What a strange season. I didn't think the Twins would be playing decent baseball as the calendar switched to July. I didn't think that Byron Buxton would be up, after his essentially lost 2014 season. I didn't think Trevor May would be (as of late) the team's most dominant starting pitcher. And I sure didn't think this proverbial ragtag bunch of misfits would -- if the season ended today -- be a wild card playoff team. I thought 2015 would be the season where players like Oswaldo Arcia, Aa
You've probably heard the news by now that the Twins are out, and the Colorado Rockies are in, as New Britain's class AA affiliate. It's been a strange few months here in Connecticut on the baseball and political fronts, culminating with yesterday's news. Back in June, Rock Cats managing partner Josh Solomon triumphantly (and surprisingly) announced from the steps of Hartford City Hall that the Rock Cats would be moving from their longtime home of New Britain to a brand new stadium in Hartford
My article last week suggesting that the Twins trade Glen Perkins (for the right offer) is one of the most read things I've written. Although there were only a handful of comments at Twins Fan From Afar, over here at TwinsDaily there are nearly 200 comments (most of them well thought out). MLBTradeRumors also linked to the article, and it ran in the Star Tribune. In other words, more than the usual 5 found this article. I don't have anything to compare with for this week, so I'm going to beat
If you follow me on Twitter, you probably know that something clicked -- something changed -- last night. The most thorough and comprehensive Twins beat writer, Mike Berardino, tweeted a series of quotes from Twins' manager Ron Gardenhire on player injuries. And it set me off. In fact, it might be fair to say that I freaked out. I tweeted a bunch of things, but decided to wait a full 24 hours to write comprehensively on this. In that interim period, Mike published Gardy's full quotes. That's go
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-056cy5Z-OeM/UuGpH01MrdI/AAAAAAAAAto/__6b6ORgXW4/s1600/BlogTalkRadio.jpg [Originally published at Twins Fan From Afar] I've only done a few podcasts in the couple years that I've had this blog, but it's a lot of fun to do. Last night, Travis Aune, keeper of Texas Twins Fan, was nice enough to invite me on his weekly podcast. We talked for almost an hour. You definitely have to listen to it, but topics ranged from the Yankees' signing of Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanak
Yes, I am aware that there are a couple weeks left in the season. But the Twins are dead. Dead as a door-nail. And they've been that way for months (years?). Shortly after this season comes to its pitiful end, the Twins' brass and field personnel will assemble, as they do every year, in Ft. Myers, for the organizational meetings. Among other topics, they will dissect the 2013 season, and what exactly caused this year's ineptitude. [TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] [TD=align: center]http://1.b
When Target Field opened, I was living in Connecticut (as I do now), but harbored a dream of moving back to Minnesota. I was naive. I thought -- even though I was an attorney licensed to practice in Connecticut only, even though I owned a home in Connecticut, and even though many of my professional ties to Minnesota had dwindled -- that I could somehow easily move across the country and re-establish things back home. For many, many reasons (the prolonged economic crisis being one of them), that
[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] [TD=align: center]http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pfGvYWNUy-U/Uiadg78Eu1I/AAAAAAAAAq4/5S1qwvRBrms/s400/Pinto.jpg[/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]Rock Cats, Red Wings, and now Twins catcher, Josmil Pinto [/TD] [/TABLE] I'll be the first to admit that the bulk of my Rock Cats coverage this season has centered around Miguel Sano. And it's for a reason -- he's the best prospect that has played for New Britain since I have been following the team. People
Today was the first full day in Twins Territory without Justin Morneau. Although most people weren't too surprised to see him depart, it does leave a large, Canadian void at first base. He had one hell of a Twins career. I wrote a piece on my blog about his departure. So check it out if you're interested. Now, onto today's minor league action. ROCHESTER 3, SCRANTON W/B 2 As a result of today's win, the Red Wings' season will come down down to a final game Monday. Per the Red Wings: "The win
Last night I had a brief, and sort of strange, Twitter exchange with Tom Powers of the Pioneer Press. He tweeted "I'm still waiting for the Twins organization to hand Miguel Sano a first baseman's mitt." We exchanged a few respectful replies - this definitely wasn't a Twitter argument or war -- but it was still very confusing to me, and I still firmly believe I'm correct. (Here's the link to the first of the Tweets.) First, let's agree on one thing: Powers is correct that Sano's defense had
[TABLE=class: tr-caption-container] [TD=align: center]http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G5voEsiX99s/UhVn3sCEbuI/AAAAAAAAAqA/GZC6T-TeUwk/s320/Smiddy.jpg[/TD] [TD=class: tr-caption, align: center]Rock Cats' Manager Jeff Smith. Courtesy of Richard Messina, Hartford Courant [/TD] [/TABLE] I've been spoiled. This summer, I've been able to watch Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario, from right over the home dugout, for $15 a ticket. You might think that having Sano and Rosario on the same minor league team, at
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 🙂