Minnesota Twins MLB News - Twins Baseball Blog

The Minnesota Twins should start selling off players right now

chinmusic — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:10:46 +0000

Sure, it’s a little early to get in a selling mode, but the Twins aren’t going anywhere this year. So, why wait. First off, the Twins should flip righty reliever Jared Burton and infielder Jamey Carroll to the San Francisco Giants for 3B Conor Gillaspie. Then I would ship off 3B Danny Valencia and righty reliever Jeff Gray to the Colorado Rockies for 2B/OF Eric Young and SS Thomas Field. Stopper Matt Capps would be off to the Philadelphia Phillies for 1B/OF John Mayberry. Carl Pavano, Nick Blackburn, Jason Marquis and Francisco Liriano should also be on the block for the highest bidder. The early bird gets the worm, so the Twins should deal early rather than waiting until July.

The Minnesota Twins release a couple of infielders

chinmusic — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:29:36 +0000

The Twins have released 32-year old lefty swinging 2B Joe Thurston and 28-year old lefty swinging 1B Aaron Bates. Thurston played in 15 games in AAA-ball for the Twins this year and he was 4 for 43 (.093 avg, .346 OPS) with 4 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs. He played in 26 games in AAA-ball overall this year for the Phillies & Twins and he was 10 for 72 (.139 avg, .504 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 2 homers, 4 RBIs and 1 stolen base. Aaron Bates played in 28 games in AAA-ball for the Twins this year and he was 20 for 84 (.238 avg, .664 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 0 homers and 10 RBIs. The Twins won’t miss either of these guys going forward.

Francisco Liriano has been awful so far this year for the Minnesota Twins

chinmusic — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:10:58 +0000

28-year old lefty starting pitcher Francisco Liriano has been pulled from the starting rotation. He has pitched in 6 games (all starts) for the Twins so far this year and he is 0-5 with a 9.45 ERA and a 2.10 WHIP. Liriano has pitched 26 2/3 innings so far this year and he has given up 37 hits (6 homers), 19 walks and he has whiffed 21 batters so far this year. Liriano has pitched in 140 games (119 starts) in his first seven years in the majors and he is 47-47 with 1 save, a 4.39 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP. The Twins hope Liriano gets straightened out in the pen.

The Minnesota Twins can’t be pleased with infielder Tsuyoshi Nishioka

chinmusic — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:07:55 +0000

The Twins signed 27-year old switch-hitting 2B/SS Tsuyoshi Nishioka two winters ago to a 3-year, $9.5 million dollar deal. He rewarded them last season by appearing in 68 games for the Twins in which he was 50 for 221 (.226 avg, .527 OPS) with 14 runs scored, 0 homers, 19 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He didn’t make the opening day roster this spring and he has been horrible so far in the minors. Nishioka has played in 16 games in AAA-ball so far this year and he is 12 for 59 (.203 avg, .536 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 0 homers, 3 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. He is not in line to get back to Minnesota any time soon.

The Minnesota Twins send Danny Valencia to AAA

chinmusic — Fri, 11 May 2012 11:02:50 +0000

The Twins have sent 27-year old righty swinging 3B Danny Valencia to AAA-ball. He played in 27 games for the Twins this year and he was 19 for 100 (.190 avg, .494 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 1 homer and 11 RBIs. Valencia has now played in 266 games in his first three years with the Twins and he is 251 for 963 (.261 avg, .697 OPS) with 102 runs scored, 23 homers, 123 RBIs and 4 stolen bases. 25-year old righty swinging Trevor Plouffe will get the next shot to start at 3B for the Twins. Plouffe has played in 17 games for the Twins so far this year and he is 6 for 43 (.140 avg, .534 OPS) with 5 runs scored, 1 homer and 2 RBIs. He has walked 10 times while only whiffing 6 times so far this year, so he has a decent eye at the plate. Plouffe has now played in 120 games in his first three years with the Twins and he is 80 for 370 (.216 avg, .653 OPS) with 59 runs scored, 11 homers, 39 RBIs and 3 stolen bases. The Twins have called up 26-year old righty swinging outfielder Darin Mastroianni from AAA to replace Danny Valencia on the active roster. Mastroianni has played in 20 games in AAA-ball for the Twins this year and he was 27 of 78 (.346 avg, .816 OPS) with 10 runs scored, 0 homers, 11 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Mastroianni played in 1 game for the Blue Jays last year and he was 0 for 2 (.000 avg) with 1 whiff.

The Minnesota Twins DFA Matt Maloney

chinmusic — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:57:00 +0000

The Twins have designated 28-year old lefty reliever Matt Maloney for assignment. Maloney pitched in 9 games (0 starts) for the Twins this year and he was 1-0 with a 8.18 ERA and a 1.64 WHIP. He has pitched in 31 games (11 starts) in his first three years in the majors and he is 5-9 with a 5.74 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. The Twins have called up 27-year old righty starter/reliever P.J. Walters to replace Maloney on the pitching staff. Walters has pitched in 6 games (all starts) in AAA-ball this year and he is 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. Walters has pitched in 20 games (4 starts) in his first three years in the majors and he is 2-0 with a 7.24 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP.

UPDATE: (5/12/2012) - Matt Maloney has accepted an outright assignment to AAA. He could get another shot with the Twins later this year if he pitches well in AAA-ball.

Jared Burton is looking good for the Minnesota Twins

chinmusic — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:45:55 +0000

30-year old righty reliever Jared Burton is pitching well for the Twins so far this year. He has pitched in 12 games (0 starts) for the Twins so far this year and he is 0-0 with a 2.45 ERA and a 0.46 WHIP. He has only given up 3 hits in 11 innings this year, while whiffing 11 batters and only walking 2. Burton has now pitched in 176 games (0 starts) in his first six years in the majors and he is 10-3 with a 3.35 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. It shouldn’t be a surprise that Burton is pitching well, as he has always been solid…when healthy.

The Minnesota Twins call up Scott Diamond

chinmusic — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:43:14 +0000

The Twins have called up 25-year old lefty starting pitcher Scott Diamond to replace 23-year old righty Liam Hendriks in the rotation. Diamond has pitched in 6 games (all starts) in AAA-ball for the Twins this year and he was 4-1 with a 2.60 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. Diamond pitched in 7 games (all starts) for the Twins last year, in his first taste of the majors, and he was 1-5 with a 5.08 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP. Diamond can’t do much worse than 23-year old righty starting pitcher Liam Hendriks did. Hendriks pitched in 4 games (all starts) for the Twins last year and he was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA and a 1.89 WHIP. He gave up 30 hits in only 18 innings for the Twins this year. Hendriks has now pitched in 8 games (all starts) in his first two years with the Twins and he is 0-4 with a 7.40 ERA and a 1.67 WHIP. Hendriks has given up a whopping 59 hits (8 homers) in his first 41 1/3 innings in the show.

Jamey Carroll and Alexi Casilla are going to share time at 2B

chinmusic — Sun, 06 May 2012 20:37:02 +0000

38-year old righty swinging SS/2B Jamey Carroll has been bumped out of a starting job at SS by rookie Brian Dozier. Carroll has played in 26 games for the Twins so far this year and he is 20 for 97 (.206 avg, .543 OPS) with 13 runs scored, 0 homers, 7 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He will share time at 2B with 27-year old switch-hitting Alexi Casilla. Casilla has played in 23 games for the Twins so far this year and he is 19 for 74 (.257 avg, .597 OPS) with 7 runs scored, 0 homers, 4 RBIs and 5 stolen bases. The Twins hope a timeshare at 2B will allow them to get the best production out of both Carroll and Casilla.

The Minnesota Twins place 1B/DH Justin Morneau on the D.L.

chinmusic — Sun, 06 May 2012 20:32:27 +0000

The Twins have placed 30-year old lefty swinging 1B/DH Justin Morneau on the 15-day disabled list due to a sore left wrist. Morneau has played in 20 games for the Twins so far this year and he is 17 for 74 (.230 avg, .773 OPS) with 9 runs scored, 4 homers and 9 RBIs. The Twins have called up 24-year old righty swinging SS Brian Dozier to replace Morneau on the active roster. Dozier came into this season as the Twins’ #10 prospect according to Baseball America. He will take over as the Twins’ starting shortstop in place of Jamey Carroll, who will share P.T. with Alexi Casilla at 2B. Dozier has played in 28 games in AAA-ball for the Twins so far this year and he was 29 for 105 (.276 avg, .710 OPS) with 6 runs scored, 1 homer, 12 RBIs and 2 stolen bases. He has now played in 345 games in his first four years in the minors and he is 405 of 1,329 (.305 avg, .795 OPS) with 205 runs scored, 15 homers, 141 RBIs and 45 stolen bases. The Twins hope that Dozier will give the offense a boost.