All Things 2023 Minnesota Twins In-Season Thread

Donate To GopherHole




stocker08 said:
KFAN is going to be fun tomorrow.
Click to expand...

Fun?

15 minutes of complaining about the Twins. Rightly of course. Marney mentioning the great weekend by the Lynx and 3+ hours of Vikings training camp talk.

Edit: Forgot the time spent on their "game" shows.;)
 
Last edited:


Iceland12 said:
Fun?

15 minutes of complaining about the Twins. Rightly of course. Marney mentioning the great weekend by the Lynx and 3+ hours of Vikings training camp talk.
Click to expand...
Worst quote, "sports station" in the entire United States.

You are lucky if you get sports 30% of the day.
 

kg21 said:
Worst quote, "sports station" in the entire United States.

You are lucky if you get sports 30% of the day.
Click to expand...

Personally I thought kfan talent came across as elitist. Talked about sports while holding their noses and liked to remind listeners of that. Sports was just the toy dept.
I get my sports fix these days thru podcast.
 







After the 6-2 lead that was blown last week to the M's and eventually lost in extras I had an Eric Fox 1992 flashback. Unfortunately my fears appear to be coming to fruition, at least in the short term.

Hopefully it's not a 10 year tailspin this time around.

For those unfamiliar:

www.startribune.com

Off '91 World Series high, talented Twins crashed hard after nightmare Eric Fox home run

A ninth-inning loss to Oakland on July 29, 1992, at the hands of a reserve player named Eric Fox, stands out as a dramatic season-turning moment that some believe triggered a 10-year run of irrelevance.
www.startribune.com www.startribune.com
 

Brandon Warne's five twins most likely to be traded:
Larnach
Wallner
Kepler
Celestino
Woods Richardson
 



GopherVotary said:
Don’t believe so. 2005 San Diego Padres won the NL West with an 82-80 record.
Click to expand...
The 1973 NY Mets were also close, 82-79. Must have had a rainout that was never made up. Got to the World Series by upsetting the Big Red Machine (3-2) in the NLCS and fell the A's in 7 games.

While not impossible, it's a lot harder to do with an extra round of playoffs and the League Championship Series now also 7 games.

The 2006 Cardinals won it all though after finishing with an 83-78 record, so there are rare examples.
 

From Dan Hates @ The Athletic regarding trade deadline possibilities (Fair Warning: This includes a Randy Dobnek reference!!)-

As calls about the availability of Sonny Grayand Kenta Maedacontinue to roll in, the Twins remain open to listening — while also heeding hard lessons learned.

Namely, they’re not far enough removed from 2019 to forget what happened.

Even though Gray and Maeda are expected to test free agency after the season, with the Twins unlikely to retain both of them, it doesn’t make the first-place club any likelier to make a deal.

Not only is the starting rotation, which carried the Twins through June, in its biggest slump of the season (Twins starters entered Sunday with a 5.38 ERA since the All-Star break), the club knows how easily a strength can evaporate.

In June 2019, the Twins’ rotation looked strong early in the summer with All-Stars José Berríos and Jake Odorizzi, Martin Pérez, Michael Pineda and even Kyle Gibson, who struggled all season physically with a stomach issue. By October, the Twins were forced to start rookie Randy Dobnak in Game 2 of the American League Division Series.

Hearing what other teams say about Gray and Maeda makes sense. The best decision-makers know to gather as much relevant information as possible because it may generate other trade concepts.

Beyond that, there’s very little chance the Twins bring both Gray and Maeda back next year, and they may not sign either pitcher. The club is likely to extend a qualifying offer to Gray in hopes he’d either accept a one-year deal in the $20 million range, or they’d receive a draft pick if he signed elsewhere.

But exploring what they could get is wise, especially with some of the hauls the Chicago White Soxreceived this week in trading away rental players. Contending teams in need of starting pitching are desperate with few certain sellers on the market, and the Twins could potentially receive more in a trade now if one of those clubs grossly overpaid.

Though teams don’t need a five-man rotation in the playoffs and can reshuffle the roster, the Twins remember what it’s like to operate with a rotation running on fumes. Through 11 starts in 2019, Pérez boasted a 2.95 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 58 innings. Pineda improved as the season went on, posting a 3.46 ERA over his final 20 starts. There also was always hope that Gibson’s stomach issues would eventually subside.

Pairing that trio with Berríos and Odorizzi, both of whom were 2019 All-Stars, would give the Twins a fighting chance. But Pérez began to underperform and was removed from the rotation, Gibson never recovered.

What else I’m hearing

• Though Keuchel carries a 1.13 ERA through 32 minor-league innings, there’s been minimal interest in the veteran. While improved, Keuchel’s fastball still isn’t what it was in 2019. Teams may have doubts about how he’d fare against major-league pitching.

• The Jorge López for Dylan Floro swap helps the Twins’ hierarchy. Floro is seen as a middle reliever whereas López still wanted to pitch at the back end of games, which became increasingly difficult because the Twins didn’t know what they’d get out of López from day to day.

• A National League scout who recently evaluated Floro described the reliever as being no stranger to struggling himself. “His issue is sometimes the stuff all blend together and the groundballs become ground lasers,” the scout said.

• The Twins remain interested in bullpen help, though the significance of the arm they acquire isn’t certain. The Twins feel good about their current back end of Jhoan Duranand Griffin Jax with expected help from Caleb Thielbar, who was activated Sunday, and hopefully Brock Stewart in August.

• A right-handed bat to combat left-handed pitching is still on the shopping list, too, The trick will be creating space on the major-league roster for such a player.

• Twins left-handed hitting outfielders continue to draw interest, namely Max Kepler, Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner. Larnach is drawing interest from multiple teams, including the San Diego Padres and New York Mets. Given the team’s preference to trade off the MLB roster or Triple A, dealing from this strength seems likely.
 

Neither the Twins, White Sox, Royals, A's or Tigers play today. Which is odd because it's, for real. National Mutt Day. Maybe that's why they got the day off..
 


Iceland12 said:
Fun?

15 minutes of complaining about the Twins. Rightly of course. Marney mentioning the great weekend by the Lynx and 3+ hours of Vikings training camp talk.

Edit: Forgot the time spent on their "game" shows.;)
Click to expand...

Power Trip doesn't talk nearly that much about sports. Neither does Common.
 


kg21 said:
Worst quote, "sports station" in the entire United States.

You are lucky if you get sports 30% of the day.
Click to expand...

I've been getting up earlier this month to water my lawn (did a landscaping project). as a result, I have been listening to more of the Power Trip. They are starting to grow on me. some of the humor is still juvenile, but not as bad as it used to be. I actually like the "Initials Game."

No, they don't talk a lot about sports. but that's not the end of the world. as someone said, if I really want hard-core sports discussion, I go to podcasts and YouTube shows.

I don't listen to Common, and rarely listen to Barreiro anymore - just got tired of his act. If I want to be lectured to, I'll call my sister.
 

short ornery norwegian said:
I've been getting up earlier this month to water my lawn (did a landscaping project). as a result, I have been listening to more of the Power Trip. They are starting to grow on me. some of the humor is still juvenile, but not as bad as it used to be. I actually like the "Initials Game."

No, they don't talk a lot about sports. but that's not the end of the world. as someone said, if I really want hard-core sports discussion, I go to podcasts and YouTube shows.

I don't listen to Common, and rarely listen to Barreiro anymore - just got tired of his act. If I want to be lectured to, I'll call my sister.
Click to expand...
Are we related?
 

Downtrodden Twins fans furious with team's latest embarrassment​

The Twins have the second-easiest remaining schedule in MLB, so this should be a good opportunity to kick on and secure a playoff spot, right?

Wrong.

After coming out of the All-Star Break by going on a 9-2 run including sweeps over the Oakland A's and Chicago White Sox, the Twins have subsequently lost five in a row, including this weekend's disastrous sweep to the last-placed Kansas City Royals.

And one of the angriest places you could find on the internet on Sunday evening was in the responses to the Minnesota Twins' announcement of the 2-1 loss.

A sweep to the lowly Royals, who came into the series with the worst record in baseball, is just about enough for many fans who are looking at a team that may well yet win the division, but look nowhere near being a team that can end the Twins' 18-game playoff losing streak.

Among the comments on Facebook:

"Thank goodness this is the finale. One can only be embarrassed so often."

"They shouldn't even bother being buyers....ridiculous how they are playing, going to take more than 1-2 guys to turn this mess around...plus need a whole new coaching staff."

"The only thing that comes to mind is 'pathetic!' The third worst team in the majors and we gift them a sweep!"

You get the gist.


Win Twins!!
 


Guardians continue selling. It's almost like the Twins are being forced to win the division. I guess if we trade Sonny Gray we're doing it too.

www.mlbtraderumors.com

Guardians Trade Aaron Civale To Rays

The Guardians sent right-hander Aaron Civale to the Rays for one of the top first base prospects in the game. Read more at MLB Trade Rumors.
www.mlbtraderumors.com www.mlbtraderumors.com
 

If this team doesn't dump Gallo, pick up one relief pitcher, and a 3B or 1B that can help them for the rest of this season, then Rocco, Falvey, and Levine all deserve the firing they better get in the offseason.
 


howeda7 said:
This season should only have two outcomes: The Twins win at least one freaking play-off game for the first time in 19 years, or Derek Falvey and Rocco are fired. As long as it's one of those, it'll have been a good season. I fear it will be neither.
Click to expand...
 

howeda7 said:
Guardians continue selling. It's almost like the Twins are being forced to win the division. I guess if we trade Sonny Gray we're doing it too.

www.mlbtraderumors.com

Guardians Trade Aaron Civale To Rays

The Guardians sent right-hander Aaron Civale to the Rays for one of the top first base prospects in the game. Read more at MLB Trade Rumors.
www.mlbtraderumors.com www.mlbtraderumors.com
Click to expand...

 
Last edited:

howeda7 said:
Guardians continue selling. It's almost like the Twins are being forced to win the division. I guess if we trade Sonny Gray we're doing it too.

www.mlbtraderumors.com

Guardians Trade Aaron Civale To Rays

The Guardians sent right-hander Aaron Civale to the Rays for one of the top first base prospects in the game. Read more at MLB Trade Rumors.
www.mlbtraderumors.com www.mlbtraderumors.com
Click to expand...

Cleveland isn't really selling though. It seems like they are capitalizing on Civale while his numbers are good, but he has been pretty mediocre for his career. There's nothing special about Rosario, who is a pretty meh player.

The Twins could trade Gray and Larnach and I wouldn't consider that selling. It's just moving pieces at positions that they are currently deep at, and don't fit into their long term plans.
I would also argue that their upside is better than what Cleveland has traded away.
 

GopherWeatherGuy said:
Cleveland isn't really selling though. It seems like they are capitalizing on Civale while his numbers are good, but he has been pretty mediocre for his career. There's nothing special about Rosario, who is a pretty meh player.

The Twins could trade Gray and Larnach and I wouldn't consider that selling. It's just moving pieces at positions that they are currently deep at, and don't fit into their long term plans.
I would also argue that their upside is better than what Cleveland has traded away.
Click to expand...
Certainly these trades are probably smart long-term, but I don't see how you can argue they make the 2023 Guardians better. Bieber is already out. You're desperate enough for starting pitching to trade for Syndergaard and now you're trading arguably your best remaining starter? I know Cleveland's pitching pipeline always produces but it seems like a stretch to say this isn't selling unless they have more moves coming.
 

You must log in or register to reply here.



Top Bottom