In The Great White North: Minnesota Twins Dynasty

[BlueJays09]

Quote: Originally Posted by mkilcNYR

Caging the Tiger Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins Apr 27, 2014 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E Detroit (8-15) 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 8 0 Minnesota (11-12) 3 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 X 6 10 0 W: Correia (3-2) L: Smyly (0-2) The Detroit Tigers may have won the division in 2013 and have 2 AL Cy Young's on their roster as well as Miguel Cabrera but the team is in a deep spiral to start off the month of April. Kevin Correia would not deliver as good of a start as Hughes or Pelfrey (both going 8 innings and throwing over 100 pitches) but he was still solid in the No. 4 spot in the Twins rotation. For the most part he seemed to have shaky control throughout the game but managed to get the Tigers to pop out and ground out weakly. Over his 6 innings of work he only managed to strike out 3 and scattered 6 hits allowing 2 runs. The Tigers meanwhile were horrid from inning 1 when it came to pitching. Smyly gave up an RBI double that could have been worse had Mauer busted a little bit more (was thrown out trying to score from 1st.). The next batter was Arcia and he showed why he was in the Top 5 in the AL batting race. A 1-1 pitch was sent into the upper deck in right at Target Field to make it a 3-0 game in favor of the Twins. Aaron Hicks would get in on the home run game finally by launching a 2 run shot in the 5th. (WHAT!!! Seriously Shocked he did this). Plouffe later added his own homer in the 6th, his third of the year. Caleb Theilbar came out of the pen in the Top of the 7th and pitched 3 innings beautiful seeing 9 batters and sending all 9 batters back to the dugout. The Twins are now back to their winning ways at home with 6 games left in this 9 game home stand. 3 against the Dodgers and 3 against the surging Baltimore Orioles. The pitching match ups for the Dodgers series will be the following: Marquis (0-0/1.80 ERA) v. Greinke (3-2/3.41 ERA)-April 29th Nolasco (1-2/4.82 ERA) v. Ryu (1-1/2.67 ERA)- April 30th Hughes (0-4/5.80 ERA) v. Beckett (1-3/4.06 ERA)-May 1st. The standing for the AL Central going into the morning of April 29th are: MLB Standings - Updated: Apr 29, 2014 AL CENTRAL W L GB Kansas City Royals 16 9 - Minnesota Twins 12 12 3.5 Chicago White Sox 13 14 4.0 Cleveland Indians 11 16 6.0 Detroit Tigers 8 16 7.5 Being in second feels great but we're still 3 and a half back from the Royals who keep slugging balls around the yard like its no big deal and wrapping up 3 or 4 game winning streaks at a time. They will absolutely be hard to catch right now. I'd say we are about where I wanted us to be right now as April ends in 2 days. While April may end soon, trades are just starting to get interesting. The Twins management has decided to update the Trade Block to represent some of what we'd like to give up and what we'd like to get back. Right now we are only looking for a SS or CF players that we can get relatively on the cheap. Prospects preferred as we already have a good SS with Danny Santana getting most of the starts and Jason Bartlett tutoring him. Aaron Hicks meanwhile is still a problem and I don't want to rush the Byron Buxton project at AAA. The guys on our trading block are: Kevin Correia SP- Interested (San Francisco Giants) Samuel Deduno SP-Interested (San Francisco Giants) Kyle Gibson SP (AAA)-Interested (San Francisco Giants) Aaron Hicks CF-Interested (Arizona Diamondbacks, Seattle Mariners, Philadelphia Phillies)

Looks like you and SF have some deals to talk lol. They like all the pitchers you have on the block. Anyone they have interest you?


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[mkilcNYR]

Quote: Originally Posted by BlueJays09

Looks like you and SF have some deals to talk lol. They like all the pitchers you have on the block. Anyone they have interest you? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I'm fairly interested in Ty Blach whose a left handed starter that plays for their Double AA affiliate at Richmond. He actually plays in the same division as my Rock Cats affiliate so I will def do some more scouting on him in game to see how well he pitches.

If I can swing Bumgarner though that would be amazing. I'm looking for a young starter whose already had MLB service to insert as a potential #2 guy (and then flip either Hughes or Nolasco for hitting prospects) .Honestly would consider surrendering Alex Meyer (who I'm protecting right now at AAA as a potential call up in September) in a deal for him.

[BlueJays09]

Send Hughes or Nolasco to Toronto haha. Ya Baumgarner would be a nice pick up your gonna have to pay though


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[mkilcNYR]

On the Farm

New Britain Rock Cats at Harrisburg Senators
Apr 29, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New Britain (14-9)	1	0	6	0	0	1	0	0	0	8	8	0
Harrisburg (20-4)	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	0
W: Stewart (3-0) L: Rivero (2-2)

Taking a quick look in at one of the Twins top prospects in the minors, we are treated to an afternoon Double AA matinee with the New Britain Rock Cats visiting the Harrisburg Senators at Highland Park in Harrisburg, PA.

Kohl Stewart took the mound for the Rock Cats in this Tuesday afternoon game. Stewart, the 19 year old prospect, was looking to keep his undefeated record in tact to finish off the month of April.

He did so in spectacular fashion. Stewart pitched his second complete game of the year, throwing all 9 innings, 126 pitches, struck out 10, allowed 7 hits, and only a run. The one run came off a solo home run in the Bottom of the Third.

He was backed up big time by the Rock Cats offense in the form of Miguel Sano who went 1-5 with a 3 run home run in the Rock Cats 6 run 3rd.

The Rock Cats improved to 15-9 in April and maintained their hold on 1st place in the Eastern League's Eastern Division. After the game Stewart and Sano also had a big boost to their stats because of their performances.

Sano now leads the Eastern League in home runs with 8 and RBI with 26. Kohl Stewart now leads the EL in losses with 0 on the year still, is 5th in K's with 40, and 2nd in complete games in the EL with 2 under his belt.

[mkilcNYR]

April Showers Bring May Flowers (Hopefully)

Those showers are the combined tears of joy and utter grief that Twins fans are shedding right now in Minnesota. The joy comes later on but first, the grief.

Dodgers at Twins |
Apr 29, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Extras	R	H	E
Los Angeles (14-12)	0	0	2	2	0	3	0	0	0	0 0 0 0 4	11	15	0
Minnesota (12-12)	1	1	0	0	1	3	1	0	0	0 0 0 0 0	7	16	2
W: Howell (2-1) L: Deduno (1-3)

And as usual Samuel Deduno is the harbinger of that grief. The Twins played a hard fought 14 inning game with the Los Angeles Dodgers in inter league play. The Twins managed to rally to tie the score in the Bottom of the Seventh on a sacrifice fly. With the score 7-7 the Dodgers rallied for 4 runs off Deduno with 2 out, including a 3 run homer by Hanley Ramirez.

Both starters, Marquis and Grienke, proved to be totally irrelevant as Marquis was yanked in the 5th, and Grienke in the 6th. Marquis gave up 4 runs and 7 hits over 4 1/3, while Grienke surrendered 6 runs and 8 hits over 5 2/3.

Bright spots for the Twins though were Brian Dozier and Aaron Hicks (yes that guy...again!) who both went 3-6. Hicks had a solo homer and a 2 RBI triple. Dozier meanwhile extended his hitting streak to a MLB leading 19 games.

Los Angeles Dodgers at Minnesota Twins
Apr 30, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Los Angeles (15-12)	0	0	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	4	10	0
Minnesota (12-13)	0	0	0	1	1	1	0	2	X	5	9	0
W: Burton (1-0) L: Wilson (0-2) S: Perkins (8)

The Twins came right back on Wednesday night managing to take the game 5-4 thanks in part to a Chris Colabello 2 run homer in the Bottom of 8th, his second of the year. Mauer also went 3-5 and added in his own home run, his 5th of the year. Perkins would come on in the 9th to pick up his 8th save of the year and help the Twins to start off May on the right foot with the chacne to win yet another series at home. The Twins have so far not lost a set yet at Target Field.

Going into May 1st the standings look like this:

MLB Standings - Updated: Apr 30, 2014
AL CENTRAL	W	L	GB
Kansas City Royals	17	10	-
Minnesota Twins	13	13	3.5
Chicago White Sox	14	15	4.0
Detroit Tigers	10	16	6.5
Cleveland Indians	11	18	7.0

The Royals are continuing their hot streak as they are still leading the division with a long list of teams to start off the year. The Tigers won their last two and are slowly clawing their way back up as the Indians have fallen into a bit of a losing streak over their past few games. The White Sox keep bouncing back and forth between "WERE ON FIRE BABY" to "FREE TICKETS, FREE TICKETS BEHIND HOME PLATE". They actually were blown out in one of their last few games if I remember....twice in a row. But then blew out a team the next game. None of their starters have more than 2 wins but their bullpen is one of the best in the AL.

Minor League Monthly Check Up

Meanwhile in the minors:

The Rock Cats are crushing their Eastern League opponents which is great! The Double AA team looks very strong and are backed up by the pitching of Kohl Stewart and Jose Berrios.

[mkilcNYR]

Rock Cats Roar

The Rock Cats finished up the month of April by getting a great win against the Harrisburg Senators, 8-1. The Rock Cats have now won the first 2 games of the series against the Senators in this three game set.

The Rock Cats were led by the phenomenal pitching of that kid up there. Jose Berrios threw 9 solid innings, striking out 10, and surrendering 7 hits. The Rock Cats are now streaking across the Eastern League and have the second best record (Harrisburg Senators have the best).

Meanwhile Back in the MLB

The Giants and the Twins have entered trade negotiations so early in the season. After Deduno's meltdown the Twins offered the following to the Giants:

Samuel Deduno (1-3) SP
Kyle Gibson (3-1) SP (AAA)

For:

Gary Brown CF

Even though Brown has diminished some since his first round selection by the Giants years ago, he is still a 25 year old prospect who can work out the kinks he has in the minors or be used as part of another package deal for an arm or a bat.

[mkilcNYR]

Tip of My Hat, Wag of My Finger

Los Angeles Dodgers at Minnesota Twins
May 1, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Los Angeles (15-13)	0	1	0	0	2	2	0	0	0	5	9	0
Minnesota (13-13)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	0
W: Beckett (2-3) L: Hughes (0-5)

The Twins signed Phil Hughes to a huge 4 year deal in the offseason. Hopefully he was supposed to become the lion of a pitcher he was projected to be with the Yankees. I want to love him, I really do. But 0-5??!!?

Phil has done horrible on both sim games, player lock, and fully played games. He only had one good game against the Tigers in his last outing which he lost 1-0. Even in this game he only gave up 3 runs but he always fails to come through when we need him the most.

Josh Beckett meanwhile was great. His curveball was nasty and managed to get many of the Twins hitters to simply chase out of the zone and look stupid. He had near total control of the strike zone and many pitches that looked like balls just barely made the zone.

Brian Dozier did manage to go 1-4 on the day with a double though so he pushes his hit streak up to 21 games! Phenomenal year for him right now as he is batting .349 on the year with 5 homers and 10 RBI.

Meanwhile on the Farm

New Britain Rock Cats at Harrisburg Senators
May 1, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
New Britain (18-9)	1	0	0	0	1	0	2	0	0	4	11	0
Harrisburg (20-6)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	7	0
W: Gilmartin (4-1) L: Cole (2-2)

The Rock Cats continue to roll through Eastern League challengers as they win their third straight in an night game against the Senators (all three against the Western Division leader (other EL league division).

Sean Gilmartin has actually made a great case for himself by throwing 8.2 innings, striking out 11 and yielding only 1 run. He is eligible for the Rule 5 draft after this year and with the abidance of arms in the minors i originally considered him marked down as a guy I would let potentially walk to another team. However his status as a southpaw and his surging performance makes me consider adding him to the 40 man roster and potentially dropping another player like Deduno if he can't be moved. His next 2 home starts will give me a better idea of what to do with this problem (albeit a great problem).

Sano continues to do Sano. 1-4 with a solo homer in the first to give New Britain the lead and boost his own 2014 year stats. He now has 9 homers and 27 RBI. Both of those lead the Eastern League.

Up next is a three game set for the Twins against the Baltimore Orioles at home. Pelfrey will take the mound in game 1 looking for his 5th win of the year

[mkilcNYR]

Baltimore Orioles at Minnesota Twins
May 2, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Baltimore ()	1	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	4	6	0
Minnesota ()	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	2	4	1
W: Gausman (1-2) L: Pelfrey (4-1) S: Hunter (5)

Baltimore Orioles at Minnesota Twins
May 3, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Baltimore ()	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	0	3	6	2
Minnesota ()	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	X	4	5	0
W: Correia (4-2) L: Johnson (2-3) S: Perkins (9)

Baltimore Orioles at Minnesota Twins
May 4, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Baltimore ()	0	0	2	4	0	0	1	4	0	11	14	0
Minnesota ()	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	4	1
W: Chen (1-3) L: Marquis (0-1)

Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians
May 5, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota ()	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	0
Cleveland ()	0	1	0	0	1	2	2	0	X	6	8	0
W: Kluber (1-5) L: Nolasco (1-3)

Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians
May 6, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota ()	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	8	3
Cleveland ()	2	0	0	3	4	2	0	0	X	11	14	0
W: McAllister (2-4) L: Hughes (0-6)

Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians
May 7, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota ()	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	11	0
Cleveland ()	0	0	4	1	0	1	0	6		12	16	0
W: Tomlin (3-2) L: Pelfrey (4-2)

Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians
May 8, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota ()	4	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	8	0
Cleveland ()	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	1	0	3	9	1
W: Correia (5-2) L: Masterson (2-4) S: Perkins (10)

Minnesota Twins at Detroit Tigers
May 9, 2014	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Minnesota ()	0	0	0	2	1	0	2	0	0	5	11	1
Detroit ()	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	1
W: Marquis (1-1) L: Smyly (0-3) S: Perkins (11)

Well it has been a rough 8 games out in the Midwest with the Twins. The Twins played host to the Orioles to play out the last 3 games of their 9 game home stand. The Twins dropped 2 out of the 3 to Buck Showalters' group

The Twins looked to rebound big time against the Cleveland Indians in a four game set on the road at Progressive Field against a division rival. However the Indians had other plans. Errors and bad pitching, surprising from Pelfrey, doomed the Twins over the first three games. The Twins though turned around their luck in the fourth game of the series.

The Twins managed to plate 4 in the first and Correia proved that he can be a reliable 4th starter by improving to 5-2 on the year. He is to this point the only starter with 5 wins on the team.

The Twins then went to Detroit to face the still slumping Tigers in the first game of a three game matchup. What a great feel good win! Marquis picked up his first win by throwing 7.1 innings and stymying the Tigers bats. Smyly, the Tigers starter, looked lost half of the time as he allowed himself to be victimized yet again by Minnesota.

After the previous 8 games the Twins have a 3-5 record. Not as bad as I though while I was playing the games on player lock. Josh Willingham has been a surprisingly awesome player the last 8 games though. He's now batting over .400 with an 11 game hitting streak.

Unfortunately for hitting streaks, Dozier's has ended. Brian Dozier hit safely in 21 straight games before the streak ended. He is still however batting .314 on the year and providing well out of the 2nd hole in the lineup.

The Twins though have not actually lost that much ground in the AL Central. The standings through May 9th are:

MLB Standings - Updated: May 9, 2014
AL CENTRAL	W	L	GB
Kansas City Royals	22	14	-
Chicago White Sox	17	20	5.5
Minnesota Twins	16	19	5.5
Cleveland Indians	16	21	6.5
Detroit Tigers	13	21	8.0

The entire division is deep underwater with the exception of the Royals. That is them actually slumping. They lost 2 games in a row which I can imagine is a cardinal sin in their clubhouse right now. The Twins are still well within reach of sole possession of second with a good win streak. Currently we still have 2 games left against a listing Tigers team that's in the basement of the Central. And we are on a 2 game winning streak.

Meanwhile in the Minors

The Twins Double AA affiliate New Britain Rock Cats have no standing trouble after May 9th. They sit in first place in the EL Eastern Division with a record of 24-12. Kohl Stewart just threw his third complete game of the year on the night of the 9th. His win was momentous because he set a new record for himself with 13 strikeout's. He's now 4-1 on the year. There is some talk of him being the right handed Randy Johnson.

The Rochester Red Wings meanwhile will have to fight for a spot as they are an even 17-17 and sit 5.0 games back of their divisional leader in the IL. However Byron Buxton is fully recovered from a mini 7 game hitting slump. In his past 2 games against the Columbus Clippers he has gone 6-8 with 2 home runs, 3 RBI and a stolen base. There has been a decision reached that Buxton will stay in the minors for the rest of the season and that he will be transferred to the Rock Cats depending on if the Red Wings are totally out of playoff contention in the IL by early August. I want Buxton to get as much time to develop as possible. Any demotion to AA would be temporary. He is on track to be the Twins starting CF in Opening Day 2015