Minnesota Twins Daily Clips

Transcription

1 Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Thursday, February 18, 2016 Major League Baseball comes out of hibernation this week. Star Tribune (Neal) p. 1 Twins call up Atmosphere song in new TV commercial. Star Tribune (Riemenschneider) p. 1 Reusse: Benson gets another shot with the Twins. Star Tribune (Reusse) p. 1 Finally healthy, Joe Mauer prepped for what Twins hope is a bounce-back year. Pioneer Press (Murphy) p. 3 Inbox: Will Duffey start 2016 in Triple-A? MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 4 AL Central Notes: Park, Smith, Indians, Brantley, Tigers. MLB Trade Rumors (Adams) p. 5 Major League Baseball comes out of hibernation this week La Velle E. Neal III Star Tribune February 18, 2016 Byung Ho Park is working out in Florida before his first MLB spring training, when everyone will begin to see if the power stroke that made him a star in Korea can translate to America. The Twins are prepared for Park to go through an adjustment period as he learns a new league, but no one knows how long that period will be. Manager Paul Molitor will have to figure out if Park is ready to be a fixture in the lineup, or if he ll need to be phased in. If this works out, it will be well worth the $12.85 million posting fee the Twins paid to negotiate with him. But how patient will the Twins have to be? Twins call up Atmosphere song in new TV commercial Chris Riemenschneider Star Tribune February 17, 2016 After a few bleak years where they mostly played AutoTuned teenybopper music at Target Field, the Twins have been connecting well with the Twin Cities music scene in recent years via their Midwest Music series. Now they ve hit a wait for it! home run with a new TV commercial that prominently features the Atmosphere song Sunshine, a fan favorite by Minneapolis MVP hip-hop group. Summertime is almost here, reads the ad, which shows Twins stars Miguel Sanó, Glen Perkins and Brian Dozier rolling around grooving to the tune in a vintage candy-apple-red Ford Fairlane convertible with mascot T.C. Bear in the middle and the equally cuddly Joe Mauer at the wheel. (Insert joke here about one of the other guys needing to be in the driver seat this season). The commercial is the product of another well-known local music scene figure, filmmaker Dan Huiting, who has helmed eye-catching videos for Bon Iver, Poliça and Trampled by Turtles as well as directed many of TPT Channel 2 s music specials. He and Minneapolis ad agency Periscope picked the perfect song in this case, since the commercial aims to hype single-game ticket sales (which start Saturday) with good-timey summer vibes. Props to Sanó, in particular, for selling the beat with some slick moves. No comment on You Know Who. Reusse: Benson gets another shot with the Twins Patrick Reusse Star Tribune February 18, 2016 FORT MYERS, FLA. Outfielder Joe Benson had finished his 10th professional summer batting.250 in 54 games for Binghamton, the Mets farm club in the Class AA Eastern League. He was home in Chicago for the winter, working out for another season, and wondering if someone would give him a

2 chance. I had finished in Double-A for the fourth straight year, Benson said. I m sure there are teams that lose interest when they see that on a veteran player s résumé. Benson had Mike Hollimon, a former infielder in the Twins organization and elsewhere, serving as his agent. Hollimon called a week before Thanksgiving and told Benson that he had received a strange voice mail from Brad Steil, the minor league director for the Twins. Steil wanted to know if I had any resentment or other bad feelings toward the Twins, Benson said. I said to Mike, Why would I? The Twins gave me 7 ½ years at the start of my career. Call him back. Steil told Hollimon the Twins wanted to sign Benson to a minor league contract. And it came with the deal-maker in most such offers: an invitation to bigleague spring training. With that, Benson told Hollimon to accept whatever the Twins were offering. He s back with the organization that signed him as a second-round draft choice out of Joliet (Ill.) Catholic Academy in He s back with the organization that waived him in May 2013, and watched him get claimed by Texas. Benson started off hot for Frisco in the Class AA Texas League. Followers of the Twins were in a hyper-critical mood by then. There were insults hurled at the organization for giving up on another player with potential to tap. It didn t work out that way. Benson batted.205 at Frisco and became a minor league free agent after the season. He signed with Miami and spent most of the 2014 season in the Class AA Southern League, batting.264 with 10 home runs and 62 RBI. Those numbers didn t get him a spot on the 40-man roster, and again he became a minor league free agent. This time, he was signed by Atlanta, spent two months in Class AAA and was released by the Braves in June. I then spent five games playing for Gary Gaetti in Sugar Land, Texas... the Sugar Land Skeeters, Benson said. That s quite a league: seven teams on the East Coast and the Skeeters. The good part is when you start a road trip, you fly. Benson would have stuck around with the Skeeters, but the Mets called and offered him a job. He played two months in Binghamton, then went back on the massive list of minor league free agents the players with six years as a professional and no spot on a 40-man roster. He had 7 ½ years with the Twins, and then he was with four organizations over the next 2 ½ years. No wonder getting a call from Brad Steil was like hearing from a lost relative. Except: This call was an offer of some money, rather than a request for it. Benson had signed a football scholarship to Purdue as a running back. He brought speed and a powerful 6-foot-2 frame to baseball. Unfortunately for Joe, he was striking out before striking out was cool. It took to his fifth season, but he still was only 22, when he had the year that made the Twins feel as if that second-round selection would pay off: He started strong at Class A Fort Myers, and was promoted to Class AA New Britain, where he had 23 home runs and 49 RBI in 374 at-bats. Spring training of 2011 that s when I felt there was a shot, if I had a good spring, Benson said. Benson had 24 at-bats with four hits that spring. He went back to New Britain and hit.284 with 16 home runs and 67 RBI. He also had 111 strikeouts in 409 at-bats. Benson was called up in September and played in the Twins final 21 games, starting 19 at the various outfield positions. The production was minimal but Joe showed some energy in those final weeks. That was a contrast to most everything the fans had seen from the Twins that season. Few people felt that when Benson went 2-for-4 vs. Kansas City on Sept. 28, 2011 the 1-0 victory that allowed the Twins to avoid 100 losses that he wouldn t be seen again at Target Field. 2

3 Joe Benson was 23 then and still a notable prospect, and now he s about to turn 28 as a journeyman. How much longer, Joe? I have friends who go to work in a cubicle every day, Benson said. I m single. I don t have to do that. He paused. He looked across a collection of baseball fields. There was a smile. I m not ready to grow up, he said. Baseball is fun. There are a lot of good people in baseball. It s all I know. Finally healthy, Joe Mauer prepped for what Twins hope is a bounce-back year Brian Murphy Pioneer Press February 17, 2016 Getting to Joe Mauer s private gym at Mauer Chevrolet is a workout itself. The path leads through the Inver Grove Heights showroom, past the parts and services garage before one climbs a steel staircase, walks down a storage corridor and comes to a closet door. On the other side, the Twins veteran first baseman and his strength coach, Roger Erickson, are into their Thursday regimen. The makeshift room is the size of a studio apartment. There are mirrored walls, plus a handful of scattered weight machines and benches. Country music plays softly on a stereo. The room temperature is cranked high. This is where Mauer has spent each week since mid-november, grinding through stretching and conditioning drills that helped him play a career-high 158 games in 2015 following several seasons short-circuited by leg injuries and concussions. Last year was a good year for me as far as staying healthy, he said. It s more maintenance to retain that flexibility. In 2011, I rushed back from knee surgery and that led to a lot of problems that didn t allow me to work on strengthening my legs. I m excited this offseason that I ve been able to make strides with that. Mauer, 32, says he feels stronger and healthier than he has in six years. He expects to report to spring training in Fort Myers, Fla., next week at about 230 pounds, slightly heavier but less bulky than he has been. A different 230 this year, he said. Priority No. 1 is eradicating blurred vision that occasionally hampered his ability to track pitches after Mauer suffered a concussion in August 2013 that ended his catching career. He plans to experiment with sunglasses early in camp to help cut down on glare. I don t want that to be kind of an excuse. If I m out there, I m out there. That s just the way I am, Mauer said. There are times I ve gone up to the plate and I just couldn t pick up the ball. That s part of the frustration because I m trying to do everything I can to get back. It just takes time. Mauer has been symptom-free during three months of offseason workouts, which include hitting soft toss in the batting cage. He is optimistic neck and eye exercises Erickson designed will provide consistent relief. The real test comes when Mauer faces live pitching again. Early in camp Mauer will experiment with sunglasses at the plate to reduce glare. I ve been really happy with where I m at and excited to get better and better, he said last week. This is a pivotal season for Mauer to prove whether were anomalies or should expectations be recalibrated. Mauer hit.324 and won the Silver Slugger award for catchers in his abbreviated 2013 season. The 2009 American League most valuable player was on a hall of fame path before his concussion. Since then, Mauer has hit 50 points below his career average. His slugging and on-base percentages have plummeted while his strikeouts soared. 3

4 Mauer was renowned for opposite-field power and spraying hits, but defensive shifts have shrunken those holes. Moreover, the hitter who famously never struck out during his high school career at Cretin-Derham Hall, who averaged just 46 strikeouts his first eight seasons, fanned a career-high 112 times in The one thing he did last year that I didn t anticipate he struck out a lot, Twins general manager Terry Ryan said. I didn t expect to see him strike out that frequently. Now, hopefully, he ll adjust. Is it reasonable to expect Mauer to hit.300 again or hit at least 15 home runs? When I look at Joe Mauer, I still see such a great swing that he can still be one of the best hitters in baseball, said MLB Network analyst Harold Reynolds. The older you get, you have to maintain your health so you re not getting beat on fastballs and can still put the ball in play. It s a shame injuries moved him from being a catcher. It s changed the perception of who he was. To be at first base and not have the production there, that s the national knock on Joe Mauer. It s hard to have a first baseman with less than double-digit home runs. Mauer believes sluggers like right fielder Miguel Sano and newly acquired South Korean designated hitter Byung Ho Park will protect him more in the batting order. He also has full faith in Erickson, the former Cretin-Derham Hall coach who worked with the Baltimore Ravens during their 2012 Super Bowl season. His track record speaks for itself, Mauer said. I know he trained Matt Birk and Corbin Lacina. Matt played 15 years in the NFL. A light bulb went on and I figured I had to see what this was about. From the first meeting I had with Roger, I walked out of that feeling so much better. I don t think I was addressing minor problems well, he added. By focusing on strength and flexibility, I was able to play through a lot of things, and hopefully that allows me to play longer. Mauer spends 90 minutes stretching before batting practice and another hour on postgame maintenance. It s not the big things, it s the little things you can do daily, Erickson said. That s hard to do. Joe s perfect for that. You tell him something and he does it. Three years ago we were dealing with his concussion. Last year we had a full offseason and made some pretty big gains. This year we started with no dings at all. He s gotten so much stronger this offseason. Mauer is a shrewd and deceptively fast base runner who has transformed himself into a solid first baseman. But he is getting paid $23 million a year to produce big numbers at the plate. Mauer is confident he can regain his hitting prowess. The Twins expect it. We re looking for more, Ryan said. He s got the ability to drive in more runs, more doubles, hit for a higher average. He had a (2015 season in which) you could at least depend on him being available. He didn t have the type of year he was anticipating, and I would say we re looking forward to a bounceback year. Inbox: Will Duffey start 2016 in Triple-A? Rhett Bollinger MLB.com February 17, 2016 MINNEAPOLIS -- Several teams already have reported to Spring Training, but Twins pitchers and catchers don't report until Sunday, with the first workouts set for Monday at the CenturyLink Sports Complex in Fort Myers, Fla. The offseason is all but wrapped up, so now it's time for the final Twins Inbox before Spring Training begins: With the way he pitched late last year, is there really any chance Tyler Duffey starts out at Triple-A Rochester? What else does he need to prove? -- Dave M., St. Cloud, Minn. It's going to be one of the more interesting position battles at camp, as Duffey certainly pitched well enough down the stretch to merit a spot in the rotation this year, but he's competing against veterans with larger contracts, such as Ricky Nolasco and Tommy Milone. Nolasco is owed $25 million over 4

5 the next two years, while Milone is set to earn $4.5 million after his second year of arbitration. So when I wrote as part of the Spring Training preview that Nolasco and Milone have a leg up for the last two spots after Ervin Santana, Kyle Gibson and Phil Hughes, it's because if they pitch similarly to Duffey in spring they have the advantage because of their contract situations. But it will be a legitimate competition, and if Milone or Nolasco falter, it would definitely open the door for Duffey and potentially even Trevor May. But May still appears more likely to give the back end of the bullpen a much-needed power arm. And top prospect Jose Berrios likely is ticketed for Triple-A Rochester, barring an exceptional spring or an unforeseen injury to a starting pitcher. After reading the stories about Joe Mauer's vision problems after his concussion, my question is why didn't he tell the coaches or trainers the last two years? -- Mark S., Detroit Lakes, Minn. It's a great question and really only one that Mauer can answer. It's hard to say how often Mauer was affected by vision problems during day games the last two years after his season-ending concussion in If it really was a consistent problem, Mauer should've told the training staff, especially if he believed it was hurting his production. The numbers have obviously declined the last two years, and this could be a reason why. That's why I'm so curious to see how Mauer does this spring with so many day games and Mauer's plan to wear sunglasses at the plate. It's something to monitor going forward. If it can help Mauer regain some offensive production, it would be a major boost for the Twins. A lot has been said about the farm system, for obvious reasons. Jorge Polanco had a good year last year. Even though Danny Santana is out of options, what are Polanco's chances of making the team at shortstop? -- Ross D., Vermillion, S.D. At this point, Eduardo Escobar will be the starting shortstop after his impressive second half last year, and I don't see a situation where Polanco makes the roster over Santana. Polanco, 22, is MLBPipeline.com's No. 97 overall prospect and needs consistent playing time, so it makes more sense for Santana to be a utility player instead of Polanco. Polanco has the tools to be an above-average hitter for a middle infielder with plus-speed, but he still needs to work on his defense at shortstop. He's made strides, but there's no guarantee he can stick there, because there are question marks about his arm. He's probably best suited for second base, but with Brian Dozier there, the Twins will have an interesting decision coming up to decide what to do with Polanco going forward. After watching him struggle with the Twins last year, I worried about Byron Buxton's potential. But after seeing where he's ranked on prospect lists, is it too early to panic after last season? -- Brian F., Woodbury, Minn. Despite his low offensive numbers in his first taste of the Majors, Buxton is still ranked as the No. 2 overall prospect by just about every publication, including MLBPipeline.com. So it's definitely way too early to panic. The tools are all there, as he remains one of the fastest players in baseball and is already a plus-defender with a strong arm in center field. The biggest question is how he hits going forward. Based on his Minor League track record, which included a propensity to struggle early on at each level, Buxton should develop into a strong hitter who will grow into some power. Buxton is an incredibly hard worker and is fully dedicated to reaching his potential. But he has to stay healthy, which has been perhaps more of a concern than even his struggles at the plate last year. AL Central Notes: Park, Smith, Indians, Brantley, Tigers Steve Adams MLB Trade Rumors February 17, 2016 Nine different Twins talent evaluators saw Byung-ho Park in person before the team submitted its $12.85MM bid earlier this offseason, Minnesota vice president of personnel Mike Radcliff tells David Dorsey of the News-Press Media Group. Radcliff himself was among those who watched Park personally in South Korea, having been to Korea in four of the past six seasons, per Dorsey. It s a different style, said Radcliff of Korean baseball. They swing hard and often over there. There s a transition. But we think his swing is Americanized, if you will. He has less movement in his body, from head to toe. He will see velocities he hasn t seen much of before. But we think the transition will be good, if you will. There just aren t too many situations to compare him to. Here s more on the Twins and their division The Twins continue to poke around the trade market for left-handed relief help and like Brewers left-hander Will Smith quite a bit, reports 1500 ESPN s Darren Wolfson in his latest podcast (audio link, with Twins talk firing up around the 37:45 mark). There s certainly no indication that Milwaukee is looking to move Smith, although as this winter s Ken Giles trade showed, moving a controllable relief arm can certainly bolster a farm system in a hurry. 5

6 The Twins have no shortage of minor league talent that could entice the Brewers, though GM Terry Ryan recently spoke about a number of in-house options that intrigue him as lefty options in the bullpen, calling out Taylor Rogers and J.T. Chargois by name. The Indians have shuffled their Latin American Operations department, writes Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer. After an amicable split between the organization and former Latin American director Ramon Pena, the Indians have promoted Koby Perez to that post and made a series of subsequent promotions. Previously, Pena had overseen all Latin American scouting, player development and operations, but those responsibilities will be spread out among different officials now, Hoynes continues. Hoynes spoke to Cleveland president of baseball operations about the team s approach in Latin America and how the Indians plan to leverage their player development resources in that sphere. Indians outfielder Michael Brantley has begun taking no-contact swings, writes MLB.com s Jordan Bastian. Brantley, who underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his right shoulder back in November and was said to have a recovery timeline of five to six months, reported to camp early and will need to progress to hitting off a tee and eventually taking batting practice before he s ready for in-game action, Bastian writes. Bastian spoke to GM Mike Chernoff and hitting coach Ty Van Burkleo about Brantley s progress and the possibility of a swifter-than-expected return. knowing him and his makeup and how hard he works, and our training staff, how diligent they are, I m pleased, but I wouldn t say I m surprised [by his progress], said Van Burkleo. Right-hander Michael Fulmer, the key piece received by the Tigers in July s Yoenis Cespedes trade, is viewed by the organization as a starter but could factor into the team s bullpen in 2016, writes Anthony Fenech of the Detroit Free Press. Justin Verlander, Jordan Zimmermann, Anibal Sanchez and Mike Pelfrey are locks for the rotation, with lefty Daniel Norris favored to land the fifth spot, but manager Brad Ausmus was open to the idea of Fulmer in a relief role this year. Realistically, if he were to make the club, he would probably be a reliever, Ausmus told Fenech. If he were not to make the club, he would probably be a starter. You have enough time in spring training that even if he s coming out of the pen right now in big league camp, there will be a point where if you think he s going to be a starter in Toledo, we can make the switch and get his innings up before the start of the season. 6