mmmmmbeeer

The appropriate question here, because of the fact that Kotsay isn't much of an improvement over Jones, is why is Andrew Jones hitting higher in the order than Gordon Beckham?

QUOTE (Y2HH @ Aug 24, 2010 -> 07:19 AM) Sounds like IT work. Long haul backbone so, yeah, pretty close to IT type of service and demands.

I took a "promotion" that awarded me a 17% pay increase and 5% bonus increase and I still made nearly $20K less than I did when I was hourly. The sad thing is that I'm not working that much less now and also get a lovely 2-week stretch of uncompensated oncall every couple of months. Climbing the ole ladder....gotta love it.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 22, 2010 -> 11:17 PM) The downfall/struggles of Quentin and Rios since the ASB are the biggest reasons for this team's failures (besides the obvious bullpen issues). Konerko has been a stready, great contributor all season. However, if you look at the players who are hitting well now, none of them are in a position to really knock in a ton of runs. Pierre, Vizquel, Beckham (and even Kotsay, to some extent) are swinging the bats well. However, Pierre/Omar don't have the power to knock in numerous runners per game, and Beckham in the 9 spot has not allowed him to be a dynamic force despite his .350 or so batting average over the last 35 games. We've said it before, but Rios has really hurt this lineup since the ASB by killing a lot of the momentum when Pierre/Omar get on base. Then you get to Quentin, who cannot seem to do anything productive on the road. It's a recipe for disaster given the lack of power at so many of our positions. The one man who really needs to get more at bats is Castro, as he's been an absolute beast. I don't care if Ozzie despises playing both of his catchers in a game...his bat is the hottest on the squad and when your offense is struggling, you need to do everything you can. It's infuriating that Beckham is STILL hitting out of the 9 hole at this point in the season.

QUOTE (Quinarvy @ Aug 20, 2010 -> 08:54 PM) f*** Joe West. no doubt....what a joke. I refuse to believe this wasn't intentional given all the evidence.

disregard.

I thought Thornton was starting tonight?

QUOTE (NorthSideSox72 @ Aug 18, 2010 -> 08:23 AM) Despite the fact that I jumped off the Ozzie bandwagon, I will actually partially defend Ozzie on the Kotsay thing last night (even though I am going to get ripped for it). Kotsay crushed the ball twice already in that game - and that does mean something. When a guy has two shots like that in a game, its hard to justify pulling him. Yes, I realize Kotsay sucks against lefties this year - in 21 at bats. Yes, Kotsay overall is a bad hitter who should not be starting. I'm just saying, I don't think that decision was as awful as its being made out to be. I think that's a tough call in that situation, and I wouldn't have been pissed at Ozzie either way. But goddamn did that game piss me off overall. That's what their assumption was, too. I don't know....he's in a platoon for a reason. He's expected to hit RHP well and the fact that he actually did for once, imo, doesn't mean he should suddenly be looked upon as something other than a platoon guy. There were several failures in that game but I always get a kick out of the opposing announcers reacting some of OG's moves...like Kotsay and Thornton.

It was quite comical last night listening to Bremer and Blyleven try to make sense of Kotsay hitting in the 5th with the bases loaded against Perkins. They just kept repeating how Kotsay was 0-21 against LHP this season. Must've been some of that gut managing by the ole Ozzerooooo.

I'm still not real clear why Gordon Beckham, he of the OPS around 1.000 since July 1, is still hitting in the 9th spot.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 05:26 PM) The thing is...if there was a SABR manager stat, Ozzie would almost certainly score ridiculously well, because for the last 6 years, his teams have consistently outperformed the preseason projections and the pythagorean projections. I think it would be a situational analysis as opposed to a holistic season analysis. Every other stat is a culmination of small instances over the course of a season, not sure why a manager stat would be any different. For instance, and I'm no SABR guy, but i believe SABR frowns heavily on sac bunts and yet OG is all about a sac bunt. By atleast that single variable, despite a World Series win in 2005, SABR would consider him a poor manager.

QUOTE (Marty34 @ Aug 17, 2010 -> 04:20 PM) So Ozzie at worst is a top 10 manager. He's immediately ranked below every American League manager because he quite simply does not comprehend that you do not manage/field an AL club like it's competing in the NL. So that places him 14th right off the bat. But if he were in the the NL he wouldn't be the best NL manager either....I'd place Manuel, Torre, Cox, Black, and Tracy all above him. So yeah, I'd put him about 19th in the league. I wish these SABR guys would come up with a manager stat.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 16, 2010 -> 12:54 PM) It's not "The" major reason. It is definitely "A" major reason. I can give you a list of major reasons...Peavy getting hurt, Peavy sucking at the start of the year, Jenks imploding, Teahen getting hurt, Beckham sophomore slump, Quentin being down, Putz's last 3 games, Floyd's start to the year, AJ Pierzynski's bat, some of Ozzie's lineup decisions... However...big difference...for everything on that list, I can either say "that was unpredictable coming into the season" (Peavy hurting, Teahen hurting, AJ's bat) or "yeah that sucked but it's been balanced out by this" (i.e. Floyd's start balanced out by Floyd's recent dominance or AJ's bat balanced by his handling of the pitching staff) or "Yeah that sucked but you weren't going to do anything about it" (i.e. replacing Beckham and Quentin) Mark Kotsay getting 300 PA's as DH is a singular example here of something that was fully predictable coming in to the season, easily avoidable, and really not balanced out by anything. About the only positive you can say is that Konerko's had a great year and maybe the extra rest is a part of that...but the answer to that was not to keep Kotsay, it was to plan to move Teahen to 1b every now and then to spell him. Add in the fact that amphetamine is now outlawed and tested for.

It's nothing more than a study of probabilities dressed in fancy names. Much like the comprehension of probabilities allows actuaries and gamblers to successfully predict an outcome more often than those unaware of probabilities, they are still surprised when John Doe has a heart attack at age 32 or 3 aces pop up in the flop of a game of Texas HoldEm. I guess my point is that I feel that Sabr has value to the game but not nearly as much as is impressed upon us by its rabid community of followers. Some of the stats are deserving of the praise while others are not even close to ready for mainstream acceptance.

Ron Gardenhire.

I think that we're actually fairly ordinary with our post-break struggles. If you look at the "last 10" in the standings now, there really aren't many teams really dominating with 9-1's, 10-0's, 8-2's. Twins are the only team 8-2, a couple 7-3s, but the rest of both leagues are languishing in mediocrity. They don't call these the dog days for the hell of it. I think the fact that the Twins, almost religiously, perform well above average on an annual basis after the break tends to highlight our mediocrity to us more, as a division foe, than we'd see if we were say Yankee fans. As you pointed out, over the last decade there really is no difference in our performance yet we've had different managers, different players, different coaching staffs....the park has undergone renovations that changed the way it played, weather is obviously not 100% consistent year to year.....Unless you want to blame Hawk or the uniforms, there really isn't anything you can definitively point to as a cause.

QUOTE (fathom @ Aug 15, 2010 -> 02:13 PM) For a guy that struggles to hit a ball far enough to even get a sac fly. Ain't that the truth..... Oz is just horrible.

QUOTE (Balta1701 @ Aug 15, 2010 -> 01:45 PM) I think the Twins are in the process of doing that. They're like 16-4 in their last 20. 21-8 since the break

QUOTE (BigSqwert @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 03:03 PM) Jamie Burke Ah, yes, you're right....thanks.

QUOTE (JoeCoolMan24 @ Aug 13, 2010 -> 02:51 PM) Only if warnings are issued. And great, so let Linebrink or Bobby nail someone. My point is just that for the amount of times we get hit, we really don't retaliate for it. It seemed like Ozzie used to call for guys getting hit in the past, but no longer. Just an observation. To take that even a step further, I don't even see it as retaliation I see it as setting a tone. It was no accident that the Twins hit our batters 4 times....just as it was no accident when Torii Hunter blasted the s*** out of AJ at homeplate a couple of seasons ago. Gardenhire does these things to make sure his team is the alpha male in the relationship....it's high time Ozzie quits sititng back complimenting the Twins and instead takes a page out of Gardy's book and has his guys do some tone-setting of their own. Start a brawl! Hit a couple batters! Annihilate a fielder on a slide! Do something to remind the Twins that they're in your park and you're in charge. Yes, I was very disappointed by that Twins series

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 09:28 AM) Simon wasnt shaken enough that he couldnt throw 3 fastballs up to Viciedo which would have him screwing himself down into the dirt. IN that situation you want a hitter up that give you the best chance to win the game regardless of the other team's pitching decision. Vicedo wasnt that guy, especially last night. I could have struck Dayan out last night. This is the guy who would have gone 3-0 to AJ when AJ was doing nothing more than trying his best to give the O's a free out. Even the O's announcer was all over Simon's inability to throw a strike. So, in other words, I do think Simon was plenty shaken and was prone to make a mistake. I don't know man, I'm not trying to get into it with you or anything ..we have our opinions and I can see your point of view and certainly respect it. I'm probably a bit quicker to jump the gun than most on Ozzie because I think he's just an absolutely miserable manager which, of course, causes me to put every move under a microscope.

QUOTE (RockRaines @ Aug 10, 2010 -> 09:07 AM) LOL. You mean he took out Viciedo who hadnt come even close to a pitch the last two at bats and put in one of our best clutch hitters this season? It was actually a very good move IMO. And the bunts were good as well considering our offense this series, all it takes it a hit by the middle of the order, and they didnt come through. Keep second guessing the team when they lose, it makes it funnier when you guys cheer on these moves when they win. Simon was absolutely shaken....his mannerisms, his control, everything about his demeanor on the mound was screaming "take me the f*** out of this game, Buck". Did you see how quickly Showalter ran out to the mound to get Simon? He was ecstatic that Ozzie made the decision for him. I'm fine with Vizquel PH but not when doing so forces a move that is a positive for the other team. And the bunts, you spend enough time on this board to know that this has been a sore subject for several seasons and, imo, the argument is much stronger this season when you have the league leader in SB being sacrificed to 2nd base. If he steals 2nd it gives you one more opportunity for the middle of the order to get that hit you were referring to and, ya know, "considering the offense this series", we shouldn't be giving away outs.

Between the bunts and his decision to PH for Viciedo which quickly resulted in a pitcher with no control or confidence to be immediately yanked from the game, I was left shaking my head after this one. I can't wait until that idiot is no longer on our bench.

QUOTE (JohnCangelosi @ Aug 6, 2010 -> 08:14 PM) Bringing in a guy for his MLB debut in a 1-1 game. Nice decision Oz. Against the top of the lineup no less

I'd rather have Viciedo facing RHP as DH than sign a 37 yr old who hasn't played in a year and a half who is already demanding playing time as if he were still in his prime. Sounds like trouble to me.....no thanks.