Can the Twins' "new" utility infielder be an old one?

We have heard rumors that the Twins might be shopping "outside the organization" for a utility infielder after the demotion of Nishioka.

These rumors have just started a couple days ago, and are fairly interesting. If I had to venture a guess, the Twins will not have to search far to find a utility infielder and the "new" utility infielder would not even need to move far to join the Twins' camp in Spring Training. The writing in the wall is almost getting clear:

Looking across the street in the other Fort Myers' spring training team, it looks like Mike Avila, Jose Inglesias and Pedro Ciriaco are ahead of our old friend Nick Punto for the 3 Red Sox vacancies of starting short stop and potential bench spots.

Is there a reunion of the Twins with Nick Punto in the cards? Only time will tell, but I do not discount the possibility...

Twins sing-along with Nick Punto

I am not going to talk about the Kansas City series. Nope. It's Friday. Thank God. We don't need to talk about depressing stuff, how about some spirit lifting. And what is better spirit lifter than:

Sing-Along time.

You know the tune (R-rated lyrics on the link), here are the words. Sing with me:

I knew a player named Nicky
I guess u could say he was a bunt fiend
I met him in a ball park
Hitting about a buck fifteen
He said howd u like 2 waste some time
And I could not resist when I saw little Nicky grind

I took me to a box seat
And I just couldnt believe my eyes
He had so many devices
And that head first first base slide
Gardy wrote his name on the dotted line
The lights went on
And Nicky started 2 grind

Nicky

The ballpark started spinning
Or maybe it was my brain
I cant tell u what he did on the park
But my team will never be the same
His hitting will kick your behind
Oh, he'll show u no mercy
But he'll shonuff shonuff show u how he grind

Darlin Nicky

Woke up the next morning
Nicky wasnt there
I looked all over and all I found
Was a Strib article by LEN3
Smith said it was Nicky's Rochester time
Call him up whenever u want 2 grind

Oh, Nicky, ohhhh

Come back Nicky, come back
You dirty little prince
Wanna grind grind grind grind grind grind grind grind grind

Meet and greet Jason Jones (& Nick Punto)

The Twins today filled their 40 man roster (they can move Pat Neshek to the 60 day DL and still have an open spot) by re-signing Nick Punto and drafting Jason Jones from the New York Yankees in the major league part of the rule 5 draft (they lost 3 players in the draft and acquired one in the minor league portion, but this will be another post).

Who is Jason Jones?

Jason who turned 26 last November 20th, was selected in the 4th round of the amateur draft of 2005 by the Yankees from Liberty University. A couple of times he was named the pitcher of the week (2006, Florida State League) and 2008 (Eastern League). He was a Florida State League Mid-season All Star in 2006. His arsenal of pitches include a 2-seamer that tops out at 92 mph, a plus plus 81-83 mph slider with late breaking action in to lefties and away from righties, a split-finger fastball (his strikeout pitch) and a changeup that he throws occasionally.

He started his professional career with an excellent campaign in 2004, when he pitched 79 innings and started 14 games split between the State Island Yankees of the New York-Penn League (low A) and the Battle Creek Yankees of the Midwest (A) League. He accumulated a 2.62 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and had 7.67 K/BB and 5.24 K/9. In 2005 he was promoted to the Tampa Yankees of the Florida State League (high A) where he pitched 128.1 innings with disappointing results: 5.68 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 3.8 K/BB and 5.34 K/9. This drove two changes in his pitching style brought about by the Yankees pitching staff: a. a change in his mechanics and b. abandonment of his erratic curve ball for the favor of a newly tought split-finger fastball. In 2006 he split time between the Tampa Yankees and Trenton Thunder of the Eastern League (AA). His totals for the year were 3.39 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 2.39 K/BB and 5.22 K/9. The decrease in his K/BB was due to the increase use of the split-finger fastball that he was learning at the time. In 2007 he spent the whole season in Trenon where he pitched 131.2 innings resulting to a 3.62 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 2.51 K/BB and 5.35 K/9. He split last season between Trenton and Scranton of the International League (AAA) and pitched 160 innings accumulating a 3.26 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 2.04 K/BB and 5.74 K/9.

How does he fit in the Twins' plans? He could be a change of page reliever in the major league club (however, that would require that one of the current relievers or Phillip Humber who is out of options get dealt.) or his contract could be bought via a trade and have a spot in Rochester's rotation in 2009. If I were to guess, I would guess that unless there is a trade and he shocks the universe in spring training, he would either return to the Yankees or get traded by the Yankees and will start in Rochester. The Twins will surely get a good look of him in spring training because there would be several of their pitchers expected to play in the the World Baseball Classic, which would result in Jones pitching more innings.

Not much I can say about Nick Punto. We all know him. As I indicated previously, he was not that bad last year. He ranked 15th and above the major league average for shortstops in BFE. The huge perception of disappointment is probably a combination of the facts that a. people do not seem to forget 2007 and b. there have been no significant moves by the front office to improve this team. Yet. There are still about 4 months before the first pitch of the 2009 season is thrown, and I will wait to hold judgment about this off-season performance of the Twins' front office until then. For an organization that values "continuity" at all levels, this was not a surprising singing... However, this organization has not won much since 1991, so sometimes the pot needs to be stirred in order for results to be produced.

Time will tell...

Sunday Game Notes

• Gardenhire made the following condescending comment in an interview with La Velle E. Neal III:
  
  When it was mentioned how much Punto gets ripped by fans, Gardy replied: “That’s because he doesn’t help fantasy teams but he can help you win baseball games.”
  
  
  Here is the numbers (btw, Punto starts today instead of Tolbert):
  
  Career Runs Created per Game for the current Twins batters:
  Tolbert: 7.8
  Mauer: 6.6
  Morneau: 5.9
  Cuddyer: 5.3
  Lamb: 5.0
  Kubel: 4.5
  Harris: 4.5
  Monroe: 4.4
  Redmond: 4.4
  Young: 4.3
  Everett: 3.7
  Punto: 3.6
  
  As far as his defense goes, career numbers for all positions are
  
  FP: Punto: .976, league: .972
  RF: Punto: 3.13, league: 3.41
  
  Also his VORP, every year in his career other than 2006 has been negative, meaning that whomever played instead of him in that position was more productive…
  
  I am just tired of Gardenhire’s unsubstantiated and irresponsible comments, especially when they are condescending towards fans like this comment. Most fans do not care about "fantasy stats". All fans care about their team winning. If Punto is last in team in career runs created and his defense is below league average, how does he “help you win games”? Maybe Gardenhire cares less than the Twins' fans about winning every game


• For some reason, Mauer is out of the lineup (with the day off tomorrow) and Morneau is DHing. Also Lamb is playing 1B and Buscher is playing 3B


• Harris hits his 1st home run as a Twin to tie the game in the 3rd. He is the only Twin other than Morneau and Kubel to homer this season. His HR was on the opposite field over the baggie. Punto looked like Billy Butler in the stolen base attempt in the 5th inning. Great 10 inning game with Harris scoring both runs and Morneau driving him in in the bottom of 10th. Redmond and Buscher got their first hits of the season, which means that every hitter on the roster now has a hit. Gomez makes and incredible play in the bottom of the 9th to save the game (look at how the throw to the infield hits Punto on the butt :) ). I hope the fans will see Mr. Bentley for who he really is right now...


• Byrd's stuff is soft (fastball at 87-88 mph max) but has been working several pitches all over the plate. Baker has 8 Ks over the first 7 innings with 100 total pitches, having a streak of 9 batters retired from the 3rd to 6th inning. He currently leads the Twins in strikeouts. The bullpen (Reyes, Neshek and Guerrier) did not allow a run. The Twins lead the AL in team WHIP (1.27)


• Detroit lost in Toronto, KC lost in Oakland and the White Sox won in Tampa, which brings the Twins in a second place tie with KC, 2.5 games off first, and, even more importantly, 2 games ahead of the Indians and 3 ahead of the Tigers


• Frank Thomas was released by the Jays today, the Twins have little power from the right side and Kubel has a .270 OBP as the full-time DH. Thomas has a .326 OBP, 3 HR, 11 RBI and 11 walks (that would put him between Mauer and Kubel in OBP, tied for second in HRs, 3rd in RBI and first in BBs in the Twins' team); it does make sense for the Twins to sign him and installing him as their full time DH in the 3 hole between Mauer and Morneau, since he would be a perfect fit in that lineup and the Jays would be picking the bill. On the other hand, if he has more that 304 ABs this year a $10 mil option for next year matures, which if he produces might not be a bad thing for the Twins [edit: since he was released and not waived, the team that signs him is not responsible for the vesting option. This is a no brainer and the Twins' staff better jump on it]. In that scenario Kubel can come off the bench or play RF and Cuddyer should see some time at 3B.


• On unrelated news, the Pope prays in Yankee stadium. Not sure that even that would be enough to turn their season around with that pitching staff...

Twins MVP: Harris

AL Central musings

• Several days ago I listed the team ages of all world series winners since 1980. So far the calculated team age for Detroit is 32.0 for batters and 30.7 for pitchers. If they go ahead and win it all this year, they will be the oldest team that accomplished that since 1980. I am not surprised to see Detroit struggle (I picked them 3rd in AL Central with a .500 record), but I was surprised to see them struggle against KC (which I picked 4th over the White Sox, and now see it challenging Detroit for 3rd.) Offensive slumps are a part of the game, but with Detroit relying on their offense to win cannot afford to have more than one bat slumping at the same time


• Speaking of offense, the addition of 2 ex-NL teammates to the Twins' lineup gave the Twins' fans a view of a rare but exciting play, the suicide squeeze. Everett's bat was a question mark coming into the season, but he has proven to be a very smart player that can help the team in several ways. Just early season numbers, but so far he has as many RBI (2) as the guy who leads the team in OPS (Kubel) in the same number of at-bats (10). Gomez has been a very positive surprise. I am sure that there is nobody west of the Mississippi who would like to see Span or Pridie over him up here. If he keeps it up (and indications are that he will only get better), by the all star break, a certain number 48 would be forgotten. His bunting the last 2 games has vastly improved and his last 2 bunts for hits can be repeated, with any infield defense in any formation... and this is just scary. I don't see Tolbert starting over Harris any time soon, but he could be a very useful piece of the bench, which makes Punto pretty much disposable. He can do everything Punto can, only better. I would not doubt that Bill Smith would (and should) be on the phone trying to unload Punto (but where and how?)


• Cuddyer's injury lands him on the DL and Span is recalled from Rochester. Most likely, Kubel would be the starting right fielder with Monroe the starting DH and Span on the bench


• Cleveland lost to the A's last night, so the Twins are 1.5 before the leaders of the division and the play them in the next two games. If they sweep, it is possible that they will lead the division by Sunday night. It is likely that the Twins will meet Mr Nomo tonight, and this is a good thing.

  



• Meanwhile, Bill James alledges that Puckett and Gaetti used steroids. Insane and inane. On another not, I received Hrbie's book. Look forward to reading it.

Some flaws in the Twins' 25 men roster

The 25-men roaster is all but set with the only question marks being whether Liriano and/or Baker will make the trip up north or stay in FL for extensive spring training until they build their endurance. Regardless, I think that there are some flaws in the 25 men roster that can be proven painful for the Twins this year:

• There are too many pitchers on the roster, leaving some serious deficiencies in the lineup. Historically, teams had 10 pitchers and 15 batters on their rosters. During the nineties, especially after expansion. The standard became 11 and 14. Now several teams are starting the season with 12 pitchers. This tactic, even though would lead to a fresher pitching staff, does not allow the manager to make appropriate substitutions in situational pinch hitting and running as well as in a day-to-day injury, unless the 4-man bench is set up correctly.


• The Twins have issues with their 4-man bench because Redmond is not very versatile; whomever from Monroe or Kubel does not start at DH can only play corner outfield positions successfully; Punto and Tolbert have pretty much the same skill set (infielders) and they are practically a duplication. A versatile outfielder (such as Pridie) could have been a better choice than one of the Punto/Tolbert duo


• Tolbert could be a potential pinch runner in late innings as could be Punto, but when Monroe is starting, there are no power righty bats of the bench.


• Another issue: Gomez is injury prone. He showed that yesterday. It that game, Gomez had a leg cramp and had to leave the game after the forth inning. With Monroe starting at DH, Gardernhire substituted Punto as the CF replacement, a totally inadequate substitution. A better course of action (albeit not ideal) would have been to move Young to CF and insert Kubel as the LF. This problem would be an issue if Gomez is day-to-day and out for a couple of days. This is why Pridie would have been a better choice... The only other position without good backup plan is 1B (the best case scenario if Morneau gets a minor injury would be to put Cuddyer on 1B with either Kubel or Monroe taking the RF position and again have no OF on the bench...


• The pitching staff itself is too righthanded with potentially (if Liriano is not ready) only 1 lefthander (Reyes) on the staff. This is not an issue against primarily righthanded lineups, like Detroit, but it can hurt in the long run. Neshek has a good record against lefties but he is the set up man. Perkins or Keisler should have probably taken Bass' spot (even though the later is out of options.)


• LH relievers are a rare and expensive fruit but the Twins should probably package a few people for a trade. There is a surplus of righthanders and it maybe time to see what a package such as Punto+Bass+Rincon can bring. Would it be enough for a situational lefty? Possible. Additionally, it would solve the bench Punto/Tolbert duplication issue. In such a scenario, Pridie would take Punto's spot, Humber Bass' and the new lefty Rincon's. I think that the Atlanta Braves might be an ideal trade partner, resulting to someone like Royce Ring or even Will Ohman coming to the Twins (with or without the inclusion of Bass in that trade...)

just some food for thought...

Twins needs, wants and recent rumor analysis - part one: Santana

La Velle Neal just indicated that the Twins cleared up 2 positions on their 40 man roster, indicating that there is a potential acceleration of events regarding either a Johan Santana trade or a SoCal-initiated rumored trade that would bring Morneau to the Angels or even a Boston-globe remark regarding a straight up Coco Crisp trade.

In this segment I am commenting on the possible returns on a Santana trade.

The main needs of the Twins before this postseason were: 2B, 3B, DH with emphasis on power and right hand bats. After Hunter's signing with the Angels, there is an additional hole in CF. Also, after Castillo's departure, there is a need for a lead off hitter (and overall speed in the lineup) which apparently cannot be satisfied by Casilla at this point

The major want of the Twins brass is to keep the payroll within the 70-75 million dollar range, before the new stadium opens.

Given these parameters, a Santana trade better happen and a couple of additional trades could go long ways. Let me explain:

Johan is pretty much at the apex of his trading value (if not on its downside). A quick comparison of similar pitchers at his age reveals names such as John Candelaria, Bob Welch, Jack McDowell, Sid Fernandez, Kevin Millwood, Kevin Appier, and Mike Mussina. Good pitchers, sometimes great but certainly no Hall of Famers or pitchers who you should spent 30% of your payroll for. I realize that this is a projection and Johan right now is probably the best pitcher in baseball, but I think that the numbers make the point. If there is the potential for a deal with the Yankees (as rumored) including Robinson Cano as the centerpiece with Melky Cabrera and one of the Yankee pitching prospects added to the deal, it might make a lot of sense for the Twins.

My favorite Santana trade for the Twins would be with the Dodgers for Matt Kemp, Andy LaRoche, Johnathan Broxton and Clayton Kershaw. Kemp and LaRoche will plug the holes in the CF and 3B, bringing strong RH power and Broxton could be the closer (with Kershaw waiting in the wings developing in the minors) as soon as Nathan walks or is traded. Furthermore, the addition of Santana, might pull the Dodgers over the edge in a pretty balanced NL West and crown them Champions.

Still, this picture, even though it addresses the Twins' right hand power and 3B/CF needs, does not address the speed/lead off hitter and DH needs. Monroe hopefully is not the team's answer to the DH position. Hot off the press is a speculation that the Mets might be big players in the Santana sweepstakes, with Reyes as the centerpiece and probably a center fielder (Milledge/Gomez) and a pitcher or two added. This would be a steal for the Twins, since it would provide a great lead of hitter and solve the CF problem. This would probably require Bartlett to move to 2B, a position he played only twice in the minors... Additionally, the needs at 3B, DH and right hand power would need to be addressed.

A possible lineup with the Mets trade would look like this (ages as of 2007 in parenthesis):

SS Reyes (24)
2B Bartlett (27)/Punto (29)
C Mauer (24)
RF Cuddyer (28)
1B Morneau (26)
CF Milledge (22)/Gomez (21)
LF Kubel (25)/Monroe (30)
DH Monroe (30)/Kubel (25)/ G. Jones (26)
3B Buscher (26)/Punto (29)

additional bench: Tyner (30), Redmond (36), Casilla (22)

SP Liriano (23)
SP Slowley (23)
SP Garza (23)
SP Bonser (25)
SP Baker (25)/Blackburn (25)/Perkins (24)
RP Rincon (28)
RP Neshek (26)
RP Reyes (30)/ De Paula (24)
RP Guerrier (28)/ Crain (25)
CL Nathan (32)


Observations:

1. This is a young and fairly inexperienced team with a lot of potential upside and would probably entering its peak when the Twins enter the new ballpark. Would this team be able to contend before that?

2. A lot depends on the development of these players. Cuddyer, Morneau, Punto and Mauer had career years in 2006 then regressed in 2007, would they be able to improve in 2008? Bartlett and Kubel had good years in 2007 (esp. late), would they be able to repeat or improve in 2008?

3. Would Buscher hold the 3b job? (he is another left handed bat, his fielding percentage in the minors was .938; but his OPS was .897 in AAA)

4. Still with a Santana trade, there is a surplus in both starting and relieving pitching, with several others (Duensing, Pino, Manship, Delaney, Tippett) a year or two away, which makes additional trades possible or even necessary.