- Can anyone explain this Derrick Rose thing? So with the Bulls up 3-2 they have a chance to close out New Jersey in Chicago, knowing a loss sends this back to a game 7 in Jersey so this is basically a do or die game. Both Kirk Hinrich, who started at PG in place of Rose all year, and Luol Deng, probably the team's best perimeter defender, are out and in case you forget New Jersey has Derrick Williams. In Game 5 in a similar situation (no Hinrich) Williams abused Nate Robinson for 23 and 10 assists, and as I write this mid-way through the second quarter he already has seven assists. All this could potentially be handled by Rose, you know the former MVP and all, coming back and playing which, by the way, his doctor's have cleared him to do. It's just weird.
- I'm all over Revolutionary for the Derby on Saturday (10/1 right now I believe). He's got good results, he's ridden by Calvin Borel (the pimp daddy of all jockeys) and he drew a position near the rail but not on it (#3) which is where Borel loves to be. There's also a good possibility of rain and Revolutionary rates as the 2nd best wet track horse in the field (behind Oxbow) and Borel likes sloppy tracks as well. Everything sets up well for Revolutionary, which actually kind of scares me a bit, but I put a good amount on him to win and boxed him up with Normandy Invasion and Orb in a trifecta. I also let the wife pick a horse (Goldensoul because she's a hippy at heart) and let the daughter pick one as well (Charming Kitten because she's five) while throwing a bit on Will Take Charge as my longshot and still hold a WIN ticket on itsmyluckyday that I put down on a couple of months ago. I hit the winner 3 years ago (Super Saver) and wife hit it last year (I'll Have Another) so I think we're due for another win.
- I made the decision not to get HBO this year in order to save money and I knew Game of Thrones was going to be the biggest test. They tried to suck me in with the free preview that let me watch episode 1 but I held strong. Then I spent the night at Snacks' place and he's got HBO and has all the episodes and we watched two over there and I thought I was screwed, but luckily I remember that all HBO subscribers get access to HBOGO so I can used Snacks' ID and stuff and watched the last couple to get all caught up and my god this show is just so amazingly good.
I am a huge fan of the books and I never, ever imagined they could have done it this well. All the cool shit from the books was done right and all the stuff they changed, added, or eliminated has been done exceptionally well to the point where I honestly don't have any complaints. There's tons of hot chicks and boobs and butts and stuff which is of course welcome, but honestly the story and the drama completely sucks me in even though I know what's going to happen already. Daenarys with the unsullied, Jamie's hand, the fight at Craster's, even something with no action like Sansa discussing Joffrey with Margaery (hot as fire) and Lady Tyrell are all good enough to be the biggest moment of the season in pretty much any other show, and we ain't seen nothing yet. If I had to pick the best 3 non-comedic tv shows in history I'd go with Lost (the first 3 seasons or so), Walking Dead, and Game of Thrones, and GoT is so far beyond those other two it'd be like if Jim Thome raced a horse. A good horse. Also no, I have never seen The Wire or Breaking Bad (although I plan to eventually) so shut it.
- So Kahn out, Flip in, eh? Tough to fault it, and I'm sure Glen Taylor pours himself a drink every time he watches Steph Curry score 16 points in a quarter and then thinks about Jonny Flynn is probably on the And 1 Tour at this point. Really, outside of Darko over Melo and Wade and Oden over Durant that might end up the worst draft pick of this generation. Unfortunately, because otherwise Dawger will rake me over the coals in the comments, I have to admit that I thought Steph Curry was on the fast train to bustville. I was convinced his big numbers at Davidson were because he played sub-par competition and his team was so dependent on him that he was going to score big no matter what, but I though his absolute upside was a spot up shooter like Steve Novak or Craig Hodges. My oh my was I ever wrong. The guy is a completely dynamic scorer and one of the best shooters I've ever seen. If he ever figures out how to drive to the rim he's going to be unstoppable, and he kind of is already. It takes a strong man with a great character to admit when he's wrong, and that man is me.
- So Byron Buxton hit another home run tonight. That's his fifth for Cedar Rapids and coming into the night he was hitting .383/.510/.667 with 5 doubles, 3 triples, 4 HRs, and 10 steals in 14 attempts. Simply put - he's killing low A ball in just his second year and he's just 19 years old. I know you don't want to rush a teenager, but it's just silly. He's walking more than he's striking out, hitting for a huge average and showing massive power while stealing bases like crazy. He leads the Midwest league in slugging, OPS, runs, and walks, is #2 in average and OBP, and is top 5 in homers, total bases, steals, RBI, and triples. Between him and Miguel Sano (.368/.435/.747 with 9 homers) the Twins might end up with two top 10 prospects when the mid-year Baseball America prospect ratings come out. Pretty cool shit.
- I still can't believe Joe Johnson was ever a max deal player.
Showing posts with label Miguel Angel Sano. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Miguel Angel Sano. Show all posts
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Sunday, August 19, 2012
Twins Prospect Update
With the Twins having been completely out of it since the second week of the season your thoughts end up turning to the future. Then, when you realize all those guys suck too, you dig a little deeper into the younger prospects. With that in mind, here are the first 10 guys I thought of to check on in the Twins' system. They might not be the top 10 guys, but they're all definitely guys who, at one point or another, were well thought of in the system and most still all are. I didn't look up Alex Wimmers because he blew out his arm and is thus dead to me because, much like the Twins' brass, I don't believe in that sissy shit like surgery. If it can't be fixed with spit, dirt, or leeches then I'm not interested.
1. Miguel Sano, 3B, Beloit (A). You probably know who this guy is because he's universally hailed as the Twins top prospect with Baseball America ranking him #18 in all of baseball and ESPN slotting him at #28. And in a season full of disappointment, Sano has delivered once again with a .262/.382/.526 line with 25 dingers in single-A. His average and power have dipped a bit from previous years and the .262 might not look that impressive, but considering he's only 19 (or so they say) it's nothing to get too worked up about especially considering his incredible power and plate discipline for that age. He may end up out-growing 3B and end up at 1B or OF, but wherever he plays he can hit. Plus he's built like an absolute monster. I seriously can't wait for this guy to get to the bigs. I might just get a Beloit jersey. Also this,
3. Byron Buxton, OF, Elizabethton (Rookie). Buxton is the guy the Twins took #2 overall in this year's draft, and I'm interested to see what the early scouting on him is. He hasn't exactly set the world on fire, hitting just .211 between two rookies leagues this year, but his OBP is impressive for such a low average and the biggest question on his was his power and he knocked out 4 homers in 102 plate appearances in the Gulf Coast League. His production won't matter for a couple of years - he'll continue to be highly rated based on potential and "toolsy-ness" - and he's just 18 and right out of high school afterall, but keep an eye on how he does repeating rookie ball next year. My biggest fear is we have another Ndudi Ebi here. And sure, I could have gone with Brien Taylor or Adam Johnson (go Twins) but come on, how many chances to you get bring up Ndudi Ebi in a conversation?
4. Aaron Hicks, OF, New Britain (AA). Buxton before Buxton was Buxton, Hicks was picked fourteenth by the Twins out of high school in 2008 as a toolsy guy and found himself ranked in the top 45 prospects by Baseball America each of the next three years, before being unranked this season due to diminishing returns. Not that it's time to give up on him. Athleticism doesn't just disappear unless you're Shawn Kemp or Willie Mays Hayes and there's no indication anything has happened to Hicks, he's just seen his numbers dip but this year has been a nice rebound in AA with basically his entire slash line going up (from .242/.354/.368 to .281/.381/.453) and a career high in homers with 12. He's still just 22 and he's made a steady progression from Rookie ball to AA in his career thus far so there's no need to panic just yet, but next year is a big one for Hicks.
5. Kyle Gibson, P, Fort Myers (A+). If you're like me Gibson is one of the guys you care about the most, simply because he's a power pitcher with filthy stuff who struck guys out like it was his job (which it is) before getting hurt and needing Tommy John surgery (which I assume made the Twins' upper management happy since they'd probably hope he'd stop striking people out all the time). He had made it all the way to AAA before he blew out the arm and although his numbers weren't great at Rochester they'd been stellar all the way through the system prior to that. In his rehab so far this year (through 10 games between Rookie and A ball) he's put up an ERA of 2.55 with a 0.96 WHIP and 17 Ks in 17.2 innings vs. just 5 walks. Good stuff. Here's to hoping Gibson is in the rotation next season. No, seriously, here's to hoping. I have a vodka & tonic in my hand right now and I'm totally drinking it.
6. Levi Michael, SS, Fort Myers (A+). You probably remember Michael because he was the Twins' first round pick last season at #30, the 21-year old shortstop from North Carolina who everyone said like hurry up and get up to the majors because this SS situation blows. Well don't hold your breath. Despite Brian Dozier getting booted back to Rochester for some weird reason with two weeks left in the minor league season I don't think Michael will be there next year unless he gets some of those sweet Melky Cabrera roids. He hit just .236/.327/.299 this year, and although the walk rate is nice pretty much everything else is awful, particularly he's Punto-ian lack of power. Since he's a shortstop I'd make a comment on his fielding here, but I have to admit I have no idea what a .962 fielding percentage or 4.33 range factor mean, so instead look boobs:
7. Oswaldo Arcia, OF, New Britain (AA). Arcia is an interesting case because he may have the best numbers of anybody on this list (possibly outside Sano) but he's never appeared on Baseball America's top prospects lists. He hit .375 at Elizabethton in 2010, is hitting .315 this year between Fort Myers and New Britian, and has never hit below .290 once in five minor league seasons (.275 in 2009). And he's done it the whole way with good power (more gap power, but he's still hit double-digits homers three times) and the last two seasons he's even learned to mix in some walks. He's been so steady throughout his career I kind of think he's probably the most sure thing in the system. He's still just 21 but in five seasons his career line between rookie ball and AA is .315/.371/.533. Dude's a pure pimp, and he's finally starting to get recognized-getting a spot in the futures game this year (and going 1-2 with a double). I'd bet he shows up on some lists somewhere this year. CALLED IT.
8. Jose Berrios, P, Elizabethton (Rookie). This is the guy the Twins took at #32 this year with the draft pick they were awarded for losing husky camera whore Mike Cuddyer as an 18-year old out of Puerto Rico and he has been flat-out unhittable in rookie ball. Between Elizabethton and the Gulf Coast League Berrios has thrown 25.2 innings with a combined ERA of 0.70 and WHIP of 0.55, striking out a staggering 43 while walking just 4. Guys. That's a 10-1 K-to-BB ratio. Since hitting E-Town he's made two starts, going a total of 9 innings and allowing 3 hits, 1 walk, 0 runs, and striking out 16. I mean holy F. Small sample size and all yes, but, like the Shermanator, confidence is high.
9. Joe Benson, OF, New Britian (AA). Benson's the one guy on this list we've already seen in the majors, putting up a .239/.270/.352 line in 21 games last season which was apparently enough to get Baseball America to name him the #99 prospect in baseball and for the Twins to assign him to AAA to start this year even though he'd never played there before. And it was a disaster. Benson hit just .179 in 28 games at Rochester before getting busted back to AA and then injured his wrist, required surgery. The good news is that he completely tore up Rookie and A ball pitching upon his return. The bad news is he's failed to break a .190 average at either AAA or AA this year with a Revere-esque slugging percentage and he's struck out nearly 30% of his at-bats through his minor league career. I don't want to say he's a lost cause just yet, but at 24 it's time to shit or get off the pot. Definitely the most disappointing guy on this list. Like Cooper Manning. Also this:
10. Deolis Guerra, P, Rochester (AAA). Although everyone on the list is more important to the future of the Twins, Guerra is someone I keep following because he's important to the past - the last link to the Johan Santana trade. Humber is gone and threw a perfect game, Mulvey is dead or something I don't know, and Carlos Gomez was traded for J.J. Hardy (GOOD!) who was then traded for two shithead relievers (BAD!). So Guerra is it. There's good news and bad news here. GOOD: Dominated AA this year. BAD: Sucked at AAA, career ERA of 6 with a 5.55 this year. BAD: Basically has been given up on as a starter, not starting a game in 2012 and only 10 of 37 in 2011. GOOD: Has struck out more than a batter per inning since being turned into a full time reliever. BAD: Sucks. GOOD: Could maybe be a decent reliever.
So yeah. The entire haul for Johan Santana has been 20 relief innings out of Humber where he got completely rocked, one+ inning out of Kevin Mulvey (that's it, really?) where he gave up 6 hits and 4 runs, two shitty fucking years of Jon Rauch who would later go on to fuck me over, two sometimes exciting but ultimately frustrating years of Carlos Gomez, an injury-plagued and mediocre year from J.J. Hardy (who would go on to become one of the best shortstops in the league the year after they traded him), and 24 absolutely crappy innings from one of the relievers they traded Hardy for, releasing the other one (or whatever) without getting a single major league inning out of him. So yeah, you could say Guerra is pretty important even if his absolute upside is a decent set-up man. Let's get 2-3 years out of him and call it a day. Yes? We all agree? Sweet. Time for some punch and pie.
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| Twins training staff in action |
1. Miguel Sano, 3B, Beloit (A). You probably know who this guy is because he's universally hailed as the Twins top prospect with Baseball America ranking him #18 in all of baseball and ESPN slotting him at #28. And in a season full of disappointment, Sano has delivered once again with a .262/.382/.526 line with 25 dingers in single-A. His average and power have dipped a bit from previous years and the .262 might not look that impressive, but considering he's only 19 (or so they say) it's nothing to get too worked up about especially considering his incredible power and plate discipline for that age. He may end up out-growing 3B and end up at 1B or OF, but wherever he plays he can hit. Plus he's built like an absolute monster. I seriously can't wait for this guy to get to the bigs. I might just get a Beloit jersey. Also this,
2. Eddie Rosario, 2B/OF, Beloit (A). Sano's teammate with the Snappers, Rosario also saw his numbers dip a bit with the promotion to A ball but also like Sano he's young (20) and the change isn't so drastic there's need to worry. He's still hitting over .300 this year and although his slugging has dropped from high .600s to around .500 this season that's from a drop in homers as his doubles remain around the same. Additionally, the move this year to second base means his offense is less important as long as he can field his position, so keep an eye on that. Rosario was ranked #50 in the majors by ESPN and with the slight drop in production canceled out by the move to middle infield I'd expect him in about the same range next year.Sano stood in the batter's box awhile to watch his homer against relief pitcher Carmine Giardiana. He trotted the bases, but virtually stopped a few feet before touching the plate, taking off his batting helmet as Kernels catcher Abel Baker barked at him.
Sano glared at the Kernels dugout after finally touching the plate, with Kernels players continuing to give him significant grief. He took a step toward Baker, and the dugouts began to empty, with umpires Fernando Rodriguez and Paul Clemons, as well as both teams' coaching staffs, doing a good job of squelching what could have been an ugly scene.
3. Byron Buxton, OF, Elizabethton (Rookie). Buxton is the guy the Twins took #2 overall in this year's draft, and I'm interested to see what the early scouting on him is. He hasn't exactly set the world on fire, hitting just .211 between two rookies leagues this year, but his OBP is impressive for such a low average and the biggest question on his was his power and he knocked out 4 homers in 102 plate appearances in the Gulf Coast League. His production won't matter for a couple of years - he'll continue to be highly rated based on potential and "toolsy-ness" - and he's just 18 and right out of high school afterall, but keep an eye on how he does repeating rookie ball next year. My biggest fear is we have another Ndudi Ebi here. And sure, I could have gone with Brien Taylor or Adam Johnson (go Twins) but come on, how many chances to you get bring up Ndudi Ebi in a conversation?
4. Aaron Hicks, OF, New Britain (AA). Buxton before Buxton was Buxton, Hicks was picked fourteenth by the Twins out of high school in 2008 as a toolsy guy and found himself ranked in the top 45 prospects by Baseball America each of the next three years, before being unranked this season due to diminishing returns. Not that it's time to give up on him. Athleticism doesn't just disappear unless you're Shawn Kemp or Willie Mays Hayes and there's no indication anything has happened to Hicks, he's just seen his numbers dip but this year has been a nice rebound in AA with basically his entire slash line going up (from .242/.354/.368 to .281/.381/.453) and a career high in homers with 12. He's still just 22 and he's made a steady progression from Rookie ball to AA in his career thus far so there's no need to panic just yet, but next year is a big one for Hicks.
5. Kyle Gibson, P, Fort Myers (A+). If you're like me Gibson is one of the guys you care about the most, simply because he's a power pitcher with filthy stuff who struck guys out like it was his job (which it is) before getting hurt and needing Tommy John surgery (which I assume made the Twins' upper management happy since they'd probably hope he'd stop striking people out all the time). He had made it all the way to AAA before he blew out the arm and although his numbers weren't great at Rochester they'd been stellar all the way through the system prior to that. In his rehab so far this year (through 10 games between Rookie and A ball) he's put up an ERA of 2.55 with a 0.96 WHIP and 17 Ks in 17.2 innings vs. just 5 walks. Good stuff. Here's to hoping Gibson is in the rotation next season. No, seriously, here's to hoping. I have a vodka & tonic in my hand right now and I'm totally drinking it.
6. Levi Michael, SS, Fort Myers (A+). You probably remember Michael because he was the Twins' first round pick last season at #30, the 21-year old shortstop from North Carolina who everyone said like hurry up and get up to the majors because this SS situation blows. Well don't hold your breath. Despite Brian Dozier getting booted back to Rochester for some weird reason with two weeks left in the minor league season I don't think Michael will be there next year unless he gets some of those sweet Melky Cabrera roids. He hit just .236/.327/.299 this year, and although the walk rate is nice pretty much everything else is awful, particularly he's Punto-ian lack of power. Since he's a shortstop I'd make a comment on his fielding here, but I have to admit I have no idea what a .962 fielding percentage or 4.33 range factor mean, so instead look boobs:
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| Classic distraction technique |
8. Jose Berrios, P, Elizabethton (Rookie). This is the guy the Twins took at #32 this year with the draft pick they were awarded for losing husky camera whore Mike Cuddyer as an 18-year old out of Puerto Rico and he has been flat-out unhittable in rookie ball. Between Elizabethton and the Gulf Coast League Berrios has thrown 25.2 innings with a combined ERA of 0.70 and WHIP of 0.55, striking out a staggering 43 while walking just 4. Guys. That's a 10-1 K-to-BB ratio. Since hitting E-Town he's made two starts, going a total of 9 innings and allowing 3 hits, 1 walk, 0 runs, and striking out 16. I mean holy F. Small sample size and all yes, but, like the Shermanator, confidence is high.
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| Don't act like you didn't know exactly what I was talking about. |
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| Look at this hair. LOOK AT IT! |
So yeah. The entire haul for Johan Santana has been 20 relief innings out of Humber where he got completely rocked, one+ inning out of Kevin Mulvey (that's it, really?) where he gave up 6 hits and 4 runs, two shitty fucking years of Jon Rauch who would later go on to fuck me over, two sometimes exciting but ultimately frustrating years of Carlos Gomez, an injury-plagued and mediocre year from J.J. Hardy (who would go on to become one of the best shortstops in the league the year after they traded him), and 24 absolutely crappy innings from one of the relievers they traded Hardy for, releasing the other one (or whatever) without getting a single major league inning out of him. So yeah, you could say Guerra is pretty important even if his absolute upside is a decent set-up man. Let's get 2-3 years out of him and call it a day. Yes? We all agree? Sweet. Time for some punch and pie.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Monday Musings
- Biggest news of the day is the Big 10/ACC match-ups have been released, and your Gophers will be traveling to Tallahassee to play the Seminoles of FSU. This should be one hell of a good test to see how good the Gophers are next season, because FSU loses only two of their top 6 players from last year's NCAA team, and they always play well at home (where they always seem to beat Duke or UNC every year). Add in a very good recruiting class and their killer defense and this is one of the better teams the Gophers will face in non-conference play in the Tubby Smith-era. If the Gophers can handle FSU's defense, they'll be able to handle any Big 10 team's defense. I'm very much looking forward to this one. With the Gophers in the Battle 4 Atlantis with team's like Duke, Missouri, Memphis, and Louisville they have all the potential in the world to build a really nice resume before we get to conference play. Or crash and burn and make sure we all now we are once again in for another thrilling year of mediocrity. I know which one I'm hoping for - although the mediocrity thing does have a comforting ring of familiarity to it.
The other matchups:
North Carolina @ Indiana - has the ring of a marquee matchup to it, but with Indiana installed as the favorite to win the National Championship by Vegas (it's true) and UNC basically gutted from last year this is going to be a 10+ point spread.
NC State @ Michigan - One of the three top matchups (along with Gophers/FSU and Duke/Ohio State), and a really good test for an NC State team that is suddenly finding itself the ACC favorite (even more so if Amile Jefferson picks them today/tomorrow).
Maryland @ Northwestern - The Terps lost most of their talent from an already poor team, while Northwestern's window has probably closed on that elusive first NCAA bid. Even so, the Wildcats should walk here.
Iowa @ Virginia Tech - Va Tech is going to be super terrible this year, but this is actually a pretty perfect match-up for an Iowa team trying to reach up and grab mediocrity. This game will go along way towards telling us if they're there yet or still a year away.
Nebraska @ Wake Forest - yeah nobody cares
Ohio State @ Duke - This will be billed as the top matchup and not without reason. Having the game at Cameron evens the odds a bit, because OSU would roll if this was played in Columbus - and might anyway
Virginia @ Wisconsin - You ready to hear about what a great match-up this is and then be bored to sleep within the first five minutes? This one might not break 70 total points.
Michigan State @ Miami - Really interesting match-up here. The Spartans are probably better talent-wise but will still be working on playing without Draymond Green, while Miami has a nice core group of Durand Scott, Reggie Johnson, Kenny Kadji, and Shane Larkin back from last year's team that almost made the NCAA Tournament. I think at home the Canes might sneak this one out.
Purdue @ Clemson - I have no idea what to make of Purdue this year since the whole team from two years ago is gone. Clemson's losing it's entire starting back court who just happened to be their top two scorers. Call this a toss up.
Georgia Tech @ Illinois - The Illini were horrid last year and now bring in a new coach. Getting Georgia Tech at home is the kind of major opponent they need - shitty, but still a major conference team.
Boston College @ Penn State - oh my god, gross.
If I had to pick it right now, I'd go Florida State, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, Wake, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Miami, Purdue, Illinois, and BC. That's 7-4, Big 10.
- One other college hooops note, I was going to do a little writing on Julius Mays, the guard who graduated from Wright State but still has a year of eligibility so was looking to do that thing where you pick a school you want to go to and then find a grad program they have that your current school doesn't offer so you can just transfer and play right away who was considering both Illinois and Purdue. He would be a pretty important piece considering the lack of guards the Illini and Boilers are both currently sporting due to his 14 points per game and also because Julius Mays is a pretty sweet basketball name. Kentucky, however, was also interested in Mr. Mays and because Kentucky is awesome and the Big 10 sucks, Mays will be a Wildcat next year so I guess there's not much more to say about that, is there? These things will happen when you can't motivate yourself to post more than once a week because the Twins have punched you in the nuts.
- Speaking of the Twins, yuck. The worst part of this is that when your team totally sucks you should at least be able to look forward to watching the future start playing, but who on this team is even the future? Scott Diamond, suddenly, and Brian Dozier? Maybe? There's suddenly no third basemen at all. I mean there's nothing now that Valencia is apparently a total flop and Luke Hughes was traded or released or whatever. We're looking at a solid 3 years or so of crappy old free agents before Miguel Sano is ready, assuming he sticks at third and doesn't get moved to the outfield. Will it be Kevin Kouzmanoff next year? Or Mark Teahen? Maybe Ty Wigginton (that's who I'd put my money on)? You can be sure that no matter what, he's going to be old and suck. But at least Sano is keeping things interesting while we wait. Big thanks for Snacks for emailing me this:
- I didn't really like Bryce Harper from day one since he sounded like kind of a douche, but I've done a 180 on him because apparently the mainstream media (more like Lame stream, amiright?) is way too all over hoping this kid fails and makes a fool of himself. Over the weekend I saw a few different headlines and they were all like "Harper injures self in clubhouse tantrum" or "Harper may miss time after embarrassing spaz out" or something of that variety. So I read them because, at that time, I wasn't a fan and was hoping it would be really bad (with apologies to Bryce's dad, who was maybe the second best Twins' catcher ever), but holy shit are people stupid. After going 0-5 with 3 strikeouts he hit the wall with his bat, which ricocheted and hit him in the head. First of all, who hasn't done something similar like hitting the wall with your bat? Secondly, when do you think the last time this kid went 0-5 with 3 ks was? I'm going to guess never, which will probably torque you off a bit, and hitting something with a bat has got to be nearly as common place as getting crabs from a "fan" when you're a major leaguer (or minors even, from what I hear Brendan Donnelly).
Between this retarded witch hunt and Harper's attitude after getting intentionally beaned by Cole Hamels - all he did was trot to first with no looks, no attitude, no nothing - I'm starting to become a fan. Then you add him to the best pitcher in world history in Stephen Strasburg, one of my personal faves in Gio Gonzalez, the underrated Jordan Zimmerman, a bunch of young players who some of at least have to workout, and yet another future star in minor leaguer Anthony Rendon and I'm suddenly a Nationals fan. May even have to get a hat. But they also have Jayson Werth, so I really can't be that much of a fan. F that guy.
- Apparently Josh Hamilton is over how he killed that guy because in case the Twins have made you turn off baseball for good this year he's destroying everything that gets thrown near him. I find it semi-fascinating because I am fascinated easily but also because he's such a unique player. Without getting bogged down in the nitty gritty stat world, he's aggressive as hell and swings at anything. He swings at the highest percentage of pitches of anyone in the majors, and the rest of the guys on the list are either shitty hackers (Clint Barmes, Delmon Young), strikeout machines without the power (Alfonso Soriano, Chris Davis), or solid, but not power, hitters (Starlin Castro, Brandon Phillips). Adrian Beltre and Miguel Cabrera are #11 and #14 on the list and are near his production levels, but they do it because they make contact a lot with all those swings (85% and 83%) while Hamilton is at just 67%. In fact, that 67% is the fourth worst in the majors behind human fan machines Yeonis Cespedes, Adam Dunn, and Carlos Gonzalez. So he swings at way too many pitches and misses way too many of them, yet he's leading the majors in basically everything.
So how is he doing this? Obviously by crushing the ball when he does make contact, but it's not by hitting line drives where he's around league average, it's that when he gets the ball in the air it's flying over the fence. Nearly half of the flyballs he's hit this year have been home runs, tops in the league (Matt Kemp is the only other player even close to Hamilton), more than double his usual percentage, and a number nobody has approached like, ever (or since 2002 when this data became available). He's also hitting .407 on balls in play, but the numbers say that should be around .330 even on this hot streak. So I got some news for ya - Hamilton is going to go down in a big way, whether it's simple regression, injury, gets a hankerin' to chase the dragon again, or finally gets charged for murdering that guy with a baseball. If you have him in fantasy, trade him. Or just watch him burn.
The other matchups:
North Carolina @ Indiana - has the ring of a marquee matchup to it, but with Indiana installed as the favorite to win the National Championship by Vegas (it's true) and UNC basically gutted from last year this is going to be a 10+ point spread.
NC State @ Michigan - One of the three top matchups (along with Gophers/FSU and Duke/Ohio State), and a really good test for an NC State team that is suddenly finding itself the ACC favorite (even more so if Amile Jefferson picks them today/tomorrow).
Maryland @ Northwestern - The Terps lost most of their talent from an already poor team, while Northwestern's window has probably closed on that elusive first NCAA bid. Even so, the Wildcats should walk here.
Iowa @ Virginia Tech - Va Tech is going to be super terrible this year, but this is actually a pretty perfect match-up for an Iowa team trying to reach up and grab mediocrity. This game will go along way towards telling us if they're there yet or still a year away.
Nebraska @ Wake Forest - yeah nobody cares
Ohio State @ Duke - This will be billed as the top matchup and not without reason. Having the game at Cameron evens the odds a bit, because OSU would roll if this was played in Columbus - and might anyway
Virginia @ Wisconsin - You ready to hear about what a great match-up this is and then be bored to sleep within the first five minutes? This one might not break 70 total points.
Michigan State @ Miami - Really interesting match-up here. The Spartans are probably better talent-wise but will still be working on playing without Draymond Green, while Miami has a nice core group of Durand Scott, Reggie Johnson, Kenny Kadji, and Shane Larkin back from last year's team that almost made the NCAA Tournament. I think at home the Canes might sneak this one out.
Purdue @ Clemson - I have no idea what to make of Purdue this year since the whole team from two years ago is gone. Clemson's losing it's entire starting back court who just happened to be their top two scorers. Call this a toss up.
Georgia Tech @ Illinois - The Illini were horrid last year and now bring in a new coach. Getting Georgia Tech at home is the kind of major opponent they need - shitty, but still a major conference team.
Boston College @ Penn State - oh my god, gross.
If I had to pick it right now, I'd go Florida State, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, Wake, Ohio State, Wisconsin, Miami, Purdue, Illinois, and BC. That's 7-4, Big 10.
- One other college hooops note, I was going to do a little writing on Julius Mays, the guard who graduated from Wright State but still has a year of eligibility so was looking to do that thing where you pick a school you want to go to and then find a grad program they have that your current school doesn't offer so you can just transfer and play right away who was considering both Illinois and Purdue. He would be a pretty important piece considering the lack of guards the Illini and Boilers are both currently sporting due to his 14 points per game and also because Julius Mays is a pretty sweet basketball name. Kentucky, however, was also interested in Mr. Mays and because Kentucky is awesome and the Big 10 sucks, Mays will be a Wildcat next year so I guess there's not much more to say about that, is there? These things will happen when you can't motivate yourself to post more than once a week because the Twins have punched you in the nuts.
- Speaking of the Twins, yuck. The worst part of this is that when your team totally sucks you should at least be able to look forward to watching the future start playing, but who on this team is even the future? Scott Diamond, suddenly, and Brian Dozier? Maybe? There's suddenly no third basemen at all. I mean there's nothing now that Valencia is apparently a total flop and Luke Hughes was traded or released or whatever. We're looking at a solid 3 years or so of crappy old free agents before Miguel Sano is ready, assuming he sticks at third and doesn't get moved to the outfield. Will it be Kevin Kouzmanoff next year? Or Mark Teahen? Maybe Ty Wigginton (that's who I'd put my money on)? You can be sure that no matter what, he's going to be old and suck. But at least Sano is keeping things interesting while we wait. Big thanks for Snacks for emailing me this:
Oh hell yes. So anyway I don't really know what to make out of Scott Diamond or Brian Dozier, but at least so far they don't make me want to put myself into a coma until the end of baseball season so they got that going for them. Considering Dozier is hitting just .250 and doesn't walk (with so-so pop) and Diamond has looked good in his two starts but is doing it with a ridiculously low BABIP I'm pretty much clearly grasping at straws, but I think straws is all we got. Like a homeless clown at a chocolate milk collection.Sano stood in the batter’s box awhile to watch his homer against relief pitcher Carmine Giardiana. He trotted the bases, but virtually stopped a few feet before touching the plate, taking off his batting helmet as Kernels catcher Abel Baker barked at him.
Sano glared at the Kernels dugout after finally touching the plate, with Kernels players continuing to give him significant grief. He took a step toward Baker, and the dugouts began to empty, with umpires Fernando Rodriguez and Paul Clemons, as well as both teams’ coaching staffs, doing a good job of squelching what could have been an ugly scene.
- I didn't really like Bryce Harper from day one since he sounded like kind of a douche, but I've done a 180 on him because apparently the mainstream media (more like Lame stream, amiright?) is way too all over hoping this kid fails and makes a fool of himself. Over the weekend I saw a few different headlines and they were all like "Harper injures self in clubhouse tantrum" or "Harper may miss time after embarrassing spaz out" or something of that variety. So I read them because, at that time, I wasn't a fan and was hoping it would be really bad (with apologies to Bryce's dad, who was maybe the second best Twins' catcher ever), but holy shit are people stupid. After going 0-5 with 3 strikeouts he hit the wall with his bat, which ricocheted and hit him in the head. First of all, who hasn't done something similar like hitting the wall with your bat? Secondly, when do you think the last time this kid went 0-5 with 3 ks was? I'm going to guess never, which will probably torque you off a bit, and hitting something with a bat has got to be nearly as common place as getting crabs from a "fan" when you're a major leaguer (or minors even, from what I hear Brendan Donnelly).
Between this retarded witch hunt and Harper's attitude after getting intentionally beaned by Cole Hamels - all he did was trot to first with no looks, no attitude, no nothing - I'm starting to become a fan. Then you add him to the best pitcher in world history in Stephen Strasburg, one of my personal faves in Gio Gonzalez, the underrated Jordan Zimmerman, a bunch of young players who some of at least have to workout, and yet another future star in minor leaguer Anthony Rendon and I'm suddenly a Nationals fan. May even have to get a hat. But they also have Jayson Werth, so I really can't be that much of a fan. F that guy.
- Apparently Josh Hamilton is over how he killed that guy because in case the Twins have made you turn off baseball for good this year he's destroying everything that gets thrown near him. I find it semi-fascinating because I am fascinated easily but also because he's such a unique player. Without getting bogged down in the nitty gritty stat world, he's aggressive as hell and swings at anything. He swings at the highest percentage of pitches of anyone in the majors, and the rest of the guys on the list are either shitty hackers (Clint Barmes, Delmon Young), strikeout machines without the power (Alfonso Soriano, Chris Davis), or solid, but not power, hitters (Starlin Castro, Brandon Phillips). Adrian Beltre and Miguel Cabrera are #11 and #14 on the list and are near his production levels, but they do it because they make contact a lot with all those swings (85% and 83%) while Hamilton is at just 67%. In fact, that 67% is the fourth worst in the majors behind human fan machines Yeonis Cespedes, Adam Dunn, and Carlos Gonzalez. So he swings at way too many pitches and misses way too many of them, yet he's leading the majors in basically everything.
So how is he doing this? Obviously by crushing the ball when he does make contact, but it's not by hitting line drives where he's around league average, it's that when he gets the ball in the air it's flying over the fence. Nearly half of the flyballs he's hit this year have been home runs, tops in the league (Matt Kemp is the only other player even close to Hamilton), more than double his usual percentage, and a number nobody has approached like, ever (or since 2002 when this data became available). He's also hitting .407 on balls in play, but the numbers say that should be around .330 even on this hot streak. So I got some news for ya - Hamilton is going to go down in a big way, whether it's simple regression, injury, gets a hankerin' to chase the dragon again, or finally gets charged for murdering that guy with a baseball. If you have him in fantasy, trade him. Or just watch him burn.
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Where for art thou, Deolis Guerra?
Yes, I know we are in the heart of the Big Ten season, but if I write too many times consecutively about Gopher basketball I start to have heart palpitations mixed with a deep depression, and since I already took every pill in the house (uppers, downers, hallucinagins, antidepressants and sexual performance enhancers all in play) after the Indiana loss, my only possible solace here is to turn to Twins talk. Since it's not even February yet, optimism can reign supreme. Maybe. Until June, at least.
Keith Law of ESPN.com put out his list of the top 100 prospects in baseball, and I'm going to go ahead and give a few comments about those players of which I am knowledgeable enough to speak, and a few that I'm probably not. Full list is at that link right there above. If you still have your little heart set on reading about the Gophers, the preview of the Ohio State game is in the post directly below this one. [SPOILER: I bet they lose.].
The interesting people, in reverse order:
97. Miguel Sano, SS, Twins. You remember this guy, he's the supposed 16 year old from the Dominican the Twins signed this summer when they shockingly opened up the wallet. He signed too late last year so there really isn't any way to evaluate him against professional pitching, but he's supposed to have all the tools. He projects to end up becoming a 3b, which means he'll probably be ready to take over just as Danny Valencia is leaving to sign a 7-year, $140-million contract with the Yankees.
91. Jose Iglesias, SS, Red Sox. I mostly just included him because being given that name must have sucked something fierce. Also, Law says he could end up as an "Adam Everett" at worst. Dude, that's pretty bad. I wouldn't be using that as a positive argument.
90. Jake Arrieta, SP, Orioles. He finished last year in triple-A and is already 23, so there's a good chance he'll be in the bigs this year. The Orioles are actually quietly starting to move back in the right direction after many, many, many years of spending stupidly and making really dumb decisions. They have a nice lineup this year, and a good number of young arms. If everything works out, they might end up challenging for second in the division sometime in the next ten years.
89. Kyle Gibson, SP, Twins. Above average command and control, three good pitches, a lot of groundballs, and a 93 mph heater - sounds like a prototypical Twins pitcher, except this one was projected to be the 10-12th pick in the draft. The Twins stole him at 22 due to a stress fracture in his arm, but all indications are he's back to normal. And hopefully not like the Liriano back-to-normal, but a real back-to-normal.
87. Aaron Crow, SP, Royals. Could be a Greinke-level monster once he gets to the bigs. I'm hoping the Royals do something really stupid and end up trading him for like, Alfonso Soriano or something just to get him out of the Twins' division.
73. Fernando Martinez, OF, Mets. I think this guy has been on the list for about five years now, but has yet to make any real progress due to constant injuries. He was the top prospect in the Mets system at one point, but, as Phil Humber, Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, and Kevin Mulvey have shown us, that doesn't necessarily mean squat.
72. Mike Leake, SP, Reds. I don't think this is Kelly's dad, since they spell their last name's differently and he'd be far too old at this point.
70. Austin Jackson, OF, Yankees. If this name rings a bell it's probably because at one point his name was being bandied about in the Johan discussion all those many years ago, when we were still optimistic that we would end up getting more than two seasons of great center field defense and a whole bunch of flailing about at the plate out of the best pitcher of the 00s. Well, now he's in the Tigers' system, coming over for Curtis Granderson. At 23 and with five years in the minors, it's probably now or never.
58. Tyler Flowers, C, White Sox. Coming soon to a Twins' game near you. He might start the year in the minors, but he'll be in the majors at some point and might even end up starting by the end of the year. His last two seasons he's OPSed .939 and .921 at AAA and A+ ball, although his defense is subpar at this point.
57. Jose Tabata, OF, Pirates. This is the main guy the Pirates picked up in the Damaso Marte/Xavier Nady trade with the Yankees, so it would be pretty sweet if he ends up being good. Plus, I'm still rooting for the Pirates. I think they're starting to do some smart things, and this would be a big step in the right direction - and it's starting get late on his clock, so a good year this year would be a nice start.
54. Alcides Escobar, SS, Brewers. This is why they traded J.J. Hardy. He should be in the bigs this year, so we'll see if that works out for them. Well, it pretty much already will when Carlos Gomez turns into the next Tim Raines, but we'll see how the SS part works out.
52. Hank Conger, C, Angels. Just wanted to point out that this guy's name is Hank and he's Asian. That's weird.
42. Wilson Ramos, C, Twins. There's no doubt this guy can hit a ton and is a very good catcher as well, as long as he can stay healthy. If the Twins end up not signing Mauer, he's the catcher of the future. If they do, he's going to be a very valuable chip - the kind that could be used to grab some valuable help for a pennant race at the trade deadline. I'm just kidding of course, you know they'll never end up trading him, regardless of what kind of help is available that they would need.
40. Kyle Drabek, SP, Blue Jays. Maybe the key to the Halladay/Lee deal, Drabek has a chance to end up as a top-end pitcher if he can recover all the way from Tommy John surgery. He returned last year and had a very good showing at A and AA ball, so things look good for the kid.
33. Chris Carter, 1B, Athletics. I say first baseman, but it's pretty clear this guy is really more of a DH. There's no doubt he can hit, though. He hit 25 home runs in the minors in 2007, 39 in 2008, and 28 in 2009 (while hitting .329/.422/.570). I would anticipate him starting at AAA, but we should see him in the majors this year - probably taking Jesse Crain deep.
30. Josh Vitters, 3B, Cubs. I just get a kick out of this guy because he just hates to walk. Hates it. In his minor-league career he's just 26 times in 830 pro plate appearances. For reference, that's the same amount of walks Carlos Gomez had in his first year with the Twins, but Gomez had 200 less plate appearances, and nine fewer than Delmon Young had, again in about 200 less at bats. I mean, this guy might very well be insane.
28. Madison Bumgarner, SP, Giants. Was a top-5 or top-10 prospect on pretty much everybody's list at the beginning of last year, but has fallen a bit out of favor due to a drop in velocity. Of course, he looked great in his 10 major-league innings last year, posting a 1.80 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP with a nice 9.0 K/9 ratio. Velocity drop or no, those are really impressive numbers for a 19-year old major leaguer. I'm stunned that he's as low as 28th. Stupifyed, really. Like a spell from Ginny Weasley's wand.
25. Zack Britton, SP, Orioles. Just another young O's pitcher like I was talking about before, although he's probably not quite major-league ready just yet.
22. Tyler Matzek, SP, Rockies. I just wanted to mention him here because he's the top prospect in the Rockies' system and the Rocks are my National League team. He's brand spanking new, just picked last year right out of high school, so we have no data to look at, but he's apparently already got four pretty good pitches. Could be the next Jason Marquis - stay tuned.
19. Aaron Hicks, OF, Twins. I feel encouraged by having a Twin in the top 20, even if the team's overall farm system is only ranked 13th overall. Basically the scouting report on this kid is that he's a true five-tool prospect, who, although he has a ways to go to completely realize those tools, has as much potential as anybody, especially for a 19-year old. He's everything we wanted Carlos Gomez to be.
16. Aroldis Chapman, SP, Reds. I smell bust. Way to blow your load on an absolute question mark, Cincinnati. Seriously, you outbid the Yankees for a Cuban. I have a feeling this was kind of like an auction for something you don't really want, but you're sure somebody else wants and you want to keep bidding them up, trying to make them pay more. Then they stop bidding when you're winning, and you're like "oh shit."
17 & 15. Jeremy Hellickson and Wade Davis, SPs, Rays. Just in case you thought the Rays didn't have enough young, potential superstars. Davis cracked the majors last year and looked good in his six starts and should start the year as part of the Rays' rotation, and Hellickson might join him there after having a very good year in AAA in 2009.
13. Neftali Perez, SP, Rangers. The first of three Rangers in the top 13 on this list, and that doesn't even count Elvis Andrus, last season's runner-up for AL Rookie-of-the-Year. Or Nelson Cruz, who made the all-star team in hi second season. Or Chris Davis, who took a step back last year but hit 17 homers in 317 PAs as a rookie two years ago. Or their bunch of young pitching prospects. How did the Rangers suddenly end up looking so promising?
11. Brian Matusz, SP, Orioles. Yet another Oriole pitcher. Should be in the rotation from the get-go this season.
9. Justin Smoak, 1B, Rangers. Another Ranger. Should be a better fielding, switch-hitting Billy Butler with more power. I'm already scared.
8. Dustin Ackley, OF/1B, Mariners. The second-pick in last year's draft, Ackley is the rare position player who is returning from Tommy John surgery - thus the move from the OF to 1B. The Mariners have discussed making him a 2B, which with his combination of hitting for average/hitting for power/plate discipline, would have a very good chance of making him a perennial all-star.
7. Martin Perez, SP, Rangers. The last of the Rangers. I've never even heard of this guy, but I thought I should put him in here since I'm all up on Texas's nuts and everything.
4. Buster Posey, C, Giants. That's either the best name I've ever heard, or the worst name I've ever heard.
3. Carlos Santana, C, Indians. You got the kinda lovin' that can be so smooth, yeah, give me heart, make it real, or else forget about it. (obvious, but I bet you laughed anyway. or smiled at least. I bet you smiled. Come on. It was funnier than Leno. Admit that much you tough-love son of a bitch).
2. Stephen Strasburg, SP, Nationals. Putting Strasburg second reeks of either contrarianism or an overreaction to his mediocre showing in fall ball. Either way, there's little doubt he's going to be a star. When your downside is as a #2 starter, you know you've got potential. Of course, there's always the ballad of Brien Taylor, if you need a reminder of how potential doens't always = success.
1. Jason Heyward, OF, Braves. I hadn't heard of this dude before, which embarrasses me somewhat, but he ripped the crap out of AA pitching last year, and had a lot of success in a very short AAA stint to close the year. Law says he'll be a star, so I guess we should pay some attention here.
There's the list. There were four notable omissions, or at least there were four names that popped into my head without really thinking about it, so I'll touch on them quickly before I close:
1. Ben Revere, OF, Twins. Depending on who you ask, he's either a future star (John Sickels has him #2 in the system), or nothing more than Juan Pierre (Law's concern). I'm sure you're an idiot who thinks Juan Pierre is good because he's fast and hits right around .300, but that's because you're stupid and I wish I was a GM and you were a GM and then I could trade you Pierre and get way too much for him and you'd feel good about it.
God you're dumb. Anyway, I've seen his absolute upside is Kenny Lofton, which would be pretty good. Let's all hope for that, and not run around trying to make out wiht Juan Pierre, ok?
2. Deolis Guerra, P, Twins. Sigh. The last remaining piece of from the trading of Johan. God I miss him so much. Instead we have this guy. He doesn't make Law's top 10 list for the Twins, and he doesn't make Sickels' top 20. He hasn't posed an ERA under 4.01 in the last three years. FML.
3. Tim Alderson, P, Pirates. Notable because this is who the Giants traded to get Freddy Sanchez. At one point considered a pretty big-time prospect, it seems Alderson has fallen out of favor, ranking #6 on Law's Pirate list and #5 on Sickels' list - not bad, but not as elite as he once was. Prospect in free-fall, or underrated? It's the Pirates, so I'm going to go with the free-fall thing.
4. Scott Sizemore, 2B, Tigers. I actually only know of him because when I learned Polanco might be available I started doing some digging into the fan/blog world of the Tigers and found out most fans were just fine with getting rid of Placido because Sizemore (who I assume is related to either Grady or Tom) was waiting in the wings. He broke his ankle like some kind of girl late in the year last season, but he still ranks #6 on Sickels' list and #5 on Law's of overall Tiger prospects. Expect to be annoyed by him early and often.
So there's your list. Four Twin prospects can't be bad, especially considering the team is fairly young as is. The one major criticism I've seen of the Twins' system is that there isn't much there that is ready right now, but it's in decent shape for future years and I have no problem with that. Of course, if they don't sign Mauer I'll probably just kill myself along with the rest of the state. They all worship him zombie-like, but I can't fault them because he's really just that good (although most of you cretins worship him for the wrong reasons). If there is no signing, short of a trade to Texas for Teagarden, Andrus, Smoak, and Perez, I am pretty sure I'm just going give up and move to either New York or Pittsburgh. At least you know enough to either believe or give up in those states. I'm sick of these games here. It's like taking some broad to the drive in, you don't know what you're getting. I'd rather take the slut or the good-girl, not some middle of road confusing person. I dont' know if you can tell, but I suspect you can, I've been getting progressively drunker as this post has gone on. At this point I've already given up and am trying to figure out ways to trade Mauer and Morneau for more prospects.
"Are you guys ready? We better get going if we're going to stay ahead of the weather."
Keith Law of ESPN.com put out his list of the top 100 prospects in baseball, and I'm going to go ahead and give a few comments about those players of which I am knowledgeable enough to speak, and a few that I'm probably not. Full list is at that link right there above. If you still have your little heart set on reading about the Gophers, the preview of the Ohio State game is in the post directly below this one. [SPOILER: I bet they lose.].
The interesting people, in reverse order:
97. Miguel Sano, SS, Twins. You remember this guy, he's the supposed 16 year old from the Dominican the Twins signed this summer when they shockingly opened up the wallet. He signed too late last year so there really isn't any way to evaluate him against professional pitching, but he's supposed to have all the tools. He projects to end up becoming a 3b, which means he'll probably be ready to take over just as Danny Valencia is leaving to sign a 7-year, $140-million contract with the Yankees.
91. Jose Iglesias, SS, Red Sox. I mostly just included him because being given that name must have sucked something fierce. Also, Law says he could end up as an "Adam Everett" at worst. Dude, that's pretty bad. I wouldn't be using that as a positive argument.
90. Jake Arrieta, SP, Orioles. He finished last year in triple-A and is already 23, so there's a good chance he'll be in the bigs this year. The Orioles are actually quietly starting to move back in the right direction after many, many, many years of spending stupidly and making really dumb decisions. They have a nice lineup this year, and a good number of young arms. If everything works out, they might end up challenging for second in the division sometime in the next ten years.
89. Kyle Gibson, SP, Twins. Above average command and control, three good pitches, a lot of groundballs, and a 93 mph heater - sounds like a prototypical Twins pitcher, except this one was projected to be the 10-12th pick in the draft. The Twins stole him at 22 due to a stress fracture in his arm, but all indications are he's back to normal. And hopefully not like the Liriano back-to-normal, but a real back-to-normal.
87. Aaron Crow, SP, Royals. Could be a Greinke-level monster once he gets to the bigs. I'm hoping the Royals do something really stupid and end up trading him for like, Alfonso Soriano or something just to get him out of the Twins' division.
73. Fernando Martinez, OF, Mets. I think this guy has been on the list for about five years now, but has yet to make any real progress due to constant injuries. He was the top prospect in the Mets system at one point, but, as Phil Humber, Carlos Gomez, Deolis Guerra, and Kevin Mulvey have shown us, that doesn't necessarily mean squat.
72. Mike Leake, SP, Reds. I don't think this is Kelly's dad, since they spell their last name's differently and he'd be far too old at this point.
70. Austin Jackson, OF, Yankees. If this name rings a bell it's probably because at one point his name was being bandied about in the Johan discussion all those many years ago, when we were still optimistic that we would end up getting more than two seasons of great center field defense and a whole bunch of flailing about at the plate out of the best pitcher of the 00s. Well, now he's in the Tigers' system, coming over for Curtis Granderson. At 23 and with five years in the minors, it's probably now or never.
58. Tyler Flowers, C, White Sox. Coming soon to a Twins' game near you. He might start the year in the minors, but he'll be in the majors at some point and might even end up starting by the end of the year. His last two seasons he's OPSed .939 and .921 at AAA and A+ ball, although his defense is subpar at this point.
57. Jose Tabata, OF, Pirates. This is the main guy the Pirates picked up in the Damaso Marte/Xavier Nady trade with the Yankees, so it would be pretty sweet if he ends up being good. Plus, I'm still rooting for the Pirates. I think they're starting to do some smart things, and this would be a big step in the right direction - and it's starting get late on his clock, so a good year this year would be a nice start.
54. Alcides Escobar, SS, Brewers. This is why they traded J.J. Hardy. He should be in the bigs this year, so we'll see if that works out for them. Well, it pretty much already will when Carlos Gomez turns into the next Tim Raines, but we'll see how the SS part works out.
52. Hank Conger, C, Angels. Just wanted to point out that this guy's name is Hank and he's Asian. That's weird.
42. Wilson Ramos, C, Twins. There's no doubt this guy can hit a ton and is a very good catcher as well, as long as he can stay healthy. If the Twins end up not signing Mauer, he's the catcher of the future. If they do, he's going to be a very valuable chip - the kind that could be used to grab some valuable help for a pennant race at the trade deadline. I'm just kidding of course, you know they'll never end up trading him, regardless of what kind of help is available that they would need.
40. Kyle Drabek, SP, Blue Jays. Maybe the key to the Halladay/Lee deal, Drabek has a chance to end up as a top-end pitcher if he can recover all the way from Tommy John surgery. He returned last year and had a very good showing at A and AA ball, so things look good for the kid.
33. Chris Carter, 1B, Athletics. I say first baseman, but it's pretty clear this guy is really more of a DH. There's no doubt he can hit, though. He hit 25 home runs in the minors in 2007, 39 in 2008, and 28 in 2009 (while hitting .329/.422/.570). I would anticipate him starting at AAA, but we should see him in the majors this year - probably taking Jesse Crain deep.
30. Josh Vitters, 3B, Cubs. I just get a kick out of this guy because he just hates to walk. Hates it. In his minor-league career he's just 26 times in 830 pro plate appearances. For reference, that's the same amount of walks Carlos Gomez had in his first year with the Twins, but Gomez had 200 less plate appearances, and nine fewer than Delmon Young had, again in about 200 less at bats. I mean, this guy might very well be insane.
28. Madison Bumgarner, SP, Giants. Was a top-5 or top-10 prospect on pretty much everybody's list at the beginning of last year, but has fallen a bit out of favor due to a drop in velocity. Of course, he looked great in his 10 major-league innings last year, posting a 1.80 ERA and a 1.10 WHIP with a nice 9.0 K/9 ratio. Velocity drop or no, those are really impressive numbers for a 19-year old major leaguer. I'm stunned that he's as low as 28th. Stupifyed, really. Like a spell from Ginny Weasley's wand.
25. Zack Britton, SP, Orioles. Just another young O's pitcher like I was talking about before, although he's probably not quite major-league ready just yet.
22. Tyler Matzek, SP, Rockies. I just wanted to mention him here because he's the top prospect in the Rockies' system and the Rocks are my National League team. He's brand spanking new, just picked last year right out of high school, so we have no data to look at, but he's apparently already got four pretty good pitches. Could be the next Jason Marquis - stay tuned.
19. Aaron Hicks, OF, Twins. I feel encouraged by having a Twin in the top 20, even if the team's overall farm system is only ranked 13th overall. Basically the scouting report on this kid is that he's a true five-tool prospect, who, although he has a ways to go to completely realize those tools, has as much potential as anybody, especially for a 19-year old. He's everything we wanted Carlos Gomez to be.
16. Aroldis Chapman, SP, Reds. I smell bust. Way to blow your load on an absolute question mark, Cincinnati. Seriously, you outbid the Yankees for a Cuban. I have a feeling this was kind of like an auction for something you don't really want, but you're sure somebody else wants and you want to keep bidding them up, trying to make them pay more. Then they stop bidding when you're winning, and you're like "oh shit."
17 & 15. Jeremy Hellickson and Wade Davis, SPs, Rays. Just in case you thought the Rays didn't have enough young, potential superstars. Davis cracked the majors last year and looked good in his six starts and should start the year as part of the Rays' rotation, and Hellickson might join him there after having a very good year in AAA in 2009.
13. Neftali Perez, SP, Rangers. The first of three Rangers in the top 13 on this list, and that doesn't even count Elvis Andrus, last season's runner-up for AL Rookie-of-the-Year. Or Nelson Cruz, who made the all-star team in hi second season. Or Chris Davis, who took a step back last year but hit 17 homers in 317 PAs as a rookie two years ago. Or their bunch of young pitching prospects. How did the Rangers suddenly end up looking so promising?
11. Brian Matusz, SP, Orioles. Yet another Oriole pitcher. Should be in the rotation from the get-go this season.
9. Justin Smoak, 1B, Rangers. Another Ranger. Should be a better fielding, switch-hitting Billy Butler with more power. I'm already scared.
8. Dustin Ackley, OF/1B, Mariners. The second-pick in last year's draft, Ackley is the rare position player who is returning from Tommy John surgery - thus the move from the OF to 1B. The Mariners have discussed making him a 2B, which with his combination of hitting for average/hitting for power/plate discipline, would have a very good chance of making him a perennial all-star.
7. Martin Perez, SP, Rangers. The last of the Rangers. I've never even heard of this guy, but I thought I should put him in here since I'm all up on Texas's nuts and everything.
4. Buster Posey, C, Giants. That's either the best name I've ever heard, or the worst name I've ever heard.
3. Carlos Santana, C, Indians. You got the kinda lovin' that can be so smooth, yeah, give me heart, make it real, or else forget about it. (obvious, but I bet you laughed anyway. or smiled at least. I bet you smiled. Come on. It was funnier than Leno. Admit that much you tough-love son of a bitch).
2. Stephen Strasburg, SP, Nationals. Putting Strasburg second reeks of either contrarianism or an overreaction to his mediocre showing in fall ball. Either way, there's little doubt he's going to be a star. When your downside is as a #2 starter, you know you've got potential. Of course, there's always the ballad of Brien Taylor, if you need a reminder of how potential doens't always = success.
1. Jason Heyward, OF, Braves. I hadn't heard of this dude before, which embarrasses me somewhat, but he ripped the crap out of AA pitching last year, and had a lot of success in a very short AAA stint to close the year. Law says he'll be a star, so I guess we should pay some attention here.
There's the list. There were four notable omissions, or at least there were four names that popped into my head without really thinking about it, so I'll touch on them quickly before I close:
1. Ben Revere, OF, Twins. Depending on who you ask, he's either a future star (John Sickels has him #2 in the system), or nothing more than Juan Pierre (Law's concern). I'm sure you're an idiot who thinks Juan Pierre is good because he's fast and hits right around .300, but that's because you're stupid and I wish I was a GM and you were a GM and then I could trade you Pierre and get way too much for him and you'd feel good about it.
God you're dumb. Anyway, I've seen his absolute upside is Kenny Lofton, which would be pretty good. Let's all hope for that, and not run around trying to make out wiht Juan Pierre, ok?
2. Deolis Guerra, P, Twins. Sigh. The last remaining piece of from the trading of Johan. God I miss him so much. Instead we have this guy. He doesn't make Law's top 10 list for the Twins, and he doesn't make Sickels' top 20. He hasn't posed an ERA under 4.01 in the last three years. FML.
3. Tim Alderson, P, Pirates. Notable because this is who the Giants traded to get Freddy Sanchez. At one point considered a pretty big-time prospect, it seems Alderson has fallen out of favor, ranking #6 on Law's Pirate list and #5 on Sickels' list - not bad, but not as elite as he once was. Prospect in free-fall, or underrated? It's the Pirates, so I'm going to go with the free-fall thing.
4. Scott Sizemore, 2B, Tigers. I actually only know of him because when I learned Polanco might be available I started doing some digging into the fan/blog world of the Tigers and found out most fans were just fine with getting rid of Placido because Sizemore (who I assume is related to either Grady or Tom) was waiting in the wings. He broke his ankle like some kind of girl late in the year last season, but he still ranks #6 on Sickels' list and #5 on Law's of overall Tiger prospects. Expect to be annoyed by him early and often.
So there's your list. Four Twin prospects can't be bad, especially considering the team is fairly young as is. The one major criticism I've seen of the Twins' system is that there isn't much there that is ready right now, but it's in decent shape for future years and I have no problem with that. Of course, if they don't sign Mauer I'll probably just kill myself along with the rest of the state. They all worship him zombie-like, but I can't fault them because he's really just that good (although most of you cretins worship him for the wrong reasons). If there is no signing, short of a trade to Texas for Teagarden, Andrus, Smoak, and Perez, I am pretty sure I'm just going give up and move to either New York or Pittsburgh. At least you know enough to either believe or give up in those states. I'm sick of these games here. It's like taking some broad to the drive in, you don't know what you're getting. I'd rather take the slut or the good-girl, not some middle of road confusing person. I dont' know if you can tell, but I suspect you can, I've been getting progressively drunker as this post has gone on. At this point I've already given up and am trying to figure out ways to trade Mauer and Morneau for more prospects.
"Are you guys ready? We better get going if we're going to stay ahead of the weather."
Monday, October 26, 2009
Weekend Review - 10/26/2009
I'm going to avoid talkinmg about the Vikes I think, just because you could come up with five things that were awesome and five things that sucked just from that game without even trying. AP is ridiculously good and Childress is still an idiot. Seriously, you're going to pass twice from the 1-yard line and then kick an 18 yard field goal when you have the best back in football? Arg. But, it's an AFC/NFC game, and I didn't really expect the Vikes to win in the first place, so I'm not too worried about it. There are plenty of other things to talk about.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. The Twins. Season's over, but the Twins manage to get in here thanks to their actually spending some money and dipping into the foreign player market. In case you missed it, and most people did thanks to the miracle comeback and subsequent sweep, Bill Smith went out and signed Miguel Angel Sano, who, according to that article from ESPN, is considered by many to be the top teenage prospect in Latin America (he claims he's 16, but it's Latin America so he could be anywhere from 14 to 30). He's a shortstop who is already 6-3, 200 lbs, so odds are he will end up being moved to third or the outfield, but apparently his bat is good enough for that not to matter. The Twins coughed up $3.15 million for a bonus to sign Sano, which is the second most ever given to a Dominican player and a veritable fortune for the Twins. For more on Sano, as well as the Twins other aggressive moves this offseason you may have missed, check out this post by the Jesus of Twins bloggers, Aaron Gleeman.
2. A-Rod. I wrote this here before, but I'll say it again - I'm incredibly happy A-Rod is having the postseason he is, because now idiots may finally start appreciating maybe the best right handed hitter in history. I won't get into a whole big argument here, maybe I'll save that for another post sometime, but he's definitely in the conversation, yet all the morons in the media and idiot fans can ever talk about is his "postseason choking" - now they won't have that to fall back on. After going 2-2 last night (with 3 walks), A-Rod has a hit in every single game this postseason, with an RBI in every game except one and a total line of .438/.538/.969. Just an incredible run, and if that's not enough to shut up the morons, I don't know what to tell you.
3. TCU. Both BYU and Boise State had claims to being the best non-BCS conference team in the country at different points this season, but after Saturday's 38-7 shellacking that the Horned Frogs put on BYU, they're looking like the best bet to break up the BCS party. Not only did they smoke the Cougars, but they did it in Provo, and did it by shutting down a very good QB in BYU's Max Hall, who threw for just 162 yards on 18-28 passing. I haven't had a chance to actually watch TCU this year, so I don't know if they can hang with Florida or Alabama, but this win is a pretty compelling argument, as is their early season win over Clemson. At 7-0 and with easy games left outside of a November 14th match up against Utah, they should be looking at a BCS bowl.
4. The Colts and the Saints. Both remained undefeated, and both showed why they are the favorites to make it to the Super Bowl, although they did it in very different ways. The Colts just came out and stomped the piss out of the far inferior Ram, jumping out to a quick 14-3 lead on the way to a 42-6 win in which Peyton Manning barely had to break a sweat, while Marc Bulger continued to spiral down the drain. The Saints had a rougher go, falling behind 24-3 to the Dolphins and looking lost, before a Miami fumble with time winding down in the first half changed their fortunes. The Saints scored with five seconds remaining in the half, and used that as a springboard to a huge second half where they outscored Miami 26-10 and ended up winning 46-34, thanks to Drew Brees bouncing back from a horible start and leading them on three consecutive scoring drives of over 60 yards in the second. If it does end up being these two in the Super Bowl, and it looks like there's a good chance it will, we might be looking at the highest scoring Super Bowl ever. I'm thinking like, 55-52. Sweet.
5. Ryan Anderson. White boy can ball folks. I loved Anderson at Cal, but wasn't really sure how his game would translate to the NBA, but after catching part of the Magic's preseason game on Friday night, I'm sold. It was a rare chance for me to get to the bar, and they happened to have the game on for a little while before they felt the need to change every single TV in the place to the shitty Gopher hockey game, and he's not only good, but he's aggressive. In like six minutes of play he took 4 or 5 shots, inside and outside, and hit a couple of deep threes and got a put back or two. Checking the preseason stats, he's averaged 14 points and 4 rebounds while shooting 49% overall and 56% from three. He was decent with the Nets last year, but no where near this good. Everybody thought Vince Carter was the jewel of that trade, but the "throw-in" of Anderson might end up being the most significant part of that deal (which I already mentioned somewhere on this blog after the trade was made).
WHO SUCKED
1. Gopher football. I know I am hard on Gopher football when I accidentally pay attention to it, but jeezum was that awful. Following up a 20-0 loss to Penn State with a 38-7 shellacking by Ohio State in a game that wasn't even that close is a good way to lose your fan base, and plant your coach firmly on the hot seat. And yes, I understand those are two of the top teams in the conference, but let's not get carried away here. Ohio State lost to Purdue and Penn State struggled with Illinois - we aren't talking Florida here. Sadly, they will beat South Dakota State and either Michigan State or Illinois, win six games, and go to a crappy bowl and some fans will point to this as a successful season. At this point, the only way you could consider this successful is if they run the table, including a win over Iowa, or they win three games with MarQueis Gray at quarterback. And after his performance Saturday (5-6 passing and the only TD, 81 rushing yards) it's stime to hand over the keys and see what he can do in a full game. As Buck Bravo wrote over at the Daily Gopher, "Adam Weber's accuracy, decision-making, footwork, ability to recognize defensive schemes, and confidence have regressed." Couldn't have said it better myself. Go with Gray - at the very least he's exciting to watch.
2. Illinois. Speaking of Illinois, do you realize how god awful this team is? I didn't. And I have no idea what happened. In 2007, they were the hot young team, who went 9-4, including a huge win over Ohio State, and ended up going to the Rose Bowl (where they were stomped by USC). Sophomore QB Juice Williams looked like he had taken the next step in his development, and was going to lead Illinois football back to national prominence. 2008 started ok, but was a bit disappointing. With three weeks to play, Illinois was 5-4 with two very winnable games left against Northwestern and Western Michigan, needing just one win to get to a bowl, a disappointing bowl, but a bowl nonetheless. Instead the Illini dropped all three, with Williams throwing more picks than TDs, getting sacked 9 times, and not scoring a single TD, and they finished the season 5-7, and are still trying to recover. They lost 24-14 against Purdue on Saturday, which now drops their record to 1-6 on the season, with their lone win over Illinois State. Williams has thrown more picks than TDs, has yet to break 60 yards rushing in a game, and is dead last in the Big Ten in QB rating and passing yards. This certainly isn't where I thought the Illini would end up two years ago.
3. LaDainian Tomlinson. Last week I used this exact same space to talk about how LT looked better than he had in a couple of years, and maybe he wasn't fully washed up just yet. Then comes today's game against the Chiefs, and although 23 carries for 71 yards isn't awful, it's the lack of a TD tacked on there that is the horrible part. Tomlinson, once a goal line runner the rival of Emmitt Smith and Shaun Alexander in their primes, was given the ball eight times inside the five, six of which were from the 2-yard line or closer, and failed to get in the end zone (he did, at least, score on a play that came back due to a penalty). Today was the kind of game that an in his prime Tomlinson scores 3 or 4 TDs, a good back gets at least two, and an average back scores once - minimum. I read a game report that the blocking down on the goal line for San Diego was absolutely awful, but in any case this is pretty disappointing, and a big blow to those that were hoping LT was still an above average runner.
4. Chicago Bears. Nice game. Geez you guys suck. Take your pick, offense or defense, and there's plenty to discuss. Defensively, they pretty much let the Bengals do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Carson Palmer could have thrown a touchdown left-handed, but instead decided not to show the Bears up and stayed with the right hand, going 20-24 for 233 yards and five TDs, including two to Ochocinco. If that's not enough, suddenly completely rejuvenated back Cedric Benson shredded his old team (who betrayed him like Lando Calrissian) for 189 yards and a touch on 37 carries. The Bengals just did anything they wanted, and never even had to punt. And just in case you thought maybe the Bears could get into a shootout or something and win, they instead decide to turn the ball over four times (3 on Cutler INTs) on their way to scoring just ten points, aka five touchdowns less than the Bengals. I think it's safe to say the Vikes don't have to worry about the Bears anymore.
5. Cleveland Indians. Manny freaking Acta? Seriously? According to the article, the Indians like how Acta developed young players for the Nationals, and are disregarding his record - one of the worst in baseball history and bad enough that a web site exists called "Has Manny Acta been fired yet". My question is, exactly who has he developed, outside of Ryan Zimmerman? Elijah Dukes has been a perpetual disappointment, and Lastings Milledge failed so brilliantly after coming over from the Mets that he was banished to the minors before getting traded to the Pirates. Wily Mo Pena has gotten worse since joining the Nats. He didn't screw up Jordan Zimmerman at least, but he hasn't exactly lit the world on fire either. Well, who am I to complain when they're in the Twins' division. About the only downside here is that Gardy might not be the worst manager in the AL Central anymore.
Manny Acta?
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. The Twins. Season's over, but the Twins manage to get in here thanks to their actually spending some money and dipping into the foreign player market. In case you missed it, and most people did thanks to the miracle comeback and subsequent sweep, Bill Smith went out and signed Miguel Angel Sano, who, according to that article from ESPN, is considered by many to be the top teenage prospect in Latin America (he claims he's 16, but it's Latin America so he could be anywhere from 14 to 30). He's a shortstop who is already 6-3, 200 lbs, so odds are he will end up being moved to third or the outfield, but apparently his bat is good enough for that not to matter. The Twins coughed up $3.15 million for a bonus to sign Sano, which is the second most ever given to a Dominican player and a veritable fortune for the Twins. For more on Sano, as well as the Twins other aggressive moves this offseason you may have missed, check out this post by the Jesus of Twins bloggers, Aaron Gleeman.
2. A-Rod. I wrote this here before, but I'll say it again - I'm incredibly happy A-Rod is having the postseason he is, because now idiots may finally start appreciating maybe the best right handed hitter in history. I won't get into a whole big argument here, maybe I'll save that for another post sometime, but he's definitely in the conversation, yet all the morons in the media and idiot fans can ever talk about is his "postseason choking" - now they won't have that to fall back on. After going 2-2 last night (with 3 walks), A-Rod has a hit in every single game this postseason, with an RBI in every game except one and a total line of .438/.538/.969. Just an incredible run, and if that's not enough to shut up the morons, I don't know what to tell you.
3. TCU. Both BYU and Boise State had claims to being the best non-BCS conference team in the country at different points this season, but after Saturday's 38-7 shellacking that the Horned Frogs put on BYU, they're looking like the best bet to break up the BCS party. Not only did they smoke the Cougars, but they did it in Provo, and did it by shutting down a very good QB in BYU's Max Hall, who threw for just 162 yards on 18-28 passing. I haven't had a chance to actually watch TCU this year, so I don't know if they can hang with Florida or Alabama, but this win is a pretty compelling argument, as is their early season win over Clemson. At 7-0 and with easy games left outside of a November 14th match up against Utah, they should be looking at a BCS bowl.
4. The Colts and the Saints. Both remained undefeated, and both showed why they are the favorites to make it to the Super Bowl, although they did it in very different ways. The Colts just came out and stomped the piss out of the far inferior Ram, jumping out to a quick 14-3 lead on the way to a 42-6 win in which Peyton Manning barely had to break a sweat, while Marc Bulger continued to spiral down the drain. The Saints had a rougher go, falling behind 24-3 to the Dolphins and looking lost, before a Miami fumble with time winding down in the first half changed their fortunes. The Saints scored with five seconds remaining in the half, and used that as a springboard to a huge second half where they outscored Miami 26-10 and ended up winning 46-34, thanks to Drew Brees bouncing back from a horible start and leading them on three consecutive scoring drives of over 60 yards in the second. If it does end up being these two in the Super Bowl, and it looks like there's a good chance it will, we might be looking at the highest scoring Super Bowl ever. I'm thinking like, 55-52. Sweet.
5. Ryan Anderson. White boy can ball folks. I loved Anderson at Cal, but wasn't really sure how his game would translate to the NBA, but after catching part of the Magic's preseason game on Friday night, I'm sold. It was a rare chance for me to get to the bar, and they happened to have the game on for a little while before they felt the need to change every single TV in the place to the shitty Gopher hockey game, and he's not only good, but he's aggressive. In like six minutes of play he took 4 or 5 shots, inside and outside, and hit a couple of deep threes and got a put back or two. Checking the preseason stats, he's averaged 14 points and 4 rebounds while shooting 49% overall and 56% from three. He was decent with the Nets last year, but no where near this good. Everybody thought Vince Carter was the jewel of that trade, but the "throw-in" of Anderson might end up being the most significant part of that deal (which I already mentioned somewhere on this blog after the trade was made).
WHO SUCKED
1. Gopher football. I know I am hard on Gopher football when I accidentally pay attention to it, but jeezum was that awful. Following up a 20-0 loss to Penn State with a 38-7 shellacking by Ohio State in a game that wasn't even that close is a good way to lose your fan base, and plant your coach firmly on the hot seat. And yes, I understand those are two of the top teams in the conference, but let's not get carried away here. Ohio State lost to Purdue and Penn State struggled with Illinois - we aren't talking Florida here. Sadly, they will beat South Dakota State and either Michigan State or Illinois, win six games, and go to a crappy bowl and some fans will point to this as a successful season. At this point, the only way you could consider this successful is if they run the table, including a win over Iowa, or they win three games with MarQueis Gray at quarterback. And after his performance Saturday (5-6 passing and the only TD, 81 rushing yards) it's stime to hand over the keys and see what he can do in a full game. As Buck Bravo wrote over at the Daily Gopher, "Adam Weber's accuracy, decision-making, footwork, ability to recognize defensive schemes, and confidence have regressed." Couldn't have said it better myself. Go with Gray - at the very least he's exciting to watch.
2. Illinois. Speaking of Illinois, do you realize how god awful this team is? I didn't. And I have no idea what happened. In 2007, they were the hot young team, who went 9-4, including a huge win over Ohio State, and ended up going to the Rose Bowl (where they were stomped by USC). Sophomore QB Juice Williams looked like he had taken the next step in his development, and was going to lead Illinois football back to national prominence. 2008 started ok, but was a bit disappointing. With three weeks to play, Illinois was 5-4 with two very winnable games left against Northwestern and Western Michigan, needing just one win to get to a bowl, a disappointing bowl, but a bowl nonetheless. Instead the Illini dropped all three, with Williams throwing more picks than TDs, getting sacked 9 times, and not scoring a single TD, and they finished the season 5-7, and are still trying to recover. They lost 24-14 against Purdue on Saturday, which now drops their record to 1-6 on the season, with their lone win over Illinois State. Williams has thrown more picks than TDs, has yet to break 60 yards rushing in a game, and is dead last in the Big Ten in QB rating and passing yards. This certainly isn't where I thought the Illini would end up two years ago.
3. LaDainian Tomlinson. Last week I used this exact same space to talk about how LT looked better than he had in a couple of years, and maybe he wasn't fully washed up just yet. Then comes today's game against the Chiefs, and although 23 carries for 71 yards isn't awful, it's the lack of a TD tacked on there that is the horrible part. Tomlinson, once a goal line runner the rival of Emmitt Smith and Shaun Alexander in their primes, was given the ball eight times inside the five, six of which were from the 2-yard line or closer, and failed to get in the end zone (he did, at least, score on a play that came back due to a penalty). Today was the kind of game that an in his prime Tomlinson scores 3 or 4 TDs, a good back gets at least two, and an average back scores once - minimum. I read a game report that the blocking down on the goal line for San Diego was absolutely awful, but in any case this is pretty disappointing, and a big blow to those that were hoping LT was still an above average runner.
4. Chicago Bears. Nice game. Geez you guys suck. Take your pick, offense or defense, and there's plenty to discuss. Defensively, they pretty much let the Bengals do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted. Carson Palmer could have thrown a touchdown left-handed, but instead decided not to show the Bears up and stayed with the right hand, going 20-24 for 233 yards and five TDs, including two to Ochocinco. If that's not enough, suddenly completely rejuvenated back Cedric Benson shredded his old team (who betrayed him like Lando Calrissian) for 189 yards and a touch on 37 carries. The Bengals just did anything they wanted, and never even had to punt. And just in case you thought maybe the Bears could get into a shootout or something and win, they instead decide to turn the ball over four times (3 on Cutler INTs) on their way to scoring just ten points, aka five touchdowns less than the Bengals. I think it's safe to say the Vikes don't have to worry about the Bears anymore.
5. Cleveland Indians. Manny freaking Acta? Seriously? According to the article, the Indians like how Acta developed young players for the Nationals, and are disregarding his record - one of the worst in baseball history and bad enough that a web site exists called "Has Manny Acta been fired yet". My question is, exactly who has he developed, outside of Ryan Zimmerman? Elijah Dukes has been a perpetual disappointment, and Lastings Milledge failed so brilliantly after coming over from the Mets that he was banished to the minors before getting traded to the Pirates. Wily Mo Pena has gotten worse since joining the Nats. He didn't screw up Jordan Zimmerman at least, but he hasn't exactly lit the world on fire either. Well, who am I to complain when they're in the Twins' division. About the only downside here is that Gardy might not be the worst manager in the AL Central anymore.
Manny Acta?
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