Friday, March 6, 2009
Friday Links and
Thinks
It’s Friday… Finally! Another
crazy week is almost complete. And although the posting here will not be huge
today, you will be able to read more than enough of my words, if you even want
to:
1.
I did conduct a SethSpeaks.net
Live Twins Chat last night. You can
click here to read the transcript. Something must have been going on
last night because there were not a lot of questions for me. The chat went just
45 minutes, which is by far the shortest yet.
2.
I posted a new
article at the Star Tribune Your Voices site
called Ten
Reasons to Watch the WBC. Check that out and be sure to let me know
what you think.
3.
After four other
Twins bloggers posted there, I finally posted my first article for BaseballDigest.com
last night. It is called Twins Believe Crede Answers 3B Questions.
Now, if you want to read a few
things that other people wrote to:
1.
Stick
& Ball Guy’s Six Word Player Evaluation series continued with some discussion on Kirby Puckett.
2.
Nick Nelson
wrote about the
struggles that the Twins have had at the leadoff spot in the lineup
since trading Chuck Knoblauch. We
all really hope that Denard Span is the answer for years!
3.
Here is a pretty
cool Interview with Ben
Revere. It starts with video of him dunking a basketball and then a volleyball. Having stood next to him, I am pretty certain
he is no taller than 5-6. What a great athlete! Oh, and Revere seems pretty certain that he will be making his
big league debut in 2009!
4.
I also heard that
former Twin Glenn Williams, who came
up a few years ago and had at least one hit in all 13 games he played with the
Twins before a season-ending injury, retired from baseball after an
international competition last year.
How about some injury updates
and thoughts:
1.
Joe Mauer had what he and the Twins are calling a minor set
back. He is saying that he worked a little too hard the other day so he had to
take a step back. There is still a month until Opening Day, so I’m not really
worried about Mauer yet. If he does have to start the
season on the Disabled List, I have no problem with Jose Morales starting the
season as the starter.
2.
Joe Nathan
skipped the WBC because of right shoulder pain. My hope is that it was a good
way to get him out of the tournament as he was already throwing off a mound,
pain-free, yesterday. But you never want to hear arm issues with a pitcher!
3.
Nick Blackburn
had knee surgery in the offseason and it is still bothering him. That isn’t
surprising because he likely had to take some time away from rehab to rest
after surgery. He may just be a little bit behind others. I’m not worried about
this because it isn’t his arm. He should be fine by the time the regular season
starts.
4.
Joe Crede got out on the field and played 3B against The Netherlands
yesterday. That’s just another step toward him being back to 100%
5.
It’s not like the
people that matter with the Twins don’t know, but it is too bad that Steve Tolleson
has missed so much time at the beginning of camp. Hopefully he will be back
shortly and start where he left off last season.
A couple of discussion
questions:
1.
If Joe Nathan were to be more hurt than we
want to believe, who would become the Twins closer? With Pat Neshek and Boof Bonser out for the year, I don’t think
it is overstating that a Joe Nathan
injury could be devastating to the Twins. That said, Jesse Crain could step in and do well. Maybe Jose Mijares. I would argue Rob Delaney may be the best option.
What do you think?
2.
Which of the
Non-Roster Invitees has been most impressive to this point? Danny Valencia is batting .800. He’s
4-5 in official at bats and apparently he made a pretty amazing play to save
one game. Dustin Martin is 6-11 with
two doubles. RA Dickey has five
strikeouts in four innings. David Winfree is 3-6. Yes, I realize that it is all very,
very small sample size. But first impressions clearly are very important to Gardy, so it can’t hurt.
3.
What is Rihanna
thinking?
4.
Is this the coolest song that a guy could
rap to a girl? Any other suggestions? I am pretty certain it isn’t this new Kanye
West song! But it is a very cool song!
Finally, just
a reminder that we have scheduled a Blogger get-together this Saturday, March
7, at Buffalo
Wild Wings in Roseville. I
know that Nick Nelson and myself will be there. Marty
Andrade has told me that he will be there. Adam Peterson, one of the new writers at Twinkie Town is flying
into the cities just to meet people at the get together. OK, he is coming into
town for something else and it will likely work out for him to stop by as well.
KFAN’s Phil Mackey (check out his Baseball
Projections) will be flying to Ft. Myers the next day for spring training,
but he will likely stop by for awhile as well. It will be at about 1:00 p.m.
central time as that is when the WBC Matchup between the United States and
Canada will start. Although Joe Nathan
is now out of the tournament, it will be a chance to see Justin Morneau, Jesse Crain and even Corey Koskie. And, it’ll be a chance to talk baseball with a
bunch of fans. Oh, and if anyone would like to buy a book, just let me know and
I will bring some there.
I know this is short, but I think my fingers
are a little tired from all the typing. I will be back throughout the weekend
too. By the way, please feel free to look me up on Facebook, and if you want,
request me as a friend. Please feel free to Send me an e-mail, or leave
your questions or discussion points in
the Comments here.