Of course, the big news in baseball today is about the trade that’s gone down between the Red Sox and Dodgers, with Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett and former Twin Nick Punto all headed straight in to a pennant race. while the Sox get James Loney and a number of minor leaguers in return. The amazing part of this deal, tome, is that the Red Sox were able to not only shed over a quarter of a billion dollars of future payroll (they are only sending $12 million to the Dodgers), but also get several supposedly quality players on top of the salary relief. Are the Dodgers becoming the “new” Yankees?
The LA Times story on the trade also mentioned that the Red Sox went after Gonzalez after efforts to acquire Justin Morneau from the Twins last week were unsuccessful. I haven’t seen any confirmation concerning exactly how those discussions played out. I suspect the Dodgers weren’t offering a whole lot for Morneau over and above taking on his salary. Then again, they had to take on a lot more salary in the Red Sox deal and still gave up some good young pitchers. Then again, perhaps the Twins simply don’t want to part with their first baseman. That would certainly say something about their confidence level in Chris Parmelee, wouldn’t it?
The other possibility would be that the Twins hadn’t yet sent Morneau through waivers when the Dodgers approached them and someone else claimed Morneau ahead of the Dodgers, nixing a potential deal.
In any event, I have to admit I find it amusing that Nicky Punto finds himself once again in a position to make a deep playoff run. Talk about a guy who just seems to find himself in the right place at the right time.
Anyway… on to the Twins. Scott Diamond has been suspended for six games for throwing a ball near the head of Josh Hamilton. Seems a little harsh and he’ll appeal, but in the end he’s going to end up missing a start at some point.
The Twins face Ryan Dempster this afternoon. Dempster hasn’t been terrific since being traded to the Rangers, but he did pretty much shut the Twins down earlier in the season when he was still wearing a Cubs uniform.
Josh Willingham is back in the Twins lineup, as is Denard Span, so I guess that’s something.
I’m going to be honest, I stopped listening to the Twins game when it was 9-0 after three innings. I have no idea what happened after that, but looking at the boxscore, it’s clear that nothing good happened. Though I suppose the fact that the Rangers ended up with just those nine runs would indicate the bullpen did a job, so there’s that. Way to go bullpen.
However, I did see the Beloit Snappers beat the Cedar Rapids Kernels 13-2 and it didn’t start raining until about the 6th inning. It was a good time, even though the game wasn’t terribly exciting. – JC
“Like butterflies with hiccups” is our tagline at Knuckleballs and today it’s a pretty appropriate heading for the following post.
I seem to find myself in a “very little to say about several unrelated things” situation a lot lately. Maybe I’ll make this a quasi-regular thing here. Or maybe this will be a one-time thing. Anyway, there are a few things I’ve read here and there that I feel inclined to comment about. Most are baseball related, but not all.
The Twins
Will Nick Blackburn be at Twins Spring Training in 2013?
On Monday, the Twins outrighted both Nick Blackburn and Tsuyoshi Nishioka, meaning they both cleared waivers and were removed from the Twins’ 40-man roster. Arguably, they were among the last remaining “scholarship” players on the Twins roster and clearly Terry Ryan finally had seen enough of both of them. I certainly won’t be surprised to see both players invited to Spring Training next year and given opportunities to regain spots with the Twins. Then again, I won’t be surprised NOT to see them in Ft. Myers, either.
With 42 games remaining on their schedule, through Monday night, the Twins are 51-70. That means, in order to improve on their 99-loss record of a year ago, they need to go 13-28 from here on out. A bit more than half of their remaining games are against teams that currently still have some playoff hopes, so winning 1/3 of their remaining games may not be as easy at you’d think it should be. Factor in that the final month’s games will pretty much all include line ups with at least one “September call-up” and the task of avoiding 100 losses gets’ trickier yet.
Still, I’m looking forward to seeing some of the Rochester and New Britain players show us what they can do in a Twins uniform. It will at least give me some reason to pay attention to the games, which I admittedly have struggled to muster much interest in doing lately.
The Playoffs
Way before MLB announced its new playoff structure, with 2 wild cards playing a single “play in” game in each league, I was on record here of liking that format. I’ve certainly seen nothing so far this year to change my opinion. I understand that some people (in particular, managers and players) aren’t as enthusiastic about it as I am. But even in expressing their dislike for it, they actually make the exact case FOR the new format. In one of Jayson Stark’s recent pieces over at ESPN.com, he related the following quotes from the Braves’ Chipper Jones:
“I’m not a big advocate of playing 162 games for a one-game playoff,” Jones told Rumblings. “You could easily see two teams in the same division have the two best records in the league, and one of them has the luxury of waiting a couple of days to play a best-three-out-of-five [series], while the other one has that one-game playoff. And I don’t see that as fair.
“It’s basically a Game 7, right off the gut,” Jones went on. “It’s win or go home — and three other teams [in that league] get to sit back and watch it. So that’s why, at least for the guys in this clubhouse, we’re putting the utmost emphasis on every game from here on out. For us, these are must-win games the rest of the way, because we don’t want to put all our eggs in one basket, for that one game.”
Exactly, Chipper!
Winning your division SHOULD mean something. It should give you an advantage over a team that just happens to make the playoffs as a wild card for no other reason than that there happens to be an odd number of divisions in each league.
We’re already seeing writers speculate “what if” scenarios where managers may have to decide whether to use a Justin Verlander or Jared Weaver in the wild card game. Unlike many recent years, we won’t be seeing every playoff manager spend the final two weeks more concerned about setting his rotation than winning baseball games.
I have read that the new format meant there weren’t enough “sellers” at the non-waiver trade deadline for all of the potential playoff teams to pick from to help fortify their rosters. Gosh, I guess more teams will just have to try to win primarily with the players that they had on their rosters during the first four months of the season. Such a shame. #sarcasm
Keith Law on Miguel Sano
ESPN’s Keith Law got the attention of many of us who pay close attention to the Twins’ farm system last week when he Tweeted that he would be in Beloit over the weekend to watch the Twins’ prospects there. We were all anxious to find out what he had to say about Miguel Sano, Eddie Rosario, et al.
Law’s Monday post requires ESPN Insider membership to read, so we certainly will respect ESPN’s copyright to the material and not paste all of what he had to say here. In a nutshell, however, Law was impressed with Sano’s offensive talent and potential, but called Sano out for what he termed his “obvious disdain” for playing defense. He went on to compare Sano’s enthusiasm for defense to that of his own daughter’s enthusiasm for cleaning her room. Ouch.
Miguel Sano
Then again, Law admittedly only watched one game on the Friday night of that weekend.
I have nothing against Keith Law and he may be a pretty good judge of baseball talent. That said, I believe if you’re going to call in to question a young player’s work ethic (which he certainly did in this case), you should provide a little more information concerning the basis for doing so. Was it body language? Did he lollygag around the infield? Did Law speak to coaches, team mates, scouts or front office types?
I’ve seen Sano play 6-7 times this year and will see him some more this weekend. His defensive skills are not good at 3B. This is not news. But if there’s cause to question his work ethic and his interest in improving those skills, that IS news… and I’d be interested in knowing the basis for that conclusion (giving Law benefit of the doubt enough to assume it’s not based on seeing Sano play one game).
Joe Poz on JoePa
I’ve made no secret of the fact that I’m a big Joe Posnanski fan. I may have also mentioned at some point that I’ve never been a huge Joe Paterno fan (even before the Sandusky s**t hit the fan).
If you also happen to follow Poz, you are probably aware that at the time of Paterno’s abrupt dismissal as Penn State’s football coach last November, Posnanski had pretty much moved his family to Happy Valley and was spending the better part of a year shadowing Paterno, his family and the Penn State football program as he researched an authorized biography he was writing on JoePa. Talk about finding yourself in the eye of a hurricane!
In the days and weeks that followed Paterno’s dismissal and, ultimately, his death, Posnanski kept almost completely mum on the subject of the coach. Frankly, I wasn’t even sure if the plans for the book were even going forward. However, now we know.
The book, cleverly entitled Paterno, hits bookstores today (August 21) and excerpts have been in GQ (and on GQ.com) in the days ahead of the book’s release.
I can’t help but feel Posnanski’s in a no-win situation in terms of the public’s response. Based on the excerpts I read, I’m pretty sure that Paterno’s family and defenders will object to much of what’s written and will probably feel betrayed for having allowed Posnanski inside their “circle.” I’m even more convinced that the anti-Paterno crowd will accuse Posnanski of going too soft on Paterno.
That’s enough for today. Maybe I’ll post some sort of “review” after I’ve read Paterno. Almost certainly, I’ll be posting something (a bunch of pictures, if nothing else) during or after the Snappers four-game series with my home town Cedar Rapids Kernels this weekend (the series runs Saturday through Tuesday). Until then, someone let me know if the Twins do anything noteworthy, ok?
We’ve been doing these GameChat things where we post the starting line ups for almost three years now. I certainly don’t post the line ups every day or even half the time. But I do it often enough that I can state with certainty that this is the first time I’ve ever posted EXACTLY the same batting order, right down to the positions the players are playing, two nights in a row for the Twins. It was such a shock that I had to check it about three times to make sure I was looking at tonight’s line up on the MLB site.
It makes sense, though. Everything pretty much clicked last night, so why change anything? We can only hope that we get as many innings of solid work out of Brian Duensing as Sam Deduno provided last night and, of course, that Duensing gets similar offensive and defensive support.
UPDATE: After the game, the Twins announced that SS Brian Dozier has been optioned to Rochester and Pedro Florimon has had his contract purchased by the Twins. Maybe they read Eric’s post here at Knuckleballs?
So much for having all the pieces fall together tonight like they did on Monday, huh?
Brian Duensing wasn’t terribly sharp to start the game and certainly didn’t get a lot of outstanding defensive support. The offense never really showed up and, just to make it an all-round consistent night, the bullpen wasn’t good either.
Wednesday, the Twins will still have a chance to win the series, so let’s cross our fingers while we wait to see which version of this ballclub shows up. – JC
The bad news is that the Twins just got swept in a 3 game home series with the Rays. The good news is that they get to start a series against a Central Division team. On top of that, they won’t even face Justin Verlander in this series.
also – Trevor Plouffe is back and the Twins optioned Nishi back down to Rochester. No, he has not been DFA’d.. yet… one wonders how long they have him taking a bench spot either there or here. – CB
What’d I say? It only takes getting back to the Central Division in order to turn the Twins’ fortunes around.
It’s been a rare occasion when the hitting, defense, starting pitching and bullpen all come together, but this was one of those nights.
Four different hitters had three hits a piece and a couple more added a pair of hits, contributing to the Twins’ 18 hit attack. Jeff Gray finished the game off with 1 1/3 perfect innings, including a game-finishing strikeout.
But the consensus co-BODs of the night were starting pitcher Sam Deduno, who upped his record to 4-0, and outfielder Darin Mastroiani, who had a home run among his three hits and added 3 RBI. That’s a combination of pitching and hitting we’d like to see a bit more of!
Sam Deduno (Photo: Ed Zurga/Getty Images)Darin Mastroianni (Photo: CapitalBabs)
I’m not sure any sport has spawned more clichés than baseball. Right now, though, even clichés that are applicable to multiple sports seem to make me think of the Twins.
As I’ve been following the the team lately, I keep hearing various clichés in my mind (“look the ball in to your glove, Nishi.” “Make sure of one, Nishi.”). A lot of them come to mind, however, as I reflect on the entirety of the Twins’ season.
Plenty of discussion in Twinsville recently has revolved around the fact that the Twins’ record since mid-May has been respectable… even slightly above .500 perhaps, depending upon when you start to measure those games in your cherry-picking exercise. I tend to think that kind of exercise is best reserved for the lonely off-season when you’re trying to find hope for the future. However, I do declare there were times when I was so lonesome I took some comfort there. (Pardon that obscure Simon & Garfunkel reference. I’ve been thinking I could probably write an entire post equating being a Twins player to “The Boxer”. Another time, perhaps.)
The problem with this cherry-picking, of course, is that Major League Baseball has determined that the schedule shall begin in early April and that games played in April and May count toward each team’s overall record. All the games count the same.
Which brings me back to clichés and just a few that seem to be appropriate to mention at this time, if for no other reason than to serve as a reminder to us… and the Twins… that the games played next April should perhaps be treated with more respect.
It’s a long season.
*Sigh* Yeah… there’s still a lot of season left. Especially when the only suspense left by mid August is whether your team is going to end up losing 100 games.
Every team will win 54 games and every team will lose 54 games. It’s what you do with the other 54 games that matters.
I was tempted to leave this one out. First of all, I don’t believe clichés should involve doing math.
More than that, though, I’m kind of afraid that someone in the Twins organization might take the “every team will win 54 games” part as a challenge and try to disprove it.
You can’t win a Championship in April, but you can lose one.
Yeah. This one we’re certainly familiar with, aren’t we?
It’s not how you start a season that matters; it’s how you finish it.
I call “bullshit”.
You need to take the first two months of the season to figure out which adjustments need to be made.
Isn’t this what Spring Training is for? Regardless, it really shouldn’t take you two months to figure out that your starting pitching absolutely sucks and try someone else.
There’s plenty of time left, no need to panic.
If the Opening Day starting pitcher next year gets pounded and can’t survive 4 innings, I think it will be perfectly acceptable for Twins fans to commence to panic.
In fact, if the Opening Day starting pitcher is ANY pitcher already part of the Twins organization today, I don’t think we should even be required to wait until the first pitch of the season is thrown before starting to panic.
You can’t rush to judgment.
It’s been two years of absolute failure. Unless significant changes are made, concluding that the 2013 Twins are a bad team on or before Opening Day would not be considered “rushing” to anything.
You have to take it one game at a time.
This is true… but God, that’s often SO painful.
Pitching and defense win championships.
Maybe this is true, maybe it isn’t. But I think the Twins have adequately demonstrated that bad pitching and bad defense does mean no championships, so maybe Terry Ryan should at least give this cliché a little credence.
They’re a better team than their record indicates.
I do think the Twins, right now, are a better team than their record indicates, so maybe this cliché is true at times.
I don’t think it matters, though, because what IS absolutely true is that a team’s record determines where they fall in the standings. So if you give me a choice between a team that’s better than their record indicates or not as good as their record indicates (see: Orioles… or even perhaps the Twins most of the past decade) I’ll take the latter every time. After all, you play to win the game! (how’s that for a cliché?)
They’re still missing a few pieces to the puzzle.
Funny thing about puzzles. If you’re missing corner pieces, it’s sometimes tough to even get to the point where you can figure out which other pieces you’re missing.
Over the past month or more, I’ve alluded a few times to the fact that the Twins’ Player Development Contracts (PDC) with a number of their minor league affiliates were set to expire after the current season. In fact, all four of their PDCs with their “full-season” affiliates (A, Advanced A, AA and AAA) were expiring.
Nobody really expects their Advanced A team, the Ft. Myers Miracle, to shop around for a new affiliation, given that the team calls the Twins’ Spring Training facility its home. While there was plenty of doubt in the air about the Twins’ relationship with their AA affiliate in New Britain CT, the two parties announced a two-year extension to their working agreement recently. That leaves their AAA team in Rochester NY and their Class A team in Beloit WI still up in the air.
I’ve wondered enough about this issue that it caused me to ask a few questions of people who are more familiar than I was with how the affiliation process works. (It didn’t take much searching to find people who knew more than I did.) Between asking some questions and a little bit of online investigation, I found a few answers that I thought I would share here.
Q: Why don’t the Twins have a AAA affiliate closer to Minnesota?
A: The two AAA leagues are primarily eastern (International League) and western (Pacific Coast League) groupings with relatively few locations in the Midwest. Those that are nearby either already have strong, long time relationships with other Midwest MLB teams (Des Moines with the Cubs and Omaha with the Royals) or their PDC is not expiring (Indianapolis with the Pirates) until 2014.
Q: So why would the Twins want out of Rochester?
A: They probably don’t. Most of what’s being written about this relationship indicates that it’s Rochester that may want to explore other options. The Twins have fielded pretty bad teams there the past couple of years and attendance has dropped off significantly. However, the Red Wings are on a roll at the moment and are on the fringes of a Wild Card spot, so the question is whether it’s too little, too late, to salvage the relationship.
Q: Beloit is pretty close to the Twin Cities and they’ve had some decent teams there, so why change that affiliation?
A: The primary reasons for even considering a switch involve the facilities in Beloit. Pohlman Field may be considered quaint or even a nostalgic throwback to the days of town team or low minor league baseball by some. But to those who deal with the business side of baseball, the facilities in Beloit, from the clubhouses to the training facilities to the seating areas to the field itself, are simply not up to modern standards for full-season minor league baseball. Ten other MWL communities still have not come to extension agreements with their existing MLB partners, so it should come as no surprise that the Twins are in no hurry to ink an extension with Beloit.
Q: Why won’t teams like the Twins or their current affiliates just come out and say, “we’re interested in looking in to another affiliation”?
A: Existing PDCs do not expire until September 30 and any public comments before then could be (and most likely would be) considered “tampering” with existing contractual relationships, subjecting teams to six figure fines. Teams in existing relationships can renew those deals for an additional two or four year period at any time, but no discussions with or about potential new partners can take place before certain dates specified in MLB Rule 56.
Q: When will the Twins decide who their affiliates will be next season?
A: Any time between the end of the season (both Rochester and Beloit regular seasons end September 3) and September 11, teams can notify either the MLB Commissioner or the MiLB President (and ONLY those people… they can’t publicly state that they’ve provided such notice) that they do not wish to renew their existing agreement. If the Commissioner approves the termination notices*, he notifies the parties involved by September 15. Only once a team gets a termination approval notice from the Commissioner can it begin negotiations with other potential affiliation partners. That means everyone needs to find a new partner between September 16th and the 30th. Those teams who don’t come to an agreement on their own in that period of time will have their affiliations assigned by the Commissioner by October 7.
*Yes, Bud Selig can employ his “best interests of baseball” powers to disallow termination requests. If Bud decides, for example, that the Twins remaining affiliated with Beloit is what is in the best interests of baseball, he can turn down the Twins’ request to terminate that PDC and require that it be extended two more years. Would he do so? It would be wrong, but he’s from Wisconsin, after all, and it certainly wouldn’t be the first thing he’s done wrong as Commissioner.
Q: Why don’t the Twins just offer to help Beloit remodel their stadium or even help with the costs of building a new one?
A: I think the only way the Twins could do that would be to actually purchase the Beloit Baseball Club from the current owner (which, I believe, is the community itself). A few MLB teams do own minor league affiliates (in fact, I think the Twins own their Elizabethton rookie league team), but this is still relatively rare.
In this situation, the MLB Rule applicable to PDCs prohibits MLB teams from promising benefits beyond that of a standard PDC contract. That being the case, it would seem that MLB teams would not be permitted to offer inducements, nor could MiLB clubs ask MLB teams to contribute funding beyond what’s allowed in a standard PDC (travel costs, salaries and benefits for players, coaches, instructional staff and trainers, for example).
Q: Why don’t the Twins affiliate with the St. Paul Saints for their Class A team?
A: During the off-season, I heard some chatter suggesting the Twins should partner with the St. Paul Saints in their effort to get a new stadium built in St. Paul and then make the Saints their Class A affiliate. Not that the Twins ever expressed interest in such an arrangement publicly, but the same rule mentioned above would apparently preclude the Twins from funding the Saints’ new stadium and making St. Paul an affiliate unless the Twins actually purchased ownership of the team.
There are also minimum boundary requirements in the rules that preclude a MiLB team from playing too close to a MLB team’s home territory (which would certainly apply to St. Paul). There appears to be some wiggle room there if the MLB team agrees, which they certainly could do if they’re the affiliate of that team. But there are other obstacles. For example, MiLB teams must provide an off day for players any time they travel more than 500 miles for a road series, unless they fly the team to that location (which you just don’t do at Class A). St. Paul is so far outside the current MWL footprint that this would make scheduling extremely difficult. MLB teams get off days regularly… MiLB players get very, very few.
Finally, even if those issues could be addressed, the Twins don’t get to decide which communities get affiliated MiLB teams (the Saints are currently an Independent team, meaning they are not part of the “affiliated” MiLB system). Unless a current MiLB franchise can no longer operate financially in a manner that it can meet the terms of their PDC and other rules, existing teams appear to be guaranteed a PDC. So, for example, unless Beloit can’t meet its obligations, in terms of providing the minimum facilities required, pay for travel or other expenses that they’re responsible for, or they decide to sell their franchise, they will likely have a PDC with someone next season. Even if they’re sold, it appears the new owners would have to give 18 months notice prior to relocating.
In other words, the Saints will probably be remaining independent for the foreseeable future and Beloit will continue to have a MWL team for at least one more season and likely longer.
Q: When will we know who the Twins’ affiliates will be in 2013?
A: If the Twins are going to switch affiliations, we may not hear anything official until October. However, if we haven’t heard about a renewal of an existing PDC by September 1, it’s probably safe to assume there’s going to be a change in affiliations at that Class. If either the Twins or their existing affiliates elect to “go in to the pool” and explore new options, they will get a list of potential locations available for new affiliations on September 15. That would not preclude teams from also negotiating with their existing affiliates during the late September negotiating period, but renewals at that point are rather rare.
Q: If the Twins don’t renew their PDCs with Rochester and/or Beloit, who are they likely to affiliate with?
A: I’m admittedly biased, but the truth is Cedar Rapids would be a very good fit as the Twins’ Class A affiliate and, trust me, I’m not the only person who feels that way. CR is the closest MWL city to the Twin Cities geographically and an affiliation would benefit both organizations. CR would get an affiliation with a nearby MLB team that has a significant existing local fan base and the Twins would get an opportunity to get a stronger foothold in Eastern Iowa, where neither their TV nor radio rights holders are currently carried. If that dynamic can be changed, it could have a positive effect on future Twins media rights fees.
Cedar Rapids’ stadium is 11 years old and provides relatively modern facilities for players and field management. In addition, I was told once that Kernels players may also have access to the Perfect Game facilities across the street from the ballpark. However, CR has been affiliated with the Angels for 20 years and the Angels would like to renew, so there’s still a chance they announce a renewal before September 1. If that happens, Clinton IA (currently a Mariners affiliate) might be another option for the Twins.
AAA is a cloudier situation. Earlier in the year, the prevailing theory seemed to be that the Blue Jays (who desperately want out of Las Vegas) would affiliate with Buffalo. The Mets, who currently are in Buffalo, would partner up with Rochester and leave the Twins to find a new AAA home. That still could happen or, if Buffalo and the Mets renew, the Jays could simply move to Rochester.
Because so few International League PDCs are up for renewal (none of the IL South or West division teams’ PDCs are expiring), a renewal with Rochester is likely the only chance the Twins have of staying in that league.
The three locations I hear most often discussed for a possible Twins move are Oklahoma City, Nashville and Las Vegas. OKC is currently an Astros affiliate and Nashville is tied to the Brewers. If those teams don’t announce a renewal before September, they might be landing spots for the Twins. Otherwise, the Twins could be “assigned” to Las Vegas.
The sad fact is, with the poor AAA teams the Twins have fielded lately, they won’t have affiliates in line begging to partner up.
I think I’ve finally run out of things to say on this subject, at least until there’s something more “official” coming out of one of the affected communities. If you have any related questions, just leave them in the comment section and I’ll try to find answers.
I drove up to Beloit over the weekend to catch a couple of baseball games between the Twins’ Class A affiliate, the Snappers, and the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers. The Rattlers and Snappers finished first and second, respectively, in the first-half standings of the Midwest League’s Western Division, so I anticipated that they would play some decent baseball. They did.
If you want to read a lot about the games themselves, I’m going to refer you to the daily reports being posted by Seth Stohs over at Twins Daily. Seth and Travis Aune were in Beloit the past few days, as well, and I got to spend some time with them. I also met Jeremy Nygaard and his brother Jed on Saturday. I really enjoyed the opportunity to talk a little baseball with the group and appreciated their willingness to let an old man like me tag along with them for a day and a half.
For my part, I’m going to simply post a whole bunch of pictures I took and let it go at that. Except for this one thing… I’ve mentioned from time to time rumors that the Twins and my own local MWL team, the Cedar Rapids Kernels, might consider entering in to a Player Development Contract starting next year. That’s all they are, at this point, just rumors. Neither party is allowed to discuss the possibility or make any comment on the topic until September. As I think I’ve also posted before, I think the odds are about 50-50. I’m aware that some others think the odds are a bit greater.
Of course, in Beloit there is some concern. They don’t want to lose the Twins. I don’t blame them. They were abandoned by the Brewers a few years ago and nobody likes being told, “we don’t want to be your MLB affiliate anymore.”
The Beloit staff don’t deserve to go through that. They are hard working people who put on a good show at Pohlman Field. The word you hear is that they don’t draw well in Beloit. I suppose that may be true, but I saw a good crowd on Saturday night and an even much better crowd on Sunday. Fireworks Saturday night and a Prince Fielder “BobbleArm” promotion Sunday probably helped, but all minor league teams rely on promotions to draw crowds. It was fun to see the hard work of the Snapper staff rewarded by appreciative crowds.
The problem is the stadium, not the Snappers operation or the fans themselves. Pohlman Field is beyond outdated. I’ve heard it said that it’s the “worst” facility among the 16 teams in the MWL. I’ve only been to three of them, so I can’t speak to how accurate that is. I know it’s tough to come up with funds to build new ballparks or even remodel old ones to bring them up to acceptable standards. I don’t know if Beloit will ever solve that problem. I hope they do.
But professional baseball is a business. A dozen years ago, Cedar Rapids faced losing its team if it didn’t replace their old stadium. The same choice has faced a number of other MWL communities over the past 20 years. Some, like CR, built new ballparks. Some, like Davenport, remodeled old ones. Others determined that they simply could not raise the funds to do so and gave up their franchises to other communities that were able to provide appropriate facilities. I felt bad for some of those cities and I don’t wish to see that kind of thing happen to Beloit. Whether the Twins stay there or elect to move their affiliation elsewhere, I hope Beloit can find a way to survive and eventually thrive as a member of the league.
So here are the pictures. Several of them, actually. I was going to just post a few but then I decided there’s no reason to hold back. We don’t pay for blog space by the inch around here.
– JC
This building serves as both the entrance to the ballpark as well as home to the team’s administrative officesDon’t tell the people lined up long before gates opened Sunday that the Snappers can’t draw a crowdHere’s what the crowd was hoping for. The first 500 fans got Prince Fielder “Bobblearm” figuresThe Sunday crowd at Pohlman FieldThe concourse area inside the gate, but outside the stadium itself. Yes, it did rain hard on Saturday, but the staff got the field ready well before scheduled game time.The players walk through the concourse behind the stands to get from their locker rooms to the dugouts, giving fans lots of opportunities for autographsYoung fans exchange high fives with Snappers players as they walk from their outfield pregame stretching to their dugoutSaturday’s starting pitcher Jason Wheeler gave up 2 runs in the first inning, then went on to strike out 10 hitters in eight innings of work.Manager Nelson Prada and Hitting Coach Tommy WatkinsDavid Hurlbut went six innings Sunday, giving up just one run on two hits, while striking out five RattlersDrew Leachman had supporters from Alabama on hand Saturday night. Made my little drive seem pretty insignificantCatcher Jairo Rodriguez had warm duty on Sunday afternoon1B Kennys Vargas’ solo HR accounted for the only Snapper run on Saturday night.Eddie Rosario seems to be more comfortable at 2B than when I saw him in CR early in the season.Sunday, it was Miguel Sano’s turn to “go yard”
Holy CRAP, what a game. Hard to believe that we won AGAIN in Boston. Two in a row.
Just to play the first 9 innings took 4 hours. And the fact that there was a 10th is one of those gifts from the baseball gods that we may not have earned but for the pitching staying steady despite working harder than they should have had to. Too many errors from my guys to call it a GREAT game but wow was it intense.
Justin is finally back to hitting Lefties!! But there’s many people who deserve a little recognition. Besides Justin leading the way with consistent AB’s getting hits in every AB & 2 RBI, Mastroianni had some incredible defensive plays, baserunning, AND hitting a crucial double in the 10th. Despite the rare error to Justin, they both really earned a little treat so they are promptly gifted rootbeer floats for their efforts!
And you can look a little sideways at AJ Burnett if you want but our usual weak spot is pitching and tonight, they really held on to their big boy pants and threw some REALLY tough innings and situations. Duensing had a really great start especially given the errors in the field behind him. Robertson had a ridiculously well-timed strikeout of Ellsbury despite only a dozen or so SO by Jacoby all SEASON. There were so many things I could say so we will just let the whole pitching staff keep their keys to the Knuckleballs Ice Cream Buffet they earned last night. Hope none of those boys are lactose intolerant!
But the real hero for me of tonight’s game was Jamey Carroll. 4 hits in 4 AB’s, a steady presence every time he comes out, some practically miraculous fielding and he’s the one who finally knocked in the winning run in the 10th to break the tie. His response during a postgame interview regarding his success this game kind of said it all for me:
“just ask my son, he’ll tell you I don’t hit any homeruns so I don’t have to worry about the green wall”
For all around amazingness and actually bringing the win before I turned back into a pumpkin, Mr. Carroll is the Knuckleballs BOD! – CB
I’m not one to usually say, “I told you so,” but… yeah… I did tell you so. I told you to prepare to be disappointed at the trade deadline so it comes as no surprise to me that most Twins fans seemed to come away from the July 31 non-waiver deadline disappointed in the lack of moves by the Twins.
Many of us do understand why the roster remained intact, except for the trade of Francisco Liriano. The new CBA dampened enthusiasm for players who will be free agents at the end of the season. Justin Morneau’s contract is too big to get other teams excited about trading something of value for him. Other teams are understandably hoarding their top “high ceiling” young starting pitchers and weren’t willing to part with them for any of the Twins players Terry Ryan had to offer. Logically, we know there will remain interest in those same players this off-season.
But even knowing and understanding all of that, there’s disappointment all over Twinsville. I’m disappointed in the aftermath of the deadline, too. But not necessarily for the same reasons others are.
Terry Ryan
Some people are disappointed that Ryan didn’t just take the best offer on the table for a player like Denard Span, for whom the Twins arguably have a suitable replacement for already in Ben Revere. Some felt Josh Willingham, who at age 33 is having the best year of his career, will never be more valuable than he is now and should have been traded for the best deal offered, simply for that reason. I don’t happen to agree with either of these positions, so I’m not disappointed that Span and Willingham are still Twins. In fact, when the deadline passed Tuesday with no deals by the Twins, I wasn’t really disappointed at all.
No, my disappointment came a little later.
Phil Mackey of 1500ESPN posted a couple articles with quotes from Terry Ryan in the aftermath of Tuesday’s trade deadline and it was Ryan’s comments, taken all together, that provide the groundwork for my disappointment.
“There’s a lot of players on this ballclub that people would like to have on their team. I don’t think there’s any question about that. I don’t think there’s any shock that people putting up the numbers on this ballclub would be desirable for other organizations. If you’re going to do something with that you’d like to think that you’re getting equity back. We didn’t see it.”
“Everything that we do here right now probably includes some sort of pitching. In particular, starting pitching. I think we’ve shown some resiliency in that bullpen out there.
“It is difficult to come out with starting pitching, especially the younger controllable-type guys that organizations covet, where they have control. That’s exactly the types of people we were looking to bring back in any sort of deal, and we just couldn’t get what we were looking for today.”
“We have holes. And some of it is pitching. And some of it is not. There are other areas we need to address.”
“Some of it will be injury. Some of it would be chemistry and some of it is execution. We’ve cracked in a few areas this year.”
So much there to digest, isn’t there? Yet, I can’t see anything there I disagree with at all. There certainly was no shortage of players other teams were interested in having.
It’s also good to see the Twins recognize their biggest problem, whether short term or long term, is their rotation. They needed good young high-ceiling pitchers in any deal and apparently didn’t get that kind of talent offered.
Ryan is also correct in saying that pitching is not the only hole they have to fill. The middle infield remains less productive than you would like it to be, for example. They certainly have “cracked” in more than one area over the course of the season.
But then there were these additional quotes.
“As you know, I don’t worry too much about the payroll. We had all kinds of money this year and we didn’t get it done. It’s not a payroll issue. It’s personnel and making sure we put the right people in the right place.”
“I’m not banking on free agency, to be honest. If you keep banking on free agency, you’ll end up chasing your tail. This is not going to be a free agency approach. This is going to be no shortcuts and doing the job the way it’s supposed to be done. And that’s usually that’s with young, development, scouting and picking the right people.”
Sigh.
If he had just said, “It’s not just a payroll issue,” and, “I’m not banking strictly on free agency,” I’d have felt a little better because I do agree that you can’t, “keep banking on free agency.”
But he didn’t.
So, taking his words exactly as quoted, we all have to be disappointed, because Terry Ryan is just wrong. It is partially about payroll and free agency is a perfectly legitimate “shortcut” to fielding a better baseball team than you currently have. Shortcuts are not necessarily mutually exclusive from, “doing the job the way it’s supposed to be done.”
Have you ever been to San Francisco and decided to take a little day trip across the bay to Sausalito? It’s not very far away and there are multiple ways to get there. The most direct route is by boat, but of course that costs you some cash. If you have the cash, I think it’s the best option. If you are on a budget, you can drive across the Golden Gate Bridge. Then again, that’s a toll bridge, so even traveling that way comes with a cost, too.
Both are shortcuts, though, because you do have another option. You can travel east a ways then north a longer ways, then west a ways, then south a ways and get to Sausalito that way. Not many people do that, because people recognize their time has value, too, and it takes a lot of extra time to get where you want to go that way (and if you’re directionally challenged, you may take a wrong turn and never get exactly where you wanted to go).
There was a time, during Terry Ryan’s first tour of duty as GM, when the Twins had no alternative to taking the long way toward building a competitive team. They simply couldn’t afford the free agency shortcut. They had no choice but to flip veteran players for prospects as soon as they got expensive and then develop those prospects and hope they turned in to good Big Leaguers. They had moderate success doing that, too.
But they don’t have to do that now. Not exclusively, anyway. Is developing from within still the best way to fill out most of your roster? Abso-friggin-lutely, it is. But utilizing free agency to augment that process… to fill those “holes” Ryan referred to… in order to maintain a level of competitiveness, is not wrong just because it’s an option you didn’t have five years ago. I would have hoped that their experience with Josh Willingham would have demonstrated that to the Twins front office.
If the Twins had traded off most of their veterans Tuesday, I’d have been disappointed. I’m in the group of fans that believes the line up is capable of competing within their division in 2013 if they fix the rotation. That said, if they’d gone the route of trading off the veterans, I’d have at least understood that Terry Ryan has a plan and I’m just going to have to be more patient to see how it unfolds. But he didn’t do that.
The result is that he seems to be caught in between… not embracing the new “shortcut” available to him to get the team back on track quicker through free agency, but also not fully executing the old “flip veterans for top prospects” method of building a competitive team over a longer period of time, either.
This is not what Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau signed up for (Photo: AP/Tom Olmscheid)
It’s that purgatory in between that appears to indicate a lack of any real plan that disappoints me more than anything else today. Then again, it’s the same disappointment I felt last year when the Twins made no attempt to improve their rotation through free agency, so this isn’t exactly new disappointment.
I would think it would have to be disappointing Joe Mauer and the other veteran players, as well. These guys are here because they felt they would have a legitimate chance to play for a winner in Minnesota and it’s hard to see how that will happen for anyone who’s already approaching or past his 30th birthday if the Twins are unwilling to tap the free agent market for serious rotation help.
If the “free agency approach” is not an option, it seems to me that the right thing for Terry Ryan to do would be to call those guys together… Mauer, Morneau, Span, Willingham, Doumit, Perkins… and say, “Guys, here’s the plan. We’re not going to spend money for top free agent pitching, so we’re probably going to continue to struggle with the rotation. That means we’re probably going to have to win a lot of 8-7 games to even come close to being a .500 team for the next couple of years. That’s not what any of you signed up for. We’d like to give our fans some familiar faces to root for and our young pitchers some semblance of offensive support, so unless we get bowled over by an offer, we’d like to keep most of you around. But if you would prefer, we will see what we can get for you on the trade market this off-season. We won’t give anyone away for a handful of magic beans, but if we can get legitimate prospects in return, we’ll try to give you a better shot to play for a contender. Talk to your agents and have them give me a call. Either way, thank you for what you’ve given the organization already and no hard feelings.”
When he’s done with that chat and after he hears back from their agents, he could communicate something similar to the fan base. Would there be disappointment? Yes. But the honesty would be refreshing, everyone would know what to expect and at least there would be some rational hope for the future.
As it is now, all we’ve got is the disappointment, even if we can’t all agree on why we’re disappointed.
– JC
P.S. To be fair, Jim Pohlad sounded at least slightly more positive about the Twins participation in the free agent market in this Pioneer Press article. The money quote:
“We will definitely look at the free-agent market,” Pohlad said Tuesday, July 31. “We probably won’t sign the most expensive free-agent pitcher that there is. Terry (Ryan, general manager) is committed to doing everything (to improve the team).”
Pohlad said the Twins, who are 12 games behind the first-place Chicago White Sox, will be able to afford some free agents. The Twins’ payroll this season is about $100 million.
“We’re happy at the level (of payroll) we’re at right now,” the Twins CEO said.
Regular readers of our site are probably aware that I’m a Twins fan exiled in Iowa. While I spent 10 years of my youth growing up in Minnesota, I’ve lived almost all of my life since then in Iowa and I currently call Cedar Rapids “home.” In fact, I’ve lived here in Cedar Rapids for pretty much the past 35 years.
This is Part 2 of my 2-part series focused on the Cedar Rapids Kernels (the Angels’ Class A Midwest League affiliate). In yesterday’s Part 1, I covered a bit of the local team’s history and mentioned many of the future Major Leaguers I’ve watched on the field as they suited up for Cedar Rapids, as well as many others that called the old Veterans Stadium their summer home during the storied history of the organization.
In Part 2, we’re focusing on the present and, more specifically, what goes on behind the scenes of a minor league organization.
Many of us think we may know something about how a Major League team is run, even if all we know is what we saw from Brad Pitt’s portrayal of A’s GM Billy Beane in the movie “Moneyball”. But if any of us think running a minor league team is remotely similar, we couldn’t be more wrong.
Cedar Rapids Kernels General Manager Doug Nelson recently agreed to answer some of my questions about his organization and I found his answers to be enlightening.
Jim Crikket/Knuckleballs: You probably don’t realize it, Doug, but you’ve got what a lot of people (myself included) might consider a “dream job.” You get to spend your day working at a ballpark! I’m sure it looks a lot different to you from the inside, so maybe you could start by telling us a little bit about what all the General Manager of a minor league baseball team does. How do you spend your “typical day”?
Doug Nelson: My typical game day starts at 7:30 am checking and returning messages and reviewing customer survey results and financial reports from the previous night’s game. I meet with staff to discuss the results and to make sure we are ready for that night’s game. The balance of the morning and early afternoon is spent meeting with sponsors, speaking at community events or planning non-baseball extra events at the stadium.
Kernels GM Doug Nelson (standing) chats with fans during a recent game
By mid-afternoon, I switch into game mode. I check in with both teams’ managers and the umpires to see if they need anything and to inform them of any special promotions going on during the game. Two hours before game time, we conduct an entertainment meeting to review the game’s pregame activities and the inning break promotions.
Once gates open, I monitor the box office, souvenir store, concession stands and our ushers to insure everything is running smoothly. I spend a majority of the game thanking our sponsors and fans for their support and taking care of any issues. At the end of the game, I make sure our fans have safely left the ballpark, discuss any challenges that occurred during the game with the front office staff and by 11:00 to midnight I leave for home.
Knuckleballs: How does it differ when the Kernels are on the road?
Nelson: When the team is on the road, we are busy hosting non-Kernels events at the stadium. These events include: college and high school baseball games, concerts, MMA events, non-profit fundraiser walks and events, business meetings, catering events (weddings, family reunions, birthday parties, etc.) and corporate picnics. Each year we host over 100 non-Kernels events at the stadium.
Knuckleballs: What about during the off-season or during spring training?
Nelson: During the off-season, the entire front office staff become sales reps. This is the time that we sell 90% of our sponsorships and ticket packages for the upcoming season. We also spend a considerable amount of time planning promotions, daily specials and booking entertainment acts. We also operate the concessions at the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena and the Iowa Equestrian Center, which are the busiest during our off-season (from October through March).
Midwest Dueling Pianos perform during a recent Kernels game
Knuckleballs: Tell us a bit about yourself and your staff. What’s your background and what do you see as the GM’s primary role with the Kernels?
Nelson: I’m a CPA and have a BBA and MBA from the University of Iowa. My background is in accounting/finance and administration. Since the LA Angels make all of the baseball personnel decisions, my job is really about running an entertainment venue and concentrating my efforts on insuring our fans have a great experience while attending Kernels games.
Knuckleballs: How many people do you have working for you in the organization and what kind of responsibilities do they have?
Nelson: We have 11 full time staff, 2 full time seasonal, 6 interns and over 300 part-time staff.
The full time and seasonal staff members include:
Doug Nelson, General Manager Scott Wilson, Assistant General Manager Andrea Murphy, Director of Tickets and Group Sales Andrew Pantini, I/T and Communications Manager Debra Maier, Director of Food and Beverage Brandon Clemens, Entertainment and Community Relations Manager Brett Heikkila, Head Chef Jessica Fergesen, Director of Corporate Sales and Marketing Morgan Hawk, Radio Play-By-Play Broadcaster and Sales Charlie Patrick, Director of Finance Marcia Moran, Receptionist Seth Dohrn, Stadium Operations Manager (seasonal) Jesse Roeder, Sports Turf Manager (seasonal)
Knuckleballs: How does one go about getting a job working for you and the Kernels? Do you look for particular backgrounds/degrees?
Nelson: For part-time positions, an employment application can be downloaded from our web site www.kernels.com Applicants interested in full time and intern positions should send a resume and cover letter to the Kernels at doug@kernels.com.
I do not concentrate on any one type of background or degree. What is more important is that the individual has successfully completed an internship in baseball. The decision to work in this sport is as much a life style decision as a career decision. During the season, the staff will routinely work 70 – 80 hour weeks. Before an individual accepts a full time position, they and their families must accept this reality of our business.
Kernels Spirit Squad members “shoot” T-shirts in to the crowd between innings
Knuckleballs: Major League teams have a variety of revenue streams, with media deals becoming a bigger factor all the time. I assume a minor league team like the Kernels still must live and die with attendance and revenue from concessions that are also determined by the number of people who show up for games. Clearly, that means you need to be able to draw fans, regardless of the team’s Win-Loss record. How do you make sure fans still want to come to the ballpark even when the team is struggling on the field?
Nelson: A majority of our revenues do come from our baseball operations. Although the team’s record does impact attendance, weather, exciting promotions and providing excellent customer service have a greater impact on attendance. We do rely on other sources of income to supplement our baseball operations. This includes running the concession for the Cedar Rapids Ice Arena and the Iowa Equestrian Center as well as for the Kernels. As I mentioned before, we host over 100 non-Kernels events at the stadium each year, which helps generate additional income for the ball club.
Knuckleballs: This time of year, a MLB General Manager must be on his phone pretty much every minute of the day talking to other GMs about trades, etc. You don’t need to do that, but do you interact much with the other Midwest League General Managers or those of other Angels affiliates?
Nelson: A minor league GM position is completely different from a MLB GM. Since I have no say regarding player movement, my time is spent managing the venue and game promotions. With that said, I talk to my fellow MWL GMs on a regular basis sharing ideas.
Left Field picnic area of Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium
Knuckleballs: The stadium in Cedar Rapids is now just a bit over a decade old. It seems to be holding up fairly well, but logic would tell us that it’s probably due for some upgrades and maybe even some significant repairs. How does that process work? Is that the kind of thing you have to go to the local governmental body (city council, in Cedar Rapids’ case) to get funding for or does the team need to use their own funds for that kind of thing?
Nelson: It’s hard to believe, but this is the eleventh season for the ballpark. Overall the stadium is in great shape, however we are working on putting together a plan to fund capital repairs over the next ten years. The Kernels are the sole tenant of the stadium, the City owns the facility and the Veterans Commission owns the property the stadium is built on. As a three party partnership, we have created a long-term plan to insure the stadium is maintained and continues to meet our needs for many years to come.
Knuckleballs: I believe you’re finishing up your second year as the Kernels’ GM. I’d be interested in knowing what you’ve found to be your favorite part of the job. Also, has anything really surprised you… maybe something you had NO idea you’d be dealing with when you took the job?
Nelson: My favorite part of the job is talking baseball with our fans and sponsors during the game. I always enjoy getting to know the players, coaches and umpires. The biggest surprise to me was how cooperative everyone is in minor league baseball. Minor League Baseball Clubs do not view themselves as competitors, but as colleagues. As such, I can call any team up and get help on any topic.
Knuckleballs: Thank you, Doug. I appreciate you taking time out of that busy schedule to answer my questions!
I don’t know about anyone else, but that “70-80 hours” thing pretty much put to rest the “dream job” idea I started this interview with! I can say, however, that Doug and his staff do a great job with the Kernels and their hard work is evident every time I’m at the ballpark!
