So far this offseason, the Twins have lost AJ Pierzynski, Eddie Guardado, LaTroy Hawkins, Eric Milton, Denny Hocking, Kenny Rogers and Dustan Mohr. However, I am not very frustrated or upset because sooner or later Terry Ryan had to remold the roster and let his plethora of younger prospects finally get an opportunity. In fact, I am very excited about the upcoming season because these younger players will probably play with more energy than last year's team before the Shannon Stewart trade. I am still frustrated by the malaise that developed shortly before the All-Star Break as the team seemed to not care and preferred to whine about missing David Ortiz rather than winning games. Plus, how can somebody not be excited about finally getting to watch Joe Mauer spray line-drives all across the field while throwing laser beams to second base? Here's a quick evaluation of the trades that have been made this offseason:
Dustan Mohr for a PTBNL - Mohr was about the eighth best outfielder for the Twins next season, so this was a wise move to help alleviate the logjam of outfielders in the organization. I prefer Cuddyer, Ford or Restovich to Mohr although his hustle and heart will be missed
My biggest addition to the site this offseason has been my review of General Manager Terry Ryan's trading abilities. Basically, I analyzed every trade he has ever made to determine if it is a strength or weakness. It is a long, four-part post, but you can navigate around fairly easily from Page 1.
The Twins concluded the season as American League Central Division Champions and helped get Jerry Manuel fired. The second half was very enjoyable, but the first half still lingers in my mind. Q) When is making the playoffs bad? A) When you have to play the Yankees. Anyway, here was a preview of the Twins-Yankees series.
The Twins have been an enormous part of my life ever since my birth. My family has split season tickets with a few other families ever since I was a baby, and I grew up sitting right next to the players' wives. As I have moved away from home and begun attending classes in Washington, DC, it has become more difficult to satisfy my Twins obsession. However, I do not let a little obstacle like a thousand miles impede my obsession. Instead, I "watch" nearly every game online through MLB Gameday or ESPN Gamecast.
I would say that I am an expert in online game descriptions, and I give my ringing endorsement to the MLB.com Gameday program. It is a rare time that I actually support something run by Major League Baseball, and its Commission Seligula, but this program is actually very, very useful. Anyway, I have digressed...
Anyway, I hope to eventually have a link to each player on the roster to accompany a description of each player. This description should include some stats, some links to relevent writing on the internet, and to some anecdotes on each player such as nicknames my brothers and I have given a player over time.
I hope you enjoy.
Here are the Twins:
Pitchers: Grant Balfour,Rick Helling, Adam Johnson, Kyle Lohse, Joe Mays, Joe Nathan, Carlos Pulido, Brad Radke, Juan Rincon, J.C. Romero, Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, Brad Thomas
Catchers: Henry Blanco, Rob Bowen, Matthew LeCroy
Infielders: Cristian Guzman, Corey Koskie, Doug Mientkiewicz, Justin Morneau,
Jose Offerman, Alex Prieto, Nick Punto, Luis Rivas
Outfielders: Michael Cuddyer, Lew Ford, Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones, Michael Restovich, Mike Ryan, Shannon Stewart
No longer on the Twins' Major League roster: James Baldwin, Mike Fetters, Chris Gomez, Eddie Guardado, LaTroy Hawkins, Denny Hocking, Eric Milton, Dustan Mohr, Micheal Nakamura, A.J. Pierzynski, Tom Prince, Rick Reed, Kenny Rogers, Todd Sears
*This page is not affiliated with the Minnesota
Twins or Major League Baseball in any way. If you believe that it is, then
I am very flattered and you are very stupid.
