Coffeyville Whirlwind

Sharp New Unis

Scot — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 13:17:46 +0000

I would prefer the alternate home uniform be the every day home uniform, but overall I like the new look.

A Mixed Bag

Scot — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:56:45 +0000

The first opportunity for offseason analysis arrived on Friday when the Twins traded Carlos Gomez to Milwaukee for J.J. Hardy. I meant to write something about the trade this weekend, but have found it more difficult to write with a baby in one hand than I remembered.

Gomez was one of my favorite Twins, though not really for his playing ability. That said, I think the team was better with him in center field despite his struggles at the plate. He was, however, not really being used here, and may be better off in Milwaukee. One of my favorite Gomez moments was when I discovered he was being used as a bullpen catcher at Metrodome. That was more interesting than the game on that particular night.

Overall, I think the move was a good one. Hardy is a better option at short stop than the Twins have even if he doesn’t regain the offensive form that led him to the 2007 All Star Game. He makes Orlando Cabrera and his .313 OBP expendable, and leaves the Twins one potential move away from making Nick Punto a bench player.

On top of that trade, the Twins extended Michael Cuddyer. That was not a surprise, nor was it a horrible move. It does, perhaps, illustrate the major negative of the Gomez/Hardy trade, however: Target Field may open with the worst defensive outfield in the major leagues when the combination of Young/Span/Cuddyer takes the field in April.

The Road to Contraction, Part 2

Scot — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:40:11 +0000

Originally posted two years ago.

As the owners’ vote approached, there were several last-ditch attempts to slow down the process. Potential buyers seemed to pop up out of nowhere, including Glen Taylor, whose name had been tossed around as a potential buyer of the Twins for several years.

It was also noted, in the category of potential legal challenges to contraction, that the Twins had signed a “use agreement” renewal on October 1, less than a month earlier, that explicitly stated that the Twins would play baseball in the Metrodome in 2002.

One of the more outspoken players on the team, Doug Mientkiewicz, had this to say days before the vote:

“It’s frustrating; that’s a good word,” said Mientkiewicz, 27, who hit .307 with 15 home runs and is a Gold Glove candidate. “Last year at this time, I could totally see (contraction) it. But finally, now, we have a direction. We’re so close to, I think, contending for years, not just next year or the following year, but for a long time to come. And right now, it’s looks like we’re not going to get that chance.

“I think we’ll be remembered like that Montreal Expos team that didn’t get a chance to play in the playoffs that one year, when they had Larry Walker, Pedro Martinez, all those guys who were there at the same time. That was a World Series title waiting to happen.”

On November 6, 2001, baseball owners voted by a 28-2 margin to eliminate two teams before the 2002 season. The owners did not release specifics on which team, but the writing was on the wall. On his way out of the meeting on November 6, Pohlad refused to comment on specifics of the meeting, but not too cryptically said “It’s not easy. After 15 years of work, it’s not easy.”

That same day, a Hennepin County district judge issued a temporary order barring Major League Baseball and the Minnesota Twins from breaking their Metrodome lease by eliminating the Twins. The order came after the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission requested a permanent injunction to prevent contraction of the Twins based on the language of the lease they had signed.

Though Twins employees were uncertain about their future, they continued day-to-day business as if there would be a 2002 season.

Meanwhile, the fight reached the highest levels of government when the two U.S. senators from Minnesota, Mark Dayton and Paul Wellstone, wrote to President Bush to request that he help by supporting a measure that would end baseball’s anti-trust exemption. Bush, of course, was a former owner himself and friend of Selig’s. Representative Tom Davis of Virginia got into the act as well, but with a different end result than most: “The Twins,” he said in an interview, “ought to come back to Washington, where they belong.”

At 1:00 PM on November 15, 2001, Judge Harry Crump presided over a hearing in which the Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission made the argument that the team’s lease gives the judge grounds to require them to play in 2002.

The Judge’s ruling was released a day later. Based on the wording he used, Crump was clearly a Twins fan.

‘The welfare, recreation, prestige, prosperity, trade and commerce of the people of the community are at stake,” Crump wrote in his four-page order. “The Twins brought the community together with Homer Hankies and Bobblehead dolls.”

“The Twins are one of the few professional sports teams in town where a family can afford to take their children to enjoy a hot dog and peanuts and a stadium. The vital public interest, or trust, of the Twins substantially outweighs any private interest.”

The ruling was not the end of contraction, but it might have started the ball rolling. Major League Baseball appealed the decision, but were unable to get an expedited hearing, meaning that the injunction would be in place past Christmas, making it difficult to contract the team by 2002.

On November 28, the same day that Selig announced that 25 teams had collectively lost $500 million in 2001, and the push for contraction was continuing, Bud Selig was offered a three-year contract extension by the owners. After that announcement was made, Selig said that contraction would take a back seat to the ongoing labor negotiations, but it was not off the table.

That decision, along with ongoing hearings in Washington on baseball’s anti-trust exemption, made contraction look like a long shot at best. On February 5, Bud Selig announced that baseball would not move forward with contraction for the 2002 season, though he would still seek contraction in the future. On February 28, 2002, the Twins opened exhibition play with a 13-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

The Road to Contraction, Part 1

Scot — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 10:57:14 +0000

Originally posted this two years ago.

After nearly a decade of losing seasons and poor play, the Minnesota Twins seemed to have turned a corner in 2001. In Tom Kelly’s last season as manager, a young group of players who had spent time in the Twins system together blossomed, and the team that had been near the bottom of the division for years was suddenly a contender. With a young nucleus highlighted by strong starting pitching, it seemed like the long suffering Twins fans of the mid-to-late nineties might finally find the light at the end of the tunnel. At the conclusion of the 2001 World Series, however, commissioner Bud Selig seemingly dropped the “contraction” bomb out of nowhere, and the light at the end of the tunnel was looking more and more like it was attached to a Mack truck.

In reality, contraction had been on the table for quite some time. It was formally introduced in an owner’s meeting at least two years earlier, and rumors seemed to go back even before that. In 1999, a panel was assembled to look into increasing competitive balance in baseball. Colorado Rockies owner Jerry McMorris was the first to propose the idea on record, and did so to the panel. His idea to eliminate baseball’s weakest franchise soon came to be known as contraction. At first, Selig was against the idea, but by 2001, around the same time that the CBA was to be negotiated, was making the argument that baseball needed to contract at least two teams.

On October 23, just as the Yankees and the Diamondbacks were preparing to play in the World Series, the Windsor Star reported that the decision had been made, and contraction would be a reality before the 2002 season. The two teams targeted, according the the Ontario newspaper, were Montreal and Florida. The next day, Bud Selig denied the report in the New York Times.

“I’ve made no decisions yet,” Selig told the New York Times from Milwaukee. “I’ve been saying for a year it’s a viable option. We have a lot of work to do. We have lot of questions we haven’t answered yet.”

On October 25, it was reported in the Pioneer Press that one of the scenarios under consideration would involve eliminating the Twins. When asked if he had been contacted about potential contraction, Twins owner Carl Pohlad said “I don’t know. Right now we’re waiting for the World Series, and then what to do with baseball’s labor situation. All of baseball is waiting to see what happens with the labor situation.” When further pressed, Pohlad referred to contraction as “newspaper talk,” implying that he hadn’t even given the notion any consideration.

The plan, which would also involve various franchise sales and the elimination of the Montreal Expos, was given about a 50/50 chance of happening at the time. The biggest sticking point, according to the Pioneer Press report, would be opposition to the elimination of two teams.

Speculation dominated the talk in Minnesota sports sections over the next couple of weeks, and Selig did little to clarify the situation when he talked to reporters prior to Game 2 of the World Series.

“Fifteen months ago, I said contraction was not a viable solution for our problems,” Selig said. “As problems have exacerbated, it’s clear to me that everything should be on the table, including contraction.

“Contraction’s viable . . . nothing more than that.” Selig was asked if it was feasible to take the dramatic action of dropping two teams in such a rapid timeline.

“I know we already have a 30-team schedule for next season, but things can change,” Selig said. “I wouldn’t rule it in [for 2002] and I wouldn’t rule it out.”

There was some outrage, including Attorney General Mike Hatch’s promise that he would not let the Twins leave without a fight. Still, to the average Twins fan, the prospect of contraction seemed no different than any of the other rumors surrounding the relocation the Twins that had been swirling over the past decade. The key issue, of course, was the Twins’ desire for a publicly funded stadium, a fight that was already several years old in Minnesota. It didn’t take long for the drumbeat to start up again, leaving cynical fans plenty of reasons to believe that contraction was just another ploy.

Sid Hartman, local sports columnist and major proponent of a new Twins stadium, laid it on pretty thick in his Halloween column, saying that he was starting to tear up because he was more convinced than ever that the Twins would be leaving, and that Pohlad had come to the conclusion that the community did not care if it had major league baseball or not.

Baseball’s bylaws allow for teams to withdraw with the approval of 3/4 of the owners. The vote was scheduled for November 6, 2001 at the owner’s meetings in Chicago. Leading up to the important vote, there seemed to be more than just a little apathy among residents of the state. Various polls showed that a very small percentage of residents thought that losing the Twins would be a big deal, while a larger minority didn’t care one way or the other. Bob Sansevere summarized the feeling in his November 1 column:

A fourth person has died from inhaling anthrax. The nation remains under a terrorist alert. The economy is unstable. Thousands upon thousands have lost their jobs. Too much is happening in the world for me to get too whipped up over the plight of the Twins.

Apparently, I’m not the only one who doesn’t rank the Twins first among things to fret about.

The Franchise 1980 (Part 1)

Scot — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:04:53 +0000

1980 Minnesota Twins

Managers: Gene Mauch 21st Season (5th with Minnesota 378-394)
Johnny Goryl 1st Season (1st with Minnesota 23-13)
77 W 84 L 670 RS 724 RA 3rd AL West 19.5 GB (Kansas City 97-65)
4.16 RPG (AL = 4.50) 3.93 ERA (AL = 4.04)
.692 DER (14th AL)

All Stars (1) Ken Landreaux

Franchise (1901-1980) 5892-6408-110; 11-21 Post Season; 11-15 WS
Washington (1901-1960) 4214-4864-104; 8-11 WS
Minnesota (1961-1980) 1678-1544-6; 3-10 Post Season; 3-4 WS

1980 could best be described as a debacle for the Twins. While just about every player improved from 1978 to 1979, the opposite occurred from 1979 to 1980. The team went from an above average offense to well below average with essentially the same lineup.

Gene Mauch, who was known for his love of managing, had just about enough. In a late June game, after leaving a struggling Pete Redfern in a game longer than most observers thought was appropriate, Mauch explained to SI that if he had brought Redfern into the dugout he probably would have strangled him. It got so bad that Mauch resigned as manager when the Twins were 54-71.

Here is what I wrote about his replacement at TwinsCards:

When Gene Mauch resigned in the middle of the 1980 season, the Twins named Johnny Goryl as his successor. Goryl was a utility player for the Cubs from 1957-1959, and for the Twins from 1962-1964. His best season as a player came in 1963 when, in 64 games, he batted .287/.353/.540 with nine home runs. Despite those numbers he only appeared in 58 games in 1964, his final major league season. Goryl stuck around the organization as a minor league player and eventually a minor league manager until he was named interim manager of the Twins. When he took over, the team was in sixth place. A 23-13 finish under Goryl vaulted the Twins to a third place finish…

The finish, of course, ended up being a mirage and it was clear that the Twins were in for a long term rebuilding effort.

Roster/Stats (Hitters)
Bold = Player new to Minnesota in 1980

C Butch Wynegar .255/.339/.335 5 HR 81 OPS+ 0.9 BFW 13 WS 41 FRAR 2.6 WARP3
By age 24 Wynegar had settled in to a role for the Twins, that being a below-average hitting but very good defensive catcher.

1B Ron Jackson .265/.316/.391 5 HR 87 OPS+ -1.2 BFW 7 WS 10 FRAR -0.5 WARP3
After a very good showing at the plate in 1979, Jackson had his worst full season as a major leaguer. After 54 games as the Twins’ starting first baseman in 1981, he was traded to Detroit.

2B Rob Wilfong .248/.308/.368 8 HR 79 OPS+ -0.2 BFW 11 WS 11 FRAR -0.6 WARP3
Wilfong set an AL record for fielding percentage as a second baseman in 1980 with a .995 average over the course of the season.

SS Roy Smalley .278/.359/.405 12 HR 103 OPS+ 4.2 BFW 19 WS 32 FRAR 3.5 WARP3
Smalley continued to be one of the best fielding shortstops in the league. Like the rest of his team, however, his production at the plate tailed off from his 1979 numbers.

3B John Castino .302/.336/.430 13 HR 102 OPS+ 2.0 BFW 18 WS 23 FRAR 2.0 WARP3
Castino was the rare player in the 1980 Twins lineup that improved upon his performance in 1979.

LF Rick Sofield .247/.287/.374 9 HR 74 OPS+ -2.1 BFW 8 WS 13 FRAR -0.8 WARP3
Sofield was the 13th overall pick by the Twins in the 1975 amateur draft. He had been offered a scholarship to play quarterback at the University of Michigan, but turned it down to join the Twins’ system. The Wyoming native hit .301/.381/.355 in 35 games in 1979, which was enough to earn him the starting left field role for the Twins in 1980. After a .176/.234/.196 start in 1981, Rick attempted to get back into college football at the University of South Carolina, but was ruled ineligible. Instead, he became an assistant baseball coach for the Gamecocks.

CF Ken Landreaux .334/.417/.751 7 HR 99 OPS+ -1.9 BFW 13 WS 0 FRAR -0.5 WARP3
On April 23, 1980, Ken Landreaux broke up a no-hitter by hitting a double off of Bruce Kison with one out in the ninth inning of a 17-0 loss. The hit turned out to be even more important in that it started the longest hitting streak in the American League since 1949. From April 23 to May 31, Ken Landreaux hit in 31 consecutive games. He batted .380/.433/.481 over that span. Unfortunately, Landreaux’s individual success over that hitting streak did not translate to team success. The Twins won just 12 of the games. Landreaux’s streak earned him the spot as the lone Twins representative in the All Star Game despite mediocre numbers the rest of the season.

RF Hosken Powell .262/.312/.355 6 HR 77 OPS+ -1.8 BFW 9 WS 27 FRAR 0.9 WARP3
Powell had 14 of the Twins 62 stolen bases. He was caught just three times making him one of the few legitimate threats on a team that was dead last in the AL in stolen bases.

DH Jose Morales .303/.361/.490 8 HR 124 OPS+ 0.5 BFW 7 WS 0 FRAR 1.2 WARP3
DH Glenn Adams .286/.320/.412 6 HR 94 OPS+ -0.8 BFW 4 WS -1 FRAR -0.2 WARP3
The 35-year-old Morales might have been the best bat on the team in 1980. He became a free agent after the season and signed with Baltimore. He retired after the 1984 season. In three seasons as a platoon DH for the Twins, Morales batted .297/.350/.414 with a 106 OPS+.

IF Pete Mackanin .266/.296/.361 4 HR 74 OPS+ 0.0 BFW 7 WS 11 FRAR -0.5 WARP3
IF Mike Cubbage .246/.301/.361 8 HR 76 OPS+ -0.6 BFW 6 WS 7 FRAR -0.8 WARP3
OF Dave Edwards .250/.294/.335 2 HR 67 OPS+ -1.1 BFW 3 WS 5 FRAR -0.8 WARP3
With the way the Twins hit in 1980, if any of their bench players had proved any capability of hitting major league pitching they would have gotten a shot at starting. As it stood, the starters had every chance to right the ship.

The reason things will be slow at CW for a while…

Scot — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:54:11 +0000

Hopefully his new world won’t involve a Yankee World Series win. That would be a rough first month of life.

1987: World Series Game 6

Scot — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:34:57 +0000

Saturday October 25, 1987

Twins 11, Cardinals 5

The Twins used back-to-back big innings to come from behind and force a seventh game in the World Series.

Things started well for the Cardinals, however, when Tommy Herr hit a solo home run off of Les Straker in the first inning. It was only the second long ball of the series for the Cardinals.

The Twins answered in their half of the first. Dan Gladden hit a lead off triple, and later scored when Kirby Puckett singled to left. After Puckett reached second on a ground out, Don Baylor knocked in the second Twins’ run with a single to right.

St. Louis tied the score at two in the second when Jose Oquendo singled home Terry Pendleton. The tie held up until the fourth, when the first three batters Straker faced reached safely to give the Cardinals a 4-2 lead. Dan Scahtzeder entered with nobody out, and was able to get out of the inning with no further damage. The Cards did get to Schatzeder in the fifth when Willie McGee knocked Ozzie Smith in with a single.

Down 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth, the Twins needed to score runs. Fortunately, runs have come relatively easy in the Metrodome, and that was the case on this night as well. Like the Cardinals fourth, the first three Twins reached safely off of John Tudor.

Kirby Puckett led the inning off with a single. That was followed by a Gaetti RBI double that cut the St. Louis lead to two. Don Baylor quickly erased that lead with a home run to left, his first in a Twins’ uniform. Baylor last home run came on August 23 when he was with Boston; a grand slam off of Steve Carlton.

The Twins continued the hit parade, however. Tom Brunansky finally ended Tudor’s night when he singled to left, the fourth straight hit for the Twins. Ricky Horton came in to get Hrbek and Laudner for the first two outs, but Steve Lombardozzi knocked a single to center to score Brunansky from second before the inning was over. The Twins took a 6-5 lead.

After Juan Berenguer retired the Cardinals in order in the top of the sixth, the Twins continued the onslaught. From Mark Vancil’s game story:

But it was the sixth inning that turned the game, and perhaps the Cardinals’ season, upside down. Greg Gagne singled to lead off before Bob Forsch came on to walk Puckett. In between outs, Baylor was intentionally walked and Herzog brought in lefthander Ken Dayley to face Hrbek, who had been 1-for-14 against lefties in the Series.

“I knew no matter what that if I got to the plate, I’d be facing a lefty,” Hrbek said.

He faced him for one pitch. Hrbek took a Dayley fastball 439 feet, over the center-field wall, for a 10-5 lead that buried the Cardinals and sent Herzog looking for a Game 7 starter.

The Twins added an unearned run in the eighth to make the final 11-5 and force a seventh game. So far, the Twins have outscored the Cardinals 29-10 in three World Series games at the Dome, the site of Game 7.

Somewhat lost in all of the fire works was Kirby Puckett’s game. He went 4-4 and scored 4 runs, tying a World Series record for runs in a game.

Constructing a team from the best seasons in Twins history

Scot — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 10:30:52 +0000

Still trying to get over the Twins quick exit from the playoffs, I am clearly seeking solace in an attempt to place Joe Mauer’s historic season in context.

It got me thinking about the best single seasons in Twins history, so I decided to put together a lineup. The no brainers were the one’s discussed in the previous post on Mauer’s season: Mauer 2009 at catcher, Carew 1977 at first base, Killebrew 1969 at third base, Knoblauch 1996 at second base, and Puckett 1988 at center field.

Rounding out the team turned out to be a fairly easy task as well, with only a couple of positions that require any kind of debate. The closest was at shortstop, where Roy Smalley’s 1979 and Zoilo’s 1965 seem just about interchangeable. I went with Zorro, perhaps swayed by the national recognition he received and based on arguments made on his behalf over the last several seasons. Smalley might be my first bench player.

Left field was a bit of a challenge, but ultimately my desire to keep two of the same player off the team (Killebrew 1964) and to keep some kind of defense in the field (Hisle 1977) put Shane Mack in place.

Designated hitter does not have a terribly proud place in this team’s history, and I was surprised to find that Kubel’s numbers rank favorably against any DH in Twins history. The other two that could have been included were CHili Davis 1991 and Paul Molitor 1996.

C Joe Mauer 2009

1B Rod Carew 1977

2B Chuck Knoblauch 1996

SS Zoilo Versalles 1965

3B Harmon Killebrew 1969

LF Shane Mack 1992

CF Kirby Puckett 1988

RF Tony Oliva 1964

DH Jason Kubel 2009

I’ll take that team.

The one good thing about the ALDS

Scot — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:00:14 +0000

The 2.5-year-old took an active interest in the games. He even, in a moment of anger, called his mother a Derek Jeter.

Yes, that is his official Target Field hard hat and his Joe Mauer batting champion wiffle bat. The best part is that he asked to get all of the baseball props out while he watched the game.

As I was watching Game 3 of the ALCS last night, he asked for about the fourth time in the last week “when are the Twins going to play?” How do you explain the concept of offseason to a kid who probably has no memory of the last time the Twins didn’t have a game tomorrow?

The Franchise 1979 (Part 2)

Scot — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:00:34 +0000

Roster/Stats (Pitchers)
Bold = Player new to Minnesota in 1979

SP Jerry Koosman 20-13 3.38 ERA 130 ERA+ 1.33 WHIP 3.46 FIP 3.4 PW 23 WS 7.5 WARP3
Koosman was probably best known for his role as the left-handed compliment to Tom Seaver during the Mets’ run in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, including the 1969 World Series win. A miserable 1978 season prompted Koosman to demand a trade to his hometown team, the Twins, threatening to retire to pursue an air freight business. Now 36, Koosman was traded to the Twins in a deal that sent 22-year-old Jesse Orosco to New York as a PTBNL. Koosman won his first seven decisions of 1979 before dropping his next six. He had another run of six straight decisions in August. On September 30, Koosman put a bow on his first season as a Twin by shutting out the Brewers, a team that had not been shut out all season, to earn his 20th win. He finished sixth in the Cy Young voting for 1979.

SP Dave Goltz 14-13 4.16 ERA 106 ERA+ 1.40 WHIP 3.66 FIP 0.7 PW 16 WS 4.6 WARP3
Goltz was overshadowed by new arrival Koosman, but still had a solid season. Goltz opted for free agency following the season, and at the age of 31 signed a 3-year, $3 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. After a great first month or so, Goltz struggled the rest of his career. He had a decent year in 1982 with the Angels, but a torn rotator cuff ended his career in 1983. Goltz pitched for eight seasons with the Twins, he compiled a 96-79 record with a 112 ERA+ for his Twins career, and was probably among the team’s best starters in the 1970’s.

SP Geoff Zahn 13-7 3.57 ERA 123 ERA+ 1.31 WHIP 3.77 FIP 1.7 PW 14 WS 4.3 WARP3
Though Zahn missed the month of May due to injury, his peripheral numbers in 1979 are just about identical to his numbers in 1978, which is considered his best season as a member of the Twins.

SP Paul Hartzell 6-10 5.36 ERA 82 ERA+ 1.45 WHIP 4.51 FIP -1.2 PW 5 WS 1.4 WARP3
The 6′5″ tall Lehigh University graduate came to the Twins in the Rod Carew trade. He had pitched well for the Angels in three seasons, but came out with a losing record. His 1979 season was by far the worst of his career to that point, and Hatrzell was released by the Twins following the season. He pitched in 10 more major league games total following his stint with the Twins.

SP Roger Erickson 3-10 5.63 ERA 78 ERA+ 1.64 WHIP 4.96 FIP -1.6 PW 2 WS 0.3 WARP3
Erickson failed to follow up on his impressive rookie numbers, but rebounded in 1980.

CL Mike Marshall 10-15 2.65 ERA 166 ERA+ 1.26 WHIP 3.42 FIP 5.4 PW 23 WS 8.3 WARP3
Mike Marshall was busy in 1979. He appeared in 90 games for the Minnesota Twins, a number that easily led the league. Marshall also led the league with 31 saves. At the end of the season, Marshall finished fifth in AL Cy Young voting and won TSN’s Fireballer of the Year Award. It would not be a stretch to put Marshall’s performance in 1979 among the top seasons for a relief pitcher in Twins’ history. 1979 would prove to be Marshall’s final effective season in the majors, however. He retired at the age of 38 following a couple of seasons in which he appeared in only 38 games total. Marshall now makes a living ruffling the feathers of the baseball establishment, particularly pitching coaches. He trains young pitchers with an unusual delivery and claims that his methods will eliminate pitching injuries and allow pitchers to throw with more velocity and less rest time between high pitch outings. So far, he and his ideas has been shut out of the baseball establishment.

RP Pete Redfern 7-3 3.49 ERA 126 ERA+ 1.30 WHIP 3.12 FIP 0.9 PW 9 WS 2.5 WARP3
Redfern, who has been primarily used as a starter in his first three seasons with the Twins, was moved to the bullpen in 1979 and had his best season. The Twins moved him back into the starting rotation in 1980 with mixed results.

RP Darrell Jackson 4-4 4.28 ERA 103 ERA+ 1.66 WHIP 3.60 FIP 0.1 PW 4 WS 1.3 WARP3
Jackson made a few starts for Minnesota in 1978, but worked primarily out of the bullpen in 1979.

RP Mike Bacsik 4-2 4.39 ERA 100 ERA+ 1.37 WHIP 4.24 FIP -0.2 PW 3 WS 0.7 WARP3
After three ineffective seasons as a Texas Ranger, Bacsik was traded to the Twins after spending 1978 in the minor leagues. He had his best major league season in 1979.