Great article from LENIII: htt…
Posted by twinsmvb on December 31, 2008 under John | 
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Great article from LENIII: http://tinyurl.com/7yaurl, if Twins really wanted Mark DeRosa it seems they let him slip away too easily.
Twins 2008 Year in Review: htt…
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Twins 2008 Year in Review: http://tinyurl.com/8dvpyz
Twins New Year’s resolution: s…
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Twins New Year’s resolution: save the money we’re not investing in the team to put a roof on Target Field.
Twins in the World Baseball Classic
Posted by John on December 30, 2008 under John | Read the First Comment
Quiet week on the Twins front here on the back end of the holiday season. I know the Twins front office always takes off the week of Christmas and doesn’t come back until the new year so don’t expect any significant Twins news until we ring in 2009.
On that note, LaVelle Neal III examines the list of potential Twins who will participate in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. We know that Justin Morneau and now Joe Nathan are locks to participate for Canada and the U.S. Neal guesses that Joe Mauer could play this year after declining in the 2006 competition. It appears that Francisco Liriano and Luke Hughes could also be playing for the Dominican Republic and Australia respectively.
As a baseball fan I certainly enjoy watching more baseball and not having to wait until April, but I must admit I wasn’t enamored by the innaugural tournament in 06. I loved the country pride and I thought the country’s respective colors and uniforms were pretty cool. I even enjoyed seeing the U.S. lose and America noticing the rest of the talent around the world but I just didn’t get hooked. I must admit it does throw a wrench in the spring training schedule and you have to worry about the injury history with players like Mauer and Liriano, or the overwork of players like Nathan or Morneau who is coming off a 163 game season.
All in all I am excited for the WBC and hopefully we’ll have a competitive tournament with few injuries.
Justin Morneau beats out hocke…
Posted by twinsmvb on December 29, 2008 under John | Be the First to Comment
Justin Morneau beats out hockey phenom Sidney Crosby to win the 2008 award for Best Canadian Male Athlete. That’s pretty impressive eh?
Off the TePoel: Twins Flash Company Line Again This Offseason
Posted by Dain on under Dain | 2 Comments to Read
Surprise, surprise.
Does it matter who our GM is? Bill Smith must have gotten some great training from Terry Ryan before he took over. If I had the time, I’d do some archival research going back to comments made by Ryan following the 2005 through 2007 seasons, and compare it to what Smith said following 2008.
Around November Twins fans have grown accustomed to this general message from the Twins executive brass: “We’ve identified some areas we need to improve as a ballclub and we will be an aggressive player, actively pursuing top talent available in the market.” Whether that hole has been the perennial right-handed bat, DH or otherwise, or some power at third base, we constantly hear this year after year, the Twins will address that issue from outside the organization.
We start to believe. Yes, this is the offseason where it is painfully obvious the Twins NEED to make a move. 162 games just proved that Tony Batista or Ruben Sierra or Craig Monroe or whoever, just didn’t get the team over the hump. We start to think it’s not just me, the fan, that sees it. The ownership sees it too. We are on the same page! Mike Lamb, Adam Everett, and Brendan Harris! Oh, that was a good one. An infield for the ages. At least now we know it’s time to move forward.
But wait. Weeks go by and we reach Thanksgiving, and barring some negligible notes (minor league transactions, Luis Rodriguez releasing, what have you) our team looks eerily the same. Because it is. And what do we start hearing now, over and over again? This memo, from 34 Kirby Puckett Place: “We’re analyzing what’s out there and measuring it against what we’ve got in some of our own young guys, but we’re definitely not done. We’re eagerly anticipating the Winter Meetings and figure to be a part of several conversations out there. As I’ve said before, we’re just looking to improve our ballclub and whatever Gardenhire thinks, we’ll go with that.”
Hmm…By this time we all know what’s next. The Winter Meetings are useless. Why even bother going to this convention? I heard on the radio from a Major League Baseball insider that the MLB officials are like teenage girls, texting and calling one another incessantly with rumor after rumor. Gee, how exciting! Sabathia was supposed to be going to prom with the Angels, but Sally just saw him eyeing that cute Yankee rich kid. And did you hear about Burnett? I can’t believe that backstabbing beehive!
Ugh. I’m like, so done with that. Consider me the dirty indie kid at the Winter Meetings. The Twins make absolutely no moves after basically promising with a wink and a smile, that yes, we will be invited to the post-prom party at the cabin, in the end we are shut out and left to call mom for a ride home. Get out of here, dorks.
We just don’t belong. We aren’t the Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, or Dodgers. The Twins will never sign anyone that matters. We might trade for talent, but never will we sign a top notch free agent that would actually step in and make a difference. The top free agents are the popular kids, and they ain’t coming to our party.
The final company line goes a little something like this, usually the most insulting to the fan, and most laughable as the Twins GM pats himself and the organization on its back: “We just didn’t find a good match out there. We’re not going to sacrifice the long-term success of the team for short-term solutions. I think people forget we got 91 RBIs out of our third basemen last season. (chuckle) A lot of teams out there would love to get that kind of production.”
AHHHH!
Okay, now you’re just contradicting yourself, Bill Smith. Didn’t you admit we needed some help at third base, too? And yes, we got 91 RBIs at third base. You failed to mention that those runs were driven in by, what, 16 different yolks you threw over there? Mike Lamb had 25, Buscher 30 some, Harris 30, Tolbert/Macri/13 year old kid left out there after the national anthem and no one noticed – 6.
Now that’s a third base crew by committee that any GM would be jealous of.
After all this I’m really not that upset. Because spending money on all these players guarantees nothing. You don’t just get a world series trophy for getting the popular kids on your team. Anything can happen. So I applaud the Twins for putting together a good, smart, competitive team year in and year out. Santana, Hunter, Nathan, Mauer, Morneau – our best players were not received via free agency.
Just don’t for a minute kid yourself that this team is ready and suited for a deep run in the postseason. What it is suited for is keeping the fans coming, making the Twins some serious money as they prepare for a new era of outdoor baseball. If celebrating AL Central titles is their idea of success, great. It seems many fans want that as well. But personally, I would trade all the division titles for one World Series Championship before the well runs dry.
New MLB Network launches Jan 1…
Posted by twinsmvb on December 27, 2008 under John | Be the First to Comment
New MLB Network launches Jan 1st and will be available in Minneapolis through Comcast channels 272 and 733 and DirecTV channel 213.
Twins MVB Podcast Gets a New Name
Posted by twinsmvb on December 25, 2008 under John | Be the First to Comment
The Twins MVB Podcast now has a name as our Name the Podcast Contest is concluded. Paul from Decorah, Iowa is the winner with his submission 643MVB Radio. Paul is the winner of two tickets to any 2009 Twins home game of his choice.
It’s great to give away a few seats in the spirit of giving on the Christmas Day so thanks to all those who participated and look for more giveaways during the 2009 season. Tune in now to 643MVB Radio!
Merry Christmas from Twins MVB…
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Merry Christmas from Twins MVB!
Twins sign knuckleballer R.A. …
Posted by twinsmvb on December 24, 2008 under John | Be the First to Comment
Twins sign knuckleballer R.A. Dickey to a minor league contract. Dickey could be a different option out of the bullpen.
