Try, try again

Joel Zumaya isn't giving up on
his pitching career yet.

Joel Zumaya told the Twins on Sunday that he will have Tommy John surgery and attempt once again to resuscitate his pitching career.

Which makes sense. Even if all he can get next year is the same low-guarantee money he got this year ($400,000), that's still pretty good coin by the standards of most of us non-pro-jock types. He's not likely to match that as a pro fisherman (which he mentioned as a possible alternative in the immediate wake of his injury).

Zoom-Zoom broke in to the majors in 2006. Assuming that he's averaged $450,000 a year -- which is less than the current minimum, but more than the minimum was when he reached Detroit -- that's well over $3 million. I have no idea how well he's managed his money, of course, but one would hope that he doesn't have to pitch for financial reasons.

Anyway ... the Twins haven't made a move with him yet and don't have to until the end of spring training. If they release him before the season starts, he gets just the $400,000; after that, as I understand it, the full $850,000 becomes guaranteed. I would expect them to release him unless he signs another team-friendly deal for 2013

No matter what the Twins do, they get to pay for his surgery and rehab.

Zumaya out; this is a recording

Something we won't see again this year, at least, and perhaps
never again: Joel Zumaya throws a baseball.

That didn't take long.

We all knew when the Twins signed Joel Zumaya that he was a serious health risk. That he lasted all of 13 pitches into a batting practice session Saturday was a bit of a surprise, but not a big one.

Thirteen pitches was enough to shred an elbow ligament. Added to his vast assortment of previous injuries — from finger strain to wrist strain to fractured elbow to separated should — it might be enough to end his career.

Justin Morneau said last week of his concussion problems that there's a limit to how long he is willing to torture himself to play. Zumaya probably knows the feeling. He has one of the great fastballs of my 40-plus years as a fan, and that's saying something. Even after all those serious injuries, he can still bring the heat.

Terry Ryan told reporters Sunday that it was not a day for him to talk to Zumaya about his future. But he will. The Twins have the option of cutting Zumaya loose; his deal contains "just" $400,000 of guaranteed money. That's a lot to you and me, but it's almost $100,000 less than the major league minimum.

But I can imagine Ryan, when he and the fastballer talk this week, making this proposal: Sign another incentive-heavy, non-guaranteed deal, commit to the Tommy John surgery and the rehab that comes with it, and we'll put you on the 60-day DL rather than release you and promise a spot on the 40-man roster for the offseason. 

Zumaya might accept that offer. Or he might decide he's tortured himself long enough. I don't think anybody could blame him if he gave up on the cursed talent of his right arm.

Implications of Joel Zumaya

Joel Zumaya made
one spring training
appearance in
2011, then had
fresh surgery on his
2010 elbow fracture.

The Twins announced Wednesday that Joel Zumaya passed his physical. Given his extensive injury history, that was no mere formality, but the power pitcher is now on the 40-man roter.

Let us assume that Zoom-Zoom is sufficiently sound-sound to pitch coming out of spring training. The assumption here is that he'll immediately join holdover Glen Perkins as the primary bridges to closer Matt Capps. But ...

• Ron Gardenhire likes to use his relief pitchers on consecutive days;
• and that may not be optimal or even practical with Zumaya.

One of Gardenhire's strengths over his decade-plus as manager has been his ability to get production out of his bullpen. His two weakest seasons in that regard were 2008 and 2011 -- and those were the post-operative seasons of Jesse Crain and Joe Nathan, respectively. In both years, Gardy was reluctant to use his post-op power guy on back-to-back days, and the limitation forced him to go to less optimal (and less successful) match-ups.

The Twins, therefore, will still be looking seriously at their flock of unestablished right-handed hard throwers, looking for one who can harness his talent and strike out righties in big spots. Alex Burnett, Lester Oliveros, Esmerling Vasquez, Deolis Guerra, Jeff Gray ... even with Zumaya on board, the door to a key bullpen role is still wide open for these guys. And so is the door back to the minors.

Zumaya is certainly Plan A. But few Plan A's come with so much uncertainty, or with such (probably) limited unavailability. A Plan B is always wise; in this case, it's necessary, even if the Zumaya addition meets its ambitions.

The Joel Zumaya lottery ticket

Joel Zumaya fractured his elbow
throwing a pitch against
the Twins in 2010. He has
since had two surgeries on the
damaged joint.

The Twins have reportedly reached an incentive-laden contract agreement with Joel Zumaya.

You wanted a power arm in the Minnesota bullpen? Now, THAT's a power arm.

The problem, of course, is that Zoom-Zoom was only available-available because he's frequently hurt-hurt. He didn't pitch at all last year, and he hasn't thrown even 40 innings in any season since his rookie year of 2006.

A 100-mph fastball does nobody any good if its possessor can't take the hill.

Still, buying this particular lottery ticket is a good risk. It's a relatively low risk deal -- according to the StarTribune, while Zumaya gets a spot on the 40-man roster, the contract itself is not guaranteed -- and it's a potentially significant payoff if it hits. (The deal itself is not official until Zumaya passes a physical, which in itself may prove a hurdle.)

A healthy Zumaya, if there is such a thing, would give the Twins a first-rate right-handed power arm to pair with Glen Perkins get out of late-inning jams and set up Matt Capps.

The attached photo comes from the last game Zumaya pitched, which prompted part of this post. 

The agony (updated), the amusement and the bunts

The Twins are no longer in first place, but there are worse things than falling into second.

What happened in the eighth inning to Joel Zumaya, for example.

The Tigers reliever was diagnosed Tuesday with a fracture of the olecranon, the tip of the elbow. (I had no idea I had an olecranon, and I'll wager you didn't either.) He's out for the rest of the season.

He threw a 99-mph pitch to Delmon Young and collapsed in agony. The sight of his right hand convulsing was frightening to see. Bad as this is/was, it's probably better than the shredded elbow ligaments I expected.

Zumaya's string of significant injuries is one of my informal data points for the notion that some athletes are doing things that the human body simply cannot support. That he throws 100 mph consistently even after his shoulder has given way, even after his finger has given way, is remarkable. But he continues to go down with injuries.

Dick Bremer, during the postgame show, called Zumaya one of the game's top relief pitchers. That's overstating matters a bit. He's talented, to be sure. He's certainly one of the hardest-throwing hurlers. But he is out of action with injuries so often that he can't be rated above Matt Guerrier, for example, and Guerrier isn't making any All-Star teams.

I suspect that given the choice, the Tigers would rather have lost Monday's game and have a healthy Zumaya. They don't get that choice.

---

From the painful-to-witness to the hopelessly hilarious: Jim Thome's triple. I'm pretty sure Alex Voigt ran faster in his marathon a couple of weekends ago than Thome did Monday.

It's not that Thome isn't trying. He simply is about as swift as an anvil.

---

I've long been an advocate of bunting for hits on power pitchers, most of whom finish their delivery off balance and don't particularly like to run around. The Tigers laid down three bunts on Francisco Liriano without the Twins getting an out.

I can't even blame the right fielder-playing-third for any of them — all three were to the first-base side. These were on Liriano, Orlando Hudson and Justin Morneau. (And the Tigers deserve credit for some good bunts, too.)

Dolenc and other notes

Mark Dolenc, the former MSU player who has been making random appearances in the Twins exhibition games the past few days, started Monday in a game televised by ESPN. He went 0-for-4.

I have my doubts that was the plan. Denard Span was reportedly to start in center field, but it was raining in Jupiter and they switched him to DH with Dolnec playing center.

Which makes sense. The Twins may not be thrilled with their options to fill Joe Nathan's slot, but they're even thinner for center fielders.

In more consequential developments less than a week from Opening Day:

• Joel Zumaya, the oft-injured flamethrowing reliever for Detroit, pitched on back-to-back days Sunday and Monday without immediately reporting for further surgery.
• Fausto Carmona — star in 2007, bum since — is impressing people in Cleveland's camp. This is a guy who has walked more men than he's struck out over the past two seasons, but he's apparently getting strikes with his sinker again.
• Mike Redmond is slated to be Carmona's personal catcher this year. Just speculating: Might this decision be based on the notion that some of the Minnesota strike-throwing magic can be transferred to Carmona through the ex-Twins catcher?
• Former Twins shortstop Cristian Guzman has been bounced as the starter in Washington in favor of rookie Ian Desmond.

Quotes, notes and comments

"There was a big controversy. I think Major League Baseball wanted him to wear the All-Star jacket, and he was intent on wearing his White Sox jacket. He prevailed in that."

—David Axelrod, President Obama's top political aide, and a Cubs fan to his boss's White Sox fan, on the president's role at the All-Star Game.

Comment: You gotta love this about Obama: He has a team he roots for, he embraces that team, and he doesn't hide it.

Hillary Clinton, in contrast, has called herself a Cubs fan and a Yankees fan, depending on what audience she's trying to appeal to.

* This from the Chicago Tribune's Phil Rogers: Don't overlook the Twins as a possible playoff team. They are 13-9 against the six teams in first place at the break. Only the Rays (10-6) had a better record, with no one else more than two games better than .500.

* The Tigers lost their best, or at least most talented, relief pitcher, Joel Zumaya. Zoom-zoom and his 100-mph-plus fastball is on the DL with yet another shoulder problem. At this point, one has to doubt he's ever going to be the same again.

He told the Detroit News: "I'm disgusted, upset, don't know what to think. Obviously, my arm's not feeling too good right now. My head's going in circles. There's only so many bullets your arm has."

*Everybody's writing about Joe Mauer.