Minnesota Twins Talk

This is a very enjoyable feature on the terrific person and leader we have in Twins Territory! https://kstp.com/sports/the-woonsocket-rocket-visiting-rocco-baldellis-hometown/5646933/

http://www.startribune.com/it-s-not-his-first-rodeo-veteran-homer-bailey-looks-to-help-out-twins-pitching-staff/567913782/?fbclid=IwAR1yVofC93rND7gDGmNLmsJgBLgt5LZXZwhqpPfTk3ASqYSiHR4YdW81TOU LaVelle Neal has a really nice article on new Twins starter Homer Bailey. It's got good background on his injury situations. It talks about his two no hitters. It talks about how he has horses and land and all that too.

http://www.startribune.com/five-years-after-his-last-mlb-pitch-caleb-thielbar-resurfaces-with-twins/567821762/ Patrick Reusse chatted with Caleb Thielbar in the Twins locker room and found out all that he's been up to since spending three seasons with the Twins earlier in the season. Doug Mientkiewicz said he was the best reliever in the International League last year and should have been in the big leagues. Theilbar admitted that he hit 95 on several occasions. This is some good stuff.

Rated with 10 hitters better than average (based on something called Weighted Runs Created Plus). I think they might score some runs this year... https://www.mlb.com/news/minnesota-twins-deepest-lineup-2020

I know everyone first thoughts will be that greedy owners just want the money, which is probably the answer most of the time. If you can compare a prospect to cash what level of prospect would this be? Kind of hurts losing the draft pick but we still need to find out who the other player LA is sending in the deal.

PECOTA has the Twins projected for 93.4 which is 4th highest (LA, NYY, and HOU ahead of us) and has us handily winning the division, beating out Cleveland by 7.3 games and Chicago by 10.9 games. I have two main questions. First to other Baseball Prospectus subscribees. When do individual projections get released. I've just been subscribed for 8 months or so, so this is my first PECOTA day. I assume all the projection stuff is behind the paywall, or is some of it public access (side question: do different BP Subscription levels get you access to different amounts of projection data?) And this leads me to my second question, which is for the moderators.... Is the stuf…

Hey guys I just have a dumb question. I have never been to Twins Spring Training, but this year I am taking my family out there for 5 days. My question is; can fans go and watch practice? Like on days when the Twins don't play or are on the road, etc.... I know, and it was a while ago, probably like 15 years ago or more, but my parents lived in Arizona during the winter and I'd come over from Cali to visit. While doing so I could go and watch the Cubs during Spring training and watch practice and stuff. So I was just wondering if I could do the same with the Twins during Spring Training? Thanks, I'm sure some of you guys have been there before that is why I am ask…

http://m.startribune.com/bob-mcclure-joins-rocco-baldelli-s-coaching-staff-with-twins/566887312/ Notably Bob McClure as bullpen coach and Rudy Hernandez got a promotion to hitting coach. Curious how it works to have co-hitting coaches with Edgar Varela having the same title.

My main takeaway from the acquisition of Kenta Maeda is this: we apparently had no choice but to part with a pitching talent, despite our hopes of dealing from perceived strength in position players - outfielders in particular. First, I need to check my assumptions: does anyone recall the front office actually coming out and saying that their drafting strategy is to pick position players when they have a very early draft choice? For me it's basically been inference: 2019 they chose a SS and LF before nabbing a pitcher with the 54th overall choice, in 2018 it was two OF and one C before a pitcher at #154, and in 2017 it was SS and OF before a pitcher at #37. You can us…

According to LaVelle Neal, the Twins' next hitting coach, replacing James Rowson, will be Edgar Varela. Varela has been the Twins minor league coordinator the last two years. http://www.startribune.com/twins-will-name-edgar-varela-hitting-coach/565412392/

https://www.cbssports.com/mlb/news/twins-pull-out-of-original-three-team-mookie-betts-trade-with-dodgers-red-sox-with-next-steps-uncertain/

With the trade of Graterol for Maeda, it looks like our roster is set and the off season is over. The Timberwolves and Wild are giving us nothing to watch and the Super Bowl is also over. What to do? Now we just wait for the first game of Spring Training. How am I going to fill my next 15 days? Day: 1-Scan every media sight ever created for information on Maeda 2-Pull everything in the basement out of storage, reorganize, throw 1 or 2 things in the neighbors dumpster, and put everything else back in a "better, more organized" way. 3-Plan a summer vacation, scrap plan A for B. Scrap plan B for C, Scrap plan C for D. Plan a fishing trip up north instead. 4-Help the neighb…

My name is Justin and I was wondering how many MN Twins fans are located in Denver CO. I was hoping to get several watch parties at a local brewery/bar for games this year. If there is already a bar/brewery that caters to Twins fans we could do it there, otherwise I was going to start asking around. If anyone is interested, please let me know.

In a departure from all things Grateral/Maeda all the time, Heyman (per MLBTradeRumors) is reporting the Twins won their arb hearing with Berrios, and will pay him $4.025M this year instead of $4.4M. I mean, I guess...but it has a sort of "penny wise, pound foolish" feel to me. Adds more to my gut feeling that a Berrios extension just ain't happenin'. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/

Spring training is about here, thank the baseball gods! And we have one of the best and most intriguing teams in all of MLB to root for. And while there is much to look forward to, debate and discuss let's be honest that the rotation remains the #1 talking/sticking point. And while I it might be fun/interesting to do something like this for each area of the team...who knows, maybe, time and effort may not be there...I just really wanted to examine the rotation situation since that seems to be at the forefront of so much discussion, hope and angst. Kind of hoping this doesn't lead to an overload of "what if" yet again. But it WILL be a part of any discussion, and that's …

Sporting News gives the Twins an A- for the trade I haven't seen much other analysis yet about the trade for the Twins (plenty on the Dodgers and Red Sox) but if you do, maybe it makes sense to have it one spot instead of a 10+ page thread?

Who do you all enjoy watching compete and showcase their skills at Baldelli's Ballyard? Here are my current favorites: Francisco Lindor Nolan Arenado Kevin Kiermaier Mike Trout Andrelton Simmons Ozzie Albies Lorenzo Cain Christian Yelich Giancarlo Stanton Cameron Maybin Julio D. Martinez Marcus Stroman Avisail Garcia (no one stands as dangerously close while on deck!) Yasiel Puig Matt Chapman Manny Machado I'm very eager to observe Kike Hernandez this season. Baseball rules!

Price on his way to MN?

In imagining the 26 man roster I have been wondering about Marwin's role on the team since Donaldson arrived. I guess there are the following arguments rostering him. Gonzalez' versatility will keep him on the roster. He certainly was in 2017. I wrote last year that Houston stopped playing him at SS in 2018 and that became clear in July when Correa was injured and instead of sliding in Gonzalez they shuffled around the infield while using him in LF. Last year he played the same number of games at 2B for the Twins as Willians Astudillo. Rocco sees the value in positional flexibility yet he almost never used Gonzalez up the middle. His versatility now may be the corners…

They have the Twins with the 12th best lineup TWELFTH! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA (paywall) https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/28595190/way-too-early-2020-mlb-starting-lineup-rankings

The Twins finalized the trade that sent Johan Santana to the Mets and set the stage for what would happen to the franchise starting in 2011.

How does everyone see the Lineup shaking out.....lots of choices for Rocco.....but Interesting exercise: Aareaz Polanco Cruz Donaldson Sano Garver Kepler Rosario Buxton Could see Garver @ 2, Kepler @ 5.........interesting...

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Something last fall prompted me to think about the best players to wear various uniform numbers for the Twins. It seemed like a good wintertime project to try to put together the best all-time Twins team based on uniform numbers. To do this, I arbitrarily made a couple of rules to guide me. First, I considered players based on the primary number they wore. No counting that Tony Oliva wore No. 37 in his first appearances. He was, and always will be No. 6, both in my mind’s eye and when using mnemonics for remembering PINs and phone numbers. For example, if you know where my folks live, you can get into their house by using Killebrew-Munoz-Blyleven on their garage door op…

I'm so happy! Here is the press release: TWINS RETURN TO HISTORY, UNVEIL BABY BLUE ALTERNATE UNIFORM FOR 2020 Club Launches its 60th Season in Minnesota with a Popular Uniform Revival MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, MN – Launching their diamond anniversary festivities by reviving one of the club’s most celebrated on-field looks, the Minnesota Twins today unveiled a baby blue alternate uniform for the 2020 campaign, along with a special logo commemorating the 60th season of Major League Baseball in the Twin Cities. Designed to replicate the Twins road uniform worn from the 1973 through 1986 seasons, the 2020 alternate will feature baby blue tops and pants, paired …

The Twins traded recently-DFAd RHP Ryne Harper to the Washington Nationals in exchange for RHP Hunter McMahon. McMahon was the Nationals 9th round pick in 2019 from Texas State U. He's 21 and spent last year at two rookie league levels.

People on Twitter are charting out every single trash can bang during the 2017 Astros season. According to this source, Marwin Gonzalez benefitted the most from this cheating scandal. I assume the Twins thought they were signing a player who improved his offensive approach to go with his Swiss Army knife defensive flexibility... I mean, I did! And advocated to sign him that entire winter. Can the Twins void the contract? Will he be suspended? What do you think the Twins should do?

César Tovar has started to pick up a lot of support for the Twins Hall of Fame, but he fell short of being elected again this year. In this video, I talk about some reasons why Tovar hasn't got in yet, how the system is working against players from his era and my argument for why he deserves to be enshrined in the team's hall of fame. Tovar was before my time, so I did not get to see him play. I also don't exactly consider myself a Twins history buff, so I'd love to hear any of your memories from Tovar's playing days, the 1969-70 Twins and any thoughts you have on whether or not he should be in the Twins Hall of Fame.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, the Reds are apparently open to trading Nick Senzel after signing Mike Moustakas and Nicholas Castellanos to large contracts. Senzel comes with a lot of team control, some positional versatility, and a ton of upside in the bat. The Twins already have a formidable lineup, but it could still make some sense for them to check in with Cincinnati. What do you all think? Would Senzel make sense for the Twins? What would it take to acquire him?

From Lavelle: Interest in Walker The Twins are finalizing their list of nonroster invites to spring training. One pitcher they are interested in bringing in is a former highly touted righthander: Taijuan Walker. Walker, 27, has thrown just 14 innings over the past two seasons because of Tommy John surgery in April 2018. He was picked 43rd overall by the Mariners in 2010, and touched 98 miles per hour before surgery. The Twins view him as a bounce-back candidate who could help the rotation while Michael Pineda serves his suspension for taking a banned substance and Rich Hill completes his rehabilitation from elbow surgery. Walker would have to prove his health first, the…