Monday, November 12, 2007

Monday Update

Good Monday Morning! Not much going on in the world of baseball over the weekend. Expect that to change very soon. Tomorrow, teams can start (legally) talking numbers and offering contracts to potential free agents. I would expect some activity fairly quickly, as well as some teams retaining their own players by tonight’s midnight deadline. At 1:00 today, the AL and NL Rookie of the Years will be announced and if the winner in the AL is anyone but Dustin Pedroia, it is wrong. The NL is a different story. Ryan Braun put up historical numbers for a rookie despite not being called up until late May. Troy Tulowitski was very good all year. His defense is what he is known for, but he put up some pretty impressive numbers with the bat as well. Chris Young hit 32 homers and stole 27 bases and is almost forgotten in the discussion. Today, just a real quick posting today to catch up on a few things.

 

UPDATE – Pedroia wins in the AL. Ryan Braun barely beat Tulowitski to win the NL Rookie of the Year.

 

As rumors are telling us that Torii Hunter could even go to the Kansas City Royals (or the White Sox), we are also hearing that Jacque Jones could be returning to the AL Central. The Cubs are talking to the Tigers about acquiring utility infielder Omar Infante for the former Twins outfielder.

 

But first, just a couple of quick thoughts about the Vikings debacle in Green Bay. A week after a very nice win against the Chargers, reality set back in in a hard way as the Packers demolished the Vikings. It was arguably the worst football game I have seen a Vikings team play. Brooks Bollinger was really unable to convert any third down passes. The running game wasn’t bad. Adrian Peterson was over 4 yards a carry, but again, when it’s 3rd and 2 and you can’t get two yards, it’s not good. The defense was horrific. Brett Favre, the Derek Jeter of the NFL, was very good at just taking what the Vikings were giving them, which in this case was wide open receivers. And just when it couldn’t get worse, Adrian Peterson was (legally) tackled low and did something to his knee. He is having an MRI today, but who knows what it will say. Initial indications are that it won’t be as bad as we might fear. Now we just hope and wait for the news. The only way the game could have been worse is if they would have put Peterson back into the game. The schedule definitely does not get easier from here on out. I feel like the only one in the state saying that the Vikings should have been continuing their RB platoon because they aren’t going to the playoffs this year anyway. Now, it becomes even more important for the Vikings to be cautious with AP.

 

Let’s get to some Winter League updates, starting with the Arizona Fall League:

·         On Friday, Matt Macri went 2-3 with his eighth double, two walks and an RBI.

·         On Saturday, Eddie Morlan struck out the final batter to record a save. Matt Macri went 0-4, and Drew Butera was 1-4 with his second double.

Then in Venezuela:

·         On Friday, Aragua lost to Magallenes 3-2. Jose Mijares gave up a solo homer in his one inning of work.

·         On Saturday, Aragua lost to Caribes 5-3. Luis Rodriguez was 2-4. Ruben Salazar went 2-3 with a walk. Frank Mata pitched the third, fourth and fifth innings and gave up no runs on two hits. He walked none and struck out four. Oswaldo Sosa came in for the next two innings. He struck out two in two perfect innings.

·         On Sunday, Aragua beat Magallenes 4-2. Bobby Korecky came in to the 6th inning and got the final two outs. He got the first two out in the 7th inning. Jose Mijares then recorded the win because he got the final out of the 7th.

A couple other other thoughts:

·         Head over to Twins Territory and watch the very nice Kirby Puckett Tribute.

·         John Sickels is asking for help with his 2008 Prospect book. He has some questions on some Twins prospects, so check it out and give your opinions.

·         Are you WERP? Am I?  Seriously, bookmark Blogonoscopy, it’s great!

And that is it for this update. Please continue to check back from time to time. If you have any questions, comments or ideas for future postings, please e-mail me. Thanks again!

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