Minnesota Twins Talk

Yuck! Not a fan of this signing. https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2018/02/twins-to-sign-anibal-sanchez.html

I am going to be down in Naples, FL towards the end of March on vacation with some extended family. I'm hoping to sneak away for a morning or afternoon and head up to Fort Myers to see the Twins. A few questions: 1) How much can I expect to see if I show up on random March afternoon? Will there be baseball-related activities going on no matter what, or will it depend on where the various squads are playing/scrimmaging? 2) Let's say I want to see Royce Lewis (or insert any other top prospect here) do some kind of baseball activity (game, scrimmage, BP, bullpens, whatever). What is the best way to arrange for that to happen? 3) I'm assuming that I have to get actual…

The Twins have acquired Jake Odorizzi from the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports (Twitter link). Shortstop prospect Jermaine Palacios is one of the players going back to the Rays in return, FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reports. Yahoo Sports’ Jeff Passan reported earlier tonight that the two clubs had agreed to some sort of a trade.

When, exactly, will the Twins announce a move/acquisition for a starting pitcher. Bonus points if you are right about the pitcher they acquire. The prize is glory. And a job well done. Since I asked this question, I'll say Friday, 2/16/18 and 1:12pm. I'm guessing there will be some rumors in the morning, but the official announcement will come soon after the lunch hour, central time. My guess is Jaime Garcia. What say you?

Glad the Twins could get the taxpayers to give them a new stadium! But fail to pull the very very very reasonable trigger on Darvish. So my question is: Will the Twins ever be serious about brining in a top FA? Or do we have to hope and pray we develop everything internally and hit lightning in a bottle?

The Twin just sent out their annual job openings press notice. Here it is in case you want to work at Target Field this summer: Job fairs scheduled for Target Field Delaware North hiring for seasonal, part-time positions for 2018 season BUFFALO, NY and MINNEAPOLIS, MN – Delaware North Sportservice, the food and beverage partner of Major League Baseball’s Minnesota Twins, today announced it will host a series of job fairs for part-time, seasonal positions at Target Field for the Twins’ upcoming 2018 season. The job fairs will be held at Target Field, Cedar Riverside Opportunity Center and at the Sabathani Community Center in the coming weeks, a full schedule is below…

Mike Barardino did something on Jim Kaat in today's PP. while I know things have changed so much over the years and analytics has its place, I still think there is room for guys like him in baseball. I always considered him by far the best color man, analysist, in the game. There may have been some more "entertaining", but I doubt more knowledgeable. I assume from the column these thoughts are tweets he has posted. Everyone will have opinions on these. It might be fun to hear them. I thought the last two had merit for discussion. Pitch velocity and exit velocity have merit when they are achieved with inherent abilities. But many a pitcher has been ruined by the God of vel…

If you've been reading the forums lately, you might think the title of this post and its author (me) are incompatible. And you might be right -- I have been rather prolific in my posts advocating the Twins sign Yu Darvish and, more recently, critical of the Twins offer in the wake of the Cubs deal. Here is a sampling (and feel free to post any questions or comments about these linked posts right here in this new thread too): What were the odds of the Twins offer actually being successful? http://twinsdaily.com/topic/28585-will-the-twins-ever-sign-a-top-free-agent-or-are-we-all-just-wasting-our-time/page-22?do=findComment&comment=712518 What were the risks of a lar…

Rhett Bollinger wrote today that Phil Hughes threw his first bullpen of spring training today and felt good. https://www.mlb.com/news/twins-hughes-throws-first-spring-bullpen/c-266430350

Hopefully the Twins can pull off a trade for a starting pitcher. One who is low cost. But should the Twins maybe go all in on offense? JD Martinez is still available and the Twins could offer a contract. Maybe a 1 or 2 year deal or 3 -5 year deal with an opt out. Should the Twins go all in on offense if they cant get the pitching they need? Could they submit an offer that competes with Boston's. Cuss and discuss....

I'd love to have Archer, but just glancing down SP numbers, hows about Aaron Nola? The Phillies stink, so I'd imagine that they have some needs. On second thought, with their record, I KNOW they have lots of needs. Says they're looking for a veteran starter (my interpretation: "innings eater", but I could be wrong), but there are plenty of those guys around. Maybe sign some dud for them and then trade the dud + others for Nola. I dunno much about the guy or the Phils.. Just an idea. Any other candidates that you can see?

Just as I thought I'd never get over not signing Darvish they send an email touting their promotional schedule. I can not wait to watch Gibson pitch while wearing my Star Wars themed t-shirt that is too small. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll get a LED Energy Efficient light bulb. I'm not kidding.

Good morning David, I understand the frustration and as a big fan of the team myself, I get it. I will say that we put a competitive offer (north of $100m) on the table and flew down to Texas to offer it to him in person. I don’t know if you are able to say the same about past regimes. Also, to offer an older pitcher a 6th year on a contract is silly and longer contracts have hamstrung this team in the past (i.e. Joe Mauer). That isn’t to say he isn’t worth a big deal but that is a big risk. I do suspect us to do something in free agency or the trade market. As I’m sure you are aware, there are a lot of names still out there. The team you see now will not be the same te…

Starting Pitchers – 5 RHP Ervin Santana LHP Hector Santiago RHP Kyle Gibson RHP Phil Hughes LHP Adalberto Mejia Opening day 2017.... Did we forget what we started with in 2017? 2018 Starting Pitchers - 5 RHP Berrios New trade or FA Gibson Meija Gonsalves or Slegers In May we have Santana and Trevor May available hopefully. Is this rotation that much worse than what we started with in 2017. Why don't we wait until the season starts to see what we have. Dont burn your Twins jerseys yet. Im hoping for a Santana Berrios Gonsalves Romero May rotation at some point next season.

*Edit* I didn't see the other thread which already cover this exact issue. My bad. Who is your preferred secondary target. 3 Trade candidates: Odorizzi Archer Greinke TB doesn't have to trade a starter, but they may trade both. Who knows? Arizona may decide to reallocate some cash for JD Martinez, but haven't really given any indication thats the case. I know there are more potential trade targets that these 3, but these are the pitchers that pop into my head for whatever reason. 3 Free Agents: Lynn Arrieta Cobb Edit* Didn't see this thread pretty much already exists. My bad. All 3 have QOs so they will cost a draft pick. Arrieta will command the largest …

So he signs tomorrow right?.....

According to Twins PR man Dustin Morse, Twins RHP Ervin Santana had surgery today on his right middle finger. He is expected to miss 10-12 weeks Here is the Tweet from Morse with more details. https://twitter.com/morsecode/status/961005480306008065

Brian Murphy at the Pioneer Press interviewed Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor on a variety of subjects. There were several interesting notes, including.... Who is a lock in his starting rotation: "Berrios is pretty obvious. Gibson coming off his finish would be pretty much a given unless our depth changes in that spot." How the aging Molitor handles the younger clubhouse: "Every year it gets harder. The gap from you playing the game is wider. I think it’s important to try to understand the best you can of how they think — not that you ever will — where their energies go to into their game, but also away from the game. Some of them are family driven. Others …

The Twins have announced 13 players that they are inviting to big league spring training that are not on the 40-man roster. Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN – The Minnesota Twins announced today that 13 players on minor league contracts have been invited to major league spring training camp in 2018. Joining the Twins will be three pitchers: right-handers Myles Jaye, Michael Kohn and Jake Reed; catchers Willians Astudillo, Brian Navarreto and Bobby Wilson; infielders Taylor Featherston, Nick Gordon, Gregorio Petit and Brock Stassi; and outfielders Nick Buss, Ryan LaMarre and LaMonte Wade. Of the 13 players invited to camp, eight have major league service time: Myles Jaye (De…

What is a reasonable number of contract years to offer a free agent pitcher and what is the liklihood that any pitcher stays healthy for the length of that contract? Ballclubs, just like actuaries at insurance companies, must have detailed data assessing the risks based on a pitchers' age, innings pitched and previous injury history. Unfortunately, to take a shot at defining this risk for myself, I'll have to make do with the less-than-detailed data I have available to me, at least until such time that the St. Louis Cardinals provide me with the passwords to the other MLB teams' databases, I looked at all instances of starting pitchers, ages 25-33, making at least 30…

Here is the article that Rhett posted from the Twins home page. Nick Gordon is the headliner. https://www.mlb.com/twins/news/nick-gordon-leads-twins-non-roster-invitees/c-265960146 Three pitchers: Myles Jaye, Michael Kohn, and Jake Reed. Three catchers: Willians Astudillo, Brian Navarreto, and Bobby Wilson. Four infielders: Taylor Featherston, Nick Gordon, Gregorio Petit, and Brock Stassi. Three outfielders: Nick Buss, Ryan LaMarre, and LaMonte Wade Surprises? Disappointments?

81 games, per Baseball Prospectus' recently released projected standings.

In their bid to build a pitching staff, the Twins signed three pitchers to multi-year deals in 2013 and 2014: Phil Hughes, Ricky Nolasco and Ervin Santana. Only one of those was a true success. A .333 average might be good for baseball. It is not good for major, multi-million-dollar free-agent signings. That's a good thing to keep in mind when the Twins consider signing Yu Darvish to a potential five-year contract worth $150 million or more. Long contracts to older pitchers are risky, and could backfire, especially toward the back end of any deal. And yet I think the Twins should sign Darvish, anyway. I think they should give him the full five years and $150 millio…

Hey guys, new to posting however I have been going to this site for awhile now. Not sure if this is the right forum but I'm looking at getting the Flex 20 plan for the Twins this year. I go to 10-15 games a year and was wondering if there is value in it or feedback from anyone who utilized it before. Thanks in advance.

Posting them here so people can check them out. Did this series last year and it was fairly well received. First up: Matt Belisle: https://t.co/tqjR1jo0wi

Jaime Garcia.

There's already great content that drops at Twins Daily each Sunday, but we're going to do a big blowout leading up to the start of the Super Bowl this week. I've been working with some of the new voices who've emerged in the blog section to line up a bunch of extra articles and give them an opportunity to be featured. There will be new articles published from early in the morning all the way up until kickoff. Here's where you come in. We can't do this without you. I know Super Sunday is a busy day full of parties and celebrations, but if you're going to be around and are jonseing for some baseball talk, Twins Daily is going to be the place to be. Please stop by, join…

From MLBTR: Brewers Designate Andrew Susac For Assignment By Steve Adams | January 30, 2018 at 2:42pm CDT The Brewers announced that they’ve designated catcher Andrew Susac for assignment today in order to clear a spot on the roster for righty Matt Albers, whose previously reported two-year deal with the team is now official. Age 27 and a once somewhat highly regarded prospect. The Brewers appear to be going for it, so they don't have room with Pina, Vogt and a couple other catchers on their 40-man. I feel the Twins are light on MLB ready catching depth. Susac could at least push Garver. A 40 man move would be necessary. With the number of bullpen additio…

Who's going and when? Thought I'd get this out there. Something to think about other than where will Yu Darvish sign. I'll be there the week of Feb. 19 and will take in the game on the 25th before heading back home. Then I'll be there again the week of Mar. 19 and will take in all home games that week, and hopefully some minor league action.

With all the talk and speculation around Yu Darvish the last few months it got me thinking about large free-agent contracts for starting pitchers that have actually worked out. This is a Forums post and not a blog so I did not spend a lot of time researching the answer to this question but did come up with a few (not necessarily large dollar contracts either) that did work out well. Greg Maddux - 5 years $28 million. Leaves Cubs for Braves (3 Cy Young awards first three years of contract). Impressive. Randy Johnson - 4 years and $53 million. At 34 signs the contract and wins the Cy Young all 4 years of that contract. Amazing especially at that age. Darvish turn…