Gomez Makes The Starting Lineup
Posted on March 28th, 2008 – 10:23 AMBy La Velle
Carlos Gomez is in he lineup today, presumably fully recovered from the cramp in his left hamstring. The Twins wouldn’t play him if they believed he had something more serious.
Extra players today:Righthanders David Bromberg, Zach Ward and David Shinskie, lefthander Jose Lugo, outfielders Matt Moses and David Winfree, infielder Luke Hughes and some guy I’ve never heard of, Toby Gardenhire.
Gardy is a on a back field running a double play drill after Brendan Harris missed one yesterday.
The forecast is for a high of 86 degrees down here. I’m not ready to come back, boss.
Pirates: 1. Nyger Morgan, LF. 2. Luis Rivas, SS. 3. Nate McLouth, CF. 4. Ryan Doumit, DH. 5. Jose Bautista, 3B. 6. Ronny Paulino, C. 7. Doug Mientkiewicz, 1B. 8. Chris Gomez, 2B. 9. Jonel Pacheco, RF. Pitching: Phil Dumatrait.
Twins: 1. Go-Go, CF.2. Mauer, C. 3. Cuddy, RF. 4. Morneau, 1B. 5. D.Y., LF. 6. Monroe, DH. 7. Lamb, 3B. 8. Harris, 2B. 9. Everett, SS. Pitching: Liriano, then Bass, then Reyes.
265 Responses to "Gomez Makes The Starting Lineup"
Punto Sucks.
Enough with the Punto bashing already. Point made. Try coming up with something clever, or insightful for a change.
Looks like the Twins have decided on a lineup. Is that really the best the Pirates could come up with? They are the Twolves of MLB.
Ain’t a bad team out there today. I think they’ll do well.
i bet toby gardy is better then punto.. toby hits .120 i think in A ball
Why is Tobby getting AB’s with the big club? Am I missing something? He shouldn’t even get an invite to Spring Training.
Let’s all hope for a great start from Franchise. This is a huge day for him.
punto sucks is clever enough for me
Punto really Sucks.
I’m surprised by the lack of Kubel the last couple of days. Has Monroe won the starting DH job?
If the Twins hit into a double play today, it’s going to be an all Ex-Twins affair. Gomez, Rivas, and Doug.
I may have missed the memo, but is Rivas officially a shortstop now?
Why is Tobby getting AB’s with the big club? Am I missing something?
Isn’t AAA ball under way? I’m guessing whichever players aren’t on the big league roster at this point are over there, meaning the “bench” so to speak for the squad today is just a bunch of guys.
Maybe LEN3 will explain the concept of “extra” players. I’m curious as to which “big league” guys are usually available at game time during Spring. It could be that aside from the lineup and a few bench guys that the rest of the squad has drills, or something going on.
With the Pirates having a JV lineup out there today, I’d temper those expectations/reviews of Liriano’s performance.
I’m laughing all the way to the bank counting my 2.4 mill salary you losers!!
Who has it better me getting paid big big bucks playing baseball or you jerks getting $18.50 an hour and so bored you have to blog all day. Pathetic!!!
With the Pirates having a JV lineup out there today, I’d temper those expectations/reviews of Liriano’s performance.
Sadly that is almost the Pirates A lineup. Pittsburgh is so bad a piece of crap like Punto would bat cleanup for them
(oh wait, dont give Gardendolt any ideas)
Toby’s getting AB’s because he hasn’t been optioned to a minor league team yet, the only level in the minors that has an official ’spring training’ is AAA, thats why you have heard either guys getting optioned to AAA (span, pridie) or being sent to the ‘minor league camp’, guys in the minor league camp can still go along with the MLB club to spring games to get work because they only play against other players in their organization in the spring, ie-> why you’ve heard about Gardy going to the ‘minor league’ camp to watch New Brighton play Fort Myers, etc…
I’m hopeful that Liriano will have a great day (not just a good day) against this pathetic Pirates linup. Those boneheads that picked the Twins to finish last in our division are going to be eating major crow by the end of the season. Go Twins!
If some of the comments around here are any indication of what the regular season discussions are going to be like…it’s going to be one long, boring, and probably downright dreadful season.
Serious kudos to LEN3, JoeC, and Howard for not just giving up on the whole concept by this point.
Whoa I had a quick panic attack looking at the line-up — “We’re starting Luis Rivas, Doug Mientkiewicz, AND Chris Gomez?!?!?” Thankfully they are all on the Pirates.
t:
you think this is bad read the viking access blog, there can be 200 posts and maybe 2 or 3 may be about football it’s like a bunch of grade school kids.
Monroe’s getting a lot of the DH starts so far…maybe Kubel won’t be getting the majority of them during the regular season.
The only reason Toby Gardenhire is a bench player today is because every other member of the Mauer family has already headed north for the regular season to start Monday. I guess the word “Nepitism” isn’t in their vocabulary. They draft Gardy’s kid for no reason (he didn’t even really play in college at Illinois for cripes sake) and they also draft Mauer’s brothers just to keep the Baby Jesus happy. Terry Ryan’s kid pitches for the Gophers. Who’s willing to bet they waste another draft pick on him in a couple of years? I’ll give you 100 to 1 odds. Any takers??
its funny.. i cant even get a password for the vikings blog.. i made a account 5 times and never got an email…
Wait until you guys see Lamb on a regular basis. I just saw him in Spring Training. He’ll make us long for the days of Gaetti, Pags, or even Punto. He’s a butcher with the glove who also makes mental errors. His only saving grace is that he can hit somewhat. This guy is no bargain, believe me. And he’s signed for two years. We’ll want to run him out of town in one year. Trust me.
“The only reason Toby Gardenhire is a bench player today is because every other member of the Mauer family has already headed north for the regular season to start Monday. I guess the word “Nepitism” isn’t in their vocabulary. They draft Gardy’s kid for no reason (he didn’t even really play in college at Illinois for cripes sake) and they also draft Mauer’s brothers just to keep the Baby Jesus happy. Terry Ryan’s kid pitches for the Gophers. Who’s willing to bet they waste another draft pick on him in a couple of years? I’ll give you 100 to 1 odds. Any takers??”
i say 95% chance we take him some point in the draft if hes not already taken..
I want Kubel. I like Monroe. I love Monroe. Monroe should be our “Big bat off the bench”. I want to see Kubel as our primary DH. Everyday. Raked in the minors. Destroyed his knee. Raked last half of last year. Now he’s healthy. Please Gardy, play this kid. Don’t make him ride the pine. Please don’t screw this kid up. You can tell by his body language he’s a lade back dude. I think given his statistical history this could be a do or die year. I want him as the DH !!!
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lion,
The last 30 rounds (of 50) of the draft are lottery tickets.
They could draft YOU in the last 10 rounds and not risk losing anything.
I guess the word “Nepitism” isn’t in their vocabulary.
Actually it would be in their vocab, since you feel they exercise it.
Who’s willing to bet they waste another draft pick on him in a couple of years? I’ll give you 100 to 1 odds. Any takers??
Those are some seriously long odds that Ryan’s kid gets drafted. I thought you felt the Twins draft family members out of spite.
…Do you even know what you’re complaining about?
Dang… Rivas, Mientkiewicz, and Gomez all going against the Twins. What’s with the Pirates hoarding all these former Twins? Who do they think they are, the Reds?
I’m one of the avid posters on the AccessVikings blog as well(RagnaroK), its kind of a fraternity over there, guys have been hanging out there for years, its like a circle of friends who like to josh eachother while they’re working, very juvenile sometimes yes, but thats the nature of the group of about 20 people who are on there all day every day, very hard to get accepted by everyone there if you’re new to it. Very loyal following on the AV blog.
Last season Toby G got the game winning hit on the last day of spring training. It was the weakest of liners that just made it through a drawn in infield but it got the job done. I found it hilarious
How is this line-up suppose to tell us if liriano is ready?
The pirates are terrible!!!WOW
I can’t believe anyone can complain about our team when the pirates fans have to watch this bunch!!
Monroe was signed to build up our bench, give us somebody decent to pinch hit in the 8th or 9th inning … and occasionally DH & fill in in the outfield. Let Kubel swing away, get him 400+ at bats to see what he can finally do. If he doesn’t get hurt he’ll probably hit about .270 with 12-15 homers. Not great DH stats, though.
Twins probably will take their lumps this year with their young pitching and the question marks at 3B, 2B and CF. The have to compete in the AL Central, playing almost one-quarter of their games against Detroit and Cleveland. Don’t get too bent on them having to win. It’ll be a development year & if they’re anywhere near .500, consider it a bonus as they continue to build for 2010. Projected wins — 72-75.
Kubel is the man this will be his break out year!!!
Go Kubes!!!!
Wow, I’ve heard of 3 people in the pittsburgh lineup today…I’ll give you 1 guess as to who they are and why I know them…anyone who thinks the twins will be pathetic this year take a look at the Pirates, wow, brutal.
Come on Kubes can hit better than .270
and 15 HR’s.
I think .300 and 20 HR’s giving the Twin’s some production from the 7 spot.
Is Lamb really that bad with the glove??
I thought he improved??
He’ll never last if he can’t field.
Cory Koskie how I’ve missed thee.
peoplewhoarewastingaretimetalkinggarbageaboutpuntoneedtogetalife!
If Kubel does better than .270 and 15 homers I will send you a Jason Kubel bobblehead doll.
Sounds like Lamb may be better in the WWF than fielding balls at 3B. Hands like a wrestler, they’re saying. Hope they’re wrong.
on mlb trade rumor they mention the twins interest in ryan freel. does anyone think he’d be better than #8?
he can play lf, rf, cf, 2b and 3b and is a career .270 hitter. if he doesn’t cost much wouldn’t he be a better option?
Anyone know if they are doing gameday again today? All I have been able to find so far this spring was “live” box score and those really suck. Someone linked to gameday yesterday.
Don’t get me wrong the Pirates suck big time but his is not even close to there starting line-up. Their starting 2B, SS, LF, CF, RF, & 1B are on the bench today. Liriano should really let them have it.
“How is this line-up suppose to tell us if liriano is ready?”
Liriano (and other pitchers) are evaluated by the quality of their pitches (location, movement and velocity).
Pitching coaches try to minimize the hitters in that evaluation.
gogo - are is not our…
I’ll take Lamb’s improvement as a hitter over Punto at 3B any day of the week over the dropoff in his glove. How many hits go to a 3rd baseman a game (or any position for that matter?), 2? 3? I bet it averages about 2.5… anyway, How many of those is he gonna misplay? 1 out of 20? 1 out of 30? thats 1 bad play every 10-15 games.
I’ll take the 6-10 more hits in 30 AB’s that Lamb will give over punto compared to 1 more error in 30 chances compared to Punto ANY DAY.
Lamb’s fielding is not going to be that big of a problem, he’s adequate, which is fine.
if you go to the twins page on MLB.com there is also a link to listen to the radio broadcast…
Yes but that doesn’t fly too well at work.
or its on AM1500 in the twin cities I believe
Sane beat me to the punch regarding evaluation. In addition to the evaluation of his pitch location and movement, which we are unable to see, we will know if he is ready if he cannot shut down that pathetic Pirates lineup.
I am expecting 5 strong innings of 2 hit ball, 1 run, 2 BB and 5k’s for “The Franchise” this afternoon allowing them to take him North and pitch the 4th game of the season on Thursday afternoon vs. Ervin Santana.
unfortunate, I listen to music and surf the net all day at work and no one cares… one of the perks here I guess…
I hope Liriano throws 70 pitches, hopefully 5 innings, gives up <4 hits, walks <2, and K’s 5+, and no runs to this pathetic lineup. If he does that, I think he comes north
that is our A lineup folks to start the year, wonder how long til changes are needed, hopefully none…..very solid 1-8, and everett will hold his own, and moreso in the dome on the carpet….i look for very good things from this offense….hope i am not nuts…
Games on the radio today i’m stoked only thing missing is a cold beer the lake and my fishing rod.
I hope they are stretching out Bass today.
Then they can keep Liriano on the roster and pitch Bass in his rotation spot on Monday, April 7 in Chicago.
Jerry D, I agree with you 100% but wouldn’t Irving Santana be pushed up in the Angels rotation becasue their 1 & 2 are on the DL, lucky us. Although we usually hit Lackey pretty good.
What do you hink the Nat’s would want for Dmitri Young in a trade. We might be able to acquire him for a DH spot
how hard is liriano throwing today
So what are they saying on the radio about Liriano’s velocity so far today?
Has anyone been able to find video of Livo’s kick to first?
liriano, 1 inning, 2 K’s…good start
homerun bautista
do you need a MLB subscription to listen to the game through their site?
wow, Rivas is batting in the 2 hole today, and Bautista is batting fifth. Not a good day to be Dougie Baseball.
T says:
March 28th, 2008 at 10:37 am
I’m surprised by the lack of Kubel the last couple of days. Has Monroe won the starting DH job?
If the Twins hit into a double play today, it’s going to be an all Ex-Twins affair. Gomez, Rivas, and Doug.
haha Cuddy hit into that DP in the first.
Is Gomez really faster then Reyes and who is quicker out of those 2 and Ichiro
Well considering how fast that Bautista homer left the yard i would guess it was a high fastball but only around 90 mph.
Mike Cincotta,
Check the last paragraph in JoeC’s Lead in to his latest thread for Livan’s kick.
no doubt that gladden wants liriano to stay behind a couple of weeks and build his arm up….
through mlb.com yes, but not at KSTP’s website, listening to it there now, commercials…
is Gomez quicker then Ichiro and Reyes
Jared, the Angels have tentatively set their rotation as;
1. Weaver
2. Garland
3. Saunders
4. Santana
5. Mosely
AM 1500 doesn’t stream Twins games. How are you able to listen to it online? Can you post the link? Thanks!
crap, I guess you have to listen through MLB.com if you want to hear over the internet, KSTP doesn’t stream in game stuff…
I thought it was just commercials when I connected… I was wrong
LH & EJ attempting to sing:
Dimitri has been terrible this ST and is an injury risk. He’d be another RonDL White, Tony Batista, or Jeff Cirillo and we all know how that turned out.
Keep, can I get a link? I went on KSTP.com but couldn’t find a link
n/m
2 innings, 4 K’s, 2 BBs, 1 HR, 1 ER.
no more runs or walks!!! keep piling up K’s though Cisco
Four Strikeouts for Liriano thus far(2 innings), the fourth with the slider. He did give up the long ball, but I’m encouraged thus far.
Glad Dougie Baseball made the Pirates. He’s the best defensive 1B I’ve ever seen and was always a favorite of mine. He got a ring with Boston too!
Gladden needs to get a grip. Liriano might not go north, but Gardy says he has a shot. Gladden should be a little more objective.
Yes Gomez is faster than them.
I don’t know why you’d be interested in acquiring a third DH anyway. I’d say the two we have is enough.
the MLB.com gameday radio stuff is pretty cheap though, $15 bucks for the whole year of every game they broadcast…
How is the reception through Gameday Audio?
“If Kubel does better than .270 and 15 homers I will send you a Jason Kubel bobblehead doll.”
What’s your email address so I can send you my mailing address.
You’re not really an “insighter” unless you look at Kubel’s minor league numbers and consider the fact he hasn’t felt good on his knees until last year after the ASB when he laid down this hitting line:
.303/.379/.511 with 6 homers, 15 doubles, and a K:BB of 33:23
And that’s in 178 ABs. Project that over whole season. I don’t know about you, but I think that makes a pretty good DH (much better than Monroe, anyway).
have they said anything about Cisco’s velocity if anyone is listening?
I’d like to know if he’s throwing any faster than the 92-94 he was in his last start…
Fred - I don’t know, I think Monroe and Kubel are about even as far as a DH goes, but still give the power advantage to Monroe. Plus Monroes been tearing it up this spring.
I see about 15-20 homers in a full season at DH for Kubel, with monroe in the same role, I’d project him 20-30.
Kubel would probably have a slightly higher average, but I think they’d produce about the same but with more home run #’s for monroe
uh oh liriano hurt….
Liriano came up limping after the play…
with them supposedly splitting time at DH, and both being backup outfielders,
I’d say Kubel goes about .290, 14 HR’s, 65 RBI.
Monroe goes .275, 19 HR’s, 65 RBI.
which would translate to DH production of around .280, 25 HR’s, 100 RBI. Thats a big step forward from the twins DH production the last few years.
what kind of play happened? (no!!!….
)
dont scare me like that La Velle…
Liriano proceeds to K next batter…
Liriano pulled up limping after the bunt play but has remained in the game…
“Kubel would probably have a slightly higher average, but I think they’d produce about the same but with more home run #’s for monroe”
I don’t think Craig Monroe will hit above .260, and he won’t hit more than 20 HR. He’ll also get on-base at around .315.
I think Kubel could go .290-.300, with an OBP around .360, with a higher slugging percentage because, even if he only hits 15 homers to Monroe’s 20, Kubel will have around 40 doubles.
The kid is 26. We’ve never seen his entirely healthy and all signs indicate he is a good hitter–he can work the count, draw a walk, hit to the opposite field, etc.
We know what Monroe is–he’s a guy who struck out in almost a third of his ABs last year–which would be fine if he had been swinging at strikes, but he doesn’t have a great eye at the plate and won’t OBP beyond .320 (and that’s only if he’s lucky).
The choice is clearly Kubel. Monroe was signed to be the bench player and spot starter. That’s what he should do.
Can anyone fill us in on how Liriano is looking? Is his limping serious?
Lavelle any word on how fast hes throwing as of yet? Is he trowing all his pitches today so far thanks.
GoGo walked!!!!!
I wish the sexy fox would have tried 3rd base. I would love to get him back in a twins uniform. Any word on if Koskie is offically done playing baseball?
Liriano is in the groove. He has to make the club. His off speed pitches are confusing Pirate hitters and he has struck out 7 through 4 innings.
7 K’s for Liriano. I’m starting to get my hopes up. 1-2-3 Fourth Inning for the Franchise.
Thats what I’m talking about (in a kip voice)
they said hes throwing his fastball 90-91 and has touched 92. his slider is being clocked at 82.
his change is looking really god.
Unfortunatley i don’t think Corey Koskie even knows who Korey Koskie is anymore too bad i always liked that guy.
his change is looking really good.
liriano: 4IP 2H 1R 2BB 7SO
all of that in only 40 pitches
Jerry D but the Pirates are usually lousy I want more proof of Liriano’s effectiveness
How many of those K’s were on Rivas?
was Rivas wearing his baby blue Jordan jump suit? I swear I saw that guy 3 times wearing that one outfit. All on seperate days too.
Are the Twins really getting 1-hit by Phil Dumatrait right now?
This is depressing.
Rivas actually has one of their 2 hits and a BB in his other AB.
Jerry D,
Thanks for the update on the Halo’s pitchers.
“Monroe was signed to be the bench player and spot starter.”
His salary disagrees.
Corey Koskie is trying to catch on with a big league club the last article I saw in the Winnipeg Newspapers.(Paper near his hometown of Anola, Manitoba). I believe he intends to give it till mid-season to see if anyone is interested before he hangs ‘em up officially. Koskie was a good player but a better ambassador and person. He looked after his money as well so he’ll be alright.
Rivas to Gomez to Dougie for the double play….lol
Sadly, $3-4 million isn’t much at all in MLB anymore… there are more expensive bench and part-time players in the game than Monroe.
I have faith that Liriano is good at some point this year, but he’s facing a AAAA lineup today, so I don’t know what we are learning for sure. Hopefully we’ll get an honest assessment of how he actually pitched somehow.
Fred - I’m not denying Kubel is probably the better option (for the future absolutely…)
But despite you saying we know what monroe is, your analysis of what the GM knew him to be is wrong. He was brought in to be a Power Bat/DH/backup OF from the right side, which this team has been severely lacking the last 5 years and they struggled because they were lefthanded hitting heavy.
You cant throw Mauer, Morneau, Lamb, and Kubel (4 pure lefties) into the lineup every day. add the switch hitters in there and potentially there could be 6 lefties in a game one day, that rarely is the case with any game.
I think Kubel will end up playing about 70-90 games as a DH, 20 as an OF.
and Monroe plays 50-60 as a DH and 20 as an OF while being the main PH guy…unless someone blows gardy and the fans away with his play and takes the DH job outright.
right now, I think Kubel is getting Too much credit for one good half season (though I love the progress and potential) and Monroe is not getting enough for being a proven vet, even if he K’s once every 4 at bats and hasn’t hit well the last few years (avg wise). he still had 11 HR’s and 55 RBI playing in 99 games last year while hitting only .222. a full season thats about 18 HR’s and 75 RBI, which is a big step up in production (if not avg) for twins in his role.
They’ll both get there opportunities, and thats a good thing, but I don’t think you can say right now without a doubt that Kubel deserves the Permanent role over Monroe, the first shot at it, ya probably, but not the permanent role.
what’s happened to Delmon? his BA has been steadily diminishing! he better be saving his hits for next Monday!
Koskie is stealing money from the Brewers. Take some advil and get your ass back on the field. I have never seen a softer professional athlete than Corey Koskie. The guy needs t otoughen up a bit.
Well that makes nine or so solid innings for Liriano in a row over two starts. I think he’s made the statement. Put him on the team Ron.
I’m more concerned with Justins hitting at .211 right now he hasn’t done much all spring i hope he’s not still having problems related to last years HR derby.
I’m predicting it now, Liriano is coming north after this display…
Um, Koskie is no longer with the Brewers.
Plus, do some research on Post Concussion Syndrome. Koskie’s was so bad at one point he couldn’t even play with his kids and he basically had to just sit around to avoid get dizzy.
liriano 5innings 3 hits 1 run 2bb 7k’s
Keep(JohanAndTorii)AtAnyPrice
Monroe I believe will be the much superior option at DH. I agree Kubel got ntirely way to much credit for 1/2 a season
with only 44 pitches! i wonder how long they’ll stretch him out today? got to let him go at least a couple more innings!
Punto Sucks.
Koskie wears the shortbus helmet.
Bill Brasky: The Brewers traded for Koskie when they knew he had injury problems and he is no longer under contract with them. A concussion ended his career, if its over. That type of injury can be very scary and ends a lot of careers in the NHL and NFL. He was definitely prone to the injury bug, but you can’t fix a bad concussion with a couple of pills.
Bill, how can you be such a douche toward Corey Koskie, he was a fan favorite while here and deserved it because he was a good player and an even better person.
Lets see you suffer through 5+ concussions and see how you feel with post-concussion syndrome and trying to make it back into baseball while teams are weary of you because of this.
has nothing to do with his toughness, players are forced into retirement all the time from post-concussion syndrome, and he’s working hard to come back, I wouldn’t question his toughness, any amount of advil or Vicatin for that matter is gonna help with what he has to deal with.
and I stand by my douche statement towards you for saying that about such a class act.
Justin,
The pitch count for Gameday is inaccurate. A stikeout is always 3 pitches, a walk is always 4 and every other hit/out is 1 pitch.
Hopefully they have it correctly once the season starts.
For everyone who says “Punto sucks” what do you propose the Twins do with him?
Waive him… he passes through the majors and ends up in the minors making 2.4 million a year.
Cut him and have to pay him anyways.
or
We keep him and use him as a defensive replacement and a pinch runner, with the occasional start to spell our other infielders…
Maybe Punto can be traded to Jacksonville with the rest of the Twin Cities spares.
Punto sucks. Waive him. If someone picks him up, great. If not, send him to Rochester.
It’s baseball. Why would a player need to be spelled?
Punto needs a mullet.
Koskie is a fraud. When he left Minnesota and signed with Toronto, he claimed “it’s not about the money”. Whatever Corey. It was ALL ABOUT THE BENJAMINS. Why else would he leave a team like the Twins that has a legit chance to make the playoffs every year? Toronto will NEVER make the playoffs again with NY and Boston in their division. Others said he left because the playing surface in the Dome was hard on his fragile body. Hmmm, what surface do the Jays play on in the Rogers Centre. Another theory was that he’s Canadian and wanted to play in his native country. Hmmm, Minneapolis is a lot closer to his hometown than Toronto. Koskie may be a nice guy but he’s a fraud. Taking out a full page add in the Strib after he left was a cover up. He just wanted to get paid. I don’t blame for wanting more $$$ but don’t think us fans are idiots and lie to us.
as deficient as Punto is swinging a cylindrical piece of wood, He’s still got value as a defensive replacement, pinch runner, spot starter. (not 2.4 mil worth, but thats what were stuck with)
Wikipedia says:
March 28th, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Punto Sucks.
GET A LIFE!
Punto gives all spares hope. He’s like the Chuck Norris of spares.
Fred, you make some good points about Kubel, but you can’t project a guy’s minor league production to what he’ll do in the bigs. Cuddyer’s minor league numbers were off the charts, but is just a slightly above average major league hitter. We’ll see whether he can reproduce his ‘06 numbers — pretty average last year, and kinda scares me that he’ll be relied upon in the #3 spot this year. I say let Delmond bat there and have a big year — .320/20/110. And soon he’ll fully replace Torri’s numbers.
Sure, give Kubel the full shot at DH, but don’t expect more than .275/15/80, until he shows he can have a break through season.
Bill, If I remember correctly, Koskie left because he wasn’t sure he’d play here anymore, he was coming off an injury, and I believe that was the year the Twins wanted Cuddyer to take over 3rd base. Toronto offered him more opportunity to play.
Did Koskie have an affair with your wife, which led to your subsequent divorce? because thats the only way I see that you could have such a Hatred toward’s Corey Koskie.
quit being a douche.
Sweet one foul balls are pitches as well
Not sure if he’d play here anymore?? Huh? WTF are you talikng about? We’ve had a gaping hole at 3B since he left. Do you follow the Twins? How in the world would he not play? He’d have to stay healthy for more than a week but a 70% Koskie was still 10 times better than a healthy Punto.
Bill - did you forget to read what I said right after saying he wasn’t sure he’d play here anymore? Injury, twins wanting Cuddyer to play 3rd…
still a douche…
steve,
“there are more expensive bench and part-time players in the game than Monroe.”
How often have the expensive bench and part-time players been signed by the Twins?
and for that specific purpose?
My recollection - never!
Does that mean Punto is 7% of the player koskie is?
Bill
When Cuddy came up he was going to play 3B. That is why the Twins lowballed Koskie so much, they thought they had his replacement.
Bill: Koskie is Canadian and found the idea of playing in Toronto very appealing because, as you said, it is his native country. Minnesota is not in Canada, but Toronto is the only Canadian team. Are all the players who “come home” to play in Minnesota frauds for leaving their old teams behind? I think not, and neither is Corey for wanting to play in Canada for the team he followed while he grew up.
This said the Twins made the right move in turning him loose, as they often do with players. Corey’s results after Minnesota proved that. I hope he can make a come back though, however unlikely.
Bill don’t hate Koskie Nooooooo!!!!! Hate Kubel because he is a bottomless pitt of unkept promises towards greatness but not Kubel
how many pitches did liriano throw today
At the end of his final season, it was pretty much a for gone conclusion that Koskie was gone. The Twins the highly touted Cuddyer waiting in the wings. I’m sure they would have signed Koskie as a luxury, but there was no urgency in doing so. For the most part, Koskie leaving was pretty mutual.
and now you’re saying “70% Koskie was still 10 times better than a healthy punto”. I don’t get it, do you have multiple personalities? which is it? Koskie is soft? or he’s better than punto? defending and slamming… not making sense
Taking Liriano out after 5 good innings with a low pitch count tells me they had no intention of bringing him North. I say bs on the Twins part. Hope I am wrong.
and thanks to everyone else for seconding my Cuddyer was gonna take over remark
Lets bring those Kubel base-case projections, if he stays healthy all year at DH, to .275/15/70. I think the Twins would be happy with that.
Monroe will DH in stretches, but overall is too prone to the strikeout to hold that spot. He may strike out 1/3 of the time. Kubel will make better contact & that’s more Twins baseball.
liriano last 2 games, 9 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 12 k’s, 4 BBs.
Bring him north and let him sling it Gardy!! he’s on his way back… 75% of ‘06 still puts him as a good ‘ace’ for this team.
BC in ND,
Yes I know foul balls are pitches.
I was referring to MLB gameday. For ST it doesn’t give an accurate pitch count.
If you look through the pitch by pitch you will see that every strikeout was on 3 pitches and every walk was on 4 pitches and everything else was on 1 pitch.
If Liriano can go five solid innings no reason he can’t go six next time, in the show. I agree he better come north.
SweetOne, that is good news then that Liriano must have thrown a lot more pitches then we thought. Thanks!!! Hopefully that means I am wrong! I like being wrong in this case.
Kubel only gets hits when it doesn’t matter. 2 men on Kubel up at the plate down by a run Captain choke choke time. Fly ball out to the right fielder and that ends the game.
Where did I say Koskie sucked? I just said he was soft because the guy got hurt lacing up his cleats. Gee, a 3B that can hit 20 HR and drive in 80-100 runs/year. Yeah, we don’t those types of players around. We’ve got Nick Punto and Tony Batista to lean on. Cuddyer at 3B? HAHAHAHA…that lasted about a week.
I’m guessing liriano threw about 70 pitches Aaron, that puts him track with everyone else… strike-out pitchers always throw more pitches than contact pitchers, takes at least 3 pitches to get K’s, with 7 K’s, thats at least 21 pitches, probably more like 40 on the K’s alone. the other 8 outs I’m guessing were around 25-40 pitches. thats not a low pitch count.
Yeah, but this is 5 innings against the Pirates. They have Luis Rivas. There needs to be a new statistic where era’s are augmented against the ‘Burgh.
John Gordon made $238 from his Little Big League royalties last year. Cool!
Liriano to the rest of the pitching staff: “my better is better than your better!”
IMO Liriano will come north only if Bass can start in Chicago on April 7.
If Bass doesn’t get stretched out today, Liriano stays in Fort Myers and Blackburn goes north with the Twins.
Why would we send Liriano to the minor leagues to pitch when he is already the best pitcher on the roster? He will be on a low pitch count, but so what? We have two long relievers in the bullpen (Bass and Guerrier).
whatever bill, done with you. You attacked him without looking at why he was ’struggling’ to come back. Injury prone - maybe, he was on the DL a lot, but I find it low to slam a guy for not playing when he’s been trying to come back from a very serious medical condition and is one of the classiest major leaguers there is. thats all I’m trying to say I guess.
and Cuddyer WAS suppose to be the next big thing at 3B, and he did play an entire season there, not a week. thats where he was originally suppose to play
Thanks for the Gameday links. Can someone explain to me how to get to that site without the direct link from here? I can’t ever seem to find it navigating from the mlb.com homepage.
I did pop the $15 for mlb radio for the year, both because I couldn’t wait any longer to hear Twins ST games, and because the local stations don’t always carry the games on radio or TV here in Sioux Falls….
It is the nature of spring to believe that a young team with a very inexperienced rotation, strong bullpen, minor offensive upgrades, and the loss of the bulk of your starting staff from a .500 ballclub can magically compete for the division. (But secretly I believe it, and I think most of the people here fall into the same category - I wouldn’t bet on it, my head tells me it won’t happen, but I sure hope, and see the seeds of the future here).
So Bill, who are you blaming? Koskie for leaving or the Twins for letting him leave? You are talking out of both sides of your mouth. Your original arguement was bashing Koskie for leaving.
Livan and Elton,
Why don’t you check out Kubel’s splits last year with runners in scoring position:
.297/.350/.497
How about two outs and RISP:
.324/.377/.479
SD Tom,
I believe that the Gameday stuff isn’t officially working for ST. I think the links posted here, the people “cheated” to get to them.
During the regular season you should be able to get it directly from MLB.com or Twinsbaseball.com.
I think the Twins allowing Koskie to leave had a lot more to do with spending big money(at that time) on someone who was pretty injury prone, more than having Cuddyer in the wings. I
The Twins certainly hoped Cuddy could fill the role, course it didn’t work out that great. The Twins always try to spend their limited payroll well and at the time they were probably thinking about locking up Torii, Santana and Radke. Koskie may have gone through the same type of thing Torii and Johan just did. The “We want you but can’t keep you syndrome”
2nd inning of Bass’ pitching based loaded no outs (LNP, playing CF again missed the cut off man in a throw allowing the runners to advance…)
About Liriano’s performance: it sounds from what the radio commentators say that the strike zone is small, so his Ks were not gimmes. Very encouraging performance
End of inning - one run in.
Dave T - I’d put Liriano on a low-pitch count the whole year, him going 6 innings and K-ing 10 while throwing around 80 pitches prolongs the life of his arm and effectiveness of his slider, and is also better than what the other 4 starters will give us 80% of the time.
TJ - “So Bill, who are you blaming? Koskie for leaving or the Twins for letting him leave? You are talking out of both sides of your mouth. Your original arguement was bashing Koskie for leaving.”
word…
redstorm is that for the good 1/2 of last season the whole last season or is that for his career
The numbers I put up were Kubel’s career numbers (even though I mistakenly said last year)
SD Tom - I just have a bookmark to a gameday page and change the date and teams each game. If you look in the address you can see the three letter abreviation for each team with visitor first then home team. That required putting in 28 for the day today and pit for the visitor and min for the home team. Won’t matter after tomorrow because the real interactive gameday will be back once the season starts.
must have got hits while I ran to the restroom because I saw that kubel was coming up to bat. Sorry Applebees darn Nacho’s make me wolf out
Toby got picked off first! Sorry Ron.
Must have got hits while I ran to the restroom. I would run over there quick when I saw that kubel was coming up to bat. Sorry Applebees darn Nacho’s make me wolf out
go to mlb.com/mlb/gameday. Its not cheating either.
Fred, you make some good points about Kubel, but you can’t project a guy’s minor league production to what he’ll do in the bigs.
There are at least half a dozen excellent and heavily used projection systems that disagree.
Darn Kubel, and no good Applebee’s Nacho’s make me tear off my shirt and run quickly to the restroom like a warerwolf
Toby got picked off?
If that was Casilla, he would have been outrighted to Beloit.
Toby will just forfeit his allowance.
The only memorable hit I remember for Kubel is the walk off grand slam. Granted; we haven’t given him that many opportunities the past 2 years.
snepp - and i’d say those projection systems are right at most 15% of the time.
sane toby gardy got picked off
87.6% of all statistics posted on the internet are made up.
I would say that you don’t have the slightest clue of the general accuracy of those systems.
redstorm says:
March 28th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
Livan and Elton,
Why don’t you check out Kubel’s splits last year with runners in scoring position:
.297/.350/.497
How about two outs and RISP:
.324/.377/.479
—————————————-
snepp says:
March 28th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
87.6% of all statistics posted on the internet are made up.
I would say that you don’t have the slightest clue of the general accuracy of those systems.
I have a system too; I play a season on MLB 08; adjust attributes to whatever I think they are; EX. Mayer–speed 12. And then I proceed to simulate the season. I actually give these stats to the Pohlad family and that is how they determine salary figures. This last year Johan was out for the season with a sore neck. Mr. Pohlad offered Johan a contract worth 3 million a year…he didn’t accept.
I mean Mauer–oops
xbox 360 mlb 2k8 is awesome but you can’t hit it in the 08 as far as for the 07 in the homerun derby. Coreyk is the big leagues as good as mlb 2k8
snepp, that would be why I said ‘I’d say’, synonym for I’m guessing.
and I love the “87.6% of all statistics posted on the internet are made up.”
I get you’re point, and apply it to you. by saying that your essentially saying your ‘excellent and heavily used’ projection systems are BS. and that your 87.6% is BS, but I think you already knew that and thats why you wrote it…
ehh?
Projection systems can be debated, but that’s boring. Let’s just give Kubel 400 AB’s at #6 in the batting order & see what he does. If he does better than .275/15/70 I’ll send you a Jason Kubel bobblehead doll. (When they come out with one.) 
How many current Twins bobbleheads are there — Mauer, Morneau and ??? Maybe Nathan?
peace out though…
BRING LIRIANO NORTH, I’d love to see him K Torii next week. (still love ya torii, but you aint a twin no more…)
sure it is. Ask Mr. Pohlad. He runs the franchise mode all the time. He can’t figure out the owner always wants to cut payroll and release Redman or Monroe. He thinks they’re both quality players.
mlb.com box score has Punto in CF replacing Gomez. I just can’t believe that putz is getting so many chances. This needs to stop now. Joke is over.
“87.6% of all statistics posted on the internet are made up.”
What system came up with that 87.6% number. THAT is a system I can believe in.
Keep:
i’d love to see Liriano come high and tight on Hunter, then watch him flail at his change up..
Punto went 0-1, to drop to .130, and had a tough opp he couldn’t hang onto in the 9th for a RBI PIT single.
He also overthrew the cutoff man on a single where the runner held at third.
You guys don’t know how to pitch to Hunter? pitch count as follows.
1. High Heat
2. Breaking ball down
3. Breaking ball away.
Would work every time.
“87.6% of all statistics posted on the internet are made up.”
snepp,
That statement is classic.
I want to apologize in advance for all the times I am going to quote that statement on the blog.
Kubel gets to PH…getting used to his new role…and hits into the Twins 4th DP to end the game.
that stat has been thrown around for the past 3 years. Where have you been?
Kubel is taking over Cuddy’s position as DP king
According to Miller’s blog, Liriano threw 74 pitches. I think that he may be stretched out enough to go north.
Woooooooooh Kubel stinks. Wooooooooh bench him. Wooooooh Send him to double A
Gardy said if he could stretch to 70-75 he be heading north.
Player projections have progressed to the point where they have a much better success ratio of 15%. There are measurable attributes such as Fly Ball/Ground Ball ratios, K/BB ratios, OBP, etc., that allow better accuracy than simply someone saying, “I like his swing.”
If you’re not familiar with these things, you should look into them, not dismiss them with a, “I’d say they’re only right 15% of the time.”
You talk as if statistics are made with real numbers or something. I’m sure I could add a good Chuck Norris joke here.
If he threw 74 pitches I am very pleased! Thanks for the update.
Aaron K–does your last name’s second letter an L?
no
You guys don’t know how to pitch to Hunter? pitch count as follows.
1. High Heat
2. Breaking ball down
3. Breaking ball away.
CoreyK, you’re right with the above, especially if it was with the tying or go-ahead run at 2nd or 3rd base late in the game — Torri was toast in those situations. Angels fans will see that soon enough in ‘08 & they’ll be wondering about all that “protection” Torri was to give Guerrero and then ask, “Is this guy worth $90M?” Twins are better off with Go-Go.
never mind– you probably won’t want to talk about mom then.
Yah: as if things that happened in the past have some relationship to things that will happen in the future. I know, it’s crazy.
There should be a sub-category, though, for numbers that aren’t made up but are essentially meaningless. In that category are batting average with RISP, or even worse, men on, two out. There’s no way to get good predictions from such small samples. It’s like throwing your line into one spot on Mille Lacs for three minutes and then saying, “Nope. No fish here. Let’s drive somewhere else.”
IMO Blackburn goes north with the Twins.
Liriano rejoins the Twins for the third rotation after Blackburn has started two games.
Here’s a nice Inning-by-Inning commentary on Liriano’s performance by Phil Miller:
http://blogs.twincities.com/twins/2008/03/liriano_watch_hows_he_doing.html
What? Fish? jk I was wondering if there is some union for statisticians and they talked sports leauges into creating new catagories?!? Let’s say there for the sake of starting a little speculation in this blog
you can’t do that on LENEIL3’s blog. that is blasphamy
Angels fans don’t care if Arte Moreno is paying Torii $90 million or $900 million. It’s his money!
HEY La Velle,
How is Lariano’s doing in the club house now that Santana is gone. From what I remember–they were really close friends.
CoreyK, Just trying to promote competition. 
aren’t they owned by the same company? Or did the trib get sold?
It is really a shame we didn’t even get a wooden nickle for Torii. What does anyone think we could have gotten if we had traded him. Maybe a Phil Hughes or an Ellsbury cause I just thought it would just be cool to know what he wouldv’e been worth.
I think the main reason we didn’t do that was the compensating draft picks. Apparently the brain trust sees some prospects out there that we can grab. Problem is; we won’t see anything from them for 6-7 years and we’ll be having the same conversation about Delmon Young at that time.
We get two draft picks for Torii leaving. Sure, that’s not great, but it’s better than a wooden nickel.
I’ll take two draft picks as long as Terry Ryan has input on who we select. I’ll take that all day!
Yeah, but immediate help would have been great. I believe what we would have gotten we didn’t want to pay for so in all fairness we were short changed by a wooden nickel.
The main reason we didn’t trade Torii is that we waited too long.
Once free-agency was in sight (start of the 2007 season?), Torii stopped negotiating and he had a NO-TRADE CLAUSE.
THE END
Will be fun to see what numbers Torri puts up this year in his first year as an Angel. Will he follow up his two last & great years with the Twins, like .280/30/100 … or was he playing for the F.A. contract & relax now & slink back to his more typical .265/24/80 numbers. Plus his defense was going down, to the keen eye observers. Torri, it was fun, but we’re glad to go with a fresh face in CF.
Hunter did not have a no trade clause. That is 100% false.
Depressing, because we should have signed him to trade him. Every team needs a Torii Hunter on there team I guess except the Twins
Plus even in make believe land, if Hunter did have a no-trade clause, don’t you think he would have been okay with going to the Red Sox last year?
get over it torii hunter and santana are old news now. lets just move on and focus on 08.
When I go see the Twins play the Angels I will cheer for him because he was a sure true class act
He had a “limited” trade clause. I also remember Terry Ryan saying it’s better now days with the arbitration figures some of these guys get; to just let sign with another team in free agency and use the “cheaper” draft picks.
a guy who swings at his teammates is not a class act.
Terry Ryan First Round draft picks:
Matt Moses
Denard Span
Chris Parmelee
Trevor Plouffe
Adam Johnson
BJ Garbe
Ryan Mills
Travis Lee
Kyle Waldrop
Glen Perkins
Also - Joe Mauer, Michael Cuddyer,Matt Garza and Ben Revere
The point - Its not a slam-dunk!
Even if we get draft picks it is not for sure that we will ever see a player as good as Torii was out of any of them and maybe not see one as good defensivly for many tears to come
I just can not stand back and say yeah but we got draft picks for him. It is just dumb to let someone that talented walk and not get anything good for him
Have a great weekend everyone chat on Monday
I apologize.
I didn’t realize it was a limited trade clause.
It doesn’t take a large trade package to out-value two draft choices.
I wish then, that the Twins had taken whatever they could get in a trade.
Terry Ryan for years has put together many quality teams via the amatuer and rule 5 draft. He hasn’t made that many mistakes letting players go via free agency…except the Ortiz deal.
Sane, I’m sure if there was something available; they would have done it.
“as good as Torii was out of any of them and maybe not see one as good defensivly for many tears to come”
For many TEARS to come
That may not be a typo.
it was reported that the red sox offered ellsbury last july for hunter and ryan turned it down. maybe true, maybe not.
Ellsbury? To me he looks like a non-redheaded Bobby Kielty. Another great trade by Terry Ryan.
I didn’t like any of those trade offers by the yanks or socks. And why would we trade Hunter to the red socks? At least we know the Angels will continue not to play up to thier payroll.
You’re right, Torri and Johan are old news & God bless ‘em. Torri someday will look back and see his best years as a Twin & Johan will realize the grass isn’t greener in NY. If he doesn’t bring his “A” game or ends up hurting his arm he will get roasted by the NY fans and press.
In the end Torri and Johan did exactly what everyone was hoping they wouldn’t do — contribute to the ruination of baseball by insisting on top, top dollar. More money doesn’t equate to more happiness/satisfaction, and normally the effect is the opposite.
So, the Twins have a bunch of new guys and they’re starting over. It’s the small market model. The window to win exists for a short time & then closes fast. Still should be fun to follow the Twins, even on the rebuilding side of things.
Ellsbury for Hunter? That would’ve been pretty shocking. The Red Sox didn’t need a LF (Manny) or a RF (Drew) and had two CF’s (Crisp and Ellsbury). I’d chalk that up to internet ghosts.
The Twins probably did as well as they could’ve with Hunter… resigning him would’ve been the worst thing they could’ve done at the salary he got. Getting two good draft picks isn’t bad.
because ryan thought we were out of it by trading castilla but we kept hunter for another 2 months while out of contention only to get two draft picks which will be ???
ryan evidently didn’t think ellsbury was worth 2 months of hunter.
From what I’ve read; the players assocaition puts A LOT of pressure on these guys to keep driving the salary scale up. It will keep happening and thus; we come back to what the twins do and are REALLY good at. Draft as many players as possible and see who wants to step up.
It’s not so much that we let these guys go that ticks me off; it’s that we are more willing to sign these guys (everett, lamb, monroe) than try to go after some guys to fill holes with some potential. Everett? Come on, he’s a skinny Nick Punto. HAH!! it’s been too long since we’ve said something about poor Punto.
Punto will bounce back this year. He’ll bat 265–which is a major improvement, with 24 stolen bases while taking over the perm short stop position at the all star break.
Given the Twins interest in Ellsbury during the Santana talks, I think you’re way off base. I’d be shocked if the Sox offered Ellsbury for Hunter and the Twins turned it down. It doesn’t make sense from either side.
If you really think that’s what happened, find a story from last July; don’t say, “I think I read…”
That’s my feeling, CoreyK. And that’s why I’m down on the Nathan signing. They could’ve used that payroll to sign guys who actually deserve to start in the majors.
It has just been reported that Liriano is going to start in the minors. One start five days from now in Ft. Myers and then a second one five days later in Rochester in the hopes that he is up to 100 pitches.
I don’t get the Nathen signing either. I think it was damage control on the part of the ownership and a bargaining chip for the midseason trade extravaganza.
lol, Access Vikings. Are they still all typing in caps, trying to flirt with the one girl on there and hanging onto the Flaxton joke from like three years ago?
Have the Twins rolled out their new team slogan this year? If not, can I suggest: “Minnesota Twins: Get to know their trade value!!!”
[…] competitive baseball team. However, the danger is always still there; what if Delmon Young or Carlos Gomez doesn’t pan out? Or the many young pitchers the Twins will rely on beginning this year? Or mismanagement by a new GM […]
