OFFICIAL Minnesota Twins 2009 Season Thread (87-76)---> AL CENTRAL CHAMPS! Great season guys.

[jpzx]

If Ska locks this I'll create another post but if he doesn't I'll just change the title...

Pitchers & Catchers report in 9 hours

...baseball is back

Even though our biggest signing this off-season was a groundskeeper for the new stadium (

) I still think we have a great chance to contend for the division title.We've got 5 young guys in our rotation that have proved that they will be in the league awhile and our offense from last season is fully intact

. People view the outfield situation as a problem but I consider it a strength. When you havea logjam in the outfield where 4 guys could be every day starters I think that's a positive more than a negative. Bad news about Neshek by the way

I will be in Florida from March 15-21 and on the 18th I will be going to the Twins .vs. Pirates game in Bradenton, FL

..can't come soon enough.

By the way, just checked out twinsbaseball.com and found this article..it's worth a read and shows that we still have an eye on Crede

http://minnesota.twins.ml...p;fext=.jsp&c_id=min

Hopefully we can win the division in 162 games this year

...lets get it

 

[651akathepaul]

Yeah, I think it's nice having 4 solid outfielders vying for 3 spots, but I'm nervous that when a decision is made; it will be the wrong one. You knowGomez will be everyday and the way Span played last year I assume he's your second outfielder. I think the competition is between Cuddy and Young.

I like both. Cuddy is somewhat proven and a solid ball player, but prone to injuries. Delmon Young has tremendous upside, but has yet to "breakout."It will be interesting to see what happens. If anything, someone can dethrone Kubel as DH, but even he had a decent year.

 

[jpzx]

^ True..and a lot of people have suggested that we move Cuddyer to 3rd base like we did in 2005. What people don't realize now is that when we did that,not only did his defense struggle because he wasn't comfortable there, but his offense took a huge hit as well.

Trying to avoid the outfield problem by moving Cuddyer to 3rd isn't an option in my opinion...

 

[651akathepaul]

Yeah. Twins need to avoid that option entirely. Besides what you mentioned, our pitching relies heavily on the infield that is backing them a la the TwinKilling, and with Cuddy at 3rd you're losing a lot of defense. Which is one of the only reasons why I like Punto. His glove is great.

 

[jpzx]

Which is why I think signing Crede would be a gamble that would be worthwhile...his defense is stellar and if he's fully healthy he could pop off 30 homeruns with ease. Much needed offense + much needed defense at 3rd = a gamble I can take even if it doesn't work out.

 

[kiddin like jason]

Denard Span and Joe Mauer.

That is all.

Go Tribe.

 

[djaman]

I'm looking forward to this season a lot, though this off-season was like a full on hibernation in terms of free-agent moves and other activity. We allknow the game is won on the field.

I like our team this season. I love our starting rotation, I feel it's one of the best in the AL. Obviously Liriano's health is enormous and his rusthas worn off, and I believe Scott Baker is primed for a really consistent season. I also see Slowey, Blackburn, and Perkins having their moments this season. Isee our outfield on a day-to-day basis consisting of Span in center, Cuddyer in right and Young in left. Gomez will see plenty of the field but will not be outthere every single day. To me, this year for Gomez is going to be very interesting. Will he improve at all? I hope so. We NEED Young to hit more balls out ofthe yard, our power was anemic last season, and power will not be coming from the middle infield with Casilla and Punto. That's a hell of a defensivetandom though.

What about the bullpen? There's a lot of pressure on Guerrier and Crain to have bounce-back years. Mijares hopefully blossoms in the set-up role. Nathan isNathan.

I like this team, but the competition is tough in the division once again. I see Kansas City potentially not finishing last in the division this year if one ofthe other 4 teams under-performs.

 

[RyGuy45]

Twins Front Office - EMBARRASSMENT
Twins Ownership Group - PATHETIC
Twins Scouts - EXCELLENT
Twins Current Players - LIKEABLE


I'm anxious for baseball to start this year. Last year in the dome, team should at least be in contention, young arms are all back, Liriano also may makeanother jump.

Because the ownership doesnt have the team's back yet again we just gotta hope Gardenhire and his staff can keep pulling out another overachieving season.Go Twins.

 

[stringer bell 32]

Carlos Gomez can kiss my +$*

 

[jpzx]

Originally Posted by Stringer Bell 32

Carlos Gomez can kiss my +$*

Baseball can't come soon enough

 

[651akathepaul]

Originally Posted by RyGuy45

Twins Front Office - EMBARRASSMENT
Twins Ownership Group - PATHETIC
Twins Scouts - EXCELLENT
Twins Current Players - LIKEABLE


I'm anxious for baseball to start this year. Last year in the dome, team should at least be in contention, young arms are all back, Liriano also may make another jump.

Because the ownership doesnt have the team's back yet again we just gotta hope Gardenhire and his staff can keep pulling out another overachieving season. Go Twins.

Ya know. I'm gonna add something to this, feel free to critique and add opinions, but I'm not a big fan of Gardenhire, and the only reason I think heis our best option, is because he knows the system. His only strength is his tutelage under Tom Kelly IMO. He's pretty good at putting a lineup together,and fairly decent at recognizing players strengths.

What he lacks, is knowledge of situations in the game. The game within the game if you will. I can't tell you how many times he's used a pinch hitterin wrong situations and it seems more likely than not, that he is always pulling out a pitcher who comes in to get supposedly "one player" out andthen goes to another reliever who blows the game, when it's clear that the previous pitcher had his best stuff.

He severely lacks Tom Kelly's instincts and know how, but because he knows how to handle the fundamental teachings of players, he is still a better fit forthis team. That's my view. I strongly feel that we lost 10-15 games off of the mis-management of Gardenhire. Share your thoughts.

Edit: The word I was looking for most of this post was he over manages.

 

[RyGuy45]

^ Good points. I think we can almost pick apart all managers and their styles. Gardy is no different. And he WAS handed a pretty good base when he got the job.

Gardy is old school....he plays the odds. And he rarely goes with his gut in situations. He goes with the system and that goes for almost everything. Pitchcounts, pinch hitters, relievers, etc. I respect his style cause he more or less says, "this is the way we play and it's up to us to execute it."And more often than not they do. The players always play hard, they typically are good defenders. They run the basepaths and steal a lot of wins that way. Andthe players generally know their roles and you RARELY hear any Twins player complain about anything. It's been like that here for years. They know whatthey get with Gardy and I think from the sounds of it they enjoy playing for him.

Now with all that said, I do feel for the guy because so often he probably tells himself he could be twice the manager if he was ever given new players to plugkey holes. But he never is. Imagine if you were a manager who every offseason you had major holes and your front office never did one thing to help that. Youwould go crazy. And to Gardy's credit he always says "We roll with what we got" and he makes due. Sure no front office gives you everything youwant (minus Yanks) but Gardy NEVER gets to play with a new FA. He loses his star players every other year to large market. He has never had close to the samestarting pitching staff 2-3 years in a row (aside from this coming season because all last year's starters are youngsters making peanuts). He makes it workfor the most part.

I look at Gardy also like this: Take last year around this time. From his previous year he was taken away Carlos Silva, Johan Santana, Torii Hunter, MattGarza, Luis Castillo, and Jason Bartlett. And Francisco Liriano as well. And his team went from 79-83 with those guys to 88-75 the next year. Think aboutthat for a minute. It still blows my mind.

Hopefully everyone steps up this year, the summers are so much more fun up here when the Twins are at least in contention. As i said i know i sound like abroken record but it really is a shame that this team does not just go for the juggular one time. Just once. Sign a couple bats, go for the gold and actuallytry and win the whole thing. No one is saying sign Manny Ramirez....but how about someone other than Craig Monroe, Adam Everett, Mike Lamb, Rondell White,Livan Hernandez, etc. But they don't, and we get what we get every year....a cute team who plays hard and has a good base.....but never gets over that humpbecause the front office doesnt have the balls to go for the kill. That's for the offseason as well as trade deadline.

This entire offseason went by and the team signed one Free Agent: R.A. Dickey. I cannot believe I am even writing that sentence.

Bill Smith shouldnt even be collecting a check in my opinion. The man has not done one thing in 2 years except lose players. And make comical statements to themedia whenever he comes out of his bunker.

 

[651akathepaul]

^ Yeah, I see what you're saying. You would've thought that with the new stadium next year they should have went for the "juggular" thisoffseason, because no matter how the season pans out, you know you'll at least be getting a big time revenue boost with that new stadium. I mean, I stilllike the lineup we've had over these last years, but it seems to me that even if we were to get back to the ALCS, we don't have that experience orpunch that you need to win a WS.

In defense of Dickey though, he had a very stellar season last year with Seattle even after they moved him to the rotation (2-0 w/ 2.00 ERA out of bullpen). Hestruggled at times, but most knuckleballers do. He went many games into the 6th and 7th innings having only given up a few runs, the Mariners just had nooffense to speak for. He is a nice addition. He won't wow anybody, but he's consistent. I don't know how the Twins plan to utilize him, but he willdefinitely help the improvement of bullpen, and he is a shoe in for long relief as well as spot starts, which is a very useful commodity in baseball today.

Definitely a sub par offseason though. As far as signings.

 

[djaman]

Gardenhire is a fine manager. Players like playing for him, he has produced winning teams virtually every year, and he has followed the "play the rightway" axiom since he got here. He competes with what is given to him.

What don't I like about Gardenhire. The favoritism amongst certain players. Nick Punto is exhibit A on this matter. Is Punto an everyday player? Has notbeen proved yet, and he has been given opportunities. I think he's an excellent infield utility guy. Not an everyday player. He tends to bench players fora game at questionable times. Jason Kubel could hit 3 home runs in one series and Gardenhire would sit him the first game of the next series. Why? He'sobviously seeing the ball well.

Those are my two major qualms with him. His managerial effort last season was valiant after losing two superstar players who clearly possessed the leadershiproles on the team.

 

[651akathepaul]

^Because Punto has a phenomenal glove. He's on par with the best in the game on that stage. His bat is horrendous, which is why they brought in Everett andLamb, but both of them had lackluster D and a crap bat. Twins win through their defense and in that sense Punto is indispensable.




I know what you mean with Kubel. He needs to be the everyday DH.

 

[RyGuy45]

^ Yeah, I see what you're saying. You would've thought that with the new stadium next year they should have went for the "juggular" this offseason, because no matter how the season pans out, you know you'll at least be getting a big time revenue boost with that new stadium. I mean, I still like the lineup we've had over these last years, but it seems to me that even if we were to get back to the ALCS, we don't have that experience or punch that you need to win a WS.
And that's the whole point with the Pohlad family. They have not changed their style ever. And the amazing part is that they are gettingrecord numbers for attendance, they are getting record numbers for TV ratings, they are getting free revenue sharing/tax from the MLB, and they are a year awayfrom a new stadium that was paid for by Hennepin County. And their payroll is going down. It really makes a guy want to stop rooting for the team or give themyour money.

Payroll is not everything as we know. But only in Minnesota do you see this:

Twins Team Payrolls
2004 - $54 million
2005 - $56 million
2006 - $63 million
2007 - $74 million (first shovel dig on new stadium happens)
2008 - $57 million
2009 - $58 million

An upward arc.......until the year the new stadium begins to be built......and then essentially a downward arc. You really cannot make it up.Especially with all the talk a few years ago of "new stadium = new money to play with." So.....If the team payroll holds for 2009 you are looking atbasically the same payroll number this year as five full seasons ago. And you laugh even more when the Twins really wanted to sign FA Casey Blake but won'tbecause of one extra year on his contract, and now want Crede but haven't signed him because of a million or two in money the Twins won't pay. And thenlastly you see the AL Central 2009 projected payrolls, according to StarTribune:

1. $135 million - Detroit
2. $95 million - Chicago
3. $78 million - Cleveland
4. $71 million - Kansas City
5. $58 million - Twins

We are below Kansas City one year away from a new free stadium. These are reasons why, again, the manager and his staff must sit back and slap their heads alloffseason. Again, money is not everything....I was just taking this angle and running with it because it is a constant concern with most Twins followers.

But don't worry ya'll we still have this to look forward to after THIS COMING season

Players start getting big raises once they reach the three-year mark and qualify for arbitration. The Twins in 2009 had two arbitration-eligble players: Jason Kubel and Matt Guerrier. By next year, the Twins could have 11.

Time to slash those players again and bring in the rookies

"I don't know if we're going to be big players on the free-agent market with or without a [new] stadium," Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony said.

 

[jpzx]

It seems like Boras/Crede and the Twins are both standing their ground...you'd think that Boras and Crede would be the ones to cave first. Are there abunch of teams knocking down Crede's door to make offers? No. In fact, I don't see any team but the Twins interested in him at this point...

I think the Twins are playing this smart, because if Crede doesn't bring down his price, it looks like he won't be playing during the 2009 season. Ijust hope this doesn't come back and bite us

 

[651akathepaul]

Originally Posted by JPZx

It seems like Boras/Crede and the Twins are both standing their ground...you'd think that Boras and Crede would be the ones to cave first. Are there a bunch of teams knocking down Crede's door to make offers? No. In fact, I don't see any team but the Twins interested in him at this point...

I think the Twins are playing this smart, because if Crede doesn't bring down his price, it looks like he won't be playing during the 2009 season. I just hope this doesn't come back and bite us

Let him walk. He's a good ball player and would be a nice addition, but I won't break a sweat over him, because I want to see Buscher progress.

What I'm really interested in this year, is what kind of Liriano will the Twins be getting? Startribune did an article that mentions him possibly nottaking part in the WBC so he can stay with the organization during that time. That would be a smart move IMO. Last years Liriano was nice, but I want the oldLiriano to return to form, because if he does....Look Out!!!

 

[jpzx]

Paul man...you're crazy if you dont want a guy that has potential to hit 30+ home runs and on top of it has a a glove. If healthy, I believe 100% he stillhas a lot left and if we have success this year maybe he'll stay here a while. He's 30 years old right now, he still has a lot of ball left in him

Buscher can improve himself off the field for all I care...to be honest I don't think he has potential to be our everyday 3rd basemen but will I be happyto be proven wrong? Absolutely. I just think the rewards with Crede outweigh the risk and even if he doesn't pan out for us.

I also just want to add, I don't see ANY other teams interested in him. The Giants were, but that's over now said a report about a week ago..I mean ifCrede has any intention of playing this season he'll have to bring down his price.

A part of me is thinking, "Maybe no other teams being interested in him is a warning that we should stay away" but logic tells me otherwise

 

[651akathepaul]

^ Never said I didn't want him. I said he would probably be a "nice addition." All I'm trying to get across is that I don't thinkit's a necessity nor should it be any kind of focus going into spring training. We'd be fine with or without him.

 

[RyGuy45]

They need to gamble and get Crede signed. He's not perfect but he's an instant upgrade. This team for years has platooned the 3B position and I'mtired of it really. You have PLENTY of money to get this signing done. And it makes almost too much sense. Screw the Pohlads.

 

[jpzx]

Boof undergoing an MRI on Monday

[h1][/h1]

[h1]Bonser set to undergo MRI on shoulder[/h1] [h1]Persistent pain after latest throwing session prompts procedure[/h1]FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Twins right-hander Boof Bonser will undergo an MRI on Monday after his right shoulder did not show any improvement in his latest throwing session.
Bonser has been battling tendinitis in his shoulder, and he received a cortisone shot on Thursday in the hope of lessening the discomfort. Bonser threw on Wednesday with no improvement, and the hope was that another throwing session on Thursday might allow him to work through the discomfort.

But that was not the case.

"Nothing different," Bonser said when asked about his throwing session.

Bonser has already undergone an MRI and X-rays on the shoulder, and no structural damage was found at the time. Now, doctors will try another MRI to see if they can figure out the problem that has been plaguing Bonser since late last season.

"It's obviously not going very good," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "This is his second [MRI] in not very long."

Bonser's hope is just that doctors can determine why his shoulder is not improving.
"It's extremely frustrating right now," Bonser said.
http://minnesota.twins.ml...mp;fext=.jsp&c_id=min

 

[RyGuy45]

Dang...

Anyone see this week's pics of Boof? Dude is back to his ballooned weight, that "weight loss" kick last year when he was stick skinny sure passedover LOL

Looks like Liriano still has not made a decision on Classic

Looks like the 25 man roster is basically close to being set already, Boof's situation not included.

 

[651akathepaul]

What's the deal with Neshek? They shutting him down all of this year?

 

[RyGuy45]

^Looks like he is out for entire 2009...