Twins Streak Continues

The Twins completed their third straight sweep and ninth straight victory today.

Instead of naming stars, I'm just going to give you some information that I find important:
*Justin Morneau went 3 for 4 today with a HR and 3 RBI. He is now batting .310 on the year.
*Mike Redmond played today so Mauer could have a day off. He went 2 for 5 and is up to .286. That's not bad considering it took Redmond until the end of May to get to, and stay above .200.
*Carlos Gomez went 0 for 5 and is not batting .268. Does anyone else think that Gomez could use a day off?
*Delmon Young didn't play at all this series. Maybe he could have played a game for Cuddyer (2 for 13 this series) or Kubel (2 for 12). I think Delmon will get better. I would say that being benched for 3 games was unjustified.
*Brian Buscher is still getting it done (.386).
*In the winning streak, the starters have been 8-0. Only Slowey had a no decision, and he pitched very well.

The Brewers are coming to town tomorrow. They are playing well (8-2 in last 10), so expect some good games. I will be there tomorrow, so look for me.

The Timberwolves - as expected - drafted OJ Mayo. In a somewhat surprising move, they haven't traded him (yet). Not much has been made of the pick, so I'm going to assume they are keeping him. In my opinion, they 100% did the right thing.

In the 2nd round the Wolves had two picks. They took foreign C Nikola Pekovic from Montenegro and Kansas G Mario Chalmers. The analysts liked both picks. Apparently, Pekovic is under contract for a few years oversees, but was described as having "lottery talent." He likely won't make it to Minnesota for 3-4 years. I was a little surprised to see the Wolves take Chalmers. I don't doubt that he's going to be a decent player, but teams don't have a lot of room for 6-3 shooting guards... and the Wolves took two of them tonight. It wouldn't shock me if the Wolves night isn't over.

UPDATE 10:20 pm - The Wolves have traded Mario Chalmers to the Heat for a couple of 2nd round picks and cash. No word yet if Miami's pick this year is part of this deal. I would assume it would be, but who knows?

UPDATE 8:28 am - I actually went to bed last night thinking that OJ Mayo was going to stay a Timberwolf. Why wouldn't I? Hoiberg was telling us all that. Well, it turns out we were wrong. Mayo is heading to Memphis. I know a lot of Wolves fans are disappointed. This trade isn't going to help with fan-base. But I do think the Wolves will come out ok.

The deal: Mayo, Marko Jaric ($6.6m + 2 more years), Antoine Walker ($9.3m) and Greg Buckner ($3.8m +2 more years) for Kevin Love, Mike Miller ($9m + 1 more year), Brian Cardinal ($6.3m + 1 more year) and Jason Collins ($6.2m)

Contract-wise: The Wolves actually took more money back this year. Let's compare totals on a yearly basis - 08-09 gained approx. $1.8m. 09-10 gained approx. $5.4m. The deal will look good in 10-11 when this trade helps reduce the payroll by almost $12m. So over the life of these deals the Wolves salary will be reduced by close to $5 million. That doesn't include the fact that Love will sign for less money than Mayo.

Skill-wise: Mike Miller is going to lead the Wolves in scoring. He will fill a role that hasn't been properly filled since Sprewell left. He will start at a wing. Kevin Love will probably start at the 4, but will not be nearly as good as Mayo over their respective careers. The rest of the players are just bad contracts that won't play much. (Although I do wonder if the Wolves have room for both Mark Madsen and Brian Cardinal on their bench...?)

Fan-wise: I think a lot of Wolves fans were excited about Mayo. He probably would have helped sell tickets. As far as winning games, probably not likely in the beginning. Because of that, fans would stop coming. The Wolves, and Mike Miller, will be better in the long run. If they can start winning a few games, that will put fans in the seats.

Realistically: The Wolves win 25ish games and end up in the lottery with another high pick. They also will have Miami's pick if the Heat don't end up in the Top 10. If the Wolves finish with a decent record - and a pick outside of the Top 10 - they send their pick to the Clippers. Early money says that Wolves struggle all year and end up choosing between 7-0 C BJ Mullens of Ohio State or 7-3 Haseem Thabeet of UConn. Although there will be better players on the board. Why? Because that's how Kevin McHale rolls!

An early look at the roster:
PG - Sebastian Telfair (RFA) - If he leaves, Foye moves to point.
SG - Randy Foye - Let's hope he can stay healthy.
SF - Mike Miller - Will also play SG.
PF - Kevin Love - Athletic big man who should be perfect compliment to Big Al.
C - Al Jefferson - Should still get 20 and 10.
Res - Rashad McCants - Could start, but I envision him as a 6th man.
Res - Ryan Gomes (RFA) - Would probably start at SF if Telfair leaves.
Res - Corey Brewer - Will be asked to be defensive stopper.
Res - Craig Smith (RFA) - Will be part of big-man rotation.
Res - Jason Collins - Will probably start - ala Mark Blount, Michael Doleac - until Love is ready.
11th and 12th men - Brian Cardinal and Mark Madsen
Have a good night.