How NOT to play baseball

Luis Castillo, a former Twin, and Milton Bradley, playing against the Twins, gave aspiring baseball players everywhere great examples of what not to do on Friday night.

In the eighth inning, with runners on first and third, Bradley caught Joe Mauer's fly ball and posed for a few seconds before tossing it into the right field bleachers. Unfortunately for him, that was just the second out and Brendan Harris was awarded third base because of the blunder, though he didn't score.




Castillo's error, while not a mental mistake, had much more costly consequences. With 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth, K-Rod induced an easy pop up from A-Rod that would seemingly end the game. And it did--except that the Mets lost instead of won after two runs scored when Castillo dropped it, giving the Yankees a 9-8 walk-off win.









And congratulations to Kevin Slowey on setting the record for strikeouts for an AL pitcher at Wrigley Park!

Market Active, Twins Not

So far, the Twins have yet to make any really significant moves this offseason, except for the dream I had last night where Johan Santana was traded to the Dodgers for about six players (I can't remember who). I woke up and quickly found out that nothing of the sort had actually occurred. However, many other teams have been making noteworthy news, some pertaining to imminently departing Twin Torii Hunter.

• Both the White Sox and Rangers have met with Hunter and begun, at least preliminarily, contract negotiations with him. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Hunter could reach a deal with the White Sox by the end of the week, but he has since denied that claim. In my opinion, I would rather see Torii play for any other team except the Yankees.
• The White Sox did complete a trade with the Angels, though, sending pitcher Jon Garland to Los Angeles for Gold Glove shortstop Orlando Cabrera. Let's hope the Twins can start making some big moves, because the White Sox and Tigers are both very active already.
• The Yankees managed to re-sign another of their key players, this time inking Mariano Rivera to a 3-year, $45 million deal. After all the hoop-lah about the Yankee players not being happy with the managerial situation, most have already re-signed. As is often the case, money talked loudest.
• On the other side of the rivalry, Mike Lowell agreed to a 3-year, $37 million contract with the World Champion Boston Red Sox. After reportedly considering a 4-year deal worth about $50 million from the Phillies, he decided to stay in Boston. It seems like the Twins, even if they had shown interest, didn't have a realistic shot of signing Lowell.
• Former Twin Luis Castillo signed a 4-year deal for $25 million with the Mets. Obviously, the Twins weren't going to offer him a contract in that vicinity so they almost certainly would have lost him at the end of the year anyways.
• Two all-time great pitchers who spent most of their careers with the Braves also agreed to deals recently. Tom Glavine will return to Atlanta for $8 million next season. The contract seems based mostly on reputation, and perhaps on the paltry free agent market, because Glavine is not worth that much at this point. Greg Maddux will make $10 million in 2008 after re-signing with the Padres.