7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 12 K

He's been remarkably solid since being promoted to AA.

Maybe the Johan trade won't end up a complete disaster for the Twins...

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Did he struggle against lefties as mightily as he is now, when he was coming up in the minors? Or is this something that's developed after his knee injury in '04?

Finding minor league splits is difficult..

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Ramon Santana. Twins SS prospect in Beloit (midwest league). He's a bit old for a league, but he is smokin' hot. He has never had an OPS over .720, this year it's 1.135

Who is this kid?

According to Jay Clemons at SI.com anyways...

"Talk about someone who's physically ready for a "shock the world" type of breakout season. Slowey reminds me of Roy Halladay so much ... that I'm willing to pencil him in for 18 wins, 2.93 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and 168 strikeouts -- essentially Halladay's stats from his breakout campaign in '02, at age 25, coincidentally."

Thoughts?

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/fantasy/02/23/starting.pitchers/index.html

That's absurd. Just imagine if he develops some patience at the plate...

He's like a volcano on the verge of blasting lava into the sky and covering several states in an inch of ash.

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He hit 2 HRs today, and has more this season (9) then his first four seasons in the Twins organization combined (7).

As far as I can recall, no one has EVER projected him developing much power. Is it for real, and what's his ceiling, HR-wise?

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Who can you just not figure out? Who do you have no idea what their future holds?

Definitely Anthony Swarzak.

He went from a border-line elite prospect in 2007, to getting crushed at AA this year.

Since his promotion to AAA in July, he's dramatically improved. His BA has down more then .050 since his "promotion". His H/IP is good. As is his HR/9IP ratio.

But his K/9 ratio has dropped significantly, down to just 5.20 per 9 innings.

Anyone know what's the deal?

18 years old - Pedro Guerra: 2.05 ERA, .94 WHIP, 57 H in 70.1 IP with 63 Ks and 9 BB

20 - Eliecer Cardenas: 1.84 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, 49 H in 58.2 IP with 55 Ks and 10 BB

17 - Adrian Salcedo: 1.40 ERA, .76 WHIP, 38 H in 57.2 IP with 39 Ks and 6 BB

21 - Ramon Acosta: 0.0 ERA, .64 WHIP, 26 H in in 54.2 IP with 35 Ks and 9 BB

Obviously the DSL is an extreme pitchers league, but still, Acosta was arguably the best pitcher in the league, and Salcedo the best 17 year old, with the other two not far behind.

Any information about their stuff?

He's still just 23 years old, and he pitched great against the White Sox last night. But from reading through past diaries, it seems like a large percentage of the people here have soured on him.

What gives?

No, he's not going to be the next Liriano, but I see no reason to believe that he can't be an outstanding major league pitcher in his own right.

Last season he put up great numbers, but got hit around a bit by left-handed hitters.
This year, however, he's been ever better against left-handed then right-handed hitters. Is there any reason to believe that he can't be a dominate RP for the next decade?

Mastodon on February 5th at First Avenue in Minneapolis.

Midlake on February 15th at The Entry.

Sparklehorse on February 19th at First Avenue.

TV On The Radio on March 15th at First Avenue.

She was eaten by Sidney Ponson.

Damn't, the Twins already have one fat, worthless starting pitcher, do they really need to sign another?

Obviously the Twins don't have much money to spend, but I'd much rather see them sign a SP who has an outside chance to be decent like a Joel Pineiro or Mark Redman.

Anyone but Ponson...

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports/stories.nsf/cardinals/story/C6DFEE86CDA803DE8625725100161ABD ?OpenDocument

Jose Mijares

Oswaldo Sosa (Very good season last year and pitching great in the Venezuelan Winter League)

Yohan Pino

Eduardo Morlan

Alex Smit

Roscoe by Midlife.
Mediocre band, amazingly beautiful song. Probably my favorite from 2006.

I've had it on repeat for the last two hours.

I have no problem with stars getting big contracts they've earned and deserve, but when mediocre players like Gil Meche, one-year wonders like Gary Matthews Jr., and one-tool players like Juan Pierre get 10 million+ a season it greatly troubles me.

Is this the future of baseball?
Will acquiring an average player now start to consistently cost teams 10 million a year?

It amazes me that something as strong and possibly dangerous as Salvia Divinorum is legal while Marijuana is illegal.

Crazy country we live in...

With mediocre, 30+ year old players getting ridiculous contracts this off season, Johan would be capable of getting an astronomical amount of money.

If he was a FA, had Boras as an agent, and would be willing to play for any team, what do you think his contract would end up being?

He's still fairly young and has put up some great numbers in Japan.

Assuming he signs with the D-Rays, how do you see him faring against major league pitching next year?

My cousin had been camping outside a Best Buy since Wednesday, and was one of the few lucky people to get one today.

I thought he was crazy, but camping out to get one was actually a brilliant idea. He put it on Ebay today and the high bid so far is over $1500.

Easily the biggest disappointment of the year, IMO.

Obviously I wasn't expecting it to approach the brilliance of Source Tags & Codes, (possibly the greatest rock album of the decade) but this is border-line awful.

Damn.

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Seibu was told only the amount of the highest bid and not the identity of the team that made the top sealed bid. The reports indicated the amount may be less than $15 million as opposed to the more than the $20 million some expected.

The Yankees and Mets were presumed to have made a bid, along with Texas, Boston, Arizona, Cleveland and the Chicago Cubs.

The deadline to accept the top bid is Tuesday, and the Lions need cash. If they decline, Matsuzaka would return to Seibu for 2007.

http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/index.ssf?/base/sports-1/116314189548860.xml&coll=1&thispage =2

Hmmm, surprising...
I wonder if the Lions will still accept it.

Anyone here seen it yet?
I can honestly say that it is the funniest movie I have ever seen.

Never before has a movie made me laugh so hard that I've cried.

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The Decemberists with special guest Alasdair Roberts; Sunday, November 12 at First Avenue in Minneapolis.

Can't wait!!!

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Without a doubt, my favorite album is...
TV On The Radio - Return To Cookie Mountain

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He's finally putting it all together and having the type of season people have been expecting of him for years. But my question is, what took him so long? Why would he struggle in the majors until his late 20s???

Any thoughts?

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Eduardo Morlan
Alex Smit
Yohan Pino

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.90 ERA, .45 WHIP, 6 hits and 2 BBs allowed in 20 innings, 30 strikeouts in 20 innings.

But the stat that really blew me away is that Pat is holding righthanders to a .177 OPS.

Can he become a great closer at the major league level, or will hitters adjust to his weird delivery?

Gotta to with Garza.
Dominating 3 levels in one season is pretty damn impressive.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/writers/jon_heyman/07/31/monday.trades/index.html

The Mets have made a move they will hope will boost their suddenly lackluster rotation, sending outfielder Xavier Nady to the Pirates for left-hander Oliver Perez and reliever Roberto Hernandez, sources have told SI.com.

Perez was 2-10 with a 6.63 ERA in 15 starts before being sent down to Class AAA in June. In 2004, he was 12-10 with a 2.99 ERA but hasn't been the same since.

Nady already has hit a career-high 14 home runs this season after coming over from the Padres in an offseason trade.

The need for Hernandez arose when the Mets learned they were losing setup man Duaner Sanchez for the season because of a shoulder injury. That injury was first reported by Foxsports.com and confirmed by SI.com.

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Thoughts?

It seems like every year the Twins have a guy who was merely a good prospect the previous year, become one of the top prospects in baseball.
2 years ago it was Kubel.
Last year it was Liriano.
This year it is Garza.

Who's your guess for next year's SUPER Twins break-through prospect?
I'm going with Swarzak.