What does AI predict for the Twins in 2024

Just for fun I asked AI Microsoft Copilot powered by GPT-4 to tell me how the Minnesota Twins will do in 2024. Here is what it had to say:

The Minnesota Twins are gearing up for the 2024 MLB season, and there are several intriguing story-lines to watch. Let’s dive into some predictions:

  1. Royce Lewis Makes All-Star Team, Earns MVP Consideration:
  2. Joe Ryan Bounces Back with an All-Star Season:
  3. Twins Projected to Win AL Central Again:

In summary, keep an eye on Royce Lewis, Joe Ryan, and the Twins as they aim to defend their division title and make a deeper playoff run in 2024! ??

Using dWAR to determine Twins best gloves over the years

What is dWAR? Defensive WAR (dWAR): this takes only the player’s defensive contributions and positional adjustment into account in a WAR calculation. dWAR was created by Baseball-Reference. I am using this tool to look at Minnesota Twins players from 1961 thru 2023 to see what it determines as the best defensive Twins players by position for their entire Twins career. A player has to have played at least 51% of his games at that position to qualify. According to dWAR, Greg Gagne is the best defensive player the Twins have ever had.

Minnesota Twins Greg Gagne (7) in action, 6/16/1991 CREDIT: Chuck Solomon (Photo by Chuck Solomon /Getty Images

Catcher Butch Wynegar 9.0 Glenn Borgmann 4.1

First BaseRon Jackson -0.4 C.J. Cron -0.4

Second BaseChuck Knoblauch 8.6 Steve Lombardozzi 3.7

Third BaseGary Gaetti 11.3 Nick Punto 8.6

Shortstop – Greg Gagne 12.4 Zoilo Versalles 8.6

Left FieldLew Ford 2.0 Gary Ward 1.2

Center FieldByron Buxton 7.6 Torii Hunter 6.2

Right FieldMax Kepler 3.0 Tom Brunansky 1.2

PitcherCamilo Pascual -0.1 Mudcat Grant -0.1

So what do you all think? Is dWAR a fair way to help determine the best defensive players? Here is a B-R Stathead link to the best defensive players in all of MLB from 1961 thru 2023, does this list make you a believer?

2023 Twins Turkey of Year

November is flying by. The World Series is over, the GM meetings are behind us, the Hot Stove league is starting to heat up, the newly hired managers are all excited about how good their new teams are, the 2023 MLB award season is in full swing, free agents players and their agents are starting to count their money, the weather is cooling off and Thanksgiving is upon us one more time. The NFBC site is already accepting players for the 2024 Fantasy season and drafts for the 2024 season are already underway (If you think you know baseball and have some extra money then this is the place for you). Black Friday sales have been on-going for some time and yes, the entire baseball world will once again be getting together for the Baseball Winter Meetings (Dec 3-6, 2023) and this year they are back in Nashville.

The Minnesota Twins broke their long losing streak in post-season play and even won a post-season series in 2023 but unfortunately the Houston Astros were waiting for them once again and sent the Twins home early to heal what ails them and to sharpen their golf skills. Hey, they were 3-3 in the post-season but they still have a ways to go and they obviously had some Turkey’s on their roster this season that we can roast. A team that has seven batters that struck out 100 or more times and another that fell just one KO short of 100 along with a $33 million dollar player that hits into a team record 30 double-plays must have some fowl players for us to chose from.

Alex Kirilloff named AL player of the week

Alex Kirilloff credit Abbie Parr-Getty Images

Prior to Monday’s 4-3 win in 10 innings over the Seattle Mariners, Alex Kirilloff was named the American League’s player of the week. He earned the honor after batting .345/.394/.793 with three home runs, 10 RBIs, two doubles, a triple, three walks and five runs scored. Kirilloff became the first Twins player to be named player of the week since Byron Buxton last June.

Twins fun facts from Twins 3/23 ST notes

TWINS GO ON THE OFFENSIVE AT JETBLUE: The Twins shutout the Red Sox last night at JetBlue Park by a score of 11-0, setting spring highs in runs and hits (15). Joe Ryan (1-1) was the starter and winner, pitching 5 shutout innings with two hits allowed, one walk and five strikeouts. Emilio Pagán and Cole Sands each pitched 2 scoreless innings as Sands struck out three of his eight batters faced. The offense recorded 15 hits, highlighted by Trevor Larnach, who went 4-for-4 with his third home run of the spring. Kyle Farmer added a home run, marking his third of the exhibition season. The Twins also recorded eight two-out RBI. Now that what I like to see, good pitching and good hitting.

SPRING FLING: Today the Twins will play the 26th of 32 scheduled Grapefruit League games. After today, two more games will be played at Hammond Stadium and four more games will be played on the road.

BUCK TRUCK GETTING REVVED UP: Byron Buxton is in the Twins’ starting lineup for the second time this spring, batting leadoff as the designated hitter. He made his official spring debut on Tuesday vs. Tampa Bay, going 1-for-3 with a leadoff double and run scored. Buck has spent most of spring training seeing live pitching on backfields at Hammond Stadium.

Minnesota pitchers today are scheduled to be Tyler Mahle (R), Caleb Thielbar (L), Jhoan Duran (R), Jorge Alcala (R) and Griffin Jax (R).

THE DURANTULA: Jhoan Duran is in his fourth spring training with the Twins. He is scheduled to make his sixth spring appearance today, having pitched 5 scoreless innings so far with two walks and seven strikeouts. Made the Twins Opening Day roster last season for first time in career and spent season in bullpen; used all season in high-leverage situations, ranked sixth among AL relievers in ERA (1.86) and 12th in baseball. Led baseball in pitches of at least 100 miles-per-hour with 392.

Twins fun facts from Twins 3/22 ST notes

TWINS WIN!!: The Twins beat the Rays last night at Hammond Stadium by a score of 5-2, snapping their five-game losing streak and winning for the first time since Monday, March 13, a 1-0 victory over the Yankees in Fort Myers. Sonny Gray was the starter and winner, allowing two runs on five hits in 5 innings pitched, allowing his first runs of the spring on solo home runs by René Pinto and Luke Raley. Jovani Moran and Jorge López made their return from the WBC (Puerto Rico) and each pitched 1 scoreless inning. The offense recorded just four hits, led by Carlos Correa, who went 2-for-3 with a two-run homer in the first inning. Byron Buxton played in his first official spring training game and went 1-for-3 with a leadoff double and run scored.

SPRING FLING: Tonight the Twins will play the 25th of 32 scheduled Grapefruit League games. The Twins also played one World Baseball Classic exhibition against Team Dominican Republic March 9, after tonight, three more games will be played at Hammond Stadium and four more games will be played on the road.

NEXT LEVEL JEFF: Ryan Jeffers is playing in his 11th spring game today, he has posted a .916 OPS this spring, including a .333 on-base percentage and a .583 slugging percentage. He made the Twins 2022 Opening Day roster for second time in career (also 2021) and was club’s catcher on Opening Day, April 8 vs. Seattle, going 1-for-2 with a walk. Jeffers posted a 3.59 catcher ERA, lowest of his career.

The Minnesota Twins announced tonight that they have reassigned right-handed pitchers Randy Dobnak and Brock Stewart, catcher Jair Camargo, infielder Andrew Bechtold and outfielder Mark Contreras to minor league camp. The Twins now have 45 active players in camp (13 non-roster): 22 pitchers (5 non-roster), five catchers (3 non-roster), eight infielders (2 non-roster) and 10 outfielders (3 non-roster), plus two players on the 60-day Injured List.

Twins fun facts from Twins 3/21 ST notes

SUNDAY’S RECAP: The Twins were shut out by the Atlanta Braves, 5-0, on Sunday at Hammond Stadium. Kenta Maeda was the starter and took the loss after yielding five runs on four hits (2 HR), with two walks and five strikeouts in 4 innings of work. Pablo López made his first appearance with the Twins after rejoining the team following the 2023 World Baseball Classic, tossing a scoreless frame in the top of the ninth. Minnesota was held to just two hits, singles by Kyle Garlick (1-for-3) and Ryan LaMarre (1-for-2). The Twins were off on Monday.

THE KNUTSON CUP: The Twins and Rays are facing off today for the finale of five scheduled exhibition games. The Twins took the first meeting, 8-4, February 25 at Hammond Stadium and the second meeting, 4-2, March 2 at Tropicana Field; the Rays won the third, 7-4, March 14 at The Trop and the fourth, 2-0, March 16 at The Trop. Since 2006 the Twins hold the exhibition edge 44-34-3 (13-5-1 under Baldelli). The Twins and Rays will play six times during the 2023 regular season, playing three in St. Petersburg from June 6-8 and three in Minneapolis from September 11-13. Byron Buxton is in the Twins’ starting lineup for the first time this spring, batting leadoff as the designated hitter. Carlos Correa is scheduled to make his seventh start of spring tonight….. Hope the boys aren’t too tired to make a road trip to JetBlue Park across town to play the Red Sox tomorrow night.

FORT MYERS IS TWINS TERRITORY: The Twins are celebrating their 33rd spring training in Fort Myers this year. With four home games remaining (including tonight), the club has drawn 74,040 fans in 12 games, good for a 6,170 average crowd that ranks sixth in the Grapefruit League.

Since March 13 the Twins are 2-5-1. No one cares about Spring Training exhibition games, but in those 8 games they have averaged 4.6 hits and 2.4 runs per game. Pretty dismal hitting just 9 days away from Opening Day. What are the chances the Twins Opening Day line-up plays a game or two together before Opening Day?

Twins keep transaction wires busy

Michael A. Taylor

The Minnesota Twins are keeping the transaction wires busy. Yesterday, their latest move had them acquiring outfielder Michael A. Taylor who will turn 32 years of age in late March from the Kansas City Royals. Taylor has spent the past two seasons in Kansas City. The rangy right-handed hitting center fielder earned his first career Gold Glove in 2021 and signed a $9MM extension covering the 2022-23 campaigns late in that season. Taylor is known for his glove but his bat isn’t too shabby and he should make a nice back-up for Byron Buxton when he needs time off. Taylor had a 2.5 and 3.2 WAR in his last two KC seasons. Right-hander pitcher A.J. Alexy was designated for assignment to clear a spot for Taylor on the 40-man roster.

In return the Twins part ways with two minor league relief pitchers, LHP Evan Sisk and RHP Steven Cruz. The Twins had acquired Sisk from the Cardinals in the J.A. Happ trade in July of 2021. Steven Cruz was signed as a Dominican free agent in March 2017. Both are relatively young and have strike-em-out ability but have control issues. If one or both can lower their walks then the Royals have got something.

Twins best players in Target Field era

Target Field has been open since been open since 2010 and the Minnesota Twins have played 13 seasons of baseball there and complied a .475 won/lost percentage since they started call TF as their home. The team has lost 100 more games than it has won in the Target Field era and made the playoffs four times although they were always eliminated in the first round.

I just wanted to take a look at the Twins best players over the 13 years and give you a chance to reflect on some of your memories from those players both good and bad. To do this I am using the WAR numbers from Baseball-Reference and I am looking for the best position player and best pitcher from each particular season.

2022 Twins Turkey of the Year

Once again it is that time of the year, time to name the 2022 Twins Turkey of the Year, but first, I would like to wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving. We all have a lot to be thankful for even if the Minnesota Twins play in 2022 is not one of them. As you might imagine, there were plenty of candidates for this years honor after the team crashed and burned playing .357 baseball in September and finished the second half with a 28-40 record. Hopes were sky high when the Twins spent over $35 million to sign shortstop Carlos Correa but as the season wore on, the Twins wore down even if manager Rocco Baldelli rested his players for the big Fall push.