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Blogs

Which young player should we be the most optimistic about going forward?

Willi Castro might be more Familiar than you Think

The Minnesota Twins recently signed Willi Castro to a minor league contract. He will not be the opening day shortstop, he likely won’t make the team, and in a perfect world, he probably never sees the Big Leagues in 2023. Having experienced a very not perfect 2022, Castro provides depth in several positions and has some intriguing skills worth noting. While digging, I found some interesting things about Castro that I would like to share and found him a more familiar player than I initially thoug
Brewed in the Trough

The value of the Twins moving up in the draft

This blog is written under the assumption that MLB teams with a robust amateur scouting system working hand-in-hand with a competent player development system will draft players better than a random guess or Keith Law's prospect rankings. You have been warned. In the first year of the MLB Draft Lottery, your Minnesota Twins were the greatest beneficiaries of the new system, moving from Pick 13 to Pick 5. Although draft order in MLB does not matter nearly as much as in other major sports, ev
Home & Away

On interleague play and interstate realities...

2023 marks a distinct revolution in MLB scheduling.  For the first time, the Minnesota Twins will play every MLB team during the regular season. In the ever evolving nature of sport, some changes can fly under the radar.  This scheduling change will impact the entire league in both extreme and subtle ways, and I'm not sure the Twins will be on the winning end of any of them.  Here are a few of the main changes that I'm noticing as I plan the All 81 trip. 1.  In-Division games are reduc
Hansblog

Fun with Player Comps- Center Field Edition

In "Fun with Player Comps" I look at player comps for 30 current Twins who figure to ply a role in 2023, starting with their closest age player from Baseball-Reference.com prior to 2022. I then move into the best and worst case scenarios based on each player's general vibe. Find the first installment for the middle infield here.   The Twins center-field options will include at least one new face for 2023 in Joey Gallo. The rest of the group contains the same warts: When Byron Buxton ge
Adam Friedman

4 Breakout Candidates for the Twins in 2023

For the Twins to get back into the playoffs in 2023, they will need a host of elements to go well. Not only will the Twins require significantly better health in 2023 — they will also need some players to make leaps in the new year. Whether it’s younger established players or prospects, the Twins need big improvements from some young players to be a successful team. I’ve put together a list of players I think can take those steps to be impact players in 2023. Joe Ryan Since the Twins a
Fantasy GM

3 Moves still available for the Twins this off season

This is all of course predicated on Correa staying in New York. Also a couple of these moves are related to each other. #1 Trading redundant players. Not breaking any news here. Kepler and even Arraez have both been mentioned as trade candidates. Especially after the Joey Gallo signing. Yes the Twins could very easily keep Kepler and go with an OF of Kepler, Buxton, Gallo. AND if they feel Kepler will have a strong season with the shift rules changes, then the best move is to keep him and p
Brewed in the Trough

The threshold didn't even need to be Sonny Gray

At the beginning of the offseason, Nick Nelson laid out the concept of the Sonny Gray Threshold™, the idea that the Twins need to sign a pitcher better than Sonny Gray to make a worthwhile difference on next year's team, moving everyone in the rotation down a peg. I'm of the opinion that the threshold could be considerably lower than Sonny Gray, but the Twins have yet to even do that. Mind you, if you just read that last sentence and, in your head, it said "I don't want the Twins to sign a
Alex Boxwell

My Way, The Highway, and Breakfast.

Anyone that’s been around baseball recently has heard some variation of “Old School” vs. “New School” baseball. It’s like asking someone to pick between bacon or sausage. Both are good, and you can like one more than the other, but you don’t have to hate someone or the meat over it. Makes no sense. The difference is people identify baseball as a part of who they are and baseball isn’t high in cholesterol. The “old” vs. the “new” is an incredibly broad generalization that has split baseball
Hansblog

Fun with Player Comps- Middle Infield Edition

Since no one has any idea what’s going to happen for the rest of the offseason (Emilio Pagán traded to the Mets and then extended for four years 36M?) I thought it would be fun to try out some player comps for 2023. I’m going to go through 30 players who are on the team and figure to, if not make the team in spring, at least figure into their plans in the first half. We’ll start with their closest age player comp from Baseball-Reference for their 2022 season just to put some sort of foundation t
Adam Neisen

What can we expect from Kenta Maeda?

Maeda was acquired in early 2020 in the three team trade that sent Brusdar Graterol to the Dodgers, He had a career year in 2020, posting his lowest ERA and FIP and his highest ERA+ and K/9 which led to a second place finish in the cy young voting.  For the first time since Johan Santana, it looked like the Twins had found their ace.  In 2021 however, Maeda was not quite the same. His ERA and WHIP jumped significantly and in September he underwent Tommy John surgery, ending his season. Ther
Which young player should we be the most optimistic about going forward?

Do the Minnesota Twins have 2 Joey Gallo's?

In my previous piece I talked about how Alex Kirilloff may fit into the Minnesota Twins’ long term plans and what his outlook could be in the Major Leagues. For this article I want to look at the Twins other touted corner outfield prospect, one who has spent much of his professional career being compared to Kirilloff; Trevor Larnach.  Trevor Larnach is another player the Twins likely view as a core piece as they build for 2023 and beyond. Making a name for himself for his refined approach a
Alex Boxwell

Happy Holidays, Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is.

Alright, Twins fans... time to put your money where your mouth is. If it's all about spending money, if it's all about pushing the budget where it "should be", if it's all about signing a pitcher, once he receives his imminent release, it's time to sign Trevor Bauer. You're sick and tired of the low-risk pitching signings with no ceiling? Here ya go. An arm with ace-type stuff, a wild amount of baggage, and every player I know has hated him more than getting leftover concessions for the pos
Adam Friedman

I’m Optimistic About the Twins… That’s Why They Should’ve Signed Correa

This offseason has been frustrating. A couple of nice marginal signings in Joey Gallo and Christian Vásquez, both of which I’m kind of a fan of. But the Twins talked for months about their desire to bring back Carlos Correa and made him a sizeable, yet somewhat uncompetitive offer to return, and certainly were never going to get to the final $315 million number he signed for. They should’ve done just about everything they could to retain his talent and leadership, though because there are a lot
Twins on Wheat; Add Mayo

Peanuts, Crackerjack and D&D?

I want to start off this entry by saying that I am no writer. I joined Twins Daily so that I could follow the blog of a life-long friend of mine, who is much more talented than I. Shout out to Alex Boxwell, former Gopher outfielder and the next Ernest Hemmingway (follow his blog and become enlightened). Maybe it’s the holidays being around the corner or the fact that I am snowed in and bored, but after what is appearing to be the mundane end to what could have (and should have?) been a hist
Adam Neisen

Are the Twins really that bad?

Right now, the general consensus is that the Twins are going to miss the playoffs. Some might go as far as saying that they are a 90-100 loss team. You could point at the two consecutive losing seasons or the loss of Correa, but is that the fully story? Are the Twins really that bad? Lets take a look.  Shortstop After missing on Correa (twice), This is the most pressing issue on the Twins. All four of the top free agent shortstops are gone so the Twins will have to make do with in-hous
Which young player should we be the most optimistic about going forward?

Can Alex Kirilloff be what the Twins are Hoping For?

After missing out on a number of big time free agents the Minnesota Twins may now have to rely on some talented, yet very unproven young players in their organization. While there is no doubt more moves are to come from the front office, they have entrusted the future of the franchise into some players they hope can be the core of the team moving forward. I’ve done some research on one specific player that will likely have a big impact on not only 2023 but in the next few years as well, Alex Kir
Home & Away

Away from Home - the 2023 Twins' Journeys to Target Field

You can tell that I’ve been spending too much time planning travel itineraries for this “all 81” away game trip.  I drove by a nativity scene downtown and realized how thankful I was that I don’t have to worry about a “donkey” column on my navigational spreadsheet. I had never once thought about what Twins players encountered on their annual pilgrimage across the North American landscape in their efforts to entertain and infuriate me throughout a baseball season until I started try
Seamus Kelly

Twins Pitching from 2006-Present

I started following the Twins in 2006. I tracked newspaper box scores, watched every game I could and deeply begged my parents to take me to see my new favorite player Francisco Liriano and his magnificent slider. Unfortunately, I have not been as excited about a pitching prospect or rookie since then. Sure, I have had an odd infatuation with Sam Deduno for three months, I got overly excited from a few Scott Diamond starts. I may have even had an eye brow raised when I saw Berrios throw his
Alex Boxwell

What’s the difference between the Astros and the Twins?

Seems like the dumbest question ever but it’s a great place to start. What does the World Series champion do that we don’t?    Something I love to reference when it comes to the Twins is the “dark years”. It was those years that ruined the pinstripe cream uniforms. I can’t look at those uniforms without thinking about how much of a disaster this organization was from 2011-2016. We are feeling the effects of those decisions right now, bad scouting, and a lukewarm feeling toward competin
Hunter McCall

Who's to Blame for The Twins Missing Out on Correa..... Again?

At the beginning of the offseason, Carlos Correa and Scott Boras publicly expressed Correa's interest in staying in Minnesota on a long-term deal. Correa went as far as to say that he was there and all the Twins had to do was pay up. There were soundbites of Byron Buxton and Rocco Baldelli pleading with the front office to keep Correa around. Of course, this was all before Correa signed a 13-year $350M contract with the San Francisco Giants. Upon Correa's signing with the Giants, many people in
Brewed in the Trough

The Joey Gallo signing makes sense, actually

Go ahead, give me your hokey analytics about "Joey Gallo only hits .200," "There are now 5 lefty corner outfielders on this team," and "Joey Gallo has the highest K rate of all time." Well guess what nerds, I care about the stallion in the Italian, not what his "box score" may look like. Jokes aside, although not a world-moving acquisition, I think that it makes some sense, though it broke at an unfortunate time--two days after Correa signed with San Francisco and one day after Carlos Rodón
Home & Away

2023 Trip #2 – April 13-20 – New York and Boston

The second road trip of the 2023 Twins season contains perhaps the biggest potential for “issues,” both natural and Twins-made.  It also represents the most exciting and most difficult stretch of games in the first few months.   Yankee Stadium.  Fenway Park.  Let’s begin…   April 13-16 - @ New York Yankees (4 games) Yankee Stadium – capacity  47,309 -  2022 attendance was 3,136,207 (ranked 1st out of 15 AL teams) Yankee Stadium screams “we own you” to Twins fans.  Last year w
batting 9th and playing right field

Draft thoughts from the past (2011)

Sometimes I like to get lost on baseball-reference.com just to see what I can find. Today I found myself looking at the Minnesota Twins draft classes since 2000. Here are a few thoughts that I had: The 2014 and 2015 draft by the Minnesota Twins looks like it will be not good. Like really not good. There is still a small bit a hope though trade trees and maybe one or two guys breaking through it might be just "ok". The 2011 draft class looks like one of the worst draft classes the Twins

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