fathom

Kotsay really grinds the ball into the ground. The Kotsay experiment needs to end...it's sad he actually received a Major League contract.

That a boy PK! Huge AB for the psyche of this team.

Pierre hasn't lost one step...possibly two steps. Nice to see an actual line drive by Quentin. Big AB for Konerko here.

QUOTE (Chet Kincaid @ Apr 11, 2010 -> 07:16 PM) Blow it up and trade everybody. Let's restock the farm system. We have no one that anyone would actually give us good prospects for (that we could realistically trade). Not only that, our farm system is so awful right now, adding mid-level prospects won't do anything to really help us.

We're the only team that continues to challenge Mauer and Morneau with an open base. There is no energy on this team right now, it's so disappointing.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 11, 2010 -> 03:47 AM) We shall see. You would think we have enough talent in CQ, Paulie, AJ, Rios, Lexi to start scoring 4-5 a game. Maybe? You do realize that guys like Konerko, AJP, Rios, and Ramirez are basically league average players? Quentin also has a far way to go to prove 2008 wasn't a fluke season. He should be able to do that, but he's looking like someone who's just trying to homer every at bat and not doing the little things at the plate.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 11, 2010 -> 03:47 AM) The problem is they have made no attempt to upgrade. I think overall we'd be in better shape if we made no changes from last year to now. Pods, Dye, Thome would arguably cause more havoc than Juan, Teahen, Jones, Omar, etc. It's simple, Ozzie wanted his "versatility", which was basically the dumbest idea in the history of baseball. Mark Kotsay was on his way to being out of baseball last year before being traded for Anderson. Now, he's our #5 hitter. It's bad when I feel like Jayson Nix needs to be getting a lot more at bats. Vizquel getting at bats over him against a LHP is just retarded. Also, time for Randy Williams to get released. He's terrible. BTW, even though I blamed Ozzie above, Kenny Williams has not done a very good job as our GM the past two seasons. He needs to take a lot of the credit. I can't see anyway our team can stay within 5-7 games of the Twins. Just a superior team with better baseball IQ and manager.

I was gone for the last two days, but the DH situation is shaping up to be like the Wise leadoff disaster last season. As DAllen always says, our offense was brutal last year with Thome and Dye (Dye had a monster first half). Shame on this organization for trotting out this pathetic lineup.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:44 PM) Career...the guys on the Twins have a .663 OPS against Garcia and a .916 against D1. Mauer's the only one who's hit Garcia hard. Yeah, Garcia isn't the same pitcher, yada yada yada. Yes, he's not the same pitcher.

QUOTE (hammerhead johnson @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:44 PM) Was spring training last year? Who cares about Spring Training? It's the perfect setting for Jones, since he can't hit good offspeed pitches. We all know how the ball doesn't curve as much in Arizona.

QUOTE (hammerhead johnson @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:34 PM) Steve Stone is the best baseball man that I know, and I'd have been game to test Marson if they'd have had a right-handed reliever out there. We did the same thing in the 7th inning also with a righty on the mound.

QUOTE (hammerhead johnson @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 07:31 PM) Except we all know that he's much better than that. I don't know if Beckham can clear .275. It remains to be seen. We do? Unless he's on the same "diet" he was when he was back in Atlanta, it's very possible he's just washed up.

Need to win this one, as Garcia against this lineup tomorrow won't be pretty.

QUOTE (hammerhead johnson @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 08:22 PM) Gordon Beckham is a .270-to-.280 hitter until further notice. People already have him in the hall of fame, for some odd reason. It is also not beyond the realm of possibility for Konerko or Andruw Jones to get a base bit. Well, then Andruw Jones is about a .220 hitter until further notice.

QUOTE (hammerhead johnson @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 06:23 PM) Any time you have a left-handed pitcher out there, it gets tricky. Like Ranger said, Perez has a balkish-type move that doesn't get called. You really want to risk getting picked off? I was fine with Beckham bunting both times, given the circumstances. Sure, it's a risk, but even if that happens, you still get to have Beckham and Quentin bat. Beckham will likely hit twice as many doubles this season as caught stealings for Pierre, so I'm fine with that risk.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 05:06 PM) Beckham, by the way, is not this team's best hitter just yet. I know we're all excited about watching him develop at this level, but I think we should also reel it in a bit. We're not saying he's better than Albert Pujols, but with regards to overall hitting, he's pretty clearly our best. If he's not, then this offense will be even worse.

QUOTE (Ranger @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 05:05 PM) Because it's fairly large risk in the 9th inning of a tie game. Yes, he's gonna steal bases, but he's not going to do it at a 100% rate. Runner at 2nd with Quentin and Konerko coming up provides a pretty damn good chance to drive in that run. Konerko and Jones, as Quentin will get intentionally walked nearly every time in that situation.

Yes, that was a fantastic plot twist.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 05:52 AM) Hopefully the Twins will bring out a sense of urgency in our club and we can get some competitive juices flowing to carry into Week Two of the season. Seriously? It's the first series of the season. These guys are trying extremely hard now, as no one wants to get off to a bad start. If anything, the players are trying too difficult.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 04:48 AM) Would anybody have bet we'd not win this series after that efficient if not spectacular Game One performance? I assumed 2-3 and hoped for a sweep. Carmona and Masterson have the potential to be very good pitchers for the Indians. I think people are underrating them. If Brantley and LaPorta continue to have good at bats, the Indians can be a solid team.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 05:33 AM) Let's look at the positives from tonight. When absolutely necessary... Gordon Beckham sure as s*** can bunt! Sergio Santos looked GREAT. Dare I say potential closer in the making?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 05:28 AM) I think I'd rather ignore you. Clearly the Sox are going to play .300 ball from here on out and are completely terrible because of two losses in 38 degree weather. Give me a break. I just wanted to know if I missed all these tough luck rockets. Trust me, jphat and I were in chat and he's the king of talking about hard hit outs. I don't recall that tonight.

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 05:24 AM) Then you weren't watching the game. Please tell me then what I missed?

QUOTE (Steve9347 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 04:22 AM) Dear God, people. We hit a lot of balls hard, right at people, and the Tribe had more bloops in the last two days than I've seen in awhile. Who hit the ball hard tonight? Quentin had a homer, Konerko had a line out, Jones had a line out, and AJP had a solid single. Besides that, I don't remember a single hard hit ball.

QUOTE (greg775 @ Apr 9, 2010 -> 04:11 AM) So can Cleveland. It won them the game. Actually that's not true if you consider Sizemore got a hit after Cabrera.