Article: Fun Season For Twins, And Twins Daily

[Nick Nelson]

What a ride.

 

The Twins came up just short in their surprising run at a playoff spot thanks to a disappointingly flat effort at Target Field over the weekend, but nonetheless the 2015 season has to be viewed as a profoundly positive one for the organization.After four straight 90-loss campaigns, the Twins posted a winning record this year while ushering several of their top prospects into the mix – as key contributors, even – and have set themselves up to be a top dog in the AL Central once again.

 

Nothing is guaranteed going forward, but for all intents and purposes, the rebuilding process is over. This team is now in contention mode.

 

That's something that we haven't really experienced during the life of Twins Daily. This site launched in March of 2012, heading into the second of four consecutive non-competitive seasons. This year marked the first time we've been able to cover and discuss meaningful baseball into the late summer and early autumn.

 

With how passionate and knowledgeable the community here had proven to be over the first three years of the site's existence, the Twins Daily crew often speculated about how fun this place would be when the team returned to contending, as they did for most of the decade preceding 2012.

 

You all delivered.

 

More than 80,000 unique visitors stopped by Twins Daily in the month of September – twice as many as the same period last year. It was evident from the activeness and fervor of our commenters and message board contributors that life was being pumped back into a fan base that had understandably gone comatose to some extent.

 

I was struck, in particular, by this tweet that ESPN senior baseball writer Keith Law sent to the @TwinsDaily Twitter account a couple of weeks ago:

 

 

Law is a guy who has ventured into plenty of comment sections and encountered plenty of trolling, so that compliment means a lot coming from him. And it encapsulates a facet of this site that makes me love it.

 

So often, internet comment sections are cesspools of humanity, where people use the mask of anonymity to insult, degrade and provide little in the way of useful input. That has never been the case here and Law is hardly the first to marvel about it. Even my dad has remarked multiple times about how much more he gets out of reading my articles when he reads the added insights within the comments.

 

My dad! I didn't even know my dad knew what a comment section was!

 

This environment is made possible by a few things. First and foremost, we have a tireless group of moderators who charitably volunteer to keep things in line. Second, we are lucky enough to attract a readership that – for the most part – knows its stuff and engages in smart, entertaining banter rather than flame wars and idiocy.

 

And third, we have a ton of great content that invites thoughtful feedback and ignites lively conversations. Only a fraction of that content comes from Parker, John, Seth and myself. That was always the goal.

 

So, we'd all like to say THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts to everyone who visited, published, assisted and interacted on the site this year. You helped to make a fun season all the more enjoyable and immersive, and you continue to make this little experiment a success.

 

But we're not done yet.

 

Although the Twins are finished playing in 2015, the show will go on here at Twins Daily. This week we'll take some retrospective looks at the season that was, and soon we'll begin our offseason coverage as the front office prepares to navigate a very important winter.

 

Plenty of articles on the site will explore the coming months from every angle, and of course when the postseason comes to a close, you'll be able to grab our annual release of the Offseason Handbook, an ebook that covers the offseason landscape with unparalleled depth.

 

If you haven't yet, we strongly encourage you to register for an account and join in on the awesome conversations that are sure to take place regarding free agency, trades, roster decisions and more. Take the opportunity to write your first blog. And as always, if there's something you think we could be doing better, don't hesitate to let us know.

 

What a ride. And it's only just beginning.

 

Click here to view the article

[Loosey]

I've loved the site since it began. I think that for the most part what separates you from other sites is you invite the readers to also be the writers. Reading comments I notice lots of commenters also write their own small stories on the forums page and can then banter back and forth with people who read it. Additionally, it's different from larger sites in that it does strangely have a community feel on a website. The comment section isn't so much a comment section as it is a discussion section. It's weird how happy I get when I see someone either liked s comment I made or even better quoted it and commented back. It's nice to have discussions with very knowledgable baseball fans. In my real world life 90% of the people would think I've lost my mind if I mentioned something called OPS or xFIP. It's nice to have these discussions even if I know none of you in real life.

[jimbo92107]

I agree with Loosey, Twins Daily does strike a good balance of regular stories and free-wheeling participation of anybody that wants to have a say. Many thanks to glunn, h2Oface and all the other moderators for running a fun and informative site. It really did make this Twins season more enjoyable!

[Guest]

First, Let me just echo the other comments. TD, it's writers and virtually everyone who contributes to the discussions here have been great. This is literally the only site where I regularly read comments to articles and message board discussions on a regular basis. The moderators have obviously done a terrific job.

 

As to Nick's post, there's just one paragraph that made me cringe a little.

 

"Nothing is guaranteed going forward, but for all intents and purposes, the rebuilding process is over. This team is now in contention mode."

 

I'm glad to see the leading qualifier about nothing being guaranteed and I suppose since the Twins did contend for a wild card down to the final weekend, by definition they are in contention mode, but I really urge some caution before we declare the rebuilding process to be over.

 

There is so much to be optimistic about, I agree. We've been waiting for years for these highly thought of prospects to arrive at Target Field and I'm as giddy as almost anyone to see them begin to show up, but there's danger in assuming that the Twins can now simply allow the momentum to take over and push them in to a position where they are serious contenders for more than a wild card spot.

 

The Twins relied a lot on young players and we all know young players can regress (see: Santana/Vargas). I hope Sano pops 35 HRs next year and never looks back. I hope Duffey continues to produce like he did the last 2 months of the season. But relying on every one of these guys to maintain, or even improve, is risky.

 

The Twins FO has a huge offseason ahead of it. They need to be active and they need to be smart. They can't just sit back and assume that Buxton, Kepler, Berrios, et al, will be all the roster additions necessary. There is still some work to do.

Edited October 5, 2015 by SD Buhr

[USAFChief]

This place is pretty neat. I'm glad it's here.

[USAFChief]

 

The Twins FO has a huge offseason ahead of it. They need to be active and they need to be smart. They can't just sit back and assume that Buxton, Kepler, Berrios, et al, will be all the roster additions necessary. There is still some work to do.

Concur. The worst thing this team could do is just assume things will work out if they do nothing.

 

Improving on 95 loss teams is easy.

 

Going from decent to really good is much, much harder. Sorta like going from a 36 handicap to a 10 is child's play for most golfers. Going from 10 to 5 is difficult. Shaving every single stroke from there takes more work than all the rest combined.

[twinsnorth49]

I live in a diehard hockey city, this site is my lifeline to discussing baseball way beyond what most normal people find.. well...normal.

 

I think the membership here is second to none, unbelievably passionate and knowledgeable.

Thanks to everyone who participates.

[Mike Sixel]

A great place to enjoy a much more enjoyable journey.

 

BTW, Twitter is blocked at work, what did KLAW say?

[Squirrel]

 

A great place to enjoy a much more enjoyable journey.

BTW, Twitter is blocked at work, what did KLAW say?

It was in Nick's original post ... you can't see the embedded image capture?

 

He said:

@twinsdaily the comments on your post are actually fantastic. For maybe the first time ever, I'm glad I read them!

[biscuit]

Baseball is my first love, a love that has gone for over 60 years.  And like so many first loves, baseball is joyful, exciting, unforgettable, and fickle.  The game stomps on my heart and shatters my soul and gives me pleasures unimaginable. This has been quite a season.  Thank you Twins Daily for making my indulgences even more pleasurable. And thank you for making the off-season tolerable. That's too many .....ables for one small paragraph.

[Mike Sixel]

Nope, I can't see anything that is Twitter related. Makes almost every post by the main mod on Vikings Journal useless at work.

 

Of course, I could just read this at home more.......

[JB_Iowa]

Thank you to the owners, mods and participants for creating a fantastic community. I have been here since the early days. It has been fun to see the site grow and evolve from a "fansite" to a real journalistic effort. What A journey. Congrats!

Edited October 5, 2015 by JB_Iowa

[strumdatjaguar]

Thanks to the Twins and Twins Daily for a great 2015.   I'm looking forward to a great 2016 for our squad.   The Twins have a lot of things they should do in the offseason (signing a catcher for the very near-future,, mentored by Suzuki, figuring out the 40 man roster and addressing the Plouffe-Sano dilemma) and things NOT to do (NO to signing more free agent SPs, NO to bringing back Pelfrey and, barring injury, incarceration or a horrible Spring, NO to looking for anyone other than Escobar to start at SS).  I'm so optimistic, I'm thinking Mauer will hit over .300 again with over 90 RBIs, Dozier will start to hit outside pitches the other way, Tyler Duffey and Ervin Santana will tie for the 2016 Cy Young, Byron Buxton will win the 2016 Rookie of the Year and every other top ten prospect will become a perennial all-star before 2018.  

[Wyorev]

Let me add my thanks to TD for adding to my enjoyment of the MLB season. 

It seems to me, that in the years of the Twins success in the last 15 years, over and over, one could say "if this works out and if that works out. . ." on about 7 players each year. One should probably expect a ratio of about 2 out 7 to "work out."

In those years, it was closer to 5 out of 7. 

I am afraid that conditioned the Twins FO to think that 5 out 7 was normal.

Or something. . . 

Also - how often do free agent acquisitions really help teams? Which of the 10 playoff teams can point to a free agent or two as a main catalyst? 

[DaveW]

Good work guys, lots of solid content on a daily basis. Extra bonus thanks to Parker whose anaylsis is second to none.

 

Hopefully next year we can see some playoff baseball.

[puckstopper1]

I agree with all the complimentary comments above.  I look forward to my "daily" Twins Daily read, and look forward to all the news and rumors during what should be a very interesting off season.

[Vanimal46]

I remember hearing John talk about TD numerous times on KFAN, and the first day I joined, it was the over/under wins contest in March. Which, by the way, will that be opened up to see how far I was off??

 

I recall my initial thoughts about what to expect on the site, in a convenient picture below:

http://chicago.barstoolsports.com/files/2014/10/nerds-3.jpg
 

 

But boy was I wrong. I'm glad to have finally given the site a chance, and it's helped me immensely with keeping up with my favorite ball club since I moved out of the state. Thanks for all of the fun discussions, and giving me a platform for hosting a fake radio show

[Dantes929]

 

Concur. The worst thing this team could do is just assume things will work out if they do nothing.

Improving on 95 loss teams is easy.

Going from decent to really good is much, much harder. Sorta like going from a 36 handicap to a 10 is child's play for most golfers. Going from 10 to 5 is difficult. Shaving every single stroke from there takes more work than all the rest combined.

While I think you overshot a bit with the 36 to 10 handicap being child's play, when I told a guy at Austad's I was an 8 he said "Well, as you probably know an 8 is way closer to a 12 than it is to a 6."    its true.    

[Dantes929]

 

 

 

I'm glad to see the leading qualifier about nothing being guaranteed and I suppose since the Twins did contend for a wild card down to the final weekend, by definition they are in contention mode, but I really urge some caution before we declare the rebuilding process to be over.

 

There is so much to be optimistic about, I agree. We've been waiting for years for these highly thought of prospects to arrive at Target Field and I'm as giddy as almost anyone to see them begin to show up, but there's danger in assuming that the Twins can now simply allow the momentum to take over and push them in to a position where they are serious contenders for more than a wild card spot.

 

The Twins relied a lot on young players and we all know young players can regress (see: Santana/Vargas). I hope Sano pops 35 HRs next year and never looks back. I hope Duffey continues to produce like he did the last 2 months of the season. But relying on every one of these guys to maintain, or even improve, is risky.

 

The Twins FO has a huge offseason ahead of it. They need to be active and they need to be smart. They can't just sit back and assume that Buxton, Kepler, Berrios, et al, will be all the roster additions necessary. There is still some work to do.

I agree about the contending part but fans are so impatient.   I can easily see 2016 ending up around .500 as well.   Plouffe is way better now than he was in 2011 and 2012 and we have a lot of young guys that still have to take their lumps like he did..    Think 1984 to 1986 or maybe 1988-1980 would be more apt.

I knew Santana would regress just like I knew Valencia would in 2011.  There was just nothing in their histories that said they were elite. 

 

  Sano and Rosario and especially Buxton have a better minor league history to show they can maintain or improve. 

I don't think you go get guys anticipating current guys to regress or fail.

  Escobar now has two seasons in a row that says he is actually a better regular than he is a utility guy that everyone had him pegged for.        I don't think we should get a shortstop because Escobar has earned his chance and no shortstop is going to want to come here with that in mind and we wouldn't want one that we have to play no matter what just because we are paying them more.   Dozier hopefully works on using all fields but   he is set at 2nd.    I know  many would like Mauer moved but it isn't going to happen.   I am fine with Sano at DH with a likelihood of being the heir to Mauer in a couple years.   I really, really want an outfield of Rosario, Buxton and Hicks though I also like the idea of a Hicks/Arcia or Hicks/Kepler platoon out there and don't want any other outfielders brought in.   I really, really want a rotation of Santana,May, Duffey, Gibson and Berrios and that would leave Hughes, Nolasco, Milone, Boyer, Jepsen and Perkins in the pen.   This is the one area I wouldn't mind seeing some dealing in order to get out from under Nolasco in particular and improve the back end.    A good catcher would be great  but I just don't see the guy out there I would give up a lot for or that fans would love if they were actually acquired.   To sum up, there are a few spots that could be shored up but I have no problem whatsoever relying on the young guys.   If they don't pan out we have more young guys.   Find a good core and stick with it and tweak it and I think they have a good core.