Blog-O-Lantern
The yearly tradition of carving one insanely complicated jack-o-lantern continues!
Sunday, October 30, 2005
Friday, October 28, 2005
The Crack Of In The Bat
Fourth Pew Center recently dropped me a line to ask:
So, how come so many broken bats these days? Did they outsource the manufacturing to China?
(Seriously. There really are more than I remember from The Good Ol' Days)
My knee-jerk answer is: Well, yeah, probably they did outsource or otherwise cheapen the bat-making process. Is anything made the way it used to be? Why put out a quality product when people will buy more of a cheap product AND have to replace it more often because of the higher breakage rate?
And I've been told, though I can't recall by whom, that bats break more because hitters and pitchers are stronger--something to do with opposing shockwaves and the relative stregth of each vs. the grain of the wood. A stronger swing against a harder pitch = more stress on the bat = more breaks. Makes sense, I suppose.
So. Anyone out there know the scoop?
Still on deck:
2005 - what went right? Read More
Wednesday, October 26, 2005
Another Ironic Use of "Free"
Free agents. Definitely not free. Often quite expensive, at least the ones you really want.
Are there any "free" agent hitters out there who could help the Twins next year? Sure. Any we can afford? There's the question.
Here are the free agents I know about, along with their 2005 team, salary, OBP, OPS and position. More players will become free agents as the offseason goes on, as teams decline options and contract negotiations go south, but the guys below are (at least technically) available.
| 2005 | |||||||
| Player | Team | Position | Age | Salary | OBP | OPS | Bats |
| Mike Piazza | NYM | C | 37 | $16,071,429 | .326 | .778 | R |
| Paul Konerko | CWS | 1B | 29 | $8,750,000 | .375 | .909 | R |
| Brian Giles | SD | OF | 34 | $8,063,003 | .423 | .906 | L |
| Hideki Matsui | NYY | OF | 31 | $8,000,000 | .367 | .863 | L |
| Kevin Millar | BOS | 1B | 34 | $3,500,000 | .355 | .754 | R |
| Bill Mueller | BOS | 3B | 34 | $2,500,000 | .369 | .799 | S |
| Joe Randa | CIN/SD | 3B | 36 | $2,150,000 | .335 | .787 | R |
| Mark Grudzielanek | STL | 2B | 35 | $1,000,000 | .334 | .747 | R |
| John Olerud | BOS | 1B | 37 | ~$750,000* | .344 | .795 | L |
We can't afford Mike Piazza. Even with Joe Mays' salary burning a hole in the organization's pocket, we probably can't afford anyone who made over $8 million last year, unless ol' Carl is willing to pony up some cash. Although I sure wouldn't mind seeing "P. Konerko - DH" on our lineup cards next year...
Millar and Mueller both look like bargains to me, if they ask for anything near their 2005 salaries. We sure could use a third baseman, and though most people seem to be hoping for a power bat, after last year I'm perfectly happy with a guy who gets on base at a good clip. Joe Randa looks like a similar bargain on first glance, and while I certainly wouldn't mind aquiring him, for the money I'd rather have the younger guy who switch hits.
We've also got a vacancy at second, and lo and behold there's a pretty cheap option with some decent numbers coming on the market. But we do have a few cheaper internal candidates (Cuddyer, Punto, Rodriguez), so I'm guessing it would take more power than Grudzielanek has shown to convince the Twins to eat the extra salary.
As it stands now, the Twins' best shot at acquiring more power will be in trade. But more free agents will be entering the market in the coming weeks, and some could be pleasant surprises. We'll check back when and if anyone interesting crops up.
On deck:
2005 - what went right? Read More
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Weekend Knitblogging
So I picked up this book called Odd-Ball Knitting, which is full of patterns to use your stash on--you know, that half-skein left over from the shawl you knitted three years ago, or the lone skein of a gorgeous discontinued yarn that you scored for two bucks on clearance? Yeah, that yarn. Too much to throw away, not enough to make a scarf out of.
In the pages of this book, I found my new favorite thing in the world to knit.
Behold.
The catnip mouse.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Tyner, Kubel in Outfield Mix
Twins Sign Tyner to Minor League Deal:
The Twins signed outfielder Jason Tyner to a Minor League contract on Friday.
Tyner batted .321 (18-for-56) in 18 games after being called up to Minnesota on Sept. 2. In 133 games with Triple-A Rochester, he batted .286 with 18 doubles, two triples, one homer and 36 RBIs.
Last week, the club removed Tyner from its 40-man roster. The 28-year-old was originally signed to a Minor League deal last year and invited to Spring Training. It's likely he will be among the invites to big-league camp this spring.
Minnesota also reinstated right-handed pitcher Grant Balfour and outfielder Jason Kubel from the 60-day disabled list. Balfour missed all of 2005 after having ligament replacement surgery on his right elbow in May. He also had surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder on Sept. 29.
Kubel also missed the entire 2005 season recovering from surgery to repair torn anterior and posterior cruciate ligaments in his left knee, an injury he suffered on Oct. 12, 2004, while playing in the Arizona Fall League. The 23-year-old is continuing his rehabilitation playing in the Twins' Instructional League at Fort Myers, Fla.
Raise your hand if you consider the re-signing of Tyner to be evidence that a Torii Hunter trade is not entirely out of the question.
I'm raising mine. Here's why:
I don't believe for a second that Jacque Jones will be a Twin in 2006. And I think his job is earmarked for whichever of Ford and Kubel does best in Spring Training--with the other having a pretty good shot at DH, unless we acquire one via trade or free agency in the offseason. The market's looking a bit slim (which I intend to get into later in the week) so at this point the organization can't count on any such thing, though it's certain they'll try. But trying may require a chunk of the change currently allotted to Hunter's salary.
A trade of Hunter would leave a hole in the outfield. We'd have to get someone (or several someones) really good in trade for Hunter to pull the trigger on a deal, of course. But if a team offered us, say, a good second baseman and a relief pitcher and perhaps a prospect or two, we don't want to pass it by because we're just plain short on outfielders.
The outfield without Hunter and Jones would consist of Stewart and two of Ford, Kubel, Tyner and possibly Cuddyer. One of those four might end up as the DH, and you always want a spare outfielder on the bench if you can swing it. (Nick Punto, though he performed valiantly when called upon, doesn't really count as a fourth outfielder). Then there's the possibility that Cuddyer could be playing third or second next year, which would leave us short in the outfield unless we found another DH. Unless...
Well, you see where I'm going with this. With so much positional uncertainty, a slim free-agent market, and a small pool from which to fill three outfield positions, the Twins made a very smart move with this signing.
Hey, remember when we had so many outfielders we released some just so they'd have a chance to play somewhere? I wonder if Restovich is under contract yet... Read More
Friday, October 14, 2005
Corky On the Hill
You may recall that yesterday I mentioned stumbling across pitching stats for catcher Corky Miller. Was it a mistake, the line for another C Miller of the pitching variety mistakenly attached to the wrong player?
Oh, no. It really happened.
Barons Blast Wings
July 31, 2005
Shane Victorino went 3-for-3 with four RBIs to lead Scranton-Wilkes Barre to a 9-1 victory over Rochester on Sunday at Lackawanna County Stadium.
The Red Barons scored in seven of the eight innings they batted. Victorino belted a two-run homer in the fourth inning to give Scranton-Wilkes Barre a 4-0 lead. He also doubled, singled and scored three runs from the leadoff spot, leaving him a triple shy of the cycle.
Carlos Ruiz led off the seventh with a home run and Victorino's RBI single plated Jim Rushford to make it 8-0.
Danny Sandoval went 3-for-5 with two RBIs and Jorge Padilla added three hits and scored twice to pace the Red Barons' 17-hit attack.
Red Barons starter Gavin Floyd (4-6) pitched eight scoreless innings to earn the win. He gave up four hits and a walk while striking out six. Yoel Hernandez allowed an RBI double to Josh Rabe in the ninth for Red Wings' only run. Rabe went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles -- the only extra-base hits for Rochester.
Rochester starter Ricky Barrett gave up five runs on eight hits in five innings. Jason Miller surrendered three more runs in two innings and catcher Corky Miller served up a home run to Mark Budzinski in the eighth that capped the scoring for Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.
--Tim Leonard/MLB.com
| Corky Miller: Individual Stats (Pitching) 2005 | ||||||||||||||
| W | L | ERA | G | GS | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | SO |
| 0 | 0 | 9.00 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
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