Posted by twinsmvb on February 28, 2010 under John | 
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Reminder that tonight is the second broadcast of Twins MVB LIVE on Ustream. Click here for the show link.
We’ll be chatting about spring training, the Twins infield, new uniforms, and whatever YOU want to talk about.
Posted by andrew on February 24, 2010 under Andrew | 4 Comments to Read
The Twins’ scouting department had a down year in 2003, drafting just three players who eventually reached the Big Leagues. Of those three, just Scott Baker is putting together a solid career. Here are the more notable picks in the 2003 draft.
1st Round (21st overall) – Matthew Moses, 3B
Never known as an elite defensive player, the Twins knew that Moses’ bat would carry him to the major leagues, where he would hopefully take over at third base. Minnesota hadn’t enjoyed a consistent third baseman since Corey Koskie left, and they felt that Moses could eventually compete for the job. Outside of his bat, Moses was a very average player.
He wasn’t the best defensively, was a poor base-runner, and didn’t have the strongest arm. In his first 18 games in the Gulf Coast League, though, Moses managed to hit .385/.417/.492. A physical in 2003 revealed that Moses had a small hole in his heart that a 20-minute operation fixed.
Whether or not this had anything to do with his decline can’t be known for sure, but in 2004 Moses hit .223/.304/.366 in Quad Cities (Low A). In half a season in Fort Myers in 2005 Moses hit .306/.376/.453, but as soon as he was promoted to New Britain he fell apart again.
Moses spent the entire 2006 season with the Rock Cats, where he hit .249/.303/.386. He bounced between New Britain and Rochester in 2007, but returned to the Rock Cats in 2008. Last year was again spent with the Rock Cats, where Moses hit .224/.274/.353. Sadly, Moses has been awarded the “bust” label, and there is little hope that he will ever develop into what the Twins envisioned.
2nd Round (58th overall) – Scott Baker, RHP
The one saving grace of the 2003 draft, Baker flew through the minor leagues. Just over a year after he was drafted, in 2004, Baker was mowing down batters in Triple-A Rochester. In 2005 he reached the Twins and posted a 3.35 ERA in just over 50 innings. From that point forward, Baker has enjoyed a very successful major-league career.
This year, Baker is considered Minnesota’s ace, though he would be a solid No. 2 or No. 3 starting pitcher most other places. Over the course of his career, Baker has amassed an ERA of 4.27 in 653 innings and 6.9 strikeouts per nine innings.
4th Round (118th overall) – David Shinskie, RHP
Shinskie was selected out of Mt. Carmel High School in the fourth round in 2003, despite having received football scholarship offers from BSC schools. He stumbled around the minor leagues for about six years before retiring his glove and attempting to re-start his football career last year.
At 25-years old, Shinskie received a scholarship from Boston College and an offer to compete for their quarterback position. Shinksie was a four-year starter at quarterback at Mr. Carmel High School, and he won two state championships. In 2009, Shinskie threw for 2,049 yards and 15 touchdowns as he led the Eagles to an 8-4 record. They lost to USC in the Emerald Bowl.
14th Round (418th overall) – Levale Speigner, RHP
This pick is probably only notable because after Washington stole Speigner from us in the 2006 Rule V draft he went on to shut us down in 2007. Against Johan Santana on June 9, 2007, Speigner went six innings giving up just one run on two hits. He compiled a season ERA of 8.78, but he dominated the team he was drafted by.
(Note – as the 2004 draft involves several players who are still progressing through the Minnesota organization, I will stop my draft evaluation series here. But be sure to stick around here throughout the season for all the Twins’ content you can handle!)
Posted by John on February 22, 2010 under John | 2 Comments to Read
A recap of the premiere episode of MVB LIVE from last night. Thanks to everyone for stopping by and congratulations to Amy for answering the trivia question and winning two tickets to Target Field.
We’ll see you next Sunday night at 7:30 pm.
Posted by andrew on February 17, 2010 under Andrew | 5 Comments to Read
Unlike many small-market teams, the Minnesota Twins aren’t afraid to draft high school players early. Despite the uncertainty and signability risk high schoolers present, Mike Radcliff and his elite scouting team drafted prep stars with four of their first five picks in the 2002 Amateur Draft.
The first round pick has panned out very nicely for the Twins, while the last high school player selected (Adam Lind) didn’t sign. (The other two prep picks – Mark Sauls and Alex Merrick – didn’t exactly pan out.) All in all, though, the Twins found several top talents in the 2002 MLB Draft.
Here is a breakdown of some of the notable picks.
1st Round (20th overall) – Denard Span, OF
(Note – Alex Halsted has an excellent article on Denard Span in the Twins’ 2010 Annual. If you haven’t already, be sure to purchase this publication. It’s well worth the read.)
As soon as Span was drafted, he was given the title of “Torii Hunter’s Replacement.” Years later, this is coming to fruition. Hunter has packed his bags and left for greener pastures (and heftier paychecks) and Span will be the Opening Day center fielder in 2010.
Span signed late in 2002, and started his professional career as a 19-year old in the Appy League in 2003. Getting himself adjusted to wood bats, Span hit .271/.355/.319 in just over 200 at-bats. 2004 was spent between the GCL and Quad Cities, where Span combined to hit .273/.370/.320. He was getting on base at a good clip but hadn’t shown any form of power.
At 21 years of age, Span spent 2004 between Fort Myers and New Britain. Surprisingly, Span enjoyed his greatest offensive production while in the Florida State League, which usually features elite pitching. In 2004 Span hit a combined .307/.377/.369.
The entire 2006 season was spent with the Double-A Rock Cats, and Span managed to break a career high on home runs per season, with two. The next two years were spent with Rochester, and included a heart-wrenching Spring Training snub that almost made Span quit baseball.
Span was given his first regular at-bats in the major leagues in 2008, where he finished 6th in Rookie of the Year voting after hitting .294/.387/.432 with six home runs. Last year was Span’s first full season in the major-leagues, and he hit a very impressive .311/.392/.415 with eight long balls, and 23 stolen bases.
About to turn 26, Span is an above-average offensive specimen who provides average defense in the outfield. In 2010, he will be cast as the Opening Day center fielder for the Minnesota Twins, and we are all looking forward to seeing how his second full season in the Bigs turns out.
2nd Round (61st overall) – Jesse Crain, RHP
Crain signed sooner than Span after he was drafted, and threw some relief appearances for both the Elizabethton Twins and Quad Cities River Bandits in 2002. He looked very impressive, posting a sub-1.00 ERA and a sub-0.800 WHIP while striking out 9.4 per nine innings of pitching. Crain’s first year had “small sample size” written all over it, but the Twins were confident in their young righty.
Displaying his excellent fastball and deadly slider, Crain spent 2003 advancing between High-A, Double-A, and Triple-A. Over the course of the season Crain once again managed to post a 1.93 ERA with a very high 12.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
Even though Crain had garnered experience at the University of Houston, some felt he was being rushed through the system and not being allowed enough time to develop. It’s hard to slowly advance a prospect, though, when he is absolutely dominating every level of competition, and the Twins only managed to keep Crain in Triple-A until August of 2004, when he made his major-league debut.
Crain averaged a 2.93 ERA from 2004 through 2006, but his strikeout total was not nearly as good as it was in the minor leagues. The 24-year old was getting the job done, though, so the Twins kept giving him a regular workload.
In 2007, Crain had surgery on a torn rotator cuff and labrum in the middle of May and missed the rest of the season. He returned in 2008, where he was forced to man the set-up role when Pat Neshek went down with an injury. He posted a 3.59 ERA while striking out 7.2 batters per nine innings, the highest total of his major-league career.
Last year left much to be desired, and many Twins fans gave up on Crain. He put up an ERA of 4.70, but managed to strike out 7.5 batters per nine innings. His WHIP was at a career-worst, though, (the nickname “Crain-Wreck” was coined at this time) and he spent a significant amount of time in Rochester to try to get back on track.
After 12 games with the Red Wings, Crain returned to the Twins and put up a 2.20 ERA during the last two months of the season. Minnesota awarded him with a $2 million contract for the 2010 season. After his performance to end the 2009 season, Crain certainly deserves another chance, but he will have a very short leash.
6th Round (182nd overall) – Pat Neshek, LHP
A hometown boy, Neshek attended high school in Brooklyn Parks, but went to college in Butler. After signing in 2002, Neshek joined Crain in the Elizabethon bullpen. He struck out 13.5 batters per nine innings, the second highest total in the league behind Honeudis Pereyra.
Neshek made fairly steady progress through the organization, with one premature promotion to Double-A in 2003. The Twins corrected this by having Neshek start 2004 in Fort Myers, and then advancing once again to the Rock Cats, where he posted an ERA of 3.82 the second time around.
Like most side-armers, Neshek was very vulnerable to left-handed bats, which could have been a significant part of the reason he spent so much time in New Britain. In 2005 and 2006, Neshek had a FIP of 4.64 against left-handed batters, while a 1.98 FIP against right-handers. (This struggle continues to haunt Neshek, who has combined for a 5.02 FIP against left-handed batters in his major league career, but a 2.52 FIP against right-handers.)
The 24-year old spent his entire 2005 season in New Britain, where he finally showed the Twins the level of dominance they wanted to see, putting up an ERA of 2.19 while pushing his strikeout per nine total back over 10. Neshek spent the first part of 2006 in Triple-A, where he put up a 1.95 ERA while striking out 13 per nine innings. There was no way the Twins could keep him down on the farm for much longer, and they called him up to make his major-league debut in early July.
During his first season in the major leagues, Neshek boasted a 2.19 ERA, a 0.784 WHIP, and 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings. His ERA+ was 204 through the 37 innings he threw.
Neshek spent the entire 2007 season with the Twins, where he had an ERA of 2.94 and 9.5 strikeouts per nine innings. He was narrowly missed an All-Star appearance. Early in the 2008 season it was discovered that Neshek had a torn UCL and required Tommy John surgery. He missed all of last season, but appears to be ready for the start of the 2010 campaign.
Other notable picks:
5th Round (152nd overall) – Clete Thomas, OF – (Did not sign)
8th Round (242nd overall) – Adam Lind, 1B – (Did not sign)
Posted by John on February 16, 2010 under John | 6 Comments to Read
Twins MVB LIVE will launch its first episode this Sunday night at 7:30 pm CST. Come join John for 30 minutes of Twins Talk, baseball chatter, and a chance to win two tickets to a 2010 Twins game at Target Field.
Follow this link for the first episode on Sunday night or bookmark this: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/twins-mvb-weekly-wrap-up
Posted by John on February 12, 2010 under John | 4 Comments to Read
A couple weeks ago Twins blogger and Twins MVB contributor, Andrew Kneeland, asked the Twins blogging community to come together to celebrate February 12 as Nick Punto Day. Kneeland knew that Punto has been one of the most polarizing and head-scratching players for the Twins over the past six years.
My feelings for Nick Punto are difficult to put in writing, so I had to simply say them to you directly…
* Correction * I meant to say a .647 OPS (on-base plus slugging… not just slugging)
Thanks to Andrew for allowing me to release some steam over the man, the myth, the legend, little Nicky Punto.
The real value in today’s holiday is hearing what the rest of the blogging community has to say about number 8. I could link all the blog posts from today, or I’ll just send you to the #NickPuntoDay Twitter feed. Yes, that’s correct. Nick Punto Day has it’s own Twitter feed… and that’s all folks.
Posted by andrew on February 10, 2010 under Andrew | 5 Comments to Read
Evaluating a Draft: 2001
The 2001 MLB Draft could be labeled as a success, if for no other reason than bringing Joe Mauer to the Twin Cities. In 2001, the Twins focused on a thick crop of prep talent, as their first four picks were fresh out of high school. So far, it looks as if two of those first four picks are bound for successful major league careers. Let’s take a look at the notable picks in the 2001 Draft.
1st Round (1st overall) – Joe Mauer, C
Despite the criticism this pick received, I’d say things have worked out fairly well for the Twins. Minnesota passed over USC super-star Mark Prior, who many viewed as the best prospect available. The Twins instead took home-town boy Joe Mauer because they feared that Prior wouldn’t sign with them. In hind-sight, this was obviously a smart decision on Minnesota’s part because of the dominance of Mauer and the injury trouble of Prior, but I think it’s safe to assume that decision was made based on signability issues, not because they thought Mauer would be the better pick or because they foresaw any mechanical problems in Prior.
Prior actually had an incredible few years in the major leagues with the Cubs. He finished seventh in Rookie-of-the-Year voting in 2002, and third in Cy Young voting the next year. Even after several seasons plagued with injury, Prior has a career 3.51 ERA while he averaged a very impressive 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings. If he would have avoided any health problems, there is little doubt that Prior would have been one of the best pitchers in the league.
But picking Mauer was obviously the right decision, regardless of the Twins’ motivation at the time. After just six seasons, Mauer is certainly in thick of the “Best Catcher” discussion. Having won an unprecedented three batting titles, Mauer was awarded with his first (and hopefully not last) MVP Award following the 2009 season, where he hit .365/.444/.587 with 28 home runs in just 138 games.
3rd Round (77th overall) – Jose Morales, SS
Drafted as a catcher, Morales was eventually moved behind the plate. The young switch-hitter has never displayed much power, but has managed to put up excellent on-base-percentages during his last few years in the minor leagues. He has repeated Triple-A for a few years, but this is more a result of his path to the Twins being blocked (see: Mauer, Joe) than his inability to hit.
Morales made his major-league debut in 2007, when both Mauer and Mike Redmond were dealing with injuries. Morales went 3-for-3 in the game, but injured himself in the fifth inning while running the bases, which put an abrupt end to his season.
This year, Morales was slated to be Mauer’s backup, but he required wrist surgery last month and will be out until mid-March.
13th Round (377th overall) – Kevin Cameron, RHP
Cameron was drafted by the Twins out of the Georgie Institute of Technology. While with the Twins, Cameron worked his way through the system as a relief pitcher while posting great ERAs and a respectable strikeout-per-nine ratio. He played the 2006 season with the Rochester Red Wings, but before he was promoted the Padres snagged him as a Rule V pick.
Since then, Cameron, 30, has enjoyed some success in the major leagues with the Padres, and Oakland Athletics. On January 11th, Cameron signed a minor-league contract with the San Francisco Giants.
29th Round (857th overall) – Nick Blackburn, RHP
After watching Blackburn for three years, it’s hard to believe that other teams collectively found over 850 players who they thought would have more successful careers than this right-handed pitcher out of Seminole State University. Blackburn just finished his second full major-league season in 2009, posting a 4.03 ERA while making a reputation for himself with incredible control of his pitches.
Despite having college experience, Blackburn slowly progressed through the Twins’ minor-league system. He never put up flashy strikeout totals, but he consistently managed to ge opposing batters out. He will probably never be a star, but Blackburn is very capable of filling the middle of any major-league rotation.
Posted by andrew on February 3, 2010 under Andrew | 2 Comments to Read
Although the season is just around the corner, there is still plenty of time to start a mini-series, isn’t there? As we follow the latest (and most likely inaccurate) Joe Mauer rumors, here is a review of the first round of the 2000 draft, along with a few other notable picks.
1st Round (2nd overall) – Adam Johnson, RHP
With the highly-coveted 2nd overall pick in the draft, the Twins selected right-handed pitcher Adam Johnson, from Cal State Fullerton. Johnson dominated collegiate batters, and was a candidate to go first overall, but signability issues pushed him down to No. 2.
The Twins aren’t known to rush prospects, but they indulged themselves with Johnson after the young righty enjoyed a good season in both High-A and Double-A. At this time, it wasn’t known whether Johnson could remain a starter, or if he would be forced to the bullpen. Either way, most were convinced Johnson would be a star.
After seven appearances with the Twins in 2001, Johnson amassed an ERA of 8.25 through 25 innings. He was quickly returned to the minor leagues, where he toiled in Triple-A for the rest of his career. He left baseball after the 2008 season, which he spent with the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs, an Independent League team.
Johnson was ranked by Baseball American as the Twins’ top prospect heading into the 2001 season, but slipped to 5th in 2002, and 10th in 2003, before falling off the map.
Unnecessary hype was a major reason Johnson was a failure at the major league level, but not being allowed to fully develop in the minor leagues could be another contributing factor. The Twins gave Johnson a signing bonus of $2.5 million, which was outrageously high at the time.
It is disappointing to notice how many other major-league stars were taking after Johnson in the 1st round of the 2000 draft. Adam Wainwright, Chase Utley, and Rocco Baldelli were all first-round selections in the 2000 draft. Adrian Gonzalez was the first-overall selection of the Florida Marlins.
1st Supplemental Round (31st overall) – Aaron Heilman, RHP
Heilman enjoyed a successful major league career, but he wasn’t signed after the Twins drafted him in 2000. He re-entered the draft in 2001, and was drafted by the New York Mets. Heilman was in the Chicago Cub’s bullpen last year, where he put up a 4.11 ERA in 72.1 innings. His ERA+ was 109.
12th Round (342nd overall) – Jason Kubel, OF
2000 was a relatively unsuccessful year for the Twins’ scouting and drafting departments, but they did find a late-round gem in Jason Kubel. A right-handed outfielder (although Kubel did pitch in high school with decent results) they drafted out of high school, Kubel lit up just about every minor league level he was at.
Up until 2004, Kubel was probably considered as an average minor league outfielder: below-average base running abilities and no power to speak of, he wasn’t especially valuable. In the 2004 season with New Britain and Rochester, though, Kubel’s slugging percentage shot up almost 70 points higher than his previous career high. Hitting a total of 22 home runs in the 2004 season between Double-A and Triple-A, Kubel instantly became a top prospect.
As we are all now aware, Kubel’s selection in the 2000 draft was a wise decision. As one of the best offensive outfielders in the league, Kubel is no doubt a source of pride for Minnesota’s scouting department.
