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The Twins lost their season opener to the Orioles, 3-2 on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth yesterday by Matt Wieters, who up to that point had been 0-4 and left five stranded on base. The game featured a couple of very promising performances, a few discouraging ones, a play that baseball geeks love to debate and weather shenanigans.The Good Eduardo Escobar began the season where he left off last season, with two doubles, the second of which drove in a run and set the table for the Twins tying run. Escobar was both Aaron Gleeman’s and my pick in yesterday’s Gleeman and the Geek podcast to be the Twin who most surprises in a positive way this year. Escobar, you might recall, posted a .952(!) OPS in August and an 816 OPS in September last year, while showing considerably more plate discipline. Eduardo Escobar is for real. The other impressive outing belonged to Trevor May, who pitched two high-leverage innings out of the bullpen, striking out four of the eight batters he faced. May ended last season exactly the opposite of Escobar: struggling and hurt. Seeing him effective and strong enough to throw 31 pitches (with 22 strikes) is a good omen for the bullpen. The Bad And the bullpen could use some good news, because it had its share of bad news, some expected, some not so much. The expected bad news was that Casey Fien gave up two runs before he got an out, though he did stick around for 2/3 inning after. The Twins offered Fien arbitration this year because, in theory, he offers the upside they saw the in first four months of 2014, when he posted a 2.34 ERA and was a reliable eighth inning setup man. But he battled injuries at the end of 2014, battled them again in 2015 and has posted a 4.57 ERA since August 1st of 2014. A team can gamble on a reliever like that during the offseason, hoping that rest will heal what ails the previously reliable arm. But at some point, it doesn’t matter whether a reliever is ineffective because he’s injured or just because he is not that good. The point should be coming within the next month or so for Fien. He’ll need to find that magic again, because the Twins should have other options. The unexpected bad surprise was Kevin Jepsen giving up a walk and two singles to lose the game after getting two quick outs. I don’t know that we need to sound any alarms. It started because he fell behind 3-1 and ball four, which put the (eventually game-winning) runner on base, looked like a strike. The two singles were “diamond cutters,” well hit singles up the middle, but also the sort of hit that relievers just occasionally give up. Finally, it’s worth noting that the Twins lead-off candidates, Brian Dozier and Byron Buxton, were 0-7 combined. Dozier got a couple of high fastballs that were to his liking, but popped them up instead of driving them into the left field seats. Buxton struck out all three times he came to the plate. Each was followed with lots of reassuring tweets that “Buxton WILL hit.” He will, but that isn’t the question. The question is whether or not he’ll require a trip to Rochester before he makes the needed adjustment. The Rest 1. The Twins tying run scored on a play that baseball geeks like to debate. With runners on 2nd and 3rd base and one out, Kurt Suzuki hit a deep fly ball to left field that was foul but in play. The Orioles left fielder, Joey Rickard, caught it in foul ground, which allowed Byung-Ho Park to tag up and score from third base. Had Rickard just let the ball drop, it would have been a 1-2 count on Suzuki but the one-run lead would have been maintained. I suspect the usual logic is that unless it is the game-winning run, that’s exactly how it should be played. But I checked out FanGraph’s Win Probability Play Log to see how that catch affected the game. The answer? It didn’t. With runners one 2nd and 3rd and one out, nursing a one run lead in the top of the seventh, the home team wins the game 52.4% of the time. And with a tie game, two outs and a runner on second, they win…. 52.6% of the time. It’s essentially a wash either way Rickard played it. 2. The other big story of the game was the rain delay, which just ended up weird. The Orioles had their Opening Day festivities, but then delayed the start of the game by one hour and 40 minutes, most of which was dry. Then they started the game which went two innings before it started to rain and the umpires delayed the game. That lasted one hour and 10 minutes, and then the game started again and was played straight through without the starting pitchers. The issue of a rain delay is a little complicated because the person who has the authority to delay the game changes when the first pitch is thrown. Before the first pitch, the home team gets to decide if the game should be delayed. After the first pitch, it’s solely in the umpires’ hands. So it isn’t too surprising that the Orioles, who likely were trying to make sure their fans got to see the game they paid for, didn’t turn it over to the umpires early. What’s weird is that they started it in between storm fronts, where they lost control anyway. Click here to view the article

The Offseason Handbook was released on Monday, and is now available for immediate download. The ebook includes dozens of free agent profiles covering players available at every position, but one of the biggest focuses is catcher, which is perhaps Minnesota's most glaring need. The top name on the catcher market this winter is an intriguing one... Maybe the most intriguing we've seen in a long time.Matt Wieters was the fifth overall pick by the Orioles in 2007 draft, and within a couple of years he developed into the No. 1 prospect in baseball. A switch-hitting catcher boasting solid receiving skills to go along with power and plate discipline, Wieters looked like the whole package, and many viewed him as the player who would supplant Joe Mauer (who was enjoying his MVP season when Wieters came into the league in 2009) as the game's best backstop. He didn't quite fulfill that immense promise, but Wieters did hit .255/.319/.420 with 87 home runs while appearing in two All-Star Games over his first five seasons in the majors. Elbow problems in 2014 led to Tommy John surgery, and the recovery process limited him to 101 total games over the past two seasons. Still, he kept hitting when he was on the field, and his arm looked fine after he returned this summer. There are inherently going to be question marks surrounding a guy who has missed as much time as he has recently, but Wieters has done enough on the field to minimize those concerns. His market this winter is going to be interesting. He's hardly a superstar but he's really the only bona fide starting catcher in the free agent field. And it's just not very often that you see players of his pedigree and youth (he doesn't turn 30 until next May) openly available. The competitive bidding among clubs that are looking to improve at catcher could dissuade the Twins from pursuing him very seriously. But there's no doubt that it's something they need to consider. In the Offseason Handbook, we estimated a Wieters contract at four years and $60 million, which is roughly in line with the 4/64 estimate that MLB Trade Rumors laid out last week. In our Twins Daily Offseason Blueprint within the Handbook, we actually suggest signing Wieters, because his appeal is obvious. He's the rare example of a long-term core player that can be added at a somewhat reasonable price through free agency, and with the Twins organization sorely lacking for any kind of legitimate prospects at the position, his addition would shore up the most obvious weakness in the system. But in order to take the plunge on Wieters, Terry Ryan and the Twins would really, really have to be believers in him. He would require a substantial investment. For starters, his theoretical contract would be the largest ever given to a free agent by this franchise, surpassing Ervin Santana's $55 million deal last year. And even our (and MLBTR's) estimate might be on the low side, given that his agent is Scott Boras and Minnesota isn't necessarily viewed as the most desirable of destinations. Adding Wieters would also mean relegating Kurt Suzuki, who is owed $6 million in 2016, to strict backup status, and committing upwards of $20 million to the catcher position next year. That's a tough pill to swallow, but I think most (including Twins brass) would agree that Suzuki shouldn't be assured any kind of role based on his contract. He was a backup-caliber player this year, through and through, and that has largely been true throughout his career. The final impediment with Wieters is that signing him will cost the Twins a draft pick, since the Orioles are expected to make him a qualifying offer. In tandem with Santana last year, that would be two straight offseasons in which Ryan forfeited a high pick to sign a free agent to a long-term contract. This would be extremely uncharacteristic, but if the Twins are truly making an all-out push for contention mode, and are fully committed to addressing their hole at catcher with authority, all options need to be on the table. Fortunately, if the sacrifices necessary to land Wieters are deemed too great, there are plenty of other options out there. Nobody outside of him in free agency really projects as a reliable full-time starter, but there are some players who would be a strong fit in a time-sharing scenario with Suzuki, offering the potential to move into a more regular role. Those players – guys like Alex Avila, A.J. Pierzynski and Dioner Navarro – are probably the ones that Ryan and the Twins will target more aggressively. But there are also some rather compelling trade possibilities. We'll take a look at some of them in the coming days and weeks. If you want to learn more about Wieters, as well as the rest of the free agent crop and numerous trade targets, please consider picking up a copy of the Offseason Handbook today. With 101 pages of dynamite content, it's a must-have for Twins fans as Hot Stove season officially gets underway. Click here to view the article

The Twins have been busily working the phones in advance of next Friday’s trade deadline. I reported here earlier this week that Twins had at least reached out to the Rockies about Troy Tulowitzki. More recently, Mike Berardino of the Pioneer Press talked about the team’s search for power arms. He also previously had looked at the Twins needs behind the plate.Earlier on Saturday, I learned that the Twins have had preliminary dialogue with the Baltimore Orioles about addressing both the catching need and - although not a “power arm” - getting some help in the bullpen. The players of interest are pending free agents Matt Wieters and Darren O’Day. Matt Wieters, a 29-year-old catcher, is represented by Scott Boras. Boras clients are well-known for playing out their contracts and testing free agency. Wieters recently returned from Tommy John surgery and has only played 32 games so far this year. Though he’s hitting nearly his career batting average of .256 (.243), his on-base percentage is a career-low .272. Wieters, a switch-hitter, performs better from the right side of the plate, so he wouldn’t form a great platoon partner with Suzuki. In fact, Wieters has only caught back-to-back games once this year (against the Twins), so his presence would only reduce Suzuki’s playing time. Wieters would be a step-up in countering the running game. Even with a recovering elbow, Wieters has caught 30% of would-be base-stealers, a step up from Suzuki’s 19%. Neither Wieters nor Suzuki do much in the pitch-framing category (as least not recently), though Wieters had scored better there in his earlier years. He also was a two-time Gold Glove winner. Darren O’Day, a 32-year-old right-handed reliever, represented the Orioles as a first-time All-Star this year in Cincinnati. After joining Baltimore as a waiver claim in late 2011, O’Day cashed in on a multi-year deal and in 242 career games for Baltimore has a 1.97 ERA, a 0.939 WHIP and a K/9 of 9.6, including a career high of 11.9 this season (47 whiffs in 35.2 innings pitched). O’Day has been serving as Baltimore’s eighth inning guy, a role which appears unsettled for the Twins at this time, as Trevor May served as that bridge on Saturday night. O’Day is unique is that he throws side-armed so, despite the 86 mph fastball and 78 mph slider, there is plenty of deception. His slider is nasty. In his career, O’Day has eaten up right-handed batters to the tune of .189/.257/.534. He has been much more susceptible to left-handed hitters. Neither seem like perfect fits for the Twins as they look to patch some holes before the deadline, but - as I mentioned earlier in the week - the Twins are doing their due diligence with potential sellers. (And I cannot emphasize that enough. The Twins are having hundreds of conversations with teams around the league.) No article about a trade would be complete without the second part… “Who would the Twins have to give up?” Well, there is a very good chance that Oswaldo Arcia’s name was brought up. There also appears to be a desire for the Orioles to add to their pitching corps as two of their young studs - Hunter Harvey and Dylan Bundy - were shut down for the year. Would a package of Arcia, who will be out of options next season but still four years from free agency, and a pitching prospect - like Kohl Stewart - be too much to give up for a couple of rentals? Conventional wisdom probably says yes. But having Darren O’Day at Target Field on Saturday sure would have helped. Twelve times Alex Rodriguez has faced him. One single. Six strikeouts. An OPS of .258. The Twins do go to New York in the middle of August and maybe a couple of Orioles could help shut those Yankees fans up. Finally. (But, really, I'm not picky... I'll take anyone who can help shut Yankee fans up.) Click here to view the article