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Overall, it's not hard to be excited about the Twins in 2020 given a 101 win season in 2019. The ending certainly wasn't ideal, but 2019 showed us that our window is open and it should be for a few years. Cleveland remains the only real competition in the central. Chicago is up and coming, but they are likely another year or two away before they can have a realistic shot of competing. KC and Detroit are dumpster fires right now. So with that in mind, it's up to Falvey and Levine to construct a r
If there’s a lineup fixture from the 2019 Minnesota Twins that Derek Falvey should look to move before 2020, it’s Eddie Rosario. Despite lacking outfield depth down the stretch, the organization should be flush with options in the coming season, and a cheap commodity could be picked up on the open market. When trying to capitalize on return, this is the time. The elephant in the room is whether any of the other 29 teams see adequate value. You’ll quickly hear that Rosario hit a career high 32
Much of the discussion in the early part of the offseason has understandably been pitching. While the Twins must fill in their rotation, there are still plenty of questions to be answered at the plate. Here is my crack at the 2020 Opening Day lineup: 1. Luis Arraez, 2B Arraez is the quintessential leadoff hitter. He takes elite at-bats and rarely strikes out. 2. Jorge Polanco, SS Polanco should again slot in second. Do the Twins prefer to put more power behind Arraez? 3. Nelson Cruz, D
In the Academy Award-winning classic, The Shawshank Redemption, Morgan Freeman’s character famously said, “Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane”. While Morgan Freeman was talking about hope in reference to prison life, I related with this quote so much in reference to the Minnesota Twins. As I navigated my way through the Target Field concourse and exited through Gate 34 Monday night, I was heartbroken. My favorite baseball team managed to break my heart again. Surely, you’ve
Fellow Twins Daily contributor Jamie Cameron and I discussed the immediate decisions facing the Twins regarding their current in-house pitchers. We recorded live on Twitter, but here's a cleaned up version of our discussion that cuts out a few (expected) technical issues we ran into:
I love to jump headfirst into things, so I'm not sure where this is going to go or how it works into Twins Daily just yet, but I plan on recording similar discussions with other Twins Daily contributors in the
This is a short Blog - kind of a reaction blog set off by the St Louis Cardinals (my favorite NL team). Did you see the headline - 10 runs in the first inning. The Braves were in never never land! What happened. A really good team beat another really good team and did it with fire! The articles say that the pre-game talk by the Cardinal Manager (who the hell is Schildts?) was angry, it pushed the limits and for a while was available on video. ESPN had this article - "In a video that surfaced o
For years I’ve suggested that the goal of a Major League Baseball team should be reaching the Postseason. The ultimate prize is a World Series ring, but you can’t accomplish that without making it into the final tournament. A run of Postseason berths provides excitement that often trumps a single World Series ring, and outside of the casual fan boost, attendance generally follows that trend. Plenty of unfounded frustration has been flung towards a 101-win Twins team, but thankfully we have the D
Over the off-season there will be PLENTY of chatter about the Twins. They're primed to be BOLD and make a YUGE splash in free agency. As a seasoned Twins fan I'm here to save you a bunch of time! The off-season is already predetermined, and your friend Vanimal found the transcript for the most DRAMATIC off-season yet... 10/9: Twins exercise Nelson Cruz' option 10/14: Jim Pohlad quoted in a Sid Hartman column "there will be no restrictions on payroll" 11/1: Ken Rosenthal tweets the Twins
With the band-aid now being ripped off and the offseason underway for the Minnesota Twins, no time will be wasted when considering how to reload for the 2020 Major League Baseball season. Rocco Baldelli’s club isn’t going to be an underdog going into the new year, and they should have plenty of momentum built towards a second straight AL Central Division title. When considering who may be on the way out, Derek Falvey has more than a handful of decisions to make. There’s a very strong group of
Wondering what fans at Game Three thought of the nightclub atmosphere at the game last night. I thought having a DJ playing "sick beats" and loud, thumping bass for four hours was really grating... but I am an old soul. Last season I really enjoyed my trip to Wrigley to see the Twins play. The PA guy wasn't shouting, the music wasn't blaring and the fans didn't need their hands held the entire game to know if/when to MAKE NOISE. Personally, I think a DJ/pump-up music guy is cool for the pr
Michael Powell wrote - "There was a mellow quality to conversations with the Twins after their postseason finale with the Yankees on Monday night, a wistful pride at what they had accomplished before that 18-wheeler from New York City flattened them." Wow I can feel that! "Rocco Baldelli, the Twins’ young manager, slid into his seat Monday night, having come out on the wrong side of a 5-1 score in the deciding game of an American League division series. He shrugged. His team had just lost
I wondered how the New York Press would describe game 2 - here are some key quotes - and I cannot disagree with any of them: "Dobnak’s short outing was fairly predictable. A recent Uber driver against this lineup? Rather optimistic of the Twins. The last Twins rookie to start a game in the postseason was Brian Duensing at Yankee Stadium in 2009. Duensing gave up five runs in four and two-thirds innings and his father was hit by a car outside the stadium (he was O.K.)." "The Yankees did not h
The Twins have stunk it up in the playoffs in real life, but would they do the same in Strat-O-Matic land? Let's find out! - GAME SUMMARY - The Twins got a double from Polanco in the first inning, and he moved to 3rd on an error that let Rosario reach, but they failed to knock any runs in. The Yankees had the same fate, as they left the bases loaded in the first after a Judge single, Encarncion double, and a Stanton walk. - The fireworks began in the second inning; Gonzalez took a walk, which wa
So the playoffs between the Yankees and the Twins is essentially over. And just as it has in years past, the winning team sported (has) the better pitching. The Twins did an amazing job this year on offense. They broke the MLB record for most home runs by a team for a single season, and improved their team's offensive statistics in just about every category (but were a league low in SB?!). Yet, all of that meant nothing against the Yankees. This team is fun to watch at times (during the reg
Game one has come and gone. The Twins fell 10-4 in 8 1/2 gut wrenching innings. Manager Rocco Baldelli will send Randy Dobnak to the hill in game two today at Yankee Stadium. Here are the keys to victory for the standout rookie: 1. Get ahead in the count Dobnak has portrayed an exceptional ability to throw strikes. Dobnak sports phenomenal per-nine numbers: 1.6 BB, 7.3 K, and 0.3 HR. His unique ability to limit fly balls gives him a substantial advantage at Yankee Stadium. When Dobnak gets a
On Monday, I wrote a quick hitter on my 2019 Twins Daily Twins Awards. Now, I want to do a quick rundown of my postseason roster. Catcher: Mitch Garver, Jason Castro It'll be interesting to see how much they split time in the postseason. Both have been good this year but Garver has been better. Infielders: CJ Cron, Luis Arraez, Jonathan Schoop, Jorge Polanco, Miguel Sano With Rocco saying that Arraez is progressing better than expected, I think he'll make the roster. He may not play on F
Yeah that's gonna be a no from me dog. They don't pop at all, you gotta go with the white Hankies!
EDIT: Apparently, according to TC white hankies have been banned since 1991!? Am I crazy or did the 2000's Twins also have white hankies?!
'Tis the season for playoff rosters. I've seen many proposed rosters that have more thought and logic behind them than I can provide. Nevertheless, I have gone through the requisite attempt to settle on my own preferred 25-man squad. Every time I try, the most interesting Twin in the world, Willians Astudillo is left out. Much to my surprise. I find this perplexing because of how I analyze the 4 possible outcomes: 1. The Twins win with Willians Astudillo 2. The Twins win without Willians Astud
Rocco Baldelli is putting his rookie "through the ringer" to get healthy for the ALDS:
Let's pretend we read that before the 2019 season began. First, the Twins are in the ALDS? Second, who is the rookie? Is it top prospect Royce Lewis? Alex Kiriloff? Trevor Larnach? Brusdar Graterol? nope. It is 22-year-old Venezuelan phenom Luis Arraez. Arraez ranked 15th in the Twins minor league system on MLB.com in 2018. In October 2019, he is the Twins starting second baseman and best hitter. Ar
Remember when the Minnesota Twins had a terrible bullpen and it was one of the worst in baseball? That’s how the 2019 Major League Baseball started, and aside from Taylor Rogers, Rocco Baldelli was chucking darts when turning to his relievers. At the trade deadline the Twins were supposed to upgrade their staff, and while they got one burned on one deal, they did accomplish that through another. More than anything though, Minnesota has benefitted from internal talent rising to the top. Against b
The 2019 Minnesota Twins season was highlighted by the most prolific home run hitting lineup of all time, but in this video I took a look back at the best starts the team got from its rotation. Here are the top 10 performances as ranked by Game Score Version 2.
Here's some background information on Game Score Version 2.0, if you're interested. Below is the list, see the video above for more information, analysis and highlights. 10. Jose Berrios at TOR 5/7 81 Game Score 2.0 9. Jake Odoriz
Soon enough the 2019 Twins Daily Twins Awards will be published. I was excited to be part of the balloting process and wanted to release by ballot with quick explanations behind my decisions. Rookie of Year: 1. Arraez 2. Littell 3. Harper I'll be shocked if Arraez isn't the unanimous first place vote. Littell definitely made his case, especially late, but Arraez was the spark plug in one of the best offenses in The League. The fact that Ryne Harper, who actually did okay, got my 3rd place vo
Taking a view at the Major League Baseball Postseason there’s an incredible number of great storylines to follow. You have the lowest payroll in baseball making the field, a major league record setting home run lineup, and a handful of expected participants. For the next month we’ll be treated to the culmination of a 162-game schedule used to produce only the best of the best. Looking back at how I saw things entering the year, I didn’t do too horribly. Looks like I’ll nail a couple of award w
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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
