One of the highlights of the off-season for a core of Twins fans is the release of the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. Seth Stohs has worked to put together this fantastic book for the last seven years. In 2012, he gave me my first taste of helping with the book. By 2013, I was writing an article for the annual and for the last three years I have been among a trio of writers that includes Jeremy Nygaard, Stohs, and myself. In the first part of my top 30 list there are a core of young pitche
One of the highlights of the off-season for a core of Twins fans is the release of the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. Seth Stohs has worked to put together this fantastic book for the last seven years. In 2012, he gave me my first taste of helping with the book. By 2013, I was writing an article for the annual and for the last three years I have been among a trio of writers that includes Jeremy Nygaard, Stohs, and myself. I already released the first part of my top 30 list and there are so
"Making a list, checking it twice. Terry Ryan got what he thought was nice." Even though the Twins are coming of four straight 90-loss seasons, there wasn't a ton of things the club needed to accomplish this off-season. The team seemingly had one one position player spot in the corner outfield. Terry Ryan also wanted to add depth to the starting pitching core. Just days after the winter meetings and the Twins have crossed both of these needs off their holiday wish list. At the beginni
One of the highlights of the off-season for a core of Twins fans is the release of the Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook. Seth Stohs has worked to put together this fantastic book for the last seven years. In 2012, he gave me my first taste of helping with the book. By 2013, I was writing an article for the annual and for the last three years I have been among a trio of writers that includes Jeremy Nygaard, Stohs, and myself. There is a ton of work that goes into the creation of this book.
There are plenty of ways to go about trying to fix the Twins team but some patience might be required as the club waits for some younger pieces to work their way through the minor leagues. The Twins Daily crew put out some solid information in the 2015 Offseason Handbook. One of the best parts to read about this document is the blueprint plans put together by the writers. There are plenty of options for the Twins but here is how I would go about trying to fix the team. Some of these ideas will
The 2014 season was a breakout year for Brian Dozier. He seemed to be maturing as a hitter right before the eyes of Twins fans. He combined power and speed to be the first Twins player in a decade to record a 20 HR-20 steal season. However, there was more behind his season than the numbers that will appear on the back of next year's trading card. Dozier finished third in all of baseball in the amount of pitches seen in 2014. The only American League player to finish ahead of him was the presum
In one of the most surprising pieces of Twins from the off-season, word has slowly trickled out that the Twins will be sporting a new look when it comes to their home uniforms. The first major change to their home uniforms since the 1987 season, the first World Championship year. According to multiple sources, the team is shedding their pinstripes from their home whites for 2015. The letting will stay the same on the front of the uniforms but the club will add gold as a drop shadow behind the
There are a few items on the Twins off-season checklist. Starting pitching seems to be the Twins biggest priority but the club also has a hole to fill in the outfield. The club likely won't be pushing for any of the big names on the outfield free agent list but that doesn't mean the club couldn't look to add a veteran free agent for this role. Reports came out at the beginning of this week that the Twins have expressed interest in signing free agent outfielder Torii Hunter. It seems that Hunte
The Minnesota Twins are in the midst of the search for their next manager. As an organization, they are looking hard at candidates that are already inside the organization like Paul Molitor and Doug Mientkiewicz. They are also considering some other men from outside the organization and that's where I come in. I would like to throw my name in the hat as a candidate for the next manager of the Minnesota Twins. I might not have the pedigree of a Hall-of-Famer or a World Series ring on my finger
The Twins announced on Monday that Ron Gardenhire will not return as the team's manager for 2015. Only two managers in the history of the game had survived four straight 90-loss seasons. One of those men was Gardenhire's predecessor, Tom Kelly. Minnesota is a very loyal organization but it seemed like the time was right to make a change. When a manager wins over 1,000 games with an organization there are going to be some ups and downs. The Twins won six division titles in the Gardenhire era b
Clayton Kershaw is in the midst of one of the best pitching seasons in baseball history. He looks to be a lock for the National League Cy Young and there's a chance he could win the NL MVP. Even after missing a chunk of games at the beginning of the season, he has rebounded to post one of the best seasons on record. Starting pitching seems to be one of the areas the Twins are struggling to find success. There hasn't been a player of Kershaw's caliber in the Twins rotation since the Johan Santa
"To win the game, you've gotta score more runs than the other team"--- Ricky Henderson, baseball's all-time running scoring leader Baseball can be a very simple game but it always comes back to scoring more runs than the other team. This has always been the case and teams are challenged by how they should go about accomplishing this task. Should a team try and out slug the opposition to win in a high scoring fashion? Should a team use small ball to try and poke their way back into a game?
It has been a year of good and bad performances in Minnesota. Unfortunately, there has probably been more bad than good. On the positive side of things, Phil Hughes has put together the best season of his professional career, Danny Santana has done some good things as a rookie, and the duo of Kennys Vargas and Oswaldo Arcia seem to be able to mash the ball out of any park. There have been some players that haven't lived up to expectations for various parts of the year. Those players are try
Bud Selig is set to retire this off-season after 22 years at the helm of Major League Baseball. Rob Manfred has already been voted in as his successor, a position he has been groomed for over since starting to work for MLB in 1998. The 55-year old Manfred will have a variety of issues on his plate as he takes over from the 80-year old Selig. During Selig's tenure as commissioner, baseball has been marked by a variety of ups and downs. A large growth in attendance has increased revenue across t
This is the first in a series of posts looking at different parts of the Twins roster as the season starts to wind down. There have been some rough moments at the end of the last few seasons. The moto of the last few seasons might have been "Wake Me Up When September Ends" but this season might be a little different as there seems to be a little hope on the horizon. That hope might mean you won't want to sleep through this September. August is slowly winding down and this points towards anothe
On August 12, 1994 baseball went away. This week marked the 20th anniversary of the end of that season, a season that could have included many historical events. ESPN wrote earlier this week about Tony Gwynn's chase for .400, Matt Williams hunting down Roger Maris' home run record, and the Montreal Expos possible trip to the World Series. All of these events didn't take place because of the 1994 strike. The 1994 Twins also missed out on what could have been some important moments. Minnesota
The biggest Twins story of the weekend was the call-up and debut on right-handed pitching prospect Trevor May. Fans have been clamoring for months to see May or his Rochester counterpart Alex Meyer. This new version of the M&M boys is supposed to provide some stability to a lack-lust Twins rotation but only time will tell. One of the stories lost in the hype of May's debut was the demotion of Chris Colabello. The 30-year old former independent league standout is heading back to Triple-A fo
Besides swapping Sam Fuld for Tommy Milone, the Twins didn't make a major trade at the non-waiver trade deadline. There were rumors about Kurt Suzuki or Josh Willingham ending up in a new uniform but those rumors never came to fruition. Even though the team has been in the midst of a rough three year stretch, the club hasn't been very active around July 31st trade deadline. One clear move made by the front office signals a lot for the future make-up of the franchise. Kurt Suzuki signed a two-y
For fans of the Twins minor league system, there were three of the organizations best pitching prospects all on the mound in one night. This is about as exciting as it gets, folks. Rochester starter Alex Meyer had pitched five straight starts of six innings by allowing two earned runs or less. New Britain starter Jose Berrios was making his fourth start at Double-A and he combined to pitch 13 innings of two-run ball in his last two starts. Lewis Thorpe has been showing signs of improvement eve
Welcome to the unofficial midpoint of the 2014 Twins season. After teasing fans for different portions of the first half, the Twins find themselves in a familiar position at the break, last place in the AL Central. The Twins enter the break six games under .500 and 10.5 games behind the Detroit Tigers for the top spot in the division. Even though the team's record might not show it, there have been some positive things happening for the Twins this year. Kurt Suzuki and Phil Hughes are looking li
Minnesota will host the All-Star Game in a little more than a couple weeks and this is the time of year where pundits start debating who should and who shouldn't be on the All-Star Game roster. One of the most exciting events in almost 30 years since Minnesota last hosted the game is the Home Run Derby. In 1985,the last year the Twins were the host, the first HR Derby was held and this event has exploded to a full-day prime-time event. It's always nice for the home team to have a participant
If not for injuries to top prospects Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton, it's likely that both players would be heading to their second straight Futures Game. With both players on the shelf, the Twins will have the opportunity to showcase some of their other top talent on Sunday of All-Star week. The rosters were announced for the MLB Future's Game on Tuesday and the Twins will be represented by first baseman Kennys Vargas and right-handed pitcher Jose Berrios. Vargas is near the top of the Twins mi
Hardball history on the Minnesota prairie started long before the Twins moved to the Upper Midwest. Baseball legends like Ted Williams and Willie Mays called Minnesota home before making their big league debuts. There was a lot that went into the Twins becoming the franchise they are today and the club's entire history is summarized in the new book Minnesota Twins Baseball: Hardball History on the Prairie. There are plenty of people who know a lot about Twins baseball but author Stew Thornley
Next month's All-Star Game is fast approaching and Target Field will serve as the center of the baseball universe.The starting rosters for the National League and the American League will be announced during the weekend of July 5th-6th and it doesn't seem likely for the Twins to have a starter elected by the fans. This leaves some question as to who should represent the hometown team in Minnesota's first Mid-Summer Classic since 1985.Joe Mauer has been named MLB's All-Star Ambassador but that
On May 24th the Twins were in San Francisco for the second game of a three game series. Aaron Hicks was the starting center fielder that day and this day would mark a turning point in his career. Whether it was a turning point for the better or for the worse, remains to be seen. Ryan Vogelsong, a right-handed pitcher, was the Giants starter that day. This meant the switch-hitting Hicks was batting left-handed. Hicks would struggle on this day going 0-for-3 with a strikeout. He would be removed
I really hold back what I would like to say about then payroll arguments here. The fact that people don't accept the amount taken in dictates the amount going out requires one of two things. Extreme financial ignorance or fanatical bias that prevents the acceptance of something some basic. I did not change the argument. It's the same idiocy over and over. Do you really want to be on the side that suggests revenues does not determine spending capacity?
At this point in the pre-season, I’m just so happy to be seeing games again, I don’t care about the Twins record in 2023. I think they’ll win it all, unrealistically speaking 🙂
I really hold back what I would like to say about then payroll arguments here. The fact that people don't accept the amount taken in dictates the amount going out requires one of two things. Extreme financial ignorance or fanatical bias that prevents the acceptance of something some basic. I did not change the argument. It's the same idiocy over and over. Do you really want to be on the side that suggests revenues does not determine spending capacity?· 0 replies
