While there were indications that the Twins were ready to hand the keys to the car to the kids, and open up all five spots of the starting rotation to the group of Scott Baker, Boof Bonser, Francisco Liriano, Kevin Slowey, Nick Blackburn, Glen Perkins, Phil Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Brian Duensing (did I miss anybody?), they made a somewhat predictable move Tuesday and signed veteran fatty (I mean right-hander) Livan Hernandez to a 1-year, $5 million deal.
I'm not thrilled, as I'd kind of like the young guys to get their shot, and Hernandez is coming off an unimpressive year for Arizona. He went 11-11 with a 4.93 ERA, allowing 247 hits in 204 innings, with 79 walks and only 90 Ks. His WHIP was an ugly 1.595, and he allowed 34 homers.
On the other hand, Hernandez is maybe the most durable starter in the game. He's led the league in innings pitched three times, games started twice, and that can be beneficial to a team with young starters. Most likely, Livan's major task every time he takes the ball will be to give the Twins bullpen a break.
Over a 12-year career, Hernandez's average season has been 12-12 with a 4.25 ERA in 230 innings. He'll also replace Johan Santana as the team's top hitting pitcher, as Livan has a career .232 average with 9 homers.
Ultimately I'm fairly ambivalent about the move. Just going with the youngsters could've had its advantages, but Livan can help the team, too.
*Doug Mientkiewicz signed a 1-year deal with the Pirates. I've advocated the Twins adding Dougie as a bench player in recent years. He's got a great glove, and what many don't seem to realize is that he can play almost any position on the field - he's not limited to 1B. He's been effective when healthy over the last two seasons (he hit .283/.359/.411 for KC in '06, and .277/.349/.440 for the Yanks last year), but since the Bucs have Adam LaRoche, he's not going to Pittsburgh to start. You'd think he could find a bench job for a better team.
10 comments:
Clearly, these are the two moves that will set up this Pirates-Twins World Series.
You beat me to it.
Ponson, Pt. 2???
Looking through the rule book the other day and found this that might be of interest:
Rule 2S2B: When wearing shoes as a girl ref, do you want them to make your feet appear larger than they are? Or just normal? Some women out there are self-conscious about the size of their feet, but obviously, if you're a girl ref, you aren't self-conscious about much at all since you humiliate yourself in front of hundreds of people two or three times a week this time of year.
Wear the shoes that make you feel most confident. A shoe says a lot about a person. You go out and buy some black sneakers. The rule book doesn't care what brand. Keep them looking good, but not too good. A real shiny shoe hints at vanity and certainly you have enough public faults already. No reason advertising that you're also preoccupied with your own troubles.
So what does a shoe say about a person? Well, if you go to the girls section of the shoe store and you ask for some all-black sneakers it says your a shitty ref.
Clemens is such an asshole. So are our politicians.
Livan likes his money. He makes a lot they say.
• "Mr. Clemens, according to your account, Mr. McNamee injected your wife in your bedroom without your knowledge."
Put that on a T-shirt!
Glancin' at the rule book this mornin' and saw this:
Rule 88C24: "I am not here to ridicule you or to make you more apprehensive about officiating. I'm here to tell you about the length of your pant."
Famous girl referee quote, often attributed to Kahlil Gibran.
So how long should the hem be in the pant?
The rule book can't solve every problem for the girl ref; all it can do, as Gibran so often did, is point you in the right direction with a sack lunch and send you off to school.
Droopy pant legs on a girl ref make the subject look like a Shriner. Compensate too much the other way and you got that goofy dude who showed up at football practice a couple times a week. So what to do? Well, adjust. When you feel the pant leg is a mite too short, run up and down the court with an understated gate. When you feel the pant is too long, run with the knees high. There is risk involved here, of course, but what option do you really have?
What option do you really have about anything if you're a girl ref? How about in the next life, instead of screwing up basketball games, you decide to be one of those people who has neighborhood puppet shows for the children? Why don't you be one of those people who gets the neighborhood to go down to the park for a "Coffee with Camus" session that will endear you to housewives who have done nothing with their college educations and are too cheap or too vain to merely drink away that pain?
The only benefit of bringing Duggy back to the Twins is maybe getting his old lady back in the booth with Dick and Burt. That could help in what could be a long year for the Twinkies.
Post a Comment