Your 2013 Minnesota Twins Season Thread: Spoiler Time........ (66-92) vs Indians

[RyGuy45]

Well at least we're not the Royals right now :x 6-22 in their last 28 games, and have lost 11 in a row at home

Deduno --Twins 3 games under .500

And draft tomorrow night

 

[jpzx]

Hopefully one of the teams above us **** up and try to save money. Would love to get a Top-3 talent in what many have been calling a three player draft.

 

[RyGuy45]

Byron Buxton went 5-6 last night with a double, two triples and three runs scored

 

[651akathepaul]

Call him up!

 

[jpzx]

MLB Draft Day! Top 4 pick... sounds like one of the three top guys COULD (keyword: could) fall to us, so lets grab him.

However, in Keith Law's latest mock he posted like a hour ago, he has Appel (Astros), Jonathan Gray (Cubs), Kris Bryant (Astros).. and then Kohl Bryant to us. We shall see.

 

[RyGuy45]

JPZ if you get a min. give us a quick run down of the key names tonight and who you hope we can grab....i've read a bit about some of these guys but pretty much know nothing.


Did some more diggin on Buxton today, here he is in 27 home games this year

27 G, 102 AB, 5 HR, 25 RBI, 35 R, 7 2B, 4 3B, 12 SB, .412 BA, .496 OBP, .706 SLG

 

[jpzx]

^ Sorry man didn't see that post until today. Stewart has as much upside as most of them, it's just it will take longer because of his age. The risk there hoping there aren't any hiccups in his development OR/and injuries in his development that we've seen in the past around the MLB has caused a lot of top prospects to never be heard from again.

Darren Wolfson had this to say yesterday.

Grady Sizemore has resumed baseball activities, and there's a "strong belief" that the Twins will be interested when ready to sign with a team in a month or two. The Twins did their due diligence on Sizemore in March, but Sizemore made it clear in January that he preferred not to sign until he was able to play in games.

Flier takers.

Dude's had issues with both knees and a back problem. He'll most likely offer nothing, but the name is still cool to wonder about nonetheless.

 

[RyGuy45]

The Minnesota Twins announced on Sunday, June 9, that one of the top prospects in baseball, Miguel Sano, has been promoted from Class A Ft. Myers (Fla.) to Class AA New Britain (Conn.). Sano is now just two steps from the major leagues, but the Twins have shown that they are willing to have players skip Class AAA.

In his last game for Fort Myers on Sunday, Sano went 2-4 with 2 home runs.

Sano's teammate, second baseman Eddie Rosario, was also promoted to Double-A.

It also is notable that center fielder Angel Morales was promoted to New Britain as well. This means that Ft. Myers has room for a center fielder. It is likely that Buxton will get the call up to Ft. Myers soon, possibly as soon as Monday.

 

[jpzx]

Excited to see how Worley and Pelfrey perform.

Pelfrey's been okay, Worley

Dude's getting shelled in Triple-A. SON-OF-A!!

 

[RyGuy45]

I'm still amazed at how few batters Mauer is actually knocking in. I know it's a combination of the Twinks stink, no one is ever on base, plus him being a huge singles hitter but it's still fascinating to see.

Mauer is among the league leaders in at-bats (250 ABs), is currently 6th in the AL in batting average (.321), is batting .300 with RISP,..............and he has a total of 21 RBI's on the year -- tied for 165th place in MLB.

Also - His last HR that was not a solo shot (i.e. driving in another runner) was 290 days ago -- September 1st, 2012.

Breaking news: The top of the Twins order has been abysmal.

 

[jpzx]

The fact that he's among the league leaders in ABs should muzzle some of the fans that say he takes too many days off. Yeah, you don't ALWAYS have to rest during a day game after a night game, but when he does lets not castrate him, huh?

Something that's been flying under the radar for too long... Josh Willingham's uninspired season. Batting .211. That is 35 points lower than any average he's ever had in season's where he plays 100+ games.

 

[RyGuy45]

Let the hype train chug along...

It appears as if the adjustment period for Byron Buxton lasted only three games on his climb from Low-A Cedar Rapids to High-A Fort Myers.

After tallying only two hits in his first 13 at-bats, Buxton broke out over the weekend for five hits in eight at-bats, including a double, four runs and a stolen base.

Baseball America, Sunday:

scouts who have seen Cedar Rapids center fielder Byron Buxton this spring are no longer wondering whether he’s the best prospect in baseball. They are wondering how the Twins farmhand–the Kernels switched affiliations from the Angels to the Twins this season–compares to the best prospects they’ve ever seen.

“I am positive he’s the best prospect I’ve seen in (more than a decade) of full-time scouting,” a pro scout for a National League club said. “It’s not even close. Tools, athleticism, feel and vision. Time will tell what kind of major league player he becomes, but the sky is the limit.”

Another scout, referencing the 2-to-8 scouting scale, said (somewhat) jokingly two days into five days of watching Buxton: “What don’t I throw an 8 on?”

A third pro scout has seen Midwest League stars come and go for more than a decade. In his eyes, Buxton’s hitting approach is better than Trout’s was when he was in the league. He hedges a bit, saying that he doesn’t know if Buxton will develop as Trout has, but says strictly based on MWL performance, Buxton has been better.

“Joe Mauer, Prince Fielder, Albert Pujols, that’s the grouping I have him in as far as pure hitting approach,” said the scout, who saw all three of those future big league stars come through the MWL.

 

[651akathepaul]

Well, dang....Doesn't get much more promising than that.

 

[jpzx]

Entrigued. Been for a while now. 2015!

 

[RyGuy45]

Another dreary season with the top club (more on that later) so how about a minor league Monday update:

The Minnesota Twins now have the best prospect in baseball, according to the latest rankings put out by Baseball America.

In BA's midseason top 50 list, outfielder Byron Buxton was ranked No. 1 with third baseman Miguel Sano close behind at No. 3.

On Buxton, BA says, "No. 1 talent in last year's draft is even better than expected with power, speed, defense and an extremely advanced hitting approach."

The publication said Sano has the "best power in the minors (and) one of the best arms. Hitting ability has taken a step forward."

Buxton is hitting .344/.424/.548 with 36 extra-base hits, 33 stolen bases, 75 runs and 62 RBIs in 78 games between Low-A Cedar Rapids and High-A Fort Myers. Sano is hitting .296/.390/.620 with 22 homers, 65 RBIs and nine stolen bases in 81 games between Fort Myers and Double-A New Britain.

Midseason Prospect Update: Top 50 Prospects

 

[RyGuy45]

Where this organization has been going with pitching has been probably the most disappointing part of their three year (and continuing) slide. Simply put: Something has to change soon and I have no idea where it is going to come from if I was to guess. Because while we have a couple young arm options they are still unproven minor leaguers and we have to see it to believe it when the time comes.

Twins Team Pitching stats the last three years, Rank out of 30 teams

2011
30th - Strikeouts
29th - Team ERA
30th - Batting Average Against
29th - Hits Given Up Per Game
29th - Team WHIP
23rd - Starter Quality Starts

2012
30th - Strikeouts
28th - Team ERA
29th - Batting Average Against
29th - Hits Given Up Per Game
24th - Team WHIP
29th - Starter Quality Starts

2013
30th - Strikeouts
29th - Team ERA
30th - Batting Average Against
29th - Hits Given Up Per Game
29th - Team WHIP
30th - Starter Quality Starts

Phil Mackey:

the Twins are getting exactly what they signed up for this season.

Already one of the most contact-prone pitching staffs in baseball over the past few seasons, the Twins added contact magnets Mike Pelfrey and Kevin Correia to the starting rotation in the offseason.

Predictably, heading into Sunday, no starting pitching staff has been easier to make contact against than the Twins', and it isn't close - an 87% contact rate.

Translation: When opposing hitters swing, they make contact nine out of 10 times against Twins starters.

The Tigers lead MLB at 77%, which adds up over the course of innings, games, months, a season, etc.

Twins starters also - again, predictably -- entered Sunday with a laughably low strikeout rate (4.7 per nine innings) that is lower than all but four qualified individual starters in 2012. Two of those starters were Scott Diamond (4.7) and Correia (4.7).

Tigers and Rangers starters strike out twice as many hitters.

That's why Twins starters - yes, predictably -- entered Sunday with the worst collective ERA (5.25) in the major leagues.

By continually assembling starting staffs that don't miss bats, the Twins are relying on one of two factors - luck or weak contact. And the only Twins starter who regularly induces weak contact is Samuel Deduno, who gets more groundballs (per Fangraphs.com) than any other starter in baseball.
....
Until the Twins find starters who can miss more bats - via trade, free agency or the minor leagues - the rotation will continue to be largely ineffective.

Here are the lowest MLB team strikeouts since opening day 2011:

25. 2,881 Los Angeles Angels
26. 2,877 Kansas City
27. 2,839 Colorado
28. 2,833 Baltimore
29. 2,828 Cleveland
30. 2,376 Minnesota

 

[jpzx]

Gallardo.

 

[jpzx]

Should have dealt Ramos for Cliff Lee back three years ago.

Need an ace. Sets the tempo for the rest of the rotation.

 

[RyGuy45]

:x wow

Seven former Twins will participate in the 2013 MLB All-Star Game: SS JJ Hardy, DH David Ortiz, RP Jess Crain, RP Joe Nathan, OF Torii Hunter, OF Michael Cuddyer, and OF Carloz Gomez.

That list doesn't even include several others: notably Balfour and Liriano this season.

The biggest take-away from this bit of trivia? The fact this franchise got basically next to nothing in return for those above players.

Throw in Garza, Lohse, Dickey, Santana, Bartlett, Delmon, Kubel, and Wilson Ramos and here this team sits in 2013. Atrocious.

 

[jpzx]

Gomez and Hardy make me the most sick.

Traded for each other. Both had stints with the Twins.

Both absolutely crushing.

I'm not huge into managing professionals, but it says something that many of these guys have success before AND after the Twins (before and after being Hardy, after MANY others) yet we can get pretty much jack **** out of them when they don our uniform.

Congrats to Glen Perkins. What an upturn from the past few years. And of course, hats of to Joe Mauer.

Morneau with another home run the other day...

 

[jpzx]

Here comes the typical, cliche free-fall.

Mike Pelfrey didn't even pitch that bad today, just a couple of mistakes in the sixth. Already got in the loss in the book today, and it's only 2:28 CT.

As I put in the title, 1-11 in past 12. And it can really only get worse from here on... @NYY for a three-game set right before the break. They've won the last two and they actually swept us in a four-gamer at Target Field at the beginning of this month.

 

[RyGuy45]

Ron Gardenhire's teams (as we have gone over before) might as well not show up this weekend in NY to play the Yankees. Just divert the flight home to MN.

Gardenhire is 24-69 (.25 against New York while being outscored by a total 141 runs. The Twins have won 7 regular season games in Yankee Stadium the last 12 seasons.

 

[RyGuy45]

Sid Hartman:

Without a doubt in my mind, the next manager of the Twins will be Paul Molitor. After expressing little interest in manager job openings in Toronto, Milwaukee and Seattle over the years, Molitor has decided he is ready to give it a try.

But don't expect the change this season because the Pohlad family has a lot of respect for current manager Ron Gardenhire and will likely let him finish the season, unless Gardenhire decides to quit.

Throwing out the fact this is Sid, I could totally see this scenario happening and I would be more than fine with it. Molitor will probably bring some new ideas to the table that will hopefully help bring this franchise up to the current era of major league baseball.

If Gardy does get the ax we know the Pohlads are not going outside and finding a manager. They promote everyone in-house and do so with the new candidate already understanding the "Twins way" and the "Twins payroll way." A Pohlad tradition since 1986.

During their last three losses at Tampa Bay, Twins batters struck out 39 times. Oswaldo Arcia went 0-14 with 8 strikeouts.

:x

 

[jpzx]

Hell of a start by Deduno. And then Perkins finishing off the job... if we're being realistic, probably his last work before the All-Star break.

Parmelee is just awful. Some people should only get so many chances.

 

[651akathepaul]

Twins had eight former players in the All-Star game.

Well, when you put it like that, Souhan.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/216098431.html?page=2&c=y

He really goes in on the recent ineptitude of Bill Smith and the Twins from the recent years. Kind of what is already being discussed in here. Tragic. And Morneau is next.