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Friday, October 21, 2005
Link-O-RamaShortstop Royce Clayton indicated Thursday that he appears headed toward free agency, where he believes his market value will be greater than the one-year offer the Diamondbacks presented this week.In case you're wondering about these two great seasons Clayton is referring to, he hit .279/.338/.397 in 2004 and .270/.320/.351 this year. Those numbers are bad enough taken at face value, but become even worse when you consider that he put them up while playing for the Rockies and Diamondbacks, who play their home games in two of the most hitter-friendly ballparks in baseball. Oh, and Clayton turns 36 years old in January. Clayton's statements are like if I tried to sell my 1994 Pontiac Grand Am that occasionally fails to start and has an air-conditioner that works about half the time by saying, "Knowing that the average blue car sells for between $10,000 and $20,000, it would be a disservice to my family to entertain that offer after it drove like it did over the past two years." If there is any justice whatsoever in the world Clayton will have to settle for a spring-training invite and a non-guaranteed minor-league deal this spring. I hate to say this. I was a daily reader of the Star-Tribune online site. OK, fine, I would check it out a couple of times a day. It was a great source for information. I have to admit that its new format is awful. It is far more confusing. I don't understand how they could have thought that it was in any way easy. Maybe the online format was done to help the actual newspaper sales? Maybe others will become so frustrated with this horrible new format that they will have to go out and buy the newspaper! That is good news for the St. Paul Pioneer Press because I have started going there now for more sports information.So not only have the people in charge at the newspaper decided to put all their time and money into making things look better (rather than, say, making it read better), they've done a poor job of it. You know, because I needed it to be more of a challenge to get to Shecky Souhan's latest batch of one-liners. For instance, did you know that while Vincent Grier led the Gophers in scoring last season, he was just the fourth-most efficient scorer on the team? Or that the Gophers had the stingiest defense in the Big Ten last year by a fairly wide margin? By the way, for those of you who have been e-mailing me about joining the fantasy basketball league ... sorry, but it filled up about three hours after I posted about it Monday. Well, Wayne Hurlbert over at WebProNews.com actually devoted a column to it. I'm looking into hiring Hurlbert to walk around with me on a full-time basis for the sole purpose of introducing me to people, because he really makes me sound quite successful. The Cardinals are playing coy with their quarterback situation, which is funny considering their quarterback situation consists of either starting Josh McCown or Kurt Warner Sunday against the Titans.See, I can make pithy comments and bad analogies about multiple sports. Today at The Hardball Times: - The Big Threes (by John Brattain) - Monkey Off Their Backs: Astros reach the World Series (by Brian Gunn) - The Windowbreakers (by Steve Treder) Today's Picks (126-106, +$2,060): Kansas City +1.5 (-110) over Miami Saturday's Picks: Virginia PK (-110) over North Carolina Northwestern +13.5 (-110) over Michigan State Iowa -2.5 (-110) over Michigan Texas Tech (-110) +17 over Texas     
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Hunter RumorsWhen the story about Torii Hunter selling his home in Golden Valley broke last month and rumors of Hunter being on the trading block started to circulate, a lot of Twins fans seemed to brush it off as having no basis in reality. I wrote an entry about potentially dealing Hunter and got quite a few e-mails telling me how silly I was for thinking that the Twins would even consider parting with him.Now, I have no idea whether or not Hunter is indeed on the block. However, I do know that his name has been popping up quite a bit in newspapers across the country over the last couple weeks. Below are a few of the Hunter mentions I've stumbled across already this week. In a column entitled "How To Fix The Yankees" in Tuesday's Bergen Record, Bob Klapisch wrote: Acquire Torii Hunter: The Yankees' defensive liability in center field arguably cost them the division series. Although Bubba Crosby did nothing wrong while crashing into Gary Sheffield in Game 5 - allowing the Angels to the score the decisive runs - a more confident, take-charge outfielder would've tracked the ball before Sheffield got that close.This is why people love to hate the Yankees. In talking about dealing for a good but certainly not great player, Klapisch says, "Hunter is worth whatever the Twins ask for." Compare that sort of thinking to my reaction to the Twins possibly dealing for Alfonso Soriano a few months back, which was basically "I hope they don't give up anyone decent for him." If the Yankees want to give up solid prospects like Eric Duncan and Phillip Hughes, I'd gladly send them Hunter and spend his $10 million somewhere else in 2006. If they want to add in some money or pay for the Twins to take Carl Pavano, that's even better. As you might guess, Klapisch isn't even close to the only columnist suggesting the Yankees go after Hunter. In a column entitled "Yankees waiting for Brian's call" in Monday's New York Daily News, Sam Borden wrote: Figure out the outfieldHunter-for-Robinson Cano is actually a deal that has popped into my head, and I would do it without hesitation. Cano was a rookie this year and hit .297/.320/.458 as a 22-year-old second baseman. He has his faults, of course, but he'll make a total of about a million bucks over the next three seasons and would give the Twins a middle infielder with some pop for the first time in a while. Jon Heyman of New York Newsday also suggests the Hunter-for-Cano deal, and there are about a dozen other New York papers with writers suggesting Hunter as Bernie Williams' replacement in center field. While the Hunter rumors are the strongest in New York, they certainly aren't limited to the East Coast. In a column entitled "Disappointed Angels Look to the Future" in Tuesday's Los Angeles Times, Mike DiGiovanna wrote: The Angels could look to trade for a proven run-producer, with Minnesota center fielder Torii Hunter, Boston left fielder Manny Ramirez and Florida first baseman Carlos Delgado possibly in their sights.Aside from the fact that calling Hunter "a proven run producer" and then putting him in the same category as Manny Ramirez and Carlos Delgado is extremely amusing, the Angels seem like a believable destination. They have a need in center field, with Steve Finley struggling this year and turning 41 years old next season, they have an owner who is seemingly always willing to add payroll, and they have quite a few good prospects. I'd love to see the Twins go after Casey Kotchman, Kendry Morales, Alberto Callaspo, and/or Erick Aybar. I'm assuming Brandon Wood and Howie Kendrick are off limits, and Jeff Mathis plays one of the few positions the Twins don't need help at, but I'd even add Dallas McPherson to the list of young guys the Twins would be smart to ask for in a deal. The more I think about what it's going to take for the Twins to compete with the White Sox and Indians going forward, the more I think dealing Hunter is a realistic option. It boils down to getting younger, cheaper offensive players to stick in the lineup, while simultaneously being able to use Hunter's significant salary elsewhere. The big question will be whether or not the players being mentioned in connection with Hunter are actually available to the Twins. If they are, Terry Ryan should make a move. Today at The Hardball Times: - Champagne on Hold: Game 5 of the NLCS (by Brian Gunn) - Pujols Carries Cards to St. Louis (by Dan Fox) - Business of Baseball Report (by Brian Borawski) Today's Picks (124-106, +$1,815): Houston (Oswalt) +145 over St. Louis (Mulder) Thursday's Picks: Virginia Tech -10 (-110) over Maryland
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Bargain ShoppingIt may be nothing more than wishful thinking considering how little the Twins have been involved in the free-agent market over the years, but I've been thinking about who the team should target to improve the lineup this offseason. Obviously someone like Brian Giles would be a great fit, but that's almost completely out of the realm of possibility.But what if the Twins actually commit to signing a mid-level free agent or two this winter? Who would be the best options? Well, it's tough to say until all the contract options and arbitration-eligible cases have been dealt with, but The Roto Authority had a nice list of who he considers to be the top 50 free agents for this offseason. Some names I think could help the Twins at a relatively reasonable price ... It's nearly impossible to say which of the above free agents would be the best signing for the Twins, in large part because we don't know how much money they'll command or how many years it will take to sign them. For two years and a total of $6 million, most of the players listed above are good buys. For three years and $15 million, I'd probably pass on every one of them. Everything being equal -- and all of these guys being available on the cheap -- I'd go after Mueller, Garciaparra, Sanders, and Durazo. For the right price, however, they'd all help. Today's Picks (124-105, +$1,915): Florida +155 over New Jersey
Monday, October 17, 2005
FantasiesToday, I'd like to brag a little bit about one of my Diamond-Mind keeper-league teams. The Minnesota Gophers of the Three Run Homer League -- which includes potentially familiar names like Will Young, Craig Burley, Robert Dudek, Greg Tamer, Bill Liming, Vinay Kumar, Joe Dimino, and Kent Williams -- took home their very first World Series title Saturday. The league replays the previous season, which means my team is the 2004 champions. The Gophers advanced to the playoffs as the AL Central winners, going 90-72, and swept the ALDS in four games by a combined score of 40-22. We were matched up against Kumar's powerful club in the ALCS -- his team went 94-68 and featured the 2004 versions of David Ortiz, Alex Rodriguez, Randy Johnson, Curt Schilling, and Eric Chavez -- and advanced to the World Series in six games. Once in the World Series the Gophers met up with Tamer's team, which went 97-65 and featured an offensive machine that scored the second-most runs in the entire league behind Barry Bonds, Jim Thome, Vladimir Guerrero, and Mark Kotsay. Sadly, he never got a chance to play me at full strength, as Johan Santana hit Bonds with a pitch in the first inning of Game 1, injuring him for the remainder of the series. With the likes of Tike Redman and Kerry Robinson subbing for Superman, Tamer's team went down without much fight, losing four straight games by the scores of 5-0, 9-2, 9-6, and 7-4. For anyone who isn't already bored to death by this recap, here is my team (and their regular-season TRHL numbers): HITTERS G AVG OBP SLG RUN RBIAs you can see, I didn't have a very good offense. In fact, the Gophers ranked just fifth in the 12-team AL with 801 runs scored. The group should have produced more runs, but pretty much everyone but Ivan Rodriguez, David DeJesus, Chone Figgins, and Brandon Inge underperformed from their real-life numbers. Jason Bay's season was particularly brutal -- he hit just .210/.262/.445 after winning the NL Rookie of the Year in real life. Thankfully, I had the following pitching staff: PITCHERS IP W L ERAIt was pretty much the Johan Santana Show. Johan went 25-6 with a ridiculous 1.49 ERA in 242.1 innings of work, leading the staff to the second-fewest runs allowed (685) in the AL. I acquired Jake Westbrook midseason and he proved to be a capable #2 starter, going 6-2 with a 3.11 ERA in nine starts after joining the Gophers and 21-9 with a 3.52 ERA overall. Julian Tavarez was the star of the bullpen, posting a 2.14 ERA in 63 innings while saving 38 games. And finally, here's my year-by-year record in four TRHL seasons: YEAR W L WIN% POSTSEASONNot bad, huh? A combined record of 386-262 (.596) in four seasons, with four AL Central titles, three AL pennants, and one TRHL championship. If you're interested in joining the league, drop me an e-mail. It's always tough to gauge what sort of response there will be for something like this, so the spots will either be awarded first come first serve or I'll have to figure out some way to pick people to join. If you feel like including some information about yourself in the e-mail, feel free. The only real stipulation I have for joining is that you commit to managing your team throughout the season, regardless of its place in the standings. I'd also like to thank everyone who contacted me about the piece outside of the comments, from my friends and family to people in the newspaper business and people who want to be in the newspaper business. Again, not everyone agreed with my sentiments, but that's never my goal here anyway. As for the Minneapolis Star Tribune's re-design, suffice it to say that I've been reading the paper online even less than I was before. It's a mess. Of course, I was rooting against them the entire time. In fact, with the Twins out of it, my entire postseason viewing experience has essentially boiled down to rooting against the White Sox and Yankees. But hey, Chicago is four wins away from their first championship since 1917, the Twins stink, and I'm jealous. Feel free to gloat all you want, because I'm sure I'd be doing the same thing. Today at The Hardball Times: - Killer B's: This Time It's Backe (by David Gassko) Today's Picks (123-105, +$1,815): Indianapolis -13.5 (-110) over St. Louis
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