Tom Froemming

The Twins aren't "in" quite to the degree I was hoping, but they've certainly made significant improvements this offseason. I think it makes sense to take another step forward. They have rotation depth, yes, but Lynn (or Arrieta, or Cobb) would represent an upgrade. If it takes less than four years, $56 million, then I say go for it.

It was another big week here at Twins Daily. The Twins (finally) added some starting pitchers, we wrapped up our top prospects list and there was an actual Twins baseball game played. So come check out this edition of Twins Weekly to catch up on what you may have missed, including some great pictures from media day.Let’s take a quick look back at all the articles from the front page in the order they were published. This edition of Twins Weekly covers Friday, Feb. 16 to Thursday, Feb. 22. Twins Sign RHP Anibal Sanchez... No, Really | Seth Stohs Twins Acquire Jake Odorizzi From Rays For Jermaine Palacios | Seth Stohs The Twins Almanac for February 18–24 | Matt Johnson Gleeman & The Geek: Ep 356: Jake Odorizzi & Anibal Sanchez | John Bonnes Twins Daily Top Prospects: #3 Nick Gordon | Cody Christie Is This Front Office Truly Enlightened About Pitching? | Nick Nelson Seth's Twins On Deck Podcast (Episode 7) | Seth Stohs Getting Rid Of The Bad Odor Might Be Izzi | Cody Christie Twins Daily 2018 Top Prospects: #2 Fernando Romero | Tom Froemming Sano Going To Let It Eat | Ted Schwerzler Twins Daily 2018 Top Prospects: #1 Royce Lewis | Nick Nelson Who Are These Guys? (Twins Non-Roster Invites) | Seth Stohs Gameday: Twins Versus Gophers (Exhibition) | Seth Stohs Backstop Battery Becoming an Asset | Ted Schwerzler TD 2018 Minnesota Twins Top Prospects Recap | Nick Nelson From the Twins Daily Blogs Below are some additional items of note from the blog area. I've pulled excerpts from each piece in an attempt to hook you in. A Potential Upgrade for Kennys Vargas By Andrew Thares The Twins do still have 4 years of team control of Vargas, but now might be the time for the Twins to look to move on from him. A few teams that I could see drawing interest in Vargas would be the Colorado Rockies, St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals. Now where would the Twins go to get this potential upgrade for Kennys Vargas. For that, we can look at our neighbors to the East, in the Milwaukee Brewers’ right-handed hitting first basemen Jesus Aguilar. Will the Real Kyle Gibson Please Stand Up? By Jamie Cameron Gibson’s fastball command and usage had a significant impact on hitters. Opposing hitters O-Swing % (the amount opposing hitters swing at a pitch outside the strike zone) increased from 18% to over 25%. Additionally, Gibson was able to generate more swings inside the zone with his fastball increasing that number 18% to 61%, a career high. In other words, if your stuff isn’t outstanding, you better to be able to keep hitters off balance by moving it around in the zone, or command the strike zone, as Alston would call it. It will be fascinating to see if Alston can further leverage this improvement Gibson made in the second half of 2017 for a successful 2018. Breaking down Jake Odorizzi By JohnOlson Who is Jake Odorizzi? Depending on who you ask and under what context, you'll get a different answer to this question. Around Twins social media, I've seen such differing opinions - from "Should he be the Opening Day starter? He may be our best pitcher" to "He's, at best, a number 4 starter". I would contend that he is likely the middle ground between these two, very different statements. The Yu Paradox By Matthew Lenz So yes, I am frustrated. I'm disappointed. I'm sad. I'm [enter whatever adjective you want] that the Twins weren't able to sign yet another superstar to bring them to the next level. But I love the Twins and will continue to cheer them on. I will continue to follow them once this crop of talent is gone. I'm not only here when things are good, but I'm also here when things are bad. I may not be happy with every decision made, but that doesn't make me (or you) a bad fan. Current batters and their historical positions going into 2018 2018 Baseball Stats – current pitchers all time rankings Both these pieces by mikelink45 take a look at which players are approaching noteworthy career milestones as we enter the 2018 season. Say Cheese! I'd like to share a few of my favorite pictures from media day. We'll leadoff with new Twin Anibal Sanchez, who looks like he's not quite sure what he's supposed to do with his hands. Download attachment: Sanchez.jpg Next up is fellow offseason addition Fernando Rodney. Yes, he always wears his hat like this. Let your eyes adjust, let it sink in. He does this in tribute to his late father. Hopefully all of Twins Territory can get up to speed and not dog on him for wearing his hat funny. Download attachment: Rodney.jpg Speaking of accessories, here's Ervin Santana. He seems to be in good spirits, but at the very bottom of the photo you can get a glimpse at the cast on his hand. Download attachment: Ervin.jpg Here's Tyler Duffey doing his best impression of Wilson from Home Improvement. Download attachment: Duffey.jpg Next up is another new Twin, Michael Pineda. He's not going to be able to pitch for quite some time, so making him participate in picture day seems a little cruel. And the look on is face is all like "c'mon man, do I really have to do this?" Download attachment: Pineda.jpg But you know what? Trevor May has got that exact same look. Must be those Tommy John surgery blues. Download attachment: May.jpg (All images credited to Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports) Video of the Week Baseball! There was a Twins baseball game last night, and it ended in dramatic fashion. Bottom of the ninth. One out. Tie game. Bases loaded ... More From Me I've been playing around some with live streaming of late. Here's a link to a stream I did immediately after the Odorizzi trade was announced. I was also fortunate enough to be a guest on the latest edition of Minnesota Sports Weekly with Travis Aune and Chad Smith. Here's a link to the episode. Cory Provus, the radio voice of the Twins, was on at around the 36-minute mark. I closed out the show, making my entrance about an hour and a half into the program. Alright, that does it for this edition of Twins Weekly. Thanks for reading and have a great weekend everyone. Click here to view the article

Leach is tough to put your finger on because of how raw he is. He hadn't even been pitching all that long before the Twins drafted him. Unlike Enlow, who has a plus curve, Leach's only really good pitch at the moment is his fastball. He has plenty of time to develop those other offerings, but that mid-90s fastball is certainly a great place to start. And at 6-4, 220 pounds, you don't have to wonder much about whether or not he'll fill out. If we were to try and predict the one player currently outside of our top 20 who has the best chance at being inside the top 10 next season, Leach would definitely be in the conversation.

If the main thing he's working on is the changeup, in my opinion it doesn't make a huge difference where he starts. But this is how the opening day assignments could work out: Twins: Berrios, Odorizzi, Gibson, Sanchez AAA: Mejia, Slegers, Jorge, Duffey, Gonsalvez, Myles Jaye? Enns? Stewart? It also may make some sense to try and keep Romero in the Southern League out of the gates instead of sending him further north. So it's not to say that Romero isn't ready for Triple-A, or anything like that. Plus, it's not like you can't call him up from Chattanooga if necessary. I believe the Twins did that with Jorge last season.

Could there be a more indirect way to extend relief appearances? I don't really think we need to eliminate specialists, but it would be great to limit the number of relief pitcher changes. So how about we take a page out of hockey's roster rules? If I understand correctly, hockey teams have a roster of 23 players, but only 20 can be "dressed" and eligible to play in any particular game. What if for baseball we limit managers to using a maximum of five pitchers in a game (including the starter)? This would allow managers to play matchups if they felt the need, but would also give them incentive to get some more outs from their starters and/or carry a long man. It looks like the Twins averaged 4.17 pitchers used per game last season, so I think this rule change would have some impact. I think managers would view that fifth and final pitcher similar to how they currently view backup catchers. They only put those guys into a game when it's absolutely necessary in fear of being left with nobody to catch. So putting the cap at five would probably mean you're really only going to see managers use four pitchers tops each game. Just an idea I've had rattling around in my head for a couple months, what do you think?

Fernando Romero was Twins Daily’s top prospect last season, but it was easy to predict that he’d be unseated. Even a year ago at this time, it would have been a pretty safe bet to pencil in the future No. 1 overall pick of the 2017 MLB Draft in this season’s top spot. Still, Romero faced plenty of competition for the second spot. What set Romero apart from the other contenders?Age: 23 (DOB:12/24/1994) 2017 Stats (AA): 125 IP, 3.53 ERA, 120 K, 45 BB, 1.35 WHIP ETA: Late 2018 2017 Ranking: 1 National Top 100 Rankings BA: NR | MLB: 68 | ESPN: 47 | BP: 97 What’s To Like? Romero has a plus fastball that tops out at 98, paired with a plus slider in the upper 80s and his changeup is average. He showed his true potential over a 13-start stretch that spanned from May 24 to Aug. 2. Over that stretch, Romero was 9-1 with a 1.40 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 9.9 K/9 over 70.2 innings pitched. Excuse me while I wipe the sweat off my brow. Romero was excellent at limiting damage, holding opposing batters to a .256/.330/.351 (.681) line despite giving up a .331 BABIP. He’s surrendered just six home runs over 303.1 innings in the minor leagues. Among the 54 pitchers to log at least 120 innings in Double-A last season, Romero was second in FIP (2.93), third in swinging strike rate (12.0), fifth in K/9 (8.64) and sixth in GB/FB (2.00). The Twins will certainly give Romero every opportunity to develop as a starter, but per Baseball America’s Prospect Handbook “some see him eventually turning into a Francisco Rodriguez-type late-inning piece.” That’s one hell of a backup plan. What’s Left To Work On? Romero limped into the offseason, pitching to a 10.67 ERA and 2.09 WHIP over his final three starts. He had been limited to five innings per outing over the final two months of the season due to concerns over his innings, and ended the year on the DL due to a shoulder impingement. Thanks to Seth, we know Romero is entering 2018 healthy. Then what’s left to work on? Hear it straight from the horse’s mouth. Here’s what Romero said to Seth in the piece that’s linked above: ”I’ve been working on development of my changeup. But I’ll be better this year. I’ve been working on it. I’m going to keep it up.” The development of that changeup may be the determining factor on whether or not Romero remains in the rotation. Lefties had an OPS of more than 100 points higher than right-handed batters against him last year (.740 OPS vs. .631 OPS). The other pivotal element in determining Romero’s future role may be his walk rate. After issuing free passes to just 4.3 percent of the hitters he faced in 2016, that rate jumped to 8.3 last year. That’s not alarming, but it’s higher than teammates and fellow top-20 prospects Stephen Gonsalvez (6.5), Zack Littell (7.5) and Felix Jorge (6.6) all had in Double-A last season. What’s Next? It appears likely that Romero will open 2018 back in Chattanooga, but assuming all goes well he’ll be Rochester bound before long. It also seems like a good bet that he’ll make his major league debut at some point this season, as well. Having thrown 125 innings last year, however, it’s safe to assume the Twins will be keeping a close eye on his workload again in 2018. TD Top Prospects: 16-20 TD Top Prospects: 11-15 TD Top Prospect: #10 Akil Baddoo TD Top Prospect: #9 Brusdar Graterol TD Top Prospects: #8 Blayne Enlow TD Top Prospects: #7 Brent Rooker TD Top Prospects: #6 Wander Javier TD Top Prospects: #5 Alex Kirilloff TD Top Prospects: #4 Stephen Gonsalves TD Top Prospects: #3 Nick Gordon TD Top Prospects: #2 Fernando Romero TD Top Prospects: #1 (Coming Soon) Get to know more about Fernando Romero and much more in the 2018 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. ORDER NOW: 2018 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook (paperback, $15.99) ORDER NOW: 2018 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook (eBook, $10.99) The 2018 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook goes in-depth and provides player bios, scouting reports, statistics and much more on almost 160 Twins minor leaguers. Click here to view the article

One last thing from me and then I'll hang up and listen Even if you don't like Odorizzi, Jermaine Palacios was buried behind a bunch of other shortstops. Furthermore, he's going to be eligible for the Rule 5 Draft at the end of this season. It's tough to imagine the Twins would've added him to the 40-man roster. Would he get taken in the draft? Maybe, maybe not, but it's entirely possible the Twins would've lost Palacios at the end of the year and gotten absolutely nothing in return.

His BABIP prior to 2017 was .279. So using that rate instead, that would put us at something like 21 more hits, or less than a hit per start. If those are bases-clearing doubles, you've got issues. If those are two-out singles with the bases empty, big whoop. Not all hits are created equal, that's why we don't use batting average as the primary way to evaluate hitters anymore, right? Speaking of which, there's hope that Odorizzi keeps the ball in the park better this season. His HR/FB was 15.5% last season, but his career rate prior to that it was 9.9%. To put that into context, that's the difference between giving up 30 homers and 19. Does anyone sustain a .227 BABIP? No, I'd certainly suspect that will go up. I'd also expect his walk rate to go down, however, so it's possible things even out to some degree. Prior to 2017, Odorizzi walked 7.3% of the batters he faced, last season it was 10.1.

Shared this on Twitter after a quick glance, somebody can feel free to double check my math: Jake Odorizzi's .227 BABIP was very low last season, but I'm not too concerned. It looks like there were 414 balls put in play off him. Had his BABIP been at his career mark, .269, just 17 more hits would've fallen in. Fly ball pitchers tend to have lower BABIPs.

Just ask Nick Burdi and Luke Bard how valuable a 40-man roster spot is ...

Saturday evening, Twins fans were dealt a heavy, albeit not all too surprising blow. News broke that Yu Darvish, the prize of the offseason, was signing with the Cubs and Twins Territory was left to wonder “what now?” Several voices at Twins Daily tried to answer that question this weekLet’s take a quick look back at all the articles from the front page in the order they were published. This edition of Twins Weekly covers Friday, Feb. 9 to Thursday, Feb. 15. The Darvish Contingency Plan | Cody Christie The Twins Almanac for February 11–17 | Matt Johnson Gleeman & The Geek, Ep 355: General Malaise | John Bonnes Don't Panic Over Bad Breaks For Twins Rotation | Nick Nelson Twins Daily 2018 Top Prospects: #8 Blayne Enlow | Nick Nelson Trade Target: Collin McHugh (McWho?) | Seth Stohs Spring Training Storylines: Pitchers And Catchers | Cody Christie Twins Daily 2018 Top Prospects: #7 Brent Rooker | Seth Stohs Seth's Twins On Deck Podcast (Episode 6) | Seth Stohs Twins Daily 2018 Top Prospects: #6 Wander Javier | Nick Nelson Scouting Target Field’s Biggest Games of 2018 | Tom Froemming Twins Daily 2018 Top Prospects: #5 Alex Kirilloff | Cody Christie The Wall Of Ground Ball Prevention | Parker Hageman Minnesota's Winter Of Discontent | Nick Nelson Minnesota and Mauer Facing Important 2018 | Ted Schwerzler Twins Daily 2018 Top Prospects: #4 Stephen Gonsalves | Seth Stohs Twins Daily Bloggers on the Darvish Fallout State of the Twins - Pitching Rotation edition By JohnOlson So, where does that leave us? Well, there was always an opportunity for in-house competition for the 5th starting pitching spot, we'll start there. Phil Hughes, off of his second rib surgery, will be in the mix, along with a post-Tommy John Trevor May. Among those who had a cup of coffee in the majors last year, Aaron Slegers and probably to a lesser extent Felix Jorge, and exciting young pitchers Stephen Gonsalves, Fernando Romero and Zach Littell. Adalberto Mejia, who had a fairly up and down 2017, also projects to be competing for a spot - he would be the lone left hander in the rotation, with his experience in 2017 and flashes of ability, I expect him to be among the favorites. We should Be Happy Darvish Signed Elsewhere By Twins in 6 Now that we Twins fans have had a few days to take in (and get over) the fact that Yu Darvish signed with the Cubs we can start thanking the Falvey and Levine brain-trust for saving the Pohlad dollars. It’s easy to say “Darvish was never going to come here” or “the Pohlads were never going to cough up what it takes to sign a real star” but let’s think about this for a moment… Not signing Darvish was the smart move. To Trade or not to Trade? That is the Question By TwinsO’Holic Adding 1 or better yet, TWO, starters no doubt helps this team try to get back to the postseason in 2018. Yu Darvish signing with the Cubs on Saturday left Twins fans shattered, as their #1 option went off the board. This leaves Jake Arrieta, Lance Lynn, and Alex Cobb as the top remaining free agents. While there are many blogs that have speculated on how those three would contribute to the team, I will be focusing on the Twins trade options. Video of the Week Good news: Actual Baseball things are happening!!! Item of the Week Single-game tickets for all the Twins home games become available for purchase tomorrow morning, and there are some sweet bobblehead giveaways.With that in mind, check out this sweet lot of three Twins bobbleheads from the early 2000s: Corey Koskie, Doug Mientkiewicz and Cristian Guzman. At the time of posting, these babies could be had for just $19.99. Free shipping even! Download attachment: Bobbleheads.png That’s it for this edition of Twins Weekly. Have a wonderful weekend. Click here to view the article

It's going to be a lot of fun when Gonsalves makes his debut and we get a look at some of his measurables. I'd be willing to bet he has some really unique attributes -- release point/extension or spin rates -- that would provide some explanation as to why he's been so effective. The Twins have access to those things, but that data is not yet public on the minor leaguers.

From the team's press release: "Early access to single-game tickets will be available exclusively through MLB.com's Ballpark app starting Feb. 16 at 10:00 a.m."

It's 10 at Target Field and then two in Puerto Rico. Cleveland also has 10-straight home games before the PR series, I wonder if maybe that's to satisfy something in the CBA about travel/special events outside of the US.

Projectability. It's like trying to compare Blayne Enlow to Zack Littell or something like that. Your imagination can get bigger the younger and lower down in the minors a guy is. The higher up a guy gets, you start to see things that limit your imagination. Javier and Palacios may have had a similar OPS in E-Town, but they're different types of hitters. Palacios makes a ton of contact but doesn't draw walks. Javier strikes out more, but has been better at getting on base. At this point, I don't have much hope in Palacios filling out much more, where as I think Javier is likely to add some bulk. That may be hard to see looking at pictures of him now, but remember what Sano looked like when he was a 19-year-old shortstop? They both had crazy high BABIPs in 2017 -- Palacios at .356 in Cedar Rapids and then .332 with the Miracle, but Javier's was .410! I'm not one to automatically assume that's luck, since guys who hit the snot out of the ball on a regular basis and/or run well are going to have higher BABIPs, but I just thought that was something interesting to note. The evaluations on defense for both of these guys are all over the place. Just in what I could see on MiLB.tv (not a great way to evaluate someone but the best I can do) I didn't come away super impressed with Palacios' athleticism in the field. But I've read some very positive reviews from others about his defense. BP said he was a plus-defender and a solid runner. If I was more convinced that was the case, I'd probably have had him inside my top 15 as opposed to 21st. I've only seen brief clips of Javier in the field, but people rave about his athleticism and arm. Part of the expectation that he'll bulk up comes with some people forecasting a future move to third base. I'd rather that than a move to second, which is my fear concerning Palacios. And, yes, the $4 million is certainly an eye opener.

I like McHugh, but it's really hard to try and predict what the Astros would want for him. Seth suggested it may take three prospects in the 16-30 range. I think I'd do that trade.

It may be the middle of February, but this is a big week for baseball. The Twins held their first official pitchers and catchers workout today and single-game tickets go on sale this coming Saturday. Here’s a look at some of the biggest promotions and noteworthy opponents coming to Target Field in 2018.Before we get into the individual games of note, I just wanted to pass along some information regarding the tickets and packages that are currently available. Opening Day Tickets are already available for the home opener, which is Thursday, April 5 at 3:10 pm CT vs. Seattle . The cheapest ticket is $20 for ballpark access (standing-room only). The first 30,000 fans will receive a Twins Hoodie. Season Tickets The cheapest package is the Pick 10 Plan, which costs $220 per seat for Home Plate View (behind home plate, upper deck). But the cheapest 20-game package is just $260. That’s for Field View seats (upper deck, along the foul lines, furthest from home plate), but with so many great standing areas at Target Field, this represents the best value in my mind. Of course, there are also other flex plans, weekend plans, 40-game and full-season packages. A lot of people would argue that tickets are often cheaper on the secondary market, but there are some perks that come along with being a season-ticket holder. Spring Ballpark Pass At this time, the Spring Ballpark Pass is not being offered. The Twins unveiled this new opportunity in early March of last year, so it’s entirely possible its return will be announced at a later date. I did a breakdown of the pass here at Twins Daily and eventually talked myself into buying it. For $99 flat – no additional fees – you got a standing-room only ticket for all the April and May home games other than Opening Day (30 in total). I think I “only” attended 13 games, but it was definitely a worth-while investment. Again, single-game tickets are available at 10 am CT this coming Saturday. Actual pricing is unknown at this point, but as in recent years there will be tiered/demand-based pricing. Here are some of the noteworthy promotions this season: Bobblehead Days Friday, June 1 vs. CLE: Max Kepler Friday, June 22 vs. TEX: Byron Buxton Friday, July 13 vs. TB: Eddie Rosario Saturday, Aug. 4 vs. KC: Johan Santana The Kepler, Buxton and Rosario bobbleheads sit together to form a “nothing falls but raindrops” sort of bobblehead mural. The Santana bobblehead will be handed out on the same day as his Twins Hall of Fame induction ceremony. I expect the demand for these, as always, will be very high. Bobbleheads will only go to the first 10,000 fans in attendance for those games. Download attachment: BuxtonBobble.JPG Other Noteworthy Promotions Friday, April 13 vs. CHW: Dozier & Buxton Gold Glove T-shirt Saturday, April 14 vs. CHW: Twins plaid flap cap (sort of a trapper hat meets baseball cap) Saturday, April 28 vs. CIN: Twins cap Tuesday, May 22 vs. DET: Star Wars T-shirt (there will be another Star Wars promo available via a special theme night ticket) Saturday, July 7 vs. BAL: Twins “Flash” Cap Friday, Aug. 3 vs. KC: Johan Santana Hall of Fame pin Saturday, Aug. 18 vs. DET: Jack Morris Hall of Fame night Saturday, Aug. 25 vs. OAK: Jim Thome Hall of Fame night Friday, Sept. 28 & Saturday, Sept. 29 vs. CHW: Twins stocking hat It’s pretty cool that the Morris night coincides with the Tigers being in town. It’s a bit of a head-scratcher as to why the team couldn’t line up Thome’s celebration with a Cleveland series. Promos for the Kiddos Sunday, April 8 vs. CHW: T.C. T-shirt Sunday, June 24 vs. TEX: Play Ball cap Saturday, July 14 & Sunday, July 15 vs. TB: Back to School item Sunday, Aug. 5 vs. KC: T/C/ pillowcase Sunday, Aug. 19 vs. DET: Twins backpack Sunday, Aug. 30 vs. CHW: T.C. trapper hat One thing I noticed about this year’s home schedule is the lack of games on major holidays. The Twins will not be in town for Mother’s Day, Memorial Day, Father’s Day, Independence Day or Labor Day. Here are what I would consider to be some of the marquee matchups at Target Field this summer: Other Noteworthy Games Houston Astros: April 9-11 The defending World Series champs will be the second team to visit Target Field in 2018. Being a series during the week in April, this should be a great opportunity to see the Twins face off against some top competition early in the season. The Wednesday game (April 11) will be at noon. Seems like a good opportunity to pull a Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. The first 10,000 fans will receive a Twins magnet schedule at all three games of the series. Toronto Blue Jays: April 30-May 2 I know what you’re thinking, “Blue Jays? Seriously!?!?!” Yes, seriously. The fans of Canada’s team travel well, and always seem to pack Target Field when they’re in town. This series is during the week, so that may prevent a lot of Jays fans from making the trek. There’s a different vibe in Target Field when a good percentage of the fans are pulling for the road team. It can be embarrassing, infuriating even, when a road team gets a nice ovation or chant going, but that makes it all the more sweet when the Twins stop ‘em out. Milwaukee Brewers: May 18-20 The Twins host the Brewers for a weekend series, which should draw a lot of Sconnies into town. Personally, I think it’s was nice how the Brewers being in the National League has made this more of a friendly rivalry. It should be fun weekend as long as everybody leaves their football gear at home. A border battle t-shirt will be given out at the Friday night contest. Los Angeles Angels: June 8-10 Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout and the Angels are coming to Minnesota for a weekend series in June. Ohtani could be the biggest draw in baseball by then, or he could be playing in Triple-A. It’s anybody’s best guess, but this still seems like a big-time series, either way. A lot of the 2018 projections are forecasting both the Angels and Twins to be battling for an AL Wild Card spot. Albert Pujols is chasing 3,000 career hits, but he enters the season just 32 hits shy of that mark. If healthy, he should reach that milestone before the Angels come to town, but that’s a big if for the 38-year-old. Players Weekend: Aug. 24-26 vs. OAK The Twins were in Toronto for the inaugural Players Weekend last season, so this will be the first time it’s hosted at Target Field. On Friday night, the first 10,000 fans will receive “player’s weekend mystery nickname” T-shirts. Not sure what that means, but it could be fun. Saturday is the Thome Hall of Fame celebration. New York Yankees: Sept. 10-12. The Yankees will be in town on 9/11, which is a Tuesday. There will be a special remembrance at Target Field that evening. The Yankees are always a big draw, but I’d suspect the outfield seats and concourses will be a little more packed than usual with fans hoping to snag an Aaron Judge or Giancarlo Stanton home run. And Don’t Forget About the Gophers If you’re starved for baseball and unable to make the trip down to Fort Myers, don’t fret. The Gophers start their U.S. Bank Stadium schedule Tuesday, Feb. 27 against North Dakota State and then host South Dakota State the next evening. That following weekend, March 2-4, is the DQ Classic/Big Ten-Pac 12 Challenge. The Gophers, Illinois and Michigan State will be representing the Big Ten against Arizona, UCLA and Washington of the Pac-12. If you’re interested in learning more about the setup at U.S. Bank Stadium, I wrote about baseball’s debut in the building for Twins Daily last year. Also, Seth has had a few of the Gopher baseball players as guests on his podcast. Here’s a link to the most recent episode, which featured senior third baseman Micah Coffey. Click here to view the article

I try not to rank relief pitchers inside my top 10 ...

That's a good question. I'm sure it varies some case-by-case. Maybe Seth will stop by and chime in with an answer for us.

OMG I forgot about that! Per his Wikipedia page: "Hocking broke his hand in the ensuing celebration. Hocking caught the final out of Game 5 and players piled on top of him. A player he believed to be teammate Jacque Jones stepped on the middle finger of his right hand and split the nail in two places.[2] This injury forced Hocking to miss the entire 2002 American League Championship Series."