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The Minnesota Twins had a different offseason then most. The team will definitely look different this year.
Let me recap where the Twins ended up last year since I never posted a season recap. Minnesota ended the season with a 73-89 record, good for last in the AL Central. The team was far worse then their final record suggests. They couldn't do anything by the midpoint of the season so the Twins shipped off a boatload of talent elsewhere including veteran Nelson Cruz and star pitcher Jose Berrios. Suddenly the Twins starting winning the last couple months, when it was no longer relevant. This offseason the Twins made many moves. Lets start with who they said goodbye to. Twins Offseason Departures: RHP Alex Colome C Willians Astudillo RHP John Gant RHP Michael Pineda SS Andrelton Simmons C Mitch Garver 3B Josh Donaldson C Ben Rortvedt OF Jimmy Kerrigan OF Elijah Greene LHP Taylor Rogers OF Brent Rooker Now lets look at the additions: Twins Offseason Additions: P Chris Archer P Dylan Bundy P Sonny Gray P Chris Paddack P Emilio Pagan P Joe Smith C Gary Sanchez INF Carlos Correa INF Gio Urshela OF Gilberto Celestino While that seems like a lot, lets limit the list down to who was added or subtracted by trade and big signings. Twins Offseason Trades and Signings: November: Signed OF Byron Buxton to 7 year contract. March: Traded C Mitch Garver to Texas for 3B Isiah Kiner-Falefa and RHP Ronny Henriquez Traded RHP Chase Petty to Cincinnati for RHP Sonny Gray Traded 3B Josh Donaldson, 3B Isiah Kiner-Falefa, C Ben Rortvedt to New York Yankees for C Gary Sanchez and 3B Gio Urshela Signed Free Agent SS Carlos Correa to 4 year contract with two team options April: Traded LHP Taylor Rogers and OF Brent Rooker to San Diego for RHP Chris Paddack and RHP Emilio Pagan That is a lot of stuff to sift through. Big takeaways: extended arguably the best player on the roster for seven more years. The Twins got rid of some of their bad or not team friendly contracts like Donaldson's and Rogers'. They added some quality replacements in P Sonny Gray and Chris Paddack. Minnesota got a huge get with nabbing SS Carlos Correa, he should help the Twins in the short term. The Twins continue to have one of the best talent systems in the majors, with top prospects Royce Lewis and Jose Miranda starting the year in Triple-A St. Paul. The only issues lie in pitching. The Twins, after this week's trade, have a serviceable pitching rotation. But they are lacking some talent in the starting pitching department, hopefully I am proven wrong. If some key players on the roster can stay healthy and play great (Buxton and Sano) this could prove to be a comeback year for the Twins. Most outlets predict the Twins to finish towards the top of the AL Central but miss the playoffs. That might be the best case scenario, but the season needs to play out first. I don't have much expectations for the Twins this year. I think they will finish 2nd in the AL Central with a record around .500. An improvement from last season, but still a little ways to go. Go Twins!
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Another Twins season, another disappointment. It seems to be becoming a pattern.
The Minnesota Twins are not playing very well. They stand at 44-62 and 5th in the AL Central. Given that many baseball analysts had the Twins winning the division far and away this year, this is a huge disappointment. You ask: "What went so wrong this year". I could say that the pitching sucked at the worst time. Minnesota started off so hot for pitching, then it started to crumble one at a time. First the relievers started giving up odd innings, and then it leaked into the starters as well. They started pitching awful outings, and Manager Rocco Baldelli had to decide whether to pull starters early and dig into his abysmal bullpen or hope they turned it around to stay out there 5 innings. Not a decision I envy. I could also say that on top of the Twins' pitching issues, they also extremely struggled to compete in extra innings for most of the first part of the season. They went 3 months without winning a single game that went to extras. That usually isn't a good sign. The only bright sides to pitching was that Twins ace RHP Jose Berrios was still his usual spectacular self. We will get to that later. The Twins hitting has been largely fine and above average for most of the season. Minnesota still ranks at 6th in the majors for slugging percentage at .429. The team's batting average is 11th league-wide at .244. Not the batting numbers we have seen in the past from the Twins that usually hit so many home runs I ask them to stop hitting home runs. It definitely doesn't seem to be a hitting problem. Overall the Twins have had a huge issue with pitching in that hardly anyone can pitch the ball effectively for more then 3 innings. Trade Deadline The Twins were a major seller at the trade deadline last week. The first big trade they made was when they sent fan favorite DH Nelson Cruz and RHP Calvin Faucher to Tampa Bay for prospects RHP Joe Ryan and RHP Drew Strotman. Minnesota also sent RHP ace Jose Berrios to Toronto for two top propsects in the Blue Jays arsenal. The Twins receive Toronto's top shortstop prospect in Austin Martin who also plays center field, as well as their second pitching prospect in righty Simeon Woods-Richardson. The Twins definitely won this trade given that Berrios is only under team control through the end of the season. The Twins also traded LHP JA Happ and cash to St. Louis in exchange for prospect LHP Evan Sisk and struggling starter RHP John Gant. Last but not least, the Twins also traded right hand reliever Hansel Robles to the Boston Red Sox for prospect RHP Alex Scherff. Minnesota definitely sold a haul this year at the deadline. In my opinion, its a sign of what is to come. Even though many Twins reporters are talking about the minor league pipeline the Twins are building, I don't even know if I have enough faith in them to develop them correctly. I will believe it when I see it. I also think Rocco should be fired after the season ends. His tactics haven't worked, especially in the playoffs. He leaves most fans and analysts scratching their heads at certain dumbfounded decisions. Some fault Baldelli as the reason for the Twins being in the hole they are right now. Minnesota is headed for another quiet end to the season and most likely a quiet offseason. #MNTwins The Twins had a decent first week in the year. While the season opener was an extra innings loss in Milwaukee, it wasn't a bad start. The Twins then rattled off 3 straight wins. Lost an extra innings battle with Detroit. Then won 2 more. That's when the wheels came off the wagon. The Twins lost 5 straight games. Since then they have not won a series nor tied it. While they seem to be at least winning a game most series, they don't win two. Ever since then they cannot seem to do hardly anything right.
Now the Twins are not doing well lately, here is my diagnosis. The Twins batting can be spotty some days. They still are home run heavy like in previous years which I always point out when complaining the Twins hitting is bad. They only seem to hit home runs and if they can't hit them, they won't score. The pitching didn't start out bad. Starting pitching seemed to be a great attribute to the Twins. And the bullpen was not too bad. Then the problems started. The first loss of the year was because of lapses in the Twins bullpen. Some weeks later, it started spreading to starting pitching. The Twins still have plenty of good pitchers, but the bullpen is a disaster. The bullpen gave up 7 runs in one inning at one point. This team needs a break. Hopefully they turn it around. The next 3 series are: @ Cleveland, vs. Baltimore, and vs. Kansas City. Win Twins! Minnesota Twins Begin Preparation for 2021 Season as Spring Training Begins in Fort Myers, Florida!2/28/2021 The reigning AL Central winners from last year take the field today in Fort Myers, Florida in the 2021 Spring Training series against the Boston Red Sox!
To recap where the Twins were at this past offseason here are the acquisitions and departures: December 2020: - CF Byron Buxton signed - C Mitch Garver signed - RP Taylor Rogers signed - RP Tyler Duffey signed - P Caleb Thielbar signed - SP Jose Berrios signed January 2021: - Twins announced their coaching staff for the Minor League affiliates in St. Paul (AAA), Wichita (AA), and Cedar Rapids (A). - Signed LHP J.A. Happ to a one-year contract - Signed SS Andrelton Simmons to a one-year contract February 2021: - Signed DH Nelson Cruz back on a one-year contract - Claimed OF Kyle Garlick off waivers from Atlanta - Signed RHP Alex Colome to a one-year contract - Former Twins 2B Brian Dozier retired - Signed RHP Matt Shoemaker to a one-year contract - Released RHP Ian Gibaut - Traded for RP Shaun Anderson Departures: - SP Homer Bailey released on 9/26/2020 - RP Cory Gearrin contract expired, not resigned (10/14/2020) - RP Sergio Romo team option declined, contract expired (10/28/2020) - SS Ehire Adrianza contract expired, not resigned (10/28/2020) - 3B Marwin Gonzalez contract expired, not resigned (10/28/2020) - RP Trevor May contract expired, not resigned (10/28/2020) - RP Tyler Clippard contract expired, not resigned (10/28/2020) - C Alex Avila contract expired, not resigned (10/28/2020) - SP Rich Hill contract expired, not resigned (10/28/2020) - SP Jake Odorizzi contract expired, not resigned (10/28/2020) - LF Eddie Rosario contract expired, not resigned (12/2/2020) - RP Fernando Romero released (12/17/2020) - OF LaMonte Wade Jr. traded to San Francisco (2/4/2020) Today the Twins play Boston. After spring training they will open the season in Milwaukee on Thursday, April 1st! They will spend three games in Wisconsin, then head up to Detroit for a three game series against the Tigers. Then they will head home for the home opener against Seattle on Thursday, April 8th. Should be a great season! Win Twins! On Wednesday, the Minnesota Twins officially extended invitations to fill all four of their minor league affiliate spots.
I will go over them all one by one. Triple-A: St. Paul Saints (St. Paul, MN) This affiliation is a gold mine for the Twins! Now if they send players down or call them up, host operations are only 15 minutes away since the Saints play in downtown St. Paul just off of interstate 94 at newly built CHS Field! This is a great step for both franchises, since arguably the Saints are the most successful Minor League Franchise not formerly affiliated up to this point. The Saints bring to the table incredibly attendance records, both in their new ballpark and their former ballpark out in the suburbs of St. Paul. The Saints have a vibrant fan base that will most likely carry this team forward for years in the future. Great choices for both teams! As far as team play goes, not many Minor League teams are too much better then the Saints. The Saints now formerly played in the American Association (in which they were a founding member) where they won their division 6 times (2006-07, 2015-16 2018-19) and won the league title once (2019). They have maintained 100%+ attendance since before they moved into CHS Field in 2015. They even hit 112% capacity back in 2016. The Saints have been a model Independent Club for many years and won Organization of the Year many times in the American Association. They now leave behind a league that is better because of the Saints' involvement. This acquisition is very close to my heart as I have attended quite a few Saints games in my life and it is one of the best attractions in the cities over the summer! This will allow the Saints to continue their excellent on field product for years and potentially see some future Twins stars also! A very feel good story is nearly complete in the Twin Cities. Double-A: Wichita Wind Surge (Wichita, KS) I don't have much on this team. From what I can tell this is the 2nd season for this team in Minor Leagues at all. Previously, they were the Triple-A affiliate to the Miami Marlins in 2020. However they could not convince any team to continue as a Triple-A affiliate so they will now become a Double-A affiliate. Other then that our following affiliates remain the same. The Twins' High-A affiliate is the Cedar Rapids Kernels down in Cedar Falls, Iowa and the low-A affiliate is down in Fort Myers Florida as the Mighty Mussels. This is also where the CenturyLink Sports Complex is located which is where the Twins play spring training. All the other lower leagues will remain the same as well. Exciting times in Minnesota baseball!! Go Twins! When Spring Training was cut short we all knew we were in for a different season this year for baseball. Many believed we would not see a 2020 baseball season.
However, players and officials wanted to have a season so they proposed a 60-game season with an expanded playoff bracket. Many were skeptical of the 60-game season as most believed that it would hardly constitute a season in baseball. But the season went on! Quite the season it was for our Twins, as they started quite hot on the season. They took off well ahead of the rest of the division, sitting comfortably at 1st for most of the 1st half of the season. There was a point when the Twins had the best record in baseball. It seemed as though the team was clicking on all cylinders, and Buxton was healthy! By the time midseason rolled around the Twins hit their now-typical midseason slump. They fell all the way down to 3rd in the division as they kept losing against Kansas City, Detroit and Chicago. They couldn't seem to get anything going for a while. But as the season wore on, the Indians and the White Sox started to slump themselves and the Twins took advantage. Minnesota was a top 3 team in baseball in the final month of the regular season and took first in the division by just a couple games. The Twins earned themselves a 3 seed in the first 16-team playoff bracket in baseball history. Unfortunately this did not end well and the Twins extended their postseason losing streak to 18 games, an all time MLB record. Not the greatest record to have on the books. So this season did not end how we all wanted it to. It brings up a lot of questions with this organization, especially when hardly any emotion was shown in the playoffs. This team seems to be completely different and shy when it goes to the playoffs. So until this organization can prove it can win a playoff game I cannot take them seriously. This is ridiculous and something needs to change. I wouldn't be too surprised to see manager Rocco Baldelli fired this winter. I just don't know of a ton of ways to change this team other then pulling the whole thing up and start over, which would be painful but maybe it would fix this teams postseason problems. Until next season, Go Twins! I thought I was having issues watching the Vikings this year, no the Twins just topped that.
Well to plainly put it, the Twins bats were flat and scored a total of 2 runs this series despite self-proclaiming themselves as the "Bomba Squad". This squad couldn't hardly hit the ball. Now they never saw this pitcher during the season, but that is no excuse. Obviously the Astros hit balls off our pitchers. In this article I will go over the good and the ugly of the series. I will release a season review later this coming week. Game 1: Houston Astros 4 Minnesota Twins 1 For 8 innings, the pitching staff held the Astros hitting core to 1 run and 5 hits. This is a great outing by the Kenta Maeda and the rest of the pitching staff. The unfortunate part is that our bats couldn't hit anything. We also only had 1 run. This is unacceptable. This team is supposedly one of the best lineups in baseball this year yet they can't hit the ball worth a damn in the playoffs. Unfortunately in the 9th inning the defense had its first extremely bad inning of the game and gave up 3 runs and 3 hits. The bats didn't look like anything changed. While we did get Cruz on base, we pinched Cave in for him on the bases. Nothing changed and we struck out twice to end the game. Game 2: Houston Astros 3 Minnesota Twins 1 Another decent game by the pitching staff. Jose Berrios started for the Twins and did give up one earned run. Other then that the pitching staff played decently. I use the same term for football: they bent but they didn't break. They did give up a single home run in the 7th inning. It hurt, but then again the Twins were still in reach. If the bats could just hit a run to tie it at least. But they could not do that despite Cruz getting walked. Also Buxton was in the lineup for game 2, so he pinched for Cruz in the bottom of the 8th. Except he was so aggressive with his baserunning that he was picked off soon after. The next inning the pitching staff gave up another run. Technically the game was still not out of reach but the bats still couldn't do anything. Also Rosario got thrown out of the game in the bottom of the 7th inning for chatting with the ump. Overall: I would say this postseason was still different then last season's postseason in one way: pitching staff. Our starting pitchers were great this year as well as our bullpen. I very much believe we have one of the best bullpens in baseball. This year's series loss is not on them. Another thing that hasn't changed is our bats go silent in the playoffs. This year was a lot more extreme then last year. At least last year we hit a few home runs in the playoffs. This year we could hardly score when literally handed the chance. This year is an even bigger disappointment then last year but every aspect. Many believed the Twins had a greater chance at a World Series this year then last year. This team needs to figure out how to turn this around in the postseason. Otherwise the only other choice I can see is to rip up the team again and start over. Look for my full season recap later next week. Until next time Twins fans. The Minnesota Twins are division champions for the second straight season!
Today the White Sox lost to clinch the Twins' division title as the Twins slightly back their way into the playoffs. The did lose the last series of the season to the Cincinnati Reds 2 games to 1. But they did their job and the White Sox did theirs. The first round playoff matchups are below: American League: 1. Tampa Bay vs. 8. Toronto 2. Oakland vs. 7. Chicago WS 3. Minnesota vs. 6. Houston 4. Cleveland vs. 8. New York Yankees Twins First Round Matchups: 9/29: vs. Houston TBD 9/30: vs. Houston TBD 10/1: vs. Houston TBD The Twins will play the Astros to start out the postseason in a best of 3 series that is new to baseball this year. Also new to baseball is a 16-team playoff format with no wild card game this year. This means the top 8 teams in each league go on to the playoffs. This first series will be a 3-game series for which all three will be at the high seed's ballpark. So this will be the first time since 2006 that the Twins have hosted a playoff series. It is the second home playoff series in Target Field's young history. The first coming back in the 2009-10 Inaugural season where the Twins got swept by the Yankees. Fortunately for this team, this year that cannot happen immediately. This is the 3rd time in the past four years that the Twins made the postseason. Lets hope this year can bear some fruit. Lookout on my Twitter in the coming days for the matchups in the playoffs vs the Astros. Times will also be released in the coming days so keep an eye out for that! Go Twins! Extremely good news for Twins fans like me that have been holding their breath to see how these guys can win. The Twins clinched their 2020 Postseason Spot on Saturday when they won over the Cubs. This is the second straight year that the Twins have made the postseason, and it is the 3rd in the past 4 years.
Playoff Positioning: Here is the current American League standings: Central: Chicago White Sox (34-19) -z Minnesota Twins (33-22) -z Cleveland Indians (29-24) Detroit Tigers (22-30) Kansas City Royals (21-32) East Tampa Bay Rays (35-19) -z New York Yankees (31-22) -z Toronto Blue Jays (27-26) Baltimore Orioles (23-31) Boston Red Sox (20-34) West Oakland A's (33-20) -z Houston Astros (27-26) Seattle Mariners (23-30) Los Angeles Angels (23-31) Texas Rangers (19-34) The way it is looking, almost all the top playoff spots are locked up. Since it is not looking like the Twins will get the division lead, they will have to play in the Wildcard round this year. The wildcard spots are looking like Toronto and Cleveland will claim them. The Twins will now finish out the year at home. Tomorrow they start a 2-game series with the Detroit Tigers to finish out that division series. Then on Friday, the Cincinnati Reds come to town for a 3-game series to finish out the regular season. Hopefully this year goes well. Go Twins! The Minnesota Twins have had quite the good year so far!
As of today before tonight's game, the Twins sit at 20-10. Which is good for first in the AL Central, and tied for first in the American League. This is extremely good given how they played last year. Even though the Twins finished with the best AL Central record last year, they had a mostly rocky midseason. Fortunately this season they do not have a midseason, as they only play 60 games. We are currently at the dead center of the season and the Twins are still going strong. The only blemish on their year so far has been their troubles with the Royals, which they just finished the season series with last week. They finished the series even with Kansas City at 5 games a piece. They even got swept by Kansas City in the first series in August when they lost all 3 games in Kansas City. Minnesota finished their series with the Royals last week as they bested them 2 games to 1. Its been very obvious where the Twins play the best this season, in their home ballpark. Even though they play great at Target Field, they aren't too bad on the road. They are 8-7 on the road this year, not too bad but not nearly as great as their road record in 2019. This year the Cleveland Indians are still a threat to the Twins. After a rocky start, the Indians have nearly caught up to the Twins as they are only 2.5 games back from the Bomba Squad. However, this year there is a third challenger, as the Chicago White Sox are dead even with the Indians at the moment of writing this, both at 17-12. Fortunately the Twins have played fairly well against the Indians and White Sox this season, with a combined 6-2 record between the two teams. The Minnesota-Chicago storyline will be a popular one to follow in the last month of play as they play each other 7 more times. The Twins will also still play the Indians 5 more times before the season is finished. Playoff Picture As I mentioned at the title, the Twins are gunning for a playoff spot at halfway through the season. If they can maintain their course throughout the rest of the season, they should finished atop the AL Central and towards the top of the American League. This would earn them a bye through the Wild Card round and straight to the ALDS. Here is how the American League is looking at halfway through the season. AL East Tampa Bay (19-11) New York Yankees (16-9) Toronto (14-13) Baltimore (14-14) Boston (9-20) AL Central Minnesota (20-10) Cleveland (17-12) Chicago WS (17-12) Detroit (11-16) Kansas City (11-18) AL West Oakland (20-10) Houston (16-13) Texas (11-17) Seattle (11-19) LA Angels (9-21) This means that the Twins and A's are tied for the number 1 slot in the AL right now. Good stuff! Good going for the Twins right now, hopefully they can continue! Win Twins! |
2024 Regular Season
September 2024 9/2-9/5: @ Tampa Bay L 1-2 9/6-9/8: @ Kansas City L 0-3 9/9-9/11: vs. LA Angels W 2-1 9/13-9/15: vs. Cincinnati L 1-2 9/16-9/19: @ Cleveland L 1-3 9/20-9/22: @ Boston W 2-1 9/24-9/26: vs. Miami L 1-2 9/27-9/29: vs. Baltimore L 0-3 AL Central Standings
1. Cleveland (92-69)-y 2. Kansas City (86-76)-x 3. Detroit (86-76)-x 4. Minnesota (82-80)-e 5. Chicago WS (41-121)-e Last Updated: 9/29/24 10:30 PM e-eliminated from playoff contention y-clinched division x-clinched playoff spot Home Stadium:
Target Field Minneapolis, MN Opened 2008 
MiLB Affiliates:
St. Paul Saints (AAA-St Paul, MN) Wichita Wind Surge (AA-Wichita, KS) Cedar Rapids Kernels (High-A-Cedar Rapids, IA) Fort Myers Mighty Mussels (Low-A Fort Myers, FL) Record Book
World Champions: 1987, 1991 American League Champions: 1965, 1987, 1991 AL West Champions: 1969-70, 1987, 1991 AL Central Champions: 2002-04, 2006, 2009-10, 2019-20, 2023 ALDS Appearances: 2002-04, 2006, 2009-10, 2019, 2023 ALCS Appearances: 1969-70, 1987, 1991, 2002 Wildcard Appearances: 2017, 2020, 2023 Total Playoff Appearances: 1965, 1969-70, 1987, 1991, 2002-04, 2006, 2009-10, 2017, 2019-20, 2023 Last Year's Record: 82-80 (2024), No playoffs |