Article: Monday Morning Madness: September 9, 2013

[Brad Swanson]

You can view the page at http://twinsdaily.com/content.php?r=2318-Monday-Morning-Madness-September-9-2013

[ThePuck]

Another fantastic article!

[frightwig]

Correia also has a 4.52 FIP, 4.19 xFIP.

 

2009: 3.81, 4.14

2010: 4.71, 4.06

2011: 4.85, 4.38

2012: 4.43, 4.34

Career: 4.52, 4.41

 

It's still fair to wonder why Terry Ryan felt it necessary to sign Correia for 2 years, or to criticize Ryan for not getting anybody with more upside this year, but Correia is doing just what the Twins and their fans should have expected of him. He's a mediocre back-end starter, worth 1.0 WAR to date. And there's something to be said for a starting pitcher being just exactly the level of mediocre value that you should be expecting for $5M/yr. on the open market. It would've been nice if Ryan had been the one who signed Scott Feldman or Scott Kazmir this year, but teams looking for bargain innings-eaters often do worse than Kevin Correia. You know, Correia could have been Joe Saunders or Aaron Harang. He's not really good, but he's earned his money.

[Wookiee of the Year]

That 2014 line-up is ambitious--certainly too ambitious for Opening Day. But the idea that the Twins could have that line-up at some point in August 2014? It's optimistic, but not unbelievably so. It would be exciting if the Twins finished 2014 with those players all as "regulars" in one form or another.

[howieramone1406390264]

I agree the line-up is too ambitious for opening day, but I really liked it anyway.

 

 

Go Twins!

[Top Gun]

Twins manager Ron Gardenhire acknowledged that the team won't promote Aaron Hicks this month.

 

"This is a good breather for him," Gardenhire said. "Hopefully he'll come back with a little attitude." Hicks had a nightmare season, but it's interesting that Gardenhire and the front office continue to feed the media platitudes that imply this situation is the center fielder's fault. Quite simply, that's intellectually dishonest. Minnesota rushed Hicks into the Opening Day roster as a 23-year-old who'd never taken a Triple-A at-bat. He predictably struggled, though nobody knew he'd manage to hit only .192/.259/.338. Hicks' attitude doesn't need adjusting, in all likelihood. Baseball America's No. 72 prospect coming into the year just needs more experience. The attitude of Twins' management on this subject, however, is another story.

 

Source: Mike Berardino on Twitter

[Brad Swanson]

Correia - Yep, not great, but not bad either. His certainly wasn't an exciting signing, but he's panned out about as well as could have been hoped.

 

Hicks - That quote annoys me on a couple of levels. First, Berardino is right, the Twins rushed him. It's not as though Hicks just showed up on Opening Day and refused to leave. Second, what does Gardenhire mean by attitude? Quotes like those bother me so much. A follow-up question might have been warranted, but he probably wouldn't have explained what he meant very well either. Isn't it just fine to say that he needed more time in the Minors? Why put something about attitude out there?

 

I'm reading into this far too much and I apologize for that.

[ericchri]

That Gardy quote looks to me like he was hinting that Hicks might come back with a chip on his shoulder/something to prove due to his non-promotion, not that he showed a bad attitude on the season.

[nicksaviking]

"Fun Stat

 

Kevin Correia's 96 ERA+ is not very exciting. However, only 20 Twins pitchers have surpassed that figure in the last 10 seasons, while throwing at least 167 innings. It's shocking. Here's the list:

 

Johan Santana and his Merry Band of Pitching Men"

 

You know that any list with Carlos Silva on it three times is exclusive company.

[Brad Swanson]

That Gardy quote looks to me like he was hinting that Hicks might come back with a chip on his shoulder/something to prove due to his non-promotion, not that he showed a bad attitude on the season.

 

Yeah, you're almost certainly right.