Minnesota Twins Talk

I got home in time to watch what I thought was the last inning of a good game between the Rose Hose and our Twins. I ended up watching 9 innings of baseball with enough twists and turns for a month of "talkers". Apologies to the regular game summary guys, but much to comment on, so I started this thread. 1) The Twins got their first walk-off win of 2019, with Max Kepler singling in the winning run from third on a hot grounder just inside the first base bag. 2) Red Sox manager Joey Cora might get suspended for his outburst after Kepler's hit. Eddie Rosario tried to bunt earlier in the 17th, stepped forward in the box and made contact with the ball. The Red Sox said he …

With the Reds in a seemingly perpetual rebuild, what would a package for Castillo look like? They also have some other arms that may be of interest, such as Iglesias, Lorenzen, Gray, or Roark. Personally I would love to get Castillo, but I’m sure the cost would hurt a bunch.

Finally succeeded in getting my son into the Twins! His birthday is coming up and he wants a Kepler jersey. Do those of you who buy these typically shell out for the top dollar ones like they sell at Target Field? Or is there a reputable cheaper option somewhere that doesn't look like a clear knock-off?

Over at the Athletic, Jim Bowden posted an article with his recommendations for trades that 5 AL contenders should make. Now, granted, you can say what you will about Bowden (and I could say a lot), but his proposal for the Twins at least acknowledges that they should be looking to add both a starter and bullpen help as they gear up for the postseason. Respecting their paywall, I won't go into any detail on his reasoning or other recommendations he makes, but I think his proposal for the Twins is fair game to post for discussion purposes. With regard to the Twins, he suggested sending Brusdar Graterol and Nick Gordon to the Giants for Madison Bumgarner and Will Smit…

In case you missed it... here is the full pre-gae ceremony from tonight. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKjEvqfL7Co&feature=youtu.be Here is a press conference that Mauer did after the ceremony in which he discussed the emotions of the ceremony and some of the surprises that he wasn't aware of. I asked hijm about throwing a first pitch to his dad... Feel free to share your favorite moments if you were there or if you watched.

Kyle Gibson - Took away his first 3 starts 60.9 innings 53 hits 9 BB 19 ER 65 K 3.21 ERA 1.02 WHIP 1.33 BB/9 Jake Odorizzi - Took away his 0.2 inning start 69.1 innings 44 hits 11 ER 19 BB 77 K 1.43 ERA 0.91 whip 2.47 BB/9 10.02 K/9 Jose Berrios - Take away the LA game 84 IP 70 hits 14 BB 25 ER 81 K 2.67 ERA 1.00 Whip 1.5 BB/9 8.7 K/9 I wanted to show some credit to the real reason for the Twins success past the HRs. Take a look at these stats.

1. Falvey and Levine have to be commended for making this organization into a powerhouse. 2. Rocco Baldelli is a damn good manager. Any anti-millenial talk should be erased from history. 3. Miguel Sano is not a fading superstar. Good. Lord. Even a question mark at the end of that headline wasn't going to save that article. 4. The Twins absolutely need bullpen help. 5. Moving Pineda there might work. 6. I like Smeltzer, but I don't know about him as a long-term fifth starter. Maybe the rest of the season though? 7. What is with all the hits against Lewis Thorpe? I haven't dug deep in this site lately. Any insight? 8. I see the Twins prospect pool as nicely deep for any …

take a look https://www.mlb.com/news/al-all-star-primary-ballot-update-june-10 What are your thoughts on the early results so far?

http://www.startribune.com/slumping-astudillo-sent-to-rochester/511001072/ “But after Friday’s 6-3 victory over the Tigers, with a seven-man bullpen beginning to show signs of wear, the Twins finally decided that they needed the slump-ridden Astudillo’s roster spot. The popular catcher, who earlier in the evening struck out twice for the first time in his career, was informed he is being sent down to Class AAA Rochester.” Even though he has been slumping recently, I'm pretty bummed about this. Wonder how likely it is that he makes it back?

If I’m the Twins I could easily part with Nick Gordon and Jake Cave as both come from areas of depth in the .org. Who is the best reliever we could get for those two?

The Twins are calling up Ryan Eades to make his MLB debut. He was their second-round pick back in 2013. Here's some video on him: He had a very good spring and was in the running for Sire of Fort Myers, but got off to a poor start down in Rochester. He has a 5.68 ERA and 1.45 WHIP on the year, but an impressive 11.1 K/9. He also had one really bad outing that is weighing down those numbers. He gave up seven runs in 1 1/3 inning back on April 26. He'll also provide the Twins with some length, as Eades has recorded six or more outs in 11 of his 16 appearances.

Thad Levine will be on Score North (1500) at 1:20 today.

Per LENIII of the Strib: http://www.startribune.com/twins-confirm-interest-in-signing-pitchers-dallas-keuchel-craig-kimbrel/510740322/

2019 Giles has pitched 25 innings in 25 games with 11 saves. He has struck out 42 with a 1.04 WHIP and 1.08 ERA Career he has pitched 319 innings with 431 K's, 102 saves and 2.68 ERA. He is controllable for one more year and is stuck on the Blue Jays squad. Thoughts? Would you want him and what would it take to get him?

3 years 45 M https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2019/06/cubs-to-sign-craig-kimbrel.html Well...dang it!

I have been gone from here for a long time, not posting, etc been busy with family life, work, etc. we all know how that goes. I have been watching the Twins though and this so far has been a great season. The lineup we have here might be one of the best in Twins history. They have been a blast to watch. A few surprises in the rotation have also been pleasant and they have produced as good or better than anyone could have hoped. (Ordorizzi, Perez) All that said, this bullpen needs work. We all knew going into the season that it could be or would be the team's weakness and even though they started out decent, most of this prediction is coming true. The way I look a…

Me, my two sons, and brother-in-law are heading to Detroit for the 3 game series June 7-9. We definitely want to stay downtown close to the stadium. Any recommendations on places to stay in the downtown area? (clean, not too spendy, close to bars and restaurants, etc.) Thanks for any advice you can give us.

Going to fully admit I knew very little about C.J. before the Twins signed him. I did what a lot of us did, look up his career numbers and felt a little "meh" initially. And i read all i could about him. 2 things stood out to me from all that I could find: 1] His numbers were fairly solid overall, despite never having more that 400 AB until 2018. 2] He reportedly made some adjustments in his approach/swing for 2018 and finally had over 500 AB after seemingly always being stuck behind other options/players. It has been argued, and deservedly so I think, that a 1B/DH option with some power is maybe the the "easiest" roster spot to fill, unless said player is special. …

Listening to Henry Lake last night during the rain delay, he mad the comment that the road to the AL Central title still goes through Cleveland. The Twins had a 6-5 lead at that point. I don't think I agree with him. - Cleveland is the defending champion in name only. - Cleveland has Lindor. Other than that, I have a hard time with that take. - Cleveland did nothing to improve the team in the off-season. In fact, you could say they did some things to make the team worse. - Cleveland is still 9.5 games back at the beginning of June - Cleveland has been riddled with injuries, and some of those are still a long way from fixing. I still think they will be sel…

At the start of todays game Sano is hitting a putrid .209 and has looked like absolute garbage at the plate. He is still continually chasing the low pitches and frankly I dont see that changing. With Cruz and Garver coming back I think we will have plenty of firepower and wont miss his whopping 5 homeruns. With the trade deadline starting to creep up I think it is time to turn the page and dump him.

https://vintagebrand.com/l/mlb/t/minnesota-twins/a/2843/p/4?sku=11

The Twins and Indians square off in Cleveland for a series that takes on more importance than many of us realize. I will not call it a must win series in terms of this year because it is not. The Twins have plenty of games to play this year against many different opponents and only really needs to worry about itself while completing the rest of the schedule. Short term (This year) this is just another series with plenty of them to be played. However... Long term... the series with Cleveland is almost "must win". As Twins Fans... we should all have extreme interest in the Indians becoming sellers at the deadline. From a 10,000 foot view this series has serious wei…

Who would go when the Twins were back to full strength was debated long and hard by Twins Daily posters. With the return of Mitch Garver on Sunday and the near-certain return of Nelson Cruz on Tuesday in time for the Cleveland series, we have our answer. Luis Arraez was optioned last night after the completion of the series with Tampa Bay. Arraez was outstanding in his cameo appearance. In about 30 plate appearances, he hit .375, with an OPS of 1.050, he hit a home run, stole a base and only struck out once while drawing five walks. He played well in the field, and showed versatility, logging innings at second, short and third. Luis got his at-bats as Baldelli ran an as…

June 03 is the day we find out if we locked up Kimbrel and/or Keuchel. Predictions?

Phil Mackey from SKOR North interviewed Twins star Eddie Rosario for his 7 random questions segment... Gold! https://twitter.com/SKORNorth/status/1133563323960692736

If you listen to the sports talk shows and network announcers, you would never know that a small/mid market team in the Central Division has the best record in MLB and only the vaunted LA Dodgers are close. I won't mention that team's name because the longer it remains a secret, the better. Granted, that unnamed team still has to step up against the top dogs and I can't wait. I do know that that unnamed team is a team that no one wants to play right now. I will go out on a limb and say that no one will want to play that team in October either.

Yesterday Tom Froemming wrote a solid article on Rocco Baldelli's management style and how it may shape the clubhouse culture for the better. Meanwhile, during yesterday's slugfest in Anaheim FSN cameras caught Max Kepler and Miguel Sano bumping shoulders and then jawing some as they walked separate ways. Thanks to SkorNorth's Ramie Makhlouf this clip gained a little steam on Twitter: My amateur lip-reading skills sees Kepler saying "everyone gets a hit" or something to that extent as he brushes past Sano. Sano turns then says something back at Kepler. Is there something more ominous behind this interaction? Maybe. Overreacting and reading too much into a short…