Minnesota Twins

Today's addition to the "Worst Twins of All-Time Series" had been an All-Star the year before the Twins traded for him. His trade helped to bring a critical piece to Minnesota for their title runs but he ran into some rough patches along the way.

Mr. Ron Davis, welcome to the "Worst Twins of All-Time Series."

Over the last couple of weeks, I have looked back at some of the worst players to ever suit up in a Twins uniform. There have been some poor players to wear these colors and it can be fun to look back on their careers. Some of these men went on to have successful careers in baseball or even outside of the baseball world.

Here is a rundown of all of the players that have been covered so far in the "Worst Twins of All-Time Series" with links back to the original articles: ...

The hits have just kept on coming for the Twins over the past two seasons, leaving those who believe in karmic balance to wonder just when a spell of good fortune would come along for a change. Apparently we're still not there yet, as La Velle E. Neal III indicated on Friday that reigning No. 1 starter Scott Diamond is "really iffy" to be ready for Opening Day after undergoing offseason elbow surgery.

Diamond is a prime regression candidate, but he's the only player in the rotation mix who put together a full, successful season last year, making him the club's most reliable starting pitching commodity by default. Now he'll have a lingering injury concern on top of the question marks about his ability to sustain a breakout performance.

As if Twins fans needed more bad news when it comes to the starting corps.
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As Spring Training approaches, we’ve hashed and re-hashed Prospect Lists. We’ve dissected the signing of Kevin Correia many times over. We’ve projected lineups of every affiliate.

There are few things more informative than talking with those that are behind the information. So today let’s do something else. Let’s talk scouting with West Coast Scouting Supervisor Sean Johnson.

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First off, huge thanks to Sean! As baseball is starting to get rolling, he took some time out of his schedule to answer some questions and shed some light on our favorite franchise. ...

Age: 25 (DOB: 10/23/87)
2012 Stats
GULF: 14.2 IP, 2.45 ERA, 16/4 K/BB, 0.89 WHIP
A: 7.0 IP, 2.57 ERA, 7/1 K/BB, 1.00 WHIP
AAA: 6.2 IP, 9.45 ERA, 10/1 K/BB, 1.80 WHIP
ETA: 2013


Turn the calendar back two years. It's spring training 2011 and the Twins are coming off a second straight division championship. Kyle Gibson is an attention magnet in camp. He's coming off a spectacular pro debut that saw him fly through three levels of the minors, knocking on the door of the majors by September. He's recently been ranked by Baseball America as the 34th-best prospect in ball – 15th among pitchers.
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In less than a week, the Twins will officially open Spring Training camp. As of now, 66 players are expected to be there: 34 pitchers, 9 catchers (a lot of catchers needed for a lot of pitchers), 13 infielders, and 10 outfielders. There are a lot of bodies (I imagine the locker room might be a tad crowded), but there are also a lot of holes from 2012 to be filled. By the end of it, there will be 25 men ready to head north and face the Tigers on April 1.

Now, if you're as tired as I am of this miserable winter, you're really looking forward to listening to the Spring Training games once they start on February 23 (you may be especially excited if you're in the Twin Cities area because now that the radio broadcasts will be on FM you can finally get radio reception at work). So I've wrote up this handy-dandy list of all the names you'll hear.
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A thick coat of snow fell upon Target Field over the weekend, transforming the structure into a lifeless, cold and white blob. On Tuesday, temperatures in the Twin Cities rose toward 30 and the clouds dissipated.

Bathed in sun, with green plastic seat-backs peeking through the melting snow, the ballpark started to look like… well, a ballpark. This coming weekend, temperatures in Minnesota will near the 40s while pitchers and catchers unpack their bags in Fort Myers. Spring is coming.

Normally, this is a time of year marked by unbridled optimism from fans. It's a fresh season with a new assortment of players and an infinite range of possible outcomes. Yet, right now the mood in Twins Territory is distinctly vanilla.
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