Minnesota Twins Talk

Yes, I know we control our own destiny. But right now, Texas is playing good ball and is probably our biggest threat. They play 3 games in Oakland, then 4 games to end the season vs. Oakland in Texas. We need the Matts (Olsen/Chapman/Joyce) to hit some bombs. I'm predicting that Texas goes 4-3 against the A's. But that might be hopeful.

According to the link below, the Twins have a 76% chance of making the postseason, but less than a 1% chance of winning the World Series. This also shows the Tigers as the worst team in baseball. On the other hand, the same website predicted Clinton over Trump. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/2017-mlb-predictions/?ex_cid=rrpromo

I just looked at Kyle Gibson's basic stats from last year to this year. SEASON TEAM GP GS CG SHO IP H R ER HR BB SO W L SV HLD BLSV WAR WHIP ERA 2016 MIN 25 25 1 0 147.1 175 89 83 20 55 104 6 11 0 0 0 0.6 1.56 5.07 2017 MIN 27 27 0 0 147.1 170 87 83 21 58 109 11 10 0 0 0 0.4 1.55 5.07 How freaky similar are these seasons! Now this will change as Gibson gets a couple of more starts before the end of the season, but WOW! I know he has pitched better since July, but these stats over the next two season leave me *really* hoping that the FO is not relying o…

On the day the Angels picked up Upton, they were exactly 1.5 games behind the Twins. Net gain since then: nothing. And now, with 7 of our final 10 games left against the Tigers, consider this: Justin Upton vs. Twins, 2017: .400/.513/.833 in 39 PA Justin Upton with Angels, 2017: .300/.425/.600 in 73 PA (most recent PA: pop out + slammed bat into ground, sending splinters everywhere) We'll see how things pan out over the final week, but it would be ironic now if the Twins win a bunch of close games vs. Upton-less Tigers to clinch the 2nd WC.

OK, they might blow it down the stretch and the odds are that they lose in Wild Card Game - But here goes: I think the Twins go with a three man rotation, Santana, Gibson and Berrios in that order, within reason. Mejia is the fourth guy when needed and Big Sexy goes to the pen. Belisle is the closer, with Hildenberger and Busenitz as set-up guys - Rogers as LOOGY. The final two relievers are Duffey, and Boshers.(with great worry about that last one). The starting eight in the field, Castro, Mauer, Dozier, Polanco, Escobar, Kepler, Buxton and Rosario. The Bench (including the DH): Grossman, Adrianza, Giminez, Vargas, Granite and MIGUEL SANO (remember Kirk Gi…

Funny how many posts have been made regarding the reasons for getting rid of this guy. He has arguably been the best pitcher since his arrival. Why don't we all sit back and enjoy what pitching is all about. MOVEMENT,CHANGE OF SPEED AND LOCATION. Not bad for a old MAN! Give the man his credit for going out and being a work horse.

Something old… the Twins are still two games up on the Angels and a few games behind the Yankees. Something new… the remaining five teams with anything but mathematical chances to make the playoffs have almost played themselves down to only mathematical chances. It was a 4-2 week for the Twins. On one hand, that’s good, but on the other, it can feel a little disappointing after starting 3-0 and having the opportunity to really open things up with another two or three wins. Instead, the Twins only won one of three the rest of the way and had the Angels creep within a game heading into Sunday. On the third hand (nah, let’s move to the feet), the generally .500 teams h…

Can we all please rise up against all this bunting business? It's time to take a stand. Social media has proven itself to be a useful vehicle for several great and important causes. Can we start some sort of twitter movement that unifies our cause? Some people have paper clips in their Twitter handles, some have ribbons representing various causes. How can we put our disdain for willingly reducing our chances to win baseball games on full display? Let this thread serve as a depository for your suggestions to get this erstwhile movement off the ground. This aggression will not stand, man.

Joel Sherman writes for the NY Post. HE's generally very good, from what I have read in the past. I think he writes a really good, fair article pointing out the similar Hall of Fame Cases for Joe Mauer and Don Mattingly. Both had very good, extended period in which they won batting titles. Each has an MVP. Both had a major injury that created or caused a decline that saw their numbers fall to still very good career numbers. Mattingly topped out at 28.5% of the HOF vote in his first of 15 years on the ballot. It's really a good comparison, though I do believe that Mauer's 8-9 years as a catcher and doing the things he did while at the position that hadn't been don…

So-- should the Twins occupy one of the Wild Card spots, how should they construct the roster? Teams are allowed to reset the 25 man roster before each playoff round, so if the Twins won-- they could re-set for the ALDS. A Wild Card roster would be constructed-- knowing that it is one game. So, you could leave off the starting pitcher from the day before, add defense/speed guys for late innings, etc. The AL Wild Card game is set for Tuesday 10/3. The ALDS starts Thursday, 10/5 (I hadn't checked that in my original post-- so I will make a couple changes.) My Wild Card 25 Man Roster Starting 9 (not lineup order) C-Castro 1B-Mauer 2B-Dozier 3B-Escobar SS-Polanco LF-Ros…

Man, some ominous-sounding quotes about Miguel Sano's status last week: “I’m going to keep hoping that something turns this thing in the right direction at a faster speed,” manager Paul Molitor said. “But obviously the days are dwindling.” “I don’t want to go out there and hurt myself and miss the rest of the season and not be ready for next season,” Sano said. Sano talking about not being ready for next season makes me incredibly skeptical of him returning this season. So, if Sano indeed does not return this season- does that change your outlook for him for next season? And what position do you see him playing next season? I would love to see him back at third…

A tweet from his former pitching coach in the Diamondbacks organization tweeted that he got a call from Gabriel Moya saying he was heading to the big leagues. Obviously this would necessitate a 40-man roster move. Could be Buddy Boshers or Nik Turley... Could be others. Maybe a 60 day DL type?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/09/al-central-notes-gibson-santana-kipnis-abreu-merrifield.html I thought Gibson was going to be gone by next year but he's come back strong and it sounds like he's probably saved himself a job. I think he's probably set to get around 4m or so next year.

First things first – the White Sox have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs. Further, the Twins have clinched a better record than the Sox. This is important news, because the first goal in any season is to defeat the White Sox. Then and only then can other playoff implications be considered. But I digress. It was just a two-game series against San Diego, but things look significantly different in the Wild Card chase than they did Sunday evening. The Twins won a pair, and every team they are competing with lost at least one over the last three days, with several of them losing twice. As a result the Twins have jumped to a 63 percent likelihood of reaching t…

The Minnesota Twins announced this afternoon that they have purchased the contract of Gabriel Moya and called him up to the Twins bullpen. To make room on the 40-man roster, the team DFAd SS Engelb Vielma. Vielma really struggled with the bat in AAA which should help his chances of clearing waivers and staying in the organization. However, he has two options remaining, which could intrigue teams as well.

Don't care how much talent this guy has, his lack of patience and approach at the plate is terrible. Needs to be the first guy in the trading block this off season to get more pitching. Delmon Young version 2.0

Caught this over the weekend. Sano was ranked 15th out of 30 MLB starting 3rd basemen. 15. "Miguel Sano, Minnesota Twins — There’s no way this is true a year from now. I would not be surprised at all if, a year from now, Sano is a designated hitter, and we all remember with a fond chuckle how that guy who weighs roughly what J.J. Watt does actually manned the hot corner for a season or so. Until his recent lower leg injury, though, Sano was surprising me about once a week by making a play he would not have made in the past, and that a man his size had no business making. Like Mike Moustakas (ranked 21st, in Part 1), he plays fairly deep, and like Moustakas, he some…

Perspective. That’s my thought as we consider having lost the last two games in Kansas City. Winning those two would have helped us open up some distance on the field and effectively eliminate the Royals. But we didn’t. However, the reality is that we still had what I would consider a net gain in the race for the second Wild Card over the last few days. Let’s take a look at where the standings shape up now compared to when we arrived in the city of barbecue on Thursday. Before: Yankees +1.5 Twins ---- Angels -0.5 Orioles -1.0 Texas -2.0 Royals -2.5 Rays -3.0 Mariners -3.5 After: Yankees +3.5 Twins --- Angels -1.0 Royals -2.5…

This is working under the assumption Mejia is healthy and effective when he returns, giving the Twins these four: Santana Berrios Mejia Gibson I've been expecting Colon's luck to run out and that started today. I'd rather see Slegers get the starts from here on out. What say you?

As we celebrate Labor Day, I started thinking about the current Minnesota Twins Labor force. Who hired the majority of the Coaching staff? Who drafted, traded for or signed the majority of the current roster? It was, of course, Terry Ryan and his staff. Now Ryan has been grilled extensively on this site for the past several years, rightfully so. The teams performance on the field has been horrible the majority of the past half decade, to a point where it cost Ryan his job. I also want to point out that I'm fully aware that this current team has not won anything, yet. While this may be true, this team's play has shocked many this season. So as I prepare to BBQ…

The way the rotation lines up now, Ervin Santana is lined up to start the AL wild card game by taking his normal rest. In order to get there they would need to skip or push back a starter on the two off days. I think they plan to skip the 5th starter this next week. The hope is that Mejia will be ready later next week. It could plan out this way 9-12 SD Gibson 9-13 SD Santana 9-14 TOR Berrios 9-15 TOR Mejia/5th 9-16 TOR Colon 9-17 TOR Gibson 9-18 NYY Santana 9-19 NYY Berrios 9-20 NYY Mejia/5th 9-21 DET Colon 9-22 DET Gibson 9-23 DET Santana 9-24 DET Berrios 9-25 off 9-26 CLE Colon 9-27 CLE Gibson 9-28 CLE Santana 9-29 DET Berrios 9-30 DET Mejia/5th 10-1 DET Colon 1…

Baseball-reference.com has a nice standings page that allows for combining a lot of great information. https://www.baseball-reference.com/leagues/AL/2017-standings.shtml From there, I've decided to boil down some of the data to a working scoresheet of the remainder of the season and make some suggestions as to how things seem to shape up for the Twins and the other teams in the Wild Card mix. This does not take into account any of today’s action. A few explanatory notes for each team’s profile: Team name: Duh. Record: Actual won-loss record.Games ahead/back: (In the second Wild Card chase).Luck: (this compares their Pythagorean record to their actual record, giving a …

1. Fact: Joe Mauer was drafted first in the 2001 MLB draft. No other player has ever been drafted first in the 2001 MLB draft. #GoSeminoles 2. Fact: Joe Mauer has as many RBIs in a Twins uniform as Justin Morneau. Also, he has slightly more passed balls. But also fewer ABs as a White Sox. So uh, call it a wash. #WhiSox 3. Fact: Joe Mauer is batting over .300 for the first time since 8-19-2013 when his cerebellum was stolen, most likely by aliens. #TheTruthIsOutThere 4. Fact: Joe Mauer has a hit in 11 straight games, and is batting .448 since national Duran Duran appreciation day. #HungryLikeTheWolf 5. Fast: Joe Mauer is 20 for 44 (.455) since the moon go…

It may be a little early since we've only seen LaTroy for one series but we've seen everyone else for multiple series. Who do you like? Not like?

First and foremost, always been a big fan and appreciated him. Even defended him many times in the past, and hoped for the best post concussion/post move from catcher to 1B. I will also admit to almost hoping he would retire in the near future, (if not the recent past), to help adjust the payroll flexibility more, to not taint his past legacy as a diminished performer of his past exploits, to allow for a higher offensive performer to take his spot, and also, to just protect himself and his future. (So many injuries and multiple concussions. Secondly, I wish once and for all we could just drop the whole contract thing. (This despite my payroll comment above). There is an…

i got a note last night from Pete Spike, the general manager for Sportsservice at Target Field. They're looking to hire folks for the crowds that are showing up for this Wild Card race, and it seems like it's a pretty good opportunity to get your foot in the door over there. If you're interested, start here: https://careers.delawarenorth.com/us/en/ In the Search box at the top of the site, do a search on Target Field, and limit results to those in Minneapolis, you see six options. They range from "Service Ambassador" to "Suite Runner," are part-time and pay $12.50 to $14/hour according to Pete. It also seems like a good time to take advantage of a team on the rise …

There are a lot of Twins who have merited their attention for their play in the last month or so. Polanco, Buxton, Mauer, Rosario, and mighty mite Eduardo Escobar's power come off the top of my head. However, let's consider Brian Dozier in this conversation, too. Since the All-Star break, Dozier is hitting .309, he has an OBP of .401, Slugging of .601 yielding an OPS of 1.002 in over 370 plate appearances. It appears for the entire season Dozier will have his best career OBP (it's sitting at .355 now) plus he should surpass 30 homers and come close to 90 RBI and runs scored. Those are good numbers folks. The other thing that has occurred is that the supposedly loaded …

Any chances the Twins add someone before the deadline? Would like to see some bullpen help. The Twins do have probably the easiest schedule with just a Yankee & Indian series left and rest of month against teams under .500 The Angels are making their push for a wild card. So do the Twins just let it ride & hope the Yankees continue to fall for the last spot?

As of this morning, Saturday, August 5, the Twins are 52-55, in third place in their division, 7 games back of Cleveland, and tied for fourth behind the second Wild Card team (KC), 3.5 game back, and 4.5 games back behind the first Wild Card team (New York). Realistically, they are very unlikely to win the division, but they could certainly make a run at a Wild Card spot if they get hot. However, with a crowded field, it is also unlikely. I'd rather focus on a few things I'd like to see down the stretch, as these last two months could be important for next season. If they make a run at wild card, great, but most important is progressing on several fronts to set up a c…

Barring injury you'd have to think Santana and Berrios are locks. But assuming the Twins get to the playoffs and get past the play-in game (is there a knock on wood emoji?) who are the other two starters assuming (again with the assumptions?) they go with and need four? I'd guess Colon and Gibson. But you have Gee in the rotation now, Mejia should be coming back. Maybe Santiago comes back? Any dark horses? An August 31st acquisition? An inspired Duensing-esque late season surge by an unheralded youngster like Slegers?