RSS Twins Team Notes

[Minnesota Twins]

Greatest Twins Moments & Performances: A Twinkie Town Definitive List (Round 16)

MINNEAPOLIS - AUGUST 17: Jim Thome #25 hits the first walk-off home run for the Minnesota Twins against the Chicago White Sox on August 17, 2010 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins won 7-6. (Photo by Wayne Kryduba/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Results​

• R1: Jack Morris Game 7 Shutout 1991
• R2: Kirby Puckett Game 6 Dominance 1991
• R3: First World Series championship 1987
• R4: AL Champions Metrodome welcome 1987
• R5: Game 163 wild victory 2009
• R6: Mudcat’s World Series must-win 1965
• R7: Harmon’s 500th homer 1971
• R8: Final day AL Central title 2006
• R9: Kirby Puckett’s Weekend for the Ages 1987
• R10: Breaking the Playoff Curse (TM) 2023
• R11: The Donnie & Hrbie Show 1987
• R12: Johan Santana in 17K 2007
• R13: Mauer’s Final Moment 2018
• R14: Dozier’s Comeback Capper 2015
• R15: Thome is my Homie 2010

When the Twins moved to Target Field in 2010, I had to be lured outdoors like TC Bear. My entire baseball existence to that point had been under the Teflon roof. So when “the new place” opened and balls weren’t flying over fences and dramatic walk-offs weren’t happening, I felt a little uneasy.

Big Jim Thome changed all that on August 17…

You don’t tug on Superman’s cape. You don’t spit into the wind. You don’t pull the mask off the old Lone Ranger. And you don’t mess around with Jim!

The newbie: Jose Miranda goes streaking!

(Note: I expect this series to continue 4-5 more weeks. I have plenty of moments/performances to consider, but feel free to drop suggestions in the comments and I’ll take them under advisement!)

Jacque Jones jolts contraction outta here (2002)​

• The 2001 offseason was undoubtedly the worst in Twins franchise history. After MLB Commissioner Bud Selig floated the contraction idea and Twins owner Carl Pohlad was more than willing to take the payout, it took a county judge to restore order. Jacque Jones restored between-the-white-lines order by homering in the first PA of the 2002 season! I wasn’t able to locate the audio, but Dick Bremer’s “And I hope it lands in Milwaukee!” call remains iconic.

Denard Span’s triple takes the top off (2008)​

• In the final week of the 2008 season, the Twins needed to sweep the Chicago White Sox at the Metrodome to even have a fighting chance at the AL Central crown. After taking the first two games, MN fell behind big in the finale—but kept battling back. In the bottom of the 8th, Denard Span bounced a ball down the first base line that scored Carlos Gomez to tie the game and propelled this Twinkie Town writer airborne. Alexi Casilla would later give the Twins the victory, but Span’s big blow was the buoyant moment.

Francisco Liriano out-duels Roger Clemens (2006)​

• Francisco Liriano’s 2006 run was perhaps the greatest pitching stretch in franchise history. His signature moment that season was out-dueling Roger Clemens in Houston on June 22, 2006. With The Rocket (5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) in the midst of his home-state comeback, Liriano (8 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) outclassed the veteran in his own back yard. While by no means Frankie’s best single-game performance of ‘06, beating Kody’s Dad put him on the national stage.

A Killer Clout (1965)​

• Minnesota’s struggles against the Bronx Bombers did not begin in the 2000s. Despite coming over from Washington, D.C. a competitive club, the Twins couldn’t get over the early-1960s Yankees dynasty. That changed in 1965—especially July 11. Trailing by one run heading into the bottom of the ninth in the final game before the All-Star Break, Harmon Killebrew stepped into the batter’s box with Rich Rollins on base. NYY hurler Pete Mikkelsen didn’t stand a chance. MN cruised to a World Series berth post-Break.

No Way, Jose! (2024)​

• On July 3, 2024, Jose Miranda singled in the eighth inning of a blowout loss to the Tigers. Ho hum. But then, something inexplicable happened: Miranda reached base the next twelve consecutive at-bats—13 if you count a HBP mixed in! In a sport where 0-fer slumps can sometimes last weeks, Jose managed to find his way on base—without the benefit of a BB—a baker’s dozen worth of times in a row.

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minneso...-2006-killebrew-1965-jose-miranda-2024-streak

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Which 2025 trade still bothers you the most?

The Twins’ surprise pivot into an aggressive selloff was the headline of a surprisingly active 2025 trade deadline. They sent out a shocking 10 players, nine of whom were on the active roster at the time of their transactions. Some of those were expected (Chris Paddack, Willi Castro, Harrison Bader, Danny Coulombe), while others came seemingly out of nowhere (why the hell did the Blue Jays want Ty France?)

Let’s look at the actual potentially frustrating trades.

Carlos Correa salary dump: Correa was traded back to the Houston Astros for a Low A pitcher who is no longer in affiliated ball. The Twins are also paying $30M of Correa’s remaining salary over the next three years, split out at $10M on Jan 1 of each year. This was a pure salary dump, nothing more nothing less.

Jhoan Duran for Eduardo Tait and Mick Abel: Duran could have been the most decorated closer in Twins history if they held onto him. Instead, the electric reliever will get a chance to earn that same acclaim in Philadelphia. Abel has flaws but can be an effective starter if he can get his walks under control. If he can’t he should be a closing option himself, at minimum. Tait, meanwhile, is one of the top catching prospects in all of baseball. He has a top-end throwing arm and a ton of power, but at 18-years-old still has a long way to go before he’s ready to handle an MLB pitching staff.

Griffin Jax for Taj Bradley: A rare one-for-one swap, which is always a fun move. Bradley came with twice the amount of team control as Jax and is a starter which is inherently more valuable than a reliever. However, Bradley may find himself in the bullpen soon enough if he can’t develop a secondary pitch to get lefties out. He’s shown flashes, next comes the consistency.

Louie Varland (and France) for Alan Roden and Kendry Rojas: Here’s the thing. In a vacuum, this trade makes sense from the Twins’ side. They traded a reliever for starting outfielder with a high floor and a borderline Top 100 pitching prospect that they excel at developing. However, Varland came with five more years of team control and the Twins suddenly found their elite bullpen completely depleted after moving Jax, Duran, and Coulombe. Questionable, to say the least.

---

Like with the Varland trade, each of these moves in a vacuum is defensible. But in totality, they’re pretty underwhelming. Relievers are fickle and even the best can be inconsistent from year to year (see: Jax). But if they truly expected to contend in 2026, who can they conceivably hand the ball to after their vaunted starting staff leaves the game?

Additionally, the Twins’ weakness the past few years has been on the offensive side of the ball. They main MLB-ready players they got back were Roden and three pitchers! Maybe these moves were made with an eye toward additional trades this offseason, but they’ve largely sat on their hands while adding a few veteran hitters. Then Tom Pohlad (probably) forced out the man who was putting together the plan. It’s bad process likely preceding bad results.

That being said, the trade that irks me is still Correa. With Correa’s regression and chronic injury history, getting out of the majority of the $110M still owed to him absolutely makes sense. However, the Pohlads didn’t allow the front office to put the $20M/year saved back into the team. Instead, they have a contending core without the surrounding cast to back them up and their lowest adjusted payroll since Kirby Puckett was alive.

Which trade do you regret the most? Correa’s is the most obvious, but this roster sure could use one of Jax or Duran right about now…

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minneso...8/which-2025-trade-still-bothers-you-the-most

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Can this team actually win the AL Central?

Big day for Buck! (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Tom Pohlad wants you to believe the Twins will be able to contend in this division despite not giving the front office the resources to do so. They have a lot of talent and untapped potential, and maybe a new coaching staff can do a better job of helping them reach their ceiling, but they’re also running a payroll below Metrodome levels when adjusting for inflation and league spending.

FanGraphs projects the Twins to go roughly 80-82 with a 16% chance to win the division and 32% chance to make the playoffs. That feels optimistic relative to how 2025 finished, but it’s important to remember that the Twins were missing Pablo Lopez, Byron Buxton, Bailey Ober, Zebby Matthews, David Festa, and Ryan Jeffers for most of that stretch.

The Twins also still managed to take regular leads into the late innings and lost them thanks to Justin Topa and Cole Sands getting overworked and overtaxed. They were the third-worst bullpen in baseball by WPA after the trade deadline, but will naturally see that improved due to sheer bullpen luck and some combination of Connor Prielipp, David Festa, Marco Raya, Mick Abel, and Kendry Rojas giving a boost in pure stuff, if nothing else.

Their main competition will be the Tigers, led by back-to-back Cy Young winner Tarik Skubal and new acquisition Framber Valdez. The Royals made some additions on the margins but are currently slated to start a 22-year-old rookie catcher at DH. The Guardians, meanwhile, are always a threat due to the black magic and satanic sacrifices they make to start each season. Their most recent sacrifice to the baseball devil was three-time All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase, who reportedly fixed pitches in 48 (!!) separate games in the past two seasons.

That being said, the Twins’ starting pitching is probably the single best position group in the division. The Tigers are giving them a run for their money, but there are still a lot of question marks and health uncertainty behind their two stars. Minnesota’s rotation goes legitimately 12-deep with MLB-caliber starters. Even if several move to the bullpen, they have the prospects to withstand a slew of injuries at any point in the season.

They’ll need better health luck from players who haven’t had it in the past (Lewis, Keaschall, Wallner) and major steps forward from some young hitters (Lee, Roden, top prospects Jenkins and Rodriguez), but that was essentially the formula that allowed the Tigers to compete last year and the Royals to do so in 2024. The Twins are flawed, but they’re also in unquestionably the worst division in MLB.

Do you believe Tom Pohlad that the Twins can compete right now? Does there have to be a major trade to do so, or would a few marginal upgrades in the bullpen be enough with internal development?

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minneso...086/can-this-team-actually-win-the-al-central

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Twins announce 22 non-roster invitees

Bat meet ball meet glove… it’s good to have baseball back. | Daniel Shirey / MLB Photos via Getty Images

Spring training is coming up on every baseball fan’s docket. Teams travel to warmer weather to begin their work and preparation for the coming season, and players on the bubble hope to earn their spot on the Major League roster.

To that end, the Twins on Monday announced 22 players who have received an invite to major league camp:

We have invited the following players to Major League camp:

— Minnesota Twins (@twinsbaseball.bsky.social) 2026-02-09T18:47:17.000Z

Some notes from this group:

The non-roster invitees include three recent Twins first-round picks: Aaron Sabato, Walker Jenkins, and Kaelen Culpepper. Sabato made his AAA-St. Paul debut last season, hitting 14 home runs with a .741 OPS after putting up a .973 OPS (with nine homers) in AA-Wichita. Jenkins also reached St. Paul last season after spending most of the season in Wichita (.912 OPS), playing in 23 games as a Saint (.719 OPS) in his age-20 season. Culpepper, like Jenkins, has been accelerating through the minors, reaching Wichita in his second minor league season and putting up an .824 OPS over 59 games.

The group also includes several older veterans, none more familiar to Twins fans than Gio Urshela. Urshela was the Twins’ primary third baseman in 2022, playing in 144 games and putting up a 2.9-WAR season before joining the Angels the following year. Across the last three seasons, though, Urshela has been a subpar player, with a .654 OPS and 0.4 total WAR in just 249 games played.

Twins fans may also recognize veteran middle infielder Orlando Arcia via familiarity with his brother Oswaldo, who spent the first three-plus seasons of his career as a Twin, bounced around the league in 2016 (playing for four teams), and was out of the majors following that year. And there is one more player here who has previously appeared in a game for the Twins: reliever Matt Bowman, who made five appearances out of the Minnesota bullpen in 2024.

The last player I want to draw attention to here is Matt Canterino, whose pitching track has been repeatedly derailed by injuries. Canterino last threw a pitch in a non-spring training game in 2022 and will reportedly be unable to pitch yet again this spring, but he remains with the organization.

Of course, I haven’t talked about everyone here, which means it’s going to be one of the players I haven’t mentioned who comes out of nowhere to earn a roster spot. And that’s the best part of spring training.

We’re this close to baseball.

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/spring-...ster-invitees-kaelen-culpepper-walker-jenkins

 

[Zedster]

Interesting roundup of moves and news here. The non-roster invites are always fun to track - you never know who's going to surprise in camp.

I'm cautiously optimistic about Jenkins getting that invite. Kid's been moving through the system pretty quick for his age, and that .912 OPS in Wichita is hard to ignore even if the AAA numbers were more modest. Culpepper's another one to watch.

As for the "which trade bothers you most" question... I think the Correa salary dump stings the worst for me too. Not because of what they got back (everyone knew it was just about shedding money), but because the savings didn't go back into the roster. That's the frustrating part. You can justify moving expensive contracts if you're reallocating resources, but pocketing the difference while asking fans to believe you're still competing? That's a tough sell.

The bullpen situation concerns me heading into the season. Moving Jax, Duran, and Coulombe all in one deadline was aggressive. The rotation depth is legitimately impressive - probably the best in the Central like the article says - but late-inning situations could get dicey if Prielipp or one of the young arms doesn't step up fast.

Division's weak enough that 80-82 might actually be competitive though. Strange times in the AL Central.

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Rank the AL Central. Where do the Twins truly stand?

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - OCTOBER 10: Kerry Carpenter #30 of the Detroit Tigers is congratulated by Javier Báez #28 after hitting a two run home run against the Seattle Mariners during the sixth inning in game five of the American League Division Series at T-Mobile Park on October 10, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) | Getty Images

I touched on this in Monday’s question, but let’s get more direct. I want to know where you truly think the Twins stand among the worst division in baseball. I’ll once again reference you to FanGraphs’ playoffs odds page, which is updated after games and transactions.

Here’s my ranking:

1. Tigers
2. Royals
3. Twins
4. Guardians
5. White Sox

If we’re using groups or tiers, I would say that the Tigers are clearly a group on their own, especially after signing Framber Valdez. The Royals probably have a good gap between themselves and the Twins as long as their starters can be healthier than they were in 2025. Then the Twins and Guardians are in a “if they get 1 or 2 players to breakout” group. I put Minnesota above Cleveland simply because the Twins’ main weakness is the bullpen, which is much easier to fix or find new, reliable players, whereas the Guardians need to find 3-4 bats that can be above-average behind Jose Ramirez and Steven Kwan. Also similar to the Twins, they have a few former top prospects that have yet to establish themselves (George Valera, Chase DeLauter, CJ Kayfus), so it’s definitely possible they somehow win the division yet again.

I also, briefly, want to give a shoutout to the White Sox who have gone from historically terrible to a dark horse division contender within two years. GM Chris Getz has nailed several big trades over the past two years, bringing in current or future mid-lineup bats like Chase Meidroth, Kyle Teel, and Braden Montgomery. They have some work to do on the pitching side, but they have a solid base and a clear path toward the future, which is much more than what they could say when Getz took over baseball ops.

So, what’s your AL Central ranking? Is this the Tigers’ division to lose, or are you higher on the Royals than I am?

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minneso...the-al-central-where-do-the-twins-truly-stand

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Twins Acquire LHP Anthony Banda from Dodgers

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - NOVEMBER 03: Anthony Banda of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates on a bus during the Dodgers 2025 World Series Championship parade on November 03, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Twins have acquired left-handed reliever Anthony Banda from the Dodgers in exchange for international bonus pool space. Banda was designated for assignment by the Dodgers earlier this week, essentially meaning the Twins gave the Dodgers a bit of cash to jump the waiver line. RHP Jackson Kowar, picked up off the waiver wire last week, was DFA’d to make room on the 40-man roster. The minor trade was reported by Bobby Nightengale of the Star Tribune.

Over the past two seasons in LA, Banda has a 3.14 ERA/4.52 FIP with 111 strikeouts in 114.2 innings. The FIP is quite a bit higher due to his walk rate, which was one of the worst in MLB among relievers last season. Like most lefties, he’s significantly better against left-handed batters and will likely be deployed as more of a true lefty-specialist. Fellow left-hander Kody Funderburk actually struggles more against lefties, making him and Banda a good pair in the middle innings for the Twins.

Banda will make a very modest $1.625M in 2026 and is controllable next season as well via arbitration. I would expect the Twins to still be pretty active on the waiver and trade market over the next two months as they look to beef up their bullpen. They have three solid left-handed options now with Banda, Funderburk, and Taylor Rogers, but could still use a more established right-handed reliever to go with Cole Sands and Justin Topa.

What are your thoughts on Banda? Can the Twins help get his walk rate under control and make him a more effective reliever?

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minnesota-twins-news/51155/twins-acquire-lhp-anthony-banda-from-dodgers

 

[Minnesota Twins]

What MLB looked like in 1936

UNSPECIFIED - UNDATED: New York Yankees Lou Gehrig and Joe DiMaggio photographed during Spring Training drills. (Photo by William Greene/Sports Studio Photos/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Tomorrow afternoon, my extended family will celebrate the 90th birthday of my grandmother. A solid baseball fan, Grandma Betty is probably most famous for the “hot dog sandwiches” (wieners sliced the long way and put between slices of white bread) she’d smuggle into Metropolitan Stadium for her family. Her Fridley home has long been a way station for me to stop by before catching the Northstar train (RIP) to the ballpark.

So, in honor of her 90th trip around the sun, let’s take a gander at what MLB looked like in the year of her birth…

The 102-51-2 New York Yankees were—surprise, surprise—the cream of the baseball crop. It’s what happens when the rookie season of Joe DiMaggio (4.8 bWAR, 29 HR, 125 RBI, .323 BA, 128 OPS+) overlaps with perhaps the peak of AL-MVP Lou Gehrig’s (9.7 bWAR, 49 HR, 167 R, 152 RBI, .354 BA, 190 OPS+) prowess.

NYC also reigned supreme in the National League, with the 92-62 NY Giants riding Mel Ott (7.9 bWAR, 33 HR, 135 RBI, 177 OPS+) and NL-MVP Carl Hubbell (9.7 bWAR, 26-6, 2.31 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 169 ERA+) to their circuit crown.

Ultimately, the Bronx Bombers would prevail in a six-game World Series.

In the Negro Leagues, the Pittsburgh Crawfords (48-33-2) were tops, with the combination of Josh Gibson (LL in HR, RBI, and OPS), Cool Papa Bell, & player/manager Oscar Charleston being far too great a talent assemblage for any other club to match.

A few other fun facts about the Summer of ‘36…

• Luke Appling (Chicago White Sox) led either league with a .388 BA
• Something called Van Lingle Mungo (Brooklyn Dodgers) was the whiff-wizard: 238 K

• Bob Feller (Cleveland) made his MLB debut
• The American League banned all night contests—even prohibiting light installations in their ballparks
• In a strange scenario, the Boston Braves became the Boston Bees for one season. Their park—formerly Braves Field—was re-christened NL Park, but fans took to calling it the “Bee Hive”! Inexplicably, they were back to Braves in 1937.

The first Baseball Hall of Fame class was inducted into Cooperstown in 1936 (before the museum was even open to the public): Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mathewson, & Walter Johnson. Quite a crew!

It is crazy to think that all these events we look back on with wonder & awe took place within the lifespan of my grandmother. So, cheers to 1936 and Grandma Betty! She has told me she wants to get to the century mark, so provided we don’t all turn into bots within the next ten years, I’ll see you then for the 1946 recap.

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/general...rig-dimaggio-hubbell-ott-appling-lingle-mungo

 

[Minnesota Twins]

TwinkieTown Movie Night: Moneyball

Here’s your link for the movie! It’s from a Strange Site, but most internet security experts consider it pretty safe (for streaming; I wouldn’t try downloading). It has no commercials, so no sync issues! Sync issues are a pain on Movie Nights! Start the show at 7:30!

The movie’s based (kinda) on a 2003 book, Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, by one Michael Lewis (I haven’t read it). Two of Lewis’s other books, The Blind Side and The Big Short, have also been adapted into hit movies, so that guy’s rolling in dough. Good for him, I guess, unless he’s an a-hole, in which case, damn you, Hollywood!

This one has a convoluted production history. Originally hack director David Frankel and sub-hack writer Stan Chervin were set to do it. Then Brad Pitt got interested, although he didn’t like the script. So hit writer Steven Zaillian was hired; that got Pitt to commit. Then, for some reason, the studio brought on director Steven Soderbergh; maybe because Soderbergh had directed Ocean’s 11, which had Brad Pitt in it, and it made tons of money. But Soderbergh’s also the guy who did a 267-minute Che Guevara movie; he’s not somebody you can just tell what to do. Sony tried telling him what to do. It didn’t pan out. The film was shut down a few days before shooting started.

Still, Sony had already paid for the book rights and Pitt’s salary, so they brought in some new people to rethink the movie, director Bennett Miller and prolific writer Aaron Sorkin (kind of like a modern-day Rod Serling, if Serling was a little funnier and a lot less thoughtful). Sorkin and Zaillian hashed out a new script together, which involved sharing ego space, which neither liked doing, but they did it.

You can read all of that in this Hollywood Reporter article by Alex Ben Block. You can also read A.I.-generated garbage posts about the making of Moneyball like this and this and this. What’s “notoriously picky” Moneyball director Bennett Miller working on today? Projects about how intriguing A.I. technology is for artists. So you can ignore anything he ever does ever again.

I don’t like Miller’s other work. I thought his Foxcatcher was shallow, exploitative, and heartless. I felt the same way about his Capote, although Philip Seymour Hoffman was excellent in it. Because he’s just excellent in everything.

Hoffman’s here with Pitt, Jonah Hill, Arliss Howard, the great Robin Wright, and a bunch of actors playing baseball players (or lesser-known baseball players playing wider-known baseball players). Born-in-Minnesota Chris Pratt plays Scott Hatteberg; he had to slim down for the role (and blamed his weight gain on his girlfriend’s cooking). Well, I liked him better when he was chubby-faced.

Was Billy Beane all that bright? After all, during his tenure in Oakland, the A’s never advanced to the ALCS once. But, as gintzer pointed out in a different comment thread, the A’s had several years where they won a ton of games. The ball bounces differently in some best-of-5 playoff series, things might have gone otherwise. So maybe Beane was a rebel genius. (Although I’m not invested in the notion.)

Here’s your link again for the movie! Click your clicks at 7:30!

Here’s the upcoming schedule:

February 20: Back to the Future III (1990)

By request, and because I haven’t seen it since 1990 (when I enjoyed it a lot). Why haven’t I seen it since then? Well, there’s an embarrassing tale… Free on the Strange Site.

February 27: The Stratton Story (1949)

James Stewart plays a pitcher who makes the majors, falls in love, then faces intense obstacles. Haven’t seen it, but it’s based on a true story, which in Hollywood means “100% accurate.” Free on the Strange Site.

March 6: Stop Making Sense (1984)

You may ask yourself: do we have some rock fans, here? We do. And this is one of the very best rock-concert movies. Featuring the Talking Heads and a totally badass touring band. Free on the Strange Site.

March 13: 42 (2013)

I wanna make sure we get this one in, because we started with The Jackie Robinson Story. I might be outta town March 20, and there might be a game March 27 (currently nothing scheduled but you know how Opening Week can go.) Free on the Strange Site.

Running out of time for suggestions this year… but, who knows, maybe we’ll give it a go next year, too? In any case, show starts at 7:30!

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/book-club/51144/twinkietown-movie-night-moneyball

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Monday Morning Minnesota: The “It’s a New Day” Edition

FORT MYERS, FL- MARCH 16: A detail view of the jersey of Bailey Ober #17 of the Minnesota Twins prior to a spring training game against the Boston Red Sox on March 16, 2025 at the Lee Health Sports Complex in Fort Myers, Florida. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Pitchers and catchers have reported, optimism is in the air, and the first spring training game is this Saturday! Baseball is upon us, and in less than two months, it’ll be Opening Day, and we can enjoy cheap drinks, courtesy of the Twins. All is well in Twins Territory. (besides…y’know, everything else surrounding the team).

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:

• Check out The Feed, where you can add your discussions about the Twins!
• We’re starting a new segment called Daily Questions! Provide your opinion on the Twins and debate with the community!
• How can you not be romantic about Twinkie Town Movie Night? Many thanks to James Fillmore for organizing our Friday movie nights. We’ve got Back to the Future III coming up this week!
• Matt Monitto rounds up the 22 non-roster invitees to spring training.
• We’re onto Round 16 of Zach Koenig’s Greatest Twins Moments and Performances list.
• The Twins made another move this past week, and Ben Jones has more on the trade for Anthony Banda.
• Zach Koenig takes us allllllll the way back to baseball in 1936.
• Ben Jones provides his first roster projection of spring training.

Elsewhere in Twins Territory:

• Dan Hayes at The Athletic has a look at Byron Buxton’s mindset heading into spring training.
• Bobby Nightengale at the Star Tribune checks in with new “old Twin” Liam Hendriks as he tries to make the team.
• Matthew Leach at MLB.com looks at one major change that Royce Lewis made this offseason – a new coach.
• Betsy Helfand at the Pioneer Press catches up with Joe Ryan and his eventful offseason.

In the World of Baseball:

• Old friend Ty France is back with the San Diego Padres.
• Anthony Castrovince at MLB.com has the breakdown of the new ABS system coming to Major League Baseball.
• Jeff Passan at ESPN looks at the impact of Kyle Tucker’s contract on potential labor discussions with the CBA expiring at the end of this year.

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/general/51175/monday-morning-minnesota-the-its-a-new-day-edition

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Greatest Twins Moments & Performances: A Twinkie Town Definitive List (Round 17)

July 11, 1965: Harmon Killebrew delivers one of the most memorable home runs in franchise history in the final game before the All-Star break. The Twins, leading the Yankees by four games in the AL standings, trailed New York 5-4 entering the bottom of the ninth at Met Stadium. With Rich Rollins on first and two out, Killebrew sent a 3-and-2 pitch from Pete Miklelsen into the left-field bleachers and a 6-5 Twins victory. The Twins cruised to the AL pennant. (Photo by John Croft/Star Tribune via Getty Images) | Star Tribune via Getty Images

Results​

• R1: Jack Morris Game 7 Shutout 1991
• R2: Kirby Puckett Game 6 Dominance 1991
• R3: First World Series championship 1987
• R4: AL Champions Metrodome welcome 1987
• R5: Game 163 wild victory 2009
• R6: Mudcat’s World Series must-win 1965
• R7: Harmon’s 500th homer 1971
• R8: Final day AL Central title 2006
• R9: Kirby Puckett’s Weekend for the Ages 1987
• R10: Breaking the Playoff Curse (TM) 2023
• R11: The Donnie & Hrbie Show 1987
• R12: Johan Santana in 17K 2007
• R13: Mauer’s Final Moment 2018
• R14: Dozier’s Comeback Capper 2015
• R15: Thome is my Homie 2010
• R16: A Killer Clout 1965

There’s a moment in every memorable Twins season where fans realize “hey, this is going to be something special”. In 1965, that happened on July 11. Trailing the rival New York Yankees 5-4 going into the bottom of the ninth, Harmon Killebrew dug in representing the winning run. NYY hurler Pete Mikkelsen didn’t stand a chance:

Thanks to their superstar slugger’s walkoff heroics, the ‘65 Twins were off and running!

The newbie: a terrific trifecta!

Jacque Jones jolts contraction outta here (2002)​

• The 2001 offseason was undoubtedly the worst in Twins franchise history. After MLB Commissioner Bud Selig floated the contraction idea and Twins owner Carl Pohlad was more than willing to take the payout, it took a county judge to restore order. Jacque Jones restored between-the-white-lines order by homering in the first PA of the 2002 season! I wasn’t able to locate the audio, but Dick Bremer’s “And I hope it lands in Milwaukee!” call remains iconic.

Denard Span’s triple takes the top off (2008)​

• In the final week of the 2008 season, the Twins needed to sweep the Chicago White Sox at the Metrodome to even have a fighting chance at the AL Central crown. After taking the first two games, MN fell behind big in the finale—but kept battling back. In the bottom of the 8th, Denard Span bounced a ball down the first base line that scored Carlos Gomez to tie the game and propelled this Twinkie Town writer airborne. Alexi Casilla would later give the Twins the victory, but Span’s big blow was the buoyant moment.

Francisco Liriano out-duels Roger Clemens (2006)​

• Francisco Liriano’s 2006 run was perhaps the greatest pitching stretch in franchise history. His signature moment that season was out-dueling Roger Clemens in Houston on June 22, 2006. With The Rocket (5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K) in the midst of his home-state comeback, Liriano (8 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K) outclassed the veteran in his own back yard. While by no means Frankie’s best single-game performance of ‘06, beating Kody’s Dad put him on the national stage.

No Way, Jose! (2024)​

• On July 3, 2024, Jose Miranda singled in the eighth inning of a blowout loss to the Tigers. Ho hum. But then, something inexplicable happened: Miranda reached base the next twelve consecutive at-bats—13 if you count a HBP mixed in! In a sport where 0-fer slumps can sometimes last weeks, Jose managed to find his way on base—without the benefit of a BB—a baker’s dozen worth of times in a row.

Radke-Santana-Lohse Go Back-To-Back-To-Back (2004)​

• On July 5, 2004, Brad Radke (9 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K) blanked the Kansas City Royals. Not exactly an uncommon feat in those days. But the next night, Johan Santana (9 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 13 K) did the same. The next night, Kyle Lohse (9 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 7 K) made it a SP hat trick of complete game shutouts! Figures—Kyle’s one start at the Metrodome I didn’t see and he goes the distance!

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minneso...jose-miranda-streak-2024-liriano-clemens-2006

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Roster Projection 1.0: Who will break camp with the Twins?

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - AUGUST 28: David Festa #58 of the Minnesota Twins delivers a pitch against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning at Target Field on August 28, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Full Spring Training is officially underway with all pitchers, catchers, and position players in Fort Myers to get the Twins season started. This team, as always, is full of potential and hope for a strong 2026, but there remain a few distinct roles to be filled. Let’s break down the projected Opening Day roster at the start of Spring Training.

(Note: anyone in italics is a non-roster invitee that would need to be added to the 40-man roster before Opening Day)

Starting Pitchers​

• Locks (4): Pablo Lopez, Joe Ryan, Bailey Ober, Simeon Woods Richardson
• In contention (4): Taj Bradley, Zebby Matthews, David Festa, Mick Abel
• Out (9): Andrew Morris, Connor Prielipp, Kendry Rojas, Marco Raya, John Klein, Cory Lewis, Trent Baker, Christian MacLeod

The top 3 in the rotation are as locked as possible. SWR probably should be a “near lock” but I think it’s his spot to lose with so many questions behind him. The splitter he added in the second half last year was quietly his best pitch and could help him take things up a level.

The final rotation spot will come down largely to health. Festa and Zebby have flashed frontline ability over the past two seasons, but both have durability questions and Festa missed the end of last season after undergoing shoulder surgery. He’ll be built up as a starter, but I think is bullpen bound due to health concerns. Zebby and Abel have the best stuff, but have been hit very hard in their limited MLB time. As such, Bradley probably has a leg up here.

Zebby, Abel, and Morris are likely the next men up for the rotation. Top pitching prospect Prielipp will see MLB time too, but likely out of them ‘pen after already having two UCL reconstructions in his young career.

Relief Pitchers​

• Locks (6): Taylor Rogers, Justin Topa, Cole Sands, Anthony Banda, Kody Funderburk, Eric Orze
• In contention (13): Travis Adams, Connor Prielipp, Kendry Rojas, Marco Raya, David Festa, Liam Hendriks, Andrew Chafin, Julian Merryweather, Matt Bowman, Dan Altavilla, Cody Laweryson, Grant Hartwig, Andrew Bash, Raul Brito
• Out (1): Matt Canterino (IL)

Almost no one is out of contention here because there are two WIDE open bullpen slots for whoever can take them. Left-handers Prielipp and Rojas’ chance of making the team straight out of camp took a hit with the additions of Rogers, Banda, and Chafin over the past few weeks. Combined with Funderburk, they need righty arms more than anything.

The only reason Hendriks isn’t a lock is because of his health. He only threw 14 innings last season with the Red Sox after barely pitching in 2023-2024 due to a cancer scare and Tommy John surgery, but flashed his strong breaking balls as usual. If he’s healthy, he will likely close games for the Twins.

Your other choices for the final bullpen spot come down to pitchers who have good stuff with bad results (Festa, Merryweather, Brito) or bad stuff with better results (Chafin, Bowman, Altavilla, Laweryson, Hartwig). Given the lack of raw stuff in the bullpen as it stands, I think they take a gamble on the first group.

Catchers​

• Locks (2): Ryan Jeffers, Victor Caratini
• In contention: none
• Out (6): Alex Jackson, David Bañuelos, Ricardo Olivar, Noah Cardenas, Patrick Winkel, Andrew Cossetti

Put it in pen. Even if there’s an injury, just sub in Jackson for whoever is out to start the season. This is the easiest group to project by far.

Infielders​

• Locks (5): Josh Bell, Luke Keaschall, Brooks Lee, Royce Lewis, Kody Clemens
• In contention (4): Ryan Kreidler, Austin Martin, Tristan Gray, Orlando Arcia
• Out (5): Eric Wagaman, Aaron Sabato, Gio Urshela, Tanner Schobel, Kalen Culpepper

Wagaman doesn’t have a role in the infield, maybe in the outfield. Same could be said for Martin, but I wonder if Shelton gives him one last try at second base with their needs here. Clemens can’t play shortstop, unfortunately, but he should get plenty of time at 2B and 3B throughout the season.

The only real question here is who can provide any semblance of life as a utility man behind Brooks Lee. Ryan Kreidler, Tristan Gray, and Orlando Arcia will battle for the honor throughout Spring Training, but don’t be surprised if the Twins make an outside addition still.

Outfielders​

• Locks (3): Byron Buxton, Matt Wallner, Trevor Larnach (for now)
• Near locks (3): Alan Roden, Austin Martin, James Outman
• In contention (2): Eric Wagaman, Kyler Fedko
• Out (5): Emmanuel Rodriguez, Gabriel Gonzalez, Hendry Mendez, Walker Jenkins, Kala’i Rosario

I expect to see plenty of Rodriguez, Jenkins, and Gonzalez with the Twins this year, but they all need some more seasoning in AAA first. Fedko had a breakout 2025 in St. Paul, but sits behind Wagaman as a right-handed platoon partner for OF/1B.

Larnach is a lock for now because I still think he’ll get dealt to an outfield-needy contender before Opening Day. If he’s with the Twins, he’s obviously a lock. Roden’s fate is tied to Larnach’s as another lefty corner outfielder. In any other scenario he would be the Opening Day left fielder, but that is now Larnach’s spot with the acquisitions of Josh Bell and Victor Caratini taking up most of the 1B/DH reps.

Martin finished 2025 as one of the Twins’ most consistent position players. There’s no place for him to start, but he will start in an outfield corner against every lefty and plenty of righties as players need days off. Outman likely is a lock as well as the only other player who can play a good CF behind Buxton. Both of them could be pushed out due to roster needs elsewhere, though Outman is out of minor league options.

---

Final Roster Projection 1.0​

Bold = camp battles

SP (5): Lopez, Ryan, Ober, SWR, Taj Bradley

RP (8): Rogers, Topa, Sands, Banda, Funderburk, Orze, Liam Hendriks, David Festa

C (2): Jeffers, Caratini

IF (6): Bell, Keaschall, Lee, Lewis, Clemens, Tristan Gray

OF (5): Buxton, Wallner, Larnach, Austin Martin, James Outman

Martin and Outman get Opening Day spots thanks to their versatility and ability to provide late game value off the bench with defense and baserunning. Bradley beats out Zebby for the final rotation spot. Hendriks is healthy and Festa shines in short spurts to give the Twins some electricity at the end of games.

Most controversially, I have Gray as the final position player. Kreidler is a marginal defender at shortstop while Gray shines there. He also has the potential to be a much better hitter than Kreidler and have a mid-career offensive breakout like the Twins helped Willi Castro discover. I think Arcia is completely washed. If you can’t hit in Denver in August, you can’t do it in Minneapolis in April. Thanks for reminding me of Twins legend/your brother Oswaldo Arcia, though.

Who do you see making the Twins out of Spring Training? Any surprises you think will come out of nowhere like Castro in 2023 or Jhoan Duran in 2022?

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minneso...ection-1-0-who-will-break-camp-with-the-twins

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Twins 2026 spring training roster — numerically

Welcome back, Cody. | Stephen Maturen / Getty Images

A month ago, I wrote about the new jersey numbers among the Twins’ roster. Now that the team’s spring training roster is finalize, why not do it again? After all, there have been several signings, both major- and minor-league, and other roster changes.

I won’t spend as many words on numbers for individual players this time, just highlighting ones I find interesting and going over general trends and changes.

Here goes. (All players in italics are non-roster invitees to major league camp.)

Starting Pitchers
17 Bailey Ober
20 Mick Abel
24 Simeon Woods Richardson
26 Taj Bradley
41 Joe Ryan
49 Pablo López
52 Zebby Matthews
58 David Festa
60 Kendry Rojas
61 Connor Prielipp
71 John Klein
74 Trent Baker
78 Andrew Morris
81 Cory Lewis
82 Christian MacLeod
85 Marco Raya

(López tearing an elbow ligament yesterday already throws the projected rotation into question, but that has been discussed elsewhere.)

Unsurprisingly, players at the back of the roster have been largely assigned higher numbers as seems to be baseball tradition. I know many are projecting Prielipp to move to the bullpen, but I left him here just for the sake of the list. Interestingly, the three 80s numbers on this list have been worn by Twins: Jordan Balazovic wore 81, Ober and Austin Martin started their careers in 82, and Charlie Barnes and Jair Camargo wore 85.

Relief Pitchers
19 Eric Orze
31 Liam Hendriks
39 Andrew Chafin
43 Anthony Banda
44 Cole Sands
45 Travis Adams
47 Julian Merryweather
48 Justin Topa
51 Matt Bowman
53 Dan Altavilla
55 Taylor Rogers
57 Kody Funderburk
59 Grant Hartwig
65 Cody Laweryson
93 Andrew Bash
94 Raul Brito

Also unsurprisingly, major league veterans invited to camp don’t get assigned high spring training numbers. Hendriks, who debuted as a starter for the Twins wearing #62 before becoming a top-level closer, will wear his regular #31 because he is the 31st Australian to play in the majors. Chafin takes #39 for the fourth time (he’s worn it with the Cubs, A’s, and Angels), Banda has claimed the #43 he wore for the past two seasons (and earlier in Toronto) from James Outman, and Rogers (as mentioned in last month’s article) got his old #55 back from Funderburk. Laweryson debuted last year in #66; that number now belongs to field coordinator Toby Gardenhire.

Catchers
27 Ryan Jeffers
37 Victor Caratini
70 Alex Jackson
73 Patrick Winkel
77 Noah Cardenas
83 Ricardo Olivar
90 Andrew Cossetti
92 David Bañuelos

Except for his debut, Caratini has worn #7 or #17 for his entire career. However, #7 is retired in Minnesota for Joe Mauer and #17 belongs to Bailey Ober, so he gets the next available number up (Jeffers has #27) ending in 7. Oh, and he debuted in 2017. (Additionally, Jackson had #64 last month but has switched to #70, which he wore for his debut with Atlanta and as an Oriole last year.)

Infielders
2 Kody Clemens
4 Tristan Gray
11 Orlando Arcia
12 Gio Urshela
13 Eric Wagaman
15 Luke Keaschall
22 Brooks Lee
23 Royce Lewis
56 Josh Bell
76 Kaelen Culpepper
86 Aaron Sabato
89 Tanner Schobel

Arcia’s most common numbers have been 3 and 11; 3 is retired for Harmon Killebrew, so it’s no surprised he’s claimed #11. Urshela has never before worn #12, but the #15 he wore as a Twin in 2022 is taken by Keaschall.

Outfielders
5 Ryan Kreidler
9 Trevor Larnach
16 Austin Martin
18 Alan Roden
25 Byron Buxton
30 James Outman
33 Emmanuel Rodriguez
38 Matt Wallner
64 Hendry Mendez
72 Gabriel Gonzalez
75 Walker Jenkins
80 Kyler Fedko
87 Kala’i Rosario

As mentioned above, Outman switched away from last year’s #43 to accommodate Banda; he now wears #30. His old #33 now belongs to Emmanuel Rodriguez, who has switched off of #32 because…

Coaches
0 Grady Sizemore (1BC)
8 Derek Shelton (MGR)
32 LaTroy Hawkins (BPN)
46 Ramon Borrego (3BC)
63 Mike Rabelo (ABEN)
66 Toby Gardenhire (MLFC)
67 Trevor Amicone (AHIT)
68 Mark Hallberg (BEN)
79 Rayden Sierra (AHIT)
84 Keith Beauregard (HIT)
88 Pete Maki (PIT)
91 Luis Ramirez (APIT/INT)
97 Anderson De La Rosa (BPNC)
98 Frank Nigro (BPNC)

…LaTroy got his number back!

So if you’re watching or attending the games, and you see someone you don’t recognize with an unfamiliar number, now you know who they are. (Until the roster inevitably shuffles again.)

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/spring-...oster-numerically-jersey-number-liam-hendriks

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Should the Twins sign a free agent SP or trust their depth?

TORONTO, CANADA - SEPTEMBER 23: Lucas Giolito #54 of the Boston Red Sox pitches in the first inning of their MLB game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on September 23, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Cole Burston/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The loss of Pablo Lopez unquestionably hurts the Twins, but in baseball as in life, time moves on whether we want it to or not. I wrote out my projected roster earlier this week where I had Taj Bradley winning the final rotation slot out of Spring Training. Now, he should essentially be locked into the 4 spot while Zebby Matthews, David Festa, and Mick Abel fight for the fifth and final rotation spot. Behind them are a plethora of untested rookies, including top pitching prospect Connor Prielipp.

Even after losing Pablo, this Minnesota goes eight deep on “probably MLB ready” arms between the four locked starters and the young combo of Matthews, Festa, Abel, and Prielipp. They have four more pitchers likely ready to contribute to the Big League squad after a bit more AAA seasoning (Andrew Morris, Kendry Rojas, Marco Raya, John Klein) even more solid, if unspectacular older depth behind them (Cory Lewis, Christian MacLeod, CJ Culpepper, among others).

Obviously not every player will work out, but the point is that the Twins have multiple lines of defense to tap into in the inevitable event of additional pitcher injuries.

If they turn to the free agent market, there’s three pitchers remaining who would be an upgrade over Simeon Woods Richardson, who is probably the line for if a player is worth signing or not. They are Lucas Giolito, Zack Littell, and Max Scherzer.

I think we can cross Scherzer off the list. At 43 years old, the future Hall of Famer will likely only be interested in joining a true blue contender, which the Twins are decidedly not at the moment.

Twins fans are familiar with Giolito’s work. The former All-Star and longtime member of the White Sox had a solid bounce back in 2025 after returning from Tommy John Surgery that eliminated his 2024. His strikeouts were down significantly, but that’s not out of the norm for a player in their first season back from UCL reconstruction. All in all, he tallied 145 innings of ball with a 3.41 ERA/4.17 FIP with 121 strikeouts and 56 walks. He would likely cost the Twins somewhere in the $20M range for one season.

The other pitcher would be another familiar face: former Twin Zack Littell. Littell was in Minnesota for the first three seasons of his career, pitching 63.2 innings of relief between 2018 and 2020. He peddled along as a middling reliever for various teams over the next three seasons before the Rays moved him into their rotation midway through the 2023 season after a rash of injuries left their rotation completely depleted. Since then, Littell has emerged as a solid back end starter who excels at limiting walks and damage. He doesn’t strike out enough batters and gives up too many homers, but you don’t need to look further than Bailey Ober or Simeon Woods Richardson to see how the Twins have successfully worked with pitchers with limited stuff. Littell would be cheaper than Giolito, likely commanding closer to $10M for the 2026 season.

So, what do you think? Is it worth bringing in Giolito or Littell, or would the Twins be better off throwing the young arms at the wall and seeing who can stick?

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minneso...ins-sign-a-free-agent-sp-or-trust-their-depth

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Which Twin are you most excited to see in Spring Training games?

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - SEPTEMBER 20: Luke Keaschall #15 of the Minnesota Twins hits a double against the Cleveland Guardians in the second inning of the game at Target Field on September 20, 2025 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Spring training games start this weekend which means we’re one step closer to baseball being back! As always, regular players will be slowly ramped up (pitchers especially), meaning it will be a few weeks before we see a game that looks more like a regular season game, but we’ll also get plenty of chances to see players get new opportunities in the meantime.

One the one hand, it’s always nice to see the stars like Byron Buxton and Joe Ryan back in action (though no longer Pablo Lopez. Get better soon, bud). On the other, Spring Training is also a great chance for fans to get a sample of top prospects.

The Twins have four of their five top prospects (Walker Jenkins, Kaelen Culpepper, Emmanuel Rodriguez, Connor Prielipp) in big league camp. With the WBC picking up later this Spring, all four of those players should get some extended run against MLB competition when Buxton, Ryan, Taj Bradley, and others leave to compete for their home countries.

I’m also very excited to see younger regulars like Brooks Lee and Royce Lewis. A lot of the Twins’ success or failure will depend specifically on the offensive development of those two players. Spring Training stats are meaningless, but I want to see if either player has finally progressed to the point that they can be more patient and selective on the pitches they attack.

Who are you most excited to see this Spring?

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minneso...-most-excited-to-see-in-spring-training-games

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Pablo Lopez tears elbow ligament, season-ending surgery “on the table”

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - SEPTEMBER 19: Pablo Lopez #49 of the Minnesota Twins pitches against the Cleveland Guardians on September 19, 2025 at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images) | Getty Images

According to Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic, Pablo Lopez tore an elbow ligament during live BP yesterday and will likely miss the 2026 season recovering from surgery.

Pablo López has a torn elbow ligament and “surgery is very much on the table” according to Twins general manager Jeremy Zoll.If surgery is needed, López would miss the entire season.

— Aaron Gleeman (@aarongleeman.bsky.social) 2026-02-17T16:41:14.993Z

There’s no way to sugarcoat this one, folks. It’s hard to see a world where the Twins can compete for the playoffs without one of their three best players. Lopez has been Minnesota’s unequivocal number one starter since being acquired prior to the 2023 season. He is as universally beloved as anyone in the game and his close relationship with fellow Venezuelan and Twin Johan Santana made him the perfect headliner to this rotation.

All that being said, if there was one area of this roster that could withstand a few injuries, it was the starting pitchers. Joe Ryan has made a career of stellar first halves before fading in the second, so they’ll need him to maintain his performance the entire season. They’ll also need Bailey Ober to bounce back to his normal, reliable self that he was from 2021-2024. And Minnesota always needed some young arms to step up this season, but the true pressure of winning the division will now fall to pitchers like Zebby Matthews, Taj Bradley, David Festa, and Mick Abel who will need to prove if their former Top 100 prospect statuses were worth the hype.

Pablo is as reliable and friendly of a player as there is in MLB, but the Twins’ playoff hopes were never his burden to bear. If the the young hitters still can’t develop, Pablo’s individual performance would have little impact on the team as a whole. The mission is the same as it was yesterday: develop the hitters and hope you catch a few breaks along the way.

Get better soon, Pablo! All of Twins Territory is rooting for you.

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minneso...w-ligament-season-ending-surgery-on-the-table

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Twins Flashback: 1996 (Pt. 2)

The loss of franchise cornerstone Kirby Puckett was an enormous setback to start the 1996 Minnesota Twins season. But the show must go on, as they say, and whether narrated through Dick-n-Bert on MSC or Herb-n-John over the air, the ‘96 Twins were off and running.

Offense (97 team OPS+)​

The three guys Puckett was supposed to pair perfectly with all performed admirably…

• Chuck Knoblauch: 197 H, 140 R, 35 2B, 14 3B, 45 SB, .341 BA, 143 OPS+
• Paul Molitor: 225 H, 99 R, 41 2B, 8 3B, 113 RBI, 18 SB, .341 BA, 116 OPS+
• Marty Cordova: 176 H, 97 R, 46 2B, 111 RBI, .309 BA, 112 OPS+

Alas, six others batsmen had to come to the plate each game, accounting for the below-average 97 team OPS+.

Pitching (97 team ERA+)​

The “Rick Aguilera as a starter” disaster and sub-90 ERA+ campaigns from the likes of Greg Hansell, Eddie Guardado, Jose Parra, & Pat Mahomes Sr gave this team a reputation of being pitching-poor.

But the likes of Brad Radke (114 ERA+), Frankie Rodriguez (101 ERA+), Rich Robertson (100 ERA+), and Scott Aldred (100 ERA+) all held their own in the rotation while Mike Trombley (170 ERA+) & Dan Naulty (110 ERA+) were solid firemen.

Other ‘96 highlights included…

• Molitor’s 3,000th hit—a triple, no less!

• Beating the Detroit Tigers 24-11
• Collecting 8 doubles in a single contest
• Sending Knobby to the All-Star game in Philadelphia
• Trading Dave Hollins to Seattle for a Player To Be Named Later—who turned out to be David Ortiz
• Drafting Jacque Jones & Chad Allen
• Chip Hale’s remarkable 19 pinch hits!

Without the legendary Kirby panache to draw paying customers, attendance sagged to 17,745/game—11th of 14 in the American League. Well, until Kirby Puckett Tribute Night, which predictably packed the house…

All told, the ‘96 Twins played exactly like a team without their leader, finishing a listless 78-84. They avoided the AL Central cellar, but were still a whopping 21.5 GB crown-wearing Cleveland. The team was below-average in the first half (41-45) and below-average in the second half (37-39). They were below-average at home (39-43) and below-average on the road (39-41). Remarkable consistency for such a middling squad.

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minneso...-radke-aguilera-mahomes-guardado-puckett-hale

 

[Minnesota Twins]

TwinkieTown Movie Night: Back to the Future Part III

(This post is adapted from one on the LibraryDVDLove website.)

Here’s your link for the movie! It’s from a Strange Site, but most internet security experts consider it pretty safe (for streaming; I wouldn’t try downloading). It has no commercials, so no sync issues! Sync issues are a pain on Movie Nights! Start the show at 7:30!

This was suggested by Zach, who hasn’t wanted to do any Movie Nights because he doesn’t want reading/adding comments to distract from watching the movie. Since he knows this movie by heart, the comments won’t distract him.

Fair enough!

I haven’t seen it since it came out, because I really screwed this one up.

I was working as a projectionist at a movie theater back then, and movies came shipped to the theaters via FedEx or whatever. They were all shipped in reels about 20 minutes long or so. Here’s a photo of what a reel can looked like, it had a couple of reels in it:

That’s what you’d get shipped to the theater, is a few cans like that.

Then you’d attach them together with special film tape, and put them on a big circular platter. The platter would gradually speed up, and the entire movie would run from one platter, through a series of rollers, into and out of the projector. Onto another platter. Next showing, run the film from the full platter onto the empty one. Here’s what those platters looked like (the third one would be if you had a double feature).

Well, when it came to BTTF3, our head projectionist had made a minor mistake.

He’d attached one of the reels incorrectly. It would, when that mistake came up, make the movie show the top of one frame and the bottom of another. Like this:

Now, that’s an easy thing to fix when you’re showing the movie; there’s a knob on the projector you can adjust to move the image up/down. Once the mistake comes up, the picture will look wonky for a few seconds, then the projectionist can fix it.

But, our head projectionist was embarrassed about making that mistake. It was Opening Day of a big blockbuster movie; we had one of the biggest screens in America, over 1000 seats. Everything was sold out for the evening shows, and the weekend would probably be huge. He didn’t have time to fix the mistake now, but he’d fix it tomorrow. I just needed to be aware of it, and adjust the knob for the rest of the evening shift.

So I decided to impress everyone with my 17-year-old Projector Knowledge.

I would fix the mistake.

In between showings, I super-speeded the movie platters up to the mistake, making it go slow at first, then faster and faster. Like slowly speeding up a lazy Susan with salt shakers on it. That’s how I’d have time to get to the mistake, and fix it before the next showing. What the head projectionist didn’t do. (For good reason!)

And then, when I got to the mistake, the reel tape I was gonna fix, I GRABBED THE PLATTER AND STOPPED IT. Here’s a closer view of those platter systems. Take a look at the middle of each platter:

See that metal ring in the middle of the unused bottom platter? It’s attached to the platter via pegs and holes, it ain’t going nowhere. There’s another metal ring just like it on the top platter; it’s where the film goes once it’s been through the projector. It ain’t going nowhere.

But that middle platter? The one feeding out the film? Nothing is holding that sucker in place except gravity.

What do you think would happen if you grabbed a lazy Susan moving at high speed and stopped it? All the salt shakers would fly off. Angular momentum, baby, basic physics.

And that’s what happened when I grabbed and quick-stopped the platter with half of Back to the Future III on it.

Whoosh! The movie flew off the platter and onto the floor. And it totally unspooled.

It was fuggin’ ruined. It was destroyed. It looked like if your cat played with a ball of yarn, except your cat was totally on cocaine.

I went downstairs and told my manager “we have got a major problem here,” and he came upstairs.

And when he saw that unspooled cat yarn, he just sank to his knees and put his hands on his face. I mean, I remember that Ultimate Despair 35+ years later.

We’re talking 1050 seats (it was a huge screen!) sold out for that showing, all of whose customers wanted their money back. Ads already placed in the newspaper about tonight’s and tomorrow’s showtimes.

Which wasn’t gonna happen until Universal shipped out another copy of the movie I ruined (and each copy probably cost about $5000 or so).

It did not make the ticket window people happy with me (they had to handle all the refunds), or the manager or the head projectionist. But I wasn’t fired. Their attitude was “wow, you will NEVER make that dumb mistake again.” And they were right!

Although, my calc teacher knew I was the projectionist on duty. And she had gone with her entire family. She was TICKED. So she threatened to withhold my diploma unless I took Remedial Extra Calc at her house. And she was a big doodoo head.

Is there a moral to this story?

No.

But that’s why I haven’t watched this movie since it came out. So, like, I forgot ZZ Top was in it:

Oh, and apparently this scene’s in the second movie:

It’s officially a Baseball Movie Series, then!

Here’s your link again for the movie! Click your clicks at 7:30!

Here’s the upcoming schedule:

February 27: The Stratton Story (1949)

James Stewart plays a pitcher who makes the majors, falls in love, then faces intense obstacles. Haven’t seen it, but it’s based on a true story, which in Hollywood means “100% accurate.” Free on the Strange Site.

March 6: Stop Making Sense (1984)

You may ask yourself: do we have some rock fans, here? We do. And this is one of the very best rock-concert movies. Featuring the Talking Heads and a totally badass touring band. Free on the Strange Site.

March 13: 42 (2013)

I wanna make sure we get this one in, because we started with The Jackie Robinson Story. I might be outta town March 20. Free on the Strange Site.

March 20: Field of Dreams (1989)

So, if I’m outta town, I can trust all y’all to behave nicely to each other during this one, right? You’re all nice people. Most of ya. Free on the Strange Site.

No more time for suggestions this year… but, who knows, maybe we’ll give it a go next year, too? In any case, show starts at 7:30!

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/book-club/51237/twinkietown-movie-night-back-to-the-future-part-iii

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Why isn’t Trevor Larnach a Mariner?

I’ve been saying it all offseason. Larnach is redundant and unnecessary with the Twins’ current roster construction. Let’s get more specific this time.

Larnach is a perfectly good bat with a knack for hitting with runners in scoring position. He’s very limited defensively and on the base paths which is fine for other teams to stash in left field, but the Twins need all the quality defense they can get with questionable fielders across the team outside of Buxton. They also have Alan Roden ready to play now and two left-handed top prospects who will play at some point in 2026.

The Mariners, handily, have ginormous holes in right field and DH and a plethora of relievers. You won’t get Muñoz or Brash, but Eduard Bazardo should be available. This seems like the most logical trade in history and I don’t know why both sides haven’t made it yet. Plus it lets the Twins start to replenish the depleted Ed stash.

Is there another trade you think makes sense, or should Larnach be a Mariner yesterday?

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minnesota-twins-daily-question/51214/why-isnt-trevor-larnach-a-mariner

 

[Minnesota Twins]

Spring Training Game Thread: Twins vs Red Sox

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - JUNE 22: Joe Ryan #41 of the Minnesota Twins celebrates his complete game shutout against the Boston Red Sox with teammate Byron Buxton #25 after the game at Target Field on June 22, 2023 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins defeated the Red Sox 6-0. (Photo by David Berding/Getty Images) | Getty Images

First Pitch (CT): 12:05
TV: Twins.TV
Radio: TIBN/830 WCCO/102.9 The Wolf /Audacy App
Know Yo’ Foe: Over the Monster

Lineups​

Twins

SP: Joe Ryan, Who is Perfect

1. Byron Buxton, CF
2. Luke Keaschall, 2B
3. Royce Lewis, 3B
4. Ryan Jeffers, C
5. Matt Wallner, RF
6. Austin Martin, LF
7. Brooks Lee, SS
8. Gio Urshela, DH
9. Eric Wagaman, 1B

Red Sox

SP: Payton Tolle (LHP)

1. Roman Anthony, RF
2. Cedanne Rafaela, CF
3. Wilyer Abreu, DH
4. Willson Contreras, 1B
5. Masataka Yoshida, LF
6. Connor Wong, C
7. Andruw Monasterio, 3B
8. Isiah Kiner-Falefa, SS
9. Brendan Rodgers, 2B

Source: https://www.twinkietown.com/minneso.../spring-training-game-thread-twins-vs-red-sox