TWINS TRIVIA is hopefully a fun and informative site that will help you to better enjoy the Minnesota Twins and their wonderful history. “History never looks like history when you are living through it” – John Gardner, former Secretary of Health
What the heck? What is going on there in Twins territory? Just a year after signing Korean first baseman Byung Ho Park to a four-year, $12 million deal, the Twins decide to designate him for assignment. All this after paying a $12.85 million posting fee to win the rights to negotiate with him in December 2015. That is almost $25 million down the tube, owner Jim Pohlad must be proud of his organization.
With spring training starting in less than two weeks this story makes page 10 of the Star Tribune Sports section. WOW! Interest in Twins baseball is dropping faster than President Donald Trump’s approval rating.
Park appeared in just 62 games for the Twins in 2016 hitting just .191 but he did hit 12 home runs. The Twins ended up sending him to AAA Rochester where he played briefly before under-going tendon surgery on his right hand that ended his 2016 campaign.
The question I have to ask is why do this 10 days before pitchers and catchers report for spring training? What’s the point?
All this after the 2011-2012 fiasco with Tsuyoshi Nishioka, I know you can’t live in the past but you should be able to learn from history. Sadly, the Minnesota Twins are quickly becoming the laughing stock of MLB. The old term of doing it the “Twins Way” has a whole new meaning.
The rumors of the Minnesota Twins trading their 29 year-old power hitting second baseman have been flying this entire off-season but here it is mid-January and Brian Dozier is still part of the Twins organization. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining that he has not been traded, right now Dozier is the heart and soul of the Minnesota Twins and I would hate to see him go unless the Twins can get major league ready players in return. I am getting real tired of all the talk about the future, I want to see some players that can play today. Prospects are nice but why trade an All-Star power hitting second baseman for more prospects. There is no guarantee with prospects, with Dozier you have a known commodity.
The problem I see here now is that the Twins have gone so far down the road with all this trade talk is the possible repercussions that may occur in not trading Dozier. No one likes to hear their name bandied about in trade talks and all this chatter about being traded may have negative impacts on Dozier’s play this season even if he tries to make it a non-issue. Dozier is no different from the rest of us, the more comfortable and happy you are in your work environment the better work you will perform.
Miguel Sano
I blame the Twins for Miguel Sano‘s poor season in 2016 by sending him to the outfield with little or no experience. Sano with just 80 games of big league experience all at third base or DH was forced to try to learn how to play the outfield while learning how to play in the big leagues. Sano did his best but the pressure of learning the outfield and playing in the big leagues was just too much for the then 22 year-old.
I know that Dozier is more experienced but I can see a similar scenario playing out with Dozier. Starting the season with Minnesota but waiting for the hammer to drop in a trade deadline deal might just cause him to struggle and the more he struggles the worse it would get and then his value plummets. Will Brian Dozier hit 42 home runs again? No one knows the answer to that but he is at peak value now, either trade him or just say he will not be traded and move on. End this thing with the Dodgers once and for all, either they give us what we want or we move on, this limbo business helps no one. Personally I am not a fan of Jose De Leon so a deal for De Leon and another prospect doesn’t spin my wheels so moving on from the Dodgers would be a blessing in my eyes. Whats wrong with keeping Dozier and building around him?
The time has come for Derek Falvey and Thad Levine to make a decision, so let’s move on boys, spring training is just around the corner.
Christmas 2016 has come and gone and Minnesota Twins fans found nothing under the Christmas tree but a Jason Castro and a wheelbarrow full of coal.
As I sit here in the Plymouth, Minnesota with the ground covered with snow in spite of all the recent rain on Christmas Day I wonder why the team with the worst record in baseball in 2016 is doing nothing. It would be fun to write something positive about the home town ball club that I have followed for 56 years but how can you do that with a straight face?
Since the World Series ended when the Chicago Cubs finally won it all, the Twins organization has hired Derek Falvey to be there Chief of Baseball Operations and he in turn hired Thad Levine to be the team’s new GM. The team did sign free agent catcher Jason Castro on November 30 but other than that signing they have done nothing but sign minor league free agents that will not and should not play at Target Field in 2017. Oh yes, they did hire three new coaches to replace two that they fired.
I wonder what strategy the team is trying to employ to sell season tickets? Maybe the strategy is to keep mum and hope the fans forget about 2016 and have their season tickets on auto-renewal? There seem to be no promotions, no marketing, no nothing. Every now and then a rumor pops up that the team “is in” on some free agent but that player signs somewhere else and nothing changes.
It makes me think that the Twins haven’t changed a bit, they remain bottom feeders waiting to scoop up what ever drops down to the bottom that no one else wants. It’s not like the team doesn’t have holes to fill, make some deals, sign a free agent even if you have to over pay the guy to have him come to play at Target Field. Show some sign of life over there at 1 Twins Way. I don’t buy that Falvey and Levine are still in learning mode, those gentlemen aren’t stupid, they have watched the Twins for years.
It makes me wonder if the Twins approach is to try to not upset the fans even more than they already are. The hottest rumor surrounding the Twins is trading second baseman Brian Dozier. Dozier is the face of the Twins and the team leader and Dozier might not ever again hit 42 home runs like he did last year and he might be at the peak of his value but do you trade him for more prospects? Let’s be honest here, the Twins have sucked since 2011, we shouldn’t have to start the rebuild process again and wait until the 20’s to field a competitive team. If you trade Dozier you had better get some players in return that can play in the major leagues now, not in a few years. If you trade him for prospects you might as well put up a sign at Target Field like this:
Twins ownership and the organization need to realize they have a serious issue here, the Twins are not the lovable losing Chicago Cubs. That game won’t play here, we need to see some positive changes coming out of 1 Twins Way. If you think I’m getting inpatient then you are correct, times have changed, teams can show dramatic improvement from year to year just like they can tank from year to year. Patience isn’t a virtue if you own and or run a baseball team, you either put a winning team on the field or you better start to hire more workers to dust off those empty seats at Target Field.
Here are some reminders for you, the Minnesota Twins last appeared in the World Series over 26 years ago, they haven’t even won a playoff game in 13 years, enough already.
Mar 1, 2016; Ft. Myers, FL, USA; Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Yorman Landa (81) poses for a portrait on photo day at Hammond Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Minnesota Twins minor league pitcher Yorman Landa was killed in a car crash on December 9, 2016 in his native Venezuela.
His agent, Daniel Szew, said Landa was in the passenger seat of a car with his father driving in heavy rain with minimal lighting when a tree fell and struck Landa in the head. Landa was the only passenger among the four or five in the vehicle to suffer major injuries, and it took a long time before an ambulance arrived.
Landa, only 22, who had been with the organization since signing for $220,000 as a 16-year-old in 2010 and was a two-time Minor League All-Star, had just agreed to re-sign a Minor League deal with the Twins this week after being taken off the 40-man roster on December 2.
Twins chief baseball officer Derek Falvey released the following statement on behalf of the organization.
“The Minnesota Twins are deeply saddened by the heartbreaking loss of Yorman Landa early this morning in Venezuela,” the statement read. “On behalf of the entire baseball community, we send our sincerest condolences to the Landa family as well as Yorman’s many friends, coaches and teammates.”
“He was one of those guys that really did everything we asked of him,” Jake Mauer, who managed Landa for two seasons (2014-15) at Class A Cedar Rapids,” told the Pioneer Press. “He always had a quiet confidence about himself. He would go out and get the job done. His future was pretty bright.”
During the 2016 Florida State League All-Star Game, Landa’s fastball sat at 98-99 mph, and one was measured at 102. However, he didn’t pitch after July 24 because of a lat strain, finishing 2-2 with a 3.24 ERA in 31 games with Class A Fort Myers.
It is a sad time for the Minnesota Twins organization, Yorman Landa will be missed more as a person and friend than the pitcher he was striving to become. We at Twins Trivia would like to send our condolences to all of Yorman Landa’s family and friends.
The new Minnesota Twins brain trust got some Twins fans a bit riled up when Brian Dozier was on the WCCO radio Sports Huddle show this past Sunday with Sid Hartman and Dave Mona. Mona asked Dozier if he has been in communication with Derek Falvey and Thad Levine and Dozier’s response was that he has not talked with either one since they were hired but he did his best to sugar-coat the fact that he was disappointed it hasn’t happened so far.
Dozier
The rumors since the season ended have been that Brian Dozier will be traded. When I first heard the rumor I thought, that is a bunch of crap, why would they want to trade one of their best players?
But let’s get back to Falvey and Levine not communicating with Dozier, to me that is just plain wrong. Here is my thinking, when new management takes over the first thing they should do is listen, listen to what your players and staff have to say. Management needs to get buy-in from everyone, I know it is a new regime but why create problems when you don’t have too. Dozier is a leader on this team and one of its best players, not to mention he still has a very reasonable contract for two more years. Why leave him in the dark even if you are looking to trade him? If a trade doesn’t happen then you have a player that was wronged and that doesn’t help anyone. This isn’t strike one on Falvey and Levine but it is a rookie mistake that they should rectify as soon as possible.
Brian Dozier is one of my favorite players to watch, he hustles and he wants to win, what more can you ask? The team needs a leader and Brian Dozier is the guy that fits that mold the best. I would hate to see Dozier traded but having said that, there is some logic in trading Dozier.
The team lost a team record 103 games and won only 59 times this past season after winning 83 games in 2015. That means they were 24 games worse in 2016 than they were in 2015. I think if you look over history in MLB you will see that it is not all that unusual for young teams to take a dive after taking a big leap forward before resuming their climb upwards. This Twins team still has a lot of holes, don’t get me wrong, but it is not a team that you totally dismantle and rebuild. Yes, the Twins organization is rebuilding the front office but that doesn’t mean a total rebuild is necessary on the field. This is a young team that I expect to be much better in 2017 even if there are no major changes made. They got sand kicked in their face and trampled on in 2016 and they will be out to prove they are not as bad as they appeared to be in 2016.
Since the Twins are really not rebuilding in the normal sense of the word, it is important to add quality players to the mix versus quantity that you might normally look for when trading for youngsters in a rebuilding mode. In rebuilding you want to get as many potential players you can in the hope that one or two hit it big but they are all a gamble for the future. In the current Twins situation if the Twins trade Dozier they are trading a relatively young proven power hitting second baseman who can handle a glove and still has two years left on a good contract and you must get proven big league talent in return. The Twins need players that can play at Target Field in 2017 and not potential players that might play in 2019 or 2020 or beyond. If the Twins trade Dozier for young talent 2 or 3 or more years away you might as will pack it in right now, Target Field will be a ghost town. The Twins have good young talent on the roster, they just haven’t figured out where they need to play to have a chance to be successful.
I know this team lost 103 games this past year but Derek Falvey and Thad Levine are in a good spot, they need to fine tune things, not blow things up.
If you want to listen to the Justin Morneau and Brian Dozier interviews on Sports Huddle you can listen by going here. Listen to the 10 AM portion of the interview.
First of all I would like to wish you and your families and friends a very happy, healthy, and safe Thanksgiving. Without further ado let’s cut to the meat of things.
Let’s cut to the chase and get right to it with our fourth runner-up, The Pohlad family, the 75th richest family in the US of A and Jim Pohlad serves as their spokesman. Mr. Pohlad watched this team deteriorate for six seasons before he finally realized that what we have here is a “total systems failure” when his team set a new record with 103 losses. Finally he told his GM Terry Ryan that his services were no longer needed as of the end of the season and Terry Ryan said OK and walked away in July. The team didn’t put a permanent replacement in place until after the World Series was over in early November although Rob Antony served as the interim GM. According to the new Chief of Baseball Operations for the Twins, he interviewed with brothers Jim, Bill, and Bob Pohlad and a host of other Twins organization members before getting offered the job. The one stipulation that Jim Pohlad put on the new CBO was that Paul Molitor manages the Twins in 2017. Why would you do that to a manager who is in the final year of his contract and why would Molitor stay on the job? Sounds like Pohlad doesn’t want to do the dirty work in dumping Molitor, that’s why he has employees like Derek Falvey.
Twins General Manager Terry Ryan (Pioneer Press: John Autey)
Our third runner-up is former GM Terry Ryan. Terry Ryan was always one of my favorite people in the Twins organization. A very good down to earth baseball man who has watched how baseball has changed over the years but unfortunately I think that the pace of change within baseball caught up with him and made him one of baseball’s dinosaurs and you all know what happened to the dinosaurs. I think that there should always be a place in baseball for people like Terry Ryan. Ryan had either bad luck or bad input on many of his free agent signings over the last few years and his trades have not panned out either. One of his biggest mistakes was his decision this past season to try to make Miguel Sano an outfielder when he had never played there before, not only was Sano not able to play the outfield he was so confused and stressed by the position change that he was no longer the power hitter the Twins have been waiting for.
Neil Allen
Second runner-up is our pitching coach Neil Allen. Allen talks a story about how he wants to change the pitching staff and make them better but so far we have not seen zilch. After two seasons at least show me a couple of pitchers that have improved under the tutelage of Allen because I sure have not seen them. Who really hired Neil Allen to be the pitching coach any way because Paul Molitor said that he never met Allen before Twins Fest in 2015. Add in the fact that Allen has been a recovering alcoholic since 1994 but fell off the wagon and was charged with a DWI and suspended by Minnesota on May 26 and you have a recipe for disaster. Allen was reinstated on July.
Paul Molitor
Our runner-up this year is Twins skipper Paul Molitor who will start year three of his three-year contract. I am still amazed that Molitor has hung on as the Twins manager going into the final year of his contract. Players in 2017 have no reason to buy into Molitor’s ideas and plans because the players will be here longer than Molitor will. What faith does management have in you when they force you to manage in this situation, they might as well tell him don’t buy any green banana’s and to go month to month on his rent payments. Molitor took over 70 win team and managed them to 83 win in his first year, then in year two he managed them to 59 wins. The honeymoon has worn off quickly and the sooner Derek Falvey gives Molitor the pink slip the better it will be for all concerned including Paul Molitor who looks like he has aged 20 years in his two season at the helm of the Minnesota Twins. For his own health and well being Paul Molitor should walk away sooner than later.
That of course bring us to this years winner of the Twins Turkey of the Year award. The 2016 Minnesota Twins season was so outrageously bad that it would not be fair to award this years honor to just one individual. Instead this years award goes to all the players, field staff, and front office personnel who made up the 2016 Minnesota Twins team. The team finished with the worst record in baseball at 59-103, a drop from 83 wins in 2015, a drop of 24 games in the win column. Yikes! The team was out scored 722 to 889, only the 1996 Twins gave up more runs. Twins hitters did hit 200 home runs led by Brain Dozier’s 42 but the pitching staff gave up 221 round-trippers. The Twins used 11 starting pitchers and the starter with the most wins had nine victories. Miguel Sano led the team in strikeouts with 178, oh wait, he is a hitter, on the pitching staff Ervin Santana had 149 K’s. The good news? The Minnesota Twins say they will not raise ticket prices in 2017, a good idea after going 407-565 (.418%) during the last six seasons. I know this is really a radical idea but maybe you should consider lowering ticket prices….. but then again that is not how you earned the 2016 Twins Turkey of the Year award.
2016 Twins Turkey of the Year award winners – the 2016 Minnesota Twins
Halloween 2016 finds the Minnesota Twins in a waiting mode. After firing long-time GM Terry Ryan back in July and putting Rob Antony at the helm as the interim GM with his hands tied behind his back the good ship “Thelosingtwins” has been DIW and drifting aimlessly while they try to locate and bring on board the new captain they hired from the Cleveland Indians who are still playing baseball while many Twins players have already notched a couple dozen rounds of golf after putting their gloves and bats away for the winter.
Derek Falvey
The Minnesota Twins new Superman PBO is going to be Derek Falvey who will report to Minnesota as soon as The Indians beat the Cubbies in the 2016 World Series which could be as early as Tuesday night or the next day if they need game seven. There are probably going to be a lot of changes in the Twins front office prior to the MLB Winter Meetings in National Harbor, Maryland on December 4-6. The current rumor is that the Twins new GM will be Thad Levine for the Texas Ranger organization. After that hire who knows whats next but the Twins field staff should not get too comfortable or buy any green banana’s.
The Minnesota Twins went heavy on the tricks versus treats in 2016. The Twins treated their fans to only 59 wins this season while playing nasty tricks on their fans on 103 occasions. Some of the bad plays that Twins players made this season surely must have been on purpose by bad actors because major league players shouldn’t play that bad.
Who knows what the Minnesota Twins have in store for 2017 and beyond but we can only hope to see more treats and fewer tricks. I was lucky enough to get in touch with Jim Pohlad recently to discuss the current state of the Minnesota Twins organization and here is our conversation.
Well there you have it, your Halloween message from the Minnesota Twins.
When Target Field opened in 2010, Minnesota Twins fans were hungry for out-door baseball after having spent the previous 28 seasons watching the Twins play their home games indoors at the H.H.H. Metrodome and over 3.2 million fans poured through the Target Field turnstiles to watch the playoff bound Twins play ball. The 2010 AL Central champs were swept by the New York Yankees 3 games to zip in the ALDS but it turns out that was the least of the Twins problems.
The Minnesota Twins officially announced with a Press Release what has been rumored for some time and that is that Derek Falvey will fill the new role of Chief Baseball Officer. Here is the official Press Release:
The rumors started Monday afternoon and Rhett Bollinger posted on Twinsbaseball.com that Cleveland Indians assistant GM Derek Falvey is headed to Minnesota to become the teams new Head of Baseball Operations. Nothing is official as the Twins organization has made no announcement but with the Indians clinching the AL Central title last night the official announcement could be imminent.
I was listening to Pat Reusse yesterday afternoon on AM 1500 when he had Indians broadcaster Tom Hamilton on as a guest and they talked about Derek Falvey. Since the deal is not official Hamilton could obviously only speak from a what if scenario. He did say however; that Falvey works very closely with manager Terry Francona and his staff and would be a great fit for the Minnesota job. Then again, what would you expect him to say?
Here is what the Cleveland Indians 2016 media guide has on Derek Palvey.
Derek Falvey
Derek Falvey is 33 and is in his ninth season as a member of the Cleveland Indians organization and first since being appointed Assistant General Manager on Oct. 6, 2015. He spent the previous four seasons as Director of Baseball Operations after being named to the position in December of 2011.
As Assistant General Manager, Derek assists Chris Antonetti and Mike Chernoff in all areas of baseball operations, including financial, statistical, and contractual dealings, and contributes to all aspects of professional and amateur player procurement and development. He also oversees the Advance Scouting process and works closely with Terry Francona and the Major League Coaching Staff to assist in the day-to-day management of Major League operations.
Falvey’s tenure with the organization started in November 2007 when he began an internship in Baseball Operations. In his first three years with the club, Derek assisted both the Amateur and International Scouting Departments before spending the 2011 season as Assistant Director of Baseball Operations.Derek played baseball at Trinity College in Hartford, CT where he earned a degree in economics in June 2005. After graduating, Falvey returned home to the Boston, MA area where he worked until joining the Indians in the fall of 2007.
Derek Falvey is married (Meghan) and they have a son named Jack.
What the heck? What is going on there in Twins territory? Just a year after signing Korean first baseman Byung Ho Park to a four-year, $12 million deal, the Twins decide to designate him for assignment. All this after paying a $12.85 million posting fee to win the rights to negotiate with him in December 2015. That is almost $25 million down the tube, owner Jim Pohlad must be proud of his organization.
