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Mark it down somewhere. Friday, November 2nd. It is the end of the Alexi Casilla Era as a Minnesota Twins player.

According to MLB Trade Rumors, the athletic infielder who just never quite met his perceived potential has been claimed by the Baltimore Orioles.

Casilla came to the Twins in a December 2005 deal with the Angels in which the Twins send then-talented JC Romero to the west coast. Casilla debuted in September of 2006 and was primarily used as a pinch-runner down ...

In the recent Twins Daily interview with Twins GM Terry Ryan, it was surprising to hear him say that his Number Two priority, after starting pitching, was the bullpen. He followed by using the old “You can never have enough pitching” cliché. It is a cliché, of course, because it has proven true over many years of baseball history.

It was surprising because the Twins bullpen was a bright spot in 2012. However, I wanted to take a look at the ...

The Twins Cities chapter of the Baseball Writers of America voted for the Twins 2012 Diamond Awards They will be presented at the Diamond Awards Ceremony on Thursday, January 24th at Target Field, kicking off Twins Fest weekend. Feel free to discuss:

MVP - Josh Willingham
Pitcher of Year - Scott Diamond
Most Improved - Ben Revere
Rookie of the Year - Scott Diamond
Determination and Leadership - Justin Morneau
Media ...

There are a lot of Twins players playing in Winter Leagues in warm climates. I thought it would be good to provide Twins Daily readers with a quick update on how some are doing. Of course, at this point, all of these numbers are incredibly small sample, so take them for what they’re worth.

ARIZONA FALL LEAGUE

On Monday, Kyle Gibson had his first clunker in four starts. The right-hander gave up six runs on eight hits and a walk in ...

Now that the TwinsCentric Offseason Handbook is available, it’s time for me to hunker down and dive head-first into the 2013 version of the Twins Prospect Handbook. It’s hard to believe that this will be the 5^th annual prospect book already. I enjoy doing the research and the writing, for sure.

As I did last year, I want to welcome your feedback. To encourage that, I am sharing my early, preliminary Top 50 Twins Prospect list. As I research ...

On Wednesday, the Twins started their offseason reconstruction by removing several players from the 40 man roster.

First, they declined Matt Capps’ option for the 2013 season by buying it out. There is no surprise there.

Next, the Twins drooped several players from their 40 man roster. Pitchers PJ Walters, Esmerling Vasquez, Luis Perdomo, Kyle Waldrop, Jeff Manship and outfielder Matt Carson are no longer on the 40 man roster.
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As the World Series combatants are now set, and we all start putting together our thoughts for what the Twins offseason should look like, one of the key positions discussed by many is the middle infield. Specifically, people are asking now who the Twins shortstop will be early in the 2013 season. Some will say Jamey Carroll. Pedro Florimon’s name is mentioned. Could the Twins go outside the organization to fill the spot?

One name that is hardly ...

The story lines at Twins Daily and in most Minnesota media circles on Wednesday was the performance of Kyle Gibson so far in the Arizona Fall League. Simply stated, through two starts, he has been remarkable and given Twins fans reason to hope. As you know, Gibson is joined in the AFL by pitchers Logan Darnell, Caleb Thielbar and Michael Tonkin as well as hitters Chris Herrmann, Evan Bigley and Nate Roberts.

To this point, the focus has been on the ...

Although there have been many storylines throughout the playoffs to this point, on the may not be getting enough play is that the Detroit Tigers have handed over so much playing time to 21-year-old Avisail Garcia. Consider, he began this season in the Florida State League and played just 55 games at Double-A Erie. The Tigers called him up to the big leagues on August 31, making him eligible to compete in the post season.

Garcia has just three ...

Last night, in Game 1 of the ALCS, the New York Yankees lost an extra-inning game to Delmon Young and the Detroit Tigers. More important, they lost their captain Derek Jeter for the rest of the season because of a broken ankle. The news is devastating considering he is one Yankees hitter who is actually hitting. Alex Rodriguez is taking all of the heat, but Robinson Cano, Nick Swisher, Curtis Granderson and others are doing very little.

The ...

The Twins season ended a week ago, and we’ve all had a chance to look back at another 95+ loss season. Likely, you’ve also already started thinking about what you would do to get the Twins back to being a perennial contender in the AL Central.

The question I have for readers today is: If you were in charge, would you look toward winning in 2013, 2014 or something in the 3-5 year range? How you would go about building your blueprint is largely ...

Today marks the Opening Day of the 2012 Arizona Fall League. As you know, the Twins sent seven players to play for the Peoria Javelinas. The hitters are catcher Chris Herrmann and outfielders Evan Bigley and Nate Roberts. The pitchers are lefties Logan Darnell and Caleb Thielbar and right-handers Michael Tonkin and Kyle Gibson. Be sure to keep up with the Twins in the AFL right here at Twins Daily.

Today also marks the beginning of a series at Twins ...

Two more games left. 160 Twins games have been played in 2012 season. It’s been yet another frustrating, 90-loss season for the Twins and their fans. As the offseason fast approaches, it will soon be time for the Hot Stove League. That means 40 man roster decisions, winter meetings, trades, free agents, and most important, rumors. Rumors will, as always, be prevalent throughout the offseason. Twins Daily is the place for all of that!

One question that ...

I was listening to this week’s Gleeman & the Geek episode. In it, they discussed briefly how many Twins prospects might make Baseball America’s 2013 Top 100 prospects list. It certainly is an interesting question, especially given that the Twins minor league system has been generally considered very weak the last few years. However, there is little question in my mind, that the Twins organization will likely rank in the Top 10 minor league systems again.
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