With the way the Twins have been going, just winning a series has to be considered a positive.
But even if Gardy and the boys won't admit it, it had to be tough not to get the sweep.
KC was 0-16 against the Twins and Sox prior to Wednesday's 3-1 win.
I think the real bad news, though, is that Glenn Williams, who had taken over as the team's starting 3rd basemen, is going to be out 6-8 weeks with a seperated shoulder.
The guy was playing well, and while he certainly isn't the long term answer at 3rd or any other spot, he was keeping Cuddyer's worthless ass out of the lineup.
It was also sad, because Williams, 30, had spent over a decade in the minors, never making it to the bigs. He finally gets the call-up, earns a starting spot, and seperates his shoulder.
There's a very good chance that he'll never get another opportunity to play every day in the big leagues again.
It's for that reason, I'm sure, that Williams was fighting back tears in the Twins locker room Wednesday night. Tough break.
I wonder if the Joe Randa rumors will heat back up.
On a lighter note, Pat Duncan, stat guru and baseball sage, has assembled his All-Time Twins team for the purposes of an online talk show that will air on the Argus Leader web-site. I'll be appearing as a guest to tell Duncan why Gagne is better than Versailles, Radke better than Pascual, etc, etc.
I can't remember Duncan's team, or teams (we decided to make a 1st team and 2nd team) but I made my own to be better prepared to argue with the smartest guy I know.
Here it is - Twins Town's All-Time Twins team(s):
First Team
SP - Blyleven, Kaat, Radke, Perry, Viola
RP - Aguilera, Guardado
C - Earl Battey
1B - Kent Hrbek
2B - Chuck Knoblauch
SS - Greg Gagne
3B - Harmon Killebrew
OF - Kirby Puckett, Tony Oliva, Torii Hunter
DH - Rod Carew
UT - Cesar Tovar
(Made Carew my DH to be able to include Killebrew, Hrbek, Carew and Knoblauch all on 1st team)
2nd Team
SP - Mudcat Grant, Dave Goltz, Dave Boswell, Camilo Pascual, Johan Santana
RP - Al Worthington, Jeff Reardon
C - Brian Harper
1B - Doug Mientkiewicz (he gets on because there are 3 1st basemen on the 1st team)
2B - John Castino (I know, he played mostly 3rd. Who else? Rich Reese, Todd Walker, Steve Lombardozzi?)
SS - Zoilo Versailles
3B - Gary Gaetti
OF - Bob Allison, Jacque Jones, Tom Brunansky
DH - Corey Koskie
UT - Roy Smalley
Feel free to make suggestions before Thursday afternoon show.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Hey Joe
A couple weeks ago I speculated that Joe Nathan's ERA was, "probly 0.75 in save situations and 10 in non-save situations.
The official number after his near debacle on Sunday and Monday: 1.11 in save situations, 9.00 in non-save situations.
See, Gardy I told you I was smarter than you.
When Nathan was warming up last night, I'll admit. I was nervous. He had looked that bad against Milwaukee on Sunday.
But then he was throwing gas and got the save easily.
I don't know. I guess the Twins have bigger problems than Nathan.
A win tonight and, hey, that's 3 in a row.
The official number after his near debacle on Sunday and Monday: 1.11 in save situations, 9.00 in non-save situations.
See, Gardy I told you I was smarter than you.
When Nathan was warming up last night, I'll admit. I was nervous. He had looked that bad against Milwaukee on Sunday.
But then he was throwing gas and got the save easily.
I don't know. I guess the Twins have bigger problems than Nathan.
A win tonight and, hey, that's 3 in a row.
Monday, June 27, 2005
All Hail L-Rod
Way to go Luis Rodriguez. Congrats on your first homer.
Six home games coming up against KC and TB.
6-0 or 5-1. Have to.
Joe Nathan was stinky as all hell today. Good thing he had a five run lead.
Also, nice game by Lohse. I still think they should trade him for Joe Randa.
But apparently the Twins don't want Randa. That's the word circling around now.
Glenn Williams had apparantly temporarily taken Cuddy's 3B job, which makes me happy, because I hate No. 5.
But Glenn Williams is not the answer.
Hate to say it but right now the best thing that can happen to the Twins is probably for Punto to come back.
Lil' Nicky Punto. The difference maker. Wow.
Six home games coming up against KC and TB.
6-0 or 5-1. Have to.
Joe Nathan was stinky as all hell today. Good thing he had a five run lead.
Also, nice game by Lohse. I still think they should trade him for Joe Randa.
But apparently the Twins don't want Randa. That's the word circling around now.
Glenn Williams had apparantly temporarily taken Cuddy's 3B job, which makes me happy, because I hate No. 5.
But Glenn Williams is not the answer.
Hate to say it but right now the best thing that can happen to the Twins is probably for Punto to come back.
Lil' Nicky Punto. The difference maker. Wow.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
Memo to Terry Francona
Hey Terry
I know you are responsible for selecting the American League All-Star reserves.
If you do not select Torii Hunter, who will not be voted a starter, you are an asshole.
Hunter is playing the best baseball of his life.
He is the epitome of what a player should be. He's the kind of player you point to and say to your 8 year old - Watch him. Play the game like he plays the game.
I've ripped on Torii before, for little things like his swing and pitch selection.
He still has those issues, but right now his will to win, and will to keep his ass-team afloat, are transcending those weaknesses.
If the Twins manage to somehow qualify for the playoffs this year - most likely as a wild card, Torii should be the American League MVP.
Don't be tempted to chicken out and pick someone like Santana, or Silva, or Nathan or Crain, or Mauer.
They are all good players having decent seasons.
But Torii is pretty much the whole team right now. I don't care if you end up picking 9 OF's for the All-Star team, Torii HAS to go.
I know you are responsible for selecting the American League All-Star reserves.
If you do not select Torii Hunter, who will not be voted a starter, you are an asshole.
Hunter is playing the best baseball of his life.
He is the epitome of what a player should be. He's the kind of player you point to and say to your 8 year old - Watch him. Play the game like he plays the game.
I've ripped on Torii before, for little things like his swing and pitch selection.
He still has those issues, but right now his will to win, and will to keep his ass-team afloat, are transcending those weaknesses.
If the Twins manage to somehow qualify for the playoffs this year - most likely as a wild card, Torii should be the American League MVP.
Don't be tempted to chicken out and pick someone like Santana, or Silva, or Nathan or Crain, or Mauer.
They are all good players having decent seasons.
But Torii is pretty much the whole team right now. I don't care if you end up picking 9 OF's for the All-Star team, Torii HAS to go.
Saturday, June 25, 2005
Twins streak snapped at one
I had a feeling Radke would throw a good game, and he did a pretty good job.
And then the Twins get mowed down by something called Chris Capuano.
What a fucking surprise!
And the one run we got was on a homer by Torii Hunter.
Another shocker.
And JC sucked again.
I'm stunned.
God I hate you, No. 5.
And then the Twins get mowed down by something called Chris Capuano.
What a fucking surprise!
And the one run we got was on a homer by Torii Hunter.
Another shocker.
And JC sucked again.
I'm stunned.
God I hate you, No. 5.
Friday, June 24, 2005
First Glimmer
Well, okay, they got a win.
I almost would've rather seen the Tigers complete the sweep, because I'm a firm believer in needing to hit rock bottom before heading back up the mountain. But hey, maybe they had already gotten as far down as they could.
A nice game by Silva - actually, a great game given the circumstances, and kudos to Gardy for letting him finish the game, even when Detroit rallied in the ninth. Kind of sent a message to the other guys, "I don't trust you bozos not to screw this up."
The Twins now have nine games against Milwaukee, KC and Tampa Bay.
They need to win at least seven of those nine.
The way they've been going that doesn't seem likely, but they simply have to do it. And hey, a winning streak never hurt anyone, either.
Just a thought, guys.
I have a feeling Bradke is going to throw a good game tonight....don't know why, but I do.
I almost would've rather seen the Tigers complete the sweep, because I'm a firm believer in needing to hit rock bottom before heading back up the mountain. But hey, maybe they had already gotten as far down as they could.
A nice game by Silva - actually, a great game given the circumstances, and kudos to Gardy for letting him finish the game, even when Detroit rallied in the ninth. Kind of sent a message to the other guys, "I don't trust you bozos not to screw this up."
The Twins now have nine games against Milwaukee, KC and Tampa Bay.
They need to win at least seven of those nine.
The way they've been going that doesn't seem likely, but they simply have to do it. And hey, a winning streak never hurt anyone, either.
Just a thought, guys.
I have a feeling Bradke is going to throw a good game tonight....don't know why, but I do.
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Gallows Pole
Anyone else tired of hearing Gardy and Torii Hunter tell you not to panic?
Guess what assholes? It's time to panic.
Gardy told Pioneer Press columnist Tom Powers, "we're in a little bit of a funk."
Powers responded: A little bit of a funk? It's a Kool & the Gang type classic funk. It's a Gap Band, O'Jays, Curtis Mayfield type funk. Hey, it's the Commodores singing "Brick House" funk. Everything's pretty funked up.
Amen, brother.
Gardy, T-Ry, even TK, all deserve credit for how they, better than anyone else, have understood over the years that it's a long season. And there have been times when they were the only ones confident this team would be there at the end, and they were right.
That is why they do what they do for a living, and we sit at cubicles and bitch about them on message boards and fan blogs.
But now that I've put the obligatory respectful pleasantries out there, it's time to start ripping.
I'm going to go right down the list.
GM Terry Ryan - T-Ry has to go get someone. Now. The trade deadline is July 31, and usually any and all deals go down at or near the deadline. But by July 31 the Twins could be 16 games out (they're 9 back right now in case you missed it.) Reds third baseman Joe Randa is a veteran .300 hitter with decent power and a very good glove. He is signed only through this year for a very modest 2.15 million. (Come to think of it, for 2.15 million why the hell didn't the Twins sign this guy in the offseason? He's a really good player. For that cheap I wouldn't mind if the Twins signed him for the next 3 years.)
Kyle Lohse, Michael Cuddyer, Dave Gassner, Matthew LeCroy and Michael Ryan are all guys that we can part with rather easily.
Once Randa is acquired for Cuddyer and Lohse, it's time to look for a lefty pitcher.
However, I suggest the Twins consider Gassner, a Jamie Moyer type who you may remember won his big league debut early this year in a brief callup, or Francisco Liriano.
Liriano is probably the top pitching prospect in the Twins entire organization. He's just 21, but was recently promoted to AAA, where he struck out 8 in 6 innings allowing just one run in his first start. Yeah, he's 21, but JC and Mulholland suck.
Remember when the Angels called up Francisco (K-Rod) Rodriguez in 2002? He was 21, and they wouldn't have won the World Series without him. Liriano could provide that kind of boost.
Terry, your team can't hit. And contrary to conventional wisdom, they don't catch it all that well, either. And lately, they can't seem to pitch.
There's enough talent here to win 85 games almost by accident, but it should be apparent by now that 85 wins won't get it done this year.
Gardy - Glad that Gardy moved Morneau back to the cleanup spot even though he's struggling. Batting him in front of Cuddyer is absolutely horrendous lineup-making. In all honesty I'm having a hard time blaming any of this on my favorite whipping boy, because T-Ry hasn't given him very good toys to play with.
Just one thing, though. Get Shannon Stewart out of the outfield and put Ford out there. I don't care if it'll hurt Stewie's feelings - ask the pitchers who THEY'D rather have out in left.
Gardy said today in the paper that his team needed veterans. Well, maybe you and the rest of the staff should've considered that before you set out on a voyage to the World Series with a AAA infield and a 22-year old catcher.
Gardy knows how to handle players, his strength as a manager has always been the intangibles. But I sense that he's getting close to blowing his top.
Fine by me.
Let 'em have it Gardy. Maybe the problem with having such a young team is that they're all just happy to be in the league.
Maybe sending Cuddyer and Morneau to AAA for a week would snap some sense into them. Time to remind them they're here to win a goddamn pennant.
Pitching coach Rick Anderson - Might be the best in the business. He could prove it by figuring out why in the Goddamn Hell we have to be behind 2-0 at the end of the 1st inning every single night.
Hitting coach Scott Ulger - Fire him. Today. Now. Yesterday. This man has not one success story he can put on his resume. He has done absolutely nothing. Our hitters are being put down by mediocre pitchers with the quiet efficiency of a lethal injection.
Stick a wheelchair in the dugout and bring back Tony O.
Or, if you REALLY want to shake things up, bring in someone like Gary Gaetti or Brian Harper, or, if he'd take the job, Kirby Puckett.
It might help to have a hitting coach who ACTUALLY HAD MORE THAN 11 HITS IN HIS MAJOR LEAGUE CAREER!!!!!
And the players:
C Joe Mauer - Joe's doing a pretty good job. Probably deserves less blame than anyone on the 25 man roster. Maybe it's unfair to expect a 22-year old to do more than hit .297 with average power while playing the most demanding position on the field.
Too damn bad. They told us Joe was the next Ted Williams, or at least the next Don Mattingly.
All right then. Let's see a little more.
1B Justin Morneau - Justin is quickly drawing the ire of Twins fans, media, and presumably, front office. Early on it looked like he was going to hit .350 with 30 homers.
Unfortunately, he's been doing a spot-on Scott Stahoviak impression lately. He's been ornery, too. He got his panties in a bunch about Torii telling him to toughen up and play thru injuries (Wake up Justin...This is Torii's team. It's his job to tell you to suck it up!)
Then he got pissy about Gardy moving him around in the lineup, and it seems like he spends most of each game arguing with an umpire who just called his ass out on a pitch on the corner after he had just swung at one at his eyeballs.
I'm not kidding, send him to Rochester. Just for a week. See how he likes that. Garrett Jones, the AAA first baseman, is a big power hitting lefty, too. Bring him up for a week, see what happens.
2B Luis Rivas - Keep trying Luis. Until Punto comes back you're all we've got.
Actually, if we get Randa, Cuddyer will move to second, unless Cuddyer is who we trade to get Randa. Then, well, we wait for Abernathy to come off the DL, then Punto.
SS Juan Castro - Hard to complain here. They said he was gold glove material - and he has been. They said he won't hit much - and he hasn't.
But if Bartlett gets hot (he's hitting .307 at AAA right now) he might deserve another shot.
3B Michael Cuddyer - It'll be hard for me to hold back, here. This guy is really pissing me off. No one is expecting him to be everything Corey Koskie was, but Denny Hocking had better years than this.
And it's not just the ugly numbers, he looks terrible. He's got the deer in the headlights look when the ball is hit to him, and he's got it whenever he's up with men on base. This guy is the human rally killer.
The Twins have been blabbing about this prick for six years. He's starting to look to me like the quintissential "AAAA" player. Dominates AAA, stinks in the bigs.
I think part of his problem is that he's reading the papers too much. He obviously knows that all of Twins Territory hates him right now.
Trade him while he still has some value. Every 0-for-4 he racks up makes him less and less tradable.
OF Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones, Shannon Stewart, Lew Ford - Except for JJ, these guys are almost totally exempt from blame.
Stewie has been his usual consistent self. He's setting the table, but no one is coming to dinner. He does, however, stink in the outfield.
Lew isn't putting up out of this world numbers, but he's been very consistent, especially with runners on.
Jacque has been somewhat of a dissapointment. He's not hitting much, and lately he's been screwing up in the outfield. I think we can finally say with some certainty that this is his last year with the Twins.
Torii Hunter, however, has been without question the team MVP. He still isn't putting up the numbers he's capable of, but he's on pace for about 25 homers, 30 steals and 110 RBIs. The catch he made last night was brilliant.
This guy gives 150 % every night, and at times, he seems to be the one guy who actually cares if the team wins.
It's evident just watching how he handles himself on the field, this guy wants to win.
That's why he told Morneau to stop being a pussy - that's why he told Kevin Brown to suck it - that's why he slams into walls and scrapes up his knees and elbows on the turf - that's why, even though Mauer, Morneau, Santana, etc, get all the hype as the future of the team, the Twins are Torii's team.
While I'm always waiting for him to take it to another level on the field, the best thing he can do is stay on these young guys' case - "Hey assholes, I'm trying to win a pennant over here, wanna give me a hand?"
DH/PH Matt LeCroy - I know we all love this guy but seriously. Couldn't Juan 'The Large Human' Thomas do what he's doing?
SP Radke, Santana, Lohse, Mays, Silva - Silva, Mays and Lohse (last night's stinker notwithstanding) have either met or exceeded expectations for this year. I'd like 'em to be better but they won't be. Period.
As for Santana and Radke? They just need to get it together. Tighten the screws. They're doing all right, but not good enough. No more time to dick around. Start getting some fucking W's.
RP Rincon, Crain, Romero, Mulholland, Nathan, Guerrier - Same thing here. Just do a better job, please. Throw fucking strikes. Stop beaning hitters. That's the same as a walk, you know.
The White Sox are good. So are the Indians and Tigers. Even the Royals aren't too bad since they fired the Worst Manager in Baseball History.
Maybe the Twins thought the pennant was going to be handed to them. Right now it looks like Ozzie Guillen's got a pretty tight grip on it.
Guess what assholes? It's time to panic.
Gardy told Pioneer Press columnist Tom Powers, "we're in a little bit of a funk."
Powers responded: A little bit of a funk? It's a Kool & the Gang type classic funk. It's a Gap Band, O'Jays, Curtis Mayfield type funk. Hey, it's the Commodores singing "Brick House" funk. Everything's pretty funked up.
Amen, brother.
Gardy, T-Ry, even TK, all deserve credit for how they, better than anyone else, have understood over the years that it's a long season. And there have been times when they were the only ones confident this team would be there at the end, and they were right.
That is why they do what they do for a living, and we sit at cubicles and bitch about them on message boards and fan blogs.
But now that I've put the obligatory respectful pleasantries out there, it's time to start ripping.
I'm going to go right down the list.
GM Terry Ryan - T-Ry has to go get someone. Now. The trade deadline is July 31, and usually any and all deals go down at or near the deadline. But by July 31 the Twins could be 16 games out (they're 9 back right now in case you missed it.) Reds third baseman Joe Randa is a veteran .300 hitter with decent power and a very good glove. He is signed only through this year for a very modest 2.15 million. (Come to think of it, for 2.15 million why the hell didn't the Twins sign this guy in the offseason? He's a really good player. For that cheap I wouldn't mind if the Twins signed him for the next 3 years.)
Kyle Lohse, Michael Cuddyer, Dave Gassner, Matthew LeCroy and Michael Ryan are all guys that we can part with rather easily.
Once Randa is acquired for Cuddyer and Lohse, it's time to look for a lefty pitcher.
However, I suggest the Twins consider Gassner, a Jamie Moyer type who you may remember won his big league debut early this year in a brief callup, or Francisco Liriano.
Liriano is probably the top pitching prospect in the Twins entire organization. He's just 21, but was recently promoted to AAA, where he struck out 8 in 6 innings allowing just one run in his first start. Yeah, he's 21, but JC and Mulholland suck.
Remember when the Angels called up Francisco (K-Rod) Rodriguez in 2002? He was 21, and they wouldn't have won the World Series without him. Liriano could provide that kind of boost.
Terry, your team can't hit. And contrary to conventional wisdom, they don't catch it all that well, either. And lately, they can't seem to pitch.
There's enough talent here to win 85 games almost by accident, but it should be apparent by now that 85 wins won't get it done this year.
Gardy - Glad that Gardy moved Morneau back to the cleanup spot even though he's struggling. Batting him in front of Cuddyer is absolutely horrendous lineup-making. In all honesty I'm having a hard time blaming any of this on my favorite whipping boy, because T-Ry hasn't given him very good toys to play with.
Just one thing, though. Get Shannon Stewart out of the outfield and put Ford out there. I don't care if it'll hurt Stewie's feelings - ask the pitchers who THEY'D rather have out in left.
Gardy said today in the paper that his team needed veterans. Well, maybe you and the rest of the staff should've considered that before you set out on a voyage to the World Series with a AAA infield and a 22-year old catcher.
Gardy knows how to handle players, his strength as a manager has always been the intangibles. But I sense that he's getting close to blowing his top.
Fine by me.
Let 'em have it Gardy. Maybe the problem with having such a young team is that they're all just happy to be in the league.
Maybe sending Cuddyer and Morneau to AAA for a week would snap some sense into them. Time to remind them they're here to win a goddamn pennant.
Pitching coach Rick Anderson - Might be the best in the business. He could prove it by figuring out why in the Goddamn Hell we have to be behind 2-0 at the end of the 1st inning every single night.
Hitting coach Scott Ulger - Fire him. Today. Now. Yesterday. This man has not one success story he can put on his resume. He has done absolutely nothing. Our hitters are being put down by mediocre pitchers with the quiet efficiency of a lethal injection.
Stick a wheelchair in the dugout and bring back Tony O.
Or, if you REALLY want to shake things up, bring in someone like Gary Gaetti or Brian Harper, or, if he'd take the job, Kirby Puckett.
It might help to have a hitting coach who ACTUALLY HAD MORE THAN 11 HITS IN HIS MAJOR LEAGUE CAREER!!!!!
And the players:
C Joe Mauer - Joe's doing a pretty good job. Probably deserves less blame than anyone on the 25 man roster. Maybe it's unfair to expect a 22-year old to do more than hit .297 with average power while playing the most demanding position on the field.
Too damn bad. They told us Joe was the next Ted Williams, or at least the next Don Mattingly.
All right then. Let's see a little more.
1B Justin Morneau - Justin is quickly drawing the ire of Twins fans, media, and presumably, front office. Early on it looked like he was going to hit .350 with 30 homers.
Unfortunately, he's been doing a spot-on Scott Stahoviak impression lately. He's been ornery, too. He got his panties in a bunch about Torii telling him to toughen up and play thru injuries (Wake up Justin...This is Torii's team. It's his job to tell you to suck it up!)
Then he got pissy about Gardy moving him around in the lineup, and it seems like he spends most of each game arguing with an umpire who just called his ass out on a pitch on the corner after he had just swung at one at his eyeballs.
I'm not kidding, send him to Rochester. Just for a week. See how he likes that. Garrett Jones, the AAA first baseman, is a big power hitting lefty, too. Bring him up for a week, see what happens.
2B Luis Rivas - Keep trying Luis. Until Punto comes back you're all we've got.
Actually, if we get Randa, Cuddyer will move to second, unless Cuddyer is who we trade to get Randa. Then, well, we wait for Abernathy to come off the DL, then Punto.
SS Juan Castro - Hard to complain here. They said he was gold glove material - and he has been. They said he won't hit much - and he hasn't.
But if Bartlett gets hot (he's hitting .307 at AAA right now) he might deserve another shot.
3B Michael Cuddyer - It'll be hard for me to hold back, here. This guy is really pissing me off. No one is expecting him to be everything Corey Koskie was, but Denny Hocking had better years than this.
And it's not just the ugly numbers, he looks terrible. He's got the deer in the headlights look when the ball is hit to him, and he's got it whenever he's up with men on base. This guy is the human rally killer.
The Twins have been blabbing about this prick for six years. He's starting to look to me like the quintissential "AAAA" player. Dominates AAA, stinks in the bigs.
I think part of his problem is that he's reading the papers too much. He obviously knows that all of Twins Territory hates him right now.
Trade him while he still has some value. Every 0-for-4 he racks up makes him less and less tradable.
OF Torii Hunter, Jacque Jones, Shannon Stewart, Lew Ford - Except for JJ, these guys are almost totally exempt from blame.
Stewie has been his usual consistent self. He's setting the table, but no one is coming to dinner. He does, however, stink in the outfield.
Lew isn't putting up out of this world numbers, but he's been very consistent, especially with runners on.
Jacque has been somewhat of a dissapointment. He's not hitting much, and lately he's been screwing up in the outfield. I think we can finally say with some certainty that this is his last year with the Twins.
Torii Hunter, however, has been without question the team MVP. He still isn't putting up the numbers he's capable of, but he's on pace for about 25 homers, 30 steals and 110 RBIs. The catch he made last night was brilliant.
This guy gives 150 % every night, and at times, he seems to be the one guy who actually cares if the team wins.
It's evident just watching how he handles himself on the field, this guy wants to win.
That's why he told Morneau to stop being a pussy - that's why he told Kevin Brown to suck it - that's why he slams into walls and scrapes up his knees and elbows on the turf - that's why, even though Mauer, Morneau, Santana, etc, get all the hype as the future of the team, the Twins are Torii's team.
While I'm always waiting for him to take it to another level on the field, the best thing he can do is stay on these young guys' case - "Hey assholes, I'm trying to win a pennant over here, wanna give me a hand?"
DH/PH Matt LeCroy - I know we all love this guy but seriously. Couldn't Juan 'The Large Human' Thomas do what he's doing?
SP Radke, Santana, Lohse, Mays, Silva - Silva, Mays and Lohse (last night's stinker notwithstanding) have either met or exceeded expectations for this year. I'd like 'em to be better but they won't be. Period.
As for Santana and Radke? They just need to get it together. Tighten the screws. They're doing all right, but not good enough. No more time to dick around. Start getting some fucking W's.
RP Rincon, Crain, Romero, Mulholland, Nathan, Guerrier - Same thing here. Just do a better job, please. Throw fucking strikes. Stop beaning hitters. That's the same as a walk, you know.
The White Sox are good. So are the Indians and Tigers. Even the Royals aren't too bad since they fired the Worst Manager in Baseball History.
Maybe the Twins thought the pennant was going to be handed to them. Right now it looks like Ozzie Guillen's got a pretty tight grip on it.
Friday, June 17, 2005
Wipe the Clock
Well I'm just going to shut up for awhile.
I kind of had a feeling that immediately after saying how the Twins could pitch but not hit they'd do something like this.
A 4-run first inning, seven runs total, and a loss thanks to 7 ninth inning runs by SF.
It's been a long time since the Twins have had a loss like that, but at least they hit the ball. I'm an idiot. Although....
Joe Mays=sucky
Joe Nathan=sucky
Terry Mulholland=sucky
One thing I will say, as have on numerous occasions, is to STOP USING JOE NATHAN IN NON-SAVE SITUATIONS!!!!!!
He gets lit every time. His ERA jumped to 3.81 thanks to last nights debacle (last year it was 1.62), and I'd be wiling to bet his ERA in save situations is about 0.75 and his ERA in non save situations is probly 10. I'm not exaggerating, I actually think that's a pretty good estimate.
I know you can't NEVER use him except with a lead, or he'd only get 45 spots a year.
But I think with the way he's gone, Gardy's going to have to:
A) be careful when he decides to bring him in, and
B) have someone ready to go in the bullpen whenever he comes into a tie game. If the first guy gets on, get him the hell out of there.
I kind of had a feeling that immediately after saying how the Twins could pitch but not hit they'd do something like this.
A 4-run first inning, seven runs total, and a loss thanks to 7 ninth inning runs by SF.
It's been a long time since the Twins have had a loss like that, but at least they hit the ball. I'm an idiot. Although....
Joe Mays=sucky
Joe Nathan=sucky
Terry Mulholland=sucky
One thing I will say, as have on numerous occasions, is to STOP USING JOE NATHAN IN NON-SAVE SITUATIONS!!!!!!
He gets lit every time. His ERA jumped to 3.81 thanks to last nights debacle (last year it was 1.62), and I'd be wiling to bet his ERA in save situations is about 0.75 and his ERA in non save situations is probly 10. I'm not exaggerating, I actually think that's a pretty good estimate.
I know you can't NEVER use him except with a lead, or he'd only get 45 spots a year.
But I think with the way he's gone, Gardy's going to have to:
A) be careful when he decides to bring him in, and
B) have someone ready to go in the bullpen whenever he comes into a tie game. If the first guy gets on, get him the hell out of there.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Countin' on a Miracle
Is this team going to hit enough?
That's the question that has been asked about the Twins ever since they regained their relevance as a sports franchise.
Everyone always talks about how pitching wins out in the end, and the Twins do have a ridiculously low 3.37 TEAM ERA right now.
Between the years of 1993 and 2000 the Twins didn't have ONE pitcher with enough innings to qualify record an ERA lower than that.
But the Twins pitchers, as great as they are, don't have a history of dominating, so even though pitching usually decides the playoffs, I wouldn't necessarily bet the farm that the Twins are going to win a bunch of 3-2 games against a quality opponent.
The Twins will need to hit, and they'll need to hit better.
But can they?
I want to say yes, because the team keeps talking about how great their hitters are going to be, but my unbiased, objective self says that no, the Twins will not hit enough with guys like Cuddyer, Castro, LeCroy, whoever's playing 2B, etc., eating up at-bats.
Right now Torii Hunter is carrying the lineup singlehandedly, but everyone knows there are too many holes in his swing, too many ways to get him out, for him to continue at this pace.
Torii will likely end up hitting .260 with 25 homers and 100 RBI. Fine numbers, but not enough to carry the team by himself.
If the Twins would bat Morneau ahead of Torii (or even behind him) while he's hot, it might be a good way to jumpstart Morneau's lukewarm bat, but Gardy doesn't think things through that deeply. Batting the Twins best power hitter sixth is serving no real purpose other than to punish him. I suppose it's Gardy's way of 'challenging' him, but batting Torii and Jacque 4-5 in front of him seems stupid. Batting Cuddyer behind him in the 7 hole accomplishes nothing. It basically gives pitchers no reason to pitch to Morneau.
The only real way to make this lineup work is for Mauer and Morneau to step it up. If they hit .300 with some pop it'll make everyone better. It might seem unfair to ask a 22 and 24 year old to do the heavy lifting on a team with World Series aspirations, but hey, the Twins said they could do it.
Let's see it.
That's the question that has been asked about the Twins ever since they regained their relevance as a sports franchise.
Everyone always talks about how pitching wins out in the end, and the Twins do have a ridiculously low 3.37 TEAM ERA right now.
Between the years of 1993 and 2000 the Twins didn't have ONE pitcher with enough innings to qualify record an ERA lower than that.
But the Twins pitchers, as great as they are, don't have a history of dominating, so even though pitching usually decides the playoffs, I wouldn't necessarily bet the farm that the Twins are going to win a bunch of 3-2 games against a quality opponent.
The Twins will need to hit, and they'll need to hit better.
But can they?
I want to say yes, because the team keeps talking about how great their hitters are going to be, but my unbiased, objective self says that no, the Twins will not hit enough with guys like Cuddyer, Castro, LeCroy, whoever's playing 2B, etc., eating up at-bats.
Right now Torii Hunter is carrying the lineup singlehandedly, but everyone knows there are too many holes in his swing, too many ways to get him out, for him to continue at this pace.
Torii will likely end up hitting .260 with 25 homers and 100 RBI. Fine numbers, but not enough to carry the team by himself.
If the Twins would bat Morneau ahead of Torii (or even behind him) while he's hot, it might be a good way to jumpstart Morneau's lukewarm bat, but Gardy doesn't think things through that deeply. Batting the Twins best power hitter sixth is serving no real purpose other than to punish him. I suppose it's Gardy's way of 'challenging' him, but batting Torii and Jacque 4-5 in front of him seems stupid. Batting Cuddyer behind him in the 7 hole accomplishes nothing. It basically gives pitchers no reason to pitch to Morneau.
The only real way to make this lineup work is for Mauer and Morneau to step it up. If they hit .300 with some pop it'll make everyone better. It might seem unfair to ask a 22 and 24 year old to do the heavy lifting on a team with World Series aspirations, but hey, the Twins said they could do it.
Let's see it.
Possible Undoings
The Twins have lost some games in frustrating fashion over the last couple days, especially frustrating when you consider the White Sox finally lost some games this week.
It got me thinking.
What are this team's weaknesses?
And what are the chances of them making a deal to shore them up?
After JC Romero's latest chickenshit performance, one of the first that stands out is lefthanded relief.
JC clearly cannot be trusted in any meaninful situation, and while it might be worth giving Terry Mulholland a crack at some bigger spots, hoping he can rely on his veteran guile, he's probably not the answer.
They had CJ Nitkowski in camp, and he had a great spring, but the Twins kept Matt Guerrier instead. Steve Kline and BJ Ryan won't be available, because the Orioles are in the race. Tampa Bay has a couple guys, but unless Casey Fossum could be had for cheap, the answer probably isn't there.
I'd kill to get Jeremy Affeldt away from KC, and I've heard he's available, but would either team want to make a trade within the division?
The guy I'd REALLY like to get, of course, is Eddie Guardado.
Eddie is back to his old self with Seattle this year, (I know because he's on my fantasy team), and Seattle again appears to be going nowhere. Would Seattle be willing to give him up for, say, Boof Bonser or Terry Tiffee? Or would they ask for Jacque Jones or Lew Ford, or worse, one of our top prospects like Francisco Liriano or Jason Kubel?
Tough to say, but I think it goes without saying that Eddie would be a perfect fit.
The other glaring areas of concern are in the infield. Lil' Nicky Punto was doing great, but he might be out for a month or more.
Castro is a whiz at short, but can the Twins afford to keep him in there if he can't keep his average above .230?
And while Michael Cuddyer hasn't been terrible at third, I'd say he has been bad.
A right-handed bat like Mike Sweeney (could he play 3rd?) Joe Randa, or Shea Hillenbrand would be a godsend for this team at this point. Hell, maybe the Astros would be willing to move Craig Biggio, even.
The question is what the Twins would have to give up. The Twins treat their top prospects like absolute gold, and that's a good thing. But it also means that they often trade starters in the middle of the season.
Remember Matt Lawton for Rick Reed, Mark Redman for Todd Jones, Bobby Kielty for Shannon Stewart? Doug Mientkiewicz for Justin Jones?
That might seem risky, shaking up a contending team's chemistry or whatever, but the Twins seem more willing to shake up the lineup and trade a seemingly entrenched starter than part with a promising minor leaguer.
Which means Jacque Jones, Lew Ford, Luis Rivas and Michael Cuddyer - maybe even Kyle Lohse, Juan Rincon and JC Romero - should all consider themselves to be on notice. I'd love to see LeCroy traded (as much as I love the guy he's essentially worthless, and they kept him over David Ortiz) but I doubt anyone would be interested.
My hunch is that either Cuddyer or Ford is sent packing. Both are at the point where they probably have the most value they ever will. Ford is a good player, but he's likely playing as well as he's capable of. Cuddyer better either get his shit together now, or the Twins have to deal him while other teams still have reason to believe he'll ever be any good.
Maybe they won't do anything. The Twins have never been a team to make moves just for the sake of making moves. But if they don't get more consistency out of the lineup, if they continue to get burned by lefties, and if Chicago stays hot, they'll likely be forced to do something.
It got me thinking.
What are this team's weaknesses?
And what are the chances of them making a deal to shore them up?
After JC Romero's latest chickenshit performance, one of the first that stands out is lefthanded relief.
JC clearly cannot be trusted in any meaninful situation, and while it might be worth giving Terry Mulholland a crack at some bigger spots, hoping he can rely on his veteran guile, he's probably not the answer.
They had CJ Nitkowski in camp, and he had a great spring, but the Twins kept Matt Guerrier instead. Steve Kline and BJ Ryan won't be available, because the Orioles are in the race. Tampa Bay has a couple guys, but unless Casey Fossum could be had for cheap, the answer probably isn't there.
I'd kill to get Jeremy Affeldt away from KC, and I've heard he's available, but would either team want to make a trade within the division?
The guy I'd REALLY like to get, of course, is Eddie Guardado.
Eddie is back to his old self with Seattle this year, (I know because he's on my fantasy team), and Seattle again appears to be going nowhere. Would Seattle be willing to give him up for, say, Boof Bonser or Terry Tiffee? Or would they ask for Jacque Jones or Lew Ford, or worse, one of our top prospects like Francisco Liriano or Jason Kubel?
Tough to say, but I think it goes without saying that Eddie would be a perfect fit.
The other glaring areas of concern are in the infield. Lil' Nicky Punto was doing great, but he might be out for a month or more.
Castro is a whiz at short, but can the Twins afford to keep him in there if he can't keep his average above .230?
And while Michael Cuddyer hasn't been terrible at third, I'd say he has been bad.
A right-handed bat like Mike Sweeney (could he play 3rd?) Joe Randa, or Shea Hillenbrand would be a godsend for this team at this point. Hell, maybe the Astros would be willing to move Craig Biggio, even.
The question is what the Twins would have to give up. The Twins treat their top prospects like absolute gold, and that's a good thing. But it also means that they often trade starters in the middle of the season.
Remember Matt Lawton for Rick Reed, Mark Redman for Todd Jones, Bobby Kielty for Shannon Stewart? Doug Mientkiewicz for Justin Jones?
That might seem risky, shaking up a contending team's chemistry or whatever, but the Twins seem more willing to shake up the lineup and trade a seemingly entrenched starter than part with a promising minor leaguer.
Which means Jacque Jones, Lew Ford, Luis Rivas and Michael Cuddyer - maybe even Kyle Lohse, Juan Rincon and JC Romero - should all consider themselves to be on notice. I'd love to see LeCroy traded (as much as I love the guy he's essentially worthless, and they kept him over David Ortiz) but I doubt anyone would be interested.
My hunch is that either Cuddyer or Ford is sent packing. Both are at the point where they probably have the most value they ever will. Ford is a good player, but he's likely playing as well as he's capable of. Cuddyer better either get his shit together now, or the Twins have to deal him while other teams still have reason to believe he'll ever be any good.
Maybe they won't do anything. The Twins have never been a team to make moves just for the sake of making moves. But if they don't get more consistency out of the lineup, if they continue to get burned by lefties, and if Chicago stays hot, they'll likely be forced to do something.
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Winning Doesn't Suck
My team won the other night.
Not the Twins, but my team, the one I play on.
It ended a losing streak of about 30 games. Now there were a variety of factors that contributed to that streak - which I won't get into here.
But what I will say is that I learned alot about competition during said streak.
Winning, no matter how much assembled talent you have, is hard. In a team sport, especially baseball, there are no gimmes. The game is hard, and is meant to be hard. The game is unforgiving, demanding and sometimes even cruel. No matter how many L's pile up, the game does not owe any W's. They must be earned.
I won't sit here and say we finally went out and played a great game - we didn't. But we did earn it. We did deserve it. And though it was a meaningless, non-league game, it was a terrific moment when the final out was recorded.
A weight was lifted from our collective shoulders, sure, but more than anything it reminded why it was worth it to keep plugging away even as the L's piled up.
A lesser team would've packed it in a while back, I think.
Lesser players, many of whom were a part of the streak, got tired of the losing, placed blame elsewhere, and quit. Many of them were far more talented players than the ones who picked up a win on Tuesday, but that just reminds how unforgiving the game is. Talent alone is not rewarded.
I don't know how many more wins we'll capture, but I do know that winning, like losing, can be contagious.
Tonight we host the number one team in the state - a club that is just shy of being minor league caliber.
And while I don't expect to win the game, I certainly don't dread it as much as I may have had we not won on Tuesday. With a win under the belt, even the toughest opponent seems a little less daunting today.
Not the Twins, but my team, the one I play on.
It ended a losing streak of about 30 games. Now there were a variety of factors that contributed to that streak - which I won't get into here.
But what I will say is that I learned alot about competition during said streak.
Winning, no matter how much assembled talent you have, is hard. In a team sport, especially baseball, there are no gimmes. The game is hard, and is meant to be hard. The game is unforgiving, demanding and sometimes even cruel. No matter how many L's pile up, the game does not owe any W's. They must be earned.
I won't sit here and say we finally went out and played a great game - we didn't. But we did earn it. We did deserve it. And though it was a meaningless, non-league game, it was a terrific moment when the final out was recorded.
A weight was lifted from our collective shoulders, sure, but more than anything it reminded why it was worth it to keep plugging away even as the L's piled up.
A lesser team would've packed it in a while back, I think.
Lesser players, many of whom were a part of the streak, got tired of the losing, placed blame elsewhere, and quit. Many of them were far more talented players than the ones who picked up a win on Tuesday, but that just reminds how unforgiving the game is. Talent alone is not rewarded.
I don't know how many more wins we'll capture, but I do know that winning, like losing, can be contagious.
Tonight we host the number one team in the state - a club that is just shy of being minor league caliber.
And while I don't expect to win the game, I certainly don't dread it as much as I may have had we not won on Tuesday. With a win under the belt, even the toughest opponent seems a little less daunting today.
Where have you gone, Dick Martin
When Tom Kelly retired as Twins manager, Terry Ryan took advantage of the opportunity to do some house cleaning.
Most notable of those moves was removing the unpopular Dick Such, Kelly's longtime pitching coach and confidant. Such's replacement, Rick Anderson, has turned out to be maybe the best pitching coach in the majors this side of Leo Mazzone, so we can certainly chalk that up as a major victory for T-Ry.
Another, less publicized move, was the removal of long-time trainer Dick Martin, who was replaced by Jim Kahmann.
Martin was with Kelly and the Twins through the lean years, but one of the consistently positive traits of those teams was health.
The Twins rarely had any need for the disabled list during the TK years, and when they did, it was usually for Kent Hrbek's fat ass.
Kirby Puckett, Chuck Knoblauch, Greg Gagne, Brian Harper, Tom Brunansky, and pretty much the entire pitching staff almost never missed significant time.
From 1987 to 2001, the Twins had at least 6 players tally at least 130 games or 400 at-bats every season. Five times in that period they had 8 players reach those marks. And if you factor in that quite often there were marginal players on the roster, you have to assume that the numbers would have been even better if more players had been good enough to warrant staying in the lineup.
But ever since Martin left (and he left acrimoniously, selling his World Series rings and savagely ripping Terry Ryan and the Twins in the papers), the Twins have seemed to be battling injuries on a regular basis.
Corey Koskie, David Ortiz, Brad Radke, Joe Mays, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter, Matt LeCroy, Doug Mientkiewicz, Luis Rivas, Nick Punto, Shannon Stewart, Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, JC Romero, Michael Ryan, Eric MIlton, Brian Buchanan, Jay Canizaro, Tony Fiore, Rick Reed, Bobby Kielty, and Grant Balfour have all spent time on the DL since 2002, many of them significant time. As best as I can figure that means the only regulars NOT to visit the DL since Martin left are Cristian Guzman (who was on the DL in '01), Jacque Jones, Kyle Lohse and Eddie Guardado.
There were a few grumblings in the papers about this subject, but the Twins said it was just a bad coincidence. After all it is hard to say just how much responsibilty a trainer bears for injuries. It would seem that where they make their money is in how fast they get players back from those injuries.
So it is perhaps in that vein that the Twins, very quietly, fired Kahmann after last year. Joe Mauer's knee injury was certainly nothing that Kahmann could've prevented, yet the fact that Mauer was never able to recover and unable to contribute during the playoffs may have cost the Twins a World Series berth, and that is almost certainly the biggest reason for Kahmann getting his walking papers.
Kahmann was replaced with Rick McWane, and this year's returns are inconclusive. Mauer and Morneau are battling again, though Gardy and Torii (rightfully, in my opinion) called those players out this week, saying basically - 'get your 22 year old asses out of the training room. Suck it up. This is the big leagues.'
The pitchers, namely Silva and Lohse, have had some minor flareups, but they've been managed. Joe Mays has bounced back wonderfully from a full year off from surgery.
So sure, it's possible that Dick Martin was just a lucky guy who never had to do any real work while in charge, and that Jim Kahmann was a terribly unlucky guy forced to work with a bunch of fragile wussies.
But you have to wonder, since Twins injuries have gone from an anomaly to a way of life in the last half-decade.
Most notable of those moves was removing the unpopular Dick Such, Kelly's longtime pitching coach and confidant. Such's replacement, Rick Anderson, has turned out to be maybe the best pitching coach in the majors this side of Leo Mazzone, so we can certainly chalk that up as a major victory for T-Ry.
Another, less publicized move, was the removal of long-time trainer Dick Martin, who was replaced by Jim Kahmann.
Martin was with Kelly and the Twins through the lean years, but one of the consistently positive traits of those teams was health.
The Twins rarely had any need for the disabled list during the TK years, and when they did, it was usually for Kent Hrbek's fat ass.
Kirby Puckett, Chuck Knoblauch, Greg Gagne, Brian Harper, Tom Brunansky, and pretty much the entire pitching staff almost never missed significant time.
From 1987 to 2001, the Twins had at least 6 players tally at least 130 games or 400 at-bats every season. Five times in that period they had 8 players reach those marks. And if you factor in that quite often there were marginal players on the roster, you have to assume that the numbers would have been even better if more players had been good enough to warrant staying in the lineup.
But ever since Martin left (and he left acrimoniously, selling his World Series rings and savagely ripping Terry Ryan and the Twins in the papers), the Twins have seemed to be battling injuries on a regular basis.
Corey Koskie, David Ortiz, Brad Radke, Joe Mays, Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Torii Hunter, Matt LeCroy, Doug Mientkiewicz, Luis Rivas, Nick Punto, Shannon Stewart, Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, JC Romero, Michael Ryan, Eric MIlton, Brian Buchanan, Jay Canizaro, Tony Fiore, Rick Reed, Bobby Kielty, and Grant Balfour have all spent time on the DL since 2002, many of them significant time. As best as I can figure that means the only regulars NOT to visit the DL since Martin left are Cristian Guzman (who was on the DL in '01), Jacque Jones, Kyle Lohse and Eddie Guardado.
There were a few grumblings in the papers about this subject, but the Twins said it was just a bad coincidence. After all it is hard to say just how much responsibilty a trainer bears for injuries. It would seem that where they make their money is in how fast they get players back from those injuries.
So it is perhaps in that vein that the Twins, very quietly, fired Kahmann after last year. Joe Mauer's knee injury was certainly nothing that Kahmann could've prevented, yet the fact that Mauer was never able to recover and unable to contribute during the playoffs may have cost the Twins a World Series berth, and that is almost certainly the biggest reason for Kahmann getting his walking papers.
Kahmann was replaced with Rick McWane, and this year's returns are inconclusive. Mauer and Morneau are battling again, though Gardy and Torii (rightfully, in my opinion) called those players out this week, saying basically - 'get your 22 year old asses out of the training room. Suck it up. This is the big leagues.'
The pitchers, namely Silva and Lohse, have had some minor flareups, but they've been managed. Joe Mays has bounced back wonderfully from a full year off from surgery.
So sure, it's possible that Dick Martin was just a lucky guy who never had to do any real work while in charge, and that Jim Kahmann was a terribly unlucky guy forced to work with a bunch of fragile wussies.
But you have to wonder, since Twins injuries have gone from an anomaly to a way of life in the last half-decade.
Tuesday, June 07, 2005
You Get What You Deserve
The MLB draft begins Tuesday, and this is the day that the Twins front-office proves their mettle as the smartest group of baseball men currently assembled in this country.
The Twins will almost certainly select at least five or six pitchers who will go on to pitch in the majors, maybe even forge productive careers.
It's important right now for the Twins to get some depth at catcher and the middle infield, as beyond Mauer there's really nothing, and after Bartlett, not much in the way of SS's. Unless you count last year's No. 1 pick, Trevor Plouffe, who's batting .156 in A ball.
But no matter how much success they have in filling those needs, rest assured they will pick up several quality arms. The Twins have also cornered the market somewhat in Venezuela and Australia, where they've picked up some promising talent.
The MLB draft obviously doesn't get the play of the NBA and NFL, because no one has heard of anybody. But it's a much more difficult process.
Chances are you or I could do a decent job making 7 picks for the Vikings, or 2 for the T-Wolves. Hell, just do whatever Mel Kiper says.
But in baseball, try picking 100 players from HS, college and international levels all over the world. These guys do their homework.
My biggest fear as a Twins fan is the day Terry Ryan retires or dies.
Because as long as he is alive, I think, the Twins will be a productive - and winning - franchise.
The Twins will almost certainly select at least five or six pitchers who will go on to pitch in the majors, maybe even forge productive careers.
It's important right now for the Twins to get some depth at catcher and the middle infield, as beyond Mauer there's really nothing, and after Bartlett, not much in the way of SS's. Unless you count last year's No. 1 pick, Trevor Plouffe, who's batting .156 in A ball.
But no matter how much success they have in filling those needs, rest assured they will pick up several quality arms. The Twins have also cornered the market somewhat in Venezuela and Australia, where they've picked up some promising talent.
The MLB draft obviously doesn't get the play of the NBA and NFL, because no one has heard of anybody. But it's a much more difficult process.
Chances are you or I could do a decent job making 7 picks for the Vikings, or 2 for the T-Wolves. Hell, just do whatever Mel Kiper says.
But in baseball, try picking 100 players from HS, college and international levels all over the world. These guys do their homework.
My biggest fear as a Twins fan is the day Terry Ryan retires or dies.
Because as long as he is alive, I think, the Twins will be a productive - and winning - franchise.
Sunday, June 05, 2005
I am the smartest man alive!
Twins win in very impressive fashion Friday night over the Moose. With Kyle Lohse on the hill, even. Wow.
Saturday they take a 3-0 lead as Joe Mays takes a no-hitter into the 5th. Twins blow lead, then Gardy loses the game.
How?
He brings in Joe Nathan in a non-save situation - which it should be clear by now is a cardinal sin.
Then in the bottom of the 10th, with Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer ever on the mound, he sends up Mike Redmond and Juan Castro to lead off the inning. Doesn't bother to pinch-hit.
Mike Ryan is on the bench. Justin Morneau is on the bench. Matt Lecroy is on the bench. Hell, Santana and Radke were probably better options.
And these two bozos are sent up to try and start a rally against Rivera.
That is what we call the white flag.
"Nah, don't bother gettin up fellas, we'll just try again tomorrow."
It's almost disrespectful to Rivera to send up such a feeble set of hitters in the bottom of the 10th of a one run game. Mo was probably offended.
Since I'm pissed off about the game, I'll finish with by stealing from a great column by Reusse in the Strib today.
Anyone who knows me knows I think Tom Kelly is the smartest manager ever. Yeah, he had his faults - he was kind of a dick, and wasn't exactly nurturing to his younger players - but know one knew the game better. Reusse once wrote that of the 2,000+ games of Kelly's career he was outmanaged maybe 4 or 5 times. And anyone who remembers things like Brent Gates hitting a pinch-hit grand slam or Dan Masteller hitting a walk-off 3-run homer against Jack McDowell wouldn't argue.
This is an excerpt from the Reusse column running in Sunday's Strib.
A trip through the Star Tribune's archives earlier Saturday turned up a baseball notebook from April 27, 1996.
The lead item was a 36-year-old Viola being recalled from the minors by Toronto as he tried to come back from elbow surgery. Another item had Joe Torre, in his first season as Yankees manager, explaining why he would return Dwight Gooden to the rotation for an upcoming series with the Twins, rather than go with Rivera, who had been a minor league starter.
"Gooden is in better shape to pitch more innings than Rivera," Torre said.
One day later, Rivera pitched three scoreless innings in a 6-3 victory over the Twins in Yankee Stadium. He struck out the first four batters he faced.
Twins manager Tom Kelly was dead serious after the game when he said: "We don't want to face him any more. He's too good. He belongs in another league. He should be banned from baseball."
That nine-year-old quote provides more evidence that Kelly was the best judge of baseball talent you will ever encounter. Rivera was less than a month into his first full season -- still a potential starter in the view of some Yankees' folks -- and Kelly was declaring him to be unhittable.
All these years later, it is a shock when Rivera enters and he gets touched up for anything that resembles a rally.
Mariano was an overwhelming setup man for John Wetteland in that '96 season. The Yankees played in the World Series for the first time in 15 years and won it for the first time in 18. Then, they allowed Wetteland to leave for a $20 million contract with Texas, and turned Rivera into the closer.
This was a controversial decision with the New York media during the 1997 spring training. Kelly did not see it as a issue worth fretting.
"That means New York has Super Mario in the ninth inning now," Kelly said. "Am I supposed to feel sorry for Joe Torre because of that? I don't think so."
The Yankees lost to Cleveland in a division series in 1997, then won three World Series in a row. It took 33 victories to do this, and Rivera saved 18 of those games and won two of them.
Saturday they take a 3-0 lead as Joe Mays takes a no-hitter into the 5th. Twins blow lead, then Gardy loses the game.
How?
He brings in Joe Nathan in a non-save situation - which it should be clear by now is a cardinal sin.
Then in the bottom of the 10th, with Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer ever on the mound, he sends up Mike Redmond and Juan Castro to lead off the inning. Doesn't bother to pinch-hit.
Mike Ryan is on the bench. Justin Morneau is on the bench. Matt Lecroy is on the bench. Hell, Santana and Radke were probably better options.
And these two bozos are sent up to try and start a rally against Rivera.
That is what we call the white flag.
"Nah, don't bother gettin up fellas, we'll just try again tomorrow."
It's almost disrespectful to Rivera to send up such a feeble set of hitters in the bottom of the 10th of a one run game. Mo was probably offended.
Since I'm pissed off about the game, I'll finish with by stealing from a great column by Reusse in the Strib today.
Anyone who knows me knows I think Tom Kelly is the smartest manager ever. Yeah, he had his faults - he was kind of a dick, and wasn't exactly nurturing to his younger players - but know one knew the game better. Reusse once wrote that of the 2,000+ games of Kelly's career he was outmanaged maybe 4 or 5 times. And anyone who remembers things like Brent Gates hitting a pinch-hit grand slam or Dan Masteller hitting a walk-off 3-run homer against Jack McDowell wouldn't argue.
This is an excerpt from the Reusse column running in Sunday's Strib.
A trip through the Star Tribune's archives earlier Saturday turned up a baseball notebook from April 27, 1996.
The lead item was a 36-year-old Viola being recalled from the minors by Toronto as he tried to come back from elbow surgery. Another item had Joe Torre, in his first season as Yankees manager, explaining why he would return Dwight Gooden to the rotation for an upcoming series with the Twins, rather than go with Rivera, who had been a minor league starter.
"Gooden is in better shape to pitch more innings than Rivera," Torre said.
One day later, Rivera pitched three scoreless innings in a 6-3 victory over the Twins in Yankee Stadium. He struck out the first four batters he faced.
Twins manager Tom Kelly was dead serious after the game when he said: "We don't want to face him any more. He's too good. He belongs in another league. He should be banned from baseball."
That nine-year-old quote provides more evidence that Kelly was the best judge of baseball talent you will ever encounter. Rivera was less than a month into his first full season -- still a potential starter in the view of some Yankees' folks -- and Kelly was declaring him to be unhittable.
All these years later, it is a shock when Rivera enters and he gets touched up for anything that resembles a rally.
Mariano was an overwhelming setup man for John Wetteland in that '96 season. The Yankees played in the World Series for the first time in 15 years and won it for the first time in 18. Then, they allowed Wetteland to leave for a $20 million contract with Texas, and turned Rivera into the closer.
This was a controversial decision with the New York media during the 1997 spring training. Kelly did not see it as a issue worth fretting.
"That means New York has Super Mario in the ninth inning now," Kelly said. "Am I supposed to feel sorry for Joe Torre because of that? I don't think so."
The Yankees lost to Cleveland in a division series in 1997, then won three World Series in a row. It took 33 victories to do this, and Rivera saved 18 of those games and won two of them.
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Torii Gun
So Torii Hunter went 5-for-5 last night, including a grand slam.
Bradke gives up another first inning homer, and then shuts the Tribe down.
Sounds great but I actually thought it was a boring game.
And as for Torii, well, it'd be nice if he'd keep this going. Because it's my thinking that HE is responsible for the recent slump of Justin Morneau.
Morneau is great, the most promising slugger the Twins have had since Harmon Killebrew.
Having said that, he is still young and inexperienced enough that good pitchers are having luck getting him to chase pitches. Morneau may have the talent and the strength, but the one thing he hasn't yet developed is a Jim Thome-esque patience at the plate. Any guy with his kind of power should draw 100 walks in a year, and Morneau is right now on pace for about 45.
What does this have to do with Torii Hunter?
Well, Torii usually hits behind Morneau, and pitchers fear Morneau a helluva lot more than they do Hunter. So they are able to pitch around Morneau to get to Hunter, and lately that has led to two quick outs for a pitcher who can put the ball where he wants it.
Torii as always, is inconsistent with his approach, as just when it looks like he's committed to going the other way, he grounds into consecutive double-plays on pitches a foot outside.
But they need a righthanded bat in the lineup. It's up to Torii to make himself AT LEAST a .275-25-100 guy, if not better.
If he can do that, maybe Morneau will get back on that 35 homer pace.
Bradke gives up another first inning homer, and then shuts the Tribe down.
Sounds great but I actually thought it was a boring game.
And as for Torii, well, it'd be nice if he'd keep this going. Because it's my thinking that HE is responsible for the recent slump of Justin Morneau.
Morneau is great, the most promising slugger the Twins have had since Harmon Killebrew.
Having said that, he is still young and inexperienced enough that good pitchers are having luck getting him to chase pitches. Morneau may have the talent and the strength, but the one thing he hasn't yet developed is a Jim Thome-esque patience at the plate. Any guy with his kind of power should draw 100 walks in a year, and Morneau is right now on pace for about 45.
What does this have to do with Torii Hunter?
Well, Torii usually hits behind Morneau, and pitchers fear Morneau a helluva lot more than they do Hunter. So they are able to pitch around Morneau to get to Hunter, and lately that has led to two quick outs for a pitcher who can put the ball where he wants it.
Torii as always, is inconsistent with his approach, as just when it looks like he's committed to going the other way, he grounds into consecutive double-plays on pitches a foot outside.
But they need a righthanded bat in the lineup. It's up to Torii to make himself AT LEAST a .275-25-100 guy, if not better.
If he can do that, maybe Morneau will get back on that 35 homer pace.
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Sorting Out the Bench
I don't know who the Most Valuable Twin would be approximately 30 % of the way thru the season, but I do know who I would select as the Unsung Hero, or pleasant surprise of this team.
Juan Castro.
This is a guy who was brought along as insurance in case Jason Barlett had to go back to the minors (which he did) and to be the utility infielder if Bartlett worked out.
Now the Twins say they expect Bartlett to be back before the year is over, and that's fine, but right now Castro looks like another one of Terry Ryan's brilliant on-the-cheap pickups.
The guy is a wiz with the glove, as he combines the slick and smooth playmaking of Guzman with the routine consistency of Greg Gagne.
But the knock on Castro is and always has been his glove (he came into this season with a .226 career average)
Yet as he assumes the role of starting shortstop, Castro is hitting a respectable .271 right now with 3 homers in 85 at-bats.
He probably won't keep his average that high, but if he can stay around .240 or .250 and hit the occasional homer he's a steal at his salary ($1M). After all those are about the same numbers Guzzie would likely put up, and he signed with Washington for about $6M. That was what we like to call a good non-signing on T-Ry's part.
The Twins have also made a pair of very necessary roster moves. OF Mike Ryan, who was hitting .302 with 5 homers was called up to replace Terry 1-for his last 30 - Tiffee, and placed Luis Rivas on the DL and replaced him with Brent Abernathy.
Twins fans will certainly remember Ryan, who has posted a .294 average in about 150 at-bats with the Twins.
He has power, speed, and gives the Twins a left-handed bat off the bench who is a threat to win a game at any time. This move was long overdue, as Ryan needs to be in the bigs to fill the Gene Larkin-Randy Bush-Chip Hale-Jose Offerman role that has been a key ingredient to every good team they've had.
As for Abernathy, he's intriguing.
A former 1st-round pick and US Olympian, he was a top prospect in Tampa Bay, but the Rays went thru a number of managers and eventually Abernathy was left out, even though he hit .260 in two full seasons in the big leagues.
Unfortunately, he's righthanded and not really able to play SS, so he's probably just going to be here until Luis recovers from his back injury, which he should in two weeks.
If the Twins aren't going to turn Luis into a utitlity player and allow him to play SS and 3B, then he's wasting a spot. The Twins basically have their two utility IF's (Castro and Punto)starting, and Rivas playing once every 10 or 12 days at 2B. Stupid.
They should just call up Augie Ojeda or keep Tiffee around.
Juan Castro.
This is a guy who was brought along as insurance in case Jason Barlett had to go back to the minors (which he did) and to be the utility infielder if Bartlett worked out.
Now the Twins say they expect Bartlett to be back before the year is over, and that's fine, but right now Castro looks like another one of Terry Ryan's brilliant on-the-cheap pickups.
The guy is a wiz with the glove, as he combines the slick and smooth playmaking of Guzman with the routine consistency of Greg Gagne.
But the knock on Castro is and always has been his glove (he came into this season with a .226 career average)
Yet as he assumes the role of starting shortstop, Castro is hitting a respectable .271 right now with 3 homers in 85 at-bats.
He probably won't keep his average that high, but if he can stay around .240 or .250 and hit the occasional homer he's a steal at his salary ($1M). After all those are about the same numbers Guzzie would likely put up, and he signed with Washington for about $6M. That was what we like to call a good non-signing on T-Ry's part.
The Twins have also made a pair of very necessary roster moves. OF Mike Ryan, who was hitting .302 with 5 homers was called up to replace Terry 1-for his last 30 - Tiffee, and placed Luis Rivas on the DL and replaced him with Brent Abernathy.
Twins fans will certainly remember Ryan, who has posted a .294 average in about 150 at-bats with the Twins.
He has power, speed, and gives the Twins a left-handed bat off the bench who is a threat to win a game at any time. This move was long overdue, as Ryan needs to be in the bigs to fill the Gene Larkin-Randy Bush-Chip Hale-Jose Offerman role that has been a key ingredient to every good team they've had.
As for Abernathy, he's intriguing.
A former 1st-round pick and US Olympian, he was a top prospect in Tampa Bay, but the Rays went thru a number of managers and eventually Abernathy was left out, even though he hit .260 in two full seasons in the big leagues.
Unfortunately, he's righthanded and not really able to play SS, so he's probably just going to be here until Luis recovers from his back injury, which he should in two weeks.
If the Twins aren't going to turn Luis into a utitlity player and allow him to play SS and 3B, then he's wasting a spot. The Twins basically have their two utility IF's (Castro and Punto)starting, and Rivas playing once every 10 or 12 days at 2B. Stupid.
They should just call up Augie Ojeda or keep Tiffee around.
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