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Blogs

mikelink45's Blog

Max Kepler and the German Connection

Max Kepler, being a German, seemed like quite an exception in baseball history, so I had to do some research. Bleacher Reports was so fascinated by his story that they published http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2568511-max-kepler-the-german-baseball-player-who-spurned-soccer-for-mlb-dreams. The article included this Max Kepler quote – "Soccer is the No. 1 sport in Germany," Kepler said. "Baseball was barely poking its head out the window at the time. Being one of the best [soccer players] in m
Thrylos' Blog - select Tenth Inning Stretch posts

2018 Twins Off-Season top 60 Prospect List: 6-10

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ----   This is the next segment in the 2018 Twins top 60 prospect list. You can find the introductory segment that discusses qualifications to be on this list and presents the players who were on the 2017 list but are not in this list here. You can find the list of the previous rankings here: 56-60, 55-51, 46-50 , 41-45, 36-40, 31-35, 26-30, 21-25, 16-20, 11-15. You can find all segments in this series here.   Here are players 6-10 in reverse orde
Off The Baggy

Handicapping The Twins Rotation

The Minnesota Twins are set to kick of spring training action with their first exhibition against the University of Minnesota on Thursday February 22. Following Stephen Gonsalves' first pitch in that tilt, the club will then play a full month's slate of games before embarking on Target Field. There's some certainties in the rotation, but there's some serious question marks too.   Before digging into some of the more uncertain options, it makes some semblance of sense to start with what we know.
Four Six Three

Breaking down Jake Odorizzi

A Closer Look     At this point, with the Twins busy Presidents Day weekend now officially come to a close, it can be said that most people (and those who frequent Twins Daily, especially) are aware that the hometown club completed a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays for Jake Odorizzi. The trade, first reported on Saturday night, had the Twins receiving Jake Odorizzi from the Rays in exchange for mid-level shortstop prospect Jermaine Palacios. Many were waiting for the other shoe to drop, certain
Off The Baggy

2018 AL Central Division Preview

With free agency being a bit slower moving (to put it nicely) this offseason, this piece comes out a few weeks later than in previous years. At this point, there's still a handful of quality major league talent unemployed. For the most part, I think the AL Central is looking towards the year ahead as opposed to who else can join them in competing during 2018.   Projection systems have started to run win totals for the upcoming season, and major sportsbook Bovada has also posted over/under win to
"And we'll see ya' ... tomorrow night."

Speeding up the Game of Baseball

I am a baseball purist. I truly like sitting at a game or watching the game on TV and it doesn't really bother me in any way shape or form that the game takes 2 hours or 6 hours. For me I like the strategy, I like watching each pitch, trying to figure out how they may pitch to a particular person. I like the late inning pitching matchups, the lineup options, and if they are going to bunt (Stop Bunting Paul) or steal. All of these things are fantastic. In the grand scheme of baseball fans I
Rounding Third

A Potential Upgrade for Kennys Vargas

The first few seasons of Kennys Vargas’ career have been a bit of a disappointment for the Twins. Vargas came up in 2014 as a player with a lot of potential, and was considered by many to be the inevitable replacement for Joe Mauer at first base.   Despite a few bright moments with the bat, Vargas hasn’t quite lived up to his expectations. Over his 859 career plate appearances, Vargas has a slash line of .253/.314/.444, with 35 home runs and an even 100 wRC+. While these numbers aren’t terrible,
Thrylos' Blog - select Tenth Inning Stretch posts

2018 Twins Off-Season top 60 Prospect List: 11-15

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ----   This is the next segment in the 2018 Twins top 60 prospect list. You can find the introductory segment that discusses qualifications to be on this list and presents the players who were on the 2017 list but are not in this list here. You can find the list of the previous rankings here: 56-60, 55-51, 46-50 , 41-45, 36-40, 31-35, 26-30, 21-25, 16-20. You can find all segments in this series here.   Here are players 11-15 in reverse order with
Off The Baggy

One Day Makes Twins Difference

Over the weekend, Minnesota Twins fans felt the full gambit of emotions. After announcing that Anibal Sanchez had been given a major league deal, frustration was felt in full force. A bounce-back candidate that has ugly numbers of late wasn't going to gain much confidence for a revamped starting rotation. Then, a day later, Jake Odorrizi was acquired from the Tampa Bay Rays and the tide felt like it had turned. Putting a bow on the Minnesota offseason, it's hard not to like where this team is he
Curveball Blog

Will the Real Kyle Gibson Please Stand Up?

With the Twins off-season moves seemingly drawing to a close, fans would be hard pressed not to be enthused by the clubs’ upgrades. At the beginning of the 2017 season, fans were frustrated with a lifeless offseason which involved adding Jason Castro, Matt Belisle, and newly reinvented Craig Breslow. Most cautioned that ‘Falvine’ (there’s my garage band name of the future) were assessing the organization and its infrastructure before making hasty free agent additions. This off-season, the front
Views from the road

Is there a possible strike in our future

We have all seen the discontent from the players union and major league ballplayers about this offseason and a readjustment in front office thinking about player valuation. This has been coupled with 3 major spenders sitting out this offseason to reset the luxery tax committements and several clubs (low spending) going into rebuild mode. This has left a small number of teams as possible destinations for this years free agent crop and a remarkable price drop in the contracts the players have sig
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mikelink45's Blog

2018 Baseball Stats – current pitchers all time rankings

I thought I would wait to post this, but of course my curiosity got the best of me so I had to explore the all time ranks of pitchers and see what milestones lie ahead in 2018.     Let’s start with wins, which I know people now discount. It is true that now wins are a combination of more than offense and the starting pitcher. No long do we have the complete game stat meaning anything. Jack Morris completed 175 to rank 176 and Syl Johnson ranks number 500 with 82 complete games and in that 500
mikelink45's Blog

Current batters and their historical positions going into 2018

Since baseball is such a numbers sport I am always curious where our current players are on the list and what might happen during this next season that we can anticipate and root for. When it comes to all time batting averages I once anticipated that Joe Mauer would get onto the big list, but in the top 50 we have Carew at 30 and Kirby Puckett (318) tied for 48 with two others. No Mauer, he has dropped out of the top 100. I know it’s the concussion, but that is still too bad. Miguel Cabrera i
Thrylos' Blog - select Tenth Inning Stretch posts

2018 Twins Off-Season top 60 Prospect List: 16-20

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch --- This is the next segment in the 2018 Twins top 60 prospect list. You can find the introductory segment that discusses qualifications to be on this list and presents the players who were on the 2017 list but are not in this list here. You can find the list of the previous rankings here: 56-60, 55-51, 46-50 , 41-45, 36-40, 31-35, 26-30, 21-25. You can find all segments in this series here. Here are players 16-20 in reverse order with their 2017
less cowBlog

The Adventures of Derick and Thaddy

Season 2, Episode 1 (Preview)   Title: Derick of the Ed Darvishgerald   Scene: approximately one month ago, C137 timeline. Thaddy's darkened bedroom at 1 Twins Way, a Nolan Ryan poster hangs above his bed. Thaddy is in bed sleeping.   (Derick opens door and enters room, turns on light, stumbles drunkenly.)   Derick: Thaddy! You gotta c'mon! Jus... Y[burps] gotta come with me! (Derick trips, falls at foot of bed, spilling alcoholic beverage from bottle on Thaddy's Rangers bedspread.)   Thaddy: (T
BW on the Beat

REPORT: Twins Sign Anibal Sanchez to One-Year Deal

Twitter was ablaze with the news that the Minnesota Twins had signed former Marlins and Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez to a one-year deal. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports was the first to report a done deal, and also reported that it was a big-league deal worth $2.5 million over one year with the possibility of doubling that total via starts-based incentives.   MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger passes on that the deal is not guaranteed, though it does mean Sanchez will get a 40-man spot — one step up from a
Musings from Twins Territory

The Yu Paradox

According to google, one definition of the word paradox is "a situation, person, or thing that combines contradictory features or qualities." Looking back on it, thinking the Twins were going to end up with Yu as their Opening Day starter was quite the paradox. History tells us that the Minnesota Twins and huge contracts are quite the contradiction. Of course there are some who won't ever let us forget the counterexample which would be the Joe Mauer contract that he never lived up to. Outside of
mikelink45's Blog

They Played for the Love of the Game - a book review

They Played for the Love of the Game Untold stories of black baseball in Minnesota By Frank White   This is the third book written about black baseball in Minnesota which might be an indication of how important this was to the history of Minnesota and the history of Baseball. Frank White, a St Paul native, is a perfect writer for this topic. His father, Louis Pud White, was an outstanding, if little remembered catcher in the baseball leagues as evidenced by Buck O’Neil, and he was a friend of
Thoughts from The Catch

We should Be Happy Darvish Signed Elsewhere

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. C.C. Sabathia could be a good comparison to look at as a predictor for what to ex
Thrylos' Blog - select Tenth Inning Stretch posts

2018 Twins Off-Season top 60 Prospect List: 21-25

Originally published at The Tenth Inning Stretch ----- This is the next segment in the 2018 Twins top 60 prospect list. You can find the introductory segment that discusses qualifications to be on this list and presents the players who were on the 2017 list but are not in this list here. You can find the list of the previous rankings here: 56-60, 55-51, 46-50 , 41-45, 36-40, 31-35, 26-30. You can find all segments in this series here.   Here are players 21-25 in reverse order with their 2017 ran
Off The Baggy

Twins Narratives To Love In 2018

Valentine's Day is here, and the highlight is simply that the Minnesota Twins have begun their first workout. While the Hallmark holiday suggests you go all out for those you love today, pitchers and catchers are active on the diamond in Fort Myers. Rather than get all sappy or dole out presents, I thought it a fun idea to check out some Twins possibilities I love to take place in 2018.   Looking back at the year that was in 2017, and what numbers a handful of Twins players came up with, here's
Four Six Three

State of the Twins - Pitching Rotation edition

State of the Twins - Starting Rotation     Baseball is back. Pitchers and catchers have reported to the Twins Spring Training site in Fort Myers, along with a sprinkling of position players - including Joe Mauer, who we can only suspect is in "the best shape of his life" at this point in his career. All jokes aside, the 2018 season is just around the corner and it doesn't come without some question marks, most notably, the state of the starting rotation.   If you're a regular to Twins Daily,

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