Thursday July 15, 2004
YOUR TWINS THOUGHTS
Well, today, we finally get to your thoughts on the Twins first half and what to expect in the second half.
Before we get to that, I have to mention that tonight, the Twins begin a four-game set against the Kansas City Royals in KC. Kyle Lohse will start what we all hope is a great second half for him. He will be opposed by Zach Grienke. Hopefully the All-Star break gave the team the rest necessary to come back and play well. The Twins will have Shannon Stewart back and it should be fun to see how the Twins respond.
But, without further ado, here are your thoughts on the Minnesota Twins:
I asked readers to answer the following Twins related Discussion Questions for today's post. A few of you took the time to respond. Below are your responses, along with my answers:
1.) What has been the highlight of the first-half of the Twins season for you? Lowlight?
2.) Which player(s) have impressed you the most?
3.) Which player(s) have been most disappointing?
4.) Twins first-half awards…
a. MVP?
b. Best hitter?
c. Best pitcher?
d. Biggest Surprise?
e. Biggest Disappointment?
5.) How would you grade the decision-making of Terry Ryan?
6.) How would you grade Ron Gardenhire?
7.) What are you most looking forward to seeing in the second-half?
8.) Which player(s) do you expect to step up?
9.) Do you think the Twins will make any trades? If so, for whom?
10.) Finally, what will the second half bring for the Twins? Where will they finish in the AL Central? Can they win it? Is it a two-team race?
SETH'S THOUGHTS
1.) Highlights- When the Twins got the three consecutive shutouts against the Royals, getting to see Joe Mauer play and his 3-run, game winning homer against Detroit, and Justin Morneau's home run against the Devil Rays. Lowlights - The Victory Sports/Cable-Satellite Providers. Most Twins fans were unable to see the team play for the first couple weeks of the season. The Twins continuing to lose to teams they should beat.
2.) Clearly Lew Ford has been the best offensive player throughout the whole first half of the season. But, watching Joe Mauer hit is quite the site. That may be the most impressive.
3.) Disappointing - Where do you start? Doug Mientkiewicz has been very disappointing. Kyle Lohse was very disappointing early in the season, but I do think he has turned it around over the last month or so. JC Romero until his demotion. In general, the offense.
4.) MVP - Lew Ford . Best Hitter - Lew Ford, with Joe Mauer charging. Best Pitcher - Joe Nathan has been the best all year. Brad Radke has been very consistent. And Johan Santana has been dominant the last 5-6 weeks. Biggest Surprise - Lew Ford. Biggest Disappointment - The team keeping Justin Morneau down in AAA.
5.) Jose Offerman and Henry Blanco were very good... for about two weeks this season. I was always in favor of the Blanco signing, but at this point I am really not. Not only can he not hit, which we knew, he's not doing anything spectacular defensively either. Offerman was just a bad signing period. The Mientkiewicz multi-year deal is not looking good at all. But the Milton (and $9 million contract) for Carlos Silva and Nick Punto (and Bobby Korecky) trade is looking great. The AJ Pierzynski for Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano deal is looking good. Getting David Gassner as the player to be named later in the Stewart/Kielty trade was great! Only two questions... why are Justin Morneau and Jesse Crain still in Rochester? Grade B.
6.) Honestly, aside from him not playing Morneau and continuing to keep Luis Rivas in the lineup and playing Jacque Jones and Corey Koskie against lefties, I really can't argue with him too much. I think he has been far better this year with in-game decision-making. I think that he has tried things with the lineup that in some ways make sense, but the players just have not all come through enough. He moved Ford to leadoff which made sense after the Stewart injury. Then he moved him to the 3 spot when he proved himself to be the Twins best hitter. I am glad he kept Mauer out of the three-hole for as long as possible, but when he moved him, it made sense. Apparently Gardy wants Morneau up to split time. That makes no sense to me at all. Grade - B-
7.) In case you haven't noticed, I am most excited about Justin Morneau and Jesse Crain getting called up to the big league team for good. I am looking forward to the trade deadlines to see what will happen. I am now looking forward to seeing if Shannon Stewart really has some mystical powers that make the team play so much better.
8.) I think that Mientkiewicz will get his average up closer to .280. I expect Jacque Jones to hit 30 homers (not necessarily all with the Twins). I really think that Radke and Santana will both remain solid, but I truly believe that Kyle Lohse will have a strong second half.
9.) I proposed two trades yesterday that I would like to see the Twins make before the trade deadline.
Jacque Jones and C Jose Morales to the St. Louis Cardinals for Steve Kline and Dan Haren.
Doug Mientkiewicz, Michael Restovich and Adam Johnson to the Toronto Blue Jays for Miguel Batista
I received quite a few e-mails in response to these trade offers. I will post some of those thoughts along with why I believe that this combination of trades would be very good for the Twins.
10.) I think that if the Twins actually follow through on the trades I proposed, their pitching would be stronger and their offense would be stronger, by subtraction and call-ups. That said, I have a feeling that Terry Ryan will primarily stay pat with the current team and that the White Sox will win the division easily. My worst fear is that he makes a dumb trade involving Justin Morneau. That would be bad not only for this year, but for the future too.
From "Jonathon"
1.) What has been the highlight of the first-half of the Twins season for you? Lowlight?
Joe Mauer's breakout two-homerun game among many highlights. Lowlight - Justin Morneau benched in his final three games up with the big-club
2.) Which player(s) have impressed you the most?
(1) Radke - has anchored the starting pitching staff who struggled early
(2) Santana - has regained his impressive form to be the most formidable lefty in the AL
(3) Joe Mauer - what can you say about his all around game other than that he is hitting third on a (well until yesterday) first place team, not to mention his impressive game calling.
(4) Lew Ford - picked up what offensive slack one man could. Creates runs through his hustle (can't count the number of infield base hits). A true catalyst.
(5) Joe Nathan - lights out after early struggles.
(6) Juan Rincon - dominant set-up man deserving of an all-star berth.3.) Which player(s) have been most disappointing?
(1) Mientkeiwicz - production of a below average middle-infielder - not acceptable in AL to have a 1B hitting late in the order. Mark Grace he is not, despite the comparisons many make.
(2) Koskie - while his defense is still rock solid - his production is way under where he should be
(3) J. Jones - after carrying the load early, he has returned to his flailing best.
(4) Cuddyer - when provided an opportunity showed little defensive capability and average offense.
(5) Hunter - while people tend to think Hunter is better than he is, his plate discipline has gone south. Defense remains best in the game in center.
(6) Gardy - squandering of talent in organization in favor of his foolish and stubborn use of players in situations where they have not historically succeeded see J.J. always starting against lefties.4.) Twins first-half awards...
a. MVP? Radke (second, Nathan, third Santana)
b. Best hitter? Lew (second Mauer)
c. Best pitcher? Radke
d. Biggest Surprise? Silva - (while he has come down to earth, he has shown big-league stuff and has eaten valuable innings. Outings usually better than line would indicate which should improve with maturity
e. Biggest Disappointment? Tie - Lohse and Mientkeiwicz5.) How would you grade the decision-making of Terry Ryan?
B, great draft, excellent trades with Philly and SF; negative - I think that he has not put the organizational assets to the best use. There is simply no reason why we need this many major-league ready outfielders when there is a dearth of talent in the middle infield and elsewhere. While you have to know when to hold em and fold em, Ryan appears to be headed to having a pocket full of tokens he will never use and the skills will have stagnated so far that he will get nothing. Moving Kielty and Mohrwas excellent and something we need more of. His handling of Morneau is baffling. If he is able to pull off a trade for Mient, I will take it all back. He will be judged in my book on how he moves some veteran under-performers to useful players.
6.) How would you grade Ron Gardenhire?
B - he has handled the pitching staff very well (with exceptions many have noted) and is very good about getting playing time for everyone. Too "loyal" to underperforming veterans like Meint and JJ. Many questionable (and some indefensible strategic game time decisions). Has first place club however that never quits, evidence by the number of game won in the Twins final at bat.
7.) What are you most looking forward to seeing in the second-half?
(1) Whether Stewart can regain form and lead this team to better hitting like he did last year; (2) a trade for a #3 starter or middle infielder; (3) Morneau back up in Minny; (4) whether JC can regain form from April
8.) Which player(s) do you expect to step up? Koskie, Stewart
9.) Do you think the Twins will make any trades? If so, for whom?
I think that the Twins will make a minor trade of one of their outfielders (Ryan, Ford, Cuddyer for a number three starter, probably Benson, not that I think it would be a good trade. Trade I would like to see. Mientkeiwicz for some middle infield help
10.) Finally, what will the second half bring for the Twins? Where will they finish in the AL Central? Can they win it? Is it a two-team race?
The twins have a road heavy tough schedule the second half and unless they can begin to put some runs on the board the CrySox will win the division by 4 games. Do not discount Cleveland in two-horse race, especially if the CrySox implode and the Twins do not step up like last year. Twins are definitely capable of winning this division, but need their veterans to start producing and need to make at least one significant move.
From "JT"
1.) What has been the highlight of the first-half of the Twins season for you? Lowlight?
The highlight would be against K.C. The pitching was outstanding, the hitting was at least great in one of the games, and it was played in front of the home crowd. As far as the lowlight, I would say any number of games the Twins offense choked and wasted a great pitching performance. It happens all the time.
2.) Which player(s) have impressed you the most?
Lew Ford has been great until this past week. Nathan was much better than expected. Mauer if he had not been injured and missed most of the games.
3.) Which player(s) have been most disappointing? Take your pick. They mostly all suck. I suppose the guys making the big bucks should shoulder most of the criticism.
4.) Twins first-half awards.a. MVP? Ford.
b. Best hitter? Ford, Mauer
c. Best pitcher? Santana, Radke
d. Biggest Surprise? Radke pitching this well.
e. Biggest Disappointment? Almost the entire team (hitters)5.) How would you grade the decision-making of Terry Ryan? Rock bottom. Last year he made one move and got totally lucky. This year? He's jerked around all the prospects, initially felt Lew Ford shouldn't even be on the roster, didn't trade Jones, etc, to fix the stockpile of outfielders. Decided Offerman would be a great addition, didn't send Romero to the minors fast enough, sent down Morneau when it is obvious to everyone that he is worth a try. I could go on and on. What the hell has he done right???
6.) How would you grade Ron Gardenhire? His batting orders are retarded. He's handled the pitching staff fine, except insisting on putting on Romero when that was not working at all. As far as the offense part goes, what can he do when they all stink?
7.) What are you most looking forward to seeing in the second-half? Anyone new.
8.) Which player(s) do you expect to step up? Tough question since I have little faith in the core group. Doug will get his average up but big deal, since there will still be no power. I'm hoping Stewart can do something. But the hopes of one man making a big difference are not good. Last year, the pitching staff improved in the second half of the season, while Stewart got full credit for the upswing in record. Keep in mind, Mauer replaced Blanco and the Twins still can't score runs.
9.) Do you think the Twins will make any trades? If so, for whom? The Twins won't make any major moves. Look for a minor trade that doesn't impact the Twins at all. Terry Ryan is too busy sitting on his butt and is afraid to make another bold move.
10.) Finally, what will the second half bring for the Twins? Where will they finish in the AL Central? Can they win it? Is it a two-team race? If Stewart can't get healthy, the Twins will finish 3rd. And even if the Twins finished first, they can't compete with the better teams of the American League. Imagine how bad they would look against 3 tough starters in a short playoff series, considering they can't hit average pitching now.
From The Baseball Savant, David Bergner
Keep in mind this is a non-Twins fan talking!!!!
1.The highlight of watching any Twins games for me has been the last 7 starts of Johan Santana. Before the season started I seriously thoughtthat he could make a run at winning a Cy Young award, and I still think he can. In his last 7 starts, Santana has thrown 48 innings and struck out 75 hitters while only allowing 8 walks and 25 hits! Simply incredible. The lowlight so far this season is Grant Balfour not getting a chance to start. He came back from the DL and got bombed in a couple of outings and he's been in the bullpen ever since.
2.The most impressive players thus far in the season have to be Lew Ford, Joe Mauer and Johan Santana. I expected this level from Santana, but Mauer has been very impressive in his debut. I didn't think he would hit as well. I thought maybe .275-.280 in his first season. He's hitting .311 going into the break. Granted, it hasn't been a full first half and we still have a lot of baseball left, but Mauer's given me nothing to think he won't hit .300 in his first season.
3.The biggest disappointments for me this year have been Koskie, Jones, and Lohse. I thougth Koskie was going to break out this year, but it hasn't happened. I thought the same for Lohse. For the Twins to be this close and have a lot of key players underperforming has to be a big boost for them going into the 2nd half.
4.MVP-Lew Ford
Best Hitter - Lew Ford
Best Pitcher - Johan Santana
Biggest Surprise - Justin Morneau (From what I've seen, he's that good!)
Biggest Disappointment - Mauer being injured
5.I'm a Twins outsider, but it's hard to argue with success. Ryan might not look as bad as he might look had the Twins been playing to their run differential. They have been the luckiest team for most of the season in the AL until recently when the Yankees took that mantle away from them. That said, I think it was a gutsy move for Ryan to stay calm and not do anything rash. Minnesota, like Atlanta, is set up well where their only adjustments that might need to be made can come from within. If they need more hitting? Let Justin Morneau hit everyday, or give Jason Kubel a chance in a call-up. Need better starting pitching? Let Balfour take the hill every fifth day. The Twins have had a lot go wrong so far this season, but they are still a very viable playoff contender.
6.I don't grade Gardenhire that well, but only in a couple of respects. If Morneau and Balfour are going to be on the roster then I'd say you have to use them.
7.I'm most looking forward to Grant Balfour getting that first start and seeing what he does with it now that he's healthy. If that works out for the Twins, then bringing in a rotation of Santana-Radke-Balfour-Lohse could be a very formidable quartet come playoff time.
8.Koskie is going to step it up a notch for the Twins in the 2nd half.
9.I can't think of any trades the Twins would need to make at the moment. I'd be interested to see if the A's could get Justin Morneau for Barry Zito. I can see where the Twins might need another starting pitcher if they don't give Balfour the opportunity, but I can't see the Twins moving any real talent in the process.
10.It's a two-team race in the Central because the White Sox are determined to make it that way. The Twins have the best 2 starters among the White Sox and Twins, but the White Sox probably have the advantage 3-5. The White Sox hitters are also better than the Twins. I think therace will be tight all season, but the final 10 games could be a huge deal. The White Sox get 7 games against the Royals and 3 against Detroit, while the Twins get 7 games against the Indians and 3 against the Yankees. If the Central is a 1-2 game race with 10 games left, the White Sox should take first place, and that is what I think will happen. The Twins finish in 2nd place and miss the playoffs.
From Leslie
1.)What has been the highlight of the first-half of the Twins season for you? Lowlight?
Highlight? Taking two out of three against Boston at Boston, taking two out of three against Chicago at Chicago, winning back-to-back extra innings against the Indians in the first two games of the season. Lowlight? Getting swept by Chicago at the Dome few weeks ago and then losing three out of four against the Tigers to end the first half in which the Twins hitters did nothing against the mediocre Tigers pitching.
2.) Which player(s) have impressed you the most?
Lew Ford. Where would the Twins be without him? He has done a good job replacing Shannon. It's amusing to hear Twins players attesting their struggles due to lack of Shannon instead of blaming themselvs for not getting the job done.
3.) Which player(s) have been most disappointing?
Doug Mientkiewicz. He is just useless at the plate. It has gotten to the point where I just hate the guy and that I would not be sad if he was traded for nothing.
4.) Twins first-half awards…
a. MVP? Lew Ford
b. Best hitter? Lew Ford
c. Best pitcher? I can go with Johan, but he got it going in June instead of April and May. I will give it to Joe Nathan. He has been lights out in this entire first half. I don't think he has blown a save yet for the Twinsd. Biggest Surprise? Lew Ford. Geez this is starting to be an award for Lew Ford. Did anyone expect his output to be power numbers? I was thinking he would put numbers similar to Cuddyer's.
e. Biggest Disappointment? Kyle Lohse. Wasn't he supposed to have a breakout year?5.) How would you grade the decision-making of Terry Ryan?
B. I like what he did in offseason as he raped the Giants in trading A.J. for an All-Star closer and two good young players. He was able to get two good players in Silva and Punto for Milton. Though that grade could be lowered if he does not improve this team in the next couple of weeks. I would love to get a Randy Johnson, but it will not happen and I doubt Minnesota will be a team that Randy wants to go. The Twins need to get a bonafide starter considering Carlos has a tendency to have dead arm due to lack of starting experience and Kyle Lohe simply stinks.I prefer to get a Ted Lilly. Twins could use a bat, but I think they need to improve from within and calling up Justin Morneau will help. Pitching is a big need though.
6.) How would you grade Ron Gardenhire?
B. He has done well with what he has to work with especially with the injuries the team had this first half. My only beef is that he is too loyal to guys like Doug, Lecroy, and Awfulman. Why is Lecroy and Awfulman getting playing time when they are not even productive? Can't wait till Shannon or Justin comes so those guys will have their playing time reduced.
7.) What are you most looking forward to seeing in the second-half?
I want to see Justin Morneau. If he struggles, he struggles in the majors. I will take the chance. There is no point seeing him in the minors where he is not going to learn. He can not be in the Olympic Team for one month. He needs to be in Minnesota not in Athens, Greece, where the Summer Olympics will take place in August. I want to see a pitcher and there has to be imporvements from Torii, Jacques, and especially Doug. Can Lew keep this up in the second half?
8.) Which player(s) do you expect to step up?
I like to think Torii, Jacques, and maybe Doug will step up. They can't be this bad and they can't be this worse like they did in the first half.
9.) Do you think the Twins will make any trades? If so, for whom?
They better make a trade. It has to happen or the Twins will not win the Central. You can't have this situation where it's Brad and Johan and pray for rain. I want a bonafide pitcher preferably Ted Lilly. Unfortunately, these teams will want Morneau though so that could be tough. It's something TR has to do.
10.) What will the second half bring for the Twins? Where will they finish in the AL Central? Can they win it? Is it a two-team race?
It will be an interesting second half. Twins are going to play lot of good teams like Texas, Boston, NY (especially in the final week of the season where the Yankees could dictate their hopes of making the playoffs!), Chicago, Cleveland, and etc. They have not beaten good teams and that has to change or there will be no three-peat in the AL Central. Where will they finish? From first to fourth. They won't be last since the Royals cemented last place. Can they win it? Who knows! If the offense improves and if the Twins can get that bonafide starter, yes. Is it a two-team race? I think it's a four-team race. Cleveland is pretty darn good and a team to keep an eye on. Detroit is not running away either as they have shown they are no patsies. The days of the Twins having it easy with the Tigers is over and that hit home when the Tigers took three out of four from them last race.
From "Brad"
The Twins have certain flaws which aren't good to see if you want to win:
* Not enough pop from the corner infielders. Koskie's hit a few, but he's gotten very few RBI's out of it.
* No leadoff hitter without Stewart. Though maybe Lew Ford (OBP .382) ought to be up there?
* 43 RBI's leading the team? And that's from a guy hitting down in the lineup?* Two high quality starters - Radke & Santana. After that, we're in trouble (Silva's cooling off, Lohse looks lost).
* Fire-bombers in the bullpen after you get past Rincon & Nathan. Given we had concerns about those two at the beginning of the year, I suppose we should count our blessings.
* How can Rivas have an OBP only .024 higher than his batting average? Or Guzman one only .029 higher? If you're not going to hit .330 & you're not going to mash 35 HR's, you darn better be good at getting on base!!!!! These guys aren't.While the Twins starters have been pretty good of late, they could use a legitimate major league starting pitcher. I don't know who's out there in a trade - maybe Hernandez from Montreal? - or whether there's a kid in the system who ought to be given a shot, but it's a need - just don't trade Morneau for him!
Middle relief / set-up man is an issue, too - we need another option besides Rincon so we don't burn him out.
Dougie either needs to get it in gear or we need to give someone else a shot at the job. I don't care how good his defense is - hitting in the .230's with 3 dingers isn't good enough for anything other than "late inning defensive replacement" work. Bring up Morneau & platoon him with LeCroy.
Some of the other kids deserve a chance to play, too - Jones should be getting platooned for a couple of reasons (1) he's not hitting lefties well enough to keep playing against them; and (2) we've got a bunch of righties on the bench who deserve a shot.
Bottom line - right now I don't see the Twins beating Chicago. Sure, it can happen - short of the Cubs & Red Sox, nobody's better at blowing it than the White Sox of late - but based on what I've seen & heard this year, the Sox know they're better than us, we know they're better than us and they know that we know that they're better than us.
So, there you have it. Some thoughts on the Twins first half and what we look forward to in the second half. Hopefully the Twins can pull it all together and it will work out well for them. Another division title would be great, but they will have to do some work!
That is it for me for today. Have a great day!! As always, if you have any questions or comments on anything, please e-mail me.