The fifth installment is comprised of 5 high upside guys who could all be very good major leaguers. I guarantee that at least one of them will be very good, another will be good, and the other three will all make it to contribute in a real way (or be used in a trade). 20. Matt Hauser (DOB: 3-30-88), RH reliever/starter: Hauser has a mid 90s fastball, a sinker, a slider, and a changeup. He was great at Fort Myers in relief then started some games successfully and moved up to New Britain ...
Episode 19 of the Twins baseball podcast, Talk To Contact (@TalkToContact), is now available for download via iTunes or by clicking here. Eric and Paul have returned from their winter hiatus to bring you more witty banter about the Minnesota Twins. This week they are joined by listener of the week, Mark Smith, to project opening day lineups and discuss spring training battles that will have to be won. After Mark's departure the twins discuss Kent Hrbek's place in the Twins Hall ...
Sorry it has taken me a few days to get to this post. We just got internet at our new place, so I had been unable to get online. Day 3 started early in the morning. We got up and hit the road at 4am Eastern Time, which felt like 3 to us Midwesterners. To avoid Atlanta traffic we had to be through the city before 6:30 came. We made it to Atlanta around 6 and drove through an amazing cityscape for 10 minutes until we got to a southern suburb. Our first stop was to eat, get gas and more ...
In the fourth installment, things start to get quite interesting with some strong upside talents and some almost tragic time-is-of-the-essence prospects in limbo. 30. Mason Melotakis (DOB: 6-28-91), LH reliever: Melotakis was moved quickly from Elizabethon to Beloit last year and didn’t miss a beat. The hard-throwing lefty (mid 90s fastball) also has a great power slider. In 17+ innings at Beloit last year he gave up only 4 earned runs, struck out 24 and walked 4. He could fly up this ...
Updated 01-05-2013 at 03:30 PM by Shane Wahl
As a member of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, we are asked to take part in a few different voting exercises throughout the year. We pick out the top players in each end of the year award category, we vote for the starters in the All-Star Game, and we submit a ballot for the Hall-of-Fame during each offseason. The calendar has turned from 2012 and that means it is getting close to the announcement of the Class of 2013 for the National Baseball Hall of Fame. With each of the other announcements, ...
The Twins have taken a "quantity, not quality" approaching in assembling their starting rotation this winter, piling up numerous pitchers with limited upside and low price tags. Several of the hurlers that will be in the mix for starting jobs in the spring happen to be tagged with question marks due to recent health issues. Kyle Gibson returned late last year from Tommy John surgery and hasn't yet pitched in the majors. Mike Pelfrey is returning from ...
Originally posted at www.twinstrivia.com Eddie Bane was born in Chicago, Illinois on March 22, 1952 but grew up in southern California not too far from Disneyland. Bane was offered a scholarship by coach Bobby Winkles and before he knew it he was pitching for the Arizona State Sun Devils. In his three years at ASU (1971-1973) Bane became a pitching legend. The left-handed Bane went 40-4 with a 1.64 ERA and is still regarded as one of the best collegiate pitchers of all time. Bane pitched the ...
Yesterday, I asked readers to endure a recitation of my childhood memories as I looked back at the most exciting Twins season in my memory, 1967. It was Rod Carew’s Rookie of the Year season and, while the Twins ultimately lost out to the Red Sox for the AL pennant, it was followed shortly by a couple of very successful seasons in 1969 and 1970 when Carew helped lead the Twins to the first two AL West Division championships. (This article was originally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com ...
There can be plenty debate about which player is the best in the history of the franchise. Arguments can be made for Kirby Puckett, Harmon Killebrew, Rod Carew, etc. Puckett brought World Series Championships to the Twins Cities, Killebrew hit mammoth home runs, and Carew might be the best pure hitter in franchise history. Those debates can be fun and there really isn't a wrong answer because they are all important parts of Twins history. On the other side of the coin, there have ...
6:15 alarm clock. Pack up. Starbucks stop for caffeine. Hop on I-39 towards Normal, IL. No one above average allowed. Pass through Paw Paw, IL. Home to as many animals as humans. New pup, Willa, hops in the car in LaSalle. Time to take my singing talents to an audience. Go with a Taylor Swift crowd-pleaser. Willa whimpers. Then falls asleep. Alarming number of passengers playing IPads. Apple commercials everywhere. Farm. Oversized semi. Passed by an Illinois ...
Updated 01-02-2013 at 10:07 PM by AJPettersen
A new year is upon us, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine the Twins' resolution for 2013: Get better. After consecutive putrid seasons that were essentially over by the All-Star break, the club is aiming to field a more competitive group in the coming campaign and beyond. Certainly they've made some nice moves to address the "beyond" part, but what about the short-term? As I discussed with Aaron on the Gleeman and the Geek podcast ...
This is the third segment in my prospect list breakdown. These ten have good-to-great upside in most cases and essentially all of them are facing crucial seasons in their development, for various reasons. 40. Angel Morales (DOB: 11-24-89), RH outfielder: After the 2010 season, I placed Morales at number 5 on my prospect list. That was a bit high for him, but he certainly made the vast majority of top 10 lists. Morales spent half of 2010 in Fort Myers and has been there ever since, battling ...
Rod Carew spent 12 seasons in a Minnesota Twins uniform. He was the American League Rookie of the Year in 1967 and was lured away by the sunshine to southern California to play for the Angels following the 1978 season. At least the Twins managed to get some talent in return for Carew (Ken Landreaux, Dave Engle, Paul Hartzell, Brad Havens), rather than lose him to free agency when Carew essentially forced Twins owner Calvin Griffith in to a trade. (This article was originally posted ...
Updated 01-02-2013 at 08:48 AM by Jim Crikket
MobSpAppbest2013choicereviews