2008 Crowns a Champ

As I watched the Phillies mob Brad Lidge on the mound and celebrate their World Series victory I couldn't help but think of opening day last April at the Metrodome. I was remembering the falling snow and the blowing wind as Twins fans packed into the always fair weathered Metrodome ready to embark on a 2008 season with many pending question marks. Gone were the mainstay stars like Johan Santana and Torii Hunter. In were new unfamiliar names like Carlos Gomez and Kevin Slowey. Expectations were low but excitement was high.

The 2008 season closes its doors with an unlikely champ in Philadelphia and an even more unlikely runner-up in Tampa Bay. But this 2008 MLB campaign can be summed up as nothing less than unlikely. The Yankees missed the playoffs; the heavily favored Detroit Tiger and New York Mets struggled. The Milwaukee Brewers made the playoffs for the first time since 1982. New stars emerged like Evan Longoria, Cliff Lee, and Geovanny Soto and old stars reached milestones like Griffey Jr's 600th homerun. The All-Star break saw a Minnesota Twin win the Home Run Derby, what? And that next night the same guy scored the game winning run in 14 innings to steal another American League win from the National League. AL stars jumped leagues like CC Sabathia, Manny Ramirez, and Rich Harden. The list of 2008 surprises goes on and on.

But what made 2008 not only a surprising year, but an exciting year was the play of the 2008 Minnesota Twins. After a disappointing 2007 season, this year seemed set up for the same result if not worse for this young club. Yet Ron Gardenhire rallied the young boys and put together what can truly be called a team. In a complete team effort these '08 Twins made baseball exciting in Minnesota this summer and had such a thrilling season that it took 163 games to call it quits!

The Twins may have fell just short of the their goal, but it was a great year to be a Twins fan. As the new ballpark begins to take shape and the always exciting offseason begins full of rumors, trades, free agents, and my favorite hobby of talking about baseball, I congratulate the Minnesota Twins on a great season and the Philadelphia Phillies on a well deserved title!

The countdown beings to Monday, April 6th at 7:05 CST as the Twins host the Seattle Mariners for Opening Day 2009!

Elmer Fudd and the Flap Caps

Has anyone else noticed the new hats with weather flaps sporting the field in this wet and wild World Series?

A few nights ago in Game 4 I noticed Joe Maddon in the dugout and I thought, does that hat have flaps? Maddon never flapped down his flaps over his ears but I immediately saw this odd looking cap and was wondering if this was a special order for the little boys from St. Pete who were foreign to the brisk Philly Air. But last night in Game 5 the Elmer Fudd look could be found on the field by BJ Upton, Carl Crawford, Evan Longoria, Jason Bartlett, Shane Victorino, and Jimmy Rollins.

I did some research and it seems as if the caps, made by MLB hat maker New Era, were released this spring during Spring Training but had not been debuted on a field until the World Series. There is no official word from New Era or MLB.com on how to order a flap cap, but with winter vastly approaching I'm guessing they will be a hot item in the weeks to come.

I'm still undecided on what's being called the "Elmer Fudd" look. Part of me thinks, "Wow, that's kind of cool. I can support my Twins pride and stay warm in the freakin cold Minnesota winter!" The other part of me thinks, "Wow, those are really nerdy!"

Let me know what you think of the funky caps. Leave a comment below... would you wear one?

Garza in Game 3

The World Series is back on the ticket tonight with game 3 in Philadelphia. I don't know what I'm going to do at night when the playoffs are done??? I'll be lost, until Lost returns I guess.

Everyone's favorite missed Twin at the moment, Matt Garza, takes the bump tonight for the Rays against Jame Moyer, the oldest player in Major League Baseball. What an intriguing matchup? The hotheaded kid with wicked stuff versus the lazy ole lefty who lulls hitters to sleep. The two hurlers will both be making their first World Series appearance.

Tonight's game can certainly throw the momentum in either direction for these teams. If Philadelphia can take a 2-1 lead they get to play the next two games at home with a chance to clinch the title. Yet Tampa has looked like the better team throughout the entire series despite the current 1-1 tie. The Phillies need to hit better with runners in scoring position and the Rays need to continue to put pressure on Philly with their speed.

Either way, this is starting to have the makeup of a very good series.

World Series Game 1

Here we go, the moment 30 teams have been working for since last February. Alas, only two teams can be here. And I can honestly call anyone a bold face liar if they would have predicted those two teams to be the Philadelphia Phillies and the Tampa Bay Rays.

Tonight's matchup pits a pair of stud lefties against each other. The NLCS MVP, Cole Hamels, for the Phillies and the Rays 24-year old "veteran," Scott Kazmir. 

I picked Kazmir to be my series MVP (see below) so I need him to have a good game. If the Rays can beat Hamels in game 1 they will be in the driver seat for the rest of this series, but if the Phillies can win a huge game 1 on the road that would be even bigger. You can predict your World Series winner with the poll on the sidebar.

Only time will tell...

MVB's World Series Predictions

The 2009 World Series will mark the first fall classic for this blog, so to honor this event we brought the whole team out to make their bold predictions for the series.

MVB

Winner: Tampa Bay - 5 games  MVP: Scott Kazmir

Major League Baseball's feel good story will be feeling good after a quick 5 game series. The Rays not only represent the superior American League, but they had to battle a great Red Sox club through 7 games as 

well as prove over the course of 162 games that they were for real in the toughest division in baseball despite having a meager payroll. 

Great to see former Twins Matt Garza, Jason Bartlett, and Grant Balfour all play key roles for this young club. The star of this series though is the franchise leader in wins, Scott Kazmir. Kazmir pitches 2 gems to win the MVP. Upton and Longoria both hit 3 homeruns each.

Brett Werner

Winner: Tampa Bay - 6 games  MVP: BJ Upton

Just like the Twins have Mauer as a great batter at an otherwise weak batting position, the Phillies have Utley and J-Ro at weak batting positions in the field (to go with Burrell and Howard, not to mention Victorino who is having a great postseason). This gives them a dramatic advantage against other NL teams.

But the Rays are no NL team: they have a stronger overall bullpen than Philadelphia (who have Lidge et rien) even if the closer position may be falling to Price in the WS. And they have as good or better hitters at nearly every position, guys who can get to anyone except maybe Hamels. I give the Rays' starters a big edge once you get past the Phillies' ace.

The Phillies are better rested, but obviously that didn't help last year's Rockies. Two off days is more than enough for the Rays to recover.

The Rays have been on a run all year, have been on the verge of losing it for most of the last month or two, and they haven't yet. I don't think they lose it now. 

Mark Werner

Winner: Tampa Bay - 5 games     MVP: James Shields

The Phillies may have a strong, bopping offense but, if their inter-league games are any preview, they will struggle against the Rays rotation. Although it is a small sample size, the Phillies batted just .220 against the American League this year for an OPS of .682. The Phillies lost every series against AL teams, finishing 4-11. On the flip side, the Rays were 12-6 against the NL. While the Phillies were busy getting shut-out by the Rangers, the Rays were sweeping the Cubs.

Like the Rockies last year who had a payroll 66% below league average, the Rays arrive at the final stage having a payroll 50% below major league average--and one fifth the size of the long-idle, much-maligned Yankees. Unlike the Rockies, the Rays will prevail, taking the series in 5 games. Where the Rockies were overdependent on their thin-air hitting, the Rays have a sturdier foundation in their pitching: a young rotation and an experienced bullpen capped by a talented rising star in Price.

In stark contrast to the Twins, the Phillies slug 40 points higher against LHP. Unfortunately, the Rays rotation features just one lefty in Kazmir. Righties Shields and Garza will combine for three wins. Your World Series MVP: James Shields (and not the semi-transient 19th century senator from Minnesota)

DY21

Winner: Tampa Bay - 7 games  MVP: Evan Longoria

As college basketball analyst Dickie V says, "They got the big M.O. baby!" M.O. referring to momentum, and its ironic Dick Vitale is arguably the biggest Tampa Bay fan on this planet. Therefore I gotta say the Rays win this series in 7 games. The World Series MVP goes to boy wonder Evan Longoria.

PS. Is anybody else sick of EVERY ANALYST saying the key part to the Delmon for Garza trade was Jason Bartlett because he "shores up the Tampa defense?" He is terrible at short! He led all AL ss in errors for the Twins in 2007, and seems to make errors in every other game in the playoffs! I just don't get it, but it is nice to see two former Twins playing key roles in the playoffs.

Dain TePoel

Winner: Philadelphia - 7 games MVP: Cole Hamels

I hate to say it, but I want to be the guy who takes a chance on the Underdog in this situation....But really, the Phillies? World Series Champs? They haven't played a game in a long time, especially by Wednesday.

Hmm...I'll roll with it.

Feel free to leave your predictions for series winner and MVP in the comments section.

Werner Bros. Offseason Guide and Notes: Part V

Wow, I just got done watching an amazing game 7 of the ALCS and get to see the Tampa Bay Rays punch their ticket to the World Series. It's tough not to like a team like Tampa, but it is hard to watch Matt Garza win the series MVP and wonder where the Twins would have been with him in the rotation and not Livan Hernandez. Here's to hoping Delmon continues to improve! Look for a MVB World Series Preview before Wednesday's game 1. Until then, the summary, the final installment of Brett's Offseason Guide. He'll look at the nine scenarios he described yesterday and try to predict what may happen. Please leave comments and let Brett know your thoughts to his guide.

Summary

Feel free to offer your own scenarios, and to give feedback on my reasoning here. Personally, if I could choose the scenarios to make the team I want…

Desirability
Scenario #9: Sign Dunn and Hudson, Trade for Beltre
Scenario #7: Sign Hudson, Trade for Beltre
Scenario #3: Pursue Top Young Player (at the cost of SP), maybe Chris Davis
Scenario #6: Sign Hudson and Blake
Scenario #4: Sign Hudson
Scenario #5: Sign Blake
Scenario #1: Do Nothing
Scenario #2: Go For Broke
Scenario #8: Sign Cabrera or someone else I don’t like

Predicted Likelihood:
Scenario #4: Sign Hudson
Scenario #7: Sign Hudson, Trade for Beltre
Scenario #1: Do Nothing
Scenario #6: Sign Hudson and Blake
Scenario #8: Sign Cabrera
Scenario #5: Sign Blake
Scenario #9: Sign Dunn and Hudson, Trade for Beltre
Scenario #3: Pursue Top Young Player (at the cost of SP), maybe Chris Davis
Scenario #2: Go For Broke

After doing these analyses, I would say that adding Hudson is probably our best single improvement, especially given that we can afford to platoon Buscher and Harris one more year if Valencia and/or Hughes can be good MLB hitters at 3B. But if we want to open up a spot in the OF/DH and trade Boof, then Beltre and the Mariners are a good match (but they should give us more than Beltre for Boof + either Kubel or Delmon… in fact, they should give us their #1 or #2 prospect, or a #5-10 prospect in their system and pay half of Beltre’s salary).