Twins

[Now its our time]

You know, I had a lot of optimism at the beginning of the season, but that has been replaced by the same old feeling about the same old Twins.
Aside from Hudson and Morneau, our infield SUCKS. SUCKS. Harris, Casilla, Tolbert, and Punto should not be in the Major Leagues (although Punto's defense is far better than anyone else on the team). JJ Hardy started out good, but has since been worthless (yes I know he was hurt, but they brought him back, which tells me he is healthy, and if he isn't, then put him back on the DL and get someone else up here).
Did you see their lineup today?
1. Denard Span, CF
2. Matt Tolbert, 2B
3. Joe Mauer, C
4. Jim Thome, DH
5. Jason Kubel, RF
6. Delmon Young, LF
7. Danny Valencia, 3B
8. Brendan Harris, 1B
9. Nick Punto, 2B SS

Really? The 1st place team in the AL Central puts that lineup on the field? The Gophers would win that matchup. WTF?
And what is up with Joe Mauer? I'm not complaining about him or anything, but he is hitting .316. Yes, I know that is very good, but could it be that pitchers have finally figured out how to pitch him?> how many DPs has he hit into this season? 100?
I can't believe we have as good a record as we do. Our record vs. NY, BOS, and TOR pretty much tell us where we really are.

Mauer 1 for 5 today against the A's

[PurpleMustReign]

I guess I have to eat like a bite of crow... but I will stand by the fact that the four IF I mentioned, three belong in the minors.

[purple guy]

I agree, the line up some days are head scratchers. Yea our record is decent, but the good teams beat us or at least own the edge in the series. We dont have the pitching to hold up in the playoffs against good hitting teams. Too many pitchers that are "contact" pitchers and eventually that costs them.
Punto must swing the bat with his eyes closed, he is absolutely terrible, its like he is swinging a swizzle stick.

Im betting by the 4th of July, Detroit will lead the division.

[purple guy]

Wow, Blackburn is looking sharp. 8-0 in the 2nd and walks the next guy in 4 pitches. Detroit will likely take the lead in the division by the end of this series. Same ol' Twinks.

[PurpleMustReign]

Wow, Blackburn is looking sharp. 8-0 in the 2nd and walks the next guy in 4 pitches. Detroit will likely take the lead in the division by the end of this series. Same ol' Twinks.

I meant to come on here earlier and post that I predict that they will be swept in Philly and NY, since those two teams are half-decent and they are road games. They are lucky to have as many wins as they do. All of the double plays they hit into and the horribly thin bench (other than Thome) will doom them very soon. They keep talking about how the Twins need SP, but they need IF help first. Harris, Butera, Tolbert, have no businness in MLB. I wish they would call up Morales and dump Butera.
I believe they shuold trade Ramos for some 3B help and find a spot for Jacques jones, at least he can hit the ball every once in awhile.

[purple guy]

I meant to come on here earlier and post that I predict that they will be swept in Philly and NY, since those two teams are half-decent and they are road games. They are lucky to have as many wins as they do. All of the double plays they hit into and the horribly thin bench (other than Thome) will doom them very soon. They keep talking about how the Twins need SP, but they need IF help first. Harris, Butera, Tolbert, have no businness in MLB. I wish they would call up Morales and dump Butera.
I believe they shuold trade Ramos for some 3B help and find a spot for Jacques jones, at least he can hit the ball every once in awhile.

We do need IF help, but our pitching, except Larino, IMO, is just not very good. Our pitchers rely way too much on contact and good fielding, teams that can hit well, will kill us every time IMO. We are back at it today, we score 3 in the top of the 1st, only to have Slowey give them it right back, and maybe more (bottom of 1st still going on).

Looks like our division lead will likely evaporate today! And just a week ago we had the biggest division lead in MLB, thanks to a weak schedule. Guardy has a lot of power in the organization, I just dont care for him much, we might never suck under him, but I doubt we'll ever win the big one either.

[PurpleMustReign]

WTF????
Huh?
What in holy...?
Say it again?

How the hell did this happen? Down by 5 in the 9th and they come back and win? Seriously?
A good team will springboard from this. That's what a good team would do. Let's see if they are a good team.

Good job on the comeback, btw, but I'd like to see a nice run here.

[purple guy]

WTF????
Huh?
What in holy...?
Say it again?

How the hell did this happen? Down by 5 in the 9th and they come back and win? Seriously?
A good team will springboard from this. That's what a good team would do. Let's see if they are a good team.

Good job on the comeback, btw, but I'd like to see a nice run here.

That was a fun game to watch. We face a tough one today tho, Halladay vs Pavano. Yikes. The Twins definately showed some fight yesterday, when they tied it up in the tenth I thought we were done, ended well, however, we wont win a lot of games giving up 9-10 runs, especially against pithers like Halladay.

It was a fun game to watch tho, hope we can eek one out this afternoon too.

[Now its our time]

That was a fun game to watch. We face a tough one today tho, Halladay vs Pavano. Yikes. The Twins definately showed some fight yesterday, when they tied it up in the tenth I thought we were done, ended well, however, we wont win a lot of games giving up 9-10 runs, especially against pithers like Halladay.

It was a fun game to watch tho, hope we can eek one out this afternoon too.

I predict everyone in the IF except Morneau goes 0 for 4 today!

[glg]

That was a fun game to watch. We face a tough one today tho, Halladay vs Pavano. Yikes. The Twins definately showed some fight yesterday, when they tied it up in the tenth I thought we were done, ended well, however, we wont win a lot of games giving up 9-10 runs, especially against pithers like Halladay.

It was a fun game to watch tho, hope we can eek one out this afternoon too.

Halladay isn't looking so hot against AL teams...

[PurpleMustReign]

Does anyone else here think Mauer is playing hurt? I would be curious to see his BA since he returned from his injury. I don't think he is fully healed, and it is starting to affect the team's performance. If the Twins and mauer were smart they would rest him for a few games at least and see what happens. I realize Butera isn't a good hitter, but we have Morales in the minors, and last I read he is playing well.

[PurpleMustReign]

What a bunch of pansies. This team will go nowhere this season. Purpleguy was right about another team leading the central, but I think it will be Chicago come July 4th.

[purple guy]

Well, we are a whopping .5 games ahead in the division now. I predict we'll be .5 back after todays suckfest that im anticipating. I agree with what some others have speculated, Mauer needs to sit and get healthy, he is not himself right now. As for our pitching and the botoom of the batting order, why not TRY some of the guys in the minors over some that we have playing right now, can they actually be much worse?

[HornedMessiah]

So does anyone really think that the Twins will go after someone like Cliff Lee?

The Twins starting rotation has been exposed as a bunch of wanna-bes lately. The year started out good with Liriano showing flashes of his former self and Blackburn being very solid, but now the wheels are falling off and the entire rotation is a big steaming pile.

[PurpleMustReign]

So does anyone really think that the Twins will go after someone like Cliff Lee?

The Twins starting rotation has been exposed as a bunch of wanna-bes lately. The year started out good with Liriano showing flashes of his former self and Blackburn being very solid, but now the wheels are falling off and the entire rotation is a big steaming pile.

That's what happens when you have a bunch of Brad Radke's as your starting 5. Liriano is really the only one who could be an ace, although now it seems like he is no better than a .500 pitcher aw well.
Now that Cuddyer has moved to 3rd base, I wish they'd call up Jacques Jones and Henry Morales, and send Butera down.