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TwinsFan268

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Blog Entries posted by TwinsFan268

  1. TwinsFan268
    They cheated. They cheated. There were 23 home runs hit in the ALDS this year. The ones from the A's because they were a genuinely good team, but the ones from the Astros had to be from cheating. If you don't believe me, let me rephrase that for you. The ones from the Astros, the 29-31 Astros with a .483 winning percentage, had to be from cheating. Oh, and let's talk about that record. In the playoffs, the Astros are 5-1. And here's the funny thing. None of their games have been at home. In 2020, the Astros were 20-8 at home. On the road, they were 9-23. (cheating)
     
    Here are some statistics if you still don't believe me. As a team, the Astros hit 69 home runs as a team. In the postseason alone they hit 13 home runs. That's 18.84% of the home runs they hit all year. And it's been 10% of the games. (cheating)
     
    Let's look at some individual players. A lot of players had down seasons in 2020, such as Jose Altuve who hit .219 with 5 home runs and 18 RBIs in 48 games (192 plate appearances). In the playoffs, he's hitting .273 with 1 home run and 6 RBIs in 6 games (22 plate appearances). Also, Carlos Correa is an interesting case in the 2020 Cheating Scandal. He hit .264 with 5 home runs and 25 RBIs in 58 games (170 plate appearances). So far in the postseason, he's hitting .500 with 4 home runs and 12 RBIs in 6 games (20 plate appearances). Let's break that down, using the numbers. He had 170 plate appearances in the regular season, hitting 5 home runs, and in 11.76% of the plate appearances, he's hit only one less home run. A .500 average over 6 games is no joke. Either he's on a major hot streak or he's cheating. You can guess what I think. (cheating)
     
    Another statistic I want to go over is their record over the teams they've played. Yeah, they haven't played the Twins all year but the A's are in their division, so let's just take a look at their stats vs. the A's. (I don't think they're that good). The Astros were 7-3 vs. the Astros in the regular season but somehow, they came and beat the A's in 4 games (3-1). Yup, I know what they're doing. (cheating).
     
    I'm going to be watching the ALCS closely. I'm going to continue to look at statistics closely. I'm going to monitor stats closely. I'm going to write an ALCS post to this article after the ALCS is over. The ALCS Edition. Leave a COMMENT below to tell what you think. Did the Astros cheat or is this a pure hot streak?
  2. TwinsFan268
    Baseball isn't coming back if we don't do something about it.
     
    I don't follow other sports, but I learned that the NBA and MLS are restarting in Florida, and the NHL is doing... something, I don't really know what. Their boards and committees have all approved of plans, but MLB has not.
     
    Here's the thing: People NEED baseball. They need to have that thing that distracts them from regular life. They need a sport that's totally organized and set up right.
     
    I understand that we have a major global pandemic right now. But if other professional sports are figuring out how to restart, than we need to as well. We need to figure things out so we can have a season. And right now, it's all about money. They aren't thinking about what players want, or what fans want. It's all about money.
     
    I personally really liked the MLBPA's proposal for a 114-game season. As a fan, I want to get in as many games as possible. Now they're saying that they only want to play for 40-50 games. Just so they can pay the players as little as possible!
     
    A baseball player's job is hard. They have to play 162 games in a season, and they risk injury doing all this. It's physically demanding and difficult. That's why I believe that players should get payed as much as possible.
     
    I need baseball. Replay games lack the magic of a regular game. We need that unpredictability, one where we can't look up the final score.
     
    Baseball is my favorite sport. Even if we don't play in 2020, that won't change. Here's the thing though: It will change for some people. If baseball is the ONLY sport that doesn't come back in 2020, baseball will face serious declines in fans.
     
    This post was sort of just my ideas. I wrote whatever came into my head and I'm aware that I kept circling back to things. But, if you liked this and want to know more of my ideas, you can look for part 2 on Monday.
     
    Comment why you think baseball should or should not come back in 2020. I may use some of your ideas in my next post.
  3. TwinsFan268
    The Bomba Squad was great and Twins fans throughout Twins Territory were highly satisfied from March to September. And September 25th, the Twins clinched the AL Central for the first time since 2010. This was all great. Then October came and we had to play our playoff foes, the New York Yankees. And we didn't win. We lost. We were swept. We brought our playoff losing streak up to 16.
     
    So, I bet you're wondering why I'm reminding you of all this sad stuff you already knew. That's because, it's spring training, baseball is back, and the Twins have the bar set pretty high for themselves this year. That's because, they have their sights set on the ultimate prize: the World Series.
     
    We all know that the Twins haven't been in a World Series since the greatest World Series ever in '91. But it's been going from player to player this spring training, and all the Twins want to get there. Eddie Rosario said "Everybody comes here to win the World Series. That's the real focus right now, this year." Miguel Sano also said "We've got a great lineup but we're not looking for the Bomba Squad this year. We got our [home run] record and I don't think they can break it too quickly. This year, we've got something better. We've got a World Series. We're playing for a World Series."
     
    I don't 100% agree with Sano's quote, because OF COURSE we're looking for the Bomba Squad. Can't we win a World Series AND break our own home run record? But, obviously, the sights are more set on the World Series this year.
     
    So, what do you think? Can we get there. I honestly think that we can't completely avoid the Yankees in the playoffs. A lot of the AL is not good. But I think that this year, we have enough pitching and more than enough bats to get around that obstacle.
  4. TwinsFan268
    Yesterday, MLB released their projected standings on Twitter, and while the American League looked very close to last year, the National League was a little different. Since the playoffs are going to be the same next year, I'm going to take a look at what this means for us.
     
    Now, MLB placed the Twins atop the AL Central, 7 games ahead of last year's competition, the Cleveland Indians. Of course I love having distance between us and Cleveland, but I was kind of hoping that we had more projected wins. Here's what the standings for the Central looked like:
    Twins: 93-69
    Indians: 86-76
    White Sox: 83-79
    Tigers: 69-93
    Royals: 68-94
    Obviously, the only change here is the Tigers go to fourth and the Royals go to fifth, but they're only one game apart. The Twins and Indians get worse, while the White Sox, Tigers, and Royals improve. The Tigers have vastly improved over their 47-114 season last year.
     
    Now, I know that you're wondering where we place with the other American League teams. So, let's chat the American League East, the division of our biggest postseason rivals, the New York Yankees. Here's what their projected standings look like.
    Yankees: 99-63
    Rays: 87-75
    Red Sox: 85-77
    Blue Jays: 77-85
    Orioles: 63-99
    These are literally the exact same standings as last year, just with different numbers. The Yankees have as many wins as the Orioles have losses. Same goes with the Red Sox and Blue Jays. The Red Sox have as many wins as the Blue Jays have losses.
     
    Now, I know that you're getting impatient because you want to know who we would play in the playoffs, who's the Wild Card team, all that! But, first let's go over to the AL West.
    Astros: 98-64
    Angels: 87-75
    Athletics: 85-77
    Rangers: 73-89
    Mariners: 66-96
    This is a very close division! The Angels are taking the jump up from 4th and moving into the 2nd place spot. The Astros and Mariners have their same places as 2019, but the middle teams have shifted around.
     
    Now, time to talk about the playoffs. From these standings, the Angels and Rays would face each other in the Wild Card team. The Yankees face whoever wins. The Twins and Astros are the 2nd and 3rd place teams, so they face each other in the ALDS. Yes, you heard me right! No Yankees! As long as the Astros don't have trash cans and TVs, I say we have more of a chance. And I am 100% sure that they learned their lesson from that one.
     
    Let's go over to the National League and just talk about them, not quite in as much detail as we talked about the American League. We'll start with the Central, our division in a different league.
    Reds: 86-76
    Cubs: 85-77
    Cardinals: 80-82
    Brewers: 79-83
    Pirates: 70-92
    This division is going to have to battle it out, as all the teams are so close to each other. This will be a fun one to watch!
     
    All right, next let's chat about the NL East.
    Mets: 88-74
    Nationals: 87-75
    Braves: 83-79
    Phillies: 77-85
    Marlins: 71-91
    Again, close close close. Nobody historically terrible like the Marlins were last year. Just a lot of average teams.
     
    The last division is the NL West.
    Dodgers: 103-59
    Padres: 79-83
    Diamondbacks: 79-83
    Rockies: 77-85
    Giants: 68-94
    Oh, a tie for second! Those are cool. These standings look basically the same as last year except for the Padres improve a bit.
     
    Playoffs. Cubs vs. Nationals for the Wild Card game. Dodgers face whoever wins. Mets vs. Reds in the NLDS as 2nd and 3rd place teams.
     
    What do you think of the projected standings? How do you think it'll turn out? Will teams be better or worse than MLB projected them to be? Please give opinions in the comments!
  5. TwinsFan268
    The Twins 2020 roster is looking a lot like their 2019 roster. But that's probably good, considering their historic 2019 campaign. If we were the Tigers, then that wouldn't be so good, considering their 114 loss season. So, anyway, today I'm going to take a look at what some of their lineups might look like next year, and what the rotation will look like. This is going to be for the first have because it's too soon to say about the second half. It's almost too soon to say about the first. So, here are 2 lineups the Twins could use (considering that they DON'T sign Donaldson.)
    VS. RIGHTIES
    L. Arraez (2B)
    J. Polanco (SS)
    N. Cruz (DH)
    E. Rosario (LF)
    M. Sano (3B)
    M. Kepler (RF)
    A. Avila ©
    B. Buxton (CF)
    M. Gonzalez (1B)
    VS. LEFTIES
    M. Garver ©
    J. Polanco (SS)
    N. Cruz (DH)
    E. Rosario (LF)
    M. Sano (3B)
    M. Kepler (RF)
    L. Arraez (2B)
    B. Buxton (CF)
    M. Gonzalez (1B)
    Do these look good? Comment what you think.
    The current opening day rotation looks like this: Berrios, Odorizzi, Dobnak/Smeltzer/Thorpe/Graterol, Dobnak/Smeltzer/Thorpe/Graterol, Bailey. Who do you think should fill the third and fourth rotation spots?
  6. TwinsFan268
    There's been talk for a very long time about the Twins getting Josh Donaldson and moving Miguel Sano to 1st. Last week, I listed all the reasons why signing Donaldson was a good idea. Today, I'm going to list the reasons why it might not be such a good idea.
    PRICE
    One of the main things that might not be good about signing Donaldson is his price. He wants a whopping $110 million for 4 years. (Sorry Donaldson, if you want that much, you may have to wait until February to sign!) The Twins and Braves have reportedly given him offers, but they're not as much as he is asking for.
    AGE
    Along with this is the fact that he is entering his age 34 season. So, when the contract is up, he'll be 38. And not every player is Nelson Cruz in their late 30s. He may not be as valuable in the end of his contract as he is in the beginning and teams may not want to risk getting a player who is nearing the end of their career.
    INJURY RATE
    Josh Donaldson has been injured in 2 of the last 3 seasons. This year was a great season, with no injuries, but who knows about the future. Showing his past injury record, teams may not want to sign Donaldson because of how often he gets injured and cannot play, even though he is a good player when he is not injured and can play.
    SANO
    There's something that I started wondering about right after I published "The Benefits of Signing Donaldson". What if Sano is WORSE at first base and is better playing at third base? Will they have to alternate with their third basemen like they do with their catchers?
    What do you think? Do you agree that Josh Donaldson isn't all he's cracked up to be, or do you think they should go big and sign Donaldson? Write your opinion in the comments!
    Note: There is a half solution to the Sano problem. If Sano can't play first, then they can have Marwin Gonzalez play first and look for a real first baseman at the trade deadline in July. But, Sano and Donaldson both have great bats and having them alternate would give them less chances to meet personal home run records. However, Sano is an option to play designated hitter if Cruz needs a day off, along with Mitch Garver.
  7. TwinsFan268
    The Twins went into this offseason looking for impact pitching. They'd had a phenomenal offensive season, hitting 307 home runs, but their pitching wasn't so awesome. They were also entering the offseason with a rotation that consisted of Jose Berrios. They quickly extended a qualifying offer to Jake Odorizzi, and he accepted. Then, they resigned Michael Pineda to a 2 year contract. Fans said that the rotation looked "too much like last year" but I didn't think about that. I would think about how they really needed two more pitchers. You can't have a rotation that consists of three people, and especially not 2 people for the first 39 games of the season. (Of course, we did know that they would use Randy Dobnak, or Devin Smeltzer, or Lewis Thorpe in this spot.) So finally, on Tuesday, they signed Homer Bailey and Rich Hill. (ha ha, a pitcher named Homer?) When I was reading Twitter comments on their posts about signing them, a lot of them said things like this is a great signing-from Indians fans and I thought you wanted to keep up with the White Sox. One of the worst things about this signing is that Hill is injured until JUNE! So, in addition to Dobnak, Smeltzer, or Thorpe being used in Pineda's spot, they're going to need one of them to fill Hill's spot. (Now is the part where you should be saying "Oh, God, this was a really bad signing") I will give you the even worse part of it: Hill will be 40 the next time he comes to pitch. Nelson Cruz will also be 40 next season, but he's a designated hitter, not a pitcher! (Now you say "Why the heck did they do this?") And, both their contracts are for only 1 year, so when the Twins enter next offseason, they'll practically be back at square one with Odorizzi also set to enter free agency. Could they have made a worse signing?
     
    Also here's a secret: Homer Bailey looks terrifying and old and like he needs to smile more.
  8. TwinsFan268
    It's been a quiet offseason here in Minnesota. Fans are getting disappointed. (But trying to stay loyal.) So let's just take a step back and think about what we need, what we've done, and what we still have to do.
    Starting Pitching: You might think that nothing's happened here, but it really has. At the beginning of the offseason, the Twins had a rotation that just consisted of Berrios. Now it has Odorizzi, Berrios, and Pineda. Of course, you can't have a rotation with only three pitchers. And since Pineda still has to serve 39 games of his suspension, which will last until mid-May, they have a rotation with 2 pitchers in it until he comes back. Of course, they have a lot of internal options here such as Randy Dobnak or Devin Smeltzer. So that shouldn't be too much of a problem.
    Backup Catcher: This is one of the only satisfying thing about this offseason. The Twins got Alex Avila, who is a very good catcher, and the perfect replacement for veteran catcher Jason Castro, who was a free agent this year. (Has no one gotten Castro yet? He's a pretty good catcher, someone should get him.) The Twins have a reliable catcher for when Garver needs to take a day off. Definitely the high point of this offseason... I heard Avila was even better than Castro!
    Corner Infield: This is the one that we've all been thinking about lately. Now that the Twins and Nationals made offers to Josh Donaldson, we're just waiting to see if Atlanta offers the fourth year that Donaldson is looking for. If not, then the Twins or Nationals will probably get him. If not, the Twins could look into trade options to replace C.J Cron, who is now a Detroit Tiger. (Dang, I kind of liked Cron and Jonathan Schoop, who's also a Tiger now. Do I have to not like them anymore?) The Twins are also considering moving Miguel Sano to first, because his defense was really poor at third.
    So, the Twins still need two starters (or one? Maybe Dobnak or Smeltzer could fill the last spot?) and a corner infielder. (Hopefully Donaldson! Fingers crossed!) On a scale of one to ten, I rate this offseason a 3. What's your rating? What do you think about this?
  9. TwinsFan268
    There has been a buzz for a little while now that the Twins may sign Josh Donaldson. Here are some key reasons why the Twins should just STOP MAKING US CRAZY AND JUST SIGN DONALDSON ALREADY.
    Defense: Yes, Sano is a very good player offensively. But defensively? Not quite so much. Maybe what he needs is a move to first base! Donaldson could ensure a solid option if Sano decides to move to first.
    Home Runs: No, the Twins don't need any home run help. But if every Twins player currently on the roster hits exactly the same number of home runs that they hit this season, the Twins would have 253 home runs. That doesn't even break the 267 2018 record! By signing Donaldson, they'd have a solid 290. (Donaldson hit 37 home runs in 2019)
    A Reliable Player: Even if Sano can't make the move to first, they'd be able to split time between Donaldson and Sano, which makes for two reliable players at third.
    No, Donaldson wouldn't be able to fill the Twins' biggest hole: STARTING PITCHING. The words strike fear in every Twins fan's heart. And with the Yankees stupid signing of Cole, our playoff luck isn't looking much better because the season ends the same way every year: Yay! We got into the playoffs! Shoot! We have to play the Yankees. I guess I'll just watch the Twins lose. So hopefully, 2020 will change the tune a little bit. *Now tries to find fingers crossed emoji* Dang, why are emojis so hard to find? I guess I'll just write it instead: Fingers crossed! Yes, I was hoping that the Twins would celebrate Christmas by signing Donaldson or some top notch pitcher but that didn't happen. Sadly. So, we'll just hope that they ring in 2020 by signing Donaldson!
  10. TwinsFan268
    Since the Twins have been so incredibly this offseason, I can't think of too much to write about them. So, I decided to do a fun little thing here, pairing each American League team with its National League team (from its division). This time, I went mostly based on location. Well, kind of entirely based on location. Please write a comment if you don't agree.
     
    CENTRAL DIVISION
    Minnesota Twins/Milwaukee Brewers
    As I said, this is entirely based on location. So, I put the Twins with the Brewers because of the whole borderline thing.
     
    Cleveland Indians/Cincinnati Reds
    They're both in Ohio. This is based on location.
     
    Chicago White Sox/Chicago Cubs
    They're both in Chicago.
     
    Kansas City Royals/St. Louis Cardinals
    I don't know, seemed closer together than Tigers/Cardinals.
     
    Detroit Tigers/Pittsburgh Pirates
    They're just kinda left over here... but they are both in last place.
     
    EASTERN DIVISION
    New York Yankees/New York Mets
    They're both in New York. What more can I say?
     
    Tampa Bay Rays/Miami Marlins
    They're both in Florida.
     
    Boston Red Sox/Philadelphia Phillies
    I got so stuck on this one that I decided to just go with this.
     
    Baltimore Orioles/Washington Nationals
    Very close together.
     
    Please help me! This division is tough. I couldn't come up with anything for the Toronto Blue Jays and Atlanta Braves. I mean, they don't go together, but should I put them together as leftovers? Please help in the comments.
     
    WESTERN DIVISION
    Houston Astros/Los Angeles Dodgers
    This division is really hard to do based on location, so I decided to do it in another way. This one I chose because the Astros banged their trash cans hard enough to beat (cheat) the Dodgers in the 2017 World Series.
     
    Oakland Athletics/San Francisco Giants
    Location, location, location.
     
    Texas Rangers/Arizona Diamondbacks
    I felt like the names and mascots and logos kind of went together.
     
    Los Angeles Angels/San Diego Padres
    California teams are put together.
     
    Seattle Mariners/Colorado Rockies
    1. They're just leftovers. 2. They kind of get overlooked a lot.
     
    What do you think? Comment and tell me which ones you would pair differently and why!
  11. TwinsFan268

    Facing The Truth

    By TwinsFan268,

    The Bomba Squad was wonderful, but it wasn't usual. The Twins are not usually the team who breaks all the big records. Something happened in 2019, and it doesn't look like it's going to happen again in 2020. The White Sox have improved drastically from the 72/89 team that they were in 2019. The Twins have lost Cron, Schoop, and Castro and only gotten Avila (and Clippard, but I'm talking about batters right now). They also have a big lack of starting pitching-with a rotation that only contains of Odorizzi, Berrios, and Pineda. And on top of all of that, Pineda has to serve the last 39 games of his suspension at the beginning of the season. They also need a third or first baseman.
     
    If I'm making it sound like the Twins are going to be awful next year (which I don't think I am but you might think so), that's not exactly what I'm trying to say. I'm trying to say that the Twins haven't improved much from last year. If they don't do something soon, they still have an excellent chance of falling into the Wild Card spot. But there will be some things that will be good in 2020. Number 1 is their bullpen. They have a dominant bullpen, and bullpen games may be common, at least until Pineda is back from his 39 games of suspension. Number 2 is the fact that they also still have a pretty easy-to-beat division, other than the White Sox. The Indians haven't done much to improve their team and if they trade Lindor they will not be the 93/69 team that they were in 2019, and the Royals and Tigers posted records of 59/103 and 47/114. It's going to take a few years for them to get to the top after that.
     
    So, the Twins might not be as good, but they could take a Wild Card spot. And as we saw with the Washington Nationals in 2019, being a Wild Card team doesn't mean that you can't win.
  12. TwinsFan268
    When I can't sleep, I recite the Twins players numbers. Most people count sheep, I say Twins players numbers. At the beginning of the offseason, I wondered "What numbers will our new players get?" Now, if you're like me or you just want to know new players numbers, I've got you!
    Homer Bailey-#15
    This number was last worn by Jason Castro, who went to the Angels through free agency this offseason. He wore this number in 2018/19, and now it gets a new player-a pitcher this time.
    Alex Avila-#16
    Jonathan Schoop wore this number in 2019, and now it goes to Avila. Schoop went to the Tigers through free agency this offseason.
    Kenta Maeda-#18
    This one is one that I have stuff to say about. This one is making me MAD. Mitch Garver is my favorite Twins player and now Maeda comes in and says that he wants to keep that number? What??!! Are you allowed to do that? I just recently got a Garver jersey that says #18, not Garver's new number #8!!!! Also, I gotta get my head around the fact that I don't like #18 anymore, but I like #8. Why must baseball do this to us???
    Josh Donaldson-#24
    #24 was last worn by C.J Cron, who went to the Tigers through free agency this season. He hit 25 home runs in 2019, which made his number easier to remember. Now though, it's going to be WAY EASIER to remember!
    Tyler Clippard-#36
    Nobody wore this number in 2019, but in 2018 it was worn by Robbie Grossman who's on the Oakland A's now-I think.
    Matt Wisler-#37
    37 hasn't been worn in 3 seasons. In 2016 it was worn by Juan Centeno. 37 is a very unpopular number in Minnesota. In fact, the only time it's been worn more than 3 seasons was in the '90s by Scott Stahoviak.
    Rich Hill-#44
    The last person to wear #44 was Kyle Gibson. But after seven years in Minnesota, he went to Texas through free agency. But we're going to keep double-4 on the mound for at least another year.
    There probably won't be any more to discuss, but if there is, I will keep you posted, I promise!
  13. TwinsFan268

    Dear Bomba Squad,

    By TwinsFan268,

    Dear 2019 Twins,
    You were a good team in a bad year. You made it so that there was something that made us happy. You provided a sense of comfort. You were always there when we were going through tough times. You were wonderfully exciting. You gave us the funniest (think rally squirrel), happiest (think clinching the division), coolest (think breaking home run records), and most unforgettable moments (think Cruz's 40/400).
     
    All of Twins Territory is hoping that you can be like that again. As we close the books on the 2010s, a decade when the Twins were not extra wonderful (except for 2019), we're hoping that in the 2020s, we can be the team to be feared of. Listen to all of us, please. There was nothing like the joy of 2019 baseball. Until October.
     
    Maybe October won't be feared in the 2020s. Maybe we'll just, you know, think that it was just another year that we got to October and we could do it. We want 2020 to be funny, happy, cool, and unforgettable. That's our hope. We all hope it. We know you do too.
     
    So Bomba Squad, I hoped you learned something here. I hope you learned that we are all hoping that the magic of 2019 will carry into 2020, because it brought us all comfort. And also, we would like to thank you. You were truly magical.
    Sincerely,
    Fans Across Twins Territory
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