Twins trade Polanco to Mariners

Just before bed time here in Florida on Monday night I saw the news that the Minnesota Twins were in the process of finalizing their trade of Jorge Polanco the switch-hitting second baseman who has been a regular part of the Twins infield since 2016 to the Seattle Mariners for four players, two experienced major league players and two minor league players and cash. The will get right-handed starter Anthony DeSclafani and reliever Justin Topa, and two minor leaguers, outfielder Gabriel Gonzalez and pitcher Darren Bowen. The Mariners will also send cash (rumored to be $8 million) to the Twins, the teams announced.

The Twins second second base job has multiple suitors and the soon to be 31 year-old Polanco was slated to make $10.5 million this season. Polanco was liked by his teammates and his fans alike and will be missed in Minnesota. But I have the feeling that we have not seen the last of the franchise leader in home runs by a switch-hitter and longest-tenured Twins player.

Polanco was signed by scout Fred Guerrero for the Minnesota Twins in 2009. On March 18, 2018, he received an 80-game suspension for testing positive for the banned old-school steroid, Stanozolol. Polanco claimed that he had consumed the steroid inadvertently, as he thought he was taking a simple vitamin supplement in his native Dominican Republic. In 2019, “Chulo” was the first player to hit for the cycle that season. This marked the start of an outstanding first half in which he was the Twins’ best offensive player while they were the best team in the American League. He was in turn elected as the starting shortstop in the 2019 All-Star Game.

Twins switch-hitters from 1961-2023

Back in February 2016 I did a post about Twins switch-hitters that you can view here. I decided to update it with a another post that includes just eight more seasons but the results are dramatically different. The player that moved up significantly in home runs hit by a Twins switch-hitter is a player that many Twins fans want to see traded and that player is Jorge Polanco. At the time I did that posting, Polanco had zero home runs, look where he ranks now. By clicking on the various table headings you can re-sort the table to see the leader in any category you wish. I am a huge Polanco fan and I hope the Twins find a way to keep him for a whole slew of reasons.

Credit to Stathead by Baseball-Reference

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.

Twins say a new era is dawning

The Minnesota Twins had a big “to-do” at the Mall of America on Friday, November 18 when the organization announced that a “new era of Twins basball” was dawning with their first brand refresh in 35 years. According to Pat Reusse about 1,500 of the Twins loyalists were in attendance to witness the club roll out a new set of uniforms and modify their TC insignia. It is kind of ironic that the Twins chose the MOA which is where Metropolitan Stadium once stood as the place to roll out these changes.

Twins leaders in multi-hit games

The Minnesota Twins have had some great hitters over the years and several of them have gone on to the Hall of Fame. It is time to take a look at these hitters and see who has the most multi-hit games on their Twins career resume. The lone active Twins player on the list is Jorge Polanco and he is moving up the list. Are there any players on this list that surprise you? The leader of course is non other than Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett.

Kirby Puckett
Query Results Table
Rk Player From To Count of
multi-hit

 

games

Ind. Games Link
1 Kirby Puckett 1984 1995 702 Games List
2 Rod Carew 1967 1978 617 Games List
3 Joe Mauer 2004 2018 575 Games List
4 Tony Oliva 1962 1976 562 Games List
5 Kent Hrbek 1981 1994 469 Games List
6 Harmon Killebrew 1961 1974 410 Games List
7 Justin Morneau 2003 2013 363 Games List
8 Chuck Knoblauch 1991 1997 348 Games List
9 Torii Hunter 1998 2015 346 Games List
10 César Tovar 1965 1972 322 Games List
11 Gary Gaetti 1982 1990 310 Games List
12 Zoilo Versalles 1961 1967 279 Games List
13 Roy Smalley 1976 1987 270 Games List
14 Jacque Jones 1999 2005 267 Games List
15 Michael Cuddyer 2002 2011 263 Games List
16 Cristian Guzmán 1999 2004 240 Games List
17 Bob Allison 1961 1970 235 Games List
18 Brian Dozier 2012 2018 231 Games List
19 Brian Harper 1988 1993 226 Games List
20 Rich Rollins 1962 1968 224 Games List
21 Tom Brunansky 1982 1988 208 Games List
22 Jorge Polanco 2015 2022 205 Games List
23 Greg Gagne 1985 1992 204 Games List
24 Earl Battey 1961 1967 202 Games List
25 Eddie Rosario 2015 2020 199 Games List
Provided by Stathead.com: View Stathead Tool Used
Generated 7/13/2022.

Twins Milestone Home Runs from 1961-2021

Over the years the Minnesota Twins have hit 8,591 home runs since they started play in 1961 through the 2021 season. Let’s take a look at some milestone home runs, who hit them and where did they hit them. You might want to take note that the Minnesota Twins won 10 of these 12 games.

#1 was hit by Bob Allison on 4-11-61 at Yankee Stadium off Whitey Ford in a Twins 6-0 win in the first game they ever played.

#100 was hit by Bob Allison on 7-19-61 at Wrigley Field off the Angels Ron Kline in a 6-0 Twins win in game one of a DH.

Best Twins players by position from 2010-2019

Joe Mauer

When the Minnesota Twins take on the Oakland A’s on March 26 in the 2020 season opener it will be the beginning of a new decade, their third this century. From 2000-2009 the Twins posted a record 863-758 for a winning percentage of .532 as they played out their final years in-doors at the HHH Metrodome.

In the current decade from 2010-2019 the Twins have played outdoors in their new digs at Target Field but their play has not matched their new outdoor surroundings as they have played at a winning percentage of .472 as they won 765 games and lost 855.

In spite of the Twins mediocre play in a decade in which they managed just four winning seasons they still averaged 2,438,495 fans per year but most of that can probably be attributed to the new ballpark they opened in 2010. So who were the best Twins players that fans got to see over the last ten seasons? Let’s take a look at who I have as the best player at each position with a strong assist from the WAR numbers from https://www.baseball-reference.com/ .

Play you best players, let them rest in the off-season

When I go to the ballpark or watch a baseball game on TV I always expect the teams best players to be on the field day in and day out during the baseball season. I am old school in that regard and it is disappointing to me when today’s managers rest players so frequently. I believe that players are paid to play and only an injury that does not physically allow them to play should keep them off the field and in the dugout. 

Justin Morneau

Apparently that is not how the Twins play baseball. Coming to the ballpark and playing every day is not how it is done in Minnesota. The last player to play 160 or more games in a season for the Minnesota Twins was Justin Morneau back in 2008, that was 12 years ago. Morneau put together a 218 consecutive games played streak that started on June 28, 2007 and ended on June 20, 2009.  

Zoilo Versalles

Over the years the Twins have had 21 instances when a player has appeared in 160 games or more. Eleven players have accomplished this feat with Zoilo Versalles leading the pack with four such seasons, Harmon Killebrew and Kirby Puckett each did it three times, Cesar Tovar, Leo Cardenas and Gary Gaetti did it twice while Tony Oliva, Roy Smalley, Paul Molitor, Torii Hunter and Justin Morneau each did it once. This past season the Twins “Ironman” was Jorge Polanco with 153 games played.

Looking at just the American League (due to no DH in the National League) this past season there were four players that appeared in 160 or more games and there have been no instances from 1961-2019 where there hasn’t been at least one players appearing in 160 games in a season, excluding strike shortened seasons.

Going back to 1961 the Twins have the third longest streak in the AL without a player appearing in 160 or more games. The last Cleveland Indians player to play in 160 or more games was Grady Sizemore in 2007 and the longest streak in the AL without a player playing in 160 games belongs to the Los Angeles Angels who had Garret Anderson and Troy Glaus qualify back in 2001. I found it interesting that the Texas Rangers who did not begin play until 1972 and play in the very hot Texas temperatures had 13 players play in 160 or more games between 1972-2019.

Minnesota Twins now best home run hitting team in MLB history

The Minnesota Twins are now the best home run hitting team in MLB history. With six home runs yesterday in a 10-7 loss to the Detroit Tigers the Twins now have 268 home runs on the season,  the best in baseball history. Mitch Garver hit number 268 and his second Bomba of the day in the ninth inning at Comerica Park off Tiger pitcher Joe Jimenez. Garver now has 26 home runs on the season and September is still to be played. Jorge Polanco also hit his 20th home run of the season giving the Twins eight players with 20 or more homers in a season, also a new major league record.

The New York Yankees previously held baseball’s all-time single-season home run with 267 in 2018, followed by the Mariners with 264 in 1997 and the Rangers with 260 in 2005.

How can you not like Luis Arraez

Luis Arraez – Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Since being recalled back to Minnesota on June 18, Luis Arraez is hitting .389 (28-for-72) with four doubles, one home run, four RBI, 10 runs scored, seven walks, a .443 on-base percentage and a .929 OPS. Among all rookies with a minimum of 70 plate appearances since that date, he ranks first in batting average, second in on-base percentage and tied for third in hits. Arraez has 37 hits through his first 30 career games, tied for fourth most in Twins history through 30: Kirby Puckett (42 in 1984), Kennys Vargas (40 in 2014), Chuck Knoblauch (38 in 1991), Danny Santana (37 in 2014).

His AB this past Tuesday was certainly one of the best ever seen by Twins fans. The Twins were down 3-2 to the New York Mets going into the bottom of the ninth against Mets closer Edwin Diaz. Diaz struck out Miguel Sano swinging for out one and then had to face Jonathan Schoop and on his second pitch Schoop grabbed his ribs and was removed from the game. Twins manager Rocco Baldelli brought in Luis Arraez to face the hard-throwing Diaz with an inherited 0-2 count. Arraez fouled off four pitches while working the count full before taking a walk bringing the Target Field crown to its feet. Mitch Garver singled but Jorge Polanco struck out for the second out of the inning. Marwin Gonzalez reached first base loading the bases on an infield single and Nelson Cruz stepped to the plate with the bases loaded but on a full count he popped up to the Mets third baseman in foul territory retiring the Twins and giving the Mets a 3-2 victory. The Arraez AB is an AB that will go down in Twins lore as one of the best ever.

Looks like second base is all his (Arraez) but he may have to wait until next season. Jonathan Schoop is a streaky hitter but I think he deserves to keep his job at second through this year and having a player like Arraez on the bench is a real luxury.