PintoWF

Minnesota Twins pitcher Phil Hughes had a rib removed last year to help correct an issue that was causing some major problems. The surgery ended the pitcher's season in July. It was unfortunate that the surgery didn't happen sooner. Statistically speaking. Hughes had some ideas for the rib, which he kept following the surgery. The Twins might have some ideas about Hughes if he can turn things around in 2017. It would include him taking the rib with him, although I don't believe they could use it as a bargaining chip in any trade offers. New decision makers Derek Falvey and Thad Levine will have to address the pitching issue that has plagued the organization since the beginning of the decade. The two categories would be starting pitching depth and lack of a pitcher that can actually strike a batter out. How do Hughes and Santana play into this? It's easy, really. They are two veteran pitchers with playoff pitching experience. They've pitched on teams that are the thick of things come October. These things will certainly make them names that will be floated around come trade deadline time. Santana is most likely to hear his name thrown around. He had solid numbers in 2016 and his durability is great for a team that needs a solid number three or, dare I say, number two starter. The number that is key for Santana to keep down is the home runs. He gave up an average of 28 home runs a year between 2009 and 2013. The last three years he's dropped that number to 16. Keep the homers down, the innings pitched and quality starts up and he'll have plenty of suitors. In the case of Hughes, he has to prove that the last two years were more fluke than fact. One stat that stands out is the percentage of 0-2 counts batters faced against Hughes last year. His percentage was a career low 21.6 percent. His career year, 2014, 37.5 percent of batters faced 0-2 counts. This indicates that something changed in the way Hughes was disguising pitchers early on in the at-bat. It also shows that he didn't adjust to the way batters approached him. Hughes does not walk a lot of batters and so he is always going to be around the strike zone. He was a master of keeping batters off balance in '14. Last year he was the batters puppet. Even if Hughes turns things around, he's going to be hard to unload. A 31-year old that is owed $39.6 million of the next three years is not appealing. Santana's contract, he's $27 million over the next two years with a $14 million team option in 2019, is much easier to live with. All of this is great and painfully obvious to Twins fans. Take veterans and trade them to stock up in minors. Throw bodies at the problem. However, we can't just look at these two in the broad spectrum of adding talent by trading talent. How Falvey and Levine handle Hughes and Santana will show us a lot in how they handle other talented veterans. It will also tell us how far away they feel the Twins are from being competitive. You could convince some that the Twins are just a couple pitchers away from being competitive. Okay, a few. Okay, like two people. But, it really doesn't matter what those two people believe. It's what the new guys believe. Is this going to be a slow process and how do these two veterans play into this process? A question that Falvey and Levine will take time to answer.

Minnesota Twins pitcher Phil Hughes had a rib removed last year to help correct an issue that was causing some major problems. The surgery ended the pitcher's season in July. It was unfortunate that the surgery didn't happen sooner. Statistically speaking. Hughes had some ideas for the rib, which he kept following the surgery. The Twins might have some ideas about Hughes if he can turn things around in 2017. It would include him taking the rib with him, although I don't believe they could use it as a bargaining chip in any trade offers. New decision makers Derek Falvey and Thad Levine will have to address the pitching issue that has plagued the organization since the beginning of the decade. The two categories would be starting pitching depth and lack of a pitcher that can actually strike a batter out. How do Hughes and Santana play into this? It's easy, really. They are two veteran pitchers with playoff pitching experience. They've pitched on teams that are the thick of things come October. These things will certainly make them names that will be floated around come trade deadline time. Santana is most likely to hear his name thrown around. He had solid numbers in 2016 and his durability is great for a team that needs a solid number three or, dare I say, number two starter. The number that is key for Santana to keep down is the home runs. He gave up an average of 28 home runs a year between 2009 and 2013. The last three years he's dropped that number to 16. Keep the homers down, the innings pitched and quality starts up and he'll have plenty of suitors. In the case of Hughes, he has to prove that the last two years were more fluke than fact. One stat that stands out is the percentage of 0-2 counts batters faced against Hughes last year. His percentage was a career low 21.6 percent. His career year, 2014, 37.5 percent of batters faced 0-2 counts. This indicates that something changed in the way Hughes was disguising pitchers early on in the at-bat. It also shows that he didn't adjust to the way batters approached him. Hughes does not walk a lot of batters and so he is always going to be around the strike zone. He was a master of keeping batters off balance in '14. Last year he was the batters puppet. Even if Hughes turns things around, he's going to be hard to unload. A 31-year old that is owed $39.6 million of the next three years is not appealing. Santana's contract, he's $27 million over the next two years with a $14 million team option in 2019, is much easier to live with. All of this is great and painfully obvious to Twins fans. Take veterans and trade them to stock up in minors. Throw bodies at the problem. However, we can't just look at these two in the broad spectrum of adding talent by trading talent. How Falvey and Levine handle Hughes and Santana will show us a lot in how they handle other talented veterans. It will also tell us how far away they feel the Twins are from being competitive. You could convince some that the Twins are just a couple pitchers away from being competitive. Okay, a few. Okay, like two people. But, it really doesn't matter what those two people believe. It's what the new guys believe. Is this going to be a slow process and how do these two veterans play into this process? A question that Falvey and Levine will take time to answer.

One of my favorite shows of all-time is Family Guy. At least, the first five seasons of Family Guy are some of my favorite. There are so many quotes from those seasons that I still instill in my everyday conversations, even if those I'm having a conversation with don't know where the quote is hailing from. One of the staples of these shows is the flashbacks that show a time in life the character references. One of my favorite is when Stewie describes his time in Nebraska. Stewie is at a diner in the state and is trying to strike up a conversation with several of the other patrons. All the topics he bring up fall on deaf ears. Until, that is, he brings up corn. Corn, being the state's calling card, brings out several reactions from those around him. The reactions, all positive, blend together, minus the last statement. That is when you hear a patron finish with, "Corn is always interesting."This is exactly how I feel about Minnesota Twins baseball. That feeling is never stronger for a team than when pitchers and catchers report. The latter took place on February 13th for the Twin Cities nine. While those who make up the pitchers and catchers are particularly exciting, unless you're a Jason Castro fan, it is still a great feeling whenever the group arrives in Fort Myers, Florida. Optimism will likely be hard to come by for the fan base. A record-setting 103 losses will do that. That'll also happen when last season's biggest off-season signing had a slash line of .191/.275/.409. What exactly could be interesting about the Twins this year? Especially something so interesting that I should start paying attention to the team in mid-February? For starters, the making of the roster. A large part of who will make up the 25-man roster on Opening Day is decided in February and March. We know that Brian Dozier and Miguel Sano each have a spot. We're not entirely sure who will back up catch Jason Castro. We also want to know if Kennys Vargas will beat out Byung Ho Park for the DH spot. There's the filling out of the starting rotation and the bullpen. For me, I want to see if Jose Berrios will show up as a mainstay of the rotation. (Twins Daily's Cody Christie breaks down the early headlines brilliantly.) That's the biggest spring training story line I'll be watching as the Twins roster gets shaped and ready for April 3. Opening Day for the Twins. That would be 50 more days. Fifty more days that will be filled with intrigue for Twins fans. This team may not always be good but they are, at the very least, interesting. Click here to view the article

One of my favorite shows of all-time is Family Guy. At least, the first five seasons of Family Guy are some of my favorite. There are so many quotes from those seasons that I still instill in my everyday conversations, even if those I'm having a conversation with don't know where the quote is hailing from. One of the staples of these shows are the flashbacks that show a time in life the character references. One of my favorite is when Stewie describes his time in Nebraska. Stewie is at a diner in the state and is trying to strike up a conversation with several of the other patrons. All the topics he bring up fall on deaf ears. Until, that is, he brings up corn. Corn, being the states calling card, brings out several reactions from those around him. The reactions, all positive, blend together, minus the last statement. That is when you hear a patron finish with, "Corn is always interesting." This is exactly how I feel about Minnesota Twins baseball. That feeling is never strong for a team than when pitchers and catchers report. The latter took place on February 13th for the Twin Cities nine. While those that make-up the pitchers and catchers are particularly exciting, unless you're a Jason Castro fan, it is still a great feeling whenever the group arrives in Fort Myers, Florida. Optimism will likely be hard to come by for the fan base. A record setting 103 losses will do that. That'll also happen when last seasons biggest off-season signing had a slash line of .191/.275/.409. What exactly could be interesting about the Twins this year? Especially something so interesting that I should start paying attention to the team in mid-February? For starters, the making of the roster. A large part of who will make up the 25-man roster on Opening Day is decided in February and March. We know that Brian Dozier and Miguel Sano have a spot. We're not entirely sure who will back-up catch Jason Castro. We also want to know if Kennys Vargas will beat out Byung Ho Park for the DH spot. There's the filling out of the starting rotation and the bullpen. For me, I want to see if Jose Berrios will show up as a mainstay of the rotation. (Twins Daily's Cody Christie breaks down the early headlines brilliantly.) That's the biggest Spring Training storyline I'll be watching as the Twins roster gets shaped and ready for April 3. Opening Day for the Twins. That would be 50 more days. Fifty more days that will be filled with intrigue for Twins fans. This team may not always be good but they are, at the very least, interesting.

Terry Ryan was fired on Monday, July 18 as the Minnesota Twins General Manager. Ryan was the Twins GM from 1994-2007 and again from 2011 until now. The end of his career will be marred by some of the worst seasons in Twins history. That, along with the current worst record in baseball, led to Ryan's demise. It shouldn't be what defines him.Ryan took a small market team and made them into a consistent playoff contender through much of the 2000s. Billy Beane constructed the Oakland Athletics into a playoff contender on a small budget. He receives more praise for it. Mainly because of a book. During the same time Beane was constructing his roster, Ryan was doing it at Minnesota. The Twins trades in the late 90s led to contributors like Joe Mays, Cristian Guzman and a left-hander with a Bugs Bunny change-up named Johan Santana. These types of moves set up a roster that averaged nearly 89 wins a season from 2001-2010. An average better than Oakland's over that time period. He also relied plenty on talent from within the organization. Torii Hunter. Justin Morneau. Joe Mauer. During a time where teams with big budgets were trying their hardest to outspend the rest of the world, the Twins thrived on shrewd moves and home-grown players. Of course, it was a team that only won one playoff series between 2001-2010 despite making the playoffs six times in that time span. That's not necessarily on him. Neither is the fact that his predecessor, Bill Smith, couldn't build off what Ryan had put together when he took over in 2007. It got so bad that Ryan came back on an interim, eventually full-time, in late 2011. He couldn't bring back the magic over the next few years despite having a one of the deepest minor league systems in all of baseball. Change can be good and in this case change was needed for the organization. It had to be Ryan. A guy who has lost favor with much of the fan base but a guy that I will always remember as the one who put together all those fun seasons in the 2000s. Click here to view the article

Terry Ryan was fired on Monday, July 18 as the Minnesota Twins General Manager. Ryan was the Twins GM from 1994-2007 and again from 2011 until now. The end of his career will be marred by some of the worst seasons in Twins history. That, along with the current worst record in baseball, led to Ryan's demise. It shouldn't be what defines him. Ryan took a small market team and made them into a consistent playoff contender through much of the 2000s. Billy Beane constructed the Oakland Athletics into a playoff contender on a small budget. He receives more praise for it. Mainly because of a book. During the same time Beane was constructing his roster, Ryan was doing it at Minnesota. The Twins trades in the late 90s led to contributors like Joe Mays, Cristian Guzman and a left-hander with a Bugs Bunny change-up named Johan Santana. These types of moves set up a roster that averaged nearly 89 wins a season from 2001-2010. An average better than Oakland's over that time period. He also relied plenty on talent from within the organization. Torii Hunter. Justin Morneau. Joe Mauer. During a time where teams with big budgets were trying their hardest to outspend the rest of the world, the Twins thrived on shrewd moves and home-grown players. Of course, it was a team that only won one playoff series between 2001-2010 despite making the playoffs six times in that time span. That's not necessarily on him. Neither is the fact that his predecessor, Bill Smith, couldn't build off what Ryan had put together when he took over in 2007. It got so bad that Ryan came back on an interim, eventually full-time, in late 2011. He couldn't bring back the magic over the next few years despite having a one of the deepest minor league systems in all of baseball. Change can be good and in this case change was needed for the organization. It had to be Ryan. A guy who has lost favor with much of the fan base but a guy that I will always remember as the one who put together all those fun seasons in the 2000s.

My cell phone is what keeps me updated. Life, politics, sports. Whatever. That includes the Minnesota Twins. Whenever they score, or are scored upon, I get an update. Lately I have been seeing more of the former. The Twins have averaged 7.8 runs per game in July while going 7-3 to begin the month. They have scored in double figures four times in those ten games. Compare that with just one instance of double figure scoring in the first 78 games.Kurt Suzuki, the Twins catcher I still believe is just a stopgap for the organization, has been white-hot the last 28 games. His line of .379/.402/.592/.994 over that time is one of the best for a catcher over the last month plus. Max Kepler has been just as hot driving in 33 runs over the last 37 games. Of those 33 RBIs, 18 have come in the last 10 games. He has also hit five home runs with a ridiculous slugging percentage of .622 in those 10 games as well. That's fifth best of any rookie in the majors with at least 25 plate appearances. Minnesota has done most of their damage against the Texas Rangers. Seven of the 10 games this month have come against the American League's best team. The Twins have averaged eight runs per game while hitting 14 home runs, 15 doubles and a .328 team batting average. The run scoring against Texas is something of a tradition. The Twins have averaged 4.76 runs again against Texas since 2010, the best mark for Minnesota against any American League opponent. What are we to feel about all of this? Is this a product of the opponent? A hot team? A handful of players getting hot at the same time? First, feel happy. Some positivity from a season void of it. Second, feel optimism. Kepler. Kennys Vargas. Robbie Grossman. Even Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario. They've all had a hand in this offense going crazy over the last 10 games. Not only that, they've played well in the field. At positions they were meant to play. Sano, a third baseman, is actually playing third base. Not the outfield. Meaning Kepler is getting time in right field at the major league level and not at AAA where he has already proven himself. (Side-note: The injury to Trevor Plouffe might be a blessing in disguise. This is what the team, defensively, should look like. Sano playing his natural position and a rotation of Byron Buxton, Grossman, Rosario and Kepler in the outfield. It seems to be working.) Third, don't get your hopes up that this is the start of something great for this year. The Texas pitching staff isn't all that great. The starters are good but the bullpen is dreadful. The Twins crushed an already bad bullpen into submission by taxing them to the limit. Frankly, the All-Star break could not have come soon enough for Texas. The Twins, by comparison, could have done without the stoppage in play. They could also use some more games against the AL West. Of their 32 wins, 15 have come from teams that hail from that division. They have just seven more games, three against Seattle and four against Houston, left to play against AL West teams. Fourth, it is only 10 games. A small snippet in time. Nothing to get overly hyped about if you're a Twins fan as this team will certainly find its level soon. Especially with how young this roster is. All of those things aside, it still makes you smile, if only for a moment. A break from the monotonous pounding the team had been taking. If you want to enjoy it, by all means, enjoy. Don't let my negativity drag you down. Whoop it up, baby. The Twins are coming in hot. Click here to view the article

My cell phone is what keeps me updated. Life, politics, sports. Whatever. That includes the Minnesota Twins. Whenever they score, or are scored upon, I get an update. Lately I have been seeing more of the former. The Twins have averaged 7.8 runs per game in July while going 7-3 to begin the month. They have scored in double figures four times in those ten games. Compare that with just one instance of double figure scoring in the first 78 games. Kurt Suzuki, the Twins catcher I still believe is just a stopgap for the organization, has been white-hot the last 28 games. His line of .379/.402/.592/.994 over that time is one of the best for a catcher over the last month plus. Max Kepler has been just as hot driving in 33 runs over the last 37 games. Of those 33 RBIs, 18 have come in the last 10 games. He has also hit five home runs with a ridiculous slugging percentage of .622 in those 10 games as well. That's fifth best of any rookie in the majors with at least 25 plate appearances. Minnesota has done most of their damage against the Texas Rangers. Seven of the 10 games this month have come against the American League's best team. The Twins have averaged eight runs per game while hitting 14 home runs, 15 doubles and a .328 team batting average. The run scoring against Texas is something of a tradition. The Twins have averaged 4.76 runs again against Texas since 2010, the best mark for Minnesota against any American League opponent. What are we to feel about all of this? Is this a product of the opponent? A hot team? A handful of players getting hot at the same time? First, feel happy. Some positivity from a season void of it. Second, feel optimism. Kepler. Kennys Vargas. Robbie Grossman. Even Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario. They've all had a hand in this offense going crazy over the last 10 games. Not only that, they've played well in the field. At positions they were meant to play. Sano, a third baseman, is actually playing third base. Not the outfield. Meaning Kepler is getting time in right field at the major league level and not at AAA where he has already proven himself. (Side-note: The injury to Trevor Plouffe might be a blessing in disguise. This is what the team, defensively, should look like. Sano playing his natural position and a rotation of Byron Buxton, Grossman, Rosario and Kepler in the outfield. It seems to be working.) Third, don't get your hopes up that this is the start of something great for this year. The Texas pitching staff isn't all that great. The starters are good but the bullpen is dreadful. The Twins crushed an already bad bullpen into submission by taxing them to the limit. Frankly, the All-Star break could not have come soon enough for Texas. The Twins, by comparison, could have done without the stoppage in play. They could also use some more games against the AL West. Of their 32 wins, 15 have come from teams that hail from that division. They have just seven more games, three against Seattle and four against Houston, left to play against AL West teams. Fourth, it is only 10 games. A small snippet in time. Nothing to get overly hyped about if you're a Twins fan as this team will certainly find its level soon. Especially with how young this roster is. All of those things aside, it still makes you smile, if only for a moment. A break from the monotonous pounding the team had been taking. If you want to enjoy it, by all means, enjoy. Don't let my negativity drag you down. Whoop it up, baby. The Twins are coming in hot.

The first 81 games for the Minnesota Twins were dreadful. A mere 27 wins, the worst record in baseball, is the result of bad pitching, hitting and just really, really bad baseball. Usually the mid-way point of a season gives us, the fans, a time to reflect and think of the positive things. Things we believe the team can build on moving forward. Nope! Not this year! The straw that broke this camel's back, for me, was when the Twins designated Kevin Jepsen for assignment. If you are having a tough time remember who this guy is, let me remind you. The Twins, in need of some bullpen help last season, traded away two minor league players to the Tampa Bay Rays in order to get Jepsen. He had a stellar two months with the organization. He appeared in 29 games giving up just one home run, striking out 25 while walking just seven and giving up just five earned runs over 28 innings. Now, he's no longer on the team. And that's not even the worst part of the Jepsen story. It's a mess, for sure, and one that I would like to reflect on by handing out some awards. Not your high school make-everyone-feel-good-participation awards. No, these awards are a bit different. Biggest Disappointment Oh man. You want to talk about tough. So many people to consider for this award, Jepsen and Joe Mauer included. In the end, however, I have to give it to Eddie Rosario. I believed that he was going to improve after a solid first-season in 2015. Sure, he is a free swinger that thinks taking a pitch is some sort of illness. Sure, he was pegged for regression knowing that he has no idea what a strike-zone is. Still, I believed. That is why his .200 batting average through the first 32 games of the season, along with 31 strike-outs and just three walks, were so sad. Not disappointing. No. Sad. After a stint in the minors, where he hit .319 over 41 games with 21 extra-base hits, he's back in the majors. Rosario will have his work cut out for him with Robbie Grossman and Max Kepler both playing well. If the strike-outs continue, he may find himself the way of Oswaldo Arcia. I guess this will teach me to pin my hopes on a dude who is a free-swinger. Most Similar to Tsuyoshi Nishioka Is this fair? I mean, we all know who this award goes to. Byung Ho-Park, now in the minors, hit .191 through 62 games. His 80 strike-outs is a team high and his .409 slugging percentage is worse than Kurt Suzuki's. The "big move" in the off-season for the Twins, Park started off well enough. He had a .578 slugging percentage through the first 32 games along with nine home runs. Then, he fell off a friggin' cliff. Over the last 30 games, Park has hit .123 with 42 strike-outs and just three home-runs. He's now in the minors trying to figure it out but that's not where you want a guy you spent $12.85 million on just to negotiate a contract. He is suppose to have "figured it out" already. I said when the signing went down that we could have another Nishioka on our hands. A terribly easy correlation, I know, but still one that is beginning to come to fruition. Worst Pitcher Again, so many options. Phil Hughes? Trevor May? Kyle Gibson? All viable candidates. For me, though, I like Kevin Jepsen for this role. Those other three have been dealing with injuries this season. Hughes' injury is so significant he has been shut down for the rest of the year. Jepsen, though, hasn't had to deal with any of these things. I already covered the statistical side of things in the opening of this post. I think that would do more than enough to make you understand why he has been this season's worst pitcher. Then there is this: One of the players the Twins gave up in the Jepsen trade, Chih-Wei Hu, is headed to this season's Futures Game on July 10. Which leads me to my next and final award... Who Is To Blame Terry Ryan. What kind of bullpen help did he bring in? Frenando Abad. Granted, he's been the lone bright spot for the Twins this season. Past that... What kind of rotation help did he think about bringing in? Re-signing Tommy Milone and hoping a guy like Ricky Nolasco could turn it around. He figured Phil Hughes and Ervin Santana would be better. He also figured guys like Tyler Duffey and Jose Berrios would push the veterans like Milone and Nalsco. Yet.... You also have the issue of Trevor May. Is he a starter? Isn't he a starter? They couldn't quite figure it out. I can't imagine what that does to the psyche of a pitcher. A guy that either has to mentally prepare every day or every fifth day. He can't get into a grove for either job. The Jepsen trade, which at the time was questionable, now just looks laughable. The Aaron Hicks for John Ryan Murphy trade? Would have been the worst in his tenure as Twins' General Manager if not for the fact Hicks has been awful for the Yankees this season. There is the lack of looking to trade Trevor Plouffe and insisting that Miguel Sano will be just fine out in right field. Now, Plouffe's trade value is much lower than and Sano has never seemed comfortable in right field. The organization lacks pitching prospect depth and a catcher of the future. Last season's success seems more like a fluke than something the Twins could have built on. If you want to blame the coaching staff you certainly can. I won't argue with that point. I believe the problems rest more on Ryan's shoulders than anybody else. I don't think he returns for 2017. He may be the beginning of a long list of changes the organization should go through this off-season. Or sooner.

The Minnesota Twins have the worst team ERA in the American League and their starters combined ERA, 5.59, is over a full run higher than the league average. As I have said before, there is no real help in sight. The same can be said for the catching situation. Past Kurt Suzuki, in his third year as a Twin, the orginization has nothing promising. The best catcher in the minors is A.J. Murray. Murray, the Class-A Cedar Rapids' main catcher, leads the team in home runs, doubles and RBIs. He also leads them in strikeouts and has allowed 34 stolen bases. That's it. That's as deep as it gets at that position. The reason I bring this up is because I'm a firm believer in a catcher having a significant impact on pitching success. The pitching staff as a whole feels much more comfortable when the guy behind the plate has everything together. The arm, the ability to call a good game and an understanding of what is working for that pitcher on a particular night. Players like Salvador Perez and Buster Posey are unique. A player like Joe Mauer was unique. They could hit as well as be the best defensively at their position. And it would be fine if Suzuki could do one or the other really well. But he's not. What's the saying from the show Heroes? "Save the cheerleader, save the world?" While not in the world saving business, the success of an organization revolves around a pitching staff. Develop a catcher to help guide a pitching staff and you could save an organization. Develop a catcher, develop the pitching staff. Or something like that.

Despair is a tough feeling to rebound from once you've felt it as badly as Twins fans have felt it this season. The sky is falling. There is no hope. Nothing good on the horizon. It is like we've put The Walking Dead on repeat. I'm not going to go Patrick Reusse on the bit because I couldn't say it much better than he did. I just want someone to tell me it is going to get better. It has to get better. Won't it get better? Like I said, the horizon seems bleak. Your budding prospects, Byron Buxton, Eddie Rosario and Miguel Sano have combined to hit .231 this season with 137 strikeouts in 372 at-bats. That's a strikeout just under every third at-bat for these guys. This is your future core. Your hope. And they are failing. Miserably. Of course, they are all very young. Rosario is the oldest at 24. Buxton the youngest at 22. And not one of them has played a full season at the Major League level. Preaching patience to a fan base that has seen this team win just 18 games this year is like selling trying to sell sand in the desert. No one is buying it. It's an old mantra that continues to grow tiresome. But it is the only thing you have to hold on to as Twins fans. And, frankly, I think these three will be just fine. Between refining their skills and more playing experience, things will turn around. You also have to believe they may feel pressure from other players at their positions. Players like Robbie Grossman or Max Kepler. A good showing from them should make them realize they are only as good as yesterday's box score indicates. It will be okay from that standpoint. That's my belief. That's where I put my faith in this team. Then, I look at the pitching. And all that faith that was built up in the young position players is destroyed. The current starting rotation is garbage. Last in the American League in ERA+ as a staff, last in the AL in earned runs, last in the AL in runs allowed per game and second to last in the AL in home runs per nine innings. Just to name a few. And I can't point to anyone in the system that I believe will save this staff. Jose Berrios is one guy and his initial appearance at the big league level was a large fart in a crowded elevator. I still believe he will get better but it will take more time. Which he has. Guys like Kyle Gibson, Phil Hughes and Ervin Santana do not. This to me is problems A, B and C for the Twins with not real hope on the horizon. That's why they need to blow the whole thing up. And start now. Not in the off-season but right now. Outside of Berrios, no one is safe. Even coaches and front office staff. This would be where I agree with Reusse. I would take a bucket of balls for Nolasco at this point. Or maybe a bag of air. It might give the Twins more value. What's the point in waiting anymore? You want to have hope and belief in something as a fan. You can stomach the bad if you believe good will come. You can at least see it from the position players standpoint. You can't from the pitching staff.

Sunday, May 22 was just another day where the Minnesota Twins lost during the 2016 season. It was a 3-1 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. What made this loss stand out was Toronto's Josh Donaldson. Donaldson launched a first-inning home run off of Phil Hughes. As he crossed home plate, he seemed to stare into the Twins dugout. This stemming from an issue the Twins had with Donaldson during Saturday's game. Phil Hughes would throw at Donaldson during his next at-bat and Blue Jays manager John Gibbons would come out to argue about the situation. He was promptly ejected. Of course. My social media feeds blew-up with comments about Donaldson's "attitude". It annoyed me. More than the bean-ball attempt, more than the stare and more than the Twins terrible play this season. See, guys like Donaldson and Bryce Harper get the label of having "bad attitudes" because they play with an extreme amount of passion and intensity. That sometimes overflows into anger. But it is a passion that teammates get behind. They feed off of that passion. That intensity. It's the type of swagger the Twins don't have. At least not in the "leaders" of the ball club. It is an attitude of "we are better than you and we know it" that hasn't been present in the Twins since Torii Hunter left after the 2007 season. Hunter's attitude wasn't nearly as cocky as that of Donaldson or Harper but it was palpable. He didn't just want to beat you. He wanted you to feel pain. Another guy that comes to mind is A.J. Pierzynski. He was certainly no opponents favorite. However, he's a guy you want on your team because he'd be the first to defend you in any situation. He would do anything to win. The Twins don't have much to be cocky about this season but it would be nice to see some kind of edge from them. This has long been a complain of mine, and other Twins fans, about this franchise. A different attitude doesn't equate into more wins. Talent does. An edge doesn't mean you are going to shut up Donaldson. Better pitching does that. The issues are far deeper than just some dude will to run his mouth on behalf of his team. Once, though, I would like to see a Twins pitcher strike out a dude and stare him down as walks back to the dugout. Or hit a bomb and pimp it because look at what I just did. Show a litter swagger. Maybe, just maybe, it filters through the team.

The Minnesota Twins are just 38 games into the 2016 season but it already appears to be a lost cause. If that is the case, the next step for the Twins is to start shopping around some of their veterans. Problem is the Twins don't have many veterans. Or, at least, good veterans. There are a couple of names that come to mind but the one that everyone likes to talk about is Trevor Plouffe. A soon-to-be 30-year-old third baseman playing in his seventh year at the Major League level. An above-average defensive player and a guy with some pop in his bat. Would be perfect for a team in need of a right-handed hitter they could use in a platoon system. He could also prove beneficial to a playoff contenting team down the stretch. You can use him at first base if need be and wouldn't be a terrible option for your number five or six hitter. The contract is friendly enough and wouldn't be a long-term option for a team that is just in need of a rental. The Twins have to be smart about their asking price. Their biggest issue is pitching. All of the pitching. Starters. Relief. Whatever. They need help. What would a guy like Plouffe garner in return? That's the question. The answer is all about timing. Trading now seems sensible if you're reacting to the losing emotionally. Make way for Miguel Sano at his natural position and allow for a guy like Max Kepler to have more playing time at the Major League level. Bring in some pitching prospects, let them develop in the minors and boom. You're set. In reality, it is too soon. You have to wait this out. You need to be able to play off the desperation of teams. It's like shopping for groceries. When go shopping after you have had a big meal, you're less likely to make odd purchases. You're not going to buy the new flavor of Oreo cookies. You're just not feeling it. When you go shopping for groceries hungry well... Who knows what you fill that cart with. Odd analogy, I know, but one that works in this situation. Make sure these teams are hungry and overpay for something they feel the need for right. This is a year the Twins need to be sellers. Major sellers. Clean house of guys like Plouffe and the Eduardo's (Escobar and Nunez) to make way for the future. Allow the young guys like Kepler and Jorge Polanco to get their feet wet at the major league level. Trading now would most likely not bring you something good in return.

The Minnesota Twins have struggled this year. They have been swept six times and have only two victories on the road. Instead of building on last year's success, they have brought plenty of things into question. I could spend several days on what the reasons are behind the failures. That would just end up in a lot of head shaking and maybe even some tears. Instead, I intend to start a bar room type discussion. Some of you remember the Twins of the 60s or 70s or even the 80s. For me, it is the 1990s to now. I was born in 1989 and have been alive for 15 losing seasons. Some of those 15 seasons have been worse than the others and at a different time I may rank them accordingly.Today, though, I'm going to pick out the worst players for the Twins at each position, DH included, since 1989. Here are the stipulations. 1. The players have to come from a losing season. 2. They had to have played at least half of their season at the specific position during a losing season. 2a. For the DH position, they had to lead the team in appearances as a DH in that given year. 2b. The starting pitcher had to make at least 15 starts during the season. 3. While the Twins have strung together consecutive losing seasons, I am not allowing players to span seasons. They had to play in a specific year. 4. We are excluding 2016 because we are not even a quarter of the way into the season. We could revisit this at the end of the season. 5. I'm only picking one starting pitcher and no one from the bullpen. Again, that is a post for another time. The rules are set! Let's do this. Catcher - Matt Walbeck 1994 Walbeck was never known for his offense but really had no business ever being a starting catcher. He played in 97 games for the Twins in 1994, starting 89 of them at catcher. He hit a measly .204 and had a minus 20 runs above average. His defense was above league average and he threw out a career high 39 percent of base stealers that season. That still wasn't enough to avoid putting him on this team. Especially when you consider the 1994 Twins had the fifth best team batting average in the American League. First Base - Scott Stahoviak 1997 The Twins thought they had found the first baseman of the future in 1996 when Stahoviak hit .284 with 13 home runs and 30 doubles. Problem was that Stahoviak did not return in 1997. Stahoviak hit .229 in 91 games, was a minus 13 in runs above average and committed seven errors on defense. Stahoviak also struck out a lot. He struck out 114 times in 1996 and 73 times in 1997. His career percentage of at bats that ended in strikeouts was 24. The league average over that time span was 16.3 percent. We should have seen the dramatic drop off. Stahoviak hit .364 on balls put in play in 1996. That dropped to .270 in 1997. The Twins would move on from one tough-to-spell last name to another in the next couple seasons. Second Base - Wally Backman 1989 The Twins probably believed they were getting a middle-of-his-prime player in Wally Backman when they received him in an off-season trade. Backman, at age 28, had hit .303 in 99 games in 1988. He was a veteran and the term "professional" was probably thrown around a bunch of times when describing him. He ended up being pretty terrible in his lone season with the Twins. A .231 average was just the half of it. His WAR, -2.7, and RAA, -18, were both career lows for Backman. He hit .268 on balls put in play and had a .306 on base percentage. Both were well below his career averagesfor those stats. He was never a great defensive second baseman but was solid during his time with the Mets. With the Twins, though, he had a minus 6 total zone fieldiung runs above average. Backman would spend 14 years in the league and never have one more trying than his season with the Twins. He would move on to Pittsburgh the next season and only return to the American League in 1993 when he played 10 games in Seattle. Shortstop - Cristian Guzman 1999 This one was hard. It was between Guzman and 2013 Pedro Florimon. Both were pretty terrible at the plate but it was Guzman's struggles in the field that give him the edge. He committed 24 errors as a shortstop that season. That ended up being tied for second in the American League for a shortstop and tied fifth most in the AL for any position that season. His batting didn't win him any fans either. He hit .226 with 90 strikeouts. He was striking out in nearly 20 percent of his plate appearances. Considering that he played 131 games in 1999 shows you how committed the Twins were to the young man. It would eventually pay off as he led the league in triples three times and go on to be a career .271 hitter. Third Base - Danny Valencia 2011 Known more for his looks than playing ability, Valencia surprised some people with a strong 2010. His power numbers were solid in 2011 but it was the strikeouts and defense that were down right ugly. He struck out 102 times in 608 plate appearances. He was a team leader in that category. The defense was even worse. Valencia committed 18 errors at third base and had a total zone rating of minus 18. He would never again close in on the nearly 1,300 innings he played in 2011. In defense of Valencia, he was the Twins most consistent player in 2011. His 154 games led a team that was plagued by injury. There really was no other option but to play the guy. Left Field - Josh Willingham 2013 Josh Willingham mashed 35 home runs and drove in 110 RBIs in 2012. Both career highs and numbers the Twins hoped he would duplicate in 2012. Instead they got a .208 hitter that had a runs better than average of minus 15. His homer per at bat rate in 2012 was 14.8. It dropped to 28.8 in 2013. Never a great fielder, Willingham's defensive runs saved above average was minus 8. That number was minus 13 the year prior but you could ignore that when you are driving in 110 runs. The other problem Willingham tended to encounter was injuries and 2013 was no different. Maybe a healthy Willingham, much like the one the Twins had in 2012, would've performed differently. We will never know. Center Field - Rich Becker 1995 Rich Becker's first full season in the majors was one to forget. He was not quite ready for the duties of patrolling the outfield. Add in the pressure of replacing the greatest Twins of all-time in Kirby Puckett and you have the makings of a disaster. Becker's runs above average was minus 24 as a hitter and his .303 on base percentage was the worst of his career. His defense was not terrible but he was taking over for a six-time gold glove winner. Unless you are Torii Hunter, you are not going to win approval based on being average. Becker would improve and hit .279 while driving in 116 runs over the next two seasons. Numbers the Twins would gladly take from their center fielder today. Right Field - Oswaldo Arcia 2014 Arcia hit 20 home runs in 2014 and at the age of 23 was believed to be an up-and-coming power hitter. However, the power numbers belied the reality behind Arica. He struck out 127 times or once every three at-bats. His patience was starting to go away as well as he swung at the 1st pitch 32 percent of the time. He struck out 31 percent of time and would have been 4th in the majors had he qualified. His defense wasn't much better. He had a .975 fielding percentage, well bellow the league average of .986 for a right fielder. He would become way more impatient at the plate the next season and was eventually sent down to the minors. He's back, now, and showing more patience at the plate although the strike outs are still prevalent. Designated Hitter - Ryan Doumit 2013 Doumit led the team with 49 games played as the DH in 2013. He hit .220 with a .351 slugging percentage and just five homers as a DH that season. He also struck out 43 times in 191 at-bats. He split time between there, right field and catcher in 2013. The Twins would trade him in the off-season to the Atlanta Braves. Starting Pitcher - Nick Blackburn 2012 Nick Blackburn appeared in 19 games for the Twins in 2012, all of them starts. He had a 7.39 ERA, a ERA+ of 56, gave up an average of 2.1 home runs per nine innings over the span of 98.2 innings pitched. All 81 runs he gave up were earned and he only once got past the seventh inning. You have to take into account the starting pitching rotation to really appreciate how bad Blackburn was. The Twins had Scott Diamond start 27 games. Francisco Liriano started 17 games. Cole De Vries and Liam Hendriks both started 16 games. Sam Deduno started 15 and P.J. Walters started 12. Of all of those players, only Hendriks and Liarano are still in the league with several being out of the majors by 2013. It might be the Twins worst starting rotation ever. Of course, that is a different discussion for a different post. Click here to view the article

The Minnesota Twins have struggled this year. They have been swept six times and have only two victories on the road. Instead of building on last year's success, they have brought plenty of things into question. I could spend several days on what the reasons are behind the failures. That would just end up in a lot of head shaking and maybe even some tears. Instead, I intend to start a bar room type discussion. Some of you remember the Twins of the 60s or 70s or even the 80s. For me, it is the 1990s to now. I was born in 1989 and have been alive for 15 losing seasons. Some of those 15 seasons have been worse than the others and at a different time I may rank them accordingly. Today, though, I'm going to pick out the worst players for the Twins at each position, DH included, since 1989. Here are the stipulations. 1. The players have to come from a losing season. 2. They had to have played at least half of their season at the specific position during a losing season. 2a. For the DH position, they had to lead the team in appearances as a DH in that given year. 2b. The starting pitcher had to make at least 15 starts during the season. 3. While the Twins have strung together consecutive losing seasons, I am not allowing players to span seasons. They had to play in a specific year. 4. We are excluding 2016 because we are not even a quarter of the way into the season. We could revisit this at the end of the season. 5. I'm only picking one starting pitcher and no one from the bullpen. Again, that is a post for another time. The rules are set! Let's do this. Catcher - Matt Walbeck 1994 Walbeck was never known for his offense but really had no business ever being a starting catcher. He played in 97 games for the Twins in 1994, starting 89 of them at catcher. He hit a measly .204 and had a minus 20 runs above average. His defense was above league average and he threw out a career high 39 percent of base stealers that season. That still wasn't enough to avoid putting him on this team. Especially when you consider the 1994 Twins had the fifth best team batting average in the American League. First Base - Scott Stahoviak 1997 The Twins thought they had found the first baseman of the future in 1996 when Stahoviak hit .284 with 13 home runs and 30 doubles. Problem was that Stahoviak did not return in 1997. Stahoviak hit .229 in 91 games, was a minus 13 in runs above average and committed seven errors on defense. Stahoviak also struck out a lot. He struck out 114 times in 1996 and 73 times in 1997. His career percentage of at bats that ended in strikeouts was 24. The league average over that time span was 16.3 percent. We should have seen the dramatic drop off. Stahoviak hit .364 on balls put in play in 1996. That dropped to .270 in 1997. The Twins would move on from one tough-to-spell last name to another in the next couple seasons. Second Base - Wally Backman 1989 The Twins probably believed they were getting a middle-of-his-prime player in Wally Backman when they received him in an off-season trade. Backman, at age 28, had hit .303 in 99 games in 1988. He was a veteran and the term "professional" was probably thrown around a bunch of times when describing him. He ended up being pretty terrible in his lone season with the Twins. A .231 average was just the half of it. His WAR, -2.7, and RAA, -18, were both career lows for Backman. He hit .268 on balls put in play and had a .306 on base percentage. Both were well below his career averages for those stats. He was never a great defensive second baseman but was solid during his time with the Mets. With the Twins, though, he had a minus 6 total zone fieldiung runs above average. Backman would spend 14 years in the league and never have one more trying than his season with the Twins. He would move on to Pittsburgh the next season and only return to the American League in 1993 when he played 10 games in Seattle. Shortstop - Cristian Guzman 1999 This one was hard. It was between Guzman and 2013 Pedro Florimon. Both were pretty terrible at the plate but it was Guzman's struggles in the field that give him the edge. He committed 24 errors as a shortstop that season. That ended up being tied for second in the American League for a shortstop and tied fifth most in the AL for any position that season. His batting didn't win him any fans either. He hit .226 with 90 strikeouts. He was striking out in nearly 20 percent of his plate appearances. Considering that he played 131 games in 1999 shows you how committed the Twins were to the young man. It would eventually pay off as he led the league in triples three times and go on to be a career .271 hitter. Third Base - Danny Valencia 2011 Known more for his looks than playing ability, Valencia surprised some people with a strong 2010. His power numbers were solid in 2011 but it was the strikeouts and defense that were down right ugly. He struck out 102 times in 608 plate appearances. He was a team leader in that category. The defense was even worse. Valencia committed 18 errors at third base and had a total zone rating of minus 18. He would never again close in on the nearly 1,300 innings he played in 2011. In defense of Valencia, he was the Twins most consistent player in 2011. His 154 games led a team that was plagued by injury. There really was no other option but to play the guy. Left Field - Josh Willingham 2013 Josh Willingham mashed 35 home runs and drove in 110 RBIs in 2012. Both career highs and numbers the Twins hoped he would duplicate in 2012. Instead they got a .208 hitter that had a runs better than average of minus 15. His homer per at bat rate in 2012 was 14.8. It dropped to 28.8 in 2013. Never a great fielder, Willingham's defensive runs saved above average was minus 8. That number was minus 13 the year prior but you could ignore that when you are driving in 110 runs. The other problem Willingham tended to encounter was injuries and 2013 was no different. Maybe a healthy Willingham, much like the one the Twins had in 2012, would've performed differently. We will never know. Center Field - Rich Becker 1995 Rich Becker's first full season in the majors was one to forget. He was not quite ready for the duties of patrolling the outfield. Add in the pressure of replacing the greatest Twins of all-time in Kirby Puckett and you have the makings of a disaster. Becker's runs above average was minus 24 as a hitter and his .303 on base percentage was the worst of his career. His defense was not terrible but he was taking over for a six-time gold glove winner. Unless you are Torii Hunter, you are not going to win approval based on being average. Becker would improve and hit .279 while driving in 116 runs over the next two seasons. Numbers the Twins would gladly take from their center fielder today. Right Field - Oswaldo Arcia 2014 Arcia hit 20 home runs in 2014 and at the age of 23 was believed to be an up-and-coming power hitter. However, the power numbers belied the reality behind Arica. He struck out 127 times or once every three at-bats. His patience was starting to go away as well as he swung at the 1st pitch 32 percent of the time. He struck out 31 percent of time and would have been 4th in the majors had he qualified. His defense wasn't much better. He had a .975 fielding percentage, well bellow the league average of .986 for a right fielder. He would become way more impatient at the plate the next season and was eventually sent down to the minors. He's back, now, and showing more patience at the plate although the strike outs are still prevalent. Designated Hitter - Ryan Doumit 2013 Doumit led the team with 49 games played as the DH in 2013. He hit .220 with a .351 slugging percentage and just five homers as a DH that season. He also struck out 43 times in 191 at-bats. He split time between there, right field and catcher in 2013. The Twins would trade him in the off-season to the Atlanta Braves. Starting Pitcher - Nick Blackburn 2012 Nick Blackburn appeared in 19 games for the Twins in 2012, all of them starts. He had a 7.39 ERA, a ERA+ of 56, gave up an average of 2.1 home runs per nine innings over the span of 98.2 innings pitched. All 81 runs he gave up were earned and he only once got past the seventh inning. You have to take into account the starting pitching rotation to really appreciate how bad Blackburn was. The Twins had Scott Diamond start 27 games. Francisco Liriano started 17 games. Cole De Vries and Liam Hendriks both started 16 games. Sam Deduno started 15 and P.J. Walters started 12. Of all of those players, only Hendriks and Liarano are still in the league with several being out of the majors by 2013. It might be the Twins worst starting rotation ever. Of course, that is a different discussion for a different post.