Dylan, Boomer, the Vikes, the Royals

Bob Dylan released his 31st album this week, and (surprise) rock critics everywhere are hailing it as a classic.
Rolling Stone featured the 65-year old in the latest issue with an entertaining interview in which Dylan discussed his current tour of minor league baseball stadiums (he'll play the Birdcage Sept.8).
Dylan, who was born, raised, and still owns a home in Minnesota was asked to name his favorite baseball team.
This is what he said: "The problem with baseball teams is all the players get traded, and what your favorite team used to be - a couple of guys you really liked on the team, they're not on the team now - and you can't possibly make that team your favorite team.
It's like your favorite uniform.
I mean...yeah...I like Detroit. Though I like Ozzie (Guillen) as a manager. And I don't know how anybody can't like Derek (Jeter). I'd rather have him on my team than anybody."
Okay, Bob, I'm okay with you digging Jeter and even Ozzie, but no love for the Twins?! What gives? Are you a Minnesotan or not?
* With the rotation in shambles, the Twins are in deep shit as far as the playoff race goes, so I was glad to hear that they are pursuing David Wells in trade talks. Having said that, the Padres have been declared the front-runner in the race for Boomer. Let's hope Radke and Liriano get well really soon.
*Sports Illustrated picked the Viking to finish 6-10 this year. I'm not that surprised by that, but then again, this team was 9-7 last year, and it seems like, at the very least, they've improved since then. Doesn't it?
Of course, their running game has looked like shit so far, they have 5 Jake Reed-caliber WR with no go-to guys, and the defense has already suffered a bunch of injuries.
I can't remember ever in my life being less excited for the Vikings season to start than I am this year. Nothing about this team excites me. When they win they'll be boring and when they lose they'll be boring.
Think of all the names that played for the Vikings from about 1997 thru last year.
Cris Carter, Randall Cunningham, Randall McDaniel, Robert Smith, Jeff George, Randy Moss, Daunte Culpepper, John Randle, Gary Anderson, Mitch Berger....there were guys to root for, guys to get excited about.
Who's supposed to be my favorite player on this team? Darren Sharper?
*The Twins finally beat the Royals today. Nice to see them scrape together 3 runs for Johan against Buddy Bell's latest Cy Young candidate.
The Twins willingness to lose to KC is going to cost them the wildcard. And, as I'm typing this, I just heard David Wells has been traded to the Dads. Shit.
The Twins have a weekend series in Yankee Stadium. Pitching for the Twins will be Carlos Silva, Scott Baker and Matt Garza.
Go get em boys.

Hunter vs. the Sox

*Now that the Renner Roadrunners season has ended, I can return to bitching about Lew Ford and Ron Gardenhire.

Despite always putting up respectable numbers, Torii Hunter is often criticized for being 'not clutch' and its usually a valid criticism.
There's a stat that attempts to measure 'clutchiness' called WPA (Win Probability Added), and while its a flawed stat in some ways, it gives a decent indicator of who's been the best in tight situations this year.
Entering the week, Hunter was third to last on the team with a WPA of -155, ahead of only Rondell White and Carlos Silva.
(Joe Nathan led the team with a WPA of 414, followed by Justin Morneau, Francisco Liriano, Joe Mauer, Johan Santana, Juan Rincon and Michael Cuddyer. By the way, I stole all this from aarongleeman.com)
But to make a short story long, Torii's WPA certainly shot up Friday night with his 3-run homer against the White Sox, which helped the Twins to a dramatic 5-4 win. Of Torii's 153 career homers, this was certainly one of the biggest, and it was easily his biggest play against the White Sox since he ran over catcher Jamie Burke a couple years ago.
It was Torii's 20th homer of the season, and his 4th in his last 5 games.
Torii's defense has been way, way under par for him this year (there is no way he should win the Gold Glove) but he's having probably the second best offensive season of his career, hitting .276 with noticeable improvement in his OBP (.348).
He's obviously very, very streaky, but right now he's on a hot streak, and he definitely has a histroy of punishing the White Sox.
*The fact that Brad Radke left after just two innings is a concern. He flew back to Minneapolis after the game to get another cortisone shot. That should help, but if there was any doubt that we're watching the last few starts of the Bradke era, they should be laid to rest by now.
The Twins need him, and he's as big a reason as any to root for them to make the postseason.
*Boof Bonser has had a couple good starts in a row, and I'm actually at the point where I feel better about Boof taking the mound than Carlos Silva. I also still think Scott Baker will be a quality ML starter, but right now Boof looks close to becoming a solid No. 4 starter.
*When the Twins put Liriano on the DL, I pretty much wrote him off for the season.
There's still a pretty good chance we won't see him until next spring, but I'll admit to being cautiously optimistic about what the team has been saying in regards to him. He says he feels better, the doctors say he's improving, and Gardy and Rick Anderson are talking about possibly breaking him in through the bullpen, which would be a good idea.
The fact that the Twins currently lead the wild card race with Liriano on the shelf and Radke pitching with a practically broken arm is remarkable.
*To make room for Rondell White, the Twins had to send Josh Rabe down to Triple-A. That wouldn't seem like a big deal, since Rabe will be called right back up when rosters expand Sept. 1, but the deadline for playoff rosters is Aug. 31, meaning Rabe is now ineligible for the playoff roster. I know Rondell's a veteran, but I'm not so sure I wouldn't rather see Rabe (.311/.340/.533) on the roster than White (.220/.248/.298).

Johan's back, and Greenway's done - Update

For the second straight game, the Twins saw one of their aces seriously sack up in a big game.
At 14-5, Santana has to have the inside track for the Cy Young if he has indeed shaken his mini-slump.
He was awesome Tuesday night, putting the Indian hitters down like sick dogs.
Also, it was nice to see the Twins come up with several clutch 2-out hits.
*Lew Ford is back in Minnesota, but it's worth noting that he has not put a dent in Jason Tyner's playing time. Apparently the Twins are convinced that Ford will never be the player he was in 2004, which likely means his days as a Twin are numbered.
Some have suggested the Twins hang on to Ford in case Torii Hunter is not retained.
I couldn't be more against Lew Ford getting any starts in CF next year. If the Twins decide to part ways with Hunter (my guess is they won't), they'll have to go out and sign a free-agent to join the mix. It'll be too tough to replace Hunter and Shannon Stewart and Rondell White all in one year, even if White and Stewart have been marginal contributors this season.
*As nice a job as Tyner and Josh Rabe have done, I'd still like to see the Twins look for a free-agent left fielder next season. I haven't checked yet to see who'll be available, but to me the ideal OF would be Torii in CF, Cuddy in RF, somebody who can hopefully put up .270-15-70-ish numbers in LF, with Tyner and Rabe on the bench and Jason Kubel DH'ing.
*Bummer deal about Chad Greenway being out for the year. Glad I went all the way up there to do a story on the dude so he could get 1 play at LB.
That's what happens when you take on the wedge all by yourself. Bad move, Chad.
*I actually watched almost the entire Vikings game, which is sad and stupid.
Preseason football is horrible, and I always laugh about fans actually getting excited about it. It's one thing if you're at the game, I guess, but I dont know how many times I've been at a bar when a preseason game was on TV and people are screaming and yelling at the TV.
Why? It's no different than cheering for 'Hot Country Videos' or something. It doesn't matter, people.
*In any rate, I kinda like the Vikes game-plan, boring as it was. After years of watching the aerial circus put up 500 yards a game only to go 9-7 every year, I'm ready for a heavy dose of running the football. With the O-line as strong as it is and an apparent emphasis on the ground game, I dont think Brad Johnson will have trouble staying healthy.
Which is good news, because I belive the Vikes have one of the worst No. 2 QBs in the NFL in Mike McMahon. Dude sucks.
I think he's servicable as a sub, because he can come in, run around, make some plays, and catch the defense off-guard. Especially if the defense has spent all week preparing for Johnson. But McMahon can't be successful as a starter, because if the opposing D has had all week to prepare for his run and gun style, he's cooked. If BJ were to get hurt, the Vikes might actually be better off throwing the rookie from I-AA ball, Tarvaris Jackson, into the game. Jackson actually looked pretty good Monday.
Still, there are plenty of unemployed QBs out there (Kerry Collins, anyone?) who would be far better than McMahon.
My guess is if BJ were to suffer an injury that would keep him out for more than a couple weeks, the Vikes would bring one of them in.
*Update
Bad news for the Vikings. Worse than Greenway.
Koren Robinson has apparently had a relapse, and was arrested Tuesday night for a DUI.
A recovering alcoholic, Robinson had been clean since the Vikings gave him his second chance.
It was drinking that ran Robinson out of Seattle despite being their best receiver.

Bradke Balls

If anyone ever says anything disparaging about Brad Radke in front of me ever again, I will kick them in the fucking nuts.
The Twins seemed determined to play their way out of the wild card race this week, but Radke pulled them back in, pitching 7 shutout innings with a shoulder that is apparently in such pain he doesn't use his right arm for anything in his day to day life.
The Twins won, and right now his play-through-pain has his teammates in awe.
Radke is by no means a Hall of Famer, but he's always been, in my opinion, one of baseball's most underappreciated pitchers, especially considering his tendency for stepping up huge when his team has needed him.
It seems ridiculous to say it, what with Liriano and Santana grabbing all the headlines and Brad getting off to such a terrible start this year, but right now, Radke is No. 1, the ace.
He's laying it all out there, this is his last hurrah. His right arm is literally going to get the Twins to the playoffs or die trying.
Right now, there is no better reason to pull for the Twins than No. 22. This would be a heroic end to a great Twins career.
* Don't sweat Matt Garza's disappointing debut.
Even getting hammered you could see his has nasty stuff, and I liked to see him stay in the dugout with his teammates for the rest of the game even after getting pulled.
He was nervous, and the Blue Jays did a terrific job of patiently forcing him to come at them with fastballs, and he left them over the plate.
I'm completely confident that he'll be fine. Better than fine. He'll be a stud.
But whether that can happen this season I'm not so sure.
* Jason Bartlett made a terrific play at SS, reminding once again how asinine the decison to send him to Triple-A in favor of Juan Castro was.
I hate to live in the past and beat a dead horse, but Jesus. Where might this team be if Bartlett, Nick Punto and Francisco Liriano had been starters all year?

The list goes on and on and on and on

To give you an idea of just how fast Matt Garza has risen through the Twins system, consider that the photo at left was taken less than 1 year ago, and Garza was pitching to dudes swinging alloy bats.
But after going 5-1, 1.42 at A-ball, 6-2, 2.41 at AA, and 3-1, 1.85 at AAA, it would seem that he's ready at least for a look.
We'll all get it tonight against the Jays (who by the way made the Twins look awful on Thursday. What was that?)
And as completely and totally ridiculous as it may seem, the Twins still have a ton of good pitching in the minors.
*You may remember lefty Dave Gassner, who pitched six strong innings to win his ML debut for the Twins against the Indians last year. After two years as Rochester's ace, Gassner, who is sort of a poor man's Jamie Moyer, has been out for all of 2006. He finally returned this week, and in his first start allowed no runs on one hit with 5 k's in 5 innings. If Boof and Baker continue to falter, he deserves a look.
*I've also been getting questions about JD Durbin, who made headlines a couple years ago for touting himself as 'The Real Deal'.
This didn't sit well with the Twins of course, but what really hurt him was a sudden lapse in control that caused him to struggle in Rochester. He appeared to hit rock-bottom in spring training this year, when, in one of the few spring games to be televised, he walked the entire world.
But he regrouped and put together an outstanding season. In 16 starts with Rochester Durbin posted a 2.33 ERA with 81 k's in 89 innings.
The bad news is that he also had 50 walks in 89 innings, and right now he's on the DL.
Durbin, like Boof Bonser, looks like he could make an excellent reliever if he doesn't cut it as a starter.
* Beau Kemp is another pitcher trying to get back in the team's good graces. A couple years ago he made headlines when he and his roommate in Double-A got in a drunken fist fight that left both pitchers injured. Kemp was the instigator in that fight, and was demoted to A-ball for it.
Now at 25, the righthander is on the fast track to becoming the latest in what seems to be an endless line of dominating Twins relievers. He's 7-2 with a 1.95 ERA in 40 games (73 innings) out of the pen. However he has just 27 K's, a definite warning sign.
*Let's not forget Scott Baker, either.
He's been pretty bad this year, but he was also great last year, posting a 3.35 ERA in 10 starts with the Twins. I'm still very confident he can be an above average ML starter.
*Moving down the ladder, it only gets better.
Kevin Slowey, a righty, went 4-2 with a 1.01 ERA in 14 starts (with 99 k's and 9 walks!!) at A-ball before being moved up to AA New Britain, where he's gone 3-3 with a 3.21 ERA. While all the aforementioned pitchers are important to the Twins plans, Slowey is next in the stud line behind Santana, Liriano and Garza.
*Go further down into the system, where Anthony Swarzak, Jay Rainville and Kyle Waldrop are among the literally dozens of other pitchers other organizations would kill for.
* To put it extremely modestly, this team knows pitching.

30 Homers, 101 RBIs, 49 games left

For the first time since I was 7 years old, a Minnesota Twins has reached 30 homers in a season.
The fact that it was a game-winner off one of baseball's best relievers to give the Twins a series victory against baseball's best team is just icing on the cake.
I'm predicting Morneau will finish the season hitting .326 with 41 homers and 132 RBIs.
If he does and the Twins win the wild card, he could win AL MVP honors.
Not bad for a guy who was hitting .222 on June 1st.
It was also nice to see Santana return to form with an excellent start.
I have a bad feeling that Liriano could be out for the season, or that if he does return he'll hurt himself again, but even if that's true, the Twins can still take the wild card. They're a flat out better team than the Red Sox, and if the White Sox don't get their pitching straightened out, the Twins could outlast them.
* I was in Mankato on Wednesday for Vikings training camp. I'll be working on a story about Greenway and Leber for the next couple days, but more importantly, I'll be giving a full camp report over at SkolVikes. Be sure to check that out in the next couple days.
I'll just say that I'm really excited about the Vikings defense, and more specifically, their defensive coordinator, Mike Tomlin.

The Garza Watch continues

There's good news.
First, the Twins idiotic decision to call-up journeyman Mike Smith instead of Matt Garza didn't end up hurting the team, though it did turn out to be indeed idiotic.
In a game the Twins had to win (you can't afford to lose to KC when you're in a pennant race), Smith was terrible, and the Twins trailed 4-1 after three innings.
He simply couldn't throw strikes, as he fell behind nearly every hitter, walking three and hitting one in three innings.
In 105-degree heat, he threw 80 pitches in just three innings, 46 for strikes.
But the bullpen was great as usual, and Jason Bartlett and Co. rapped 22 hits.
In the four game sweep (the Twins first ever at KC), the Twins put 102 men on base, via 56 hits, 36 walks, five hit batters and five errors.
Again, the good news is that the Twins overcame Smith's struggles, but seriously, who's surprised?
Terry Ryan's reasoning for the decision was that Smith, 28, was more major league ready than Garza, 22.
For once, I'll leave my own opinion out and simply offer this statistic to allow to make your own decision about who's "more ready."
Mike Smith's Triple-A ERA: 3.52
Matt Garza's Triple-A ERA: 1.85.
Apparently 'major league ready' means older, not necessarily better.
But Ron Gardenhire made it clear in his post-game comments that he was very disappointed with Smith's performance, and Gardy has also made it clear he wants Garza now.
I think he might finally get his way, and Garza may be in the rotation as soon as this week.
*Bartlett, by the way, is looking like the next Derek Jeter. With a 5-for-5 day on Sunday, he's now hitting .377.
I always looked at Bartlett as a guy who, best case scenario, would have Greg Gagne's bat and Pat Meares' glove. In other words, a mediocre major leaguer.
But in a couple short months he's shown to be far better than that.
He continues to be outstanding at shortstop, showing great range and a strong arm, while he continues to find a way to get hits.
He'll never have Jeter's power, but aside from that, I think it actually is a fair comparison skill-wise. Of course, that says as much about how overrated I think Jeter is as it does about how good Bartlett is.
Still, to have a guy in the 9-hole hitting .377 isn't too bad.
If I were the Twins, I'd consider signing him to a long-term deal while he' still cheap.
They might as well lock him up, because he's the only decent shortstop (besides Nick Punto, I suppose) in the entire organization.
*Lew Ford is on a Triple-A rehab assignment, and is hitting .286 (4-for-14) so far. Here's hoping that oblique muscle keeps on bothering Lucky Lew.

What the hell are they thinking?

Why do the Twins insist on punishing their top prospects, like Matt Garza (pictured)?
Liriano missed a start with a sore elbow.
Brad Radke is trying his damndest to pitch through a sore shoulder.
And although Garza has dominated every level of the minors so far, most recently Triple-A, the Twins have called up, just in the last week, Scott Baker, Boof Bonser, and now some dude named Mike Smith.
I pay pretty close attention to the Twins farm clubs, and I've never heard of Mike Smith.
Why must the best prospects wait in line? Shouldn't winning take priority over seniority?
After whipping the Rangers 15-2 behind an encouraging start from Carlos Silva on Monday, the Twins had two more important home games before hitting the road. Having lost two of three to Detroit, they had to at least win the series, and a sweep would've been best.
So the Twins send Baker and Bonser out against Texas powerful lineup.
Baker and Boof have both had their moments, but nobody, least of all Terry Ryan, should've been surprised that they both got lit up by the Rangers.
I hope Terry proved his point.
Whatever the fuck it was.