Livan Hernandez is a Twin

The Twins added some experience to their starting rotation today when Livan Hernandez signed a one-year deal worth about 5 million dollars. Whether or not this turns out to be another waste of money like Ramon Ortiz and Sidney Ponson is yet to be determined. Hernandez went 11-11 with a 4.93 ERA with Arizona last year which is already a slight step up from Ortiz' 11-16 with a 5.57 ERA with Washington the year before signing with the Twins.

The opening day starter is still unclear, but if I had to guess I'd say that Hernandez would be given the job because of his veteran status. He's definitely not Santana and may only be on par with Carlos Silva, but the one thing he does that this team desperately needs is eat up innings. He has thrown at least 199 innings since 1998, hopefully that trend will continue and the bullpen will know that at the very least they'll have one day to rest during the rotation.

The pitchers set to start the year off looks to be Hernandez, Scott Baker, Boof Bonser, Kevin Slowey and a fight between a healing Fransisco Liriano, Nick Blackburn and the newly acquired Phil Humber. If this team has any hope of staying in the race for the central pennant we’re going to need Liriano to show up like he did in his rookie season, Hernandez to pitch more like he did in 2000 or 2003 and Delmon Young to do his best Frank Robinson impression.

God, I hope this pans out.

Johan Santana Fans 17 Rangers

Viva El Presidente! 17 strikeouts? Like Dick said, Mr. Santana is now the proud owner of the most strikeouts in club history... and he's probably going to hold on to that for, oh I don't know... forever.

If it weren't for Cuddy's home run in the second this gem of a game could have gone down the crapper like so many good starts from this pitching staff. They may not all be as thrilling as Santana's win yesterday but Boof, Silva and especially Garza have all felt the wrath of Ryan's inability to open up his wallet.

Terry Ryan should have thrown a huge contract right in front of his locker after the game ended. Obviously he is the best pitcher in baseball and he will be for quite some time. They may be all but mathematically eliminated from the playoffs this year but seeing Santana do this sort of thing still makes me smile.

Castillo Leaves State, Bracey Leaves Country

Yes, every one knows that Kevin Garnett is no longer a member of the Minnesota Timberwolves, but he was not the only sports figure to get a little time in our posts to say goodbye...

The Twins also traded one of their better players in Luis Castillo away for 2 prospects. Those prospects are Drew Butera a catching prospect and son of former Twin Sal Butera and outfielder Dustin Martin. The catcher makes me wonder because it seems like the Twins have a ton of catching prospects that are going to sit behind the All-star caliber and hometown hero Joe Mauer. This organization had better turn right back around and trade a couple of prospects (like their AAA catcher) or Rincon or Silva or a combination for a bat that works properly. The problem is that they have about a half an hour to do this.

Castillo's bat worked properly... he had a .304 average. We've lost the fastest man with a limp in the MLB, the man who stated they year with about 12 straight infield hits, the man who regularly beat out bunts and the guy who seemed to be the only one getting on base a while back. As far as defense goes it sounds like we'll be bringing Brian Bruscher in as the everyday 3rd baseman, moving Punto to second and bringing Alexi Casilla back to the bigs as a speedster and utility infielder to groom as our everyday 2nd baseman. As much as I dislike losing a 3 time all-star and 3 time gold glover this seems logical for the future... I'm just still thinking about the present.

As for Bracey, he recently signed with a greek team called Aris TT Bank. I didn't manage to look up the stats on Bracey's summer league stint with Denver but I can't imagine that they invited him back. Too bad, I honestly think the guy has enough talent to be a solid six or seventh man and possibly even end up as a starter. Of course this isn't the end by any means and there are tons of players who went to Europe for a couple years to hone their game before hitting the Association again. If I can find time between work and looking for a new truck I'll ask him about his new team and his thoughts on the KG trade. I know I've said that before, but seing as he'll be leaving the country soon and he is the only person I semi-sort-of-know with any insider information on the Wolves and the NBA so I'll make sure to do it soon. Good luck Bracey.

Twins Pitching Odds

The Twins have a killer starting rotation… unfortunately most of those pitchers will start the season in the minors. The Pioneer Press in reporting today that the Twins starting rotation will look like we thought it would at the beginning of spring training. “El Presidente” Santana will be at the helm of this starting rotation followed by Ramon Ortiz (whom I am gaining faith in), Boof!, Carlos Silva and Sidney Ponson. The Twins sent down baseball’s version of Agent Zero, Kevin Slowey, on Sunday and Matt Garza and Glen Perkins are sure to follow soon.

I put complete trust in Rick Anderson’s ability to get the best out of his pitchers, but I think that Silva and Ponson just don’t have it anymore. Last year the Twins made a run (and captured) the division after dumping a few geezers off the side of the boat and infusing their infield with some youth. This year I see that happening to the starting rotation… its only a matter of time before something bad happens. At the moment I’m channeling the future in order to bring you the odds on what leads this pitching staff in a younger directions. Here it is from least likely to most likely… enjoy.

50:1 – No change is made to the starting rotation

25:1 – Silva hits someone in the head with his sinker ball (if it’s A-Rod, he may be promoted and given an award for shutting the guy up)

15:1- Ponson’s visa expires before the season ends

12:1- Ponson falls off the wagon and punches a cop while joyriding with Koren Robinson and Eddie “Hardwood” Griffin

10:1- Ortiz and Silva go 1-2 in home runs given up in the AL

5:1- Kevin Slowey has an ERA lower than 1.50 when he gets called up to the majors

3:1- Santana repeats as Cy young winner (its got to be a fluke if he loses)

2:1- Silva and Ortiz are gone by the ALL-STAR break (hello backup shortstop)

1:1- Bonser, Silva and Ponson get into an all out brawl over the last doughnut in the clubhouse (Dennys Reyes sits back chomping on said doughnut and laughing his ass of while Bonser puts the old guys in a double headlock)