Tag: Denard Span

What are these guys up to?

 

Tsuyoshi Nishioka and Ryo Shinkawa pound on the door to get in,

Another beautiful day in Fort Myers, Florida, it was 73 when I got up this morning and it was a sunny albeit muggy 81 degrees when I left the ballpark to go home to hit the swimming pool. No day is complete without me making some comment about the Twins star import from Japan. In the picture above you see Tsuyoshi Nishioka and his interpreter Ryo Shinkawa trying to get back into the Twins minor league complex workout facility after a half hour or so of easy jogging on one of the practice fields. As is normal, it was just Nishioka, Shinkawa and his personal trainer. Nishioka continues to work out on his own most of the time, you just never see him with his teammates until spring training officially begins. Star Tribune reporter extraordinaire La Velle E. Neal III had a quick interview with Nishioka and we asked La Velle what Nishioka had to say, La Velle laughed and said that Nishioka told him “that he doesn’t see himself in a utility role”. That is funny, I don’t either and maybe that is why no one is answering the door when Nishioka and Shinkawa pound on the door to be let in. Maybe the Twins are hoping he just goes away. Last year Nishioka was driving a big black Escalade SUV, this year he is driving a shiny white Porsche that you can see in the pictures that I took today along with the rest of my 2012 spring training pictures.

I didn’t see any pitchers doing any throwing today, maybe they are all saving themselves for this week-end when they need to officially report for training camp. The number of players working out continues to grow every day but I still see no sign of Justin Morneau who in past years (not in 2011) was always an early arrival in Fort Myers. I also have not seen Jamey Carroll, Danny Valencia, Denard Span, Josh Willingham, Ben Revere, Carl Pavano or Gardy for that matter. I am sure we will see the many of them on Monday.

One guy I really like is catcher JR Towles. The man is working his butt off out there very day, you never see him standing around chatting, he is always doing something. The last couple of times I have been out here I have seen him fielding grounders at 1B, 3B and shagging flys in the outfield. I really hope that the Twins give this guy a legit shot to make this Twins team as a back-up catcher.

Let’s see what else happened today? Oh, I had a foul ball hit to me, actually it rolled up to where I was standing. The ball was stamped “official minor league baseball” and I had no use for it so I gave it to a youngster that really enjoyed getting a baseball. The ball put a smile on his face and that little boys smile made my day. I sure hope that stamp on the ball that said “official minor league baseball” is not a sign of things to come for the Minnesota Twins this year. And so another day at the ballpark is in the books.

Can Twins bounce back in 2012? What does history tell us?

Our Minnesota Twins are coming off an atrocious 2011 where the team finished 63-99, a full 32 games behind the AL Central Division winning Detroit Tigers and in the process posting the second worst record in all of baseball. But 2011 is behind us now and we look forward to spring and a brand new season of baseball which hopefully will see the Twins back in winning form. In just a little over a month, Twins players from all over the globe will start to congregate in Ft. Myers, Florida to get into baseball shape which I think really means that they will get in a little stretching, jog a little, catch up on the off-season gossip and  start throwing the baseball around and take a few swings with those shiny new bats they just received during the off-season. When a bad season of baseball ends, there is always “next year” and that next year is just about upon us.

Long before baseball was played, back sometime between 1688-1744 the English poet Alexander Pope said “hope springs eternal in the human breast” and no truer words could be said about how baseball fans look at their favorite baseball teams. Forgotten are the numerous injuries, be they real or perceived, the dropped balls, the hitters that couldn’t run out a ground ball, the runners that had brain farts and stood there and watched as the hit and run unfolded in front of them, the fielders that couldn’t throw straight, the pitchers that keep hitting opponent bats, the perplexed pitching coach who wondered why his pitchers couldn’t find home plate even though it was always in the same spot, the manager who had to make up numerous line-ups each day because he didn’t know which of his players were in the mood to play that day, and of course the owner who was left to wonder what happened to his $113 million.

The injuries that plagued the team in 2011 are hopefully healed and with another year of experience under their belts, we all hope the Twins are back and playing baseball the way that Twins fans of today expect. We are not interested in seeing the Twins play ball as they did say between 1971-1986 when they never won more than 85 games and finished as high as second only once, we expect to see a winning team on the field or at least a team that is playing like they want to win versus the 2011 bunch that quit early and often.

So, what does history tell us will happen to the Twins in 2012? I want you to keep reading, but the bottom line is that while miracles can happen, it sure does not look good. The Twins were 31 games worse in 2011 than they were in 2010, 31 games, only once in franchise history had a Senators/Twins team played so much worse than they had the previous season and those were the Washington Senators of 1934 who finished the season 33 games worse with a 66-86 mark after advancing to the World Series in 1933 with a 99-53 record. The following season (1935) they won 67 games, one more than the year before.

So how have Senators and Twins teams bounced back from such dismal seasons? The best the Senators could ever do was improve by 27 games back between 1911-1912 and the best the Twins have done since 1961 is improve by 23 games as the 1965 Twins did when they won 102 games coming off a 79 win season in 1964.

But let’s look at more modern times so we will look at the seasons between 1997 and 2011 because it probably makes for a fairer comparison based on free agency and player movement of today. In the last 15 seasons here is what has happened in the AL Central Division.

The Kansas City Royals worst drop-off was in 2004 when the team finished 25 games worse than they did in 2003. The following season, 2005, the Royals finished 2 games worse. The best improvement that the Royals have shown their fans was when they finished 21 games better in 2003 than they had shown in 2002.

The Chicago White Sox worst drop-off was in 2007 when the team finished 18 games worse than they did in 2006. The following season, 2008, the mighty whitey’s finished 17 games better. The best improvement that the White Sox fans have seen was when they finished 20 games better in 2000 than they had shown in 1999.

The Cleveland Indians worst drop-off was in 2002 when the team finished 17 games worse than they did in 2001. The following season, 2003, the Indians finished 6 games worse. The best improvement that the Indians fans have seen was when they finished 18 games better in 2007 than they had shown in 2006.

The Detroit Tigers worst drop-off was 14 games and it happened twice, once between 1997 and 1998 and again from 2007 to 2008. The following season in 1999 the team improved by 4 games and in 2009 the team improved by 12 games. The best improvement that the Tigers have seen was when they finished 29 games better in 2004 (to a 72-90 season) than they had shown in 2003, but, 2003 was the season the Tigers put up a pathetic 43-119 record.

That brings us to the Twins, whose worst drop-off was 31 games in 2011 from their 2010 season. The biggest improvement the Twins have shown during this 15 year period was in 2001 (TK’s last season as manager) when they finished 16 games better than what they showed us in 2000. In the past 15 years the Twins have improved their record from the previous season 8 times for an average improvement in games won over the previous season of 8 games. On the minus side their record has gotten worse from the previous season 7 times for an average of -11.29 but that is obviously skewed by the big -31 of 2011. If the 2012 Twins could match their biggest improvement of say 16 games as they did in 2001, that still only moves the Twins 2012 record up to 79-83. The Twins have to improve by 18 games just to reach the .500 mark and would have to improve by 27 games to reach the 90 win mark. It does not look promising.

The Twins have improved their previous years mark by 18 games or better on 4 occassions. The feat was accomplished by the 1991 team that improved by 21 games, the 1969 team that improved by 18 games, the 1965 team that improved by 23 games and the 1962 team that was 21 games better than the 1961 team. Four times in 50 seasons, not good odds for sure and remember, an 18 game improvement only takes the team to an 81-81 record, or .500 baseball. The team has lost Joe Nathan, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel, Jose Mijares, Kevin Slowey and a number of bit players but then again, they lost 99 games when they had these guys. I know they added Ryan Doumit, Jason Marquis, Josh Willingham, Jamey Carroll and brought back Matt Capps but how many wins will these guys put in the “W” column?

What this team needs in order to play respectable baseball is for Joe Mauer to step back to earth from the “Twilight Zone” that he was in most of last year and catch 130 games and play 1B and DH for 10-15 more. I see no reason why this can’t happen, Mauer should come out of the gate madder than hell and show everyone that 2011 was a fluke. I will believe that when I see it. The next issue is Justin Morneau, here I am not nearly as optimistic. Justin was just a shell of himself in 2011 and I worry that Justin Morneau’s baseball career is coming to a premature end. That would be so sad as Justin should have many more years in him as a productive Twins first baseman. I hope I am totally wrong about Morneau, but if I was a betting man I would say “show me you still got it” Justin. I hope that Danny Valencia thought long and hard about his baseball career since the 2011 season ended because if he continues to play in 2012 like he did in 2011, he will be receiving his fan mail in Rochester come the middle of May. Valencia might not be the .311 hitter he was in 2010 but he sure better not be the .246 hitter he was in 2011 either. A little more work with the glove wouldn’t hurt Danny either. The Twins outfield is a mess, Willingham is a left fielder and the Twins need him to play right because Ben Revere can’t throw out his grandmother. So that forces the team to play Revere in center which is OK in itself but that means you need to move Span to right field but Span says he wants to play center. In my humble opinion, any outfield with Revere and Span both playing at the same time is a bad thing. I am not sure how things are going to shake out but come the second half of 2012, Joe Benson will be playing in the Twins outfield some where. The Twins signed Jamey Carroll to play short but the man has never had a full-time job in 10 big league seasons and he will be 38 before the Twins open the exhibition season. Is that a move that a contending team makes? We can hope that Tsuyoshi Nishioka comes back to life and show us that he really is a professional baseball player……come on, really, there is a chance. Alexi Casilla at 2B is an enigma but I still have hope for this 27-year-old with parts of six big league season under his belt. The bullpen is a couple of sharp knives short of a complete set and the starting staff of Carl Pavano, Scott Baker, Francisco Liriano, Nick Blackburn, and Jason Marquis would make any manager nervous.

So here it is, you make up your mind, can the Twins compete or will they have to fight and scratch like hell just to reach the .500 mark? Me? Come October, I think we should all be dancing on Target Plaza celebrating manager Ron Gardenhire’s second manager of the year award with a cold drink in our hand if this collection of Twins can win half of their games in 2012. However; if this this team wins 70 or fewer games in 2012, manager Ron Gardenhire may be looking for a job.

Nathan‘s option declined

 

Joe Nathan

October 25, 2011 – The Twins announced this afternoon that they have declined closer Joe Nathan’s $12.5 million club option for 2012 and instead will instead exercise a $2 million buyout which makes Nathan a free agent. GM Smith has indicated to Nathan, who be 37 on November 22nd and his agent that the Twins would like to resign the 37 year reliever but at a lesser price tag.

Nathan has been with the Minnesota Twins since 2004 and is the Twins all-time saves leader with 260 passing previous leader Rick Aguilera (254 saves) this past season.

It will be interesting to see if the Twins can resign Nathan this off season and if so, how much will it cost. But before I try to resign Joe Nathan, I go back to the Washington Nationals and try to swing a deal for closer Drew Storen and shortstop Ian Desmond and I give up Ben Revere, Kevin Slowey and a minor league prospect. If the Nats don’t want Revere but want Denard Span instead, I still do the deal without the minor league prospect. Nathan has obviously been a great closer but he is coming off a serious injury and he will be 37 years old before next season begins. How much is he worth to a team that lost 99 games in 2011 and has many holes to fill? In my opinion I don’t sign him to more than two years and I offer him $14 million for those two years. If Nathan feels that is not enough, I let him walk and I look for a closer.

GM Smith and Gardy need to make some moves

GM Bill Smith

April 30, 2011 – Damn! I am more upset at watching the Twins lose to Kansas City and Tampa the last few days than the Twins are, what is up with that? After watching the Twins lose again last night at Kansas City, I am convinced the time has come to make some moves. There is an old saying that says that the first thing you need to do when you find yourself in a hole is to STOP DIGGING! This team needs a major shake-up, a wake-up call, but I am not sure exactly what should be done first, there are so many things to do. The Twins need to find a shortstop; Casilla has had his chances time and time again and not delivered, time to move on. I don’t think Plouffe is the answer either but you might as well give him his shot. The bullpen is a mess, no one knows their roles and how long can the Twins baby Nathan? Put him in a 7th or 8th inning role and get on with it. Get some stability in the bullpen again. Liriano will never be the ace pitcher everyone has envisioned, he has the skills but he does not have the demeanor or the ability to use his skills. You have two choices here, turn him into a reliever or trade him at a diminished value. Liriano doesn’t want to be a reliever? Tough, he isn’t pitching like a big league starter right now; he might be just what they need in the bullpen. Put Slowey in the rotation to replace Liriano and give Blackburn a couple more starts to see what he can do. If he can’t get on the straight and narrow, then call up Gibson and plug him in as a starter. As much as I hate to do it, the Twins should play Cuddyer at 2B until Nishioka gets back from his broken leg. An outfield of Delmon, Span, and Kubel works for me or keep Tosoni in the outfield and bat Kubel at DH. If Repko doesn’t start hitting soon I send him down and keep Tosoni as the 4th outfielder. Forget about bringing up Ben Revere, what good is an outfield with both Span and Revere in it? Catching? You just have to make do with Butera and Holm until Mauer can get healthy again. I have to wonder what the real story is with Joe Mauer. Justin Morneau has been just plain abysmal, where is the clutch hitter we used to know? I sure hope that Morneau does not go through with what happened to Jimmie Hall after he was beaned. Valencia? Sure he leads the team in RBI’s but he could be doing so much better. What can’t I shake the feeling that Valencia is developing an attitude and thinks he is a star? Maybe it is all that time he spent hanging around A-rod? Cuddyer? Maybe the pressure of playing for a new contract is getting to him, he has not hit anywhere like he should be hitting, right now he looks like a 7 or 8 hitter at best.

You think I am too harsh here in my thoughts? Come on now, the team is 9-16 after 25 games and 15% of the games are behind them. Only three teams in baseball have won as few as 9 games, the Astros, the Padres and the Twins. I don’t think the Twins are this bad but so far they have done nothing to make you think they can get better in the near future and get back in the Central Division race where they are already 8 games back and the calendar still shows it is April. The team continues to score at a pace of 3 runs a game being our scored 128 to 80, that will not get you many wins with this pitching staff. Right or wrong, Twins management has to be thinking that Joe Vavre might be the easiest scapegoat and send him packing and bring in some fresh blood as a hitting coach. Oh, and let’s not forget our third base coach Steve Liddle in all of this. His approach to sending and stopping runners at 3B hasn’t been much to write home about either.

Ron Gardenhire

When I watch this team play I see no life, no one is having fun out there, it is just a job. At the end of the game they have their heads down as they slowly shuffle down to the clubhouse. Where is the fight in this team? The team plays like they think all they have to do is show up and they will win, the times have changed boys, the times have changed, look at the AL Central standings, it reads Royals, Indians, Tigers, White Sox and the Twins. When is someone going to kick, scream, yell and cuss that this crap has got to stop and get out on the field and lead by example by getting a clutch hit or putting an opposing batter on his butt? Do the Twins have a leader? I have not seen one, but then again Gardy and Bill Smith have not shown much leadership either.

Red Sox 5 and the Twins 0

 
Scott Baker

March 2, 2011 – The Twins were home yesterday to take on the Red Sox and we were lucky enough to have four tickets right next to the Twins dugout. The Twins lost 5-0 and were never really in the ballgame but it sure was fun to watch a baseball game again. It was a cloudy and overcast day for the most part with the temp around 80 so it was a perfect day to watch a game. Just before the game started we got a few rain drops and that quickly got the capacity crowd buzzing but the dark clouds passed and all was well with the world once again. Scott Baker started for the Twins and to be honest I can’t classify his start as anything other than terrible. He had a 3 ball count on the first two batters before giving up a hit and when his Gardy went out to get him after just 1 2/3 innings Baker had thrown 40 pitches, gave up two hits, one walk and one run. Baker just seemed totally out of sync. You could not tell how fast the pitches were yesterday because the Hammond Field radar gun apparently was in spring training mode also as it showed pitches anywhere between 31 and 93 and most of the time it said 33 or 55 MPH. Nathan later took the mound for the first time and looked OK, he was probably more nervous out there than we fans were for him. Kyle Gibson looked good and you have to think that he will be in the starting rotation at some point this year. The Twins didn’t have many regulars in the line-up yesterday, just Nishioka, Casilla, Valencia, and Span but it was fun to see some of the youngsters get some playing time. Revere and Benson both made errors n the outfield and Revere again showed his weak arm. It again just confirms for me that there is no way that Span and Revere can play in the same outfield.

Francisco Liriano

The Francisco Liriano rumors continue to swirl but I just can’t understand why the Twins would want to trade him now. The only thing that I can think of is that it has something to do with Liriano’s contract and the fact that he and the Twins avoided arbitration, maybe there was some kind of “Gentlemen’s agreement” between both sides that if Liriano signed that the Twins would move him this year. I don’t see Liriano attaining true “Ace” status and his injury history has to keep the Twins management up many a night. The Yankees need a pitcher like we humans need air to breathe but I don’t see the Yankees as having the right young players that the Twins would want in exchange for Liriano unless the Twins were to get catching prospect Jesus Montero and then flip him for someone else. Montero can hit but he is a long ways from catching in the big leagues in the style that the Twins would want.

Questions everywhere

February 23, 2011 – I checked on the Twins on Monday and I stayed for about 1.5 hours but I walked away kind of bored. The position players still had not reported and the pitchers and catchers were going through their early spring routines. A few minor leaguers were taking some infield practice with TK, nothing extraordinary going on anywhere. Nishioka was as normal to this point, out on a field by himself, doing a little (and I mean little) running if you don’t count his side-kicks who apparently are his translator, nutritionist, and work-out guru. Everyone was looking for Justin Morneau and he was nowhere to be seen but he did eventually hold a news conference later in the day.

The Twins have so many questions as spring training begins, more questions than Alex Trebek has on Jeopardy. What questions? Let me list a few of them for you that come to mind right off the bat, not necessarily in order of importance. 2011 will be an interesting season at the ballpark, you can bet your bippy on it.

  •  Will Justin Morneau be able to come back from his concussion?
  • Can Joe Nathan become the same closer he was before he had TJ surgery?
  • Joe Mauer hasn’t even caught a bullpen session and he already has knee issues.
  • How will Francisco Liriano react to the trade rumors? He is not exactly a Rock of Gibraltar to begin with.
  • Can Alexi Casilla hold down a full-time middle infield spot?
  • Can Tsuyoshi Nishioka play in the majors this season and hold down a middle infield job?
  • Can Danny Valencia improve on his 2010 season without his head getting too big?
  • Can Denard Span bounce back from a poor 2010 season?
  • Can Rick Anderson make silk out of a sows ear in the bullpen?
  • Can Delmon Young repeat his breakout season?
  • Can Jim Thome last another season before his back gives out for the final time?
  • Can Jason Kubel bounce back and play the way he is capable of playing?
  • Will any Twins pitcher show some backbone and make some of those opposing batters dance in the batter’s box once in a blue moon?
  • When are the Twins batters going to quit crying that it is too hard to hit home runs at Target Field?
  • Last year the back drop at Target Field was repainted, after the season the trees have been or will soon be removed. What will Twins batters ask for next? A roof to keep the sun out of their eyes?
  • Who didn’t measure up last year in Gardy’s eyes? Scott Ullger as his third base coach or Steve Liddle as his bench coach? They swapped jobs going into 2011.
  • Can Glenn Perkins and Pat Neshek stay out of Gardy’s doghouse this year? I think they each have one strike left before they are sent packing.
  • Will Gardy actually let his players steal some bases this year?
  • Can the Twins ever get over the “Yankee” hump?

You’re outta here!

December 23, 2010 – One of the fun things about going to baseball games for me is that you never know when a manager or player ejection will take place over a close play or a bad or missed call by an umpire. It is these kinds of calls that make baseball the game that it is and that is why I hope that MLB never goes “instant replay crazy”. It is always fun for the fans to see the players emotions get the best of him, right or wrong, and then watch as he has his say with the umpire. Sometimes it is just a few words, probably not nice ones, that force the ump to throw that player out of the game and at other times the player gets to go on and on for what seems an eternity before he gets the heave-ho. Actually, I think that this is a part of baseball that is slowing going by the way-side as umpires are just too dang quick with the thumb and their ejection buttons. Baseball is after all, entertainment, and what better way to give the fans their money’s worth then to let them watch a good old fashion debate between an upset player and an umpire. Come on now, what is more fun than seeing a player stick his nose right in the umpires face and call him an %#@-hole or a *^%$-up? Give the fans in the stands a chance to yell “kill the ump” and really get into the game. It really makes no difference if the player or the umpire is in the right, give the player a chance to have his say, maybe kick some dirt on the plate or the ump’s shoes, or throw his cap out to second base, or maybe run over to first base, jerk it off its foundation and send it flying half way out to an outfielder that is standing there with his glove up to his face to hide his laughter? Or listen to the fans cheer or boo as the player starts chucking bats and balls back onto the playing field from the dugout. It is just fun and will generate water cooler and Facebook talk for days. Maybe it adds 5 minutes to a game that would otherwise be forgotten but now you have a classic situation that may stick with a fan forever. Maybe 30 years from now some fan will tell his kids, I remember this one hot summer night back in August of 2010 I think it was, and the Twins were playing the Yankees at Target Field when Bobby Akens went ballistic after getting called out on a play at the plate or just a few days later in Boston when Joe Smith went nuts after getting called out on strikes for the third time in the game. Umpires need to realize that baseball is entertainment and that we fans did not put our good money down for tickets to watch them ump, we paid to see the players play so it is time for the umpires to play their part and show some patience and do their part in the production and continue to let baseball be the best entertainment sport there is. Let the players play, have their say, and if need be, if all else fails, throw their butt out.

Torii Hunter
Torii Hunter

The Twins have had their fair share of player ejections (105) over the years and the one that stands out for me is the Joe Niekro ejection, the one with the nail file falling out of his back pocket, a real classic and one of my favorite Twins moments. What about you? Do you have a favorite Twins player ejection story? Did you know that the Twins player with the most ejections has 5 and that it is none other than outfielder Torii Hunter? Hunter of all people, which surprised me when I looked at the numbers and saw that. So here is a complete list of all Minnesota Twins player ejections from 1961 through 2010 that will maybe jog your memory a bit. I am not including any coach or manager ejections here as that will be a story for another day.

(Ejection list updated through 2012 as of March 2013)

5 – Torii Hunter

4 – LaTroy Hawkins, Kent Hrbek

3 – Rod Carew, Dan Gladden, Eddie Guardado, Cristian Guzman, Jacque Jones, Chuck Knoblauch, Tony Oliva, Dave Ortiz, Vic Power, Denard Span

2 – Bob Allison, Earl Battey, Tom Brunansky, Brian Harper, Mickey Hatcher, Ron Jackson, Corey Koskie, Brad Radke, Rich Reese, JC Romero

1 – Allan Anderson, Wally Backman, Bert Blyleven, Orlando Cabrera, Jamey Carroll, John Castino, Jack Cressend, Mike Cubbage, Michael Cuddyer, Chili Davis, Ron Davis, Scott Diamond, Jim Dwyer, Terry Felton, Pete Filson, Greg Gagne, Johnny Goryl, Lenny Green, Dave Hollins, Butch Huskey, Craig Kusick, Ken Landreaux, Fred Manrique, Charlie Manual, Pat Mears, Doug Mientkiewicz, George Mitterwald, Joe Niekro, Camilo Pascual, Tom Prince, Kirby Puckett, Nick Punto, Mike Redmond, Kenny Rogers, Jim Roland, Phil Roof, Mark Salas, Carlos Silva, Mike Smithson, Rick Sofield, Shannon Stewart, Danny Thompson, Danny Valencia, Jesus Vega, Frank Viola, Mike Walters

Should the Twins make a Deal?

July 9, 2008 – The Twins find themselves in Detroit this evening awaiting the start of a four game series just before the All-Star break after losing three in a row to the Red Sox in Fenway Park. Yes, the team did lose three games in Beantown but they had a chance to win the first two games of the series when Baker battled tooth and nail with Daisuke Matsuzaka before the Red Sox scored the one and only run in the eighth inning off Brian Bass for a 1-0 win. In the second game Nick Blackburn pitched the Twins to a 4-2 lead after 6 and 2/3 inning before turning it over to the bullpen that could not hold the lead and the Twins lost 6-5. Game 3 ended up 18-5 in favor of the Red Sox and again bullpen relief was nowhere in sight. Boy, do the Twins miss Pat Neshek.

The Twins find themselves at 50-41 at this point and 3.5 games out of the Central Division lead. Are the Twins really in the hunt? I don’t think so, the Twins are not as bad as they showed against the White Sox just a little over a month ago but they are not as good as they have played recently. The Twins are somewhere in between, they are a .500 ball club. Don’t get me wrong, I am not down on the Twins at all but remember that this is a team where the only regulars from last year are Mauer, Morneau, and Cuddyer. The starting pitching staff is totally new with Hernandez, Baker, Blackburn, Slowey and Perkins.

Their two stars Johan Santana and Torii Hunter moved on to other teams as did SP Carlos Silva. If someone would have told me before Spring Training started that this team would be 50-41 at this point in the season I would have asked you what you were smoking. This Twins team is young, exciting, enthusiastic, learning new things about themselves and their teammates every day and best of all, they are just a fun and exciting team to watch. But, they are not yet ready to contend for a division title, they need more experience and they still have a couple of holes to fill at 3B and at SS. Brian Buscher has been hot since he was called up and replaced Mike Lamb at 3B but for some reason Gardy is platooning him now. Nick Punto has returned from his most recent injury and is playing some great SS and is even hitting a bit. If the Twins had a top notch 3B then I think they could leave Punto at SS but they can’t afford to have weak hitter at both SS and 3B.

The Twins desperately need an everyday 3B with some pop but I don’t know where they can find one without giving up the farm. Some rumors out there have the Twins looking at Adrian Beltre from the Mariners but he has a big salary and has been very inconsistent, I don’t think he is the answer. Scott Rolen from Toronto might be available but he too is making big bucks and is well past his prime but the man can play some defense. Bill Hall is probably available in Milwaukee but he can’t play defense at all so he is not the kind of player that would make Gardy happy.

The Twins could also use a little help in the bullpen too what with Bass and Bonser getting kicked around here lately. But again, the price to get some reliable relief help will not come cheap.

Bottom line, I think the Twins should probably be sellers (Lamb, Hernandez, Bonser, and Monroe) and not buyers during this trading period. Francisco Liriano will probably be up soon and he can replace Hernandez. Danny Graves deserves a call up and a shot in the bullpen. As for 3B, it probably remains a platoon position for the rest of the season between Buscher and Harris.

The Twins do seem to be strong in the outfield and there are clubs out there that would “kill” for a Denard Span to play CF but I am not sure the Twins are ready to make that deal yet.

Lots of smoke but no fire

GM Bill Smith
GM Bill Smith

As the July 31 trade deadline approached, the Twins seemed to be in the middle of a number of possible trade discussions with players such as Kevin Slowey, Denard Span, Jason Kubel, Michael Cuddyer, Jose Mijares, Delmon Young, and Jim Thome all supposedly in the mix to change uniforms. But the Twins and GM Bill Smith found themselves between a rock and a hard-spot on what to do with a team that seems to have hit a plateau at 6 games out after coming out of the chute like a herd of turtles and found themselves 20 games under .500 on June 1st. According to a recent clip I saw on TV, no team in MLB history that has been 20 games under has ever come back to finish above the .500 mark. But on the other hand, no one in the Central Division seems to want to take the lead and run with it. The Kansas City Royals started the season hot as a pistol but soon tanked and found themselves rebuilding with some young and up and coming stars. The Chicago White Sox can’t seem to get their act together and struggle to hang around the .500 mark. The surprising Cleveland Indians are probably in over their heads but have been putting up a good fight but they have too many injuries to key players and are too young to be taken too seriously. The Detroit Tigers are leading the pack right now and as I see it, will win the division just because they are the best team in a bad division in 2011.

But getting back to Minnesota, what was Smith to do? I can see no way that with the way the Jekyll and Hyde Twins have played this season that ownership would authorize the payroll to increase by any substantial amount. So if Smith wanted to make some additions to say the relief core, he would also have to move some payroll to free up some dollars. On the other hand, the Twins could have become sellers and started a rebuilding process but the fans in Twins Territory would have gone “nuts” if the Twins threw up the white flag while being only six games out on July 31. The Twins sell out almost every home game and giving up just does not seem like the right thing to do even though the chances of this team winning the division are slim and none. So what should be done?

The solution as it turns out was relatively simple, the answer was to be neither a buyer nor a seller and just let things continue the way they are for the time being. All Smith had to do is keep saying no to any deal that was not stacked in favor of the home team and the only deal he would make would be on where the Twins came out smelling like a rose. Like the deal that was much ballyhooed where the Twins would send Span to Washington and hopefully get closer Drew Storen, outfielder Roger Bernadina, and 2B Steve Lombardozzi. But Washington did not want to part with Storen and Smith passed on Troy Clippard. If a miracle happens and the Twins catch fire, just play it out and hope for the best. If the Twins tank, there is always the waiver wire or just let the season come to a merciful end and deal with your potential free agent fallout. Besides, this team can’t be this bad again next year, the team was snake bit with injuries in 2011 and what are the odds of it happening again? But the Twins do have holes and a bit of a tune-up with some new parts just might make this sputtering 4 cylinder engine come to life again as the V-8 that all of us Twins fans expected in 2011.

GM Bill Smith isn’t as dumb as some make him out to be, he went from being in an impossible situation of deciding between buying and selling to finding himself in the position of being right no matter where the Twins finish in the standings. If the Twins don’t win the division and finish third or fourth, he was right not to be a buyer, why waste the money. If the Twins make a serious run but still lose, he can take the position that we did not need to make any moves, we just needed our players to get healthy and start playing the way they are capable of playing and it is a good thing that he wasn’t a seller or the Twins would not have made this great come-back.

But Mr. Smith is not totally off the hook here. Sure the Twins had their run of injuries, but their play in 2011 is not all about injuries. There are questions that need to be asked. Is Nishioka really as bad as he has played in 2011? How do the Twins avoid a repeat of the 2011 bullpen woes? Is the Twins starting staff going to take a step forward or is it time to blow it up? What does he do about Cuddyer and Kubel as they enter free agency?

What would I have done if I had been in Smith’s shoes? I would have done pretty much what Smith did, nothing, but I am working at a disadvantage here, I don’t know what the other teams offered for Kubel or Cuddyer. For sure I would have sent Thome packing; he is just wasting a roster spot as the Twins wait for him to hit home run number 600. I assume they were offered next to nothing for Slowey or he would be gone by now, but now that Blackburn has pitched so poorly of late, maybe it is time to give Slowey a shot at Blackie’s spot?