Tagged: Twins
Countdown to Pitchers and Catchers
By: Kelly Thesier/MLB.com
Sunday is the report date for Twins pitchers and catchers and it’s often typical for players not to come out to the ballpark on the day before the report date as it’s their final day off before Spring Training really begins. But this year there were actually quite a few players working out at the Lee County Sports Complex on Saturday.
When I arrived at the ballpark around 10:00 a.m. there were a number of pitchers long tossing on the field behind the Minor League complex. Among the new arrivals (or players I had yet to see) were Nick Blackburn and Jesse Crain. Blackburn threw a bullpen session and many fans gathered around to watch him throw.
It was hard to miss Orlando Hudson’s smile as he warmed up on one of the fields. Hudson took part in a hitting session that included Michael Cuddyer, Matt Tolbert, Luke Hughes, Toby Gardenhire, Drew Butera, and Rene Tosoni. Cuddyer and Hudson spent quite a bit of time talking and it looked like Hudson will fit right in with this clubhouse.
I spoke with Joe Nathan for a little awhile inside the Twins clubhouse about how his elbow is feeling and his outlook heading into the start of Spring Training. There will be a story up on twinsbaseball.com later with more on that. One thing we discussed was Nathan’s workout program this winter. He worked with the new baseball strength and conditioning coach at the University of Tennessee, Herman Demmink, and raved about the difference that the new workouts made for him. Demmink, who spent three years in the Phillies farm system, played college baseball at Clemson and actually competed against current Twins pitcher Kevin Slowey.
Nathan talked about how he and the other Major Leaguers who worked out
with him were impressed by Demmink’s personal conditioning and said
that I should check out some video of Demmink’s workouts. So I googled
it and found the video on You Tube. Here is the link, and I’ll admit some of the exercises are pretty impressive.
That’s about it for today. I’ll have more tomorrow when pitchers and catchers officially report to Hammond Stadium.
Reminder that you can follow me on Twitter @kellythesier
Welcome to the Fort
Greetings everyone from sunny Fort Myers, Fla. (I can’t say warm because it hasn’t exactly been that way over the past week. I know, I know, no complaining to those who are still in Minnesota).
I was on vacation for the last seven days, although I spent that time down here in Florida –working on my golf game. (It’s training time for everyone, right?) Today was my first day back at the ballpark and so I thought I’d share a few of the sights and sounds at the Lee County Sports Complex two days before the club’s official reporting date for pitchers and catchers.
While I’d heard that players had been slowly trickling in all week, there was quite a bit of activity there today. Among the notable names who were working out at the ballpark today were Joe Nathan, Matt Guerrier, Michael Cuddyer, Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Brian Duensing and Pat Neshek. A few of them, including Nathan and Guerrier threw bullpen sessions while Neshek threw some live batting practice. In addition to the numerous players on the fields, there were plenty of fans wandering about. I got a chance to catch up with a few of them and always enjoy hearing about their enthusiasm for the upcoming season.
After hanging around the fields, I headed over to the main clubhouse to see who might be dropping off stuff at their lockers. Joe Mauer and J.J. Hardy were there, having just returned from a week up in Minnesota. As I tweeted earlier, Mauer was sporting a new beard that he grew while spending time up at his cabin. Mauer took Hardy to the cabin where they worked out and even did some ice fishing there. Hardy said he can’t believe how famous Mauer’s cabin has become, but did add that it was a pretty impressive place to visit.
Golf was a common topic of conversation in the clubhouse, and not just from me talking about how my swing was feeling this week. Nathan and Carl Pavano were headed out to play 18 holes — one of many rounds of golf that they’ll likely play this spring. While my golf game goes on hiatus pretty much over the course of Spring Training, the players get to enjoy their time on the links (especially during the short workout days early in camp). So I’m sure I’ll get to hear quite a bit about how their golf games are progressing.
One person who was only too happy to share his golf story was manager Ron Gardenhire, who got the opportunity to play Augusta National on Friday. The timing was not ideal as the South was hit by a massive snowstorm on Friday afternoon, and Gardy’s playing group had to golf in the snow for the final three holes. He said he got some pictures of the group on hole No. 18 with the snow falling. Augusta got a total of four inches — something that hadn’t happened in 37 years — so Gardy was proud to at least have pictures of the event. He didn’t shoot too shabby either, telling me he was only one over after the front nine
Tomorrow will be the final day for players to work out before the official reporting day. It’s often a little quieter around the ballpark as guys enjoy their final day off before things really get underway. I’ll be back out at the complex tomorrow to start working on a few stories so I’ll share more at that time.
Twins bring back Jacque Jones, lose Pridie
The Twins said goodbye to one outfielder on Tuesday and welcomed back another one into the organization.
The team announced that outfielder Jason Pridie was claimed off waivers by the Mets and that they had signed former outfielder Jacque Jones, who played for the team from 1999-2005, to a Minor League contract with an invitation to Spring Training.
Pridie was placed on waivers to open up a spot on the 40-man roster for
second baseman Orlando Hudson, who signed a one-year $5 million
contract with the club last week.
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Jones, who turns 35 in April, is returning to baseball after not playing in the Majors in 2009. A career .277 hitter with 165 home runs in 10 big league seasons with the Twins, Cubs, Tigers and Marlins, Jones spent last season playing independent baseball for the Newark Bears.
The outfielder broke into the Majors in 1999 with the Twins and batted .279 in parts of seven seasons in Minnesota before signing with the Cubs as a free agent prior to the 2006 season. In 2008, his last year in the Majors, Jones batted a combined .147 with one home run and seven RBIs in 42 games for the Tigers and Marlins.
Twins general manager Bill Smith said that Jones approached the team earlier this winter about an opportunity to get back into the game. Jones even flew to the Winter Meetings in Indianapolis this past December to meet face-to-face with the club.
“He’s looking to continue his career,” Smith said. “He’s one of the good hard working guys that we’ve had in this organization and he’s one of the guys that helped us become a playoff team. So we’re looking forward to having him back in the organization in Spring Training.”
The Twins have also extended one more invitation to big league camp. Catcher/infielder Toby Gardenhire has been added to the club’s list of non-roster invitees. Gardenhire, the son of the Twins manager, will give the team an extra catcher to use in Spring Training with Jose Morales expected to miss most of camp due to wrist surgery.
Twins will be a regular on FOX this season
FOX has announced the regional schedule of its Saturday games for the 2010 season and they are slated to run nine Twins games, the maximum number of appearances for any team.
The Twins are one of four teams to make the maximum number of appearances. The Phillies, the Mariners and the Braves will also be featured nine times. The Yankees will have eight of their games on MLB on FOX, as will the Red Sox, Cubs, Mets and Cardinals.
Here are the nine Twins games that FOX is scheduled to televise:
- May 29 vs. Rangers
- June 19 at Phillies
- July 3 vs. Rays
- July 10 at Tigers
- July 24 at Orioles
- July 31 vs. Mariners
- Aug. 21 vs. Angels
- Aug. 28 at Mariners
- Sept. 4 vs. Rangers
The final two Saturdays of the regular season are designated as “wild
card” dates, allowing FOX Sports to choose up to three games of
significance on each of those days.
No deal in place yet for Mauer
There has been a lot of speculation in recent days that the Twins will soon sign catcher Joe Mauer to a contract extension.
But so far there is no deal in place.
A source familiar with the negotiations denied a report by WCCO-TV that Mauer and the Twins have reached preliminary agreement on a 10-year contract.
While no deal is currently in place, negotiations on a contract extension have been ongoing between Mauer’s agent,
Ron Shapiro, and the Twins. But the two sides have been reluctant to discuss any details of
the situation publicly.
The idea of a 10-year deal for the catcher does not seem out of reason based on the catcher’s career so far. Mauer, who will turn 27 on April 19, has already won thee batting titles, two Gold Gloves and the 2009 American League MVP Award. He is set to make $12.5 million this season, the final year of a
four-year, $33 million deal.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said on Friday he hasn’t gotten involved in the negotiations concerning Mauer, but he’s optimistic that the club will ink the St. Paul native to a contract
extension. His belief is that something will get done before the team
reports for Spring Training.
“I don’t sit and fret about it,” Gardenhire said. “I think the
right thing is going to happen. I think we all know the ramifications
if something weren’t to happen and it were to go the other way. That
wouldn’t be a good thing for anybody, except for maybe some clubs out
East.
“I think everybody knows what needs to get done here. From our
owners to our general manager to our fan base, we all know what
everybody wants. It is right out there for us … and I think they’ll
make it happen.”
On Friday, Mauer said he hopes his contract
situation doesn’t become a distraction for the team. Pitchers and catchers will report to Fort Myers, Fla. on Sunday, Feb. 21 for the start of Spring Training.
A’s claim INF Steven Tolleson off waivers
The A’s announced today that they had claimed infielder Steve Tolleson off waivers from the Twins.
Twins general manager Bill Smith confirmed Monday that the club put Tolleson on waivers to make room on the 40-man roster for Jim Thome but he said that there wouldn’t be any other news to announce just yet. The Twins are waiting to finalize Thome’s one-year, $1.5 million contract, which includes incentives, until they get all of the results from his physical this weekend, although there is not expected to be any problems.
Tolleson, 26, batted a combined .266 with 27 doubles, eight home runs and 40 RBIs between Double-A New Britain and Triple-A Rochester last year.He was a fifth round pick of the Twins in the 2005 First-Year Player Draft.
“We’re sorry to lose him,” Smith said. “But it’s a good opportunity for him to stay on a Major League roster.”
Near record attendance at TwinsFest 2010
The Twins’ annual fan festival, TwinsFest, wrapped up on Sunday after
drawing one of the largest crowds in the history of the three-day
event.
A total of 34,637 fans attended TwinsFest 2010 at the Metrodome this past weekend, the second-highest total attendance in the event’s history. The Twins set the record for attendance in 2007, when more than 35,000
fans showed up at the Metrodome.
TwinsFest,
which is one of the largest team-run fan festivals in professional sports, is an annual
fundraiser for the Minnesota Twins Community Fund. Since its inception in 1989,
TwinsFest has raised more than $4 million for programs and organizations
supported by the Twins Community Fund.
The end of TwinsFest means that the start of Spring Training is not far away. Twins pitchers
and catchers are scheduled to report to Fort Myers, Fla., on Feb. 21,
with their first workout taking place the next day. The rest of the
squad will report on Feb. 26, and full-squad workouts will begin on
Feb. 27.
Emptying the Notebook: TwinsFest Day 2
Now that the first two days of TwinsFest are over, I thought it would be a good time to share some of the extra tidbits that I’ve collected so far this weekend.
First up, here are some things that general manager Bill Smith shared with the media today.
— Acquiring a third baseman doesn’t appear to be a huge priority for the Twins right now as Smith said that he’s pleased with the club’s current candidates.
“We have a lot of confidence in this group. We’ve
got two young kids coming in Danny Valencia and Luke Hughes. They’re
going to play in the big leagues, and the four guys we’ve got have
big-league time (Nick) Punto, (Alexi) Casilla, (Brendan) Harris and
(Matt) Tolbert. They all have versatility, they can all play around,
they can all play multiple positions.”
So in other words, it appears unlikely that the Twins will bring back Joe Crede, even on an incentive-laden contract. Crede, who remains an unsigned free agent, is coming off his third back surgery in three years.
— The Twins have yet to finalize the Jim Thome contract because they are waiting on the results of this weekend’s physicals. Smith doesn’t anticipate any problems, but the club has to make a move when the deal is finalized to open up a spot on the 40-man roster for Thome. It’s unclear what that move might be.
Manager Ron Gardenhire spoke with the media at length on Friday. Among the things he shared:
— If catcher Jose Morales isn’t ready to start the season following his wrist surgery on Thursday, Gardenhire might be interested in taking prospect Wilson Ramos north with the club to be their backup catcher.
Ramos, who spent last season at Double-A New Britain, is coming off a strong winter ball performance in his native Venezuela, where he batted .332 with 12 home runs and 49 RBIs in 54 games. He also posted a .397 on-base percentage.
“I know what [Drew] Butera is, he’s a catch-and-throw guy who can catch,”
Gardenhire said. “And I’m really kind of interested in Ramos. He’s
caught the Venezuelan National Team, he caught in the World Baseball
[Classic], this kid’s got some experience with some good pitching and so
forth, he’s a big, strong kid, health is an issue, but we’re talking
about a backup catcher to Joe Mauer.”
Ramos is considered to be one of the Twins top prospects, he was ranked No. 2 in their system by Baseball America this month, and he’s also been lauded for having a strong arm behind the plate.
— Gardy said that the current options he has for backups in center field behind Denard Span include Jason Pridie and Michael Cuddyer. He said he’ll put Pridie and Cuddyer in center some during Spring Training. It’s also likely that Matt Tolbert could be mixed into the outfield during the spring as well.
And finally here are some tidbits that Twins president Dave St. Peter shared about the inaugural season at Target Field during yesterday’s media luncheon.
— The Twins haven’t finalized the seating capacity at Target Field quite yet but it is expected to be around
39,800.
— The Twins have sold the equivalent of about 19,500 season tickets. It’s a huge jump from their previous record at the Metrodome, which was right around 11,000. The expectation is still that the team will surpass 20,000 season tickets by Opening Day.
— The team will host an open house at Target Field for season ticket holders on March 20, followed by one for the general public on March 21.
— More food options for Target Field will be announced soon, including something involved with Twins legend Tony Oliva.
— The new Twins main retail store at Target Field will officially open on March 13.
— In addition to the Twins’ two exhibition games against the St. Louis Cardinals on April 2 and 3, Target Field will play host to a college baseball game on March 27.
Twins sign Thome to a one-year deal
The Twins have agreed to a one-year, incentive-laden deal with Jim Thome, a person familiar with the negotiations said on Tuesday.
The deal is worth $1.5 million and includes up to $750,000 in incentives.
Thome, 39, currently sits at 564 career home runs, five shy of Rafael Palmeiro for 11th place on the all-time list, and while he’s entering the twilight of his career, he has continued to put up strong numbers. The slugger batted .249 with 23 home runs and 74 RBIs in 107 games with the White Sox before being dealt to the Dodgers in late August.
The Twins pursued Thome to help bolster their bench, which had been lacking a veteran hitting presence. It’s not exactly a perfect match as Thome can no longer play the field and Minnesota currently has a left-handed designated hitter in Jason Kubel. But Thome will give the team a quality pinch-hitting threat late in games and Kubel can play the outfield, so there could also be some opportunities for Thome to get some at-bats in the DH spot as well.
Mike Redmond signs with Indians
It became clear early in the offseason that the Twins were going to let Mike Redmond leave via free agency with Jose Morales appearing ready to take over the backup catcher role.
On Friday, Redmond, 38, officially became an ex-Twin when he signed a one-year deal with the Indians for the 2010 season. The terms of the deal were not known.
Redmond will be the veteran backup to Indians catcher Lou Marson, and he’ll provide some experience to what will be a young ballclub in Cleveland.
The Twins will miss Redmond mostly for the leadership and personality that he brought to the clubhouse. He played the role of mentor to Joe Mauer when he first arrived in Minnesota and over his five years there, he helped many of the young pitchers in the rotation to develop.
While the Twins knew that Redmond would likely have to go elsewhere to continue playing, many of his Twins teammates agreed that his presence within the clubhouse will be missed.
“It will be hard not to see him in the clubhouse,” Michael Cuddyer said the day after the Twins were swept in the ALDS by the Yankees. “He’s been the unquestionable leader on this team. Any time Joe needed help with the staff, he went to Red. Any time guys needed help in how to play the game, they went to Red. Obviously he’s my best friend on the team and if he doesn’t play here again he’ll be sorely missed in my eyes. But at the same time, I think he’s left his mark here and now these young guys see the way he led. These guys will be able to follow his example.”
The Twins may no longer have the man who was known for the naked walk inside the clubhouse, but they’ll get a chance to see him plenty of times with the Indians. The two teams will face each other 18 times in 2010.
Kelly's Corner 