Twins Mid Season Report

The All Star break is generally considered the halfway point of the 162 game MLB season (even though most teams have played closer to 90+ games at that point). Since that break is coming up this Monday, it seemed appropriate to review what has transpired so far this year and take a look towards the second half of this 2008 Twins season. What follows is a list of questions about the team and my breakdown/answers to those questions. If you have anything to add or a different opinion on something, feel free to get that comment section going.



Record
--Is the Twins record (51-41 as of Friday) an indication that this team is better than most people thought, or the product of favorable schedule?
At this point in the season, most “experts” had the Twins penciled in for roughly 40-43 wins. Sitting 10 games above .500 with three games left until the break should be considered a major success. Of course part of the reason for that record is the run the team just went on where they won 18 of 21 games. Did we take advantage of a weak interleague schedule? You bet. But that shouldn’t take away from anything the team has accomplished so far. Going 14-4 against inferior competition is what good baseball teams do. It is funny to me how a couple of games can change everyone’s perspective in a very short amount of time. Before the Boston series, everyone was talking about us winning the division/wild card and discussing potential trade deadline moves that should be made. A three game sweep later (in which, it should be noted, we could/should have won at least 2 if not all 3) and suddenly the team has been “exposed” and the naysayers feel that we’re done. Not me. If you had told me, or any other Twins fan, that we would have at least 50 wins at the All Star break, I would have been ecstatic. I’m going to say that this team is good and will be in contention for both the division and the wild card throughout the rest of the season.


Pitching
--Is the starting staff this good?
This might be the toughest part of this Twins team to figure out. The season started with Livan Hernandez of all people leading the way for our otherwise young staff. The young guys got knocked around a little bit, but they gained experience. As the season progressed, especially during the recent hot streak, all four of them (Baker, Blackburn, Perkins, Slowey) have showed signs of being capable, if not very good, major league starting pitchers. During that same stretch, Livan has shown signs of being the 5+ ERA pitcher that he’s been for quite some time now. Those shifts make this staff a bit tricky to figure out.



--So is the emergence of the young starters a sign of things to come?
The homer in me wants to say yes. I’ve watched a lot of games and it doesn’t appear that these are mediocre pitchers who are getting an enormous amount of run support or getting lucky throwing bad pitches. All four guys seem to have spot on control and a very good ability to mix their pitches. The only problem I see is that all four remind me of Brad Radke. That is to say that they are good pitchers who can be very solid at times, but not dominant, number one type guys. Can a team win a title with four good, but not great pitchers? Historically, you’d have to say no. Depending on what the teams around them do, they might be able to get into the playoffs with that kind of rotation, but it seems like you need that top dog in order to win in October. That said, they will be good enough to at least keep things interesting and keep the team in contention.



--What happens with Livan and Franchise?
The prevailing attitude among the fans and media in this town is that Hernandez should be shipped out for a box of baseballs at the deadline and that Liriano should be brought up to reclaim his spot as staff ace. That sounds nice and all, but there may be some issues with it. First of all, finding a taker for Livan might be quite a bit more difficult than most fans realize. Not too many contenders are looking for a starter who will pitch 6-7 innings with 10+ hits and 5+ runs every outing. Then there’s the matter of Liriano, who’s been less that dominant during his stint in AAA. It would seem that the Twins standing in the division and wild card races will be the determining factor in the fates of these two gentlemen. If we are still in contention at the end of July, Hernandez probably stays. If we seem out of it, Franchise comes up to set up the rotation of 09 and beyond.

--What do we make of the bullpen?
Oi. This has been, far and away, the most frustrating part of the Twins this year. There have been stretches where guys like Guerrier, Reyes, and even Crain have looked unhittable. Of course there have also been times where they have looked, well, let’s call it less than capable. The truth probably lies somewhere in between the two extremes. Here’s what we know: with Neshek out for the year, most of the guys in the pen have been pitching in situations that they are not used to. There’s also the issue of Gardy mismanaging the bullpen very badly, but we’ll get to that later. So basically, the answer is that we don’t know. If you believe that the Boston series was simply a hiccup or a learning experience for some of these guys, then they should only get stronger as the season progresses. If you’re in the camp that said series exposed our weaknesses and showed that we’ll buckle under pressure, then it could be a frustrating end to the summer.


Hitting
--Can the clutch hitting continue?
Even with the struggles in Boston, the Twins still have the best batting average with runners in scoring position in the majors (and it’s not even close). The team has found a way to win games that we would not have won in the past couple years. Even more impressive is the fact that we are not leaning on guys like Mauer and Morneau to do everything. Seemingly every game has a different guy stepping up with multiple hits, clutch RBI’s, and/or some unexpected power. While this is very encouraging, you have to ask yourself, “Can we consistently expect guys like Brendan Harris, Nick Punto, and Brian Buscher to deliver clutch hits?” Realistically, it would seem like the team needs its stars to step up a bit over then next couple months. Sure we can hope that the younger players continue to improve and that the clutch hitting continues to be contagious, but in order to be a division winning team, you need the studs to carry the team at times.



--So where has Morneau’s power gone?
It seems like Justin has gone to the Joe Mauer school of hitting (Quick Swing not included) and has decided that it’s better to hit .310 with 20 HR’s (still 5x as many as Joe hits) than to hit .275 with 35 bombs—seemingly standard for all Twins hitters. While this approach is getting him quite a few RBI’s and keeping runners on base, I would say that it’s not the way to go. There’s no guarantee that guys like Span, Gomez, and Casilla are going to continue to be on base when Morneau comes to the plate. On top of that there are times, especially late in games, where a 1 or 2 out double simply isn’t going to be enough—we need the power. If it were up to me, I’d be pushing for #33 to participate in the Home Run Derby next week as a way to get the power back in his swing.

--What will the team do with the lineup when everyone gets healthy?
This is the most immediate and pressing issue facing the Twins right now. The outfield already has Gomez, Young, and Span looking like a very good, young core. Add to that Jason Kubel and Craig Monroe coming off the bench (and splitting the DH role) and you have a lot of talent. However, Michael Cuddyer is scheduled to come off the DL soon, so that gives the team a gluttony of players at this position. Do you really send Span back down to AAA? In the infield, Gardenhire has already shown that he’s determined to play Nick Punto on a regular basis at some position. Brendan Harris has been a viable player at multiple positions as well. Brian Buscher has been hitting very well, but has fallen victim to Gardy’s hatred of batting lefty’s against lefty’s. Also in the mix is Mike Lamb, who’s been terrible but is making a lot of money, and Matt Tolbert and Adam Everett are scheduled to return to the team soon.



--What can we realistically expect from The Kids in the second half?
The youngest players on the team (Carlos Gomez, Alexi Casilla, Denard Span, and Delmon Young) have been the most exciting and the most frustrating part of the offense so far this year. Gomez has the ability to bunt at any time and make things happen on the base paths, yet has shown poor plate discipline and an inability to get on base consistently. Casilla is still hitting over .300 and getting into scoring position for the big guns. Nevertheless, he was hitting only .220 in AAA for a reason. Span is flourishing (both in the bigs and in the minors) and seems to have found a bit of a niche in the 9 hole. But what happens to him when Cuddyer gets healthy? Young is hitting in the .280’s and has been hot lately, yet has shown none of the power that gained him many accolades during his rookie year in Tampa. So where does that leave us? I’m going to go out on a limb and say that each of these guys will continue to improve as the year goes along and will, at the very least, give the Twins and their fans a ton of hope for the future.


Coaching
--What kind of lineup decisions are we in store for?
Loyal readers know that I’m nowhere near being a fan of Gardy’s. I think he makes sketchy lineup decisions and constantly misuses the bullpen. It is scary to think about the lineups that he will come up with once the team is entirely healthy. I still think it’s a mistake to bat Mike Redmond 3rd when he plays for Mauer. I know he’s a .300 hitter and all, but for some reason this organization just doesn’t understand the concept that a 3-hitter should drive the ball and drive in runs. The decisions that are sure to cause a lot of talk and head scratching will be who Gardy plays at short and third on a day to day basis. It’s a given that his boyfriend will play at one of the infield positions virtually every day, but the rotation at third will be the thing to watch. Brian Buscher has been ripping the ball and hasn’t been nearly as shaky in the field as he was said to be. Yet somehow he can’t find his way into any playing time. Apparently a .330 hitter with gap and HR power isn’t good enough for Ron. That leads to things like Harris playing third and Lamb somehow being our late inning lefty pinch hitter. Because, you know, that makes sense…



--How will Gardy use the pen—especially Nathan?
I’m going to try and keep this brief (because I can, have, and will go on at great length about all of the mistakes I think Gardenhire is making with this team) and just let you know about a few things that are guaranteed to happen in the second half of the season. 1) Gardy will continue to refuse to use Joe Nathan in non-save situations even though it would make sense to have your best reliever come in during the most crucial situations. 2) He will continue to pitch the “Bassman” (Gardy’s pet name for Brian Bass—gawd he plays favorites more than any other manager in the game) in situations where he has no business pitching. 3) Someone in the bullpen will get overworked to the point that their arm and performance suffers (like he did with Neshek last year). Leading candidate at this time is Guerrier.


Schedule
--Will the team’s brutal July schedule be the downfall of this season?
Well, we’ve already seen the less-than-encouraging start to what appears to be a very difficult month of July. Along with the Boston and Detroit road trips that lead up to the All Star break, the teams has dates with the Yankees, Tigers (again), and White Sox, among others, still to come this month. The team’s struggles against the Bronx Bombers have been well documented, and shouldn’t come as any surprise should they struggle. They key to the month will be how well the Twins play against division rivals Detroit and Chicago. I know the media is trying to convince you that the Tigers are “coming around” right now, but that team doesn’t really scare me at all. I think we take 5 of 7 against them. Thus if we can simply hold our own against everyone else, we should be fine heading into August.



--How much will the long road trip in August affect them?
In an extremely rare scheduling quirk, the Twins will play 14 consecutive games on the road at the end of August. The majority of these games will be on the West Coast, which makes it even more daunting. With the AL West looking relatively tough at this point, except for Seattle of course, this might be a more important stretch than that brutal end to July that we just went over. If they can play well during that trip, it should give them the confidence to try and make a playoff push during the month of September. If not, it could be the beginning of a 2001-like collapse. Of course if we’ve already fallen out of contention by that time, all of this will be a moo point (you know, like a cow’s opinion—it doesn’t matter).

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Quale-ty Ramblings

Hey kids, I’m back with another set of tidbits that I was just itching to get off my chest. Hope everyone enjoyed the quick summer roundtables about the NBA Draft, but it’s time to talk baseball and a little bit of Purple. So as those annoying, awful, and incredibly poorly acted Coors Light commercials say, “Let's Vent!”



Twins
As we enter July, the Twins head into their most brutal stretch of the season. As has been documented in a previous post, they have to play, among others, Detroit 6 times, New York 3 times, Boston 3 times, and Texas 3 times. It cannot be understated then how important the Twins 14-4 interleague record was. The fact that they were able to beat up on inferior teams and pull within a ½ game (now 2 ½) of the White Sox could prove to be a huge factor in keeping them in the race. Now they need to find a way to keep up the impressive pitching performances and timely hitting against some of the best teams in the game. That means guys like Kevin Slowey and Nick Blackburn have to continue to be lights out—just like they have been over the last few weeks. The only reason we might crash and burn during this stretch will be our hitting. Having Cuddyer out doesn’t help things (really Mike? A finger, again?), and you know that Gardy will be playing Punto as often as he can.

Begin rant: So explain this one to me. The Twins are in the midst of a 10 game winning streak and playing phenomenal baseball, all without the “help” of Punto. Then the Tricky One comes off the DL and immediately gets a start over a red hot Brendan Harris (10 for his last 27, including a huge homerun, at the time of Punto’s unthinkable start). The result? A Twins loss and Punto putting up the big O Fer. The next day Harris is back in the lineup and the team wins again. Weird. And yes, in case you hadn’t noticed, I will bitch about Nick Punto every single chance I get. Get used to it. End rant.

So get down to the Dome to catch your second place Twins, just in case this momentum doesn’t last (which it might not if Monday’s game against Detroit is any indication—nice fastball, Jesse). And if they make it through this month within striking distance of first place, well then you may as well start printing the 2008 version of the Homer Hanky.



MLB
Because of the long season and the high number of games, baseball often gets thrown to the side until the playoffs, but this has been one of the best regular seasons in recent memory. At the midway point, we already have these incredible storylines: the Rays impressive play, Josh Hamilton, the Diamondbacks sharp fall, the Cubs impressive play, Ken Griffey Jr. joining the 600 HR club, the Tigers flat start and current rise, Chase Utley—a 3rd Phillies MVP?, Prince Fielder’s diet, Edison Volquez, the Under .500 Division, Rays-BoSox throw down, those gutty Twins, the potential end of Schilling and Smoltz, the end of Yankee Stadium, the Sidney Ponson Experience, the courting of CC, and Ozzie’s tirades. And we’ve still got 3 months and 82 games to go…

A few mid season awards:
MVP—AL—Carlos Quentin (CHI); NL—Chase Utley (PHI)
This was an easy choice for me. I know a lot of people would put Hamilton here because of his amazing comeback year and high RBI total. But Quentin’s numbers are almost as remarkable and he has held together a first place team when their conventional run producers (Thome, Konerko, etc.) have floundered. As for the NL, Chipper Jones and Lance Berkman deserve consideration, but Utley’s 23 HR’s for a first place ballclub are extremely impressive and he should continue to put up amazing numbers because of all of the talent surrounding him in that Phillies lineup.

Cy Young—AL—Joe Saunders (LAA); NL—Edison Volquez (CIN)
I would have given this award to Cliff Lee, but since the Indians are so incredibly terrible at this point, I just couldn’t do it. With all of the mediocre pitching in the AL, the award had to go to Saunders, who is top 7 in ERA and tied for the lead in Wins for a first place team. Volquez gets the nod in the NL because of his miniscule ERA and because he reminds me of Francisco Liriano circa 2006.

Manager—AL—Ozzie Guillen (CHI); NL—Lou Pinella (CHI)
I know that Joe Madden probably deserves this award for the amazing way that his Rays are playing so far, but I have to give it to the most entertaining managers in all of sports—who just happen to coach in the same city. Ozzie’s outbursts not only motivate his players, but also keep the scrutiny away from their downfalls. Pinella is a much easier choice. His Cubs have had to deal with injuries to studs like Soriano and Zambrano, yet still have the best record in the league.

Playoff Predictions (Revised):
AL—East—Red Sox, West—Angels, Central—White Sox, Wild Card—Twins (homer pick here; most “experts” would tell you that it will be a team such as the Tigers, Rays, or Yankees)
NL—East—Phillies, West—Diamondbacks, Central—Cubs, Wild Card—Marlins (another wishful pick; again, there are more likely candidates including the Cardinals, Brewers, and Mets)



Vikings
Am I the only one who’s noticed that the Purple have been everywhere in the sports media world lately? Sports Illustrated and ESPN The Magazine had features on Jared Allen recently (as well as a Udeize update), Dr. Z picked us to win the Super Bowl, and the ESPN fantasy rankings have us with the #1 defense and #2 running back (Peterson). Now, I’m not the kind of guy who has a countdown until training camp going on, nor am I the guy that has already participated in multiple mock fantasy drafts (though I know a few people in each of those categories), but I’m really starting to get amped up for this year’s version of the Vikes. I know that the odds are against us, especially given the Minnesota Sports Curse and all, but has there been a Vikings team in recent history with this much hype and high expectations? The months of July and August are going to a lot of fun, and ESPN is going to have a lot of purple on its screens. Oh, and if you’re interested, the gentlemen of TK will be claiming their spots on the parade route sometime in mid-August, so feel free to join us.



Bonus NBA Rambling:
Ok, so I know that the guys already did their predraft roundtable and then discussed the Wolves moves at length on this site, but I have to add in my two cents. Let me preface this by saying that I like trading Jaric’s Contract for Cardinal’s Contract, and Mike Miller should help us out in the shooting department. That said, I really feel like everyone is talking themselves into Kevin Love at this point. We’re talking about an undersized power forward who is seriously lacking on the defensive end of the floor (where we already have multiple players who struggle there as well—Jefferson, McCants, etc.), and whose greatest asset is that he throws an outlet pass better than anyone else in the college game. Do I have that about right? I know K-Lo’s long passes got UCLA some easy transition hoops, but that kind of thing does not translate into the NBA. No one is hustling down for a quick two and that skill will be useless at the next level. What you’re left with is a guy who isn’t tall enough or strong enough to dominate on the boards (plus he’ll be fighting Al for those rebounds), doesn’t have a strong offensive game other than a 5-10 foot jumper, and will get abused on the defensive end of the floor on a nightly basis. Sorry, I’m not feeling it.



**Breaking News—Sources have confirmed that on Saturday, July 12, former major league baseball player and steroid snitch Jose Canseco will be fighting former NFL kick return specialist Via Sikahema in an absurd pay-per-view boxing match. Feel free to make your own joke at this time…

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We love roundtables. Mayo/Love trade...

Yes, it is Tuesday, five days after the fireworks that was the NBA draft, but we needed to put down our thoughts on what went down. It was too good. Many people slipped into bed naked on Thursday night thinking OJ Mayo was the next face of the franchise only to wake up in the morning with a blockbuster deal that Kevin “I’ve ruined my playing career because I blow as a GM” McHale pulled off at midnight. I got a text message late night from my roommate (he lives downstairs, but he felt a text would be better than knocking on my door) saying: “We traded Mayo.” Marx, Fuzz and Dogg had to have a roundtable that stretched over the past couple days to analyze this beast. Here is what transpired...

Fuzz: I have mixed feelings about this. I even wrote about this in that roundtable last week about this very trade. I asked: Is a Love/Miller combo better than O.J. Mayo? Well, I got my wish. We will see, because it’s exactly what went down. The deal doesn't bother me too much, other than; I really wanted to see Mayo on this team playing with Big Al. That would have been intriguing. But, like Dogg said, would he have stayed in the long term? He expressed displeasure earlier this month about coming here but softened that when it got closer to the draft. Love seems like a guy you can keep around. Anyways, mixed feelings at this point from this guy. Mayo could be a superstar, but we got a good basketball player, a good shooter and got rid of one of the worst contracts ever to be given out to an NBA player (Jaric). McHale has no dumped Hudson, Mike James, Jaric, Blount, Davis and Walker's contracts. It's about damn time he fixes for his mistakes. The roster is getting cleaned up fellas.

Marx: I am not very happy about this. You win with star power in this league and O.J. Mayo is the only one in this deal who could become a star. Did we potentially get better with this trade---it would be hard to get any worse. This deal looks to me like a salary dump and a “McHale knows better” deal. In the salary dump we got rid of two guys (A. Walker and G. Buckner) who’s contracts were expiring after this season anyway. We got rid of Marko Jaric, but we picked up Brian Cardinal and his contract that is only one season shorter than Marko’s.

This deal also is saying that we did everything right the past three drafts and we still believe Randy Foye, Rashad McCants and Corey Brewer can get it done. None of those players is anything more than a rotation player. Hopefully McHale is right about this and Mayo never becomes an all-star, but I’m not thrilled with the deal.

Let me ask you-what would you be happy with from Kevin Love? Would you be happy if he’s averaging 12 ppg and 8 boards in 3 years? Is that better than a guy carrying a team and making the all-star team? Mike Miller is a nice, overpaid role player who can absolutely shoot.

Fuzz: I've heard both sides and I'm confused as ever. I don't know what to think about it. I almost don't want to like it because McHale is involved. I just want him gone. It would have been a lot better if say like Hoiberg was our GM and pulled it off. It would seem different for some reason. McHale bothers the hell out of me. Anyways, the Star Tribune blogger, Michael Rand wrote about it and had this to say:

Maybe it’s dangerous to trust gut feelings when they align with moves by a franchise that has been less than successful when doing things the hard way, rather than the obvious way. But we think the late night blockbuster trade of O.J. Mayo for Kevin Love and Mike Miller (and others, mostly for money reasons) will go down as the best in Wolves’ history and perhaps a fleecing for the ages (in the right direction) once all is said and done. We can’t explain exactly what we don’t like about Mayo. We just watch him and see more bust than boom — way more Rider than LeBron. And despite Love’s ridiculous chinstrap facial hair, we’ve been infatuated with his game for a while now. He’ll make Al Jefferson better. He’ll make Corey Brewer better. We would have been happy if the Wolves had taken Love at No. 3; instead, they parlayed the pick into Love, Miller and the shedding of two problematic contracts (Marko Jaric and Antoine Walker). Miller is a sharpshooter. Sure, Cardinal has a bad contract as well (two years and $13 million left), but he’s at least a bigger body who can be useful off the bench. Jason Collins is a 7-footer who has 407 career NBA starts. Mostly, though, it comes down to Love. We like Love over Mayo, straight up. Factor in the rest of the deal, and it was a slam dunk.

Now, the only quibble we have: the way it went down. It’s tough to sell the public on a player like Mayo and then pull him back in the dead of night. Is there a good reason this deal couldn’t have been arranged and ready to go the minute David Stern stepped to the podium? We don’t think so. As we watched the draft with some RandBall regulars (good time had by all), we started trying to convince ourselves that Mayo could be a good fit. Local fans who wanted Mayo were ecstatic, only to be disappointed later. The timing and handling was bad; the end result, though, will be the best thing to happen to this franchise in a long time. And we’re not just saying that because we kind of predicted it.

I thought this was interesting. I've been reading both sides of this thing. It's either hot or cold with a lot of people. I’m starting to warm up to it…

Dogg: Well you two know my feeling about the draft day trade, LOVE IT! I honestly pin a 95% chance on Mayo leaving here after his rookie contract if not earlier. We were making the playoffs when Marbury was here and even he was bitching every season about getting out of dodge. Mayo is just as high priced talent as Marbury and like Fuzz said, he showed discomfort getting drafted by MN even before we took him. Did you see his reaction by the way when we drafted him? He didn’t look the slightest bit impressed and I think Love is going to be a very good NBA player. If he continues to lose weight and hit the weights he could easily be a Carlos Boozer/Brad Miller mold, both very good NBA players. Getting rid of Jaric, Walker and Buckner is the biggest key. Jaric had 3 years $21M left on his contract. I don’t know what Brian Cardinal is getting paid but I can’t imagine it’s a worse contract that Jaric.

Marx, what is your issue with Foye? He had knee issues last year and I believe he has one full healthy season that he can be a legit 15 ppg 5 apg and 5 rpg. Almost an Andre Miller mold. It might be wishful thinking but he has major talent. I say we make the playoffs in two years if we can hold onto Mike Miller.


Marx: Andre Miller and Foye are totally different players. Miller is a true pg who looks to run the offense and pass (He can't shoot.) Foye is a gunner who would like nothing more than to squeeze off 20 shots a game. I don't have a problem with Foye; I just don't think he will ever be more than a rotation player, which is fine except we have a lot of those guys. Why are you guys so high on Mike Miller? He's a shooter, but he seems to be one of those guys who gets his number on bad teams. Has he ever been in the playoffs? Maybe once or twice in the first round with Memphis. He's a good player, but he is not going to get us over the top in the West. He seems like the kind of player you add when you are tweaking your squad to make a run, but not be one of the top players on a rebuilding team. I hope I'm wrong and maybe this trade will grow on me over time, but damn.

Fuzz: The key of the deal is still Kevin Love. He needs to prove he can play the NBA game. He's in between positions and he is for sure the key to this deal. He is a natural rebounder, regardless of his size, which I love. Big Al and Love should grab their fair share of boards. Mike Miller and Brewer are good rebounders also. We should be a good rebounding team next year. Mike Miller averaged 7 last year and that's not bad at all. What's our starting five? Foye, Miller, Brewer, Love and Al? Or do Gomes and Telfair (assuming we sign them) make the starting lineup?

I know Mayo looked pissed off being drafted by us, but how does he feel now? Memphis is probably worse off than us and this area has twice what Memphis has to offer. Maybe the cold factor got to him, but the Twin Cities is a lot better area for nightlife/entertainment than Memphis.

Dogg: Foye has been limited to jump shot because of his injuries. Did you see his game in college? Yes, he shot some 3’s but he was mostly a guy who took it to the tin and finished. I know we’ve gone through this discussion before and I think me and you just have totally different perspectives on Foye. Allan Ray was their gunner and Foye was the guy who did it all. Drive and kick, hit the open 3or take it all the way to the tin. I think he can be that all around PG you need. Mike Miller can bomb but also has a deceptive penetration game as well. He’s just not a stand-alone shooter like James Posey. James Posey showed how much damage he can do in big games and I think Mike Miller is a much better player than Posey.


Marx: Here's a question-Do we have anymore moves coming? I think Telfair, Gomes, Snyder, and Doleac are some type of FA, either restricted, unrestricted or they have an option. Do we bring those guys back? Do we try to sign somebody's else's FA, like Andris Biedrins, Monta Ellis, Jose Calderon, Antwan Jamison, or obviously much lesser players?

Fuzz: I heard all the money would be more available after this season. This is still a rebuilding year and I don’t think they bring in anyone new. I heard Gomes is on the traveling caravan this summer, so they must think they can sign him.

This portion was done after the weekend.

Dogg: Back to the Mayo deal. Sludge from KFAN loved Mayo but he warmed up to the trade over the weekend and was saying this morning how much he liked the trade. If he liked it I think we can be safe to say that it was a good trade for the time being. Whether Mayo turns out to be absolute stud, who knows but for now I like it a lot.

Fuzz: I started loving it more and more the next day and I'm absolutely on board right now. If it wasn't McHale pulling the trade, I think more people would like it. Some random tidbit's about it:

1) I'm assuming, but I think Mayo would have pulled a Marbury and bailed. We invited him to workout for us in Minnesota and he denied it. Said he wasn't coming up here to workout. That’s not a good sign. We had to see him in Chicago with other teams. Yet, Miami asked him on a whim last week for a secret workout and he was there in a millisecond. F-him. He expressed he wanted to go to a larger market early in June but softened that stance later. He wanted no part of us.

2) Ryan Moe, our close and personal friend made a good point to me saying we need to start acting like Utah. Dogg mentioned something similar also. Start drafting high character guys and not worry about the thugs and piss-poor attitude players. This market has a lot to offer but I don't think people realize that from afar. The cold scares them. Start drafting high character, system players. I do think we need to change coaches in 1-2 years to take the next step for this to work.


3) A high school friend of mine, Jon, said Love is going to be the next Sean May or Sheldon Williams. He hates the trade. I heard others comparing him to Al Horford. Since I like the trade, I obviously believe he'll be more like Horford. May and Williams didn't have a jump shot, that's where I think he's going to be better than those guys. Plus, he's a ton better passer than May or Williams.

4) Mike Miller loves the trade. He's from South Dakota and I've heard he's ecstatic to be here. Anytime you have guys wanting to play for you (love and miller), I think that's a good thing. Mayo could be a stud, but he's not the next Lebron.

Marx: The Utah argument is a little misleading. They sniped Boozer away from Cleveland and they traded up to draft the correct player (Deron Williams), which is where this argument stems from- the draft and trades. They also signed Mehmet Okur away from Detroit when he became available because Detroit had to pay their other guys like Chauncey and Prince.
If you’re talking about having a Utah model, then why don't we go after young foreign talent that’s potentially available this summer, like Andres Biedrins and Juan Carlos Navarro? I still don't believe McHale has the smarts and scouting ability to pick off these guys.

I heard today that next’s years draft is not great but it does have a couple pg's that could be very interesting. If we draft one of those next year then we can finally have a blueprint in place that makes sense. Realistically, Love is probably going to be somewhere in-between May, Williams and Al Horford.

Dogg: May, Horford and Williams never shot outside of 5’ in college. Love has a much better all around game than any of those guys. I say he’s better than all those guys including Horford. Who cares where Utah got their players from? They got them now and Sloan has never put up with any character issue guy like a Mayo. That is why Utah is always in the mix of things. Sloan knows which players will work hard for him and if you have talent and work hard, you’ll win. Everybody in the NBA has talent but half of them don’t want to work very hard.

Should’ve definitely kept Chalmers this year. I think he might be one of those 2nd rounders that turns in a nice pro career.


Marx: What do you mean "who cares"? That all comes back to McHale's drafting and scouting of available talent. We could have had Okur for a very reasonable price. They locked in on Deron Williams, traded up, and drafted him. All of this argument leads back to the draft, trades, and acquisitions by McHale. The Chalmers deal is what makes people so mad at McHale. A good GM would be able to think a couple steps ahead. If we had make the Love trade first, we never would have made the Chalmers move as we now need a pg, or at least a backup pg, and another player who can shoot. Chalmers fills that need and he was a potential 1st round pick who we got late. Why did we have to trade him on the spot? Why couldn't we wait until the next day or later? Sorry to be so negative, but I'm still not thrilled with McHale's moves.

Dogg: I know it is McHale’s fault. All I’m saying is I don’t care if you don ALWAYS draft well or don’t ALWAYS sign free agents well but do it well once in a while. Also, I’m saying find these guys via draft, NBDL, internationally…I don’t care but build your team around character guys like Utah and Sloan have done for years is all Fuzz and I are saying. The Chalmers move pissed me off. Now we are going to sign Telfair for more money than he deserves and also rumoring that we are signing John Lucas. Seriously? Chalmers would mop either of those two.

Fuzz: The point I was making about Utah is that they have high character guys that want to play basketball. They have guys that want to be there and aren't thugs. They don't have guys like Marbury, Melo, Artest, etc... They don't have any prima donnas, except maybe Ak47. He's pretty calm if you ask me though. I don't care where they are getting these guys, they aren’t drafting guys that don't want to be there or don't want to work. Getting rid of Ricky Davis, Mark Blount, Marko Jaric & Antoine Walker is a very underrated thing. I like McCants, but on this point alone, I would have no problem dumping him. I think Mayo would have pouted here and we don't need that.

Dogg: Couldn’t agree more!!!

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NBA draft--mini roundtable

Look who's back, back again. Yeah, that's right--Fuzz and Dogg make their summer appearance on TK. Q had to sit out this one, but we brought in the crafty lefty out of the pen, NBA guru Marx to fill in for his spot. Tomorrow's NBA draft is such a biggie for the local franchise that we had to call for a summer roundtable. Like usual, cigars, whiskey, and hookers were all present. Here is what transpired from the brothel...I mean...the roundtable...

Dogg: Now, I read that Wade might be available come draft night. This draft might be off the charts for trades. Suns are looking to move Diaw and Barbosa as well. I say we take Mayo or trade with Bucks/Bobcats for Yi or Morrison. Grizzlies might trade us Mike Miller or Kyle Lowry for our #3 and then we would draft #5 in their spot and take Joe Alexander or Kevin Love.

Fuzz: I don't mind that Grizzlies trade, especially if it's Mike Miller. Mike Miller can flat out shoot and that is something the Wolves are missing. I've been slowly convinced on Kevin Love. He's like one of those fantasy football players you talk yourself into after months of speculation. Like when I drafted Willis McGahee 4th overall two years ago and he ended up sucking ass. Love's slowly growing on me and I'm leaning toward him. He does everything pretty well and he wants to be great. I think that's a key factor with judging these guys. Most of these guys get the money and they mail it in. For all accounts I've read, Love is different than that. He has a lot of motivation to be good in the league. Plus, he'd help out our wings a lot with his passing ability (Paging Mr. Corey Brewer). Is a Kevin Love/Mike Miller package better than O.J. Mayo?

Dogg: I just don’t know if the Wolves are ready to be that good even if we get Mike Miller but they would take an expiring contract or two from us in the exchange as well so maybe it is worth it. Miller probably only has a few good years left in him but I do think Kevin Love will be dang good in the league. He seems like somebody that wouldn’t mind staying in MN either where Mayo might be 3 years and done. I’m starting to think Love is the pick for us after trading down and getting a player from that team.

Fuzz: We pretty much worked out everyone in the top 10, so we must think that a trade is a legit possibility. They looked at Bayless and Gordon this week. I don't think they go either of those guys, but who knows? It's McHale. He might shock us all again. Watch, we take that foreign guy with the stinky armpits no one knows anything about...

Danilo Gallinari

Dogg: Yeah, I can see him take that Dano guy but I sure hope not. I say we take Mayo or trade down to get Love. Gordon and Bayless are just scorers so I sure hope we don’t take either of those guys.

Marx: I’ve got five things to say:

1. I don't think there was ever talk of us receiving Mike Miller. We should never take him right now as he is a one dimensional player with a big salary who would not make that much difference to us. The Wolves still owe alot of money to Juwan Howard and T-Hud. We are also going to buy out Antoine Walker this summer so we will not be looking to increase our payroll. The rumors involving the Grizz have Miller, Kyle Lowry, and the #5 pick going to Miami for the #2 pick and Mark Blount. The Heat are reportedly trying to hold out for Mike Conley instead of Lowry, which makes sense on their part.

2. I don't want to drop down in the draft if all we receive from the Bucks is Yi. He might be a solid player, but he has no star potential and he also plays the 4, which is where we want to play Al Jeff. I would, however, strongly consider it if they offered us Andrew Bogut and the #7 pick for the # 3 pick.

3. An interesting rumor I heard that is totally not true but is intriguing is Randy Foye and Marco Jaric for Kirk Heinrich and his big salary. I would take a backcourt of Hinrich and OJ Mayo for the next 10 years. It would also allow the Bulls to re-sign Ben Gordon and Luol Deng to play alongside of Derrick Rose.


4. Right now, if the #2 pick is available I would do whatever I could to get into that spot. I think that the #3 pick this year, the return of the 1st round pick the Heat owe us, and possible Rashad McCants would potentially be enough.

5. Lastly, I have no problem standing still and taking Mayo with our pick. We can plug into our lineup at 2 guard next year and start Foye, Mayo, Brewer, Al Jeff, and a mystery player. That would get us moving in the right direction.

Dogg: Paul Allen from KFAN talked about Mike Miller this morning but the Grizzlies were hesitant of getting rid of him to us for the #3 pick. They were willing to give us Kyle Lowry who I believe is and will be better than Mike Conley in the league. I don’t think much of Conley at all. He has no jump shot and doesn’t do the little things as good as a guy like Rajon Rondo who also doesn’t have a jump shot but plays tremendous defense and can finish near the rim with the best of them. I would take a Rondo over Conley in a second.

They won’t give us Bogut. Yi is probably the best we can do from the Bucks. Q mentioned Villanueva but I don’t know if I would want him either…..Foye and Jaric for Hinrich? If that was offered and we didn’t take it, kill me now. That would be a killer trade….I also believe we trade our two 2nd round draft picks to hop into the first round because there are several teams who don’t want to pay that luxury tax with a player in the 1st round. I wish we could select Love early and then Augustin in the teens but DJ is rising quickly.

Marx: The only conceivable way that we would get Augustine is if we made trade with the Bucks and then picked him at #7.

Fuzz: Brewer has to get better this year or will be looking for another wing player. He can't shoot 35% like he did last year. I wish you could mess McCants' offensive skills with Brewer's defensive abilities. That would be a good player. They both need to improve on their weaknesses to have a good career in this league. That's why I wouldn't mind the Mayo pick. Seems like a guy that has it all.


Dogg: Augustin is rising up the charts so we would have to trade down with somebody in the top 10 for sure. Bilas has him as the 6th best player in the draft but he also has Brook Lopez 3rd. I can still see us taking him even though we haven’t said much about him. That will be McHale’s big play, not talk about the guy he likes and then draft him like it was some huge secret. Take Mayo then trade your 2nd round picks to get in the 14-20 area and take Hibbert is what I like.

Fuzz: All I know is that this draft is going to be off the charts for the Timberpuppies. Three picks and a ton of trade potential. Last year it seemed like Brewer was a lock for us, but this year it’s hard to pin them down. They aren’t given us much. I’m really excited but scared at the same time. Somehow, we’re going to fuck this up…

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Have Some

“I ask him, ‘Who own the Chiefs?’
‘What did he say?’
‘Owns, owns...’”
That classic exchange comes from the movie Slap Shot and with a slight alteration, could aptly summarize the Twins during interleague play. The reason? We absolutely own the National League. Every year at this time, we come into series’ against the Senior Circuit playing below average to terrible baseball. And every year we dominate whoever the NL throws at us and we get right back in the hunt for a division title. In fact, the Twins have the third most wins all time in interleague play, with 116 (the Yankees and A’s both have 119). So it should be no surprise that the Twins have won 8 of their past 9 games, including 6 in a row against NL teams.


Who's the sucker that's going to trade for this guy?

Everything always starts with pitching, and the Twins have been getting some quality outings from their starters and the bullpen. Prior to this winning streak, both groups of pitchers had been having their struggles. The starters were inconsistent at best and the pen was allowing the opposition to come back and/or extend leads—very odd since that is usually such a strong part of our team. All of that has changed over the last couple weeks as the Twins have gotten very strong outings from all of their starters, including two quality starts from Livan Hernandez during this run. This could lead to some team actually believing that Livan could help them down the stretch and we would be able to unload him before he completely blows up (which will inevitably happen). Another guy who has been surprisingly good of late is Jesse Crain. Personally, I have always disliked Crain, mostly because he has only one pitch: 93 mph down the middle of the plate. But he’s been spotting his fastball more, getting some movement on his pitches, and even throwing something other than a fastball occasionally. All of which has led to him and Matt Guerrier being our most consistent late inning pitchers who have been getting the ball to Joe Nathan in the 9th with the lead.


Proving the doubters (like me) very wrong so far...

The team has also been scoring runs in bunches. Big innings have been a critical part of the roll the Twins are on, and it’s usually starting with the top of the lineup. As much as I rip Gardy, it’s only fair to give him credit on using Alexi Casilla in the 2 hole. I thought this was a terrible idea at first, given Casilla’s track record of not hitting in the majors, but he’s been thriving. With leadoff hitter Carlos Gomez only hitting about .270 (still good for a 22 year old), Alexi has stepped up big time and has consistently been on base for Joe Mauer (now leading the AL in average) and Justin Morneau (currently boasting an 11 game hitting streak) to drive him in. But it’s not just the top getting things done. Currently, the Twins have the highest batting average in baseball with runners in scoring position. If we can continue to get guys on, the team will surely continue to succeed.


That's our boy...

Another hitting star during this hot streak is new third baseman, and TKOT’s boy, Brian Buscher. The kid is a straight masher and is coming up with big hits seemingly every night. In his last 10 games, Busch is hitting .353 with 12 RBI and the team is 7-3 in those games. I know it’s a very small sample size, but given the Twins extreme lack of production from the third base position over the last number of years, it’s hard not to get too excited. Granted, the kid is still shaky with the glove, but if he’s going to hit like this, who cares?


Nicky assuming Gardy's favorite position...

Some things never change, and this apparently includes Ron Gardenhire’s love affair with Nick Punto. The cute couple has had a strong bond with each other for many years now and I think it might be getting serious. How else could you possibly explain sending down Matt Macri (hitting .367 while he was up with the big club—or roughly twice what Punto usually hits) to activate Tricky Nicky? And on top of that, Gardy has pretty much handed him the starting shortstop job. Look, I know that shortstop hasn’t been a solid position for us this year. Adam Everett was just plain terrible and Brendan Harris has been unspectacular. Nevertheless, to just give that job to a guy who can’t stay healthy this year and flirted with the Punto Line (it’s time for Mendoza to lose this title, who better to take the crown than Nick?) while playing every day last year is odd, even for Gardy. But then again, you can’t deny true love.

With the Twins only 1 ½ games behind the AL Central leading White Sox, this could be a big week for the team. They have three games coming up in San Diego against a Padres team that has been playing quite poorly of late, and then come back home for a three game set against the Milwaukee Brewers. Given the difficulty of our July schedule (Detroit twice, Cleveland twice, Chicago, Boston and New York), it is absolutely crucial that we dominate the next week. If the Twins keep getting quality outings from their starters and some clutch hitting, there’s no reason why they can’t take at least 4 of 6 and possibly be back in first place come next Monday.

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Q's News

As you already know, TK is going to be a bit light on content for the summer. It just had to be like that; we all got burnt out (get it? Burnt Toast) and the writing seemed forced and not up to the high standard we have set here at the House that Toast Built. To get us back in gear, here are some random sports related thoughts that I have.


What a chode

NBA Referee Scandal
I really hate that this is a story that is headlining most sports coverage these days. We all know that Tim Donahey is an admitted cheater and that he altered (or at least attempted to) the outcome of many games. We also know that the NBA is the shadiest organization in sports, so this shouldn’t have come as a complete shock. There have always been rumblings of draft lotteries being fixed for certain teams and/or players. There are almost never sweeps in the playoffs (because the NBA wants more TV money) and no lead is ever safe. Just look at this year’s playoffs: there were at least 4 giant comebacks in the Lakers-Spurs and Lakers-Celtics series’ alone. Is this because the teams don’t try hard all the time? Possibly. Could it be because the refs either choose to or are told to keep it close? Also a possibility. The point is, that nothing that comes out of Donahey’s mouth should be so ground breaking that we stop the presses for it. I know he claims that the refs handed Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals to the Lakers. But this is an admitted cheater, why is his word worth anything? Just like with Matt Walsh and “Spygate” (stupid name and why do we always have to call everything a “gate”?), the timing is a bit curious and you really have to consider the source. Plus, it’s in the past and there’s nothing that can or will be done about it now. So quit updating me every hour as to the on goings of this scandal (I’m talking to you SportsCenter/Around the Horn/PTI/NBA Live/NBA Countdown…) and focus on sports.


Way to step up Kobe...

NBA Finals
I’ll be honest; I did not see this coming. Heading into the series I thought that the Lakers were clearly the favorites, even if Boston won 66 games this year. They had played better in the playoffs, seemed to match up well, and had a deeper bench. It all added up to the Lakers taking the crown in 5 or 6 games—or so I thought. Then I realized four important things: Kobe is not MJ—not even close, Pau Gasol sucks, Paul Pierce is really good, and Ray Allen isn’t finished yet. Add it all up and you get Boston in 6. Oh well, at least KG gets a ring. I think everyone in Minnesota can appreciate that.


The men who should be playing in the House that Ruth Built in early July

MLB All Stars
The All Star game is coming up in just a few weeks. The one thing I’ve always hated about MLB’s version of this gathering (other than the whole “It Counts Now!” angle) is the mandatory representative for each team. Do baseball officials really believe that a ton of people in Pittsburgh, who wouldn’t have watched otherwise, are going to tune in just to see Jason Bay come in as a defensive replacement in the 6th inning, only to be pinch hit for right awa? C’mon. It’s absurd and it takes at least 3-4 spots away from deserving players every year. That said, here are the guys I think should make the All Star teams (position players only) without the mandatory representative rule:
Note: A bunch of these guys won’t make it because of fan voting. “Oh, Ichiro? I’ve heard of him.” It's just another reason why the Mid Summer Classic is a joke.
American League: C—Joe Mauer, AJ Pierzynski 1B—Kevin Youklis, Justin Morneau 2B—Brian Roberts, Ian Kinsler 3B—Alex Rodriguez, Joe Crede SS—Orlando Cabrera, Edgar Renteria OF—Josh Hamilton, Milton Bradley, Carlos Quentin, Manny Ramirez, Magglio Ordonez
Thoughts: A lot of Rangers considering they're not a very good team. By the way, what happened to the shortstop position in the American League? Was it that long ago that it was the glory position in all of baseball? Back when A Rod, Nomar, and Jeter were at the top of their game and a guy like Tejada couldn't even crack the lineup even with his ridiculous numbers. Now? Christ, I could make the league and hit .260 and probably be a reserve.

National League: C—Geovany Soto, Benji Molina, Russell Martin 1B—Adrian Gonzalez, Ryan Howard 2B—Chase Utley, Dan Uggla 3B—Chipper Jones, David Wright SS—Christian Guzman, Hanley Ramirez OF—Nate McClouth, Lance Berkman Ryan Braun, Ryan Ludwick, Alfonzo Soriano
Thoughts: NL catchers are very good this year. I could have put Brian McCaan on this team too and he would have deserved it. Nice to see McClouth having a good year for Pittsburgh. Xavier Nady is a strong candidate for the Pirates too. I put Soriano on even though he's been injured because he's been absolutely dominant when he's been in the lineup.


Bristol is about to be empty during Week 1 of the NFL season

MNF—Pack/Vikes
I just read the other day that ESPN is pulling out all the stops for the first Monday Night Football game of the year. The game features the Purple playing in Green Bay against the Packers, and I guess that Brett Favre’s jersey is going to be retired (cute). Apparently this is a big enough deal that the MNF crew will be live in GB, along with the 7 man NFL Countdown crew, PTI, SportsCenter, and at least 4 sideline reporters, not to mention all of the camera and technical crews. Seriously? This isn’t going to be some sort of significant or historical moment in the annals of football. It’s the first Monday game of the year and they’re retiring a guy’s jersey. I honestly cannot believe how much the media D rides Favre. Do you think he gets chaffed from ESPN sucking him off so much? I know that the World Wide Leader is known for overdoing things at times, but this takes the cake. I guess I’ll just have to be ok with the world watching as we kick the sh*t out of the Packers on the first stop on our Ass Kicking Tour 2008. Per Jarred Allen’s warning, I really hope Aaron Rogers took out some extra life insurance.


Easy there Tiger...

Chad Johnson, Adam Jones, etc.
Speaking of things that I don’t understand, can someone please explain to me why A) NFL Live is on every single day, but Baseball Tonight isn’t and B) I have to hear about guys like Chad Johnson and Adam Jones (I’m not going to call a grown man “Pacman”) every day? Our country is obsessed with the negative, and nowhere is it more prevalent than in professional sports. We constantly focus on the negative (Michael Vick, Spygate, Steroids, etc.) and give it way too much coverage to the point where it is glorified. As a professional athlete, you get more time on TV and in the papers if you do something bad than if you’re staying clean and having outstanding personal or team success. Then we wonder why high school and college athletes consistently get busted for using performance enhancing drugs, partying all night, and doing all sorts of other dumb things. Just because Chad says he’s not coming to camp and then shows up doesn’t mean that I need round the clock coverage of his OTA’s. Stop giving these guys so much attention.

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Update

It's been a while since we've posted and the sign above says it all. To be honest, the TK house got busy and weren't that motivated to write. After some discussing and an idea from a friend, we'll be taking a hiatus until the late summer/fall. And by "we," I mean myself. Truthfully, I'm not motivated to write at all and I don't want to do a POD everyday with no stories. That's lame. I've spoken to Q, and he'll be writing about twice a week coming up here. He's our Twins expert, so expect a lot of baseball talk. A lot. Come fall, we'll have football (college and NFL), a new TV season, baseball playoff races heating up and college basketball season in close proximity to write about. Plus, the start of the OJ Mayo era in close range.

So, keep coming back this summer to see what Q has. He'll be holding down the fort. Just found out Dogg we'll be jumping in when he can also. And, I'm sure I'll jump in a roundtable now & again with those two and maybe a cougar city article will pop up. We'll be in full force come mid Augustish. Sorry for the lack of material and have a good summer!

-Fuzz

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