TWINS BLOG

By: B

Commentary on the hometown team, in running journal fashion. B hasn’t the time or the talent to construct any cohesive columns about the team. Hence, this silly blog-type thing. Mostly random and probably pointless.

Read the 2006 WoB Twins blog

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September 12, 2005

Reader Cool Rut and I recently exchanged e-mails about the Twins. We call it Twins Talk, because we're gay and unimaginative. Anyway, here's what happened:

B,
At the risk of revealing my lack of knowledge at the fine points of baseball, I am going to attempt to play General Manager for a day:

What the Twins need is a superstar. Not since Kirby Puckett have they had a hitter that I wanted to see up in a pressure situation or have the ball hit in the vicinity of near the end of a tight game. I am not sure if statistics will support this but Shannon Stewart has seemed the most clutch for me this year. Torii is okay if he is on one of his hot streaks.

We have a plethora of okay players. Adding a bona-fide superstar or two will help out the young players with potential. They will see better pitches to hit and they will not have to bat in the marquee positions. Creative

I checked a list of free agents after the 2005 season but there is none that jump out at you. Paul Konerko, Nomar and Alex Gonzales. Can any of them solve the problem at 3rd or 2nd? Nomar intrigues me a bit but recent injuries and flirting with the Mendozza line when he has played this year is troubling. He did hit like .370 a few years ago and he hit four home runs the game I went to in Boston. Johnny Damon is a long shot because he wants a 5 year deal from an east coast team.

So we have to make a trade. I have faith that Terry Ryan, the best GM in the game, will make some good moves. Will they be blockbuster? I don't think the wallet is thick enough.

But this is dreamland so here is a trade I would like to see: drop some okay pitchers (Lohse, Mays, Romero, Guerrier), a prospect (Neshek?) and Lew Ford to Texas for Hank Blaylock.

Starting staff:
Santana
Silva
Baker
Liriano
Radke

Relievers:
Nathan
Crain
Rincon
Free agent cheapies or minor leaguers to fill the remaining 3-4 spots.

1B- Morneau- had excellent stats his first 162 career games, but rough second half of 2005

2B- Cuddyer? (Was Glenn Williams and his .400 average and 13-game hitting streak for real before he went on the D.L.? Will Rivas get his head out of his ass and hit?)
SS- Bartlett
3B- Blaylock
C- Mauer
DH- LeCroy
LF- Shannon Stewart
CF- Hunter
RF- Kubel

On bench
Mike Ryan
Nick Punto
Juan Castro
Mike Redmond

I still think the bench is a little weak to compete and the 2B problem needs to be solved.

One idea is to sign Larry Walker and platoon at DH with LeCroy. Walker is aging but with the A.C. blowing out towards the baggie he might do well.

Would Barlett do okay at 2B with the addition of Nomar or would Nomar admit his lack of range brought on by his steroid use and play 2B?

Sign: Nomar and Walker

Trade for: Hank Blaylock

That is my two cents,
Cool Rut

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Cool Rut,
Playing General Manager for a day is indeed one of my favorite dreamland activities. My thoughts: the time to make a World Series run is now. Radke isn't getting any younger (or better) and Santana and Silva will soon be too expensive. Our World Series chances have never been better: those three starters match up with any starter combination in baseball. Our farm system indicates that we'll be competitive for years to come, but you never know. We have a short window, and we need to strike now.

In GM dreamland, my owner gives me $10-15 million in salary cap space (a realistic number) to sign two hitters. The question is where we need help the most.

In the field, we need to improve at second base, third base and shortstop. Since top-notch shortstops are in low supply -- and therefore quite pricey -- I say we take our lumps with Jason "90210" Bartlett (he'll be good someday) and focus on plugging our holes at second and third.

In our lineup, we are in desperate need of a three hitter and a four hitter. I don't care what anyone says, we cannot win a World Series with Joe Mauer batting third. I love him to death, I know he'll someday be a prototypical three hitter, and I can't wait to grow old watching his Cooperstown run playing for the hometown team, but he hasn't yet developed the necessary power. All signs are pointing to Mauer hitting around 15 homeruns next year. Because he hits a lot of doubles and rarely strikes out, along with his impressive patience at the plate, Mauer is a perfect two hitter. Perfect. Best in the game. Am I the only one who sees this?

So. As a GM I'd search for a second baseman who can hit third and a three bagger who can hit cleanup (Michael Cuddyer make look like the answer, but he clearly is not. Let's all just admit we were wrong and move on).

I like your idea of trading for Hank Blalock, though in my estimation Lew Ford has as much trade value as a used catcher's mitt. I'd give up Lohse, Neshek (who absolutely tore up AA this season) and maybe another prospect for Blalock (though it seems more likely we'd end up with someone like Joe Randa). For a second baseman I'd shoot for someone like Chase Utley, a capable fielder with power potential.

With these trades we'd feature a 2006 lineup that looks like this:

1. Shannon Stewart, LF
2. Joe Mauer, C
3. Chase Utley, 2B
4. Hank Blalock, 3B
5. Torii Hunter, CF
6. Justin Morneau, 1B
7. Matt LeCroy, DH
8. Jason Kubel, RF
9. Jason Bartlett, SS

Bench: Redmond, Castro, Punto, Cuddyer, Ryan

Now that's a lineup that could win us a championship. Maybe not as potent as Boston's or New York's, but keep in mind we have a great pitching staff, which should be just as good in '06.

First off, I'd trade Lohse (I see him someday being a solid closer: he's got a cannon of an arm but isn't consistent enough to start) and cut Mays. My thoughts on the pitching staff:

SP: Johan Santana
SP: Brad Radke
SP: Carlos Silva
SP: Scott Baker
SP: Francisco Liriano

RP: Juan Rincon
RP: Jesse Crain
RP: JD Durbin
RP: Matt Guerrier
RP: Lefty to be named later
Closer: Joe Nathan

Our pitching staff should be near the tops in the league if they can remain healthy. I'm as excited to watch Liriano pitch as I am to see Mauer and Morneau hit. These three guys are our future (if we can afford them).

With a lineup that boasts more power, the 2006 squad should be able to compete with anyone. We all know the 2005 White Sox are a fluke, and with another year under their belts our M&M boys should start coming into their own. If Pohlad loosens up his purse strings a bit, we can field a winner in 2006. I'm excited already, even if we don't make any of my fantasized trades.

Questions to consider:

:: Why doesn't Shannon Stewart DH? His arm embarrasses the entire state of Minnesota. If Gardy could convince him to stop playing in the field, we could keep Jacque Jones in right and throw Kubel in left (he can't be any worse defensively than Stewart). Jonesy's a better hitter than LeCroy, at least against righties, giving us a stronger lineup.

:: What should we do with Lew Ford? Last year he was our best offensive player, leading the team in almost every category. After this season his trade value is zero. Which Lew Ford is real?

:: Who's a worse announcer: John Gordon or Dan Gladden? They're both awful.

:: What are your favorite Twins uniforms of all time?

:: Who is your favorite Twin of all time?

Mixing business with leather,
B

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B,
I agree with most of the things you said. I will buy into the fact that the Twins have a short window to get the offense to meet the quality of our pitching staff.

Here are my thoughts on the most probable moves.

Outfield
:: Jones gone as a free agent, no attempt to sign.
:: Hunter and Stewart will continue to start
:: Kubel will get the job in right if his knee recovers (and he doesn't suck in spring training).
:: Mike Ryan and Lew Ford will be the reserves

Infield
Morneau at first and Bartlett at short are the only givens as starters. Castro and Punto are signed as utility guys. My guess is Cuddyer will be on the roster as a starter at either 2nd or 3rd base.

I think we will make a run at Soriano and not Blaylock. With the trade rumors around the deadline, Texas made it known they would be willing to deal him. I still think that Blaylock at 3rd and Cuddyer at 2nd would be a better option. Blaylock is a lunch pail, blue-collar guy that would fit in with the Twins chemistry-wise.

Pitchers
Lohse is done; his latest outburst sealed the deal. Mays is done as well.

That is my recap of the moves I think will happen.

To answer your questions:

Why doesn't Shannon Stewart DH?
This is an interesting idea that makes sense. Jones could move to left also. If we can sign Jones to a $10-12 million 2-3 year deal, dump Ford and all the other marginal talent.

What should we do with Lew Ford? Last year he was our best offensive player, leading the team in almost every category. After this season his trade value is zero. Which Lew Ford is real?
I think Lew Ford of this year is the real deal. Terry Ryan is a stud GM, but another GM gave him up for Hector Carrasco.

Who's a worse announcer: John Gordon or Dan Gladden? They're both awful.
Gordon is bad. I like Gladden.

What are your favorite Twins uniforms of all time?
The ones they have not designed yet.

Who is your favorite Twin of all time?
1. Rodney Cline Carew
2. Randy Bush
3. T-Rex (Kent Hrbek)
4. Pirby Kuckett
5. The Rat (Gary Gaetti)
6. Harmon Killebrew
7. Jim Kaat
8. Tony Oliva
9. Shane Mack
10. Frank Viola
11. Jack Morris (should be in Hall of Fame)

I think you should answer the same questions.

Cool Rut

_____________________________________________

Cool Rut,
Fair enough.

Why doesn't Shannon Stewart DH?
I would bet Stewart is one of those players who feels like he hits better when he’s playing in the field. And since he’s an established veteran he has mentioned his preference to his manager, and since his manager is ridiculously loyal to his veterans (to a fault), he has obliged Stewart’s request to play the field. With his limp-wristed tosses from the outfield he should definitely be a DH, but as long as Gardy is running the ship he’ll be our left fielder.

What should we do with Lew Ford? Last year he was our best offensive player, leading the team in almost every category. After this season his trade value is zero. Which Lew Ford is real?
I agree that this year’s version of Lew Ford is the real one. Many players experience the Sophomore Slump because scouts start picking up on a player’s weaknesses. Ford isn’t good enough to overcome solid scouting; therefore he isn’t good enough to be a starter. Love him as a fourth option though.

Who's a worse announcer: John Gordon or Dan Gladden?
I can’t decide who bugs me more. Gordon is so in love with his voice fluctuations that I can’t even follow the action anymore. “Twins down by one, two outs in the ninth, Mauer at the plate. And here’s the pitch… it’s a HIGH FLY BALL! TO DEEP RIGHT FIELD! IT’S GOING!….GOING!… caught by the right fielder in front of the warning track. Twins lose.”

Gladden is just bad at broadcasting. There is no way around it. Every time he attempts to do the play-by-play, the listener is treated to pockets of dead air as Gladden is watching the action. After the play is over, the Dazzle Man recaps what has just happened, but he’s not able to watch and describe the play at the same time. “Morneau at the plate, he swings! (5 seconds of dead air) He’s rounding second, going for a triple! (5 seconds of dead air) Okay, so that was a triple for Morneau. He hit a hard line drive to right center and now he’s on third base with nobody out. Great swing there by the youngster.”

What are your favorite Twins uniforms of all time?
I don’t have one either. I’m firmly against the idea of pinstripes. With a gun to my head I’d choose the white pants, blue jerseys and TC hats. My favorite MLB uniforms are: St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Francisco Giants.

Who is your favorite Twin of all time?
I’m not old enough to have seen the Twinkie greats of yesteryear, so forgive me for missing a few:

1. Kirby Puckett
2. Torii Hunter (kick-ass defense, baserunning and personality. Bonus points because he wore braces)
3. Johan Santana (his second half of 2004 was the most dominance by any Twin, ever)
4. Kent Hrbek (even though his TV show is lame
5. Denny Hocking (just kidding)
5. Dan Gladden (only because of his 10th inning double in the ’91 World Series, and his sweet mustache/mullet combo)

Hugs and kisses,
B.

This concludes the first and only (since it's Vikes season and the Twins are out of the playoff race) installment of Twins Talk.

June 28, 2005

A few points of interest:

:: Those who haven't yet read the USA Today article about Torii Hunter should do so now. Hunter's recent resurgence has been quite enjoyable (and necessary), and this article suggests the reason for his hot streak. I'm still not convinced Torii Hunter will ever be an above-average hitter -- his current .269 batting average is par for his career, and he's never had an OPS above .858 -- but he remains one of my all-time favorite players. In an ideal lineup he'd be batting 6th or 7th, but with the Twins' lack of pop he's been relied on too much for his own good.

:: The scariest statement I’ve heard in years was uttered by Dick Bremer before last Tuesday's game against the horrid Detroit Tigers: “Joe Mays tries to stop the bleeding.” I nearly swallowed my tongue in horror, and thought to myself, 'If we're relying on JOE MAYS to get this team out of its funk, the situation is worse than I thought. It can't possibly get any worse than this.'

The Twins proceeded to lose four out of their next five games.

The last of those four losses marked what I view as the low point thus far in the 2005 campaign: Saturday's 7-6 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. The Twins blew a 5-2 lead late in the game on pitching from Johan Santana and Jesse Crain. I mean, it's one thing to lose with the weaker players, but Santana and Crain have been by far the most reliable on the team. I watched the first half of the game and left the house confident the Twins could still take two of three from the lowly Brew Crew, but my night was almost ruined when I saw that they lost (thus ensuring their fifth consecutive losing series).

The Twins have hopefully turned it around since then, winning their last three and holding the ChiSox lead at 9, but it's going to take a small miracle for them to win this division. No one was worried about Chicago's quick start out of the gates -- we all waited for Carl Everett, Jose Contreras and Orlando Hernandez to hit their yearly mid- and late-season slides -- but it may already be over. The Sox can play .500 ball for the rest of the season and still win 95 games. 95! The Twins need to go 53-34 from here on out to equal that hypothetical tally. I'm not saying it's impossible, but if it happens our second half will be the Story Of the Year.

:: I would vote for a Harold Reynolds/Peter Gammons ticket in the next Presidential race if it were possible. I'm just saying.

:: Though this has been a surprisingly frustrating season as a Twins fan, the demise of the Yankees has almost made up for it. Anytime George Steinbrenner gets frustrated, he wrestles control of the team away from more qualified baseball minds such as Brian Cashman and Joe Torre. It happened this past winter after the Yanks' historic loss to the Red Sox, and after Steinbrenner's moronic offseason moves (going after Randy Johnson, not signing Carlos Beltran to take over for Old Man Williams) anyone who knew baseball expected the Yankees to struggle this season.

I was wrong about the White Sox -- at least so far-- but right about the Yankees. One-for-two ain't half bad in baseball.

May 26, 2005

Two things to note:

1. This blog sucks. I am worthless. I want to write about the abomination that is Torii Hunter Batting Fifth, but haven't found the time.
2. I hope I'm not the only one to think that Twins catcher Mike Redmond looks exactly like Scrubs' John C. McGinley. That Redmond... he's just a straight shooter with upper management written all over him.

Now that The Apprentice has reached its completion, B hopes to devote more time to writing about the Twins. Have a good Memorial Day weekend.

May 3, 2005

I apologize for writing “No team has had the depth, experience and phenom potential” as this year’s team in my 2005 Twins preview. I don’t know what I was thinking. I was probably on a roll and just typed it out because I thought it sounded right, but in reality it was a lie. I feel shame.

The Twins may have experience, and they do have undeniable phenom potential, but they have no depth. None. Last Sunday’s starting lineup featured Juan Castro, Mike Redmond and Luis Rivas – three batters who intimidate a grand total of zero opposing pitchers. One could add the eternally disappointing Michael Cuddyer to that list of underachieving hitters, meaning that roughly half of the Twins’ lineup Sunday had about a 1 in 5 chance of getting a base hit. Needless to say, it wasn’t fun to watch. It felt more like a split squad exhibition game.

Unfortunately, the Twins don’t have many other options beyond said disappointments. The bench is awfully shallow -- at least in terms of hitting -- and if any of the big guns goes down with an injury, the run potential from the starting nine will drop dramatically. Cross your fingers.

As if I needed another reason to hate Mike Sweeney. I have recently awarded Sweeney’s “C” in the corner of his jersey as winner of 2005's "Silliest Jersey Feature in Baseball." I don’t even think many high school jerseys indicate the team captain. What benefits does Sweeney receive by brandishing this useless emblem? Does he get to hand the lineup to the umpires before the game? Notify the umps of mid-game substitutions? The best seat in the back of the bus? First guy in line at the after-game buffet? What a joke.

Despite what the worthless John Kruk says, Jon Garland is not the best pitcher in the major leagues. Yes, he’s 5-0. Yes, his ERA currently stands at 1.38. Yes, he’s reaching what is typically the prime age for pitchers (25 years old, 5th year in The Show). And yes, the first month of the season is historically a strong indication of full season success.

I realize all these things, yet at this point I’m not worried about Garland, for one simple reason: Garland owns exactly ZERO stellar pitches in his array. His fastball is comparable to every other starter in the league -- low 90s with decent movement -- while his curveball is equally forgettable. Until I see an “out” pitch from him, he will remain no more than a decent #3 starter, and thus, nothing to worry about.

Same goes for the entire White Sox squad. I expect a tighter race this year, but I hesitate in handing over the title to a hot-out-of-the-gates team with a penchant for second-half chokes. Especially not one with Orlando Hernandez and Jose Contreras in their rotation.

Then again, I’ve been wrong before. I once claimed that Smashing Pumpkins were going to be the Led Zeppelin of our generation. So what do I know.

April 18, 2005

A few random points while trying to complete my long-overdue article about steroids in baseball:

Surprise of the Year: Kyle Lohse is still a question mark. But this year it’s in a different font. The Lohse of yesteryear was ineffective as the most frustrating type of pitcher: The Nitpicking Fireballer. Lohse has a stellar array of pitches and a cannon of a right arm, but he’s become notorious for his constant nibbling at the corners, and thus, continually working from behind in the count. He’d either throw a nasty slider or a tailing fastball that made hitters blush… or give up a 450-foot bomb on a 3-1 pitch. It was always one or the other with him, and it drove us fans batty. I would scream at my television, “Throw a strike, Kyle! Just throw it down the gullet for love of God!” Well, it seems he must have heard me.

This season Lohse has had much better success locating the strike zone, but has curiously remained ineffective. Lohse’s ERA stands at 6.62 as we speak, a paltry number, but at least the opponents are actually earning their runs this season. Take last Wednesday’s performance against the Tigers as an example: though Lohse gave up 4 earned runs in 6.1 innings, he threw only 16 balls through his first 5 innings. 16! (I once threw 16 straight balls in a college appearance, but I suppose this isn’t about me.)

If Lohse continues this trend of improved control I expect him to have a much better campaign than his appalling 2004 performance. As a rule, I’ll take anything over a pitcher who can’t find the zone.

The Lew Ford “misleading name” confusion has increased. I wrote in my 2005 Twins preview of my disappointment when I first learned that Ford was actually white. I was kidding mostly, but with a name like Lew Ford, I -- like everyone else in the world -- expected him to be black.

I just recently learned that Ford’s legal name is actually Jon Lewis Ford. This discovery only increased my confusion. Why wouldn’t you just call yourself Jon Ford, as your parents intended? My theory is that he took the Jamie Foxx approach in his quest to make it big. Bear with me here.

As everyone knows, Foxx’s real name is Eric Bishop, but he famously changed it to its androgynous version when he realized that women were getting preference for stand-up time at comedy clubs. My theory is that Ford did the same thing.

Picture this scenario: A young Jon Ford was always a standout ballplayer growing up, but his modest physical presence and lack of phenom appeal resulted in his being largely ignored by the scouts. Desperate to stand out from the crowd, a wily Ford decided one day to “go black” in an attempt to perk the scouts’ attention while they were reading through the prospect list. The name “Lew Ford” was born, and the rest is history. (Same goes for San Diego shortstop Khalil Greene, who is also inexplicably Caucasian.)

The lesson here? I have way too much time on my hands. More later.

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