Tag: Rocco Baldelli

Twins complete 2022 coaching staff with two additions

The Minnesota Twins issued a Press Release yesterday stating that they have made two more additions to their coaching staff bringing it to ten, this apparently completes the coaching staff at this time. Along with manager Rocco Baldelli, the 10 coaches will be managing/coaching their 25 man roster which brings the ratio closer and closer to two players for every coach. Back in 1961 the Twins skipper had three coaches to help him.

The new additions are Hank Conger a former major league catcher and Luis Ramirez. Ramirez, 48, has spent the last 16 years in the Twins organization, serving as pitching coach/coordinator at various levels, most recently as a Double-A Wichita pitching coach in 2021. In addition to the new hires, the Twins shifted some of their coaches around and these changes are noted in the attached Press Release.

TWINS-PRESS-RELEASESDownload

Byron Buxton and Twins agree to an extension

Byron Buxton has good reason to smile. Credit to Brace Hemmelgarn – MN Twins

Yesterday afternoon as I was watching the Minnesota Vikings vs the San Francisco 49ers football game the news broke that the Minnesota Twins and Byron Buxton had reached agreement on a seven year extension worth about $100 million. I have to say that I was very surprised, I fully expected that this would not happen and that the Twins would be trading him to a team with deeper pockets that could afford to take such a gamble and not be hurt if Buxton got the big bucks but couldn’t stay healthy.

I like Buxton as a player but I have always been bothered by the fact that he could not stay healthy and for me a player sitting on the bench because he is not healthy enough play is worthless. It makes no difference if it is bad luck, bad karma, or whatever, if you can’t play you bring no value. There have always been players across all sports that spent more time in the training rooms than they did on the playing fields. It is what it is.

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2021 Twins Turkey of the Year

Happy Thanksgiving everyone

Time seems to have gotten away from me and it was only in the last few days that I realized it was that time again, time to pick another Twins Turkey of the Year. This years winner will be number 13. So far we have only had one repeat winner and that was President and CEO Dave St. Peter who took the honors in 2013 and again in 2019.

With the 2021 Minnesota Twins expected to do well and go deep in the playoffs by their fans and the so called baseball experts and then to see the team finish 73-89 and in last place in the American League Central Division you would have to think that there were more turkeys then you could shake a stick at. You would be right.

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So where do the Twins go from here?

Minnesota Twins fans and the team itself had such high expectations going into 2021 and yet as we approach the midway point in the season we find the team floundering badly at 31-42. The season opened on April 1 and the team reached their high-water mark for the season on April 8 when they were three games over .500 with a 5-2 record. Since then it has been one step forward and two steps back.

Derek Falvey

So how do you explain this? How does a team that everyone expected to be a serious contender and pretty much a playoff lock in 2021 play such terrible baseball that it is basically unwatchable? Where do you start? Like in most businesses you have to start at the top.

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Twins are spiraling out of control

Where is the win?

It seems like everyday the Minnesota Twins find a new way to lose a baseball game. Sure this team has some injuries but what team doesn’t once the marathon baseball season begins. If you have watched this team since April 1 you can see that this team has gotten worse and not better as the season has gone on. The Twins are spiraling out of control and are in a free-fall and the Twins FO is just sitting by watching and waiting. I am not exactly sure what they are waiting for but more action needs to be taken other than shuffling pitchers between Target Field and the CHS Field.

Baseball is a strange and funny game and I have seen teams over the years that have over-performed and I have seen teams that have under-performed. The same goes for players, tell me you haven’t seen a good player have a bad season and bounce back the following year. It happens, we all get into these ruts sometimes when we feel that everyone and everything is against us and no matter what we do it just doesn’t seems to get any better.

The 2019 Minnesota Twins had an amazing season, everyone hit home runs, and as time goes by we will look back at that team and say that most of the players on that team had career years. So why is the reverse not possible and when we look back at 2021 and say that most of the players on this team all had their worst seasons at the same time.

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What the heck ails the Twins

Where is the win?

What the heck ails the Minnesota Twins? Are the Twins as bad as they have shown so far? After almost three weeks of play the Twins are tied for last place in the AL Central with the Detroit Tigers and no team in the AL has a worse record and only the Colorado Rockies over in the other league have won fewer games.

Then again the entire American League seems to be is disarray with the Boston Red Sox leading in the East with a 12-6 record and they are five games ahead of the last place New York Yankees (dang it feels good to say that) and the Toronto Blue Jays are just a half game better at 7-10. In the West the the high-flying Oakland A’s are 11-7 and on a ten game winning streak prior to todays game. The Seattle Mariners are also at 11-7 and the last place Houston Astros are just 7-9. In the Central which the Twins call home the leaders are the Kansas City Royals at 9-7. Has the entire AL gone nuts? I know only about ten percent of the games have been played so it is a small sample size but things are kind of crazy.

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Three or more innings saves

Earlier this week on April 5 the Twins beat the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park by a score of 15-6. Matt Shoemaker started his first game in a Twins uniform and went six innings throwing 92 pitches and allowing three hits and one run before manager Rocco Baldelli said that was enough. The Twins had a 15-1 lead at that point and Shoemaker was in line for the win.

Randy Dobnak

Baldelli brought in his long man Randy Dobnak to finish things off and Dobnak did just that going the final three innings. The first two innings were uneventful but the third and final inning was interesting. The ninth inning started as you would like to see with Dobnak retiring the first two batters. But the next hitter Victor Reyes took Dobnak deep. Then he gave up a single, then a double and then a walk to load the bases for former Twins minor league outfielder and Tigers Rule 5 pick-up Akil Baddoo who crushed a Dobnak pitch for a grand slam home run and all of a sudden it was a 15-6 ballgame. No worries, Dobnak retired JaCoby Jones on a groundout and the game was over and the Twins had the 15-6 win.

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What’s in store behind the 2021 door

I will jump right in and say that I am very optimistic about the 2021 Minnesota Twins winning the American League Central title even though with the exception of the Cleveland Indians I see the rest of the Central Division teams improving.

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What? No Harmon Killebrew on my Top 10 lists?

Harmon Killebrew

The Minnesota Twins signed Marwin Gonzalez as a free agent in February 2019 because he could play a number of positions and he was a solid player both with his glove and his bat. The Twins plan was to play Gonzalez most every day at a different position to give manager Rocco Baldelli the flexibility to give the regulars a day off on a regular basis. Hopefully that plan would allow for more rest for the “regulars” throughout the season. Gonzalez ended up playing in 114 games with appearances in the OF (59), 3B (40), 1B (21), DH (3), 2B (2) and 1B (1).

Some time ago I did a series of posts that I called my “Top 10 lists” about the best Twins players at each position and Harmon Killebrew did not make the cut in any of the positions. How is it possible you ask that a Hall of Famer that played 1,939 games in Twins colors (and 390 more as a Washington Senator) is not the best player at any position? The simple answer is that Harmon Killebrew did not play at least 51% of his games at any one position and that was an arbitrary figure that I chose to see who qualified at a position.

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Did you know?

Chief Baseball Officer Derek Falvey, Josh Donaldson and manager Rocco Baldelli of the Minnesota Twins pose for a photo as the Twins introduce Josh Donaldson at Target Field on January 22, 2020 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)

According to mlbtraderummors.com – The Minnesota Twins for signing Josh Donaldson: Minnesota also received revenue-sharing and didn’t exceed the luxury tax threshold, so signing Donaldson put the Twins in position to give up their third-highest draft selection.  However, the Twins are actually giving up their fourth-highest pick in the 2020 draft, which is their third-round selection.  The Twins’ actual third selection is their pick in Competitive Balance Round B, but those picks aren’t eligible to be forfeited as compensation for QO free agent signings.