YOUR GUIDE TO THE TWIN CITIES
Joe Christensen, the Star Tribune's national baseball reporter, has covered the big leagues since 1998. A Faribault native, he graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1996. Before working for the Star Tribune, he spent three years covering the Orioles for the Baltimore Sun. He also covered the Padres and Dodgers for newspapers in Southern California. He'll share his thoughts here on the Twins and all things baseball.
Twins cut Vasquez to make room for Mastroianni
Posted by: Joe Christensen under Twins offense, Twins pitching Updated: February 9, 2012 - 3:51 PM
The Twins claimed Blue Jays outfielder Darin Mastroianni off waivers today and designated righthanded reliever Esmerling Vasquez for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
Mastroianni, 26, is a comparable player to Jason Repko. He has good speed and can play all three outfield positions. He's not expected to make the Opening Day roster, but he will give the Twins some depth. He batted .268 with 34 stolen bases last year between Class AA and Class AAA.
The Twins claimed Vasquez on waivers from Arizona on Sept. 27, one day before the season ended. So his Twins tenure ends without an inning pitched. He posted a 4.15 ERA in 31 games for the Diamondbacks last year. The Twins now have 10 days to either trade Vasquez or pass him through waivers.
Hughes returning to Minnesota for shoulder exam
Posted by: Joe Christensen under Twins offense Updated: February 6, 2012 - 12:51 PMTwins infielder Luke Hughes will return to Minnesota to have his right shoulder examined later this week after injuring himself on a recent collision at home plate during the Australian winter league semi-finals.
Hughes, 27, hit seven home runs in 96 games for the Twins last season and is expected to fight for a utility spot again during spring training. He batted .344 in 19 games this winter for his hometown team, the Perth Heat, but hasn’t played since his collision against Melbourne.
“He had an MRI in Australia,” Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said. “We’re going to bring him in here, probably Thursday or Friday, to make sure everything’s in order. He’ll go right to Fort Myers [Fla.] for spring training.”
Ryan called the injury a strained shoulder.
“If he was 100 percent, we wouldn’t shut him down,” Ryan said. “But the collision is such that we need to make sure Luke’s able to proceed without any complications.”
Twins notes: Pascual, Hrbek, Pavano, Span
Posted by: Joe Christensen under Ron Gardenhire, Target Field, Twins offense Updated: January 27, 2012 - 2:01 PMHere's some quick notes off today's Twins media luncheon:
* Camilo Pascual has been elected to the Twins Hall of Fame, team president Dave St. Peter announced.
* Also, the Twins plan to unveil another statue this year at Target Field, this one of Kent Hrbek. It will be outside Gate 14.
* St. Peter said there are no plans to change the batter's eye at Target Field this year -- in other words, the trees aren't coming back -- but he said the team will continue to discuss ways to make that big black wall look better.
* Manager Ron Gardenhire confirmed that Carl Pavano will be the Opening Day starter, on April 6 at Baltimore, with Scott Baker slated for the home opener, April 9 against Albert Pujols and the Angels.
* Denard Span said he feels the best he's felt, physically, in two years. He wants to play center field but is open to moving to a corner if that's best for the team. But to hear Gardenhire talk, this won't be an issue.
"[Span's] going to lead off and be my center fielder," Gardenhire said. "That’s my expectations. If somebody were to tell me that he’s not able to do that, then we’d have to ad lib. But if Denard comes in healthy, then he’s my center fielder, there’s no questions to me about that."
Twins caravan: Joe Mauer looks like he's back to himself
Posted by: Joe Christensen under Twins offense Updated: January 26, 2012 - 4:17 PMI caught up with Joe Mauer on the Twins caravan today, following him to two stops, and came away thinking he's very close to his peak physical condition again.
Apologies for not getting into more detail here, as I need to get a couple things written before tonight's Diamond Awards Banquet, but here are a couple highlights:
Mauer wouldn't confirm reports that he's gained 30 pounds this winter, but he said, "I’m at my playing weight right now, and I’m actually trying to gain a little bit more before spring [training] hits because it comes off pretty quickly.”
Last January, Mauer was a month removed from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee.
The real measure of where Mauer is at is strength. As he stressed last year, there’s a difference between adding good weight and bad weight.
“I’m getting there,” Mauer said of his strength. “I’m still two months from Opening Day. [Compared to this time last year], I feel 100 times better. You know, night and day. And I’m excited about that.”
Check out the rest of the story in tonight's first editions.
Did the Rockies outsmart the Twins in the Kevin Slowey trade?
Posted by: Joe Christensen under MLB, Major league trades, Twins pitching Updated: January 23, 2012 - 5:20 PMAfter climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, former Twins pitcher Kevin Slowey never did get a chance to pitch for the Rockies. Colorado traded the starting pitcher to Cleveland last week, along with $1.25 million in cash, for righthanded reliever Zach Putnam.
Around here, this begged questions about whether the Rockies had outfoxed the Twins in the Dec. 6 deal that sent Slowey to Colorado for righthanded reliever Daniel Turpen. The answer is complicated.
For insight, I called a talent evaluator from another MLB club who is very familiar with all three pitchers. In short, he thinks the Rockies acquired a decent relief prospect in Putnam, but he doesn't think the Twins got fleeced because of all the variables involved. Here's the background:
* The Twins were probably going to non-tender Slowey, so they finally just took the best deal they could get. Slowey, 27, went 0-8 with a 6.67 ERA last year and was viewed as a clubhouse lawyer by the team's decision makers. The team liked him enough to make him a second-round draft pick in 2005, but by the end, everyone involved knew it was time for a change of scenery.
* Turpen, 25, is a big, strong righthander whose fastball sits about 93-95 mph, but his slider is inconsistent. He posted an unimpressive 4.83 ERA last year for Class AA Tulsa (with 33 K and 35 BB in 59.2 IP). He's been traded twice (first from San Francisco to Boston for Ramon Ramirez) and was also taken in the 2010 Rule 5 draft by the Yankees (before returning to the Red Sox), so other teams have seen his potential.
* The Rockies tendered Slowey a contract and avoided arbitration, signing him to a one-year, $2.75 million contract. But they kept on acquiring starting pitchers, including Oakland's Josh Outman and Guillermo Moscoso in this month's trade for outfielder Seth Smith.
* The Indians developed a sudden need for an established big league starter last week, when Fausto Carmona was found to be playing under a false indentity. He's actually named Roberto Heredia and 31, not 28. That gave the Rockies more leverage in those negotiations.
* Putnam, 24, was named Cleveland's tenth best prospect by Baseball America this month. He posted a 3.65 ERA for Class AAA Columbus last year (with 68 K's, 23 BB's in 68 IP) and then had a 6.14 ERA in eight games as a September call-up for the Indians. He and Turpen are actually quite similar. Putnam's fastball is about 90-94 mph, and he's inconsistent with his slider. The difference is, Putnam has a pretty good split-fingered fastball and was viewed as a potential starter as recently as 2010.
Bottom line: Most scouts would take Putnam over Turpen, but they have similar upsides as middle relievers and need to command their sliders better before they'll be effective in a major league relief role. The Rockies ended up with a better relief prospect but paid $1.25 million to get him. The Indians, meanwhile, will be paying Slowey $1.5 million, hoping he can rediscover the form that helped him go 13-6 with a 4.45 ERA in 2010.
Twins agree to terms with former Tigers reliever Zumaya
Posted by: Joe Christensen under Twins pitching Updated: January 15, 2012 - 3:39 PMThe Twins have agreed to a deal with former Tigers reliever Joel Zumaya, pending a physical, a major league official confirmed today.
The agreement was first reported by MLB.com.
Zumaya, 27, is expected to take his physical sometime late this week, perhaps Thursday or Friday, and the Twins plan to be careful not to comment publicly until after everything checks out OK.
The physical will be key because Zumaya has had a history of arm issues. In 2010, he posted a 2.58 ERA in 31 appearances before breaking his right arm on a pitch at Target Field.
But the Twins had scouts on hand for his workout in Dallas recently when he was throwing 92-95 mph, easily, on every fastball.
One key note is that Zumaya has agreed to a non-guaranteed major league deal. This means he'll be given a spot on the 40-man roster, but the Twins would be able to cut him in spring training and not be on the hook for all of the guaranteed money if something doesn't look right.
The contract would pay Zumaya about $800,000, with up to about $900,000 in additional incentives, which are usually based on games pitched.
On the surface, this appears to be a nice low-risk, high-reward deal for the Twins. If Zumaya is throwing anywhere near as well as he was before the injury in 2010, the Twins are getting a steal.
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recent posts
- Twins cut Vasquez to make room for Mastroianni
- Hughes returning to Minnesota for shoulder exam
- Twins notes: Pascual, Hrbek, Pavano, Span
- Twins caravan: Joe Mauer looks like he's back to himself
- Christensen: Did Rockies outsmart the Twins in Slowey trade?
- Twins agree to terms with former Tigers reliever Zumaya
- Twins' hopes of landing 2014 All-Star Game look strong
- Morris moves closer; Larkin elected to Hall of Fame
- Liriano pitching tonight in the Dominican Republic
- Twins name 25 -- yes, 25 -- spring training invitees
- Twins turn attention back to Kubel
- Report: Cuddyer has $31.5 million deal with the Rockies
- Bill Smith's new Twins title: Assistant to the President and GM
- More Twins minor-league signings: Towles, Pearce and Thompson
- Twins haven't ruled out Cuddyer's return; hope rising internally
- Twins officially sign Willingham to three-year, $21 million deal
- Willingham already in Minnesota for physical
- Twins sign Burroughs, Rivera, Walters to minor-league deals
- Update: Multiple steps remain before the Twins sign Willingham
Post By Category
- Coldest Day of February (drought lingers, brushfire risk increases)
- Brief Late Week Cold Snap (since Dec. 1: warmest winter since 1878)
- "A Useless Winter" (4th warmest January on record, but why?)
- Data center construction strong
- Denver Blizzard (Marchlike and virtually snow-free here into mid February)
- February 1 or Late March? (no storms...more 40s on the way)
- Coming soon to a street near you: 'HomeSpotter'
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