Minnesota Twins Talk

I started a day-by-day spreadsheet for the Twins organization. A file that has a tab for each level and some basics about each day's games across all levels. I have listed: date, opponent, score, record, games behind, winning pitcher, losing pitcher, save and "MVP" of that game. I saved it to a google docs, and currently I only have access to it, but if people like the idea and are willing to help, I could give them access. This would be a nice way to keep tabs on all teams in the organization and their current status. I thought about possibly doing team stats for each organization as well. This is all obviously available online, but thought would be nice to have this …

For everyone that is ready to fire Gardy and jettison the lineup because of our ugly first series...look at Boston. Right now, the guy leading the team in BA, SLG, RBI, 2nd in OPS and 4th in OBP is.....Nick Punto.

This just in Liam Hendriks is in a Baltimore hospital with food poisoning and Anthony Swarzak will make start tommorrow. If it is not one thing with the Twins it is something else. Unbelievable.

With today's lineup of Ben Revere in right field the question has to be asked has the Ryan Doumit experiment in RF already ended with his missed fly ball yesterday and Gardy's desire for defense you have to question it. I don't want to hear he needed a day off as it is the 2nd game of the year. I for one am happy if this is permanant even though I don't think it is as I think Doumit, Plouffe, Revere, and Parmelee will all get significant time in RF because the Twins have won with pitching and defense. They have always sacfrificed offense to be better defensively and putting Doumit in RF goes against that. So is this permanant or just a coincidence?

I found it interesting today that when Casilla was lifted for Burroughs, and Gardy had to go to his bench for a new second baseman, that he brought in Plouffe over Hughes. It was certainly a defensible move, but it raises the question - exactly when would Hughes be a bench asset? Plouffe can play every position Hughes can and he would probably be the preferred pinch hitter when facing lefties. Is the only time that Hughes going to be used when Plouffe has already filled in somewhere else?

out of the Miracle game after he faced 3 batters. No details yet...

I read Joe C's blog yesterday and something caught me off guard. the comment was, "Altchek is the doctor who performed Tommy John surgery on former Twins closer Joe Nathan and prospect Kyle Gibson, among others. But the good news is that, according to the Twins, there doesn't appear to be enough structural damage to keep Baker out for a long time" My question is what is meant by "there doesnt appear to be enough structural damage" does that mean there is some structural damage, but not enough to have surgery or what does it mean. If someone has some insight on this I would appreciate it. Seems very cryptic to me cause to me he either has structural damage or he doesn…

It's one of the great baseball pasttimes: complaining about the manager. So let's use this as our Festivus Airing Of Grievances as the year rolls on. Since the season hasn't really started yet, I'll kick things off with a simple question (I think by TwinsDaily member Kirsten Brown) that Aaron and I addressed on a podcast a few weeks back: "If you could have Ron Gardenhire changes any ONE THING about how he manages, what would it be?"

http://www.startribune.com/local/146156485.html Careful if you only have 30 free articles to read... but Target Field is now smoke free. All of Target Field. The plaza, the sidewalks surrounding it, everywhere. I don't smoke- and don't enjoy the smell- but I think this is ridiculous. Especially when chewing tobacco will still be allowed on the field. The only positive: if they bring back the recording of Bob Casey's famous call before every Metrodome home game.

I'd say the chances that Gardenhire makes no changes to the lineup are about -80% for the second game of the season tomorrow. Considering the Twins face a right-hander, what do we think he'll do? 1. Burroughs for Valencia maybe? 2. Doumit at catcher, Mauer at 1B and ??? in RF? If he doesn't do this tomorrow, it has to be Sunday, right? 3. Hughes at 2B and Casilla on the bench? Any other ideas out there?

Twins commercial is a take off on the Big Lebowski. Stars Gardy, Mauer, Willingham, Span, and Big Herbie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4RtPSoFFJg

The starting pitching depth on this team is quite scary. With the most recent news about Baker, the concerns grow by the day. What are peoples thoughts on John Lannan? He's been demoted to AAA because of the depth of the Nationals starting rotation. -He's not going to be a superstar, or even above average but he provides much needed depth. -27 years old - The Washington Post's Adam Kilgore reports Lannan is the highest-paid player ever optioned to the minors prior to the end of spring training. - $5 million salary, final year of contract

Per Joe Christensen's blog at the Star Tribune, Ron Gardenhire has announced tomorrow's lineup: Looks like an offensively deep lineup considering Chris Parmelee is batting eighth. Defensively? Doumit and Willingham in the corners won't be the greatest coverage team but their bats could compensate for that lack of range. More importantly: BASEBALL'S ALMOST HERE.

Aaron Gleeman and John Bonnes are organizing a viewing party for Friday's opener. If you are in the Twin Cities - specifically the Hopkins area at the Wild Boar - join Gleeman and the Geek, as they say weird things like "UZR" and "BABIP" during the game to nerd up the joint. More details here. NOTE: I would love to join in the festivities but my desire to remain gainfully employed is an impediment towards me getting all beered up and watching baseball at 2 PM. (I know, right? What is this, Russia?!) I am, however, Tivo-ing the game so if you would kindly refrain from Tweeting any updates until after 4 PM that would be greatly appreciated. Repeat, please stay off all …

It took 6 innings before Cabrera was charged with an error at third base. I am very surprised it took that long. That vaunted Tiger’s offense has yet to score a run through their first 5 innings

I've asked this question several times, but haven't been able to find the answer yet. I am curious to know if Home Run Baker had any type of tests or scans done on his elbow in the off-season. This seems to be a chronic injury with him, so it's not like this has snuck up on anybody. It's frustrating when guys don't do their off-season maintenance right away at season's end, thereby jeopardizing being ready for the next season as soon as possible. That's another reason I was frustrated with Mauer last year. Didn't he wait to have his knee scoped until around mid-December? From the time the news came out a couple of weeks ago that Baker was going to be held back b…

Ever the optimist, I'm going to say that Justin Morneau will play in 145 games in 2012. I think he will be the DH 110 games, and play 35 games at 1B. The latter may be a little high. Offensively, I think anything could happen, but I'll go with: .270/.340/.490 with 30 doubles, 21 home runs and about 91 RBI. Consider all my numbers as Over/Under, and get your predictions for Justin Morneau in.

Hi everybody, I recently moved to KC, MO for work. My wife and I are diehard Twins fans (Target Field was on our wedding cake). I was wondering if there are any other Twins fans that live in the area, or if anyone knows of anyone. Thanks. Hopefully see some of you guys down here for some games at the K -Bob

Of the Twins' first 25 games (eight series), the will play just 6 games against teams who finished last year below .500. They start with the terrible Orioles and play the on-the-rise Royals at the end of April. Their other 19 games aren't just against good teams, they're against the best teams in the AL. Here's how it looks: vs. Angels - 3 games from April 9-12.vs. Rangers - 3 games from April 13-15.@ Yankees - 4 games from April 16-19.@ Rays - 3 games from April 20-22.vs. Red Sox - 3 games from April 23-25.@ Angels - 3 games from April 30-May 1.These five teams averaged 92 wins between them last year even with the now much improved Angels winning just 86 games. Yik…

Hi everybody. This is my first time posting a new thread. I love the site and the Twins community. Anyway, my dad, who is a lifelong Twins fan, recently wrote a fiction book that centers around the Twins in the 60's. The book is free today on Amazon to celebrate Opening Day. If you like stories about baseball, the Twins and nostalgia, please try it out (Plus, it's free!) http://www.amazon.com/Mr-Base-Man-ebook/dp/B006NKOBHE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327960681&sr=8-1 Go Twins!

Jim Bowden recently posted an article at ESPN with his bold predictions for 2012. Among them was that he thought the Twins would trade Justin Morneau. I quite frankly do not see any scenerio in which that would happen (if he is healthy and performing, they need him to compete and could not get equal value in return. If he is hurt, nobody would touch him). But it does create an interesting discussion topic. Here are my bold predictions for the year: - Scott Baker will make less than 10 starts for the Twins, but they will pick up his option for 2013. - Matt Capps will save less than 10 games for the Twins. - Joe Mauer will catch over 135 games and bat .330. - In spite…

Really scary. The whole story is here. And also mentions the involvement of a Twins' minor leaguer Just glad that the kid is ok. And still do not believe that all of the local writers (with their "access") could not write something like this up, but it took a national reporter...

According to LaVelle E Neal, the Twins have optioned Jason Marquis to Rochester, where he'll likely make a few starts before rejoining the team. It's been a tough spring for him as his 7-year-old daughter experienced a horrifying bike injury that put her in a coma. Fortunately, there is good news from the family.

According to Phil Mackey of ESPN1500, Jason Marquis is no longer eligible for a stay on the berevement list after rejoining the Twins today in Fort Myers. Marquis threw a 54 pitch intersquad game today and both the Twins and Marquis agree he needs one or two more starts before he is ready to rejoin the Twins. So the Twins are in a pickle because they can't DL him because he is not hurt. So the team is left with two choices: Choice #1 Marquis has only used two option years in his career so he has a minor league option. If that is done he would have to stay a minimum of 10 days in the minors unless there was an injury on the big league team. That sounds like the ans…

Does anyone know of an Opening day (Friday 4/6 @ 2pm) gathering? I will be taking a half day that day and would enjoy watching the games with fellow Twins fans! Anything set up yet? I went to the Gleeman & Geek Spring Training get together, and enjoyed that, hoping for something along those lines...

Maybe I've missed it, but I haven't seen who is expected to start in Right Field on Opening day and going forward? Is it going to be Doumit when he isn't catching? Is it going to be Plouffe? How do you expect the split to work between Doumit, Plouffe, Revere and what would you do if you were Gardy?

The St Paul Pioneer Press's Ben Goessling visited with Joe Mauer recently about the dreadful 2011 season. The piece is worth reading beginning to end but here's some of the key quotes out of the article: Mauer on the '11 clubhouse vibe: On why the communication problem regarding his injuries: The article goes on to say that the Twins encourage Mauer to workout more in the offseason as he is now approaching his age-30 season and he spent time with Tom Kelly honing his craft at first base. The biggest takeaway though is that he sound healthy and happy.

Posted these on Twitter earlier tonight. Figured I'd post them here also as a conversation starter. Now that the 25-man roster appears set, here are a few things that strike me... - Quantity rather than quality in bullpen. Gardy's going to have to establish a reliever hierarchy on the fly. Will it hurt the team early? - Bench is stacked, esp compared to last year. Doumit, Plouffe, Revere, Hughes & Burroughs are dynamic weapons for the manager to utilize. - Chris Parmelee is a huge wild card. Tough to say much else. I really hope the Twins are right about him. - And finally, if Hendriks puts together a couple good starts it could create some interest…

Tom Pelissero and Jim Souhan are hosting the first Ron Gardenhire Show of the year on 1500espn (www.1500espn.com). Here are some notes: Likes having veterans like Sean Burroughs, Ryan Doumit, etc., to put together good at bats.Luke Hughes' swing is shorter and the plane is better. He's been pretty good.Alexi can play SS. Carroll can play 2B. Trevor Plouffe will back up in the infield and outfield. He's been in control on the field this spring.Wanted to add depth to win ball games. We went with some specialty people who can swing the bat.Morneau - leaning toward full-time DH, but still subject to change. He doesn't have to worry about diving, etc. Will have to play some 1…

In a story titled "Hunter, Cuddyer admit Twins were psyched out by Yankees," Jon Heyman quotes Torii Hunter relates a 2004 playoff incident as well as just saying that guys were very nervous about playing the Yankees. What do we think?