Looking back, looking ahead

There was kind of a feeling all season that anything the Twins did in 2006 was a bonus.
They started so slowly, and didn't figure out who they were until June, which led most fans, including myself, to start drooling at the thought of what next year could be like with a fresh start.
With most of the Twins core set to return, here's a look at each player - what they did in '06 and their prospects for '07.
Position players first, pitchers later.
Catchers
Joe Mauer (.347-13-84)
The best catcher in the game. Won the batting title, posted a .429 on-base percentage and was excellent behind the plate. He slumped a little in the second half, and seemed to come up empty in key spots regularly down the stretch. He hit into 24 double plays, third most in the AL.
I still think he'll hit more homers, but in the meantime he might be better suited batting second.
Mike Redmond (.341-0-23)
The best backup catcher in the game. He hit .341 while usually (and ridiculously) batting 3rd in the order. Not as good as Mauer defensivley but still solidly above average. Has been a valuable clubhouse presence as well.
Chris Heintz (0-for 1 at-bat)
A pretty good minor league catcher, he's in the wrong organization if he wants to play in the big leagues.
Infield
Justin Morneau (.321-34-130)
Unless this year was a fluke, and I don't believe it was, Morneau appears to be the best all-around Twins hitter since Kirby Puckett. He has few weaknesses, can hit for power and average, uses the whole field, and never tries to do too much. How many times did he come up to bat in a situation where everyone was waiting for him to go deep, only to see him lace a single to left-field? That's the sign of a great hitter. Hopefully he gets locked up for a long time.
Nick Punto (.290-1-45)
The surprise of the team, Punto posted a .352 on-base percentage and was as good in the field as any Twins 3B since Gary Gaetti.
Having said that, I have doubts about whether he can do it again. He slumped considerably down the stretch and looked exposed in the playoffs. Gardy has already said he wants Punto to be the everday 3B next year, but I'd rather see him take on a utility role, where he can get plenty of starts at both 2B and SS to give Luis Castillo and Jason Bartlett a rest.
Jason Bartlett (.309-2-32)
Bartlett showed signs of being a future All-Star, finally earning Gardy's trust. He was excellent in the field and shows lots of good habits at the plate. He started 99 straight games after getting called up, and I think giving Punto 15 starts at short next year would help keep Bartlett fresh.
Fatigue may have been a factor in Bartlett's embarrassing performance in the ALDS.
Luis Castillo (.296-3-49)
Castillo gave the Twins perhaps a little less than what they hoped for, but he was still quite good. He has good at-bats and despite looking like a tin-man at times, actually has great range at 2B.
He has one year left on his contract, and his tenure as a Twin will be over after that. I wouldn't mind seeing the Twins trade him and move Punto to second, because I just don't trust Castillo's knees. I wouldn't be shocked if he missed 50 games due to injuries next year. Much like Shannon Stewart of the last couple years, he doesn't appear to have much left physically.
Luis Rodriguez (.235-2-6)
The guy spent the entire season on the active roster and had six RBI. He played in 59 games and had 115 at-bats. Granted the Twins were in must-win mode for pretty much the last 100 games of the season, but I still think he should've played a little more. He's a pretty decent utility IF, but he can't be the only utility guy, because he's not much of a SS.
Alexi Casilla (.250-0-0)
He got a brief taste of the bigs in a September call-up, and will likely open next season as the starting 2B at Rochester, with the idea of taking over for Castillo in 2008. He looks like he has some promise.
Terry Tiffee (.244-2-6)
A perfect example of first-impressions going a long way. In his ML debut in 2004 Tiffee had two hits, including a game-winning double, and two days later hit a walk-off game winning homer off (guess who) Dennys Reyes. Fans have vastly overrated him ever since. The reality is he sucks, and the Twins removed him from their 40-man roster this week. If someone claims him off waivers they'll get him, otherwise he'll probably spend all of next year in Rochester.
Phil Nevin (.190-1-4)
He didn't do much after the Twins acquired him, though he did hit a total of 23 homers on the year. I wouldn't mind having him as a veteran pinch-hitter and emergency 1B/C/3B, but he probably wants to move on, and the Twins will surely accomodate him.
Outfielders
Torii Hunter (.278-31-98)
Back for another year, and if he stays healthy expect another season hitting around .270 with 25-30 homers. The question is his defense, which ranged from poor to average most of last season. Torii's on the wrong side of 30, and when Kirby Puckett hit that age he moved to RF. Something to think about.
Michael Cuddyer (.284-24-109)
Exactly what you want in a corner outfielder. Good bat with power, strong arm, dependable glove. Hopefully the Twins lock him up.
Rondell White (.246-7-38)
Probably not worth the risk. He was great once he got healthy, but he'd be almost certain to get hurt again next year. Plus he's a poor defensive outfielder, and Gardy refuses to DH him.
Jason Kubel (.241-8-26)
He can flat out hit, evidenced by a white-hot streak in June where he appeared poised to really break out. But his knees started bothering him again and he tapered off badly.
There are questions about his commitment, due largely to the fact that he's in terrible shape. He'll never be an OF, but if he can get into better shape he'd be a great DH.
Shannon Stewart (.293-2-21)
The same smooth and efficient lead-off man he ever was, but it's clear that he'll never be healthy. The Twins won't even consider bringing him back, and it's possible he'll retire.
Lew Ford (.226-4-18)
No amount of Lewwwwww chants can hide the fact that Ford's career has, for the last two seasons, plummeted like an elevator with a broken suspension cord. He went from .299-15-72 to .264-7-52 to .226-4-18. Though he's still an excellent defensive OF, there is little reason to consider bringing him back.
Jason Tyner (.312-0-18)
A major part of the '06 team's success, but not a good candidate to play every day next year. The .312 average is deceptive - he rarely walks and almost all of his hits are singles - but he's still a better option off the bench than Ford.
Josh Rabe (.286-3-7)
If the Twins want to keep 5 outfielders, not counting Kubel, Rabe probably makes the team. Otherwise he's a career minor leaguer. Not good enough defensively to be a valuable bench player.

Another year of this guy

And that's a good thing.
The Twins picked up Hunter's 2007 option, which means they will pay him $12 million for one season.
I don't think bringing Hunter back for $12 million is exactly a great move, but I like it better than the alternatives. This team will have a great shot at a World Series next year, and Hunter could be a big part of it.
Hunter's glove declined considerably this year, and his ill-fated dive in Game 2 of the ALDS effectively ended the team's season.
But had the Twins let him walk (which still would've cost them $2.5 million) they'd be left with either a Lew Ford/Jason Tyner platoon in center, or they'd be sifting through a free-agent market of second-tier CF's.
Hunter earned this contract with his September hitting (.314, 9 HR), and with Mauer, Morneau and Cuddyer in front of him he's a better hitter.
He's also a great clubhouse guy, and one of my (and many Twins fans) personal favorites.
He wants a long-term deal, and whether or not the Twins offer him one will likely depend on how healthy he is next year. If he's a below average defensive CF again, it will likely be his last year with the team.

'06 - Just the Beginning

That's the hope at least. That the Twins postseason failures can be shrugged off for the fact that almost the entire core of the team is still young, and the prospects for improvement, particularly with an entire season without Tony Batista and Juan Castro, are good.
Still, let's forget about that for a minute and appreciate something.
2006 was an amazing season.
It's certainly disappointing to have seen it end so soon, but the journey from 25-33 to division champs was an amazing one.
I predicted the Twins would win the division before the season, though I didn't quite envision it playing out the way it did.
(And just to brag a little, I also predicted that the Tigers would be the surprise team of the AL, that Cleveland would be a disappointment, and that Justin Morneau would hit 34 homeruns - you can look it up in the archives if you either dont believe me or are a total loser)

Youth is served
When the season began, many were basing their predictions on the Twins on their opinions of the additions of Rondell White, Tony Batista and Luis Castillo.
I was excited about the additions of White and Castillo, and though I didn't like the Batista signing, I held out hope that he might at least hit some homers.
But what people were missing was that the Twins fortunes had less to do with those three and more to do with the potential of Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and perhaps Michael Cuddyer, Jason Bartlett and Jason Kubel.
Mauer's season (.347, 13, 84) didn't surprise me. Neither did Morneau's 34 homers or Cuddyer's 24 homers.
What definitley surprised me was Morneau's .321 average, and Cuddyer's 109 RBIs. Not to mention Torii Hunter's 31 homers, Bartlett's emergence, and Nick Punto inexplicably turning himself into a useful player.
Failed experiments
For the first three months of the year, Rondell White wasn't good enough to play for the Canaries. And to be honest, Batista and Castro probably weren't either.
No one could've predicted Punto would become the player he did, but the whole Castro-Bartlett thing was shameful.
This team might've won 105 games if they hadn't wasted their time with these three. Though in the second half, White was pretty much the same guy he always has been in the past. His resurgence made the fade-off of Jason Kubel less harmful.
Bad pitching
For the first two months, the Twins strength, starting pitching, was bad.
Carlos Silva, Brad Radke, Kyle Lohse and Scott Baker were all terrible.
Radke got on track and pitched like a Cy Young candidate from June through August.
Lohse was traded for a prospect, Baker was mostly horrible with just a few good outings, and Silva was inconsistent but mostly bad.
This contributed to the team's rough start, though it should be pointed out that when Batista and Castro were replaced with Punto and Bartlett, the pitching got noticably better.
A magical run
In early June, they started winning every damn day. They made it look easy.
11 in a row, 20 out of 21. In the time it took them to lose their first 33 games, they won 25 times. In the time it took for their next 33 losses, they won 71 times. And amazingly caught the Tigers for their 4th division title in 5 years.
I pick on Ron Gardenhire a lot, and he deserves it a lot. But this season was a reminder that managers are not made by their strategizing; anyone can do that (except for maybe Gardy). What makes a manager is his ability to communicate, manage personalities, run a clubhouse, and instill a winning, confident, upbeat and positive attitude.
Gardy did that and then some. To will a team from 25-33 to 96-66 takes leadership of the highest level.
Still the best
As in Johan, Joe Nathan and Juan Rincon.
Johan will win his 2nd Cy Young award, as he won the pitching triple crown. I think my favorite stat in regards to the Twins is this: Johan led the team with 47 walks. I dont mean led the team as in that was the fewest walks - that was the most. 47 walks in 34 starts, and it was the most anyone on the team allowed. In 162 games, Twins pitchers walked 356 batters, while striking out 1,146. That's, umm....good.
Joe Nathan only had 36 saves because the Twins won so many games by more than three runs, but he had probably his best season.
In 68 innings he had 95 K's and went 7-0 with a 1.58 ERA. He blew only two saves, and the Twins came back to win both of those games anyway. When was the last time a closer went undefeated?
Surprise!
We already mentioned Punto. He had always, always sucked, and suddenly, he was good.
But he wasn't the only one.
Jason Tyner hitting .312?
Dennys Reyes - 0.89?
Boof Bonser becoming the No. 2 starter?
Pat Neshek? Without these guys playing seemingly over their heads, the Twins dont win the division.
And that kind of sums up the season. It didn't make sense. Didn't add up.
At times what was going on was literally unbelieveable.
But history will remember them as the 2006 American League Central Division Champions, and that's something that I didn't believe I'd see until the day I saw it become official with my own eyes.
Thanks Twins, for one hell of a year.

2006 Minnesota Twins Leaders
Batting
Games: Morneau 157
At-bats: Morneau 592
Avg: Mauer .347*
Runs: Cuddyer 102
Hits: Morneau 190
Doubles: Cuddyer 41
Triples: Punto 7
Homers: Morneau 34
RBI: Morneau 130
Steals: Castillo 25
Walks: Mauer 79
Strikeouts: Cuddyer 130
GIDP: Mauer 24
SLG: Morneau .559
OBP: Mauer .429
Hit Streak: Punto 19

Pitching:
Games: Rincon 75
Starts: Santana 34*
Innings: Santana 233.2*
Wins: Santana 19*
Losses: Silva 15
K's: Santana 245*
ERA: Reyes 0.89** (lowest in team history)
ERA (162 innings+): Santana 2.77*
Saves: Nathan 36
Hits/9 inn: Santana 7.16*
K's/9 inn: Santana 9.44*

*Led League
**Led all relievers with 50+ innings

Ain't That a Bitch

I suppose I should be happy that the Tigers beat the Yankees, but I'm not really.
I'm just jealous. And pissed. We could be playing Detroit for a World Series berth with home field advantage. But we played like ass for three straight games.
I thought Detroit would get run over in three straight after the way they finished the regular season.
As it turned out, that was probably the best thing that could've happened to them.
Judging by the way Verlander, Bonderman and the Gambler all pitched, the Tigers are my favorite to win the World Series.
I'll try to convince myself to pull for them, given that they came from the Twins division, a division we blabbed all year about being baseball's best.
But to see the World Series champ come out of our division two years in a row...that would hurt pretty bad, too.

Didn't See This Coming

Who would've thought it would end this way?
This is what we saw this season:
*Justin Morneau - .321-34-130.
*Joe Mauer - .347 -1st AL catcher to ever win the batting title.
*Torii Hunter - 31 homers.
*Cuddyer - .284-24-109.
*Johan - 19-6, 2.77, 245 K's, the pitching triple crown.
*Liriano - 12-3, 2.16
*Joe Nathan - 1.58, 36/38.
*Bradke - the comeback.
*Nick Punto - actually became a good player.
*Jason Tyner - ditto.
*Jason Bartlett - the next Michael Young.
*Rondell White - the resurrection.
*Boof.
*One day in first place - the last day.
And after all that, the Twins season lasted a whole five days longer than the Kansas City Royals' did. A sweep. An ass-whupping. An embarrassing performance.
Everything went wrong.
The Twins were outhit, outpitched, outfielded, outbaserunned, outmanaged, outclassed.
It was ugly.
I think we learned that the Piranhas aren't actually that dangerous, and that Joe Mauer has to start hitting some more gappers to be a true No. 3 hitter. We learned that Torii Hunter has lost a step, maybe two, in centerfield, and we learned that the bullpen is human.
The Twins can tip their hat to the A's and say they simply got beat, and that is true. The A's played very well, and there is no shame in losing to them.
But that discounts the fact that the Twins didn't only lose because they couldn't hit in the clutch. They lost because they couldn't make plays in the field, they took poor at-bats, they failed to get down bunts and advance runners, and they made poor decisions on the bases and in the field. They simply weren't themselves when it mattered most.
It was a remarkable season, and 20 years from now, I'll remember that Sunday regular season finale a lot more vividly than I will the ugly three-game sweep at the hands of the A's.
I loved this team, and I am extremely confident that it will be one of the best teams in baseball again next year.
Only six more months to go.

We Need a Hero

Okay, yeah, I hate the Yankees and everything, but watching Game 1 of the Yanks-Tigers series, it became clear.
Derek Jeter is the MVP.
Not Johan Santana.
Not Justin Morneau.
And definitely not Joe Mauer.
Jeter went 5-for-5 in Game 1 of that series, with two singles, two doubles and a homerun.
Yes, Jeter's skills as a shortstop are overrated, and if Jeter made the catch Punto made in Game 1, it'd be on SportsCenter every five seconds for the next 25 years.
But for fucks sake the guy went 5-for-5!
That is what MVP's do in the playoffs. They don't go 1-for-3 with a two-out, bases empty single.
If the Twins are going to snap out of this postseason funk, whether it be in this series against Oakland, or in the future (I'm fairly confident they'll return to the postseason a few more times in the next decade), they need their marquee players to step up the way Jeter does for the Yankees.
Kirby Puckett did it. Jack Morris did it, too.
I am in no way suggesting it's Johan Santana's fault the Twins lost Game 1, but hey, the guy could've pitched a shutout. Barry Zito was better than him that day.
The scary thing about this generation of Twins is that we're getting used to them going in the tank when it matters most.
Who among us was surprised that Zito shut them down?
Who was surprised to see Torii Hunter make the most bone-headed play in the Metrodome since Lonnie Smith?
Who is surprised that Nick Punto, Jason Tyner, Jason Bartlett and Luis Castillo don't scare anyone in the playoffs?
If there is any good news, its that there is maybe one guy on the Twins roster with a bona fide history of sacking up, and that is the man taking the mound Friday night - Brad Radke.
If he was 100% healthy, I'd be completely confident he will win, and even with his shoulder issues, I still have a good feeling about Game 3. As unclutch as the Twins have been in this series, they are still a team with a lot of fight in them, and a team that overcame a lot to get here. They won't just roll over in Game 3.
And if they win Game 3, Santana would likely take the mound for Game 4. Could the A's beat him twice in one series?
And if not, can Boof beat Zito back at the Dome in Game 5?
For all that to fall into place for the Twins, someone, check that several guys, are going to have to man up.
I don't mean working the count for a walk, or singling to the opposite field with two outs and nobody on.
I mean going 3-for-4 or 4-for-5, I mean a two-out bases loaded double, I mean pitching a shutout.
That's what MVPs do.
Let's see if we have any.

Unforgiveable

I don't have the time or energy to go into much depth about Game 2.
I just left the Twins clubhouse and I think I'm more bummed than they are.
Let's just say that I still love Torii Hunter, but that was an absolutely unforgivable, horrendous decision he made in diving for that ball.
In a tight-game, a must win game, the team that makes a mistake loses. We made the mistake.
A big one.
A huge one.
Can they come back?
I doubt it.
And yeah, we've doubted them before, and yeah, they've come back a million times already, but the odds have never been stacked against them quite like this.

Down Again

Suprised?
I'm not.
Barry Zito is pretty good. So is Johan, but he was rusty early, and it cost them.
Through the first couple innings, there wasn't a major difference in velocity between the fastball and the changeup, and the fastball was barely reaching 90. That may have been how Frank Thomas was able to muscle a changeup over the fence even after being fooled, and how light-hitting Marco Scutaro was able to get Johan for a huge two out RBI double.
But Johan got hot, and the game briefly became very tense and exciting.
Rondell White hit a homer, and the Twins put together a couple of threats. Bartlett leads off the 8th with a double, but Luis Castillo failed to bunt him over, which was huge, as the Twins ended up failing to score.
Justin Morneau was crushing the ball all day and had no hits to show for it.
Zito was good, but he was also lucky.
I'm guessing you're probably as baffled as me as to why Gardy chose to bring in Jesse Crain in the ninth, over, say, Rincon, Reyes, Neshek, Nathan, Guerrier or Perkins (in other words, anybody).
Gardy's answer was that Crain has been the best of that group lately, and he wanted to go with the hot hand.
But I would argue that just because Jesse Crain had a lower ERA than Neshek or Rincon in September doesn't make him a better option.
Rincon, and to a lesser extent, Neshek, have been the money guys all year, wheras Crain has been solid, but by no means money.
But the loss really isn't Crain's fault.
From a caught-stealing, a failed bunt, to just bad situational hitting and even a couple errors, the Twins just didn't play very well.
The good news is they've been counted out a million times already this season, so being down again isn't the end of the world.
They just have to win 3 out of 4 now, two of them in Oakland.

History...Real Time

I was there Sunday.
There for one of the greatest days in the history of the Minnesota Twins.
I bought $6 upper deck tickets for me and my fiancee about two weeks ago, assuming the game probably wouldn't mean much.
I just wanted to go to one more game as a fan.
Just before the game started, the Twins honored Brad Radke with an on-field ceremony in which his teammates presented him with a jetski as a retirement present.
At the time I thought to myself, 'Well if nothing else I'm glad I was here for that.'
But that was nothing.
Three batters into the game the Twins trailed 1-0 with Carlos Silva on the mound. The Tigers were opening up a lead on the Royals. A win for Detroit would give them the division and send the Twins to New York to face the Yankees.
The Tigers were at home, and had already lost twice to a Royals team that they had beaten 15 of 16 times before this weekend.
And they built their lead to 6-0 in the third inning.
Yankee stadium, here we come.
But then...
Joe Mauer laced a double down the line, clinching the AL batting title and starting a Twins rally that would give them the lead. I told my fiancee before the inning that Torii Hunter would homer and he did, hitting a towering fly to left-center, his 31st of the year, and the hit that sealed the win - thanks to a fine outing from Silva and more expert work from the bullpen.
By the time the Twins had pushed their lead to 5-1, the 45,182 fans in attendance were no longer watching the field. They were watching the tiny video boards in opposite corners of the dome that were updating the Royals-Tigers game.
6-0 Detroit becomes 6-2, and the crowd roars. 6-4, the crowd is becoming a distraction to the players.
Detroit scores, 7-4, fans boo.
And then...
7-6, and 'Let's go Ro-yals' echoes through the dome.
7-7!
8-7 KC! The 100 loss Royals have come back from down 6-0 in Detroit against ace Jeremy Bonderman.
Bottom 8, Matt Stairs homers, and the Tigers have tied it at 8. Fans boo.
And then...
Joe Nathan closes out the Twins win, and nobody leaves. The Tigers-Royals game is up on the jumbotron, and the Tigers have the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the 11th. Brandon Inge launches a ball deep to LF, looking like a walk-off grand slam, but it hooks fould. The dome crowd lets out a huge sigh.
Two pitches later, Joe Nelson, the Royals no-name rookie closer, fans Inge on a changeup that would make Johan proud. Inge crumbles to his knees in disbelief. Curtis Granderson is the Tigers last chance. The Royals summon lefty Jimmy Gobble, and Gobble fans Granderson looking. The dome is euphoric. The Twins players are in the dugout, drinking beer, jumping and screaming and waving towels and acting as giddy as the fans.
It's an amazingly surreal scene. The Twins players and their fans, almost working in unsion, watching the game together, egging each other on. They play 'Sweet Caroline' over the PA between innings, and the entire Twins bench is arm in arm, singing along with the fans.
It's a scene that I can't imagine taking place at any other Pro stadium anywhere in the world.
Top 12, Detroit summons Kenny Rogers from the pen, and the Royals knock him around for two runs. Nick Punto, Luis Rodriguez and Torii Hunter are going absolutely bonkers (they keep showing them on the Tron). Hunter grabs a mike, waves to the fans and screams: "Let's go Ro-yals". The place goes nuts. Of the 45,000 that were here, probably 35,000 remain, and the game's been over for half an hour.
Bottom 12, and Gobble sets the Tigers down almost effortlessly.
Finally...
The Twins players storm onto the field for the second time in a week, mobbing each other at the mound. They then take a victory lap around the field, high fiving fans in the front row. Joe Nathan does the Lambeau Leap into the left field corner. The players are throwing whatever they can, balls, shirts, hats and towels into the crowd.
Over the PA comes the official declaration: "Ladies and Gentlemen, your 2006 American League Central Division Champion Minnesota Twins!"
Gardy and Hunter both grab the mike and say a few words, but it's completely inaudible. The place is just too damn loud.
I look at the banner in right-field that reads AL Central Champs: 2002, 2003, 2004 and think how great it will look to have 2006 on there, too.
I look just a few feet to the left of that and see a big smiling Kirby Puckett, and wonder if he had a hand in the miracle that took place today in Minneapolis and Detroit.
There are 162 games and approximately 180 days in the Major League season, and the Twins were never once in sole possession of first place until after they were done playing. They caught the uncatchable Tigers on the final day.
Even after the fans left the dome, nobody wanted to go home. The streets of Minneapolis were filled with horn-honking cars, and people racing along the sidewalks, high fiving everyone in sight, high fiving people in moving cars.
As of right now, there's no better baseball town in America than Minneapolis.
There have been several moments in recent Twins history that I watched on TV while thinking to myself, 'Man I should've been there for that.'
But this is a day that will live forever, and I'll never forget it.
I was there.
And it was beautiful.

What a night

All I cared about while watching the Twins Thursday night was Brad Radke making it through about four or five innings without his arm falling off.
I didn't care if they won, I didn't care if Brad gave up 8 runs.
I just wanted Brad to have a nice night.
1, so he and the fans could enjoy what could've been his last start ever, and
2, so he could give Gardy any reason to choose him for the postseason roster over Carlos Silva.
So I wasn't asking much of the Twins.
Then they go and win the game in dramatic fashion, moving into a tie for first place in the Central, while Radke looked great for five innings, allowing no earned runs and hitting 90 on the gun.
That was an amazing performance by my favorite Twin.
Made possible, of course, by an opposite-field homer by Joe Mauer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and a terrific escape act in the top of the 9th by Juan Rincon, who loaded the bases with none out and got out of it.
But Radke was the story.
He was fighting tears afterward, maybe because he was touched by the crowd and the numerous tributes they showed him throughout the night, maybe because he was overcome by his own accomplishments in the face of tremendous physical adversity.
Either way, it was a monumental performance.
It did come against the KC Royals, who are not the NY Yankees, but even so, I think Twins Nation is unanimous in favoring Radke to take the mound at Yankee Stadium in the playoffs.
Maybe there's still some magic left.

Playoff Roster Possibilities

We'll find out tonight if Brad Radke has any chance to contribute to the Twins in the post-season.
The Twins are saying that if all goes well, he's in the post-season rotation, but my guess is that things don't even have to go 'well'.
I'm guessing that as long as his arm doesn't fall off he'll be pitching against the Yankees (I say Yankees because the Tigers all but clinched the Central with the Twins loss to KC last night).
Carlos Silva was in a nice little groove, but got roughed up in his last two starts. Last night KC was hitting him very hard. I don't know if Silva will even be on the playoff roster, let alone in the rotation.
To Silva's credit, he admitted after the game that he doesn't deserve a post-season start, saying he's let the team down all year.
If Radke pitches great tonight, my guess is that the post-season rotation will be Santana, Boof and Radke.
If Radke pitches decent, it'll probably be Santana, Boof, Garza and then maybe Radke.
As for the rest of the roster, there are some questions.
How many pitchers to bring? Typically 10 is the max for playoffs, but with the Twins lack of depth and experience in the rotation, they could bring as many as 11.
Santana, Boof, Garza, Nathan, Rincon, Reyes, Neshek and Crain are all locks.
After that you've got Guerrier, Eyre, Glen Perkins, Silva, Scott Baker and Radke. They might want to bring Perkins to give them an extra lefty. So a lot is still up in the air.
Assuming they take 11 pitchers, that leaves 14 position players.
Mauer, Redmond, Morneau, Castillo, Bartlett, Punto, Hunter, Cuddyer, White, Tyner and Nevin are locks.
That would leave three spots, with Kubel, Ford, Luis Rodriguez, Alexi Casilla, Josh Rabe, Terry Tiffee and Chris Heintz the candidates. Kubel has hardly played in the last month, as he's clearly not healthy. Tiffee is a switch hitter, which makes him a possibility, but my guess is they go with Rodriguez, Ford and Casilla. Casilla would fill a speed/pinch runner role much like Jarvis Brown did in the 1991 series. That was a significant move back then, as the Twins chose Brown, a useless hitter, over Pedro Munoz, a RH bat who killed lefties.
*As I said before, the Twins probably won't catch Detroit. They finish with three games against KC, and since they own the tiebreaker, the Twins have to finish ahead of them, meaning they're essentially two back with four to play.
So knowing they're likely to face the Yankees, consider this: Mark Redman has made two starts against the Twins in the last month. In those two starts he allowed two earned runs in 17 innings. In a start against the Yankees last week he allowed 9 runs in 2/3 of an inning.
As improved as the Twins offense is this year, they still have a scary and annoying tendency to randomly make journeyman look like Cy Young. The Yankees on the other hand, tend to expose such pitchers. The Twins will need Johan Santana and the bullpen to be at their absolute best if they are going to win that series.

Goin back to the dance

The most improbable of Twins seasons saw it's official reward Monday night with the Twins clinching a playoff berth with their win over Kansas City.
It marks the Twins fourth trip to the playoffs in the last five years, and their sixth in my lifetime.
I was 7 in 1987, 11 in 1991, and while I remember both of those seasons much more clearly than you might think, 2002 still stands out as my favorite Twins season ever.
It had been so long. So long since the Twins had been winners. So long since the Metrodome was full for a baseball game, so long since people were actually talking about the team, wearing jerseys of their favorite players.
I remember being at Game 3 of the ALDS against Oakland, part of a record crowd of over 64,000 fans, and almost being brought to tears by what I was experiencing.
Between 1992 and 2002 there had been talk of contraction, a move to North Carolina and eight losing seasons. That day in the Dome, with 64,000 fans about to watch a playoff game, was a day I had been reasonably sure I would never experience. Two days later I sat in a jam-packed sports bar in Burnsville and watched AJ Pierzynski wallop a game-winning homer off of A's closer and ass-clown Billy Koch. He flipped his bat in defiance and the Twins eliminated the A's in Oakland - and that flip of AJ's bat remains one of the single greatest all time sports moments of my life. I still remember my cousin Spence, drunk out of his head, standing on top of our table shouting to no one in particular - "Twins win! Twins win! Twins win!" over and over.
In that respect, 2002 will probably always be the Twins team I treasure most, even if they win several more World Series during my lifetime.
But 2006 will likely be pretty high on the list as well.
Part of me keeps thinking about Francisco Liriano, Brad Radke, and even Shannon Stewart, wondering if they can win without them.
For the record, if all three of those guys were healthy I believe the Twins would be overwhelming favorites to win the World Series.
But you know what? It's clear by now that you can throw logic out the window with this team.
Nick Punto and Jason Tyner should not be major contributors to a playoff team, but they are.
Dennys Reyes shouldn't be the best lefty specialist on the planet, but he is.
Boof Bonser shouldn't be a solid No. 2 starter as a rookie, but he is.
Matt Garza shouldn't even be here at all (he began the year in A-ball and was getting doused with champagne in a Major League clubhouse Monday), but he is.
Rondell White wasn't good enough to play for the Sioux Falls Canaries in the first half, and here he is batting .320 since the All-Star break.
We've written them off so many times.
Even when they started turning things around, most of us just said, 'Hey things are looking pretty good, we should be able to contend next year.'
The Tigers and White Sox were so far ahead they were merely a blip on the radar, but we were reminded, once again, what a long season it is, and how the deficit really doesn't matter in May, June or even July or August.
We were reminded that things like speed, defense and fundamentals (Tyner, Punto, Castillo, Bartlett) are still important, and that power (Thome, Dye, Konerko) is still overrated.
We learned that Brad Radke is perhaps the gutsiest player the Twins have ever had, and that Torii Hunter, for all his double-plays and ugly swings, is still one hell of a baseball player.
Way, way back in March, Kirby Puckett passed away. One of my first thoughts when he died was to wonder what effect it would have on this year's team.
Could the ghost of Kirby Puckett guide them to a title? I certainly hoped so. And yeah, I have a corny tendency to believe in those kinds of things.
It almost seems like the only explanation. With all the team has endured, all the setbacks, all the injuries, some sort of cosmic intervention seems like the only thing that could possibly have allowed a team that was once 25-33 and in a distant fourth place to surge to a playoff spot and the brink of 100 wins even with two of the top three pitchers sitting out.
With three games remaining against KC and three against a White Sox team that now has nothing to play for, the Twins still have a chance to catch Detroit, who they trail by one game.
Surely the Twins will enter the playoffs as underdogs no matter who they face, but they obviously have paid no attention to any of that kind of crap, so neither should we.
It's been a crazy, weird, inspirational, magical, amazing year.
Hopefully Monday's celebration wasn't the last one of the fall.

1/2 game out, 5 1/2 up

Briefly, while the Tigers-White Sox game was still going last night, the Twins were tied for first. They caught the Tigers.
Detroit ended up winning, though, to pull back up by a half-game.
The Sox, now 5 1/2 back, are all but finished. The Twins only need win a few more to clinch the wild-card, and they look like they're going to fight Detroit till the bitter end.
*One thing I realized during last night's satisfying 8-2 win over Boston is that Jason Bartlett (pictured) is becoming more than just a good shortstop. He's becoming one of the best. He turned two more terrific plays, and if he hadn't stupidly spent the first two months of the season in Triple-A, he'd be a contender for both the AL batting title and the Gold Glove. The first couple times Bartlett came up he looked raw and ragged, like everything he did was difficult for him.
Now, he looks very smooth and easy, just like Juan Castro did. Only Bartlett has more range, a better arm and a more reliable glove than Castro.
Calling Bartlett the next Greg Gagne may be selling him short.
*Torii Hunter is on the best streak of his career. His homer last night (#28) was an absolute bomb, and it came in a big, big spot. Even after spending two weeks on the DL, Hunter has a great chance to finally - finally - reach 30 homers for the first time in his career.
*How 'bout Boof? He now has a 3.74 ERA since being re-called, and is a more than respectable 6-5 with a 4.36 ERA overall. If Silva continues his re-emergence, the Twins might have three solid starters for the playoffs after all. Four if you count Matt Garza, who appears to be figuring things out, too.
*Rondell White is hitting .313 since the All-Star break. Just thought you'd like to know.
*Joe Mauer is hitting .280 since July 1. I've been getting a lot of shit from people for being too negative, especially when it comes to Mauer, but .280 out of the 3-hole is just plain inexcusable when the three guys behind you (four if you want to count Rondell White) are all mashing.
*These are the batting averages of the Twins starting lineup:
.296
.292
.344
.282
.325
.275
.236
.323
.315
All nine are more than solid except for White's .236, which, as mentioned above, has been steadily rising for two months. Six of the others are over .292, and the two who aren't - Cuddyer and Hunter, have combined for 50 homers and 191 RBIs. Not bad.
I'm not sure how much he's had to do with it, but Joe Vavra is hitting coach of the year.
*Wednesday's win was the Twins' 90th, the fourth time in five years they've reached 90 wins under Ron Gardenhire. At 90-61, their current winning percentage is .596, which would be their best in any of those years. When you consider they were 25-33 at one point, that is amazing.
*Johan goes today, looking for win #19. Getting it would mean a season sweep (6-0) over the BoSox, and put another nail in Ozzie Guillen's coffin.

Nightmare Come True

Francisco Liriano made his triumphant return to the Twins rotation Wednesday, and as he mowed the Oakland hitters down with ease through the first two innings I allowed myself to fantasize about a World Series title.
And then everyone's worst fears were realized, when Liriano hopped off the mound, wincing in pain.
Worst of all, the pain is in his elbow. His season is almost certainly over.
And as bad as that is, it's not even really the worst of it. What's worse is the gaining-steam fear that Liriano is a left-handed Kerry Wood.
Wood, like Liriano, is virtually unhittable when healthy, with a high-90's fastball and a breaking ball that breaks so sharply it doesn't seem real. But because of the violent snap of the elbow that Wood uses to deliver his back-breaking curveball, he is never, ever, ever healthy. I just laugh when Cubs fans brag about Wood, because I know he's never going to last more than 10 starts. Canaries manager Mike Pinto once told me Kerry Wood has 'the worst mechanics of any pitcher in pro baseball anywhere'.
I don't know that Liriano's mechanics are that bad, but he obviously snaps his slider with a tremendous amount of torque. Everyone laughed at the San Francisco Giants for including Liriano in the AJ trade, but this is why they did. He battled arm problems in San Fran, and it's apparent that he's going to continually do so in Minny.
If there's any good news, its that I believe Ron Gardenhire and pitching coach Rick Anderson are a hell of a lot smarter than the bumbling idiots in Chicago that have been working with Wood. I'm hopeful that Anderson will be able to work with Liriano and possibly find a way to alter his mechanics that would lessen the strain on his elbow without drastically reducing his effectiveness.
Either that, or the Twins may have to turn him into a reliever.
I still think the Twins have a good shot to make the playoffs, but without Liriano, I'm not optimistic about their chances of advancing to the World Series.

Return of the Chief?

If Carlos Silva has really rediscovered his sinker, (it'll take more than two starts to convince me) the Twins are a lock for the postseason.
A rotation that had appeared in shambles as little as a week or so ago, could suddenly be back to 4-strong with Santana, Liriano, Bonser and Silva. Tonight we'll see what Matt Guerrier is capable of doing. I'd look for something like 5 innings, 2 or 3 runs.
*Michael Cuddyer now has 22 homers, 37 doubles and 98 RBIs. He also has 9 OF assists. It once again bears repeating that the Twins success this year wasn't dependant on new arrivals like Tony Batista and Rondell White (though think how good the Twins would be if either of them had done what we'd hoped), but rather on the improvement of who was already here.
Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Michael Cuddyer, Nick Punto and Jason Bartlett have all been among the most improved players in the league. None of them were particularly threatening last year, and now all of them are guys who can do big damage with the bat in their own way.
*I didn't watch a whole lot of the Vikings game last night, because the Twins game was far more important. But I loved the first drive, and it sounds like the defense played pretty well. Brad Johnson was terrific, and if Troy Williamson could catch he would've been even better.
Giving the ball to Chester Taylor 31 times says a lot about what Hamster Face hopes to do this year. Control the clock, limit turnovers, keep defense fresh. That's great, I just wonder how long they're going to stick with a guy who averages 2.8 yards per carry!!

Simply the best

At times this year, Johan Santana was overshadowed by Francisco Liriano, but the Twins simply wouldn't be within sniffing distance of the playoffs without Santana, who's not only the best pitcher in baseball, but who might already be the best pitcher in Twins history at age 27.
The Cy Young has been pretty much locked up, but now talk of Johan winning AL MVP is gaining steam as well.
I've generally been against any guy who only plays in about 23% of his team's games winning the MVP award, but with Johan, its hard to argue. He's been at his best when it has mattered most - unbeatable at home. If Ron Gardenhire didn't insist on limiting him to 100 pitches a start (which actually doesn't bother me too much) Johan would probably be looking at 330 Ks this year, he might have 6 or 7 complete game shutouts, and he'd probably have a couple extra wins.
As it is, he's gonna win 20 at least, and finish with around 260 Ks.
The Twins took 3 out of 4 to pull within two games of Detroit, and as great as that is, I'd have rather gained three games on Chicago than the Tigers.
Still, with Liriano set to rejoin the rotation Wednesday, the Twins have a great shot of getting one of the two spots that the three teams are battling for.
*Matt Guerrier will replace Scott Baker the next time through the rotation. It's worth a shot, as Guerrier has been solid out of the pen. But while Guerrier has posted an excellent 3.04 ERA, he's also allowed an opponents batting average of .297. He'll give up some hits. Five decent innings would be a success.
In an interesting side note, Guerrier has now pitched in 85 career games without a win, the longest active streak in the majors.
The Twins other noteworthy such streak, Jason Tyner's homerless streak, nearly ended Sunday when Tyner tripled off the baggy. He was about 10 feet short, but had he pulled it a little further down the line he would've got it. Tyner has now gone 1,008 at-bats without a dinger. He's hit 2 homers in AAA, both over the fence. He's approaching Al Newman territory. Newman went almost 2,000 ABs without a homer from the middle of his rookie season to the end of his career.
*Torii Hunter manufactured a run all by himself Sunday, and for anyone who missed it, it's worth re-telling.
He singled up the middle to lead off the 2nd inning. Then he stole second. Then Jason Kubel struck out swinging at a pitch in the dirt, forcing Detroit catcher Vance Wilson to either tag Kubel or throw to first. With Hunter dancing about 15 feet off second, Wilson stared at Hunter for a second, and, thinking that was enough to keep him there, tossed the ball to first to retire the hobbled Kubel. He didn't exactly lob the ball to first but he certainly didnt fire it, and Hunter broke for third. First baseman Chris Shelton's throw back across the diamond wasn't near in time, and Hunter was on 3rd with one out. Jason Tyner then hit a short fly ball to left, that Tigers LF Craig Monroe had to come way in on. 'No way that's deep enough' I thought as Monroe settled under it, but Hunter took off the minute Monroe caught it. His throw was way up the line, and Torii scored standing up. The ball was probably hit about 160 feet to left-field, and Monroe was coming in on the ball.
The small-ball talk gets nauseating at times, but there is no question that that's how the Twins were able to win 3 out of 4 from Detroit this weekend.
Dick Bremer made an excellent point during Sunday's broadcast when he said that Detroit has a deadly lineup because of the homerun power they have, but that when the homers don't come, they can't score runs. He's totally right. That has even been the case somewhat for Chicago this year. They've relied more on the long ball this year than they did in their World Series season.
Teams that rely on the homerun usually don't make noise in the playoffs. The pitching is much better in the postseason, which means you have to find alternate ways to score runs.
Just another reason the Twins will be dangerous if they can qualify for the playoffs.
*Monday night prediction - Vikings 17, Redskins 13

Vikings '06

As I've said before, I am not exactly counting down the minutes to the Vikings season opener. In fact, I'll probably watch more of the Twins game on Monday night than I will the Vikings.
But I'm still a Vikings fan dammit, and as soon as the Twins season ends I'm sure I'll dive in head first.
Unless of course they're 1-6 by then.

It's funny, but the whole idea behind hiring Brad Childress as Vikings head coach was supposedly to bring stability to the organization, but I'm not so sure that that's happened.
Guys are still getting arrested left and right, and Childress seems more interested in surrounding himself with former Philadelphia Eagles and Wisconsin Badgers than he does building this team for the Super Bowl.
Having said that, I'm not going to bury a guy before the season starts. He's a detail-oriented guy, and I like that. That's the one good thing about football coaches. They're smart guys who study alot, whereas managers in baseball are usually dumb ex-players who use their 'gut' over statistics, research and data (see Gardenhire, Ron).
The team:
QB: Brad Johnson had an excellent preseason, and if he's healthy, will not only not lose games, he will win games. If he starts all 16 games, I envision him completing about 65 percent of his passes, for about 3,300 yards, 20-25 TDs, and less than 10 INT, which would put his QB rating over 90.
Brooks Bollinger is a solid backup - lightyears better than Mike McMahon. Tarvaris Jackson had a good preseason, but being able to move him back to the No. 3 spot is preferable.
RB: Chester Taylor was totally unimpressive in preseason. Some of the 'experts' have touted him as a big sleeper (SI's Peter King predicts over 1,500 yds), while others say the Vikings are making a mistake in committing to him. My guess is that with the O-line the Vikings have, he'll be able to make some plays, the question may be if he can carry the ball 300 times over the course of the season.
Mewelde Moore is the same as he ever was. Good player, hurt again. He's a backup.
To me, Ciatrick Fason is just a guy.
FB: Tony Richardson was an underrated pickup. He might be able to help Taylor become something back there. It would've been nice to have Joey Goodspeed (lost to an ACL in mincamp) for depth.
WR: The Vikings don't even have a No. 2, let alone a No. 1, at WR.
Troy Williamson has speed, and the pressure is on him to deliver.
Marcus Robinson is still useful in the red zone, but his days of 1,400 yard seasons are long, long gone.
Travis Taylor is an ideal No. 3. Nothing more, nothing less.
Todd Pinkston is terrible, and the only reason he's on this team is because Brad Childress knows him.
TE: Jermaine Wiggins and Jim Kleinsasser make an excellent receiver/blocker combo.
OL: The left side is the best in the league. The right side appears solid with Artis Hicks and Marcus Johnson. If these guys play to their potential, BJ should be healthy, the running game should be sound, and the Viking offense will be able to limit turnovers, control the clock, and pick up first downs. It's cliche, but lineplay decides football games.
DL: Has the potential to be strong, with Erasmus James and Keneche Udeze on the cusp of maybe being stars. Kevin Williams has to have a comeback season, and if he does, this could be a deadly front 4 with big Pat Williams in the middle as well. He was the best interior Dlineman in the NFL last year.
LB: Even though he was just a rookie, the Vikings will miss Chad Greenway. His injury seriously depletes the depth. EJ Henderson had a great camp, but he'll have to prove it in gams that count. Ben Leber has been barely better than average so far in his career, while Napolean Harris needs to have a big season in the middle. If he doesn't, he might be out of the league. With Greenway out, the backups are Donatarrius Thomas, Jason Glenn and Heath Farwell.
S: Tank Williams will also be missed. Dwight Smith steps in to a starters role, and while he's a big hitter, he can't cover. Darren Sharper is one of the best centerfielders in football, and just a flat-out great football player. But he's not getting any younger.
CB: Fred Smoot was a great cover corner at Washington, hopefully he can shake off all that happened last year and resume that role. Antoine Winfield is the best tackling corner in the NFL, but according to NFL stats, he gave up one of the highest competion percentages on passes thrown his way last year. His effectiveness in the passing game has been highly overrated thus far.
K: Ryan Longwell will be a very good kicker. Chris Kluwe should be a better than average punter.

It's almost impossible to tell whats gonna happen.
They were 9-7 last year, and it would be hard to argue that they haven't improved since then.
Then again, that 9-7 is misleading. The Bears didn't even try in the season finale (they had already clinched), and the Vikes clearly had no business winning a couple of those games (the Giants game leaps to mind).
Predicition: 9-7

2006 NFC North
Vikings 9-7
Bears 8-8
Lions 8-8
Packers 6-10

Wanted: Hitters

It's hard to blame the Twins pitching for their recent struggles.
Their gutty veteran (Brad Radke) and rookie phenom (Francisco Liriano) are both on the DL, forcing the team to rely on Boof Bonser, Scott Baker, Matt Garza and Carlos Silva (along with Cy Santana) to get them to the playoffs.
And yet, if the season ended today, they'd be in the playoffs, which is amazing.
The problem is the offense. They've gone cold.
It's been almost two weeks since they roughed up an opposing starter, even though Justin Verlander and Mark Buehrle are the only All-Star caliber pitchers they've faced in that time.
Darrel Rassner, Jae Seo, Tim Corcoran, Luke Hudson, and several other journeyman have had no trouble putting the Twins to bed lately.
Joe Mauer either walks or chops a three-hopper to second base every time, Justin Morneau isn't being given anything to hit, Nick Punto has apparently remembered that he's Nick Punto, and Torii Hunter appears to be cooling off.
With the pitching staff battling so many injuries, it's up to the offense to pick up the slack, and theyre not doing it.
*Carlos Silva apologized to his teammates for leaving Wednesday's start early.
*Francisco Liriano is scheduled to pitch in a minor league playoff game Saturday. If all goes well, he could rejoin the Twins rotation Sept. 14.

Here, you take it

If there's anything worse for a pitcher than sucking, it's not wanting the ball.
After mysteriously taking himself out of a start early for the third time this year, this time in the middle of a one-hitter, it looks like that may be the case with Carlos Silva.
He was cruising against Tampa Bay, needing just 59 pitches to get through six innings, when he refused to go out for the 7th because of a stomach ache.
Silva didnt seem to think it was a big deal, citing the Twins strong bullpen. But that just makes it sound like he wanted to pass the buck onto someone else in a 1-0 game. I doubt that he would've asked out if the score had been 9-0.
It was clear from the post-game comments of Gardy and Rick Anderson (Andy in particular) that the team felt betrayed by Silva's bail-out move.
Wednesday's strong start notwithstanding, it's been a miserable year for Silva, and the fact that he's becoming something of a head case makes it seem very possible, maybe even likely, that the Twins will look to trade him this off-season.
They've already traded Kyle Lohse, and Brad Radke is probably going to retire, so it might seem risky to trade yet 200-inning guy.
But the emergence of Boof Bonser, not to mention the raw talent that's evident in Matt Garza, Scott Baker and others, makes Silva more than expendable.
The Twins won 2 of 3 from Tampa, and considering they'd beat them 14 times in a row, they were probably due for a loss. But its still a tough loss. Detroit comes to town now, and we're not exactly throwing a bunch of aces at them.
*Good news, though. Liriano will be back. Perhaps as early as Sept. 14.
*Bert Blyleven has been suspended an additional 3 games by the Twins for saying fuck twice on Sunday. (I insist on writing out 'fuck' since every newspaper in America apparently thinks that we're all a bunch of kindergartners.) The additional suspension means that Bert will not be fired.
And I'm glad. As much as I hate his goddamn telestrator, I like Bert.

Bert's F-Bombs, Yankees series, I hate Hamster Face

In case you missed it, Bert Blyleven said this on Sunday's pregame telecast.
"We have to do this fuckin' thing over cuz I just fucked it up. What? Oh, we're live? Oh, I'm sorry about that."
Seriously.
Often the pregame segments (in this case they were talking about the MVP candidacies of Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer and Derek Jeter) are taped in advance. That's what Bert thought was happening Sunday, but it was live, and his two F-bombs were heard loud and clear, after he had obviously stumbled through the segment.
He apologized again, sincerely I thought, in the top of the first, and a couple more times throughout the game. The Twins have suspended him for two games, and while they haven't ruled out firing him, it sounds like, for now, Bert is going to survive.
I occassionally make appearances on local TV sports shows, and I remember the first time I went on, the anchor told me, 'The golden rule is never say fuck in the studio - ever. No matter how sure you are that the cameras are off, something can always happen. So just never, every say fuck.'
Someone should've told Bert.
*Considering Carlos Silva, Scott Baker and Matt Garza took the mound, I'm actually happy with the Yankees series. The Twins are damn lucky to get one. I think it's clear by now that Silva isn't going to get it together this year, and considering the wealth of young pitchers in the organization, I'd consider trading him in the off-season. Baker, who I still think is going to be very good, pitched well, but the Yankees admit that they, for some reason, just can't hit the guy. I was at the game against the Yankees back in April when Baker mowed them down, in what was probably the best start of his career. As for Garza, he's not there yet, and I dont think it'll happen this year. I still think he's going to be great, but right now he seems nervous, and while he has the stuff to get ahead of hitters, he still hasn't figured out how to put them away.
The good news is that Boof Bonser looks like he's getting it together. I'm actually starting to feel fairly confident when he takes the mound.
*Francisco Liriano is apparently on track to return soon, which is great news. My guess is that he pitches out of the bullpen at first, and if the Twins manage to sneak into the playoffs, then maybe he can make some 5 or 6 inning starts.
*Brad Radke, on the other hand, is apparently done. He has vowed to return, but the doctors say that it will be nearly impossible. Stay tuned.
*I've decided that I hate Brad Childress, and anything less than a division title will ensure that I hate him forever. He continues to sign any player that he has ever coached before (Todd Pinkston? Are you fucking kidding me? There are receivers on the Sioux Falls Storm I'd rather have than that piece of shit), and he cut several Tice draft-picks, seemingly to make the point that he wants to win (read: lose) with his own guys.
Dustin Fox, Chris Lewinski, Willie Offord, Rod Davis, Richard Angulo, Jason Carter, Charles Gordon - these guys appeared capable of contributing. But heaven forbid we keep them over someone who didn't do shit while wearing an Eagles uniform (Carter, Angulo and Gordon did get resigned to the practice squad).
The fact is, Hamster face is taking over a team that went 9-7 last year and just missed the playoffs. He should be focused on improving the team slightly and winning what should be a totally weak NFC North. Instead, it appears that he's trying to tear it down and start over with his own guys. This is a bullshit move that many coaches and managers in various sports have pulled over the years. They're basically providing themselves a safety net for their first year, trying to say that they're not really trying to win, but rather 'build a foundation' or some bullshit.
It's stupid. This team can be a playoff team. I'm not saying that cutting Rod Davis is going to keep the Vikings out of the playoffs, but I am saying that just going out and adding whatever shit-scrub you coached three years ago is not how you improve.
That would be like me getting hired as the Editor of Sports Illustrated and hiring a bunch of my drunk-ass college roommates to be my staff writers.
Then when readers, or my superiors, questioned my decisions, I'd say some crap like, "Well, I'm familiar with them and they're familiar with me, and they have a good understanding of what I'm looking for, and we're building a foundation here and blah, blah, blah. It's a bunch of shit, and frankly, it's insulting to Vikings fans. Even if it works it's insulting, because it insinuates simple laziness. Who needs scouts, when you can just add anyone that Brad Childress has ever fucking met.

Two trades I like

Both the Twins and Vikings made trades Thursday that I like.
The Twins acquired DH/1B/3B/C/OF Phil Nevin (shown at left in video-game mode) from the Cubs for a PTBNL, while the Vikings picked up QB Brooks Bollinger for DT CJ Mosley.
First, the Nevin trade.
Nevin was a highly touted stud coming out of college, and the Astros made him the No. 1 overall pick in 1992.
It took him until 1999 to amount to anything, but from 99-01 with San Diego he hit 96 homers and drove in over 300 runs.
As recently as 2004 he hit .289 with 26 dingers and 105 RBIs, and he's hit 21 bombs so far this year with Texas and Chicago.
He's 35, and still capable of playing a few different positions, though the Twins will make him their DH. Nevin's salary is for over $10 million this year, but the Twins aren't paying hardly any of it. I haven't been able to find out if his contract expires after this year (I'm assuming it does) because, depending on how well he finishes the season, I'd be interested in possibly bringing him back next year at the right price, either as the DH or possibly at 3B.
Either way, this is a nice pickup for the Twins. Nevin makes their lineup better. With all the injuries I'd have liked to see the Twins pick up a starter, but aside from Boomer Wells it doesn't sound like anyone was available.
*As for the Vikings, Brooks Bollinger is a good pickup. He's exactly what a backup QB is supposed to be. Not great (otherwise he'd be starting) but good enough to win on his better days. As much as I like the trade, though, it's yet another example of Hamster Face's croneyism (Bollinger played at Wisconsin, where Childress was OC).
That's the same kind of shit that got the Vikes in trouble with Mike McMahon.
Someone needs to tell Hamster Face that there's no requirement for him to have previously coached players before signing them.
I once played right-field for the Canaries for one inning, I don't think Mike Pinto's gonna sign me when he's managing somewhere else next year.

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.

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.