Minnesota Twins roster: Tsuyoshi Nishioka

Should the Twins keep Tsuyoshi Nishioka on the Twins roster for next year? That seems to be the question every Twins fan is asking themselves right now. The blatantly obvious answer is NO, and here's exactly why:

• In the last two seasons, Nishioka has failed to make the necessary adjustments to his game to go from Japanese style of baseball to the American style of baseball. The most glaringly obvious point in time that I'm referring to is when he failed to get out of the way of Nick Swisher and ended up breaking his leg - so the degree to which this needs to be adjusted is pretty large. If, after two full seasons, he hasn't been able to adapt to the American style of pla, it's time for him to go.
• In the three games he last played with the Minnesota Twins, he has three errors. That's not a good statistic for a guy that's essentially "trying out" for the team.

• Right now the Twins are paying $3 million per year for Nishioka - way more than he's actually worth. I think Twins fans wouldn't have such a problem with this guy if he were actually playing at a halfway decent level that deserved this kind of dough.

So basically, I personally think they should be getting rid of this guy. Not only does he make mistakes, he just can't seem to adapt to American baseball. What do you guys think?

Last Twins Series(es) of the summer

Yes, I know what you're thinking: why should I care about making it to a game at Target Field when the Twins are already out of the playoff race? Well, I have three reasons for why you need to get to a game on the Twins schedule before the end of the month:

1. It's summertime, which means there's no better time for outdoor baseball (even if we don't have the best team in the league).
2. Target Field is a blast no matter who's on the field - between the snacks, people watching and things to check out around the stadium you'll always be having fun.
3. Your kids won't care if the team wins or loses, they'll just be excited that they got to check out a game!

So: three great reasons why you should be excited to hit up a game at Target Field. And with that in mind, I have the three LAST home stands of the summer to share with you right.this.second. :note: they're not the three last series of the year, just the last ones before schools start back up in the fall!

1. Twins vs. Rays tickets are available for the weekend of August 10th-12th. Weekends are perfect for date nights and bringing the kiddos out to play!

2. Twins vs. Tigers tickets are available just following that series, Monday August 13th thru Wednesday August 15th. You know what's great about weekday games? They make great incentives for employees!

3. August 27th thru 29th grab Twins vs. Mariners tickets at Target Field. It's a great way to end the summer - bring your buddies to a baseball game!

New interactive game for your next excursion to Target Field

Ok - I have some exciting news for all of you Twins fans that are worried about needing more entertainment at a Twins game this year. The Twins have just launched a new mobile game for fans AT Target Field. It's called "At The Plate" and allows Twins fans to predict what's going to happen when the Twins are at bat. Which could be an interesting prediction tool - see how on you are with how the team is playing that day!

It's really interesting to see how the team is creating new ways of engaging fans in the game - something that is desperately needed with the evolution of mobile media and fans being constantly connected to technology. I don't know about you, but I'm pretty excited to test this game out - and so are my kids! - at the next game we have Twins tickets to!

Twins Out of MLB Playoff Race - but not down for the count

Well guys, we're over the halfway mark in this baseball season. But we still have a few months of MLB play left - which is good, for any team BUT the Minnesota Twins. You see, the Twins have already thrown away their chances of making it to the MLB Playoffs this year. In fact, they have less than a 1 percent chance of actually MAKING it to the playoffs. Pretty sad considering how optimistic I was at the start of the season.

All boo-hooing aside, the team now has two choices in front of itself:

1. They can either give up on the rest of this season, play a half-assed game and hope for a really great off-season  - which would be the usual expectation of a Minnesota team in this position.

2. They can try to play their asses off, keep some butts in the seats at Target Field and really screw up the playoff potential of their rival teams.

Judging by their level of play recently - specifically in the series that finishes today against the Baltimore Orioles - they've chosen option number 2. I have to say that I'm a little impressed by the route that the Twins are taking. Normally, as a Minnesota sports fan, you'd expect this team to just kind of fall off the radar after a bad season. But they're hanging on, actually managing to maintain a little fan interest (aka still selling SOME Twins tickets this year!) and making things happen. Now I really AM interested in seeing what happens for the rest of this season/in the off-season.

2014 All Star Game at Target Field

Have you heard the news about the Twins pushing for the 2014 All Star Game at Target Field? Well, it's looking more and more like the team is going to be awarded this awesome deal! It's not official or anything yet, but how cool would that be to have this event - and all of those awesome players in town - to happen at our own local stadium? There really isn't a better location. Yes, there are some cool stadiums in the country, but in my (biased) opinion, Target Field is the best. It's gorgeous and has some great features - like the Metropolitan Club and the Legends Club - that could be really well utilized for a great fan experience at this event. Have ya'll heard anything about this?

Twins Season Halfway Over

Well, I have some good news for Twins fans: the season is officially halfway over. Sometimes it's a little sad when we hit the halfway point in the season, but honestly I think that most Twins fans are happy to be over the hump this year. Following this team is always kind of a roller coaster, but it's just insanely so this year. Seriously.

I feel like I'm constantly being let down by these guys - they win a couple of games and then they LOSE for an even longer streak. Gross.

But, like I said before it's important to check out the positive. And the positive is that cheap Twins tickets are quite abundant right now! My kids are going to have a blast hitting up games for the rest of the summer, that's for sure...

Cheap Twins Tickets

Things I know about the Minnesota Twins:

1. They started out well against the White Sox until they got killed yesterday, 12-5.
2. They play the Royals at home this weekend.
3. I'm ready for the MLB All Star Break.

That being said, my kids really want to go to a Twins game - they don't care about winning vs. losing teams. And since the team isn't playing so hot, it means there are a lot of cheap Twins tickets floating around. Aka I fully intend to take advantage of some of the deals that are out there right now and get the fam to a game this weekend on the cheap. I just hope that the weather cools off a little bit - it's sweaty outside!