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The Minnesota Twins are regressing, make no doubt about it. After splitting a series with the Boston Red Sox, Minnesota lost two out of three to the Milwaukee Brewers and were swept by the Kansas City Royals at Target Field, allowing Kansas City to pass them in the standings for first place in the division. The team downplayed the importance of the Royals series, saying that it was June and nobody is securing anything right now. “I’ve had that approach where I need a World Series ring on April 1
At first glance, you might think the idea of calling up Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano to the major league club would be ridiculous. They are respectively the 1st and 2nd ranked prospects in a highly regarded Twins farm system, they are 21.5 and 22 years old, and a .279 and .254 batting average at AA doesn't scream "Ready for the Majors." But as is often the case, first impressions aren't all that telling. In fact, by the end of this piece, I think many of you will agree that both players are read
It's 2015, Joe Mauer is 32 years old, and maybe for the first time in his career, the red flags should be popping up all over the place. Not only is he having arguably the worst season of his career, but it also appears that there may be no end in sight. Whether it's the lingering effects from a concussion, or the wrong side of 30 catching up to him, Twins fans are left wondering what happened to the hometown kid. With that wonderment, the a stark reality presents itself, what happens next? Th
Terry Ryan has had success finding bargains in winter free agency. Kurt Suzuki was an all star. Jared Burton was a top set up man. Ryan Doumit provided a very good bat. In all three cases, the Twins chose to extend into their thirties rather than sell. It is not possible to know what the offers could have been for those players. They were all performing well enough to be valued by other teams and there would have been offers. All three could point to some aspect of their games or health that had
Quite possibly the most often, or even overused word to describe what may lie ahead for the Minnesota Twins in 2015 has been regression. While it's hard to assume that a three game losing streak is indicative of what's to come, there's no doubt Minnesota's offense has struggled of late. Although that may be reflective of a team that has capitalized in high leverage situations, there's something bigger at play here. The Twins offense slumping has not been combined with an all-around collapse, and
You can download the new Talk to Contact (<a href="https://twitter.com/talktocontact">@TalkToContact</a>) episode via <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/talk-to-contact-podcast-about/id556784825?mt=2">iTunes</a> or by clicking <a href="http://talk2contact.podomatic.com/entry/2015-06-11T19_36_08-07_00">here</a>, and if you want to add the show to your non-iTunes podcast player, <a href="http://talk2contact.podomatic.com/rss2.xml">this is the RSS
The Twins used an off-day on Thursday to make a couple of roster moves. Time Stauffer was designated for assignment and Michael Tonkin was recalled to take his place. Eddie Rosario returned from the paternity list and Jorge Polanco was optioned back to Chattanooga to make room. The Twins start a series against the Texas Rangers on Friday evening. RED WINGS REPORT Rochester @ Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Railriders Box Score Danny Santana was 1-3 with a walk on Thursday. In three games Danny San
The outlook wasn't brilliant for the Minnesota Twins last night. The Royals had already won the first two games of a series which was deemed crucial to who would ultimately win the AL Central, and we were down 7-1 going into the bottom of the 8th in the last game of the series. Luke Hovechar had just inherited the mound from Edinson Volquez, and Trevor Plouffe was in the batter's box with a 2-2 count. Mark Ripperger, the home plate umpire, was hoping that the game would end quickly and according
Yesterday the Twins completed their 40 round draft, and picked up some promising players throughout the draft, but signablity could be an issue for some. Here is a review of the 40 picks: Tyler Jay - Left Handed Pitcher - Illinois Jay is a quick to the big leagues type reliever who will be converted to a starter next year, he has great stuff, and I considered him the second best pitcher in the class. http://twinsdaily.com/blog/531/entry-6569-tyler-jay-2015-mlb-draft/
Kyle Cody - Right
Coming into the week, the Minnesota Twins found themselves preparing for a very important series for the first time in a while. Having played solid baseball to start out the 2015 season, the Twins positioned themselves for more meaningful series early on in the year. Facing off against a Royals team also at the top of the division, Minnesota could create some separation. Unfortunately, that's when the bats went quiet. Although a small sample size when considering just the first two games again
His name is Walker, Adam Brett Walker. Last season Kris Bryant and Joey Gallo were hitting home runs out of minor league parks at an alarming rate. Now each of these minor league home run leaders is making their mark at the big league level. With Bryant and Gallo graduated to baseball's highest level, there will almost certainly be a new minor league home run champion this season. Twins prospect Adam Brett Walker is in the running for this title after a quick start to his season. He's hittin
Mike Pelfrey has a lot of making up to do in order to earn the $18.66 million the Minnesota Twins have paid him these last three years, but he's finally starting to pay off. Pelfrey made roughly $150,000 per inning the last two seasons, but this season he's All-Star trade bait. This blog was originally published at Go Gonzo Journal. Pelfrey has made a solid case to make the American League All-Star pitching rotation. He's 5-2 with a 2.28 ERA, 1.224 WHIP, 178 ERA+, and 2.6 WAR. He's fourth in
The Minnesota Twins find themselves playing a pivotal series in the month of June after having suffered through four straight 90 loss seasons. On top of being easily the most surprising team through the first third of the season, the Twins have positioned themselves extremely well. However, to stay consistent with their current positioning, a push towards an improved roster will need to take place. A season ago, the Minnesota Twins made the surprising move of signing free agent Kendrys Morales.
It’s early June, and the Minnesota Twins are not only keeping their proverbial heads above water, but in fact have the second-most wins and the best winning percentage in the entire American League. Yes this Twins team, who was picked by national types to be among the five or so worst teams in baseball, is leading the charge in one of the better divisions in baseball. Baseball is truly a weird game. The Twins are 32-17 since a 1-6 start. They’re 31-16 against teams that aren’t from Detroit.
Like my very own students, I'm slow in posting, but by god, I will always deliver these cliff notes...unless I go crazy grading student papers first. Chapter 2: "May" Plot Summary: Just as Twins fans prepared themselves to see the silver lining at the end of April reform into a thunderhead of injuries, incompetence and ineffectiveness, something happened that had not happened for a long time in Minnesota. The silver lining got brighter. And brighter. And brighter. So bright in fact, t
The big news of the day was obviously the 2015 MLB draft and the Twins selection of Illinois pitcher Tyler Jay (whose pre-draft profile you can read here, and talk about the pick here). Instant and meaningless analysis: I love the pick! But like every other day during the summer, there also was plenty of action in the Minors for the Twins affiliates as well, where Jay will (hopefully) soon be playing. There was one top prospect making his first start in a new league, a rain postponement that p
Once a month we check in on our adopted prospect, JT Chargois, bring him soup, pat him on the back, whisper sweet nothings about his rapidly improving performances to Terry Ryan in the hopes that he becomes a pitcher ready to make meaningful contributions to the Twins in the near future. As today's the draft, and since we first found a fondness for "Spike" Chargois during the 2012 draft, it seems appropriate to update this now. When last we checked in on JT Chargois he was starting the long ro
http://www.tigerrag.com/Images/Interior/baseball/bregman_batting.jpg Arizona Diamondbacks-#1 Dansby Swanson - Shortstop - Vanderbilt I said on Friday that I wouldn’t change this, and I haven’t, but Tyler Stephenson could be in play here. Houston Astros-#2 Alex Bregman - Shortstop - LSU Did not change, but if Swanson falls he would probably be the pick. Colorado Rockies-#3 Brendan Rodgers - Shortstop - Florida High School Once again I’m sticking with my previous pick, but Tyler Jay or
The Minnesota Twins have spent the last week or so jostling for position atop the AL Central. Having somewhat cooled off after their torrid run in may, the offense has been somewhat to blame. Now having brought power hitting designated hitter Kennys Vargas back into the fold, it appears that may be a targeted approach for run support. To help further, the Twins could look at the blueprint laid out by fellow AL surprise team, the Houston Astros, and allow top prospect Byron Buxton to follow in Ca
You have to be excited about Adam Brett Walker's performance in AA. He leads all AA players with an ISO of .312. This isn't new. He had the second best ISO in the Florida State League last year at .190. Where is all of the top prospect love? It is hard to get past his strike out rates. Not only does he lead all AA players in ISO but he also leads in strike out rate at 35.5%. Some look at the strike out rate and dismiss Walker as a prospect. Certainly major league pitchers would take better adv
The Twins didn't score many runs in Boston until they faced a knuckleballer and took advantage of leaky Boston defense. They had one good inning in two games against the Brewers. They still have a good number of runs scored and a positive run differential. They sit in first place by one game with the second-place Royals due in town Monday. In the very successful month of May, the Twins were led by the four guys who usually hit in the first four spots in the order. After a hot first half o
http://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/70e192a02b221e84a84e5485d108121a4c0e0c0a/c=0-14-3600-2722&r=x513&c=680x510/local/-/media/Nashville/Nashville/2014/05/17//1400368355000-NAS-SIG-VANDYBASEBALL0518-01.JPG Arizona Diamondbacks-#1 Dansby Swanson - Shortstop - Vanderbilt Same pick as last week, and I’m not going to change this since there are so many rumors, and Swanson is the most reasonable one. Houston Astros-#2 Alex Bregman - Shortstop - LSU Last week I had them take Fulmer, but this
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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