The Twins took care of business in Toronto on Tuesday night and most of the teams in the minor leagues were able to follow their lead. It didn't take long for Kendrys Morales to remember how to hit and Brian Dozier is putting himself into the All-Star conversation at second base. Minnesota is in the mix for the playoffs and many of their minor league affiliates are fighting for first half titles. Every win is important so let's jump down on the pond to check out the action. RED WINGS REPORT
Minnesota added some top-notch talent to the organization at the end of last week. For the third year in a row, the Twins had a top five pick in the MLB Draft. Minnesota's farm system was already considered one of the best in the game and adding top tier talent can only help the organization. My last prospect rankings were released in conjuncture with the "2014 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook." There have been some changes since that time as minor league teams are almost halfway through thei
"I've got a fever and the only prescription is less Kubel" Those words don't taste good coming out of my mouth because I consider myself a Jason Kubel fan. I've liked Kubel since he was a budding prospect in the Twins minor league system. He was supposed to be one of the left-handed power bats to join Joe Mauer in the middle of the batting order. A devastating knee injury kept those dreams from becoming a reality and it's looking more like his time is over in Minnesota. Things haven't been v
On Tuesday it was announced that New Britain Rock Cats outfield Daniel Ortiz was selected as the Eastern League Player of the Week for the period of May 19th-May 25th. Over six games, he hit .480 with four doubles, a triple, and two home runs. He had at least one hit in all six games and he post back-to-back three hit nights earlier in the week. During the last week, Ortiz lead the league in slugging percentage (.960), OPS (1.460) and tied for the league lead in extra-base hits (7) Would Ortiz
As spring training began in Twins Territory, there were questions about who should be starting at third base when the team headed north. Trevor Plouffe was coming off an underwhelming season where he dealt with some injuries and he struggled defensively at third base. Miguel Sano was ranked as one of the best prospects in the game and his powerful swing looked primed to make his debut. Flash-forward a couple months and Sano is recovering from Tommy John surgery while Plouffe has continued to l
Minnesota starts into a West Coast swing of baseball action on Tuesday. The club will play two games in San Diego before heading up the coast for a weekend series in San Francisco. This means some late night baseball action for Twins Territory, as most of the team's games won't be starting until 8:00 pm or later. The Twins have won each of their last three series including two out of three from Boston and Detroit. If the Twins want to continue to be relevant in the AL Central, they will need t
The 1991 World Series will always hold a special place in the heart of Twins fans. Kirby Puckett's heroics in Game 6 and the magnificent pitching performance of Jack Morris are legendary moments etched into the minds of a generation of baseball fans. Many consider this World Series as the best of all time and it all comes into focus in the newly released book "Down to the Last Pitch." To get a better understanding of this legendary World Series, author Tim Wendel breaks down every game by usin
It has been a rough season for some of the top position players in the Twins minor league system. Eddie Rosario is serving a 50-game suspension after he tested positive for marijuana use. Miguel Sano had to undergo Tommy John surgery and the earliest he could be on the field is very late in the summer. To cap it all off, Byron Buxton, the consensus top prospect in all of baseball, has played a whopping five games this year because of wrist injuries. Byron Buxton Original Outlook (2014): After
On last week's episode of Talk to Contact, Darren "Doogie" Wolfson spent some time with us discussing the possibility of a Brian Dozier contract extension. He mentioned that Dozier's agent has already approached the Twins about this possibility. By the end of the interview, he said he wouldn't be surprised if Dozier has a new contract in place by the end of spring training next year. From the perspective of the Twins front office, there might not be a reason to be in a rush with Dozier. He di
In Monday’s Twins game, Danny Santana made his rookie debut as a pinch runner in the late innings. He would collect his first MLB hit later in the game. Tonight he got to make his first big league start at shortstop and he batted ninth in the order. He went 0-for-3 but he showed off his strong arm while turning a tough double play. Byron Buxton has been trying to work out the kinks in his swing as he returned from an early season wrist injury. The first few games were rough as he went 0-for-7
Weather played an issue in Minneapolis, as the Twins couldn't get in the first game of their series with the Dodgers. The game will be made up as part of a split doubleheader on Thursday. Kyle Gibson was supposed to start on Sunday before a rainout and now he got pushed back to Wednesday. He should be well rested. Some of the other speculation for Thursday is about who the Twins could call-up to be their 26th man for the doubleheader. The Twins could be looking at starting pitcher to start one
This off-season has been a lucrative one for back end of the bullpen pitchers. Former Twins closer Joe Nathan signed with the Detroit Tigers for 2-years and around $20 million. That's good money for a man closing in on age 40 that had Tommy John surgery not that long ago. The Braves also locked up their ninth inning man, Craig Kimbrel, to a 4-year, $42 million contact that will see him be one of the highest paid closers by the end of the deal. It's safe to say it's a decent time to be a closer.
Every offseason fans can sit back and reflect on the year that was for the Minnesota Twins. There are usually some high points and some low points for any team no matter what their place in the standings. Unfortunately for the Twins, there have been more low points than high points over the last three seasons. Last year's roster featured a few players in the midst of a breakout season. Brian Dozier set the franchise record for home runs by a second baseman and he backed that up with terrific u
ESPN's Sweetspot blog posted an interesting entry earlier today looking at the top teams in relation to their "core five" players. They took the top five men from each roster and compiled their Baseball Reference WAR totals to come up with a top ten list. Obviously the better players you have, the more likely you are to be a very good team. Out of their top ten list, eight of the teams qualified for the postseason last year. There's no surprise that Minnesota didn't crack the top ten list. Howev
Members of the Minnesota Twins struck out 1,430 times last season. In the history of the Twins organization, no team had struck out more than 1,121 times (1997 team). That was the only year since the team moved to Minnesota that the club recorded more than 1,100 times. Over the last three seasons, Minnesota strikeout totals have increased every year. It has been a rough couple of seasons and there have been some inexperienced players trying to make their mark at the big league level. Players l
Earlier this week, the Sporting News released their list of the most iconic moment for each MLB team. Some teams are tied to some of the best moments in the history of the sport while other teams top moments aren't too memorable outside of their home market. That's the nature of these kinds of lists. For Twins fans, it is pretty easy to put Kirby Puckett's walk-off home run in Game 6 of the 1991 World Series at the top of the list. The '91 World Series might be the best Fall Classic of all time
A lot of the buzz coming out of Target Field this weekend surrounded top prospects Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano. The lines for autographs from these two players was very extensive and neither of them has an at-bat at higher than the Double-A level. This is a lot of hype surrounding two men who are a few months removed from being teenagers. If Minnesota is going to get out of the rut of the last three seasons, top prospects like Buxton and Sano will have to come up and perform at a high level.
As the Twins get closer to heading to Fort Myers, there will be plenty of decisions to make in relation to the 25-man roster. Some positions are likely set in stone while others are still questionable. In this series called "25-Man Roster Dissection." I have selected the men I believe will spend the most time on the 25-man roster next season and I try to predict each player's 2014 performance. There seems to be one logical place to start with the roster and that's with the club's 23-million do
It could be easy for Twins uber prospect Byron Buxton to approach this offseason with a big head. He is coming off of one of the best minor league seasons in Twins history. Baseball America recently honored him with their top award as the best minor league player for 2013. Buxton is being compared to super-star players like Mike Trout and that can make it tough to motivate yourself. When a player is considered head and shoulders above his peers, an attitude of complacency can emerge. Buxton de
Josmil Pinto is one of the top prospects in the Twins organization. Make sure to order the 2014 Minnesota Twins Prospect Handbook to learn more about the Twins minor league system. Click here to see more of what's in the book. After the Twins and Joe Mauer announced the All-Star Catcher wouldn't be playing catcher moving forward, Minnesota's name was rumored to be involved with many of the top catchers on the free agent market. AJ Pierzynski and Jarrod Saltalamacchia were two of the most talk
Over the weekend, word came out that the Twins would sign Mike Pelfrey to a two-year $11 million deal. This is the third free agent starter the Twins have added this season as the team already agreed to terms with Ricky Nolasco and Phil Hughes. With Kevin Corriea under contract for another year, Minnesota's starting rotation is filling up rather quickly but there are still some questions to about the final rotation spot. The Twins had one of the worst starting rotations in all of baseball last
There are some benefits to Minnesota's finish near the bottom of the AL for the third straight year. Later this week, the Twins will have a top five pick in this year's Rule 5 Draft. For those not familiar, the Rule 5 Draft allows MLB teams to claim players not protected by their parent club on the team's 40-man roster. There obviously some rules to this process. Players first signed at age 18 must be added to 40-man rosters within five seasons or they become eligible to be drafted by other or
One of the benefits of being a bad team for multiple seasons is the fact the Twins have been able to replenish some of their farm system with high draft picks the last two years. Add these players into a group that already included some top-notch talent and the future of the Twins organization continues to look bright. Throughout the offseason there will be plenty of prospect lists released by a variety of media outlets. There are always differences between how people view the particular talen
The Twins were doing their own shopping over the busy Thanksgiving weekend. According to multiple reports, starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco will sign a four-year, $49 million contract. When this deal is finalized, it will be the largest free agent contract in the organization's history. Minnesota had been rumored to be pushing hard for Nolasco and they were able to land their man. The Twins didn't stop there as reports surfaced on Sunday night of the Twins agreeing to terms with Phil Hughes.
Word is slowly starting to trickle out about a 50-game suspension that will be handed down to Twins second base prospect Eddie Rosario. He apparently told the manager of his winter league squad that he wouldn't be able to play because of his pending suspension. The official suspension won't be announced until the league can resolve an issue on their end. Rosario is a converted outfield who by most accounts is top ten prospect in the organization. His quick wrists have helped him to become one
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
