Paul Pleiss

Gonzo, I hope the Twins can move a few more pieces before the waiver deadline to bring back something for the future of the organization, but I'm not sure anyone is playing good enough to bring anything of value. Maybe Hammer heats up and Burton continues to not-suck, but Correia and Deduno aren't going anywhere.

No dilemma. If Joe Mauer is on the active roster and I'm down by a run with a runner on 2nd, bottom of the 9th with 2 outs, I want Joe Mauer up to bat. A patented Joe Mauer single scores a run. That's what he does. This may be a lost season, but it's too soon to think it's a lost career. He may yet be shaking long term effects from his concussion, or back issues. Joe Mauer, I expect, will return to being Joe Mauer. Would you have rather the Twins let Joe Mauer walk instead of signing his extension? I would have seriously considered finding a new franchise to follow had that happened. I'm happy to have Joe on this ball club, even if he's injured and having a down season. There aren't many players in baseball hitting .270 or better, and Joe's clearly getting more money that his on field value this season, but signing him was the right move for the organization. At this point the money doesn't matter, it's already spent.

great idea. 6-man rotation gets more arms chances to throw against MLB competetion and more rest for guys coming back from injury. No sense throwing guys out there every 5 days just to watch the team lose 90 games. More arms, more rest, more better.

Originally posted at PuckettsPond.com Download attachment: A6i8gT0CYAArTnm.jpg In my last Down on the Pond post I took a look at how the Twins players were doing down in the Arizona Fall League. Rather than look at how they're doing now, or even taking a look at the guys who are playing Winter Ball around the Southern Hemisphere, I thought I'd share some photos that players throughout the Twins system posted to the Twitter machine and use that as a jumping off point to talk about some of the guys that are toiling down in the Twins system who you may not have heard of. We'll start first with a pre-Halloween trick. Hurricane Sandy ( or Post-tropical Cyclone, as the hipsters are calling it) was not kind to Twins AAA reliever Bobby Lanigan (@BOBBYLANIGAN). Sandy flooded his street, took his car for a ride and totaled it in the process. I hope the insurance claim comes quick and that Bobby and his family are safe and dry. Lanigan finished the season 7-5 across AA New Britain and AAA Rochester throwing just over 70 innings on the season out of the bullpen in 44 appearances. He finished the season with an ERA over 4, and struck out only 49 batters to go along with a WHIP (walks+hits per inning pitched) of 1.373. At 25 and in his first season in AAA there still may be some hope for the young righty, but his numbers over his minor league career are not much better. This was his first season working out of the pen so it will be interesting how he fairs in a full season at AAA in 2013. I typically have no idea what Manuel Soliman (@SOLIMAN30)is tweeting because everything is in Spanish, and even though I could quickly translate using google or Tweetdeck, I'm generally not that interested. But here's a photo he tweeted a couple days ago that I thought was pretty awesome. Soliman signed with the Twins as a non-drafted free agent in 2007 and in 2009 converted from third base to pitcher. The move worked well and lead the Elizabethon Twins in strikeouts in 2010 (74). In 2012 Soliman threw only 5.0 innings after having been moved up to Ft Myers after a successful 2011 in Beloit. He had shoulder surgery early in the season and the Twins will be cautious with him as he makes his return. He may lose his "prospect" status if 2013 is not a big year for the young righty. Download attachment: Pucketts Pond.jpg James Beresford put up this photo on his twitter (@JamesBeresford2) that golfers around the world will recognize as the result of not hitting your tee-shot past the ladies tee. Beresford was promoted to New Britain last off-season and played second base and shortstop for the Rock Cats to the tune of .266/.330/.314 (AVG/OBP/SLG) in 114 games and committed only 10 errors in 491 chances, but 9 of those errors were at SS where he played just over half of his games. While those offensive numbers are nothing to write home about, the Twins would have done well for themselves in 2012 had they had a big league SS who could have put up similar numbers. Daniel Rohlfing (@DanRohlfing), who replaced fellow AA catcher Chris Herrmann in the Arizona Fall League last week, posted this absolute GEM of a photo featuring all of the Twins AFL prospects sporting mustaches like their fellow Twins prospect Nate Roberts. Rohlfing played 91 games between A+ and AA this season and spent most of his time behind the plate but also saw a handful of games in the outfield. Rohlfing is not a monster at the plate, in fact he's rather more Drew Buteraish, as his slash line in 2012 across both levels was .235/.295/.311, but he did show skill behind the plate as a defensive catcher, throwing out 37% of would-be base-stealers. Alex Wimmers (@AlexWimmers21) does not hand out candy, he just puts out a bucket for the tricker-treaters to take what they want. He also carved a pumpkin. Wimmers pitched in only 2 games in 2012 and spent most of the year trying to rehab an elbow injury to avoid surgery. He will likely miss most of, if not all, of 2013 as he recovers from Tommy John surgery performed this past August. Can the former 2-time Big Ten pitcher of the year come back and be successful in a Twins uniform? All we (and he) can do at this point is wait and hope. The Twins 16th round pick in 2011, Austin Malinowski (@A_Mali24) carved a TC pumpkin for his doorstep. Malinowski pitched 31.2 innings for the Twins rookie league Gulf Coast Twins and struck out 32 batters while walking only 11 batters in his first year of professional baseball, but he did give up 35 hits as well. Mali was drafted out of high school and has a long road ahead of him to make it up to the big leagues. P.J. Walters (@PJwalters33) who recently signed a minor league contract with the Twins after being removed from the 40-man roster last week is dressed as one of the Avengers and is off to save the world. (Editor's note: He looks a little too much like Thor. By the Eye Of Zeus!) Walters made 12 starts for the Twins last year posting a 5.69 ERA (gave up 41 runs (39 earned) in just 61.2 innings!). Prior to his promotion he was 3-3 in 14 starts for the Rochester Red Wings with an ERA just a tick over four (4.01). Walters will join the Twins in spring training this spring. Hopefully Terry Ryan and the front office bring in some better starters via trade of free agency or Twins fans may be getting more Walters in their lives and I don't foresee that being good for anyone. That's all for this week, I hope you all had a Happy Halloween full of treats and welcomed the Great Pumpkin into your hearts once more. __________________ Follow @BaseballPirate on Twitter Click here to view the article

Download attachment: Kyle Gibson_600_321.jpg This post originally appeared at puckettspond.com. The Twins sent seven of their minor league players to the Arizona Fall League that kicked off earlier this month. The AFL is a 6-team league in which several teams each send a handful of their prospects to form a team. The Twins players play for the Peoria Javelinas (a 40-80 pound skunk pig, for those of you who are curious you can check out the wiki page) which includes players from the Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, San Diego Padres and the Seattle Mariners. The AFL is typically offense-heavy as teams are fairly stingy when it comes to sending top level arms to get more work and expose them to injury. If you do see MLB quality arms, they are typically coming back from injury and hoping to log some innings, like the Twins' Kyle Gibson. This year the Twins sent Evan Bigley (AAA right-fielder), Logan Darnell (AA Left-handed starting pitcher), Kyle Gibson (AAA Right-handed starting pitcher), Chris Herrmann (AA catcher who made his MLB debut late this season), Nate Roberts (Low-A outfielder), Caleb Thielbar (AAA Left-handed reliever) and Michael Tonkin (High-A Right-handed relief pitcher). Let's take a closer look at how each of the Twins selections have faired after a couple of weeks in Arizona. Kyle Gibson has been the most impressive of all the Twins prospects in the AFL, and maybe the most impressive in the AFL. Gibson has made three starts and is 3-0 with a shiny .069 ERA and 19 strike-outs in 13 innings of work. 14 games into the young AFL season Gibson leads the league in innings pitched and strike-outs and of the 35 pitchers who have logged more than 7.0 innings, only Seth Blair (St. Louis) and C.J. Riefenhauser (Tampa Bay) have given up less earned runs. If Gibson continues to pitch like this well and his arm continues to progress from surgery it will be hard to keep him out of the Twins rotation next spring. Download attachment: down-on-the-pond.1-300x180.jpg Nate Roberts has been the Twins brightest star on the offensive side of the game. Roberts has seen action in 6 games and is 9 for 17 w/ 3 extra-base hits and 5 walks, his slash line is an impressive .529/.640/1.346!!! Obviously this is a small sample size, but things look bright for Nate Roberts who will most likely start next season in high-A Ft Myers after repeating a second season in low-A Beloit. Chris Herrmann has also done well at the dish down in Arizona, but in an even smaller sample size. Herrmann has only played in 3 games so far, but is 5 for 10 in limited action. Herrmann is hampered by the Javelinas' roster which also contains uber catching prospect Mike Zunino (SEA) and fellow catcher Tommy Joseph (PHI). Update: Chris Herrmann has injured his left shoulder and has been replaced by AA catcher Dan Rohlfing. The injury is to his non-throwing shoulder and is believed to bemild in nature. Rohlfing started the season in Ft Myers before moving up to New Britain and hit .235/.295/.311 across both leagues in 2012. Thanks to Twins prospect guru, Seth Stohs of Twins Daily, for the news. Michael Tonkin has had four appearances for the Javelinas this season and has yet to give up a run, earned or otherwise, in his 5.1 innings of work while striking out 4 and walking just a single batter. Tonkin struck out almost 13 batters per 9 between low/high-A in 2012 and his ability to get out high-caliber batters in the AFL is very good news. It will be interesting to see if Tonkin has earned a promotion to AA to start 2013 or if he starts in high-A where he posted a sub-3.00 ERA in 30+ innings. Logan Darnell has also appeared in 4 games for Peoria and has done well for himself. Darnell spent all of 2012 w/ AA New Britain where he made 28 starts and logged 156 innings but was less than spectacular striking out well under a batter per inning and giving up nearly 1.3 HR/9. In his 6.2 innings of work in the AFL Darnell has given up only 2 runs (both earned) and 7 hits to go with 5 K's and 2 BB's. Caleb Thielbar has been, to be nice, less than spectacular. In 5.1 innings of work Thielbar has given up 8 runs (all earned) and has a fancy 13.50 ERA to show for it. The good news is that although he gave up 4 runs in each of his first 2 appearances, he's kept batters in check during his last 3 appearances allowing only a single hit and no walks in 3.0 innings of work. Thielbar, who started the year in Ft Myers before getting called up to AA New Britain and eventually AAA Rochester had a strong season and finished w/ a 2.43 ERA between all three levels, helped in large part to 12.1 innings in Ft Myers where he gave up only 1 run (unearned). It will be interesting to see what Thielbar's future is with the Twins, who picked up Thielbar from the Saint Paul Saints after the 2011 season. Evan Bigley rounds out the Twins seven selections to the AFL, and his performance has been unimpressive to date. In 7 games of work Bigley has managed to hit only 5 for 29, has struck out 6 times and has yet to take a walk. His slash like is scary bad, .172/.241/.441. Bigley hit .268 for the Rock Cats before getting moved up to AAA to join the Red Wings where he hit just .251/.289/.409. Bigley will need to turn things around in a big way if he wants to stay in the Twins organization as anything other than an organizational guy, especially as the Twins farm system is full of high-value OF prospects. This may be Bigley's last big chance to impress the brass in Minnesota. __________________ Follow @BaseballPirate on Twitter Click here to view the article

You can download the new Talk to Contact (@TalkToContact) episode via iTunes or by clicking here, and if you want to add the show to your non-iTunes podcast player, this is the RSS Feed. No reason to bury the lead, Trevor May is BACK! Trevor talked about his approach to pitching, what he’s been doing in 2014 that has allowed him to be successful, and how much fun he’s having as a member of the outstanding pitching staff in Triple-A Rochester. Download attachment: trevor may.jpg Just Cody and Eric this week, in addition to talking with Trevor May, they talk about what the Twins have been doing well (pitching) and what they have not been doing at all (hitting) in the past week. They also take a shot at predicting the Twins’ All-Star representative (and fail), and they whip around the world for beers and around the league to talk about great pitching from Clayton Kershaw and bad pitching from Justin Verlander. 84 minutes of cool dudes talkin’ ball. Thanks for the download. You can follow Cody on Twitter (@NoDakTwinsFan) or read his writing atNoDakTwinsFan, and you can find Eric on Twitter (@ERolfPleiss) and read his writing atKnuckleballs, and you can find Jay Corn on twitter @Jay__Corn! __________________ Follow me, @BaseballPirate, on Twitter. Check out the Talk to Contact Podcast(@TalkToContact) or email the show: talktocontact@gmail.com Click here to view the article

Download attachment: baseball podcast.jpg Episode 15 of the Twins baseball podcast, Talk To Contact (@TalkToContact), is now available for download via iTunesor by clicking here. This week Eric and Paul are joined by Twins prospect guru, Seth Stohs (@SethTweets), of TwinsDaily.com to discuss the Twins trade with the Nationals, his blogging career and Travis Harrison. After Seth departs we take a quick look at the Rule 5 draft, Twins HOFer Brad Radke and a lengthy discussion on the 2013 Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]specifically Barry Bonds and the steroids era. We also talk about beer, of which it becomes evident that Eric has had several, along with a few other Twins news items and notes. If you enjoy our podcast, please take a couple extra minutes and rate and review us on iTunes (ratings and reviews have magical iTunes powers, which help us become warlocks.) You can follow Eric on Twitter (@ERolfPleiss) or read his writing at the Knuckleballs Blog.Once again thank you to Egon's Unicat for letting us use their music on the podcast. __________________ Follow me, @BaseballPirate, on Twitter Click here to view the article

No news is good news. Not a lot of Twins news coming out this week, lots of rumors and rumblings about free agent starting pitchers and catchers, but nothing concrete. At the 33:00 mark, Paul and Eric are joined by Twins Geek, John Bonnes (@TwinsGeek) from Twins Dailyto discuss the origins of both the site and the Gleeman and the Geek podcast - more of look into "how the sausage is made" so to speak. Later, we take a close look at the Twins top pitching prospect, Alex Meyer, and we get into a heated discussion about the possibility (or lack there-of) of Jarrod Saltalamacchia joining the Twins. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]Episode 61 of the Twins baseball podcast, Talk To Contact (@TalkToContact), is now available for download via iTunesor by clicking here. http://puckettspond.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/2013/11/mauer_turkey001.jpg ~~~ Thanks for the download. You can follow Cody on Twitter (@NoDakTwinsFan) or read his writing at NoDakTwinsFan, and you can find Eric on Twitter (@ERolfPleiss) and read his writing at Knuckleballs! If you enjoy our podcast, please take a couple extra minutes and rate and review us on iTunes. Ratings and reviews have magical iTunes powers, which helps Terry Ryan sign top-tier pitching talent in Free Agency. Follow me, @BaseballPirate, on Twitter. Check out the Talk to Contact Podcast(@TalkToContact) or email the show: talktocontact@gmail.com Click here to view the article

It seems anytime I start reading a thread about the Twins pitching, somehow I end up ranting about Jared Burton. There also seems to be a never-ending stream of Jared Burton supporters. I don't understand this. I've decided to take a look at the numbers and see what I can find. Jared Burton started out the year with a couple clunkers and ended April with an ERA of 9.00 and hitters had a .286/.419/.543 line agaisnt him, good for a wOBA of .317. Ouch! He surrended three home runs, and 9 runs total in his 9 innings of work while striking out only five of the 43 batters he faced and walking eight (8.97 FIP, 6.51 xFIP). May was by far the better month for Burton. In 12.2 innings of work he posted a 4.26 ERA, and held batters to .245/.275/.396 for a .283 wOBA. He struck out ten of 51 batters and gave up only two walks and a single home run. He went 1-1 with three holds for the month and lowered his ERA to 6.23 (3.00 FIP, 4.12 xFIP). Download attachment: jared-burton-mlb-toronto-blue-jays-minnesota-twins.jpg June has been hit or miss for Burton but Gardenhire and company continue to run him out to pitch. He recorded a save on Sunday, in an outing, had I been managing, he would never have made. So far in June Burton has a 3.86 ERA in 9.1 innings pitched, but with a 1.29 WHIP for the month. He has surrendered four runs, five walks and a HR to go with eight K's. Unfortunately, things look a less rosy when you look deeper at the numbers. He's held hitters to .200 BA, but has allowed them on base at a .324 clip and allowed a slugging average of .406, yielding a a .327 wOBA. His ERA for the year is down to 5.52. What's the upside to keeping this guy? A reliever with a 4-ish ERA, who has looked overmatched for most of the season, especially against opposite-handed batters, doesn't belong in the bullpen for a team hoping to contend as the summer progresses. For those who say he's been good lately, there's some truth here as June has been good for him, despite giving up multiple runs in 2 of his 10 outings. But if we look at the last 30 days of work from Burton things are not so good, as then his ERA balloons to 5.68. Even more unsettling is his work in high leverage situations. According to Fangraphs, he's pitching to the tune of .215/.329/.391 in low leverage situations, .250/.294/.500 in medium leverage situations and an alarming .368/.429/.526 in high leverage situations. We see the same trend when we look at his numbers with men on base. With the bases empty he's a respectable .183/.300/.367. With men on base it's .321/.377/.527 and with men in scoring position his line becomes a laughabale .342/.375/.622, for a .410 wOBA! Yikes! If you're clamoring to keep Jared Burton because he's been able to put up essentially a 4.0 ERA for his last 10 outings, I think you're trying to hold on to memories of Jared Burton from two years ago. This season, lefties are killing him (.283/.411/.413, .374wOBA). Help me understand what he's doing so well that the Twins should continue to rely on him to pitch meaningfull innings. Heck, I'd be happy if you can convice me he's worth a 25-man roster spot. What's your case to keep Burton? Click here to view the article

Episode 65 is out for your listening enjoyment. Happy New Year from all of the gang at Talk to Contact. We debated titling the podcast after Twins Coach Nelson Prada who wore #65 a few years ago, but anytime Tom Kelly's zubaz come up on conversation you are required to title said conversation after those wonderful pants. You can download the new Talk to Contact (@TalkToContact) episode via iTunesor by clicking here.[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] http://puckettspond.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/2014/01/tom-kelley-300x450.jpg After a holiday hiatus the Talk to Contact podcast returns will all of the usual contributors. Up for discussion this week is Chris Colabello declining a trip to Korea, the make-up of the Twins opening day outfield, former Twins making comebacks and a rousing of debate of whether or not Kurt Suzuki will play a meaningful role for the Twins in 2014. We go down on the pond and take a look at the Twins 2013 4th round draft pick, Stephen Gonsalves (LHP), discuss whether a shandy should even be considered a beer and talk about moves from around the rest of the MLB, including possible landing spots for Masahiro Tanaka and the potential for the Houston Astros to contend in the AL West this coming season. All of that and more on this week's podcast. Most notably, this podcast begins with a Minnesota Twins twitter community draft. It was a lot of fun. We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it. Thanks for the download. You can follow Cody on Twitter (@NoDakTwinsFan) or read his writing at NoDakTwinsFan, and you can find Eric on Twitter (@ERolfPleiss) and read his writing at Knuckleballs! If you enjoy our podcast, please take a couple extra minutes and rate and review us on iTunes. Ratings and reviews have magical iTunes powers, that will help Liam Hendriks make the major league club in Baltimore and hopefully pitch against Danny Valencia and the Royals, beaning him in the middle of the back. __________________ Follow me, @BaseballPirate, on Twitter. Check out the Talk to Contact Podcast(@TalkToContact) or email the show: talktocontact@gmail.com Click here to view the article

http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400-149x149+35+42_9790166.jpg This week on the podcast Paul learns about ground rule triples, and strangely enough, if does not include TC Bear going on a rampage with his T-shirt gun (but we'd pay good money to see that happen). The Twins offense has struggled to score runs recently (what's new?) and Joe Mauer is still working his way back from injury. The scholarship program is over in Minnesota (again) as Matt Guerrier was DFA'd to make room for roster worthy Ryan Pressly. Ron Gardenhire passed another managerial milestone, 1000 losses, pretty neat, you guys. How does he still have a job? All of this good news and an interview with Jason "Professor" Parks from Baseball Prospectus to talk Twins minor leaguers and a suitable explanation of what exactly "rig" is/means. Source

http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400-480x480+0+24_9766987.jpg This week we talk all about the first half, the Twins best players and worst players before the All Star break, and what we think might happen in the second half. Jay Corn rags on Joe Mauer, Cody Christie praises Brian Dozier, and Eric Pleiss raves about his boyfriend Phil Hughes. Join us for the Twins talk, stay for the beers and baseball chatter. Source

http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400_9746103.jpg For the first time ever we only had one Talk to Contact co-host available for a podcast. Stepping out into unfamiliar territory Eric managed to build a 40 minute podcast that wasn't terrible. He talked about Twins news from the past week, including Brian Dozier hilariously being added to the Home Run Derby, and talked a lot about what is going on with the pitching staff down in AAA Rochester. He did the regular beer, news and internet segments, but as a thank you for listening to him babble for 40 minutes, he recorded a special audio production of Patrick Dubuque's Waiting 'til Next Year for Godot. I hope you enjoy this special episode. Source

http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400_9728178.jpg The Twins have struggled mightily on the road recently, but thanks to Kyle Gibson, they were able to snap the road losing skid at 10 games before coming home to drop two of three to the Kansas City Royals. This week we take a look at what's been going wrong for the Twins and what it means for the franchise going into the All-Star break.Joe Mauer is on the DL, Brian Dozier is slumping, and Josh Willingham can't seem to find a hit to save his life (or the team). We were lucky enough to have a full booth of podcasters tonight, and the gang gave out mid-season awards for both the American and National Leagues. This week's show features a good deal of disagreement amongst the four of us, so be sure to let us know who you think was right and who was wrong by sending us tweets or emails. We also used some "adult language" so this show may not be suitable for young children or sensitive old people. Source

http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400_9712182.jpg This week we spend time talking about the series of roster moves and player swaps that lead to Jorge Polanco being called up from High-A Fort Myers to the Big League club. We talk about Byron Buxton's rehab, Kendrys Morales finally hitting a home run for the Twins, and the Twins' struggles on the road. We go Down on the pond and talk about Pat Kelly (Cody and Jay interviewed Pat but the audio did not come through clearly, so we have a write up on that interview coming soon) and what he's been doing since he was drafted in the 12th round of the 2014 draft. We talk beer, baseball, Twins in suits, and we take some questions for the listeners. Thanks for sticking around! Source

Brandon, I think we've gone just about every which way on Burton, mostly in the thread about this post over on the forums, so I wont rehash that here. Thanks to all of you for stopping over to enjoy my writing, or to disagree. The discussion, more than winning or losing, is the fun part for me.

KV, should we then discount his first 28 outings of the season and assume the last 5 are the ones that matter? He's been a trainwreck this season. He can't get lefties out with consistency, and he's been putting way to many guys on base. Yes, his June numbers are improved, but what value does he provide even if he can pitch to a 4ish ERA for the rest of the season? There are half a dozen guys in the Rochester bullpen pitching better than that.

This was fun. Thank you Chairman Mauer.

http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400_9692113.jpg No reason to bury the lead, Trevor May is BACK! Trevor talked about his approach to pitching, what he's been doing in 2014 that has allowed him to be successful, and how much fun he's having as a member of the outstanding pitching staff in Triple-A Rochester. Just Cody and Eric this week, in addition to talking with Trevor May, they talk about what the Twins have been doing well (pitching) and what they have not been doing at all (hitting) in the past week. They also take a shot at predicting the Twins' All-Star representative (and fail), and they whip around the world for beers and around the league to talk about great pitching from Kershaw and bad pitching from Verlander. 84 minutes of cool dudes talkin' ball. Source