Minnesota Twins Talk

Kepler was a popular trade piece in our hypothetical offers to acquire better talent over the last year or so. People in the industry like KLaw are still bullish about his potential to grow. He's maintained his value from a WAR perspective every season so far 2-2.5 bWAR. Overall, a solid player. However, from an offensive standpoint he's been stagnant. No real improvements in BA, OBP or SLG from his first full season until now. With Kiriloff on the way, is Kepler worth keeping? Would the Twins be better off trading him for help at other positions of need?

After watching mostly frustrating 2018 season for the Twins, I felt like I was sucker punched with all of the walk off losses. I was wondering if the Twins were close to some kind of record. Turns out that we are! Check out this MLB.com article by Rhett Bollinger. We tied the franchise record was set in 1964, And are one away from the MLB record. Fortunately, the Twins won today and now close out the season at home. So at least we won't have the infamy of having that record. Will 2019 be a repeat of 1965 - we can only hope! A walk-off loss, shows the inability for the late reliever (whether that is the closer or not) to hold the game. It's obvious we have had a hole in …

The Twins’ 2018 opening day payroll was $128,713,226. How much will they have available to spend for 2019? First they will have to cover the dead weight: $7.95M for Hughes, Santana, and Morrison. Then they have the guaranteed contracts: $24.5M Castro ($8M), Pineda ($8M), Reed ($8.5M). Then there are the arbitration candidates: $38.2M for Gibson ($11M), Odorizzi ($9M), Rosario ($7M), Kepler as Super 2 ($4M), Adrianza ($2M), Sano ($2.5M), Buxton ($1.5M), and May ($1.2M). That’s a total of $76.05M. YMMV and I claim no expertise (none) in estimating arbitration or extension salaries. Let’s not quibble about anything under $1M. Then there’s $5.4M for 9 pre-arbitration players…

I'm sorry, but I've tried to read each and every single 12 page post about everything done wrong with the Twins FO thus far. And I've just gotten frustrated! As frustrated with EVERYONE who is a fan of our favorite team. But I feel we've gone beyond disappointment for a lost season to pure vitriol! I am defending NOBODY. Nor am I blaming ANYONE! With a long off season ahead us, and dozens of posts regarding trades and potential FA moves, I'm simply offering up a thread as to what has been done RIGHT, and what NEEDS to be done going forward. RIGHT: A pair of drafts that look really, really good on early returns. This should not be dismissed as "low minor" hypberol…

I see no less than 3 former Twin farmhands listed as top rookies (perhaps there are more) in 2018 - Niko Goodrum, Daniel Palka, and Dereck Rodriguez. https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/each-mlb-teams-best-rookie-in-2018/c-295301448 Did we blow it or are these flukes?

I wish I was writing about the playoffs. But, alas, I am thinking ahead. Although I am not optimistic about 2019, there is much to be done this offseason. It looks like the Twins will be drafting around #10. They should also get a competitive balance pick that, based on the rotation, should result in three picks in the top 50. It is difficult to conceive of a scenario where the Twins would lose a free agent that would result in a compensatory pick. Much will change between now and June 2019, but the forecasts are that the best arms are at the high school level. Bats are at the college level. I think the FO's first two drafts were very successful. Thoughts on…

Obviously the title is hyperbole, but... After seeing the retirement speculation and some national and local pundits weigh in... WELL??? Joe Mauer has HATERS. Could it be your neighboors? Could it be YOU!!! Sleep-walking-hating at 3 a.m! The proud idiots of twitter and facebook. There is no shortage of idiots for any subject. Could it be that national and local writers (including some of the named personalities from this site) are ultra-exposed on these platforms and have extrapolated an inaccurate snapshot of Joe Mauer sentiment from a small but vocal minority? Then exacerbate the problem by reporting how much Twins fans allegedly hate Joe Mauer? The silent ma…

Since the Twins, and most teams, have so many strike out prone players lately, I found this sort of interesting. To me, it seems common sense. Flatten the swing should improve contact percentage. I realize some players have benefited from increased launch angles. But I don't think it's a one size fits all solution. https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2795099-trevor-storys-505-foot-power-makes-him-criminally-underrated-mlb-superstar?utm_source=cnn.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=editorial

I am not going to rip on the front office of Levine and Falvey, however I am going to criticize them somewhat in their ability to communicate across the organization. The whole mess with Byron Buxton seems to have really snuck up on and stung Buxton. From all accounts I have read he was not aware he was going to have his season end in Rochester. Then he finds out from his agent and AAA manager. I know he is not currently a part of the big league club, however, he is sort of one of the faces of the organization and not being told directly by the major league club seems to be a little bit a slap in the face. A personal call from either Levine or Falvey (if all the re…

I'm once again thinking ahead into the off-season when things may be excited again. Much ado has been made about the Twins wanting to shore up the infield defense, and stabilize the core. One name that I assume may be on the trade block, as his team has been terrible is Andrelton Simmons. He'd lock up SS for a few years, and allow Polanco to move to his more natural position. Since he's 29, he can be a bit of a veteran presence, but also not cost an arm and a leg. Haven't heard his name come up yet, so I thought I'd throw it out there. Who do you think may be a target this winter?

So, I was looking over his career numbers and saw some things that surprised me: • Made his MLB debut at 20, just 4 years after signing out of the DR • Spent his 17-18 year old seasons in rookie ball and E-town, age 19 in the Midwest League. • 20 he went High A, AA, Majors, albeit for a cup o Joe. • Similarly, his age 21 season was AA, AAA, cup of coffee in the ML • Age 22 was 1/3 ML, 2/3 AAA. • By 23 he was a regular. This seems like an agressive promotion schedule. Surprising given the old Twins management's reputation for slow promotion. Was he ever a highly ranked prospect? I don't recall. Different regimes, but Lewis is ahead of him

"Wish us Luck." It appears Falvine have lost the confidence of one Pat Reusse. As usual, there's a lot of truth in Pat's take, unpopular as it might be. http://www.startribune.com/twins-preach-sustainability-then-foster-silliness/491813121/

https://anchor.fm/linklete/episodes/Joe-Mauer--Minnesota-Twins-e264ri As I've mentioned here before, Corey Koskie started his website Linklete (http://linklete.com/) with this as kind of the mission statement: He also recently started a podcast for the show. In this week's podcast, he interviewed Joe Mauer about growing up, youth sports, his parents and siblings and how they helped and competed, getting to the big leagues, getting hurt and recovering. Joe was really good and opened up. I enjoyed it.

http://www.startribune.com/fellow-late-bloomer-aaron-hicks-preaches-patience-with-byron-buxton/492920331/ Chip Scoggins talked to former Twins OF and current Yankees star CF Aaron Hicks about his struggles adjusting to the big leagues and believes that the Twins and their fans need to remain patient with Byron Buxton:

I'm sure glad this "opener" concept is working so well for the Twins at the major league level. Its only putting us down a couple of runs in the first inning each time they have tried the reliever pitching the first inning. It gives the team very little if any benefit and takes away from the tactical flexibility later in the game. The entire concept is to create a potential inning of platoon advantage, starting a reliever for an inning then bringing the "true starter" who throws opposite into the game. But the fact is, very few teams platoon anymore so their lineups are going to be mostly fixed and the exact platoon advantage will exist later in the game. Why use…

Just struck tonight by the game tonight, and what we've seen from these two guys. No opinion offered up, just numbers presented. No opinion, just numbers to consider and what to make of them today, and going forward. The rest is up to you. Cave: Rookie. 25yo. Acquired before the start of the season. MILB quad line: .284/ .345/ .421/ .766 199 AB W/Twins: .261/ .310/ .487/ .798 Forsythe: Veteran. 31yo. Acquired in the Dozier deal to fill a spot and balance the financials of the trade. Career overall: .249/ .328/ .377/ .705 500 AB w/TB 2yrs: .272/ .346/ .444/ .791 WAS 110AB W/Twins: .300/ .394/ .345/ .739 Young player acquired and unexpected. Veteran player acquire…

Never thought this would be necessary, but I'm going to post periodic updates comparing the two the rest of the year. Forsythe doesn't have Dozier's power, but he hasn't exactly been a waste of a roster spot since he got here, which I think most of us expected from him. If Forsythe can even remotely maintain this level of production (obviously the .484 BABIP won't last), I think 1.) Twins have to try to shop him before the deadline, just in case someone throws something our way and 2.) if he sticks around, they have to consider bringing him back next year on a team friendly deal to bridge the gap until Gordon figures things out and shows he is ready for The Show. Am…

Yesterday the old man and Moderator to Twins Daily "USAChief" posted a thread about Patrick Reusse's article in the Star Tribune about the new suggested Twins slogan for 2019..."Wish us Luck". That post by Chief got me thinking....Since the season is almost over and all of our expectations are shattered, I thought it might be a good idea to blow off a little steam and ask our readers to come up with their own 2019 Minnesota Twins slogan. Points are awarded for creativity. I will award the winning slogan by Sunday (chosen and picked by me.) There is a HUGE prize by the way. Twins Daily note: If the Minnesota Twins or any of it affiliates, marketing agencies or…

Nice to see Tigers now below the Gardenhire line of .400 and both Twins and Tigers are 2-8 over last 10 games as they simply try to get the season over with. Twins have replaced Gardenhire with as close to Gardenhire as they could find. Don't worry about any smoke coming out of the Twins' dugout because there is no fire in the Twins dugout. Games left with White Sox could actually mean something to one of the teams and guess which one it isn't. Games left with the Tigers will be spring training games that count in the record but that is about it.

http://www.startribune.com/brrrrrr-twins-will-open-2019-season-at-target-field-on-march-28/491459151/ Two items of note: 1.) Games on March 28th, including at Target Field, are the earliest regular season MLB games ever played in North America. 2.) Weekday night home games in April, May, and September will start at 6:40 PM CDT.

I took a quick look at Sanó’s numbers since his recall. I don’t believe there is much that indicates he is “fixed” as a hitter. He does look trimmer and is running better, but for every nice play he makes in the field, I see him not making a play that can/should be made. Does someone see something I’m not seeing?

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/08/cubs-acquire-bobby-wilson-from-twins-for-chris-gimenez.html Who says there were no silver linings to the 2018 season!

The Molitor thread has gotten too long. To make it simple, if the Twins don't play at least .500 ball for the rest of this season, he should be fired on Oct. 1 period. There is no excuse for going into the tank just because playoffs are out of the question. Even the Yankees are vulnerable now and the bulk of the schedule is against the weak Central plus the Rangers. Only the A's pose a real competitive threat. As far as I am concerned, Molitor is 0-0 starting today and he has about 1 month to prove that he is even interested in winning baseball games. For some reason, I don't think he really cares that much one way or the other along with the rest of Twins' management/own…

Haven't seen a single update on Pineda since early June, when he was apparently starting to do longer bullpen sessions. I know the hopes for him contributing this year weren't high, like lucky to get some bullpen innings in late August or September, but I wonder what his status is? Ahead of schedule, behind schedule? Anyone heard the latest?

It's unlikely but the Twins have been playing pretty good ball lately (against mostly bad teams, but still). Is .500 a possibility given this roster and its relative lack of experience? I know some people want to see losses rack up for the draft pick but this team isn't full of rookies. There are enough young-but-experienced players who could use a strong finish to the season to get into the right mindset for 2019. I think this team could easily be a 78-79 win team at season's end but really hope they can put together a small run and end in the 81-82 win range.

I'm pretty impressed with Austin. He has demonstrated power to all fields, and in a small sample size has an OPS over .900. I know he hasn't been in there every day, but he provides right-handed pop, something the Twins have in short supply, other than Sano.

It's almost time...the 2018 season is here! Which means…GAME THREADS! Like previous years, we're asking game thread fans to help us out by starting game threads. Riverbrian will take care of all the series openers, leaving the rest of us in awe...and responsible for the remaining games. USAFChief and Carole Keller will be your points of contact, to volunteer, ask questions, get help, or compliment Chief on his fantastic sense of humor and amazing repertoire of laugh-out-loud "original" material. If you want to help, we ask only a couple things: 1. If you volunteer, please follow through. (Or contact USAFChief AND Carole Keller as far in advance as possible so we can a…

When the Twins called up Astudillo the first time he hadn’t played catcher in four weeks. He began the season as a starter but then moved to 3B with some LF. It was puzzling to me because the Twins had a real need at catcher with the loss of Castro and the Twins must not have seen Astudillo as a solution. They tried Sawyer until his injury, Rupp was a catch and release, Graterol was injured (now returned) and minor league journeyman Pacheco. Astudillo has started 8 games at catcher since returning to AAA over a month ago. He will get a chance with the Twins soon. With such an obvious need, I don’t get why he hasn’t played catcher more. He may be a poor defensive catcher…

OK, this is one hell of a sad song, by one of my favorite singers- but I'd reckon it's been somewhat of a sad and silly season for the Twinks this year. I'm just throwing this out there, and please add your own thoughts to this little thread. What do you want to see (or not see) in September? To say the Minnesota Nine has under-performed this year is not an understatement. That we're not catching Cleveland has been evident since before the break. That we're not going to seriously threaten (in Bert's words) 'Five Hunnerd,' is pretty well plain to see by now, too. So, it's time for auditions. I know this goes against MoY's thoughts of playing game 7 of the Series eve…