Results tagged ‘ Wild ’
OK, I’m back now
My hard drive is now fixed and seems to be working just fine. I’m really glad this happened now and not during the semester, since it would be very, very difficult to get any work done without my laptop. I’m also really glad I decided to back up all of my important files, otherwise I would have lost everything and would basically be screwed. In the meantime, a lot of important stuff happened while I was gone:
The Twins win the series!
I mean the weekend series against the Cardinals. You know, I too find the fact that St. Louis is so unapologetically a baseball town to be quite endearing. I do like football, and I am a Vikings fan, but even I have never understood why the Vikes are so beloved in this town. Unlike the Twins, the Vikings have never won anything important and, if anything, actually have a reputation for choking in big games. They haven’t brought us anything more than shame and embarrassment, and yet people love them more than any other sports franchise in this state. Go figure.
Sadly, the Pioneer Press laid off 11 people, including Twins’ beat reporter Phil Miller. The Press’ Twins’ coverage was pretty minimal at best, now I guess it’ll be non-existent. Which is just one more reason why I have always preferred the Star Tribune.
Justin Morneau homered in three straight games, one of which was this lovely shot that landed in the fountain at Kauffman Stadium. He came out of yesterday’s game against the Royals with a groin injury, but it doesn’t sound too serious and he should be back in the lineup tomorrow night against the Tigers. As of right now, there is no need for a “F*ck! There goes our season!” post.
The Twins actually got pretty banged up during the series finale in Kansas City. Mike Redmond had to come out after he got hit in the arm with a foul tip, and apparently he has a bruised forearm and might be out of commission for a bit. Nick Punto also had to leave the game with back stiffness, after Jose Guillen tried to take him out on a questionable play. Um, Guillen does realize that taking out Punto actually kind of helps the Twins, right?
The Sean Henn experiment is over, let the Brian Duensing experiment begin.
The Marian Gaborik era is over, let the Martin Havlat era begin.
The Wolves sort of did the NBA equivalent of taking a bunch of wide receivers in the draft. Actually, I think that the Wolfies did the right thing, for once. It makes sense for a team as devoid of talent as the Wolves to take the best available talent in the draft, since it will take more than one draft to fill all of the holes on the roster. The Wolves will probably have to address most of their needs through trade, and now they actually have the assets to do so. Of course, if the Wolves are still only winning 25 games five years from now, I will be writing an entirely different post.
Michael Jackson, well, it’s no secret that he had a lot of problems. But if there is a more perfect pop album than Thriller, I have yet to hear it. And it spawned the greatest music video of all time.
Oh, yeah, I guess Minnesota finally has a new senator. Meh. I guess now is as good a time as any to post this video:
And Another Streak Begins
Yep, watching a bunch of hockey players take BP afterwards was about the most exciting part of this game. Well, it was kind of depressing too, since they all hit the ball farther than Justin Morneau (somebody give Cal Clutterbuck a contract). Scott Baker got roughed up in his debut, giving up six runs on five hits in four innings. Baker struggled with his command against left-handed hitters and gave up four homers against righties. His fastball, which usually runs in on right-handed hitters, had no movement on it whatsoever and the Blue Jays took advantage of all of the pitches he left up over the plate. I have mentioned before that Baker is a flyball pitcher and as such he tends to give up a lot of home runs (at a rate of about once per nine innings pitched), but that the damage is usually limited to solo homers since he doesn’t put a lot of runners on. It doesn’t sound his struggles had anything to do with lingering stiffness in his shoulder, at least according to Baker, anyway. It was probably just terrible luck for a pitcher who tends to give up the long ball (like Baker) to make his debut against a hot-hitting team like Toronto.
The offense, meanwhile, struggled to do much of anything against Scott Richmond. And I was going to be more upset about this, but I just heard the greatest news ever: Doug Risebrough has been fired as GM of the Wild. That’s right, owner Craig Leipold has decided to go in an entirely different direction now that Jacques Lemaire has stepped down. I’m not going to speculate as to what led to the decision (although there are many, many, many, many examples of Risebrough’s incompetence over the years), I’m just glad it’s done. I was just lamenting how the season is over and the franchise is in shambles, but with a complete restructuring of the front office there is now some hope that things might get better. It is truly an exciting time to be a Wild fan.
The Remote is Going to Get a Workout
Tonight is conflicting for a baseball and hockey fan. The Twins take on the White Sox at Chicago, while the Wild are trying to keep their marginal playoff hopes alive against Nashville at the X. The Twins have a much better chance at winning, but the Wild have more at stake. I guess I’ll be flipping back and forth between the games a lot tonight. Well, until someone starts losing, anyway.
Joe Crede is making his return to Chicago after signing with the Twins in the offseason. There’s supposed to be a pre-game tribute to him and everything. It’s probably going to be the first time in history that a Twin will be cheered at the Cell (uh, until he hits a home run off of Jose Contreras, that is). Tonight’s pitching matchup features knuckleballer R.A. Dickey squaring off against Jose Contreras. Dickey hasn’t had a great deal of success as a starter, but the weather in Chicago should be perfect for the knuckleball (about 41 degrees, though it is breezy). Jose Contreras hasn’t been very effective against the Twins in his career (.285/.345/.392 in 11 starts), but he has managed to shut down Justin Morneau, who’s only 2-for-26 with two strikeouts and a pair of walks against the big righty.
This also marks the first time the Twins have returned to the Cell since that horrible one-game heartbreaker tiebreaker last year. The Twins lost that game 1-0, even though starter Nick Blackburn pitched the best game of his career (barring one mistake to, of course, Jim Thome). Our boys are extra-motivated to win this game, but especially Dickey, who wants to keep a job in the bullpen once Scott Baker returns (probably Wednesday, according to Gardy).
Meanwhile, the Wild are playing another must-win game against the Predators tonight at the X. Since they can’t seem to win two games in a row, and since they absolutely need this one, they will probably lose. Jacques Lemaire is going to pull Backs if the game is tied late in the third period, as the Wild are looking up at Nashville in the standings and can’t afford to go into overtime. Of course, none of this matters if either the Blues or the Ducks win tonight.
Starting Off in the ‘Loss’ Column
- Twins drop opener against M’s, 6-1
To be honest, I didn’t really think the Twins were going to win this game. Not with King Felix on the mound for Seattle. He is one of the most underrated young pitchers in baseball, and let’s face it, the Twins don’t exactly have the most potent offense in the league (or the division, for that matter). It was a pretty close pitchers’ duel for most of the game, though. Aside from a couple of mistakes to Ken Griffey, Jr. and Franklin Gutierrez, Francisco Liriano was pretty effective for seven innings. His command was much better than during the spring, though he didn’t actually strike out many batters (only three). Felix Hernandez simply outdueled him through eight innings, giving up one run on five hits and striking out six. Twins hitters were unable to capitalize on the few scoring chances they had, with Michael Cuddyer striking out with runners on second and third in the first and Justin Morneau grounding into an inning-ending double-play with the bases loaded in the fifth.
I still don’t think the Twins will make the playoffs this year, and it’s not because they lost their first game of the season (I have talked about this before). Even if guys like Delmon Young and Michael Cuddyer have career years at the plate, the bullpen is once again going to be a huge liability. While I do think that Jesse Crain will be a dominant set-up man, and I think that Craig Breslow will prove to be an even more effective LOOGY than Dennys Reyes, the middle relief will still be an issue. Matt Guerrier, Philip Humber, and Luis Ayala don’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of opposing hitters. R. A. Dickey might prove to be the most reliable of the bunch, and I’m not just basing this on his ST stats. Dickey was very effective as a reliever for Seattle last season. While he was awful as a starter, with a 6.72 ERA and 1.769 WHIP in 76 innings, the knuckleballer was much better pitching out of the bullpen, posting a 2.00 ERA and 1.111 WHIP with 20 strikeouts in 36 innings.
*sigh* Maybe all of the starters will pitch complete games this year; that’s the only way the bullpen won’t be an issue.
The Twins will probably remain in contention for most of the season, even though they won’t end up winning the division. At the very least they will play some very good baseball and should be a lot of fun to watch (for the most part). Which is more than I can say about some of our other sports franchises:
- The Vikings have a good chance to contend for a Super Bowl and they’re blowing it
The most frustrating part of this whole Jay Cutler trade isn’t that the Vikings didn’t get him. A lot of analysts and fans don’t think Cutler would have been a very good fit for Minnesota, and they’re probably right. He is kind of a whiny-pants, and he demands loyalty from an organization, something he certainly wouldn’t get here. No, the most frustrating part of this whole thing is that the Bears made a bold move to acquire a talented young QB that they can build around, while the Vikings haven’t done much of anything. In fact, they’ve actually gotten slightly worse. And it’s really a shame to think that a player as electrifying as Adrian Peterson is going to waste the best years of his career on a team that could be something really special if it were only lead by a decent QB.
Oh, and these people are doing the Lord’s work.
- The Wild don’t have much of a chance to win anything
Mercifully, the season is almost over. Not-so-mercifully, the future for the team looks pretty bleak. They have traded away so many draft picks to try to make a playoff run in the past couple of years that they don’t have much young talent waiting in the minor leagues. They are about to lose their franchise scoring leader to free agency, and they haven’t had much luck in signing top free agents (not that they have enough cap space to seriously pursue them, anyway). Whether anyone wants to admit it or not, this team is in rebuilding mode and it will be a long time before they even approach playoff contention again.
I guess it isn’t all bad, though. Rookie wrecking ball Cal Clutterbuck has been one of the lone bright spots in one of the most boring seasons ever. He leads the league in hits. He fights with Sean Avery. He is a master of the art of trash talk. And he scores the occasional goal, too.
It Was a Good Day for Minnesota
Something very rare happened yesterday: every Minnesota team that played a game actually won. This pretty much never happens. There isn’t a great deal of overlap between the schedules for all of our major sports franchises anyway, and the results are rarely so favorable when they do. Usually one team wins while the rest of them lose. Or, most likely, all of them end up losing.
- Twins beat Cardinals, 5-3
Kevin Slowey continued his bid to be a dark horse candidate for the 2009 AL Cy Young, giving up two runs on eight hits in six innings. He also recorded five strikeouts, including a big one against Albert Pujols with the bases loaded. The only runs he gave up came off of a two-run homer by Rick Ankiel, and as I’ve mentioned before, he does have a tendency to give up the long ball. Jesse Crain also bounced back from his awful appearance against the Reds, in which he gave up four runs on six hits in one inning, by pitching a scoreless eighth. Jose Mijares was the only Minnesota pitcher who really struggled on the mound, nearly giving the game away in the ninth. He gave up one run on three hits, and had runners on second and third with one out before getting the next two batters to ground out.
The good news for Cardinals fans is that Chris Carpenter looked really good for the most part. He did give up four runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings, which isn’t as bad as it sounds when you consider that he also struck out seven batters. Trever Miller and Chris Perez also pitched well, which is very good news for a team whose bullpen had its own share of struggles last year.
By the way, Twins’ infield prospect Chris Cates made his Spring Training debut in the later innings, too. This is only kind of interesting because, at 5′ 3″, Cates is the shortest player at any level of major league baseball (he’s actually just slightly taller than I am). He looks like a little kid:
I think even the bat boys are taller than he is!
The Twins also have the tallest prospect in their system too, the 7′ 1″ right-handed pitcher Loek van Mil. And yes, the two were teammates last year for the Beloit Snappers.
- Wild beat Oilers, 3-2
Another game that is essentially meaningless, as the Wild are not going to make the playoffs. By beating Edmonton at Rexall Place last night though, they at least helped to ensure that the Oilers won’t make it, either. It was also really good to see Mikko Koivu back on the ice after sustaining a serious knee injury the last time they beat the Oil.
Actually, Niklas Backstrom is the only reason the Wild even won this game. They still turn over the puck way too much, and if Backs hadn’t been so sharp the Oil would’ve made them pay for all of their careless mistakes (much like the Flames did on Saturday). The Wild could still theoretically make the playoffs if they win every single one of their next six games. This is simply too much to ask for a team that hasn’t won two in a row in over a month, and hasn’t won three in a row since Thanksgiving. Considering that the Wild also have the Flames and the Stars on the schedule (two teams they have struggled to do much against the entire year) I think it’s pretty safe to say that the season is almost over with now.
But hey, at least Bemidji State is having a pretty good run in the NCAA tournament. The Beavers upset heavily-favored Notre Dame on Saturday, and stunned Cornell last night on their way to their first Frozen Four appearance in school history. I’ve written before that I started following college hockey when the North Stars were shipped out of town. And while my beloved Golden Gophers failed to even make the tournament this year, it is good to see at least one of our hockey teams in the playoffs.
- Timberwolves finally win a game!
Yeah, they beat the Nets. But a victory is a victory for a team that has only had twenty-one of them this year. I thought the Wolves were at least going to surpass last year’s grand total of 22 wins, but with only eight games left on the schedule, I’m not so sure. Sadly, if the Wolves were in the Eastern Conference, they would probably have a decent chance at making the playoffs this year.
By the way, I have now updated my blogroll. I added three new MLBlogs that I like a lot, as well as a couple of Twins pro blogs. If you haven’t yet, please check out Plouffe!, written by Twins infield prospect (and guitar player) Trevor Plouffe. He’s got some great stuff on there about his former roommate Delmon Young, and some cute pictures too!
(Not) World Effing Champions
- Team USA poops the proverbial bed
Well, things got off to a good start for the Americans. Brian Roberts hit a leadoff home run against Daisuke Matsuzaka. And then things kind of went downhill from there. The Japanese would score nine runs, only five of which were actually earned. Team USA’s defense was atrocious. Officially the Americans committed three errors, but unofficially it was probably closer to five or six. Obviously they didn’t want the Venezuelan record of five errors in a WBC game to stand (those commie ********!) and were trying their hardest to set a new standard in horrible defense. Either that or they simply forgot that this was a single-elimination game.
Japan now gets to defend its WBC title against Korea tonight. It’s kind of disappointing that the US didn’t make it to the finals, but this should be a very good game. These two teams are powerhouses of Asian baseball, sort of like the Yankees and the Red Sox of the far east. I don’t have a particular favorite to win it all, but I guess I’ll root for the defending champs. Which of course means that Korea is going to win. I mean, look at my track record so far.
- Twins beat Toronto, 11-6
The offense finally decided to score some runs in yesterday’s game against the Blue Jays. Justin Morneau had a three-run homer, his first big blast of the season. Morny had a very good day at the plate, going 2-for-2 with a walk (apparently Morny has been taking Harmon Killebrew’s batting advice). Actually, pretty much everybody had a good day at the plate, since Jays’ starter Matt Clement wasn’t very effective. The Twins knocked the righty out after 4 1/3 innings, pounding him for nine runs on six hits.
Our own Scott Baker wasn’t particularly sharp either, giving up four earned runs on nine hits in 4 2/3 innings. He didn’t give up any homers though (for once), and recorded five strikeouts and no walks. Jose Mijares continued to struggle, giving up two earned runs in 2/3 of an inning, and also injured his ankle while trying to cover first. It’s looking more likely that the lefty is going to spend the season in Rochester (although Gardy is stubbornly insisting they can turn him around before the team heads north in two weeks). This might give Brian Duensing an opportunity to make the team if the Twins decide they need another lefty in the ‘pen. Duensing has been a starter his entire career, and did struggle a bit early in the season while in Rochester last year, but has looked really good in his relief appearances during spring training. At least he can get hitters out, anyway.
- Wild shutout Oil at the X
Owen Nolan scored a couple of goals, the Oil scored on themselves, and Niklas Backstrom made himself worth every penny of his four year, $24 million contract extension in one of the closest games the Wild have played all season. They got off to kind of a slow start in the first, though they weren’t helped by some awful officiating. Mikko Koivu got called for a phantom interference penalty on Ales Hemske (that was a beautiful piece of diving), and Dan Fritsche got called for boarding when he barely touched Ladislav Smid. I don’t normally complain about officiating, but this was ridiculous. Luckily the penalty-killers (and Backs!) stepped up to prevent any sort of ill-gotten gains by the Oilers.
Marian Gaborik made his triumphant return to the ice after having surgery on his hip. Though he didn’t score any goals, it was just really good to see him out there again. Unfortunately, captain Mikko Koivu suffered a knee injury when he was pulled down by Ales Kolatik and will be out the rest of the week. He might even miss the rest of the season, which means the Wild might as well forget about playing hockey past April. Come on, Mikko. Just rub some dirt on it and you’ll be fine.
- Schadenfreude
If you think Vancouver sucks, clap your hands
If you think Vancouver sucks and they’ll never win the Cup
If you think Vancouver sucks, clap your hands
I really shouldn’t mock the Canucks for this hilarious piece of epic fail. They are a lock to make the playoffs after all, and my Mild Wild will be lucky if they manage to sneak in as the eighth seed (although beating the Oil certainly helps). But there is nothing quite as satisfying as watching a hated rival do something so ridiculously dumb. Especially when your own team has been doing so many ridiculously dumb things as of late.
Why am I a Twins fan?
Scott over at I’m Not a Headline Guy wrote a lovely entry explaining his devotion to the New York Yankees. And it got me to thinking about my beloved Twinkies, and, well, why they’re my beloved Twinkies. Of course, a lot of it has to do with the 1987 World Series, which I am just barely old enough to remember. Nobody expected the ’87 Twins to win it all, and with good reason I might add. They finished with a mediocre 85-77 record, which was good enough to win the weak AL West division, but was the worst winning percentage of any playoff-bound team in history (a record that would stand until the 83-78 Cardinals won it all in 2006). The 98-64 Detroit Tigers were heavily favored to win the AL pennant, with most analysts predicting a sweep of the supposedly hapless Twins. Instead it was the Twins who nearly pulled off a sweep of their own, beating the Tigers four games to one to clinch the ALCS and advance to the World Series for the first time since 1965. Once again, the Twinkies were up against a heavily-favored opponent in the St. Louis Cardinals, who were about to make their third World Series appearance in six years. And once again the Twins would pull off a stunning upset, beating the Cards in seven games and clinching their first World Series title since moving to Minnesota in 1961 (and second in team history). Frank Viola, Kirby Puckett, Dan Gladden, Gary Gaetti, all those guys on that team would become great heroes in Minnesota sports history.
And then there was the ’91 World Series, the greatest World Series of all-time. This Series had everything: dramatic walk-off home runs, fantastic pitching performances from youngsters Tom Glavine and John Smoltz and veteran Jack Morris, wrestling (Braves fans still haven’t quite gotten over that one), a new MLB record for extra-innings WS games, and two teams that had finished in last place in their respective divisions the previous season. This time around the Twins weren’t exactly considered underdogs, having finished the regular season with a 95-67 record. They steamrolled over the Blue Jays in the ALCS, winning four games to one on the way to their second World Series title in four years.
The Braves would prove to be a much more challenging opponent, however, and the Twins would have to grind out five one-run games and three extra-innings games before clinching the title. The most dramatic game of the series, however, had to be game six. The Twins were facing elimination, having dropped three straight games to Atlanta, including a 14-5 blowout in game five. The Twins took a 3-2 lead into the seventh inning, when Atlanta 2B Mark Lemke scored on a fielder’s choice with the bases loaded to tie the game. The score remained even until the bottom of the eleventh, when Kirby Puckett untied the game with a solo shot off of Charlie Leibrandt to left-center field. That shot, and Jack Buck’s now-famous call, has to be the single greatest moment of my entire childhood. The Twins would go on to win game seven in ten innings, with a walk-off bloop single by Gene Larkin. Jack Morris pitched a ten-inning masterpiece (yes, you read that right, ten innings) in that game, which to this day is one of the best pitching performances I’ve ever seen. Good times.
There’s been a lot of other good stuff since then, too. The 2002 team was amazingly talented, and looked like they were going to bring us another championship. Alas, it was not to be. The Angels made sure of that. The 2006 team made an incredible late-season run to win the division. Unfortunately that was as far as the Twinkies would go, as they would then get swept by Oakland in the ALDS. They really got under Ozzie Guillen’s skin that year, too. That’s always fun.
And of course, there’s this guy:
Come on, admit it. You know you love him. Even if you aren’t a Twins fan.
- I love the Wild, too, even though I complain about them a lot
Hockey in Minnesota is like hockey in Canada. Or football in Texas. It’s just what you do. It’s what we’re good at. If your hockey team has any Americans on it, chances are pretty good that they’re from Minnesota. Or that they once played for the Golden Gophers. I started off as a North Stars fan when I was a little kid. They weren’t very good for the most part, though they did make a run for the Cup in 1991. But then a very bad man decided to move the team to Dallas after the 1992 season. I was heartbroken. I cried like a little girl (of course, I was a little girl, but that’s beside the point). And I was also torn. I wanted to cheer for my Stars, even though they weren’t really my Stars anymore, because they took Mike Modano with them. And I loved him. But, like any other bitter divorce, the animosity I felt for my ex-team was too great and I just couldn’t get over it. I couldn’t bring myself to cheer for any other NHL team either. It just didn’t seem right. I was a die-hard hockey fan without a team.
So I decided to fill the hockey void in my life with my hometown Gophers. I mean, they’ve done some good things:
It just wasn’t the same as having a professional hockey team, though. So when the NHL granted Minnesota an expansion franchise to open for the 2000-2001 season, I was absolutely thrilled. Though I wasn’t crazy about the team name (what the heck’s a wild?), or the logo (or the home unis, blech), I was excited to have an NHL franchise back in Minnesota. And though the team itself hasn’t exactly lived up to expectations, it’s been better than most of the old North Stars teams. And we have new heroes now:
- I root for the Vikings, and to a lesser extent, the Wolves, too
Why? Because somebody has to, that’s why. Oh there was a time when the Vikings were good. The Vikings of the late ’60s and early ’70s were some of the best football teams to never win a championship, but that was before my time. I remember the 1998 Vikes, though I’ve spent the past ten years trying to forget the NFC Championship game. And the current team is actually pretty good, it’s just missing a few key pieces. Like a starting QB. And special teams that can, um, not give up so many touchdowns (I mean really, when your punter is trying to make a tackle you know you’re in trouble). And some decent play-calling (which, by the way, helps out the starting QB a lot).
I’m not a huge basketball fan, but I do have a soft spot for the Timberwolves. I kind of feel sorry for them because they suck so bad. It’s not their fault, they’ve been mismanaged for years. And before Al Jefferson went down they had a pretty good shot at being a mediocre team this year. At least they aren’t the worst team in the league, so there’s that.
Injury Updates
- Joe Mauer injury update:
Well, there’s no Mauer news just yet, but it appears that he and Joe Nathan have been cleared to participate in some light baseball-related activities:
Come to think of it, maybe this is how they both got injured in the first place.
There’s still no news. as of 9pm tonight. I’m starting to really get worried. The Star Tribune is reporting that the doctors and the FO are conferring over what to do, so it doesn’t look good. Oh Lordy, I’ve already suffered enough disappointment with teams from Minnesota this year. I certainly don’t need any more.
- Nick Punto should be fine, or at least his elbow will be
Apparently there isn’t anything wrong with Little Nicky’s elbow. Team doctors re-examined the X-rays he had taken in Toronto, and determined that nothing is broken. Most of the swelling has subsided in the joint, and is tentatively scheduled to start in today’s game against the Yankees. Little Nicky has gotten off to a very slow start this spring, with a .100/.100/.100 in ten plate appearances, and wasn’t very effective for Team Italy in the WBC, either (he was 0-for-12). Normally I wouldn’t be all that concerned about a guy’s performance in spring training games, but Punto gives me several reasons to worry. First of all, he’s thirty-one years old and probably reached his peak offensively last season (it was pretty much his career year, after all). As I have mentioned before, his bat has a tendency to get cold whenever he’s guaranteed a starting job, and he is now the everyday SS after signing that two-year deal in December. Obviously a lineup with Punto and without Mauer isn’t going to make opposing pitchers lose any sleep.
- What happened to Team USA?
Some of these WBC games have been very close nail-biters between some of the best pitchers in the world. This, however, was not one of them. The Puerto Ricans slaughtered the USA 11-1 in seven innings, after which the mercy rule was invoked and everyone was put out of their misery (including those of us who were watching this crap). So what went so horribly wrong? Well, apparently the American pitchers (Jake Peavy in particular) forgot how to record outs. And the American hitters forgot how to drive in runs, or even get on base. I guess the coaching was really bad, too. I mean, really, if your pitcher gives up six runs in two innings, shouldn’t you pull the guy?
The worst part about this whole thing is that Jake Peavy was shown up by Javier Vazquez. Who says Javy isn’t a big-game pitcher?
The United States now has the same record in round two as the Netherlands. Like their Dutch counterparts, the next game is do-or-die for the American team. Unlike the Dutch, however, the US was heavily favored to win this thing. Team Hollandaise wasn’t expected to win a single game, let alone advance to the next round, so what they have accomplished so far is pretty remarkable. Even if it is the end of the line. Another early exit from the WBC would be an embarrassment for the US team, though, and might kill any chance that the American public will actually start taking the tournament seriously.
- The
WildMild aren’t quite dead yet
Oh, they lost another must-win game at Dallas last night, but at least they showed some life for a change. Yes, they made a couple of bad plays that ended up costing them the game, but at least it was only two this time. For the most part they actually skated well. And they played with the sort of desperation a team that is, well, desperate to make the playoffs really needs. The Stars, who are also fighting for the last playoff spot, were just a little more desperate this time.
GM Doug Risebrough hasn’t been too happy with the team’s play as of late, either, and even said so yesterday. Of course, DR is the one who chose to do nothing at the trade deadline even though the team was clearly struggling. And he also let key contributors such as Brian Rolston walk without finding much in terms of a replacement. He was the one who decided to give jobs to unproven rookies like Colton Gillies (and guys who might as well be rookies like James Sheppard) who should really be in juniors right now and not getting their confidence shattered in the NHL. And he (probably) botched contract talks with the team’s leading scorer. So, you know, the players aren’t entirely to blame for this mess.
Despite dropping three straight OT games (apparently our boys don’t realize that an OT loss is still a loss), the Wild are not completely out of the Western Conference playoff picture. They are currently one point out of the eighth, and final spot (not that they really deserve a playoff berth, but that’s a different story). They have to play the second of back-to-back road games in St. Louis tonight. Ordinarily I would be glad to see the Blues on the schedule, since the Wild would most certainly win this game in the past. However, given the awful effort the team has put forth lately, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if they lost. Again.
- Hey, at least somebody can win a game!
The Wolves beat the Bobcats 108-100 last night, which marks their 20th win of the season. Of course, they’re still 26 games below .500 and will most certainly finish with their fourth straight losing record, but at least they’ll probably surpass last year’s total of 22 wins. This win was just a little more satisfying because the Wolves may have just killed Charlotte’s playoff hopes. Way to go, guys! If you aren’t going to make the playoffs, at least you can take someone else down with you.
Scott Baker is a good pitcher, but…
- Pirates victimize the projected Opening Day starter
The Pirates hit three home runs off of Baker yesterday, two of which came from former Twin Craig Monroe. The Twins traded for Monroe prior to the 2008 season, and he was a bust. He batted .212/.274/.405 before being released just after the All-Star break. This is one of those deals that didn’t make a whole lot of sense when Smith pulled the trigger, as it appeared that Monroe was pretty much washed up at the time. The reasoning behind the deal was pretty sound: the Twins needed a right-handed power bat and the Cubs weren’t asking much in return. However, Monroe clearly was not the bat they were looking for. Other than his monster season in 2006, he had never hit more than 25 home runs in a year, and the most he had ever hit was 22. But I digress, this post is supposed to be about Scott Baker!
This game highlighted one of the 27 year old righty’s major weaknesses: the tendency to give up the gopher ball. Baker gave up 20 home runs in his 28 starts last season, and is projected to give up anywhere from 19-22 again this year. A lot of this has to do with the fact that his fastball isn’t very fast, usually topping out at around 91 mph. It (and all of his other pitches for that matter), is very effective if he can locate it, which is something he obviously struggled with yesterday. Still, Baker has a solid K/BB ratio of 3.36 and doesn’t put a lot of runners on base, so the damage is usually limited to solo homers (as all of the Pirates’ homers were yesterday).
- Joe Mauer may or may not be ready for Opening Day
According to the Star Tribune, Mauer is currently in Baltimore getting a second opinion on his back problem. This was apparently a mutual decision between the player and the organization, who are taking no chances with their All-Star catcher. We should know more about the injury and if Mauer will be ready for Opening Day once the results of the exam come back. However, even if Mauer isn’t ready at the start of the season, the Twins aren’t completely sunk. They do have some other good options behind the plate:
- Mike Redmond: Red Dog has always been a solid backup catcher, and could probably handle all of the catching duties himself if he were asked. But he’s 37 years old, and though he would probably post better numbers than he did last year with more playing time, it’s unlikely his body could withstand the grind of catching six nights a week.
- Jose Morales: Having Morales and Redmond share the catching duties is probably the best option. Morales showed a lot of promise when he was first called up in 2007, but suffered torn ligaments in his ankle when he was rounding the bases in his first major league game. This injury ended up sidelining him for most of the season last year, but he had more surgery and is now apparently pain free.
- Drew Butera: The son of former major-league catcher Sal Butera, the 24-year old prospect has been having a pretty good spring, though he’s only started five games so far. He isn’t one of the top-ranked prospects in the organization, though, and has yet to advance past AA ball. He would probably only get called up if Mauer is out and the Twins needed a third catcher.
- Wilson Ramos: Ramos is the catcher-of-the-future should the Twins decide they cannot afford to keep Joe Mauer. I’ve written about Ramos before, and he’s been pretty impressive during camp. Not only has he been hitting very well, he has also demonstrated an ability to handle the big-league pitching staff. Naturally this has led some people to speculate that Ramos might get the call if Mauer will indeed miss some of the season. However, Ramos is only 21 years old has yet to advance higher than Advanced A ball, so he’s probably not quite ready to make his big-league debut just yet. Very few prospects can make the jump from the low minors to the major leagues successfully, and even fewer can do so while playing the most difficult position on the field. It would be best to allow Ramos to develop further, and to let Morales or Butera split time with Redmond at backtstop.
- Pudge Rodriguez: Do. Not. Want. Yes, Pudge has been tearing the cover off the ball in the WBC, but he’s been declining both offensively and defensively over the past few years (of course, his decline might have something to do with his alleged use of PEDs). He’s a year older than Redmond, and clearly his best days are behind him. Pudge batted .276/.319/.374 with 7 home runs and an OPS+ of 87 between Detroit and the Yankees last year. While adjusting to a new team after being traded might have affected his numbers some (he was clearly better in Detroit than New York), the effects were likely minimal because he wasn’t much better the year before that. In comparison, Redmond hit .287/.321/.333 with an OPS+ of 80 in the 38 starts he made behind the plate last season. The Twins would be better off saving their money and letting Redmond and one of their prospects handle the catching duties.
- Wild fall to Avalanche 2-1
Ugh, just when I thought they couldn’t possibly play any worse, the Wild go and lay an egg against Colorado at Pepsi Center. The Wild were pretty bad against the Sharks on Tuesday, but at least they showed some life in the third period. They would score three goals in that period and tie the game, only to fall in OT when San Jose D Christian Erhoff picked off an errant pass by Antti Miettinen and scored the winning goal.
The Mild (yes, that’s what I’m calling them from now on) never showed up against the Avs last night, and this was a game they absolutely had to win. The Avs are the worst team in the Western Conference, and it appears that Minnesota took their opponent lightly. They got off to a quick 1-0 lead, but never mounted much of a threat since then. Poor Niklas Backstrom was under siege all night long, but he managed to turn aside 40 shots, while his counterpart Peter Budaj faced a mere 16 shots on goal the entire game.
How bad was the Wild’s offense last night? About as bad as poor Patrik Stefan:
I never thought I’d say this (Okay, I’ve been saying this for awhile, but humor me), but it looks like our guys are just playing out the season now. This team can’t even win two games in a row (though they obviously have no problem putting together a losing streak), how in the world are they going to make a successful run for a playoff spot?
- Speaking of playing out the season…
The Wolves dominated the Grizzlies 104-79 at Target Center on Wednesday night, snapping an eight-game losing streak. I was starting to get kind of excited about the season and hoped our guys could finish at .500 for a change. Then I looked at the standings and realized the Wolfies haven’t even won 20 games this year. Oh well, at least we have that high draft pick to look forward to. And the Wolves aren’t even the worst team in the league, so there’s that. And Al Jefferson’s rehab is apparently going really well so far, so he should be back next season. Maybe then they won’t post a losing record for once!
Oh yeah, and Glen Taylor has no intention of letting Kevin McHale come anywhere near the front office again, so I guess there’s some hope for our Wolfies.
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