With CMath's departure (like the Geek and Ubelmann before him) I'd like to see a discussion of Chris Anderson's "Free" model for digital information.  For those out of the loop, Anderson argues “In the digital realm you can try to keep Free at bay with laws and locks, but eventually the force of economic gravity will win.”  In essence, news outlets should give their information away for nothing, much like this site, and hope to make money in other ways. 

(more after jump)

Poll

Should we pay for Twinkie Town to ensure top-flight content? (This is purely hypothetical - Jesse has not put me up to this)

16%

Yes

8 votes

44%

No

22 votes

22%

Are you insane?

11 votes

18%

The only thing I pay for is sex

9 votes

50 votes | Poll has closed

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The New York Times is reporting that David Ortiz tested positive for steroids in 2003.  This is shocking!  David Ortiz?  The guy who the Twins cut in 2002?  The player, as the Twins Geek used to say, who the Twins could not trade for a warm bucket of spit? (gross visual)  The man who was constantly hurt, 30 pounds lighter, and looked to be finished?  I thought he blossomed, as he claimed, because he was finally away from those mean old coaches in Minnesota who wanted him to hit the other way?   

Poll

What should be Big Papi's new nickname?

32%

Big Milkshake

26 votes

8%

Little Slappy

7 votes

59%

Big Phony

48 votes

81 votes | Poll has closed

Continue reading this post »

Much has been made of the way the "new media" (blogs, internet sites, etc.) is covering sports.  In a somewhat ironic turn, new media mavens often argue that they are doing a better job of covering teams because they LACK access; arguing that the old media (newspapers, broadcasters, cable outlets) was so close to teams and leagues that their journalism was compromised.

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Thanks be to God for the decline of the newspaper industry and the rise of the blogosphere.  As the guy who plays Mose Schrute said on the recent Costas Now, our democracy is much better off with many voices contributing.  And Balls Deep is right; access is so overrated when we now have the internet.  After all, it usually just corrupts the journalist.

I appreciate the fact that I have learned so much more about the war in Iraq with AaronGleeman.com’s embedded reporting from the Green Zone.  And it is admirable that Deadspin too time out from gossiping about journalists and athletes to allocate resources to reporting on Tibet and the Beijing Olympics. 

Even the Huffington Post interrupted its fact-checking to send a reporter to an otherwise mundane zoning meeting to break the news that agri-business received clearance to install more Concentrated Animal Feedlot Operations close to groundwater, rivers and lakes in rural Minnesota.  

Newspapers are a thing of the past.  Access is important, but only when it is taking cell-phone pictures of Matt Leinart chugging beers with co-eds.  Other than that I want my journalists to be regular guys like me: sitting on the couch eating nachos and making snarky comments.  Our democracy depends on this “gut feeling” rather than expertise (or travel budgets).  Look at our current commander-in-chief.  There’s a guy who goes with his gut.         

Yesterday I made the annual trip to Peoria to catch the "prospects" for our Beloit Snappers, low-A team for the Minnesota Twins.

Poll

Does Terry Ryan know what a DH is?

35%

David Hortiz?

6 votes

41%

No, he is a baseball purist

7 votes

23%

Dung Heap?

4 votes

17 votes | Poll has closed

Continue reading this post »

Did TR wake up on the wrong side of the bed?

Poll

Why is Terry so crabby?

36%

Have you seen the Twins play this year?

16 votes

38%

Matt Moses, B.J. Garbe, Jason Kubel, Matt LeCroy, Henry Sanchez

17 votes

20%

Gout

9 votes

4%

He didn't get his oatmeal for breakfast

2 votes

44 votes | Poll has closed

Continue reading this post »

This may not be the appropriate forum for this, but I need some advice from TwinsNation.  I will be in NYC on June 8 and I was hoping to take in the Yankee/Pirates game that evening.  Much to my chagrin, the tickets are already sold out.  What should my next move be?  Try to buy them on the street that evening?  Go through ticket brokers?  Ebay?

Help a brother out.  Anybody have any experience with this type situation?  I am looking for two moderately priced tickets in a section that allows for the consumption of beer.

If nothing else, this gets your mind off the punchless wonders for a minute or two.

Poll

Was the Borat movie funny?

46%

Yes

13 votes

53%

No

15 votes

28 votes | Poll has closed

Maybe I'm late to the party and everyone has already seen this, but if not this website has some interesting takes on the state of the game.

http://www.bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=534&Itemid=41

Poll

Best jock sniffer?

6%

Annie Savoy

3 votes

63%

Anna Benson

28 votes

25%

Jessica Biel

11 votes

4%

Morganna

2 votes

44 votes | Poll has closed

Continue reading this post »

This article in the NY Times on the amenities at Turner Field was an interesting inside look at the business of stadium revenue.  It might be a good preview of what is to come at the Twins new venue (Best Buy Stadium?).  Here's hoping that the Twins remember that baseball is still one of the last big-time sports events that a working-class family can afford.  Even at a new stadium there still should be a good amount of seats that are around $10, especially since it is a taxpayer-financed public works project.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/22/business/yourmoney/22stadium.html?th=&emc=th&pagewanted=al l

Terry Ryan was on the Chad Hartman Show on KFAN yesterday.  Ryan was blunt about things as usual.  These are my impressions from the segment, although if you think you have a different take feel free to add.  

1.  TR gave the distinct impression that he was going to spend ZERO dollars on offense this winter on the free agent market.  He said he was happy with the offense this year and sounded a bit gun-shy over the Batista experiment and not landing Frank Thomas, which he characterized as "my fault."  He said something to the effect of "we finally got to 800 runs and that's where we need to be."
2.  When Hartman pressed him on this, saying that he thought that the Twins still needed to add a #3 hitter, Ryan reminded him that Mauer is only 23 and is expected to grow into that role.  Interesting that Mauer won a batting title this year and both Ryan and Hartman sounded somewhat disappointed in his production.  The impression that I got is that Ryan expects Mauer to be the "big bat" that many are looking for.
3. It sounded like Ryan would bring back Silva, saying that Carlos is "someone that Rick Anderson can work with."
4.  Ryan said all loose change would be spent on starting pitching.  He did not sound very confident in the young starters being ready, and stressed that the Twins identity is pitching and defense.  He also stated that many of his moves will hinge on whether Liriano shows progress this fall.
5.  He was unsure on bringing back Rondell White.

See the poll to register your opinion on the Twins' postseason

Poll

What did you take away from the Twins' postseason "performance"?

26%

The Twins were in the postseason?

10 votes

13%

Erin Andrews is too thin

5 votes

7%

Ron Gardenhire is the new Bobby Cox, aka "Dr. Strangemove"

3 votes

52%

There is not enough Grain Belt in the fridge to make me forget this series

20 votes

38 votes | Poll has closed

I get a lot wrong.  Or, at least, when I am wrong, I am way wrong.  In two instances, my friends have not allowed me to forget how wrong I was.  Remember in 1997, when President Clinton launched an attack on suspected terrorist targets in Afghanistan and Sudan?  He said that his information  indicated Osama bin Laden and his top associates were meeting at a training camp when the U.S. fired their missles.  But the attacks came on the same day that Miss Monica Lewinsky wrapped up her testimony before a grand jury investigating whether Clinton lied under oath about their, um, meetings.  I was sure this was a "wag the dog" scenario, and announced that "we have nothing to fear from Osama bin Laden."  

My second worst prediction came in 1998, when I argued that Ryan Leaf would be a "much better" NFL quarterback than Peyton Manning.  How was I supposed to know that Leaf had a five-cent head to go with that $11.25 million signing-bonus arm?

Just this year, in regards to the Twins, I posted in a diary that Justin Morneau might not ever live up to his potential, right before he got hotter than Hades.  I also advocated that Twins start dumping players and give up on 2006, right before they went on a 51-20 tear and are now in the lead for the wild card.  And just recently I passionately advocated the Kyle Lohse trade, right before the Twins rotation collapsed leaving them to rely on Garza, Bonser, Silva and "Bailing Twine" Brad Radke.  

One thing that bothers me about many Twins blogs is that they always remind readers about what they were right about, but almost never mention where they were wrong.  Sometimes I think we forget that when we are wrong, nobody cares, but when somebody like Terry Ryan is wrong, it is a very public mistake.

That felt good in a sensitive, modern-man sort of way.  Now you'll have to excuse me, I have to go take a duke.

 

Javy Lopez was traded from the Baltimore Orioles to Boston today for for a player to be named and a cash gift from Petey Angelos.  This allows the Red Sox to replace injured catcher Jason Varitek with a former All-Star.  The question is, why didn't the Twins or another team in playoff contention block this move since it came after the trade deadline?  

The way I understand trades after the deadline is that the player to be traded has to clear waivers, and each team is given a chance to claim players from the bottom up. Since the Twins have a lower winning percentage than the Sox, shouldn't they have claimed Lopez to block him from improving the Red Sox?  

On the other hand, is it possible that if the Twins would have claimed Lopez the Orioles could have said, "Fine, take him," and saddled the Twins with the rest of his $9 million contract?  Or can the Twins say "just kidding, we really didn't want him, we just wanted to make sure he didn't go to the Red Sox" and then he goes back to the Orioles or becomes a free agent?

Or, is it possible that Ryan thinks that at 35, Lopez is nowhere near the player that put up a .328 ba with 43 home runs and 109 RBIs in his best year in Atlanta, and will not improve any team, no matter where he ends up, so there is no need to block him?

Lopez is currently hitting .265 with eight home runs and 31 RBIs in 279 at-bats and has only caught in only 21 of the Orioles' 109 games.  His OBP is .314, slugging .412.  Obviously the Red Sox think he will help them, so shouldn't Terry Ryan think the same?

Educate me, please.

Elsewhere I posted the clear reasons that the Twins are not headed for a Royals'-like disaster.  The talent alone can keep this team afloat for many years.  But some other things keep me awake at night.  Staying afloat is one thing, but competing for division titles and world championships is another.  Again, there's no sabermetric analysis here, this list is closer to Letterman than Bill James.  But I think I could have written it even before the 7-game winning streak.

1.  Knees.  Specifically the knees of Joe Mauer and Jason Kubel.  Hold your breath.
2.  Justin Morneau.  He's hot right now, but next week he could be back flailing away.  And too many times I hear Gordo say "off Morneau's glove!"  How much of the shoddy defense exhibited by the Twins can be credited to a first basemen that rarely bails other infielders out?
3.  A new stadium.  As Milwaukee, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Cincy have shown, a new stadium does not guarantee more victories, in fact all it might guarantee is some very cold nights in Spring and Fall and snow shovels for the grounds crew.
4.  Terry Ryan.  Sure he has pulled off some the best trades in history, but his judgement with free agents stinks.  Andy McPhail brought in Jack Morris, Chili Davis, and Don Baylor.  Ryan "nabbed" Mike Morgan, Otis Nixon, and Tony Batista.  Ouch.
5.  The organizational commitment to pitching and defense.  Pitching and defense are great, but no 30-homer guys since 1987?  Ridiculous.  For years they have stressed drafting and aquiring size: Restovich, LeCroy, Ortiz, Morneau, etc.  At one point John Sickels said that if the Twins do not make LeCroy into a bonafide power hitter it will be a major failure.  Well, they pulled it off.  For the sake of Pete, let the big boys swing it.
6.  Garza and Slowey.  Remember Jeff Bumgarner and Steve Gassner?  They were going to save the Twins in the 80s. Turns out they couldn't save Chico's Bail Bonds.  Where are they now?
7.  David Ortiz.  An incredible physical specimen (although suspiciously larger since he left the Twins) that the Twins tried to make into a hit-and-run, opposite field guy.
8.  Payroll.  Sure we've had six different world champions in six years, but payroll still matters.  The Twins just have very little room for error (Batista) or misfortune (White).  The Yankees (Kevin Brown) and Red Sox (trading Arroyo) can make mistakes galore.
9.  3b, 2b, and CF.  Nick Punto, Nick Punto, and Lew Ford?  Yeesh.  The Twins have a solid core of Mauer, Morneau, Cuddy, and Kubel, but if some attention isn't paid to these spots that talent will be wasted.  Ryan and Pohlad have tough decisions coming up on Castillo and Hunter (see Cmath's post).
10.  The White Sox.  All of a sudden the Pale Hose are winners and the seats are full.  They have a win-at-all-costs GM and a owner who has said he would trade all his Bulls rings for one World Series.  Reinsdorf seems willing to put the increased revenues into increased payroll as he promised.  Not only that, the neighborhood around Comiskey is improving yearly and skittish white fans are more willing to go to the games.  They could become a juggernaut in the AL Central.

But honestly, I'm not a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. This is a half-hearted attempt. I am enthused about this team, although I am not blind to the problems the Twins face.

Recently Aaron Gleeman has been using the metaphor that Twins' moves are "like shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic," the implication being that the Twins are sinking, and quickly, and any moves they make are merely cosmetic or hopeless.  I should post this on Gleeman's site, but I no longer do so after being censored some time back, and Jesse used this metaphor on this site so it's time for some refutation.  There's no sabermetric analysis here, this list is closer to Letterman than Bill James.  But I think I could have written it even before the 7-game winning streak.

1.  Santana and Liriano.  These two have the potential to be the best pitching duo in the big leagues, if they are not already there.  It's very hard to be pessimistic with these two going once every five days.
2.  Joe Mauer.  Is there a catcher better right now?  Who would you trade him for?  I thought so.
3.  Justin Morneau.  Yeah, he still struggles with the strike zone, and too many times I hear Gordo say "off Morneau's glove!"  He's probably not going to be the next Larry Walker as Gammons anointed him, but lately we've seen that he can be the solid run-producer that the Twins have sorely lacked.
4.  Youth.  Besides the aforementioned players, Kubel, Cuddyer, and Bartlett are all still in their 20s.  Nothing breeds optimism like youth.
5.  A new stadium.  As Milwaukee, Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Cincy have shown, a new stadium does not guarantee more victories.  But it does guarantee that the Twins will not be moving to Mayberry, and that's enough to make my 91-year old grandma smile.
6. Terry Ryan.  Sure he has a poor track record with veteran free agents.  But can you name a better trade than the AJ transaction?  The Chuck Knoblauch deal wasn't too shabby either.  Consistency can be a hobgoblin, but I appreciate it in Ryan.
7.  The organizational commitment to pitching and defense.  The plans for the new stadium show that the Twins will not make the unbelievable mistake of building a bandbox and pinning the franchise fortunes around a galoot like Adam Dunn.
8.  Garza and Slowey.  Remember Jeff Bumgarner and Steve Gassner?  So does my grandfather.  But even if Garza and Slowey fail there are plenty of other great young arms in the system.  Just read Roger to get a boost of exhilaration.
9.  David Ortiz.  Sure the national media isn't telling the whole story.  Nobody wanted Ortiz when the Twins let him go.  But believe it or not, this situation is actually going to help the Twins.  They are red-faced over his game in Boston, and next time they have a man of his size and power they will let him swing it and not worry about "hitting behind runners."
10.  Parity.  Remember when baseball was doomed to be dominated by the Yankees?  Now we've had six different champions in six years.  Payroll still plays an outsized role, but who wants the crapshoot of the NFL?  Playing in the central division doesn't hurt either.

Ron Gardenhire does not make the list.  I like his backbone, his management of the bullpen, and, most importantly, his three division titles.  But the Juan Crapstro situation was galling.  There is a difference between being tough and just plain stubborn.  

I could go on.  Some may say that this is being "pollyannaish," I think it is looking at the facts.  Feel free to add you own.

On Sunday I drove to Peoria to take in the Beloit Snappers, the low-A affiliate of our Minnesota Twins.  The game experience started poorly, as I crossed my first (and hopefully last) picket line.  Honestly, I had no idea that the umpires were on strike until I got to the game, which may say more about our media than the effectiveness of the job action.  You can read more about it here:
http://www.inthesetimes.com/site/main/article/2615/

The Snappers started Kyle Waldrop, a first-rounder from 2004 whom Roger and others have written about extensively.  Waldrop obviously has a live arm, and I'm not sure if Crash Davis told him to scare the opposing hitters or not, but he beaned at least 2 Chiefs and nearly hit a couple more.  Waldrop held a 4-1 lead in the sixth when the wheels fell off.  Peoria tied the game in the sixth and in the 7th Snapper first baseman Erik Lis, who is the Midwest League batting leader at .356 and had hit a majestic homer earlier, dropped a pair of throws from second baseman Steve Tolleson which led to three unearned runs.  These plays were so easy that I thought either:

1.  The fix was in and he was possesed by the spirit of Hal Chase.
or
2.  His girlfriend put a hex on his glove and no one had a live rooster.

Due mainly to this poor defense, the Snappers lost 8-4.    

Random Thoughts:
Henry Sanchez, the Twins' first rounder from 2005, is a major project.  His OPS is .608, his swing very long and he seemed to have very little knowledge of the strike zone.  He struck out at least three times and appeared to want to either hide or cry.

The Twins' third base problems will not be solved from Beloit, where Toby Gardenhire has been manning up.  You can read about him here:
http://www.pjstar.com/stories/052206/CHI_B9SPFQT6.W02.shtml ,
but I saw him at the U of I as well and this is pure nepotism.

The Snappers uniforms were terrible.  I have seen many fastpitch softball teams who dressed better.  Edward Ovalle's jersey was dark navy, while Sanchez's was a washed-out grey.  They looked like a high school team with a bad laundry service.

Ovalle will probably not hit enough to make it, but he had two beautiful outfield assists.

The Bradley Braves have apparently retired Kirby Puckett's jersey even though he only spent one year there...

The use of sound effects at O'Brien field was beyond egregious.  I have not been to a minor league park in a while, and I understand that this tomfoolery is all the rage, but this was worse than an NBA game.  Trust your product!  Do not try to appeal to the ADHD element of the population.

Checking up on the Twins who were not to be

Continue reading this post »

Kyle Lohse vs. Jon Garland

Continue reading this post »

Developing Hitters

Prior to the demise of Twinsgeek.com there was plenty of talk on how the Twins have failed to develop hitters, especially hitters with any power.  Many bloggers also noted that the A's, with their emphasis on high OBP and SLG, were a franchise worth emulating.  Can we test this?

Take the case of Doug Deeds and Nick Swisher.  Both Deeds and Swisher entered THE Ohio State University in 2000.  Swisher, possibly because he was the son of former major leaguer Steve Swisher, played immediately and was the Big Ten freshman of the year.  Deeds redshirted in 2000, but in 2001 he matched Swisher's feat as the Big Ten's best rookie.  Over their college careers, Deeds actually outslugged Swisher, .628 to .613, and their OBPs were almost identical (.452 and .447).

Deeds and Swisher are either "versatile" or positionless, as both logged time at DH, 1B and the OF in their careers at Ohio St.  But in pro ball both have settled into the OF.

Physically, they are almost identical:
Deeds L/L 6'1" 185 06/02/1981

Swisher S/L 6'0" 195 1/25/1980

Yet last year, Swisher was on the Big Club while Deeds was in New Britain:

Swisher (with the A's): .236/.322/.436
Deeds (with RockCats): .304/.382/.479      

and just for further comparison, Swisher hit a paltry .230/.324/.380 at AA Midland (287 ab) in 2003.

Yet Swisher is being mentioned as one of the A's good young sluggers, while Deeds is a footnote in the Twins' plans.  Is something amiss here?  

Notes:
Deeds did have a short year in 2003 (5 games and 15 at-bats), did an injury knock him off the Twins board?

Swisher was a first round pick, while Deeds was a ninth rounder.  So do the A's expect more from Swisher?  Deeds may have slipped because he was just a redshirt sophomore with leverage, while Swisher was a junior who had proved himself.  

Home Runs:  Ah, yes, the long ball.  Swisher had 29 of them in Sacramento in 2004.  Deeds had only 16 last year in New Britain.  But who doesn't hit bombs in the Pacific Coast League?