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Anytime a professional sports club achieves a record that spans across all type of sport, the fanbase realizes that this is a "special" event. When that "special" event represents the longest postseason losing streak in all of professional sport, the trophy loses its shine. How did the Twins actually get to this record of records, and what must they learn from that story of 0-18 before 0-20 becomes a reality? Image courtesy of Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports October 5, 2004. Yankee Stadium (the elder), New York Yankees, American League Divisional Series Game 1 That was the last time the Minnesota Twins won a playoff game. When the Twins take the field to kick off the playoffs in October of 2023, it will 19 years since the last taste of playoff victory lingered on the lips of Twins Territory. Johan Santana scattered nine hits over seven scoreless innings, and Juan Rincon and Joe Nathan finished off the shutout with an inning each. Shannon Stewart drove in Michael Cuddyer for the game's first run, and Jacque Jones took Mike Mussina deep for the last run. 2-0 Twins, and the 2004 squad was on the verge of toppling Goliath and grasping the decade for their own. In fact, even the most pessimistic of Twins fans couldn't have predicted just how terrible the narrative would turn for over a generation of teams and fans. In 2004, the margin between ecstasy and misery was a fine one, as the Yankees needed extra innings to win two of the next three games to take the series. No part of the series screamed out that "This is the beginning of a two-decade curse!" If anything, the Twins squad was left thinking optimistically at just how close they were to climbing back into the World Series conversation despite the disappointing loss of the series. How were we to know that losing three games in a row would become a trend and not a mirage? That's how 18 losses in a row in the MLB Playoffs becomes a reality. In three and four day spans of playing baseball after long and successful seasons. One at-bat at a time. Fueled by late season injuries and unexpected bullpen misfires. Therein lies the lesson of 0-18, for those brave enough to go there. Like when the Harry Potter squad realized that in saying Voldemort's name you took away some of his power, perhaps if Twins fans can name what happened perhaps we can neuter the streak. It's time to take the narrative out of the realm of myth and to break it down into real, live, human action and inaction on the baseball diamond. Here are the true stories that stuck out upon closer inspection., and are worthy of being named lest they be repeated. Prologue - Twins Postseason Losing Streaks Existed Before 2004 The Twins playoff losing streak actually begins before the collective memory of the event formed. The Twins' very first World Series trip ended in valiant defeat to the Dodgers in 1965. The years between that appearance and the Twins next playoff victory would span 22 years. Yes, even longer than their current winless streak. In that era of "only the two division winners make the playoffs," to make the dance at all was a rare gift, and the victories once you got on the dance floor were icing on the cake. The Twins got swept 0-3 by the Baltimore Orioles in both 1969 and 1970. That was the extent of their playoff opportunity until the magical run of 1987 came to pass. Again, after the ecstasy of 1987, the homer hankies stayed in the closet until 1991. The Twins were able to win the Central Division that year, and survived two playoff rounds to clinch their second miraculous World Series trophy in only four seasons. Here is where the narrative of 0-18 makes its first turn from reality. When a fanbase ignores the fact that two decades went by without a playoff victory, and leans into the belief that World Series victories happen all the time, disappointment lurks right around the corner. Indeed, the Twins would take another decade off from the playoffs completely, not seeing the lights of October again until 2002. It was here that they experienced the only time in history that the Minnesota Twins won a playoff series, but didn't reach the World Series. They managed to win the AL Central, and then overcame the 103-win Oakland A's to advance to the ALCS against the eventual World Series Champion Anaheim Angels. The Rally Monkeys won the series by dropping the opener, but winning the final four games of the series. More importantly for Twins fans, in 2002 the Twins started a decade of regular season success that would lead to ample opportunities for playoff games...and therefore playoff losses. 2003 saw the Twins reach the postseason again, and Johan Santana took down the Yankees in Game 1. The offense never scored more than one run in any of the remaining three games in the series, however, and the Twins exited the series after getting swept after winning the first game yet again. In summary, from 1965's World Series team to 2003's playoff effort, the Twins made the playoffs six times in 38 years. In the four years that they didn't win the World Series, they were bounced from the playoffs by losing three or four games in a row. The Formative Years - Without "Winning Streak Builders," Sweeps Happen Now that we've addressed the themes of the first 38 years of Twins postseason life, we can more fully understand what has transpired in the last 20 years: Nothing new, nothing unheard of, just more of the same. The Twins of the 2000-2010's maintained balanced clubs that made the playoffs more often than most, but they never could put together two aces and offensive consistency when October rolled around. 2004 - Lose to New York Yankees 3-1 in ALDS Again the Twins enjoy having the greatest Twins pitcher of recent decades, Johan Santana, and his ability to defeat the Yankees. Unfortunately, the trend of getting swept out of the series after winning game one continues. But how? Why? Does it all boil down to the fact that the Twins only had one starting pitcher worthy of winning a playoff game? Would you be surprised if I told you the answer for the past two decades was "Yes"? Looking more deeply into the 2004 series, Santana came back for Game 4 on only three days rest, and it almost worked. He held the Yankees to one run over five innings while running his pitch count up to 87. Juan Rincon's eighth inning was one to forget, unless you are Ruben Sierra, because Sierra's three-run homer capped the four-run rally and sent the game into extra innings. But games two and three were decided because the Twins didn't have a number two that had dominant "stuff" to throw at their playoff opponent. Without having winning streak builders up and down the rotation, losing streaks are inevitable. 2006 - Swept by Oakland A's 3-0 in ALDS Starting pitching did the Twins in yet again, with Santana taking the hard-luck loss in Game 1. An expired Frank Thomas still tasted good enough to clobber two solo shots, including the game winner in the ninth off of Jesse Crain. Boof Bonser got the call for Game 2, and Brad Radke couldn't make it to the fifth inning of Game 3. Once Santana didn't get his victory, the Twins felt the pain of Francisco Liriano's absence all the more acutely. When Liriano went down in August of his rookie campaign with elbow inflammation, he was unhittable. Cruising at 12-3 with a continuously shrinking 2.13 ERA, Liriano was going to be the second ace that got the Twins back into playoff success. He was going to be the losing streak-breaker or winning-streak builder that the Twins had missed having since 1991. The trend of Twins bats tightening up in playoff action also continued, with outputs of two, two, and three runs in each game. The first two games were in the dome, and the last game was in Oakland, so temperature can't be the excuse. The Twins averaged 4.9 runs per game in 2006, but couldn't find their groove against a talented A's staff. Combine a lack of a dominant number two starter, and a failure to string together quality at-bats against quality pitching, and you have a recipe for misery that the Twins have been trying to make taste gourmet for the past decade. 2008 - Defeated in Game 163 by the Chicago White Sox, 1-0 You might be checking your Twins playoff history coloring book and wondering why you don't have a 2008 page. I'm counting the time Jim Thome broke our hearts in Game 163 here because if we will allow it, it actually proves that 0-18 doesn't really exist! Back when one-game extensions of the regular season determined who would advance to the playoffs, the Twins found themselves knotted up with the Chicago White Sox. Nick Blackburn did his best to get the Twins into the dance, but Thome took him deep and the Twins offense could only muster two hits off of John Danks and crew. This time the offense again proved to be the Achilles heel, when Ken Griffey Jr. threw a missile to A.J. Pierzynski to catch Michael Cuddyer at the plate on a sacrifice fly attempt. You read that correctly. Griffey Jr. to Pierzynski. This 1-0 loss was a crushing way to end the season, but realistically the Twins didn't have the starting staff to manage playoff success anyways. Glen Perkins, Scott Baker, and Livan Hernandez were good to average, and weren't going to strike fear into opposing lineups. 2009 - Defeat the Detroit Tigers in Game 163, Swept by New York Yankees 3-0 in ALDS This is where, I would argue, that the 0-18 streak actually stopped at seven! That's because 2009 also featured a Game 163 tiebreaker, and the Twins won it in epic fashion against the Detroit Tigers at the Metrodome. As staff was actively trying to clean out the dome for the move to their new Target Field home in 2010, the Twins just kept playing baseball. By the time Twins Territory was told they would be "Ca-see-ya'd tomorrow night," the team and its fans had a glimpse of "post-season" victory. Legally, this game is considered an extension of the regular season. Emotionally, it felt like the Rally Monkey had finally been tossed off of our backs. We all know what happened next. A Joe Mauer double gets called foul, 54,735 fans say goodbye to the Metrodome with a loss. But what else was at play here? Again the starting staff was a middling mix with 4.50 or higher ERA's. The offense held there own in the regular season, but could again only muster an average of two runs per game in the playoffs. This series wasn't an outlier, and the Twins weren't robbed. It was the norm. 2010 - Swept by New York Yankees 3-0 in ALDS If we toss out Game 163 in 2009, the streak of losses just runs right through 2010 again. The Yankees again play the willing villains, and the injury gremlin gets a participation award. 2010 saw the launch of Target Field, a whole lot of success, and a horrible injury to Justin Morneau mid-season. He never recovered from his concussion, and the offense he was carrying never recovered either. The starting staff continued to be average at best, even with a mildly resurgent Liriano and a surprisingly able Carl Pavano leading the way. Jon Rauch and Matt Capps were the closers, so those who could see clearly knew that playoff success was going to be hard to find. Game 1 against the Yankees started out hopeful enough, with Michael Cuddyer launching a two-run shot in the second and Liriano catching lightning in a bottle through five scoreless innings. The bottle burst in the sixth, and four runs later the Twins had lost again. The offense went dormant in the final two games of the series, and the official playoff loss streak reached 12 games and counting. 2017 - Defeated in one-game Wild Card round by New York Yankees 8-4 New York Yankees, rinse and repeat. This time it was only a one game Wild Card playoff (a then-legal form of Game 163), but the result was the same. The offense started strong and went quiet. The pitching struggled mightily after Ervin Santana and Jose Berrios took turns giving up runs. It turns out that Miguel Sano wasn't the only injured Twin that was missing, as we later learned Santana was pitching injured as well. Again the Twins were left wondering what might have been after their season long heroes were unable to perform in playoff time. The Modern Era - When the Pieces Aren't in Place, the Results Repeat 2019 - Swept by New York Yankees 3-0 in ALDS This series was the last time a sellout crowd at Target Field got to try to will their favorite squad to victory. The first two games were at Yankee Stadium (the younger), and Game 1 started with a couple of bangs. Jorge Polanco homered in the first, and Nelson Cruz also hit a solo shot in the third. The Berrios start couldn't make it past four innings, and the Yankees put up crooked numbers on the Twins bullpen in the fifth, sixth, and seventh. The Twins offense, the vaunted Bomba Squad, had beaten the Yankees in the regular season for the home run record, but come playoff time it was the Yankees' ability to manufacture runs against the Twins' pitchers that led to three lopsided victories. Randy Dobnak was a great story, but he wasn't a number two starter. The Twins once again averaged just above two runs a game of offense. Rinse and repeat indeed. 2020 - Swept by Houston Astros 2-0 in AL Wild Card Round 2020 brought a global pandemic and an eerie shortened season of empty stadiums. The Twins survived the divisional race of attrition without fully regaining their Bomba identity. This was the season that the Twins thought the curse would be reversed, because they had two aces in Kenta Maeda and Jose Berrios and a more balanced offense that didn't rely solely on the home run to find victory. Maeda and Berrios were aces, but were both pulled after only five innings of work. Taylor Rogers, Sergio Romo, and Tyler Duffey didn't perform up to their regular season standards, and therefore the Astros scored late while the Twins stayed stuck in neutral. The Twins offense only generated a run in each game, and only seven hits total in the two-day sweep. Opportunity lost, and the streak rolls on. 2023 -? On paper, the Twins have two aces again in Pablo Lopez and Sonny Gray. The Twins offense, unfortunately, is more likely to get two runs or less per game than they are to break out crooked numbers against quality pitching. Can Lopez and Gray pitch shutout baseball into the seventh inning or later? That answer will determine whether or not the Twins can break the curse. History shows that five innings of quality pitching won't get the team to playoff victory lane, so now is not a time for quick hooks when things are going well. The Twins also will have the home field again for this best of three opening round. The problem being, of course, that if the Twins can't take Game 1 the curse narrative amplifies and Game 2 suddenly becomes a one-or-done scenario. You can hear the nerves tightening from here. In nine of the 12 best-of-three playoff series in 2020 and 2022 (2021 briefly went back to the one-game model), the series ended with a 2-0 sweep. The emotional realities of such a short series stand out in this statistic, and Game 1's importance becomes magnified. This is why the Twins traded the AL batting champion Luis Arraez for Lopez before the season. This is why the Twins have been filling their bullpen tank with gas late in the season. This is why the Twins have been nurturing along their lineup for optimal postseason health. Will the Twins break the streak and journey forward towards World Series glory like the legends of old? Or will Game 1 disappointment fuel the fires of the myth of 0-20? Do the Twins finally have the right kinds of pieces in place for playoff success, or is 2023 another prime example of a punchless offense not supporting a moderately decent rotation? Ready or not, it's time to find out how this story goes. View full article

It's pretty difficult to employ a player that wins the Most Valuable Player award. It might be more difficult to find one of the few aces capable of winning a Cy Young Award. The Minnesota Twins haven’t had a Rookie of the Year award winner in quite some time, but they could find a Comeback Player of the Year in 2023. Image courtesy of Rhona Wise-USA TODAY Sports Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau both won Most Valuable Player awards while wearing a Twins jersey. Johan Santana picked up a pair of Cy Young awards and should have grabbed a third. It hasn’t been since Marty Cordova that the franchise has had a Rookie of the Year award winner, but maybe Royce Lewis, Brooks Lee, or Edouard Julien could change those fortunes. This season though, Joey Gallo could pull a Francisco Liriano and win the Comeback Player of the Year. Back in 2006, Liriano was among the best pitchers in baseball. He posted a 2.16 ERA across 121 innings and generated an All-Star nod and nearly a Rookie of the Year award. He then blew out his arm and missed the entire 2007 season, returning for just 76 innings during the 2008 season. Liriano was clearly not himself in 2009 and his 136 2/3 innings that year equated to a gaudy 5.80 ERA. That’s when the comeback happened. In 2010, the Twins starter worked 31 games spanning nearly 200 innings. He posted a solid 3.62 ERA. He wasn’t untouchable, but the 2.66 FIP shares a story of an arm that was even better than his results indicated, and Minnesota looked at a glimpse of what they saw from their rookie phenom. When the dust settled, a yearly award was presented. For the first time since, Minnesota could be in line for another similar outcome. After a terrible year split between New York and Los Angeles, Joey Gallo signed with the Twins on an $11 million deal. Yes, a one-year deal hardly gives him longevity, but this is a guy who has destroyed vehicles with home run balls at Target Field. As much as he should have seen success through the short porch at Yankees Stadium, things simply didn’t work out. A lack of a shift might help Gallo to some extent, but given his ability to lift the baseball, there is plenty of reason for him to succeed at Target Field regardless of the positioning from defenders. Gallo is going to bring a Gold Glove caliber defensive ability, and that holds true both in the outfield and at first base. Given the uncertainty of Alex Kirilloff, the versatility from the former Rangers All-Star is massively valuable. Unfortunately, the Twins have already seen Gallo miss some time due to injury, but he has been a relative pillar of health over the course of his career. Always a hulking power prospect, Gallo has been well above league average offensively in four of the past five full seasons. His batting average is not anything to write home about, but his on-base prowess combined with the slugging potential is always something to behold. Playing both the outfield and first base for Rocco Baldelli’s Twins thus far, Gallo is off to a hot start. A multi-homer game is already something he has notched under his belt, and seven RBI through the same amount of games put him on pace to blow by his 2022 run producing numbers. Sometimes players aren’t meant to compete in a larger market, and there is no denying that New York was harsh with the Rangers transplant. He never settled in, and going to the Dodgers from there did no one any favors. Settling into a more agreeable market with Minnesota makes sense, and it appears that Twins hitting coach David Popkins has made his mark early. Maybe Joey Gallo won't be otherworldly this season, but his numbers could have him noteworthy enough to be recognized league wide. Trey Mancini captured an American League Comeback Player of the Year award after beating cancer, and Justin Verlander did it following Tommy John surgery. Maybe Gallo doesn’t have the same narrative or story, but settling back into who he was as a player would be a great development. View full article

First judge the rankings. Then let us know where the 2023 rotation should slot in. Image courtesy of © Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports With this year’s rotation looking promising and, so far, healthy, let’s rank the past 25 years of Twins rotations. Fangraphs WAR will feature prominently in the rankings, but contextual factors are considered, as well. I also included AL rankings. As a point of comparison, the number one team in fWAR for their rotation in a given year is usually around nineteen to twenty. For instance, the 2001 Diamondbacks with Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson had 19.6 fWAR; the 2022 Astros had 19.4. The 2023 Twins staff … well, let’s talk about them at the end. Let’s get started! 1. 2004- 15.9 fWAR (2nd): The top four starters all threw in 33 or more starts, with Johan Santana winning the Cy Young, Brad Radke posting the lowest ERA of his career, and Carlos Silva and Kyle Lohse contributing above-average seasons. In July, Radke, Santana, and Lohse pitched consecutive shutouts. This rotation had top-end talent, depth, and health. 2. 2020- 16.2 fWAR (2nd) (projected to 162 games): Kenta Maeda was a revelation, Rich Hill was decent, Jose Berrios and Michael Pineda were their usual selves and the team used openers and peak Randy Dobnak to post the third-best starting pitcher fWAR in baseball. Imagine if Jake Odorizzi had been available. I would rank them first but in a 60 game season, there isn’t much of a test of depth. 3. 2006- 12.5 fWAR (6th): Prior to Francisco Liriano getting hurt, this team had the best rotation of any listed here. But in addition to Liriano needing Tommy John, Radke famously couldn’t brush his teeth due to a total lack of rotator cuff and Boof Bonser ended up starting game two of the ALDS as a result. Johan Santana had perhaps his best year, it should be noted. 4. 2005- 15 fWAR (4th): Santana was electric again with 7.1 fWAR. Radke, Lohse and Silva were solid. Unfortunately, this team couldn’t hit and the team missed the playoffs despite ranking seventh in MLB in rotation fWAR. 5. 2019- 16.4 fWAR (4th): By fWAR, this is the best rotation on this list, led by excellent seasons from Berrios and Odorizzi. However, Martin Perez and Kyle Gibson fell apart down the stretch and Pineda was suspended, leading to Dobnak starting a playoff game. 6. 2010- 14.5 fWAR (5th): Liriano finally recaptured some of his old magic this year with 5.6 fWAR and Carl Pavano, Scott Baker and Kevin Slowey were pretty good wingmen. Another bat would have helped. 7. 2015- 13.5 fWAR (5th): Seven guys contributed over 1 fWAR in the team’s return to contention led by Gibson, while Mike Pelfrey had his best Twins year. Tyler Duffey almost pitched the team to the playoffs with a 3.10 ERA down the stretch. 8. 2002- 11.2 fWAR (9th): This staff had decent depth with five starters accumulating over 1.4 fWAR, but Radke only started 21 games due to injury. Johan Santana made his first contribution, ranking third among starters in fWAR despite only fourteen starts. 9. 2003- 12.2 fWAR (6th): Joe Mays fell off a cliff this year, but Kenny Rogers, Lohse and Radke were solid (combined 8.1 fWAR) and Johan Santana sealed his rotation status (finally), posting a strikeout percentage 9.8% better than any of his rotation-mates in 110.1 innings. 10. 2014- 11.7 fWAR (7th): This was the inexplicable and record-setting Phil Hughes year, as well as the first full Gibson year where he posted 2.7 fWAR. Ricky Nolasco was supposed to stabilize the rotation but instead started his decline phase in rapid fashion. 11. 2007- 11.7 fWAR (9th): Baker emerged for 2.7 fWAR in only 23 starts. Silva and Bonser were decent while prospects Matt Garza and Slowey showed promise. 12. 2001- 10.1 fWAR (8th): This was a wasted year of peak Radke and Milton (6.7 fWAR) along with Mays’ best year. Coming off a promising 2000 season, Mark Redman was traded while Rick Reed was acquired for twelve bad starts and Matt Lawton. 13. 2009- 10.7 fWAR (10th): Baker and Blackburn were solid, and Pavano was acquired for a playoff push and contributed 1.6 fWAR in twelve starts. Brian Duensing was the savior, throwing big games down the stretch with a 2.73 ERA. He was no match for the Yankees, however. 14. 2008- 11 fWAR (9th): Another good Baker year, Nick Blackburn was the best version of himself (1.9 fWAR) as was Slowey (2.6 fWAR). Livan Hernandez barely held it together. 15. 2011- 8.5 fWAR (13th): Baker and Pavano were decent but the rest of the staff was a mess. The offense was even worse with only 4.3 combined fWAR. 16. 2018- 8.8 fWAR (8th): Gibson reemerged with 2.6 fWAR and Berrios cemented his place at the top of the rotation. Odorizzi contributed 32 solid starts. If only the fully formed Texas/Chicago Lance Lynn were pitching and not the one with a thirteen percent walk rate. 17. 1998- 11.5 fWAR (8th): Radke followed up his twenty win season with 4.2 fWAR and Bob Tewksbury threw good enough slop to post a league-average year. Mike Morgan was excellent until he was flipped at the deadline. Eric Milton got his feet wet. 18. 2022- 8.2 fWAR (10th): The team addressed its issues from 2021 and acquired Sonny Gray, Chris Paddack, Chris Archer, Dylan Bundy and Tyler Mahle. Gray was pretty good. 19. 2000- 9.9 fWAR (10th): Redman gave the team 24 solid starts, Radke and Milton held serve, and Sean Bergman made his (impressively bad) mark. 20. 1999- 10 fWAR (11th): Radke and Milton were solid again (combined 7.3 fWAR), Joe Mays contributed twenty decent starts, and this was, mercifully, the last year of the LaTroy Hawkins starter experience. 21. 2017- 7.1 fWAR (11th): Berrios emerged as a solid number two starter and Ervin Santana was good again. This was the Bartolo Colon year, and that speaks to the lack of talent. The wild-card loss to the Yankees also was an indicator. 22. 2013- 5.5 fWAR (Last): Mike Pelfrey and Kevin Correia were newcomers and as advertised, combining for 3.8 fWAR in 338 innings. This was the era of peak Sam Deduno, as well as the horrifying Vance Worley experiment. 23. 2021- 5 fWAR (14th): This is the year the team realized Griffin Jax was best suited for the bullpen. Except they had no other options and threw him out there for fourteen brutal starts. Berrios was traded, while Maeda and Pineda broke down physically. At least there was Bailey Ober. 24. 2016- 7.6 fWAR (13th): The year everything went wrong. Nolasco, Gibson, Duffey, Hughes, Tommy Millone, newcomer Berrios and Hector Santiago were all nearly unplayable and all had ten or more starts. Ervin Santana was good. 25. 2012- 3.4 fWAR (Last): This was as low as a starting staff can go, and it could have been even worse if Scott Diamond hadn’t come out of nowhere to post 2.4 fWAR in 27 starts. Cole DeVries, P.J. Walters, and Jason Marquis featured prominently. The 2023 rotation is projected for 11.9 fWAR, if you were wondering. None of these staffs had the depth this year’s crew figures to have, but the Radke and Santana-led rotations were stronger at the top. Where would you rank the 2023 rotation? View full article

A.J. Pierzynski has not been a Minnesota Twins player in 20 years, but the team he was drafted by is still reaping the rewards of his return thanks to a favorable trade lineage the Twins have had in that time frame. Image courtesy of Bruce Kluckhohn, USA Today Sports A.J. Pierzynski is a complicated player in Twins' history. He played a big part in keeping the Twins here and was an all-star catcher on the 2002 team that won the division and beat the Moneyball Oakland A’s. Over the course of his six seasons as a Twin, he spent half that time as the starting catcher, hitting .301 with 26 home runs and 193 runs batted in. Pierzynski’s promise to continue as an all-star catcher was there going into the 2003-2004 offseason, but the Twins had a local kid named Joe Mauer, that had much more to offer for the team’s future. On November 14, 2003, the Twins took into favor the promise of Mauer and shipped Pierzynski to the San Francisco Giants for Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano, and Boof Bonser. Pierzynski had a one-and-done year with the Giants and signed with the White Sox the next off-season. The Twins, however, are still reaping the benefits of acquiring these three pitchers as their acquisition of Liriano brought forth the opportunity to bring Jhoan Duran into the Twins organization. Nathan needs no reminder of his impact on the Twins. Not only did he become the best closer in franchise history but also one of baseball's best relievers of the 2000s. Bonser was a cult hero with the Twins as a rookie in 2006 making 18 starts and finding success at home in the Metrodome. The success of his rookie year was short-lived as it never carried over into the next two seasons. Bonser spent 2007 as the Twins fifth starter and split time between the rotation and bullpen in 2008. Following an injury that kept him out all of the 2009 season. The Twins flipped Bonser to the Red Sox for minor-leaguer Chris Province who was out of baseball after one year between Double-A and Triple-A. Then there is Liriano, the key figure of this trade and the leg of the trade that lives on today. Liriano was a staple to the Twins' rotation until the 2012 trade deadline. While he was struggling to be consistent at that time after his 2006 Tommy John surgery, the White Sox still called the Twins, seeing value in the lefty. In return for Liriano, the Twins received LHP Pedro Hernandez and infielder Eduardo Escobar. Hernandez was around for the 2013 season with the Twins making 14 forgettable starts and accounting for a 6.83 ERA on the season. He went 8-3 over 16 starts for the Saints in 2015. Escobar didn’t immediately become the player that most Twins fans remember him. Once he became an everyday player for the Twins in 2014, that’s when fans began to notice him as a utility infielder that could certainly help this team flourish. Escobar’s time as a Twin was most memorable in the 2017 Wild Card season when he hit 21 home runs, drove in 73 runs, and posted a career-high (at the time) with a .758 OPS. As Escobar built off his success in 2017 the next year, the Twins were not able to do so as a team seeing themselves as sellers during the 2018 trade deadline. On July 27, 2018, the Twins traded Escobar to the Arizona Diamondbacks and in return received a couple of outfield prospects and a pitcher named Duran. Jhoan. Duran. While Jhoan Duran worked his way through the minors as a starting pitcher. In 2022, Twins fans came to know Duran as their best rookie and best reliever. His time with the Twins looks to be certain until he is eligible for free agency in 2028. A lot can still happen between now and then though. There is a possibility the Twins continue growing branches of this trade history lineage tree, in hopes a player of Duran, Escobar, Liriano, or Nathan’s caliber is received in return. View full article

Jhoan Duran has put himself on the map during his rookie season with a seemingly unhittable repertoire of pitches. Where does his best pitch rank among the top pitches in Twins' history? Baseball continues to evolve as technology and training regimens allow players to reach levels never previously imagined. Pitchers can put an unprecedented spin on their offerings while reaching higher velocity levels. Here are some of the most dominant pitches in team history. Jhoan Duran's Splinker Earlier this week, Jhoan Duran became the first player in MLB history to throw an off-speed pitch over 100 mph. Boston's Xander Bogaert's left the batter's box after being utterly baffled by what he had just seen from Duran. His triple-digit fastball helps to set up his dominant off-speed offering. In his rookie season, Duran has posted an 11.6 K/9 while limiting walks (2.1 BB/9) and compiling a 201 ERA+. It's hard to fathom where the 2022 Twins would be without Duran. He is in his first year transitioning to a relief pitcher and has been the team's most reliable bullpen option for most of the season. Johan Santana's Changeup Johan Santana learned his dominant changeup after joining the Twins organization and used the pitch to become one of baseball's most dominant pitchers. He won two Cy Young Awards and should have earned a third if the voters did value wins in 2004. From 2004-2006, he led the AL in strikeouts, WHIP, K/9, ERA+, and FIP. An argument can be made that Santana deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, but injuries shortened his career. Francisco Liriano's Slider Johan Santana won the 2006 AL Cy Young, but he wasn't even the best pitcher in the Twins rotation in the season's first half. Francisco Liriano started the year in Minnesota's bullpen and eventually entered the rotation. In 28 appearances, he posted a 2.16 ERA with a 1.00 WHIP and 144 strikeouts across 121 innings. It seemed like the Twins would have a dominant one-two punch for the playoffs, but Liriano's elbow didn't hold up. Tommy John surgery forced him to the sideline until 2008, and he never reached his previous level of dominance. Bert Blyleven's Curveball One of the first dominant pitches in franchise history was Bert Blyleven's curveball. As a 19-year-old, he burst onto the scene and played part of 11 seasons in a Twins uniform, including the 1987 World Series squad. Blyleven played in an era when strikeouts were not as prominent, but his longevity allowed him to compile 3,701 strikeouts for his career. Even if it's hard to compare Blyleven's curveball to some of the pitches mentioned above, he used this pitch to orchestrate a Hall of Fame career. There are many ways one can attempt to rank these pitches, from overpowering to strikeout totals. Santana gets the top spot because he dominated baseball for multiple seasons, with his changeup being a strikeout weapon. Duran's splinker is nearly impossible to hit, especially considering its velocity and movement. When it comes to Liriano, he had a chance to top this list if his peak had lasted more than a partial season. Blyleven's curveball was a good pitch, but even he tended to leave one over the plate. Pitch Ranking 1. Santana's Change-Up 2. Duran's Splinker 3. Liriano's Slider 4. Blyleven's Curveball How would you rank the pitches listed above? Would you add anyone else to the list? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. View full article

Royce Lewis has once again torn his ACL and will be shut down for the remainder of the 2022 season. The Twins are no strangers to a history of superstar players taking major injuries just as it is their turn to shine. Here is a look back at some of those cases for the Twins in recent memory. The Twins are no strangers to having rookies on the verge of becoming superstar players go down for a long stretch of the season due to injury. The latest of this collective is Twins top prospect Royce Lewis. Today it was announced by manager Rocco Baldelli that Lewis has a partial tear to the same ACL he injured in February of 2021. The surgery will keep Lewis out until the middle of next season at the earliest. With the news of Lewis out for another year, Twins Daily will take a look back at lauded Twins rookies that have had career set back by major injuries. Here are three other former Twins superstars that found themselves in the same boat as Lewis has today. Joe Mauer, 2004 Left Medial Meniscus Joe Mauer was no stranger to IL stints throughout his career. Most famously Mauer landed his first stint on the IL during his second game as he tore the left medial meniscus in his knee which forced him out until June of 2004. Mauer returned only for a month with the Twins until the knee injury forced him out for the season. This would only be the beginning of many knee injuries that would set back Mauer throughout his career. But the injury did not keep Mauer from becoming one of the best catchers in his generation that set him on a hall of fame trajectory. Twins fans do not need much of a reminder on where Mauer's career went following this injury. He still lived up to the potential of his career and did not start to experience decline in his performance until 2014 during his age 31 season and full-time move to first base. Francisco Liriano, 2006 Tommy John Talk about an extensive injury that kept a player out longer than expected. Francisco Liriano looked to be the second coming of Johan Santana during his 2006 rookie campaign, posting a 2.16 ERA in 16 starts. But he strained his ulnar collateral ligament midyear, ultimately underwent Tommy John surgery and was on the shelf until 2008. Today, pitchers receiving their first Tommy John Surgery usually recover quicker than Liriano did at the time, but it still kept a promising future star for the Twins rotation on the shelf for a year and a half, and Liriano never turned into the next Santana. Liriano still had a few solid seasons with the Twins in 2008 and 2010, and rebounded with more success later with the Pittsburgh Pirates from 2013-15. Even with later success, Liriano never met his full potential after that first Tommy John surgery. Jason Kubel, 2004 Knee Injury Jason Kubel had a delay to the start of his MLB career just like Royce Lewis. After appearing in 23 games with the Twins in 2004, Kubel found himself in the Arizona Fall League playing every day. That was until he suffered a knee injury that caused him to miss all of the 2005 season. The injury set back Kubel's chances to play for the Twins full time until 2006 when he found himself as a backup outfielder to Torii Hunter, Michael Cuddyer, and Lew Ford. Then in 2007, Kubel finally had his breakout season with the Twins as an everyday outfielder hitting 20 home runs, driving in 72 runs, hitting .272 with a .785 OPS. Kubel's best years were only ahead of him with the Twins following the 2005 injury. Kubel was arguably the most crucial bat in the Twins lineup behind Mauer and Morneau from 2008-2011. He hit an average of 20 home runs, 83 RBI, a .340 on-base percentage, and .810 OPS over that time span. Kubel's knee injury that kept him out all of 2005 still could have dented a lot of potential he had for the Twins over the years. Commonalities Even with these injuries dealt to such great players, Mauer, Kubel, and Liriano all found success in the latter half of their careers to some degree. Does this mean the second ACL tear to Lewis could set him back even further with his potential like it did for those who came before him? It’s too early to tell. Lewis just turned 23 last Sunday but will likely be 24 by the time he returns from this injury. Both Mauer and Liriano were younger than Lewis was during the time of their injuries in their career and still turned into all-star level players after those injuries. For now, Twins fans can still hope for a great season even without their top prospect playing until next year. View full article

Joe Ryan just finished a fantastic month of April, where he ranks near the top of the AL in multiple pitching categories. Where does his first month rank against other terrific starts in Twins history? April can be challenging for batters and pitchers with cold weather and other adverse conditions. These pitchers posted impressive numbers even if those numbers didn't translate to the rest of the season. Here are the top-4 Aprils for starting pitchers in Twins history. 4. Bill Krueger (1992): 4 GS, 32.0 IP, 0.84 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, 16 K, 4 BB, 0.99 WPA Bill Krueger is probably a very unfamiliar name to younger Twins fans, but he got off to a tremendous start to the 1992 season. Minnesota was coming off a World Series title, and they wanted to start the season on the right foot. During his first four starts, batters hit .165/.195/.220 (.415) against him as he pounded the strike zone. He picked up the win in all four appearances, but his fifth win didn't come until May 24. He'd pitch closer to his career totals over the next few months, and in August, the Twins traded him to the Montreal Expos for outfielder Darren Reed. 3. Francisco Liriano (2010): 4 GS, 29.0 IP, 0.93 ERA, 0.97 WHP, 27 K, 10 BB, 1.02 WPA The 2010 season was a special time in Minnesota as Target Field opened, and the Twins played to packed home crowds that entire season. Liriano got out of the gate quickly as he averaged more than seven innings per start that month and his three earned runs all came in his first start. He collected over 200 strikeouts by season's end while leading the AL in HR/9. After the calendar turned to May, his ERA quickly started going in the wrong direction, but he pitched close to 200 innings and helped the Twins win the AL Central title. 2. Joe Ryan (2022): 4 GS, 23.0 IP, 1.17 ERA, 0.70 WHIP, 25 K, 6 BB, 0.92 WPA Starting pitching continues to evolve, and Ryan is one of the biggest success stories of the current regime. His 0.6 fWAR ranks in the top-20 among all starters, and he leads all of baseball in H/9. All of the runs scored against him have come off two home runs in his first two outings. He's also showing he can rely less on his fastball as he used it over 65% of the time last season, and he is down to 52% in 2022. It's doubtful for Ryan to keep these numbers for an entire season, but his performance level is far above what one would expect from a rookie. 1. Ervin Santana (2017): 5 GS, 35.0 IP, 0.77 ERA, 0.65 WHIP, 26 K, 10 BB, 1.44 WPA Santana's tenure with the Twins didn't end ideally, so fans may forget how dominant he was at the beginning of the 2017 season. He averaged seven innings per start and pitched a complete game shutout in his third appearance of the year. Even though this is only five seasons ago, it seems like a lifetime when looking at Santana averaging 100 pitches per start. Later in the season, he was named to his second and final All-Star team. He led all baseball with five complete games and three shutouts, and he finished seventh in the AL Cy Young voting. How would you rank these players' April performances? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. View full article

Nick Nelson and John Bonnes explore the most memorable moments of the 2005 season: Johan Santana unfairly losing the Cy Young to Bartolo Colon, Kyle Lohse infamously taking a baseball bat to manager Ron Gardenhire's door, Carlos Silva's minimalist complete game, and more. View full video

There are times when expectations need to be tempered, and there are times when players more than live up to the hype. Here’s a look back at the top-5 prospects in Twins history. Baseball America became the first place to rank prospects on a national level in 1990. Since that time, other national outlets like Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com have also grown in popularity. The top-5 prospects in Twins history were all considered among baseball's top-10 prospects at some point in their professional careers. 5. Francisco Liriano Top-100 Peak: 6 Liriano came to the Twins in one most lopsided trade in franchise history. He was a top-100 prospect entering the 2003 season, but his 2005 minor league campaign put him on the prospect map. As a 21-year-old, he posted a 2.63 ERA and 1.05 WHIP with 11 SO/9 at Double- and Triple-A. He was electric at the beginning of his career as he was an All-Star in 2006. Unfortunately, his elbow gave out, and he missed the end of 2006 and all of 2007. Some have argued the 2006 Twins had a chance to win the World Series with Johan Santana and Liriano at the top of the rotation. 4. Royce Lewis Top-100 Peak: 5 Expectations are high for any player taken with the first overall pick. After a .788 OPS in his pro debut, Lewis was a consensus top-30 prospect. His 2018 performance moved him even higher as he posted an .803 OPS at Low- and High-A. Unfortunately, Lewis struggled through parts of the 2019 season, and he hasn’t played a professional game since that year. A knee injury took away his 2021 season on the heels of the pandemic canceling the 2020 campaign. His stock has dropped this winter as many evaluators have moved him off top-100 lists. Now, he will have plenty to prove when the lockout finally ends. 3. Miguel Sano Top-100 Peak: 4 Sano may or may not have lived up to his expectations, but he was clearly among the best prospects in Twins history. He appeared on national top-100 lists for five consecutive offseasons, and multiple lists included him as a top-15 prospect for consecutive seasons. Sano was an easy prospect to be intrigued by with light-tower power and a .932 OPS throughout his minor league career. His big-league career has had ups and downs, but the power he showcased as a prospect has been his greatest tool. He has the 12th most home runs in franchise history, and seven home runs this season will move him into the top-10. His .491 slugging percentage only ranks behind Harmon Killebrew in team history. 2. Byron Buxton Top-100 Peak: 1 Buxton‘s five-tool talent was evident early on in his professional career. All three national prospect rankings ranked him number one entering the 2014 season. Over the remainder of his minor league career, some ranking dropped him to second behind Chicago’s Kris Bryant. However, there were some tremendous prospects in the minors simultaneously as Buxton, including Carlos Correa, Francisco Lindor, Corey Seager, and Lucas Giolito. Many of these players scored big contracts over the last couple of offseasons. Thankfully, Minnesota was able to work out a deal to keep Buxton in a Twins uniform for the prime of his career. 1. Joe Mauer Top-100 Peak: 1 Minnesota selected Mauer as the number one overall pick in 2001, so plenty viewed him as one of baseball’s best prospects. Baseball America immediately included him in baseball’s top-10 prospects as he ranked seventh entering the 2002 campaign. He ranked as baseball’s top prospect in two consecutive off-seasons. He’s the only player in Twins history to accomplish this feat. Mauer went on to a tremendous career as he is considered one of the best players in Twins history. Do you feel like these are the best prospects in Twins history? Leave a COMMENT and start the discussion. PREVIOUS POST IN THE SERIES — Prospects 6-10 MORE FROM TWINS DAILY — Latest Twins coverage from our writers — Recent Twins discussion in our forums — Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email View full article

Francisco Liriano announced his retirement from Major League Baseball today. After 14 years, 419 games, and over 1,800 innings, he’s calling it quits. As a Minnesota Twins fan, though, it’s worth wondering what could have been thinking back to 2006. Having made his Major League Debut in 2005, Liriano had just 23 2/3 innings under his belt coming into the 2006 season. Ron Gardenhire put Liriano on his Opening Day roster, but the talented lefty was set to begin out of the bullpen. He made his season debut in the second game, throwing two innings of relief against the Toronto Blue Jays. Minnesota won that game 13-4, and Liriano tallied his first three strikeouts of the season. From there, Gardenhire used Liriano mainly for late-inning work. Across 12 games, Liriano pitched 22 1/3 innings of relief work, compiling a 3.22 ERA and impressive 32/4 K/BB mark. Of the eight earned runs given up, five came in a three-inning clunker against the Detroit Tigers. Minnesota lost that game 18-1, and it was the lone stain on Liriano’s relief work. Then the switch happened. On May 19, 2006, Francisco Liriano took the ball to start for the Twins against the Milwaukee Brewers. He didn’t relieve a game again the rest of the way. Against the Brewers, Liriano went five strong innings giving up just one run on two hits while striking out five. A few turns later, this time against the Pittsburgh Pirates on June 16, 2006, Liriano punched out double-digit batters for the first time in his career. Notching 11 strikeouts against the Buccos, Liriano improved to 6-1 on the season, and his ERA sat at just 2.16. Facing the Brewers again on July 2, 2016, Liriano set a new career-high in strikeouts with 12. Throwing eight shutout innings, Liriano pushed his ERA down to 1.99. After a couple more wins, Liriano then put a bow on his early work with a 10 and 12 strikeout performance against Cleveland and Detroit, respectively. Then things changed. Making a start against the Tigers on August 7, 2006, Liriano threw just 67 pitches while allowing four runs on ten hits before being lifted. He was scratched the start prior with forearm inflammation and then lifted against Detroit with what was called a left elbow injury. After an MRI revealed only inflammation on July 31, Liriano was set for another one and told reporters he was more scared this time, saying, “it bothered me. It’s getting worse you know.” Liriano returned for a start on September 13, 2006, but lasted just 27 pitches before his season was over. He had suggested hearing a pop in his elbow. The 1st place Minnesota Twins would be without one of their top arms, ultimately falling to the Oakland Athletics in the American League Division Series. Discussing the MRI’s Liriano had undergone, Twins General Manager Terry Ryan said, "The MRI came back exactly the same as the previous one. He has a ligament strain, but there is no structural damage. That's the good news.” On September 15, 2006, surgery was not the planned course of action. Fast forward less than a month, and on November 6, 2006, Francisco Liriano underwent Tommy John surgery. Working on getting back from his procedure, Liriano returned to the mound for Minnesota on April 13, 2008. It was his first start in more than a year, and the rust showed. He allowed four runs on six hits and didn’t make it through the 5th inning. Throwing his fastball at just 91.9 mph, he’d lost nearly 3 mph off the 94.7 mph he averaged in 2006. The All-Star and third place Rookie of the Year finisher didn’t look the same and ultimately never would. Those 121 innings from a 22-year-old Liriano in 2006 were among the highlights of the Minnesota Twins during the 2000s. Paired with Johan Santana, Ron Gardenhire appeared to have a duo of lefties that could mow down even the best opposing offenses. Playing 12 more seasons and putting up a 4.28 ERA is hardly something to scoff at, but there’s no denying that this is a talent you have to wonder what could have been. Liriano doesn’t have a shot at the Hall of Fame, but maybe he would have. Perhaps the Twins wouldn’t have flipped him for Eduardo Escobar in 2012. His career was solid but ultimately defined by a “what if?” Outside of Liriano as a player on his own, it's worth wondering how the 2006 Minnesota Twins season would've ended had he been a healthy part of the Postseason rotation. The Twins were ultimately swept by a good Oakland Athletics team, but they had to start Boof Bonser in game 2 and turned to Brad Radke in game 3. The Twins came in with home field advantage and have not won a Postseason game dating back to 2004. Just another part of the what could've been story. Do you remember back to that first season of Francisco Liriano? What did you think the Twins had in him? What are some of your favorite memories? View full article

After 1,813 2/3 innings and more than 13 seasons at the Major League Level, Fansided reports that Francisco Liriano is hanging it up. Let's reflect on the career that was for the former Twins southpaw in a player retrospective. Francisco Liriano was signed as an international free agent in 2000 by the San Francisco Giants before being sent to the Twins in the A.J. Pierzynski trade following the 2003 season. At the time, Liriano was the 83rd ranked prospect in baseball, per Baseball America via Baseball Cube, and was the headliner in a trade that also netted the Twins Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser. Liriano would spend the majority of the next two seasons dominating at AA-New Brighton and AAA-Rochester before exploding onto the scene in 2006. Liriano started the season with the Twins as a reliever where he was quite effective posting a 3.22 ERA and a 32:4 K:BB over 22 1/3 innings pitched. On May 15th, the Twins decided to move struggling right-hander Carlos Silva to the bullpen and promote Liriano to the starting rotation where he went on to make 15 dominant starts with a 1.96 ERA/2.85 FIP, 3.9 K/BB ratio, and held opponents to a .238 wOBA. This stretch included being selected for the All-Star Game and bookended with back-to-back starts of double-digit strikeouts against Cleveland on July 23rd and the Detroit Tigers five days later. Ultimately, and stop me if you’ve heard this before, Liriano was shut down due to a strained ligament in his throwing arm after his start on August 7th. He needed Tommy John surgery after lasting just two innings against Oakland on September 13th. Despite starting the season in the bullpen and losing the last two months of the season to injury, the Twins rookie phenom affectionately dubbed “The Franchise” finished third in Rookie of the Year voting. It was 578 days between Major League starts for Liriano. He lasted just three starts before being sent to AAA-Rochester until August of 2008. He showed flashes of his old self in the last two months of the season, but it was clear he wasn’t the same pitcher from 2006. In fact, it wasn't until the 2010 season when the Twins got consistent, effective production from the former budding star. He even received Cy Young Award votes, but alas, that season ended up being a one-off. Aside from a (messy) no-hitter on May 3rd, 2011, the lefty struggled over the next 48 starts leading to him being dealt to division rival Chicago White Sox at the 2012 trade deadline for star-to-be Eduardo Escobar (thanks again, A.J.) and LHP Pedro Hernandez. His tenure with the White Sox lasted just two months and he spent the next three-and-a-half years with the Pittsburgh Pirates where he enjoyed a bit of a resurgence making 86 starts from 2013 to 2015 and posting a 3.26 ERA/3.23 FIP and a 9.6 K/9 but struggled with control walking 3.8 batters per nine innings. These control issues only got worse in 2016 which led to him being dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays at the trade deadline and then again a year later from the Blue Jays to the Houston Astros. He spent 2017 with the Detroit Tigers making 26 starts but with a decreasing fastball velocity and K/9 coupled with an increasing BB/9, ERA, and FIP, it was clear that his run as an effective starter was over at 34 years old. Back in Pittsburgh for the juiced 2019 season, he had a bit of a renaissance as a reliever where he made 69 appearances with a respectable 8.10 K/9 and 3.47 ERA/4.14 FIP. He signed a one-year deal with Philadelphia in 2020 before being released ahead of the start of the season and then, in 2021, a minor-league deal with Toronto before being released ahead of that season. In his 13 roller coaster seasons, Francisco Liriano made 300 starts and 119 relief appearances. As a starter, he ended with a 4.16 ERA/3.88 FIP, striking out 1,682 batters, while as a reliever he had a 4.08 ERA/3.94 FIP and sitting down 133 hitters. He’s the ultimate “What Could Have Been?” story, but gave Twins fans one of the best 15 game stretches in franchise history. So with that in the forefront, let’s wish Francisco Liriano a happy and healthy retirement from Twins Territory by leaving your favorite story or memory in the comment section. View full article

It feels like it may be time to shake things up with this Minnesota Twins roster. One way to accomplish that would be by making a challenge trade, swapping big league pieces for big league pieces. It’s a risky endeavor. Let’s take a look back at some of these deals. There are quite a few of these challenge trades in fairly recent Twins history, but this current Twins front office really hasn’t explored this avenue. The Kenta Maeda deal was close, but Brusdar Graterol only had 10 big league appearances to his credit. He was still a prospect. Possibly the LaMonte Wade Jr. trade qualifies as a minor challenge trade, as he had 113 plate appearances and Shaun Anderson had 46 career games pitched at the time of the swap. Considering how that one went, maybe it’s good there haven’t been more challenge trades of late … These deals are risky, but when a team has a surplus or is motivated to make room at the MLB level for a younger player they can make sense. With Josh Donaldson, Jorge Polanco and Luis Arraez already in the third base/second base equation and Jose Miranda waiting in the wings, this current Twins roster could be ripe for a challenge trade. There’s another possible option but I don’t want to ruin your day quite yet. Let’s take a look back at some of these types of deals from past Twins seasons. All of the trades below were completed during the offseason and included established MLB regulars on both sides of the deal. Nov. 14, 2003: A.J. Pierzynski traded to the San Francisco Giants for Joe Nathan, Francisco Liriano and Boof Bonser We’re starting out this list on a high note. One of the ironic elements to this deal is part of its motivation backfired to a degree. In moving AJ Pierzynski, the Twins were making room behind the plate for 20-year-old Joe Mauer. He ended up playing just 35 games in 2004 due to injuries and Henry Blanco ended up as the primary catcher. The Twins still won 92 games that year in part due to Joe Nathan saving 44 games. He had 128 MLB games to his credit at the time of this deal. We’re focusing on the MLB pieces, but I’d say the prospect side of this package also worked out pretty darn nicely for the Twins. Dec. 3, 2003: Eric Milton traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Carlos Silva, Nick Punto and Bobby Korecky Milton was only a year away from free agency and Carlos Silva had pitched 130 games for the Phillies. Though he only had one career start prior to the trade, Silva was actually a better rotation piece than Milton right out the gate. I’d say that worked out pretty well. Toss in Punto, who also had some MLB experience at the time of the trade (though only 111 plate appearances) and this one was also a success. Kinda nuts that after back-to-back division championships the Twins made these two big trades and took the central again in ‘04. Nov. 28, 2007: Jason Bartlett, Matt Garza and Eddie Morlan to the Tampa Bay Rays for Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and Jason Pridie This was a pretty crazy trade under new GM Bill Smith. A starting shortstop and budding rotation piece for the former No. 1 overall pick and reigning runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting. Plus Brendan Harris and all of his Brendon Harris-ness! This was an incredible trade … for the Rays. They went from 96 losses to 97 wins and a World Series appearance. Delmon had a great 2010 season with the Twins but was dealt away the next year after fizzling out. Nov. 6, 2009: Carlos Gomez traded to the Milwaukee Brewers for J.J. Hardy Gomez went from centerpiece of the Johan Santana deal to trade bait in just two seasons. If you thought that tenure was short, Hardy only lasted one season in Minnesota before being dealt to Baltimore. Both players found much more success with their new orgs than they had in Minnesota. Man, the Twins made a lot of trades back during this time. Dec. 6, 2012: Ben Revere traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Vance Worley and Trevor May Terry Ryan was back in the GM role and cleared room for another former first-round pick. The Twins traded both Revere and Denard Span that offseason to open the door for Aaron Hicks in center field. Worley made 46 starts for the Phillies prior to the trade. His Twins tenure was, uh, less impressive. May ended up developing into a nice bullpen piece, of course, but Hicks struggled to take advantage of his opportunity. Speaking of which ... Nov. 11, 2015: Aaron Hicks traded to the New York Yankees for John Ryan Murphy The hope was Murphy would be the long-term solution behind the plate. He was not. I guess I don’t really remember the motivation to move Hicks. Byron Buxton missed most of the previous season and started the year in Double-A, so it was a bit premature to make room for him. The Twins opened the season with Jordan Schafer and Shane Robinson platooning in center. Ugh. Looking back, it’s kinda funny how many of these deals revolved around the center field position. I know most Twins fans don’t want to think about this, but it’s time to ruin your day. There’s a possibility of a Buxton challenge trade this winter. We all know it, but most of us don’t want to acknowledge it. I’m on team Pay Byron, but if they don’t extend him … who knows? What do you think? Should the Twins try to pull off a challenge trade this offseason? View full article