July 2006

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Pat Neshek: the blog

We learned yesterday that Twins bullpen phenom Pat Neshek is indeed human as he allowed his first run in the big leagues, ballooning his era to 1.08. And I fear he may become a lot more human in the coming weeks as hitters adjust to his funky sidearm delivery.

But now we discover that Neshek, like an alarming 12-million Americans, has a blog. It's regularly updated, if somewhat haphazardly written. The main purpose of it seems to be chronicling his experiences with autograph seekers. Which seems kind of odd but he does deliver this genius nugget.

One grapher was awesome and hooked me up with a signed Rob Zombie album cover, I was pumped to get a metal autograph so I hooked him up with a couple MLB balls during BP.

And then there's Neshek's correction of a recent Sid Hartman column that wrongly identified him as single. (To be fair Charley Walter appears to have scooped us on this one.)

I needed to clear something up really quick that I just found in a paper saying that I am single. In Sid Hartman's column today it read this "Being single and only 25 and a baseball star in his hometown, you would think he would hear from some of the young ladies. But he said he hasn't received any proposals."

I don't know why it was printed saying I was. I am NOT SINGLE, sorry ladies! I'm very much in love with Stephanee and we have been together nearly three years (for those who are new to the site.) Sid's question to me was about mail and if I have received any marriage proposals. I laughed at his question and said no! I guess I'll have to start making it clear that I am taken!

Posted by Paul Demko at July 27, 2006 10:28 AM | Comments (2)

 

The best possible outcome

It was clear to everyone paying attention that the Twins would need to play well on their most recent road trip to contend for a spot in the playoffs. As it turns out, "play well" doesn't begin to describe the last six games, five of which the Twinks won. Their sweep (yes!) of the White Sox pulls them into a three-way tie for the Wild Card.

The Twins aren't just playing well: Right now, they're the best team in baseball.

Sweeping the White Sox in their own town is about as sweet a way to finish a road trip as I can imagine, one I didn't really consider possible considering Wednesday's Buehrle/Silva mismatch. Sure enough, Silva continued to struggle a bit with his trademark sinker, but other than that the Twins' three games in the South Side couldn't have gone better. And not just because they won. A few other reasons to be excited about the future:

1. Morneau and Mauer connected for clutch homeruns against lefties. At this time last year, both hitters were panned for their inability to hit southpaws. Any worry of that can now be disregarded as pre-2006 thinking. The M n' M have definitely arrived.

2. Bartlett's three-run homer and stellar defensive play saved Tuesday's game. Remember Juan Castro? Yeah, me neither.

3. The Twins proved early in the season that they can win in the Dome, but their road troubles have haunted them all year. They entered this series with one of the worst road records in baseball, a fact that seemed to damn them to a losing season. The fact that these last two series wins have come on the road is perhaps the best news of all. Is there a better sound in all of sport than Chicago fans booing their own team?

4. Radke continued to pitch like the Radke of old, proving that he really is a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. If he keeps it up, the Twins' trio of Santana-Liriano-Radke is a readymade postseason combo. Problem is, in order to get to the postseason they're going to need five starters, and Silva, Baker, Lohse and Bonser have all proved incapable of filling those holes. The good news is that 2005 first-round draft pick Matt Garza just tossed a three-hit, complete-game shutout for the Rochester Redwings, spurring rumors that he's ready to be called up. Barring a significant trade, that might be the Twins' only option.

5. The White Sox scored 11 runs over the series, all of them on homeruns. I'm not about to say that teams that rely on homeruns aren't likely to win games. But it sure is nice when they don't.

The Twins carry their momentum into a homestand this weekend against the major leagues' winningest team, the Tigers. See you at the Dome!

Posted by Chuck Terhark at July 26, 2006 6:36 PM | Comments (1)

 

On to the Pale Hose

Filed under: Twins

The Twins hunt for October, while rumors trade fly about Alfonso Soriano heading to the White Sox. The rest of the season starts now.

The Twins enter this week's road series a paltry three games back in the American League Wild Card race, a fact that is nothing short of miraculous considering they were nine games back at the All-Star break earlier this month. At that point, they needed to overcome three other teams to even consider a shot at the post-season. Eleven games (and nine wins) later, they arrive in Chicago with a shot at pulling into a tie for first with the slumping White Sox.

With the trade deadline looming, this is an especially interesting week in Twinsville, as everyone seems to be wondering whether the Twins will be buyers or sellers this season. I don't think they're going to be either, since they've got Hunter and Stewart coming back from injuries, and Jason Tyner, Nick Punto and Rondell White have stepped their games up considerably in the absence of the Twins' regular outfielders. (White's batting .448 with three homers since I complimented his smile last week. If he keeps it up, you can thank me in October.) They've also got very little to offer the contending teams in terms of valuable post-season players (and by "very little," I mean "Kyle Lohse"). But whether they're in the trade market or not, this week finds the Twins pitted against the two teams that lead them in the standings, which means that by the time the trade deadline rolls around on July 31, their post-season odds will be quite a bit clearer.

The bad news is that while the Twins may not be in the market for an expensive slugger to pound them into the post-season, the White Sox definitely are, and early reports are already coming in that GM Kenny Williams has sewn up a deal with the Nationals for Alfonso Soriano. Considering the fact that Soriano is an early favorite for National League MVP, this is terrible news indeed for the Twins. With 31 homers, a .288 batting average and 25 stolen bases in his first year with Washington, Soriano is the kind of player who could turn the White Sox's already-potent lineup into the league's most devastating. I would especially hate to see him in a Chicago uniform because he's possibly my favorite pro player. Unlike the rest of the sluggers on the homerun leader board, Soriano hits homers (and doubles, and triples) through a combo of quick hands, great bat speed and a beautiful swing. He's like Griffey Jr. in the mid-'90s: a pure finesse player battling the meathead mashers of the Mark McGwire-mold. Christ, I even liked Soriano when he was a Yankee, which is really saying something. So the thought of him hitting the field with Konerko and Thome (my least favorite meatheads) and further hurting the Twins' shot at October is distressing, to say the least.

On the other hand, it's possible that Soriano won't even leave Washington. He and his agent have both repeatedly said that he would love to stay with the Nationals, and the team's president has returned the compliment by saying they would love to keep him. Problem is, the Nationals aren't exactly in a position to sign the second baseman-turned-All Star outfielder, as they're building for the future (they asked the Williams for rookie pitcher Brandon McCarthy) while Soriano is due to become a very expensive free agent next year. What's more, the Chicago Tribune recently reported that the trade rumor might just be a ploy to get the Detroit Tigers out of the bidding war, with Williams saying, " I know what Detroit and Minnesota are trying to do. We will just have to work hard to make sure we have a chance to compete." I can't imagine Soriano would ever end up in Minnesota, although the thought does make one salivate.

Radke takes the mound at 7:05 CT.

Posted by Chuck Terhark at July 24, 2006 4:17 PM | Comments (3)

 

Foul tip: White Sox preview

Filed under: Twins

Is the starting rotation solid enough for a legitmate run?

On May 15, the stat-heads at Baseball Prospectus offered a pretty bleak view of the Twins '06 chances after stumbling out of the gate. "Is the Twins' season over?" the headline in Sport Illustrated asked, and the answer for any Twins fan, deep down, was a barely muttered, "Yeah, probably."

The folks at BP figured the AL was so stacked that 97 wins would be needed to make the Wild Card spot, a ridiculously high number that may, after all, turn out to be about right--just a few too high. With that, the item concluded, "Minnesota would have to play at a .641 pace to have a better than even-money chance at the playoffs."

Since then, amazingly, the Twins have been better than that, going 39-21 for a .650 clip.

And, of course, they've played even better, at .702, since June 1st. (The Twinkies would have to play .615 ball from here on out to hit 97 wins.) Suddenly they're in the thick of the chase, going head-to-head with the once uncatchable White Sox, who haven't been playing as poorly as Ozzie Guillen would have you believe.

Since that Baseball Prospectus blurb appeared in SI (on May 15, when the Chicago beat the Twins 7-3), the Chox are 35-26 for a .573 winning percentage, and since June 1 have trended upward ever-so-slightly, playing at a .577 clip.

So here we are in the midst of a bona fide, knuckle-cracking series between the two teams. The Twins' methodical resurgence now has some observers and experts calling for the team to upgrade rather than dump talent.

Much of that has to do with the fact that injuries to Shannon Stewart and Torii Hunter have made them untradeable, but now the talk has even moved to the Twins making a play for Alfonso Soriano from the Nats or Milwaukee's Carlos Lee--two power-hitting left fielders.

Even money says Terry Ryan won't do something that drastic and costly--definitely not if the Twins come out on the short end of Chicago series and the following one against Detroit at home, which will conveniently wrap before the trading deadline a week from today. (Today there's also talk of Guillen wanting Soriano, which would probably hurt the Twins more than anything in the short term.)

Instead of focusing solely on an upgrade at the plate, it might be worth looking at the starting rotation--what was once believed to be this team's strength just three months ago. There's no doubt that Johan Santana, Francisco Liriano and Brad Radke are in the top-tier in either league--at least for the last six weeks--but there's a precipitous drop-off from there.

To put it mildly, Carlos Silva, Boof Bonser and Scott Baker have all stunk up the joint. (Though I still hold out hope for Baker.) And the pitcher most talked about as trade bait, the frustrating Kyle Lohse, may actually be (I can't believe I'm typing this) their fourth-best starter.

So the burden falls to the middle and long-term relievers, and you couldn't get better bullpen performance than the Twins have been getting lately, including yesterday's win over Cleveland, when Pat Neshek, Dennys Reyes, Juan Rincon and Joe Nathan shut down the Indians and combined for seven strikeouts.

History will have to repeat itself at least once during the Chicago series, with the likelihood that Silva will get knocked out early when he faces Mark Buehrle on Wednesday--and that's hoping that Radke continues his turnaround in his start tonight.

Can the Twins make a real run with two (beyond) legitimate and one aging starter? For now, the role of the relievers couldn't be more crucial.

Posted by G.R. Anderson Jr. at July 24, 2006 1:58 PM | Comments (0)

 

Preseason predictions revisited

Filed under: Twins

The first half of the 2006 baseball season is behind us, and while it hasn't exactly been a winning season per se for our dear Twinks (in any other division it might have been), it certainly has been one hell of an interesting ride. If you ask me, the Twins' troublesome year boils down to this: They are in the last year of a budgetary cycle that has allowed them to keep stars like Torii Hunter and Johan Santana on the same team. Most front offices would look at that as a good time to make a run at the playoffs while breaking in the stars of the near future, namely the M&M boys, "Franchise," Kubel and Bartlett. Instead, Terry Ryan opened the season with a 50-game experiment in the usefulness of washed up veterans, fielding the likes of Batista, Castro, White and Sierra. The experiment failed, of course, so horrifically in fact that it looks like most of my preseason predictions were made through Justin Morneau's rose-colored contact lenses.

Just what were those predictions again? To summarize: The Twins would win 86 games and finish second in the division behind the Indians; the White Sox and the Yankees would compete with them for the Wild Card (which the Yanks would win); Liriano, if he escaped the bullpen, would be the Twins' first Rookie of the Year in more than a decade; Morneau would under-perform again and Joe Mauer would be their only non-pitching All Star; giving Kubel and Bartlett everyday playing time would give the Twins' playoff-caliber offense with no hit to their defense; the Tigers could be the sleeper hit of the Central division; and the A's would win the World Series.

Actually, looking back on it, I didn't fare too badly. The Twins are on pace to better my 86-win prediction by three games, but they're going to finish third, not second, because the Tigers' stellar rotation (led by the Gambler and his young proteges Jeremy Bonderman and Justin Verlander) has indeed sent their team roaring back into the spotlight. Mauer was the Twins' only non-pitching All Star, but not for lack of outstanding production by Morneau, who should have gone to Pittsburgh with him. Kubel and Bartlett are as good as I thought they'd be, and Liriano is not only in the running for RoY, he'll be on the ballot for Cy Young if he keeps his pace. My praise of the Indians' lineup has proven woefully misguided, however, and I'm finally ready to admit, after a year and a half of .600+ ball and one world championship, that the White Sox are a pretty good team. I was right to hate Fat Tony the Baptist, but oh-so wrong to anticipate great things from Rondell White. (You know what? I still like him, against all reason. I think it's his smile.) And I don't know who's going to win the World Series, but it sure as hell won't be the A's.

Posted by Chuck Terhark at July 13, 2006 4:29 PM | Comments (2)

 

Return of the Little Giant: Grigsby to fight for title, again

Filed under: Boxing

Last weekend, St. Paul boxer Will Grigsby travelled to St. Louis to take in the Cory Spinks-Roman Karmazin light middleweight title fight. But it wasn't just a pleasure trip for the former four-time junior flyweight belt holder. While in the Gateway City, Grigsby--who holds the distinction of being Minnesota's first boxing champ since World War I--also inked a deal to fight current IBF titlist Ulises Solis. Grigsby has been itching for the bout since January 7, when Solis got the best of him in a 12-round decision at Madison Square Garden.

What are Grigsby's chances? That's hard to say. At 36, Grigsby is is old for a boxer in any division and downright geriatric for someone earning a paycheck in the junior flyweight ranks, where fighters tend to be burn out quickly. That said, Grigsby is a young 36. He hasn't fought half as often as a lot of boxers his age; in fact, he has one fewer pro fights under his belt than the 24-year-old Solis.

Another reason for optimism: Grigsby has defied the expectations before. After first losing his IBF title to the Mexican great Ricard "Finito" Lopez back in 1999, Grigsby struggled through an exceptionally bad patch, both professionally and personally. In 2000, after besting the well-regarded Nelson Dieppa in a WBO title tilt, Grigsby had his belt stripped because of a positive marijuana test. Not long afterwards, his name was plastered in the headlines when he was arrested on dog fighting and terroristic threat charges. And after that, he was landed in prison for an 18-month stretch for firing a gun at his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend.

In other words, Grigsby looked washed up. He wasn't. After his release from prison, he took a couple of quick tune up fights and then got a shot against reigning IBF beltholder Victor Burgos. Fighting at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, he won by way of unanimous decision.

Given this propensity for the comeback, it's no surprise that Grigsby is confident about his imminent rematch with titlist Solis. "I fought him from the outside the first time. This time I'll fight him up close," Grigsby says matter-of-factly. "I'm just going to go in and over power him. I believe if I take the fight to him I'll beat him easy."

Grigsby insists that he plans to retire from the sport after one or two more fights. It's a common refrain among boxers, but Grigsby seems resolute. "I done made enough money at this. I still got my senses, ain't brain dead," he says. "A lot of fighters get caught up in the limelight. I just wanted the championship money. This ain't a sport to do just to do it. It's too dangerous."

He also has plenty of plans for the future. Currently, he work in the shop at Hubbard Broadcasting (the first legitimate job of his life) and he says he wants to enroll in plumbing school. He also speaks hopefully abut his desire to open a gym/youth center in the Summitt-University neighborhood of St. Paul. "When I was in prison, I met a lot of guys whose life was basically over before it even started," he explains. "A lot of these guys were 25, 26 years old and been in the system since they were 11."

No date or venue has been established for the Grigsby-Solis rematch. Grigsby expects it will take place in late September or early October.

Posted by Mike Mosedale at July 13, 2006 10:52 AM | Comments (2)

 

The Three-Pointer: Wolves sign Mike James for four years

Filed under: Timberwolves

ESPN.com is reporting that the Timberwolves have signed free agent point guard Mike James to a 4-year, $25-million contract. While teams cannot officially confirm signings until tomorrow, Minnesota has been pursuing James assiduously, and, according to ESPN.com, beat out rival suitors by extending James out to four years rather than the three Dallas and Houston were apparently offering.

What does this mean?

1) The huge Boston trade can now officially be labeled a colossal mistake.
This signing, on top of drafting combo guard Randy Foye in the first round, means the Wolves have made Marcus Banks half-past redundant.

Indeed, the players currently on the roster who can now play either the point and/or shooting guard include, Foye, James, Jaric, Hudson, McCants, Davis, Hassell, and Wright. That's eight guys, including four who have logged time at point guard. Goodbye Banks, who was spun as the key to the trade by Kevin McHale and his assistant, Rex Chapman, at the time of the deal.

It also makes Ricky Davis fairly dispensable. KG and Davis were already having trouble divvying up touches and determining who was the waystation for the half-court offense. Throw scoring combo guards Foye and James (who averaged more than 20 points and nearly six dimes a game for Toronto last season) into the mix and where does Davis fit in? Indeed, what the Wolves need is a deadly scorer from the wing who can also finish in transition--Wally Szczerbiak, anyone? And what they need most of all is a guy who gobbles rebounds. Whatever you think of Mark Blount's pretty jump shot, he ain't that guy.

2. A trade for a big man is inevitable. Isn't it?
Despite McHale's assurances that the Wolves had plenty of options available with which to "tweak" a team that needs a massive overhaul, there are actually precious few tools available to the franchise, and the Wolves have used their top two--the #6 overall pick in the draft and their midlevel exception to the salary cap--to shore up their backcourt. But their top need (at least in my opinion, although McHale usually just included it among three or four top priorities) was a rebounder and staunch defender in the paint to take some of the pressure off KG. Right now it looks like the best, perhaps only way to do that would be to utilize the $4 million trade exception they earned in the Celtics deal in a trade package that includes Davis, Jaric, or even Hassell, to land a bona fide big man. Otherwise, they have to cross their fingers and hope someone like Darius Songalia can be had for the lower level exception of less than $2 million a year--not likely.

Right now, last year's front court holdovers include Garnett, Blount, troubled Eddie Griffin, and Mark Madsen. Justin Reed, a game but undersized swingman, is an unrestricted free agent. Craig Smith, the second round pick from Boston College is likewise undersized. Going to war in the Western Conference with this crew--without at least one other quality rebounder and interior defender--is sheer lunacy.

3. Pick a personality, any personality.
Are the Wolves a running team? That was the plan, the latest plan, stated when Foye was signed. Well, James is 31, signed for four years, and specialized in the half-court pick and roll with Chris Bosh and Charlie Villaneuva last season for Toronto. Like the rest of the Raptors he played horseshit defense, but not to worry, since the Wolves' 2005 infatuation with building a defense-first squad lasted about as long as a Jennifer Lopez marriage.

Memo to the braintrust: To run, you need to rebound missed shots. This collection of Timberwolves will have difficulty making opponents miss, and more trouble yet rebounding those misses.

It's looking more and more like KG will have less to do with generating offensive ball movement and more to do with rebounding and interior D than ever before. Anyone who has covered the team knows that these things are not his preferences--he likes to ignite the offense. Is he on board with these moves?

Posted by Britt Robson at July 11, 2006 4:53 PM | Comments (73)

 

In the shadow of Mighty Joe

Filed under: MLB

In the end, Francisco Liriano did not win the fan balloting for the last roster spot on the AL All-Star Team--the White Sox cinched it with a can't-miss "Punch AJ" promotion on behalf of their widely loathed catcher--but at least baseball pundits near and far bitched about Liriano's exclusion. They pretty much ignored Justin Morneau's case for making the squad.

Morneau pulls into the All-Star break with 23 HR and 73 RBI--slightly more than the man players elected as a sub in front of him, the White Sox's Paul Konerko (21 HR, 67 RBI), who has had a season nearly identical to Morneau's in most respects. Though Morneau is playing a distant second fiddle to hometown hero Joe Mauer in the press, his breakout is nearly as stunning. Here's where Morneau ranks among his 1B peers and Major League hitters at large at the break:

HR: 7th in the AL; 14th (tied) in the majors; 5th among ML 1B

RBI: 4th in the AL; 8th in the majors; 3rd among ML 1B

SLG PCT (.587): 11th among all ML hitters; 4th among ML 1B

ON-BASE PLUS SLG PCT (.939): 21st among all ML hitters; 3rd among AL 1B; 7th among ML 1B

How's he made such a dramatic difference from 2005, when he hit 22 HR in 490 at-bats and posted a .742 OPS? The answer looks to be timing and confidence. Morneau hasn't really adjusted his approach at the plate--comparing this year to last, he still sports that upper-cut swing, still looks at about 3.5 pitches per at-bat, still strikes out once every 5-6 plate appearances and walks once in every 13. But those upper-cuts are connecting a lot more often: His groundball ratio has gone down dramatically, which is always good news for a power hitter, and his HR rate has nearly doubled (one longball every 22 AB in 2005, one every 12 AB this year).

Which is a long way of saying Morneau will play in a few All-Star games before he's through.

Posted by Steve Perry at July 9, 2006 4:34 PM | Comments (2)

 

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