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There are all kinds of questions surrounding whether the Twins should trade Santana. The market is a huge factor. Is it better to keep him given the limited options in or outside the organization? Is it better to trade him given the demand and supply? Will the demand be greater in July? My interest is exploring the likelihood that he will continue to be a valuable pitcher for the next three seasons that the Twins can control. I looked for a similar group of pitchers with a healthy track rec
The Minnesota Twins have not had a ton of needs to address this offseason. While the 2016 season produced the worst record in major league history, it was indicative of the worst pitching staff in the big leagues. With more reason to rely on internal options, addressing deficiencies through a poor free agent market never seemed like a good bet. If there was something to be addressed though, it was Brian Dozier. Coming off the best season of his career, the first as an All Star, and having tota
In the midst of the offseason, the snow has flown and Target Field has gone into its winter slumber. With warm thoughts of Spring Training on our minds, surpassing the benchmark of Christmas helps us barrel towards Opening Day 2017. For a Minnesota Twins team coming off of a franchise worst season, what is Santa Claus gifting the club this year? It's probably pretty hard to categorize whether or not the organization was naughty or nice. I mean, it was anything but a strong year, but maybe the
Brian Dozier has been a fan-favorite for Twins fans since he started to break out in 2013. Every female in the Twin Cities has a crush on him, and in general, everyone respects the player that he is on the field and the person that he is off the field. For me personally, Brian Dozier has been my favorite player since Justin Morneau. Those two are my favorite Twins of all time, in some order (I was not around for Hrbek, Puckett, Killebrew, Carew, etc.) and I would hate to see him move on. Doz
A year after having the worst starting pitching staff in the big leagues, the Minnesota Twins will be looking to turn a significant corner in 2017. Paul Molitor has a pretty realistic opportunity to bounce back greatly in the wins column, but it's only going to happen if he can get productive outings from his starters. While the Twins haven't had a true ace since the days of Francisco Liriano or Johan Santana, there are plenty of teams the operate with a good group rather than a top heavy indi
I have long been a supporter of guys linked to performance enhancing drugs being in the Hall of Fame. Simply put, if you don't believe that players like Barry Bonds and Rogers Clemens are among the best to ever play the sport of baseball, you're unquestionably wrong. Here's where the caveats come in though, morality still plays a role that it has no business playing. Today I read over a piece by BBWAA member and former Yankees beat writer Wallace Matthews. In it, he calls out Curt Schilling fo
Last December, I put together a piece looking at certain statistics and numbers that the Minnesota Twins may find themselves teetering on in the year ahead. Dubber over/unders, I took a look at a few areas to watch and tried to decipher whether or not Paul Molitor's team would surpass or fall short of the mark. If you want to read that piece, you can find it here. The 2017 season presents plenty of new storylines, and while the team wants to wipe clean the slate after a 100+ loss season, it wi
With the Los Angeles Dodgers now having inked both Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen to free agent deals, they could slow on spending this offseason. They also brought back Rich Hill, and have effectively kept their 2016 roster in tact. That group didn't win a World Series though, so adding a piece or two seems like the next logical step. The Dodgers have a need in the form of a setup man ahead of Jansen, and arguably more pressing than that, at second base in the infield. For what seems like th
Last winter, I tried my hand at projecting the upcoming lineup right around this same timeframe. With Paul Molitor back as manager of the Minnesota Twins for 2017, much of the same can be expected lineup wise, but he'll need to make some adjustments if he's going to overcome his own deficiencies from a season ago. There's no doubt that Derek Falvey and Thad Levine want to turn this thing around, but it'll be a process. Right now, we know that the Twins have lost a couple of pieces from 2016, a
“Babies for everyone!” was one of St. Paul Saints broadcaster Sean Aronson’s more memorable calls during the 2016 season. (It referred to a hitting tear Saints third baseman Nate Hanson went on after returning to the lineup following the birth of his child.) Throughout the year, sports fans let a few dulcet toned folks into their lives on a daily basis to bring them the sights and sounds of their favorite pastime. Did you ever wonder who these people are when the headsets are off? Aronson did, a
As the Minnesota Twins enter the 2017 Major League Baseball season, the focus will undoubtedly be on getting better pitching performances than those that saw the club post league worst numbers. It's fairly realistic to expect a rebound from an offense that was expected to carry the club, and we shouldn't be shocked if that happens. What Paul Molitor must do is utilize hometown hero Joe Mauer in the most sensible way possible. Once a surefire Hall of Famer, Mauer has watched his career be sappe
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Granted, it probably wasn't anywhere near the "worst of times" for Stuart Turner and Mitch Garver, but the excitement of learning they had been drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the June, 2013 Amateur Draft had to have been at least slightly dampened with the realization that the Twins had drafted both of them. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/GarverAFL16ae-600x400.jpg Mitch Garver (Photo: SD Buhr) Going into th
The Rule 5 Draft took place at the conclusion of the Major League Baseball Winter Meetings. As teams selected players from other organizations that must stay on their 25 man roster throughout the duration of the upcoming season, Minnesota continues to reap the rewards of solid Rule 5 Draft success. In the 2016 version, Minnesota had the first overall pick and selected a pitcher from the Brewers organization, Miguel Diaz. He was sent to the Padres in exchange for Justin Haley, a pitcher from th
It was time for a change. On the first day of the 2016 Winter Meetings in National Harbor, Maryland, the Minnesota Twins announced a shake up within their scouting department. Deron Johnson, who was the director of scouting since 2007, has been promoted to senior advisor and will strictly evaluate the top talent here in the states and abroad. In a corresponding move, Sean Johnson was promoted from West Coast supervisor to director of scouting and will oversee all preparation for the upcoming MLB
There are some real intriguing arms in this draft. With Falveys guidance, I think there is a good chance the Twins strike gold in this draft. That said, i want to explain my choice and the one I hope the Twins will make. There are probably at least five arms to look at and all of them have their different merits. Can we all agree that the Twins will not be in the pennant race next year? If you agree, or even think thats plausible, then I say, go for potential, go for the rare arm as unrefi
Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ---- The Twins have the first overall pick in the Rule 5 draft this week. Previously, I discussed the potential Twins' liabilities in the draft. Now that all major league 40-man rosters are settled in as far as who is unprotected, I will be listing five players who should be interesting targets for the Twins. A bit of a reminder regarding how the draft works: A team can select any unprotected player of any other team and pay $100,000 (increas
Aroldis Chapman is reportedly seeking a contract in the range of 6 yrs, $100M. Give it to him. Right now. Throw in an extra $10M bringing total to 6 yr $110 (which figures in the fact of actually getting him to WANT to play in MN). Why you may ask? Because we will turn him into a starting pitcher. As a reliever, he is not quite worth that type of money. However, when you add together the value of the prospect of him being a dominant starter, it is quite a different story--especially th
With plenty of different happenings going on in baseball during this time of the year, it's hard to stick simply to one topic. The Winter Meetings are now in full swing, and the Minnesota Twins should be plenty busy fielding calls on trade asset Brian Dozier. For the purpose of this post though, there's two notes I wanted to expand upon. The first is in the way in which Official Baseball Writers Association of America members handle their Hall of Fame votes. Recently former Commissioner Bud Se
As Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association came to agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, the Mid-Summer Classic hardly went ignored. Sure there was decisions made on an International Draft, Qualifying Offers, and the new Luxury Tax thresholds, but it was the All Star Game decision that caught the attention of the Associated Press late Wednesday night. With the new CBA, Major League Baseball decided intelligently that the exhibition game should no l
Of recent, the Minnesota Twins have made a history of reuniting with players on the field that don't make a ton of sense. Whether it was Jason Bartlett, Matt Guerrier, or Jason Kubel, veterans on the tail end of their careers aren't a great move for a bad team. In hiring Torii Hunter, LaTroy Hawkins, and Michael Cuddyer as Special Assistants, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine seem to have picked a meaningful reunion. While the trio will no doubt be asked to provide value, they are not in significan
As is the case around this time of the year, Hall of Fame ballots are sent out. To Official Baseball Writers Association of America members, they are mailed and returned as such. Through the forward thinking Internet Baseball Writers Association of America, email is utilized to streamline the process. Once again, I have the privilege of completing a ballot. Before getting into the selections themselves, I wanted to lay a few guidelines out. First and foremost, the IBWAA has already voted in th
It's no secret that the biggest position of need for the Twins is the pitching staff. Sadly, this is a very weak free agent pitching class, and with arms like Santana, Hughes and Gibson still around and reports out that the Twins won't be adding payroll this offseason there doesn't look to be much in the way of room for additions anyway. Looks to be a bleak 2017 led by another dismal performance by the pitching staff. Or is it? What if the first step on the journey to fixing the pitching is a st
Recently, the Minnesota Twins made among the first big splashes in free agency this winter by signing catcher Jason Castro. He's not a bank-breaking starting pitcher, and he won't light the world on fire at the plate, but the acquisition sends all the right messages throughout Twins Territory. First and foremost you must understand who Jason Castro is. Sure, a three-year, $24.5 million deal for a player with a .684 OPS might seem egregious in today's offensive era of baseball. Looking at the f
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.
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hello Seth......you'll wanna correct the date in headline of today's minor league report. :-) Brad· 0 replies
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.· 1 reply
