Notes, quotes and comment

Commissioner Bud Selig had a backdrop of former
All-Stars for the announcement Wednesday that
Target Field would be the site of the 2014 All-Star game.
Behind the commish: Tony Oliva, Rod Carew, Roy Smalley
and Paul Molitor.

 

This was the least-well-kept secret in sometime, but it's official: The 2014 All-Star Game will be played in Target Field.

Call me jaded, but in this era of interleague play and cable, the All-Star Game itself doesn't interest me as much as the Futures Game does. The All-Star Game is now a promotional vehicle for Fox; the Futures Game is a glimpse of, yeah, the future.

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Also not a surprise: Scott Diamond on Wednesday dropped his appeal and began serving his  suspension. By dragging the process out beyond his Tuesday start, he pushed the time of his next start into September, when the rosters are expanded.

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What is a surprise: San Deduno didn't walk a man in his seven shutout innings Wednesday. Ninety-eight pitches, 68 strikes — better than two strikes for every ball. I didn't think that kind of performance was possible from him.

Until he does it regularly, though, I'll consider this one a fluke — a fluke that had some help from the Seattle hitters.

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Jeff Gray was outrighted to Triple A on Wednesday, which opened a spot on the 25-man roster for Chris Parmelee, who promptly stepped into the lineup as the right fielder. (He went 1-for-5 with two runs scored.) With Denard Span again day-to-day with his shoulder/collarbone issue, I would expect Parmelee to get a lot of playing time in right field (with Ben Revere playing center).

The Twins now have three openings on their 40-man roster. One will certainly be filled come September by P.J. Walters, who is apparently about ready to come off the 60-day disabled list.

As with Nick Blackburn, I don't see the Twins outrighting Gray only to turn around and restore him to the 40-man roster so that they can have him in the majors in September. I would think they could find something else to try.

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Lester Oliveros, the hard-throwing relief prospect acquired last year in the Delmon Young trade, had elbow surgery Wednesday that blew into something more than removing bone chips. It turned into Tommy John surgery, which pretty much wipes out his 2013 season.

Notes from the weekend

Joe Mauer had three hits and two RBIs Sunday.

There are times when players wish they could just play the games without the annoying fans and reporters.

This is, of course, a silly notion, but there are times when I understand. One such was Sunday, when Joe Mauer, catching with a wonky hamstring and a bruised quad, got booed by the Target Field fans for holding at first on a ball he hit to the wall.

He got ripped last year for not playing when hurt. He gets booed for playing when hurt.

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A rough homestand ended on a positive note Sunday, but not before a four-game losing streak.

One positive to the losing streak: The "m" logo caps returned to the shelf after the first three losses. The "TC" caps are back.

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Jeff Gray didn't get the decision in Sunday's win, but in many ways he was the hero for the Twins. The beleaguered reliever threw three shutout innings as the game dragged on.

Gray's grip on his roster spot has been growing shaky of late. On May 19 his ERA was 2.00; then he had a no-outs, five-runs disaster, and his ERA hasn't been south of 4.15 since. He came into Sunday's game having allowed six runs in his four outings in June.

But on Sunday, with Matt Capps sidelined with a sore shoulder and with Jeff Manship and Anthony Swarzak theoretically unavailable due to long stints in recent days, Gray threw 54 pitches and lowered his ERA from 5.13 to 4.60.

Notes on the bullpen

Brian Duensing pitches on Opening Day in Baltimore.

For the second straight season, the Twins have a drastically reworked — and significantly cheaper — bullpen than in the season before.

A few observations:

* The Twins have a lousy record, but that's not really the bullpen's fault. There is one loss that can clearly be pinned to poor relief work, that being last Sunday, when Glen Perkins — the brightest light in the 2011 'pen — got lit up by Texas.

* I was struck Monday evening by the radar-gun readings when Brian Duensing pitched in the bottom of the eighth. The ESPN broadcast showed several readings of 95 mph, which seemed a bit high for Duensing.

So I checked the readings as provided by MLB via its iPad app, and it too gave numbers in the mid 90s. Some were 94, some were 95, but the idea is the same: Duesning was throwing with markedly more velocity than we're accustomed to seeing.

He had a longer stint on Wednesday (one day of rest) and the velocity readings on his fastball topped out at 93— a bit lower than on Monday, but still higher than as a starter.

This is not unusual for starters-turned-relievers; Glen Perkins at times last season, when given multiple days off, came out throwing 97. Duensing, so far as I know, isn't reaching those levels.

* Duensing, of course, lost his spot in the starting rotation in large part because he was so ineffective against right-handed hitters. Through Thursday night he had faced 24 hitters in 2012, 16 right and eight left; that's hardly sufficient evidence to judge if he's fixed that problem. But so far, right-handers are hitting .286/.375/.286 against him, lefties .250/.250/.250.

When he was effective as a starter, it was because he was keeping the ball in the park. That nobody's gotten an extra-base hit off him so far is an encouraging sign.

*Alex Burnett had two shutout innings Thursday and has now worked 8.1 innings without being charged with a run. More striking is that he hasn't walked a hitter yet; control was always an issue for him in 2010-11.

*Jeff Gray and Duensing are the men brought in most often with runners on base. Duensing has stranded four of his five inherited runners; Gray six of his eight. Jared Burton has stranded all three of his inherited runners.

COPOP III: The injury factor

Kyle Waldrop's
chances of making
the 25-man roster
are pretty much gone.

The Twins open the 2012 season a week from today. I believe that the bullpen would be settled now, if not for the injury factor -- not merely among relief candidates themselves, but in the starting rotation.

Kyle Waldrop, who I figured was most likely to emerge with the final middle relief slot, is battling a sore elbow. LaVelle Neal said today the soreness was on the inside of the joint, and that gets my attention.

Then there are two putative members of the starting rotation whose status is up in the air: Scott Baker (elbow) and Jason Marquis (family emergency). Marquis has been out of camp for roughly two weeks now after his daughter's injury.

This may not have a lot of impact on the bullpen as the season begins. The Twins have an off day scheduled during their first turn through the rotation, and Liam Hendriks is likely to be Plan B if and when the Twins need to fill in for one of the starters. They won't necessarily need to get to Matt Maloney or Anthony Swarzak until the second week of the season.

So I'll leave Maloney and Swarzak in their places, and go with Jeff Gray in the spot previously filled by Waldrop:

Jeff Gray pitched
Friday against the
Red Sox and gave up
a two-run homer to
Cody Ross.

Closer: Matt Capps
Setup 1: Glen Perkins
Setup 2/Middle Relief 1: Jared Burton
LOOGY1/MR2: Brian Duensing
MR3: Gray (Alex Burnett, Casey Fien)
MR4/L2: Maloney
Long Man: Swarzak


I'm not particularly thrilled with Gray, but 

• Gray's been pitching earlier in games than Fien;
• Burnett has been ineffective;
• Gray, who is on the 40-man roster, is out of options.

Terry Ryan said in the wake of the demotion of Tsuyoshi Nishioka, that options would not be a factor in who makes the team. I do not give that full credence. Options matter. They may matter less this spring than in some previous ones, but they matter.

A spring-training one-hitter

What does Jeff
Gray (above) have
that Sam Dudomo
(below) doesn't?
A spot on the 40-
man roster.

What, if anything, should we take away from Sunday's exhibition game, in which Francisco Liriano and four relievers combined to allow Pittsburgh just one hit?

Probably not a lot, other than that so far this spring Liriano has more closely resembled the 2010 model than 2011's. He did have a clunker start -- which was really just one clunker inning -- after which he talked of rushing "like I always do." This is the essential riddle of Francisco Lirano: Inconsistent mechanics, aware of what his problems are and somehow unable to correct the problems in mid-inning.

If Liriano is in 2012 what he was in 2010, the Twins have a borderline ace. The border is the self-command to make whatever adjustments he needs -- and he is too often on the wrong side of that border without an entry visa.

The other four innings were worked by little-known bullpen candidates. (Matt Capps, Glen Perkins and others worked in a morning "B" game; the "A" game innings were reserved for pitchers in need of evaluation.)

Order of use matters in this situation; the deeper into the game, the fewer legitimate major league hitters the pitcher will face. So it was significant that Jeff Gray, the one man among the four relievers who is on the 40-man roster, was the first man used.

He is also the one I have the least interest in seeing actually make the 25-man roster. He might anyway; he's on the 40 and out of options. The Twins obviously were interested enough to claim him last October when Seattle waived him, and he hasn't allowed an earned run this spring. But he has allowed a pair of unearned runs, he has yet to strike out anybody and he's walked a batter per inning. He has been less effective than the ERA suggests.

There is an expectation that there will be a fresh wave of cuts today; I wouldn't be too surprised if all four of Sunday's relievers get the ax. For Casey Fien, Sam Deduno and Luis Perdomo -- all of whom have outperformed Gray in Florida -- that will mean the short hike to the minor league side of the complex, for which they were signed this winter to begin with. For Gray, it means another exposure to the waiver wire and perhaps yet another new organization.

Dissecting the Bill Smith Era: Other trades of 2011

Jose Morales hit .297
in his three partial
seasons with the Twins.

When: Dec. 16, 2010
What: The Twins sent catcher Jose Morales to Colorado for left-handed pitcher Paul Bargas
Value: Bargas not only hasn't reached the majors, he didn't pitch at all in 2011 because of a brain tumor. Morales opened the season as the Rockies' No. 2 catcher but had only 71 plate appearances (-0.1 WAR, 1 win share). He was nontendered this offseason and signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Twins motivation: Open a spot on the 40-man roster

The Twins traded Morales because they needed roster space to re-sign Jim Thome and Carl Pavano, because he was out of options and would have to clear waivers to be sent to the minors, and because they had decided they prefered Drew Butera's defensive chops to Morales' batting average.

Bargas reported to camp with an obvious health problem and was quickly found to have a brain tumor. Chip Scoggins of the Star Tribune earlier this month wrote about Bargas, who expects to be in camp this spring. (As a sign of how much I like the piece, I link to it despite the Strib's paywall). I don't know enough about Bargas' talent to be optimistic about his future as a pitcher, but I sure will root for him. (Update: Fixed the link.)

When: Jan. 26, 2011
What: Claimed left-handed pitcher Dusty Hughes off waivers from the Kansas City Royals
Value: Hughes was awful with the Twins (9.95 ERA in 12.2 innings; -0.4 WAR, 0 win shares)
Twins motivation: What I call Craig Monroe Syndrome: He had gotten Twins lefties out while with K.C., and the Twins took this as an indication of his talent.

I still remember seeing one particularly wicked breaking ball Hughes threw in a spring training game to freeze Carl Crawford; that single pitch had me briefly convinced he was a shrewd pickup (and a silly discard by the Royals). He didn't throw enough such pitches, however.

He was outrighted in May. He has signed a minor league contract with Atlanta.

Rob Delaney wasn't
even deemed worthy
of a draft pick as an
amateur player

When: Jan. 28, 2011
What: Lost right-handed pitcher Rob Delaney on waivers to Tampa Bay
Value: Delaney made four appearances for the Rays with an ERA of 10.80; no win shares and -0.2 WAR
Twins motivation: Created a spot on the 40-man roster for Hughes.

Delaney, like Anthony Slama, put up good numbers in the minors for the Twins, but the Twins were unwilling to give him a real chance in the majors. The Rays designated Delaney for assignment in September to open a spot for phenom Matt Moore; it's unclear to me if Delaney is still in their system or if he's a free agent he signed this month with Miami.

When: March 20, 2011
What: Lost right-handed pitcher Pat Neshek on waivers to San Diego
Value: Neshek worked 24.2 innings for the Padres with an ERA of 4.01; more tellingly, he walked 22 (and struck out 20) in those 24.2 innings. He had 1 win share and 0.0 WAR.
Twins motivation: They wanted to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

It was significant that the Twins dumped Neshek even though he still had an option left; that indicates that the organization either had concluded that he was unlikely to regain his pre-injury effectiveness and/or didn't want him around.

He was up and down with the Padres, and he is currently a free agent.

When: Aug. 25, 2011
What: Lost designated hitter Jim Thome on waivers to Cleveland
Value: He had 13 win shares total for the season, 0.5 WAR with the Indians.
Twins motivation: Cleared his salary off the books for the last six weeks or so of the season, gave him a chance to be at least in the fringes of a pennant race and an opportunity to make amends with the fans of his first major league team.

Jim Thome pretended
to play third base for
one pitch against the
Twins in a September
game.

Big name, exceedingly minor deal. It was originally announced as a player-to-be-named trade, but once it was obvious that the Indians weren't making the postseason they changed it to straight cash and not much of it.

Thome has signed with Philadelphia for 2012, and the Phillies are making noises about playing him at first base on occasion. Good luck with that.

When: Sept. 27, 2011
What: Claimed right-handed pitcher Esmerling Vasquez off waivers from Arizona
Value: The Twins did not add him to the active roster for the final week of the season.
Twins motivation: He's a power arm bullpen possibility.

The Diamondbacks needed to clear space on their 40-man roster, and lopped Vasquez, who has pitched in 141 major league games for the D'backs (137 innings, 80 walks, 120 strikeouts). Good arm, uncertain control. The Twins are collecting a bunch of this kind of arm and hoping one of them can figure it out.

When: Oct. 31, 2011
What: Claimed right-handed pitcher Jeff Gray off waivers from Seattle.
Value: Has not pitched for the Twins
Twins motivation: Another bullpen option.

I'm including this transaction and the following one with the 2011 season because they came just before Bill Smith was removed from the general manager's job, and they ought to be included.

Gray is a knock-around reliever who has been in the majors with Oakland, the Cubs, the White Sox and Seattle. I'm not particularly enthused about him, and would expect that Vasquez and Lester Oliveros (and others) are ahead of him on the totem pole, but Gray is on the 40-man roster, so he's got a chance to make the team this spring.

When: Oct. 31, 2011
What: Claimed left-handed pitcher Matt Maloney off waivers from Cincinnati
Value: Has not pitched for the Twins
Motivation: Provides some depth for the starting rotation.

Maloney hasn't established himself as a major leaguer, and his stuff isn't all that impressive, but he's put up good numbers in Triple A. Maybe he's what's derisively known as a Quadruple A pitcher, but I suspect he'd be an improvement over Nick Blackburn if given a shot. Of course, Blackburn has two more years and some $10 million left on his contract, so he's got dibs on the rotation berth.

Notes, quotes and comments

Tony La Russa, flanked by Cardinals
owner Bill DeWitt Jr. (foreground) and
general manager John Mozelak,
walked away from the St. Louis
managerial job Monday.

Just about everyone was surprised Monday when Tony LaRussa announced his retirement. In retrospect, I'm not sure why.

Look at the photo to the left. TLR looks like an old and weary man. He's 67, he's been sick all season, he's been managing for 33 years, he just won a third World Series ...

Had LaRussa quit after last season — when Bobby Cox and Lou Piniella and Joe Torre walked away — I wouldn't have been surprised. So why should it be a shocker that he's decided he's done  now? Because he's 35 wins away from passing John McGraw on the all-times wins list?

He and Tom Kelly were mutual admirers, and I suspect he will, like  TK, have no trouble resisting efforts to coax him back into the dugout.

But then, I expected him back with the Cardinals in 2012.

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The Cardinals have been one of the premier teams in the National League over the decades. The Senior Circuit has no Yankee monolith, but the Cards have an imposing record of titles since Branch Rickey invented the farm system in the 1920s and turned around their on-field fortunes.

There's been no shortage of Hall-of-Fame managers in the Cardinal uni over the decades — even leaving out player-managers Rogers Hornsby and Frankie Frisch (each of whom skippered the Redbirds to a World Series title), there are Billy Southworth, Bill McKechnie, Red Schoendienst (who made Cooperstown at least as much as a player as as manager), Whitey Herzog, Torre (who isn't in yet but will be) — and of course, LaRussa.

LaRussa worked 16 years in St. Louis, winning 1,408 games — almost 400 more than the next best, Schoendienst.

The greatest Cardinal manager? Absolutely LaRussa.

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The Twins on Monday claimed a pair of marginal pitchers, Matt Maloney and Jeff Gray, off waivers. Both men have bounced between the majors and Triple A for three or four years, and neither is particularly promising; if they were, they wouldn't have been on waivers.

I will regard both as roster filler destined for Rochester until given reason to believe otherwise. That reason is probably more likely to come from Maloney than Gray, if only because Maloney is left-handed and has been a starter in the minors (with impressive walk/strikeout ratios but unimpressive K rates), while Gray is a righty reliever.