Cytana Hope

Johan looks like he will get win 16 today. Maybe U'm crazy but I think he should get the AL Cy Young.

More to come...

Rollin'

Just when we had reached our low point for the season, the Twins started winning. Not only have we won, but we have been beating two of the best teams in the American league. Oakland had won some ungodly amount of games in their last 20 coming into that series and Chicago had been winning all season. We had been losing in every way possible and were resorting to starting Abernathy in the outfield.

We came out of those series and continued on into tonight with a five game winning streak. Baseball is a crazy game. We are getting mentioned in the Wild Card chase again, although I doubt we will capture it there is hope once again.

The pitching has been stellar as it has all season but the bats have picked it up in recent games. Most notably Fatty Lecroy has picked up a lot of the team with his hitting .333 with an amazing 1.312 OPS in the last week.

I just wish we played Chicago more earlier in the season. We could have used that confidence booster a month ago!

Rumors and Hearsay!

There is a rumor I just read on the front page of ESPN.com (no link due to their insane East coast bias....Yanks, Sox, Eagles, blargh!). It says that JC Romero wants out of of Minnesota. Its a shame I cannot read the article without a friggen ESPN insider subscription.

Since I do not know why he wants out I can only speculate. It is probably due to the fact that he is stuck as a left handed reliever. He isn't starting and isn't closing. It could also be conflicts within the organization and himself. I don't know.

If this is true, I am going to assume it has been an issue for a while. An issue well before the trade deadline. I then ask why didn't we trade him for a bat? I was a person upset that he was in trade rumors because we do not have another left hander to fill his spot in the bullpen. Terry Mulholland doesn't count since he only pitches batting practice to the opposing team due to the compromising pictures he has of Gardy. Back to the point.... Romero should have been moved if this was a legitimate concern.

Then again, not every player is T.O. and becomes a ginormous distraction when he is upset. JC should be careful though. He doesn't want to become the next Chuck Knoblauch. Dollar-Dog day might just be cancelled all together!

I just hope JC is not too upset about the situation and this is just an overblown news report. If it isn't, something may need to be done in the offseason.

Looking Towards The Farm

The Twins made a decision at the deadline that made me happy. It was a decision that kept Alfonso Soriano from patrolling second base for us, but I think it was the right choice. Even if we could have made the playoffs with Soriano, we didn't have a great team and were not going to win in October.

What was this decision? We decided to hold onto Francisco Liriano. The fans should get their first glimpse at Mr. Liriano in September when the 25 man roster expands to a 40 man roster. It should be something exciting to look forward to with our playoff chances dwindling daily.

So what is the big deal? He has 3 big league ready pitches and was named the best pitching prospect in the International League by Baseball America. He backs up the praise of his abilities with his performance.

Last Thursday, Francisco struck out 13 and allowed a single hit in seven innings of work. This year for Rochester he has a record of 6-1 with a 1.62 ERA and a WHIP of 0.74.

Even more amazing than his numbers are the fact that he is only 21 years old. Not to mention left handed. I know that every other team in the Majors will envy our left handed duo of Johan Santana and Francisco Liriano for years to come.

It is interesting to note that Liriano was a piece of what may be remembered as the greatest trade in franchise history. He came over with Joe Nathan for AJ. The Giants had major problems with AJ and he is no longer on their roster while Nathan has become one of the games greatest relievers. If Liriano lives up to his ability, the Giants may never talk to Terry Ryan again.

Deadline Deals

Here are the moves we made:








*crickets chirping*

MorNOOOOOO!

So, a funny thing happened to Justin Morneau on his way to hitting 40 home runs this season. He quit hitting.

Ever since his fast start, when hopes were high, and the White Sox didn't lead the division by 10 games, Justin Morneau has plummeted back down to Earth. His OPS fell with each month that passed.

April: 1.149
May: .757
June: .737

And now with only 10 days remaining on the Month his OPS is at a horrific low.

July: .364

Wait! Sorry, I thought I would make his OPS look a little better by giving the OPS of another 1b. Here is his real number.

July: .489

Despite it being better than the abysmal .364 OPS, Justin's numbers in the month of July are atrocious. There are even a few out there who think that he should go back to AAA. To that I say no. This is not something he will sort out in AAA. The problem with Justin Morneau is that he has a hard time readjusting to major league pitching after they adjust to him. Even before this season, Justin Morneau has had problems adjusting. He starts off with a bang, and once pitchers go over film and find holes in his swing, they exploit it and he has a difficult time adjusting. He will not adjust to major league pitching in AAA. If anything he will just kill AAA pitchers and get a boost of confidence. It will not solve the problem.

So for now we must ride out the storm. He cannot hit much worse than he currently is, so things have to look up. I may be premature in saying this, but it is time to find out what kind of player we have in Justin Morneau. He will either sink or swim. As a big fan of Justin Morneau, I hope he swims. The Twins are lost without him.

By the way, if you were wondering the name of the first baseman that is posting a .364 OPS then I can reply with a spelling exercise.

M-I-E-N-T-K-I-E-W-I-C-Z

So remember.... It could be worse.

ZING!

Brad Radke got a letter on Dodgers letterhead suggesting he serve as Hee Seop Choi's pitcher in the Home Run Derby. Trouble is, the note really was sent by jokester Torii Hunter. Just in case Radke had forgotten about those three homers he gave up to Choi in a game earlier this season.

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