Off the TePoel

So here is one of those exciting new things that we're bringing to Twins MVB in 2009. A new weekly columnist! Off the TePoel is written by a good friend of mine Dain TePoel (sounds like Tea-Pole). Dain is joining the MVB team with a vast knowledge of baseball and deep passion through the good and the bad times of Minnesota Twins Baseball. Plus, Dain will bring MVB a sometimes "biting reality" to Twins baseball. Here is the first installment of Off the TePoel...

Twins 2009...We've got speed, but not so fast!

The Twins have shown they like keeping mediocre crowd pleasers around (see Matthew LeCroy and Lew Ford) but this team needs to start thinking about building a World Series contender as Mauer and Morneau head into their prime, not keeping fan favorites at cheap rates to increase their profit from increased ticket sales in 2010.

Twins General Manager Bill Smith stated on the team's website that signing Mike Redmond was the first step in looking forward to 2009. For a team filled with speed, signing this slow-footed catcher who played in one more game than his age (37) in 2008 accomplishes what exactly? It's negligible. Like eating two or three dollar dogs, heck, just go ahead and have four. It makes no difference.

Twins devotees love Redmond because of his .292 career batting average, clubhouse leadership and installation of the "Smell 'Em" campaign in 2006. He also likes to run around nude in the clubhouse. And Red-dog is sharing the love right back atcha', dome dwellers. The man's career is ending, and he wants to retire a Twin. Awww.

The Twins compete, play his brand of baseball, and in case you hadn't heard, are going to be playing ball in one of them brand new ballparks! Redmond got the memo. "I'm hoping that maybe we can talk about me possibly being there when that new stadium opens in 2010 too." Right. When you're almost 40. But hey, Twins fans just can't get enough of your clutch 2-out singles on those day games, and that's your bargaining plea to not end up a Pittsburgh Pirate.

Are the Twins concerned about winning division titles and championships, or playing baseball just that much closer to Sex World? I'm starting to wonder because after 81 more dome games, this baseball version of the Greatest Show on Turf will be (gasp!) playing on grass. Since 2006, all the Twins have been talking about is the new stadium. Even Torii Hunter as an Angel will be in tears in 2010 when he steps in as the Right Fielder (oh snap!) for his Target Field debut. But have they forgotten about the third of a decade in between?

Look at the Rays in the dome look alike. Remind you of the Twins? And for good reason. They've got speed, good pitching, and excellent defense. But they also have power, a word missing from Twins managements' vocabulary. The Twins need power to balance their offensive prowess.

Punto. Thanks for your dedicated service. Now take a hike. Cuddy, I love you like a brother, but you are not going to hit 25 homers or produce over 100 RBIs ever again. Do you think a Yankees or Red Sox fan would put up with your declining numbers? Sentimental Twins fans don't demand enough from their team, a Minnesota nice flaw. Start asking for a championship every year, just like they do out east and west.

So please, enough warm fuzzies. Mr. Smith, go sign a shortstop and a third baseman. For once, go after the proven producers and bring one more World Series to the beloved marshmallow bubble. Enter Target Field as World Series champs, not happy to be here chumps.

The coupon cutting Twins are one step ahead. Geniuses, really. Why pay that much for a chance at the World Series when the new stadium generates year-after-a World Series attendance on its own? All the Twins need is a team good enough to keep selling tickets after the novelty has worn off.

The Twins are just too good to settle like this. The staff is maturing quickly. The young outfield is fast and dangerous. The bullpen: Mijares, a healthy Neshek, and Nathan. Sounds like W's whipping into Redmond's bullpen catching glove. Gardenhire and Rick Anderson are the best in the game at what they do. They deserve a shot at the Big Show.

Target Field, Twins fans can't wait. But unlike Hubert H., your natural grass, Mankato limestone, and unpredictable weather conditions can't help the home nine Homer Hanky its way to 7th Heaven.

Say it ain't so Santana

Alright MVB readers, I am still alive and I apologize for the long delay. My 10 day long roadtrip with no internet coupled with the fact that I thought if I didn't post about the Johan Santana news maybe it wouldn't come true, leaves me with a very overdue post.

So as everyone knows by now, last Friday, the Twins officially traded ace Johan Santana to the New York Mets when he signed a 6-year extension for $137.5 million. After a Friday, February 1st, 5 pm deadline had passed for the Mets to sign Santana to a deal it took a two hour extenstion for the two sides to agree on a deal.


In return, the Twins received a package of 4 prospects from the Mets: CF Carlos Gomez (22), P Deolis Guerra (18), P Phil Humber (26), and P Kevin Mulvey (22).

I don't need to link you to all the articles reviewing the trade and experts giving their analysis, but many baseball people have deemed the players on the Twins side as undervalue for Santana. Yet, I sympathize with the situation that GM Bill Smith was in. He was caught in between a rock and a hard place, and when it came down to it the New York Mets were really the only team he had left to deal with.

Smith may have overplayed his hand causing the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox to drop out of the race, but in the end it was time for Santana to go. Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire expressed concern over the distraction of bringing Santana back to Spring Training in Fort Myers.

So Santana is gone and the Twins now usher in a new era. I have to admit it would have been nice to see the Yanks' stud pitcher Phil Hughes, the Sox's slick outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury, or even top Met prospect Fernando Martinez come over in a deal, but a trade like this will always seem unfair until years down the road. Maybe Santana will dominate in the NL, win multiple Cy Young awards, take a very good team to World Series, and the four prospects will never pan out for the Twins. But also, maybe Santana will have a couple solid seasons and begin to deteriorate as Gomez replaces Torii Hunter, Mulvey and Humber become solid starters in the rotation, and the young Guerra develops into an ace. Who knows???

For a more in-depth description of the Twins new prospects, Minor League Baseball.com offers a good review.

The Santana deal came shortly after the Twins locked up their young stars Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer. This duo along with star Joe Mauer are now the leaders of this very young club. As Jim Souhan of the Star Tribune writes, the Twins are set to contend in their new ballpark in 2010.

A bulk of my blog posts in the past 3 months have been devoted to Santana and the impending trade. If you want a great review of how this deal came to be and all the rumors and teams in between here is the offseason Santana review.

All and all the deal is a tough one to swallow. It is hard to patient and see if these prospects will contribute someday, and it is even harder to see a great player and class act like Santana leave. I'm happy for Santana as he really came out on top. He's making record money, going to a league with a significantly less quality of hitters, moving to a pitcher's ballpark, and to a team with much more run support. At the same time, the Twins organization has a history of succeeding in large prospect heavy deals like this, ex. Chuck Knoblauch to Yankees for Eric Milton, Christian Guzman and the biggest steal ever A.J. Pierzynksi to the Giants for Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser, and that one kid named Francisco Liriano.

Someday we will know how this deals turns out, but until then I think the 2008 Twins will be young, inexperienced, raw, but very fun to watch.

MVB readers... I'd love to hear your take on the deal in the comments section?

Also, stay tuned for a position by position preview of the 2008 Twins as we prepare for Spring Training.

More work to be done in 2008

Today is January 2, 2008 which means the the Twins office in Minneapolis is finally open again and the organization is back to work. And there is certainly more work to be done...

With so little news to report over the holidays I apologize on the lack of posting. There is still little at the moment, but I predict the month of January to again be very busy for GM Bill Smith and the Minnesota Twins.

In this good piece by Star Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse, GM Smith admits that there is still "one issue" left to resolve. This of course is Santana, there is also some good commentary on the offseason progress of 3 potential starters for the 2008 rotation.

Also, MLB.com gives a 2008 preview of the Minnesota Twins with an offseason recap if you've been left out in the dark.

Keep checking back for more Twins news. Until then, check out the poll about Twins great and witty TV broadcaster, Bert Blyleven. With 287 career wins, 3,701 strikeouts, 60 shutouts, and a 3.90 lifetime ERA... should Blyleven be in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame?

Santana Status Quo

The winter meetings are officially over and GM Bill Smith and his entourage have headed home to the Twin Cities. Most notably, Johan Santana is still wearing a Twins uniform.

Smith had many conversations, lot of players were discussed, and the media made a frenzy of the Santana sweepstakes, but in the end Smith and the Twins were not satisfied with their offers. Does this mean Santana will be a Twin when the 2008 season starts? Not so fast...talks have stalled for now, but expect many more rumors in the next couple weeks.

ESPN's Buster Olney says the Santana discussions are far from over. Of all the potential suitors, Olney still feels the Red Sox are the favorite to acquire the All-Star pitcher.

The New York Mets have joined the Santana fray along with the Red Sox and many people still believe the New York Yankees are in on the talk although they claim they are done discussing Santana. Reports also claim the Seattle Mariners have explored deals for the Twins' pitcher while both the Los Angeles Dodgers and Angels seems to be on the outside looking in. Fox Sport's Dayn Perry breaks down all the possible Santana deals.

Meanwhile... PIC OF THE DAY!


What do you think of Torii's new digs?

Twins patient with Santana

It's day 3 of the Winter Meetings and as you all know the Twins haven't been in the headlines for anything but rumors. Santana is still wearing number 57 for the Twins and personally, I'm ok with that. The only headlines so far at the meeting go to AL Central rivals, the Detroit Tigers, for their blockbuster trade acquiring Florida Marlin All-Stars Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis for the prices of six prospects. One of baseball's toughest divisions continues to get tougher. Not good news for the Twins.

The Yankees claim they are "99.9% out of it (the Santana sweepstakes," but after they were "done negotiating" with Alex Rodriguez earlier this offseason we never quite trust the Yankee's word. It does seem that the Bronx Bombers have moved on to other needs, but we can never count them out. The Red Sox are patiently waiting with two different proposals offered to the Twins.

The proposals: 1) headlined by P Jon Lester, along with OF Coco Crisp, SS Jed Lowrie, and minor league P Justin Masterson. 2) centered on OF Jacoby Ellsbury, along with SS Lowrie, and probably P Masterson.

I credit new Twins GM Bill Smith for his patience and determination throughout this entire Santana madness. Johan is the biggest asset to the Twins franchise and although Smith is in between a rock and a hard place to trade Santana, the GM knows what he wants in return and will wait until he gets it. AND IF HE DOESN'T... then maybe we will see Santana on the mound after all come opening day. To get Santana, Smith wants two players that will step into the opening day lineup and be major league contributors. They asked the Yankees to throw in young pitcher Ian Kennedy along with Phil Hughes and Melky Cabrera, and win the Yanks said no the Twins said ok then. I'm not sure if the Twins are holding out until the Red Sox put both Lester and Ellsbury in a deal or not. I think they should wait until they are able to get both players, but given that the Sox don't actually NEED Santana, they too may be content with keeping their young stars.

Hall of Fame Baseball Analyst and the man who is always on the inside of baseball news, Peter Gammons, said this today about the Twins at the winter meetings.

"Don't expect to see a Twins-Red Sox or Twins-Yankees whopper. The sense is that Minnesota will hold onto Johan Santana."

ESPN columnist Buster Olney gives a good review of the position that GM Bill Smith is in and breaks down the Twins current situation.

In other Twins news...

Santana isn't the only topic concerning the Twins at the meetings. ESPN's Jerry Crasnick reports the Twins are looking for middle-infield help and are potentially targeting free agent SS David Eckstein. Manager Ron Gardenhire said about Eckstein, "I've always had a lot of respect for him. He catches the ball. He knows how to play. He's a proven winner."

Eckstein does play the game hard and with a lot of character, but to me he seems like another player on our roster who plays great defense and can't hit... his name is Nick Punto. This report is simply in the rumor stage right now, but it makes me ask the readers...

Who would you rather have starting the 2008 season at shortstop? Nick Punto or David Eckstein?