It’s not like Gardy wanted to use Guerrier in that situation
Posted on August 13th, 2008 – 12:09 AMBy Howard
By the 12th inning, a game can turn into a crapshoot of who’s available and who’s lucky. In this case, it was the Yankees who were lucky to have the middle of their order coming up against Matt Guerrier, who has given up 12 runs on 16 hits in his last six innings of work. Obviously, something ain’t right with Guerrier, who had logged more innings at this point last season (65 vs. 61 2/3) and was allowing less than one runner per inning in ‘07. So it’s not overuse.
Because Nick Blackburn scuffled through 4 2/3 innings, Gardy needed to trot out every reliever this side of Brian Bass — eight pitchers in all, including Joe Nathan for four outs.
It was a shame to waste Delmon’s three-run homer off Mariano Rivera, which could have been one of those over and over and over again highlights if the Twins had continued their rally and won the game.
(Here’s Patrick’s column on the bullpen situation and lack of front office action.)
Otherwise, there’s little wisdom to offer. You can pull out moments that could have made a difference, but right now that feels a bit like pulling a couple of weeds from an untended lawn. The one that I keep thinking about is the Xavier Nady double with two outs in the fourth, on which speed-impaired Jason Giambi scored from first base when Gomez missed the cutoff man (Everett) and Punto short-hopped a throw that Redmond couldn’t handle. The rule, again, is to get the throw home on the fly or make it bounce so the catcher isn’t handcuffed.
That’s all for now. Day game today. I’ll be there, with a Gurahead for commenter ganderson.
Did anyone find the one that was left along I-35 Sunday, somewhere near the Iowa border?
83 Responses to "It’s not like Gardy wanted to use Guerrier in that situation"
Howard or anyone…when you watch Geurrier this year as compared to last, is there something you see that may indicate why his performance has dropped off? I mean, if it is not fatigue…
Last year, I heard that a couple AL scouts believed that although Geurrier was considered a battler, his stuff was not that great and that eventually the league would figure him out.
Any thoughts on the difference between his performance this year and last?
Why does Gardy insist to play matchups every time he uses the bullpen. I agree, there are loads of good things I can say about bringing in a new pitcher for every batter, but there are also games like tonight when it would have been great if Breslow would have been available in the 12th instead of throwing one pitch earlier. (Worst run-on sentence in a while - sorry)
Also, it is obvious that Gardy’s biggest weakness is managing the bullpen. I do not get why people outside the organization rave about Gardy so much when they don’t get to see him in action.
Ugh. Uffda. And other Norwegian terms.
That’s two of those great comebacks wasted in the past week (Lamb’s go ahead double in 4 run 8th at Seattle).
Take those two coupled with two bullpen blown leads in the last week as well and I’m left with the following feelings:
If management expects its players to do everything they can to win shouldn’t management be held to the same standard? If bullpen help does not arrive soon it will be fair to say that Bill Smith, he of Adam Evertt, Mike Lamb, Craig Monroe, Livan Hernandez and a Rays trade that not filled holes but created them, will have derelict in his duties this season.
You can blame different players for blown games here or there but if you run the team as if the goal is something less than trying to win the World Series then you are cheating the very team and its fans which you claim to be serving.
While I applaud the attempt to make bold moves winning in spite of Smith’s moves does not negate the damage they have done and are still doing to legitimate chance to win. They shouldn’t have to overachieve every single day to win if you actually give them a lineup (like tonights) that actually features more that one player who’s ever been to an All-Star game over his career or doesn’t cause the opposition to pull out the media guide to find out who he is.
Kudos to the players for never quiting even in the face of their upper management so obviously quitting on them.
Go Twins!
Get rid of Gladden
During tonight’s radio broadcast on KSTP ( I listen via XM radio) Gladden noted Boston 10-0 lead over Texas. He claimed on air Texas “should give up” and basically “quit”. At least that was my impression from the broadcast. Per below, Texas came back several times and it was a close game. This is a typical example of how unprofessional Gladden is, showing no knowledge of other teams, their spirit and resolution. He dismisses losing teams, minimizes marginal players and basically is unprepared, lazy, and not willing to put in the time to be a professional analyst. What an embarrassment this guy is to the Twins organization.
He should take some notes from Steve Stone, the White Sox color analyst and one of the brightest and knowledgeable analysts in baseball.
In my opinion he should spend less time talking about Glick’s brewing, his long hair, and his motorcycle and more time on the game at hand.
The Rangers erased two 10-run deficits with a combined 13 runs in the fifth and sixth, only to lose it in the eighth. Marlon Byrd went 5-for-6 in Texas’ 20-hit attack. Ian Kinsler slugged a three-run homer, as he and Chris Davis had four RBIs.
Craig Baglien
craigbaglien@hotmail.com
Howard: I think I speak for many posters when I ask you to try to get an honest answer from Bill Smith as to why he has seemingly refused to get some bullpen help. It’s been an obvious weakness for months now. I can understand Beltre, it’s pretty obvious Seattle was unreasonable. They haven’t even been able to pawn off Washburn’s contract. Middle infield would’ve been pretty easy. But an extra arm or two in the bullpen was such low hanging fruit, so easy to see, that you have to wonder why nothing’s been done.
We don’t have access to Bill Smith…I assume you do. Can you help us out here and try to pin him down to a real answer?
Who is to say they are refusing to bring in bullpen help? There is the pure and simple fact that there are no decent relievers available, and the ones that could pass through waivers the team can raise the price if they know the team is desperate for help. And even if they do trade for a decent reliever, there is nothing to say the guy will transition over to the newer team and be a great addition. Take Marte for example, he was actually doing really well in Pittsburgh, and it wasn’t because the rest of the pitchers around him were horrible, but he comes over to the Yankees and he struggles, you never know. The Yankees might be wishing they held on to Karstens because of his dominance in the NL. On the flip side you could say the Twins could DFA Bass and bring up someone from AAA (sorry, I really only follow Twins through work, I am not familiar with their farm system) but who is to say Bass wouldn’t have played some massive role in a potential playoff run? Maybe if the Twins could juggle their rotation some to get two guys who can go deeper into the game (screw pitch counts!) following the off day it might allow the bullpen guys to regroup. Plus, these guys are use to one inning….. anything over that is going to be an adventure, unless we are talking about the lefty specialist Reyes who only faces 2 people MAX.
There is the pure and simple fact that there are no decent relievers available, and the ones that could pass through waivers the team can raise the price if they know the team is desperate for help.
This isn’t terribly accurate. LaTroy Hawkins and Chad Bradford recently changed teams. Both could have been claimed by the Twins (and weren’t), both would have been beneficial additions (especially Bradford), and both came incredibly cheap. Hawkins was swapped for a low level filler and Bradford was had for nothing more than taking on his very modest $3.5 million dollar contract for next season.
Good comments from all of you today.USAF chief, yes it would be nice if Mr. BS could share some honest comments with Howard. I can’t see the harm explaining what kind of problems he is running into. But, like Terry Ryan anything and everything is top Secret or Classified or on a need to know basis. We are just bunch complaining fans. Im not complaining, I am looking for a ray of hope. This bullpen needs help and silence from our GM is not helping us in soothing our fears for this team…..
Last night got late, so I wasn’t able to continue the discussion I was having with a few other commenters…but I too was wondering just what’s happening to Guerrier.
As recently as two years ago Guerrier was the mop-up guy. Then last season he started coming into more “important” situations, and this year (with the injury to Pat Neshek) was the set-up man for a time.
Heck, wasn’t he a (terrible) starter originally? I think it was 2004 or 2005 where he and Seth Gressienger eventually lead the Terry Mullholand become the 5th starter “by default”.
So this is a guy who’s career for a while was long relief. Albeit long relief in much less dire circumstances.
With that in mind, he’s struggling…but how could he be getting tired?
In 2006 he pitched 69.2 inngins over 39 appearances. In 2007 it was 88 inngins over 73.
2008? 61.2 over 58.
Is Guerrier’s struggles coming from the move to setup man? Is it possible that he just can’t make the adjustment to the daily ramp-up/wind-down that comes with being in that role?
Also, I just don’t get the feeling that LaTroy Hawkins was the answer for this bullpen. He WAS a great setup man for the Twins, but it seems like another of those “lightening in a bottle” type pickups. I haven’t followed his stats since going to the Astros, so I can’t tell you if its actually worked out or not.
As far as the bullpen as a whole…I think this is a situation where it’s more than One-Arm (TM) away from being in the right place.
A strong 8th inning man could make the difference in tight games, but look at last night as an example of other weakness. Blackburn couldn’t make it to 5 innings. Which meant that they needed good performances from guys other than their setup man and closer.
When you look at the pen and have no confidence in guys like Boof and Bass, and see Crain and Guerrier struggling…I just don’t get the feeling that one guy can fix that.
It was like the Twins lineup last year. They were missing a 3B. They were missing a LF. They didn’t have a decent DH. One-Bat (TM) wasn’t going to fix that.
The interesting story will be this offeseason. I think Reyes is a free agent, and I’m pretty sure they have a decision to make on a 2009 option for Redmond.
The Twins also may have decisions to make based on Neshek’s health, as well as how Cuddyer and Casilla are coming back from injury.
All while looking to patchup the bullpen and possibly get somebody in to mash at 3B.
With that in mind, he’s struggling…but how could he be getting tired?
Pitching in 13 of the 23 games since the All-Star break would be a pretty good place to start.
As long as Harris is as visible as chicken teeth and is apparently non-essential why not go to a 13 man staff until 9/1? Humber has put up some pretty dang good numbers in four of his last 5 outings since returning to the RedWings rotation.
(tongue was planted firmly in cheek with this comment…sort of)
One thing that may help (as I prepare to get pelted with empties) is to try Boof for one inning only. He really has two plus pitches but seems to lose focus after a couple of innings. Just flip him and Guerrier for two weeks and see what happens. Couldn’t be any worse (take a look at MG’s last 6 outings. It’s really bad.)
Breslow doesn’t look too bad either and should get looked at for more than the one lefty out role. Both Boof and Breslow should be fresher.
If you’re not going to bring in outside help (and it is really hard to do right now…unless Seattle wants to panic as the next dealine nears…J.J. Putz, anyone?) then give MG a pseudo-15 day DL stint without actually doing it.
Oh,
And what the hell is wrong with Harris? The guy goes on a doubles binge, plus a little wall clearing, and then gets potted.
Buscher can come in and throw the ball into the Mississippi but they are patient as he learns the positions and “goes after the game.” Harris was brought in to play 2nd, had trouble as he adapted to the new position, and gets yanked if he ties his shoelaces wrong.
In the meantime, LNP can’t hit….ah, crap. You know the tune.
this game was lost because The Twin’s bullpen is not very good outside of Nathan and Reyes
Yankee’s are a deeper team and showed it again last night
As soon as Guerrier went out for his 2nd inning, I new we lost.
FYI,
Gardy is going to be on Mike & Mike in two minutes.
Over/under on:
Getting after the game…4
Battling their tails off…3
In my opinion, the game was lost due to Gardy having to use the bullpen early and often the past few weeks. (not for Monday, though). Reyes, despite his numbers, is not that good. Redmond was digging so many balls out of the dirt and Reyes is always a candidate for a wild pitch every outing.
Reusse hit the nail on the head today. Why Smith didn’t try to get someone before the trade deadline is beyond me.
Battling their tails off…3
MTRR: Johnny Damon made at least 3 references to “battling” during his post game interview. Two in reference to the Yankees performance, and one in reference to the Twins.
I had to chuckle. I don’t consider the Yankees to be the type of team that has to “battle their tails off” when they scored maybe a third of their runs on gift wrapped walks.
I was actually surprised Blackburn lasted as long as he did considering he couldn’t put the ball anywhere besides the wheelhouse if he wanted to get guys out.
Agree with Norwood 100% on the Harris / Buscher dynamic. It’s almost embarrassing.
Regarding Howard’s thoughts on “Gardy didn’t want to go to Guerrier”…the point is, as Reusse writes today, the entire bullpen stinks. It’s not just Guerrier…it’s a trickle down effect…when your long relievers can’t get the job done and put in your innings, everyone else suffers.
Guerrier has proven time and time again he’s not a big game pitcher. Crain has been, at best, inconsistent. Same goes for Reyes and Breslow–and those are the good guys. Bass and Boof are unspeakably bad. All you need to know is Boof was in the game not just for one inning–but two innings–in a one-run game…he walks and hits a guy in the 6th, manages to get out of it miraculously, then Gardy trots him back out there for the 7th, when he again lets the first two Yanks on base, and eventually the Twins give up another run. Seriously, when you’re left to pitch Boof in a game that isn’t completely out of reach, your bullpen is hurting. The problem is we have two of those guys–Boof and Bass.
I’m sure Gardy was saying ’see..that’s why you don’t do that’ when Girardi brought Rivera in with one out in the 8th and he gave up the three-run dong…but I still say it was the right move…New York could see the writing on the wall, they knew the outs were vitally important for the game at that moment and sometimes you have to go to the sure thing no matter the inning or situation. Luckily for us, the sure thing wasn’t a sure thing–but he did clean us up in the 9th without too much trouble.
As for the rest of it, it’s only one game, I guess. I got lit up to the point of wrapping duct tape around my mouth yesterday for bringing up a certain hitter in the middle of the lineup; turns out Gardy feels the same way I do as he used a rookie from Rochester to pinch hit for him late in a close game. That stuff’s not suppose to happen to consistent, proven hitters…regardless of what side of the plate they hit from.
Anyhow, I guess the last two days have taught us what the formula has to be in these games against tough opponents: Best get us to the 8th inning, please, Mr. Slowey.
t i agree they have more than one spot needing a fix but with all teams also having holes, filling any of the major needs could make the difference. it may come down to 1 or 2 games between the playoffs and not and one good addition could have made up what we lack in 1 or 2 gms.
right now we have 3 dead spots on the roster, harris who gardy doesn’t seem to like, bass who nobody likes and lamb who isn’t going any where (contract).
maybe fake an injury let guerrier (who is becoming a dead spot) rest for 15 days and bring up the best 2 guys in the minors, after waiving bass. there are few games left and wasting even a few wins may mean going home early.
however, over the yrs the front office has shown a lack of making the move when needed, prefering to wait till next yr so i doubt any move at this time will happen. we should be used to it by now.
Dude! Danny Gladden? I love that guy! Steve Stone is….. ok. He did switch from the Cubbies to the Sox in the offseason. Capital offense in my eyes… and as capable as he was when he wasn’t the on air personality for the dark side, c’mon, we’re just talking about a sports radio personality here. For me, I’ll take Danny and his mullet in all his white trash glory any day of the week.
I agree with those of you who have brought up the Harris/Buscher quandry. It’s odd. He’s definately not out because of his bat. He can hit, and he has been hitting. Apparently he is benched because of his defense, but at the same time Punto has been making little league mistakes most of the season. He is getting really frustrating to watch. I used to try to defend him. Now he’s just annoying. (short hop to Red Dog at the plate?!?! what was that?)
I went to bed last night thinking I would have to defend Gardy all day. I’ll get bored of that, as I do with the Kubel commenting. I’m just going to say that there is no reason to assume Gardy misused the bullpen. He put the team in a position to win. As far as I’m concerned the lineup threw away at bats in the 9th, 10th, and 11th inning. In fact, in the 9th, I think they saw a combined 5 pitches. That was probably even more frustrating than Guerrier’s struggle.
IMHO, we should send Ruiz back down and go with an extra pitcher for the next 2 weeks. It’s a bit of a gamble but give Ruiz’s ABs to Redmond for the next 2 weeks. It’s obvious that we need as much help in the bullpen as we can get.
Willie Norwood:
I think you may be on to something. We know Boof has decent stuff before he gets tired (throwing 94-95 and showing some decent movement on his curve last night). We also know he can’t handle coming in with runners on. So heck, why not let him throw the 8th. We have no other options at this point. If you told boof to let it fly for one inning, he very well could be effective.
Agreed on Boof for one inning
But I’m guessing he needs an off season of specific short burst training to really excel in that roll
Gardy needs to pitch Breslow more. He cannot afford to have relievers in for only one batter at this point of the season. Next month maybe. Not now. And if they are not trusting Bass to pitch (and they shouldn’t) he should be DFA’s ASAP and get an arm up from Rochester.
Buscher (and Morneau) look like they can use a day off on the plate, too.
I like Willie Norwood’s idea of finding a way to give Guerrier a rest either by putting him on the 15 day DL, or just burying him in the bullpen for a week. His innings pitched may not be higher than years past, but he’s been making a lot of appearances. Whatever the cause, he needs a break.
I also think Guerrier is an example of why the Twins are reluctant to lose Bass on waivers. Guerrier was a mop-up guy who gradually worked his way into playing a vital role in the bullpen. The Twins obviously think Bass has the potential to make the same progression.
Not too long ago, the Twins had a lot of guys in the ‘pen that threw hard. Not so much now. Crain does, but he usually only works every other day (and he’s very inconsistent). Guerrier barely touches 90, same with Reyes, Breslow isn’t a power guy, Bass is a sinkerballer. Boof was clocked at 95 in one of his recent appearances, he has a really good curveball….I know it is kind of a desperation move, but perhaps he should get a shot in the 8th. The other thing about Bonser is that he takes a little longer to recover, which really hurts, but right now the road to Nathan is very rocky and something needs to be done.
Boof can’t pitch 2 days in a row. He’s not accustomed to relief. On paper, all these ideas look great. When implemented into a marathon, 162-game schedule it doesn’t really work that way.
“As for the rest of it, it’s only one game, I guess. I got lit up to the point of wrapping duct tape around my mouth yesterday for bringing up a certain hitter in the middle of the lineup; turns out Gardy feels the same way I do as he used a rookie from Rochester to pinch hit for him late in a close game. That stuff’s not suppose to happen to consistent, proven hitters…regardless of what side of the plate they hit from. ”
Wow. You really are just a troll, aren’t you? I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, but it’s pretty obvious.
Guerrier, Bass, and Breslow have no buisness being in any games that hang in the balance. That’s too many guys in the bullpen that aren’t really reliable.
It’s great that our young starters haven’t been terrible but we NEED relief help. No one wanted to hear it two weeks ago when I said they should have kept livan moved perkins to the pen and got rid of bass or one of the young guys. Obliously perkins is doing well as a starter but if we can’t hold leads what good is it…well something needs top be done and I’m out of cute ideas….time for the organization to step up and make a quality move.
“No one wanted to hear it two weeks ago when I said they should have kept livan moved perkins to the pen..”
I still don’t want to hear that. That’s one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard on this board, and there have been some doozies posted here.
Pretty easy to say “step up and make a quality move”. Just what move would that be?
To correct the record… snepp, Hawkins was not waived by NY and the Twins couldn’t have “claimed” him. He was DFA’d by the Yankees before the non-vaiver deadline and they retained the right to trade him to whomever they wished. The Yankees chose to trade him outside the AL, rather to the Twins. You don’t KNOW whether the Yankees were even willing to discuss a trade to a potential playoff competitor. And I won’t even bother going in to a discussion about just whether or not Hawkins qualifies as a quality arm at this point.
Bradford averages a strike out about every 2-3 innings. NOT a quality reliever, by my definition. S
So… again… it’s a heck of a lot easier to say a quality reliever must be acquired than it is to actually do it.
Guerrier is just tired — too many 6 inning stints by the starters.
Would it be worth giving Bobby Korecky another shot? He can’t be any worse than Bass, and seemed to be able to handle the pressure in the (very) short stint he had with the Twins earlier this season. I know he’s doing okay down in AAA. I’m not saying he’s the Golden Child or anything, but it probably wouldn’t hurt to give it a go.
Hopefully, Bill Smith is still beating the bushes for another arm.
“Would it be worth giving Bobby Korecky another shot?”
yes. that’s the kind of stuff you have to do when things can’t get any worse.
I’m confused on Bass, as well. If you’ve soured on the guy to the point where you just can not use him in any meaningful situation, you have to let him go and bring up Korecky or someone else from Rochester. There’s no point in carrying a guy you have that little confidence in.
The only logical reason I can think of for not already having made that move is that BS feels he’s close to picking up an arm in a trade and that’s when a roster move would be made. But the longer we go without seeing a deal, the less likely it is that that’s the case.
We’ll see arms like Korecky’s arrive when the roster expands, but it’s pretty risky to wait another two and half weeks for that.
Crikket: You’re right on Hawkins. I think the Yankees probably took less to get him into the NL.
But you’re absolutly wrong on Bradford. It would’ve cost the Twins nothing but money to put in a waiver claim, and the idea that Bradford isn’t worth trying over Bass is silly.
Bass is contributing mightily to the Twins bullpen woes. Gardy (as anyone with a brain would be) is very reluctant to use Bass in any situation where the game hasn’t already been decided. Would you bring Bass into a close game voluntarily?
So he ends up not pitching in 8 days, during which the Twins have multiple close games, and extra inning game, and three bullpen meltdowns. Guerrier gets overused, Crain gets overused, Breselow is left in an extra inning game until finally, inevitably, he loses it. All of that is at least partly due to having Bass on the team, but not usable except in emergency or blowout.
What would be so bad about losing Bass anyway? There’s 50 Brian Bass’s floating around AAA. We’ve got several of ‘em in Rochester.
it would make sense that they have already put boof and bass on waivers and either they cleared or they pulled them back, so they would know where they stand.
2 guys who could help with reds selling off are weathers and affeldt. both decent this yr, no way to know if they are available or have cleared waivers.
JimCrikket: The Twins obviously think Bass has a future (or future trade value). After carrying him on the roster all year long I doubt BS would risk losing him this close to the Sept 1 roster expansion.
Regarding Bradford, I wonder if the poor infield defense of this year’s Twins made them shy away from a groundball pitcher. The bigger reason is probably that they are counting on Neshek being back next year and they didn’t want another side-armer making $3.5 million.
I think it is time to bring up Korecky and send down Ruiz. The Twins will need an extra pitcher for the big road trip anyway.
I’m fine with replacing Bass, Chief… I just don’t think a guy who can’t miss a bat is the answer. Yes, his ERA is fine, but we all know ERA is one of the worst indicators of a relief pitcher’s effectiveness. Would Bradford be better than Bass? Quite possibly… but I don’t think that’s the point.
The Twins need a guy they can count on to bridge the game to Nathan. I simply do not see Bradford as the answer to the “who can come in with guys on base and keep a lead to get to the 9th inning?” question. I don’t just want an arm that’s better than Bass. I wan’t a relief pitcher more effective than Guerrier and Crain to get to Nathan.
The Twins definitely need help in the pen but they also need a halfway decent bench option (something they haven’t really had in recent memory). It may have been a mistake to release Monroe. He was terribly inconsistent but still a veteran hitter with some pop and he had a few big hits for the Twins in the first half. With the loss of Cuddyer for basically the rest of the pennant drive the Twins are really in a bind.
One more thought.
As much energy as we’re devoting to discussions about how we’d love to have had another arm available last night, the fact remains that in both last night’s game and Sunday’s EI loss to the Royals, if someone who gets paid to swing a bat had done his job, those would have been Ws long before the bullpen exhausted itself.
Young came through big time to tie the game last night but in both EI games, there was a general offensive failure in the extra frames. Someone has to drive in a run or it doesn’t matter how many all stars you have in your bullpen.
Regarding Bradford, I wonder if the poor infield defense of this year’s Twins made them shy away from a groundball pitcher.
That’s an interesting take. Especially with Everett’s arm or Harris’ range as the primary options at SS (or Evertt’s arm AND Harris range if you want Punto out of the lineup)
Chris D. I think the Twins DFA’d Monroe expecting Cuddyer to be back soon after.
Unfortunately they acted prematurely. If Cuddyer takes the ball off his foot a few weeks earlier, Monroe is still with the Twins.
I like Gladden. He not slick and over prepared, processed and unemotional like Steve Stone. The best Twins color guy though is Jack Morris. When are the Twins going to give him a larger role in the broadcast booth?
JimCrikket says:
August 13th, 2008 at 11:13 am
One more thought.
As much energy as we’re devoting to discussions about how we’d love to have had another arm available last night, the fact remains that in both last night’s game and Sunday’s EI loss to the Royals, if someone who gets paid to swing a bat had done his job, those would have been Ws long before the bullpen exhausted itself.
Young came through big time to tie the game last night but in both EI games, there was a general offensive failure in the extra frames. Someone has to drive in a run or it doesn’t matter how many all stars you have in your bullpen.
——————————————————–
I think you are absolutely right. After the big boost from Delmon, they went completely futile. It was sad. I had a feeling that after awhile the bullpen would blow it if they couldn’t get runners on. That 5 pitch 9th inning was quite annoying.
This is actually news: The Twins claimed Alan Embree today but Oakland pulled him back. Story here (at the bottom of the article):
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/08/12/SPDA129JBN.DTL
I heard Gardy on MLB Home Plate a few days ago and he said that they had made several waiver claims already. So I don’t think Embree is the only one. He’s just the only one that has been confirmed.
The bullpen did not lose the game - they got the team into the 12th inning against a very potent line-up. Twins lost because their hitters consistently waste at-bats. There was only one out when Delmon Young tied the game in the bottom of the 8th. Buscher and Everett were then out in about 4 pitches and the inning was over. Then they had the bottom of the 9th, 10th and 11th to score one run - for a fundamentally sound, small ball team. Gomez, Span, Punto, Redmond - all had terrible at-bats. And Ruiz should be sent down to single A ball for a feet first slide at first. The managing and pitching did not lose the game, a lack of patience at the plate and a lack of an ability to work a pitch count did.
“So it’s not overuse.”
I disagree with you, Howard. Guerrier can’t stay “young” forever. He should have 10 fewer innings this year at this point.
markinmn, Guerrier’s velocity is down. He’s tired of the plantation work.
“We don’t have access to Bill Smith…I assume you do. Can you help us out…”
USAFChief, was it Joe C or La Velle who said the Twins should have gotten Hawkins?
Bill Smith is an enigma.
Hey! Olympic baseball is on MSNBC.
this one’s on the hitters…they wasted the momentum they had by not finishing the job in the 8th, 9th–or even the 10th. Instead of working on what they do best–small ball–to get a walk-off win, impatience and poor at bats led to limited opportunities. also, guerrier is simply burnt right now. gardy needs to give him more days off and use him just for 1-3 out for awhile or he will soon have a 6 + era and/or be on the dl. twins biggest need before 7/31 was another solid arm out of the pen and now, as we’ve seen in the last couple weeks, they are paying for the failure to make a move. let’s go billy! go twins!
“Bradford averages a strike out about every 2-3 innings. NOT a quality reliever, by my definition.”
Since you only used the K as a determinant to define a quality reliever……
90 K’s in 60 innings doesn’t make the guy a quality reliever!?!??!!!!
Are you okay JimCrikket?!!!?
romer, I think the point JC is trying to make is that a guy who can only muster a strikeout once ever few innings isn’t the kind of dominating reliever the Twins need in the late innings (especially with men on)
He could be useful in a middle innings situation, but again, Twins have two or three guys that can handle that already.
I’m just glad Gardy finally got through to the players about hand/finger injuries. After watching Casilla hurt his thumb with a headfirst slide a few weeks back, it looks as if the twins are practicing safer slides. For example, look at Randy Ruiz’s feet first slide into 1B last night. It was textbook; he popped right up and didn’t appear injured in the least. He may have been out, but I don’t think the Twins can afford to put him on the DL. Way to go Tardy.
“Wow. You really are just a troll, aren’t you? I tried to give you the benefit of the doubt, but it’s pretty obvious.”
Yes, Pete D, Jason is a troll…..and a distinct one. That’s why I showed so much leadership for this blog yesterday in trying to call him out. Wasted a lot of time, apparently.
So, unless we get a New-And-Improved-Jason, it’s time to simply ignore his posts.
Thank you.
“It may have been a mistake to release Monroe.”
My initial impulse, Chris D, was that it was unnecessary to release him. Ruiz can’t play any D very well. Maybe Monroe had some slight chronic injuries to his legs.
“The managing and pitching did not lose the game, a lack of patience at the plate and a lack of an ability…”
Right, TC at 11:40.
And the cookie right down the middle served up on the second pitch of the game to Damon didn’t help either.
Ruiz can’t play any D very well
Urban legend…
Career fielding percentage:
Ruiz: .979
Monroe: .975
Cuddyer: .975
Harris: .973
Lamb: .965
Casilla: .963
Buscher: .943
“romer, I think the point JC is trying to make…”
T, I totally misunderstood JC’s 10:27 post. Thought he meant every 2/3 inning, not every 2 - 3 innings.
Still getting the cobwebs out of my eyes.
But I’m okay.
I’m okay you’re okay.
:)>
Fielding percenatges for firstbasemen (where ruiz gets the majority of his playing time) are typically over-inflated. Granted Morneau is one of the best in the business, but his career % is .995. You can’t compare Ruiz with outfielders and thirdbasemen.
“Ruiz can’t play any D very well
Urban legend…”
So, we can expect to see him spell Morneau soon and Morneau to DH to rest his legs?
SM
Ruiz’ FP as 1B is .980 and as an OF (85 games) is .978; as an OF Ruiz has higher lifetime FP than Monroe (.975) and is close to Kubel’s lifetime .982.
He needs work in 1B, but if he is swinging the way he has been (as of now he is hitting .417), I’d take it. Don Baylon was worse defensively in 1987. Gardy needs to find more ABs for Ruiz
Sorry… been doing the work thing.
glad we got that 2-3 vs 2/3 thing cleared up, romer.
For the record, I’m not suggesting K rates are the only consideration for a good reliever. But T summarized my point exactly (and more succinctly than I did). Bradford would have been very handy to have for these couple of EI games. But, imo, the need is for a guy who can come in during the 7th or 8th inning, with inherited runners, and get the ball to Nathan without blowing a lead. I don’t see Bradford as that guy.
thrylos -
If Ruiz could play anywhere near average defense, he would have been in the majors years ago. My assumption is that he has TERRIBLE range. Hard to make errors if you don’t get to any balls.
I agree that Ruiz deserves some at-bats. I think putting together a lineup structured similarily to today’s, w/ span in cf and kubel in rf, is a great way to get him in there. Granted we lose some range in the of but we have a more potent lineup. I would have no problem if Gomez was used as a late inning replacement/pinch runner every night.
Pete D,
Ruiz in the Cinci and Philly organizations was blocked from moving to the higher step in the minors and in the majors by the likes of Ryan Howard, Ben Broussard, Pete Rose Jr, Chris Saunders.
Hey, Howard. We found one Gura on top of a vending machine at a rest stop just south of Owatonna. I can only assume that was one you left. Thanks! You saved our traveling party from having to negotiate joint custody of the one Gura that we were able to scrounge up after Saturday’s game. Any insight on the Honeypot?
Question — why was Nathan pulled after only 15-16 pitches last night? Just because he had already pitched one and a third innings? He was ready to go at least another 20-25 pitches…
thrylos -
I don’t think that is entirely true. Ruiz was at A ball for parts of 3 years in the Reds organization. By 2002, Broussard was no longer in the organization, and Ruiz was behind guys like Mike Calitri and Samone Peters. Last year, he played in the San Francisco system but never got called up, even though they were desperately looking for a first baseman.
Ruiz isn’t a major league player. He’s probably your typical “AAAA” player, although that might not even be true because he has only spent a little over a year at AAA.
Pete D,
last year with was with SF a month, another month and a half with PIT and finished the season in the Phillies organization.
Gardenhire is kind of a ninny when it comes to making decisions that are important to the team. He usually has to be told what to do by the other coaches. Most things are too complicated for him, such as making out the lineup cards. He has a poor ability to judge players abilities and prefers to have players in the lineup like Punto instead of much better players. He often gets frustrated with his inability to make timely decisions that help the team and tries to take it out on the umpires with his hideous temper tantrums that embarrass the team and the fans.
stan, you wouldn’t be looking for a MLB manager posiiton, would you?
“He could be useful in a middle innings situation, but again, Twins have two or three guys that can handle that already.”
They do?
What innings someone pitches isn’t the point.
The point is to add relievers who can be trusted to get outs more often than not.
If Bradford could to that, what difference does it make what inning he does it in or whether he gets those outs with a strikeout or a weak ground ball?
The probelm now is that there’s too few reliable relievers in the pen, whether that’s in the 6th inning or the 8th.
thrylos -
I know, yet he was still at AA for all of them except Philly. If Ruiz was worth playing at the major league level, there is no way he makes it through all of those clubs. Someone would have picked him up, put him in AAA before last year. I guess I just trust major league scouts - and they don’t seem to think that Ruiz is going to amount to much.
Howard: This has nothing to do with this season, but 28 years ago I shared a press box with you covering the Legion World Series in Ely. It was so long ago, Sid Fernandez was skinny. Also Ted Williams and Burleigh Grimes appeared there. Your readers might find this somewhat interesting on an off day.
Jim,
I remember that week. I wrote a story about Ted Williams, Bob Feller and Burleigh Grimes sitting in the Ely HS library talking to each other about baseball. It was a totally amazing hour for the six or eight of us in the room who listened. Every now and then, Williams would ask someone else what they thought — and listen to the answers. Of course, he was really there for the fishing.
Sid’s Hawaiian team won the World Series, if I remember correctly, and we chatted a bit in an elevator during the ‘86 World Series. He remembered thinking he was going to die during a thunderstorm.
Thanks for giving me an excuse to share that!
Howard, didja happen to run into my cousin, Head Football Coach Larry Mischke of Ely High?
The nicest and most intelligent Man/Boy, who could talk ya some kind of conversation.
He always liked to have about 3 starting QB’s and 4 starting HB’s on his huge squad. Ely was a dynasty up there too for a long, long time.
I am a changed man. I will behave and won’t be a distraction. I had a OBP of nearly .500 last year, and that was without the juice. I won’t help your relief woes, but maybe a couple of more runs a game will.
Barry
I’d be happy if you just stand at the plate behind Morneau so that Justin can get some pitches to hit. Of course if you could also be a setup man, that would be icing on the cake!! 
Kubel to right, Span to center, Bonds DH’ing 5 times a week.
Since there’s little chance of picking up any usefull bullpen help at this point, it makes some sense.
