Action starting to heat up in free agency, trade market posted by Joe Gunderson

Hello Everyone,

Sorry I've been absent for a few days.  There really wasn't that much to report or discuss.  However, that has changed in the last 24 or so hours as the annual Winter Meetings are underway.  First, the Twins offered pitcher Carl Pavano arbitration as I said earlier and as of last night he has accepted this offer which essentially means he will be in the Twins rotation in 2010.  To make room for Pavano on the 40 man roster, the Twins designated pitcher Boof Bonser for assignment or release which means he will either be released by the Twins and be with another club for this coming season or he will start the season in the minors. 

There's not much else currently cooking on the Twins front other than that they could possibly look to trade starter Glen Perkins now that Pavano is most assuredly back.  The reason they could do this is because one, there doesn't seem to currently be a spot for him, unless he earns it in Spring Training, and two, he is not on managements greatest side after last season when he did not come forth with the fact that he'd been pitching with an injured shoulder until he had a really rough outing.  Then, when he was ready to return, he was sent to the minors, which upset him, because it meant that he does not have enough service time to qualify for arbitration himself.  He filed a grievance against the club to try and obtain some or all of his service time back, which he did get some, but not enough to qualify for arbitration.

Also, look for the Twins to look into the market for third baseman to see if they can come up with anything.  Former Angel Chone Figgins is apparently off the market already as he has agreed to a four year contract with the Seattle Mariners, however, I'm not sure that this really affects the Twins because he was probably too expensive for the Twins likes.  However, be on the look out for names such as Adrian Beltre, Pedro Feliz or last year's starter Joe Crede, as well as prospect Danny Valencia as possibilities for the hot corner.

Twins offer arbitration to Pavano, decline to do so on others posted by Joe Gunderson

Hello Everyone,

The Twins announced yesterday they've offered arbitration to only one of their pending free agents, pitcher Carl Pavano.  They've declined to do so with third baseman Joe Crede, pitcher Ron Mahay and shortstop Orlando Cabrera.  Cabrera had a clause in his contract that stated that whatever team he was on was to not offer him arbitration.  These moves were pretty much expected and does not mean that Pavano will for sure be back with the Twins, nor does it mean those not offered arbitration will be back or not be back.  All it really means is this, one if Pavano accepts the Twins offer, he could be back, but if he signs elsewhere, the Twins get a draft pick from the team that signs him.  If he does not, then he could still come back if they come to another type of contract agreement but if he doesn't and signs with another team, the Twins get nothing.  For those that were not offered arbitration, if they sign elsewhere, the Twins get nothing in return. 

The reason a team doesn't offer all their free agents arbitration is this, they don't necessarily want all of them back and if said free agent were to accept arbitration it means they would most likely be back with that team.  Also, often players will ask that they not be offered arbitration because often it makes them more attractive to other clubs because they don't have to worry about giving up draft picks to sign them.  Anyway, that's really all the news I have for today regarding the Twins.

Take care.

Joe

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First ten days of free agency a real yawn fest posted by Joe Gunderson

Hello Everyone,

I don't have a ton to say today, basically because there hasn't been much going on in the world of baseball lately.  I mean, if you really want, I can break down the Blue Jays acquisition of Alex Gonzalez but I'm guessing you all would be in a coma by the end of that!

I just wanted to give my two cents as to why we haven't seen much action in the free agent market yet.  I believe that it's due to the affects of 1. a slow economy and 2. the fact that the date for clubs to offer or decline offers of arbitration to free agents hasn't come yet.  I really believe that once we see this date come and clubs make those decisions, the signings will start to happen.

Basically what offering or not offering arbitration means to clubs wanting to sign free agents is they find out if signing said free agent will cost them a draft pick or not.  Also, if the player accepts the arbitration offer, then he will go back to the team that offered it to him, which is why a lot of teams will not offer arbitration to some of their free agents, because they don't want him back!  Or, maybe they do want him back but for more than just one year in which case, they will want to try and work out a multi-year deal instead.

The Twins have three free agents from this year's team, third baseman Joe Crede, relief pitcher Ron Mahay and shortstop Orlando Cabrera.  I'm not sure what will happen with these men as far as coming back to the Twins though, if Cabrera is to come back, he will not do so as the shortstop, but another position, probably second base.  I could see the Twins bringing back Crede in hopes his back will respond to a grass field better than a artifical surface but it appears they may go with youngster Danny Valencia at third, if they feel he is ready.  As far as Mahay, if he comes back great, if not, oh well.

It's official, Mauer named MVP posted by Joe Gunderson

Hey Folks,

The results are in and yes, as expected, Twins catcher Joe Mauer has been named the American League MVP receiving 27 of 28 first place votes.  To read more about this, check out this story:

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/71639757.html?elr=KArksi8c

He is the second Twin to win the award in the last four years, Justin Morneau being the other in 2006.  He is the 5th Twin to win the award all-time.

Take care everyone.

Joe

Attention Amazon shoppers! Below is a link to a page I made using our Amazon Associates store. I would ask that you use it next time you wish to go shopping at Amazon.com, especially if you are a sports fan at all. Even if you aren't and don't want to make a purchase of anything on this page, you can just click the Amazon logo on the right side and it will take you to the Amazon home page and you can buy whatever you are wanting to buy. Take care! http://astore.amazon.com/httpsinternam-20

AL MVP Vote to come today. Why Mauer winning is both good and bad. posted by Joe Gunderson

Hey All,

Hope your Monday is going well.  For those not aware, today is the day we find out who wins the American League MVP award.  The main contenders appear to be Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira of the New York Yankees and Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins. Mauer is said to be the odds on favorite.

If indeed Mauer wins as expected, this is both good and bad for the Twins.  It is good, obviously, not only because Mauer had maybe the greatest season ever produced by a catcher, hitting .365, 28 home runs and 96 RBI even though he missed all of April with an inflamed joint in his back.   But also because it brings more attention to just how great of a player he has been, is and will be for years to come barring injury.  It also sheds a good deal of light on the Twins as an organization who would have had two MVP winners in the last 4 seasons in Mauer and Justin Morneau.

So what about is bad?  Well, as most of you may know, Mauer's contract is up after this coming season and of course the Twins are trying to lock up the hometown hero to a long-term extension this offseason.  Winning this award will make it even that much more difficult to accomplish because it can be used as a bargaining chip by Mauer's agent during negotiations.  It could potentially push his price tag to a point beyond where the Twins are willing to go to retain him.  Twins fans, let's hope I am just a big worry wart and that this does not happen and we have Joseph Patrick Mauer in a Twins uniform, where he belongs, for the length of what should prove to be maybe the greatest career any of us have ever seen from a catcher.

Angels' Scioscia, Rockies' Tracy win Manager of the Year awards posted by Joe Gunderson

Hey all,

Managers Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Jim Tracy of the Colorado Rockies were named the Managers of the Year in the American and National Leagues respectively today.  Ron Gardenhire of the Twins and Tony La Russa of the St. Louis Cardinals finished second in the voting in the respective leagues.

Of course I wish Gardy would have won the award in the AL but I don't have a huge problem with this.  Mike Scioscia is a great manager and his team plays much like the Twins are supposed to play, not a lot of stars, just a bunch of good players with low to no egos who do things the right way and win most of the time.  Also remember that his team went through a really tough situation earlier this year when rookie Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunk driver after his firt major league win this year.  To guide a team, after an event such as that, to the ALCS can't be an easy thing.  

If you're wondering how close the voting was you can check that out here: http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4667499

If you are wondering why Gardenhire did not win the award and what he needs to do to potentially do so soon, I would suggest reading a fellow blogger's blog which you can find here: http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/sinker/2009/11/18/i-like-gardy-bu

I must get going back to my real job here in a second but I did want to also put out there that there are reports that former Seattle, Anaheim and Detroit lefty Jarrod Washburn is drawing interest from the Twins as well as a few other clubs.  I feel that if this were to happen that it would be a solid signing for the Twins.  They are in need of some veteran leadership in their rotation and all the better that he's a lefty.  He's not a great pitcher but he's solid and would be able to win us a few ball games that other pitchers on the staff currently, I don't believe, can.  Here were Washburn's stats last season:

A new shortstop and new uniforms! posted by Joe Gunderson

Hey Everyone,

Not sure who is out there but hopefully someone is!    Anyway, for those that don't know my name is Joe and I've been a Twins fan since I was six years old.  I hope you find this blog entertaining and thought provoking.  Let's get started shall we?!

In my first entry I'd like to discuss how the Twins acquired a new shortstop for the 2010 season and what I think of the acquisition and also the news that was announced today, that they are going to be wearing new uniforms next year.

The Twins have acquired shortstop J.J. Hardy from the Milwaukee Brewers for outfielder Carlos Gomez.  I am excited about this acquisition.  It potentially fills a very big need for the Twins, a right-handed bat with good power and an infielder at a position of need.  It thins out the Twins depth in the outfield but they still have four guys who are capable of playing out there everyday and you can only have three out there everyday.  Gomez is very talented but he gets way too excited when he's at the plate a lot of the time which causes him to swing wildly and strike out a lot.  He has the potential to be special at the plate if he ever calms down his approach.  He is an excellent defender as well.

Hardy, while he is coming off a bad year offensively is capable of hitting in the upper .200's to .300 and has pop enough to hit 20+ home runs a season and plays consistent defense.  Overall for 2010, the trade favors the Twins.  In the future, it could favor the Brewers but the Twins had to take that chance to give themselves a better chance to compete in 2010.

Bobby Cox has one more season in him posted by David

Braves manager Bobby Cox announced this week his plans to retire after the 2010 season and to immediately take on a consulting role with the team.  Cox has won 2,409 games as a manager and is fourth all-time in the category, behind only Connie Mack (3,731), John McGraw (2,763) and current Cardinals manager Tony La Russa (2,550).  Cox has five pennants and one World Series title to his name, and won the Manager of the Year award four times.  Under his leadership, the Braves have won 100 games six times.  The next manager of the Atlanta Braves will have big shoes to fill.

How ‘bout that?

How about Adam Laroche?  Since being traded back to the Braves mid-season, Laroche has slugged .622 to go with his .355 batting average and .426 on-base percentage.  In 126 fewer at-bats, Laroche has hit twice as many home runs (12) as did his predecessor, Casey Kotchman.  To top it off, Laroche has made just one error in 47 games with Atlanta and boasts a .998 fielding percentage.

How about Joel Piñeiro?  The Cardinals have a mighty pitching duo in Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright, but their third starter has been pitching like an ace this year too.  Celebrating his 31st birthday today, Piñeiro is 15-11 with a 3.24 E.R.A. and a 1.128 WHIP.  He leads the pitching staff with two shutouts and is tied with Carpenter for the team lead in complete games, with three.  If their pitchers perform in the playoffs anything near their regular season stats, St. Louis will be the toughest club to beat.

Joe Girardi- Let the Force Be With You or Else. posted by Anthony "The Moneyball" Moniello

The New York Yankees have cruised through the 2009 baseball regular season, destroying teams with their 9 slugger deep line-up that includes not one player having a bad year. While every hitter is having varying degrees of success, not one man in that line-up is performing below their norms (save for mighty A-Rod, who's injury has slowed him down a bit to the tune of only 26 homers and 80+ RBI's). The bullpen has also been stellar, with Mariano Rivera looking as spry as he did in 1996, and with Phil Hughes redefining his 2009 season in the ilk of that very same roie Rivera held in '96- the gutsy set-up man that becomes a dominating extension of the closer. The defense has improved mightily too, especially around the infield, where Derek Jeter has revived his defensive career by extending his lateral range and improving his arm strength. Robinson Cano has looked interested for the first time in the field since his rookie season and Mark Texeira has done wonders for everyone, displaying why he is considered a defensive elite (you can tell Don Mattingly was his favorite player growing up, his range and glove work are superb). 

With all these superb attributes, it's easy to see the why the Yankees are the best team in baseball. What may be tough to acknowledge is that they do have one glaring hole, a troublesome weakness; starting pitching.

With names like CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett, Joba Chamberlain, and Andy Pettite, one could usually safely assume that pitching would be a strength, if not a foursome desired by most league wide. But in reality, CC Sabathia has been generally pedestrian this season and Andy Pettite, while not bad, would best be described as consistent. These two aren’t the concerns for the Yankees, who know Pettite is a playoff horse and Sabathia is an elite starter. It’s the group behind these two that makes the Bronx faithful shutter a bit.

Boston Red Sox to MISS Playoffs in '09 posted by Joe Burgmeier

Sunday August 16, 2009 following their 4-3 loss at Texas, is the first time since April 21st that the Red Sox do not have a share of the wild-card or AL East lead.  Does this mean that Red Sox nation should give up hope for the playoffs or a world series birth this year?  Probably not.  However, they should.  Sorry Red Sox fans and band wagoners, your team simply is not going to make the playoffs this year with the emergence of the Rangers pitching staff and the dominance of the Yankees offense.

Now I assume most of the Boston fans are screaming and their faces are steaming with team colors and pride.  But we have to look at match ups in the remaining schedule.  The Red Sox have a tougher remaining schedule than the Wild Card leader Texas Rangers and the only other team with an outside chance in Tampa Bay, has a tougher remaining season schedule than either and it would be one of the more amazing stretch runs if they make it.  The Red Sox have 20 games left against teams that are trying to make the playoffs, this of course comes with 6 games against all of Boston's beloved Johnny Damon and the New York Yankees, 6 games against newly acquired division rival Tampa Bay, who play tough at home, and 3 games with the Angels.  Out of the 20 playoff type team games left, there are 8 interesting games between the White Sox and Red Sox.  I'm not going to predict any winners from these games {insert 2005 playoff flashback here} but will be some of the most intriguing match ups of the season as Chicago has bolstered their hitting and pitching with the addition of Alexei Rios and SP Jake Peavy.  Peavy has been rumored for a late August return or early September return and could be a factor.  The White Sox are doing everything they can to try to win the Central this season.

Gardenhire thinks Mauer will stay (Yahoo! Sports)

Catcher Joe Mauer has one year left on his contract and Minnesota Twins manager Ron Gardenhire says he isn't... [read full article]

From Yahoo! Sports