Twins-Red Sox: Lineups
Posted on February 25th, 2009 – 2:52 PMBy La Velle
BAWSTON: 1. Ellsbury, CF. 2. Reigning MVP, 2B. Youkilis, 1B. 4. Bay, LF. 5. Brad Wilkerson, RF. 6. Lowrie, 6. 7. Jeff Bailey, DH. Bard, 2. 9. Gil Velazquez, 3B. Pitching: Tim Wakefield/
TWINS: 1. Casilla, 2B. 2. Punto, SS. 3. Former MVP, 3. 4. Cuddy. RF. 5. Kubel, DH. 6. Young, LF. 7. Buscher, 3B. 8. Red-Dog, 2. 9. Pridie, CF. Pitching: Perkins
188 Responses to "Twins-Red Sox: Lineups"
Batting Morneau 3rd. VERY interesting…
or is Rod Carew playing?
Shouldn’t Red Dog be batting 3rd?
First lineups of the season. 
The title of this blog put a big smile on my face. Baseball’s back, folks! GO TWINS!
I love the fact that Pridie is starting in CF tonight.
Ben W.
I thought that too because Redmond usually takes Mauer’s spot in the order when he catches. However, IF Mauer is moved up to no. 2, I don’t think Redmond is a no. 2 hitter (and not really even a no. 3 hitter). together with Morneau batting 3rd, I think the lineup very intriguing.
Lineups can wait, let’s get back to talking about Boof’s torn labia.
I don’t like the thought of Crede or Cuddyer batting cleanup though. Not high enough average.
My guess is we’ll all be belly-aching about this come early May, so I might as well start it now:
Why LNP batting second and playing SS?
Why Cuddy in right field?
What will it take to move these folks to the bench?
The “doc” who mixed up labrum and labia must have named himself “doc”.
If he is a “real” doc, I want his license revoked!
Walter, you’ve really thought this out.
I was just joking. Red Dog should never bat 3rd.
The idiot just couldn’t resist but to bat Punto 2nd.
Cool, looks like I’ll be able to listen in on the ride home..XM Satellite radio, baby.
Channel 181
Punto and Morneau are both playing in the WBC so Gardy had said he wanted to get them at bats now before they left.
Lavelle! What’s this? ? ? “Pitchinig: Perkins”.
Pitch-i-nig? ? ?
What if all of us………….aw forget it………….
Punto can’t leave as many men on base if he is batting second in the order.
“CharlieMurphy says:
February 25th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
Punto and Morneau are both playing in the WBC so Gardy had said he wanted to get them at bats now before they left.”
Are they leaving after the first inning?
It’s Spring Training, batting order and starters are just a formality…
I bet Gomez gets some time today.
“The idiot just couldn’t resist but to bat Punto 2nd.”
The @#$%@#$% SOB is gonna cost us another @#$%@#$% Mayor’s Cup!!!!!
Spring Training line-ups really mean nothing, as long as all the guys get their needed at bats.
When are the last two teams going to move Spring Training to Arizona? It’s sad.
former MVP should be reigning MVP. our catcher had a better year then Pedroia. Every writer that voted Dustin #1 on their MVP ballot should never be allowed to vote again.
Sane, you owe me an apology. The tear I mentioned would NOT show up on shoulder exam.
Is it me…or is the first game of Spring Training a bit early to burn Gardy in effigy for his lineup?
I mean…Pridie is starting in CF, Crede’s nowhere to be found, and Redmond is catching.
Oh yeah, this has “Opening Day” written all over it.
I wonder if they used Pridie so that Gomez and Span wouldn’t be as threatened by the other one starting first.
Agreed Guru..pedroia won the mvp because he’s plays for a large market red sox team..had morneau and/or mauer been wearing a yankees or red sox uniforms, the ballots would have looked much different, guaranteed.
You still want a leadoff-type hitter to lead off and a cleanup-type hitter to hit cleanup. So why bat Morneau third? ST is to make guys comfortable. Why screw with his routine?
Sauce,
Morneau would’ve won going away but he didn’t show up in Sept.
So here’s a question…since Cuddy isn’t going to the WBC, would it benefit the Twins to try giving him some reps at 1B while Morneau’s away?
He did some time there the last few years if I recall, and it wouldn’t require the same type of defense as 3B.
Plus, it gives some more versatility to the lineup on days when Morneau needs a rest. Span/Young/Gomez in the OF, Cuddy at 1B, and Morneau on the bench (with the option to take over 1B if somebody in the OF has to come out)
Yeah, Gomez and Span would feel threatened just like Baker feels threatened by Perkins starting tonight.
casilla is a leadoff type hitter, morneau could be a 3 hitter. cuddyer won’t be the 4 hitter either…fast guys at the top, boppers in the middle, wild-cards at the bottom..line-up is fine
I was about to say: It’s spring training. He’ll bat Morneau lead-off to get him more hacks if he thinks he needs it.
ST is to make guys comfortable. Why screw with his routine?
Morneau’s also used to hitting behind Mauer…who’s currently not available. Guess he should just sit entirely then right? I mean…don’t want him to get uncomfortable hitting behind somebody else for a game
He should probably sit out of the WBC as well so he doens’t get used to hitting behind some Canadian dude.
Buscher is Morneau’s backup at first and I think Gardy likes him and keeping him as backup to Morneau (who SHOULD have been MVP instead of that Bartlett guy) gives Gardy a good reason to keep him.
Right Walter. Red Sox have the same idea, just check the parallels of the two lineuups LEN posted.
oh wait. ooooooooooo. i guess we’re losing today.
“Morneau’s also used to hitting behind Mauer…who’s currently not available.”
That’s just dumb.
sane -
I tip my hat to you. That made me laugh out loud at the office, and had a couple people give me a look or two. Thank you.
Liverpool 1, Real Madrid 0
i guess we’re losing today.
Yep, season’s over.
That’s just dumb.
What? That Morneau normally hits behind Mauer (which is true) or that Mauer’s currently unavailable (which is also true)
You DO remember the part where he and Crede were getting some extra time to get ready before getting in a game right? Last I heard Crede’s first start was planned for Friday.
But I suppose…it wouldn’t be Twins season without the agony of the lineups being posted each night.
And just think, with Punto now the starting SS (or at least FOR now), we have hopefully 162 games of “OMG PUNTO!” left until the end of the regular season.
Paul,
Morneau put up solid numbers thru out the season, with 1 bad month. obviously, not being clutch when it matters late in the season hurt morneau. but other than batting average, pedroia was not a more valuable player than morneau
Sauce: While it was only “one bad month”, it came when the Twins needed it most.
And he also had one of his worst games on national television just before the season ended. (Sat. against the Royals)
I’m tearing labias all the time I tell ya. Curse of my genes.
T,
It’s dumb to say giving a guy at-bats at a different spot in the order is the same as giving him at-bats behind a different player than he usually hits after. You MUST be someone’s wife to nitpick like that.
PETE:
I hear ya buddy, I got people staring at me too.
maybe punto can try his patented head first slide and manage to injure his hand again
Doc,
Boston has less options as they have a split squad today.
The “starters” are only going to play about 3 innings today so it really doesn’t matter. They are batting Morneau 3rd to make sure he gets 2ABs instead of just 1.
Gardy said on XM this morning that he was going to play two of the outfielders today and two tomorrow, just to mess with the media.
Kevin Kennedy and Gardy had a chuckle at that.
Also, the game will be on the MLB channel tonight.
‘but coach i was busting my tail off!’
amazing someone with so few brain cells can swing an 8 mill contract
It’s dumb to say giving a guy at-bats at a different spot in the order is the same as giving him at-bats behind a different player than he usually hits after
Hmm…if you change the spot in the lineup…aren’t you also changing who they hit around?
No wait, you could just take out the leadoff guy, put him ninth, and slide everybody else up one.
No wait, then it wouldn’t matter…because the same types of hitters and situations would be happening (except for the guy now batting 1st, who has to adjust to being the first guy to see a pitcher that night)
You’re right. I was mistaken. Who you hit around means MORE than where you actually hit.
I think it would be funny if Wakefield had an identical game as he did last year agaisnt us.
I love hearing the word homerun for ________ of the twins
Oh, and also…Morneau’s come out and said he likes hitting behind Mauer.
Guess that makes him a moron too. But what does he know, he’s only a multi-million dollar former MVP and the first Twin to hit 30 HRs in a season since Puckett et. al.
Sauce,
I think the difference was that Pedroia was a middle IF with more oportunity to contribute defensively.
And the big market thing.
I’m just fine with Morneau batting 3rd. He should do it more often, like whenever Mauer isn’t playing.
T,
Do you REALLY not understand what I wrote or am I just that bad at writing? Or are you just a “troll” that you claim to hate so much? I’m saying it doesn’t matter WHO you hit behind, only the SPOT IN THE ORDER YOU HIT. Do you understand lineups at all? Does it really matter where Morneau hits? I don’t know. Did it matter that Wade Boggs ate chicken before everygame? Boggs thought it matters. That’s all that counts.
As long as Punto doesn’t have the type of season he had two years ago i’m happy.
If he has a really good offensive season for a change plus his usual stellar defense, we all end up talking about how big of morons we are for bashing him before the season started.
who you bat behind may not be as important then who you bat in front of.
If you are a pitcher with joe mauer at the plate and morneau on deck i would want to try as hard as i could to dispose of mauer and wait an inning till i pitch to morneau.
There for since the pitcher is nervous about pitching to morneau, mauer will get more pitches to hit.
I’m all for giving Punto as many at bats as possible in spring training. The guy needs the most BP out of everybody, especially if he’s gonna be our starting SS.
I can’t believe some of you are actually taking this lineup serious.
Morneau batting 3rd? who cares, punto 2nd, who cares?
Don’t EVER take anything from an exhibition games lineup in ANY sport.
It’s not even a topic worth having a debate over, calm down.
I’m pretty sure the twins as an organization play about 3 games per day in ST at points, some guys play in one game, some guys in the other, and the minor league camp plays a game too, with some MLB guys making appearances every once in a while, its all about putting guys where you want to see them and in areas where you’d like to see what they can do. everything here is just experimental or cause thats who’s in the rotation for the day, its spring trainging remember, EVERYONE is going to see time.
And by saying that I just wasted the last 2 minutes of my life.
I bet Gardy gets Go Go and Denarded in when the knuckleballer leaves the game.
i dont care if punto bats .320, it will still be frusterating to see him flopping onto first like a dead seal and watching him screw up a simple sacrifice bunt
TwinsNotesGuy,
Mine too.
I wondered what everyone would have to argue about around here after Crede was signed.
I gotta say, “opening Spring Training line up and batting order” never entered my mind for a moment.
Wow. I mean… wow.
I just thought it was interesting that Morneau was batting 3rd today because yesterday we were discussing whether Mauer should movie up to the two-hole and Morneau up to the three-hole. Nobody was complaining or taking things too seriously. But I guess I was silly for thinking such a thing because after all Spring Training means absolutely nothing. I look forward to Morneau leading off and Punto hitting cleanup when they get back from WBC.
there will be more than enough things to complain about as the season goes on i refuse to complain about the lineup for the first spring training game!!!
I’m saying it doesn’t matter WHO you hit behind, only the SPOT IN THE ORDER YOU HIT
Justin Morneau somehow hits better or worse based on the number to the left of his name on the lineup card?
“Justin Morneau somehow hits better or worse based on the number to the left of his name on the lineup card?”
Is that the number on the player’s back or the number in the batting order? Sheesh. Be more clear would you?
total L-R (plus switch hitters) lineup
“One of the earliest examples of obsessive adherence to superstition occurred in 1927, when Pirates manager Donnie Bush wanted star outfielder Kiki Cuyler, a future Hall of Famer, to move from third to second in the batting order. Cuyler refused to do so because of his superstitious devotion to hitting third — and superstitious fear of moving to the No. 2 hole. Bush — already upset with Cuyler for not sliding hard enough for the manager’s liking to break up a double play earlier in the season — suspended Cuyler just before the World Series. The Pirates, batting just .223 as a team, were swept by the Yankees — and Cuyler was traded to the Cubs in November.”
Unless you want Morneau traded to the Cubs, people better start taking me seriously!
Morneau and Punto will soon go to the WBC. Batting second and third is guaranteed to give them the most at bats (along with Casilla) until the first set of substitutions, which will probably happen after they have at least 2-3 AB each. That’s probably the reason and it doesn’t matter a bit. The last couple of weeks after the final cuts the lineup order will probably solidify a lot.
complaining about batting orders this early on is pointless. the opening day batting order is the only one we need to worry about.
T it’s the 1st ST game, no one has hit anywhere yet.
Just for fun, I looked up the box scores of all 29 Spring Training games in 2008.
Morneau played in 23 games. He batted 4th in all 23 games.
Mauer played in 17 games. He batted 2nd in 13 games; 3rd in 4 games.
Morneau and Mauer played together in 12 games. In 11 of those games, Mauer batted 2nd and Morneau 4th.
So, it may not matter to the hitters where they bat in Spring Training, but it seems to matter to Gardenhire.
Like I said, I thought it interesting that Morneau was batting 3rd tonight because we had been discussing whether Gardy would move him up in the order now that there is a legitimate contender (Crede) to take over the cleanup role.
So y’all can suck on it!
I’m glad there is something to talk about other than torn “labias.” I still maintain Punto tore Boof’s labia with a head first slide. I’m soooo glad games have started. Go Twins!
Actually, WJ, Crede in the 4 hole isn’t the worst idea I’ve heard. I still like Crede 5th, Morneau 4th, and Mauer 2nd if (and this is a huge “if”) either Cuddyer or Young prove capable of hitting in the 3 hole. Mauer is a great hitter, he just doesn’t have the power to be a good fit hitting 3rd, imo.
…what is Punto doing batting 2nd. Redmond batting 8th? is pridie that bat that he’s batting 9th? Alright, lets see what happens.
we’ve managed to figure out wakefield in recent years (that and his knuckleball isn’t what it used to be). Perk is hit or miss, maybe he’ll be more of a hit today (seems like a lighter lineup - youkilis is not a #3 hitter).
Casilla sucks! Punto sucks (but we already knew that)!
Morneau is a god.
Cuddyer is obviously back.
Release Kubel. He sucks!
No sense waiting on these things. One AB is plenty to form firm opinions.
I am in awe, absolute awe that people have resorted to complaining about spring training batting orders. Wow.
Does anybody else share this concern. With Harris and Bucsher as our backup IF’s, and both incapable of playing SS in anything but an extreme emergency, the Twins GOTTA keep Tolbert or someone to step in if/when LNP goes down or needs rest. Or maybe slide Cassila over. But those guys suck at 2B too. I like Harris. Tude. Batting ave. Slugging. Decent hands. Good bench guy. But I think he’s gotta go to make room for a middle infielder. Or maybe if LNP goes down they call up Plouffe. I just know it won’t work for a contender to have Harris at SS.
Skips - putting your best foot forward is important; batting punto 2nd is not putting your best foot forward.
Chief - .270 with 20 HR’s and 78 RBI’s for kubel sucks eh? Casilla isnt the best hitter but he’s got a solid glove and has plenty of speed. that is by no means ’sucking’. Punto pisses me off but he can get on base, has some speed, is a switch hitter (like casilla) and has a good glove (his arm is another story). and why is it so obvious an injury prone guy with ONE good year and a couple average ones ‘back’?
your reasoning baffles me.
FutureDoc,
Chief was doin a little satire there.
Nice slide, Delmon!
[…] Twins Insider – […]
Harris is OK/below average at 2B. Hurrendous at SS. Decent to good at 3B. and has all the other good things you said. He’s worth keeping. Tolbert should be kept over Buscher. Harris kept over Buscher.
Buscher doesnt get his defense sucks - maybe he does, but it cost us some games even though his bat won us some as well.
Well Morneau lead off with a double so maybe it doesn’t matter where he bats only that he does bat. Morneau won his MVP as a 5 hitter. I bet it is also messing up Punto’s swing batting 2 when he will hit 8 or 9 during the season. Idiot.
Paul - oh..
Chief - sorry… but my points are still valid right? 
live stream of the game on mlbtv
check that, NESN not mlbtv
the Twins GOTTA keep Tolbert or someone to step in if/when LNP goes down or needs rest
in case of an injury they will get someone from AAA so this is kind of a moot point. If he needs rest, Harris and Casilla can man the two middle infield positions. That said, Buscher is too one dimensional to be in the bigs. I’d rather see someone like Tolleson/Tolbert/Machado (if his arm is ok) up. At least they can play middle infield and pinch run.
I, uh…guess I’ll have to be more obvious in my sarcasm in the future.
I’m not that’s possible, but I’ll do my best.
off to a nice start always when ur beating the damn redsox!!! 3-0 go twins
That should read “I’m not SURE that’s possible…”
I’ll work on my sentence structure, too.
Night classes, maybe.
may have to forgo tv and switch to the twins network and listen to gordon and gladden…these nesn announcers are the biggest bore/nonsense i have ever heard….at least gordon will talk about the twins…even if i cant see them…
i agree mj all they talk about is the redsox
the TV angle is awful. Every time there is a man on first, the 2B umpire blocks the plate.
I don’t mind away broadcasts (I get them for half the games with mlb.tv). It gives you a perspective of how opposing team broadcasters regard the Twins and also make you appreciate your home announcers sometimes…
buscher is hitting the ball hard…crede is definately going to have to hit, because buscher definately has a good swing…..
yes thrylos …gordo an gladden have never sounded better than tonite…lol
T98: with MLB.tv premium you can listen to home broadcasts, or away, or even radio feed to go with live video
I am talking about the TV part, guys. It has only one broadcast.
btw, for the ones who have written in stone that the Indians are the team to beat in Central, Wood got a “flared back” and he will be resting it for “a while”…
nathans getting roughed up a bit
Looks we need to look for a “NEW” closer 
Regards,
don’t use media player much how do i increase the size to the screen size, mine only fills about half the screen making for a fairly small pictures?
it’s slow and not really live… but probably the best place for play-per-play info:
http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2009_02_25_bosmlb_minmlb_1
haha no definitely not a new closer…i think ill give him another chance
don’t use media player much how do i increase the size to the screen size
depends on your version there is little screen like “button” on it. If you click on it, it will be full screen.
btw, good to see Valencia and Martin out there
Yes! Lineups!
Now all we need is spring jackets.
Matos needed an extra cup of coffee before he came to the park today…
Dude…
Jones comes in and strikes out Bay on 3 pitches.
Not impressed with Jones since striking out Bay.
Jones looks a bit of a RH version of Breslow and great fielding on the double play
Nora, that triple was Matos all the way and the Texas league single was Tolbert all the way… not Jones
Hm, looks like the ‘forgotten ones’ Young and Buscher came to play today.
Thry - glad you are doing analysis. can’t get the video to work.
I have hope for the former yank with the chip on his shoulder
Twins up 3-2 after 6 1/2.
Buscher 2 for 2 with a Double. Perkins solid in 2 innings of work.
Glad baseball is back!
Thrylos98,
On my MLB TV package last year I received both broadcasts.
Maybe it depends on your provider?
awe, Winfree…. i’m going to miss that amazing fielding if he is no longer in AA
Janet,
towards the end of the year I think they had both. In the beginning there was only one. This year they are promising both, from what I can tell…
btw, as far as the spring training games go, it seems like they will have video for only the ones that are televised and audio (home and road) for all. Today video is available only for the Twins and Cleveland games, for example (and that in crappy 400k)
Shawn,
my thought after that play was why don’t put the guy in first base…
i saw an inside the park HR hit over there at NB last year. No bad caromms, no weird wall, winfree didn’t even play it bad…. was just a combo of the guys speed and Winfree’s not so elegant fielding.
the girls in Binghamton liked him though
Janet, There is limited broadcast in springtraining. It will have both broadcast when the season starts.
Winfree’s not so elegant fielding.
You should run for office It’s like saying “Buscher’s not so elegant fielding”.
btw, the guy who got major pointers tonight so far from me is Machado
No, I was talking about last year, when I had the MLB TV ticket. I have Direct Tv, I went to the web site, they still have the 2008 schedule and it shows both broadcasts. I hope they do that again this year.
still 3-2 in the top of 8
m,
5-2
t98
thanks l love it when we pile on the runs
btw, the Red Sox D piled up the run tonight… other than Morneau’s double there was not another single ball in this game hit hard (from both sides)
Our third base “platoon” was 4 for 4 tonight! Guess we have that all figured out now!! Seth Stohs will be happy that Valencia got a couple of hits!
We are on our way to win the Mayors cup now!!
cuddy needs to play right field for his arm.
Valencia will be the Twins starting 3B by August!!
Ha-ha! Already complaints about the lineup. It’s early spring training. Why would anyone think this lineup is important?
I remember when Gene Mauch had Glen Adams play CF in spring training. Adams was so slow and couldn’t catch a thing. No one cared. Fans were brighter back then.
Crede will be the starter until he’s injured. If Valencia continues to play well - he may/should get the call up in September. But relax, it was only wakefield/red sox bullpen that he rocked.
it was only wakefield/red sox bullpen that he rocked.
about the “rocked” part, botched balls to infielders for infield hits do not “rock” in my book
Good to see all these guys up there tonight.
well he did get a couple of hits - thats pretty good by the Twins’ standards.
Hey Thrylos,
Do you know why they did not play Ramos tonight?? I was really looking forward to seeing that guy above all the other rookies tonight. I did not hear that he was injured or anything.
Jeff, I don’t know and it does not matter (it’s spring training) He is fine. I think that Gardy wanted to reward Butera and Christy. (now if he had his son catching ahead of Ramos, I’d be up in arms ). Ramos will probably play tomorrow; and he was not the only one by-based tonight, Morales was also…
There goes 98 again. Dumbass. Tolleson isn’t ready for the BIGS and Mach doesn’t have the arm strength.
How bout your man Buscher 2 -2 including a 2 bagger. Thought you said he can’t hit extra base hits?
Dumbass
But, frankly, watching the game tonight, Machado really impressed me. He took charge of the infield as a second baseman and waved Plouffe a couple of times and made the plays. Also, on the pitching side, Keppel was much better than I thought he would be. Downers: Matos and Tolbert. But it is still early
Alright, here comes e5 again…
Bonser was fine tonight (other that in a couple of plays on the field that he tried to cut in front of Punto). Nothing hit hard. The double was a Youk present… (and I do not think that a single ball was handled by him or hit his way, which is a good thing) but this is spring training…
Bonser or Bucher (sp)
Buscher… Bonser was not fine tonight (he was sedated, I bet)
That would be entertaining, though. Bonser at 3B. Entertaining but sad.
yes, is redmond playing becuz we like him so much? we realy need to get some more playing time to the youngsters to see who we can have back up mauer.
Jones was pretty awesome too - only that ‘earned’ run because of Matos and Tolbert. I’d take a 3 pitch K of Bay any day of the week.
That Matos triple was sad. I don’t know if you all had a chance to look at it, but the guy was playing about 75 feet off the fence. The ball hit waaay over his head, landed 15-20 feet in front of the fence and Matos practically jogged to get to it… pretty bad. That was an out with Gomez out there.
I don’t what the argument about Pedroira winning the MVP is all about,Justin stated that he deserved it.
Thry
I’d venture to guess that’s an out with Young out there.
As some have pointed out, relax. If you’re complaining about the batting order, there could be something Seriously wrong with you. This is a ST game, and the first one at that. No one should honestly care if the order goes:
1. Morneau
2. Redmond
3. Gomez
4. Pridie
5. Baker
6. Perkins
7. (prospect)
8. (prospect)
9. Cuddyer
My only complaint is that I want to win that Mayor’s cup!!!
(Actually, by this time, we’re 1-0).
TWINS WIN!!!
Seth,
“Valencia will be the Twins starting 3B by August!!”
You forgot to insert the year.
You also failed to mention how many games Valencia would start before the actual starter took back the job.
So, it may not matter to the hitters where they bat in Spring Training, but it seems to matter to Gardenhire.
Last year the only battle was if Gomez or Span would be batting leadoff. Casilla wasn’t going to overturn Harris at 2B, and there’s no way Harris was going to hit 2nd.
Also, there was no WBC last year, which meant there wasn’t any need to get guys extra ABs.
Do you understand lineups at all? Does it really matter where Morneau hits? I don’t know.
We do know…at least we know it mattered to Morneau.
But again, WHERE in the lineup a guy hit doesn’t impact his performance near as much as who he hits around.
Case in point, Gomez/Span/Casilla. Do you think a guy who relies on his speed to beat out bunts or stretch hits into extra bases would benefit from hitting around each other (and Punto), or getting shoved behind Kubel?
BRETT —–
Thanks for the site. I’m watching the replay right now.
Souhan wrote today about Perkins— “He also features a long, wraparound deliver that makes scouts speculate about future surgery…”
Another reason to keep Humber on the 25-man? Any chance he’ll be a starter again?
“Nora, that triple was Matos all the way…”
Right, the ball didn’t even get to the wall.
From LaVelle’s story in the STRIB today:
“The Twins last week made an offer to Cruz’s agent that wasn’t accepted — and indications are that another offer won’t be made. While the Twins believe righthander Jesse Crain will improve and that they can get free-agent righthander Luis Ayala on track, they will continue to keep an eye out for opportunities to upgrade the bullpen. Just not with Cruz.”
Is that because of Bonser going down? Reading some articles the last few days it looks like the Twins are “loaded” with one-inning guys. Cruz sounds like the same thing.
But the Twins would then have a bunch of one-inning guys and nobody that could go long/deep if the starter goes out early. And that’s where they got into trouble last year.
Are the Twins shifting focus to a guy who can go long/deep?
Its funny how people here think that Pedroia didnt deserve to win the MVP. Have you watched all the games that he played? How could you sit there and say that he won it because he plays for a big market team? Do you think you know all about Pedroia from watching him play against the Twins?
So here’s the supposed offer on the table for Manny:
The offer is a two-year, $45 million contract, with salaries of $25 million the first year and $20 million the second, but the second year is a PLAYER option so Manny can walk away if he believes he can get more on the open market next winter. If he is injured during the first season, the second year becomes guaranteed
So here’s how I understand it.
1) Manny would get 25 mil this year.
2) If Manny sucks it up, he can just pick up his player option and be good to go next year for 20 mil.
3) If Manny rocks, he can pass on his option and go for more elsewhere.
4) If Manny gets hurt and doesn’t play a game all year, he’s guaranteed 20 mil next year.
Yeah…good work Dodgers. *eyeroll*
T,
Guerrier was a successful long reliever, who was converted to one-inning assignments last year.
He can become what he usd to be - a long reliever.
Cruz seems to want big money from the usual suspects. (Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers, Angels, Cubs…) The Twins would sign him in a heartbeat, if the price was reasonable.
that would be like all the yankee fans that couldn’t understand how morneau could beat out jeter, most of them maybe saw one twins game all year. that was funny! i think they call that perspective?
“The Twins would sign him in a heartbeat, if the price was reasonable.”
Make that “sign and trade for him” if the price was reasonable.
Pedoria was playing neck and neck with Morneau for MVP. Then Morneau choked in the final week.
He lost it, Pedroia stepped up.
sane don’t you think he’d be worth the draft pick? what could you trade to the d-backs that would be equal value to the picks?
ggg,
I think he would be worth the #23 pick, but the Twins have more faith in their own mad draft-pickin’ skills than I do.
I think any one (or two) of Swarzak, Mulvey or Manship would be a fair exchange, but the D-Backs have their own Twins-wish-list, I am sure.
ggg,
Don’t forget that the Twins would have to meet Cruz’s salary demands first, whether the D-Backs compensation is the draft-pick or players.
Yeah but, T, the little known infielder having a good year is not drawing the attention and creating havoc in the opposing dugout like the other team’s All-star clean up hitter. Thus the big star is Most Valuable especially if you consider the entire season.
I have to think that hitting in front of Manny-Ortiz and Bay-Ortiz for most of the year would help one pad his stats. IN that lineup Punto might be able to get some consideration
what does the contract for a 23rd pick cost? signing bonus, etc. that wouldn’t be paid could help offset the cruz contract. a 23rd pick is much less sure than cruz would be imo, and would be of no help before the core of the current team is long gone.
What the - who is negotiating for the Dodgers? Can they train my boss on their wonderful “technique”?
I’d take both Pedroia and Youkilis over Morneau last year for MVP - and I hate the Sawx. You just can’t fold like that, especially in the heat of a race. Those two didn’t, Justin did.
bonuses paid, garza 05 25th pick 1.35m. 08 27th pick carlos gutierrez 1.29m. a guess is the 23rd pick will cost about 1.5m signing bonus.
So I’m “watching” the rebroadcast of the game last night. *urk*
I can’t WATCH, just listen while I work…and the announcers haven’t talked about the game at ALL. If I didn’t check back I’d have no idea who was hitting…pitching…or that there was even a ball game going.
But I could tell you the phone number to buy Sox tickets, Sox jerseys, and all about the Sarasota thing.
Worse than WGN so far.
agreed t; watching last night it took about an inning and i turned the sound off. they’d have the wrong name under players when they bat and it was mostly an info-mercial for the sox.
If MLB teams considered the signing bonus to be worth more than the draft-pick itself, then LOSING draft picks would be a additional reward for signing free agents.
And gaining draft picks for losing FA’s would NOT be compensation, it would insult on top of injury.
The Twins may now think they can pick an Aaron Hicks every year, instead of a Chris Parmelee, Matt Moses and Trevor Plouffe.
I thought that Sean Henn’s performance last night was not nearly as good as his performances in “Milk”, “Dead Man Walking” and “Fast Times at Ridgemont High”.
today’s lineup:
Span, LF
Gomez, CF
Harris, 3B
Buscher, 1B
Matos, L, RF
Martin, DH
Tolbert, 2B
Morales, J, C
Plouffe, SS
Blackburn SP
with all of the young outfielders why is matos starting?
Dude
Harris batting 3rd? Buscher the clean up hitter? Wow
with all of the young outfielders why is matos starting?
they want to take a look on him. I just never got why they signed him in the first place…
From now on, please post the lineups for ST games at 3AM.
Then everyone can have their needless heart attacks while they are already in bed.
ITS SPRING TRAINING!!!!!!!!
CHILL-OUT!!!!!!!!!!
sane,
Don’t ST games count .5 of win towards regular season?
Regards,
“Don’t ST games count .5 of win towards regular season?”
I wasn’t aware of that.
My bad!
sane,
Sean Henn’s perfomance last night may not have been oscar worthy, but it was better than the movie he did with Madonna.
Shawn,
The movie with Madonna must have been forgettable, because I have absolutely no recollection of it.
agreed, i couldn’t remember the name of it…
Shanghi Surprise… i think
