Former Twins 1st round pick David McCarty passes away at 54

David McCarty

Former MLB first baseman and outfielder Dave McCarty, 54, of Oakland, CA, passed away unexpectedly on April 19, 2024 in Oakland, California. Born in Houston, TX, on November 23, 1969, Dave attended Sharpstown High School and later Stanford University, where he would put up All-American, College Player of the Year numbers that would eventually land him in the Stanford Hall of Fame. Dave played for Team USA in the summer of 1990 and was drafted 3rd overall in the 1991 draft by the Minnesota Twins.

The 1969 MLB draft first round did not yield many star players. The first pick was Brien Taylor (Yankees), then it was the Braves turn and they took Mike Kelly and the Twins then selected McCarty. The best player selected in that first round was Manny Ramirez by the then Cleveland Indians as the 13th overall selection.

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Gonzalez & Matthews named as the Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week

The Minnesota Twins have announced that High-A Cedar Rapids outfielder Gabriel Gonzalez and High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Zebby Matthews have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Outfielder Gabriel Gonzalez signed with the Seattle Mariners as a 17-year-old from Venezuela for $1.3 million in February 2021. Gonzalez began his professional career with the organization’s Dominican Summer League club. The Carupano, Venezuela native was acquired by the Twins as one of the pieces in the Jorge Polanco trade on January 29, 2024. This past week Gonzalez, 20, played in five games for the Kernels, hitting .353 (6-for-17) with four doubles, one home run, five RBI and a 1.186 OPS. MLB Pipeline has Gonzalez rated at the Twins 4th best prospect and he is rated number 71 in MLB Pipelines 100 best prospects. For more info on Gonzalez please go here. Check out his home run at https://www.mlb.com/twins/video/gabriel-gonzalez-cranks-a-two-run-home-run

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Doncon & Raya named as the Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week

The Minnesota Twins have announced that Low-A Fort Myers infielder Rayne Doncon and Double-A Wichita right-handed pitcher Marco Raya have been named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

The Los Angeles Dodgers signed free agent SS Rayne Doncon to a minor league contract for a signing bonus of $497,500 in January of 2021. Traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers with Manuel Margot and cash to the Minnesota Twins for Noah Miller (minors) on February 26, 2024. This past week Doncon, 20, played in six games for the Mighty Mussels, hitting .304 (7-for-23) with four doubles, two RBI, five walks, a .414 on-base percentage and an .892 OPS. Doncon is a San Pedro de Macorís, Dominican Republic native. Doncon hit 14 home runs in 2023 but struck out 103 times and hit just .213 in 473 PA’s. Photo credit to William Parmeter.

Marco Raya was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 4th round of the 2020 MLB June Amateur Draft from United South HS (Laredo, TX). Raya had committed to Texas Tech but signed with the Twins instead for a bonus of $410,000. Raya, 21, made the start on Friday versus Tulsa, pitching 3 scoreless innings in a start, with two hits allowed, no walks and four strike-outs. He has now posted a 2.00 ERA (9.0 IP, 2 ER) with no walks and 11 strikeouts in three starts for the Wind Surge this season. The Laredo, Texas native is ranked as the club’s sixth-best prospect by MLB.com and fifth-best by Baseball America. For more info on Raya please go here. I think Raya could have an exciting future if he can stay healthy.

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The Twins at the World Series

The franchise has a 3-3 record in World Series history

The start of a new baseball season is always a glorious time. Fans across the country all have high hopes and dreams that they will be celebrating a Fall Classic win later in the year. Obviously, most of those dreams will be dashed over the next few months but, just for a little while, all 30 teams are still in with a chance.

Five clubs have never tasted victory, of course, with the Seattle Mariners never even making it to the World Series. There may be a few Twins fans that can’t remember a victory of our own but we have come out on top on no less than three occasions – with another three agonizing finals defeats in franchise history.

After winning the AL Central last season, there will be some of the best MLB betting sites looking at the Twins as a long shot for a championship this year. But, while we settle into the new campaign, let’s take a look back at all the times the franchise made it to the World Series.

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Rodriguez & Matthews named as the Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week

After discovering Emmanuel Rodriguez, who was only 16 at the time, in the Dominican Republic in 2019, the Minnesota Twins signed him to a $2.5 million contract as an international free agent. MLB has Rodriguez at the Twins 3rd best prospect and 40th best overall. Rodriguez, 21, played in six games for the Wind Surge, hitting .421 (8-for-19) with two doubles, one triple, three home runs, 10 runs scored, five RBI, seven walks, a .577 on-base percentage, a 1.105 slugging percentage and a 1.682 OPS. Rodriguez is crushing AA and needs to move up soon. To see more go here and here.

Zebby Matthews was drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the 8th round of the 2022 MLB June Amateur Draft from Western Carolina University (Cullowhee, NC). Matthews is currently rated by MLB as the Twins 20th best prospect. Matthews, 23, made the start for the Kernels on Wednesday against Dayton, allowing one run on four hits in 5 innings pitched, with no walks and eight strikeouts. To see more on Matthews please go here and here.

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Camargo & Morris named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week

Minnesota Twins Triple-A St. Paul catcher Jair Camargo and High-A Cedar Rapids right-handed pitcher Andrew Morris were named Twins minor league Player and Pitcher of the Week.

Jair Camargo, a 24-year-old catcher from Barranquilla, Colombia, was acquired as part of the Twins-Dodgers Kenta Maeda trade that sent Brusdar Graterol to the Los Angeles Dodgers in February 2020. Camargo was added to the Twins 40-man roster this past November. This past week Camargo played in six games for the AAA St. Paul Saints, hitting .273 (6-for-22) with one double, one home runs, three RBI, three walks and just four strikeouts.

Andrew Morris is a New York, NY native and was selected by the Twins in the fourth round of the 2022 First-Year Player Draft out of Texas Tech University. He is currently ranked as the 18th-best prospect in the Twins system by MLB.com. Morris, 22, made the Opening Day start for the Cedar Rapids Kernels on Friday night at Beloit, pitching 4.0 shutout innings with three hits allowed, one walk and six strikeouts. You can read more about him here.

Looking at the 2024 AL Central

Yes sirree, I did poorly on my 2023 prediction and missed by six “wins” with a 93-69 pick. I have learned my lesson and lowered my level of expectation by two games. The Minnesota Twins will win the American League Central with a 91-71 record but it will not be a cakewalk like it was last season. I think every team in the AL Central could have an improved record in 2024. Well, maybe not the Chicago White Sox who could well be the worst team in the American League and who knows, maybe in all of MLB.

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The Minnesota Twins and Two Longstanding Streaks That Ended in 2023 – And Two More That May End in 2024

The year 2023 was a landmark year for breaking long-standing streaks in the world of American sports. Two of the most talked-about streaks that ended were the Minnesota Twins’ 18-game MLB playoffs losing streak and the Detroit Lions’ 32-year drought without an NFL postseason victory. As we look forward to the 2024 baseball season and beyond, fans are wondering which long-standing records may yet tumble.

When it comes to the Twins and the MLB in particular, expectations have already reached a fever pitch ahead of the new season getting underway. The Texas Rangers head into the season as the reigning champions after their fairytale campaign last year culminated with a first World Series in franchise history. The Lone Star State side headed into the postseason as rank outsiders after securing a mere fifth seeding in the American League. However, victories against the Tampa Bay Rays, the top seed Baltimore Orioles and the heavyweight Houston Astros secured a trip to the championship series for the first time since they lost back-to-back World Series in 2010 and 2011.

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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! ??

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Top 10 offensive seasons by a Twins position player

Rod Carew’s .388 batting average in 1977 was the highest in baseball since Ted Williams in 1957. (National Baseball Hall of Fame)

It is always interesting to look back over the years and try to determine who has had the best offensive season for your favorite team. In the case of the Minnesota Twins I think that is a pretty easy answer, Rod Carew in 1977 and his run at hitting .400. I was lucky that I was able to witness that season as I was able to get out to Met Stadium and see a number of his games in person. Here is a short 3 minute video (don’t forget to turn on the sound) for you to watch about Rod. An interesting point is that none have taken place at Target Field.

But the Twins have had many great offensive seasons by their players and today we going to provide a list of the top 10 (actually 11) for you. All the players on this list have a WAR of 7.0 or above. As you go down the list you can picture the player in your mind or if you weren’t around or didn’t follow the Twins back then this website will hopefully learn more about that player and his contribution to Minnesota Twins history. As always we are going to use Baseball-Reference.com and their nifty tool “Stathead” to help us identify the players for this list by rating them using WAR.

Twins top 10 offensive seasons by a Twins player

Over the years, there have been 141 players with a WAR of 9.0 or more in a season, here is the list. Any surprises? Feel free to leave your comments.

Babe Ruth

List of 141 MLB players with WAR of 9.0 or higher