Before Sunday’s game, the Twins stand at 36-26, which means they’ve gone 14-14 the past month. Considering half the infield is on the DL and that stretch included a road trip to New York and Boston, that’s not bad. There are now 100 games left in the season. Here’s what it takes to hit 90, 95, or 100 wins:
90 wins: 54-46 (.540)
95 wins: 59-41 (.590)
100 wins: 64-36 (.640)
90 wins still looks likely to me, with a shot at 95. I just don’t see 100 wins.
I am far less excited about the Twins’ draft than seemingly everyone else. 1st round SP Alex Wimmers is about as good as he will get – there’s not a lot of upside here. Comparisons to Radke seem fair, but I’d rather roll the dice on a possible #1 starter instead of settling for someone that projects as a back-of-the-rotation guy. Would love to see the Twins add some power arms instead of finesse guys.
2nd round pick Niko Goodrum sounds like an amazing athlete. Unfortunately, one of the reviews I read says he struggles “making contact” at the plate. Last I checked, that’s a rather important attribute for a batter! It sounds like he has raw power, so this kid strikes me as the second coming of Rob Deer or Dave Kingman.
3rd round pick Pat Dean is another 90mph SP, albeit left-handed. It’s hilarious he’s compared to Glen Perkins. Dean sounds like a wonderful kid and smart pitcher, but he’s had elbow problems. Yikes.
4th round pick Eddie Rosario is the one I like. Apparently, the rest of the world compares this kid to Bobby Abreu, and Rosario is the best hitter to come from Puerto Rico since Abreu. I would be THRILLED if Rosario put up the major-league numbers Abreu has – he’s been a terrific player.
I have loved the Twins with my whole heart as long as I’ve been alive, which is 51 years and counting, but… could we PLEASE draft some high-end middle-infielders early in a draft some time? It seems we specialize in collegiate control pitchers and toolsy high-school outfielders. I swear we draft these kids as trading chips for infield help!
Rookies in the infield… Valencia looks ready to me. He needs to stay in The Show. Plouffe hasn’t embarrassed himself, but like a cooking pot roast, isn’t quite ready yet. Still, wouldn’t you rather have those two in the field instead of Tolbert and Harris? It’s time to dump Harris’ contract. Nice guy, tries hard, but there are 200 millions Americans that fit that description, and they don’t get to play in the majors either. Tolbert is just awful. At the 3/13 spring training game in Clearwater against the Phillies (gorgeous day, beautiful ballpark), Tolbert had one error, but should have had three – he dropped two infield flies. Seriously? And pulled an oh-fer at the plate. He looked grossly mismatched. Again, just not major league material. Which brings me to…
Gardy, can I hit 2nd in the lineup? I swear, I won’t do worse than Tolbert or Plouffe! (Although Plouffe has proven he CAN lay down a bunt.) Honestly, put Punto 2nd if you have to – at least he has a decent OBP. The idea behind table-setters is to have guys on base for St. Joe and More-NO. Managerial 101.
Finally… The Franchise has returned! Liriano has looked superb recently. What a talent! He will take us to the promised land.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
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