This Post Is About Baseball: You Have Been Warned

[snurri]

Terry Ryan is resigning as the Twins' GM. It's too soon to say, but I think this is a good thing. Ryan's made some good moves during his tenure--the Pierzynski trade was a thing of beauty--but over the past half-dozen years he hasn't made the in-season moves to help the Twins move from contender to threat. This year his performance has been, frankly, pathetic. The Castillo trade was inexplicable; we got nothing in exchange for a great leadoff hitter who was exciting to watch and performed well defensively. The Pohlads have demonstrated some willingness to loosen the purse-strings a bit now that the Twins have a record of successes, and it's time to bring someone else in to test that. We're looking at next year, Mr. Smith. Don't let us down.

Comments

[veejane.livejournal.com]

Poor Ryan. That group could develop talent, man, but I agree -- it was the in-season trading that never came about properly. Not that every poor team needs to wheel-'n'-deal like Oakland, but it always seemed like other teams were getting young Twinkies talent without paying much for it.

(I may be biased, considering we picked up Ortiz off the Twinkies scrap-heap.)

Johan Santana deserves a winning team!

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Exactly; they've still got the best farm system, but then they never get those ace prospects any help.

(I have to say, though, I have major doubts that Ortiz would have developed into the hitter he is without being shoved out of his comfort zone. For the Twins he was agonizingly inconsistent.)

What Santana deserves is a nice fat contract. Considering that he, Hunter, and Nathan are all on the cusp, I have my worries.

[veejane.livejournal.com]

Well, Ortiz's real problem is that he's just not a 1B, and that's what Minnesota wanted him to be. He's just too fragile to play the field every day and hit consistently. I think they thought they were developing a good versatile player, but if they had been willing to give up the versatility, they'd have gotten the greatness we got.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

You have a point; but when they used him as a DH, he wasn't delivering either. One problem the Twins do have is that they haven't had a day-to-day DH for YEARS. They shuffle that position all the time, and it's insane-making. I mean, they've given the DH bat to Nick Punto a few times this season. Now, Nicky's a nice guy and all, and a crackerjack defensive player, but he can't hit for beans.

Sigh. Look at me, getting started on all this. Oh baseball, how you hurt me.

[davidbeall.livejournal.com]

I'm an Orange County resident and an Angels fan. My college roomate was from Deluth. He always moaned about the Twinkies, and during the last few years I could see why. With flashes of greatness from the players and staff during Ryan's tenure they've never managed to put it all together. Getting a new GM could be a step in the right direction. The Twinks are certainly a team that is overdue for greatness. But I have to say that at the begining of this season I was ready to chuck our GM because he didn't bring us a big bat and things have worked out okay.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

Heh. "okay"? 9 1/2 games up is "okay"?

Yeah, the ingredients are all here, the product just hasn't quite gelled. (Although it's been a lot of fun to watch, overall.) Injuries have been part of it. I'm very much looking forward to having Liriano back next season.

[dxmachina.livejournal.com]

Actually, a lot of Mets fans hate the trade, too, and thought it was a panic move by Minaya. Trading Castillo could be a good thing for the Twins, perhaps not this season, but certainly looking forward to next year. His slugging percentage is lower than his OBP, and his stats have started to decline. And his highs weren't that much more than average for a second baseman. So the Twins were paying $5M+ for a below average hitting second baseman whose fielding stats have started to deteriorate.

If you really want an expensive infielder who can't hit anymore, maybe you could talk the Twins new management into giving Nomar a shot.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

I dunno . . . part of why Castillo was great for the Twins is that he was an expert slap hitter, and on the Metrodome turf he'd lay down these ridiculous bouncers that would hop all over and take their time doing it. Coupled with his speed, that gave him a lot of singles-that-would-have-been-outs-in-any-other-park, and was often a nice jump-start for the offense. He was one of my favorite players for that reason.

That said, the Twins have a lot of singles hitters. They could use just one Jim Thome type. (Who couldn't?) And it's definitely true that Castillo is getting older. So you may have a point.

Poor Nomar. But hey, he's busy raising twin superheroes, now.

[dxmachina.livejournal.com]

Yes, but OTOH, still married to Mia Hamm, so his life isn't completely in the dumper.

As for Castillo, I've spent the entire season watching his former running mate, Juan Pierre, aka Slappy McPopup, aka "WTF was Ned thinking?", so it's possible I'm a bit down on that type of player.

[snurri.livejournal.com]

It's definitely a niche kind of hitting. Which, I suspect, is one reason Castillo's not producing for the Mets.

And yes . . . Mia Hamm . . . mmm.