Twins Should Trade Michael Cuddyer

July 31, 2011 By 3 Comments

The trade deadline is fast approaching in Major League Baseball. It is a unique season, so the date is largely ignored due to the NFL free agent comings and goings. Twins General Manager Bill Smith has some tough decisions to make. The team is on the borderline of heading into contention for the stretch run or on the cusp of faltering into the depths of the cellar in the division.

This is the type of decision that he can make from watching the club on a daily basis and getting a feel for which direction they are headed. I think that he should choose to sell at this juncture. Michael Cuddyer is a solid and versatile player. He has been the rock of the club this season with a myriad of injuries affecting almost every aspect of the roster. This is why he is valuable to all the other squads looking to add a complete player for the late summer push.

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Twins Vs. Tigers: AL Central Race Heating Up Now?

July 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Outside of Justin Morneau, Jason Kubel is the most prolific bat in the Twins lineup on a consistent basis. He has more potential than Joe Mauer to put up big time numbers in the RBI and home run departments. The argument could also be made for Delmon Young or Michael Cuddyer, but I would wonder if those that would bring up those names have ever been to a batting practice session. People often speak of making judgments concerning the eye test. This would be more of a case of trusting the ear test.

If the Twins could take the Tigers and Yankees off the schedule, then the reason of the season would be pure bliss. The team showed promise in the first two series that were post All Star break. The Indians and Royals are anonymous nationally, but intra-divisional contests are always of the utmost importance in Major League Baseball. Then the team faced the Tigers-a team that had beaten them eleven straight times before Saturday night.

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Time to Blow Up the Minnesota Twins?

July 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

joe mauer

Devastating injuries, losses in bunches, bullpen disasters, more injuries, a depleted farm system, still more injuries and a reliance on AAA players have been the stories of the Minnesota Twins 2011 season. All of this while the team sports the beefiest payroll in team history. So the question that begs to be asked: should the Twins give up this season, become sellers early and rebuild the organization for another decade of division filled with late September division races and play-off appearances?

Unpopular as it might be, the front office might need to part ways with some of it’s bigger names in order to maintain the franchise as one of the best in Major League Baseball.

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Minnesota Twins Showing Some Signs of Life

July 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

There is nothing that a Twins fan dreads more than seeing the New York Yankees on their upcoming schedule. The same can be said of the faithful of the Chicago White Sox regarding the Twins. Some match-ups provide distinct advantages to a certain side even when there doesn’t seem to be a drastic disparity in talent between the two. It demonstrates the importance of the mental aspect of the game.

Heading into play on Saturday, Minnesota had won a half dozen in a row this season and nine in a row total going back to last year against the White Sox.

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All Star Rosters Announced; AL Roster Totally Fubar’d

July 3, 2011 By 3 Comments

As with any all-star roster announcement, the initial feedback is about the snubs. “Who got left off?” is a question that dominates message boards, Twitter, sports blogs and eventually coffee machines/water coolers over the next few hours and days. However, with all that whining, complaining and pontificating rarely is there anything beyond quoting of slash lines and comparison to players who DID make the team.

Never do you really hear anyone complain about the strategy in which the team was assembled or the manner in which the All Star Game manager figures out a way to get each team it’s mandatory representation.

This year, that’s exactly where the conversation should start.

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How the Twins can Fix Tsuyoshi Nishioka

July 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Heading into their weekend series against the Milwaukee Brewers at Target Field, the Twins and their fans can rest a little easier after taking two of three games from the Los Angeles Dodgers despite giving up fifteen runs in the first game and scoring only seven runs in all the games combined. This last fact simply shows that the club is resourceful and is getting quality pitching on a regular basis. Starter Scott Baker made Andre Ethier look like a Little Leaguer during the matinee game on Wednesday.

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Michael Cuddyer: Minnesota Twins Glue Guy?

July 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Michael Cuddyer got off to a brutal start hitting .226 in April. He managed just four RBI, but hit three home runs. He stepped up his game in May as the Twins dealt with injuries. He hit .300 for the month with two home runs and nine RBI. Cuddy was just getting started. As we roll into July, Cuddyer closes the chapter on a June in which he hit .323 with 15 runs, five home runs, 17 RBI, and four stolen bases. Talk about stuffing the stat sheet.

By Lester’s Legends, Re-published by authorization from Feed Crossing

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Team MVP and Cy Young for All AL Central Teams

June 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

asdrubal-cabrera-indians

With the midpoint of the 2011 season nearing More Hardball has taken the opportunity to name each team’s MVP and Cy Young through the first half. Today we feature the American League Central division.

And as you know, TSB is all AL Central (and NL Central) all the time.

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Minnesota Twins Falter in San Francisco

June 25, 2011 By Leave a Comment

The Minnesota Twins dropped two of three games during their midweek interleague series against the San Francisco Giants. It was very puzzling to not see Joe Mauer in the starting line-up. I understand that it was a day game after a night contest and that there is no designated hitter position in National League stadiums, but there must be a suitable void that he could fill nonetheless. Having spent the majority of the season on the disabled list makes fans want to see him in the line-up even more when he is available.

Starting pitcher Tim Lincecum is a former Cy Young award winner, but that makes his presence even more of a necessity. Michael Cuddyer seemed to be the only player able to get good wood off of the right hander with the deceptive delivery. Lincecum hides the ball so well that it is on top of the batter by the time that it is possible to get a good glimpse of it. I have always argued that it is harder to see the baseball during a day game with a high sky, although it probably will travel farther distances if or when a hitter does get a hold of one.

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The Irrationally Overrated Players: White Sox Mark Buehrle and Company

June 19, 2011 By 3 Comments

Just as there are certainties in life (death, taxes, et al) there are certainties in sports. Some of the more notable certainties are the die hard fans, heartbreak and the euphoric high of winning a championship. Additionally, with every sports franchise comes the list of current and former players who are irrationally overrated.

By Peter Christian

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Joe Mauer’s Triumphant Return to the Minnesota Twins

June 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Joe Mauer

It was fitting that Joe Mauer knocked in a runner with a single during his first plate appearance on Friday after coming back from bilateral leg weakness. It was a story book beginning for the Minnesota Twin who is head and shoulders above the rest.

Okay, I’ll stop.

The club jumped out to a six to one lead against the Padres on Friday before having to hang on, only winning by one run. Matt Capps picked up his tenth save in the process. Mauer isn’t the only notable player returning to the line-up.

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Grading Target Field- Home of the Twins

June 16, 2011 By 2 Comments

From the second you got inside Gate 29 (Rod Carew’s gate), it was heavenly.

Perhaps it’s the years and years without outdoor baseball, the stuffy and plain hallways of the Metrodome, or the light green surface they try to pass off as grass. Whatever it is, for Minnesota, this stadium is special, and the Metrodome and those terrible features of it, is a distant memory.

But nothing is above criticism, and the trip to Target Field is no exception.  The new home of the Twins had it’s ups and downs on this day, so let’s find out exactly what they were with the grades of Downtown Minneapolis’ 40,000 seat palace.

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