Despite two days of snow and frigid temperatures, the forecast (fingers crossed) for Thursday’s home opener is partly sunny with a daytime high of 38 degrees. If that holds true, that will not set a record for coldest home opener. In fact, that is four degrees warmer than the coldest home opener for the Twins,... Continue Reading »

We left Seattle aboard Amtrak’s Empire Builder at 4:40 p.m. Sunday and arrived in St. Paul at Union Depot about 9:30 a.m. Tuesday. Some observations: -It was crowded: Forty-five people got on at Whitefish, Montana, and the train was sold out from that point forward. The conductor had his hands full trying to mix and... Continue Reading »

Twins closer Glen Perkins, who was named an All-Star for three straight seasons after saving 32 or more games over that span, could start the year on the disabled list, MLB.com reports. And that’s a bad sign for a player who appeared in two games last season, then decided to end it early by having... Continue Reading »

Twins manager Paul Molitor’s coaching staff is set after the Twins added Jeff Smith and Jeff Pickler on Wednesday. Smith is the team’s new first-base coach, while Pickler, previously with the Los Angeles Dodgers, comes aboard as a coach who “will serve as a conduit between the front office and the coaches to convey analytics... Continue Reading »

I’m no fan of the Seattle Mariners, but I was impressed with the body of work produced by Jerry Dipoto in his first season as general manager of the M’s. Fresh off some apparently frustrating years with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Dipoto arrived in Seattle and wasted no time in trying to improve... Continue Reading »

Game: Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins, Sept. 1, 2016. Score: 8-5, Twins. Winning streak: 1 game (losing streak ends at 13 games). Up next: Kyle Gibson (5-8, 5.17 ERA) gets the ball on Friday. Well, I said I’d write a longer post once the Twins won a game after losing 13 straight. It just... Continue Reading »

Game: Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians, Aug. 31, 2016. Score: 8-4, Cleveland. Losing streak: 13 games. Up next: Ervin Santana (6-10, 3.54 ERA) gets the ball on Thursday. And that’s it. That’s all I’m going to write until the Twins win. Rolf Continue Reading »

Game: Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians, Aug. 30, 2016. Score: 5-4, Cleveland. Losing streak: 12 games. Up next: Pat Dean (1-4, 6.24 ERA) gets the ball on Wednesday. That’s all I’m going to write until the Twins win again. Rolf Continue Reading »

After a short vacation, I came home to learn that All-Star Eduardo Nunez is gone, the Twins finally beat the Baltimore Orioles and the team was swept by the Atlanta Braves. Rob Antony on trading Nunez: “It was difficult but our perspective from the start of this process was to try to acquire starting pitching.”... Continue Reading »