Any glass half full Twins fans here...?

[B. Amish]

seems like all of the posts in here start negative or end up negative.

anyone else happy with the Twins?

i mean, we're almost 1/3 of the way through the season and we're only 2.5 games back of 1st.

[hamrej23]

Agree

[huntnfishsd]

I am happy with the Twins. We were predicted by many to be the bottom-feeders of the Central, but we are in 2nd now. This is a very young team that will continue to grow through the rest of the season...

[mike morris]

I'm happy with what we've done so far. I just feel we could be even better. I like shocking our opponents.

[Jarrod32]

The glass is much more than half full. I have said it before, I will say it again...this team was not built to be competitive in 2008. This team is built to be competitive in 2009, and open the new ballpark with a serious contender.

They are ahead of schedule.

The are - at least this early in the season - contending. With a very, very young starting staff (Baker, Slowey, Blackburn, and yes...even the hated Boof Bonser). We know what Cuddyer, Mauer and Morneau are capable of. They - along with Nathan - are signed for the next few years. We have some decent options in the middle infield in Casilla, Tolbert, and Harris (along with some not-so-decent options in Everett and Punto). The middle infield will work itself out this season.

In Young and Gomez we have two young future studs who - at 22 years old each - are shaping up to be great players. Yes, they will have rough times. The power isn't there yet - but it will come for both players. Gomez still needs to learn better pitch selection. But I have actually seen that improve considerably over the past month. Again...these guys are only 22 years old. If they can continue their progression over this season and next, combined with Mauer and Morneau, this will be a very exciting offense.

This is a 'development year' for these young starters, as well as Young and Gomez. They all need to go through their ups and downs at the major league level. I think the Twins are performing beyond expectations right now, and I think this bodes extremely well for the future. This team has the potential to be a monster over the next few years, particularly if the young starters can keep it up.

[Scott K]

seems like all of the posts in here start negative or end up negative.

anyone else happy with the Twins?

i mean, we're almost 1/3 of the way through the season and we're only 2.5 games back of 1st.

I have noticed the same thing, I have tried to avoid most of the conversations because they are so negative! I am happy with them! They are being competitive as far as I am concernd.

[jigging-matt]

I am happy with them also. A lot of the post have been quick to rip some players apart. They are playing hard, keeping withing striking distance of the leaders, and show promise of being better in the years to come. Some nights can be frustrating to watch, but it is just a game.

[UdeLakeTom]

Ah, but we have to complain about something..and this forum is really light hearted as compaired to the outdoor discussions forum...they get real serious on that one...I just can't believe that a 25 year old left fielder in the majors looks as bad as Young does....Oh well, remember Becker, Bombo, Dave Engle trying to throw back to the pitcher??? GO TWINS since '61.

[blue_healer_guy]

The problem here is we are all happy with being always being OK.

[SledNeck]

Its a fans job to over analyze and constantly complain

[IFallsRon]

There's something wrong when you're rooting for Nick Punto to get off the DL.

It all goes to the mediocrity of professional sports. There's too many teams and the talent pool is weak. The standards of performance aren't the same as 20 years ago.

[SledNeck]

Baseball has too much competition with other sports

[bassislife]

From what I've been seeing from this year's team, I think they have way more potential then the teams from the last few years. I've been impressed with how they have been playing the game, save for a few errors here and there, but no one's perfect. I think if they work on a few key things and really settle down they can go places. GO TWINS!

[J_D]

Ya I second that, and I think the longer punto is on the dl the better!!

[Cicada]

The glass is more than half full.

The Twins are right about where everyone thought they'd be. Who thought the rest of the division would beat each other up so everyone would be playing at the same level. The Twins have had some very good performances and some lousy ones. You see that every year. The baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. Folks that jump on every mistake of every game are thinking it's a sprint. You can't judge a player's performance on a weekly basis. Anybody having a bad week gets killed in this forum, but at the end of the year that player may throw up the numbers we expect from him.

Delmon Young gets blasted for not hitting home runs. He is young and maybe not too consistant. He is contributing to the offense. In his defense, he did come over at a young age to a new division. He felt comfortable hitting against the East's pitchers last year but he did only have something like 13 home runs. Not exactly a huge power year by big league standards. If the Rays played each Central team in six games last year, he may have seen as little as half the Central pitchers that he has faced this year. Even though it's still the American League, it will be diferent.

Overall, the pitching has been better than expected. The young guys are seeing some success so far, but we will know more about them once they've faced a team several times. Are there adjustments to be made? Will they be able to make them?

The only thing that has been dissapointing is the team defense. We're not used to seeing the Twins so far down in team defense. Sounds like it's wearing thin of Gardy and will start working on that when they get home. It's really the only controllable variable they are weak at. There was a huge turnover in the field this year. Some of the trouble may be from guys being unfamiliar with the new teammates.

So far, I'm having fun watching the Twins and still look forward to the next game.

[J_D]

No young tonight, way to go gardy!!

[tisosy11]

Yeah, the majors longest game streak ended with Young out. Maybe the 'mental' break will help him get back to it.

Big series against the bombers! Would love to take 3 from em!

[Scott M]

glass is half full. 0.5 games out of first. I wish they played NL teams all year!

[Mudcutter]

I agree, half full. The Twins should be in the mix all year. And about 80% of the AL teams wish they could play the hapless NL all year. It would take 100wins at least to get the WC if the AL played the NL all year. Heck,KC (which swept the Cards at Busch) would be in the hunt. KC is vastly improving.

[SledNeck]

Twins should switch to the NL

[tisosy11]

Twins in the Nl means no kubel/monroe dh homers!