Obviously the big news is that the Twins gave up on the world's largest Largemouth Bass, Delmon Young, and shipped him off to division rival Detroit. I'm never a fan of trading someone when their value is at an all-time low, but I suppose when you combine lazy with malcontent and frustrating there's no guarantee that you're at the nadir no matter how much you feel like it must be.
On the other hand, the return for Delmon essentially equates to the proverbial bag of balls, and I'm just not sure that's the way to go, especially when you're trading a 26-year old who was once the top prospect in the game and finished 10th in MVP voting last year(no shtick) to a division rival. There are about a million different ways this can backfire, but apparently the team has decided they would rather pursue signing both Cuddy and Kubel this offseason instead of getting any value out of trading Matt Garza. Delmon was almost guaranteed to be criminally overpaid next year if they offered arbitration, so now instead we're looking at a likely overpaid Cuddy and Kubel. I don't know. Maybe that whole hometown discount thing might exist with these two. Seems possible.
Anyway, I was going to break down Delmoney's stats and then talk about Cole Edina or whatever his name is that they got back, but it turns out I'm drunk and tired and really you're asking a lot here. All you need to know is that you can't find Cole on any list of top prospects in the Tiger system anywhere, and they're a thin system. I even found one that went to 40, and he's still not there. So they almost literally gave him away. Which, frankly, is pretty stupid.
The real problem for me though is I just have trouble caring. I'm not really scared of Delmon. I'm just not. There's nothing about what I've seen from him in the last however many years that makes me think he's suddenly going to put it altogether. Even the fact that he finished 10th in MVP balloting last year seems completely ludicrous to me. He's never inspired confidence that he was putting it together, he just somehow had a good year. To me he'll always be the swing at everything bumbling fielder he's always been. Except for tonight, apparently, where he decided to hit a bomb off Liriano (like that's hard) and make a play in left that he's never made ever ever before. So I just don't care. I always trust Bill Smith and his eye for talent.
- Speaking of Bill Smith and his penchant for sucking at roster management, just how dreadful has Nishioka been? Is there even one facet of his game that is remotely presentable right now? He's like the fat girl with small boobs and a bitchy personality. And the saddest part is that it was obvious to see. If you aren't Ichiro or Hideki Matsui (and those were the two best players in Japanese history not named Oh) and you're coming over from Japan you're going to suck. Kaz Matsui was terrible. So Taguchi might have been worse. Iwamura has been completely meh and Kosuke Fukudome is heading down the same path. Remember Orestes Destrade? He was a masher in Japan and was supposed to tip the balance of the league, and he was terrible. Perhaps the biggest indictment on the Japanese League? Guess who is tied for the single-season HR record in Japan and who holds the single season hit record? Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes and Matt "Fucking" Murton. Two dudes who were basically forced to retire from MLB because they sucked on a Tobertian level.
Yet the Twins paid billions of dollars to sign Yoshi. Why, you may ask? Because a .280 career hitter with minimal power suddenly had a career year by hitting .346 with minimal power - in a league where MATT MOTHERFUCKING MURTON hold a major hitting record. Basically they signed the Brady Anderson of Japanese ball banking on him becoming J.J. Hardy when he has so far been worse than any single year Punto put up. And at least Punto was an awesome fielder, while Nishi looks lost hitting, fielding, running, being in position, or knowing how many outs there are. Honestly this team makes me want to quit baseball for life. Where for art thou, Andy McPhail. You never McPhailed in my heart.
- Oh and the actual big news of the night is that Jim Thome hit his 600th home run, which is sadly a bit less holy shitty than it used to be. He's still only the 8th guy to do so, and only the fifth to do it legally. I don't want to get all caught up in the puritan steroid talk or anything, but there really is something refreshing about a dude like Thome. I mean he's really not all that different from Matt Stairs, who I idolize. He just did it more often and for longer. Ok that isn't actually remotely true because for several years in the late 90s/early 00s Thome was a truly elite player. In a way he's a compiler because he's been bombing them out for 21 seasons now, but it's not like he's been holding on like Pete Rose or Brett Favre or Al Pacino. His OPS last season was actually the fourth best of his career. The guy is basically completely bankrupt at running or fielding or not being old, but he can still crush the ball. He's probably one of my ten favorite players of all-time, and if you remember this you just remember knowing it would be him. Love the guy. Congrats.
- Moving on from the world's worst baseball team, let's talk about the world's best basketball team - the Minnesota Golden Gophers. They're in another early season tournament, which is good, but this time they're the favorites with every single ESPN nerd picking them to win the Old Spice Classic. And really you can't even argue with it. They play DePaul in game 1, who is maybe the worst team in D-I history so suck it Krys Faber, and then in the semis they'd either see Texas Tech or Indiana State. Unfortunately Tech just graduated everybody of relevance (from a bad team) and Indiana State is just pesky enough to possibly end up as a "bad loss" with no shot at becoming a "good win." Then, if they make it to the championship game they'd either get Dayton, Wake, Ariz State, or Fairfeild, where Fairfield is probably the best choice but really nobody offers much upside. It's a tournament where, no matter how well they do, they can't really win but could definitely lose. Although based on this team's past I suppose third place could be considered upside. Minnesota sports are awesome and I love them.
- Made some pretty awesome Teriyaki-Pineapple chicken drumsticks this weekend. Need to use less Pineapple juice because it waters down the Teriyaki, but the sauce was stellar overall. Try this:
1/3 c. Soy Sauce
1/3 c. Water (tempted to use Beef Broth here next time)
1/4 c. White Sugar
1 T Worchestershire Sauce
1 T White Vinegar
1 T Olive Oil
2 T Dried Onions
1 t garlic powder (could probably go a little more, maybe 2 t)
1/2 t ginger
Marinade Chicken overnight if possible, then dump the whole thing in a crock pot and cook on low for 5-6 hours. I used a full cup on pineapple juice but I'd cut down on that by at least half next time and probably add in some green pepper as well, but you're on your own here. And even if you don't try this I can't stress more how awesome cooking chicken drumsticks (or wings) in a crockpot is. They are like falling off the bones. So awesome.
- I lost 3 units this past week gambling on my baseball props. Just the third losing week this season out of 13. Still smarts.
- The best moment in this entire season of True Blood, outside of every Anna Paquin nude scene, was when Jessica killed Hoyt, and it might have been the best scene since season 1. Unfortunately it turned out to be a hallucinatin/dream of Jessica's. But what was awesome about it was that someone semi-meaningful died. Hoyt isn't a top tier character and probably isn't even tier 2, but at least he's tier 3 and someone who has been around since Season 1. Maybe I'm spoiled by Game of Thrones, the series and the books, but I like shit better when people who matter can/do die. Season 1 of True Blood had both Grandma Stackhouse and Rene go down, and they were meaningful. Since then has anybody of any import died? You're telling me they couldn't kill of Tara or Andy Bellefleur? It's just dumb now. It's like watching Scooby Doo with boobs.
- Finally, if you're looking for a Gopherhole type place for the Twins but less homery and dumb, dig on this site. It's like talking Twins with the commenters on this blog, if only they were less retarded and weren't convinced Nick Blackburn was a star. Big fan.
Showing posts with label Tsuyoshi Nishioki. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Tsuyoshi Nishioki. Show all posts
Monday, August 15, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Tuesday Talkings
I wasn't planning on posting anything tonight because, let's face it, just the idea of writing two days in a row makes me tired, but there's nothing else to do.
- I'm watching the Twins for some reason (it's currently 3-2 Twinkies in the 2nd) and holy crap is Chris Davis the worst hitter ever. Last night, when the Rangers scored something like 30 runs and had 64 hits, he went 0-6 and made two errors. Now I've just watched him just wildly flail at two Pavano pitches. He strikes me as the kind of guy who can crush a fastball if you try to blow it passed him, but any finesse whatsoever and he's hacking at it like Delmon Young wearing a blindfold. Should end up being a hell of a softball player in a few years.
- You want to know what sucks worse than Jose Mijares? When you make a bet against Ryan Howard doing well because he's going up against Tim Lincecum and then Lincecum is scratched with the flu and Barry freaking Zito gets the start instead and gives up a home run to Howard in the first inning.
- As you could have predicted there are a ton of rumors/stories/whatever regarding NFL player movement since they're actually going to play now, and there are plenty regarding your precious Vikings - McNabb, Sid Rice, Tavaris Jackson, Ray Edwards, and Kyle Orton are all linked to Vikings in one way or another. I was going to run down each of these things individually but then I yawned and now I'm bored. So I'll just say that T-Jax going to Seattle makes me giggle. And lest you think they are just handing him a starting gig they've also signed sexy Matt Leinart. And they still have Charlie Whitehurst who I'm pretty sure is a werewolf. So yeah, I'd say they're in pretty good shape.
- Other than that I guess losing Sidney Rice would be a big deal, but only because they don't have any other options, not because he's all that good. He had one good year because Brett Favre realized that you can just throw the ball up high to him and no matter how not open he actually was he'd just go catch it. Give him a real QB and he can't do jack. Do you really think Ponder is going to come in and start flinging the ball around like he's playing drunk foosball? No. He needs precise route runners with good hands who can get open. Rice can't do that. If he comes back to the Vikes he's going to be bust city. With Seattle he'd have a fighting chance, if only because none of sexy, crappy, or the werewolf are real QBs so they might buy into the whole "lob it up" strategy.
That being said, the Vikes still need him because what's the other option here, Bernard Berrian? Buzz. Your girlfriend. Woof.
- Those two broads behind home plate are ridiculously hot. God bless Texas.
- I can't prove it, but I strongly suspect Carl Pavano is actually pitching underhanded. It's the only explanation.
- I finished the new Song of Ice and Fire book (same series that gave us the Game of Thrones TV show) and I'm stunned. I cannot believe Voldemort was Frodo's father. That is just stunning.
- Chris Davis is the next Brooks Robinson. Just so smooth, and such a termendous gloveman.
- J.J. Hardy hit two home runs tonight. That gives him 16 homers on the year. You know who else has 16 homers this year? The entire Twins roster combined. Fact. Hardy has become a top five shortstop in all the majors, meanwhile the Twins are hoping either a foreigner who dances around at the plate like Natalie Portman in that lesbian movie or a 28-year old who everyone is still waiting to reach his potential to take over the SS role. Great. At least the guys they got when they traded Hardy have done really well.
- FUN FACT: Justin Verlander is completely unhittable against everyone in the league other than the Chicago White Stockings. Tonight's line: 8ip, 7 hits, 1 walk, 7 Ks, 4 ERs. Not bad, right? As a Twins fan we'd take it every night, but not a great outing for Verlander. The interesting part? That's just the third time he's given up more than 3 earned runs in a start this year - two of them against the White Sox. That's just the 8th time he's allowed as many as 7 hits in a game - three of those were against the White Sox. That's just the 7th time he's had 7 or fewer strikeouts - 3 against the White Sox. He's allowed 14 home runs this year - six of them against the Sox. And it doesn't really matter because Detroit won and Verlander got the win, but it's kind of interesting. Nobody else can hit him.
- Matt Capps just threw a fastball that was 93mphand pretty clearly had significant tail on it. I'm pretty stunned too. This is just like the ending of The Village - never saw it coming.
- FUN FACT: If Tim Lincecum is supposed to pitch and gets scratched they wipe out all player prop bets for that game. The good news is that I didn't lose my Ryan Howard bet now. The bad news is that I also had a bet on Aubrey Huff to not get an RBI and Vance Worley to throw more than 99.5 pitches, both won, neither was remotely affected by Lincecum not pitching, and neither is a win now. Not fair.
- Thome just came a few feet away from an opposite field jack to take the lead in the ninth. Which is extra funny because I was just typing how I was watching this game and barely typed anything about it because the Twins have broken my brain. Also funny - teh ball Thome hit should have been caught by Hamilton. Looked like he misjudged it a little, got a little off-balance, and lunged a little too far in the wrong direction. Just like that guy he killed by tossing him a ball.
Too soon?
- Nishioka is a retarded version of Ichiro, and he just tied the game with a retarded version of a hit by hitting a bouncer up the middle and getting an infield hit out of it. I really kind of hate him. Only partially because of racist reasons.
- Mauer pinch hitting. Runners on the corners, tie game, one out. Texas playing back at all infield positions. You know why? Because Joe Mauer is god damn ground ball machine and they know they can turn two. Announcer guys are stunned by them playing back, but that's because they're idiots. If you took a pitching machine and pointed it at the ground and fed it balls and had a contest with Mauer to see who could hit the most consecutive balls on the ground I'm pretty sure the machine would win.
- Well fuck me. You know that Simpsons episode where Skinner says something like, "You know none of these kids are going to college" and then when he realizes the kids are listening he says "Prove me wrong kids, prove me wrong"? Well that's what I was doing there - daring Mauer to prove me wrong. I'm a great motivator.
- I also was going to try to look that quote up and to do it I just typed "google.com" into the google search engine box. Maybe it turns out I'm the dumb one?
- By the way, when Nathan blows this one I'm going to bed and not sticking around for extras. I've got the new James Rollins book to read.
- Ripped single, fielder's choice, hit batter, strikeout, strikeout and the Twins win and I gotta say, that was vintage Nathan: some very good unhittable stuff with some terrible pitches mixed in. He's back, baby. Now somebody trade something good for him.
- I'm watching the Twins for some reason (it's currently 3-2 Twinkies in the 2nd) and holy crap is Chris Davis the worst hitter ever. Last night, when the Rangers scored something like 30 runs and had 64 hits, he went 0-6 and made two errors. Now I've just watched him just wildly flail at two Pavano pitches. He strikes me as the kind of guy who can crush a fastball if you try to blow it passed him, but any finesse whatsoever and he's hacking at it like Delmon Young wearing a blindfold. Should end up being a hell of a softball player in a few years.
- You want to know what sucks worse than Jose Mijares? When you make a bet against Ryan Howard doing well because he's going up against Tim Lincecum and then Lincecum is scratched with the flu and Barry freaking Zito gets the start instead and gives up a home run to Howard in the first inning.
- As you could have predicted there are a ton of rumors/stories/whatever regarding NFL player movement since they're actually going to play now, and there are plenty regarding your precious Vikings - McNabb, Sid Rice, Tavaris Jackson, Ray Edwards, and Kyle Orton are all linked to Vikings in one way or another. I was going to run down each of these things individually but then I yawned and now I'm bored. So I'll just say that T-Jax going to Seattle makes me giggle. And lest you think they are just handing him a starting gig they've also signed sexy Matt Leinart. And they still have Charlie Whitehurst who I'm pretty sure is a werewolf. So yeah, I'd say they're in pretty good shape.
- Other than that I guess losing Sidney Rice would be a big deal, but only because they don't have any other options, not because he's all that good. He had one good year because Brett Favre realized that you can just throw the ball up high to him and no matter how not open he actually was he'd just go catch it. Give him a real QB and he can't do jack. Do you really think Ponder is going to come in and start flinging the ball around like he's playing drunk foosball? No. He needs precise route runners with good hands who can get open. Rice can't do that. If he comes back to the Vikes he's going to be bust city. With Seattle he'd have a fighting chance, if only because none of sexy, crappy, or the werewolf are real QBs so they might buy into the whole "lob it up" strategy.
That being said, the Vikes still need him because what's the other option here, Bernard Berrian? Buzz. Your girlfriend. Woof.
- Those two broads behind home plate are ridiculously hot. God bless Texas.
- I can't prove it, but I strongly suspect Carl Pavano is actually pitching underhanded. It's the only explanation.
- I finished the new Song of Ice and Fire book (same series that gave us the Game of Thrones TV show) and I'm stunned. I cannot believe Voldemort was Frodo's father. That is just stunning.
- Chris Davis is the next Brooks Robinson. Just so smooth, and such a termendous gloveman.
- J.J. Hardy hit two home runs tonight. That gives him 16 homers on the year. You know who else has 16 homers this year? The entire Twins roster combined. Fact. Hardy has become a top five shortstop in all the majors, meanwhile the Twins are hoping either a foreigner who dances around at the plate like Natalie Portman in that lesbian movie or a 28-year old who everyone is still waiting to reach his potential to take over the SS role. Great. At least the guys they got when they traded Hardy have done really well.
- FUN FACT: Justin Verlander is completely unhittable against everyone in the league other than the Chicago White Stockings. Tonight's line: 8ip, 7 hits, 1 walk, 7 Ks, 4 ERs. Not bad, right? As a Twins fan we'd take it every night, but not a great outing for Verlander. The interesting part? That's just the third time he's given up more than 3 earned runs in a start this year - two of them against the White Sox. That's just the 8th time he's allowed as many as 7 hits in a game - three of those were against the White Sox. That's just the 7th time he's had 7 or fewer strikeouts - 3 against the White Sox. He's allowed 14 home runs this year - six of them against the Sox. And it doesn't really matter because Detroit won and Verlander got the win, but it's kind of interesting. Nobody else can hit him.
- Matt Capps just threw a fastball that was 93mphand pretty clearly had significant tail on it. I'm pretty stunned too. This is just like the ending of The Village - never saw it coming.
- FUN FACT: If Tim Lincecum is supposed to pitch and gets scratched they wipe out all player prop bets for that game. The good news is that I didn't lose my Ryan Howard bet now. The bad news is that I also had a bet on Aubrey Huff to not get an RBI and Vance Worley to throw more than 99.5 pitches, both won, neither was remotely affected by Lincecum not pitching, and neither is a win now. Not fair.
- Thome just came a few feet away from an opposite field jack to take the lead in the ninth. Which is extra funny because I was just typing how I was watching this game and barely typed anything about it because the Twins have broken my brain. Also funny - teh ball Thome hit should have been caught by Hamilton. Looked like he misjudged it a little, got a little off-balance, and lunged a little too far in the wrong direction. Just like that guy he killed by tossing him a ball.
Too soon?
- Nishioka is a retarded version of Ichiro, and he just tied the game with a retarded version of a hit by hitting a bouncer up the middle and getting an infield hit out of it. I really kind of hate him. Only partially because of racist reasons.
- Mauer pinch hitting. Runners on the corners, tie game, one out. Texas playing back at all infield positions. You know why? Because Joe Mauer is god damn ground ball machine and they know they can turn two. Announcer guys are stunned by them playing back, but that's because they're idiots. If you took a pitching machine and pointed it at the ground and fed it balls and had a contest with Mauer to see who could hit the most consecutive balls on the ground I'm pretty sure the machine would win.
- Well fuck me. You know that Simpsons episode where Skinner says something like, "You know none of these kids are going to college" and then when he realizes the kids are listening he says "Prove me wrong kids, prove me wrong"? Well that's what I was doing there - daring Mauer to prove me wrong. I'm a great motivator.
- I also was going to try to look that quote up and to do it I just typed "google.com" into the google search engine box. Maybe it turns out I'm the dumb one?
- By the way, when Nathan blows this one I'm going to bed and not sticking around for extras. I've got the new James Rollins book to read.
- Ripped single, fielder's choice, hit batter, strikeout, strikeout and the Twins win and I gotta say, that was vintage Nathan: some very good unhittable stuff with some terrible pitches mixed in. He's back, baby. Now somebody trade something good for him.
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Talkin' Twins
With baseball camps starting to open up and baseball preview magazines hitting the store shelves I can't help but to have my thoughts turn to baseball (and the fact that the Gophers are driving me crazy isn't helping). Here are my quick thoughts (ok, probably not quick) on the team this season, position-by-position:
CATCHER: Joe Mauer is going to be who Joe Mauer be, which means he'll probably hit around .330 and OBP over .400 - both outstanding numbers for a catcher. The real question is if he has power more like in 2009, or is the 2010 version the real one. Personally, I think 2009 was a bit of a fluke, but I think he has more power than we saw in 2010, although it's harder to see thanks to the power reducing abilities in Target Field. I would put his HR total OVER/UNDER at 10.5, but as long as he keeps banging out those doubles his other numbers make him one of the most valuable players in the game. And are we really going with Drew Butera at back-up catcher again? Seeing as how he's the only other catcher on the 40-man roster and both of the other intriguing options (Morales, Ramos) were shipped off I guess so. I mean, I like the guy, he's excellent defensively and his name is really fun to say, but you could DH for him and let the pitcher bat instead and at worst that's a lateral move.
CORNER INFIELD: Was it really just two seasons ago Justin Morneau played in 163 games and finished second in the MVP balloting? It seems amazing given how fragile he's been and missing half a season after getting bumped in the head is a huge red flag. It's hard to believe it's even possible he won't be ready to opening day, but then again I said the same thing about last August, September, and October. Plus, we already know from Corey Koskie that the only reason somebody born in Canada plays baseball instead of hockey is because they can't take a hit, so temper your expectations, I've got a bad feeling about this.
As far as third base goes I liked what I saw out of Danny Valencia last year, but I didn't quite see enough to be ready to hand the job over to him for the next five years. I'm also not sure what other options they have because Matt Tolbert should never, ever start a game and the only other 3B on the 40-man roster is Luke Hughes, but it's starting to look less and less likely that he's the guy. I do like Valencia, and his second half numbers were still good and probably more what we're likely to see this year. If the power he showed in September carries over, the Twins will likely have a very good defensive third baseman who hits .280/.320/.460. Solid, but not spectacular. Like Reese Witherspoon or Chipotle.
MIDDLE INFIELD: I can't wait to hear Dick and Bert butcher Tsuyoshi Nishioka's name over and over again. I guarantee that they come up with a nickname within a week of the season opener, probably something as simple as Yoshi, which is fine as long as it's not the next Kaz Matsui, which is what he's known as around my house. Maybe I've just been beaten down by scrappy, light-hitting middle infielders with little to no plate discipline for so long that I have the same confidence in him that Jerry's mechanic has in that gasket.
And speaking of light hitting middle infielders, Alexi Casilla will get another chance to start, because as Lindsay Lohan and Dean Koontz have proven if you just keep giving second and third chances things will eventually work out. Seriously, how is Dean Koontz on the best-sellers list all the time? I read about 10 of his books just thinking I must have grabbed his bad ones and kept waiting to read a good one and I never found one. Servants of Twilight was decent, but everything else is just total crap you'd have to have a brain injury or the intelligence of a lamp to enjoy. Family Guy is mostly stupid and written for cretins, but I laughed my ass off during and episode right after Stephen King got hit by a car when Peter hit somebody with his car and goes "was that Stephen King?" and Lois says "No, it was Dean Koontz" and Peter puts the car in reverse and runs him over again. Suck it, Koontzy.
OUTFIELD: Here we go again. A bunch of mediocre to kind of good bats packaged along with terrible terrible terrible defense. Honestly, with Young, Span, and Kubel out there if there was a contest between those three and Carlos Gomez all by himself who do you think would catch more fly balls?
Defense aside, Span is the biggest concern and he really needs to be more like his 2009 self than last year's version. His walk rate dipped last year from 12.2% and 10.5% in 2008 and 2009 down to 8.5% last year and after walking 17 times in April he walked just 16 times in May & June combined and 17 times in September & October combined. Basically he stopped walking and starting flying out too much. He is absolutely a key to this team and needs to be their table-setter.
He also needs to find a way to get better defensively, because he needs to cover for the three corner guys: Jason Kubel, Delmon Young, and Michael Cuddyer. Young finally put up an offensive year his potential said was there, and although it feels like the kind of thing you can't quite trust, in fact he put up the best year of his career in the same year where his BABIP was at his career low. Yes, low. Meaning with a little more luck he could have had even better numbers. I actually anticipate his power going down a bit, because I think that surge we saw was a little more fluky than anything else, but I can easily see him hitting .320 or so over the course of the year with 40 or so doubles and 15 homers. That's a very, very good year. If he ever figures out some plate discipline he would have a chance at being truly dangerous.
Kubel I don't know about anymore. He's one of the best on the team when it comes to plate discipline, but regressed quite a bit from his career year in 2009. A lot of that can be attributed to a BABIP of just .280, 20 points lower than his career mark, and he should be able to bounce back to something closer to that 2009 version than last year's, but the real problem is that Kubes continues to be absolutely dreadful against lefties and at this point I don't think you can wait for him to snap out of it. If he's in the lineup even once against a left-handed pitcher it's one time too many.
Finally, Cuddy will be returning to the outfield, assuming Canada-boy gets himself back into play, and that's not exactly a good thing. I know he's a great teammate and his ability and willingness to play any position where he's needed is an excellent quality to have, and he's got a great arm. He is also nearly as slow as Young or Kubel and still refuses to lay off the outside slider in the dirt with two strikes despite the fact that every single pitcher throws it at him every single time he has two strikes on him. Honest to god, how do people watch Mark Reynolds day-in and day-out? Cuddyer doesn't strike out nearly as often as Reynolds, but he just makes me so angry. I'm not even especially anti-strikeout, even if they are fascist, but he just looks so weak and over-matched when he does it. At least Adam Dunn has the decency to swing hard when he misses a ball by 2 feet.
DH/BENCH: Jim Thome should basically have the DH locked down. I'd say the Twins would be better off sitting him against lefties, but what's your other option? I already mentioned Butera and Tolbert, neither of whom could get a hit even if they were married to Whitney Houston. And, assuming they carry 11 pitchers, they only other player on the bench will be Jason Repko. I secretly love Repko and have even used his name as a password on an account for something or other, but sometimes reality sets in and I remember he OPSed just .671 last year, a number basically identical to Tolbert, even if Repko seems like 10x the hitter Tolby is. So basically this is a pretty damn shallow bench.
STARTERS: Pretty underwhelming here, yeah? I hate that they're just rolling with the same group, although I can't really come up with any kind of master plan to make it any better, but lame, right? Baker is a #3/#4 on most teams, Slowey is a #4, Pavano - although I'm glad to have him back - is a #3, and Blackburn should be in AAA. We still don't know how good Duensing can be, but I think his absolute upside is a #3, which leaves Liriano for the excitement factor, and the Twins seem to be doing everything they can to try to make sure he isn't in their long term plans, which is ludicrous considering his 3.62 ERA last year was basically a worst case scenario based looking at his other stats - Aaron Gleeman breaks it all down better than I ever could here. Is it a good enough rotation to win the Central even though it's not as good as Chicago's group? Yes. Good enough to win the World Series? Well, I'll just wait for Kyle Gibson while I ponder that one. But no.
CLOSER: I'd imagine that Matt Capps will start the year as the closer with Joe Nathan getting eased in, but if Nathan looks close to form he'll slide back into his old job. That's as it should be since Nathan can be unhittable at times and has stuff Cappsy can only dream about. And a full season of Nathan, regular season only I mean, makes me feel pretty good. A full season of Capps makes me feel sweaty and nervous, like a fat girl before her first aerobics class. Don't you fear he's got a little bit of Bobby Jenks in him? Like, he's just a half mph or half inch or a little bit worse luck away from a 6.00 ERA? To put it another way, if Nathan is even 90% back from injury his downside is basically Cappsy's upside.
BULLPEN: As much as I don't love Capps as a closer, I think he's a good option as a set-up guy and that's good because if the starters are underwhelming the bullpen is just a picture of guy with a thought balloon and in that balloon is a question mark. Basically other than Capps and Jose Mijares we have one gigantic guessing game, with the biggest question being, "Why the holy hell did they essentially get rid of Rob Delaney in order to grab Dusty Mother Effing Hughes, somebody so bad at pitching a baseball that the KC Royals didn't even want him?" And who is Scott Diamond and why, by taking him in the Rule 5 draft, is he good enough to warrant a guaranteed spot on the major league active roster? Jim Hoey is getting a lot of play as a guy who could be a big-time setup guy, but he hasn't pitched in the majors since 2007 and owns a career ERA over 8. What about Neshek in year 2 since his elbow fell off? Is Glen Perkins head on straight and is his stuff good enough to become a reliable bullpen option? Can Anthony Slama's mustache get anybody out, or is he your classic AAAA type player? Is Alex Burnett a mop-up/long relief type who won't embarrass you or something more? Are Jeff Manship and Anthony Swarzak future starters, relievers, or ushers? Why did Eric Hacker get a major league contract?
I mean, look at this. That's what, 9 possible guys for 3-4 spots and doesn't even take into account that they have 6 non-Gibson starters for five spots. I guess the one big positive is that they do have a lot of options, so maybe that increases the odds that enough of them work out to make this a viable, quality bullpen. Sort of like increasing your chances of winning the Powerball by buying two tickets instead of one.
OVERALL OUTLOOK: I don't know, man, it seems like everywhere I look the Twins are getting picked to win the central again, but I don't know. It feels to me like the White Sox and Tigers did more this offseason and it wouldn't take much to push either of those teams out ahead of the Twins. I haven't really broken down the rosters to really get a clear view, but right now it feels like the downside is a rough year and third place division finish, while the upside is a narrow division win and a quick exit from the playoffs. It's hard to get excited about that. Again.
But you know what? I'll be watching. Damn near every game. And I'll be living and dying on damn near every pitch. And when I'm fishing up at the cabin the radio will be tuned to the game every damn night. Because it's the Twins, it's baseball, and I couldn't shake it if I tried.
CATCHER: Joe Mauer is going to be who Joe Mauer be, which means he'll probably hit around .330 and OBP over .400 - both outstanding numbers for a catcher. The real question is if he has power more like in 2009, or is the 2010 version the real one. Personally, I think 2009 was a bit of a fluke, but I think he has more power than we saw in 2010, although it's harder to see thanks to the power reducing abilities in Target Field. I would put his HR total OVER/UNDER at 10.5, but as long as he keeps banging out those doubles his other numbers make him one of the most valuable players in the game. And are we really going with Drew Butera at back-up catcher again? Seeing as how he's the only other catcher on the 40-man roster and both of the other intriguing options (Morales, Ramos) were shipped off I guess so. I mean, I like the guy, he's excellent defensively and his name is really fun to say, but you could DH for him and let the pitcher bat instead and at worst that's a lateral move.
CORNER INFIELD: Was it really just two seasons ago Justin Morneau played in 163 games and finished second in the MVP balloting? It seems amazing given how fragile he's been and missing half a season after getting bumped in the head is a huge red flag. It's hard to believe it's even possible he won't be ready to opening day, but then again I said the same thing about last August, September, and October. Plus, we already know from Corey Koskie that the only reason somebody born in Canada plays baseball instead of hockey is because they can't take a hit, so temper your expectations, I've got a bad feeling about this.
As far as third base goes I liked what I saw out of Danny Valencia last year, but I didn't quite see enough to be ready to hand the job over to him for the next five years. I'm also not sure what other options they have because Matt Tolbert should never, ever start a game and the only other 3B on the 40-man roster is Luke Hughes, but it's starting to look less and less likely that he's the guy. I do like Valencia, and his second half numbers were still good and probably more what we're likely to see this year. If the power he showed in September carries over, the Twins will likely have a very good defensive third baseman who hits .280/.320/.460. Solid, but not spectacular. Like Reese Witherspoon or Chipotle.
MIDDLE INFIELD: I can't wait to hear Dick and Bert butcher Tsuyoshi Nishioka's name over and over again. I guarantee that they come up with a nickname within a week of the season opener, probably something as simple as Yoshi, which is fine as long as it's not the next Kaz Matsui, which is what he's known as around my house. Maybe I've just been beaten down by scrappy, light-hitting middle infielders with little to no plate discipline for so long that I have the same confidence in him that Jerry's mechanic has in that gasket.
And speaking of light hitting middle infielders, Alexi Casilla will get another chance to start, because as Lindsay Lohan and Dean Koontz have proven if you just keep giving second and third chances things will eventually work out. Seriously, how is Dean Koontz on the best-sellers list all the time? I read about 10 of his books just thinking I must have grabbed his bad ones and kept waiting to read a good one and I never found one. Servants of Twilight was decent, but everything else is just total crap you'd have to have a brain injury or the intelligence of a lamp to enjoy. Family Guy is mostly stupid and written for cretins, but I laughed my ass off during and episode right after Stephen King got hit by a car when Peter hit somebody with his car and goes "was that Stephen King?" and Lois says "No, it was Dean Koontz" and Peter puts the car in reverse and runs him over again. Suck it, Koontzy.
OUTFIELD: Here we go again. A bunch of mediocre to kind of good bats packaged along with terrible terrible terrible defense. Honestly, with Young, Span, and Kubel out there if there was a contest between those three and Carlos Gomez all by himself who do you think would catch more fly balls?
Defense aside, Span is the biggest concern and he really needs to be more like his 2009 self than last year's version. His walk rate dipped last year from 12.2% and 10.5% in 2008 and 2009 down to 8.5% last year and after walking 17 times in April he walked just 16 times in May & June combined and 17 times in September & October combined. Basically he stopped walking and starting flying out too much. He is absolutely a key to this team and needs to be their table-setter.
He also needs to find a way to get better defensively, because he needs to cover for the three corner guys: Jason Kubel, Delmon Young, and Michael Cuddyer. Young finally put up an offensive year his potential said was there, and although it feels like the kind of thing you can't quite trust, in fact he put up the best year of his career in the same year where his BABIP was at his career low. Yes, low. Meaning with a little more luck he could have had even better numbers. I actually anticipate his power going down a bit, because I think that surge we saw was a little more fluky than anything else, but I can easily see him hitting .320 or so over the course of the year with 40 or so doubles and 15 homers. That's a very, very good year. If he ever figures out some plate discipline he would have a chance at being truly dangerous.
Kubel I don't know about anymore. He's one of the best on the team when it comes to plate discipline, but regressed quite a bit from his career year in 2009. A lot of that can be attributed to a BABIP of just .280, 20 points lower than his career mark, and he should be able to bounce back to something closer to that 2009 version than last year's, but the real problem is that Kubes continues to be absolutely dreadful against lefties and at this point I don't think you can wait for him to snap out of it. If he's in the lineup even once against a left-handed pitcher it's one time too many.
Finally, Cuddy will be returning to the outfield, assuming Canada-boy gets himself back into play, and that's not exactly a good thing. I know he's a great teammate and his ability and willingness to play any position where he's needed is an excellent quality to have, and he's got a great arm. He is also nearly as slow as Young or Kubel and still refuses to lay off the outside slider in the dirt with two strikes despite the fact that every single pitcher throws it at him every single time he has two strikes on him. Honest to god, how do people watch Mark Reynolds day-in and day-out? Cuddyer doesn't strike out nearly as often as Reynolds, but he just makes me so angry. I'm not even especially anti-strikeout, even if they are fascist, but he just looks so weak and over-matched when he does it. At least Adam Dunn has the decency to swing hard when he misses a ball by 2 feet.
DH/BENCH: Jim Thome should basically have the DH locked down. I'd say the Twins would be better off sitting him against lefties, but what's your other option? I already mentioned Butera and Tolbert, neither of whom could get a hit even if they were married to Whitney Houston. And, assuming they carry 11 pitchers, they only other player on the bench will be Jason Repko. I secretly love Repko and have even used his name as a password on an account for something or other, but sometimes reality sets in and I remember he OPSed just .671 last year, a number basically identical to Tolbert, even if Repko seems like 10x the hitter Tolby is. So basically this is a pretty damn shallow bench.
STARTERS: Pretty underwhelming here, yeah? I hate that they're just rolling with the same group, although I can't really come up with any kind of master plan to make it any better, but lame, right? Baker is a #3/#4 on most teams, Slowey is a #4, Pavano - although I'm glad to have him back - is a #3, and Blackburn should be in AAA. We still don't know how good Duensing can be, but I think his absolute upside is a #3, which leaves Liriano for the excitement factor, and the Twins seem to be doing everything they can to try to make sure he isn't in their long term plans, which is ludicrous considering his 3.62 ERA last year was basically a worst case scenario based looking at his other stats - Aaron Gleeman breaks it all down better than I ever could here. Is it a good enough rotation to win the Central even though it's not as good as Chicago's group? Yes. Good enough to win the World Series? Well, I'll just wait for Kyle Gibson while I ponder that one. But no.
CLOSER: I'd imagine that Matt Capps will start the year as the closer with Joe Nathan getting eased in, but if Nathan looks close to form he'll slide back into his old job. That's as it should be since Nathan can be unhittable at times and has stuff Cappsy can only dream about. And a full season of Nathan, regular season only I mean, makes me feel pretty good. A full season of Capps makes me feel sweaty and nervous, like a fat girl before her first aerobics class. Don't you fear he's got a little bit of Bobby Jenks in him? Like, he's just a half mph or half inch or a little bit worse luck away from a 6.00 ERA? To put it another way, if Nathan is even 90% back from injury his downside is basically Cappsy's upside.
BULLPEN: As much as I don't love Capps as a closer, I think he's a good option as a set-up guy and that's good because if the starters are underwhelming the bullpen is just a picture of guy with a thought balloon and in that balloon is a question mark. Basically other than Capps and Jose Mijares we have one gigantic guessing game, with the biggest question being, "Why the holy hell did they essentially get rid of Rob Delaney in order to grab Dusty Mother Effing Hughes, somebody so bad at pitching a baseball that the KC Royals didn't even want him?" And who is Scott Diamond and why, by taking him in the Rule 5 draft, is he good enough to warrant a guaranteed spot on the major league active roster? Jim Hoey is getting a lot of play as a guy who could be a big-time setup guy, but he hasn't pitched in the majors since 2007 and owns a career ERA over 8. What about Neshek in year 2 since his elbow fell off? Is Glen Perkins head on straight and is his stuff good enough to become a reliable bullpen option? Can Anthony Slama's mustache get anybody out, or is he your classic AAAA type player? Is Alex Burnett a mop-up/long relief type who won't embarrass you or something more? Are Jeff Manship and Anthony Swarzak future starters, relievers, or ushers? Why did Eric Hacker get a major league contract?
I mean, look at this. That's what, 9 possible guys for 3-4 spots and doesn't even take into account that they have 6 non-Gibson starters for five spots. I guess the one big positive is that they do have a lot of options, so maybe that increases the odds that enough of them work out to make this a viable, quality bullpen. Sort of like increasing your chances of winning the Powerball by buying two tickets instead of one.
OVERALL OUTLOOK: I don't know, man, it seems like everywhere I look the Twins are getting picked to win the central again, but I don't know. It feels to me like the White Sox and Tigers did more this offseason and it wouldn't take much to push either of those teams out ahead of the Twins. I haven't really broken down the rosters to really get a clear view, but right now it feels like the downside is a rough year and third place division finish, while the upside is a narrow division win and a quick exit from the playoffs. It's hard to get excited about that. Again.
But you know what? I'll be watching. Damn near every game. And I'll be living and dying on damn near every pitch. And when I'm fishing up at the cabin the radio will be tuned to the game every damn night. Because it's the Twins, it's baseball, and I couldn't shake it if I tried.
Monday, December 20, 2010
Week in Review - 12.20.2010
Two last things about my trip to California:
1. On the ride home I sat next to this young woman probably in her early twenties. Throughout the entire three and a half hour flight she didn't nap. She also didn't read. She didn't have a computer. She didn't do a crossword or sudoku book. She declined a drink when they came by to offer a complimentary beverage. She never went to the bathroom. She never spoke to anyone. No, she did nothing except stare straight ahead and blink for 3 and a half hours. Absolutely bizarre and kind of creepy. She's either a genius who needs nothing more than her brain to be entertained, or dumb as hell with an empty head. I have my suspicions.
2. If you are ever in California you absolutely have to check out In-and-Out Burger. Absolutely the best burger ever, excellent fries, and it's all at a near fast-food (but it's not fast food) pace. Get yourself a double-double and order it animal style. You won't regret it. So freaking good. Anyway, on to the real stuff.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. UCLA Bruins. Still not exactly sure what to make of the Pac-10, and I'm still pretty sure they mostly suck, but UCLA picked up a huge win this weekend knocking off BYU (previously undefeated) in Anaheim at the Wooden Classic. They won by forcing the Cougars into 19 turnovers, 7 by Jimmer Fredette, and got a huge game out of Reeves Nelson, who looks like a nerd but plays like white jesus. This win, along with the Bruins hanging with Kansas right to the wire earlier this year, shows that the Bruins have the capability to compete with Washington and Arizona at the top of this conference. They also have the capability to get swept by the Oregon schools. Buyer beware.
2. San Diego State Aztecs. It's not so much that they got a big win this week, but they're still undefeated (now 12-0) and the way they dismantled Santa Barbara by 26 - the same Gauchos team that just beat UNLV and will likely win the Big West - I'm just beyond impressed right now. They're extremely balanced, have a great mix of inside/outside scoring, and are very efficient on both ends of the court. About their only weakness is they don't have a true point guard who plays much, but everyone can handle the ball so they'll probably be ok there. I don't know what odds you'd find at your favorite online betting site, but I can still find 40-1 on them to win the NCAA Championship on mine. I recommend you jump on it.
3. Gonzaga Bulldogs. About time. After whiffing on every opportunity to get a quality win - they lost versus San Diego State, Kansas State, Illinois, Washington State, and Notre Dame - they finally got something to show off in March with a big win over Baylor in Dallas, a semi-road game. Couple this with their win over Marquette, and the Zags are suddenly looking to be in decent shape after being a bit of a concern even last week. They play Xavier, UL-Lafayette, Oklahoma State, and Wake Forest before starting WCC play. ULL and Wake should be gimmes, so if they can split the Xavier/OSU games (and they should, and a sweep is probably likely since both are in Spokane) that would put them at 9-6 with three quality wins going into conference games. With that schedule and those wins they would probably just have to go 11-3 or even 10-4 to get an at-large. Shouldn't be an issue.
4. Kevin Love. I don't write a lot of NBA here - because it sucks until the playoffs - but just how freaking sweet is K-Love? His point/rebs by game this week were: 13 & 14, 23 & 16, 19 & 17, and 43 & 17. Freaking 43 and 17. Wow. He's a 40% 3-point shooter, a decent offensive player inside the paint, and the best rebounder the NBA has seen since Rodman. Other than your physical tools (which Love is lacking in, as was Rodman) there are two things that can make you an elite level rebounder - an understanding of where the ball is likely to go (positioning) and a hunger to be the one who gets the ball (effort). Love has both in spades, and has used those tools to. I don't know about you, but I'd probably find somewhere to do some basketball betting and just take the over on Love's rebounds in every single game.
5. Kansas City Royals. If you're going to trade an ace this is how you do it. They shipped Zack Greinke and his anti-anxiety medication over to Milwaukee in return for SPs Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi, SS Alcides Escobar, and CF Lorenzo Cain. The Royals are thought to have one of the, if not the, best farm systems in the league right now, and they just got better. Perusing some lists, the two starting pitchers they just got are generally ranked in the top 3 in the Brewers' system, Escobar is thought to be a future star at SS even if he didn't exactly have a great first season last year, and Cain is a "toolsy" center fielder of the future type of player. In short, it was a haul for a team that is already loaded for the future. Twins better win now, because starting in about 2013 the Royals' dynasty is ON. (NOTE: Milwaukee also better win now, because between this trade and the Lawrie for Marcum trade they have essentially killed their future).
WHO SUCKED
1. Tennessee Volunteers. There were quite a few teams who had bad losses this week, but nobody can touch the disaster that was the Vols. Two games this week - vs. Oakland and @ Charlotte - and two losses. the Oakland game is rough, because although the Golden Grizzlies are an NCAA caliber team, they've been unable to crab a real impressive win, losing to West Virginia, Illinois, Michigan State, and Purdue. Then the Charlotte loss...oof. The 49ers are, frankly, pretty awful, coming into the game at 4-6 with losses to Gardner-Webb and East Carolina, and they just kicked Shamari Spears, their leading scorer, off the team. Tennessee has shown how good they can be with wins over Villanova and Pitt, and have now shown how bad they can be as well. And that's pretty much their outlook for the season as well, they could easily be an elite 8 team or a team that gets bounced in the first round. Or, hell, and NIT team. That's what I predicted for them going into the season so let's go for that.
2. Kansas State Wildcats. Honestly I thought the Wildcats were a bit overrated coming into this year, but I didn't say too much because I though tthey were overrated last year and then they made the elite 8 so I figured maybe I was wrong. But now if you look at their results this year it's kind meh. Their only two notable wins - over Virginia Tech and Gonzaga - both look worse than they did at the time because both of those teams are struggling, and getting blown out by Florida on Saturday certainly doesn't help things. So it is now a fact - Kansas State sucks. Also I'm pretty sure their coach could get you wacked with one phone call.
3. Illinois Fighting Illini. Well, it's safe to say Ohio State is now the class of the Big 10, and it's not even close (although I'm sure Michigan State will get there by March). After building a nice resume thus far with the only blemish that overtime loss to Texas in New York, the Illini froze up and locked up versus Illinois-Chicago and Paul Carter this weekend, losing 57-54 in a game where the final 15 seconds saw them miss three shots and turn the ball over twice. I still don't trust McCamey, and this is exactly why. I'm sorry, he's just not really a point guard. He's just not. I know he has a ton of assists but he's not a point guard. This team has first round NCAA loss written all over it.
4. Josh Selby. It's a bit of a stretch to say he sucks considering he was a freshman playing in his first ever game and scored 21 points including the game-winning three pointer, but there are some warning signs here. First off, he's a point guard but finished with just 1 assist compared to four turnovers. Secondly, he pushes Elijah Johnson (5 points, 2.5 assists vs. just 1.4 TOs in 15 minutes per game) to the end of the bench, as well as Travis Releford (better than a 2-1 assist to TO ratio). All that helped lead the Jayhawks to a game against USC where they registered just 13 assists versus 12 turnovers for a team that was averaging 20 vs. 13 going into the game. It could just be a bad game for the team, or it could just that it takes some time to gel and get used to playing with a brand new teammate. Or, it could be that one of the best team's in the country, one whose strength was their balance and ball movement, just brought in a ball sync. We shall see.
5. Big Ten naming controversy. Seriously? So the Big Ten announces they are going to name the divisions the Leaders and Legends, people freak out, and now they might change the names? I don't know what's more pathetic, the Big Ten for rolling over and possibly changing the names less than a week after they were announced or the pathetic souls out there who actually care about something as meaningless as division names so, so much that it drives them to write letters and bitch to such a magnitude that it gets the Big Ten to actually reconsider. So sad. It's division names, people. God.
And with the teams in each division already set, how much better are you really going to get? You can't do geographic names, no matter how many national talk show hosts who don't have a clue what's going on keep saying it, and you can't do anything cute like "Great Lakes" and "Heartland" because, again, morons, the team groupings are already set. So good luck coming up with anything better than Leaders and Legends, because it doesn't matter what they do, because the guys who drive their truck in team colors with two flags flying out the window and the personalized "OSU4EVA" license plates are going to send their emails from the library (I assume they can't afford computers) and write their letters (most likely in crayon) and bitch because for some sad, inexplicable, pathetic reason, what the Big Ten names it's divisions is really, really fucking important.
Last thing I want to say now that I'm all riled up that I am not a fan of this Nishioka signing. I can't exactly hate it, because it's a nice cheapish investment, but I would rather have JJ Hardy. And since the choice was basically Hardy/Nishioka vs. Nishioka/Casilla, this move will be evaluated on a Casilla vs. Hardy basis, so it doesn't quite matter as much that Nishi is going to probably end up a mediocre fielding slap hitter. Just like Casilla. God what an awesome middle infield combo. It's like somebody finally answered my prayers and cloned Nick Punto and let the Twins have both of them as a reward for their constant scrappiness and fundamentalsitude. $20 says Nishi is a slide into firster.
1. On the ride home I sat next to this young woman probably in her early twenties. Throughout the entire three and a half hour flight she didn't nap. She also didn't read. She didn't have a computer. She didn't do a crossword or sudoku book. She declined a drink when they came by to offer a complimentary beverage. She never went to the bathroom. She never spoke to anyone. No, she did nothing except stare straight ahead and blink for 3 and a half hours. Absolutely bizarre and kind of creepy. She's either a genius who needs nothing more than her brain to be entertained, or dumb as hell with an empty head. I have my suspicions.
2. If you are ever in California you absolutely have to check out In-and-Out Burger. Absolutely the best burger ever, excellent fries, and it's all at a near fast-food (but it's not fast food) pace. Get yourself a double-double and order it animal style. You won't regret it. So freaking good. Anyway, on to the real stuff.
WHO WAS AWESOME
1. UCLA Bruins. Still not exactly sure what to make of the Pac-10, and I'm still pretty sure they mostly suck, but UCLA picked up a huge win this weekend knocking off BYU (previously undefeated) in Anaheim at the Wooden Classic. They won by forcing the Cougars into 19 turnovers, 7 by Jimmer Fredette, and got a huge game out of Reeves Nelson, who looks like a nerd but plays like white jesus. This win, along with the Bruins hanging with Kansas right to the wire earlier this year, shows that the Bruins have the capability to compete with Washington and Arizona at the top of this conference. They also have the capability to get swept by the Oregon schools. Buyer beware.
2. San Diego State Aztecs. It's not so much that they got a big win this week, but they're still undefeated (now 12-0) and the way they dismantled Santa Barbara by 26 - the same Gauchos team that just beat UNLV and will likely win the Big West - I'm just beyond impressed right now. They're extremely balanced, have a great mix of inside/outside scoring, and are very efficient on both ends of the court. About their only weakness is they don't have a true point guard who plays much, but everyone can handle the ball so they'll probably be ok there. I don't know what odds you'd find at your favorite online betting site, but I can still find 40-1 on them to win the NCAA Championship on mine. I recommend you jump on it.
3. Gonzaga Bulldogs. About time. After whiffing on every opportunity to get a quality win - they lost versus San Diego State, Kansas State, Illinois, Washington State, and Notre Dame - they finally got something to show off in March with a big win over Baylor in Dallas, a semi-road game. Couple this with their win over Marquette, and the Zags are suddenly looking to be in decent shape after being a bit of a concern even last week. They play Xavier, UL-Lafayette, Oklahoma State, and Wake Forest before starting WCC play. ULL and Wake should be gimmes, so if they can split the Xavier/OSU games (and they should, and a sweep is probably likely since both are in Spokane) that would put them at 9-6 with three quality wins going into conference games. With that schedule and those wins they would probably just have to go 11-3 or even 10-4 to get an at-large. Shouldn't be an issue.
4. Kevin Love. I don't write a lot of NBA here - because it sucks until the playoffs - but just how freaking sweet is K-Love? His point/rebs by game this week were: 13 & 14, 23 & 16, 19 & 17, and 43 & 17. Freaking 43 and 17. Wow. He's a 40% 3-point shooter, a decent offensive player inside the paint, and the best rebounder the NBA has seen since Rodman. Other than your physical tools (which Love is lacking in, as was Rodman) there are two things that can make you an elite level rebounder - an understanding of where the ball is likely to go (positioning) and a hunger to be the one who gets the ball (effort). Love has both in spades, and has used those tools to. I don't know about you, but I'd probably find somewhere to do some basketball betting and just take the over on Love's rebounds in every single game.
5. Kansas City Royals. If you're going to trade an ace this is how you do it. They shipped Zack Greinke and his anti-anxiety medication over to Milwaukee in return for SPs Jeremy Jeffress and Jake Odorizzi, SS Alcides Escobar, and CF Lorenzo Cain. The Royals are thought to have one of the, if not the, best farm systems in the league right now, and they just got better. Perusing some lists, the two starting pitchers they just got are generally ranked in the top 3 in the Brewers' system, Escobar is thought to be a future star at SS even if he didn't exactly have a great first season last year, and Cain is a "toolsy" center fielder of the future type of player. In short, it was a haul for a team that is already loaded for the future. Twins better win now, because starting in about 2013 the Royals' dynasty is ON. (NOTE: Milwaukee also better win now, because between this trade and the Lawrie for Marcum trade they have essentially killed their future).
WHO SUCKED
1. Tennessee Volunteers. There were quite a few teams who had bad losses this week, but nobody can touch the disaster that was the Vols. Two games this week - vs. Oakland and @ Charlotte - and two losses. the Oakland game is rough, because although the Golden Grizzlies are an NCAA caliber team, they've been unable to crab a real impressive win, losing to West Virginia, Illinois, Michigan State, and Purdue. Then the Charlotte loss...oof. The 49ers are, frankly, pretty awful, coming into the game at 4-6 with losses to Gardner-Webb and East Carolina, and they just kicked Shamari Spears, their leading scorer, off the team. Tennessee has shown how good they can be with wins over Villanova and Pitt, and have now shown how bad they can be as well. And that's pretty much their outlook for the season as well, they could easily be an elite 8 team or a team that gets bounced in the first round. Or, hell, and NIT team. That's what I predicted for them going into the season so let's go for that.
2. Kansas State Wildcats. Honestly I thought the Wildcats were a bit overrated coming into this year, but I didn't say too much because I though tthey were overrated last year and then they made the elite 8 so I figured maybe I was wrong. But now if you look at their results this year it's kind meh. Their only two notable wins - over Virginia Tech and Gonzaga - both look worse than they did at the time because both of those teams are struggling, and getting blown out by Florida on Saturday certainly doesn't help things. So it is now a fact - Kansas State sucks. Also I'm pretty sure their coach could get you wacked with one phone call.
3. Illinois Fighting Illini. Well, it's safe to say Ohio State is now the class of the Big 10, and it's not even close (although I'm sure Michigan State will get there by March). After building a nice resume thus far with the only blemish that overtime loss to Texas in New York, the Illini froze up and locked up versus Illinois-Chicago and Paul Carter this weekend, losing 57-54 in a game where the final 15 seconds saw them miss three shots and turn the ball over twice. I still don't trust McCamey, and this is exactly why. I'm sorry, he's just not really a point guard. He's just not. I know he has a ton of assists but he's not a point guard. This team has first round NCAA loss written all over it.
4. Josh Selby. It's a bit of a stretch to say he sucks considering he was a freshman playing in his first ever game and scored 21 points including the game-winning three pointer, but there are some warning signs here. First off, he's a point guard but finished with just 1 assist compared to four turnovers. Secondly, he pushes Elijah Johnson (5 points, 2.5 assists vs. just 1.4 TOs in 15 minutes per game) to the end of the bench, as well as Travis Releford (better than a 2-1 assist to TO ratio). All that helped lead the Jayhawks to a game against USC where they registered just 13 assists versus 12 turnovers for a team that was averaging 20 vs. 13 going into the game. It could just be a bad game for the team, or it could just that it takes some time to gel and get used to playing with a brand new teammate. Or, it could be that one of the best team's in the country, one whose strength was their balance and ball movement, just brought in a ball sync. We shall see.
5. Big Ten naming controversy. Seriously? So the Big Ten announces they are going to name the divisions the Leaders and Legends, people freak out, and now they might change the names? I don't know what's more pathetic, the Big Ten for rolling over and possibly changing the names less than a week after they were announced or the pathetic souls out there who actually care about something as meaningless as division names so, so much that it drives them to write letters and bitch to such a magnitude that it gets the Big Ten to actually reconsider. So sad. It's division names, people. God.
And with the teams in each division already set, how much better are you really going to get? You can't do geographic names, no matter how many national talk show hosts who don't have a clue what's going on keep saying it, and you can't do anything cute like "Great Lakes" and "Heartland" because, again, morons, the team groupings are already set. So good luck coming up with anything better than Leaders and Legends, because it doesn't matter what they do, because the guys who drive their truck in team colors with two flags flying out the window and the personalized "OSU4EVA" license plates are going to send their emails from the library (I assume they can't afford computers) and write their letters (most likely in crayon) and bitch because for some sad, inexplicable, pathetic reason, what the Big Ten names it's divisions is really, really fucking important.
Last thing I want to say now that I'm all riled up that I am not a fan of this Nishioka signing. I can't exactly hate it, because it's a nice cheapish investment, but I would rather have JJ Hardy. And since the choice was basically Hardy/Nishioka vs. Nishioka/Casilla, this move will be evaluated on a Casilla vs. Hardy basis, so it doesn't quite matter as much that Nishi is going to probably end up a mediocre fielding slap hitter. Just like Casilla. God what an awesome middle infield combo. It's like somebody finally answered my prayers and cloned Nick Punto and let the Twins have both of them as a reward for their constant scrappiness and fundamentalsitude. $20 says Nishi is a slide into firster.
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