Minnesota Twins Talk

Eric Nordquist is the current producer for Paul Allen's show on KFAN. This morning, Nordquist presented his Top 10 Current Twins rankings... It's an interesting list. Maybe even listen to the segment to see how he voted/ranked, and then give is some thought. What would your Top 10 Current Twins rankings look like?

Per Phil Miller, Twins option Pressley to Rochester and DFA Wilson. Two new guys coming, but not yet announced. Someone was passionately arguing for Monday to be a bullpen reset day. Didn't that happen today? Consider, here's how the bullpen shapes up tomorrow: Kintzler: Last pitched Sunday (34 pitches) and Saturday (16) Belisle: Monday (17) and Sunday (30) Boshers: Tuesday (31) Breslow: (Probably not available -- threw 3 of the last 4 days Duffey: Hopefully not needed -- Wednesday (11), Sunday (6), Saturday (30) Rogers: Sunday (20), Saturday (13). New guy No. 1: ??? New guy No. 2: ??? Doing the bullpen reset today may have made more sense than on Monday. Today it …

Joe Benson came up to the Twins in 2011 as a September call up. He is currently with the Sugarland Skeeters. Recently, Tyler Boronski interviewed Joe and talked to him about the call up, his friends in the organization, almost hitting for the cycle, and his time with the Skeeters. He is managed by former Twins 3B Gary Gaetti. It's a fun trip down memory lane, but also to see how he's doing these days.

For more info: http://m.startribune.com/twins-add-reliever-chris-heston-release-nick-tepesch/427098281/ It was a good run for Tepesch.

I have not seen much discussion on Glen Perkins rehab on this board. Sounds like it is progressing and if all goes well he could return in the next month. http://m.mlb.com/video/v1444611383/perkins-on-facing-live-batters A healthy Perkins would go a long way in improving/deepening the bullpen. Personally I feel if they get anything out of Perkins, it will be a bonus. Hopefully the F.O. is not holding off on making any moves to strengthen the 'pen because they are planning on him coming back. What do others think?

I wrote a State of the Twins address for the 1/3 mark of the season: http://zonecoverage.com/2017/twins/warne-state-of-the-twins-off-day-dump/ As always, thoughtful discussion is appreciated!

I don't like to make too big of a deal (lol jk) out of a small slate of games in the regular season (especially this early) but I think these next three games are going to show us a TON of what the Twins are ultimately made of, and if they are contenders, or pretenders. Basically the Twins have lost 3 games in a row, the first two were absolute heart-breakers that should have been wins, and the third was a loss with their young ace Berrios on the mound. All three of those are confidence shattering losses for young teams....potentially. That's why these next 3 games are key: The Twins burned their best two pitchers in back to back losses and the bullpen...well we all kn…

Neshek currently pitches for Philidelphia on the last year of a 3 year contract making 6.5 million. He could really help our pen right now. What would he cost in terms of prospects? This is not a should we thread. This is what do you think his value is in terms of our prospects in a trade. We can talk about the merrits of should we get help in another thread.

Hey everyone, Would I most likely be wasting my money if I bet some cash on you guys to win your Division? I know its early in the season and you've made a good start but I'm interested to know your thoughts. Currently the bookies have the Cleveland Indians as favourites at 1/5 and the rest are: Twins 13/2 Tigers 15/2 White Sox 40/1 Royals 40/1 Then again...who would have thought Leicester would win the Premier League after battling relegation the previous season?! I've never been a massive baseball fan before but I find it interesting that you cant have a draw as there has to be a winner. Thanks, Brett

Wrote about the smoldering mess Houston left behind this week. As always, thoughtful discussion appreciated: http://zonecoverage.com/2017/twins/warne-after-the-astros-series-message-received/

To the LA Dodgers. Not real surprising? He was DFA'd a few days ago and didn't really fit into the bullpen or rotation at all. What a few days for him however. Good luck in Los Angeles, jason.

I must admit that for a brief shining moment, I hoped against hope that my logical brain which bought into a magical season despite Vegas' 74 win prediction. My logical brain (along with http://www.startribune.com/derek-falvey-twins-need-to-stay-committed-to-winning-eventually-not-settling-for-quick-fixes/425435653/?ref=nl&om_rid=1660923337&om_mid=46145993) knew that the winning record was based on duct tape and rain that allowed for only three starters. It was fun. It is every baseball's fan to dream. Four losses and a long west coast road trip. No days off so the Twins will actually have to field five starting pitchers. The Twins' "top" three pitchers …

Adalberto Mejia (what the heck is his nickname...Bert?) is looking gradually more comfortable on the mound for our favorite baseball team. Watching his performance today, I saw a very well-controlled first inning, then an emotional oscillation in the second inning, and so on. Most importantly, he is clearly getting better at keeping his emotions under control. It's still a struggle, and his teammates should keep telling him, "Make 'em hit a ball at me!" It will probably be a while before Mejia attains the Zen-like calm of Erv Santana, but Bert looks like he's getting over his early nerves. Welcome to the Show, Bert! Guess what - you belong here!

I realize that the meltdown of the bullpen is historic. 28 runs in 9 innings during the Houston series has to approach a record. While the starters weren't great for the just completed series (a total of 12 runs in 18 innings) it was the bullpen innings that were dreadful. It might even be possible that this incompetence is the signal that the club can't be competitive for the long run. I want to remind everyone that it is a long season. Current slumps might be forgotten and we will barely remember the names of Belisle, Wheeler, Rucinski and more. The Twins have only played 30% of their schedule. There can and should be a lot more turnover. I do have a question. Was W…

I haven't delved too far into the numbers yet, but I am initially surprised that the basic numbers on the offensive side of the ball don't appear to explain too much. Apologies for formatting BA OBP SLG OPS Home: .250 .339 .416 .755 Road: .259 .330 .422 .752 Pitching is another story. I assume we can guess which is home and which is away. BAA OPB SLG OPS .272 .348 .467 .815 .225 .299 .385 .684 Does anyone have any theory on this discrepancy? The Dickbert narrative has been "putting too much pressure on themselves trying to please the fans," but that has mainly applied to any offensive struggles. I know that …

Penned a column for Zone Coverage suggesting I think I actually see what Molitor was going for on Monday: https://t.co/9eTCdjXGvi Let me know what you think

The old thread had gotten stale. Here are tonight's pregame notes for Fiers/Berrios. Always looking for comments! http://zonecoverage.com/2017/twins/530-pregame-notes-twins-seek-tears-for-fiers-berrios-gets-the-ball-and-perkins-throws-live-bp/

This isn't a pile on session, but it's pretty clear that this bullpen is cooked. We now have multiple guys with 8.00+ ERA's, and outside of Kintzler, Rogers and Duffey, I don't feel OK with any of the rest of them in any situation. Two games in a row they have cost the Twins a game. How are they going to fix this? How would you? I would suggest: Aggressive, aggressive, aggressive promotions from AA Aggressive trades....starting now!

Figured I would beat Dave to this... He should have been sent down weeks ago. Something is broken with him this year. Keep him in Rochester for 15+ appearances until they can figure out what's wrong with him.

How long does he survive? Yes, his record is decent, but he doesn't know how to manage a bullpen, and he loves to play his backups more than they deserve. I'm not saying it's time...but it's time.

They now have a sortable page up where you can look at opportunities and conversion rates of outfielders on 5-star, 4-star, etc. https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/catch_probability_leaderboard?min=25&year=2017 I'd suggest that this forum be a place to discuss these stats throughout the year. They are new, so it is going to take some time to get used to them in order to figure out what they mean. For example, Buxton is currently (as of 5/31/17) 0 for 7 on 5-star plays. Meanwhile, Ender Inciarte has converted 4 of 7 of his 5-star opportunities. Does this mean Inciarte is the better outfielder? Perhaps one way to start looking at these stats is to look at all of th…

Tyler Duffey is one of my favorite Twins, I won't hide from that fact. His mind-bending array of curve balls has my tender heart all aflutter. At the same time, I admit he's not a perfect pitcher. As much as his benders bend, his modest heater tends to be straight as a ruler, and his two-seamer is so-so. However, something has changed since Duffey retreated to the bullpen. Mainly, he discovered that he could increase the angle of his pitches to right handed batters by starting from the 3rd base side of the rubber. Suddenly his benders sweep almost impossibly far, like we see from legendary lefties. Suddenly he can throw his curve right at the front knee of a hitter, an…

I must admit, what they did in Baltimore has started to get me a bit excited. I'm still skeptical that they will finish .500. At what point do we start to treat this bag of rugrats as serious contenders?

In order to not derail the "Young Guns" article thread any further: Should the Twins be looking to package a few prospects for a proven starting pitcher now or should they wait and see how the team performs over the next month or two?

Jim Wiesner loved the game. And the game love him back. http://www.startribune.com/longtime-twins-clubhouse-attendant-jim-wiesner-dies/425188143/

I'm debuting a new feature called "Catching Up with the Catcher" where I'm joined by Chris Gimenez every homestand. They'll typically run about 10 minutes, and he's great for insight and just to chat with. Here's the first one, let me know what you think! http://zonecoverage.com/2017/twins/mws-almost-daily-5-29-17-catching-up-with-the-catcher/

Seriously? Good lord, every time Molitor takes a step forward he takes 3 steps back. Benching your best player back to back games bc of a 4 game slump? Give me a break.

This game was as poorly managed as I have ever seen, guy hasn't improved at all. Baring a playoff berth he better be gone at seasons end.

I can't be the only one very uncomfortable with our current back end of the rotation (Specifically the #5 spot) Santana is continuing his "ace" like ways for the Twins. Berrios might already be a stud. Santiago is what he is. A #4 type, but is ok as a #3 Mejia solid last start, but still isn't a sure thing. But as of now, perfectly fine tossing him out every fifth day. Tespech/Gibson etc: "This is our concern dude" Baring Duffey moving to the rotation, I think it's of the utmost importance the Twins go out and acquire a solid veteran starting pitcher. Hughes is on the DL, and frankly probably can't be assumed that he will come back effective or healthy. Here is a list …