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About this blog

On-site Twins coverage from Brandon Warne, Zone Coverage Twins beat reporter

Entries in this blog

Garver, Donaldson Express Thoughts, Concerns on Proposed Altered MLB Season

This is an excerpt from a story which originates at Zone Coverage, please click here to read in full.   Minnesota Twins players Mitch Garver and Josh Donaldson addressed local media on a conference call Thursday afternoon, and it covered a wide range of subjects -- many of which would come as no surprise to curious fans. What are they specifically doing to maintain as much of their Grapefruit League progress as possible? What are they doing to pass the days when they aren't working out? Where
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

3

The Case for Trading Eddie Rosario this Winter

This is an excerpt from an article that appears at Zone Coverage in full here. Please click through to read it in full.   No matter what direction the 2019 season takes the Minnesota Twins, their offseason is going to be filled with intrigue.   Three of the team’s five starting pitchers — Kyle Gibson, Jake Odorizzi and Michael Pineda — are eligible for free agency, leaving Jose Berrios and Martin Perez, who has a team option, as potentially the sole holdovers heading into 2020. And while the Twi
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

12

Despite Recent Turmoil, Twins Rotation has Provided Immense Boost in Strong Season

This excerpt is from an article originating at Zone Coverage. Click here to read it in full.When Devin   Smeltzer was summoned to make a spot start after Michael Pineda was placed on the injured list last Sunday, he became the first pitcher outside of the team’s established rotation to make more than two starts in 2019.   Kohl Stewart has made two starts and Lewis Thorpe has made one. Through 100 team games, 95 of them were started by one of Jose Berrios, Martin Perez, Kyle Gibson, Jake Odorizzi
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

4

Observations as the Twins Complete a Sweep of the Royals behind Smeltzer's Gem

This is an excerpt form an article which originates at Zone Coverage. Click here to read it in full.   This isn't the first time Devin Smeltzer has been summoned to the Twin Cities to replace an ailing Michael Pineda on the Minnesota Twins' 25-man roster.   That came back in late May.   But if how the young lefty has thrown in his big-league stints has been any indication, there might not be many more recalls -- he's been that impressive.   The last time we saw the lefty on a big-league mound, h
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

1

Twins Clubhouse Reacts to Escobar's Homer off Dozier on Saturday Night

This is an excerpt of an article originating at Zone Coverage. Click here to read it in full.   On the surface, it was just a home run. In a year where 4,588 of them have been hit already, that hardly seems like a real headline-grabber.   MLB hitters have been hitting home runs at a rate of 1.39 per game -- by far the most in a season in history. It's not even really close; the 2017 season ranks second at 1.27 long balls per nine, and no other season is over 1.20.   The homer also came late in a
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

1

Warne Out (5/26): Power Ranking the Current 25-Man Roster of the Minnesota Twins

This article appears in full on Zone Coverage here. Please click through to read it.   Power ranking things can be a fun exercise.   It can be exhausting.   But few things get people talking as much as seeing their favorite things — be it baseball teams, foods or pop culture phenomena — ranked in an orderly list.   We’ve done this in this space before, but here’s how we’d power rank the current 25-man roster of the Minnesota Twins. Like most power rankings, a special formula is used with room fo
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

2

WARNE: Twins Capitalized on Unusual Offseason Marketplace to Build a Winner

This content originates at Zone Coverage here -- please click through to read it in its entirety.   In the mid-1980s, MLB teams colluded to keep player contracts — both in terms of length and dollars — from getting out of control. And while we’d stop short of using the c-word to describe the last two offseasons, there are some stunningly similar situations playing out before our very eyes.   Dallas Keuchel and Craig Kimbrel are both sitting at home twiddling their thumbs as teams now wait for th
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

4

WARNE: How Can the Minnesota Twins Address their Relief Woes?

This is an excerpt from an article which originates at Zone Coverage. Click here to read it in full.   It’s not hard to find people with the opinion that the Minnesota Twins need to make a move to address their bullpen.   Those people aren’t exactly wrong, either.   As of this writing, the Twins are ninth in the AL with a bullpen ERA of 4.73. They’re also ninth in WHIP (1.39) and 11th in strikeouts per nine innings (8.3).   Each of those numbers, on their surface, are not terribly exciting. But
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

5

Funneling to Tunneling -- the Rebuilding of Tyler Duffey

This is an except of a post originating from Zone Coverage. Read it in full at this link.   You could be forgiven if the Minnesota Twins recalling Tyler Duffey on the last homestand didn’t register on your radar.   A lot of things are going on with this team right now — most notably, winning and hitting homers — and the return of a reliever who posted a 7.20 ERA when fans saw him last probably doesn’t many of them too excited.   But if you think it’s the same Duffey you’ve seen before, you’re so
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

2

Common Health Concern Spawns Special Bond Between Kohl Stewart and Young Fan

WRITER NOTE: This is an excerpt from a story that appears in full on Zone Coverage here.   Sometimes you’re just in the right place at the right time.   On Saturday afternoon, that place was Bat & Barrel — the restaurant that used to be known as the Metropolitan Club — down the right-field line at Target Field.   Twins players and fans gathered at the stadium for the yearly gathering known as TwinsFest, which caps the club’s winter caravan and begins the road to Spring Training each year. M
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

3

Minnesota Twins Offseason Blueprint -- Version I

This is an excerpt from an article that appears at Zone Coverage; click here to read it in full.   The celebratory alcohol is barely dry on the shirts handed out to the Boston Red Sox after winning the World Series on Sunday night, but in a news cycle that never sleeps, we’re already moving onto the 2019 season via offseason moves.   The Minnesota Twins are facing a pivotal offseason. The brain trust of Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have overseen a swinging pendulum so far through two seasons, an
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

15

WARNE: How Can the Twins Find Their Brewers-like Path to October?

This is an excerpt of an article that appears at Zone Coverage, click here to read it in full!   By the looks of it, it was going to be a battle reminiscent of David and Goliath. Well, that is, the way Vegas might have seen that battle before it happened.   In one corner was the team everyone expected to be there. The Los Angeles Dodgers opened the year with a payroll of a touch over $187 million, and that was on the heels of spending $200-plus million in each of the previous five seasons.   In
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

2

What Statcast Says About Minnesota Twins Outfielders — 2016-18

This article appears in full on Zone Coverage here. Please click through to read it all.   Perhaps the most brilliant mind in contemporary baseball analysis — at least among those creating products available to the public — is Daren Willman, the proprietor of Baseball Savant, a website he created on his own before joining forces with MLB.com.   The site is a treasure trove of everything you could ever hope to imagine to learn about the game. You truly are limited only by your own imagination. I
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

6

WARNE: Trying to Make Sense of the Buxton Decision

This is an excerpt from an article on Zone Coverage; read it in full here.   Over the weekend the Minnesota Twins made waves in the baseball community by announcing that they were not bringing Byron Buxton up when the Triple-A season ends on Monday. The decision effectively ended Buxton’s 2018 season before it really got a chance to get going, and created a take-storm for one big reason.   By not bringing Buxton up for the last month of the season, they’ll retain his rights through the 2022 seas
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

5

Bobby Wilson Using “Eye of the Tiger” to Maintain Perspective During Trying Season

This is an excerpt from a story originating at Zone Coverage. Please click here to read the full story.   One thing I really like about baseball is that there’s always just so much going on. If you don’t pay attention 100 percent, you can easily miss something.   One thing I hone in on is weird personality quirks or tics players have while on the field. Josh Willingham used to open his eyes really wide before stepping into the batter’s box. Addison Reed immediately props his cap atop his head th
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

3

Debunking Your Favorite Logical Fallacies Regarding the Twins at the Trade Deadline

This is just part of the full story, which can be read at Zone Coverage here.   In case you've been under a rock over the past four days, you've no doubt seen the widespread reaction to how the Minnesota Twins handled the trade deadline.   It hasn't been great!   But most of it isn't rooted in facts or solid rationale. And I get it; fans are fired up because they get to know these players and then one day they're gone. I don't want people to lose sight of this even though I don't watch the Twins
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

18

WARNE: Twins Should Target Yasmani Grandal This Offseason

The full story can be read by clicking through here.   It’s no secret this year hasn’t gone as planned for the Minnesota Twins.   It’s also no secret that the Twins — who look drastically different than they did even a week ago — will see significant turnover this offseason on the roster.   Not only were traded players Eduardo Escobar, Brian Dozier, Lance Lynn and Zach Duke slated to become free agents in the offseason, but so too are Joe Mauer and possibly also Ervin Santana. The upshot here i
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

3

David Wells’ Perfect Game — 20 Years Later

This is an excerpt from a piece that originates at Zone Coverage here. Please click through to read the rest, and consider subscribing to the site.   It’s May 17, 1998.   It’s 8:30 a.m.   It’s a Sunday.   There is nothing remotely perfect about David Wells’ state of mind as he’s on the receiving end of a Senton Splash — as popularized by the Hardy Boyz of WWE fame from that era — from his son Brandon. Having poured himself into bed a mere 210 minutes earlier, Wells’ mind couldn’t be further from
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

3

WARNE: The Twins Should Promote Nick Gordon

This is an excerpt from a story that originated at Zone Coverage. Please read it in its entirety here, and consider subscribing to support the site.   The Miguel Sano injury situation trudged through Day 18 on Tuesday without much of an update as the Minnesota Twins prepared to open a quick two-game series with the St. Louis Cardinals.   “(It was) more of the same today,” manager Paul Molitor said. “(He) ran the bases. Still, from my vantage point, we’re not seeing max effort, which we’re going
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

3

Talking Shop with New Twins Pitching Coach Garvin Alston

It can take a little while for fans to figure out what a new coach is all about on their favorite team. For instance, it took a while into last season for Twins to hear about James Rowson’s hitting theories, both with Byron Buxton’s struggles and rebound as well as Eddie Rosario’s development as a hitter.   Now imagine how long it takes for a coach to learn about all their pupils. That’s even more true of new Twins pitching coach Garvin Alston, whose team is coming off using 36 pitchers last sea
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

4

WARNE: In an Offseason Game of Poker, Falvey and Levine Make out Like Bandits

Impatience is a natural tendency. That’s especially true for fans of a team that, despite making the postseason last year, had obvious flaws.   So in a sense, it was understandable when Minnesota Twins fans were annoyed that the team came home from the winter meetings just before Christmas with a 40-year-old closer and a broken down starter who gives up too many homers.   Little did they know what would lie ahead for the winter. In fact, it was another month before the Twins did anything substan
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

1

REPORT: Twins Sign Anibal Sanchez to One-Year Deal

Twitter was ablaze with the news that the Minnesota Twins had signed former Marlins and Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez to a one-year deal. Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports was the first to report a done deal, and also reported that it was a big-league deal worth $2.5 million over one year with the possibility of doubling that total via starts-based incentives.   MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger passes on that the deal is not guaranteed, though it does mean Sanchez will get a 40-man spot — one step up from a
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

1

WARNE: Shopping What’s Left in Free Agency for the Minnesota Twins

Pitchers and catchers report for the Minnesota Twins in less than a week, yet the pile of free agents looks as picked over as a Thanksgiving buffet after the first pass.   In short, there are plenty of leftovers — and primo ones, at that.   The Twins have already signed four pitchers to MLB deals, but could still stand to stock up on the remaining goods — all of which are likely to come at a lower price than when the winter started. It also isn’t a perfect roster for the Twins at this point. Sur
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

5

2017 Minnesota Twins Report Card: Alan Busenitz

This is a series of evaluations that will be done this offseason on every player that closed the season on the 40-man roster for the Minnesota Twins throughout the winter until each player has been evaluated. The plan is to start with Mr. Belisle and move all the way through the pitchers, then to the catchers, infielders, outfielders and finally those listed as designated hitters on the club’s official MLB.com roster. That means we’ll wrap it up with Kennys Vargas sometime before the season star
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

4

WARNE: Power Ranking the Fits for the Twins in Free Agency

The hot stove has remained tepid to this point, and while that has been cause for a bit of antsiness among fans and people who care about this news, it also allows us to do what teams are doing with these players — dig in a bit deeper.   So today, we’re taking a look at the power rankings of the players who offer the best fits for the Twins as free agents this offseason with all avenues considered.   1. Shohei Ohtani – RHP/LHH – Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters   Because of the cost-to-potential rat
Brandon Warne

Brandon Warne

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