Jeremy Nygaard

The Big Picture
The Dodgers have a very loyal following. They attracted over 3 million fans every year from 1997-2010. Then there was an ugly divorce between owners and a multi-billion dollar sale of the team. New ownership is trying to put all of that in the rearview and make the playoffs for the first time since winning their division in 2009.

The Dodgers were the hottest team in baseball out of the gates and were 17 games over .500 as recently as June 17. A late-June ...

It was an off-day on a hot day for the Minnesota Twins. For season ticket holders and others, you may have spent the evening listening to fans grill Trevor Plouffe and Scott Diamond. Some highlights from the 6^th Fan Forum:

Scott Diamond:
The best thing about being Canadian? It’s being Canadian!
On differences between Atlanta and Minnesota: “The atmosphere… feeling welcome.”

Trevor Plouffe:
On his hair – “I probably will (grow my hair out).”
On ...

The Twins just beat the White Sox 4-1. Ben Revere had a four-hit night. Frankie Liriano found his mojo and went seven strong, striking out five. (I've officially declared on Twitter that unless the Twins are blown away by a trade offer, I want them to keep Liriano and offer him arbitration.) Glared Berkins (or do you prefer Jaren Purton?) slammed the door. Sadly, Ozzie Guillen wasn’t in the opposing dugout to enjoy watching the Twins do what the Twins do.

Yesterday, it was announced ...

The Twins lost another series to a National League foe. The news came out today that Brian Duensing will be starting against the Reds on Saturday.

Instead of dwelling on the Twins shortcomings, read 1,100 words about Thursday’s minor league action:

ROCHESTER 8, DURHAM 14
Box score

The Wings scored eight or more runs for only the third time in June; however, the 14 they allowed were the second most of their season.

Brian Dinkelman had ...

Trevor Plouffe hit another home run tonight. But so did Jim Thome, so Plouffe was unable to close the gap at all (607 to 22). Thome’s damage was also a three-run shot, while Plouffe’s was solo. The rest of the offense was pretty stagnant, and failed to plate any more runs (while also failing to win their fifth straight series).

It’s been an interesting past few weeks for the no-longer-shaggy Trevor Plouffe. After Luke Hughes was DFA’d, many wondered how closely Plouffe would ...

Tags: danny valencia, nate hanson, tyler jones

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With the deadline being moved up by a month, we've seen many draft picks come to terms and report. I usually take the week following the draft to gather information and then make a (somewhat educated) guess at what draft picks will sign and which will return or go to college. (Going to have to shorten that time frame up in the future.)

Now that the draft has been shortened by 10 rounds, it is hard to use precedence to set a number on how many players the team will sign. I'm guessing ...

Updated 06-12-2012 at 05:18 PM by Jeremy Nygaard

Tags: buxton, draft, twins

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Last Tuesday night during Seth's weekly podcast, I expressed some surprise that the Twins hadn't drafted a middle infielder yet. Right away Wednesday morning, the Twins drafted a high schooler from Lexington (KY) Catholic (Ben Rever's alma mater).

Not only did they get a guy who can slot in nicely to the system's middle infield, but they got a guy that will go far in MiLB.com's annual "best name contest". I had the chance recently to exchange some emails with one of the newest Twins. ...

Updated 06-10-2012 at 08:43 PM by Jeremy Nygaard

Tags: draft, will hurt

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The Twins were off today, but they did make a roster move: Chris Parmelee will be recalled in time for the Chicago Cubs series and Cole De Vries will be headed back to Rochester.

Also in Rochester: Anthony Slama was placed on the 7-day D.L. Both Samuel Deduno and Brian Dinkelman were activated. Steve Hirschfeld was transferred back to New Britain.

In other news, Jason Marquis made his Padres debut and went six innings. He allowed nine hits, four runs (two earned) and ...

Tags: minor league roundup, red wings, snappers, twins

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Some semi-random thoughts on a few of the players selected today:

Will Hurt, SS, Lexington (KY) Catholic HS – Committed to Coastal Carolina. Hurt is fast – and why wouldn’t he be, coming from the same high school as Ben Revere. As this point, I don’t think he’ll sign for 16^th round money, but that tune may change as the deadline approaches.

Zach Larson, CF, Lakewood (FL) Ranch HS – Though he was drafted in the 20^th round, Larson appears to be a high school guy that will ...

Tags: draft

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The Twins added another right-handed pitcher from Rice in the 5th round - Tyler Duffey. Duffey currently shares the closer distinction with 2nd round pick J.T. Chargois. While Chargois was the higher-rated prospect, Duffey had the better numbers. Duffey, however, is not the power-pitcher that Chargois is, but will probably be given a chance to start given his ability to throw a low-90s fastball, a slider and a change-up. If the change-up doesn't come around, he'll be shifted back to the bullpen; ...

Tags: draft

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The second round opened with the Twins selecting LHRP Mason Melotakis out of Northwestern State. Unlike Bard before him, who will get a chance to be a starter, Melotakis will most likely start in the bullpen. He sold himself with an excellent performance in the Cape Cod League. Melotakis is a mid-90s power arm that will probably pitch some rookie-ball innings and then join the Beloit bullpen this summer.

Nine picks later (and with Mitchell Brown still available!), the Twins took ...

Tags: draft

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As expected, the Twins drafted Georgia OF Byron Buxton second overall (though it came with a little uncertainty after Carlos Correa, not Mark Appel, went first).

Shortly after 9:30 local time, the Twins were back on the clock. Conventional wisdom suggested the Twins were going to take local product Mitch Brown.

Instead, the Twins pegged Puerto Rican P Jose Orlando Berrios. Berrios (who I wrote about a few weeks ago) is the third Puerto Rican to go in the top two rounds ...

Updated 06-04-2012 at 10:45 PM by Jeremy Nygaard

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Last night, word came out that Carl Pavano was going to undergo an MRI and it appears likely that he will end up on the disabled list. All indications are that Jeff Manship will be starting in Pavano’s spot on Wednesday. No word on whether Manship will be rocking a mustache or not.

On Sunday evening, ESPN’s Jim Bowden broke (?) the news that the Astros will indeed be selecting Stanford RHP Mark Appel - confirming what many already believed - with the #1 overall pick tomorrow night. ...

Tags: eddie rosario, madison boer, twins

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This is version 1.0 (and most likely the only one).

My mock draft:
1. Astros – P Mark Appel, Stanford. It comes down to him or Buxton.
2. Twins – OF Byron Buxton, Georgia HS. Correa gaining.
3. Mariners – SS Carlos Correa, Puerto Rico. The Mariners are unpredictable. I think it comes down to Correa or Buxton
4. Orioles – P Kevin Gausman, LSU. Bundy and Gausman could form a lethal combination.
5. Royals – P Kyle Zimmer, San Francisco. Will they pass ...

Tags: draft

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