Thursday, February 21, 2008
Johan Santana
Alright, I think its time I finally tackle this one. The Minnesota Twins traded Jo-hizzle to the Mets for four prospects. Gomez has the most name recognition, while reports are saying Guerra could be the best one. I don't really care. Now, before I get all excited, I'm not knocking the Twins organization for this trade. They traded Santana before the season, which was a good move, got him out of the AL, which can't hurt, and they got some talent back for him. Besides, these guys know a lot more than I do about Santana, Gomez, Guerra, Mulvey, and Humber. I have no doubt the Twins got the best offer available to them at that time. I think the Twins biggest mistake was not getting someone who is ready to play center. That's not to say the Twins aren't prepared for this year. They have three young guys fighting for the spot, plus four corner guys who are proven big leaguers. One of them, probably Young or Monroe, could play center. Monroe is good buds with the recently departed Torii Hunter and has shown interest in getting a shot to play center inside the giant inflatable toilet. The reason this is a problem is that the Twins will try a bunch of guys out in center, and probably use an older guy at first, thus blocking the progress of a younger player. Its like signing Ponson last year. He just got in the way. And when you're that fat, you're hard to move. But other than that, I'm fine with this trade. And I'm not so sure that there isn't something wrong with Santana. The Yankees and Sox passed on him when the asking price wasn't that high. The best pitcher in baseball, on the right side of thirty, and they can't do better than the Mets? Something smells funny. I think the Twins wanted to unload him before signs started popping up during the season. I mean, he gave up thirty some dingers last year. That's a bit of a caution flag. His fast ball is slowing down, and he doesn't throw the slider as much any more. Is he a one trick pony? Alright, his one trick would be like a pony pulling an elephant out its ass. That changeup is good. But can he dominate with one pitch? I don't know. That's what we'll find out this year I guess.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Spring Training Thoughts
Ahhhhh..... Atlast, my favorite season is upon us... that's right, Baseball season. Spring Training is under way across Florida and Arizona, and I couldn't be more excited. There's so much going on this year and I have a lot to say about it. I'm saving my biggest one, the Santana trade, for last. First off, I want to talk about what teams I'm excited about this year.
The Mets - Who isn't excited about them this year. They got the best pitcher in the game, Pedro claims his arm feels better than it has in ten years, and they still have a bunch of young talented players. Uh, last I checked, Pedro won quite a bit of hardware over the last decade. I know he's not going to be able to throw it 95 any more, but every Mets fan must be excited about him being able to throw more than five innings and 80 pitches. Here's my biggest problem with them though. Reyes is saying he's getting rid of the handshakes. Oh-Kaaaaayyy... what's that gonna do? Is that why you broke down at the end of the season? I know it's hard to memorize a bunch of handshakes and steal around 70 bases, but can't you do like The Manny Ramirez and take a month off around August, when you aren't really needed, then come back strong and ready to go for the post season? Worked well or him. Hell, the way he performed in the playoffs last year, and if he can do it again this year, is going to keep him making twenty plus million a year.
The Angels - First of all, I have to say, Torii Hunter for 90 mil is a bad deal. But if it gets the Angels to loosen up, have some fun, and it keeps Big Bad Vlad happy, who gives a damn? The Angels are ready to handle any injury to the outfield with very capable replacements or steroids fall out. (On a side note, does it bother any one else that the "steroids scandal" is now just referred to as "PED". Can't someone come up with a better way to talk about steroids and HGH than PED? It sounds too close to PDA, and if we start getting PDA conspiracies in baseball, then we have a problem.) Also, the Angels got a nice pitcher pick up in Jon Garland. I've never been a huge fan of Garland, but he's reliable and can give a team a boost as long as he isn't one of your top pitchers.
Milwaukee Brewers - Little bias here because I have now been living in Milwaukee for three and a half years. But the Brewers do make this list while my beloved Twins are left to the "intrigued, but not excited about this year" pile. Actually, the Twins remain on a permanent pedestal in my heart and will always excite me, even if we have a 260 pound guy named Boof as our number two starter and God knows who playing center, third, short, and second. But that's OK! This is Twins Territory! The Brewers are doing what the Twins did 8 years ago and are trying to so again. Building with a lot of young, talented guys who grew up together. They get along great and can lean on each other for support. If Brittle Ben Sheets could ever put together a year without throwing out his shoulder, getting a blister, pulling a hamstring, quad, shoulder, or back muscle, the Brewers would be locks for the central division. That's right. If Brittle Ben is healthy this year, I guarantee I'll be drinking Miller Lite and eating a Polish Sausage at Miller Park in October. Count it.
Teams with a lot of hype that won't be that exciting or, for that matter, good.
Yankees - I'm not saying they'll miss the playoffs. But this team is going to have a rough year. Pettite might as well retire and move to Alaska. This guy could not be in a worse situation. He followed Roger Clemens all over America for the past several years, then finally says "hey, F-you Roger. You ate all my thin mints back in 2000 and I'm still mad about it! Remember when you told me about taking HGH? Guess who I'm gonna tell." A Rod will do his thing.... bash fifty homers and a hundred and a million RBI's, bat three something, and still wonder how to win games by himself. Phil Hughes and or Ian Kennedy will choke big time against the Mets or Sox or anyone and all of New York, and especially that Steinbrenner cat, will start asking why the number one selling jersey in the world isn't pinstripes, the number 57, and Santana stitched across the back. Wait, do the mets have pinstripes? Hughes and Kennedy will lose it because they're young and if they aren't as good as or better than Santana, no one will like them. Young pitchers don't like that. I just hope Posada buys some Kleenex with all that money he got this year.
Cardinals - They were winning a hundred games not too long ago, but are a train wreck now. Aside for Pujols, they don't have much. There is one reason I will pay attention to them though. Juan Gone is trying to come back. It's either going to be another train wreck (like the team as a whole) or he's going to remind everyone why he was once considered among the best hitters in the game. Either way, I'm tuning in, at least for a little while.
Seattle - Yeah, they spent a lot of money this offseason. Yeah, they look like a better team. But they still don't have a big threat in the middle of the lineup. Their pitchers are ok. Hernandez I think still has a ways to go before he's in the Ace category. Bedard can strike some guys out, but I'm not convinced he's an ace either. Did anyone ever hear of him until last year? And then he got hurt. I want to see him stay together and put up good numbers for another year before I decide he's the real deal. And I've watched Silva for a few years. Yeah, the guy is going to pitch a bunch of innings and play decent. Unless he doesn't. Which he could do. As soon as he loses it for one game, its gone for a LOOOOONG time, maybe even the whole year. He lacks confidence, can't finish games because he's in bad shape, and gets sick all the time because he can't handle big games. Yeah, here's 48 million. The toilet and trainers room are down the hall to the left, next to the motivational speaker's office. Call us when you're ready.
Well I have to go do some actual work that doesn't involve sports so I'm not excited about it. More baseball soon, with an in depth look at Johan Santana, the trade, and the state of the Twins (and Minnesota).
The Mets - Who isn't excited about them this year. They got the best pitcher in the game, Pedro claims his arm feels better than it has in ten years, and they still have a bunch of young talented players. Uh, last I checked, Pedro won quite a bit of hardware over the last decade. I know he's not going to be able to throw it 95 any more, but every Mets fan must be excited about him being able to throw more than five innings and 80 pitches. Here's my biggest problem with them though. Reyes is saying he's getting rid of the handshakes. Oh-Kaaaaayyy... what's that gonna do? Is that why you broke down at the end of the season? I know it's hard to memorize a bunch of handshakes and steal around 70 bases, but can't you do like The Manny Ramirez and take a month off around August, when you aren't really needed, then come back strong and ready to go for the post season? Worked well or him. Hell, the way he performed in the playoffs last year, and if he can do it again this year, is going to keep him making twenty plus million a year.
The Angels - First of all, I have to say, Torii Hunter for 90 mil is a bad deal. But if it gets the Angels to loosen up, have some fun, and it keeps Big Bad Vlad happy, who gives a damn? The Angels are ready to handle any injury to the outfield with very capable replacements or steroids fall out. (On a side note, does it bother any one else that the "steroids scandal" is now just referred to as "PED". Can't someone come up with a better way to talk about steroids and HGH than PED? It sounds too close to PDA, and if we start getting PDA conspiracies in baseball, then we have a problem.) Also, the Angels got a nice pitcher pick up in Jon Garland. I've never been a huge fan of Garland, but he's reliable and can give a team a boost as long as he isn't one of your top pitchers.
Milwaukee Brewers - Little bias here because I have now been living in Milwaukee for three and a half years. But the Brewers do make this list while my beloved Twins are left to the "intrigued, but not excited about this year" pile. Actually, the Twins remain on a permanent pedestal in my heart and will always excite me, even if we have a 260 pound guy named Boof as our number two starter and God knows who playing center, third, short, and second. But that's OK! This is Twins Territory! The Brewers are doing what the Twins did 8 years ago and are trying to so again. Building with a lot of young, talented guys who grew up together. They get along great and can lean on each other for support. If Brittle Ben Sheets could ever put together a year without throwing out his shoulder, getting a blister, pulling a hamstring, quad, shoulder, or back muscle, the Brewers would be locks for the central division. That's right. If Brittle Ben is healthy this year, I guarantee I'll be drinking Miller Lite and eating a Polish Sausage at Miller Park in October. Count it.
Teams with a lot of hype that won't be that exciting or, for that matter, good.
Yankees - I'm not saying they'll miss the playoffs. But this team is going to have a rough year. Pettite might as well retire and move to Alaska. This guy could not be in a worse situation. He followed Roger Clemens all over America for the past several years, then finally says "hey, F-you Roger. You ate all my thin mints back in 2000 and I'm still mad about it! Remember when you told me about taking HGH? Guess who I'm gonna tell." A Rod will do his thing.... bash fifty homers and a hundred and a million RBI's, bat three something, and still wonder how to win games by himself. Phil Hughes and or Ian Kennedy will choke big time against the Mets or Sox or anyone and all of New York, and especially that Steinbrenner cat, will start asking why the number one selling jersey in the world isn't pinstripes, the number 57, and Santana stitched across the back. Wait, do the mets have pinstripes? Hughes and Kennedy will lose it because they're young and if they aren't as good as or better than Santana, no one will like them. Young pitchers don't like that. I just hope Posada buys some Kleenex with all that money he got this year.
Cardinals - They were winning a hundred games not too long ago, but are a train wreck now. Aside for Pujols, they don't have much. There is one reason I will pay attention to them though. Juan Gone is trying to come back. It's either going to be another train wreck (like the team as a whole) or he's going to remind everyone why he was once considered among the best hitters in the game. Either way, I'm tuning in, at least for a little while.
Seattle - Yeah, they spent a lot of money this offseason. Yeah, they look like a better team. But they still don't have a big threat in the middle of the lineup. Their pitchers are ok. Hernandez I think still has a ways to go before he's in the Ace category. Bedard can strike some guys out, but I'm not convinced he's an ace either. Did anyone ever hear of him until last year? And then he got hurt. I want to see him stay together and put up good numbers for another year before I decide he's the real deal. And I've watched Silva for a few years. Yeah, the guy is going to pitch a bunch of innings and play decent. Unless he doesn't. Which he could do. As soon as he loses it for one game, its gone for a LOOOOONG time, maybe even the whole year. He lacks confidence, can't finish games because he's in bad shape, and gets sick all the time because he can't handle big games. Yeah, here's 48 million. The toilet and trainers room are down the hall to the left, next to the motivational speaker's office. Call us when you're ready.
Well I have to go do some actual work that doesn't involve sports so I'm not excited about it. More baseball soon, with an in depth look at Johan Santana, the trade, and the state of the Twins (and Minnesota).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)