2007 Minnesota Twins

[boblee]

My guess is L-Rod will have full time duties there until Punto returns. He has played very well.

[Irishmans Shanty]

Find him and get him a uniform.

No Denny, you don't get #7 back.

[packerboy]

No, No ,no. All wrong.

The right guy for the job...........Brett Boone, a no brainer.

[Blue Breeze]

Bartlett's 27 and was drafted out of Oklahoma when he was 22, so it's not like he has been toiling in the minor leagues for a decade. He made 13 errors last year in 99 games and his fielding percentage was .971, which puts him in the same company as Tejada, Jeter, and Cabrera so his fielding is not a big issue. He's never going to be an all-star, but if you look around the league amongst shortstops, I think you'll find him in the middle tier.

[packerboy]

He hasn't played enough to put him in any category.

He ceratinly isnt on par with anybody this season.

He has been brutal.

I think the SS postion its a cause for concern along with 3B and Left Field.

I am sure ChrisK's solution would be to sign another pitcher.

[Blue Breeze]

He's played 10 games. I'm not passing judgement yet.

[EREmpireStrikesBack]

He hasn't played enough to put him in any category.

He ceratinly isnt on par with anybody this season.

He has been brutal.

Actually he is doing better than Jeter so far this year...

Bartlett: 4 errors, .900 FP, 87 innings
Jeter: 6 errors, .886 FP, 102 innings

Overall he is a .969 FP which is pretty damn good for a SS. It is possibly the hardest defensive position on the field.

[ChrisK]

I am sure ChrisK's solution would be to sign another pitcher.

You are correct sir. Radke if possible.

Seriously though with all these injuries, they need a bat. I like Tyner as a backup and late inning pinch runner or defensive replacement but he's not an everyday player.

I'm not real crazy about Rodriguez but the Twins got some good news with Punto, he'll only miss one or two games with a slightly sprained ankle. However, I still feel that Punto's position is utility infielder, I love the glove but I'm not sold on the bat and 3rd base is a position you want some production from.

Yesterday I got tired of listening to Bert and switched over to the radio for my sound. Jack Morris and Dan Gladden were doing a good job of analyzing what Bonser was doing wrong, basically saying that the TB hitters changed their approach after seeing him twice and he didn't make an adjustment. Apparently in the early innings he was getting them to swing at the outside curve, they figured it out and he kept throwing it. Morris said he needed to throw some inside fastballs to keep them from diving across the plate.

[EREmpireStrikesBack]

Chris, you say that we expect more production from 3B. Yes, most teams do. But we have a catcher that is way above the average production from a catcher, doesn't that make up for it somewhat? I think we can have a position that is below average offensively (Punto is plenty good defensively) because we have other positions that are above average.

[boblee]

Everyone should check this out. One of the cooler websites out there....

http://eteamz.active.com/patneshek/index.cfm?

[ChrisK]

Chris, you say that we expect more production from 3B. Yes, most teams do. But we have a catcher that is way above the average production from a catcher, doesn't that make up for it somewhat? I think we can have a position that is below average offensively (Punto is plenty good defensively) because we have other positions that are above average.

Good point Empire. I just feel that Punto is better suited to be a utility player and while his offense last year was more than adequate, he is a lifetime .256 hitter and is not producing right now. Like with Silva so far this year I'd be happy if I'm proven wrong, but Punto at 3rd still feels like a duct tape solution.

And boblee, you're right, that is a great website.

[Irishmans Shanty]

The current win streak sits at 3. Hopefully a few more hard hats can be added as the crew moves to KC.

[Neutron 14]

Didn't they use to hand those out when Terry Felton was pitching?

[Irishmans Shanty]

4/21 Twins 7, Royals 5

Neutron, did Felton ever get a win as a Twin?

[Neutron 14]

Terry Felton was 0-16 lifetime. MLB record.

[Neutron 14]

After losing 2 of 3 to KC, its apparent that we have to ban any future Govs93 field trips. Booooofin embarrassing...

[Govs93]

After losing 2 of 3 to KC, its apparent that we have to ban any future Govs93 field trips. Booooofin embarrassing...

Agreed.

[Irishmans Shanty]

With 11% of the season now in the books the Twins hold a 1 game lead in the all powerful Central division of the American League.

To close out the month it looks like this:

2 at home with CLE
2 at home with KC
3 at DET

I need four wins in there for the Twins to hold serve.

This would give the Twins a 15-10 opening month. Not A+ work but definitely acceptable when you consider the month included dates with the Yanks, @CHI, @ DET, and a left coast mini trip.

Hit the Boofin ball!

[packerboy]

A split with CLE; sweep KC and take 2 of 3 from DET.

Thats what packerboy thinks we need.

This team is doing well in spite of some dissapointing preformances.

The middle IFs arent hitting and they get nothing from 3b.

Left field is a huge hole right now.

On the other hand , Ortiz has been huge and Silva has been great.

It just shows how for significant periods of time , starting pitching can hide a lot of problems.

[ChrisK]

It just shows how for significant periods of time , starting pitching can hide a lot of problems.

What's going on here, I'm starting to sound like packerboy (see post in Cleveland series) and this sounds like something I should be saying??

Govs93, did you feast on any ribs while in KC?

[EREmpireStrikesBack]

He's not driving in runs. Instead he's breaking rules.

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=2847416

Hunter's champagne gift violated baseball rule
ESPN.com news services

Maybe a thank-you note would have sufficed.

Torii Hunter's gift of expensive champagne to the Kansas City Royals has the Minnesota Twins outfielder in some bubble trouble.

"I do good things. If you want to make a good thing into a bad thing, then so be it."
-- Torii Hunter

Hunter's gift of four bottles of Dom Perignon, which he had delivered to the Royals clubhouse this past weekend, was meant as a reward for the Royals sweeping the Detroit Tigers last September, allowing the Twins to come from behind to win the American League Central. The gift fulfilled a promise Hunter made last fall.

But baseball has rules about this sort of thing.

Namely, rule 21-b, which proclaims "Any player or person connected with a Club who shall offer or give any gift or reward to a player or person connected with another Club for services rendered ... in defeating or attempting to defeat a competing Club ... shall be declared ineligible for not less than three years."

And after "The Cheater's Guide to Baseball Blog" reported the violation, the Twins got a phone call from the commissioner's office about the proffered bubbly. And the Twins found themselves in an awkward position -- having to call the Royals to ask that the champagne be returned.

Luckily, the Royals hadn't popped the corks yet.

Hunter said he wasn't aware of the rule. "I do good things," he said, according to the Star-Tribune of Minneapolis. "If you want to make a good thing into a bad thing, then so be it."

Twins GM Terry Ryan wasn't aware of it either.

"I'm to blame as much as anybody because I didn't know the rule," Ryan said, according to the Star Tribune. "We'll end up righting the wrong. We've already contacted the Royals. They're going to return the goods, and hopefully that'll be the end of it."

Ryan called Hunter's gesture "an honest mistake," according to the Star-Tribune. But he acknowledged that the rule is designed to avoid any tampering between teams and that Major League Baseball isn't about to let that slide with a slap on the wrist for Hunter and the Royals.

"Integrity of the game; it's as simple as that," Ryan said, according to the newspaper. "This is an honest, trivial exchange, but it could grow into something different if you let it get away."

[grindiangrad-80]

I knew he should have bunted.

[goldy313]

How in the name of Cal Ripkin can you draw any comparison between Miguel Tejada, Derek Jeter and Jason Bartlett? Bartlett's a career .274 hitter with a whopping 5 HR's and a SLG% of .356....Tejada is a .287 hitter with 241 HRs and a SLG% .479, Jeter is a .317 hitter, 184 HR's and a SLG% of .463

As for fielding careers Jeter has a .975 FPCT, Tejada a .970 FPCT and Bartlett a .966 FPCT. Given the number of chances a SS has in a season those numbers aren't as close as you would think. Also Bartlett plays well over half of his games on Turf and in a Dome not on grass or outside meaning he gets true hops and rarely has to play a ball off the dirt, battle the wind, rain, or sun where as the other two and nearly all other SS don't have that advantage.

Like I said I have no problem with a below average fielding player as long as he has some pop in his bat ala Mike Lowell, but if you're a below average fielder, on turf no less, and can't hit the ball to the fence you're taking up space. I don't hate Bartlett and the Twins don't really have any other option at SS, but to compare him in any way to perennial All Stars and MVP caliber guys is beyond any reach.

[Irishmans Shanty]

4/22 KC 3, Twins 1
4/23 Cleveland 7, Twins 3
4/24 Cleveland 5, Twins 3

[Irishmans Shanty]

4/22 KC 3, Twins 1
4/23 CLE 7, Twins 3
4/24 CLE 5, Twins 3
4/25 KC 4, Twins 3