TwinsTakes-RD

Players are the lifeblood of your team. Acquire them well and often. The Minnesota Twins are finally at a point where they have built a team with a lot of talent. Most of that talent is young and still developing into what they could potentially be. They will go a long way towards making the Minnesota Twins a perennial playoff team now and in the future. All those years of losing are...uhh...finally paying off? Wait...that doesn’t sound right. They are finally seeing the fruits of having the higher draft picks as a result of all those losing seasons. This is part 2 of our “Trusting the Process” series on what it takes to build a perennial playoff and championship contending team. The first part, simply called Trusting the Process, was about how the Twins Front Office and CBO Derek Falvey and Thad Levine have helped or let the Minnesota Twins compete this season and why what they did, or didn’t do, at the trade deadline was actually showing how they are trusting the process. At the end of the series, we’ll go over how the Minnesota Twins have done in each area. Maybe we’ll find why they struggled for so many of the last 6 seasons. Today, though, we will continue the series with how a team acquires players and what tools are available to each organization to do it. 4-Tool Player Acquisition There is a process to developing a team into a champion. The front office of any organization needs to trust that process to become a championship caliber team, not just for one season, for every season. That is every team’s goal, to contend for a championship every season. Acquiring and developing players is how teams compete, how they improve and ultimately, how they win. Every team has the same tools at their disposal to acquire players. The major tools are the Draft/Drafting, Free Agency, International Signings, and Trades. They have to use any means necessary to acquire players. If they lose focus or don’t do very well on any one of them, they’re probably not going to become that perennial championship-caliber team. If a team doesn’t draft well, they won’t have many prospects. If they don’t sign good players in Free Agency, they’ll be stuck with bad contracts which will affect payroll and not allow them the flexibility to get other free agents or acquire the players they want or need in trades. If they get nothing from International Signings, they aren’t getting anything from all the time and money they put into their baseball academies and their international scouting and if they don’t make good trades, they’ll either get rid of their best players for nothing or trade their best prospects for very little return. A team may need to make a few moves to help push an already contending team to the brink of winning a championship but, those moves could also change their team for the worse in the future and if they don’t win that season, they may set themselves back because of it. If they’ve done well in all areas of acquiring players, they should be able to recover from those trades.* *One name….Matt Capps! Ughh! First Draft The best way to get players is through the draft. It happens every year and every organization picks and signs about 30+ players and they don’t have to give anything up to acquire these players. Obviously, the biggest problem with the draft is having to wait for 3-6 years or more for most of those drafted players to reach the majors but, if you’ve consistently drafted well, there should always be players coming or close to ready to contribute to the big club. Of course, if the organization has done well in the other 4 areas of player acquisition, they won’t need to rely on rookies as much. If they do have players coming consistently every season, they have the opportunity to trade other pieces to either improve the club now by adding a good veteran or in the future by adding more prospects. We can’t cover acquiring players without talking about scouting. Without scouting or a team’s scouts, they would have no idea how good a player is right now or how good they might be in the future. The movie, Moneyball, taught a lot of us that scouting is now a lot more than just watching a player and seeing their skills in person. Analytics now play a big part in evaluating a player and their talent. Another area probably not talked about enough is a player’s makeup and how he’ll look on television and in a team’s promotional videos. Noooo….not that kind of makeup! Makeup as in what makes each player tick, how hard they compete, how good of a teammate they are and how they handle adversity. It’s not talked about very much because the fans rarely see that side of a player, especially when it comes in the dugout or in the clubhouse but a player can change the whole team with his makeup. The draft is the easiest way to acquire players but it might be the hardest way to produce players. You can get a lot of players at one time but, of the 30 or so a team signs, very few of them make it to the majors at all or become impact players once they get there. That being said, the years a team has control over a player and their salary is a big reason why they need to get players from the draft. Free Agency isn’t Free at All Free agency is the quickest way for a team to improve. Teams can simply negotiate with a player and give them a better deal or more money than any other team. It’s not that simple, of course, and it doesn’t always work the way teams would like it to. Maybe a player just doesn’t fit or wasn’t as good as advertised so there are risks involved with every signing. There is the problem of not getting the player you want and then having to go to further down your list and/or maybe overspending to get the player you want. Free agent contracts in Major League Baseball are getting crazier by the year. Because of how long teams have control of their players, the majority don’t hit actual free agency until they are in the high 20s or early 30s. Obviously part of that also has to do with teams re-signing their players and buying out some of their free agent years but it may make free agency even more of a risk. Depending on many factors, players hit their peak sometime around 30 years old, give or take a year or two. That’s also when most of them hit the free agent market. So, teams are signing players to gigantic multi-year contracts and it’s very likely they end up paying more money as they age and as their play declines. Yoenis Cespedes signed the biggest contract last offseason at 4 years/$110M and he was 31 years old when he signed that contract. Will he get better in the span of that contract or will his play decline as he gets even older? That’s up for debate and it’s different for every player but you might want to keep that receipt just in case.* *”Umm...this didn’t work like it was supposed to. Can I get a refund?” Free agency is a great tool to use to quickly strengthen an area of weakness or to get that player a team might need to get them over the hump but it might not work as well as they'd like it to work. I’m sure that won’t matter when the General Managers get their owner’s checkbooks out next offseason, though. Foreign Signatures The MLB International Signing Period is how teams sign players born outside of the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico because there isn’t an International Draft. So, it’s basically International Free Agency but it’s for prospects and players who are as young as 16 years old. That means every team has to trust their international scouts but every team also has Baseball Academies in the Dominican Republic and other countries so they can develop these players and get them into their system. Look no further than the current Twins roster as proof that International Signings work. 2009 was a good year for the Minnesota Twins on the International market as they signed current players, OF Max Kepler, SS Jorge Polanco and 3B Miguel Sano*. Those players are a part of the core of this young Twins team and it shows how big of a part international signings are for every team. *Pelotero: Ballplayer (2012) is a highly recommended documentary that is mainly about the signing of Miguel Sano and all of the problems that occurred through that process. A sequel, The Miguel Sano Story, is on the way. No release date is available at this time. Trading Place There is also the possibility for any team’s General Manager to pick up the phone and call another team’s General Manager, tell them they’re interested in a player and ask if he’s available. The answer could be no, he’s untouchable, what would you give us or this is what we’d need coming back to us if we were to trade him. It could get done right away. It could take a week, a month or even more. They could get really close to making a deal and then something makes it go wrong. Look at the Brian Dozier saga from last offseason. The Los Angeles Dodgers were looking for a 2nd baseman. The Minnesota Twins have Brian Dozier and the whole league knew he was on the trading block. Did the Twins want to trade him? Not necessarily but he was the player with the most value at that time. The Twins need pitching. Starting, relieving, sales, any kind of pitching. They need it. They wanted a significant return for their All-Star 2nd Baseman who had 2 years left on a contract at a good salary. The Dodgers did not want to give up more than one of their top pitching prospects, Jose De Leon. The talks seemed to go on forever. The Twins wanting another top prospect added to the deal. The Dodgers, not wanting to give up another prospect or, at least, a prospect as high as the Twins may have wanted, decided to go in another direction and trade Jose De Leon to the Tampa Bay Rays for 2B Logan Forsythe. Some have said the Dodgers basically traded for Brian Dozier because of how similar they are but, as the season has gone on, you have to wonder if the Dodgers will be kicking themselves if the postseason doesn’t work out like they want it to. Just like in Free Agency, there’s risk involved in making trades. It’s almost the same thing except teams are giving up prospects instead of money to acquire players in a trade. They can acquire almost any level of player in a trade so if they believe there’s a diamond in the rough and they can get him on the cheap for a low prospect or two, the risk isn’t nearly as steep. Closing Time You may already be home and you can stay here! There aren’t many other ways to acquire players but they shouldn’t be considered major tools. Waiver claims are another way to acquire players but I’d consider that either under trades or free agents. Teams may have to waive one of their own players to get the player claimed on the roster or not so that’s pretty much a player for player trade if they do lose the player or signing a free agent if they don’t. There’s also the Rule 5 Draft. Yes, it’s another way to acquire players but it hasn’t really shown to be a very consistent way to find good players. In the next article, we’ll delve into Trusting the Process of Player Development. After the series, we’ll see how the Twins have done in all these areas of Acquiring Players and Trusting the Process. There has to be a reason they’ve had such a terrible run since 2010. Was it because they didn't trust the process? Thanks for reading our TwinsTakes on Trusting the Process of Acquiring Players! We’d love to hear your TwinsTakes on the subject! Please comment below or on the posts of this article on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Google+! After all, it is... Our 'Takes, Your 'Takes... TwinsTakes.com

There are no shortcuts to winning. Trust the Process! The Minnesota Twins are near the end of a season where they are contending for the playoffs. When the Trade Deadline passed on July 31st, Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine had to make a big decision. Buy or Sell? Were the Minnesota Twins ready to compete for a playoff spot? The answer to that question would lead to another question. If they thought there were ready, what do they trade for to help their team make the playoffs? If they thought they weren’t ready, who do they trade away to get help for the future? After the All-Star Break, the Minnesota Twins, with a record of 45-44, had some playoff caliber teams in the Houston Astros, the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers on their schedule. Two of those teams already had 60 or more wins on the season, the Astros (60-29) & the Dodgers (61-29,) so there was a measuring stick to help Mr. Falvey & Mr. Levine make a decision for what to do at the trade deadline. Compete with the best teams in the league and get some help for the stretch run or get overmatched and see some veterans shipped out hurting your chances at the playoffs this season? Alternating wins and losses, including losing a series at home to the Detroit Tigers, showed they might need some help so a trade was completed for Atlanta Braves LHP Jaime (Hy-me) Garcia. They would proceed to go 1-5 getting swept by the Dodgers and lose 2 of 3 in Oakland with the only win coming from their newly acquired lefty pitcher. They were 3 games under .500 at 50-53, 6.5 games out of 1st place in the American League Central and 4.5 games out of a Wild Card spot with 5 teams ahead of them on the day before the deadline. That made Derek Falvey and Thad Levine’s decision pretty simple, trade away some assets and get what you can. This team didn’t look ready to make that push for the postseason. Just acquired LHP Jaime Garcia was traded to the New York Yankees and All-Star closer RHP Brandon Kintzler was traded to the Washington Nationals. Those trades didn’t make the players happy and they would respond by having their best month of the season with a bunch of guys leading the way, veterans Joe Mauer, Brian Dozier, Eduardo Escobar, Ervin Santana & Bartolo Colon and young core players Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco, & Jose Berrios. A 26-16 record since the July 31st Trade Deadline has put the Minnesota Twins right back into the thick of the playoff race, currently holding the 2nd wild card with the Los Angeles Angels 2 games back, the Seattle Mariners 3.5 games back, the Texas Rangers and Kansas City Royals 4 games back, and the Baltimore Orioles only 4.5 games back. Being in the hunt for the playoffs is allowing this team to get the experience you’d want a young rebuilding team to get in order to take that next step. Derek Falvey & Thad Levine had a tough decision to make with their team only 1 game over .500. They decided to send a message thinking their team deserved some help so they acquired a veteran starting pitcher in RHP Jaime Garcia to see if it could help them get over the hump. Even before that, they signed RHP Bartolo Colon to a minor-league contract after he was released by the Atlanta Braves in the hopes he could help a young starting rotation with his veteran leadership and his pitching savvy. They may have sent another message by only trading players facing free agency and keeping the established core veterans like Ervin Santana & Brian Dozier. They were still giving their team a chance to compete: “We weren’t looking to tear this thing apart,” Falvey said. “Our goal was to find ways to keep an eye on the future at that moment in time, but no one waved a white flag. No one said, ‘This team can’t compete.’ We just knew that, by and large, we were going to give ourselves a chance to get to the playoffs with the group that we had here.” With all of these moves, including the moves they didn’t make, Derek Falvey, Thad Levine, and the Minnesota Twins are trusting the process of building a winning team, a winning organization and winning players. “Trust The Process” The phrase, Trust the Process, is heard a lot in professional sports but it really is a part of everything we do in life. It’s all around us, in our education, in our jobs, in our relationships, and pretty much in everything we see and hear every day. It is probably heard from leaders most often because they’ve gone through the process and they know there is no other way to achieve success. They’ve done it and have seen people, groups, and organizations try taking shortcuts to speed up the process in one way or another and fail. We’ll get into that process in the next article…. Thanks for reading our TwinsTakes! We’d love to hear your TwinsTakes on this season’s Minnesota Twins. Will they make the playoffs? Do they have the core pieces to be a perennial playoff team and championship contender? Please comment below or reply to this article’s post on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, or Google+! After all, it is... Our 'Takes, Your 'Takes, TwinsTakes.com

Lineups are out for today's game and Byron Buxton is hitting 7th so we'll see what affect this has on the game, I guess. Here's the lineup: 2B Dozier RF Kepler 3B Sano 1B Mauer SS Polanco C Castro CF Buxton LF Rosario DH Escobar P Mejia

As a team and/or a manager running the team, not to mention a Hall of Fame hitter himself, Paul Molitor knows Buxton can be a good hitter and he knows the pressure he may have put on him putting him in the 3 hole but he did it for a reason. Maybe that reason is to get the experience of those pressure situations so he can learn how to deal with it and get better because of it. Maybe he put him there to make him learn how to take better at-bats so he can eventually put him as the leadoff hitter, too. It starts with better at-bats and getting into better counts. His last at-bat, against Nate Jones, was better. He fouled off 3 pitches before striking out for the 4th time. He's not showing any frustration from his rough start and that is a good thing. I'm sure he's asking his hitting coach and his manager for advice or, even Torii Hunter and maybe even David Winfield, who showed him how to break in a glove at Spring Training. He'll get it going at some point. Hopefully, that point is very soon because he's not coming out of the lineup anytime soon. He's too good with the glove.

Do you like Wins (Ws) or do you dislike Strikeouts (Ks)? The Minnesota Twins are 4-0 to begin the season and they've used all aspects of the game to help them win those 4 games. They've pitched very well, they've played great defense and they've scored plenty of runs to win two games and as much as they needed to win the other two games. Unfortunately, Byron Buxton is struggling mightily at the plate and he's hitting out of the number 3 spot in the batting order. He's still playing great defense and the Twins have needed that defense to help win the 4 games. So, here's the question, with Byron Buxton struggling, do you move him down in the batting order to take some pressure off of him? Or, do you leave him in the 3 spot because the team has been winning? On the season, Byron Buxton is 1-for-18 with 1 hit, 1 walk and 11 strikeouts. He's struggling to make contact with the ball. Because of that, we've heard he can't hit and he's terrible and, of course, we've heard the Twins should move him out of the 3 spot in the batting order. A lot of fans thought right off the bat (no pun intended) that he shouldn't be hitting from that spot in the batting order, anyways. Before the game, Paul Molitor said he won't consider moving Buxton out of the third spot just yet. Then, last night, Byron went 0-for-4 with 4 strikeouts and he said after the game, "I ain't swinging the bat so good." He also made 2 spectacular catches in the first inning to keep the game scoreless on one catch and at 1-0 with the other catch. The 2nd catch was the 3rd out of the inning and the White Sox had runners on first and second so most likely 2 runs would've scored if he doesn't catch that ball. The final score was 3-1 Twins so he's helping the Twins win with the glove despite being non-existent with the bat. Why mess with what might be a winning formula and, at the same time, chance messing up Byron Buxton's mental state even more by moving him from the 3rd spot in the batting order? He's already putting too much pressure on himself to produce, thinking he has to swing when he doesn't, being too anxious on every pitch. He's going to put in the work to get out of this slump and he'll have the help & support of all his teammates and coaches to get him through it so leave him there for now while reassuring him of the reasons he was put in that spot to start the season. Someone commented that it doesn't matter if they're winning. What? The whole point of the game is to win! What other reason is there for playing the game? YOU PLAY TO WIN THE GAME! Herm is right! Now, teams can play bad and win and play good and lose. There's almost always something that can be done better to help you win, but, like someone else said, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" So, let's say he moves down the batting order after 4 games and 19 plate appearances and the Twins start losing. What do you do then? Move him back? Try something else? There's no reason to panic after 4 games no matter who's struggling at the plate, in the field, or on the mound. It's a 162-game season. Players can't be playing scared that they're going to come out if they make a mistake. It's a team game. The team wins or the team loses. I'd love to hear your thoughts, or 'Takes.

Are the Minnesota Twins building a framework of winning baseball? The Minnesota Twins begin the 2017 season with new hope as they enter a new era of their franchise. After hiring a new Chief Baseball Officer in Derek Falvey and a new General Manager in Thad Levine, the Twins seem headed in the right direction. Of course, it’s hard to go anywhere but up after a 103-loss season but, with this new regime taking over the organization, the feeling is they will turn this team around and, maybe, they weren’t as bad a team as their record showed last season. Last season was the worst season in this franchise’s history in terms of the number of losses but how many of the losses and how bad the season was can be attributed to a young team that couldn’t get over the hump with a big hit or not enough leadership in the clubhouse? It was a season most people would like to forget but, the players that went through it can learn from that season, too. Even if it’s something as simple as never wanting to go through that again can help them now and in the future. Learning how to win can come from knowing what has made you lose in the past. Help is on the Way There is talent on this team. Most of that talent is in the field or at the plate rather than on the mound but still, there is talent and it’s talent that can be a big part of turning this team around. Don’t get me wrong, there’s some talent on the mound, too. It just might not be enough talent. That’s where Derek Falvey and Thad Levine come in. They are known for having a background steeped in pitching. They have been able to find and develop pitching that has helped their teams get to the playoffs. There was a meeting asking, “Do you think there is a true ace in the Twins organization currently, at any level?” Thad Levine humorously just answered, “Yes.” Derek Falvey elaborated on the question, saying they don’t like limiting any player and they want to maximize every player’s potential. He used Indians ace Corey Kluber as an example saying that he didn’t come up through the minor leagues as that prototype guy. Thad Levine said they think there is somebody in their farm system that can get to that level. They just don’t know who that is yet. Someone or many will overachieve their potential and turn Minnesota Twins pitching into a strength instead of a weakness. That is what is so exciting about this season. They will use every way possible to develop the pitchers currently on the roster and, maybe, more importantly, develop the prospects they have coming soon and also to scout pitchers (and players) they might draft with the number 1 pick and the entire 2017 MLB Draft. Changing Mechanics? Can a tweak in any given pitcher’s mechanics make them into a better pitcher? Or a different pitcher? How much better? How long will it take? A good example of a veteran pitcher is 29-year-old right-handed starting pitcher Kyle Gibson. He’s always had a ton of potential, advancing from High-A to AAA in his first professional season. Gibby’s biggest problem has been finding consistency from start to start where he can be the best version of the pitcher he should be. He’s been up and down on almost a month to month basis where he’ll be great for a while then struggle. If he can be the same pitcher every start, he should be an above .500 pitcher and be a key to this team getting back to competitive baseball again. You can say the same thing about every pitcher in the organization. From your opening day starter Ervin Santana to a pitcher ready for the next step like Jose Berrios to a pitcher just hitting the higher levels in the minors like Kohl Stewart to a pitcher just drafted in 2016, any one of them could improve with a tweak to their mechanics, changing a grip on a pitch or two, moving one way or the other on the rubber, or adding a new pitch to their repertoire. Maybe they see something in Hector Santiago which explains why they kept him, too. A Winning Framework Pitching and defense are a huge part of helping a team win. That is precisely why Derek Falvey and Thad Levine had Jason Castro as their primary target in free agency. As a catcher, Jason Castro helps both the pitching and the defense so they addressed two weaknesses with one signing. Signing Jason Castro to a 3-year, $24.5M contract probably seems a little too high. That’s because the first thing most fans will look at are his stats and they will be underwhelmed. The majority of fans just look at the standard stats, with most of those being on the offensive side of the game. Mr. Castro won’t wow you with his bat, which isn’t to say he can’t hit, but it’s not the reason he’s getting that big contract. Casual baseball fans might not understand how much a catcher has to do with the pitching staff and the entire game.* In fact, they are really like quarterbacks behind the plate, a leader in the field and in the clubhouse. Being called a “catcher” really limits what they do on a day-to-day basis. *This is also a big reason why Joe Mauer is still being paid $23M a year but, that’s a conversation for another time. The skill most talked about when it comes to Jason Castro is pitch-framing. How many times did we hear the phrase Pitch-Framing in Minnesota in the Old Era? Did we ever hear it? Pitch-Framing is the skill of catching a pitch and framing it so it looks like a strike to the umpire. That’s the quick definition but that almost sounds like catchers are cheating and, of course, nobody likes being thought of as a cheater so here’s Jason Castro’s longer and more definitive explanation of pitch-framing: “The goal at the end of the day is to try to help your pitcher keep as many strikes as possible,” Castro said. “And to not do anything to take away from presenting pitches that are in the strike zone to the umpires that would lead them to believe that any given pitch is not a strike.” With his pitch-framing, Jason Castro will help the pitchers get more called strikes. Changing a ball to a strike will also change the behavior of the hitter and slightly widen the strike zone. Castro was ranked the 5th best overall at pitch-framing with 12.8 runs above average. Compare that to Kurt Suzuki who was 5 runs below average and the Twins could save almost 18 runs with a better pitch-framer. We’ve all seen how a strike being called a ball or a ball being called a strike can affect a game. A catcher also has to be a leader. Leadership was another area where the Twins struggled last season. A catcher leads by knowing his pitching staff, knowing their pitches, knowing how they want to pitch and knowing how to use all of that information to get the opposing hitters out over the course of an entire game. They have a gameplan for the opponent and each of the opponent’s individual players. They are also part-time psychologists because they have to know how to motivate the pitching staff, get them to calm down if things aren’t going well and figure out how to get the best out of them. Then, of course, there’s the actual playing the game part. That’s somewhat important, right? Jason Castro’s defense will help stop the opponent’s running game with his arm and when to call for a pitchout and/or a pickoff throw. “Hello, this is Diamond Security…Jason Castro speaking. Is everything alright? You mean like a bass guitar? Oh, I see. Can you describe it? Ok, it’s square and they are stuck into the ground. Have you ever thought of bringing them in the house or locking them up somehow?” Love for the Glove Speaking of defense, we have come to yet another weakness the Twins have to fix in order to start winning more often. They’ve got some areas that are very good and should be for a long time but there are, of course, some areas that still need some work and will require some patience. The strongest area is the outfield, predicting Eddie Rosario is in left, future gold glover Byron Buxton is in center and Max Kepler is in right. All 3 of them are young and they are above average defensively. They are slightly above average at 1st base with Joe Mauer as the starter and at 2nd base with Brian Dozier. The areas of concern are at shortstop with Jorge Polanco and 3rd base with Miguel Sano. Something that comes from a team trying to take the next step is figuring out if Polanco and Sano can hold down the job defensively on the left side. It’s been said that Miguel Sano’s natural position is 3rd base. Natural usually means that’s where they aren’t meant to play and we did see him make some great plays at the hot corner last season but we also saw a lot of bad plays like infield fly balls that dropped to the ground. Give the man credit though. He used the offseason to workout to get in better shape and to work on his defense. He has a rocket for an arm and is pretty good coming in on bunts. We’ll see how he progresses through the season. The Twins moved Jorge Polanco to 2nd base a couple years ago, moving him from the shortstop position where he had played most of his career. Was it due to arm strength, defensive range, throwing accuracy, or just trying him out at 2nd base because he really never looked like he’d make it as a major-league shortstop? The Twins are no stranger to having a new starting shortstop as a season opens. They’ve only had one shortstop since 2004 that has started 2 seasons and that was Pedro Florimon. It’s pretty crazy that they haven’t been able to find and/or develop a shortstop in 12 years. Is it impatience at the major league level, giving up on a player too soon? Or is it giving up on a player too soon in the minors? Or did they actually never have anyone capable of being their shortstop for an extended stay? Whatever the answer is, it doesn’t paint a good picture of the old front office and the scouting department. They claimed shortstop Ehire Adrianza off waivers from the Milwaukee Brewers in early February mainly for his glove. He’s average at best with the bat but he does have decent on-base skills. Knowing defense helps teams win, Falvey & Levine probably want a fallback option in case Jorge struggles at short and they want that fallback option to be solid defensively. Let’s Play Ball!!! The bottom line is, for the most part, the same as it has always been for the Minnesota Twins. If they pitch well and play good defense, their offense is good enough to score enough runs to win games. That offense was 16th in all of baseball and 9th in the American League in runs scored last season. That’s 4 ½ runs per game and it can easily go up with good years from Miguel Sano, Jorge Polanco, Byron Buxton, Joe Mauer, Max Kepler, Byungho Park at some point and a new hitting coach in James Rowson. This is The Dawn of a New Era of Minnesota Twins baseball. Winning is coming. It’s just a matter of how soon. This is a baseball team with a lot of talent. Can some confidence individually and as a team get them there as soon as this season? That’s a lot to ask. I’m predicting 75+ wins. Thanks for reading our TwinsTakes on the 2017 Minnesota Twins season. We’d love to hear what you think or your ‘Takes on how you think the Twins will do this season. We’re on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. We also post most of our articles on TwinsDaily.com. That’s why we call it TwinsTakes.com because it’s… Our 'Takes, Your 'Takes, TwinsTakes.com!

I don't believe he did. If you're referring to me saying "plus we don't know when Vargas will be back either", he fouled a ball off his foot so he's day-to-day I assume. Nothing has been officially announced but it does sound like he'll be optioned to AAA. He does have one option remaining - https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2017/03/central-notes-quintana-guerra-perkins-park-williams.html

Well, I wouldn't say foolish but I don't think that's what they are doing. I think they value both players. Adrianza is a better glove with a little lesser bat yet more plate discipline that Santana but Danny can also play the outfield and has a little more power & speed. I can see them putting Sano, Gimenez or maybe even Grossman at 1B to give Joe some more rest plus we don't know when Vargas will be back either. The offense should be fine. The pitching should be better. The defense from SS & 3B is the big what if. I just hope they give these guys time to play and see what they can do. By these guys, I mean Sano and Polanco, mostly. You don't want players out there being nervous that any mistake might get them taken out of the lineup.

I think we'd all love to know the meaning behind these roster decisions. Unfortunately, we just have to wait and see. We're not going to get those answers any other way. With Park, not being on the 40-man appears to me to be the biggest reason he's not on this roster. Spring Training isn't really a great thing for fans because they react to what they see and they only see games unless they actually go down to ST. We saw Park take great ABs and pummel the ball while learning the strike zone and actually earn some walks, too. Maybe they want to see him do more of that in AAA first before bringing him up? I thought Danny Santana looked alright at the plate & in the field in ST in the few games I saw. Obviously, his ST stats don't support that much at all but maybe he's turning into a decent utility player. He did put up decent stats in the minors and he can play almost anywhere. Or maybe he's gone after a month & replaced by Park. With the pitching, all 13 pitchers are either veterans or guys that deserve a chance to see what they can do in the majors because they've either done it before or they've done it in AAA so they have nothing left to prove down there. Is Tonkin on the teams because he was out of options? Maybe but it may also be that they like his size and his arm and think it's something they can work with to make him more effective. How long do they give these guys to show they can do something before they make a change? Most fans instantly go negative on these decisions but those guys in the front office and the baseball staff have done this for a long time so I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for quite awhile before I second guess their decisions.

Byungho Park reassigned to the minors? 13 pitchers? The Minnesota Twins have made their final roster decisions for Opening Day 2017, which is on April 3rd and only 3 days away. They: assigned 1B/DH Byungho Park to minor-league campalong with OF JB Shuck, 3B Matt Hague, INF Benji Gonzalez, 1B/DH Ben Paulsen, and C Eddy Rodriguez [*]named LHP Adalberto Mejia their 5th starter [*]RHP Tyler Duffey will join the bullpen [*]will add C Chris Gimenez to the 40-man roster [*]optioned C John Ryan Murphy to AAA Rochester So that means the 25-man Opening Day roster, for now, is: Hitters/Fielders – 12 C – Jason Castro 1B – Joe Mauer 2B – Brian Dozier 3B – Miguel Sano SS – Jorge Polanco LF – Eddie Rosario CF – Byron Buxton RF – Max Kepler DH – Robbie Grossman Bench – C Chris Gimenez, INF Eduardo Escobar, UTIL Danny Santana Starting Pitchers – 5 RHP Ervin Santana LHP Hector Santiago RHP Kyle Gibson RHP Phil Hughes LHP Adalberto Mejia Relief Pitchers – 8 RHP Brandon Kintzler RHP Matt Belisle RHP Ryan Pressly LHP Taylor Rogers LHP Craig Breslow RHP Michael Tonkin RHP Justin Haley RHP Tyler Duffey On Disabled List LHP Glen Perkins (?), LHP Ryan O’Rourke, INF Ehire Adrianza, 1B/DH Kennys Vargas (?) Why “for now?” Because, obviously, everyone is most likely wondering how Byungho Park did not make the team after a great Spring Training where he hit 2 doubles, 6 HRs and had 13 RBIs among 19 hits with 6 walks and 15 strikeouts in 51 at-bats for a .353 average and a .414 on-base percentage. He showed that he’s worked on his swing and is taking better at-bats.There might be a few reasons. First off, he’s not on the 40-man roster and the Twins already have to add backup catcher Chris Gimenez to the 40-man roster. Assuming they’re taking Buddy Boshers off the roster for that spot, who else can you take off of it to find a spot for Byungho Park? Ryan O’Rourke? He’s on the 10-Day DL so he can’t be removed unless they move him to the 60-Day DL and he won’t be out that long. They could move Glen Perkins to the 60-Day DL and they still might but I believe he has to agree to that and he probably doesn’t want to be out until near the end of May if he can get back before that. There may be other players you could take off the 40-man roster but, obviously, the front office and the coaches like those players or they wouldn’t be on the roster. Second, yes, Park’s stats are impressive but, they’re also from Spring Training, which is hard to take seriously so, maybe the front office would like to see him continue that same type of consistent hitting and good at-bats in AAA. If he keeps mashing the ball like he did in Spring Training, he’ll most likely get called up to the big club. Or if Robbie Grossman or a reliever or someone else struggles early, they could make a move to recall him? Third, and this might be the biggest one, maybe Derek Falvey and Thad Levine are looking to acquire and/or move a player to make room for Mr. Park. By reassigning him to minor-league camp, some other teams might show some interest. We expect them to be looking for every possible way to improve this team. Why 13 pitchers? That seems unusual but, again, that doesn’t mean they’ll stay with 13 pitchers for the whole season or even a month of the season. The Minnesota Twins biggest problem (and need) has been pitching since the losing started 6 seasons ago. So, having 13 pitchers shows how bad it’s been. They might need that many to get through a week. If the starters are pitching bad, that bullpen can get overworked quickly. So, they might want to get a look at these guys in real games when it counts rather than just evaluate them in spring training. Some, if not all, pitchers are working on new mechanics, new pitches, and/or new grips on pitches, trying to get used to those new tweaks to their deliveries or adding a new pitch. They aren’t that concerned if they get hit hard during a game. Plus, having 13 pitchers could mean they are going to go with this starting lineup for awhile and let them play. They’re going to let Jorge Polanco and Miguel Sano figure out if they can stay at shortstop and 3rd base. The bench of Eduardo Escobar, Chris Gimenez, and Danny Santana gives them the flexibility to replace every position as Gimenez has played some 1st base, Escobar and Santana can play 2nd, 3rd or short and Santana can play in the outfield, too. Sano could play some 1st base and in the outfiel…uhh…no, let’s not go back to that. Anyways, this lineup does have some flexibility even if there are only 12 players. So, basically, let’s wait and see how it goes for the next 3 days before Opening Day. If they’re still the same after that, let’s give them some time to play it out for awhile and see what happens. It might not be as bad as you think. Thanks for reading our TwinsTakes. We’d love to hear your TwinsTakes. That’s why it’s… Our 'Takes, Your 'Takes, TwinsTakes.com!!!

Wow! That may be the longest comment of all time. Haha! Obviously, it was a bad season. There were some positive things to take from it (Buxton starting to figure it out with the bat, Polanco's hitting (although still some work needed with the glove) and the hiring of a young president of baseball operations to get them out of this mess. There's a lot of work to do with the majority of it with the pitching. How soon can the new CBO get things done? Can things be done to get them competitive within the next couple seasons or will it be like 3-4+ years? Will they dump anyone they can right away to get started or is it worth keeping someone like Ervin Santana?

The 2016 Minnesota Twins were the worst team in all of baseball and the worst team in the history of the Twins franchise. So yeah, it’s a good thing that it’s over. There’s not a lot of positives you can take from being the worst team in baseball. That We’ll try to find the few positives of having this kind of season. Look at the bottom of the cover picture, that’s the Twins 2016 season game-by-game with the upward lines (green) being wins and the downward lines (red) being losses. Don’t look too long, though. Depression might set in. The Bad, The Worse and The Ugly After an 83-79 season in 2015 where they missed the playoffs by 3 games, you’d think a team could build off that, right? For some reason, the 2016 Minnesota Twins couldn’t get it done. They couldn’t get out of a losing funk that started with the first series in Baltimore and would last for the majority of the season. It started bad. It got worse and it was ugly. They’d end up losing their first 9 games. Surprisingly, the pitching wasn’t that bad in that stretch, at least collectively. They had a staff ERA of 4.20 in those games but the offense would only score a total of 14 runs in those 9 games. There is no possible way to win if you score 1.5 runs/game and give up 4.2 runs/game. Throw away that recipe. It doesn’t sound good or look good. I don’t want to know how it smells or tastes. Most people considered the Twins season done after that start but I still had hope. I’m a positive person and with 153 games left in a season, I thought this team still had a chance to be competitive. They’d win their next 4 games in a row then proceed to win only 4 of their next 21 games. That 4-game winning streak would equal their longest winning streak of the season, something they’d do 2 more times. Their longest losing streak was 13 games. They would also have a 7-game and an 8-game losing streak to add to that opening season 9-game streak. That’s 37 losses right there. Is it Contagious? There’s a saying in baseball, “good hitting is contagious.” First of all, the word contagious rarely means anything good. If you hear someone might be or is contagious, you don’t usually run to that person and see what they have because it might be something good. “Hey, I heard you were contagious. What do you have? Dangit, now I’m sick and contagious, too.” So, when I think of the word contagious in baseball, I would think of something like bad hitting, bad pitching and losing. It has been said a few times that “losing is a disease.”* I believe losing is contagious. A losing team will find ways to lose. They’ll lose games in some of the craziest ways because they’ve been losing. If the slightest thing happens in a game to turn the tides, it’s like here we go again. You can see teams start to hang their heads. The good teams find ways to get over those things and stop losing. *”Hobbs, get back in here!” This Twins team was in a losing funk for most of the season, losing games they should have won for whatever reason. Was the reason because they were a losing team and just couldn’t get out of that losing mode? If you look at the 1st month of the season, if the offense would’ve scored more than 3 runs a game, who knows what could’ve happened. After that first month, the Twins offense scored 642 runs in 138 games. That comes out to 4.65 runs per game. That’s enough to win games as long as you have good pitching but, as Twins fans know, the Minnesota Twins haven’t had good pitching for quite awhile now. The 2016 Twins didn’t respond to one loss with a win until July 5th vs Oakland. It took until game 83, over half the season, for this team to not lose consecutive games after losing one game. The very next day they won consecutive series for the first time. Not surprisingly, that’s when they were playing their best baseball of the season. In the month of July, they went 15-11, scored 144 runs (5.54/game) and only gave up 111 runs (4.27/game.) Talk about your outlier month of baseball http://www.twinstakes.com/2016-season-review/ If you kept watching all season long, you probably know what also happened about that time that might have gotten the team going a little before July. Brian Dozier began his historic career tear of hitting the baseball better than he ever has before. History with a Bat Think of this, through April & May, Brian Dozier was hitting .202/.294/.329 (AVG/OBP/SLG) with 21 runs, 35 hits, 7 doubles, 5 home runs, 3 stolen bases and 18 walks with 35 strikeouts. That’s about as ugly as it gets from one of the players you are counting on to be productive and lead your team. It may have been historically bad, actually. I don’t want to look. http://www.twinstakes.com/2016-season-review/ Now look at the rest of his season: http://www.twinstakes.com/2016-season-review/ In almost every month after that horrid start, he had almost the same numbers, if not more, as he had in the first TWO months of the season. He always had more extra-base hits, home runs and RBIs (minus July.) In 109 games, he scored 83 runs, had 130 hits with 28 doubles, 5 triples, 37 home runs, 82 RBIs and 15 stolen bases with 43 walks and 113 strikeouts. Too bad it came in the worst season of his team’s history. Could the Twins trade Brian Dozier after that kind of a comeback? Should they? The Changing of the Guard Depending on how you feel about this franchise and how it’s been managed since the ‘91 World Series, maybe this is what this team needed to finally make a change from the old school ways that may have put them in this mess in the first place. Twins General Manager Terry Ryan was fired in July. Later, we found out the Twins were searching for a presidential-level executive who will have authority over all baseball decisions and that person would hire the next General Manager. Are the Twins finally making the move to the modern day development of a baseball organization? It appears so. On October 3rd, the Twins announced the hiring of Derek Falvey as their new Chief Baseball Officer. Mr. Falvey comes from the Cleveland Indians organization of which he has been a part of for 9 years. Hired in 2007 as an intern, he assisted in amateur and international scouting for 3 years then spent 2011 as the assistant director of baseball operations. He was then named the director of baseball operations where he focused on player personnel and acquisitions. He held that role until he was named assistant GM last year. He has helped the Indians in all areas of baseball operations and also assists manager Terry Francona and his staff on a daily basis. Francona has called him a rising star but the thing that should get Twins fans excited is when Francona said this, “Over the course of time, because he’s a hardworking kid, he made it his, probably his passion, to understand pitching and the delivery…” Pitching is the Minnesota Twins greatest need and has been for a long time. It is why they’ve had to resort to signing free agent pitchers like Ricky Nolasco, Phil Hughes and Ervin Santana. Obviously, that hasn’t worked out well. Any Twins pitcher should be excited about this as well. They should all get a fresh start because they will be looked at from the perspective of new eyes of a person who has helped the Cleveland Indians achieve success with its pitchers in a variety of ways. Closing Time I’ve probably spent too much time talking about the 2016 Twins season. Now, you don’t have to go home but you can’t watch Twins baseball for awhile. Even though it was hard to watch the Twins this season, it was still Twins baseball and I’ll miss it until next April 3rd when they open the 2017 season at home against the Kansas City Royals. Heck, I’ll miss it until Pitchers and Catchers report in February, until the winter meetings or until 5 days after the World Series ends and free agency begins sometime in the first week of November. This might be the most interesting offseason in Twins history because of the change at the top and what’s to come with a new General Manager, a new coaching staff, new acquisitions, possible trades and the beginning of a new era of Twins Baseball! Thanks for reading our TwinsTakes! We’d love to see your TwinsTakes too so let us know what you think in the comments, on Twitter or on our facebook page. Our 'Takes, Your 'Takes... TwinsTakes.com!

They still have Escobar, too. I think you obviously trade Nunez and he should be someone teams would like to add because he has versatility defensively, a good to great bat with some power and speed on the basepaths. I don't see them trading Polanco. They like his bat a lot. Thanks for reading and commenting. I appreciate it!

It doesn't always come down to need. It could just be to upgrade for this season or for the next two seasons. Looking at the National League, NYM, PIT, SF, STL, LAD and maybe even the CHC (move Zobrist to LF?), especially after the month they just had. For the AL, TOR & KC although I'm sure they'd rather not trade him to a division rival. Other teams could just wanting to upgrade at 2B for the next two seasons - ARI, PHI, SD and LAA. They only need one team as a trade partner. There should be a ton of interest for a player like Brian Dozier if he's made available and if the Twins have stated they'll listen, they should hear several offers. Do teams really believe he's available? Does that even matter? Would you do Dozier for CHC SP Kyle Hendricks and a prospect? Is that too much to ask? Terry Ryan should be asking for a lot to trade #2. It will be interesting to see what the Twins do though. That's for sure. Thanks for reading and commenting.I appreciate it.

I threw out a question the other day on Twitter asking if the Minnesota Twins should look into trading Brian Dozier while he’s hot. I got several responses ranging from absolutely to not a chance. Bear with me and see if you agree that Trading Brian Dozier might be a good thing for the Twins. The Minnesota Twins are in a spot where they should think about improving this team in any way possible. They have prospects that are ready or very close to ready for a shot at significant playing time on the Twins roster. One of them is Jorge Polanco and he’s been playing 2nd base for basically the entire time he’s been with the AAA club this season, 48 out of 49 games. The other game he started at SS and he had an error in that game. He has 5 errors at 2nd base this season. He’s better defensively at 2nd base than he is at SS but that can probably be said about most shortstops since 2nd baseman are closer to 1st and they usually have more time to make a shorter throw to 1st than a SS does. Brian Dozier was once the SS of the future for the Twins not that long ago. He couldn’t handle the position defensively so he was moved to 2nd base and he became a great player. He just had a historic stretch in June where he had an extra-base hit in 11 straight games to set a franchise record for the Minnesota Twins. In 27 games during the month of June, he hit .369/.435/.728 going 38-for-103 (115 PAs) with 19 of those hits going for extra bases (9 doubles, 2 triples and 8 HRs) with 19 runs scored, 3 stolen bases, 11 walks and 14 strikeouts. He was also hit by a pitch. He has started to hit the ball the other way, too. There’s other reasons the Twins might want to try to trade #2...uhhh...too. He’s 29. He’s struggled in the 2nd half of the last two seasons. Some of that is likely due to injuries. I guess the big question is, should the Twins be trying to build around a 29-year old 2nd baseman? That’s not the only question, though. Add in the way the Twins have played for the majority of this season. Their record has eliminated them from making anything out of this season. Doesn’t that mean they should see if the prospects are ready to make the jump? Brian Dozier should have a lot of trade value right now because of the way he hit the ball in June. The Twins could take advantage of that and try to help a weakness, presumably pitching since that is obviously their biggest problem right now. But, of course, you try to get any kind of great prospect in a trade. The Twins have needs at other spots, too. Catcher and shortstop are certainly areas they could use a high-end prospect in, especially someone who’s almost ready. The Other Side of the Argument You know, the side that says the Minnesota Twins should not trade Brian Dozier and build the team around him. I get that side, too. He’s a top of the order bat with power who can steal bases, play above average defense and is one of the best baserunners in the league. He’s only 29 years old in only his 5th season in the Major Leagues and he’s on a team friendly contract for the next two seasons. He’s also becoming a leader on this team, is a great teammate and is great for the organization on & off the field. Also, there’s the argument that the Twins need some veterans on this team. You can’t just go 100% youth movement. Sometimes that youth doesn’t work out or it takes a little longer for them to adjust to the major leagues. So, you’d have a veteran at 2nd base with Dozier, a veteran at 1st base with Mauer, an available veteran at 3rd with Plouffe (if he’s not traded) and a veteran at SS in either Nunez or Escobar. If you take Dozier out of that mix, does it make a huge difference? It’s hard to say without actually seeing it happen and, obviously, without knowing what other moves the Twins could make in the next few weeks. If they move Trevor Plouffe, Eduardo Nunez, Kurt Suzuki, Ervin Santana and Ricky Nolasco, that leaves a very young team. The oldest infielder would be Joe Mauer. The oldest outfielder would be Robbie Grossman. The catcher would be Juan Centeno or John Ryan Murphy. The oldest starting pitcher would be Phil Hughes then Kyle Gibson. The oldest relief pitcher would be Glen Perkins (if healthy) then Brandon Kintzler. Now if you trade all of those guys but don’t trade Brian Dozier, you still have a veteran leader in the infield for the next two seasons. The Bottom Line For me, it all comes down to if the Minnesota Twins can be competitive in the next two seasons, with or without Brian Dozier on the team. A bad 2016 makes it appear difficult to compete in 2017 but a good finish in the next 75 games could make that change. 2018 seems possible but, by that time, you would also think Jorge Polanco has shown if he can be a starter for this team. Also, prospects you get in trades could play into 2018. My opinion is trade anyone and everyone except Miguel Sano, Byron Buxton, Max Kepler, Trevor May, Tyler Duffey and Jose Berrios. The Twins should be Open for Business, listening to any and every offer presented to them as they’ve said they are. What are your TwinsTakes on the Minnesota Twins Trading Brian Dozier? Thank you for reading Our ‘Takes! We’d love to hear Your ‘Takes! After All, It's Our 'Takes! Your 'Takes! TwinsTakes.com!

GCL Twins Takes! I like that!

For the 2016 Minnesota Twins, that’s the big question. Will they contend in 2016? After winning 83 games in 2015 and surprising pretty much everyone, except maybe themselves, by being in the hunt for the playoffs until the final series of the season, can the Minnesota Twins build off of that and make it to the postseason dance in 2016? We do know they enjoy dancing! The Twins competed in 2015. First year Manager Paul Molitor was a big part of that. He got his players to believe they could compete with and beat any team in the league. They appeared to have that never say die attitude in every game and kept playing hard no matter what. That compete level might be the biggest thing for any team or player. When the Twins were losing 90+ games a season not so long ago, they didn’t look like a team that believed they could win. Once they got down a few runs, their heads would lower and the confidence to come back was not there. Mike Zimmer, head coach of the Minnesota Vikings, has talked about every team going through 4 Stages of Success or 4 “learns”, Learning How to Compete, How to Win, How to Handle Winning and How to be a Champion. At the time, early November of 2015, Coach Zimmer said the Vikings were between stages 2 & 3, learning how to win and how to handle winning. He also said his team wasn’t “tight or a nervous kind of team. They’re confident but focused on the job.” The Twins might be in exactly the same position as the Vikings were about 5 months ago and we saw how that turned out, a division championship and pushing the reigning champs to the edge of defeat. This Twins team doesn’t just want to win, they expect to win. Going Deep* The biggest reason this team is ready to contend is they have more and better depth in all areas. Some of that depth might be younger players who are still learning the game at this level but they are ready. They have nothing to prove in the minors anymore. When injuries hit like they always do, that depth will come in handy. They still have plenty of prospects too. Some good players were sent down to the minors. The AAA Rochester Red Wings could have a very good season in the young Twins prospects keep developing like they have up to this point. *Going Deep has multiple meanings. Of course there’s Going Deep as in hitting the ball out of the park. There’s Going Deep as in the Twins having more depth this season than they’ve had in a long time. Then there’s Going Deep as in Deep as getting down and dirty on how this Twins team will do in 2016! Better Starting Rotation We’ll get a full season of Ervin Santana, a rebound year from a lighter Phil Hughes, another year of Kyle Gibson improving, a full year of Tommy Milone and maybe a year of Ricky Nolasco actually earning his money. That means the Twins had to send Tyler Duffey, who was probably the Twins best pitcher down the stretch last season, to AAA. They still have Jose Berrios waiting in the wings and he is very close to being ready if or when the rotation falters or injuries hit. The Bullpen Will be Better I said will, not is! It might not happen immediately. They are better than what the Twins had at the beginning of last season and they can be good. That bullpen last season overachieved in a lot of ways, especially early in the season. You still can’t believe how good Blaine Boyer was pitching. Aaron Thompson was pitching great too. The bullpen was a reason for a lot of losses last season. Those losses loom large knowing the Twins missed the playoffs by 3 games. The Twins will start 2016 with Glen Perkins as the closer once again but they now have Kevin Jepson as a setup man along with a healthy Casey Fien and Trevor May as options from the right side. Ryan Pressly is also healthy again and an out of options Michael Tonkin is in a long relief role motivated to stay on the club. From the left side there’s Fernando Abad, who had a great 2014 then struggled in 2015. Can he get back to how he pitched in 2014? Or was that an outlier season? Is he a LOOGY (Lefty One Out Guy)? A 7th inning guy? Is he better than Brian Duensing as a lefty out of the pen? If he can get back to something resembling what he did in 2014, the Twins got themselves a nice lefty option in their bullpen. That bullpen could get better as the season goes on as well. There’s some heat down on the farm very close to being ready. Those flamethrowers are the reason the Twins didn’t sign a free agent reliever to a long term deal. The amount of money those relievers were getting was a little bit crazy. You can probably thank the Kansas City Royals for that. KC’s bullpen has changed how teams view relievers. The Royals didn’t have great starting pitching but if those guys could get them through 6 innings, they would almost always close the door, saving the game or giving the Royals bats a chance to come back. The Infield is Set For the first time in a long time, the Minnesota Twins infield is set with four players that should be the starters for the whole season. There wasn’t any battles for 1st, 2nd, 3rd or SS in Spring Training. We can only hope that 1B Joe Mauer, 2B Brian Dozier, 3B Trevor Plouffe and SS Eduardo Escobar will be able to stay healthy all season long. Joe Mauer is looking, with sunglasses on, for a rebound from his worst season in 2015 when he had career lows in batting average (.265), on-base % (.338) & OPS (on-base plus slugging %) (.718). He did play in a career high 158 games though. He’s still working his way back from his concussions that forced a move to first base. Did playing more and lingering concussion symptoms play a role in having a bad season? That’s incredibly hard to answer as concussions affect everyone differently depending on the severity of the concussion and how many they’ve had previously. Brian Dozier is developing into a leader and could improve on his outstanding 2015 season. Could he top 30 HRs? We know he’s going to score runs as he is the most valuable baserunner in the American League. He plays gold glove caliber defense and he’ll keep dancing after Twins wins! Dancing! Dancing! DANCING! Eduardo Escobar, after taking over the shortstop position the last two seasons, is finally getting the chance to be the starting shortstop for the Minnesota Twins right from the start of the season. He’s been a doubles machine and has shown unexpected power while playing above average defense. Can he do it for a full season now? Trevor Plouffe will be the same solid 3rd baseman he’s made himself into through plain hard work. You’ll get some power and some clutch hits out of his bat as he will be in the cleanup spot most of the time. Will he have to deal with trade talk during the season? Paul Molitor & Terry Ryan believe Trevor is an important piece to this Twins teams. The obvious question is if there will ever be some Sano at 3rd base? It will depend on how Miguel does in right field. Outfield of Dreams? The Twins will start the 2016 season with an outfield of young prospects that could make for the most exciting outfield in the league. Eddie Rosario will be in left, Byron Buxton in center and Miguel Sano will take over right field. That young outfield should definitely bring some excitement at the plate, especially if Byron Buxton starts to show signs of how he’s performed offensively in the minors. It didn’t take long for the league to see how legit the bat of Miguel Sano was as he pummeled pitches again and again to the tune of a .530 slugging percentage that included 18 HRs, 17 doubles and 1 triple! He hit .269 for average, .385 OBP and a .916 OPS in just 78 games or roughly half a season. He did have 119 strikeouts in those 78 games but he also had 53 walks. Will he be better in a full season? Will the switch to the outfield affect his at-bats? Will he be able to stay healthy playing the outfield? Eddie Rosario lead the league in triples with 15 last season and was tied for 2nd in the league with 16 outfield assists. A low OBP and a high number of strikeouts is worrisome but Ed can flat out hit. This young outfield could make or break the Twins season. Catching Up In November, the Twins traded former 1st round pick Aaron Hicks to the New York Yankees for backup catcher John Ryan Murphy. They needed an upgrade at the catching position as Kurt Suzuki struggled in his 2nd year with the Twins and the backups were... well...backup catchers, meaning they provided very little offense and decent defense. The Twins got a catcher for the future in the 24-year-old Murphy, an everyday catcher according to the Yankees GM. Their bullpen coach, Gary Tuck said this about him: "He’s different, he’s special. He’s as good as anybody I’ve ever had—and that’s 40 years of some of the greatest catchers who have ever been behind the plate," said bullpen coach Gary Tuck, an ex-big league catcher and longtime catching instructor, to Dan Barbarisi back in May. "A championship player. And I don’t say that about many people. He’s right there—Joe Girardi, Jason Varitek, John Ryan Murphy. A championship player." That’s pretty good, huh? Going Deep in Korean The Twins went out and got Korean slugger Byung Ho Park as a right-handed bat with some power. He looked good in Spring Training adapting to a new country and a new league but, of course, it’s always difficult judging what a player does in Spring Training. Byung Ho Park is a big reason why the Twins had to move Miguel Sano to the outfield but he could also be a big reason why the Twins can give Joe Mauer a break from playing in the field more often to see if that helps him come back from a career worst season. Closing The bottom line is it always comes down to pitching and the Twins have had trouble with pitching for a long time! If the rotation struggles early and the bullpen gets overworked, it could mean trouble. The offense looks good but there’s still some young pieces that could struggle in their second season in the Major Leagues. I believe this team will compete. Brian Dozier will be the team leader on & off the field and they could take another step this season. It will be a fun season and this is just the start of something big for the Minnesota Twins! THANKS for reading! We’d love to hear your ‘Takes on the 2016 Minnesota Twins so let us know in the comments, on our Facebook page, on Twitter and/or on Google+... After all, it is Our ‘Takes, Your ‘Takes…. TwinsTakes.com!!!

http://www.twinstakes.com/wp-content/uploads/Miguel-Sano-Career-Stats1.png Miguel Sano’s Career Stats from MiLB.com The Minnesota Twins have called up their #2 prospect Miguel Sano from their Double-A affiliate Chattanooga Lookouts. Add Miguel to the list of top 10 prospects* already called up this season by the Twins, Eddie Rosario(#8), Jorge Polanco(#4), Alex Meyer(#10) and Byron Buxton(#1.) Although he’s listed as the #2 prospect, he might be the most anticipated prospect to come up for the Twins in a very long time and maybe ever because of what he can do with the bat in his hands. *Rankings from TwinsDaily.com Miguel Sano is one of those prospects that changes a franchise, a player a team can build around because he changes the game. The stats will show it a little bit but there’s nothing like actually seeing it happen. Most of us have not had the pleasure of seeing him play other than on the highlight videos. Now we should be able to watch him every day on live television and at Target Field. That should bring even more fans out to see these Twins. Unfortunately, in order to keep track of your favorite organization's minor league teams and prospects, you really have to rely mostly on the stats. We do have many options of what we can look at though. You actually can tell a lot from the stats, especially if you dig into the splits and game logs of any player. Just looking at the total stats might not paint the full picture. This season is a good example of why just looking at the total stats doesn’t tell you the whole picture. Unless you’ve been paying attention to Miguel Sano the whole season, you wouldn’t know how he struggled early and how he’s recovered from those struggles and developed into a better hitter and player. Looking at the monthly splits is a good start but digging into the game logs can provide a better look into his season and see where he may have started getting on a roll. The Sano Splits* http://www.twinstakes.com/wp-content/uploads/Sano-Stats-Sheet.png Spreadsheet with some split stats of Miguel Sano’s AA season in 2015 After missing the entire 2014 season to repair his right arm with Tommy John surgery, it took Miguel a while to get back in the swing of things (Pardon the pun.) He hit .159/.303/.381 (AVG/OBP/SLG)* in April going 10-for-63 with 2 doubles, 4 home runs, 9 RBIs with 12 walks and 22 strikeouts in 18 games. He had more than one hit in only one of those games. A year off is sure to mess with your swing, your timing, your eye at the plate and just about anything to do with playing the game. *Average/On-Base Percentage/Slugging Percentage also known as a player's triple slash. And then the calendar turned. Miguel was 3-for-17 in the first 5 games of May with one double and one home run but “on the 7th day…”, Miguel Sano went 3-for-5 for his 1st multi-hit game in 15 games and only 2nd of the season. All three hits were singles but 2 games later he would go 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and a walk. Next game, 2 hits, a double and 4 RBIs. That turned into an 11-game stretch where he hit .385/.458/.718. He was 15-for-39 with 4 doubles, 3 home runs, 8 RBIs with 7 walks & 8 strikeouts. He would go 0-for-8 with 6 strikeouts in the next two games but that didn’t stop him from Sano-ing the ball. From May 7th until June 29th, Miguel Sano slashed .329/.413/.621 going 53-for-161 with 15 doubles, 1 triple, 10 HRs and 36 RBIs scoring 41 runs while drawing 23 walks and striking out 40 times. That raised his season triple slash from .163/.299/.388 to .274/.374/.544. That’s a good run, huh? On June 10th, Jorge Polanco was called up for one game with the Twins and on June 14th, Byron Buxton was called up. It’s safe to say Miguel Sano seeing his teammates called up before him might have served as some motivation to turn it up even more. In 16 games from June 10th to June 29th he went 21-for-61 with 8 doubles, 5 HRs and 13 RBIs with 10 walks and 16 strikeouts. He also scored 17 runs. That’s an average of .344, an on-base percentage of .438 and a slugging percentage of .721. Not hard to figure out why the Twins promoted him, right? Are there any reasons for concern with Miguel Sano, things that could cause him to struggle in the Majors? There’s always something, right? The high number of strikeouts is an easy target to zero in on and, of course, you can’t talk about strikeouts without bringing up walks. He has improved in both areas so far this season, increasing his walk percentage and lowering his strikeout percentage. How ‘bout the glove? He’s had a lot of errors while playing at 3rd base in the minors, 15 in 2015 while playing 3rd base for 63 games in Chattanooga. This may be why the Twins are bringing him up to replace Kennys Vargas as the Designated Hitter. That way he can concentrate on his at-bats and not have to worry about his defense. I’m sure he’ll get some chances at the hot corner though. He’s a 3rd baseman, not a DH. Trevor Plouffe had to work on his defense for a few years to become the solid 3rd baseman he is now. Thanks for reading our ‘Takes on the Twins! We’d love to hear your ‘Takes on Miguel Sano’s call-up so let us know in the comments, on Twitter, Facebook or Google+ after all, it is... Our ‘Takes, Your ‘Takes, TwinsTakes.com! P.S. Do yourself a favor and watch Pelotero, the documentary about what Dominican baseball players go through to become ballplayers. It follows the signing of Miguel Sano and what he went through to achieve his Big-League dream. It's very good and it's on Netflix. *Doing the splits in the snow is very dangerous! It’s slippery and IT’S THE SPLITS! Why would you even want to do that? Don’t try it at home or anywhere really! I don’t even like thinking about it!

The Minnesota Twins had one of the greatest months in franchise history in May, going 20-7 and putting themselves in the conversation for the American League Central Division. Unfortunately, they've gone 10-16 since then with only a couple games left in June and now see themselves 5.5 games back of the Kansas City Royals in the division and 1 game back of an American League Wild Card spot. The bats have quieted down in June and the bullpen has come back down to earth. A big reason for the 20-win month of May was that everything seemed to be clicking. Starting pitching was very good (3.66 ERA, 1.19 WHIP), the offense was scoring 5.15 runs per game and the relievers were finding ways to get guys out and get the game to closer Glen Perkins. In June, the starting pitching has actually been better (3.43 ERA, 1.26 WHIP) but the offense has only scored 3.38 runs per game and the bullpen has been one of the worst in baseball, 13th in the AL & 27th overall. In May, the bullpen was 8th in the AL & 14th overall. The primary relievers other than Glen Perkins have been Blaine Boyer, Aaron Thompson, Ryan Pressly & Casey Fien when it comes to close games. You can put Brian Duensing in there too but he’s primarily a lefty one-out guy (a LOOGY.) Looking at those names doesn’t bring a lot of confidence in getting the job done for a lot of reasons. The main reason is most of them are not power pitchers with the ability to strikeout hitters when they need to. Ryan Pressly and Casey Fien have that ability but Pressly is still developing at the major league level and Fien has been dealing with injuries most of the season. Aaron Thompson started out great and that curveball was helping him get guys out but it hasn’t been as sharp lately and the hitters have adjusted to his stuff and he’s now getting hit hard, really hard. Blaine Boyer started out terrible and was everyone’s pick to be sent down, released or just shown the door one way or another. Everyone wondered how he was still on the roster but then Boyer the Destroyer showed up and he was lights out in May as the setup man in the 8th inning. Now, he’s getting hit around a little bit again and fans are starting to wonder why the Twins haven’t done anything about it. To me, baseball is not really a game where making quick judgements of players works. You set your lineup, pitching rotation and bullpen and see how it goes for awhile and tweak it as you need to. The bullpen and relievers are probably the hardest to figure out because they could have one bad outing and you don’t know how that will affect them the next time they pitch. Relievers aren’t guaranteed to pitch the next day or even the day after that. They don’t know the next time they’ll get on the mound. A hitter will get in the next game or have another at-bat coming within a few innings. A starting pitcher knows he’s pitching every fifth day so they can prepare for it. How does that change how a relief pitcher pitches when he gets in a game? Nobody could’ve guessed that Blaine Boyer would turn into the Destroyer the way he began the season. You have to give a player some time to play through their struggles and figure things out. We don’t know if there was something wrong with him injury wise or if he was just struggling with command because he’s changing the grip on a pitch or still working on that pitch. Can the Twins do anything to change their bullpen situation? They can look in the minors for some relief (pardon the pun) but there’s really not much in AAA Rochester to help them out. The only option I see is A.J. Achter, who is currently the closer for the Red Wings. In 34.2 innings in AAA this season, A.J. is 3-2 with 12 saves and he’s allowed only 14 hits and 9 runs (5 HRs) with 7 walks and 34 strikeouts. He was up with the Twins at the end of last season as a September call-up. He pitched in only 7 games but got his first major league win in the last game he pitched on September 26th. His fastball only touches 90 but he also has a cutter, a slider and a changeup. There’s the option of trying to pick up a reliever via trade. The starting rotation will start to get crowded pretty quickly with Ervin Santana coming back shortly so what better time to get something from Mike Pelfrey’s great season or Tommy Milone pitching well lately. They could always trade some prospects for something too. There’s also the option of moving one of the starters into the bullpen but that doesn’t usually help the late innings of a game. Starters going to the bullpen usually end up being long relievers so that won’t help. It may be just a wait and see approach for the time being. We’ll find out. That’s my TwinsTake! What’s your TwinsTake? Let us know what you think in the comments, on Facebook, Twitter and/or Google+. Our Takes, Your Takes, TwinsTakes.com!

The pitcher was looking down at the ground which, I assume, is part of his windup and noticed Torii as he brings his head up then speeds up his delivery to get the ball to home plate quicker. I don't mind the play when they are up 3-0 and he had his manager's "nod" to go. If he makes the play on his own, I'm less for it. If he's safe, aren't most people saying what a great play it is?

Stealing Home - can you balk the balk? Last night during the Minnesota Twins game against the Kansas City Royals, there was a controversial play in the top of the 2nd inning. With the Twins up 3-0, the bases loaded and 2 outs, Kennys Vargas was at the plate, Torii Hunter was on 3rd, Joe Mauer was on 2nd and Brian Dozier was on 1st. The count was 0 and 1 after Vargas fouled off the 1st pitch of the at-bat. As Royals starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie started his wind up for the pitch, Torii broke for home to try to steal a run. Guthrie sped up his delivery, throwing a perfectly placed ball to get Hunter a few feet before he slides into home. Minnesota Twins manager Paul Molitor came out to get an explanation on the call as you can't argue or review a balk. The umpires huddled together for a minute or so and explained the call, Hunter was out. End of the top of the 2nd inning. The balk rule seems to always cause controversy and in this case, it involves a few things that are out of the ordinary for a pitcher's motion to home plate. Guthrie starts his windup and isn't paying attention to Torii at 3rd base. He's actually looking down as he starts his windup. As soon as he notices Torii breaking for home, he speeds up his delivery and actually throws the ball before his front foot touches the ground. This, of course, sparks a discussion about the balk rule and how to interpret it. Feel free to go to TwinsDaily.com's article "Was this a Balk?" to get in on the conversation. I commented quite a bit for a balk as the "alteration" of Jeremy Guthrie's delivery is the reason the play was made. So, I'm either interpreting the rule wrong, just plain wrong or they need a better explanation of some of the rule. There's plenty of players, managers and umpires in baseball that disagree with what a balk is so I'm not discouraged that I have yet to figure it out. What about the actual play? We can argue until we run out of oxygen about how to interpret the balk rule but we may be missing the bigger picture of the play that was attempted. Torii Hunter, with the bases loaded, 2 outs and powerful Kennys Vargas at the plate, ended the inning by getting caught stealing. That's pretty much always frowned upon and a bad play. I know I reacted negatively about it think what was he thinking? After the game, Paul Molitor did say he gave a nod to Torii so it wasn't just Torii trying to steal home by himself. After having some time to think about it and hearing Paul Molitor's thoughts on the play, I changed my thinking about it. Bear with me! Obviously, it's a negative play because we don't know how Kennys Vargas' at-bat ends up. He could get a hit that should score two runs. A double probably clears the bases and, of course, a Grand Slam would be the ultimate result. There could be a wild pitch, a walk a balk (sorry!) or a hit by a pitch as well. Of course, those are the positives that result in some type of score happening but it could go negative too. He could strikeout, ground out, fly out or pop out too. Kennys Vargas was 3-for-27 hitting from the left side against right-handed pitchers before that at-bat and the 3rd hit happened in the 1st inning. So, Paul Molitor knows the situation with his hitter struggling against righties and has the awareness of the situation to look for the opportunity to steal home there. More importantly, he has put that awareness in his player's minds too. No, it didn't turn out the way they wanted but it'd good to know the Twins are looking for the opportunities to score in any way possible. That makes two nights in a row that Paul Molitor has made a managerial decision that means this will be a different kind of season for the Minnesota Twins. Last night, he brought in closer Glen Perkins in the 8th inning of a tie game to try to get the Twins out of the inning. That means he used his best pitcher in a tough situation. That's my Take on the Twins for today. Let us know what your 'Takes are in the comments, on Twitter, Facebook and/or Google+! After all out slogan is.... Our Takes, Your Takes, TwinsTakes.com!!!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p style="text-align: center;">BREAKING: The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MNTwins?src=hash">#MNTwins</a> to name Paul Molitor as new manager tomorrow at 10 a.m. CT press conference! <a href="http://t.co/nnv04Ju6Rc">pic.twitter.com/nnv04Ju6Rc</a></p><p style="text-align: center;">— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) <a href="https://twitter.com/Twins/status/529338861831196673">November 3, 2014</a></p></blockquote> Can “The Ignitor” light a fire under this franchise and turn it into a winner? Paul Molitor was named the new Manager of the Minnesota Twins yesterday. He signed a 3-year deal and will be introduced at a press conference today at 10am that will air live on MLB.com and TwinsBaseball.com. It took Terry Ryan and the front office about a month to hire the man thought to be the top candidate for the job even before Ron Gardenhire was fired. The Twins did their due diligence in looking inside and outside the organization for candidates to fill the job making sure there wasn’t a better man for the job. In the end, Paul Molitor was the man they wanted to take control of this team for the next three seasons. The naysayers will ask many questions about this hiring. Is Paul Molitor the best person for the job? Should they have hired someone from outside the organization? Should he have some prior managerial experience? Is being a part of the so-called “Twins Way” a bad thing? Can he change Twins baseball back to a winning culture? Is Paul Molitor the best/right person for the job? Paul Molitor is a Hall of Famer who played for 21 seasons and has been around baseball for more than 40 years so I can’t imagine anything will come up that he won’t have already seen or dealt with. He’s already been an instructor with a lot of the players in the Twins system and on the current roster yet he will still be a new voice in the locker room. As a HOFer, he will have instant respect from every player that is currently in and/or comes into the Twins system and to the major league roster. Should the Twins have hired someone from outside the organization, with prior managerial experience who isn’t part of “the Twins Way?” Some think it’s wrong for the Twins to keep hiring from inside the organization. They interviewed many candidates from outside the organization and in the end, felt like Paul Molitor was the right person for the job. It’s about finding the right person not finding the right person from outside the organization. On prior managerial experience, I give you this from an article posted yesterday on TwinsBaseball.com: Matheny, Mattingly and Farrell have taken their teams to the postseason and Farrell won the 2013 World Series with the Red Sox. Weiss and Ventura haven’t done as well as they didn’t come into as good of a situation as the other three but it does show that prior managerial experience isn’t a prerequisite to being a major league manager. “The Twins Way” takes on different meanings to different people. To me, the Twins Way means drafting well and developing those draft picks into major league players while now, because of Target Field, being able to supplement the roster with free agents when needed. I believe they got away from that for awhile and that’s a big part of the reason the Twins have struggled the last 4 seasons. They had no talent to bring up in those seasons and because they were losing, free agents decided to go somewhere else. Can Paul Molitor change Twins baseball back to a winning culture? Paul Molitor is a natural leader who may be a perfect fit for the Twins. He played every position as a major league player other than catcher and pitcher and his awareness and instincts are a big part of what made him a great player who got better as he got older. He will instill that awareness into his players and turn this team into a contender. Even though the Twins just had their 4th consecutive season of 92 or more losses, there are a lot of positives in Dozier, Santana, Hughes, Gibson, prospects coming, etc…. They aren’t that far away from being a .500 ball club that could be on the cusp of contending for the division, playing in the postseason and, ultimately, winning a World Championship. THANKS for reading my Takes on the Twins! Please leave a comment on your Takes because that’s what this site is all about: My Takes, Your Takes, TwinsTakes.com! You can find us on facebook, twitter and google+ so follow us and let us know what you think!

I forgot to post this back when I wrote it a couple weeks ago so better late than never, maybe? It's on here if anyone wants to read it and comment about it.

Nothing like blogging once a year! Geez! Get with it!