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Minnesota Twins
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The Big Picture
The defending World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals are currently 47-45, 4.5 games behind both the Cincinnati Reds and the Pittsburgh Pirates. They are also 4.5 games behind those two teams in the Wild Card race, but just three games back of the Atlanta Braves and 1.5 games behind the Dodgers for the second Wild Card. The team traditionally is not afraid to make a splash at the trade deadline. Last year, it was a deadline deal that is often credited for propelling the team to the playoffs late in the season. They won’t be afraid to pull the trigger on another deal this July.
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The Big Picture
When the Angels skidded to an 18-25 start, many in Anaheim were hitting the panic button. After the most aggressive offseason of any club in baseball, the offense was flatlining – thanks in large part to the remarkable struggles of LA's marquee acquisition: Albert Pujols.
Akin to the 2006 Twins, who reversed course after a 25-33 start to win 96 games, the Angels have gone on a midseason tear, with rookie and MVP frontrunner Mike Trout leading the way. They are 5.5 games behind the Rangers in the AL West, but lead the race for the top wild-card spot. At this point, they've got to be feeling pretty good about their chances of making the postseason.
Why They Will Trade With the Twins
Of course, when you splurge for $316 million over the winter, simply making the postseason isn't enough. The Angels have championship aspirations, and with the Rangers and Yankees both looking especially strong, they'll need any edge they can get.
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The Big Picture
The Red Sox season has been a mess. Check that – the Red Sox season, offseason and end of last season has been a Hoarders-episode-sized mess. There was last September’s meltdown, firing the coach, firing/losing their GM, naming a new GM, overruling the GM about the new coach, who then alienates several team leaders one of whom ends up being traded….
And they’re still just one game out of BOTH wild card spots.
There are a lot of desperate people in Bosox management who are feeling some heat right now. I can’t imagine a group-think that would be riper for a desperate, possibly stupid, trade.
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by Nick Nelson
If you're not familiar with the Twins' Official $1 Scorecard, you should be. It's sold at the program stands near the entrances to Target Field, and it's only one buck. How many things can you buy at the ballgame for a dollar? Aside from providing the necessary tools for a scorekeeper to do his/her thing, the scorecard also includes content that changes for each series. Even if Nick Nelson wasn't the guy supplying that content this year, I'd highly recommend picking up a copy each time you make it out to the park. It may be the best value at Target Field.
Below you'll find an excerpt from the Twins' side of the next coming scorecard, which will be available during the Orioles series when action resumes after the All-Star break.
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Notable Trade Deadlines for the Twins
With the non-waiver trade deadline just a couple short weeks away, here’s a look at some memorable past deadlines during the Ron Gardenhire era:
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I decided many years ago to stop collecting baseball cards. Much as I loved them, they didn't do much--they certainly didn't increase in value, and my packs tended to come up with a whole lot of relievers and utility infielders and not a lot of stars.
But after our most recent move, I found a thick stack of my old cards and remembered how much I loved using them around the house. Sure enough, just about every card serves a purpose now, marking my place in one of the four or six books I'm reading at any given moment. I've even found fun in taking trading cards on vacation (using Michael Cuddyer to honor the Queen of Thailand, depositing Joe Girardi in a New Delhi intersection in a feeble attempt at winning back some playoff juju). ...
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Oriiginally posted at Knuckleballsblog.com
It seems ridiculous at this point to suggest Twins fans need to be prepared for disappointment. We’ve been getting slapped in the face by disappointment for going on two years, after all, and we’re pretty much resigned to this team continuing to disappoint us at least through the rest of this season. A lot of fans are already accepting disappointment as a near-certainty in 2013.
How much more prepared for disappointment do we need to be?
A bit more, I believe, and soon. ....jpg)
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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. ...
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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 this June. He is yet to sign and may go back to U Conn for his senior season.) All Star Adam Jones has been Mr. Everything for the O’s. He leads the team in nearly every statistical category including Batting Average (.289), OBP (.330), Hits (98), Home Runs (20) and RBI (44).
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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 The Twins
For starters, they’re “in a buying mode” according to their manager. And they’re looking for offense.
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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 be plenty of intriguing storylines for fans to follow in the final months of this 2012 season. Here are a few:
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Here at the All-Star break, the Twins find themselves 11 games out of first place, with a record 13 games below .500. The most likely scenario is that they sell off their assets within the next couple weeks and coast to a forgettable finish near the bottom of the division.
But just what would it take for the Twins to surge back to the top of the division here in the second half? Anyone would have to admit that it's still possible, if extremely improbable. We've seen this team make up some significant deficits after the break in years past under Ron Gardenhire.
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Joe Mauer is the Twins lone All Star representative tonight in Kansas City. In over 52 seasons in Minnesota, the Twins have had many All Stars, obviously at least one each year. There are the greats of the game, like Killebrew, Carew and Puckett who went to many All Star games. And there are the Coomer's and Engel's. Below, I'll post all of the Twins All Star representative by years, with some notes to follow. Feel free to discuss the best and the worst, and any other notes you find interesting:
1961 - Harmon Killebrew, Camilo Pascual
1962 - Earl Battey, Jim Kaat, Camilo Pascual, Rich Rollins
1963 - Bob Allison, Earl Battey, Harmon Killebrew, Zoilo Versailles ...
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How low can it go? Not a whole lot lower.
According to USAToday, the Minnesota Twins dropped their payroll $18.5M from last year ($112M) to this year ($94M). And while the mantra coming out of Target Field is that “payroll isn’t that important” ask youself: where this team would be with another $18.5M worth of starting pitching?
That’s the bad news, but it’s old bad news.
The worse (and new) news is that the team is again in last place and attendance is down again. Would that mean further payroll cuts? ...
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Original post from North Dakota Twins Fan
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With the All-Star Break at hand, it marks the unofficial midpoint of the 2012 season for the Minnesota Twins. Coming off of one of the worst seasons in franchise history, it was hard to have optimism for the 2012 campaign. There were question marks surrounding players that missed large chunks of last season due to injury, the bullpen had some unproven arms, and the starting rotation needed to prove itself. All of these story lines have played out in different ways with some of them being much more positive than the others.
The Twins have played a little stronger in recent games to give a semblance of hope to fans across Twins Territory. The scary part might be the fact that by the All-Star Game last year the club had put together 41 wins and sat 6.5 games out of first place in the Central. While the team was still seven games under .500, there was a chance for a strong second half run. Entering the break this season, the Twins are further back in the division and more games under .500 than last year. Overall, it looks like a tough hole to dig out of in the second half. ...
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Thread Starter: PseudoSABRRhett Bollinger @RhettBollinger Joe Benson was placed on outright waivers and claimed by the Rangers I can't believe they just let him go.
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