Minnesota Twins Daily Clips

Sunday, January 25, 2015

➢ Twins, Duensing agree to $2.7M deal to avoid arbitration hearing. Star Tribune (Miller & Neal) p. 1

➢ Souhan: Twins GM Ryan appears he's in it for the long haul. Star Tribune (Souhan) p. 3

➢ Vargas has everyone around the Twins smiling. Star Tribune (Miller) p. 4

➢ Twins' Brian Duensing agrees to $2.7 million contract; Twins payroll over $100 million. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 5

➢ Minnesota Twins are bridging gap for Spanish-speaking players. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 6

➢ Twinsights: Lunch with Paul Molitor leaves Joe Mauer inspired. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 7

➢ Twinsights: Neck procedure improves Tommy Milone’s 2015 outlook. Pioneer Press (Berardino) p. 9

➢ This week in Twins links: TwinsFest upon us, spring training nearing. 1500espn.com (Wetmore) p. 9

➢ Twins may be targeting September for Buxton and Sano promotions. 1500espn.com (Wetmore) p. 11

➢ Twins sign reliever Brian Duensing to one-year deal, avoid arbitration. 1500espn.com (Wetmore) p. 12

➢ Milone out to prove himself to Twins' faithful. MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 12

➢ Twins, left-hander Duensing avoid arbitration. MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 13

➢ Meyer ready to compete for Major League rotation. MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 13

➢ Mauer, Molitor excited to work together in 2015. MLB.com (Bollinger) p. 14

➢ Twins agree to deal with Duensing. FOX Sports North (Ervin) p. 15

➢ Twins' Milone relieved after considerable health scare. FOX Sports North (Ervin) p. 15

➢ Mauer, Molitor see a lot of themselves in each other. FOX Sports North (Ervin) p. 16

➢ MLB: Minnesota Twins visiting Lee Memorial on Jan. 29. Naples News (AP) p. 17

Twins, Duensing agree to $2.7M deal to avoid arbitration hearing

La Velle E. Neal III and Phil Miller | Star Tribune | January 25, 2015

The Twins extended their streak to nine consecutive years without resorting to an arbitration hearing to settle a contract, agreeing to a one-year, $2.7 million deal with lefthanded reliever Brian Duensing on Saturday.

“I’m glad the process is over with and we agreed. I love this organization, I like that I’m here,” Duensing said. “I’m excited to get it done.”

His deal means all six eligible Twins have now agreed to contracts for 2015, meaning Kyle Lohse, awarded $3.95 million in 2006, remains the most recent Twins player to have his contract decided by an arbitrator.

The contract also means the Twins payroll is projected to exceed $106 million this season, roughly $20 million more than the team spent in 2013.

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Duensing, who had a 3.31 ERA in 54 ⅓ innings last season, had filed for $3.1 million, while the Twins offered $2.4 million. The agreed-upon settlement is not quite the midpoint, but Duensing said he was happy with the result — and happy not to have to appear before an arbitrator.

“It was a tiny bit awkward at first, but I think I was the only one thinking it was awkward,” said Duensing, who had planned to attend the hearing if necessary. “I didn’t think it would get that far, and I didn’t want it to get that far. I didn’t want it to go to a [hearing]. I didn’t want to be that guy.”

There was no discussion of a multiyear contract, said Duensing, who made his Twins debut in 2009 and has played with the team longer than anyone except Joe Mauer and Glen Perkins. He will become a free agent at the end of the season.

“The free-agent market, relievers are starting to get paid a little more ... but I’m trying not to get ahead of myself,” Duensing said. “We’ve got some work to do here first. We’ve had four tough seasons.”

Pelfrey confident

Don’t count Mike Pelfrey out in the race for the final rotation spot.

The 31-year-old Pelfrey arrived at TwinsFest this weekend feeling healthy and sounding confident that he can be the pitcher he wants to be this season. That’s good news for the Twins, who have watched him go 5-16 with a 5.56 ERA in 34 starts since he first signed in 2013.

Last year was a lost season for Pelfrey. He made only five starts before landing on the disabled list and eventually needing surgery to deal with ulnar nerve irritation. It happened to be the first year of a two-year, $11 million contract he signed during the previous offseason.

Nope, the Twins have not gotten what they paid Pelfrey for, and the veteran righthander knows that.

“I told somebody the other day that I feel bad because I feel like I’ve kind of taken money here from the Twins,” he said. “I have shown glimpses of who I was before surgery but I haven’t put it together for more than a couple of starts.

“So it has been frustrating. You play this game to compete and be successful and do well. That hasn’t happened, and that has been frustrating. But I feel good now and I will be ready.”

He better be. The signing of Ervin Santana to a staff that includes Phil Hughes, Kyle Gibson and Ricky Nolasco means there will be a scrum for the final spot among Pelfrey, Trevor May, Tommy Milone and Tim Stauffer. And prospects Alex Meyer, Tyler Duffey and Jason Wheeler will be in camp looking to impress.

It’s a crowded field. It also represents what happens when a team has pitching problems. In 2013, Pelfrey’s first year with the Twins, he was part of a rotation that included Kevin Correia, Vance Worley, Scott Diamond among others. Less than two years later, he’s the only one left.

“I left here feeling good [at the end of last season],” Pelfrey said. “I picked up a ball Dec. 1 and it has been good. I know where the ball is going, it’s coming out good. I feel normal.”

Souhan: Twins GM Ryan appears he's in it for the long haul

Jim Souhan | Star Tribune | January 25, 2015

Terry Ryan is 61. A successful fight with cancer has left him with failing taste buds and faulty salivary glands. While active and healthy, he is leaner than ever because of the aftereffects of cancer treatments.

Burned out, he retired as the Twins general manager once, only to return and preside over perhaps the most frustrating period in Twins history, four noncompetitive seasons in a beautiful new ballpark.

All of these factors might hint at Ryan eyeing the exit, but conversations with Ryan and a few people close to him indicate that he sees himself as a long-term general manager who is driven to return the Twins to competitiveness.

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Ryan puts it simply, saying: “This is a pretty good gig. I’m doing what I love to do. And I feel a responsibility to get this organization back to where it should be.”

Rob Antony, Ryan’s assistant general manager, said: “He doesn’t appear to be looking to leave at all. When we talk, we talk about next year, and two or three years from now, and about long-term projections. He came back because he wanted to get us back on track, and he’s not satisfied.”

Even the demands of the job don’t seem to be an issue. Ryan said he probably traveled more and worked a crazier schedule after retiring as GM than he did while running the club. He has changed his lifestyle to better suit his family, but most of the changes have been subtle.

“I’ve managed it better because of my self-decisions, not because of this job,” he said. “I’m sleeping more. I got to bed instead of staying up for the 11 o’clock ESPN basketball game. I’m a junkie when it comes to football, basketball, baseball. I love to watch bowling, for gosh sakes. But I’ve learned to turn the TV off and get my sleep.”

That Ryan has dual personalities is even more obvious his second time around. He is a workaholic taskmaster. He also owns a Harley-Davidson, listens to U2 and Eminem and can name any song that comes on a ballpark’s loudspeaker within three notes.

He likes watching “The Good Wife” and “The Voice,” and has been hooked on the acting and directing of Robert Redford ever since he first saw his favorite movie, “The Sting.” As a young pitcher in the Twins organization, he wore his hair long and admits he partied too much and was less than diligent about his offseason workouts, which has led him to call many minor leaguers into meetings to instruct them to avoid those pitfalls.

If he were looking to leave the job, he could have avoided making a decision on longtime friend and colleague Ron Gardenhire. Instead, Ryan fired Gardenhire and hired Paul Molitor, the man with the best relationship with the players who are the future of the organization, Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano.

Whether correct or not, there are two prevailing theories within the Twins organization: That last year’s team underachieved, and that the farm system will set up the team for another decade of winning.

“He feels good,” Antony said. “He hasn’t gotten his taste buds back, but he’s strong, he looks good. He’s lean, because he doesn’t have much of an appetite.

“When you go through a health scare like that, I think it helps you appreciate what you’re doing. I don’t think he’s showing any signs of saying, ‘Ah, maybe it’s time to cut back or retire.’ When we’re a winning team, a playoff team, who knows?”

Ryan won’t commit to a timetable.

“I’ve looked into the future,” he said. “I’m not a youngster anymore. I used to be one of the youngest GMs in the game, now I’m one of the oldest. I feel good about myself and the club and our direction. My wife even thinks this is OK. I think I’ve changed my lifestyle enough to please her, which is the important thing.

“I’m going a year at a time, to see how we’re going to do.”

Vargas has everyone around the Twins smiling

Phil Miller | Star Tribune | January 25, 2015

It’s a moment of triumph that Kennys Vargas never will forget. Verone High School was playing for its conference championship, and the score was tied. The crowd was going crazy as Vargas, Verone’s star player, stepped up. If he could connect, his Canovanas, Puerto R ico, school would be a champion.

“It was exciting. Everyone was yelling,” Vargas said, raising his arms to demonstrate the frenzy. “All [the fans] are like, ‘Ayyyyy!!!’ ”

Sure enough, he delivered. On the game’s final play, Vargas hit ...

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A three-pointer?

“I loved playing basketball more than baseball when I was in school,” Vargas said of his dunking days. “My mother made me play baseball, because she said that was my future.”

Elda Vargas was right. Her son’s future arrived last August, when the 6-5 slugger made his Twins debut on his 24th birthday, slashing a two-run, ground-rule double off White Sox ace Chris Sale. From there, Vargas posted one of the hottest debut months in major league history and made himself a major, if unexpected, part of the Twins’ rebuilt lineup. He will report to Fort Myers, Fla., next month has a good chance of claiming a major league roster spot for good.

“I don’t say that. I have to work hard and show I’m good enough,” Vargas said Saturday from TwinsFest at Target Field. “Last year, I swing at too many bad pitches. I need to stop doing that and take more walks.”

If he does, he could blossom into a feared hitter, a rare switch hitter with moonshot power, in the middle of the Twins lineup.

“I know that when we had a solid No. 4 hitter in our lineup last year, we scored a lot of runs. [Chris] Colabello early in the year, and then [in August], Kennys came and it made a difference,” third baseman Trevor Plouffe said. “Having him in the middle of the lineup was great for us. I really think he has the swing and the balance to do it for a long time.”

That’s what the Twins hope, too, and if he does, count on Vargas to become one of the most popular players in team history. His outgoing personality and constant laughter make him a dream for the team’s marketing department, especially if he can unleash 400-foot cannon shots with regularity.

“His play on the field is going to drive that. He’s had only a short stint so far, and we don’t want to put any undue pressure on him,” Twins President Dave St. Peter said. “But assuming if he plays at a level that he’s capable of, I don’t think there’s any doubt that he can someday turn into an absolute superstar. I mean, the fans are going to love him. And a lot of it comes down to a pretty simple thing: that smile.”

He smiles a lot, pretty much all the time, and after last year, he has plenty of reason to. Vargas opened the season at Class AA New Britain and bashed 15 home runs by the All-Star break. He was selected to the Futures Game, where he put on a batting practice power display. Three weeks later, he was in the big leagues, and by racking up 38 hits and 24 RBI in August, he put himself in the company of Joe DiMaggio and Albert Pujols for the hottest debut month.

The reason for the incredible start? “Kamila,” he said confidently. “I do it for her.”

Not a bad motivation. Kamila Angelica Vargas Chaves is his daughter, born a week before the Futures Game, and the best thing that happened to him during his storybook year.

“I was happy every day all year,” Vargas said with a laugh. “I got married [to Martha Chaves; their anniversary is next week], went to the Futures Game, made the big leagues and had Kamila. Good, good year.”

Now it’s a matter of repeating it. Vargas eventually cooled off as pitchers learned how to get him out, and he batted only .228 in September. He struck out 63 times in 215 at-bats, and walked only 12 times in two months, prompting some worries that he will swing himself out of the majors. But Vargas focused on the problem this winter, and easily led the Clemente League in Puerto Rico with 33 walks in 37 games.

“I’m getting smarter. Pitchers don’t fool me as much,” Vargas said. “My swing feels really good.”

He’s had that swing since he was 4, Vargas said, and by the time he was an overgrown 8-year-old shortstop, he was hitting for power.

“I always hit a home run every time my mother came to a Little League game,” Vargas said. “She knew I could hit, so she kept telling me, ‘Go play baseball. Stop playing basketball and go hit.’ ”

It took a few years before Vargas listened, however, because dunking and shooting and blocking shots is so much fun. Vargas was 6-1 by the time he reached high school “and really skinny,” so he became Verone’s star center. Vargas says he averaged 25 points and 17 rebounds one season — “I could really jump then. I can’t anymore,” he shrugged — and he loved making the crowds in his home gym roar.

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He realized he would never be Puerto Rico’s Tim Duncan, however, especially as he grew heavier as he approached graduation, so he took his mother’s advice and gave up basketball outside of school. He wasn’t drafted by a big-league team when he graduated in 2008, and planned to enroll in college, hoping to become a businessman eventually.

His mother wasn’t discouraged, though. She paid to send him to a camp in the Dominican Republic, where trainers and instructors with connections to scouts worked with him. They taught him to play the outfield and third base. Eventually, the Twins became intrigued by his power and signed him in February 2009 for an $800,000 bonus.

Vargas hit right away, but the power came more slowly, in part because his weight ballooned. Vargas managed only 12 home runs in his first three rookie-level seasons — then was hit with a 50-game suspension for using the banned supplement Phentermine in an effort to lose weight. Then he battered Midwest League pitching in 2012, batting .318 with 11 homers, belted another 19 in the big Florida State League ballparks in 2013, and set himself up for his breakthrough 2014 season.

Vargas hopes 2015 is even better — but he’s got a fallback position, too. He worked for two years as a barber at a shop called El Monstruo during high school, and he’s cut his teammates’ hair at every level in the minor leagues. The Twins’ spring complex even has a barbers chair, named for him.

And he’s already got his first big-league customer.

“He’s my new barber,” Twins first baseman [and buzz-cut wearer] Joe Mauer said. “My haircuts are pretty simple. But I know he’ll give me a good line in the back.”

Twins' Brian Duensing agrees to $2.7 million contract; Twins payroll over $100 million Mike Berardino| Pioneer Press | January 24, 2015

The streak is alive.

For the ninth straight offseason, the Twins have avoided arbitration hearings after left-handed reliever Brian Duensing agreed Saturday to a $2.7 million contract for 2015.

"I'm excited to get it done," Duensing said. "I'm just glad the process is over with and we agreed. I love this organization. I'm glad that I'm here."

Right-hander Kyle Lohse beat the Twins at the arbitration table in both 2005 and 2006, but they have avoided that sometimes painful process ever since.

Duensing, who turns 32 the day before Twins spring training opens this year, had requested $3.1 million via arbitration. The Twins had countered at $2.4 million, leaving Saturday's agreement $50,000 shy of the midpoint.

Coming off a season in which he posted a 3.31 earned run average and a league-adjusted ERA that was 20-percent better than average, Duensing was relieved to remain with the organization. He was tendered a contact in early December but was unable to reach an agreement by the Jan. 16 filing deadline.

"The last thing you really need is something hanging over your head when you go to spring training," Duensing said. "The last thing you want to do is be a distraction."

There was no discussion of a multiyear deal, Duensing said, even with him being eligible for free agency after this season.

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Duensing, the Twins' alternate union representative, wasn't sure of the date of his scheduled arbitration hearing next month but he fully planned to attend.

"That's something personally I would want to be there," he said. "It's dealing with me and the organization. I feel like I should be there."

With Duesning under contract, the Twins have 15 players signed at a combined $100.975 million for 2015. Their projected Opening Day payroll sits at $106.225 million, which would be the second-highest in franchise history.

Minnesota Twins are bridging gap for Spanish-speaking players

Mike Berardino| Pioneer Press | January 24, 2015

Of the eight active players who gave acceptance speeches at Thursday night's Diamond Awards, half were from Latin American countries.

That Kennys Vargas, Jose Berrios, Danny Santana and Eduardo Escobar each made their remarks in English, without the benefit of a translator, was impressive.

Escobar admitted to being "very nervous," and the halting remarks of the others made some in the audience uncomfortable.

The Twins, however, saw the night as a valuable learning experience for young players who are determined to become fully bilingual.

"That speaks to what the Diamond Awards have become now," Twins President Dave St. Peter said. "These guys want to come to this event. It's a big deal to them. They were very nervous. That was a highlight of some of those guys' careers to this point: that's how they view it."

Rather than provide a full-time Spanish translator in the clubhouse, the Twins are holding mandatory Spanish classes for members of their front office. Classes will carry through spring training and into the summer.

"It's an ongoing deal. It's not something you learn in two seconds," St. Peter said. "We have to do a better job of trying to assimilate to that, just like the players have to do a better job of learning English. Can we meet in the middle a little bit? That's what we're trying to do."

Newly hired bullpen coach Eddie Guardado and assistant hitting coach Rudy Hernandez will be available to bridge the gap for the Twins' increasingly Spanish-speaking roster, but the front office hopes the players continue to immerse themselves in English-heavy conversations.

Free-agent signing Ervin Santana, who is from the Dominican Republic and remembers what it like a decade ago when he struggled to speak English, said he planned to buy Rosetta Stone language systems for his young teammates from Latin America.

"That way they can learn," Santana said. "That would be helpful for them."

Santana said when he was coming up through the Angels minor league system, even ordering meals was difficult.

"If you go to a restaurant and they don't have a picture on the menu, we don't eat," he said. "We don't know how to order, so we eat at Burger King and all that: 'Numero Dos.' "

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St. Peter seemed to appreciate Santana's idea about Rosetta Stone.

"Hey, we're all for it. We're all in it together," St. Peter said. "The reality of it is, most of these guys, if not all of them, when you talk to them one on one, they speak enough English. I think sometimes when they're in front of the media they get nervous. They're human, right? They're insecure. They might not be comfortable with it. That comes over time. I think Ervin Santana can be helpful with that."

Twinsights: Lunch with Paul Molitor leaves Joe Mauer inspired

Mike Berardino| Pioneer Press | January 24, 2015

Joe Mauer wasn’t even sure how long his lunch meeting with new Twins manager Paul Molitor took earlier this week.

He just knew it was greatly enjoyable and that “time kind of flew by.”

It took place at an undisclosed location in St. Paul, their shared hometown, at a “little favorite place I like to go,” Mauer said.

“I don’t want to say it because then it won’t be as quiet,” he said.

Fellow patrons allowed the two baseball greats to talk in peace.

“People were respectful,” Mauer said.

No, it wasn’t at The Nook, right down the street from Cretin-Derham Hall High School. That was the suggestion Twins equipment manager Rod McCormick made when he heard about the get-together.

Mauer could have ordered the burger named in honor of Molitor, and Molitor could have repaid the favor by ordering the Joe Mauer Hit a Double Burger. That was McCormick’s idea, which made both men laugh.

Despite that missed opportunity, the manager and the franchise first baseman came away encouraged by the meeting.

Mauer, saying he feels better physically than he has in years after a productive offseason of work with stretching guru Roger Erickson, agreed with Molitor’s assessment that he is “in a good place.”

“The more and more I get to know Paul, it seems like we’re a lot alike,” Mauer said. “We definitely love to compete. We love the challenge of where we’re at and where we’re trying to get to. I’m excited to have him leading the way and bringing in guys that share that same mentality. I think we both left that lunch excited and anxious about getting the season started.”

Asked the first time he ever met Molitor, Mauer thought back to a baseball camp at Cretin High School more than 20 years ago. Mauer figured he must have been 9 or 10 years old at the time, and he hung on every word from the ex-Golden Gopher star then putting the finishing touches on a hall of fame career.

“I remember listening to him and how he would take batting practice,” Mauer said. “I think that’s one of the reasons why I try to use the whole field. I remember him talking about ‘spraying the field,’ starting batting practice and the way he took it. I’m sure at 9 and 10 years old, a lot of

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that went over a lot of the kids’ heads. But I was sitting there and looking at it like, ‘This is a major league baseball player and a very good one at that.’ That’s what I wanted to be, so I was pretty attentive when he was talking.”

Surprisingly, Mauer has never told that story to Molitor.

“I don’t even know if he knows that,” Mauer said, ‘but I remember it for sure.”

Calling Molitor “one of the smartest baseball people I’ve ever been around,” Mauer said he took note of the hall of famer’s habits, even last season, when he was in his only year as a coach on Ron Gardenhire’s final staff.

“The one thing I really admire about him and like to watch is how he prepares for anything,” Mauer said of Molitor. “Last year, baserunning or defense, he would just dive right into it. He would never leave any stone unturned. The way he goes about preparing for a game is awesome to see. I’m excited to see him do that in a different position.”

After suffering through a “very trying year” in 2014, Mauer is eager to put that behind him and get back to the winning ways he enjoyed at the start of his career.

“I’m ready to go right now,” said Mauer, who turns 32 in April. “I know we have a lot of young talent, and it’s definitely nice to get excited about that and we should get excited about that. I don’t see why, with the guys that we have here, that we can’t make a splash this year.”

Mauer fully approves of the additions of Torii Hunter and Ervin Santana as part of a Twins payroll that is projected at $106.6 million by Opening Day.

“I’m feeling good. I’m feeling good about the moves that we’ve made,” Mauer said. “That’s probably why Paul was saying I’m in a good place.”

Twinsights: Neck procedure improves Tommy Milone’s 2015 outlook

Mike Berardino| Pioneer Press | January 24, 2015

Tommy Milone finally figured out what was causing the pain in his neck.

The Twins left-hander underwent a Dec. 4 procedure in Beverly Hills, Calif., to remove a benign tumor (osteoid osteoma) from the back of his neck. Sixteen days later, he was playing catch again.

Dr. Todd Lanman, a top neurosurgeon, performed the surgery, which was not considered “baseball-related” by Milone’s insurance company. He was left with a four-figure co-pay, but it could turn out to be the best money he’s ever spent.

“To be honest, how I felt before the surgery was 10 times worse than how I felt the day after surgery,” Milone said. “It was a really quick recovery.”

He took cortisone shots in early September and again after the season ended, but neither time left him feeling much better.

Having recently avoided arbitration by agreeing at $2.775 million for this season, Milone is focused on winning the final spot in the Twins rotation.

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Acquired from Oakland at the July trade deadline last season, Milone has thrown twice off a mound (all fastballs) back home and has already started to work breaking balls into his flat-ground program.

“I’m on pace. I’m normal now,” he said. “I’m not behind or anything.”

Milone posted a 7.06 earned run average in six outings (five starts) last season with the Twins, but he has been much better for his career (32-23, 3.98).

This week in Twins links: TwinsFest upon us, spring training nearing

Derek Wetmore | 1500espn.com | January 24, 2015

Offseason activity has started to ramp up a bit this week as the countdown for spring training is in full effect. Once pitchers and catchers report to Fort Myers, it's basically spring in Minnesota, which means you've almost made it through another winter. Congratulations!

If you missed any important Twins news in the past week, let's get you caught up.

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--Major League Baseball is concerning itself with pace of game and I, for one, am grateful.

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--The Nationals are now loaded with starting pitchers. If they decide to trade one, here's my ranking from most appealing to least appealing from the Twins' perspective.

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--The Twins added a pair of coaches to their Gulf Coast League staff this week: Javier Valentin and Brian Dinkelman.

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--If you haven't heard, Twins pitching prospect J.O. Berrios has some mighty lofty goals. He's also at TwinsFest this weekend. Plus, he's got a cool nickname: La Maquina, or The Machine.

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--Need proof that spring training is nearly upon us? Twins President Dave St. Peter recently sent out a bunch of photos of the newly renovated and updated sports complex in Fort Myers formerly known as Lee County Sports Complex. The home of Hammond Stadium is now called the Century Link Sports Complex, and it features green grass.

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--You'll see these stories all the time in the offseason about how a player is in such great shape and ready to get after it. The latest is Joe Mauer, and if he's ready to get after and is able to stay healthy this season, it would be a big boost to the Twins offense.

Trivia for your friends: Before Mauer, do you know who was the last MLB first baseman to get 500 plate appearances and fail to hit five home runs in a season?

The answer is in that post.

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--I updated my 25-man roster projection, with a month to go before pitchers and catchers report for spring training.

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--We started a new series designed to take a snapshot in time of where each Twins player is as we head into the 2015 season.

Kenny Vargas was the first player selected for that series. Will the big slugger back up his debut?

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--Will the Twins' 2011 draft class produce any Major Leaguers? Only one player from that class is currently on the 40-man roster, and he looks like a longshot to make the club this spring.

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--For the first time since its inception, nobody was elected to the Twins' Hall of Fame. Dan Gladden, Cesar Tovar, Jim "Mudcat" Grant, John Gordon, Andy MacPhail and Jerry Bell came the closest, Dave St. Peter said.

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--The Twins avoided arbitration with Jordan Schafer, agreeing to a $1.55 million deal with the outfielder.

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--Expect the Twins to work some more on defensive shifts this season.

Twins may be targeting September for Buxton and Sano promotions

Derek Wetmore | 1500espn.com | January 24, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins have two hotshot prospects on the way. But fans eager to see Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano in April might be disappointed.

Both players missed virtually all of the 2014 season. Sano had preseason Tommy John surgery on his right (throwing) elbow and Buxton played just a few games between an incredible array of injuries.

Buxton and Sano both are at TwinsFest this weekend, as they were last year, which probably has Twins fans excited for the possibility of a lineup that features the talented tandem.

But Twins general manager Terry Ryan has appeared measured in trying to pour cold water on that anticipation.

"September, I'd say," Ryan said, when asked what month he thought we'd see two of baseball's top prospects playing at Target Field. Ryan was asked the question on Saturday Morning Sports Talk with Pat Reusse and Judd Zulgad.

"I don't see it being any earlier than that," Ryan continued. "Sano hasn't played in well over a year. Buxton had an injury-riddled season that was almost a wasted year, which is concerning to me. I hope it's not a habit; I don't think it's a habit. Both of them are among the most gifted players we've got in the system -- along with Alex Meyer.

"Both of them have a lot to prove. They just didn't do anything in 2014 to warrant that type of prediction [of an earlier call-up]."

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Aside from the lost year, the Twins might be trying to delay the start of the "service time clock" for each player. In short, the sooner a player makes his Major League debut and sticks in the big leagues, the sooner he is due raises in arbitration and the sooner he can hit free agency.

There's probably some validity to the theory that a lack of plate appearances and playing time will push back the anticipated debuts for Sano and Buxton, but the Twins also should be considering the financial ramifications.

Buxton, 21, has no lingering concussion symptoms from a violent collision in the outfield upon his return to the diamond last summer, Ryan said. Buxton said he was cleared about two weeks ago after he dislocated a finger playing in the Arizona Fall League. He also had wrist injuries in 2014. What a season.

Buxton chalked it up to bad luck and "hopefully I got 'em all out this year and don't have to worry about it."

Sano said he's throwing every day and his arm feels better than last year. He's working in the Dominican Republic, but he's also done work in Florida and expects to go to Fort Myers early to get work in before spring training.

Sano, whose English is improving, said he and Buxton got along well when they did rehab work together in Fort Myers.

"He's a great person," Sano said of his future teammate. "Like, great player too. And I talk to him all the time in Florida when I be there."

Last year Sano made bold claims about his goals for the season. He never got the chance to fulfill those goals after he had ligament replacement surgery during spring training.

Now, he's set what may prove to be a more realistic goal: hit in the middle of the lineup.

"My goal for this year: be in the middle of the lineup," Sano said Friday at TwinsFest. "See what I need. If God gives me the opportunity, I can do everything for now. I need to be healthy. I need to be in the lineup in the middle."

Buxton said that despite so few plate appearances, he doesn't feel like he wasted 2014.

"I got some value even during the regular season and Fall League," Buxton said. "I know what I need to work on this offseason to help myself get better at the plate and defensively. I got a little bit better at slowing the game down, trying not to push myself into doing bad mistakes, and just all and all just getting better in the locker room and on the field."

And while he said he never feared his career was in jeopardy, Buxton did reveal one scary through that floated on his mind as he lay in the hospital.

"I couldn't move. I thought I was paralyzed for a little while," Buxton said, "but after about three hours I started feeling my body back, so that was always good."

Centerfield appears to be more ripe for the taking on the Twins than does third base, Sano's preferred position.

With Trevor Plouffe's strong 2014 season, he appears to be the heavy favorite to win the job in spring training -- if there's even a competition at all. Sano said he and Plouffe are friends, and suggested there could be a way for the Twins to get both in the lineup somehow.

Plouffe said last year at TwinsFest that he wanted Sano to make the team if it would help them win games. This year, he sidestepped a question about Sano lurking at third base and said that his goal is to make the playoffs and to work hard to help the team.

What will the Twins look at when determining if either Buxton or Sano deserve a promotion?

Ryan said: "It'll be numbers. It'll be durability. It'll be off-field habits. It'll be what kind of numbers we expect. It would be opportunity most. If there's no opportunity and somebody in front of him is just playing the heck out of the position, there's no harm in leaving a guy down there [in the minors]."

"Let's have those guys come in there [to spring training] and earn their keep," Ryan said.

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Sano could profile as a prototypical power hitter, who may also hit for a good average. Buxton, who does a little bit of everything, described his game as playing "with excitement."

"I like to play with excitement. I always like to get on base and steal the next base, put myself in scoring position for my teammates to drive me in. Just liven the game up a little bit," Buxton said.

One day in the future, he might lead off for the Twins and that teammate could be Sano, from the middle of the Twins order, driving him in. But it might not be in Minneapolis as soon as many Twins fans would like.

Twins sign reliever Brian Duensing to one-year deal, avoid arbiration

Derek Wetmore | 1500espn.com | January 24, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins have taken care of their final arbitration case, agreeing to a deal Saturday with left-handed reliever Brian Deunsing that will pay him $2.7 million in 2015.

Duensing was the sixth and final Twins player to agree a deal, meaning the Twins will once again have zero arbitration hearings this year.

Duensing said the two sides did not discuss a multi-year deal at any point during the negotiation process. He can file for free agency at the end of the season.

Duensing pitched 54 1/3 innings for the Twins in 2014 and he had a 33:20 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In his career, Duensing has a 4.12 ERA in 600 2/3 innings.

Lefties hit .235/.282/.305 off him in 2014; righties hit .264/.352/.491.

Milone out to prove himself to Twins' faithful. MLB.com

Rhett Bollinger | MLB.com | January 24, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS -- After the 2014 season came to an end, Tommy Milone figured the inflammation in his neck that plagued him while with the

Twins would quickly subside.

But even after receiving a cortisone shot in his neck after the season, Milone still felt stiffness and couldn't pinpoint why. So he went and saw a

specialist in Beverly Hills, Calif., who found a small tumor behind his neck that was causing the issue.

Luckily for Milone, testing revealed it was benign and not malignant. But it still required surgery on Dec. 4, which helped relieve the issue. The

southpaw was back throwing just 16 days later, which allowed him to start his throwing program on his usual schedule to get ready for the

season. So while Milone is happy he's finally healthy, he admitted it was a scary process hearing he had a tumor in his neck.

"It's not anything anyone would've expected. I didn't expect that," Milone said. "I thought it was just a pinched nerve or something in there

causing pain. But it ended up being a minor outpatient surgery, and they were able to clean it out and it's not an issue anymore."

Milone, who turns 28 on Feb. 16, pitched well with the A's last season, posting a 3.55 ERA in 16 starts. But he struggled after being traded to the

Twins on July 31 for outfielder Sam Fuld, compiling a 7.06 ERA in six appearances -- including five starts -- with Minnesota. So while Milone

didn't want to make excuses for his subpar showing with the Twins, his neck didn't really start to bother him until later in the season. His

performance simply didn't match up to his track record of having a career 3.98 ERA in four years in the Majors.

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"I don't like making excuses, but throughout the year I felt it but was able to get through it while with the A's," Milone said. "But over here, it

was just a multitude of different things. I was trying to do too much to try to be the guy they want me to be and what I want to be. So I might've

put added pressure on myself. But now it's a new year and I can start fresh."

Milone, who avoided arbitration with a one-year deal worth $2.775 million last week, said he's excited to get the chance to compete for a spot

in the rotation in 2015 and prove to Twins fans that he's much better than the version they saw last season. He will compete for the fifth spot in

the rotation with several candidates such as Mike Pelfrey, Trevor May and Alex Meyer, and said his mentality won't change from previous Spring

Trainings.

"I tell myself every year when I come to Spring Training, 'I'm here to win a job,'" said Milone. "I can't expect myself to just lie down and get a

spot. There are a lot of guys competing for a spot. So I'm going to do my job and pitch how I pitch and see how it goes."

Twins, left-hander Duensing avoid arbitration

Rhett Bollinger | MLB.com | January 24, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins agreed to terms with their sixth and final arbitration-eligible player on Saturday, as they signed left-handed reliever

Brian Duensing to a one-year deal worth $2.7 million.

After Minnesota couldn't come to an agreement with Duensing before the Jan. 16 deadline, the southpaw filed for $3.1 million and the club

countered with $2.4 million. But the two sides were able to work out a deal to keep the Twins from going to an arbitration hearing for the ninth

straight year.

"I'm just glad the process is over and we agreed," Duensing said. "I love this organization and that I'm here, and we were able to get it done."

Duensing, who turns 32 on Feb. 22, posted a 3.31 ERA in 54 1/3 innings last year. It was the second-lowest ERA of his six-year career. He's the

third-longest tenured Twins player behind Joe Mauer and Glen Perkins, and he's happy his contract situation is now settled.

"I'm excited it's over with and I don't have to think about it heading into Spring Training or anything," Duensing said. "The last thing you need is

something over your head. I'm more worried about staying healthy and learning under the new staff and meeting our new players."

All of the club's arbitration-eligible players have now agreed to terms, as Trevor Plouffe, Eduardo Nunez, Casey Fien and Tommy Milone signed

one-year deals on Feb. 16, while outfielder Jordan Schafer inked a one-year deal on Friday.

Meyer ready to compete for Major League rotation

Rhett Bollinger | MLB.com | January 24, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS -- All Alex Meyer had to do was get through one final start at Triple-A Rochester last season, and the Twins' No. 4 prospect

(according to MLB.com) was finally going get to his chance to get called up to the Majors for the first time.

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But it wasn't to be, as Meyer left his start early and was diagnosed with shoulder inflammation, which ended his season on Aug. 30. So while

Meyer has tried not to harp on his missed opportunity to come up and pitch in relief down the stretch, the 6-foot-9 right-hander believes he's

now primed to make an impact with the Twins in 2015.

"I'm definitely ready," Meyer said at TwinsFest on Saturday. "I'm going to go in there and give everything I've got. There's a lot of people fighting

for essentially one position ... . I'm 25 years old now, so I'm just going to go in there and do everything I can to try and force their hand."

Meyer, ranked as the No. 27 overall prospect by MLB.com, posted a 3.52 ERA with 153 strikeouts and 64 walks in 130 1/3 innings at Triple-A

last year. Meyer said he learned a lot in his first full season at Triple-A, but knows what he needs to work on, especially repeating his delivery

given his tall stature. He's also improved his changeup, which was one of his big goals coming into last season, giving him another weapon to go

with his mid-90s fastball and wipeout breaking pitch.

"It was awesome," Meyer said. "You definitely learn in there what you need to work on, obviously command. There's guys up there who they

don't chase quite as much. I can imagine in the big leagues, it's even tougher there."

Meyer will head to Spring Training competing for the fifth spot in the rotation along with other candidates such as Tommy Milone, Trevor May

and Mike Pelfrey. Meyer knows he's more of a long shot than others for that final spot, but he said that won't deter him from trying to making

the club out of Spring Training.

"You want to go in there and show everything that you've got, do everything you can to put the thought in their mind to possibly keep you up

there," Meyer said. "I think I probably have less room for error than other guys that are going to be fighting for that, which everybody

understands."

Meyer also said he's fine if the Twins want him to get his feet wet in the Majors in relief, much like what St. Louis has done with some of its top

prospects over the years.

"If you look at what the Cardinals have done with [Adam] Wainwright or [Michael] Wacha, these guys are coming up, going to the bullpen and

now they're impact starters. So I don't care. Whatever it takes to help the Minnesota Twins out, I'm absolutely up for it."

Mauer, Molitor excited to work together in 2015

Rhett Bollinger | MLB.com | January 24, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS -- It was just two St. Paul natives having lunch in their hometown this week, but for Joe Mauer, it was a chance to keep picking

the brain of new Twins manager and Hall of Famer Paul Molitor.

Molitor said during the Winter Meetings in December that he planned on sitting down with Mauer before Spring Training to give the 31-year-

old advice on how to stay productive in the second half a career while also laying out expectations for the 2015 season. Molitor, who played for

21 seasons before retiring when he was 41, came away impressed with Mauer and his desire to bounce back from his uncharacteristically down

year in '14, when the first baseman hit .277/.361/.371 with just four homers and 55 RBIs in 120 games.

"It was just good to see Joe in a good place," Molitor said. "I think he's happy with the work he's done this winter. I don't think we can project

what will happen, but we were a pretty good offensive team last year and our best player didn't have a very good year. So if he can get back to

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where he was, it will bode well for us offensively."

Unlike last offseason, when Mauer was still coming off a season-ending concussion that forced him to move away from catching, he ended last

season healthy and he's been able to have a normal offseason. Mauer spent most of the offseason in Minnesota working out with his new

personal trainer, Roger Erickson, who designed a plan with the goal of staying healthy in 2015 after Mauer missed time last season with an

oblique injury and lower back spasms.

"I've had a great offseason," Mauer said. "I haven't had an offseason like this in a long time. I was able to get right into workouts, and obviously

at the end of the year take care of some little nicks here and there. My body feels good headed into this year. I'm excited about what's to

come."

Mauer said he's also happy with the way the organization is heading, as he liked the signings of Torii Hunter and Ervin Santana this offseason

and was on board with the hiring of Molitor. Mauer gave Molitor heavy praise for his baseball acumen, and he is excited to see what the

manager will bring to the team.

Twins agree to deal with Duensing

Phil Ervin | FOX Sports North | January 24, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins inked a new deal with relief pitcher Brian Duensing on Saturday, avoiding arbitration with the last of six arbitration-eligible players this offseason.

Minnesota and the veteran left-hander agreed to a one-year, $2.7 million deal, the team announced during its annual TwinsFest event at Target Field. Duensing was prepared to attend an arbitration hearing but was happy that step wasn't necessary.

"The last thing you really need is something hanging over your head when you go to spring (training)," said Duensing, who plans to report to Fort Myers on Feb. 12. "The last thing you want to do is be a distraction. I'm excited that it's over with and to move on."

Duensing appeared in 62 games last year, posting a 3.31 ERA and a 3-3 record in 54 1/3 innings pitched. Since his major-league debut in 2009, he owns a 4.12 ERA and is 37-36.

All six of his seasons have been spent in the Twin Cities.The Twins drafted him in the third round of the 2005 amateur draft.

"They're all I know," said Duensing, who will be a free agent once again after this season.

The Twins also avoided arbitration with Jordan Schafer, Eduardo Nunez, Trevor Plouffe, Casey Fien and Tommy Milone.

Twins' Milone relieved after considerable health scare

Phil Ervin | FOX Sports North | January 24, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS -- As he struggled down the stretch after being traded to Minnesota last season, Tommy Milone would often feel a shot of discomfort in the back of his neck.

The left-handed hurler from California had noticed it all summer, but it was never enough to keep him off the mound. It didn't prohibit him from producing with the A's, either, before they dealt him to the Twins at last year's trade deadline.

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Toward the end of the season, Milone received a cortisone shot in hopes of dulling the pain under his skull. He got another after a lackluster finish in Minnesota that saw him post a 7.06 ERA in five starts.

"It didn't do anything," Milone said Saturday at TwinsFest.

So late last year, he went and saw a specialist in Beverly Hills. The diagnosis: an Osteoid Osteoma, about 2-3 millimeters in length.

That's medicalese for a benign tumor.

"It's not anything anybody would've expected," Milone said. "I didn't expect that. I thought it was just something, maybe like a pinched nerve or something in there that's causing pain."

A quick and easy outpatient procedure Dec. 4 allowed for the tiny, non-malignant mass' removal. By Dec. 20, he was able to start throwing again.

After that brief but considerable scare, Milone can focus on spring training. Good thing, too, because there's essentially one spot in the Twins' rotation for which he and a few other candidates will be vying in Fort Myers.

Pain free and on track with his offseason workout regimen, the 27-year-old says he's ready.

"I can't just expect myself to just . . . lie down and win a spot," Milone said. "You've got to go out there, you've got to compete. There's going to be a lot of guys competing for that spot."

He'd become a mainstay in the A's rotation the past two-plus seasons following an offseason trade from Washington. In 73 starts from 2012-14, he had a 3.84 ERA and went 31-22.

But Milone struggled mightily once he came to Minnesota. The pain in his neck was its worst in September, but that wasn't the only factor.

New team. New town. No command. No excuses, either, though, Milone says.

"Coming over here, I think it was just the (multitude) of different things: trying to do too much, come to a new team, try to be the guy I know I can be and I know they want me to be," said Milone, whom the Nationals drafted in the 10th round of the 2008 amateur draft. "I might've put a little bit of added pressure on myself.

"I want to be the guy that (fans) want me to be, and I want to be the guy that I want myself to be, who I know that I am. I think it's good to kind of turn the corner. The neck's not an issue anymore. It's a new year, new season."

Mauer, Molitor see a lot of themselves in each other

Phil Ervin | FOX Sports North | January 24, 2015

MINNEAPOLIS -- Joe Mauer sat across the table from Paul Molitor at an undisclosed St. Paul eatery, two luminaries of capital city baseball royalty charged with returning the state to professional diamond relevance. Neither of them would unveil where they met for lunch recently -- "I don't want to say it," Mauer said, "because then it won't be as quiet" -- but it's a place Mauer frequents enough that patrons know to let him eat in relative peace (a rarity around the Twin Cities).

The two talked about the Twins' struggles the past four years. They talked about Mauer's, too.

Of course, it wasn't their first meeting. The two got to know each other last year when Molitor served on predecessor Ron Gardenhire's staff. Mauer first met the current Minnesota skipper when Mauer was in grade school and attending camps at Cretin-Derham Hall, where both St. Paul natives attended high school. Molitor told Mauer and the rest of his pre-adolescent comrades to swing toward every part of the field during batting practice, a habit the six-time All-Star deploys to this day.

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But this was different. This was intimate. A chance for both men to share observations and begin drafting a plan to get a franchise that's lost 92 or more games four years in a row -- and its star player -- back to unquestionable respectability.

"We talked about a lot of things," Molitor said Friday at the Twins' media luncheon, part of the club's annual TwinsFest proceedings. "It was just good to see Joe in a good place. I think he's happy with the work he's done this winter."

And the more time they spend together, Mauer said, the more each sees himself in the other.

"It seems like we're a lot alike," Mauer said.

That goes beyond their common homeland and alma mater. Mostly, it's their central place in the new era of Twins baseball.

MLB: Minnesota Twins visiting Lee Memorial on Jan. 29

Naples News / Associated Press | January 24, 2015

NAPLES, Fla. - Minnesota Twins players and staff will visit with Lee Memorial Health System cancer patients on Thursday at 2 p.m. at the Regional Cancer Center, 8931 Colonial Center Dr., Suite 200 in Fort Myers.

The Twins kicked off their Florida caravan at Golisano Children’s Hospital on Jan. 8. Players, including pitcher Kyle Gibson, autographed baseballs and hats, and took pictures with patients and staff.

For more information about the Minnesota Twins Caravan, contact Nicki McTeague at 343-6106 or Nicole.McTeague@LeeMemorial.org