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MLB: Twins - Soon to be division champs...

J

jtd9046

Well-Known Member
Dec 20, 2006
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Chicago
Twins - Central Division Champs!

Twins a great comeback win tonight again to get the magic number to 1. White Sox are down 5-1 in Oakland so the Twins might officially be division champs by the end of the night!!!

New stadium. A lot of guys filling in holes and getting clutch hits. Hopefully a nice little post season run is in store for these guys. Still only 1 game back of the Yankees for best record in the league too.

Update: Clinched!
 
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I think Twins get the home field, then get beat out by the Rays. I'm not convinced they're that great, but they benefit a ton from a crappy division. Yankees I don't think have a shot in hell at home field with games against the Red Sox, Rays, and Jays left, but if they split the next 2 with the Rays, I think they hold on for the East and have their hands full with the Rangers.
 
IcSyU said:
I'm not convinced they're that great, but they benefit a ton from a crappy division.
Click to expand...

Twins:
45-20 vs Central
14-18 vs East
24-12 vs West
8-10 vs National


12-12 vs Tampa, NYY, and Texas.


Yeah, crushed the Central Division but it's not like they didn't win a good amount of games against the other divisions.
 
jtd9046 said:
Twins:
45-20 vs Central
14-18 vs East
24-12 vs West
8-10 vs National


12-12 vs Tampa, NYY, and Texas.


Yeah, crushed the Central Division but it's not like they didn't win a good amount of games against the other divisions.
Click to expand...

2-4 vs NYY
3-5 vs Tampa
7-3 vs Texas

They own Texas, and the Yankees have been a thorn in their side the last couple years, and they're just under .500 vs the Rays over the past couple years. Its no secret they don't want to deal with the East but there's obviously no way around it. I like their chances more against the Rays than the Yankees. If the Rays had ANY plate discipline they'd be awesome, but they have a few too many free swingers, which is why they get no-hit and few hits so often, but also how they can explode.

Issue with Yankees = not being able to win close games...but that's been a lot better the second half with a better bullpen.

Rays = free swingers

Rangers = Lots of offense, ???? pitching.
 
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You can put it on the board.... YES. Hell Yes.
-Hawk

Let's hope that clinching in Game 151 instead of Game 163 means good things for the Twins!
 
jtd9046 said:
You can put it on the board.... YES. Hell Yes.
-Hawk

Let's hope that clinching in Game 151 instead of Game 163 means good things for the Twins!
Click to expand...

That means we have 12 playoff games total where we will win. Let's hope for straight sweeps!
 
The Twins won the AL Central in 2002 by 13.5 games, the only year they've won a playoff series under Gardenhire. Hopefully them clinching this early will play to their advantage unlike past years where the Twins had to use all the bullets they had to get to the playoffs.

Hopefully the Rays-Yankees race goes to the wire. Maybe even have someone outside the central play a 163 for once and force someone else to use all of their bullets to win playoff positioning.
 
IcSyU said:
2-4 vs NYY
3-5 vs Tampa
7-3 vs Texas

They own Texas, and the Yankees have been a thorn in their side the last couple years, and they're just under .500 vs the Rays over the past couple years. Its no secret they don't want to deal with the East but there's obviously no way around it. I like their chances more against the Rays than the Yankees. If the Rays had ANY plate discipline they'd be awesome, but they have a few too many free swingers, which is why they get no-hit and few hits so often, but also how they can explode.

Issue with Yankees = not being able to win close games...but that's been a lot better the second half with a better bullpen.

Rays = free swingers

Rangers = Lots of offense, ???? pitching.
Click to expand...

The Twins season record against the East don't reflect the current situation. Most of the games were played in the 1st half of the season when Pavano was the only consistent starter, the middle infielders were either on the DL or trying to play through injuries, the bullpen had issues, and 3rd base was a black hole.

Since the AS break, Lariano and Duensing give the Twins a legitimate big 3 and the 4th option from the trio of Blackburn, Slowey, or Baker can hold his own. Valencia has transformed 3rd base from a liability to a major plus even before he started to find his power stroke this last week. Capps has had a couple of shaky outings, but is riding a streak of 5 scoreless appearances and is starting to look more and more confident in the closer role. I don't think that there is another team in baseball that can trot out 5 legitimate set-up men like the Twins can do.

The Twins have only played 2 series against the East since the break - both on the road. They split with both the Rays and an Orioles team that has played solid in the 2nd half. The series with the Rays was in Aug when the Rays were playing good ball. For the month of Sep, the Rays are below .500 and struggling with starting pitching.

The Twins should also be in much better shape against the Yankees this year. They previously didn't have much punch from the right side and were not much of a match for the Yankee starting lefties. This year Cuddyer has some legitimate help with Young developing into an elite level hitter, the debut of Valencia, and Hardy hitting .319 since the break. They are a respectable 32-22 against lefties.
 
I don't think there's any question the Twins can play ball with anybody, but they need to have that belief that in a tough situation they can beat a yankees ballclub. I think thats been missing in the past....

Feel about as good as I've ever felt about our bullpen. Even a guy like Crain has made a huge difference....he looks really really good. Starting rotation does make me nervous, as it has last year and this year.
 
Let the Bronx Bomber talk his **** and he can lick our ******** later when the Twins are in the series. Steinbrenner's dead.
I'm glad the mediocre Twins could squeeze it out this year. Here's to Gardy, most underrated manager in the game.
 
I honestly dont think Gardy is underrated anymore...after he his past success with far less talented teams he's not a surprise to anyone. But on another hand...whoever started that "Twins are nothing more than mediocre" thread you must feel like a ******* now
 
GeronimusClone said:
Let the Bronx Bomber talk his **** and he can lick our ******** later when the Twins are in the series. Steinbrenner's dead.
I'm glad the mediocre Twins could squeeze it out this year. Here's to Gardy, most overrated manager in the game.
Click to expand...

In keeping with theme, fixed for accuracy :jimlad: - although I completely agree with you that Gardy is the most underrated manager in the game. he's only won 6 of the last 9 AL Central titles, most often with one of the lowest payrolls in the game. And yet some assclowns think that Gardy is the worst thing to ever happen to the Twins franchise because a low payroll team falters in the playoffs...
 
So first series will be best of 5 games.

How do we set up the rotation?

Pavano, Deuinsing, Liriano? Do we even need a 4th guy?
 
jdoggivjc said:
In keeping with theme, fixed for accuracy :jimlad: - although I completely agree with you that Gardy is the most underrated manager in the game. he's only won 6 of the last 9 AL Central titles, most often with one of the lowest payrolls in the game. And yet some assclowns think that Gardy is the worst thing to ever happen to the Twins franchise because a low payroll team falters in the playoffs...
Click to expand...
What that guy has done in the last decade, with an owner who refused to spend money, is incredible. Now, we are starting to see what he can do with owners who don't mind spending a little.
 
GeronimusClone said:
Let the Bronx Bomber talk his **** and he can lick our ******** later when the Twins are in the series. Steinbrenner's dead.
Click to expand...
Money where mouth is? Fact is, Twins have struggled beating playoff teams not named Texas. I don't think Steinbrenner was the person beating the Twins, but the other $200,000,000 on the field may have been.
mj4cy said:
So first series will be best of 5 games.

How do we set up the rotation?

Pavano, Deuinsing, Liriano? Do we even need a 4th guy?
Click to expand...

Depends which series they get. I think the best record has the choice of Game 1, day off, Game 2, travel day, Games 3&4, travel day, Game 5 or Games 1&2, travel day, Games 3&4, travel day, Game 5. If you go with the former, you only need 3 starting pitchers to go on normal rest. At least I think that's how the playoffs went last year?

and I forgot to hit jdogg's post, but anyone who thinks Gardy has been bad for the Twins is a ******* moron. Show me one manager over the long haul who has done more with less.
 
IcSyU said:
Money where mouth is? Fact is, Twins have struggled beating playoff teams not named Texas. I don't think Steinbrenner was the person beating the Twins, but the other $200,000,000 on the field may have been.
Click to expand...

So you mean this doesn't work both ways? I mean, it's not like the Yanks haven't had problems beating playoff teams not named Minnesota this year:

Tampa Bay: 8-8
Texas: 4-4

In fact, that would mean that Minnesota has a better overall record against the common playoff teams:

Tampa Bay: 3-5
Texas: 7-3

In the words of Peter La Fleur, I guess you can put your mouth where my balls are :jimlad:
 
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jdoggivjc said:
So you mean this doesn't work both ways? I mean, it's not like the Yanks haven't had problems beating playoff teams not named Minnesota this year:

Tampa Bay: 8-8
Texas: 4-4

In fact, that would mean that Minnesota has a better overall record against the common playoff teams:

Tampa Bay: 5-3
Texas: 7-3

In the words of Peter La Fleur, I guess you can put your mouth where my balls are :jimlad:
Click to expand...

Actually the Twins only went 3-5 against the Rays. This includes, however, a 1-3 series before the AS break when the Twins and their starting rotation were struggling. Now the Twins are clicking on all cylinders while the Rays are showing signs of vulnerability.
 
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