Teflon

My 2025 ballot: Billy Wagner Ichiro Suzuki Alex Rodriguez Ichiro is as sure a first-ballot Hall of Famer as there is. It would be cruel and unusual punishment for Wagner to get as high as 73.8 % and not make it in his final year. I think it's time to get over the A-Rod blacklist ban. He was clearly among the greatest to ever play shortstop.

Below is the list of this year's candidates with links to their Baseball Reference pages. You can choose up to 10 players. A player must be included on 75% of ballots to be elected. Players are removed from future ballots if selected on fewer than 5% of ballots or if they have appeared on the ballot 10 times without election. (This is the last year for Billy Wagner) This list doesn't include players on the Classic Baseball Era Committee Ballot. There are two former Twins on the ballot and one potential Timberwolves owner. Gary Sheffield was removed from the ballot this year after having failed to be elected in his 10th year of eligibility last year. (63.9%) Player Year on Ballot % of Ballots Billy Wagner 10th 73.80% Andruw Jones 8th 61.60% Carlos Beltrán 3rd 57.10% Alex Rodriguez 4th 34.80% Manny Ramirez 9th 32.50% Chase Utley 2nd 28.80% Omar Vizquel 8th 17.70% Bobby Abreu 6th 14.80% Jimmy Rollins 4th 14.80% Andy Pettitte 7th 13.50% Mark Buehrle 5th 8.30% Francisco Rodríguez 3rd 7.80% Torii Hunter 5th 7.30% David Wright 2nd 6.20% Ichiro Suzuki 1st CC Sabathia 1st Dustin Pedroia 1st Ian Kinsler 1st Félix Hernández 1st Troy Tulowitzki 1st Ben Zobrist 1st Curtis Granderson 1st Hanley Ramírez 1st Russell Martin 1st Adam Jones 1st Brian McCann 1st Carlos González 1st Fernando Rodney 1st

The '77 Twins were so much fun! What a blow in '78 to lose both Hisle AND Bostock. Hisle's salary deservedly increased ten-fold with the Brewers and Bostock's went up 20-fold with the Angels so I actually felt good for those two even though it was crushing for the Twins. It was apparent that Calvin Griffith couldn't afford to operate an MLB franchise in the new free-agent economy but he still hung on tenuously for another half-dozen years - agonizing years for Twins fans. (We were rewarded with Willie Norwood, Hosken Powell and Bombo Rivera as our new outfield options) Living in SE Minnesota, I got Brewers games on the radio from La Crosse (the excellent Bob Uecker and Merle Harmon) so could still follow Larry's career every night in '78. He helped lead the Brewers to their first-ever 90+ win season (and first-ever winning record) in a super-competitive AL East division where the Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles were all formidable. That Brewers team also featured a 21-year-old Paul Molitor and a 22-year-old Robin Yount. Such an enjoyable era in baseball! (Outside of Minnesota)

Will Falvey as team president have any responsibilities in the process of selling the team or will that be entirely up to the Pohlads / a 3rd-party representative of the Pohlads? Also wondering... With it looking like Minneapolis will shut down the HERC, if that parcel adjacent to Target Field would have any development potential - perhaps as a Twins-owned parking garage. That would seem to be a potential money-maker for the team if the city can be urged to clear and sell the land.

This is a problem created by the MLB since their main intent is to procure Latin players from poor countries who can be signed more cheaply without going through the draft process. Too bad if this practice occasionally ends up biting the MLB in the @ss and costing them additional $'s. PS - The Twins' Tony Oliva switched his US paperwork to his younger brother Pedro Jr.'s name and birthdate to make him appear younger to major league scouts. I would have done that, too.

0-3 comebacks: Dave Roberts doesn't want history to repeat itself "In World Series history, 24 teams prior to 2024 went up three games to none, and 21 of them completed the sweep with a win in Game 4. The last team to force a Game 5 when down 3-0 in the World Series was the Reds in 1970 against the Orioles." So, historically, 88% of teams up three games to none have won game four. Will the Dodgers? Do you want them to?

The Twins will still need extra depth in the infield given the IR time we can count on from Lewis and Correa along with the departure of Farmer. I don't see Miranda as being expendable unless the Twins can manage to offload Vazquez or Paddack for a more serviceable defender.

#1 Biggest Offseason Need: More Money

I would have signed up if there was a Wally the Beerman level.

The Twins should consider options with Driveline-like coaching and analytical skills. I was always impressed with their out-of-the-box thinking when they hired Wes Johnson from the college ranks at Arkansas.

That confused me, too. Lewis isn't eligible for arbitration for another year.

Great article on Tapani! I remember when I saw him in uniform for the first time at the Metrodome I thought he was a ball boy. He was indeed a key contributor to the 1991 championship.

Maybe Minnesotans are just more rational about things.

But awesome for tailgating!

While this season's finish is certainly disappointing, it's hard to surpass the disaster that was the end of the Twins 1984 season when the Twins lost the AL West by dropping their last 6 games including a game they led by 10 runs.

Write the story of the 2024 Twins and you'll say that the team started strong but injuries overtook them, exposing a lack of depth especially on the pitching staff. That is the story I'd write, too, until I looked at the Twins' season splits. The splits reveal the Twins to be near the middle of the pack or a little worse in almost every category except one - their winning percentage against losing teams. The Twins are a MLB-best 41-18 when playing sub .500 teams. No other team - not the Yankees or Phillies or Dodgers or Guardians - has been more dominant against losing teams. Combine that with just an average performance against winning teams and the Twins would be in the postseason. Unfortunately, the Twins have struggled against teams north of .500, going just 40-58. Looking at the results month-by-month, it's clear how this has obscured the results this season. Minnesota had a 29-25 record at the end of May and Twins Territory was feeling encouraged about the season. The Twins were 10-0 at that point against the White Sox and Angels, however, and 19-25 against everyone else. June (15-12) was another winning month for the Twins but... they had the good fortune of playing the Athletics in two series, going 6-1. They had a 9-11 record against everyone else. When July and August rolled around, the prevalent patsies of the prior months were not to be found on the schedule. The Twins only played 12 game against teams with losing records in those two months as opposed to 39 games versus teams at or above .500. They throttled the White Sox again, taking 5 of 6, but went 21-24 against the other 14 teams. In September, the now injury-ravaged Twins have looked much less like the schoolyard bullies they were through the end of August. They are only 6-6 this month against the sub .500 teams and an abysmal 2-8 against winning teams. There is no argument that injuries have impacted the Twins' playoff chances. If they had managed to keep dominating the losing teams in September they would have a spot all but clinched. The story the spilt against losing teams tells us, however, is that the Twins overall record before the injuries was propped up by a domination of one particular sad-sack team - the White Sox (12-1). The Twins simply weren't that good against the stronger teams in the league at any point in the season. (A case could be made for how they handled the Royals early in the season, but when it counted most, they swept us.)

I don't know if you've checked the Tigers lately but they're 12-5 over their last 17 games and the losses were all by one run. They're starting to look really legitimate. I could easily see them finishing over .500.

It's hard to believe how fast Mauer's entire career played out in front of us. That felt like a blink of an eye.

Ah, Jonathan Swift, Voltaire, Twins Daily...

15) Mariners: Jurrangelo Cijntje, SHP, Mississippi State The switch-pitching might sound like a novelty act, but Cijntje has legitimate ability from both sides. His stuff is more electric as a right-hander, and there’s a chance he might focus on that full-time as a Marcus Stroman type. This snaps a streak of three straight high school hitters taken in the first round by the Mariners.

I remember reading the Twins had traded Gary Ward to the Rangers and getting angry. He along with Hrbek, Gaetti and Brunansky formed a really solid middle of the order. We had seen similar moves in '82 when they got rid of Wynegar and (Roger) Erickson and Smalley for a handful of replacement-level players and the inconsistent Ron Davis - although it should be noted Greg Gagne did emerge from that haul. Luckily Smithson and Butcher both had career years in 1984 so Ward was not a frequent topic. In retrospect, the Ward trade reminds me a lot of when the Twins broke up "The Soul Patrol*" sending All-Star Matt Lawton to the Mets for Rick Reed. Lawton, like Ward, would go on to make another All-Star game. (2004, playing for Cleveland.) * Matt Lawton, Torii Hunter, Jacques Jones

"Signed a minor league deal in 2022 with MN and has worked effortlessly to become an All-Star." Seems like a very zen approach. Somehow, I don't think that's what Twins Talk meant to write.

Rocco Baldelli breaking the news to Willi: https://www.startribune.com/twins-utilityman-willi-castro-american-league-all-star-carlos-correa-injury-replacement/600380048/

I don't care how they do it, but the Twins absolutely have to find a way to draft Jurrangelo Cijnyje, a BHP out of Mississippi State. (That's not a typo... a BHP)

Twins pitchers today: 11 strikeouts, 0 walks. Twins batters today: 5 strikeouts, 6 walks.