Twins

With the baseball season being so long, a down year can really drag on a fan. On the plus side, playing that many games generates plenty of memorable moments, even in a forgettable season. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be taking a look back and sharing some of my favorite highlights from the 2018 season.

Let’s kick things off today with a bit of a sensitive subject: Walk-offs.

Free agency officially opens today, so it’s time to move forward and put this 2018 Twins Highlights series to bed. We’re going to end on a high note, covering what I believe are the most exciting plays to watch in baseball: Web gems.

The Minnesota Twins have a trio of very athletic outfielders. All three are 26 and under. All three have good speed. All three came up as prospects of the Twins, each reaching into Top 100 rankings (Buxton near the top, Rosario and Kepler appearing briefly). All three hit in the minor leagues, and all three have had their moments in the big leagues already. Most important, all three still have the potential to be even better with just a few improvements.

Minneapolis is the home to Super Bowl LII. OK, that’s enough about football… But, lots of baseball fans and baseball players are a fan of football, and millions upon millions will be watching the game on Sunday. As we have done the last few years, we have collected the predictions of many current, former and future Twins players.

At this point, 85 players and other Twins personnel have sent in their predictions. We have predictions from 2017 draft picks, minor league veterans and several major leaguers including Denard Span, Danny Valencia, Mike Trombley, LaTroy Hawkins and more. So check out the predictions below if only for a walk down memory lane. There are some names that you’ll remember from the past.

But first, here’s my prediction. That Eagles defense is legit. I predict three field goals for the Patriots, and a couple of second half touchdowns. The Patriots defense is not as good, but the Eagles will also be held to two field goals, but I think they’ll score three touchdowns. Eagles 27, Patriots 23. MVP - Jay Ajayi.

Minnesota's front office didn't mess around at the 2018 trade deadline. Take a look back at the talent acquired during the last week in July. 

As we all look forward to celebrating the transition from 2018 to 2019 today, it’s fun to look back at the Twins 2018 season and think about all of the rookies that came up. There were 15 rookies who played for the Twins in 2018. Today we are going to focus on the eight players who made their Major League debuts.

As the calendar turns to July, the international signing period opens for MLB organizations. Besides the MLB Draft, this is one of the most valuable ways for an organization to add an influx of talent to their farm system. At the ripe age of 16, some players will sign for big bonuses and change their family’s lives.

The Minnesota Twins' minor league season has been done for about a month. At Twins Daily, we have handed out a lot of awards since then. We conclude that series today by presenting the Twins Daily 2019 Twins Minor League All-Star team. Scroll down to find out who made the 13-man team.

Quickly, here is a list of the Twins Daily 2019 minor league awards:

• Short-Season Minor League Pitcher of the Year - Cody Laweryson
  
• Short-Season Minor League Hitter of the Year - Matt Wallner
  
• Twins Minor League Relief Pitcher of the Year - Anthony Vizcaya
  
• Twins Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year - Randy Dobnak
  
• Twins Minor League Hitter of the Year - Trevor Larnach
  

And here are the Twins Harmon Killebrew Awards for 2019:

• Rochester Red Wings: Jake Reed
  
• Pensacola Blue Wahoos: Hector Lujan
  
• Ft. Myers Miracle: Calvin Faucher
  
• Cedar Rapids Kernels: Brian Rapp
  

For about three hours this afternoon, leading up the to MLB trade deadline, it appeared as though the entire state of Minnesota was ready to storm 1 Twins Way like it was Area 51. Finally, Twins fans had a trade deadline where they weren’t sellers and they weren’t in between, no they were in full buy mode to give this team a better shot at winning the World Series, and what were they left with, Sergio Romo, a reliever who in his own right is a good addition to the bullpen, but by himself is a little underwhelming of a trade deadline. However, right before the clock struck zero, the Twins were able to acquire another addition to the bullpen in right-handed reliever Sam Dyson. Both Sergio Romo and Sam Dyson were featured in Twins Daily’s “Potential Twins Bullpen Target” series last month.

Here is every single big move from the 2019 trade deadline. It seemed as if every single team waited until about one minute after the trade deadline passed to announce their moves, but in the end it was a fun and exciting deadline. The Twins did what they set out to do by acquiring two back end relievers so this is not as disappointing as most Twins fans will tell you. It wasn’t perfect, but it was exactly what most of us have been asking for all season.

The Super Bowl is upon us. The game is actually sometime on Sunday in the mid-to-late afternoon. There is a connection between the sports. Many baseball fans and many of the players participate in fantasy football. And, of course, everyone has an opinion. If you scroll down, you will find the predictions of many players, front office types and others for this year’s Rams/Patriots Super Bowl. I encourage you to post your Super Bowl predictions in the comments below.

But first, here’s my prediction. Maybe the Patriots just spend the regular season taking it easy and then turn it on in the postseason. But I think that the Rams will keep it competitive, especially if Todd Gurley is at 100% At the end of the day, the Patriots will win 34-30. Tom Brady will be the MVP, even though it should be James White.

The 2019 Twins roster was firing on all cylinders, so the trade deadline offered the team an opportunity to supplement the roster. How would the acquired players help the Bomba Squad?