Minnesota Twins Daily Morning Dip: Shortstop Closer

Minnesota Twins Daily Dip, November 22nd, 2017

Welcome to the November 22nd edition of the Daily Dip, your daily piece of news and notes here on Puckett’s Pond, offseason edition. You’ll find the most recent news of the Minnesota Twins organization, stories from around the game, and links to any information you may want to know about the Minnesota Twins or baseball as we work our way through the hot stove season!

Minnesota Twins Scores, News and Notes

Australian Baseball League Update

Brisbane used a 4-run 4th to defeat Canberra 5-2. Aaron Whitefield went 0-3 with a trio of strikeouts.

Eagles, Jimmy Buffett playing at Target Field

Forty years after they first played at a Minnesota Twins stadium, the Eagles are playing again in 2018 with Buffett. Combining Hotel California and Parrotheads should lead to an interesting audience combination compared to recent shows that have skewed heavily country.

Santana makes first HOF ballot

Johan Santana is presenting voters with a tough case in his first appearance on the Hall of Fame ballot. He’s joined as a first-timer by former Twin Jim Thome on the ballot.

Twins add three to 40-man

While the Twins did add three to the 40-man roster to protect them from the Rule 5 draft, more notable were many of the names left off – former first round picks and highly-rated prospects in the organization fairly recently. More to come on this as Rule 5 gets closer.

Spring training schedule announced

MLB announced the spring training schedules for all 30 teams on the same day on Monday. The Twins look to build in the spring to open their season ready for another playoff run.

Buxton repeats on the 2017 All-Statcast team

Byron Buxton was the only repeat mention on the All-Statcast team this season, donning the title of “MLB’s fastest man” in the awards.

More from Puckett's Pond

• Minnesota Twins: What happens next at Shortstop?
• Minnesota Twins: Grading the Twins’ Joey Gallo signing
• Minnesota Twins: 4 Possible Trade Chips not named Kepler or Arraez
• Minnesota Twins: After missing out on Correa, what comes next?
• Minnesota Twins: Free Agency should be Ace or Bust for the Rotation

Notes from around baseball

• After deal reached, Ohtani can be posted
• Jimenez working way to MLB
• Judge has surgery, should be ready for spring
• Morgan sends letter to HOF voters
• Acuna leads All-AFL team
• Tigers considering trading Kinsler
• Yankees Gregorius swims with sharks
• Teams set 40-man rosters
• Braves receive harsh penalty for international signing violations

Next: Twins Free Agent Pitcher Options

One Last Thing

Today is former Minnesota Twins closer Joe Nathan‘s 43rd birthday. A shortstop when he was drafted out of college in 1995. He made the switch to pitching in the minor leagues and initially came up as a starter with the Giants in 1999. After Tommy John surgery, Nathan returned to the majors as a reliever and showed dominance in the role.

The Twins acquired Nathan in the deal that sent A.J. Pierzynski to San Francisco. Nathan was immediately installed as closer, saving 44 games in his first year as a Twin. By the time he left the organization, he was the career leader in saves.

As a Twin, Nathan pitched 7 seasons, making 460 appearances and throwing 463 innings. He tallied 260 saves, a 2.16 ERA, a 0.96 WHIP, a 7.3% walk rate, and a 30.7% strikeout rate.

Happy birthday, Joe!