Bye, bye Kyle

The Twins finally gave up on Kyle Lohse, sending him to the Reds for minor-league pitcher Zach Ward.
This clears a spot for Torii Hunter, who is ready to come off the DL.
Then when Matt Guerrier is ready to come back, the Twins can send either Willie Eyre or Josh Rabe back as well.
Guerrier has been very good over the last two years, and is one of the most underrated Twins. At this point, he's better than Lohse.
Since the Reds GM is Wayne Krivsky, Terry Ryan's former assistant, it appears the Twins have someone they can always dump their junk on (Joe Mays, Juan Castro, Lohse).
Lohse gave the Twins a couple solid years, giving them a decent return in the Rick Aguilera trade. But considering how good his stuff was, his tenure is ultimately a disappointment.
We kept hearing that he was about to develop into an ace, and even on his best day he was never more than a decent No. 4.
Good luck in Cincy, Kyle.
And good luck with Kyle, Cincy. You'll need it.
*BTW, Zach Ward, the player the Twins acquired in the deal, is 7-0 with a 2.29 ERA in Class A ball. The Reds shouldn't have given up anything more than a throwaway prospect for Lohse, so this deal really favors the Twins, unless Lohse suddenly gets it together in Cincy.
The Twins also got a pretty good prospect from the Reds in the Castro deal, so at this point I'd be in favor of making as many trades with them as possible.

1 outta 3 baby!

At 4 AM tonight, Jeremy Bonderman will still be awake.
Because he lost a game that, for 7 innings, was the game of his life.
If not for Luis Castillo's bunt single to start the game, Bonderman would've taken a no-hitter into the 8th inning.
And then in that 8th inning, 2 errors, 3 infield hits and a balk helped the Twins score 6 runs for their most important win of the year.
Has anyone else considered that, as cool as a new stadium will be, that the Twins are really, really going to miss the Dome - at least from a competitive standpoint?
Because this was another one of those Dome wins.
A bunch of little-league shit leading to a victory.
You almost felt bad for Bonderman, but things just started to snowball (Shelton was horrible), and you almost knew that Cuddyer was gonna get a big hit to add some insurance runs.
Yeah, it feels kinda cheap to score the tying run on a balk, but ya know what?
He fuckin' balked.
That was a big time mistake. What was he thinking?
Who cares?
The Twins may have won only 1 of the 3 games, but the way they stole this one, it almost feels like they won the series.
They're certainly in a better mood tonight than any of the Kitties.

Fuck Detroit

This was a big series for the Twins.
Winning 2 of 3 could've put them close to the Tigers, and kept pace with Chicago and NY.
Instead, two straight losses.
Disappoinment.
Fuck the Tigers.

Trade rumors

There has been speculation in both the Twin-Cities and national media that the Twins may be buyers at the trade deadline, with Alfonso Soriano and Carlos Lee (left) the most prominent names mentioned.
You may remember that last year the Twins were close to a deal for Soriano, but it didn't happen because they refused to give up Franciso Liriano.
That was just one of many instances when standing pat was the wise move over making a desperate deal, and its my opinion that that's usually the case.
I'd love to see Carlos Lee in the middle of the order for the rest of the year, but if it cost more than, say, Boof Bonser or Jesse Crain, it's just not worth it, especially since Lee will be a free-agent after the season (and by the way, how do you think that chick in the pink talked Lee into an interview?)
As for Soriano, he's got great offensive numbers, but he's also a selfish player with a history of being a pain in the ass. For a guy to keep putting up huge numbers like he does and keep getting traded anyway might say something about the guys personality.
Right now, the Twins are the best team in baseball. It might seem impossible for them to keep playing like this, but I wouldn't put it past them.
What they're doing is working, and making a blockbuster deal isn't necessary.

Rondell White!!!!!

It's only been a couple of games, but Rondell White has been so much better that it's hard not to think he may have finally straightened himself out.
I'll be the first to admit that I figured he was done as a big-leaguer and that the Twins were wasting both his and their time by not releasing him.
All of a sudden, he's hitting like the guy who was supposed to be the cleanup hitter this year.
And if there's anything more amazing than Rondell's sudden turn-around, it's the play of Nick Punto.
Punto was putting up decent numbers as a utility guy, but most (especially me) figured that if he got more playing time the numbers would quickly fall off.
Instead they've gone through the roof.
Hitting .322 with a .402 OBP and doing a nice job defensively, Punto is playing at a near All-Star level.
It's been almost generally assumed that Punto was just plugging a hole in the ship until the Twins could find another 3B, but if he turns out to be for real, he might end up being the answer.
Or he could end up being Luis Castillo's replacement at 2B. If you've watched Castillo gimp around much at all lately, you know that he's literally on his last legs.
*Sound like both Torii Hunter and Jason Kubel will be okay. Hunter all but guaranteed he'd be ready to come off the DL in time, and Kubel is back in the lineup - albeit as the DH.
*Brad Radke has been pitching like an ace for the last two months. 1-3 the Twins rotation is the best in baseball. Silva and Baker both pitched well in their last outings, but I'm still crossing my fingers every time they take the hill.
*Justin Morneau is almost a lock for 40 homers this year. And with his average up to .310, he's suddenly challenging Mauer as the team's best hitter. For years fans have waited for the Twins to have a guy in their lineup who could do both - hit for average and power - a Larry Walker, Manny Ramirez type hitter.
And Morneau might be that guy. He could be up to .330 by the end of the year if this keeps up.
*Jesse Crain has also got his shit together, and this could end up being his best season. The numbers are skewed by his terrible start, but he's becoming a more complete pitcher, able to get a big strikeout when needed, while also showing better command and more variety in his pitch selection.
*Dennys Reyes has been lights-out as the lefty specialist. Far better than JC Romero or Terry Mulholland. And the only reason the Twins have him is because he accepted a minor-league assignment back in March (he could've refused it and become a free-agent - lucky for the Twins).
*Fun trivia - Joe Nathan hit his first major league homer off Reyes back when he was a Giant and Reyes was a Dodger.

The Push

The only way the Twins can make the playoffs is if they win almost all of their remaining games against Chicago and Detroit, and if Detroit and Chicago spit their games with each other (or maybe better yet, one of the two dominates the other and the Twins sneak into the wildcard).
Either way, I don't think the Twins are going to the postseason this year.
While Brad Radke seems to have settled into a nice groove as the 3rd starter, the 4 and 5 spots are still a mess.
That alone will be enough to keep them out the way everyone else is playing.
I expect that Terry Ryan will try to move Shannon Stewart, but I'd be surprised (and disappointed) if Torii Hunter went on the block.
Luis Castillo would be a good trade chip, but with the dearth of middle infield prospects in the organization, they probly have to keep him for at least another year.
Other random thoughts:
*Gardy has had Stewart batting 7th since he came off the DL. Stupid.
While it's nice to have speed at the top of the order, the ability to get on base is more important.
Having Castillo and Punto 1-2, even as well as Punto has played, seems weak. Especially on days Mauer is off and Redmond bats 3rd.
*Come to think of it, I don't know if there's any player Gardy mismanages more than Shannon Stewart (all the more reason to trade him). He still insists on occassionally using him in LF, which would be like occasionally using Matt LeCroy at shortstop. Not only does Stewie have the weakest arm in the big leagues, he has no range, always bobbles and/or mishandles ground-ball base hits, and takes terrible angle to fly balls. There are no less than 30 outfielders in the North Central Conference who are more profiecient than Stewart.
He should bat leadoff and DH every game until he's traded.
*When Lew Ford pulled a muscle and landed on the DL, it was one of the happeist moments of my life. He's been so, so, so bad this year, his replacement, Jason Tyner, might actually be an improvement.
Tyner has never hit a homer in something like 900 ML at-bats, but he makes great contact and has even better speed than Ford. And as far as I can tell, he's not near as prone to brain-diarrhea as Lew is.
The dumbest thing about Ford (though not his fault) is how Gardy continues to play him against lefties. Yes, he's a righthanded hitter, but he's hit righties far better than lefties almost his whole career. I'm sure there are some game-notes laying around somewhere that contains that information, but apparently nobody is brave enough to show it to Gardy.
*The worst part of it is that is steals at-bats from Kubel. Not only is Kubel the third best hitter on the team, who has shown an ability to hang in against lefties, he needs the at-bats. He's still a rookie, why take valuable experience away from him so Lew can hit choppers to third?
On the other hand, Kubel's been complaining about his knees, a very ominous sign. I hope it's nothing.
*Since the Twins have now called up pretty much every useful player they had available at AAA (Tiffee, Bartlett, Tyner, Kubel) they needed to provide some depth for the Red Wings, and they made a nice signing, picking up Erubiel Durazo.
Just three years ago the guy put up All-Star numbers. He draws a lot of walks and hits for decent power. Don't know why he fell to the minors (steroids?) but he could prove useful. At least as much as Rondell White or Ruben Sierra.
*Speaking of White, he's hitting .256 in AAA with (surprise!) a homerun.
Why put the poor guy through all this? Just cut him already.
*I know nobody in America cares about hockey, but it's worth mentioning that the Wild have had a terrific off-season so far. They signed Marian Gaborik to an extension (thank God) and added countryman All-Star Pavol Demitra to play alongside him. They also added St. Cloud State alum Mark Parrish (a 20-goal scorer) and defensemen Kim Johnsen. They'll be a playoff team next year.