Tuesday, November 7, 2006
While I Was Gone...
Hello All! Four day weekends away from work are wonderful in every way. Well, every way but one, of course. The only negative of a four day weekend is the day that you go back to work. There might be nothing worse. But, I guess if I want to get paid, I'd better show up, huh?
Anyway, I did have a good weekend away, and while I was gone, several things happened that I thought I would discuss. Then I wanted to link to a few other sites and stories, so please check them out. Let's get started...
First of all, please check out the link to my site from the Sports Frog site the other day. I don't know if my note was anything near my best work, but... OK, who am I kidding? I mainly just look at the picture on that link!
Another link to my site from The Tatonka Family informed me of some interesting news about Doogie Howser.
I was driving home on Thursday night and listening to XM Radio's Home Plate Network. Much of the discussion was on the AL Gold Glove award winners. Much of that discussion was about how Derek Jeter doesn't deserve it. That's fine. I agree, he's not a good defensive shortstop. But to get upset about it is not good either. If we've learned anything about postseason awards, it's that they don't mean a whole lot. The "major" awards (ROY, CY, MYP, HOF) are voted on by the baseball writers. That's bad enough, but the Gold Glove Awards are voted on by the league's managers. It was frustrating listening to host Ronnie Lane talk about fielding percentage and games played, as if they really matter. Someone said that offensive numbers play into the equation, and Lane acted like that was absurd. Well, it frustrated me enough listening that I actually had to call in. My goal was just to say that to say offense doesn't matter or that it isn't completely based on reputation is a bit naive. Ozzie Guillen saying that he would vote for either Alex Rodriguez or Tony Batista for a 3B Gold Glove just to help his guy, Joe Crede, have a chance to overtake Eric Chavez. One year, 2001 I believe, Doug Mientkiewicz should have won the Gold Glove at 1B. Instead, Rafael Palmiero, who played just 28 games at 1B won. So, to say that Derek Jeter should have won it over Alex Gonzalez because Gonzalez only played in 112 games is not accurate. Why did Kenny Rogers win the Gold Glove? Is he better defensively than Johan Santana? I don't think so. Not anymore. Is Ivan Rodriguez still a better catcher than Joe Mauer? I would definitely argue that Gary Matthews deserved the Gold Glove more than Torii Hunter. If you want more proof, on Friday, Albert Pujols won the NL Gold Glove at 1B. He's improved, but he's not good. He will now likely win a few more. So, the Gold Glove, which players get incentives for sometimes, are really meaningless. By the way, I waited on hold for about 20 minutes. Then with about seven minutes remaining before the commercial, they re-aired an interview with Torii Hunter for the second straight hour. So, I hung up.
SBG and his commenters cover the Gold Glove discussion quite well.
JP Schwartz of Top Prospect Alert compiled his list of the Top 10 Twins prospects for 2007. I made a few comments regarding some of the people on the list, but the beauty of the lists are the debate. If you look at their Top 100 list, there are three Twins prospects that show up.
So, I chose Sunday as the first Vikings game to watch this season. The Vikings lost 9-3 to the San Francisco 49ers, and there are three hours that I can never get back!
I worked really hard not to put the fact that Francisco Liriano underwent Tommy John surgery yesterday (Monday) afternoon. In part, I did so because it was becoming increasingly obvious that is what was going to happen. I know, we all wanted to believe the line about how rest and rehab was going to work and he would be ready by Spring Training, but all along I think we knew it was more. In reality, I wish they would have done this two months ago, but I also understand wanting to try other things in an attempt not to lose the entire 2007 season. Here's to hoping that the surgery was a success and that Liriano can be in the Twins rotation at the start of the 2008 season!
I was driving around
yesterday thinking about the Twins hitters. Now, Joe Mauer has a
picture-perfect approach at the plate and a fluid swing. If you were to make
two lists of Twins hitters, one listing the Top 3 approaches at the plate
and the other one listing the Top 3 swings, how would they look? Here is my
attempt, based on the players I saw hit for the Twins in 2006:
Plate Approach
Sweetest Swings
1.) Joe Mauer
1.) Joe Mauer
2.) Luis Castillo
2.) Jason Kubel
3.) Alexi Casilla
3.) Justin Morneau
Over at MLB Trade Rumors, there is a look at the Top 50 Free Agents with a guess of where they will end up. I love the Hot Stove League and anxiously await the end of the week when things can start happening. I will try to keep you updated on any moves that are made and how they may affect the teams involved.
Congratulations to former Twin Ron Washington who, after 11 years as the Oakland A's 3B coach, is the new manager of the Texas Rangers. Most Twins fans probably remember him because Kirby Puckett always talked about how much he learned from him.
Over at scout.com, Roger names his 2006 Twins Minor League All-Star pitching staff. He had previously announced his 2006 Twins Minor League Hitters team.
Former Twins Michael Restovich and Danny Ardoin signed minor league contracts with the Washington Nationals.
On Sunday, Joe Mauer hit a two-run homer off of Japan's starting pitcher Kobayashi (not the hot dog eating guy!) to give the Major League All-Stars a 2-1 lead. They won the game 11-4. Mauer was 1-3 with a walk. In Game 1, he also went 1-3 with a walk. He did not play in Game 2. Joe Nathan got the save with a perfect ninth inning in Game 1. Through three games, the Major Leaguers have won all three games, and Ryan Howard of the Phillies is hitting .700 with two doubles and three home runs. He's good!
Well, things remain tight throughout this group of panelists. Kyle Waldrop gained another game with another strong week, but someone (and I hate to name names) is starting to catch up!! Roger and I tie for the lead this week with ten correct. Check back on Friday for the Week 10 picks. Please check out the hyperlinks below to learn more about our panelists.
| Final Standings | Total | Week | 9 | Over | All | ||
| Name | Site |
W |
L | Win% | W | L | Win % |
| Kyle Waldrop | Twins Pitching Prospect | 9 | 5 | 64.3% | 86 | 42 | 67.2% |
| Will Young | Will's Twins Blog | 8 | 6 | 57.1% | 83 | 45 | 64.8% |
| Seth Stohs | SethSpeaks.net | 10 | 4 | 71.4% | 83 | 45 | 64.8% |
| Roger Dehring | Several Blogs | 10 | 4 | 71.4% | 83 | 45 | 64.8% |
| SethSpeaks Panel | 8 | 5 | 57.1% | 80 | 46 | 63.5% | |
| Stick & Ball Guy | Stick & Ball Guy | 6 | 8 | 42.9% | 80 | 48 | 62.5% |
| JD Arney | Reds Reporter | 7 | 7 | 50.0% | 80 | 48 | 62.5% |
| Bill Ferris | Detroit Tigers Blog | 8 | 6 | 57.1% | 80 | 48 | 62.5% |
| Melissa Lien | SethSpeaks.net | 8 | 6 | 57.1% | 80 | 48 | 62.5% |
| Mike Brasel | Fantasy FB Guru | 7 | 7 | 50.0% | 79 | 49 | 61.7% |
| LaVelle E. Neal III | Mpls Star-Tribune | 7 | 7 | 50.0% | 79 | 49 | 61.7% |
| Cory Hepola | WENY Sports | 8 | 6 | 57.1% | 79 | 49 | 61.7% |
| Trevor Born | Twins Junkie | 7 | 7 | 50.0% | 78 | 50 | 60.9% |
| Al Bethke | Al's Ramblings | 7 | 7 | 50.0% | 78 | 50 | 60.9% |
| Jonathan Mayo | mlb.com | 6 | 8 | 42.9% | 77 | 51 | 60.2% |
| Seth's Mom's Class | St. Pauls School | 8 | 6 | 57.1% | 74 | 54 | 57.8% |
| Kevin Slowey | Twins Pitching Prospect | 7 | 7 | 50.0% | 72 | 56 | 56.3% |
That's it for today. Hopefully you found something interesting again today! Please stop back tomorrow.