Seth Stohs

Miguel Sano. Joey Gallo. Hunter Renfroe. The big, powerful, home-run-hitting players who strike out a ton, but what do all three have in common as it relates to this article? Well, you'll just have to keep reading. Image courtesy of Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports One theme from this grouping of lead stories from 2022 is power, home runs, and a lot of strikeouts. Again, we are counting down the Top 20 Twins Daily articles of 2022 by page views. The stories certainly created a lot of conversation, some good, some maybe less productive. Let's jump to the articles ranked #11 through #16.Jo #15 Minnesota Twins Sign Joey Gallo December 16 Theodore Tollefson Coming off news that the Twins had been outbid on Carlos Correa by the Giants, the Twins ended the week by agreeing to terms with former All Star outfielder Joey Gallo. Many, if not most, Twins fans were not happy about the decision to give Gallo $11 million after he hit just .163 in 2022. However, Gallo was an All Star as recently as 2021 with the Rangers, and he’s won multiple Gold Gloves as well. For a one-year, make-good type of deal, this makes a ton of sense. Where many fans question the decision is because the team already has several left-handed hitting outfielders at or near the big leagues. That includes Alex Kirilloff, Trevor Larnach, Nick Gordon, recently-DFAd Mark Contreras, and Max Kepler, who could soon be traded. However, with injuries, adding a guy with the type of potential that Gallo has might pay off. Or, it might not. #14 Hunter Renfroe Trade Target November 17 Cody Pirkl Twins Daily takes a lot of pride in being a great place for Twins content throughout the year, but especially during the offseason. Shortly after the conclusion of the World Series, the offseason begins and we all get a little excited about what our favorite team could do, or might do, or what we think they should do. That’s why an article like this can do well. It was known that the Brewers were likely to trade the slugging Hunter Renfroe, and the Twins were believed to be looking for a right-handed hitting corner outfielder to team with the young lefties. Logical, to be sure, but by Thanksgiving, Milwaukee traded him to the Angels for three pitchers. #13 Looking to Find a Diamond in the Rough, the Twins Have Claimed Jewell August 17 Seth Stohs What was your favorite Jake Jewell Twins memory? Well, he posted an ERA well over five in his nine games with the St. Paul Saints. That was it. The Twins were still in first place, but Cleveland and Chicago had cut their lead. The Twins needed pitching, so when the Cleveland Guardians DFAd Jewell, the Twins claimed the 29-year-old with 31 games pitched in the big leagues. Were Twins fans excited about this waiver claim, or did people just really like my creative, if not obvious, article title. #12 3 Twins Trade Targets to Watch May 22 Nash Walker Twins fans, ok, all fans, not only enjoy the offseason, but we really love the trade deadline. Before the end of May, Nash wrote an article looking at what the Twins' needs were at the deadline. What did he say that the Twins could use? Frontline Starter (they did trade for one of the top available starters, Tyler Mahle) High-Leverage Reliever (the Twins acquired Jorge Lopez who was probably the best reliever in baseball for the first half of the season.) Big Bat (the Twins traded Ian Hamilton to Cleveland for Sandy Leon, not exactly a big bat, but a big dude who was able to catch every other game while Ryan Jeffers was on the injured list. Now consider how this list compares to what the Twins needed to acquire going into the offseason. In fact, think about what the Twins still need as we approach the New Year. #11 Miguel Sano’s Looming Return July 2 Cody Christie It might be fair to say that Miguel Sano’s baseball career and his time with the Twins has been a roller coaster. Immensely talented, Sano’s career can be defined by home runs, strikeouts, an All Star appearance, and off-field issues. Despite some injuries, Sano did provide a lot of power to the Twins lineup at times, posting impressive hard-hit rates. Within a season, he could be streaky, and the streaks were extreme. He could carry a team for two months, and then he could look like he had never hit a baseball in his life for a month. His 2022 season began with a rough streak, and then he got injured and needed knee surgery. By July when he was approaching a return, Luis Arraez had taken over at first base, and Jose Miranda was coming off of a rookie of the month. How would Sano fit back into the lineup or even the roster? Stop by tomorrow as we look at at some of the Top 10 articles at Twins Daily in 2022. Previous Part 1: 16-20 View full article

As we approach the end of 2022 and look forward to what 2023 will bring, let's take a look back at 2022 and remember what some of the biggest topics were for Twins fans. To do so, we will look at the top 20 most viewed articles this year. 2022 was many things for a baseball fan and specifically fans of the Minnesota Twins. The year began with the players locked out by the owners. They reached an agreement in early March and spring training soon began. The Twins were incredibly busy after the lockout ended, signing players left and right. No one could have anticipated the Twins signing Carlos Correa to a record contract. The season began with some optimism, hoping that the 2022 season was the anomaly. Things started well. The team was fairly healthy and found themselves in first place. They remained in that spot until late August when things went downhill in a hurry and injuries caught up. But, we did starting seeing some quality pitching prospects emerge in 2022. Griffin Jax adjusted very well to the bullpen while Jhoan Duran and Josh Winder made the opening day squad. As the season progressed, we saw more and more pitchers debut. In addition, Luis Arraez got some notoriety. He was the AL Batting Average champion, went to his first All-Star game, was a nominee for a Gold Glove, and won his first Silver Slugger Award. Byron Buxton went to his first All Star Game, started and homered. And finally, the offseason has clearly been frustrating for many Twins fan so far. Fortunately, it can still be salvaged. Things went well for Twins Daily as well. After a few years of Covid, and then a lockout, it was difficult to drum up interest in the club. However, our fantastic writing staff put out a ton of excellent content all year and Twins fans found their way here. We had some nice numbers throughout the summer, but December has been a very good month. So, let's take a look back at the Twins 2022 season by looking at which articles were viewed by the most people. It's not an exact representation, but it does take a look at some hot-button topics, some intriguing questions, lots of transactions and analysis and much more that intrigued us all year long. With that, in part 1 we will look back at the articles ranked 16-20 according to Page Views. Share your thoughts and memories on them below. #20 Louie Varland will Make his MLB Debut for Twins on Wednesday September 5 Seth Stohs Louie Varland was the Twins Daily Minor League Starting Pitcher of the Year in 2021 when he put up great numbers in Low-A Ft. Myers and High-A Cedar Rapids. He began the 2022 season at Double-A Wichita. In early August, he was promoted to Triple-A and had the opportunity to pitch in his hometown, for the St. Paul Saints. He made a handful of starts for the Saints when the Twins had a need for a spot starter. We learned a couple of days ahead of time that Varland would be making his MLB debut for the Twins in Yankees Stadium. We were excited with the news. Twins fans were excited. And Varland came through with a fantastic debut against the Yankees. His first big-league strikeout victim was MVP Aaron Judge. His first big-league home run allowed was to MVP Aaron Judge. All things considered, it was a fantastic debut for Varland. He went 5 1/3 innings and was charged with two runs on three hits. He walked two and struck out seven batters. He left the game with a runner on and one out in the sixth inning. Griffin Jax came on and got Judge to pop out, but Gleyber Torres homered to give the Yankees a 3-1 lead. The Twins came back to tie the game and sent it to extra games. Unfortunately, the Yankees won 5-4 in 12 innings. #19 Minnesota’s Return for Berrios Continues to Look Better June 30 Ted Schwerzler As the trade deadline was approaching, Ted took a look back one year to when the Twins traded All Star right-hander Jose Berrios to the Toronto Blue Jays for shortstop Austin Martin and right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson. While Martin hasn’t raced to the big leagues as quickly as many thought he might when he was the fifth overall pick in the 2020 draft, but the talent and athleticism is certainly still there. He missed time with injury but made up for it with a strong showing in the Arizona Fall League. Woods Richardson had a strange 2021 season, but after a normal offseason and spring training, he got off to a fast start in 2022. He didn’t give up an earned run for the first month of the season. He missed about a month due to Covid, but he came back strong. Late in the year, he was promoted to Triple-A, and he made one start for the Twins in the season’s final week. He gave up three runs (2 earned) on three hits and two walks over five innings. However, he gave up two runs in a rough first inning and settled in well. On the other side of the spectrum, it was a tough season for Jose Berrios. He went 12-7 despite an ERA of 5.23 and a WHIP of 1.46. He made all 32 starts and worked 172 innings. He led the league in both hits allowed (199) and in earned runs allowed (100). That came after signing a seven-year, $131 million extension with the Blue Jays. He will be the team’s #4 starter heading into the 2023 season, but it is likely he will be much better as well. #18 Too Many Outfielders, Another Perplexing Acquisition for the Twins December 8 Sherry Cerny Sherry was writing for herself, expressing her frustrations with a few of the Twins offseason moves so far. Certainly the article resonated with a large quantity of Twins fans who are equally frustrated. First there was the trade of one of the team’s more consistent, productive and healthy players in Gio Urshela. Then they signed strikeout-prone outfielder Joey Gallo for a similar contract while they already have several left-handed hitting corner outfielders. Thankfully the offseason is not complete. It will be interesting to see how the roster looks in early March. But for now, it’s been difficult to see the direction. #17 What’s Next for Twins Manager Rocco Baldelli September 14 Ted Schwerzler It’s one of those questions that some fans feel the need to ask when their favorite team is not winning ballgames? Should the manager be fired? Forget the injuries? Forget the slumps and struggles? The reality is managers probably get too much credit when their team wins, and they certainly take too much blame when the team loses. The Twins were in first place into late August, but at that point their pitching staff was decimated. Max Kepler missed the final month. Byron Buxton was out. Ryan Jeffers was out, replaced by Sandy Leon. Along with Kenta Maeda and Chris Paddack, Sonny Gray and Tyler Mahle also ended the season on the Injured List. The Twins lineup often included Nick Gordon hitting cleanup. Gordon had a nice year, but that tells you a lot. Again, when things go bad, it’s obviously a question that has to be asked. #16 The Minnesota Twins Front Office Played Themselves December 15 Matthew Taylor No question, the Twins clear top priority this offseason was bringing back Carlos Correa. It sure appeared to be Plan A, Plan B and maybe Plan C. Sure, they were able to sign Christian Vazquez to a three-year contract, but while waiting for the Correa situation to play out, several quality pitchers signed elsewhere. You can question whether or not Scott Boras and Carlos Correa played the Twins, using them as leverage to get a bigger contract. Matthew also thinks that the Twins front office played itself this offseason. Judge for yourself. Hopefully you have enjoyed this look back at 2022. Be sure to check back tomorrow for articles that ranked 11-14th. View full article

I'd say I agree with the majority of comments in here. I don't think that the Rodon or Swanson contracts were some great deals that the Twins should have tried to top. I think Bassitt is the one contract listed that I think they maybe missed out on that is a decent deal... And that came with a Qualifying Offer.

The Twins absolutely offered 10 and $285M. They absolutely believed they were in it until that last day. There are reports saying that he was telling people on Monday that he was heading back to Minnesota, but then the Giants blew the other offers away. That's when there was an agreement... pending a physical. That's where the Twins were. If he would have accepted the Twins offer, it would also have been pending a physical. Now, who knows what the Twins doctors would have seen or found in the physical. But after the Giants brought up concerns, then the Twins absolutely would have needed to re-evaluate where they were at, and it would be crazy to increase how much you would pay a guy when there are question marks. And, as others have said... Boras being in a rush to get him signed would make me really nervous too.

My Waking Up to this News initial thoughts: - My first reaction yesterday was that the Giants looked bad, issuing the postponement but not providing much else. Of course, they really can't say anything about the physical, and this is a great example for why teams don't like when news breaks of a player agreeing to terms (PENDING PHYSICAL)... in most cases, failure of a physical would stay quiet, private. - But with this news of him heading to New York within about 5-6 hours of the Giants news, it now looks more like Correa wanted out of the Giants deal. He wants to play for a winning team. he looks at the Mets roster, the incredible starting pitching, adding bullpen arms, and the lineup, along with teaming with long-time friend Francisco Lindor and wanted to be there. Oh, and that Cohen guy is just going to keep spending. In this case, I think Correa is the one that kind of looks bad. If that's the case, he just shouldn't have committed to the Giants. However, he hadn't signed yet. Just a really weird situation.

Not sure why they would want to add two left-handed relievers. Not sure if Smith or Hand is better than Thielbar. And does this mean we would want Moran back in the minor leagues?

Over the past five years, the Minnesota Vikings have had two "Minneapolis Miracles." In a playoff game against the Saints, a Case Keenum to Stefon Diggs play turned into one of the craziest game endings in NFL history. Then on Saturday, the Vikings fell behind 33-0 after halftime and used another miracle to win 39-36 in overtime, the biggest comeback in NFL history. Now it's the Twins turn. At this point, the team needs a miracle to turn around what has been an incredibly disappointing first half of the offseason. Image courtesy of Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports On Saturday, the Minnesota Vikings fell behind the Indianapolis Colts, 33-0 at halftime. The team was frankly very bad in all aspects of the game. The defense bent and broke. Special teams allowed a blocked punt and a few long returns. The offense didn't get much going at all, and when they did, it ended in either a fumble, or a wide receiver just stopping a route that led to an interception. It was really, really bad. Twins fans, does this sound familiar? The first half of the Twins offseason has not been good for the Twins or its fans. Let me count the ways: Carlos Correa and Scott Boras did a great job of maximizing his value over the course of the offseason. The Twins felt really good about their chances of signing the All Star shortstop. Last Monday, there were reports that he was starting to tell people he was heading to Minnesota. Then on Tuesday, the Giants offered 13 years and $350 million, and he signed. We can't know everything that went on behind the scenes, of course, but no question the front office had to be disappointed. Many fans are still going through the coping process. Before Correa signed, one fallback plan, Xander Bogaerts, signed with the Padres for 11 years and $180 million. That came a few days after Trea Turner signed an 11 year, $300 million deal. Those contracts, of course, bumped out the value of a Correa contract. It also bumped up the value of the Twins remaining fallback option for an impact shortstop. While the Twins had several conversations over the past week with Dansby Swanson, the former Vanderbilt Commodore and Atlanta Braves star, he ultimately signed this weekend with the Chicago Cubs. While Kyle Farmer is a solid MLB player and shortstop, he probably won't set a lot of tickets. Obviously the Twins weren't going to be involved in negotiations with free agent starting pitchers Jacob deGrom, Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, Adam Wainwright, but for whatever reason, they were involved in negotiations with Carlos Rodon and his agent, Scott Boras. As we know, Boras used the contracts of those big deals, specifically the deGrom deal, to request seven years and up to $30 million. While the Twins and Cardinals stayed involved in discussions, the lefty signed with the Yankees for six years and $162 million. And again, while those conversations were happening, the Twins saw the likes of Chris Bassitt signed with the Blue Jays (3 years, $63 million). Others who signed that would have fit the Twins goal of acquiring pitchers that are at least as good as Sonny Gray: Jameson Taillon (Cubs, 4 years, $68 million), Taijuan Walker (Phillies, 4 years, $72 million), Jose Quintana (Mets, 2 years, $26 million), Andrew Heaney (Rangers, 2 years, $25 million), Sean Manaea (Giants, 2 years, $25 million), Zach Eflin (Rays, 3 years, $40 million), Ross Stripling (Giants, 2 years, $24 million), At this time, there is literally one remaining free agent starting pitcher that could be argued would be the Twins top starter. That's Nathan Eovaldi, who throws gas and can be very good, but he hasn't been a beacon of health himself. And to make matters worse for Twins fans, reports have come out over the past couple of weeks that the Twins would certainly consider trading Luis Arraez to acquire pitching. No matter how good the pitcher the Twins got, losing Arraez would be painful for a lot of fan. Another fan favorite, at times, has been Max Kepler, and his name has bounced around in trade rumors. As with Arraez, there may be good reason to look to deal Kepler, but many fans will be greatly disappointed. On Friday afternoon, it was announced that the Twins had a deal with outfielder Joey Gallo for one year and $11 million. As @Nick Nelson noted this weekend, Gallo hit Rock Bottom in 2022 (I know, I know... at least he made contact! <rimshot>) when he hit just .160 between the Yankees and Dodgers. However, in 2021, between the Rangers and Yankees, he hit .199/.351/.458 (.808) with 38 home runs, and that's even after he really struggled over the final two months if New York. Gallo was an All Star in 2019 and 2021. He won Gold Glove Awards in 2020 and 2021. He's one year removed from a very nice season. However, because of a terrible 2022, the low batting average and the massive strikeout count, it isn't a signing that makes many Twins fans happy. And, in an article about Twins options following Correa's signing with the Giants. The Athletic's Dan Hayes mentioned several options for how the Twins offseason could go. One of the ideas was to take a step back by trading some veterans for prospects, essentially throwing the towel on the 2023 season, and hoping to compete again in 2024. While it is unlikely, it certainly isn't something any Twins fan wants to hear. To be fair, the Twins did get their top choice at catcher when Christian Vazquez signed last week to team with Ryan Jeffers. They didn't lose anyone in the MLB Rule 5 draft. They moved from #13 to #5 in the 2023 draft thanks to MLB's first draft lottery. Back to the Vikings... Down 33-0 coming into the second half, the team was incredible and almost inexplicably mounted the biggest comeback in NFL history and won 39-36 in overtime. It was a second Minneapolis Miracle. Kirk Cousins use all of his weapons (Justin Jefferson, KJ Osborn, Adam Thielen, TJ Hockenson, Dalvin Cook) to throw for over 400 yards. The defense actually got aggressive and got pressure on Matt Ryan. They also stopped the run. And sure, a little luck was involved, but that's OK. Huge win, and it clinched the NFC North division title. The Twins offseason is just a little over two months in, and spring training will start in about two more months (and the WBC, if you're into that). This is about halftime of baseball's offseason. Right now, the Twins offseason has been rough. 33-0 rough? I would say more like 31-7 rough, but that's probably just semantics. It has not been good for Twins fans. And as @Melissa Berman wrote last week, it might just be difficult to get fans back into the seats at Target Field if this continues. However, since Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have been in charge of the Twins Baseball Operations group, halftime is often when they really start moving and shaking. We have seen them make deals in late January, throughout February, and even after spring training has started. Whatever we have guessed their budget might be (and this year, it should be somewhere between about $140-$155 million), they have managed to hit that number. They are smart guys. Certainly they had contingency plans for if Carlos Correa signed elsewhere. And certainly Plan B options have been lost too. However, there is time, so don't give up completely on the offseason. Aside from Eovaldi, free agency will likely not be the means to quality acquisition. Instead of just giving up money for players to sign, they will now have to trade players to acquire players. Can they trade for a quality starting pitcher, like Pablo Reyes from the Marlins, or one of the Brewers aces? Speaking of the Brewers, could Willy Adames be available? It's really hard to know which players are available, or how that will change over the course of the coming month or two. (For more on Willy Adames, Corbin Burnes, Christian Yelich, Brandon Woodruff, Gus Varland, William Contreras, and the Brewers, check out Brewer Fanatic.) The Minnesota Twins will need another Minnesota Miracle to turn around what has been a rough offseason so far for the team. In a market that includes teams from all four major professional sports leagues, a soccer team, a Big 10 school (U of Minnesota) and a second Division I college in St. Thomas, dollars can only be spent in so many places. And with half of the market or more unable to watch the Twins on TV, they need to find ways to compete. Ultimately, it will be Winning that brings fans to the stadium. That is always the case. Sure, when a player of the caliber of Carlos Correa signs, some season tickets are sold, but sustained winning is what keeps fans coming back. Whether fans are excited about the offseason, what matters most is what happens on the field in the season. View full article

So, I've been tracking where free agents have signed, including minor league signings (cuz I'm just that cool)... the teams that have been signing the most minor-league deals this offseason are the Yankees and Dodgers. The Mets have signed a bunch. I would say the Twins have signed much fewer than most at this point...

It's always been Jair Camargo. Never was Johan Camargo, no matter what the MLB transactions page says. I can verify that it was Jair.

Yes, the Twins signed Vazquez. @Ted Schwerzler wrote this article on Sunday. The idea is obviously always to go back into articles to make sure they are up-to-date.

But the thought of the Twins playing in the ocean with the sharks instead of one of the 10,000 Lakes with the fishies sure would have made it fun to sign him!

Twins fans, we held out hope as long as we could, and we konw that the Twins made a more-than-fair effort, but shortstop Carlos Correa (and his agent Scott Boras) are in an agreement with the San Francisco Giants on a 13-year, $350 million deal, according to ESPN's Jeff Passan. Image courtesy of Peter Aiken-USA TODAY Sports Twins fans held on to hope, but late on Tuesday night, those hopes were dashed as Jeff Passan announced that free agent shortstop Carlos Correa had agreed to a 13-year, $350 million deal with the Giants. While it is absolutely clear that the Twins were very interested in bringing back Carlos Correa, it is frustrating to have lost out to a big-market team. As you know, the top three markets in the US are New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Philadelphia comes in at number four with Dallas-Ft. Worth at number five. Number six is where we find San Francisco-San Jose. Minneapolis-St. Paul comes in at #14. We know that the Twins put up a "massive" offer to Correa and Boras this week. The Twins front office clearly wanted to keep the All Star shortstop. But when Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts signed 11-year deals for arguably more than we expected, Scott Boras pounced. According to Jon Heyman, the Twins were at $285 million over 10 years ($28.5 AAV). His AAV (Average Annual Value) on the 13-year deal is just under $27 million, but he gets the extra three years. The Giants thought they had a chance to sign Aaron Judge earlier in the offseason, but he signed with the Yankees. They are believed to be in a two-team race for the services of LHP Carlos Rodon, though most believe he will wind up with the Yankees as well. The Giants clearly wanted to make a splash after seeing the Padres making big signings and needing to make up a lot of ground on the Dodgers. This is their move. So, what is the pivot for the Twins? First, it is theoretically possible that the Twins could sign both SS Dansby Swanson and Rodon for about $350 million. I don't see it. But the Twins will certainly pivot to the former Braves shortstop as their fallback. How much will Swanson want? Rumors are all over the place. It could be anywhere from six years and $140 million to eight years and $200 million. However, Swanson is coming off of a great season with Atlanta. The Vanderbilt product has been on a lot of winning teams and may bring many of the same traits that Correa brought to the Twins. So while it is disappointing to not sign Correa, the Twins can salvage the offseason by showing fans they're serious and spending the money they were planning to spend on Correa. The other fallback plan, of course, is using Kyle Farmer at shortstop. The Twins acquired him after the season for RHP Casey Legumina. And then we await the return of Royce Lewis or the arrival of Brooks Lee, or both. We will have much more analysis on the news that Carlos Correa will be signing with the Giants coming, but share your initial thoughts here. View full article

Six years later, the Twins finally got Jose De Leon!!

Nope... it's inexplicable how the Brewers got Contreras, a reliever, and a relief prospect for Esteury Ruiz. https://brewerfanatic.com/news-rumors/milwaukee-brewers/brewers-acquire-catcher-william-contreras-r632/

Which Free Agent Starting Pitchers (or trade candidates) would jump to the top spot in the Twins rotation? Which would be right there with Gray and healthy Mahle and Maeda?

They only have one open spot. They got offers out to Correa and Vazquez, and have talked with Rodon and presumably other starters and relievers. And while they have a few guys on the 40-man roster that they could drop, or trade, maybe they didn't see anyone worth losing someone else over. I tweeted a couple of days ago that if Antoine Kelly Jr was available, I'd take him... or Gus Varland.

Correct... catchers call the games, the pitchers can shake them off... and if things don't get well, they discuss it with the coaches (or it is discussed/questioned by the coaches).

Great dude. I've had a few interactions with him and he's always been great, willing to thoughtfully answer questions and just be nice with kids and others. Pretty good baseball player too.

I looked up what the slot values were in 2022. I'd imagine the 2023 numbers will be similar, a little higher.

Here is a quick scouting report and a little background on Carlos Luna.

So far, just a few minor-league signings. C Jair Camargo is back. IF Elliot Soto is back. RHP Carlos Luna signed after nearly a decade in Brewers system. 1B Tyler White who split 2022 between Brewers and Braves AAA affiliates.