The Minnesota Twins and their full season minor league affiliates announced those affiliates’ initial rosters on Sunday and Monday this week and the one thing that stood out about almost every roster was the number of players returning to the same level where they finished their respective 2015 campaigns. The Cedar Rapids Kernels initial roster, for example, includes 16 players that also wore Kernels uniforms last season and many of them performed quite well in the Class A Midwest League – wel
The Cedar Rapids Kernels organized two public events to give fans and media opportunities to meet the 2016 crop of ballplayers and coaching staff this week. The team arrived on Monday and were greeted at Veterans Stadium by fans and staff as their bus from the airport pulled into the players' parking lot. On Tuesday, the annual Meet the Kernels Night gave media an opportunity to talk to manager Jake Mauer and his coaches, as well as a trio of ballplayers, while other players mingled with fan
What is baseball going to do about teams tanking? That question, framed in one manner or another, is being posed incessantly by baseball media’s talking heads as Major League Baseball prepares to kick off the 2016 season. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/tanking2-600x355.jpg There’s no question that teams like the Washington Nationals, Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs have emerged from prolonged periods of ineptitude to become not only competitive, but, in the case
I did something recently that I hadn’t done in probably 15 years. It used to be a habit. In fact, in retrospect, it may have actually become my very first true habit – something I came to feel I needed. Whether it was a good habit or a bad habit is probably open to debate, depending on one’s perspective. (This article was originally published at Knuckleballsblog.com) http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/carlinquote-2-600x400.jpg The habit had its roots in my youth.
The pitchers and catchers for the Minnesota Twins have finally reported to Spring Training and position players are already filtering into the Fort Myers camp in advance of their mandatory reporting day later this week. The Twins will open their season in Baltimore on April 4, but from all that’s being written about the Twins, it appears there are only minor questions about the composition of the Opening Day roster and even less question about the Opening Day lineup. Manager Paul Molitor has s
In an article posted early Friday afternoon, Brian Murphy of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reported that Minnesota Twins catcher-turned-first baseman Joe Mauer has continued to suffer from concussion symptoms, including blurred vision, over the past two seasons. (Click here to read the article) This is some scary stuff. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/MauerST11j-1024x767.jpg Joe Mauer (Photo: SD Buhr) The Mauer story has been beaten to death, so I won’t rehash every
I haven't published a "Twins Top 15 Prospects List" this offseason, yet. There are plenty of other writers who do and many of them probably have better insight into who the top names should be than I do. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/BuxtonStage3-600x400.jpg This should be the last year that Byron Buxton's name shows up on any "Top Prospect" list. I didn't really make a conscious decision not to do a list this year. I just didn't get around to it, until now. (T
Jose Berrios has shot up the national "top prospect" rankings based on his performance the past couple of years in the Minnesota Twins organization and on Wednesday night, Berrios joined his former manager with the Cedar Rapids Kernels, Jake Mauer, and Twins farm director Brad Steil to participate in a “roundtable” discussion at the Kernels’ annual Hot Stove Banquet. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/MauerSteilBerrios-600x400.jpg Jake Mauer, Brad Steil and Jose Berrios
Make a list of the top three things you think are wrong with professional baseball today. In fact, make it five things, if you wish. A year from now, the landscape regarding those issues is likely to be quite different than it is today. Things may be better, from your point of view, or they may be worse. I take that back. Unless you’re a Major League ballplayer, they’re almost certainly going to be worse. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com) Major League Baseball
Today, I want to revisit something I wrote in a prior post. The subject (as so many things written by so many people has been) was centered around what the Twins should do with regard to Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton. Maybe you take them aside and say, “Guys, if you’re healthy in April, you’re going to be Minnesota Twins. You may perform like Kennys Vargas or you may look more like Aaron Hicks, but you’re going to stay in Minnesota. You will not be sent back to the minors. From this point forw
The Minnesota Twins held a press conference Wednesday morning to introduce their newest addition to the family, Korean slugger Byung Ho Park. The hope is that Park can approach the level of production he showed in Korea and, if so, join potential stars Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton as cornerstones in a Twins everyday lineup being built to contend for the postseason for years to come. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Park-press-conference.jpg By now, everyone knows h
In 2015, Twins outfield prospect Max Kepler had his long-awaited breakout season, primarily with the Class AA Chattanooga Lookouts. He was the Southern League Player of the Year and, immediately after his Lookouts team won the Southern League Championship, Kepler was on his way to join the Twins for the remainder of the 2016 season. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/Kepler2015a-600x400.jpg Max Kepler Kepler had an injury-plagued season in 2013, not being able to even
Last week, Minnesota Twins General Manager Terry Ryan went back-to-back-to-back making three deals in three days in an effort to improve his club, winning the bidding for the right to negotiate with Korean slugging first baseman/DH Byung-ho Park, trading backup catcher Chris Herrmann for a prospect, which cleared the way for catcher John Ryan Murphy to be added via trade. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Ryan2015-600x399.jpg After one or two more roster adjustments, T
Here we are in the final week of the 2015 MLB season and the Twins are still in contention for a playoff spot. All things considered, that’s pretty incredible. Virtually none of us expected this when the season began. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/what-if-600x304.jpg Hoped for it? Sure. We all hope for it. We’ve hoped for it for the past four years, too, but show me someone who went on record in April that the Twins would have a .500 record locked down and still be
If you go to the web site of the baseball program at the University of South Carolina-Aiken, you’ll find a link listing all of the Pacer ballplayers who are playing professional baseball. Well, not quite all of them. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Miller2015b.jpg Sean Miller (Photo: SD Buhr) Cedar Rapids Kernels infielder Sean Miller spent three years in a Pacers uniform and he’s now played for two minor league teams, but South Carolina-Aiken’s webmaster hasn’t
Every minor leaguer's goal entering the season is to develop his game to the point where he earns a promotion to the next higher level in the system. Sometimes, that call comes when a player has dominated play within their league. Other times, circumstances align to create an opportunity for players to move up the organizational ladder, at least temporarily. Such circumstances allowed Cedar Rapids Kernels third baseman TJ White and catcher/first baseman Brett Doe to spend a few weeks each in
We’ve reached the end of the Dog Days of Summer, that period that stretches from 20 days before Sirius (the Dog Star) is precisely in conjunction with the sun until 20 days after those bodies are in alignment. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Gibbons2015e.jpg Sam Gibbons (Photo: SD Buhr) Those 40 or so days are typically the most cruelly hot of the summer and, coincidentally or not, the days when young professional baseball players often hit the proverbial “wall” du
I suppose this is what we asked for, Twins fans. Our team is playing “meaningful games” in August. Technically, they even continue to possess the second American League wild card spot (for a few more hours anyway). Entering the season, if someone had told us that our Twins would be right in the thick of the hunt for even a wild card postseason spot, I think most of us would have smiled and said, “thank you.” http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/TRyan2014d.jpg Some of
http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/Kelly2015c.jpg Pat Kelly (Photo: SD Buhr) The first, last and most important job any minor league baseball player has is to work hard at improving his skills to move on up the organizational ladder to the next level. That said, when Cedar Rapids Kernels infielder Pat Kelly gets his next promotion, it may be bittersweet news for Pat and, more specifically, his family members that have been making frequent trips from Red Wing, Minnesot
In each of the past several seasons, the Cedar Rapids Kernels have held an “Autism Awareness Night” at the Veterans Memorial Stadium, with the Kernels wearing special jerseys that are auctioned off to benefit The East Central Iowa Autism Society. The Society’s web site reports that the rate of autism is currently 1 in 88. However, as the site goes on to point out, “To most Americans, 1 in 88 is a number. To the families of a child with autism, our 1 in 88 has a face and a name.” For one Kern
When you ask ballplayers about their outside interests, it’s not unusual for them to express an interest in hunting. In that regard, Kernels’ pitcher Randy LeBlanc fits in with the crowd. It’s when you ask what he hunts that LeBlanc begins to vary from the norm. He’ll tell you he spent most of his offseason fishing and duck hunting, with a little deer hunting thrown in. Although, “my dad does more deer hunting than I do,” he says. After a pause though, he adds the kicker. “I’ve been gato
The Midwest League’s Eastern Division All-Stars took two hours and forty-four minutes to top their Western Division counterparts 5-0 in Peoria Tuesday night, but any Cedar Rapids fans who made the trip hoping to watch the Kernels’ representatives had to be careful with the timing of any trips to the concession stand. Pitchers Felix Jorge, Jared Wilson, Trevor Hildenberg and Cam Booser spent less than a combined 15 minutes on the mound while throwing a total of two and one-third innings for the
Brett Doe didn’t make the trip north to Cedar Rapids out of spring training with his friends and teammates when they broke camp to start the 2015 season, a fact that was, “pretty disheartening,” Doe said in an interview over the past weekend. "When I first heard it, it was pretty tough," Doe admitted. "I played with most of these guys down in E’town and they’re definitely the guys that I wanted to spend the year playing with." Doe didn't allow himself to dwell long on that disheartened feeli
Going in to this weekend’s series against the Milwaukee Brewers, our Minnesota Twins are 11 games over .500, sitting atop the American League Central Division (barely) with a 32-21 record. Naturally, after the four year run of futility Twins fans have endured coming in to the current season, the main topic of conversation in the Twins community revolves around, “is this for real or are they going to crash and burn?” http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/MayST15a-600x400.j
One of the things the Minnesota Twins and Cedar Rapids Kernels organizations have in common is an emphasis on community service and that commonality was on display Saturday morning on Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids. http://knuckleballsblog.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/WilsonTheofanopoulos2-600x400.jpg Jared Wilson and Michael Theofanopoulos working in the bullpen with young pitchers After playing a night game on Friday night, Kernels hitting coach Tommy
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 🙂
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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
