Snortwood

Neither can turn on a fastball. Hard in soft away - easy out. Yes, the verdict is in on these two.

Ty Cobb was interviewed after his playing days were over. - Mr. Cobb - if you were playing today what would you hit? - Two-seventy. - Really? Only two-seventy? (In disbelief.) How come? - Well you have to remember, Cobb said, I'm seventy f*****g years old.

It was a decision rich stretch where the managers impacted the outcome. Reasonable minds can disagree on this one. I preferred the choice Gardy made and always appreciate it when they pitch to Joe in a game situation. On to LA!

Why do you think 99% would think a bunt was the right play there? That was one play Gardy assessed correctly if you realize that his objective, along w scoring anyway possible, was to get Mauer an at bat. If Plouffe bunts successfully in that situation Gardenhire takes the bat out of Mauer's hands. W a runner on 3rd and less than 2 out Francona can't pitch to Mauer. In that situation Mauer gets walked and Francona has a lefty to get Morneau and leaves the lefty in to face Doumit rt-handed. Whether the Indians get out of that without allowing a run is not important - what matters is that the Twins by sacrificing would have played it so as to make it possible for Francona to get out of that situation without the Twins giving their best player a shot to decide the game. The only way Gardenhire gets Mauer to the plate w a chance to swing the bat is by letting Plouffe swing away. The dp was not optimal, but Francona bit. He let his guy pitch to Mauer. Odds are always w the pitcher and it's a long season: Francona wins long-term by showing confidence in his guys and going after the other guy's best long before it gets to do or die. How else is he going to get his players to perform in those situations like they've been there before unless, you see, he's given them opportunities to come through in those situations? He's a good manager. Sometimes you have to engage in a battle you would prefer to skip because there are greater battles ahead that cannot be avoided. This was an interesting call on Terry's part. And maybe Francona needs to learn what his own players can and cannot be asked to do. I disagree 100% that the bunt was required in that scenario. The objective is to score and to give your best player a meaningful AB. Both of those objectives are best met by Plouffe swinging away. Please explain how Gardenhire could have played it differently to get Joe an AB?

Colabello has a long swing. He's going to K relentlessly against MLB pitching. My guess is he's feasted on "work on it here" off-speed stuff offered up at AAA. TBD, but he didn't show much bat-speed his first go round this season w the Twins. Strictly filler until real talent rises for an extended stay.

"Derek Jeter . . . started the game at shortstop and ended up 0-for-3 . . . Jeter also had some tough defensive moments at shortstop." No stick, no glove. That Jeter kid will never make it to NY. At least not while the Twins are in town.

If you're buying stock go long on Hicks and Arcia, hold on Dozier and Plouffe, and sell on Parmelee. Arcia is a player. Hicks will figure out how to make contact w the off speed stuff. Parmelee's inability to get around on the fastball is fatal. Package Dozier and Plouffe and you'd have a solid 2B. Separately they're each inadequate at one major aspect of the game but passable (lower in the lineup!) in the absence of other options .

Closers are plentiful and an unneeded luxury for a 90 loss squad. Get me a premier shortstop and we're in business. Heck, there's another Zoilo in the league now, it's long past due the Twins should have an All-Star at short. If it costs Perkins you make that deal. Maybe if the Red Sox get close and must have a power lefty out of the bullpen. Maybe, but not likely. TBD.

If the reason the Twins aren't bringing a legit player to the majors is Jamie Carroll, we are all truly doomed. As fans of the Twins, that is.

Hicks is playing too deep. Somewhere in the deep lizard-brain of the Twins playing deep in CF was encoded in the genes of every middle outfielder to account for cutting off the ball scootching thru on the turf in the 'Dome to keep extra bases to a minimum. Those days are over, but the idea still holds. Go to a game at Target Field and compare the depth of their CF to where Hicks plays and, at least in the two games I was there this year, he was 10-15 if not 20-25 feet deeper. Balls are falling in front of him that other CFs would catch. More opportunities for assists is not necessarily a good thing.

Willingham's value is actually increasing as the cost of taking him on declines so long as his abilities don't drop off the table. My take on it is he's in a bad stretch and hasn't gone south, he's got another few seasons in him - bat speed is still there. But - he's a DH, and a valuable RH off the bench. For once the Twins are doing the right thing giving playing time to Arcia and Parmelee and taking it away from Doumit and occasionally Josh.

Here's the problem - and if we can get the problem statement correct we have 90% of the solution worked out - so here it is: Strikeouts can be context critical. There are innings and situations where a strikeout is the only non-dangerous event (passed balls and such aside). That is, we may be looking at this from too wide a lens if we try to evaluate Ks against 9 (argued above to be obsolete) or even in the context of a game. What matters is the moment. When batters come to the plate with RISP and X out, we know pretty much exactly how well they've done. We don't get anything like that when pitchers are out there huffing and puffing and men are all over the bases. WHIP is a wide angle lens. It gives you an idea. But it isn't as interesting as, say ERA for starters in an inning after 2 out and nobody on. And why the guys on the mound for the Twins lead the league in that stat. Or trail, depending on how you look at it. Stats like that. It's got to be context specific. Until we drill down that tightly and focus in that closely, we just won't know why some pitchers with fewer strikeouts are more successful than those who, based on numbers overall, might be thought to be superior.

It's too early to state the case is definitive but I can't help thinking of Billy Beane's career as a player every time Hicks comes to the plate. Top draft pick, great athlete, good enough at every level and great in bp but a deer in the headlights when the game is on. Hope that isn't the case, but it wouldn't be the first time it happened to a player.

I agree with Steve Lein. If Miguel Cabrera can play 3B and Prince Fielder can play 1B on a pennant winning squad, the key to defense is for sure NOT your cornermen. Let Sano grow into an adequate third-baseman and the Twins are much better off for it. Just like they are for keeping Mauer behind the plate. Until he proves otherwise, keep him at the hot corner and see if that can work.

What is hard to believe is that the Twins got more out of the Pierzynski trade with the Giants than they did from sending Johan to the Mets. Compare and contrast Terry Ryan and Billy Smith. No cuss words allowed. You may begin.

My hope for this is that Morneau pulls it together and Parmelee hits great and proves he's a first baseman, and the Twins trade Parmelee for another strong young arm and re-sign Justin to another long-term deal. Dudley Dooright belongs in the great white north!

If someone can pitch, and I mean really pitch, it's hard to see how the Twins are going to keep him off the major leage 25. So far this kid, and 23 is plenty old enough to be in the major leagues and thrive, has been very good in the Grapefruit League. Very good. I would very much like to see Terry Ryan hold himself to what he said - it's time to turn this thing around. To me that means you go with your best 25 when you break camp. If Diamond is hurt, and Harden can't go, and Hendriks/Deduno/Duensing et al are not much better than what we've seen these past few seasons, and the eyeballs watching the action in FL are convinced Meyer is ready and you made that big investment in bringing him over by trading Span for him, then I say show conviction in your decisions and give him the ball every 5th day and see what happens. This team lost 90+ each of the past two seasons, it can't possibly be worse with guys with promise on the mound.

Assuming the Cube's assessments are close to accurate, how is Hicks going to out-walk Beltran Patience of 94 when Hicks is a 71?

He does have the advantage of having a double consonant in his name - for some reason the Twins have always had good luck with guys with double consonants. Killebrew, Allison, Rollins, Versalles, Battey, Hall early on, Puckett, Gaetti, Hrbek (hnrary double consonant in his case), and even some recent guys - Plouffe, Capp (wait, maybe not) and, uh, my theory is breaking down. Not quite sure what we have here. I'll get back to you on this one.

At some point the Dodgers and the Phillies and oh yes even the woebegone Cubbies and the suddenly sinking Yankees and such are going to have to wonder why it is that they have to spend 2 or even 3! million per victory, while teams like the A's, Rays, and Twins (pre-2011, at least) barely spend 1m/v. Moneyball is alive and well. What is undervalued in the current game? Past actions have shown Terry Ryan to have, if not a statistically determined understanding of that aspect, an intuitive grasp of it. The list of minor-league talent acquired during his first stint, very impressive. Liriano, Ortiz, Guzman, Bartlett, others. In short, my guess is the Twins will not sign the obvious big-name top of the line guys but will go for the less highly regarded that have the higher upside against the cost. McCarthy, Liriano, Myers, Pavano, Blanton, that level. I think even Jackson & Marcum are unlikely to fall to the Twins. Which means a rotation of Diamond & Gibson, a pair of FAs, and either a third FA or someone up from the system - Deduno, DeVries, etc. Put that all together and the simple analysis for 2013 is that the Twins are going to have to score a ton of runs to be competitive.

Middle infield and starting pitching is all they have to fix. Sounds so simple, and yet.. . .

Under Gardenhire the Twins almost never have a viable ROY candidate. Coincidence? I don't think so. Moreover, the idea that a rookie! and a starting pitcher!! might be given that opportunity is almost impossible to conceive. But desperate times make for desperate measures. We'll see how desperate Gardy is to start winning again if Gibson is ready, we'll see if Ronnie will give him that chance right from Opening Day or make some special patented plea that brings back Pavano (ugh) or some other has been.

What are the splits on Casilla? Looks to me like he was one of those guys who hit okay right-handed but was real fast so they said, you know you ought to try switch hitting. He's never looked good enough long enough batting left-handed to see why that should have continued for so long. From the right side of the plate he swings with some evil intentions - left-handed he's just trying to not strikeout. My take is, he would have been better served in the field and at the plate as a straight-up right-handed hitter. Now we'll never know, but he wouldn't have been the first and won't be the last (Florimon?) forced down the same path.

First post on this subject since the game. In the way of awards, Nishi deserves something like Worst Performance Ever by a Second Baseman on a Winning Team in an Absolute Blowout. Two errors, and really he should have received a 3rd even though the throw from Carroll was high he has to at least catch the ball. He can't pickup toward the hole, he can't catch a ball that isn't thrown right to him, and the sun must have gotten in his eyes on that first grounder of the game somehow. Oh - and he went 0 for 5, though he did advance a runner one base one time and even hit the ball foul with some authority one time. But that's it for the positive spin. A nice foul ball and a well placed grounder when the game was in doubt. I"m done with him. I'm done with expecting anything better than what we saw from him tonight. If I were the GM he'd be back in the minors or DFA tonight. If I were the manager I would vow (internally, not for public consumption, but to the team that expects a player to contribute at something remotely resembling major league caliber play and to management no matter what the cost, even my job) that I would NEVER write his name down in the lineup card again. Ever. No way is the team worse with Casilla at 2B and Carroll or Casilla there once Plouffe gets back in the everyday. This team can only improve by playing anyone other than that overmatched bumbler out there. He's an embarrassment to the organization and to anyone taking money for admission to games. Thanks for raising him up for scrutiny one last time here. No further time or energy will be expended on him by me.

Twins re-sign Liriano. Pair him with Diamond for a solid two-fifths of a rotation. Going along they hope one guy trying out this year has the major league talent and gets the seasoning needed to contribute long-term, then they sign an FA and develop one kid for the upcoming season. And that's their not too expensive but workable plan for next year. Diamond & Liriano, DeVries or DeDuno. An FA (Timmy Lincecum!!! Just wait - the math works!) and a kid from the minors. And that's the Twins' plan for the rotation in 2013. Two starters getting paid big bucks, Blackburn carried if nobody takes him, Capps & Pavano & Baker (= $Timmy!) & any other salaries in that bullpen are gone. Well - signing Lincecum is a pipedream. And they would have to pay Frankie alot more to keep him, and he may not be worth what he's willing to sign for. But with an ace leading into Diamond, Liriano, and a couple of decent arms the Twins would not be easily dismissed. Especially if Morneau is back. Package Span, Parmelee & Dozier and maybe a minor league arm or OF for a shortstop with real ability. And that's a decent team. Could happen. And with that, a happy g'nite to all.