A Bill Smith roster derailed post

I have been working on a series of Bill Smith posts. How he is doing as a trader and how he is doing signing free agents. I have more posts on his running of the franchise coming, but last night's game made me remember that, Smith sucks at roster maximization. I'm not really referring to who is on the roster so much as keeping the roster prepared at all times. Roster maximization is hard to quantify. There are no stats to measure it, but examples exist, such as last night.

Let's take a look at last night's game. Scott Baker started and hurt his elbow, throwing only two innings. Jeff Manship went 4 innings, throwing 65 pitches. Jon Rauch threw a scoreless 7th. After 7 innings, the Twins were leading 7-3 and had only used 2 relievers. To start the 8th, lefty Randy Flores was brought in. He got an out and gave up a HR. The team then turned to Matt Guerrier. Matt is showing signs of wearing down, as he did in 2008. I'd have gone with Jesse Crain in this spot and given Matt a day to rest. Guerrier came in and gave up 3 runs in .2 innings, tieing the game at 7-7. The top of the 9th saw the Twins score a run, so Jesse Crain was brought in for the save. (Gardenhire wanted to rest Matt Capps) He blew the save. Crain went 2 innings. Why couldn't Crain have gone 1.2 innings and give Guerrier the night off?

The whole bullpen was used-up after 10 innings. Capps was deemed unavailable and Brian Fuentes had tightness in his back. Smith surely cannot be responsible for Baker getting hurt. He is not responsible for Gardenhire's use of the bullpen, though he should be aware of it. Because Blackburn was used last night, he couldn't be used to start today's game.

Due to starters on the 40-man roster such as Glen Perkins and Anthony Swarzak being used recently, the team has to call-up Matt Fox today and place Justin Morneau on the 60 day disabled list. For one spot start, the Twins need to make a roster move they'd rather hold onto.

How does this happen? There seems to be times where the team holds an injured player for 5+ days before sending them to the disabled list. Too often in Bill Smith's tenure, a guy like Matt Tolbert is pinch hitting with the game on the line. The roster is often missing a player or two that it needs, due to roster mismanagement.

How could this have happened last night? Certainly the team went into the game looking relatively strong, but things happen. Things should not happen in September. Once September 1st rolls around, teams can expand their rosters. Anyone on the 40-man roster can be called up to the major league roster. The Twins called up two position players, but no pitchers. The reasoning was to keep rosters in the minors filled until the end of their minor league seasons. The minor league season ends Monday! Rochester and New Britain are not threats to extend their season in the playoffs.

Last nights game meant Fox had to be called up as well as Rob Delaney and Alex Burnett. How could the Twins have avoided this? They could have called up Delaney and Burnett already. This could have saved Guerrier's arm and helped prevent starter's getting wasted in an extra innings game.

I am not a fan of Smith's trades, though he has been better the last 2 seasons. I like what he has done in free-agency. Smith's biggest weakness might be in roster management. It may have cost a game last night. Last night's game may cost a game down the road.

I hope Smith learned a lesson for next September.

An update on this post. Matt Fox made a good start for the Twins. The Twins have not lost a game since the nightmare game against Detroit. Fox was then designated for assignment to call up Ben Revere. Fox was claimed by Boston today. Smith, leaving his team short-handed in September, may have cost the team a game and definitely cost the team some decent starting pitcher depth. Again, I hope Smith learned his lesson.

Manny's impact on the White Sox

Yesterday, Manny Ramirez finally made his way to the Chicago White Sox, several days after he'd been claimed. He wasn't ready to be pencilled in the lineup, but his intimidating presence as a potential pinch-hitter helped A.J. Pierzynski hit a home run!!!!!! Ok, that might be a stretch, though, his presence in the on deck circle could have resulted in better pitches for A.J. Other than intimidating pitchers from the on-deck circle, what does the Manny trade mean to the White Sox?

The White Sox are 4 games back of the Twins with 30 to go. As I documented at the trade deadline, their starters are very good, their relievers had been having a good year as well, but have struggled lately. While the pitching has been mostly solid, the Sox have a had a hole in the DH spot. They have been running Mark Kotsay and his .237/.311/.385 in the DH spot most of the season. While Manny, at 38, hasn't been the same old Manny, he still has managed a .311/.405/.510 line in 232 plate appearances. Playing the DH position should help keep Manny in the lineup. He has had injury problems this season and not having to play the field should save his body.

So, how much of an impact will Manny have? Zips predicts a line of .303/.405/.545 in 78 plate appearances. His performance in LA in 2008, suggests he could be capable of more. His .396/.489/.743 line in 229 plate appearance was awesome. One of the great trade deadline impact performances of all time. It was worth 3.1 wins in just 2 months, even factoring in his bad defense.

I imagine Manny will be motivated, much as he was in 2008, but he is two years older this time and he has had a hard time staying in the lineup this season. He may have a hard time adjusting to a full-time DH role. He may also be missing a certain special something this time around. While there is no proof Manny was getting help from, um, fertility drugs in 2008, he certainly was by the beginning of 2009. Given his contract year status, some new motivation, and the fact that the White Sox play their home games in U.S. Cellular, I'll predict a .320/.450/.575 line for Manny down the stretch. Zips predicts 78 plate appearances, which amounts to about 20 full games out of 30. Given the fact that Manny has been fighting injuries and often sits a day after a night (As an owner of his in fantasy baseball, he has been almost unstartable), I'd say this is about right. He'd probably be available to pinch hit in the other 10, still having some impact.

So, is 80 plate appearances of .320/.450/.575 enough of a difference over .237/.311/.385? The Sox have 16 games at home, while the Twins have 18. The Sox still have 7 games with the Red Sox, 3 on the road and 4 at home. The Red Sox are probably not playoff bound but are as good or better team than the White Sox. Will Manny even play much in Boston this weekend? Given his history there and his mercurial personality, the White Sox may keep him on the bench for the bulk of this series. The Twins have 3 games this weekend at home vs Texas, but thats about it for tough opponents. The key to the season is the 3 game series the Twins have in Chicago from September 14-16.

Manny is still a great hitter. His bat should be worth a win to the White Sox. The problem for the Sox is, the Twins are 4 ahead, not 1, have more home games and a similar schedule. Unless Manny helps the White Sox sweep the Twins in September, his bat won't be enough to close the 4 game gap between the teams.

Manny is till a great hitter. Manny will make the pennant race more fun! Welcome Manny, while I fear you, I don't believe your impact will be enough!

As I write this, the Sox are down 4-2 with 1 on and 1 out in the top of the 8th inning. Manny is due another plate appearance. Will it matter? Stay tuned!

Half-Ass scouting report on Twins Arizona Fall League players

Today the Twins announced their Arizona Fall league assignees. This is a great group of players, guys that will make an impact in the majors. Since I have seen or met 6 of the players I figured I'd post my half-assed scouting reports instead of digging deep into stats.


Joe Benson is my favorite prospect in the Twins system. He has hit .249/.335/.516 with 24 HRs, 18 SB/9 CS in High A Fort Myers and AA New Britain this season I saw him in June and wrote this: He's 22 and Neal thinks he'll arrive in 2012. For some reason, he was sent back to Fort Myers this year. I personally think he is a better player than Revere right now. He certainly looks to have more upside. He is almost as fast as Revere but also has power. He went 2-5 with a 2B and a walk on Wednesday and 1-4 with a HR in Thursday's game. He leads New Britain with 9 HRs. The bounce in power is great especially since he is considered more of a speed guy. He already has 13 HRs in 2010 between Fort Myers/New Britain. He's never had more than 5 HRs in a season. If Micheal Cuddyer were traded in the off-season, Benson may be better equipped then Revere to replace some of his offense by next season.


I also saw him in August: He went 0-5 and some of his swings were really hard. Carlos Gomez hard. He is certainly the best prospect in AA for the Twins currently, but he has some work to do. I love watching him in the field and he has legitimate power. He also might be wound to tight. He got mad a couple times during the game, tossing his helmet hard into the dugout and also on the field after just missing his pitch and flying out. The kind of reaction usually reserved for strikeouts. Benson has a ton of tools and potential that is starting to show. I hope he is able to keep his emotions in check and just enjoy the game a little more. He has enough ability to go a long way someday soon.

Here is video of Benson's first at-bat.

Ben Revere recently came back from getting hit in the face with a pitch. He is batting .295/.363/.350 with 34 SB/13 CS in AA New Britain this season. He has some upside as a Juan Pierre type. I saw him in June and wrote in reference to LaVelle E. Neal ranking him as the Twins #4 prospect: He's also (as is Joe Benson) 22 and Neal also predicts he will be with the Twins in 2011. He played yesterday after missing some time with injury. He went 1-4 with a strikeout. While he didn't do much in the game, it was great to see him play. I saw his speed trying to beat out ground balls. 

Chris Parmelee could be a future power hitter for the Twins. He is batting .289/.360/.407 in High A Fort Myers and AA New Britain this season. I saw him in June and wrote this: Chris Parmelee also had 3 hits and hit a very hard foul ball right by us. Dude has scary power, if he can ever put it all together. I saw Parmelee in August, he had a hit, walk, RBI, and a couple runs scored. 


I have seen Carlos Gutierrez many times. He is 5-8 with a 4.57 ERA as a starter and reliever in AA New Britain this season. I saw him in 2009, before I was blogging, he looked good, topping out at 94. He signed a ball for us in 2009. I wrote this in June, La Velle E. Neal had him as his #5 prospect: He's 23 and Neal predicts he could be on the MLB club in late 2010. I don't see him with the club this year but maybe next year, probably as a reliever. He started the game Wednesday. He got the win, going 6 innings, giving up 6 hits, walking 2, and striking out 3. He looked very confident on the mound. His sinker was working for him, topping out at 95 MPH and sitting around 91-93. Some of the hits could have been outs with better defense. (Jair Fernandez, a catcher played a few innings at 3rd base when Chris Cates was thrown out of the game) His off speed pitches looked ok but I'm not sure if they are swing and miss pitches right now.


I saw Kyle Waldrop in 2009. He has since become a dominating reliever and will make an impact soon. He is 5-3 with a 2.57 ERA for Rochester this year. I didn't have much to say about him when I saw him, but here it is: Kyle Waldrop, former #1 pick was next, he went 3.2 giving up 1 earned on 3 hits and a walk with a strikeout. He looks to be adjusting nicely after an injury derailed 2008 His fast ball topped out at 91.


I have not seen Tyler Robertson pitch but I met him this year. He is having a tough year, going 3-13 with a 5.47 ERA in AA/AAA but he is still only 22 and has been fairly decent in the past. He did take a pic.  for me and was a good guy. He didn't hesitate, even though I pestered him while he was texting. Someone needs to get him a "Viva La Stache" shirt as well. He was a Big Fan of mine.

David Bromberg also made the team. I wasn't lucky enough to see him pitch this year but he went 6-9 with a 3.75 ERA for AA New Britain and AAA Rochester this season.


That's all I got. Congratulations to the guys. Check out Seth Stohs much better take on the AFL.

What do you think about Bill Smith now? Free Agent signings

The Twins traded Brian Fuentes for a player to be named later on Friday. Instead of posting on that, I was inspired to do a short career assessment of how Bill Smith is doing as a GM. I had too much information to make one Smith post and that short assessment has become quite long. The first post was on Smith's trade history. Today, I will focus on Smith's free agent signings. I will use WAR (wins above replacement) and fangraphs.com salary estimators to analyze some of the decisions made by Smith on free agents.

As fans of the team know. The Twins don't sign big name free agents. The Twins usually sign one year stop-gap guys. Terry Ryan couldn't get enough of the Rondell White's and Ramon Ortiz's of the world. Given the same ownership and similar financial constraints that Ryan had, Bill Smith had to sign similar players.

In 2008 Smith signed Livan Hernandez, Mike Lamb, and Craig Monroe to fill out the roster.

Livan Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.93 ERA and a 5.77/5.53 FIP/xFIP in Arizona in 2007. He struck out less than 4 batters an game and at 32 (allegedly) Hernandez looked washed-up. This didn't stop the Twins from giving him $5 million for 2008 and anointing Hernandez as Johan Santana's replacement and opening day starter. With Francisco Liriano coming back from Tommy John surgery, the Twins felt it necessary to have another arm and a veteran one at that. Livan went 10-8 with the Twins with a 5.48 ERA and a 4.68/4.79 FIP/xFIP in 23 starts before being let go in August. Livan was actually useful for the team for a awhile, eventually becoming too hittable. The team dropped him in favor of calling up Liriano. Liriano had been dominating at AAA and was ready to take over. Hernandez had a WAR of 1.4 which was worth $6.4 million. Hernandez was useful, and Smith's only fault with him might be, keeping Hernandez 3 or 4 starts too long over Liriano. Liriano went 6-4 with a 3.91 ERA 3.87/4.31 FIP/xFIP in 14 starts including 3 terrible starts in April. Liriano had a 1.5 WAR in 14 starts and giving him 3 or 4 extra starts that Livan made might have made the difference for a team that went to game 163.

Mike Lamb was signed to a 2 year 6.6 million dollar deal. He went .279/.366/.453 for Houston in 2007 and was seen to be a decent defender at third base. This looked like an decent signing (I know I liked it) as the Twins didn't have much at 3B in the system. Boy, was everyone wrong on this one. I am not sure if it was his poor play, lack of supposed desire, or just the fact that Lamb was done as a player, but he didn't seem to mesh with Gardy or the team at all. Lamb could only muster a .233/.276/.322 line while adding poor defense before the Twins released him. The Brewers picked him up and saved the Twins a few dollars, but he didn't make the majors in 2009, so the Twins were on the hook for almost all of the 6.6 million. For that money they got a -1.1 WAR which was worth a negative 4.8 million. In hindsight, playing Brian Buscher all season at 3b and his .4 WAR would have made the team better and saved money. Cutting bait with Lamb, so he couldn't kill the team more was the only smart move with Lamb.

Outfielder Craig Monroe was signed for 3.82 million plus after hitting .219/.268/.370 for two teams in 2007. I didn't hate this move, because Monroe had shown power in 2006 and I wasn't aware of his defense. Monroe was only 31 and I had high hopes that he'd bounce back. Wrong again! Monroe was as bad in 08 as he was in 07. He had a WAR of negative .5 and was worth -$2.3 million. Not only did he hit just .202/.274/.405 in 179 at-bats, He was worse against lefties than righties, and he took at-bats away from Jason Kubel.

In 2009 the Twins continued picking up guys off of the scrap heap:

Joe Crede was a very good, but often injured player for the Chicago White Sox. The third baseman signed for just $2.5 million plus incentives that could reach $7 million. Crede hit .225/.289/.414 in 367 plate appearances and provided stellar defense for the Twins. His back injuries returned allowing Crede to only play in 90 games, but largely to his great defense, he was worth a WAR of 1.8. It's too bad he couldn't play the full season. He ended up making about $5 million and was worth$ 8.3 million.

Luis Ayala was brought in due to his closing experience and supposedly good sinker sinker to help shore up the bull-pen. He got a contract worth 1.3 million. He went 1-2 with a 4.18 ERA and a 4.43/4.63 FIP/xFIP. His sinker never sank and he got pissy when he was no longer used in high leverage situations and was cut. His .1 WAR was worth $.5 million.

R.A. Dickey was given $525,000 to be an occasional starter and knuckle ball long man. His WAR was negative .1 worth -.4 million, suggesting he was worth just less than a replacement player. It was a decent idea to try a knuckle ball pitcher, but maybe he was better cast as a starter. He has been a godsend as a starter to the Mets this year.

Ron Mahay was picked up from the Royals in August, after being designated for assignment. He was re-signed by the Twins this March. He has a 0 WAR in his time with the team. He has been useful as a lefty specialist, but his impact is limited. He has been worth $.3 million to the team. Getting paid near the minimum by the team since the trade, he's cost the team around $600,000.

2010 has been a little different for Smith and the Twins. With the opening of Target Field, the Twins have been able to spend more money. The free-agents they signed this season were not more expensive but of a caliber, due to depressed finances in MLB, that are not really affecting the Twins.

Orlando Hudson was not signed until late in the free-agency period, which is the same predicament he found him self in before signing with the Dodgers in 2009. Although he was signed late, he has been everything the Twins could have asked for. Providing offense at second base for the first time since, FOREVER, and also a decent #2 hitter for the first time in FOREVER. He is hitting .284/.359/.404 while also playing great defense. His offense has slid some over the years, but for the Twins, he is a huge upgrade to the #2 hitters/second baseman they have had. He has had a little trouble with injuries, but has had a great year. He's been worth a 3.4 WAR and $13.6 million. I'd love to see Hudson back in 2011 if it works out. There are potential replacements, such as Alexi Casilla and Trevor Plouffe, and Hudson can be a little flaky at times but the Twins don't figure to be able to replace Hudson's production.

Designated Hitter Jim Thome was signed by the Twins for the bargain basement price of $1.5 million plus incentives pushing his total pay to around $1.7 million. The White Sox chose not to bring him back due to declining production. They thought he was just about done. I have spoken of my desire to have the Twins re-sign Thome. He has a 2.4 WAR and has been worth $9.7 million dollars. He has thrived as a part-time player.

Clay Condrey was signed for $900,000. He has been on the disabled list all year. He's been worth nothing.

Smith's free agent signings haven't been expected to have a major impact on the team, and they haven't. In 3 years, the signings have been worth 7.7 wins above replacement. They have cost the team around $29.6 million and have been worth $31.3 million. Similar to his trades, Smith's free agent performance has improved over time. While free agents are not the way the team normally builds, Smith has helped the team and gotten value in the signings he's made.

Next, I will look at the extensions Smith has doled out to the core players.

What do you think about Bill Smith now? Trade history

The Twins have made a couple moves this week, they claimed Randy Flores on Wednesday and traded for Brian Fuentes for a player to be named later yesterday. Unless that player is a major prospect, the Twins have made a great trade to shore up their bullpen in 2010. Fuentes showed today, just how valuable he can be at shutting down lefties. I love the trade!

These moves are just the latest of many moves that the Twins have made since Bill Smith took over as GM at the end of the 2007 season.

I will look at the job Bill Smith has done since taking the reigns as team GM. In this post, I will focus on trades Smith has made. I will use WAR (Wins Above Replacement) to judge how the trades have worked out. This isn't an end-all be all stat, but is a good indicator. I will use fangraphs.com WAR and salary values.

Smith's first trade was made in the fall of 2007. The Twins traded Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett, and Eduardo Morlan to the Tampa Bay Rays for Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and Jason Pridie. I really liked this trade at the time. The Twins had an excess of  young pitching and Garza had a reputation as being a headcase. The Rays had plenty of young outfielders, so they were able to trade Young, also a head-case, and the runner-up rookie of the year to the Twins. I didn't like losing Bartlett, but figured Harris had more offensive upside. Pridie also added a future center fielder to compete for Torii Hunter's vacated spot.

How does this trade look 3 years later?

Let's just say the Rays got the better end of the deal. Garza has a 8.3 WAR in almost 3 seasons and was the ALCS MVP in 2008. He has been a little up and down but, as his no-hitter this season proves, he is a very good pitcher. He is still young and who could be even better. Jason Bartlett has a 7.3 WAR and has been an all-star for the Rays. I always liked Bartlett, but never expected that he'd become an all-star caliber player. Morlan at 24 is a decent reliever at AA and has moved on to the Brewers organization.

This season has been a breakout year for Young and he has even been mentioned as an MVP candidate, in certain circles. His defense is still poor however, so poor that in almost 3 years with the Twins, Young has a WAR of negative .1. All of his offensive value has been stripped by poor defense. Brendon Harris was a decent infield bat with little range for the Twins before 2010 season. This season has turned into a disaster that sees Harris playing ball in AAA. He is no longer on the 40 man roster. He has been worth a .2 WAR with the Twins. Jason Pridie, in brief appearances with the club was worth a negative .3 WAR. Pridie was let go at the beginning of the 2010 season.

Through almost 3 years, this trade has been worth 15.6 wins above replacement for the Rays and negative .2 WAR for the Twins. The best the Twins can hope for is for Young to continue to improve. There is no way to win the trade, but Young can still be valuable for many years.

In February of 2008, Johan Santana forced the Twins to trade him or he would walk after the 2008 season. The Twins traded Santana to the Mets for Carlos Gomez, Philip Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra.

Since the trade, Johan Santana has a WAR of 11.3 and fangraphs estimates that is worth 48.5 million dollars through almost 3 years of his contract. He has been good, but e has not been worth 1/2 of the 6 years and $137.5 million that the Mets are paying him.

Carlos Gomez, who was worth a 3.0 WAR in 2 seasons with the Twins, mostly due to his stellar defense. Philip Humber appeared briefly with the Twins and was let go before the 2010 season. He gave the Twins a negative .4 WAR with the Twins. Kevin Mulvey appeared briefly with the Twins and performed exactly at replacement level before being traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Deolis Guerra is 21 years old and has reached AAA but is mainly still in AA. He has never had a FIP below 3.52 at any level. He is still young for his level but is looking less like the prize prospect he was when the trade was made.

In August of 2009, Mulvey was traded to Arizona for Jon Rauch. Since the trade Mulvey has had a negative .2 WAR. Rauch has a 1.2 WAR with the Twins.

After 2009, the Twins traded Carlos Gomez to the Milwaukee Brewers for J.J. Hardy. This season Gomez had been worth .5 WAR with the Brewers. Hardy has a 1.7 WAR with the Twins.

Nearly 3 years after the trade, the Mets have a 11.3 WAR. The Twins have a 5.5 WAR from all of the transactions, while losing a .3 WAR with the trades of Mulvey and Gomez.

So far, this trade has heavily favored the Mets. The fact that Rauch may be gone after this year and Hardy has at most, one more year with the team, the Mets look to win this trade. The upside is, the Mets have severally over-paid for Santana's services. Santana is still a very good player but certainly not the 7+ WAR player he was at his peak. The dollars saved by not signing Santana have allowed Smith to sign Morneau, CuddyerMets win this trade, but not by as much as it looks based on player performance.

These 2 blockbusters marked Smith as a bad GM early in his tenure, and are certainly the 2 biggest trades Smith has made. How do his other trades stack-up?

In the 2008 playoff push, the Twins reunited with former closer Eddie Guardado and traded away Mark Hamburger. Guardado was replacement level in his brief stay with the Twins. Hamburger looks to be a future closer prospect. The 23 yr old reliever is a a little ways away from the majors but with a 9.65 K/9 rate at A+/AA in 2010, his future is bright. The Twins really got nothing from Guardado and lost a potential arm that may be major league ready in late 2011 or 2012. Smith loses on this trade.

At the 2009 trade deadline, the Twins traded Orlando Cabrera to the Oakland A's for minor league shortstop Tyler Ladendorf. Cabrera was worth  .4 WAR in the last two months of 2009 and the team credits him with helping them make the playoffs. Ladendorf is 22 and a shortstop with a plus glove. He hit .273/.324/.385 in the High A California league in 2010. The California league is an offensive league, but a young defensive shortstop with some offensive ability is very valuable. I think this trade skews toward the Twins in 2010, but could swing Oakland's way if Ladendorf find his way to the major leagues. He is probably still 2-3 years away.

In August 2009 the Twins traded for Carl Pavano from the Cleveland Indians. The Twins let go Yohan Pino. Pavano was decent in Cleveland in 2009 and was a little better for the Twins. Pavano also pitched well in the playoffs. In 2010, Pavano has been great. It has been argued that he is the Twins ace. The Twins have gotten a 5.0 WAR from Pavano in a little over a year. Pino, a 26 year old starter is 9-8 with a 5.68 ERA and a 4.91 FIP in AAA this season. Pino may make a brief appearance in the majors, but Pavano has been a workhorse who has brought the Twins value now and will either be re-signed or let go for 2 draft picks after the season.

Right before the trading deadline this season, the Twins traded stud prospect Wilson Ramos for Washington Nationals closer Matt Capps. Capps has had a FIP/xFIP the same as he had with Washington. He can be expected to be a competent if not a great closer for the Twins the rest of 2010 and possibly in 2011. Wilson Ramos is projected to be a great defensive major league catcher as soon as 2011. He has raw power and could be a great power hitter some day. Ramos has had problems staying healthy. If Ramos can harness his power potential and remain healthy, this trade could look like a major mistake down the road. If Capps is able to help lead the Twins to a world series in 2010, that will soften the blow of this trade. He has been worth .2 WAR since joining the Twins.

Recap: Smith has traded away 26.6 WAR, a potential all-star catcher, a decent shortstop prospect, a decent reliever prospect, and a system filling starter. Smith has received 10.9 WAR in return, a 21 year old starter with some upside and saved some money.   The book is not closed on some of these trades. Smith has not had a lot of success in trading history. The Fuentes trade should tip the scales a little more in the Twins favor, depending on the player to be named later.

New time, I will look at his free-agent signings.

Strasburg likely to have Tommy John surgery

Today, we learned that Steven Strasburg has a severe tear in his ulnar collateral ligament. He is most likely going to need Tommy John (ligament replacement) surgery. While this is a blow to the young man, many who have the surgery come back healthier than they are before.

Ron Cortes/Philadelphia Inquirer, via Associated Press

Instead of writing something up. I figured I'd provide links from those that have better knowledge of the situation and the surgery than I could ever come up with.

Here is a primer on Tommy John from 2009, by Will Carroll and Thomas Gorman. Follow Carroll on twitter @injuryexpert. He has a great deal of insight on baseball as well as all things injury related for baseball and football.

A story written by the great Joe Posnanski the other day about power pitchers.  Guys like Clemens, Nolan Ryan, and Randy Johnson are the exception, not the guys that get hurt. He is also on twitter @JPosnanski. He is one of my favorite sports writers.

Rob Dibble has been in the news about lately and has been really good at sticking his foot in his mouth. Here are some highlights on the Strasburg situation.

Nick Nelson compares this situation to Francisco Liriano's. Francisco Liriano was even more dominant in 2006 than Strasburg has been in 2010. Hopefully, Nationals fans don't have to wait 3 years to compare Strasburg to Carl Pavano. Follow Nick on twitter @nnelson9.

There is a lot more available on this injury. Twitter is the best place for quick updates on sports injuries and sports news.

New Britain visits Binghamton, wins rubber match.

New Britain finished up a 3 game series in my local area Wednesday night. I was only able to attend one game of the three game set due to a rain out but it was eventful none the less.


I got there early and some of the players were milling about. I talked to Tyler Robertson before the game and he took this picture for me. 

Tyler Robertson

I'd heard him on podcasts before and he was a cool guy in person as he'd appeared on the podcasts. He got a look at my shirt and said, nice shirt son.

Yes, this shirt!

I spoke to Joe Benson about his year as well. I asked him if he was going to hit a HR and talked to him about his breakout season.

He went 0-5 and some of his swings were really hard. Carlos Gomez hard. He is certainly the best prospect in AA for the Twins currently, but he has some work to do. I love watching him in the field and he has legitamite power. He also might be wound to tight. He got mad a couple times during the game, tossing his helmet hard into the dugout and also on the field after just missing his pitch and flying out. The kind of reaction usually reserved for strikeouts. Benson has a ton of tools and potential that is starting to show. I hope he is able to keep his emotions in check and just enjoy the game a little more. He has enough ability to go a long way someday soon.

Here is video of Benson's first at-bat.

Bobby Lanigan started for New Britain. Here is video of Lanigan.





Lanigan stayed in after getting hit. The trainers came out later, he stayed in then as well, but eventually left after 3 innings. I spoke to him after the game and he said he was pulled because of injury, but he said he was alright. He gave up 4 hits, 1 run, 2 BB while striking out 3 in the 3 innings. The run was scored on a missed double play and there was another hit that should have been an out, but the first-baseman wasn't covering the bag. This was my first time I saw Lanigan pitch. His fastball reached 92 and his change was effective. More video of Lanigan below.

Mike McCardell came in and had a rough first inning, giving up a 2 run HR. Luckily, I had to get food for the boy and I missed the HR. He settled down and threw 2 scoreless innings. He gave up 3 hits, the 2 runs and struck out 3 in 3 innings. He has a nice slow-breaking pitch that registered anywhere from 71 to 77 and was a definite swing and miss pitch.

Carlos Gutierrez came in and was dominating, until he tired in his 3rd inning of work. He ended up going 2.2 innings, giving up 5 hits, 3 runs, 1 BB while striking out 2. He was dominant his first 2 innings and his fastball topped at 96. I have never seen Gutierrez at 96. He'd topped out at 94 the other times I have seen him.

Gutierrez's melt-down meant Billy Bullock needed to come in to finish the game. New Britain led 8-5 with the bases loaded and two outs in the 9th. He gave up a hit and got a strike out to end the game. He threw 6 pitches, all for strikes. His fastball reached 95 and he looked very impressive vs.the two batters he faced. He's struck out 50 in 30.1 innings and could be a future closer. I was glad I got to see him for the first time.

Other Notes:
Juan Portes had a HR, just as I was explaining how he'd been great in spring training, but hadn't done much this season.

Evan Bigley went 4-5 with a 2B. Tobias Streich went 1-3 in his 6th game at AA. The 5th round pick in 2009 has struggled this year, but it was cool to see him for the first time.

New Britain won the game 8-6 and were 2-1 when I attended their games this year. Since they are 39-92 overall, I am glad I was able to see them win a couple games. It was nice to see the bats come alive in the middle innings.

The minor league season is winding down. New Britain has had a long season and the players are probably relieved. It is a lot of fun to watch the Twins of the future play and to put faces, batting stances, and pitching mechanics to the names. 

The minor leagues are important in developing future major leaguers. If there are any other questions on what of who I may have seen in AA or AAA, please let me know. Here is my report on New Britain in June. Here is my report on Kyle Gibson's AAA debut.

I urge Twins fans and fans in general to check out the minor league teams. It is a much more relaxed atmosphere and a good place to see the future of the team.