Thursday, September 20, 2007

Twins status report: Good news/Bad news

Good news: Garza got his first home victory last night after 10 straight home losses.
Bad news: Garza struggled to beat the Texas Rangers, who had already lost 81 times this season.

Bad news: Neshek has a sore shoulder.
Good news: He has all winter to recover.

Bad news: Mauer and Morneau combined have about 60 fewer runs batted in than they did last year.
Good news: There isn’t any. Mauer’s been hurt but even when healthy enough to play has looked tired or distracted at the plate. Morneau has just not been very good. He never managed to balance the inevitable slumps with any hot streaks.

Bad news: Punto is one of the worst hitters in baseball. Among third basemen, he ranks last in batting average, next-to-last in on-base percentage, last in slugging percentage, and last in on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS).
More bad news: Punto has already been anointed as the starting 2nd baseman for next year.

Bad news: Ticket prices will be increased next year.
Good news: Scalping is now legal in Minnesota.

Bad news: The general manager quit.
Good news (maybe): Ryan’s departure may have sent a message to the penurious Pohlads. Probably not, though.

Bad news: Hennepin County still doesn’t own the land on which the new ballpark is being built.
Good news: Somebody is going to get rich off this deal. I do not begrudge anyone anything in this sordid affair. The deal stinks and nobody – not the landowners, the politicians, the team owners, or the Commissioner – can claim any moral high ground.

Good News: Hunter has had a career year (slightly better than his 2002 season).
Bad News: Hunter will be a free agent in a few weeks. This is only bad news for the fans. I enjoy watching Hunter play and would miss him if he leaves the Twins. But loyalty is a long-dead sentiment in major league baseball. It’s a little like Winfield leaving the Padres years ago. San Diegans were upset, but time has healed those wounds. Some Minnesota fans have forgotten that Killebrew, the face of the franchise, left the Twins and played his final year in Kansas City in part because of the skinflintiness of then-owner Calvin Griffith. Fans were disappointed, but they understood, and Killebrew is still a valued member of the Twins family.

Bad news: 2007 (see especially S. Ponson, R. Ortiz, and J. Cirillo)
Good news: Spring training 2008.

2 comments:

  1. Well, the Punto move to second base must be so that he compares better with those at the same position, since he obviously wasn't stirring anything up at the plate compared to other third basemen.

    Right?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Brendon:

    When did you become an apologist for R. Gardenhire? Your optimism is uncharacteristic. Please try to more caustic and spleeniferous in the future.

    Thanks...

    ReplyDelete

I treid comment moderation but it was clumsy. I still reserve the right to delete offensive comments, so be nice.