Twins Nation

2011 Predictions

Fri, 01 Apr 2011 15:04:00 GMT

I'm a bad blogger, but I at least have to get my 2011 predictions in so I can be mocked and ridiculed come October.

AL East

Boston
New York (Wild Card)
Tampa Bay
Baltimore
Toronto

AL Central

Detroit
Minnesota
Chicago
Cleveland
Kansas City

AL West

Oakland
Texas
Los Angeles
Seattle

NL East

Philadelphia
Atlanta
Florida
New York
Washington

NL Central

Cincinnati
Chicago
Milwaukee
St. Louis
Houston
Pittsburgh

NL West

Colorado
Los Angeles (Wild Card)
San Francisco
San Diego
Arizona

Post Season

World Series: Philadelphia over Oakland

Twins top Angels again

Thu, 08 Apr 2010 10:15:00 GMT

Despite the Twins' success in this past decade, they haven't posted a winning record against the Angels since 2003 when they went 5-4, so what seemed like a difficult way to open the season, has actually gone pretty well. By winning on Tuesday night, the Twins guarantee at least a split in the 4-game series. The Twins swept the Angels in their first series last season, but then went 1-6 against them the rest of the way; the sweep came at the Metrodome.

Justin Morneau and J.J. Hardy each hit their second home run of the season, but the Twins again failed to take advantage of many scoring opportunities throughout the game. Fortunately, Carl Pavano was dealing quite well and 4 runs proved to be enough for the win.

Jim Thome got his first start at DH, leaving Jason Kubel to ride the bench against righty Ervin Santana. Thome was 0-4 with 3 strikeouts, which didn't do much to support an already easy-to-criticize decision by Ron Gardenhire.

Jon Rauch allowed a double and a single in the 9th, but managed to record his 2nd save in as many attempts. Matt Guerrier pitched a scoreless inning for the second consecutive night.

The 4-game series wraps up tonight with another 9:05 PM CT start. Kevin Slowey will take on Joel Pineiro.

Twins win; Rauch logs first save

Wed, 07 Apr 2010 11:59:25 GMT

The Twins rebounded from Monday night's season opening loss with a 5-3 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Nick Blackburn looked anything but dominant, but managed to work through 6 2/3 inning while allowing just 3 runs. Brian Duensing and Matt Guerrier closed the gap nicely to enable Jon Rauch to come on for his first save as a Minnesota Twins.

Rauch threw 11 of 16 for strikes, and struck out 2 of the 3 batters he faced -- a pretty successful debut as closer, I would say.

The Twins offense shined early in the game. Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and J.J. Hardy all hit their first home runs of the season. Michael Cuddyer had a 3-for-4 night at the plate, including a double. Hopefully it's all a sign of more to come in 2010.

The 3rd game of the 4-game series is tonight at 9:05 PM CT and will feature Carl Pavano against Ervin Santana.

Twins make additional roster decisions

Sun, 28 Mar 2010 15:22:00 GMT

The Twins, on Saturday, optioned Matt Tolbert to AAA and informed Jacque Jones that he will not make the opening day roster. That leaves the final bench spot to Alexi Casilla.

It doesn't come as much of a surprise that, despite Casilla's underwhelming spring, he got the final nod. Casilla was out of options, meaning he would have had to clear waivers in order for the Twins to keep him. Jones had a far better spring, but hasn't shown much at the big league level in recent seasons and the Twins could freely send him to Rochester.

Jones will, however, get an opportunity to visit Target field on April 2nd and 3rd for the Twins' exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals. With the team's lack of experienced outfield depth, a call-up during the season is not out of the question for Jones.

In other moves the Twins reassigned Mike Maroth, Ben Revere and Danny Lehmann to minor league camp. Pitchers Kyle Waldrop and Anthony Waldrop will also come to Target field for the exhibition games, but have been informed they will not make the roster.

The Twins, of course, still have one high profile decision to make--who will be the closer? It seems likely that Francisco Liriano will get the fifth spot in the rotation while Brian Duensing will get the last bullpen spot. That leaves the closer role to one of the existing bullpen members such as Jon Rauch, Matt Guerrier and Jesse Crain.

Also undecided is who will be the interim backup catcher until Jose Morales can return. Wilson Ramos and Drew Butera remain in camp.

Mauer signs 8 year deal

Sun, 21 Mar 2010 22:13:00 GMT

After a long offseason of negotiations, and a couple early spring false alarms, the Twins and Joe Mauer have finally agreed to an 8 year $184 million deal.

Both in terms of per year and overall value, Mauer's deal cracks the top 5 of baseball's richest contracts. It was a deal that the Twins, from a PR standpoing, needed to get done prior to the opening of Target Field.

Mauer probably could've earned a little more by holding out and entering free agency, but it doesn't seem the Twins got too much of a hometown discount. The deal also includes a full no-trade clause. He will earn exactly $23 million each year from 2011 to 2018. Mauer will be a Twin at least until he his 35 years old.

Dissecting the payroll increase

Sat, 23 Jan 2010 17:45:00 GMT

The Twins opened 2009 with a payroll of slightly over $65 million. They are currently in a position to open 2010 with a payroll around $90 million. Since the J.J. Hardy for Carlos Gomez trade, this offseason has been void of any big moves. With so little activity, clearly the payroll increase came by way of raises to existing players. Here's how it breaks down:

$7.0 million: Carl Pavano was not with the Twins on opening day 2009, but was paid a prorated $4.35 million last year. The Twins signed him to a 1-year $7 million deal for 2010.
$4.6 million: J.J. Hardy will get paid $5.1 milliion, and was traded for Carlos Gomez, who made $438k last year.
$3.4 million: Justin Morneau's salary increases from $11.6 to $15 million.
$2.25 million: Scott Baker gets a raise to $3 million from $750k.
$2.0 million: Joe Mauer's salary increases from $10.5 to $12.5 million.
$1.8 million: Michael Cuddyer's salary increases from $7.6 to 9.4 million
$1.6 million: Matt Guerrier will make $3.15 million in 2010 compared to $1.48 million in 2009
$1.5 million: Delmon Young will make $2.6 million compared to $1.15 million in 2009
$1.35 million: Jason Kubel's salary increases from $2.75 to $4.1 million
$1.2 million: Francisco Liriano gets a raise to $1.6 million from $430k in 2009
$1.0 million: Brendan Harris will see an increase from $460k to $1.45 million

All that totals $27 million. Of course, the Twins also dumped some payroll by dropping guys like Mike Redmond, Joe Crede and Luis Ayala.

The End

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 13:20:33 GMT

The Twins 2009 season and the Metrodome era finally came to an end on Sunday night with the Yankees completing the sweep of the Twins with a 4-1 victory. Carl Pavano pitched his best game as a Twin, but was ultimately tagged for 2 solo home runs in the 7th inning. Nick Punto made a costly out on the basepaths, running through Scott Ulger's stop sign, but in the end the Twins just couldn't muster enough offense to compete with the Yankees.

The Twins defied expectations by making it to the playoffs this year. With 87 wins, the team played up to their potential, but sub-par years from Detroit, Chicago and Cleveland allowed the Twins to become a playoff team. The Team played its first month without Joe Mauer and its last month without Justin Morneau. Kevin Slowey was lost for the season and Francisco Liriano failed to return to his pre-inury form. They lost on the bet they made with Joe Crede's health and failed to see any improvement from Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez. Despite all that, they made the playoffs for the first time since 2006, and that's nothing to be ashamed of.

The Twins should enter 2010 with a stronger bullpen than they started 2009 with. Jon Rauch is signed for next season, and the Twins could benefit from the return of Pat Neshek. They should start the season with their entire core of big boppers--Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel. The team has an opportunity to make a few key off season signings and really position themselves for a playoff run in 2010--the inaugural year of Target field.

Let's hope they have an active off season.

ALDS Game 3 Preview

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 17:18:00 GMT

The Twins enter game 3 of the AL Division Series down 2 games to none to the high powered Yankees. They'll try to leave the controversy of Friday night's game behind them and hope that the Metrodome magic can, once again, propel them to victory with their backs against a wall.

The Twins will send mid-season acquisition, Carl Pavano, to the mound. Pavano spent 4 injury plagued seasons in New York before the team cut ties with him. His mound opponent will be 38 year-old lefty Andy Pettitte. It seems like the Twins always struggle against left-handed pitchers, but the team, as a whole, has actually hit left-handed pitching slightly better than right-handed pitching this year.

2009 Twins vs. LHP: .285/.344/.441
2009 Twins vs. RHP: .269/.345/.423

The Twins faced Pettitte once this year, managing 12 hits and 4 runs on him in 6 2/3 innings. The Yankees won that game by a score of 7-6, thanks to 6 first inning runs against Glen Perkins. In 2008, the Twins also faced Pettitte and again scored 4 runs against in through 7 innings.

Pavano has had some recent luck against the Yankees lineup. While still with the Indians, he posted a 2.70 ERA and an 8.0 SO/BB ratio in 13.1 innings. Those 2 starts came in April and May. After a nice month of August, Pavano fell back to earth, posting a 5.06 ERA in the final month of the season. In his last outing he allowed 4 runs through 5 2/3 innings to the Royals on the last day of the season when the Twins offense scored 13 runs.

It will be interesting to see what Ron Gardenhire does with the lineup today. Matt Tolbert was put on the disabled list after Friday night's game and Brian Buscher was activated. Brendan Harris had a couple big hits on Friday, so I'd expect him to get the start at 3B. Buscher could be a decent option to pinch hit considering the Twins lack of depth on the bench.

Carlos Gomez got the start in CF on Friday, and obviously made a costly baserunning mistake. His defense could be helpful with Pavano, a fly ball pitcher, on the mound, but I suspect Gardy will revert back to a Delmon Young, Denard Span and Jason Kubel outfield--not that I agree with that.

It was reported yesterday that Joe Mauer has been suffering from a sore hip flexor recently, but he will still be behind the plate tonight.

Winning tonight would force a game 4 on Monday night. Losing would finally close out the Twins' Metrodome era. With unseasonably low temperatures expected to be in the 30's at game time, I'm glad this one's still being played in the dome.

Is Nathan getting a bad rap?

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 19:15:00 GMT

Since Joe Nathan's 9th inning meltdown last night, I've seen numerous claims of Nathan being bad under pressure, or bad in the postseason. I'm not convinced there's enough evidence to support such a claim.

I feel like calling Nathan a postseason choker is about as valid as when Alex Rodriguez was criticized for not being clutch (look at him now). The postseason is a small sample size that's intensely magnified.

Looking at Nathan's postseason record, I see just 2 games out of 5 since he's become a Twins that couldn't be considered good outings. In 2004 he allowed 2 runs through 2 1/3 innings in a game the Twins lost by 1. That outing, however was surrounded by a perfect inning of pitching in a 2-0 Twins victory and a scoreless 1 2/3 inning in the game 4 loss. In 2006 he through a wild pitch allowing Juan Rincon's baserunner to score, but completed the inning without further damage in a game the Twins lost by 3.

And then, of course, there was last night.

I'm not going to argue that Nathan has a good postseason track record, but I wouldn't be surprised if he goes 5 for 5 in his next postseason outings, and then everyone would be calling him a big-game closer. Nathan has enough of a regular season track record (through 6 seasons!) that I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Foul

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 14:48:00 GMT

Friday night's game 2 of the ALDS was every bit as disappointing as Tuesday's tie-breaker game was satisfying. For multiple reasons the Twins lost the game by a single run when Mark Texeira hit an 11th inning walk-off home run down the left field line. Prior to that the Twins had a couple opportunities to seal a victory.

In the fourth inning Carlos Gomez was caught off second after a Matt Tolbert single to center. Delmon Young was coming around to score easily, but Gomez was tagged before Young crossed the plate, ending the inning with no runs for the Twins. Gomez had no business rounding second on that play, but even after making that mistake he should have kept going, allowing Young enough time to score.

Despite losing that run, the Twins managed to bring a 3-1 lead into the 9th inning for closer Joe Nathan. Nathan promptly gave up a sharply hit single to Texeira following by a 2-run, game tying, home run by Alex Rodriguez to center field. Nathan managed to get the next 3 batters out, but the game headed into extra innings.

In the 10th inning, Nick Punto drew a 2-out walk and then Denard Span singled him over to 3rd. Needing a base hit to score a run, Orlando Cabrera flied out to end the inning.

In the 11th inning, the biggest controversy of the season struck the Twins. Mauer hit a ball down the left field line and replays clearly showed it hitting off Melky Cabrera's glove, then landing within a foot of fair territory before bouncing into the stands for what should have been a leadoff ground rule double. The umpire, Phil Cuzzi, while standing in plain view of the play, somehow managed to call it foul.

Mauer followed up the missed call with a single and Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer followed up with singles of their own to load the bases. Delmon Young lined out, Gomez grounded out and Brendan Harris flied out to end the inning with no outs. Not scoring with bases loaded and no outs is almost as inexcusable as missing an obvious and simple call. At that point, I think every Twins fan knew it was over.

Texeira hit his home run in the leadoff at-bat of the bottom of that inning, and just like that the Yankees lead the series 2-0.

I'm not an advocate of instant replay in baseball, but plays like tonight's in high profile games seriously make me re-think my position. What do you think, will this play lead to the expansion of MLB's instant replay to include more than just home run calls next season?

Beat down by the big guys

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 12:01:22 GMT

The Twins were beat handily in the opening series of the ALDS by a few of the biggest names on the team. C.C. Sabathia pitched almost 7 strong innings. The Twins got to him for 8 hits, but Sabathia got the big outs when he needed them and didn't walk any Twins.

The Twins scored first with 2 runs in the 3rd inning, but the Yankees struck back immediately in the bottom of that inning with a 2-run home run from Derek Jeter. Jeter reached base in all 4 of his plate appearances, getting 2 hits and drawing 2 walks. Alex Rodriguez and Hideki Matsui also had 2 RBI a piece.

The Twins are now 0-8 against the Yankees this season, and Friday's game becomes almost a must-win. They'd like to come back to the Metrodome with a 1-1 split to give them a fair chance of winning the series. Nick Blackburn will face A.J. Burnett in the 2nd game of the series.

Trying to beat the Yankees

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 12:16:50 GMT

To make matters worse, the Twins used just about their entire bullpen on Tuesday. Joe Nathan threw 21 pitches on Tuesday, but if needed, I wouldn't be surprised to see him called upon late in the game. Jon Rauch threw just 4 pitches on Tuesday, so he should be fresh enough to pitch an inning. Jose Mijares has been pretty shaky the past 2 weeks and Matt Guerrier and Jesse Crain racked up decent pitch counts against the Tigers.

The odds are stacked heavily against the Twins in the first game of the series, but they'll have Thursday off and then be able to return with Nick Blackburn on Friday, Carl Pavano on Sunday (at home) and Scott Baker on Monday, if needed.

The Twins are 0-7 against the Yankees this season, but have not played them since the July 7-9 series at the dome. The Twins are a much different team than they were then. Although they've lost Justin Morneau and Joe Crede, they've managed to restore their bullpen, filled a void at SS with Orlando Cabrera and have seen Michael Cuddyer and Delmon Young fill an offensive void.

The Twins have won 5 straight with their backs against the wall. They now have their toughest opponent, but ironically have more breathing room than they've had in the past week. Whether that's a good thing or not is yet to be determined.

Playoff bound

Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:05:00 GMT

I might just be caught up in the excitement of the moment, but it's hard for me to remember a Twins game since 1991 that's more exciting than what just took place in the Metrodome.

In the 163rd game of the season, the Twins and Tigers needed 12 innings to finally decide the winner of the AL Central.

The game featured Joe Nathan and Bobby Keppel both working out of big jams in the late innings and saw Carlos Gomez and Alexi Casilla as the unlikely heroes in the 12th inning.

The Twins will play in Yankee Stadium tomorrow at 5:07 Central. The expected matchup is Brian Duensing against C.C. Sabathia, obviously not a favorable matchup for the Twins, especially with their depleted bullpen.

We should know what the final roster will be for the ALDS shortly.

Jesse Crain to return

Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:57:00 GMT

On the heels of the Twins' 16-1 loss to Oakland, the Twins made a move to exchange Kevin Mulvey for Jesse Crain. Mulvey, a piece of the Johan Santana trade last year, made just 2 appearances. Mulvey allowed 4 runs on 6 hits in relief of Glen Perkins on Wednesday.

The Twins' pitching staff is in shambles right now. They just got done allowing 33 runs in 3 games to one of the worst offenses in the league. Perkins, who couldn't get out of the 2nd inning, will now visit a specialist after admitting to experiencing some shoulder discomfort while warming up recently.

Joe Crede, who has missed the past couple games, will see that same specialist after he complained of pain in his shoulder. The absence of Crede marks a significant defensive downgrade, which only stands to weaken the results of a Twins pitching staff that, for the most part, pitches to contact.

Wednesday's loss brought the Twins 1 game above .500. They trail the White Sox by 1.5 games and still trail the Tigers by 2.5. It's only going to get tougher, with the Twins opening a 4-game series against the red-hot Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. The Angels have won 6 of 7 since the All-Star break and are 13-5 in the month of July.

A fitting way to bounce back

Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:36:53 GMT

Monday night's 14-13 loss ended with Michael Cuddyer getting called out at home plate, while replay video clearly shows he was safe. That defeat made Tuesday night's 10 inning victory all the better.

The Twins tied the game at 2 in the 4th inning and the game remained locked at that score until the 10th when, fittingly, Cuddyer drove in Joe Mauer for the go-ahead run with a triple. Prior to the game Mike Redmond was quoted as saying, "A tough loss like (Monday's) can send you spinning for awhile if you don't bounce back." The Twins bounced back in a big way, and although they still find themselves in 3rd place, they're right on the heals of the White Sox and just 2.5 games behind the leading Detroit Tigers.

Anthony Swarzak pitched a terrific game, allowing just 4 hits to an Oakland club that scored 14 the night before. He went 7 innings before handing the ball over the Matt Guerrier for the 8th and 9th innings. Joe Nathan earned his 26th save of the season with a perfect 10th inning.