Twins get strong return from Perkins; next is Liriano
Posted on June 17th, 2009 – 8:17 AMBy Joe Christensen
The first question for Glen Perkins was about his new beard: What’s this, a playoff beard?
“No, it’s my, I-had-nothing-better-to-do-in-Florida beard,” he said after the Twins 8-2 victory over Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. “I’ve gotten mixed reactions on it. Let’s leave it at that, but it’s going to stay.”
Yes, Perkins was glad to be back from his rehab stint in Fort Myers, Fla. After being out since May 18 with nerve irritation in his left elbow, Perkins held the Pirates to two runs over six innings for his first victory since April 19, improving to 2-3 with a 5.09 ERA.
“I thought he got better as the game went along,” Manager Ron Gardenhire said, adding that the Twins would have sent Perkins back for the seventh inning, had the previous half-inning not taken so long.
Most importantly, Perkins said his elbow has not bothered him since those first few days after his May 18 outing against the Yankees. Looking back, Perkins thinks he might have tweaked the nerve with a dumbbell exercise. So he stopped doing that exercise and hasn’t felt anything since.
Tonight, the Twins will see if Francisco Liriano can turn in his third consecutive quality start. The first two — at Seattle and at Oakland — went unrewarded, leaving Liriano at 2-7 with a 5.99 ERA.
Check back here for the starting lineups this afternoon.
83 Responses to "Twins get strong return from Perkins; next is Liriano"
Perkins didn’t look so bad against a scrappy Pittsburgh team. I liked Nyjer Morgan’s stirrup socks and McCutcherhair’s dreadlocks. Plus they know how to turn a double play.
Can anyone remind me what happened the last time the Twins played the NL central for interleague play?
Didn’t we play .650 baseball the rest of the year?
shaun,
I was digging the stirrups as well.
Anyone else worried about the hype over hitting .400? Gardy said why not talk .500? George Brett said they drove him nuts when he hit .390
I hope Joe just keeps telling them he’s boring.
I was just thinking how much Perkins reminded me of a young Mark Buerle. Now with this beard, the transformation is almost complete
I’m a Twins and Braves fan, both of whom have talented yet disappointing outfielders, Delmon Young and Jeff Francouer. How about a swap? Would probably do both players and both teams some good.
we have an everyday bashing of dy on here, when he doesn’t play or his mom dies it continues. but it is nothing like the bashing francouer gets on the braves blogs.
lots of bloggers here would be happy to have a new target!
it probably would do them both some good.
Anyone want to speculate what the figures are being discussed in a new Mauer contract? 18-20mil/yr, through 2015? His stock goes up by the day…
Excited to see Pridie play. We haven’t had >1 Jason in the majors since Bartlett/Tyner/Kubel in 2007! I only care b/c that’s my name…
Sorry, Tap. Francouer batted .239 last year. We’re not THAT disappointed in Delmon.
Pridie bores me offensively. But, it will be nice to have his defense, from what I read/hear.
I’m no fan of the “he’s put in his time, and earned it” rule though. Hopefully it is more that he’s good than it’s his time.
I don’t envision Mr. Pridie playing much at all anyways. Gomez, Young, Kubel, and Cuddyer are all starting to swing the bat well.
I’m thinking that DY will continue to improve his hitting with more playing time and I think his defense is getting better too. It will be interesting to see how DY and GoGo do with consistent playing time now that Denard is on the DL. No way would I trade for Francouer and maybe Cuddyer should plan on getting a cortisone shot every week - it could help his BA.
3 year extension through 2013, so 4 total years (incl 2010). total contract = 72.5 million. joe gets 12.5 next year, so this contract would mean he is getting 60 for 3 years following 2010. could go something like:
2010 = 15.5 mil (3 mil bump)
2011 = 17.5
2012 = 19.5
2013 = 20
Seems to me if anyone can handle the hype about .400 and keep it real (to the extent possible), it’s Mauer. Maybe I’m a huge homer for thinking that, but the guy is pretty even keel.
Even though Delmon has been a disapointment, I still believe Delmon has more upside than Francoeur. So if I’m going to deal one disapointment for another I’d rather have the one with upside.
Ok 2 different David’s. I’m the second one, just changed my name.
justin is “only” getting 14 mil a year after this year for a total of 56 mil. joe would get 72.5, which is almost 30% more than moreneau (2nd highest paid twin) which is high enough. if anything they would extend the deal til like 2014 or 2015 and bump the toal up to 90-110 mil.
They don’t want Mauer and Morneau contracts expiring the same year, one more thing to think about.
I’d love to lock up Mauer and Morneau long-term for whatever it takes, but I can’t imagine this club having the payroll to keep both and still field a quality team.
they are both being paid well this year. In a couple years if you do not have Nathans or Cuddyers salary it is possible to afford them both as long as you are willing to live with young pitchers every couple years
I would be shocked if the Twins don’t lock up Super Joe. He will be a Twin for life imo.
I think the Twins need to lock Mauer up for 9-10 years, somewhere in the $200 Million range.
The guy is just 26, and his best years are ahead of him. We have a good backup C in the system in Morales, and a potential starter in Ramos, so if Mauer’s 6′5” body starts to break down in the future, the Twins could use him similar to how the Indians use Victor Martinez; catching 3-4 days a week and DH the other days. I also think Mauer is a good enough athlete to switch to 3B in the future, although he is such a great defensive catcher that the Twins should keep him at C as long as they can.
If Mauer can continue to hit in the 25-30 HR range (which is probably where he will end up this year), I think he would be well worth the money
Let’s hope Crian’s demotion works out. Wasn’t Rivas similarly close to 5 years service time and that demotion didn’t go over well in the clubhouse.
Agree, Aaron, a lifer like Kirby and Herbie. But I think Justin will follow Torii and Santana for the big payday.
Joe will be a Red Sox or a Yankee. And you can take that to the bank…….
Yeah, he’d be stupid not to take a quarter billion like A-Rod gets.
Bigger contract than a third world country’s economy.
shaun,
Not to mention the endorsement opportunities.
Yeah, Paul, a little folding money from endorsements. When the player’s head swells and he starts bad mouthing the team and they get such an inflated estimation of their talent, who cares if they leave. Chuck Knoblach couldn’t even throw from second to first after he left. He couldn’t even throw 90 feet accurately, how funny is that? But at least he’s rich beyond his wildest dreams.
The Cisco kid is way overdue for a win and Snell is terrible. Twins should go over .500 tonight.
too bad about span..hopefully the days off will help him get back in the line-up..on the plus side, lots of playing time for young and gomez to turn it around and get on a streak..i don’t see pridie getting a lot of playing time while he’s up with the twins
JC - you will be a red sox or yank before joe mauer ever will and thats what you can bank on….get real and quit trying to get a rise out of people…that mauer guy is minnesota born and bred and will always be here, just like herbie….
mike wants wins,
I finally got the answer to my question as to why Aaron Hicks was in stuck in EST when many lesser players were already playing A-ball.
He is currently on a two-week break (from EST) at home in Long Beach, Ca., prior to being assigned.
The Twins haven’t revealed the assignment to him, but hopefully he will be going to Beloit (Low-A), not Elizabethton. (High Rookie)
The Twins have been working on his left-handed hitting to all fields.
His running, throwing (obviously), fielding, baserunning and right-handed hitting were all fine.
Apparently, he was not handling the outside corner pitches left-handed, and the Twins wanted that cleared up before he left Fort Myers.
I only wanted an answer, which I couldn’t get from the Twins, but I got from one of my ex-players, who is a close friend of Hicks.
I think that the explanation is more than satisfactory, and did not have to have Top Secret Classification, since April.
I also hope that my life is not in danger as a Top Secret informant.
BTW, sane is not my real name.
It doesn’t even describe me.
Intangibles in favor of the Twins:
• Mauer’s agent, Shapiro, is not Boras (previous clients include Ripken and Puckett…single team careers)
• Mauer is a homegrown, local legend that carries more clout than any other place…and it strokes any ego ever so nicely, even Joe Mauer’s.
• Mauer’s boyfriend plays for the Twins
• That new stadium smell
• He can eat dinner at home…literally, with mom and dad.
Intangibles playing against the Twins:
• NYY and Boston
• A katrillion dollars on the table
• Mauer’s could pair up with his boyfriend again in NY or BOS
• In your face, awkward interviews by Robbie Inkmasdhfowski
dmoen21:
Exactly right on your Mauer signing post. The Twins can afford a $150M - $200M spread out over 10 years, with a personal services contract for yet another 10 years at around $1m to $2m per year. This is what ARod has with the Yanks.
As such, the Twins would have room to retain/sign other good players to stay competitive.
However, the big unknown is what will be the attendance at The Target after wears off the new-stadium novelty.
Sheesh, sheesh, sheesh. If only the Twins could average 35K fans per game for several seasons. Remember, the Twins were the first team, or at least the first AL team, to exceed 3m in attendance.
If the Twins had averaged as such during the 2002 - 2007 seasons, then, today, it’s likely that at least one, if not both, Santana and Hunter still would be Twins.
sane -
Nice inside info - much appreciated. I’ll tell the world your story if you disappear.
FWIW, Shooter (I know, I know) said earlier that the decision on his destination was between the two A clubs, Beliot and FtM.
sane: I think most people frustrated with the Hicks situation (including me) imagined the Twins had *some* rationale for keeping him at EST very much akin to the one you say is in fact THE reason. I think most people frustrated will not now say to themselves “ooooooh, well that makes perfect sense then”, as it’s difficult to believe he couldn’t have worked on hitting outside pitches left-handed at all while also playing competitive baseball. At least they HAVE some kinda story… Very nice dig-up, all the same. Fingers are crossed that he goes to Beloit — it must be a consideration if they haven’t told him yet.
“I’d love to lock up Mauer and Morneau long-term for whatever it takes, but I can’t imagine this club having the payroll to keep both and still field a quality team.”
I think it would be much more difficult to field a quality team if you lose either one of those guys than it would be if you lost one and kept everyone else.
The key for the Twinkies is spending more wisely on role players. $4 mil/yr for Punto and $8 mil/yr for Cuddyer are the types of things that kill a payroll, especially when you have replacement players available for the mlb minimum without a steep drop off.
Guys like Kubel, Delmon and GoGo might not be here for the long term, but that’s okay if guys like Revere and Hicks progress as expected. Losing Mauer or Morneau would be a disaster both on the field and from a public relations standpoint.
toby,
The advantage to Hicks working on his flaws at EST, is the access to full-time instructors who are available at EST, not at Beloit.
Even the Fort Myers coaching staff has to waste time in game preparation, so the EST staff is better equipped to deal with full-time instruction.
My curiosity and familiarity with Hicks were the reasons I needed (wanted?) to know what the problems were, that needed correction.
Give Mauer the naming rights to the stadium after he retires! Joe Mauer Stadium has a nice ring to it - that could be a nice contract incentive!
Remember, the Twins were the first team, or at least the first AL team, to exceed 3m in attendance.
If the Twins had averaged as such during the 2002 - 2007 seasons, then, today, it’s likely that at least one, if not both, Santana and Hunter still would be Twins
Cause and effect: Win world series, get high attendance
If the Twins did that once or twice from 2002-2007 that 35K fans figure would not have been out of reach.
I think the Twins will have to break the bank to get Mauer. He will win his 3rd batting title this year and it probably won’t be his last. He’s going to be a perennial Gold Glove, All-Star and Silver Slugger winner. An MVP is probably also in his future. Teixeira is an All-Star caliber 1B with Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards as well. He got $180M/8 yrs but he’s a 1B who’s 3 years older. Whom would you rather have on your team?
Paco:
“Losing Mauer or Morneau would be a disaster both on the field and from a public relations standpoint.”
You nailed it bro.
t98:
You blogged “Cause and effect: Win world series, get high attendance
If the Twins did that once or twice from 2002-2007 that 35K fans figure would not have been out of reach.”
I couldn’t disagree more with you. Boston, Philly, Cubs, Giants, Dodgers, Padres, Mariners, Phils, Tigers, Chisox, Astros, Yanks (of course), Rockies, Rangers, Braves, to name a few, ha ha, have all outdrawn the Twins in attendance this century.
It’s unrealistic to expect a team to even make a WS appearance more than once a decade, but it’s not unrealistic to expect that a team be competitive in September. To say that the Twins can only draw when the team wins a WS is so unrealistic, that if you were a GM or marketing rep for a team, it’d be bankrupt.
T98, the Twins are one of MLB’s winningest teams this century. That s/b enough to draw 35k plus fans per game. It’s a symbiotic relationship; that is, you can’t have one without the other.
“Cause and effect: Win world series, get high attendance … If the Twins did that once or twice from 2002-2007 that 35K fans figure would not have been out of reach.”
no different than two dozen other teams. (and if my aunt had balls she’d be my uncle.)
We could rename the team the “Minnesota Joe Mauers”
Good idea, GW. 3M should have bought Target Field. Call them Minnesota Mauer and Morneau.
The two dozen teams that didn’t win WS over that time have low attendance - cause and effect.
If the Twins are required to win the WS “once or twice” every five years, in order to draw, they are in deep do-do.
There are 30 MLB teams, many of whom have far better financial-strategical situations than the Twins.
The Las Vegas Twins might be able to pull that off, but that is highly unlikely, also.
Joe Mauer in the news quite a bit recently. Found this tidbit:
TOP FIVE FACTS FOR THIS NAME
1. 57% of the letters are vowels. Of one million first and last names we looked at, 0.4% have a higher vowel make-up. This means he is extremely well envoweled.
2. In ASCII binary it is… 01001010 01101111 01100101 00100000 01010010 01100101 01100101 01110011
3.Backwards, it is Eoj Reuam… nice ring to it, huh?
4.In Pig Latin, it is Oejay Auermay.
5.People with this first name are probably: Male. So, there’s a 98% likelihood you sweat just thinking of the price of shaver blades.
I can’t help but think how great it would be to have Perkins out of the bullpen. Maybe Swarzak can come back, pitch well, and Perkins can move to the setup role Crain was supposed to have.
Shaun,
Ok… listen very closely… I want you to put down the can of paint thinner and call 9-1-1 immediately..
Sane & Too Nice:
It’s enough that the Twins have been one of the winningest team this century.
How many WS have the Yanks won this century?
It’s a symbiotic relationship. The Twins have upheld its end of the bargain by winning in this century. Time for the fans to show up or shut up.
Joe the First
Not sure why you are replying to me - I was being sarcastic.
Oh, wise guy, huh ES16?
Well take this:
TOP FIVE FACTS FOR YOUR NAME
1)44% of the letters are vowels. Of one million first and last names we looked at, 15.8% have a higher vowel make-up. This means you are very well envoweled.
2)In ASCII binary it is… 01000101 01110011 00100000 01010011 01101001 01111000 01110100 01100101 01100101 01101110
3)Backwards, it is Se Neetxis… nice ring to it, huh?
4)In Pig Latin, it is Esway Ixteensay.
People with this first name are probably: Male or female… We don’t know yet. We’re working on it!
The Twins had over 25,000 paid attendance last night for a game with the Pirates.
I have to believe that’s well above the average attendance for Pirate road games (not to mention their home games).
Right, J-Crik. Looked like a good crowd. Twins are two games out, should be in First Place by Monday morning. Great time to go see a game!
JimC,
Pittsburgh is averaging over 29k for road games (17k for home games).
wow, I admit Im surprised. I wouldn’t think most NL ballparks would fill up to see the Pirates in town. I guess maybe divisional opponents draw pretty well no matter how bad they are.
Its really a shame about the Pittsburgh attendance too. Beautiful ballpark. Goes to show you what 16 straight losing seasons will do to the fanbase. If Target Field is as good as PNC park I’d be overjoyed.
Did you hear the piece today on ESPN radio? Why the Yankees complete for WS titles and the Twins never do. Basically they said the Yanks ownership runs it as a compassionate hobby and Twins ownership runs its organization as a strict business. They ALL have $$$$ and a hobby owner doesn’t mind losing $$$$ while a business owner never will lose $$$$, yet the teams suffer. Said both will never see funds reduced on a personal/family level.
The Twins need this game badly to go over .500. The line-up I’d like to see:
1. Harris SS
2. Mauer C
3. Morneau 1B
4. Cuddyer RF
5. Kubel LF
6. Crede 3B
7. Morales DH
8. Gomez CF
9. Punto 2B
The Pirates have two left-handed relievers, Burnett and Grabow. They have not yet used them in the series.
Put Cuddy between Morneau and Kubel for left-right-left switching.
Crede is only batting .218 against RHP. Move him down the line-up against the right-hander Snell.
Delmon Young played well yesterday. 2 for 4 in the Dome, and a couple of good defensive plays. Maybe use him as a pinch hitter. I’m tempted to start him in left field, but I think Morales is more likely to contribute offense today.
did espn radio happen to mention the $$$$ disparity in tv rights and advertising revenue?
You do realize that’s a load of crap, right JCS? You can’t believe everything you hear on ESPN radio.
Whether you call it a hobby or call it a business, neither the Steinbrenners nor the Pohlads make decisions that will result in losing money. It’s pretty easy to spend tons of money on your “hobby” when you’ve got virtually an unlimited income stream. Don’t buy in to the Eastern Seaboard Propaganda Network. George and his boys are making a ton of money in NYC… and they haven’t exactly been swimming in WS titles lately to show for their investment.
Great reply, Jim Insect.
JC Smith,
The entire ESPN empire is totally devoted to ratings. They get the most ratings by giving positive coverage to teams in the biggest television markets. That’s why ESPN, when it actually covers baseball, always fawns over the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, Dodgers, Angels, and Cubs. Those teams have huge television markets and those teams are currently competitive. When the Astros or Diamondbacks (huge TV markets) are good, they get the same treatment.
Winning in baseball is too complicated to summarize as “The Yankees want it more,” or “the Yankees have great passion for the game.” That is just a cliche from a sports announcer desperately trying to boost ratings in the New York market.
Wanting it more is important in sports, but it’s not the only thing. Talent, ability, poise, and preparation count more.
My wife, son, and I saw two Twins/Pirates games at PNC two years ago. It’s the best park in which I’ve seen a mlb game. Even going to the park is cool; the Roberto Clemente bridge is closed to traffic, so it’s a great pedestrian walkway.
Saw the Kube blast one in a Saturday game.
Mauer Power,
The Twins are #8 in telivision viewership (108000 households). The “small market” argument is BS. We have plenty of viewers. Here’s the link.
https://www.sportsbusinessjournal.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=archive.table&tableId=SBJ200906010301-01
good call, D-Luxxx
I wish the broadcasters would realize they are preaching to a bigger audience than senior citizens and kiddies.
The “Small Market” doesn’t come from TV viewership, at least not solely.
But the Yanks, Mets, and BoSox still top the list. Houston and Arizona have smaller markets than the Twins, so viewership has limited impact on what they report. We are simply a fly over state.
That’s interesting, D’Lux. I also suspect they are on to something with the “runs it as a compassionate hobby” versus “a strict business” opinion also.
mike-your posts bore me,so there!
good come back geno. don’t want to get involved but this shuts people up too:
Yes, not simply from viewership. His argument was based on viewrship, however, and that was what I was pointing out. Keep in mind that we have a larger market than just Minnesota. There are many fans in the Dakotas, Iowa, Nebraska (well, maybe not Nebraska) etc.
MP I’d take your lineup w/ Young in Morales’s spot. Young has been hitting much better recently (.310 w/ 5 RBI and 14 Ks in 11 games in June) and has fielding is improving as well. Plus, Morales being a switch-hitter is a more valuable pinch-hitter.
Which explains why we have a large amout of viewers, but not a whole lot of fans showing up to the games.
Wow, I need to complete a thought before posting. I should probably spell check as well. =)
“mickey mental says:June 17th, 2009 at 2:57 pm
did espn radio happen to mention the $$$$ disparity in tv rights and advertising revenue?”
Dead on Correct!!!
Yankees local broadcast rights EACH YEAR in the $200 mil range. That’s got to be atleast $20-30 mil more than the Twins.
Regards,
D-Luxxxx,
Is Houston really a small market? Houston is the 4th largest city in the US. Plus, Houston only has the one baseball club; the 3 largest cities all have two.
Mauer Power, I like your lineup. Interesting how Crede’s BA is lower against righties, but his OPS is over 100 points higher (.803 against righties and .681 against lefties). OBP is about the same either way, but slugging way is higher against righties.
Just check out the link. I’m not saying that Houston has a small population, and I’m not saying that the Twins beat them in attendance (although it would be interesting to check that out, I may get back to you). What I was pointing to is that the Twins draw a larger TV viewership than Houston.
Home attendance for the 2008 Houston Astros 2,779,287.
Home attendance for the 2008 Twins 2,302,431.
Houston didn’t break the 3 million mark until 2000 (indecently in Enron Field possibly the shortest run at a field name 2000 & 2001).
The Twins did it only once in 88.
The Astros have seen a decline in attendance in the last few years, but the twins have improved every year since 2004.
i say it is about time we see the starting pitchers reign in their eras we have most of them up there in the 5 range. not good if they expect to compete over the rest of the season, these guys have been schooled well and have experience and talented enough to start turning in consisitent games. blackburn is about the only one doing that, and baker recently
