Ten Years of TD: The Top 5 Twins Daily Articles from 2020

[Nick Nelson]

On February 19th, Twins Daily will be celebrating its 10-year anniversary. To honor this upcoming milestone, we're looking back at the most-read articles from each year since our site launched. 

Today, we dive into the 2020 season, which nearly didn't happen as baseball struggled to fight through a global pandemic and mounting labor contention. 

5. Twins Trade Graterol to Dodgers for Kenta Maeda in Blockbuster Deal

By Seth Stohs | Feb 4, 2020

It was clearly recognized heading into the 2019-20 offseason that the Twins needed a frontline starter above all else. The front office waited, and waited, and waited. Finally, in early February, they got their guy, acquiring Maeda in exchange for their top pitching prospect Brusdar Graterol.

This was some high-scale action from the Twins, who tapped into the Mookie Betts bonanza and overcame a misfire with the Red Sox to get their guy. Needless to say, the move drew plenty of conversation here on the site, with Seth's quick-hit article accruing nearly 300 comments.

4. Twins Notebook 7/24: Berríos Aims to Continue Dominance Over White Sox

By Tom Froemming | July 24, 2020

Tom's notebook articles are always excellent sources of info and insight, but this one was special and significant. Why? Because it came on the "Opening Day" that many feared would never come as MLB spent months trying to work out a plan to proceed in the face of COVID-19.

Our first real game preview in more than nine months brought in plenty of visitors as Tom broke down an opening matchup between José Berríos and Lucas Giolito of the White Sox. "We finally made it."

3. Sergio Romo to Royals: Keep Talking

By Tom Froemming | Aug 17, 2020

One of the interesting quirks of the COVID season was that exclamations and outbursts from players became much more audible in silent, empty stadiums. This came into play in a big way when Romo drew the ire of Kansas City Royals players who took notice of his fiery antics on the mound.

As he does so well, Tom dissected this amusing side-story from within the game. I recommend watching his video breakdown if you'd like to relive the fiasco.

2. The Time Has Come to Begin Phasing Out Eddie Rosario

By Nick Nelson | Sept 8, 2020

By this point, Rosario had become a bit of a lightning rod, as illustrated by this article's ranking. Plenty of debate played out in the comment section, with the chorus of Eddie defenders ringing out, but I stand by my contention from the time. 

Rosario was having a bad season, worsened by a total lack of discipline. The Twins were getting ready to move on. They'd have been better off turning of Alex Kirilloff right then and there. Rosario ended up going 0-for-7 in the playoffs, getting kicked out of a close elimination game for arguing with the ump.

1. Reacting to Twins Blockbuster Trade Speculation

By Lucas Seehafer | Dec 19, 2020

Trade speculation is always a ripe topic for fan chatter, and here Lucas was seizing on some tasty morsels. Ken Rosenthal had speculated (accurately) that the Twins may be on the hunt for a shortstop, with plans of shifting Jorge Polanco to second. Francisco Lindor and Trevor Story were mentioned as possible trade targets to fulfill this need.

Of course, they didn't end up making a trade. They signed Andrelton Simmons, and it turned out poorly. Now, we're left wondering if they should reverse course. But, it was fun to dream.

MORE FROM TWINS DAILY
— Order the Offseason Handbook
— Latest Twins coverage from our writers
— Recent Twins discussion in our forums
— Follow Twins Daily via Twitter, Facebook or email

View full article