Top 5 Lineups in Baseball

Thought this was something you all might enjoy Buster Olney's take on the top 5 lineups in baseball as I work on my next post, "2010 Twins Prediction Day" coming early Friday morning:



Something that I found quite interesting was his mention of the fact that the foul territory Target Field will be the second least in baseball behind Wrigley Field. I knew that there wasn't going to be much foul territory, and that this might be a hitters park, but wow...

Twins Roster Thoughts

With the regular season a mere 7 days away, there is a lot going on with the Minnesota Twins. Who will make up the 25-man roster? Who will win the 5th rotation spot? Are the Twins going with an in-house option, or make an outside move to fill the void at closer?

As the season inches closer, answers to these questions are becoming much more clear. The Twins made another round of official cuts on Saturday, sending Matt Tolbert, Mike Maroth, Danny Lehmann and Ben Revere down to minor league camp. They also informed Jacque Jones, Kyle Waldrop and Anthony Slama, all of whom will be making the trip north for both exhibition games against the St. Louis Cardinals, that they will not be making the 25-man roster.

This news is significant because it reveals that Alexi Casilla will be given the final roster spot, filling out a bench that will include Jim Thome, either Drew Butera or Wilson Ramos (eventually Jose Morales, who will begin the season on the DL), and Brendan Harris or Nick Punto depending on how the 3rd base competition finishes. Personally, my belief was that it was Punto’s job to lose heading into spring training, and my guess is that Punto will be the starting 3rd baseman when the season begins a week from today. Also, my hope is that the Twins choose Butera as the temporary backup catcher until Morales is healthy. Ramos is one of the top prospects in the organization, and I would hate for him to not only lose at bats at the minor league level, potentially stunting his development, but also waste a year of major league service time to backup Joe Mauer for less than a month.

I am very disappointed to see that Jacque Jones didn’t make the team, for a couple of reasons. First, I really like Jones, I remember following him as he progressed through the Twins minor league system, and every year when my family and I were down in Fort Meyers for spring training, he was a genuinely nice guy (not that almost everybody in the Twins system isn’t). He was an outgoing, exuberant player whom I really enjoyed watching. During his time with the Twins, I would compare him to a much more fundamentally sound Carlos Gomez (although Jones swung at a lot of bad pitches as well), even though Gomez has much more raw athletic ability.

Second, Jones has significantly outperformed Casilla this spring training, hitting .344, with 2 HR and 5 RBI. Obviously his 13 games and 33 at bats are an extremely small sample size, and the fact that the last time he had a productive major league season was with the Cubs in 2007 when he hit .285/.335/.400, but still I believe Jones would have been a better choice based on performance. I know that Jones’ defensive abilities have regressed over his career, and I also know that Kubel can occasionally provide a off-day for a corner outfielder. However, I would much prefer to see Jacque Jones play center field in a pinch, as opposed to Cuddyer, Casilla or Delmon Young...

Finally, I really began to dislike Casilla last season, and my feelings weren’t altered this offseason. He has significantly regressed since his 2008 campaign in which he hit .281/.333/.374 and played solid defense, which is one reason to be frustrated. My main reason for disliking Casilla has less to do with his performance, and more to do with his overall demeanor. He seems to genuinely not care about anything that he is doing, and seems completely disinterested with every aspect of the game. This may stem from the fact that he saw a 2009 starting job at second base as a “right of passage,” due to his 2008 numbers. Unfortunately, instead of improving, he lost his starting spot as he regressed significantly, posting a line of .202/.280/.259, while playing below-average defense. A sophomore slump may have been more acceptable had he “battled his tail off” as Gardy likes to put it, but unfortunately he approached last season with less interest than I have for watching the WNBA.

The fact that Casilla is out of options has a lot to do with him making the team over Jones. The only issue I see with this is that Casilla can hardly be considered a prospect anymore at the age of 26, making this a make or break type of season. Personally, I don’t believe that Casilla will be with the Twins all season, I see him being packaged with another seemingly unpopular clubhouse guy, Glen Perkins, and being shipped somewhere for a prospect or two, or potentially even a closer, making room for Jacque to slide up to the big club, taking over the backup outfielder job.

The bottom line is that, barring an injury, the backup outfielder position shouldn’t be an issue for the Twins. Kubel will be able to play left field at times, with Thome stepping in as the DH. Denard Span played 145 games last year, and there is no reason to think that he won’t play more this season, as he wasn’t given the starting CF job last year out of spring training. If I have to watch Cuddyer play a few games in CF, or even Casilla for a game or two, it won’t kill me. I am just saying that if it were my choice, I would have liked to have seen Jones making the trip north for more than just a couple of exhibition games.

Target Field

Pictures just don't do it justice… I know that you are probably asking yourself, “if pictures don’t do it justice, then why are there six pictures in this posting?” I really don’t have an answer to that question other than because I would like to share my recent Target Field experience.

I attended the season ticket holder open house last Saturday at Target Field, and was absolutely blown away. For the past couple of years I have been closely following the construction of the stadium through reading various updates, and constantly monitoring the webcam on the Twins website. Since the stadium was completed, I have been constantly looking at photographs of the finished product. As a matter of fact, the background on my computer at work has been a phenomenal photo of the new stadium with the grass installed for the past 5-6 months.

There is only one thing I can say about my experience at Target Field, that it is so much better than pictures could ever make it seem. You can’t possibly imagine how amazing this stadium is until you walk through the gate and are standing inside.

I could write a lengthy review of how great the wide-open concourses, new restaurants, wider seats, and better sightlines are, but it wouldn’t matter, because until you see it for yourself you can’t fathom how unbelievable the experience truly is.

Instead of writing a description of all of the features of the stadium, I will just provide a few pictures that I snapped during my visit.

Here are some photos from my season ticket seats in section 103, row 19:

Here are some other photos from around the stadium:

5 Stages of Grief (Joe Nathan Edition)

The following is a diagram of the 5 stages of grief. In this case the red dot will represent where I am at in the process with regards to Joe Nathan's elbow injury and how it will affect the Minnesota Twins this season. Check back for updates...

FINAL UPDATE: As you can see, after 15 days of denial, anger, bargaining and depression, I have officially accepted the fact that Joe Nathan will undergo Tommy John surgery on Friday, and will not pitch this season. Now I know what you are thinking, "15 days is a short period of time, and we just lost arguably the best closer in baseball for this season! How could you go through this process so fast?" My response to that would be that the Twins provided me with 184,000,000 reasons to have gotten to the acceptance stage by now. I realize the loss of Nathan is huge, but I am optimistic that either someone will emerge in-house as somebody who can fill the role, or that the Twins will go out and get somebody. The bottom line is, I am so darn excited for baseball that reaching this point of acceptance this early was inevitable, Joe Mauer has officially signed essentially a lifetime contract, and 12 days from now at 9:05 CST, I will be sitting on my couch watching the Twins take on the Angels on opening day!

"A Day That Will Live In Infamy" (for White Sox, Tigers, Indians & Royals fans...)

UPDATE: I updated the title of this blog post, thanks mostly in part to the true definition of the word "infamy" being brought to my attention. I now know just how fitting the word truly was when, FDR used it to describe the bombing of Pearl Harbor. I realize that even to fans of the Twins' divisional opponents, the signing of Mauer will not be viewed as "evil reputation brought about by something grossly criminal, shocking, or brutal" or "an extreme and publicly known criminal or evil act." However, it is certainly more fitting for them than it is for Twins fans...

Sunday, March 21^st, 2010, a day that will live in infamy in the minds of Minnesota Twins fans, the day the Minnesota Twins signed Joe Mauer to what is essentially a lifetime contract. I realize that comparing the signing to the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7^th, 1941 through the utilization of the statement made by Franklin Delano Roosevelt may be a bit inappropriate. However, I found justification in the fact this day will live in infamy for reasons much different than those of the beginning of U.S. involvement in World War II in the minds of Twins fans.

Joseph Patrick Mauer will, barring some sort of unforeseen last-minute contract hang-up, be a Minnesota Twin for life. Mauer and the Twins reached an agreement this evening on an 8 year contract worth $184MM, which also includes a full no-trade clause. The contract details have not yet officially been released, and will more than likely be revealed following the press conference set for tomorrow evening at 6:00 p.m. Initial reports are that the deal will pay Mauer $23MM over 8 years, obviously including no deferred payments.

This deal will go into affect at the beginning of the 2011 season, as this season Mauer is entering the final year of a 4-year, $33MM contract where he is set to make $12.5MM over the course of 2010. With Mauer turning 27 later this year, this new contract will keep him a Minnesota Twin until the age of 35, covering what most baseball experts would deem as his “prime years.” More than just that, this ensures that the face of the Minnesota Twins franchise will remain in Minnesota more than likely for his entire career.

Signing Mauer to a deal of this magnitude both in terms of number of years and compensation marks an entrance into new territory by the Minnesota Twins. This has been regarded for months as a “deal that must get done,” with many writers stating it as “not if, but when” the deal would be done. This is less about keeping the “good ol’ Minnesota boy in town,” and more about signing one of the games elite players to a lifetime deal, as Buster Olney alludes to:

“Mauer is generally regarded as the American League's best player and may be baseball's most coveted player, given his unique set of skills. Mauer, who turns 27 next month, already has won three batting titles and two Gold Glove Awards, and last year, he began to hit for power, posting a 1.031 OPS.

--snip--

The Twins' signing of Mauer to a long-term deal is going to be viewed as a strong development for Major League Baseball, at a time when there are growing concerns about the disparity between teams like the Yankees and Red Sox, and teams that generate less revenue like the Rays, Athletics and Twins.”

As Olney alludes to in the second portion of his article, the signing of Mauer long-term is a very good thing for Major League Baseball. The gap between teams like the Yankees and Red Sox and teams like the Minnesota Twins is hopefully closing. Any baseball fan knows that over the past decade or two, the competitive balance in baseball has favored large market franchises with payrolls sometimes 4-5 times the size of their small market competitors.

This contract is the first tangible benefit that Target Field has provided for the Minnesota Twins franchise. They would have no more had the financial flexibility to pay Mauer this type of money while still playing in the Metrodome, as I have the financial flexibility to purchase a private aircraft! The Twins have always held true to a business model in which their payroll for any given season is around 52% of their forecasted revenue. The Twins can now expect revenues upward of $200MM, and as a result can afford to not only have payrolls of $100MM or more, but also to retain elite players past their arbitration years.

Most importantly, this shows commitment on the part of the Minnesota Twins to winning. Signing Mauer to a contract of this length gives them the best chance at winning, not only now, but long-term as well. This essentially ensures that Justin Morneau will remain in Minnesota for the remainder of his career, and also will entice future free agents to sign with the Twins. This signing, partnered with the continued success of minor league player development, should ensure that the Twins remain extremely competitive, and more than likely contenders for years to come.

One thing that is for sure, Bill Smith has proved his doubters wrong. He took over as general manager at a very difficult time when two of the faces of this franchise, Torii Hunter and Johan Santana, had their minds set on leaving. Hunter, for some reason wanted out, and decided to sign with the Angels during the 2008 offseason, and Johan Santana was set on playing for a team in a larger market, forcing Smith’s hand in trading him to the New York Mets. Couple that with Smith’s trade sending Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett to Tampa Bay in exchange for Delmon Young, which up until this point has been deemed a bust, left most Twins fans calling for Smith’s head.

This Mauer signing has put the icing on the cake to one of the best offseasons of any MLB team, and probably one of the best Twins offseasons ever. With the free agent signings of Clay Condrey, Jim Thome, and Orlando Hudson, the trade for JJ Hardy, and extensions for Nick Blackburn, Denard Span, and now Joe Mauer, Bill Smith has now shown that he isn’t quite as bad at his job as people had originally thought. I officially take back everything bad that I have said about Bill Smith, and fully believe that he is approaching the GM status that Terry Ryan possessed prior to resigning from that position in 2007.

One thing is for sure, the Minnesota Twins are no longer the “little engine that could,” they have firmly cemented themselves as a “locomotive” that is ready to compete with the likes of the Yankees and the Red Sox. Gone are the days of contentment with just “being there,” and first round playoff exits. Joe Mauer and the Minnesota Twins are here to stay!

Check back within the next few days for a new post including pictures, regarding my recent visit to Target Field!

Ladies and Gentlemen… they’ve arrived!

It’s official, my opening day tickets have arrived, and I feel like I would be content with camping out on Target Plaza from now until April 12^th. I am literally as excited as I could expect to possibly be about the upcoming Twins season, and at the same time as disgusted as I could possibly be with the Minnesota Timberwolves. Due to the circumstances of having opening day tickets to the opening of a brand new stadium, a once in a lifetime type of opportunity, and the fact that the NBA season is almost over, I am a bit less frustrated with the Wolves than I could be.

The Timberwolves have absolutely quit on this season with 14 games remaining, counting their matchup tonight with Utah. They were absolutely obliterated by the Phoenix Suns last night in Arizona, surrendering 152 points… in a single game... The 152 points scored by the Suns were the most given up by the Timberwolves in franchise history, and the 78 points given up in the first-half were also the most given up during a single half in franchise history.

The more I think about it, the more it boggles my mind that a professional basketball team can give up that amount of points in only 48 minutes. You almost have to put forth a significant effort toward not playing defense in order to allow an opponent to annihilate you in the manner that Phoenix did the Timberwolves. However, as I mentioned initially, I am so “twitterpated” with the thought of what I will experience on April 12^th, that I don’t even care that much about the fact that the Timberwolves would probably lose to the Laporte Wildcats girls basketball team right now.

On a separate note, I can’t even begin to describe how glad I am that the Twins didn’t shell out $10MM for Ben Sheets this season. Sheets gave up 10 runs to the Reds on Monday… WITHOUT RECORDING AN OUT! I don’t care how optimistic I am, if he were playing for the Twins, I would have a hard time justifying that outing by saying something like he was just “shaking off the rust.” I am having a hard enough time convincing myself that Francisco Liriano is ready to return to at least something resembling his 2006 form, especially when he says things like “my mechanics just broke down” in reference to the 2^nd and 3^rd innings of his most recent spring training appearance when he gave up 3 runs, including a 2 run homerun on a changeup he left up in the zone.

No matter how many people think it is a good idea, I am 100% against having Francisco Liriano as our closer in 2010. I feel this way for a number of reasons. First of all, Liriano walks way too many batters, which is the exact opposite of what you want in a closer. If people want to be sweating bullets every time a save situation presents itself, then it would be a great idea, because I can assure you that there would be plenty of runners in scoring position during his various appearances. I am not saying he is not a good pitcher, and does not have the chance to become a very good pitcher, I just think he is much more suited for a starting role.

The second reason I feel that Liriano should not be our closer in 2010 is that he must be given every possible opportunity to be successful as a starting pitcher, and a role as a closer or a reliever should be a last resort. When Liriano was good, a la 2006, he was absolutely filthy, he was better than Johan Santana during most of that season. He finished that season with an ERA of 2.16 and 144 strikeouts in 121 innings pitched, all while maintaining of WHIP of 1.00. What I am trying to say is that if he can return to anything even close to that, he could be a legitimate #1 starter for the Twins, not only this year, but for years to come. Pair that logic with the fact that he absolutely dominated the Dominican Winter League during this past offseason, and the conclusion can be made that he must be given every possible opportunity to succeed as a starter. All of this reinforces my point that Liriano as a closer/reliever should be a last resort rather than a hasty decision out of need.

Twins fans need to relax a bit about the closer situation. Yes, the loss of Joe Nathan is bad, and I am clearly upset by it (see “The 5 Stages of Grief, Joe Nathan Edition) but it is not nearly as devastating as most fans are making it sound. Many people forget that Joe Nathan came into the league as a shortstop, then converted to a pitcher, and when he was traded to Minnesota in 2003 he was not a closer at the time, but rather converted to a closer by the Twins. The Twins have a deep bullpen, and they have guys capable of closing games. Obviously the numbers that Joe Nathan has put up over the past 6 years are not replaceable, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t come up with a serviceable replacement.

In the short term, meaning this season, there will be an attempt to solve the problem in-house, either through a closer by committee solution, or by handing the job to somebody like Jon Rauch, Matt Guerrier, or maybe even Pat Neshek if he is healthy. If that isn’t working as well as the Twins had hoped, there is always the option to sign somebody during the season, or to make a trade prior to the July 31^st deadline. I believe that the dark horse in this closer situation may be John Smoltz who is still an unsigned free agent, and was rumored to have been approached by the Twins recently and turned them down, stating that he would probably like to wait until after the season begins. I think that Smoltz improved near the end of last season with the Cardinals, he can still throw hard enough to get people out, and his sinker was looking great in the last month of the season. He is 42 years old, but for a team that’s built to win right now, a guy with all the playoff experience Smoltz has may be just what this team needs coming out of the bullpen in the 9^th inning.

This is a situation to keep an eye on as the season continues to approach, because I fully expect Joe Nathan to test out his arm on Saturday, and then shortly thereafter announce that he will undergo Tommy John Surgery because it just doesn’t feel right. I still think that the Twins should be the favorites to win the Central, and I believe if they can figure out a solution for the closer spot, they can make a deep postseason run. The beauty of all this is that we will all be able to see first hand how this plays out, beginning on April 5^th, and I absolutely cannot wait.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year… and no, I don’t mean Christmas

Twice a year, non-sports fans and true sports fans come together as a result of 2 specific events in sports. These two events are the Super Bowl and the Men’s NCAA Basketball Tournament. Today is the day when the buzz of one of these two events begins…. Selection Sunday!

Let’s face it, people who don’t enjoy football still choose watch the Super Bowl for one of three reasons; the commercials, the halftime entertainment, or the social aspect of a particular party they are attending. Unlike the Super Bowl, which occurs on one particular Sunday in the beginning of February, the NCAA Tournament takes place over a 3 week period of time in March, hence the term “March Madness." Over this three week period of time, people who for 49 weeks out of the year couldn’t care less about sports, become emotionally invested in the game of college basketball, and the spectacle that is the NCAA tournament. Some do it for the bragging rights of an inter-office bracket pool, others do in hopes of this year’s “Cinderella” team making a run. One thing is for sure, March Madness is like a pandemic, one from which nobody is immune, and there is no vaccine.

March Madness began a bit earlier than expected for me this year, 3 days earlier to be exact, as the Minnesota Gophers found themselves on the bubble with only 18 wins going into the annual Big Ten Conference Tournament.

The Gophers handily defeated Penn State as was expected, and advanced to face Michigan State, a team who had defeated them twice this season, on Friday. This matchup turned out to be a real “barn burner” (no pun intended regarding Williams Arena). The Gophers prevailed in overtime thanks to Devoe Joseph catching fire, scoring 8 of his team high 17 in the extra period. The Gophers were then set to face Purdue on Saturday afternoon, another team who they had lost to twice this season.

Nobody could have predicted what happened next. The Gophers turned in by far their best defensive effort of the season, one in which they held the #5 nationally ranked Boilermakers to 11 first-half points. Had Jajuan Johnson’s buzzer beater at the end of the first-half not occurred, Purdue would have scored in the single digits! With the Gophers entering halftime leading 37-11, there was not much doubt that they would be facing Ohio State on Sunday afternoon for the Big Ten title.

The Gophers entered Sunday having played games each of the three previous days, and Ohio State having only played two. I was fairly confident regarding the tournament chances for Minnesota, having now defeated each of the regular season Big Ten champions, including an absolute man-handling of Purdue the day before. I think my exact quote Sunday morning went something like this, “as long as the Gophers don’t go out and lose by 30 today, we should be in the tournament.” Hmmmmmm…

The first-half was exciting, with the Gophers and Buckeyes exchanging baskets, entering halftime with the Buckeyes leading 33-30. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to witness in the second half of this basketball game. The Buckeyes opened up the second half on an 8-0 run that quickly stretched their lead to 11 points. The Gophers countered a bit and kept it within 6-8 points, but then… David Lighty… It was as if Lighty drank some of “Michael’s Secret Stuff” from the movie Space Jam (which as everybody knows, was a bottle of water Bugs Bunny disguised as some secret formula for playing like Michael Jordan, and was given to his cartoon teammates in order to give them the confidence needed to play well). All of the sudden he couldn’t miss, whether he was driving coast-to-coast through 3 to 4 defenders or hitting 22 footers, David Lighty absolutely took over the basketball game in the blink of an eye. He also apparently gave some of “Michael’s Secret Stuff” to some of his teammates, because at one point Ohio State made a field goal in 11 straight possessions.

Let’s also not forget about that other guy named Evan Turner, he had an OK day scoring 31 points, grabbing 11 boards, and dishing out 6 assists. Before I could even think about the irony of my morning statement, the final horn sounded and the Buckeyes had beaten the Gophers 90-61, claiming the Big Ten Tournament title. Following this game there were 3 things I felt pretty confident about:

1. I ABSOLUTELY would like the Timberwolves to receive the #2 overall pick in the upcoming NBA draft, rather than the #1 overall pick. That way we wouldn’t be forced to choose between John Wall and Evan Turner, we would just get whoever falls into our lap, and by that I mean one of two future superstars. Right now, Evan Turner looks eerily like Dwyane Wade circa 2003, when he led Marquette to the final four. I would have to say, I wouldn’t mind watching him play for the Timberwolves for the next 10+ years.

2. I would now be watching the selection show with a crappy feeling in my stomach, because as I said earlier that day, “as long as the Gophers don’t go out and lose by 30 today, we should be in the tournament.” Well, they didn’t lose by 30, but they sure tried hard to do so, in the end falling short and only losing by 29.

3. Even if the Gophers were to make it into the field of 64 (65 if you count the play-in game, but let’s face it, who actually pays attention to that), they would be seeded fairly low and have to face a pretty tough first round opponent.

Of the two things that were to be decided today, I was right on one and wrong on the other. I was wrong about the fact that I would be watching the selection show, as I decided to head to Golfsmith to get my clubs re-gripped, as I had to take my mind off of the abysmal performance the Gophers had just turned in. I was correct on the other, and the Gophers did make the field of 64 as an 11 seed. They are set to face a 6 seed, Xavier on Friday, and although I truly love March Madness and am glued to the TV every single year, the tournament is just a whole lot more exciting when the Gophers are in.

Will this be the year that a 16 seed finally knocks of a 1 seed? Could we be saying in twenty years, “remember when Lehigh knocked off Kansas in 2010?” Who will be this year’s Cinderella? The Murray State Racers? The Siena Saints? Maybe the Minnesota Gophers?... Nobody knows, and quite frankly that is what makes this tournament so great. A father and his 4 year old daughter could both fill out brackets, with the father picking based on immense college basketball knowledge and his daughter picking based on which mascots she likes best or team colors, and she will most likely win. This is because any team can win on any given night, as Dick Vitale says, “it’s awesome baby!” So get out your brackets and pens and fill those bad boys out, because March Madness is upon us!