This week, the MLB and MLBPA agreed to a return to play procedure and agreed to start training camp on July 1st, with games to start on July 17th. The MLB will only have a 60-game season this year, the shortest in almost a century. 
After lots of negotiating, the season will still consist of a 10 team playoff structure as last year.

Along with these announcements the MLB also released a schedule for the rest of the year.
​The remaining July schedule for the Minnesota Twins are as follows:

July 24-July 26: @ Chicago White Sox
July 28-July 29: vs. St. Louis Cardinals
July 30-August 2: vs. Cleveland Indians

I will post the August schedule on the sidebar as soon as we reach the Astros series as normal!

Great to have baseball back again!

​Stay safe Twins fans!

On March 13, 2020, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred announced that effective immediately the suspension of Spring Training and the prolonging of Opening Day 2020. This came after multiple other leagues cancelled their respective seasons including the NBA, NHL, and MLS.
Originally, Opening Day was pushed out three weeks but with the CDC releasing new recommendations for social gatherings it has been pushed out to mid-May. 
Hopefully the MLB continues to monitor the situation and will decide when it is safe enough to start the 2020 MLB season. 

God Bless and stay safe Twins fans.

This month has been a surprising month for Twins fans. Not because of a ton of great additions, mainly one big addition and I will address that in a little bit.

2019 Roster Extentions

Miguel Sano - 1B (Former 3B)
Sano was rewarded for his creative success with the Twins this year but gaining a 3-year extension to his current contract. Last season he was one of the 5 Twins hitters that hit 30+ home runs last season. Sano hit 34 of those, with 94 hits with a .346 OBP with a .576 slugger average. He had 76 runs and 79 RBI's. Hopefully Sano will continue his success this season which is shaping up to be quite the season. 

Tyler Duffey - RHP
Duffey was given another contract worth $1.2 million this offseason. Duffey has performed decently for the Twins this past season. He started some games and came out of the bullpen for some. Hopefully he will continue this production in 2020.

Byron Buxton - OF
​Buxton has been a very great player overall for the Twins when on the field. However he has been off the field for much of the last two seasons due to injuries. I guess the Twins believe he can avoid getting injured again this season. Hopefully he does what he can to help the Twins this year and continue to be the great outfielder and great batter the Twins need.

2020 Free Agent Signings

Josh Donaldson - 3B
This signing though, the Twins broke the bank with this signing! Minnesota signed Donaldson to a 4 year, $92 million contract last week. Josh adds more power and experience to the already stacked lineup for the Twins. This adds a lot of opportunity to this team that already won the AL Central last season and made it to the ALDS. Maybe with this lineup the Twins can reach somewhere further. Looks like Cleveland should still be beatable for the Twins this year so hopefully the Twins can have another successful season.

Other then this not much else has happened in the Twins clubhouse, lots of hope after that Donaldson signing though!

​Go Twins!

After some time away from baseball its time to take a dive in to the Twins' offseason moves thus far. Another recap will come around late January/early February just in time for Spring Training to begin. That is when the page will go under the next remodel for the 2020 season. I still have not decided if I will put the Spring Training schedule on the website or just leave the standings there.

Resignings:
Jake Odorizzi - RHP
This was a resigning most Twins fans were hope and expecting to happen. Odorizzi has been quite the pitcher for the Twins in the last couple years. Now he has faltered here and there but he has also had many great moments. He accepted the Twins' qualifying offer to him mere days after they lost the series to the Yankees. Hopefully he will continue to bring great things to this organization and is here for years to come!
Ehire Adrianza - INF
Adrianza fell under the radar for most of the 2019 season. But was very good when called upon. I saw no reason for the Twins to not bring the infielder back. Good move by Minnesota. This $1 million deal was reached last Monday. 
Micheal Pineda - RHP
Pineda is currently serving a 60-game suspension for performance-enhancing substances. This suspension will carry into the 2020 season. This move was one that I didn't really think much about after the season ended mainly because we haven't seen Pineda obviously. I hope this is the right move and that his behavior does not continue. This deal was reached last Thursday. 

Free Agents
Alex Avila - C
Now given the Twins' history with catchers this probably makes more sense but my question is why we sign a catcher after Mitch Garver had a spectacular season? Hopefully the front office has a good reason for this. This deal was reached last Friday.

Other Chatter
The Twins for the most part have remained relatively silent since the series loss to New York. They are resigning people they need and trying to grab interest of free agents. They are in the running to try and get the ace pitcher on the market right now. They really could use some help and consistency here.
There have been rumors that Miguel Sano will move to first base. However multiple sources have confirmed this is not the case and there is no current plan to move Sano. Also it does sound like Jorge Polanco is recovering well and should return in plenty of time for Spring Training.
In other news the Twins announced they are adding more safety netting to Target Field. They are 1 of 14 teams to announce additions to the field netting after a May 29th incident when an infant suffered a head injury following a collision with a foul ball.
Other then that things are pretty quiet in the Twins clubhouse. 

Enjoy the offseason Twins fans.

#GoTwins

Well the home fans did get to see a home run last night at Target Field. However, it was not enough to carry the Twins over the Yankees in Game 3 of the ALDS and the Yankees win the series 3-0. 
This one makes me scratch my head and foam at the mouth a little more as this is one the Twins had a realistic chance at winning. Odorizzi pitched really well and only allowed 2 runs from the high flying Yankees, which kept the Twins in scoring distance. The Twins ultimately left 9 batters on the bases. None of them scored. The tying runs were on base multiple times but the Twins couldn't bring them home. Very unlike the Twins to be honest. 
Overall, this series only proves that the curse of the Yankees is still true, they for some reason cannot win against the Yankees in the playoffs. The postseason losing streak is now at 16, tied for longest active in any major sport.

Season Review
This season has been a really great one for the Twins. It included many highs and lows. The first couple months the Twins owned the best record in baseball and many fans (including myself) were getting close to 100% sure that the Twins just might make the World Series this year and break the Minnesota curse! But as all Minnesota sports teams do they need to make us sweat a little bit. The Twins fell from grace around July. It got to the point they were a game down from Cleveland. Even with the Twins league-best hitting, they still couldn't beat Cleveland. Keep in mind Cleveland went from almost taking third in the Central division to all the way back to first. It was giving us Vikings fans some Packers flashbacks. But the Twins then had a good August and September which culminated with a series win in Cleveland, and eventually in Detroit as well to see witness to the Twins second playoff berth in 3 years. By the end of the season the Twins locked up the #3 seed in the American League and headed to the ALDS for the first time in almost 10 years. 
Now the playoffs did not go too well for the Twins as they were paired with the seemingly-unbeatable Yankees. The first game was mostly a good game until the 7th inning when the Yankees' bats came alive. The second game was a wash after a terrible grand slam. The Twins then came home to Target Field for what was hoped to be at least one game they could win. While the Twins didn't win that game they did put up a little bit of a fight. The pitching surprisingly did their job compared to the rest of the series. The bats however were relatively silent. While Eddie Rosario did hit a home run in the 8th to make the game 3-1, the relief pitching ending up letting us down again. But the Twins did still have time to make something of the game as they ended up leaving 9 batters on base. 
Even though the Twins blew it in the playoffs vs the Yankees yet again, I still believe this was a good season for the Twins. In the regular season they performed how many expected them too many years ago with the power this team has. Now if they can just avoid a slump next year that would be great. I will definitely be excited to watch Twins baseball again next April. 
Well until then I am signing off on Twins baseball. Its been quite the ride folks. See you in April!

Go Twins!

I am just going to say it: the Twins sucked on Saturday afternoon. Pitching staff was able to keep it at a minimum in the very beginning and then in the third inning the Yankees blew the game open with a grand slam. Duffey ruined two games in a row and it just might cost the Twins the series. 
I could analyze how the Twins hitting was abysmal but I really don't have the will too. This was just an all around disaster for the Twins. Hopefully they can win a game at Target Field as that is our only hope. But time will tell. 
That is all for tonight folks, I am going go watch the Wild and see if they can do any better.

Go Twins.
Game 3: Monday, October 7th 7:40 PM CT at Target Field
​Yankees lead 2-0

The Minnesota Twins lost last night to the New York Yankees by a score of 4-10 in Game 1 of the ALDS. It was combination of lots of different things why the game went ary. As surprising as the score is, the Twins and Yankees were actually very close up until the 7th inning. The Twins broke the ice first in the very first inning with a solo home run shot from Jorge Polanco and boosted the Twins' spirits. 
Jose Berrios pitched for 4 innings and help up most of his end of the deal. By the time he left the mound at the end of the 4th inning the score was 2-3. The Twins had just given up 2 runs on errors so it wasn't really all Berrios' fault, in fact Berrios helped the Twins keep their composure for a while when he was able to pitch a few strikeouts.

Now the rest of the game is a completely different story. Zack Littell replaced Berrios in the Bottom of the 5th inning. He only pitched two batter and was replaced by Tyler Duffey as he walked Aaron Judge and hit Brett Gardner. In all respects Duffey actually didn't do terrible. Even though he was on the field for a double to left field with bases loaded it wasn't completely his fault because if Miguel Sano would have caught the shot to left field it would have been a completely different inning. After those two runs went in to make it 3-5, Duffey struck one out and another fouled out. Now the top of the 6th rolls around and Sano hits a home run straight into the right field first row which makes the game 4-5. After a couple walks and a pitching change the Twins end up popping out in the infield and they move on to the bottom of the 6th. This inning was more disaster for the Twins as they allowed homers to center and right field. When the top of the 7th rolled around, the Twins needed some runs in order to keep up as the score was 4-7. But they did not get any as they lined out with one on base. In the bottom of the 7th Kyle Gibson replaced Stashak and allowed three more runs. The rest of the game was no scoring so the score ended up being 4-10 as the final score with the Yankees going up a game.

The Twins need to come out in Game 2 swinging. While Game 1 did see the Twins hitting 3 home runs, they were only solo shots so they amounted to three runs. The Twins needed to have some good innings and have the bats come alive. The bullpen also needs to keep up, while I do not expect to the Yankees to go silent we need the pitching staff to just keep the game within reach. 

But its time for Twins baseball at 4:06 PM CT!

Lets go Twins! #BombaSZN #BombaSquad

As a great welcome back the Twins made the playoffs! And are not playing in the wild card against the Yankees! Oh wait who are we playing? Yankees? In the ALDS? Crap.

Well lets analyze how the Twins can win this series. 

Game 1: in New York Oct. 4 6 PM CT
MIN starting pitcher: Berrios
Oh I like this match-up surprisingly. I think Berrios will pitch very well tonight and I think the Twins may actually come out and surprise the Yankees tonight and beat them in 9 innings. The Twins bats will hopefully be alive enough to hit a few home runs against their primary competitor for the regular season home run record.

Now I do think they will lose Game 2 in New York, but a slim margin. However when the Twins return to Minnesota they will surprisingly go against their grain of the season and win a home game! I do think that the Twins can win this series in 4 and not have to play more then 2 games in New York. However it could also go the other way and lose in 5. Depends if the Twins come out and play. 

Go Twins!

On Tuesday, the Minnesota Twins fired Paul Molitor as manager. He will be offered another position inside the club, the team announced. 

Molitor had a 305-343 record with Twins during his 4 season as manager. He also led the Twins to their first playoff appearance since 2010 last year where they lost to the Yankees in the Wild card game.

Go Twins!

The Minnesota Twins finished the season on Sunday with a record of 78-84. 

They finished the season on a 6 win streak. Not really all that great of a season but the record wasn't terrible. Still finished plenty behind Cleveland. Did not make the playoffs. Last year was officially a fluke. 

Also Joe Mauer may be retiring as he played a pitch at catcher in the 9th inning today. Thank you so much Joe Mauer for all the play over your long career.

Another year has passed, thank you Twins fans!

​Go Twins!