Archive for August, 2011

Over on Seedlings to Stars we started a series called Harvesting Opinion a few weeks ago. The purpose of the series is to field a question from a team-based writer (usually from a FanSided site) of each of the 30 MLB organizations. Nathaniel and myself then answer that question providing both of our perspectives. Once we’re done typing away and comparing notes, we create an article out of it. Our goal is to tackle six organizations a week but as with most things our available time impacts how many we can actually get to each week. In the future we [...]

So many things have contributed to this collapse that it’s hard to recount all of them. For me, the primary reasons are the seemingly endless rash of injuries and the disappearance of Francisco Liriano as an average starter let alone the top of the rotation guy he was supposed to be. Certainly there’s plenty of room for debate and discussion to figure out exactly what went wrong but we know for certain that 15 players that contributed last year were not in the organization on Opening Day this spring. Would the team’s fortunes be different if any of these players [...]

After 133 games this season the Twins are 56-77 and have already lost 9 more games than they did last season when they finished 94-68. The 2011 Twins are winning at a rate of 42.1%. If that holds through the end of the season it will be their lowest mark since 1999 when they won just 39.4% of their games and finished 63-97. So many things have contributed to this collapse that it’s hard to recount all of them. For me, the primary reasons are the seemingly endless rash of injuries and the disappearance of Francisco Liriano as an average [...]

MINNEAPOLIS — It’s Jim Thome Wind-Up Walker Day tomorrow at Target Field, but the man they are honoring won’t be wearing the home color. The Twins placed the member of the 600 HR club on waivers this Monday and he was then claimed by the Cleveland Indians. It was all up to him to accept or veto a trade with his No-Trade Clause. new came down moments ago that Thome has in fact accepted a trade that would return him to the place he started his career: the Cleveland Indians. The details of the trade are not immediately available.

The Twins have fielded a lot of bad teams in their fifty years of existence. And they’ve played some terrible games. But even the most grizzled veteran among Twins fans would have a tough time recalling a series more embarrassing than the one just completed against the Baltimore Orioles. The worst team in the American League just swept the Twins in a four game series on Minnesota’s home turf by a combined score of 24 – 4. They were outhit 45-25 in the process. Two Twins’ starting pitchers (Brian Duensing and Francisco Liriano) left games before the third inning due [...]

The Citizens of Twins Territory are getting restless. Those who haven’t given up and stopped watching altogether grow louder and angrier. Simply put, Twins fans are not happy. Read the comments on any online forum or walk into any Twin Cities sports bar, and you’re guaranteed to encounter an angry rant and several demands to fire Bill Smith and/or Ron Gardenhire. The fanbase has good reason to be upset. After a second-straight sound defeat versus the Baltimore Orioles – the worst team in the American League – the Twins fell to 55-73, 18 games under .500. Alfredo Simon, owner of [...]

MINNEAPOLIS — They’re both in tonight’s lineup but might not be there for long. The Twins placed both Jim Thome and Jason Kubel on waivers and have been told both have been claimed. The mystery now lies  in whom it was that did the claiming. It’s not hard to understand why this has happened. Not only are the Twins officially giving up hope on any chance of a postseason run, the almighty contact dispute comes into the picture. Kubel is a free agent at the end of the year and was one of three big names the Twins were looking at bringing [...]

The Twins’ bullpen was the biggest scapegoat of their poor start, but since the All Star Break, the starting rotation has had more than its share of problems. Nick Blackburn is undergoing his annual second half meltdown. Francisco Liriano still hasn’t strung together more than two good starts. Brian Duensing has failed to repeat his dominance from 2009 and 2010. And Scott Baker, the team’s best starter this year, will likely spend the rest of the season on the DL. In a column for the Star Tribune on Monday, Patrick Reusse noted that the Twins will shed $37 million in [...]

The New York Yankees strolled into town Friday night to begin a four game series with the Twins. While the Yankees have become the Twins’ biggest postseason obstacle in recent years, the Twins’ poor 2011 season has sucked all the playoff excitement out of this weekend’s series. Even if the Twins do manage to win a few games against their Bronx-based oppressors, the competition will remain largely meaningless. But the Yankee visit still holds some intrigue, as two of the greatest players of all time will share the field. Jim Thome, the newest member of baseball’s 600 Home Run Club, will [...]

Bear with me here (no pun intended) – I’ll try to make this as little about football as possible, although let’s be honest, our beloved Twins are out of it and football season is right around the corner anyway. I’ll preface all of this by telling you that I live in Chicago and I’m a talk radio junkie. That said, I was running errands in the car the other day and I had the radio on and I was thinking about the Delmon Young trade. I think I was listening to 670 The Score and they were talking about Jay [...]