The Twins have a decision to make...

... And I think it's a pretty easy one. Right now the Twins have 13 pitchers on their 25 man roster. They'll also be starting their inter-league play in one week meaning there will be a lot more substitutions in the games and an absolute need for another bench player..

We've already run into trouble with the bench. in the final game against Baltimore Kevin Slowey had to pinch run for Mike Redmond so that Gardenhire's bench was intact for the final inning. Mauer had to come in as catcher for Redmond and because of that we lost our DH. Had Alexi Casilla not ended the game with a strike out Jessie Crain would have gotten an at-bat. The reason they have 13 pitchers right now is because Brandon Bass, Boof Bonser and Juan Rincon will have to pass through waivers if they're sent to Rochester.

Its obvious that Rincon should be the odd man out in this situation. For one thing he has absolutely no B's in his name... a necessity for long relief, which BB squared is capable of doing. The other reason is that Rincon hasn't been the same since he stopped hittin' the juice. Chalk Rincon's career up to the steroid era, maybe try to trade him for a couple of nice bats and move on.

Rincon was one of the best set up men in baseball. His ERA was 2.63 in 2004 and 2.46 in 2005. In May of 2005 he was suspended for steroids and his ERA began to creep up. 2006 wasn't horrible- his ERA was 2.91 but last year it skyrocketed to 5.13 and this year its hovering close to that. He gave up a home run against the Sox tonight and has been no help to his team... one hold in 26 innings just doesn't cut it.

I'm not entirely clear on the waiver process, but I believe that Rincon's veteran status will make it a bit more difficult to send him down and may force the Twins to pay the difference between the contract he signed with the Twins for 2.47 million and the contract that his new team would offer him but we've just got to eat it and move on. Rincon and Jesse Crain are the weakest pitchers in the bullpen according to Aaron Gleeman's adjusted WPA but Crain has a much better ERA and doesn't have that black mark on his record.

It's time to bring in a bat.

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.

"Sir Sid Still Sucks" - So Says Ryan

Senor Ponson Dice, "Adios, Minnesota". Beware Aruban Judges The Twins have let loose a 250+ pound man with a new found reason to drink. He will likely attempt to take his 6.93 ERA elsewhere, but if Rick Anderson can't fix it nobody can. At least we didn't have to wait until June like we did with Batista and Juan Castro.

For the moment the fat man will be replaced by first baseman/ outfielder Garrett Jones. So Far this year Jones has posted a .305 batting average with 5 home runs and 25 strike outs. The Twins claim he has a big bat and we could use one of those right now with Mauer out of the line-up and a lack of production. The offense was in fine working order yesterday when the Twinkies scored 16 runs against the central leading Tigers. Torii Hunter had two home runs and drove in 7. Cuddy and Redmond each had a home run in the game to help Boof Ball win his first game. All 11 batters to enter the game had a hit.

I bet Ponson wished that he had been given a game or two like that to keep him around a little longer. There is no telling how long Garrett will be up in the bigs. Gardenhire had been saying that he wanted to have an extra hitter for the up-coming inter-league play, and also said that he wanted to keep Glenn Perkins in the long relief role. When the time comes Rochester is full of prospects waiting for their chance.

Scott Baker seems to be the best choice considering his time in the majors and an ERA of 3.16. Kevin Slowey has the the bast ERA in Rochester at 1.51, but he has no big league experience. The younger and taller version of Brad Radke seems destined to stay put until a run of injuries or a September call-up. Matt Garza has a respectable 3.75 ERA and has some (painful) big league experience... he is the reason that the Twins most likely won't call up Slowey. If Gardy has been lying and they do opt to pencil Perkins in as a starter his 3.26 ERA will make a world of difference against the opposition.

Now we must wonder if Boof Ball can take yesterday's big win and turn his game around or if he'll need to visit Rochester in the not too distant future.

Morneau single-handedly proves that White Sox do indeed suck

After having to deal with Boof ball the Twins were able to pull out a victory in the opener of the Twins/ White Sox series in Minneapolis. After spending what feels like month without a homerun Dr. Morneau managed two. He started off the game with a solo shot, but the Sucks came back to take the lead. Somehow Boof managed to make it to the 7^th inning, which is great, but I wish I didn’t have to use the word somehow. His pitching wasn't even the problem, it was his errant throw to third that got him the ND.

A rally in the 8^th which started with a Bartlett double that brought Redmond home and ending with a Hunter single to bring the Bartman home. Hunter is having one hell of a season and is no doubt auditioning for a big payday from Boston or New York. The 10^th stared off with a double from the fastest man with a limp (Castillo) and the Sucks chose to walk Hunter. Justin Morneau came to the plate and smashed the hell out of the ball for an upper deck three run walk-off homerun.

Hopefully Ozzie and Co. have awakened the beast and sent him on his homerun tear/ .300 batting average. With Mauer on the DL we’ll need Hunter and Morneau to swing big sticks. Hopefully Cuddy’s back feels fine and he can begin crushing the ball. This is a nice start to 9 straight games against the upper echelon (AKA not the Royals) of the central division.

My first game at the Dome (this year)

Before I get onto baseball, I know we said that we would be doing a live-blog of every Wild game until the end of the season, but I ended up going to the Metrodome to watch the Twins beat Baltimore. The Wild ended up winning their game 3-0 so it’s probably better that I didn’t watch… Like I said before I never seem to see a goal scored and that is doubly true for a Wild goal. In other Minnesota sports news the T-wolves lost to King James and his Jesters. I’m done with this team, maybe for good if they come back next season with the same roster. I pledge that my only Timberwolves related post from here until the draft will be an attempt at another interview with Bracey Wright to ask him what he thinks of his new team’s potential and some real dirt on his former T-wolves teammates.

This game was not quite as exciting as the opener, but none-the-less a victory is always a better game to watch than a loss. The varying play of the two nights shows the range that this team has and that they can play on the defensive weaknesses of their opponents no matter who they are. Yesterday when the Twins started the scoring off with back-to-back HRs, today it was Melvin Mora’s light up the scoreboard with a homerun. Boof had a tough inning, by the time the 3^rd was over his pitch count was in the mid-fifties and the Twins were down by 2.

The Twins played an NL type of game last night- they stole bases and advanced runners just like Ozzie has always claimed to do. We stole 5 bases, Mauer stole one and Tyner had an extremely embarrassing stolen base… the only thing more embarrassing than him coming up a good 5 feet short of the base was the fact that he managed to get to it without being tagged. To add insult to injury Tyner came home as the winning run moments later. If I ever get a hold of the video I’ll make sure to post it, it’s amazing. He should probably ask Troy Williamson about that Nike sight thing; there has to be something wrong with his depth perception.

A few things that I noticed: Castillo already has 3 infield hits, Morneau is batting around .675, and Cuddayer is having trouble warming his bat up. I see no problem with Cuddayer yet because it is only the second game, but it’s the same way with Boof (and I’ll elaborate in a second). If the problem persists I’ll have to shit a brick, because last year was Cuddy’s breakout year and could easily be the career year, too.

As for Boof, the youngest member of the starting rotation threw way too many pitches in his first outing. He did, however, retire 10 of the last 11 batters and recover from that bad 3^rd inning. I bought cheap tickets to the game and as a consequence had to listen to someone from Baltimore root for their team, but in a way it was enlightening. I now understand why so many people have us picked to take 4^th in the division after winning it last year. The Orioles’ remarked that the Twins would do badly this year because behind Johan there was no solid starter- correct. What he failed to understand was that the bullpen is as good as a 2^nd and 3^rd solid starter… and they play every night. Boof gave us some quality innings, and handed over a tie game. One run later we had a win.

I’m kind of glad that everyone can overlook a team that can play ball in more than one way, has the best bullpen, a ton of prospects waiting in the wings if the starters falter, won the division 4 out of the last 5 years and has the reigning Cy young, MVP and batting champ.

I love baseball season.

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)