Sunday Evening in The Big Apple
Posted on July 20th, 2008 – 5:46 PMBy La Velle
I have landed here in advance of three days of fury between the Twins and Yankees, and it wasn’t the easiet trip.
The turbulence during the flight was expected. The cab ride was, well…it took two drivers to get me from the airport to the hotel. Driver No. 1 noticed that his engine was running too hot, so he flagged down driver No. 2 and pulled over ON THE HIGHWAY SHOULDER to conduct a passenger handoff. That was a first. I guess it could have been worse.
The Yankees just swept the A’s in a three-game series, winning one-run games the last two days. Andy Pettitte held Oakland to a run over eight innings on Sunday, so it may be a good thing the Twins miss him this series. The Twins will get the 5-1 Sidney Ponson, the 5-7 Darryl Rasner and the 12-6 Mike Mussina this week. Mussina tossed six strong innings on Friday.
It will be interesting to see if Yankees manager Joe Girardi tries to sneak Jorge Posada behind the plate during the series. His shoulder problems have led to a loss of arm strength, and the Twins 4 X 90 relay team of Nick Punto, Denard Span, Carlos Gomez and Alexi Casilla could eat him up. Posada also has a bruised hand.
Podsada has appeared behind the plate in 30 games and has thrown out just 8.1 percent of basestealers while Jose Molina has appeared in 58 games, throwing out a whopping 47.1 percent. But Posada prefers to catch.
A Yankees writer earlier this year said that the young, fast and scrappy Tampa Bay Rays make the Yanks look old when the teams meet. That’s what the Twins must do in this series.
So it’s Nick Blackburn vs Sir Sid on Monday, Kevin Slowey vs Rasner on Tuesday and Glen Perkins vs Mussina on Wednesday.
How many games will the Twins win in New York? What say you?
59 Responses to "Sunday Evening in The Big Apple"
Yankee Stadium seems to be a House of Horrors for the Twins. I’m think one win, hoping for two.
I agree with Bull.
i better not go to any games this series i have been death to the road team the last couple years.
Mullet Lohse will get another revenge win against us and we’ll win games 2 and 3.
Hate to say it but they might not win any. The combined effect of the “Yankee strike zone” always being implemented by umps in the second-half, as well as this mental-block the Twins have when facing the Yanks, might lead to the ill-timed sweep.
I wish Baker was going in the series, he always does well v the Yanks
c’mon people. There is no Yankee magic or Yankee stadium magic or special strike zone. Blackburn will beat ponson. Slowey will win. I’ll be at the stadium rooting them all on. I don’t care what happened last year, these old men Yankees are not a second half team and should break down. I just wish we could face them even later in the season. Go twins!
The Twins will likely win one fairly comfortably, struggle in one that could go either way, and then have the one game where the Yanks just pop open a can.
I’d like to see them go 2-1 at Yankee Stadium, but can live with 1-2.
The first two pitching matchups are in our favor, and I expect Perkins to do well against the Yankees’ left-tilting lineup. We’re overdue for a serious beat-down of Ponson. I hope we sweep them just so I can laugh at the “team in crisis” coverage that will certainly ensue on ESPN.
Oh come on now! Forget about that Yankee mystique, this Twins team is on a tear! Most of the Yankee core is getting pretty old and those gaps just keep getting bigger and bigger. That bodes very well for the Twins style of hitting. Matsui is out and I think Damon is also still out. Posada’s still having shoulder problems and can’t throw out a batter to save his life.
Rasner vs Slowey should be a win. Rasner is their number 5 guy - not very good. The third game is Perkins vs Mussina. The Twins seem to do well against Mussina, plus Perkins is a leftly and that should render their short right field porch virtually useless. The first game will be the toughest. The Twins seem to always have a hard time against Ponson. That might be what enticed them to pick him up in 2007.
I say they win 2 of 3, with a possible sweep if the planets align just right. I’ve also got a special lucky hat set aside just for this series. It’s all rested up after the all star break and ready to go.
So you see, it’s all pretty much a done deal. All the team has to do is just go out and play the games.
Oh - then it’s on to Cleveland! This could shape up to be a very good road trip for the Twins.
In other news, the Royals came back in the 9th and beat the White Sox, so the Twins still remain only a half game out of first. Don’t the Twins have a home series against the White Sox coming up soon? That should prove interesting.
Twins take the series 2-1. I’m not sure which games they’ll win, but they are definitely gonna make the Yanks show their age.
All this gloom and doom… didn’t the Twins just beat Jake Peavy and Brandon Webb in consecutive games earlier this year?
And here we’ve got people worried about Ponson, Rasner, and Moose?
I agree, the Yanks are a tough team, but I’m no more worried about them than I was the Rangers.
Ponson’s last outing against us was a fluke. The Twins will remind him how bad he is. We pounded Rasner within an inch of his life last time. Mussina gave up four runs to us as well, and their bullpen’s got the almighty Kyle Farnsworth, Ross Ohlendorf, and LaTroy Hawkins.
We don’t even have to face Joba or Pettitte. The Yankees are a good team, but I say bring on the Bombers, I’m not scared. 
sploorp. July wraps up with a four game series against the Sox. At home.
It’s going to be probably the biggest series of the season thus far. A chance for a bit of revenge just before the trade deadline.
Depending on how the series goes, at least one of the two teams will be looking to the trade market afterwardes.
Twins will win 0.
the lack of offense on this team will show it’s ugly head on this read trip.
0-3 in New York
0-3 in Cleveland
Then they’ll come home and split with the White Sox if they are lucky and lose at least 1 to the Tribe.
It’s gonna be a bad 2 weeks for the Twins.
I think the Twins take the series 2 games to 1, and I’m going out on a limb…
They beat the snot out of Mike Mussina in the finale. He does not make it out of the 3rd inning.
They lose to Rasner of all people thanks to a bad defensive play by Delmon Young or Carlos Gomez
After the Redsox series, I’ll be happy with one win this series. I suppose our best chance is in the opener against Ponson, although Blackburn against that lineup scares the sh*t out of me. Slowey goes in game two and he’s been scuffling lately. With Perkins going in game 3, I’d be positive if it wasn’t that Twin killer Mussina was pitching. Give me one win in this series and I’ll be doing hand stands. All the more reason why losing today hurts.
Adrian Beltre, Mariners
If you look at Beltre’s career without the 2004 season, he appears to be one of the most consistent players in the game. That year, in which he hit 47 homers for the Dodgers before signing a $65 million contract, skews the perception of him. Add in that he has played his entire career in two great pitchers’ parks and that his defense is legitimately great, and you have a player who has become a bit undervalued. Given where the market has gone, the $19 million or so left on his deal through 2009 isn’t a daunting commitment.
The leaguewide depth at third base is impressive, but one contender has spent the year trying to patch a gaping hole there. The Twins have used seven players at the hot corner, and only the empty .300 average of Brian Buscher has been of much use. Their third-base defense has been terrible as well.
Beltre would add value on both sides of the ball, one of the few trade-deadline targets who can make that claim. His .272 EqA would make him one of the better hitters in the Twins lineup, at least a 15-run upgrade over Buscher for the rest of the season. His glove would save at least five runs over the last 70 games. That’s a 20-25 run gain by trading for Beltre.
For the Twins, the best part is that they might be able to get him for just a willingness to assume the contract obligation. The Twins have a raft of pitching prospects in the minors to go with their homegrown major-league rotation. Two second-tier ones and, effectively, $19 million would probably be enough to get Beltre. It is unlike the Twins to make that kind of trade, but they can certainly afford it — every team can afford that kind of investment — and it’s a move that would go right to their win column. That Beltre is such a good defensive player, the kind of player the Twins have always wanted around, could be the deciding factor.
The Twins can’t count on an anomalous performance with runners in scoring position to continue. To win the AL Central, they have to improve the roster.
Trading for Beltre and swapping out Livan Hernandez for Francisco Liriano would change the story in the AL Central immediately.
the lack of offense on this team will show it’s ugly head on this read trip
Lack of offense? Where have you been the last…oh…month or so?
Any trade talks??? Haven’t heard anything in awhile
Nick, the Beltre trade fell through. Seattle was looking for an MLB starter and a couple of prospects from the sounds of things.
Which means the Twins would have to give up a Baker/Blackburn type. I think that price is too high.
T– couldn’t we disquise Boof or Livan as a MLB Starter?
The Mariners gave Silva all that money– so they can’t be too bright!!
Seattle wants Baker, Blackburn, Slowey, or Perkins plus at least 2 second tier prospects for Beltre.
those 2nd tier guys would include guys like Jeff Manship, Kevin Mulvey, Philip Humber, Ben Revere, Anthony Swarzak, Brian Duensing, Tyler Robertson.
If none of our MLB starters were a required part of any trade for Beltre, I wouldn’t feel bad about losing 3 of any of those 2nd tier guys (except Revere, and maybe Manship) in any trade.
Price is too high for Billy Smith though when our rotation guys are doing so well.
Rest of 3B market has cooled as well. Twins won’t get the impact RH bat they need behind Morneau because of the trade prices. Beltre-too much. Atkins-scares me playing away from coors. Kouzmanoff-SD doesn’t really want to trade a guy in MLB not even arbitration eligible yet.
Most likely if the twins do anything, it’ll be Hank Blalock or someone similar, eh.
Otherwise I hope Delmon Young turns it on even more than he already has and slides up into the #5 spot.
But I would like the Twins to offer up something like:
Cuddyer/Span
Duensing
Swarzak
Joe Benson
and see what they can get, I think they can handle a deal like that pretty easily and should land them something good.
I don’t necessarily like having cuddyer or span in a deal, but it costs something good to get something good.
but a deal like thats got a MLB ready outfielder and the #2(benson), #5(swarzak), and #8(Duensing) prospects in our system from BaseballAmerica.com in a article published in January
http://www.baseballamerica.com/today/prospects/features/265484.html
I fully agree that Gomez should be moved to the number nine place in the batting order. If he can every get on base, it would be a plus, considering the better hitters of Span and Casilla will follow. There is nothing gained by putting Gomez as the lead off batter when he can’t get on base. If his bunting skills ever return, he would still be a good number nine hitter, not a leadoff hitter and there would be nothing to prevent him from stealing bases in the number nine spot as opposed to leadoff. Gardenhire is apparently not good with statistics, as was noted last season, and will keep Gomez in the lead off position until those who know better finally get through to him. Just showing him the statistics won’t help him realized that Gomez is not a lead off hitter, because Gardenhire knows nothing about stats. Stats are too complicated for him.
The Twins are in need of more bull pen depth for the stretch run and should trade Cuddyer, Punto, Hernandez and Bonser for a solid relief pitcher. Then they should bring up Liriano to start every fifth day in the rotation. They would be a better team and much harder to beat.
Aside from herb’s trade being the standard: “Bundle stuff I don’t like to get something I do” trade, Cuddyer and Punto are both “out” with hand injuries. You can’t trade a guy on the DL, and a guy who’s currently hurt isn’t going to draw much interest.
The Mariners gave Silva all that money– so they can’t be too bright!!
True, but I think it’s soured them towards pitchers the Twins are willing to give up. Who knows, maybe the Twins say “Okay you can have Blackburn.” but then the Mariners turn around and say “Wait…what’s wrong with him?”
What bugs me about the Beltre thing (amount other signings/trades) was that going into the this season, the supposed story was that high priced stars were becoming less desired than low cost youth. And that those teams with rich farm systems would suddenly become more powerful on the market than big money teams.
Well this season already we’ve seen the counter to that. Where a big name player is now demanding too much money, teams dealing players are demanding too much youth in return.
There was the Marlins/Tigers swapping 6 minor leaguers for 2 MLBers, and I believe the Blanton, Sabathia, and Harden (was it Harden) trades all involved 1 for 3/4 exchanges.
So now the “small market” teams that can’t afford to sign a bunch of big name talent are going to be left unable to trade for it as teams demand FAR too much in the way of youth.
Just wondering if maybe instead of going after a proven guy, if there’d be any value to goin after a guy for the future at 3B. someone like Andy Laroche from the dodgers or Brandon Wood from the angels?
Or does Hughes and Valencia make that implausible?
right the thought is Twins could use a “rental” like Beltre for 2 seasons that would be a big power/hitting threat until the “kids” are ready
ya, thats what I was thinking too, Im mad and it sucks seattle wants so much for Beltre.
He’s like the perfect fit for the Twins in their situation.
Smith can be a bit patient at this point. Sometimes the prices come down as you get closer to the deadline. If Seattle doesn’t get the price they want elsewhere, they may back off on their demand for one of the four young guys already in the rotation. Like any negotiation, the idea is to make the other guy believe he needs to make the deal worse than you do. No way Beltre clears waivers so if they want to deal him for young talent, they need to do it by the 31st.
Oh… and put me down for the Twins winning, and perhaps even sweeping, this series. I like the pitching matchups very well. Nice job of setting up the rotation after the break by Gardy.
JC, the main reason I’m disappointed that they couldn’t get the deal done sooner than later is that it’d be VERY nice to have that upgrade available going into the Sox series next week.
Last year the Twins waited to long to determine if they were in it or not (though it was pretty clear that crop last year wasn’t going to do much in the way of winning), this year they seem to have recognized the need…they just can’t find a trade that wouldn’t create further holes elsewhere.
“Yay we fixed 3B, but crap now we’re a starting pitcher short…”
On paper, this looks like a win 2 out of 3 to me
unfortunetly, we never do well in that place, but this is the weakest team thay have had in years.
I say send Slowey packing right now and bring up Liriano!! Beltre would be great for 1 1/2 season then Twins can still get 2 draft picks for him!!!
I’d at least consider trading Perkins, but it would depend on who else they wanted.
It would be hard to trade one of the “big four” because I’m not at all sold on Livan. I know a lot of people point to the team W-L record, but even that has been only .500 over his last 10 starts.
It seems to me that the starting pitching has really stepped it up a notch with Liriano knocking on the door.
For comparison’s sake between our starters and Liriano at AAA in their last 10 games:
-Livan Hernandez
4-4, 6.59 ERA, 57.1 IP, 25 Ks, 11 BBs, 4 Quality starts, 4-1 at home 0-3 on road.
-Nick Blackburn
3-3, 3.54 ERA, 61 IP, 34 Ks, 8 BBs, 7 Quality starts, 2-1 at home 1-2 on road.
-Scott Baker
4-3, 2.66 ERA 61 IP, 49 Ks, 10 BBs, 7 Quality starts, 2-1 at home 2-2 on road.
-Glenn Perkins
5-1, 4.32 ERA, 58.1 IP, 28 Ks, 18 BBs, 6 Quality starts, 3-1 at home 2-0 on road
-Kevin Slowey
6-2, 3.88 ERA, 62.2 IP, 45 Ks, 2 BBs, 6 Quality starts, 3-1 at home 3-1 on road.
-Francisco Liriano (at AAA obviously)
8-0, 2.53 ERA, 64 IP, 68 Ks, 11 BBs, 8 Quality starts, 4-0 at home and on road.
Looking at those numbers if any of the 4 young starters is tradeable, I’m thinking Perkins, and he would be the one I’d be most willing to part with anyway. You can argue ‘oh but hes a LH SP and they’re hard to come by’. Well, so is Liriano, and he’s far more dominating.
I can’t get over Slowey’s numbers, mainly only 2 walks over 62+ innings, he’s looking more and more like Radke, maybe even better, and in 3 of those starts he’s held the team scoreless.
Livan is killer at the dome, but not so much on the road. In a perfect world he’d get moved to the bullpen for Liriano and Bass gets sent through waivers to AAA, but not gonna happen the way I hear it.
Baker’s been pretty damn good, but hasn’t been getting the run support of the others. Gotta keep him, he’s looking like a good #1 or a superb #2 in the rotation.
Blackburn looks even more Radke like than Slowey, as in he’s not K-ing as many guys, and still walking not very many.
Perkins record is awesome but his stats are underwhelming.
If a Perkins, Joe Benson, Anthony Swarzak/Duensing/Cole Devries type deal is good enough for Seattle, I say do it.
I like Perkins and the fact that he’s a MN native, but there’s this guy at AAA that we’ve been waiting for to come back and be our staffs Dominator, you’ve got to get him up to the MLB team for a pennant race, there’s no excuse not too.
If a trade is the only way you can envision that happening right now, I would do it without hesitation Bill Smith.
If Liriano dominates again tonight, its gotta happen.
Good night of Pitching in the Twins system by the way, Shooter Hunt goes again tonight for Elizabethton as well. I imagine if he repeats a 2K/IP performance as he has in each of his first 3 outings they have to consider moving him up and out of the Rookie League.
TwinsNotesGuy,
Don’t over analyze the situation. According to some on here all you look at is wins. Baker had a horrible start yesterday as he lost. He rarely helps this club win games like Livan. Livan is a far better pitcher. Perkins has been so dominate compared to Slowey or Baker. We should dump bumbs like Liriano, Baker, and Slowey and get some savy veterans with 6.50 ERA’s that just find ways to win.
wink, wink
bumbs? LOL @ me
there ya go again Aaron, loving on some Livan
heh heh, I hope everyone else feels the same way, they should.
So are you aggreing with my thoughts in sarcastic form AaronK?
“Baker had a horrible start yesterday”
When you put that together with that horrible start he had at Fenway, I can’t figure out why he’s still on the team.
If we need to trade one of our 4 pitchers, i would wait until at least this weekend to see what happens between now and then. If we do trade one I’d lean towards Blackburn. Talentwise he is the most underwhelming. Also, if we do trade a starter, we can’t trade another pitching prospect worth much or near the majors, we will need the depth.
saam,
he was also aweful against Sabathia on June 10. We should have sent him to AAA then, ruining my birthday like that. Then in Boston he ruins the game i attend.
the bahstad
If any of the four WOULD be traded, it’d likely be Slowey.
Baker was viewed as the Ace coming into the season and he’s proven he can handle the pressure of that title. (I don’t care that Livan started the season…it would’ve been Baker had he not been hurt)
Blackburn has surprised EVERYBODY and is pitching incredibly well considering he wouldn’t have made the rotation had Liriano shown up on time.
Perkins? Right now he’s the only lefty in the rotation. If they dump him they can bring up Liriano, but they don’t know if he’s actually ready or just feasting on the minors like guys tend to do.
That to me leaves Slowey. But then you have to look at Seattle and wonder if that’s the guy they have in mind? I’m sure Blackburn would require “less” from the farm to supplement the deal, but then you lose one of your better pitchers this year.
“he was also aweful against Sabathia on June 10. We should have sent him to AAA then”
Nah. It looks like he’s the kind of guy that dominates in the minors but can’t “win” with the big club. They should just DFA the bum or try to foist him on some unsuspecting team. (Although, with my luck the Mariners FO reads this blog.)
T, I like Slowey more than Perkins, he’s uncharactic of a Control Pitcher in the fact he’s 2nd on the teams starters in K/9IP, behind baker.(Bonser would be 2nd if he still started).
and Slowey leads the team in zero run outings with 3.
and do you say Slowey because Perkins isn’t good enough?
thats ‘good enough’ as far as trade bait is concerned.
do the Mariners even have a FO right now?
I am sure Slowey would be the highest on Seattle’s list and if the Twins were to trade him, should insist that it is a straight up swap.
I would not trade Slowey or Baker unless we are getting a major impact player back. Those two are going to be real good pitchers for this franchise for a long time. Well, if they can figure out how to motivate the team to help them win like ole Livan does.
AaronK - I agree, of the 4 young starters, I wouldn’t trade Slowey or Baker, We could weather losing Blackburn or Perkins.
Liriano would obviously then get called up, and we’d still have:
Brian Duensing - doesn’t have the jump out at you stats at AAA, but has been improving, 3.88 ERA in last 10 starts.
Kevin Mulvey - was a top Met Prospect, struggled early in season, improving as well, 3.67 ERA in last ten.
Philip Humber - another ‘top’ met prospect, still struggling this year though.
Shooter Hunt - looking like another Garza, one who’ll run through the system in less than a year. Garza made 4 starts in the Rookie League his first year in the system before being moved up to Beloit. Hunt has made 3 and has even more impressive numbers (vastly more impressive even) in those games then Garza did.
Jeff Manship - just got moved up to AA and has a high ERA (over 5), but 3 of his 6 starts there have been Quality Starts, 6 IP, 1 ER / 6 IP, 2 ER / 7 IP, 2 ER.
The prospects to fill in for a loss of Perkins or Blackburn are there, and their SP rotation replacement is Liriano, who I think will be an improvement over either of them and push them into the Playoffs this year.
Punto, Span, Gomez & Casilla - - The Twins “4 X 90 relay team.” Good moniker, LaVelle!
“Punto, Span, Gomez & Casilla - - The Twins “4 X 90 relay team.”
Until Punto drops the baton!
I’m sorry.
I like Punto, but I love going for the laugh.
Rick Anderson talks about why they won’t move Liriano to the bullpen and when he could get called up today at 3:00 on the webshow “Sports on Demand.”
Hey…I left around 5 pm last Friday…did we ever get an explanation on why Milton Bradley is “misunderstood”?
I still laugh remembering all the commenter’s on here that kept dissing Slowey because he didn’t have an “out” pitch. Really, the guy doesn’t, but he sure fools an awful lot of good hitters. The guy just plain does a superb job of changing speeds, and combining that with accuracy, makes for a very good chance at dominating a lineup.
It does make me wonder who other teams consider the best (read most upside) on the Twins staff right now. In my mind, it has to be Slowey. With his delivery, I would think that he is the kind of guy that should be around for a long time. Longevity is a GOOD thing to have in a pitcher.
Baker seems to have a stronger shot at truly dominating lineups. Heck, as mentioned several times already, he has lost 3 games already with probably what has to some of the worst run support ever for a starter. 3 1-0 games in one year, dang, that has to hurt, while looking over at your teammate just getting 14 runs the night before.
If I was Seattle, I would be salivating at either in their uniform, trading Beltre straight up for either would be a coupe, at least to me, if I was a Seattle fan.
Thanks for posting the Yankee pitchers’ records. I wouldn’t have been able to tell who was any good without those.
I THINK THE YANKEES WILL SWEEP THE TWINS IN THIS SERIES. THEY CANNOT BEAT NEW YORK.
Jason,
“Hey…I left around 5 pm last Friday…did we ever get an explanation on why Milton Bradley is “misunderstood”?”
Do you understand him?
Me neither!
That makes him misunderstood.
