The Minnesota Twins Thread

[NYYDragoon]

The Twins sweep the Diamondbacks and the 6-game homestand. Huzzah! The offense, and especially the starting pitching, were stellar the whole way though. Opponents were outscored 40-12.

[NYYDragoon]

The 10-game win streak came to a close behind Livan Hernandez (useless!), but it was epic while it lasted. The starters went 8-0 during it, I think.

Apparently, every Twins team with a 10-game winning streak has made the playoffs. It a silly stat, but one can hope...

(Also, to add insult to injury, Cuddyer and Casilla are both day-to-day.)

[chris_5103]

Of course I go to the game where they lose 5-1 but I don't go when they win late on Friday with a Mauer hr or a Slowey CG SO. Nice to see a strong pitching performance. The Twins should be sellers and buyers this trade deadline. Dump Livan, Everett and Lamb for anything and try to get Jason Bay.

[NYYDragoon]

Dump Livan? I agree completely, but who'd take his spot in the rotation?

[chris_5103]

Boof or Liriano. Move Boof back to the rotation and bring Liriano back to the pen.

[NYYDragoon]

The Twins have won 18 of their last 21, which included handing Cliff Lee his second loss of the season last night. Amazing. And now they charge into Fenway to continue the rampage.

[NYYDragoon]

Despite yesterday's debacle, it was still enough to shock ESPN:

If you predicted that the Minnesota Twins would be lurking near the top of the American League Central approaching the All-Star Game, congratulations. It's time to collect your Harmon Killebrew autographed bat and flash a smile in anticipation of your "Circle Me Bert'' moment during the team's next TV broadcast.

The Twins appeared to be bailing on a 2008 postseason run when they allowed Torii Hunter to leave through free agency, traded Johan Santana to the Mets and poured their resources into multiyear deals for first baseman Justin Morneau, right fielder Michael Cuddyer and closer Joe Nathan in the spring. Yet here they are, 2½ games behind the White Sox and acting as if they're enjoying the view...

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/column...rry&id=3479557

[SecretChiSoxFan]

The Twins have been on fire. I think they just gave the White Sox their best shot with this run- and they still couldn't pass them. So I feel pretty good as a Sox fan.

That stretch in Aug/Sep when the Twins play 24 of 30 on the road or something like that is I think when the Sox finally get some distance. But I NEVER count the Twins out, I've made that mistake before. I still can't believe the Twins won the division in 2006, that was an unbelievable run on Detroit. Once the world thinks Detroit is a favorite, they are pretty good at choking on it.

[b-ball-lunachick]

So, after the sweep in Fenway, is it time to make room for Liriano?

[YASS]

So, after the sweep in Fenway, is it time to make room for Liriano?

Liriano's tough to figure out this year.

He hasn't given up a run in his last two starts in AAA, but he was seriously rocked in the two starts before those.

Can he help them now? I can't tell. He's been very inconsistent.

[sweet_lou_14]

I watched a fair amount of the Twins-Red Sox series, and I have a VERY hard time taking Minnesota seriously as a contender. They've got about 12 major leaguers on their 25-man roster.

[chris_5103]

I watched a fair amount of the Twins-Red Sox series, and I have a VERY hard time taking Minnesota seriously as a contender. They've got about 12 major leaguers on their 25-man roster.

They should have won the 2nd game and they could have won the 1st game. Gardy screwed up and brought in the worst reliever on the staff in Brian Bass in a 0-0 tie game. He should have brought in Jesse Crain to pitch to Pedroia, Reyes to pitch to JD Drew and then bring in Nathan to pitch to Manny and then finish the game for the win. In the 2nd game I would have brought Nathan in once the Sox started coming back in the 8th. Let Nathan pitch an inning and a half. He is the best reliever on the team and he didn't throw a pitch in Boston. As for the 12 major leaguers.....that is a dig. their entire rotation outside of Livan are young and full of talent. You are telling me you wouldn't want any of them on the Yankees? Bass it the only reliever that should be in the minors. Nathan is one of the top 3 closers in baseball. Mauer (as much as I dislike him) and Morneau are legit allstars/mvp/batting champion contenders each year. Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez are each 22 year olds with tons of talent. Casilla looks to be a nice player at 2nd but I could see him moving to SS if Pouffle doesn't work out in the minors. Jason Kubel is a decent DH who is finally getting his knees back and still progressing. He is equal to Jason-roid-Giambi right now but Giambi is regressing while Kubel at least has some room to grow into an average hitter of .275 with 25+hrs. I could go on and on about the Twins and how they have young nonamers that play the game right. To me, they should dump Monroe, Lamb, Livan and Everrett. Those are the veterans that don't belong in the majors.

[Pancake]

They should have won the 2nd game and they could have won the 1st game. Gardy screwed up and brought in the worst reliever on the staff in Brian Bass in a 0-0 tie game. He should have brought in Jesse Crain to pitch to Pedroia, Reyes to pitch to JD Drew and then bring in Nathan to pitch to Manny and then finish the game for the win. In the 2nd game I would have brought Nathan in once the Sox started coming back in the 8th. Let Nathan pitch an inning and a half. He is the best reliever on the team and he didn't throw a pitch in Boston. As for the 12 major leaguers.....that is a dig. their entire rotation outside of Livan are young and full of talent. You are telling me you wouldn't want any of them on the Yankees? Bass it the only reliever that should be in the minors. Nathan is one of the top 3 closers in baseball. Mauer (as much as I dislike him) and Morneau are legit allstars/mvp/batting champion contenders each year. Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez are each 22 year olds with tons of talent. Casilla looks to be a nice player at 2nd but I could see him moving to SS if Pouffle doesn't work out in the minors. Jason Kubel is a decent DH who is finally getting his knees back and still progressing. He is equal to Jason-roid-Giambi right now but Giambi is regressing while Kubel at least has some room to grow into an average hitter of .275 with 25+hrs. I could go on and on about the Twins and how they have young nonamers that play the game right. To me, they should dump Monroe, Lamb, Livan and Everrett. Those are the veterans that don't belong in the majors.

They may have all the talent and youth in the world but they played with no heart in that series. None whatsoever. And Kubel is not Jason Giambi's equal yet and may never be, no matter how many cheap shots you dig up to throw at him.

[Mark19]

They should have won the 2nd game and they could have won the 1st game. Gardy screwed up and brought in the worst reliever on the staff in Brian Bass in a 0-0 tie game. He should have brought in Jesse Crain to pitch to Pedroia, Reyes to pitch to JD Drew and then bring in Nathan to pitch to Manny and then finish the game for the win. In the 2nd game I would have brought Nathan in once the Sox started coming back in the 8th. Let Nathan pitch an inning and a half. He is the best reliever on the team and he didn't throw a pitch in Boston. As for the 12 major leaguers.....that is a dig. their entire rotation outside of Livan are young and full of talent. You are telling me you wouldn't want any of them on the Yankees? Bass it the only reliever that should be in the minors. Nathan is one of the top 3 closers in baseball. Mauer (as much as I dislike him) and Morneau are legit allstars/mvp/batting champion contenders each year. Delmon Young and Carlos Gomez are each 22 year olds with tons of talent. Casilla looks to be a nice player at 2nd but I could see him moving to SS if Pouffle doesn't work out in the minors. Jason Kubel is a decent DH who is finally getting his knees back and still progressing. He is equal to Jason-roid-Giambi right now but Giambi is regressing while Kubel at least has some room to grow into an average hitter of .275 with 25+hrs. I could go on and on about the Twins and how they have young nonamers that play the game right. To me, they should dump Monroe, Lamb, Livan and Everrett. Those are the veterans that don't belong in the majors.

Truth be told, I am amazed the Twins aren't 10 games under .500

Their pitching staff is very inconsistent, they only have four real major leaguers in their lineup on any given day and the bullpen is very overrated.

Delmon Young has the pedigree to be an All-Star someday but Carlos Gomez will never be the Carl Crawford/Grady Sizemore player you are expecting of him. He never had an .800 OPS in the minors, he never showed plate discipline at any level and despite his speed, he still gets caught stealing more than 30% of the time.

Liriano, the 'ace in the hold', still looks tremendously inconsistent. One day he could revert to the guy who had 16 amazing starts in 2006, but your training staff made sure his arm may never be 100% healthy.
Slowey, Baker and Blackburn will all be fairly good MLB starters but I would much rather have Garza and his superior stuff.
Before you go calling Kubel the next Giambi, check out the numbers next to his name. He still doesn't have an .800 OPS and he is completely inept against southpaws.
The Twins will never be true contenders as long as they have ownership that is so reluctant to give away players that are about to become expensive. Also, good luck convincing free agents and fans to come to April and September baseball in your open-air Minnesota ballpark.

[NYYDragoon]

I watched a fair amount of the Twins-Red Sox series, and I have a VERY hard time taking Minnesota seriously as a contender. They've got about 12 major leaguers on their 25-man roster.

As I said in the Watching the Scoreboard Thread, judging the Twins by that Fenway disaster is like saying the Angels should DFA Scot Shields because his ERA is over 17 in that place. Other than that:

They should have won the 2nd game and they could have won the 1st game. Gardy screwed up and brought in the worst reliever on the staff in Brian Bass in a 0-0 tie game. In the 2nd game I would have brought Nathan in once the Sox started coming back in the 8th. Let Nathan pitch an inning and a half. As for the 12 major leaguers.....that is a dig.

Ditto.

They may have all the talent and youth in the world but they played with no heart in that series.

You serious? I'll give you Game 1, but the relief pitching blew it in the second two. Blackburn and the offense were great in game 2, but Guerrier lost in head in late innings (as quality relievers tend to do in Boston). And how about Nick Punto's 10 pitch at-bat against Paps, resulting in a double? And before the game 3 collapse, note how they kept scoring runs and tried to keep it close. As much as I love the Yanks, there's no way the 2008 squad could ever do that.

[Mark19]

Continually batting Carlos Gomez and his .610 OPS leadoff does not mean he will eventually turn into a leadoff hitter. In fact, I would be shocked if he would be a good AAA hitter based on how he's been performing.

[Cuban Connection]

Yeah but he's fast! That's all that matters for a "true" leadoff hitter!

[just-blaze]

Continually batting Carlos Gomez and his .610 OPS leadoff does not mean he will eventually turn into a leadoff hitter. In fact, I would be shocked if he would be a good AAA hitter based on how he's been performing.

Its an electrifing 610 OPS though.

[Cuban Connection]

gotta love the GM of the Twins:

Twins general manager Bill Smith, on Livan Hernandez, who improved to 10-6 with a 5.29 earned-run average with Saturday's victory over Texas: "I'll take the (10) wins. Who do you want, a guy who's 10-15 with a 2.80 ERA or a guy who's 16-8 with a 7.00 ERA? I'll take the 16-8."

http://www.firejoemorgan.com/

As a White Sox fan, I'm glad they are holding back Liriano for the ever important "veteran, innings eater" pitcher.

[NYYDragoon]

gotta love the GM of the Twins:

God dammit, Smith. What an idiot. With the way the Twins offense has been clicking, they wouldn't have a 10-15 2.80 ERA pitcher because he'd get the run support! I can't believe he uttered that...it's embarrassing.

Gomez has been underpeforming, and I'd much rather see Casilla in the leadoff spot. Lil' Carlos seems to have forgotten all of his mechanics.

[just-blaze]

God dammit, Smith. What an idiot. With the way the Twins offense has been clicking, they wouldn't have a 10-15 2.80 ERA pitcher because he'd get the run support! I can't believe he uttered that...it's embarrassing.

Gomez has been underpeforming, and I'd much rather see Casilla in the leadoff spot. Lil' Carlos seems to have forgotten all of his mechanics.

Are you a Twins fan?

"Lil' Carlos" aint so little and hasn't forgotten anything, he never really had mechanics.....as evidenced by everything he has done in baseball thus far.

He is an electrifing athlete, though.

[NYYDragoon]

Are you a Twins fan?

"Lil' Carlos" aint so little and hasn't forgotten anything, he never really had mechanics.....as evidenced by everything he has done in baseball thus far.

He is an electrifing athlete, though.

I am. They're second behind the Yanks.

Gomez started the season out with a .300+ average, but either he lost plate discipline or, more likely, he was getting lucky. Gardenhire claims he won't move him in the lineup because he doesn't want to hurt his morale while in a slump, but this "slump" is becoming like "most of season". Eventually they're going to have to make a decision...

At least he's amazing in the outfield.

[NYYDragoon]

Speak of the devil! Gomez was pushed to the 9 spot tonight!

[Cuban Connection]

Go Yanks!

Big series starting next week. I'm going to all 4 games thanks to "Mr. Empty Bat," Delmon Young.

[NYYDragoon]

After getting swept at the hands of the AL East yet again, I wouldn't be surprised if they dominate the series against you guys (take 3/4).

[chris_5103]

That was a bad series. I was so busy this week I couldn't even watch or listen to a minute of any game. Oh well.

[NYYDragoon]

That was a bad series. I was so busy this week I couldn't even watch or listen to a minute of any game. Oh well.

From your perspective, you didn't miss much. Unlike the series against the Red Sox where the bullpen blew it, none of the team showed up to the Bronx. It was pretty sad.

[YASS]

From your perspective, you didn't miss much. Unlike the series against the Red Sox where the bullpen blew it, none of the team showed up to the Bronx. It was pretty sad.

They really didn't, did they?

That series was the worst I've seen the Twins play in a long time.

[hardrain]

Twins want LaTroy - Cash may be able to get something for him:
http://ww3.startribune.com/blogs/chr...atroy-hawkins/

[chris_5103]

Twins want LaTroy - Cash may be able to get something for him:
http://ww3.startribune.com/blogs/chr...atroy-hawkins/

Please God no. I repeat No.

[NYYDragoon]

I agree Chris. He's not the reliever we (the Twins) need...he certainly didn't help us (the Yankees) out.

Nice win over the Southsiders today.

[chris_5103]

Screw Latroilet. they should bring Liriano and put him in the pen. Just like the Yanks did with Joba.

[YanksFan1992]

The Twins designated Adam Everett for assignment.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/0...t-designa.html

[NYYDragoon]

The Twins designated Adam Everett for assignment.

http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/0...t-designa.html

There was no longer any place for him.

Minny takes the first two from the Chisox and are now only a half-game behind them in the AL Central.

[YanksFan1992]

Well it turns out Everett will actually stay with the team.
http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2008/0...t-designa.html

And Alexei Casilla could be done for the year.
http://www.rotoworld.com/content/Hea...=MLB&hl=245361

[Dynasties R Forever]

Please God no. I repeat No.

You guys owe us for the inconvenience of last offseason. It's just Bill making nice.

[just-blaze]

You guys owe us for the inconvenience of last offseason. It's just Bill making nice.

I think its Bill Smith being Bill Smith.

[NYYDragoon]

And Alexei Casilla could be done for the year.
http://www.rotoworld.com/content/Hea...=MLB&hl=245361

I just saw this and I wanted to cry. Dammit!

[NYYDragoon]

Where's Chris?

Chris--what in god's name is the FO's obsession with Livan Hernandez? Why is he still around?

[chris_5103]

Where's Chris?

Chris--what in god's name is the FO's obsession with Livan Hernandez? Why is he still around?

I have no clue what their problem is. Livan, Lamb, Everett, Monroe, Cuddyer were all wasted signings. Every year they do this crap and hang on to overpaid crappy vets. Next year, they will do it again. Waste another 10-15 million of a limited budget on garbage. Liriano NEEDS to be in the rotation. Livan needs to be moved somewhere. Otherwise DFA the guy.

I heard on the radio today that the Twins are asking about Brian Roberts. I wouldn't mind seeing him come in. then next year move Casilla to SS. That would be a nice middle infield. I just wonder what the price is.

[Bronson'sCornrows]

Twins want LaTroy - Cash may be able to get something for him:
http://ww3.startribune.com/blogs/chr...atroy-hawkins/

My guess is that the Twins are the only team left that remembers when LaTroy was good.

[chris_5103]

I am glad the twins didn't break up the pitching staff to get a rental player. Liriano, Slowey, Baker, Perkins, Blackburn is a nice young starting 5.

[NYYDragoon]

I am glad the twins didn't break up the pitching staff to get a rental player. Liriano, Slowey, Baker, Perkins, Blackburn is a nice young starting 5.

But I wish they gave Livan away for anything.

[yanksphan]

Livan released today.

He'll be in pinstripes by Monday I'd guess.

[webassign]

Livan released today.

He'll be in pinstripes by Monday I'd guess.

I came in here just to post that.

[hardrain]

Livan released today.

He'll be in pinstripes by Monday I'd guess.

He's certainly better than Ponson....I'd take him

[SoCal Pinstriper]

Twins will miss Casilla. They are going to wait a week on surgery (finger), but it does not look good.

[bigjf]

Liriano recalled today, August 1st. What a shock.

[NYYDragoon]

Livan released today.

He'll be in pinstripes by Monday I'd guess.

Thank. God. Say hello to Francisco!

(And Cashman better stay far away from that man.)

[aeromac76]

Liriano recalled today, August 1st. What a shock.

It also means we may have to face him next week..
Not really thrilled about that..