You all care about this site. The next step is caring for it. We’re asking you to caretake this site so it can remain the premier Twins community on the internet.
It's not a real awe inspiring article. But it does shed some light on management's involvement. http://www.startribune.com/twins-gm-ryan-we-are-in-dire-straits-here/380386061/ "“Probably more than ever,” Ryan said of his talks with Pohlad. "Some people are calling it panic. I get that, OK. We’re in a mode here where I better be creative enough to do some things to help along the cause. We’re struggling to a point where we haven’t been able to right it. So I’m going to have to do some thing
We are a month and a half into the baseball season and the Minnesota Twins are a woeful 10-30, tied with the Atlanta Braves for the worst record in the league. Right now, most Twins fans should turn their attention to minor league baseball. There are a handful of minor leaguers in the Twins system who deserve a promotion. I tried to avoid players, especially younger ones, who have only been at their respective level for only this season. Here are my top five: 5. LaMonte Wade, OF, Cedar Rapids
May 21st Happy Birthday, Kent Hrbek It's the birthday of Kent Hrbek, born on this date in 1960 in Minneapolis. He graduated from Bloomington's Kennedy High School in 1978 and was drafted that June by the Twins in the 17th round. Only Harmon Killebrew and Kirby Puckett have played more games in a Twins uniform. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/Hrbek.82D_zps6hujuucx.jpg The big, 6'4" left-handed first baseman made his Major League debut on August 24, 1981 at Yankee Stad
http://images.onset.freedom.com/ocregister/gallery/m2ymrx-b78945001z.120120423182439000g9q1760s0.1.jpg The disappointing performance of the Twins prospects made me curious to see how the Twins compared with other teams in bringing good players to the majors. The quickest way to do this comparison was to look at the number of players receiving votes for Rookie of the Year since 2000 by team and to see, on average, what percentage of the votes they received. I then created a product of the two
Let’s start over. Way over. If you were GM of the Twins and you could go back to last October 5th (the day after the final game of the season) what would you do differently know what you know now? Here is a list of offseason moves the Twins made from October 5th to the beginning of the season: 1) Torii Hunter Retires 2) Signed Dan Runzler to Minor League Deal 3) Traded Aaron Hicks for John Ryan Murphy 4) Signed Joe Benson to Minor League Deal – Released in spring 5) Signed Aaron Thompson to Mi
For much of the past 15 years or so, the Twins have had very easy decisions to make with the first spot in the batting order. Jacque Jones settled there, then handed the position over to Shannon Stewart, who was a fixture atop the order until 2006 when Luis Castillo joined the team. He held the role until 2008 when it was briefly handed over to Carlos Gomez, who promptly hit .246/.281/.345 and lost the job to Denard Span. Span locked the role down, holding it until he was traded prior to the 201
When you look back at a team that has started the Major League Baseball season 10-29 through their first 39 games, there's going to be very few positives. Through the first month for the Twins, one of the brightest spots was the resurgence of Joe Mauer. What is becoming a bit more clear to me though is that it wasn't a resurgence at all, but rather a player being allowed to thrive. Stick with me here, and let's take a look back at Joe Mauer over the past two seasons. To start the 2016 campai
May 20th has been such an eventful day in Twins history that it gets its own dedicated edition of the Twins Almanac. http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160518_175318_zpswka0qtce.jpg May 20, 1970 Rod Carew Hits for Twins’ First Cycle Rod Carew hit for the first cycle in Twins history in a 10-5 win in Kansas City. He completed the cycle with an eighth inning triple, driving in Cesar Tovar. Carew was 4-for-5 with 2 RBI and 2 runs scored on the day. After Carew’s triple, St
The Minnesota Twins lost this afternoon. Ordinarily, I’d say things have reached the point where another Twins loss falls into the “dog bites man” category. It’s not exactly news. But this loss had a couple of things going for it that gave me cause to put pen to paper (figuratively, of course). (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com.) First of all, I actually watched the game on television. Between attending Kernels games and being blacked out by MLB’s “local market”
Let me start by saying I love the Twins. But sometimes things go so bad you have to try to find supplementary reasons to watch. An alternate way to track the Twins and maybe generate some interest and fun is now here. According to my not always accurate research, in the past 81 years the teams that finished with the worst records were as follows. 1945 Phillies 46-108 1952 Pirates 42-112 1962 Mets 40-120 2003 Tigers 43-119 Why did I pick 81 years? Well, because it makes for a nice sized div
The Minnesota Twins are just 38 games into the 2016 season but it already appears to be a lost cause. If that is the case, the next step for the Twins is to start shopping around some of their veterans. Problem is the Twins don't have many veterans. Or, at least, good veterans. There are a couple of names that come to mind but the one that everyone likes to talk about is Trevor Plouffe. A soon-to-be 30-year-old third baseman playing in his seventh year at the Major League level. An above-ave
Lets face reality.... The Twins Organization...does not know how to evaluate talent....Thats the number 1-3 problem. Terry Ryan...(i have been a defender of him in the past) got a lot of credit for the Nathan trade, developing J Santana etc...but who the heck has he drafted? I know, I know..Mauer.but even on Mauer the organization was divided....The problem pure and simple is..the Twins don;t have enough talent.... To be a decent organization, Ryan has to go...and my next move would be to
“How is that a hit?” Most baseball fans have said this after the scoreboard flashes the result on a sharp grounder or botched fly ball. The person in charge of making these hit/error determinations is the official scorer, often an anonymous recorder of stats until their judgment puts them in the spotlight. Recently I had a chance to shadow Stew Thornley, one of the Twins official scorers, to get firsthand insight into this sometimes misunderstood part of the game. At Target Field, the official
#FireMollie #FireRyan #TotalSystemFailure All of these lovely hashtags have been making the rounds with the Twins off to a lackluster start to the season. Lots of opinions, ideas, and ways to fix the Twins have been floated around by casual fans, up to legitimate Twins writers. Today, we’re going to tackle the #FireMollie and #FireRyan crew. My biggest question is: what does that fix right now? It's very obvious that a lot of the younger players were not as ready as everyone initially though
I didn't catch (neither did JR Murphy) all the game last night even though it was at the top of my priority list. Why? Berrios, the latest Twins pitching Messiah, was supposed to take the mound. As it was I turned on the radio in the third inning and... Berrios was gone! Gone! Like in no longer in the game! The third inning! Okay. Like Forrest said, things happen. The kid might've fallen off the mound, caught a liner with his teeth, collided with Boy Mountain Sano while taking the field... Hell,
he slog through the 2016 Major League Baseball season has continued for the Minnesota Twins. After yet another loss, the club sits at 10-27, while being more than 13 games back in the AL Central division. Paul Molitor's club looks as lost as he does at times, and there's plenty of blame to go around. At this point, what the Twins need to do is stop compounding their own mistakes. Recently hired by Baseball Prospectus, Aaron Gleeman penned a piece that I have to imagine has been a long time com
The Minnesota Twins have had a multitude of issues to start the 2016 Major League Baseball season, and it really shouldn't be lost on anyone that the catcher position is one of them. Between Kurt Suzuki and John Ryan Murphy, neither has done anything to clarify things for Minnesota moving forward. If the club is going to be competitive in 2017, allowing the role to be a black hole can't continue to happen. Despite the unlikely emergence of Juan Centeno in his brief stint with the big league cl
Tyler Duffey was pretty good for the Twins again on Sunday afternoon as the parent club won their second straight game against the Cleveland Indians. In the minors on Sunday, one game was postponed, a lefty top-prospect took to the mound in Florida, was outdone by a lefty newcomer to the system in another game, and one team struggled to collect any hits for most of the day, even though they took the no-hitter off the table early. To find out who did what and where on Sunday, read on! RED WIN
May 15th Happy Birthday, Justin Morneau It’s the birthday of 2006 American League MVP, Justin Morneau, born on this day in 1981 in New Westminster, British Columbia. The Twins drafted the 6’4” Canadian in the 3rd round in 1999, behind B.J. Garbe and Rob Bowen, neither of whom made it to the Majors. Morneau hit cleanup in his Major League debut in June, 2010, hitting a two-strike line drive single to center in his first at-bat and going 2-for-4 on the day. He hit 19 home runs in just 74 Major
http://www.the3rdmanin.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Screen-Shot-2016-03-25-at-8.44.20-AM.png Ian Anderson is a 6'3", 170 lb. right handed pitcher out of Shenendehowa High School in New York. Anderson has a repertoire of a mid nineties fastball, a slider that has potential as an out pitch, and a solid changeup. Ian can really pitch, as he is more than just a thrower, and his poise is very advanced for a prep player. His delivery is mechanically sound, and that will help his slight build hold
A Hero Awakens A play in three acts Cast (in order of appearance): Vanimal (Van) Negativity Police (NP) Setting: Interior of a studio apartment in an undisclosed location in the mid-evening. The date is May 12, 2016. Act I Curtains rise. Vanimal is walking down the dusty corridor of a slum-like residential building. His steps are delicate and increasingly deliberate. He is looking over his shoulder with every advance. Vanimal finds the door to Apartment 301 ajar. He nudges it open. With an
It's never good when a baseball team leads you to research the stages of grief, but that's exactly the type of thing the 2016 Twins are inspiring. Here's how my grieving through the 2016 season has gone so far. Stage 1: Denial and Isolation Last time I checked in, I was looking for hope with the Twins at 0-8. I wrote that there was plenty of time to turn things around and way too early to be looking for the panic button. When the turnaround didn't happen, I had no interest in investigating w
Matt Bush has been called up from AA and is joining the Rangers 25-man roster. For those who don't know, or perhaps more aptly, don't remember, he was the much maligned High School shortstop, picked first overall in 2004 by San Diego. The pick was panned from the start as the Padres picked the hometown kid who played a premium position and passed up a perceived can't-miss ace in Justin Verlander, who made it well known that he was going to sign for big bucks. Due to the similarities, the top of
On Saturday, Tait went 2-for-4 with a walk and his 17th double. The 19-year-old is hitting .219 with 17 doubles and 15 home runs at High-A Cedar Rapids.
The Twins Daily Caretaker Fund
