2014 seasons to injury and there is no assurance either player is really ready to face Major League pitching.
     
    The specter of Aaron Hicks' two years of near-abject failure, after being pushed up to the big leagues prematurely, looms over the organization. And he came up after spending almost twice as much time as Sano at AA, a level Buxton hasn't technically completed a full game at, much less a season.
     
    You certainly wouldn't want to damage the psyches of Buxton or Sano by having them fail miserably.
     
    But you know what? From what I've seen of these two guys, I don't think we have to worry about their psyches. Both players know what their destinies are and they aren't going to let a little bit of a learning curve keep them from getting where they know they belong in this game.
     
    We have seen how they address new challenges.
     
    They see. They learn. They adjust.
     
    Then they dominate.
     
    So, maybe the Twins should just skip the whole, "what do we do to improve the outfield until Buxton gets here," era and put the guy in centerfield.
     
    Maybe you take them aside and say, "Guys, if you're healthy in April, you're going to be Minnesota Twins. You may perform like Kennys Vargas or you may look more like Aaron Hicks, but you're going to stay in Minnesota. You will not be sent back to the minors. From this point forward, you are Major League baseball players. Now get to work and act like it."
     
    The thing is, you can't wait until spring training to make this decision. It wouldn't be fair to Trevor Plouffe.
     
    If Sano is going to step in as your primary third baseman, Plouffe needs to spend some time this winter learning to play left field. Maybe he and Joe Mauer could learn together.
     
    For that matter, I'd tell Sano to go out there and shag some fly balls, too, because I'm not convinced the Twins won't discover they're better off defensively with Sano in the outfield and Plouffe at the hot corner.
     
    But one way or another, maybe Buxton and Sano should be in the Opening Day line up.
     
    Imagine for a moment:
     
    Buxton CF
    Dozier 2B
    Mauer 1B
    Vargas DH
    Sano LF/3B
    Arcia RF
    Plouffe 3B/LF
    Escobar/Santana SS
    Suzuki C
     
    I'd buy tickets to see that line up, no matter who the starting pitcher is. I bet a few other people would, too.
  5. Steven Buhr
    Over a week ago, I wrote about what I would do if I owned the Minnesota Twins, including giving my GM instructions to fire his manager. Obviously, Jim Pohlad not only read my article, but took it to heart because less than a week later, Ron Gardenhire was out as manager of the Twins.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/TRyan2014c.jpg
    GM Terry Ryan

    In the days since that announcement, speculation has been rampant concerning who the next manager might be.
     
    For his part, General Manager Terry Ryan said he would cast a wide net. He indicated he would look inside and outside the organization and that "diversity" would be a factor, both for the manager position and, ultimately, for the Twins' coaching staff (further evidence that my advice, which included instructions for adding more Latin American coaches, was being followed almost to the letter).
     
    (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    It occurs to me, now, that I may have done a disservice to the Twins GM in my earlier article. I honestly didn't expect Twins ownership to follow my advice. Heck, I didn't even know Pohlad was one of my loyal readers.
     
    Had I known how quickly he would take my advice to heart and act on it, I would have includes advice to Ryan on how to go about replacing Gardenhire. But I didn't. My bad.
     
    But today, I'm going to rectify that oversight. Better late than never, right?
     
    The Twins are a tight-knit organization. Rare is the case when something involving the internal workings of the front office reaches the public until the top dogs in that office want it to.
     
    How do you know when they want the public to know something? Just assume that if you're reading it, they want you to know it. You'll be correct 99% of the time.
     
    So here's what the Twins want us to know about their manager search, so far:
     
    Paul Molitor and Doug Mientkiewicz have been interviewed, Molitor more than once. Both are serious candidates for the job. Gene Glynn will be interviewed. Ozzie Guillen will not. That's about all of it.
     
    You know what? Molitor, Mientkiewicz and Glynn would all, in my opinion, have the potential to be excellent choices. If Terry Ryan introduces one of them as the next manager on Monday morning, you won't find me yielding a pitchfork and marching on Target Field.
     
    But it would be wrong.
     
    To explain, allow me to digress briefly and talk about Iowa Hawkeyes football - specifically the head coaching job at Iowa.
     
    A lot of Hawkeye fans love long-time coach Kirk Ferentz. A lot of Hawkeye fans would like to see Ferentz replaced. But, a good number of those fans have an unrealistic view of the Iowa program and the kind of coaching candidates the Iowa job might attract. Iowa is not Alabama, USC or Ohio State. You would not get top tier coaches tripping over themselves to take over the Iowa program. You would have to either hire from within or hire a lower tier outside candidate who has not yet proven himself.
     
    In other words, when you talk about replacing Kirk Ferentz at Iowa, you'd better be careful what you wish for.
     
    But here's the thing: The Minnesota Twins are not in that position.
     
    Sure, they've had 90+ losses for four straight years. That might seem like the kind of thing that would relegate the organization to a position where they have to be satisfied with the left-overs after the good teams in Major League Baseball decide who they want as their manager.
     
    However, "good" MLB teams already have their managers in place. It's not like there are going to be teams in the postseason immediately letting their managers go the day after their seasons end.
     
    Manager candidates are being interviewed in a number of locations across baseball, but each of those teams has one thing in common - they played bad baseball in 2014.
     
    Currently, there are three managerial openings: the Texas Rangers, the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Twins. I wouldn't be surprised to see the Milwaukee Brewers added to that list in coming days, but as things stand right now, the Twins' 92 losses are the fewest among teams currently interviewing for a new manager.
     
    The Minnesota Twins should be choice number 1 for anyone with designs on landing a big league manager's job in 2015.
     
    Texas and Arizona have had front office disruptions in recent years. In Arizona, your new General Manager was a player agent a couple weeks ago and will be reporting to an executive who was a Hall of Fame caliber manager. In both locations, the manager is going to have multiple bosses looking over his shoulder, all of which likely believe they could do your job better than you do (and in at least one case, he'd probably be right).
     
    Arizona and Texas don't have terrible talent. They have some guys who know how to to play baseball and they have minor league organizations considered to be at least average in terms of the talent moving through the pipeline. (It's that dreary farm system of the Brewers that anyone considering a run at a potential Milwaukee opening should be wary of.)
     
    Arizona is going to be rebuilding and trying to compete in a division with the Giants, who field perennial championship level teams, and the Dodgers, who are clearly committed to leaving the New York Yankees in the dust when it comes to being willing to spend money to buy championships.
     
    The Rangers "only" have to deal with the Angels and A's, I guess.
     
    The Twins, on the other hand, had one of the top ranked farm systems in baseball heading in to 2014 and have a General Manager about whom their owner has stated that he'd be the GM for as long as he wants to remain in the job. That GM leads an organization that has demonstrated loyalty (to a fault, some might say) to managers.
     
    The Tigers are aging and the Royals' postseason run assures that they'll retain Ned Yost as manager, which virtually assures that you won't be viewed as the worst manager in your division, no matter what.
     
    Who, in his right mind, would prefer one of the other open positions over the Twins' job?
     
    Which, finally, brings us to this advice for Terry Ryan:
     
    You need to get this right. That's not only the most important thing, it's the only important thing, in this process. And here's the process:
     
    Step 1 - Talk to those in baseball you respect and ask them who they believe are the top 3 potential managers in all of baseball not currently under contract to manage another MLB team. Then make your own list of the top half dozen names or so.
     
    Step 2 - Interview everybody on that list and identify those that not only are likely to succeed in 2015, but have a, "you never stop learning," approach to life in general and baseball in particular, which you can envision allowing him to lead your team to success for the next decade. Ask each of them to tell you what they've learned about the game of baseball in the past two years that they didn't know before. Anyone who can't give you a number of ways in which they have expanded their baseball knowledge in that time should immediately be crossed off your list.
     
    Step 3 - Rank your candidates after interviewing all of them, and not before.
     
    Step 4 - Hire the name at the top of your list.
     
    It's really that simple.
     
    Don't get lost in a quagmire of details like how many years of experience they have as a manager at the big league level or at the minor league level or as a coach in the big leagues or whether their players liked them or not. Everyone who has coached/managed at any level has players who liked them and players who didn't. Every one of them has success stories - and has failed at something.
     
    Just act like you are the General Manager offering the best managerial opportunity in baseball and you are entitled to hire the best managerial candidate. You deserve that. The Twins deserve that.
     
    Twins fans deserve nothing less.
  6. Steven Buhr

    If I Owned the Twins

    By Steven Buhr,

    I’ve been a bit out of touch with Twinsville for a couple of weeks as I’ve had some business travel and other non-Twins-related matters to occupy most of my time.
     
    I did catch up a bit on my Twins reading in the past day or so, however, and – well – let’s just say I’ve been much more interested in the writing about the Twins than I have been with what’s transpired on the field with the Twins.
     
    I read the columns by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s baseball writers and columnists recently, in which they were asked to share their ideas concerning what the Twins need to do to “fix” the sorry state of affairs at Target Field.
     
    Jim Souhan believes manager Ron Gardenhire has to go.
     
    Patrick Reusse believes the Twins need coaches who relate better to the increasing (and increasingly important) Latino segment of their roster.
     
    LaVelle E. Neal wants the Twins to do whatever it takes to add an “ace” at the top of their rotation.
     
    Phil Miller says, as hard as it may be to do so, the answer is patience, as we await the imminent arrival of some outstanding young prospects.
     
    Their respective articles reflect opinions I think we’ve all heard voiced many times as this fourth consecutive 90-loss season has been completing its death spiral.
     
    The only near unanimous opinion is, as TwinsDaily’s Nick Nelson penned this week, “The Twins Have a Problem.”
     
    After doing all that reading, I paused and contemplated what it must be like right now to be Jim Pohlad.
     
    I honestly believe he’s embarrassed by what his team has become – an irrelevant organization. The Twins are irrelevant among their MLB brethren. They are irrelevant within the Minnesota professional sports scene.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/PohladRyanStPeter.jpg
    Owner Jim Pohlad, GM Terry Ryan and President Dave St. Peter (photo: SD Buhr)

    Say what you will about the Pohlad family, they did not get to where they are in life by being irrelevant.
     
    I began to wonder what was going through the Twins’ owner’s mind these days as he prepares for, perhaps, the most difficult offseason since the passing of his father, Carl. Maybe Jim is asking himself, “WWCD?” What Would Carl Do?
     
    Naturally, that led me to ponder what I would do if I were in Pohlad’s shoes. What steps would I take to make sure I never, ever, felt like this going in to an offseason again.
     
    One awful season was an unpleasant aberration. Two was uncomfortable. Three was painful. Four is… I don’t even know, but you wouldn’t want to be around me much if I owned a team with the record of abject failure that the Twins have had so far this decade.
     
    I thought all four of the Strib’s writers had good thoughts. I also believe there isn’t a single one of those ideas that would satisfy me if I owned the Twins.
     
    If the four Strib guys worked for me and came to my office with those ideas, here’s what I’d say:
     
    I think you’ve all made valid points. But here’s my problem.
     
    Patience, Phil? I’ve been patient for three years. Don’t talk to me about prospects. Until they prove themselves at Target Field, those guys are nothing but business assets. They represent fluxuating inventory with short shelf lives. You’re not asking me to be patient, you’re asking me to be comatose.
     
    You want me to buy (in money or prospects) an ‘ace,’ LaVelle. Great idea. I’ve been telling my General Manager to feel free to spend more money on whatever he thinks will improve this team. But we can’t force players to sign with us and pretty much every long term, big money, contract for an ‘ace’ that has been signed has turned out to be a bad contract for the team. And I may not be in love with prospects, but I’m not going to give them away in return for an aging pitcher who my stat buddies tell me has seen his best days behind him. If my GM can find an ‘ace’ available on the market who is willing to come to our town or one with enough tread on the tire left to be counted on for a few years of ace-hood that’s available for any trade even close to reasonable, we’ll go get him.
     
    Jim, I really don’t think any manager in history could have won half his games the past four years with the collection of has-beens, wanna-bes and never-weres wearing a Twins uniform, so if you really believe firing Ron Gardenhire is going to fix things, you know a lot less about baseball than most baseball fans. And that’s a tough bar to get under.
     
    Pat, same for you. I think it makes a lot of sense to have more of a Latin-American presence in the clubhouse. But do you think having a dozen Latino coaches would make this team a winner? I don’t. By the way, between the four of you guys, there must be about a zillion years of covering baseball between you, right? How’s your Spanish? I think every coach in our organization should learn Spanish, but I also think every media member who covers baseball should, too, and until you do, you’ve got very little room to criticize.
     
    The problem is that none of your ideas will fix things. Not if that’s all we do.
     
    Our fans aren’t stupid enough to believe that any one player, no matter how good he is, will turn this team in to a contender. Not if he’s a current Tigers ace, LaVelle, and not if he’s a near-certain future Hall of Fame center fielder who hasn’t completed a full game (much less a season) above high-A ball, Phil.
     
    Many of them want Gardy gone. I understand that. But even the Gardy haters don’t really believe replacing him will turn a 90-loss team in to a 90-win team. Replacing even an unpopular manager won’t put butts back in the seats and replacing his staff with five guys from Venezuela won’t, either.
     
    So, no, we’re not going to do a single one of these things.
     
    We’re going to do all of them.
     
    And more.
     
    That's when I would thank that Strib guys for their time, give them some drink tickets and send them to Hrbeks for a couple of refreshments while I talk to my President and General Manager.
     
    With Dave St. Peter and Terry Ryan in my offices, here's what I lay out for them.
     
    Gentlemen, the good news for you is that neither of you are fired. Yet.
     
    But I’m tired of losing. I’m tired of losing games and I’m tired of losing fans. And you two may think I don’t know crap about baseball, but I suspect that just maybe losing games and losing fans might be related.
     
    Terry, I tried to tell you a year ago that I was tired of people telling me I’m cheap and won’t spend money for top talent. Some bozo on the internet even made up a parable about it. I want you to go read it and then, Terry, use the damn ladder!
     
    I’ve got a list of the top 20 starting pitchers in baseball, ranked by some goofy thing called WAR. By the date season tickets have to be renewed, one of those guys is going to be working for me, Terry – or you won’t be. Do we understand one another?
     
    Speaking of people working for me, you’re going to go tell Ron Gardenhire that he doesn’t. At least not as my manager.
     
    Gardy’s a helluva guy and he’s had some good days as our manager. We’ll give him a nice watch, but I don’t believe he’s the guy to lead this team for the next 10 years and neither do our fans. Who you hire is your business. I’m just telling you who you’re going to fire.
     
    I take that back, I am going to tell you a little bit about who you’re going to hire.
     
    When spring training opens, I want at least two Latino members on the bench staff.
     
    I mean it, Terry. And I’m not talking about a couple guys who took Spanish class in junior high. I’m going to send Tony Oliva to talk to whoever you hire and they’d better be able to keep up with him in a conversation.
     
    Every company in every industry in this country has been getting on the diversity bandwagon for years. Everyone figured out long ago that having management that can communicate in Spanish is critical to attracting and retaining top Spanish speaking employees. I don’t know why you haven’t figured this out on your own yet, but now I’m telling you.
     
    One more thing, Terry.
     
    If they’re healthy, Alex Meyer, Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton will open 2015 with the Twins. How do I know? I heard all about it in the giant advertising campaign that St. Peter and the marketing folks are putting together the moment he walks out of this meeting. Right Dave?
     
    That ad is going to run on the local affiliate carrying the Super Bowl. I want everyone in town talking about the Twins the next day and I want them buying tickets. Lots of tickets.
     
    Dave, I keep reading about how attendance is going to drop next year. I’m telling you that it won’t. If it does, the attendance in your office will drop by one.
     
    Our season ticket holders have been paying Major League prices for minor league performance for four years. I don’t care how far you have to slash prices, you put butts in the seats.
     
    Next summer, people may call us crazy for what we’ve done. They may say we’ve lost our minds. But if they’re still saying the Twins are irrelevant, you two will not be calling me your boss.
     
    Give my love to your families.
     
    And then I think I'd take a very long cruise around the world on a very large boat and look forward to seeing what my team looked like when I got back.
  7. Steven Buhr
    The Minnesota Twins' front office is going to be faced with making some difficult decisions this offseason - decisions they are woefully ill-prepared to make.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/GardenhireBrunansky2012.jpg
    Ron Gardenhire and Tom Brunansky (photo: Knuckleballs)

    Many professional sports organizations change their on-field management at least as often as they change accounting firms. It's just part of the way they do business. When you lose more games than you win for a couple years in a row, you change managers/head coaches and even front office leadership.
     
    It just becomes second nature. Much the way swimming becomes second nature to anyone who has spent much time in the water.
     
    But the very idea of changing field management/coaching staff must, for the Twins ownership and front office, seem as incomprehensible as diving off a cliff in to a river would be to someone who doesn't know how to swim.
     

     
    For those of you who don't know how that scene of Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid turned out, both outlaws survived their jump and their trip down river just fine and lived happily ever after (at least until they decided to move to Bolivia).
     
    The most famous quote from that movie scene is, "the fall will probably kill you." But, for the Twins' purposes, I'd focus on Butch's earlier point. "We've got to, otherwise we're dead."
     
    I think the same is true of the Twins if they foolishly decide to keep the status quo regarding their field management.
     
    I know that changing managers and coaching staff just is not something the people who run the Twins are comfortable with.
     
    They know the guys they have. They may not be winning much, but they HAVE won in the past, so they MIGHT win again, no matter how hopelessly unlikely that may seem to be at the moment.
     
    If the people who run the Twins decide to (shudder) make changes, there is no guarantee that the new guys will be any better. After all, how many people in the Twins front office have actually gone swimming in the deep waters that go along with the process of interviewing candidates for a Major League manager?
     
    Figuratively, they don't know how to swim!
     
    At some point, though, they're going to have to realize that NOT taking that leap means the organization is almost certain to continuing their current death spiral. Once you consider that the worst thing that can happen when you take that big jump off a cliff is the same thing that's going to happen if you don't, it's really not that hard to just holler, "Ohhhhh (expletive)," and make the leap.
     
    Once you've taken the leap and decided you will not simply go on doing business the same way you have for the past three decades, you can get down to the business of figuring out who is best suited to turn the next group of raw-but-talented young ballplayers in to a contending Major League team.
     
    Maybe it's someone on the Twins' current big league bench, such as Paul Molitor or Tom Brunansky. Maybe it's one of the organization's excellent full-season minor league managers (all four of which guided their respective team to a winning record in 2014, by the way). Maybe it's someone from outside the Twins organization altogether.
     
    But first things first.
     
    If they haven't already, the Twins' decision makers need to conclude that there is literally nothing that can happen that would be any worse than continuing to fight it out with the status quo.
     
    To do so would send a terrible message to a fan base who simply will not tolerate another do-nothing offseason and continue to buy tickets for a 2015 season that does not come with the benefit of All-Star Game tickets.
    There is a lot of talent set to arrive at Target Field in the next couple years. Names, both familiar and unfamiliar to Twins fans, like Buxton, Sano, Meyer, Berrios, Polanco, Gordon, Burdi, Kepler, Harrison, Kanzler, Stewart, Thorpe, Gonsalves, Turner, Garver, Walker and many more, could well become cornerstones of the next great Minnesota Twins team.
     
    The class of Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, Baker, et al, has been wasted. We could discuss "why" this class failed to bring a championship to Minnesota, but that's pointless.
     
    What matters now is making sure that the upcoming class is not similarly wasted and that process begins with asking ourselves who would be the best choices as manager and field coaches to get the most of their talent.
     
    I'm not sure who that person is, though I certainly have some favorites among the likely possibilities.
     
    What I think has become abundantly clear, however, is that manager Ron Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson are not the right choices.
     
    The decision to dismiss them is not easy for a front office like that of the Twins.
     
    I respect that, actually. Letting go of loyal and, at times, effective employees should not be easy - certainly not as easy as it seems to be for many owners and General Managers in professional sports.
     
    But sometimes, it's absolutely necessary.
     
    Even the most devoted fans of Gardy and Andy in the front office must, by now, be having a hard time envisioning that duo effectively leading the upcoming group of 20-year-olds to championships.
     
    With fresh talent, fresh eyes and fresh approaches are necessary. It's possible (and perhaps even quite likely) that Gardenhire and Anderson could provide that fresh approach to another organization. I hope they can (as long as it's not in the AL Central), because I think they're good men who know something about baseball.
     
    But just as a young Tom Kelly was the perfect fit for a young group of Twins in the mid-late 1980s, it's time to find new management to work with the next wave of young Twins.
     
    There's no reason to wait another year, prolonging the inevitable.
     
    It's time for the Twins' front office and ownership to take the leap off that cliff and live to fight another day.
     
    (Just don't move the team to Bolivia. That would not end well.)
  8. Steven Buhr
    Tuesday night's Cedar Rapids Kernels come-from-behind win over the Quad Cities River Bandits was bittersweet.
     
    On the one hand, they tallied three runs in the home half of the eighth inning and put away the Bandits for their eighth straight win. They swept three games in Beloit last week, three more from Peoria in Cedar Rapids over the weekend, and now the first two games of their series with the Bandits. The team also played to near-capacity home crowds on Friday and Saturday night.
     
    On the other hand, Kohl Stewart, the Twins' first round draft pick in 2013 and a key member of the Kernels' rotation all season long, left the game during the second inning with an as-yet-undetermined ailment. Regardless of the ultimate cause, it's a pretty safe bet Stewart has thrown his last pitch for this Cedar Rapids club in 2014.
     
    Stewart was one of the few bright spots for the Kernels during a challenging first half of the season. He notched a 2.44 ERA over the course of a dozen starts prior to the Midwest League's All-Star break in mid June.
     
    The Kernels finished sixth among the MWL Western Division's eight teams in the first half race with a 31-39 record, 14 games behind the first half West champion Kane County Cougars and 7.6 games behind second-place Burlington.
     
    The Midwest League breaks their schedule in to two halves, with the top two teams in each division, in each half of the season, qualifying for the postseason.
     
    The Kernels have certainly taken advantage of the split season arrangement by turning their season around 180 degrees in the second half.
     
    With 13 games to play following Tuesday night's win, the Kernels sit one game behind Kane County in the MWL West's second-half standings.
     
    Since the Cougars clinched their playoff spot in the first half, however, it doesn't matter how the Kernels fare with them. What matters is that they finish among the top two teams in their Division who have not already qualified in the first half.
     
    Going in to Wednesday's series finale with Quad Cities, Cedar Rapids holds a six game lead over third place Wisconsin and a nine game lead over fourth place Peoria. That means their "magic number" for qualifying for the playoffs sits at 5.
     
    How did this happen? How did a team go from a 31-39 first-half record to a 36-21 record, so far, in the second half? Certainly, not many fans gave the Kernels much chance of making the playoffs two months ago.
     
    Their manager, Jake Mauer, and coaches Tommy Watkins and Ivan Arteaga, gave their thoughts on the subject on Sunday, which was three Kernels wins (and three Peoria losses) ago.
     
    "Pitching is probably number 1," said Mauer. "We’ve shaved a whole run off our (team) ERA. Obviously we’re a little different at the back end of the bullpen than we were early on."
     
    It hasn't all been improved pitching, however. Mauer also was quick to mention some newcomers to the offense that have contributed.
     
    "Some of the additions, obviously Logan Wade and (Alex) Swim have been huge. Max Murphy’s been a good addition," added the manager.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/P8170025-2-600x443.jpg
    Max Murphy

    The Kernels have lost some very good players, as well, of course. Several pitchers and position players have earned promotions to high-A Fort Myers, which is what led to the new players arriving in Cedar Rapids.
    Players coming and going is just part of minor league life.
     
    Mauer pointed out another pretty major difference between his club's first and second half fortunes.
    "We’re keeping guys healthy, like (Mitch) Garver and (Engelb) Vielma and guys like that," observed Mauer. "I think that really is the reason why we’re where we’re at.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/P8170011-2-600x450.jpg
    Engelb Vielma (1)

    "We went through a tough stretch there early. It seemed like somebody was going down every week. We’re still missing three of our top arms in our organization who are still down with surgery. Obviously, it gave a good opportunity to get up here to (Mat) Batts and (Chih-Wei) Hu and (Stephen) Gonsalves and (Lewis) Thorpe. They’ve really been holding down the majority of the big innings for us."
     
    Watkins, the Kernels hitting coach, echoes many of Mauer's thoughts.
     
    "I think we’ve stayed healthy, for the most part. It seemed like every other day we were losing somebody in the first half. But for the most part, outside of some minor bumps and bruises, we’ve been pretty healthy the second half."
    Watkins also sensed a change in the consistency of the team's performance.
     
    "In the beginning, we didn’t click on both sides. One day we would hit, we didn’t pitch. One day we would pitch, we didn’t hit," Watkins added. "Now it seems like we’re getting timely hitting, pitching. The defense is making some plays.
     
    "All the pitchers are doing well but we’ve got a few guys at the back end of that bullpen that have been pretty lights-out for us. We give those guys some leads and they’ve been pretty good lately."
     
    Watkins has seen a change in the clubhouse, as well as on the field.
     
    "I just think the overall confidence right now, the guys are a lot better. The guys are loose, they’re having fun with each other. We came in here the other day, they were doing Kangaroo Court with each other. They’re just having fun right now. They’re winning baseball games, so it’s been a lot of fun."
     
    There's little doubt that the biggest change in the Kernels' fortunes in the second half has come on the pitcher's mound. That being the case, it stands to reason that Arteaga, the Kernels pitching coach, would have a great deal of insight in to how those fortunes changed for the better in the season's second half.
     
    He summed up the reasons for the improvement in the club's pitching in two words, "Experience and chemistry."
     
    "They go hand in hand," he explained. "Early, we went through some growing pains, pitching wise."
     
    Arteaga noted that the team lost three highly rated young pitchers in the first half that the organization had been counting on to play big roles for the Kernels. Felix Jorge struggled and was sent back to extended spring training and, ultimately, to Elizabethton. Randy Rosario and Yorman Landa got hurt, ending their seasons.
     
    Pitchers that remained in Cedar Rapids also went through some rough patches early.
     
    "(Aaron) Slegers had a rough go for about a month," added the coach. "He was working on some stuff. (Ryan) Eades was learning a lot of things about the league and about himself. Our relievers went through some growing pains. We had Hudson Boyd - early, he was very good. He had a rough go for about three or four outings.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/P8170002-2-600x450.jpg
    Ryan Eades

    "So everybody’s learning. Like I said when I first got here, it is a process. They get to learn the league. They get to learn the hitters. They get to learn themselves. Work on a different pitch, work on the delivery. Work on some stuff.
     
    "It’s growing pains. Kids like Eades, you know, second round pick, he learned a lot this year. And you get a guy like Stewart - first round pick. He learned a lot this year. In the first half, you have a lot of learning to do. A lot of growing pains.
     
    "And we didn’t do that bad. Not what we wanted to, but we weren’t that bad."
     
    In the second half, though, the pitching went from, "not bad," to very, very good.
     
    "Then we got the new boys. We got Thorpe, we got Hu, we had Gonsalves, Batts, Burdi, Reed, Gallant. They brought a different mindset and obviously we’ve been doing very well."
     
    Arteaga also agrees with Watkins' observation that the success is reflected off the field as much as on.
     
    "I think that the learning, gaining some experience and at the same time, we’re winning. You see a different atmosphere in there ( the clubhouse). It’s a different environment. It’s chemistry. They like each other. They talk to each other. When you get that, which is chemistry, it shows on the field.
     
    "They come here every day with effort, with a purpose they have in mind. They know, they can feel the possibility of being in the playoffs - how great that’s going to be for the players to experience that. Some of them in their first year of full season. I hope that they actually embrace the possibility."
     
    If the players are excited about postseason possibilities, they aren't alone. Arteaga is right there with them.
    "Personally, I’m very excited by it because I went through a lot of things this year with these guys. To try to teach the pitchers the fundamentals of baseball, the fundamentals of pitching, pitch sequence, just the growing pains. And just the things you see, to me, it’s very rewarding.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/P8150251-2-600x449.jpg
    Stephen Gonsalves

    "I guarantee you that there’s not a better feeling than seeing these guys playing every day and understanding the moment. And going out and playing the way they played Peoria and the way they played on the road (in Beloit)."
     
    Of course, winning championships is great. But is winning really important for minor league affiliates?
    It's important, of course, to the local fans who want to see a winner. But some fans of the Major League affiliate see minor league games as little more than exhibition games, attaching little, if any, value to won-loss record.
     
    Arteaga clearly feels winning is important, but not necessarily the most important thing.
     
    "We (the Twins organization) have a philosophy. Basically, we want to develop winners. And the only way you can develop winners is by teaching the process, by teaching the fundamentals of baseball.
     
    "Now, we are very careful with the amount of innings, the activities that we do. Teaching the game the right way, the Twins way.
     
    "But one thing that we don’t do, is to go the extra mile to try to win. We want these guys to win, but I won’t pitch my guys two days in a row. I won’t pitch my guy 125 pitches because I want to win one game. We won’t do that. We have a program. That program works. It’s good. We stick to it. It is our job as coaches to teach these guys how to win. To motivate these guys every day."
     
    Make no mistake, though, talking about a playoff run brings a smile to the coach's face.
     
    "When you go to the postseason, there’s a difference," Arteaga concluded. "That’s what we want these guys to experience. When it’s only you. There’s nobody else playing, just you playing. (Others) going home. They’re going on American Airlines somewhere. You’re not. You’re still playing. That’s the beauty of postseason. You’re sending somebody else home and you’re playing. So that’s good."
  9. Steven Buhr
    There’s much about the game of baseball that never changes. Three strikes and you’re out. Bases are 90 feet apart.
     
    Then again, some aspects of the game are constantly adjusting to the times. Witness the amount of defensive shifting going on in Major League Baseball this season.
     
    You could say that one thing that never changes is that pitchers try to throw fastballs by opposing hitters.
     
    But the arsenal of pitches the pitchers use beyond the fastball seems to differ from one era to another.
     
    Pitchers in the first part of the 20th century could – and did – legally throw a spitball.
     
    Even after the spitter was outlawed, pitchers continued to do whatever they could get away with to gain an advantage over the batter. Roughing up the ball became popular.
     
    (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com.)
     
    Now umpires toss baseballs out of the game the moment there’s the slightest scuff noticed on the surface of the sphere.
     
    Even legal pitches have come in to, and fallen out of, favor among professional pitchers.
     
    Recently, writer Pat Jordan posted an article at SportsOnEarth.com entitled, The Decline of the Curve. Jordan talked to a number of big league pitching coaches about why fewer pitchers are throwing a curveball than was the case in previous eras.
     
    Some of the coaches he talked to indicated that their organizations dissuade pitchers from throwing the traditional curve and others indicated that they don’t teach the pitch to their pitchers.
     
    Since I’ve observed a number of Cedar Rapids Kernels pitchers throwing curveballs, I was curious about whether the Twins organization and, in particular, Kernels pitching coach Ivan Arteaga, have any established policy aimed at dissuading use of the curve or any other pitch.
     
    Over the past weekend, Arteaga graciously agreed to talk to me about the subject.
     
    I started out by asking whether the Twins have any kind of established policy concerning the subject of Jordan’s article, the curveball.
     
    “We actually encourage it,” Arteaga said. “We believe in having a complete mix. I believe, this is my opinion, mix creates value.
     
    “For example, I’ve got (Ricky) Nolasco this week here. He’s got five different pitches. Throws a slider, he throws a curve, he throws a split, he throws a straight change up, he’s got a two-seemer. And he throws low-90s.
     
    “We were having a conversation and one thing we agreed on was that pitchers in the big leagues actually have to reinvent themselves time and time again.
     
    “So that being said, the curve is a pitch that is high-to-low, 12-to-6, you name it. It’ll give you depth. It’ll make your fastball better. It’ll save your arm a little bit.
     
    “So we encourage it. If you have the curve, great. If you don’t, we’ll try to teach you one. Hopefully, you can get it."
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Arteaga2014a.jpg
    Ivan Arteaga

    Some of the coaches that talked to Jordan blamed the shrinking strike zone for the demise of the curveball. Sandy Koufax and Nolan Ryan could throw fastballs at the letters and get them called strikes, which set up their devastating curveballs.
     
    Umpires today won’t call that high pitch a strike and Arteaga agrees that the strike zone getting smaller has had an effect on the choices pitchers have made when it comes to their arsenal.
     
    “Over time, pitchers started to throw the change up more, moving back and forth,” Arteaga observed. “I remember in the 80s and 90s, the split finger fastball was the pitch to learn and then came the slider. That’s the pitch these days being taught.
     
    “Those pitches are basically strike zone down, strike zone right or strike zone left. The curve actually starts up away from the strike zone and it gets in to the strike zone at the end with some depth.
     
    “So if you have that pitch, the hitters are so used to looking for pitches in the strike zone, that once they see the ball go up, they give up on it. And then once they give up on it, it’s hard for them to actually make an adjustment and hit it. So they give up on it and you get some weak swings.
     
    Arteaga has a theory, beyond those that the coaches Jordan interviewed expressed, concerning why you see fewer pitchers throwing a curveball today.
     
    “This goes beyond professional baseball. Because in college, you get big programs, the same way you get big programs in Venezuela, Dominican and Puerto Rico, and so forth and so on. What creates value? The fastball.
     
    “Thirty-five or forty years ago you had to mix, you learned how to pitch. These days, you get kids that are 17-18 years old, they’re just fastball throwers. If they throw something else, it will be a change up and it will be a slider, because it’s easier to throw. But at the same time, it creates more stress on the shoulder and in the elbow."
     
    Jordan, in his article, claimed that the curveball actually is easier on the pitcher’s arm than other pitches, which goes against some conventional wisdom in the game. Arteaga agrees, however.
     
    “It’s less stressful. It’s not as stressful as the slider.” Arteaga explained. “What happens with the slider is, there’s some kids who believe the slider should be lateral – should be either right or left – it’s more sidewise than it is up and down. And for them to create that, they have to actually drag their arms a little bit.
     
    “So when they drag their arm a little, they get a lower angle. Once you want to make that ball spin, the elbow suffers a lot. So you get tight. Once you get tight, those muscles start to pull against those tendons. That’s when you get all the injuries.”
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ArteagaMildren.jpg
    Kernels pitching coach Ivan Arteaga and then-Kernels pitcher Ethan Mildren

    There has been talk among the fan base about the Twins limiting the number of sliders and similar pitches that some of their youngest pitching prospects throw in a game. The coach’s next comment perhaps sheds some light on that philosophy.
     
    “If you ask an 18-19 year old to pitch at a level like this,” Arteaga observed, “where he understands he has to come up with something more than the fastball, then he’ll throw the slider more than he should. He might not be ready to throw it, because he needs to mix.“
     
    Arteaga doesn’t necessarily see the curveball as the hardest pitch for his young pitchers to master.
     
    “The change up to me is like the last pitch to come in an arsenal,” Arteaga said. “There’s not many guys that have the feel for the change up and the repeatability for the change up. And so it’s easier to throw fastball-slider-fastball-cutter than become a fastball-slider-change up guy. So the change up is like the last pitch to come in to the arsenal.
     
    “It’s hard to repeat, because there’s a couple of things that come in to play,” he explained. “One is the grip. You have to find the perfect grip. And number two, you have to find a repeatable delivery, the same as the fastball. So you can get that extension out in front and the pronation to actually make the ball fade a little bit or go down as much as you can.
     
    “So you need to repeat it a lot. Almost as much as your fastball. You need to repeat it so you can get that same feeling, every time, of extension, pronation and arm speed.
     
    “Because if you ask any guy what they fear the most, it is to leave a fastball or change up or breaking ball up in the zone. They say, ‘I don’t want to do that,’ so what do they do? They develop a sinker, they develop a slider; anything they can do to make it go down.“
     
    Arteaga was asked about that split-fingered fastball that he acknowledged was all the rage 20 or so years ago. Does he, or do the Twins, teach splitter?
     
    “No, we don’t,” he answered quickly. “If you have one out of college or whatever and you can throw it, yeah, we’ll let you throw it. Why not? But we don’t encourage that.
     
    “We believe the less stress you put on the arm, the better it is. If you see the games on TV, in the big leagues, you don’t get that many guys throw the split finger fastballs any more. Maybe a few, but not what it used to be.
     
    “And it really has to be a good one for you to throw it in the big leagues, because they can see the seams. If it looks like a fastball, yes, you’ve got an advantage. Make it look like a fastball, in and out of the strike zone, you’re OK."
     
    As Arteaga alluded to earlier, Nolasco spent the better part of a week in Cedar Rapids, getting a pair of rehabilitation starts in with the Kernels. The interview came before Nolasco’s final Kernels appearance Sunday, but the coach liked what he saw of Nolasco leading up to that point.
     
    “He threw everything he’s got in the first outing so I expect the same in this one too. He got in to a jam a little bit there, and struck out a couple of guys. He looked like a big leaguer. Throwing his pitches down, making it go right, left, down.
     
    “Like Joe (Mauer) was saying, he’ll make it tough on hitters, when he’s right, he’ll make it tough because everything goes different directions and it’s the same motion.
     
    “Just seeing him throw in the bullpen, he’s got command, he’s got control. And he’s healthy, so hopefully he’ll be OK.“
     
    And did Arteaga’s young Kernels pitchers watch the way Nolasco went about his business?
     
    “Oh yeah. That’s the way it should be. They’re paying attention.“
  10. Steven Buhr
    In mid-June, after a brutal first half to their Midwest League season, the Cedar Rapids Kernels limped in to the MWL’s All-Star break with a 31-39 record, not only 14 games behind Western Division leader Kane County, but also 7.5 games behind the Burlington Bees.
     
    The latter is important because, in the world of Class A minor league baseball, seasons are split in to two halves, with the first and second place teams in each division, each half-season, earning berths in the postseason playoff series.
     
    Kane County and Burlington snatched the MWL West spots in the first half, leaving Cedar Rapids, Quad Cities, Clinton, Beloit, Peoria and Wisconsin to slug it out in the second half for two more spots, with each team starting with fresh 0-0 records on June 19.
     
    With Peoria, Wisconsin and Quad Cities all assembling winning records in the first half, it was logical to assume that those three teams would contend for the Western Division’s two second-half playoff spots – and they have been doing just that.
     
    Entering Wednesday, Peoria and Quad Cities were tied for second place in the Division’s second-half standings, trailing Kane County by just one game, and Wisconsin is two games back.
     
    Clinton and Beloit have repeated their first-half fortunes, each at least 11 games under .500 and filling the final two spots in the standings, as they did in the first half.
     
    And then there’s the Cedar Rapids Kernels.
     
    Rather stealthily, manager Jake Mauer’s Kernels have turned around what, as recently as three weeks ago, looked likely to become a lost season.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/ArteagaMauer11.jpg
    - There weren’t a lot of reasons for Kernels pitching coach Ivan Arteaga and manager Jake Mauer to smile in the season’s first half, but that’s changing.
     
    The Kernels lost four of their first five series to begin the second-half schedule and had compiled just a 6-11 second-half record through July 6.
     
    They haven’t lost a series since.
     
    Cedar Rapids has taken six consecutive series, against six different clubs, while putting together a 15-5 record in that time and launching themselves in to a second place tie with Peoria and Quad Cities, just one game behind Division leader Kane County in the MWL’s Western Division standings.
     
    Since the Cougars and the Burlington Bees locked in their postseason spots in the first half, it doesn’t matter where they finish in the second-half standings so, from a practical standpoint, Cedar Rapids was tied entering Wednesday, with Quad Cities and Clinton, for the top available playoff spot, with Wisconsin trailing that group by one game.
     
    The Kernels will face those three rivals 12 times in August and nine of those games will be on Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, where the Kernels have accumulated an 11-5 home record in the season’s second half.
     
    How have the Kernels propelled themselves in to a four-team dogfight for playoff spots entering the final month of the regular season? And can they keep it up?
     
    The answer to the first question is pretty clear when you look at the numbers and there is no way to know the answer to the second.
     
    In the first three series of their current six series winning streak, Cedar Rapids essentially bludgeoned the opposition. In those ten games, they scored 6.7 runs per game. It’s a good thing, too, because their pitching was allowing 4.2 runs per game.
     
    The offense stepped up in those series, but since then, things have taken a pretty dramatic turn.
     
    In the nine games covering the last three series of this stretch, the results have come from pitching. While Kernels hitters were averaging just 3.9 runs per game, themselves, the pitching was giving up only two runs per game.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Quesada2014d.jpg
    - Michael Quesada
     
    Digging deeper, it’s tough to find much in the offensive statistics that indicate a significant turnaround.
    About half the club’s current position players hit a bit better in July than they had been hitting and about half had fallen off a notch, perhaps.
     
    Catcher/DH Michael Quesada appears to have found his stroke and is hitting .270 in July, with a pair of home runs, after a dreadful June in which he managed just .150 with no extra-base hits.
    Fellow catcher (turned primary right fielder) Alex Swim is hitting .364 in July after posting a .267 mark in June.
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Swim2014g.jpg
    - Alex Swim
     
    But a number of their teammates, including Mitch Garver and Chad Christensen, who have been among the team’s offensive leaders all season, have seen some of their numbers fade slightly in July, too, so it’s hard to credit this turnaround strictly to the offense.
     
    Perhaps the most important contribution the offense has made has been its consistency.
     
    Before Tuesday’s game with the Burlington Bees, Mauer emphasized the importance of that consistency.
     
    “Knock on wood, we’ve had a steady core group,” Mauer said. “Obviously, (Jason) Kanzler was (promoted), but we’ve had that set core group for about four weeks.
     
    “Position player wise, we haven’t really changed much. It’s pretty much the same group of guys other than Swim and Wade playing a bigger part. Christensen, Garver, Haar, 3-4-5, have been that way since about May.”
     
    The pitching side of the ledger tells a slightly different story, however.
     
    As the Kernels’ manager observed, “The starting pitching’s been good, bullpen’s been outstanding.”
     
    Indeed.
     
    Of the ten pitchers currently on the Kernels roster who made appearances in June and July for Cedar Rapids, nine dropped his ERA in July, as compared to June.
     
    The tenth, reliever Dallas Gallant, couldn’t cut his. He had a 0.00 ERA in his three June appearances and has exactly the same 0.00 ERA through eight trips to the mound in July.
     
    Fellow bullpen arm Jake Reed also has a perfect 0.00 ERA in his six appearances in July after posting a 4.50 mark in June.
     
    Chris Mazza hasn’t been that perfect in relief. His July ERA is 0.69. It was 2.25 in June.
     
    Jared Wilson has slashed his ERA from 4.60 in June to 1.84 in July.
     
    Hudson Boyd did the same. He had a 10.00 in June and a 1.13 in July. (Boyd, however, was suspended on Tuesday for an unspecified period of time for violating team rules.)
     
    The sharpest drop, however, has to be Nick Burdi, the Twins’ second round draft pick in June of this year. How can you beat a drop from infinity to 2.25?
     
    Burdi made one infamous appearance upon joining the Kernels at the end of June in which he walked all four batters he faced and all four came around to score. In July, he has allowed just a pair of earned runs. He has also struck out 16 batters in his eight July innings, while walking just three.
     
    The rotation arms are getting in to the act, as well.
     
    Aaron Slegers, who leads the Kernels with 113.1 innings pitched this season, struggled in June to a 7.97 ERA in four starts. It sits at 1.96 through six starts in July.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Slegers2014a-600x449.jpg
    - Aaron Slegers
     
    18 year old Lewis Thorpe posted a 6.50 ERA in his four June starts, but he’s cut that to 3.51 in his six starts this month.
     
    Kohl Stewart, Minnesota’s top draft pick in 2013, had an ERA of 2.16 in June. That’s pretty good. In fact, it was better than Stewart posted in April or May. But he’s bettered that in July, posting at 1.32.
     
    Stewart, unfortunately, finds himself on the 7-day Disabled List at the moment, with a sore shoulder.
     
    His replacement in the rotation is Stephen Gonsalves, freshly arrived from the Twins’ Appalachian League affiliate in Elizabethton.
     
    Gonsalves has made just one appearance for the Kernels since arriving, but the lefty threw six shutout innings against Dayton on Sunday.
     
    Chih-Wei Hu, the 20 year old from Taiwan, wasn’t with the Kernels in June, but he’s posted a 1.50 ERA in four July starts for Cedar Rapids.
     
    Earned Run Average is not the only important pitching statistic. Arguably, it’s not even the most important, especially among relief pitchers.
     
    But when your entire pitching staff is slashing their ERA from one month to the next, that’s a sign that good things are happening for your team.
     
    The Kernels have put themselves in to contention for postseason play, but they’re going to need to overcome some challenges over the final month to earn one of those final MWL playoff spots.
    They may need Stewart to come back from his DL stint healthy and effective.
     
    They lost their center fielder, Jason Kanzler, who was contributing with his bat and his glove, to promotion this week. He has been replaced by Max Murphy, who was tearing up the Appy League to the tune of a .371 batting average and nine home runs.
     
    Murphy, however, got off to an inauspicious start, going 0-4 with three strikeouts and a walk in his Kernels debut on Tuesday.
     
    The Twins’ high-A affiliate in Fort Myers is already postseason-bound, having clinched a spot in the first half of their Florida State League season. There’s certainly no assurance the Twins won’t tab more Kernels for promotion to aide the Miracle’s own playoff preparations. In fact, with the way some of the players in Cedar Rapids are performing this month, you can probably count on it.
     
    However, right at this moment, the Kernels are in serious contention for the postseason and that’s not something many fans would have envisioned just three weeks ago.
  11. Steven Buhr
    The Cedar Rapids Kernels dropped an ugly 5-2 game to the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers back on July 9 and Kernels manager Jake Mauer clearly was not a happy man afterward.
     
    His line up had left eight runners stranded in scoring position on the night and played some shoddy defense in a loss on a night when Kernels pitching combined to strike out 13 opposing hitters.
     
    “We’re going to have some changes,” Mauer promised that night, in a post-game interview.
     
    (This article originally was posted at Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    Catcher Alex Swim went 1 for 4 as the team’s designated hitter in that loss and he has not DH’d since.
     
    Then again, he hasn’t done much catching, either.
     
    The next night, July 10, again against the Timber Rattlers, Swim was inserted as the Kernels’ right fielder.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Swim2014.jpg
    Alex Swim
     
    Maybe Mauer was just trying to give some of his regular outfield crew a wake-up call or maybe he knew something nobody else did, but Swim gunned down Rattler baserunner Omar Garcia at home in that game and he has been the starting right fielder for the Kernels on every line up card Mauer has filled out since.
     
    He’s put on the catcher’s gear for a game in that stretch only twice. Once to finish a rain shortened game in which he had started as the catcher (he played right field in the full game following the completion of the postponed contest) and he made one appearance at catcher late in a game after starting catcher Michael Quesada was removed for a pinch runner.
     
    Swim was already riding a six game hitting streak pieced together starting June 30 as he rotated between catching, DHing and taking his turn riding the pine as part of what was, for a time, a four-man catching rotation that included Mitch Garver and Bo Altobelli, along with Quesada and Swim.
     
    After being inserted in to the every day line up, Swim swatted hits in another eight consecutive games, making him the proud owner of a 14-game streak, the longest by a Kernels hitter this season, before the streak was snapped on July 21.
     
    On the season, Swim is batting .341 in the 26 games he’s suited up with the Kernels.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Swim2014d.jpg
    Alex Swim in the Kernels special “Duck Dynasty” camo jersey
     
    In an interview late last week, Swim said he played some outfield during his junior and senior years at Elon University in North Carolina, “just to get a little break from behind the plate.”
     
    Coming in to the season, though, he wasn’t expecting to see this much time on the outfield grass.
     
    “During (extended spring training), they asked me if I had an outfielder’s glove and I did. They said, ‘get a few reps out there just in case,’” Swim recalled.
     
    Acknowledging that he’s been out there every game lately, he added with a smile, “maybe (the Twins organization) gave me a position change and didn’t tell me, I don’t know.”
     
    He’s not complaining.
     
    “I’ll play anywhere,” he said. “I love throwing the ball and showing off the arm a little bit.”
     
    That’s a healthy approach to have for a player in Swim’s position with the Twins organization.
     
    Swim, Garver and the current catcher for the Class high-A Fort Myers Miracle, Stuart Turner, were all college catchers selected by the Twins in the same draft class a year ago. Turner was the Twins’ third round pick, Garver was picked in the 10th round and Swim in the 22nd.
     
    The Twins also selected a high school catcher, Brian Navarreto, in the sixth round. Navarreto is currently with the Twins’ Elizabethton short-season rookie level affiliate.
     
    As if that weren’t enough, the Twins drafted six more catchers in the 2014 draft, though none were higher than the 19th round and not all were inked by the Twins before the signing deadline on July 18.
     
    Still, Swim recognizes that he’s up against some tough competition as he tries to work his way up the organizational ladder, not only from other recent draftees, but from players with more professional experience, such as his Cedar Rapids teammate Quesada.
     
    “Obviously, I know who’s there,” Swim conceded. “But I think everyone is good in their own way. If you’re meant to keep going and playing, you’re going to get there.
     
    “I try to make it where I can play different positions to help me out. If you need a right fielder, I’ll play right field. If you need a first baseman, I’ll do that. Whatever they need.”
     
    In baseball, hitters can run hot and cold, but in his first month as a Kernel, Swim has definitely been hot with the bat.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Swim2014j.jpg
    Alex Swim
     
    “I feel pretty comfortable in the box and the ball does look a little bigger right now,” he admitted.
     
    Fellow Kernels catcher Garver hit three home runs in one game on Monday, but Swim doesn’t expect to be putting on that kind of power display any time soon.
     
    “Generally, with my swing, I’m not going to hit the ball out of the park or drive a bunch of balls in to gaps, so I just try to really stay up the middle and just stay short and sweet to the ball and just try to get on base.”
     
    Swim worked out with the Class A group during most of spring training, but when the time came to head north to start the season, he was left behind in extended spring training.
     
    That sort of thing can be disappointing to a player, of course, but Swim pointed out that there were some benefits, too, for a guy from Greensboro, North Carolina.
     
    “It’s not that big of a deal when you’re playing in 85 degree weather in the spring down in Florida, so that was the good part,” he recalled with a bit of a laugh. “I was texting a few of the guys and they were saying it was 30 degrees and they had four layers on. I was, like, I’m in a pair of shorts and sandals right now.”
     
    Swim had the opportunity to turn professional after his junior year of college when the St. Louis Cardinals made him there 36th round selection in the 2012 draft, but he opted to pass at the time.
     
    “Right around draft time my junior year, mom was sick, was in the hospital,” Swim explained. “I really didn’t know how that was going to affect her as far as what was going to happen. I didn’t want to push it by leaving at that time, so I decided to forgo the draft, stay at home, work a little bit, try to help out around the house and get things situated.
     
    “Honestly, I don’t have any regrets. I would do it the same way every time. She’s doing well right now. She’s getting healthy. She’s staying at home and listening to the games (over the internet).”
     
    Away from the ballpark, Swim escapes the daily grind of the game with a good book.
     
    “I like biographies and stuff like that,” he explained. “That kind of gets me away from the game and not thinking about anything really about baseball.”
  12. Steven Buhr
    A little over a year ago, I sat in the Cedar Rapids Kernels dugout before a Sunday game and did an interview with then-Kernels infielder Jorge Polanco - the same Jorge Polanco that just spent the past weekend wearing number 11 for the Minnesota Twins.
     
    I’d been told that, of the Kernels’ Latin American players, Polanco was one of those most familiar with the English language. Since the only familiarization I have with a foreign language comes from the two years of high school French class that I nearly flunked out of over 40 years ago, it seemed like a good idea to interview a player who knew my language better than I knew his.
     
    (This article orignally was posted at Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Polanco1.jpg
    Jorge Polanco as a Cedar Rapids Kernel
     
    Polanco was very accommodating. I approached him after the team worked out that day and asked if he had some time to talk. He said he did, but asked if we could do it after the brief chapel service players have on Sundays. After chapel, we met and sat in the dugout for the interview.
     
    The interview didn’t go particularly well and, unfortunately, I didn’t feel I had enough material to turn it in to something I could post at the time.
     
    I had only been covering the Kernels for a couple of months at that time and, frankly, my interviewing skills weren’t very strong. I’m not sure I’d say they’re particularly strong now, either, but I’m better at it than I was that Sunday afternoon with Polanco.
     
    I asked him what he felt the biggest difference was between his experience at Elizabethton (TN) with the Twins’ short-season rookie level team the year before and his season in Cedar Rapids.
     
    "More fans," Polanco responded. "A lot of fans."
     
    Neither of us knew then, of course, that just over a year later, he’d be playing ball in front of a crowd ten times larger than what he was seeing in the Cedar Rapids stands.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Polanco2.jpg
    Jorge Polanco
     
    We talked some about his home town, San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic. A "good town to live there," according to Polanco, and about his favorite Major League player.
     
    "Robinson Cano," Polanco replied immediately. "I like the way he plays. I would like to be like him. He’s a good person."
     
    I also found out during the conversation that the then-19 year old spent his time away from the ballpark in much the same way other 19 year olds spend their idle time.
     
    "I like to watch TV and play Playstation3 video games," he said.
     
    Then he added, "I like to play pool."
     
    Asked if he was any good at it, he smiled and simply said, "Yes."
     
    Unfortunately, he added that he had not yet found a place to play pool in Cedar Rapids. I imagine that probably didn’t change much during the summer, since it might be difficult for a 19 year old to get in to most public establishments with pool tables around here.
     
    Toward the end of our conversation, we talked about the adjustments that he and other Latino players have to make to play ball in a place like Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
     
    The food, he said, was probably one of the most difficult adjustments, but we also talked about the language barrier.
     
    Polanco clearly was working hard on learning English and wanted to get better.
     
    "I like it because all the people here - most all the people - speak English, so I try to do it."
     
    That’s when I made one of those off the cuff comments that I may come to regret.
     
    I went back to the audio recording of the interview this weekend, with the hope that perhaps my memory of what I said next was not quite accurate.
     
    I told Polanco I was starting to try to learn some Spanish. I should have left it at that.
     
    But no, I continued with, "When you’re in Target Field with the Twins in a couple of years, I’m going to come to a Twins game and we’ll talk in your language. Is that a deal?"
     
    He smiled and said, "Yes, alright."
     
    Last week, just about 13 months after my conversation with Polanco, he was called up to the Twins, who found themselves in need of a versatile infielder after a series of injuries to their infield corps. Fortunately, those games were all in Anaheim, California, and Arlington, Texas, and not in Target Field.
     
    I’m using that technicality as an excuse to conclude I still have some time before making good on my poorly thought out promise to Polanco.
     
    (I’ve learned my lesson, by the way. I’m NOT going to promise any of this year’s crop of Kernels players from "down under" that I’ll learn to speak Australian before they wear a Twins uniform.)
     
    It turned out to be just four games in The Show for Polanco, including one start on Sunday against the Rangers, before infielders Eduardo Nunez and Trevor Plouffe came off the Disabled List on Monday and Polanco was sent back to the Fort Myers Miracle.
     
    I don’t think anyone would have been surprised if Polanco had shown some jitters during his time with the Twins, but from all accounts, he looked like he belonged there.
     
    He had two hits (a double and a triple) in five at-bats, he scored two runs and drove in three more. He turned three double plays and, yes, he had a mental lapse on defense in a rundown situation. He’s not the first Twins player to have a mental lapse in the field this season.
     
    He also handled himself well with the media, as is clear from a video clip the St. Paul Pioneer-Press’ Mike Berardino posted over the weekend (click here to view) after Polanco recorded his first Major League hit.
     
    Over the first season and a half of the affiliation between the Twins and Kernels, we’ve seen several players that have legitimate Major League potential and Polanco was no doubt one of those guys.
     
    Fans in Cedar Rapids couldn’t be happier for Polanco, as the first Kernels player since the new affiliation agreement to reach the Big Leagues. Still, it’s unlikely that anyone thought he’d get even this kind of "cup of coffee" with the Twins this soon.
     
    But as one of this year’s Kernels told me recently, "Baseball is a goofy game."
     
    Indeed it is.
     
    Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think it’s time for my next Spanish lesson. It seems I may need to accelerate my learning curve a bit.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Spanish.jpg
  13. Steven Buhr
    June has not been kind to the Cedar Rapids Kernels.
     
    As a team, they’ve lost a dozen games this month and won just six. The first half of the season mercifully drew to a close a week ago, but the Kernels started off their second half season by dropping three of four road games to the Midwest League’s Western Division champions, the Kane County Cougars.
     
    Silver linings are a little difficult to come by for a team that most people expected to be led by their pitching when the season opened, only to find themselves with the 15th ranked team ERA (4.83) in the 16-team Midwest League.
     
    (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    There are a handful of bright spots as the Kernels begin the race for a postseason spot that would come with finishing as one of the top two teams in the MWL Western Division among the six teams that have not already qualified for postseason play.
     
    The brightest of those bright spots might be catcher Mitch Garver. So far in June, Garver is batting .364, has an on-base percentage of .500 and an OPS (on-base plus slugging percentage) of 1.045.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Garver2-469x600.jpg
    Mitch Garver
     
    According to TwinsDaily.com's Seth Stohs, heading in to this week’s series in Peoria, Garver is among the Twins minor league organizational leaders in batting average (2nd), on-base percentage (1st), slugging percentage (3rd), OPS (2nd) and home runs (tied for 4th with teammate Bryan Haar).
     
    Cedar Rapids native Chad Christensen has also shown he can handle Class A work. He is hitting .323 in June and has a .963 OPS. He’s had eight extra-base hits in the month, including four home runs.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Christensen2-600x449.jpg
    Chad Christensen
     
    Christensen’s .299 batting average ties him for fourth among all Twins minor leaguers.
     
    But Garver and Christensen can’t win games by themselves. Most of the rest of the Kernels’ batting order have seen their hitting numbers drop considerably in June.
     
    The Kernels could get some offensive help as some of the hitters that have been idled by injuries begin to return.
     
    That process has begun already as outfielder J.D. Williams was activated from the Disabled List on Tuesday.
     
    Zach Larson, Logan Wade and Jeremias Pineda remain on the club’s DL for now. Larson, in particular, could provide an offensive boost if he can get healthy and return to a level of productivity he demonstrated in April when he hit .307 for the Kernels.
     
    Unless you’re a fan who worships strikeout numbers for pitchers, there has been nothing to complain about in starting pitcher Kohl Stewart’s performance thus far.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Stewart5-600x449.jpg
    Kohl Stewart
     
    Stewart’s 2.44 ERA on the season would be good enough for fourth best in the league if he had enough innings to qualify (he’s one inning short, which should be more than met in his next scheduled start on Wednesday).
     
    Stewart has continued to lead the rotation with a 1.13 ERA in three June starts, with batters putting up just a .236 batting average against him this month.
     
    To find anything else resembling “bright” among the Cedar Rapids pitching corps, it’s necessary to turn to the bullpen, which has had its own share of ups and downs through the first half of the season.
     
    Todd Van Steensel perhaps represents the best of the “ups” for the bullpen corps recently.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/VanSteensel3-600x449.jpg
    Todd Van Steensel
     
    Van Steensel has put up a 1.67 ERA since joining the Kernels at the end of April. He has struck out 35 batters in 27 innings of work and opponents are hitting just .179 off the right hander.
     
    Alex Muren has been among the team’s most consistent bullpen arms, assembling a 3.43 ERA on the year and a similar 3.48 ERA so far in June.
     
    This month, hitters are batting just .171 against Muren. He’s thrown 10.1 innings in five June appearances. All four runs surrendered this month came in one forgettable appearance on June 15.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Muren3-600x439.jpg
    Alex Muren
     
    Brandon Bixler had two good months in April and May, but has been less consistent in June. He has a 3.13 ERA on the year and hitters have just a .201 batting average against him. He’s struck out 39 batters in 40.1 innings.
     
    Jared Wilson’s year has been similar to Bixler’s. Since joining the Kernels in mid May, Wilson has put up a 2.49 ERA and a .197 BAA (batting average against), while striking out over one batter per inning pitched. He’s been somewhat inconsistent in June, with three outings where he was almost unhittable and three others where he gave up almost an earned run per inning.
     
    The Kernels bullpen could be in for a boost, however.
     
    On Tuesday, the Twins announced that they had signed Nick Burdi, their second round pick in the 2014 draft, and that Burdi will be joining Cedar Rapids on Friday.
     
    Burdi, the closer for a University of Louisville squad that qualified for the College World Series, reportedly throws in the 96-98 mph range and is capable of regularly topping 100 mph with his fastball.
     
    Expectations for the Kernels coming in to the season were modest, but a seventh place finish in the MWL Western Division first-half standings was a disappointment.
     
    Garver and Christensen will need some of their teammates to step up their games and the Kernels rotation will need to start contributing more than three or four innings of solid pitching on a regular basis if the team expects to contend for a postseason berth in the second half of the year.
  14. Steven Buhr
    In September of 2012, the Minnesota Twins announced a four-year affiliation agreement with the Cedar Rapids Kernels, with the Twins’ then-Senior Director of Minor Leagues Jim Rantz telling the media, “We are confident that this relationship will grow into one of the strongest affiliations in minor league baseball.”
     
    Less than two years later, the Twins organization appears to be flirting with another minor league ownership group with an eye toward moving their Class A Midwest League affiliation to nearby St. Paul, Minnesota, and potentially leaving the Kernels to shop for another new Major League affiliate when their current Player Development Contract expires following the 2016 season.
     
    (This article was originally published at Knuckleballsblog.com.)
     
    According to a story Tuesday in the Business Journal, Minnesota Twins President Dave St. Peter and Derek Sharrer, the General Manager the St. Paul Saints, an independent minor league team, expressed mutual interest in a future affiliation agreement between the two teams.
     
    Their comments were made at the Business Journal’s Business of Sports Power Breakfast Tuesday morning.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/KernelsTwins.jpg
    But what about 2017 and beyond? (Image: Kernels.com)
     
    “Long-term, there are aspects that make a lot of sense,” St. Peter is quoted as telling the group. “Short-term, it’s more challenging. We have a tremendous partnership with Cedar Rapids and the Kernels. It’s been a home run for the Twins. It’s been strategic for the Twins relative to marketing in the state of Iowa.
     
    “I think it’s something that will require some additional discussions and I’m guessing that dialogue will take place.”
     
    The Twins President did point out that the potential arrangement comes with challenges.
     
    “It’s a bus league, and when you’re in St. Paul and there are teams east of Cleveland, that’s a tough bus trip for your players,” St. Peter said. “Things like that need to be addressed long-term.”
     
    The Saints are in the process of building a new 7.000 seat stadium in St. Paul that’s being built to meet or exceed standards required by baseball for Class AA and lower affiliated teams. The stadium is scheduled to open in 2015.
     
    The Saints are owned by a group that recently agreed to sell the Twins’ Class high-A affiliate in Fort Myers, Florida.
     
    “Our organization has a tremendous amount of respect for Derek and his team,” St. Peter said of the Twins’ relationship with the Saints organization. “We’ve worked very closely with the Saints’ ownership … for 20 years.”
     
    As the Twins President alluded to, there are a number of obstacles that the Twins and Saints would need to overcome before placing an affiliate in St. Paul.
     
    The most likely arrangement would be for the Twins to place their Class A Midwest League affiliate in St. Paul. There are no high-A or AA leagues located in the Midwest and the new Saints stadium is not being built up to AAA standards.
     
    However, putting a Midwest League team in St. Paul would not be a simple matter, either.
     
    For the Twins and Saints to make the plan work, they would need to either seek to have the Midwest League expand by two teams (to keep the number of league teams at an even number for scheduling purposes) or acquire an existing MWL team and move it to St. Paul.
     
    Every Major League team already has a full season Class A affiliate, which would seem to make expansion unlikely.
     
    Acquiring a team and moving it would only be somewhat easier.
     
    Under the current Professional Baseball Agreement between the Major and Minor League governing bodies, every current affiliated minor league team is guaranteed an affiliation. Baseball can’t just tell an existing affiliated team that they’re being kicked out of affiliated minor league baseball.
     
    The Saints ownership would likely need to acquire an existing Midwest League team and relocate it to St. Paul, rather than looking to acquire a team currently competing in another Class A league.
     
    While it would not be totally unheard of for a team to move from one minor league to another, the same scheduling issues that affect expansion would also require any movement between leagues to result in each affected league retaining an even number of teams.
     
    With the eastward migration of Midwest League teams over the past two decades, virtually every club in the Eastern Division of the league is playing in relatively new ballparks and before generally larger crowds than is the case among their Western Division brethren. This would make it much more likely that a current Western Division club would be targeted.
     
    With relatively new or recently renovated ballparks in Appleton WI, Kane County IL, Peoria IL and Iowa clubs in the Quad Cities and Cedar Rapids, it would be unlikely that the teams in those communities would go on the sale block.
     
    That leaves Beloit WI, Clinton IA and Burlington IA, three teams with, perhaps, the most difficult stadium situations left among potential MWL targets.
     
    However, all three of those teams are, like the Kernels, long-time MWL members. More importantly, also like the Kernels, all three clubs are community owned. Prying ownership away from those communities would likely be no easy task.
     
    Finally, even if an existing ownership group were made an offer they can’t refuse, the team would need approval of the other members of the MWL to relocate. That hurdle might not be so easy to overcome, either.
     
    St. Paul is well outside the current MWL footprint. Cedar Rapids is the closest current league city and it’s a good 250 miles from the Twin Cities. Every other MWL community, except Appleton (270 miles) is at least 300 miles from St. Paul.
     
    South Bend IN, at 495 miles, would be the only MWL Eastern Division location less than 500 miles away.
     
    That’s an important consideration for the league, too, because under the terms of the Professional Baseball Agreement rules, players must be given an off day any time they are bused 500 miles or more. Having a team that far outside the league’s current footprint could present a nightmare for MWL schedule-makers.
     
    It also would increase travel costs, not only for the team that relocates, but for every other team in the league that would have to send teams to St. Paul on road trips. Those travel costs are primarily the responsibility of the local team, not their Big League affiliate.
     
    St. Peter is certainly correct in cautioning Twin Cities fans that putting an affiliate in St. Paul would be difficult to arrange, but if the Twins were to decide to make such a move a priority, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that they could throw enough weight around to get what they want. It remains to be seen whether the Twins and Saints are truly interested enough in a marriage to overcome the obstacles.
     
    The agreement between the Kernels and Twins will have young Twins prospects calling Cedar Rapids their summer home for two more years after the current season.
     
    Nevertheless, it’s no doubt disappointing to Twins fans in Eastern Iowa to learn that at least one Twins executive may no longer be interested in seeing the relationship between the Twins and Kernels, “grow into one of the strongest affiliations in minor league baseball.”
     
    Kernels General Manager Doug Nelson, reached Tuesday afternoon while in Comstock Park MI for the Midwest League All-Star game, was asked for his reaction to St. Peter’s statements to the Business Journal.
     
    “The Kernels view our affiliation with the Twins as a long term partnership,” stated Nelson via email.
     
    It is less clear whether the Twins continue to share that view.
  15. Steven Buhr
    Go ahead and underestimate Cedar Rapids Kernels outfielder Jason Kanzler. He’s used to it. Having to show people they’re wrong about him is nothing new.
     
    ”I think I’ve done that my whole life, pretty much,” Kanzler said. “I was never really at the top on anyone’s priority list. I wasn’t recruited out of high school. I tried to walk on at Northeastern University and I was cut after two weeks.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kanzler2014a.jpg
    Jason Kanzler
     
    "Then I went to Buffalo as kind of a recruited walk-on and I didn’t play. I guess my red-shirt freshman year, I got 10 at-bats.Then I platooned a little in left and right my sophomore year."
     
    That's not exactly the kind of start to a college baseball career that you'd expect for a guy with hopes of playing ball professionally.
     
    Things turned around for Kanzler his next two seasons at the University of Buffalo, however.
     
    "I started in center field my junior and senior year and won two gold gloves so I kind of shoved it up in everyone’s faces."
     
    If you think it sounds like Kanzler has a little chip on his shoulder over people underestimating him, you would be correct.
     
    Kanzler spent spring training with the Class A group, but got the word the last week of camp that he would not be heading north to Cedar Rapids with the others.
     
    Asked how he felt about being one of the final cuts to the Kernels' roster as spring training drew to a close in March, he quickly corrected the questioner and didn't hesitate to say exactly how he felt about it.
     
    ”I was the last guy,” he said. And he said it without a trace of a smile.
     
    “I was angry, I was really angry,” he admitted. “The coaches down in extended (spring training) told me to cool it and I’ll get my chance eventually.”
     
    You get the sense from Kanzler that "cooling it" isn't something that comes very natural to him on a baseball field. In fact, in the game the evening after giving the interview, Kanzler was ejected for arguing a called third strike late in the game.
     
    In any event, he didn't have to cool it for very long this spring before he was given a plane ticket for Cedar Rapids. Four games in to the season, Kernels center fielder Zack Granite was injured and Kanzler got the call.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kanzler2014c.jpg
    Jason Kanzler
     
    Granite rejoined the Kernels last week, but it wasn't Kanzler's roster spot he took. Instead, Ivory Thomas was given his unconditional release by the Twins to make room for Granite and Kanzler in the same outfield.
     
    At the Midwest League's All-Star break, the halfway point of the Kernels' season, Kanzler is hitting .293 with an .813 OPS. He has five doubles, five triples and one night after his ejection he hit his seventh home run of the year. He has also stolen 10 bases.
     
    Kanzler was utilized as a top-of-the order hitter when he first arrived in Cedar Rapids, but the power he’s demonstrated has resulted in a move toward the middle of the lineup.
     
    How could power go unnoticed?
     
    "I’m not a 'guy' really. Just an ‘extended guy’," Kanzler explained. "I was hurt for 14 days during spring training with a hamstring, so I really only got to play like ten spring training games."
     
    The pop in his bat may have surprised others, but not Kanzler. “I knew I had it. I think it makes me even more mad that no one else really knew,” he said.
     
    Kanzler has let his play convince others he’s more than just a defensive specialist and slap hitter.
     
    “I guess I could show it off in BP a little bit,” he said, “but they kind of figured I was just a speed guy with good defense and once you get pigeon-holed, it’s hard to kind of climb your way out.”
     
    Kernels hitting coach Tommy Watkins knows Kanzler has a bit of a chip on his shoulder and that the player uses it to his advantage.
     
    “I think that’s one thing that motivated him, being the last guy left off the team,” Watkins said. “From talking to him since he’s been here and in spring training, I think he’s been a guy that people have always told him he couldn’t do it, so he set himself out to prove everybody wrong.
     
    “If you tell him he can’t do it, he’s going to work 10 times harder to prove you wrong.”
     
    Asked about his goals for this season before the year started and whether they have changed at all with his performance in Cedar Rapids, Kanzler was thoughtful with his responses.
     
    "I think my goals are just to play my game," he responded initially. "I think if I play my game, everything will kind of work itself out. I guess my main goal is to play excellent defense and kind of be a spark plug. I kind of like to do a little bit of everything. So whether it’s hit a home run or steal a base or make a diving catch, I just like to play the game hard."
     
    Watkins thinks Kanzler's on the right track with that goal.
     
    "I think for him just to work on his overall game," Watkins said. "He’s a guy that has tremendous tools, all of them. He can hit, hit with power, he can run, he can throw. He’s got all the tools, it’s just fine-tuning all of them and have them show in the game."
     
    Of course, Kanzler has longer term goals, too. "My goal is to get to the Big Leagues, but that’s more like a dream than a goal right now. Still a few too many steps away to be a goal yet."
     
    A native of upstate New York, Kanzler added another potential goal before he reaches the Big Leagues, "Fill up the Red Wings' stadium."
     
    "Maybe my (short term) goal would be to make a post-season all-star team and help the Kernels win the second half and get in the playoffs and win the playoffs.
     
    "I like that. I like to win."
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Kanzlerslide2014.jpg
    Jason Kanzler goes in hard to break up a double play
     
    Kanzler and his team mates aren't accustomed to looking at the standings and seeing their team near the bottom. They don't like it much.
     
    "Yeah, I think especially because we have, I think, a lot more talent than a lot of the teams that are above us. We have so many games where we can’t put everything together. One or two things go right instead of all three."
     
    As intense as Kanzler can be on the field, he's capable of relaxing and enjoying his time away from the ballpark.
     
    Recently, that included a trip to a local music store with team mate and Cedar Rapids native Chad Christensen.
     
    "He (Christensen) bought a guitar and I bought a ukulele," Kanzler related. "So I’ve been practicing my ukulele a little bit. Ryan Walker has a banjo and it’s amazing, It’s an instrument I’d like to learn."
     
    How's that ukulele coming and does it sound good with Christensen's guitar?
     
    "No we haven’t tried that. The guitar is too loud and they don’t collaborate well I don’t think.
     
    "Chad’s been learning mostly country songs and I’ve been learning video game songs, like Mario and Zelda. That’s my kind of thing. Just fun little stuff."
     
    You get the feeling that all it would take for Kanzler to become the best ukulele player ever would be for someone to tell him he can't do it.
  17. Steven Buhr
    As the Cedar Rapids Kernels wrap up the final stretch of the first half of their 2014 Midwest League season, the parent Minnesota Twins sent them some needed starting pitching help in the form of two teenage pitching prospects.
     
    Australian 18-year old lefty Lewis Thorpe and right-hander Fernando Romero, a 19-year old out of the Dominican Republic joined the Kernels from extended spring training last week and both were immediately inserted in to the starting rotation by manager Jake Mauer and pitching coach Ivan Arteaga.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Thorpe4.jpg
    Lewis Thorpe
     
    Thorpe was the 6th ranked prospect in the Twins organization by MLB.com during the offseason and #7 on Baseball America’s list of Twins top prospects.
     
    Romero was also among the organization’s top 15 prospects by both organizations coming in to the year.
     
    Romero was the first of the pair to debut, getting a start on Thursday on the road in Appleton WI against the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. The righty went five full innings, giving up a pair of earned runs on seven hits and one walk. He struck out six Rattler batters. The Kernels lost the game 7-4 but Romero got a no-decision, leaving the game with the score tied at 2-2.
     
    Thorpe had less luck in his first start with the Kernels, picking up a loss in Kane County on Saturday as the Kernels fell to the Cougars, 5-2. All five runs were charged to Thorpe and all were earned. He gave up six hits, walked three and struck out just one batter in 4.2 innings.
     
    It makes for an ugly stat line for Thorpe, but that’s more than a little misleading.
     
    One very close pitch at the knees being called ball four instead of strike three was the difference between escaping the fifth inning relatively unscathed and getting the hook. He left the game with two runs across and bases loaded in the home half of the fifth inning, but all three baserunners came around to score after he departed.
     
    Afterward, Arteaga agreed that Thorpe looked much better than his stat line would indicate.
     
    “He got through two outs in the fifth inning, but just ran out of gas, unfortunately,” said Arteaga. “I think he deserved better. His line doesn’t say what he actually looked like. One thing is his line, but another thing is what he actually did and how he looked.
     
    “He had poise. Obviously he needs a little work with the breaking ball but his fastball (command) isn’t going to be a problem. He throws the ball well. Being the first time and all, I think that I’m very pleased with what I saw.”
     
    Arteaga was also happy with his first look at Romero since spring training in March.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Romero5.jpg
    Fernando Romero
     
    “He’s got one of those arms that make you go, ‘wow,’ Arteaga said, adding that Romero throws, “94 to 99 (mph). He was able to throw a hard slider and a couple of them were sharp, especially against right-handed hitters. Coming over for the first time, I thought he looked really good.”
     
    Arteaga, whose rotation has struggled at times through much of the season, was heartened by his first look at the new additions.
     
    “It’s very encouraging, to have those two guys join the rotation - very encouraging for everybody because they showed that they will compete. They will throw it over and they’re going to be just fine, as advertised.
     
    “I saw Romero and Thorpe during spring training. It was just basically a matter of time before they were going to join us and the time has come. They’re here and they’re doing really well.”
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/ArteagaMildren.jpg
    Pitching coach Ivan Arteaga and pitcher Ethan Mildren
     
    Thorpe and Romero will form one-third of the Kernels' six-man rotation going forward, joining four pitchers selected by the Twins in the 2013 First Year Player Draft: Kohl Stewart (1st round), Ryan Eades (2nd round), Aaron Slegers (5th round) and Ethan Mildren (12th round).
     
    The Kernels, who sat in seventh place in the eight-team Western Division of the MWL coming out of the weekend, will get a chance to start over with a clean slate as the league divides their season in to two halves with the second half starting on Thursday, June 19, after next week’s MWL All-Star Game.
  18. Steven Buhr
    The 2014 MLB First Year Amateur Player Draft is right around the corner and hundreds of high school and college ballplayers are counting the hours before the Houston Astros go on the clock with the first pick of the draft on Thursday, June 5.
     
    One year ago, Kohl Stewart was an 18 year-old pitcher anxiously awaiting the draft. Today, Stewart, who was selected by the Minnesota Twins with the fourth overall pick of the first round, is a couple of months in to his first full year of professional baseball.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Stewart2014.jpg
    Kohl Stewart
     
    Stewart sat recently and reflected on the draft a year ago and his progress as a starting pitcher this season with the Cedar Rapids Kernels, the Twins' Class A affiliate in the Midwest League.
     
    “I think that this time last year, we had just lost in the state finals in baseball,” recalled Stewart. “Then I was graduating from school and the draft was coming up. I was spending hours with my agent talking about what I wanted to do. There were a million different scenarios playing over in my head. I remember thinking, ‘if this happens, if this guy goes here and if this guy goes here.’”
     
    Those “scenarios” Stewart speaks of went beyond those of most of his peers. While all of the high school ballplayers likely to be selected near the top of the draft have the option of postponing their professional careers in favor of playing college baseball, Stewart had an additional option. He had a scholarship offer from Texas A&M football coach Kevin Sumlin to play quarterback for the Aggies.
     
    Stewart and his agent certainly knew he'd be selected early on draft night. But that doesn't mean he had made up his mind weeks before the draft that he'd be signing with whatever team chose him.
     
    As draft day neared, however, things seemed to come more in to focus.
     
    “I expected to go to A&M,” acknowledged Stewart. “A couple of days before the draft, I think, my agent I guess had kind of talked to some people and he kind of had an idea of what was going to happen and I even talked to Coach Sumlin a couple of days before it happened and he gave me his blessing. He wanted me to do what was best for me and that was another dynamic that I had to deal with, too. I kind of felt like I was letting him down. Having guys like that… he’s a really good coach for a reason. He had gone through that before. He definitely made the situation easier on me.”
     
    Even having pretty much come to grips with the likelihood that he'd be signing a professional baseball contract rather than pursuing a major college football career didn't make waiting any less stressful for Stewart.
     
    “You kind of have that situation made up in your mind, but everything’s still got to happen. You’ve still got to sit there and the decision’s still got to be made,” said Stewart.
     
    The anxiety of the wait didn't mean Stewart and those closest to him didn't enjoy the moment, however.
     
    “I definitely enjoyed it. It was definitely a fun time for my family,” recalled Stewart. “I have a lot of friends that are really good baseball players that are playing in college right now. I got to experience what a lot of guys that I grew up playing ball with will probably be going through the same thing in a couple of years and to kind of share it with them was really special.
     
    “But it was definitely really stressful. I would go to bed knowing I was going to have to make a really big choice and that was kind of hard. Every day it got closer to the draft, it was very apparent that I was going to have a very good opportunity with the Twins and I didn’t want to pass it up.”
     
    Players do a lot of different things to relax on draft day. Some go hunting or fishing. Some play golf to take their minds off the draft and hope it passes the time more quickly.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Stewart4.jpg
    Kohl Stewart
     
    Stewart enjoys hunting and fishing in the offseason and also really enjoys golfing. But on draft day, he chose to pass the hours leading up to the draft with friends and family.
     
    “I remember waking up. I slept in late,” Stewart recollected, smiling a bit. “I told myself I don’t want to get up and have to worry about it all day long. I wanted to sleep in as long as I could. I think that lasted until about 6:30 that morning."
     
    After breakfast, Stewart spent time with one of his Select Team coaches (“He was blowing it up, having a good time with it, kind of looking forward to the night”) and with an older brother. “We went to a place called Mel’s Diner. It’s a small little burger place. I went there, had a good meal with him. I remember he went and bought a bunch of champagne and put it in a cooler. Then we went back to my house and a bunch of people showed up and we turned on the TV.
     
    “It was good. It was definitely a day I’ll never forget.”
     
    Now, a year later, coming out of Memorial Day Weekend, Stewart has a 1-2 record and a 2.93 ERA as a member of the Kernels rotation. Stewart struggled in a loss to Beloit on Monday, but had given up just three earned runs in his previous five starts combined.
     
    Nearly two months in to his first full season of pro ball, Stewart talked about what he has found to be the toughest things to adjust to in professional baseball life.
     
    One, the adjustment to going to the ballpark every day either to play or work out between starts, is commonly mentioned by first-year pro ballplayers.
     
    “I think that’s kind of a cliché that everybody says, ‘you’re not used to playing every day,’ and you hear that so much, but it’s true,” said Stewart. “I think that most of us guys that haven’t played a full year are still kind of getting used to this kind of animal of 140 games in a season.
     
    “I think definitely that’s been the hardest thing for me. And then being away from my home. There’s some days I’ve just wanted to pick up my stuff and go home. I think every kid goes through that.
     
    “I mean, I haven’t had a freshman year of college yet, so I didn’t get to experience that kind of homesick feeling first. But I’m learning. I’m learning how to be a professional, to come every day and figure out that I’ve got a job to do.”
     
    The other challenging adjustment is probably a bit more unique to a pitcher in Stewart's rather unique situation as a multi-sport star in high school.
     
    “Going in to the season, I hadn’t thrown a lot of innings,” explained Stewart. “I threw in high school seasons but football kind of kept me from (throwing after the season).
     
    “I think I underestimated the amount of throwing that I’m going to be doing. But I think that everybody probably goes through that, even coming out of college. I think the two bullpens between every start (a byproduct of the Kernels' six-man rotation). Ive never been used to that. Or throwing a bullpen the second day after you pitch, that was a new animal for me.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Stewart3-430x600.jpg
    Kohl Stewart
     
    “I think that going in to a couple of starts, I felt like my arm was dead. I think that my arm was learning how to adjust to that feeling and I think that now my arm is starting to build on it. I think that now my arm is getting stronger and I’m kind of building back up to that strength that I was at.
     
    “I think that those two things were probably the toughest for me, but I think that as time goes on, I’m getting more used to it every day, so I think I’m doing alright.”
     
    As a result of Stewart's limited work in high school, he and the Twins clearly had a plan for Stewart to follow heading in to the season. Not only pitch count limits and innings limits, which are commonplace for teenage pitching prospects, but also plans that focus on learning his craft.
     
    Stewart explained the plan and assessed his progress so far.
     
    “I’ve definitely had some good starts and I’ve had some bad starts. I think going in to the season, they hammered some things in to my head that they want me to get done, such as fast-ball command. They want me to pound the zone. They want me to be efficient. They want me to pitch. They don’t want me throwing a lot of pitches. There’s a pitch count on me for a reason. They want me to be able to go as deep as I can in to games without running my pitch count up.
     
    “One thing that they really want me to do is fast ball command. They don’t want me to get behind in counts and then have to work from behind. So, I think that focusing on that stuff with Ivan (Kernels pitching coach Ivan Arteaga) and our catchers, I think that’s really helped me a lot.
     
    “So I think that getting these innings in and learning to get the change-up over. I hadn’t thrown very many change-ups and my change-up now is something that I go to a lot against lefties. And really, just getting ground balls and keeping the ball out of the air. I think I lived up in the zone in high school because I could. I used to just throw the ball as hard as I could and that’s not really pitching. I’ve had to learn to command the zone and not feel like I have to overpower everybody.
     
    "Going in to the season, I’m trying to build on every start, but I think that the approach that I have right now that Ivan and Jake (manager Jake Mauer) and I have gone over, I think that the plan we have going in to every start is pretty good. I think that I like where things are headed, but I think that I have a lot of work to do.”
     
    College football season doesn't start for a couple of months, but Texas A&M and every other major program recently wrapped up their spring practices. Did that give Stewart an itch to get on the practice field and throw the football around?
     
    “I didn’t have time for it,” replied the pitcher. “I was so busy figuring out what I was doing and stuff, just trying to get better.”
     
    Not that football is forever banished from his mind, of course.
     
    “Whenever I watch them on TV, I always get that itch,” admitted Stewart, “but I think everybody kind of enjoys watching those things on TV. I think when I go to the games, I feel like I’m there kind of part of the team. There’s always going to be a part of me that’s there. There’s always going to be that closeness that I have with those guys that are in that class.
     
    “But they know that I’m doing what I love and I wouldn’t rather be anywhere else.”
     
    **********
    The Kernels return home to Cedar Rapids after Tuesday's matinee series finale in Beloit. They'll be home for six games (three vs Wisconsin and three vs Burlington). Friday night, May 30, is another special jersey promotion. It's "Star Wars" night with white/black "storm trooper" themed jerseys that will be auctioned off via silent auction with proceeds going to a charity. The first 1,000 fans through the gates Friday also get a free Star Wars t-shirt.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Star_Wars_Jersey_Promo-150x126.jpgKernels Star Wars Jersey
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/Star_Wars_T_Shirt_Promo-150x126.jpgStar Wars t-shirt giveaway
     
    (All photos: SD Buhr/Knuckleballsblog.com; jersey/t-shirt images: Kernels.com)
  19. Steven Buhr
    Heading in to the 2014 season, everyone pretty much had expectations in check with regard to the Cedar Rapids Kernels. The team's fortunes would likely turn on the performance of a staff of young, highly heralded pitching prospects. The offense, meanwhile, could very well struggle to score enough runs to keep the Minnesota Twins' Midwest League affiliate competitive.
     
    As they near the end of the first month of the season, however, the Kernels are two games above .500 with a 13-11 record and the hitting is at least as responsible for that success as the pitching staff is.
     
    Infielder Tanner Vavra and outfielder Zack Larson are just two of the Cedar Rapids players making major contributions with their bats. Before Tuesday night's game with Kane County, Vavra and Larson talked about their season thus far.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/LarsonVavra2014.jpg
    Zack Larson and Tanner Vavra
     
    Vavra, the son of Twins coach Joe Vavra, spent a few days recently at the very top of the Midwest League's leader board in batting average and still leads his team with a .344 average. He's also reaching base at a .391 rate and carries an .829 OPS through Tuesday's games.
     
    While most fans may not have expected that kind of production out of Vavra, neither he nor his manager seem terribly surprised, either.
     
    “He’s a guy that really obviously has been around the game his whole life, with his dad being a professional baseball guy,” said Jake Mauer of his second baseman. “He’s got a lot of baseball instincts. He knows himself as a player. He knows what he needs to do and he plays to his strengths. He’s a guy that puts together good at-bats. He makes the routine plays. He’s definitely earned his playing time.”
     
    “I’m just trying to put good swings on (the ball) and help the team win,” said Vavra of his hot start to the season. “I’m just trying to stay with the same approach and kind of just get my pitch and get on base for guys like Larson here to drive me in.”
     
    Meanwhile, Larson's also got a pretty impressive early-season slash line, as well with a .307 batting average, a .351 on-base percentage and an .806 OPS. That's not a bad start for a 20 year-old in his first year with a full-season affiliate.
     
    “He’s really come on for a younger guy and made some adjustments.” his manager said of Larson. “He was having a little hard time with offspeed pitches, but that’s not the case any more. He's doing a nice job out in right field. He’s going to hit in the middle of our order and he’s getting even better in the outfield and that’s pretty encouraging to see.”
     
    Larson's just as humble as Vavra when asked about his contributions, too.
     
    “Like Tanner, I'm just trying to put good swings on it,” said Larson. “That’s my main focus, put a good swing on the ball and hopefully good things happen.”
     
    Both hitters have been particularly productive at the plate with team mates on the bases. In fact, both Vavra and Larson are hitting at a .400 clip with runners on base.
     
    Neither man claims they do anything special in those situations, though.
     
    “I don’t like to get out, so I try to take the same approach with runners on or runners not.” said Vavra, laughing.
     
    Added Larson, “Just barrel it up and put a good swing on it. I try to do that every at-bat; stay focused.”
     
    The two team mates may be making similar contributions to their team's cause this season, but they come at their tasks from very different backgrounds.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Larson2014-600x449.jpg
    Zack Larson
     
    Larson was drafted by the Twins in the 20th round of the 2012 First Year Player Draft out of his Bradenton, Florida high school.
     
    A 24 year-old from Wisconsin, Vavra played college ball at Valparaiso University before being drafted by the Twins in the 30th round of last June's draft.
     
    A year ago, top Twins prospects Jorge Polanco and Adam Brett Walker were manning the positions that Vavra and Larson are holding down this season. Both guys just smile when asked about trying to live up to the offensive legacy of last year's Kernels.
     
    “I think we all knew it was going to be tough to follow in the footsteps of the team from last year and we were never trying to do that,” said Vavra. “We're never trying to live up to what they did last year, because, let’s face it, that’s pretty special what everybody got to see with the number 1 prospect in all of baseball playing (in Cedar Rapids).”
     
    “With that being said, our goal is still the same,” Vavra added, “to get to the playoffs and put good seasons together individually and have a great team season. Hopefully take it one step farther and get that ring.”
     
    And maybe do enough to get a promotion to the next level in the organization?
     
    "Everyone wants that," acknowledged Larson, "but you can’t control that. You can only control what you do. Can’t worry about that."
     
    Larson shares the Midwest League lead with 10 doubles already this season, just one shy of his total two-baggers during his 55 games a year ago at both rookie league levels combined. Then again, he had five home runs last season and has just one as a Kernel.
     
    But don't expect Larson to feel disappointed with his results so far.
     
    “I’m not disappointed at all,” Larson explained. “I’m not worried about hitting home runs. I’m just worried about helping the team win and putting good swings on the ball and if I hit a home run, it’s cool. Whatever I can do to help the team.”
     
    “He’s young.” chimed in Vavra, about his team mate. “He’s still got a lot of manpower to come his way. This is his first full season. You never know, he might catch hot in July once the weather warms up and you’re going to see big things out of him.”
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Vavra1-600x456.jpg
    Tanner Vavra
     
    Vavra's complete story can't be told without mentioning that he's blind in his right eye, the result of a fishing accident at age three and a subsequent injury suffered playing football several years later.
     
    His ability to play baseball at a professional level with that limitation inevitably comes up during interviews. That could give a player a bit of a chip on his shoulder, but Vavra said questions about his eyesight don't bother him much anymore.
     
    “It’s kind of came and gone. That used to be the biggest concern.” said Vavra. “People doubted me.”
     
    “It irritated me for a while and it’s still a little chip,” Vavra continued, “but I’m just trying trying to get rid of the whole, ‘You’re here because of your dad,’ type deal.”
     
    “I haven’t gotten anything like that from the players, they’ve all been great. I haven’t heard that once. It’s from bloggers and those people that somehow send a letter to your house and tell you that you don’t belong. That’s my chip right now. The eye thing is always going to be there, but that’s my new chip.”
     
    While it's understandable that Vavra would be sensitive to suggestions that he hasn't earned his place in pro ball, having a father in the game has its benefits.
     
    “This offseason, I got to work with him for 5-6 months. That’s incredible. Going from usually working with him for three or four weeks over Christmas break to five months. It was definitely helpful.”
     
    While Vavra was spending his offseason working out indoors in Wisconsin with his dad, Larson was wintering in a much warmer climate.
     
    “Down in Bradenton, I give lessons at an indoor batting facility and my hitting coach is also there,” said Larson, of his offseason. “I hit with him and work out, try to get in the best shape I can before the season starts. Every day, hitting cage, doing something with baseball.”
     
    Larson arguably seemed to have an edge on non-baseball related activities.
     
    “I go to the beach. Beach is a big thing in Florida,” said Larson. “Just hang out with my friends. I don’t see them that often. They’re in college when I’m back at home.”
     
    Vavra, on the other hand, “did a lot of hunting and fishing. Different fishing though, dropping a line through the ice.”
     
    The look on Larson's face, hearing that, gave the impression he wasn't inclined to trade offseasons with his team mate.
  20. Steven Buhr
    It was "Meet the Kernels Night" at Veterans Mermorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids Tuesday night, giving local fans and media a first look at the 2014 version of the Twins' Class A Midwest League affiliate and giving the Kernels players their first look at chilly Iowa April temperatures.
     
    After the media portion of the event, players and coaches mingled with fans on the concourse to chat and sign autographs. Then, they shed their parkas for a brief workout.
     
    The cold temperatures meant a pretty small turnout from the public and that's unfortunate, but understandable. The more unfortunate fact is that the weather forecast for Opening Night on Thursday (and Friday, for that matter) makes the proposition of actually getting baseball played a little dicey.
     
    A year ago, it seemed like the weather was forcing doubleheaders every week for the first couple of months across the Midwest League and I wouldn't be surprised if we start the season with a twin-bill (or two) over the weekend, as well.
     
    Manager Jake Mauer, along with hitting coach Tommy Watkins and pitching coach Ivan Arteaga met with media for a few minutes, as did four members of the new Kernels roster: Kohl Stewart, Aaron Slegers, Mitch Garver and Chad Christensen. They all arrived in the media room wearing their newly-issued Cedar Rapids Kernels parkas.
     
    Nothing says "play ball" like new team parkas and portable gas heaters in the dugout!
     
    The field staff and players that met with the media had some interesting things to say and I'll try to write a follow up story with quotes later this week.
     
    I did ask Arteaga about his plans for the rotation, specifically about whether he planned to use a six-man rotation again this year, as pitching coach Gary Lucas had in 2013.
     
    Arteaga explained that that's pretty much an organizational approach to young pitchers in order to protect their arms. He did add, however, that for the first couple of weeks, they were likely to use a five-man rotation, with a piggy-backing of their fifth and sixth starting pitchers in game 5 next week.
     
    Miguel Sulbaran is not yet stretched out to the point where he needs to be to start, so he'll split games with another pitcher the first couple of times through the rotation. Within a couple of weeks, however, Arteaga believes they'll be on track with the six-man rotation.
     
    Other than that bit of "news," you'll just have to be satisfied with getting a little sense of flavor of the evening from a few pictures.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/ArteagaWatkinsMauer.jpg
    Left to Right: pitching coach Ivan Arteaga, hitting coach Tommy Watkins, manager Jake Mauer
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Stewart.jpg
    Kohl Stewart
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Slegers.jpg
    Aaron Slegers
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Garver.jpg
    Mitch Garver
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Christensen.jpg
    Chad Christensen
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/JakeMauer1.jpg
    Jake Mauer
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/IntroNightDugout2.jpg
    Kernels prepare for introductions
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/KernelsIntro.jpg
    Kernels introduced
  21. Steven Buhr
    It occurs to me that since I’ve been a little preoccupied with writing about the Cedar Rapids Kernels the past five months, I have written very little about the Minnesota Twins.
     
    Now that the Kernels’ season has come to a close, I’m going to try to remedy that situation and I’m going to begin by posing a question to the Twns’ front office: Why the heck have you not announced that you are shutting Joe Mauer down for the season?
     
    I mean it. Shut Joe Mauer down and do it right frigging now!
     
    (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    I know he wants to play. I know he wants to put on the gear and get behind the plate again this season. I know he doesn’t like sitting and watching his team mates play (and frankly, many days, the rest of us aren’t enjoying it much either).
     
    I don’t care. He is not (or at least he shouldn’t be) the one calling the shots.
    Check out these quotes that Star-Tribune beat reporter LaVelle E. Neal III attributed to Mauer in Neal’s blog post Thursday:
     


    “I start feeling symptoms when I start to get my heart rate up,” Mauer said between workouts at Target Field on Thursday.

    Mauer is determined to return to the Twins lineup before the end of the regular season – but he has to wait until the symptoms go away for good.

    “This process has been a little longer than I hoped,” Mauer said.
     
    Tell me that doesn’t sound like something we might have heard Justin Morneau say during the summer of 2010.
     
    That summer, Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com authored a piece on the concussions of Morneau and Jason Bay, and quoted another former member of the Twins, Corey Koskie, extensively. This quote from Koskie should resound with Twins fans who think Mauer should return to the field for any part of what’s left of this third straight lost season:
     


    Koskie doesn’t profess to know everything about concussions, but he’s compiled a list of “do’s” and “don’ts.” He advises any athlete with concussion symptoms to consult a doctor with no vested interest in the player’s return to the field. His blood pressure also spikes when he reads a news story that Player X suffered a “mild” concussion in the line of duty.

    “That’s a pet peeve of mine,” Koskie said. “The brain is the most important organ in the body. You’d never hear somebody say, ‘This guy just had a minor heart attack. He should be able to play in two days.’ ”
     
    When Morneau caught a knee to the helmet in Toronto three years ago, he was hitting .345 and had an OPS of 1.055. Last week he was traded for two guys 99% of us had never heard of.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/MauerST11h.jpg
    Joe Mauer
     
    Look, I’ve got plans to attend a Twins game a week from Saturday (assuming I survive the #GrandDrunkRailroad pregame festivities) and I’d like to see Mauer play. I don’t care if he doesn’t hit home runs, I appreciate what he does with a bat and he’s almost certainly going to be enshrined in Cooperstown someday. I want to see him play any chance I can get.
     
    But Justin Morneau’s career path was just as promising as Joe Mauer’s three seasons ago and a concussion that was originally thought to be minor robbed Twins fans of getting to see him at his best in his prime… not to mention robbing us of the opportunity to see what difference he might have made in a couple of Twins’ postseason appearances in 2010 and 2011.
     
    I want to see the Twins improve in 2014 and I want to see them return to contention in 2015 and beyond. The Twins organization has a number of very good prospects who will be arriving by then.
     
    But if prospects like Miguel Sano or Byron Buxton had been concussed with three or four weeks left in their seasons, is there any way the Twins WOULDN’T just shut them down immediately rather than try to get them back on the field for a couple weeks at the end of the season, even if it might involve minor league postseason games?
     
    There is no way they would take that kind of risk with such critical assets.
     
    After all, the chances of the Minnesota Twins returning to relevancy in the next few years depend on a healthy Miguel Sano and a healthy Byron Buxton.
     
    They also depend on a healthy Joe Mauer.
     
    And the remaining games on the Twins’ schedule are every bit as meaningless as minor league games are, at this point. They simply do not matter at all, except for the purpose of evaluating players with an eye toward what, if any, roles they should play on a future Twins roster.
     
    The Twins need to find out if Josmil Pinto and Chris Herrmann can handle catching at the Major League level. They need to find out if Chris Colabello and Chris Parmelee can hit Major League pitching well enough to take over at first base.
     
    There may be a legitimate question as to what position Joe Mauer should play in the future, but there is absolutely no question concerning whether he’ll have a role somewhere – unless he tries to return too soon from his concussion and spends an offseason dealing with symptoms the way Morneau did leading up to 2011.
     
    If the Twins’ brass ask Mauer if he wants to continue to work toward getting back on the field this season, of course he’s going to say, “yes.” He’s a competitor and you would expect no other answer.
     
    That’s why the question shouldn’t even be asked.
     
    The Twins should simply tell Mauer his season is over and he should focus on being ready to take the field when pitchers and catchers report to spring training in February.
     
    Doing otherwise is illogical and perhaps even irresponsible.
     
    SD Buhr covers the Cedar Rapids Kernels for MetroSportsReport.com. His alter-ego, Jim Crikket, opines about the Twins and Kernels at Knuckleballsblog.com.
     
  22. Steven Buhr
    A year ago, Jonathan Murphy was a 22-year old 19th round draft pick out of Jacksonville University just starting out his professional baseball career in the Minnesota Twins organization with the Twins’ complex-rookie level Gulf Coast League team in Fort Myers.
     
    Today, Murphy is the primary leadoff hitter and centerfielder for the Cedar Rapids Kernels.
     
    It’s not at all unusual for a second-year professional player drafted out of college to be spending time with the Kernels, but Murphy, the younger brother of New York Mets infielder Daniel Murphy, didn’t take the normal path to Cedar Rapids this season.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Murphy51.jpg
    Jonathan Murphy
     
    Murphy didn’t set the world on fire in his 52 games with the GCL Twins in 2012, hitting just .216 and reaching base at a .288 clip, so it’s probably safe to say that expectations for Murphy this season, based on last year’s results, were marginal, at best.
     
    Murphy started 2013 at extended spring training in Fort Myers while awaiting news of which affiliate he would be sent to begin his season. The rookie league team in Elizabethton TN seemed logical or perhaps Class A Cedar Rapids would need an outfielder when Murphy was deemed ready to get his year started.
     
    But neither place was where Murphy found himself assigned.
     
    Instead, the Class high-A Fort Myers Miracle ran in to a bit of bad luck with injuries and Murphy was dispatched across the parking lot from the back fields where the GCL Twins play to Hammond Stadium, home of the Miracle.
     
    “I was just in the right place at the right time. It had nothing to do with my own merit,” Murphy explained during an interview over the weekend. “It just had to do with (the Miracle) had a lot of injuries and I happened to be the oldest guy, I think, running around in (extended spring training) so they decided to ship me over there.”
     
    Regardless of the circumstances, Murphy valued the experience.
     
    “(Playing for the Miracle) was really a great opportunity for me. A great learning experience, too, just getting to go to a higher level like that and learn from some of those guys that have some experience and see what it’s like to be a professional, with this being my first (full) professional season.”
     
    Murphy indicated he definitely noticed the higher level of competition he’d been thrown in to. “The game was moving pretty fast, but it was exciting. It was a challenge and an opportunity for me and I was appreciative of the organization for it.”
     
    A few days after Twins top prospect Byron Buxton was promoted to Fort Myers, Murphy found himself assigned to the Kernels, essentially to replace Buxton in the Cedar Rapids outfield and, eventually, at the top of the Kernels’ batting order, as well.
     
    Was Murphy worried about replacing perhaps the top rated minor leaguer in America?
     
    “I was worried about him replacing me in Fort Myers,” Murphy responded, laughing.
     
    “No, Byron’s a great guy and an unbelievable player. He’s got more talent than I’ll ever imagine having. To try to compare myself to him wouldn’t be real fair. He’s a great player and I’m just going to try to play the best that I can.”
     
    Murphy certainly doesn’t see himself competing with Buxton. “Byron’s a Major League baseball player and I don’t think there’s a lot of doubt about that. He’s going to play in the Major Leagues. So, if I were to get caught up in trying to compare myself to him constantly, it would drive me crazy.
     
    “Basically, all I can do is show up every day and whoever is pitching that day, it’s my job to compete against him and do the best I can. If I can do that every day and compete and be successful, then maybe I’ll look up in a couple of years and find myself in the Major Leagues, too.”
     
    Murphy knows there’s no guarantee in his line of work, though. “Maybe (it will turn out) I’m not quite good enough. But all I can do is come out here and compete every day and as far as I’m concerned the pressure is taken off me. I have a job to do every day and however good I am and how much talent I have will dictate where I go as long as I put the effort forth.”
     
    While not competing with Buxton, Murphy has filled in well for the departed star. Through the past weekend, Murphy was hitting .311 in his 23 games for the Kernels and had put up a .398 on-base percentage, while showing good range in the outfield.
     
    So, after spending a couple of weeks facing the Class high-A pitching, apparently Murphy is finding Midwest League pitchers relatively easy to hit off, right?
     
    That question pulls a laugh from Murphy. “Not at all! You must not have come to many of the games! Oh, my goodness, no. There are still plenty of talented arms and talented pitchers. It’s been exciting, though, to have the opportunity to come here and get to play every day.”
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Murphy1.jpg
    Jonathan Murphy goes through pregame baserunning drills as Jorge Polanco and Niko Goodrum wait their turns
     
    Murphy’s got one advantage that most minor league ballplayers don’t: an older brother who has already made it to the big leagues. Daniel Murphy is in his fifth season with the Mets and the two brothers are close.
     
    “We encourage one another,” Murphy said. “We send each other texts. He had a day game yesterday and he had a real good day. I think he had like three or four hits. I (texted), ‘I think you win today, I don’t think I’m going to be able to match that.’
     
    “Sometimes whenever we’re both going well, we’ll try to encourage one another like, ‘hey, you got two today, I’ll try to join the party,’” Murphy added. “Then when we’re struggling, it’s nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of and he’s always there for me when I need him. It’s a great tool and resource to have for baseball and for life. He’s just been a good role model for me.”
     
    Asked what he likes to do away from the ballpark, Murphy gave an answer quite different than most ballplayers do.
     
    “I just got engaged, so that takes up a lot of my free time, in a good way. We’ve been doing some wedding planning.” Murphy and his fiancé chose October 12 for their wedding. “Right after the season. Hopefully, the Mets won’t be in the World Series. I think we’ll be OK there.”
     
    Picking that date was a little dicey with a brother playing Major League Baseball, where mid-October is right in the middle of the postseason. The Mets, however, are having just about as much success this season as the Twins are, which is to say, not much success at all.
     
    The timing was questioned by at least one member of Murphy’s family, however.
     
    “My dad sent me a text, ‘What if the Mets are in the World Series?’ I said, ‘I think this year we’ll be OK dad.’” Murphy then smiled and almost mumbled, “I might catch some heat for that one.”
     
    But Murphy is clearly looking forward to the event as the culmination of an exciting year. “My family will be there, we’re going to have a nice small wedding. I’m really looking forward to it and excited that God’s really blessing both of us and it’s been an exciting time in my life.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Murphy8.jpg
    Jonathan Murphy
     
    “Getting to come out (to the ballpark) and do something I love every day and now I’ve found a wife I’m going to get to spend the rest of my life with. So, I’ve really been blessed here in the last few months.”
     
    Kernels players who have spent prior years playing at lower levels in the organization or at Beloit during the last season or two of the Twins affiliation with the Snappers have expressed their enthusiasm for the facilities and environment in Cedar Rapids.
     
    Murphy, however, has a different perspective, having arrived in town after playing at the next level up in the organization. The Fort Myers Miracle, after all, play their home games at Hammond Stadium, the spring training home of the parent Twins.
     
    That said, Murphy’s assessment of the environment in Cedar Rapids is much the same as those who’ve moved up the ladder to reach the Kernels. “It’s unbelievable. Fort Myers was good and it was exciting, but as far as crowds go and the fans, they’re way better here. Just numbers-wise and they seem to care a lot more,” said Murphy.
     
    “When I go around town and I run in to someone and I say, ‘I play for the Kernels,’ almost every single person has said, ‘Oh, yeah, I went to a game last week,’ or ‘I love going to the Kernels games every once in a while.’” Murphy indicated that was not necessarily the case in Fort Myers.
     
    “It’s definitely more of a community here. It’s been enjoyable and the fans really care a lot. It makes it a lot of fun to play in front of them. They’re passionate.”
  23. Steven Buhr
    Celebrating the affiliation agreement with the Minnesota Twins has been pretty much an “all season long” thing for the Cedar Rapids Kernels and their fans, but this weekend was the official Twins Weekend event in Cedar Rapids.
     
    Guests of honor have included all-time Twins great Tony Oliva, Twins organist Sue Nelson and mascot TC Bear. All three made appearances at the Kernels’ game with visiting Peoria on Friday night.
     
    Oliva signed autographs for a long line of fans before the game, Nelson treated fans to her talents on an electric organ during the game and TC teamed with Kernels mascot Mr. Shucks to entertain fans throughout the game.
     
    (This article was originally posted on Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    On Saturday morning, all three joined several Kernels players and coaches, along with over 100 fans, for a breakfast event benefiting the Cedar Rapids Convention & Visitors Bureau.
     
    As a fan who grew up in Minnesota in the 1960s watching Oliva play ball for the Twins at Metropolitan Stadium, I have to say it was a really big deal to me to have an opportunity to interview Oliva along with other local media Friday evening during the Kernels game.
     
    It was even a bigger deal to find myself alone with Oliva in the pressbox for several minutes a short while after the formal media intervew and having the opportunity to just watch a ballgame and talk about a number of the young Twins prospects with Oliva.
     
    On Saturday morning, during his remarks at the breakfast and in a “Q & A” session, Oliva shared a number of observations and anecdotes with the crowd.
    If you’re interested in reading some of Oliva’s comments to the media from Friday night, click here to read my story for Metro Sports Report, which include Oliva’s thoughts on the current Major Leaguers from his native Cuba. Cedar Rapids Gazette reporter Jeff Johnson also has a story focusing on Oliva’s comments concerning PED usage in baseball.
     
    Here are a few photos I took from the weekend’s events.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/OlivaAuto-600x399.jpg
    Tony Oliva patiently signed autographs for about an hour before the game
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/SueNelson.jpg
    Twins organist Sue Nelson
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/TCBear2.jpg
    TC Bear entertained fans and posed for pictures
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/OlivaMedia.jpg
    Tony Oliva met with local media on Friday during the Kernels game
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/BreakfastLee.jpg
    Kernels pitcher and Twins prospect Brett Lee answers a question during the breakfast event Saturday morning as Niko Goodrum, Adam Brett Walker, Kernels broadcaster Morgan Hawk, Tony Oliva, Jake Mauer and Tommy Watkins look on.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/OlivaBreakfast.jpg
    Tony Oliva speaking to fans at the Breakfast event Saturday
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/BreakfastWalker.jpg
    Kernels outfielder and Twins prospect Adam Brett Walker answers fan questions during Saturday’s breakfast
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Breakfast3.jpg
    From left to right: Mike Gonzales, Dallas Gallant, Morgan Hawk (standing), Niko Goodrum, Brett Lee, Adam Brett Walker, Tony Oliva, Jake Mauer and Tommy Watkins
  24. Steven Buhr
    With just 40 games remaining in their regular season schedule, now seems like a good time to step back and take a look at the state of the Cedar Rapids Kernels.
     
    It's almost laughable to even question whether or not the affiliation switch from the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to the Minnesota Twins has been good for Cedar Rapids. Of course it has, by pretty much every measurement.
     
    The Kernels have already qualified for the Midwest League postseason by virtue of their second place finish in the first half of the season and fan interest is up.
     
    Attendance is up some, but even more telling, the fans who show up for games are enthusiastically engaged in what's happening on the field. That has not always been the case at Veterans Memorial Stadium the past few years.
     
    It certainly didn't hurt that one of the Twins' top prospects, Byron Buxton, got off to such an incredible start this spring. He drew fan and media interest from well beyond the local community.
     
    But even after the inevitable promotion of Buxton to the Twins' Class high-A affiliate at Fort Myers in June, the Kernels have continued to win games. That may come as a surprise to those so blinded by Buxton's aura that they didn't notice the Kernels roster included a number of other very talented players.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Murphy5-600x409.jpg
    Jonathan Murphy
     
    Of course, Buxton isn't the only Kernels player the Twins have rewarded with a bump up in playing level. The Kernels have seen about a dozen players, in total, promoted to Fort Myers already this season.
     
    The Twins, as an organization, have a reputation for being conservative with their promotions. They historically have preferred to see most players spend at least an entire season, if not more, at most minor league levels.
     
    No doubt, Kernels officials were hoping that trend would continue. In past seasons, the Angels seemingly couldn't wait to promote players as soon as they demonstrated any level of productivity in a Kernels uniform.
     
    Among position players, Buxton was the only key offensive contributor to be lost to promotion until J.D. Williams and Dalton Hicks were bumped up to Fort Myers about a week ago.
     
    It's not easy to replace players found in the top 10 of most Midwest League offensive statistical categories like Williams (on-base percentage, OPS), Hicks (home runs, RBI, slugging pct., OPS) and Buxton (almost everything), but players brought in to Cedar Rapids by the Twins to replace the departing hitters have done well.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Kepler11.jpg
    Max Kepler
     
    Max Kepler joined the Kernels once he completed rehabilitating his injured elbow in Fort Myers. He arrived four days before Buxton was promoted and he has hit for a .263 average. Thirteen of his 31 hits have been for extra bases.
     
    Jonathan Murphy is hitting .333 in the 17 games he's played since his arrival at the beginning of July and Joel Licon has performed well in a utility infielder role since he joined the team in early June.
     
    It's too early to know for certain how well Mike Gonzales will fill in for the departed Hicks, but the big first baseman has four hits in his first eight at-bats as a Kernel. Gonzales hit .289 and stroked 15 home runs for the Beloit Snappers in 2011. He missed much of his 2012 season in Fort Myers and after starting this season again with the Miracle, a wrist injury has sidelined him for the past several weeks.
     
    On the pitching front, the Kernels lost Taylor Rogers before most fans even got to know him. He made three unimpressive starts for the Kernels before being moved on to Fort Myers. Jose Berrios, a supplemental first round draft pick in the 2012 First Year Player Draft and one of the top pitching prospects in the Twins organization, essentially took Rogers' spot in the Kernels rotation.
     
    The subsequent promotion of Tyler Duffey in early June left a much more significant hole at the top of the Kernels' rotation. Duffey carried a 2.78 ERA and a 0.943 WHIP through nine starts when he left Cedar Rapids.
     
    Josue Montanez initially worked from the Kernels bullpen after his promotion to Cedar Rapids in June, but has shown some potential since joining the rotation about a month ago.
     
    Perhaps even more critically, the Kernels have seen four important members of their bullpen earn promotions. Matt Tomshaw and Manuel Soliman had contributed a total of 59 innings of work over a combined 30 appearances before they were promoted. Last week, the Twins elevated Steve Gruver and Tyler Jones, who had combined to provide a formidable left-right relief combination late in games.
     
    Reliever Alex Muren has been relatively effective since arriving from extended spring training in early May, and the early returns from more recent additions Madison Boer, Dallas Gallant and Tim Shibuya are encouraging.
     
    But the bottom line in baseball is all about wins and losses.
     
    The Kernels were 44-28, for a .611 winning percentage, with Buxton on the roster. Since his promotion four games in to the second half schedule, the Kernels are 17-9 (.654) and they are leading the MWL West Division by three games over first half champion Beloit.
     
    It's certainly too soon to know what effect losing the four players promoted a week ago will have on the team's fortunes. However, the Kernels have won five of the first six games played (all on the road) since Hicks, Williams, Jones and Gruver got their well-deserved promotions.
     
    On Tuesday, the first member of the Twins' draft class of 2013 was promoted to Cedar Rapids when seventh round pick Brian Gilbert was added to the Kernels' roster.
     
    Roster turnover is just a fact of life in minor league baseball. When the local team starts out winning a lot of games, it's probably because a lot of players are performing very well and players that perform very well deserve promotions to the next level in the organization.
     
    One way to measure the strength of an organization is to look at how a minor league team performs after a number of their best players are promoted. If the new players perform well and the team continues winning, that's a very good sign.
     
    So far, that's what we're seeing in Cedar Rapids. That bodes well, this season, for the Kernels and for the Twins in the long run.
     
    SD Buhr covers the Cedar Rapids Kernels for MetroSportsReport.com. His alter-ego, Jim Crikket, opines about the Twins and Kernels at Knuckleballsblog.com.
     
  25. Steven Buhr
    You say yes, I say no
    You say stop and I say go go go, oh no
    You say goodbye and I say hello
    Hello hello
    I don’t know why you say goodbye, I say hello
    This is the time of year when, like it or not, there’s a lot of discussion going on about who will or will not be wearing a Twins uniform a week or two… or a month or two… from now.
     
    The reality is, when your favorite Major League Baseball team is not a contender in July, there will almost certainly be changes made. Maybe you’ll see a managerial change. You will see player changes.
     
    Fans will be saying “hello” to some new faces… and they’ll be saying “good-bye” to some favorite familiar faces. That’s baseball, especially when your team is in the middle of its third consecutive losing season.
     
    (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com)
     
    Let’s try to make a few predictions concerning who we’ll be saying “good-bye” to.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/GardenhireBrunansky2012.jpg
    Ron Gardenhire and Tom Brunansky
     
    The easiest off-season prediction to make relative to the Twins was that manager Ron Gardenhire’s job status would be a hot topic by the end of July. Gardenhire’s Twins have lost almost 100 games in each of the past two seasons and it would seem almost inevitable that the total will be at least 90 losses in 2013.
     
    That was predictable. Since the losing season was predictable, so was Gardenhire’s hot seat.
     
    Of course, the reason the losing season was predictable is that the roster that General Manager Terry Ryan and the rest of the front office assembled for Gardenhire before the season started was underwhelming.
     
    I’ve never been overly impressed with Gardenhire’s game management philosophies, but I also believe that the job of a manager is a lot more about managing the clubhouse than managing individual games.
     
    A manager is only as good as the players he’s given to work with and I think pretty much everyone, including his boss, now knows Gardenhire was dealt a pretty lousy hand this season.
     
    If the manager has lost the clubhouse… if the players have tuned him out and no longer respect his voice… then he should be replaced. I’ve not heard nor read any indication that such is the case, however.
     
    Given that, I not only expect Gardenhire to remain the Twins manager through the end of this season, but also to be brought back for 2014 and beyond.
     
    There are plenty of other possible changes to the Twins worthy of discussion that are far more likely to take place, however.
     
    This time of year, trades are at the top of the list of discussion topics.
     
    http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/TerryRyan-251x300.jpg Terry Ryan
     
     
    A year ago, I published my list of top five most likely Twins to be dealt before the end of August. At that time, the list was, in order from first to fifth, Franicisco Liriano, Denard Span, Danny Valencia, Alexi Casilla and Josh Willingham.
     
    In a poll we attached to that article, our readers agreed with my top three choices, but felt Matt Capps was more likely to be traded during the season than Casilla and Willingham. In fact, almost nobody agreed with me on Willingham being a trade target.
     
    In the end, the Twins had almost nobody that anyone really wanted to trade for a year ago. Liriano and Valencia were traded during the season, Span was dealt in the off-season and Casilla parted after the season, as well.
     
    The Twins are sellers this year, once again, but is Ryan likely to see any greater interest among his fellow GMs than he did a year ago?
     
    I’m not sure Ryan will trade more than just a couple of players, again, but the level of interest… and thus the ultimate return for those players… should be greater this season.
     
    Here’s my list of the five Twins players most likely to be wearing another team’s uniform by the end of August this year:
     

    Justin Morneau: He’s in the last year of his contract with Minnesota and there reportedly are teams calling about him. He’s not going to bring the return he would have if he were his old home run hitting self, but if the Twins will pay a chunk of his remaining salary (and there’s absolutely no reason they shouldn’t), there are contenders that may be willing to give up a prospect with some talent. If they end up just giving Morneau away as a salary dump, Twins fans should justifiably be enraged.
    Jared Burton: He’s had a few struggles and hasn’t been as reliable as he was a year ago, but there are a lot of teams that could use relief pitching and Burton is likely drawing interest.
    Ryan Doumit: The Twins like his versatility. Other teams will like that, too.
    Glen Perkins: If it were me, I wouldn’t trade Perkins unless someone agreed to way overpay for a “proven closer.” Unfortunately for the Twins, most teams (other than the Twins themselves, historically) are not inclined to overpay for a proven closer. If you want an indication of whether Terry Ryan believes the Twins can contend next year or whether it will be at least 2015, watch what he does with Perkins. If he’s traded, it may indicate Ryan expects the All-Star Game to be the biggest Target Field highlight of 2014.
    Trevor Plouffe: Is Terry Ryan ready to annoint Miguel Sano as the Twins’ starting third baseman beginning in 2014? If so, Trevor Plouffe could be dealt.

     
    Others: Could Kevin Correia or Mike Pelfrey be traded? Maybe, but I think not.
     
    Pelfrey is pitching better and if that continues, he may have some value, but he’s making little enough that if he isn’t dealt in July, he could be “blocked” by teams claiming him to prevent a waiver trade in August. I also could see the Twins extend Pelfrey for another season before this summer is over.
     
    I think Ryan feels vindicated by Correia’s season and intends to keep him for the second year of his contract.
     
    What do you think?
     
    Who do you think will no longer be wearing a Twins uniform by the end of August?
     
    Because I have no idea how to imbed a poll here at TwinsDaily, you're going to have to click here to head over to our blog at Knuckleballs to share your views in the poll.
     
    We’ll add Ron Gardenhire to the list to choose from in the poll so if you really believe he’s likely to be axed this summer, you can reflect that in your choices.
     
    SD Buhr covers the Cedar Rapids Kernels for MetroSportsReport.com. His alter-ego, Jim Crikket, opines about the Twins and Kernels at Knuckleballsblog.com.
     
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