2019 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

[Bad Gopher]

I fully expected Kyle Gibson to not let the team down last night. That sounds harsh, but they really needed him to come up big in this particular spot, which his opposing starter did do.

 

[BleedGopher]

STrib: Twins sign former Cleveland closer Cody Allen to minor league deal

The Twins have signed former Cleveland Indians closer Cody Allen to a minor league deal, and will see if they can help him regain his old form.

Allen signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Angels last offseaon, getting an $8.5 million, one-year contract to be their closer. But this season was a disaster for the 30-year-old, as he posted a 6.26 ERA in 25 games while picking up four saves. Not only did he lose his closer’s job, but he ended up making mop-up appearances, like on May 23 against the Twins during a 16-7 beatdown in which the Twins clubbed eight home runs. Max Kepler and Eddie Rosario homered off him in that game.

The Angels released him Tuesday and remain on the hook for the majority of his salary.

Allen used to be one of the most reliable arms in the game, and he is the Indians all-time saves leader with 149. At his age, it’s not out of the question that he can turn things around. But the Twins, after initially kicking the tires on him during the offseason, backed off of him during free agency.

His fastball is down two miles an hour, to 92.3 miles per hour, than it was two years ago. And he has struggled to maintain his good breaking ball.

http://www.startribune.com/twins-si...er-cody-allen-to-minor-league-deal/511684342/

Win Twins!!

 

[BleedGopher]

Sid Hartman: Twins looking to carry their success beyond this year

The Twins could not have imagined a first half of 2019 like the one they are having. They are off to the best start in club history and hitting at a historic pace, and fans are starting to return to the ballpark.

Through May 5, when the Twins wrapped up a four-game homestand with Houston, the team had drawn only 269,493 fans through 16 home games, averaging 16,843 per game.

Wednesday, the team played its 37th home game, vs. Boston. In the 21 home dates since that Astros series ended, the club drew 632,192 fans, an average of 30,104 fans per game.

And the simple fact is that even as the club is going through a tough stretch — until Thursday, it hadn’t gone worse than 3-3 over any six-game stretch this season — the Twins still hold a sizable lead in the AL Central and have the best record in the AL.

“The team has gotten off to such a tremendous start, and often when we see that there’s kind of a lag between when it kind of catches up with fans actually getting out to the park,” Twins President Dave St. Peter said about the recent surge in attendance. “The weather didn’t help that. But you know, the market is energized. People are excited about this team. I think they see a path towards continued success, not just in the regular season but I think we all dream of that success in October.”

What does St. Peter see for ticket sales going forward? “We still have a lot of work to do,” he said. “We lost a couple thousand season tickets year over year from last year, but what we’ve seen in the last 30 days is really impressive from a fan perspective. We have sold more single-game tickets, more group tickets, in the last 30 days than in really any point in Target Field history. I’m encouraged and I’m hopeful that we’re going to push north of 2 million in total attendance, and I’d like to get to 2.1, 2.2.

“Coming off of last year, we drew just shy of 2 million, and I think that would be a good goal for us. Ultimately we want to get back to that 2.5 million mark, because I believe that’s where this market should be, particularly with a good baseball team.”

When the Twins opened Target Field in 2010, owner Jim Pohlad told me that fans would stop coming to the ballpark if the club did not win.

And that has proved true. The simple fact is that the Twins haven’t had back-to-back winning seasons since 2009-10, and attendance has dipped.

http://www.startribune.com/twins-looking-to-carry-their-success-beyond-this-year/511680812/

Win Twins!!

 

[BleedGopher]

Charley Walters: Twins’ revival proving to be hit at box office

The baseball season isn’t half finished, but the Minnesota Twins’ surge to the top of the American League has resulted in several hundred new purchases of season tickets for the purpose of getting priority seating for the postseason that begins on Oct. 1.

Look for the Twins in the second half of the season to aggressively market season-ticket sales for priority seating in October. If the regular season ended today, the Twins would host the American League wild card playoff winner. The way it looks now, that could be Tampa Bay, Boston, Cleveland, Texas or Oakland.

Having home-field advantage for a best-of-five division playoff series is huge, as it is for a best-of-seven league championship series.

The Twins have become baseball’s most powerful-hitting team and are legitimate World Series contenders, the Wall Street Journal reported last week, and points out the Twins have the second-easiest schedule in baseball the rest of the season.

The article also mentions that the home run-centric Twins this season have played their games at an average temperature of 61.5 degrees, the coldest in baseball. That should mean even more homers as the weather warms.

The Twins, who finished 20th in major league attendance (1.96 million) among 30 clubs last year, this week rank 18th and could reach 2.2 million by season’s end. Early this season, the Twins ranked 23rd in attendance.

Hall of fame former Twin Rod Carew, who received a heart and kidney via transplant surgeries two years ago, said his health “is good. I’m doing physical therapy, and they’re working my fanny off. It’s great to be alive.”

Carew, who resides in Anaheim, Calif., was in town last week for Joe Mauer’s No. 7 jersey retirement ceremony.

https://www.twincities.com/2019/06/22/twins-revival-proving-to-be-hit-at-box-office/

Win Twins!!

 

[Ogee Ogilthorpe]

Cleveland is 13-4 in their last 17 games. Sure doesn't seem like they're going anywhere anytime soon.

The current 9-game lead feels very, very far from secure right now.

 

[BleedGopher]

Cleveland is 13-4 in their last 17 games. Sure doesn't seem like they're going anywhere anytime soon.

The current 9-game lead feels very, very far from secure right now.

Agreed. The last two games vs the Royals (especially last night's game) felt more urgency than I would have expected. We can't let up. With as many games as we have left with Cleveland, they can definitely catch us, as awful as that would be.

Win Twins!!

 

[howeda7]

Agreed. The last two games vs the Royals (especially last night's game) felt more urgency than I would have expected. We can't let up. With as many games as we have left with Cleveland, they can definitely catch us, as awful as that would be.

Win Twins!!

They certainly can. Cleveland is in a stretch of playing 29 of 32 games against teams with losing records. Between now and July 28th, they play KC four (4!) times, Detroit twice, Baltimore, Toronto and Cincy. The only winning team they play is the Twins.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Cleveland is 13-4 in their last 17 games. Sure doesn't seem like they're going anywhere anytime soon.

The current 9-game lead feels very, very far from secure right now.

Streaks come and go in baseball. Cleveland is scorching and all they gained is 1.5 games. And the Twins need Cleveland to be a threat in order to nudge management to make upgrades

 

[bottlebass]

Streaks come and go in baseball. Cleveland is scorching and all they gained is 1.5 games. And the Twins need Cleveland to be a threat in order to nudge management to make upgrades

I was thinking this too. It will be easier for them not to make moves if our lead is insurmountable. If there is a chance Cleveland could catch us can you imagine if they don't make any moves and Cleveland actually catches us?

 

[short ornery norwegian]

at the risk of sounding like a troll -

If the Twins do "make moves," there is no guarantee the Twins' moves will work out. And, my gut still tells me that Falvey and Levine are not going to deal any of the top prospects for rent-a-player type pickups. if they do give up any of the top prospects, they will want a player or players back who will be with the Twins for more than a couple of months.

This is based on my theory that the Twins front office is really playing for 2 or 3 years from now when the next wave of minor league talent has made it to the majors. Arraez will be the 2nd baseman next year. Rooker is not far away, and Lewis, Kiriloff, Larnach etc are only a couple of years away. This team will look very different by 2021.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

at the risk of sounding like a troll -

If the Twins do "make moves," there is no guarantee the Twins' moves will work out. And, my gut still tells me that Falvey and Levine are not going to deal any of the top prospects for rent-a-player type pickups. if they do give up any of the top prospects, they will want a player or players back who will be with the Twins for more than a couple of months.

This is based on my theory that the Twins front office is really playing for 2 or 3 years from now when the next wave of minor league talent has made it to the majors. Arraez will be the 2nd baseman next year. Rooker is not far away, and Lewis, Kiriloff, Larnach etc are only a couple of years away. This team will look very different by 2021.

You're right on two counts, depending on how you want to define "top prospects". For a rental, there's probably 4 guys that I'd say no way for: Lewis, Kiriloff, Graterol and Duran. I'd part with pretty much anyone else. My reasoning ties into your point about the roster being very different by 2021. The Twins have a glut of their top 30 prospects (it was 8 at last count) that need to be moved to the 40-man roster at the end of the year, or they're exposed to the Rule 5 Draft. There are some names on the 40 that are easy to part with, but I don't think the magic number is 8, so you've got to move those excess players in a trade, or risk losing them to another team in the Rule 5.

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

You're right on two counts, depending on how you want to define "top prospects". For a rental, there's probably 4 guys that I'd say no way for: Lewis, Kiriloff, Graterol and Duran. I'd part with pretty much anyone else. My reasoning ties into your point about the roster being very different by 2021. The Twins have a glut of their top 30 prospects (it was 8 at last count) that need to be moved to the 40-man roster at the end of the year, or they're exposed to the Rule 5 Draft. There are some names on the 40 that are easy to part with, but I don't think the magic number is 8, so you've got to move those excess players in a trade, or risk losing them to another team in the Rule 5.

Which is why Larnach will not be traded. They have to move some of those excess Rule 5 eligible players

 

[Bad Gopher]

Royals came back last night and shocked the Indians late. I've always liked the way KC has played under Yost, and he'll get them there again if they can recreate what they did to accumulate championship caliber talent when they won it all. Cleveland will always be a contender as long as Francona is there. The White Sox have some exciting young talent. And Detroit...well, maybe never mind them. But seriously, this division is looking increasingly tough to me in the coming few years. It's gonna be a dogfight next year and beyond.

 

[howeda7]

Royals came back last night and shocked the Indians late. I've always liked the way KC has played under Yost, and he'll get them there again if they can recreate what they did to accumulate championship caliber talent when they won it all. Cleveland will always be a contender as long as Francona is there. The White Sox have some exciting young talent. And Detroit...well, maybe never mind them. But seriously, this division is looking increasingly tough to me in the coming few years. It's gonna be a dogfight next year and beyond.

Agree on the Royals. Their record is bad, but they are playing well right now. Chicago is up and down, but you can also see they are building something. Detroit...well good luck Gardy. They are saddled paying off too many bad contracts. (Cabrera, Zimmerman.)

 

[BleedGopher]

per Sid:

Falvey on Allen

There was a lot of offseason talk that the Twins should sign former Indians closer Cody Allen. Instead, Allen signed a one-year, $8.5 million deal with the Angels, who released him last week. The Twins then signed him to a minor league deal.

Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey overlapped with Allen in Cleveland from 2012-16, when Allen was one of the best relief pitchers in baseball. He posted a 2.61 ERA with 392 strikeouts and 92 saves in 306⅓ innings.

But over the past two seasons, one in Cleveland and one in Los Angeles, Allen has struggled, posting a 5.10 ERA over 90 innings.

Falvey said the chance to bring Allen in on a low-risk deal was a no-brainer.

“I know Cody as well as anybody, and this is a competitor, a great mind-set,” Falvey said. “He has closed a lot of games, he has pitched in a World Series, he has been someone who has been relied on and I saw it firsthand how he responded to those pressures. He is a competitor. He has gotten a little off-track, certainly. You look at his pitches and what has changed and maybe some things mechanically that could be altered. All of those things go into the mix.”

Falvey said getting Allen to work with the Twins pitching coaches could pay off as the season progresses. Allen, he said, felt the same way.

“[Pitching coach] Wes Johnson and I talked about it, as well as some of our other pitching folks and guys in the front office, and felt like this was a good opportunity,” Falvey said. “He had choices to go to other places. This is a place where he knew we’d invest in him, give him a chance to continue to make those improvements, and then we’ll track how it goes over the next few weeks and hopefully he can become an option for us as we get deeper into the season.”

http://www.startribune.com/gophers-football-has-amazing-recruiting-success-in-june/511871722/

Win Twins!!

 

[Ski U Mah Gopher]

Good day for a rainout.

Maybe Kepler will be able to play on Friday vs Chicago.

 

[howeda7]

Good day for a rainout.

Maybe Kepler will be able to play on Friday vs Chicago.

Astudillo to DL. Wade up. They're dropping like flies. Sounds like they're going to try to squeeze the game into a 2 hour window from 1-3 PM. Best be ahead after 5.

 

[JimmyJamesMD]

Astudillo to DL. Wade up. They're dropping like flies. Sounds like they're going to try to squeeze the game into a 2 hour window from 1-3 PM. Best be ahead after 5.

big bottom of 6th inning then

 

[howeda7]

Didn't see the end but always tough to fry the bullpen and lose. Sano needs to go down to AAA as soon as someone is healthy. 3 for his last 39 with 23 strike-outs.

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

Didn't see the end but always tough to fry the bullpen and lose. Sano needs to go down to AAA as soon as someone is healthy. 3 for his last 39 with 23 strike-outs.

I sat thru 18 innings. Dick/Bert said time and time again that they didn't want to use Harper for a 3rd night in a row. Guess who was on the hill when this finally ended.

 

[howeda7]

I sat thru 18 innings. Dick/Bert said time and time again that they didn't want to use Harper for a 3rd night in a row. Guess who was on the hill when this finally ended.

They were out of options. If they ask Gibson to go another inning he probably can't start on Sunday.

 

[BleedGopher]

Sid: Cleveland lurks as injuries hit Twins

The Twins’ performance against the Tampa Bay Rays this week, winning two out of three games against one of the best teams in baseball, was even more impressive because of the way they dealt with so many injuries throughout the course of the series.

Eddie Rosario went down because of a right ankle sprain. Max Kepler missed a game after being hit in the elbow by a pitch. Willians Astudillo was placed on the 10-day injured list Thursday after he had a tremendous first two games of the series. And Byron Buxton (bruised wrist), Ehire Adrianza (gastrointestinal issues) and Marwin Gonzalez (calf strain) remained on the injured list.

But here’s the truth for this ballclub: They need to get healthy if they’re going to maintain their comfortable eight-game lead over the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central after Thursday’s 5-2, 18-inning loss to the Rays.

But Cleveland has won 10 of their past 13 games and trimmed three games off the 11-game lead the Twins held two weeks ago.

http://www.startribune.com/cleveland-lurks-as-injuries-hit-twins/511931312/

Win Twins!!

 

[Breakin' The Plane]

They were out of options. If they ask Gibson to go another inning he probably can't start on Sunday.

I get it. The team is in a pickle now with all the injuries on offense and now a toasted pitching staff.
I'd have let Gibson keep going and called up someone to make a spot start on Sunday. It just sucks to lose a game that went that long.
I think the goal now is get to the break, keep the lead at 6 games or more and get everyone healthy for the 2nd half.

 

[GophersInIowa]

I get it. The team is in a pickle now with all the injuries on offense and now a toasted pitching staff.
I'd have let Gibson keep going and called up someone to make a spot start on Sunday. It just sucks to lose a game that went that long.
I think the goal now is get to the break, keep the lead at 6 games or more and get everyone healthy for the 2nd half.

To play devils advocate, say they still lose and then bring someone up to start on Sunday and he gets shelled. I doubt they expected this team to go 16 straight innings without scoring a run.

Berrios goes tonight, I'm assuming they're going to get 100 pitches out of him no matter what. Duffey, Littell, Morin, and Magill should all be able to go tonight if needed.

 

[short ornery norwegian]

the real issue is that the offense has cooled off. sure, injuries are playing a part, but the team is just not scoring as many runs or coming up with timely hits in big situations. That puts more of an emphasis on pitching and defense, which have both been spotty.

I am NOT predicting doom, or some major collapse. But, I would not be shocked if the race became a lot closer. If Cleveland can cut it down to 4 games or less, it will be interesting to see how the Twins handle it.

 

[GoodasGold]

Jim souhan wrote at some length about rehabilitating Sano’s swing. I don’t know for what about bat speed, load shift or dragging the hands; but what I do know is what I see, and what I see is that those shades he wears have the same tint as welders goggles. I can’t imagine they enhance his view of those pitches he’s swinging at and missing.
What I would suggest is that he invest in a pair of those amber tinted glasses that block blue rays and provide increased visual definition - “Blue Blockers” I believe they’re called, and at $19.95 they are a steal. But wait! if he acts now he can get a two pair for the same price + S&H.
I say go for it Miguel!

 

[BleedGopher]

Charley Walters: Twins’ Derek Falvey, Thad Levine are keepers

Derek Falvey and Thad Levine were signed to five-year contracts three years ago to lead the Minnesota Twins into baseball’s new age of analytics. They have done that with astute player signings that propelled their club to an eight-game division lead at the season’s midway point.

Falvey and Levine also hired a manager who, at age 37 and despite never having managed at any level of baseball, right now is the American League’s manager of the year.

Falvey, just 36 and the Twins’ chief baseball executive, and Levine, 47, the general manager, have reached a juncture in their careers that they need not worry about contract extensions. As far as the Twins are concerned, the pair has proven themselves to the extent that they can remain in the organization as long as they want. And that could be for a long time.

https://www.twincities.com/2019/06/29/charley-walters-twins-derek-falvey-thad-levine-are-keepers/

Win Twins!!

 

[BleedGopher]

per Shooter:

The trading price for Giants starter Madison Bumgarner may have gone up last week after the left-hander struck out 11 in six innings in a 4-2 victory over Colorado. The Giants definitely will trade Bumgarner, 29, but now it appears that won’t take place until just before the July 31 deadline.

Besides Bumgarner, the Twins definitely are interested in trading for the Giants’ left-handed closer, Will Smith.

https://www.twincities.com/2019/06/29/charley-walters-twins-derek-falvey-thad-levine-are-keepers/

Win Twins!!

 

[BleedGopher]

Sid: New class of Twins free agents a stark contrast to last year's group

The Twins have gotten a lot of praise for the free-agent class they brought in this year, and they should.

Nelson Cruz is performing just as well as he has the past five seasons. Jonathan Schoop has been great at second base and looks more like the player he was in Baltimore. And before he landed on the injured list, Marwin Gonzalez was also coming on strong with the bat while playing at nearly every position.

Pitchers Martin Perez and Blake Parker have both had major roles, even as they have struggled recently.

But compare that group to the free agents that Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey and General Manager Thad Levine brought in last year and you can see how lucky you have to get when it comes to player scouting.

In 2018 the Twins brought in Addison Reed, one of the worst signings in club history, along with Lance Lynn, Logan Morrison, Zach Duke, Fernando Rodney and Anibal Sanchez. Morrison and Reed were the only ones with the team all year, and both are gone now.

Levine was asked how one group can perform so well when another one with similar expectations struggled.

“Every offseason when we make moves we put a lot of thought into it,” he said. “We look at our scouting reports, we look at analytics and we try to make the best moves that can impact the Minnesota Twins, and certainly some of the moves we made last year didn’t work out as we had planned and we had hoped. Some of that was due to injuries, some of that was due to some regression in performance and there probably were other factors involved as well.

“This offseason I think we’ve had such great success with some of the players we brought in, and I just give a ton of credit to the coaching staff for putting these guys in position to succeed, and then the leadership around the team that I think has really supported the players very well.”

http://www.startribune.com/new-clas...tark-contrast-to-last-year-s-group/512006392/

Win Twins!!

 

[cncmin]

the real issue is that the offense has cooled off. sure, injuries are playing a part, but the team is just not scoring as many runs or coming up with timely hits in big situations. That puts more of an emphasis on pitching and defense, which have both been spotty.

I am NOT predicting doom, or some major collapse. But, I would not be shocked if the race became a lot closer. If Cleveland can cut it down to 4 games or less, it will be interesting to see how the Twins handle it.

Some of the players they have are simply overperforming their abilities. Add injuries to a natural regression from the overperforming players, and I expect the Twins to fall well off of their first half pace if they cannot (1) remain very healthy and (2) get a couple/few strong players to help in the second half. The playoffs are still very far off.