The Twins manager, Ron Gardenhire, offered a neat bit of understanding on Tuesday night as he changed Minnesota’s tactics this Spring Training to give Justin Morneau chance to practice his national role before joining up with Team Canada’s for the World Baseball Classic. Gardenhire confirmed designated hitter, Morneau, would instead start Tuesday’s game against the Blue Jays at first base – his preferred position with the Canada side. The reason: to give Morneau ...
Spring is an exciting time for baseball. Players are happy to be back in camp doing what they love. Coaches are pumped to reacquaint with returning team members and welcome new ones. Fans are giddy at the sound of gloves popping under the sun. It’s easy for reporters on hand to get caught up in the flurry of good vibes. This year’s prime example is Mike Pelfrey, who wowed everyone present during his early workouts, less than 10 months removed from Tommy John ...
Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Sometimes inspiration strikes in odd ways. Today, Rhett Bollinger, the Twins' MLB.com beat writer, sent out this tweet: Joe Mauer just popped out. Something he did only once last year in 641 plate appearances. #MNTwins — Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) February 26, 2013 Wait, what? I saw that come through my feed and I was immediately interested. Was it true? @bridman77 Yep. It's actually only once in ...
Updated 02-27-2013 at 10:38 AM by Brad Swanson
Twitter started sizzling yesterday. There's a chance Thome rejoins the team and puts a few more taters over the right field flag pole. There's no way this helps the Twins long term, but I can't help but be excited. Jim Thome is so heroic Greek mythology borrows heavily from his career. Mauer's never going to be that kind of hero. He's the quiet, unappreciated type. Biographies of the cool, consistent catcher will mention how little respect he got in his home town. They'll ...
Aaron and John talk about the Twins possibly bringing back Jim Thome, mailbag questions submitted by listeners, Baseball America's top 100 prospects, Jennifer Lawrence at the Oscars, snarking on Twitter, attendance and revenue, choosing sides on blondes vs. brunettes for charity, Kyle Gibson's velocity, fighting the entire world, and an unplanned cameo by a member of Aaron's family. Here are: the podcaststhe rss feed if you want to subscribe ...
One of the biggest surprises in the 2012 season was the performance of Josh Willingham. The veteran outfielder signed a free agent deal with the club before the season and he went on to have the best offensive campaign of his career. He led the Twins in a variety of offensive categories including home runs, RBI, and slugging percentage. After a season that stands out like Willingham's, there can be some questions about whether he will be able to replicate his fantastic numbers. The ...
Ever since Minnesota Twins manager mentioned to the media a couple of days ago that he would like to add a potent bat to his bench, conversations among Twins fans have revolved around just one player; Jim Thome. And why not? Twins fans’ memories of the hulking, Paul Bunyan-esque slugger look glowing to 2010. Thome came to the Twins and, in 108 games, he hit .283/.412/.627 (1.039). It was his best OPS since 2002. He gave fans many very lasting memories. I was at the game against the ...
As a 35 year old man, you don't sit down next to Twins Mascot TC Bear without some trepidation. You're clearly in kid territory when you're posing with him. In fact, you're clogging up the photo line in front of several kids. You're not sure their parents understand. A space opens for you beside the bear and you sit down. You look to the bear. He slowly nods his giant, fuzzy head. Do you say anything? It's not like ...
There are more than a few question marks when it comes to the 2013 Twins starting rotation. Two potential starters are coming off of Tommy John surgery, two other players had bone chips removed in the offseason, and three players are trying to make the switch from the National League to the American League. This could cause a lot of headaches when it comes time for the Twins to hammer out a projected Opening Day starting rotation. Some players might end up on the disabled list because ...
When the Twins rose to prominence after the turn of the millennium, dominating the AL Central for nearly a decade, they always relied on a steady bullpen that protected leads. During that time, Terry Ryan was extremely adept at plucking overlooked assets from other organizations, which allowed him to build effective relief units on the cheap. There are many examples. Matt Guerrier was a nondescript Pirates farmhand when the Twins grabbed him off waivers in 2003. Dennys ...
I hope to make this the first edition of a series where I weigh in on debatable topics at appropriate times. Maybe this particular one would be more appropriate at the trade deadline. In fact, I know it would be. However, given the news out of Tampa that Yankees LF Curtis Granderson broke his arm today and will miss 10 weeks, I think taking a look at this scenario during Spring Training seems somewhat appropriate. (www.gogonzojournal.com) ...
Updated 02-24-2013 at 09:52 PM by Jeremy Nygaard
World Series, baby! Twins have lost two games of spring training, but they're actually playing and I heard them on the radio. Plus, Willingham knocked one out of the park. My head still knows they're going to suck, but my hearts already preparing to race as the Twins vie for the AL Central. I'm way too excited about guys with giant numbers on their jerseys. This year's Twins squad going to be like a group of high school seniors all the teachers have already written off. ...
There are a number of Twins prospects from the upper level of the farm system that will need to produce the spring and summer or risk the chance of being left behind or needing a different orgainization to get to the major leagues in because of the wealth of talent the Twins have coming. 1. Parmelee. He has the best chance of making it and also because of expectations the best chance of failure. His current shelve life is about 1/2 a season, because at that time the Twins will have ...
Seemingly everybody is on Twitter these days. I remember sitting with John Bonnes during the middle of the 2009 Twins season, and he told me that I should be on Twitter. I hesitated, but then I figured, Why Not? Since then, I've gradually followed more and more people. Frankly, it is my news source at this point. If you're not already on Twitter, consider it. If you want, you can follow Twins Daily and each of us individually (John Bonnes,Nick Nelson, Parker Hageman, Seth Stohs & Brock Beauchamp). ...
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