This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com. With the dismissal of Jason Marquis and subsequent promotion of Cole DeVries, the Twins’ rotation is down to one member of the original group projected to come out of Spring Training. Only Carl Pavano remains (and his balky shoulder makes you wonder how much longer he’ll last). And we haven’t reached Memorial Day yet. So, with the rotation situation as it is, I’m going to put myself in Ron Gardenhire’s and Rick ...
Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- With the Twins having a severe need for pitching in the organization as well as six picks among the top 100, it is certain that more than one of those picks (and probably the second overall pick) will be used to draft a pitcher. To this respect, I am presenting profiles of the top 22 pitching prospects for the 2012 MLB draft. I will be presenting these alphabetically, and at the end I will rank them. I will be ...
Today, we continue our trek through my Top 50 Twins Prospects list by looking at my choices for prospects 21 through 30. Yesterday we looked at prospects 31-40, and the day before I presented prospects 41 through 50. I think that this 21-30 group is interesting. You still have some young players who have great potential but haven’t quite reached it... yet. You have a couple of players who have been ranked quite a bit higher who, for whatever reason, have fallen and are looking to move back up. ...
These next two months are huge for the Twins and their future. With the trade deadline approaching I feel the two players with legit value, if healthy, are Morneau and Span. I think Span should be no problem in getting us a good return in prospects with his play and team friendly contract. The tricky one is Morneau. If he can stay healthy and put up some strong numbers in these next 2 months I can see a couple of teams competing for him. To me I think St. Louis is the team to watch. Losing ...
Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In the last couple of weeks, the Twins have seen a concerning development with two players in the upper levels of the minor leagues. Joe Benson and Rene Tosoni were demoted to New Britain after starting the year with the Rochester Red Wings. The most concerning thing for both of these players might be the fact that ...
It's been a little over a quarter into the season and the Twins seemed destined to be sellers come July 31st. Unsurprisingly, many contenders are more than certain to inquire about the availability of Denard Span. Bidding for the center fielder could very well be competive as it is a position of need for quite a few division leaders. One of the biggest decisions the organization will have to make is whether or not they want to accept a deal for him. The biggest factor in the choice could possibly ...
Here is an update on my top 50 prospects list from February. I will actually construct a new list soon. 1. Miguel Sano (2): Confirming the unanimous #1 ranking. Will go through some ups and downs this year and strikes out a lot, but his ceiling keeps getting higher. Ranking status: stays at the top. 2. Aaron Hicks (1): Some scoffed at keeping Hicks so high. This season is a mixed bag of good and not-so-good for Hicks (as is true of many New Britain players, see throughout). ...
It was a risk without an acceptable backup plan. The Twins knew that. And it failed. And they’re paying the price. And that price is a .192 batting average. That’s the combined batting average of whoever the Twins have played in right field so far. It’s last in the majors. Their combined OPS is .594. That’s the career OPS of Juan Castro. And there isn’t anything close to a solution in sight unless the Twins want to mess with their best hitter. Two weeks before the end ...
It's time again for my recap of tonight's action in the Twins' farm system. The parent club couldn't pull out a win tonight, so let's see how the affiliates fared. The Rochester Red Wings were off tonight. They are in last place in the International League North, 9 games out of first place with a 16-26 record. New Britain 1, Binghamton 8 Today's game was quite a test for the Rock Cats, facing top Mets pitching prospect Zack Wheeler. He routinely hits 97 with the ...
Updated 05-23-2012 at 10:31 PM by Twins Fan From Afar
Hitter of the Day: Wang-Wei Lin: 1-4 2B (10), 3 RBI Rough night offensively for the Twins organization as 4 levels (Rochester had day off) score 7 runs. Pitcher of the Day: David Bromberg: 6 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 SO. Despite not getting the win for New Britain today, Bromberg gave them a good shot at winning before the relievers and defense blew it. Recap: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AiRVhKu18uIhdDBSYUc5UGtSMkluOEFSWFdnTVdvQ VE&output=html ...
Sorry, got wiped out by a nasty cold and slept all day yesterday. Here is the May 22nd version, I should hopefully have the May 23rd version done tonight after the Twins game. Hitter of the Day: Chris Herrmann: 4-4 2B (14), 2 RBI (Last 2 games went 8-9 2 2B, 3 R, 2 RBI) Pitcher of the Day: P.J. Walters: CG (9 IP), 5 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 SO Several great pitching outings in the organization last night, but P.J. Walters getting the first complete game ...
Here are some chants for 5 players. I know Kubel and Cuddyer don't play for the team anymore, but Cuddyer will always be a Twin to me and Kubel's not that far removed. I mostly threw it in because I was chanting it last year and thought it was a fun one. Denard Span Spaaaaaan… There’s a reason you don’t play in Japaaaaaan… I assume it was a mostly logistical decision because Japanese work permits are notoriously difficult to procuuurrre… Spaaaaaan… better than Staaaaaan… ...
Updated 05-23-2012 at 02:55 PM by Michael Blomquist (profanity)
This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com. Baseball is a great game. Almost every game has some sort of unique situation arise, allowing fans to try to get in to the minds of the players and managers. Is the starting pitcher beginning to lose his stuff or can he go another inning? Is the centerfielder cheating a bit by playing shallow to keep a runner from advancing or to cut off a short line drive and will the hitter be able to get something past him in to the gap? ...
Updated 05-24-2012 at 11:28 AM by Jim Crikket
Jim Bowden has yet another "wonderful" article over at ESPN discussing 5 players who could be traded before the trade deadline. Of the players he has listed is Justin Morneau. He talks primarily about Morneau being a risk and hurt, but has still slugged .490. Let's review: 1) The Twins were leery enough on Morneau to try to keep him out of the field as much as possible this reason. Only when Chris Parmalee totally stunk did they start moving him back to 1B. ...