Minnesota Twins Daily Morning Dip: Closing out the year
Minnesota Twins Daily Dip, December 31st, 2017
Welcome to the December 31st 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 Organizational Scores
Australian Baseball League Update
Brisbane played a double-header Saturday, but Aaron Whitefield did not play in their game.
Dominican Winter League Update
Fernando Rodney made an appearance for Leonas del Escogido on Saturday in their playoff game against Aguilas Cibaenas. He threw a scoreless inning, allowing just one walk.
Venezuelan Winter League Update
There were no games scheduled in the VWL on Saturday.
Minnesota Twins news and notes
Twins 2017 turnaround due to a number of reasons
In a “year in review” piece, MLB.com’s Rhett Bolinger reviews the biggest moments from the season past and reasons why the Twins became the first team to ever lose 100 or more games and then make the postseason the following season.
Molitor honored by Wild
Paul Molitor was honored by the Minnesota Wild on Friday night as a guest of the Wild and was enlisted to lead the home crowd in the traditional “Let’s play hockey” introduction to the Wild tilt against the Nashville Predators.
More from Puckett's Pond
- 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
- Minnesota Twins: Grading the Christian Vazquez Signing
Notes from around baseball
- 10 best games of the year
- Best under-radar catches in 2017
- Astros gave best gift of 2017 to their city
- Showing the success of defensive shifts statistically
- Review of Hudson’s career in his HOF year on ballot
- McCovey hopeful for Bonds HOF election
- BBWAA awards dinner date set for January
- Remembering Livan, Millwood in their year on HOF ballot
- Rockies look to acquire corner bat
- Reviewing Lee in his year on the HOF ballot
- Johnny Damon’s HOF case
- Vizquel’s HOF case
- Cubs draft prospect an inspiring speaker
Next: Should the Twins continue pursuing relievers?
One Last Thing
Today is the 56th birthday of long-time Minnesota Twins closer Rick Aguilera. The Mets originally drafted the righty out of Brigham Young University in the 3rd round of the 1983 draft and saw him make the major leagues in their rotation just two seasons later. Aguilera was a vital cog in the 1986 World Series championship team for New York as a starter, but soon thereafter, he found his two-pitch dominated arsenal to be an issue in the rotation.
The Twins acquired Aguilera from the Mets as part of the deal that sent Frank Viola to the Mets. He had begun his move to the bullpen already at that point, but the Twins moved him into the closer role in 1990, and he would be a fixture in that role for the rest of his career, even saving 29 games in his final season with the Chicago Cubs.
In his 11 years with the Twins, he saved 254 games in 694 innings pitched, posting a 3.50 ERA and 1.18 WHIP with a 179/586 BB/K ratio. He was elected to the Twins Hall of Fame in 2008.