Twins

The Pittsburgh Pirates have done a pretty solid job in the Postseason this year. No, the organization is not participating, but Gerrit Cole and Tyler Glasnow are certainly representing them well. The Minnesota Twins should look to swing a deal for the next Pennsylvanian mistake. Enter Joe Musgrove.

This offseason will be all about Trevor Bauer just like last was about Gerrit Cole. That’s deserved and warranted given his abilities, and the likelihood he’s coming off an NL Cy Young. As much as I’d love to see him in baby blue, another big name might make more sense for the Twins. Enter Marcus Stroman.

What do you think the Twins should do this winter to prepare for the 2021 season? Do you have all (or at least some) of the answers? Show us by creating your own 2021 Twins team at TwinsPayroll.com.

When it comes to run prevention, the Minnesota Twins have discovered that marginal improvements across a variety of areas has led to substantial gains.

They have experimented with catching set-ups, even hiring umpires in spring camp to test these strategies against. They reexamined their infield play, adding new warm-up techniques to their routines in order to improve the defense. They added biomechanic systems to measure posture, direction and angles, hoping to improve velocity and command with the slightest tweaks. And so on.

Recently they found a new use for an old trick.

This week at Twins Daily, we will be handing out our 2020 Twins Awards. Yesterday, we handed out the award for the Twins Top Rookie in 2020 (Ryan Jeffers). Today, we announce the Twins Most Improved Player during the 2020 season.

Upon completion of the season, our panel of 23 Twins Daily writers voted on the four annual Twins Daily Awards. Asked to rank their top three most improved players, ten Twins received votes. However, the choice was clear. The 2020 Twins Most Improved Player is relief pitcher Matt Wisler.

In running the first several episodes of Offseason Live, and tinkering with our Twins payroll tool, it's become evident to me that the Twins will face some real challenges and difficult decisions this offseason.

Here's what I've learned.

The Land of 10,000 Lakes has a rich history of cultivating homegrown talent in the sport of baseball. Hear the authentic stories of those who grew in Minnesota and have had the chance to fulfill the childhood dream of wearing a Twins jersey.

All the excitement of AL Central Division championship and 101 wins seemed to disappear quickly in New York Friday night. Some unfortunate events in the field and some unfamiliar bullpen results left the Twins once again losers to the Yankees in a postseason game.

Despite having a clear need in their bullpen, the Twins spent last offseason focusing on offensive upgrades. Their only addition was fungible reliever Blake Parker, who assumed the likeness of Robert Hays from the movie ‘Airplane’ every time he took the mound. Parker was eventually designated for assignment around midseason and the Twins seem to have made the right choice in focusing on developing in-house options. One of the most impressive internal leaps in 2019 was taken by Tyler Duffey.

In a season filled with incredible stories, the emergence of Luis Arraez and his unique skill set is one of the most impressive and unexpected. Beyond Arraez’ value as a spark plug for the Twins offense, he offers a long term infield solution and another young building block which will allow the Twins to add to their emerging competitive window.

Despite being the record setting club on the road during the 2019 season, Rocco Baldelli’s Minnesota Twins dropped the first two games to the New York Yankees in the American League Division Series. Returning home to play a postseason game in Minneapolis for the first time since 2010 the Bomba Squad is going to need some serious resolve. Jake Odorizzi has come through in some big spots this season, and this collection is counting on him to do that once again.

The focus across Twins Territory is squarely on adding pitching, and rightly so, but improving the defense would also help maximize the team’s ability to prevent runs. Matthew Trueblood’s recent article in which he pointed out some concerns regarding the Twins defense and athleticism really got my wheels turning. Here's some additional information on how the Twins defense stacks up to the rest of the league.