Minnesota Twins Talk

Trade Span? I was listening to the Common Man yesterday, they were responding to a thread of trading Denard Span. I was fishing yesterday morning on Lake Superior and I just yelled out why would you be talking about trading Span? Yes we need pitching, but we don't have OF's. Revere is not a lead off guy, sure he can run fast and cover lots of ground in the outfield, but he has as subpar arm. Everyones tradeable!! I get that, but I don't think trading Span is an option at this point. I think the upcoming draft is the place where we will upgrade pitching, also I think the free agent market, albeit not a huge pitching market next year is where we upgrade pitching, not tradin…

I have to say the only things I enjoyed about watching the game last night was listening to tk, watching Valencia be horrible again, and willingham is really on, I know I would have turned the channel in about the 3rd inning if it was Richard and Bert. Blacburn was brutal, Maloney was bad, and then the Twins couldn't get hits when they needed it most and I didn't even expect anything less at that point. Yes I was wrong thinking the twins would win 5/6, I am scared that the royals are going to get their season on track vs the twins.

I like bert, but it is fun getting tk in the booth. I love the different perspectives and his willingness to go out on a limb. His takes are good and is a good change of pace. I m looking forward to the rest of his games, along with hearing Roy smalley after that.

Was anyone else caught offgaurd watching the game on FSN. They announced during the game that doctors made a last minute decision to do TJ surgery on Scott Baker. This will certainly prolong the recovery effort.

The Star Tribune is reporting that Delmon Young was arrested early this morning in a drunken anti-Semetic altercation.... Here's the link: http://www.startribune.com/local/149232745.html

1. Indianapolis- Andrew Luck QB Stanford 2. Washington- Robert Griffin III Baylor 3. Minnesota- Morris Claiborne CB LSU 4. Cleveland- Trent Richardson RB Alabama 5. Tampa Bay- Luke Kuechly LB Boston College 6. St. Louis- Justin Blackmon WR Oklahoma State 7. Jacksonville- Whitney Mercilus DE Illinois 8. Miami Dolphins- Ryan Tannenhill QB Texas A&M 9. Carolina Panthers- Dontari Poe DT Memphis 10. Buffalo Bills- Matt Kalil OT USC 11. Kansas City Chiefs- Mark Barron S Alabama 12. Seattle Seahawks- Chandler Jones DE Syracuse 13. Arizona Cardinals- Michael Floyd WR Notre Dame 14. Dallas Cowboys- Michael Brockers DT LSU 15. Philadelphia Eagles- Fletcher Cox DT MIssissippi St…

Anyone know what the deal is with JJ Hardy this year? All signs were pointing to him having another huge season after the contract extention. He's batting .178, 3 homers and 5 RBI. http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/players/7283 Obviously its still the first month.....

Right now, both these guys are hitting like crap, ESPECIALLY in clutch situations. Burroughs has looked good on the field, but if Danny Boy gets his act together, we don't need him in the field. Plouffe is still inconsistent at best defensively at pretty much every position. Unfortunately right now he is our only backup guy at 2nd and SS, but if they bring Dozier or someone else up they don't need him there, and we have a log jam of adequate outfielders who have looked better at the plate than him (Parmelee, Doumit, Thomas, Revere). So what do you do? Neither has options left, so any attempt to send them to the minors to get their act together runs the risk of…

Since the 2012 Twins challenging early portion of the schedule is cited as one of the reasons for the team's poor start, I was curious to see if the Twins struggled as mightily in the same matchups played in the same ballparks in 2011 and 2010. Here's the comparison: 2012: 5-14, 71 runs scored, 109 runs given up 2011: 6-13, 73 runs scored, 90 runs given up 2010: 11-8, 79 runs scored, 61 runs given up* *The Twins only played 3 games in New York in 2010 as opposed to 4 played there this year. I substituted the first Yankee game played at Target Field in order to have the same number of games. It's sort of yes and no in that regard. The Twins only won one game more…

Ok, so the Twins are having a tough start to the season... With few positives to focus on, I thought it would be a good time to look back in Twins' history to some times when they were playing much better... - On this date in 1969, Rod Carew collected four hits and Harmon Killebrew belted his third home run of the season to lead the Twins to a 12-1 win over the White Sox. Dean Chance earned the win, allowing just three hits in six innings of work. The victory improved the Twins' record to 9-7 and was the start of an eight-game winning streak. - Rich Chiles had three hits, while teammates Lyman Bostock and Rob Wilfong had two hits apiece, to lead the Twins to a 5-3…

In the season's first three weeks, the Twins have played the top teams in the AL East and AL West. I think that the Tigers fit into the discussion as well, and the White Sox are surprising a lot of people. So, as a Twins fan who has seen the team's from the east and west and know enough about the Tigers and Sox, how would you rank the top teams in the AL? I would go: Texas Rangers - dominant offense, SP and RP with strong D Detroit Tigers - dominant offense, good top SP, solid BP Tampa Bay Rays - dominant SP, decent offense, questionable BP LA Angels - dominant SP (even though the Twins did well against them), solid offense, decent BP NY Yankees - dominant offense, de…

So I have to ask - did FSN get the Falcon vs Bat battle that was going on in the 7th inning tonight? I can guarantee you, the fans (and some players) could not have been more distracted by it.

I know not everyone is thrilled with some of the moves made so far, but I seem to recall that the last few years, a lot of people bitched because the Twins weren't willing to do much in FA, didn't make many in-season moves, and trotted the same guys out even if they were struggling. Let's recap what's happened just since the season started 20 days ago: Brought Hendricks and Swarzak into the rotation (instead of making Duensing a spot starter AGAIN) Let it be known that Liriano is skipping a start so he can get his head screwed on right Given Plouffe another chance to make it as an infielder (while simultaneously reminding Casilla he could lose his starting job…

Ok I will say I have been valencias biggest "hater" for a lack of a better word. But seriously it feels like he gets a huge rope. A couple more bad plays in Saturdays game, a very poor at bat, yet you don't hear much about him in the threads. I really thought by the end of the year Hughes would have taken his spot, obviously that isn't happening, so the next option at this point is burroughs? I am telling you now ( I do hope I eat these words) valencia is not going to match his 2010 productivity.

The Baltimore Orioles released pitcher Ryan Edell. He has some very good minor league numbers. He might be a promising pickup for the Twins. Does anyone know anything about him?

was claimed by the Athletics. The Twins' passed...

For those of us Twins fans that love fine beer and watching a Twins game, Surly has announced they are they are releasing an exclusive brew available only at Target Field. Surly Bandwagon! http://mnbeer.com/2012/04/09/surly-bandwagon-at-target-field/

Which has more value? There are legends about players traded for a bucket of baseballs or the like. The Twins gave up Luke Hughes for one Nick Blackburn start. Last week the Twins had a few pitchers with sore arms. Nick Blackburn missed a start. Glenn Perkins was on the shelf. They needed a pitcher and Marquis was ready to join the team. They had a few options. 1 - Place Nick Blackburn on the DL. The risk was that he would not be able to start tonight's game. They would lose 1 start from Nick Blackburn. He would be eligible return for the next start. 2 - Outright Luke Hughes - The risk would be losing him to another organization. Last night they couldn't pinch …

shs' Realistic Trade Candidates to better the Twins #1 SP RHP Neil Ramirez AAA Texas Rangers. Turns 23 in 1 Month. http://projectprospect.com/files/Neil-Ramirez300x450%20(Mitchell).jpg?1304477395 The Rangers are sooo loaded with both Pitching and Offense both at the Major Lg. Level and the Minor Lg. Level that they may not be open to making deals with any team unless injuries occur. Well, even with that said, I think Ramirez is more than expandable. He is a FB pitcher who the Rangers NEVER like in the ballpark in Arglinton, see: Wieland, Joe and Erlin, Robbie from a year ago. *Also Even If Ramirez continues to impress and pitches even more dominant He'll likely not e…

Just read they might call someone up while Josh is out. Any rumours on who will get the call up?

I am looking into some free agent options to fulfill the rotation. I did predict the Twins would win the next 5/6 games, if that were to happen the Twins would be 10-12. WE NEED STARTING PITCHING. What would be the major downside of the point to sign Brandon Webb on the cheap? I don't know all the details of options, but are we really going to keep Liriano on the mound? So from opening day down to Pavano, Marquis, Blackburn- Marquis and Blackburn were back of the rotation guys. I would be interested to see response to signing Webb?

I am just astounded by the closer's inability to miss bats here early in the season. I figured he'd rebound a bit after seeing his K-rate drop to a career-low 12 percent last year, but so far the issue has only been magnified. Capps has struck out only two of the 28 batters he's faced, or 7 percent. Last year, no reliever in the majors who threw more than 40 innings had a K-rate below 10 percent. Not long ago, Capps was perfectly capable of notching a punch-out from time to time, but here in the prime of his career it appears that he's completely lost the ability to fool hitters. He doesn't exactly induce enough weak contact to survive while allowing 90+ percent of hitt…

I am done with watching LIriano. He needs to go. 86 pitches 47 strikes 5 earned Runs and 4 walks. The Twins need to dump him at this point. He is clearly not going to get any better. He has potential , but I don't think there is anything that the Twins can do at this point to fix him. I don't even know if he can be fixed at this point. I think the Twins should stop wasting their time on him.

Justin Morneau is continuing to show that he is moving past his concussion symptoms. I find it hard to believe that the Twins are completely throwing in the towel on Morneau playing 1B. While Chris Parmelee is off to a decent start (.275/.310/.425), I am sure the Twins would prefer to have Morneau, his defense, and his salary playing in the field. At what point do you start phasing him back to 1B? My opinion is that they should do so as soon as possible. Morneau's trade value is still extrememly low. While he could be considered sunk money, the Twins keeping this much money tied ino a full-time DH would be a mistake, especially if/when Parmelee begins to falter.

Anyone have any actual numbers that would back up or refute the claims I've seen that the Twins have more pitchers getting TJ than any other club?

The Twins lost 99 games last season. They are on a pace to lose 111 games this season. Lots of agruments and fingers pointed against players. But... how much slack do you cut the manager and his coaches? And the interim GM who made this team. Methinks that they should be feeling their seat heating up pretty quickly. What do you think?

So the Rays are about to sign Matsui to a minor league deal. http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2012/04/rays-expected-to-sign-hideki-matsui.html I get that he's 37, but I suppose there's no way we could have used him as a 4th OF or DH. I suppose anyone nicknamed "Godzilla" isn't scrappy enough for the Twins roster.

I say yes. I have no doubt that he would be a good glove over there. It would get Parmalee more at bats and address another weakness. Have Mauer start taking some ground balls there in practice and if Valencia doesn't get his head on right soon, Mauer starts to alternate catcher/3b with eventually 3b becoming his position.

Last Wednesday, several Minnesota Twins players ventured to the MLB Fan Cave in downtown NYC. Friend of Twins Daily, Lindsay Guentzel blogged about the great experience that she had, and how Brian Duensing did something that is pretty cool for the MLB Fan Cave Dwellers! http://mlbfancave.mlb.com/fancave/index.jsp?content=article&content_id=29311976#fbid=mpWm6xjD5t5?partnerID=th_twitter

1. Is it time to call up Scott Diamond and give him a shot? 2. Sweet Drew: Never will his trade value be greater than now....Never.