Wednesday July 23, 2003

Twins (and other baseball) Thoughts

The last couple of days I have tried to keep my posting fairly short.  Yesterday, I was going through a severe case of writer’s block. Well, today, I think I made up for it. I’ve got plenty to write about the Timberwolves today, and there is plenty going on in the baseball world as well. So, welcome to my site. I hope you enjoy what you read. If you do, send me an e-mail and let me know what you think, then tell your friends and more people about the website. If you don’t, send me an e-mail and let me know what you disagree with or what should be altered, and then tell all your friends and more people about the website!

Now THAT’S a Trade!!

TIMBERWOLVES TRADE

Kevin Garnett is entering his final season on his current $125 million contract with the T imberwolves.  The Wolves have probably made an offer to him to play for less money than he has played for the last few years.  Garnett’s hesitation to re-sign with the team long-term has been obvious to me, as a Timberwolves fan.  Can you imagine how much that thought is on the mind of Glen Taylor, Kevin McHale and Flip Saunders???

So, they felt the needed to prove to Garnett that they aren’t going to continue to settle for 1^st round failure.  Believe me, they are fully aware that San Antonio will have some cap space available next year, and they too watch the programs that tell us that the Spurs are willing to stand pat and wait a year for Garnett.

So, the first thing they did was trade PF Joe Smith and SG Anthony Peeler to the Milwaukee Bucks for PG Sam Cassell and C Ervin Johnson. The Bucks were trying to rid themselves of salary. The Wolves got the clear advantage in terms of talent!

But they didn’t stop there.  When they weren’t able to re-sign center Rasho Nesterovich, they went hard after option #2, Michael Olowokandi and signed him to a 3 year, $16.2 million contract.  Sure, they would rather have Rasho, and if Nesterovich had re-signed with the team, they could have used their mid-level exception on someone else, BUT, that said, they offered Nesterovich as much as they possibly could and he turned it down, so they had no choice but to move on to option #2, and with Olowokandi, they did well!

The only question mark left was what would happen with Terrell Brandon, or more specifically, Terrell Brandon’s contract.  The reason an injured player with a big contract has so much trade value is because as long as he never plays again, his $11 million contract will come off of their salary cap amount.  That won’t help that team this year, but for the free agency season next year, it will allow a lot of relief.  Worst case, the Wolves keep Brandon again and they become the team to save the $11 million next year.  But, again, this is a team that has to prove that it is serious about winning in order to convince its super star to resign with them.

So, there have been plenty of rumors as far as where Brandon could be traded.  At different times, he’s been rumored to be going to Atlanta (for Jason Terry and Lorenzen Wright), Indiana (for Ron Mercer and Austin Croshere), Cleveland (for Ricky Davis and more) among plenty of others.  Remember that trades in the NBA have to be equivalent in terms of dollars (to within, I believe 15%), so for the Wolves to get rid of Brandon’s $11 million contract, they need to get back players of the value of about $11 million.

Yesterday, it was leaked by ESPN that a Terrell Brandon trade was imminent. As I type this, the trade has not been finalized.  Apparently it will be made official today.  But, I need to mention that because if someone backs out of the deal, it’d be off, and the Brandon rumors will be even stronger. Who knows? Other teams that want Brandon may be offering the Wolves even better deals as we read.

OK, here it is, in a 4-team deal (Remember, this deal is not official yet. There are rumors that Indiana and Dallas may also get involved in the dealings):

·         Minnesota trades PG Terrell Brandon to the Atlanta Hawks and C Marc Jackson to the 76ers.

·         The Atlanta Hawks trade SG/SF Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson to the Philadelphia 76ers.

·         The Philadelphia 76ers trade F Keith Van Horn to the New York Knicks.

·         The New York Knicks trade SG Latrell Sprewell.

So, how does each team benefit?

First, the Atlanta Hawks accomplished two things. First, it will save a lot of money over the next few years. Secondly, they get rid of the enigmatic Glenn Robinson. 

Next the Philadelphia 76ers receive Glenn Robinson and Marc Jackson and lose Keith Van Horn.  Well, I can totally understand them wanting to get rid of Van Horn.  And, Iverson desperately needs, and wants, another scorer on the roster. I wonder if Robinson is the right guy.  Can he be a #2 option?  He’s a headcase and may not do well as the #2 option, as he showed in Milwaukee with Ray Allen and Sam Cassell.  Jackson will help them out. He can score, and may get more minutes with the Sixers. I don’t know that this is a good deal for the 76ers.

The Knicks lose Latrell Sprewell and add Keith Van Horn. Apparently they’ve been trying to get Van Horn for a couple of months, so they must be happy with the deal.  I have no clue why they would be so happy about getting Van Horn. He’s a soft-player who doesn’t have enough outside skill to be so weak inside. But, as great as Latrell Sprewell is, he is a shooting guard, and so is Allan Houston.  Houston has the $100 million contract, so the Knicks couldn’t find anyone to take that! Sprewell was the player the fans there like!  The Knicks didn’t do great either, but maybe a shakeup is what they were looking for.

Finally, the Timberwolves side of the deal.  I think this is an incredible deal for the Wolves. First, they’ll get some on-court production, rather than another year of Brandon looking all GQ behind the bench.  I think a lot of casual fans may be upset to learn that the Wolves have added Sprewell, chosing to remember only his 1997 choking incident of coach PJ Carlesimo, which happened in Golden State.  Hey, he served his time/suspension, and has not had any problems since then.  In his career, Sprewell has averaged 19.1 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists a game. He also plays great defense.  Take a look at his career numbers:

As you can see, his numbers have not reached the All-Star levels they were at in Golden State. However, I believe a lot of that is due to playing on the same team as Allan Houston.  I don’t think that Wolves’ fans should expect Sprewell to average 25 points a game, but if he can average 18-20 points, and get in the neighborhood of 5 rebounds and 5 assists a game and play solid defense, that will be enough.

Let’s take a look at the Timberwolves current roster:

Point Guard -

                Sam Cassell will be the starter.  Last year’s starter (and playoff hero), Troy Hudson can come off the bench at point guard, but will also see a lot of time at the shooting guard.  As we know, he is definitely a scorer first.

Shooting Guard -

                Latrell Sprewell will be the starter, and his all around game, and ability to create offense on his own is something different from Wally Szczerbiak.  Wally can still play some minutes at the guard position, and Felipe Lopez will get some playing time between the 2 and 3 positions.

Small Forward -

                Wally Szczerbiak will probably move back to the small forward position to start the year. The playoffs last year showed his inability to create his own shot. I still believe that he is one of the top 3-5 shooters in the NBA, but he can’t dribble and create.  But, with Cassell and Sprewell probably doing a lot of driving, hopefully some help defense will come off of Wally, and he should get even more open shots.  A guy like this, who can knock down open shots, is necessary in any offense.  When the Wolves go with a bigger lineup, Garnett will play minutes at the small forward too.

Power Forward -

                Kevin Garnett will probably move to the power forward position.  Does this mean he needs to spend more time on the inside? Not at all.  Position names are just that, names.  Generally, it describes who you will play defense against.  Kevin Garnett has such versatility, that his best talent would be wasted if he were to be asked to stay inside.  And, you can’t argue with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists (Best passing, most unselfish, big man in basketball - along with Chris Webber and Shaquille O’Neal, of course). They may need to find another big guy or two to spell KG from time to time.

Center -

                Michael Olowokandi will be the starter and could play as many as 35 minutes a game.  He’ll be solid and last year actually posted better numbers than Rasho Nesterovich did (and also got more, and more consistent playing time). So, he should be fine.  And, Ervin Johnson prefers to come off the bench anyway. He’s been a solid center, defensively, in the NBA for a decade.

Others -

                In red above, I have shown 8 players that, without additional changes, will be ‘for-sures’ on the roster. Ndudi Edi will be on the team. Loren Woods may be back on the team. I wonder if the coaching staff has had enough problems with him that he’s even worth keeping, and where will he play?  Will Gary Trent be back?  Doubtful.  What about Rick Rickert?  As I’ve mentioned before, Rickert made a big mistake leaving the University of Minnesota.  But, maybe the Wolves can fake an injury with him and he could be on injured reserve all year.  How about PG Mike Wilks? He was very solid in his time last year. Great assist-to-turnover ratio. And again, some backup power forward is necessary.

SUMMARY -

As you can see, I see this as a very good trade for the Timberwolves, and their roster has been revamped in an attempt to get past the first-round and, more importantly, keep Kevin Garnett in Minnesota for the rest of his career. 

Could there be a negative affect to all this change?  Of course!  Team chemistry could be a huge issue, as some sometimes volatile personalities (Cassell more so than Sprewell) are added to the already emotional Szczerbiak.  Cassell isn’t known as being a great teammate (and currently has a couple of assault charges against him in Toronto).  Sprewell can be inconsistent and moody.  What will the attitude of Wally Szczerbiak be with all these other scorers now on the roster.  Can the team come together and be successful?  Well, that should be interesting (and fun!) to see. The talent alone will beat most Eastern Conference teams (probably all non-New Jersey teams), but as the season goes along, and they experience success, they could be dangerous. If they experience much failure, watch out!

Is this it?  Is that the end of the Wolves offseason moves?  I really don’t think so.  I still wonder if Szczerbiak won’t be traded at some point. I realize his contract makes that difficult to do, but that may be an option.  I wonder if Sprewell will make it to camp with the Wolves.  It’s possible that Sprewell could end up in Indiana, with the Wolves receiving Austin Croshere and Ron Mercer.  Personally, I guess I prefer just Sprewell, but maybe 2 is better than 1?

And, in the grand scheme of things, are these moves enough to get the Wolves out of the first round of the playoffs?  Is it enough to knock down the Spurs, the Lakers, the Mavs and the Kings?  Maybe, maybe not. I think in LA, a lot depends on the Kobe Bryant situation, but even without him, if they have a healthy and in-shape Shaq to go with Payton and Malone, they’re still the team to beat.  I think the Spurs will be solid. Rasho more than replaces the retired David Robinson, and they’ll be able to re-sign many of their key contributors from last year’s championship team. And, they have Tim Duncan.  The Kings will stand pat, and they should.  The question with them is how long will Chris Webber be out due to his knee injury (and how much more time will he miss due to suspension?)?  The Mavs, well, I think the Wolves may have passed them.  They still don’t play defense, and now the Wolves have more offensive power. 

So, yeah, I think these are great moves and have significantly improved the team. I’m not big on the first-round losses anyway.  I’m one who appreciates what happens in the regular season. I love watching basketball, and I really love watching good basketball. The Timberwolves generally play very good, team-oriented basketball and are fun to watch. So, just enjoy them!!!

That’s all I’ve got on the Wolves.  Send me your thoughts on the Wolves trade (if it goes through) and anything on the Wolves.

TWINS (and other baseball) THOUGHTS -

Well, the Twins win streak came to an end tonight.  They actually scored plenty of runs to win the game, but just didn’t get any pitching.  Rick Reed gave up 5 runs in 5 innings.  Joe Mays gave up a bunch as well and took the loss.

To be honest, I didn’t watch much of the game. It was another slow-pitch softball night, and well, I would rather be watching the Twins.

From checking out the box score though, it appears that Shannon Stewart finally got into the outfield.  And, that allowed Justin Morneau to finally get some at bats.  His single was his first hit since July 4^th! Stewart hit his first Twins home run!

The big news in baseball though yesterday did not have anything to do with the Twins.  I wonder if Terry Ryan is done trading.  I have mentioned on numerous occasions that I think the Twins should go after another left-handed reliever.  Well, two very good ones were traded today.  46-year old Jesse Orosco was traded by the San Diego Padres for cash and/or a player to be named later to the Yankees.  Orosco’s numbers may not be great, but his stuff is still good. His slider still breaks about 2 feet, if not more, so he is a great situational pitcher!  Why didn’t the Twins inquire of his availability? Orosco could be worth a mid-level prospect.

The other lefty reliever to get traded was the Pittsburgh Pirates trading Scott Sauerbeck and AAA lefty reliever Mike Gonzalez to the Red Sox for reliever Brandon Lyon and AA RHP Anastacio Martinez.  A great trade for the Red Sox as they get a quality lefty in their bullpen to go with Alan Embree (And Casey Fossum). They also really like Gonzalez and say he’ll be up and pitch in September.   I don’t know that the Twins would have wanted to give up this much to get Sauerbeck.  Lyon was the Sox closer for a lot of the first half of the season and is still young.  Martinez is a good prospect.   I do think the Twins have the players to give up more, but I don’t know that they would want to.

The Pirates were busy yesterday dumping salary!  They also traded CF Kenny Lofton and 3B Aramis Ramirez to the Chicago Cubs for 3B/SS Jose Hernandez and minor league pitcher Mike Bruback. 

The Cubs really needed two things to be complete.  First, they have been trying to acquire a third baseman for a couple of years.  Well, in Ramirez, they have a 25 year old 3B who has already been an All-Star. In 2001, he hit .300 with 40 doubles, 34 home runs and 112 RBI.  In 2002, those numbers plummeted to .234 with 26 doubles, 18 home runs and 71 RBI. This year, he is hitting .280, with 25 doubles, 12 home runs and has driven in 67 runs. So, the homers are down, but the doubles are up.  To summarize, Ramirez is a great pickup for the Cubs and will provide middle-of-the-order protection with Moises Alou for Sammy Sosa. 

Second, after losing Corey Patterson for the season with a knee injury, the Cubs have been in need of a centerfielder. They also didn’t have a real, prototypical leadoff hitter.  And, Kenny Lofton definitely answers both of those problems. Yes, Lofton is 36 years old and doesn’t run or produce quite as much as he has in the past. However, he is certainly better than the Cubs current options, Tom Goodwin and Trenidad Hubbard. On the season, Lofton was hitting .277 with 9 home runs and 26 RBI. He also has 18 stolen bases. The fact that he played in the World Series last year for Dusty Baker’s Giants just makes it more obvious why the Cubs would want him for the rest of the year. 

I love reading the daily MLB Transactions.  Especially around this time of the year.  I wonder every day if the Twins will make a deal.  I think they could still use a left-handed relief pitcher. Buddy Groom is still out there! And, of course, middle infield help would be nice too.  I just don’t see Terry Ryan doing much.  It’s interesting to see which teams are making moves though!

Tell me your thoughts on the Twins game.  As I said, I really didn’t get to watch much of it, so if there is anything interesting you’d like to tell me about the game, or any thoughts on the team, please e-mail me.  Or, if you have any questions or comments on anything baseball, or trade proposals, or well, anything at all, please feel free to e-mail me and ask anything.

I would encourage you to check out the Archives page and read some of the past articles that may interest you, especially if you are new to the site.  Also, if you’re new, be sure to check out the Photo Album. There are a couple of pictures of me in there, but most are from the Twins autograph party.

Have a great Hump Day!

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