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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
Originally Published at The Tenth Inning Stretch -------------------------- The Minnesota Twins played the New York Yankees this afternoon at Hammond Stadium, featuring a lineup that could very well be their opening day lineup. The starter, Ervin Santana, pitched better than what you will see when you see his line score. He threw 69 pitches, mostly fastballs (91-94 mph; at some point right after the balk, he hit a 95, a 96 and a 97 mph in a row), sliders 82-84 mph and changeups 84-86 mph.
Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ----- The thunderstorm system that caused havoc in Central Florida and the Grapefruit League and cancelled the Twins' game against the Pirates in Bradenton, hit Fort Myers with its tail end and cut action in the Minor League Fields short. Here are my notes from today: With the Twins A+ and A teams playing at home against those of the Red Sox, I was looking forward to see Nick Gordon in action. Alas, he is still out injured. Andro Cutura,
Miami Marlins pitcher, Brad Hand, was born on March 20th, 1990. The Marlins drafted Hand in 2008 in the 2nd round (52nd overall) out of Chaska High School. In his senior season at Chaska, the lefty went 8-2 with 2 saves, allowing only 6 earned runs in 68 innings for an 0.61 ERA. At the plate, Hand hit .352 with 8 HRs and 24 RBI. Brad Hand made his Major League debut on June 27th, 2011 in Miami vs. the Atlanta Braves. He walked the first big league batter he faced, Jordan Schafer, who would pla
Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- Another day without a Twins' home game and I decided to state at the back fields of Lee County Sports Complex to watch Ricky Nolasco pitch with the Twins' AAA team against the Red Sox' AAA team, instead of making the trip across I-75 to Jet Blue Park to watch the MLB Twins and Tyler Duffey face the MLB Sox. Despite what the Twins are saying, and not only because they are starting the same day these days, it is pretty clear that Tommy Milone
Jack Moore joins the show to talk Brewers baseball, the safety — or lack thereof — of football and we close with a bit of Timberwolves chatter. As well as why Jack chose Minneapolis as his homebase for a career. Follow Jack on Twitter (@jh_moore) and is a contributor at VICE Sports, Vocativ, Hardball Times, The Guardian and Baseball Prospectus Milwaukee. A Cold Omaha Podcast Network Production Subscribe to Midwest Swing on iTunes or Stitcher! http://coldomaha.com/2016/podcasts/midwest-sw
Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- Today, for the second start in a row, the Twins chose not to pitch Phil Hughes against the Orioles (a team they open the season with 3 games in Baltimore.) Instead Hughes pitched 5 innings in the back fields with the Twins' A+ team against the Rays' A+ squad. Curt Suzuki was there to catch him. Next door with the A squad, Kevin Jepsen pitched the first inning and Oswaldo Arcia had 3 plate appearances as a DH against the Rays' A team.
March 17th is the birthday of Washburn High School (Mpls) alumnus and Major League pitcher, Harold "Hy" Vandenberg, born in 1906. He made his Major League debut with the Boston Red Sox in 1935 at age 29, though he wouldn't win his first game until 1940 with the New York Giants, and his 2nd not until 1944 with the Chicago Cubs. The 6'4" right-hander, who got his professional start with the Minneapolis Millers, appeared in 90 Major League games, going 15-10 with 5 saves during seven seasons over a
Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---------- Today the Twins had a 7:05 PM game hosting the Boston Red Sox. At 1PM the Twins' AAA and AA teams hosted the equivalent of the Orioles'. I spent the afternoon watching the Twins AA team, before moved to Hammond Stadium in the evening for the nightcap. I was delighted to see that Tyler Jay was the starter for the AA game. Jay was ranked as the Twins' number 2 prospect in my off-season 2016 rankings and I have to say that he prove
On Wednesday, I spent the majority of my day over at the Lee County Sports Complex and Hammond Stadium taking in different aspects of spring training. With the Double and Triple-A teams taking on the Orioles in the early afternoon, as well as the Twins battling the Red Sox at night, there was plenty of action taking place. Upon arriving for the day, the most necessary definition was to make my way to the back fields. Knowing that the high level minor league teams would be competing at home for
I am a 32 year old student of the game and aspiring baseball writer, born and raised in Zimmerman, MN. I am a ‘02 graduate of the Elk River Area High School. Yes, I was there in 2000 -- albeit as the backup catcher -- when Paul Feiner dealt Joe Mauer the one and only strikeout of his high school career. I recently began a project called Major Minnesotans, telling the stories of the Major Leaguers who grew up in Minnesota. From the time I was a kindergartener learning to read by studying the ba
Coming into spring training, the Minnesota Twins had a couple of players to keep their eyes on. With the majority of the 25 man roster being fleshed out, it was going to be a battle for a few final inclusions. While the role of the 5th starter in the rotation may have been up in the air, it was no doubt largely decided, and so too was the man that would man the middle of the outfield. Somewhat surprisingly this spring, there has been a decent amount of articles written regarding Byron Buxton a
Monday the Twins traveled across the state to Jupiter, Fl. to play the Cardinals. Tommy Milone and Mike Leake pitched 4 innings each in 45 minutes with no score. Leake struck out 6 while Milone was getting lazy fly balls and ground balls to short. The Twins scored 2 runs in the 5th with singles by Park, Escobar, Keplar, and Polanco. The Cards got single runs in the 5th, 6th, and 9th innings. The Twins scored in the 7th and added 2 more in the 9th. Final score 5-3. Polanco had 3 hits and 2
Over the weekend, the Minnesota Twins made their first rounds of cuts this spring. While nearly all of them were expected, the timing of at least one seems a bit premature. On top of the roster thinking out, Terry Ryan and Paul Molitor seem to be dealt a tough hand when it comes to one near guaranteed big leaguer. Minnesota sent Reynaldo Rodriguez, Engelb Vielma, Alex Swim, Heiker Meneses, and Jake Reed over to the minor league side of the Lee County Sports Complex on Sunday. Despite Vielma be
While the rest is now history, I like to remember how incredible it felt when we first drafted Joe Mauer and how uplifting the first 5 years felt as he played for the Twins. He still had that gusto of being one of the greats because of his batting and catching prowess so no one really cared much about his lack of power at the time. He was just so damn good at commanding the plate with his bat. Any open area on the field was fair game and he would use all of it like a painter using all of the can
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.
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