Thursday, October 19, 2006
Mid-day Ramblings
Hello! As you noticed, I didn't get anything written last night. I kind of fell asleep instead. Oops! And yeah, I just didn't quite have it in me to wake up early and write this morning. So, how about a quick posting on my lunch break?
Jose Reyes got things going nicely for the Mets last night when he led off the bottom of the 1st with a home run. It was all that John Maine and the Mets bullpen would need on their way to a 4-0 win. That brings us to tonight's Game 7. Normally, the home team would have an advantage in a Game 7, but the Mets pitching is in a shambles. They could go with 15-game winner Steve Trachsel (who was horrible all season but led the majors in run support), but he is in the doghouse. They could go with lefty Darren Oliver who pitched six shutout innings against St. Louis in the game started by Trachsel, but he hasn't started a game since 2004. So, they are going with Oliver Perez, who has not been good for two years, on short rest. Meanwhile the Cardinals have Jeff Suppan, their #2 guy, going tonight. He won Game 7 in the NLCS for the Cards in 2004 when the Cardinals won to advance to the World Series. But, that's why they play the games! Pitching wins, right? But when there isn't much pitching, it's who can out-slug whom!!
Yesterday was a rough day for the Twins minor leaguers in Arizona. Jay Sawatski threw 1.1 innings and gave up four runs on four hits and a walk. Matt Moses was 0-5 with three strikeouts. Matt Tolbert was 0-4 with a walk. David Winfree went 1-4 with a double and a sacrifice fly.
Did you see that the Twins added reliever Julio DePaula to their 40 man roster? I thought it was an interesting move. If I am looking correctly, the Twins are currently at 39 on their 40 man roster. I think we can assume that Shannon Stewart, Brad Radke and Phil Nevin will come off of it as free agents at the end of the year. Depending on what the Twins decide to do with Rondell White and Carlos Silva, there could be two more spots available. And then there are several players who could probably be taken off the 40 man roster without being claimed and then resigned to minor league deals. Guys like Josh Rabe, Jason Tyner and Chris Heintz. Tyner joins a list of arbitration-eligible players that the Twins will have to make a decision on, as is Lew Ford. The thing is that other players do need to be added to the 40 man to be protected from the Rule V draft. I would think that Matt Moses, Denard Span and David Winfree would be easy choices. To me, Trent Oeltjen should be added. What about Oswaldo Sosa? There are a number of talented minor leaguers that the Twins could lose if they don't protect him. So, 40 man roster construction could make things very interesting in the coming weeks!
In looking at the roster of the Tigres de Aragua (a team in the Venezuelan Winter League that the Twins must have a working relationship with), several Twins minor leaguers are participating. The list includes: Oswaldo Sosa, Bobby Korecky, Horacio Estrada, Beau Kemp, Yohan Pino, Henry Bonilla, Luis Maza, Garrett Jones, Denard Span and Alex Romero.
Welp, I best get back to work. Thank you for taking the time to read the site. I will be back tomorrow with another Q&A with a Twins minor league prospect. Stop by to see who? If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail me any time. Or, post some Comments below.