Minnesota Twins Talk

While it was much noted that the Twins have used a record number of pitchers this year (35), I believe they will set a team record (at least in Minnesota) of using the fewest position players. This reflects several things, in my opinion. First of all, there aren't many (if any) position players pushing to take major league roles. Secondly, the Twins position players have stayed relatively injury-free. Finally, they added no position players by trade. It's ironic that the same year they use 35 pitchers, they use the fewest number of position players in team history.

It's almost time...the 2017 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 ChiTownTwinsFan 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 ChiTownTwinsFan as far in advance as possible so …

Thread for TwinsDaily folks to buy/sell to other Twins daily folks. Best to avoid stupid fees/scalpers Anyways I got my playoff strip, section 102, aisle seats. I won't be able to make it into town for the ALDS so I will offer those to anyone who wants them for face value (like $65 each I think) (2 tickets) Note: Game (1) in ALDS might have already been spoken for. Will definitely be at the world series games though if they make it, so don't ask ALCS, prob would only make 1 or 2 games at most.

Why on earth are they giving up TWO home games on a series next year against a division rival? These sort of concessions should be made for terrible teams, in terrible/old stadiums. Certainly not a team that has a relatively new stadium and a team on the "upswing" If I were a Minnesota taxpayer, I would be very very pissed off right now, the Pohlads not only stuck you with a large bill for the stadium, but are taking a nice payday no doubt for these two games in PR. Not only hurting the on the field clubs chances/advantage, but deriving the hundreds of people,and dozens of commerce companies (bars, food, parking lots, etc) out of significant money for two less home game…

Sano was activated from the 10 day DL. Hopefully this means he is at least available to PH for the Detroit series, maybe DH against the evil empire on the 3rd.

Is what the Twins realistically need to go from here on out to have a good "shot" at the playoffs. Can they do it?

Would be interesting to know if there is any sort of pattern or link between how a team celebrates and how they do in subsequent series'. I'm hoping the Twins keep it tame and stay focused on what they need to do to beat the Yankees.

Because it's just a one game playoff, I imagine you can leave 3 starters off the team (and just have Santana and one of Gibson or Berrios if he fails early) Additionally you should be able to cap bullpen arms a bit as well. This should leave the Twins with a deep bench: Vargas gimenez Garver adrianza Granite Sano Look good?

The Twins are in the playoffs! Let's express our excitement through music. Post your favorite tunes to celebrate making the playoffs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHwVBirqD2s&index=36&list=PLhGO2bt0EkwvRUioaJMLxrMNhU44lRWg8

Why do you guys think the Twins FO is being so hush hush about details for post season tickets that go on sale tomorrow at 10am? Does anyone know how much tickets cost or if they are going to make us buy strips for the ALDS or sell individual games? Are any season ticket holders who had priority able to share info about prices for the ALDS?

Wow! Can't believe they pulled it off, love it! #crushtheyankees

Just a little Spreadsheet fun for those interested in knowing how many wins/losses the Twins need to clinch a playoff spot Click the link below for daily updates (the sheet will change eventually https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/e/2PACX-1vTOx7YaHKKdjq8Tkm4bKjS2zfnvWUtcye7hTxU9ywtUAxc48Pj7ayF5ymPYwv1Dy8Blr7aoymT33CSr/pubhtml?gid=389635362&single=true

$150 on the Twins to win it all at 200:1 odds Best. Bet. Ever 162-0 here we come!

I saw that Brian Dozier is one run away from scoring 100 runs for the 4th consecutive season. That would be the first time a Twins (or Senators) player has ever done that. There were a few three-in-a-rows, but never four in a row. It was interesting how some of the previous streaks were broken or didn't get to four: Chuck Knoblauch was traded to the Yankees after a 3 year streak, and he went on to get two more in a row with the Bombers. Heinie Manush was traded by the Saint Louis Browns to the Washington Senators after scoring 26 runs for the Browns. He scored 74 with the Senators and then added three more seasons in a row of 100 runs. He got the four year str…

Are there going to be homer hanky's this year? I haven't seen anything, I like to collect them.

Dont blame another Vargas article on me! Well...not entirely anyway. My mind seldom shuts off, sometimes works in weird and mysterious ways that even I don't understand, (or always like), and even though this season is not yet complete, part of my brain has already contemplated the future and potential of our beloved Twins going in to next season, potential changes, etc. I know that on this point I am not alone, as we do a lot of that right here at TD. But the radio crew brought up the whole Vargas with 500 AB arguement/debate on the radio today and it got me thinking. (Dangerous I know, but they deserve partial blame). Vargas has been inconsistent overall, and we all k…

Sorry, I'm just not a good computer guy, even though I've spent a good deal of my adult life working with audio and visual tech. So I'm not sure how to post a link to the article, but there is a really nice article on the Pioneer Press regarding Polanco's resurgence the past couple of months, and the struggles he dealt with mid season after the death of his grandfather, who practically raised him. There are also some interesting quotes from Molitor in regard to Polanco's work ethic, his struggles, even dealing with expectations and pressures regarding playing SS. I think it's a worthwhile read, and perhaps someone can post the link. I don't know what it was, the hype …

So, I know the numbers. I have seen the tables. I know that outs are precious. I understand that sacrifice bunting reduces the odds of a big inning, and even reduces the likelihood of scoring a single run if you bunt with a man on first and no one out. I even realize that sacrifice bunting can certainly fail, with pop ups and strikeouts, and even the occasional double play. But hear me out. Maybe there is a case for bunting, after all. First of all, while the tables show that your team will score fewer overall runs in all three typical bunting situations (1st, 1st/2nd, 2nd with no one out), in the latter two situations, the tables show that you are, in fact, incr…

Wild GM made a shrewd move I thought giving Koivu an extension at an affordable price in a cap-driven world. No cap in baseball. Not really in a hurry to get rid of 2017 Joe Mauer. Our 1B candidates have flopped pretty hard: Park, Lil Papi. A couple years half to third the money, left him retire a Twin. Thoughts....

I am asking for TD posters to contact me via private message. I have the honor of opening the game thread for game 162, Sunday, October 1. I have decided to use the time-honored 5-item format, with the 5 items being plays, events, or other occurrences from the 2017 season. I am asking for TD posters to send me suggestions for these 5 items via private message. I'm not necessarily looking for the most spectacular plays, events, or other occurrences, but rather the most interesting ones. If you have a link to video of the play, event, or other occurrence you suggest please include that. I hope to incorporate that into my post. I will review all suggestions, assign a weighte…

I’ve written a number of these “How Things Stack Up” documents, with the plan to write another at the beginning of each series. On one hand, it now seems pointless, since the circumstances are so cut and dried. On the other hand, it seems appropriate, for two reasons. First, my personality is such that I hate to leave things undone, and a promise is a promise. I said I was going to do it, so dad gummit, I’m going to do it. Second, I think it’s worth looking at what really happened the last few days and celebrate. Things aren’t done yet, but things are looking really good. So I’ll compromise and write a briefer one. I waited until after Monday night to get nearly everyon…

Besides winning, the most fun I've had is watch Byron Buxton blossom right in front of us. A couple great articles lately chronicling... http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/how-byron-buxtons-glove-went-from-good-to-great/ https://sports.yahoo.com/reclamation-minnesota-twins-outfielder-byron-buxton-193405509.html So much fun watching this young man just take off!

Assuming the Angels keep being the Angels, and the Twins can pound on the hapless Tigers, or just back into the one game WC, if you have a choice, who is he SP to start if it is the Yankees or Red Sox? I think with either you got to go with Santana. He is a veteran, and looked pretty good against the Yankees, he just did not get run support.

Here is daily odds for Twins make playoff levels. Is base from win percent and binomial function. Win Second Wall Car: 0.62 Win Total Wall Car: .457 Win ALDS : .136 Win ALCS .047 Win WS: .012 And here is graph to make clear. I update if you like. Win Twins!

Discuss.

Assumes no Sano --- SP Santana SP Berrios SP Gibson SP Mejia, gotta be. RP Belisle RP Rogers RP Hildenberger RP Gee (pitching decently, and we need a long guy RP Pressly RP Busenitz RP Duffey RP Boshers (need a lefty – who else?) C Castro 1B Mauer 2B Dozier SS Polanco 3B Escobar OF Buxton OF Rosario OF Kepler Bench Grossman (DH, PH) Bench Adrianza (IF, LF) Bench Gimenez © Bench Granite (need a backup OF, pinch-runner) Bench Vargas (power off the bench, can take over first if Mauer injured – that’s all I can say) Bench Garver (third catcher allows free pinch-hitting and pinch-running for catchers – RH bat) Iimagine Sano replaces Garver (based on playing time this wee…

At least non elite LHP. This kid is as raw as they come! The only way he is gonna improve against LHP is actually facing them! Been pretty sharp the last few games.

I'm a little confused about the team's narrative on Sano's injury, particularly Molitor's. First there were questions of his conditioning, which ignored the fact that he has always been a giant for his age. He clearly works out, and works out a lot. Then, every few days, Molitor would come out with a statement with a surprise that Sano wasn't ready yet. The original injury report always said that Sano was expected to be back at the end of September. If the team put this on the injury report, why did they play this game of acting surprised that he wasn't ready every few days? The team updated the injury report yesterday, stating that he is not expected back until…

Well, that pretty much sucked. Probably not many of us were thinking the Twins could actually sweep the Yankees, and most of us probably weren’t even expecting two wins. But one, winning one would have been nice. Unfortunately, the Twins’ 0-3 record against the Yankees makes it virtually impossible for the Twins to host the Wild Card Game. With 10 games to go and holding the tiebreaker advantage, the Yankees magic number is 4 in terms of clinching home field or better (the division) for the single-game play-in game to the American League Divisional Series. Add in the lead over the Angels, and the Yankees magic number is 2 against the Angels to clinch a playoff spot. …

I never got my code for free Papa Johns pizza for writing an blog post about Joe Mauer. What's up Twins Daily?