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With all the craziness that has surrounded the final day of regular season baseball this year, I thought it would be smart to wait to post the rest of these until I was sure of the matchups. I will now begin a rapid-fire posting over the next day to cover all of the first playoff matchups, and doing new ones when the series advances to the next round. In this my second post, I will continue with the NL and look at the match-up between the Cardinals and Braves in the NL wild-card playoff matc
Originally posted at k-bro's baseball blog http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BL4zXiZLkDo/UGzo67jmQpI/AAAAAAAACEo/knDIi_Bl63E/s200/formal.PNG As the Twins wrap up another disappointing season, it would be easy to just throw up my hands in a snit and curse them all. But Twins baseball is still better than no baseball. For all the complaining I've done about pitching and leaving men on base, I want to spend a blog post focusing on the good things these players did this season. So, for what it's wo
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-H7P0n8p_uIw/UGwrL7pS4nI/AAAAAAAAAeQ/jM9rwUSf_2Q/s1600/Target+Field.bmp The fact that the Twins were awful for a second straight season admittedly diminished the amount of baseball that I watched this year, and I found it somewhat difficult to write about the Twins as the season dragged on, which is probably one of the reasons why I enjoyed covering the Rock Cats -- a winning baseball team. Still, though, it's always disappointing when the season comes to an end. Here
In July of 2010, the Texas Rangers traded a prospect package highlighted by Justin Smoak for Seattle Mariners ace Cliff Lee. The trade helped propel an already talented Rangers team to the World Series in 2010. In the Winter of 2010, Lee surprised everyone by signing a multi-year contract with the Philadelphia Phillies, spurning a reportedly larger offer from the New York Yankees. Ok, so what? What does this have to do with our beloved Minnesota Twins? Well, the Twins were reportedly in on
In part one of the blueprint, I laid out the Twins 2013 roster as I see it should be (disclaimer: this means that this is what the Twins *should* do, not a prediction as to what they *will* do). In part two, I focus more intensely on the pitching situation, and turn the pitching staff first for obviously reasons. I am not completely against trading away MLB players or even some prospects (lower levels) for MLB-ready or near MLB-ready pitching, but I do think there is a better way to go about i
Vegas picked the White Sox to finish fourth in the AL Central this year, pegging them to win about 74.5 games. Chicago's season essentially ended last night when the Tigers clinched the division, but that means the Pale Hose' playoff hopes lasted until October, about four (five?) months longer than the Twins. They also made anyone who bet the “under” in Vegas look like a fool, exceeding Vegas preseason estimate by 10 games and counting. I am one of those fools. In our Gleeman and the Geek podc
While the Twins may not be in the Hunt for October legend-status, there are teams around the league that have clinched a playoff spot and are lining up their pitching according to who they will (or might) face in their first game (or series). This will be a series of blogs about the different teams in the postseason, and how they rank up against everyone else (and especially against their first opponent, if that opponent is known yet.) I will start with the National League, because their pla
This post originally appeared at http://puckettspond.com/2012/10/01/down-on-the-pond-twins-milb-awards-the-hitters/ The minor league seasons are all over. The prospects have played their final games (well, I guess officially the September call-ups still have 3 games left, but let's not get carried away) and the stats and progressions for 2012 are all in the books. Before the season began, several of the Twins bloggers, myself included, made some prognostications about who we thought would be t
The Minnesota Twins release Tsuyoshi Nishioka, contemplate coaching changes, and the John and Aaron review the MLB season via their preseason predictions. Here are: the podcasts the rss feed if you want to subscribe and the podcast on iTunes.
The 2012 minor league season is over and much will remain quiet in the prospect world for some time. A few players have "graduated" from September call-ups, but from a new standpoint here we go. Unlike last list, a lot of insight was taken from a few other Twins farm followers. This year's performance has is a critical component as is talent. Tools and the other insight as mentioned were the big factors that caused guys like Morales to rise. I know I may do these a little frequently, but just mi
The Minnesota Twins enter the offseason saddled with the need to rebuild. As the Twins fan base begins to dwindle, and the shine seems to be coming off Target Field, questions arise about the M & M boys, andtheir long-term value in Minnesota. Both players are emerging out from under a cloud of befuddling injuries, so their long-term health is a question. Both players command a significant portion of team salary, so their combined value is a question. Joe Mauer is likely to increase his playi
A common thought among baseball fans like... "Since there are a larger number of starting pitchers on the free agent market, it is good for my team because we need pitching" I would like to challenge that argument. I do believe a larger market can be an advantage for some teams. I don't believe that a larger market can be good for every team that needs pitching. Many teams need pitching. If the market is an advantage for some, doesn't it need to be a disadvantage for others? In a large mar
I was surprised at the suggestion earlier that the Twins should consider extending Burton. They have him locked up next year. In two years he will be 33. On the other hand, he has been very valuable this year. My first thought was it was a horrible idea. Take his season next year at the bargain level. Don't buy his 33 year old season now! That was clearly the minority opinion. I went to Baseball Reference for clarity. I searched for every season pitched by a 31 year old set up man from 2000-
This post originally appeared at http://puckettspond.com/2012/09/28/minnesota-twins-podcast-episode-6-sconnie-beer-and-col-sanders/ Episode 6 of the Twins related baseball podcast, Talk To Contact, is now available for download via iTunes or by clicking here. http://puckettspond.com/files/2012/08/talktocontact-300x225.jpg Episode 5 was pretty excellent, if I do say so myself, and in the 6th edition of the podcast Eric and I discuss why the Twins always seem to lay down against the Yankees, Sa
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.