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Friday, August 24, 2007
Link-O-RamaI was asked to participate in the series way back in February and headed to the Star Tribune offices on a snowy winter afternoon to have my photo taken. Just seven short months later, there's a 491-word article about me in the newspaper. About six months passed between the photo shoot and actually doing the interview for the piece, which took place via e-mail a few weeks ago. I wrote 1,700 words in response to questions from Aimee Blanchette and about 400 of them found their way into print. In discussing the impact my friend and Rotoworld colleague Gregg Rosenthal has had on my career, some copy editor apparently saw fit to change my correct spelling of "Gregg" to the incorrect "Greg" version. Despite that, I'm very happy to be featured in my hometown newspaper and should note that Blanchette was very nice throughout the process. Any press is good press, but it's amazing to see how much time and planning goes into a 500-word article. Contrast that to my radio debut earlier this month, which involved showing up at the KFAN studio, sitting next to Doogie Wolfson, and speaking into a microphone for an hour. One thing was literally seven months in the making and can be read in two minutes, while the other thing produced 60 minutes of content and was essentially 65 minutes in the making. Incidentally, I have two more mainstream-media appearances coming soon, so if you're not sick of me already you will be shortly. Throw in someone defending Nick Punto or calling me "The Oracle" and it might even hit a little too close to home. Officials said Griffin, 25, drove his SUV through a railroad crossing barrier, past flashing warning lights and into a moving train ... Griffin's vehicle burst into flames on impact, burning his body so badly that investigators were unable to identify him until Tuesday, when they used dental records to confirm his identity.Kevin McHale, who signed Griffin to a multi-year contract despite the fact that he had a major drinking problem and wasn't all that good to begin with, seemed unsurprised by the news. His cover of Winehouse's "Rehab" is better anyway. UPDATE: Nutini has re-scheduled a show for the same night, without Winehouse. Once you're done here, check out my latest "Daily Dose" column over at Rotoworld.     
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Twins Notes: Guts, Bats, Comebacks, and QuotesWith Boof Bonser riding a 12-start winless streak, the Twins will keep him in the starting rotation, but they want him to lose weight. Bonser, 24, is listed on the roster at 6-4 and 260 pounds. Manager Ron Gardenhire said Bonser has worked hard to maintain that weight all season, but now the team wants to see how he will do by shedding about 10 to 15 pounds.Bonser has allowed a .271 batting average on pitches 1-50, compared to a .360 batting average on pitches 51-75, which certainly makes it seem as though weight-related stamina problems are a major issue. However, his opponent's batting average drops to .227 on pitches 76-100, which suggests that perhaps a lack of stamina isn't entirely to blame for his struggles. Whatever the case, my advice is to hop on an elliptical machine. Oh, and if Bonser is 6-foot-4 and 260 pounds, I'm the Easter Bunny. I was given [financial] parameters to add a player. I wasn't able to get a deal because of what other teams wanted for the players we were interested in. It wasn't because of financial restraints.Whenever I criticize Ryan for not adding a hitter, I get e-mails and comments saying stuff like, "Ryan did the right thing, because trading Matt Garza and Kevin Slowey for a rental bat would have been stupid." The assumption seems to be that Ryan's only choice was to either break the bank for a superstar or do absolutely nothing. In that scenario, I agree that standing pat was the correct move. Unfortunately, he had plenty of other options. Trading for someone like Mark Teixeira would have been far too costly in terms of both money and prospects, but the offense features enough gaping holes that simply acquiring a couple middling bats last month would have made a huge difference. Other teams have proven that it costs little to acquire hitters like Jeff DaVanon, Jose Cruz Jr., Brady Clark, Shea Hillenbrand, Russell Branyan, Mark Sweeney, Rob Mackowiak, Craig Monroe, Bobby Kielty, Wily Mo Pena, and Marlon Anderson. The list goes on and on, because finding mediocre hitters just isn't all that difficult. None of those guys are going to single-handedly push a team into the playoffs and they're not even guaranteed to hit well down the stretch, but it wouldn't have taken much for Ryan to acquire someone who's an improvement over filling the lineup with Nick Punto, Jason Tyner, Darnell McDonald, Rondell White, Garrett Jones, Lew Ford, and Luis Rodriguez. The team needed help and Ryan refused to get it. Terry Ryan said lefthander Francisco Liriano, who had elbow ligament replacement surgery on Nov. 6, has had no setbacks while working out in Fort Myers, Fla. While Ryan couldn't be specific as to when Liriano will be able to get on a mound, he said Liriano remains on track to be ready by spring training. Ryan said in February that Liriano might be able to pitch in winter ball, but Ryan was more cautious Friday.The Twins have said from the outset that Liriano will not pitch this season, so it makes sense for the local media to avoid frequent updates on his status. On the other hand, a bi-weekly note about how he's doing wouldn't hurt and the number of e-mails I've received asking whether his recovery is on track suggests that the coverage has been lacking. Incidentally, for all the attention paid to White's recovery and all the glowing quotes about his potential impact, he's 8-for-56 (.143) since returning. You can have all the plans you want, but if he puts his pitches and has his changeup working the way he had it today, your plan is out the door. The way he threw today, he might have got 17 strikeouts against whoever, it might have been the 1927 Yankees.Michael Young, who struck out three times against Santana after coming into the game batting .305, had this to say: That was as good as I've seen his changeup and that's saying something. You don't know when to sit on it. He's the best pitcher in the game for a reason. In the past, I've had good at-bats against him, but once he gets a full head of steam, it's hard to break up his rhythm. We started talking about different game plans in the dugout, but we couldn't get consistent with any of them.Sammy Sosa had the Rangers' only hits off Santana, but called him "unbelievable" and "awesome," adding that he's "never seen him like that before." Kevin Millwood, who matched up against Santana and took the loss despite allowing just one run, said: "I didn't like it, but he went out and he dominated. That's just all you can say. You run up against that, you just tip your hat." Santana will try for an encore tomorrow night against the Orioles, whom he beat on Opening Day. Once you're done here, check out my latest "Daily Dose" column over at Rotoworld.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Top 40 Minnesota Twins: #21 Gary GaettiNote: This article originally ran on February 7, 2007 as part of the ongoing "Top 40 Minnesota Twins" series, but reposting it seems appropriate following Gaetti's induction into the Twins Hall of Fame over the weekend. Enjoy.  GARY JOSEPH GAETTI | 3B | 1981-1990 | CAREER STATS Starting at third base and batting seventh against the Rangers on September 20, 1981, Gaetti blasted a homer off knuckleballer Charlie Hough in his first major-league at-bat. He collected just four hits in his next 25 at-bats to finish his first stint in the majors with a .192 batting average, but emerged from spring training as the Opening Day third baseman on a 1982 team that also had rookie Kent Hrbek at first base (and later included rookies Frank Viola, Tom Brunansky, and Tim Laudner in big roles). The Metrodome opened on April 6, 1982 and "The Rat" christened it in style, going 4-for-4 with two homers and four RBIs while narrowly missing a third homer off Seattle starter Floyd Bannister when he was thrown out at the plate trying to stretch a triple. He never looked back after that, beginning his rookie season 10-for-17 with six extra-base hits while starting the first 13 games at third base, with former Rookie of the Year John Castino sliding over to second base. Despite the fast start, Gaetti batted just .230 with sub par plate discipline in 145 total games as a rookie, leading to a ghastly .280 on-base percentage. However, he quickly established himself as an excellent defensive third baseman and his 25 homers immediately became the most ever by a Twins third baseman not named Harmon Killebrew. Gaetti put together a similar sophomore campaign, hitting .245 with a .309 OBP while smacking 21 homers, but fell off a cliff in his third season. After striking out 100-plus times in each of his first two seasons, Gaetti reportedly focused on making more contact at the plate in 1984. He succeeded, whiffing just 81 times while upping his batting average to .262, but still posted a measly .312 OBP thanks to only 44 walks and saw his power completely disappear. Despite playing all 162 games after hitting 46 homers over the previous two years, Gaetti went deep just five times in 588 at-bats for a pathetic .350 slugging percentage. At the time it would have been concerning to see a 25-year-old slugger's power vanish, but 1984 simply sticks out like a sore thumb in the context of his now-completed career. In fact, Gaetti's 1985 season was nearly identical to his first two campaigns, as he batted .246 with a .301 OBP and 20 homers. At that point Gaetti was a 26-year-old with four seasons under his belt, three of them similar in their low-OBP, high-power mediocrity and one of them unique in its low-everything putridness. What happened next is amazing, because seemingly out of nowhere Gaetti put together a three-year run that saw him become one of the best all-around third basemen in baseball. It started in 1986, with Gaetti batting .287/.347/.518 with 34 homers and 108 RBIs while winning his first of four straight Gold Gloves at third base. He followed that up by hitting .257/.303/.485 with 31 homers for a 1987 team that shocked the baseball world by winning the World Series. Not only did Gaetti's 109 RBIs lead the team during the regular season, he homered in his first two postseason at-bats on the way to hitting .300/.348/.650 against Detroit to the ALCS MVP. He then hit .259/.333/.519 against St. Louis in the World Series, homering in Game 2 and driving in a total of four runs. Gaetti missed significant action in 1988 for the first time in his career, sitting out much of August with a knee injury, but batted .301/.353/.551 with 28 homers in 133 games for his best season. Unfortunately, like Cinderella's ride turning back into a pumpkin at midnight, Gaetti quickly ceased being an offensive force in 1989 and turned right back into the out-machine he had been prior to 1986. In fact, Gaetti's OBP became worse than ever because his plate discipline mysteriously went from bad to awful while he was trying on glass slippers. He batted just .251/.286/.404 in 1989 and .229/.274/.376 in 1990, before becoming a free agent and signing a four-year deal with the Angels. The Twins replaced Gaetti with a platoon of veteran Mike Pagliarulo and rookie Scott Leius, who batted a combined .282/.342/.395 in 628 plate appearances while Gaetti hit just .246/.293/.379 in 634 trips to the plate for his new team. Along with the 50-point boost in OBP, the Pagliarulo-Leius duo cost less than a million bucks, compared to Gaetti's $2.7 million, giving the Twins money to go after free agents like Chili Davis and Jack Morris on the way to their second World Series title. Gaetti was a huge bust for the Angels, who released him in mid-1993 despite a year-plus remaining on his big contract. After latching on with the Royals, Gaetti resurrected his career when it appeared all but over, hitting .267/.323/.491 over parts of three years, including .261/.329/.518 with 35 homers and 96 RBIs in the strike-shortened 1995 season. That earned him a multi-year deal from the Cardinals and Gaetti continued his resurgence by hitting .274/.326/.473 with 23 homers and 80 RBIs in 1996. He dropped off to .251/.305/.404 in 1997, but then pulled his career out of the dumpster yet again by batting .281/.356/.495 with 19 homers and 70 RBIs in 1998, helping push the Sammy Sosa-led Cubs to the playoffs after being acquired in August. Chicago handed Gaetti a starting job in 1999, but at 40 years old the magic was finally gone. He hit .204/.260/.339 in 113 games, went 0-for-10 in an ugly stint with the Red Sox in 2000, and called it a career after 20 seasons. In The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James suggested that Gaetti is one of the few players in baseball history who avoided the traditional effects of aging, which tend to include a loss of speed, batting average, and range defensively, and an increase in plate discipline. In ranking Gaetti the 34th-best third baseman of all time, James discussed how he bucked that trend completely, making up ground on superior third basemen who "all aged at a normal rate of speed." James also wrote: Gaetti is odd in two respects ... his walk rate never improved at all, even an inch. [D]espite that, he aged at an exceptionally slow rate of speed. ... There is no reason for a player like Gaetti to last until he is 40 years old, and not much precedent for it.In other words, Gaetti was far from a Hall of Famer, but he's unique in that he never really got worse. Actually, that's not quite accurate. Gaetti did get worse, but always got better again eventually. After two mediocre years to begin his career, he fell of a cliff and then inexplicably pumped out a great three-year stretch. Then he went back to being mediocre, falling into sub par territory while being released by the Angels, and again bounced back with the Cardinals. Even within his three-year stay in St. Louis there's a good year, followed by an awful year, followed by a good year. His second season with the Cardinals saw a 38-year-old Gaetti struggle to crack a .700 OPS, yet he bounced back with one of the best seasons of his entire career as a 39-year-old in 1998. Taken as a whole, Gaetti's career isn't especially intriguing. He hit for a low batting average and didn't walk much, played good defense while staying very healthy, and hit a bunch of homers. What makes his career so odd and perhaps even downright fascinating is that there's seemingly no rhyme or reason to how the seasons were arranged. It's as if someone took 20 seasons, mixed them all together, randomly pulled them out one at a time, and arranged the new order into "Gary Gaetti." And if you don't believe me, look no further than the following graph, which shows the incredible year-to-year fluctuation in Gaetti's adjusted OPS+ totals:  Of course, the above graph and James' ranking take into account what Gaetti did in 10 seasons after leaving Minnesota, whereas all that matters here is what he did with the Twins. While the homers and postseason heroics are memorable, his all-around production was mediocre save for 1986-1988. During those years he was an elite player, but in the six surrounding years he was a replacement-level hitter, albeit one who rarely missed a game and played fantastic defense at third base.When everything is taken into account, I suspect Gaetti's place in Twins history is somewhat overrated, although it's tough to say for sure given his unique career. Because of his defense, power, and durability he was a valuable player for a long time, but his inability to avoid making outs in bunches kept him from being a truly great player in more than a fraction of those seasons. On the other hand, he probably deserves some bonus points for that mustache. TOP 25 ALL-TIME MINNESOTA TWINS RANKS: Once you're done here, check out my latest "Daily Dose" column over at Rotoworld.
Monday, August 20, 2007
KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKI stopped being shocked by Johan Santana's greatness a long time ago, perhaps because he's made it all look so routine. Like a 50-point game from Michael Jordan or a sexy picture of Jessica Alba, watching Santana shut down a lineup has become almost expected, which I suppose is the true sign of greatness. When you do something spectacular and it surprises absolutely no one, you've truly reached rarefied air. And Santana has been there for years. All of which is what makes his performance yesterday afternoon so amazing. As he struck out the side in the eighth inning for his 15th, 16th, and 17th strikeouts, it hit me that Santana has never been better. He has three strikeout crowns and two ERA titles in the past three seasons, no pitcher in the past 60 years has a better career winning percentage, and only some misguided voters kept him from winning three straight Cy Young awards. Yet as he put the finishing touches of his extraordinary afternoon by racking up back-to-back-to-back swinging strikeouts on Gerald Laird, Nelson Cruz, and Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the eighth inning, Santana somehow went even higher. It was the masterpiece from a virtuoso who's been responsible for a brilliant work of art nearly every fifth day for five years, and it came with many of the greatest players in Twins history in attendance as the 1987 World Series team looked on. Only two hits off the bat of Sammy Sosa kept Santana from perfection, and only a relatively high pitch count and Ron Gardenhire's discretion kept him from challenging the all-time single-game strikeout record. And he did it all while clinging to a 1-0 lead, because only Michael Cuddyer's second-inning homer stopped the tour de force from simply being one of many outstanding performances by Twins pitchers to have gone for naught this season. Santana struck out every Rangers hitter at least once, getting Laird, Michael Young, and Marlon Byrd three times apiece. Four of the 17 punch-outs came on just three pitches, all but two of them were of the swinging variety, including the final 10, and the Rangers swung and missed at more pitches (32) than they took for balls (29). Santana set a new career-high and broke the Twins' all-time record of 15, which had been held by Bert Blyleven, Camilo Pascual, Jerry Koosman, and Joe Decker. In the entire history of baseball, a pitcher has totaled more than 17 strikeouts just 20 times and only Randy Johnson has racked up more strikeouts (18) without throwing at least nine innings. "I didn't try to do anything different," Santana said. "I was just trying to stay aggressive, get ahead in the count, and throw my fastball for strikes." Asked about Joe Nathan coming in to pitch the ninth inning, Santana said: "He's one of the best closers in the game and I trust him, just like I trust all my teammates." Pitching coach Rick Anderson revealed that just four of Santana's 112 offerings were sliders. Throwing a 17-strikeout gem while using a fastball or changeup 108 times in 112 pitches might seem like an impossible combination, but only if you've never seen Santana pull the string. "He's got such great arm action with everything, so it's tough to lay off of it," Rangers manager Ron Washington said. "The only thing you can do is sit on the changeup, and if he throws you three straight fastballs, you're screwed." And Washington should know. Between managing the Rangers yesterday afternoon and being on the A's coaching staff in years past, he's been on hand for three of the 19 starts in which Santana has totaled a "Game Score" of at least 80. If you're unfamiliar with the Bill James invention, Game Score is a formula that attempts to quantify how good a pitcher's performance was by looking at strikeouts, hits, walks, innings, and runs. Here are Santana's top Game Scores: ## YR DATE OPP IP H R BB SO HR PITThanks to Baseball-Reference.com, we know that Santana's Game Score of 95 is the highest in baseball history for someone who didn't throw at least nine innings, beating a 15-strikeout start from Nolan Ryan that earned a 93 Game Score back in 1989. Only seven other pitchers have ever topped a 90 Game Score in fewer than nine innings and no one did it in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, or 2007. Before Santana yesterday afternoon, that is. Once you're done here, check out my latest "Daily Dose" column over at Rotoworld.
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 Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com OFGoAG.com Timeline: Heidi Klum (8/2002 - 12/2003) Jessica Alba (12/2003 - 10/2004) Elisha Cuthbert (10/2004 - 11/2006) Vacant (11/2006 - 6/2008) Keeley Hazell (6/2008 - 3/2010) Mila Kunis (3/2010 - Present) OFGoAG.com Candidates: Marisa Miller Jenna Fischer Kate Beckinsale Keeley Hazell Diora Baird Top 40 Twins Prospects of 2010: 1. Aaron Hicks, CF 2. Kyle Gibson, SP 3. Wilson Ramos, C 4. Miguel Angel Sano, SS 5. Ben Revere, CF 6. Angel Morales, CF 7. David Bromberg, SP 8. Danny Valencia, 3B 9. Matthew Bashore, SP 10. Billy Bullock, RP 11. Rene Tosoni, RF 12. Chris Parmelee, RF 13. Adrian Salcedo, SP 14. Joe Benson, CF 15. Jeff Manship, SP 16. Tyler Robertson, SP 17. Carlos Gutierrez, RP 18. B.J. Hermsen, SP 19. Anthony Slama, RP 20. Max Kepler, CF 21. Alex Burnett, RP 22. Robert Delaney, RP 23. Luke Hughes, 3B 24. Ben Tootle, RP 25. Deolis Guerra, SP 26. Shooter Hunt, SP 27. Trevor Plouffe, SS 28. Michael McCardell, SP 29. Reggie Williams, 2B 30. Estarlin De Los Santos, SS 31. Derek McCallum, 2B 32. Jose Morales, C 33. Chris Herrmann, LF 34. Bobby Lanigan, SP 35. Danny Rams, C 36. Josmil Pinto, C 37. Steven Tolleson, 2B 38. Anderson Hidalgo, 3B 39. Loek Van Mil, RP 40. Joe Testa, RP |