A 5-part plan to fix the Twins’ bullpen
Posted on August 18th, 2008 – 10:39 AMBy Joe Christensen
The Twins need to set their 25-man playoff roster in 13 days, and there is no relief in sight for their beleaguered bullpen.
Once the Twins submit that playoff roster, they can use their 40-man roster to fill spots in case of injuries. But no matter how creative they get, their playoff choices will be limited to those pitchers and players.
I know, I know. The Twins should worry about getting there first.
Sunday’s 11-8 victory over Seattle seemed like another cry for help. It was proof that no matter how well the offense does, and no matter how well the young starters do, an ineffective bullpen can spoil everything.
Ron Gardenhire showed he’s not afraid to use Joe Nathan in the eighth inning, and this time it worked. Nathan needed 29 pitches to get four outs. He’ll be available tonight, but using him in the eighth inning isn’t the only answer.
Here is my five-part plan to fix the bullpen:
1) The Twins need to accept that the cavalry isn’t coming. (Calvary either, Jesse!) We know they put in claims in Alan Embree and Jarrod Washburn — the latter telling us anything’s possible — but at this point, it’s safe to assume the waiver options have pretty much run dry.
2) Matt Guerrier needs his mojo back. I thought he had the same stuff Sunday, but no command. Yes, the Twins wore him down, and he needs less work here for a while. But it doesn’t sound like he’s injured, and the team feels his 20.25 ERA in August is more mental than physical.
“I think [Sunday] wasn’t as bad for Matty as he probably thinks it was,” Nathan said. “We’re going to need him in September, and I think he’s going to be fine.”
3) Boof Bonser, Jesse Crain and Brian Bass — or, at least, one of the three — needs to become effective again. The Twins are concerned Crain has hit the wall after having shoulder surgery last year. Bonser has the stuff to be good out of the bullpen, but just when you think he’s figured things out, he stumbles.
Bass, who was overworked early but has had plenty of rest lately, needs to justify the team’s decision to stick with him all this time. He is out of minor-league options, but if a move is made before Aug. 31, he’s the first to go.
4) The Twins need one pitcher from their system to emerge. Not an eighth-inning guy, a seventh-inning guy. As someone said to me yesterday, “You can’t bring one of those guys up here and expect him to get those (eighth-inning) outs.” Looking below, these are the four candidates:
(*) Bobby Korecky: Rochester’s closer has a 1.42 ERA in his past 10 appearances, with 12 strikeouts and two walks. He has been pitching multiple innings. He doesn’t have overpowering stuff, but the Twins have always liked his guts. I think he’ll get his chance in September, when rosters expand.
(*) Tom Shearn: Signed to a minor-league deal this month, he is not on the 40-man roster, but he is 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA in four starts for Rochester, with 22 strikeouts and six walks in 23 1/3 innings. He has allowed 24 hits but seems to be impressing people there. Gardy mentioned him first Sunday, when asked on his weekly radio show about candidates who could help.
( *) Philip Humber: He had another good start Sunday, allowing two runs on four hits in eight innings. When the Twins acquired him in the Johan Santana trade, there was some thought immediately that his best role might be setup relief. He throws fairly hard and has a good breaking ball. Gardy sounded lukewarm when talking about Humber on Sunday.
(*) Robert Delaney: He started the year at Class A Fort Myers and has posted a 1.24 ERA in 19 games since reaching Class AA New Britain, holding opponents to a .190 batting average. Asked about Delaney on Sunday, Gardy was clearly intrigued. But I’ve been told the front office is very reluctant to make this move, as they would only be guessing if he is ready for the big leagues.
Delaney is not a flamethrower, so it’s not like the Twins are sitting on a Joba Chamberlain here. He is not on the 40-man roster. If they promote Delaney, and he’s not ready for the big leagues, they would be starting his “clock” prematurely when it comes to things like minor-league options, etc. It’s hard to explain, but the front office always has the long view. In their minds, if they’re going to do this, they better be right.
5) Convert a current starter to relief. Nobody likes talking about it. The five young starters are doing too well. But if the current relievers don’t right themselves soon, and the Twins can’t find an in-house pitcher to plug a hole, they’ll have to consider it.
One thing Gardy said is that if such a move were made, it’s important to note that it wouldn’t be viewed as a demotion. The pitcher would be changing roles to fill a glaring need for the team.
If the current bullpen meltdown continues, the Twins might be forced to give a start to Bonser, Humber or Brian Duensing (when he returns from the Olympics) and shift Nick Blackburn or Glen Perkins to the pen. To me, those are the two starters best suited for the swap because they’ve done it before and they have the pitches to succeed in late-inning relief.
Again, the Twins view No. 5 as a last resort. But something needs to happen, or setting that playoff roster will be an exercise in futility.
258 Responses to "A 5-part plan to fix the Twins’ bullpen"
Points 1-3 amount to: pitch better dammit!
Yea I was kinda thinkin the same thing!!
#2 MAY happen - hope so.
#3 probably will not happen - they aren’t that good to begin with.
#5 I hope does not happen. Why break up a good thing?
#4 is the best option. Don’t know who but that is what GMs are paid for.
I think they should swap Korecky for Bass now and go from there.
Hindsight being 20-20, I’m not so sure Korecky shouldn’t have been kept with the Twins rather than being sent back down when he was. He didn’t look bad in his time up here and was not intimidated in the least.
How about one or two of these starters getting into the 7th and 8th inning on a consistent basis?
why not put duensing who is pitching pretty well out of the bullpen for team USA in the bullpen instead of a spot start?
Pretty sure you meant the “cavalry” (soldiers on horseback) isn’t coming, not “calvary” (hill with biblical significance). Sort of funny though, cause truly only God can help this bullpen!!
3) Boof Bonser, Jesse Crain and Brian Bass — or, at least, one of the three — needs to become effective again.
Joe, you are inferring that, at some point, Brian Bass was effective. That is incorrect.
I agree with Mark, assuming Duensing is not too tired. In the mean time, DFA Bass and bring up Korecky. Better the “maybe good” than the “definitely not a guy I want to use”.
Here’s my response to Joe’s 5-part plan:
1. It might not be the calvary, but something better be coming!
2. Did he ever have mojo as a set-up guy? The only role Guerrier has succeeded in was as our long-relief / mop-up guy…so the answer might be to get him back in that role!
3. Two of those three should probably be shown the door soon…this isn’t rocket science, as far as the bullpen goes–if it aint working, move on to someone else…this isn’t some type of long term rebuilding plan where we should have to be patient with these guys…there has to be hard-throwers in AAA or even AA or on the waiver wire…it can’t be that tough (and they can’t do any worse)!
4. Now that’s what I’m talking about–the time is now…let’s find out who can help us before it’s too late!
5. Not a bad idea either….won’t be long before we don’t need five starters anymore (namely, after this marathon road trip), so we should consider using one of these guys in the pen for September….or maybe that pesky Tigers squad that was supposed to be the team to beat following the All-Star break wouldn’t mind parting with one of their arms 
sorry, had to.
It won’t matter much if in 13 days the Twins have given up the fight. The best thing going for them now is that the Whities will be traveling in the East. Prediction: Blackburn will be repurposed
“repurposed”
I like that, Block!
what would happen if we went to a strict 4 man rotation and then as has been suggested use the fifth starter for long relief?
I mean, the starters cant go more than 5 innings as is. Will reducing the rest one day hurt? I mean, as we know, this was the norm years ago, and pitchers went longer years ago.
Maybe the extra day of rest hurts their stamina in a game.
For as much as people want to bash the Twins for being too cheap to pick anyone up and too timid to part with a young player, I will say this. One, we weren’t expected to contend this year anyway, so don’t worry about it. The Angels and Rays are far better anyway, so we’re playing for Pennant Runner-up at best. Two, the farm system constantly proves every year around MLB to be the best investment, so I’d rather us not waste young players for this year’s team that is still a couple years away anyway. Three, I would much rather have a stingy owner than a foolish and incompetent owner(ala Seattle).
6) Expect the starters to finish 7 or 8 or dare I say it? 9 innings.
Let’s face it, the vast majority of middle relievers are either starters that couldn’t cut it or closers that couldn’t cut it and are situational pitchers. So to expect them to carry to you to a pennant is risky at best. In prior years, the Twins have relied on Radke and Santana to carry them deep into the ballgames.
I really tire of this argument we werent supposed to be good anyway.
We are in first place, and you dont always have that position, even in years when you were expecting to. When the option is there, you have to go for it. You dont throw in the towel when you are in first place in August.
Brian: time for my daily posting of this.
The Twins are much more likely to win it all this year than in 09 or 10. Just ask MN and CLE this year how much you can predict what will happen. The Twins are in the hunt, this year. They may or may not be in future years. Morneau could get hurt, Liriano could get hurt, nathan could get hurt, or, maybe, some guys just won’t play well.
The point is, you just don’t know. Cleveland finished great last year, had a bunch of young guys, and bam, it all fell apart. You go for it when you have a chance - game theory is pretty clear on this - you may not have a chance next year.
Mike Wants Wins:
You took the words right out of my mouth. Some years you PLAN to be good and you arent, as in Detroit and Cleveland.
You need to strike when the iron is hot.
And as for a choice of owners, I dont want either a cheap owner or incompetent owner. Those are not the only choices.
shouldn’t bass have already been on waivers and not claimed? smith isn’t doing his job if lamb, boof and bass (maybe a few more) haven’t already gone through the waiver period.
bradford doesn’t strikeout many so we didn’t need him? how many strikeouts does bass get?
As nice as it would be if our starters could get more innings in, they are all approaching their previous IP max.
Considering that these five could be our startering staff for the the 3+ years, they aren’t going to be pushed hard.
USA wins gold in horse jumping.
ALRIGHT!!!
USA! USA!
Who cares bout the Twins now?
Kevin
I am also very sick of that argument. Here’s a comparison. A cancer patient is told he is terminal, and has 6 months to live. He gets a second opinion, and that doc says he can treat the cancer. Doctor 2 treats the cancer, and cancer goes away. Patient gets new lease on life. 4 years later, patient gets shot in the leg in a hunting accident. He goes to the hospital. They refuse to treat his badly bleeding, but very treatable leg, saying, “Well, you weren’t expected to live, anyway. Hopefully you enjoyed the time you had.” Patient bleeds to death.
I have to agree with gobble’s post completely…
And I’m tired of this “we’re in first place, there’s no need to do anything” mindset.
Folks, seriously…if you’re ready to declare the season a success today and start handing out awards, that’s fine. I’m sure some of us will be more than happy to hold a banquet this weekend and give Morneau team MVP, Mauer team Captain, D Span best rookie, D Young most improvement for any one position, Scott Baker pitcher of the year, and N Punto the hustle award (for the third straight year–a lifetime achievement)…then we can watch the White Sox battle it out in October.
Me, I’m actually interested in reaching a little higher and maximizing our potential; usually this involves flushing out holes in the squad and working to improve them–not simply sitting on our hands and admiring the fact that we haven’t been mathematically eliminated.
Joe,
Regarding setting the 25 man roster. I was under the assumption that the Twins can basically give spots to injured players (Cuddyer, Neshek) and then use those spots however they like once they get there.
Is that true? Or can they only replace a pitcher with a pitcher, etc?
GGG
I’m sure they tried to get all three through waivers. Boof would be claimed right away, even by a bad team, because he still has upside. Lamb has likely made it through waivers, but they won’t eat his contract. Bass would not make it through waivers either, and the twins apparently don’t want to let him go. Don’t believe that anyone would claim Bass? Look at the mets. They are excited because they got a guy with an ERA of almost 6.
Does anyone really see any deals out there that would put the Twins over the top without subtracting from this year? The only place the Twins might be overstocked is in the outfield, especially if and when Cuddyer makes it back. Seattle apparently wanted a starter for Washburn, who wouldn’t be an upgrade from Livan Hernandez. So one can only imagine what they’d have wanted for Hernandez.
Oooops..what Seattle would have wanted for Beltre.
Bill Smith needs to pull the trigger right now before the long road trip. We need some fresh arms. Put Bass on waivers and get something for him. Call up Korecky.
uh… Washburn is better than hernandez. its not close. Not saying washburn is santana-like, or even radke-like, but neither is he as bad as hernandez.
Nice article, Joe! I think it would be a mistake to move Perkins to the bullpen. He’s been inconsistent, but he impressed the heck out of me against the Yankees recently, and if the Twins make the playoffs they will need a pitcher that can shut out a playoff team.
Korecky still seems like the ideal solution for an 8th inning set-up man. He pitched so well the last time he was up, I never understood why the Twins sent him back down.
” It’s hard to explain, but the front office always has the long view. ” … no, Joe, it’s not hard to explain. The front office is always waiting until next year. Seems simple to me.
I’m with 5
Put Boof back in the starting rotation, the #5 slot, and treat him like henkie number 5s get treated (skip his spot for off days and whatnot). Move one of the current starters to the pen. Boof can only hurt one day in 5, at max. The tissue paper bullpen hurts everyday. Perkins or someone available every 3 would go a long way towards shoring fixing that. And who knows? Boof might put out… stranger things have happened…
Joe is saying that “the clock” is hard to explain. not that the twins take the long view.
[…] Originally published by Around the Majors […]
Santana has watched his team lose a lot of games this year that he left with a lead. Yesterday he pitched a complete game. Bullpen didn’t bother him at all. Our starters need to pich deeper into games.
How’s Senor Smoke’s fastball these days?
The real problem here is the starters not being able to go longer than 5-6 innings. It seems like they’ve all had more than a few starts where they cruise for 2/3 of the game and then hit a wall. That has to stop.
“We’re going to need him in September, and I think he’s going to be fine.”
De Nile ain’t just a river in Egypt. How do you get your command back when you’ve completely lost confidence? For two years, everybody said the same thing about Rincon: “The stuff is there, it’s just a question of command.” And we all know where that went.
If it were May, I’d say, just throw him out there and let him develop his command. But it’s August. And we’re tied for first. We can’t afford to suffer through a guy who can’t locate his pitches in close games.
Yes we need him as he was last year. But we can’t expect him to turn it around. We need to bring someone up and give him a shot. This team is defined by its rookies. It will live or die by them. So far so good: It worked for Blackburn, Tolbert, Casilla, Span, Perkins, Slowey, Buscher and Ruiz. It can work for Humber or Duensing.
1. Do not let Boof start another game.
2. Do not let Boof relief another game.
There is no reason not to audition some of the young talent in relief on a spot basis.
As for the “clock,” if the pitcher is a bust, who cares about the clock.
If the pitcher is a good one, let the clock begin.
Perkins to the pen. Come playoffs, Baker-Liriano-Blackburn is a solid rotation (with Slowey for possible start or, more likely, middle relief). Perkins becomes set-up man to Nathan. Start working Perkins into that role now. Otherwise, playoff rotation is Baker-Liriano-Perkins/Blackburn, and you’re either relying on Bass/Guerrier/Bonser still or are throwing Slowey and either Blackburn or Perkins into the pen with no adjustment time. Might as well move one of those guys to the pen now so they can get some warm-up holds before the ALCS.
The nice thing about Option #5 is it’s an option that becomes available by DEFAULT during the playoffs.
If they make the playoffs, they’ll only need 3 starters, which leaves two of their rotation available to serve a relief role.
However, as you mention there’d need to be some time to get them preparred to pitch in those types of situations.
Umm, the clock matters. That is the situation that develops that keeps a player like Bass on the roster because he is out of options.
He is a young guy that has played very well in the lower minors. He has no experience against better hitters yet. No way to tell how he would handle it, but if he handles it well, great. If not, the clock would be ticking, limiting his development time for the Twins.
1. DFA Bass
2. Bring up a warm body, anyone will do, they can’t possibly be any worse
3. Quit ignoring viable waiver options when they make themselves available, only to put claims in on stiffs that you don’t need
I also say DFA Bass and bring in Korecky. Korecky is a gamer, he has already helped the major league team out previously, and he has been doing very well in the minors. Bring him up!
If they are going to convert a starter to relief they should have claimed Paul Byrd. He’s a free agent-to-be and only cost the Red Sox a “player to be named later or cash”. The Twins would have had priority over Boston, I believe. Depending on the PTBNL, may have been a good pickup.
As for the current options, cut Bass now and try Humber or Korecky. His Tony Fiore impression has run its course.
joe didn’t the soviet union used to have 5 point plans or was it 5 yr plans? didn’t seem to work out for them.
you think casey daigles wife can throw a baseball when the olyp. are over?
I posted this on Howard’s blog, I’ll post it here: The problem is not the starters, and not the length of their outings. The starters are actually averaging slighly more IP per start than both the 2007 and 2006 teams.
And even if you don’t buy that, you can’t simply DEMAND the starters go longer.
Which is more likely to be successful of these:
1) Demanding the starters go longer, or
2) Finding another arm or two for the bullpen?
I submit #1 is wishful thinking.
There is no use in having both Bonser/Bass in the pen. Neither can be used in a close game, meaning the other pitchers end up going muliple days in a row. It’s too late for a trade–that ship unfortunatly sailed a couple weeks ago–and a waiver claim at this point is a long shot.
So start by picking one of the above, or someone else, from the minors and bite the bullet on Bass. What’s the cost? Losing Bass?
And let me finish by echo’ing the above…I’m really really tired of the “nobody thought we’d be here” line of reasoning.
If I were manager, I would stick with the current starters, and do all I could to get 7 innings out of them.
If you have to send one to the pen, I see two options:
Perkins (who pitches well for 5 innings before blowing up), or
Slowey (who has allowed a run in his first inning pitched only once this year - isn’t that what we want out of a bullpen guy?).
Whatever needs to be done to gear us up for playoffs, needs to be done right now. We may not get this chance again for quite sometime and if we do make the playoffs, we are ready.
“I’m really really tired of the “nobody thought we’d be here” line of reasoning.”
as if THAT is the only line of so-called reasoning that’s has become tiresome around here!!!
imo
everyone needs to settle down..
twins have had one of the best bullpens for years so we all expect them to come in and shut teams down. well they are in a funk. no big deal. its just magnified because we are in a pennant race.
now, im not saying we shouldn’t make a move and i think the best move would be to call up korecky and get rid of bass because we should not mess with the starters. the starters are doing fine and i hope we leave them alone.
one question though,
it was mentioned that Perkins was approaching the most innings he has ever thrown before. so how about blackburn? slowey? are they getting to uncharted territory in innings pitched?
how much damage could be caused if perkins or blackburn is sent to the pen for a few weeks (to save innings on their arm) and then to get them back into the rotation come playoff time? (if/when we get in)
Baby jesus could do MR work on off catching days. CP should get more bang for his buck. LOL. No but in all seriousness Blackburn should go to the bullpen if a starter is needed to fill a MR role. The other option is trade Tolbert for a MR
Yep, Chief, bury that one. I kind of like the Starter conversion idea. Find the two pitchers who can only go five innings and combine them a couple of times a week.
#1. Yeap. The only chance that the Twins might have for a waiver claim is for an AL pitcher from Toronto/Baltimore/Seattle/Oakland (NL pitchers will be claimed by the likes of Mets and Marlins before they come to the AL and no way a AL Central team would allow the Twins to get better), which indeed is slim pickings
#2. Guerrier’s funk is part luck. His oppenents BABIP is a ridiculous .522 in August (up from .300 in July). I expect that to be corrected.
#3. Frankly, Crain made the turn and the 2 others are hopeless. Bass has no future with this team and should be DFA’d with Korecky up. I know they do not want to lose Bonser (and they are probably correct) but there can be a fandom 15 day DL visit soon, so someone like Delaney gets a look and potentially added to the play off roster
#4. See #3 and add Mariano Gomez
#5. The problem with this are:
a. the most logical choice for a converted starter (Perkins) is a lefty
b. Having Boof/Humber/Mulvey/Duensing start is probably scarier than having Crain and Reyes sharing the 8th inning role and Nathan getting saves with 4-5 outs.
#2. Guerrier’s funk is part luck. His oppenents BABIP is a ridiculous .522 in August (up from .300 in July). I expect that to be corrected.
The other part is that the balls in play have been getting crushed. Yes there is regression to be had there, but not enough on its own to make him viable 8th inning guy again. He’s basically throwing BP right now.
I wonder what The A’s would want in return for Houston Streets
THRYLOS:
Was thinking about the “fandom 15 day DL” and then you shocked me with your number #5b.
Quit it.
Normally I would say: Bringing up Korecky and waiving Bass seems like an absolute no brainer. Bass, as was pointed out by a previous poster, has NEVER been notably effective at any level of professional baseball, hence there’s nothing for him to “get back”. The Twins have plenty of bullpen options for the future in the farm system, so why they care about losing a guy with a pitch they like who can’t DO anything with said pitch I do not know.
But I have become morbidly fascinated by their loyalty to Bass and have decided to force myself to drink the kool-aid. As far as I can tell, this must be the flavor: He DOES have and has always had a tantalizing groundball rate while suffering from abnormally high HR/FB rates at many levels. ASSUMING THE HR RATE WILL FINALLY REGRESS to league average (HR rate has been shown to be a function of FB rate from pitchers’ perspectives assuming the pitcher is good enough otherwise to last a few years in MLB [i.e. is of “basic MLB quality”]) and that not it is not the product of truly inferior, level-inadequate stuff, he merely needs to either walk a few less or strikeout a few more to become a VERY effective pitcher. That’s what I figure that’s what the Twins are thinking. (They might, to be sure, see it simply as “we like his sinker”, since Bradford’s GB rate didn’t move their souls one iota.)
Given that the Twins are right here with a chance to win it all, I wouldn’t even begin to make that bet, but it’s gotta be what the Twins are thinking. The thing is, even if he goes on to perform years of quality service elsewhere after being waived, that wasn’t a lock and Mike Wants Wins point about game theory (do we really think the Twins FO gets this?) holds: they have a chance to achieve what they’re supposedly in business to achieve and might not have that chance next year or in 2010, bright thought the future may look now, and Bass is not helping those chances at present.
Bass has failed. Boof has failed, though there remains potential. Guerrier is failing. His arm is shot and in any event he was never great: his ERA badly outperfromed FIP last year and his never-overwhelming peripherals are utterly ordinary this year. He needs phantom DL’d until expansion.
Looking at the remaining schedule, there’s no way to insert Boof as a “True Fifth starter” (skipped everytime they get an off day) without handing him 6 starts by seasons end. They can’t afford to do that.
Humber’s start yesterday was okay: he had a ton of one and two pitch outs-to-contact, only struck out 3 of 28 BF, had so-so command and struggled against the only decent hitter in a REALLY weak Syracuse lineup. I’m sure he’s an improvement over Bass right now, and while his reported confidence issues mean he COULD be no better than Boof, there’s no way to know and hence IMPROVE without pulling the trigger.
Starting the clock on a guy Delaney’s age (almost 24) who’s thoroughly dominated A+ and AA is certainly not certifiably risk-free, but it hardly seems like the world will end if he has to be optioned back. It would also allow Anthony Slama to climb out the morass of stagnation to which he’s been relegated in Ft. Myers to get a crack at a couple weeks of AA batters if they see fit.
Finally, Ricky Barrett’s had a couple rough outings, probably after he read La Velle say he’d never get the call for mysterious reasons I couldn’t pry out of Redmond or Rick Anderson either (click through my website to read my blog on that), but his K% for the year still sits at 28%, which is a number Brian Bass can only dream about. I hope he at least gets a crack when expansion comes.
Let’s be clear: there are 14 games before expansion; thereafter there really are no problems given that we can assume Korecky and Humber and (hopefully) Barrett and Delaney WILL be up and that Perkins and Baker or Slowey will move to the bullpen if they make the playoffs. But a lot can go wrong in those 14 games and the way the bullpen is pitching it probably will unless improvements are made.
For me, then, I DL Guerrier, waive Bass and the probably real potential of his sinker ball/GB rate and call up Rob Delaney and Korecky’s hot hand now. Humber and (hopefully) Barrett come up with the roster expansion.
Thrylos:
Agree with snepp. This is like expecting Livan’s BABIP to regress. When a guy drops below a certain basic level the rules (derived through year-to-year regressions of guys who play year after year and hence ARE of a certain quality) no longer apply. Addtionally, what minimal control pitchers exhibit over BABIP tracks closely with DIPS, which haven’t been good for Guerrier lately.
No go with Street. I think the A’s already tried to get him through waivers, and to put him on waivers again, they would be irrevocable, meaning the A’s wouldn’t be able to pull him back. Also, the Yankees think they are still in contention, and need bullpen help as badly as the twins. They would never let him slip past. Though it did surprise me when they let byrd past. I think both wang and chamberlain were hurt when that deal was made.
Street would be a nice combo to have with Nathan.
Street is a no go… Trully, the one pitcher I was surprised the Twins did not make a run for (before August, because now would be impossible to get) is Trevor Hoffman. He is playing his last season and what better way to finish one’s career than in a playoff push vs rotting with a team 20 games under… Oh well
Betancourt from Cleveland???
Would have been liked Byrd here more than Washburn. Byrd also could become a Cy Young type pitcher with more of Bert’s magic.
Scott Downs, John Rauch, Damaso Marte
Livan throws harder then Hoffman maybe they should have just put him in the bullpen.
Byrd is an awesome pitcher and I have wanted him for quite some time. He just wasn’t going to be traded to us.
Livan belongs out to pasture, not in the bullpen.
there is no way that Cleveland would trade with the Twins (or the Twins with Cleveland for that matter). Downs might be an interesting possibility but the Yankees would grab him before the Twins. Rauch and Marte were recently traded to contenders
You’ve got to be kidding me! Livan would eat the entire pasture thus causing others to pass away from starvation.
I think it’s time to change my moniker to FIRE ANDERSON!!!
Since when the Twins were not hitting many/most blamed Vavre. YET, when the pitching isn’t doing it’s job, it’s everyone BUT Andersons fault (I don’t remember seeing his name once).
Talk about kool-ade drinkers
Regards,
Byrd is to busy writing books about Jeebus to learn curveballs from pottymouth bert.
I have an excellent article on the top 25 ranked MR’s. I am not sure which on the list would be available still or if ever
http://fantbase2.wordpress.com/2008/03/19/middle-reliever-big-board-march-2008/
Hey, Livan did get another win on Saturday. And he only gave up 6 ER.
jimmy bee,
that article is from March… a lot of things changed from then
thrylos98 ooops sorry my bad. Stats change with time understandably
Right ES. Jimmybee has to eat his words. Livan ate up six innings, coughed up six runs and got his twelfth win. He is contending for the Ace of the Rockies staff.
Obviously the reason they don’t want to send Bass down is because he is out of options, and God forbid another team take him away from the Twins. Is there something I’m missing? Why can’t Bass just go on the DL for 15 days with “elbow tendinitis” or “shoulder fatigue?” Whatever you want to call the injury is fine with me. Put him on the DL. Bring up Korecky or Humber and give them a shot at pitching in the 7th or 8th. Then in 15 days when he is off the DL, your rosters expand and you don’t have to lose Bass and his 5.02 ERA.
Mudcat I miss the Eephus pitch already. RIP Eephus you will be missed
Dragon,
Not saying it’s right or wrong, but that could be because Anderson’s pitcher’s have a track record of producing, while Vavra’s hitters struggled greatly his first few years, and, prior to joining the Twins, he had no MLB track record to speak of.
Does anyone know if Vavra Coached for 2 teams I believe the Dodgers and the Twins???
thrylos … pretty sure Cleveland wouldn’t care where Byrd went since he’s a FA after the year
Anderson can not be blamed for an overworked bullpen. The bull pen has been great the past five years, and good the first half of this season. Other than Nathan the bullpen has been full of no names and thanks to Anderson and others the bullpen has been a strength to this team in the recent past.
Also it doesnt take a rocket scientist to realize how good he has handled our young pitching staff. They have the least amount of walks allowed. Nearly all 5 are under 4 ERA, and all 5 are doing a way better than expected job. Carlos Silvas best years where with Anderson, he developed Santana, and again the entire pitching staff under 26 years of age.
Regards,
matt,
the Twins would hate to give a prospect to Cleveland who might come back and bite them for Byrd…
Did he coach for the dodgers? Hmm. I know that the dodgers have had trouble scoring runs for a number of years now. I know that if I were say, Justin Morneau, and Vavra tried to give me hitting advice, I’d be smirking inside. Guy played D-III ball in college, then hit a grand total of 3 homeruns and 110 RBI in 1187 minor league at-bats for a .288 average, never getting a whiff of the major leagues.
Not saying you have to be a hall of famer to be a hitting coach, but, at the same time, I’m sure it’s nice to have a guy everyone can take seriously. Maybe that was part of the problem his first few years; getting guys to listen.
Kinda funny to see Livan’s name show up again.
The common theme lately that I have observed is the wanting of just about anybody not currently with the Twins to be gotten for BP help. Guess what? The Twins aren’t the only ones looking. If Bass is put on waivers the Yanks, Tigers, and most likely both the White and Red Sox claim him. The guy has potential and will not make it thru any longer. It’s very possible that he may have already been run thru waivers, but I think that would have been remarked on by someone in the know by now.
I like the idea of a phantom DL stint to bridge the gap. Works for me
Well during the playoffs we can put both Blackburn and Perkins in the pen and run with a Liriano, Slowey, Baker team with Blackburn starting once a series.
Liriano to the Bull pen
In PTBNL they very rarely if ever become guys that would come back and bite them (there are only a handful who have turned out to be decent players ever and there are PTBNL players in many, many deals each year)… also, KC and Chicago worked a deal through waivers, so its not that out of the question
They need to do something to get korecky or whoever up here for a tryout, because doesn’t the playoff roster have to be set sept. 1? It would be nice if they new whether or not one of the minor league guys provides an upgrade by then.
I would love to see the White Sox claim Bass! That would be awsome on so many levels.
Re: Anderson,
there is a lot of kool-aid about Anderson’s capabilities… A good pitching coach does 3 things well:
a. prepares pitchers for games
b. helps pitchers to avoid major injuries
c. is successful with reclamation projects
a. Anderson features a staff that has a huge differential in home vs road ERA (3.37 vs. 5.46; ML average home 4.05, road 4.52) and this is 100% due to lack of correct preparation because the pitchers did not forget their stuff in the Dome (or at least their colleagues did not forget their stuff in their home parks)
b. During Anderson’s career, Neshek, Liriano, Crain, Balfour, Perkins, Reyes all had major injuries that cost them at least a large part of one season
c. Bonser, Ponson, Lohse, Romero, Rincon, Silva, Mays, Fultz have all failures vs only 2 successes: Reyes and Hawkins
Compare this with Roger McDowell’s track record in Atlanta, for example…
Anderson is average at best; everything else is homer propaganda…
Can anyone say who is the Best hitting coach out there currently?
This is only Roger McDowell’s 3rd year as Atlanta’s pitching coach. So he doesn’t have much of a track record as far as one to compare with Anderson.
So is Roger Clemens done with his little legal problem?
BC funny how Clemens and his legal troubles were swept under the carpet. You never do hear much about it anymore
Liriano had arm problems before he came to the Twins
Wasn’t leo mazzone in atlanta for years?
MLB’s answers to steroid use is to keep things going on and on till people are not interested in the subject. Next they start to print articles a little further in between till the stories fade out. Just ask Barry he will be next
One of the reasons so many drink the Anderson koolaid is because Dick Such was so hated.
jimmy that’s what high priced lawyers are paid for.
Leo was there until 2005 and then took over in Baltimore for a couple years as their pitching coach
thrylos
your saying silva, rincon, romero, ponson, lohse were a disappointment and blaming it on anderson?
silva got paid this year.. 4-14 record era 6+ what was his era here?
rincon got busted a few years back and hasn’t been the same.. anderson’s fault? doubt it
romero was one of the best lefties in the game. everyone has their season.
ponson was over weight.. is that anderson’s fault?
lohse was sick of the twins and coaches.. lets blame anderson for that one as well
was anderson around when mays got injured?
hawkins has not been the same since he left minnesota.. a couple decent seasons but nothing compared to what he was when he was here.
balfour still blows, neshek has a messed up delivery and numerous times announcers would comment that he could perhaps have a big-time injury
liriano was a young kid with a devastating slider. mauer was a catcher who kept calling the pitch or liriano kept calling for it
anderson doesnt call pitches from the dug-out..
so yeah.. lets blame anderson for the pitching problems.
geez. you kidding me
*Barry*Bonds*
This is only Roger McDowell’s 3rd year as Atlanta’s pitching coach. So he doesn’t have much of a track record as far as one to compare with Anderson.
well, even in these 3 years (which is a lifetime as far as pitching coaches go) here is his record:
2008: home ERA 4.39 road ERA 4.02
2007: home ERA 3.96 road ERA 4.27
2006: home ERA 4.33 road ERA 4.87
Successful reclamation projects:
Jorge Campillo, Will Ohman, Bob Wickman, Chad Paronto, Buddy Carlyle
major injuries: 0 in 3 years. (compare to 4 the last 3 years for ‘Andy’)
methinks that he runs circles around ‘Andy’
roger mcdowell
hmm, glavine is out for the season, jojo (i mean blow-blow) reyes is not any good
chuck james is not great,
their bullpen has been horrendous the past few years.
mike gonzalez had a major arm problem and missed the majority of a season.
where has mike hampton been?
smoltz is good.. but injuries?
mh: “balfour still blows,”
Really … I thought giving up 5 ER, 15 hits, and striking out 55 in 37 IP this year is pretty good
Regarding Anderson’s success with “reclamation projects” - what exactly is the success rate with this type of pitcher. Would Ponson be a success as a reclamation this year with the Yanks? I’d argue no since he’s gotten a tremendous amount of run support. This category seems like a difficult one to use in critique of Anderson.
Ponson was cut by 5 teams in a row, can’t blame Andy
so, mh, what exactly are Anderson’s successes?
Re: Clemens (and this is truly off-topic because there’d be a better chance that I would be summoned to help the Twins’ pitching woes)–both sides are looking a little stale at the moment…Clemens (who always looked bad) seems to have given up on his O.J.-like PR campaign to prove his innocence and the Feds don’t seem to be making any headway on federal perjury charges (at least not that we know of).
So the whole circus, sad as it was, now appears to be extremely overblown (mostly by Clemens, mind you–all baseball wanted was him out).
The best thing to come of it is the fact that neither Bonds nor Clemens–both of whom still want to play and probably could at a high level–are nowhere to be found and are not providing headlines to distract from what has been a very fun season.
pitchers bat in the NL
of course era’s will be lower…
anyone knows that.
Shawn, but if Andy was such a magician, he would have turn Ponson around last season… see how is he pitching this season? All I am saying is that Andy is at best average
if Anderson isn’t the best who is. Also who is MLB’s best Hitting coach
mh… it’s not the ERA I am comparing. It is the difference between home and road ERAs…
“so, mh, what exactly are Anderson’s successes?”
Let me field that one: 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2006.
Unless you can provide me stats to show how amazing the Twins were offensively in those years, I’ll assume quality pitching had a lot to do with it.
One of the things we are not seeing discussed much is the notion that this young group of starting pitchers will all be reaching high inning/pitch counts that will need to be monitored through the end of the season. Even though the starters are often going only 5-6 innings, their pitch counts are almost always in the 100 range or so. Every one of them will exceed previous highs in starts/innings and most importantly pitches. They are all finding out that it is usually harder to get through a major league lineup for the third time in a game- as opposed to what they experienced in AA or AAA ball. So is it any wonder that this lack of experience is taxing them, and eventually placing a great burden on the entire staff? I haven’t heard any game plan to address this issue; and don’t see too much that will help out other than getting “more hands on deck,” especially after Sept. 1. Net/net- it is likely to get worse before it gets better………….
I disagree with him about anderson, but to be fair to thrylos, glavine and smoltz are ancient, and hampton is a walking band-aid, and has been for years.
Jason each week you will hear about Bonds and Clemens a little less till it dissapears. Sad but that is what McGwire should have done. He got the shaft.
I’m not really of the “Andy is a magician” ilk
I think he is upper half, had some successes and failures.
I just can’t blame him for Ponson or Liriano due to their histories.
Ponson has some stuff and it is probably mostly due to himself that he is succeeding this year.
Bradke is only 35 years old the Twins should call him up and see if he could pitch for a couple of months.
Scott Baker needs to pitch better. He is more experienced and the most polished. he needs to pitch like the #2 that he is.
Radke would need surgery to ever pitch again. He retired instead of getting surgery.
best hitting coach, based on results and quality of players, Hal McRae of the Cardinals hands down. I like McDowell for pitching coach, but Rick Honeycutt is also up there
thrylos
look at the twins pitching history with anderson.
always a top pitching staff or atleast a top bullpen.
anderson gets no credit for that???
johan, nathan, hawkins, guardado, reyes
rincon - for 3-4 years
crain - for a few years
anderson has done a pretty good job..
players have windows. we cannot expect them all to be lights out their entire career
God the Twins have a crap manager, an “at best average” pitching coach and a hitting coach whom no one respects becuase of his playing career. The FO has obviously shown their lack of ability (except in eating). Throw in Nick Punto playing everyday and no bullpen. Amazing that the Twins ever win a game. Span must really be good.
Thrylos, iwould like to see the home/road comparison for the twin’s last three years, if you are showing us the braves, in comparison.
There were several stories that came out in the last few months regarding Clemens that didn’t make huge headlines like the ones that were made over the offseason, but, at the same time, so clearly put Roger at a disadvantage both in terms of his PR campaign and his lawsuit (which was nothing more than a glorified PR campaign), that he basically went away.
That’s my theory on why we don’t hear about him anymore…once you start reporting that he was fraternizing with 15 yr olds, even Clemens is smart enough to know he best not turn this into a character debate.
I like McDowell as a guy. He of the hotfoot, clowning in his playing days. Not sure about him as a pitching coach.
I think the best pitching coach in the Twins system is Cueller.
Radke’s injury was mostly normal wear and tear. He was getting old.
once you start reporting that he was fraternizing with 15 yr olds, even Clemens is smart enough to know he best not turn this into a character debate.
How old is Silvas wife?
eaa,
You got it right on ALL points…
Regards,
is is only Roger McDowell’s 3rd year as Atlanta’s pitching coach. So he doesn’t have much of a track record as far as one to compare with Anderson.
well, even in these 3 years (which is a lifetime as far as pitching coaches go) here is his record:
2008: home ERA 4.39 road ERA 4.02
2007: home ERA 3.96 road ERA 4.27
2006: home ERA 4.33 road ERA 4.87
2008: 14th in MLB
2007: 6th in MLB
2006: 17th in MLB
Still not much of a track record - seems pretty average to me
Radke has a tear in his rotator cuff and i believe something in the joint. At least 1 of those items would have required a surgery and rahab. He didn’t want to go thru it, can’t blame him.
thrylos
compare home and road era’s for every team..
the dome is a big home field advantage..
the american league is loaded with hitting.
our division is loaded with power hitters.. of course the home and away era’s will be out of wack. look at all the young pitching the twins have had the past few years.
thrylos98 Where would you rank Curt Young
Jason,
2002, 2003, 2004, and 2006.
what exactly where Andy’s contributions as a coach then, vs the talent? The Twins happen to have very talented pitchers (and btw 2006 was about hitting) these years, especially at the pen. Btw the starting rotation was collectively awful in 2003 (not Andy’s doing, just lack of talent)
thrylos - also Hudson has always been injured since he’s been with the Braves
matt,
that is talent wise. the pitching coach does not pitch.
“Scott Baker needs to pitch better. He is more experienced and the most polished. he needs to pitch like the #2 that he is.”
I get a kick out of that…not that Shawn did it intentionally, but before Friday wasn’t it assumed that Baker was our No. 1?
I would lean towards Dave Duncan as the best pitching coach.
Shawn, agreed about Cuellar… I’d love to see him as the Twins’ pitching coach and Riccardo Ingram as their hitting coach, sooner than later…
Jason,
he is our #1, but he needs to pitch as a solid #2.
It’s hard to lay injuries at a pitching coaches feet. Even with textbook, picture perfect mechanics, pitching aa ball in the 85-95 mph range requires whipping your arm in an extremely violent motion. Different human bodies are going to react differently to the stresses of throwing a ball. Hell, some guys’ arm bones just snap, right in mid pitch; it’s happened.
thrylos98 says:
August 18th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
Jason,
2002, 2003, 2004, and 2006.
what exactly where Andy’s contributions as a coach then, vs the talent? The Twins happen to have very talented pitchers (and btw 2006 was about hitting) these years, especially at the pen. Btw the starting rotation was collectively awful in 2003 (not Andy’s doing, just lack of talent)
EXACTLY : your giving anderson the blame when the pitching staff is bad, but gets no credit for when we win..
NEW Discussion!
“2006 was about hitting”
Yeah, it had nothing to do with a Cy-Young award winning pitcher, or a closer with 36 svs and a 1.54 ERA, and a rock-solid bullpen.
yeah, but Dave Dravecky (to whom you are referring) had bone cancer, resulting to its amputation…
Hey Joe-
What about Mariano Gomez? I’ve been following the stats at Rochester all year, and it seems like he’s pretty damn good. Is nobody in the front office talking about him as an option.
How bout Bud Black or Anderson who is better
Maybe they just need more coaches like in football. They could have a starters coach, MR coach, closers coach, and a special coach for LNP and Gomez.
thyros - “major injuries: 0 in 3 years. (compare to 4 the last 3 years for ‘Andy’)
methinks that he runs circles around ‘Andy’”
Major injuries: Hampton - The Braves were hoping for Hampton to be ready to rejoin the rotation in time for the start of the 2007 season. The rehab was on schedule until Hampton tore his oblique muscle on March 7, 2007, which was to sideline him until at least May.[1] Soon after, the Braves signed Mark Redman to be a left-handed starting pitcher for them in case Hampton was not able to return to action soon. After Hampton threw a bullpen session on April 8, the Braves shut Hampton down due to recurring elbow pain and said that he would see Dr. David Altchek, who had performed his Tommy John surgery in 2005.[2] The next day, it was announced after having another left elbow procedure, that Hampton would miss the entire 2007 season
Tim Hudson - On August 2, 2008, Hudson revealed that he will undergo Tommy John ligament transplant surgery on his pitching elbow, and will miss the remainder of the 2008 season, and likely most of the 2009 season.
His second season with the Braves was disappointing. He posted career-highs in losses (12) and ERA (4.86) in 2006. - (first year McDowell took over)
Mike Gonzalez - On May 25, 2007, it was announced that his elbow would require Tommy John surgery and, consequently, he would miss at least the rest of the 2007 season, and possibly the first half of the 2008 season.
As our friend Pat Reusse pointed out on TV last night, a guy like Carlos Silva is precisely why Anderson is more valuable than the average pitching coach…Mel Stottlemeyer was asking Andy over the weekend what the heck was wrong with Silva….that speaks volumes.
I thought it happened to Jose Rijo, as well, and to a couple of other guys, to.
jizzno - today La Velle was talking about Gomez on the radio and said the Twins are high on him but he needs more time mentally in AAA. Apparently he is not consisten enough.
your giving anderson the blame when the pitching staff is bad, but gets no credit for when we win.
yeap, Andy and Gardy do not have enough fingers for the WS rings ‘we’ won…
Riccardo Ingram has 31 MLB at bats and 6 hits for a .194 avg.
Cuellar has 6.2 IP at “the major league level.”
Sounds like Vavra/Anderson clones to me.
but before Friday wasn’t it assumed that Baker was our No. 1?
Baker’s been the Ace by “default”. As in, he’s the guy in the rotation with the most experience. It’s hardly an Ace in the “hop on my back as I dominate this lineup” regard.
BC somedays I feel like Tatoo from fantasy island
eaa,
all the hitting and pitching coaches in the Twins organization are Gardy/Vavra/Anderson clones… If you add the collective HRs that head coaches and hitting coaches hit in the majors, you’ll get about 35.
I thought cuellar was a stud during his career. Or was that his brother?
all you have to do is remember Dick Such to realize what a good pitching coach Anderson is
“BC somedays I feel like Tatoo from fantasy island”
I know what you mean jimmy just let us know when da plane is here.
And my point would be that that is mostly a non-issue. Not saying that it might be more difficult to first gain acceptance, but talent teaching the game soon overrides a mediocre career.
Keith Law calls Baker a backend guy but i think if he could keep his head in it, he could be a great #2. The team needs him to pitch as a great #2. Liriano can pitch as a decent #1 most of the year if he keeps the walks down.
thyros
hold up the braves rings while your at it
im sure mcdowell has enough fingers for them
WOW!!!
I only posed the question about Anderson, NOT because I intended to lay blame, only questioning why he alone in the Twins organization seemes amune to blame on these blogs.
On these Blogs, the following is the order in which TOP 40 individuals who are blamed for the Twins failed season:
1: PUNTO
2: PUNTO
3: PUNTO
4: Gardy
5: PUNTO
6: PUNTO
7: Gomez
8: PUNTO
9: Bill Smith
10: PUNTO
11: Gardy
12: PUNTO
13: PUNTO
14: PUNTO
15: Gardy
16: Vavre
17: PUNTO
18: Young
19: PUNTO
20: Bill Smith
21: Bass
22: PUNTO
23: PUNTO
24: Pohlad
25: PUNTO
26: Gardy
27: Gomez
28: Boffie
29: PUNTO
30: Vavre
31: PUNTO
32: Gardy
33: Bill Smith
34: Young
35: PUNTO
36: Pohlad
37: Bass
38: PUNTO
39: Gardy
40: Bill Smith
Regards,
de plane! de plane!
I wonder if Johan will even mention Anderson or Radke at his HOF induction?
what exactly are Anderson’s successes?
Eric Milton, Johan Santana, Carlos Silva, Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn, Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins.
Anyone concerned about Nathan throwing 2-3 mph slower than in year’s past. He’s still very effective but wondering if he’s wearing down or starting to show some age? Can’t complain with his results - its more of a question what to expect 2-3 years down the line in the middle of this current big contract. ??
Everyone knows Ponson is pitching better this year because he got a hair cut and switched from eating Taco Bell to eating Taco John’s. It’s really simple, but what could Anderson do about that?
ES16 I actually preffer Del Taco myself
Pirates come back to ruin Mets for the second straight Monday (this time without Dougie’s help)…
Memo to the Mets: Don’t plan on making any appearances in October if you can’t beat the Pirates in August.
what was the matter with “Suchie”? don’t you remember his great pitching prodigies Willie Banks, Pat Maholmes, Mike Trombley, Dan Perkins, Frankie Rodriguez, Jose Parra, Mike Lincoln, Rich Robertson… Oh, wait, I see.
Dragon:
They were harping about team doctor Dr. E. Harvey O’Phelan once, so he should be on the list.
Mudcat…whatever doctor is in charge of rehabilitating Mike Cuddyer ought to be fired, actually…
I still don’t know what his exact diagnosis is…I know it sounds like belly-aching…but how do you lose 4 months of playing time with a “fingers that bother you”?
If anyone has any questions about Anderson’s abilities they have to look no further than the starting rotation for an answer. Name another team in contention with a pitching staff that is as young and inexperienced as the Twins. No one expected the Twins to compete this year based on their pitching staff, but Anderson has kept their heads on straight and guided them to successful seasons. You could argue that Bonser has failed as a starter, but Anderson is a pitching coach, not a psychiatrist.
Tacoville, in lakeville, has the best tacos.
The Enchiladas at El Azteca in Plymouth are unmatched - but don’t plan on losing ay weight on that diet 
ES16,
Tampa Bay has a younger staff
the Marlins do also
Plymouth and Lakeville don’t strike me as the first place to go to get good Mexican food … but I’ll take your word for it.
I will have to try that place out fry dog. My wife has family up there. Rey Azteca in Chanhassen is good as any
Tampa Bay has a more experienced staff though
Anyone concerned about Nathan throwing 2-3 mph slower than in year’s past.
2-3 is a bit of a stretch (according to BIS anyway).
Average fastball/slider velocities:
2005 - 94.8/88.9
2006 - 94.8/87.5
2007 - 94.8/88.5
2008 - 93.5/88.3
eaa Growing up in LA I had good mexican food all around me but the Pizza was lousy
the Twins are the most inexperienced, Tampa and the Marlins are younger but probably more can’t miss guys.
Qdoba=not very good.
phil hughes
bedard
carmona
lackey
schilling
hampton
mike gonzalez
glavine
carpenter
mulder
street
haren
sheets
chris young
freddy garcia
colon
bj ryan
zumaya
rodney
percival
penny
oswalt
yeah.. pitchers never get hurt.
blame anderson for all of our pitching injuries..
Mudcat,
The operative in your statement was ONCE!!!
Something that immaterial ranks no better than 182,679,592 on the list. By that time PUNTO would have been listed 66,324,677, Gardy 31,894,576, Bill Smith 24,449,681, Pohlad 16,689,473, Vavre 14,661,275, Gomez 14,547,298 and Young 13,998,472 times.
Regards,
i stand corrected
1 option is missing and that is going witn an extra pitcher at least during the road trip. Bring up an extra arm until Aug 30th. Then set the playoff roster w/o the extra arm and bring up the reeforcements. This would mean sending Ruiz down for a couple of weeks or taking a bold move and DFA Lamb. Why not take this gamble as Lamb is just sitting on the bench anyways, and if the Wasdburn story is true then burning a 1 year salary is within means.
not haren
but harden
Jason,
Fingers are marginally important when holding a bat. They might also be important to pitchers, probably less so.
Regards,
Just a thought … I was reading the Miami Herald’s article on the Marlins and it said they will most likely be trading some of their key players this winter (just like almost every other winter for them) and the two main names that were mentioned were Mike Jacobs and Dan Uggla. Uggla seems like he would be a great fit here if we were to move Casilla to SS. Although he looked awful defensively in the All-Star game, he has only 8 errors this year and a very good fielding %. We made a deal with the Marlins for Castillo a few years ago and why not make a deal for their current second baseman. Also, look at most of the other contenders and big spenders and they all have a second basemen and wouldn’t have interest in Uggla.
from roto
Doug Mientkiewicz-1B- Pirates Aug. 18 - 3:58 pm et
Pirates placed infielder Doug Mientkiewicz on the bereavement list.
Mientkiewicz is away from the team due to what is being called a family matter. He may return as soon as this weekend.
Shawn, The Rays starters have nearly twice as many career starts as the Twins’ starters.
I just heard that the A’s are 5-23 since the ASB and the twins have the best record since the ASB.
matt,
I meant to post similar today. Mr. Uggla at 2nd just might work.
The Marlins would probably demand PUNTO as part of the deal, which would be a dealbreaker for most posters on thiese blogs
Regards,
Pepitos Has the best burritos anywhere, and they are huge.
i know the rays are more experienced. I just mentioned that they are also younger. Probably due to more high ceiling guys. Kazmir has been in the MLB since he was 21.
snepp, thanks for the hard stats on Nathan’s fastball. 1.3 mph slower isn’t a huge difference, but it seems in year’s past he started slower and increeased velocity over the course of the season. Its late August and he doesn’t seem to be coming on speed-wise even though his performance is excellent. Just hoping its not the first sign of his decline or overuse.
Punto for Uggla?
Well throw in Boof and Bass and Dr. O’Phelan also.
(although I think Doc passed away, bless his soul.)
I think Punto reminds Gardy of himself/what he wanted to be, as a player. Maybe that’s why he loves him so.
the Marlins make me sick. They want to cut payroll when it is only 22 million now! What an embarrassment.
We robbed them for Castillo, maybe we can rob them for Uggla, as well. They may be weary of dealing with us.
Aren’t the Marlins getting a new stadium soon?
Fry Dog,
it is probably the 1st sign of decline. Hopefully it is a slow decline.
I remind Gardy of what he is becoming
The Marlins want that payroll down to $10 million by Sept. 1.
You’ve got to be kidding me! Pepitos they have one in Eden Prairie. Mudcat Chipotle stinks even worse then Qdoba.
I agree Shawn, heck I started decling at 28!
i think they are getting a stadium. not 100% set i don’t think, but close. I lived down there in 03. The fans loved them and would love to follow a winner.
Shawn
The Marlins remind me of the mid-late 90’s Twins, in that regard. Except the Marlins are accidentally good, once in a while.
The Marlins are close to good now and still super cheap.
Qdoba=not very good.
Agreed. If you have a choice between Qdoba and Chipotle, go Chipotle. They put magic in their burritos.
On a completely unrelated note: I’ve been following Olympic coverage online and am wondering…
How do you pronounce “Duensing” (am I even spelling that right?)
pronounced: Densing
at least thats how they pronounced it on Red Wings wrap
It’s “Done-sing”, isn’t it?
Duensing is pronounced: inconsistent
The Marlins must have fantastic talent evaluators. It really is too bad they gut the team every few years.
Does Michael Phelps have strange type future gummy teeth. You know where the gums show more then little teeth.
“T”:
Did you see the Phelps photo finish?
Check this out, it’s a friggin’ miracle:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/0808/oly.phelps.sequence/content.2.html
At least the Marlins signed Hanley if nothing else.
Phelps and adam everett were both blessed with extra ear.
the Bears are going with Orton over Gross Rexman as their starting QB.
uh oh
Michael Phelps was making 5 mill a year on endorsements prior to this record setting olympics. Does anyone know what he will be making after all these golds this year
Long season for our friends in Illinois.
$10,000,000,000
10 billion a year. I watched that show with Bruce Jenner one day and I don’t know how much that guy is worth but it’s huuuuuge money
jimmybee- More than Boof Bonser.
Phelps is a freak he has the torso of someone 6′11 but from the waste down he would be like 5′4.
Jimmy
In all seiousness, I have heard that it could be worth as much as 250 Million dollars over his lifetime.
Tavaris Jackson had a knee brace and did not practice and evaded reporters and Vikes are looking at Chris Simms. Rumor is the Vikes might not be telling us everything.
Are the Twins telling us everything?
Just asking.
*seriousness
I think $250 Million is larger than some third world Olympic countries’ entire economy.
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Up until 1990 Bruce Jenner sold more then 450 million dollars in excersise equipment and he won all the medals back in the 70’s (I believe 1976). He is worth Bundles so I have no idea what Phelps will be worth.
I think that Bruce Jenner has 2 sons on a TV show called the Princes’ of Malibu. He is loaded and I think as sick as it may sound Phelps will make more
A-rod will be the first player to clear 1 billion and that maybe in salary alone.
BC
It will be close, between a-rod and Tiger Woods.
Definetly Tiger unless this knee injury marks his downfall.
You’ve got to be kidding me Don’t count out Phelps he will compete in 2012 and make even more monopoly type money
It won’t be. With proper rehab, that knee will come back stronger than ever. Any reports to the contrary are sensationalist journalism, meant to drive up web hits/ratings.
Jimmy
But Tiger has such a headstart it won’t be close. Tiger, when healthy, is in the public eye almost all year, while Phelps pops up his Eli Manning looking head once every four years.
jimmybee i don’t think he has the right look. I mean Jenner and Spitz had the good looks to go with the gold. Phelps looks like a he might be part reptile.
BC he has those little shrunkin teeth. Could be from Chlorine from the pool eating away at some of the enamel thus causing little teeth syndrome
Hey do you think any of those Jamaican sprinters play baseball? I mean holy crap i bet Al davis was on the phone with there agents after watching them run.
jimmy are you glad len3 pulled you and new craig back off waivers so you didn’t have to go to access viking circus?
“the Bears are going with Orton over Gross Rexman as their starting QB.”
Would this be akin to saying the Twins are playing Punto over Everett?
Oh geez…I shouldn’t have gone there…LNP had a great weekend; we should be proud at this point (for at least a day).
GGG even happier I wasn’t sent to the Wolves blog with jama, romer and Beneke
BC,
While you are right that Phelps is a freak of nature, you are exaggerating his disproportionate body slightly. He has a torso of someone who is 6′8″ and the legs of a 6′0″ person.
check out gleeman has a side by side of phelps and mauer.
Give me a link GGG
Your right Sweetone i was exaggerating something new to this blog huh.
soory jimmy it was on seth’s blog it’s up on the side bar.
Joe a very good story you wrote judging by all these comments. Brian I agree with you to. Im sure Bobby Korecky will be up here and a few others to.Once they get here I hope they can help this club before we have to play Tampa Bay and the the white Sox a few days later. Sorry no help for the Angels series. I still believe in miracles. let’s hope our Twins do to….
