Random Notes

The blog has been pretty light recently, partially because of a lack of Twins-related news and partially because of a lack of interest. I can't speak for #1, but personally I hope to get back to more regular posting once spring break arrives (3/6). I've got a busy 10 days or so before then, though, with an essay, a few midterms, and other assorted homework. By then, it'll be only a month until the start of the season, so there should be more to talk about and more time for me to do it.

The big news over the weekend for the Twins was the signing of 3B Joe Crede. Despite Boras's talk of $7 million guaranteed, it was obvious that Crede would not get that much, and in the end it's clear that Bill Smith got the former White Sock at his price: only $2.5 million guaranteed, with another $4.5 million in playing time incentives. To me, the price was right and there is not much downside to this deal. Crede, if healthy, should provide a significant, though not huge, upgrade over the Brian Buscher-Brendan Harris platoon. If he's not healthy, the Twins are still only down $2.5 million and have the serviceable Buscher-Harris fallback option.

In other news, Boof Bonser announced today that he's going to need to undergo exploratory shoulder surgery that will sideline him for a few weeks, with the potential for a much longer absence if there is found to be a serious problem. I still think Bonser has a chance to turn into a productive major league reliever, but at this point the Twins have a few different guys capable of putting up numbers similar to his so it shouldn't be too big a blow if they lose him.

Assuming Bonser is not ready for opening day, I'd predict the Twins 25-man roster to look like this:
SP: Scott Baker, Kevin Slowey, Francisco Liriano, Glen Perkins, Nick Blackburn.
RP: Joe Nathan, Matt Guerrier, Luis Ayala, Jesse Crain, Craig Breslow, Jose Mijares, Phil Humber.
C: Joe Mauer, Mike Redmond.
IF: Justin Morneau, Nick Punto, Joe Crede, Alexi Casilla, Brendan Harris, Brian Buscher.
OF: Carlos Gomez, Denard Span, Delmon Young, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel.

Finally, in non-Twins news, the Georgetown ultimate team had a great tournament this past weekend in Harrisonburg, VA, home of James Madison University. The team won its first six games en route to the championship game where they were defeated by Ohio State 14-7. We drove down Saturday morning and it was about as good weather as you could ask for in the middle of February: 50 degrees, no precipitation, and only a light wind. In our first game of the day, we used the modified hard cap rules to our advantage in a stirring comeback against Bucknell. Down 12-8 with the cap on, we scored five straight to win the opener 13-12. The next game was against Michigan State. We stuck with the 1-3-3 zone that sparked our comeback against Bucknell and managed to hold off MSU 11-8. Afterwards, we got a nice break from playing as RPI did not show up for the tournament, so instead we played the JMU alumni team in what was counting as a win by forfeit regardless. This meant that we got to try playing different positions and using throws that weren't necessarily game-ready (i.e., I got to throw a hammer, a couple hucks, and even pull). As we started our next game against Elon, it seemed that this time off to goof around might come back to hurt us as they jumped out to a 6-2 lead against our 1-3-3 zone defense. However, a change to agressive man-to-man defense led to a quick turnaround, and we scored the next 8 points to take control of the game and end day 1 of the tournament undefeated.

After a relaxing night at the overcrowded EconoLodge spent watching Hitch, we opened Sunday with a chance for the championship after winning our pool on Saturday. The first game was against Wake Forest, though it was not much of one. We jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead and never looked back, as we cruised to a 15-3 victory. This left us plenty of time to watch the Dickinson-NYU game, the winner of which we would play next. Unlike our game, theirs went well into the hard cap, while we rested comfortably on the sidelines. After we jumped out to another early lead, it became obvious that Dickinson had nothing left after their hard-fought victory over NYU. Their man defense turned into nothing more than a non-moving zone, as defenders simply stood in the lane and made little attempt to cover anyone. Of course, this strategy did not work too well, and we cruised to the finals with another 15-3 victory. In the finals, we played against a strong Ohio State team, and they picked up a break on the very first point. After that we hung around and tried to get back in it, going to half down 7-5, but the game was never really in doubt as OSU took the championship game 14-7. All in all, though, it was a great tournament for Georgetown ultimate, and hopefully one that can be built on as we work our way through the spring schedule.

It doesn't get much better

Oh, it didn't start off well. A home run by Curtis Granderson. Four straight hits following that. A wild pitch. A throwing error by Joe Mauer. Finally, after six runs scored, Boof Bonser escaped the first inning. Needless to say, it wasn't looking good; I was already consoling myself with the "at least they won two of three" routine.

But what a change between the first inning and the rest of the game. Bonser pitched beautifully; the defense made great plays; the offense came through with big hits and made all those runs back. The Blyleven/Bremer combination, as with many, isn't my favorite, but I listened to their call of Mauer's go-ahead, 2-RBI single at least four or five times--"High chopper, over the mound, INTO CENTERFIELD, and the Twins take the lead!"

Truly everyone contributed to Sunday's victory. I know it's cliched, but it really was a team effort. Of course, some individuals stole the spotlight. For me, Boof Bonser was incredible. To come back after that horrid first inning which included 42 pitches, and then pitch five more great innings... it was really good to see that. I can't say enough about how impressed I was with his composure. In the end, his overall line was below average, but every starter is going to allow six runs once in a while, and the fact that he was able to keep it at six and keep the game within reach, and save the bullpen a little, was fantastic.

Joe Mauer had the clutch hit in the seventh to complete the four-run inning to go along with a double earlier. Carlos Gomez and Brendan Harris had already had two-out run-producing hits in the inning, though of very different variety. Harris smoked a ball into left for a ground rule double, while Gomez bounced the ball high of the plate and easily beat Renteria's throw to first (and he made a good play on it). Justin Morneau also had a two-out RBI single in the fourth inning, and Nick Punto picked up his first two RBIs of the year in the fifth with a two-run double.

Oh, and the infallible Joe Nathan picked up his eleventh save.

To win this game, and complete the sweep, is definitely the high point of the season so far. Saturday's win moved the Twins into first place and above .500, and this game, after a simply great comeback, gave them their best record as of yet and subsequently a 1 1/2 game lead in the AL Central. It was also their fifth straight win, and the fact that the victories were against the White Sox and Tigers makes it that much better.

More Predictions!

As if my last ones weren't bad enough, I'm coming back with my predictions for the Twins pitchers. I've tempered my expectations for Liriano, but still include him as one of the five starters.

Livan Hernandez: 11-15, 5.09, 1.51, 151 K/82 BB
Scott Baker: 12-12, 4.32, 1.29, 173 K/56 BB
Boof Bonser: 14-9, 4.11, 1.30, 189 K/69 BB
Kevin Slowey: 11-10, 4.47, 1.23, 160 K/43 BB
Francisco Liriano: 12-7, 3.41, 1.11, 196 K/47 BB
---------------------------------------------------
Joe Nathan: 2-3, 2.09, 0.97, 85 K/22 BB
Pat Neshek: 7-3, 2.95, 1.04, 91 K/24 BB
Matt Guerrier: 4-5, 3.55, 1.19, 67 K/31 BB
Dennys Reyes: 2-1, 4.18, 1.43, 37 K/20 BB

Trade Rumors

The winter meetings start in less than a week, and there are already plenty of rumors surrounding the Twins and moves that they might make. I don't know about anyone else, but I find all this talk and discussion very exciting, even if they are only "internet rumors." In any case, talks of deals involving Johan Santana and anybody and young pitching to the Devil Rays seem to have the plenty of legitimacy, while there are other deals like Justin Morneau to the Angels that seem totally ridiculous. The removal of two players (pitchers Errol Simonitsch and Ricky Barrett) make it even more apparent that something is going to happen soon. By the way, Simonitsch and Barrett both cleared waivers and are safely on the Rochester roster. I know you were worried.

• To start, there has been plenty of discussions of Santana trades, but now it seems that the Twins have begun preliminary talks with teams, at least with the New York Yankees for sure. As much as I hate to say it, the Yankees would be the most logical landing place for Santana, with their basically unlimited payroll, collection of top prospects, and need for pitching. (As a side note, how amazing is it that the Yankees have spent about $400 million already this offseason, and they haven't even added any players? All they've done is resign their own players.) All the other supposedly interested teams that could possibly pay Santana have foreseeable problems in getting a deal done. The Angels and Dodgers have bigger needs for hitters than pitchers, especially with the Angels trading Orlando Cabrera last week. The Red Sox clearly do not want to part with Clay Buchholz or Jacoby Ellsbury, and I don't think a deal centered around Jon Lester is enough. Also, more importantly, the Red Sox seem likely to stick to their word, as they did when they held strong and would not offer Mike Lowell a 4 year deal even after Philadelphia made such an offer. As is well known, the Yankees adamantly declared they would not negotiate with Alex Rodriguez after he opted out of his contract, and then they proceeded to sign him to a contract potentially worth over $300 million just a couple weeks later. Now, to get to the potential offers the Yankees could make. The Yankees have been saying all along that Joba Chamberlain is untouchable and now Robinson Cano appears to be in that same category, though the Yankees' adamant statements can be reversed quite quickly it seems. I certainly understand why everyone is so high on Joba, but I see Phil Hughes as at least an equal piece in a trade, and possibly better, simply because he has proven his stuff over a couple years in the minors instead of just one. If the Yankees are not going to offer Chamberlain, then Hughes is a great building block for the trade. I would want to see any trade with the Yankees centered around Hughes or Chamberlain, as Cano will be hitting arbitration this year, and I would rather see the Twins get a cheaper, younger player as the base of the trade. If the Twins could get Hughes/Chamberlain and Cano, then that would be a great deal, but I'm not too sure that that will happen. I know the Twins need offense way more than pitching, but they can trade some young pitching for young hitters, as a deal like this would give them an even bigger surplus of young pitching. I still think a deal to the Dodgers would work best for the Twins, but at this point I'm not sure how involved they'll get in the Santana trade talks.

• Joe Christensen, in an attempt to lessen the hopes of Twins fans like me, wrote up what he felt to be a more realistic trade market for Santana. Obviously, no one outside the teams making the offers knows exactly what the Twins could get for Johan, but if these are the deals that are out there, I would rather keep Santana and let him walk after 2008 if he can't be re-signed. Some people might say this would be the same as the Torii Hunter fiasco. Personally, I did not think the Twins should have traded Hunter, but even for people who did, this is totally different. In this case, if the Twins lost Santana for draft picks, it wouldn't be for a lack of trying; the Twins have been proactive in looking to either deal or re-sign him, and that is the key. With Torii, the Twins waited until the summer to make an offer for an extension, and seemingly never discussed trading him. In any case, I would rather have 1 year of Santana than get what Christensen suggests the Twins would get.

• More indications of talks with the Rays came out today, this time involving Boof Bonser moving to Tampa. I think that a trade of Boof for Rocco Baldelli would be a good deal, although I would feel bad losing a guy with such a great name. Then again, Rocco isn't so bad in itself. If the Twins don't trade Santana, which at this point would surprise me, or if they get another great young pitcher in return (like Hughes), then some of the Twins better young pitchers (like Matt Garza or Kevin Slowey) could possibly be used to get a player like BJ Upton.

• The rumors of a Morneau-to-the-Angels deal are ridiculous. The Twins should NOT trade him, not for anything. He is their only established power threat, and if they lose Hunter, Santana, and Morneau in the offseason, they might as well change the team name to the Minnesota Sideburns. Not to mention the proposed return on the deal, Casey Kotchman and Ervin Santana, is not even close to fair compensation. (As I typed this, I went to look for the link where I found this, but the thread was deleted. So maybe it was totally made up.)

• And, if you've had enough of all this trade talk, check out the latest rumor, this one started by Bob Sansevere over at the Pioneer Press. Just think: this guy gets paid to write about the Twins, while I'm sitting here at 2:2o AM with an 8:50 class in the morning tomorrow, none of my homework started yet, and getting nothing for it.

Finally, was anyone else hoping for a scoreless tie in the Dolphins-Steelers game, or at the very least a 2-0 overtime victory for one of the teams? I guess now the only amazing thing I can hope for is an 0-14 Dolphins team beating a 14-0 Patriots team in Week 16.

Ugh!

It was a rough game for the Twins today, resulting in an 8-3 loss to the White Sox. This is the first time I've started the entry before the game was over, but I just didn't feel like thinking about this game much after it ended. I almost put it off until the conclusion of the game immediately following Jason Kubel's opposite field home run, but then Torii Hunter, Justin Morneau, and Michael Cuddyer each struck out swinging to suck out any momentum I thought the Twins might have gained. As a whole, the offense couldn't get anything going, striking out eleven times against Javier Vazquez, and fourteen times in the game. Jason Tyner was the only Twin not to strike out, while Kubel and Nick Punto struck out three times apiece. Punto's 0-4 game ended his seven game hitting streak and his streak of three consecutive games with multiple hits. On a bright note, Brian Buscher had his first career double.


Scott Baker was not good to start the game, giving up three earned runs in two innings, but Boof Bonser was even worse, allowing eight hits, two walks, and five earned runs in just three frames. Baker, however, did not leave just because of his sub-par performance; he was hit by a line drive on his pitching hand, which, although evidently not serious, may cause him to miss his last start of the season. This brings up the question of who will pitch in his place. Bonser certainly didn't make a very good case for it to be himself, but he would presumably be the first option. To finish the game, Julio DePaula, Glen Perkins, and Juan Rincon combined for four scoreless innings.


As Jim Thome hit his 32nd home run in the third inning, it dawned on me that he has really been killing the Twins of late. In fact, he has homered in six straight games against the Twins, batting .541 (13-24) with 8 runs and 14 runs batted in during that span. Let's hope that he can be contained tomorrow, because I am hanging on to the slim, slim chance of the silver lining that is a .500 record.