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Minnesota Twins
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The Big Picture
The Jays currently find themselves in a familiar situation, enjoying a good season but struggling to gain traction in a treacherous division. Toronto's 38-36 record would have them a game back in the AL Central, but the team sits last in the East, trailing the red-hot Yankees by 7.5 games.
That's right, the Blue Jays – with a record two games over .500 – are only one game closer to first than the Twins, who hold the American League's worst record. Yep, life in the AL East is tough.
Of course, this has always been Toronto's plight, and it's not likely to change any time soon. At some point, they need to make an aggressive push to overcome their daunting divisional rivals, and with the strong roster they have assembled, now seems like as good a time as any. ...
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This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com.
Six weeks ago, I put up a post here arguing that it was much too soon to “pull the plug” on the Twins’ 2012 season. I argued that, despite an admittedly dismal start, the Twins were performing fairly well on most fronts, with the glaring exception of their starting pitching, and that they were just about to begin playing their own Division rivals on a regular basis. ...
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The Big Picture
Stop me if this sounds familiar. A team with championship aspirations faces a slew of injuries to their best players. They find themselves last in their division but hope that the players return will boost them back into contention. At the trade deadline they must make a tough decision: stick to the plan or write off a season in a championship era whose window could be closing.
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This week's series against the first-place White Sox will serve as a tough test for this Twins team. They've rebounded after a lousy start to go 13-10 over their last 23 games, remaining on the periphery of an AL Central race that no club seems poised to run away with. In three days, the Twins could conceivably be within 5.5 games of first place. They could also find themselves out of it by double digits.
Perhaps no one will be under a bigger microscope in this crucial showdown than Francisco Liriano. ...
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Aaron and special guest co-hosts Joe Nelson and Nick Nelson talk about Matt Capps' injury and the closer replacements, Trevor Plouffe's case for the All-Star game, what to do with Francisco Liriano, the buyer versus seller debate, Brian Duensing's move back into the rotation, more Josh Willingham heroics, Byron Buxton's pro debut, and why John Bonnes shouldn't even bother coming back from vacation. Here are:
- the podcasts
- the rss feed if you want to subscribe and
- the podcast on iTunes
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It seems like every week or two, there is a pitcher who is designated for assignment by a team. In the Twins Daily Forums, we discuss whether or not the Twins should consider claiming him or not. This article is no different.
On Friday, the Texas Rangers added Roy Oswalt to their 40 man roster. To make room for him, Mark Hamburger was Designated for Assignment.
Hamburger is a Minnesota native who went to Mesabi Range CC and later signed with the Twins after a tryout camp at the Metrodome. In 2008, he was closing for the Elizabethton Twins when he learned that he had been traded to the Texas Rangers for Eddie Guardado. He climbed consistently up the Rangers ladder. In 2011, he began the season in AA, advanced to AAA And made five appearances for the Rangers in September. Although he wasn't on the Rangers' playoff rosters, he was allowed in the dugout and clubhouse. What an experience. ...
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Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan
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Last night's Twins game got ugly in later portions of the game with Jeff Manship giving up some bombs. One of the home runs even took one bounce and was out of the stadium. Overall, it wasn't the best series but the Twins did manage to pull out one victory. Francisco Liriano and Liam Hendriks put together one of their best starts of the year in the series and Josh Willingham had a late inning home run to lead the team to victory.
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I could be a Pirates fan.
Believe me, I know all that implies. As a middle-aged Twins fan, I've felt Pirates fans' pain, albeit in lesser doses. I can sympathize with the hopelessness and even apathy that sets in after years of mismanagement.
Watching the supposedly competitive Bucs yesterday didn't inspire me to join them anytime soon. ...
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You'd figure a team that lost 99 games last year, and now finds itself on pace to lose 96 this year, would instill little confidence in its fan base. Yet, as we creep up on the season's halfway point, I find myself feeling rather optimistic about the Twins' future.
No, I don't believe the club is going to miraculously climb back into the AL Central race this year. But I do think that, given some of the positive signs we've seen, the path back to contention is looking shorter than we once may have feared.
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A look at the Pirates stat page, and you can’t help but ask how they are doing it. As the Twins are in Pittsburgh to start a series against the Pirates, Clint Hurdle's squad is 34-31, 3.5 games behind the Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central race.
Andrew McCutchen is hitting .325/.382/.541 (.923) with 11 doubles, three triple and 11 home runs. He also has 13 stolen bases, and is one of the best defensive centerfielders in baseball. No other Pirates hitter is batting over. 271. No other Pirates hitter has an OPS higher than .734.
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Some spring training moves are bearing fruit. The question is when they will be most ripe?
Glen Perkins hasn't been especially effective this year, but he still profiles as possible closer long term, with well over a strikeout per inning. Even better, this spring he signed a deal that keeps his salary team-controlled through 2016 at a level considerably below that of a closer.
So how should the Twins play that? On the one hand, they could trade him now to a team that finds a left-handed reliever (with closer potential) especially appealing. Or they could turn him into a closer later the year and (provided he excels and stays healthy) he becomes even more valuable. Or, I suppose, the team could hang onto him in the hope that the next competitive Twins team could still have him around. But that is by far the riskiest of the choices.
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Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan
Twins fans are well aware of how great pitching has been across baseball this season. So far this year, there have been five no-hitters with two of those being perfect games. Two former Twins pitchers, Johan Santana and Phil Humber, accounted for two of the no-hitters. Unfortunately for the Twins, they were also on the wrong end of a no-hitter against Jered Weaver earlier this season. Combine all of these and it was a rough couple of weeks for Twins fans to watch.
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On Thursday night, Scott Diamond allowed four runs over six innings against the Phillies. It qualified as arguably his worst start since being called up back in early May, but it was hardly a disaster and would have kept the Twins in the game had the offense mustered any kind of production against Joe Blanton.
Even after turning in just his second non-quality start in eight tries, Diamond remains the class of the Twins' rotation. ...
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Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan
With the Twins playing better baseball over the last couple of weeks, there has been plenty of talk about whether the Twins will be buyers or sellers when it comes to the trade deadline. While that date at the end of July will be very important for the Twins, there is another important deadline coming at the beginning of next month. Teams like the Twins will turn their attention July 2, when international players that have turned 16-years old can be signed. ...
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LOLz @ Twins
Thread Starter: BadsmerfBenson gets claimed off waivers today and Ramirez got flattened by Willingham. Not sure if he'll go on the DL, I just thought the irony is hilarious.
Last Post By: twinsnorth49 Today, 01:27 AM