1993 Minnesota Twins season

MLB yearly infobox
name = Minnesota Twins
season = 1993
misc =

current league = American League
y1 = 1901
division = Western Division
y2 = 1969
Uniform
ballpark = Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome
y4 = 1982
city = Minneapolis
y5 = 1982
owners = Carl Pohlad
managers = Tom Kelly
television = WCCO-TV
Midwest Sports Channel
(Jim Kaat, Dick Bremer)
radio = 830 WCCO AM
(Herb Carneal,John Gordon, Jim Powell)|The 1993 Minnesota Twins underperformed in their last year in the old American League West Division, finishing with a 71-91 record, leaving the team tied for fifth place with the California Angels. There were bright spots for Manager Tom Kelly. This included Kirby Puckett winning the All-Star MVP award on July 13, after hitting a home run and an RBI double. Another bright spot was St. Paul native Dave Winfield getting his 3,000th hit in his first year back with his hometown team. The hit came off of Dennis Eckersley on September 16.

Offseason

*October 26: Mike Maksudian was selected off waivers by the Minnesota Twins from the Toronto Blue Jays. [http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/maksumi01.shtml]
*December 5: Traded pitcher David West to the Philadelphia Phillies for outfielder Pat Howell.
*December 9: Signed pitcher Jim Deshaies as a free agent.
*December 17: Signed designated hitter Dave Winfield as a free agent.
*January 7: Signed Bert Blyleven as a free agent. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/b/blylebe01.shtml Bert Blyleven Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ] Blyleven would not make the team out of spring training and announced his retirement.
*January 8: Signed Randy Bush as a free agent. Bush had 45 at bats for the team, bat .156, and the team released him on June 27. He did not play again in the majors.

Regular season

Offense

Not only did Winfield get his 3,000th hit, but he also got his 500th double and 450th homer. He had a serviceable year as the team's primary designated hitter, hitting .271 with 21 home runs and 76 RBI. Other offensive highlights included Kent Hrbek becoming the second Twin (along with Harmon Killebrew) to reach 1,000 RBI and Brian Harper becoming only the fourth catcher in the prior 40 years to hit .300 in three consecutive seasons. Chuck Knoblauch continued his solid leadoff hitting, batting .277 and stealing a team-leading 29 bases. The weaker spots in the regular lineup included Pedro Muñoz (.233 average).

Notable Transactions

*June 3: In the amateur draft, the team signed future major leaguers such as Torii Hunter (1st round, 20th pick), Dan Perkins (2nd round), and Javier Valentin (3rd round). The team also signed catcher Jason Varitek in the first round with the 21st pick, but was unable to sign him. [ [http://www.baseball-reference.com/v/varitja01.shtml Jason Varitek Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com ] ]
*June 30: Traded Al Newman and minor leaguer Tom Hauk to the Cincinnati Reds for Gary Scott.
*August 15: Traded Mike Pagliarulo to the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named later. On August 16, the Orioles sent Erik Schullstrom to the Twins to complete the trade.
*August 28: Traded Jim Deshaies to the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named later, Aaron Fultz, and minor leaguer Andres Duncan. On September 1, the Giants sent Greg Brummett to the Twins to complete the trade.

Miscellaneous

*The Twins’ all-star representatives were outfielder Kirby Puckett and closer Rick Aguilera.

*The highest paid Twin in 1993 was Puckett at $5,300,000, followed by Hrbek at $3,100,000.

Player stats

Batting

"Note: G = Games played; AB = At Bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting Average; HR = Home Runs; RBI = Runs Batted In"

Other pitchers

Relief pitchers

References

* [http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/MIN/1993.shtml Player stats from www.baseball-reference.com]
* [http://baseball-almanac.com/teamstats/roster.php?y=1993&t=MIN Team info from www.baseball-almanac.com]
* [http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/min/history/timeline4.jsp Twins history through the 1990s, from www.mlb.com]
* [http://shrpsports.com/mlb/stand/1993finaldiv.htm 1993 Standings]