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Pranks are part of baseball culture which helps make the sport more enjoyable. I really liked this article about how the Grapefruit League supposingly got its name. I always enjoy a clean prank & thought that maybe if anyone hasn`t seen this article should read it to uplift your spirits. https://www.mlb.com/news/wilbert-robinson-caught-grapefruit-from-a-plane?partnerId=zh-20200314-156906-47943&query_id=1026&bt_ee=0AJOWHOkIP8cUt6DanJjHpkdRTWGpW9f7XRQujUm2BcCowmweU%2B49BppEGE0BOKO&am
In 1918 Spanish Flu became the last act in the horrible loss of life that had been WWI, "By the time it had spread across the United States, the deadly event had killed an estimated 675,000 Americans." If you wonder why the world is reacting so vigorously to Corona think about this from MLB.Com history - "In just 15 months Spanish flu killed, according to best estimates today, between 50 million and 100 million worldwide. It infected an estimated 500 million people around the world, about a th
I write this blog entry when I was expecting to do other things. I am in Fort Myers in 80 degree weather with just a hint of a breeze on a nice Thursday afternoon. What could be wrong? Well, actually, plenty. My significant other and I made plans for the rest of winter sometime in January. Because we had made an extended trip of the Christmas/New Year holidays and because we were planning a family gathering for the summer, we decided to stay in Minnesota for the rest of January and I decided I
Today in Fort Myers there was a big-league game as well as some minor league intrasquad action. Across the entire landscape though, it was the fallout of Coronavirus that was being felt. Major League implications were now in place, and minor league changes had come as well. With the Governor of Washington, Jay Inslee, placing a ban on public gatherings in an attempt to cease the spread of COVID-19 the Minnesota Twins had officially felt their first 2020 impact. Scheduled to play the Seattle Ma
I always know that baseball season is quickly approaching when I see all of the prospect lists coming out. It is always entertaining to read differing opinions about the same guy. At the end of the day, prospect lists are always a crapshoot. That being said, they can still be entertaining and informative, especially if the person conducting the list is plugged in with scouts who have seen the player or have seen the player live. Unfortunately, this is not one of those prospect lists. I have seen
There are not many question marks on the Minnesota Twins 26-man roster coming into the 2020 season. Jake Cave and Willians Astudillo are in contention for the final bench spot, and the rotation has turned into a two-man race. How do Randy Dobnak and Jhoulys Chacin stack up? Coming into the spring there’s no denying the Twins hope was to have the veteran Chacin make this decision easy. Forget that Dobnak was the game two starter during the 2019 ALDS in Yankees Stadium, he’s a guy that showed up
It has been over a month since we checked in on the MLB “Futures” at the William Hill and Elite sportsbooks and with spring training now well underway, it seems like a good time to see how the betting odds for the Twins (and others) are looking. Of course, even if I see something really interesting, it won’t do me any good right now since I’m in Florida at least through the end of the month and the Sunshine State has not legalized sports betting, yet. So, while I can look up odds at the two bo
In the spring of 2018 the Twins traded Luis Gil for Jake Cave. At the time of the trade Luis Gil had been in the Twin organization since 2015. He had thrown 65 innings over those three years with 73 strike outs and 46 walks. He did not pitch due to a shoulder injury in 2016 and had yet to pitch in rookie ball. He did not make Seth Stoh's 2018 prospect handbook. He did have a big fastball. In July of that season the Twins traded Fernando Rodney for Dakota Chalmers. Chalmers was injured at the t
Looks like Judge Dredd has a rib fracture. Sounds really, really painful honestly. https://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/aaron-judge-rib-injury-1.42537174
I’m doing this a bit earlier than normal this year, and that could wind up being a silly decision depending on injuries and how Spring Training plays out. Regardless, we aren’t sitting on a slew of unsigned talent in early March, and I’m confident with the look of many big-league squads going into 2020 at this point. Let’s hand out some hardware. The Washington Nationals will head into the season looking to defend their World Series trophy. That hasn’t been successfully accomplished in 20 year
I just read the ESPN prospect ratings by Kiley McDaniels and is was an interesting look from a new perspective. Riley came over from FanGraphs and he has a different style than Law and others I have read. What interests me is the Twins prospects ratings, of course, and he challenged some ideas. https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/28820713/kiley-mcdaniel-top-100-prospects-2020 First of all he has Royce Lewis rated the highest at number 15 - a surprisingly high rating in my mind, but he
Like many diehard fans, it is easy to get immersed in the potential of young prospects. It can be more intoxicating when those prospects are taken first overall in the draft. Royce Lewis is a fantastic prospect with the potential to be one of the best players in the game. The speed, the power, the makeup; it is easy to see why he is viewed as one of the top prospects in the game. However, I have always thought that Royce Lewis is the second-best prospect in the Twins system. Recently, Ke
Add Judge to the list of Yankees out for Opening Day. At what point do they start to wonder what they're paying the Strength and Conditioning staff for? I can see an injury or two but this is now almost 2 years of one guy dropping after another. https://www.amny.com/sports/cashman-yankees-aaron-judge-doubtful-for-opening-day/
Despite an opportunity to hit the open market after the 2019 season, Jake Odorizzi returned to the Twins on a $17.8 million qualifying offer. It ended up being below market value and could be even more of a coup if Odorizzi continues trending towards the impact arm this rotation covets. One of the best moves the new regime has made since taking over was flipping middle infield prospect Jermaine Palacios to the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for Odo. Palacios is 23 years old, still at Double-A, and
I just asked my wife if my Twins Zubaz still existed. I have to ask. They’ve seen better days. Their greatest wound is an inch and a half ripped seam in the crotch, rendering them useless for anything public. I’ve thought about mending the tear, but the rest of the Zubaz are worn so thin I imagine they’d tear in ten other places like ice crackling during a spring thaw. Do I wear them expecting they’ll bring me closer to the Minnesota Twins as I slumber? Absolutely. Pajamas should always be a
The Bomba Squad was great and Twins fans throughout Twins Territory were highly satisfied from March to September. And September 25th, the Twins clinched the AL Central for the first time since 2010. This was all great. Then October came and we had to play our playoff foes, the New York Yankees. And we didn't win. We lost. We were swept. We brought our playoff losing streak up to 16. So, I bet you're wondering why I'm reminding you of all this sad stuff you already knew. That's because, it's s
Prior to the 2019 season the Minnesota Twins took a chance on Michael Pineda. They paid him for the 2018 season with the intention of monitoring and directing his rehab. He rewarded them to the tune of a 4.01 ERA over 26 starts last year and was an anchor during a run to the Postseason. Once again in 2020, they’re taking the chance. After signing another two-year deal, this one doubling the previous pact, the Twins will be without Big Mike’s services for the first couple of months. After being
I'm sure it's probably been mentioned but looks like Severino is out for the year. TJ surgery strikes again. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2877980-yankees-luis-severino-recommended-to-have-tommy-john-surgery-for-forearm-injury
The annual release of Topps Heritage is upon us. While fancy cards and chrome recreations are all the rage nowadays, there’s no great offering for set collectors than the yearly unveiling of Heritage. A throwback to the 1971 design this year, Topps has collectors looking to add the best new rookies in a nod to yesteryear. Specifically, for the Twins, Topps Heritage is somewhat of a mixed bag to start 2020. There wasn’t much in the way of big-league debuts last season, and Luis Arraez is no lon
It`s nice to have money like NYY to be able buy expensive, proven, developed, polished players. These exceptional players I will convey them as "diamonds". Most teams have to settle for what`s left over in FA or try to scout, draft, develop & trade for prospects that have great potential to become "diamonds" or what I`ll call "diamonds in the rough". They are & should be valued & hard to come by because teams don`t want to give them up. Some get lucky get a prospect which quickly shi
1) The infield defense is slightly suspect and below average. -Sano, Arraez and Polanco all have below average defensive stats 2) Jake Odorizzi and Jose Berrios prove to be below average front line starters. Yes they've proven themselves as #3's. Can they repeatably beat other teams 1's and 2's? 3) Byron Buxton is delayed and/or hurt again 4) Mitch Garver and the rest of the offense return to normal temperature instead of red hot 5) Injuries- This applies to any team but 5 starters (Sano, Cruz,
As I have the opportunity to watch Spring Training Baseball and watching all of the future MN Twins and future MLB players it got me thinking about the MLB Draft. Seems like an odd time to talk about the 2020 MLB draft, since that takes place on June 10th. The Twins have the 22nd selection this year and there are 40 rounds to draft more future players. I wanted to just write about how I would love the MLB draft to change, and the changes I would make to not only the draft but how the MLB draf
The Houston Astros. The team downplayed it. The commissioner spoke on it. The other players weighed in, some enraged at the cheaters, some enraged at the snitchers. Clearly baseball needs another bulky white man’s opinion, but I’ve had difficulty decided exactly how I feel about it. I went with “smug” first, typing out a bratty lil piece about wishing the Twins would cheat to get past the Yankees in the post season. Even typed out a draft on my phone: Maybe we get found out. Maybe it takes 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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