The Twins enjoyed their off day on Thursday. It was the first time this season that they have been two games above .500. Now, the players may have rested on the off day, but the front office was plenty busy.
First, the Twins released reliever Luis Ayala. Ten days earlier, the Twins had designated him for assignment. Although a couple of teams, namely Pittsburgh and Florida, expressed interest, but a trade was not able to be worked out. He was released, and later in the day, he signed a contract with the Florida Marlins.
In a second transaction, the Twins outrighted Sean Henn to AAA Rochester and promoted Brian Duensing. Henn, being out of options, had to clear waivers to be sent back to Rochester. He did, and remains in the Twins organization. The promotion of Duensing is somewhat surprising. Being left-handed, he does give Ron Gardenhire a second left-hander in the bullpen. You could argue that Anthony Swarzak was much more deserving of promotion as he has been superb for the Red Wings since his demotion in mid-June. Of course, Swarzak was just named as the Red Wings lone representative in the AAA All-Star Game.
LaVelle E. Neal reports that the Twins have offered a contract to Dominican 16 year old SS Miguel Angel Sano. However, the contract is contingent upon an investigation by Major League Baseball into weather Sano is actually 16 years old. The Twins, Pirates and Baltimore Orioles are the three teams said to be most interested. The Twins and Pirates apparently have a very strong relationship with him. The contract is rumored to be anywhere from $2.5 million to over $4.25 million.
Travis Talks provides his June Awards for the Twins. Joe Nathan had an incredible month. In 11.2 innings (12 games), he gave up no runs on four hits. He walked one and struck out 18. But he wasn’t the only bullpen arm to impress. R. A. Dickey’s ERA for June was 0.67. Matt Guerrier’s was 0.86. Jason Kubel was the easy choice for Twins Player of the Month in June.
Josh Johnson provides a review of all six Twins minor league affiliates, including a selection for hitter and pitcher of the month for each team. Nick Nelson looked back at his preseason Top 10 Twins Prospects to see how they are performing through June.
Consistent release point is important to all pitchers, but Over the Baggy’s Parker Hageman shows us why and how release point is important for Scott Baker.
Brian, at the Twins Examiner site, tracks the young career of Aaron Hicks.
At Jim Mandelaro’s Extra Bases blog, he takes a look into the Life of a GM, through the eyes of Twins GM Bill Smith, who has lost 40 pounds since February.
Baseball Intellect takes a look at the Mechanics of Kevin Slowey to determine why he is able to pitch with so much control.
Slowey will take the mound on Friday night for the Twins as they start a three game series at the Metrodome against the division-leading Detroit Tigers.
Topics: Aaron Hicks, Anthony Swarzak, Brian Duensing, Jason Kubel, Joe Nathan, Kevin Slowey, Matt Guerrier, Miguel Sano, R.A. Dickey, Scott Baker
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