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Blogs

mikelink45's Blog

Last of the best - GMs/Owners

The Best Twins General Manager and owner - really a difficult task - the manager, the owner, the GM, the players - who do you blame?     • Calvin Griffith. (1961 – 1984) It is not a long list since Calvin served as both owner and general manager. We won a World Series under Calvin, he moved the team to Minnesota, he insulted and lost Rod Carew.   • Howard Fox. (1985 – 1986) He was a member of the Twins organization for sixty years. When he was traveling secretary, he had a fight with Billy Marti
Off The Baggy

Puddin’ Providin’ Proof at Third Base

Miguel Sano won a Dominican Winter League championship this offseason. He also showed up to Spring Training in a much more trimmed down fashion. That’s the good news. The bad news is that he suffered an unfortunate cut on his heel and has now dealt with healing complications that will shelve him until May. Prior to this development, I wasn’t sure that everyone’s favorite folk hero Willians Astudillo was going to make the 25-man roster. Now it’s all but guaranteed, and the rubber begins to hit th
Jason Kubel is America

Johan Santana's Historic Opening Day Snub

Johan Santana is the only unanimous Cy Young Award winner in history to be benched on Opening Day.     In 2004, Johan Santana won the AL Cy Young Award for the Minnesota Twins.   He received a perfect 28 of 28 first place votes, breezing by Curt Schilling and Mariano Rivera. His 228 innings pitched was second most in the American League while his 2.61 ERA lead the AL among qualified starters. He struck out 30.1% of the batters he faced. Pedro Martinez, the next closest in the American League sta
mikelink45's Blog

The best manager in the history of the Twins

Who are our managers and who was the best? I have to say that I have a lot of questions about how to judge managers. They are given a roster to work with, they do not sign players or create the roster, they work with the GM and the GM is not judged like the manager. Right now we play in a lousy division which gives us 19 games a year versus the Royals, White Sox and Tigers plus the best team in the division is far below what the other division leaders do. What would our records be if we were in
Off The Baggy

An Emerging Backstop

There’s no denying that the Minnesota Twins employed one of the best catchers Major League Baseball has ever seen. Up until the point that a brain injury forced him out from behind the plate, Joe Mauer was on a trajectory we hadn’t seen since Johnny Bench. Following the positional change, the organization has been starved for the next “it” factor behind the plate. Jason Castro has been the only designated long-term solution, but it’s an internally developed option that is at the doorstep of a br
Off The Baggy

Wondering on the Twins Decision Makers

Going into 2019, Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have an advantage they were not previously afforded. Picking their manager for the first time as the duo leading the organization, Rocco Baldelli represents opportunity. It’s not only the skipper though, as we’ve seen the Twins front office infuse talent across all levels of development this winter. Being impressed with what’s been done, it’s worth wondering if this is really what we were always waiting for.   When the new front office took over for
South Dakota Tom's Blog

Playing The Game: CBA and Competitive Balance

When players and owners put pen to paper on the last collective bargaining agreement, the hope seemed to be that a combination of revenue-sharing and a luxury tax would work in concert to allow all organizations to field competitive teams. The players went along with the traditional formula of underpaying minor leaguers, and locking up younger players for pre-arbitration (3 years, or at least 2 years if you were a Super 2 - including a minimum 86 days and being in the top 22% of your same-yea
The Always Fashionable; Uncle Charlie

Getting at it with some MarWINS

♪Tis the season for Spring Training♪, ♪Come Along with me to Fort Myers♪   Not as catchy as I contemplated, but the day pitchers and catchers report usually marks a new focus for the American Sports Landscape. You get predictions, it’s (newly inundated) but the clock’s ticking for free agency crunch time, rosters battles are waged as players jockey for roster positioning, and the fresh aroma of roster cuts lingers through the air. No better time of year, especially since every club is granted a
mikelink45's Blog

Best Relief Pitcher in Twins History

Relief pitchers This is the hardest section for me to do an analysis. Is it the closer, is it the person who is in the most games? How do we define this role? There is a different role before saves became the negotiation tool, and now there is, finally, a change in perception of what makes a great reliever. In 1961 Pedro Ramos was in 53 games and started 34, Ray Moore was in 46 games and started none, Jim Kaat was in 47 games and started 29 and Bill Pleis was in 37 and started none.   Looking at
80MPH Changeup

A Look Back At The Top Twins Prospects From 2011 (AKA... Yikes)

Recently I was messing around on MLB.com for no particularly good or suspicious reason when I stumbled upon their top prospects list. Now, we all are familiar with prospects because as Twins fans, they sometimes bring us more hope than the major league team. But even cooler than the updated top prospects list was an archived top prospects list from 2011 that included their top 50 prospects of the year along with top 10 lists for each team. An oh boy does nothing brew my fair-trade espresso like
Miller1234's Blog

An Interview with Glen Perkins

This is the second winter that Glen Perkins will not be gearing up towards playing in the regular season for the Minnesota Twins after his retirement following the 2017 season. The baby-faced pitcher with a bright smile that fans became used too, is still there, but now, it’s hidden behind a large grey beard. Like every Minnesotan, right now he’s just trying to survive winter, yearning for the days where he would be in Fort Myers for Spring Training at this time. The Stillwater native, who now r
mikelink45's Blog

Best Starting pitchers Twins

The best starting pitcher in Twins history 1961 The starting pitchers had a history that began in Washington DC with the Senators. For all the starters there years with team, w-l, pct, era, SO/W and WAR. We started out with a very good starting staff. In the early years the started averaged 34 starts per year.   Camilo Pascual 13 years starting in DC – 145-141 .507 3.66 SO/W = 2.07. WAR 33.2 Jim Kaat 15 years beginning in DC . 190- 159/.544 3.34 2.54 SO/W WAR 30.7 Jack Kralick 5 years 34-32/.515
mikelink45's Blog

The Best DH in Twins history

The DH began in AL only in 1973 and Tony Oliva with terrible knees was the first to take advantage of the new position. He was DH in 142 games, Mike Adams 16, Danny Walton 13 and 10 others appeared in various games. 1974 had Oliva 112, Killebrew 57, Terrell 20 and 5 others. Oliva continued with 120 games in 1975, Darwin 19, Hisle 15, Luis Gomez 10 and 15 others got appearances. In `976 Tony O got just 32 appearances, Steve Braun 71, Craig Kusick 79, Butch Wynegar 15 and 8 others.   Tony Oliva 15
Off The Baggy

2019 AL Central Division Preview

We are now at the point in the Major League Baseball calendar where exhibition games have commenced, teams are looking at how to fill out their 25-man roster, and the regular season is on the horizon. Although a few marquee free agents remain, I’m at a point where I feel good about how what could potentially be baseball’s worst division, is going to play out. The incumbent division winning Cleveland Indians are ready to defend their throne and it’ll be on a challenger to emerge.   Including curr
mikelink45's Blog

The Best Twin Right Fielder

Last full time position – Right Field – who fills out the rosters. For me Clemente epitomizes RF, the arm, the bat, the range so who do the Twins have?   In 1961 Bob Allison was there 150 games. He was written about in LF so I will not go into details here. Allison dominated 1962 as well with Tuttle and George Banks getting the other games. In 1963 it was Allison, Jimmie Hall and Wally Post. 1964 Tony Oliva sent Allison to 1B.   Tony Oliva was a dream. I loved to watch him. He was almost perfect
Jason Kubel is America

Who Will Be the Twins Opening Day Starter?

UPDATE (March 4): Jose Berrios has been named the Twins 2019 Opening Day starter     The “Opening Day starter” distinction means more than it matters.   It is an honor given to a team’s best or longest-tenured starting pitcher, and it is treated by players and managers as just that: an honor.   Whether a pitcher starts on Opening Day or in the second game of the season doesn't matter much when it comes to the team's record over a 162-game season, and yet we see a barrage of press releases and qu
Blog Physics Guy

Getting Gonzalez AB

When rumors started floating around last week about the Twins' interest in Marwin Gonzalez, I found myself quite surprised. While I still contend that the Twins would be better off spending said money on Keuchel or Kimbrel if they would sign a two or three year contract, it is hard to find fault in adding another above average bat for the lineup. My concern now is how do the Twins find 500 AB for Gonzalez when all of the starting positions are essentially spoken for.   I did some digging and bel
mikelink45's Blog

The Best Centerfielder in Twins history

The Best Twins Centerfielder in history? The outfield is a challenge because so many times managers see them as interchangeable parts. But a great Centerfielder must have range and perhaps some flare. The NY press had a great time when there were three teams – and they had Mays, Mantle, and Snider.   Lenny Green Was our first year CF and Bill Tuttle backed him up when he was not playing out of position at 3B. The same two in 1962. Green was traded to the Angels for Frank Kostro and Jerry Kindall
mike8791's Blog

Grading the Offseason

Now that Marwin is on board, thought it would be a good idea to review the Twins' grade for the 18/19 offseason. Prior to this latest move, I would have given the FO a solid C for their efforts to date. A very positive step was taken by the Cruz signing, estimably their biggest FA signing of the winter. Finally, the team has a bona fide DH. When is the last time we can say that?   Their signing of 2B Schoop also was a positive one, given his age and previous ML success, at least up until 201
mikelink45's Blog

The Twins best Left Fielder in history

The best Left fielder in Twins history presents one more puzzle.   This is an addition. I got so caught up in Killebrew I forgot Jim Lemon. He played 120 games in LF in 1961 near the end of his career. I loved to watch him play. Lenny Green, Dan Dobbek and Joe Altobelli shared the rest of the leftfield games. He played seven years with the Senators before they moved. His career numbers Senators/Twins were .265 /334/.470/.805, but only 7.7 WAR because he was not a fleet fielder. He hit 38 and 33
Off The Baggy

Topps with a 1970 Throwback

Although it’s Series 1 that kicks off a new year of baseball card collection each season, it’s the early year release of Heritage that is often seen as the first big product. Heritage carries a promise of being a throwback to yesteryear, this time 1970 specifically. Producing some of the most desired rookie cards, and short prints in all the collecting landscape, this product is one Topps knows you won’t want to miss.   Much like Series 1, Heritage isn’t designed as a massive hit factory. The bi
Off The Baggy

Magill, the Pen, and What to Make of it All

Going into the offseason, the Minnesota Twins had plenty of opportunity to make waves. Playing in a bad AL Central division with a strong farm system on the rise, jump starting a competitive window seemingly was the obvious play for the front office. At this point, they’ve upgraded the offense while ignoring their pitching staff. In the bullpen, the most central name in all of this is none other than Matt Magill.   The 29-year-old returned to the majors in 2018 after having big league stints dur

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