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About this blog

Reflection on the first Twins' game in 2013. I DVRed the game yesterday and watched most of it last night. While I didn't see some key events, I heard about them on the radio. The Twins had a chance to beat the Tigers but came up short in key

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Dozier's Season

We have just passed the midpoint of the season and the Twins are a season low seven games below .500. A big reason why the Twins are as good as they are is their second baseman, Brian Dozier. Dozier is currently going through his third slump of the season and the batting average is down to .232. His homers have leveled off and his OPS has sunk to .762. However, I think the first half of the season has been a success for Dozier.   Brian leads the club with 15 homers and is second in RBI with
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Shortstop Pecking Order

Right now, the Twins have a wealth of shortstop candidates. Conventional wisdom is that shortstops aren't platooned because working with the keystone partner is so important. Here is my view on the shortstops and my best guess to what will happen. I invite anyone else to comment and offer their opinion.   1) Eduardo Escobar. Escobar is starting most games right now and why not? He's hitting over .340 and he's pretty good in the field. News flash. Eduardo Escobar won't hit .340 and he's n
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Danny Santana & the .1% Solution

Danny Santana is a major league prospect. He isn't in the Twins' Top Ten and he isn't a Top 100 prospect in minor league baseball. Most players with his pedigree don't become stars, but some do and I imagine some become All-Stars and most likely some have become Hall of Fame players.   Santana's strength as a prospect are his raw tools. He has great speed and a strong arm. His minor league stats have been unremarkable. Finally, he is a prospect in a position of need for his team.   Santan
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The Twins need more Brian Doziers

Brian Dozier wasn't a high draft choice. He had a breakout minor league season in 2011 and became a prospect for the Twins mostly because of the dearth of talent at shortstop, which was then his position. Dozier was then assigned to Rochester and got a promotion to the Twins after a hot start in Triple A. Brian's rookie season was by most measures disappointing and ended with a demotion back to Rochester without a September recall.   2013 looked to be a year of decision for Dozier. He was mov
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Twins Headed in the Right Direction?

Future Stars: Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton. Emerging Rookie: Josmil Pinto Revelation: Chris Colabello. Starter who Finally "gets it": Trevor Plouffe. Only player to establish himself in 2013: Brian Dozier. What do all of these position players have in common? They are all right handed hitters.   Since the emergence of MVPs Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau the Twins have definitely leaned left. Perhaps not in sheer numbers, but the most feared and respected hitters were lefties. The sto
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Early Season Lefty-Righty Splits

The season is now 18 games old and some trends can be determined. The Twins are hitting .231 vs. left handers with an OPS of .670, while they have hit .261 vs. right handers and put up an OPS of .773. Looking at splits when the season is only 11% complete means that the sample sizes are really small, so there will be outliers. However, I think the numbers tell us something.   Some items of note: Three right handed hitting regulars (Dozier, Plouffe, and Pinto) have reverse splits. All are hi
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Thoughts on 10 Position Players--continued

After a bit of a hiatus, here is the completion of my blog:   6) Josmil Pinto--I was glad that Pinto made the club. Along with Arcia and Hicks, these guys are the start of a new infusion of talent that could and should make the Twins contenders again. It looks to me like Pinto can hit--he's advanced from Class A in the last two years and has shown that he gets it. His defense seems to be lagging, but he has the tools and the work ethic to become a decent receiver. Pinto has some power and h
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10 Opinions

1) All baseball fans that have the capacity to visit Spring Training should do so. Hope springs eternal, but more than that, fans can watch drills and minor league games and scrimmages. At Fort Myers, we can sit next to minor league prospects, scouts, and knowledgeable fans. In past years, TR was on the premises and talked with fans sharing much more than makes the papers. It is great to watch both the top prospects and the most anonymous players. Autographs are fairly easy to get and the a
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Stasis

In most science fiction shows I have seen, somebody is in stasis (I hope I spelled it right and I am using it correctly). That means that the person or creature in question is in an unchanged state as time goes by.   It is my opinion that the Twins basically spent 2013 in stasis. I expected at the start of 2013 the Twins would move some veterans, find out about some prospective regulars and start in the development of a starting rotation. None of that happened. almost all of what was unset
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Meh on Gardenhire

I could call it mixed feelings, I could call it being worn down by all the bad news from my favorite team, or maybe it is that I don't think it will make much difference whether Ron Gardenhire was retained. I can't get too worked up about the move. I heard the news and didn't respond. Maybe I'm numb.   About 10 hours later, though, I'm starting to think about the whole process. What did Gardy do to get two more years? In my humble opinion, there was more justification to extend him a year a
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My First Projection of the 2014 Twins

The Twins will finish their third straight losing season late this month. In a year where I expected they would not contend, they haven't but more to the point they have had precious few players step up and establish themselves. All true-blue Twins fans know that there is impressive talent on it's way to Minnesota, especially among the position players. What was needed this year was to have some of the current roster establish itself for the second half of the decade. With the exception of s
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September Call Ups from Rochester

The Twins put three minor league teams in the playoffs and have seen them all falter. Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers both were defeated 2-0 and Rochester trails 2-1 in a best of five series. The Red Wings will need to win two straight at Pawtucket to advance in the International League playoffs.   When the Red Wings are eliminated, the Twins will call up a few of their players. Depending on injuries, that number could be as low as three or as high as five or six. My guess is that the Twins wi
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Fire 'em All!

I haven't paid close attention to the Twins for the past couple of weeks. I was on the road last (long) weekend and have played golf in the warm weather every night. I caught part of the game yesterday and followed along as the Twins were swept today. My frustration level with the product on the field has reached new highs. I checked out the numbers for all of the players and besides the disabled Mauer, no one is an even average hitter for their position. Yesterday was a sloppy defensive ga
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The Best News for the 2013 Minnesota Twins

The Twins started 2013 with many question marks. The entire starting rotation was questioned (rightly), and new starters were introduced at 2B, SS, 3B, and RF. Center field was to be manned by a rookie who hadn't played above AA and several new arms were being deployed in the bullpen.   The established players were Willingham, Morneau, and Mauer, with DH and backup catcher being handled by veteran Ryan Doumit.   While not much was expected, the goal was to see some or all of the new player e
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A Nice Day at Target Field

My best friend from high school and me stay in touch but seldom see each other. We decided we would attend a game sometime this summer and he called me last week telling me that he had tickets given to him to see the Astros--yes! The Astros--today. We met and had lunch and then attended the game. The weather was pleasant (mid 70s and mostly cloudy) and the Twins should certainly have had a chance since they were playing the worst team in mlb.   The Twins did prevail 3-2 and the crowd was
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Rebuild a contender

All pretense that the Twins can or would contend in 2013 is gone, the product of a couple of bad losing streaks and the lack of competitive starting pitching. The club needs to focus on 2014 and beyond. Much speculation has been posted on Twins Daily about deadline deals and I'm sure that will continue even past the non-waiver deadline. Selling off veterans would have many effects: 1) It will make the team worse on the field immediately 2) it will give rookies and non-veterans a chance to sh
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Thoughts and Players to Watch

The Twins have played the fewest games in the AL (along with the White Sox) and after 66 games, they are about what I thought they would be at this point: They are in fourth in their division and are within sight of everyone but Detroit. Big picture: Fine with me, I want to see this team sell at the trade deadline, but I don't want them to be dreadful.   What is not fine with me is that the players I want the Twins to sell just aren't performing that well. Doumit (.288/.405/.692), Morneau
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Defense! It Saved Two Jobs and Solidified One.

If Brian Dozier played second base this year like he played shortstop last year, is there any chance he'd still be on the big league roster? If Chris Parmelee played right field with the proficiency of Ryan Doumit and (so far) Osvaldo Arcia, would he be in Minneapolis or Rochester (NY)? Finally, if Pedro Florimon played shortstop like he did last year and the first couple weeks of this year, would the fans be calling for Escobar, Carroll and Danny Santana?   I think the answer to all three q
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Black Holes--Part III

I've blogged about the disappointing offense for the 2013 Twins and pointed out three guys who are offensive tail enders. Brian Dozier--limited ceiling middle infielder, Chris Parmelee--right fielder/first baseman who has teased the Twins with good stretches, but has failed once and is failing again to secure a spot from the start of the season and now Aaron Hicks.   Aaron Hicks ranks fifteenth of fifteen center fielders in OPS. He started the season as the Twins' leadoff hitter and center fie
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Black Holes--Part II

I introduced my thoughts on the Twins' failings on offense and pointed out three players who are toward the bottom of the statistical pile--Brian Dozier, Chris Parmelee and Aaron Hicks. I profiled Dozier as a low-ceiling guy in a position of need and optimistically said that he is capable of a .675-.700 OPS, which would be good enough to keep his job going forward. Chris Parmelee is my next topic.   Chris Parmelee was a #1 draft choice for the Twins in 2006. He progressed slowly through the m
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The "Black Holes"--Part I

As the season approaches the one-third mark, the Twins have slipped well below .500 and are now in a logjam of teams (a half game ahead of Toronto and Seattle, tied with KC, a half game behind the Angels) that has to look up to see respectability and only solidly ahead of one team (the woebegone Astros). Starting pitching is the main culprit, but the team hasn't produced offensively either. The Twins are 10th in runs per game, 14th (next to last) in OPS and homers and last in slugging. The of
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All the Right Moves?

After a period of stability, the Twins have made a rash of moves. Many of the moves have been panned by the denizens of Twins Daily for being shortsighted, cheap, stupid or all of the above. Some are calling out the GM for saying the team was trying to compete when, in fact, they are rebuilding and focusing on next year or the year after.   News flash! The team isn't going to contend this year. Ryan's "contention" talk was predicated on miraculous performances by pitchers who have been much
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Ex-Twins in the Majors

Here is a list of ex-Twins who have made Opening Day rosters in the major leagues. Long on pitchers and outfielders, short on infielders and starting pitching quality. Sound familiar?   Denard Span--Nationals Ben Revere--Phillies Jason Kubel--Diamondbacks Carlos Gomez--Brewers Torii Hunter--Tigers Michael Cuddyer--Rockies Garrett Jones--Pirates Alexi Casilla--Orioles JJ Hardy--Orioles Nick Punto--Dodgers Henry Blanco--Blue Jays AJ Pierzynski--Rangers Wilson Ramos--Nationals Jason Marquis--Padr
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20 Games and Potential Logjams

The Twins have hit the 20 game milestone and are a breakeven 10-10. Considering the pessimism going into the season, we Twins fans should be happy with the results. Some raw numbers: Run differential is -6. Team ERA is 3.92, the Twins have scored 83 runs despite only 13 homers and a league-worst slugging percentage. They are 5-2 in one-run games and have allowed only 11 homers, second best in the AL. Many of these stats can't be sustained--they will allow more homers and win fewer close ga
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A Really Bad Week

Since the Twins won last Sunday to go 4-2, they have lost five consecutive games and fallen to the basement of the AL Central. More to the point, they now have one of the worst run differentials in the AL and their offensive, defensive, and pitching stats are among the worst, as well.   There haven't been many positive surprises and there have been disappointments throughout the roster. The #1 disappointment has to be Aaron Hicks, hitting a microscopic .057 with an OPS of .155. Vanimal has ha
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