Benchwarmerjim

congrats to Sox fans for getting Paul Konerko into the All Star game. He should of been in without a vote

Im not giving up on Nishioka yet. He only played a couple weeks worth of games, and the last few games he is stinging the ball, but right at the outfielders. If the Twins get rid of both Nathan and Capps, they have a few guys in the minors could fill the closer role. Anthony Slama has been closing for Rochester the last few years. Gardy is pretty high on Carlos Gutierrez. He is a power sinker and wanted him with the big league club this year, but management overruled him. If they get rid of both closers this year, they could just slide someone over..Glen Perkins or someone. its not like the Twins are getting many save situations

the Twins would of been raked over the coals if they didnt sign Mauer after getting the new stadium. After all, the whole point of Target Field is so they could sign their own guys. The Twins were kind of in a no win situation there. Nathans big contract comes off the books this year, so does Capps. thats about $16 mil in bullpen money eaten up I think Delmon Young is gone after this year. If they can get a low to mid level minor league guy in return, I think they would pull that trade. Gardy really loves Ben Revere. His ceiling is about Juan Pierre, which is cool by me. There has been a lot of talk about trading Cuddyer, I am not sure if he gets moved. He is a Twins guy through and through. I think the only way he gets traded s if the other team blows them away with an offer. I think Kubel would get traded before Cuddyer does. Kevin Slowey is probably going to be gone by the trade deadline too.

and some people were worried about the Twins winning the division. 4 losses in a row. more injuries.

the Twins are now 3.5 games back of the Royals after a 4 game sweep. The last 2 games, the Twins have trotted out laughable lineups (Cuddyer, Valencia, Young were the 3-4-5 hitters) because Morneau and Span are dinged up

Capps was brought in because Perkins came up lame with an oblique strain after about 2 pitches this season sucks so far

QUOTE (caulfield12 @ May 12, 2011 -> 05:23 AM) http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/121677159.html Reporters and questioning fans already turning on pretty boy Mauer. Pat Ruesse is a columnist, not a reporter. His reoccurring theme this year is the Twins are a bunch of pansies because they dont play through injuries. But there is not doubt about it, the Rochester Minnesota Twins stink this year. They cant score runs, and they chance they do score more than 3 runs, the pitching gives up more. Its hard to watch. I keep waiting for the season to turn a corner, but as we get toward the middle of May and the team floundering, its getting real hard to see things turning around

Angel Hernandez and Cowboy Joe West on the same crew, that could be the worst umpiring crew ever

I think they didnt want to schedule one for today because it is a noon start and there is a chance of rain for that and its about 40 degrees (about 20 degrees cooler than normal temps). play the double header when its warmer, if it ever gets warm

QUOTE (LittleHurt05 @ Apr 15, 2011 -> 07:20 AM) Pavano had a shutout and only 104 pitches, but Gardenhire took him out to trust his bullpen? And the bullpen blew it twice? But I thought only Ozzie was dumb enough to lose games like that. Pavano told Gardy he was gassed after 8 innings

Gardy said that they had been working with Nishi all spring with turning the double play

that Twins offense is brutal so far. Looks like Brian Fuentes added a palmball this year. he was throwing something at about 78 mph, and the grip looked like the palm

an Aussie version of him

Luke Hughes is being called up...but no one is quite sure what the lineup will look like. Hughes is a guy who can crush a fastball, but cant hit a curve.

I think the Twins will be ok...but it will be a battle in the AL Central as always. I mean, it wouldnt shock me if the Twins Sox or Tigers win it. I think the lineup will be fine. The one player I look forward to is Nishioka. He has had a good spring, and adds speed to the lineup. Maybe the combo of Span and Nishi will finally be the combo that breaks through and gets on base constantly for Mauer and Morneau. Rotating DH of Thome/Kubel/Mauer/Morneau seems to be in the works The starting pitchers dont worry me. The Twins seem to have some depth there, with Slowey in the bullpen and Kyle Gibson in AAA Rochester. The bullpen is a huge worry. Nathan bouncing back from injury means that he wont pitch back to back days right away. A lot of the pen has been overhauled, with no Guerrier and Crain...its going to be weird for a while. But, the Twins have done this before and its worked out. Bottom line: I am more confident in this team than in years past. But, with the additions the Sox have made (mainly, Adam freaking Dunn who is going to kill Twins pitching), I cant fully say the Twins will win the division.

Nathan said the other day that his slider isnt quite back yet, so I think tonight he was trying to tune that up

if you are wondering, it looks like the Twins bullpen will be Nathan, Capps, Slowey, Mijares, former Royals bullpenner Dusty Hughes, Glen Perkins, and Jeff Manship/Jim Hoey (got him from the Orioles in the JJ Hardy trade). Perkins, Hughes, and Mijares are lefties. Hoey throws 95 but has no control. Manship is more of a long reliever and Slowey I think will be kind of a set up guy (at least that how he has been being used as during spring training, but its ST who knows what the plan is)

QUOTE (witesoxfan @ Mar 23, 2011 -> 02:47 PM) I assume it has to be Pavano, Liriano, Baker, Duensing, Blackburn with Slowey to the pen. you are correct

nope. he was still slinging it sidearm. he was not having a good camp. when he gave up a home run, it went a long ways out of the stadium and couldnt throw strikes consistently

Adam Dunn will be a Twins killer this year. book it

Tim Laudner has done some work with the Twins TV broadcasts the last few years. My impression is that he is an 'old school' guy and believes in the 'Twins Way'.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Oct 11, 2010 -> 08:22 AM) Your team makes a specific point though of not wanting guys like Liriano at the back end of your rotation. Your staff trains guys to throw strikes and pitch to contact, up and down the organization. And frankly, it works. I really like how their offense is set up with Mauer, Young, Morneau, Cuddyer, and Kubel. That's 5 guys in a row who can beat you, and it's balanced, esp. since Mauer hits both sides well. The Twins problems aren't in the building of their team. yeah, the strike throwing, contact pitching works in the regular season, but in the post season (I have come around on this) you need a strikeout, bust some knuckles, make people move thier feet type of pitcher and the Twins lack that and it show up against the Yanks. Yankees batters versus Twins pitching is going to be a mismatch because the Yanks are strike pitch mashers To your second point, I think if the Twins flip Kubel for a RH bat, the lineup looks a little better. The Yanks killed the Twins LH bat heavy lineup with CC and Pettitte

Souhan has been trying to trade Delmon all season I would try to package Kubel (I think he has a team option for 2011) and a pitcher for a strikeout pitcher. Liriano is all they have for starter who can go out and strike out 10 on a regular basis the Twins also need a power RH bat.

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/blogs/102624994.html Zach Greinke on the Twins

Thome's HR was measured at 480 ft and hit a flagpole