Minnesota Twins Daily Dip: first deal of the season
Minnesota Twins Daily Dip, November 27th, 2017
Welcome to the November 27th edition of the Daily Dip, your daily piece of news and notes here on Puckett’s Pond, offseason edition. You’ll find the most recent news of the Minnesota Twins organization, stories from around the game, and links to any information you may want to know about the Minnesota Twins or baseball as we work our way through the hot stove season!
Minnesota Twins Scores, News and Notes
Australian Baseball League Update
Aaron Whitefield continues to play very well in his home country for Brisbane. After 7 games, he’s hitting .400/.441/.633 with 4 doubles, a home run, and 3 stolen bases, posting a 3/8 BB/K ratio. He’s scored 10 runs and driven in 6 so far as well as one of the best offensive players in the league so far.
Former Twins Luke Hughes is hitting .280/.526/.560 with 2 home runs. Delmon Young is hitting .182/.250/.394 with a pair of home runs. Mark Hamburger has thrown 13 innings, with a 7.71 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, and a 1/14 BB/K ratio. Loek Van Mil has made one appearance, throwing a scoreless inning, allowing a hit and striking out a batter.
Dominican Winter League Update
Adalberto Mejia is the primary Twin in the Dominican, and he’s showing well, having made 4 starts, throwing 16 innings, with a 3.94 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, and a 6/11 BB/K ratio.
Venezuelan Winter League Update
With the presence that the Minnesota Twins have consistently had in Venezuela, it’s not surprising that they have a more in Venezuela than the Dominican Teenager Anderson Munoz is making a very big impression with Aguilas de Zulia, throwing 7 appearances thus far, going 9 innings with a 2.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and a 7/8 BB/K ratio.
Anthony Marzi is building on his successful 2017 with his performance so far with Bravos de Margarita. He’s made 7 starts, throwing 33 1/3 innings, with a 4.32 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, and a 12/16 BB/K ratio.
The Navegantes del Magallanes have pitcher Edwar Colina on the roster, and he’s had a mixed bag this winter, making 7 appearances, throwing 5 innings, with a 3.60 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, and a 3/2 BB/K ratio.
More from Puckett's Pond
- Minnesota Twins: Making the Case for the Current 2023 Rotation
- Minnesota Twins: Does the MLB or the Twins have a Spending Problem?
- Minnesota Twins: 2 Possible Free Agent Reunions for 2023
- Minnesota Twins: Holiday Wish List for the rest of the Offseason
- Minnesota Twins: After signing with the Mets, Correa spurns Twins again
After significant struggles with his transition to play in the major leagues, Byung-Ho Park will return to Korea rather than spend another season likely in AAA.
Twins heavy in pursuit of Ohtani
Shohei Ohtani is one of the most coveted players to come from Japan possibly since Ichiro Suzuki. The Twins are making a serious play for the two-way star with their bid, and they do have the third-most funds to bid toward Ohtani in the market, which should allow them to be aggressive in their sales pitch.
Notes from around baseball
- Ohtani bidding expected to start this week
- Rays may look to deal big-name stars
- Veteran free agents downplay age
- Horse named Bryzzo wins race
- Mexican Baseball League to have female umpire
- Minor leaguer injured in Venezuelan shooting
Next: How Twins should spend international money
One Last Thing
The first domino fell on Sunday night as Doug Fister became the first free agent to sign when he reached a deal with the Texas Rangers for a reported 1 year, $4 million guarantee.
Fister has had a few rough seasons, but he was once one of the most difficult pitchers to square up, and he rarely put extra hitters on base. For the Red Sox last season, he went 5-9 with a 4.88 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, and 38/83 BB/K ratio over 90 1/3 innings.
He spent 2011-2013 as one of the primary starters in the Tigers rotation, so the Twins saw him plenty. In his career, he has a 6-7 record in 13 starts against the Twins with a 3.36 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and a 16/75 BB/K over 88 1/3 innings.
Now that the first chip has fallen, let the Hot Stove season begin!