I'm going to the Indians game this evening but don't expect to have much to cheer about. they are a shell of themselves and I don't even know who's who.
watched Cleveland battle last years CYA in the AL to a standstill and then win it with two runs in the eight. the most impressive thing was Bieber for the Indians with 10 K's in five innings. over two games and 14 innings he has 25 k's.
to the Twins, they are what makes Pro-Sports such a good thing. right now, they are a Team of average players who are mostly having above average seasons at the same time, hence the good results.
Shane Bieber is looking to be the "Real Deal" for the Indians and has emerged as their stopper, the starter that every Team needs in their rotation to slow a skid. he shut down the mighty Twins last night.
good news/bad news for the Indians yesterday. they came from behind to beat the Twins 9-7 for the second victory in a row over the Division leaders --- but --- they also were handed the news that starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco will be out indefinitely with a Blood Condition. he's the third starter to go down, joining Mike Clevinger with a back injury, Corey Kluber with a broken arm.
tough sledding ahead for the Tribe and best wishes for CC as they try to determine what is wrong with him.
Twins tried to make it interesting tonight and waste an excellent pitching performance and a three home run game by Keppler.
But NOOOOOOO we didn't need Kimbral!
I'll bet Cleveland fans are happy the Pohlads are too cheap to sign a guy who might be the difference in winning the division and slipping out of the playoff picture.
If/when the Indians get healthy it could get very interesting.
With ownership like this the Twins will never see another PENNY of my money. I'll follow them, but not with my wallet.
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
through the entire series the Indians seemed to reveal the Twins' achilles heel: an inability to hold a safe lead. if that continues for the remainder of the season it could get interesting and be a short post-season for Minnesota. Cleveland's woes with pitching injuries is obvious and they're holding things together with band-aids right now. what has been just as obvious is their lack of clutch hitting and run support. I haven't checked lately but not long ago the Team BA was around .230 which is anemic.
BTW, the Seattle Mariners are now somewhere around .370 and maybe flirting with one of the worst records in the modern era.
@keets said:
through the entire series the Indians seemed to reveal the Twins' achilles heel: an inability to hold a safe lead. if that continues for the remainder of the season it could get interesting and be a short post-season for Minnesota. Cleveland's woes with pitching injuries is obvious and they're holding things together with band-aids right now. what has been just as obvious is their lack of clutch hitting and run support. I haven't checked lately but not long ago the Team BA was around .230 which is anemic.
BTW, the Seattle Mariners are now somewhere around .370 and maybe flirting with one of the worst records in the modern era.
Adding Kimbrel (assuming he didn't forget how to pitch) would have improved the bullpen by two pitchers (in a way), now you have a new closer and the guy you were using can be a set-up guy and the set-up guy can be a 7th inning guy etc. Even with their record it's obvious the weak spot is the bullpen.
Cleveland has one of the best in baseball and it showed in this series.
Kimbrel also did not get that big of a contract.
The Twins are having (so far) one of those "special" years. They don't come around often, picking up Kimbrel would have shown the fans, and the players as well, that ownership is "all in".
HAHAHAHA..............................NOT WITH THIS OWNERSHIP! :-(
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
M's look to be in line for a fire sale soon. Looking to swap for some young new talent. My Phils just took Bruce off your hands and in light of McCutch injury, it will definitely help their OF situation.
@JRR300 said:
M's look to be in line for a fire sale soon. Looking to swap for some young new talent. My Phils just took Bruce off your hands and in light of McCutch injury, it will definitely help their OF situation.
We need bullpen help and have some good prospects!
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
We need bullpen help and have some good prospects!
why mortgage the future for the present when it may not be necessary?? the Twins just keep rolling along while the Tribe tries to keep pace by beating the Yanks.
@keets said: We need bullpen help and have some good prospects!
why mortgage the future for the present when it may not be necessary?? the Twins just keep rolling along while the Tribe tries to keep pace by beating the Yanks.
There are a couple of guys I wouldn't give up in a trade (Royce Lewis is one), but most of these guys never make the "show" and most of the ones who do, don't become star players.
Generally speaking I think that a proven player is better than a prospect. The Twins have been trading proven players (well their contracts actually) for prospects for quite some time. The results have been disastrous. Look up the Delmon Young debacle! WOW, how stupid was that?
They got nothing (Carlos Gomez, highly regarded prospect) for Johan Santana when he was arguably the best pitcher in the majors.
The Twins almost blew the game last night, their closer looked VERY shaky.
The Twins look like a team that can hit, and have 2-3 nice starting pitchers. A guy like Kimbrel could be the difference. They could have gotten him and given up nothing (except the Pohlad's precious money).
Buxton is an exception (maybe) Last night he turned a single into a double, tagged up and advanced to third on a relatively short fly ball and then scored on a single. I haven't seen that kind of baserunning very often, and I've been watching for 50 years. Damn, I'm OLD!
Berrios is too, neither of these guys were going to get traded. Sano is looking like a bust.
Now is the time to make a deal or two. Remember what George Allen used to say "The future is NOW!"
I'm quite concerned about your team catching and passing the Twins. Perhaps we can pick up some bullpen help before the trade deadline, but that will certainly cost us a prospect or two.
Still sctatching my head over getting rid of Ryan Pressly when we had him locked up for another year!
GO TWINS!
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
Now that Kimbrel is out of the picture, it looks to me ghat the twins will be buying some bullpen help at the trade deadline, probably along several other contenders. as an outsider looking in, it seems to me that the Twins just need to stay healthy to win the division; I just don't think the Indians have enough this year with Jose Ramirez struggling the way he is. Still 2 months away from the deadline so let's see what happens in the interim.
@JRR300 said:
Now that Kimbrel is out of the picture, it looks to me ghat the twins will be buying some bullpen help at the trade deadline, probably along several other contenders. as an outsider looking in, it seems to me that the Twins just need to stay healthy to win the division; I just don't think the Indians have enough this year with Jose Ramirez struggling the way he is. Still 2 months away from the deadline so let's see what happens in the interim.
I hope you're right.
Way too early for me to be over confident.
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
The Twins have been trading proven players (well their contracts actually) for prospects for quite some time. The results have been disastrous.
this is the opposite of what the Indians have done. certainly they have "home grown" talent but many of their players have been Minor League prospects they acquired in trades that they have developed in their Farm System. Corey Kluber is one such player they got in a trade: San Diego drafted him in 2007, traded him to Cleveland in 2010 and they developed him in their system and he came to the Majors in June of 2013.
it may be that the Twins don't have a very good Minor League system or management personnel. frankly, prior to about 1990 the Cleveland organization was a train wreck. they hired Mike Hargrove and John Hart and then made some location moves that turned things around. most recently they have moved spring training back to Arizona and have their three top Minor League Teams within a three hour drive of Cleveland: Eastlake(20 minutes), Akron(one hour) and Columbus(three Hours) all have access to the facilities at the Team's BallPark.
@JRR300 said:
They put 12 runs on the board again today. Don't have to worry about the bullpen when that happens.
We won't be playing Detroit if we make the playoffs.
@keets said: The Twins have been trading proven players (well their contracts actually) for prospects for quite some time. The results have been disastrous.
this is the opposite of what the Indians have done. certainly they have "home grown" talent but many of their players have been Minor League prospects they acquired in trades that they have developed in their Farm System. Corey Kluber is one such player they got in a trade: San Diego drafted him in 2007, traded him to Cleveland in 2010 and they developed him in their system and he came to the Majors in June of 2013.
it may be that the Twins don't have a very good Minor League system or management personnel. frankly, prior to about 1990 the Cleveland organization was a train wreck. they hired Mike Hargrove and John Hart and then made some location moves that turned things around. most recently they have moved spring training back to Arizona and have their three top Minor League Teams within a three hour drive of Cleveland: Eastlake(20 minutes), Akron(one hour) and Columbus(three Hours) all have access to the facilities at the Team's BallPark.
what is the Twins organization like??
The Twins had some success from 2002-2010 with some good players like Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan and Johan Santana, winning the division 6 out of 9 years. They had almost no success in the post season.
2010 is when we built them a beautiful new ballpark and they continued dismantling the team. They had already gotten rid of Johan Santana for prospects and Matt Garza and their starting SS Jason Bartlett for a prospect (Delmon Young WOW HORRIBLE). They also refused to sign Torri Hunter and got nothing for him (their offer was about 1/2 of what the Angels gave him).
They traded a couple of above average outfielders, Denard Span and Ben Revere for prospects that did little or nothing. They got rid of Michael Cuddyer a former #1 pick and got nothing for him either.
Traded Aaron Hicks for a prospect. Sold Jim Thome to the Indians.
During this time they eliminated the big contracts that Mauer, Morneau and Santana had, refused to pay for All-Stars Torri Hunter and Michael Cuddyer and sold Thome while refusing to go after any of the big time free agents. They got rid of Brian Dozier after he became a great player, but it seems they did get the timing right in that case. Hated to see him go at the time!
Did I mention that the owners of the Twins are the richest in all of baseball?
They have FINALLY gotten some help from the Minors with Rosario, Buxton and Berrios and actually got a good player, Jake Odorizzi for a prospect! Polanco was signed as a free agent, got suspended for steroids and is playing great right now. Kepler is a guy they found in Germany and he looks pretty good too.
Things are looking up and I hope they continue to play well.
I am assuming this team will be dismantled as soon as the guys they have now are in line for big contracts. I hope they can win a WS between now and then, but I don't see ownership going out and getting anyone else. We will prolly have to do it with these guys and I don't know if that's going to be enough.
They sure are fun to watch!
GO TWINS!
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
I am assuming this team will be dismantled as soon as the guys they have now are in line for big contracts.
this is the strategy used by Cleveland and although it is frustrating as a fan it has worked to keep the Team competitive and moving forward. what the Indians do is develop in their Farm Teams and when the players reach the Majors they lock them into extended contracts, 3-5 years, that are good for the player at the start and good for the Team at the end. two such players are Francisco Lindor and Jose Mesa as well as Carlos Santana.
small market Teams like Cleveland and Minnesota have little choice but to employ that tactic. they have little chance to compete with the large venue Teams even though there's revenue sharing.
small market Teams like Cleveland and Minnesota have little choice but to employ that tactic. they have little chance to compete with the large venue Teams even though there's revenue sharing.
Pohlads are the RICHEST owners in baseball with a brand new taxpayer funded stadium.
They choose not to compete. It's their team.
I am a dinosaur. I want my team to have some semblance of a core group of guys. Adding and improving each year. I hate this bouncing up and down from top to bottom. $10.00 for a bottle of soda? By the way, you can't have the cap either.........worried you'll toss it on the field?
It might be fine if you win a WS when you bounce up, but we haven't won it all for almost 30 years.
I won't go see them, but I hope they win!
I am NOT a true fan :-( only been following since 1964.
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
@JRR300 said:
didn't the Twins win a WS when Puckett was there? I remember Frank Viola pitching his behind off and led the Twins to a title. Am I wrong?
1987 and 1991 Puckett was on both teams. Viola was the #1 pitcher in '87, Jack Morris in '91.
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
yeah, Morris vs Smoltz with Stanton and Pena coming in relief, twins won it in the bottom of the 10th with Larkin driving in Gladden for the game winning RBI, yes final was 1-0. Morris was throwing some serious heat that night
Yes, that was a great game. i just remember that he pitched a ten inning shutout complete game in Game 7 of the World Series. that performance on the biggest stage....takes some real onions!
well, it looks like Seattle's next stop will be sub-.400 and there isn't much lower to go than that.
on another front, both Cleveland and Boston appear to have made some changes which are affecting their play and steadying the Teams. meanwhile, Minnesota has slowed a slight bit(the next few weeks will tell us a lot, how they deal with some adversity) and the Yankees have been steamrolling their closest Division rival the Rays.
it looks like there might be some interesting baseball and perhaps movement as we close in on the All-Star break.
Minnesota has slowed down a little as the long season has its way. it'll be interesting to see how Teams come out of the break and what they do headed into the trade deadline. I see a fun August and September.
Yes it will. Minnesota needs to strengthen the bullpen. Several players hurt right now, nothing serious, getting some proven players in here to pick up the slack and show the team ( or should I say "group" now?) that ownership will do what it takes to win now.
If no significant help is acquired and the Twins continue to struggle or more guys get hurt, I could easily see a collapse in our future.
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
I'm surprised Cleveland has stayed as close as they have, several players have stepped up and performed well. the Bullpen has also done a good job and Francona has shown some of why he is a top Manager. he motivates well and makes the proper moves.
if not for consecutive 13-0 losses to Baltimore last weekend it might even be closer. Baltimore, really??!!??
and yet another fascinating extra-inning victory for the Twins who just continue to fight!!!
I remember several years ago a sportswriter somewhere did a study and published an article about Teams and their records in one-run games. the point seemed to be the number of times a Team LOST such games and what they did the following season. in many cases it was a precursor of things to come in the next season as those Teams improved enough to win those games. Minnesota looks to be on the other side of that, a pretty good Team already that manages to win the close games. that fosters the attitude of never being out of anything.
the Indians are winning handily today, 8-3 in the 9th, but Minnesota is involved in yet another one run game, down 3-2 in the 8th with Oakland. Cleveland has gained some ground but Minnesota remains stubborn.
@keets said:
the Indians are winning handily today, 8-3 in the 9th, but Minnesota is involved in yet another one run game, down 3-2 in the 8th with Oakland. Cleveland has gained some ground but Minnesota remains stubborn.
Twins have the top of the order up in the 9th.
I had hope..........until some bad luck (shortstop moves over to field the throw on a runner going to second and an easy double play ball dribbles into left field) loaded the bases and "there it goes".
The hit and run (shouldn't it be run and hit?) worked to perfection.
PLEASE get us some bullpen help!
Feeling nervous in Minnesota.
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
apparently the "reduced friction" ball being used in MLB this season has worked well for the Minnesota Twins. last night they hit their 165th HR of the season --- they had 166 in all of 2018!!
@keets said:
apparently the "reduced friction" ball being used in MLB this season has worked well for the Minnesota Twins. last night they hit their 165th HR of the season --- they had 166 in all of 2018!!
True, but it is a very different team, 2 of the 5 infielders are new, plus a new DH (great .571 SLG). Schoop and Cron are improvements over Dozier (slightly) and Mauer (especially). The addition of Nelson Cruz is a big help too, he's an established HR hitter with a 40 HR average per year for his last 5 seasons. Last year's DH hit 5 HR.
Polanco and Garver are fairly new as established starters and having better HR years.
Castro and Sano have also chipped in as back up/part time guys who didn't contribute as much last year.
Watch out for Sano, who has been hurt a lot since he came to the majors (this year too :-( ) if he can stay on the field, he will hit a LOT of HR. He's HUGE and strong. Definitely an all or nothing guy.
In the outfield Rosario (he's a very nice player if you haven't noticed) and Kepler have always had good power, but have stepped it up this year. Buxton doesn't hit as many. He chips in his share and can FLY! Potential superstar..........if he can stay healthy.
This team has a ridiculous SLG, 7 of the starters are above .500 and the other 2 are at .495 and .473! Fun to watch.
I would say the ball is certainly a factor, but it is also a vastly different team. The organization has also abandoned the "go the other way" approach to hitting. They tried to make David Ortiz into a "slap" hitter! OMFG
In MLB in 2017 there were three months with over 1,000 HR hit. May seems to be a big month with over a thousand hit in 2000 (1,069) 2017 (1,060) and this year 1.135. Last month it was 1.142.
As of May 31, Major Leaguers have hit 2,279 home runs on the year. That puts MLB on pace for 6,507 home runs in 2019, which would break the current record, set in 2017, by more than 400 homers.
Seems to be a continuation of a trend started a couple years ago. Twins have jumped on that bandwagon!
and we head to the All-Star Game at Progressive Field in Cleveland with an early look at what might be an interesting Pennant Race in the AL Central. currently, Minnesota is up 5-1/2 Games on Cleveland with the Indians working on a 6-game winning streak. the Tribe hammered their inter-state rival Cincinnati Reds 11-1 today while the Twins _were in yet another extra inning game _, ending up on the losing end 4-1. how many more can that Team play in??
to make it interesting, the schedule makers look really smart right now --- Cleveland starts a 12 game homestand on Friday against, you guessed it, the Minnesota Twins!!!
Stupid baserunning cost the Twins a game yesterday.
With men on 2nd and 3rd and one out in bottom of 8th (maybe bottom of 7th not positive), batter hits a fly ball deep enough to center to score the go ahead run in a 1-1 game. Runner at 2nd tags up and is out at third before runner advancing from third after tagging up scores, for an inning ending double play.
Twins lost in extra innings. FUNDAMENTALS GUYS!
You're welcome Cleveland.
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
I enjoyed following the games online, yesterday especially. on the review in the 7th inning, which is what the game turned on, I had my screen on a 60 second refresh while I was working split screen on something else. the screen refreshed and showed the inning over so I got up and used the bathroom. when I came back the Twins had scored three runs!!
it took me a minute to figure it out.
my sense of the series is this --- the All-Star break worked to the advantage of the Twins and against the Indians. Cleveland was hot and rolling, in a zone of sorts. I think they would have preferred to keep playing every day. the Twins were just the opposite, the grind of the season was showing and the Team needed a rest, they were playing their worst baseball of the season.
sometimes it happens like that. the next two weeks will tell the tale. I believe Cleveland has had meeting to decide what to do and who to go after, their relief pitching is OK but their starters have been decimated. Kluber and Carrasco are almost certainly gone for the remainder of the year and Salazar has been working his way back but won't be effective if he returns. I think they'll try to get one good starter to help Bieber and Clevinger along with at least two bats. the OF has not produced well.
@keets said:
I enjoyed following the games online, yesterday especially. on the review in the 7th inning, which is what the game turned on, I had my screen on a 60 second refresh while I was working split screen on something else. the screen refreshed and showed the inning over so I got up and used the bathroom. when I came back the Twins had scored three runs!!
it took me a minute to figure it out.
my sense of the series is this --- the All-Star break worked to the advantage of the Twins and against the Indians. Cleveland was hot and rolling, in a zone of sorts. I think they would have preferred to keep playing every day. the Twins were just the opposite, the grind of the season was showing and the Team needed a rest, they were playing their worst baseball of the season.
sometimes it happens like that. the next two weeks will tell the tale. I believe Cleveland has had meeting to decide what to do and who to go after, their relief pitching is OK but their starters have been decimated. Kluber and Carrasco are almost certainly gone for the remainder of the year and Salazar has been working his way back but won't be effective if he returns. I think they'll try to get one good starter to help Bieber and Clevinger along with at least two bats. the OF has not produced well.
what do you expect the Twins to do.
That's a great question. First off, I agree with your assessment of the all-star break helping the Twins and hurting the Indians.
I heard someone on the local sports talk radio say the Twins have the easiest schedule in the entire MLB down the stretch.
I have not a single clue on what the ownership is going to do. I would prefer a minimum of two good bullpen pitchers, the Twins only have two left handers on the roster right now, a couple of GOOD lefties would be nice. I like their closer Taylor Rogers, he's a lefty, he really looks like he knows what he is doing. The other guys seem to be a bunch of one inning guys who do ok, but seem a bit inconsistent.
They could also go for a "rental" guy like Bumgarner and push one of the starters into the "pen". This would also be some insurance if one of the starters gets hurt. Losing Odorizzi or Berrios could be a disaster. Still need at least one top notch reliever.
They could use another good outfielder too. Buxton, Rosario and Keppler have all been hurt at one time or another and Cave seems to be the only solid back up in the OF.
I certainly wouldn't give up too much for Bumgarner. If the Giants think any team is going to give them a lot for a rental player they might be very surprised. Of course if someone loses a starter due to injury, that could change.
What I am most afraid of is them not making any move to get a couple of established pitchers.
They are SO CHEAP it's unbelievable, but since they have been this way for so long, I am beginning to believe it.
With a weak division and Cleveland being so banged up, the Twins have a great opportunity to make the playoffs. Why not make a few moves and try to win it all?
2013,14 and 15 Certificate Award Winner Harmon Killebrew Master Set and Master Topps Set
Comments
I'm going to the Indians game this evening but don't expect to have much to cheer about. they are a shell of themselves and I don't even know who's who.
watched Cleveland battle last years CYA in the AL to a standstill and then win it with two runs in the eight. the most impressive thing was Bieber for the Indians with 10 K's in five innings. over two games and 14 innings he has 25 k's.
to the Twins, they are what makes Pro-Sports such a good thing. right now, they are a Team of average players who are mostly having above average seasons at the same time, hence the good results.
Shane Bieber is looking to be the "Real Deal" for the Indians and has emerged as their stopper, the starter that every Team needs in their rotation to slow a skid. he shut down the mighty Twins last night.
good news/bad news for the Indians yesterday. they came from behind to beat the Twins 9-7 for the second victory in a row over the Division leaders --- but --- they also were handed the news that starting pitcher Carlos Carrasco will be out indefinitely with a Blood Condition. he's the third starter to go down, joining Mike Clevinger with a back injury, Corey Kluber with a broken arm.
tough sledding ahead for the Tribe and best wishes for CC as they try to determine what is wrong with him.
Twins tried to make it interesting tonight and waste an excellent pitching performance and a three home run game by Keppler.
But NOOOOOOO we didn't need Kimbral!
I'll bet Cleveland fans are happy the Pohlads are too cheap to sign a guy who might be the difference in winning the division and slipping out of the playoff picture.
If/when the Indians get healthy it could get very interesting.
With ownership like this the Twins will never see another PENNY of my money. I'll follow them, but not with my wallet.
through the entire series the Indians seemed to reveal the Twins' achilles heel: an inability to hold a safe lead. if that continues for the remainder of the season it could get interesting and be a short post-season for Minnesota. Cleveland's woes with pitching injuries is obvious and they're holding things together with band-aids right now. what has been just as obvious is their lack of clutch hitting and run support. I haven't checked lately but not long ago the Team BA was around .230 which is anemic.
BTW, the Seattle Mariners are now somewhere around .370 and maybe flirting with one of the worst records in the modern era.
Adding Kimbrel (assuming he didn't forget how to pitch) would have improved the bullpen by two pitchers (in a way), now you have a new closer and the guy you were using can be a set-up guy and the set-up guy can be a 7th inning guy etc. Even with their record it's obvious the weak spot is the bullpen.
Cleveland has one of the best in baseball and it showed in this series.
Kimbrel also did not get that big of a contract.
The Twins are having (so far) one of those "special" years. They don't come around often, picking up Kimbrel would have shown the fans, and the players as well, that ownership is "all in".
HAHAHAHA..............................NOT WITH THIS OWNERSHIP! :-(
M's look to be in line for a fire sale soon. Looking to swap for some young new talent. My Phils just took Bruce off your hands and in light of McCutch injury, it will definitely help their OF situation.
We need bullpen help and have some good prospects!
We need bullpen help and have some good prospects!
why mortgage the future for the present when it may not be necessary?? the Twins just keep rolling along while the Tribe tries to keep pace by beating the Yanks.
There are a couple of guys I wouldn't give up in a trade (Royce Lewis is one), but most of these guys never make the "show" and most of the ones who do, don't become star players.
Generally speaking I think that a proven player is better than a prospect. The Twins have been trading proven players (well their contracts actually) for prospects for quite some time. The results have been disastrous. Look up the Delmon Young debacle! WOW, how stupid was that?
They got nothing (Carlos Gomez, highly regarded prospect) for Johan Santana when he was arguably the best pitcher in the majors.
The Twins almost blew the game last night, their closer looked VERY shaky.
The Twins look like a team that can hit, and have 2-3 nice starting pitchers. A guy like Kimbrel could be the difference. They could have gotten him and given up nothing (except the Pohlad's precious money).
Buxton is an exception (maybe) Last night he turned a single into a double, tagged up and advanced to third on a relatively short fly ball and then scored on a single. I haven't seen that kind of baserunning very often, and I've been watching for 50 years. Damn, I'm OLD!
Berrios is too, neither of these guys were going to get traded. Sano is looking like a bust.
Now is the time to make a deal or two. Remember what George Allen used to say "The future is NOW!"
I'm quite concerned about your team catching and passing the Twins. Perhaps we can pick up some bullpen help before the trade deadline, but that will certainly cost us a prospect or two.
Still sctatching my head over getting rid of Ryan Pressly when we had him locked up for another year!
GO TWINS!
Now that Kimbrel is out of the picture, it looks to me ghat the twins will be buying some bullpen help at the trade deadline, probably along several other contenders. as an outsider looking in, it seems to me that the Twins just need to stay healthy to win the division; I just don't think the Indians have enough this year with Jose Ramirez struggling the way he is. Still 2 months away from the deadline so let's see what happens in the interim.
I hope you're right.
Way too early for me to be over confident.
They put 12 runs on the board again today. Don't have to worry about the bullpen when that happens.
M's are on fire! Just took the series vs the Angels. Here we go, baby. Next up, the Twinkies!
Dave
The Twins have been trading proven players (well their contracts actually) for prospects for quite some time. The results have been disastrous.
this is the opposite of what the Indians have done. certainly they have "home grown" talent but many of their players have been Minor League prospects they acquired in trades that they have developed in their Farm System. Corey Kluber is one such player they got in a trade: San Diego drafted him in 2007, traded him to Cleveland in 2010 and they developed him in their system and he came to the Majors in June of 2013.
it may be that the Twins don't have a very good Minor League system or management personnel. frankly, prior to about 1990 the Cleveland organization was a train wreck. they hired Mike Hargrove and John Hart and then made some location moves that turned things around. most recently they have moved spring training back to Arizona and have their three top Minor League Teams within a three hour drive of Cleveland: Eastlake(20 minutes), Akron(one hour) and Columbus(three Hours) all have access to the facilities at the Team's BallPark.
what is the Twins organization like??
We won't be playing Detroit if we make the playoffs.
The Twins had some success from 2002-2010 with some good players like Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, Joe Nathan and Johan Santana, winning the division 6 out of 9 years. They had almost no success in the post season.
2010 is when we built them a beautiful new ballpark and they continued dismantling the team. They had already gotten rid of Johan Santana for prospects and Matt Garza and their starting SS Jason Bartlett for a prospect (Delmon Young WOW HORRIBLE). They also refused to sign Torri Hunter and got nothing for him (their offer was about 1/2 of what the Angels gave him).
They traded a couple of above average outfielders, Denard Span and Ben Revere for prospects that did little or nothing. They got rid of Michael Cuddyer a former #1 pick and got nothing for him either.
Traded Aaron Hicks for a prospect. Sold Jim Thome to the Indians.
During this time they eliminated the big contracts that Mauer, Morneau and Santana had, refused to pay for All-Stars Torri Hunter and Michael Cuddyer and sold Thome while refusing to go after any of the big time free agents. They got rid of Brian Dozier after he became a great player, but it seems they did get the timing right in that case. Hated to see him go at the time!
Did I mention that the owners of the Twins are the richest in all of baseball?
They have FINALLY gotten some help from the Minors with Rosario, Buxton and Berrios and actually got a good player, Jake Odorizzi for a prospect! Polanco was signed as a free agent, got suspended for steroids and is playing great right now. Kepler is a guy they found in Germany and he looks pretty good too.
Things are looking up and I hope they continue to play well.
I am assuming this team will be dismantled as soon as the guys they have now are in line for big contracts. I hope they can win a WS between now and then, but I don't see ownership going out and getting anyone else. We will prolly have to do it with these guys and I don't know if that's going to be enough.
They sure are fun to watch!
GO TWINS!
I am assuming this team will be dismantled as soon as the guys they have now are in line for big contracts.
this is the strategy used by Cleveland and although it is frustrating as a fan it has worked to keep the Team competitive and moving forward. what the Indians do is develop in their Farm Teams and when the players reach the Majors they lock them into extended contracts, 3-5 years, that are good for the player at the start and good for the Team at the end. two such players are Francisco Lindor and Jose Mesa as well as Carlos Santana.
small market Teams like Cleveland and Minnesota have little choice but to employ that tactic. they have little chance to compete with the large venue Teams even though there's revenue sharing.
Pohlads are the RICHEST owners in baseball with a brand new taxpayer funded stadium.
They choose not to compete. It's their team.
I am a dinosaur. I want my team to have some semblance of a core group of guys. Adding and improving each year. I hate this bouncing up and down from top to bottom. $10.00 for a bottle of soda? By the way, you can't have the cap either.........worried you'll toss it on the field?
It might be fine if you win a WS when you bounce up, but we haven't won it all for almost 30 years.
I won't go see them, but I hope they win!
I am NOT a true fan :-( only been following since 1964.
pity the poor Twins fans, haven't won it for 30 years!!! how does 1948 sound??
I figured you (or someone) would clobber me with that. ;-)
didn't the Twins win a WS when Puckett was there? I remember Frank Viola pitching his behind off and led the Twins to a title. Am I wrong?
1987 and 1991 Puckett was on both teams. Viola was the #1 pitcher in '87, Jack Morris in '91.
i was at game 7 on both of those world championship games
was that the Jack Morris 10 inning game against the BRAVES? 1-0?
I was at the Phils game 6 when they won in 1980. Just an unbelievable feeling.
yeah, Morris vs Smoltz with Stanton and Pena coming in relief, twins won it in the bottom of the 10th with Larkin driving in Gladden for the game winning RBI, yes final was 1-0. Morris was throwing some serious heat that night
Yes, that was a great game. i just remember that he pitched a ten inning shutout complete game in Game 7 of the World Series. that performance on the biggest stage....takes some real onions!
to the original thread, Encarnacion to the Yankees. And the sell off continues.
well, it looks like Seattle's next stop will be sub-.400 and there isn't much lower to go than that.
on another front, both Cleveland and Boston appear to have made some changes which are affecting their play and steadying the Teams. meanwhile, Minnesota has slowed a slight bit(the next few weeks will tell us a lot, how they deal with some adversity) and the Yankees have been steamrolling their closest Division rival the Rays.
it looks like there might be some interesting baseball and perhaps movement as we close in on the All-Star break.
Minnesota has slowed down a little as the long season has its way. it'll be interesting to see how Teams come out of the break and what they do headed into the trade deadline. I see a fun August and September.
Yes it will. Minnesota needs to strengthen the bullpen. Several players hurt right now, nothing serious, getting some proven players in here to pick up the slack and show the team ( or should I say "group" now?) that ownership will do what it takes to win now.
If no significant help is acquired and the Twins continue to struggle or more guys get hurt, I could easily see a collapse in our future.
I'm surprised Cleveland has stayed as close as they have, several players have stepped up and performed well. the Bullpen has also done a good job and Francona has shown some of why he is a top Manager. he motivates well and makes the proper moves.
if not for consecutive 13-0 losses to Baltimore last weekend it might even be closer. Baltimore, really??!!??
and yet another fascinating extra-inning victory for the Twins who just continue to fight!!!
I remember several years ago a sportswriter somewhere did a study and published an article about Teams and their records in one-run games. the point seemed to be the number of times a Team LOST such games and what they did the following season. in many cases it was a precursor of things to come in the next season as those Teams improved enough to win those games. Minnesota looks to be on the other side of that, a pretty good Team already that manages to win the close games. that fosters the attitude of never being out of anything.
Nice win last night!
the Indians are winning handily today, 8-3 in the 9th, but Minnesota is involved in yet another one run game, down 3-2 in the 8th with Oakland. Cleveland has gained some ground but Minnesota remains stubborn.
Twins have the top of the order up in the 9th.
I had hope..........until some bad luck (shortstop moves over to field the throw on a runner going to second and an easy double play ball dribbles into left field) loaded the bases and "there it goes".
The hit and run (shouldn't it be run and hit?) worked to perfection.
PLEASE get us some bullpen help!
Feeling nervous in Minnesota.
apparently the "reduced friction" ball being used in MLB this season has worked well for the Minnesota Twins. last night they hit their 165th HR of the season --- they had 166 in all of 2018!!
True, but it is a very different team, 2 of the 5 infielders are new, plus a new DH (great .571 SLG). Schoop and Cron are improvements over Dozier (slightly) and Mauer (especially). The addition of Nelson Cruz is a big help too, he's an established HR hitter with a 40 HR average per year for his last 5 seasons. Last year's DH hit 5 HR.
Polanco and Garver are fairly new as established starters and having better HR years.
Castro and Sano have also chipped in as back up/part time guys who didn't contribute as much last year.
Watch out for Sano, who has been hurt a lot since he came to the majors (this year too :-( ) if he can stay on the field, he will hit a LOT of HR. He's HUGE and strong. Definitely an all or nothing guy.
In the outfield Rosario (he's a very nice player if you haven't noticed) and Kepler have always had good power, but have stepped it up this year. Buxton doesn't hit as many. He chips in his share and can FLY! Potential superstar..........if he can stay healthy.
This team has a ridiculous SLG, 7 of the starters are above .500 and the other 2 are at .495 and .473! Fun to watch.
I would say the ball is certainly a factor, but it is also a vastly different team. The organization has also abandoned the "go the other way" approach to hitting. They tried to make David Ortiz into a "slap" hitter! OMFG
In MLB in 2017 there were three months with over 1,000 HR hit. May seems to be a big month with over a thousand hit in 2000 (1,069) 2017 (1,060) and this year 1.135. Last month it was 1.142.
As of May 31, Major Leaguers have hit 2,279 home runs on the year. That puts MLB on pace for 6,507 home runs in 2019, which would break the current record, set in 2017, by more than 400 homers.
Seems to be a continuation of a trend started a couple years ago. Twins have jumped on that bandwagon!
Now......about the bullpen..............
https://www.mlb.com/video/twins-slug-4-homers-in-15-6-win?t=winning-together
I liked Mauer and thought he had good bat control. I'm really not big fan of Earl Weaver BB where 3-run HR's are what Teams play for.
Maur was a fine hitter, but other than 1 season, he was good for about 10 HR a year. Cron has 17 already.
Until he was injured, Mauer was putting together a HOF career. Lots of people in Minnesota seem to think he is HOF worthy.
I would say borderline at best.
WOW! Just looked at JAWS and it says he was the 8th best catcher of all time?!?!?!?!?
Looks like I am wrong AGAIN!
and we head to the All-Star Game at Progressive Field in Cleveland with an early look at what might be an interesting Pennant Race in the AL Central. currently, Minnesota is up 5-1/2 Games on Cleveland with the Indians working on a 6-game winning streak. the Tribe hammered their inter-state rival Cincinnati Reds 11-1 today while the Twins _were in yet another extra inning game _, ending up on the losing end 4-1. how many more can that Team play in??
to make it interesting, the schedule makers look really smart right now --- Cleveland starts a 12 game homestand on Friday against, you guessed it, the Minnesota Twins!!!
I hope they battle it out until the final day of the season.
Of course Twins winning division by 15 games would be acceptable too! ;-)
Stupid baserunning cost the Twins a game yesterday.
With men on 2nd and 3rd and one out in bottom of 8th (maybe bottom of 7th not positive), batter hits a fly ball deep enough to center to score the go ahead run in a 1-1 game. Runner at 2nd tags up and is out at third before runner advancing from third after tagging up scores, for an inning ending double play.
Twins lost in extra innings. FUNDAMENTALS GUYS!
You're welcome Cleveland.
Nice win for the Twins. Next two we start our best starters. Go Twins!
Two in a row with Berrios pitching tomorrow!
Keppler has hit 5 straight home runs against off of Bauer, check out the expression on Bauer's face at the one minute mark.
He can't believe it.
https://www.mlb.com/video/kepler-rips-2-more-off-of-bauer
😉
Having fun in Minnesota. How long will it last?
Hey Pohlads...........a couple of new good bullpen pitchers would look nice.............anytime soon! PLEASE.
GO Jose Berrios!
Go Twins!
Cleveland avoids the sweep.
I enjoyed following the games online, yesterday especially. on the review in the 7th inning, which is what the game turned on, I had my screen on a 60 second refresh while I was working split screen on something else. the screen refreshed and showed the inning over so I got up and used the bathroom. when I came back the Twins had scored three runs!!
it took me a minute to figure it out.
my sense of the series is this --- the All-Star break worked to the advantage of the Twins and against the Indians. Cleveland was hot and rolling, in a zone of sorts. I think they would have preferred to keep playing every day. the Twins were just the opposite, the grind of the season was showing and the Team needed a rest, they were playing their worst baseball of the season.
sometimes it happens like that. the next two weeks will tell the tale. I believe Cleveland has had meeting to decide what to do and who to go after, their relief pitching is OK but their starters have been decimated. Kluber and Carrasco are almost certainly gone for the remainder of the year and Salazar has been working his way back but won't be effective if he returns. I think they'll try to get one good starter to help Bieber and Clevinger along with at least two bats. the OF has not produced well.
what do you expect the Twins to do.
That's a great question. First off, I agree with your assessment of the all-star break helping the Twins and hurting the Indians.
I heard someone on the local sports talk radio say the Twins have the easiest schedule in the entire MLB down the stretch.
I have not a single clue on what the ownership is going to do. I would prefer a minimum of two good bullpen pitchers, the Twins only have two left handers on the roster right now, a couple of GOOD lefties would be nice. I like their closer Taylor Rogers, he's a lefty, he really looks like he knows what he is doing. The other guys seem to be a bunch of one inning guys who do ok, but seem a bit inconsistent.
They could also go for a "rental" guy like Bumgarner and push one of the starters into the "pen". This would also be some insurance if one of the starters gets hurt. Losing Odorizzi or Berrios could be a disaster. Still need at least one top notch reliever.
They could use another good outfielder too. Buxton, Rosario and Keppler have all been hurt at one time or another and Cave seems to be the only solid back up in the OF.
I certainly wouldn't give up too much for Bumgarner. If the Giants think any team is going to give them a lot for a rental player they might be very surprised. Of course if someone loses a starter due to injury, that could change.
What I am most afraid of is them not making any move to get a couple of established pitchers.
They are SO CHEAP it's unbelievable, but since they have been this way for so long, I am beginning to believe it.
With a weak division and Cleveland being so banged up, the Twins have a great opportunity to make the playoffs. Why not make a few moves and try to win it all?