Twins

The Twins rank fifth in the American League in runs scored per game, and second-to-last in runs allowed per game. It's pretty obvious where they primarily need to improve in order to return to respectability: run prevention.

A new pitching coach, along with some tweaking in personnel, might help, but there's a much deeper problem here. This is a horrendous defensive team, creating a dilemma with no easy solution.

On Friday, Twins President Dave St. Peter announced that no players will be inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame in 2015. It is the first time since they started doing this in 2000. He said that no player reached 60% of the vote. Though he was said to be close, Cesar Tovar was again snubbed.

On Monday night in Kansas City, Kyle Gibson had made it through five innings with only one run allowed. He opened the sixth by facing Mike Moustakas, who sent a hard-hit but fairly routine line drive to left field. Oswaldo Arcia trotted after it, reached his glove out, and... dropped the ball. Figuratively and literally.

Moustakas reached, as did the next two batters, and by the end of the inning Gibson was long gone and the Royals were up 4-1.

Last week, we started a series looking at and ranking 53 Minnesota Twins first-round draft picks. In Part 1: 31-53, we saw a lot of reminders that the draft is not a science, many don't make it or do little when they're there. In Part 2: 21-30, we started seeing some players that had some role in the big leagues for at least a little while.

Today, we present Part 3: 11-20. In this grouping, you will see quite a few players who have had some solid, though not spectacular, MLB careers. Several of these players are still active and have a chance to move up this chart, maybe even significantly.

Following an impressive rookie showing in 2014, the Twins hoped that Kennys Vargas would develop into a fixture at designated hitter for them this season. Unfortunately, he failed in two separate chances and has now been in the minors since early July.

As Mike Radcliff stated in Parker Hageman's excellent article on Max Kepler, sometimes "it takes patience" with prospects, and patience is exactly what could get Vargas back to the big leagues in September.

In 1971 the average age of MLB non-DH starting position players was 28.9. This began rising year by year to a peak of 30.1 years of age in 1996. One could assume this was due largely to players’ careers being extended artificially by PEDs. Or one could also possibly assume teams were selecting older players in the amateur draft or perhaps being more deliberate with their prospects.

2015 was a positive season for the Minnesota Twins. Yet, when the season ended, it was clear that there were needs in the organization that needed to be addressed. Foremost among them was the bullpen.

In Parker’s interview for the Twins Daily Offseason Handbook, he asked Terry Ryan, “Where would you prioritize the bullpen in general this offseason?”

Ryan responded with, “High.”

Parker probed, “Highest priority?”

Ryan said, “It’s pretty close up there. Pitching is always the most prioritized area of any team.”

That interview was in October. The offseason came and went and the Twins signed exactly zero pitchers to major league contracts, starters or relievers.

Aaron and John, recovering from the Touch 'Em All Pub Crawl, discuss the Twins impending choice of a leader of baseball operations with Twins Daily's Parker Hageman and Robers Kasak of 612 Brew. You can listen by downloading us from iTunes, Stitcher or find it at GleemanAndTheGeek.com. Or just click the Play button below.

Last week, Seth took a look at the trade landscape in the National League West, calling out some players from the Padres and Giants who could interest Minnesota's front office.

Today, we turn our attention to the NL Central.

Believe it or not, Tuesday’s match-up between the Twins and the Yankees will be the sixth AL Wild Card game. Major League Baseball expanded their playoff format in 2012 to add more drama with a one-game playoff to decide who would move on to face the best regular season team. There has been some drama and plenty of story-lines.

Are there any trends that can be found in the previous games? Let’s take a look back.

The Minnesota Twins, and really baseball as a whole, continue to be in a standoff with free agents across the sport. While some players are balking at long-term deals (yes, you Eric Hosmer) or wanting unrealistic sums of money (yes, you J.D. Martinez and Jake Arrieta), the reality is that players still should end up being signed. For the hometown team no unsigned player is more important than Yu Darvish.

They say you should write your dreams down right when you wake up in order to remember them clearly. After returning from a dreamlike day and a half in San Juan, I’m feeling like the exercise will be helpful for me as well. Luckily, I don’t have the deadline many local writers had after the 16-inning marathon of Game Two.

The seed for the idea was planted months ago, when I mentioned to my Dad that it would be fun to meet up for the Puerto Rico series. Fast forward a few months, and with tickets booked from both Minnesota and the Dominican Republic, an AirBnb reserved, and seats for the games themselves, we were ready.