We will miss you Johan

There is no doubt in my mind that Minnesota Twins fans will miss their ace. I can’t help but remember another big Mets trade the Twins made with Frank Viola. That trade paid off big and ultimately led us to be the 1991 World Champions – remember Rick Aguilera? We couldn’t have done it without him

Here is a quote from Gardy about missing Johan:
"Absolutely, we're going to miss him," Ron Gardenhire said. "I wish him nothing but success. He's been a very, very good player for us, and a very good person and friend. Honestly, I can just say that I'm proud to have had an opportunity to manage him."

I wonder if this Minnesota Twins Tickets site will take Johan off the roster list any time soon? Do you suppose they will move him to a Twins Great? Nah!

Twins trade Santana

Well it is official; Johan Santana is no longer a Minnesota Twin. After passing his physical, Santana became an official member of the New York Mets. In exchange for Santana, the Twins acquired four prospects: outfielder Carlos Gomez and right-handers Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey, and Deolis Guerra. The Mets and Santana agreed on a six-year contract that includes a guaranteed $137.5 million and features a seventh-year, $25 million vesting option for 2014 with a $5.5 million buyout.

We have been talking about a potential Johan Santana trade for months and this Minnesota Twins fan is not sure the Twins made the best deal. I guess time will tell if the prospects will pan out. Santana's contract is the largest contract for a pitcher in baseball history and his average annual salary of $22.5 million ranks second in baseball, trailing only Alex Rodriguez $27.5 million salary. Can you believe it? Santana and ARod in the same tax bracket!

The Twins offered up to as much as five years and $100 million to Santana, but he held out and it paid it off…big...I guess.

Santana in Florida joins Liriano

Johan Santana has arrived in Fort Myers, Florida to start his spring training workouts, but he still isn’t sure whose uniform he will be wearing come April. The Minnesota Twins are getting back Francisco Liriano this season from Tommy John surgery, but will he be enough to replace a Santana-sized void in the pitching rotation?

For Now, Santana is still a Twin, but he rejected the Twins four year, $80 million contract extension offer, meaning he wants to go elsewhere. If the Twins start the season with a one-two punch of Santana and Liriano like they had in 2006, they might have a hot start out of the gate, something that hasn’t happened for the Twins in recent years. This years Twins Spring Training should be interesting.

All is not quiet in Twins office

The Minnesota Twins office has been buzzing as visions of spring training are near and the annual Twins festival TwinsFest is even nearer. The Twins are still taking offers for Johan Santana with the hope that a deal can be done before they report to Fort Myers. The Twins are looking to get a superstar center fielder and top pitching prospect back in return for Santana. If Santana is indeed moved, then the focus of trade rumors likely will shift to Joe Nathan who is also in the final year of his contract. I hope the Twins don’t get too trade happy and leave the pitching staff with nothing.

Santana Still a Twin

The winter baseball meetings in Nashville are over and despite the million trade rumors and scenarios, Johan Santana is still a Minnesota Twin. I asked my magic eight ball the other day if Santana would be with the Twins in 2008 and the answer was “outlook not so good.” I figured the Magic Eight Ball was just as good at predicting where he would go as anyone else (no offense to all of the baseball aficionados that scour the stats and rumor mills to make “educated” predictions). I figure the Johan Santana drama will last at least until the middle of January.

Santana

Where will Johan go??? Red Sox, Yankees . . . time will tell. Any comments Twins fans???

Twins Rumor Mill – Johan Santana

Word around the Twins baseball rumor mill is that the Twins will be forced to trade pitcher Johan Santana this winter because they can't afford the $140 million he would be expected to command over seven years as a free agent after next season. Johan has been the Twins “Ace” and has led the team in wins and strikeouts for several years – he will be irreplaceable for sure. I think I will have to scratch off the number 57 Twins jersey that’s on my Christmas list.

Twins vs. Indians

The Minnesota Twins are a whopping 10.5 games behind the Cleveland Indians in the AL Central and they hold their fate in their own hands. With the Indians at the HHH Metrodome for a 3 game series, the Minnesota Twins need to gain some ground before it’s too late.

Last night, the Indians beat Twins ace pitcher Johan Santana once more as he gave up six hits and four runs in six innings. Indians pitcher C.C. Sabathia threw eight shutout innings to lead the Indians past the Twins 5-0. Santana is clearly still one of baseball's most dominant pitchers, but the Indians have not been intimidated one bit.

Twins newbie Kevin Slowey will take the mound tonight against Indians pitcher Aaron Laffer. Slowet has been successful in his previous starts for the Twins, but the Indians will be his toughest challenge yet. Head out to the Metrodome Minneapolis tonight for a 7:10 p.m. game. Good Twins Tickets are still available for less than $20 per ticket.

Santana’s Sunday Performance a Pure Gem

Johan Santana still has plenty reason to pitch well for the Minnesota Twins this season. After publicly criticizing the Twins’ front office for trading Luis Castillo for minor league prospects, Santana had a poor outing against the Cleveland Indians, but proved he still has the stuff Sunday against the Texas Rangers. Whether Santana is still genuinely convince that his team can compete for a pennant this season, or he is simply eyeing up the big Yankees contract for next year, the Twins ace came out and carried his team on a day when his offense did the usual for him, one run off a solo home run. But Santana made sure it was all the team needed to win, striking out a club record 17 Rangers before removing himself from the game after the eighth inning. The major league record for strikeouts in a game is 20, and Santana had a shot at it if he had returned for the ninth inning, but winning the game was apparently more important to Santana, not even forcing manager Ron Gardenhire to make a decision.

Twins vs. Athletics Game Review

The Minnesota Twins definitely looked like baseball superstars this weekend vs. the Oakland Athletics. Thursday night the Twins stomped the A’s winning 6 to 2. Pitcher Scott Baker had a strong outing in winning his fourth game this year and the boys played excellent offense as well. Michael Cuddyer, Jason Barlett, Luis Castillo, and Justin Morneau each had an RBI and Torii Hunter had two. Friday night, ace Twins pitcher Johan Santana took the mound and proved to all of the Metrodome fans why he’s an All-Star. Santana pitched seven shutout innings with a eight big strikeouts and a mere four hits. The Twins bats were armed and ready to support the star pitcher as the Twins pulled off a 5 to 3 victory.

Saturday was a close game and the Athletics were desperately hoping for a win, but Twins pitcher Carlos Silva was solid for over six innings as he held Oakland to three runs on just two hits. The Twins got just enough offensive strength from Michael Cuddyer, Jason Tyner and Joe Mauer who all batted in a total of four runs to win the game. Sunday was a real nail biter as the Athletics didn’t want to end the four game series with a Twins sweep. Mighty Mo’ (momentum) was definitely on the Twins side and they pulled off another 4 to 3 victory putting the Twins at a season-high six games above .500. Starting pitcher Boof Bonser had probably his best outing of the season allowing just three earned runs and struck out six Athletics batters. This Twins fan was a little nervous about Torii Hunter being out of the lineup due to a sore left hamstring, but Luis Castillo with his bum knee and all looked like he could play forever. He hit his second triple in just two days and came around to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. Morneau came through for the Twins ballclub as well when he pummeled his 25th home run of the season 406 feet into the upper deck.

Next up is the dangerous Detroit Tigers. The Detroit series will really show Minnesota what the Twins are made of. Let’s hope the momentum of sweeping the Athletics will allow the Twins to win the Detroit series at the Metrodome. Twins Tickets are hot right now so get out and see a game!

Twins in the All-Star game

The All-Star game was a fine midsummer outlet for our beloved Minnesota Twins baseball stars. Twins Pitcher Johan Santana pitched a perfect 1,2,3 seventh inning when he struck out Carlos Lee swinging, caught Alfonso Soriano looking on a third strike and got Jose Reyes to ground out. Santana threw ten pitches, nine of them for strikes. Johan Santana definitely showed off his dominance as a pitcher and made Minnesota Twins fans proud. Santana felt good about his performance as well and said, "It felt good. It's always good to have an opportunity to come in and perform and help out the team. I knew that I would pitch just the one inning, so I was giving it everything I had."

It was nice to see Twins first baseman Justin Morneau take the field when he entered the game in the bottom of the fourth inning replacing starting first baseman David Ortiz of the Red Sox, but it didn’t feel like Morneau gave it all he had at the plate. Morneau went 0 for 2 in his two at-bats. He flew out to Reds right fielder Ken Griffey Jr. and then he popped out in foul territory to Pirates third baseman Freddy Sanchez.

The Twins other powerhouse hitter didn’t fare any better. Torii Hunter also went 0 for 2 after replacing starter Ichiro Suzuki in center field in the bottom of the fifth inning. Hunter flew out to Soriano in left field and grounded out to Sanchez in the ninth.

Despite the poor offensive representation by the Minnesota Twins, the American League managed to pull off a dramatic 5-4 victory in the 78th All-Star Game at AT&T Park in San Francisco. This Minnesota Twins fan hopes to see even more Twins All-Stars next year and hopes the rest of this Twins season will be filled with All-Star moments.

Twins Players going to All-Star Baseball Game

The Minnesota Twins will not have a starter in this year’s MLB All-Star game in San Francisco. Of course, reigning AL MVP Justin Morneau didn't get voted to start by fans because there are a million more people in Boston to vote in their “first base” candidate, David Ortiz. Ortiz doesn’t even play first base as he is primarily a designated hitter. You have to hand Ortiz some credit though: Many players aren’t comfortable in the designated hitter position as they don’t feel like they are contributing to the team enough by not playing defense. Ortiz has thrived in the position, and that is admirable in itself.

So will the MVP go to this year’s All-Star game? Yes as the reserve chosen by the fans. Other Twins that made the midsummer classic are center fielder Torii Hunter and pitcher Johan Santana who made it based on managers choice. Joe Mauer missed out most likely due to the injury that caused him to miss precious at-bats. Congrats to our Twins players heading to the All-Star Game!

Twins vs Tigers Series Review

The Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers baseball series was filled with headlines. Twins get spanked, Sidney Ponson gets fired, Justin Morneau breaks his nose and Torii hunter has a magic bat!

The first game vs. the Detroit Tigers was on Friday night and Johan Santana pitched a good game giving up only two earned runs on six hits in six innings. Despite the solid starting pitching, a Michael Cuddyer RBI single in the first inning and a Justin Morneau two-run homer to make it a two-run game in the eighth, the Twins fell short losing the game 3-7. Jesse Crain, Matt Guerrier, Juan Rincon just couldn’t hold the Tigers batters off and the Twins just couldn’t hit the ball when they really needed to.

The second game vs. the Tigers was Saturday afternoon. It’s odd for the Twins to have a 2:45pm game on a Saturday, but the schedule was changed by the power that be and the start time was only the beginning of odd things to happen. Justin Morneau broke his nose in the eighth inning after a Nick Punto throw from third base bounced off a seam in the turf and struck Morneau in the face. Morneau exited the game and the Twins lost 2-8. Sidney Ponson had pitching problems from the start, allowing each of the first four batters he faced to reach base. Two runs would score during that span on RBI singles by Gary Sheffield and Magglio Ordonez. Ponson managed to escape the first with just that damage, but more trouble was on the way and the game was definitely his season ender with the Minnesota Twins.

The third game of the series was Sunday May 13th, Mothers Day. The evening game was sure to be well attended by mothers from around the state and the Minnesota Twins did not want to disappoint. Boof Bonser pitched an OK game for the Twins, but the real stars of the game came at the plate. The Twins pulled in a season-high 22 hits and 16 runs. It was a night of banging the ball around like the Twins had not seen in some time. The Twins club knocked the Tigers around in a 16-4 victory at the Metrodome. A few of the Twins players used special pink bats in honor of Mothers Day and to support Breast Cancer Awareness. Perhaps the pink bats added enough magic to the moment, but most of the Twins victory had to do with Torii Hunter delivering some big hits. Just a few nights after Hunter made what he called one of the top five catches of his career, he followed it up with one of his best offensive career performances. Hunter delivered a career-high seven RBIs as part of a two-home run night. Torii has been hot at the plate and he has been key to keeping the Twins ballclub from sinking into oblivion.

Next up the Minnesota Twins face the Cleveland Indians on the road. The Indians are playing solid baseball and the Twins will be lucky to escape the road trip with a victory.