Twins-Brewers: Alexi Casilla leaves game with injury
Posted on June 27th, 2008 – 4:37 PMBy La Velle
8:40 p.m.:Moments after Nick Blackburn gave up a long home run to Corey Hart, Alexi Casilla came out of the game and was replaced by Nick Punto. We’re still wating to learn why, so we’ll let you know when we find out.
8:55 Update: Casilla has a sprained left middle finger. He dived into first base after getting a bunt hit in the third, then dived to his left to get Prince Fielder’s grounder in the fifth and came up wincing. He’s day-to-day.
The Twins are going for their 10th straight win. The Brewers have won 8 of 10. A crowd of 30,000 is expected at the Dome tonight to watch two of the hottest teams in baseball.
Twins manager Ron Gardenhire has what could turn into his standard lineup going tonight.
Update: Dennys Reyes is having a MRI on his right knee. He apparently tweaked it during his outing in San Diego and the Twins don’t want to take any chances with it. So Craig Breslow will get the call to try to shut down Prince Fielder in the eighth ininning tonight
Jason Kubel killed the ball today in b.p. He had fans in the upper deck in right scrambling for several long balls.
Carlos Gomez tried to kill the ball, didn’t and was getting so mad at himself that Tony Oliva had to calm him down.
Joe Vavra and Delmon Young were seen talking hitting, again. Hmm… Vavra said he watched tape of all of Young’s 2007 at-bats and he looks the same now as he did then. That, to me, sounds like pitch selection is the main problem. Opponents have him expanding the strike zone, so being more selective would help.
Brewers (43-35): 1. Rickie Weeks, 2B. 2. J.J. Hardy, SS. 3. Ryan Braun, LF. 4. Prince Fielder, DH. 5. Corey Hart, RF. 6. Russell Branyan, 3B. 7. Joe Dillon, 1B. 8. Mike Cameron, CF. 9. Jason Kendall, C. Pitching: Seth McClung.
Twins (43-36): 1. Carlos Gomez, CF. 2. Alexi Casilla, 2B. 3. Joe Mauer, C. 4. Justin Morneau, 1B. 5. Michael Cuddyer, RF. 6. Jason Kubel, DH. 7. Delmon Young, LF. 8. Brian Buscher, 3B. 9. Brendan Harris, SS. Pitching: Nick Blackburn.
272 Responses to "Twins-Brewers: Alexi Casilla leaves game with injury"
glad the lineup didnt change….
Beautiful day and all, if the Dome can’t be packed every game the way the Twins are playing, first place at stake and the Crew in town, then there’s something wrong with baseball fans in this state.
I’ll be there for all three this weekend…
His standard lineup unless Darnell McDonald continues to roll along at his current pace in Rochester….you can’t ignore those numbers forever.
whats the over/under on harris hitting another homer tonight?
McDonald has always put up descent #’s in AAA…he can’t get the job done in the majors though
even with all our success lately it is hard not to notice that our outfield play/hitting is not what it really should be…i dont know why they are so slow to react, but its time to act on span and or d. mcdonald is also having a great year…cuddy and gomez are not putting up like they should and young has just been put back in the lineup…none of this is news to anyone, i just hope they dont let this continue too long, as we need all the offense we can get…im not saying all the answers are in rochester, but i sure would like to find out…..
It will be interesting to see how Young comes back after sitting for three days. I’m guessing he’ll be itching to make an impact.
mj1 you truely are a lack of baseball knowledge. 9 staight wins and you are complaining about outfield. go find a sport that you at least know something about. Please don’t show us any more of your baseball ignorance… i’d laugh at your post if wasn’t so pathetic..
gpfan…ignorant or not, thats the one area this team needs to improve, and if young picks it up, and gomez gets over some of his stuff at the plate, and cuddy becomes somewhat consistent, then there is no problem, but until then, if this team truly wants to contend, they will try to find ways to improve…enjoy the game
gpfan, so you’d not trade Boof for ARod? Of course you would, even with 9 wins in a row. So, the question is, if bringing up Span would also make you better, why wouldn’t you do that?
What exactly should people talk about on these boards, if we are ignorant for suggesting ways to make the team better?
As long as the team is in the thick of it I don’t think you make any major changes to the outfield. Especially with how young Gomez and Young are and how much Cuddy is getting paid. It’s not like they are completely miserable…they just don’t always live up the the profectionist standards of the blog. Barring injury I don’t expect to see Span or McDonald until Sept call ups.
hmmm
I wouldn’t trade Boof for Arod, unless the Yankees were willing to eat 75% of the contract…
for those asking for span or mcdonald, mj1 and jason. please include realistic roster moves that will allow this to happen. the twins will not send Young, Gomez, Cuddy, or Kubel down. They won’t. So what are the roster moves? Cut down to 11 pitchers? I wouldn’t recommend that with such a young staff and Livan. Monroe? Can’t see the Twins doing that either. Hard to take those suggestions realistically without including proposed changes.
How funny is it that Ponson is starting for the Yankees tonight?
Come on, you get the example.
Ok, how about Boof for Evan Longoria?
Razz: I like your way of discussing. You put out a logical argument and were polite, I don’t agree, but I like your post nonetheless.
JP, also a good post. I’d cut Bass. If Span works out, great. If they need another pitcher, you can bring up Graves or Korecky to do Bass’ job. If Span then works out, I’d cut Monroe.
I agree with mj1.
Our outfield sucks. However, so does our infield and pitching, not to mention how I always see heads bobbing down in the dugout from all teammates on each other’s laps. Whats up with that? And why are they always grabbing each others nuts and moaning. And why do we play in the dome? Also, why do the Vikings, even though they are rated so good why will we not make it to the super bowl, or even the playoffs like every year because we are like little boys that get dominated by true men? Finally, why are we such tools?
one move the twins could make would be to cut their losses with lamb, unfortunate as it is…..he has contributed absolutely nothing in the last month or so…total dead weight
JP,
You make an excellent point, but replacing Monroe with Span is not unrealistic IMO. I don’t think it will happen either, but I would not characterize it as unrealistic.
You lose bench power and a veteran PH, but when interleague play ends, PH opportunities will dwindle drastically.
And Span is more likely to offer a day’s rest for a starting OF, than is Monroe.
mwm
i have no problem cutting Bass. but not to audition Span. i still think we need the protection of 12 pitchers with a young staff and livan. its been great when they are pitching deep into games, keep the pressure off the bullpen. but we’ve got detroit twice, white sox, texas coming up. all teams that can hit. with a young staff comes inconsistency and thus a 12 man staff. i also say monroe gives ups something off the bench that span doesn’t. power. i just don’t see what dimension span will give us.
IMO opinion its the back up QB syndrome. anybody have the numbers from when span was up the last time?
“mike wants wins” would cut Craig Monroe loose? Don’t be silly! They need to have SOME power off the bench. Perhaps you should change your moniker to “mike wants losses”….?
Perhaps I would indeed suck as a GM, but I’m sure we’ll never know.
Power is fairly useless if you only connect 4 times a month. That was my issue when they traded for Monroe, and it remains my issue today.
Ok, i’d rather cut Lamb now that someone mentions that. And, yes I know that would cost them some money, but not that much. The cost differential is what Span makes, not what you are paying Lamb.
Updated
Do you guys all wanna touch each other when we type, like just get together and help each other out while watching the Twins, we can blog when we do it!!!!
Remember when the fattest guy in baseball got a inside the park home run on us? that was HOT right guys?
if you cut lamb (which i have no problem with) then all you have for the infield is punto. he’s versatile and all but you need more than one infield option off the bench. if lamb goes macri is called back up.
good stuff lavelle on kubel. he was killing the ball in san diego. good to hear that vavre and young were working together. pitch selection is def key.
mike (wants wins),
I hear you and I get your point and I absolutely think that this team (and fans) should always look for ways to improve, even if the team is in the longest winning run in the majors this year. It is not “naysaying” or raining on the team’s parade, but an admirable way of thinking (in my book). If you are good, why not get better?
Here is where the problem comes: There are 2 trains of thought. One that thinks that a few tweeks here and there can make this team a winner and another one (to which I subscribe) that thinks that the small ball philosophy of this organization/manager/coaching staff needs to change, if we want to see the Twins a World champion again. This philosophy has brought some division wins and maybe another this year. But no championships (even though one of those years this team was the favorite)
It’s a philosophical issue. Some of us cannot live with a B average, others can. Both groups want the Twins to succeed, but the bar is set in different heights for each group…
i would not cut monroe, if anything i would plug him into the lineup more often…thus my point, we are not getting enough from cuddyer, and have not all year, gomez will be great someday, i hope, but has alot to learn, and young is a big mystery right now, and hopefully he will be ok, but at the moment we need help from somewhere, and not just keep plugging the same 3 guys in every nite- gardy did right by taking young out for 3 games, and i have always said monroe would benefit from more playing time, as its tough to ask someone to be great when you only get an occasional at bat, so whether its span, monroe, mcdonald or mickey mantle, i dont give a damn, we need to find some way to increase production from our outfield …its that simple…..
I agree with that last post thrylos. They aren’t fixing that problem from inside the organization, or likely through trade this year though.
I’d rather they win the world series and then be terrible for 5 years and then be great again than just meander along winning the division and doing nothing to get better. That is actually the perfect example. They never took that chance to make themselves better by trade or real FA earlier this decade….
thrylos98
so span is going to be the difference of winning a World Series????
i agree on improving the team. i think most fans, i would say all fans, want improvement from the team and want championships instead of just division titles. i’m asking what dimension Span brings that will make the team better. and what roster moves will make move this possible?
thrylos,
“the small ball philosophy of this organization/manager/coaching staff needs to change”
The problem is that the “philosophy is driven by the personnel”.
You can’t play “gorilla ball” with chimps on the roster. Sluggers are expensive and right now the Twins have one - Morneau. Small ball is the only philosophy that will work unless we develop sluggers, and win with them before they price themselves out of here.
a comment of LaVelle’s update:
pitch selection is the main problem.
Name a single hitter whom Vavra (or Ullger for that matter) helped to be more selective with pitches… that’s the real problem.
So many ideas of changing a team with nine wins a row. I would hate to see us lose a game. Half of the blog would have Mauer and Mourneau. Thank god none of you are in the front office
casilla i think has become more selective, not to say i am a big vavra fan, but something has helped casilla alot
Cuddy’s numbers from June:
.301 AVE .386 OBP .507 SLG .893 OPS
Young’s:
.309 AVE .333 OBP .456 SLG .789 OPS
Gomez:
.238 AVE .273 OBP .295 SLG .568 OPS
Kubel
.311 AVE .411 OBP .607 SLG 1.018 OPS
Gomez definately needs to sit from time to time. The other numbers look pretty good.
“pitch selection is the main problem.”
I thought it was “small ball philosophy”
mj1
Great point. Casilla 2008 vs Casilla 2007 is night and day. and Casilla specifically gave credit to vavra.
Morneau, Mauer and the Seven Dwarfs have scored the third most runs in the AL.
Thats more than many other teams with better hitters.
Pitch selection and “small ball philosophy” don’t seem to be crippling problems.
JP,
absolutely not. Span is part of the problem, not the solution. Bringing up another light hitting bat is the worse thing that this team could do. I’d rather see Monroe have some real chances to show what he can do (he has fewer PAs that Casilla at 3x the time at the ML level this year). I’ve always argued that Span was up, had his chance and blew it and should stay there until September…
sane,
what you are saying is exemplifying why this is an organizational problem. The Twins like ‘toolsie’ guys over power hitters. So the draft them and trade for them. In the last decade they had 3 power hitters. One of which was let go because he’d rather hit home runs than slap balls to the opposite field (Ortiz). Morneau is the second one. The third one is on the cusp (Kubel). He can develop into a great hitter, if this organization lets him… As far as the cost goes, I so don’t buy this argument. If the Twins are willing to pay 2.4 mil a year for a utility player (Punto) who can be replaced by a AAA player (Tolbert) at no loss on the field or bat or 2.8 mil a year for a washed out reliever they can afford to cut (Rincon), they can add that to the $7-11 mil a year they pay an average outfielder (Cuddyer) and sign a power hitter (or 2). I think that its all about a. philosophy and b. planning.
Casilla is getting more hits when he puts the ball in play than before. Unless Vavra had some kind of a magic infusion to make him a more selective hitter as soon as he was called up, it is not Vavra.
“Casilla is getting more hits when he puts the ball in play than before. Unless Vavra had some kind of a magic infusion to make him a more selective hitter as soon as he was called up, it is not Vavra.”
Don’t know what to say to that but if Casilla says his improvement is due to workign with Vavre I can’t argue with the player.
On the other hand if you give credit to Vavre on the improvement from Cassila then you also have say he is responsible for Gomez and Young and I expect them to contine to improve. if they don’t then some of has to go on Vavra
thrylos98,
“sign a power hitter (or 2)”
Check the FA lists from last offseason and there are the Mike Piazza’s and Sammy Sosa’s and little else, unless we are talking A-Rod.
I agree with you on the Twins changing their draft targets. That is how it all changes. Draft, develop and pay your own power hitters. Thats the key.
In fact, this year, the Twins did draft some power hitters. (Ladendorf, Romero, Gonzales, Bigley, De la Osa and Harrington)
If a hitter ignores his batting coach and either succeeds or fails, it is all on the hitter.
If a hitter takes direction from his batting coach, and either succeeds or fails, it is on both the hitter and the coach.
sane,
there might be a change going on this year. I agree. On the other hand, they passed on Frank Thomas (for free)… Also, a change in coaching philosophy from top down should also happen to let these people develop…
if a hitter is frustrated by his manager and batting coach and goes to another organization and becomes an idol (Ortiz) is up to whom?
sane,
It doesn’t matter if the Twins are third in the AL in runs as long as they keep scoring the majority of them via singles and doubles and triples (league leaders in three-baggers!).
Without more homeruns and power hitters the organization is doomed and a World Series is just a pipe dream.
I’m joking, of course. I think Vavra is doing a solid job, especially considering what a young lineup it is.
P.S. And triples are hot, as Batgirl used to say.
Different Twins manager, different Twins batting coach, injury-plagued Twins hitter (Ortiz).
I agree, however, that if they were actually trying to play small-ball with Ortiz, they were nuts.
They may have been tryig to get him to “stay on the ball” longer when he wanted to pull everything.
That could be misinterpreted by Ortiz, or he may just be alibing away his Minnesota years. (or maybe the Twins WERE nuts!)
sane,
Gardy was the manager in Ortiz’ last year with the Twins (2002). If he made a case to keep him (like he did with Punto and Rinco - Nicky and Juannie) he would probably still be with the team. The then hitting coach is the currentteam’s 3rd base coach… Ortiz played 120some games. Not injuries. Manager choice.
I LOVE reading the “Fantasy Baseball” mentality.
For those of you who are unaware, the Baltimore Orioles went that route late 1990’s/early 2000’s.
Angelos’ sons, who are/were Fantasy Baseball Wizards were given a large say in personnel matters. They managed to destroy a largely consistant and successful organization and turn it into a joke.
Also to Mike who wants to win once every 5 years. I might buy into your argument, YET, the best team doesn’t always/usually win the WS. Two examples, 1989 Twins, 2007 Cardinals. Both were marginal teams at best, that got lucky.
Also, I continue to ask for you folks, who are always crying for change in Manager and staff, Give me a name to replace them, that GUARANTEES a WS win. No one has given me a name yet, JUST like NO ONE has given me 1 name of who the Twins should chosen in last years draft in place of the BUM Revere.
Regards,
Dragon,
here are 2 names for you (and they are both available)
Manager: Wally Backman
Hitting coach: Don Mattingly
thrylos98,
Cool: So a WS win is GUARANTEED?
I realize the Yankees have won, something like 10 WS in a row with Mattingly as Hitting Coach, AND he had alot of HIGH PRICED stud hitters.
I’ll BUY my WS tickets NOW!!!
Regards,
Manager has to be Joe Torre.
THEN, you can guarantee………
Never mind!
Dragon did the Twins sneek in a 3rd WS title in 89 too? Damn, the Twins good years fly under the radar too!
Dragon,
that’s a circular argument… nobody can guarantee a world series, but if you get someone like Mattingly as a hitting coach who has actually some hardware to prove his words his players might actually be more prone to listen to him these days vs. saying ’so who are you?’ for someone like Vavra (whose only hardware lives in his tool shed)
My aplolgies to thrylos98,
I forgot that Mattingly had the hitters fine tuned and hitting at record levels. It was the garbage manager Torre who was the reason they only won those WS in their minds.
Regards,
thrylos98,
Of course it’s a circular argument.
Since you folks are crying about current Twins management, YET you give me the name of someone I respect, YET have won EXACTLY the same number of WS as the Twins since Gardy has been manager, AND with a payroll of approx 3+ times as much. Talk of underperformance. IF Gardy & Varva are bad, how much worse is it to have $10+ million Acclaimed and recognized studs at each position and you still can’t win what Gardy etal are castigated for NOT winning.
Regards,
Dragon,
the one year Mattingly was the hitting coach for the Yankees, the Yankees broke the ML team record for home runs (242). The fact that the FO and Steinbranner assembled a pitching rotation out of nursing home rosters, cost them the WS…
I still disagree with the sentiment that the ‘87 Twins were lack luster.
Look at all thos HRs and RBIs the Fab Four hit. Blyleven and Viola HOF type pitchers. An excellent closer. Middle-infield defense.
But, no time to digress right now. Blackburn K’s the first two hitters.
thrylos98,
Won’t disagree, BUT I’m not stupid enough to expect 450 HR’s from ANY set of players on any team with a payroll of less than $100 mil. Ain’t happening. So, how much was Mattingly coaching vs. 6-8 HR hitters at least 1/2 which were purchased with the $$$$ very few teams have?
Regards,
Coaching A-Rod, Jeter, Giambi, Matsui, Bernie Williams, Posada, Abreu, Damon, Sheffield, etc., might help Vavra’s stats a little bit also.
Casilla 
Casilla has all the power the Twins need! Just slot him 5th to protect Morneau! Haha love it!
2 walks and no runs yet from them. Crush it Kubes!
way to swing at ball 4
That’s the last time I make fun of that guy’s chin/beard.
“Coaching A-Rod, Jeter, Giambi, Matsui, Bernie Williams, Posada, Abreu, Damon, Sheffield, etc., might help Vavra’s stats a little bit also.”
I have to agree here. It’s not like Mattingly had to develope many hitters.
Posada, Jeter, Posada, Williams, Cabrera….
Otherwise, most of the awesome Yankees hitters were awesome before they were Yankees.
I’d tend to think the Yanks hitting coach has the easiest job…just remind them before each game which way to hold the bat and they do the rest.
I named Posada twice…it’s a Friday.
Russell Branyan was a minor league free agent signing by the Brewers this year… ‘nough said?
Kubel looking like a rookie striking out. Would have loved to see Delmon have the opportunity to create some magic with the bases loaded.
“nough said?”
Yeah, if our goal is to hit more HR’s but score fewer runs and win fewer games like the Brewers, sign all the minor league free agent sluggers we can get.
“nough said?”
And Cleveland signed Jason Tyner to a minor league contract. And then Juan Rincon.
we need to face facts Twins will always be a “small ball” team because it costs more money to draft,develop, and keep hitters that are real power threats/run producers then the “PLANKTON” type fast little guys we draft maybe it will work.. I have been hard on VAVRA all year but can’t argue with 3rd in runs scored in AL .. let’s see if this is a mirage based on feasting on weak NL or trend. the games after Brew Crew will give a clue
“let’s see if this is a mirage based on feasting on weak NL or trend.”
Johnson, Peavy, Maddux, Webb, Hoffman…
Let me ask the question differently, because both of them were off-season acquisitions. Who would you rather have Russell Branyan (at about a fifth of the cost) or Mike Lamb?
Runge would’ve called him out of the baseline. 
Look at that small ball! Love it!
here comes the PLANKTON!!!!!
Morney needs a dinger here
“Who would you rather have Russell Branyan (at about a fifth of the cost) or Mike Lamb?”
Knowing what I know now? Or knowing what i knew then?
Because quite frankly, I’d have skipped them both and gotten Hamilton.
I said I’d take anything that ties the game. Guess it’s “take me literal” night.
The shattering of the maple bat ties the game.
T,
Johnson WAY past his prime, Hoffman as well.
The Twins got one off Peavy and 2 off Hoffman. No support for Peavy only the one run.
Webb fell victim to a costly misplay of the fly ball(Granted he should have been able to stop the bleeding.)
While I’m at it Maddux is slumping and well past his prime as well. We’ll see what the Twins do against Sheets Sunday and then we’ll see how its going.
T - give me a break Johnson/Maddux/Hoffman are washed up end of their career pitchers like Livian Twins did not beat these pitchers in their prime and Peavy has stunk since starting 9 - 0 he has an ERA close to 5.00 NL is an inferior league like I said Twins need to prove trend or mirage against AL
In 2006 when the Twins went 16-2 against the league which produced the 2006 World Series champions it was no mirage.
“…and then we’ll see how its going.”
Funny that for all the crap i get about saying “Wait and see” when the Twins make a move, people who rip the Twins constantly predict their downfall with the cry of “Wait and see. They’ll screw up yet.”
T,
I’m with you on Hamilton. He was on my secret wish list over the winter, has turned out better than expected.
Regards,
We ripped the Twins for losing to no-name pitchers for many years and we now rip them for beating Jake Peavy and Brandon Webb.
Maddux, Unit, whoever.
Its not the Twins hitters, its shitty pitching.
If we knock the crap out of Ben Sheets, you still won’t be satisfied.
You are just not happy unless you are unhappy….and THEN you are still not happy.
No mirage there for Kubel!
Wow, LEN. Good scouting on Kubel!
GREAT CALL LAVELLE On KUBEL!!!! Upperdeck no less. So if Kubel gets one more hit in the next 6 ABs then Kubel tells Jason to go take his predictions and park em in an unpleasant place.
Kubel’s calling blogger Jason out on his 3-20ish prediction! Nothing like a 9 game winning streak to spread the confidence around the line up!
Jason Kubel is FREE!
He’s FREE!
He’s FREE!
He’s FREE!
WHOA! T, Sane, you got me all wrong. I’m not knocking them for beating Peavy and Webb and Co. I’m very pleased I’m just saying that things have been going their way which is teriffic. You can’t beat guys of Webb and Peavy’s quality without a little luck. Against Peavy it was great pitching. Against Webb it was a lucky break in the lost fly ball. The twins are playing very well right now getting great pitching and key hitting. I just have concerns that they may lapse into the inconsistant play from earlier in the year.
Oh that’s going to tick Jason off something fierce.
“I just have concerns that they may lapse into the inconsistant play from earlier in the year.”
They aren’t going to win every game from here on out. I too will be interested to see how things go with the (now incredibly hot) Detroit and Cleveland following this series.
But I’m not going to take any credit away from what this team has put together the last few weeks.
sane - “Jason Kubel is FREE!
He’s FREE!
He’s FREE!
He’s FREE!”
LOL NICE!!
the nine-game streak is worthless cuz the twins didn’t do it against whitey ford, sandy koufax, bob feller and bob gibson. in their prime.
arizona won a world series on a bloop single. so i guess the yankees actually won it all that year.
Dan given the age and experience level of this team from lineup to starting pitching you can almost guarantee a relaspe of inconsistency. Let’s just hope that relapse is just a short one and keep the consistency out weighting the inconsistency.
And make sure we’re HOT when playing Detroit and Chicago!
Well the postive thing about the Whities is that its all home games here on out against them. Detroit HAS to cool off they still scare me.
inexperienced or not, ALL teams go through stretches of good ball and poor play. Chicago, Detroit have all done it.
Dan,
The baseball season is 6 months long. There will be winning streaks AND there will be losing streaks.
Enjoy the good ones while it/they last. There will be losing ones as well, then BC will feel comfortable enough to come back and be happy. We aim to please everyone.
Regards,
Nice play, Wow! When did Casilla figure it out!?
is there such a lack of critical thinking that no one can admit for an example a win over Nationals is different then a win against CC and Indians? am I suppose to believe that all wins are created equal??
*pfft*
Okay…seriously not cool Blackburn.
But it’s okay. The Brewers aren’t that good. It’s just Blackburn they’re beating up on.
Right FIRE, Dan?
Well we’ll see if the twins can pull off some more magic!
Watching the Brewers flex their muscles (of which they have quite a few it appears) do you think it might be a good investment of some of that new stadium revenue to poach some of their scouts? Somebody in that organization seems to be able to find guys who can hit it over the fence.
“am I suppose to believe that all wins are created equal??”
Typical of this board. Ignore the 9 game winning streak, but take a single loss and point to it as a sign that this team is the worst ever and everybody should be fired.
wow Twins are on the receiving end of some real power!!!
Alexi Casilla is coming out of the game and Nick Punto is replacing him
I hate that Blackburn proved my point on young pitching staffs. This team needs 12 pitchers on the roster.
We can rally though. Put some zeros on the board and give our hitters a chance.
Well. no offense the the Brewers with all those HR hitters the past few years have only managed 1 winning season and no playoff appearances.
“Alexi Casilla is coming out of the game and Nick Punto is replacing him”
Well great. On top of tonight’s game, when Punto’s in the lineup tomorrow because Casilla’s out it’ll be the SECOND end of the world.
how many sprained fingers will it take for the twins to realize that sliding into first base is just not smart?
I propose that wins against weak teams only count as half wins. That ought to make the standings more representative of team strength.
FIRE,
The NY Yankees rolled up a good number of their 26 odd championships by Killing the Washington Senators and the Athletics and playing .500ish against everyone else.
I’m glad you have educated me, NOW I know all those championships were tainted because they were won only by slaughtering the bottom teams.
Regards,
I don’t recall writing that the Twins should exchange lineups with the Brewers. Just making an observation that some power in the Twins lineup would complement their strengths.
Read more. Post less.
Ozy,
Did I say that? I was stating MY OPINION of the MLB team from my homestate.
Insult less, get a life more.
Alright the Twins are fighting back!
oh wait I am not suppose to talk about HRs and I this is “small ball ” country
not to worry. according to commissioner fire, blackburn had an off night — so if the brewers end up winning, the game won’t really count.
can someone tell me the score?
No FIRE, but you also have to be careful of those little guys called facts.
Come on Kubel!
It’s time for Kubel to deliver again!
I guess there is a silver lining to the end of the streak (if it happens), ALL the complainers can feel happy again. A week+ of frustration will be alleviated.
Regards,
Nice play by Hardy, Robbed him of a…hit?
Would be nice to get one more out of this at least.
Bay Area,
One other obscure rule. Only runs scored as a result of a Home Run count as a Full Run, ALL others count as .25 runs.
Regards,
ALRIGHT!!!!!!!! WAY TO GO DELMON!
Well we can obviously blame this game not being tied on Punto.
T,
I wanna blame it on Lew Ford, is that ok?
pgep
6-5
Casilla update posted up top
Thanks david!
Craig was right.
Gardy found a way to get Punto back in the lineup.
Who would have guessed that Gardy would plant a land mine at first base.
“Who would have guessed that Gardy would plant a land mine at first base.”
I called it.
…But only because it was my idea.
What can I say, PUNTOBER BABY!
Too bad about Casilla. Hopefully he comes back quickly.
On the plus side, Macri should be getting some good frequent flyer miles out of this.
Or can he not play the rest of the infield?
still close…
Macri played 2nd the other night in Rochester I thought.
shaun,
You are right.
Macri played 2B.
lucky thing the twins have a quality utility infielder hitting over .280 and ready to hold down second.
This means LNP will bat in the 2-hole until Casilla returns.
Lets hope that’s tomorrow.
Who knows, maybe this motivates Gardy to shift everybody up in the lineup a bit.
PUNTO will save the day!! Twins will win World Series for sure now! Mr. “Fundamental” will lead the way!!.. wonder if Punto already taught Casilla how to slide into 1st?
“wonder if Punto already taught Casilla how to slide into 1st?”
Are you accusing him of sabotage?
See. There we go. Now that Punto’s back in the lineup the commenters will be flooding back!
“Are you accusing him of sabotage?”
I did see Nicky talking with the Beastie Boys earlier.
“Now that Punto’s back in the lineup the commenters will be flooding back!”
Is there a game going on?
I thought this was the Punto blog!
Morneau leading off. Time for him to widen that lead between he and Kubel.
pretty hard to hate on bass tonight.
haha
yep good one sane. though if there ever was a time to slide Mauer up this would be it, if casilla can’t go.
i do not want to see harris in the two hole, he has struggled there for some reason.
mickey mental,
This blog already released Bass…they were just slow getting the paperwork done, otherwise he would already be on a bus to nowhere.
Regards,
Bass was to be caught and released.
The Twins were over the limit.
KUBES
Bloop and a Blast.
And there goes blogger jason’s prediction. hope he sticks to what he knows best. um, ah, not sure what that is.
Dang it. He doesn’t tuck his leg in and he’s safe.
shouldnt have sent him there, braun has a cannon
Good through, good catch, good play.
Out by inches.
It astounds me that any player on this team would dive head first anymore, especially into first.
I’m never happy when they lose, I don’t know any Twins fan who is.
Scotty, I will hold up everybody, Ullger finally decides to send somebody home and he is toast. That was stupid. Know the situation. You would have the bases loaded and one out. That was just plain dumb!
thanks Ullger… way to send Cuddyer in this play
Mike who?
Buscher picks up Cuddy (and Ulger) big time.
Lamb…sorry buddy.
Huge knock by Buscher! Way to pick your team up kid!
Harris, come up with another clutch hit here.
BUSCHER!!!!!!
If the idiot held Cuddy at third, the Twins would be up by a run… nice
This team refuses to lose!
The hot hitting Burnin’ Bush comes through again!!!!
There’s no freakin’ quit in this team right now.
Sorry, Lamb. I feel for ya. But you better start bringing a seat cushion to the game.
“If the idiot held Cuddy at third, the Twins would be up by a run… nice”
*phew*
I was worried that people would be happy for a sec there.
T,
there are gradations of happy, ok?
and the fact that the Twins scored should not make Ullger less accountable for sucking as a 3B coach.
thry, it took one heck of a play to get him. Bang bang play.
So, with Casilla possibly down (Tolbert and Everett also hurt)…and Buscher producing fairly consistently (and Branyon getting an undeserved walk)
What are the Twins shopping for if they’re buying? And what do they have to offer?
Alright T,
tell me the merits of Ullger. Pretend you were Smith for a minute. Why would you keep him…
“tell me the merits of Ullger.”
Are there statistics for 3B coaches? Do you have statistics for why he should be out?
Your essentially asking me to prove a negative here. Do I come up with the number of guys not thrown out at home? Do I use the number of succesful steals at 3B? (Is that even him?)
Or do I just judge him based on everybody else’s means (aka: Gut-Feeling)
Gardy likes for the team to be aggresive on the basepaths and make the other team make a play. Ullger is just being the aggressive 3B coach that he’s supposed to be. They made a play…not a whole lot you can do about that.
Wow Gomez sure takes some bad ab’s
T,
What I am saying is that Ullger was a failure as everything, including a major league hitting coach. As a mercy (whatever) he was given the 3rd base coach job instead of a pink slip. By my counting his ineptness cost the Twins 4 runs this year (and I watched 90% of the games). Why keep him?
gomez needs to sit a few games….
Any 3B coach would have sent him. Youi have to.
“By my counting his ineptness cost the Twins 4 runs this year (and I watched 90% of the games).”
Vs. how many runs they scored because of his decisions?
Like I said, you can’t prove the negative. There’s no knowing when a send/stop sign changed the game.
PS: His “ineptness” is based on your opinion of what would’ve been the better decision.
Which (knowing the result of the opposite decision) is inherently biased.
I heard some rumors that the Twins are dangling Cuddy as trade bait. I dont think we could get much but has anyone else heard that? A guy at work told me who is a huge fan.
thrylos98,
Hard as it might be to understand, the Brewers and also a professional baseball team. They also make excellent plays from time to time.
Can you please tell me why you didn’t yell in Ulgers ear, since you obviously were right there in the 3rd base coaching box seeing the play from his perspective.
Regards,
Chad I highly doubt that.
Chad: Careful, he could be repeating what’s been said here.
I will admit I’ve been suggesting dangling Cuddy out there (though that was based on having Monroe in the permanent DH role, which isn’t going to work out)
Unless Cuddy BRINGS IN the new DH.
you got it Mauer!!!!you are the man
JOE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GONE ! ! !
Oh man. Jason’s REALLY pissed now.
Man I wish I was at the dome tonight
I think Dick is going to pass out he is so excited…I love it!
do you believe it…i am in shock…lol…what timing…thank you joe
JOE!!!!
M-a-u-e-r ? Wow
ok thanks T…..do you think it is a good Idea…what would/could they get for him, nothing but a couple minor leaguers?
Mauer Power!!!!!
this is an interesting development.
I gotta go upstairs and watch on HD now……have a great night Twins fans!
Dear Blogger Jason,
Please join your favorite ex-Twins player.
Sincerely
Kubel
Mauer
The dome has quite a bit of energy tonight, looks like and feels like a playoff game! How cool!
no back to backs. that’s ok. think the brew-has can score a couple?
HELL NO TEN IN A ROW ! ! !
Where are the Mauer bashers?
Chad:
I don’t know what’s happened with it, but early in the season there were talks of the Rox dangling Holiday.
I was musing that they could suggest Cuddyer and ask for Atkins. Go from there.
But with Buscher looking promising, Atkins may not be needed. But I dunno who’s looking for outfield help at the moment. At least, somebody with a DH (or infielder) to offer.
I tell you what, the Twins haven’t hit many homers…but they sure as heck know when to pick their spots.
I like those dramatic ones more than a a dinger in an already meaningless 10-0 game.
its up to u mr nathan- cuff em
Mauer…WHAT A SCREW-UP
This streak has been frustrating many bloggers.
There’s hope, Nathan can blow the save.
Regards,
Derek, you’re right. The mix of Twins/Brewer fans is making it a fun night. I almost went, wish I had.
This is true…have a good night!
out number one.
HELL NO TEN IN A ROW ! ! !
I think Morneau in that last AB was more frustrated that Mauer and Kubel went deep tonight and he hasn’t yet.
Oh, and Casilla.
Yeah, jealousy…
nathans nail biters…
Considering how things went last year dingerwise…what’s better?
Morneau having 20 and everybody else havnig between 0-10?
Or Morneau having 10 but everybody else having 2-10?
I’m waiting for when Nathan’s Tourette’s finally breaks and he shouts an obscenity.
Thankfully the crowd is so loud when he’s in the game they’d likely never notice.
#7 didnt have a chance
out number two
HELL NO TEN IN A ROW ! ! !
That is a large man.
Large and frightening.
Cardiac Joe
We get it Joe, you can do a killer Eddie Guardado impersonation.
Now back to the game.
out number three! anybody pissed now?
HELL NO TEN IN A ROW ! ! !
HELL NO TEN IN A ROW ! ! !
HELL NO TEN IN A ROW ! ! !
10!
I knew it. He did it on purpose to face Fielder. Wanted to get him back for that “inside the park” he hit last time.
I’ll be, we won the dinger battle.
now tomorrow nite bust it open on em…this is too hard on the heart….damn what a game…..big 10
10 games
ten in a row. say it ain’t so, joe.
10 in a row. Enjoy!
you guys who watched the game did Brehmer fall out of his chair when Mauer hit his HR? or was it like when Morneau crushed his yesterday Brehmer tried to restrain himself… I imagine Bert wanted to yell “!&*Y^@&*!@^!^! WOW!!!!”
The streak IS ALIVE!!!!
FIRE…,
You can find the Mauer homer and call on mlb.com or probably the minnesotatwins.com shortly. I’ve already watched it about eight times: Bremer was pretty damn excited, and the Dome was ROCKING.
What a game!
nice! Mauer’s shot in 2006 during the last few games to either tie or put Twins ahead in the late innings gave me goose bumps.. I heard John Gordon give the call…
Did you see that Mauer almost did the flaps up while rounding first? Then he gave it a second thought and kept going…
I was reading pretty fast, but it must have been a joke according to this:
“Jim Eisenreich, a St. Cloud, Minn. native and Twins player from 1982-84, also played for the Royals, Phillies, Marlins and Dodgers until 1998. He was the only big leaguer known to have played with Tourette syndrome.”
It says he was the “only” player.
I’m glad Ulger sent Cuddy. Cause, otherwise, Mauer’s homer would have been meaningless. But, absent the win, people would be talkng about what a stupid call Ulger made. Cuddy is medium fast, not a burner by any means. Braun has a very strong arm. Young hit that ball hard, so it got out to Braun in a hurry. I’ll wager 29 other third base coaches hold Cuddy at third with the hottest hitter on the team on deck and one out. If Buscher comes up with the bases loaded and one out, it’s a two-run single and the Twins take the lead. Instead, he comes up with runners on first and second and two outs and it’s a one-run single and a tie game. Ultimately, Mauer unties it, which is cool. But…
it actually looked like Mauer was looking to swing for a HR!!!
yep Mauer gave just the slightest little fist pump as he neared 2nd.. Brehmer screamed pretty good and &*!^&!^&! BERT did his HR hex - “he has given up 3 HRs this year..”
Ullger’s decision was wrong because there was only one out.
You gamble with two outs.
That does not make him a bad 3B coach, however.
That was just a glitch!
Absolutely amazing game the dome was electric. Great crowd. I am stunned that we got into a game of long ball with the brewers and won.
Man am I confused. I don’t know who to believe…T, mickey mental,Cmathewson, thrylos,sane,whalefeet…phew. All I know is that the youngsters have won 10 NL games in a row and are only a 1/2 game out after being written off by many just three weeks ago. As Sonny James once wailed…”Ain’t that a shame”? Not really. Nice win, gentleman and sweet dreams, MR. DRAGON!!
its funny how a group of solid, albeit not spectacular, hitters can go on such a tear. it goes to show you that offense isn’t about mashing homeruns or having the most talented line up. it’s about hitting with runners in scoring position, plain and simple. with last year’s (debateably more talented) lineup, these close ball games might not have turned out in our favor. cry about how terrible joe vavra is and how his offense had a bad year in 2007, but fail to notice what the team did in 2006 and for the first half this year?? especially given what he has to work with? idiotic…
The only thing to make the Twins even more fun to watch is to copy what the Vikes and T-Wolves do. The T-Wolves just acquired South Dakota native Mike Miller and the Vikings have Ben Leber and Chad Greenway. These three rock solid fine young men grew up in the same general area of SD.
I can only think of Mark Ellis of the A’s but he plays second base.
TWINS ARE GOING TO THE PLAYOFFS
This item was just on ESPN. The last three times the Twins won 10 in a row, they went to the playoffs.
So that settles that! ! !
Mr. SoDak, Maybe someone has finally caught on that QUALITY and CHARACTER are not mutually exclusive. Well done, my friend.
I had a fantastic night at the Metrodome tonight…unbelievable that Joe Mauer would win it with a HR…last time I recall that was the last week in ‘06 when he beat the Royals with a HR late in the game…a patented row 1 shot to left….tonight he blasted one to the deepest part of the ballpark! Impressive.
And for those who are slighting my Kubel prediction…I was cheering hard for him tonight too….I have no problem being wrong on that…(I think he’s 4 for his last 15 now or something and I predicted 3 for 20)…
I have to point this out, though–Way too loud from Brewer fans and Way too quiet among Twins fans…either they have a huge contingent there (which I don’t buy) or they are a heck of a lot more vocal than us….so damn it, get loud tomorrow night, Twins fans!!!!
THIS STREAK ROCKS!!!!!!
fyi JP, what i do best is keep you thinking.
Mr. Mudcat, Your post at 10:25 pm caused me to recall one of the saddest moments that I have ever witnessed as a baseball fan. The Twins had a young and very talented centerfielder from St. Cloud named Jim Eisenreich. He was doing well at home but, under the pressure of being young and having to listen to the hostile remarks of fans while on the road, he was forced out of two consecutive games at Fenway Park by the classless utterances of many of the Local “fans”. Afraid to give him medicine that might calm him down but also slow his reflexes and reaction time as a batter thereby putting him at danger of being hit by a pitch, the Twins management ultimately released Jim. He subsequently became more successful, with the assistance of medications, and had a successful Major League career. To this day, my only reaction to the RED Sox Nation is, GO TO HELL, you classless jerks!!
Jason, we must have been sitting in different areas of the Dome tonight because where I was, Twins fans were more vocal than the Brewers’ group. Sure the Brewers fans got loud for their HRs, but whenever they tried to get a “Lets go Brew Crew” chant going, it got drowned out quickly. I was very impressed with the electricity among the Twins fans at the Dome tonight… and very glad I drove up for this series.
After wasting all this time reading these comments. I have come to the conclusion that none of us regardless of what was written are perfect….
I decided to take a look at the wonderful value of the Home Run, and how it seems to be the silver bullett to winning. Also, as a side light, the number of runs scored to winning.
In the American League the team with the MOST HR’s are the Chicago WS with 103, that’s almost double of the Twins 54. If I understand the argument correctly, that SHOULD mean that they are scoring far more runs than the Twins AND winning far more games than the Twins. Well that wisdom is proven incorrect on 2 counts. The Twins & WS have BOTH won 44 games (the 1/2 game difference is due to the WS playing 1 less game), The Twins have also scored 3 more runs than the WS, This has to be a recordkeeping error because HOW can you hit 49 more HR’s and score 3 less runs?
The second most HR’s have been hit by Texas (100) AND Texas have scored 55 more runs while playing 1 more game. Surely that means that Texas has WON substantially more games than the Twins. Damn!!! WHEN is this “old wives tale” going to prove accurate? Well, Texas has won 3 less games then the Twins while losing 4 more.
So I went looking at runs scored. Texas leads the league by a large margin over Boston (phew…maybe normalcy). Yet, the 3 teams with the BEST records in the AL, Boston (50-32 82 played), Tampa Bay (48-31 with 79 played) and LA Angels (48-32 with 80 played). Let’s take a look at the LA Angels. The Angels have hit 13 more home runs than the Twins, so obviously they have scored more runs, how else could they have won 4 more games? OK, I quit!!! The Twins have scored an unbelievable 49 more runs than the Angels on 13 less HR’s.
I will sure be happier when MLB corrects their statistics to reflect the actual results of these games.
Regards,
Last night had me remembering 2006 a lot.
In 2007, when the Twins got down 2-0 or even 2-1…you thought “Well, that’s the end of that.”
But this offense over the past few weeks has shown that it just doesn’t want to give up. They’re starting to come together with some confidence and it shows.
The Brewers opened up two leads and came back from one deficit…and the Twins still didn’t quit.
I don’t know when this streak will end, but whenever it happens, I’m sure as heck not going to think that’s the end for the team.
They’ve surprised me a lot with how they’ve matured already this season.
Dragon,
What you don’t understand is that wins are irrelevant and runs are not important.
Home runs are what we really want.
Thats why I am scalping my Twins tickets and going to the Arena Slow-Pitch Softball games this weekend.
Joe Mauer is about 250 pounds underweight to make it in this league.
No defense, no pitching, no baserunning (nor running of any kind) but THESE GUYS CAN MASH!!!!!!
Delmon Young is hitting better this year than last. He has a higher OBP and he is striking out less frequently. He’s also stealing more bases and scoring a lot more runs.
Even though he’s contributing significantly more to his team, this year, than last, that doesn’t mean that he’s anywhere close to being a good player.
T, while I’m not yet ready to put this team up there with the 2006 group, I do agree on one thing… last night, when they fell behind 6-3, I felt the game was far from over. I knew the guys could come back from 3 down with a few innings left, especially with the way they had been hitting. The real question was whether the pen would keep the Brewers from scoring even more. It doesn’t mean they necessarily WOULD come back, but the real possibility was there. Last season, I’d have been just hoping… but not realistically expecting… that they’d come back and make a game of it.
This streak will end and they will still lose some series. The bats will go cold and the pen will blow some games. But this team is fun to watch right now and someone obviously forgot to tell them they weren’t supposed to be competitive until 2010. I’ll enjoy it now and worry about tomorrow tomorrow.
T & Sane,
I think the answer to the Twins performance may be best explained by the Gestalt Theory. “the WHOLE is more than the sum of the parts”.
While this is a psychological theory, generally applied to the Brains ability to organize/reorganize itself at need, it seems to be a reasonable explaination of Gardy teams.
While chemistry may be an overused concept in sports, for lesser talented teams (organisms) it does seem to bring added value.
Regards,
The Twins are winning with a lead-off hitter who has a .299 OBP and a .270 OBP in June.
Just goes to show, that if the sum of all the Twins parts are better than the sum of the other teams, you still can win, even with a hitter as ridiculous as Gomez.
It isn’t too difficult to be better than the teams they have played of late. The Brewers are an absolutely disgusting team.
I dont know beans about Gestalt, Dragon, but to me it just demonstrates the beauty of baseball. There’s no single way to accomplish the goal, which is to win more games than the other guys.
It’s NOT slow pitch softball, where the team with the most power wins. If you’re putting together a slow pitch team, you know what you need… 10 guys who can crunch. If you’re putting together a football team, you’d better start with a QB or you’ve got little chance to win it all (right Vikes?). But with baseball, there are so many options to build around.
Of course, it also provides fans the opportunity to debate the “best” way to build a contender. (But then we all kinda had figured that out already.)
Last year with Santana, Silva, Garza, Hunter, Bartlett, Castillo, Punto and Tyner the Twins finished 79-83 (4 games UNDER .500), 17 GAMES OUT OF 1st place.
This year with Blackburn, Baker, Slowey,
Gomez, Young, Buscher, Casilla, and Harris, the Twins are currently 44-36 (8 games OVER .500), 1/2 GAME OUT OF 1st place.
The Twins FO correctly sacrificed pitching and defense to improve the scoring so the Santana replacements would not have to lose 2-1 games every five days like he was forced to endure last year.
Harris, Buscher and Young may not be Bartlett, Punto and random LF defensively but scoring 4.85 runs per game more than compensates.
Sometimes defense win championships.
Sometimes defense finishes 17 games out of first place.
Craig, here’s my take on what they’re doing with Gomez…
Just looking at stats, it feels like they almost should be hitting him 9th and going with Casilla, Mauer and Morneau at 1-2-3… so every time through the order after the first inning, it’s really immaterial.
But they do know that IF he can get on base to start the first inning, he can cause all sorts of havoc.
I’d be fine with those four hitting 9-1-2-3 but I’m really not concerned about using them in the order Gardy’s got them, either. And I certainly would not change things during a winning streak. You dont fool with a streak… ever.
Speaking of Santana… anyone got his phone number? I’d love to know how he’s enjoying his year with his new team… and whether he’s noticed how the team he left behind, supposedly so he could play for an organization committed to winning (cuz it wasn’t all about the money, right Johan?) is a helluva lot more competitive than the dysfunctional unit he’s pitching for now.
I wonder if Bill Smith ever gets any apologies from the critics who skewered him after the Santana trade “ruined” the Twins forever.
Or from the “fans”, bloggers and commenters who disputed every legitimate birth in his family for the last 200 years.
What a difference a half-year can make.
I attended a Nationals and Orioles game and the difference in outdoor and dome ball is unbelievable. I got into the stadium and asked my friend where do we go in at? He said we are in. I was looking for a door into a dome. There’s no question in my mind that low attendance is a symptom of the dome and not the Twins. I’m going back to the Nats game but I flinch at the thought of being in the dome 9 innings.
JimCrik, I like the idea of Span in front of Casilla, Mauer and Morneau. I think that is the 1-4 of the future, and should be, of the present. Span in the OF would also be a significant fielding upgrade. He is the best fielding OF, in the organization.
The days of Mauer batting second are long gone. That didn’t work.
I would take Santana, Garza, and Bartlett back in return for the players received, in an instant. Unfortunately, that will never happen.
If the Twins had not made those trades, they would be running away with the division. No team would even be close.
“There’s no question in my mind that low attendance is a symptom of the dome and not the Twins.”
Pretty sure some of the low attendence up until recently has been due to poor performance.
Dome may not be the BEST place, but a good team makes any setting enjoyable.
And just so we’re clear, I didn’t label this team the second coming of 2006. I’m just saying I’ve seen flashes of the same kind of spirit.
I’m also reminded of 2006 when I see the Twins playing like animals and still can’t make up that 1/2 game on the Sox. And the Tigers are right behind them as well.
Back in the offseason, when Dallas McPherson was non-tendered by the Angels, I suggested the Twins give him a minor league deal.
His current AAA stats:
AB 245
BA .310
HR 28
RBI 57
For a 500 AB season that projects to 57 HR and 116 RBI.
Who do the Twins have in their system with those kind of numbers?
Oh, well!
Look at the chump change that we saved.
Jason
I wish I coulda been at the game. To see first hand the BOMB Kubel hit woulda been sweet. The 3-20 prediction is sitting at 4-15 with a HR two walks, sac fly and many very good at bats against some tough pitchers.
Keep rooting for Kubel, Mauer and all the other Twins.
Daniel1966-Great post about Jim Eisenreich!The Boston fans are some of the worst.
Craig, I think you’re vastly overestimating the difference having those players back would make at this point.
Keeping Santana means you don’t bring in Hernandez. No question who’s the better pitcher but just how many more starts would have been wins with Santana than the Twins have gotten in Hernandez’s starts? not many.
Garza would have meant no Blackburn. Again, MAYBE a couple more wins in his starts vs Blackburn’s.
But Bartlett’s productivity in place of Young’s and Harris’? Would have meant Monroe playing full time either as DH or LF, most likely. People like to dismiss Young but he’s been a heck of a lot more productive than anyone else that would have been out there. You’re also going to have to assume Span would have contributed more than Gomez… which is by no means certain.
I’d love to have Santana… but not if it meant the Twins would be in the Indians’ situation right now, facing the decision of trading him in the middle of the season or watching him walk for nothing.
I still think the Young/Garza deal is going to end up being good for both teams over the next few years.
