Wednesday August 27, 2003

Twins Thoughts

Discussion of the Week

Fantasy Football

Trade Talk

Following yesterday’s article, explaining why I think the Red Sox should trade ace Pedro Martinez, I received more e-mail than any other day I have posted on this site.  Click here to check it out and then send me an e-mail and let me know what you think.

A month ago, I wrote about the July 31 Trade Deadline in Major League Baseball, but that’s not the only Trade Deadline there is. There is also the August 31 trade deadline. However, in order for a player to be traded after July 31, he must first clear waivers.  An example of this, the Oakland A’s wanted to acquire P Kelvim Escobar from the Toronto Blue Jays. But, the Minnesota Twins claimed Escobar, disallowing any trade between the A’s and Jays for Escobar.  So, the Jays took Escobar off the wire.  Trades can also be made after August 31, however, the player involved would not be eligible for post-season play, because that roster must be set by the end of the day on August 31.

Yesterday, the trade that had been discussed for the past two months finally went through yesterday!  Well, most of it.

The San Diego Padres finally acquired OF Brian Giles from the Pittsburgh Pirates. (It had been thought that the only way the trade would be made by Pittsburgh would be if the Padres took C Jason Kendall as well, but that didn’t happen.) If Garrett Anderson is underrated, I don’t know what the word is that would describe Brian Giles.  Something that means less known than underrated! (Unheralded?) Look at his numbers the past 5 years:

 Just look at those numbers again, and he has had that kind of success with little support in front of, or behind him in the Pittsburgh lineup! (also, he missed some time at the beginning of this season with an injury.) Did you know that after the 1998 season, the Pirates acquired Brian Giles from the Cleveland Indians for Left-Handed Relief pitcher, Ricardo Rincon?  The Indians had Ellis Burks, Manny Ramirez, and Kenny Lofton playing in the outfield, and felt they needed Rincon to put them in a position to win the World Series. I think this is an example of a bad trade… well, a great trade from the Pirates perspective!

So, not only is Brian Giles very underrated, but he’s incredibly consistent!  For a guy who has averaged more than 37 Home Runs over those 4 seasons, his strikeout/walk ratio is 375/479 (0.78:1). Rarely do you see a ratio of just 1:1 these days!  For a little perspective, Pirates SS Jose Hernandez this season has a strikeout/walk ratio of 151/38 (about 4:1).

To land Giles, the Padres had to give up some prospects, LHP Oliver Perez, OF Jason Bay, and LHP Cory Stewart.  Doesn’t seem like a lot to give up for one of the most consistent, powerful hitters in all of baseball. 

Oliver Perez is young, and has spent most of the past two seasons at the major league level. The 22 year-old Perez has a record of 4-7 with a 5.38 ERA with the Padres this season in 19 starts. Last season, in 15 starts, Perez was 4-5 with a 3.50 ERA. Perez is certainly a strikeout pitcher.  In 193 1/3 innings in his career, he has accumulated 211 strikeouts!  That’s almost Johan Santana-esque!

Jason Bay has hit wherever he’s been.  While with the Expos organization, he won the 2001 Midwest League Batting Title. This season, playing at AAA Portland, Bay is hitting .303/.410/.541, with 20 HR, 59 RBI, and 23 SB.

Cory Stewart is a 23 year old lefty. He was ranked by Baseball America as the Padres #10 prospect. This season, pitching in AA, Stewart has made 24 starts, going 12-7, with a 3.72 ERA. In 125 2/3 innings, he has struck out 133 batters.

So, really, the Pirates got some players with plenty of upside.  I understand the Pirates goal to reduce payroll and start over, but I would think building with one of the game’s best hitters could be a good place to start!  Also, this trade really makes you appreciate how much the Rangers were able to get (3 Top 10 prospects) from the Florida Marlins for middle reliever Ugueth Urbina!

The Padres are putting together a pretty solid lineup for opening up their new ballpark in 2004, led by Giles, Ryan Klesko, Phil Nevin, and Mark Kotsay. Mark Loretta has been a good pickup for them as well. Sean Burroughs is finally coming through on his potential.  Also, in acquiring Brian Giles from the Pirates, the Padres did not give up top prospects like Xavier Nady (NL Rookie of the month in June), Khalil Greene, Tagg Bozied, Jake Gautreau, Ben Howard or Josh Barfield.  Khalil Greene should also be called up in the next week and get every day shortstop duties. That will help the Padres brass determine if it will throw a lot of money at Kazua Matsui this winter!

OK, so the Padres got Brian Giles. Now they have too many outfieldes, so they were then able to ship OF Rondell White to the Kansas City Royals.  I’m not saying that the Royals are making all the right moves, BUT, they are showing their fans and their players that they are in this race to win it!

I won’t say that Rondell White is the answer to what will make the Royals win the division, but he certainly is a quality replacement for the injured Michael Tucker. This season, he’s hitting .278, with 18 homers and 66 RBI. He provides some power, a veteran presence that has been in the playoffs and through pennant races before.  And, they gave up two players that aren’t considered top prospects to get him.

Watching Rondell White, he has the look of an aging veteran. He’s much slower, he has a Shannon Stewart-like arm, but he’s still just 31 years old. He can help the Royals, and the Padres really don’t need him anymore.

That trade comes just a day after the Royals acquired left-handed starter Brian Anderson from the Indians for a couple of Class A players (1B/OF Trey Dyson and RHP Kieran Mattison).  Again, I don’t think that Brian Anderson will push the Royals to the top of the AL Central, but he’s certainly a better option than some on their current starting staff (Jose Lima, Kevin Appier, Jimmy Gobble and Paul Abbott). So, who knows? Maybe he will be the answer.

The Royals have made some minor moves for veterans that may prove beneficial. Don’t forget the additions of Al Levine and Curtis Leskanic, both relievers that have helped solidify the Royals bullpen. Leskanic is actually splitting time with Mike MacDougal as their closer.

I still believe that the Twins will wind up winning the American League Central, but there is no doubt that the White Sox and Royals are both going to make doing that very difficult for the Twins.

TWINS THOUGHTS

What a great baseball game! Last night, the Twins beat the Anaheim Angels 3-0. It was a quick game too, finishing in just over two hours!  I mean, I would have preferred that bottom of the 9^th inning go quicker, but I won’t complain.  With Tim Salmon representing the tying run, Radke threw him a 3-2 changeup to strike him out. For some reason, Mike Scioscia had the runners going with the pitch (to stay out of the double-play), and AJ Pierzynski threw a strike to 3B to catch the speedy Chone Figgins out, for a game-ending double play!

Brad Radke went the distance (improving his record to 10-10), throwing just 97 pitches.  He struck out 4 and walked just 1, giving up 5 hits.  He was on his game last night! His changeup was working well, keeping the Angel hitters off balance.

Let’s be honest, this isn’t the same Anaheim Angels team that last fall won the 2002 World Series. It’s much closer to resembling the September 1998 team that Eric Milton threw his no-hitter against.  Regulars Darin Erstad, Troy Glaus, Brad Fullmer and David Eckstein are out of the lineup, replaced by the likes of Chone Figgins, Adam Riggs, and Alfredo Amazega. But, that makes it even more important that the Twins get at least two wins in this series! Three would be better!

The Twins got on the board with a single by Denny Hocking scoring Jacque Jones from third. Torii Hunter was thrown out at home.  Again, you have to wonder why Al Newman sent Hunter. I assume he thought Chone Figgins was new to centerfield, but he’s really a shortstop, so his arm shouldn’t be in question. That said, if Hunter had touched the plate, he would have been safe.

Denny Hocking was playing 3B in the absence of Corey Koskie, who is still back in Minnesota tending to some “personal family matters.”  I certainly hope it is nothing serious!

Jacque Jones and the powerful Luis Rivas each hit solo homers to create that 3-0 lead!

Unfortunately, even with the win, the Twins did not make up any ground on the other teams in the division. 

The White Sox jumped all over the Yankees and won 13-2.  The Sox hit 6 home runs, including two by Paul Konerko, and a grand slam by Frank Thomas. Esteban Loaiza went 7 scoreless innings and improved to 17-6.

The Royals beat the Texas Rangers 9-2. They used six 6^th inning runs (including a Mike Sweeney 3 run homer) to take over the game.  Newly acquired Brian Anderson went 6 innings for the win.

So, here are the updated standings in the AL Central Division:

Tonight’s games and matchups:

Twins at Angels – 9:00 CT – Kenny Rogers (11-6, 4.67) vs. Aaron Sele (7-9, 5.36)

White Sox at Yankees – 6:05 CT – Bartolo Colon (11-11, 4.24) vs. David Wells (12-4, 3.96)

Rangers at Royals – 7:05 CT – Colby Lewis (7-9, 7.59) vs. Paul Abbott (0-0, 8.80)

Wow, that Rangers/Royals matchup could be ugly!

FANTASY FOOTBALL

Well, last night was my first fantasy football draft of the year. It was a 10 team league, where we drafted 2 QBs, 4 RBs, 4 WRs, 1 TE, 1 K, 1 Defense and 1 Extra (any position).  I think that we did quite well. But, I will be posting the draft results in tomorrow’s Seth Speaks, along with the draft results of my draft tonight.  So, it’ll be a big fantasy football day tomorrow!  Be sure to check back.  I will try to analyze our picks.  Don’t worry, I’ll also discuss the Twins game tonight against the Angels, so it won’t be completely without baseball!!

Discussion Question of the Week

The Twins have 35 games left in the season. They are in a very close race with the Chicago White Sox and the Kansas City Royals. What do you think will happen the rest of the season? Will the Twins win the division? Who will step up? What are the keys to their success? Who will fall flat on his face? You can be serious if you want. You can be funny! I’d just like to hear what the rest of you are thinking on this.

Think about the question a little bit. Then send me an e-mail with your thoughts. Again, I will post the thoughts I receive in next Friday’s post.

Have a great Wednesday!

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