Twins

The Twins Daily and Vikings Journal writers posted their Super Bowl predictions earlier in the week. Today, I asked several current, former and future Twins to make their Super Bowl predictions as well. So, keep reading to see their picks and then be sure to post your predictions before the game starts.

(Third Baseman Tyler Mautner correctly picked the Patriots 28-24 win. Three guys predicted the Patriots would win 27-24.)

There’s a Minnesota Twins player who has quietly turned himself into one of the best players in the American League at his position, and it might be time the team takes notice financially.

The Twins took the deciding game of their three-game set against the White Sox, beating Chris Sale again. For you prospect lovers, Byron Buxton went 0-4 with four strikeouts.

Also on Wednesday, the first-ever Twins Draftbook was made available. There are write-ups on all forty draft picks. You purchasing it for a couple of bucks (just $2.99!!) helps me validate to my wife that all the time I put into it was worth it.

It's 2015 and the Minnesota Twins are playing baseball in September. While that happens every season, what doesn't happen often (or at least for the past four seasons), is meaningful September baseball. Paul Molitor's club finds themselves in the thick of a heated wild card race with just over a month to play.

Aaron and John talk about the Twins breaking through with their first wins of the season, Oswaldo Arcia reminding everyone he can hit, Glen Perkins' latest injury, Joe Mauer's great start, Byung Ho Park's huge power, being a Twins groundkeeper for a day, signing David Murphy to a minors deal, hot-hitting Eduardo Nunez, Byron Buxton vs. Eddie Rosario, and Bonnes refusing not to dance like a maniac.

On Monday afternoon, the Minnesota Twins tweeted an invitation to fans: "Let's spend the afternoon with America's favorite pastime as the Twins host the A's."

Only one problem: unless you were at Target Field, watching the action was nigh impossible. Incredibly, the July 4th Twins game was not televised locally, on any channel. In a year characterized by "Total System Failure" for the franchise, this misstep must rank quite highly among irredeemable moments.

At the end of spring training, major league baseball teams solidify their 25-man rosters. While there is always going to be discussion surrounding the choices in regard to those players, the reality is a team will always need a handful of extra contributors. For teams with strong farm systems, like the Minnesota Twins, looking down the prospect pipeline is fun. The hard part though is that front offices are always tasked with the delicate job of deciding when is exactly the right time to act.

We know that Major League Baseball keeps its definition of “valuable” as in “Most Valuable Player” intentionally vague. While many believe that it is an attempt to keep people talking about it longer, it is also simply because people define value in different ways. Some believe it should be an award simply given to the best player. Others will argue that other intangibles such as leadership and clutchness should factor in. Some believe that an MVP should be part of a playoff team. Others think that it should be a player from a team that at least contended for a playoff spot. Others don’t care about team’s success in an MVP discussion.

As it relates to a team MVP - as opposed to a team’s MVP - other factors can come into play as well. Some may be statistical. Others may be perceived leadership or a willingness to answer the tough questions from the media following a good or bad game.

Fortunately for the Twins, and their fans, in 2017 the Twins had several players that made big improvements and factor into consideration for Twins 2017 MVP. Today we announce our panel’s choice for team MVP.

Congratulations to the Twins Daily 2017 Twins Most Valuable Player, Brian Dozier!

This week's Almanac features Wayne "Big Fella" Hattaway, "Home Run" Joe Marshall, Dick Siebert, Kevin Tapani, Roy Smalley, Al Newman, Charley "Shooter" Walters, and 1993 Apple Valley grad Dave Maurer.