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C(wh)or(e)porate Schmorporate
It'd be a tragedy of Elizabethian proportions for us not to say something about our namesake getting re-upped for next season. Torii Hunter in a contract year? It's like deja vu all over again. I, for one, think that given the circumstances (1 yr, 12 mil for those not in the know -- and with Terry Ryan reporting yesterday that the payroll is likely to increase slightly next year too) justice has been done here. Sure, we're biased. We don't want to have to change our name to Monday's with Morneau, because frankly, that doesn't make a lot of sense. Unless Mitch Albom pens a new novel in the very near future. But without inside knowledge of the situation, Two I's alleged falling off in the field this year (bronze glove fielding?) could as easily be due to injury as past-his-primeness. I mean, I've never broken my ankle on the Green Monster before, but I'd be willing to guess it takes a little time to recover from that. Add in his monster-like performance at the plate the last six weeks of the season, and I think it's a done deal.
Of course, this is all qualified with the statement that any season-long, long-term contract begging, thereby cancer-izing the Twins clubhouse next year by the Soul Patrol's finest immediately reverses my stance. I'm like Norm Coleman or an obstinate acrobat that way. I flip when I want to.
In other news, baseball is still going on. It was news to me too. Seriously though, this version of the baseball playoffs has been pretty intriguing so far. The evil MFY's have been eliminated, yet somehow an irresponsible rumor monger kept them in the spotlight for just a moment longer. The other Torre is still where he belongs. And who are you trying to fool? There's a better chance that Barry Bonds is innocent then an A-Rod trade this off-season. The A's are doing there best Twins impression so far in the ALCS, and the Tigers their best...well, First-Half of the 2006 Season Tigers impression. Large market loving front-running types can still pretend that the Mets are an underdog, because (shockingly) their geriatric pitching staff is stuck in the pharmacy line waiting for their Medicare checks to come through, while Cardinals fans finally have some reason for optimism again. Pujols is Tivo-able by himself. While there is admittedly evil in the playoffs (Larussa's ego, NY's payroll, Billy Beane's Billy Beane-ness), there is plenty to care about. I just hope when they dump Gatorade on Jim Leyland's corpse later this month, he remembers how to smile.
Lastly, this piece of news from the (hated) White Sux camp. Are you kidding me? I was just starting to like you guys (not really) and now you go and do something like this? Now, I really hate you (more). How much do I have to donate in ad dollars for you to relist everyone in the program as 6'2"?
Oh, and by the way...TWT isn't going anywhere for the winter. It's snowing outside and I'm scared to go out there. We will instead heat ourselves with the warm glowing warming glow of our laptops.
13 comments:
Jim Leyland has already warned his team that if they dump a bucket of gatorade on him, they all have to buy him a carton of Camels.
(Pssst...the Green Monster's in left field)
Bringing T-nuts back makes sense for one reason above all else...who else were we going to put out there?
Yeah, like monsters don't move around.
Point well taken about Two I's lack of replacement. Gleeman's talking about the possibility of him as a corner outfielder today, but that sounds kind of like cookoo talk to me. I'm not convinced his defense is slipping if he comes back completely healthy.
P.S. You KNOW Leyland smokes Marlboro Reds. You know dis. Man.
I do not believe Torii's "slip" in the outfield was season long. I believe it started after he came back at the beginning of August from the re-injury of the ankle. Do you remember that catch he made in left-center at the beginning of the season? My opinion, his best catch all-time. He did have 1/2 his SB's in the month of September which tells me the speed is coming back. So, Gleeman is an idiot for putting him anywhere by center. Period, dont' comment about it.
He's back and it's good for many reasons, intangible and tangible. I think most people agree this is fine. Might be high, but at least we aren't paying Guzman $4 mill per year. As Reggie Bush would say, "That was dumb."
Maybe I should get a Torii jersey? Willy's got one.
I like how you're really getting a hang of this posting thing now, Smitty..."period...don't comment about it"
I think you should get a Jason Kubel jersey...pretty sure they'll be affordable.
Speaking of Norm Coleman...who's your pick to throw out the first pitch at the new park? Senator Klobuchar? Vice President Pawlenty? Homeless and unemployed Kevin McHale?
I pick Harmon.
Butch Harmon?
Angie
Kaiser, another good post. I think you guys are way off. Leyland is actually down wit da homeys and smokes Philly blunts. When in public, though, it's a pack of Luckys. And you know he has a flask of cheap scotch in his back pocket.
Smitty, why the hostility? Torii in center, okay, okay, got it. Gosh, you don't have to get all violent.
Kais, I have to disagree about the trade/non trade of Gay-Rod. The other day Cashman says, "Alex is with us next year, and we look forward to having him with us." That is GM speak for, "we haven't gotten the right call yet, but when it comes we will unload his ass quicker than a bad hooker." I don't know if teams will offer enough for the "MFY" to give him up, but they will definitley entertain the offers.
And, Smitty, while Billy Beane is an egotistical maniac (hey, who hasn't been there), he is also a genius. He changed a lot of the way scouting is done, and has really shown small market teams (including, to some extent, your Twins) how to win with a small payroll in todays game. He has also gotten 2 of his assistant GMs who aren't baseball people (Ricciardi and Depodesta) hired by other teams (Blue Jays and Dodgers, respectively) in the last 5 years. Hasn't worked out for them, but that is because they are not BB and can't work everything (draft, trades, etc) to get exactly who they want the way he can. He is, hands down, the best in the business.
Kais, sorry to put that one on this comment, but I have a slower internet than Smitty's mom's cookin on a Sunday afternoon (yeah, you know what I'm talkin about) and had to put it all in one. Peace.
Why do you have to talk about Mom Smith? Do I need to go blue dress (inside joke)?
Whatever about Beane. I think he's add a new style and some ways to technices in analyzing players, but it ant the tell all. Still need scouts and still need a good philosphy when drafting and trading. I know the Dodger & BJ GM are Bean-boys. Dodgers have some really good, young talent (Ethier, Billingsly) and made some nice trades (Belmet) but the BJ's are no different then the Red Sox or Yankees. They buy their talent. Not very Bean-like.
Smitty, I think you're misconstruing what it is that makes Billy Beane successful...something that a lot of people have done since Moneyball came out. I don't think he IS locked into a system...a la your "bean-like" comment. It's his ability to adapt to his payroll and what the game is giving him. He's stated recently that the reason he was so keyed on college players for a time (as reported in Moneyball), while most of MLB was looking for high-potential high schoolers was precisely BECAUSE everyone else was looking at high-schoolers. He couldn't afford the market, so he found value elsewhere...in this case, experienced college players that he could get cheaply. Now that the pendulum is swinging back (partly because of him), he's now directing his scouting department to redirect their focus. That's the "genius"...adaptability. Moneyball is bullshit...Billy Beane is not.
Hops,
I think you killed it, seriously, well done.
My biggest problem with Moneyball and why I would tend to concur with the "Bullshit" assessment is that Michael Lewis spends an inordinate amount of time discussing how BB was able to find guys that others had given up on, specifically ENTIRE chapters devoted to Scott Hatteberg and Chad Bradford. It was implied that this was Beane's brilliance and the key to the success of Beane and the A's. Meanwhile the following players barely get mentioned or are glossed over. Barry Zito, Mark Mulder, Tim Hudson, Eric Chavez, and Miguel Tejada.
Yes, it was Bradford and Hatteberg that were the key cogs in that machine. I agree, BS.
That being said, Beane is a legit GM and there is something to the statistical methods used by the A's.
On a related note, anyone check out that book that came out a year or so ago, "Baseball Between the Numbers?"
Reviews? I know Pooh mentioned it on his blog awhile back, anyone else?
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