Twins

[Now its our time]

Who? lol.

He gave up 2 runs the other day, and his ERA went UP to 1.50. Yeah, he's off to a great start.

I also like the new Delmon Young. He dropped 30 pounds, and it has made a world of difference. He's faster, and looks much more comfortable in the field. I hope he continues to get better.

Are you being sarcastic? Its hard to tell!

[HornedMessiah]

It's still very early in the season, but seeing Liriano return to his dominant form is awesome. There are lots of high expectations for this season, but for me I most hoped to see Liriano return to his "Ace" status, and so far so good! He's still the #5 guy in the rotation, right? I wonder if they'll eventually move him up (and Baker down)

And as far as Mauer and moving him to another position, I think 5 years is too long to wait. They need to do it in the next 2-3 years or less. Playing catcher is very rough, and the team needs to protect their investment. If this Ramos kid can keep it up, then the decision is much easier. They need to do whatever they can to keep Mauer's bat in the lineup.

[PurpleMustReign]

Are you being sarcastic? Its hard to tell!

Yeah, you are right, it is hard to tell, lol...

I am being totally serious. I like the new Delmon, and Liriano is doing better than I think anyone would have thought at this point in the season.

[PurpleMustReign]

SWEET SWEEP of the Tigers today! I am wondering if this is the start of a long winning streak for the Twins. They have looked very good in the past few games!

[DanAS]

SWEET SWEEP of the Tigers today! I am wondering if this is the start of a long winning streak for the Twins. They have looked very good in the past few games!

I could have told you that wouldn't happen. I've been a Maryland Twins fan for nearly 4 1/2 decades and I can't tell you how many times over the years I've seen them lose to the Orioles. Blame me for tonight's shutout. GRRRRRRRR.

Hey, at least Pavano pitched well. But we really do need to start hitting with the bases loaded.

[PurpleMustReign]

First rainout!!

There are some morons who are saying "see we told you it should have had a roof."
Morons. I hope those idiots who say that never set foot in Target Field.
It will be cool to have a Double Header tomorrow. Hopefully they will actually score a run against the worst team in the MLB this time...

[DeeEss57]

First rainout!!

There are some morons who are saying "see we told you it should have had a roof."
Morons. I hope those idiots who say that never set foot in Target Field.
It will be cool to have a Double Header tomorrow. Hopefully they will actually score a run against the worst team in the MLB this time...

It's snowing up here. And it's sticking. They should be glad it's not doing that down in the Cities.



Dawn

[PurpleMustReign]

You know, I'm beginning to think that Gardenhire should be fired. His in-game decisions probably lose more games than they win. Why walk the bases loaded to get to A-Rod? And why bring Guerrier in to face A-Rod?
Gardenhire did good work with the low-budget Twins in his first few years. I think mostly they caught teams by surprise back then. But his pitching changes at odd times, including when pitchers are rolling, but (heaven forbid) at the 100 pitch mark, and his man love for Nick Punto are really getting old.
And his record against the Yankees is just disgusting. He doesn't know how to manage high-caliber games. With the talent we have now, there is no longer an excuse for not getting the job done.

[Rus]

You know, I'm beginning to think that Gardenhire should be fired. His in-game decisions probably lose more games than they win. Why walk the bases loaded to get to A-Rod? And why bring Guerrier in to face A-Rod?
Gardenhire did good work with the low-budget Twins in his first few years. I think mostly they caught teams by surprise back then. But his pitching changes at odd times, including when pitchers are rolling, but (heaven forbid) at the 100 pitch mark, and his man love for Nick Punto are really getting old.
And his record against the Yankees is just disgusting. He doesn't know how to manage high-caliber games. With the talent we have now, there is no longer an excuse for not getting the job done.

I suspect that anyone new who'd come in would probably shake down the entire coaching staff, and if they jettison Rick Anderson or Joe Vavra, they will pay dearly. Those two guys have taken so many washed up talents and made them serviceable. They've taken marginal minor league prospects and turned them into solid players.

The Twins best bet, if they were to get rid of Gardy, would be to replace him with one of the base coaches like Ullger. I'm not really that high on a lot of their minor league managers, like Tom Nieto. Nieto has been doing it in the minors for 10 years, but he hasn't won a lot of games in the minors this year.

I don't get his Nick Punto thing. I also don't know why he's been so high on Sal Butera, except that Drew must have something incriminating on Gardy. (Yeah, I know it's an old joke, but it's hard to resist)

[PurpleMustReign]

Whoops, looks like Jason Kubel accidentally hit a grand slam there at the end.

Good game by the Twins, I think everyone expected a Yankees Sweep. Hopefully this will be a huge confidence boost for them and they will take their play to another level.

[DanAS]

How does Brendan Harris stay in the Major Leagues? Can't the Twins find an infielder who can field and hit, say, .180?

[Now its our time]

How does Brendan Harris stay in the Major Leagues? Can't the Twins find an infielder who can field and hit, say, .180?

Since he is still in the Majors,apparently not

[PurpleMustReign]

Since he is still in the Majors,apparently not

Tolbert and Casilla should be good enough for that. Although Casilla went on the DL. They should call up Valencia now. It's not like he could hut the team any more than what Harris is. I used to like Harris, he seemed like a solid player, but he is dreadful this season. If he can be sent down, we should do it, otherwise put him on waivers so we can get someone up who can hit.

[PurpleMustReign]

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.

[DanAS]

Tolbert and Casilla should be good enough for that. Although Casilla went on the DL. They should call up Valencia now. It's not like he could hut the team any more than what Harris is. I used to like Harris, he seemed like a solid player, but he is dreadful this season. If he can be sent down, we should do it, otherwise put him on waivers so we can get someone up who can hit.

I had to post again about this topic because I just got home, noticed that the Twins had a runner in scoring position but then noticed that there was two outs and Harris was up. I found myself thinking, oh well, three outs. And sure enough, he grounded out.

There is something absurd about putting that guy in the lineup so often this deep in the season. It's one thing to have a catcher who hits a buck ninety, like we had with Laudner, but having an infielder (and not even a shortstop) hitting .160? Sorry, but I find the situation stunning.

And by the way, folks -- given that neither Mauer nor Harris hit too many out of the park, just think about what we're getting out of our catcher and third base positions: two guys without great power who are averaging roughly .240 between them. When you realize that, and add what happened to Nathan and how we haven't had a true ace in the rotation since Santana left, ... it is truly amazing that as I type this, the Twins have a three game lead. Obviously, some other things are going very RIGHT for this team.