Ten Years of TD: The Top 5 Twins Daily Articles from 2016

One of the worst seasons in Twins history was also apparently the year of Nick Nelson here at Twins Daily. All five of the most-read articles in 2016 were written by me. I suppose there's some sort of poetic justice at play there.

Despite the abysmal quality of the on-field product, it wasn't articles full of venting and frustration that drew the most attention. (Though there were plenty of them.) Instead, ever-optimistic readers turned toward stories of hope, possibility, and upside.

5. All About Jose De Leon

By Nick Nelson | Dec 20, 2016

In the wake of a nightmarish 59-103 campaign, Dozier stood out as a clear top trade candidate, coming off an historic season with two years of team control remaining. The Twins had been connected to the Dodgers in trade rumors, and pitching prospect José De León was a coveted headliner.

In this article, I pointed out some of the reasons why. He was a meteoric riser in the minors with huge strikeouts rates and a vaunted changeup. He looked like the kind of building block Minnesota's rotation needed.

Ultimately, the Twins opted not to trade Dozier, perhaps in part because they were working through a front office transition with Derek Falvey and Thad Levine taking over. Los Angeles pivoted to Plan B and dealt De León to Tampa for Logan Forsythe. 

Ironically, the Twins ended up getting a more impactful return by waiting two years and trading Dozier to the Dodgers in a deadline dump. Devin Smeltzer has thrown 69 innings in the majors with a 4.26 ERA, while De León – now 29 – has since totaled 31 innings with a 9.58 ERA. 

4. Has Average Joe Returned?

By Nick Nelson | April 17, 2016

By this time, Joe Mauer had faded to a mere shell of his former self. "Average Joe" was an accurate reference to his overall value – a decent-hitting first baseman who wouldn't hurt you much, but was hardly an asset. In this article, I wondered whether another meaning of this label might return for the three-time batting champ, whose signature was once hitting over .300 on a regular basis.

Mauer was off to a hot start for the struggling Twins, batting .372 through two weeks when this article went live. Sadly, the answer to the titular question turned out to be a resounding "no." Mauer batted .251 the rest of the way and finished with a .261 average, lowest in his career. 

But his burst of early life did prove to be a precursor – in 2017, Mauer would hit .305 and arguably should've earned strong consideration for a Gold Glove.  

3. Dozier Trade Talk Heating Up?

By Nick Nelson | Nov 27, 2016

As mentioned earlier, Dozier trade rumors were a hot topic after the 2016 season concluded. In late November, there was a sense that things were beginning to pick up steam. In this piece I highlighted some rumors that were surfacing and explored the Dodgers as a trad partner.

Several names were mentioned as possible returns. Perhaps most amusing was to come across a tweet from former Twins beat writer Mike Berardino sharing that he "had an AL pro scout suggest [Cody] Bellinger as the centerpiece of a Dozier deal would make sense." That would've worked out okay! 

2. 5 Reasons To Be Excited About 2016

By Nick Nelson | Jan 4, 2016

LOL.

In fairness, there was seemingly a lot of reason for optimism heading into the 2016 season. The Twins were coming off a brush with contention, having welcomed several of their top prospects into the fold in a resurgent 2015. This all served to make the coming gut punch EXTRA painful. 

Looking back at these "reasons to be excited," and how they turned out, perfectly encapsulates the Total System Failure:

1. ByungHo Park arrives. And bats .191 in what would prove to be his lone major-league season.
2. Miguel Sanó settles in. In actuality, rather than letting the third baseman "settle in," the Twins decided to move him to right field, which went horribly. 
3. José Berríos debuts. And posts an 8.02 ERA in 14 starts.
4. Byron Buxton breaks through. Hardly. Buxton slashed .225/.284/.430, with only a late power surge (1.011 OPS and 9 HR, with the Twins well out of contention) salvaging his overall numbers.
5. The rotation comes together. It did not. Ervin Santana had a good year and nobody else posted an ERA under five. Kyle Gibson, Tyler Duffey, Ricky Nolasco, and Berríos were all miles below average. 

1. Park Factor: Did Twins Hit Home Run With Byung Ho?

By Nick Nelson | April 16, 2017

Park was a very exciting signing – a slugging star from Korea brought in to supplement a developing young lineup. 

In mid-April I wrote about some of the positive signs he was putting forth. At the time he had homered three times in the past four games – including a majestic shot that measured as the longest in Target Field history – and was slugging .558 through a dozen big-league games. 

Park would stay hot, slashing .308/.378/.641 with three more homers in his next 12 games, but that was basically the end of the ride. He hit .143/.232/.293 with just five home runs in his next 38 games before undergoing wrist surgery in August. 

The new front office regime seemingly never had much interest in seeing things through with Park. He didn't make the team in 2017, despite a good spring, and in 2018 headed back to Korea, where he resumed dominating with a 1.175 OPS and 43 home runs.

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