Minnesota Twins Talk

A very interesting article on USAToday by Bob Nightingale: Too soon? MLB GMs salivating over potential 2018 free agents Why are the White Sox having a fire sale? (Get it? They traded Chris Sale!) And why are the Dodgers in a bad spot? How the heck did Bryce Harper turn down a $400 M contract? Read below! http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/columnist/bob-nightengale/2016/12/07/teams-prepare-free-agency-class-of-2018-bryce-harper-manny-machado/95124202/ ...and the list: http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2016/12/2018-19-mlb-free-agents.html So, maybe the Twins are quite this year and planning for 2018? Hey, a feller can dream, right?

Initially, when the Twins organization blew up the front office and went an exciting and entirely different direction with Falvey and Levine being named the new front men for our beloved Twins, there was much debate and speculation about who they were, where they came from, what their philosophies might be in regard to everything from scouting and drafting to milb development to building a larger and better sabermetrics division to management of the ML roster. There was even debate and angst over Molitor and his coaching staff in regard to changes or wholesale blow up of said. And we are so fixated now by 40 man rosters and rule 5 selections, (which seldom amount to mu…

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/minnesota-twins

http://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.cgi?id=diaz--005mig

I know this is most likely not in the right topic and it will most likely be removed. I would like to thank you for the great night of reading all the posts. I would love to see you nail this trade down and get credit for your efforts!

Here's what mine would look like. How about yours? http://coldomaha.com/2016/twins/warne-devising-the-perfect-brian-dozier-trade/

I saw this link from baseball America today on some of the top prospects in the rule 5 draft. The Twins have the 1st pick in the rule 5 draft (Thursday December 8th) so their top pick may be potentially listed here. Thoughts? http://www.baseballamerica.com/minors/2016-rule-5-draft-preview/#u0B7V3DXrMfrwflH.97 On first glance; Weiss, Guillon, Fernandez and Brasoban look interesting. I can't say I know anything about any of the players, but it is fun to read.

Hi this is much first post on here but have been reading for a long time. We have talked a lot about Dozier and pitching lately, rightfully so. My question is what should we do at SS? 1. Start Eduardo Escobar I was a big believer in Escobar since the Liriano trade. He's show he can play with solid XB power. Do you trust him to bounce back? 2. Let Polanco continue to develop and pray he can become a leave average defender? The bat is already good enough. 3. Scrap the offense and get a defensive wiz up here like Engelb Vielma? The offense was pretty good And forward steps by Sano, Buxton,Kepler, and others could make this Viable. 4. Go outside the organization and if so …

Now that the Red Sox traded for Sale they have seven starters and a surplus of lefties. What would it cost to get Rodriguez? Would a deal around Park and a hard throwing reliever peak Bostons interested?

In Darren Wolfson's latest podcast, he reported that the Twins have expressed interest in Mike Napoli. He is not someone I had pictured on the 2017 roster by any means, but he is a known commodity and would provide value at DH/1B. IF the Twins did sign him, that would muddy the picture going forward for, at the very least, Vargas, Park and arguably Grossman (if he was in the plans.) Napoli just turned 35 in October, so he will be 35 all year next year. This past year he hit .239 with a .335 on base percentage and a .465 slugging percentage, for an .800 ops. He had 34 homeruns, 101 rbi and 92 runs scored. He had a 12.1% walk rate (which the Twins need more of) and he str…

From Dustin Morse: Here is the full press release (BOLD is done by me to highlight their roles and responsibilities): MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, MN – The Minnesota Twins announced today that Deron Johnson has been promoted to Senior Advisor of the Scouting department and Sean Johnson has been promoted to Director of Scouting. “These promotions reflect the evolution of our scouting department and shape our scouting philosophies moving forward,” said Twins Senior Vice President/General Manager Thad Levine. “Deron and Sean are exceptional people, and we have the utmost confidence that both Deron and Sean will establish the right vision through experience, leadership a…

The Twins have announced that you can again vote for the Minnesota Twins Hall of Fame. Last year, Torii Hunter and John Gordon were added to the Twins Hall of Fame in 2016. I'm guessing fans will vote in Dan Gladden, and there's some reason. I mean, he was part of two World Series championship teams. Moreso, he's now been on the Twins radio broadcast for a decade or more now. Of course, in his five seasons with the Twins ,he hit .268/.318/.382 (.700). In the two World Series season, his on-base percentages were .312 and .306. But there are some really good, deserving candidates. Ahead of Gladden, I would certainly vote for Shane Mack, Cesar Tovar, Corey Koski…

Wrote an article on some landing spots for Dozier. Comments, as always, appreciated: https://t.co/4XW4WOt3yk

Yesterday I wrote about the five arbitration situations with the Twins. The deadline for determining whether or not to tender contracts to these guys is 7:00. Let's discuss any signings here. Jon Heyman reported that the Twins and Eduardo Escobar agreed at $2.6 million for 2017. I like it. With so many questions at SS, a good guy to have. And fair rate for a solid utility guy. UPDATE: https://twitter.com/RhettBollinger/status/804857984308408320

http://www.startribune.com/new-boss-derek-falvey-looks-to-make-an-imprint-with-twins/404525136/ LaVelle Neal, Star-Tribune, wrote a nice article on new Twins Chief Baseball Operator. It talks about the initiative he took after college in an attempt to get his start in baseball. Very interesting. It's a nice story on Falvey's background and his success. Quotes from his former boss, Mark Shapiro. Well worth the read.

Per Dan KBO (on Twitter), Twins pitcher Pat Dean has signed with the KIA Tigers in the KBO (Korean Baseball Organization). Dean was the Twins 3rd round pick in 2010 out of Boston College. He quickly got to AA and then spent about four years at that level. He had a terrific 2015 in Rochester and was placed on the 40-man roster. He was promoted to the Twins by the end of April and made a few starts. Overall, he went 1-6 with a 6.28 ERA with the big league club. His one win came in a late May start in Seattle, beating Felix Hernandez. Best Wishes, Pat! If you happen to know Korean, here is more on the story: http://www.tigers.co.kr/news/news_view.asp?seq=321958

According to Darren Wolfson, the Twins have signed OF/1B Ben Paulsen to a minor league deal with a spring training invitation. Paulsen spent parts of the last three seasons with the Rockies. He's 4th OF material. Insurance should they trade or get rid of Kennys Vargas or Byungho Park. Most likely intended as AAA depth.

Surprise non tender. Would have been the PERFECT guy for the Twins to get. This is a great example on why it's foolish to sign mediocre talent so early on in an off season: See: Castro and Nolasco for starters...

After more than 30 years in the organization, Bill Smith will not be back for the 2017 season. The news leaked via a tweet, but David Dorsey from the News Press in Ft. Myers has a story with some quotes from Smith who says he'll stay in the Ft. Myers area. The final quote of the story tells the tale: He'll stick with the organization through January. The timing of this news is interesting, just a day after we learned about Terry Ryan accepting a scouting position with the Phillies. While most fans will not speak well of Smith thanks to his time as the team's GM, he did a lot of good in the organization before and after those years. He's credited with the …

https://twitter.com/GeorgeAKingIII/status/804444002225364993 Rowson is 40 years old, has been both the hitting coach for the Cubs and the Yankees minor league hitting instructor over the course of the past 10 years or so. I don't know much other than what Wikipedia says. Thoughts?

Terry Ryan made a few comments about his leaving last summer. The article said he dispelled rumors of a difference of direction with Pohlad. But Ryans quote, "I better not get into that" seems to infer that all was not duckies and bunnies. And while Falvey had made a comment that TR would be welcome back into the orginisation in some capacity, that also seemed to be somewhat in question. Two other tidbits included. One on the Twins new hitting coach, and Bill Smith leaving which is already another post on TD. http://www.startribune.com/ex-twins-gm-terry-ryan-i-just-didn-t-win-enough-games/404151466/

According to Ken Rosenthal, former Twins GM Terry Ryan is going to his roots as a special assignment scout by the Phillies today.

interesting article. Here. Discusses potential trades of Dozier and others to the Dodgers, Nats and Rays (of all teams.) I love what they proposed for the Dodgers: Twins trade: Dozier, P Glen Perkins, P Hector Santiago Dodgers trade: 1B/OF Cody Bellinger, P Jose De Leon, P Chase De Jong, P Ross Stripling, IF Omar Estevez Is there any Twins' fan who would not do that in a heartbeat? All 3 trades are heavily in the Twins' favor IMHO, but interesting read anyways...

From the press release: TWINS HIRE MICHAEL CUDDYER, LATROY HAWKINS AND TORII HUNTER AS SPECIAL ASSISTANTS Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota Twins announced today that they have hired former Twins Michael Cuddyer, LaTroy Hawkins and Torii Hunter as Special Assistants to Baseball Operations. Cuddyer, 37, was drafted by the Twins in the first round of the 1997 First-Year Player Draft and played 15 seasons in the major leagues, including 11 seasons with the Twins from 2001-11. He also played three seasons in Colorado and one with New York-NL, winning the NL batting title for the Rockies with a .331 batting average in 2013. The former outfielder played a key role o…

Last night, the Twins hosted a call-in show for Twins Season-Ticket Holders. Thad Levine and Derek Falvey answered fan questions for an hour from the fans. Phil Miller wrote up an article on some of the answers, including thoughts on: Miguel Sano and the outfield,Phil Hughes,How to acquire pitchingWill Brian Dozier be tradedand much more. I tweeted through some of the events, if you're interested in some of those tweets, follow me.

Welcome to the Thanksgiving Day Game Thread! What a great day to celebrate and be thankful for all that we have been given over that last year. First I need to apologize to Chief. I did not get his permission to do this game thread. I may incur a few warning points for this lack of respect but felt compelled to do it anyway. Sorry Chief! I'm truly thankful that I got to enjoy a 100+ loss season with Twins fans around the world. I didn't realize I could have fun watching my favorite team while riding such a losing streak. You guys made it a fun year. Imagine the fun that we'll have when the team starts winning again! In the true spirit of Thanksgiving, here i…

Trevor Plouffe posted the message below for Twins fans. As always a classy move from a classy guy.

Patrick Reusse's annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey of the Year Award (I believe called The Herschel) was announced just after midnight. As always, there were a lot of great choices and the "Winner" was certainly very deserving. Please be sure to read the article. http://www.startribune.com/patrick-reusse-s-2016-turkey-of-the-year-in-making-the-selection-it-s-go-bigly-or-go-home/402813536/ But it got me thinking... if YOU had to vote for the 2016 Twins Turkey of the Year, who would the candidates be and who would you vote? Jim Pohlad - I mean, if only for uttering "Total System Failure"... or uttering that the next GM should be "lovable." Terry Ryan - I mean, he l…

LaTroy will be a special assistant with the Twins. He will be in Spring Training and have other duties during the regular season. http://www.startribune.com/la-troy-hawkins-to-join-twins-as-a-special-assistant/401894835/ After fighting to stay a starter, Hawkins gave in to the Twins call to be a reliever. What a career! http://cdn.bleacherreport.net/images_root/slides/photos/001/091/655/1551731_display_image.jpg?1310523448

I couldn't call in. Did they say anything worthwhile? Or was it all covered in the Phil Miller article about "difficult decisions" this morning? http://www.startribune.com/twins-considering-all-options-including-very-difficult-decisions-with-players/401817835/