Perhaps my favorite memory of Zumaya was a late game matchup he had against Justin Morneau when Morneau sent a 99MPH fastball into the stands. This kicked off an impressive offensive outburst from Justin that has since made him one of my favorite players.

That said, the news that the Twins signed Zumaya to an 800K deal with an additional 900K in incentives is largely a good thing, but it does come with its risks.

The big risk is obviously his health. He didn’t pitch in 2011. He pitched 38 innings in 2010, 31 in 2009, 23 in 2008, and 33 in 2007. During those times, he’s spent quite a bit of time on the DL. You’d think by his injury history that he has been playing for a number of years, but sadly he’s only going to be 27 in 2012. He has had some odd fractures compounded by having screws that were overtighted and eventually needing replacing. That said, at only 800k guaranteed, this alone isn’t a bad risk. His other risk might be a clubhouse risk as he managed to hurt himself during the World Series by playing too much Guitar Hero in the clubhouse. While we hope that this was simply a youthful mistake, it could also be a sign of a “me first” attitude that Gardy so much despises. Only time will tell here.

Obviously the reward is quite high too. For his MLB career, Zumaya averages a strike out per inning, a 1.35 WHIP, and a 3.05 ERA. On the downside, his K/BB ratio is a measly 1.84. That said, during his last season in 2010, his walk rate had dropped considerably walking only 2.58/9 compared to his career mark of 4.89/9.

Should he be healthy, he will join Perkins as the late inning shut down relievers to setup Matt Capps. With Duensing taking care of lefties. If the Twins end up repeating their awful 2011 season, a healthy Zumaya could be flipped for a decent prospect at the deadline.

In all, while somewhat risky, this signing is a good move, and the type of low risk/high reward move that the Twins should be making. If the rumors are true that the Twins are also pursuing Oswalt, this will prove to have been a fairly good offseason for Terry Ryan.

I confess to being a big Michael Cuddyer fan. He is my favorite Twin of all time. I liked his potential when he had a big year in New Britain. I thought his righthanded bat would be a big factor in the Twins success when he played in the ’02 playoffs and pulled for him to get regular playing time until 2006, when he took over the right field job. All-in-all he has been a fine ballplayer, ranking in or near the Twins all-time top ten in almost every offensive category except stolen bases.

Cuddyer’s performances on the field were crucial in the Twins’ huge comeback in 2006. He had a big month of September in 2009 which propelled the team to one of the implausible regular season comebacks I have ever seen. He has gotten his hits in postseason. He was the best player for the Twins this year and one of the very few that kept playing hard and playing hurt when the road turned from uphill to impossible in 2011. Much was made of his versatility, but he only played three positions last year and was a stopgap at best as a second baseman. The point was that he put the team first and played out of position without complaint so that the team had a better chance to win.

I hoped that the Twins would find a way to re-sign the veteran, but getting Josh Willingham (a comparable player) for millions less, the adjustments of Class A Free Agency compensation and Cuddyer’s own reluctance to accept a pay cut after a good year ended his career with the Twins. He got a great offer from Colorado which made leaving Minnesota that much easier.

By all accounts, Cuddyer is a great guy off the field. I don’t know that—I’ve never met the man—but it does fit with his on-field personality. I know that Cuddyer always gave 100% effort on the field. It has been said that Cuddyer always appreciated his chance to play major league baseball and it has shown on the field. While “playing the game the right way” has become a cliché I will miss seeing Cuddyer run out hard on comebackers and routine grounders. I will miss seeing him relish the chance to go in hard to second and break up a double play giving hard high-fives after hitting a homer.

Someone else will probably assume Cuddyer’s role. There are a lot of players in the minors who look like they will eventually be better hitters and fielders than #5. For now, I will miss a guy who did a good job playing the game and who gave his all on the field.

Watching the Twins this season, we all got the feeling that, even in the midst of an awful, awful display of baseball, one individual performance stood out. This one player did things with the bat that we couldn’t believe. He posted numbers that were so out of the ordinary that they couldn’t be ignored. Obviously, I’m talking about Drew Butera.

As the season is officially over, I figured it was time to put his amazing season in historical perspective. Since Drew was given around 250 plate appearances, I decided to check out how he stacked up against the worst the last ten seasons had to offer. I came away shocked.  Drew Butera did not post the lowest OPS in baseball this year among players with 250 plate appearances. Let me repeat: Drew Butera did not post the lowest OPS in baseball this year among players with 250 plate appearances.

Drew Butera had posted an OPS 80 points lower than anyone in the last ten years with that many opportunities. Yet somehow, Reid Brignac, on a playoff team, undercut him. 

For your entertainment, I also listed a few notably terrible seasons of other Twins I ran across. Note that in 2007, the season where most of the collective disdain for Punto was developed, his OPS was 113 points higher than Butera’s 2011 number.

What did this research offer in terms of real solutions for the 2012 Minnesota Twins? It’s pretty simple. Acquire Reid Brignac at all costs. He’s the only one that can stop Drew Butera.

This blog post is brought to you courtesy of The Greatest Poster Alive…

The latest news for the Twins is that Danny Valencia was rear ended at crosstown by none other than Denard Span. If I was to write a book, titled The Season From Hell and used the Twins season to write it, people would criticize it as unrealistic and over the top. This is the type of year that it is impossible to make up.

For those that are unware, here is a breakdown of the Twins opening day 25 man roster, and their injuries.

Catcher Joe Mauer. No player on the Twins has received more press for his injuries since Kirby Puckett. His mysterious Bi-lateral leg weakness caused him to spend time on the 60 day DL after struggling early in the season. He has yet to recover fully, and is now shutdown for the season with Pneumonia. It remains to be seen what will happen during the off-season. No player on the Twins roster will be more scrutinized over the off-season.

First Baseman Justin Morneau: Lingering concussion symptoms caused him to miss the majority of the season as well. It’s beginning to make fans question if he’ll ever be 100% again. Concussions have been been at the forefront of many star athletes missing time and careers of players such as Corey Koskie have been ended by the dreaded Post-Concussion Syndrome. The Twins are considering a switch for Morneau to DH full time in the future due to his recent aggravation of concussion symptoms by simply diving for a ground ball.

Second Baseman Tsuyoshi Nishioka: A hard slide breaking up a double play attempt by the Japanese Import led to a fractured fibula stopping his season before it ever had a chance to start. After the injury he has struggled to adjust to the American game and was recently shut down for the season due to a back injury.

Short Stop Alexi Casilla: After a slow start, Casilla was finally beginning to show the potential that has led the Twins to think he may have a chance to be a starting middle infielder. But a strained hamstring shut him down in July which he re-aggravated in August.

Third Baseman Danny Valencia: Up until recently he was the model of health for the Minnesota Twins, but his recent fender bender puts his season away from the DL in jeopardy. Reports are that his injuries are not serious. But we’ve heard that story before, I’ll wait till he returns to the lineup to believe it.

Left Fielder Delmon Young: Sore ribs and a poor attitude sent Delmon Young to the DL in April. A sprained ankle in June led to a 2nd DL stint. He was eventually traded to Detroit after the waiver deadline and has remained healthy there.

Center Fielder Denard Span: His bat was the lone bright spot for the Twins early in the season before a concussion wiped out the majority of his 2011 season. After his first game back followingr a re-aggravation of concussion symptoms Denard Span rear ended a teammate, and is now experiencing concussion symptoms yet again.

Right Fielder Michael Cuddyer: Cuddyer has also managed to spend most of the season off the DL. He was an extremely valuable player for the Twins, seeing time at First, 2nd, RF, LF, and even pitched. A bruised wrist after being hit by a pitch has kept him out of several games late in the season, but has yet to see the DL.

Designated Hitter 1 Jason Kubel: A sprained Left Foot sent Jason Kubel to the DL at the end of May.
Designated Hitter 2 Jim Thome; The man who hit 600 had two DL stitns in May and June for an Oblique strain and Quad strain respectively.

Starting Pitcher Fransisco Liriano: Shoulder Inflammation sent Liriano to the DL. His no hitter was one of the lone bright spots for this season. He also was on the DL in late August with a shoulder strain.

Starting Pitcher Carl Pavano: Despite not posting great numbers Pavano has managed to stay away from the disabled list.

Starting Pitcher Scott Baker: Elbow injuries sent Baker to the DL 3 times this season de-railing a very solid season.

Starting Pitcher Brian Duensing: Stayed healthy this season, but did leave a start with an oblique strain.

Starting Pitcher Nick Blackburn: A strained Right forearm shut down Blackburn’s season in August.

Closer Joe Nathan: A flexor strain sent the struggling Joe Nathan to the DL in May

Relief Pitcher Glen Perkins: An Oblique strain in May sent the twins most consistent reliever to the DL in late may

Other Injuries:
Jason Repko – Shoulder Bursistus
Jose Mijares – Elbow Strain
Kevin Slowey – Bicep Soreness, Abdominal Strain
Kyle Gibson: Tommy John Surgery

So what does this all mean? The Twins rarely saw their starting lineup together at any point in this season, and in a season where they set a record for payroll they are on pace to lose 100 games. I believe something needs to change. The Twins off-season workouts need to be amped up by players and they should come into spring training in better shape. The training staff should also be examined to see if there is anything they are doing wrong that is causing these injuries.

There is reason for optimism next season. Because simply put, they can’t get any worse.

Ten days ago, Patrick Reusse wrote an article, quoting Ron Gardenhire extensively, that stated the case for Michael Cuddyer to be the Twins’ sole representative in the 2011 All-Star Game. Reusse pointed out that the Twins had to have someone, that Cuddyer was putting up decent numbers and that he could fill the role of utility player on the AL team. Reaction was pretty mixed, but also pretty intense. Many pointed to two other position players–Denard Span and Jason Kubel–and made claims that one of those guys would be a superior representative to Cuddyer. Many questioned Cuddyer’s worth, mentioning that his defense was subpar wherever he played and that he was a bad hitter in the clutch. Some thought a pitcher–Blackburn or Baker–would be a better representative. Another segment thought that Cuddyer deserved the honor. The strib poll that accompanied the article showed that a plurality thought Cuddyer should be the Twins’ representative.

Today, it has become apparent that if a Twins  position player goes to Arizona for the All-Star game it will be Michael Cuddyer. Cuddyer is among the team leaders in just about every offensive category. He’s even second on the team in stolen bases. Kubel and Span have not seen the field in weeks and there is still no solid timetable for either to return to action. The biggest reason for Cuddyer’s prospects to brighten is that he has been performing like an All-Star. His overall numbers now are very good. His slash line for the season now is .352/.465/.817. That is an OPS+ of about 120. For the month of June only, Cuddy the Amazing is OPSing 1.117, with a league-leading 10 doubles, 5 homers and 16 RBI. In his current 12-game hitting streak, he has had a minimum of 2 total bases in each game.

Much of what goes into All-Star selections is ridiculous: letting the manager get his players in the game, lousy selections by the fans squeezing out deserving players, a glut of deserving players at one particular position or one team’s best option also playing the same position. Any of those factors could push Cuddyer out of the running. Some factors favor the Twins right fielder/infielder: he is a veteran who has had some fine seasons, he is regarded as a good guy and finally is not likely to fall apart and make the All-Star selection look comically inept (an example would be Dave Engle for the Twins in ’84).

Blackburn and Baker have continued to put up strong numbers, but the competition on the pitching staff will be intense and B & B aren’t on top of the charts in wins, ERA or strikeouts and there is a higher chance that either could bomb in the second half–Blackburn was sent to AAA last year and Baker pitched his way out of the playoff rotation. Plus one bad outing for a starter could make very good stats look pathetic, ask Madison Bumgarner.

The question of whether Cuddyer should continue with the Twins beyond this year or maybe even beyond the trading deadline is out there too. It really shouldn’t have any effect on Ron Washington’s All-Star decision. Count me among those who will be satisfied with the selection of Michael Cuddyer as an All-Star next month.