You all care about this site. The next step is caring for it. We’re asking you to caretake this site so it can remain the premier Twins community on the internet.
Angels just lost their Ace, What would they give up for Hughes? I m guessing you could get a Starter, and two prospects...If you are blown away..you have to take it...I know, I know..Hughes and Contract etc..but We could replace Hughes or close to it..AND add...two quality prospects how do you not take that? Same with Dozier...we are looking pretty good in the infield at the moment...escobar to 2nd...If you got two top prospects for Dozier, would you move him? I would While thinking about
Last Fall, when the season was over, I began a series of three blogs saying there was no more room in the Inn as players were getting jettisoned and prospects were pushing out the AAA filler in Rochester and at the MLB level. As this year enters the last couple of weeks for the minors and approaches the waiver deadline, it is amazing to consider the sheer volume of names no longer with the Twins or Red Wings. SO, Looking back in retrospect over this past year, here are names no longer with the o
http://i.imgur.com/nf87QCd.jpg Phil Hughes pitched a great game. Amazing command, throwing a 71-26 ratio on balls to strikes and some nice swinging strike numbers. One thing of note (though it's actually not on this image, and might start becoming part of it in the future) is that Cleveland had 32 foul balls, 3 of which were foul tips. In the top of the 3rd, Zach Walters fouled off 7 pitches in one at bat alone! There are two ways that you can look at a stat like that: According to Brooksbaseb
This week on the podcast we are joined by the great Rob Neyer (https://twitter.com/robneyer (@robneyer), http://robneyer.com/, http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside) a real baseball writing celebrity. Also on this episode is Eric's potty mouth. You've been warned.You can download the new Talk to Contact ( @TalkToContact) episode via iTunes or by clicking here. We discuss why we hate the teams we hate and then jump into all of the Twins news from the last week. Most of it involves p
http://i.imgur.com/eB9pmdG.jpg Mixed bag tonight from Nolasco. Nolasco's Fastball velocity seemed all over the place. He started the first two innings around 91-92 mph with both his 4 and 2 seam, but at the end of the first he touched 93 with back to back 2 seams. Then, in the third inning his velocity dipped down, registering 89-90 (thouched 92 with his last 2 seam of the inning). Then for the rest of the game he seemed hovered at 91-92, while a few 89, 90 and 93 mixed in. The Indians ca
http://assets.podomatic.net/ts/19/ad/da/paulpleiss/1400x1400_9864053.jpg This week on the podcast we are joined by the great Rob Neyer (https://twitter.com/robneyer (@robneyer), http://robneyer.com/, http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/just-a-bit-outside) a real baseball writing celebrity. Also on this episode is Eric's potty mouth. You've been warned.We discuss why we hate the teams we hate and then jump into all of the Twins news from the last week. Most of it involves pitchers, and most of those pit
Kyle Gibson's pitch breakdown from Tuesday's 7-5 loss against the Cleveland Indians. Gibson pitched 5.1 innings, allowing 5R/ER on 8 hits, 1 BB and 4 SOs. http://i.imgur.com/7qDVdRG.jpg In his post game interview, Gibson said his fastball command was in and out, and his slider was his worst pitch, and the numbers pretty much reflect this. His slider was effective at getting swings and misses, but 3 of the 8 hits he allowed were on the slider, while the other 5 were on fastballs. His changeup
Tuesday night's Cedar Rapids Kernels come-from-behind win over the Quad Cities River Bandits was bittersweet. On the one hand, they tallied three runs in the home half of the eighth inning and put away the Bandits for their eighth straight win. They swept three games in Beloit last week, three more from Peoria in Cedar Rapids over the weekend, and now the first two games of their series with the Bandits. The team also played to near-capacity home crowds on Friday and Saturday night. On the o
The big story of the night was star pitching prospect Kohl Stewart being pulled very early in his start by the Cedar Rapids training staff. His fastball usually sits in the mid-90s but he was topping out anywhere from 88-90 mph. The Twins have come out and said they removed him for precautionary reasons. With not many games left in the minor league season, it would be surprising to see Stewart on the mound again in 2014. With Stewart out of the game early, would the Kernels be able to continue
The big story of the night was star pitching prospect Kohl Stewart being pulled very early in his start by the Cedar Rapids training staff. His fastball usually sits in the mid-90s but he was topping out anywhere from 88-90 mph. The Twins have come out and said they removed him for precautionary reasons. With not many games left in the minor league season, it would be surprising to see Stewart on the mound again in 2014. With Stewart out of the game early, would the Kernels be able to continue
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
Start #3 for the 21-year-old went well again. He tossed three scoreless innings with no walks. He gave up one hit and had three strikeouts. In 8 IP through 3 starts, he's given up 0 runs, 1 hit, 3 walks, and 13 strikeouts.
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.