The Minnesota Twins 2014 Season Thread. Aug. 11: Buxton to Double-A, Willingham to K.C.

[jpzx]

'14.

 

[651akathepaul]

Nolasco was underwhelming.

I kept thinking every time Arcia was at bat that he was going yard. Hicks on the mend?

 

[RyGuy45]

Sixth straight opening day loss!

All jokes aside this season is going to be painful, I think it's pretty obvious. IMO The only real hope for fans in 2014 would be the ASG weekend and the hope that we see Buxton and Alex Myer brought up in the second half.

The front office essentially didn't even give Gardenhire a chance this year with the bats they gave him for this season, but there also was not much they could (realistically) do. This franchise is going to continue to go as their farm system goes and we all know that. We need to just stay patient. We also need to realize they are never going to go outside the organization to fill any open staff positions or shake things up.....so if Gardenhire does eventually get canned it is only going to happen if Molitor agrees to take over. The Twins will not fire a manager and bring in someone from the outside and that is the reason Gardy was brought back this season -- they had no one internally to replace him.

I will continue to bash the Pohlad way of how they run things because it is not working anymore and they are getting lapped by the majority of MLB in this new era. But i still have faith in Terry Ryan and wish him the best of health so he can stay at the helm for many years to come.

Anyway, I'm anxious to follow Mauer's numbers with his move to first as well as to see whether Hicks and Arcia pan out and are given a real chance by Gardenhire. Just play the young kids and let them go through the ups and downs.

 

[sfn 155]

The opening day starting lineup had one player with a career batting average above .255. Lol. Going to be a long season.

Edit: was curious how this compared to the rest of mlb and did a quick check. The least amount of such players I found on any other team's starting lineup was 4. This includes NL teams. Most teams had at least 4-5 above .270

 

[651akathepaul]

^That's yucky. 10 runs on 9 hits today though.

I'm so much reminded of the mid-90's Twins with this team. While the farm system continues to bolster and gain strength, there's a bunch of yahoo's around an aging stud in Mauer (like Kirby then Molitor), a former Oakland catcher (Steinbach) and possible soon-to-be-above average player in Arcia (Cordova) and scrubs that fill out the rest of the roster and pitching staff. Probably not even close when you get in depth, but ugh...Those times were the worst.

Scott Stahoviak. :x

 

[sfn 155]

At least you could get $1 tickets back then

 

[RyGuy45]

EDIT:

Nine games in the Twins are 3-6, Joe Mauer in 44 plate appearances has zero RBI, and the team has an MLB-worst ERA..... sounds about right

 

[RyGuy45]

Took me awhile to find this thread


Twins need to go back to these full-time!!!

View media item 1012106

We're going to probably have to wait 7 years on this kid (the Twins Way!) but I'm liking this pick last night:

MINNEAPOLIS -- The top of the First-Year Player Draft was unpredictable this year, but the Twins got the player they always wanted with the No. 5 overall pick on Thursday.

After the trio of highly regarded pitchers, Brady Aiken, Tyler Kolek and Carlos Rodon, came off the board with the first three picks, the Twins just had to see what the Cubs would do at No. 4. Chicago went with college catcher Kyle Schwarber, leaving the Twins to select highly athletic shortstop Nick Gordon from Olympia High School in Orlando, Fla.

Gordon, the son of former All-Star closer Tom Gordon and the brother of Dodgers second baseman Dee Gordon, had been heavily linked to Minnesota leading up to the Draft, and the Twins got their man. The Twins have $3.85 million available for their first pick.

"We've been locked in on Nick," Twins scouting director Deron Johnson said. "We obviously liked some of the pitchers taken ahead of him but he's been our guy since the start. We like his ability to play shortstop. We like his swing. I think he's going to have power down the road. He's going to stay at shortstop in my mind and has great work ethic. He's a great kid and obviously has big league bloodlines with his brother and his dad. We expect big things from him."

Gordon's speed, arm and defense all rate as plus tools, and he also boasts above-average bat speed and strong wrists at the plate, giving him surprising power from his 6-foot-2, 170-pound frame.

Gordon, who is committed to play baseball at Florida State, hit .494 with a .576 on-base percentage in 27 games his senior year at Olympia High School en route to being named Gatorade Florida Baseball Player of the Year for a second straight season. He hit five homers, 10 doubles and two triples with 27 RBIs and 28 runs scored. He also stole 13 bases

 

[651akathepaul]

I don't know about full-time, but I do like those for every now and then.


Arcia has been crushing since he's been back.

 

[RyGuy45]

Edit.

 

[RyGuy45]

Diggin this thread up...

The Twins on Thursday traded outfielder Sam Fuld to the Oakland Athletics for pitcher Tommy Milone, the team confirmed. Fox Sports first reported the trade.

In 195 plate appearances with the Twins, Fuld hit .274/.370/.354, which is slightly better than the league-average batting line for outfielders. Fuld missed more than a month with a concussion after crashing into the center field wall at Target Field.

Milone, 27, spent 2 1/2 seasons in the A's system after coming over from the Nationals. Milone has a 61:26 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 96 1/3 innings this season in Oakland's rotation. He's 6-3 with a 3.55 ERA.

Milone will report to Triple-A Rochester, the Twins said in a release. He's making $510,000 this season and he'll have three years remaining of team control through arbitration before he's eligible to become a free agent.

Twins recall slugger Kenny Vargas

After trading Sam Fuld to the Oakland Athletics for left-handed pitcher Tommy Milone, the Twins on Thursday recalled Vargas from Double-A New Britain.

Some outside the organization see Vargas, who turns 24 on Friday, as the DH of the future.

Vargas is a first baseman in the minor leagues, but long-term, it appears that's Joe Mauer's position. Vargas should get a chance in the final two months to play first base for the Twins, as long as Mauer (oblique) remains on the disabled list.

In 97 games for the Rock Cats this season, Vargas has hit .281/.360/.472 with 17 home runs and 63 RBIs. His production earned him a roster spot in the All-Star Futures Game, where he played the whole game for the World Team at first base.

Finally this team is bringing up a player to look at. Vargas should have time to get to first as the Mauer rule is if Joe gets hurt it means he has to sit out 1-2 months.

 

[651akathepaul]

Milone was a good get. Oakland obviously had a surplus of SP's after a few trades, so the Twins were able to get Milone on what could be a great bargain.

 

[jpzx]

Let's pump it up a bit in here. Myself included.



First news of the day...

Big League Stew ‏@bigleaguestew 44m
Slugger Josh Willingham traded to Royals http://dlvr.it/6b3KmH

The most important news of the day...

Dustin Morse @Twins_morsecode · 6m
CONFIRMED: The #MNTwins have promoted prospect Byron Buxton to Double-A @RockCats

 

[Retroballer]

I'm quite mad buxton for hurt and delayed the AA jump. They don't play Portland again this year. Hoping he starts in AA next year.

 

[jpzx]

Eh, could care less. If the kid is going to follow through on what we expect, those months of delay won't slow the timeline.

 

[champcruthik]

Everyone knows Buxton, but I'm locked-in on Berrios, Meyer, and Stewart.

 

[RyGuy45]

Very first game in AA |I

Twins top prospect Buxton taken off on ambulance after outfield collision in AA debut

NEW BRITAIN, CONN. – Twins minor league outfielder Byron Buxton, rated the top prospect in baseball, collided with New Britain teammate Mike Kvasnicka while trying to catch a fly ball at full speed Wednesday night, a frightening collision that knocked him unconscious for more than 10 minutes and sent him to a nearby hospital by ambulance.

“That was one of the scariest moments I’ve seen in 17 years” of broadcasting Rock Cats games, said Jeff Dooley, the team’s radio voice. “We were all holding our breath.”

Buxton laid on the field for about 15 minutes while athletic trainers, medical personnel and many of his new teammates surrounded him, stabilized him and loaded him into an ambulance. Buxton regained consciousness on the way to the hospital, where a CAT scan was done.

Buxton was unconscious for at least 10 minutes, but Kvasnicka — who somehow caught and held onto the line drive by Bowie’s Michael Ohlman — never lost consciousness. Kvasnicka, a former Gophers player and first-round draft pick of the Astros in 2010, laid on the ground for about five minutes before regaining his feet. An ambulance eventually arrived and took both teammates to a hospital.

The game was halted for 35 minutes while the players were attended to and the field was cleared. Buxton and Kvasnicka returned to Rock Cats Stadium before the game ended. Twins spokesman Dustin Morse later said Buxton will have to go through proper concussion protocol before returning.