Puckett's Pond » Tigers

Twins dodge a bullet as Oakland signs Brandon Inge

Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:47:24 +0000

The Twins have a well-documented obsession with acquiring Detroit Tiger castoffs, so when the Tigers jettisoned Brandon Inge earlier this week, it was absolutely no surprise that the Twins were rumored to be thinking about signing him. It was no surprise, but it was a disappointment, since Inge is a weak hitter, well past his prime, who would add very little to the Twins’ roster.

Fortunately for the Twins, the Oakland Athletics have prevented Minnesota from making another questionable decision by stepping in and signing Inge. Combined that with the 7-3 win over the Royals to avert a homestand sweep, and the Twins have dodged two bullets today.

Brandon Ing is one of the few remaining Tigers not to join the Twins. Photo by Rick Osentoski-US PRESSWIRE

Inge was once an excellent player, but at this point in his career with the Twins roster as it is, he would have added little if anything to the Minnesota lineup or bench. Several years ago, Inge was an intriguing player who could play a couple of the toughest positions on the diamond – third base and catcher – and hit with power. He socked 27 homers in 2006 and matched that feat again in 2009, nearly leading the Tigers to division titles in both seasons. But Inge is now less than a month shy of his 30th birthday, and he is not the player he used to be. In 102 games last season, Inge recorded an abysmal .265 on-base percentage, and he is just 2-20 at the plate this year.

Other than the fact that they’ve always admired Inge’s style of play, it is not exactly clear what the Twins were thinking they could accomplish by signing him. His recent poor hitting means that he was highly unlikely to spark a sudden Twins surge in the standings, and his age means he would never be a long term solution at third base. As a Twin he would have taken at bats away from Danny Valencia, at bats that the Twins should be using to determine whether Valencia is a viable MLB third baseman. As a backup third baseman, Inge would not have provided the team with anything that Sean Burroughs does not have, and his right-handed bat would not allow him to sub for Valencia against tough right-handed pitchers. Some pointed out that Inge could serve as a third string catcher, since Joe Mauer and Ryan Doumit are often both in the lineup, but it is dubious at best that he could fill that role; Inge has not caught in the Major Leagues since 2008.

From here, it seems the only reason the Twins wanted Inge is because they like to go after former Tigers on general principle. Phil Dumatrait, Luke French, Casey Fien, Wilkin Ramirez, Mike Hollimon, and Brendan Wise have all recently signed minor league deals with the Twins after spending time in the Tiger system. The Twins added farmhands Lester Oliveros and Cole Nelson from the Tigers in last year’s Delmon Young trade. And earlier this month they claimed Clete Thomas off waivers from Detroit. Some of those players are quite talented, and the Young trade in particular is looking like a good move now, but the sheer number of ex-Tigers that the Twins have been stockpiling makes one wonder if they have an unhealthy obsession with last year’s division winner.

Stay tuned, because we might need a Tiger intervention soon.

Thoughts on the Tiger Game

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 00:20:57 +0000

Today the Twins had their first (and only) preseason test against a division rival. They played the reigning division champion Detroit Tigers, and it was an interesting game because it might give us some clues to how well the Twins stack up against the competition.

It turns out they stack up pretty well. The Twins put on an early hitting display and won 7-3.

Liam Hendriks was decent against Detroit. But could he go toe to toe with someone like Justin Verlander in the regular season? Photo byJerry Lai-US PRESSWIRE

The Tigers had their regulars in the lineup (aside from the injured Miguel Cabrera). Former Twin Delmon Young continued to hit well against his old team. He homered in his first at bat against the Twins last year, and he hit a home run off Liam Hendriks in his second at bat today. Young entered the game hitting .485, which is in line with how he usually hits in the spring. Last year, he hit .396 with three homers – then went on to bat an unimpressive .266 with just four homers in the regular season before his trade to Detroit.

The Twins, on the other hand, left Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau in Fort Myers. A lot of last year’s late-season fill-ins played today: Joe Benson, Luke Hughes, Chris Parmelee, and starting pitcher Hendriks. They enjoyed some success, which is encouraging, since these four are among the closest to Major-League-ready of any prospects in the organization, and we’ll likely see them in Twins uniforms again this year. Parmelee singled to start a rally in the second, and Hughes ended that rally with a three run homer to left field. Parmelee didn’t rest on his laurels with that single. He added an RBI triple in the fifth and scored on Ryan Doumit’s sac fly. Benson socked a two run homer of his own in the fifth.

Nice to see Hughes hit one out. Hughes, by virtue of being out of options, is likely to win a bench slot for the Twins. Unlike most utility infielders, he is not a defensive specialist, and he cannot steal bases with much proficiency, so that leaves power as his biggest asset. On the other hand, the Tigers were trotting out some marginal Major League pitchers (starter Andrew Oliver has a total of 31.2 MLB innings under his belt), so it would have been disappointing if Hughes and the Twins hadn’t scored a bunch of runs.

Hendriks had a mixed outing. He allowed two runs in four innings. Aside from Young, the only player who did any significant damage was Austin Jackson, who singled and scored in the first, then added a double in his next at bat. It would be nice to see Hendriks be able to shut down a potent lineup like Detroit’s, though, because with Scott Baker’s health uncertain, the Twins may need to turn to a guy like Hendriks to make some early season starts.

Of course we cannot infer too much from single Spring Training game, but since this is the only division contest of the spring, we might as well take the result for what it’s worth and be encouraged. Now let’s see what happens when the Twins have to face Cabrera and Justin Verlander!

West Coast, Best Coast? East Coast, Least Coast?

Thu, 04 Aug 2011 01:19:20 +0000

In the past 10 years, the Minnesota Twins, so it might seem, have enjoyed some success against teams from the west coast, and have, historically, been pretty bad against east coast teams (especially those pesky Yankees).

Over the past 10 years, since 2001, the Twins have won just under 55% of their games. But really, how have they fared against the east and west coasts, and how does that compare to teams in the middle of the country? Well, I decided to take a look. For the purposes of this study, lets say that The Diamondbacks, Rockies, Angels, Dodgers, Athletics, Padres, Giants and Mariners all count as west coast teams. The Braves, Orioles, Red Sox, Marlins, Mets, Yankees, Pirates, Rays, Blue Jays, and Nationals count as east coast teams. That leaves the Cubs, White Sox, Reds, Indians, Tigers, Astros, Royals, Brewers, Rangers, and Cardinals in what is more or less, the central part of the MLB. (more…)