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Twins Daily

Polanco to Rochester?

Why is Polanco not getting a taste of AAA? He is being blocked by a 27 year old who has never hit above .300 at any level.(Diaz) Bernier does not count. What is the thinking here? Does anyone think Polanco should get another taste of the show while Santana gets a bit more seasoning at Rochester?

Minnesota Twins Can Begin to Create Believers on Current Homestand

We haven't done anything [yet], but we've put ourselves in good position. -- Twins general manager Terry Ryan, 5/25/15 The Minnesota Twins are within striking distance of the AL Central lead in April for the first time since 2010. At 26-18, they are eight games above .500, the first time they have been three or more games above .500 since the 2011 season. They are getting contributions from hitters up and down their lineup, the starting pitching is holding its own, and yet fans remain jaded afte

The Twins Depth Is Turning Into A Tightrope

Nearing the end of May, over a quarter of the 2015 Major League Baseball season is in the books. As it stands, the Minnesota Twins are in sole possession of second place in the American League Central Division, and they have one of the best records in the American League. With the Twins continuing to trend in an upwards direction, managing their depth and walking the tightrope through some difficult decisions will shape their summer. At the major league level right now, the Twins have players su

Evaluating the Twins Bullpen: Part I

This is the first part in one I envision being a three part examination of the Twins bullpen. In Part I, I will look at the 2015 Twins bullpen as a whole, and compare it to the other bullpens in MLB. In Parts II and III, I will look at the performance of the individual members of the Twins bullpen and then at several players in the upper levels of the Twins minor league system who could be viable replacement options. There are two main features of the Twins’ bullpen so far in 2015: it’s bad, a
  • Boone

Twins Minor League Report (5/24): Milone and Slegers Dominate

All four of the Minnesota Twins affiliates were in action on Sunday afternoon, and along with Major League team, the organization had an undefeated day.   In Rochester, a certain starting pitcher continued his run of AAA dominance, top prospects began and ended the scoring for Chattanooga, Fort Myers got a complete game shutout effort on the hill, and the Cedar Rapids lineup knocked the Twins’ former affiliate around their old ball park.   Read on to find out who did what and where in Sunday’s M

2015 Top 30 prospects

I like doing prospect lists sometime after the draft and after some rookie ball has been played. In part because it's a bit of a slow time of the year in the minor league forums and in the last few years, it's been relatively slow in the major league forums. This is a link to my top 25 from last season. Most of these guys are still in the system, and that has a lot to do with the fact that they were mostly excelling at the lower levels. That has changed with a lot of guys showing good results in

Projections Are Made To Be Adjusted

With the first quarter of the 2015 Major League Baseball season in the books, we are provided a great opportunity to take a look at how the season is shaping up. Considering the projections that were made coming into the year, it's a good time to see how things stand, and take note of some adjustments that may shake out as the season draws on. Keeping the focus on the AL Central, namely the Twins, let's take a look at the division first. Going into the year I had a hard time believing that any t

New Opportunities Await Twins In Chicago

The Minnesota Twins are set to kick off a three game series with the Southsiders over the weekend. With the White Sox welcoming the Twins into town, Minnesota is set to do battle with an AL Central opponent for the first time in just over a week. On the season, the Twins are 5-2 against Chicago, including a four game sweep. This time around however, a few key opportunities will present themselves.   As things stand currently, the Twins are 23-17 holding down the third spot in the AL Central. The

Kernels Passing Their Mid-terms

The Cedar Rapids Kernels passed the midpoint of the first half of their 2015 season over the past weekend, making it an appropriate time to get manager Jake Mauer’s assessment of how their season is progressing.   There’s not a lot for the manager to complain loudly about, with his team vying for the second best record in the entire Midwest League. Then again, his guys have consistently remained several games behind Western Division leading Quad Cities in the standings, so there’s certainly room

Joe Mauer Is Reinventing Meaningful Statistics

In the dead of the Pittsburgh night, late in the game (the top of the 13th inning to be exact), Joe Mauer did something that he has abandoned since August 17, 2014. With Antonio Bastardo on the mound, Mauer deposited a pitch over the right-centerfield wall at PNC Bank stadium. The Twins went on to win the game by a tally of 4-3. The home run was the shot that lifted Minnesota over the Pirates, but for Joe, it really doesn't matter. The home run off of Bastardo ended a 286 at bat drought for Maue

The Twins Best Kept Secret

As of May 20, the Minnesota Twins have played 39 games and have compiled a 22-17 record. After being picked by many to finish last in the AL Central, and even lose 90 games for a 5th straight year by some, Minnesota has done nothing but surpass expectations. Sitting third in the AL Central, the Twins offense has once again been one of the best in the big leagues (currently 6th in runs scored). While starting pitching has been better than in recent years, it is one man in the bullpen that may be

Cereal and Statistics

I tend to spend my mornings with four things: a bowl of cereal, a cup of tea at hand, my MLB At Bat app and a folded over copy of The Economist magazine.   As I gorge on both carbs and information, I'm happy to know that the Twins have room to grow and that seemingly every night someone out does themselves (even if someone else does worse). But I'm also happy to balance the Twins in one corner of my mind and world events (like Greek debt defaults and Indian corruption trials) are squarely in ano

Max Kepler Shows Breakout Potential

Max Kepler has been featured up and down Twins prospect lists since the Twins signed him as a teenager out of Europe. The list of successful major league players born in Europe is small but there's always been a little something extra with Kepler.   His parents were both professional dancers so he's got a strong athletic background. Minnesota took it slow with Kepler allowing him to play three years in the rookie leagues. Over the last two seasons, he has worked through both Low-A and High-A and

Kyle Gibson Is Elite

Kyle Gibson is elite...when it comes to ground ball pitchers. And that's a good thing.   According to Baseball Nation, a ground ball pitcher is a type of pitcher that has a tendency to induce ground balls from opposing batters. The average ground ball pitcher has a ground ball rate of at least 50% with extreme ground ball pitchers maintaining a ground ball rate of around 55%.   In his brief MLB career, Gibson has consistently proven he is a top 20 pitcher at inducing ground balls. Gibson had a

Minnesota Twins’ Player Development Key To Establishing Trust With Fan Base Again

This isn’t exactly the blueprint that we had in mind, going out and signing a guy to $55 million. The ideal is to have them keep coming through the system. – Twins GM Terry Ryan after signing Ervin Santana, 12/15/14   Minnesota Twins general manager Terry Ryan said some intriguing things this offseason, chief among them were: 1) That he wants to make the playoffs this year (“I’m trying to be realistic. Our expectations in that clubhouse should be to make the postseason.” — Nov. 11).   2) That th

Twins Face Odd Challenges in Pittsburgh

For the first time in the 2015 Major League Baseball season, and also coincidentally the first time in Paul Molitor's managerial career, the Minnesota Twins will face off against a National League opponent. With that comes the challenges of managing around not having the designated hitter at your disposal. However silly I believe that to be (and I do think it's silly), Molitor may have the deck stacked against him. Now full disclosure, we aren't talking about Dan Jennings, Jeffrey Loria, and the

In the wake of the Vargas demotion thread, one possible scenario for the decision-making process

This post isn't approved for general viewing, but since I did spend some time and thought composing it and trying to impart serious intent, I feel it does relate some more pretty cogent facts to the debate on the "Nunez back/Vargas optioned to AAA" thread. I thought that a blog-piece might be just the place for it.   This post was made in response to a poster that felt that those opposed to the Vargas demotion were "shading" the truth of what the Twins brass was thinking on the matter, that Bern
  • jokin

Trevor Plouffe Has Given The Twins A Great Problem

The year was 2011, and the Minnesota Twins had two players competing for one spot at the hot corner. One was a 19th round draft pick and coming off of a season that had him in the running for Rookie of the Year honors. The other was a first round draft pick that had just experienced his first cup of coffee. At the end of the year though, and into the future, it was the first round draft pick that would take over. Trevor Plouffe grabbed the role from Danny Valencia, and he hasn't looked back. Of

Twins Minor League Report (5/17): Close Battles

In the minors on Sunday every game was a close and hard fought battle, unlike the Minnesota Twins against Chris Archer. There was a dynamic pitching duel in one, and another that went back and forth seemingly every inning. When the dust settled, the Twins affiliates went 2-2 on the day.   There was also some action on the roster front, as one (surprise?) major league was sent to AAA, and a few pitching spots were shuffled.   Read on to find out what happened across all four affiliates!   TRANSAC

Rochester: Observations in 2015

This is my first post for TwinsDaily.com. It also marks my first time writing about the Rochester Red Wings. But being a Rochester native, it certainly is not my first time seeing them play -- which is to say it is not my first time developing an opinion about the team.   Not that I’m constantly critical of the Wings but rather I am always intrigued by the success of a minor league team in an objectively minor league city (I’m allowed to say that since I’m from here). Past summers have seen forg

Eyes of Hicks

When you look into the eyes of Aaron Hicks you see a different man, a different player than he has been in the past.   His approach and confidence look to me to be stellar. If he can have a little sucess, it might just be the charm as in third time.   In my mind he won the first game against the Rays when he singled sharply to get on....then scored on Santana's triple.   He has so impressed me and I was ready to give up on him.   He might re-define how we think of Byron Buxton and he at presen

WARNE: Aaron Hicks’ New Swing Paying Dividends

This content originally appeared at Cold Omaha here, please consider clicking through as a measure of support.   After making the team out of spring training two years straight, Aaron Hicks was sent back to Triple-A Rochester as lesser options made the team ahead of him. The message to Hicks was clear: Force your way back up here.   Well, message received. Hicks obliterated the International League to the tune of a .336/.415/.561 batting line over 27 games, essentially forcing the hands of the T

If the Twins aren't a playoff team...

The last four years watching the Minnesota Twins has been a real beating. The only thing keeping me and a lot of other fans from bugging out completely was that we knew there was some help coming via the draft, and that knowledge came from websites like Twins Daily.   We have now seen the 2015 version of this team, and it's getting better. Still, this ain't a playoff team, that's pretty clear. The pitching staff is still average at best, the position players are still largely punchless, and the

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