Random Thought

So, it appears Crede is finally going on the DL. They are bringing up Jose Morales and outrighted Phil Humber to AAA.

So, my crazy thought: They still need a roster spot for Rauch/Mahay on both the 25- and 40-man rosters. With Morales coming up, does that mean that Mike Redmond is going to be done?

I know, it’s crazy. But would it really be bad for this team?

Today in “WTF?!”

So, I was looking through my fantasy league’s results, when I happened across a certain box score. I was flabbergasted. Here’s what I saw (I’ll let it speak for itself):

I don't know how you do this, but Danks must be amazing.

Have a good night! More Twins baseball tomorrow, but I don’t know what chance we have in this division race if the White Sox can actually negate the scores of their opponents.

UPDATE: It turns out the Red Sox scored two runs that inning, as can be viewed here.

Beating a dead horse, er, Joe Crede, and the winter of my Cabrera discontent.

I posted yesterday on the utterly inane strategy that the Twins have taken with regard to Joe Crede’s health, namely that they have refused to put him on the DL to rest and rehab despite the fact that he has missed between 3 and 6 days every two-week period all season, excluding the last two weeks in which he has missed 8 so far (I checked). By and large, this horrible strategy hasn’t hurt the Twins, as they have never really done much pinch-hitting to begin with, so eliminating a pinch-hitting option wasn’t that big of a deal. However, last night that came tumbling down.

In the eighth inning, Orlando Cabrera strongly disagreed with a check-swing call that had him out on a strikeout. He shouted at the umpires then slammed his bat into the ground on his way back to the dugout. Home umpire Todd Tichenor immediately threw him out. Like, instantly. Being in DC, I was watching the Orioles broadcast, and even those announcers thought he was thrown out far too quickly, and I agree. Had he pounded his bat into the plate, or toward the umpire, or in any way that was threatening, then off with is head (or something). But he didn’t. He slammed his bat into the ground at the edge of the dirt circle around home plate (don’t know the technical name) on his way back to the dugout.

To be fair, Cabrera had been having a very difficult time with the strike zone last night. It seemed like every at-bat took him to a point where he was ready to toss the bat away and go to first on a walk, only to have the pitch called a strike (which they all were). Ugh. He looked terrible at the plate last night, but what else is new? He isn’t a #2 hitter, and hasn’t been for quite some time. A lot of people were willing to overlook his failings when he first came over from the Athletics because he was unbelievably hot at that point. However, since then he has been utterly futile. From Aug 1-Aug 6 (his hot period), Cabrera was 10/20, with 4 R and 3 RBI. For the rest of his hitting streak, he was only 6/28, getting one hit per game to extend the streak. That adds up to .214 from August 7 -Aug. 13. Since August 14, he has been just as bad as he was in the waning days of his hitting streak, hitting .226, with 2BB, 6 runs scored, and 6 RBI (it’s easy to score runs and get RBIs when you’re in the 2-spot, preceded by Span and followed by Mauer and Morneau). Over the same period, Alexi Casilla has hit .400 and Nick Punto has hit .278 (though Punto was epically bad for the rest of the month). I’m leaving Harris out of this because he has been horrible, but has had limited playing time.

Quick quiz – attach the August BA to the Twins Middle infielder: .275, .333, .213, .256. Okay I didn’t even try to mix them up. It was Cabrera, Casilla, Punto, and Harris. Cabrera’s numbers are still inflated by that six-game hot streak. Since August 6, however, Cabrera has hit like a slumping Joe Crede with no power and no real glove benefit to outweight plate futility. For those of you  that decried the trade that sent Tyler Ladendorf to Oakland for Cabrera, congratulations; you have been proven right so far. Cabrera has been a waste of the 2-spot in the order. Why not try sticking Cuddyer in there for the time being? Just a thought. He’s hitting better, and still provides a righty bat to break up Span from Mauer and Morneau.

So, anyway, Cabrera got thrown out, Gardenhire made a perfunctory argument (he was probably too busy thinking about what the heck he was going to do with is infield to protest strongly), and Cuddyer got to play second base after Casilla moved over (Harris had already pinch-hit for Punto). The bench at that point consisted of Redmond and Gomez, so Gomez got to go to center field. (note: this is why we need a decent set of relievers, so we don’t have to have 12 pitchers).

Anyway, back to Crede. He got an epidural yesterday. Yes, an epidural. The same thing women get when they are giving birth. So, either Crede is going to be a father (which would explain the back and ankle pain), or his back is causing him a lot more pain than any of us have been told (surprise!). Seriously, though. An epidural is supposed to compensate for “post-operative changes?” But guess who STILL isn’t on the DL? JOE-flipping-CREDE.

I have no words.

The Problem with Joe Crede – has really been better than a poke in the eye?

So, I have been mostly absent this summer. However, I do have good reason. As a law student, I worked for a government agency part time this summer, and part of the contract I signed at the beginning at my summer specified that I could not do any of several online activities, and included in those was “writing for websites, whether for profit or not, whether administered by the employee or not.” I bent the rules a couple times in order to bring you all a couple posts, but I decided in August that it was no longer worth risking my job/future career prospects to bring you juicy Twins gossip, especially since I have made no attempt to hide my identity on this page.

That said, I’m back.

When the Twins signed Joe Crede to an incentive-based contract in February, I wrote a post entitled “Joe Crede: Better than a poke in the eye.(tm)“. In it, I gave a long, bulleted list of my thoughts on Crede. Here are a select few, with how I did in hindsight, at least where appropriate (5 is perfectly right, 4 is sorta kinda right, 3 is meh, 2 is really meh, and 1 is totally wrong):

• Crede was good on defense (I say was, because we won’t know until tomorrow how he really is). Very good on defense. (5)
• Crede can hit for power. (4 – power is about all he hit for, at least in April and May)
• Crede doesn’t hit for average. This is not to say he can’t… just that he doesn’t. (5)
• Crede has a bad back. (5 – and ankle, and shin, and shoulder, and…)
• Bad backs and FieldTurf go together like, well, a log and a chipper-shredder. (5)
• Crede killed the Twins last two years. (4 – when he was healthy. He’s also killing the Twins this year, but for different ways)
• Crede DIDN”T kill the Twins every year.
• Adding Crede adds power to (most likely) the seven spot in the batting order. (4)
• Crede has a bad reputation for his clubhouse behavior and failure to play nicely with others. (2 – I was wrong about this – I heard some new info not too long after I wrote the original post. He had a lot of problems with Ozzie, but what sane person doesn’t?)
• Crede hit well for power in the Cell, a very hitter-friendly ballpark. (5 – As noted, he has killed the White Sox in their home park this year)
• Crede’s career numbers are not that much better than the platoon of Buscher and Harris. (4 – this season, he has been about equal to the average of Buscher and Harris at the plate, which isn’t saying much, because Buscher was epically bad before he was sent down. Harris would have been better, except for his power numbers)
• Buscher and Harris have fewer than four years at the big-league level put together.
• Buscher and Harris are really impressing in Spring Training so far.
• We got a really good deal on Crede, but it could be expensive if it comes to opportunity costs on Danny Valencia, Brian Buscher, or Brendan Harris. (5 – the unwillingness to put Crede on the damn disabled list has cost the Twins a lot, if only in bench options)
• We have a better deal on Brendan Harris and Brian Buscher. (Excluding Buscher, yes)
• Many (maybe most) bloggers will be criticizing for being exactly the player we know he is by midseason. (2 – surprisingly, most have been resigned to exactly what he has given)

So, was Joe Crede actually better than a poke in the eye? Yes, because a poke in the eye hurts a lot. And then you can’t see properly.

Seriously, we knew exactly what we were getting when we signed Crede. He has not been healthy since the first few weeks of the season, but he has produced exactly what we knew he would while he was in the line-up: a decent amount of power, no average. He also has turned in a series of dazzling plays at third base.

Look, Crede isn’t to blame. He probably gets hurt picking up his take-out meals on the road. He’s made of glass. And he’s been broken for most of the year. This isn’t a surprise.

Who is to blame for the damage Crede has done to this team? The team itself: the trainers, the front office, and Gardy. Crede has been hurting badly this season, for most of the season. When he hasn’t been in the lineup, the twins have had a three-person bench (really a two-person bench, due to the backup catcher thing), because I don’t think he’s ever been available off the bench this season. Crede has been out of the lineup 3-5 days every two weeks, while never having been on the DL. Had he gone on the DL any one of these times, he might have been in better shape at this point. And we might have had a decent bench option that could have made a difference.

As I write this, Crede is likely done for at least the near future, and probably the season, after an MRI revealed “Post-Operative Changes” in his surgically repaired back. If four to five months of playing 2/3 of the time does this to his back, I’ll be surprised if he is back next year on anything other than a minor league contract.

Stick a fork in Crede – he’s likely done with baseball. He has nine years in the majors – one season away from being fully vested. I hope he can do one more year, but I doubt he can do it. I have been wrong before, very very wrong at times, but this seems like a safe bet. What do you think?

TWINSCENTRIC!

Hey, everyone. I need to give a plug for an excellent resource put out by some great Twins bloggers, all of whom deserve your readership and support. Put out by John Bonnes, Parker Hageman, Nick Nelson, and Seth Stohs, the Twinscentric Trade Deadline Primer, 2009 Edition is the best resource I have found, bar none, evaluating the trade deadline prospects for our Minnesota Twins.

So, go get it. It has an excellent analysis of the current Twins team, what they need, what they can give up, and who can give it to them. It breaks down all thirty teams, and gives a ton more analysis than you would get from a subscription to a certain four-letter “insider” site, that’s for certain. I got this the day (nay, the hour) it was released, and have read the whole thing all the way through, and have referred to it multiple times as I have been thinking about possible trades, etc.

Go get a copy here: TWINSCENTRIC!

Each of their sites have more information about the book, so if you need more convincing, check their links above. Like I said, it is totally worth the $9.95 it costs, and you can download it right to your computer for easy reference.

State of the ‘Pen, ver. 2.1

So, we have arrived at the second half of the season, at least as separated by the All-Star Break. The Twins, as a team, are playing pretty well. If not for injuries/illnesses, there is a very good probability that the Twins could be leading the division right now. Lets take quick stock of what this team has:

• An amazing defensive catcher who also leads the majors in batting average and the American league in SLG%, OBP%, and therefore, OPS. He also leads the league in VORP. All-in-all, worth offering a big contract to, I think.
• For the first time in years, a relatively stable defensively-proficient third base, which also has provided a great deal of power and home runs.
• As for first base, do I need to say anything?
• On most days, a very good defensive outfield.
• On most days, a proficient starting rotation.
• On some days, a proficient bullpen.
• A great closer.
• A DH that seems to finally be hitting his stride (well, he started to last year, but he has gotten better this year).
• The season’s four worst pitchers, measured by ERA, are no longer with the Twins.

Here’s what we are lacking:

• A reliable bridge to said closer.
• Proven long relief.
• Consistency in the bullpen.
• A 1-2 punch in the rotation… or we could have Liriano actually step it up a bit.
• A middle infield that, you know, hits the ball with any reliability.
• A hitter for the 2-spot.
• A reliever that can reliably get lefties out in the middle innings (other than Mijares).

So with that in mind, I’ll look at the bullpen in this post, and some of the other missing pieces in other posts. I’ll start with a look at the staff post-all-star break, in order of efficiency/how good they have been for the first half.

• Joe Nathan – Has been just as good as advertised, and worth his extension. His inning in the All-Star game was uncharacteristically shaky, but he has been a force of nature most of the year, and I am pleased to say that my reluctance to grant my approval to Nathan has been proven unreasonable. Joe is now, in my opinion, the best closer in baseball by quite a bit, and we should appreciate him even more than we do, if possible.
• Jose Mijares – While part of me wants to continue to insist that he is playing over his head, he has been so consistent that even a cynical guy like myself has to acknowledge that he must be doing something right. Mijares’ K-to-BB ratio is nothing special, at 25-to-14, but his ERA is still below 2, earning him the number 2 spot on this list. However, Mijares seems like he might be morphing into an early-Nathan-style reliever, where he gets the job done, but there are a lot of baserunners and a lot of fingernails chewed to the nub.
• Matt Guerrier – When Matty basically melted his arm last year, we (including me) were worried about his future with the team. He has since proven that we had little worry about. He has gone back to his efficient self, putting up a sub-2.5 ERA while posting the second best WHIP on the team, after Mr. Nathan. We’ll see if overuse remains a problem later in the year, but so far, he has been used less, and he has shown that the trust placed in him has not been misplaced.
• R.A. Dickey – Dickey has hit a rough spot this month, after hanging out at a 2.36 ERA at the beginning of the month, he gave up runs in three of his last four outings, though they weren’t all his fault. Even so, he still sits at an impressive 3.25 ERA going into tonights action against his old Texas team. The Home/Road splits have been heinous on Dickey, but not in the way you would expect. On the road, he holds a 1.75 ERA and a 1.2 WHIP, while at home he has a 4.55 ERA and a 1.5 WHIP. This gives me some hope for next year, as he should stick with the team. They thought that Dickey would be great in the controlled conditions of the Dome, but that just hasn’t been borne out. However, he has been FAR better than expected, and that should be recognized even through his current struggles.
• Bobby Keppel – WTF?! Seriously, I wrote a few weeks ago that he would be a rent-a-player until he either was demoted and opted out of his contract, or would be traded. While trading him is still not out of the question, I have to say, he has been darn impressive. In 12.1 innings, he has allowed only one ER, and has been much better than advertised (See, front office, this is what an effective sinkerball looks like!). He’ll probably come back to earth, and when he does, the Twins have the luxury of choosing whether they want to hold on to him or not. I’m guessing they will, unless he becomes horrendous a la Sean Henn.
• Brian Duensing – Why is he with the team? If he is being showed off as trade bait, it isn’t working too well. If they are hoping to get good innings from him, it hasn’t been working either. I assume the only reason he is up is for another lefty option, but honestly, i don’t know why. He’s suitable for mop-up work and not much else.
• Kevin Mulvey – The Twins just purchased his contract. Again, I don’t know why. Trade bait? Who knows.

So, we have the good, the bad, the ugly, and the unknown. I am not optimistic about the Twins’ ability to trade for bullpen help, but I would assume that we will be seeing a good short reliever soon, like Rob Delaney or Anthony Slama (both of whom should get September call-ups, if not sooner). I wouldn’t focus on a set-up guy per se, though. Mijares and Guerrier are doing a decent job of that at this point. What the Twins really need is consistency in middle relief, and if Keppel and Mulvey (and maybe even Duensing) can provide that, the Bullpen is in a strong position for the beginning of the second half of the season.

Live blog of the All-star game 2009

This is my second All-star game live-blog, and I am hoping it becomes a tradition. As I mentioned earlier, I don’t plan to actually analyze the game per se; the All-Star game is far too strange to do that. But I will give my quick insights.

I wonder how much they had to pay the presidents to appear. I hear Bill Clinton is getting $50,000 per hour these days, while George W. Bush gets paid in Legos. But I kid. It’s cool to see the living presidents appear to recognize the heroes “among us.” Funny, no one I have ever known has ever rescued someone from a burning building or dismantled a time bomb. I guess they must be speaking figuratively.

In all seriousness, this is a very nice salute to the troops and those that step up in their communities. Way to go, everyone.

Ryan Franklin’s beard is one of the most intense things I have ever seen; it’s like a roller coaster, but with less vomit (as far as I know).

It’ll be fun to see Timmy Lincecum pitching tonight. Last season he was in the hospital during the all-star game, which has got to be a ton of fun.

The new Geico commercials are all kinds of annoying,

Sheryl Crow is up for the National Anthem. Hopefully there are less liberties taken than last year… although Josh Groban was fun.

I never realized how large the airelons are on a B-2 stealth bomber. Literally, they are larger than my car. The things HD lets you see.

During the commercial, I must rant about the stupid MVP award. What kind of MVP award is not only voted by the unwashed masses, but is also done in the SIXTH inning?! Last year, Dustin Pedroia had been out of the game for about 8 innings by the time the game ended, so it was entirely nonsensical watching him take the trophy and the truck home.

Cool to see all the cardinal hall of famers, but I really dislike the fact that over the last few games, the home team has used it as their chance to showcase their living legends. What if the Rays host it eventually? I don’t think they even have a Hall-of-Famer. All I’m saying is that this is a national event now. Millions watch it, and unless it is held in New York or Boston, odds are that 1/30 of the people watching are fans of the home team. Just sayin’.

This is a dark time. The President is a White Sox fan. You get the bottled water, I’ll get the duct tape; we can hide in the basement until it is safe for Twins fans again.

Blah blah blah Pujols show blah blah blah.

Mastercard’s priceless commercials are pretty much played out. I remember them using that same commercial format uring the 2001 all-star game.

I don’t honestly know that I have seen Lincecum pitch outside of highlight reels, but he is just filthy.

That said, he’s not pitching very well.

No way that ball off Mauer’s bat was fair, but good play by Molina regardless.

With that bobble by Pujos/Utley, I am reminded of Uggla’s horrible game last year. Didn’t he have likd three errors?

That was not a good inning for Lincecum. Line: 2 hits, 2 runs (1 earned)

Got called away for the bottom half of the first.

Why in the world is Lincecum back? And why is Halliday batting? It’s not like they have 12 pitchers or anything.

But it was a much better inning for Lincecum.

The most pressing concern about this game for me so far is what they do with the horse doody from the clydesdales that keep running around the track.

Obama is talking baseball… good to know he has a decent knowledge of baseball.

Well, that was fast. NL has caught up and taken the lead on about four pitches and one error.

Mauer couldn’t have placed that much more perfectly… the only problem was that Pujols played it more perfectly.

Franklin’s beard is still intense. Perhaps he hides a file in there to scratch the baseballs.

I guess the fact that Franklin was busted for PEDs doesn’t fit their feel-good story.

I am having internet problems, so I am signing off until either the game progresses a bit or my internet starts working better.

Alright, we’re backed.

Enough talking about Haren’s legs. I think we’re all creeped out. This reminds me of the time I was at Oakland’s McAfee Coliseum and there was a vendor yelling “Nuts! Hot, salty nuts!” and I don’t think i was able to breathe for the laughing.

Here is Greinke. Soon we’ll see position players start coming out of the game. Too many reserves to keep the starters in there too much longer.

@yickit: Good call. He probably doesn’t have any chin… just another fist (like Chuck Norris)!

Carl Crawford is fast. That is all.

@yickit: Pretty sure he is just a very sweaty man. Kind of like Prince Fielder last night, although Crawford doesn’t have any random children to dry him with Gatorade(r) sponsored towels.

Oh, good. Fun facts about Derek Jeter. Be still my beating *yawn*.

Hanley really didn’t need to even try to turn that. It was more likely he would have thrown it away rather than actually get Jeter.

Hmmm… Mauer will get on here. Trust me.

@yickit I thought it went the other way. You know, like the saying, ” a rolling stone gathers no moss?” Except Keith Richards. He has something funny growing on him.

For the record, I called that. I’m assuming that Mauer is done for the night after the next half-inning, so he can be proud of tying the game up. Congrats, Joe. Although the other time you got on base was on a fielder’s choice, don’t worry about that. It was a bad call.

Commercial break: Bud Light Lime is really not so good. It’s salty, nasty citrusy beer. The only worse thing is, well, Bud Light with Clamato. Vomit.

Zimmerman flies out; there goes Washington’s finest. And, let’s be honest, Washington’s only.

Baseball paradise is apparently in the Dominican. I think that if I want to get that sweaty in that much humidity, I’ll go outside, thanks.

Trevor Hoffman? Really? I think I have some dirt that’s younger than him.

Wow, Young was safe. Tie goes to the runner, at least in the Little League rules I roll with.

I have a new least favorite commercial. The Taco Bell one with the “all about the Roosevelt’s” refreain. It might be the stupidest commercial I have ever seen… and that ’s saying something, as I’m from ND, where most local commercials are REALLY bad.

Yeah, Mauer is out now. I’ll be back in a bit.

An ignominous start for Morneau. Oh well. He’ll never measure up to Teixeira! /snark

Oh, good. My least favorite pitcher in all of baseball. And it takes a Bee-ee-ay-you-tiful catch by Crawford to keep his first pitch in the ballpark. Not a good omen.

Good Gracious. Tejada hits it almost as far to right field.

Does anyone else find it incongruous that Papelbon isn’t wearing red socks? Just sayin.

Jayson Werth spells both of his names wrong.

It’s kind of a dick move to intentionally walk VMart in what is going to be his only at-bat in this game. It’s a crappy move by Charlie Manuel, and continues to cement my dislike of him.

Can we stop kowtowing to Mariano Rivera? He is good. But he has the most post-season saves because he happened to be on the team that bought their way to the post season the most often. But he’s good, anyway. Given a choice between Nathan or Rivera in the ninth, I’d take Nathan, even if I wasn’t a Twins fan.

Doesn’t look like Wakefield will pitch. I heard VMart’s sigh of relief from DC.

Okay, that was one of Twitch Nathan’s more nerve-wracking innings, but he pulled off a strikeout of the big man, Ryan Howard.

Morneau hits one to deep Left-center that Werth just barely runs down.

Fox has a bunch of weird camera angles. I have been trying to figure out that from the beginning of the game. Their cameras are just a bit off of where they would make sense.

Live-blogging!

I’ll be live-blogging the game, just like last year. Don’t look here for analysis, just my random thoughts.

I’m Back…

Well, I have just returned from a two-week vacation to the midwest, in which my wife, myself, and my dog drove to the midwest from DC for my aunt’s wedding. It was a lovely ceremony, but since I am a nice guy, I will pass along some advice: if you ever have the chance to drive more than 4,000 miles in two weeks with a traveling companion that doesn’t like to travel and a nervous little dog… just don’t. Planes exist so we don’t have to drive that far. However, it was still a great break from work. A negative of that trip: the Twins were on the road every time I came close to the Twin Cities. If that isn’t proof the world is conspiring against me, I don’t know what is.

Anyway, I’m back.

I wanted to pass along a cool tidbit from this morning’s Express (the Washington Post’s free commuter paper). They announced their first half awards, and gave the AL MVP to Justin Morneau by virtue of his RBIs, home runs, and Slugging percentage. Joe Mauer came in second, citing his near-.400 season so far. Know who they placed third?

That’s right. Torii Hunter. So, the Twins (and recently ex-Twins) had a great performance in the MVP votes, though they were not unanimous (mostly because Joe and Justin stole votes from each other). Unfortunately, the Twins didn’t place in Cy Young (Gee, why not?), Rookie (Unsurprising), or Manager of the year (this could have been closer,  but in the end Gardy doesn’t deserve it either). See the article here: http://www.expressnightout.com/printedition/reader.php?date=2009-07-10 (page 19).

We’ll see what happens the second half!

I’ll try to be up later with a series preview for the ChiSox series… It is hard to understate the importance of this series. The Twins need to take at least two of three… but a sweep would be great too!

A favor to ask… Submit Twins Links!

Hey all,

I am finally getting around to the site upgrades I had been promising for months (note the new header image, for starters), and one thing that I need to spend some time on is my blogroll. I need help finding worth-while Twins blogs and sites, because while I spend a lot of time each day surfing blogs, I can’t check them all.

Thanks!

Eric