Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Friday, February 10, 2017
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Minnesota Twins Daily Clips Friday, February 10, 2017 Perkins calls off mound session; Park clears waivers; Light traded. Star Tribune (Neal III) p. 1 Twins’ Byung Ho Park clears waivers, designated to Triple-A Rochester. Pioneer Press (Shipley) p. 2 Perkins forced to postpone bullpen session. MLB (Bollinger) p. 2 Twins counting on young core for '17 success. MLB (Bollinger) p. 2 Park clears waivers, outrighted to Rochester. MLB (Bollinger) p. 3 Byung Ho Park will stay in Twins organization; Twins trade a reliever for cash. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 3 Reports: Glen Perkins won’t throw off a mound Friday after all. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 4 Wetmore’s 5 thoughts: Sorting through Twins’ reported interest in finding a free-agent hitter. ESPN 1500 (Wetmore) p. 4 Pirates acquire reliever Pat Light from Twins. ESPN p. 6 Pirates acquire Pat Light from the Twins. NBC Sports (Bear) p. 6 Twins Notes: Napoli, Alvarez, Perkins. MLB Trade Rumors (Adams) p. 6 Pirates Acquire Pat Light, Designate Lisalverto Bonilla For Assignment. MLB Trade Rumors (Adams) p. 7 Byung Ho Park Clears Waivers, Outrighted To Triple-A. MLB Trade Rumors (Adams) p. 7 MLB rumors: ex-Boston Red Sox prospect Pat Light traded to Pirates; Byung Ho Park clears waivers, outrighted. Mass Live (Smith) p. 7 Minnesota Twins-themed restaurant now open at Minneapolis airport. Biz Journals (Williams) p. 8 Perkins calls off mound session; Park clears waivers; Light traded La Velle E. Neal III | Star Tribune | February 9, 2017 Designated hitter Byung Ho Park cleared waivers and was outrighted to Class AAA Rochester by the Twins. Park was designated for assignment last week as the Twins made room to add free agent righthander Matt Belisle. It was a gamble that no team would claim Park and the $9.25 million remaining on his contract, considering he batted .191 in 62 games for the Twins last season Park will report to camp as a non-roster invite and battle for a spot on the Opening Day roster. • Reliever Pat Light, who was designated for assignment on Monday, was traded to Pittsburgh for cash considerations. Light, who gave up 14 earned runs in 14 innings with the Twins last season, was traded to the Twins from Boston for Fernando Abad. Light will be remembered for throwing a wild pitch while trying to intentionally walk Detroit's Erick Aybar. • Reliever Glen Perkins felt a familiar catch behind his left shoulder and won’t throw off mound on Friday. Perkins postponed the session so he can continue to work on arm strength. Perkins is attempting to rebound after season-ending surgery last year to repair a torn labrum -- a surgery that ended up being more extensive that initially expected. Perkins, who pitched in just two games last season, wasn't expected to be ready to pitch in games until the second half of spring training. Even then, his availability heading into the regular season wasn’t a sure thing. It's unclear how this development will affect his schedule, but it is safe to assume that he and the Twins will be careful about how he progresses during camp. Brandon Kintzler is expected to open the season as closer instead of Perkins, a three-time All-Star with 120 career saves. When Perkins had surgery last June, his labrum had to be reattached to the bone, guaranteeing a lengthy recovery period. Twins’ Byung Ho Park clears waivers, designated to Triple-A Rochester John Shipley | Pioneer Press | February 9, 2017 Byung Ho Park has cleared waivers, the Twins announced Thursday, and been designated to Triple-A Rochester with an invitation to spring training. In addition, the team said, right-handed pitcher Pat Light was been traded to Pittsburgh for cash considerations. Light. 25, was removed from the 40-man roster Feb. 6 when the Twins claimed Ehire Adrianza off waivers. Light was 0-1 with a 9.00 earned-run average in 15 relief appearances for the Twins after being acquired from Boston on July 31 in exchange for left-handed pitcher Fernando Abad. Park, 30, was signed out of the Korea Baseball Organization in November 2015 after the Twins paid a $12.85 million posting fee to his former club, the Nexen Heroes. The designated hitter/first baseman is still owned $9.25 total over the next three seasons. As a major league rookie last season, Park hit .191 with 12 home runs for the Twins before being shipped to Triple-A on July 1. There, he battled a hand injury that required surgery in August. The Twins have 62 players players expected to report major league camp starting Monday in Fort Myers, Fla. Perkins forced to postpone bullpen session Rhett Bollinger| MLB | February 9, 2017 MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins reliever Glen Perkins, who is coming off left shoulder surgery, experienced some soreness and will push back Friday's targeted throwing date. Perkins, who underwent surgery to reattach his labrum to the bone in June, has been working out at the club's Spring Training complex in Fort Myers, Fla., since early January, and had been scheduled to throw his first light bullpen session on Friday. Perkins, though, determined he wasn't ready to take that next step and will continue to build arm strength before getting off a mound. Perkins, a three-time All-Star, said at TwinsFest that his rehab was going well this offseason, and estimated he was about three weeks behind his usual offseason schedule. Perkins had been throwing off flat ground in recent weeks without any issues, but he had been only throwing fastballs. Perkins, who made just two appearances last year, had hoped to get into Spring Training games by mid-March, but he is likely to see that pushed back as well, as he's a candidate to open the season on the disabled list. Brandon Kintzler will fill-in as closer until Perkins proves he's ready to take back that role. Twins counting on young core for '17 success Rhett Bollinger| MLB | February 9, 2017 With Spring Training fast approaching, MLB.com will take a look at a different aspect of this year's Twins squad each day this week. Today's topic -- What's the vision? MINNEAPOLIS -- Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey often speaks of his goal of building a sustainable championship-caliber franchise, but what would that type of team actually look like? Much of it involves building around the club's young and athletic core of position players, such as center fielder Byron Buxton, third baseman Miguel Sano, right fielder Max Kepler, shortstop Jorge Polanco and left fielder Eddie Rosario. But it's obvious that overhauling the pitching is going to be the most-important -- and most-challenging -- undertaking. The Twins finished with the second-worst ERA in the Majors last year, but they are bringing back most of the same pitchers. The lone major change isn't a pitcher at all, it's defensively minded catcher Jason Castro, who was signed to a three-year deal. 2 The rotation is veteran-laden with Ervin Santana, Hector Santiago, Kyle Gibson and Phil Hughes, but the Twins have a slew of pitching prospects who could impact the rotation soon: Jose Berrios, Stephen Gonsalves, Tyler Jay, Kohl Stewart, Adalberto Mejia and Fernando Romero. The Twins had that in mind when they signed Castro for three years, as he had previously worked with and helped develop Astros starters such as Dallas Keuchel, Collin McHugh and Lance McCullers. Park clears waivers, outrighted to Rochester Rhett Bollinger| MLB | February 9, 2017 MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins were hopeful slugger Byungho Park would clear waivers after being designated for assignment last Friday. The club got its wish on Thursday, as he went unclaimed and was outrighted to Triple-A Rochester. The Twins designated Park for assignment to make room for reliever Matt Belisle, and were strategic about their decision, as they thought he'd pass through waivers after an uneven rookie year that ended with hand surgery and $9.25 million remaining on his contract over the next three years. Reliever Pat Light, however, was traded to the Pirates for a player to be named or cash after he was designated for assignment on Monday to make room for infielder Ehire Adrianza. Park will head to Spring Training as a non-roster invite and will compete with Kennys Vargas for the designated hitter role, although Vargas has the advantage because he remains on the 40-man roster. Park, 30, hit .191/.275/.409 with 12 homers and 24 RBIs in 62 games before a demotion to Triple-A and season-ending hand surgery in late August. The two-team MVP in the Korean Baseball Organization also batted .224/.297/.526 with 10 homers and 19 RBIs in 31 games with Rochester. Park, though, did show impressive power, as evidenced by Statcast™ data. As highlighted in a recent Fangraphs.com article on Park's breakout potential, he had an average exit velocity of 97.2 mph on fly balls and line drives that ranked as the 10th-best mark in baseball. And of his 123 balls put into play, 18.7 percent were classified as barreled, which was the second-highest rate in the Majors behind the Yankees' Gary Sanchez. So Park still has plenty of promise, and the Twins believe that he'll be more comfortable this season in his second year in the United States. He's worked hard to learn the language, but the first season makes for a tough cultural adjustment. "The challenge from coming overseas is not easy and he handled himself professionally," Twins chief baseball Derek Falvey said last week.