(I'll write about the Favre thing some other time. I'm sick of it, everyone's sick of it, and the silver lining is that it's one step closer to Brad Childress being fired. Let's move on to more aggravating issues.)
I know I've already written about this, but we're past the point where it can be overstated: DEAR GOD CAN WE PLEASE GET A MIDDLE INFIELDER?!?
It's been well documented how atrocious Nick Punto, Matt Tolbert and Alexi Casilla have been through 101 games this year, but... what if we combined their powers to build a SUPER Twins infielder, a conglomerate of suck. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the Sultan of Scrappiness, General Get-After-It... Nicki Puntolbersilla!
491 spell-binding at-bats produced...
92 hits!
15 extra-base hits!
2 home runs!
41 RBI!
69 walks!
92 strikeouts!
A .187 batting average with a .281 on-base percentage!
(By the way, it is astounding to me that Casilla was the guy that broke up Buehrle's bid for a 2nd perfect game in a row last night. That's why baseball's awesome.)
Throw in an average OPS+ of 40 between all three, and you have by far the worst middle infielder this side of Tony Pena Jr. The Twins would be better off if they dragged Steve Lombardozzi out of retirement. Speaking of which...
Looking up those guys' stats made me realize something. The Twins haven't developed an even passable middle infielder that stuck around longer than one season since Chuck Knoblauch and Pat Meares were the everyday starters in 1997. And just to clear things up a bit, these guys were not products of the Twins farm system: Christian Guzman, Luis Castillo, Brent Gates, Brendan Harris, Juan Castro, Jay Canizaro, Augie Ojeda, and Adam Everett. All of those guys were clearly way too good (read: Major League average) to be from the Twins organization. Except Jay Canizaro. He could've fooled me.
(I know Punto also isn't a product of the Twins system, but he might as well be, since he fits exactly what they're apparently looking for.)
Todd Walker - It seems really weird that the Twins would use a 1st round draft pick on a 2nd baseman, but they did in 1994. Walker produced in his first chance to be the everyday starter in 1998, but petered out a bit the next season as every single statistical category dropped off somewhat. I remember there being grumblings at the time that Walker was hard to work with because he didn't fit the "Twins way". He was traded in 2000 to make room for... well, no one. He had a decent journeyman career and put up some okay numbers for the Cubs.
Denny Hocking - Taken in the 52nd round of the 1989 draft. I know every joke has been made about how many rounds the MLB draft has, but dear god, 52 rounds?!? Who else was drafted, the kid from "Rookie of the Year"? Anyway, he was a career utility player who hit .257/.316/.359 (batting average/on-base/slugging) when he had at least 200 plate appearances. I would kill for that now. But still, I doubt he would've started for any team except the total dregs of the league (which the Twins were at that time).
Alex Prieto - Yeah, not much to see here.
Cleatus Davidson - Who?
Luis Rivas - Between 2001 and 2005, Tom Powers wrote about 174 columns about "when it's going to click for Rivas." Suffice to say, it never really did. Again, he was better than what the Twins have now, but I don't see him starting for very many other teams even in his better years.
Luis Rodriguez - The Latino Denny Hocking.
Jason Bartlett - Traded to the Twins as a AA prospect so its a stretch to include him here, but I just wanted to be the 979,000 person to point out how utterly foolish it was of the Twins to give up on him so quickly. "Whoa whoa whoa, wait a sec, we can't have a shortstop hitting .265, that's CRAZY!"
Tommy Watkins - Here's a sampling of what middle infielders the Twins have in Rochester!
Matt Tolbert and Alexi Casilla - See beginning of column.
The usually reliable Aaron Gleeman makes a "Top 40 Twins prospects" list every offseason. Shockingly, his 2009 list features two second baseman: Reggie Williams and Steve Singleton. Okay, they're #33 and #36 on the list, but still. It's too early to tell with Williams, but Singleton has struggled to get out of Single A and appears to be on par with the above guys I've listed. That's a relief.
Evidently, it's not the "Twins way" to bother developing middle infielders. Nicki Puntolbersilla is proof of when this method goes terribly wrong.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Blitherings
Random crap while it's on my mind...
- The rarest of the rare is happening this week: a sports story that I don't think has been talked up enough. Now that Wings/Pens is going to a Game 7, it's especially unique for one guy in particular - Marian Hossa. After spurning the Pens to sign with the Wings last offseason for a "better chance to win a cup", we'll find out if he made the right decision Friday night. I'm not sure this situation has EVER happened before, in any sport. Drama that great can't be manufactured.
- Speaking of no coverage, it's been a weird past couple months following the Stanley Cup and NBA playoffs - well, in the case of NBA, there's a lot less in terms of "watching" and more "reading about it and watching highlights online". As everyone knows, the NBA is inescapable thanks to its relationship with ESPN. The quality of the on-air product however is as brutal as ever, thanks to the atrocious officiating. I know it's en vogue to bitch about the refs these days, but games are turning into unwatchable dreck. Thirty seconds can't even go by without a stoppage, seemingly. The players come off, somewhat understandably, as clueless as to what to expect. It makes for awful TV.
Meanwhile, the NHL is letting anything and everything go. Although it gets a bit absurd at times, I'd much rather see the refs swallow the whistle and let the players decide who wins, rather than pull the "Everyone in here paid to see ME call penalties!" routine.
For further comparison, the NHL is like one of those underappreciated cult bands - undeniably talented and entertaining but never caught on with the mainstream, puts on a great live show, but are stuck with a total douchebag lead singer (Gary Bettman).
The NBA is closer to Guns N Roses. You can't deny the classics they produced. I loved the Use Your Illusion albums as much as I loved watching Jordan. But man... when the shit hit the fan, it got ugly fast. Neither has recovered and both are struggling for a new identity.
- I'm convinced the Twins would have one of the best lineups in baseball if they even had average players in the 7-8-9 spots. Instead, here's who they've trotted out:
Nick Punto
Delmon Young
Matt Tolbert
Brendan Harris
Carlos Gomez
Alexi Casilla
Brian Buscher
The average OPS+ among those seven guys in 2008 is 95, slightly below average (100). That's really not that bad. Add those numbers to the years Mauer, Morneau and Kubel are having, along with newcomer Joe Crede, and you can build a contender with that lineup.
This year's OPS+ for that group? 57. 57!!! That could be historically bad. Yes we're only one third into the season, blah blah blah, but dear god, even the mighty Rey Ordonez didn't have an OPS+ that low when he played a full season. Jason Tyner's career OPS+ is 70. Yes, the 7-8-9 spots in the lineup would be slightly better if the Twins had three Jason Tyners. Hell, remove Brendan Harris and the average slips to seven points to 50. Ye gods.
Even more distressing: in 2008, that group of seven players combined for 188 extra-base hits. So far in 2009, they have 38. That's on pace for 104 in a full season, or 16 for each player. Ten players have already hit at least 16 home runs this year. 34 players have already hit at least 16 doubles. Even Ozzie Smith throughout his career hit at least 23 extra-base hits every season.
Bill Smith, the bottom of the Twins lineup is P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C. Something needs to be done if this team wants to be taken seriously. Send Delmon and two other prospects to Houston for LaTroy Hawkins (I can't believe I'm saying that) and a middle infielder who can help NOW.
- The rarest of the rare is happening this week: a sports story that I don't think has been talked up enough. Now that Wings/Pens is going to a Game 7, it's especially unique for one guy in particular - Marian Hossa. After spurning the Pens to sign with the Wings last offseason for a "better chance to win a cup", we'll find out if he made the right decision Friday night. I'm not sure this situation has EVER happened before, in any sport. Drama that great can't be manufactured.
- Speaking of no coverage, it's been a weird past couple months following the Stanley Cup and NBA playoffs - well, in the case of NBA, there's a lot less in terms of "watching" and more "reading about it and watching highlights online". As everyone knows, the NBA is inescapable thanks to its relationship with ESPN. The quality of the on-air product however is as brutal as ever, thanks to the atrocious officiating. I know it's en vogue to bitch about the refs these days, but games are turning into unwatchable dreck. Thirty seconds can't even go by without a stoppage, seemingly. The players come off, somewhat understandably, as clueless as to what to expect. It makes for awful TV.
Meanwhile, the NHL is letting anything and everything go. Although it gets a bit absurd at times, I'd much rather see the refs swallow the whistle and let the players decide who wins, rather than pull the "Everyone in here paid to see ME call penalties!" routine.
For further comparison, the NHL is like one of those underappreciated cult bands - undeniably talented and entertaining but never caught on with the mainstream, puts on a great live show, but are stuck with a total douchebag lead singer (Gary Bettman).
The NBA is closer to Guns N Roses. You can't deny the classics they produced. I loved the Use Your Illusion albums as much as I loved watching Jordan. But man... when the shit hit the fan, it got ugly fast. Neither has recovered and both are struggling for a new identity.
- I'm convinced the Twins would have one of the best lineups in baseball if they even had average players in the 7-8-9 spots. Instead, here's who they've trotted out:
Nick Punto
Delmon Young
Matt Tolbert
Brendan Harris
Carlos Gomez
Alexi Casilla
Brian Buscher
The average OPS+ among those seven guys in 2008 is 95, slightly below average (100). That's really not that bad. Add those numbers to the years Mauer, Morneau and Kubel are having, along with newcomer Joe Crede, and you can build a contender with that lineup.
This year's OPS+ for that group? 57. 57!!! That could be historically bad. Yes we're only one third into the season, blah blah blah, but dear god, even the mighty Rey Ordonez didn't have an OPS+ that low when he played a full season. Jason Tyner's career OPS+ is 70. Yes, the 7-8-9 spots in the lineup would be slightly better if the Twins had three Jason Tyners. Hell, remove Brendan Harris and the average slips to seven points to 50. Ye gods.
Even more distressing: in 2008, that group of seven players combined for 188 extra-base hits. So far in 2009, they have 38. That's on pace for 104 in a full season, or 16 for each player. Ten players have already hit at least 16 home runs this year. 34 players have already hit at least 16 doubles. Even Ozzie Smith throughout his career hit at least 23 extra-base hits every season.
Bill Smith, the bottom of the Twins lineup is P-A-T-H-E-T-I-C. Something needs to be done if this team wants to be taken seriously. Send Delmon and two other prospects to Houston for LaTroy Hawkins (I can't believe I'm saying that) and a middle infielder who can help NOW.
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