Recent News

Is it fair to say that many Twins fans were pleasantly surprised when we learned on Monday morning that Tsuyoshi Nishioka had been optioned to Rochester? It was never really a question about whether he warranted a big league roster spot. It was clear to pretty much everyone that he wasn’t. It was the contract and the commitment that made it such a big decision. The Twins have three-million reasons to keep him at the end of their bench.

However, Nishioka’s demotion appears to open up a spot on the 25-man roster for someone else. ...

Today in our preseason AL Central vote, we finish out the offense by voting on the Designated Hitter. We will get to the pitchers soon. Be sure to vote for your choice for "Which AL Central Designated Hitter will have the best 2012?" Be sure to vote here.

The Candidates (2011 stats)

Minnesota Twins – Ryan Doumit - .303/.353/.477 (.830) with 12-2B, 1-3B, 8-HR, 30 RBI
Chicago White Sox – Adam Dunn - .159/.292/.277 (.569) with 16-2B, 0-3B, 11-HR, 42 RBI ...

The Twins reduced their spring training roster significantly on Monday morning, and there was even a surprise or two.

The biggest name on the list was Tsuyoshi Nishioka. Many believed that because he has some ability to play shortstop and the had an inside track on the Twins utility job. But he has struggled throughout spring with many of the game's basics, and the Twins optioned him to Rochester.
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The news that Scott Baker is injured….

Geek Chorus: Hold it – NEWS? Is that really news? At this point, wouldn’t it be news if Baker got out of spring training completely healthy? Isn’t “Scott Baker is injured in spring training” the status quo? Nobody says it’s news when it’s 70 & sunny in San Diego. It’s only news here because it’s March and Minnesota.

Touché. Anyway, with Baker taking those first critical steps to yet another underachieving and frustrating season, I wondered about a debate that Aaron Gleeman and I have been having on the Gleeman and the Geek podcasts: will Scott Baker be with the Twins next year?

Let’s set the stage. ...

This was originally posted at Knuckleballs

St. Patrick’s Day means different things to different people. But if you’re a baseball player trying to make a Big League ballclub, you should have a pretty good idea of where you stand with your manager and General Manager by the time you lift your first green beer of the evening on March 17.

At this point, there are just over two weeks left of Spring Training, so if you have any hope of heading north with the Big Club, you had better have made some sort of positive impression by now. You simply can’t look like Leprechaun feces on the field for the first half of March and expect to be wearing a Major League uniform on Opening Day.

The Twins had 67 players in their Big League camp to begin with and will take only 25 with them to Baltimore to begin the regular season. In reality, there were only a handful of spots open on the Twins roster to begin with and not much has changed with regard to those players that were “locks.” ...

Since I was gone for most of the week, it was fun to put together this week's version of Friday Links-N-Thinks. It allowed me to get caught up on all of the news I might have missed this week and prepare for a little weekend of watching March Madness. Enjoy!!!

• MLB released its social media policy and for the most part it seems to make sense.
• The Twins have started to clear out a little room in the clubhouse at Hammond Stadium by sending some players to the minor league camp.
• There are three weeks until Opening Day and Seth Stohs tried to piece together the 25-man roster that will be coming north for the Twins.
• Twins Fan From Afar wonders if the Twins need to hire a sports psychologist.
• Imagining the Twins starting rotation in 2013 could be scary business.
• Nick over at Top of the 1st has done a little roster analysis of the Twins during the week. Here are his middle infield notes.
• Really Scott Baker?!? I leave for a week and your elbow starts acting up?
  

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