Goodbye Tim's Sports Blog, Hello Rocky Mountain Jazz and Twinkie Baseball

The inevitable has happened. This blog has been split in two. This should motivate me to post more, and each site will be easier to be focused. There aren't hundreds of Twins/Jazz fans out there you know. For Twins fans, they won't have to wade through Jazz analysis they don't want to read. And for Jazz fans, they won't have to look at my Twins thoughts they don't want to see. You can see my Utah Jazz blog at rockymtnjazz.blogspot.com and my Minnesota Twins blog at twinkiebaseball.blogspot.com. I'll see you there.

What can't Mauer do?

Joe Mauer has accepted the invitation to participate in the home run derby. Admit it, you'll be surprised if he doesn't win. Here is a Yahoo article about Mauer being great at everything he does. My favorite part is the bowling story.

Why Bringing Back Paul Millsap Doesn't Make Sense

It seems like almost everyone is in love with Paul Millsap and can't stand Carlos Boozer. Sometimes it just boggles my mind how biased the fans can be. If Boozer misses a game, fans will get mad at him for being fragile and not toughing it out. If Millsap misses a game, the fans love him more for it, because he is a "hustle" player.

I can understand why fans would get mad at Boozer for his comments last December about "getting a raise." I was upset as well. But we all say dumb things. Sometimes I say really dumb things. Get over it, it is a part of life. It doesn't make him a worse basketball player.

Enough about off the court nonsense. I'd like to take a look at where it really matters: on the court.

First, I'd like to take a look at Millsap's last 37 games of last season. That is almost half a season. After January 25, Millsap had only 7 double-doubles in 37 games. He scored 2o+ points only once in those 37 games. He had 10+ rebounds in only 8 of those 37 games. He had 2+ blocks in 8 of those 37 games.

Boozer came back on the 3rd to last game in February. If you look at the minutes they got, they are both in the low to mid 30's a game. In Boozer's last 23 games (keep in mind he never really got back to full strength), he scored 20+ points in 7 of those 23 games, had 10+ rebounds in 13 of those 23 games, and had a double-double in 13 of those 23 games.

Millsap is the best backup power forward in the game, but he would be one of the worst starting power forwards in the game. People forget that he has usually played against other team's backups, not their starters. Plus there is also the issue that teams didn't scout and prepare for him much when he was a backup. As a starter people noticed his weaknesses and prepared for him, hence the not so impressive 2nd half numbers.

I saw a lot of things I really didn't like with Millsap in the 2nd half of the season. He looked tired and overmatched. I don't know if he is ready to play 40 minutes a night for 82 games + playoffs. He is very small for a power forward. He isn't the inside presence that Boozer is, and that has a lot of bad ramifications for the Jazz. Boozer makes it easier for Okur and Korver to spread the floor and also makes it easier for Brewer to play inside by the rim. Millsap also isn't the offensive player Boozer is, and I'm pretty sure that he never will be. Boozer is one of the top 3 offensive power forwards in the game. And the Jazz need Boozer's offense badly. He is someone you can rely on every night, and you can't say that about Okur or Kirilenko and probably not Millsap.

So sigining Millsap is a luxury, not a necessity, and while maybe, perhaps, there is a chance that someday he might be a starting power forward that makes you an elite championship contender he isn't that guy right now. Boozer is. Boozer makes you elite and puts you into championship contention right now. In fact with Boozer and Okur in the middle, you have perhaps the best PF/C combination in the game. I really can't think of any other PF/C of another team that is better than those two right now. Not Bynum and Gasol (Bynum needs to develop), not anybody. I know they aren't great on defense but that is where Kosta Koufus steps in along with the guy who should be the new backup power forward, Andrei Kirilenko. That is another topic for another day, but the irony is that the Jazz already have a guy on the team who makes a better extra power forward than Millsap the guy they are intent on bringing back.

2009 Utah Jazz Draft Review

Virginia Commonwealth University senior point guard Eric Maynor was the Utah Jazz first round draft pick last night. Utah also took 6-foot-10 Bosnian center Goran Suton of Michigan State at No. 50 in the second round.

Of course you always want to draft the best player available but going into the draft I wanted the Jazz to try and address one of three areas: A backup point guard, a backup power forward to replace Boozer or Millsap, and a backup small forward to replace Matt Harpring. Looks like they tried to address two of those areas.

I give the Jazz an A- grade in selecting Eric Maynor. There never seems to be much talent to choose from outside the lottery and that was especially the case this year. But this year there did seem to be an abundance of point guards. Hey I'm just glad that they picked Maynor before the Timberwolves snatched up all the point guards for themselves. Seriously when was the last time a team picked three point guards in the first round?

Anyways, about Maynor, he sounds like he is a true point guard. He's always been a point guard, he's not converted from a shooting guard, like a Ronnie Price. He is a winner. He is skinny and could put on some more weight. He is very lucky that he can learn from Deron Williams from the start of his career. The Jazz rarely have had a quality backup point guard, and they'd love to see Maynor be able to be the new Howard Eisley for the Jazz.

There are two revealing things I have heard the past couple days. One was Jerry Sloan talking about how Maynor will be a nice #3 point guard this year behind Williams and Ronnie Price. Price, may I remind you, is a free agent. Looks like the Jazz know who they want to backup Williams next year. I'm glad they will have Price and Maynor as backups, that means they won't be wasting lots of precious money on an expensive veteran backup point guard. Really if Price resigns, I think the Jazz have the best point guard situation in the league.

The other interesting thing that has come out is that Maynor's dad came very close to making it to the NBA. He was about to sign with the Chicago Bulls, but he was cut by the coach, who just happened to be named Jerry Sloan. Apparently Sloan doesn't remember that and nobody in the Jazz organization knew that Maynor's dad was cut by Sloan until after they had selected Maynor. I don't know how that plays into this. I hope it doesn't make anything awkward. Maybe it makes Maynor work harder to impress Sloan. If anything it just shows how old Sloan is getting.

As for Suton, I haven't heard much. He has a nice outside shot for a big guy. The Jazz have probably had better luck in the second round than the first so I should research more about him. Looks intriguing though.

All in all it was a bizarre day with Shaq and Vince getting traded and the whole draft being overshadowed by the death of Michael Jackson.

I give the Jazz an A- this year for the draft. They did what they could with their position. I don't know as much about these guys but I will cut they some slack because they have been one of the top 5 drafting teams since 2005. They've gotten Williams, Miles, Brewer, Millsap, and Koufos through the draft lately and who knows maybe even Fesenko will turn out to be good.

Joe Mauer on Sports Illustrated cover

SI Article

Mauer makes his second Sports Illustrated cover. It is a good read.

Milton Bradley, entertainer

http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?mid=200906125009239&c_id=min Do yourself a favor and look at today's Twins/Cubs game highlights. With one, repeat one out, Mauer was at-bat with Harris and Punto on 1st and 3rd. He hit a fly ball to Bradley, who caught it, posed for a few seconds then threw the ball into the stands. Classic. One of the funniest baseball moments I've ever seen. To make things better in the inning before he lost Kubel's fly ball in the sun and missed the catch then two batters later he tried to make a diving catch of Cuddyer's sinking fly but missed it as well.

"I almost kind of laughed when I saw him throw the ball into the stands," Harris said.

"That's life," Milton Bradley said. "These people have high expectations. I have high expectations for myself. I never made a mistake like that in my life. Sue me.

Punto on DL, Casilla called up

The words "Punto" and "DL" go good together. And I've always liked Alexi Casilla. So I'm glad to see that after tonight's game that Casilla was called up to replace Nick Punto who was placed on the DL.

I've always been extremely opposed to Nick Punto taking up a roster spot. The reason is that his bat belongs nowhere near the big leagues. In 2006 he received 472 at bats, and hit .210/.291/.271, good enough for one of the worst offensive seasons ever for a player with that many at-bats. So far this season he has been even worse in 123 at-bats. He is "hitting" .187/.290/.211. It's never good to see a batting average below .200, it's worse to see an on-base percentage below .300, and it's even worse when you have that low of an on-base percentage and have a slugging percentage nearly .80 lower than the on-base percentage. Oh, did I mention that he only has 3 extra base hits this season?

Ok I admit Alexi Casilla was terrible with the Twins earlier this year. But it seems like he has been getting back on track at AAA Rochester with a much better line of .316/.353/.392. He was a huge piece for the Twins last year and we need another boost from him again so that we actually get something from the middle infield.

It sounds like Casilla will take over second base and Brendan Harris will be the shortstop with Matt Tolbert the backup. It's about time Tolbert be forced into a backup position, it is where he belongs. If Casilla can turn things around and Harris can hold off Punto and Tolbert for the last starting infield spot (not likely with Gardenhire's sickening love for Punto and Tolbert) then the Twins lineup will be very solid:

LF Denard Span
C Joe Mauer
1B Justin Morneau
RF Michael Cuddyer
DH Jason Kubel
3B Joe Crede
SS Brendan Harris
CF Carlos Gomez
2B Alexi Casilla

Danny Valencia, 3B of the future

Today, we will be taking a look at Twins prospect Danny Valencia, a third baseman.  The Twins are set at catcher, 1B, DH, and the outfield for the next few years.  The Twins biggest area of need in the future is the infield, especially the left side. Their current 3B, Joe Crede, is signed only for this year.  The Twins however have hope for 3B in the future, because of Danny Valencia.  

Valencia is currently in AA with the New Britain Rock Cats.  He is 24 years old.  The Twins acquired him with their 19th round pick in the 2006 draft.  He played in college at Miami.  He has been great with the glove and the bat throughout his minor league career.  Last year in A ball, he hit .336/.402/.518 (avg./OBP/slugg.) with 19 doubles, 5 homers, and 44 RBI in just 220 at-bats before getting called up to AA.  There he had 18 doubles, 10 homers, and 32 RBI.  

He is almost always listed as one of the Twins top 5 prospects, and is probably regarded as the top hitting prospect out of the Twins upper two minor league teams.  This year he is still in AA, and he has 5 homers, 4 triples, and 9 doubles in 124 at-bats, while hitting .339/.432/.597.  That is a 1.028 OPS, which is very very good.  And he is great on defense as well.  

I'd project he will move up to AAA Rochester by the all-star break.  He might get a September callup with the Twins, and I'd expect Danny Valencia to be the Twins 3B starting in 2010.  I don't know if he will be an all-star, but he should be a great bat and a great defensive 3B, and one of the better overall players on the Twins.  I'd project him to hit 15-20 homers a year, with 30+ doubles, and a batting average around .295 in the majors.  It seems as though the Twins have finally found a good long term solution at 3B, something they've been lacking since Corey Koskie left them in 2004.

Swarzaked

Anthony Swarzak pitched a great major league debut for the Twins. I'll take 7 innings and 0 runs anytime. Swarzak is the first Twin pitcher in history to pitch 7 shutout innings in their first major league start. That is very impressive. I'm sure he won't be in the rotation when Perkins returns, but he might be sent to the bullpen. It is nice knowing that there is another quality young starting pitcher available if needed. I wonder if the Twins would ever trade one of their young starting pitchers... I'd trade Perkins or Blackburn for a great young shortstop or second baseman, but not a third baseman. Even though Joe Crede is only signed for this year, I'm not worried about the future of third base for the Twins. Their top prospect in the upper levels of the minors is 3B Danny Valencia. He is killing the ball at AA right now, and I'm sure I'll do an article on him in the next few days...

The other story of the game was Joe Mauer, hitting his 9th home run of the year, matching his home run total from last year in just 21 games. No doubt, this guy has been the best hitter in baseball this month. It sure is fun to see him hitting .429, getting on-base .516% of the time and slugging .844. Those are just sick numbers! He's on pace for 60 homers and 185 RBI's. I know he's not likely to keep that pace up for the whole season, but if he did, he would have the greatest non-steroid offensive season of all-time. At his pace he could hit over .400, break Roger Maris pre-steroid HR mark of 61, and win the triple crown. I know that is extremely unlikely and premature, but it is fun to dream. And the kid is just 26.

It has been great to see Michael Cuddyer return to form. The guy is just locked in. Hits for the cycle last night, and now is second on the team with 30 RBI. Plus 7 homers. It has been great to have a right-handed power bat in the lineup, especially since Delmon Young isn't developing the power we'd hoped to have seen from him at this point.

At this point Mauer and Morneau have to be the best 1-2 punch in the majors. And Span, Mauer, Morneau, Kubel, and Cuddyer form a nice little offensive juggernaut. And Crede is not a bad guy to have at #6 with his seven homers. Now if the bottom third of the lineup would just start hitting, the Twins would have an amazing lineup all the way through. But it needs to start with Delmon Young. He should return to the lineup today, and I hope he starts heating up now. He usually starts off the season slowly, so hopefully he is past that now.

Twins destroy White Sox 20-1

I think the box score speaks for itself today. Joe Mauer has a ridiculous 1.319 OPS. Not to mention 8 home runs in 19 games. If he keeps this pace up, he will be the AL MVP. Also, Michael Cuddaver seems to have woken up and he is on track to have a season similar to his remarkable 2006 year.

The batting order seems like a silly thing to talk about while the pitching on this team has been so horrendous. But we'll do so anyways. The biggest problem with Gardy's batting order has been the #2 spot. Probably 90% or more of the at-bats there this season have been filled by the likes of Alexi Casilla and Matt Tolbert, who were both hitting under the Mendoza line. This is obviously not what you want from your #2 hitter. You want someone who gets on base at a 35 or 40 percent clip, so that the heart of your order has runs to drive in. A little speed/good baserunning skills is a good thing to have as well. This is probably the perfect spot to slot in Joe Mauer. (Although now that he is hammering homers every other day, he is a great #3 hitter as well.) Gardenhire might have figured that out today, and he plugged Mauer into the #2 spot, and just like magic the Twins go off for 20 runs. Now of course nobody scores 20 runs a game, but I think it would help the offense run a little better. Here is my preferred lineup to maximize run scoring potential:

CF Span
C Mauer
1B Morneau
DH Kubel
RF Cuddyer
3B Crede
LF Young
2B Tolbert
SS Harris

I chose Harris over Tolbert in the 9th spot because they both see roughly the same amount of at-bats, but I think it's preferrable to have your worst hitter in the 8th spot rather than the 9th. The reason is that the 9th guy isn't that far away from your power hitters, so why would you want an automatic out 2 batters before Mauer, Morneau, and Kubel come up?

Another decent reason to shift up Mauer, Morneau, and Kubel up one spot is that they will receive a slight increase of at-bats, being a little closer to the top of the order.

Anyways, batting orders are largely overrated, but there are a few things you can easily avoid that can plague your lineup. Perhaps Gardenhire has figured out that one of them is don't place an automatic out in the lineup right before your best hitters come to bat.

Breslow gone. Swarzak called up.

Today the Twins announced that Craig Breslow has been claimed off waivers by Oakland.  Anthony Swarzak has been called up to replace Breslow on the roster.  Swarzak will be the Twins starting pitcher on Saturday against the Brewers.  He should get a couple of starts while Perkins is on the DL.  If he impresses, he might be put in the bullpen when Perkins comes back (which should be in 15 days.)  

Delmon Young returns this weekend and I'm sure Jose Morales will be sent back down to AAA Rochester when Young returns.  Besides that move, I'd expect the next move will be to get rid of Luis Ayala.  I still can't understand why the Twins thought he'd be a good sign.  He was in the horrid Mets bullpen last year and was cut and was then on the Nationals.  I don't know about you but I don't really want to see a cast-off from the Nationals playing on my team.  I'd imagine the next guy to be called up would be relief pitcher Bobby Keppel.  He is the other pitcher in AAA Rochester's bullpen that has pitched great this year.  Hopefully though the Twins will call up Rob Delaney and Anthony Slama, or at least promote them to AAA.

Projected HR Totals

From ESPN statistics, here are what their projected home run totals are for the Twins:

52 - Joe Mauer
50 - Justin Morneau
27 - Joe Crede
22 - Jason Kubel
17 - Michael Cuddyer
11 - Brendan Harris
8 - Denard Span
8 - Brian Buscher
6 - Delmon Young
0 - Carlos Gomez
0 - Nick Punto
0 - Matt Tolbert
0 - Mike Redmond

And time to redo my predictions:
Justin Morneau - 38
Joe Mauer - 34
Jason Kubel - 26
Joe Crede - 22
Michael Cuddyer - 18
Delmon Young - 13
Carlos Gomez - 10
Brendan Harris - 9
Denard Span - 7
Brian Buscher - 6
Alexi Casilla - 4
Nick Punto - 1
Matt Tolbert - 1
Mike Redmond - 0

Perkins on DL. Henn called up. Who else might be coming up?

Glen Perkins has been horrible over his past few starts, especially last night, and now we know why. Perkins told people after the game that he had been dealing with soreness in his elbow for a while. I still don't understand why players (mainly pitchers) try to play through pain, as they only end up hurting themselves and the team. No good ever comes from keeping an injury hidden, and trying to fight through it. Right Liriano and Neshek? They learned that lesson the hard way by getting Tommy John surgery, let's hope Perkins situation isn't as serious.

Lefty reliever Sean Henn was called up from AAA ball to take Perkins place on the roster. Henn is deserving, for in 15 games this year he has a 1.13 ERA with 6 saves. He has 17 hits and walked ten, but has struck out 32 in just 24 innings.

Calling Henn up should help bolster the bullpen, but it still forces the Twins to make a decision on who will take Perkins place in the rotation while he is injured. I see three options: R. A. Dickey, Anthony Swarzak, and Kevin Mulvey.

We know about Dickey, the knuckleballer, who is currently in the bullpen. He'd probably give you 5 to 7 innings while giving up 4 or 5 runs. Nothing spectacular, but he'd eat some innings. One problem is that if you use him as your starter, then you lose your long relief arm in the bullpen.

If I were the Twins GM, I would call up Anthony Swarzak. Swarzak was a 2nd round pick in 2004. He is pitching very well in AAA this year, and is probably the Twins best pitching prospect right now. He has made 7 starts so far this year. In 44 innings he has given up 11 walks, 40 hits, while striking out 32. He has a 2.25 ERA. For those of you who care about win-loss record (you shouldn't) he is 2-3. He also went 5-0 at AAA at the end of last season. I would love to see Swarzak in a Twins uniform this weekend. But if they don't choose Dickey or Swarzak, they might choose Kevin Mulvey.

Kevin Mulvey was a pitcher the Twins acquired in the Johan Santana trade. The Twins might like to bring him up to show that they did get some good value from the Santana trade (but if they really felt like doing that, they would be playing Carlos Gomez every day.) Mulvey has a 4.15 ERA in 34.2 innings so far. He has a better strikeout rate than Swarzak so far, he has 31 K's. But he has given up 19 walks and 34 hits. Clearly Swarzak has had the better year so far.

Who might be sent down or released? Catcher Jose Morales would be a top candidate. Other candidates would be Luis Ayala and Craig Breslow. I would release Luis Ayala, in my mind he has been the worst bullpen pitcher so far. Jesse Crain wouldn't be too far behind those guys, but I doubt the Twins would get rid of him so fast. Only Nathan, Mijares, and Guerrier are to be trusted at this point.

Who are the other top bullpen pitchers that the Twins could call up? They have two amazing relievers in AA, Anthony Slama and Rob Delaney. Slama has a 1.69 ERA, in 21.1 innings he he has a 33-to-14 strikeout-to-walk ratio while allowing just 13 hits. He hasn't given up a run in five straight appearances. Delaney has a 2.22 ERA in 28.1 innings with a 31-to-4 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He also hasn't given up a run in five straight appearances. Sick of seeing relievers give up homers late in games? These two have given up just two in 49.2 innings.

The thing that drives many Twins fans crazy is that they are only in AA, despite dominating every level they've pitched at. They should be in AAA at least by now. Slama spent all of last season at A ball despite posting some of the most incredible pitching stats you will see. The Twins are moving these two along much too slowly and now it is hurting them. Hopefully with Henn going to the Twins, one of Slama or Delaney will be promoted to AAA. These two hopefully will be great bullpen options for the Twins in a month or two. And next year the bullpen should look much better with Nathan, Neshek, Mijares, Slama, and Delaney in it.

Mauer Pauer

First off, if you haven't seen the replay of Joe Mauer's 9th inning play yesterday, do yourself a favor and go check it out. It's currently the primary video at minnesotatwins.com I'm pretty sure that Mauer is the only catcher who could have done that and it will go down as one of his best defensive plays.

Anyways about this Mauer guy. 6 home runs already?! He is already 2/3 of the way to his total last year (9) despite only having 56 at-bats, and is on pace to hit 56 home runs and 148 RBI for the season. Will he keep it up? Not likely. But I don't think he will regress to be just a 10-15 HR guy. I think he is evolving into a player that hits home runs somewhere in the 20's and 30's. It's tough to say at this point of course. But adding power to his game certainly isn't out of the question. Oh, did I mention that he is hitting .429, with an on-base percentage of .529 and slugging .804! Ridiculous! The guy would be leading the league in virtually every offensive category if he only had enough at-bats.

The Twins must lock this guy up. Everyone knows that his contract goes through 2010. I can't even imagine the market for him if he ever becomes a free-agent. It doesn't help that the Yankees and Red Sox catchers are old and beat up. He'd be able to sign one of, if not the biggest contracts ever. I'm sure the Twins will lock him up before then, and Mauer will want to stay in his hometown state. But I'd sign him to a 7 or 8 year deal asap. His price is already skyrocketing.

A look at the Jazz Offseason pt. 2

At locker room cleanout yesterday, everyone made it clear that they wanted to stay with the Jazz next year.  That might just be talk but it does make me wonder if this team will change a huge amount or not.  Sloan said that they are just one good player away from the Finals.  I really like this team and I'd rather see them try to make just a couple improvements instead of blowing up the whole team.  Chemistry is important, and it's hard to just throw a bunch of new guys together and expect them to win.  

What the Jazz really could use is someone just dumping a good player on them without having to give up anything of much value (like Pau Gasol going to the Lakers).  That isn't likely but the Jazz have shown to be adept at trading unwanted pieces for valuable players (see Derek Fisher and Kyle Korver).  

Luckily the Jazz do have some players that could be traded.  Matt Harpring jumps to mind, as he has a $6.5 million expiring contract, and those will be all the rage this season as everyone will want to have money for the crazy 2010 free agent class.  Andrei Kirilenko has a salary that nobody covets, but a few teams would like to have him(Golden State Warriors.)  CJ Miles best years are ahead of him, you'll have him for 3 years at a rate that won't kill you, so some team might want to take a chance on him (Oklahoma City Thunder).  And the Jazz have an interesting little draft pick that could end up being extremely valuable (New York Knicks 2010 1st round draft pick.)

Who might be the missing piece(s) of the Jazz puzzle?  You'll have to wait for the answer.

A look at the Jazz Offseason pt. 1

Jazz players with a contract for 2009/2010 season (6): Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko, Matt Harpring, Ronnie Brewer, CJ Miles, and Kosta Koufos.

Players who can opt out (3): Carlos Boozer, Mehmet Okur, and Kyle Korver

Restricted free-agent (1): Paul Millsap

Team option (1) : Kyrylo Fesenko

Unrestricted free-agents (4): Brevin Knight, Jarron Collins, Ronnie Price, Morris Almond

Note: Jazz also have NY Knicks unprotected 2010 first round draft pick.

Areas where the Jazz need improvement:
Defense. PF/C with some great defense is very much needed.
Toughness. Who is tough besides Harpring? Maybe Millsap, Williams, and Price.
Points/outside shooting from the SF/SG positions.
Players who can win on the road, and who don't give up big leads.
Another player who can create his own shots besides Williams.
A solid backup point guard.


These are some of the things the Jazz brass has to think about this offseason. Maybe it was a good thing they lost in the first round so they have extra time to prepare?

The only thing the Jazz don't have to worry about is the starting point guard. I'm a little opposed to blowing this whole team up, because had they not had all those crazy injuries, I'm pretty sure they would have made it to the Western Conference Finals this year. But even if the current team was healthy and playing well together they still had some problems.

There is a lot to talk about, but for tonight we will just guess at who will be back for next year. Almond is definitely gone. I'm thinking Korver and Okur will not opt out. I think Knight will be gone, but Price will stay if he's willing to sign a small contract. Collins will probably be gone, and since Fesenko can't play in the D-League next year, I think the Jazz will stop their silly experiment with him. And now we come to the big question. Millsap, or Boozer. The only team with cap space that looks like a decent team to play for is Detroit, and so I think we will not lose both Boozer and Millsap, but I'd be shocked if we could afford both of them. But I really have no idea which of those two will be wearing a Jazz uniform next season.

So if the Jazz don't make a trade this offseason (Note: I am pretty sure they will), here are ten players who will be back with the Jazz: Deron Williams, Memo Okur, Andrei Kirilenko, Kyle Korver, Matt Harpring, Ronnie Brewer, CJ Miles, Kosta Koufos, Ronnie Price, and either Boozer or Millsap.

Stats

The Twins ERA is not a pretty thing.  If you don't count Jose Mijares (who has only pitched in one game), then only Glen Perkins and Joe Nathan have an ERA below 5.00.  That includes all starters and bullpen pitchers.  Sick.  The total ERA for the team is 6.03.  

Another disturbing stat:  The Twins have the worst run differential in the majors.  They have already been outscored by 31 runs.  How are they 7-9!?  With that kind of run difference, I'd expect only 2 or 3 wins so far.  

We need Joe Mauer!

The value of Joe Mauer

Sounds like Joe Mauer will return soon, May 1 would be a good bet.  The Twins haven't been spectacular thus far, but they could have done a lot worse than 7-7 without Joe Mauer.  Perhaps the absence of Joe Mauer has made people realize just how valuable he is to the Twins.  He is the heart of the Twins offense and defense.  Mauer is perhaps more valuable to his team than any other player in all of baseball.  He is simply irreplaceable.  Catchers who get on base 40% of the time and who have gold-glove defense and who throw base stealers out 40% of the time, don't grow on trees.  I don't think Mike Redmond and Jose Morales have thrown out a single base stealer this year. 

Justin Morneau has already won an MVP and finished second another time, so it's safe to say that many consider Morneau as the Twins MVP.  But Joe Mauer should have won the MVP both those years.  The problem is that he isn't a 30 HR hitter and his RBI numbers don't look pretty.  But he is always in the top 3 in on-base percentage, he takes extremely good at-bats, and he's the only American League catcher to win a batting title (and he's done it twice!) .  Honestly, Joe Mauer has a great shot of not only making it to the Hall of Fame, but as being the best catcher ever.

I'm not sure how much of an effect a catcher has on how a pitcher pitches, but it will be interesting to see if the pitching improves with Mauer back behind the plate.

Joe Mauer is signed through 2010, and I am hoping the Twins will give him a contract extension before he becomes a free-agent.  I'm sure the Twins would pay him gobs of money (which they should have due to a new ballpark), because he is the face of the franchise and he is Minnesotan.  He practically is Mr. Minnesota.  But I'd hate to see what would happen if he did reach free agency and the Yankees or Red Sox offered him a 7 year contract which would pay him $25 million a year...

Jason Kubel - Twins Cleanup Hitter

Wow I just watched another incredible Twins victory! They might not have a lot of wins so far this season but they have already had 3 incredibly memorable ones.

Tonight Jason Kubel hit for the cycle and hit a grand slam HR to complete the cycle in the 8th and put the Twins up 11-9. That was exciting! Kubel was an extremely well-regarded prospect, some saying he was as great of a hitter as Mauer and Morneau, plus he played good outfield defense. But a knee injury a few years ago in the fall really hurt him and the next few years he regained strength but never really got back to his old level. People have been picking him to breakout for a few years now, and this might be the year it happens. I hope he is the everyday DH from here on out. Mauer and Morneau are the two best hitters and Kubel and Span are easily the next two best. I wonder how much longer people will pitch to Morneau to get to Kubel (which is what happened before the grand slam.) I think Morneau will start to see better pitches and he too will have better numbers. When Mauer gets back I'd love to see the top 4 of the batting order go Span/Mauer/Morneau/Kubel. I think batting orders are overrated but I do think it is important to get your best players more at-bats than anybody else and sticking them at the top of the order is the best way to do it. Plus Span and Mauer get on-base around 40% of the time, which creates excellent RBI opportunities for Kubel and Morneau.

10 reasons why to be more optimistic about the Jazz

Such negativity abounds in Utah!  The woeful Jazz face the mighty Lakers in the first round and nobody thinks the series will last longer than 5 games.  I would agree that it doesn't look too promising, but come on I always find things to be optimistic in for my teams.  Here are some things that I find optimism in:

1.  Deron Williams.  When there's  D-Will, there's a way.  Does anybody doubt this guy is going to get 30+ points, 15+ assists every game?  This guy loves the playoffs and elevates his game to a whole new level in the postseason.  

2.  Last years series was closer than people realize.  We lost by 11 points in game 1, 10, in game 2, 7 in game 5, and 3 in game 6.  Plus we beat these guys in the regular season already as well.  I'm not predicting the series yet, but I'd be a little surprised if the Jazz were swept.

3.  If the Jazz manage to steal game 1 (or game 2) the Lakers will be feeling extreme pressure and all the Jazz would have to do is win out at home, which is what they are best at.

4.  I know they are not playing well together right now, but who says that couldn't change with 

just one game?

5.  Many of these guys might be wanting to get raises in the summer.  Beating the Lakers would sure look nice on a resume.

6.  If you ignore their recent slide, the Jazz are the best 8th seed I can remember.

7.  No back-to-back games.  The Jazz had one of the best records in the league when playing a game with a day of rest.

8.  Matt Harpring will cause more frusteration for Kobe than he's used to.

9.  Remember when Williams was hurt this year, and after he initially came back it took him a few weeks or months to get back to normal, but all of a sudden he clicked and was amazing?  I present to you Carlos Boozer...

10.  Hopefully the Jazz players remember Larry Miller and all he did for them and that alone helps to fuel their desire to win this year in the playoffs.