Happy Friday! I hope you made it through the week and you are looking forward to the weekend. It's hard to believe that it is already the 13th of July. Where is the time going from this summer? Make sure you spend some time this weekend enjoying the warm weather and the wonderful outdoors. It won't be long and we will all be stuck inside for another frigid winter across Twins Territory. At least the Wild should be worth watching this season with their newest additions. The Twins resume ...
Originally posted at http://minnesotasportshub.wordpress.com/ It’s safe to say that the Minnesota Twins faithful have grown accustomed to the frustration that has surrounded the franchise since opening day of the 2011 season. Whether it was Joe Mauer’s bilateral leg weakness, Justin Morneau’s never ending concussion symptoms or the entire starting rotations lackluster beginning to the 2012 season, there has always been something for the fan base to shake their heads at. ...
So the All Star game has come and gone, which also means the first half of baseball has come and gone, and most of us reading here get to see the Minnesota Twins 13 games under .500 11 games out of first in the AL Central. Since there aren't many sports going on right now, there are two things to talk about, the All Star Game, (what Twins should have got in), and of course the Wild signing Parise and Suter. I have to say I went back on a statement I made about Mauer not being our All Star. We ...
The Big Picture At the All Star Break last year, the Washington Nationals were playing .500 baseball (46-46) but were already 11.5 games back behind the National League East leading Phillies. To be sure, it was just their second non-losing first half of the season since they emigrated from Montreal. Prior to last season, DC had entered just one midseason classic with a winning record. When MLB moved the Expos to the nation’s capital, the newly christen ...
Another slow day around baseball. The Twins activated RP Matt Capps and optioned Kyle Waldrop back to Rochester. The Wings currently have six pitchers on the disabled list, so getting another arm is probably pretty welcome. The Twins reached agreements with 23rd round pick P Travis Huber from Nebraska and 28th round pick P Carson Goldsmith. It was also announced that 6th rounder Andre Martinez (P) will not actually sign after it was reported he agreed ...
This is my assessment of the Twins current minor league system. You'll notice that Liam Hendriks, Brian Dozier, and Chris Parmelee are not included because I no longer consider them prospects. Much of this has been done from a statistical viewpoint and age is another big factor. I listed positions to give a clear cut view of how depth is at each spot. I'd like to give a little credit to shanewahl and TwinkieTown for providing reasonable comparisons to my own. Please enjoy! 1. ...
It is super popular to rip Mauer and his contract, more specifically his "output/dollar spent ratio"but let's be honest - it is 100% not his fault the Twins are so bad this season. Yes, even when you factor in how his $23m/yr ties up so much payroll. My argument: 1) Mauer is the best offensive catcher in the AL. He is also paid the most. 2) Everyone wants to make the argument that he ties up $23m/year for his "pedestrian production". The guy is leading ...
The Twins still have one more day before they kick off the second half of the 2012 season so this gives the players and their fans another day to enjoy a break from the world of baseball. Now with the addition of the extra Wild Card team in each league, it seems that plenty of teams find themselves in reach of a playoff spot at the All-Star Break. In the American League, every ...
The Big Picture The Orioles are currently seven games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East. However, they are currently 45-40 as the second half starts and that puts them 0.5 games ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays for the second Wild Card. The Orioles last finished with a .500 record (and last made the playoffs) in 1997. For that matter, the last time the O’s finished with more than 70 wins was 2005 when Lee Mazzilli was the team’s manager. (Mazzilli’s son LJ was the Twins 9th round pick ...
Updated 07-12-2012 at 07:03 AM by Seth Stohs
Here we are, probably the most boring couple days during the baseball season -- the All-Star break. It was nice to see Joe Mauer get a hit last night, and interesting to see him play first base. It's tough to be too positive about the Twins right now. Sure, Josh Willingham, Ben Revere and Scott Diamond have exceeded expectations, but there's not a whole lot else to hang your hat on if you just look at the Twins right now. So, let's take a look at the affiliates, the Future Twins (#futuretwins if ...
The Big Picture The Pirates are in first place at the All-Star Break. Oops - hold on. I didn’t say that with the right emphasis. Let me try again. The PIRATES are in FIRST F*$%ING PLACE at the ALL-STAR BREAK. Wha? How? That’s a fair question, considering their offense has scored 345 runs this year, 21st in the majors. The answer is that their pitching and defense has been outstanding, resulting in the 5th best team ERA in the league. Why They Will Trade With ...
Last night I posted an article musing about what it might take for the Twins to get back into the AL Central race in the second half. It was mostly the stuff of pipe dreams, naturally, since the club would need to play .650-plus baseball and leapfrog four teams, requiring an historically unprecedented turnaround. Nevertheless, it was a fun escape from the painful realities of a lost season. (At least for those who were willing to play along.) Even accepting those realities, there will ...
I, for one, suggest we definitely spend some time celebrating Aaron Gleeman on 10 years of maintaining his blog. Gleeman is a succinct and clear writer who never sacrifices quality, even when producing articles in great quantity. He makes it easy to join into online conversation with other Twins fans, and I'm thankful for what he's done. So with that in mind, the 10 year anniversary of AaronGleeman.com has to go down like it was classic Johnny Carson stuff. Here are some suggestions: ...
CH-CH-CH AH-AH-AH FEAR IN A HANDFUL OF ROSIN PART 3 A MR. HORRORPANTS SCREENPLAY THE CAMERA PANS OVER AN EMPTY TARGET. DESPITE THE STADIUM'S BARRENNESS, WE CAN HEAR THE SOUNDS OF BASEBALL. PERHAPS THE HAPPY SOUNDS OF THE 2010 SEASON. MR. HORRORPANTS IS STANDING ALONE AT HOME PLATE. HIS LAB COAT IS FLAPPING IN THE BREEZE. BEHIND HIM, FROM THE OPPOSING DUGOUT, THE SPECTRAL IMAGE OF JOHAN SANTANA APPEARS. ...