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Soon it will be time to consider who should be dropped and added to the Twins 40-man roster for next season. This time there could be more of an upheaval than normal as the Twins hopefully look to enter the next phase of the organization's rebuilding project. Some opening remarks I have to believe that the following players could or should be removed from the 40-man roster for next season: Jared Burton Sam Deduno Brian Duensing Edgar Ibarra Yohan Pino Anthony Swarzak Caleb Thielbar Eri
I know this information is available on the web for people, but I compile it during the game and I like to look at it. I also enjoy having some of these key demographics together in one quick table. I've yet to decide how I'm going to present the info (images aren't seeming to post over and copying data from excel is losing it's formatting), so for the time being, it's in the form of a JPEG in the attached Gallery. I may just make one for each starting pitcher and keep a rolling compendium of th
Another year, and it seems as if the story isn’t changing. With 40 games left in the season, the only thing the Twins have to play for is an attempt at avoiding a fourth consecutive 90 loss season. So as it’s been the last 3 years, the focus for the last two months shifts to player evaluation. With the minor league regular season in its final two weeks, followed by September call ups, I felt it would be as good a time as any to start a piece by piece look at the organizational depth chart of the
During the first inning of tonight's game against the Royals, Joe Mauer was called out on a ball he appeared to have fouled into the dirt. After he had walked back into the dugout, he continued to yell at home plate umpire Chris Segal, who was not taking very kindly to it. Gardenhire swiftly jumped out towards home and was immediately ejected, likely saving his star* first basemen from the same fate (which would have been the first of his career, BTW). Mauer is hitting long balls and runni
This is the first in a series of posts looking at different parts of the Twins roster as the season starts to wind down. There have been some rough moments at the end of the last few seasons. The moto of the last few seasons might have been "Wake Me Up When September Ends" but this season might be a little different as there seems to be a little hope on the horizon. That hope might mean you won't want to sleep through this September. August is slowly winding down and this points towards anothe
The Minnesota Twins and newcomer Tommy Millone were knocked around on Sunday afternoon in between the rain delays with myself in attendance, but the young guns in the lineup continued to provide me with some hope the future. Danny Santana led off the game for the Twins with a triple to left center, Kennys Vargas had three hits on the day including his third career home run, and Oswaldo Arcia launched his 11tth home run of the season. In the minors, two affiliates completed series sweeps, two
With the waiver trade deadline just two weeks away, Terry Ryan and the Minnesota Twins' front office still have some work to do despite unloading Josh Willingham and Kevin Correia for marginal returns and a few dollars they won't use. However, the veteran jettison has created roster spots for Trevor May and Tommy Milone, but the big problem in Minnesota now is a throng of young, capable bullpen arms that don't have roster spots because of veterans like Brian Duensing, Jared Burton, and Anthony S
Dick Bremer broached the subject of outfield defense in tonight's broadcast. He spoke of the Twins' wishes to have more athletic, speedier defenders in the outfield, particularly the corners. As with most things Bremer says, I am sure he is clear that the Twins want the topic out there or he wouldn't bring it up. In my mind, this brings up the acquisition of Jordan Schafer, who is 27 and has shown superior speed (and base stealing skill), while being deficient in most other areas. The Twins are
For your viewing pleasure: First, 4 spearate videos of Kohl Stewart's 4 innings of work this week vs Beloit in his first start coming off the DL, followed by a video of Mat Batts' 6th inning in Beloit the following night. (Looks like a couple of these successfully imbedded, the others you'll have to just click the link to view)
The Twins enjoyed an off day on Thursday, and begin a four-game series with the Royals on Friday evening. The Royals are red hot right now, having just taken over first place in the American League Central, and looking to do damage against a struggling Twins squad. While things might not go well at Target Field this weekend, there will be plenty of solid performances in the Minor Leagues. Let's take a look at what happened on Thursday. Red Wings Report Durham 9, Rochester 0 Box Consistenc
Long time reader, first time poster. Free pizza is a wonderful motivator. I’ve been scratching my head all day wondering what I could come up with on Joe Mauer that hasn’t been discussed ad nauseum. So I wandered over to Mauer’s Baseball Reference page looking for inspiration. Looks like he had at least equal walks to strikeouts every full minor league season… interesting enough, but it is Joe Mauer, so I almost expected that. I wonder if his HR log has anything interesting. Wait a minute -
We made a new podcast just for your ears. I know, you're excited too. Thanks for stopping by. You can download the new Talk to Contact (@TalkToContact) episode via iTunes or by clicking here. The podcast returns, a day late, but a dollar better, and with a full suite of podcast hosts. We discuss Trevor May's debut, the departure of Josh Willingham and Kevin Correia and what those moves mean for the organization and the youth movement happening in Minnesota. We're joined by Brad Swanson (@Bridm
http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400_9846448.jpg The podcast returns, a day late, but a dollar better, and with a full suite of podcast hosts. We discuss Trevor May's debut, the departure of Josh Willingham and Kevin Correia and what those moves mean for the organization and the youth movement happening in Minnesota.We're joined by Brad Swanson (@Bridman77) from the Twins blog Kevin Slowey was Framed (http://smartpitcher.blogspot.com/) to talk about Eduardo Escobar and Tw
Our Minnesota Twins enter today with a record of 54-65, tied for 12th in the AL with Boston, and bringing up the rear in the AL Central. The Forums and Blogs could fill volumes about what has transpired, what should have happened, and where we can go from here. However, I'd like to take a more quantitative approach and look at the team versus the rest of the league to see what we can deduce about the team and where they are losing the most ground. Based on this data, I'll comment a bit on what t
While the criteria for players being voted into the Hall of Fame is often subject of debate, the accomplishments required for managers is much more consistent. Every MLB manager that accomplished any of the following conditions has been enshrined in the Hall of Fame: 1. Win at least 2000 games. (most wins and not in –Gene Mauch 1902; most wins among active managers – Bruce Bochy 1593) 2. Win at least 3 World Series titles. (Active managers with 2 titles- Bruce Bochy, Terry Francona) 3.
On August 12, 1994 baseball went away. This week marked the 20th anniversary of the end of that season, a season that could have included many historical events. ESPN wrote earlier this week about Tony Gwynn's chase for .400, Matt Williams hunting down Roger Maris' home run record, and the Montreal Expos possible trip to the World Series. All of these events didn't take place because of the 1994 strike. The 1994 Twins also missed out on what could have been some important moments. Minnesota
I am a diehard Minnesota sports fan and it has been a rough couple years nothing but beer and loathing. The Twins have been terrible, the Vikings have floundered, the Timberwolves have been the Timberwolves. There has been a major vein of dysfunction across the board as the teams have seemed stuck in the past in their approach to doing things or just plain bad at it. The Twins suffered a sudden and hard fall from grace going from perennial division winner trying to figure the playoffs out t
C Check 1b Check 2b Check SS Check 3rd base - Can improve CF -Check Thats it guys, we need two outfielders, Could use a better 3rd baseman Backup Catcher - Pinto Would Improve us but will Twins do it>? Pitchers - Hughes, Gibson, >>??? This all adds up to another losing season The only position that we cant improve on is 2b...wow
2011. The Year of the Injury. Nishioka. Bilateral leg weakness. 90+ losses. 2012. The Rebound That Wasn't. Brutal starting pitching. Marginal bullpen and offense. 2013. Stop the Pain. The farm is looking better, but the major league team isn't so major. 2014. TBD. On pace for 90 losses, the consensus seems to be that this year's team is easier to watch. The team has made moves to transition to the next generation of players. This brings us to the question I've pondered and will tr
Sean Doolittle of the Oakland A's did a guest piece for ESPN and made up some Sabermetric stats for Oakland, including in his list were BDP (Beard Dependent pitching), WPA/3+C (win probablitly added with three plus catchers in the lineup) and frFSR (right field fan scouting report) along with others, You can check the article for the full list. What sort of tongue in cheek stats would the Twins have? LAR (Legs above replacement) If you have bi-lateral leg weakness, that's an automatic -2.0 o
I made the 3+ hour trip to Beloit this week for the Kernels' three-game series with the Snappers. Cedar Rapids entered the game tied for second place in the MWL Western Division with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, both a single game behind Divison leaders Kane County. Outside of how it would be nice to be able to say the Twins' Class A club won their Division in the second half of the season, it really doesn't matter where the Kernels finish relative to Kane County because the Cougars won a
Joe Mauer's first season as a first baseman has been a major disappointment. Not only did he not hit well, he was also injured for a month and has proved to be barely above replacement value at first base. I do think that 2015 and 2016 will mean a return to about career averages for Mauer. Now, let's actually consider what this could mean for the Twins: Insert Mauer's .320/.401/.461 line into the second spot of the order for the next two seasons. Next envision about the latter 75% of this time
A day after being part of a no-hitter that he started three weeks ago, Trevor May did something else that was a little strange; he pitched in relief for the Twins game. This was something he hadn't done since 2010 at the High-A level. After a rough big league debut, it was probably nice for May to get back on the mound and prove he belongs at the big league level. It was a strange day in the minor leagues. Two Twins' affiliates had weather interfere with their game and one team had to finish a
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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