SB Nation User Blog: CARXRiedmann

NO MAS LIVAN!!!!

CARXRiedmann — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:36:46 -0000

NO MAS LIVAN!!!!

Happiest I have been in a while for being a twins fan.

"We've both earned that right; us, by winning the World Series and having the opportunity of having...

CARXRiedmann — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 16:47:46 -0000

"We've both earned that right; us, by winning the World Series and having the opportunity of having our manager there and our team being represented, and Mariano by what he's done for this role, we're in Yankee Stadium and blah, blah, blah," Papelbon said. "It's not that easy. Everybody thinks it's a cut and dry answer, but it's not.

"If I was managing the team, I would close," Papelbon said. "I'm not managing the team, so it don't matter."

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/allstar08/news/story?id=3488087

I don't know what to name this, but involves off-season contracts Carlos Gomez, and Denard Span

CARXRiedmann — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 13:48:37 -0000

Let me start out by saying that The Twins are a frugal team, a team that in the past has made attempts to spend about as little as possible and still contend, but this mindset has been changing with the team moving into the new stadium in a few years, they've been looking at locking up good young talent for a while. Joe Mauer was given an extension a few years ago, a very good decision as Joe has become one of the (if not the) best young catchers.

Over the past offseason, the Twins decided to reward two players for their commitment to the team, and the numbers that they put up for the Twins. Morneau was given a six year 80 million dollar contract, worth relatively 13.3 million dollars a year, it was the Twins longest and highest paying contract ever. Michael Cuddyer got a 3 year 24 million dollar contract.

Morneau's contract is a team friendly offer, 13 million dollars for a batter whom over the past three years has hit .303/.367/.522 while hitting over thirty home runs over the past two years. Although he's not on pace to hit as many home runs as in past years, he's a good power/contact guy that will hold down the middle of the order for the next 6 years. This contract was fantastic.

On the other handwhen the team handed Michael Cuddyer his contract, they were giving a 28 year old career 269/344/442 hitter who had just come off of his two best seasons as a professional ball player. Between the 2006 and 2007 seasons Michael Cuddyer put up a .280/.354/.469 line with a total of 40 home runs.

This season has been a let down for Cuddyer, between his injuries making him miss 33 games so far and hitting .252/.324/.376 it looks like Cuddyer has slumped a little since receiving the contract. While Cuddyer has been slumping Denard Span has come up and put up surprising numbers for the Twins.

Span, the 20th draft pick in 2002 has been another pleasant surprise for the Twins with his .329/.429/.423 line in 25 games. While a .397 batting average on balls in play (BABIP) has been quite a help, these numbers seem kind of out of whack for a career player who's minor league .287/.355/.358 line is nothing to gawk at. The question is, what can we expect out of Span from here out? One can only assume that his AVG/OBP/SLG will all drop, but may remain respectable, as it is a possibility that he has turned a leaf as his .340/.434/.481 line in AAA this year has shown that he is having a great year at both the major league and AAA level.

So where do we go from here? With Cuddyer mired in a semi-bad year and Span having a good year, what can the Twins do? Well, the best thing would be to move Carlos Gomez and his abysmal .253/.287/.351 stats out of the lead-off spot and maybe down to triple-a to get some time to work on his swing and patience. Span has played Centerfield in the minors and would be a suitable replacement. This would also fix the logjam when Cuddyer came back as he could just take back over in right.

But, as we've all experienced, it's the Twins.

So Gomez is staying, and someone not as deserving will be demoted.

Hi, This is the Twins Calling

CARXRiedmann — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 03:27:42 -0000

Can we re-do the trade from last winter? We've been thinking about this whole Delmon Young and Brendan Harris for Morlan, Garza, and Bartlett, and after Matt Garza's one hitter today we realize that we got the short end of the stick here. So, if you guys wouldn't mind doing the right thing and kindly returning the players, we would be most appreciative.

PS. You guys get Harris back who has about a 30 point OPS+ advantage over Bartlett! Think of that, a 55 back up to a 84! Whooo-wee, imagine your lineup with that slugger in there.

PPS. Please?

PPPS. Pretty please?

10 Strikeouts 1 Walk 1 Hit 1 Earned Run This might've been the most dominant start in Rays...

CARXRiedmann — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 20:06:29 -0000

10 Strikeouts
1 Walk
1 Hit
1 Earned Run

This might've been the most dominant start in Rays history, outside of Hanley Ramirez doing what only Hanley Ramirez can do nobody hit Garza hard. Cutting fastball action, slicing curve, breaking change. This was a pitcher with his best stuff absolutely dealing today.

Using the "Game Score" metric it turns out Garza's game was a 90, Shields one-hit shutout of the Angels scored a 93. Let's call it the second most dominant start.

The Worst Move the Twins Could Make?

CARXRiedmann — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 15:15:43 -0000

As I was perusing the MLB.com trade deadline page today, I was going through each seperate position and looking at who was available, who may be available and whatnot. As I got to the middle infielder's, I came upon David Eckstein, and thought that this would be the exact kind of player the twins would attempt to pick up. Here's what MLB.com had to say about him:

Why he's available: Only signed a one-year deal in the offseason and might not be in Toronto's plans for 2009.
Will he go? The Jays have other options at short -- an area to be addressed again in the offseason -- so they'd likely entertain offers.

Where might he go? Any team with a need for a shortstop or a leadoff hitter with playoff experience.

Now I know that the Twins aren't too keen on picking up one year contracts, but we haven't really seen how Bill Smith deals at the deadline, he may show a willingness to pick up a player llike Eckstein at the deadline if he thinks that the Twins will stay in contention. Also, David Eckstein fits into the whole Twins persona of the piranha's, seriously, think about it, if you had to have one missing piece from the 2006 season that would have fit perfectly it would have been David Eckstein.

This is exactly why we shouldn't pick him up.

The king of scrap, the master of heart is hitting .279/.368/.358 with an OPS+ of 97, he's being the epitome of an average player. The thing is though, his production compares (to me atleast) with that of Jason Tyner, a singles and (sometimes) doubles machine. In fact, Eck's Isolated power of .076 is only .007 higher than Jason Tyner's.

While I understand that there has been absolutely no rumblings of this trade happening, I was instantly fearful of a trade like this that the Twins would try to make. This brings up the question though, if you were the Twins, what would be the best or worst move you could make during the deadline (within reasonable limits)