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One of the first premiere products of the 2019 season, Topps Definitive Collection releases at hobby stores May 29th. The one pack box, containing eight cards, will set you back just over $1,000. While the price tag is certainly steep, the contents inside can absolutely match that shock value. Unfortunately for Minnesota Twins fans the checklist leaves a bit to be desire. There are no true base cards in this product. A base autograph relic set is where your “standard” cards fall, and it’s comp
A nice note from CNN: Say the name Bill Buckner, and what do you think of? Probably a baseball rolling under his glove and through his legs. And that's just not fair. Buckner, who died yesterday at age 69, was an elite hitter, winning a batting title with the Chicago Cubs in 1980 (hitting .324), and he was an All-Star in 1981. He managed to hang around the big leagues for 22 years, an accomplishment in itself. But he'll always be associated with that fielding error in the 1986 World Series tha
(Disclaimer; this article was written during the time the Twins had the lead. In the time they relenquished it, it approximately induced me into a cycle of imminent doom and hate for the Twins Baseball. Also, the comments on the pitching staff were written before a cheese puff decided to disguise himself as Taylor Rodgers) Lately, Jake Odorizzi has been making a legitimate case as new staff ace of the Twins staff. And to be a frank, so has every starter the Twins have thrown out their not n
Brusdar Graterol Shoulder Impingement Q&A Heezy1323 Heralded Twins prospect Brusdar Graterol was recently shut down and placed on the IL for ‘shoulder impingement’. This is concerning given how promising a start to the 2019 season Graterol has had and what it could mean for his future. So what is ‘shoulder impingement’? And when might it need surgery? Let’s see what we can figure out: [Disclaimer: I am not a team physician for the Twins. I have not treated or examined any Twins playe
With two months gone in the season, the Minnesota Twins big league club has the best record in baseball. In the minors, unfortunately, many big prospects are injured, some for a long period including Brusdar Graterol, Akil Baddoo, Stephen Gonsalves, Tyler Wells and Yunior Severino. However, there have been a number of bright spots in the minor league system. Many players have deservedly been already promoted this season. This list is for the players who should be moved up, and likely will be som
Happy Memorial Day, Twins Daily! I hope that you all are enjoying your long weekend and getting to spend some time with your families while we, as a nation, honor our fallen heroes. Memorial Day is a big day. It marks the beginning of when the MLB standings start to mean something. Now almost a third of the way into the season, there can be no more "small sample" excuses, no more "cold weather" excuses, and a slow start is more than just a slow start now. With all of that said, here is a look
Have you ever heard of the Kansas City Antelopes? They were a baseball team before the Cincinnati club that has been give credit for being the first baseball club. They played from the end of the Civil War into the 1870s. We might not have recognized the game – the pitchers tossed underhand, they wore no gloves, and a ball caught on the first bounce was considered an out. When the cowbells rang a run scored. Hurls tossed to strikers and bad fielding with bare hands caused many muffs. And there w
This article appears in full on Zone Coverage here. Please click through to read it. Power ranking things can be a fun exercise. It can be exhausting. But few things get people talking as much as seeing their favorite things — be it baseball teams, foods or pop culture phenomena — ranked in an orderly list. We’ve done this in this space before, but here’s how we’d power rank the current 25-man roster of the Minnesota Twins. Like most power rankings, a special formula is used with room fo
First let me say I realize that this article will probably disappoint most fans because I am going to list out all of the internal options the Twins have versus trading away prospects. One of the biggest reason I feel this way is that for all the groaning I read in the comments section about our bullpen, it has been really good for a vast majority of the time. Some of the fungible pieces that the Twins have rotated thru the bottom of the bullpen such as Austin Adams, Chase DeJong and Andrew Vas
Blogging about the Twins is something I have been wanting to do for a long time but life has just gotten in the way too much. Over the past five years or so I have been wanting to get into doing this but have never seen a good time to commit. I am finally at the point where I have time to start doing this and I’ve decided to just jump in. Over these past five years I have been preparing to do this by keeping a list of topics I would like to write about so I have a good inventory of subjects I am
On the day of this article being written, the Twins were rained out in Anaheim of all places and so my thirst for Twins content remained strong (evidently the field’s thirst for water was not, but that’s a joke for a different time). And so what else can I do except scroll through the usual suspects of baseball stat sites in order to find some weird and wacky stuff to write about. What did I find? Well, a lot of crazy stuff for sure, Joey Gallo’s BABIP for one, Ryan Pressly’s walk rate (or lack
This content originates at Zone Coverage here -- please click through to read it in its entirety. In the mid-1980s, MLB teams colluded to keep player contracts — both in terms of length and dollars — from getting out of control. And while we’d stop short of using the c-word to describe the last two offseasons, there are some stunningly similar situations playing out before our very eyes. Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel are both sitting at home twiddling their thumbs as teams now wait for th
Michael Pineda made a start for the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night in California against the Los Angeles Angels. He gave up a home run to Mike Trout during the second at bat of the game, the opposition was leading 3-0 entering the 3rd inning. That was your que to go and do a quick Twitter search, and it wouldn’t have been pretty. The reality is we’re seeing a shift in expectations. Entering play on May 22 the Twins pitching staff owned the 7th best fWAR in baseball. The 3.68 ERA of Minnesota
I recently moved to the Anaheim area and was lucky enough to be able to attend Tuesday evenings' game (5/21/19). I also was able to get to a Dodgers' game a few weeks ago against the Nationals. I've been watching the Twins all season on TV (the 5pm start and 8pm finish of the weekday games is glorious), and I am always confident that we are going to end up having a shot to win any game as long as we keep it within 2 or 3 runs because our lineup is beautiful (so deep). The Twins won handedly
Now that the FO has their preferred type of manager, the early results are positive to say the least. Are there any advanced metrics to predict how sustainable Baldelli's success will be? Is manager evaluation still a gut feeling or is there a science we can leverage? I am asking for a friend.
I will be the first to admit, I was absolutely stunned by the Twins poor start in 2018 and am equally as stunned by their dynamite start to 2019. All of you on Twins Daily are aware of this, but just to reiterate for the sake of context: -The Twins came off of a 103-loss 2016 season to nab the second Wild-Card spot in 2017 with a record of 85-77. -The Twins had an emerging group of youngsters such as Max Kepler, Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco, Miguel Sanó, José Berríos, and Eddie Rosario that seeme
Even a really great meal goes stale eventually. I desperately wanted the Twins to do more to upgrade the bullpen this offseason, and was supportive of the idea of them pursuing Craig Kimbrel at one point, but I'm out now. I don't really want anything to do with him. My frustration with the bullpen inactivity was never tied to any one particular reliever. Things have boiled own to that, since Kimbrel is the last man standing, but there were several attractive free agent bullpen pieces out the
Gaging value in relief pitichers is always a difficult task given that they are prone to issues with small sample size. Many relievers who were good one season will regress the next, and as we've seen with Blake Parker, guys who were nothing special can turn into a very good option. Regardless, it was, without question, a point of contention this offseason among TD readers about the front office getting more help for the pen. I personally beat this horse dead on numerous occasions. I was happy
Even though I'm not a Minnesotan, nor do I live in this beautiful state, I've been observing you guys for years. I see a lot of pessimism when it comes to sports. And who can blame you? Few fans in America love their teams as much as you do and, at the same time, have endured such traumatic playoff moments with the Vikings and Wild or such long playoff draughts with the Twins and Timberwolves. You have the right to be – in the words of our Twins Daily own Parker Hageman – dead inside when it com
Coming into the 2019 Major League Baseball season, relief pitching was a very serious question mark. For the most part, the guys Minnesota’s front office has told us to trust in have looked the part. Ryne Harper has been a great story, and Matt Magill has flashed solid stuff. The back end of Taylor Rogers, Blake Parker, and Trevor May work. Unfortunately, that’s where things end. There’s been a revolving door at the bottom of Minnesota’s bullpen, and the options to call upon are dwindling. Fer
While sports trading cards have been a long-standing cardboard commodity, Topps previously introduced the digital collecting craze. In football it’s known as Huddle and in baseball its coined Bunt. Although there’s a digital aspect to these products, Topps used to produce a physical counterpart. In recent years the baseball Bunt brand has died off physically, and it’s been replaced by Big League. A cheap rip focused on subjects and child-sized fun, Topps has executed something everyone can get b
Over the offseason a consistent narrative from the Minnesota Twins front office was one of patience. Derek Falvey and Thad Levine consistently suggested that many of the near-future decisions would hinge on the production of Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano. Back in early February I wondered if that reality didn’t make Sano and Buxton out to be scapegoats. Fortunately for all parties involved, one half of the duo has forced the hand of the Front Office. Through the first 39 games Minnesota has 25
With the announcement that Nelson Cruz suffered a wrist injury yesterday, my immediate thought was who would replace him in the lineup and on the roster if he had to go on the injured list. It would appear to me that the answer is the much-discussed Miguel Sanó, who is on his third and last stop in his rehab program. Much has been written about Sanó. I wish to confine this discussion to the ballplayer between the lines. The other stuff has been beaten to death IMHO. What will the Twins get whe
I am not a follower of Donald Trump. I have participated in several no kings rallies and am disgusted with what he and his followers have done to our country and the world. I would like to know what most Brazilians feel about the United States now and about the folks our citizens have elected to represent us.