Talk To Contact - An Unaffiliated Minnesota Twins Podcast

The Hot Stove League is heating up. The Twins are connected to big names like Troy Tulowitzki and Jonathan Lucroy, but the Twins would need to give up a lot of your favorite prospects to land a player of that caliber. The Twins offense has struggled, but Joe Mauer has been red hot and Trevor Plouffe launched a 3-run dinger to help the Twins take a game in LA. After the regular Twins news, we go beer and all the news from around the league. Enjoy the show!

This week's podcast features not a lot of new Twins news on account of major league baseball's All-Star break. An all-star break that saw Brian Dozier get added to the AL squad, hit a home run in his only at bat and Glen Perkins finish the game for the 2nd time in as many years. Paul and Cody discuss the current state of affairs in Minnesota, the merits of the AL's 2nd best team, and what, if any, upgrades the Twins should pursue down the stretch. We had to deal with some audio difficulties this week as we break in the new Talk to Contact Podcast Studio. Appologies for the low quality, and hopefully we have that fixed up in the next week. Jay (and all his underscores) joins the 2nd half of the podcast and we award hitter, pitcher and defender of the first half before we discuss beers, baseball and the news.

This week we have a full team of Talk to Contacters and we drive deep into the Twins roster moves from the past week. Aaron Hicks is back, Ervin Santana is PED free, Eric Fryer is playing catcher, and something called Ryan O'Rourke is a loogy. New players! Then we chat about trade targets or moves the Twins could make (spending way too long talking about Tulo), and we do the usual players of the week and around the league. Oh, and Paul is extra arrogant about his beer this week. Of course he is, what a west coast snob.

Miguel Sano makes his MLB debut and Cody and Eric lose their minds. The Twins are struggling lately, but these dudes cannot stop talking about the possibility of postseason baseball. The young kids (Eddie Rosario, Byron Buxton, Alex Meyer, Miguel Sano) are all here, and there is help on the way (Jose Berrios, Jorge Polanco, Kohl Stewart, Lewis Thorpe) and the Twins are winning! Plus, you know, beer, baseball and the news. Thanks for hanging out!

This week on Talk to Contact Eric and Cody dive into the good, bad, and ugly from the past week of Minnesota Twins baseball. Alex Meyer's call-up is announced and they discuss his role on the 2015 team, and beyond. They look back on the recent success of Joe Mauer (two home runs last week), Phil Hughes, and Kennys Vargas. Plus, what the heck is the deal with Byron Buxton, and what will the Twins do when Aaron Hicks' rehab stint is complete?

This week on T2C, we're talking all about the good things the Twins did in the past week, despite their mediocre results. Byron Buxton debuts, Joe Mauer is falling to pieces, but still hitting homers, and what to do with some of the young struggling pieces (Kennys Vargas and company). Plus, the good news about Eddie Rosario, and the fun of a Rosario, Aaron Hicks, and Byron Buxton outfield. Plus talk of Brian Dozier being one of the 10 best hitters in baseball, the success of Mike Pelfrey and Kyle Gibson, and the excitement ERolf has about Glen Perkins. As always, we end with beer, baseball, and the news from around the league.

The Twins are just 3-7 since the calendar turned to June, and Eric and Paul are a little cranky they don't have better baseball to talk about. With all of the losing, some of the Twins' warts are starting to show, and the Twins made a flurry of roster moves involving Eddie Rosario, Jorge Polanco, Kennys Vargas, Danny Santana, Tim Stauffer and Michael Tonkin. Plus we're joined this week by Jeremy Nygaard from TwinsDaily.com and the kinda maybe sorta defunct Hangout and Talk Twins (Twins Hangout) podcast to review all things draft, including Tyler Jay (6th overall), Kyle Cody (73rd) and a couple of high-upside HS bats Travis Blankenhorn (80) and Trey Cabbage (110). All of that, plus an Ethan Mildren reference on this week's Talk to Contact.

Ricky Nolasco might be headed to the DL, Tommy Milone is coming up to make a start, Oswaldo Arcia was activated from the DL and then optioned to AAA. The Twins are winning baseball games despite having the students from the local clown college filling in at DH while Kennys Vargas, Josmil Pinto, and now Oswaldo Arcia toil away in Rochester. We discuss all of that, plus take a look at the recent performances of Aaron Hicks and Eddie Rosario as they look to secure spots on the Twins roster for the rest of the year. And of course, an MLB draft preview and sharing our beers of the week.

This week we have a full team of Talk to Contact hosts (eventually) and we find things to complain about, even though the Twins are in first place. From Danny Santana's struggles to what to do about seven pitchers fighting for five spots, we find a way to be negative. But we also spend time being happy about Brian Dozier, Trevor Pouffe, all the great pitching, and a guy named Chih-wei Hu down in the Minor Leagues.

It’s just a whole lot more fun to watch a team that’s winning baseball games. This may not be a sustainable pace for this ball club, but that doesn’t make it any less fun to watch. This ball club is playing great, highlighted by Glen Perkins and (gasp) Blaine Boyer at the back of the bullpen coupled with quality starts from the starters and very timely hitting from the offense. This week’s show is all about feeling good. E Rolf is away on his honeymoon after his wedding last week (congrats!), but Cody, Jay and Paul put together a show that covers all the baseball we’ve missed in the last two weeks. We reflect on Aaron Hick’s time with the big league ball club, Paul eats crow (Blaine Boyer Talk), Target Field gets compostable (NOT combustable) cups, and Joe Mauer hits the ball over the outfield fence. All of this, a look at the budding young star, Max Kepler, and more on this week’s show.

Just Cody and ERolf on the pod this week as Paul and Jay are both out sick.  This week we're talking Eddie Rosario and his MLB debut, the Twins actually winning a bunch of baseball games, what to make of Kyle Gibson's success despite his lake of strike outs and all those walks (Kevin Correia 2.0?!), and what's a "more worstest waste" of a 40-man roster spot, Doug Bernier or Eduardo Nunez.   Down on the Pond we talk about 2014 1st rounder Nick Gordon, make bets on how many home runs he'll hit in 2015, and talk about the player he's going to grow into (he's still only 19!).   As always, beer, baseball and the news to wrap things up.

This week's show features long laments about the inability of the Twins defense to play anything resembling defense. Costing the Twins somewhere in the neighborhood of one run a game, the bad defense, combined with pitchers who don't miss bats and hitters who can't get on base is a recipe for disaster. Welcome to your 2015 Minnesota Twins. Hey, at least Joe Mauer has a hockey playoff beard.

This week on the Talk to Contact podcast we rehash the week that was in Twins territory, including Mike Pelfrey and Trevor May pitching for a job in the rotation after Ricky Nolasco returns from his rehab start in Cedar Rapids, what the hell Torii Hunter is doing attempting a straight steal of home, and our very own Jay Corn finally earns his Talk to Contact membership card. After a musical interlude from Egon's Unicat, we're joined by Jeremy Nygaard from TwinsDaily.com to discuss a myriad of topics including Paul Molitor's bench, the Twins' payroll, and the upcoming MLB draft. And as always, beer, baseball and the news.

This week we chat about the Twins' recent struggles, review our experiences from the Home Opener (including the returning of Torii Hunter), and try and decide what is going on with Tommy Milone. In the second half of the program we are joined by Seth Stohs from TwinsDaily.com to talk about the first week of Minor League baseball. And of course, beer, baseball, and the news.

The Twins have not been impressive. The offense has been anemic. The pitching has been atrocious. The defense has been porous. It's been bad, bad, bad. And yet, there have still been some bright spots... well one. J.R. Graham has looked good. This week's show contains a healthy amount of doom and gloom, but it's not all bad news bears. Yes Ervina Santana has been suspended. Yes the Twins have been outscored 24-1. But it's only three games in. The Twins can still win 159 games and go on to post season glory. In addition to lamenting the cold start of the Twins, we also take a look at the minor league rosters for each of the Twins full season affiliates and talk about beer, baseball, and news from AROUND the league. If you enjoyed the show, please take a moment to tell a friend (or two, or three, or four hundred) and give us a rating/review on iTunes. Thanks for listening.

The Talk to Contact crew takes a crack at predicting the results of the 2015 season. There are a couple of bold pics. And I'm not talking bold like the Indians will win the central, I'm talking BOLD. We discuss the recent roster moves by the Twins, and discuss the roster that will head north with the Twins when they leave Fort Myers and head north to take on the Detroit Tigers next week. Speaking of the Tigers, we spend the end of the podcast wrapping up our reviewing the rivals series and talk with Bryan Craves (@displacedtgrfan, http://displacedtgrfan.tumblr.com/) and catch up on what's been happening in Detroit since the Tigers were bounced from the playoffs last season. All this and more on this week's episode. If you enjoy the show, please take a moment or two and share us with your friends. Thanks.

This week we talk about the strange details of the Brian Dozier contract, Eric owing a bunch of people helmet nachos, and we try and figure out (again) who is in the lead for the fifth start spot. After a couple beers, we talk baseball with Royals Review, http://www.royalsreview.com/, editor-in-chief, Max Reiper and find out what the Royals have been doing this winter. As always, we wrap up the show with beer, baseball and the news.

This week’s Talk to Contact podcast is filled with rampant speculation. Can Eddie Rosario win the CF job this spring? How long will uber prospects Miguel Sano and Byron Buxton spend in AA? Can either Alex Meyer or Trevor May do anything to make the opening day roster? Can Danny Santana be a legitimate leadoff hitter and avoid the “sophomore slump”? All these questions answered and more. We finish the podcast with a special guest, Jason Lukeheart (@JasonLukeheart), the managing editor of Let’s Go Tribe (http://www.letsgotribe.com/) to find out what’s been going on in Cleveland since the season ended and find out what the Indians ball club will look like heading into the 2015 season. Thanks for listening.

This week’s episode features a guest interview with Tom Flynn (@mighty_flynn, http://mightyflynn.tumblr.com/). Tom joins us to talk about the whirlwind offseason that took place on the South Side of Chicago and walks us through all the changes to the White Sox roster and what we can expect from them in 2015. Before getting to the White Sox, however, Eric, Paul and Jay discuss the happenings and goings on down in Fort Myers at Twins camp. Should Eduardo Escobar be the starting short-stop? Can Josmil Pinto stick at the MLB level? What does the future hold for Jorge Polanco, Eduardo Nunez and Michael Tonkin? Stay tuned to find out.

Miguel Sano! Byron Buxton! Eddie Rosario! Baseball! LIVE BASEBALL! WELCOME BACK BASEBALL FANS! Baseball is back in Twins Territory with the return of Spring Training baseball on television and the sound of the crack of the bat. We're back for our third full season of Twins baseball. This week we talk all about Spring Training, we review the roster, and of course, Beer, Baseball, and the News.

Paul is a cranky pants this week, I think he hates Spring Training. We dive into that assumption and figure out what the heck the Twins are doing for the next couple weeks. We're joined this week by Jeremy Nygaard from TwinsDaily.com to talk more about prospects, pitching, and even a little fantasy baseball. Then, as always, beer, baseball, and the news. Thanks for listening!

Jay and Eric take you on a long over due road trip around the last three weeks of Twins news, which includes a bunch of smart baseball folks thinking the Twins will lose 90 games again, a pretty miserable collection of teams in the American League Central, and what Spring Training is really all about. Reviewing the roster this week we dive deeper on Glen Perkins, Eddie Rosario, and Phil Hughes. And then, beer, baseball and the news. Enjoy the show.

This week we try out to sing the National Anthem at a Twins game, talk about how lame baseball nicknames are in 2015, and Paul tries to figure out what the Twins are doing with Eduardo Nunez. We go down on the pond and talk about Cameron Booser (Jay nicknames him Boose, era of lame nicknames, indeed), and we go all around the league talking beer, baseball and the news.

This week the guys talk about TwinsFest, the TwinsDaily.com Winter Meltdown, what it means that Trevor Plouffe is the highest paid third basemen in franchise history, and about one Twins minor league pitcher subtweeting another. We also review the 40 man roster a bit more with JR Graham, Ervin Santana, and Brian Dozier. Plus beer, baseball, and the news!

This week on the show our friend from North Dakota, Cody, is taking the week off to focus on the youth of the greater Fargo area. What a noble man he is. The rest of us forge ahead without him to discuss the news that needs discussing. E. Rolf openly laments everything and anything that the Twins can, have, or will do to make 2015 a success, all the while remaining overly optomisitc that this week's Down on the Pond player, Tyler Grimes, will one day see time with the big league ball club. Hope springs eternal! Jay declares our podcast to be world famous. Which may or may not be true, but Paul lives in Seattle, which is practically Canada, so that's probably good enough for us. This week we wonder aloud who will be the Twins 5th starter, whether the Twins offense can be as good as it was last season, and whether the bullpen for this ball club is a strength or a weakness. Thanks for listening.

After a week off celebrating 2014 and welcoming in 2015, the podcast crew was back together (minus a Rolf) to begin a new year of Talk to Contact radio gold. This week we make some New Year's resolutions on behalf of the Twins, to include Joe Mauer, Aaron Hicks and prayers for something (ANYTHING!) resembling a starting pitcher not named Phil Hughes. In this week's reviewing the roster segment, we take a look at the 2014 contributions of Caleb Thielbar, Ricky Nolasco and Oswaldo Arcia. We prognosticate on what 2015 will bring for the three and whether they will be a big part, or no part, of the 2015 Twins team. When we go Down on the Pond we discuss the future potential of minor league short stop Engelb Vielma, who played last season with low-A Ceder Rapids. Will he become the next great Twins star, or even crack the big league roster? And finally we spend more time than it probably deserved discussing the 2015 Hall of Fame balloting, elections and snubs. Enjoy the show.

Phil Hughes renegotiated a contract adding three more years to his deal and keeping him in Minnesota through 2019. This was such a momentous occasion that we asked the Twins Hangouts fellas, Seth Stohs and Jeremy Nygaard, to join us. I'll warn you up front that E Rolf had his potty mouth out again, and that the beer was flowing on the podcast, so if you have children, or sensitive grandparents in the room, you may want to go elsewhere to listen. We talk about Phil's new contract, and try to figure out exactly what the Twins acquisition of Tim Stauffer means for the organization going into 2015. For starters it means that Eric Fryer has been removed from the 40-man roster, but that might not be such a bad thing, depending on who you ask. We discuss the recent minor league manager assignments, and some other minor league news before jumping into our winter series reviewing the roster. This week we take a look at Casey Fien, Lester Oliveros and Eduardo Escobar.

We're old and not going to write an episode description. Deal with it. Regular beer, baseball, and the news. Cody and Eric and Paul and no Jay (because of his grooming habits).