I think I'm gonna do it

You can ask any of my friends and they'll all tell you I'm not a betting man. In the last year I've put money on exactly one sports bet that I'm currently winning, the under on the Wolves winning 30, but I think its time to make another, much riskier bet. I know I’m a twins fan and I’m probably being a homer, but I’m putting 20 bucks on them to win the world series now. On March 1st.

I look at it this way. This team made it to the playoffs last year. Yeah, just a one game series, but it was bonus baseball. Hear me out on this one. When I say this team I mean THIS team. Same rotation, same outfield plus a healthy Cuddy and same infield plus Joe Crede. You can say his back will give. I will argue that the contract gives the Twins incentive to drop him early. Something they didn’t do with previous veterans who didn’t belong. If his back gives we just go back to the platoon, if not we got a guy who was once an all-star, once a silver slugger and a good fielder.

And this rotation? Now they have an entire season under their belts. Now they won’t be intimidated or caught off guard and we get a full season of Liriano. If Liriano had gotten 2 more of Hernandez’ starts last season we would have beat the White Sox outright and gone up against a clone in the Devil Rays... It would have been interested. Now the whole team is back plus one and a specialty role or two.

The only thing that makes me weary is the bullpen. It could use a shot in the arm (rimshot). Somebody is going to have to step up with Neshek out once again. Mijares could be the guy to step up, but that could just as easily go south. My feeling is that if we can't get someone to step up in the bullpen we'll still be in a good despite the weakness and come trade time we'll find ourselves in the perfect position to pick up that big name reliever for once instead of stand idly by.

This team really could turn into a steam roller and it would be so poetic to do it in the final season at the dome with a hometown kid as the hero and a team made almost entirely out of the farm system just after their owner has died. It would be beautiful and I think it could happen.

Stuff and Things.. Butt Mostly, Stuff.

FINALLY!!!..
Someone out there is a genius! This just proves that you don't need to come up with a new form of rocket science to make it rich. I was watching TV the only day when a commercial came on that I took as a Mad TV skit. This couldn't be a real product, could it? Then I did some in-depth (not really) research on the topic and found out that yes! it indeed was an actual product that you could purchase. Its called Anti- Monkey Butt Powder. For those who are not familiar with the Monkey Butt, it is referred to as to red, chapped rear end resulting from being seated and sweaty for far too long. It can also be used in reference to the phenomenon of going to the bathroom too many times with less than high quality toilet paper.(Ouch) An obvious relative of SWASS, Monkey Butt has affected too many people for far, far too long. There is an end in sight for sufferers of Monkey Butt. While I'm pretty sure its just glorified Gold-Bond or other talcum powder, its still a glorious marketing idea. And whoever came up with the slogan has my respect for the willingness to put such a sexual explicit undertone on the front of a product. It sounds like something Creepy-D Skeet might be interested in.
If anyone is interested, you can purchase it here.

Moving along.
With all the draft talk on this blog centering around the hometown team, I would like to take a minute to focus on the happenings outside of the Twin Cities. It was announced last night that the Pacers and Raptors had
come to terms on a deal that would send Pacers forward Jermaine O'Neal to the Raptors for TJ Ford, RASHO, and the 17th overall selection in tonight's NBA Draft. I had heard about this trade rumor for a couple days now, but I was really hoping that Toronto wouldn't give in. From the sounds of things, there is alot of interest in TJ in numerous trades. It's apparent to everyone too that he needs to go in one form or another. Ford was lost his starting spot and 2+ months of playing time to a flagrant foul by Atlanta Hawks Forward Al Horford last year. Little known Jose Calderon took his spot and never looked back. When Ford was eligible to come back, he was open with his frustration of riding the bench. Some deals had him going to Phoenix in a deal involving Boris Diaw, while others had him going to Portland for some players and a pick. It seems, however that the Raptors have decided to take in the oft-injured Jermaine O'Neal and his contract, which stands at 2 years, and 44 Million dollars left. While TJ had to go, this was not the player to get back in return. If he is healthy, O' Neal is one of the better power forwards in the NBA, but the thing is he can NEVER stay healthy. Over the past four seasons, he has missed 122 games, or over 30 per season. So, you are telling me you are going to pay this clown 22 Million dollars to play, on average 51 games per year over the next two. Indiana is probably thrilled at this thievery. Sure, after those two years, that money will come off the books and they will have plenty of money to spend on other free agents or to re-sign stud Chris Bosh, but to me thats too much risk to take on. I have listened to some experts say that they love this trade for Toronto, but only if he can stay healthy. I can agree with them on those terms, but to that, I say "good luck." I have to see it before I can believe that one.

Of the teams in this draft, Miami, along with the Wolves, have drawn the most intrigue about what to do with their picks. Miami is a team, that with one or two players, can jump back into the top of the Eastern Conference picture again. At last check, they still have Dwayne Wade and Shawn Marion on the roster. Couple that with a young superstar at the top of this draft, and things are looking pretty good again in Miami. Many people have speculated that the Heat are decided between Mayo and Beasley with a lean towards Mayo. This would be music to my ears if Beasley falls to the Wolves at #3. While my stance on Mayo has softened considerably since an earlier post when I realized the thing that we needed the most on this squad was some star power, I would much rather have Beasley because he fills an immediate need, which is also a plus. I think its going to be a very active draft all around the league. It should be fun to watch.


A couple baseball topics before I go.

How's the saying go? "There's one in every family." Well, it appears there is one in every league now too. Shawn Chacon, journeyman pitcher, formerly of the Houston Astros was suspended indefinitely yesterday. Chacon has spent years with the Rockies, Yankees, Pirates, and now the Astros. He was suspended after doing his best Latrell Sprewell impression and choking the shit out of his general manager. As much as all of us has wanted to beat up our boss at one point in time, most of us refrain from doing so to save our lively hood and our dignity. Then there is people like Chacon, angry after being demoted to the bullpen, who decide to take matters into their own hands, literally. If you feel the absolute need to choke someone out, find the equipment manager, the ball boy or that guy who shoots the shirts into the stands, don't do it to the guy who makes decisions on whether players stay or go. This is a ticket straight out of the major leagues. Chacon, who was a decent 4th or 5th starter, is now widely considered to be done in the major leagues for good, something that relieves general managers all over the US. Every once and a while, these stories pop up in the news, whether its Latrell or Bobby Knight choking one of his players. It makes me laugh every time because these people don't realize they are committing career suicide. They will always carry that stigma around with them for as long as the play or coach. Thats, if, they ever play or coach again.

Has anyone noticed the Twins are on an 8 game winning streak? Its gone fairly unnoticed as far as I can tell. True, it was against the likes of Washington, Arizona, and San Diego. And sure, it was interleague play, where the Twins always work their National League opponents. And sure, like I told someone the other day, any team can go on a 7-8 game winning streak throughout the season. I mean, hell, the Kansas City Royals are 10-1 in their last 11 games after all. I don't expect this from this Twins team, though, which makes me even more intrigued than I already am. I think this squad has played alot better then people expected them to through this point in the season. They have some rough stretches, characteristic of a young ball club, but if they can keep this up, they might be contending for the division by the end of the season. In a stretch of 5 games this past week, the Twins faced, and beat, 4 pitchers in 5 games that had won one or multiple Cy Young Awards. It doesnt matter what teams you are playing when those are the odds against you. The main reason for their success, I think has been their starting pitching, which has compiled a 7-0 record and a 1.90 Era over the last 8 games. Some of their call ups have even done well. Alexi Casilla has seemed to figure it out, and Brian Busher is hitting .390 at last check.
I think July will say alot about this team. They have series against Texas, the Yankees, the Red Sox, The White Sox, the Indians and 2 series' against the Tigers. This should give us a good idea of where we should expect this team to finish come September.

And for our newest viewer... Hook 'Em Horns!

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.

We were at the wacky Twins game last night

Yesterday around 5 I was sleeping/ watching Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind when I got a phone call. On the other end was Bez offering me a ticket to go to the Twins game with him, Neubie and another friend of our... awesome, I love free baseball. Little did we know that I would get even more free baseball than originally thought. We figured that the game would go long because boof was pitching but we never expected to get the game that we did.

Minus the two HRs, the first of which I called as we walked to the ballpark, Boof cruised into the 7th and I though we had the game in hand. Back in the fourth I bet Bez a dollar that Everett wouldn't reach 1st. He did and Bez told me not to worry because Casilla was up next and the inning would be over soon and we'd still be down. About 5 seconds later we were celebrating Casilla's bomb... he hit that ball hard. Now Alexi Casilla and Everett both both have more home runs than Delmon Young and Joe Mauer, unbelievable.

Around the 8th when we were still down Neubie claimed that there was no need to worry because Delmon Young was going to tie it up. To my surprise he was right, young got a triple and Mike Lamb brought him home. Gardy put it all on the line (or so we thought) when he began pinch hitting in the 9th. Monroe and Redmond made appearances we got lost figuring out who was playing where when the 10th began. That confusion was quickly replaced by trying to figure out why Rincon could not be replaced in the same inning with 2 on. I may love baseball, but I don't carry a rule book in my back pocket so I didn't know that Gardy couldn't come to the mound after Rick Anderson had already been in the same at bat.

We figured that the game was over with the bases loaded and a call-up on the mound, (even adjusting out caps out of the rally position) but Korecky came through big time. We figured we had it made once Korecky got his first Major league hit, scooted to second after jumping over Harris' grass burner and touched down at third after they walked Mauer. Korecky became the first Twins' pitcher to get a hit in an A.L. game since the inception of the DH. Cuddy and the good Doctor disappointed that inning. Korecky came back and sat down some very good players to give us our opportunity in the 12th.

Go-Gomez made it on base and flustered the pitcher before reaching second when Young grounded out. Texas figured it was best to walk Mike Lamb to get a shot at career AAA player Howie Clark. We figured Clark was a goner and were really hoping to get to the next player. The next player to bat was to be Livan Hernandez, who has repeatedly asked Gardenhire for the chance to pinch hit in such a situation. Unfortunately for Hernandez, but fortunately for the Twins Clark roped athe ball right over Josh Hamilton's head and the game was over.

Insane... almost as insane as half the crowd getting to their feet at the end of the 9th and taking off. I don't care if you have a day job sit down and cheer your team on for at least one extra inning. Probably the best game I've been to ever, nothing that happened was expected and everything was exciting.

The Twins roster is basically set

The Twins signed Joe Nathan to a 4 year $47 million contract with a club option for a 5th year. I'm in favor of this even though I know its kind of controversial considering the Santana trade and letting Torii Hunter walk. We got Nathan at a major discount and his no-trade clause only allows for him to select 3 teams that he does not want to play for. That means we can keep him for all four years if our starting pitching surprises us and the line-up lives up to it's potential in the batters box or we can turn Neshek or someone else into our closer and get something very good in return for an all-star caliber closer with a discounted contract.

It looks like Carlos Gomez will be our center fielder on opening day. If nothing else we'll get some interesting quotes on a daily basis from the young Dominican. If he can figure out how to put the bat on the ball on a regular basis and not get overly excited on defense this move will be worth it. Hopefully he'll figure out the names of "the catcher and that other guy."

There were no other surprises in the starting lineup. Mauer will bat second and play catcher, Cuddyer will take right and hit third, Morneau will bat 4th and play first, Delmon Young will take Torii Hunters spot in the order and play left field, Kubel will DH in 6th, Mike Lamb will play third and bat 7th, Brendan Harris will play second and bat 8th and Adam Everett will play short and bat last.

Matt Tolbert staying with the team didn't make sense to me until I read in the Pioneer Press that Gardy feel comfortable plugging him into 7 of the nine positions on the field. Craig Monroe, Mike Redmond and Little Nicky Punto will ride the pine with Tolbert until their numbers get called.

Livan Hernandez, Boof Bonser and Kevin Slowey are locks for starting pitching and the other two spots seem destined for Scott Baker and Fransisco Liriano. The only thing that makes Baker questionable is his injury earlier this spring and a flu that just won't go away. The rumor was that Liriano would start the season in AAA, but after throwing a no hitter through 4 innings against Baltimore he may go north with the team. Baker's absence means that Nick Blackburn will most likely take the final starting role and Brian Bass will play long reliever. Hometown kid Glen Perkins didn't make the team, but he'll surely make his way to Minneapolis when the injuries begin.

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.

Friday: KG's in town. Saturday: Hockey

Unless you live under a rock or in Nepal, you know Kevin Garnett is going to be in town on Friday. He will be making an appearance on the floor before the game but will not be playing. I expect him to get a very large ovation, but it's a shame that he won't be playing, because the fans here in Minneapolis were really looking forward to having him back in town.
The Wolves ticket reps have based their whole ticket sales plan around this game. They had many of the tickets only available in packages. So with Garnett not playing the Wolves are giving every person who comes into the building will be getting a voucher for another ticket to a wolves game.

In response to the likelihood of former Timberwolves player Kevin Garnett not being able to participate in Friday night's game between Minnesota and Boston, the Timberwolves announced Thursday that all fans in attendance will receive a voucher redeemable for one ticket to an upcoming Wolves game. The gesture is in recognition of the special circumstance of Garnett's return to Minnesota, the fan sentiment surrounding this game and also serves as a thank you to loyal Wolves fans in attendance.

I think it's funny that the title of that story is Wolves Thank Fans with Ticket Voucher. Yeah thanks for buying into our ploy to sell more tickets, and because you don't get what you paid or and because we have so many tickets left this year, we'll give you one, thanks for coming.

Anyways, I'm going to the Wild game on Saturday for Hockey Day in Minnesota. I plan on being at Alary's by about noon, and in rare form by game time, wish me luck. I don't know much about what Hockey Day in Minnesota entails besides lots of hockey, so here's a great video from tnabacg.



Jon over there claims to have a ridiculously long preview of Hockey Day in Minnesota. So go check that out tomorrow, I'm sure it will be well done.

Also on Saturday, the Hawks are in town to whoop up on the rodents. I'm guessing the line will open around 5 in favor of the gophers. I like the way the Hawks are playing, especially on D, so hopefully they can pull that off. Well i'm off have a good night, i'll leave you with some more links.

A real life Shawshank Redemption.

Thanks to the guy who does the most work here I was able to read this story on Garnett. It's a really interesting point, and I believe he may be on to something.

The guys at www.firejoemorgan.com.com are no longer anonymous. Turns out one of them even writes for the Office.

If you were unable to attend Twins Fest you need to see the Stadium Model and here is a great review of it.



Stubled across this today I think you'll thank me for sharing. The 50 Hottest Women in Sports. Here's a taste, I have a new found appreciation for synchronized swimming.

Exhale

The Mets and Johan saved a disaster today coming to terms on a 6 year extension.

That doesn’t include the $13.25 million Santana is set to make in 2008. We also heard there is a vesting option, but the details were unclear.

The Mets agreed to give Johan Santana a six-year, $137.5 million contract extension today an industry source just told the Star Tribune.

I would have been terrible if this didn't get done. I'll add more later, but it's a friday night so i'm going somewhere else now.

Around the Majors.

When will a Minnesota team Play for the present?

(I know how Matt feels after hearing that Johan is gone)

The owners in this town have been breaking my heart for as long as I can remember and its a bunch of bullshit. Stop telling me that we're a small market and its impossible to make money off of the respective teams. You don't continue running a business for 10 plus years that is always in the red unless you're already loaded and can use it as a tax write off. Once, just once, I want one of these teams to really go for the glory. I'm sick of losing stars because of ownership and management.

You're probably saying that the Timberwolves did it back in KG's MVP year. You're right, but when everything want down the drain the next year the team fired it's coach instead of the stars causing all of the trouble. Then they got rid of the stars causing all of the trouble almost immediately. This last year they got rid of the one man I associate with the team. I know this was the right thing to do under the circumstances and we got some value out of the deal, but if Kevin McHale had never been the VP of whatever the hell his title is this would not have needed to happen. Flip was the scapegoat.

McHale bet on Starbury, gave KG the biggest contract the NBA had ever seen, cost the Wolves 5 picks over Joe Smith and gave undeserved contracts to a handful of players including Troy Hudson. Is the future bright after the last 5 or so games we've seen from the Wolves and the knowledge that Al Jefferson didn't take a max contract? Yes, but the future is always bright in this frozen godforsaken hell hole. (I don't really mean that, its just so cold out right now)

Maybe you argue that the Vikings are doing things the proper way now through the draft and have the future best running back of all time. (knock on wood) Agreed, unfortunately the defense that is best against the run and has it's passing numbers inflated because of that is getting older by the day. Pat Williams, Darren Sharper and Antoine Winfield- all pro-bowl caliber players, are not getting any younger and the defense can only score so many points a game. We need sacks and we need an air game and those positions don't usually produce at a high level in their first year. We have nothing to show for letting Randy Moss go and all we got for Culpepper was Ryan Cook, the weakest link in a strong offensive line. They probably give me the most hope for a championship in the near future, but they won't be playing the Patriots this time next year.

Maybe you're saying that the Wild blah, blah, blah... you gotta understand I don't follow hockey, I watch it when its on. You want some solid analysis of the teams chances to bring me a trophy to celebrate you should go and ask Bez. He likes that shit... I just think its pretty and bloody and sometimes its pretty bloody.

Same goes for that Lacrosse team, and that women's basketball team, and college doesn't count because everything is too unpredictable.

Maybe you're saying the Twins have consistently made the playoffs or come close since the turn of the century. Carl Pohlad has 2.6 million dollars. If he signed Santana for $200 million for an 8 year contract (more than he wants) that would be less than one percent of our owner's total worth... he would have kept this contender together into his brand new stadium which we paid for. I realize that the salaries in Baseball are out of control, but we're talking about the best pitcher in baseball. I know Santana wanted to be on a bigger stage, but money like this could suade him to stay.

He's gone and its too late. Now my problem is the choice of packages. I wanted to take the Yankees deal with major league ready talent to go along with a team that is pretty good minus the greatest pitcher playing today. The World of B makes a good point about those who say that deals for star players have worked out for this team in the past. This is not A good player... this is THE greatest player in his prime. We should have been able to get more than what we got. Wait one week and maybe we get one or more of these teams to throw in that last piece we've been asking for.

I can't bring myself to wear a Yankees cap just to ensure that I get to celebrate a championship once every decade. I can't watch the Celtics without watching Allen and KG together and thinking about what would have happened if they'd started playing together back in the 90s on my team and changed the course of history. I won't be able to watch this Sunday's game without thinking that Joe Buck has something to do with Randy Moss being a Patriot and not on the Viking's sideline as part of a very explosive offense to go along with that dangerous defense. ( I know that is crazy far fetched and Red McCombs is really to blame, but I hate Buck and I hate how he handled that FAKE moon in Lambeau and how McCombs used it as reasoning to get rid of a hall of fame caliber receiver)

I just can't handle losing another phenomenal player. I've decided to brace myself for Adrian Peterson's departure today. I'm not doing this again. On behalf of Minnesota sports fans I say Fuck you world. Stop stealing my joy.

Twins Lose: Santana now a Metropolitan

The Twins traded Johan to the Mets today, and pending the two parties coming to terms on a contract extension, Santana will be a Metropolitan by the end of the week.

Fuck, in my own opinion Bill Smith has blinked twice.

1) When making the deal for Delmon Young, he originally could have included Rincon in the deal, but then he blinked and added Morlan. Don't get me wrong, I like the pieces we got in this deal, it's just a shame we had to get rid of one of our best pitching prospects in the process.

2) From the beginning of the Santana talks, the Twins stated that they wouldn't deal with the Mets without them including Reyes. It was pretty obvious that the Mets weren't going to included him in the deal under any circumstances. So the next best thing was to get a top prospect (see: Fernando Martinez), they definitely didn't do that.

I know, I know, this trading for Prospects business is never clear until said prospects have a chance to prove or disprove themselves. It is just that I'm not feeling much confidence in our new GM.

On the other hand 2 draft picks and a season of distractions wouldn't be any better.

So in the last 6 months or so we've lost the following:

Kevin Garnett

Torii Hunter

Johan Santana


Hey at least Santana didn't go to Boston or the Yankees, and will be playing in the NL. I'm going to go throw up now.

Also, the Twins Geek ask some interesting questions on this transaction.

Something good finally happens to the Twins

Justin Morneau and Micheal Cuddayer have signed long term deals with the Twins ensuring that we will not have another Hunter/Santana debacle on our hands. Morneau's contract is said to be 6 years long and worth about $80 million while Cuddayer's is 3 years and about $23 million. I think I would have liked them to put another year on Cuddy's contract, but if they move him to center like Gardy (bat-shit crazily) said might happen three years would probably be a better deal for the team to have the 4th year option.

I am really starting to like Bill Smith as the general manager of this team. I don't know about his ability to get the prospects in trades that Terry Ryan always seemed to find but he was willing to trade pitching for batting and now he's signed two very good baseball players to contracts before they got a whiff of free agency. Terry Ryan would be sitting with his thumb up his ass going over the Johan trade offers with a fine toothed comb and too busy to ensure that two of the best players on the club stay here in Minnesota.

Now all Smith has to do to pull off the trifecta of GM brilliance is get the Mets, Red Sox and Yankees back into a bidding war. Get me Lester and Elsbury. Get me Hughs, Kennedy and Cabrerra. Get me a couple players from the Mets that Terry Ryan approves of. Honestly I have no clue about any of the players being offered by the Mets and that scares me, but I didn't know who Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Fransisco Liriano were when I was unsure about making Mauer the every day starter (still not sure about how that will play out).

The Star Tribune told me about the contracts.

Guest Rant

Dan left us a nice little comment, which I felt needed a promotion from the comments section. Dan is a law student by the way. Thanks Dan.

Im sorry, Im watching this TERRIBLE coverage on ESPN and I feel I need to say something ( I sent an Email to ESPN but I doubt they are going to respond ) Could ESPN be baseball apologists Any MORE? it is goddamned ridicoulous. OF COURSE THE EVIDENCE IS HEARSAY AND CIRCUMSTANTIAL! For being a sports "news" company, one would thing ESPN would put it in a BIT of context. Sen. Mitchell did not have subpeona power to follow up allegations, nor access to or the power to order tests (of which aren't even able to detect HGH because there are no blood testing), and the strength of the union and its players not cooperating leads to only one logical conclusion - this whole thing is a sham to rehabilitate MLBs image. MLB looks like it is doing something - and keeps Congress from actually doing a substantive search and finding some real solid results.

Notice how nobody will be punished from this??? its a joke. people act like its a big deal but nothing will change. Not only does this maintain the level of cynicism that I currently have for baseball, it demolishes the last shred of credibility left for ESPN. I am sick of their made up news stories (T.O. vs Keyshawn.... OOOOOHHHHHH I DON'T FREAKING CARE AT ALL), the incredible imbalance in covering teams (notice that the Patriots have their own tagline at the bottom, along with the NHL, NBA, and NFL - ridiculous - even the Pursuit of Perfection bullshit) and now that they hype the SHIT out of this report, they come out and have the balls to say there is nothing substantive. FUCK ESPN I QUIT. This is pretty typical, I get all pissed off at how much ESPN sucks, stay away from it for two weeks, get drawn back in SPortscenter, then get all pissed off all over again. They have crossed the line from reporting the sports news to creating the sports news. Its terrible.

On another note, on FOX News this morning they had a "source" that claimed had names, and many of them turned out to be wrong - including Nomar Garciappara and Johnny Damon. But that is typical FOX news, much like when that psycho took over the Clinton office they broadcast the wrong guys name for an hour before finding out the real guys name. ITS CALLED CONFIRMING A STORY BEFORE RUNNING IT. Bush League.

The Love We Lost... Part Deux

Well, It looks like another Minnesota Star is leaving our sky. (Wow, that was cheesy)

It seems as if a deal for 2 time Cy Young Award Winner, Johan Santana, is now imminent. Multiple reports have surfaced in the last week and a half saying that the Twins and new GM Bill Smith are actively shopping the best pitcher in the game. The Yankees and Red Sox are at the forefront with the Dodgers, Angels, and Mariners said to be very interested as well. The deal now seems to be more not "if", but when at this point.

Boy, that sure happened fast...

Only a few short months ago, the sheer thought of trading Santana was blasphemy to any Twins fan and even the organization. But since then, Baseball's little devil child, known as free agency, has reared its ugly head once again, and now Johan has figured, why not me? Why not give me 150 million dollars? Hell, Barry Zito is mediocre and got 126 mill. And who could blame him? In this market, he is worth that much money.. The key words being "this market." Salaries have been ballooning out of control for years now, and it has finally bit your favorite squad in the ass not once, but twice in the span of a month. Mr. Twin, Torii Hunter was the first to go and now this. I have an idea. Why don't we eliminate all the teams not named Yankees, Red Sox, Angels, Mets, and Cubs, and just let them go at it. Thats basically what Major League Baseball is leaning towards. Boston got our Ortiz, the Angels got our Hunter, and now the Yankees or Red Sox will now probably get our Venezuelan Sensation. If you are a Twins fan, don't ever go out and buy a Twins Jersey of your favorite player or get attached to another player again, because chances are, they wont be here long enough for you to get your use of out it.

Now, I know that last blurb sounded very negative... And lets be honest, it was. But there also are some very nice positives to the apparent Twins overhaul this year. I think Bill Smith has figured out something that Terry Ryan just couldn't come to grasp over the years. The nature of the beast as it stands now is that before you lose these players for absolutely nothing to free agency, trade them before it gets to that point and get some young studs in return. We screwed the pooch on the Torii Hunter situation last season when we could have eased the blow by getting some great talent in return, possibly from the Angels, who signed him this offseason. This Johan deal, whether it turns out to be the Yanks or the Sawwx, will yield a great return of up and comers.

The Yanks are said to be offering a combination of prized right handed pitching prospect Phillip Hughes, Defensive Center Fielder extraordinaire Melky Cabrera, and some other minor league prospects. Hughes is going to be a stud that could anchor our rotation for years, and Cabrera is already a great fielder and has a high ceiling as a hitter. It would be nice if we could somehow finagle another right handed pitcher, Ian Kennedy from them as well, but that doesn't look like its going to happen.
The Red Sox are looking to obtain Santana as well. If they suceed, they might have assembled the best pitching staff ever, especially if they can keep Jon Lester in the process. I don't say that lightly either. I know you can't give someone the World Series in the offseason, but you add the best pitcher in the majors to the best pitching staff in the league, and they are as close to as you are going to get. The main cogs of the Red Sox offer are Jacoby Ellsbury and Lester, with the Red Sox currently only willing to include one of the two. The other bits that were offered include Coco Crisp and a bunch of supposedly good minor leaguers that no one has really heard of. Ellsbury is a stud. I don't think there is any doubt about that. He's got speed and gap power and in the MetroDome, thats a great thing. He reminds me of Grady Sizemore. Maybe even as dreamy.. Jon Lester scares me a bit. Even with as good a prospect as he might be, the whole cancer thing last year makes me wonder about possible health risks. I admit, that might seem insensitive, considering the ordeal that he went through last year, but I think that its a valid concern when you are thinking about the future of a franchise.

IF it were up to me, I go for the Yankees offer. Although Ellsbury would be nice, the Yankees are giving you the Center fielder that you need and the elite prospect that you need to get back in return for Johan.





After the Twins trade Santana, the last person to go will be Joe Nathan, and thats perfectly fine by me. That will make this process complete. For those of you that think that the cupboard is bare after this offseason, you are mistaken. Our pitching staff is somewhat in flux, but could be very good in about two years. With Fransico Liriano coming back, added to Hughes, Baker, Slowey, and hopefully a slimmed down Boof, this is a rotation I willing to run with. With Neshek moving into the Closer's role, our bullpen might be a little thin, but thats always seemed to be a strength for the Twins. We have actually upgraded the lineup to include possible Star Delmon Young, Cabrera, and Craig Monroe to go with a decent lineup already. There are some question marks with this team, but before anyone jumps off a bridge,(ok, wrong choice of words) they hopefully will take a step back and look at the big picture. These young players, along with the money saved, could help give us some hope for the future. This is something that Twins fans are desperately yearning for after a very curious offseason so far.

I think we deserve that much.

HUH???

Terry Ryan is done, as GM. This is strange. Why now? Why at all? Is he saying? There are so many questions. More later.

THANK YOU CHICAGO

With my past experience with the White Sox, I don't think I could be as happy for another team as I am right now. If you haven't heard the White Sox just extended Ozzie Guillen through 2012. This means we can expect them to fall apart year after year, until at least 2013, which is wonderful. Even though the Twins are DONE this season, life as a Twins fan is good.

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.

Holy Crap! Jason Tyner Hit a Home run

I. AM. SPEECHLESS.

All-Star Un-Weekend is Upon Us.

No matter what the sport there is always a stigma attached to All-star games. The Superstars never want to play, everybody thinks their guy deserved a spot and didn’t get it (*cough * Pat Neshek * cough*) and the games usually aren’t too defensive. Baseball has tried to remedy this problem after the debacle in 2002 at Bud’s own stadium, but all that has resulted from that mess was AL home field advantage in the world series for, oh… say the next quarter century. Of course, that doesn’t bother me with the Twins in the AL, all Pohlad has to do is spend some $ ching $ and keep Torii, Johan, Nathan, Cuddy and Morneau to long-term deals. I know he’ll never pay them all because owners are assholes but I can dream, dammit.

Anyway, tonight Dr. Morneau is gonna be crushing the long ball in the Home Run Derby. If I know my Morneau correctly he’ll be adding to his legend by becoming the first player ever to kill another when he accidentally knocks Eric Byrnes unconscious and he slips off his Kayak into McCovey Cove. I also wouldn't mind if he did the same to Kenny Mayne. The good doctor will have fellow Canuck and baseball smasher Larry Walker lobbing gopher balls in his general direction. Did he slight Scotty Ullger and Joe Vavra with his decision? Possibly, but putting two Canadians together in a lax environment and micing them can only lead to great sound bites. I’m probably going to petition to get a second Canadian into the NBA so we can listen to Nash say “Eh.”

Like I mentioned the other day Johan Santana, Torii Hunter and Justin Morneau will be playing in the big game, and like I didn’t mention Ron Gardenhire is one of the coaches on Jim Leyland’s squad. I hope Torii measured Barry Bonds’ head when the future home run king picked him up back in 2002 so that we can settle this steroid business. Oh yeah, and if you wanted to go the game but couldn’t scrape enough change together out of the ashtray some dentist managed to get permission from MLB to wear a silly-ass hat on his head with a camera so you can feel like you’re at the ball park. Drunken, obnoxious asshole blocking your view included!

Some stuff hapened while I was gone

While I was gone a couple notable things happened regarding the sports teams in Minnesota That I thought were worth mentioning.

The AL All-star team was announced somewhere between Iowa and Wisconsin and I swear to god it took me 2 days to figure out which Twins made the team. The batting Champ was replaced by the MVP Torii got invited this year and Johan made it 3 in a row. Pat Neshek was included on the Internet vote for the final spot. Alas, the wacky, blogging reliever from Brooklyn Park was unable to overcome the terrible twosome that is the Red Sox nation and Japan. Hideki Okajima stole the final spot.

In other Twins news... Holy shit, they scored 32 against the White Suks today. Torii had one in each game, Dr. Morneau had 3 (in one game!), Gimpy Cirillo had one, Kubel displayed that power people keep on trying to tell me he has and Cuddy hit double digits in the HR catagory. In the second game of the double header Mike Redmond took a bat to the face invoking a strange rule that TNABACG explains. I'm calling it the Chris Hientz rule from now on

In Wolves news Kammron Taylor was added to the Summer league roster. I believe that this is a good pickup and though it will not fill the void left by Bracey, its a start. Stupid McHale.

The Wild signed Pierre Mark Bouchard Wes Walz to one-year deals and requested arbitration for Boogaard. They also Signed a dude on 'roids so that we have a chance of beating the Ducks. I will have my day, Earl.

The Vikings plan on raping you if you want to go to the Bears or Packers games. If you want tickets to those games you're gonna need to buy preseason games. Note to self- Hit up the August 10th or 30th preseason game to check out Adrian Peterson... people will be giving away tickets. Also, Kelly Holcomb would like to become the quarterback for the team, but Brad Childress still feels like the team isn't ready for quarterback at this point in time.