Minnesota Twins - The Covid-19 Years (2020-2029)

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2020

Decade

2020

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Titles:

Top Twins Players of the Twenty Twenties

2020 - Won Division, Lost WC Houston

2023 - Won Division, Won WC Toronto, Lost ALDS Houston

Pitchers:

Joe Ryan (10.63) - 32

BallPark:

Jhoan Duran (6.99) - 23

Target Field

Pablo Lopez (7.9) - 21

Bailey Ober (9.09) - 18

Team Name:

Sonny Gray (7.62) - 13

Twins

Kenta Maeda (3.0) - 12

Jose Berrios (2.59) - 10

Owner:

Griffin Jax (3.53) - 8

Jim Pohlad

Michael Pineda (1.98) - 7

Dylan Bundy (-0.24) - 6

General Managers:

Taylor Rogers (-0.21) - 6

Derek Falvey (President)

Emilio Pagan (0.97) - 5

Thad Levine (2020-2024) (GM)

Randy Dobnak (-0.86) - 5

Jeremy Zoll (2025) (GM)

Alex Colome (-0.66) - 5

Caleb Thielbar (2.17) - 4

Managers:

Rocco Baldelli (2020-25)

Catchers:

Derek Shelton (2025)

Ryan Jeffers (8.54) - 24

Mitch Garver (2.08) - 6

No Hitters:

Gary Sanchez (0.91) - 3

None

First Basemen:

Hall of Famers:

Miguel Sano (0.12) - 8

None

Carlos Santana (2.5) - 7

Rookie of the Year:

Second Basemen:

None

Jorge Polanco (9.94) - 23

Luis Arraez (8.66) - 13

MVP:

Edouard Julien (2.4) - 7

None

ShortStop:

Cy Young:

Carlos Correa (10.65) - 30

None

Andrelton Simmons (1.48) - 5

Notable Events:

Third Base:

The team finished 70-92 and the runs scored and given up projected to 71-91.

Willi Castro (4.5) - 14

The offense scored 43 runs less than the league average. Significant.

Jose Miranda (2.39) - 13

The pitching staff gave up 53 runs more than the league average. Also significant.

Josh Donaldson (3.74) - 9

Minnesota management threw up the white flag at the trade deadline as they

Gio Urshela (3.19) - 7

started to empty the organization for prospects. There's still some talent left, but

Royce Lewis (3.42) - 5

realistically, the Twins will most likely be looking to continue the rebuild at the

'26 trade deadline.

Outfield:

Byron Buxton (19.92) - 44

Starting Pitchers:

Max Kepler (9.22) - 24

□ RHP Pablo Lopez , 30, '23 trade from Miami, '25 5-4 2.74 injured

Nelson Cruz (3.91) - 12

□ RHP Joe Ryan, 30, '21 trade from Tampa, '25 13-10 3.42

Matt Wallner (4.72) - 10

□ RHP Bailey Ober,30, '17 draft 12th round pick, '25 6-9 5.10

Trevor Larnach (3.39) - 10

□ RHP Simeon Woods Richardson, 25, '21 Trade deadline from Toronto, '25 7-4 4.04

Nick Gordon (1.93) - 6

□ RHP Zebby Matthews, 26, '22 draft 8th round pick, '25 5-6 5.56

Michael Taylor (1.9) - 6

□ RHP Mick Abel, 24, '25 Trade deadline from Phillies, '25 1-2 8.30

□ RHP Taj Bradley, 25, '25 Trade deadline from TB, '25 0-2 6.61

Notable Events:

□ RHP Dave Festa, 26, '21 draft 13th round pick, '25 3-4 5.40

There is only one established starter in the rotation now that Pablo Lopez is out

2020 - Minnesota continued the success of their 101 win '19 season by

for the year. Joe Ryan. After him there are question marks: Bailey Ober;

winning the Division once again and finishing at 36-24. The good times

Simeon Woods Richardson and Zebby Matthews and then even bigger question

stopped rolling after that. The '19 team had an awesome offense with a

marks in Mick Abel, Taj Bradley and Dave Festa.

circular lineup scoring a whopping 939 runs and was 157 runs above the

league average. The offense collapsed in '20 as they plummeted to 9 runs

Relief Pitchers:

below league average. In '20 it was the pitching that won it for them,

□ LHP Taylor Rogers, 35, '26 FA from Cubs, '25 3-2 3.38

particularly an awesome bullpen. After the 2020 season, Minnesota

□ LHP Anthony Banda, 32, '26 Trade froom Dodgers, '25 5-1 3.18

has floundered.

□ LHP Andrew Chafin, 36, '26 FA from Anaheim, '25 1-1 2.41

□ LHP Kody Funderburk, 29, '18 draft 15th round pick, '25 4-1 3.51

2020 - The Twins have been owned by the Pohlad's, Carl and his son Jim,

□ RHP Justin Topa, 35, '24 Trade from Seattle, '25 1-5 3.90

for the past forty one years (thru 2025). They bought from the original

□ RHP Cole Sands, 28, '18 draft 5th round pick, '25 4-6 4.50

founders of the franchise, the Griffiths, in 1985. They've had nineteen

□ RHP Eric Orze, 28, '25 Trade from TB, '25 1-1 3.02

winning seasons and twenty two losing seasons during their tenure.

□ RHP Travis Adams, 26, '21 draft 6th round pick, '25 1-4 7.49

Not bad for a small market team.

□ RHP Dan Altavilla, 33, 'FA from White Sox, '25 0-1 2.48

Minnesota emptied the bullpen in trades for youngsters at the '25 trade deadline.

Minnesota had almost lost their franchise in 2004 when bumbling commissioner

It made sense. The Twins had a bad year. Their bullpen was decent until they

Bud Selig tried to get rid of the Minnesota franchise when he couldn't

traded everybody away. It is a weakness going into '26

find a buyer for the Montreal franchise - so as to not have an uneven number

of franchises for scheduling reasons. Luckily, the Minnesota Sports Facilities

Regulars:

Commission sued baseball for breach of contract on the lease of the

□ C Ryan Jeffers, 27, 2nd round pick in '18, 9 47 .266

Metrodome and the moronic attempt by Selig was thwarted.

□ 1B Josh Bell, 33, '26 FA from Washington, '25 22 54 .237

□ 1B Kody Clemens, 30, '25 Trade from Philadelphia, '25 19 52 .216

2020 - Unfortunately for Minnesota, they have continued their insane post

□ 2B Luke Keaschall, 23, '23 draft 2nd round pick, '25 4 28 .302

season losing streak to 15 straight games and 10 straight series in the

□ SS Brooks Lee, 25, '22 draft 8th overall pick, '25 7 31 .261

2020 playoffs. The Twins finally got off the schneid in the '23 playoffs

□ 3B Royce Lewis, 27, '17 draft 1st overall pick, '25 13 52 .237

when they beat Toronto in the Wild Card. They couldn't stand their success,

□ OF Matt Wallner, 28, '19 draft 1st round pick '25 17 60 .250

however, as they promptly lost in the ALDS to Houston.

□ OF Trevor Larnach, 29, '18 draft 1st round pick, '25 1 7 .282

□ CF Byron Buxton, 32. '12 draft 1st round pick, '25 35 83 .264

2020 - Thad Levine has been GM since '16. He stepped down after the '24

□ OF Austin Martin, 27, '21 Trade deadline from Toronto, '25 1 7 .282

season when his contract expired and was replaced by Jerremy Zoll.

There are five guys in the starting lineup that were former Twins first round picks.

Zoll has been a little all over the place since taking over. He dumped a

Surprisingly, that's a pretty rare occurrence. Buxton is the only star in that group.

bunch of players at the 2025 trade deadline to start a rebuild and then

The rest of them are solid. Looking at the lineup it’s surprising they didn't score

seemed to walk that back in the off season by signing veteran 1B

more. They've been a pretty decent offense throughout the decade and they

Josh Bell, who really isn't much of a difference maker anyway.

suddenly took a 64 run nose idve, but not really seeing a culprit here.