- It’s a bit early to start the trade rumor machine going but a few blogs are discussing the possibility of Hunter and/or Stewart going to the Cards here, here, and even here. Though I’m sure some people still aren’t very keen on trading with St. Louis after giving them Tom Brunansky for Tom Herr.
- King Kyle? I guess we won’t see Liriano this quickly after all.
- Can we measure defense with as statistical model? The answer is: who knows. But nonetheless ubelmann takes a look at the Twins measurable defense and its absurdity.
- Don’t forget to examine and analyze the minors on a regular basis! You can do so here and here. Also look for Roger’s updates on Sethspeaks.net (as well as Seth’s own observations) and Dianna’s updates in the minor league forums at DTFC. [editor's note: You can also find Roger's minor league news in GameDay] Don't you want to discuss whether Trevor Plouffe is better than Alexi Casilla? Or how good Doug Deeds and Josh Rabe can be? Matt Moses is hitting .330/.382/.530 with five homers, I know I like that. Batista eat your heart out.
- Mainstream Power Rankings: Espn.com has them at 21st, Sportsline.com has them at 25th, Foxsports has them at 23rd, and Sportsillustrated.com has them also at 23rd, for a grand total of 91st place, which is really bad considering there are only 30 teams.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Links of the Day for 5/12/06
by Intern Pseudofool
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Links of the Day for 5-10-06
By Intern Jimmy
Under The Microscope: No start in Kyle Lohse's Twins tenure carries as much ramification as today's turn on the mound. Lohse's rollercoaster act has worn razor thin with management and fans. No longer is youthful inexperience an acceptable excuse. Lohse's strong spring seemed to portend the coming of age for the 27-year old. Too bad the magic quickly disappeared as 4 of 6 starts have yielded 6 or more earned runs. Who could ever replace his spot in the rotation…
Help On The Way? The question has been asked ad nauseum since his major league call up- when will the grooming period end for the uber-talented Francisco Liriano? Closer than we all think? The club's kiddie-gloves treatment of Johan Santana reaped obvious benefits, which begs the question- is his second coming ready? With the season spiraling towards the Boundary Waters, the positives far outweigh the negatives of the youngster thrown into the mix. If the coaches feel the need to keep Liriano at a pitch count, so be it. The sooner he begins thinking and throwing like a starter, the better. There's no doubt Liriano is special, as Jim Souhan hyped about a month back. Hell, his 13.24 K/9 leads all American League pitchers. I can’t even fathom the prospect of mercilessly unleashing the dual lefty attack on successive nights. It’d be nice if the Twins realized exactly how good the cards are before folding their hand. If you’re dealt pocket aces, the smart bet is to play them.
Defense To The Rescue: Though it's hardly a surprise when it happens, Torii turned in another sterling Web gem Sunday (below the picture, click the video icon “Torii’s running catch”). Racing to cover more ground than usual, Hunter snared the ball backhanded on the run coming out of nowhere. The defensive play of the day in baseball left the commentators in disbelief and mouths agape everywhere. It’s booster shots like this from their de facto leader that the Twins need to raise the overall confidence and play with a sense of urgency as they climb back to respectability.
Injury Alert: Not that I like to revel in any player getting hurt, but this news prompted a faint smile to escape. With the Twins treading water to stay afloat in the Central, anything resembling a buoy to help earn a win, especially against this particular division rival, is reason enough to grab for it. As the offense stalls as frequently as any stick-shift car I drive, not having to face the league’s ERA leader in the upcoming 4 game tilt is welcome news. What if things snowball for the White Sox without the presence of their most reliable pitcher dating back to last year’s postseason run? What if the injury is worse since Contreras isn’t exactly a spry young man who bounces back from ailments? The potential for something like this to throw the White Sox clubhouse off-kilter and embark on a losing skid has me twirling my imaginary Rollie Fingers mustache.
Under The Microscope: No start in Kyle Lohse's Twins tenure carries as much ramification as today's turn on the mound. Lohse's rollercoaster act has worn razor thin with management and fans. No longer is youthful inexperience an acceptable excuse. Lohse's strong spring seemed to portend the coming of age for the 27-year old. Too bad the magic quickly disappeared as 4 of 6 starts have yielded 6 or more earned runs. Who could ever replace his spot in the rotation…
Help On The Way? The question has been asked ad nauseum since his major league call up- when will the grooming period end for the uber-talented Francisco Liriano? Closer than we all think? The club's kiddie-gloves treatment of Johan Santana reaped obvious benefits, which begs the question- is his second coming ready? With the season spiraling towards the Boundary Waters, the positives far outweigh the negatives of the youngster thrown into the mix. If the coaches feel the need to keep Liriano at a pitch count, so be it. The sooner he begins thinking and throwing like a starter, the better. There's no doubt Liriano is special, as Jim Souhan hyped about a month back. Hell, his 13.24 K/9 leads all American League pitchers. I can’t even fathom the prospect of mercilessly unleashing the dual lefty attack on successive nights. It’d be nice if the Twins realized exactly how good the cards are before folding their hand. If you’re dealt pocket aces, the smart bet is to play them.
Defense To The Rescue: Though it's hardly a surprise when it happens, Torii turned in another sterling Web gem Sunday (below the picture, click the video icon “Torii’s running catch”). Racing to cover more ground than usual, Hunter snared the ball backhanded on the run coming out of nowhere. The defensive play of the day in baseball left the commentators in disbelief and mouths agape everywhere. It’s booster shots like this from their de facto leader that the Twins need to raise the overall confidence and play with a sense of urgency as they climb back to respectability.
Injury Alert: Not that I like to revel in any player getting hurt, but this news prompted a faint smile to escape. With the Twins treading water to stay afloat in the Central, anything resembling a buoy to help earn a win, especially against this particular division rival, is reason enough to grab for it. As the offense stalls as frequently as any stick-shift car I drive, not having to face the league’s ERA leader in the upcoming 4 game tilt is welcome news. What if things snowball for the White Sox without the presence of their most reliable pitcher dating back to last year’s postseason run? What if the injury is worse since Contreras isn’t exactly a spry young man who bounces back from ailments? The potential for something like this to throw the White Sox clubhouse off-kilter and embark on a losing skid has me twirling my imaginary Rollie Fingers mustache.
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Links of the Day for 5/9/06
by Intern Thomas
- In case you haven’t noticed, the left side of the infield has come back to earth in terms of generating offense. Are there other options available? (Yeah, I know, everyone knows the answer to this question). Aaron Gleeman has a look at how the Twins’ hitting prospects are doing down on the Farm. And while Bartlett and Kubel aren’t exactly setting AAA on fire, they’re still doing pretty well, and with Cuddyer handling the bat well, it seems that there are better options than the Dictator Duo. Mike Kramer over at Twins Killings seems to think that the signing of Batista and Castro aren’t the only reasons to be unhappy with Terry Ryan.
- Of course, it’s a lot harder to find fault with Ryan when it comes to finding stud pitchers. Santana is already past his usual slow start (though he had no chance against the combined powers of DicknBert on Sunday), posting a 2.48 ERA in his last four starts. Of course, if Bert hadn’t said anything about the shutout after Pudge broke up the no hitter, it would have only been 1.86.
- It seems that Lohse is pitching for his spot in the rotation on Wednesday. Is it wrong to be rooting for another poor start from the Soul Patch Kid? Also, it seems Gardenhire is the reason Liriano is being used in the setup role, rather than starting in AAA. It seems to me that Ryan should take a page out of Billy Beane’s book and stop letting his manager make decisions that the GM should be making.
- Finally, the Greet Machine remains the place to get all of your stadium bill news. Things are looking good in the Senate after a poll of Senate Majority Leader Dean Johnson’s constituency showed that 71% were in favor of the bill. And Governor Pawlenty has decided to sign the bill if it passes the legislature. Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the vote, which should be sometime this week.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
How Much for the Litte Boy?
by Twins Geek
The following is in this month's issue of GameDay, the independent program sold outside of the Metrodome.
What’s striking is the confidence.
Sure, there’s the patience. And the quick wrists. Everyone talks about the sweet swing, as if most of us could judge such a thing. But we know confidence. You could plunk some tribal pygmy from the Amazon in the front row of the Metrodome and he’d watch one at-bat and tell you that this kid was special compared to the others.
The quiet confidence. Especially in one so young. It lifts us up. At least, until - in typical Minnesotan self-deprecating fashion - we wonder how much longer we’ll get to enjoy it.
Welcome to the modern business of baseball, where players aren’t glossy trading cards – they’re contracts. Where small market teams need to evaluate the long-term future of a player before they’ve really been tested. And where the fairy tale about a kid playing for his hometown team may not end in “happily ever after”.
It seems like we just met Joe Mauer. Nevertheless, due to the economics of the game, the sports market that Mauer and his team share, and one crummy knee injury, an important opportunity has already passed. And Mauer’s economic value to a team that counts its pennies is decreasing fast.
Serfdom
Mauer’s knee injury in 2004 robbed the Twins of more than just his bat in the lineup. It robbed them of one-third of Mauer’s “serf” years. For roughly the first three years of a major league player’s career, their team can pay him whatever they want (above a minimum salary requirement.) If the player doesn’t accept what the team offers, the player has two choices – play for less or don’t play baseball.
This is when a team recoups the investment it makes in its farm system. It’s completely speculative what Mauer might have made if he could have been a free agent just prior to his rookie year, but a multi-year, guaranteed contract that exceeded $5 million is nearly certain. It might have exceeded $10 million. Instead, the Twins paid him $300,000.
Of course, that year Mauer only had 107 at-bats because of one of the worst possible knee injuries. Oh, it wasn’t “worst possible” in terms of severity – Jason Kubel has that award sewn (stitched?) up. It was “worst possible” in that it was difficult to diagnose, and difficult to judge its progress. Perhaps that’s the reason that the Twins didn’t put him on the 60 day disabled list, which would have delayed his service time. Instead, he gained a year toward the three years of service he needs to get to arbitration.
Arbitration
Starting next year, Mauer will be eligible for arbitration for the next three years. This means that the Twins (if they want to retain him) must pay him a salary that is comparable to what a similar major leaguer makes. Finding a “similar major leaguer” can be tricky, but there are a couple of young players whose salaries could provide a baseline.
Victor Martinez, the talented young catcher for the Cleveland Indians, is a very comparable player who already has a contract. Martinez will make $3 million in his fourth year of service time (which like Mauer, would be in 2007), $4.25 million in his fifth year, and $5.7 million in his sixth year. Anything near that would be the best possible scenario for the Twins. Martinez is getting paid quite a bit below the “superstar” strata for the next three years.
Unfortunately for the Twins, Martinez signed that deal over a year ago, and some more recent deals by young studs are making that salary structure obsolete. Mark Texeira, who was drafted just a couple picks behind Mauer, signed a deal with Texas this offseason that pays him $6.4 million this year, his fourth service year. He’ll make $9 million in his fifth year. He’ll make more than that in his sixth year before he starts making really big money as a free agent.
Chairman Mauer looks like he’s in line for nearly a $3-4 million raise next year, and at least a couple million dollars raise per year after that. Pretty soon, he won’t be the bargain upon which a small market team needs to rely. Time to sign him up to a long-term deal, right?
A missed opportunity
Um, maybe, but don’t expect a big bargain, because that opportunity passed, if it was ever there. The last chance for a major league team to get a big markdown is the offseason following the player’s second full year. At that point, the player has toiled for two years in the majors, and will need to play solidly (and stay healthy) for one more year before they get that first million-dollar contract and gain a lifetime of financial security. For the Twins and for Mauer, that was last offseason.
That didn’t happen, though you can be relatively sure that it wasn’t for lack of interest by the Twins. They’ve recently sought and signed similar deals with Joe Nathan, Juan Rincon and Carlos Silva. It’s doubtful they just overlooked inking a similar deal with the face of their franchise for the rest of the decade.
It’s far more likely that there just wasn’t interest on Mauer’s side. After all, as the first overall pick in the draft, he’s not in the same situation as most ballplayers. His signing bonus was $5.15 million, which he secured by leveraging his football scholarship to Florida State. Neither Mauer nor his agent, the renowned Ron Shapiro, has demonstrated a lack of solid negotiating skills. That doesn’t mean a long term deal can’t happen. It just means it won’t be cheap.
It Is What It Is
The good news is that the Twins have a great young player who should only improve. He’s a fantastic bargain for this year, and a pretty solid bargain for next year. They also don’t need to sign a multi-year guaranteed contract. Since Mauer can’t become a free agent until after his sixth season, the Twins essentially have a four-year contract with him that contains an escalating pay scale that they can renew annually.
The bad news is that in 2008, Mauer’s salary is going to affect the level of players with which the Twins can surround him. Two years after that, he can go to the highest bidder, and there isn’t a lot the Twins are going to be able to do about it other than throw a lot of money his way.
The same dichotomy applies to Twins fans. The good news is they get to watch greatness. The bad news is that every step their favorite player takes forward is likely another step towards the door. So, enjoy it while you can. So good. So confident. So young. So rare.
So long?
The following is in this month's issue of GameDay, the independent program sold outside of the Metrodome.
What’s striking is the confidence.
Sure, there’s the patience. And the quick wrists. Everyone talks about the sweet swing, as if most of us could judge such a thing. But we know confidence. You could plunk some tribal pygmy from the Amazon in the front row of the Metrodome and he’d watch one at-bat and tell you that this kid was special compared to the others.
The quiet confidence. Especially in one so young. It lifts us up. At least, until - in typical Minnesotan self-deprecating fashion - we wonder how much longer we’ll get to enjoy it.
Welcome to the modern business of baseball, where players aren’t glossy trading cards – they’re contracts. Where small market teams need to evaluate the long-term future of a player before they’ve really been tested. And where the fairy tale about a kid playing for his hometown team may not end in “happily ever after”.
It seems like we just met Joe Mauer. Nevertheless, due to the economics of the game, the sports market that Mauer and his team share, and one crummy knee injury, an important opportunity has already passed. And Mauer’s economic value to a team that counts its pennies is decreasing fast.
Serfdom
Mauer’s knee injury in 2004 robbed the Twins of more than just his bat in the lineup. It robbed them of one-third of Mauer’s “serf” years. For roughly the first three years of a major league player’s career, their team can pay him whatever they want (above a minimum salary requirement.) If the player doesn’t accept what the team offers, the player has two choices – play for less or don’t play baseball.
This is when a team recoups the investment it makes in its farm system. It’s completely speculative what Mauer might have made if he could have been a free agent just prior to his rookie year, but a multi-year, guaranteed contract that exceeded $5 million is nearly certain. It might have exceeded $10 million. Instead, the Twins paid him $300,000.
Of course, that year Mauer only had 107 at-bats because of one of the worst possible knee injuries. Oh, it wasn’t “worst possible” in terms of severity – Jason Kubel has that award sewn (stitched?) up. It was “worst possible” in that it was difficult to diagnose, and difficult to judge its progress. Perhaps that’s the reason that the Twins didn’t put him on the 60 day disabled list, which would have delayed his service time. Instead, he gained a year toward the three years of service he needs to get to arbitration.
Arbitration
Starting next year, Mauer will be eligible for arbitration for the next three years. This means that the Twins (if they want to retain him) must pay him a salary that is comparable to what a similar major leaguer makes. Finding a “similar major leaguer” can be tricky, but there are a couple of young players whose salaries could provide a baseline.
Victor Martinez, the talented young catcher for the Cleveland Indians, is a very comparable player who already has a contract. Martinez will make $3 million in his fourth year of service time (which like Mauer, would be in 2007), $4.25 million in his fifth year, and $5.7 million in his sixth year. Anything near that would be the best possible scenario for the Twins. Martinez is getting paid quite a bit below the “superstar” strata for the next three years.
Unfortunately for the Twins, Martinez signed that deal over a year ago, and some more recent deals by young studs are making that salary structure obsolete. Mark Texeira, who was drafted just a couple picks behind Mauer, signed a deal with Texas this offseason that pays him $6.4 million this year, his fourth service year. He’ll make $9 million in his fifth year. He’ll make more than that in his sixth year before he starts making really big money as a free agent.
Chairman Mauer looks like he’s in line for nearly a $3-4 million raise next year, and at least a couple million dollars raise per year after that. Pretty soon, he won’t be the bargain upon which a small market team needs to rely. Time to sign him up to a long-term deal, right?
A missed opportunity
Um, maybe, but don’t expect a big bargain, because that opportunity passed, if it was ever there. The last chance for a major league team to get a big markdown is the offseason following the player’s second full year. At that point, the player has toiled for two years in the majors, and will need to play solidly (and stay healthy) for one more year before they get that first million-dollar contract and gain a lifetime of financial security. For the Twins and for Mauer, that was last offseason.
That didn’t happen, though you can be relatively sure that it wasn’t for lack of interest by the Twins. They’ve recently sought and signed similar deals with Joe Nathan, Juan Rincon and Carlos Silva. It’s doubtful they just overlooked inking a similar deal with the face of their franchise for the rest of the decade.
It’s far more likely that there just wasn’t interest on Mauer’s side. After all, as the first overall pick in the draft, he’s not in the same situation as most ballplayers. His signing bonus was $5.15 million, which he secured by leveraging his football scholarship to Florida State. Neither Mauer nor his agent, the renowned Ron Shapiro, has demonstrated a lack of solid negotiating skills. That doesn’t mean a long term deal can’t happen. It just means it won’t be cheap.
It Is What It Is
The good news is that the Twins have a great young player who should only improve. He’s a fantastic bargain for this year, and a pretty solid bargain for next year. They also don’t need to sign a multi-year guaranteed contract. Since Mauer can’t become a free agent until after his sixth season, the Twins essentially have a four-year contract with him that contains an escalating pay scale that they can renew annually.
The bad news is that in 2008, Mauer’s salary is going to affect the level of players with which the Twins can surround him. Two years after that, he can go to the highest bidder, and there isn’t a lot the Twins are going to be able to do about it other than throw a lot of money his way.
The same dichotomy applies to Twins fans. The good news is they get to watch greatness. The bad news is that every step their favorite player takes forward is likely another step towards the door. So, enjoy it while you can. So good. So confident. So young. So rare.
So long?
Links of the Day for 5/8/06
Powered by Intern Sam
- Johan Santana took a no-hit game into the 7th inning Sunday before allowing a seeing-eye grounder to Ivan Rodriguez, and it was fun to listen to Herb Carneal and John Gordon in the middle innings as they adhered strictly to the old superstition about never mentioning a no-hitter until it’s broken up, and nearly burst from the excitement. At one point, Carneal danced on the edge of cosmic acceptability when he said, “Two baserunners for the Tigers in the game…” [long pause here, even for Herb] “…a walk… and a hit batsman. Santana’s first pitch to Inge in there for a called strike…” Classic stuff, and it got Intern Sam thinking about superstitions, and ballplayers, and well, we’ve all got our favorites, right? (How about the shortstop who was terrified of the letter ‘x’? Or the Twins’ own Gene Mauch, who never washed his underwear after a win?) Here’s a great list of some of the strangest…
- Some of the best writing and research on the Twins stadium shenanigans at the Capitol is happening on a blog authored by a Minnesota Senate staffer who says that today could be a very important day for the Twins bill.
- Anyone watching a baseball game on TV over the last couple of years has probably heard some commentator or other griping about the lack of inside pitching in the modern game. Since the guy griping the loudest is usually the unbelievably pompous Joe Morgan, many fans might be tempted to assume that a lack of chin music isn’t an actual problem. After all, there are still plenty of great pitchers around, right? But the fact is, (and Intern Sam shudders to type these words,) Morgan is right, and this weekend, Gordon Wittenmeyer took a stab at explaining why…
- We’re just going to assume that there isn’t actually a Twins farmhand named Josh Medwell. On the off chance that there actually is, we absolutely, positively, do not want to hear about it.
- How tough is it to be a Royals fan? So tough that one 34-year-old fan is throwing in the towel in seriously public fashion. Dismayed by years of futile rooting, Chad Carroll started an eBay auction, offering “my loyalty to the Kansas City Royals (jersey included)” to the highest bidder, and promised the winner the privilege of picking another team for Carroll to support. A Yahoo!Sports columnist offered $198.50, and the Northern League’s Kansas City T-Bones took a run at Carroll’s loyalty as well, but in the end, it was a group of Chad’s buddies who pooled their bids to win the auction. Happy ending, right? Wrong. One of the teams under consideration as Chad’s new rooting interest is the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Link of the Weekend
by Intern Sharkey
It’s time for a grab-bag edition of the Weekend Links, powered by the new Pearl Jam album (although, for this column, maybe Loverboy is more appropriate).
It’s time for a grab-bag edition of the Weekend Links, powered by the new Pearl Jam album (although, for this column, maybe Loverboy is more appropriate).
- Big series with the Tigers this weekend (four years ago who could have seen that coming?). Hopefully Jim Leyland keeps his pants on.
- Among Leyland’s former players are Mike Redmond and Louis Castillo. No word on if Leyland’s pants superstition inspired another.
- It’s hard to tell if Silva’s game on Thursday was due to a fix in his mechanics, or due to facing the Royals.
- I think I know how to fix Kyle Lohse, too. Have him switch bodies.
- About half way down this Baseball America chat, Matt Meyers compares Santana and Liriano to the Big Unit/Schilling Arizona combination that won a World Series. Of course, to win the World Series, it helps to be higher than fourth in your division.
- I’m glad Nick M. is feeling optimistic.
- Maybe old Carl is paying more for this new stadium than we thought.
- Even the worst ballpark food isn’t this bad.
- DIRRRRRT!
- Hopefully SBG never gets this mad at Gardenhire.
- The Mighty MJD brings you: If NBA Playoff Teams Were 80s Sitcoms! My favorite:
Memphis Grizzlies: The Dom DeLuise Show
Both were cancelled quickly, although you can’t deny that both were also helped out quite a bit by the beards on their stars. - On the topic of the NBA, I hope, if nothing else, that you’re all watching the Suns/Lakers series. Those 6 games (with game 7 tonight!), along with the insane Cleveland/Washington set (Damon Jones!), Chicago putting up a fight with Miami, Dirk solidifying his title as “Best Foreign Guy” over Pau… Awesome first round. Nope, no link there.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Links of the Day for 5/5/06
by Intern Pseudofool
Twins Chatter has surfaced again with a recent entry giving Ryan’s take on the stadium fiasco.
Jewscott attempts to answer the question on everyone’s mind “What’s wrong with the Twins anyway?” Apparently, everything.
Will Young has been posting regularly. He’s smart, articulate and provides you with neat graphics that don’t have to make sense or draw conclusions because, well, there just so neat. I especially like the May 2nd entry.
Here’s a discontinued Twins blog for posterity or nostalgia or to poke fun at failure or something.
Mainstream Power Rankings: Espn.com has us at 15th, Sportsline.com has us at 25th, Foxsports has us, also at 25th, and Sportsillustrated.com has at 24th, for a grand total of 89th place, which doesn’t seem real good to me, but you can’t put too much stock in those mainstream journalists anyways.
Flashback: At this time last year, the Twins were 16-11. And to think we’ve since added, Rondell White, Luis Castillo, and Tony Batista. Who new Joe Mays and Jacque Jones meant so much, er, wait they’re not playing very well either.
Twins Chatter has surfaced again with a recent entry giving Ryan’s take on the stadium fiasco.
Jewscott attempts to answer the question on everyone’s mind “What’s wrong with the Twins anyway?” Apparently, everything.
Will Young has been posting regularly. He’s smart, articulate and provides you with neat graphics that don’t have to make sense or draw conclusions because, well, there just so neat. I especially like the May 2nd entry.
Here’s a discontinued Twins blog for posterity or nostalgia or to poke fun at failure or something.
Mainstream Power Rankings: Espn.com has us at 15th, Sportsline.com has us at 25th, Foxsports has us, also at 25th, and Sportsillustrated.com has at 24th, for a grand total of 89th place, which doesn’t seem real good to me, but you can’t put too much stock in those mainstream journalists anyways.
Flashback: At this time last year, the Twins were 16-11. And to think we’ve since added, Rondell White, Luis Castillo, and Tony Batista. Who new Joe Mays and Jacque Jones meant so much, er, wait they’re not playing very well either.
Links of the Day for 5/4/06
by Intern Snarky
Report card time
Seth hands out grades to the Twins for the month of April, and it ain't pretty. A lot of Twins got some explaining to do - Torii, Morneau, Rondell White, Lohse, Radke, Silva and Guerrier all are looking at probation. Perhaps Seth and Gardy should meet for some kind of conference.
Things could be worse
Over at Twins Without Spin, we are reminded that our present pitching woes are nothing compared to some terrible performances in the past. Perhaps the embodiment of suckiness was former Twin TerryFelton, who had an arm destined for a career at a correction facility (0-13 in '82). I'd take Lohse over him any day.
Not so fast
The Twins don't get credit for catching an escaped sex offender. Please, we'll take any win we can get at this point.*The middle finger* ... David over at the Contrarian Bias has throwntogether a couple of good analysis pieces today. First, he points his Contrarian finger at the middle of the Twins line-up. Then, he let's us know that our middle relievers aren't so hot either. In fact, the way we often judge our middle relievers is pretty meaningless.
Need a pick-me-up?
How about Delmon Young throwing a bat at an umpire? Way to show those scabs!
Report card time
Seth hands out grades to the Twins for the month of April, and it ain't pretty. A lot of Twins got some explaining to do - Torii, Morneau, Rondell White, Lohse, Radke, Silva and Guerrier all are looking at probation. Perhaps Seth and Gardy should meet for some kind of conference.
Things could be worse
Over at Twins Without Spin, we are reminded that our present pitching woes are nothing compared to some terrible performances in the past. Perhaps the embodiment of suckiness was former Twin TerryFelton, who had an arm destined for a career at a correction facility (0-13 in '82). I'd take Lohse over him any day.
Not so fast
The Twins don't get credit for catching an escaped sex offender. Please, we'll take any win we can get at this point.*The middle finger* ... David over at the Contrarian Bias has throwntogether a couple of good analysis pieces today. First, he points his Contrarian finger at the middle of the Twins line-up. Then, he let's us know that our middle relievers aren't so hot either. In fact, the way we often judge our middle relievers is pretty meaningless.
Need a pick-me-up?
How about Delmon Young throwing a bat at an umpire? Way to show those scabs!
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Allard. Bared.
by Twins Geek
The following is also included in this week's Dugout Splinters, which is inserted in GameDay, the independent program sold outside of the Metrodome prior to Twins games.
In retrospect, the success of 2003 might have not been such a good thing for the Royals. Before 2003, they had already jettisoned most of their future when they traded away Johnny Damon and Jermaine Dye, and it was assumed they would do the same with Carlos Beltran and Mike Sweeney. General Manager Allard Baird, who had overseen years of failure, was likely on his way out the door. It was just a matter of time before the Royals scrapped pretense and really started rebuilding.
Their fast start in 2003 changed everything. Their young pitching, considered by most to be a couple of years away from maturity, fueled that start. It saved Baird’s job, vested Sweeney’ contract, persuaded them to hold onto Beltran an extra year and gave hope to a fan base where there really wasn’t any. The next offseason was spent signing older veteran bats to support a young pitching staff that had already seen its best days. It also began a downhill slide that looks like it will be extended to its third year in 2006.
The biggest question for any rational outsider is how Allard Baird is still the GM of this team. He’s finishing his sixth year on the job, and they’ve averaged just 66 wins per year, even including the fluky 83 wins in 2003. His organization has been blessed with high draft picks and has traded away superstar players like Damon, Dye, and Beltran for prospects. Yet their minor league system is ranked 23rd overall by Baseball America and hasn’t been ranked above 19th over the last five years. I take that initial sentence back. The biggest question isn’t “How does he still have this job?” The question is “How can I convince him to join my fantasy league?”
Baird has his strengths – or rather strength – and it’s on display in this year’s Royals team. Baird has an exceptional knack for finding underachieving veteran hitters who still have some gas left in their tank. Nobody is lucky enough to grab Emil Brown, Matt Stairs, and Raul Ibanez (now a Mariner) and have them turn into productive offensive players. He found some other candidates this offseason with Mark Grudzielanek, Doug Mientkiewicz and possibly Reggie Sanders. That’s a skill that would be invaluable to a contending organization with a solid core of young talent.
That organization is not the Royals, nor has it been for six years. Nor will it be as long as Baird is GM.
The following is also included in this week's Dugout Splinters, which is inserted in GameDay, the independent program sold outside of the Metrodome prior to Twins games.
In retrospect, the success of 2003 might have not been such a good thing for the Royals. Before 2003, they had already jettisoned most of their future when they traded away Johnny Damon and Jermaine Dye, and it was assumed they would do the same with Carlos Beltran and Mike Sweeney. General Manager Allard Baird, who had overseen years of failure, was likely on his way out the door. It was just a matter of time before the Royals scrapped pretense and really started rebuilding.
Their fast start in 2003 changed everything. Their young pitching, considered by most to be a couple of years away from maturity, fueled that start. It saved Baird’s job, vested Sweeney’ contract, persuaded them to hold onto Beltran an extra year and gave hope to a fan base where there really wasn’t any. The next offseason was spent signing older veteran bats to support a young pitching staff that had already seen its best days. It also began a downhill slide that looks like it will be extended to its third year in 2006.
The biggest question for any rational outsider is how Allard Baird is still the GM of this team. He’s finishing his sixth year on the job, and they’ve averaged just 66 wins per year, even including the fluky 83 wins in 2003. His organization has been blessed with high draft picks and has traded away superstar players like Damon, Dye, and Beltran for prospects. Yet their minor league system is ranked 23rd overall by Baseball America and hasn’t been ranked above 19th over the last five years. I take that initial sentence back. The biggest question isn’t “How does he still have this job?” The question is “How can I convince him to join my fantasy league?”
Baird has his strengths – or rather strength – and it’s on display in this year’s Royals team. Baird has an exceptional knack for finding underachieving veteran hitters who still have some gas left in their tank. Nobody is lucky enough to grab Emil Brown, Matt Stairs, and Raul Ibanez (now a Mariner) and have them turn into productive offensive players. He found some other candidates this offseason with Mark Grudzielanek, Doug Mientkiewicz and possibly Reggie Sanders. That’s a skill that would be invaluable to a contending organization with a solid core of young talent.
That organization is not the Royals, nor has it been for six years. Nor will it be as long as Baird is GM.
Links of the Day for 05/03/06
By Intern Jimmy
Shaking Things Up: April taught the Twins a couple hard lessons. For one, Twins pitchers certainly can’t rely on their reputation any longer. Time to prove on the mound what has been the hallmark of this franchise in the 21st century. Second, enough giving hitters obligatory batting spots based on career numbers. The only numbers that matter are the last month’s laughably low marks of production. A shuffling of spots below the top 3 was in order. Gardenhire finally had the gumption to drop the deplorable duo of T-Phat and RoWhite down in the lineup for the Mariners series, occupying the 7th and 8th spots respectively. A little humble pie to help them get their groove back. Gardy’s move paid dividends Tuesday as both knocked in and scored a run.
Baby Steps: The scheduling gods couldn’t have set this up better to help the Twins regain their confidence and reclaim their swagger. As the 2nd bottle of the season 6-pack is cracked, it’s hard to imagine May tasting as skunky as April. While the Pioneer Press stops short of saying a miracle will save the season, I say baby steps. Baby steps in beating Seattle with Santana returning to his dominant form. Baby steps to sweeping two from the Royally Bads. Baby steps to three redemptive opportunities against the Tigers this weekend to flush the memory of the Detroit debacle down the toilet. Baby steps to .500 baseball by winning 2 of 3 in Texas, where Rangers pitchers are equally adept as the Twins at inflated ERAs. Baby steps to finding exactly what the team is made of hosting the defending champs for a pivotal 4-game series. There’s no reason to worry about October just yet. Let’s see what kind of team May offers and go from there. But if you need proof, here are some recent examples of early season turnarounds.
The Offense Is There, You Just Have To Look For It: To cope with the Twins hitting woes, it’s encouraging to know that the minor leaguers are not falling prey to the majors’ plight. Six players are hitting .300 or better for Rochester (AAA). Catcher Chris Heintz leads the team at .370 a clip while eventual Twins call-ups Jason Kubel and Jason Bartlett are staying sharp until their services are needed on a full-time basis. At New Britain (AA), two 1st round picks are making good on their potential. Denard Span, 2002’s 20th overall pick, is hitting a cool .341 while scorching the base paths with his blazing speed. SS Matt Moses, 2003’s 21st overall pick, is hitting .324 with 3 HRs on the season. Beloit (A) boasts another team leading catcher, Caleb Moore, hitting .347 on the season- what is it with the Twins stockpiling smooth swinging catchers? Also, 1B Erik Lis is carrying a .306 average with 4 HR in 78 at-bats since being called up from rookie ball.
Shaking Things Up: April taught the Twins a couple hard lessons. For one, Twins pitchers certainly can’t rely on their reputation any longer. Time to prove on the mound what has been the hallmark of this franchise in the 21st century. Second, enough giving hitters obligatory batting spots based on career numbers. The only numbers that matter are the last month’s laughably low marks of production. A shuffling of spots below the top 3 was in order. Gardenhire finally had the gumption to drop the deplorable duo of T-Phat and RoWhite down in the lineup for the Mariners series, occupying the 7th and 8th spots respectively. A little humble pie to help them get their groove back. Gardy’s move paid dividends Tuesday as both knocked in and scored a run.
Baby Steps: The scheduling gods couldn’t have set this up better to help the Twins regain their confidence and reclaim their swagger. As the 2nd bottle of the season 6-pack is cracked, it’s hard to imagine May tasting as skunky as April. While the Pioneer Press stops short of saying a miracle will save the season, I say baby steps. Baby steps in beating Seattle with Santana returning to his dominant form. Baby steps to sweeping two from the Royally Bads. Baby steps to three redemptive opportunities against the Tigers this weekend to flush the memory of the Detroit debacle down the toilet. Baby steps to .500 baseball by winning 2 of 3 in Texas, where Rangers pitchers are equally adept as the Twins at inflated ERAs. Baby steps to finding exactly what the team is made of hosting the defending champs for a pivotal 4-game series. There’s no reason to worry about October just yet. Let’s see what kind of team May offers and go from there. But if you need proof, here are some recent examples of early season turnarounds.
The Offense Is There, You Just Have To Look For It: To cope with the Twins hitting woes, it’s encouraging to know that the minor leaguers are not falling prey to the majors’ plight. Six players are hitting .300 or better for Rochester (AAA). Catcher Chris Heintz leads the team at .370 a clip while eventual Twins call-ups Jason Kubel and Jason Bartlett are staying sharp until their services are needed on a full-time basis. At New Britain (AA), two 1st round picks are making good on their potential. Denard Span, 2002’s 20th overall pick, is hitting a cool .341 while scorching the base paths with his blazing speed. SS Matt Moses, 2003’s 21st overall pick, is hitting .324 with 3 HRs on the season. Beloit (A) boasts another team leading catcher, Caleb Moore, hitting .347 on the season- what is it with the Twins stockpiling smooth swinging catchers? Also, 1B Erik Lis is carrying a .306 average with 4 HR in 78 at-bats since being called up from rookie ball.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Links of the Day for 5/2/06
by Intern Thomas
It’s a new series, a new week and a new month., which means it’s time to forget about the Tigers and April and focus on the what’s coming up for the Twins as they attempt to climb back into the divisional race.
It’s a new series, a new week and a new month., which means it’s time to forget about the Tigers and April and focus on the what’s coming up for the Twins as they attempt to climb back into the divisional race.
- Next up is the Mariners, a team that, after winning their last two games to take their series in Baltimore, is forced to travel from one of the best parks in baseball (where I will be taking in a game on Tuesday) to the Metrodome. Lookout Landing has an open game thread for the game if you’re interested in discussing tonight’s matchup with some Mariner fans, or if you just want to defend “Circle Me” Bert’s broadcasting honor.
- In the not so distant future, some Twin will be playing in the All Star game. If you want to try and stuff the ballot box for Mauer Power, Luis Castillo or Shannon Stewart, you can start voting online. If you want to try and get T-Phat or Castro to Pittsburgh this year, well, good luck.
- If you’re more of a realist, or you just don’t want to get your hopes up again only to have them dashed one more time by the pitching juggernaut that is Runylevs Hernandez, Aaron Gleeman’s take on April is probably right up your alley. The comments aren’t exactly happy fun thoughts either, though sadly, they aren’t exactly out of line. After reading Gleeman, it’s worth it to take a peek over at Twins Without Spin, where he discusses what the Twins should do once they decide to cut their losses on the season.
- And, as bad as it’s been, remember that it can always get worst. At least none of the Twins’ position prospects, despite getting jerked around by management, have taken it out on an unsuspecting umpire. And while T-Phat hasn’t done much with his bat, that’s a good thing if you consider that it means he’s avoided using it like A-Rod did in Baltimore.
Sunday, April 30, 2006
On Big Dogs
by Twins Geek
The following is also included in this week's Dugout Splinters, which is inserted in GameDay, the independent program sold outside of the Metrodome prior to Twins games.
We spend a lot of time in GameDay and here talking about the minutia of baseball. We’ll debate the impact of Tony Batista’s on-base percentage. We’ll ponder whether Jason Bartlett’s range is more important than Juan Castro’s quick release. We’ll write a 1500 word story comparing the relative merits of swapping Shannon Stewart and Luis Castillo in the batting order. It’s fun and somewhat worthwhile, in the sense that the pursuit of excellence is worthwhile.
On the other hand, it’s also worth noting that if the big dogs aren’t hunting, then nobody’s belly is full, and all the navel-gazing in the world isn’t going to change that. Right now the Twins have six big dogs that aren’t just struggling, they’re enduring some one of the worst stretches of their career.
The middle of the Twins lineup is an absolute mess. The Twins cleanup hitter, Rondell White, went 5 for 33 (.152 BA) on the latest nine game road trip – and improved his batting average. The next hitter, Torii Hunter, had just two hits in thirty at-bats on the road trip. Which equals the numbers of hits that #6 hitter Justin Morneau had. Combined, the three of them are hitting .177 on the season.
And things are even worse in the middle of the Twins rotation. The Twins expected Kyle Lohse to show he can be one of the better pitchers on the staff. They were right. His ERA is the 3rd best of the starting pitchers, but it’s still 8.77. Terry Ryan claims that Brad Radke has the best stuff he’s had in years, but is struggling with his “location”. That’s true, since the ultimate location of Radke’s pitches has been the outfield bleachers. Carlos Silva has matched Bradke in giving up home runs but has made them count a bit more as evidenced by his 10.31 ERA. He also leads the league in hits against.
So, how exactly does one fix all that? The Twins AAA club has as many options as any in major league baseball, but they don’t have three starters ready to throw 200 innings, and they don’t have three hitters that can be plugged into the middle of the lineup. Nobody does. Nobody ever has. There is no quick fix for 2006. The Twins are going to need to play the hand they have been dealt.
Alternately, there is just as little logic in rushing to look forward to 2007. Each of these dogs is going to improve over the rest of the season, simply because they can’t do a whole lot worse (or if you want a more statistical explanation, they’ll “regress to the mean”). The Twins have three months before the trade deadline, so it’s not like they need to be in a hurry to rebuild.
There comes a point where there are no bold moves left to make and where refinements and adjustments just don’t have any affect. Instead, one simply must wait and watch and see what happens. After a series of player meltdowns that defy all attempts at prediction, the Twins have reached that point. So must Twins fans.
The following is also included in this week's Dugout Splinters, which is inserted in GameDay, the independent program sold outside of the Metrodome prior to Twins games.
We spend a lot of time in GameDay and here talking about the minutia of baseball. We’ll debate the impact of Tony Batista’s on-base percentage. We’ll ponder whether Jason Bartlett’s range is more important than Juan Castro’s quick release. We’ll write a 1500 word story comparing the relative merits of swapping Shannon Stewart and Luis Castillo in the batting order. It’s fun and somewhat worthwhile, in the sense that the pursuit of excellence is worthwhile.
On the other hand, it’s also worth noting that if the big dogs aren’t hunting, then nobody’s belly is full, and all the navel-gazing in the world isn’t going to change that. Right now the Twins have six big dogs that aren’t just struggling, they’re enduring some one of the worst stretches of their career.
The middle of the Twins lineup is an absolute mess. The Twins cleanup hitter, Rondell White, went 5 for 33 (.152 BA) on the latest nine game road trip – and improved his batting average. The next hitter, Torii Hunter, had just two hits in thirty at-bats on the road trip. Which equals the numbers of hits that #6 hitter Justin Morneau had. Combined, the three of them are hitting .177 on the season.
And things are even worse in the middle of the Twins rotation. The Twins expected Kyle Lohse to show he can be one of the better pitchers on the staff. They were right. His ERA is the 3rd best of the starting pitchers, but it’s still 8.77. Terry Ryan claims that Brad Radke has the best stuff he’s had in years, but is struggling with his “location”. That’s true, since the ultimate location of Radke’s pitches has been the outfield bleachers. Carlos Silva has matched Bradke in giving up home runs but has made them count a bit more as evidenced by his 10.31 ERA. He also leads the league in hits against.
So, how exactly does one fix all that? The Twins AAA club has as many options as any in major league baseball, but they don’t have three starters ready to throw 200 innings, and they don’t have three hitters that can be plugged into the middle of the lineup. Nobody does. Nobody ever has. There is no quick fix for 2006. The Twins are going to need to play the hand they have been dealt.
Alternately, there is just as little logic in rushing to look forward to 2007. Each of these dogs is going to improve over the rest of the season, simply because they can’t do a whole lot worse (or if you want a more statistical explanation, they’ll “regress to the mean”). The Twins have three months before the trade deadline, so it’s not like they need to be in a hurry to rebuild.
There comes a point where there are no bold moves left to make and where refinements and adjustments just don’t have any affect. Instead, one simply must wait and watch and see what happens. After a series of player meltdowns that defy all attempts at prediction, the Twins have reached that point. So must Twins fans.
Links of the Day for 5/1/06
Powered by Intern Sam
Has there ever been a weekend this soul-crushing, this hope-draining, this mind-numbingly awful? Three straight days of dark clouds, slow rain, and utter baseball humiliation can suck the life right out of a guy, to the point that, when Intern Sam woke up Sunday morning to discover that all of the cedar planks holding his patio fence together had rotted away at both ends and fallen into the driveway, his first thought was, “Well, of course they did. Planks rot, rain falls, supremely talented first basemen swing at the first pitch and pop it up with men in scoring position, and starting pitchers give up nine earned in less than an hour of work.” It’s hard to stay rational and look for solutions at a time like this, and a quick glance around Twins Territory indicates that most of us aren’t even trying…
Has there ever been a weekend this soul-crushing, this hope-draining, this mind-numbingly awful? Three straight days of dark clouds, slow rain, and utter baseball humiliation can suck the life right out of a guy, to the point that, when Intern Sam woke up Sunday morning to discover that all of the cedar planks holding his patio fence together had rotted away at both ends and fallen into the driveway, his first thought was, “Well, of course they did. Planks rot, rain falls, supremely talented first basemen swing at the first pitch and pop it up with men in scoring position, and starting pitchers give up nine earned in less than an hour of work.” It’s hard to stay rational and look for solutions at a time like this, and a quick glance around Twins Territory indicates that most of us aren’t even trying…
- It’s now official – the Twin Cities sports press has turned on the Twins, with a ferocity I wouldn’t have predicted even a week ago. This morning on KSTP-AM’s Sunday SportsTalk, Pat Reusse and Jim Souhan spent the 11-o’clock hour indiscriminately ripping into nearly every Twins player and coach. (Sorry, there’s no archived audio available online.) Their joint assessment: Torii Hunter is pouting over the loss of Jacque Jones and the rest of the core group from the ’01-’04 seasons and is making no effort to correct his swing or offer leadership in the clubhouse; Brad Radke is ready to retire and doesn’t seem to care where his pitches go anymore; the coaching staff seems completely at a loss as to how to even begin turning things around (Reusse added, probably correctly, that if Tom Kelly were still the manager, Hunter would either be taking better at bats or would be in a platoon situation in center field); and the team as a whole will be lucky to win 75 games this season.
Hyperbole aside, (and particularly in Radke’s case, the Strib’s twin rays of sunshine almost have to be a bit off base – a pitcher who has been the embodiment of professionalism his whole career suddenly decides to go out in a blaze of indifference? Brad may indeed be cooked, but it’s unlikely that he’s dogging it on purpose,) it’s hard to argue with much of what was said on the show. Meanwhile, there’s no shortage of increasingly desperate suggestions from the fan base… - Jason Williams and Gordon Wittenmeyer did another of their conversation columns this weekend, trying to come up with reasons to keep the MetroDome around once the new stadiums are approved. (Yes, we know, we’re jinxing everything. Sorry. We’ll take full responsibility if Zygi Wilf and Larry Pogemiller actually succeed in derailing the ballpark. But they probably won’t.) It’s a short column, because, c’mon. The Dome is a useless heap of concrete and Teflon and the dynamite can’t be placed soon enough, and anyone who says otherwise either hates baseball, or was born after 1980 and has never left Hennepin County.
- From the Putting It All In Perspective File, former Twins reliever Steve Howe died in an auto wreck late last week, and got what amounted to one final sad shake of the head from the baseball world for his trouble. If Barry Bonds is the poster boy for everything that went wrong with baseball in the 1990s, Howe (along with Dwight Gooden) represents the cocaine-soaked roller coaster that was major league life for all too many players in the 1980s. Howe could have been one of the best relief pitchers of his generation, and all too briefly, he was. But it didn’t last, and Howe became just one more cautionary tale coaches could use to remind rookies that life has consequences.
- On the plus side of baseball life in the Twin Cities, the first St. Paul Saints preseason game is this Thursday. Forgotten about them, had you? Mike Veeck’s team may have lost some of its considerable luster over the past few seasons – an increase in annoying commercial tie-ins, the Twins’ three-year run of playoff baseball, several controversial league changes, and the loss of legendary PA announcer Eric Webster all contributed to a sense that the Saints weren’t as “special” as they had once been – but a night at Midway Stadium is still one of the best bargains in town, and contrary to what you might read elsewhere, the baseball isn’t half bad. Oh, and if you think the diehard Saints fans (and yes, there are plenty) aren’t a bit worried about what a new Twins ballpark might mean to them, you’ve got another think coming…
Saturday, April 29, 2006
GameDay in the Downtown Journal
I'd like to thank Jeremy Stratton for this excellent column that appeared in last week's Downtown Journal. My favorite part is where he says the writing "borders on wonkish". Borders? I think we crossed the border long ago my friends. Hell, I'm pretty sure the application for citizenship is being reviewed.
Friday, April 28, 2006
It’s that time of year again. Mock drafts and mock mock drafts, analysis and mock analysis. But our nation’s pastime has its own draft on the way, in just over a month. In preparation for the world’s greatest conference call, and to give you a break from the football madness (and Mel Kiper’s Hair, it’s time for the links.
Two more in Detroit this weekend; enjoy the stick-and-ball.
- David Schoenfield counts down the 100 worst draft picks of all time here. A surprising number of baseball picks make the list, mostly because of some other high-profile player that could have been taken instead (see #’s 73-56, “The 18 Guys Drafted Before Clemens”). I find this to be a ridiculous “hindsight is 20-20” situation; the baseball draft is by far the most difficult to predict in any given year, and to look back and rip on teams for not realizing the greatness of Derek Jeter is absurd.
- In this still-relevant 2004 article, Bryan Smith discusses some key changes that should be made to the MLB draft, using a year that holds special significance for the Twins as an example (think Mauer + Michael Young).
- This not-so-creatively-titled blog has the complete, finalized 2006 draft order, with all compensation picks. The Home Nine have picks number 20, 64, 96, 119, and 126.
- So who can we expect to join the opening day roster in time to welcome a shiny new stadium? Baseball America runs down the top 20 prospects here. By all accounts, the draft is very pitching-heavy this year; just what the Twins need!
- As for young players the Twins already have, BA ranks the Minnesota farm system sixth overall.
- What would happen if baseball’s current structure was completely blown up, with every player thrown into one überdraft? Both Baseball Prospectus and Baseball America answer that question. BP’s Nate Silver writes his two part special for ESPN here and here, while BA’s draft can be found here. A couple of Twins show up in the top ten on both lists.
Two more in Detroit this weekend; enjoy the stick-and-ball.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Links of the Day for 4/28/06
by Intern Pseudofool
According to Baseball Prospectus (scroll down past the Astros talk), the Twins need Castillo in order to compete, but the real reason we’re not winning is because of the starting pitching. Having Rondell White and his one extra base hit hitting fourth can’t help either.
You’ve been hearing a lot about the stadium. And you probably know it passed the house. However, looks like the Senate is throwing the Twins a curveball, so it might not be a bad time to contact your state Senator. Mbennett at TwinkieTown has provided us with a sample letter.
Twins took 2 of 3 from the Royals, with Michael Cuddyer leading the way in the last game with a three hits and a homerun. Cuddyer, Luis Rodriguez, and Mike Redmond, who all are, evidently, bench players, lead the team in OPS. Mauer sat out with the sore hamstring on Thursday according to the Recap’s notes, let’s hope he gets better.
Non Sequitur Moment: What ever happened to RossCW? Some people think he’s this guy. I wouldn’t put it past either of them. I always like those logic police posters on message boards, they help control the sabermetric/fanboi versus reasonable human being ratio.
According to Baseball Prospectus (scroll down past the Astros talk), the Twins need Castillo in order to compete, but the real reason we’re not winning is because of the starting pitching. Having Rondell White and his one extra base hit hitting fourth can’t help either.
You’ve been hearing a lot about the stadium. And you probably know it passed the house. However, looks like the Senate is throwing the Twins a curveball, so it might not be a bad time to contact your state Senator. Mbennett at TwinkieTown has provided us with a sample letter.
Twins took 2 of 3 from the Royals, with Michael Cuddyer leading the way in the last game with a three hits and a homerun. Cuddyer, Luis Rodriguez, and Mike Redmond, who all are, evidently, bench players, lead the team in OPS. Mauer sat out with the sore hamstring on Thursday according to the Recap’s notes, let’s hope he gets better.
Non Sequitur Moment: What ever happened to RossCW? Some people think he’s this guy. I wouldn’t put it past either of them. I always like those logic police posters on message boards, they help control the sabermetric/fanboi versus reasonable human being ratio.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Links of the Day 4/27/06
by Intern Snarky
Twin's fans have been getting some love from former players. Jacque Jones has had a rough transition from the Minnesota nice fans to the people of Chicago- they're booing poor Jacque. He's so sad he can barely swing at terrible pitches. Dougie Mientkiewicz misses it here too.
Forbes released their yearly evaluations of baseball team values (thanks Maury Brown). The Twins' value has increased by 21% since last year, thanks to the Yankees and their mountains of money. Maybe Carl's not so poor after all? If we keep this growth up we will be worth as much as Carl Pohlad in 14 years. It'll only take 69 years for the Twins value to surpasse the national debt. This requires the rock-solid assumption that neither the national debt nor Pohlads' wealth will grow. In 69 years, all we have to do is sell the Twins to China and we'll have this whole debt thing taken care of. No worries mate.
Former Twin and Gopher Dave Winfield was counted among the first for theNCAA baseball hall of fame.
Did you know that the Royals have bloggers?! Hard to believe. I didn't even know they had fans.
After visiting their websites, I don't think I'll ever complain about the Twins again.
Also, if you haven't seen this, you should- Tony Batista is showing his technique for converting the Japanese.
Twin's fans have been getting some love from former players. Jacque Jones has had a rough transition from the Minnesota nice fans to the people of Chicago- they're booing poor Jacque. He's so sad he can barely swing at terrible pitches. Dougie Mientkiewicz misses it here too.
Forbes released their yearly evaluations of baseball team values (thanks Maury Brown). The Twins' value has increased by 21% since last year, thanks to the Yankees and their mountains of money. Maybe Carl's not so poor after all? If we keep this growth up we will be worth as much as Carl Pohlad in 14 years. It'll only take 69 years for the Twins value to surpasse the national debt. This requires the rock-solid assumption that neither the national debt nor Pohlads' wealth will grow. In 69 years, all we have to do is sell the Twins to China and we'll have this whole debt thing taken care of. No worries mate.
Former Twin and Gopher Dave Winfield was counted among the first for theNCAA baseball hall of fame.
Did you know that the Royals have bloggers?! Hard to believe. I didn't even know they had fans.
After visiting their websites, I don't think I'll ever complain about the Twins again.
Also, if you haven't seen this, you should- Tony Batista is showing his technique for converting the Japanese.
Links of the Day for 4/26/06
by Intern Jimmy
Apologies for today’s minimal contribution. Late hours in the office coupled with a wild weekend home for Notre Dame’s spring football game left less than optimal time for TG. Minnesota was on the mind as I talked some Cretin-Derham Hall and Apple Valley football with two Irish senior stars and hyped the merits of Twin Cities living with Ohio State LB A.J. Hawk if he happens to fall to the Vikings this weekend.
Good Trend, Bad Trend: With last night’s saving grace victory, the Twins now stand 8-11 with every win of the come-from-behind variety. Granted, these aren’t all late inning comebacks, but it’s true they have not scored first in any triumph thus far. This Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde persona will wear on a team over the course of a year. The ability to beat somebody from start to finish is essential. But it’s not necessarily a bad thing that the boys turn in timely hitting and act like a pesky gnat when they fall behind. Your thoughts Twins fans?
Catching Up With…Doug Mientkiewicz: Everyone’s favorite 12 letter multi-pronounceable Gold Glove first baseman, Doug (for brevity’s sake) has embarked on an odyssey of sorts since leaving the team where he made his mark. A mid-season trade in 2004, Doug famously caught the final out that sent Red Sox Nation into ecstacy, then alienated himself by refusing to relinquish the curse breaking ball back to the team. Exhausting tabloid stories ensued and Doug’s impudence found him playing for the underachieving Mets last season before being exiled to MLB’s Isle of Elba, Kansas City. For a K.C. fan’s perspective, I talked to my buddy Zeller (no relation to Brad) about Doug’s reception in Kansas City. “Indifference. Nobody has a problem with him, yet.” I suppose there are plenty of other glaring problems for Royals fans to worry about.
Worth Noting: The Chicago Cubs recently called up Michael Restovich. With Derrek Lee on the sidelines for the next couple months, Restovich may get the ample playing time he never received in Minnesota. We’ll see if he can finally validate those gaudy minor league numbers. Good luck on the North Side Michael.
Apologies for today’s minimal contribution. Late hours in the office coupled with a wild weekend home for Notre Dame’s spring football game left less than optimal time for TG. Minnesota was on the mind as I talked some Cretin-Derham Hall and Apple Valley football with two Irish senior stars and hyped the merits of Twin Cities living with Ohio State LB A.J. Hawk if he happens to fall to the Vikings this weekend.
Good Trend, Bad Trend: With last night’s saving grace victory, the Twins now stand 8-11 with every win of the come-from-behind variety. Granted, these aren’t all late inning comebacks, but it’s true they have not scored first in any triumph thus far. This Dr. Jekyll-Mr. Hyde persona will wear on a team over the course of a year. The ability to beat somebody from start to finish is essential. But it’s not necessarily a bad thing that the boys turn in timely hitting and act like a pesky gnat when they fall behind. Your thoughts Twins fans?
Catching Up With…Doug Mientkiewicz: Everyone’s favorite 12 letter multi-pronounceable Gold Glove first baseman, Doug (for brevity’s sake) has embarked on an odyssey of sorts since leaving the team where he made his mark. A mid-season trade in 2004, Doug famously caught the final out that sent Red Sox Nation into ecstacy, then alienated himself by refusing to relinquish the curse breaking ball back to the team. Exhausting tabloid stories ensued and Doug’s impudence found him playing for the underachieving Mets last season before being exiled to MLB’s Isle of Elba, Kansas City. For a K.C. fan’s perspective, I talked to my buddy Zeller (no relation to Brad) about Doug’s reception in Kansas City. “Indifference. Nobody has a problem with him, yet.” I suppose there are plenty of other glaring problems for Royals fans to worry about.
Worth Noting: The Chicago Cubs recently called up Michael Restovich. With Derrek Lee on the sidelines for the next couple months, Restovich may get the ample playing time he never received in Minnesota. We’ll see if he can finally validate those gaudy minor league numbers. Good luck on the North Side Michael.
Monday, April 24, 2006
Links of the Day 4/25/06
by Intern Thomas
Kind of a rough weekend, that’s for sure, but it’s time for happy thoughts. Going 7-11 against the top teams in the American League is not the end of the world. So, in honor of the good times that is playing the Royals (please don’t be a jinx…please don’t be a jinx) here are some links to make you feel a little better before the Twins take on the worst team in baseball.
Kind of a rough weekend, that’s for sure, but it’s time for happy thoughts. Going 7-11 against the top teams in the American League is not the end of the world. So, in honor of the good times that is playing the Royals (please don’t be a jinx…please don’t be a jinx) here are some links to make you feel a little better before the Twins take on the worst team in baseball.
- First off, it’s pretty clear that Torii is over his ankle injury. True, his catch on Sunday that robbed Konerko of a home run wasn’t anything spectacular (for him), but it was vintage Torii. If you want to see more, someone has put together a highlight film of Torii’s amazing defensive plays and home runs. (The film is put to a Tupac Song, so you’ll want to turn your sound off if you’re at work)
- Feeling a little better? Well, here’s some more good news: Zack Grienke has rejoined the Royals organization after leaving the team due to personal matters. And while it may not be good news for the Twins that the player that Baseball Prospectus called the future of pitching in 2005 is back in the Royals organization, it is heartening to know that he’s overcoming his demons and starting back on the road to realizing his enormous potential.
- One of my favorite parts of attending a baseball game is the scoreboard races. I have to say I wasn’t very happy when I didn’t get to see Tuffy, Speedy and Barney race around Minneapolis during my visits to the ‘Dome. But take heart, good readers, the Twins weren’t the only franchise to have animated characters race each other for the enjoyment of the crowd. If you’re planning on taking in a game somewhere besides the friendly confines of the Metrodome, check out Deadspin’s rundown of the races in the AL, the NL and the Minors and other leagues. I hope you enjoy the Nationals’ race as much as I do.
- Finally, a follow up to the Hardball Times’ look at left handed catchers has some more reasons why there should be more lefty catchers, and some pretty solid reasons why there aren’t (hint: baseball people aren’t open to new ideas). And it turns out that an old (and I mean old) favorite of Twins’ fans started out as a southpaw backstop. Who knew?
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Links of the Day for 4/24/06
Powered by Intern Sam
Well, that was fun. Nothing like wasting an entire weekend screaming at the television as the champions of the baseball world make your team look like the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, Intern Sam caught a bit of flak last weekend for sounding all negative (to which he can only respond that, having been raised a Phillies fan, he really doesn’t know how to sound any other way,) so rather than dwell on what’s past, let’s talk about other things for tonight, shall we? Very good, then.
Well, that was fun. Nothing like wasting an entire weekend screaming at the television as the champions of the baseball world make your team look like the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, Intern Sam caught a bit of flak last weekend for sounding all negative (to which he can only respond that, having been raised a Phillies fan, he really doesn’t know how to sound any other way,) so rather than dwell on what’s past, let’s talk about other things for tonight, shall we? Very good, then.
- The PiPress’s Aron Kahn, who has consistently turned in top-quality stories on the business of sports in general and the Twins’ stadium battles in particular, has a good wrap-up of the very big week that was. House Speaker Steve Sviggum now says that he expects the ballpark measure to pass the full House by the middle of this week. The next big hurdle will be Sen. Larry Pogemiller’s Senate Tax Committee. (Pogemiller happens to be Intern Sam’s very own state senator, and having met the man in person several times, he can attest to the fact that Larry is a good and decent guy who is just never going to support any subsidy for pro sports. However, at this point, it doesn’t appear that Pogemiller will have the votes to derail the ballpark.)
- The cover of the Star Tribune sports section this Sunday was largely given over to a collection of articles asking whether Minnesota has become a bad sports town because all four of our major teams failed to make the playoffs in their most recent season. It was a bizarre question to ask for a number of reasons, but the award for most convoluted reasoning goes to Jim Souhan, who used his column to castigate Twin Cities fans for continuing to buy tickets to underachieving teams. Jim, where we grew up, supporting one’s teams only when they win was called bandwagon-jumping. But of course, you wouldn’t know anything about that particular phenomenon, wouldja? Besides, we seem to recall you saying not too terribly long ago that all this losing was your fault…
- One of the more underplayed baseball stories of the last ten years has been the steady decline in the number of African-Americans playing the game at all levels. This year, African-Americans make up only 8.5% of major league players, which is the lowest figure since MLB began keeping track in the 1980s. (If that number seems low, keep in mind that black players born in countries like Cuba and the Dominican are listed as Latin American.) One theory (espoused here by White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen) says that young black athletes are going where the money is, and for a quick payday (read: no time spent languishing in the minor leagues) you can’t beat the NBA and the NFL. Sox GM Ken Williams (one of a tiny number of African-American executives in the majors) believes that college programs discriminate against black baseball players. And some inner-city coaches believe that MLB has abandoned homegrown black players in favor of seeking out Latin American talent, while others blame the hip-hop thug culture that permeates the NBA for making black athletes unattractive to the conservative executives of MLB. Whatever the reason for the decline, it seems very clear that it’s getting worse, not better.
- This has absolutely nothing to do with the Twins, or with baseball for that matter, but did anyone else see R.J. Umberger get absolutely destroyed during last night’s Flyers-Sabres playoff game? We haven’t seen a takeout shot like that since the Scott Stevens hit that more or less derailed Eric Lindros’s career. Or maybe since the Scott Stevens hit that more or less derailed Eric Lindros’s career that other time.
- Jacque Jones was a lot of things for the Minnesota Twins over the years, but reliable and consistent were not among them. After reading how personally Jones takes all the criticism sent his way in Sam Walker’s excellent Fantasyland, it’s a bit awkward to have to point out that the offseason change of scenery doesn’t appear to have altered Jacque’s approach at the plate, or the results.
- One of the strangest stories of the spring was Royals’ pitcher Zack Greinke’s vanishing act, and in a season which looks to be nothing but painful for Kansas City, the team’s kind treatment of its young star as he works to conquer his yet-unnamed demons has caught the attention of the baseball media. (Of course, that kind of loyalty is nothing new for Royals owner David Glass, who has allowed General Manager Allard Baird to remain on the job for nearly six full seasons as he works through his tragic inability to recognize good baseball players when he sees them.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
