Twins Report: 3/10

Well as the spring drags on, I find myself looking more and more at the calendar and waiting for April 1st to roll around.  The Twins' 7-4 loss today to the Jays gets us one day closer, but of course speculation swirls all around Fort Meyers.  Over the past week, we've gotten some good news and some not-so-good performances.  Here's a quick run-down.



The best news all week was Justin Morneau's return to action, albeit in a B-squad game.  But hey, at this point, we couldn't ask for anything more.  When I first read that he played, I went from having a normal day to being borderline giddy the rest of the day.  He has said that there haven't been any symptoms since then, and it was originally reported that he would see his first Grapefruit League action today, but, as we've come to expect, no dice.  Gardy decided to give him an extra day and he's now supposed to play tomorrow.  As petty as this may sound, it still worries me.  It might just be me being extremely impatient, but until I see his name in the lineup card, I'm going to remain a pessimist.  The Twins have gotten almost secretive about this whole situation, and I know they just want what's best for Justin, but if he can't go, I wish they'd just come out and say it.  They did this to the fans last year when they thought he might be ready for the ALDS.  We all know how that one turned out.  I guess in the meantime, I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and be checking my iPhone every five minutes tomorrow until I see "Justin Morneau" penciled into that familiar four-hole.

The most disturbing thing come out of Florida this week was definitely Francisco Liriano.  This guy never ceases to scare the living crap outta me.  He has already admitted that he didn't do all of his off-season workouts, and he ended up with a sore shoulder because of it.  Then he gets his first start after getting shelled in a B-game earlier, and promptly gets...shelled.  I'd like to know what's going through this guy's mind sometimes.  The talent is there, now we just need to see the preparation and dedication.  Franky needs to be the ace of this ball club if we're going to go anywhere in the playoffs, much less make the playoffs.  Putting that kind of responsibility on a someone that appears so immature just doesn't sit well with me.

In other pitching news, Blackburn gave up two bombs today and Eric Hacker couldn't get my dead grandma out right now.  I hate to jump to conclusions, but I think we can at least eliminate him from contention of one of those bullpen spots.  As for Blackburn, I'm not panicking yet, but golly gee willickers.  Two bombs in three innings and you wonder if the sinker is still sinking.  He's supposed to get ground balls.  I'm gonna just brush this one aside though, and put it up there as a bad day.  It's still March and we seem to learn over and over again that nothing really matters until April.

On a brighter, less frantic note, Joe Nathan continues to dominate.  He threw another shut-out inning today and he is yet to give up a run.  I haven't gotten the opportunity to actually see him pitch so I don't wanna go bananas here, but by all accounts, he's back and as good as ever.  The velocity might be a little down butI expect that to climb throughout the spring and even into April as he builds his arm strength back to where it was.  The only thing he has left to prove is to pitch on back-to-back days.  If he does this successfully, it's going to raise the question whether he start the year as the full-time closer, or if he will share time with Matty Capps for a few months.  Personally, I could care less.  That one's up to Gardy.  They both obviously have experience and that closer's mindset.  Being mentally prepared is the biggest thing for a closer.  I don't think either of these guys will have a problem with that.  Let's just be glad Liriano isn't our closer.

And finally, there still have been no Mauer sightings.  I had to feed my man-crush by purchasing MLB 11 The Show yesterday just to be able to see him in a Twins uniform again.  The "Well played, Mauer" commercial was no longer enough for me.  I found myself alone in my basement muttering, "With the stick" everytime I got a base hit.  God, I can't wait for April 1st.

http://www.goodblogs.com/view-post/Boo-Hoo-Heat

Boo Hoo Heat

Being a Heat-hater, as I talked about in a previous post, I watched the Heat-Bulls game on ABC on Sunday afternoon.  (Well as much as I could stay awake for.  I really struggle making it through some of those NBA games).  The Heat came out hot, the Bulls didn't panic, and Derrick Rose did what D-Rose does.  Before ya know it, we're in the final seconds and Luol Deng needs to sink a couple of free throws to tie the game.  He drains the first but hits the back iron on the second and the ball comes off the rim for a long rebound. No one boxes out the shooter and Mike Miller is forced to push Deng to keep him from getting the board.  Deng gets two more free ones and coolly sinks them both.  Now the Bulls have a one point lead with about 17 seconds left.  The ball gets inbounded to LeBron and he immediately removes any doubt about who's gonna take the shot.  The Heat go iso and LeBron drives the left side of the lane.  He throws up a lay-up with about three Bulls in his face that never had a chance.  Hell, he didn't even get rim.  There's still time and D-Wade grabs the offensive board. He chucks up a 17 footer from the baseline.  I thought it was good.  It wasn't.  It rimmed out.  I live in Minnesota and I could feel the air go outta that place. I almost felt bad for them until I came to my senses and gave LeBron the finger as he hurried to the locker room.  The locker room is where all the fun happened.

Once Coach Eric Spoelstra made it to his post-game interview to answer a million more questions about losing their zillionth close game, he revealed that some of his players were so emotionally distraught after the game that they were reduced to tears.  The first thing that came to mind was LeBron bawling his eyes out and being consoled, to no avail, by Bosh and Wade.

     "There, there LeBron. It's only one game.  You're still The King.  Nike will pay you no matter how bad we suck.  Besides, no one blames you.  We've convinced the media that it's Spoelstra's fault.  You have nothing to worry about."
     Then I enter the locker room, walk right over to LeBron, who is now in the fetal position, and start licking the tears off his face, just like Cartman licked the tears of Scott Tenorman in the classic South Park episode.  I whisper in his ear, "MJ never cried..at least not until after he won a championship," and I quietly saunter out of the locker room, giving D-Wade the OK to go back and console his sobbing teammate.

But let's go back to reality for a second.  WHAT did Spoelstra just say?! Grown men?  Crying?!  Oh god. This is too good.  I can't believe Spoelstra would rat out his own players like that.  It's one thing to say that they're upset.  It's something completely different to tell the world that your own boys are crying.  I guess it was an attempt to show everyone how much they care and how much it hurts.  I. for one, would much rather see all that effort on the court than in the locker room.  A coach shouldn't have to illustrate how much a team cares by telling us that they were crying.  My God.  The situation is South Beach is worse than I thought.

LeBron, you need to grow up in a hurry.  I got two suggestions for you: 1) Got some of those hideous tattoos removed, and 2) Give the ball to Dwayne Wade in crunch time.  He'll win a couple games for ya.  You've proven to us over and over again that you just can't handle it.  Let someone else give 'er a whirl.  It's not like the situation can get any worse.  It might save you a few tears.  Besides, how does that one song go?  Oh yeah.  Big girls don't cry.

Twins Report: 3/5

There's all kinds of news coming out of the Twins camp over the last two days.  Nick Blackburn was lights out today, pitching three scoreless, hitless innings, and facing the minimum.  After the game, Gardy confirmed what we had all probably already concluded.  Nick Blackburn has locked up the 4th spot in the rotation.  Apparently, the sinker is once again sinking.  Blackburn is getting ground ball outs with that sinking action on his fastball and that's all Gardy needed to see.  If Blackburn can now mix in that changeup and slider, he should be continue being effective, and be a very solid #4 starter in what should be a very solid rotation.


With Blackburn locking up his rotation spot, that leaves Baker, Slowey, and Kyle Gibson as the three remaining pitchers in camp competing for that final rotation spot.  I'd be blown away if Gibson doesn't start in the Rochester, so that leaves Slowey and Baker.  I predicted in an earlier post that the final spot would come down to Slowey and Blackburn.  I was wrong.  But with that, I see it very hard to believe that, barring injury or implosion from Scotty, he won't get that final rotation spot.  He was our Opening Day starter a year ago and has the stuff to be a top-of-the-rotation guy.  He has been a fly ball pitcher throughout his career and that has led him to give up a lot of bombs, but I think he will be given every opportunity to make the rotation.  Slowey should be a good fit for a long-relief role especially after struggling after the middle innings of his starts last year.

Gardenhire also announced that Tsuyoshi Nishioka will be our second baseman, and Alexi Casilla will start at short.  This is what most of us thought would ultimately happen, but I didn't expect a decision this soon.  I haven't had a chance to see Yoshi play yet so I don't know what kind of athlete, arm strength, or range he has, but we all know Casilla has the tools to play short.  It's just gonna be a matter of him screwing his head on straight and giving us a little offense and speed in the lineup.  If Casilla can fill the 9 hole and hit .270 with 20-25 steals, no one will complain.  We put up with Nick Punto for like 8 years.  Casilla's youth and energy should be an upgrade.

On a side note, I'd like to congratulate the North Carolina Tar Heels on beating the crap out of Duke and not coughing up a big lead again to win the ACC Regular Season Title.  I'm thinking they'll end up with a #2 seed in The Dance and are definitely a threat to make a run at the Final Four.

  

Heat are in Big-Time Trouble

I hate the Miami Heat as much as the next guy.  There is no team I enjoy watching lose more than these guys.  Last night was Nirvana.  I watched almost the entire game on TNT last night and for 2 and a half quarters, the Heat looked unstoppable.  Wade and LeBron both had over 20 points in the first half and seemingly couldn't miss.  They came outta halftime firing on all cylinders too but I still had this feeling that the Magic were going to make a run.

I don't watch a whole lot of NBA basketball being in Minnesota and staying loyal to the the post-KG T-Wolves, but I know enough about the NBA to know two things about the Magic.  1) They're extremely streaky and 2) They like to jack up the three ball.  This didn't work out for them until about half way through the third quarter but something clicked and I found myself witnessing one of the greatest comebacks I've ever seen in basketball.  The Magic went on an 18-0 run at one point.  Usually teams fizzle out after a run like that but they kept playing defense and Miami kept jackin' up contested shots and before ya knew it, Orlando was winning.  I got so caught  up in flicking off the TV everytime they showed LeBron pouting that I hardly noticed it was still just a 3 point game and Miami had the ball with 9 seconds left.

So post-decision Miami has LeBron and Wade on the floor at one time.  Two guys that are built for crunch time because they have the ability to create their own shot.  I was thinking that odds are, one of those two guys is gonna hit a three.  They have to.  The ball gets inbounded to Chris Bosh and what does The Third Wheel do? He jacks up a three immediately! You have Lebron and D-Wade, dumbass! Give them the basketball!  But wait, there's still hope...Miami got the offensive board.  LeBron's got a wide open look from three.  He throws up yet another late game brick as the buzzer went off.  Doesn't get much better than that.  Just rubbin salt in the wound.  Miami had a glimmer of hope and watched that go straight out the window.  I loved it.

After the game, everyone wanted to blame Miami coach Eric Sproelstra, just like they have all season.  I'm sorry but it wasn't Sproelstra that casted a quick 3-ball after getting the in-bounds pass.  It wasn't Sproelstra that missed another clutch shot and failed to close out another game.  And it definitely wasn't Sproelstra that allowed the Magic back into the game after holding a second-half 24-point lead by deciding to quit contesting three's.  I don't know about you, but I think Miami has bigger problems.  They are an absolute mess right now...and I'm lovin' every freakin' second of it.

Twins Pitching Staff: The Rotation

I discussed the possibility of trading either Liriano, Slowey, or Blackburn in my last post, and I made it pretty clear that it might not be a bad idea to move Slowey or Blackburn but Liriano needs to be in our rotation through the season and beyond.  For the sake of this post, we're going to assume a couple things:
     1) No trades are made before the end of Spring Training
     2) Nathan, Slowey, and Baker are healthy, and
     3) Start the year with a 12 man staff

Ok...so the obvious first step is figuring out the starting rotation.  This is probably the easy part.  Pavano and Liriano are locks.  Gardy said today that Duensing will be starting also.  I know that probably isn't written in stone but for the purpose of this, Duensing will be our 3rd starter.  That in itself is interesting.  Many people thought Duensing might end up in the bullpen simply because he is the only one of the starters with relief experience.  And not only is he experienced in the 'pen, he was effective last year with an ERA under 2.00.  He could also get out tough lefties holding them to a .167 batting average while in a relief role.  After Blackburn imploded last year and Duensing got another opportunity in the rotation, he didn't disappoint. Duensing is 12-3 with a 2.93 ERA in 22 career starts for the Twins.  That's not too bad for a guy projected to be a back-of-the-rotation starter after he came up.  I think it's absolutley necessary for the Duensinator to be in the rotation.  He was our third best starter last year and has, without a doubt, earned his spot.


So now we got Pavano, Liriano, and Duensing penciled in.  Liriano and Duensing, being two lefties, will be split up by someone.  I think most people will agree that that will be Scotty "Shake 'N Bake" Baker if he's healthy (which has become a big "if" with him).  Baker has the potential to be a #2 or #3 starter but he still has yet to put it all together for a full year.  He's either been raped by bad health, high pitch count, or the long ball.  He's been a fly ball pitcher his whole career, and too many of those fly balls have turned into taters.  Pitching at Target Field should turn some of those into Delmon Young adventures to the warning track and eventual outs but he still needs to keep the ball down in the zone.  Bert has made that very clear to his TV audience over the years.  


So now the rotation looks like this: Pavano, Liriano, Baker, Duensing, and Slowey/Blackburn.  Personally, I think Blackburn has the inside track to that fifth spot.  After his stint in Rochester, he turned it around last season and rediscovered the sinker.  Prior to that, Betty White coulda took him yard.  Blackburn also said that he went away from throwing his slider last year and focused more on his changeup after experiencing discomfort in his elbow when breakin' off those sliders.  That and his inability to get a two-seam fastball to sink led to his ineffectiveness in July.  (So here's my off-topic rant:  Why in the HELL didn't he take a stint on the DL instead of "playing through the pain" and hurting his team start, after start, after start?!  There's a difference between playing hurt and playing injured).  But anywho...if Blackie can incorporate a slider in with a changeup and a fastball with good sinking action, he's going to be effective.  I see him regaining his form of early last season and being a solid fifth starter.


Slowey will fill a long relief role in the the meantime.  I'm sure he'll be given the opportunity to make the occasional spot start and fill in when someone inevitably goes on the DL.  He might be better suited as a reliever anyway after demonstrating over and over again last year that he wore out before he could make it our of the fifth inning.  


The dark horse in all of this is Kyle Gibson. (What's a Twins post without mentioning Kyle Gibson?) There's a next to zero chance he makes the rotation out of Spring Training and the Twins have seemed reluctant in the past to put a prospect like Gibson in the bullpen until a starting spot opens up.  He'll be starting in Rochester. If he's tearin it up down there and just can't be ignored anymore, and one of the starters in the big leagues implodes, I'd love nothing more than to see Gibson get a shot.  He's only 22 but Gardy has already said he's impressed with him.  Twins Territory will be buzzing the day he gets that first start.  I, for one, can't wait to see this kid in action.





           

Someone's Gotta Go

Unless you've been locked in a cave for the last winter and are just now emerging from your hibernation, spring is here, and with that, baseball is finally back.  That means spring training.  That also means endless projections and questions about every team and every player.  The Twins have quite a few unanswered questions this spring.  Will Morneau ever recover from his concussion and pussyitis?  What can we expect from our first Japanese import, Tsuyoshi Nishioka? (Or as I like to call him, Yoshi).  And the most intriguing question of all...what in the hell are Gardy and our buddy Billy Smith gonna do about the six starting pitchers we have vying for five spots? Beats the hell outta me, but it's not a terrible problem to have.  Here are a few different options.

1) Trade Francisco Liriano
Now I hope to God that this doesn't happen, but the more I think about it, the more I come to grips that this is a reasonable possibility.  Joe Christensen reported last week that the Twins had, in fact, already started thinking about this possibility after Liriano reportedly asked for an outrageous amount in a long-term deal.  ESPN also reported that the Yankees inquired about Franky last summer to slot in behind Sabathia and the biggest head-case in baseball, A.J. Burnett.  And the Yankees do need rotation help.  Bad.  Any rotation with Freddy Garcia and his 85 mph fastball as the 4th starter is in big trouble.  If the Yankees get desperate enough, and the Twins realize they have no chance of signing Liriano long-term, we might be able to get a decent package from the Bombers with Joba Chamberlain or Ivan Nova as the centerpiece.  Mildly intriguing.
     On the other hand, the Twins can't part ways with Liriano and remain a contender.  In an organization full of control pitchers, Liriano is the one power pitcher we have.  Power pitchers are always more valuable when October rolls around.  When he needs a strikeout, he is really the only guy we currently have that can get it.  He looked like an ace at times last year.  Pavano, Baker, Blackburn, Slowey, and Duensing are not the typical top of the rotation starters.  We need someone with the look of an ace...especially in October.

2) Trade Slowey or Blackburn
From all accounts, if Scott Baker is healthy, he will get the third rotation spot behind Pavano and Liriano.  Duensing is way too valuable in either the 'pen or rotation to move, which leaves Slowey and Blackburn as the odd men out. If Duensing were to get the fourth rotation spot, Slowey or Blackburn either need to pitch out of the 'pen, go to Rochester, or get shipped out of town.  Neither of these guys has any solid experience out of the bullpen so they might be most valuable as a trade chip.
      There are plenty of teams who could use a #4 or #5 starter with proven big league experience.  Slowey and Blackburn both fit that description.  We could turn that into a reliever to solidify a bullpen with about a million questions or a middle infielder should Alexi Casilla play like he usually plays.  Getting a shortstop would allow Casilla to go back to that super-utility role.  I think that's where he's best suited.  Right about now, I miss J.J. Hardy.

3) Put Duensing Back in the Bullpen
This seems to be the popular option among sports writers.  Duensing has proven himself to be effective in relief, especially against lefties.  He's the only one of the six starters with experience in relief so why wouldn't we put him in a late-inning relief role? Well, because he was our third best starting pitcher last year and almost single-handedly rescued our season after Blackburn couldn't remember how to throw a sinker.  Duensing wants to start and he has earned the right to start.  Barring an atrocious spring, he should be given every opportunity to be in the starting rotation.  Besides, I can't take another season of watching Baker, Slowey, and Blackburn go up, and down, and up, and just when you think they finally have their crap together, they crash and burn like Juan Rincon post-steroids.  My heart can't take all three of those guys in the rotation.  I won't make it through May.