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Here at Off The Baggy, covering the Minnesota Twins means checking in on everything from the big league club on down to the farm. With the major league team in the midst of an unfortunate season, it's hard to not get caught up already looking ahead to 2017. With the Twins graduating a handful of their top prospects, looking at who's next is plenty exciting. Despite big names like Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano no longer being considered prospects, the Twins have some serious firepower left on th
This is not a “story” as much as it just a rant. It is about the baseball draft. I have to mostly refrain myself from viewing comments on Twitter and Facebook and then also responding to the people who actually do make the comments. First of all, the MLB draft is about the future......as in three or four years from now. The number of people who complained about the first round pick of the Twins because their major league pitching staff is not any good makes my head spin. I don’t think any of t
Over the winter, the Minnesota Twins didn't make a ton of moves. They had a bad bullpen that they looked at more fliers than sure things. Minnesota won a surprising bid for KBO slugger Byung Ho Park. Then there was a move that was somewhat surprising in that it was able to happen at all; the Twins dealt Chris Herrmann to the Arizona Diamondbacks for a prospect named Daniel Palka. In coming to the Twins, Palka was a heralded power prospect who'd yet to play above High-A in the Arizona organizat
Max Kepler officially made his presence felt in a Twins uniform on Sunday afternoon, giving the home team a walk-off victory with his first career home run, a three run shot in the tenth inning to give Minnesota a 7-4 victory. Too many more, Max! Prost! In the minors on Sunday, one hitter continued his impressive display of power and a top prospect made the start in Fort Myers, but would they do enough to help their teams to victory? Before we get to the games however, it was announced this
The Minnesota Twins have been out of the playoff race since the first two weeks of the season and may be in position to trade some assets to contenders. I don’t think the Twins will be major sellers, but if the opportunity arises to trade a productive player who may not be in the long-term plans, the team will take a look into that. Here, I will give you my top five players who could be dealt by the Twins: 5. Fernando Abad, RP Abad has been lights out coming out of the Twins bullpen this y
Despair is a tough feeling to rebound from once you've felt it as badly as Twins fans have felt it this season. The sky is falling. There is no hope. Nothing good on the horizon. It is like we've put The Walking Dead on repeat. I'm not going to go Patrick Reusse on the bit because I couldn't say it much better than he did. I just want someone to tell me it is going to get better. It has to get better. Won't it get better? Like I said, the horizon seems bleak. Your budding prospects,
The bright spots for the Twins have been few and far between this season, but they have been there. Joe Mauer’s hot start, Byung-Ho Park’s chase for the Golden Sledgehammer -- HitTrackerOnline’s award for the longest average HR distance -- and the beginning of Robbie Grossman’s Hall-of-Fame run have been unexpected joys. None of these, however, can hold a candle to Eduardo Nunez’s start. Going into Friday’s game, Nunez was hitting .328/.355/.531 with 12 SB, 9 HR, and a team-best 1.5 fWAR. His
Transaction Report: The big move of the day, reported in full by Jeremy Nygaard, was the MLB draft. The Twins selected OF Alex Kirilloff with the 15th overall pick, a toolsy outfielder from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Twins used their next pick, 56th overall, to select C Ben Rortvedt, a high schooler from the Badger State. With back-to-back picks at 73 & 74 in the competitive balance round, the Twins selected SS Jose Miranda from the Puerto Rico Baseball Academy, and OF Akil Baddoo out of
http://2080baseball.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/PlayerPic-Spring-2015-PukAJ-Tim-Casey-1050x700.jpeg Photo by Tim Casey #1 Philadelphia Phillies - AJ Puk - lhp - Florida Mickey Moniak is really the only other player who is getting a lot of talk right here. #2 Cincinnati Reds - Nick Senzel - 3b - Tennessee If Puk falls he will be taken here, with Kyle Lewis also in play. #3 Atlanta Braves - Kyle Lewis - OF - Mercer A prep pitcher could go here as well. #4 Colorado Rockies - Mickey Monia
After the first month of the 2016 Major League Baseball season, you'd have been hard pressed not to find articles throughout Twins Territory calling Joe Mauer back. He was coming off a great April, and now even further separated from his concussion, it appeared he had turned a corner. Then May happened and he cooled off. What's worth noting though, based on where things stand currently, Joe Mauer may be reinventing the wheel. Unfortunately, due to his concussion, Joe Mauer was forced to remake
http://image.cdnllnwnl.xosnetwork.com/pics33/800/QD/QDTZMERHGXBTJDM.20160225205201.jpg Dakota Hudson Dakota Hudson is 6'5", 205 lb. right handed pitcher for Mississippi State who was drafted in the 36th round by the Texas Rangers in 2013, but he decided to attend college. Hudson has a great fastball along with a very good slider, yet his not having mastered a third pitch and his fringe command leads to some thinking that he will end up in the bullpen. The righty's ceiling would be a Michael Wa
We are about a month away from the All-Star game, but it is about the time we can start thinking about who will be the Twins' representative for the All-Star game. There are no clear-cut favorites at this point, especially given the team's horrid start. However, even though the team is terrible, there have been a few bright spots on the team. I will give you a top three. 3. Joe Mauer, 1B If you were to ask this question a month ago, Mauer would probably have been No. 1 on this list. He got o
Leaving an early morning meeting this morning, I had the opportunity to catch a bit of Judd Zulgad and Phil Mackey on their daily radio show. The 1500 ESPN co-hosts were discussing the UFC reporter that was banned for life because he broke a story prior to the organization deeming it was ready to share the news. In having the discussion, and important topic came up, and it's one that directly effects the Minnesota Twins. As both Mackey and Zulgad broke it down, the pair dissected how unfortuna
I know I am going to get my come comeuppance on this topic. I am impressed with Sano in OF, his instincts speak of playing a skill position for most of his life. Does Sano make mistakes? Bad mistakes? Uh..Yeah he does and has, and wil in the future. His bat justifies his existence in the of. I know many of you have clamored for him to be at 3B, but he is better in the outfield, if he was at 3b, you would soon be groaning at how over rated he is at a 3b. Trade Plouffe if you want, but S
Mickey Moniak Ask any questions in the comments, and I will be more than happy to answer! #1 Nick Senzel - 3b - Tennessee #2 Braxton Garrett - lhp - Alabama HS #3 Mickey Moniak - OF - California HS #4 Jay Groome - lhp - New Jersey HS #5 Kyle Lewis - OF - Mercer #6 Riley Pint - rhp - Kansas HS #7 Alex Kirilloff - OF - Pennsylvania HS #8 Delvin Perez - SS - Puerto Rico #9 A.J. Puk - lhp - Florida #10 Corey Ray - OF - Louisville #11 Forrest Whitley - rhp - Texas HS #12 Nolan Jones - SS - Pennsy
It has been an ugly year in Minnesota so far, as this team is in the race for the number one overall pick next season, and unfortunately they seem to be doing everything possible to bungle it up. The DFA of Arcia has really kind of irked me as he's the type of young talent I would think this team would be wanting to grow with, and to be honest this is probably the last straw from my end. I'm hoping for some serious organizational change given the total system failure that has been the 2016 Minne
May 6, 2016 the Minnesota Twins graced headlines as owner Jim Pohlad called the season a "Total System Failure." The club had started 0-9 and now owned a 6-20 record on the year. By all defining terms, "Total System Failure" seemed accurate. The problem is that it doesn't seem to have resonated all that much. Fast forward to June 6, and the Twins find themselves in similar territory. They own a 16-40 record, meaning they responded to Pohlad's comments by replicating the ugly 8-20 output. What'
In the Minor Leagues on Sunday, all four of the Twins’ full season affiliates were in action including Kyle Gibson on the mound in Rochester looking to come out healthy before rejoining Minnesota’s rotation. In the other games, one pitching staff vied for a no-hitter (could they complete it?), a manager was thrown out in the first inning, and big innings early and late led to another’s demise. To find out how it all went down in the minors on Sunday, Read on! RED WINGS REPORT Rochester 8,
I spent my evening at Target Field, and the guy behind me mentioned that Joe Mauer was the highest paid player on the team six different times. Once each after each Mauer at bat, and a couple times during the game when recently activated Max Keper had base hits, despite not being the highest paid player on the team. And then this dude still managed to boo the Rays when they intentionally walked Mauer. This is the same Joe Mauer that is the reigning AL Player of the Week. Sheesh. Anyways, th
Two weeks ago, I wrote an article about who the top five prospects who should be promoted are. Earlier this week, two of them indeed were promoted when Kohl Stewart was promoted from Fort Myers to Double-A Chattanooga and Randy LeBlanc was promoted to High-A Fort Myers to take over Stewart's place in the rotation. Stewart had a bit of a rough last few starts in Fort Myers, giving up seven earned runs in 11 innings over his last two starts. But before then, he was lights out. He finished this s
A few photos from Tuesday night's and Wednesday afternoon's games in Oakland. Possibly one of the last photos taken of Miguel Sano before his trip to the 15-day DL. Notice the tear in his left trouser leg. Left hamstring injury next time up to bat... coincidence? I think not. "Sorry son, that's strike three. By the way, I forgot to say, welcome back to the majors." Gulls just wanna have fun. Another Dull relief appearance. God, I slay me. Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, and (no
A successful stolen base back on May 18 ignited a minor controversy recently in Twins territory. Holding a four run lead in the top of the 7th, the Detroit Tigers were playing it safe against the left handed batter, Joe Mauer. There were two outs, and the Tigers infielders were favoring the right side of the diamond, where any ground ball off Mauer's bat was likely to be hit. Tigers third baseman Nick Castellanos was playing well off third. Twins outfielder Eddie Rosario, who was the runner on s
More than 100 years ago Minnesota was home to one of the best baseball teams in the country. The St. Paul Colored Gophers, who in 1909 beat the Chicago-based Leland Giants for the title of “Blackball World Champions,” are just one of the teams highlighted in the new book “They Played for the Love of the Game: Untold Stories of Black Baseball in Minnesota” by Frank White. A thoroughly researched addition to our state’s history, this title is also visually appealing with the inclusion of approxi
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
