Tuesday,
December 29, 2009
I’m Back, Kind Of
Good morning, Twins fans! I
certainly hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas holiday and weekend. This
week, we get another short week with New Years Eve on Thursday and New Years
Day on Friday. Here are some random thoughts on the Twins, Vikings and more in
the form of short thoughts and some links:
First things first, there will again be no
SethSpeaks.net Weekly Minnesota Twins Podcast. Instead, I
will host a Live Twins Chat, so if you would like to get an e-mail
reminder, participate in the chat or read the transcript later, please Click Here.
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Alright, I don’t
talk much about the Vikings on here anymore, but I also don’t miss any of the
games. Sure, I flipped over to Pawn Stars on the History Channel for a few
plays, but in general, I most all plays. Here are a few thoughts I have on the
Purple, but certainly feel free to add yours:
1. They brought Brett
Favre in to win in the playoffs, right? We aren’t to the playoffs yet.
2. The Vikings issues in these losses have had little to
do with the quarterback. Against Arizona and Carolina, it was almost completely
on the offensive line. Last night, it was on the Vikings defense.
3. Antoine
Winfield was never fast, so, where
was the safety help on that final play?
4. Yo Adrian, hold on to the ball for once?
5. The Vikings suddenly don’t have a bye week locked up.
If Philly beats the Cowboys, the Vikings will host the Cowboys the following
week, a game they should win. However, when they travel to Philadelphia, they
could very easily be destroyed again because the game will be played outside…
and the Eagles may be the best team in the league right now.
6. Of course, at this time a year ago, people were
talking about how the Cardinals were backing into the playoffs and couldn’t
compete, and well, they made it to the Super Bowl. So, again, the playoffs are
a crapshoot in football, as it is in baseball, so I’m not terribly worried
either way.
7. Maybe I’m just too laid back.
·
Mark Derosa signed a two year, $12
million contract to play 3B for the San Francisco Giants. As you know, I’m not
a huge fan of Mark Derosa,
to be sure. This shows that the Twins clearly were not interested in him. He is
a 34 year old utility player with a bit of power. My guess is that the Twins will
sign a free agent 3B, but that they are waiting for the market to determine
which guy they can get on a one year contract. Adrian Beltre is (wisely) out of their
range, and that’s fine. But basically, the market could make Miguel Tejada
or Melvin Mora available on one year
deals. Or, worst case, they could go back to Joe Crede. But guys like Tejada and Mora at least have more potential than Crede, so getting them for one year allows a higher caliber
of player without lessening the commitment to Danny Valencia over the long haul.
·
Of course, we all
assume that Nick Punto
will start somewhere, but I’m still holding out hope for Felope Lopez.
·
Here are Travis’s
choices for Twins prospects
16-20, and here are 11-15,
and then check out his choices for Twins
prospects 6-10.
·
Twinkie Town
is voting on the Twins
#24 Prospect now.
·
Expect to hear
much more about the Twins Winter Caravan in the next week or two. I have heard
(But have not been able to verify online anywhere) that Nick Blackburn and Matt Guerrier will be going to Fargo as part of the northwest
tour. I understand that Denard Span and Jeff Manship will be teaming on another
route. Obviously 2-3 players get teamed with one media member and sometimes a
Twins historical player and travel around the Upper Midwest the weeks before
Twins Fest which is the final weekend in January.
Is there anything else going
on with the Twins? That’s all I’ve got for now. Please
feel free to discuss here.