Twins Update

Seeing as we are roughly at the midway point of Spring Training now seems like an appropriate time to update everyone on our favorite baseball squad. Here’s a look at what we know exactly 3 weeks to the day before Opening Day about your Minnesota Twins.



The Twinks are a robust 8-4 in the Grapefruit League heading into today’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays (no longer Devilish). That record, of course, means absolutely nothing because the final outcome of Spring Training games in inconsequential. What does matter is that the offense has looked solid thus far. The team seems to consistently be getting timely hitting with runners on base (and especially in scoring position). Considering the fact that for the first time in roughly 10 years the bats are going to have to carry the team this year, this is a very good sign. The pitching has been up and down so far. The trend that is starting to take shape is our starter going 2-3 innings while giving up 2-3 runs (if not more). Then the bullpen comes in and completely shuts down the opposing bats while we mount a comeback and steal a victory. We all know that this team possesses multiple shut down relievers, so that’s no surprise. The lack of quality innings from the starters is something that we may need to start worrying about though.



With such a young starting pitching staff, the early struggles in March are not uncommon and really shouldn’t be a major concern just yet. Kevin Slowey has shown signs of brilliance (3 innings of scoreless ball yesterday) and horror (giving up 6 runs in 3 innings of work his first time out). The same can be said about the other starters penciled in to our rotation—Boof Bonser, Scott Baker, Livan Hernandez, and Fransisco Liriano. Livan is throwing today and will hopefully show a bit more promise than he provided in his last outing. The F Bomb has only been out once, and while throwing at roughly 80%, looked good. I’m cautiously optimistic at this point.



Speaking of optimism, Delmon Young appears to be the real deal. The kid is absolutely crushing the ball this spring to the tune of .474/.500/.632 numbers (I know they don’t mean a whole lot, but those are too nice to ignore). Even when he’s not punishing the ball to the gap or into the seats, he’s at least putting it into play. Only one K in 20 plate appearances so far is a very good sign.



Another guy who seems to have found his stroke early (stop giggling) is The American Dream—Joe Mauer. Every bit of news out of Fort Myers about this guy is pointing towards a huge season. He’s ripping the ball all over the field, he’s becoming the vocal leader of this team, and he’s told Gardy that he wants to be in the lineup every single day no matter what (no more days off because of “the wear and tear” or “demands” of the position). Sounds to me like another year of .350 hitting from our catcher.

As crunch time approaches for this team, there are still some major decisions left to be made. Slowly over the next week or two there will be many guys sent to the minors, ending their dream of breaking camp with the big club. With that said, there are about four spots on this team that have yet to be decided. The first is the 5th spot in the starting rotation. With Baker, Bonser, Hernandez, and Liriano virtual locks to occupy the first four, it comes down to three guys for that final starting gig: Slowey, Glen Perkins, and Nick Blackburn. Thus far, Blackburn has looked the steadiest of the three. Slowey’s problems have already been mentioned, and Perkins simply hasn’t done anything to distinguish himself from the others. Don’t be confused, there is no clear cut favorite at this time. But it’s definitely a big thing to keep an eye on through the rest of the month.



Another pitching spot that remains unclaimed is the last spot in the bullpen (assuming the team heads back to Minnesota with 12 pitchers as Gardy has said he wants to). Joe Nathan, Jesse Crain, Juan Rincon, Pat Neshek, Matt Guerrier, and Dennys Reyes are all in. That leaves guys like Carmen Cali, Julio DePaula, and Bobby Korecky all doing their best to impress Rick Anderson and company. The best bet to fill out the ‘pen though? Perkins. Again, he hasn’t done much to prove his worth as a starter just yet, but the team seems to like what he brings to the table. He would also provide a second lefty arm in relief so that Reyes isn’t the only one. Seems like the logical move to me.

On the positional player side of things, the big race is still in centerfield. Jason Pridie hasn’t done much, and since he lacks the speed and upside of the other two candidates, he seems destined to become a Red Wing. Carlos Gomez and Denard Span have shown equal amounts of impressiveness and disappointment. There is no definitive leader at this point, which will make the next three weeks very intense for these two.



At this point, it looks like there is one bench spot available for the taking. This will be a heated battle between Brian Buscher (TKOT’s boy), Garrett Jones (who seemingly has fixed that giant hole that was in his swing last year), Alexi Casilla (still with an outside chance to win the 2B job), and Randy Ruiz. I know what you’re thinking…who? Yeah, Randy Ruiz bitch, and remember you heard it here first. The kid can play all four infield positions and is currently has a hitting line of .450/.500/.835 that includes two dingers and a team leading 17 total bases. The kid is knocking the cover off the ball and would seem to be the perfect bench player for this team. By the way, there are whispers of Nick Punto being cut/traded/sent down by the end of spring in favor of one of these younger players who bring a lot more to the plate and might actually be a valuable asset to a Major League Baseball team. Just whispers, but I thought you’d like a heads up on that potential roster move.


Nice bunt, Hank.

Before I end this, I thought I’d give everyone a quick update on the Big 3 that departed the Twins in the off season and how they’re doing so far. Torii Hunter is dominating for the Angels to the tune of a .611 average so far this spring. Johan Santana, after a less than stellar debut with the Mets, came back yesterday with a very Cytana-like performance against Boston, throwing 4 innings of scoreless ball on only 2 hits while striking out 4. Carlos Silva has gotten torched so far in Seattle--his two outings have resulted in an ERA over 10.



Fuck those fucking guys.

Out.

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Hodgepodge Roundtable

I don’t know how to say this but I think we were bored and it’s definitely a Monday. Below is a large roundtable that involves a wide range of topics that I’m not sure how they came up to begin with. We go from Duke Basketball, to Nick Punto, to the NBA draft, and to who the Wolves should take in the June draft. The majority is a basketball theme though. Anyways, below is what is on our mind this semi-warm Monday.

Readers note: This was two roundtables (email strings) that I combined. One that involved the Duke and Punto topics and the other brought in our resident NBA rube to talk NBA. The first conversation needs to be set-up. Dogg asked three of us (Fuzz, Q and Hill) to be in a March Madness draft pool as one team. Three opinions for one team---not good. Somehow we got a roundtable out of it though.


Hill: I am in for the March Madness draft. Let me know how you boys want to handle this. What is the buy-in?

Fuzz: It's pretty simple---Duke with the first pick. That's how you handle it.

Hill: Great, so I will just be throwing money away, because DUKE boy is involved. We may as well pick Winthrop first they’re about as solid of a lock as Duke right now.

Q: I'll do it as long as we don't pick Duke.

Dogg: Go ahead and pick Duke and lose your first team in the 2nd round.

Fuzz: Fine, I'm out you secret hand shaking assholes. You two sheds can throw your money away on Kansas (Hill’s favorite squad) and Washington State (Q pimped them hard on TKOT earlier in the season, remember?).

Q: I'm sure we'll be able to get all three of these teams. No one else will take them since none of the 3 will do anything in the tourney.

Dogg: I agree Hill. Duke has lost its mo-jo and coach K is losing it. He should retire!

Fuzz: They have four losses fellas. Only about six teams in the top 25 can say they have fewer.


Q: And 0 teams in the country that can say they played and easier non-conference schedule than Duke.

Dogg: And 0 teams can also say they have the refs in their back pocket like Coach K and Duke have… The best refs do the tourney so most often the refs will call the game straight up and why Duke has been losing early every year.

Fuzz: I wish you knew what you were talking about Q.

#13 Marquette, Davidson, #20 Wisconsin, & #9 Pittsburgh were Duke’s four best non-conference games.

That's not the best in country by any means but I bet I could find a handful of teams worse than that. So that 0 teams is way too extreme.

Dogg: Close enough to zero.

Q: Is the Davidson victory really a resume builder? Aren't they supposed to beat those small D1 teams? And they lost the Pitt game, so that's not really anything to brag about either. Oh, and it's called and exaggeration. Learn about it.

Fuzz: Teams four best non-conference games:

UNC- Davidson, Ohio State, Kentucky and Kent State.
Washington State's- Gonzaga, Baylor, Air Force, & Montana
Kansas- USC, Arizona, Georgia Tech and DePaul
G-Town- Memphis, Alabama, Michigan, & Ball State

Do you want me to keep going?

Some teams do play tougher non-conference schedules. UCLA, Texas and Michigan State all come to mind. But the majority of teams play opponents like I just mentioned. Duke's is right where pretty much everyone else is. You play 2-3 pretty good teams and that's about it. Wisconsin, Pitt, MU & Davidson isn't shabby.

By the way, you didn't come off as an exaggeration at all. You clearly said "0" teams. You could have said, "They have a pretty easy non-conference schedule." You made a point to say it was the easiest.

Dogg: Pittsburgh and Marquette suck.


Q: Did you really believe that I thought that out of the 150+ division 1 men's basketball programs that Duke had the easiest non-conference schedule in the country? That's the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

Further--
Fuzz: "Punto is going to hit .280 this year." Your TKOT article last Friday…
Q: "0 teams have an easier non-conference schedule than Duke."

Clearly you have some idea what an exaggeration is and those two statements are similar in their level of absurdity.

Readers note: This is time where I kicked out Hill from the conversation. He clearly had better things to do and we were about to talk Twins. Hill’s not much of a ball-guy.

Fuzz: Why can't Punto hit .280 this year? He hit .290 two years ago. At least my exaggeration has some truth to it. It's happened before and not too far in the past. Duke's not even close to the easiest non-conference schedule in the country.

Yo Dogg, Pitt & Marquette were good at the time. Still, one is 22-9 and the other is 22-8 now.

Dogg: Why can’t Nick Punto hit .280 this year is a great question Q. He had one bad year and now you think the guy is a 14-year old in house player. What do you think he will hit? Remember if he’s a utility player and only plays sparingly, .250 is very good with his defensive skills...Pitt and Marquette are average basketball teams at best.


Readers note: Marx jumps into the conversation with some different news. Q is so ready to talk more college hoops that he ignores his hatred towards Punto and doesn't answer why Punto won't hit .280. Maybe he knows he will...

Marx: Wade is out for the season, let the Mike Beasley tanking begin!!!!

Fuzz: The Wolves keep winning, too! We still have the second lowest loss total in the league but are only two games from the fourth lowest. If we get the three or four pick, whom are we taking?

Q: Obviously if it's #1 then it has to be Beastly. Otherwise, then next 3-4 projected picks are all smaller guards. Is that really what we want/need? I love the Bayless kid in Arizona. He'd be my pick. They also keep projecting that DeAndre Jordan out of A&M really high, but he hasn't done much in college. I don't want Gordon and I'd be ok with Rose. I'm telling you that if Bayless comes out though, he'll be the best of those three.

Marx: Bayless is probably a good pick also if we can trade down. He's not a top 5 pick and he's a 2 guard trapped in a point guard body. I might even compare him to Jason Terry. We already have 2 small 2 guards in McCants and Foye. Also, our current pg is maybe 6 foot tall (Telfair). I have no clue who we take with the 3rd or 4th pick. Do we go for the Euro guy (Danilo Gallinari from Italy) that is supposed to be one of the top talents in the draft? Do we go for either Eric Gordon or OJ Mayo? Both are flawed prospects.

Do we take the freshman center DeAndre Jordan from Texas A & M? He is a major project similar to Andrew Bynum. He might develop nicely or he could just be another DeSagana Diop. Do try to trade down in the draft and take someone like DJ Augustin from Texas or Darren Collison from UCLA? I really hope we end up with one of the top 2 picks so we can take either Beasley or Derrick Rose.

Fuzz: Wolves roster:

PG: Telfair, Jaric & Foye
SG: Buckner, McCants & Snyder
SF: Brewer & Gomes
PF: Jefferson, Smith & Walker
C: Doleac, Madsen, & Richard

With that roster, I don't know if we need another swingman. Brewer, Gomes, McCants and even Foye can all play the 2 or 3 spot. That's why getting a top two pick is important to me also. We need Beast-ley or Rose. I would rather have those guys over like a Gordon or Mayo.

Marx: We probably won't have Buckner, Snyder, Doleac, or Antoine Walker on this team next year. We will trade Jaric in a heartbeat if someone is stupid enough to take him. I believe we will ship out McCants for the right deal. I also believe that Gomes will be offered too much money by somebody and I hope it’s not us. That leaves Foye, Telfair, Brewer, Jefferson, Smith, Madsen and Richard. These guys plus our high first round pick, our high second round pick, plus a select veteran or 2 will be brought in to hopefully help develop our young guys. We also have another 2nd round pick this year, but its lower. The point is we have some major needs, like pg, but we just need to draft talent regardless of position as we need major help everywhere.

Dogg: DO NOT TAKE COLLISON!!!! I don’t like him at all. I told Q last week that I’m on the Bayless bandwagon hard right now. I think he’s the real deal. I’ve also warmed up to Rose. Beasley first choice, Bayless 2nd choice and Rose 3rd choice. Bayless can play PG. This is the NBA and there isn’t many true PG’s. Rose and Bayless are similar players to me but I think Bayless shoots better. Rose might be a slightly better passer but that also has to do with Bayless having to shoot and score more on his team than Rose does.

Fuzz: I like the Bayless kid also, like everyone else here. Here’s a question for you goons: If we end up with the 4th or 5th pick because we keep winning would you guys be against taking a center like Brook Lopez? With my point I made before that we have a bunch of wing players, would this be too high for him? I've seen him top 10 in most mock drafts.


Dogg: Stanford always has good center that never pan out in the league but I actually wouldn’t mind taking him if we had the 5th pick. He can play great defense and can let Al just guard the worse of the 4 or 5 position, which will allow him to continue being the best low block player in the league. Yes Fuzz, he’s better than Duncan.

Fuzz: Dogg, I’m ignoring the Duncan comment. You're trying to goat me and I'm not taking it.

Marx: Brook Lopez is better than the Collins twins are/were. He will be a nice NBA player, but he only averages 5-6 rebounds a game right now in college, which is a little concerning. We are getting into Mark Blount territory there. Also, you guys might like Bayless, but be realistic. He is not better than Rose nor will he go higher than Rose.

Fuzz: Brook Lopez is averaging 18.9 points a game and 8.2 rebounds a game while averaging only 30.2 minutes a game. He's not Mark Blount.

Marx: Alright, so I underestimated his rebounds. I think its Roy Hibbert who is only averaging 6 rebounds a game. I hope we do not end up with him.

Q: Is Lopez too much of an "on the block" guy? We already have Al anchored down there. Is there someone who might be able to pop out and hit J's a little better? Would Jordan kid out of A&M be a better fit since he seems to have more versatile game?


Marx: From what I've heard about Jordan, his offensive game is very raw. I assume that includes his jump shot. If anybody was going to develop more of a 15 foot J it would be Lopez or Kevin Love. Besides, we already have a post who's main weapon is a spot up jump shot-Mike Doleac.

Dogg: Lopez can actually shoot jump shots already. I wouldn’t mind him at all. Jordan is very raw and seems like a Tyrus Thomas type project, which I personally don’t like at all. I don’t want him one bit. Brook Lopez is a legit center where Love would be undersized just like Big Al. Fuzz, I think you have warmed me up to Brook Lopez...Bayless is the man.

Fuzz: Well, now I think I'm in the camp where we need to go in tank mode. We at least need a chance at a top two pick. I think Beasley and Rose will go 1-2 also, and that's whom I would like. I know people hate when you root for losing but what's the point now? We are a horrible team and if we win 20 games instead of like 17 games, we'll end up drafting a project. And what's the difference in winning 17 games instead of 20 games? You still suck but it puts you in better position to draft an immediate impact player.

Q: Hey, if Wade can put it in the tank for the rest of the season, then in the next week or so I'd say it's perfectly ok if Al comes down with some sort of "back problem" that sidelines him for most, if not all, of the rest of the year.


Marx: We need the KG "tendonitis" that he developed over the last couple of seasons after not having missed a game in 4 seasons. Anyways, I think Kevin Love could be a dominant rebounder because nobody can move him out of the paint and he is not terribly undersized. He is only going to get stronger as he gets older. He might have trouble getting his shot off because of his athleticism, but I think he will be ok. Not a stud, but a good pro. Plus, his ability to outlet pass to start a break is overtalked about, but it is impressive. Wes Unseld, baby.

Fuzz: Funny story about Love's outlet passing. Q & I were watching one of UCLA's first games of the season and our first time watching them. The whole pre-game was about Kevin Love's outlet passing. We definitely made fun of the broadcasters and ESPN for a good 20 minutes about this. The main theme was: Why were they even bringing this up and is it that important to talk about the whole pre-game? I mean it's outlet passing! We were confused. Then the very first rebound Love got he fired a dart about 3/4 of the court for an easy dunk for one of his teammates.

We were like... "Oh, I see..."

It is overplayed by announcers but it's a skill worth mentioning.

Q: Even I've come around on this impressive skill that he possesses. It's still ridiculous to talk about, but the kid can fire an accurate, long-range pass. Despite this, he does not fit in with the Wolves--not tall enough.

I guess I wouldn't be pissed if we took Lopez with the 5 pick or Jordan (we're rebuilding anyways, so a project player like him might not be a bad idea). Rose should, and will, go ahead of Bayless, but I'm saying that the kid can play and a lot of people are overlooking him right now. The problem is that we're trying to guess what Kevin McHale is going to do. We could get the 2nd overall pick and he'd go with Drew Neitzel because we need a shooter. The guy has no clue.

Dogg: You seen that Jordan kid play? I don’t think highly of him at all. Absolutely no shot outside of 3 ft. but I guess he could turn into a baby Dwight Howard. He’s strong and very athletic but I hate guys who can’t shoot the ball besides a dunk shot. The Magic can’t go do Howard in the last minute because he can’t shoot FT’s and if he doesn’t dunk it, he isn’t scoring. Like I said, I would very happy if we get Beasley, Rose or Bayless.

Fuzz: The bottom line for me is that I want Michael Beasley on this team next year. I've been on his bandwagon since day one. I like the starting five of Foye, Brewer, Gomes, Beasley and Big Al. We'd win more than 20 games next year with that lineup and we'd be on our way to make a run at the turn of the decade.



Mr. Mchale...get him!

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Week in review/weekend agenda

Here’s a little recap of the week that was plus what’s on the agenda for this weekend in the world of sports.

Week in Review

Brett Farve retires-


I would say this is probably one of the bigger retirements we’ve had in a long time in all of sports. It was one of those retirements that you actually watched the press conference with some focus. Most of the time they either don’t have a press conference or you really don’t give a shit. This one was pretty big. Even though I’m a giant Vikings fan, I still have all the respect in the world for Brett Farve. I do get sick of the announcers sucking his prick every game but the guy was flat out awesome. He was also a huge face of the NFL, which is why this makes this retirement a biggie.

I will say I was totally shocked that he retired this week. The Packers were 13-3 last year and lost by three points in the NFC Championship game. The NFC north would have been a lock next year with the football Jesus back under center. He was coming off an MVP type season so I thought no way in hell he would retire. Well, I was wrong. And after watching him sob over national TV, I’d say he’s done for good. Some people still think he will come back after he gets the itch this summer. It sure didn’t look like it in his press conference. He’s done.

Farve calling it quits is great news for the men in purple. This opens the door for the rest of the division especially our beloved Vikings. Chicago is regressing and Kitna’s annual prediction of 10 wins next year will fall way short. We are the only team on the rise in the NFC north. The Packers are still the favorites. I don’t want to say any differently right now. Rodgers is still probably the best quarterback in the division, which is a little stupid but they took a giant hit this week. The new era of the Packers has officially started and the next 17 years aren’t going to be as good as the last 17 years. No way.

Lebron James in something besides a human being-


First off, it’s never been written in this blog but the guy is stacked. Can I just say that? He came in the league at 18 years of age cut to the max. How does that happen? Was he pumping iron at 13? He’s 6’8, 240 pounds and is the fastest guy on the court most nights. That’s not fair. He also had probably the dunk of the century last weekend where he floated in the air for a good three minutes. Anyways, he was a beast this week. Putting up points of 37, 50, and 39. Lebron has 20 games left and his season averages are 30.8 pts, 8 rebs, and 7.4 assists. He’s doing this against the best of the best. He’s like one of those guys you make up on “NBA live” where you give your guy the highest skill in every category and he looks like a mutant on the court. That’s LBJ.

The Spurs are back at it-


Three weeks ago people were saying the Spurs have gotten old and don’t look like they have it in them this year. They were hovering around a 5th or 6th seed in the West. Things kind of flipped though. A current 11 game winning streak has put them to the top of the West and primed to make another run. It doesn’t fail with them. It’s probably the last thing I want too because I’m sick of them. I don’t hate them as some others do (Q & Dogg) but I want to watch an entertaining finals this year. I respect dynasties but would love for some new blood to reach the finals this year. Anyone else on the Lakers bandwagon? I secured my seat a few weeks ago.

#1 seeds-


About one week ago I had my #1 seeds as Memphis, UNC, Kansas and Texas. That went right down the shitter eight days later. I forgot about UCLA who just wrapped up the Pac-10 regular season and Tennessee didn’t slip up like I predicted. They almost did though! I think the committee might be in for a tough choice come selection time. Memphis kind of fucks everything up. They aren’t going to lose so they will be a #1 seed because of the lowest loss total in the nation.

However, that leaves the winners of the Pac-10, ACC, Big 12 and SEC with only three seeds to compete for. I’m not even including Wisconsin, a four-loss team that will probably win the Big 10. They aren’t even in the mix. You could have a winner of a power conference like Kansas get a #2 seed with three total losses! Because UCLA, UNC and Tennessee will be in if they all win out. Duke is still in the mix also. If they beat UNC Saturday (more on this later) and win the ACC championship, how aren’t they a #1 seed? It’s going to be a crazy hard decision. This is like Jack from Lost choosing between Juliet or Kate! I know whom I would choose…

Twins early spring training analysis-


Delmon Young- Hitting .615 and Dogg says he’s an MVP candidate already. There is nothing better than Dogg jumping on a bandwagon. He’s convincing as hell. This might be a little too much homer here though.

Joe Mauer- Hitting very well and is primed for a big year. Needs to stop being a pussy and play the whole year. Lead this team Golden Boy.

Nick Punto- Back in his utility role where he’ll shine this year. .280 with 20 stolen bags.

Carlos Gomez- All you need to know about this guy is what he said in the papers this week: “They don't have no speed like me. I know I can help this team. Especially when I hit ahead of Morneau and the catcher and the other guy." The catcher and the other guy? Come on chump, you’re hitting a buck 54 this spring. That would be Joe Mauer and Cuddy, staples in this league. Get a clue.

Livan Hernandez- Still weighs as much as a semi and still will be the most inconsistent pile of shit on our staff. First outing---solid. Second outing---donkey shit. He’ll be 12-12 with a 4.70 ERA this year. I don’t know if that’s better than giving our kids some work.

Kevin Slowey- A 14 ERA so far and not stepping up like they thought he would. Needs to pick it up or else...

Nick Blackburn- TKOT’s boy will take his spot! We’re pulling for this kid big time!

Weekend agenda-

College hoops-


It’s the last weekend of college basketball regular season and all that is important is the Saturday night dandy between UNC & Duke. A fantastic game to end the season. Duke went into UNC last time they played and kicked the shit out of them. I don’t see a repeat performance. Duke is extremely tough on their home court but UNC is playing better ball. I’m not getting paid to say that either. Duke is barely getting by mid-level ACC teams while UNC is dominating. Duke’s given up like 90 points a game also.

I’m as big as a Duke fan as anyone but I don’t see them pulling this out. Like I said before, Duke would have a shot at the #1 seed if they can win this game but I think with Ty Lawson playing in this game and Duke’s suspect defense, I see UNC winning. That doesn’t mean I’ll be cheering for the ferries in powder blue because of this prediction, I’m just calling it like I see it.

Out,
Fuzz

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Early Returns: NFL Free Agency '08

When the clock struck midnight (Eastern) last Thursday/Friday, the NFL free agency season officially began. As Vikings fans, this is usually a very depressing time. You watch players that you know (or think) could make your team better getting swooped up by the opposition. And the whole time you find yourself thinking, “Why didn’t we sign him? We could afford (insert a few million dollars).” However, that is not the case this year. Zigmund promised us that the Purple would be active in free agency. We were armed with $30+ million in cap space and multiple glaring needs. So with that, here’s a little chatter between Dogg and I about our thoughts on the Vikes moves as well as others made, and not made, by other NFL teams. Enjoy.

Dogg: The Vikings are making a splash this off-season by picking up high potential WR Bernard Berrian and already proven safety Madieu Williams. Ziggy is not messing around and when he told MN that he likes to spend money—at least he wasn’t lying and has stuck to his word. I would’ve liked to see DE Justin Smith sign here but maybe Ziggy has a different plan up his sleeve (Jevon Kearse?). Do you like what the Vikings have done thus far?



Q: I'm going to be negative on the Vikes off-season so far. We paid waaaay too much for Bernard (I believe he's the 4th highest paid receiver in the league now)—a guy who has never caught more than 71 balls and hasn't had a 1,000 yard season yet. Plus, we already have a deep threat in Sidney Rice. When you have a young quarterback who has struggled in the past, you need possession/slot receivers and good pass catching tight end. Our tight end is an overpaid chump who has caught 10 balls in his career. It seems like Zigi is willing to spend money, but he spends it on the wrong guys and over pays when he does. I do like what I hear about Williams, because we need a good cover safety. However he's also making a decent chunk of change for a guy that really has had one good season and one average season. Then there's Tapeh. Sure, he's from Minny, but it just seems to me like he's another one of Chilly's boys from Philly and that's why we signed him.



Dogg: Q, this is professional sports and money doesn’t mean anything anymore. Paying for guys like Berrian and Williams is no big deal because every other FA out there will come close to making the same money. I like the signings a lot thus far.

Q: Money is an issue where you and I always disagree. I know they are going to get paid, and usually get more than they are worth. The problem I have is when we sign guys for way more than anyone else in their right mind would have offered. Seriously, $7 million a year for Berrian? That's absurd. Even $5 mil a year would have been over paying him. The same thing happened with Shiancoe last season. It's just like when the Twins pay almost $4 million to Craig Monroe when no one else in the league would have given him more than a million per. It just seems like we're wasting money that we don't need to. Especially when you're dealing with a set salary cap, like the NFL has, then it becomes an even bigger issue. We can't just throw out absurd contracts just because we feel like it. It will hurt the ball club in the long run.



Dogg: The only thing is about the money issue is if we low ball Berrian right away he flies somewhere else and signs for just a shade over what we offered him. He a top WR on the FA market this year so I’m assuming we really wanted him and maybe jacked it up a mil a year but I think that’s smart. If you get him here put your best offer on the table because if he leaves here without a contract there was slim to no chance at getting him. Then what? We go out and sign DJ Hackett? He probably would’ve made our team worse. That’s the last thing we need is another guy who can just run 8-10 yard out patterns. Maybe we overpaid a little bit but I think the signing is well worth the cash…..Shiancoe is a pile of crap so I will definitely give you that one.

Another name that has been thrown out there is Sage Rosenfels. It’s rumored that the Vikes are trying to land him, but is he worth a 2nd round pick?



Q: I don't get the Sage Rosefels thing. First, we tried to get him for a third round pick and that seemed too high for me. Now we're talking about giving up a second rounder for the guy. What's the fascination? He's a career backup who's been in the league for 7 years and not shown anything yet. I know our backup QB situation is not great, but why give up a player (2nd or 3rd rounder) that could make a major change on your team this year? Does this potential move make any sense to you?

Dogg: The Sage Rosefels makes complete sense to me because as I’ve said along with millions of other Minnesotans, we can play the QB position better than T-Jax, so anything is an upgrade. If we want to win, it should be now because we have several key defensive players who are getting ancient (Pat, Sharp, Winfield). I’m never sold on 2nd or 3rd round picks so I would definitely pull the trigger on a 3rd rounder. A 2nd rounder is probably pushing it but we don’t pick until mid 2nd round so I wouldn’t be pissed if we pulled the trigger with him.

Q: Ok, I need more info on your Rosenfels man crush. I don't have the stats to back it up, but I'm pretty sure most 1st through 4th round picks usually do pretty good and many start right away in the NFL. Plus, like I said before, he hasn't done anything yet. I know we need a better option at QB, or at least at the backup spot, but how is he worth such high draft picks?

Dogg: OK, maybe with most teams their 1st – 4th round picks pan out but the Vikings seem to try starting players from those rounds every year and the failure rate is about 99%. I guess I don’t pay attention other teams’ 4th round picks but the Vikings have very few who end up being impact players so that is where I get that thought from. I saw Sage play 2 games last year and the guy can throw the football and throw it well. It’s not saying much but much better than T-Jack and you win games in this league by throwing the football in my mind. Every team is passing much more than they run these days and AP can’t do it alone. Athletic QB’s never win Super Bowls either so I’m down with the pocket passer.

Q: Ok, well I’m sure we’ll continue to talk Purple all throughout the off-season, so let’s move on. What team has made the most improvement so far in free agency?

Dogg: I know the 49ers have signed a lot of guys including DE Justin Smith but I think the biggest signing thus far was Asante Samuel by Philadelphia. I believe that having a shutdown corner on one side of the field improves a defense so much that an average defense can turn into a great defense with one guy like Samuel. I really wish the Vikings could sign a guy like Samuel because it would make our LB’s look so much better and allow them to do what they’re good at instead of trying to pass cover. I also think New Orleans made a huge splash trading for Jonathan Vilma. They lack defensive firepower which he’ll immediately bring to the table.



Q: I'm completely with you on the Samuel thing. A shut down corner is so huge to have in the NFL. Put him out on an island and don't worry about that half of the field. One of these years the Vikes might figure out that it helps to have a shut down cover guy and/or a quality pass rushing end (just look at the Giants this year for an example of how important that last one can be).

Aside from all of that, I love what the Jaguars and Browns have done through roughly a weekend of free agency. Jacksonville picked up a legit corner in Drayton Florence, a nice back up for Garrard in Cleo Lemon, and they might have a legit receiving threat in Jerry Porter. In Cleveland, they resigned Derek Anderson to give them depth at the quarterback position (not to mention at least two guys that are better than our top QB), picked up Donte Stallworth to help Braylon and the receiving corp., acquired man-child/DT Shaun Rogers in a trade with Detroit, and signed a very underrated DT in Corey Williams. I can't say I like the resigning of Jailbird Lewis, but he did have a good year, so who knows.



Dogg: I agree that the Browns made the right move in signing Anderson because they will get good value for whoever they get rid of in the long haul, Quinn or Anderson. Look at the Chargers and what they got in QB-related moves. They took Eli even when he didn’t want to play there and turned him into Merriman, Kaeding, and Rivers.

I think the Pats are hurting thus far in free agency. They haven’t signed any LB to replace Colvin and Seau/Bruschi are one year away from checking into the nursing home. Losing Samuel will kill them and they also lost Randall Gay, another CB so their defense which showed weaknesses last year are getting even weaker.

Q: I completely agree that having the two good quarterbacks is a great thing for Cleveland (in case of injury, poor play, or a trade). And since you mentioned the Chargers, don’t forget that they traded the #1 pick in ’01 (which turned out to be Mike Vick) and turned it into LDT and Brees. Not bad.

Ok, it's still early, but what team(s) have been hurt the most by free agency--either by losing players or not adding any--at this point?



Dogg: I mentioned the Pats already being hurt but I think the Jaguars didn’t do well. Remember signing guys doesn’t always mean good things. Jerry Porter is worthless in my mind and they lost Marcus Stroud who is a top 5 DT and a big part of their great defense. Cleo Lemon? Come on Q. You don’t like Bernard Berrian but you like a man named Cleo?

Q: The Patriots are getting killed. Losing defensive backs is never a good thing, especially when they are arguably your best three (Samuel, Gay, and Eugene Wilson). Their defense is old and getting older. At least they were able to resign Moss for less money than others (Philly) were offering, so the offense should be dominant once again. I guess they'll just have to use that 7th overall pick in the draft to get some defensive help.

I forgot about the Jags losing Stroud, and that is a giant loss (both literally and figuratively). I don' necessarily like Lemon, but he is a decent back up for Garrard and they didn't pay him too much and didn't give up a top draft pick. In my mind, that's a good sign. And I think Porter has as much potential as Berrian and they got him for cheaper. Although they did acquire Troy Williamson from us and everyone knows he sucks...

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College Basketball Roundup

We love college basketball and don’t write about it nearly enough. That’s changes now! We’re in the prime of the college basketball season and so many things are happening. I need to take a look at a few of them.

Readers note: I’m going to be asking questions to myself and then answering them. Extremely lame---I know. Pretty much I miss Under Review.

Who’s the best team in the land?

Who the F knows? Seriously. I know it’s cliché but this year is wide open. It all depends who you talk to and all depends when you talk to them. I could easily say one team one day and another the next day without any games being played in between. You get that? Tennessee just beat an undefeated-high flying Memphis team at their house but then came back three days later and lost to Vanderbilt. So long for that #1! By the way, when did Tennessee come the center of basketball? The Memphis Grizzlies completely blow and the only things I know about Tennessee are: Good Whiskey, Tennessee football and Country Music. Where did having three ranked big time college basketball programs come out of?

Anyways, since I need to make a decision, I’m going with Kansas. That probably will get ripped since they just had a horrible loss at Ok. State this weekend. Memphis has one loss but can’t shoot free throws. I don’t like this UNC team. They do only have two losses but they’ve played a fairly easy schedule. They’ve played one ranked opponent in the last 13 games and lost it. The best two non-conference games were Ohio State and Kentucky. They’ve lost to Duke and Maryland. There is a reason why they keep winning while Ty Lawson is injured---they aren’t playing anyone that great! Anyways, I can’t pick them. UCLA and Texas don’t have the depth that Kansas has.

If Kansas can just pull their head out of their ass for one March Madness they should get to the Final Four at the very least! They are a balanced team with four guys averaging over 12 a game and are 13th best in the country in points scored. Only four teams from the big conferences are ahead of them. They can fill it. If Bill Self didn’t look like Alfalfa from the “Little Rascals,” I think more people would be on their bandwagon.

Who is player of the year?

Our boy Michael Beast-ley! With all due respect to Eric Gordon, Kevin Love, D.J. Augustin, Chris Douglas-Roberts, DJ White and especially Tyler Hansbrough, I think Beasley is the best player in the land. The only other player you can make a case for is Hansbrough. You could make a hell of a good one, too. 23 points (7th in the country) and 10.5 rebounds (11th) on the 3rd ranked team in the land. Those are super numbers and he’ll win it. He’s an upperclassman on a better team with good numbers. I’d be shocked if he doesn’t win. Plus, if you don’t vote for him and he loses the POY it’s a pretty good guarantee Tyler will be parked in your street in a shady looking white van with no windows with tons & tons of explosives in it.

My vote would still be for Beasley though. He plays on a pretty good team that is far less talented than UNC with numbers of 26 points (3rd in country) and 12.5 rebounds (1st) a game. Three more points and two more rebounds a game. He won’t win because he’s on an inferior team but his numbers don’t lie. If the Wolves somehow get lucky and get this guy next year, I’m buying one of those gay “Howl-pack” game packages for sure. Watching him and Big Al together would be entertaining as hell.

Who do you predict will get the #1 seeds?

Memphis, UNC, Kansas & Texas.

Honestly, the spot I’m on the fence the most is with the last spot. Memphis will enter March Madness with one loss so they have a #1 seed locked up. Duke will beat UNC the last game of the regular season but lose the ACC Championship so that puts UNC at the #1 over Duke. However, I don’t know how the committee would look at this. If one wins the last game and the other wins the ACC Championship against that same team, whom do they take? Either way, I’m taking UNC for the 2nd spot. I see Kansas and Texas both winning out but Kansas winning the Big 12 Championship, which puts Kansas ahead of Texas for that third spot because they will have less total losses. The last spot gets tricky.

If Bruce Pearl (above) can coach Tennessee to win out and win the SEC Championship, they are a lock at a #1. For some reason, I don’t see that happening. They play Kentucky and at Florida to round out their season, plus the SEC tourney. I see them slipping up. I’m not going to predict when because I suck at that. If they do slip up, I see Texas taking that last spot. That spot could go to Duke or UCLA also. I’m sticking with those four but those conference championships could mess everything up...

What do Stanford, Xavier, Butler, Kent State, & St. Mary’s have in common?

Teams in the top 25 that I have really no flipping idea how good they are and that will eventually kill my bracket because of my unfamiliarity with them. Stanford is eighth in the country and I haven’t seen them play once. The only team I’ve seen play a full game is Butler and I watch a fairly decent amount of basketball. Paul Allen from KFAN said that Xavier is a lock for his Elite Eight maybe even Final Four.

Xavier head coach Sean Miller

Granted I’m talking about the same Paul Allen that guaranteed TE Carlester Crumpler (who?) would have 10 touchdowns for the Vikings after the former 7th round pick came to us from Seattle with three total touchdowns in four years. Carlester finished with two catches on the year! So Paul makes some outrageous statements but he’s obviously watched Xavier enough to make that call. Myself on the other hand? No idea about them. The only thing I know about Kent State is they had school shootings back in the early 70’s. I know nothing about their basketball team in 2008. St. Mary’s? You guessed it...no flipping idea. Here’s to hoping they all get bounced from the tourney early! Doesn’t Kent State just reek of a Sweet 16 bid?

Which team outside the AP top 10 right now can win it all?

A lot of the teams after the top 10 are very similar. You could make arguments for a few of them. What would you guys think about a team like Indiana? This is my pick. They are 23-4 and have a good chance of winning the Big Ten. However, anytime you hear the word “Indiana” it’s always followed by “Sampson” & “possible sanctions.” You don’t hear hardly any talk of their actual play on the court, which is pretty damn good I might add. If they could somehow squeak by the sanctions this year they could make a run. The players will be even more motivated with the “let’s win one for the Gipper” angle and they have the talent. They have one of, if not the best 1-2 tandem in the land with Gordon and DJ White.

And the stat that I love best about them is that they are 9th in the country in FT %. A huge stat when it comes to close games. These are the eight teams above them in this category: Cornell, Utah State, IUPUI, California, Florida State, Loyola, Houston and UC Santa Barbara. I went through all the teams and looked at records and it’s a realistic chance only Cornell gets in the tourney and fucking Cornell is getting bounced by UNC first round. So you could argue that Indiana is going to be the best free throw shooting team after round one. That’s called a weapon. By the way, the 11th ranked team in FT% after unknown UC Davis at 10...Xavier.

Three players I love: (not a question, I know.)

Mario Chalmers (Kansas)- Probably my favorite player in the country. His stats aren’t jaw dropping but he’s so clutch. He mostly scores in the teens but a lot of his buckets come late in the second half. Love his game.
Chase Budinger (Arizona)- Big white guy that can shoot the three and looks like he has a giant pile of pubes on his head.
Drew Neitzel (Michigan State)- A straight G. As in gamer. A prototypical college player that makes college basketball so great.


Three players I hate: (also not a question, kiss my ass)

Jerel McNeal (Marquette)- It’s pretty simple. He thinks he’s really awesome and shoots waaaaaay too much. Shooting 30% is his mojo and his single handily lost a couple games for MU. I hate him.
Roy Hibbert (Georgetown)- An overrated pile of shit. He’s 7’2 and averages six boards a game. That’s one rebound every six and half minutes. Come on dude, you’re the tallest chump on the floor every game---extend your arms. He moves like a guy with osteoporosis.
Shan Foster (Vanderbilt)- His name is pronounced Shane as we heard in the Tennessee game this week. Soooooo put a fucking “e” at the end of it!

Who’s your favorite mid-major team?

Davidson. You have the little man Stephen Curry whom is just flat out a stud, averaging 25 points while weighing only 110 pounds. Models weigh more than this kid.

You saw Davidson a lot early in the year with close losses to UNC, Duke, NC State and UCLA. They have six non-conference losses and zero conference losses. If they win their conference championship they are going to be an intriguing pick come tourney time. To be honest, I’m not a die-hard fan of these guys. I don’t hate them either. It’s just that my two roommates and co-writers love this team and love this Curry kid. And since we’re a mother fucking tri-pod, I’m obviously on board...


Finally, how about those Golden Gophers?

The Gophers RPI is 108 in the country. Besides the Illinois game, they have lost to everyone that is better (below) than 108 and have beaten everyone that is worse (above) than the 108 number. Illinois has a worse RPI and we lost that game. That’s it out of 27 games. Really no slip-ups but we didn’t steal one game. That’s incredible. Luckily are schedule was so cupcake early that they jumped to a 10-1 start. They aren’t making the big dance and need to win a couple more games to get in the NIT.


I like the promise going forward though friends. My favorite players in order are: Hoffarber, Nolen, & Damian Johnson. Well, they are all coming back with “Tubby’s Five” rolling into campus next fall. Can you say “Big Time” with a giant fist-pump? I can and I just did it to myself. I can’t wait to get some real talent in here. My least favorite players in order are: Tollackson, Tollackson, Tollackson, Tollackson, Tollackson, Coleman, & Kevin Payton. Loser Spence and I never reached my potential Coleman are seniors that are gone in about two weeks and won’t be getting any jersey’s retired or welcome back to Williams Arena showcases. Kevin Payton needs to get red-tagged. He pretty much averages as many points as he does turnovers...one! A great Division 1 player Monson stole from New Jersey.

Whatever happens this year it will be nice watching us at some postseason tournament. Anytime the Gophers are on National TV it’s great. The Big Ten Network is a complete buzz kill that needs to work a deal out to get it to a larger audience. Whatever. Maybe next year. What do you think of a starting lineup of: Nolen, Joseph (freshman), Hoffarber, Iverson (f) and Sampson (f) next year? All three of those freshmen are in the top 150 on rivals.com. Put them with the Minnesota kids and I say---We’re comin! We’re comin!

Out,
Fuzz

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Spring Training Preview

If I wanted to, I could start this post by waxing poetic about the birds and the grass and the trees all coming back into our lives as we transition from the doldrums of winter into the new life of spring. Then I would make a seamless transition into the changing of the sports scene from the ugly winter we’ve had with the Wolves, Vikes, and Gopher hoops team to the new life surrounding the only consistently productive team around, the Twins.

But I’m not going to do that. For one, we all know that winter is going to last for another month or two at least. Also, this is far from your typical Twins team from the last 6-7 years. It is a major transition period as we head toward the new stadium, and that transition is most evident in what you won’t be seeing in Fort Myers this spring.



Much has been made in both the local and national media about the Twins off-season. Gone are franchise staples Torii Hunter and Johan Santana, as well as the steady arm of Carlos Silva. Those three combined to sign for $279 million worth of contracts/extensions. Obviously those losses are going to hurt, especially Santana. Rather than dwell on the negative though, we’re going to move on with the team we have and look forward to the 2008 season. So without any further ado, here are the key things to watch for during the next month and a half as our favorite baseball team prepares to shock the world.



The Starting Rotation
This is going to be the biggest and most important thing to watch as we prepare for this season. As it stands right now, either Scott Baker or Boof Bonser will be starting for your Minnesota Twins on Opening Day. Yikes. After those two, the rest of the rotation will be filled out by Francisco Liriano, Livan Hernandez (at least for the first 3 months of the season), and either Glen Perkins, Kevin Slowey (my pick), or Nick Blackburn. To the casual Twins fan, that’s a “Who’s That?” kind of rotation. For those of us who know better, this is one of the more exciting things to happen in recent memory.

Every single year I hear about how great our minor league pitching is; about how much talent we have ready to step in when we need them. Well, we need them. Since we never trade pitching prospects (which made that Garza-Young trade so unexpected), it’s about time we saw what these guys have on the big stage. I don’t want to see anymore guys in AAA going 12-1 with a 2.05 ERA and wonder when he’s going to take over for one of the stiffs in our rotation with a 5+ ERA.



The future is now. Over the next 6 months, we are going to see the future of this rotation and this team take shape. Can Liriano return to anything close as to what we saw two years ago? Are Slowey and Blackburn anywhere near as good as their minor league records suggest? Is Perkins an over-hyped hometown prospect or a legit lefty threat? Those questions and more should begin to be answered, at least in part, over the next few weeks.



The DH “Battle”/Platoon
I’ll say this right off the bat: I hate platoons. Managers all over the league fall in love with the idea of having one guy bat against righties and another against lefties. They look at splits and believe that they are going to get the best out of both players. And it never works. Tom Kelly tried it with Jacque Jones for years and all it did was stunt his growth as a player. Now Gardy is taking a page out of his predecessor’s book and is going to do the same thing with Jason Kubel and Craig Monroe (the most over paid player in Twins history) at the DH position.

My hope is that one of these guys (most likely Kubel of the two) plays out of his mind during Spring Training and wins the job outright. But seeing Gardy’s track record, this probably won’t happen. Once he gets an idea in his head, it is almost impossible to get him to change (see: Punto, Nick).



Centerfield
Another much talked about position battle will be in centerfield. In order for that Santana trade to not be a complete disaster, Carlos Gomez has to be a fixture at that spot for years to come. But will he be there this year? I think most fans want him to have the opportunity to grow into the position and see what he has. He is by no means a lock, however. Jason Pirdie and Denard Span are supposedly going to be given an equal opportunity to win the job down in Fort Myers. Span even recently came out in the media saying that he was going to win the spot, which almost certainly means that he will not. Personally, I think you have to go with Gomez and let him take his lumps this year. He has a ton of potential, and there’s no reason to waste it the minors while we finish .500 this year.

The New Kids on the Block
There are a lot of new faces in the Twins clubhouse this spring. Mike Lamb, Adam Everett, Brendan Harris, Delmon Young, Craig Monroe, Livan Hernandez, and the Met boys all should play prominent roles on this team in 2008. It will be interesting to see how they get acclimated to their new teammates and the “Twins-style” of play that we always hear so much about. Even more exciting for most fans will just be watching and learning about these new guys that we know so little about.



By far the most potential in that group belongs to Delmon Young. He is widely considered one of the best young hitters in the league. Of course the problem has always been his attitude (you may recall that he threw a bat at an umpire a couple years back). For the time being, he’s saying and doing all the right things. Maybe a change in scenery is just what he needs to get his shit together. Or maybe he’ll blow up and get suspended halfway through the year. Either way, he is going to be a major factor in how well this team plays this year.



M&M
One last thing that might be worth watching is how well the leaders of this team, Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau, start off this spring. If we’re going to have any chance at being decent this season, those two need to have seasons closer to their 2006 numbers than their 2007 ones: like how Mauer went from hitting .350 two years ago to under .300 last year. Often, a hot start in March can lead to a very good season.

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