Players by Postion

C: Joe Mauer

Fresh off signing an 8 year, 184 million dollar contract, the St. Paul native had a ho-hum Spring, batting a cool .400.  Mauer, who turns 27 on April 19th, already has 3 batting titles and is the reigning American League MVP.  In addition to winning the batting title and the MVP award, he also became the first player to lead his league in batting average, on-base percentage and slugging percentage since George Brett did it in 1980.  If Mauer manages to win the batting title again in 2010 he will be the first player to win 3 straight since Tony Gwyn won 4 in a row from 1994-1997.  Assuming Mauer stays healthy, there’s no reason to believe he won’t have another stellar year.

1B: Justin Morneau

Morneau missed the end of the 2009 season due to a stress fracture in his back and had a tough Spring training.  However, his Spring struggles don’t seem to have carried over into the regular season.  Morneau is batting .360 with 2 home runs through the first 7 games.

2B: Orlando Hudson

One of the Twins surprising off-season additions, the Twins proved they were serious about opening the season with as few holes as possible by signing Hudson.  He had decent Spring and has gotten off to a bit of a slow start thus far. However, his defensive ability and unbridled work ethic should prove invaluable to a Twins team that prides themself on defense.

SS: J.J. Hardy

Hardy came to the Twins via trade for Carlos Gomez in the offseason. He is coming off his worst season as a pro. However, Hardy looks solid both in the field and at the plate so far. It’s certainly a plus when your 8 hitter can come up in the middle to late innings and hit a home run to extend a lead, something Hardy has done twice already. It’s also nice to have something to show for trading Johan Santana – Gomez was 4-5 in his first game with Milwaukee, but is just 1-16 since.

3B: Nick Punto/Brendan Harris

Punto was manager Ron Gardenhire’s choice to start the season opener at 3rd, despite hitting .233 during the Spring versus Harris’ .326 average. However, I tend not to put a great deal of stock in Spring statistics since they’re not necessarily indicative of success during the regular season. Harris has more power than Punto, but neither have proven to be very consistent at the plate. Both play solid defense, with the edge going to Punto. Not knowing anything about the Twins clubhouse, I estimate that Punto brings other intangibles to the table as well. We will see how this shakes out, but for now Punto will be getting more playing time than Harris, and with the way the rest of the lineup is shaping up, it may not matter.

LF: Delmon Young

Young shed 30 pounds this offseason in an effort to bring back the speed element of his game. He still bears a slight resemblance to Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act, but he appears to be more patient at the plate. If he could steal a few more bases than he has in the past and be a bit more productive at the plate, Young would provide a great deal of value to an already potent lineup. It’s also a contract year for him, which may add some motivation.

CF: Denard Span

Span, also the recipient of a contract extension this past offseason, has proven to be a very quality leadoff hitter. He is not as fast as Carlos Gomez and consequently won’t be able to catch every ball that Gomez would have, but his patience at the plate and better average will make up for that. Span was already playing more than Gomez in center field last year and should respond well now that he officially has the job full-time.

RF: Michael Cuddyer

Cuddyer is the longest tenured member of the Twins lineup and stepped up in a big way at the end of the Twins 2009 playoff push. Batting behind Justin Morneau, Cuddyer will need to have another decent year at the plate for pitchers to challenge Morneau. Cuddyer has one of the best arms in the major league amongst right fielders and should continue to be successful this year if he stays healthy.

DH: Jason Kubel/Jim Thome

Kubel is coming off his best season as a pro, posting career highs in every major offensive category. He should get the bulk of the playing time at DH over Thome, another one of the Twins big offseason acquisitions. Thome, long considered one of the nicest players in Major League Baseball, should prove to be a valuable asset to Twins manager Ron Gardenhire both in the clubhouse and as a pinch hitter. It has been longer than I can remember since the Twins had a viable home run threat to pinch hit late in games, and Thome gives the Twins this option.

Pitchers

Starting Rotation:
Scott Baker
Nick Blackburn
Carl Pavano
Kevin Slowey
Francisco Liriano

I expect the Twins rotation to be very good this year, if they stay healthy. Scott Baker was named the Twins opening day starter, a designation that may not mean much with this rotation. Nick Blackburn has been a model of consistency the past two years. He pitched in 33 games, had records of 11-11 and posted ERA’s of 4.05 and 4.03 in 2008 and 2009. Carl Pavano, a midseason pickup for the Twins last year, has been the veteran anchor that this young rotation needs. He pitched very well down the stretch last season and gets the exciting call as the pitcher on opening day of Target Field. Kevin Slowey, who had a 10-3 record before getting injured and missing the duration of the season. I liken Slowey’s pitching style to that of Brad Radke and look for him bounce back from injury. Francisco Liriano could make a huge impact as the Twins fifth starter. Liriano had Tommy John surgery in 2006 after being the best pitcher in baseball for the first four months of the season and hasn’t been the same since. Liriano was apparently impressive in Winter ball and has looked sharp so far. I just hope Liriano’s elbow isn’t suffering from his recent success. If not, he should bolster the back of the Twins rotation quite well.

Bull Pen:
Alex Burnett
Brian Duensing
Jose Mijares
Pat Neshek
Jesse Crain
Matt Guerier
John Rauch

The Twins bullpen took a hit in Spring Training when Joe Nathan was diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching elbow. Ron Gardenhire originally said the team would use a closer by committee approach, but this did not last long. In an effort to define bullpen roles early, Gardenhire named John Rauch his closer prior to the Twins exhibition games versus the St. Louis Cardinals. Rauch had 4 saves on the Twins 7 game road trip, but got hit hard a few times. At 6′ 11″ tall, he is the tallest person ever to play Major League Baseball, and donning a large neck tattoo, he certainly fits the bill of the imposing closer. He looks to be the solution for now, but may not be the Twins answer at closer all year.

Starters

C Joe Mauer, MIN
1B Kevin Youkilis, BOS
2B Dustin Pedroia, BOS
SS Derek Jeter, NYY
3B Alex Rodriguez, NYY
OF Josh Hamilton, TEX
OF Manny Ramirez, BOS
OF Ichiro Suzuki, SEA
DH David Ortiz, BOS

Pitchers

P Justin Duchscherer, OAK
P Roy Halladay, TOR
P Scott Kazmir, TB
P Cliff Lee, CLE
P Joe Nathan, MIN
P Jonathan Papelbon, BOS
P Mariano Rivera, NYY
P Francisco Rodriguez, LAA
P Ervin Santana, LAA
P Joe Saunders, LAA
P George Sherrill, BAL
P Joakim Soria, KC

Reserves

C Dioner Navarro, TB
C Jason Varitek, BOS
1B Justin Morneau, MIN
2B Ian Kinsler, TEX
SS Michael Young, TEX
3B Joe Crede, CWS
3B Carlos Guillen, DET
OF J.D. Drew, BOS
OF Carlos Quentin, CWS
OF Grady Sizemore, CLE
DH Milton Bradley, TEX

National League

Starters

C Geovany Soto, CHC
1B Lance Berkman, HOU
2B Chase Utley, PHI
SS Hanley Ramirez, FLA
3B Chipper Jones, ATL
OF Ryan Braun, MIL
OF Kosuke Fukudome, CHC
OF Alfonso Soriano, CHC

Pitchers

P Aaron Cook, COL
P Ryan Dempster, CHC
P Dan Haren, ARI
P Brad Lidge, PHI
P Tim Lincecum, SF
P Ben Sheets, MIL
P Edinson Volquez, CIN
P Billy Wagner, NYM
P Brandon Webb, ARI
P Brian Wilson, SF
P Kerry Wood, CHC
P Carlos Zambrano, CHC

Reserves

C Russell Martin, LA
C Brian McCann, ATL
1B Adrian Gonzalez, SD
1B Albert Pujols, STL
2B Dan Uggla, FLA
3B Aramis Ramirez, CHC
SS Cristian Guzman, WAS
SS Miguel Tejada, HOU
OF Matt Holliday, COL
OF Ryan Ludwick, STL
OF Nate McLouth, PIT

I can’t get enough of this crap. The movie looks like it will live up to the hype and then some, with my only grievance being that Maggie Gyllenhal is now playing the role previously played by Katie Holmes.

I’m never a fan of changing cast members in the middle of a film series. One such instance that sticks out in my mind is that of the Back to the Future trilogy. Marty’s girlfriend, Jennifer Parker, was originally played by Claudia Wells, but Elizabeth Shue played the character in Back to the Future, Part II and Part III. I wasn’t previously aware, but this sparked my interest, and apparently Wells’ mother had cancer at the time, thus preventing her from reprising the role in the subsequent films. Thank you IMDB. Oh well, in the words of Tony Soprano, ‘What are you gonna do?’ After all Katie Holmes is a mother now and is married to Tom Cruise. No, I’m not comparing cancer to marrying Tom Cruise. One of them would be far, far worse.

The actress change didn’t make the Back to the Future sequels any less entertaining, and I’m sure the same will be true for The Dark Knight. Besides, how could it be anything less than uber-bad-ass with a cast like Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman? I just don’t think it could. Not to mention Anthony Michael Hall, whose role in the film I’m not sure is particularly large. Midnight showing at the Minnesota Zoo IMAX sounds like a must. Minnesota River valley ‘Here…we…go.’
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Pixar has done it once again, making a feature-length animated film with a wholesome message suitable for persons of all ages. Wall-E has received rave reviews across the board and opened number one at the Box Office, grossing roughly $62.5 million in its opening weekend. The film’s main character, Wall-E, is a lovable little trash compactor that has been living a lonely life alone for 700 years on an abandoned Earth, save his friend/pet cockroach. The first 20 minutes introduce the audience to Wall-E and all his quirkly mannerisms, making it impossible not to love the little animated robot for the duration of the film, which doesn’t feel all that long.

Soon thereafter a spaceship lands and drops off a probe named Eva, who’s primary purpose is to find some form of organic life. Wall-E quickly becomes enamored with this white egg-shaped robot and a story of love, friendship, and everything in between develops from there.

I don’t know that the film itself is quite as ‘perfect’ as many reviews have called it. However, that an entirely animated film with robots for main characters can touch on such a wide range of human emotions and evoke such a geniuine response from its audience is certainly incredible. Nearly perfect I will say, and definitely worth seeing. Somehow I forgot to mention that the visuals are stunning as well. Go see it if you haven’t already.

The team didn’t spend much time on the losing track though, as they bounced back yesterday for a 5-0 victory behind the masterful performance of pitcher Kevin Slowey (W, 5-6). Slowey pitched a complete game, gave up just 3 hits, and struck-out 8 for his first major league shut-out. The Twins dealt Ben Sheets (L, 9-2) his first road loss of the season. Sheets worked 7 innings, gave up 9 hits and 5 runs, all of them earned. Coming in to Sunday’s game with the Twins, Sheets was 6-0 on the road in 10 starts.The Twins 10-game winning streak began back on June 17th with a 3-game home sweep of the Washington Nationals followed by a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They had a quick 3 game road trip and swept the San Diego Padres before returning home to face the Brewers again. The Twins are 13-2 in their last 15 games, dating back to their series in Milwaukee. During that time the Twins beat pitchers Randy Johnson, Brandon Webb, Jake Peavy (Trevor Hoffman blown save), Greg Maddux, and Ben Sheets.

The Twins were the benefactors of a Cubs sweep over the White Sox last weekend, but they didn’t get any help from them this time around as the Sox swept the Cubs. This puts the Twins 1½ games out of first in the A.L. Central with 13 games to go before the All-Star Break.

The Twins closed out Interleague Play with a major league best 14-4 record against teams from the opposing league. The Twins will look to ride this success all the way to the All-Star break through what appears will be a tough stretch of games. The team opens a 3-game series at home tonight against the Detroit Tigers and they get 3 more against the Cleveland Indians before they hit the road to close out the first-half of the season. The schedule concludes with the Twins taking on the Red Sox for 3 games in Boston and another 4 against the Tigers in Detroit.

It’s tough to call any games in the first-half of the season must-win when you’re sitting just 1½ out in your division, but with the way the White Sox and Tigers are playing and the All-Star Break fast approaching, these next to weeks could be make-or-break for this young Twins squad.

“He’s the whole package,” said Hoiberg. “We went out and saw him two Saturdays ago and he just blew us away. The guy can flat out stroke the basketball. He can spread the court so that Al (Jefferson) can operate on the block…The most impressive part was his interview after the workout. You guys are going to love him.”

Hold the Mayo though (some people are sick of this joke, I’m not). Hours later Wolves faithful, the few of them that still exist, learned that all this talk and excitement was for naught, as the Wolves aforementioned perennially giddy GM pulled off another draft day trade. It was reported around midnight that the Wolves would send their number three selection, O.J. Mayo, to the Memphis Grizzlies for the 5th pick in the draft, Kevin Love, with a number of other players changing jerseys as well. The Wolves can go ahead and remove the 24-photo montage collage of Mayo post draft selection any time now.

Here’s how the trade breaks down. The Wolves get Love, a 6′ 10″, 271 pound power forward out of UCLA. He averaged 17.5 PPG and 10.3 RPG in his only season with the Bruins. They also get veteran swingman, and quite possibly one of the top five ugliest players in the NBA, Mike Miller. He averaged 16.4 PPG, 6.7 RPG, and 3.8 APG with the Grizzlies last season. Additionally, the Wolves acquire mediocre big men Brian Cardinal and Jason Collins, whose stat lines aren’t even worth mentioning. Meanwhile, the Grizzlies get former short-time Timberwolf O.J. Mayo, a 6′ 4″, 200 pound shooting guard out of USC. He averaged 20.7 PPG, 4.5 RPG, and 3.3 APG in his freshman season with the Trojans. Also headed to Memphis is Marko Jaric and the remainder of his bloated contract, 3 years, $21 million. To wrap the deal up the Wolves rid themselves of washed up veterans Antoine Walker and Greg Buckner, a man I can honestly say I never knew wore a Timberwolves uniform.

Until Kevin Love puts on a Wolves uniform, laces up his tenni’s, takes to the court and proves his worth Wolves fans can only shudder and be reminded of Kevin McHale’s past draft day blunders. The most recent memory being on draft day 2006, when the T-Pups shipped off Brandon Roy for Randy Foye and cash. Roy went on to win NBA Rookie of the Year honors, while Foye has struggled to stay healthy. I can only hope for all the Wolves fans out there that this one pans out a little better for us. We will see.
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In one of the least news-worthy stories in recent memory, Shaquille O’Neal fueled the melodramatic fire between himself and Kobe Bryant Sunday evening at a night club in New York. Honestly, does anybody care anymore. Shaq’s lyrical display, which lasted about two minutes, is being referred to as a ‘free-style rap’. However, area rappers are claiming it was not a rap at all, but merely just crap. Shaq began by saying ‘Check it. You now how I be. Last week Kobe couldn’t do without me.’ He later goes on to suggest Bryant made comments that factored in to his separating from his wife: “I’m a horse. Kobe ratted me out. That’s why I’m getting divorced. He said Shaq gave a [woman] a mil’. I don’t do that ’cause my name’s Shaquille.”

Shaq has publicly apologized for possibly offending anyone, telling ESPN Monday ‘I was freestyling. That’s all. It was all done in fun. Nothing serious whatsoever. I’m totally cool with Kobe. No issue at all. Please tell everybody don’t make something out of nothing.’ Wow, what a linguist. He truly is ‘The Big Aristotle’.

Apologies were not enough to save Shaq from being stripped of his Maricopa County Special Deputy’s badge though. When asked to comment Tuesday, Sheriff Joe Arpaio told The Associated Press, ‘I want his two badges back. Because if any one of my deputies did something like this, they’re fired. I don’t condone this type of racial conduct.’

For those that wish to watch Shaq’s ridiculously terrible free-style crap, here it is:

Shaq entered the realm of rap professionally in 1993. His first album, eloquently titled ‘Shaq Diesel’, was Platinum certified. His subsequent two albums, ‘Shaq Fu: Da Return’ and ‘You Can’t Stop the Reign’, released in 1994 and 1996, respectively, were Gold certified. These albums are known for such hits as ‘(I Know I Got) Skillz’, ‘Shoot, Pass, Slam’, ‘Biological Didn’t Bother’, and ‘Strait Playin’.

It has taken Mauer three consecutive weeks of strong voting to catch Varitek, despite posting a .331 batting average on the year, second only in the AL to the Texas Rangers DH Milton Bradley and New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, who are batting .332 entering the day. In addition to batting a solid .100 better than Boston’s Varitek, Mauer has a .110 edge over him with a .417 OBP. Mauer currenlty leads the race for the American League’s starting catcher spot by a slim margin of 44,775 votes.

In a slightly more balanced All-Star balloting race Minnesota Twins first baseman Justin Morneau is gaining ground on the Boston Red Sox Kevin Youkilis, who I feel resembles a lumberjack. The latest poll has Youkilis leading Morneau, who I affectionately refer to as ‘Hoser Papi,’ by just under 270,000 votes with just over a week left in the balloting. Morneau is batting .305 on the year, with 11 HRs and 59 RBI, while Youkilis is batting .304, with 13 HRs and 47 RBI.

Here’s hoping Morneau can continue to gain ground and Mauer can hold his, and fend off the feverish voting of Boston fans. The last thing we need to see is another All-Star game in which half of the AL team is composed of Yankees and Red Sox. Lets get some young, talented faces out there, as opposed to say a grizzled veteran that’s batting a paltry .231 on the year.

Vote Here for the 2008 MLB All-Star teams. Vote 25 times a day for the next 8 days if you so desire. Balloting ends at 11:59 PM ET Wednesday, July 2, 2008.
]]> http://dczera.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/mauer-catches-varitek-in-all-star-voting/feed/ 0 dzera13 Minnesota Twins Joe Mauer Minnesota Twins Justin Morneau http://dczera.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/anything_is_possible/ http://dczera.wordpress.com/2008/06/19/anything_is_possible/#comments Thu, 19 Jun 2008 21:33:06 +0000 dzera13 ]]> Kevin Garnett and the Boston Celtics proved once and for all that anything is possible when they completed their dominant run to the NBA Championship by embarassing the Los Angeles Lakers 131-92. Garnett finished with his standard double-double, scoring a game high 26 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Ray Allen also had 26 points of his own, hitting 7-9 from 3-point land. Rajon Rondo had a surprisingly stellar performance, scoring 21 while adding 8 assists and 6 steals. Paul Pierce also chipped in with 17 points and took home the hardware for NBA Finals MVP. Apparently his Oscar for best actor is in the mail for his performance in Game 1, in which after being carried off the court, he managed to return to the floor some 5 minutes later and carried his team to a decisive Game 1 victory.

Kobe Bryant scored a team high 22 points for the Lakers, but only managed to go 7-22 from the floor. This certainly wasn’t his best effort, but he didn’t get much help either. Lamar Odom added 14 points, and Pau Gasol mustered a measley 11 points and 8 boards. Their subpar performances in the finals have given rise to such nicknames as Lamar Fold’em and Oww Gasol. Jordan Farmar came off the bench for the Lakers with 12 points, but that wasn’t enough to get it done, as they were the only four Lakers in double figures. European sensations Vladimir Radmanovic and Sasha Vujacic combined for a modest 13 points and 5 rebounds as the Lakers fell in the finals to the Celtics 4-2 to wrap up the marathon that was the NBA Playoffs.

This caps an impressive run by the Celtics who finished the regular season with a 66-16 record, and home court advantage throughout the playoffs. The Celtics played in a record 26 playoff games, beating the Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit Pistons, and finally (no pun intended) the Lakers en route to their 17th NBA Championship, the most by any franchise in the history of the sport.

Congratulations to Doc Rivers and the Celtics. It was an impressive march to the NBA title. I am happy to see Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett get rings, as they say. They have both had great careers and carry themselves with class, KG’s on-court potty mouth aside. As a Minnesota Timberwolves fan I find myself feeling utterly dissappointed more than anything though. I can’t help but lament the blunders of Kevin McHale and the franchise over the last decade, and wonder what might have been…
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