Minnesota Twins

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Union are always searching for ways to improve the game. Under MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, one of the biggest focuses has been pace of play. How can baseball speed up their games and keep younger fans interested in the action on the field?

Some of the latest proposals by MLB and the MLBPA could help to alleviate some of the issues.

After the Polar Vortex gripped most of Twins Territory, it seems strange that pitchers and catchers will be reporting to Fort Myers in the days ahead. The Twins still have plenty of questions to answer about their roster before the team heads to Target Field for Opening Day.

Who catches the most innings? Could the Twins sign a big-name closer? Why did the team ditch their cream-colored alternate jerseys? All of those questions and more will be answered in this week’s Twins Daily Mailbag.

Happy Super Bowl Sunday, everyone! If you’re anything like me, another year with no real “dog in the fight” so to speak, I’ll be mostly meandering around the kitchen and living room – eating too much junk, maybe having a drink or two, passively watching the game whilst waiting for a decent commercial to come on. Then, of course, judge them harshly against all of my favorite Super Bowl commercials from the past. My wife asked me who was playing in the Super Bowl last week, I literally had to take a moment and think, thankfully my 10-year-old son chimed in with the correct answer pretty quickly so I was able to save some face. Needless to say, I’m not exactly the world’s biggest football fan (Skol Vikings, though).
Baseball is only 11 days away. Time to get excited.

With the release of the new Twins alternate jerseys and the Super Bowl Blog Blowout, I felt like it was a perfect time to create a comprehensive ranking of every uniform (top and pants) a Twins player has donned since they moved to Minnesota in 1961. Obviously, this is a highly subjective topic and I look forward to hearing what you think of my list and what your list looks like.

Every artist gets asked the question ‘Where do you get your ideas?’ The honest artist answers ‘I steal them.’ - Austin Kleon

As Twins fans, we tend to look at roster moves through Twins-colored glasses. We know there are approaches to roster construction and talent acquisition outside of the Falvey/Levine mold and we try our best to keep track of them, but it’s difficult and time consuming to monitor 29 other rosters for ideas the Twins could adopt. Unfortunately opposing players don’t have 'amateur free agent' or 'trade acquisition' on their jerseys along with their name and number.

I think it’s safe to say that most Twins fans – if not all of them – expected a lot more from their club in 2018 after such exciting playoff run six months before. The signings of a number of free agents coming off a very decent previous season got a lot us over the moon. But one factor played a big role in Minnesota’s disappointing season: injuries. Is there even a way to dodge this problem or at least soften the blow? Yes, there is, and the Twins are doing a fine job on that front.

How often does spending big in free agency actually result in winning more games the next year? Thank you for asking this question, voice in my head, because I was wondering the same thing. What I want to look at are the teams that spent the most money in the offseason and then how they did the year following with their new toys.

It all started with card no. 329.

On a typical summer day in Southeast Minnesota, a young mom brought her oldest boy, an impressionable blue-eyed nine-year-old, to the local grocery store. We only made stops at that particular location if we needed one or two items. Typically, our family would do our weekly grocery shopping at the larger grocer a few towns over. For those shopping trips, the entire family would tag along. This time, it was just a young mom and her oldest boy.

Despite my one-more-year campaign, Joe Mauer decided to retire after the 2018 season. After the surprise appearance as a catcher in the final 2018 season game, he packed up all his gear after it had been authenticated and handed the bag to the Twins curator, Clyde Doepner, so it could be shared with fans. Clyde hadn't decided quite what to do with the bag until he found out there would be a special white-glove tour with Joe auctioned off for TwinsFest.

It’s going to be a good battle for the fourth outfielder position. The Minnesota Twins still have a lot of questions to answer before the 2019 season, but one thing they probably don’t have to worry about is finding a fourth outfielder. The Twins currently have eight outfielders on their 40-Man Roster. That’s more than enough and by the end of Spring Training, that number will likely be lower as there are three players who will battle it out in the Spring for one position. The two players who fail to win that competition might have to be moved because they look like they are ready to be major league ballplayers.

Memories of an old usher with a few tears in my eyes.

1961 was my first and only year as an usher at Metropolitan Stadium, but what a year it was. We were not dreaming of World Series and Super Bowls – in fact there was no Super Bowl in 1961! The old Washington Senators and their slogan of First in War Last in the American League did not count any more. These were the Twins – a new creation out of an old organization. We did not finish last! We finished 7th out of 10 ! But that is something, isn’t it?

The Super Bowl is upon us. The game is actually sometime on Sunday in the mid-to-late afternoon. There is a connection between the sports. Many baseball fans and many of the players participate in fantasy football. And, of course, everyone has an opinion. If you scroll down, you will find the predictions of many players, front office types and others for this year’s Rams/Patriots Super Bowl. I encourage you to post your Super Bowl predictions in the comments below.

But first, here’s my prediction. Maybe the Patriots just spend the regular season taking it easy and then turn it on in the postseason. But I think that the Rams will keep it competitive, especially if Todd Gurley is at 100% At the end of the day, the Patriots will win 34-30. Tom Brady will be the MVP, even though it should be James White.