Tuesday,
August 18, 2009
Gibson Signs with
Twins
On Monday night, the Twins
signed RHP Tyler Herr. He was the
Twins 44th round pick out of Katy, Texas. As good of a signing as
that is, you’re not here today to read about Tyler Herr, right?
You’re here to find out more
about Kyle Gibson. As you know, Gibson
was the Twins first round pick in 2009 out of the University of Missouri.
Yesterday, I wrote way too much on this
situation. I tried to look at it from Gibson’s perspectives, the Twins
perspective, discussed the slot system, and finally gave my opinion of what
should happen. A few minutes before last
night’s SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast, I got a text
message from Kyle saying he would be happy to be on the podcast for a little
bit. If you haven’t listened to it yet, be sure to do so. He appears at about
the 13 minute mark of the show. But I encourage you to listen to the whole
show. We were also joined by Vic Quick
of KOTA-TV in Rapid City, SD. He is a huge Rangers fan, so talking to him about
his team made a lot of sense. After the Gibson interview, Cory Hepola, another TV sports man (at
WROC-TV) from Rochester, New York, came on and we talked Red Wings baseball.
It was the third time that
Gibson was on the podcast, so be sure to check the Archives for his previous
appearances. Although I was completely unprepared, I think it sounds good. Did
you know that most of my podcasts are heard by between 25-30
listeners live? (and then many more later
throughout the week) Last night’s podcast was listened to live by over 120
people!
Shortly after the podcast, and
minutes before last night’s 11:00 central time deadline, Joe Christenson tweeted that the Twins and Gibson had agreed to
their signing bonus. Shortly thereafter, I heard that the actual value was
$1.85 million. Think about it. The Twins wanted to give the slot value of $1.3
million. The Gibson side wanted $2.4 million. The mid-point?
$1.85 million. In other words, both sides compromised
a significant amount and should be congratulated. This is a great thing for the
Twins and their fans! The Twins and the Pohlad family
were willing to go a little over ½ million over slot.
To answer some questions that I
have received a lot already - Gibson will join the Twins and begin pitching in
the Instructional League in Ft. Myers in October or November. His forearm is
healed but just recently began his throwing program. I would expect him to
begin the 2010 season in Ft. Myers, with an opportunity to pitch in the big
leagues by 2011 or 2012.
This is a great day for the
Twins. Kyle Gibson has been very
classy since the Twins drafted him (and probably long before), so it’s great
that it worked out between he and the Twins.
Feel free to share
your thoughts here or congratulate Kyle and/or the Twins here.
SUNDAY - TWINS 4, RANGERS 7
Francisco Liriano made the start, gave up
three runs in the first inning and four more in the second inning; he came out
of the game and went on the Disabled List. What a day! The
reason for the Disabled List? Arm Fatigue. In a strange, surprising
move, the Twins promoted Philip Humber
to the big leagues again. I must admit that I don’t get that move. Without much
background, I would have promoted Armando
Gabino. Here are a few notes:
·
Did Bobby Keppel figure something out and
make an adjustment? He has been better of late, and in this game, he gave the
team 3.1 shutout innings. He gave up just two hits.
·
Jose Mijares went 1.1 scoreless innings. Matt Guerrier gave up a run on two hits
in 1/3 of an inning. Brian Duensing, who was named the starter for Thursday’s game
earlier in the day, pitched a scoreless ninth inning. It now appears that Anthony Swarzak
will make the start on Thursday.
·
Joe Mauer continues to be very good at playing baseball. In this
game, he had a single, his 21st double and his 23rd home
run. The man also stole a base.
·
Justin Morneau left the game early as he was busy.
·
Nick Punto and Delmon Young each went 1-3 and drove in two runs. Young
hit his eighth double.
·
Tonight, the
Twins will send Carl Pavano
to the mound against Scott Feldman.
.
MINOR LEAGUE REPORT
Monday -
SethSpeaks.net Hitter of the Day – Anderson Hidalgo, Elizabethton Twins
Monday -
SethSpeaks.net Pitcher of the Day – Michael Tonkin, GCL Twins
ROCHESTER REPORT
Monday – Rochester 5, Syracuse 16 – The Red Wings had a 5-4 lead heading into the top of the 9th
inning. Anthony Slama
was in for his second inning of relief. Slama got the
first two outs of the inning, but not before he gave up five runs on four hits
and three walks. Rob Delaney came in
and gave up six runs on five hits and a walk, and he didn’t record an out. Jason Jones got the final out, but not
before giving up a home run. The 12 run ninth inning gave the team a big loss. Kevin Mulvey
started and gave up four unearned runs on seven hits and two walks in seven
innings. Justin Huber went 3-4 with
his 18th walk. Drew Butera went 2-4 with his 13th double and two
RBI. Trevor Plouffe
went 2-5 with his ninth home run. He also had three errors in the game.
ROCKCAT RECAP
Monday – New Britain – No
Games Scheduled in the Eastern League.
MIRACLE MEMOS
Monday – Ft. Myers 4, Palm Beach 6 – Michael Tarsi gave up five
runs on seven hits. He walked none and struck out seven. Michael Allen gave up one run on three hits in 1.2 innings. He
struck out two. Estarlin de Los Santos, Ben Revere, Evan Bigley and Joe
Benson each went 2-4. Bigley drove in two runs.
SNAPPERS SNIPPETS
Monday – Beloit 2, Wisconsin 8 –
Brad Tippett
had an unusual (for him) rough start. He gave up seven runs (6 earned) on seven
hits. He did not record a walk or a strikeout. Winston Marquez struck out five in three one-hit innings. Brad Stillings
gave up one run on two hits over two innings. James Beresford and Aaron
Hicks each went 2-5.
E-TWINS EXTRAS
Monday – Elizabethton 9, Danville 5 – Anderson Hidalgo hit his
11th double and fifth home run and drove in three runs. Dan Rohlfing
hit his first home run and drove in three runs. Michael Gonzalez went 2-4 with his tenth double. Edgar Ibarra improved to 5-2. He gave
up one run on five hits. He walked two and struck out three in five innings. Kane Holbrooks
gave up three unearned runs on two hits and a walk in 0.2 innings. Tony Davis gave up a run on three hits
and two walks in three innings. Dakota
Watts recorded his first save by getting the final out.
GCL TWINS GOINGS ON
Monday – GCL Twins 2, GCL Rays 1 – Michael Tonkin improved to
3-3 with six strong innings. He gave up one unearned runs on four hits. He
walked none and struck out six hitters. Andrei
Lobanov recorded his seventh save with a perfect
inning. Hyeong-rok Choi hit his
third and fourth doubles. In Kyun Kang hit his first home run.
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your questions or comments here.