A Dose of Minnesota Optimism

Hey there, thanks for stopping by. Just wanted to interrupt your regularly scheduled doom and gloom to bring some optimism.

Let’s start with the bad. After splitting four games with the Toronto Blue Jays and getting swept by the Dodgers, the Twins are officially in second place in the AL Central, a game behind the Cleveland Guardians.

Now the good stuff. The Twins probably should have taken three games from Toronto but an overturned call at the plate took that away. Yeah, they’re not as good as the Dodgers, but who is? You can’t blame them for losing two games to a team like that. If you don’t believe the Twins can compete, the front office clearly disagrees with you. They traded a haul of prospects to buy in on this team. The conservative Twins were aggressive because they knew they could make some noise.

The Twins have eight games against the Guardians remaining this season, and nine against the White Sox. They will get every chance in the world to prove they are superior to those two teams. Besides the division rivals, the Twins still have three games against the Houston Astros and four games against the dreaded New York Yankees. Beyond those games, every single other game is against a team that is currently below .500.

On the personnel side, there are reinforcements on the way. Bailey Ober, Kenta Maeda, and Trevor Larnach are all expected to return in the next month. Ryan Jeffers should be available for the last few weeks of the season as long as he doesn’t have any setbacks. None of those players individually will have all that great of an impact, but they are each above-average, competent major leaguers. Replacing Emilio Pagán, Dylan Bundy, Jake Cave, and Tim Beckham with real, effective players will go a long way.

On a more personal note, I am a firm believer in positive energy. Not any hippie stuff, but just that when you put out positive vibes your life is more enjoyable. There are always things out of your control that no amount of positivity can fix, but isn’t it better to have an exciting experience rather than drag yourself down with negativity? Be optimistic about what the future holds! You may just find you enjoy the ride.

Yes, the Twins are in second, and it would be great to be in first. But they’re in the midst of a heated playoff race! This time last year they were 50-65, just traded Nelson Cruz and Jose Berríos, and we were debating about whether they were going to trade Byron Buxton in the offseason. They retooled their roster, extended Buxton, signed Carlos freaking Correa, and are contending for the playoffs. Things could be so much worse if they (justifiably) decided to tank instead.

Minnesota sports pessimism has taught us that everything that can go wrong, will go wrong. But the Twins hold the key to the playoffs in the palm of their hands. They have every chance to prove to be the superior team in the AL Central, and if they can’t do that, they have no business being in the playoffs anyway. But for now, enjoy the ride. We have something to care about, celebrate and complain about. All it takes is a hot month at the end of the season and the unlikeliest teams can win World Series. Look at the 2021 Atlanta Braves, the 2019 Washington Nationals, the 1987 Minnesota Twins.

Don’t let apathy set in. This is an exciting, competitive team; they deserve better than that.