Minnesota Twins Talk

The 2021 season just keeps delivering body shots. After being an absolute trainwreck for much of the season, Jorge Alcalá has been transferred to the IL. Sigh. It finally appeared that Alcalá, who has all the velocity and promise in the world, may have turned a bit of a corner over the past few weeks and showed signs of becoming the dominant reliever we all hoped he would become before this cluster-you-know-what of a season began. But nah, he's on the IL now because of course he is. Twins Baseball: Comin' At Ya Like a Mack Truck with Its Brake Lines Cut™ Season Totals …

Since Thorpe got the call today, now begs the question ... when will we see Joe Ryan on the mound for the Twins? He's scheduled to pitch on Friday for the Saints, could we see him as soon as New York? I'm thinking that he'll make his Twins debut during our next homestand. He hasn't pitched in a game since the Olympics, so the powers that be likely want him to get a game or two under his belt stateside before the leap. What do you think?

There has been quite a bit of discussion on this site about fans wanting the Twins to sign both a top end starter, as well as a cornerstone player at SS. This FO seems unlikely to spend big on two players given that their last big FA signing in Donaldson didn’t necessarily turn out as they had hoped. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Donaldson’s fire and he’s been playing well when he’s on the field, but it’s hard to pay a 35 year-old guy this much when he’s got lingering problems with injuries. Now my question to you all is, who would you rather have on the Twins for the next few seasons, Noah Syndergaard coming off of TJ or a top 5 FA SS? I would lean towards taking the ri…

This thread speaks for itself. We’re looking to next year (or later). The way next year goes depends heavily on how this offseason goes.

Wednesday August 18th would have been Michael Pineda's turn in the rotation, before he went on the IL. Who would you like to see called up to start that game?

For those seeking a little nostalgia: Musical artist and parachute pants enthusiast MC Hammer posted a video of him taking batting practice at the Metrodome, donning a Twins uniform and everything. The former Oakland A's bat boy says he took a trip down to the Dome while he was living at Paisley Park and finishing up his 2 Legit 2 Quit album. The album was released in October of 1991 -- a very good year for the Minnesota Twins -- but the footage must be from the 1990 season. We see glimpses of Randy Bush (25) taking soft toss into a net, Kent Hrbek lurking in the background, and hitting coach Tony Oliva chatting it up with Hammer -- all of whom were on th…

I was reading Matthew Lenz's article "Twins Options at Shortstop in 2022", in which he discusses what short-term options the Twins might look at in the next offseason while they wait for Royce Lewis to recover from the ACL surgery. Later in that article, Lenz examines the free agent options, and he mentions Trevor Story, Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, and Javier Báez. Those guys will definitely be looking for long-term deals. Which got me thinking: if you're the Twins, would you be willing to give up on Royce Lewis in order to pursue one of those big shot free agents? If so, which of those guys is your preferred target? Mine is definitely Story. Not long ago, th…

Lewis Thorpe will be recalled to start Wednesday August 18 vs Cleveland. Thorpe made 3 spot starts for the Twins earlier this season. He then spent over 2 months on the AAA injured list with a shoulder strain, but recently returned to make a 5.2 IP start for St. Paul, allowing only 2 hits, 1 run, 1 walk, and 5 K's on 78 pitches. EDIT TO ADD: The corresponding roster move is that reliever Nick Vincent has been designated for assignment. This also opens a 40-man roster spot, which could be filled by someone else in the near future.

All Polanco does is show up every day and play. Haven't checked but he has been out of few, if any, lineups this year is spite of Baldelli's constant tinkering. Game winning home run last night but has been very steady all year with .271 average and good defense unlike almost entire rest of the roster. Has been injury free for most, if not all, of his career. Just a solid, if not spectacular, MLB player. Given the shaky status of almost every other Twin, his longevity with the team, reliability and overall performance, Polanco is the face of this franchise until someone else actually shows up. Streetclothes Buxton? Sano? Kepler? I don't think so.

Was looking at the MLB team hitting stats tonight, curious where the Bomba Squad sat in homers, because that seems to be the one thing they continue to do well, and I found they are #4 in MLB with 168, after only Atlanta, Toronto and leader SF with 176. What surprised me was some of the other sortable stats. #9 in OPS #18 in Ks, #14 in BBs. This was the one that stunned me - the Twins, with all their Medoza lines, are 12th in MLB in batting average at .244. I was expecting near last. The Rays, Yankees, A's, Mets, Indians all have team batting averages in the .230s. For reference, the 91 team honored tonight led the AL in BA with a team avera…

With a single in yesterday's 1-0 win against Chicago, Trevor Larnach is now batting .300 in August. Alas, that's the lone bright spot in what's been a horrendous past 2 months for the rookie. Larnach has completely lost his power stroke, with his last homer coming over a month ago on July 7. He's could very well get 450 at bats this season and finish with less than 10 homers. His July was awful. Overall he went 18-for-94 (.191) with just three extra base hits. Those extra base hits all came on or before July 7th. The rest of July he went 9-for-69 (.130), all nine hits were singles, and he struck out 33 times (47% strikeout rate). Woof. Now it's clear the front …

This method of filling innings in down seasons with veteran pitchers that are off the team the following year and waiver wire pick ups continues to be a trend. In 2016 and 2018 the reason given for this method was the talent pipeline wasn’t ready. Which was fair. Not much in the cupboard during that time. Is that what we’re going with this year? If so, we’ve got some bigger issues to talk about…

Strained oblique for Big Mike. Ralph Garza Jr is a reliever claimed off waivers recently from the Astros. Speculation is that the Twins will make another move before Pineda's next turn in the rotation (Wednesday) -- could be the return of Lewis Thorpe, who started yesterday for St. Paul.

Just to be clear, I never had any expectations for Griffin Jax but I have to admit at now I'm intrigued by him a little bit. Maybe it will turn out to be the same reason I was intrigued by Scott Diamond back in the day - cautious pessimism - but good performance is certainly more fun to watch than the other kind of performance and god knows we've witnessed enough of that lately. Anyway, this is exactly the reason why this front office should not be wasting time with the likes of Beau Burrows and instead focusing on their plethora of prospects this season, many of which will require a 40-man decision this fall. I don't even really care who they run out there to see wh…

According to a recent Forbes article, viewership in baseball has declined significantly in most markets. Here in the Twin Cities, there has been a 55% decrease in viewers compared to the 2019 season. There are the obvious reasons why: First, Bally Sports North has been a clusterbleep. They have no presence on platforms like YouTubeTV and Hulu, giving the cord-cutters little option to even watch the game. Second, the team has been abysmal and most, if not all, of the bottom-dwelling teams across the league have seen their numbers crater. But there's also the notion that the pandemic has influenced people's viewing habits -- that perhaps bigger issues…

Hey all - I registered an account to ask a question of the community. I'm planning on a trip to Target Field in the coming weeks, taking a 10 yo to his first game experience and actually (gulp) my first trip to Target Field. (I did a mental recount about going to games - realized that the last games I've attended in person were at the Metrodome. I guess now that youngest is in his 'baseball phase', this is much easier...) What kinds of things are at / near Target Field this season that would be fun for kids and/or would be something of a memorable experience? - Is it worth going into the stadium early? Are there practices / players milling around before the …

As the 2021 season is rounding 3rd base, I can't help but look back on the years my team, the Red Wings, was affiliated with the Twins. I still wish they were, frankly; but I completely understand why they aren't anymore. The logic of having your top farm team so close makes perfect sense. I have not warmed to the Washington Nats. Apparently either have our fans so far. We are 17th out of 19 AAA teams in attendance this season, which is a position Rochester baseball has never been in....ever. (I am not counting Buffalo because they have played most their home games in New Jersey, while they played host to the Blue Jays...so its not a fair test) Our team is not good e…

We’ve tossed around a lot of ideas about trades before the deadline. All of that is out of our control at the end of the day. Let’s discuss something different… The roster is flawed, regardless of who is traded before the end of July. Here are a couple of examples that stick out to me: - Choose one for 2B: Polanco or Arraez. - Is there a super utility player in the organization? Arraez isn’t it. Could Gordon be the guy? - Can we solve the back of the rotation problem internally? I like to think one or more of the Sands, Ober, and Winder trio could be a #5 in the rotation as soon as 2022.

The Twins have selected and added Nick Vincent. They have sent Burrows back to AAA. Moran or Hamilton could have been selected.

If Berrios is dealt, what does next season's rotation look like? Maeda is probably the only real lock as I see it. There are a few minor leaguers that will hopefully get a taste of the big leagues later this season. Perhaps they acquire a few other options via trade. Do they re-sign Pineda? Does Dobnak fight for a spot? Do they go out and sign a couple of 2nd-tier starters? I figure it'll be some combination of all of these, but what do others think?

I know it's 4 plus months into the season. Did we rely to heavily on a 'shake the dice' bullpen for too long? I feel if we brought in 2 or 3 relievers a game we might be better served than the 3-5 we trot out every game. I don't have the time time or knowledge to go to sites to serve this out, but I'm amazed how much we use our shaky bullpen out of the gate. I can't find the numbers I want to prove this theory because I'm not smart. Thoughts? Aside from I'm dumb and can't use Google properly.

Yes ...

I’m not going to make this a poll, rather, a short answer. This season has been awful, and it has seen the Twins deal Jose Berrios, probably the only pitcher the Twins have managed to develop in a while. He was dealt for two Top 100 Prospects. After this season’s trade deadline, the Twins find themselves in a position where they will need to develop their pieces to fill in spots on the major league team. Question: How confident are you in this FO and Coaching Staff to develop these prospects to their fullest?

Kind of odd that Big Mike is staying in MN. Happ and John Lester found new homes can’t believe no one was interested. Think the Twins think they will resign him or even get a comp balance pick for him if he performs? Maybe they just need innings and Pineda is solid.

Now that the calendar has flipped over to August, the trade deadline has passed and the Twins are in last place in the division, is there anything that excites you about what the rest of the season holds? Any particular prospects that you're particularly interested in seeing called up? Any minor leaguers that aren't prospects that you'd like to see get a shot?

Things are too negative on TD (I'm partly the reason for that) but there are some reasons for optimism for 2022 1) Buxton is due a full and healthy season. He goes on the IL too much but it's usually a freaky, silly injury, rather than something you expect to be a constant problem. And if Buxton gives the Twins a full season, the Twins will have one of the best players in baseball. 2) Miranda and Martin look to be two pretty good bats that will be ML ready sooner rather than later. Martin was arguably the best bat in last years draft and was thrown straight into AA and more than held his own. Miranda is having the breakout season many of us expected (God, I love…

I've attached a poll where you can select multiple answers. Choose all of the choices which apply to you.

Jose de Leon was just released by the Reds. The former top prospect for the Dodgers, you may recall he was a trade target during the Brian Dozier trade saga. He wound up getting traded to the Rays instead, had Tommy John surgery, and has lost his control. After getting traded to the Reds, that lack of control continued, and he gave up a lot of home runs. He’s only 28, though, and he was outstanding for several years in a row in the minors, rocketing up the prospect lists. Maybe he will never put it together, but in my view, the Twins should take a flyer on him. Maybe away from Cincy, and putting some distance between his Tommy John surgery, and he will find his …

I could write a long post detailing how I feel about this decision but this gets my point across well enough:

When I saw that the Astros had put this guy on waivers, I thought "this would be a nice pick-up for the Twins." Plus, they had the 40-man roster spot opened. Just another arm to give a tryout for the 2022 bullpen. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2021/08/twins-claim-ralph-garza-jr-waivers-astros.html