Friday September 26, 2003

TWINS THOUGHTS

TELEVISION THOUGHTS

VIKINGS THOUGHTS

 WEEK 4 PICKS and POSTSEASON PREDICTIONS

 It’s Friday again, and the Twins are in the playoffs. They’re playing a relatively meaningless four-game series against the Detroit Tigers. (Click here to get more Twins Thoughts) So today, we’re going to start with our panel’s Week 4 picks.

Last week, we almost agreed completely on our picks. Most were 8-1 or 9-0, with just a couple 7-2.  This week, the games must be a little more difficult to chose, as you’ll see below. Here are the results of our collective choices:

Philadelphia @ Buffalo - Bills 6-3

Cincinnati @ Cleveland - Browns 8-1

Arizona @ St. Louis - Rams 9-0

San Francisco @ Minnesota - Vikings 5-4

Tennessee @ Pittsburgh - Steelers 5-4

New England @ Washington - Redskins 6-3

Atlanta @ Carolina - Panthers 6-3

Kansas City @ Baltimore - Chiefs 6-3

Jacksonville @ Houston - Texans 5-4

San Diego @ Oakland - Raiders 7-2

Dallas @ NY Jets - Cowboys 5-4

Detroit @ Denver - Broncos 9-0

Indianapolis @ New Orleans - Colts 6-3

Green Bay @ Chicago - Packers 7-2

Be sure to check out the websites of the others on this panel. They all had some great entries this week!

Aaron’s Baseball Blog - Aaron Gleeman announces his choices for American and National League Rookies of the Year, Cy Young, and MVPs this week. He and I certainly disagree on the definition of the term “Most Valuable Player.” That’s OK, he presents his case for all three awards with plenty of great statistics that make it very difficult to argue against his choices.

The Bad Twin - Twins thoughts from recent games, and looking forward to the postseason.

Universal Baseball Blog - Ben Jacobs writes daily for this website, but also writes a weekly Fantasy Football article for the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle. Be sure to check that out today. But, I also want to point out that he has entered a great posting comparing the Twins and Yankees, position-by-position. A must-read before the Twins/Yankees ALDS begins! Twins fans looking for some hope, this is the spot.

Braves Buzz  - David Lee writes about the Braves winning their 12^th consecutive division title, Russ Ortiz winning his 20^th game, and John Smoltz saving his 45^th game.

ChiSox Daily - Michael Labuda discusses the elimination of the White Sox, wonders why Twins fans don’t like his Sox (to which we replied here yesterday), and today, promises to express his thoughts on that issue. Should be interesting!

VIKINGS THOUGHTS -

Daunte Culpepper probably will, but definitely should not, play on Sunday against the 49ers. His injury should not be taken lightly, and Mike Tice should just say that he’s going to play Gus Frerotte Sunday. The 49ers aren’t playing great, so this is a very winnable game.  So, my predictions: Moe Williams (not Michael Bennett) will run really well in the first half, but Onterrio Smith will bust open a big play or two. Kelly Campbell will have another big play. The defense will bend but not break, so if you’ve got Owen Pochman on your fantasy team, be sure to use him. Terrell Owens will have at least 3 big plays. Hopefully the Vikings can just keep him out of the end zone!  Final Score: With Daunte playing (Vikings 34, 49ers 26). With Gus Frerotte at the helm (Vikings 20, 49ers 16). Send me your predictions.

TWINS THOUGHTS

Last night the Twins lost to the Detroit Tigers, 5-4, in 11 innings. Brad Thomas, pitching in his second inning of relief, gave up a 2 out solo home run to end the game. But, for Twins fans, it’s important that when we see that score, we simply say “Who cares?” Sure, it would have been nice to extend the winning streak to 12 games. Sure, no one wants to lose to the Tigers. But, the important thing is that the starters are getting some much needed rest going into the playoffs. Over the weekend, the starters will get back into the lineup. They’ll get a couple of at bats to try to stay sharp and basically just get ready for playoffs. What these games are doing is providing a platform for those who are on the bubble of the playoff roster to get into some game action and again show the coaching staff what they can do.

So, let’s take a look at the Twins potential post-season roster, then discuss some of the question marks remaining and who might fill out the roster.

First, let’s take a look at those that I believe are locks to be included on the post-season roster:

Manager Ron Gardenhire has already said that he would have 15 position players and 10 pitchers on the post-season roster.  Based on the above, we have 14 position players and 9 pitchers that will be on the roster. So, that leaves one spot for a position player and one spot for a pitcher.  Who will Gardy chose? Who would you choose? Well, here are some of the candidates:

(Position Players)

Utility Infielder Chris Gomez - Gomez has been lost on the bench for over a month. He had some great moments in June, then hurt his knee and missed a couple of weeks, and really didn’t play a lot. He could play three infield positions and be a right handed hitter off the bench. He’s played in the World Series before.

1B/Left-Handed Pinch Hitter Justin Morneau - Looked bad in his first three at bats last night, but then in his fourth at bat, down by 1 run and a runner on base, Morneau connected for a long, 429 foot home run to give the Twins the lead.  That’s the type of impact player that could prove important coming off the bench. He will be playing 1B all weekend, allowing Doug Mientkiewicz to rest his wrist.

OF/Right-Handed Pinch Hitter Michael Restovich - Should get plenty of at bats this weekend in LF and/or RF. He has hit well for the big league club in limited opportunities. Has incredible power, and good speed considering his size. The reason he won’t be selected, however, is that the Twins already have both Dustan Mohr and Lew Ford as right-handed hitting reserve outfielders.

Utility Infielder Alex Prieto - Not even worth considering! It won’t happen.

SETH’S CHOICE - Obviously, I’ve been a big backer of Justin Morneau all year. In this situation, I think his left-handed bat off the bench could prove important. And, should anything happen to Mientkiewicz, I would feel best with Morneau at 1B and leaving the rest of the roster intact.

(Pitchers)

LH Relief Pitcher Jesse Orosco - A great story. 46 year old Orosco coming back to the team that he was drafted by in 1978, the year before Michael Cuddyer was born, 3 years before Justin Morneau was born. Despite poor numbers this season, Orosco does have a good slider and can get left-handers out. He’s hurt in the ALDS by the 3 man rotation because that means that lefties Kenny Rogers and Eric Milton will pitch out of the bullpen, leaving Orosco on the sidelines.

LH Relif Pitcher Carlos Pulido - Another great story, Pulido has had a great year. He’s even done well in his relief stints with the Twins. However, like Orosco, Pulido won’t be on the post-season roster because of Rogers and Milton. Pulido pitched a solid 6^th inning last night, but after a couple of weak singles, he was removed in the 7^th.

RH Relief Pitcher Rick Reed - He is terrible. He whines constantly about injuries and has Ron Gardenhire backing him. He doesn’t even appear to want to be part of this team. That said, the 10^th pitcher hopefully won’t be used, and if he is, it would be in an early, blow-out situation, where he is needed to go a few innings.  Reed may be alright in that situation.

RH Relief Pitcher Grant Balfour - Ron Gardenhire brought Balfour into last night’s game in the 7^th inning with 1 out and runners on 2^nd and 3^rd. Clearly he wanted to see how Balfour would react in a tough situation, to see how he could be used if he is on the playoff roster. How did he respond? Well, he got one out, but allowed both inherited runs to score and another as well. Not a good impression to leave with the coaching staff.

SETH’S CHOICE - I hope they go with Balfour. I think that Gardenhire will chose Rick Reed because he’s veteran, and that’s probably fair too, if he’s healthy. It would just be nice if he could just make it look like he cares!

So, there you have it! The playoff roster according to Seth.  The Twins have until 10 a.m. on Tuesday morning to turn it in, and the 8 players I mentioned will all probably get opportunities to show why they should be included. 

TELEVISION THOUGHTS -

Friends was great!  Joey and Rachel. Ross and Charley. Monica’s hair! It’s just all so good and I am so happy that it’s back!

Will & Grace was pretty funny. Most of the really funny parts were in the promos though!

Coupling… well, it was very funny. I can also understand why some network affiliates refuse to air it. But, of course, that’s why I love it!

I taped Survivor and need to watch that yet. Hopefully this weekend!

I’m heading out of town for the weekend again!! I hope everyone has a great one!  On Monday, I will present my 2003 awards for MVP, Cy Young and Rookie of the Year, as well as some others, so be sure to check back. Then on Tuesday, I will try to preview the Twins/Yankees series and make some predictions on it, as well as the A’s/Red Sox series, the Giants/Marlins and the Braves/NL Central Champ (who we should know by Tuesday!!!)

I'd love to hear from you. Drop me a line. Send me an e-mail!

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