Monday Morning Minnesota: The “NL West Comes to Town” Edition

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PHOENIX, ARIZONA - JUNE 20: Byron Buxton #25 of the Minnesota Twins reacts after hitting a grand slam homerun during the fifth inning of the MLB game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field on June 20, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Photo by Jeremy Chen/Getty Images) | Getty Images

The Twins welcomed the Dodgers and the Rockies to Target Field this past week, and it went pretty much how any fan would have expected. The Twins had some of the highest-attended games, with a sellout crowd on Wednesday of 39,853 to watch Shohei Ohtani duel Joe Ryan. Ironically, the team was woefully unprepared for the number of fans who showed up, with lines of people waiting outside until about the 3rd inning to get into the stadium (Source: me). That game was the final loss in a three-game sweep, despite the Twins tagging Ohtani for two runs early in the start. The Rockies then arrived over the weekend, which included a Ludacris postgame concert, and the Twins were able to get a 2-1 series win. The team is now 40-45, still only two games out of the final wild card spot.

The Past Week on Twinkie Town:



Elsewhere in Twins Territory:




In the World of Baseball:

  • The Rays and Yankees are still battling for the top spot in the AL, with the Rays holding onto a one-game lead. The White Sox and the Guardians are now tied for the AL Central lead, although the White Sox have played two fewer games, while the Rangers have now managed to leap frog the Mariners and lead the AL West by half a game.
  • The Dodgers took full advantage of their series against the Twins by jumping out to a 2.5-game lead over…the Brewers? Yup, Atlanta dropped a few additional games last week, and now what seemed like a pretty big lead in the NL East has now come down to three games over the Philles (remember when they sucked?). The Cubs and Cardinals round out teams #5 and #6 in the NL Wild Card race.
  • There were several firings last week, with the Mets letting go of manager Carlos Mendoza and the Angels parting ways with GM Perry Minasian.
  • David Purdum and Jeff Passan at ESPN reported on a new proposal introduced by the MLBPA in recent CBA discussions, which would ban prop betting on individual players.
  • Jesse Rogers at ESPN covers the new proposal from the owners that would limit contract length for free agents.
  • MLB owners recently proposed a dramatic change to how the amateur draft would work, restricting eligibility to players who are 20 years old and two years out of high school. Michael Baumann at Fangraphs looks at the implications of that change.

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