A little update...

It's been a while since I've had a chance to say much...

The football team that I help coach started off with a win. We didn't play as well as we're capable of, but the team we beat is picked to win their conference.

The Twins are hanging in there. They are getting to the end of their crazy road trip and have held their own. They are still a half game behind the White Sox, but ESPN's "playoff probability" lists them as 54 to 45 per cent favorites to win their division.

Fantasy Football (as well as the NFL season) is about to get into full swing. I just finished my 4th and final draft. I will keep both of you readers updated as my year progresses.

Cade is 8 weeks today. He's getting so big already and has slept til 6 AM two nights in a row. Marin is still goofy Marin... I'm going to miss them both when I have to go back to school on Tuesday.

I will try to post more frequently.

Quick update

So two-a-days are over, which means I'm actually home. Practice isn't all that bad... but the days sure can be long. Anyway, both kids are sleeping right now, so I thought I'd post a little about the last week.

Since my last post, the Twins have continued to play well. The problem is, so do the White Sox. Through it all, the runner-up in the Central has become a legit contender in the Wild Card Race.

The Twins mysteriously tried to acquire P Jarrod Washburn from the Mariners. (In a local twist, his old high-school baseball coach at Webster is now my boss.) To me, that says that the Twins are concerned about the innings their starters - namely Glen Perkins - need to pitch. I talked about that awile ago, so it should be somewhere in my achieves. Regardless, the acquisition fell through and the team plugs on with five young starters.

Second Baseman Alexi Casilla should be returning to the lineup tonight. To open a roster spot, the Twins outrighted P Brian Bass. It was a little surprising in that the bullpen has been carrying a heavy workload, but my money is on the Twins bringing up Philip Humber in the near future to help alleviate the problem. Humber has been a stud lately; I'm looking forward to him being in the 'pen and possibly the rotation next year.

Carlos Gomez has transitioned to part-time CF/defensive replacement/pinch-runner. I can't say I'm disappointed in that. I am, and will continue to be, a big fan of his... but Denard Span is clearly the better baseball player. Speaking of Span, I'm a pretty big fan of his too.

Casilla's return means Nick Punto doesn't get to bat 2nd anymore.... YES!!! I don't hate Punto as much as I used to... but I'm still hoping that he's not on the team past this season. If he does return, it needs to be on a 1-year contract, because it's obvious to me that he only plays well in contract years.

Well, Cade is awake and I'm sure Marin isn't far behind. It was nice while it lasted :)

Big road trip starts tonight. Let's see how they match up with Baseball's Best.

Twins Update

It was great to see the Twins take 2 of 3 from the Yankees. I thought Delmon Young played especially well, it would just be nice to see the guy crack a smile once in a while. Adam Everett seems to coming around. While I don't think he'll be back next year, it's nice to see him contribute positively. The starting pitching continues to perform. By my accounts, no Twins team has ever had 5 starting pitchers with 10+ wins. (In 1970, 4 starters and 1 reliever accomplished the feat.) It's possible that 5 -including the now-departed Livan Hernandez - could get it done this year.

In minor-league news: It appears the Twins have agreed to terms with 6th round pick BJ Hermsen. I didn't see that coming. If it is true, I would expect Hermsen to debut next year. The deadline to sign picks is tomorrow.

Francisco Liriano will be facing former-Twin Carlos Silva tomorrow.

Twins Beat Yanks

The Twins beat the Yankees last night behind a shutout performance by Glen Perkins. He pitched 8 innings, scattered a few hits, walked 3 and struck out 4. The offense was led by a 2-run HR by Adam Everett.

The White Sox apparently lost, because the Twins are back in the lead in the AL Central. It also appears that Alexi Casilla will be returning in the next week or so.

Posts may become few and far between for these next couple of weeks. Football practice starts this morning and we'll be rolling twice-a-day.

Have a good Tuesday.

Blog Update

UPDATE SUNDAY NIGHT 10:25 - I was going to post today, but after watching what happened, I just don't feel up to it. I am growing more tired of Nick Punto every day. At one point I said "Adam Everett is everything that Nick Punto is supposed to be." And then Everett went and "pulled a Punto" by messing up a throw. By "pulling a Punto" I mean: You're there for defensive reasons and your defense sucks! (At least for one play.) I'm convinced that when Alexi Casilla is ready to return it's going to be Randy Ruiz who is sent down. There is no way that Mike Lamb or Everett get DFA'd. Big series starts tomorrow.

On another note: I just watched the 4x100 swimming relay. Great comeback by the USA. Awesome!

-----

I wasn't able to watch the Twins game last night and I watched the DVR'd version of tonight's game. Either way, it's late and I'm going to bed. I should be able to post tomorrow.

It's too bad about Michael Cuddyer hurting his foot. It doesn't sound like he'll be back this year.

Twins Avoid Sweep

The Twins avoided a sweep by beating the Mariners 7-3 this afternoon.

They get a needed day off tomorrow. The bullpen needs some time to recover.

Three Stars:
Denard Span - 3 for 5, 4 RBI, 3B, SB, game-saving HR-robbery. Without doing any research, I can confidently put this into the "Twins Top 5 Individual Performance of the Year". Offensively, his bases-loaded triple was a game-changer. Defensively, his catch of an Adrian Beltre homerun was a series-changer. It's impossible to put into words what he's done for this team lately.
Brendan Harris - 2 for 4, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 2B, BB. Maybe it's fitting to start calling him Brendan "Doubles Machine" Harris. He's got 23 2B this year, but over a quarter of them have come in the last week. I don't know where he'll play in the future, but I'm confident that he'll be on the roster next year. (Two weeks ago I wasn't.)
Randy Ruiz - 2 for 5, 2 R. Although he hasn't shown much (or any) power, he's been effective.

Watching the last three games has been a bit of a downer. It shouldn't happen that a team is in first place, winning a ball game, yet you're watching it and feeling a sense of doom. That happened every game this week. Luckily, Denard Span saved today's game. The reason is mostly the bullpen. Mix that in with some other issues that are coming up and here is what I think will happen:

The first and biggest issue is with the bullpen. Earlier this year, the team went with 13 pitchers. Maybe it wouldn't be a crazy idea to revisit. It also seems like Michael Cuddyer's return will come in the next week and Alexi Casilla's injury isn't as serious as it was first believed.

My steps to fix the problem:

1. DFA Brian Bass. He would probably clear waivers and remain property of the organization. If he clears he could stay on the 40-man (I think) and pitch at his level in Rochester.
2. Promote LHRP Ricky Barrett. We've seen what happens when Craig Breslow is the only left-handed option in the bullpen and it isn't pretty. Even though Dennys Reyes is back, I still don't think it would be terrible to have another left-handed arm. Plus, Barrett has been very good this year, except for a week in July.
3. I like Randy Ruiz. I don't think he's been in the lineup enough to justify him being here. Unfortunately, when Cuddyer comes back, there won't be room for Ruiz. So Ruiz should be sent down to make room for...
4. The return of Michael Cuddyer. The Twins front office is looking a little silly over the long-term deal they gave Cuddyer in the offseason. I believed at the time it was a very good deal because of the uncertainty of the Twins outfield. But now with Delmon Young, Carlos Gomez and Denard Span - not to mention Jason Kubel - the outfield will be fine. At this point, though, 5 guys for four spots - and you know that Span and Kubel have to play against all right-handers - it leaves one, and possibly two, of the guys on the bench.
5. You can't let young guys rot on the bench. Young has become a guy that needs to be in the lineup and Span has become everything that Gomez was supposed to be. It won't be popular, but in the best interest of the team, and himself, Carlos Gomez should head to Rochester.
6. That opens up a spot on the active roster. I mentioned earlier that the Twins wouldn't be crazy to carry 13 pitchers. One of the big names involved in the Santana trade was Philip Humber. He struggled early and was sent to the bullpen. Since his return to the rotation - more out of necessity than earning it - he has been great. 3 starts, 20 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 16 H, 6 BB, 24 Ks. Now, I'm not calling to add him to the rotation. I do think, however, that he could be a great guy for long-relief, and, since he is out of options after this year, this could be a great audition for a job next year. (Even though I'm pretty sure he'll be on the active roster all year.) So let's give Humber a shot in the bullpen.
7. Alexi Casilla is supposed to get healthy again. I know the popular opinion would be to DFA Adam Everett. But I like the way that Mike Lamb has looked lately and maybe he deserves another shot at 3B. So maybe Brian Buscher could head down to Rochester to make room for Casilla? I'm not 100% on board with that, but at least it's a possibility.

The nice thing with all of these choices is if they don't pan out, they can easily be reversed. (Unless Bass is lost.) I do think that doing these things would add some energy to the team and, besides sending Gomez down, not be too damaging to the egos. When rosters expand on September 1st, I expect guys like Barrett (who'd have to be added to the 40-man), Humber and Matt Macri to all be on the roster. I would just really like to see Gomez gain a little confidence for the stretch run.

In other news - I just stumbled onto the fact that the Twins signed 30th round pick Michael Tonkin. Normally, I don't say much about draft pick signings, but I feel this one can be significant. Tonkin was a highly-regarded high-school senior. (I've seen him ranked 47th in his high-school class). And he was expected to enroll at USC this fall. Generally, highly-ranked high-schoolers that don't seem signable will drop considerably. Teams will take a fliar on them, and they will go unsigned and nothing is lost.

In this case, though, I didn't see it coming. Right after the draft I went through the list of players and marked them as "will sign", "might sign" or "won't sign". So far, only 3 of my 20 "will signs" haven't signed. Of my 19 "might signs", 5 have signed. But of my 13 "won't signs", only Tonkin has signed. (That brings the total to 23 signed draft picks... to my knowledge.) Of course, it probably helped the Twins' case that Michael Tonkin's sister, Blake, is married to DH Jason Kubel. I guess maybe it shouldn't be so shocking...

In other draft-related news, Twins prospect P Shooter Hunt, who entered tonight's game for Beloit with a 0.62 combined ERA, gave up 6 runs (5 earned), 4 hits, 6 walks and only 3 Ks in only 3 1/3 of an inning. Ouch!

Enjoy the day off tomorrow!

Yikes!

I'd prefer to just no talk about last night's game. I was about to go to bed... and I wish I would have. Instead, I remained hopeful of a 5-run 9th. Nope.

Tonight's game pits Scott Baker against semi-former-Twin R.A. Dickey. Dickey signed with the Twins, but was lost in the Rule V draft. Dickey is a knuckleballer, so it should be interesting.

In other news...

Cade turned 4 weeks old on Sunday. He had some pictures done at Target. Enjoy...

First-Place Twins

The Twins completed their series with the Indians by beating them 6-2. Couple that with a White Sox loss to the Royals and the Twins are now in sole possession of first place. Not bad.

Three Stars:
Francisco Liriano - 6 IP, 3 H, 3 BB, 5 K. He wasn't the Liriano of old. He also wasn't the Liriano of April. Today's performance, though, was better than I expected. (If I have time, I'm going to re-watch today's game and comment more thoroughly on Liriano's performance... if I have time.)
Mike Lamb - 1 for 3, 3B, RBI, R. Lamb's defense wasn't great, but he did make a good play on a bad throw. He made up for it with a triple that scored Kubel. He's expensive for a left-handed situational player, but he's been alright lately.
Nick Punto - 1 for 4, 3B, RBI, R. First of all, the head-slide into first base was unnecessary. For that, I would sit him a game. I would call him into my office and say something like this, "Are you an idiot? How many players on our team are hurt because they've slid head-first into bases? I'm not saying don't slide head-first ever, but don't do it just to do it. Take some time - tomorrow's game - to think about what it would be like to hurt yourself unnecessarily as you watch the game from the bench." With that being said, Punto did make some nice defensive plays (and one bad one which cost Harris an error). He also added a nice triple. Of course, the pattern of him batting second is becoming somewhat annoying. BUT, as long as he continues to get on base, I'll zip my lip.

The Twins head to Seattle in first place. The White Sox have tomorrow off and then welcome the Tigers for three and then the Red Sox for four.

I'm hoping for a solid week, at least solid enough that when the Yankees come to town, the Twins have a 2 or 3 game lead.

Let's hope anyway!

Twins beat Indians

The Twins continued their quest for the playoffs with a 4-1 win over the Indians on Friday night. At this moment the Twins trail the White Sox (Central) and Red Sox (Wild Card) each by a half game. ESPN also puts their chances at making the playoffs at 49.8%

Three Stars:
Joe Mauer - 1 for 4, 2-run HR. Mauer's 7th HR of the year - his 6th against LHP - was the "hit of the game". It looks like Mauer is developing more power... at least we're hoping he is.
Nick Blackburn - 7 IP, 6 H, BB, ER, 2 K. Blackburn continues to get it done. The rotation is definitely going to be a strength for years to come.
Brendan Harris - 2 for 3, RBI, R, 2 2B. Harris continues to be a doubles machine, and he's been on a tear for the last six weeks.

*NOTABLE:
Randy Ruiz picked up his first major-league hit tonight. After calling for his release from Rochester earlier this year, I've come full-circle and have been calling for his promotion the last couple of weeks. It finally came; and you could tell he was nervous. I expect him to continue to be the regular DH against LHP.

I mentioned earlier that the Twins would have five spots open on their 40-man roster when the season concludes. I expect a few others - that will remain nameless - will be taken off of the 40-man. At this point there are handful of guys that I can almost guarantee will be added, therefore safe from the Rule V draft: AAA P's Brian Duensing and Anthony Swarzak, AAA INF Trevor Plouffe and AA INF Luke Hughes. There are many other players who have a case to be added. This is the closest I've followed the Twins minor leagues, so I'm not going to try to guess any more... but it will continue to be interesting watching what roster moves the Twins make.

Slowey tomorrow and the Franchise on Sunday... should be a great weekend!

Franchise

Many of us are wondering whether or not Francisco Liriano will be making his scheduled start tonight for Rochester. LaVelle doesn't think he will be. Remind yourself that you read it here first: Liriano will start of the Red Wings tonight. So no promotion yet...

UPDATE 5:00 - So I was a little off with Liriano. He will be joining the team and the rotation. Livan Hernandez and Craig Monroe are out. Replacing Monroe will be right-handed 1B/DH Randy Ruiz.

If you read my thoughts yesterday, here is what I said:

Craig Monroe will be traded or cut. To fill Monroe's spot, the Twins will call up 1B/DH Randy Ruiz from Rochester. Spot on! The thing with this move is that I had never even heard it before I posted it.

The Twins will fail in their attempt to land a second baseman. Right again!

Francisco Liriano will be promoted and in the rotation. Boof Bonser will be traded. The "8th inning" job that needs to be filled will go to current Twins starter Glen Perkins. Somehow, someway, Livan Hernandez, Mike Lamb and Adam Everett will all remain with the Twins. I was off a little bit. I totally didn't think Hernandez would be let go. It almost made too much sense.

It also appears that Ruiz will be in the starting lineup tonight. He will have to added to the 40-man roster. That is no big deal since they started the day at 38 and gained two more spots. After Ruiz is added, they will be at 37. (I also believe they have 3 other FA's at the end of the year - Punto, Reyes and Everett.) They will have to re-add Neshek to the 40-man, so that gives them 5 extra spots for next year.

More to come...