First and Goal from Second Base

Roy Halladay

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:34:00 +0000

Usually, I love this time of year. Rumors are coming from all over the place, and contenders often times are trying to add that final piece to ensure a playoff run and possibly even more. This year, I can't stand it. Our beloved Minnesota Twins have lost three games in the last week they should have won (Texas, Oakland, Anaheim) and instead of being 6 games over .500 and in good position, they're .500 exactly at 48-48. Those losses happen over the course of the season, but the deadline deals/rumors have been even more frustrating.

Watching Cla Meredith get traded for a career utility man, and Felipe Lopez get traded for two marginal prospects was extremely upsetting. Both players would have filled huge holes, yet the Twins again sat back and did nothing. With one week remaining until the July deadline, and a little over a month until the August deadline, there's still time for the Twins to make a move. Will they? I doubt it. That said, I think the Twins should make a play for Roy Halladay.

Disclaimer: I'm assuming Halladay would accept a trade here. The Twins are consistently in the playoff hunt, and Halladay apparently would love to go somewhere quiet, as long as the team contends. Assuming he'd come here is probably a big assumption, but for the sake of this exercise Roy Halladay would love to be a Minnesota Twin.

The Rumors circulating right now are that the Phillies would need to part with either Kyle Drabek or JA Happ as the center piece of any deal, with a top outfield prospect (Michael Taylor or Dominic Brown) and other players to fill out the deal. The Phillies, in my opinion, have been reluctant to make this deal or it would have happened by now. It's still possible they make the trade, and are negotiating on the other players involved, but for now we'll use that trade as a starting point.

The Twins don't have a pitching prospect quite on the level of Kyle Drabek. That goes without saying, as Drabek is one of the top pitching prospects in baseball. What the Twins do have are 6 youngish major league ready starters and a plethora of B+ to A- prospects. While the Twins should keep Baker, I think any of their other 5 starters are fair game. Slowey is expendable, but his injury has hurt his value and Slowey + 2 or 3 good prospects is way too much. Blackburn has been exceptional this season, but his xFip doesn't jive with his great season, so he may be the most valued and expendable.

Perkins wouldn't be enough, and I doubt the Blue Jays are interested in Liriano. So, what about something like this:

To Minnesota: SP Roy Halladay

To Toronto: SP Nick Blackburn, OF Ben Revere, SP Shooter Hunt and 3B Luke Hughes

Even looking at that, it may be too much to give up for a year and a half of Hallday. Hughes has been overvalued by the casual Twins fan for a little while, and honestly I don't think he's going to be a major league third baseman. He'll be forced to move to the outfield it seems, and in that case he's nothing more than a 4th OF for the Twins. Revere and Hunt are two very, very good prospects and Hunt could be ready for the bigs in the near future, so it's tough to say the Phillies deal would be better than this.

If the Twins could switch Blackburn with Perkins, the deal would be a no-brainer from the Twins standpoint. Would Toronto consider it? I think so. I don't know if they'd do it, but getting an elite outfield prospect, a #3 or #4 Major League ready starter along with a near ready Luke Hughes and Shooter Hunt would seem to good of a deal to pass up if they are indeed looking to send Halladay packing.

Bill Smith, you've been a terrible GM to this point, so please, please, make up for that terrible Santana trade and put your chips in the middle. Get Roy Halladay to the Twin Cities.

(And for those of you wondering, the Twins can afford Halladay just fine for this season and next.)

Returning... For a Rant

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 05:46:00 +0000

The content on this blog has been non-existent over the last few months, as work/school/real life kind of got in the way. I'm pretty free for the next month or so, which means I'll try to blog as often as I can and try to get this thing running again. Tonight seems like the best possible night to vent my feelings, after the worst Twins loss I can remember in my lifetime.

First, let's get this out of the way: Cuddyer was safe, and the call was absolutely awful. It was very obvious live, and the replay clearly showed Cuddyer was under the tag. How the umpire ended up in that terrible position with that much time to position himself is beyond me. That said, as poor as that call was, the managing decisions by Gardenhire were even worse.

Avoiding the horrible decisions over the last few months to waive both Craig Breslow and Luis Ayala in exchange for Sean Henn/Brian Duensing and Bobby Keppel, we'll skip right ahead to the 8th inning. Brendan Harris on first, Mike Redmond due up, Alexi Casilla on deck. Gardy is going to pinch hit Mauer for Casilla regardless of Redmond's at bat, so clearly the goal should be to get Brendan Harris to second. That's why I had no problems with the decision to bunt, hit and run, and then bunt again. My problem is leaving Redmond in to hit. If you're planning to use Mauer in the very next spot in the lineup, and then have him finish the game behind the plate, why use Mike Redmond to bunt?

Redmond is not a great bunter. Even if he was above average, which he isn't, the decision makes no sense. While Carlos Gomez is hardly a sure thing bunter, he's a much better bunter than Redmond. Even if Redmond had gotten the bunt down, there's at least the chance the bunt is terrible and it's a double play ball. If you put Gomez in, even if he fails to get two bunts down, there's almost no way he's hitting into a double play. When Redmond got two strikes on him, I'm sure most Twins fans knew a DP was coming. Ground balls to the right side are Redmond's specialty.

Mauer of course followed the DP with a single, and Span continued his slump and grounded out to Ziegler to end the inning. Now, it's the top of 9th. After Punto and Morneau struck out back to back, Cuddyer hits his double. WHY IN THE WORLD WAS GOMEZ NOT PINCH RUNNING HERE? Michael Cuddyer is the tying run. The go-ahead run is Jason Kubel, your DH. Sure, chances are they'll intentionally walk Kubel to get to Delmon Young (as they did), but pinch-running your best defensive outfielder for one of your best offensive players who is DHing, makes little sense. If Kubel was the tying run, fine, it's the right move. Being the go ahead run it makes zero sense, especially with the TYING RUN in scoring position and hardly a speedster.

Imagine if Gomez was on 2nd instead of Cuddyer. Gomez is safe at home by more than a step, and Kubel is most likely at third, but absolute worst case scenario he's at second base with the game tied. Anything besides an infield single will score Kubel from 2nd, and if Delmon is out (which is likely) then the Twins still have there DH, and an improved defensive outfield.

Ron Gardenhire is hardly the worst manager in baseball, but his decisions the last two nights have been absolutely, mind-numbingly stupid. Using every reliever in the bullpen before Joe Nathan in a 12-inning loss, and now tonight's game... after watching this team lose the division on the 163rd game of the season, it's clear EVERY game matters. Two losses in a row, on games the Twins should have easily won, are inexcusable as mistakes from the manager (and off-season/in-season mistakes from the GM) have now cost this team two wins. Instead of being 1/2 game behind the first place Tigers and 1/2 game up on the White Sox, the Twins are instead 2.5 games back of Detroit and 1.5 games behind the White Sox.

Frustrating. As Dick Bremer said, "Good luck sleeping tonight." I know I won't be.

Green Judas, meet Purple Jesus

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Wed, 06 May 2009 18:29:00 +0000

All over the internet the past few days (and what feels like that last five summers) the Brett Favre debate continues. After waffling on his retirement last season only to be shown the door by the Packers, the once most loved icon in Green Bay saw his status with the Packer faithful take somewhat of a hit. Now, don't get me wrong, the man is still loved in Green Bay. However, he absolutely lost some fans with last year's saga.

Now all the talk this year is about Favre returning to play for one of the Packers biggest rivals, my beloved Minnesota Vikings. First and foremost, I need to mention that I like to believe I form my opinions based on principles I believe in, rather than the person or the situation. For example, if I supported President Bush for going to war in Iraq, I would support Obama for going to war in Afghanistan. My party affiliation won't cloud my judgment on my beliefs, or at least I make a conscious effort not to let it.

I've disliked Brett Favre as long as I can remember. The media adored him, acted like he was 'just another guy' far too often, and there's a good chunk of 14-17 year old kids who have no idea Brett Favre was addicted to pain killers and an alcoholic. To be honest, I'm young enough where I can't remember those things happening. I was 9 years old in 1998, and if it wasn't for my interest in knowing everything about sports (an impossible feat, but fun nonetheless) I may never have come across Favre's addiction. That's inexcusable.

At a time when the media salivates over A-Rod's alleged steroid use in high school and tipping pitches in Texas, it bothers me that they continue to treat Lord Favre like he's an untouchable figure. Favre is a professional athlete who played at an extremely high level for a very long period of time. He's not a down-to-earth, just another guy type person. He has a huge ego, which I suppose makes sense since he's a top 5 QB in NFL history, but he needs it stroked consistently. Favre's retirement-unretirement-retirement-might retire, etc over the last 5 years has been annoying and in some cases repulsing. A large majority of the football-watching population has grown sick and tired of Brett Favre, and would love to see him stay at home and retired for the rest of his life.

I've read message boards, comments on articles, and listened to a little talk radio over the last few days. The question I gave the most thought has been probably the most common one among Favre apologists: Why do people hate him for wanting to play the game? Sadly, that's not the reason. As has been written ad nauseum over the the last few weeks, Favre needs to make a decision and stick with it. That's why people hate him.

Personally, I have a different theory. Think back to your sophomore year of High School. It's the first day after the summer, you're talking to your friends about some funny summer memories... and then some girl comes walking down the hall. Last year, this girl was on nobody's radar. She was a nice, quiet girl but not the kind of girl people really paid attention to unless they needed to. Now, after a summer of growing up, she got HOT. The only problem is, she doesn't know it yet.

She spends the first few weeks of the school year hanging out with her secluded clique, even if it's not the most popular group, but she's starting to have more conversations with the jocks and the boys who seem to get every single attractive girl whenever they want. As the school year progresses, this girl slowly moves away from her group of friends and starts hanging out with the more popular crowd, starts dating a popular guy, throws in a drug addiction, and by her Junior year she's a new woman. She's cocky, she's rude to people she never would have been two years ago, and she thinks she's on top of the world. She stays this way throughout her Junior and Senior years, and by the time graduation rolls around she's the girl every guy wants. Then everyone goes off to college, and the summer after she's gained the freshman 15. The guys that were once obsessed with her realized she was nothing more than a big fish in a small pond, and the obsession wears off... obviously aided by the extra weight she put on. The only problem is that she is still the stuck up, rude girl who had everyone wanting her senior year. She can't cope with the fact that she's not everyone's fantasy anymore, and people grow tired of her ways...

What does that long story down memory lane have to do with Brett Favre? For those of you who saw the striking similarities between this girl's rise and fall and Brett Favre's career, bravo. For those that didn't, let's recap:

Brett Favre is a 3rd string QB for the Atlanta Falcons, a former 2nd round pick, that really isn't on anyone's radar. Sounds like our girl's freshman year...

Brett Favre gets traded for a first round draft pick. Some people are completely taken aback, as Atlanta somehow lands a first round pick for a 3rd string QB. Favre then spends the next 12 seasons as an elite QB, the Green Bay faithful fall in love with him, and Favre decides to mix in a drug addiction. Sounds like our girl's Sophomore year...

Brett Favre knows by 2005 that he's Brett Favre. He's cocky, and he loves to hear people tell him how good he is and how important he is to the Packers. Favre-watch begins after the 2005 season if memory serves me correctly. The media talks about Favre for weeks on end, always saying he needs to keep playing because he can still play the game at a high level. Favre decides to play... then he does the same thing in 2006. Sounds like our girl's Junior and Senior years...

Following the 2007 season, Favre has a tearful retirement press-conference where he announces he's done with this phase of his life and it's time to hang up the cleats. Sounds like our girl's graduation night...

Favre changes his mind in the summer, has an ugly stand-off with Ted Thompson, and eventually gets traded to the New York Jets. He has a great start to his first season in New York, as they get off to an 8-3 start and Favre is the talk of the town. He then struggles down the stretch, the Jets miss the playoffs, and Favre is no longer seen as the savior in New York. Favre again retires, citing a shoulder injury, and this time he swears its for real. Sounds like our girl's first summer back from college, where she expects to be the sought after girl again but she's simply an afterthought.

This girl's ending is different for everyone. She may have gone on to become a successful, money-making woman... or she might have failed out of college and is now a waitress at a local bar and grille. (Not that there's anything wrong with that) Brett Favre is at this point in his career. He's nearing the end of college, he needs to pick a major... and give his story the right ending.

Personally, I think Favre comes back and plays for the Vikings. If Favre thinks he can still play at a high level, which he undoubtedly does, he needs to redeem himself for the chokejob he pulled last season. As a Vikings fan, I loathe Favre's decision to waffle again. However, if he does decide to come out of retirement, I want to see him write a better ending than the waitress. I want to see Brett Favre, in Vikings purple, holding up the Lombardi trophy just long enough for all of us to see it, before he shoves it up Ted Thompson's backside.

Brett, if you come back, you will be tearing apart a legacy in Green Bay you spent over a decade creating. And since I hate the Packers, and to be honest am not a big fan of you, that's worth the comeback right there. If you come back and play at a high level and can take my favorite football team where they've never been before, I might actually start to like you.

Until the retirement talk starts up again next March.

Turning it Around

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Tue, 05 May 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Looking through the Twins stats through the first month of the season, it was remarkable they were able to go 11-11. Treading water while the team awaited Joe Mauer's return seemed possible, but if you told me Francisco Liriano and Scott Baker would have been a combined 0-6 I never would have imagined an 11-11 record. While the weekend series with Kansas City was ultimately a disappointment, there were plenty of good things to emerge from it.

Joe Mauer's return is atop the list, and all he did was hit .700 over three games. Mauer's 0 for 5 night tonight didn't make much of a difference, as the team won rather easily 7-2. The most encouraging news outside of Mauer's return is the pitching performances from both Baker and Liriano. I'm sure you read that last sentence and thought well Baker struggled in the 7th inning and his overall outing was anything from a positive. I disagree. Baker was great through six innings, and is coming off a 15-day DL stint so he's a few weeks behind the other starters. He also spent a good chunk of time in the dugout between the 6th and 7th innings as the Twins scratched together two more runs to give Baker a 4 run lead.

The bullpen was shot because of the 11 inning game the night before, and Gardy doesn't have a lot of faith in the group as a whole anyways. (Rightfully so) Baker turning a no-hitter and a 4 run lead into a meltdown loss was tough to swallow, but it was one of those situations where everything that could go wrong did. As the season progresses, Baker will be stronger later in the game, so the sudden collapse is far less likely to happen. I also believe had the Twins not used basically their entire bullpen the night before, Gardy would have given Baker the hook after the Guillen home run. I don't blame Gardy for sticking with a tired Baker over Luis Ayala, and actually think it was the right decision although it didn't work. Guerrier likely would have been the best choice had he not pitched the night before, and as we saw last season managing his innings is something that needs to be done.

Baker will undoubtedly turn things around, and with Liriano's last two starts he seems well on his way to returning to form as well. Liriano was lights out tonight, giving up just 4 hits and working into the 8th inning. With the team's top two starters in the middle of turning things around, and the team's MVP returning at just the right time, things seem to be lining up for an outstanding May. Tonight's victory is the start of a very good month for the Twins in my opinion. I fully expect to see the Twins in first place all by themselves by the end of the month, and you should to. Two top flight starters and a Mauer return don't point to anything less.

Apologies

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Fri, 01 May 2009 06:13:00 +0000

My apologies for the few days off, been incredibly busy with real life things unfortunately. I should be back to blogging tomorrow (Saturday) or at the very latest by Monday. Thanks guys and gals.

BUNT!

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 05:01:00 +0000

The Twins lost to the Indians earlier 4-2. Glen Perkins was given the loss, as he didn't pitch all that well, giving up 4 runs in 5 innings. However, this loss falls squarely on the shoulders of Ron Gardenhire. I'm usually hard on Gardy when he makes a poor mistake, and today is no exception. His inability to simply do the right thing in 9th inning cost the Twins the game.

Down two runs entering the 9th inning, Jose Morales and Nick Punto both reached base. Denard Span was coming to the plate with runners on first and second and no outs, against a closer with dominating stuff, it seemed like a no-brainer to bunt Span. It's certainly no sure thing Span would have gotten the bunt down, but with Span's bunting ability it seems as close to a lock as there is in baseball. Brendan Harris would have come to the plate with runners on second and third and one out.

Kerry Wood as having trouble getting his curveball over for strikes to the first few batters, and in my opinion if he had the tying run on second base and Justin Morneau on deck, Wood wouldn't have thrown the curveballs he did to Harris. He wouldn't have wanted to risk walking Harris, so he would have waited until he was way ahead in the count to throw the knee buckling curve. He fooled Harris twice, and I believe at least one of those curves would have been a fastball.

Even if we assume Harris still strikes out, that means the Indians have two choices: pitch to Justin with the tying run on second, or walk Morneau to get to Kubel. Regardless, bunting Span would have all but guaranteed Justin Morneau at least a plate appearance. Instead, Gardy decided to 'go with his gut' and let Span swing the bat. Span of course hit into the double play, Harris struck out, and Morneau ended the game on deck.

I've said it before and I will continue to say it: Just doing the right percentage move will pay off over the course of the season. If the Twins had Carlos Gomez and Harris hitting after Span, I would have understood letting him swing away. However, for Gardy to not even allow Morneau an at-bat in the 9th inning was horrible managing. As last year proved, the games in April are as big as the games in September, and Gardy's job is to give his team the best chance to win. Letting Span swing away seemed foolish while it was happening, and looked downright idiotic after he hit into the double play.

Watching these games certainly is not good for my heart, but at least Gardy gives me something to write about at least once a week.

Random Thoughts

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 16:35:00 +0000

- The NFL Draft is 2 days away, and I can't wait until the Vikings get on the clock. I'm almost positive the Vikes are going to take Eben Britton, although he could even be off the board at 22. I'm excited to see people's Facebook statuses though when the Vikings pass on Percy Harvin for a "boring offensive lineman." Harvin is talented, but his position is hardly a sure thing in the NFL. He's a combination of Devin Hester and Reggie Bush, but with less speed. I think Harvin will end up going in the 44-50 range, despite being a first round talent. I wouldn't mind the Vikings drafting him, but if one of the top 3 corners slips or one of the first round tackles are there, the Vikes need to draft one of those two positions.

- Steph Curry officially declared today, and I've seen several people guarantee he will be the Rookie of the Year. (Not experts, but fans) I don't understand it. Curry and JJ Reddick are similar in many ways, the only difference is Curry went to a small conference school so he was able to dominate. Reddick dominated as a 2 guard in one of the best conferences in the country, and was selected #12 overall by the Magic. Curry might go a little higher thanks to the draft being horrible, but unless he ends up going to the Knicks he's not going to be anything more than a role player. He'll be instant offense off the bench, but I don't see him growing into a starting caliber PG. He could excel with the Knicks up and down, no defense, shooting 3 pointers style, but I still don't think he'll have a better rookie year than Rubio/Griffin.

- I miss watching Friday Night Lights, and the season just ended 2 weeks ago. It's gotten better as the show has progressed, which is extremely rare for a sports/drama show. Remember 'The OC?' It was great the first season, but too many things happened so after season 1 they had nothing left to do. They had the ridiculous Marissa becomes a lesbian storyline, and eventually the show was canceled in the middle of the season. Friday Night Lights, hurry up and get back on TV.

- Speaking of shows, when does Entourage start up again? Could one of my 4 loyal readers please post in the comments if they know the date? Same for Eastbound & Down. I would die without HBO.

- I heard Michael Wilbon say yesterday on PTI that if he had to win one game and his life was on the line, he would take Terry Francona. Really? The guy who has had more talent than anyone since 2006 and has managed one World Series championship? No thanks. Sadly, I don't know who the best manager in baseball is, but I know for a fact it's not Francona. I would take Gardy over Francona, and we all know how I've criticized Gardy.

- Fenway Park sucks. I know it's a historical park and all, but those dimensions were clearly thought up by the least fundamentally sound hitter in the world. The power alleys and center field are extremely deep, while the lines are shallow as could be. Basically, if you pull and outside pitch and get it in the air, you'll hit a home run at Fenway. Delmon Young, Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel were all robbed of home runs because they hit 418 foot fly balls, while Kevin Youkilis hit a 2-run homer that went about 100 feet shorter. Don't even get me started on the monster.

2009 NFL Mock Draft

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Since the Twins didn't play tonight, I figured this is the perfect time to post my mock draft.

With a few days to go until the draft, here's my first and last 2009 NFL Mock Draft. I did 3 rounds, because anything after 3 rounds is beyond even making a reasonable guess in my opinion.

ROUND ONE
1. Detroit (0-16): Matt Stafford, QB
2. St. Louis (2-14): Jason Smith, OT
3. Kansas City (2-14): Aaron Curry, OLB
4. Seattle (4-12): Eugene Monroe, OT
5. Cleveland (4-12): Michael Crabtree, WR
6. Cincinnati (4-11-1): Andre Smith, OT
7. Oakland (5-11): Jeremy Maclin, WR
*Trade: Jacksonville sends #8 overall to Denver for #12, #79 and #149 overall.*
8. Denver (from Jacksonville)(5-11): Mark Sanchez, QB
9. Green Bay (6-10): BJ Raji, DT
10. San Francisco (7-9): Brian Orakpo, DE
11. Buffalo (7-9): Brandon Pettigrew, TE
12. Jacksonville (from Denver) (8-8): Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR
13. Washington (8-8): Michael Oher, OT
14. New Orleans (8-8): Malcolm Jenkins, CB
15. Houston (8-8): Vontae Davis, CB
16. San Diego (8-8): Tyson Jackson, DE
17. New York Jets (9-7): Josh Freeman, QB
18. Denver (from Chicago)(9-7): Everette Brown, DE/OLB
19. Tampa Bay (9-6): Aaron Maybin, DE
20. Detroit (from Dallas) (9-7): Rey Maualuga, ILB
21. Philadelphia (9-6-1): Knowshon Moreno, RB
22. Minnesota (10-6): Eben Britton, OT
23. New England (11-5): Brian Cushing, OLB
24. Atlanta (11-5): Peria Jerry, DT
25. Miami (11-5): Kenny Britt, WR
26. Baltimore (11-5): Darius Butler, CB
27. Indianapolis (12-4): Percy Harvin, WR
28. Buffalo (from Carolina through Philadelphia) (12-4): Alex Mack, C/G
*Trade* New York Giants send #29 overall and #129 overall to Cleveland for WR Braylon Edwards
29. Cleveland Browns (from New York Giants) (12-4): Clay Matthews, OLB
30. Tennessee (13-3): Hakeem Nicks, WR
31. Arizona (9-7): Chris Wells, RB
32. Pittsburgh (12-4): Duke Robinson, G

ROUND TWO
*Trade: Detroit sends #33 overall to Seattle for #37 and #178 overall*
1-33 Seattle (from Detroit): Donald Brown, RB
2-34 New England (from Kansas City): James Laurinaitis, ILB
3-35 St. Louis: Brian Robiskie, WR
4-36 Cleveland: Alphonso Smith, CB/S
5-37 Detroit (from Seattle): Evander Hood, DT
6-38 Cincinnati: Max Unger, C
7-39 Jacksonville: Robert Ayers, DT/DE
8-40 Oakland: Louis Delmas, S
9-41 Green Bay: Larry English, DE/OLB
10-42 Buffalo: Phil Loadholt, OT
11-43 San Francisco: DJ Moore, CB
12-44 Miami (from Washington): Clint Sintim, OLB
13-45 NY Giants (from New Orleans): Connor Barwin, OLB
14-46 Houston: William Moore, S
15-47 New England from (San Diego): William Beatty, OT
16-48 Denver: Ron Brace, DT
17-49 Chicago: Michael Johnson, DE
18-50 Cleveland (from Tampa Bay): Jared Cook, TE
19-51 Dallas: Rashad Johnson, S
20-52 NY Jets: Derrick Williams, WR
21-53 Philadelphia: Shawn Nelson, TE
22-54 Minnesota: Sean Smith, CB
23-55 Atlanta: Patrick Chung, S
24-56 Miami: Coye Francies, CB
25-57 Baltimore: Darry Beckwith, ILB
26-58 New England: LeSean McCoy, RB
27-59 Carolina: Sen'Derrick Marks, DT
28-60 NY Giants: Jamon Meredith, OT
29-61 Indianapolis: Jarron Gilbert, DE/DT
30-62 Tennessee: Jairus Byrd, CB
31-63 Arizona: Paul Kruger, DE
32-64 Pittsburgh: Fili Moala, DT

ROUND THREE
1-65 Detroit: Cornelius Ingram, TE
2-66 St. Louis: Troy Kropog, OT
3-67 Kansas City: Andy Levitre, OG
4-68 Seattle: Marcus Freeman, OLB
5-69 Dallas (from Cleveland): Juaquin Iglesias, WR
6-70 Cincinnati: Alex McGee, DT
7-71 Oakland: Kraig Urbik, OG
8-72 Jacksonville: Andre Brown, RB
9-73 Green Bay: Gerald Cadogan, OT
10-74 San Francisco: Rhett Bomar, QB
11-75 Buffalo: Cody Brown, DE
12-76 NY Jets (from New Orleans): Chase Coffman, TE
13-77 Houston: Kaluka Maiava, OLB
14-78 San Diego: Chip Vaughn, S
15-79 Jacksonville (from Denver): Sherrod Martin, CB
16-80 Washington: Lawrence Sidbury Jr, DE
17-81 Tampa Bay: Pat White, WR/QB
18-82 Detroit (from Dallas): Kevin Barnes, CB
19-83 Green Bay from (NY Jets): Victor Harris, CB
20-84 Denver (from Chicago): Dannell Ellerbe, LB
21-85 Philadelphia: Louis Murphy, WR
22-86 Minnesota: Eric Wood, C
23-87 Miami: Ramses Barden, WR
24-88 Baltimore: Brandon Tate, WR
25-89 New England: Jonathon Luigs, C
26-90 Atlanta: Tyrone McKenzie, OLB
27-91 NY Giants: Chris Baker, DT
28-92 Indianapolis: Michael Hamlin, S
29-93 Carolina: Mike Mickens, CB
30-94 Tennessee: Travis Beckum, TE
31-95 Arizona: Keenan Lewis, CB
32-96 Pittsburgh: Shonn Greene, RB
33-97 New England (Compensatory Selection): Brandon Gibson, WR
34-98 Cincinnati (Compensatory Selection): James Casey, TE
35-99 Chicago (Compensatory Selection): David Bruton, S
36-100 New York Giants (Compensatory Selection): Antoine Caldwell, C

Glen Perkins

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 05:01:00 +0000

First, let me preface this by saying that yes, I do know it's still very early in the season. Three starts is hardly enough to decide that someone is going to have a great year or a poor year. However, that's the sample size we are given to look at with this season's pitchers. Of course, I could go back to previous seasons and look at their track record. I'm not going to do that, because I like to think young players occasionally figure it out, and take the next step where their track records didn't indicate they could go. (Josh Johnson of the Marlins comes to mind, or Denard Span on a lesser level.)

During the off-season and even the first week or so of the season, I was calling for the Twins to trade Glen Perkins. I felt that they had 5 very good young starters, and plenty of solid young options in AAA, and a lot of other holes to fill. Perkins seemed to be the pitcher who got by the most with smoke and mirrors, so he seemed like the easiest loss to replace. The Twins ultimately failed to address their dire need for an elite bullpen arm, and waited out the free agent market to sign Joe Crede for an incentive laden contract worth up to $7 million.

The Twins kept their young starters in tact, which certainly wasn't a decision that would anger any fans. After 14 games, the young staff has been anything but great, as the team is off to a 7-7 start. Scott Baker's first start was poor, Kevin Slowey has been average at best, while Liriano and Blackburn have been inconsistent. However, the big reason for the Twins sitting at .500 despite being outscored 80-62 so far this season has been Glen Perkins.

In the 3 games Perkins has started, the Twins are 2-1, and have outscored opponents 6-5. Perkins has pitched 24 innings through 3 starts, 8 innings in each game. His ERA is a ridiculous 1.50, his WHIP is under 1 at 0.83 and he has a 3:1 K:BB ratio. Perkins will without a doubt see his ERA and WHIP increase as the season progresses, but these 3 starts have shown the potential to be more than a back-end starter. His September struggles are clearly behind him, and I believe he could be the Twins best starter all season. It seems a bit early to make that distinction, but he's been so impressive in his first 3 starts I've gone from saying he should be the young starter the Twins try to trade, to now predicting him to be the Twins best pitcher at season's end.

Glen Perkins, I hope you continue to pitch the way you have. You proved me wrong for wanting you traded this off-season, now prove me right for predicting you'll be the Twins best starter by season's end. If Perkins can emerge the way I am predicting, the Twins should run away with the AL Central and be a real threat in the playoffs.

Beautiful

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 07:30:00 +0000

What a beautiful piece of art.

Get out of here already!

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 05:01:00 +0000

There's a lot of things I could have complained about tonight. Poor decisions by Gardy (again), failed execution, incredibly poor pitching from the bullpen.. the list goes on and on. Rather than turn this into an annual bitch-fest every time the Twins play poorly though, I'll do my best to avoid discussing the mistakes.

Thankfully, the Toronto Blue Jays are leaving town. They've now won 12 out of 13 games against the Twins. They took 3 of the 4 games this week, and came an extra inning game away from leaving the Dome with a sweep and 13 straight victories against our Twins. The Blue Jays outscored the Twins 31-13 in the 4 game series, and scored an eye-popping 17 runs against the Twins bullpen. We all expected the Twins bullpen to struggle again, but I don't think anyone expected them to be this bad this quickly.

Luis Ayala's signing was fine, if the Twins planned to use him the right way. Ayala is not and can not be a set up type reliever. He's best used when the team holds a 2+ run lead in the 6th or 7th inning, or the team is losing by more than 2 runs later in the game. He can give you some good innings, but he allows too many hits to be counted on to throw up a zero consistently.

Keeping RA Dickey on the roster over Brian Duensing is certainly a move a lot of casual fans will approve of, because watching a knuckleballer is fun. However, without Duensing available Gardenhire will continue to use Breslow almost exclusively as a lefty specialist, when he's one of the teams top 3 relievers not named Nathan. I know his performance tonight was poor, but I think he could be solid if given a more expanded role. Without Duensing available for Gardenhire to go to late for the lefty-lefty matchup, Gardy won't want to use Breslow in the 6th inning of games because he won't want to use his only lefty that early. It's a shame.

Dickey had no business pitching tonight. The game was basically over anyways, as the Twins were down 5-1 with 2 outs in the 7th, but at least there was a small chance they could still come back. Jesse Crain pitched two innings two days ago, and was given yesterday off, so he was for sure rested enough to pitch tonight. If Gardy was worried about using Crain for more than an inning after using him for two innings a few nights ago, he should have simply given Crain the ball in the 7th instead of Dickey. It's certainly possible that Crain gives up the grand slam to Millar just like Dickey did, but we'll never know. Crain was the right choice then.

If the Twins fail to score in the bottom half of the inning (as they did) then you can tell Crain he did his job, kept the game at 5-1, and he's done. He only pitched 1/3 of an inning, but got one of the biggest outs of the game. In a 5-1 game with Toronto's bullpen in the 8th, the game is going to be won by Toronto close to 90% of the time, if not more. The Twins then could have brought in Luis Ayala to pitch the 8th (as he ended up doing anyways) and managed to use their best non-Nathan reliever in the games biggest situation.

Instead, the Twins didn't use Jesse Crain or Joe Nathan in another game where the bullpen allowed a close game to get out of hand. I think Gardenhire knew the minute Millar hit the grand slam he made a giant mistake giving the ball to Dickey, and hopefully he's learned from it. If Gardenhire can learn to give the ball to Crain in situations like that from now on, tonight's blowout is something I can live with. Crain isn't an elite reliever either, but over the course of a season the Twins will have a much better chance to keep games close with Crain on the mound rather than RA Dickey. I'm looking at the glass half full, and assuming Gardy doesn't plan to use Dickey in a big situation with runners on base unless he absolutely has to.

All that said, this loss was not Gardy's fault. Liriano pitched well but again threw too many pitches over six innings. Alexi Casilla had the worst at bat of the season to this point in a huge situation in the bottom of the 6th. With runners on first and second and nobody out, Casilla bunted the first pitch foul, pulled his bat back on strike two just above the belt, and swung and missed at strike 3 on a nasty curve. The Twins failed to advance the runners, Morneau and Kubel then struck out, and the rest is history.

With Toronto finally leaving Minneapolis, hopefully the Twins can start a nice little winning streak. It won't be easy, as their next six games are at home against the Angels and 3 games at Boston, but at this point anything looks better than playing the Blue Jays. The pitching to this point in the season has been nothing short of horrible, and it should improve over the next 6 months. There's still no reason to worry, thanks in large part to the whole division struggling, but if you want to be a bit upset or anxious, feel free. Just please don't run around telling anyone you can that the 'Twins suck' because that's simply not true.

Joe Mauer, please come back.

Ouch

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Ouch. 12-2? Baker's debut was poor, but at least Humber and Dickey finished the game so nobody important was used out of the pen. Should be fun to watch Halladay pitch tomorrow.

I can't be expected to write more than this after that blowout, right?

Frustrating

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Glen Perkins pitched extremely well tonight. Through 7 2/3 innings, Perkins had allowed just one run, giving up 5 hits. Alex Rios then doubled in a 2-1 game, and Twins manager Ron Gardenhire had a decision to make. With Vernon Wells coming to the plate, Gardenhire could have immediately called to the bullpen, and gotten Joe Nathan to warm up, while using Rick Anderson to slow the game down and give Nathan time to warm up. Nathan is making $12 million a year, so the occasional 4 out save shouldn't be too much to ask for, in my opinion.

However, since Gardenhire's proven year after year he only likes using Nathan for 1 inning at a time unless it's the playoffs, it didn't take a rocket scientist to know that Nathan wasn't going to come in to face Vernon Wells. Fine. Left hander Adam Lind was waiting on deck, and while he's been hitting extremely well to this point in the season, the percentages still favored the lefty-lefty matchup. After Perkins fell behind Wells 2-0, giving him first base seemed like a no-brainer. Yet, for whatever reason, Rick Anderson came out to the mound, talked to Perkins and then the Twins pitched to Wells with the tying run 180 feet away. Sure enough, Wells hit the next pitch into right center field and the Blue Jays tied the game.

While it's impossible to know if Perkins would have gotten Lind out, or if Nathan would have been able to get 4 straight outs, the decision to pitch to Wells with Perkins was frustrating because it was the wrong decision from the get go. Gardy's loyalty to his starting pitchers can get maddening, leaving pitchers in longer than he should to give them a chance at a quality start or a chance to get the win. However, leaving Perkins in to face Wells was clearly the decision that was going to hurt Perkins chances at getting a win.

Personally, I would have liked to see Nathan in that situation. If you're going to pay someone $48 million over 4 years, he should be able to get 4 outs. Nathan is one of the league's top closers, and he should have been given the ball in that situation. Instead of giving arguably the best closer in baseball the ball for 4 outs, the Twins instead elected to take their chances with a tired starting pitcher against one of Toronto's top 3 hitters.

We're only 9 games into the season, but as we found out last year, every game counts. The Twins also ended up putting the game in the hands of their weakest area, their bullpen, after Nathan pitched his maximum of 1 inning. If there's another game I have to watch where Gardenhire puts the game in the hands of Glen Perkins, Luis Ayala and/or Jesse Crain rather than Joe Nathan, I'm going to get more frustrated than I thought possible. Of course, with Gardy's past, it's safe to assume it's going to happen numerous times over the course of this season. It's going to be more apparent this year than in the previous years because the team's bullpen is weak.

The Twins escaped tonight with a win, but they also got forced into using pitchers they never should have had to. While it likely won't make any of them unavailable for tomorrow's game, it did give the Blue Jays hitters a look at them and may have been just enough to give the Toronto hitters the advantage should their be another close game tomorrow. I wish there was a manager that would use his best reliever in the most important situations, rather than strictly in the 9th inning in a save situation. Nathan's getting his money regardless of where he pitches, so it'd be nice to see the Twins utilize him in a role that will help the Twins win a lot more games. Getting to Nathan is going to be adventure all season, and it'd be much easier if they gave Nathan a little more responsibility. Decisions like the ones made tonight will cost the team more games than necessary over the course of a full season, and that's not something they can afford in a wide-open AL Central.

Odds and Ends

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 05:01:00 +0000

- As reported here the night Kansas lost, Cole Aldrich and Sherron Collins have both announced they are staying one more year at Kansas. I don't expect any of the people who left comments here or who sent me strange Emails to admit I had it right. I still think Cole's making a mistake coming back for another year, but I hope for nothing but the best.

- The Twins have now dropped 4 of their last 5 games, but the team's early struggles aren't anything to worry about yet. If they win 3 out of every 8 games for the next month or two, then it'll be time to start worrying. It'd be nice to get Joe Mauer back sometime this month, but with Baker returning Wednesday the pitching should improve.

- Sad day for baseball yesterday, as long time Phillies broadcaster Harry Kalas passed away at the age of 73. Kalas had one of those memorable voices, and he will certainly be missed. Former Tigers phenom Mark Fydrich also passed away, apparently in some sort of accident on his farm. Mark was just 54 years old. My thoughts and prayers are with both men's friends and family.

- Rumors I've been hearing about the Wolves put McHale's chances at 50/50 for a return, and apparently it is solely up to him to make the decision. Taylor is expected to hire a cheap GM type, so he can at least hold onto some control of the decision making himself. The GM is expected to be younger and inexperienced, making his price tag lower for Taylor and his partners.

- Regardless of your politic beliefs, or whether you support President Obama or not, the way the Navy Seals took out those Somalian pirates and saved the Captain they were holding hostage was nothing short of heroic. It was a perfectly executed operation, and Obama deserves credit for giving the go-ahead at the perfect time.

- Flip Saunders and the Wizards have a verbal agreement in place, so Saunders apparently will be the new coach of the Wizards next season. Saunders was widely considered the lock to replace Tubby Smith if he should ever leave the Gophers, so it's bad news for Gopher fans. I expect Tubby to stay here one or two more years before being wooed elsewhere for close to $3 million a year, so it should be interesting to see who the Gophers target if Flip is still coaching in the NBA.

- I just picked up "The Yankee Years" from Barnes N Noble a few days ago, and so far it's pretty interesting. I'll probably do a review on it in the near future, so look for that. If you don't want to wait, I'd recommend purchasing the book yourself.

Winning Trumps Everything

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 05:01:00 +0000

"How you play the game is for college boys. When you're playing for money, winning is the only thing that matters. Show me a good loser in professional sports, and I'll show you an idiot." -Nice Guys Finish Last

The Twins have often been praised over the last decade or so for playing the game "the right way." Twins fans love to believe that our team being called piranhas was a complement. Every single time I hear someone mention that the Twins play the game 'the right way' it makes me want to punch them in the face. I've yet to react on this emotion, but I'm not promising anything over the next few years. I don't believe there is such thing as 'playing the game the right way' when you get to this level.

Every player to get to the major leagues is more talented than any of us can imagine. Alex Rodriguez has more talent on the cyst on his hip than I do in my entire body when it comes to baseball. I wasn't a bad player, as I played at a small, but good, D-3 school. I'm also not foolish enough to believe these players got to the major leagues because they 'play the right way.'

When fans complain about Manny Ramirez not hustling enough, or Roger Clemens being allowed to only show up on days he pitched, I understand where they are coming from. Baseball is a game, and most fans feel the game needs to be respected. I agree, but I believe the respect is necessary throughout Little League, High School and College. When you get to the big leagues, it becomes a business. Winning is the only thing that matters, as long as you don't have serial killers or other criminals filling the locker rooms for these teams. It's incredibly difficult for some fans to comprehend how someone making $20 million a year can't hustle out every ground ball. $20 million a year? Most people would run 100 sprints an hour for the whole year for that kind of money. I get that. However, these players need to treat it like a business, and in all honesty they are giving their team a better chance to win by NOT running out every single play as hard as they can. Playing 162 games in less than 200 days is extremely taxing on the body, even without travel factored in. The stars tend to get a few days off, but some don't.

Justin Morneau played in all 163 games last season, including the Twins-White Sox one-game playoff. He got some time off by DHing, but nonetheless his body was worn down by the end of the year. He slumped terribly down the stretch, and his offensive woes were one of the leading causes of the Twins inability to make the post-season. Being rested is huge for a player, and while fans may not like to see their star player half-assing his way down the first base line, it might make a huge difference down the stretch.

Playing the game the right way has become the Twins mantra it seems. Fans love Nick Punto, because he plays hard every night. Forget the fact that his limited range forces him to dive for balls Jason Bartlett got too standing, or that sliding into first base slows him down by half a step. Add in the fact that he's making more money than any Twins shortstop in the history of the franchise this season (Guzman made just under $4 million his last season here, if I remember correctly) and he's Gardy's favorite player, and I think it's much easier to see why I dislike him. He's a decent shortstop, and resigning him wasn't the end of the world since the other options weren't great, but the love affair for Nick Punto bugs the heck out of me.

Please, as a Twins fan, or a professional baseball fan, the next time you hear someone say "they play the game the right way" when referring to a Major League Baseball team, think for a second. Is the team winning? If so, fine, they can play the game the right way. If they haven't won a World Series in almost 20 years, or even longer, make sure that person understands that the only way to "play the game the right way" is to win it all. Give me a team of lazy superstars over a team of hard working, less talented players any day of the week.

When I Get a House..

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 06:22:00 +0000

First, congrats to Twins closer Joe Nathan for notching his 200th save as a member of the Twins tonight. After being on pace to finish 0-162, the team has magically reversed their fortunes and are currently on pace to finish 108-54. What a turn around!

Anyways, tonight I decided what one of my first purchases will be when I finally get my own house. After the TV, the DVR box and the ridiculously comfortable couch, I plan to throw down the $400 or whatever it costs for MLB Extra Innings. The wonderful people at Comcast were nice enough to give it to their paying customers for free for the first week of the season. (I think that's the case at least. Somewhere in the back of my mind I'm still hoping it's a mistake the company made and I'm getting Extra Innings for free for the rest of the year.)

Thanks to this package, I've seen more games than I expected to. I saw the Twins opener in person, and then watched the A's/Angels season opener from about the 6th inning on when I got home. Last night I watched the Twins miraculous comeback, but not before I watched Kyle Farnsworth blow another game and Papelbon nail down a save for the Red Sox. I guess I didn't need the Extra Innings package to know that those two things were going to happen, but it was enjoyable nonetheless. I watched the Twins game, then flipped immediately to the A's/Angels game and watched Trevor Cahill's first major league start. It reminded me of Matt Garza's first start. Then I remembered Cahill just turned 21, and never attended college... I was impressed to say the least. He's going to be special.

Tonight I watched the Twins win again, then flipped through the other games and decided to watch the end of the Reds/Mets game, where K-Rod nearly blew a save, then honed in on the Giants/Brewers game. There's something that just seems right about seeing Randy Johnson pitching for San Francisco. I think it has something to do with a 6'10 man wearing a shirt that says "Giants" right on the front of it. Yovani Gallardo was the star of the game, pitching well in 6 innings of work (helping my fantasy team) and hitting a 3 run home run off of Randy Johnson. The ball he hit was crushed, a sure home run the moment it left the bat. Besides that terrible mistake, Johnson looked good for the most part and I think he's going to have a very good year. Gallardo is going to be a Cy Young candidate I think, his stuff is that good.

Now, I suppose without Extra Innings I could have read some articles, watched the highlights, and looked at the box scores, but there's so many things I wouldn't have noticed. Cahill's box score and game recap weren't anything great, yet after watching him I felt I was watching someone special. Gallardo's stat line was good, but his stuff was even better, and when he gets another month of games under his belt, he's going to be close to unhittable.

I'll predict it here: Yovani Gallardo will throw the first no-hitter of the season.

MLB Extra Innings, you have yourself a new customer. Well, that's assuming I ever move out of this house, so maybe not. But if I ever do--you can thank Comcast for hooking me up for free for a week. The day I wake up and the channels are taken away will be a sad day for me. I may have to actually be productive, rather than watch baseball all night. Depressing.

Game #2: What the..

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Wow. I know I promised a write up when the Twins finally won, but that will have to wait a day. Real life calls. That was a crazy game to say the least.. and I'm still trying to decide which was a funnier phrase. I got a text from my buddy Ovey a few minutes after the game that said "LINER TO CENTER! Hahaha, I love dick." The text was even funnier because auto text didn't capitalize Dick, since he meant Dick Bremer, but it came out with another meaning.

Then I listen to Nick Blackburn interviewed.. and sure enough, when asked about Crede's defense at the hot corner: "Yeah, Crede was suckin balls up over there" Nothing beats a 3 run 9th inning, with 2 outs nonetheless, and two sex jokes in a 5 minute span. That can only mean one thing.. baseball's back.

Game #1

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:44:00 +0000

*First, a clarification about a post I recently deleted. I wrote a post saying Cole Aldrich told me he was for sure staying at Kansas. I stand by that report. However, after some of the rude e-mails and comments I was getting from the KU fans (with a few exceptions) I decided to simply remove the story. My post was simply something I thought KU fans would be excited to read about, but I'd like to thank most of the Kansas fans for showing me they are indeed arrogant people who believe they are on top of the world. With the third or fourth best tradition in college basketball, they're elite, but not as elite as they like to believe. Cole is staying, but the post is gone.*

Now that garbage is out of the way, we can get onto discussing the Twins season opener. I was lucky enough to land season tickets this year, deciding on the 41 game package because there simply isn't time for me to go to every home game. With my great seats and surprisingly optimistic expectations for the Twins, I was in a great mood when I got to the Dome. (Not to mention knowing it would be the last season opener I'd be attending here.)

Then Liriano couldn't keep the ball in the park, Morneau started right where he left off in September, and the Twins were 0-1. I'd love to discuss the game more, but I'll save my first detailed writeup for the team's first win. Hopefully that'll come tonight.

Here's my season predictions though:

AL East:

Boston Red Sox 97-65
Tampa Bay Rays 93-69
New York Yankees 89-73
Baltimore Orioles 78-84
Toronto Blue Jays 73-89

AL Central:

Minnesota Twins 87-75
Cleveland Indians 86-76
Chicago White Sox 83-79
Kansas City Royals 75-87
Detroit Tigers 72-90

AL West:

Texas Rangers 92-70
Anaheim Angels 90-72
Oakland Athletics 85-77
Seattle Mariners 79-83

AL MVP - Ian Kinsler
AL Cy Young - Jon Lester
AL ROY - Travis Snider

NL East:

New York Mets 95-67
Philadelphia Phillies 92-70
Atlanta Braves 88-74
Florida Marlins 81-81
Washington Nationals 60-102

NL Central:

Chicago Cubs 93-69
Cincinnati Reds 87-75
Milwaukee Brewers 83-79
St. Louis Cardinals 76-86
Houston Astros 73-89
Pittsburgh Pirates 65-97

NL West:

LA Dodgers 87-75
Arizona Diamondbacks 84-78
San Francisco Giants 81-81
Colorado Rockies 72-90
San Diego Padres 67-95

NL MVP - Manny Ramirez
NL Cy Young - Johan Santana
NL ROY - Cameron Maybin

Opening Day and Why I Love Baseball

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Opening Day is finally here! I'll be at the Dome tonight to watch Game 1 of the Twins 3rd ever World Series season, so I'm pretty pumped about that. With Opening Day I felt motivated to give all of you the reasons I love baseball. Here goes..

A few nights ago, I was talking to a friend about the upcoming baseball season when a complete stranger decided to intervene and ask me a question. “Young man, I must ask, why do you love baseball so much? It’s just a sport, after all.” This woman was at least 80, and seemed sweet enough where I didn’t feel any desire to be snarky or rude. I simply sat there for a few seconds, and gave her an extremely weak response: “I just do, ma’am.” I’ve had ample time over the last few days to think about what I should have said, the reasons I actually love baseball. Here’s what I’ve been able to come up with.

I love the smell of fresh cut grass on a beautiful summer evening, but even more on a rainy, cold afternoon. I love driving by a little league game and noticing the base lines are crooked. I love the fact that those lines are crooked because someone’s mother or father volunteered their time to bring together a community. I love the look on a player’s face after he gets robbed of a hit, but I love the look on the defensive player’s face even more. I love the way everyone on the team has a favorite helmet, and it fits their head just right. I love the way fans and players react when an umpire makes a terrible call, but I love the umpires face after this even more.

I love watching a pitcher hit the black, but I love the batter who can take it the other way. I love that something as small as a pebble can ultimately alter the result of not just one play or one game, but an entire season. I love that baseball doesn’t have cheerleaders or dance teams. I love the way my hands smell after trying on new batting gloves, but I love the smell of a freshly oiled glove even more. I love switch hitters. I love aggressive third base coaches, and I love the suicide squeeze. I love the crack of a wooden bat, and the ping of a metal one. I love game 7’s, but I love one-game playoffs even more. I love brushing back a hitter who’s leaning over the plate, but I love a hitter who will take one for the team more.

But, most of all, I love the fact that so many people love this game. Despite listing numerous things I love about this great game, anyone reading this will absolutely instantly mention or think of many, many things I didn’t. However, the next time an 80 year old woman on a Metro Transit Vehicle asks me why I love baseball as much as I do, I think this answer would be much better. I love so many things inside the game of baseball, it’s simply much easier to make a general statement. I love baseball.

Feel free to leave anything I forgot in the comments!

Friday's Links

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Some links to take you through the weekend:

- We've all heard some version of the Josh Hamilton story. I am Second is an organization that helps people get their stories out and help one another get through difficult times in their life. It's worth taking a look, as it's extremely interesting. Josh Hamilton tells his story, and his specific story can be found here.

- You may have noticed I added a new link to the right side of the page. Mike Mendel, a friend I've known most of my life, started up a blog this past week. So far it's been very entertaining to read, and is really just a random compilation of his thoughts on any given day. It's entertaining, and pretty hilarious at times. His rants are worth following.

- The Ryan Moats issue is starting to die down finally. Moats and his wife were on Good Morning America the other day, and they looked like calm, understanding people. If you missed the incident, here's the YouTube video from the Cop's dashcam:

and part 2:

- If anyone wants to help a 15 year old girl experience a once in a lifetime opportunity and sing the National Anthem at the White House, click the link. It's a contest, and whichever 13 year old gets the most views wins or so I'm told.

- An absolutely hilarious piece that just tears Jon Heyman to shreds. I don't mind Heyman, but this piece is spot on.

Backyard Baseball

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Growing up is the ultimate irony, isn't it? When you're little, all you want to do is get older. You want to be able to set your own bed time, choose what's for dinner, drive yourself around, and make your own money. You hate the fact that your parents control you. Of course, the older you get, the more and more you realize just how great life was when you were a child. When your biggest worry was trying to capture the flag before it was time to come in for the night. We are a rare species, and a strange one. We always want what we can't have, and we often look back on memories and remember them greater than they actually were. With that said, the memories I'm going to share with all of you today, truly were as great as I remember them to be.

When I was 9 years old, my life started. Or so I thought. That summer was the first summer I started playing backyard baseball with my brother and our friends. No, not the video game, outdoor, backyard baseball. As far as I was concerned, our backyard was created to let us play baseball. After two weeks, we had torn the grass to shreds where the basepaths were. The pitching area was missing a large chunk of grass, and a few of the bushes (these were the home run fence, as they divided our yard from our neighbor's yard) were missing patches. We used Tennis balls, for obvious reasons. For the next 4 summers, we played numerous pickup games every single day. We had different kids and different numbers almost daily. Neighborhood kids would bike over, even a few non neighborhood kids made the journey via their bikes. (Mendel was the most dedicated, he was there almost every day, biking the furthest by far.) We kept track of home runs from the time we started, since that's all we really cared about. My brother always led the league, and I think he had a summer where he hit close to 400 home runs.

I spent 4 summers of my life in my backyard, interacting with kids, my friends, for hours at a time. Some games went down to the final out, others were decided when the teams were selected. My brother and I were probably on the same team less than 10% of the overall games, in order to keep the teams fair apparently. I learned more about baseball in these 4 years in my backyard than I could have ever imagined. To this day, I credit those 4 years of backyard baseball for my fielding ability. In my playing days I was an above average hitter, but nothing spectacular. I took pride in my defense, and I like to think I was pretty good. I have my backyard to thank for that.

I'll never forget a play my senior year of high school. We were in the section tournament, playing a very good Holy Angels team. We had managed to score 5 runs in the first inning off of their ace, who hadn't allowed 5 runs all season to that point, and held a fairly safe 5-1 lead heading into the final inning. With 1 out, I made a sliding stop in the hole at shortstop, got up and through out the runner. The very next play, one of Holy Angels better hitters hit a ball up the middle. I took a good angle and was going to cut it off no problem, but I'd probably have to rush my throw. What happened next is hard to explain. In the half second I had to think, I noticed the ball might hit the base. Somehow, in that split second, I got myself ready to expect the ball to redirect off the base. Sure enough, half a second later it hit the base, my glove flew up, snagged the ball and I threw out the runner. In my mind, the play didn't seem difficult. It wasn't until the crowd erupted and I had time to think on it that I realized exactly what had happened.

That story wasn't to praise myself. I made that play because of 4 years in my backyard, fielding balls off of woodchips, a playground, the siding around the woodchips, or trees. The bounces we got in the backyard were leaps and bounds tougher than a simple bounce off of a base. My parents could have told us we needed to stop playing because we were ruining the yard, or because we fought too much when we played, but they didn't. They let us play, and play often. It was in this backyard I learned what loving baseball meant, and why I was so shocked people were actually paid to play the sport. I had 4 summers free, with nothing to do, and we chose to play baseball. Free of charge. We ran lemonade stands to help us buy Tennis Balls, we piled together piggy banks, and we missed several thousand meals, all for the love of the game.

The next time you're having a tough day, or wondering how you ended up where you are, think back on your childhood. There likely will be a memory that sticks out like no other, and for that, I am thankful for my childhood. Growing up has certainly been a blast, and no matter what life throws in your direction, there's always a reason. Baseball may only be a sport to some people, but to me, it was a life altering experience. I became who I am today on the baseball field.

2009 Fantasy Baseball Draft: Running Diary Continued

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 05:01:00 +0000

When we last left off, my friend Wilsey had just selected Tim Lincecum to round out the first round. The first round was certainly interesting, and if you missed part 1, just scroll down a little and you'll see it. With that, let's pick up in round 2..

8:13 PM: Wilsey gets the second round started with Josh Hamilton. I decided I was going to avoid Hamilton unless he managed to fall way further than expected (like the 4th round) so it didn't bother me at all to see him taken here. Hamilton has been projected anywhere from 9 to 20, so going 11th overall isn't too horrible. I think it's going to be a mistake by season's end though.

8:14 PM: Chad, or Twigs as we call him (he's like 6'6 and weighs somewhere close to 100 pounds) has the next pick, and apparently he's under the impression drafting players from the defending World Champions is a good strategy. He takes Ryan Howard over Mark Teixeira, which was extremely surprising to me but seems to go unnoticed in the draft room...

8:15-8:16 PM: The next 3 picks went quickly. My buddy Klis selected Johan Santana, which started a slight run on starters. CC Sabathia went next, followed by Roy Halladay. 4 starters taken in the top 15? Not that I'm complaining, but it's pretty clear I'm going to have to take young starters with high upside to get fair value. Yovani Gallardo springs to mind.

8:17 PM: This draft is way to good to be true. David Wright managed to fall all the way to #5, where he just fell into my lap, and now Mark Teixeira is still around at #16? No hesitation on my part, as I add Teixeira, giving me two first round caliber players in the top 16. Wright and Teix could be the AL and NL MVPs, or at least in the discussion for most of the season. I was originally planning on taking Pedroia or Kinsler here, but with Teix falling I couldn't pass on him. I'm just hoping the luck continues and one of these 2 falls to the third round..

8:18-8:20 PM: The rest of the second round was finished quickly, as Ole scooped up Pedroia with the very next pick. My brother reached for Ichiro at #18, thanks to ESPN ranking him a lot higher than any other fantasy site. I had Ichiro as a 4th or 5th round pick, closer to 40-50th overall, but he went #18. Jenks ruins my streak of ridiculous luck, drafting Kinsler at #19. Mason rounds out round 2 by selecting Manny Ramirez, and we fly through 2 rounds in 20 minutes. If we were drafting in person, we'd be in the middle of the first round still.. Twigs likes to take his time.

8:21 PM: Round 3 gets kicked off with Mason selecting Brandon Webb and instantly changing his team name to Webb Gems*. That's 5 starting pitchers in the top 21 picks.. this draft is crazy. I'm going to have 4 MVP type candidates in 4 rounds if this pace continues. I'm probably going to end up trying to get a few elite closers, to cover my backside in case I don't end up with a good group of starters.

* Is there anything better/dorkier than fantasy team names? I'm a big fan of the personal ones that most of your league will understand. My buddy Wilsey broke up with his girlfriend like 7 months ago, but he's still torn up about it and they don't get along very well.. so I've been trying to think of a name that's going to get under his skin. If anyone has an suggestions without knowing the whole story, feel free to drop me an E-mail. (See, stuff like this! I LOVE this part of the game. It's easily one of the top 3 things of fantasy sports, along with the draft, and ripping off the league idiot..)

8:22-8:27 PM: Jenks drafts Carlos Lee, who's so undervalued by my league it's funny. Lee is going to be better than almost anyone drafted in the whole second round, yet somehow he manages to slip to the third round. My brother's next, and since he passed on Wright I'm positive he's taking Longoria.. sure enough, Longoria goes to my bro. Ole's up next, then it's my pick again.. I'm looking at A-Rod, even though I already have Wright, we start a lot of positions, including 1B, 3B and 1B/3B, as well as Utility, so I'll be able to find a spot for A-Rod..

8:28 PM: Ole saves me from drafting a position I don't need by taking A-Rod one spot ahead of me. I end up with Beltran at #25, which I'm happy with since I had him at #11 on my overall rankings. I've gotten 3 guys in 25 picks I had ranked in my top 11. Not too shabby.

8:29-8:35 PM: Berkman, Fielder, Soriano, Matt Holliday and Justin Morneau round out the third round. Berkman seems like a steal at #26, while the others seemed about right. I had Morneau pegged a bit lower, but seeing as most guys in the league are Twins fans I wasn't surprised he went at the end of the third round rather than the end of the 4th.

After 3 rounds I've ended up with David Wright, Mark Teixeira and Carlos Beltran. I'm hoping either Cole Hamels or Youk will fall to my pick in the 4th round, with Hamels atop my wish list since I could use an elite starter and Hamels could be better than any of the starters selected in the first 21 picks. Check back tomorrow for the next part of the running diary, I figure it's better to keep these at least semi-short so you don't sick of reading them.

2009 Fantasy Baseball Draft: Running Diary; Round 1

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 05:01:00 +0000

It's about 7 PM local time, with the draft an hour away. I was waiting until exactly 7 for the draft order to be revealed, but I got caught up in watching LeBron on 60 Minutes. That guy is undoubtedly my favorite professional athlete. He came off extremely well, and seemed relatively humble for someone as good as he is. The interview was engaging, to say the least. Anyways..

"You're picking 5th.." Great. I found out my draft position via text message from one of my friends, and if that wasn't bad enough, I ended up with the fifth pick in a four player draft. I was getting ready to change my team name to the Minnesota Timberwolves, but then I looked who was ahead of me. Mason was picking first, and since he is a big fan of Hanley Ramirez, that was a lock at #1. My buddy who texted me, Jenks, was picking second, and told me he was stoked about getting either Hanley or Albert. So Pujols was a lock at #2. My brother was picking third, and I assumed he'd take Reyes. That's where we start.

7:19 PM: Just asked my brother if he was going with Wright or Reyes. He's a big fan of Longoria's, so he said Reyes. With Hanley, Pujols and Reyes expected to go 1-2-3, I need to pray whoever's picking 4th ends up with Braun over Wright. I was hoping for the #4 pick in the draft, because I wanted Wright more than almost anyone. If he goes #4, one spot ahead of me, as he should, it's not a good sign for the season.

It just so happens my best friend Nick, or Ole (Oh-Lee), is picking 4th. He's the kind of kid who doesn't spend much time looking over fantasy rankings, and gets a lot of his information via ESPN. He reads Yahoo, but he doesn't get into the fantasy stuff too much. He's always been in our league, and he knows a good amount about baseball, but I knew if there was one person who might take Braun over Wright, it was Nick.

7:29 PM: Nick just entered the draft. With only Jenks and myself sitting in the draft at the moment, I thought this was as good a time as any to start the game planning. After the cordial 'what up' and random discussions, I ask Nick who he's going to take if Hanley, Reyes and Pujols are gone. When he responded, I knew I had a chance at Wright. "No clue lol." Perfect.

7:32 PM: "Haha ya 4th pick is tough.. you better not take Braun though Ole. I'll be pissed." That was my response. Now, I was undoubtedly aided by the fact that ESPN's projections have Braun's offensive numbers higher than Wrights. Nick won't really draft because of position scarcity, so at this point I thought I had a decent shot at Wright, but not much.

8:00 PM: As everyone meandered into the draft room, Mason logs on seconds before the draft starts. Just in time to select Hanley Ramirez first overall. Before a minute goes by both Pujols and Reyes go as expected. Now, the moment of truth..

8:02 PM: Ole's time clock is ticking down, 5-4-3-2-1.. I'm assuming he either got disconnected, his computer froze, or he's actually trying to decide between Wright and Braun. When the clock hit zero I expected the auto pick and David Wright.. but to my pleasant surprise: "Ryan Braun, OF, Milwaukee Brewers." Wonderful.

8:02 PM and 1 second: David Wright goes 5th overall.

8:03-8:11 PM: With the first 5 picks down, Jimmy Rollins goes 6th overall coming off an injury plagued season. Shortstop is an extremely weak position, but 6th overall for Rollins still seemed like a stretch. Grady Sizemore and Miguel Cabrera somehow fall to 7th and 8th, before my buddy Chad decides to draft Chase Utley. Utley's health isn't much of an issue anymore, so it's not to bad of a pick, but he most likely would have been available in 3 picks, his next pick. Tim Lincecum rounded out the first round.

First Round Recap: Hanley, Pujols, Reyes, BRAUN, Wright, ROLLINS, Sizemore, Cabrera, UTLEY, LINCECUM. The players in caps were all reaches in my opinion. Sizemore and Cabrera were both better value than Rollins at #6, Utley is back, but his health is still at least a minor concern, and I disagree on drafting a starting pitcher in the first round, especially since Lincecum's Giants could finish anywhere from the top of the NL West to under .500, so his wins could be a lot lower than people think.

Tomorrow's entry will cover the rest of the draft, with some pretty funny comments from the league's players.

Starting Five

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:01:00 +0000

Five random thoughts to get your Monday morning started..

- Eastbound & Down, the new HBO series, finished season 1 a week ago today. The show was hilarious, although it's extremely vulgar and the main character, Kenny Powers, is a racist homophobic hick. It was a short first season, but nonetheless funny enough to give us numerous quotes to live our life by. Powers motivational book is called "You're f-cking out, I'm f-cking in!" and ultimately goes through how Kenny Powers is better than you. He's a fat slob and is taking steroids to make his comeback. Hopefully the show gets picked up for season 2, because I would love nothing more than to watch Kenny Powers get hit around for a few innings before going back to his brother's basement.

- Congrats to Team Minnesota--I mean Hopkins for winning their 4 State Championship in about 9 years. They've always had questions surrounding their program when it comes to getting transfers, but this year was ridiculous. Only one of their 5 starters had been in the Hopkins district since Kindergarten, 2 others transferred into Hopkins in middle school when they were elite players, and Royce White got expelled from DeLaSalle and ultimately moved to Hopkins to avoid sitting out half the season. This may have been the greatest high school basketball team in Minnesota history, but it's laughable how 'proud' the Hopkins people and fans are of this team. Had Al Nolan moved to the West Side of Bloomington and gone to Jefferson for his senior year, Jefferson likely would have been State Champs. However, it still wouldn't have felt right, adding a kid from a different district strictly for basketball reasons. Of course, Jefferson was the Anti-Hopkins that year, as Jordan Taylor transferred to BSM despite being in the Jefferson program growing up and living within the boundaries. Would the Minnesota State High School League let the Magic Gold AAU team play in the State tourney? No. But that's basically what Hopkins was this year.

- The Tubby Smith to Virginia talk won't seem to die down with the UVA media, although it seems pretty obvious Tubby is going nowhere. I think Tubby will leave in the next few years, but with a top 10 recruiting class coming in and all of the team's key players returning, Minnesota is in very good shape. Here's a video of the Tubby/UVA negotiations from this past week:

Hilarious.

- I had my Fantasy Baseball draft last night, and it was odd. This was the first time in the history of our Fantasy league (7 years) that we weren't able to do a live draft. With so many people away at College, scattered across the United States, we had to do an online draft via ESPN. It went well, with the usual mocking of one another's picks, and like everyone else I think I drafted the best team. I'll be posting a running diary of our draft for tomorrow's entry, so I won't ruin the suspense with which players I selected.

- The whole Jay Cutler situation is ridiculous in my opinion. Cutler has never won anything in his short 3 year career, and last year, while making the Pro Bowl, he threw 15 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. He's a good, not great Quarterback, and he's acting like he's the best QB in the league. Do I think Matt Cassel is better than Cutler? Probably not, but Cassel showed last year he can run McDaniels system extremely well. Of course he's going to want his experienced player if he can get him. Cutler needs to suck it up, get into the Broncos complex and start working out. The real superstars wouldn't sit behind their agent and the media and cry like a baby. They would use the interest in Cassel as motivation to have their greatest season yet, and show McDaniels Cutler is three times the player Cassel is. It doesn't appear Cutler is going to do that, which bothers me. Jay Cutler, you've lost at least one fan with your spoiled brat routine, and I'd guess the number is much, much higher than that.

NBA Draft Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Twins Guy) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 05:01:00 +0000

As we near the end of March, there isn't much to talk about. The Twins are still almost 2 weeks from opening day, the Vikings are a month away from the draft and a month removed from any free agent pursuits, and the biggest basketball story in the state happens to be the High School tournament. The Gophers men's and women's basketball teams have been knocked out of the NCAA Tournament, and the Timberwolves are awful.

Previewing the draft a few weeks before the NBA regular season is over, and even before the Sweet 16 has finished in College Basketball seems laughable, and a lot could change over the next few months before the draft starts. That said, the draft is always fun to look at.

Current Draft Order Based on Record, with projected pick as of today:

1) Sacramento Kings: Blake Griffin, PF, Oklahoma
2) Washington Wizards: Greg Monroe, PF, Georgetown
3) Memphis Grizzlies: Ricky Rubio, PG, Spain
4) LA Clippers: Jordan Hill, PF, Arizona
5) Minnesota Timberwolves: James Harden, SG, Arizona State
6) Oklahoma City Thunder: Hasheem Thabeet, C, UConn
7) Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry, G, Davidson
8) Toronto Raptors: Al-Farouq Aminu, SF, Wake Forest
9) New York Knicks: DeMar DeRozan, SG, USC
10) Indiana Pacers: Willie Warren, PG, Oklahoma
11) New Jersey Nets: Jeff Teague, G, Wake Forest
12) Milwaukee Bucks: Jrue Holliday, PG, UCLA
13) Charlotte Bobcats: BJ Mullens, C, Ohio State
14) Phoenix Suns: Brandon Jennings, PG, Italy

This is assuming Aldrich stays put, which I still think he will do despite his great performance this year. Same for Evan Turner from OSU.

A few notes:

- Ricky Rubio is widely considered the #2 prospect in the draft if he comes out. However, Washington could use a dominant 4 more than a PG, since Arenas runs the point just fine. I think Monroe will prove himself as a top 3 player in workouts, and may be even considered 2A or 2B to Rubio.

- The Thunder would be ecstatic to get Thabeet at 6 in my opinion. They tried to get Tyson Chandler at the deadline before changing their minds after seeing his physical results.

- James Harden had a terrible tournament, but I think he's still a perfect complement to Foye in the Wolves backcourt. A Foye/Harden backcourt gives the team two playmakers, although they'd still be lacking that true PG.

- I wouldn't be surprised if Ty Lawson snuck into the back end of the lottery. He likely will anyways, because I doubt all of these players leave early, and he seems like he could be a solid starting PG in the league.

- I think Golden State and Curry are an ideal match. Don Nelson's system fits Curry's game extremely well, and Curry would be one of the top ROTY candidates in that system with his outside shooting and ability to create.