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Like the Rebels preparing for the Imperial invasion on Hoth, it’s time to dust off this hunk of junk. She may not look like much, but she’s got it where it counts. Was that enough Star Wars references in one sentence? Probably not. I’ll see what else I can do for you. We took a bit of a break during the offseason. It wasn’t our plan, we just don’t follow the minor/fall/winter leagues like a lot of others. Instead of struggling to compete with the more knowledgeable writers, and re-hash the sam
This post is part of a series in which Mark Armour and I count down the 25 best GMs in history, crossposting from our blog. For an explanation, please see this post. [This one is from Mark] Were we to give Al Campanis credit for all his accomplishments in baseball operations, he would rank much higher than this, perhaps in the top five. Among other things, he was a legendary scout, a brilliant scouting director, and one of baseball’s most influential instructors. He did this over a two dec
Brian Dozier isn't arbitration eligible until next off-season but rumors are already starting to build about a possible extension between the second baseman and the Twins. He is under team control until 2019 when he will be coming off of his age-29 season. There isn't necessarily a rush to get a deal done but a source close to the Twins said to expect an extension in place before the season's start. What would a Dozier extension look like? Last year the Cleveland Indians locked up their All-St
This post is part of a series in which Mark Armour and I count down the 25 best GMs in history, crossposting from our blog. For an explanation, please see this post.This post is part of a series in which Mark Armour and I count down the 25 best GMs in history, crossposting from our blog. For an explanation, please see this post. In his 18-year tenure at the Giants helm—the longest of any active general manager—Brian Sabean has witnessed the evolution of the very nature of team building. Sabea
This post is part of a series in which Mark Armour and I count down the 25 best GMs in history, crossposting from our blog. For an explanation, please see this post. After more than 15 years paying his dues in baseball operations at both the major and minor league levels, Walt Jocketty wanted to become a general manager. He came close four times before finally landing the job in October 1994 with the Cardinals, a club that hadn’t made the postseason since 1987. In his thirteen years in St. L
My friend asked Terry to handicap CF at Twinsfest. He did not mention Hicks at all. The first name he mentioned was Eddie Rosario. When asked about CF versus a corner, Terry said Eddie is definitely good enough to play CF. He seemed to hint again, at Sano in the OF if Plouffe continues to improve Open to Meyer in the pen. Said last year he was throwing instead of pitching, which caused his location issues. One prospect he thought would make a huge jump is Kohl Stewart. Seemed very hi
Welcome back to one of the most popular off-season series here at NoDak Twins Fan, the Worst Twins of All-Time. There have already been eight profiles of some players that played their worst while wearing a Twins uniform. Luckily most of the players went on to have careers beyond their time in Minnesota. Today's edition to the series pitch less than 52 innings for the team but he was bad enough in that time to make the list. Welcome to the dubious club, John Pacella. Pacella was drafted in th
In case you missed it, there's a new Commissioner of Major League Baseball. I know that, for many fans, that may come as a shock. There are fans that legally enjoy a brew or two at ballgames who have never attended a big league game that wasn't played under rules dictated by Bud Selig. If it's true that, "the exception proves the rule," then that applies to Bud Selig's role in "proving" the Peter Principle. There's no other way to explain that man surviving 22 years as Commissioner of Baseball
This post is part of a series in which Mark Armour and I count down the 25 best GMs in history, crossposting from our blog. For an explanation, please see this post. [This one is from Mark] There is an ongoing debate in Boston as to how to divvy up credit between Theo Epstein and Dan Duquette for the 2004 World Series title. Duquette ran the team through 2001, so of course many of the better players on the 2004 club joined the team on his watch. This is all true, but undersells the difficu
Here is the second half of the new--and I think improved--version of my prospect list. I am listing 25 players plus five honorable mentions. A brief about how the system has really improved: I have been ranking the prospects in the system since 2011 and always paid careful attention to inadequacies at certain positions and even handedness. It is finally the year to announce that the Twins are deep in absolutely everything. But, without further ado: 1. Byron Buxton: CF, 12-18-93 2015 start: Cha
<img src="http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400_10285155.jpg" alt="itunes pic" /><br />This week the guys talk about TwinsFest, the TwinsDaily.com Winter Meltdown, what it means that Trevor Plouffe is the highest paid third basemen in franchise history, and about one Twins minor league pitcher subtweeting another. We also review the 40 man roster a bit more with JR Graham, Ervin Santana, and Brian Dozier. Plus beer, baseball, and the news! <a href="htt
This post is part of a series in which Mark Armour and I count down the 25 best GMs in history, crossposting from our blog. For an explanation, please see this post. [This one is from Mark] Not many GMs have had a career arc like Dan Duquette. Despite undeniable success in Montreal and Boston, he spent what would ordinarily be the prime of his career (ages 43-53) unemployed, or at least not employed by a Major League team. The Orioles gave him another shot after at least one other candidat
This post is part of a series in which Mark Armour and I count down the 25 best GMs in history, crossposting from our blog. For an explanation, please see this post. The Pittsburgh Pirates have won three World Series in the past 89 years, and all three of them were substantially built by the same man. Joe L. Brown replaced a legend, but carved out a great legacy in Pittsburgh for 21 seasons. Today, hundreds of bright young men (and a few women) without any playing experience descend on base
This post is part of a series in which Mark Armour and I count down the 25 best GMs in history, crossposting from our blog. For an explanation, please see this post. [This one is from Mark] Lee MacPhail ran two baseball teams — the Orioles (1958-1965) and Yankees (1966-1973) — and did not win a pennant at either stop. That said, the evidence suggests that he did a great job at both places, dramatically improving organizations that had been in disarray and won championships soon after he had
I am doing something brand new with my prospect list for 2015. I am splitting the list into two parts, one for pitching and one for position players, with each list having 25 prospects and 5 honorable mentions named. These honorable mentions end up being 10 guys in the system to really watch this year for potential breakout seasons. I am providing only bare bones info for each of them because one really ought to check out the Prospect Handbook. The first part will focus in on the pitchers in
Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Back in 2007, the Twins were faced with a dilly of a difficult dilemma. Fan-favorite, team-leader, Morneau-puncher Torii Hunter was a free agent and he was going to be pricey. Ultimately, Hunter chose a larger offer from The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim or the Anaheim Angels or whatever they were called back then. Hunter returned to the team that drafted him about a month and a half ago. What if he had stayed the whole time? How would things
This post is part of a series in which Mark Armour and I count down the 25 best GMs in history, crossposting from our blog. For an explanation, please see this post. Cedric Tallis had a fairly short career as a general manager, certainly so when making his case as one of the best 25 GMs in history. But his role in turning an expansion team into one of the model franchises in baseball should be recognized. Relatively quickly Tallis assembled the Royals teams that would dominate the AL West th
Baseball is in the in-between time before players head to spring training and after most of the off-season moves have been made. This gives me some time to jump back into one of the more popular off-season series here at NoDak Twins Fan. Lots of people can debate who was the best player in an organization's history. For Minnesota, the argument can be made in favor of Harmon Killebrew, Kirby Puckett, Rod Carew, and a few others. It's fun to look at the other side of the coin and examine who som
I've recently been reading The New Bill James Historical Abstract, and at one point he offhandedly mentioned who would be on an all-time Oklahoma team. Naturally like most Minnesotans, this made me wonder who would be on an all-time Minnesota team. But unlike most Minnesotans, I actually sat down and tried to figure it out. First I went to baseball-reference.com's bio search for all players who were born in Minnesota. I'm sure this presents a few problems, like players who were born out of sta
This post is part of a series in which Mark Armour and I count down the 25 best GMs in history, crossposting from our blog. For an explanation, please see this post. [This one is from Mark] Of all the successful general managers in history, few are more of challenge to access than Brian Cashman. We could see an argument that he should rate much higher — after all, the Yankees have won six pennants and four championships in his 17 years as general manager, a record very few can match. On th
<img src="http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400_10265491.jpg" alt="itunes pic" /><br />This week on the show our friend from North Dakota, Cody, is taking the week off to focus on the youth of the greater Fargo area. What a noble man he is. The rest of us forge ahead without him to discuss the news that needs discussing. E. Rolf openly laments everything and anything that the Twins can, have, or will do to make 2015 a success, all the while remaining overly
This post is part of a series in which Mark Armour and I count down the 25 best GMs in history, crossposting from our blog. For an explanation, please see this post. Jim Campbell was decidedly old school. He believed in building teams through scouting and development. He displayed loyalty to his players and staff, who he expected to work hard and show appreciation for their opportunity. To those he respected he would be generous and loyal. On those principles his Detroit Tigers won the 1968
January 1st has a much different tenor in 2015 than it did in 2014 for Ricky Nolasco. A year ago, Ricky had recently signed the largest free agent contract in Twins history (though that's not saying much) with the expectation of being a veteran presence to help stabilize a rotation that was in shambles. After a disastrous 2014 campaign, suddenly the idea that he doesn't deserve a spot in the opening day rotation has been tossed around by more than a few fans. As time has passed, it's clear that
Houston reached base 3 times on Thursday. He's hitting .308/.398/.440 (.838) since joining the Surge and stole his 14th AA base. His 38 total SB is tied with Yasser Mercedes for organizational lead.
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Winning the Cedar Rapids Kernel prize from TD is far better than winning the FIFA World Peace Prize. Thanks.· 0 replies
