Brad Swanson

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! It's been said that all good things must come to an end. Sadly, this will be the final Monday Madness of the 2013 season. I know. Don't blame me though; I'm not the one who decided against a 12 month MLB season. It's time for a break from Twins baseball. After the month of September that we've all endured, a little break might not be the worst thing. I'll try to infuse some fun and positivity in this final Monday Madness of the 2013 season. The Gardy 1000 Well, that was a huge embarrassing failure. Wait, I said I'd be positive. Um. The Twins made a valiant effort to get Ron Gardenhire his 1000th career win. They needed to go 3-4 this week and they only missed it by 2 games. Two isn't bad. That's only about 1% of a season. It's such a small sample. Josmil Pinto Here's some real positivity. Josmil Pinto had a wonderful September debut. In fact, only Chris Parmelee has had a better September debut than Pinto, when looking at OPS and only including players with 50 plate appearances in September. We can ignore the Parmelee part, but knowing that Pinto looks good makes me feel good about next season. Having Pinto gives the Twins more options at catcher. If the Twins can enjoy another 3-5 years of above-average offensive production from their catcher, the rebuild will be somewhat easier. Mike Pelfrey A recent Terry Ryan interview shocked and awed everyone when he admitted that he was interested in bringing Mike Pelfrey back for the 2014 season. Pelfrey hasn't been a highlight of the 2013 season. He's been one of the more frustrating players for me to watch. He dug himself a big hole in April and May; did he dig out of it? [TABLE=class: grid, width: 492] [/TD][TD]April May June July August September ERA 7.66 5.90 4.66 3.25 3.60 7.45 WHIP 1.93 1.66 1.24 1.34 1.40 1.86 K% 6.5 14.5 15.4 18.1 14.4 21.3 BB% 6.5 9.2 2.6 7.8 10.5 7.5 K:BB Ratio 1.0 1.58 6.00 2.33 1.38 2.86 BABIP .370 .337 .333 .309 .279 .431 LOB% 54.7 69.1 62.0 83.3 74.7 56.2 xFIP 5.57 5.11 3.18 4.45 4.74 3.63 [/TABLE] Well, kind of. In April and May he was a disaster. In June, he was pretty good. He didn't walk anyone, but he was a bit unlucky so his ERA wasn't great. In July, he was worse, but had some strand rate luck and looked better than he actually was. He was pretty bad in August, but finally got some good BABIP luck. In September, he's been pretty poor again, but has a crazy high BABIP and has been generally unpleasant to watch. Basically, he's been really inconsistent. The only reason to sign a guy like Pelfrey for another year would be if you could rely on him for consistently decent innings. The Twins can't rely on him for that. Cut him loose. Oh, and dig up, stupid. Madness Fun Stat Anthony Swarzak threw 96 innings this season without starting a single game. This has only happened 461 times since 1901. Juan Berenguer accomplished this feat in 1989 and 1990 and no one had done it in a Twins' uniform since then. No one in baseball had done this since 2006, when Scott Proctor threw 102.1 innings without starting. Swarzak is a rare bird, especially in this current era. Random Paint Image The Playoffs are starting this week and that means National Coverage. No more Dick and Bert, no more Coom-dog, no more Anthony LaPanda. Here's a dramatization of what I think could happen during the TBS studio show, if things really fall apart. http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ghgPaY_jRe4/UkiFf4e5_qI/AAAAAAAABCc/HEaSgMTTIPo/s320/Gallagher.png Look, if you don't get that reference, then you clearly didn't watch as much Comedy Central as I did as a kid and you don't think Dennis Eckersley looks like a certain watermelon-smashing comedian like I do. And really, that's your problem. Former Twin Update - Francisco Liriano Francisco Liriano finished the 2013 season with 16 wins and an ERA just slightly above 3. He has been one of the major reasons why the Pirates season is still in progress. In fact, he'll start the Wild Card game on Tuesday against the Reds and their lefty-heavy lineup. Lefties have hit .131/.175/.146 against Liriano in 138 plate appearances this season. Before the season, who would have ever thought that Francisco Liriano would be starting a playoff game in 2013? Answer to a Hypothetical Facebook Question Nope, not today. It's impossible to find anything positive on the Twins Facebook page. It's my problem really. I only go there for this bit, so it only affects me once a week at most. I can handle complaints. I can handle negativity. I can't handle hostility. There isn't a single Twins fan who has any right to be hostile. No one should be calling Joe Mauer a wimp. No one should be calling for Gardy and Anderson to be hit with bricks. Since 99% of the Facebook comments are hostile, I'm not doing it today. Instead, I asked my 8-year-old cousin to give his thoughts on the Twins' 2013 season: "It was really fun. I actually got to go to two games! They won the second game!" Off-season Plans Monday Madness is ending for the year, but I've got loads of off-season stuff planned. I've got recaps, pumas, predictions, previews, video games, candy, treats, ice cream, lobster and much, much more. This week, I've got two guest columnists doing season recaps and I have a mailbag coming on Friday. I'm going to try to have some fun this off-season, if you want to join me. Parting Thought The Twins 2013 season was unpleasant. The franchise is in a better place than it was in 2012, but there is still a lot of work to be done. I'll do as much work as the Twins allow me, but a more likely scenario would involve the Twins' current decision makers working to improve the team. I have confidence. I think that strides were made this year that weren't seen on the field. If the organization continues down a similar path, I believe the Twins will be a good team in the near future. I've always held that 2014 will be the first year in the on-field turnaround and I stand by that. I really feel that we just suffered through the last 90-loss season for awhile. If I'm wrong, you can all hurl tomatoes at me when I run on the field during a 2015 game. Have a nice off-season, everyone!

I wish I was qualified to answer that question. Is it possible that the Rays traded for Myers to corner the market on upright batting stances? Have we hit on the next market inefficiency?

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Welcome back to Award Season! In my previous installment, I handed out the major NL awards. If you missed it, click here. I also lamented the lack of an actual Awards Ceremony for these important honors. Think of the bowties and suspenders we are missing out on! Danny Valencia would look great in a suit, but he wouldn't get invited to the ceremony so we're kind of just back where we started, aren't we? AL Breakout Player Preseason Pick - Matt Moore Midseason Pick - Josh Donaldson Who should win? - Josh Donaldson Who will win? - This is not a real award. One of the easiest ways to totally nail an awards prediction is to make up an award. In this case, I failed to accurately predict an award that I created. Matt Moore has been great. He's won a bunch of games, has a pretty sweet ERA and a winning smile. He also leads the league with 17 wild pitches. This is the breakout player award, not the "break stuff with your wild pitches" award, Matt! Lol. If I'm going to be real here, he's got a great case for this fake award. He just wasn't as good as Josh Donaldson. Donaldson has been amazing. Now, some might argue that Donaldson broke out last season, but I'd say that going from 1.5 fWAR to 7.7 fWAR counts as an additional breakout. Donaldson is a legitimate MVP candidate on one of the best teams in baseball. He's slugging over .500 and has an OBP approaching .400. He's been extremely valuable to the Athletics and he has had a superstar season. I'm really proud of him. AL Rookie of the Year Preseason Pick - Wil Myers Midseason Pick - Aaron Hicks Who should win? - Wil Myers Who will win? - Wil Myers LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL! I refuse to provide any context for that mid-season Aaron Hicks selection. I want the record to show that despite Hicks' sub-.200 batting average, despite his extremely poor plate discipline, despite his recent hamstring injury, I STILL thought he would pull out of it and win this award. Choosing Hicks for AL ROY at the beginning of the year would have been a justifiable, but homer-ish pick. At the All Star Break? Stupid homer pick. Stomer Pick. Stomer Simpson Pick. Just hilarious. I'm so glad I did that. Scrapbook!!!! The real winner is likely to come from the Tampa Bay Rays. There are two reasonable candidates, and a third if you include Royals' outfielder David Lough. He's lougher on my list though. OHOOHOHOHOHHH! Lough has been a good defender, but his offensive stats offend me. For me, the award comes down to Wil Myers and Chris Archer. Both guys have played about a half-season. Both guys have been good, but not great. When you look at their peripheral stats, Archer has been good, but maybe a bit lucky, while Myers has been just good. He's slugging close to .500 and showing good plate discipline. He's got a wRC+ around 130. Archer has been good as well. His slightly higher than 3 ERA proves that. However, his BABIP is .245 and that points toward some luck being involved. With both guys so close in performance, I'll break the tie by looking at one of the most controversial stats that exists. There's no way that leads to any sort of discussion or argument. Myers' WAR is higher. There. AL Cy Young Award Preseason Pick - Justin Verlander Midseason Pick - Felix Hernandez Who should win? - Max Scherzer Who will win? - Max Scherzer This is a tough one. Verlander has had a nice season, just nothing special. Anibal Sanchez has probably been the most impressive overall pitcher, but he won't reach 200 innings, which hurts his chances. Doug Fister, Hisashi Iwakuma, Jon Lester and James Shields have all been great. I'd be more inclined to vote for Bartolo Colon if he went by "Bart Colon" and asked us to call him "Big Bart." That act would pretty much cinch my vote for the next few decades. However, I can't get over the lack of strikeouts, the fact that he won't hit 200 innings and the fact that he won't embrace the Big Bart persona. You gotta start eliminatin' somewhere, Big Bart. At the All-Star Break, Felix Hernandez had seized this award in my eyes. He was pitching as well as he had ever pitched and he was already one of the best pitchers of our generation. Since the Break, he hasn't been as great and he was injured for a significant time. He's still tied for second in fWAR for all AL pitchers, but his overall numbers aren't so dominant that he stands out among the rest. I think you can still make a strong case for Hernandez, but he's part of the conversation instead of leading it. Here's the whole conversation: It comes down to Felix, Chris Sale, Yu Darvish and Max Scherzer. I think Scherzer wins the actual vote for sure. His overall numbers are great and the win total will get him a lot of votes. I think the path to get to Scherzer is a lot more complicated than "21 wins is a lot." Who do I like? Here's how I feel: Darvish is the most dominant of the four. His K% is 32.7%, by far the highest of the four. He also issues the most walks of the four, which takes him down a bit in my eyes. In fact, his BB% is at least 50% greater than the other three. Darvish has the highest strand rate of the four, at a staggering 83.9%. Of course, his high strikeout totals will inflate that rate. Rhyming is cool, but I'm removing Darvish from this conversation, even though he's had a great season. Hernandez, Sale and Scherzer have been extremely similar pitchers this season. Just look at this chart: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 500] [/TD][TD]Scherzer Sale Hernandez Innings 214.1 209 198.1 K% 28.7 26.3 26.3 BB% 6.7 5.4 5.6 ERA 2.90 2.97 2.99 xFIP 3.16 2.94 2.67 BABIP 0.259 0.282 0.315 LOB% 74.4 77.7 75.3 Win-Loss 21-3 11-13 12-9 [/TABLE] Ridiculous. All three have elite strikeout and walk rates. Each has a good ERA and an xFIP that confirms it. Scherzer's BABIP is a bit lower, but his LOB% is also lower. If those two things somewhat cancel each other out, then each has been equal parts good and equal parts lucky. Well, maybe Scherzer has been a bit "luckier" than Sale and Hernandez. I like peripheral stats when predicting for the future, but I like traditional stats when it's time to evaluate actual performance. Maybe that puts be a few years behind the curve, but I like to reward players for what they actually accomplish, not what we think they should have accomplished. Ok, we have to start eliminating players, so Hernandez is out due to the slightly lower innings total. This hurts me as I love King Felix and I think he is the best overall pitcher in the American League. If I had to predict who would be the best pitcher next year, I'd take Hernandez. That being said... Sale v. Scherzer in the finals! The question is, can you really vote for a guy with an 11-13 record over a guy with a 21-3 record when the two are so similar in every other way? Sale might have been a slightly better pitcher this year, but can you completely ignore Scherzer's wins? I can't. I just can't do it. I want to, but I can't. So, for the record: Best AL Pitcher right now: Felix Hernandez - loses this award because he got injured Best AL Pitcher this season: Chris Sale - but ever so slightly AL Cy Young Award Winner - Max Scherer - and he deserves it for more than just those 21 wins. I don't think pitcher wins are the devil, but I don't look at them first. Everything needs a line of succession. If Obama can't fulfill his duties, Biden's in charge. If Biden can't, we call on Boehner. If enough guys get debilitating food poisoning that everyone secretly thinks could be malaria, then Doug, your local garbage man takes over. Meet Pitcher Wins: The Doug the Garbage Man of pitching stats. You don't want him running the country, but in the pinchiest of pinches, you'll have to make due. This concludes the convoluted metaphor section of our exercise. Scherzer wins. AL MVP Preseason Pick - Evan Longoria Midseason Pick - Miguel Cabrera Who should win? - Mike Trout Who will win? - Miguel Cabrera First off, in any other season and under any other circumstances, Josh Donaldson would be right in this conversation. However, the Trout v. Cabrera Round 2 storyline is just too juicy for writers. I guarantee Donaldson will get a lot less publicity than he probably deserves. He's been outstanding and should be just below Cabrera and Trout in this debate. Deep breath. We did this last year, and all the arguments are basically the same: The Tigers made the playoffs; the Angels didn't Cabrera is the best hitter in baseball Trout is a better overall player, when you consider defense and fielding Of course, Trout has actually improved as a hitter this year, significantly boosting his walk rate and significantly cutting his strikeout rate. His defensive ratings are still good, but not elite this year and he isn't running as much. Some of that change in running is due to his change from leadoff to third in the lineup, but that does count for something. Trout is basically having the exact same amazing season he had last year, just with more walks. If he didn't already command the presence of the saber community, those extra walks sealed his seal deal. Cabrera, on the other hand, did not win the Triple Crown this year. He might lose some votes due to that, which is insane. He's been a better hitter this year in just about every category - batting average, OBP, slugging, and he's right in the same neighborhood in runs, home runs and RBI. The only difference? Chris Davis hit over 50 home runs. That's it. Did Chris Davis' power breakout make Cabrera a worse hitter? Nope, but some will honestly lean on the "no Triple Crown" crutch when they change their vote from Cabrera as MVP in 2012 to Trout as MVP in 2013, when basically nothing else has changed. It's lunacy. I would have voted for Trout last year, for the same reasons why I would vote for him this year. He's a better overall baseball player. His offensive contribution is only slightly smaller than Cabrera's, but the value he adds on defense and on the base paths tips the scales toward him. That's how I felt in 2012, and that's how I feel right now. Just like last year, I don't think Cabrera is an undeserving winner, I just feel that Trout is better. This is Flair-Steamboat back in the 60 minute iron man days. This is Ali-Frazier, it's Agassi-Sampras, it's Kobe-LeBron, it's really good bowling guy-really good bowling guy. No one loses in this situation. We get to watch two of the greatest players of this generation duke it out for one of the most prestigious awards in sports. Regardless of whether your candidate wins, just remember that these are two outstanding players. One has to win and the other has to lose, but they both deserve careful consideration and serious props. That's a wrap! Wait, this is a wrap: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fLRBnpFydBw/UkR-a7dxdyI/AAAAAAAABB8/cOTyTpCqW9A/s1600/Easy_Turkey_Wrap_Sandwich.jpg I really enjoyed the 2013 MLB season. There were plenty of award-worthy performances, but just not enough awards to go around. If I ever find my way to Head of State, I will replace all games with award ceremonies. That way, we can truly recognize these great athletes. Even better, I'll just cozy up to Doug and see if I can get him to enact these policies for me.

This is excellent research. I'd be interested in seeing how old and experienced the players traded for on the other teams were. The Twins seem to be relatively adept at finding young pitching talent via trade.

Oh yeah, I totally agree that we can't discount Dozier. A lot of his value does come from his defense and I do think Rosario has more offensive upside. You can't take away what Dozier has done this season though. I'm not sure Rosario will be better, but I'd just hate to move him off of a better defensive position before he needs to be moved.

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Twins/A's Recap The word "bludgeoned" gets thrown around so often... The Gardy 1000 Is this going to happen? Going into this week, the Twins needed to go 4-10 to finish the season "strong" and give Ron Gardenhire 1000 career wins. As bad as the Twins have been, that seemed reasonable. Star wipe to today and the Twins need to go 3-4 in their last seven to pull it off. Yikes. Anything short of a Spaghetti Jesus miracle and I don't see it happening. If Cleveland can somehow wrap up a playoff spot early this week, then it's possible. I don't see that happening though. Maybe we can convince MLB to add games to the schedule? I'll start a petition. Just let me find my megaphone. The two sides of Oswaldo Arcia We got to see both Good Arcia and Bad Arcia over the weekend. He hit two home runs in the Oakland series and generally looked good at the plate. On Friday he put on some sort of reverse clinic in the outfield, misplaying a couple of balls and generally looking like a future DH. He also slid feet-first into first base on Sunday, which was confusing, but entertaining. He's young, so he'll make mistakes. His defense has been inconsistent, but he seems athletic enough to get better. His offense has been pretty good, as he has a 104 wRC+ as a rookie with little experience above AA. His strikeout rate is a bit high and his walk rate is a bit low, specifically compared to his own Minor League numbers. If he can even those rates out and continue to add power, he'll be spectacular. He's 22. Rosario back to outfield? While on ESPN 1500 over the weekend, Rob Antony mentioned that Eddie Rosario might be moved back to the outfield, depending on a few factors. My hope would be that this decision is based entirely on how Rosario performs as a second baseman and has nothing to do with Brian Dozier. As much as Dozier has improved this year, he is still an average offensive player. His 99 OPS+ this season proves that. Defensively, Dozier will likely always be better than Rosario. Offensively, Rosario could be special. I like Dozier, but I'm not quite ready to pencil him into the lineup for the next five years. I would hope that the Twins aren't making any decisions based on the current roster because it could still be 2-3 years before the team is truly good. MADNESS Fun Stat/Possibly Wild Theory Since integration in 1947, only 56 pitchers have provided 45.5 WAR or more. Why 45.5? Brad Radke's career WAR was 45.5. He retired at 33, as we all know/cry about to this day. Only two of those 56 pitchers retired younger than Radke: Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax. Is it possible that Brad Radke was the most underrated pitcher of his era? Or, am I just blinded by our shared first name? Here is the entire list of 56. Looking at all the names, it seems that most of these guys are properly rated as great pitchers. I'm not sure Radke is, at least not outside of Minnesota. Just thinking out loud here. Random Plug - Punto Oral History How the H did I miss this? This is like nine months old and I just found it this week. Anyway, it's hilarious and I figured that if I missed it, others probably did as well. It's an oral history of Nick Punto sliding headfirst into first base. It is eminently quotable. If you missed it, you have to read it. GET MONEY! Random Paint Image I'm plagiarizing myself a bit, but here's an image I drew of Johan Santana and Bartolo Colon to immortalize the robbery that was the 2005 Cy Young Award. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QJ5BFfGImKA/UQNtzTcdSEI/AAAAAAAAAKI/YluO9tXKhE8/s320/Santana.png The biggest tragedy of all is that Colon is still pitching and Santana might have to retire. Unfair. Former Twins Update - Rangers On Saturday night, Matt Garza started for the Rangers. He was outstanding for eight innings, but gave up a lead-off home run to Eric Hosmer in the 9th. He was relieved by Joe Nathan, who hammered down the save and helped the Rangers to remain a half-game out of the Wild Card. He was met at the mound by A.J. Pierzynski, who caught the game. It was a former Twin explosion! ROAD TO 1000!!!!! Last week, we discussed Jamey Carroll's quest for 1000 hits and Ron Gardenhire's quest for 1000 wins. Gardy's week didn't go well, as I discussed earlier. Carroll had a tough week of his own. He entered the week with 999 career hits. He had zero hits this week. Of course, he had zero at bats too. That's rough. The Royals should get eliminated from the Wild Card race this week. Perhaps when their fate is sealed, they'll let Carroll take a crack or two at the roundest of all round numbers. Link to Something I wrote I traveled through time to have a AOL Instant Messenger conversation with my 12-year-old self. It was intense. I really gave myself the business for being behind the curve when it comes to sabermetrics. It was almost as if I hadn't heard of Moneyball in 1993. Idiot! Anyway, if you missed this scientific marvel, you can read it here. Parting Thought One more week. As horrible and painful as the last few weeks have been as a Twins fan, the next six months are going to be just as tough. There won't be any Twins baseball to watch, but there will be news of "improvements" to the team. I hope the off-season is more eventful than the regular season was. I always enter the off-season optimistic and I hope my blind faith is rewarded with some shrewd moves. If nothing else, I won't have to see my favorite team get waxed 11-0 for a little while. Have a great week, everyone!

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! In case you missed it, a couple of prominent Twins rookies had difficult seasons. Well, difficult might be a massive understatement. Well, massive might be a huge overstatement. I'll calibrate my adjectives later, but we all know that Aaron Hicks and Kyle Gibson performed below expectations. Expectations may have been too high to begin with, but both players struggled to a surprising extent. Hicks and Gibson are hardly unique. Many productive Twins players performed poorly in their rookie seasons. In fact, I have eight such case studies that should demonstrate why we can still be optimistic about these two players, regardless of how abysmal they looked in their rookie seasons. First, let's examine the two rookies from 2013: Subject: Kyle Gibson Rookie Season: 2013, age 25 Rookie WAR: -0.8 Career WAR: ??? Gibson debuted at the end of June to tremendous fanfare. He had been mostly great at AAA and the Twins' starting pitching was mostly terrible. Gibson's debut was exciting, appointment viewing, but it proved to be his best start with the Twins. He posted a 6.53 ERA in 10 starts, before getting sent back to Rochester on August 20. Subject: Aaron Hicks Rookie Season: 2013 Rookie WAR: 0.6 Career WAR: ??? By WAR, Hicks wasn't a complete disaster. His defense and speed saved him from negative value. His bat was almost entirely negative, save for a couple of huge, memorable games. Hicks started his Twins' career by hitting .042 in his first 13 games. He pulled things together slightly to post a 63 OPS+. He never pulled it together enough to earn a full season with the Twins. He was sent to Rochester in early August and didn't perform well enough to earn a trip back to Minnesota in September. Now that we've looked at the two disappointing rookies, we can remember how some past Twins compared during their rookie seasons. Subject: Frank Viola Rookie Season: 1982, age 22 Rookie WAR: -0.1 Career WAR: 47.4 Viola didn't have a terrible rookie season, but he wasn't Sweet Music just yet either. He isn't a great comp for Gibson because he was quite a bit younger. However, had Gibson stayed healthy, he may have rocketed up through the farm system like Viola did. Viola was drafted in 1981 and made his debut just about a year later. In Viola's first taste of the Majors, he posted a 4-10 record with a 5.21 ERA in 22 starts. He was actually worse the following year, although he did throw 210 innings. Viola established himself as a reliable starter in 1984, his third season as a Twin. Subject: Johan Santana Rookie Season: 2000, age 21 Rookie WAR: 0.1 Career WAR: 50.7 A bit of a cheat, as Santana was a rule 5 pick who needed to remain on the roster in order to remain with the organization. However, Santana did have a rough debut. He threw 86 innings, started just five games and nearly walked as many batters as he struck out. Of course, he was 21 and had never pitched above A ball. However, he learned on the fly in the Majors and eventually became one of the best pitchers in Twins history. Subject: Matt Garza Rookie Season: 2006, age 22 Rookie WAR: -0.1 Career WAR: 14.7 Garza's debut might have been the most electric debut that I can remember. His hype was huge and his performance was full of nervous energy. Garza got lit up in that first MLB start, but posted a few nice starts later in his rookie season. He finished with a 5.76 ERA and didn't impress enough to earn a roster spot at the beginning of the 2007 season. Subject: Kyle Lohse Rookie Season: 2001, age 22 Rookie WAR: -0.1 Career WAR: 18.9 Lohse isn't the first guy that Twins fans would want to compare a promising young starter to. In my opinion, if Kyle Gibson turns out to be Kyle Lohse, the Twins would be happy. Well, so long as Gibson doesn't act like Kyle Lohse anyway. Lohse made 16 starts in his rookie season and posted a 5.68 ERA. I don't think Twins fans look back fondly on the Kyle Lohse era, but he did provide at least three competent seasons while very young and reasonably priced. Subject: Doug Mientkiewicz Rookie Season: 1999, age 25 Rookie WAR: -1.6 Career WAR: 11.0 Dougie Baseball made his debut at a relatively advanced age and didn't impress at the plate. He posted a 66 OPS+ and struggled to make contact. Mientkiewicz split time with Ron Coomer, which was probably delightful. He spent almost all of the 2000 season crushing AAA. In 2001, he established himself as the Twins' starting first baseman for the next few seasons. Subject: Matt Lawton Rookie Season: 1996, age 24 Rookie WAR: 0.6 Career WAR: 15.0 Like Viola, Lawton wasn't bad as a rookie. He posted a 78 OPS+ and showed the promise of what he would become at maturity. He walked as much as he struck out and he showed some pop and some speed. His defense was pretty good as well. He was just a young player who needed more at bats to reach his potential. It took a few seasons, but Lawton blossomed into a great, and somewhat underrated player. Subject: Jason Kubel Rookie Season: 2006, age 24 Rookie WAR: -0.9 Career WAR: 4.9 Kubel's debut was actually two years prior, but he didn't play enough to exhaust his rookie status and then he suffered his nasty knee injury and missed all of 2005. Upon his return to the Twins in 2006, Kubel hit .241/.279/.386 in 235 plate appearances. He looked overmatched at times, and was not quite the player he was before his injury. He eventually became an average offensive player and his peak season in 2009 was one of the better offensive seasons in recent Twins' history. Subject: Torii Hunter Rookie Season: 1999, age 23 Rookie WAR: 0.8 Career WAR: 49.8 Aaron Hicks is unfairly compared to Torii Hunter. Both are athletic and talented centerfielders but the comparisons might end there. Hicks is a patient, sometimes passive hitter with good speed for stealing bases. Hunter is an aggressive and powerful hitter, with an aggressive approach to running the bases. However, if Hicks' career takes shape like Hunter's did, then all Twins fans will be somewhere between stoked and very stoked. Hunter posted a 73 OPS+ as a rookie, but slowly improved and eventually became a guy who will likely produce over 50 WAR in his career. Will Hicks and Gibson bounce back to productive careers like the eight case studies presented here? Perhaps, as history shows that a poor rookie season is no reason to give up on a talented player. While Gibson may be older than the pitchers presented here, he is similarly inexperienced. His age shouldn't be held against him, as he can still be a productive pitcher for the Twins for the next decade. Hicks was about as bad as a hitter can be, but he still holds promise and could develop slowly. His skill set is too enticing to ignore and he should be given more opportunities from the Twins organization and from Twins fans.

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Twins/Rays Recap Well, the end was certainly shocking. The Twins were shut out in the first two games against the Rays and were in the process of being shut out on Sunday, when they decided to score a bunch of runs in the 7th and 8th innings. The dagger was Josmil Pinto's three-run bomb with two outs in the 8th, which effectively decided the game. It's fitting that Pinto would provide the most exciting play of the series, as he's been one of the few players actually worth watching this September. The win was insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but did bring Ron Gardenhire within 4 wins of 1000. More on that... Ron Gardenhire's 1000 wins Back in October 2010, the Twins had just finished a 94-win season and celebrated a sixth division title during the past decade. Ron Gardenhire had lead the team to all six titles, in his nine years as manager. He had never won fewer than 79 games, and had averaged just over 89 wins per season. His 803 career wins put him in striking distance of that beautiful round number of 1000. If you had told me that Gardenhire would be the manager for the next three seasons, I would have guessed that he'd have obliterated the 1000 mark and had probably gotten within shootin' range of 1100 - the next beautiful round number. Instead, Gardenhire needs to go 4-10 in the Twins' last 14 games to reach the 1000-win milestone. The Twins were 6-8 in their past 14 games, so it seems likely that they can pull off this feat. While it seems likely he will get to the milestone, how did we even get to the point where that is in question? In 2010, 1000 wins seemed like a lock, so long as Gardenhire wanted to keep managing the Twins. Unfortunately, the team has fallen so dramatically that Gardenhire might not average the 66 wins per season that he would have needed back in 2010 to reach that round 1000 figure in 2013. Of course, back in 2010, there didn't seem to be a three-year endpoint. However, I'm quite certain that we've reached the point where these 14 games are his last 14 chances to get to 1000 wins. The Twins have three games in Chicago this week. Those are all winnable games. Their final eleven games after the Chicago series include seven against division leaders (four at Oakland and three at home against Detroit). Their final four games are at home against Cleveland, a team contending for one of the AL Wild Card slots. Those non-Chicago teams all have better talent and more reasons to play hard. The Twins might be fighting simply to reward their long-term manager with a round amount of wins during what appears to be his swansong season. If the Twins can manage a 4-10 record, Gardenhire will win his 1000 games, but it won't save his job. I don't blame the last three seasons on Gardenhire. He won as many games as anyone would have won with this roster. However, it seems his time has come. The Twins will change managers and move on from Gardenhire. When they get better in the next couple seasons (and they will), it won't be because they changed their manager. Ron Gardenhire proved that he can lead a talented team to a lot of wins. He also proved that he can't take an untalented roster and make magic. He has his strengths and he has his weaknesses, but overall, he is a good manager. Above all else, I know that I enjoyed the Gardenhire era. I'm not sure I can ask for much more as a fan. Ahhhhhhhh so much depression, time for fun and madness! Former Twin - Jamey Carroll I assumed that when the Royals bought Jamey Carroll from the Twins, he would propel them to a Championship. He still could, but it doesn't look good. He's posted a .097/.167/.161 triple slash in 37 PA. Of course, his -9 OPS+ would still be good for third on the Twins. Kidding! But for real, his career is probably over. He needs one more hit to get to 1000. Round! Fun with the number 1000! In honor of Gardenhire and Carroll aiming for their 1000 of something, here are some fun 1000 facts that I found. I was going to write 1000 fun facts, but I was busy photoshopping Twins player heads onto animal bodies (more on that below). Dee Fondy and Birdie Tebbetts each had exactly 1000 career hits! Darryl Strawberry ended his career with exactly 1000 career RBI. He's the only guy with that quantity!! Jorge Posada and Bucky Harris are the only players with exactly 1000 singles!!! No one has exactly 1000 career runs. No one!!!! On the pitching side, Tom Browning and Ralph Terry have exactly 1000 strikeouts!!!!! And finally, former Twin Jim Hoey ended his career with a 1000 ERA!!!!!! One of those statements is a lie. Baseball Card from the Past Look at how young Gardy looks: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UMSZRY7DUMA/UjYqx598IiI/AAAAAAAABBA/ZrgwY9RQCX8/s320/gardyyoung.jpg This was right after his rookie season in 1981. His hair is tremendous. If he was willing to grow his hair out like that right now, I'd extend him for 30 seasons. Facebook Question Q: Do we have to watch a nightmare happen its not as if the coach of the staff cares at this point. They Con MLB into having ALLSTAR game here. A: It appears this question was written by a malcontent robot Twins fan. As such, I will respond to his question in his native language: 0111100101101111011101010010000001110011011101010110001101101011 Poll Results/New Poll I took a screen grab this time! http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QIsn3mWGvwM/UjYq5D1k-rI/AAAAAAAABBI/rU6tMOZbCYE/s400/GM+Poll.PNG The Clete Thomas of GMs is vague. It depends on what you think of Clete Thomas, right? Those three people who thought they would be amazing as GMs are really confident. I voted for "bad." I'd be bad as a GM. I'd base far too many decisions on animal pun potential and hair length. I'll post a new poll at some point. When I do, please try to vote. Link to Something I wrote - Animals play baseball As I alluded to earlier, I photoshopped a bunch of Twins player heads on animal bodies. Here's one to get you interested: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hbiUsGvX1fQ/UjYrDXQQwQI/AAAAAAAABBQ/ZkSAqNUyYhY/s1600/Marty+Cordovelociraptor.jpg If you want to know why this exists, what context this falls into, and if your favorite Twin made the cut, just click here! You'll be somewhat glad you did. Parting thought - Jumping on a Bandwagon I'm running out of things to say about this team. They're bad. Yep, we know. One thing though - I'm officially in the shut Joe Mauer down camp. There's no sense in having him risk more brain damage to win a couple of meaningless games. The team is a lot less fun to watch with Mauer in the clubhouse or at home, but his long-term recovery is worth 14 additional boring games in late September. Have a great week, everyone!

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! My memories of John Moses John Moses was a more notable former Twin to me than to just about anyone else in the World. The reason why comes from my Grandmother. She thought I looked like him. I remember being told that as a child and it confused me as an adult. Of course, I looked back at some images of myself from childhood, and you be the judge: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-adyk2veuRmI/UjC_oIw1eXI/AAAAAAAABAg/_kL1wxvxUCQ/s320/twomoses.jpg Perhaps she had a point. As far as remembering John Moses as a player: who knows? He wasn't very good and he wasn't a Twin for very long. And, apparently I looked like him. Other than that, he was just some guy. Therefore, we need to research! Baseball Reference Wow, Moses played eleven seasons, three with the Twins! I thought he was just a one- or two-year wonder. I know squat. For his career, he posted a .254/.313/.333 triple slash, but in that awful 80s hitting era, that worked out to a 187 OPS+. Moses wasn't a show-off like some other players. He saved home runs for special occasions, hitting one per season, with a career high three in 1986 and 1987. He lead the AL in caught stealing in 1986 with 18. Black ink! Moses was a Twin from 1988-1990, narrowly missing out on Championships at both ends. What luck! Wikipedia Moses has one of those sweet, easy-to-read one paragraph Wikipedia pages. Again, not a show-off. Essentially, we can learn that Moses was in fact a former baseball player and that he did spend a lot of time coaching after playing. There was a lot more information about his coaching days, so that probably says a lot about his playing career. Not mentioned in the text of his page is the fact that he was a member of the 1980 Arizona Wildcats College World Series Champions. This was the biggest story in sports in 1980, so that's pretty cool. He played with Craig Lefferts, Casey Candaele and future MLB manager/chipmunk Terry Francona (who was MVP). Google Googling John Moses is like googling a bunch of random letters. There are results, but most are irrelevant or nonsense. I did find this blog though. The author was counting down the 81 most forgettable Twins. He stopped at 46. It's an interesting concept, but incomplete. If I start a Kickstarter to help this guy finish the list, who will contribute? I'll kick in 4 bucks. That's half of my net worth, so help out, others. For what it's worth, John Moses checked in at 74, right in front of Bernardo Brito (El Pupo) at 75. What a list! I just want to know who number 1 was going to be! Bing Bing is Google, so the results are exactly the same. However, I did find a John Moses who was the 22nd Governor of North Dakota and a John Moses, comedian. According to the comedian's website, he had "the one album from 2012 you should get by a comedian you probably never heard of." I can't decide if that's a backhanded compliment or not. A compliment is a compliment, as I have come to learn. Bing images brings back a lot of old dudes, many holding guns. There are quite a few mug shots too. There are very few images of our John Moses, but I did find this amazing notebook sketch that was probably drawn by a scout when Moses was a youngster. Amazing; such impressive detail! eBay Hmm, lots of assorted baseball cards. Some are autographed, some are not. This listing is pretty incredible. It's so odd because I was just thinking of going to eBay and looking for 3 baseball cards. I didn't care what year, what kind, who, anything, I just want three baseball cards. Lucky me. Wait, jackpot! I found an autographed John Moses card from when he was a coach with the Albuquerque Isotopes. It's just six bucks shipped. It's pretty much one of a kind. He looks really happy too. Side note: Wasn't Albuquerque the potential destination for the Springfield Isotopes? Isn't that why Homer went on his hunger strike? Was Homer's strike all for naught? Why does no one tell me these things?!? Facebook This John Moses has a Facebook page. He comes without exceptions. He seems to be incapable of looking at a camera. It's a disorder. John Moses the singer has 439 likes and John Moses the comedian has 227 likes. It's clear: singing > comedy. Our John Moses does not have a Facebook page. There is a Moses John who is from Minneapolis. Perhaps our John Moses was just too famous to have a Facebook page, so he flipped his name. Twitter John Moses the comedian has twitter. He's the only comedian on twitter. He doesn't tan, he roasts! See, roast has a double meaning. Here's a link to roast's definition. But seriously, he is very kind, as you'll see below. Sadly, for my purposes, he's getting in the way of real John Moses research. Luckily, this MN Twins Zealot has a fun John Moses Fact: John Moses pitched 3 times (twice in 1990), the most for a Twins position player: http://t.co/ggBmhvRF0N — MNTwinsZealot (@MNTwinsZealot) August 6, 2013 Black ink! Also, if you are interested, this guy is giving away a John Moses card: I'm giving away: 1989 Donruss #626 John Moses - Minnesota Twins. Check it out - http://t.co/PJCcmeZIiU — Stephen Kurnock (@StephenKurnock) May 29, 2013 I wonder if he's had any luck finding a taker... I'm giving away: 1989 Donruss #626 John Moses - Minnesota Twins + 4 Random Twins Cards. Check it out - http://t.co/cAP6fXDxxx — Stephen Kurnock (@StephenKurnock) September 11, 2013 Nope. Of course, it's only been about three and a half months, so give it time. Or, act fast. Actually, I'd give it time, you might be able to milk a few more cards out of the deal. YouTube YouTube is devoid of John Moses the baseball player. There are some party videos from John Moses, former Governor... There's more from John Moses, comedian and John Moses, singer, but nothing from John Moses, baseball player. Here's what I can't figure out. There are quite a few results for Ying Yang Twins songs when I search John Moses. Is this some sort of default setting on my account? Do I have the "if no results, then Ying Yang Twins" setting enabled? If so, can someone help me turn it off? It's not what I want. Random Person Who's more random than one of the other John Moses's? I sent him a Tweet, just to see if he was aware of his namesake. @bridman77 i am, i used to have his baseball card as a kid. 2nd base? — JohnMoses (@JohnMoses) September 11, 2013 Success! This should have been obvious to me. If there was a Brad Swanson in the Majors when I was a kid, I'd have heard of him and I'd have every single card. I'd have four of every card. I was a very self-involved child. Unfortunately, this was the only famous Brad Swanson. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tiPUmZz0uEc/UjDDUg_kcMI/AAAAAAAABAs/RYKi46yJ330/s1600/brad_swanson.jpg Not the same. Verdict John Moses has been forgotten by the vast majority of us. It's sad but true. John Moses the comedian and I might be the only people left who remembers John Moses the player. In reality, there isn't room in this world for all these John Moses's. There's a singer, a comedian, a former Governor and a former baseball player/coach. It's too much. However, if I ever wanted to start some form of Baseball Cabaret, I could do a lot worse than John Moses.

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! The Twins revived a fun tradition and got swept by the Blue Jays late in the season. It wasn't the traditional stomping we're used to, but the same basic idea. The Twins have also lost a shocking 10 games in a row at home. Where's the home field advantage, Target Field? Maybe it's time to remove that Target dog from the batters' eye. It's very distracting. Punto's back? I got a random text from my mom earlier this week. All it said was "punto is back?!?" and I was confused. I then realized she meant "Pinto" and it all made sense. After a few texts back and forth, I was able to show my mom that Pinto and Punto are two different players. She was disappointed. Nick Punto was her favorite player. Josmil Pinto was my favorite player last week. It was really fun to see him get a lot of hits and earn more playing time. I'd start him every day until the end of the season and I'm at the point where I'd pencil him in to the everyday lineup in 2014. One week may not be enough time to get an accurate read, but I enjoy watching him hit and with this team, that's enough to make him a starter for me. Kevin Correia The Blue Jays shelled Correia in the first inning on Saturday and the Twins weren't able to overcome the early deficit. It was annoyed and it made me wish that I didn't have the knowledge that Correia would certainly be back in 2014. However, is it possible that Correia has been everything the Twins had hoped for? I made a chart that shows how his 2013 season compares with his 2009-2012 average season. Take a look: [TABLE=class: grid, width: 233] [/TD][TD]2013 2009-2012 (Avg) Wins 9 12 Innings 167.1 167 ERA 4.3 4.51 ERA+ 96 83 WHIP 1.41 1.362 K/9 5.1 5.7 BB/9 2.1 2.9 K/BB 2.41 1.99 HR/9 1.3 1.1 [/TABLE] He might be slightly better than he was the previous four seasons. He gets fewer strikeouts, but he's also walking fewer batters. His WHIP is higher, but his ERA is lower. He's almost a league-average pitcher, if you believe in ERA+. I'm not sure if the Correia signing was smart or not, but if the Twins wanted what Correia did from 2009-2012, they got it. Alex Presley When I analyzed the Justin Morneau trade last weekend, I referred to Presley as a Clete Thomas type and a potential DFA candidate at the end of the season. Clearly, the second part of that statement was borderline insane. The Twins wouldn't DFA the guy they got for Morneau. However, the first part seems incorrect too. Presley certainly looks like a better overall hitter. He makes more consistent contact and he appears to be more aggressive without racking up strikeouts. But, can we tether him to first base when he gets there? He's 19 for 34 in his career on stolen base attempts. Hopefully, the Twins can work with him on that element of his game, because he does seem to have good speed. In summary, the Twins now have 4 4th outfielders. See if you can name them all! Madness. Plug Michael Sack at Two Men On took a crack at predicting the Twins' 2014 lineup. Check it out! His projected lineup might be a bit ambitious on the youngster level, but I love the idea of a lineup that consists of Joe Mauer, Byron Buxton, Oswaldo Arcia, Aaron Hicks, Miguel Sano and Josmil Pinto. Those are six players who I would be genuinely excited to see at the plate a few times each game. Heck, even Brian Dozier is fun to watch now. I'm not sure about the likelihood of his lineup, but it would be a whole lot of fun to watch that team try to win 70-75 games. The Next Big Thing? Speaking of Pinto: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kjdvFdx_jlM/Uizn-G49kCI/AAAAAAAAA9M/EE9z8iryYwM/s320/PintoKing.jpg Yep, I'm calling it. It's the circle of life. 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 If Correia gets to 190 innings with that same ERA+, the list of guys to match his feat will be even smaller. Scary stuff. For comparison sake, the Red Sox have had just 26 pitchers pass this new Correia Threshold. So, is Correia better than we think or is the Twins' pitching situation not as dire as we think? Interesting question. Answer to a Hypothetical Facebook Question Q: Why would I waste my time on the Twins. The Vikings rule this town. A: I'm not going to bother to point out the lack of a question mark and the fact that you are posting on the Twins' Facebook page. Also, which town are you referring to? Bird Island? Instead, I will earnestly answer your question with five legitimate reasons. Christian Ponder is not on the Twins, thus everyone's ankles are safe. The Twins have a lot of talent coming through the pipeline and it's going to be exciting to watch them play over the years. Target Field is built. Brian Dozier's face isn't covered by a football helmet. Baseball > Football What to watch for! Have you ever thought to yourself, "I wonder if a team of animals could beat a team of birds at baseball?" If so, you're gonna get your answer. I've put together a team of animals so powerful that those birds don't stand a chance. Oh, and watch out, both teams, because Torii Hunter has brought a couple of friends. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z1EjwtUCjaw/UizoaXkwenI/AAAAAAAAA9U/mmwrUd3Gk5k/s320/threehunters.jpg Parting Thought The Twins play the A's and the Rays this week, and that rhymes. It also showcases two teams who have built winning franchises despite financial and market problems. In fact, these might be the two worst markets in all of MLB. Even so, if the playoffs started today, both teams would be there and the Twins would not. Worrying too much about the team's market and baseball economics will get you into the situation the Twins are in right now. Figuring out a way to work around financial and market issues is a part of baseball. Cities aren't going to randomly increase in size. Fan bases won't shift. Players aren't going to suddenly become cheaper. The Twins will always have to deal with being a middle market (not small, that's a fallacy). Hopefully, the wave of talent on the horizon will inspire management to be more creative in the other areas of the game. If not, they'll waste the prime years of Byron Buxton and Miguel Sano, like they did with Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau. Ugh, so sad, don't think about that. Just stop right now. Here's a guy in a silly hat: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-RuPxBCDTCdg/UizoofJ7b_I/AAAAAAAAA9c/wkqc5sbqGLY/s320/silly+hat+guy.png Have a nice week, everyone!

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! Everywhere I go these days, it seems that people have questions for me. What's that stain on your shirt? Did you do that to your hair on purpose? Can you please move back a couple steps? I figured, with so many questions to answer, the only reasonable response is to breakout the old mailbag and answer some of the more burning questions that ESPN, Fox Sports One and Telemundo refuse to answer. Here's some mailbag: On a recent TV broadcast, FS North asked Twitter who the Twins MVP was this year. The choices were Justin Morneau, Brian Dozier and Glen Perkins. I voted for Nader, but who would be your choice? Thanks! Brad S., St. Paul, MN This list seems incomplete. There's a specific guy who should really be included, but was omitted, likely due to an anti-Minnesota bias. Joe Mauer is clearly the team MVP. He leads the team in batting, OBP, slugging, WAR and babies born. Brian Dozier has been great since June and Glen Perkins is tremendous in a role that is rarely used by a terrible team, but Mauer is the team MVP. Dozier would be my choice from those three, because of the combo of his surprising power, excellent defense, and radiant hair [prior to his actual good play (balance)]. At the beginning of August, you said that you weren't surprised by the Twins and their lack of movement at the trade deadline. Were you surprised with the moves the Twins made in August? Thanks! Brad S., St. Paul, MN No, thank you! I was surprised. Since August 1, the Twins have optioned Aaron Hicks, Scott Diamond and Kyle Gibson to Rochester. I thought that all three of those guys would be providing value for the Twins until the end of the season. Diamond and Gibson seemed like solid pitchers who would be certainly better than the dregs that made up the rest of the staff. I thought Hicks would struggle early, adjust, and then be good down the stretch. I was wrong about the lot of them. I think they all bounce back next year, but it is surprising to see them in Rochester in September. The Morneau trade was surprising. I already wrote/cried about it, so I won't rehash it here. However, I didn't think the Twins had it in them to trade such a popular player for so little. I guess that extra cash is pretty nice though. I'd spend it on hard drugs, but that's just me. Are you excited for September call-ups?????????????!?!?!?!!??? Brad S., St. Paul, MN I am excited for Josmil Pinto, and he has delivered so far. Michael Tonkin seems cool. Otherwise, not really. I don't really care about Minor League veterans and re-treads. Seen 'em. Sorry to be so curt, but that's how I feel. But seriously, thank you for the question. It looks like Clete Thomas is the 4th outfielder now. At the very least, he doesn't seem like the full-time starter anymore. Are you happy, sir? You've ragged on this poor man for weeks and weeks and now he's out of the lineup. I hope you're satisfied. Brad S., St. Paul, MN I'm not. You'd think that after weeks of harping on his continued presence in the starting lineup, that I'd be elated when he was finally removed. Instead, I have some form of complainers' buyer's remorse. I was far too hard on Mr. Thomas. He's a fine ballplayer. If he and I engaged in some sort of one-on-one baseball match, he'd destroy me and probably freeze my dress clothes while I am in my baseball clothes, a la Mighty Ducks 3. In fact, Thomas would probably beat me in just about any athletic competition. If Thomas was back on the team in a bench role next year, I'd be fine with it. He's versatile. I want to challenge him to a staring contest. Did you see that article on ESPN.com regarding Max Scherzer and Jim Leyland's rant about pitching stats? Brad S., St. Paul, MN I did. It doesn't surprise me. What is Leyland supposed to say? "I agree, Scherzer probably isn't that great, his FIP is worse than his ERA and he's gotten too much run support." That would be surprising. Leyland also doesn't have to care an iota about advanced stats. He won a World Series without them. However, I don't really get the anger and hostility toward stats. If you don't want to use them, don't use them. If some dork chains Leyland to a wall and forces him to look through Excel spreadsheets, then I could see Leyland getting a bit agitated. In the context of this article, it seemed like an innocent enough question, if maybe a bit loaded. I don't get why anyone would refuse new stats altogether. More information is better than less. I can understand confusion or frustration, but hostility seems too extreme. That's just how I feel 95% of the time. Are you ready to give up give up on Aaron Hicks yet? A Hicks., Rochester, NY Not at all. I think Hicks is still destined for a productive career. I still see an All-Star appearance or two as well. He's so talented. He has speed, power, arm, defense, etc. He'll be 24 all next season and there isn't anyone blocking him from center field right now. Of course, he'll probably get leapfrogged by superfreak Byron Buxton sometime next season. To me, having to move Hicks to right is one of those "nice problems to have." His arm will play extremely well in right and his range in the outfield will really compliment Buxton in center. Those two humans in the same outfield is downright scary defensively. So, no, I am not ready to give up on him (you). Keep your head up, rook. Target Field has such exciting food options. What is your favorite ballpark fare? Brad S., St. Paul, MN That's easy. Empty a hot-water balloon. Fill it with beef stew. Cram it in your pant leg (shirt sleeve can work if you wear really tight t-shirts). Wait for the sun to do its part. Eat. If said beef stew doesn't have peas in it, it's not going to be good. Thanks for all the great questions, me. Enjoy your weekend!

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! I'm just going to admit that it is getting harder and harder to watch Twins baseball. First, the lineup and rotation are drab to say the least. With Mauer hurt and now Morneau traded, there isn't a lot of star power. Second, the season is so long and we don't even have the mirage of a possibly competitive team at this point. That being said, I do watch the games and I do enjoy them. There is plenty to look forward to in September, even if the team won't play a single meaningful game. Chris Colabello Trading Justin Morneau was sad, but probably necessary. I wrote all about how sad I was on Saturday already, so I won't get emotional here. Opening up a spot for Chris Colabello softens the blow for me. Colabello might be nothing. He could just be a AAAA guy who feasted on poor AAA pitching. Or, he could be a late bloomer with power who can hold down first base for the next few years. The only way to find out is to give him at bats. He should get those at bats now that the Twins have no other real first base options. I'm looking forward to seeing what he can do with consistent MLB playing time; I just hope he gets it. Josmil Pinto I'm extremely excited to watch Pinto over the next few weeks. You'll see why we shouldn't get too excited about Septembers a little later, but it will be very fun to see if Pinto can handle MLB pitching during this audition. While Pinto is not a top prospect, he has been an excellent Minor League hitter over the past two seasons. I'd love to see Pinto get some big hits, show some power and put himself in position to become the long-term answer at catcher/co-catcher with Joe Mauer. He had a nice debut on Sunday; hopefully he hits higher than 8th in the order. Darin Mastroianni Mastro totally blew it on Friday when he forced Trevor Plouffe to not slide into home, costing the Twins an insurance run. Sarcasm. Actually, I'm happy to see Mastro back in the lineup. He was a real pleasant surprise last year and I think he can be a good 4th outfielder on a good team. I hope he eventually takes over in center, but I'm not going to go into the real reason why I feel that way (abject, mean, unnecessary Clete Thomas hate). With Alex Presley now in the fold, Mastro might lose some playing time. I hope not. Mastro's hair is spectacular. AH, time for the Madness Former Twin Update - Jason Kubel Wow, Kubel really fell fast. I thought the Twins should have kept him, but I was clearly wrong. Last year, he was pretty great offensively. He posted a SLG higher than .500 and hit 30 home runs. He's been awful this year and he was DFAed by Arizona and then traded to Cleveland. He's still just 31 and could thrive in the AL where he can DH and give all the grass in the outfield a break. I always liked Kubel a lot and I hope he bounces back. Baseball Card from the Past - Mauer/Morneau http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s95bJQNlaGM/UiJjuqsFSqI/AAAAAAAAA5c/uQGUIbzT9Zw/s320/mauer-and-morneau-rookie-e1367790555290.jpg Aw, look at those young lads! Prospects was an understatement! The M&M boys, as they would be called, became a powerful duo for the Twins and helped lead them to multiple playoff appearances. They were humble, understated and talented. They fit in really well here in the Midwest, where we like humble and understated, and tolerate talented so long as they are humble and understated. They eventually roomed together, bought a lot of Jimmy Johns and each won an MVP. Now, they have been split apart at the seams. Sad. We can always remember these days. http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-q8NIg_8Isiw/UiJjurJOiRI/AAAAAAAAA5g/xES5CxJyLUY/s320/mauermorneaubreakup.jpg Just so sad. Random Photoshop/Twins Villain - Gary GaeYeti http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BOCGg32YLzg/UiJj38YG7qI/AAAAAAAAA5o/j4pvyrQ_a-A/s320/garygaeyeti.jpg That makes me feel a bit better/scared. Random Top 5 - Best September OPS in Twins' history (min 40 PA) Jim Thome - 2010 - 1.338 Gary Ward - 1980 - 1.269 Mike Ryan - 2003 - 1.245 Chip Hale - 1993 - 1.209 Matt LeCroy - 2001 - 1.204 Holy Tho-moly! That list rocks. For what it's worth, Harmon Killebrew doesn't make the list, but does have 5 of the 16 best Septembers in Twins' history. Shane Mack has the 18th best and he did this: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1RJuPJg-4fI/UiJkF_j3m9I/AAAAAAAAA54/iFjmGsJkV7s/s320/shane_mack.jpg So, he's the real number one. Poll Results, New Poll I haven't had an active poll in weeks. It just hasn't felt right. Here are the results from my most recent poll about broadcasters: Which Broadcaster Adage Annoys You Most? - He plays the game the right way - 13 votes - the winner! Pitch Quickly; Pitch to Contact - 6 votes Keep the fielders engaged, no strikeouts! - 8 votes Anything related to showing up Umpires - 5 votes Bunt Constantly! Bunts for all! - 1 vote These don't annoy me, you annoy me - 3 votes For the record, I hate all the bunting, but I think the "plays the game the right way" adage is really annoying too. I don't like it because it can't be quantified and I am a nerd. Only about 10% of people find me annoying, which is far less than the percentage in real life. I must be less obnoxious in print. I posted a new poll, please take some time to vote. Link to Something I wrote - Morneau Trade, 20 Trades archive I wrote about the Morneau trade, and you can read it here. In fact, I've been writing about Twins trades for the past couple months. I'm all done now. If you missed any, I made a little archive here. How nice! Parting Thought - Favorite Morneau Memory I have a terrible memory. I remember certain things very well - names, dates, etc. Basically, if it's easy, I can remember it. Actual events are fuzzier. So, when I think of my favorite Justin Morneau memory, you will have to excuse the lack of specifics. During the 2006 season, the Twins were playing the Tigers (I believe). They were losing, runners were on base and Morneau was up. Morneau was an MVP candidate at that point, but I wasn't sold just yet. I said to myself, "ok Justin, if you really are the MVP, hit a home run right here." On the very next pitch, Morneau hit a ball about as high as you can hit a ball. It held in the air for what seemed like forever and eventually it dropped right in the opposing bullpen for a home run. The Twins took the lead, they won the game and Morneau won me over. My second favorite memory was the time he broke the light in the scoreboard at Miller Park. I remember that one clearly because I was there and I didn't stop talking about it for the next few days. Have a nice week, everyone!

Oh yeah, he definitely was not bad. I could see where some would have been disappointed with his injury and lack of home run power, but those things would have evened out (and did).

Originally posted at Kevin Slowey was Framed! I also wrote about that Francisco Liriano trade from a million years ago, if you want to read about it. After the 2009 season, the Twins decided to make a smart move and deal from outfield depth to address a position that had been a weakness on the team for the better part of 20 years. Just one year later, the Twins decided, "meh, shortstops are for dorks" and traded that same player away for a couple of relievers. Buckle up folks, it's very hard to be even remotely positive about this trade. The Trade: BREAKDOWN! The Minnesota Twins traded J.J. Hardy and Brendan Harris and cash to the Baltimore Orioles for Jim Hoey and Brett Jacobson. Harris and Jacobson never played for their new teams, so we can just move past them. Hoey was one of the worst Twins relievers in recent memory. He only threw 24.2 innings for the Twins. In those innings, he posted a 5.47 ERA, which was actually a career low! He walked 13 batters and only struck out 14. He nearly posted a 2.0 WHIP. He was brutal. After a disappointing 2010 season with the Twins, Hardy bounced back in 2011. He hit 30 home runs for the Orioles and was worth 4.3 WAR. His offense slipped to an 82 OPS+ in 2012, but his defense and power helped make him a 3+ WAR player anyway. In 2013, He has been somewhere in between 2011 and 2012, but would still be much better than Pedro Florimon and Tsuyoshi Nishioka sharing a uniform and trying to use their four arms to their advantage. How did I feel at the time? Not pleased. I thought acquiring Hardy was a very smart move and I wasn't happy that the Twins gave up on him after a season. I was not on the Nishioka bandwagon at all and I didn't think that trading away a power-hitting shortstop is the kind of thing a good team does. I'm not going to state who was right or wrong. Why make the trade? That is a question that I can't really answer. Here's an ESPN.com article that tries it's best to make sense of the senseless. "We're looking for a little more offense to our regular shortstop position, and we're confident he can provide that," Orioles president of baseball operations Andy MacPhail said. "We also talked to other shortstop targets." I love it! Adding a great offensive shortstop is a great way to improve a team. We sure are lucky that MacPhail is back and making shrewd moves. Wait. This is what the Orioles did. Oops. Well, I'm guessing the Twins were targeting some high upside arms, right? Hoey and Jacobson are two hard-throwing minor leaguers who could eventually help replenish Minnesota's bullpen. Yeah! Hard throwing. Now I get it. Let's bring in some hard throwing relievers. They will certainly match the value of a good shortstop. They'll pitch like 60 innings apiece and all will be well. The question remains: who are these people? The 27-year-old Hoey was 4-0 with a 3.38 ERA and 32 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings at Triple-A Norfolk. He pitched for Baltimore in 2006-07, going 3-5 with an 8.13 ERA. Well that doesn't look promising. Although, there was nowhere to go but up, I suppose. What about the other guy? The 24-year-old Jacobson was 8-1 with one save and a 2.79 ERA and 67 strikeouts in 71 innings at Class A Frederick. The Orioles got him in August 2009 from Detroit in a trade for Aubrey Huff. Hmm. Not terrible. Of course, this ignores the fact that Jacobson was 24 and repeating A ball. Whatever, the Twins needed relievers, as they were about to lose Jesse Crain and Matt Guerrier. Of course, the Orioles needed relievers too, as evidenced here: The Orioles also reached a preliminary agreement with pitcher Koji Uehara on a one-year contract for $3 million. The deal is pending a physical. The 35-year-old Japanese righty was 1-2 with 13 saves and a 2.86 ERA in 43 games for Baltimore last season. Three million was only slightly less than what the Twins were going to pay Nishioka. Uehara was only good as an MLB pitcher, not good as a class A pitcher. So, it just depends on which league you value more. Analysis If you want to even try to make sense of this move, then you are trying very hard to be positive. However, the logic behind the move must have gone like this: Nishioka is coming, Guerrier and Crain are gone, this will balance things out. Hardy wasn't great in 2010 and the relievers acquired were young. There is a hint of logic there. A hint. I'm not willing to go any further than that. The reality is that the Twins finally had a decent shortstop and they basically gave him away. They gave him away much like they gave Jason Bartlett away just a few years prior. It seems that the Twins aren't able to see a good defensive shortstop, unless it is very obvious. As I type this, Pedro Florimon is manning the Twins' shortstop position and he certainly is defense-only. However, Bartlett and Hardy might not make their defensive prowess as apparent as Florimon does. They were both extremely solid but maybe didn't always look the part. Whatever the issue was, the Twins let two very valuable players slip away. Of course, Hardy wasn't defense-only. He has great power at a premium defensive position. Hardy could bat 5th, play short and probably do so for another 3-4 years. He'd be around when the Twins get good again. Instead, the Twins will likely have a gaping hole at the position for the foreseeable future. That being said, he's not a superstar. True, the Twins let him get away, but he isn't without some major flaws. He's inconsistent and he doesn't get on-base at even an above-average rate. He's still a whole lot better than Nishioka, Hoey and Jacobson. Who won the WAR? Hoey with the Twins: -0.6 WAR Hardy with the Orioles: 10.9 WAR WAR won by the Orioles! One Sentence Summary Did anyone really think that the Orioles lost anything related to this trade?

It's pretty low, but Dozier's emergence these past couple months gives it a slight boost. Let's say 2.0. Solid, but he'll need to build on it to be part of the long-term plans.