Top 25 Twins Daily Most-Viewed Articles of 2023: Part 4 (6-10)

[Seth Stohs]

Today we jump into the Top 10 most-viewed articles of the year. It's always interesting to see which articles readers chose to click into more often. 

Image courtesy of Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

One thing I enjoy most about looking into which articles were most viewed over the past year is seeing which seemingly random articles were clicked into and read and discussed. This group has at least one of those topics. There's also an article in this grouping that probably represented how many Twins fans felt in July, but almost immediately, things turned around. Rumors tend to bring an audience as well. Such was the case when the calendar changed to 2023 and Carlos Correa was still available. That is also the cast as 2023 winds down with Jorge Polanco.  Feel free to discuss the articles, how they played out and if your mind changed on any of these topics. 

#10 Jorge Polanco’s Twins Tenure is Approaching an End 
by Cody Christie
Aug 18 

Jorge Polanco has been one of the top Twins players for most of the past half-dozen seasons. A solid, consistent performer at the plate and in the field, the 30-year-old second baseman’s days in a Twins uniform may soon be coming to an end. That appeared true in mid-August when this article was written. He was again struggling with injury and Edouard Julien was playing very well (and Brooks Lee and Austin Martin being nearly ready). There was never any question that his option for 2024 would be picked up, but his name has been popular in offseason rumor circles. 

#9 Can Either Miguel Sano or Kennys Vargas Get Back to the Bigs? 
by Ted Schwerzler
Feb 7 

The last time that Kennys Vargas played in the big leagues was with the 2017 Minnesota Twins. Since then, he has played in Japan, Mexico and all around the Caribbean. He has played for three teams in Mexico during this calendar year and in 140 games, he has hit .292/.373/.504 (.877) with 34 doubles and 25 home runs. Sano had not played at all since his time with the Twins came to an end late in the 2022 season. He had a scout day in May in the Dominican but no one signed him. This winter, he is playing in the Dominican. The now-30-year-old looks slim and trim. Through 26 games for Estrellas, he was hitting .221/.340/.395 (.735) with nine doubles and two homers .

#8 The Twins Need to Shake Things Up with Two Obvious Changes 
by Adam Friedman
June 29

Adam suggested two moves for the Twins to make at the end of June. First, he wanted to swap Matt Wallner for Max Kepler. Second, he believed that the Twins top hitting coach, David Popkins, should be fired. The offense was striking out a ton, not hitting in the clutch, or showing any sort of situational awareness. When this article was written, Kepler was hitting .198/.271/.401 (.672). Over 75 more games, Kepler hit .301/.371/.538 (.909) with 17 doubles and 14 home runs. He went from a guy whose 2024 option would clearly not be picked up to a guy that not only had his option picked up, but he may be the top outfield trade target. In general, the entire Twins offense turned things around right about that time as well. They ended up with one of the top 6-10 offenses in the major leagues.   

#7 Did the Twins Lose the Jose Berrios Trade?
by Ted Schwerzler
July 5

The Twins traded Jose Berrios to the Toronto Blue Jays at the deadline in 2021. He ended that season going 5-4 with a 3.58 ERA. That offseason, he signed a seven-year, $131 million contract extension to stay in Toronto. While he went 12-7 in 2022, he had a 5.23 ERA, a 1.42 WHIP and no AL pitcher gave up more hits or earned runs. While his record in 2023 was 11-12, Berrios came back to form. He posted a 3.65 ERA with 184 strikeouts in 189 2/3 innings. He finally received a Gold Glove Award. At the time this article was written, Austin Martin was finishing up his rehab games after missing most of spring training and the first three months of the season with an elbow injury. Woods Richardson was 1-5 with a 7.46 ERA. From this point forward, Martin went to Triple-A and hit .264/.387/.405 with 11 doubles and six homers for the Saints. He also had 16 stolen bases. Simeon Woods Richardson made 12 more appearances and went 6-1 with a 2.92 ERA. Opponents hit just .196 off of the 23-year-old after that point. 

#6 Are the Twins Frontrunners for Carlos Correa? 
by Ted Schwerzler
Jan 8 

He had already agreed to a 13-year, $350 million deal with the Giants, but that fell through after his physical. Soon after, he agreed to a 12-year, $315 million deal with the Mets, but as you know, that fell through. So, in early January, the Twins and their fans rightfully felt that they had as good a chance as anyone at signing the star shortstop. Earlier in the offseason, the Twins had offered Correa 10 years and $285 million. For his part, Carlos Correa said all the right things about loving his time with the Twins. This was during a time in which there was seemingly new Correa news every day.  Two days later, he was back, having signed a six-year, $200 million contract with the Twins that included options that could push the deal to 10 years and $270 million. It may not have been as shocking as when the Twins signed him a year earlier. 

Tomorrow we will share the top five most-viewed articles of 2023 at Twins Daily. If you missed a previous day: 

Part 1 (21-25)
Part 2 (16-20)
Part 3 (11-15)  
Part 4 (6-10)
Part 5 (1-5) - Coming Tomorrow! 

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[Blyleven2011]

I remember the article  on vargas and sano  ....

I used to call sano boom boom but later I called him K-King ...

Vargas I called  bam bam , he hit from the left side and I think he crushed the ball further than sano ever did   ...

I remember all the other articles too but wanted to comment on vargas , I liked him ...