Notes, quotes and comment

The Twins on Wednesday claimed left-handed pitcher Brooks Raley off waivers from the Cubs.

Raley is 25 and has 38.1 major league innings on his resume, garnered over the past two seasons. His fast ball velocity has diminished since he was drafted by the Cubs, and he apparently relies a lot on his breaking ball. He has been almost strictly a starter in the minors, but his major league innings last year all came in relief.

He fills, at least for now, the spot on the 40-man roster that was vacated when the Twins released Andrew Albers to allow him to sign with a Korean team.

Assuming that Raley is out of options, I think it's quite likely that the Twins will try to slip him through waivers themselves with the intent of using him as a starter in Triple A -- the role Albers was ticketed for. If he does have at least one option left, the Twins won't have to take that risk (unless and until they need the roster spot).

Either way, he figures to be organizational depth, not a realistic major league option -- at least not as a starter. As a reliever, a southpaw who can "spin it" -- a Ron Gardenhire way of referring to a slider or curve -- has a chance to be a LOOGY.

Derek Jeter stretches those 39-year-old legs.

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Derek Jeter announced Wednesday that this will be his final season.

This is hardly a shocker. He had a difficult time trying to return last year from his 2012 ankle injury, and nobody can be sure what he's going to provide the Yankees this year.

For some reason, the idea that Jeter is about to depart the scene makes me feel old, far more than other retirements have. (That I am old is immaterial to this point.) It's not that it seems like Jeter's always been there -- it's more that it feels to me as if he just arrived.

Which is silly. Jeter's been an October fixture for almost two decades, and, as I said in a Monday print column a few years ago, I view him as the second greatest shortstop in major league history. Nothing he does this year will move him up or down that list.

The missing names

Ryan Eades pitched collegiately for LSU.

Baseball America's ranking of the Top 30 -- really, 32 -- Twins prospects is notable in a sense for the names not there.

Ryan Eades, for example. He was the Twins second-round draft pick last June. The third-round pick, catcher Stuart Turner, is in the book at No. 30. The fourth round pick, left-handed pitcher Stephen Gonsalves, is in the book at No. 13. But Eades isn't.

With J.T. Chargois listed as the 31st prospect in the bonus supplement and Sean Gilmartin ranked among the Atlanta Braves prospects, there are at least 17 pitching prospects Baseball America ranks above Eades, including a half dozen age 20 or younger.

When it comes to pitching prospects, the more the merrier; they have a frighteningly high attrition rate. It's just .. odd ... to see a second-rounder not listed in the Top 32. But this hardly means Eades is not a prospect after fewer than 16 professional innings.

I'm not sure the same can be said for a pair of first round picks whose careers have floundered.

Right-handed pitcher Alex Wimmers, who the Twins took with the 21st overall pick in 2010, threw just 15 innings last year. Infielder Levi Michael, another collegian (30th overall in 2011) has hit just .239 in 211 games in High A and played himself from shortstop to second base.

Neither is in the Handbook. Neither should be. It's not certain (yet) that these were busted picks, but it sure looks that way.

In case anybody thinks I should be mentioning Kyle Gibson in this context, Gibson "graduated" from prospect status last year with 51 major league innings. Gibson is in that awkward space somewhere between "prospect" and "established big leaguer." He's got a better chance than Wimmers or Michael to justify his first-round pick, but he'll never be good enough to justify (in retrospect) being drafted ahead of Mike Trout.

Eye on 2014: Center field

Aaron Hicks had some moments of athletic
brilliance in 2013, but the year as a whole was
a disaster for the rookie.

There will be two kinds of center fielders in the Twins spring training camp.

One kind is Bryon Buxton. The other kind are the placeholders, the ones whose longer term purpose is as bench guys or as a marginal corner outfielder.

The placeholder candidates for center field are Alex Presley, Aaron Hicks and, although he's not now on the 40-man roster, Darin Mastroianni.

A recent SB Nation piece — a real hype-feeder — suggests that Buxton could, right now, hit .260 in the majors, steal 30 bases and play Gold-Glove level defense. I am quite certain of the latter and regard the other two assertions as genuinely possible. And if those three projections are accurate, Buxton would be the best center fielder for 2014 the Twins have.

Even if true, that doesn't mean he should get the job. The problem, of course, is service time. Bring Buxton up now, and the service time clock starts ticking while he's still developing. Another year of seasoning and growth means that the Twins will get more bang for their buck when he arrives. Patience is not an easy sell, but it's still the wiser course.

Realistically, the spring battle is between Presley and Hicks. Hicks has the higher ceiling, but the mystery is: After last season's debacle, it's difficult to see what he can do in spring training to win the job.

Remember, Hicks had a sensational spring last year. Then the season started, and he. Didn't. Hit. And his game didn't get any better when the Twins sent him to Triple A. Even if he has a sensational spring this year, why would we buy into it?

Hicks has the higher ceiling, Presley the higher floor. My guess is that Presley will get the center field job to open the season. He'll hit leadoff, provide an empty batting average and mediocre defense and be easily shoved aside when the time comes for Buxton. Hicks should go to Triple A and earn his next shot.

Presley's role on a good team, at most, would be as a fourth or fifth outfielder, a bench guy. Mastroianni has the same ceiling, but at this point has to demonstrate that last season's ankle injuries haven't robbed him of his speed. Hicks could be, should be, a regular center fielder somewhere someday, but it won't be in Minnesota. He'll have to hit better than he has to be a center fielder, and a whole lot better to be a corner outfielder.

Terry Ryan has cancer

Terry Ryan at a spring training game last spring

Terry Ryan, general manager of the Minnesota Twins, announced today that he is undergoing cancer treatment and will not be going to Fort Myers for spring training. At least not for the start; the statement's wording does not preclude an eventual arrival.

Skin cancer would figure to be an occupational hazard of baseball scouts, and Ryan said he has squamous cell carcinoma, a form of skin cancer, in his neck, but it apparently in a lymph node. His statement says it has not spread and is treatable, so presumably this is not something that will force him out of the job.

Also presumably, this underlines one of the advantages of the Twins baseball ops stability. Ryan's lieutenants -- assistant general manager Rob Antony, special assistant Wayne Krivsky, manager Ron Gardenhire, farm director Brad Steil -- know the plan, know the philosophy, know the expectations. There will be plenty of consultations and discussion, and even if Ryan is too indisposed on occasion to deal with things, his aides can handle things.

Still, having Ryan out of the picture this spring (assuming he's not in Florida at all for training camp) does not figure to benefit the team. I would think, for one thing, that it sharply reduces the chances of a "bold" decision this spring -- such as deciding that Miguel Sano is ready for the show now. Sano is not, and was not, likely to come out of camp with the third base job, but it it were to happen, Ryan would have to be enthusiastically on board. That's unlikely if he's not there to monitor the situation.

Baseball America's 32nd Twins prospect

Sean Gilmartin as the ace of the
Florida State Seminoles in 2011,
when Atlanta made him the 28th
overall pick in the draft.

As I noted in Friday's post, buyers who order Baseball America's Prospect Handbook annual through their website get a supplement with a 31st prospect for each team. (In a tribute to Spinal Tap, BA says it "made our Top 30 reports one louder.")

In truth, the Twins have 32 prospects profiled in the Handbook. Sean Gilmartin, the former first-round draft pick the Twins got from Atlanta in the Ryan Doumit deal in December, is listed with the Braves, as their No. 10 prospect.

Discovering that over the weekend led me to wonder where Gilmartin would fit in the Twins' rankings. BA graded the lefthander as a 45 Medium. A 45 pitcher translates as a backend starter or a middle reliever; the book's definition portion cites Kevin Corriea and Matt Guerrier as examples of 45 pitchers. The Medium means he "still has some work to do to turn tools into major-league caliber skills."

BA essentially regards five points of ceiling as equivalent to one step of risk, so a 45 Medium equals a 50 High equals a 55 Extreme.

The Twins prospect list has 50 Highs from No. 8 though No. 11 (Trevor May, Danny Santana, Jorge Polanco, Max Kepler), followed by a 55 Extreme (Fernando Romero), another 50 High (Stephen Gonsalves), two 45 mediums (Josmil Pinto and Mike Tonkin), three more 50 Highs, then another 45 Medium, then a 50 High ... all told there are 13 prospects for the Twins in the same bracket as Gilmartin.

Given the BA list, I would slot Gilmartin at No. 16, after Tonkin but ahead of Adam Brett Walker. BA might differ on that.

The Sunday funnies

It's late in spring training, 1961. The newly-minted Minnesota Twins are in Orlando, Fla., and a big March snowstorm hits the Twin Cities. Calvin Griffith wakes up to an Orlando Sentinel front page featuring a photo of Metropolitan Stadium buried in snow.

Calvin, not yet used to Minnesota weather, is dismayed. He tells the Minnesota writers they won't be able to play for a month.

One of the writers tells Griffith it's not that bad. You can bring in a couple of jet engines to dry out the field, he tells the club owner.

Griffith eyes the scribe skepically. "How are you going to land a jet in there?"

The moral of Ralph Kiner

Ralph Kiner accompanies Elizabeth Taylor
to a movie premiere in December 1949. Kiner
had just led the National League in homers
for the fourth straight season.

Ralph Kiner, Hall of Fame slugger and 53-year broadcaster, died Thursday.

It took Kiner twice as long to get into the Hall of Fame (20 years) as he actually played (10 seasons). When he was elected, it was without a vote to spare on his 15th and final time on the writers' ballot.

The brevity of his playing career for a hitter of his quality (he led the National League in home runs seven straight seasons) is at the least unusual, and may have had something to do with how long it took him to gain admittance to Cooperstown.

But a bigger factor might have been the flaws in his skill set -- Kiner couldn't run, field or throw -- and the criticism/abuse he took as a result.

Branch Rickey took over as Pirates general manager after Kiner had established himself as a slugging star on a bad team. Rickey, probably the shrewdest judge of baseball talent ever, quickly decided he wanted -- no, needed -- to trade Kiner. The Pirates' owner, however, saw Kiner as a necessary gate attraction.

And Rickey began to tear down Kiner's reputation. "A team with eight Ralph Kiners," the Mahatma declared, "would finish last in the American Association."

And it might. A team with Ralph Kiner at shortstop -- well, you might as well play my beagle there. My dog can't throw at all, and has little interest in chasing a ball to begin with. Ditto Kiner.

Bill James has suggested that Rickey was pressuring the owner to allow him to deal Kiner for a big block of young talent. (By the time the owner relented, Rickey's downgrading of Kiner had largely wrecked his trade value) Joe Posnanski figures the always penurious Rickey was angered by Kiner's salary demands (it was Kiner who uttered the famous phrase, "Home run hitters drive Cadillacs, singles hitters drive Fords.").

Both make good points. But there's also this: You look at the previous teams Rickey constructed and operated -- the powerhouses in St. Louis and Brooklyn -- and you won't find a Kiner type in the outfield. Rickey's outfielders could run and throw. Kiner couldn't. Rickey's rosters frequently had outfielders who were the exact opposite of Kiner, guys like Taylor Douthit and Terry Moore, who were brilliant defensive players and subpar hitters.

Rickey was gone by the time his work in Pittsburgh resulted in the 1960 World Series winner, but that Pirates outfield (Bob Skinner, Bill Virdon and Roberto Clemente) had no Kiner types. Virdon, the centerfielder, was a defensive whiz who just hit enough to play; Skinner's offense was largely built around batting average; and Clemente was Clemente, a multi-skilled superstar.

Rickey's tryout camps opened with a 60-yard dash; players who didn't meet a specific time didn't even get a chance to hit. Rickey wouldn't have signed a Ralph Kiner.

Kiner was the highest level of an outfield type that was prevalent in the 1950s: Lumbering power guys. They were to be found in the lineup of almost every team -- except the really good ones. Stengel's Yankees didn't have them. Durocher got rid of them when he took over the Giants. The Dodgers, running on the system Rickey built, didn't have them.

Kiner played on just two winning teams in his career: 1948, when the Pirates went 78-76, and 1955, his one season with the Cleveland Indians, when the Tribe won 93 games -- which was a drop off of 23 wins from the previous season.

Rickey, again, on Kiner: "We finished last with you, we can finish last without you." Blaming Kiner for his teams' poor performances isn't completely accurate. But neither is absolving him of the blame.

The Kiner Kontroversy is echoed today. Adam Dunn, for example, although left-handed, is very much in Kiner's mold. Dunn draws lots of walks, hits home runs, is useless in the field. (Kiner had some .300 batting averages, and Dunn never will,) There are sabermetric types who will tell you that Dunn has been a great hitter and a valuable player. But he's played for three organizations, and none of them won anything.

And the Twins have a Kiner type in left field, Josh Willingham. Willingham isn't up to Kiner's level, of course, but it's the same basic skill set. Willingham has never been on a team with a winning record.

This is not to say that players of this ilk automatically doom a team. But all the gaudy power numbers mean a bit less, sometimes a great deal less, with all the other flaws.