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For the 2016 Minnesota Twins, that’s the big question. Will they contend in 2016? After winning 83 games in 2015 and surprising pretty much everyone, except maybe themselves, by being in the hunt for the playoffs until the final series of the season, can the Minnesota Twins build off of that and make it to the postseason dance in 2016? We do know they enjoy dancing! The Twins competed in 2015. First year Manager Paul Molitor was a big part of that. He got his players to believe they could comp
Yesterday, Craig Calcaterra wrote an incredible piece over at NBC's Hardball Talk in regards to Opening Day and the celebration that it is. I urge you to read it, the perspective is truly necessary. The basis of the piece is that while Opening Day is no doubt a celebration, it's importance is sometimes overstated. That leads us to here, and what lies ahead. Don't get me wrong, Opening Day is a party, and it should be. We've made it. No longer are we spending days speculating about what moves t
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160320_155536_zpshtz95lga.jpg 4/3/82: The Twins beat the Phillies 5-0 in an exhibition game, the first Major League game played at the Metrodome. Pete Rose collected the new stadium’s first hit, and Bloomington-native Kent Hrbek hit the Dome’s first two home runs. 4/4/90: The Twins traded future-KARE 11 anchor, Mike Pomeranz, to Pittsburgh in exchange for Junior Ortiz and a minor league pitcher. Ortiz, who wore #0, is best-remembered as Sco
A season ago, the Minnesota Twins were among the worst in the major leagues when it comes to bullpens. They didn't strike anyone out, the group struggled to hold leads, and they were generally overtaxed having to work long games pitching from behind. Although many of the arms didn't have full seasons of inefficiency, it was generally a tale of two halves for a good portion of them. No one experienced that narrative more than Glen Perkins. Making a third straight trip to the All Star Game, Perk
Prior to the 2015 Major League Baseball season, there was no Twins player I was more down on that Danny Santana. After exploding onto the scene in 2014, and garnering some AL Rookie of the Year votes, regression was looking him right in the face. Unsustainable production at the plate caused worry, and the fears turned out to be more than warranted. In 2016, there's a different tune however. Santana could be one of the Twins most integral roster components. In 2015, Santana produced an ugly .21
Originally Published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ----- With the Twins' Spring Training almost in the books and having spend about 10 days in Fort Myers following the Twins' closely (here are all my Spring Training articles in Chronological order,) I am ready to make a prediction for the 2016 Twins. This team has a few question marks left, but a lot of my concerns were answered: Miguel Sano will be a moster with the bat again this season, and regardless of his size, he will be at least as
The day has come and gone, Tyler Duffey and Ricky Nolasco had their show down as spring training draws to a close, and the rotation has been all but set. With Nolasco not seeming a likely rotation option coming into the season, Duffey opened the door with his tough spring, and the veteran capitalized. Now with the rotation looking set, a few other dominoes will fall into place. Despite getting a vote of confidence from manager Paul Molitor out of the gate, Duffey did the one thing he couldn't
http://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w413/mjohnso9/20160131_102737_zps4yadfqeb.jpg A week before the start of their 1987 championship season, the Twins released fan-favorite, Mickey Hatcher, and traded for the much more dynamic, Dan Gladden. In exchange for the Dazzle Man and a player to be named later, the Twins sent two minor league relievers and a player to be named to the San Francisco Giants. The player to be named that Minnesota would send to San Francisco wound up being Bemidji-native,
This offseason, the Minnesota Twins realized they were closer than ever to a playoff berth. Having just missed out a season ago, the organization realized that top prospects were going to be the key to making it over the hump. Having stayed internal for most of the 25 man roster tweaks, the goal was to put the best club forward on Opening Day. For Paul Molitor, that meant asking 22 year old Miguel Sano to learn right field. Another name came up as a possibility, but what really is next for Joe M
And here is The Twins Almanac for the week of March 27th to April 2nd, 2016. 3/27 is the birthday of Michael Cuddyer, born in 1979 in Norfolk, VA. He was the Twins’ 1st round draft pick out of high school in 1997. In 2009 he hit for the cycle (5/22), and homered twice in the same inning (8/23). He was an All-Star in his final season in Minnesota (‘11), and again with Colorado in 2013 when he was the National League batting champ (.331). 3/27/73: 37 year old future Twins HOFer, Jim Perry, okays
Im finally going to say it.....Twins Daily Coverage of Spring Training Sucks! The story on Max Kepler today illustrates my point exactly. Ok Kepler optioned....why? How did he hit? Did he play good defense? For those of us who follow the Twins, Kepler had to be one of the most intriguing stories. We barely heard a word. Same is true of our new catcher, yes lately there was some info, but are you like me, and want to look at and examine his stats, maybe even a running total? For the se
After a season in which the Minnesota Twins surprised many around baseball, 2016 presents a whole new opportunity for Paul Molitor and his squad. Now no longer toting the weight of multiple 90 loss seasons, Minnesota looks to expand upon its near playoff performance from a season ago. I have contended often that in 2016, the Twins remain the AL Central team most capable of finishing first just as well as last in the division. Despite having talked about plenty of narratives this offseason here
Originally Published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- Today was the last live game from Fort Myers. Yesterday, I shared some thoughts about the Twins 25-man roster and based on what I have seen previously, Rickey Nolasco should be the Twins' fifth starter. With another stellar performance today against the Rays, going for 6 innings allowing only 3 hits, no earned runs, walking 2 and striking out 7, he cemented that position, especially when in Field number 2 his only competition, Tyler Du
ESPN ranked the top players for 2016, using "70 ESPN experts". The list featured one Twins player, Miguel Sano. I was very surprised that he barely made the list at #96. I think he is massively underrated. Heck, I have seen Sano in the 20-30 range in fantasy rankings among position players. The ESPN list had relievers like Wade Davis in the low 20's. Rizzo and Bryant were 25-30, and Correa was 16th. I just don't see the gap between Sano and these guys as this wide. I could see him leap so
The Minnesota Twins have not been to the Major League Baseball playoffs since 2010. Following the 3-0 series sweep at the hands of the New York Yankees, Minnesota went on an ugly four-season run losing 90 or more games each year. Having begun to turn the corner in 2015 with a near playoff run, the 2016 squad appears poised to end another long drought. This one focuses on the AL Rookie of the Year award. Marty Cordova was the last Twins player to take home AL Rookie of the Year honors, and he d
Originally posted at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- There is about a week of Spring Training games (actually 9) left for the Twins, and the composition of the Opening Day 25 man roster is still very unclear, with exactly the same questionmarks as in the beginning of Spring Training: 1. Who would be the last 2 Twins' Starting pitchers? Tyler Duffey, Tommy Milone, or Ricky Nolasco? Pick 2. There was the feeling that it could be a 5 way battle with Jose Berrios and Trevor May also vying for a
Spring Training 2016 has been an interesting one thus far. While there is baseball being played on the field, it is after all, spring training baseball. Minor leaguers and non-roster invitees desperately try to cut out roster spots by showing their worth, veterans look to get themselves right for the upcoming season; and the media jumps all over the flavor of the week, and runs their coverage into the ground. Early in Spring Training the story was Yoenis Cespedes and his newly acquired fleet
Really venturing out here, but I think Buxton will be a historic flop. He has done nothing in the MLB level to prove he can be good and injuries will continue to plague him, argue if you want, but it's what I believe...
Back in January, prior to the kick off of spring training, I ran through a 25 man roster projection for the 2016 Minnesota Twins. I have long operated under the belief that very few positions were up for grabs, and continue to stick by that. Ricky Nolasco was never a realistic rotation option and Byron Buxton was never headed back to the farm. That puts my positioning from January in a pretty good spot. With that being said, there are still a couple of tweaks I'd like to make. Now with just a
Originally Published at .351/.387/.524 - The Twins' team slash line with less than two outs and men on third in 2015. .489/.460/.766 - The Twins' team slash line with one out and men on third in 2015. .000/.100/.100 - The Twins team slash line under the above circumstances today. They simply have to do better than this to compete in the upcoming season. And if that means trying to get the ball in play softly, instead of trying to hit home runs (Brian Dozier, Carlos Quentin, Oswaldo Arcia) or
No nearing the end of March, the Minnesota Twins have played the majority of their spring training games. With the outfield being one of the most intriguing positional groupings for Paul Molitor's squad, it has been interesting to grab takeaways from each day's action. As the regular season gets underway though, the outfield may shift somewhat drastically from how it begins on Opening Day. It was all but locked in from the beginning of Spring Training that Minnesota would go with Eddie Rosario
3/21: It’s the birthday of 1983 Hopkins High School graduate and former Major Leaguer, Tim McIntosh. McIntosh played three seasons at the University of Minnesota before being selected in the 3rd round of the ‘86 draft by the Milwaukee Brewers. McIntosh played in five games with the Brewers in 1990, making his Major League debut on September 3rd in Milwaukee vs. the Minnesota Twins. He went 0-3 as the Twins’ Mark Guthrie hurled a complete game shutout. Paul Molitor (Cretin High School class of
I am not a follower of Donald Trump. I have participated in several no kings rallies and am disgusted with what he and his followers have done to our country and the world. I would like to know what most Brazilians feel about the United States now and about the folks our citizens have elected to represent us.
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hello Seth......you'll wanna correct the date in headline of today's minor league report. :-) Brad· 0 replies
I am not a follower of Donald Trump. I have participated in several no kings rallies and am disgusted with what he and his followers have done to our country and the world. I would like to know what most Brazilians feel about the United States now and about the folks our citizens have elected to represent us.· 1 reply
