Twins Daily 2014 Traffic Report

#5 Busiest Traffic Day at Twins Daily – December 11, 2014

We knew it would be a busy day. In fact, I took a day off of work in anticipation of a busy day. Of course, there were other reasons for that decision as well, including putting the finishing touches on the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2015 (which was completed at about midnight that night).

On the site, the day started with a very interesting look at payroll from Jon Marthaler. $200 Million Is The New $100 Million discussed the changes in baseball’s revenue streams and how teams, including the Twins, needed to adapt. As you would expect with any payroll discussion, there were plenty of opinions shared.

That morning was also the final day of the Winter Meetings which means it was time for the Rule 5 Draft. There was plenty of discussion on players that the Twins could potentially lose or add in the Major League portion. The Twins used the fifth pick of the Rule 5 to select right-handed pitcher J.R. Graham from the Atlanta Braves. Several picks later, the New York Mets drafted lefty Sean Gilmartin from the Twins.

In the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft, the Twins picked up right-hander Greg Peavey from the Mets organization. Unfortunately, the team also lost lefty Matt Tomshaw to the Marlins.

However, that wasn’t the last news of the day. Less than two hours after the completion of the Rule 5 draft, it came out that the Twins had agreed to a four year contract with right-handed veteran Ervin Santana. Nick wrote about how the signing showed a shift in the Twins mindset. Parker wrote about what we should expect from Santana.

#4 Busiest Traffic Day at Twins Daily – September 29, 2014

It was a day that many Twins fans and Twins Daily commenters had been waiting a couple of years for. A day after the 2014 season concluded, the Twins announced that Manager Ron Gardenhire had been fired. The press conference was certainly interesting and unusual as both Terry Ryan and Ron Gardenhire.

Soon after, we started discussing the potential managerial candidates.

The perceived Twins loyalty could not overcome four straight losing seasons from the Twins. Both the Gleeman and the Geek podcast and the Twins Hangouts podcast had special shows to discuss this move.

It took a month, and a lot of interviews and rumors, before the Twins decided to hire Paul Molitor as the next Twins Manager.

#3 Busiest Traffic Day at Twins Daily – June 5, 2014

The draft is one of the busiest times of the year for the Twins. Jeremy Nygaard is the most knowledgeable draft expert of anyone not in the Twins organization. He wrote a series of articles leading up to the draft on several topics. Twins Daily writers also profiled ten potential players that the Twins could have drafted with the fifth overall pick. It all led to the first day of the draft. The last couple of days, the draft has been broken into three days. On the first day, it is just rounds one and two and it starts in the evening.

However, the Twins Daily MLB Draft Day 1 Thread got the conversation going throughout the day. Finally, with the fifth overall pick, the Twins took the player most assumed that they would select. The Twins drafted Nick Gordon, a shortstop from Orlando with great bloodlines and tool set. In the second round, the Twins drafted Nick Burdi, the flame-throwing closer from Louisville whose team was in the College World Series. The Twins had drafted Burdi three years earlier out of high school but were unable to sign him them.

#2 Busiest Traffic Day at Twins Daily – July 31, 2014

When your team loses 90 games four straight seasons, you know that the July trade deadline will be a busy time. There were several rumors throughout the day that were discussed.

In the morning, the Twins traded outfielder Sam Fuld to Oakland in exchange for left-hander Tommy Milone. Ironically, the Twins had claimed Fuld off of waivers earlier in the season when he had been DFAd by the A’s. He had played well in his time with the Twins. The A’s made several deals around the deadline, including trading outfielder Yoenis Cespedes to Boston. They needed an outfielder and Fuld made a lot of sense. In return, the Twins received Milone who had pitched well the last three seasons with the A’s and yet found himself in AAA due to a numbers crunch in the A’s rotation. As a side-note in the article, it was mentioned that there were rumblings that Kennys Vargas would be promoted from Double-A New Britain.

The other big topic of the day revolved around All Star catcher Kurt Suzuki. He had signed a one-year deal with the Twins before the season. At the deadline, the Twins had to decide if they were going to trade him while his value was high. Instead, the Twins extended Suzuki for two years and $12 million with an option for a third year.

#1 Busiest Traffic Day at Twins Daily – June 6, 2014

The Twins were about to start a series at Target Field against the Houston Astros. Sean Gilmartin also pitched well again for the Rochester Red Wings. However, those articles weren’t the big draw of the day.

The first day of the MLB draft is a busy day at Twins Daily, but since the draft is later in the day on Day 1, Day 2 is actually an even busier day. A more in-depth story on Nick Gordon called Beyond the Bloodlines was written. Sure, Gordon’s father Tom was a big league pitcher for two decades, and his brother Dee was an All Star in 2014, but Nick Gordon has an incredible tool set and is very talented and isn’t in the same mold as either of his family members.

The Twins also made their 3^rd round through 10^th round draft picks on Day 2. The discussion revolved around the fact that each of these picks was from college and also that they were drafting a lot of relief pitchers after selecting Burdi in the 2^nd round. Of course, since then, we learned more about Michael Cederoth and his high-90s fastball. The Twins had him starting games for Elizabethton. And, at this point, Jake Reed looks like an absolute steal in the 5^th round.

Though it ranked just outside the top 10 busiest days of the year, Day 3 of the draft also was quite busy. That day, the Twins drafted 30 players (Rounds 11 through 40) and announced that they were signing DH Kendrys Morales now that he would not cost a draft pick. Later in the day, one of our favorite Twins Daily contributors, AJ Pettersen, announced that he was Moving On from baseball as a player. As you now know, he has been hired to coach the varsity baseball team at Chanhassen high school starting in 2015. (By the way, if you have read the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook 2015 already, I’m sure you enjoyed his article in it about finding joy in all things)

There you have it, the Twins Daily Top 5 Busiest Days of 2014. I’m sure this brings back some memories. What were your favorite memories and story lines of 2014?