I’ve been looking at some of Joe Mauer’s projected season stats at ESPN.com and they’re almost impossible to believe. Just look at the projected stats and where they would rank all time for a single season.
| ESPN Projection | All Time Ranking | |
|---|---|---|
| Home Runs | 66 | tied for 3rd |
| RBI | 187 | 2nd |
| Avg. | .444 | 4th |
Two more stats that are difficult to believe.
Joe is currently hitting .519 against right handed pitchers and .537 at home.
Links to player pages on ESPN.com for former Twins who are on MLB rosters this season:
Did I miss anyone? Let me know.
It’s Bert’s birthday and opening day for the Twins. Awesome! ‘Cisco vs. King Felix. Excellent.
I’ll be at the game tonight with husband Kevin and my parents in our seats in section 127. Can’t wait. Heck, I don’t have to wait too long as my folks will be here soon to pick me up and we’ll head down there by the time the doors open at 5pm.
I may post some tweets from the game, will have to see how the WiFi is this year.
If anyone wants to post as the game happens or comment here, by all means go for it.
The regular season gets underway tonight, with most teams having their season openers tomorrow. Seemed like a good time to look around and see which former Twins made the rosters of other clubs this season (and which ones were at camp this Spring, but didn’t quite make it). If you notice that I missed anyone of note, please comment to let me know and I’ll add them. And if I get anything wrong or the status of a player changes, let me know.
Billy Beane is vice president and general manager for the Oakland A’s.
Grant Balfour is a pitcher with the Rays.
Jason Bartlett is an infielder for the Rays.
Brian Bass is a pitcher with the Baltimore Orioles.
Don Baylor is the hitting coach for the Colorado Rockies.
Casey Blake is with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Henry Blanco is with the Padres.
Randy Bush is assistant general manager for the Chicago Cubs.
Luis Castillo is an infielder with the Mets.
Juan Castro was a non-roster invitee to Dodgers camp, but didn’t make the team.
Terry Crowley is the hitting coach for the Baltimore Orioles.
Adam Everett is an infielder with the Detroit Tigers.
Willie Eyre is a pitcher with the Texas Rangers.
Lew Ford signed a minor-league contract with the Colorado Rockies.
George Frazier is an analyst for Colorado Rockies broadcasts on FSN Rocky Mountain.
Matt Garza is a pitcher with the Tampa Bay Rays.
Eddie Guardado is a pitcher with the Texas Rangers.
Cristian Guzman is with the Nationals.
Chip Hale is the third base coach for the Diamondbacks.
Mickey Hatcher is hitting coach for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
LaTroy Hawkins is a relief pitcher with the Houston Astros.
Livan Hernandez was a non-roster invitee to Mets camp and won the 5th starting spot for the team; he’s not currently on the 40-man roster, but will be added to it by the time his turn to start rolls around.
Torii Hunter is center fielder for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.
Garrett Jones was a non-roster invitee to Pirates camp, but didn’t make the team. Here’s an article about him from earlier this spring.
Jacque Jones was a non-roster invitee to Reds camp, but he didn’t make the 40-man roster. I haven’t heard yet if he accepted assignment to the minor leagues or asked to be released. Here’s a link about him from earlier this Spring.
Bobby Kielty was a non-roster invitee to Mets camp, but didn’t make the 40-man roster. He was signed to a minor-league contract with the Mets organization.
Bobby Korecky is on the 40-man roster for the Diamondbacks.
Kyle Lohse is with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Andy MacPhail is with the Orioles, his title is “President, Baseball Operations”. And Lee MacPhail IV is Director of Professional Scouting for the Orioles.
Doug Mientkiewicz was a non-roster invitee to Dodgers camp, but didn’t make the team. He did sign a minor-league contract with the Dodgers.
Eric Milton was a non-roster invitee to Dodgers camp, but didn’t make the team; he signed a minor league contract with them.
Craig Monroe is an outfielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates. CARIG hit the cover off the ball whenever he faced the Twins this spring.
David Ortiz of course remains the designated hitter for the Boston Red Sox.
Ramon Ortiz was a non-roster invitee to Giants camp, but didn’t make the 40-man roster.
Augie Ojeda is an infielder with the Diamondbacks.
A.J. Pierzynski remains the catcher for the Chicago White Sox.
Chris Pittaro is Director of Professional Scouting for the Oakland A’s.
Sidney Ponson was a non-roster invitee to Kansas City Royals camp and he signed a minor-league contract with them.
Michael Restovich was a non-roster invitee to White Sox camp, but he does not appear to have made the team. He was signed to a minor-league contract.
Dennys Reyes signed a two-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals.
Juan Rincon is a relief pitcher for the Detroit Tigers.
Luis Rivas was a non-roster invitee for the Cubs, but he did not make the team; he was assigned to their minor league camp.
Luis Rodriguez is with the Padres.
J.C. Romero is in the Phillies organization, but not currently on the 40-man roster.
Johan Santana is a pitcher for the Mets, of course. Everyone on Baseball Tonight just picked him to win the NL Cy Young this season.
Carlos Silva is a pitcher with the Seattle Mariners.
Terry Tiffee was a non-roster invitee to Phillies camp, but didn’t make the team; he signed a minor league contract with the Phillies organization.
Ron Washington is the manager of the Texas Rangers.
Carl “The Big Train” Willis is the pitching coach for Cleveland.
As for former Twins broadcasters . . .
Former Twins broadcaster Telly Hughes has joined FSN Wisconsin as a sideline reporter for Brewers games. (Now if only we could get Ron Coomer to join him.)
Former Twins broadcaster Clay Matvick works for ESPNU.
Former Twins broadcaster Ron Johnson freelances for the Big Ten Network.
Thursday, March 26th, 2009
Preseason Baseball: Twins at Reds (FOX Sports Net North, 6pm)
We Are Young: The Story of a Baseball Family (MLB Network, 7pm – 9pm)
(We watched this last week and I liked it quite a bit. I learned a lot about both Dmitri and Delmon Young.)
Twins Season Preview (FOX Sports Net North, 9pm)
Friday, March 27th, 2009
Minnesota Twins Diamond Awards (FOX Sports Net North, Noon)
Rebroadcast of Twins Season Preview (FOX Sports Net North, 2:30pm and 10pm)
Saturday, March 28th, 2009
Preseason Baseball: Twins at Red Sox (New England Sports Network, Noon) (I wish this were also airing on MLB Network or FSN or somewhere, but so far it’s not. Presumably game will be available on MLB.tv)
Twins Classics: Francisco Liriano (FOX Sports Net North, 4pm)
Sunday, March 29th, 2009
Preseason Baseball: Cardinals at Twins (WFTC 29 in the Twin Cities or FOX Sports Net North outstate, Noon)
Twins Live: Spring Training Special (FOX Sports Net North, 5:30pm – 6:30pm)
Monday, March 30th, 2009
Preseason Baseball: Rays at Twins (MLB Network & FOX Sports Net North, Noon)
Rebroadcast of Twins Live: Spring Training Special (FOX Sports Net North, 6pm – 7pm)
Rebroadcast of Twins Season Preview (FOX Sports Net North, 10pm)
Am I missing anything? Let me know.
I’m not gonna list the WBC games, but some of them are airing on ESPN, ESPN2, MLB Network, and possibly elsewhere. You can check the WBC site for more info.
Sunday, March 8th, 2009
We Are Young: The Story of a Baseball Family (MLB Network, 5pm – 7pm). This special covers Dmitri, Delmon, and their father. It debuted earlier in the week, this is the only other airing so far.
Monday, March 9th, 2009
World Series Highlights for 1965 series (MLB Network, 4:30am)
Tuesday, March 10th, 2009
World Series Highlights for the 1965 series (MLB Network, 4pm)
Saturday, March 14th, 2009
Pre-Season Baseball: Marlins at Twins (FOX Sports Net North, Noon)
Sunday, March 15th, 2009
Pre-Season Baseball: Twins at Yankees (FOX Sports Net North, Noon)
Tuesday, March 17th, 2009
MLB Pre-Season Baseball; Twins at Red Sox (MLB Network, Noon)
Well, it was fun watching the Netherlands play (and beat the Dominican Republic!) with lots of shots of their pitching coach Bert Blyleven and talk of how he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Bert must’ve done a good job coaching former Twin Sidney Ponson as he had an decent showing.
Justin Morneau and Jesse Crain are, of course, playing for Team Canada alongside former Twin Corey Koskie. Here’s hoping Team Canada fares better in their second game.
Was interesting yesterday seeing Carlos Silva start the game for Venezuela with Nicky Punto leading off for Italy.
Here’s my attempt at a list of current and former Twins who are playing (or coaching) in the Classic:
Luis Ayala is playing for Mexico, he’s a relief pitcher we signed at the end of February.
Former Twin Grant Balfour is on the provisional roster for Australia.
James Beresford and Daniel Berg are both on the Australian team and are both listed as being part of the Twins organization; I don’t really know anything about them.
Former Twin Henry Blanco plays for Venezuela.
Future Hall-of-Famer Bert Blyleven is the pitching coach for the Netherlands.
Drew Butera, a Twins prospect who is the son of Sal Butera, is playing for the Netherlands.
Of course Jesse Crain, the Crainadian, is playing for Team Canada.
Carlos Gutierrez is a Twins prospect who is pitching for Puerto Rico; he closed out the game for them yesterday.
Former Twin LaTroy Hawkins was added to the Team USA roster after Joe Nathan dropped out. He pitched a bit in yesterday’s game against Canada.
Liam Hendricks and Luke Hughes are a couple more Australians in the Twins organization.
Philip Humber is on the Netherlands team.
Former Twin and Minnesota resident Corey Koskie is playing for Canada. Yay! Here’s a link to yet another excellent story about Koskie’s comeback.
Justin Morneau is a starter for Team Canada.
Former Twin David Ortiz is playing for the Dominican Republic.
Former Twin Sidney Ponson is pitching for the Netherlands.
Nick Punto is playing for Italy.
Dennys Reyes is pitching for Mexico.
I know nothing about Hein Robb, but he’s listed as playing for South Africa and being in the Twins organization. Intriguing.
Former Twin J.C. Romero is pitching for Puerto Rico.
Former Twin Carlos Silva is pitching for Venezuela.
Twins prospects Tom Stuifbergen and Steven Tolleson are with Bert on team Netherlands.
Did I miss anybody? I noticed that the MLB World Baseball Classic rosters didn’t list some players (like Butera, Humber, and Tolleson) as being affiliated with the Twins. I know there are probably some more prospects and former Twins on the provisional roster, but I didn’t feel like going through it. Let me know if you think I should add some folks.
I couldn’t find a list of coaches for the teams anywhere, which is annoying. Are there any more coaches at the WBC with ties to the Twins or Minnesota?
