The Minnesota Twins might be looking back to the good old days wistfully for a reason other than wanting to relive their decade of glory. For instance, signing free agents used to be a relatively orderly business: Teams that needed a great pitcher would chase the best (or best remaining) pitcher, hoping to get him.One team would get him.Lather. Rinse. Repeat. That’s oversimplifying a little, but in general, free agents would sign from the top down. In fact, free ...
With the 4th overall pick in the 2012 Rule 5 draft, the Minnesota Twins drafted RHP Ryan Pressley from the Boston Red Sox organization. John Manuel reports that he throws up to 95 mph. The 22 year old split the 2012 season between Hi-A and AA. More to come.
Alex Wimmers: Let's Not Forget About Him [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] It's no secret now that the Twins are essentially punting in 2013. It's disappointing. I felt it coming months ago (as did many of you). Make no mistake ...
There have been plenty of rumors surrounding the Twins over the last couple of days at the Winter Meetings. The team still has plenty of holes to fill in their starting rotation and there is talk of adding a third baseman to challenge Trevor Plouffe for the starting role. It would be nice to see the team add some middle infield depth since there are plenty of question marks at those spots. Even with all of this talk, there hasn’t been much action on the home front. ...
This morning at 9:00 a.m. the annual Rule 5 draft will begin. First will be the Major League portion. It will be followed by the minor league portion. The Twins have had some successes in each. The nabbed 3B Brian Buscher from the Giants in the minor league portion. In the major league portion, they have added names like Gary Wayne, who was a solid lefty reliever for the Minnesota Twins for a few seasons, including 1991. The most recent success was Scott Diamond. Today, I want to write ...
Imagine, for a moment, you are looking for a job. You’re a pretty hot commodity and you have offers on the table from two companies: Company A has spent the last two years floundering and has seen massive layoffs. Based on the company's history there is optimism for the current year, and they aren’t just hiring, but talking big about the future. The company offers you a competitive salary, a little higher than others perhaps, with great benefits ...
There is one aspect of this off season that I don't think anybody has touched on, so I will give it a shot: What if the Twins stand pat with pitching this off season? An argument could be made for standing pat. The reasons for spending money have been discussed ad nauseum, lets look at some reasons not to spend: - The Twins are expected to be at or near the bottom in the AL Central this year. If the Twins brass believe this, then spending any money on any ...
Steely Determination [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] This past spring, when I attended the Rock Cats' annual welcome home dinner, where I was seated with (a pre-Tommy John) Alex Wimmers, I purchased $5 worth of raffle tickets ...
Updated 12-05-2012 at 08:53 AM by Twins Fan From Afar
In an interview with reporters on Monday night at the Winter Meetings, Twins General Manager Terry Ryan wanted to make sure to tame expectations. When asked if the Twins will be competitive in 2013, he said, "We will try to have that happen... We have to be realistic on all fronts." This most likely means that the Twins won't be handing out buckets of cash to front-line starting pitching but that could be expected from the start of the offseason. There could be some other deeper meanings that are ...
Jon Morosi of FoxSports.com reported via Twitter on Tuesday that the Twins have "checked in" on right-handed pitcher Shaun Marcum. This isn't really noteworthy, since Terry Ryan has already told reporters that he's been in contact with the agents for every free agent starter, but Marcum's name in particular is an interesting one. Most of the pitchers that the Twins have been specifically connected to thus far – names like Joe Blanton, Brett Myers and John ...
After a session with the team’s brass, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire emerged from their war room (war not WAR) at the Nashville hotel and, following the trade of Denard Span, told the MLB Network that they were “trading my whole damn team.” While it could be just a tongue-in-cheek response from the manager who is known to add some snark, because of the team’s current status of a bottom-dwelling squad without a rotation, the sentiment should be true. ...
Throughout the offseason, Terry Ryan has continued to say that he is looking for a third baseman to provide competition for Trevor Plouffe. He says that Plouffe will go into spring training as the Twins starting third baseman. However, as the Twins media contingent in Nashville last night met with the Twins GM, it became clear that he will bring in a quality third baseman, and maybe even this week. As Nick wrote yesterday, when Terry Ryan says something over and over, it generally is ...
One of the fallouts from the Denard Span trade last week is the promotion of Ben Revere to leadoff hitter and starting center fielder. Revere has served in this capacity at various times over the last couple of season when Span was dealing with a variety of injury issues. His defense has been exciting to watch and he has shown tremendous speed on the base paths but will Revere be able to handle the hitting approach it takes to be a lead-off hitter for a big league ...
One of the more interesting times in every offseason is when the rhetoric goes away and the choices become, often painfully, clear. Rock, meet Hard Place. The Hard Place is where the Twins are: fronting a rotation with Scott Diamond next year. Diamond, by Twins general manager Terry Ryan’s own analysis, is a #3 starter. He’s clearly scouring the winter meetings for upgrades. But like Charlie Brown at Halloween, all he’s getting is a whole lot of Rock. Here are the available ...
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