40 games, 20 wins

[IFallsRon]

No one expected the Central to suck but I'll take the Twins at .500 after 40 games.

[tisosy11]

500 is definately nice, but it certainly stinks to be 500 when you were 3 games over with the Jays coming to town.

I have a feeling its going to be a year of many ups and downs...i just hope these young guys start learning the twins ways.

FUNDAMENTAL BASEBALL!!!

[eyepatrol]

.500 is nice to see, but the Twins are still the Twins and are still under the same ownership. I wouldn't expect too much more out of them than this.

JMO

[harvey lee]

I agree Bass. I listened to a radio show the other day and the talk was about the Twins. They all agreed that the Twins will more than likely slip in the standings. They have suprised us all or maybe the rest of the division has been less than wonderful.

[huntnfishsd]

It's a young team with a lot of potential. There will be many ups and downs. I think we need to be patient (I know, it's tough) and enjoy watching these young guys grow up on the field.

[PierBridge]

The reason were are in it AGAIN is because of our OWNER and business model.

Go Twins!

[mike morris]

The reason were are in it AGAIN is because of our OWNER and business model.

Go Twins!

The reason we aren't considered a better team is because of our ownership.

[blue_healer_guy]

I cant tell, but hopefully pier bridge is kidding.

[schweady]

Hmmm... watching this past week, I woulda thought maybe it was due to the dumb mistakes made on the field...

[huntnfishsd]

Wow, what a tough couple series for the Twins. 1-5 vs. the Blue Jays and the Rockies?? Ouch...

[Cicada]

Let's face it. Everyone who gets paid to predict such things thought the Twins would be about a .500 team. No one expected the rest of the division to play to our level. Hard to believe the season will end that way. Young, inexperienced teams that aren't familiar with each other will have ups and downs. Those ups and downs means they may have moderate winning streaks and losing streaks.

If the Twins can finish at or above .500 and show some signs of coming together as a team throughout the year, it will bode well for next year.

[PierBridge]

I cant tell, but hopefully pier bridge is kidding.

Not in anyway shape or form whatsoever!

So for the millionth time who's team or owner would you like to have?

Boston? with 2 World series in 100 years?

Yankees's doing real a good again this year ROTFLMAO "see devil rays payroll"

Detroit maybe? spend and you win.......NOT!

Go Twins!

[IFallsRon]

The cheapness of management/ownership is sparing us to death. It's been reported that the attendance is down over 60,000 from last year when the team really was biting.

[UdeLakeTom]

Any clue as to how many Iron Rangers, Duluthians, or other out-staters are just not coming into the Cities for a Twins game at $3.75/gal for gas, plus other expenses?? You can't blame the owner for the economy, or at least directly blame him.

That just could be a reason attendance is down, not the play of the team.

[huntnfishsd]

Quote:

Boston? with 2 World series in 100 years?

Boston won in 2004 and 2007, so I would go with 2 in the past 4 years...

I would believe that winning it all is the ultimate goal of any team, and I just can't see the Twins doing it with the 24th ranked payroll in all of baseball. I would love it if they would prove me wrong though...

[bassNspear]

Twins a putting up a fight tonight. They have had there chances, just not shutting the door. 6-6 in top of 12th!

[huntnfishsd]

And we pulled it off! Thanks to a couple unlikely heroes. Thank you Bobby Korecky and Howie Clark!

[SledNeck]

I wonder if Juan Rincon will make the all-star team?

[DonBo]

Our "Big Stick" Morneau really let us down last night. Twice, all he had to do was put the ball in play and we win the game. All he did was look at cookies and swing for the fence. What was that?

[SledNeck]

How about Cuddy. This guy has really stepped up his game.

[fishyguy]

Pohlad may not be a big spender compared to some other teams but there was an article I read last week that had an interesting look at team salaries. In the last 10 years or so (I don't remember the exact time frame) the Twins payroll is up 350%. It is by far the largest increase in the majors over that time. It may not make him a big spender but it also shows he is not constantly slashing payroll. By the way, that increase is about 3 times what the average players salary had done in the same period.

The Twins and Oakland have proven you can consistently compete without spending crazy money. I think the Yankees, Seattle, Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox, and Cubs have proven that spending money on a bunch of big names doesn't guarantee success either. Every year there is a mix of big money and little money in the playoffs. Big money doesn't win all the time.

[tisosy11]

The teams are in order of their payroll. The first number is their order in relation to their standings.

24, 1. New York Yankees $209,081,579 $6,744,567

26, 2. Detroit Tigers $138,685,197 $4,622,840

14, 3. New York Mets $138,293,378 $4,609,779

3, 4. Boston Red Sox $133,440,037 $4,765,716

9, 5. Chicago White Sox $121,152,667 $4,487,136

5, 6. Los Angeles Angels $119,216,333 $4,110,908

2, 7. Chicago Cubs $118,595,833 $4,392,438

12, 8. Los Angeles Dodgers $118,536,038 $4,233,430

27, 9. Seattle Mariners $117,993,982 $4,538,230

11, 10. Atlanta Braves $102,424,018 $3,414,134

7, 11. St. Louis Cardinals $100,624,450 $3,049,226

17, 12. Toronto Blue Jays $98,641,957 $3,522,927

13, 13. Philadelphia Phillies $98,269,881 $3,388,617

8, 14. Houston Astros $88,930,415 $3,293,719

20, 15. Milwaukee Brewers $81,004,167 $2,793,247

18, 16. Cleveland Indians $78,970,067 $3,037,310

29, 17. San Francisco Giants $76,904,500 $2,651,879

23, 18. Cincinnati Reds $74,277,695 $2,971,108

30, 19. San Diego Padres $73,677,617 $2,376,697

28, 20. Colorado Rockies $68,655,500 $2,640,596

19, 21. Texas Rangers $68,239,551 $2,353,088

10, 22. Baltimore Orioles $67,196,248 $2,099,883

1, 23. Arizona Diamondbacks $66,202,713 $2,364,383

15, 24. Minnesota Twins $62,182,767 $2,487,311

22, 25. Kansas City Royals $58,245,500 $2,240,212

25, 26. Washington Nationals $54,961,000 $1,895,207

21, 27. Pittsburgh Pirates $49,365,283 $1,898,665

16, 28. Oakland Athletics $47,967,126 $1,713,112

4, 29. Tampa Bay Rays $43,820,598 $1,460,687

6, 30. Florida Marlins $21,836,500 $661,712

It appears that having a smaller salary is working out for teams like Florida, Tampa Bay, Oakland, Minnesota, Arizona, and Baltimore. Sure its early but the twins are competitive and have been the last few years doing it their way!

[genegodawa]

Windy better not bust my chops anymore based on that list.

[huntnfishsd]

Thank you for posting that tisosy. Very interesting to say the least.

IMO, I believe that the players that aren't getting paid as much bond better together and play better as a team. They are all busting their rear-ends for the good of the TEAM and not themselves. I LOVE to see the Yankees at 24th with the highest payroll...

[keyks42]

its still early show me the salary stat at the end of the year

Mark