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Talkin' Twins with Jonathon

A blog by Jonathon Zenk in Twins Daily

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About this blog

Blogging Minnesota Twins

Entries in this blog

Top 10 Minnesota Twins moments of the decade

Honorable Mention: Twins open Target Field with win over Red Sox (2010) Kennys Vargas walk-off homer against league-leading Cardinals (2015) Twins come back from 6-0 deficit to beat Orioles (2017) Minnesota defeats Boston in 17 innings (2019) Eddie Rosario hits three homers against Cleveland, including walk-off (2018)   10. Devin’s Day (2019)   When Devin Smeltzer was just 9, he was diagnosed with cancer. Doctors found a grapefruit-sized cancerous tumor against his bladder. He had surgery, and w

Top Five Twins Prospects Who Should be Promoted

With two months gone in the season, the Minnesota Twins big league club has the best record in baseball. In the minors, unfortunately, many big prospects are injured, some for a long period including Brusdar Graterol, Akil Baddoo, Stephen Gonsalves, Tyler Wells and Yunior Severino. However, there have been a number of bright spots in the minor league system. Many players have deservedly been already promoted this season. This list is for the players who should be moved up, and likely will be som

Thank You, Brian Dozier

It is hard to put into words how much Brian Dozier has meant to the Twins organization. It has been a blast watching Brian grow into one of the better power hitters in the league. He has had a bit of a down year, and that is a shame, but that does not take away the joy he has brought to not only Twins fans, but the community as well.   Many think of Dozier as the guy who gets upset when teams bunt for a hit in the ninth inning in a blowout like he did in the first series of the year in Baltimore

Updated Top Five Prospects Who Should Be Promoted

Two months ago, I wrote an article here about who should be promoted. Well, four of those five on the list have been promoted, as well as two of the three of my honorable mentions. Well, I am back again to do an updated list. I decided to write this one before I head off to school to work on my Master’s because I likely won’t have much time when that time comes.   Honorable Mentions: Johan Quezada, RP, Elizabethton Tyler Benninghoff, SP, GCL Twins Anthony Escobar, SP, DSL Twins Todd Van Steensel

Interesting Offseason Upcoming for Twins

I know, I know, the non-waiver trade deadline has not even passed and I am already talking about the offseason. Even with the hot stretch to end the first half, I don’t see the Twins making a run at the playoffs this season, especially after Cleveland’s addition of relief pitchers Brad Hand and Adam Cimber. Minnesota has yet to make a move, but I believe its best bet is to sell some (or maybe all) of their upcoming free agents.   Both infielders Brian Dozier and Eduardo Escobar are set to be fre

Rebuild Started on Draft Day 2016

I flash back to June 9, 2016, and the Minnesota Twins sat with a record of 18-40 and they were fighting the Atlanta Braves for the worst record in all of baseball. Not only that, but the minor league system left a lot to be desired. Byron Buxton and Jose Berrios were called up that season, and after the first few prospects, there was not much that excited Twins fans. So, in other words, their major league club was awful and there was not much help on the way.   Enter the 2016 draft. It turned ou

Top Five Prospects Who Should Be Promoted

We are just about two months into the regular season, and the Minnesota Twins are under-performing. When the Twins are pitching well, the offense is non-existent and when they are hitting well, the pitching has been bad. However, it is not all bad for the organization. The minor league system has been solid, with many of the organization’s top prospects playing like it. Like the past two seasons, this is a list of my top five prospects who should be promoted. Some of the top players like Stephen

Ben Rortvedt: the catcher of the future

After struggling his previous two seasons in the Minnesota Twins organization, Rortvedt is on fire to start 2018. He is finally coming into his own and becoming the catcher many thought he would become when drafted in the second round out of high school in 2016. After two subpar years, the great Tom Froemming and I were still high really high on Rortvedt. Still only 20, he has plenty of room for growth, and has the opportunity to be an All-Star catcher in the big leagues.   Rortvedt was more kno

Twins Top 10 Prospects (5-1)

Yesterday, I started to unveil my top 10 prospects for the Minnesota Twins. In case you did not see that article, here is the rundown...   10. Akil Baddoo, OF 9. Blayne Enlow, SP 8. Brusdar Graterol, SP 7. Alex Kirilloff, OF 6. Brent Rooker, OF/1B   Here is the rest of the list...   5. Wander Javier, SS (2017 team: Elizabethton)   Last season was Javier’s first taste of pro baseball in the United States after being a big money International Free Agency signing in 2015. In his first season in th

Twins Top 10 Prospects (10-6)

We are close to the beginning of the baseball season, so it is time to release my top 10 prospects for the Minnesota Twins. There are so many prospects who could make a huge jump and knock on the door of the top 10. After losing 2016 first round pick Alex Kirilloff for the whole 2017 season, he will be back. This is a deep prospect list and many could eventually make the big leagues.   10) Akil Baddoo, OF (2017 teams: GCL, Elizabethton)   Before Terry Ryan was fired, Baddoo was in his last draft

The Twins Have No Choice But to Sell

If you were to ask me whether the Twins should buy or sell during the All-Star break, I would have told you they should stand pat and maybe make a minor move or two. I would have also told you we’d know more after the tough stretch to begin the second half of the season. To start the unofficial second half of the season, Minnesota played a road series against both of the top teams in the league, Houston and the Dodgers, as well as Detroit and the Yankees. In those 12 games, Minnesota has won onl

Top Five Twins Prospects Who Should Be Promoted (July Edition)

I wrote one of these a few months ago and of the list of five I made back in May, three were promoted and two are on the disabled list or else they would have been promoted. There are only a few months left in the season, but I still decided to make another list. There is still time for promotions as the minor league affiliates enter the stretch drive. I avoided putting rookies on here, like Royce Lewis, although he may or may not be promoted to Elizabethton before the end of the season.   5. Cl

Top Five Twins Prospects Who Should Be Promoted

We are more than a month and a half into the season, and several prospects have gotten off to a great start. I avoided the prospects who have just been on their current team for just the last month and a half. Last year, I made a list like this and all five were promoted soon after I wrote it, so we’ll see if I have similar luck this year.   5. Tom Hackimer, RP, Cedar Rapids   I was tempted to put Fort Myers’ Williams Ramirez in this spot, but I decided against it since he has only pitched 22 in

Jonathon’s Top 10 Twins Prospects (5-1)

I gave you the first half of my top 10 Twins prospects yesterday, headlined by Kohl Stewart and Wander Javier. Now, it is time to reveal my top five prospects in the organization. Nobody should be surprised by who makes up the final five prospects on this list, but the question is which order will they be in. So, with that being said, here are my top five prospects for the Minnesota Twins.   5. Tyler Jay, SP/RP   Much like Stewart, Jay is an interesting pitcher as well, albeit for different reas

Jonathon’s Top 10 Twins Prospects (10-6)

Pitchers and catchers have recently reported and thus, baseball season is underway. This is subject to change, obviously, especially with the top pick in June’s draft coming into the system. Many people have their top prospect list of the Twins, so here is mine, starting with Nos. 10-6.   10. Lewin Diaz, 1B   The 20-year-old slugger finally came into his own last year. The 6-4 Diaz hit .310/.353/.575 and had 26 extra base hits, including nine homers. But Diaz struggles with strikeouts, much like

Terry Ryan deserves blame, but he is not the only one

Minnesota has a number of problems this season, as its record indicates. People are focusing most of the blame on General Manager Terry Ryan. I am here to tell you that while Ryan deserves his fair share, it is not just him. He gets the most heat, and rightfully so, since he is the general manager, but there is much blame to go around. There is a phrase that is going around when talking about the Twins, and that is ‘Total System Failure.’ Those three words seem appropriate considering where the

*Updated* Top Five Prospects who should be promoted

Last month, I compiled a list of my top five players who should be promoted. A little more than a month later, all five of those prospects have either been promoted or, in J.T. Chargois’ case, spent time at the next level. With those promotions, I thought it would be a good idea to give an updated list, so here is an updated version of my top five prospects who should be promoted:   5. Trevor Hildenberger, RP, Chattanooga   I debated whether or not I should include Hildenberger on this list for

Top five unbreakable baseball records (since 1930)

I have always been enamored with the history of sports, so I thought I would do a top five unbreakable records in Major League baseball. I cut it off at since 1930, so I have not included the Cy Young’s 511 wins, Charles Radbourn’s 59 wins in a season in 1884 or Will White’s 75 complete games in 1879 since those records are impossible to break. There are many records that most likely won’t ever be broken, but I narrowed it down to just five and here they are:   5. Nolan Ryan’s 2,795 walks   This

Everyone chipping in for Lookouts in recent roll

The Chattanooga Lookouts are playing as well as any team in the minor leagues, having won 13 of their last 18 games. The catalyst has been slugger Daniel Palka, but others have chipped in as well to help the Lookouts go from seven games below the .500 mark to one game above.   In the month of June, Palka has been unstoppable, leading Chattanooga to an 11-4 start to the month. The 24-year-old outfielder has a .288 batting average (15-52) with nine homers and 19 RBI. Palka was acquired in an offse

MLB Draft rant

This is not a “story” as much as it just a rant. It is about the baseball draft. I have to mostly refrain myself from viewing comments on Twitter and Facebook and then also responding to the people who actually do make the comments.   First of all, the MLB draft is about the future......as in three or four years from now. The number of people who complained about the first round pick of the Twins because their major league pitching staff is not any good makes my head spin. I don’t think any of t

Top five Twins who could be dealt by the deadline

The Minnesota Twins have been out of the playoff race since the first two weeks of the season and may be in position to trade some assets to contenders. I don’t think the Twins will be major sellers, but if the opportunity arises to trade a productive player who may not be in the long-term plans, the team will take a look into that. Here, I will give you my top five players who could be dealt by the Twins:     5. Fernando Abad, RP   Abad has been lights out coming out of the Twins bullpen this y

Twins All-Star representative?

We are about a month away from the All-Star game, but it is about the time we can start thinking about who will be the Twins' representative for the All-Star game. There are no clear-cut favorites at this point, especially given the team's horrid start. However, even though the team is terrible, there have been a few bright spots on the team. I will give you a top three.   3. Joe Mauer, 1B   If you were to ask this question a month ago, Mauer would probably have been No. 1 on this list. He got o

With recent promotions, who is next?

Two weeks ago, I wrote an article about who the top five prospects who should be promoted are. Earlier this week, two of them indeed were promoted when Kohl Stewart was promoted from Fort Myers to Double-A Chattanooga and Randy LeBlanc was promoted to High-A Fort Myers to take over Stewart's place in the rotation.   Stewart had a bit of a rough last few starts in Fort Myers, giving up seven earned runs in 11 innings over his last two starts. But before then, he was lights out. He finished this s

Five prospects who the Twins should promote

We are a month and a half into the baseball season and the Minnesota Twins are a woeful 10-30, tied with the Atlanta Braves for the worst record in the league. Right now, most Twins fans should turn their attention to minor league baseball. There are a handful of minor leaguers in the Twins system who deserve a promotion. I tried to avoid players, especially younger ones, who have only been at their respective level for only this season. Here are my top five:   5. LaMonte Wade, OF, Cedar Rapids

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