Minnesota Twins Talk

The Minnesota Twins have won nine of their last 13 games but the recent successful stretch has not changed Terry Ryan's mind on what should be done with the club for next year. Click here to read what the Twins GM told the Pioneer Press's Charley Walters.

Just throwing around ideas but right now, Revere is tearing the cover off the ball, one single at a time. He's a 2.5 WAR player in RF, a number that would surely raise with a shift to centerfield. With all the Twins prospects coming down the road, it's starting to make a lot of sense to move Revere this offseason and hold on to Span. This is what I would consider doing this offseason: - Trade Revere this offseason. I don't see how his value is going to get higher than if he finishes the season with a .330 BA and stellar defense. He should bring back a high upside starter plus a low minors guy with that kind of season under his belt. Revere has a lot of room to backsli…

How do these investigations of players betting on sports start? This stuff just looks fake at this point.

Heeeee's Baaaa-aaack. Can someone who has been paying more attention than I to Rochester tell me about this "hot streak" he's been on for the last month? I have to assume he's coming up as a utility infielder, right? Carroll goes to 3B full time and Casilla to 2B?

Twins will finish with at least 78 wins. Willingham will hit 40 HR Mauer will win Comeback player of the year award. Mauer and Revere will be 2/3 in the BA title. Morneau ends up hitting for an OPS over .840 One of DeVries/DeDuno/Walters will prove to be a starting pitcher we can count on in 2013.

I don't know about the rest of you, but the two teams that aren't the Twins that I want to clinch a Wild Card spot are the A's and the Pirates (not that I don't want the Twins to go on some improbable streak and somehow clinch the spot for themselves). I want the A's to win to show the Angels that buying the top two free agents in the offseason isn't always the formula for winning, and I want the Pirates to clinch a spot because I don't think they have while I have been alive.

Hey, what would happen if we traded Sam Deduno to the Indians? Would Charlie Sheen's glasses become his best friend, and would Corbin Bernsen want to punch him in the face? (You see what I did there?)

The Twins absolutely NEED to claim him! He's a 28 year old 2B/SS/3B that plays acceptable defense and boasts a career .689 OPS. That's not great, but is really good by Twins standards for middle infielders. He's down a little this year, but does have a .249 BA and a .639 OPS. He's only signed for 800,000 this year which is cheap. Two questions. Would they have likely have to work out a trade because it looks like he's somewhat good? What should the Twins do?

Currently the necessary number for qualification is 338 (337.9(109X3.1)) Plate Appearances needed. Ben Revere is now under the requisite by 7PAs at 331. Look for him to join the Top 5 'officially' soon. He would be #2 with the batting average he has now. Last night's game also saw BR11 extend his hit streak to 20 games. Mauer has fell off to .321 after a slump of sorts, but is very much in contention for his 4th title. Trout is still above and beyond #1. We have a few great players to support down the stretch and there's still plenty of season left!

The Star Tribune's Amelia Rayno catches up with former Twins third baseman Corey Koskie on his post-baseball life and the effects he experienced battling through his concussion. Great read.

Could the Twins be in 3rd place by the end of the week? Possibly. The Twins are currently only 3 games behind the Indians who are in a complete tailspin right now with the upcoming series between the two teams we might see some shifting in the middle of the AL Central. Personally, I think a finish in 3rd place in the division is quite a feat for this team if you remember how they started. On May 27th the Twins were 15-32 (17 games under .500). Today August 6th, they are 47-61 (14 games under .500). Over their last 61 games or 56% of the games they have played this season Twins are playing .524 baseball (32-29). So really how bad is this season's team? The reco…

Dozier had a nice game on Thursday and followed it up with an 0-fer yesterday. His offensive numbers are: .240 BA, .604 OPS, 5 HR and 9 SB. Defensively, he leads the AL in errors despite not making his big-league debut until mid-May. To summarize, his performance has been pretty poor. We all know, however, that this season is about 2013 and beyond. While there are mixed signals, I think Dozier's future is pretty bright. First and foremost, I don't think Dozier's defense is as bad as his error total. He has shown at least average range, good instincts and enough arm to be an above-average ML shortstop. The errors seem to have been in clusters, and while you can…

..not taken

"Pohlads want #TargetField to be first class forever. They're already taking bids for a number of improvements next season." https://twitter.com/SidHartman/status/215585055341412355 This Tweet under Sid's name is the only place I've heard about this - anyone have any additional info on what they are planning for Target Field? 2011 was a big deal with the Twins Tower, 2nd Scoreboard, Tree Trail of Tears, and a few heating lamps.

Whoever writes for Sid lately posted this: http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/164679806.html?refer=y "The decision isn't final, according to Twins officials, but odds are strong that KTWN, the FM radio station the Pohlad family bought for $28 million in 2007 and has been trying to sell, will carry Twins broadcasts next year and beyond. The word at Hubbard Broadcasting, owner of KSTP, is that it is unlikely 1500-AM will carry Twins broadcasts beyond this season." I thought that was interesting since in 2010 I thought they had locked that up for 6 or 7 years, but doing some googling it looks like it was only 2. http://www.minnpost.com/braublog/2010/08/1500-espn-re…

From the All-Star break through the end of August, the Twins only get three days off. That's 47 games in 50 days. Brutal. Interestingly enough, the Twins have been playing pretty well during that stretch. In the first 23 games, they're 11-12 (losing record mainly due to their complete collapse and 1-5 record against the White Sox) and since the break, are 20th in ERA and 13th in WHIP. Offensively, they're 14th in OPS and runs since the AS break. Not anything to write home about but far less awful than they were earlier in the season. Smoke and mirrors, sure... But at least there's a glimmer of hope buried in there somewhere. Anyway, I just thought that stretch was b…

Are making 3rd place a real possibility thanks to an 8 game losing streak... wow!

With the team in BOS (close drive to new brit)....I wouldnt be shocked if he's brought up for Sundays game. On Gardy's radio show Friday....he says he wants to bring him up, sooner the better as there are few off days & he wants an extra bench player. Said the reason is that he needs to know they can go down to 12 pitchers. Luis Perdomo has pitched 2/3 of a meaningless inning in the last week & Jeff Manship hasnt pitched since his recall. Dont think the 12/13th guys are needed right now. They are getting a solid 6IP every start and if they are gonna do it, it will be soon. Said he's willing to play him in LF or RF as well as 1B Best thing about Chris' pla…

If he performs well enough while he is down in the Minors, is there a chance that the Twins bring him to the big club towards the middle/end of September to see what he has?

This came up the other night in the game thread....but giving this guy some significant time at 2B in September is worth a shot right? Does anyone know about his past with this position? His bat and speed are intriguing - especially when you look at what we have available at the position in the near future.

Starting pitching help is just around the corner! Derek Lowe was DFAed by Cleveland today. He a sinkerballer with veteran presence and he has been very effective against the Twins. Never mind that he has been Marquis-like against the rest of the league.

http://www.twincities.com/twins/ci_21208869/shooter-now-minnesota-twins-seek-free-agents-owner Shooter quotes Jim Pohlad: Pohlad said the Twins . . . will be able to afford some free agents. The Twins' payroll this season is about $100 million. "We're happy at the level (of payroll) we're at right now," the Twins CEO said. Regarding Ron Gardenhire returning next year: "I always reserve the right to change our mind, but I can't imagine that," Pohlad said. "I love him as our manager." Regarding Terry Ryan returning as GM: Ryan is technically the interim GM and has said it's too early to decide whether he will stay in the role. Pohlad said he would be…

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/08/non-tender-candidate-alexi-casilla.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter MLB Trade Rumors runs a series where they look into players who will potentially be non-tendered. Today, that profile is the Twins Alexi Casilla.

Chris Jaffe at the Hardball Times notes that today is the 25th anniversary of Joe Niekro being caught doctoring a baseball. http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/blog_article/25th-anniversary-joe-niekros-nail-file/ Coupla thoughts.... - I never realized he was caught by St. Paul native Tim Tschida - I wonder what the fallout would be today for being caught cheating in this way today? In general, I think their is heightened reaction to "cheating" of any kind, as evidenced by the furor surrounding Sammy Sosa's corked bat incident. But this was just so goofy and semi-lovable. I don't remember much indigtation about it. I wonder if there would be today.

Every year, teams put all or most of their roster through waivers early in August, just to see who gets through and could therefore possibly be traded. Let's say Philly puts Cliff Lee on waivers (pretty good chance that happens, BTW). There is at least some speculation around the internet that Philly would like to get out from under his contract. They are at roughly $170m this year, have a ton of money committed for the next few years, and just signed Cole Hamels to a contract equal to the GNP of several Central American nations. Cliff Lee is owed $25m in each of 2013, 14, and 15, with a $27.5m option ($12.5m buyout) for 2016 that vests with certain IP marks in 2…

In a (likely) ineffective attempt to short-circuit the sound of Other Voices,,, 1) I think Gardy is a good manager. 2) I think his bullpen use is usually a strength. But how the hell do you justify tonight. I'll be honest - I'm not sure if I'm more dissappointed by his strategy, his deception, or by the media not calling him on it. And I'll admit - I could have been there and called him on it myself, so I can only be so critical of it. To recap.... The Twins entered the game in the top of the ninth tied and Blackburn was done. We found out that the top two right-handers, Burton and Burnett, were unavailable because they pitched last night. But rather than bring …

"Since we drafted him, that's as good as I've seen him throw the ball," Antony said. "More velocity than I saw when he was at Rochester and before that, because he was consistently 93-94 [mph], and his slider was 84-86 [mph] with good life." Good to see one of our guys come back with more velocity. Sounds like they will be moving him up a level soon. http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120802&content_id=36013344&notebook_id=36016578&vkey=notebook_min&c_id=min

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/164098796.html

http://www.twincities.com/twins/ci_21203057/minnesota-twins-gm-pitcher-ryan-wimmers-injury-i Twins medical staff, ladies and gents!

Per Dustin Morse of Twins PR. No surprise. Still a huge bummer and a terrible break for an organization that's had plenty.