Twins

The Twins have addressed their two biggest needs on the position-player side, adding C.J. Cron at first base and Jonathan Schoop at second. They are reportedly still monitoring the DH market, and might add another catcher yet, but now the front office is turning its attention to the pitching staff.

It's obvious that Minnesota could stand to add multiple impact arms. But circumstances will make this a more complicated undertaking than it appears.

Twins fans are still anxiously awaiting a big splash, but the team has taken another step toward beefing up its bullpen. Late Christmas afternoon, Paul Lambert (aka Meat Sauce) of KFAN reported that the Twins had an agreement to sign veteran left-handed reliever Zach Duke. It was a busy day for Twins rumors, as there were also reports regarding the Twins interest in veteran slugger Mike Napoli.

Aaron Slegers is one of the tallest pitchers to ever grace a major league mound, standing 6-foot-10. That height comes with some advantages, but exactly how does he stand to benefit from being so tall? Having that extreme length makes his fastball appear a few clicks quicker and allows him to throw from a unique release point without making any other dramatic alterations to his mechanics. Just how unique?

Thanks to KFAN’s Paul Lambert, who leaked out on Christmas morning that the Minnesota Twins and 34-year-old relief pitcher Zach Duke had reached an agreement, people like me spent the remainder of the holiday ignoring their family and going over scouting reports and video of Duke.

On Tuesday, the Twins made it official, announcing they have signed Duke to a reported one-year, $2 million deal with a potential to earn another $1.5 million with performance bonuses. As far as free agent relief arms go, it’s a modest sum and notably less than the $5 million per year deal he signed with the White Sox three years ago.

On the surface, a one-year contract to a Tommy John surviving journeyman left-handed reliever who can’t crack 90 appears uninspired. However, if you look closer, there is the possibility this becomes a very savvy, very valuable move by this front office.

Just hours ahead of the December 1st deadline, Major League Baseball and its Players Association were able to agree on a restructured Collective Bargaining Agreement, ensuring labor peace through 2021.

The new CBA is largely similar to the one it replaces, with a few distinct alterations. Today, we'll look at at some of those changes, and what impact they might have on the Minnesota Twins specifically.

With LaTroy Hawkins, Torii Hunter and now Michael Cuddyer retiring in the same offseason, baseball will lose three players identified, raised and groomed within the Minnesota Twins’ development system that provided value across multiple teams in the league.

Although the members of that trio were drafted, signed and developed in different years, they each shared a lengthy and, with the exception of Hawkins, All- Star caliber careers. And while we know what they all eventually became as players, with the advent of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Diamond Mind collection, an archive of the game’s scouting reports over the years, we rewind and look back on who these players were before they reached the majors.

Check out these scouting reports from the former Twins.

Over this past year, Twins Daily has continued to provide you with what we feel is the best-in-class Minnesota Twins site. A place where you can visit to comment, gain information and be entertained.

In 2015, an unimaginable amount of words were killed in the name of all things Twins. On a near-daily basis when you land at TwinsDaily.com you will find some combination of Seth Stohs’ unparalleled prospect coverage, Nick Nelson’s thought-provoking analyses, John Bonnes’ quirky humor or my GIF-loaded scouting breakdowns. Or you might discover posts by regular contributors like Jeremy Nygaard, Cody Christie, Steve Buhr and others. Meanwhile, the forums have been alive with debate and conversation like never before. We thank you all for participating in our grand experiment.

But before you Uber off for your rocking New Years’ Eve soiree, help us wring one more click out of these bad boys and check out our top ten most read stories from 2015.

In discussions of how the 2016 Twins rotation might shape up, one thing that I've been noticing is that fans seem rather sour on Tommy Milone. I don't fully understand why.

Not long ago, Baseball America rated Miguel Sano as a Top 3 prospect in all of baseball. Not long ago, Miguel Sano was the star of a documentary about baseball in the Dominican. Not long ago, Miguel Sano was the "Next Big Thing" with power comparable to Harmon Killebrew.

But you know what? Miguel Sano ain't Harmon Killebrew.

On this week's No Juice Podcast, Dan Anderson and Parker Hageman kicked off their first ever holiday episode by discussing the Twins center field situation, Jose Berrios playing in the winter league, and then they had the Airing of the Grievances.

Click to listen below.

One of the more critical openings the Minnesota Twins will have this year is in center field. If all goes well, that job will be Aaron Hicks’ to borrow. What are the odds that he meets expectations in 2015?

Shortly before Christmas break, the Minnesota Twins signed free agent pitcher Tim Stauffer to one-year, $2.2 million.

If you happened to check Fangraphs.com on the 32-year-old righthander, gazing upon his average velocity may have been as exciting as unwrapping another pair of socks. Low 90s? Again? While the trend for pitching staffs has been to stockpile power arms, Stauffer’s flexibility as a starter and a reliever provides the team with various options.

Beyond the low velocity, over his career Stauffer has combated an endless war against injuries that would have made Orwell proud. What exactly do the Twins see in him?