Room on the Twins Bandwagon for one more?
FTLOSBW members, guests, and distinguished visitors - this past weekend while traveling to Chicago for a bloggers convention I came across an old friend (let's call him LE) who was lamenting the fact that his "baseball season" was over (he is a fan of the Chicago Cubs who currently carry a 21 and 24 record.) He noted how cruel it was to be this early and have little left to follow in the MLB. I probably didn't help matters when I referenced this article last year by Tom Verducci that basically says if you're not 5 games within .500 by June, forgettaboutit (note: the article does point out three teams that are outliers to the stats, one of which happens to have been the 2007 Cubs who started 22-29 but wound up 85-77 and in the playoffs where they were promptly swept in the NLDS by the D'backs but I digress.)
Over a beer or two this friend asked if there was any room on the Twins bandwagon for the 2010 season. Among his reasons for wanting to jump on were:
- The Twins are an easy team to follow and root for since they are a likeable cast of characters,
- They are in the AL so not really betraying the Cubbies,
- He loves Joe Mauer and would like to be his best friend if possible,
- And he is from Minnesota Jr. (Iowa) which, while inferior in every way to the Land of Sky Blue Waters, kinda makes him a Twins fan by default (if only the Twins had a minor league affiliate in Des Moines instead of the Cubs he could be wearing a TC hat right now.)
5 Comments:
Hey gang. Good to be here. I did find it ironic that the first story that I saw when I got to the blog was about not getting runners in. The Cubs have been plagued by a lack of clutch hitting for the entirety of Piniella's tenure (and the rest of my life too) so I already feel like I'm at home
Here is a poor man's take on the Twins from having watched a couple of games (haven't invested in the MLB package yet) and checking out the stats.
Offensively, you have 2 STUDS and Hudson right now. Span plays enough defense and has enough speed to get a pass. Cuddyer has probably been fine but you'd like to be getting more. Young needs to do more. Kubel needs to do more. Ultimately, Twins probably need at least one more guy to heat up (and Hudson to stay productive) to be more dangerous. If you can roll that lineup over a little more quickly, the Hudson/Mauer/Morneau portion of the lineup gets that much more dangerous.
Pitching is a little tougher to comment on unless you see it but you have to over the moon about the bullpen (especially the guys I've never heard of). Starting pitching seems to be adequate but far from dominant. Pavano's numbers would suggest that he's gotten screwed a little bit or given up some huge innings along the way.
All in all, have to be pleased with a solid start losing Mauer to a few games and a nondescript performance about of the rotation.
Will the Twins be buyers? 3B and/or another SP?
Nice to be a part of some additional, educated, dedicated baseball banter. You guys can help me stay connected to the game because I'm not sure that the Cubs will ever be over .500 this year.
Go Twins!
May 25, 2010 at 1:53 PM
Welcome. In your one post I can see you clearly understand Michael Cuddyer. The majority of his time as a Twin has been waiting for him to do more. I was a huge bear on Cuddy. However, he won me over at the end of last year when he was absolutely on fire. He now has some wiggle room on my scrutiny meter.
You also display knowledge in the area of our lack of a 3rd baseman. Corey Koskie where oh where art thou? Where is Brian Buscher these days?
Admit it, isn't kind of nice that the Cubs have returned to their hapless selves? I mean all that pressure to win is gone and one can now just enjoy Wrigley aznd Old Styles the way it was for so so many years. Last week I saw Soriano misplay a ball so bad I nearly spit out my grape Fanta. I keep hoping for NU football to have the same regression but unfortunately they keep beating Iowa year after year.
May 25, 2010 at 2:35 PM
Nice, RTS...I LOL'd at the NU football comment. As long as Fitz is around, I think we'll be okay, but I'm sure an eventual regression is in store. And this will be Iowa's year to break the hex, trust me.
Our good buddy Tapani summed things up perfectly, especially with respect to Kubel, Young and Cuddy (who leads MLB in GIDPs). Oh, and great take on Pavano, who has been screwed over a couple of times but also gives up the occasional 5-run inning. In general, I think we are happy with the staff as a whole, particularly Rauch (last Saturday notwithstanding).
I would LOVE to see us be buyers just once in my life. I know we've been in the mix for some overrated Kris Benson-types in the past, but I'd love to see us go out and try to get a 3rd basemen for July, August and Sept. And seriously, why not try to grab Cliff Lee or Oswalt for the stretch run? I know Oswalt may be too expensive, but Lee would be a rental that would help us temporarily but immediately.
First item of business - win the Yankee series.
May 25, 2010 at 5:04 PM
so wait, I'm all for the new addition, but no hazing?. When i got added to the blog, I had to do that "application" thing where Jan made me take all those pictures. I mean, some really bad pictures. Everyone did that, right? Right? Everyone went to a Super 8 with Jan and a camera crew and took pictures of themselves doing those poses so they could write about sports on this six person blog, right? RTS, you wore that beltsander and jorts, right? BG? Looking back, it seems a little weird. I mean it's worth it, don't get me wrong, Tapani. I wouldn't change a thing. Well, maybe that one thing. But Some really great stuff. I just don't want you to miss out.
May 26, 2010 at 8:31 AM
Tapani, welcome, and good choice of posting name. Certainly beats the other option of Henry Blanco. To have gained such a knowledgeable fan speaks well of the Twins. Hopefully us jamokes won't drive you right back away.
Re: Delmon, this group has probably been more patient than most Twins fans. The difficulty is divorcing the human being named Delmon Young from the trade that lost Garza and Bartlett to get him. So the frustration with his subpar performances is understandable. That said, he's shown more of a knowledge of the strike zone this season, and he's putting good swings on the ball and driving it instead of lining softly to right all the time. Except for the last week, that is, when he's been slumping. As long as he creeps back toward an .800 OPS range, with his (somewhat) improved defense, I'll be fairly quiet about him as that's a better than league average LF, something we've been missing since Shannon Stewart.
You'll find Kubel referred to here often as "MCA's boy Kubel." I kept incorrectly predicting his breakout, and last season it finally happened so now I'm linked to him, I guess. He's been the weakest link in the offense right now and needs to pick things up.
As we move into warmer weather, this team will score more runs, I have no doubt. Morneau can't possibly continue to bash like this (1.196 OPS right now? That's almost 20% higher than second in the AL), but Mauer's due for fly balls leaving the yard instead of falling on the track, Kubel's due to push upwards, Hardy's back, and Span's been better than adequate the last month (he hit .211 in April but he's at .344 in May). We lead the majors in GIDP, too, I think, which probably won't last; although it's indicative of a high on-base average for the team, at least.
Starting pitching's been weird, frustrating and thrilling all at once. Slowey can't get it together, Baker's looked both great and terrible, Pavano's been outstanding in every start except one where he got destroyed, Liriano's been red-hot and back to Earth and so we're back to not knowing what to expect from him, and Blackburn started horrendously and now is pitching better than the rest of the staff. Just hard to get a bead on these guys right now.
You're right that the 'pen has been unexpectedly good. Brian Duensing, who was a callup starter at the end of last season, just magically became a high-leverage, late inning guy out of nowhere, which has eased the pressure on everyone. Good command, good but not overpowering stuff, but will go after guys when appropriate. He's been the difference maker.
May 26, 2010 at 10:02 AM
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