Down with Goldy

Game 6 Live Blog

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 04:13:00 +0000

Hey guys. Since I can barely ever figure out anything to write about since the Gophers are in the offseason and the Twins suck (actually I have a Twins post in the hopper, should be up tomorrow) I'm going to just live blog Game 6 because hopefully their won't be a Game 7 because I've come to loathe Lebron James. Go figure. Also somebody once emailed me to tell me that these aren't really live blogs because the reader can't follow along in real time and they should be called running diaries. He had a good point, so I tracked him to his house and beat him to death with a chainsaw. Anyway, we're picking up the game here with 5:50 left in the first quarter, San Antonio up 18-16.

5:20 - Whoa you guys, so weird, but Lebron is bitching at the ref after fat Boris Diaw just went and scored right in his stupid face. I can't believe I used to consider Tim Duncan a whiner. He's like Barry Sanders compared to James, and Wade isn't much better.

3:55 - I think I've figured out a big problem for the Heat. Mike Miller and Ray Allen are their only good outside shooters, and neither one of them could guard your average player at the YMCA. Or Boris Diaw, and that's now two more mentions of Diaw than I was expecting to make on this blog this decade.

2:28 - Problem #2 - the crowd just went nuts because Birdman checked in. Of course they love the guy, he's white. But he can't guard anybody on the Spurs - except maybe Splitter. And Shane Battier just took a charge on one end and then banked in a three pointer on the other. Some hate never dies.

0:53 - Danny Green missed. That was weird.

2Q, 11:42 - Birdman dives for a loose ball on the ground. So gritty.

11:00 - Defensive breakdown by Miami leaves Green wide open and he buries it. It's so ridiculous. I can't decide if this is on the players or Spoelstra, but it's pretty god damn embarrassing that he ever gets an open look.

9:20 - There isn't a lot of meat in these gym mats. Also, Tiago Splitter is pretty terrible.

7:58 - Oh man this shit is crazy, but Dwyane Wade is now yelling at the ref about a "missed" call. What are the odds?

6:56 - If I'm Spoelstra, I immediately bench anybody who passes to Chris Bosh. And if I'm Popovich I give the ball to Duncan every single time Bosh is guarding him because he has no shot at stopping him. I guess what I'm saying is, Chris Bosh is the Ron Weasley of this Big Three.

4:32 - Wade now passing up wide open 14 foot jumpers. It's been surreal watching him in this series. He's become Joe Coleman. You know, in theory and all that, not for reals.

4:18 - Birdman saves the ball by diving into the crowd. He's Puntonian.

2:47 - My wife was a redhead when I met her. By the time I realized the truth, I was hooked and it was too late. She's never dyed her hair that shade again. That's bullshit, right?

1:23 - Jesus Chris Bosh is terrible. Can't stop Duncan on the block, then misses a short jumper, followed by not hustling down the court and allowing a Tim Duncan uncontested dunk, then misses another jumper, then allows Diaw to come right at him and score. So ugly. All the other velociraptors out there must be so embarrassed. Also, how horrible is it that the Toronto franchise named themselves after a trendy animal (extinct - allegedly) from a trendy movie? I know the movie is still an all time great and probably one of my top 5 all-time (well, top 10) but it's still stupid.

0:00 - Spurs 50, Heat 44 thanks to a late run by San Antonio and Tim Duncan completely dominating Bosh. Supernintendo Chalmers was the one who kept the Heat close in the first half, so well, that doesn't bode well for the Heat.

3Q, 11:38 - Ginobilli gives Ray Allen a quick jab step, Allen backs up about 8 feet, Ginobilli with the step back 3. Allen can still shoot the lights out, but he seriously can't guard anybody. I don't know what the answer is though, because nobody is very good on the Heat lately. Maybe Chalmers-Wade-James-Birdman-Haslem? I dunno.

10:17 - Spurs have completely given the offense over to Ginobilli, simply because Allen is on him. Their entire offense the last three trips has been Manu driving on Allen, and they've scored on the first two prior to Danny Green trying to drive on Lebron which he really shouldn't do ever.

8:12 - Bosh's offense seems to be to get the ball on the block and pray to the lord baby santa jesus that a double team comes so he can pass it to someone else. If it seems like I'm being unnecessarily hard on Bosh I assure you it's completely necessary.

7:29 - Sometimes when I watch him I wonder if Ginobilli is drunk.

5:54 - I've now watch Mike Miller (an all-time fave dating back to his Florida days, by the way) drive to the hoop in traffic for a lay-up and get called for a foul battling for a rebound. Honest to god I was pretty sure all that guy did was make 3s, get high, and get weed for other people. Oh, and gets paid like $5 million per year to do it. While played, Stoner. Well played.

5:54 - Good hair, too.

4:54 - What's your favorite movie to prominently feature vampires? I'd say Lost Boys followed by Interview with a Vampire and Lost Boys II.

3:50 - Not to be outdone, now the entire Heat team is bitching at the refs. This is looking like we could have some serious unravel potential here. Spurs 71, Heat 58.

3:22 - Lebron on Parker. Great defense, Spurs turnover, Battier 3. Interesting.

1:36 - Awesome. After the Heat pick up a little momentum scoring five straight with Lebron checking Parker, Lebron drives to the rim and gets bumped a little and decides to sit on the floor and whine to the ref instead of hustling back which leads to Ray Allen trying to guard Parker and you know how that probably turned out.

4Q, 11:40 - I think Mario Chalmers has like, 30 points. He's pretty much kept them in the game. Now Miami has Lebron, Miller, Allen, Birdman, and Chalmers in the game. Weird lineup, but they've scored the first five of the quarter to cut it to 75-70.

10:24 - Now a four point game after a Miller 3. I'm thinking maybe we get Splitter out of there now, yeah?

7:55 - Lebron making this interesting by kind of totally taking over the Heat offense. Like he probably could have been doing many, many times prior to now.

7:08 - Seems like we got ourselves a ballgame. 82-80 Spurs.

6:34 - Tie game. Lebron just thriving without Wade and Bosh in the game. Kind of fascinating.

4:43 - Lebron keeps getting into the lane for lay-ups (87-84 Heat). It's impressive how he's taken over the game, but Spurs need to force him into shooting jump shots . Like that, the one he just missed. I know all.

1:47 - San Antonio ball down by 3. I keep forgetting to type stuff.

1:27 - Holy Tony Parker step back three. Wow.

0:58 - And a steal by Parker, followed by a bucket by Parker to put the Spurs up two. This is fantastic. I just wish I was drunker.

0:37 - Holy crap. James somehow ends up with Parker on him, takes him into the lane, and then just straight up loses the ball which leads to a run out 2-on-1 for the Spurs which leads to Ginobilli making both and a 93-89 Spurs lead. What a turnaround.

0:28 - Lebron airball. This is not going to help his "chocker" legacy. And, you're never going to believe this, but he's bitching at the ref that he got fouled. Also, I'd have to double check, but when did Wade come back in the game? Was that when shit fell apart?

0:20 - Lebron absolutely bricks a three, then Mike Miller (???!!?!?!?) gets the offensive rebound and finds James again who makes this one, and we're at 94-92 Spurs. The real problem I'm having is I hate Lebron, yet I hate the irrational Lebron haters even more. I don't know what to root for. Hopefully I suffer a stroke of some kind and don't know what ends up happening. Can you still get a boner if you have a stroke? This is important.

0:19 - Leonard misses the first. Shit just got real.

0:05 - Lebron misses the three (of course) but after an o-board Ray Allen nails the tying shot (of course). Also, I think we may have a Chris Webber situation here. Please hold. Wait nevermind they're reviewing that shot which was a clear 3-pointer. Also, way not to have Duncan out there so Bosh, who is a tremendous pussy don't forget, could get that huge offensive rebound.

0:00 - And we're heading to overtime. Well shit.

0:00 - Seriously I think if the Heat just leave Wade on the bench for OT they win. Otherwise they lose. Somebody bet me.

4:39 - Allen opens OT by shooting a 2-pointer. What a dummy. Also, they seriously give each team 3 timeouts per overtime? That's outrageous. Also, that turnaround jumper by James from 18 feet when he doesn't have that shot in his arsenal and was only also lightly guarded was outrageous. Also, because shit is happening really quickly here, I think Manu Ginobilli is shockingly dumb for how much basketball he's played in his career.

3:24 - I can't think of a single good reason fro Boris Diaw to be in the game. Other than that huge offensive board he just grabbed. I'm an idiot.

2:42 - You're never going to believe this, but Ray Allen is pretty sure he didn't foul Tony Parker there. Didn't Allen used to be a pretty straight up class act? Effing Wade and Lebron. It's like when those guys in Dazed and Confused turn Tim Lincecum into a pothead. HOW'D THAT ALL TURN OUT, STONERS? Now he's terrible.

1:18 - Allen looks seriously rejuvenated here, like he's in takeover mode. He's even driving to the hope and other Jesus Shuttlesworth things like that and I think he just blocked a shot. If he keeps going he's going to end up in a threesome with pornstars.

0:40 - Ginobilli now appears to be point shaving. Also, that ball was off Lebron. Straight up great defense by Green, and, this will come as a shock, Lebron is bitching at the ref.

0:31 - Bosh with the biggest defensive play of the game blocking Parker's jumper like he was Hakim Warrick. I will admit I really didn't see that one coming.

0:02 - So bizarre. Spurs take Parker out when the Heat have the ball for some reason I either haven't been paying attention to or don't understand. Then the Heat miss and Spurs have the ball with 10 seconds to go, and rather than call timeout to get Parker back in the game they let the point shaver go barrelling into the lane like a 2nd grader who just learned to dribble? Which, of course, leads to a turnover and two Ray Allen free throws to put the Spurs up 3? Fuck me. Heat win another championship.

Lame

The Timberwolves #26 Pick

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor Wegner) — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:02:00 +0000

Shortly after my post about the #9 pick, NBADraft.net changed their projection from McCollum to Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for the Timberwolves. Coincidence? I think probably.

When the Timberwolves have a pick this late in the first round, they have a tendency to trade the pick away. This isn't without reason because you can move back just a few picks and get a similar roll of the dice on a player with a non-guaranteed contract. In 2012, the 26th pick scaled in at about $900k guaranteed for two years with a team option for the third year. The Wolves aren't the only team with this master plan though -- which is why you see so much activity late in the first and early in the second.

#26 Picks in prior drafts:

2012 PF ~~Mason~~ Miles Plumlee - White Stiff
2011 SF Jordan Hamilton - Not so sharpshooter
2010 SF Quincy Pondexter - Somewhat useful bench guy out of Washington
2009 PF Taj Gibson - Key Bulls bench guy good/great defender
2008 PG George Hill - Solid enough PG, started for the Pacers last season after backing up for the Spurs
2007 PG Aaron Brooks - Backup PG, one good season for the Rockets
2006 PG Jordan Farmar - Has a nice vertical jump
2005 PF Jason Maxiell - Defensive minded backup big man
2004 SG Kevin Martin - Former Houston gunner that is now OKC 6th man
2003 SF Ndudi Ebi - Doodie Eeeebeee! NBA vets Kendrick Perkins, Leandro Barbosa and Josh Howard were the next 3 picks.
2002 SF John Salmons - Mediocre 3 that still gets quite a bit of time with the Kings. Has a beard like a billy-goat.
2001 C Samuel Dalembert - Long time starting center in the league - still starting with the Bucks
2000 PF Mamadou N'Diaye - Senegal sensation didn't amount to much. Marko Jaric went #30.
1999 PG Vonteego Cummings - 3 years in NBA, then a bunch overseas.
1998 SG Sam Jacobson - Sam is now 37, damn I'm old.

Surprisingly, I see only 5 flops here (Farmar, Ebi, N'Diaye, Cummings, Jacobson). Giving Plumlee, Hamilton and Pondexter incompletes; I see another 2 role players/bench types (Brooks/Maxiell). Gibson, Martin, Hill, Salmons and Dalembert either are or were starters or they are one of the first players off of the bench. So this pick over the last 15 years has shown to be somewhat useful.

This draft is considered by many to be historically bereft of elite talent at the top. However, I've also heard and read that there is talent to be had later in the draft, so I guess there's a perceived plateau of talent. Of particular note are the number of guards that are likely to be available later in the draft. Let's look at who the mock drafts have the Wolves taking here and some other players I think should be considered:

Mock Picks I've Seen:

Tim Hardaway Jr., SG - Michigan -- 6'6" shooting guard and son of the Killer Crossover has a good jumper but doesn't strike me as being super explosive. The Junior was surprisingly not super great off the dribble, but rather a spot-up type shooter. The Wolves need shooters, but Tim Jr. strikes me as one of these players that kind of is what he is. Not a lot of upside, in my opinion. NBADraft.net says his comparison is Wesley Person -- the jumper is very reminiscent of Wesley's.

Reggie Bullock, SG/SF - UNC --Chris Mannix of SI.com has the Wolves selecting 6'7" small forward Bullock at #26. The junior is another big time shooter from downtown (44%); I guess everyone got the message that we sucked at 3s last year. Like Hardaway, he's not a great ball handler and is considered a spot up shooter. Reggie has a nice balanced jumper with a quick, high release. He averaged 6.5 rebounds in 2013, but is unlikely to be inside as much as he was at UNC.

Tony Mitchell, SF/PF - North Texas -- 6'9" 236lb athletic power forward has a 7'3" wingspan and can get up there for those Ricky Rubio lob passes and finish. He's considered a very good defender at multiple positions and a shot blocker. He did shoot a relatively low percentage from the field for a big man (43.7%) and wasn't great from deep (28.9%). The biggest red flags are the decrease in production in a lot of categories from his freshman year to sophomore year (2013) and the fact that he admitted he didn't give his all last year. Some say he has lottery talent, and I'm more of the opinion to try for some upside at 26 than get a guy that's "safe" and is your 9th/10th man.

Glen Rice Jr. SG/SF - D-League -- 22yo Rice ended up in the D-League after bombing out of Georgia Tech. He was a big scorer, averaging 13ppg during the regular season and 25ppg in the playoffs. Rice is just 6'6", but has a 6'10" wingspan. Rice is a scorer - he can get in the lane or shoot it from deep. He's clearly a knob-head though and could create some headaches. He's also not super quick, streaky and kind of a poop defender too. What's not to love?

Others Players of Interest:

Tony Snell/Allen Crabbe - Both are junior shooting guards; from New Mexico and Cal respectively. Both are lights out shooters that are in the 6'6"-7" and 200lb range. Snell is the better ballhandler, while I think Crabbe is the better overall scorer. Both have a little bit of the soft label.

Jamaal Franklin - I've seen this guy anywhere from 15 to 30. He's a 6'5" small forward from San Diego St. that appears to be riding a little bit of a hype train after the value that former teammate Kawhi Leonard proved to be for the Spurs this year. He's super athletic and has a good mid-range game. Has a crazy 6'11.25" wingspan; which combined with his athleticism helps him on both ends of the floor. Only shot 28% from 3 and turned the ball over quite a bit as the main guy at SDSU (3.4 TO/G)

Gorgui Dieng -6'11" center is already 23, but is a solid defender and rebounder and isn't completely useless around the rim. If the Wolves go wing at #9, some big man depth would be welcome here. Just please don't let it be Colton Iverson.

Rudy Gobert - Stretched out French big man is 7'2" with a whopping 7'9" reach. He turns 21 in June and needs to eat a lot of sandwiches to hang in the NBA. There's a decent possibility he'd be an overseas stash for a year or two. Probably doomed to a nickname like the Eiffel Tower.

Giannis Adetokonbo - Athletic, 6'9" Greek (via Nigeria) dude with a 7'3" wingspan. He doesn't turn 19 until December and is considered a high risk-high reward guy. He played in the Greek A2 league and had no one to stop him from going dunk-monster on everyone overseas. (averaged 8pts, 5rebs) He has the size and speed to guard multiple positions on the front line. His jumper is a question mark, although he did shoot 31.3% from 3, so perhaps he can develop.

Wolves NBA Draft Notes

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor Wegner) — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 20:41:00 +0000

The NBA Draft is June 27th and the Timberwolves have the 9th and 26th picks. Let's look at what might be there at #9.

Flip Saunders has made it no secret that he has a burning desire for Indiana shooting guard Victor Oladipo. After working out some players on Thursday he hopped a plane to go see Oladipo in DC. Everyone knows that Oladipo is a good defender, but he's been climbing mock drafts based on his improvements in his offensive game. Oladipo would be a great fit for the Wolves, but is it better to try and get a big man at 9 and wait on a shooter until 26 given the depth there in this draft? Or do they just take the best available guy? Or dangle Williams in a deal to move up to get "their guy"?

Here's a vid of Oladipo scoring against no defenders:

BTW, I like those drills where they whack on the guy with pads while he's in the lane. Good stuff.

So, what do the Wolves need besides having everyone heal up and stop doing knuckle pushups? Here's the roster and their contract length:

PG:
Ricky Rubio through 14/15
Luke Ridnour through 13/14
JJ Barea through 14/15

SG:
Alexey Shved through 15/16
Malcolm Lee through 13/14

SF:
Andrei Kirilenko PLAYER OPTION
Chase Budinger FREE AGENT

PF:
Kevin Love through 15/16
Derrick Williams through 14/15
Dante Cunningham TEAM OPTION

C:
Nikola Pekovic FREE AGENT
Greg Stiemsma TEAM OPTION

Other FA/Release: Brandon Roy, Josh Howard, Louis Amundson, Wil Conroy, Mickael Gelabale

Official free agency negotiations don't begin until July 1, so the Wolves have some opportunity to be flexible in the draft. Needs still appear to be a shooting guard that can defend and shoot from the outside and a big man. Budinger is a nice option presuming he can bounce back, but I certainly wouldn't begrudge the Wolves trying to get a legit SF as Kirilenko plays a lot of 4 and is no spring chicken. Ridnour and Barea are both serviceable players as backups at the point -- unfortunately they've been pressed into much more service than you'd like. Shved also can play some point, so I don't think it's a huge need. There's some depth at the 4, even if Williams is moved. I refuse to list Williams as a 3 since he's proven he can't do it.

For the bigs, Nikola Pekovic is pretty much a must sign even though he'll cost the Wolves a lot of cash. Stiemsma showed some energy and defense at times, but I was surprised at how many mistakes he makes on the court as well. I do like his shot blocking, but if we score someone in the draft in might be worth saving the money it costs to bring him back. The Wolves have until July 17th to decide, so they can draft and even consider potential free agent options before making a move.

Looking at a bunch of mock drafts the consensus is Oladipo will be gone by the #9 spot. I've seen a couple of 8s, a 6 and even a 5 pick for him. If he's there at 8 would the Pistons move back a pick for the #26 selection? Maybe. Is it worth it? I lean a little more towards keeping the #26 and taking two stabs in a draft that seems to have a big group of guys that aren't separated by much.

For the #9, the mock draft group-thinkers almost all think that CJ McCollum out of Lehigh is the pick. McCollum is terrific with the ball in his hands and can shoot (51% from 3). He even got a Stephen Curry comparison from Hoopshype.com. He's also a big time transition scorer, which fits well with Rubio. What he doesn't have is size (6'3") and he's not much of a defender. He's also a senior, so what you see might be what you get. Here's an incredibly long youtube clip about him:

The odd man out on the four mocks I looked at had the Wolves taking Shabazz Muhammad, the 6'6" shooter out of UCLA. They must have assumed that Wolves brass where watching his 6 of 18 performance against the Gophers in the NCAA Tournament. Or the fact that he's now magically 20 instead of 19 years old. In other mocks I reviewed he's at #17 (twice) and #13th. Most consider him not an amazing athlete like an Oladipo, but he's a high volume shooter and some believe he still has upside. He also has Tourette's Syndrome which is pretty kickass. He's also a lefty with a beard, so obviously he's the next James Harden.

Another wing to consider is Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, a sophomore out of Georgia. Caldwell-Pope is right in that 9-13 range at the end of the lottery by most mocks. I've seen him in the 10 spot to Portland a few times. Paul Allen (Blazers owner, not homer Vikings guy) even attended a workout. Kentavious is a very good shooter and at 6'5" 205, he's got decent size. He's also a pretty great rebounder, notching 7.1 a game; which means he's not afraid to mix it up at least I guess. KCP is also considered a very good defender and kicked butt in speed and agility drills. I dig him and wouldn't mind him at #9 one bit.

There are also some big men that are near the #9 spot in the mock drafts. The bonus of taking a big instead of a wing is there are a lot of wings later in the draft that could be had at #26. However, if Nikola is signed and delivered, the SG/SF is the greater need. Here's a quick look at a few big men:

Zeller doesn't need to see to dunk

Cody Zeller, 6'11" Soph Indiana -- Zeller has been previously thought of as a sure fire top 5 pick, but his stock has slid in some circles. He looks like a big goofus but he's incredibly athletic for his size. He recorded a 33.5" standing vertical leap, which is like crazy high. In fact, it's the best by anyone over 6'8" in more than ten years. He shoots a nice jumper and runs like a mofo. He'd be a great change of speed with Pek banging around in the middle.

Steven Adams 7' Frosh Pitt -- Adams is a big bad man in the middle. The seven footer clocks in with a 7'4.5" wingspan and had a great combine where he flashed a pretty nice jumper. He also has gigantic hands. Adams is another player I'd be ok with in the 9 spot.

Lucas Nogueria (Bebe) 7' Spain -- Bebe has been linked to Philly at #11 in a few mock drafts after a recent good showing at the Eurocamp. He's athletic for a man with a 7'6" wingspan. At just 220 pounds his body is not quite ready for the NBA. He's about as high risk, high reward as it gets as he was previously though of as a stud in the making and then had a poor showing in 2011 at Eurocamp. I like the untapped potential, but not at #9 overall.

Kelly Olynyk 6'11" Junior Gonzaga -- I've seen Olynyk in the #15 range in mocks so I'm throwing him on this list. It could be the goofy hair, but he has a bit of a Luis Scola vibe to him. The NBADraft.net comparison is Fabricio Oberto, so there's that. He's getting a lot of "skilled" big man comments on the internet and he backed that up with 18.1ppg on 66% shooting. In addition to looking goofy he also has a freakishly short wingspan for his height. He's 6'10.75" without shoes and has 6'9.75" arms.

So there you have it. I'm at least 72% sure that one of these guys is on the Timberwolves come draft night (barring a trade). I'll take a look at the #26 pick next week.

Tuesday Talkers

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 03:27:00 +0000

Going to be flipping between the Twins and the NBA Finals tonight, so might as well write some random stuff while doing those things.

- First off, I know we are all very excited about our little Byron Buxton and the just promoted to double-A Miguel Sano and with good reason. Buxton is hitting .350/.444/.578 with 8 triples, 7 homers, and 26 steals while playing amazing defense and Sano hit .330/.424/.655 with 16 home runs in 56 games before his promotion. No doubt these guys are crushing it and, assuming nothing significantly changes, both will be rated as top 10 prospects in all of baseball when next year's rankings come out. It's very, very awesome, but the hype train might want to back up just a hair.

On the radio today I heard both Dubay and PA spout complete inanities about these guys (and yes, they are two of the biggest dummies when it comes to baseball among all people who have a public voice so I know they're almost going to say something stupid, but this just really bugged me). Dubay's big call was that Sano would be a September call-up this year, which is wrong for two reasons. First, you never go from A-ball to the major leagues in one season, it just doesn't happen unless somebody can prove me wrong but I'm sure it's extremely rare. Even if he finishes the year tearing up AA like he did A I just can't see it happening. Secondly, the money issue. It's moot if he ends up starting 2014 in the majors, which I could see happening but kind of doubt it after Aaron Hicks started so slowly this year, but if they call him up in September guess what? That major league service time clock gets going a year early. The Twins are no longer cheap, but that doesn't mean they want to start giving out big money contracts a year early. Won't happen.

The far more egregious and stupid comment came from PA which is something I assume we are all accustom to at this point, in that he said Buxton should be in the majors RIGHT NOW. He also said if Buxton had started the year in the majors (yes this year) he would be as good or better than Aaron Hicks so far. I'm not even going to start to break this doubt because it would be an insult to all of us, but I just don't get the PA popularity. His knowledge of sports is extremely limited to NFL-only and he's only ok with that, his interview skills are subpar, and his personality is grating and annoying. Yet, when I was listening to a Vikings game on the radio with a group of people one time somebody said, "Man I love PA" and then somebody else said "He's the best" and then everybody agreed. I just don't get it. Is it the raging homerism thing? Do people love a homer announcer? He's an idiot and a jackass and is stupid. It's so confusing. Sometimes I wonder if I'm living in some kind of weird dream world and this isn't real life.

- One other thing that's kind of getting lost in the Buxton/Sano hype is that Eddie Rosario was also promoted to AA along with Sano. Rosario may not have the hype of the other two, but he's a pretty big deal and ranks consistently in the top 5 or top 10 on most Twins prospect lists, and is becoming even more valuable after his conversion from outfield to second base which, based on being promoted here, is likely going well. He can hit (.329/.377/.527 this year) and if he can field at the 4-spot he may be the guy to finally fill that second base hole that's been on this team seemingly since Rod Carew. Hurry up, Eddie, I can't take much more Brian Dozier.

- Since I've been typing I've now seen Josh Willingham, Justin Morneau, and Oswaldo Arcia absolutely drill balls back-to-back-to-back off Cole Hamels and it makes one wonder - what is up with that dude? Long time readers may remember that Hamels was my boyfriend for a while, but he's just been brutal this year. Thing is, I can't find a single thing you can point to and say "that's the problem." He's practically been the exact same pitcher this year as he's always been. The only difference at all is batters are making more contact than usual when they swing at pitches in the strike zone (84% vs. 82%), he's given up more infield hits (16% vs. 11%), and more fly balls he's given up are going out of the park (13% vs. 11.5%). All of that says his results have been more the result of a fluke than anything significant going on with him. Then I see him basically put it on a tee for four straight Twin batters and I wonder if he's just making more mistakes this year - the higher contact rates in the zone and homer/flyball rates could back that up. So, I guess I'm not sure yet what's his deal. What am I, Galileo?

- I actually had someone tell me they thought That's My Boy was a really good and funny movie. No I didn't punch him immediately in the neck but only because we were at softball and we are on the same team and that would have caused all kinds of issues, but I kind of wanted to.

- Speaking of movies, I caught a little bit of Reign of Fire recently, which is that movie with Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey about dragons in a post apocalyptic world. It's mostly a terrible movie, but Bale and McConaughey both rock and obviously dragons are like the bomb and stuff so every time I see it I ended up staying on the channel at least long enough to see a dragon fight and quite often end up watching the entire rest of the movie. So if you're a fan of dragons and/or hot guys you should totally check it out on your netflix or hulu or whatever people watch stuff on these days.

- The fact that Lebron James hasn't developed a true post game yet drives me crazy - almost as much as his constant bitching. After the success of having him play the 4 in the Finals last year after Bosh got hurt he had to know they were going to be doing it a lot this season, but still he didn't develop any kind of offensive post moves. I mean yeah he's still effective posting up and finding shooters or cutters, but his offensive game on the block is to put it on the floor and drive to the hoop. Sure that works sometimes and he can get to the line that way as well, but can you imagine him with a turnaround jumper or a little jump hook or something? I know it seems silly to criticize someone who just put up a season where he averaged 27, 8, & 7 while shooting 57%, but man, what if he had an actual post game? That's fairly terrifying, in a boner inducing way. Pretty sure he'd still bitch about everything though.

- Wow the Spurs are just daring Lebron to take jumpers. Seems to be working since he just bricked a wide open three.

- Should be a very interesting U.S. Open. From what I've heard the rough will be rough, but tons of rain will make the greens incredibly soft and slow so you'll see a whole lot of conservative play off the tee (to keep in in the fairway) and then aggressive shots into the green. Sounds like a recipe for an awfully low winning score, which the U.S. Open hates, but there are three par-3s over 235 yards which is going to equalize things a bit, as well as only two par-5s to keep scores in check. I know a lot of people like to say stuff like "I like it better when it's super tough because then the cream really rises to the top" but really the last few winners when the winning score was even or worse were Webb Simpson, Graeme McDowell, Angel Cabrera, Geoff Ogilvy, and Michael Campbell while the last few winners at -5 or better are Rory McIlroy, Jim Furyk, Tiger Woods, Ernie Els, Lee Janzen, and Payne Stewart. I mean, that's a pretty clearly better second grouping, right? Just proves my theory that people are idiots. Man, I got a lot of evidence for that theorem. I'll probably be in a magazine soon.

- Wow Lebron has just been terrible. Kawhi Leonard refusing to let him drive by giving him the jumper and James can't hit anything. He's 2-11 from the field right now and if it wasn't for the incredible, incomparable Mike Miller being 5-5 from three this one would be over already. And now that's 2-12, and he's whining to the ref. I think I hate this guy.

- Oh yeah, and I don't have any favorites for the U.S. Open yet. I need to take a look at a few things before I give you your good futures bets, but without spending too much time on it I think Steve Stricker and Matt Kuchar would be the two I'd throw money at if I had to right now with no time to research.

- Wow. This got out of hand quickly. Like Game 2 but in the Spurs favor. It's a 31 point lead. Gary Neal and Danny Green have combined for 51 points so far. Green by himself has outscored Duncan+Ginobilli+Parker. Crazy game. But crazy awesome.

MLB Draft Stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor Wegner) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 17:57:00 +0000

The Major League Baseball first year player draft begins tomorrow and runs through Saturday. This year the Twins have the #4 pick. They don't have any sandwich picks or anything, so their next pick is at #43 in the 2nd round. Let's take a look at some players of note this year.

Top Players in the Draft

Johnathan Gray, RHP - Oklahoma (JR)

As a high school player, Gray could hit 93mph on the radar gun. As a college junior he now hits 95-100 and mixes in a devastating high 80s slider. He could go #1 to the Astros. Gray is 6'4", 239, and has a bit of a chub-face, which scares me. Also he tested postive for the amphetamine Adderall, so there are some red flags. However, he has a sweet biceps tattoo that probably gives him 2-3mph on the heater.

Mark Appel, RHP - Stanford (SR)

Appel (6'5", 215) was drafted 8th last year by the Pirates before he decided to return to Stanford for his senior year. The Pirates took their money and went home. They pick #9 as well as #15 thanks to the Boras-snub. Appel apparently has 3 plus pitches and is very near major league ready. If he somehow dropped to #4 and the Twins shot the lock off the wallet, he would be a great pick because of his readiness. Since his is a senior now, he has less leverage than he did last year. It wouldn't be shocking to see the Cubs select either Gray or Appel at #2 depending on what Houston does.

Kohl Stewart, RHP - St Pius X HS (Texas)

Kohl Stewart has signed on to play football at Texas A&M, but he's also a hard-throwing right handed pitcher. One of the top college quarterback prospects can also hit mid to high 90s on the gun. He is expected to sign with a big league club though and forego SEC football for the straight cash of the MLB. This could be the Twins target according to some things I've read. Keith Law on Stewart: "He has four legitimate pitches with an athletic, strong build and the potential for two grade-70s offerings on the 20-80 scouting scale. His fastball is consistently 92-94, touching 97, with good downhill plane and some boring life to his arm side. He doesn't command the pitch yet or throw it for enough strikes, which may be inexperience of a function of the delivery. His slider is his best pitch, 85-88 with hard, late break down and away from right-handed hitters, although he doesn't command it as well as he does his hard 79-82 mph curveball. He also has a a straight change at 83-85 with solid arm speed but little action." If the Twins don't grab him at #4, don't be surprised if the Indians take him 5th.

Kris Bryant, 3B/OF - San Diego (JR)

The Louisville Slugger National Player of the year, Kris Bryant (6'5", 215) plays 3B now, but is unlikely to stay there. A move to a corner OF spot is probable. He has major power and his coach calls him a combination of Troy Glaus, Pat Burrell and Jayson Werth. Keith Law says he has just average bat speed and that while he can hit the fastball really well, he wonders what affect pro changeups and sliders will have. The guy hit 31 homers in 62 games this year while walking 66 times and only striking out 44 times. (329/493/820).

Austin Meadows, OF - Grayson HS (Georgia)

Meadows is a 6'3", 200lb toolsy Clemson commit. Law says he has a quick bat and can run and has projectable power as he "fills out". This is one of those high upside picks that a team would have to wait for several years as he progresses through the minors.

Trey Ball, OF/LHP - New Castle HS (Indiana)

Trey Ball (6'6", 180) is a lanky pitcher that throws up to 94mph. However, he's also a decent outfielder and could be draft as a position player. Unlike Byron Buxton, it is more likely that Ball is drafted for his lefty arm. I mean, look at that lanky effer in that pic.

Players That Are Related to MLBers:

Cavan Biggio - Son of Craig, who apparently sucks at naming children. He can hit, but doesn't have much of a position yet and may be just outside of the first round. (Houston picks #40...) Keith Law says he's slow and kind of sucks at second and doesn't project enough to be a first baseman.

Kacy Clemens - Kacy is the son of Roger and is a RHP/1B prospect that has a plus power bat from the left side. As a pitcher his generally in the high 80s, so he is likely to honor his commitment to Texas rather than head directly to the pros.

Hunter Harvey - Son of former closer Bryan is a likely first round pick. He's out of Bandys HS (NC) and has a low 90s heater. At 6'3" and just 175, there's room to grow.

Jacob Heyward - Younger brother of Jason is a prep star that is committed to Miami.

Torii Hunter Jr - T-HUNT^2! Toolsy outfielder that has been hurt since January. TorriTwo is headed to Notre Dame to play WR, so it's unlikely he signs with someone.

Josh Pettitte - Andy's son is a Baylor commit that's slightly smaller than his old man and

Manny Ramirez Jr. - MANRAM^2! The prep player is already a beast at 6'4", 215lbs. He has big power and great bat speed, but is projected as a first baseman.

Jordan Sheffield - The nephew of Gary, and not in a Snoop Dogg kind of way. The RHP was considered a top prep option, but has recently undergone Tommy John, so unless he gets some decent cash, he'll likely head to Vandy and pitch starting next spring.

Mike Yastrzemski - Grandson of Carl was a four year guy at Vanderbilt. He's kind of a spray hitting outfielder that doesn't project much power and just an ok outfielder. Will the Red Sox throw him a bone?

Minnesota Connections:

Tom Windle LHP - Windle is #60 on Keith Law's top 100 draft prospects. The 6'4", 215lb lefty has a low 90s fastball, a low 80s slider and a low 80s change. I've read a few outlooks on him and he's getting the "not a lot of upside" and "mid rotation" treatment. He did really well in the Cape Cod league and he may see his name called in the second round.

DJ Snelten, LHP - Snelten (6'7", 230) isn't thought of as highly as Windle, but he has a good fastball that can reach the mid 90s and s change-up. His strikeout and walk numbers weren't overly impressive at the U of M, but hey, he's big and left handed!

Ryan Boldt, OF - Red Wing high-schooler is committed to Nebraska, but is in Baseball America's top 250 and may sign if drafted. He has a knee issue that might make teams pause. He's got the speed to be in center field.

Max Knutson, LHP - Mounds View prep star is also headed to Nebraska provided he doesn't get an MLB offer that suits him.

Logan Shore, RHP - Coon Rapids HS pitcher throws 88-89 with a change around 80mph. He's signed to play for the University of Florida next season. He throws 92mph and has a developing slider and change.

Fun with Nerd Stats

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 02:26:00 +0000

I was doing some work in Excel on my data and formulas for player props, and came across some interesting stats that I found interesting. So look:

- B.J. Upton is having an absolutely terrible year, and a big reason is pop-ups. Upton has a major league worst 30.2% in-field fly ball rate with 13 pop-ups in 192 plate appearances, a big reason why his BABIP is so low at just .208. Upton is also striking out 33.9% of the time, which means 64.1% of his plate appearances end with him having zero chance of getting on base. So if every Upton ground ball and fly ball managed to find a hole and he hit 1.000 on those, he'd still only be hitting .360. That's preposterous. Also from a Twins' perspective Josh Willingham's pop-up rate of 22.4% and K rate of 26.4% are a pretty bad combo too. He needs to get it together so they can trade him this summer for something halfway decent.

- There are 8 players who have yet to pop out this year, and they range from slap hitters (Ruben Tejada, Jose Altuve, Howie Kendrick), awesome hitters (Joey Votto, Mike Trout), really shocking guys who you'd think popped out every five minutes (Ryan Howard), guys I've never heard of (Jason Castro), and asians (Shin-Soo Choo).

- The following players have more walks than strikeouts so far this year: Dustin Pedroia, Coco Crisp, Marco Scutaro, and Norichika Aoki. That is an epically annoying group of players.

- Ervin Santana (13/13), Dan Haren (12/9), and Kevin Correia (13/12) are all contenders for the Bronson Arroyo Memorial Club of pitchers who give up more homers than walks in a season, but if anyone is a lock to join the group it's got to be Bartolo Colon with 7 homers and 4 walks allowed so far. It seems he's decided to absolutely not walk anybody this year, and if history holds and he makes around 30 starts he should give up around 20 homers. At his current walk rate he'll come in under that, but who knows if it will hold? He's never walked this few batters in his career, but it seems to be working for him so far (3.33 ERA, 3.34 FIP). Maybe even crazier? He's only had a single 3-0 count this entire season.

- Fastest average fastball velocity for any starter is Stephen Strasburg at 95.4 mph with the slowest 81.1 mph by R.A. Dicky (slowest non-gimmick pitcher FB is Barry Zito at 83.4). Fastest average fastball period goes to Detroit's Bruce Rondon at 99.3 mph (Aroldis Chapman is fourth at 97.1). Glen Perkins throws the fastest heater of any Twin at 94.5 mph, with the team's hardest throwing starter, Mike Pelfrey, averages 91.8 mph and every single thing I wrote in that last sentence is totally gross.

- More Twins stuff:

Best Fastball (by results/value): Perkins
Worst Fastball: Pelfrey
Best Curve: Ryan Pressly
Worst Curve: Scott Diamond
Best Slider: Pressly
Worst Slider: Perkins
Best Change-Up: Jared Burton
Worst Change: Pedro Hernandez
Casey Fien and Josh Roenicke also have very good cutters, while Vance Worley has one that is completely god awful
Best Fastball Hitter: Joe Mauer (and it's not even close - he crushes fastballs - runnerup: Eduardo Escobar)
Best Curveball Hitter: Mauer (Trevor Plouffe)
Best Slider Hitter: Josh Willingham (Plouffe)
Best Change-Up Hitter: Mauer (Oswaldo Arcia)
Most Aggressive Hitter: Wilkin Ramirez (runner up: Arcia)
Best Eye: Brian Dozier (Jamey Carroll)
Best Baserunner: Pedro Florimon (Aaron Hicks)
Worst Baserunner: Plouffe (Chris Parmelee)
Best Fielder: Justin Morneau (Florimon)
Worst Fielder: Plouffe (Hicks - advanced stats have his range as terrible, advanced fielding stats still suck)

- Back to Majors in general, Pablo Sandoval, Adam Jones, and Alfonso Soriano are known hackers so it shouldn't be a surprise they're the most aggressive in the majors this year, while Marco Scutaro, Nate McLouth, and Coco Crisp win the most patient award (Hicks is fourth among those who qualify for the batting title).

- Shin-Soo Choo completely crushes fastballs, Carlos Gomez (Snacks -> hi) kills the curve, while Chris Davis smokes sliders (Willingham is second here) and Evan Longoria owns the change-up (followed by Carlos Gonzalez and Troy Tulowitzki which is notable because all three are on $nake and I's fantasy team). On the flip side, fastballs confuse Ruben Tejada, John Buck is owned by the curve, Nelson Cruz can't hit a slider, and Matt Wieters is always fooled by a change.

- Lastly, the best heater in the bigs goes to Cliff Lee (Clayton Kershaw runner-up), best curve to Adam Wainwright (A.J. Burnett) - neither a big surprise, best slider belongs to Yu Darvish (Justin Masterson), best change to Marco Estrada (Cole Hamels), best cutter to Travis Wood (Clay Buchholz), and best splitter (people still throw this?) to Hisashi Iwakuma (Ryan Dempster) and no, not many people throw it.

Canada was awesome, dude.

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Mon, 03 Jun 2013 02:44:00 +0000

- The fishing trip was a rousing success. Tell me how this sounds to you: Five full days of fishing in 60 degree sunny weather catching walleye after walleye with an occasional ~~Northern~~ Jackfish thrown in. I ended up catching 235 Walleye and 50 Jacks, which is pretty incredible, and mostly with decent size. I topped out with a 35 inch Pike and 25 inch Walleye, while Bear won the week with a 30 inch Walleye and a 43 inch Jack and finished at the top of the weekly Yahtzee standings as well. I know Bogart grabbed a 26 Walleye (and won the end of the week Yahtzee tournament) and Dawger had a 37 Pike and was at the helm when I got my two biggest fish so it's not like anybody got shut out. Many beers were drank, much vodka was consumed, many fish were caught, one night was particularly hilarious, and overall it was just an outstanding trip. Basically the trip of a lifetime, and along with my trip to Italy with the wife and baseball trip out east with my dad and bro I've had 3 of them now. Pretty lucky dude.

Having been out of both internet and cell service areas for over a week, I've missed a lot. So I'll try to catch up.

- It appears the Twins have done well since I've been gone, winning six of their last seven, which is good. Even though Seattle is shitty and Milwaukee is even shittier it still means something that they're beating these shitty teams instead of losing like they were doing for a while. Instead of trying to go over these games, which would be impossible, I want to make two Twins' related points:

1. Aaron Hicks has hit .286 (8/28) in these seven games, and has now raised his season average all the way up to .173 (and yes, all the way is supposed to be sarcastic). His walks are way down compared to earlier in the season (to be fair, his strikeouts are too), but I would guess that's a result of pitchers forcing him to hit and refusing to walk him until he proves he can punish them if they groove it. His 3-4 day with 2 XBH today will certainly help. His season line now stands at .173/.246/.335, which is really pretty awful, but there are plenty of other underachievers, and veterans at that, who are putting up similar numbers at this early stage. B.J. Upton (.153/.236/.252), Jason Heyward (.142/.283/.236), Dustin Ackley (.205/.266/.250), Josh Reddick (.170/.280/.270), and Ben Revere (.251/.293/.287) are all notable names, for one reason or another, who are performing on a similar level. So what I'm saying is, if you've given up on Hicks already you're an idiot. And you probably are anyway and you probably like Big Bang Theory, Olive Garden, and Nickelback.

2. Glen Perkins is having a really good year out of the pen. His two blown saves were gross and he's had a couple poor outings in non-save situations, but overall an ERA of 3.05 (with a FIP of 2.31 which is really, really good) with 14+ Ks per nine and 5 Ks per walk is really, really effing good. I'm hopeful the Twins end up trading him for something good at the deadline because saves are overvalued like a mofo, but that's not what I found fascinating looking at stuff today. What's fascinating is the Perkins, in his 20 innings this year he has more Ks than Kevin Correia in his 70, Mike Pelfrey in 50, or Vance Worley in 48. Also Scott Diamond in his 50, and any other pitcher on the team. Yes, Glen Perkins leads the Twins in strikeouts. And you want to know who is third? Jared Burton. If it weren't so sad it would be hilarious. And sad.

- Man oh man I think the Royals might be cursed or haunted or something. Mike Moustakas was a top 10 prospect in all of baseball a couple of years ago, and this year his stats resemble Aaron Hicks but with no speed and less power coming from a more premium offensive position. Eric Hosmer was the #5 prospect at one point and he's hitting on a level equal to Eduardo Escobar, but with slightly less power which is awful enough but as a 1B it's just horrendous. And that's hardly the only issues they've had. Most of their top pitching prospects have either gotten hurt or flamed out, and the ones who have looked ok are either stuck in the bullpen or got traded (and don't forget, Luke Hochevar was the #1 overall pick in 2006 and after seven years is finally having his first decent year - but as a middle reliever). It's yet another example of "potential" not translating to actual performance, and maybe the most dramatic one outside of this year's Lakers.

- Last year I said that shutting down Stephen Strasburg after 159 innings in a season when you have legitimate World Series hopes was a stupid, stupid move. Throwing away a tangible benefit (having one of the best pitchers in baseball on your side in the playoffs) for some unprovable, perhaps even hypothetical future benefit (Strasburg's future health) rarely works out, and now he ended up leaving his start last Friday after just two innings with an oblique strain. I'm not sure how bad that actually is or if he'll miss any games, but it should help serve as a warning to other teams in similar situations in the future. Play your best when that window is open, because nobody knows how quickly it could shut - just ask the OKC Thunder.

- This was pretty neat:
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- After being a pretty big backer of the Pitino hire and the system he's going to be bringing to the Gophers, as time has passed and I've been looking at things more rationally I'm getting more nervous that next year may be a disaster. Let's assume for a minute that Pitino is able to force other teams into a more up-and-down type game than is generally played in the Big 10 (a pretty big assumption, granted, that may actually be the key next year anyway). A more uptempo game results in more possessions, and traditionally the more possessions in a game the more likely the more talented team will in - is that really the position the Gophers want to put themselves in next year? With that mish-mash of a front court? Pitino's goal is something that has rarely been done successfully in the Big 10 with only Ohio State in 2011 finishing above .500 in conference with one of the fastest paced teams (top 100) in the country going back to 2005. That team had elite talent, this Minnesota team doesn't and really has only two players you could call above average. My confidence is wavering, and wavering significantly. I'm now terrified for next year.

And speaking of that mish mash of a front court, the Gophers signed on Drake transfer Joey King, formerly of East View, giving them a Minnesota presence and another bigger body if he gets the waiver he's looking for to make him eligible next year (the ole "move home because of a family situation" waiver). There are a lot of conflicting opinions on King. On the one hand, he was on the MVC All-Freshman team last year after averaging 7 pts and 3 rebs per game, which is decent for freshman and the MVC was a quality league last year (and he played some of his best ball against the best - 17 vs. Creighton, 15 vs. Wichita, and 21 vs. Xavier). The bad news is despite being 6-9 he was just a slightly better rebounder than Joe Coleman (RIP) last season, shot more twos than threes, and only took 20% of his shots at the rim last year which was less than Julian Welch last year.

Basically King is, potentially, a good stretch 4 which is what Pitino is looking for. However, along with Osenieks and Buggs that gives them three of those with only one true post player, meaning that Mo Walker may very well end up being the key to the season. Read that again. Think about it. Digest it for a minute. How does that feel? I feel yucky.

- Oh yeah, Epic was a pretty sweet kids movie. You should go see it and stuff.

Twins Youth Movement Update

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor Wegner) — Thu, 30 May 2013 22:10:00 +0000

Well, the Twins are who we thought they were. They're clearly lacking in the pitching department, but the offense that "isn't a problem" has kind of been a problem too.

Rather than go over how much everyone sucks in the majors, let's look at some of the players that make up one of the deeper groups of prospects in major league baseball.

Aaron Hicks

No longer on prospect lists since he made the squad, but I still want to point out a couple of things here. He continues to show flashes of power and is obviously good in the field. Striking out 1/3 of the time is awful though. And he's struck out in 7 of his last 20 ABs, so it's not like that ratio is decreasing. What is interesting though is that Hicks was a natural right handed hitter that has turned switch-hitter; which isn't all that unusual, but he's hitting much better from the right side than the left. (.257 vs .138) He's also hitting better without the pressure of leading off (.258) and a has a nice amount of extra base hits (12). It's still early and he dug himself a massive hole to get out of so I'd give him more time. In fact, there's really no problem with giving him the rest of the year since we all know it's a lost cause. If those splits don't improve though, I wouldn't mind if they considered making him a full time right handed hitter.

Let's look at players in the minors that are on Jesse Siegel and Nick Shlain's top 200 list.

#6 Byron Buxton, CF

We knew Buxton was a tools monster when he was drafted. What we're coming to learn is that he may be in the majors much sooner than initially expected. He showed power and speed in rookie ball in 2012, but hit just .216 in the Gulf Coast league after hitting .286 at Elizabethton. In 2013, Buxton is a house on fire. He's hitting 332/436/556 with 7 homers (23 xbhs) in 187 ABs. He has a somewhat high K rate at 17.1%, but he has an incredible 15.4% walk rate. He's also stolen 23 bases. He's also an elite type defender in the OF with great speed and that mid-90s fastball arm.

Check out this recent quote from former scout Bernie Pleskoff:

Remember the name. Write it down. He's only in Low-A now. He'll fly through the system, even if the Twins want to avoid rushing him. He has a lethal combination of power and speed. He has to cut down on strikeouts to be even more effective, but the man can play. He already has seven home runs and 37 RBI to complement his .316 batting average at Cedar Rapids. He is my third highest ranked outfield prospect behind only Taveras and Yelich.

Keith Law has him #2 overall behind just Taveras. "80 speed on the 20-80 scouting scale, a very quick bat, a plus arm, the potential for plus-plus defense in center -- is accompanied by more present baseball skill than I realized last spring. He's already 19, so a late-season promotion to high-A wouldn't be too aggressive if he continues to rake."

So, doing the way premature math, if he goes to high A ball this year and does well, we could see him in AA next year at 20 years old. Anything can happen from there. Here he is mashing a walk off grand slam:

#7 Miguel Sano, 3B

Sano is in High-A Fort Myers after spending all of last season in Low-A. Still, he's the youngest player in the Florida State league and is absolutely crushing it. Did you know Doug Mientkiewicz is managing the Fort Myers team? Me either until just right now. He has this to say about Sano, "I don't get the final word, but I think he is ready for Double-A." Miguel is hitting 343/437/657 with 13 homers (29 xbhs) in 181 ABs. He strikes out a tad more than 25% of the time, but he's showing huge power, so that might be acceptable. He also walks at a decent rate of 11.7%.

The biggest thing that could slow down Sano's rocketship to the majors is his defense. He's currently at 3B still although many have projected him to 1B or a corner OF spot eventually. He made 42 errors last season in 125 games at third, and so far this year he's made 11 errors in 49 games. So, he's shown some improvement at least, but he's certainly not major league ready there.

Fast forward to about 1:18 to watch Sano go yahtzee off of something called Jacob Partridge here:

#50 Kyle Gibson, SP

Unless Kyle Gibson injures his shoulder killing and burying a hooker in Rochester, we'll be seing him pitch for the Twins in June. Waiting until mid-June earns the Twins another year of control by going past the super two deadline. You can't blame the Twins for this unless you thought they just needed one more arm back when they were a .500 team.

Gibson is kind of a "flat-brimmer", but I think he pulls it off.

Gibson, 25, is just 4-5 so far this year, but he's sporting a 2.82 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP in 60.2 innings. He's also only allowed 2 homeruns and just 48 hits. And now I'm reading that he got beat up a little in today's start so add 6 runs in 6 innings today to those stats.

#51 Eddie Rosario, 2B

Rosario is with our guy Sano in High-A ball and continues to hit. In 2012 he moved from CF to 2B and did well. This year he's only played 2B and is playing great defensively with just 3 errors in 41 games. Eddie is hitting 324/365/503 with 4 homers (19 xbhs) in 173 at bats. This is a slight improvement across the board compared to last year. His walk rate is low at 6.3%, but he also has a pretty low K rate of 14.6%.

#57 Alex Meyer, SP

The 6'9" Meyer was acquired in the Denard Span and is playing AA ball in New Brighton. At 23, he's just two years removed from pitching for Kentucky in college. He's shown some big time strikeout potential with 63 Ks in 54.2 innings pitched. He has a mid-90s fastball and a mid 80s slider. He's still pretty wild, with 4.15 BB/9; that will need to improve for him to take the next step. This is also the main reason he has a 1.40 WHIP.

#86 Jose Berrios, SP

Jose Berrios was taken 32nd overall last year and pitched 30 innings in rookie ball and struck out basically everyone (49). He's had 6 starts now in Low-A Cedar Rapids (Team Buxton) and is doing well. He's thrown 33.1 innings, struck out 40 and walked just 6. He also hasn't allowed a homer. He has a 2.70 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP.

He's not super big at 6', 190lbs, so you have to wonder if he can remain a starter throughout the minors. He has a good fastball that can hit the mid-90s.

#94 Trevor May, SP

Trevor May, like Meyer is also 23, but he came to pro ball right out of high school. This means we can look at progression and trends as he moves through the ranks. The big thing that sticks out for May is the walk rate; and not in a good way. Throughout his minor league it's been around 5 BB/9 and it's right there so far this season as well (4.71). Despite the free passes, he has a 3.88 ERA and is 4-2 at New Brighton.

#149 Max Kepler, OF

Poor Max is broken. He has a left elbow injury that hasn't allowed him to start his 2013. We like him because he's German, though.

#179 Travis Harrison, 3B

Travis was draft in 2011 (50th overall) and is in his second minor league season. The 20 year old has 8 homers (23 xbh) in 171 at bats for Low-A Cedar Rapids and has a 275/351/503 line. In 59 games at 3B in 2012 he commited 24 errors. So far this year he has 10 errors in 45 games at the hot corner.

#212 Josmil Pinto, C

Wait, there's more? Apparently their list of 200 goes beyond 200, so here we are. 24 year old Pinto is in AA and is hitting 337/430/537. In related news, Drew Butera once hit .337 in a wiffle ball league. He's also thrown out 32% of would be base-stealer-guys.

So, no playoffs for the Twins this year, but maybe look for these minor league clubs to make the post-season. Slap it high?

A Look Back at My NBA Preview - How Horrible Was I?

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor Wegner) — Thu, 23 May 2013 16:52:00 +0000

Wolves get lucky #9 in this year's draft.

In honor of the Timberwolves not getting screwed (although not improving) in the NBA lottery, I thought I'd do an end of season recap. Prior to the NBA season I picked the over under for each team with a brief team preview. I didn't place any real money on these plays mostly because I hate waiting seven months for them to cash in, but unlike Mel Kiper who never looks back at his projections, we here at DWG take ownership of our awful predictions.

As I write this, I do not know the results of how I did, so this could end in apology or over the top gloating; but will likely end in a middling result where the only one that wins is the house.

In the Atlantic Division I had:

Nets: Under 46 -- They went 49-33. LOSS
Knicks: Under 45.5 -- They went 54-28 LOSS
Celtics: Over 50.5 -- They went 41-40 LOSS (uh-oh)
Sixers: Under 45.5 -- They went 34-48 WIN
Raptors: Under 34.5 -- They went 34-48 WIN

What happened?

I had a 2-3 record in the Atlantic Division. A lot of this could be attributed to the massive failure of the Celtics. Rondo only played 38 games before tearing an ACL. Rookie Jared Sullinger was also lost for the season and Jason Terry decided he was so very old and so very tired. The Knicks had a great year on the back of Carmelo Anthony. Ray Felton got back to being a good fat-back (Barry Foster) as opposed to a bad one (LenDale White) and the Knicks had a lot of depth to overcome injuries.

In the Central Division I had:

Cavaliers: Under 30.5 -- They went 24-58 WIN
Bulls: Over 47.5 -- They went 45-37 LOSS
Bucks: Over 36.5 -- They went 38-44 WIN
Pacers: Under 51.5 -- They went 49-32 WIN
Pistons: Under 31.5 -- They went 29-53 WIN

What happened?

Woohoo! 4-1 here. The lines were pretty well set for this group wiht all teams within 2.5 wins except the Cavs. The Bulls got strong for their playoff push, but couldn't quite pull out the 48 wins I required. My boyfriend Paul George and the Pacers had/are having a great year, but that 51.5 number was just too big like my cholesterol.

In the Southeast Division I had:

Hawks: Under 43.5 -- They went 44-38 LOSS
Heat: Over 60.5 -- They went 66-16 WIN
Bobcats: Over 18.5 -- They went 21-61 WIN
Magic: Under 23.5 -- They went 20-62 WIN
Wizards: Under 27.5 -- They went 29-53 LOSS

What happened?

3-2 here. What happened here is the Hawks screwed me. Both losses were pretty close. The Heat had an amazing regular season and are on their way to another championship (not even worth blogging about). They blew away the 60.5 o/u. Charlotte beat their 18.5 over, but the bigger win here is they're getting rid of the silly Bobcats moniker and going back to the Hornets.

In the Northwest Division I had:

Jazz: Over 43.5 -- They went 43-39 LOSS
Thunder: Under 58.5 -- They went 60-22 LOSS
Nuggets: Under 51.5 -- They went 57-25 LOSS
Blazers: Over 33.5 (said I "really like this") -- They went 33-49 LOSS
Timberwolves: No Pick (WTF?) -- They went 31-51 NA

What happened?

0-4...Well, all of the good feelings have gone as I'm proven to be a complete imbecile. I was most off on the Nuggets as I really didn't appreciate the impact of Andre Iguodala on this team. I lost the Thunder/Jazz/Blazers by a combined 2.5 wins, so that sucks. The only good news is I probably would have predicted over for the Timberwolves and I'm sure the number was 40-ish for them.

In the Western Division I had:

Kings: Under 30.5 -- They went 28-54 WIN
Suns: Under 31.5 -- They went 25-57 WIN
Warriors: Over 36.5 -- They went 47-35 WIN
Clippers: Over 49.5 -- They went 56-26 WIN
Lakers: Under 56.5 -- They went 45-37 WIN

What happened?

5-0! And he's back off the ropes! This division appears to be where Vegas was the most off. Some of it certainly due to the Lakers making a dirty diaper of their season. Steph Curry (Wolves didn't need him) and the Warriors really took a nice step forward despite injuries to Bogut and Lee and Rush; they could be one to watch next year.

In the Western Division I had:

Mavericks: Over 41.5 -- They went 41-41 LOSS
Spurs: Under 56.5 -- They went 58-24 LOSS
Grizzlies: Under 48.5 -- They went 56-26 LOSS
~~Hornets~~ Pelicans: Under 27.5 -- They went 27-55 WIN
Rockets: Over 33.5 -- They went 45-37 WIN

What happened?

2-3, not the greatest finish. The Grizzlies had a great year and really exceeded expectations. Houston did well with THE BEARD in tow. Everyone else pretty held to form.

Overall record: 16-13

So, to summarize, I know slightly more about basketball than a coin-flip. Also, the division I watch the most was my worst; so I must be extra delusional when it comes to teams close to the Wolves.

Thoughts before Canada

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Wed, 22 May 2013 02:12:00 +0000

I leave for the big Canada trip Thursday morning with Bogart, Dawger, and Bear so I won't get a chance to talk at you for quite a while. I'll leave a few parting thoughts here and then hopefully TRE can put up a couple of posts while I'm gone.

- At one point it seemed like the Gophers had a strong shot at landing Memphis transfer Tarik Black, but once again when the big boys come calling the Gophers have little shot as Black has decided to enroll at Kansas, who also just signed the #1 player in the class of 2013 in Andrew Wiggins, called the best pro prospect since LeBron, and have gone from lots of question marks to a pretty loaded squad. There are still a handful of interesting big man options out there (Juco and/or transfers) with the most likely to become a Gopher still Rakeem Buckles (no clue what exactly the hold up on this one seems to be) and man somebody better be coming. Not that anybody is a difference maker at this point, but of the four big guys (yes, only four) the only one you can relatively sure you can rely on is Eliason. I personally think Oto will have a big year and a definite Buggs fan, but so many question marks. Might as well make the lane at Williams look like the Riddler's suit at this point.

- Sometimes I'm wrong about things. Not often, but sometimes. Roy Hibbert is one of those times. You know how completely worthless Hasheem Thabeet has been, even getting bounced down to the D-League? I figured Hibbert would be right there with him. I should have known better with him coming out of Georgetown who, outside of Ruben Boumtje-Boumtje, never miss on centers, but I thought he was doomed to failure. This year he nearly averaged a double-double while finishing fourth in blocked shots (also Tim Duncan finished third. Guy's immortal. Immortally boring, but immortal). So Roy, and Georgetown, I'm sorry for doubting. And now that I've apologized and admitted my error, it's clear I am the better man here.

- Sam Deduno is back. Again. After an outstanding World Baseball Classic (3 starts, 0.69 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 17 K vs. 5 BB, team won the whole thing) some Deduno related buzz was generated that maybe he had figured things out. Unfortunately fans would have to wait as Deduno didn't make his minor league debut until early May thanks to an injury suffered at the WBC. So who is Deduno this year? The 28 year old rookie of last year with the 57/55 K-to-Walk ratio? Or the WBC hero?

It's really tough to tell so far with just 3 minor league starts under his belt. Deduno has made the K/BB ratio a bit more manageable at 17/10 with his last start the best going 6 innings and striking out 8 while walking just two. Of course, he also gave four earned runs in that one compared to just one earned in his prior to starts which encompassed eleven innings, when, of course, he struck out 9 while walking 8. He's almost impossible to figure out. I think it boils down to a guy who has decent stuff but little command. He'll have games where he'll shut teams down like he did last year, and he'll have games where he doesn't get out of the third inning like he did last year. Is he worth more of a shot than P.J. Walters or Cole DeVries in this spot? I don't know, but the correct answer is Kyle Gibson, who, in case you missed it, has thrown complete game shutouts with 8 Ks and 2 walks in two of his last three outings for the Rochester Red Wings. He's coming. I don't know when the arbitration clock kicks on or kicks off or whatever it is, but he better be up the day after it happens.

- Lastly, for those knocking the Pitino hire because he's only had one year of head coaching experience and is now in a major conference:

Billy Donovan: previous head coaching experience before Florida - 2 years at Marshall
Jim Boeheim: previous head coaching experience before Syracuse - NONE
Roy Williams: previous head coaching experience before Kansas - NONE
Tom Izzo: previous head coaching experience before Michigan State - NONE
Brad Stevens: previous head coaching experience before Butler - NONE

That's a pretty good list. People are morons.

- And with that, I'm out for a while. Wish me luck - mostly that I catch a lot of big fish, but also that I don't die in the wilderness.

Welcome aboard, Malik Smith

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:29:00 +0000

Because apparently Coach Pitino doesn't believe in every slowing down, there's even more Gopher news to report in this weird last 24 hours with Malik Smith transferring from FIU to join his former coach with the Gophers. Smith is a true chucker who does very little else, but is a good athlete and is familiar with the system Pitino runs in which he did manage to average 14 points per game last year while shooting 36%.

The hope is that Smith's game will be able to fit next to the other pieces the Gophers have so that rather than be the guy who has to carry the entire team's offense he's merely another cog in the great magnificent machine and his percentages and efficiency should go up, and hopefully he'll consider an assist here and there and maybe even grab a rebound if it bounces right to him. One would think he could at least play some defense considering FIU was one of the best in the country at forcing turnovers last year, but he had the 2nd worst steal percentage on the team, a number that was only higher than Mo Walker and Elliot Eliason among Gophers last year.

I realize this probably makes me sound like I'm pretty down on this, and maybe I am a bit, but not completely. Smith is a scorer, pure and simple, and those don't grow on trees (I don't believe) so picking up a guy who can put the ball in the basket and is aggressive with it to join a team who was an offensive mess last year is probably a positive move. His efficiency wasn't terrible last year despite the poor shooting percentage, and if he can take on a more complimentary role both of those should go up since in theory he won't be needed to jack up a ton of shots. I do have concerns that he can't modify his behavior, as well as wondering if he'll be effective against better competition (FIU played Louisville and nobody else at all last year), but those things are for the coach to figure out.

Since Smith is a senior he only has one year left to play and he is supposed to be eligible right away so there's no waiting involved and another scholarship will be open for 2014. Basically Pitino traded Joe Coleman for Smith and an additional scholarship that year. He's clearly come in and decided to rebrand this team as his own and obviously his guy Smith fits his vision better than Coleman so he made the swap (no, I haven't seen anything definitive but the pieces and timing fit). No doubt this move will probably rub some people the wrong way, just as letting Coleman go (meaning no more Minnesota born players are on the roster) will rub some the wrong way. Me? I was a fan of the hire from the get go and so naturally I believe in Pitino and generally support what he's done thus far, including jettisoning Tubby's recruits for next season and bringing in his own guys (by the way, Alex Foster is following Tubby to Texas Tech). This move - the Coleman for Smith swap - however, has me feeling a bit unsure. I liked Coleman's potential within the system Pitino was going to install. Hopefully I love Smith.

Joe Coleman to Transfer? (and some other stuff)

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Wed, 15 May 2013 02:44:00 +0000

- The big news tonight is that Joe Coleman is considering transferring from the Gopher hoops squad with a meeting planned with Coach Pitino Wednesday to discuss his future, a meeting I'd wager was initiated by Coleman after seeing this giant influx of perimeter players. This, in my not remotely humble opinion, would be a mistake by both parties.

Although Coleman may have a rough outside shot and is the worst defender on the team (particularly off the ball) and has the game of a 4 in the body of a 2, he's still a valuable player and should fit in with Pitino's system quite well. Coleman seems to excel when he can get out and run and use his almost unreal ability to score in the paint for a little guy. In the half court his weaknesses (and we might as well throw sub-par ball handling and decision making in there as well) are magnified, but in a more free flowing game he can excel with his athleticism, which allows him to gamble on defense for steals (which he could do more easily with Pitino than Tubby). It would be hard for Coleman to find a better system for his skill set, and it would be hard for the Gophers to replace his production for next year at this late date so it really doesn't make any sense for him to leave. Though if he does it makes a lot more sense to go after Malik Smith (referenced below in a bullet point I wrote before all this Coleman shit broke out)

And now that I glance at Twitter in order to make a comment about Harrison Barnes looking good I see everyone is now suddenly reporting that Coleman has asked for his release. Unless Pitino was like "Hey Joe why don't you go" with the intention of bringing Smith in this is just a baffling decision by Coleman. And, frankly, it sucks. No matter what you think about Coleman (and he clearly had his faults) I really think he would have thrived under Pitino. I guess we'll see by tomorrow what's true and what isn't. All of this is a little bit baffling. I think pretty much every transfer during the Tubby era made some sense (maybe with the exception of Iverson) but this one has me confused. I'll be interested to see what leaks in the next few days (if it turns out to be true).

- With Wednesday being the last day to sign recruits for the 2013-2014 season and nobody on the Gophers radar it appears the Gophers will be looking at snagging a transfer in order to fill out the roster. Right now Malik Smith, formerly of FIU, Tarik Black, formerly of Memphis, Rakeem Buckles, formerly of Louisville, and Joey King, formerly of Drake, look to be the candidates. Black is the definite prize of the group, but he's being chased by teams like Duke and Kansas which makes him a pretty big longshot. Smith averaged 14 points per game last season at FIU as a junior, but he's yet another guard and after signing Daquean McNeil and Dre Mathieu a big man would seem to be a better option which is why, among other reasons, the most likely new Gopher will be either Buckles, King, or both.

Buckles, who was with Pitino at Louisville before following him to FIU, is looking to transfer from FIU and Minnesota makes the most sense. He's a power forward who has been injury prone but talented and he's a senior which means he'd not only (most likely) be eligible right way but also would only take up a scholarship for one season, both of which are attractive to a new coach trying to build a program using his players. King, a 6-9 PF with a nice outside shot, is from Eagan and is looking to transfer closer to home due to some personal issues of some sort, meaning he'd likely get a waiver and be eligible this year just like Buckles, but he still has three years of playing eligibility. It sounds like his game would fit what Pitino wants, it's just a matter of if he's good enough (7pts & 3rebs in 19 minutes per game for Drake last year with outbursts of 21 pts twice including vs. Xavier). There are conflicting reports on whether or not he's been contacted by the Gophers or contacted the Gophers with some reports he's been asked to come in as a walk-on. So who knows, but the team probably needs at least one of those two for next season seeing as a front court of Eliason, Walker, Oto, and Buggsy is what some might call really pretty bad.

- I'm sure most people who would be interested have already checked out this Hicks catch, but here it is again.

I don't think it beats Revere's from last season, but that's a pretty damn good play.

- Also, Glen Perkins really likes nerd stats.

- Congrats to stryker, who wins a DVD/Blu-ray copy of the Sandlot by being chosen at random from those who left a comment below the post about The Sandlot. Just think, it could have been you if you weren't so damn lazy.

- I think, seeing as how we're a cynical and sarcastic society and bloggers seem to lead the league in both, that I'm supposed to hate the new Vikings Stadium but I actually like it. Retractable roof wasn't feasible due to budget and keeping in mind they had a limited space to build and couldn't turn it into a giant corporate like campus area, I think the design looks pretty good. I understand how somebody could hate it with all the glass and what not, but I dig the look.

- Andrew Wiggins, the #1 prospect for the 2013 college basketball season, is taking his talents to Kansas for next year, ending speculation that he was heading for Florida State (both his parents were athletes at FSU) and pretty much guaranteeing that the Florida State/Gopher game at the barn is going to be so boring I'm going to want to die. Remember when Georgia Tech came here when they had Bosh? The Jackets sucked, the Gophers sucked, but it didn't matter because Bosh was fun to watch. And Wiggins is supposed to be way, way better than Bosh ever was in college.

- One of the things I said would be good about this Twins' season is that they'd be in a full rebuilding period which would mean we'd get extended looks at some guys and be able to get a handle on who has a future with the team and who doesn't. Although the jury is still out on pretty much all the young players I've made my decision on one of them: Chris Parmelee is freaking terrible. After this year he'll probably spend a year or two bouncing between the bigs and AAA and eventually be waived and end up doing the same thing for another team. In reality a pretty nice living that I would kill for, but it's over as far as him being the future of anything -other than like, really good softball player.

- Lastly, I got my Ontario Fishing License today. I don't think I've mentioned this before, but a week from Thursday I'd heading off to Canada for a week long fishing trip to Lac Seul which is a 9 hour drive and 3 hour boat ride away with Dawger, Bear, Bogart, Bogart's dad, and a bunch of old people. We will have no internet access and very little cell service which frankly sounds kind of awesome so you'll have to be in TRE's capable hands for a week so hopefully he can post some stuff that doesn't suck. Why would you drive that far just to fish, you may ask if you're some kind of gay. This is why:


This is Bogart from a prior trip, by the way. Yes, I know it's hard to believe he's a super rich and powerful attorney.

The Sandlot? On the Big Screen? Yes please.

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Thu, 09 May 2013 01:43:00 +0000

Seriously you guys, this is pretty awesome. Details below. Don't forget to leave a comment with your favorite line from the flick to possibly win a free Blu-ray/DVD copy of maybe the best baseball movie of all-time.

The Sandlot” will be shown on the Target Field Jumbo Tron following the Minnesota Twins Game on May 19. Director David M. Evans, as well as actors Chauncey Leopardi (Squints) and Patrick Renna (Ham) will be in attendance to sign autographs once the movie begins. Visit TwinsBaseball.com to purchase tickets.

ENTER TO WIN a copy of THE SANDLOT on DVD & Blu-Ray. Comment below on your favorite line from the film. One lucky winner will be chosen at random to receive a copy of THE SANDLOT on Blu-Ray & DVD, in stores now!

Make sure when you leave your comment you identify yourself in some way so we don't have a bunch of cheaters trying to claim this sweet movie for themselves. Or hopefully it's a cluster so I can just keep it for myself.

Welcome Aboard, Dre Mathieu

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:06:00 +0000

Now I have to worry about spelling his last name. And the Gophers have two Dres to go along with their two Hollinses. Sid is really going to have some issues keeping up this year now that the Gophers and Richard Pitino have signed JuCo PG Dre Mathieu.

Mathieu, the 5-9 (5-9!) point guard from Central Arizona College chose Minnesota over Ole Miss and Pepperdine who were also in his final three. Although that might not sound like the greatest competition for his services, remember those were his final three that he had narrowed it down to. He also held offers from UCLA, Memphis, and Washington State among others. Mathieu isn't Tyus Jones or Rashad Vaughn, but he isn't Maverick Ahanmisi either - he's a pretty good pick-up this late in the recruiting season and a true point guard, FINALLY.

Getting a true point guard should do wonders for this team assuming Drizzy (his chosen nickname) is ready to go from day 1, and being a JuCo that should be the expectation (Andre Ingram excepted). Dre Hollins should be able to spend more time at shooting guard where he's a more natural fit and this should make it so Maverick never ever ever has to dribble the ball. Hopefully Mav becomes the guy who comes in at about the 12 minute mark in the first half, gets a chance to shoot, and if he makes it he can keep playing and if he misses he's done for the game. This would make the back court quite small if Dre² are out there together and since Joe Coleman is a teeny tiny 3 when he's on the wing, but Austin Hollins is a bigger and a very good backcourt defender and newly signed Daquein McNeil is 6-3 and scouting reports say he has the potential to be a "lethal defender." They'll be fine.

As far as Mathieu goes, from reading a few scouting reports and watching a few highlights he seems to be an incredibly explosive athlete (reported 45 inch vertical) who is lighting quick and can get in the lane. His averaging 6.1 rebounds per game this season is a testament to his athletic ability given his height, and his 6.5 assists per game help confirm that he's truly a pass first kind of guy, which he even alluded to on Twitter. He can certainly score as well, averaging 17 points per game on 52% shooting, however he's definitely more of a driver than a shooter, hitting just 29% from 3 and I read somewhere he acknowledges outside shooting as a weakness. In highlights he's certainly not afraid to drive all the way to the rim and is a talented finisher, although it will be interesting to see how that works against Mitch McGary and Adreian Payne rather than whoever he played in the California Penal League or whatever. Worst case and the jumper doesn't develop he should still be able to find success as a Lewis Jackson type. I'm just excited to have a real point guard around.

As far as the team goes, they're certainly going to be perimeter oriented with both Hollinses, the two new guys, and Coleman all set. With Eliason the only real proven big man (well, semi-proven) somebody out of the group of Mo Walker, Charles Buggs, and Oto is going to have to step up, and probably two of them. The Gophers are still working on Rakeem Buckles and Tarik Black, although it's now sounding like Black is leaning towards Oregon. With the news today that Pitino target Joseph Uchebo has signed with Pitt the big man cupboard is suddenly looking awfully bare (guard Allerik Freeman, another target of Pitino, signed with Baylor today as well). That's not a complaint, because I'm very pleased with what Pitino's been doing so far, and after watching this team for the last few years I'm looking forward to a perimeter based squad getting up and down the court in a big ole hurry. Plus, believe it or not, I still believe in both Buggs and Oto - I really think one of them is going to thrive in this new system as a stretch 4. Maybe both. Dare to dream and all that.

Here's Drizzy dunking in an incredibly high resolution video so you can see those hops in action:

Thursday Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Fri, 03 May 2013 02:52:00 +0000

- Can anyone explain this Derrick Rose thing? So with the Bulls up 3-2 they have a chance to close out New Jersey in Chicago, knowing a loss sends this back to a game 7 in Jersey so this is basically a do or die game. Both Kirk Hinrich, who started at PG in place of Rose all year, and Luol Deng, probably the team's best perimeter defender, are out and in case you forget New Jersey has Derrick Williams. In Game 5 in a similar situation (no Hinrich) Williams abused Nate Robinson for 23 and 10 assists, and as I write this mid-way through the second quarter he already has seven assists. All this could potentially be handled by Rose, you know the former MVP and all, coming back and playing which, by the way, his doctor's have cleared him to do. It's just weird.

- I'm all over Revolutionary for the Derby on Saturday (10/1 right now I believe). He's got good results, he's ridden by Calvin Borel (the pimp daddy of all jockeys) and he drew a position near the rail but not on it (#3) which is where Borel loves to be. There's also a good possibility of rain and Revolutionary rates as the 2nd best wet track horse in the field (behind Oxbow) and Borel likes sloppy tracks as well. Everything sets up well for Revolutionary, which actually kind of scares me a bit, but I put a good amount on him to win and boxed him up with Normandy Invasion and Orb in a trifecta. I also let the wife pick a horse (Goldensoul because she's a hippy at heart) and let the daughter pick one as well (Charming Kitten because she's five) while throwing a bit on Will Take Charge as my longshot and still hold a WIN ticket on itsmyluckyday that I put down on a couple of months ago. I hit the winner 3 years ago (Super Saver) and wife hit it last year (I'll Have Another) so I think we're due for another win.

- I made the decision not to get HBO this year in order to save money and I knew Game of Thrones was going to be the biggest test. They tried to suck me in with the free preview that let me watch episode 1 but I held strong. Then I spent the night at Snacks' place and he's got HBO and has all the episodes and we watched two over there and I thought I was screwed, but luckily I remember that all HBO subscribers get access to HBOGO so I can used Snacks' ID and stuff and watched the last couple to get all caught up and my god this show is just so amazingly good.

I am a huge fan of the books and I never, ever imagined they could have done it this well. All the cool shit from the books was done right and all the stuff they changed, added, or eliminated has been done exceptionally well to the point where I honestly don't have any complaints. There's tons of hot chicks and boobs and butts and stuff which is of course welcome, but honestly the story and the drama completely sucks me in even though I know what's going to happen already. Daenarys with the unsullied, Jamie's hand, the fight at Craster's, even something with no action like Sansa discussing Joffrey with Margaery (hot as fire) and Lady Tyrell are all good enough to be the biggest moment of the season in pretty much any other show, and we ain't seen nothing yet. If I had to pick the best 3 non-comedic tv shows in history I'd go with Lost (the first 3 seasons or so), Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones, and GoT is so far beyond those other two it'd be like if Jim Thome raced a horse. A good horse. Also no, I have never seen The Wire or Breaking Bad (although I plan to eventually) so shut it.

- So Kahn out, Flip in, eh? Tough to fault it, and I'm sure Glen Taylor pours himself a drink every time he watches Steph Curry score 16 points in a quarter and then thinks about Jonny Flynn is probably on the And 1 Tour at this point. Really, outside of Darko over Melo and Wade and Oden over Durant that might end up the worst draft pick of this generation. Unfortunately, because otherwise Dawger will rake me over the coals in the comments, I have to admit that I thought Steph Curry was on the fast train to bustville. I was convinced his big numbers at Davidson were because he played sub-par competition and his team was so dependent on him that he was going to score big no matter what, but I though his absolute upside was a spot up shooter like Steve Novak or Craig Hodges. My oh my was I ever wrong. The guy is a completely dynamic scorer and one of the best shooters I've ever seen. If he ever figures out how to drive to the rim he's going to be unstoppable, and he kind of is already. It takes a strong man with a great character to admit when he's wrong, and that man is me.

- So Byron Buxton hit another home run tonight. That's his fifth for Cedar Rapids and coming into the night he was hitting .383/.510/.667 with 5 doubles, 3 triples, 4 HRs, and 10 steals in 14 attempts. Simply put - he's killing low A ball in just his second year and he's just 19 years old. I know you don't want to rush a teenager, but it's just silly. He's walking more than he's striking out, hitting for a huge average and showing massive power while stealing bases like crazy. He leads the Midwest league in slugging, OPS, runs, and walks, is #2 in average and OBP, and is top 5 in homers, total bases, steals, RBI, and triples. Between him and Miguel Sano (.368/.435/.747 with 9 homers) the Twins might end up with two top 10 prospects when the mid-year Baseball America prospect ratings come out. Pretty cool shit.

- I still can't believe Joe Johnson was ever a max deal player.

Richard Pitino is a Busy Beaver

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Thu, 02 May 2013 03:13:00 +0000

Never let it be said that Richard Pitino is not ambitious. There are so many reports about him visiting recruits and making offers it's gotten a little tough to keep up. There's an offer out to SG Isaiah Whitehead who is #46 overall according to ESPN. He's got a ton of really good schools after him (Arizona, Kansas, Louisville, Syracuse, UCLA) so it's going to be tough, but I won't rule the Gophers out yet because of the Kimani Young/NYC (Whitehead is from Brooklyn) deep connection. It's hard to know just how much pull he has in New York since we haven't had a chance to see him in action yet, but if the Gophers can get Whitehead I'd say that's some pretty compelling evidence that it's not overblown.

Obviously Tyus Jones is the point guard to want for 2014, but it's not as if Pitino is putting all his chickens in that particular basket, offering 2014 PG Kaleb Joseph out of New England who ranks 54th in the class according to ESPN, as well as an offer to #41, Josh Perkins out of Colorado. The Perkins offer was originally made by Tubby Smith and at one point Perkins had narrowed his list to 9 schools that included Minnesota. I can't find any information if the offer still stands and/or the interest is still there on Perkins part, but with offers out now to 3 top 60 point guards just hitting on one of them would be outstanding. Pitino also recently offered Wisconsin PG Sandy Cohen, who is apparently not in ESPN's database but according to Ryan James also received offers from Memphis and Marquette. If he's anywhere near as good a basketball player as he is a father to Ryan and Seth on the O.C. he's going to be a star. Jalyn Patterson out of Georgia is yet another point guard Pitino recently offered, which leads me to believe it's possible that Pitino understands how important point guards are. I find this development a positive one.

On the wing, Brandone Francis is someone I know very little about but he's a guard from the Dominican Republic who is said to have interest in Minnesota and considering he has an offer on the table from Indiana that's probably a good thing. There's more information about Terry Larrier (a SF and another NYC kid), a SF Pitino had offered when he was at FIU who he must have really liked to offer now that he's at Minnesota. The kid's offer sheet doesn't look at that great (best offer is probably Dayton) but the scouting report on him is he's an incredible athlete and would fit well in the system Pitino is trying to implement.

The last offer for 2014 that's been handed out recently by the Gophers went to 6-8 PF Abdul-Malik Abu from Boston who ESPN ranks as the 53rd overall in the class. He's got a lot of offers from good schools so this is another highly competitive situation that the Gophers find themselves in. Abu is another guy who may not be the most skilled but scouts rave about his athleticism and once again that is the type of big man who would fit what Pitino is trying to build.

It's an exciting time, man. Between all the activity to fill the roster for 2013 (Pitino's name has also been mentioned with regards to a top 100 guard who just decommitted from UCLA and a couple of JuCo players along with being in the mix for Tarik Black among others) and an aggressive 2014 plan already it's tough just to keep up. ESPN just came out and said they believe the Gophers are now in the lead for Rashad Vaughn's services in 2014 which, even if it doesn't come to fruition, is simply awesome. There are rumors that Vaughn may be transferring to a prep school in Virginia or West Virginia or something for his senior year, and some think that helps the Gophers while others think it hurts them so who the hell knows. All I know is this has already been a really fun offseason, and if Pitino gets this program as entertaining on the court as they've already been off it I can't wait. And, perhaps most exciting of all, there's this tweet:

A long time Minnesota AAU coach told us today that "5 weeks ago the #Gophers had no shot at the Big 3, now any combination is possible."
— GopherHole.com (@GopherHole) May 1, 2013

Oh my.

Let's Talk About Hicks, Man

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 01:54:00 +0000

The most exciting thing about sports is potential. Actually, the most exciting part is having the chance to see what that potential escape the realm of the imaginary and turn into something real - whether good or bad. There's a reason people are generally excited about a new Star Wars Trilogy and it's the same concept. The interest in getting in early on something that has the potential to be great sucks people in whether despite being burned countless times before (think Phantom Menace, Rico Tucker, or Francisco Liriano). This, of course, brings us to Aaron Hicks. There's little more exciting than the team's most MLB ready top prospect tearing shit up in Spring and getting the nod to jump from AA ball right to the bigs and bat leadoff. All that, of course, is why his debut has been mostly a bummer, bro.

Things have been looking brighter lately with Hicks in the midst of a 5-game hit streak, but that still raises his batting average to just .118, which ranks dead last among those with enough PAs to qualify for the batting title. This obviously is less than ideal. There are lots of people who seem quite riled up by Hicks' slow start, including one guy I talked to at a bachelor party (for Grand Slam, for those of you who follow along with the cast of characters in my life) who couldn't have spent more time telling me how Hicks sucked and should be sent to AAA to get his swing straightened out. To this I say, "dude shut up."

First of all, his BABIP is .167, well below league average and far below where he's been at every minor league stop (usually a decent amount north of .300) and is fourth worst in the majors. Granted he hasn't hit a ton of line drives (only 3 so far this year in 44 balls put in play) but it would essentially be impossible to play an entire season with a BABIP below .200 (worst in the majors last year was Justin Smoak at .242). That alone basically guarantees his average will get up to a minimum of .200 or so, and I'd be stunned if it ended up anywhere near that low.

Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, Hicks hasn't changed his approach from his minor league days, despite the rough start. He was billed as a patient hitter and that hasn't changed and that's why he's on pace for 85-100 walks despite barely hitting .100. His walk rate of 14.3% is actually fantastic, and ranks 15th in the majors, better than guys like Albert Pujols and your precious Joe Mauer. On the flip side yes he's struck out a ton (29.9%, 17th in the majors) but he's only whiffed four times in the last 10 games after racking up 20 in the previous 10 so I'd say that, along with the big five game winning streak, tell me he's figuring this thing out. It's worth noting that Hicks current .238 OBP is nearly as good as Ben Revere who is at .242 despite Revere's average (.207) being nearly 100 points higher. Actually that's something worth looking at further, so I will.

Hicks' OBP is .238 and his average is .118 - a difference of .120. That is a substantial difference so I investigated further. That ties him with Giancarlo Stanton and A.J. Ellis for the 11th biggest difference in the league, with such stars as Joey Votto, Billy Butler, David Wright, and Ryan Braun in his neighborhood. What does that mean? It means the guy knows how to hit, and a combination of bad luck and his own slump have combined to make the numbers look like he can't. Watching the guy and diving deeper into the numbers tell me the guy is still going to be a stud.

Not to mention he's a dynamic player who makes things happen. Despite just 8 hits he has seven RBI and has scored 10 runs. He and Colorado's Josh Rutledge are the only players to have more runs scored than hits this year, and only five players have more RBI per hit than Hicks does. He makes things happen. Add in his excellent defense and great base running and you still have a future star on your hands here, despite the slow start and weird Kevin Smith looking guys at bachelor parties opinions.

You hear me? I will say again:

AARON HICKS IS STILL GOING TO BE A SUPER STAR!

And you can take that to the bank.

What should the Vikings Do in the NFL Draft?

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor Wegner) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:35:00 +0000

The NFL draft begins Thursday night with the first round starting at 7pm on ESPN. If you're an idiot like me, you still tune in to KFAN from time to time and you're hearing the bottom of the barrel when it comes to baseless speculation regarding who the Vikings may take in the first round. Let's look at what local knobs are saying and maybe a couple of mock drafts and then talk about what the Vikings should do in the first.

Heard on KFAN and on USA Today Mock draft: The Vikings should trade up for Tavon Austin

What is it with everyone's desire to immediately replace a piece they just lost? We went through this before when the Vikings traded away Randy Moss to the Raiders and then drafted Troy Williamson because he was fast. Even the wikipedia language indicates they needed to do this: "The Vikings needed a receiver with deep speed after trading Randy Moss to Oakland, drafting Williamson with the 7th overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft." Speaking of which, Troy is a free agent!

So, now since we traded away a shifty slot guy that can return kicks well so now we need to trade up and immediately fill that hole with Tavon Austin. The USA Today mock has the Vikings jumping all of the way up to 6 noting that "the buzz has been growing for months" and that he's "not as thick as Harvin but offers a similar skill set". Mel Kiper has Austin going #16 to the Rams and says he's "versatile" and can replace the loss of Danny Amendola. The thing is, not every small guy that's a great returner turns into MVP-type-when-he-tries Percy Harvin. Austin could end up being much more Dexter McCluster than Harvin. In fact, that's what people should probably expect. Not that McCluster is bad, he's a useful player that can do a lot of things and was taken #36 overall by the Chiefs. I just don't think you should sell out your draft/future drafts by making a huge leap to get this guy. The Vikings just have too many holes to fill to give up multiple picks to get Austin. There are also a number of WR prospects that will be there that could be a fit anyway. If he falls to the late teens and the price is right; sure, try and move up. I mean, he did run a 4.34 and played every game at West Virginia despite his size. Here's Todd McShay fawning over him (has him going #13):

Heard on KFAN, USA Today, Kiper and from everyone you talk to: The Vikings should draft Manti Te'o

Everyone knows the Vikings need a MLB and despite it not being a super strong class for MLBs, many insist the Vikings will take Te'o in the first round with their #25 pick. Manti would be most notable for being a Heisman trophy finalist if it wasn't for getting catfished by some dude. Instead he's known for falling in love with a guy on the interwebs.

In some ways this is understandable as MLB is a need and the Vikings have had some success with drafting Irish in Harrison Smith and Kyle Rudolph. However, I'm unconvinced this is the right choice for a couple of reasons that go beyond him getting punked on the internet by some dude. By most accounts Te'o is a run stopper in the middle and will rack up tackles, but isn't much of a playmaker. He did make plays at Notre Dame including a whopping 7 INTs, but also has looked poor in big moments including the nationla championship and spraining his knee in the Sun Bowl in 2010. As mentioned before, the Vikings have a ton of needs and in my opinion MLB is much easier to fill later or outside of the draft. Players like Rey Malauga (Cincy), Michael Boley (Giants) and Nick Barnett (Bills) are free agency candidates.

Also, there are a bunch of decent, but not elite MLB options and Te'o is just one of them. Kevin Minter (LSU), Alec Ogletree (GA) and Nico Johnson (Bama) are all possibilities. Why not wait on MLB and get a lineman or secondary player as that seems to be the deeper? Then there's the dreaded "Manti is only a two down player" argument. I don't care about that as much if he's elite for those two downs, but with his speed and other problems, he doesn't seem to project to elite status. Go to the 2:20 mark on this vid for Manti talk:

So what should they do?

First, I like grabbing a WR at either 23 or 25 assuming you're getting one of the top guys. Landing Jennings was expensive, but somewhat necessary to stay competitive in the division. Adding to Jennings with a quality prospect would be great. Jarius Wright showed some flashes of being useful last year as well and could be a slot-type if necessary so you don't have to pigeon-hole yourself into getting the new slot guy.

Kiper has the Vikings taking Cordarrelle Patterson of Tennessee. He was another multi-tool type of player as he had 300 yards rushing, nearly 800 receiving and was a return guy. He has more size than Austin (nearly 6'2"), but is not as fast (4.48 vs 4.34). However, he's quick and strong and seems to have some big upside.

Cal Junior Keenan Allen is also 6'2" and runs in the 4.5 range. He can get up and battle for balls downfield, but doesn't blow you away with raw speed.

Justin Hunter is another Tennessee WR. He's big (6'4") and he's a leaper.

Roberts Woods of USC and Deandre Hopkins of Clemson are also considerations.

There are several options and hopefully the Vikings have a couple of these guys that they like. I'd go Cordarrelle if I could though. Check out this kick-ass sports science on all of the cool stuff he can do:

For the other pick I'd like to see them take the best available player...especially if it's a defensive lineman or someone in the secondary. Generally, I have some faith in the current regime based on some of their recent selections. Maybe they think taking a MLB in the first is a bad idea too. Some players I'm interested in that may be there in the mid-20s are:

Sylvester Williams, DT UNC - Sly is going to be 25 during the season, which kind of sucks but he looks like a beast inside and has shown good ability to get into the backfield. He's a guy that I've seen kind of all over from the teens to the end of the first round in mocks and I think that's at least partially due to the depth at the position. Plus he has big thighs:

Geno Smith, QB WVU - JUST HEAR ME OUT! It's a LOT cheaper these days to sign a QB in the first round thanks to the new salary slotting, so it's less of a blown gambit than say drafting Christian Ponder looks like it may have been. The Vikings have Cassell in the fold now, so I doubt they go here, but if Geno is available at 23, they have to take a hard look at him. Something called Anthony Sulla-Heffinger at the NYPost has the Vikings taking him at 23 and here's what he says in his blog-thing:

Smith has the tools to be successful in the NFL, but I think everyone is getting a little ahead of themselves on the West Virginia signal caller because of the success of Robert Griffin III and Cam Newton over the past two seasons. Smith has a tendency to shy away from the pocket when faced with pressure and while it is not as big of a deal as it once was, he played almost exclusively out of the shotgun while with the Mountaineers. Minnesota, which drafted Christian Ponder in the first round two years ago, certainly do not seem married to the idea of Ponder as their franchise QB, so if Smith is here, Minnesota will give him a long look. -Anthony Sulla-Heffinger

Bjoern Werner, DE FSU - 6'3", 266lb speed/power rusher that runs a 40 at the same speed as Manti Te'o. A boatload of defensive lineman are free agents at the end of the year and could be out the door.

Desmond Trufant, DB Washington - Trufant has two brothers in the NFL and he'll be the third. At just hair under 6', he's got good size and great speed with a 4.38 40 time. He'd be a great fit in the secondary.

Good luck to our Vikings tomorrow!

Minnesota Twins for the Win, perhaps?

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Thu, 25 Apr 2013 17:31:00 +0000

The American League Central is one of six divisions in Major League baseball. It was formed in the realignment in 1994, and all five of its member teams are located in the Midwestern United States. It is also the only division in Major League baseball in which all of its members have won the World Series at least once.

One of the star teams of the Central Division, having won the World Series a total of six times, is the Minnesota Twins. The Twins is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota and is named after the Twin Cities area of Minneapolis and St. Paul. The team was founded in Kansas City in 1894 as the Kansas City Blues of the Western League. The team moved to Washington, D.C. in 1901 as one of the eight original teams of the American League, named the Washington Senators or Washington Nationals.

The Twins have been doing pretty well in the American League season, placing at number 2 in the Central Division with an almost even win/loss ratio.

And it seems that one of the Twins players to watch out for is Aaron Hicks. The switch hitter Major League rookie might only be 23 but has some serious accomplishments under his belt: from being drafted by the Minnesota Twins in the first round of the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft straight out of high school, being tabbed a 2008 Baseball America Rookie All-Star in his first professional season, to batting .318 with four home runs, 27 runs batted in, twelve stolen bases and 28 walks for the Gulf Coast League Twins to earn a Gulf Coast League postseason All-Star nod shows that this young man is definitely a player to watch. Yet, one cannot look past his current standings after his first ten professional games – he has tied the all-time record for strikeouts in his first ten games – yet, the top five players on the list of all-time strikeouts have all gone on to have pretty good careers.

So whether you’re just a fan of the rookie or of the Minnesota twins, looking at their current standings, and their six World Series titles, you might want to place some money on how far they will be going in the Series. And if face to face betting isn’t for you, there are always sites like jackpotcapitalcasino.com where you can enjoy some safe and fun online gambling.

Guest Post: Vikings NFL Draft Preview

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 19:20:00 +0000

Thanks to a pretty successful season in 2012, the Vikings will have to wait until the #23 pick in the draft to take someone. To get over the hump in the their tough division, building through the draft is essential. So who are the three most likely candidates for them to take in the first round?

Alex Ogletree

The inside linebacker from Georgia was spectacular in college, and if he is still around, this should be their pick. The Vikings could use his presence at the linebacker position, and since he is coming out of the SEC, he should be ready to handle the speed of the NFL right away. Their might be a chance that the Vikings take Manti Te’o as well at this spot, but if both are available they will lean towards Ogletree.

Sylvester Williams

If the team isn’t able to land the linebacker they are looking for, Sylvester Williams is a defensive tackle that could help Minnesota’s shaky defensive line right away. He would fit in great with the 4-3 formation the team uses. Some have him linked to Dallas at #18 overall, but if he slips the former Tar Heel will be strongly considered.

Cordarrelle Patterson

Finally, everyone knows that the running game is in good shape, but the Vikings could use help at wide receiver. With no Percy Harvin in town, the Vikings really lack a true playmaker at wide receiver. He is much better after the catch right now, but if he can figure out how to improve his route running, he should be a solid pro and one to watch for your fantasy football leagues.

Welcome aboard, Daquein McNeil!

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 01:15:00 +0000

Rich Pitino is on the board! Daquein McNeil, former FIU commit, is following him here to the Gophers, and I am trying to decide how exciting this is. Plenty of background reading on McNeil here from the always excellent Late Night Hoops, so I won't rehash everything, or at least not intentionally, and will try to look at this, like Darth Vader after his helmet was off, with my own eyes.

His ESPN scouting report is positively glowing, describing him as "capable of creating offense off the dribble any time", "capable of getting hot with his jumper", and "a potentially lethal defender" with "good court vision" and "a quick first step." The only real negatives they point out is that he isn't a true point guard, which is fine because everyone else describes him as either a shooting guard or a combo guard, and that he has an inconsistent jumper which pretty much describes most freshman perimeter players.

Their bottom line on him reads as follows, "McNeil has great size, length, quickness, and playmaking ability and consequently the potential to be a very effective lead guard at the next level but must continue to polish his skills and develop his basketball I.Q." Uh, yeah. Sign me up.

Then again, despite being listed as having offers from Louisville and Washington, yet Rivals doesn't have them suggesting that the info from Late Night Hoops about how he had offers fall off might be true. I don't see anything suggesting if it's academic or performance related (although he has said he transferred out of Baltimore to Vermont for academic reasons) so I can't really comment for sure, but it's not all that uncommon for one time highly sought recruit to have his star lose some of it's shine as the years/months go by (see Alex Foster). ESPN rates him as a two star recruit and the 93rd best point guard in the class, while Rivals gives him 3-stars.

So that's what I mean about not sure how excited to be. His style of play sounds like he'll fit right in with what Pitino wants to do, especially the parts about being a potentially lethal defender and being the kind of player who attacks the rim, either to score or to pass. Then again, you have a situation where Pitino needs bodies to fill out the roster, which can lead to sub-par recruits (Maverick -> Hi) and the fact that McNeil may not have had a better offer than Richmond make you wonder if he's basically roster filler who won't ever develop beyond a back-up.

Like everything else this season we are at a point where you just shrug and say who knows. Much as your trust level in Teague reflects how optimistic you were about the Pitino hiring, your trust in Pitino likely affects your optimism on the McNeil signing. One thing is for certain, the Pitino era has now begun.

Also I have a new least favorite kind of driver: the On Ramp Racer. You know this guy. It's rush hour, you're getting on to a freeway and everyone has to stop and form two lines at those lights they have on each side. Generally pretty simple and shockingly organized. Then you get this fucking guy who picks a side, then suddenly realizes if he's in the other lane he'll get to get on the freeway one car early and save himself 15 seconds so he suddenly swerves from one to the other and screws everybody up behind him. And who be mercy unto you if you get two or more of these guys in the same group. It ends up looking like the end of Vegas Vacation but with shitty cars. So hey Mr. On Ramp Racer, next time do everyone a favor and just drive into the ditch which is hopefully filled with alligators and land mines.

Is Kevin Correia like, Good?

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 02:34:00 +0000

When the Twins signed free agent starter Kevin Correia to a 2 year, $10 million contract this year there were two distinct reactions from fans - you either got "who?" or "oh please god no tell me you're kidding what why?" I was in the second group. Correia had been a distinctly pedestrian pitcher for the Pirates and Padres, rolling up a grand total of 0.3 wins above a replacement level player in the last three years. After kicking around three organizations going back to 2003 and only once having what might be called a "quality" year, the $10 million seemed to be a bit of a ridiculous outlay for another Nick Blackburn.

That's basically what Correia was, an NL version of Correia. He doesn't strike people out (less than 5 K/9 each of the last two years), doesn't walk anybody (less than 2.5 BB/9 last two years), throws his fastball right around 90mph, and relies on groundballs to get outs. Basically your best case scenario was probably 180 innings with an ERA around the mid 4s - certainly not worth $10 million. However Correia has pitched very well this year, going 7+ innings while giving up 3 or fewer runs in all three of his starts, giving him 3 quality starts and a very nice 2.95 ERA. So that begs the question, is this luck (same old guy just a hot streak) or is this a brand new Correia? By the way I honestly don't know, but I suspect it's luck. Let's find out.

First, let's check out the quickest way to see if he's getting lucky: BABIP (and I will include links to all the nerd stats, although you should at least be somewhat familiar with most of them by now it's the 21st century grandpa). This year Correia is at .292 vs. his career number of .294. This is good news for Correia. Perhaps he is a better pitcher this year. Next up, Fielding Independent Pitching (both versions). This is not as good news. Correia's ERA (2.95) is significantly better than his FIP (3.92) and xFIP (4.20), which are both more in line with his career numbers. This suggests that so far this year Correia is pitching very similarly to how he always has, but something is affecting how many runs have actually crossed the plate.

Looking a little deeper two things immediately stand out: his LOB% and his HR/FB. LOB% simply means how many runners reach base against him and then fail to score. Generally this number will be higher for strikeout pitchers which Correia most assuredly is not, yet so far this year 81.9% of his baserunners have failed to score, which rates as excellent and would have been the second best of any starter last season. Comparing that to his career mark of 71%, which is slightly below average, and clearly something is happening here.

Similarly, his HR/FB (simply what % of fly balls he allows end up as home runs) is a very solid 8.7% this year, which is above average. Once again, when we compare that to his career mark of 10.7% we see a pretty drastic difference. One point you'd like to make here if you were defending Correia would be that Target Field is a tough park to hit home runs at so it wouldn't be out of line to see a low number here and you're right - From 2010-2012 Target Field saw 86 home runs hit the same number of at-bats it would take an average park to see 100. However in that same time frame Correia pitched at two extreme pitchers parks - PNC in Pittsburgh (74 HR) and Petco in San Diego (78 HR) - so, much like the Karate Kid in My Cousin Vinny, your case doesn't hold water.

Basically Correia is getting zero swings and misses which is resulting in the fewest strikeouts in his career (a laughable 3.4 per 9 right now) and more base runners. So far he's done a great job "scattering" his hits and avoiding the long ball and that's accounting for the low ERA and quality outings thus far. It's up to you if you believe that is something he can sustain despite being so much better than his career numbers, particularly when there's nothing here to suggest he's pitching any better than usual and might even be pitching a little bit worse. Personally? I'm thinking we're going to see some hard regression to the mean, and it's going to be ugly.

Get used to this, bromigos

Adding this because I find it fascinating, but Starlin Castro has yet to walk this year in 54 at-bats (prior to tonight where he still didn't walk). Turns out he's tied with Torii Hunter with those 54 ABs for most at-bats this year without a walk. In fourth place with 42 ABs is your guy Carlos Gomez. The most interesting thing looking at this list of guys without a walk is that they all suck. Seriously other than Castro and Hunter it's a bunch of crap like Daniel Descalso, Chris Getz, and Brent Lillibridge. I don't know if you can see this without a subscription but just look at - seriously look, it's terrible. Know the worst part? Ron Gardenhire would KILL to have most of these guys on his team. Don't deny it.

RealTree Camo Energy Drink is a RealThing

noreply@blogger.com (Trevor Wegner) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 17:06:00 +0000

I recently made a trip into Wisconsin for some gambling at St. Croix Casino in Turtle Lake, Wisconsin. I have a pai gow addiction and can sit there and drink and play cards for hours on end. I recently discovered the waitress will bring you two drinks at once, which is incredible.

On my way there I stopped at a gas station for a little pick me up. Maybe a nice energy beverage and some preserved meat to get me through the drive. When I get to the cooler I see a series of REALTREE energy drinks, complete with camoflage exteriors. I figure this is too amazing/hilarious not to get so I pick up the LOW CARB one because I'm watching my figure.

First, upon cracking it open I get a whiff of ozone and something that stings the nostrils. There is also a strong effervescence like I've just dropped two tabs of alka-seltzer. After tasting I realize it's not as bad as the smell, it's much, much worse. It's like a mix of doe estrus, battery acid and sadness. Truly awful tasting stuff. I thought I was going to go blind or have a seizure or something. I don't though; and in the hopes that it would give me max energy (what else could be it's purpose besides torture?) I downed most of it. All it gave me was gut rot. I didn't "wake the buck up"!

According to their website, the full line of RealTree flavors are:

Blaze Outdoor Energy Drink

Max-1 Low Carb Energy Drink

AP Outdoor Energy Drink

AP Snow Outdoor Energy Drink

AP Pink Outdoor Energy Drink

I haven't tried any of the others, but I wouldn't recommend it. Maybe I didn't like it because I'm a "city boy"?

Further research shows that RealTree energy drinks have a facebook page! Here's what people are saying:

Noah King

Y'all should make a max 4 duck blind can? That would be awesome

October 8, 2012 at 1:28pm near Palmyra, TN

Nice use of the question mark there, Noah.

Christopher Kappius

Think u for getting your drinks out here in omaha nebraska now we can get down to some hunting

August 24, 2012 at 12:03pm near Bellevue, NE

Yee-haw!

Jimmie Evans

The low carb energy drink by realtree is by far the best energy drink i've tasted yet! I'm hooked

August 5, 2012 at 9:01am

Jimmie, you poor SOB, you must have had your entire mouth and sinuses burned out in some kind of explosion to think this shit tastes good.

Here's my review in numbers:

Look/Feel: 10/10 - It's camo and that's just hilarious.
Taste: 0/10 - Oof.
Effect: 2/10 - Maybe nothing happened because I was concentrating so hard on something maybe happening death- related or otherwise.

Monday Musings

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Tue, 16 Apr 2013 01:26:00 +0000

- Even though the Twins are terrible this year this still could end up being a pretty fun season. If nothing else, they're at least finally agreeing with everyone else and realizing they're terrible so they're going to see what they have for the future. So we're going to get full seasons of Chris Parmelee and Brian Dozier to see what they can offer in the future. We're going to see extended tryouts for Aaron Hicks and Oswaldo Arcia (who got his first career hit tonight in his first career at-bat which is probably like, the first time that's ever happened in MLB history) and get a chance to find out if Darin Mastroianni or Joe Benson can be a fourth outfielder someday.

It sucks that the pitching rotation is basically made up of crappy guys who are crappy, but you're going to watch 30 starts out of Vance Worley and Scott Diamond so we can see where they could slot in the future rotation. Liam Hendriks and Cole Devries should get 20+ starts each so we can figure out if they have a future. Sam Deduno should get a decent shot to see if he can carry over any of his WBC success. Kyle Gibson should hit the bigs at some point this year, and with a little luck maybe we'll see at least one of Alex Meyer and Trevor May as well.

Yes they'll be terrible, but at least they'll be terrible with young guys who are fun. Even Pedro Florimon is a little bit fun, what with all the bunting for hits.

- That Masters was pretty effing awesome, no? I won't rehash everything since you've either watched it, read about it, or don't care but I love it when somebody like Adam Scott, who is dealing with that "great player who hasn't won a major" pressure wins one, especially Augusta, because their reactions are like watching the One Shining Moment of golf. I have no problem with Tiger, I don't hate him or anything but I don't really want to make love to him either, but watching him win is fun too because of the "greatest of all-time" thing, but I'd much rather somebody like Scott win.

That majors pressure just fascinates me with how it affects everyone a little differently. It was really weighing down on Phil but he managed to get passed it, but Sergio Garcia has let it beat him so far down he's reached the point where he says himself that he doesn't think he's good enough to win a major, while despite 10 career top 10s in majors Steve Stricker doesn't seem to be bothered at all. Similarly, the two younger guys you heard this about - Luke Donald and Adam Scott - seemed to be on opposite ends of the spectrum as well with Donald seeming to be more relaxed about it and Scott feeling some pressure, and if you want to throw Ian Poulter in that mix I can almost feel the steam coming off of him when it comes to majors. For some reason I dig Poulter so I hope he's next, but Lee Westwood better hurry up to before his window closes. Actually I'm calling my shot right now - it's between Westwood and Poulter for the British Open. Book it.

- Have you seen what's going down with Purdue's hoops team right now? Guard Anthony Johnson announced he's transferring, making the third player (Sandi Marcius and Jacob Lawson were the other two) who has bounced from the Boilers this offseason. Losing these three isn't a killer or anything as all averaged less than 20 minutes and 5 points per game and Purdue has three Rivals Top 150 guys coming in next season, but losing three of your rotation guys is still a bit alarming. Also keep in mind that Johnson already redshirted, which means that if he transfers to a D-I school he loses an entire year of eligibility when he sits out so you know he really, really wanted out.

I'm sure Painter has everything under control (like I mentioned, great class coming in) it's just odd to see this kind of mass exodus when a coach is already entrenched for eight years and when added to the Kelsey Barlow thing last year it kind of makes you scratch your head. It's probably nothing, but if it's something, remember how smart I am. Otherwise forget it.

- The Seahawks signed Antoine Winfield? Sweet jesus do they just follow the Vikings around waiting to see what they've dropped? In the last three years 46% of Viking players they got rid off ended up on Seattle according to these numbers I just made up. How's Sidney Rice, who I believe is behind Doug Baldwin on the depth chart these days, working out? Maybe the Vikings can use this infatuation to their advantage. You know, they could be all like, "Hey, if Russell Wilson gets hurt you guys really need somebody with a similar skill set. How about Joe Webb" and then they'd trade a 5th round pick for him. I'm a genius.

- Lastly, Ramon Ortiz is back in the majors. Yes, that one. This disturbs me greatly. Although I did learn his middle name is Diogenes, which I kind of like, so I guess I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

Player Shuffle

noreply@blogger.com (WWWWWW) — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 02:24:00 +0000

So much going on in Gopher Basketballvilletown. Both of Tubby's recruits for next year (Alvin Ellis and Alex Foster) are now gone. I mentioned it on here before, but Ellis decommitted from the program in the limbo time period between coaches, and news broke last night that Foster had decommitted as well after one of Pitino's assistants pretty much told him he wasn't really in the new regime's plans. Neither player is a massive loss, although Ellis would likely have been a pretty major contributor from the get go, and both are understandable. Both players made the decision to play for Tubby Smith, and with him gone it makes sense that they'd want to back off of their commitment and at least reevaluate their plans.

On Pitino's side it makes sense as well because he's planning on going with a philosophy and game plan very different than what Tubby was running and would like to get his own players installed as soon as possible. Not to mention that he probably never spoke nor watched film on Alex Foster in his life. Nobody should vilify Ellis for leaving nor Pitino for pushing Foster out the door - these things happen when there is a change at the top - just as Teague got rid of Tubby despite his most successful season as Gophers' coach. It is what it is, let's just hope Mr. Pitino has a plan (that works) to fill up the now four scholarships available for this season. It's possible at this late date he may simply bank one or two of them for next year when he has a full recruiting period to work with, but the team will need at least 1 or 2 guys in order to field a full roster, and that's before any transfers by current players (if any). The main candidates, in order of their likelihood of wearing maroon and gold:

1. Rakeem Buckles. Buckles, a 6-7, 215 lb. power forward, was a top 50 recruit way back in 2009, but two knee injuries limited him to 27 games played the last three seasons, including zero games last year as he sat out per transfer rules (transferred from Louisville to Florida International) and in order to finish rehabbing his knee. There was an announcement that Buckles was transferring here, but I haven't seen anything official so I think it may not quite be 100% just yet, although it is quite likely since Buckles followed Pitino from Louisville to FIU so it makes sense he'd try to come here as well. Buckles would need a waiver from the NCAA to be eligible next year (due to transferring) but I think due to his injury history and following Pitino he'd likely get it.

The Gophers have a clear need at PF next year so Buckles would definitely be welcome even if you're not 100% sure what you're going to get after two major knee surgeries. It sounds like his legs aren't Maurice Creek dead yet and in his second year at Louisville, prior to the injury, he was averaging 7 pts and 6 rebounds in 19 minutes per game. At a minimum he should be able to fill the "bench big" role and with the way the Gophers' roster is now constructed that is a big need, and he has considerable upside as well.

2. Malik Smith. Smith is another of Pitino's guys from FIU, a 6-2 combo guard who was the second leading scorer for the Panthers last year at 14.1 ppg. Although he would be a transfer (and he has already announced his intention to do so) due to the NCAA rule that allows a player to transfer without having to sit a year if he's already graduated and looking to pursue a graduate degree not offered at his current school (and guess how often that's probably used as a loophole) he would be eligible right away.

Smith is a volume shooter, but more importantly is an excellent three point shooter, hitting a so-so 36% but doing so on 8 attempts per game. Given the Gophers lack of outside shooting options Smith would be a very welcome addition, and a transition game with Smith running one wing and Austin Hollins the other sounds pretty damn good. In the last day or so someone tweeted something to the effect of "Malik Smith would be an excellent fit in Minnesota next to Austin and Andre Hollins" which Smith himself retweeted, so I would guess he's just waiting for the call and offer from Pitino.

3. Cameron Forte. An athletic power forward coming out of Howard Junior College, Forte averaged 23 points and 8 rebounds per game this past season and would likely be a starter at Minnesota right off the bat, which is why I'd imagine the Gophers would appeal to him this late in the recruiting process. His finalists were recently announced as Pitt, Long Beach, Georgia, Ole Miss, and Colorado State, but with Pitino carrying over his scholarship offer from FIU to Minnesota things may have just gotten more interesting for Forte. It sounds like he's just starting to take his official visits now, so it may not be too late, particularly if he and Pitino had a good relationship and it was the FIU/Sun Belt factor that turned him off. We can hope.

4. Tarik Black. Of all the players I'm listing Black would be my number 1 choice to join the Gophers. Black is that monster (6-9, 262 lbs.) who played for Memphis the last three years, averaging right around 9ppg and 5rpg all three seasons, and who recently announced plans to transfer from the Tigers. Black, like Malik Smith, also has graduated already and so will not need to sit out a year and will be eligible immediately.

His range is basically zero and he's a horrible free throw shooter but he gives his team an excellent rebounder who can score in close and, once again, the Gophers desperately need some big guys for next season. Many, many schools are trying to Black to come to their program including some big-time ones (I read Duke was interested) but the Gophers do have a possible edge in that Black and Dre Hollins basically grew up playing against each other in Memphis at rival schools and know each other quite well. Hopefully Dre has enough pull with Black to at least get him interested and then Pitino can take it home. There was mutual interest between Black and Florida (when Pitino was there) when Black was coming out of high school, so perhaps a relationship already exists?

5. Shane Rector. The first of two freshmen I'll mention, Rector was a Rutgers commit before asking (and getting) his release after Mike Rice was fired and is a guy Ryan James tweeted that the Gophers would likely be looking at. Rector is a 3-star point guard who had offers from Providence, Dayton, Hofstra, and UMass before signing with Rutgers, and the reason the Gophers could be in the mix is new assistant coach Kimani Young and his deep ties in NYC since Rector is from the Bronx.

Rector sounds like your typical NYC point guard: fast, great in transition, pass first, with a bad jumper, and the speed and transition thing certainly make you think he'd be a nice fit in Pitino's system. I'm in favor of anything that helps to get Dre Hollins more time playing off the ball (not all the time, just some of the time) especially if it doesn't involve Maverick Ahanmisi. Can the NYC pipeline pay off this quickly? Guess we'll see. And do you know how fun it would be to make "Rector? I don't even know 'er" jokes for four years?

6. Jaren Sina. This is a pretty much monster long shot, but I'm including it here well because I can. Sina is one of four Rivals Top 150 players who is not currently signed (he was with Northwestern but bailed when they fired Carmody) and the only one who you could say the Gophers have even a 1% chance of getting late. Given that he had offers from about 20 schools prior to choosing Northwestern and now Indiana is sniffing around that 1% might be generous, but you know if you don't aim for the sky you can't see the clouds or something like that.

Will the Gophers end up with any of these dudes? Almost certainly. I'd say Buckles is a done deal and Smith is damn near. The last two are probably long shots with Black and Forte falling somewhere in the middle. If they end up with Smith, Buckles, and Black I'd be ecstatic. Sub Forte in for Black and I'd still be pretty happy. I don't know. At least shit's interesting.