Twins

Bud Selig is set to retire this off-season after 22 years at the helm of Major League Baseball. Rob Manfred has already been voted in as his successor, a position he has been groomed for ever since starting to work for MLB in 1998. The 55-year-old Manfred will have a variety of issues on his plate as he takes over from the 80-year- old Selig.

During Selig's tenure as commissioner, baseball has been marked by a variety of ups and downs.

On Thursday night at Target Field, the Minnesota Twins hosted the 2015 Diamond Awards at Target Field. It was a good night to look back at the positives from the 2014 Twins season while at the same time raising a lot of money for the University of Minnesota’s innovative research and patient care for ALS, ataxia, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease

The Minnesota Twins showed in their first homestand of the year that they are capable of winning, finishing the week 4-2 against Kansas City and Cleveland. On this week's NO JUICE PODCAST, Dan Anderson and Parker Hageman discuss the their observations from the Home Opener, the week in review and other topics.

Listen up.

The Yankees entered the 2002 season in the midst of a dynasty fueled by a record-setting payroll. The Twins entered the 2002 season literally battling for the organization’s life. Contraction had been approved by Major League Baseball's owners and the Twins were one of the two teams reported to be on the chopping block.

The Twins also entered the season with a new manager, Ron Gardenhire, replacing Tom Kelly who had retired following the 2001 season. Gardenhire was viewed as a player’s coach, the opposite of the prickly Kelly, and he knew many of the young players from their time in the majors and minors.

For Thursday night’s 5-4 loss, it’s tempting to focus on the run the Twins lost when Miguel Sano’s blast hit the Tropicana Field catwalk and ended up a double. It’s tempting because who doesn’t want to talk about that explosion? Lord, did you see it? Did you hear it? I thought Twins announcer Dick Bremer might have an aneurysm. I thought I might have an aneurysm.

But I think we’re focusing on the wrong metric. The Twins didn’t lose this game because they couldn’t get enough runs. They lost it because they couldn’t get enough outs. And finding those outs in the team's arms has become increasingly tricky.

Make a list of the top three things you think are wrong with professional baseball today. In fact, make it five things, if you wish.

A year from now, the landscape regarding those issues is likely to be quite different than it is today. Things may be better, from your point of view, or they may be worse.

I take that back. Unless you’re a major league ballplayer, they’re almost certainly going to be worse.

The NHL announced expansion to Las Vegas last week. With that came news of an Expansion Draft. You may have seen AJ Mansour’s article at Vikings Journal where he asked What Would Happen If The NFL Held An Expansion Draft? It was a very interesting article, and of course, it got me thinking about what the Twins would do in the event of further expansion.

The last time MLB held an expansion draft was in November of 1997 when the league expanded to 30 teams. The Tampa Bay Devil Rays and the Arizona Diamondbacks joined the league the next year. Both teams were able to pick 35 guys from other organizations. The draft went three rounds:

• Round 1 - the 28 current MLB teams were able to protect 15 players from the entire organization (40-man or not). Each team could only lose one player in the round. (14 players drafted by each of the expansion teams)
  
• Round 2 - each team can protect three more players and then the same guidelines apply. (14 players drafted by each of the expansion teams.
  
• Round 3 - each team makes seven more selections.
  

In that November, 1997 draft, the Twins lost Outfielder Brent Brede in the first round. In the 2nd round, Damian Miller was the selection of the Diamondbacks. Of course, he went on to a terrific career catching the likes of Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson to a World Series championship.

On Sunday, the Twins lost their 100th game. It's a milestone that had previously been reached six times in the franchise's 115-year history, and only once since the team came to Minnesota.

With a week to go, this season has already set a new standard for Minnesota baseball futility in my lifetime. So how come I'm not feeling entirely discouraged?