Minnesota Twins Talk

I'll start... Fred Tolliver. I remember collecting his Phillies rookie cards, and then he briefly became a Twins player. Your turn... Name some lesser known Twins of the past, and what reminded you of them.

Yeesh.

I have an idea for a novel trade deadline thread with a few simple ground rules that will make it different from all other trade deadline threads. The ground rules are: No bashing the front office. No bashing the manager. No belittling of other opinions. The purpose of this thread is for presenting your ideas about what should be done between now and the trade deadline. And to keep this from becoming another long debate about whether or not to extend Berrios and Buxton, the only assumption to follow is that both will refuse an extension and go to free agency in 2022. So I’ll begin. I am going to approach this on a position by position bas…

First time poster, long time lurker. Howdy! So this was a comment I recently had on John Bonnes's piece on trading Taylor Rogers. I wanted to expand on my thoughts and lay out my opinion for everyone... Taylor Rogers has more value than we think. Left handed relievers who over the course of the last 3 years (aside from covid shortened season), have averaged 60-70 games, with a 10.5/K9, and a 2.63 ERA don't grow on trees. He also has another year of control on his deal. Take a look at what guys like Zach Britton, Andrew Miller, and Aroldis Chapman have brought back in recent years at the deadline. Teams overpay for lockdown arms at the deadline. Deploying t…

Anyone who reads this can do the math, but let's lay it out for all to see. As of the morning of 11 June, the Twinkies stand at 25 - 37, 13 games back of the Pale Hose, who have racked up a mighty 38 - 24 (.613) record. Exactly 100 games remain to be played. Consider: In order to have an outside shot for a wildcard berth at 85 - 77, this team has to play .600 ball For Chicago to choke and allow the Twins to catch them at that pace, their club would have to lose 56 of 100 games (84 - 78) The White Sox current clip would put them at 99 - 63 A 90-win Twins season requires a .650 win rate the rest of the way; but provides no guarantee of a wil…

Buxton's injury is devastating for a few reasons but it's also tied to some problems MLB has been facing recently: 1. Pitcher foreign substances to enhance grip - we've all heard about this and the actions MLB has taken to ban them, potentially causing more instances of HBP as pitchers try to maintain velocity but lose grip on the ball 2. Ever-increasing velocity - we all know pitchers are throwing harder than ever with the number continuing to rise every year, causing offense to plummet and spurring hitters to chase Three True Outcomes more every year 3. Pitchers using the inside pitch as HBP numbers escalate (not a great combination with added velocity) …

Taylor Rogers, the Twins defacto closer, is still one year away from free agency, but has several attributes that make him more likely to be traded. I think that's the case even if they are reloading, instead of rebuilding. I'm wondering what the community thinks. He's good, so he'll be worth something. He's left-handed. They're almost always in demand at the deadline. Being a guy who can either be used as a left-handed setup man or a closer makes him even more attractive. He's going to be kind of expensive next year. This last year, we wondered if the Twins would offer him arbitration, but they got a deal done at $5.5M. I'm guessing he gets $7M-$7.5M …

It is official, Byron Buxton has a "boxer's fracture" of his left hand. He will miss weeks recovering from his latest injury. It just never seems to end for the ultra-talented center fielder. If it isn't his legs, then it's his shoulder, if it isn't his shoulder, then it is his head (concussions). I feel terrible for the player and feel some disappointment for the organization. A wonderful talent who just can't seem to stay on the field. Time is drawing short for Buxton to perform for the Twins. Assuming he is out until after the All-Star break, he might be able to play 60 more games this season. He will almost certainly be either a free agent or traded before…

I'd love people's opinions on this. Second base, left field, third base, designated hitter - or it is just "wherever the leftover spot is after you configure the rest of the team"? Here is his FanGraph's advanced fielding page, FWIW. I find it interesting that he graded out slightly above average at 2B last year in 259 innings at UZR. But absolutely abysmal at the same position (also with 200-400 innings) in 2019 and 2021. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Like many other Minnesota Twins, Max Kepler enjoyed a banner 2019 regular season en route to over 100 victories. Kepler assumed the leadoff position in the batting order and flourished. He hit 36 homers and drove in 90 runs and played good defense in right field. Kepler also more than held his own against left handed pitching, hitting .283 with an .880 OPS against southpaws. The season, however, didn't end well for the Berlin native. He was injured and slumped in September and the team was swept out of the playoffs by the Yankees. Max was 0-10 in the 2019 playoffs. Since the breakout season, Kepler has not fared well. Max's OPS fell from to .760 in 2020 and is .692 t…

At the major league level, catching is a position where lack of offense is accepted in exchange for good defense. The Twins, in the midst of a terrible season, have two catchers who profile as above average hitters for their position, but they don't appear to complement each other. To start the season, Ryan Jeffers and Mitch Garver were basically alternated as the starting catcher and neither player thrived. Garver hit .151 through April 27 with an OPS of .517, while Jeffers struggled mightily to a .147 average with a .393 OPS before he was sent down to Triple A. From April 28 until the end of May, Garver had a great five weeks, hitting over .280 with an OPS above 1…

Buxton is the most important player to the Twins going forward. He’s the one we love to watch play by far the most.

Creating this topic for the expressed written purpose of having a space for any tweets / posts / articles you may find about when Buxton will be back in the major-league lineup.

Lots of options here, give your vote careful consideration, please.

Does anyone know why the official MN Twins web page margins look like they were drawn for an early 90s Bulletin Board System (BBS)? Is this a bizarre tribute to the 1991 team? Does anyone know the story about why this was chosen? Is there a story, or was this task simply given to an intern or employee's child? Is there stuff like this all over the stadium too? Twins: If you cannot afford photoshop, there are free alternatives. You don't have to overthink it -- just look at what the Red Sox did with their website margins.

A few days ago, I started a thread on why, in my opinion, the Twins coaching staff has been holding them back the most. And in the comments, I saw a few comments following a recurring theme. It’s no secret that Rocco Baldelli has made a lot of questionable in-game decisions this year, some of them directly CONTRIBUTING to losses. Notice I didn’t say LEADING to, because sometimes his decisions that “lose” the game are him making the right decision based on the situation and it still blowing up because, IDK, because he’s the Twins manager. If you’ve read the Twins Twitter/Facebook and have listened to the sports radio, or heck, read many comments on this site, tel…

What is the black MLB patch on the Twins uniforms this year?

From CBS Sports -- "Jim 'Mudcat' Grant, the first Black pitcher in American League history to win 20 games, has died at the age of 85. The Minnesota Twins, for whom Grant pitched for four of his 14 major league seasons, announced his passing on Saturday. " https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/former-all-star-pitcher-jim-mudcat-grant-who-spent-14-seasons-in-the-majors-dies-at-85/ This is sad news for us older fans. RIP Mudcat.

IMO, I haven’t seen enough of him yet. The results, to me, are mixed.

They made a couple moves in 2006 like bringing in Liriano to the rotation full time and trading for Shannon Stewart that really seemed to jump start that team. I know I don't have a lot to go on but I still think this team even with all of the injury's could turn this season around. Dump Shoemaker and trade for an additional starter. Would you try and trade for a closer type like Brandon Kintzler or Ian Kennedy at the back end of the rotation to shore up the bullpen. I still think if we could shore up the back end and just use Colume, Robles and Rogers as situational closers and have one more back end guy that this would really start to shore up the Twins bullpen. I …

He has good defensive metrics but his at bats and plate appearances have left a lot, a lot to be desired lately. You have other options on the roster, I know Araez is out but still don't most think it would be a good time to give the kid Gordon a shot or some run at SS.

It’s unfortunate, and none of us really thought we’d be asking this this year, but it’s reality. This season is a disaster. The Twins will finish with somewhere around 100 losses. It might be time to clean house. What do y’all think?

I just can't do it anymore. I typically enjoy watching this the Twins, even when they're not contending - but not this team, and certainly not right now. While the season has been over for a while now, there was a brief stretch in mid-May when the Twins won 2-of-3 in Cleveland, then swept the Orioles at home. An ember of hope flickered inside many optimistic Twins fans. Maybe this team was finally starting to dig deep and find some competitive mojo? After all, the talent is there: Donaldson, Cruz, Maeda, Berrios, Polanco, Mighty Miguel Sano, Rookie of the Year Candidate Kirilloff - teams have done more with far less. Alas, the Twins have gone 4-8 since and have once…

Ok..you averted total disaster after losing the Os series and dropping a 14-5 mess to the Royals by salvaging a split in that series. Now 6 at home starting with 3 with a slumping team from New York that has their own problems. So are you going to let those Yankee uniforms scare you to death again or are you going to actually win a series and maybe even win the entire home stand? Just asking.

Gen chat about this subject because IDK WTF what else it’s supposed to be.

I keep seeing things on Twitter about "Well at least we will get prospects for Nelson Cruz Et Al" and thinking that is really naive. Even setting aside his age, the increased leaguewide value placed on prospect capital, I can't see the Twins getting anything more than a really low level prospect. Right off the bat you can rule out half the teams because no NL team will touch him. I've seen people suggest he could fill in a pinch hitting role but I don't think that is realistic. The obvious comp is Sandoval with the Braves but the key difference is that Sandoval can, in theory, play the field. He has done in every season he has played which means he isn'…

I'm surprised at the quick adaptation of 'Sano is back'. I understand his power a huge commodity. I like his glove at 1B. But 5 HR's in 7 games does not absolve him from the damage he has done to this lineup. He's well below the Mendoza line, Almost half his hits are HR's and yet only has 16 RBII's (coming off a grand slam last night) I don't understand Sabermetrics, but I understand from 35 years years of watching baseball that being a rally killer, and so strikeout prone is bad for the team. I've harshed on him in the past and have applauded him at times, but I think it's time to cut ties with him now while he's 'hot' I no longer fear an Ortiz backlash. Get something fo…

It goes without saying that this season (thus far) has been a total disaster. And while things may be turning around (Winning 4 of the last 5) the Twins still have a long way to go, and haven't played the likes of the Yankees, Astros, A's, still have 13 games against the Sox, the Red Sox...they'll need to play teams better than the Orioles. I was wondering what y'all think is this team's biggest issue? I'll give my answer: Many of you would say the bullpen is this team's biggest problem and that's reasonable. It's been dreadful pretty much all year, but especially since blowing a 6-0 lead to the ****ING Mariners. Even in some wins, the bullpen has coughed up a late l…

Early this morning, Mitch Garver sent an update on his condition via his Instagram page. The summary... He was taken to the ER. Had an ultrasound. Imaging showed surgery was needed. He had surgery. Is now recovering. Obviously first and foremost, we want to wish him well... Send him your well-wishes. On the less-important baseball side of this... he's probably going to be out a while. Rocco said as much last night. I would assume that Ryan Jeffers is on his way to Baltimore.