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Minnesota Twins
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31 years ago today, January 12, 1981, the Minnesota Twins made a decision that altered the history of the organization. On that date, the Twins used the third overall pick in the January portion of the MLB Draft.
As you know, in June, players out of high school, junior college and those having finished three years at a four-year college are selected. However, from 1965 through 1986, there was also a draft in January for high school and college players who graduated in the Winter. Kirby Puckett fit into that category.
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For a significant portion of the year, Josh Willingham fueled the Twins offense and gave the fans something to watch while the team sank deeper in the standings.
He proved that Target Field was not resistant to home team home runs. In fact, his 21 home runs at home easily trumped long-standing fan-favorite Michael Cuddyer’s 17 hit in his two years at Target Field (2010-2011). Jim Thome managed to swat 21 home runs as well but needed 14 more plate appearances than him to do so.
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In his latest column for ESPN 1500, Phil Mackey opens with the following statement: "Unlike in the previous two offseasons, there will be no over-promising and under-delivering by the Minnesota Twins in 2013."
Incidentally, that's pretty much exactly how I would describe this offseason for the Twins. Over-promising and under-delivering. Terry Ryan talked at length in the early days of winter about moving aggressively to upgrade the club's beleaguered pitching corps, and because I tend to trust Ryan, I bought into this stated commitment.
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For the first time since 1996, the Baseball Writers' Association of America did not select anyone to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. This was the eighth time that no one was selected by the writers but most onlookers could see this coming. The influx of suspected steroid users on the ballot makes it tough to judge players and there has been plenty of debate surrounding who should be elected in the coming years.
Craig Biggio was the closest person to getting 75% of the vote needed to be enshrined but he only mustered 68.2% in his first year on the ballot. Twins World Series hero Jack Morris came in second with 67.7% of the vote in his 14th year on the ballot. Rounding out the rest of the top five were Jeff Bagwell (59.6%), Mike Piazza (57.8%), and Tim Raines (52.2%). ...
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Almost two weeks ago, I posted my take on this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot. I listed the 10 players I would have voted for and then I predicted that none of the players on this year’s ballot would garner the necessary 75% support to be elected to the Hall by the actual voting members of the BBWAA this year.
I thought, at the time I wrote my piece, that my prediction that nobody would be elected this year would be a “fringe” prediction. I’d seen some people predict Biggio would be a first ballot HOFer and others thought Piazza might have a shot or that Morris might finally get elected.
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This is one of my favorite times of the baseball year, which is odd because there's no games being played, no highlights over which to goggle, no action to analyze.
But there is the Hall of Fame, that marvelous institution/debate instigator that symbolizes so much and actually means very little. This is the time to think about the history of the game, the greatest players to walk on a diamond, and exactly how baseball still relates to our values personally and as a society. As a fan of baseball history and a chronic over thinker, this is perfect for me.
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Last week, I kicked off an entertaining series to look at some of the players that performed at their worst while wearing a Twins uniform. In recent memory, Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Jason Marquis come to mind as the poster boys for futility in Minnesota but there have been plenty of other names throughout the history of the franchise.
My first player profile in the series was Butch Huskey. I didn't really have a reason for starting with Huskey but his story provided a good narrative for the post and he didn't really perform up to par after the Twins signed him. There are plenty of players that are worse than him but it was a good starting point. ...
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The past two seasons have been filled with disappointment and negative outcomes, but one of the few resoundingly encouraging developments has been the emergence of Glen Perkins at the back end of the bullpen. After fizzling as a starter, Perkins made a supremely successful transition to relief duty and, after signing a contract extension last year, he's in position to provide the Twins with stability at the closer spot for years to come, as long as he can stay healthy.
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Over the last two seasons, the two men who accounted for most of the at-bats in the Minnesota Twins' leadoff spot were Denard Span and Ben Revere. Both were traded away this offseason, leaving a gaping hole at the top of the order (and in center field but that's a post for a different day). There will be a few different candidates to be the lead-off hitter, depending on who wins the vacancies in center field and in the middle infield.
For now, the Twins will turn over the starting to duties in center field to one of three candidates. Joe Benson, Aaron Hicks, and Darin Mastroianni will all get a chance to earn the starting ...
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You only have two choices: will he be better or worse in 2013?
2012 Recap
Given the clustermess that was 2011, most Minnesota Twins fans would have been happy just to see Joe Mauer on the field last year. They did - kinda.
Mauer not only stayed healthy, but set a career high with 647 plate appearances and 147 games played. However, exactly half of his starts were at catcher (72 games), with the rest happening at designated hitter (42 games) and first base (30 games). I'll leave you to debate how that impacts his value.
What is not debatable is the he returned to being elite offensively. He was in the AL batting race until the last weekend. His .416 on-base percentage led the league. He hit double-digit home runs (albeit barely) for the first time since his MVP campaign. And he posted an 861 OPS, tops for AL catchers.
Why He'll Be Worse
Don't look now, but like a certain blogger, our boy Joe turns ...
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One of the most hyped, and yet most overlooked, pitchers in Minnesota Twins history is Eddie Bane. Baine grew up in southern California and was offered a scholarship by Arizona State coach Bobby Winkles. Before he knew it he was pitching for the Arizona State Sun Devils. In his three years at ASU (1971-1973), he 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. He pitched the only perfect ...
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The Twins have been busy adding mediocre arms to their starting rotation this offseason but off in the wings Scott Diamond is preparing for his second full seasons as a big league starter. Diamond burst onto the scene last season with a very impressive first half of the season. He would come back down to earth a little bit in the second half but he was still the best starter out of a very mediocre starting core. In his second full season as a starter, Diamond will have to find a way to avoid the dreaded sophomore slump.
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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..
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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 over the weekend, there's a sizable difference between striving to compete and actually contending. For Minnesota, the latter is highly unlikely this year but the former should be expected.
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