Monday, November 19, 2007
Monday Update
Good Monday Morning! It was a nice quiet weekend. I didn’t write
up any major articles, however, I hopefully have begun to set up some future
postings. So, be sure to step back. It’s Halloween
week, so it’ll be a short week at SethSpeaks with
postings Monday though Wednesday. As long as nothing major happens from
Thanksgiving until next Monday, I will just be taking the time off.
The Vikings beat the Raiders yesterday. Chester Taylor showed that
he is as legit a starting RB in the NFL as anyone. 22 carries for 164 yards and
three touchdowns is a pretty solid day, I would say. Add in 38 more yards
receiving, and that’s a nice Sunday afternoon. Tavaris
Jackson was 17-22 passing. I don’t care, but that’s pretty efficient. Of
course, if he doesn’t QB, maybe Sidney Rice might be the best option. He was
2-2 with 94 yards passing.
Let’s get to some Winter League updates, starting with the Arizona
Fall League:
·
On Saturday, it was Nick Blackburn that started
the championship game of the AFL for Phoenix in their win over Surprise.
Blackburn went the first six innings. He gave up one run on five hits. He
walked one and struck out two. The lone run came on a home run by Sean
Rodriguez. Matt Macri went 1-3 with a walk. Drew Butera caught and went 1-4.
·
I would go through how each of the Twins
prospects did down in Arizona, but Josh did
a great job of doing that already, so head over there to read it.
Then in Venezuela:
·
On Thursday, Aragua beat Margarita 3-2. Frank
Mata gave up a run on two hits in 1.2 innings. The run came on a solo homer by
Joe Thurston. Bobby Korecky got four outs, allowing
only a hit. Jose Mijares got the lone batter he faced
out.
·
On Friday, Luis(!) went
1-2 with a homer and three walks. Oswaldo Sosa was
the winner. He gave up a run on a homer in two innings of relief.
·
On Saturday, Aragua won two games, both by a
score of 1-0 over Caribes. In the first game, Luis Maza was 1-2 with a walk and the lone RBI. After former
Twins minor league pitcher Henry Bonilla (who made 29 starts for the Dodgers
AAA affiliate) went the first 3.2 innings, Yohan Pino came in, got five outs and
recorded the win. Jose Mijares then came in and
struck out the one batter that he was asked for face. Bobby Korecky
gave up a hit in an inning, but no runs. Another former Twins pitching
prospect, Horacio Estrada (who pitched in Mexico this
year), started the second game. He went the first three innings. Frank Mata
then went the next 2.2 innings without allowing a run and striking out three,
to record the win. Mijares came in and struck out his
batter again.
A couple other other thoughts:
· It appears that Luis Castillo is about to sign a four year, $25 million contract with the New York Mets. I realize it’s not huge money, but I would still think that is a bad signing for the Mets. Castillo isn’t technically old at age 32, but he is the definition of “won’t age well” so four years is way too long. The dollars aren’t too bad.
· Sid says that the Twins offered Johan Santana a five year, $93 million extension. If that is actually the case, that is a solid initial offer by Bill Smith. That is $18.6 million average per season. If you recall, my thought all along has been that the Twins should offer up to 5 years and $101 million, and if he won’t take that, the team should trade him.
· LaVelle pointed out that the Twins are one of a half-dozen teams who could have a shot at Tony Clark. My opinion? I think Tony Clark would be a great signing for the Twins. He has shown plenty of power throughout his career. He could have the opportunity to be the primary DH. He can also give Justin Morneau an occasional day away from 1B. I know the whole “he’s a great guy” thing is not something that Twins fans want to hear, but he is a great guy and a true team leader. He could fit into whatever role he gets put into. For two years and $6 million, I would sign him.
· The likelihood of Joe Nathan staying with the Twins beyond the 2008 season is becoming more and more unlikely. The Yankees signed 38 year old Mariano Rivera to a three year, $45 million. Like the Castillo signing, this is a bad deal because of the number of years. The Yankees and Mets can afford to make lengthy deals and have bad contracts. The Twins can’t afford to do that, and it’s not smart management anyway.
·
The deadline for
finalizing the 40 man roster is Tuesday. I am very curious how the Twins roster
will shape up. Not at all surprisingly, Chris Heintz
was removed from the 40 man roster. I assume a few others will be dropped
because I think there are a few that need to be added; David Winfree, Yohan Pino. Matt Tolbert, among others.
·
Undeclared
was a show on Fox that lasted just 17 episodes before it was cancelled. I loved
the show then, and awhile back I got a great price on ebay
for the series. I finished that up on Friday night. And then I bought the first
season of Friday Night Lights and
watched most of the episodes. That is truly an excellent show, and I don’t know
if it has won any awards, but it is really well put together. This has nothing
to do with baseball, and only has a cursory view of football, but it is great
and if any of you have seen either, please feel free to write me about it.
And that is it for this update. Please continue to check back from time to time. If you have any questions, comments or ideas for future postings, please e-mail me. Thanks again!
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