Peter Simon's Minnesota Twins Fan Profile

No comments on this wall. Login to post a comment.

Signing Crede Signals Twins Intent to Contend for a Championship Now posted on 02/25/2009
February 21, 2009 – By signing Joe Crede, the Minnesota Twins have signaled to everyone in baseball that they believe they can contend for a World Series Title this season.  The club finished 2008 with an 88-75 record and narrowly missed the postseason by virtue of a one-game-playoff loss to the Chicago White Sox.  The Twins were successful despite suffering some key injuries.  Now with a healthy roster and established starting rotation, the organization is indicating that it’s ready to contend by signing the big bat they’ve been missing for so long.

Crede has been limited to 144 games over the past two years due to back problems.  This off-season he had surgery and is hoping to return to the form he displayed in 2006.  That season he hit .283 with 30 homers and 94 RBIs.  Unsure of how his back will hold up, the Twins gave him a one-year contract with a base salary of $2.5 million.  The dollar amount could go as high as $7 million should Crede make 525 plate appearances.

Continue reading "Signing Crede Signals Twins Intent to Contend for a Championship Now"
(0 comments)

Twins Have Done Little This Off-Season And That's Not A Bad Thing posted on 01/14/2009
With just a month to go before pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training, the Twins have been very quiet so far this off-season.  Despite attempts to add a veteran third baseman and bolster the bullpen, the only move they've made at the Major League level has been the signing of Nick Punto to a two-year contract.  While many Twins fans have been clamoring for the club to make a big trade or free agent acquisition, I've been pretty happy to see the team basically stand its ground.  There are several reasons I feel this way.

First of all, it's a pretty good team already.  The Twins went 88-74 in 2008 and only missed out on the postseason by losing a one-game playoff to the Chicago White Sox (1-0).  With a lot of young players maturing and a healthy Michael Cuddyer coming back, the team should be in the mix again for the AL Central Title.

Continue reading "Twins Have Done Little This Off-Season And That's Not A Bad Thing"
(0 comments)

Despite Narrowly Missing Playoffs, Twins Can Take Many Positives from a Successful Season posted on 10/01/2008
Outstanding pitching by John Danks and a solo home run by Jim Thome eliminated the Twins from playoff contention last night in a one-game tiebreaker with the Chicago White Sox.  Although the lose ended the season for Minnesota, a lot of positives can be taken from the 2008 campaign.

After losing Torii Hunter to free agency and being forced to trade away Johan Santana during the off-season, the Twins were left with a young team and lots of unanswered questions:  How will the rotation shape up?  Who will play center field?  How will Francisco Liriano come back from Tommy John surgery?  How will the players acquired via trade and free agency fit in?  Even more important than posting a winning record and contending for the Central Division Title to the very end, it was the organization’s ability to answer these questions that will ultimately prove to be this season’s greatest achievement.

Continue reading "Despite Narrowly Missing Playoffs, Twins Can Take Many Positives from a Successful Season"
(0 comments)

And Down the Stretch They Come! posted on 09/01/2008

It's Labor Day in America and for some reason, the Twins are off.  In the old days, the team would be playing a scheduled double header.  Alas, I digress.  I suppose even millionaire ballplayers deserve the day off.  After all, they are union members.

Labor Day, along with Memorial Day and the Forth of July, are the traditional milestones in a baseball season.  At this final marker, the Twins are locked in a heated division race with the Chicago White Sox, just half a game behind their bitter rivals.  With about 25 games to play over the last month of the season, it's any one's guess which team will prevail.  I'll try my best to handicap this race.

Offense:  On paper, you'd expect the Sox to have the advantage yet it's the Twins who have the slight edge in runs scored (698 to 693).  Chicago has a more powerful line up while the Twins hit for a higher average and have more speed.  Although the two teams score runs in different ways, they end up at roughly the same place in terms of runs scored so I see the two offenses as pretty much even.

Continue reading "And Down the Stretch They Come!"
(0 comments)

In First, In August posted on 08/04/2008

There's been another remarkable development in what is turning out to be a memorable season.  After knocking on the door for a few weeks, the Twins have overtaken the Chicago White Sox for first place in the AL Central. 

During Spring Training, I imagined that the Twins would be in third or forth place by August with a record slightly below the .500 mark.  Instead they're the front-runners, having won 13 more games than they've lost.  I'd like to talk with some one who saw this coming at the beginning of the year.  Perhaps they could give me some stock tips.

Not only am I amazed by what has transpired, I'm amazed by how it's transpired.  One would think that in order for the Twins to reach this lofty position everything would've had to fall exactly into place.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  This club has encountered enough obstacles and bad luck to derail a far more talented team. 

Continue reading "In First, In August"
(0 comments)