Good morning everybody! First, the subject of last
Friday's interactive Q&A, Kevin
Slowey, threw a complete game for his second AA win on Saturday
night. The same night, Matt Garza made his AAA debut and did
quite well. The Twins won three out of four games from the Cleveland
Indians, but they lost a few more players. The weather was
incredibly hot throughout the state of Minnesota, and I don't have
air conditioning! Uggh!
To start today, let's talk about the Twins injury
situation. I would love to hear your thoughts, so
e-mail me, or leave
Comments below:
THE INJURIES
It wasn't entirely good news for the Twins
organization this weekend. However, the first thing that I need to
mention is that the Twins won three out of four from the division
rival Cleveland Indians. The story of the weekend all started on
Thursday night really. Jason Kubel came to the park and said
that his knees both were a little sore. He is not injured, but based
on missing all of the 2005 season, it is worth taking extra
precautions. That night, Lew Ford strained his oblique and
was immediately put on the Disabled List with Jason Tyner
coming up to the Twins. Tyner came through with two hits in his
first game on Friday night, including the game-winning single in the
bottom of the ninth of the Twins 3-2 win. He added two more hits on
Saturday, and two more on Sunday.
Then on Saturday night, Shannon Stewart had to
leave the game after running to 1B. Shortly after the game, he was
put on the Disabled List with the same old plantar fasciitus injury
that has cost him so much time already. Rondell White's rehab
was cut short and he rejoined the Twins roster. He was in the
lineup as the team's DH on Sunday. He had a lost-ball double, and in
the top of the 7th inning, he hit a long home run to left field, his
first of the season. On a side note, I am thrilled for White. I
touted his signing when they made is last winter, I don't believe
that he is completely done, and we all know what a great guy and a
great teammate he is. I am very happy for Rondell White!
Hopefully this is something that he can build on.
While listening to the Ron Gardenhire Show on
Sunday morning, a caller asked him if there were OF replacements in
the minor leagues. I wanted to call in and say, "Since there are two
available spots on the Twins 40 man roster, why wouldn't Rondell
White be allowed to continue to struggle at Rochester for
another week and purchase the contract of Josh Rabe? He has
been in the organization a long time. He's playing well. He was just
in the AAA All-Star game, with Jason Tyner. Why not
acknowledge a player like that with a call up?" But, I'm too shy to
call in, so I just listened. What was Gardy's response? He mentioned
Rondell White, and then he said "Brian Rabe, who has been
playing well down in Rochester." There was my answer. That is how
the organization looks at JOSH Rabe! (Note - Brian
Raabe was a former Gopher infielder who spent a little bit of
time with the Twins in the mid-90s) It could have just been a slip,
but Rabe should be a known commodity for the Twins staff. I know
that The Baseball Cube says he only got four at bats with the
Twins in spring training, but that isn't true. He played a lot and
was one of the last few sent down before the season started. My
thinking at the time was simply, "OK, now I know how the
organization thinks of him."
Later in the game Saturday night, Torii Hunter
ran down a fly ball, and he could hardly get into the dugout. Ron
Gardenhire said that he was near tears. But, a decision on
Torii Hunter's status would wait until the results of a Sunday
morning MRI were complete. Those became available shortly after the
beginning of Sunday afternoon's game, and it wasn't good news for
the Twins. Hunter had a broken bone in his foot and would be placed
on the Disabled List. The good news, based on my previous paragraph,
was that Josh Rabe's contract was purchased and he was called
up to the Twins. He should be in uniform on Monday night, and I am
completely thrilled for him! And no, not just because
he did a Q&A for this site right away
this season!
THE SUMMARY
The main thing that I hope the Twins players and
coaches remember is that the on-field ramifications of the losses of
Stewart and Hunter should be minimal. The Twins did just fine
without Shannon Stewart and assuming that Jason Kubel
is well enough to play the Twins will not lose a lot offensively
with the loss of Hunter. Yes, defensively, going from from Hunter to
Tyner is a minimal step backward, mainly because of Tyner's lack of
a strong arm, but not as big as the media and broadcast team will
want us to believe. (If Nick Punto is the primary CF, which
he shouldn't be, the difference would be far more dramatic!) But,
losing these two players is no reason to believe that the team can
not remain competitive!
The negative of this, from my perspective, is that
Torii Hunter's injury could cost him the rest of the season. Do
I think that his loss will make the Twins worse? Not especially.
However, I think that the Twins were planning on trading him by the
July 31st deadline. My thinking was that he could have been had for
a major league player and two quality prospects. Now, his trade
value is none. The Twins will have to decide after the season
whether they want to pick up his $12 million contract for 2007. With
two major foot injuries, it would be completely unwise for the Twins
to pick that up. So, they will probably pay him his $2 million
buyout and allow him to become a free agent. Of course, that means
that they will have to determine whether they can offer him
arbitration. If they do, there is a chance he could still be a Type
A free agent, meaning that the Twins would get the 1st round draft
pick of the team that signs him, and a supplemental first round
pick. If he's a Type B free agent, the Twins would only get the
other team's pick. Thinking beyond this season, I think that this
injury really hurts the Twins. Really, Shannon Stewart likely
would have been traded too, although he would have little value on
the trading market already.
So, how injurious was the Twins weekend series
against the Cleveland Indians? Well, they lost their centerfielder
and #6 hitter. They lost their DH (who thinks he's a LF) and #7
hitter (who way too many think is a leadoff hitter), and their 5th
OF. They replaced them with a career AAAA player in Tyner (who came
up with several big hits over the weekend), their opening day DH who
was sent to Rochester on a rehab assignment because of an, ahem,
injury, and a career minor leaguer in Rabe who has spent the last
four years at AAA. They lost two of their big trading chips for
later this month meaning that they won't be able to acquire the
prospects needed to maintain competitiveness for a small market
minded team.
THE TRICKLE DOWN EFFECT
Of course, the repercussions of these three OF
injuries will not only be felt by the Twins. The Rochester Red Wings
are obviously very affected by them as they supplied the three
replacements. Their OF now consists of Kevin West, Andres
Torres and Alex Romero. West, like Rabe, has a long track
record of success in the Twins system. He is a power hitter who
missed a couple of months because of a knee injury he sustained
while playing in Venezuela this winter. He is more of a DH-type.
Torres is similar to Tyner. He is a veteran with some big league
experience with the Tigers in recent years. And, Romero is one of
the more underrated prospects in the Twins system. He has split this
season between Rochester and New Britain. He is young and a very
good hitter, and he is on the Twins 40 man roster. But, they have no
depth in the OF (or in the IF really).
So, these injuries also affect the New Britain
Rockcats who have a lot of talent in their OF. The big name is
probably Denard Span, the Twins top pick in 2002. He was
great in April, horrible in May and has been very good since. He
still is raw and will need more time to be ready for the Twins, but
his speed could be a welcome addition at the top of the Red Wings
lineup. Doug Deeds should have been in Rochester to start the
season but instead returned to New Britian. He got off to a horrible
start, but he has really come on in the last six weeks. His batting
average, which had been in the low .200s earlier, is now on the
verge of .300. He has a lot of doubles which I love to see. He can
also play 1B if needed. Trent Oeltjen has been the Rockcats
best hitter for the last two months. The speedy lefty was the Twins
lone representative in the Futures Game. He is hitting over .300
with lots of extra base hits and stolen bases. Oeltjen has been a
personal favorite prospect of mine to watch the last few years.
Garrett Guzman has done alright and shown some power, but he
still has less than 100 at bats for the Rockcats. He should stay in
New Britain and continue to get more at bats. Scott Whitrock
is the other OF on the New Britain roster. He is in his first season
at AA after playing for Fort Myers the last two years. He has power
and speed, he just strikes out too much.
Assuming that two OF from New Britain move up to
Rochester, that means that the Rockcats will have to replace two OF
as well. So, that affects Fort Myers. Brandon Roberts had a
great weekend for the Miracle. He could move up and play CF if Span
moves up to Rochester. He is a speed guy with little power, much
like Span except Roberts can steal bases. He just came to the Twins
from the Reds in the Juan Castro deal. Jeremy Pickrel
is a solid OF prospect. He has shown power and speed (20 extra base
hits, 10 stolen bases), but he is hitting under .230. After a
remarkable season in Beloit, Deacon Burns has been disappointing in
Ft. Myers. He is hitting about .220 with just 12 extra base hits.
Erold Andrus is barely hitting .210 and missed some time earlier
in the year with injury. He came to the Twins in the minor league
portion of the Rule V draft this past winter from the New York
Yankees organization. Justin Arneson is a utility player with
the Miracle. He barely hits .200 and isn't really very good at any
single position, but he can be a decent replacement. He could move
up to New Britain as a 5th OF who wouldn't play much. That would
allow these other OF to continue to play.
And, then if one or two OF from Ft. Myers move up to
New Britain, then one or two OF from Beloit need to move to Ft.
Myers. Edward Ovalle would be a solid choice. He is hitting
just .265, but he does have 23 extra base hits. He also has 12
stolen bases. Minnesota native Eli Tintor would be a
candidate to move up as well. The former catcher is still learning
to play the OF, but his bat has been solid most of the year. In the
mold of having a speedy outfielder with little extra base power,
Tarrence Patterson usually plays. He is getting on about 32% of
the time and has 22 stolen bases in his second season in the Midwest
League. Dwayne White is probably the only other option at
this time although he has less at bats than the first three. Mark
Robinson, a 2004 third round pick, is also with the team now.
At Elizabethton, JW Wilson has four home runs
in just 57 at bats, but he is hitting just .263. Danny
Santiesteban gets some mention, but he is hitting just .215 now.
He does have eight extra base hits. At the GCL, the Twins 2nd round
pick Joe Benson is crushing the ball, but he is very young
and they should keep him in Florida. Top pick Chris Parmalee
is showing some power and plenty of strikeouts as well.
At the end of last week, the organization had
a major shuffling of
pitchers throughout the system. This week, we will likely see a
shuffling of outfielders. It will be interesting to see where these
guys end up.
So, let's get to the rest of today's topics. Have a Great Week! Please feel free to
e-mail me or
leave Comments below.
By winning three out of four
games from Cleveland, the Twins are now 11.5 games behind the
Detroit Tigers, but they are now 8.5 ahead of the 4th place Indians.
However, they are just 6.5 behind the Wild Card leading Chicago
White Sox who were swept in three games by the New York Yankees. 6.5
games is not too much to make up, but it is hard to believe that the
White Sox will lose three in a row too often. Also, the New York
Yankees are between the Twins and the Sox. Despite all of the
aforementioned injuries, I feel that the Twins should continue to
look to make some trades before the deadline. They should look to
trade Kyle Lohse for sure, but they should also consider
deals for the likes of Luis Castillo, Carlos Silva,
Dennis Reyes, and even the injured Stewart or Hunter if they can
find a taker.
Here are some interesting
numbers put up by Twins players over the past games:
-
Luis Castillo
currently is in a ten game hitting streak. During that time, he
is 15-40 (.375)
-
Nick Punto has a
nine game hitting streak. He is 16-37 (.432) in that time.
-
Justin Morneau went
6-12 over the last three games. He is now hitting .305 with 24
home runs.
-
Jason Tyner was
also 6-12 in the last three games with five RBI. Each of his
hits was important.
-
Rondell White got
out in his first at bat yesterday. He then hit a pop up that was
lost by left fielder Todd Hollandsworth for a double.
Maybe it was exactly what he needed to get going. In his next at
bat, he hit a long home run, his first of the season. The best
part was seeing how genuinely excited all of his teammates were
for him!
-
In his last 12 outings,
Joe Nathan is 2-0 with nine saves.
-
Nick Punto didn't
look completely foreign in CF. I still think that Tyner is the
guy to play there. However, due to necessity, Punto was put in
CF because it is far easier to play than the corner OF
positions.
-
Congratulations to
Terry Tiffee and his wife Kelli, who gave birth
Saturday morning to the couple's first two children, both sons.
Here is a quick look at the
upcoming pitching matchups for the four game series at home against
the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It should be fun to watch as we get to see
three of the top pitchers in baseball in the series. How exciting is
Tuesday night's matchup?!
-
Mon - 7:10 - Scott Baker
(2-5, 6.06, 1.51, .322) vs Tim Corcoran (4-0, 1.57, 1.22, .235)
-
Tues - 7:10 - Francisco
Liriano (10-2, 2.12, 1.01, .205) vs Scott Kazmir (10-6, 3.27,
1.31, .242)
-
Wed - 7:10 - Brad
Radke (7-7, 4.97, 1.55, .327) vs Jae Seo (2-7, 5.07, 1.46, .267)
-
Thurs - 12:10 - Johan
Santana (10-5, 2.93, 0.99, .220) vs James Shields (4-3, 5.37,
1.62, .307)
There is a lot of talent in
the Devil Rays system though:
-
Julio Lugo could be
the #1 impact player traded in the next couple of weeks. He is
increasing his trade value for the Rays. On the year, he is
hitting .310, but in his last six games, he is 10-23 (.435), and
he has two hits in each of his past four games.
-
Carl Crawford's
name continues to be mentioned in trade rumors, although I have
no idea why the Rays would want to get rid of him. He is young,
well-rounded and has a long-term, fair value contract. If he is
available, the Twins should do everything in their power to make
him their next CF! He has hit in 13 of his last 14 games. He has
gone 22-59 (.373). Overall, he is hitting .317 with 13 homers
and 32 stolen bases.
-
Rocco Baldelli is
back from a long injury battle. He is hitting .303 in just 33
games this year.
-
Jorge Cantu missed
time this year due to injury as well, but he is one of the
better offensive middle infielders in baseball.
-
BJ Upton was just
told that he is moving from SS to 3B. His defense just remains
too bad to make it to the majors as a SS. He is a huge
offensive talent. He will steal a ton of bases and hit for
power, but his defense could derail his career... or he'll be a
DH. You wonder what type of career he would be having by now had
he done like his brother Justin and been willing to change
positions earlier. He should be up within the next week or two.
-
Delmon Young is
clearly another head case. Everyone knows that the former #1
overall pick was suspended for 50 games earlier this season for
throwing a bat at an umpire. Last year, he was suspended 10
games for bumping an ump. The man has issues, but he also has
immense talent. He should be in the big leagues already!
-
Elijah Dukes is
another extremely talented Devil Rays OF prospect at AA. He was
having a remarkable season as well. However, in mid-June, he was
sent home for disciplinary reasons.
-
BJ Upton was also
arrested for driving under the influence last month. And, of
course, the #1 overall pick in the 1999 draft, Josh Hamilton,
was suspended several times by the league for substance abuse
violations. However, he is back and playing some minor league
ball again. You obviously hope that he has truly turned things
around.
Any thoughts on the series,
please let me know!
Send me an e-mail, or leave Comments below.
By the way, if you thought
that Major Leaguers could give out free tickets to games, be sure to
see what Pat Neshek
has to say about MLB's ticket situation!
Friday SethSpeaks Player of the Day -
Doug Deeds, New Britain Rockcats
Saturday SethSpeaks Player of the Day -
Brandon Roberts, Ft. Myers Miracle
Sunday SethSpeaks Player of the Day -
JR Taylor, Ft. Myers Miracle
Friday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day -
Anthony Swarzak, Ft. Myers Miracle
Saturday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day -
Kevin Slowey, New Britain Rockcats
Sunday SethSpeaks Pitcher of the Day -
Adam Harben, New Britain Rockats
Here
are the weekend updates. If you
have any thoughts on the Twins system, please
e-mail me.
ROCHESTER REPORT
Friday - Red Wings 3, Ottawa 6 -
Andres Torres will likely get more playing time with Jason
Tyner's promotion to the Twins. He went 3-4 with his 10th double.
Josh Rabe hit his 4th homer. Boof Bonser had another tough
start. In five innings, he gave up five runs on seven hits and three
walks. He struck out five. Kevin Cameron gave up a run in his
inning. Then Henry Bonilla and Beau Kamp each pitched a
scoreless inning.
Saturday - Red Wings
2, Ottawa 4 –
It was the highly anticipated AAA debut of
Matt Garza. He did very well but took the loss. The flame-throwing
righty started with five shutout innings, but he gave a three run homer
in the 6th on a 1-2 pitch. All told, he gave up the three runs on five
hits and two walks over seven innings. He struck out five. Beau Kemp
gave up a run on three hits in two innings. The Red Wings managed just
six hits. Garrett Jones hit his 12th homer of the year, and his
first in over a month. Chris Heintz hit his 16th double.
Sunday - Red Wings 5, Ottawa 3 -
Glenn Williams knocked a two-run homer in the top of the 9th to give
the Red Wings the win. The newest Red Wing, Erubiel Durazo, went
2-3 with a double and a walk. Donaldo Mendez went 2-3 with
his first homer. Chris Heintz was 2-3 with a walk. Jason
Miller started and gave up two runs on four hits in five innings.
Ricky Barrett threw a shutout inning. Kevin Cameron gave up a
run and three hits and a walk in 1.2 innings. Bobby Korecky came
in and got the final out of the 8th and had a 1-2-3 ninth inning to get
the Win.
NEW BRITAIN NEWS
Friday - Rockcats 8,
New Hampshire 3
– Doug Deeds is really hitting well again and his batting average
is quickly approaching .300. In this game, he was 4-5 with his 21st
double, sixth homer and four RBI. Alexi Casilla went 3-5 with an
RBI and a stolen base in his first game with New Britain. Denard Span
was 2-5 with his fifth triple. Matt Moses went 2-4 with hit ninth
and tenth doubles. Errol Simonitsch got back on the winning
track. The lefty went eight innings and gave up three unearned runs on
six hits and two walks. He struck out five. Tristan Crawford
pitched a perfect ninth inning.
Saturday - Game 1 - Rockcats
13, New Hampshire 4
– Kevin Slowey started and finished this game for the Rockcats.
He gave up four runs on two hits and two walks. He struck out five.
Denard Span went 4-5 with two doubles and two RBI. Trent Oeltjen
went 4-5 with two triples and five RBI. Alexi Casilla went 2-3
with a walk and his second stolen base. Doug Deeds went 2-4 with
two doubles, a walk and two RBI. Matt Tolbert went 2-5. Steve
Lomanskey went 2-4 with a walk.
Saturday - Game 2 - Rockcats
3, New Hampshire 7
– Jay Sawatski was sent back to Ft. Myers to start, and after
just a couple of starts, he came back to New Britain. This was his first
start with the team. It didn't go so well. He gave up five runs (4
earned) on eight hits and a walk in just two innings. Nick Blackburn
came in and gave up only one hit over five innings. That was good to
see. Julio DePaula gave up two unearned runs in two innings.
Matt Moses went 3-4 with three RBI. Felix Molina went 2-4
with two doubles. Doug Deeds was 0-1 with two doubles and a hit
by pitch.
Sunday - Rockcats 4,
New Hampshire 3
– Adam Harben took advantage of another starting opportunity and
really did well. Harben got his second win and dropped his ERA. In seven
innings, he gave up two runs on five hits. He walked just one to go with
a strikeout. Denard Span was 2-3 with two walks, his sixth triple
and three RBI. Garrett Guzman was 2-4.
FT MYERS MEMOS
Friday - Miracle 3, Tampa 0
– Brandon Roberts is starting to hit a little bit! He went 3-4
with his 10th double and 32nd stolen base. Korey Feiner went 2-2
with a walk. Jeremy Pickrel hit his fourth homer. Anthony
Swarzak pitched great on the way to his fifth win. He gave up no
runs on two hits over seven innings. He walked three and struck out
eight. Chris Schutt recorded his third save with two scoreless
innings.
Saturday
- Miracle 9, Dunedin 10 -
Brandon Roberts did it
again. He went 4-5 with his 11th double and an RBI. Steven Tolleson
was 2-5 with his fourth double and two RBI. David Winfree and
Caleb Moore went 2-5. Trevor Plouffe hit his second homer.
Justin Jones had another horrible start. In just 1.2 innings, he
gave up eight earned runs on nine hits and a walk. Colby Miller
gave up one over the next 2.1 innings. Danny Powers came in and
in four innings, he gave up one hit and one walk and struck out five.
JP Martinez took the loss, giving up an unearned run after two outs.
Sunday
- Miracle 11, Dunedin 6
– Brandon Roberts continued his impressive weekend with a 2-4
game. He had a walk, his 12th double and three RBI. JR Taylor
went 3-6 with a double and three RBI in his first game since his
demotion. Deacon Burns was 2-5 with his 10th double, third triple
and two RBI. Korey Feiner and Justin Arneson each had two
hits. Brock Peterson hit his 11th homer. Josh Hill started
and gave up three runs on five hits and two walks in six innings.
Jose Mijares gave up three runs (1 earned) on three hits. Tim
Lahey improved to 5-0 with two shutout innings.
BELOIT BITS
Friday - Snappers
5, Quad Cities 6
– Alexander Smit had arguably his best start yet. In five shutout
innings, he gave up one hit and two walks. He struck out six. Danny
Vais then gave up one run over three innings and struck out four.
But then with a 5-1 lead going into the bottom of the 9th, Armando
Gabino came in and gave up three straight hits without recording an
out. Frank Mata came in and gave up a walk and two more hits and
the Snappers took the loss. Dwayne White went 2-4 with his third
homer and two RBI. Eli Tintor was 2-4. Whit Robbins hit
hit third homer and drove in two RBI.
Saturday
- Snappers
2, West Michigan 7
– Oswaldo Sosa started and gave up six runs on six hits and three
walks in just 4.2 innings. Armando Gabino came in and gave up one
run on three hits and a walk over 3.1 innings. He struck out five.
Yohan Pino pitched a perfect ninth. The Snappers managed just six
hits. Tarrence Patterson, Whit Robbins and Edward
Ovalle each had a double.
Sunday - Snappers
1, West Michigan 4
– Ryan Mullins got the loss, but he actually pitched quite
well. The lefty went 6.2 innings and gave up two runs (1 earned) on four
hits and two walks. He struck out ten! Frank Mata came in and
gave up two runs (1 earned) on five hits and a walk in 2.1 innings.
Eli Tintor went 2-3. Erik Lis hit his 29th homer, and Drew
Thompson hit his seventh triple.
2006
GCL Twins 78ab 3hr 17rbi .346Ave .444OBP .556SLG 
Anthony
Swarzak had an excellent week, taking over the Ace role of the
Miracle staff now that Garza, Slowey and Duensing have moved up to
New Britain and beyond. The fact is however, that Sean Land
out pitched everyone this week with a 1-0 record in two starts,
pitching 13.0 shutout innings, allowing 8 hits with 14K/4BB. Chosen
out of the University of Kansas, Sean was considered a top five
round prospect based on his performance last summer in the Cape Cod
League. However, his fast ball dipped from the low 90’s last summer
to the high 80’s this spring and he dropped to the Twins in the 9th
round.