Wow Baker Sucks!

[zamboni]

I can't figure out why he is the staff "ace" anyways. Twins have always picked bad "aces" Johan wins Cy Young, yet Radke is still opening day starter. Personally, I would rather see Liriano or Pavano be our "ace," not Stink Pot Scott. But I will give Baker this- of our staff, I give him the best odds of throwing a no hitter. He has come close a couple times now. That Royals game and Mike Sweeney still ticks me off.

[PierBridge]

Not that it matters much but if I were to guess why Garnedhire and the Twins have Baker ahead of Pavano is because Pavano's's stats over the the last 3 years are much much worse than Bakers....and you certainly would not have Liriano come into the season as the so called and over hyped by some fans staff ace with how he pitched last season.

Pavano's ERA the last 3 years. 5.10 4.76 and 5.77 Bakers 4.26 3.45 and 4.37. So Pavano's best is worse then Bakers worst season of the last 3.

Just a hunch tho!...

[Mudcutter]

reg season stats may not show it,,, but ever since BLACKIE went into the windy city for the playoff game and pitched his tail off only giving up the HR to THOME,, He's shown me to be the ACE in big games. maybe not every day,, but Blackie is a gamer.

[Scott K]

Why does it matter who the team lists as their ace? The Ace may pitch 1 more game all year, so all it is, is a title!

[PierBridge]

Good points it's pretty meaningless.

I'm not saying Baker is an ACE starter or our best pitcher. We have a slew of good ham and egg pitchers who are not great but pretty darn effective so far.

Good to see Blackie in form for sure.!

[grasshopper]

We could have 5 15 game winners. That 75 wins. I'll take that.

[JBMasterAngler]

Come on baker, that flight of stairs is calling

[Mudcutter]

meaningless in the reg season,, yes for the most part. But in the PS , it's far from it. The order I'd pitch the Twins in the PS (5 or 7game not that ((yet)) fine tuned) BLACKIE- Liriano- and tie for the rest. Blackie winning in the Bronx,, and I know he was behind after 7, but he GOT THE JOB DONE>>

Blackie has ONIONS!!!

[PierBridge]

I would rather see Liriano or Pavano be our "ace," not Stink Pot Scott.

Pavano looked like Bert Blyleven out there today...going going gone another Home Run....

[PierBridge]

I would rather see Liriano or Pavano be our "ace," not Stink Pot Scott.

Good call Z... I just wasn't all that impressed with Pavano's performance over the years other than last years Short stint with us and didn't expect him to do as well as he's done.

Just what the doctored ordered today in a huge complete game win against the Phil's..that's what an ace should do!

Well Done Pav..!

[Big Dave2]

Maybe Cliff Lee will be the Twins "ace".

[PierBridge]

Maybe Cliff Lee will be the Twins "ace".

Yeah he's my my short or dream list with Ozwalt and Greinke. All long shots but it's OK to dream right?...

[zamboni]

Gotta say- Pavanos 'stache- NOT hatin it. Looks like a porn star or a cop. Thumbs up!!!

[pikestabber]

(Cliff Lee) is on my dream list with Ozwalt and Greinke. All long shots but it's OK to dream right?...

Maybe not such a long shot... Buster Olney reported that he believes the Twins are the front runner in the Cliff Lee sweepstakes, believe it or not, as the Mariners need a good catcher and Wilson Ramos is good trade bait. His rational was that Bill Pohlad spends money a lot differently (read: more lavishly) than pops did, and it was rumored that the Twins are going to make aggressive pre-trade deadline moves to strengthen the team. That said, if we get an ace like Lee, who goes down? Liriano is a no go, they just sunk money into Blackburn, Pavano has really been the glue for the young pitchers this year, and Slowey (aside from his recent atrocious start) has been solid. To me, Baker is not very movable either as they probably have more invested in him than anyone else. Still, someone has to go... Is Lee's veteran presence enough to warrant moving Pavano out the door? Is Slowey going going down?

[PierBridge]

Thanks for the grammar correction...

That would be awesome! Just to nit-pick a little I don't anything is changing with the Pohlads as far as spending money. I just think there is going to be a lot more to spend. I think the business model stays the same... Then again I've been a Pohlad backer from day one.

[pikestabber]

Thanks for the grammar correction...

Sorry...tech writer...force of habit (even though I just found errors in my own posts after re-reading!).

Yeah, that makes more sense to me in terms of the spending. It seems like the business model has otherwise been consistent going forward from Carl to Bill, and with new revenues from Target Field we have more money to spend on talent upgrades (concept still seems foreign for this team!).

Reminiscent of the '91 World Series...get the addition of a true ace (Morris in '91) and capture it all!

[Coach1310]

Baker drives me nuts, because his expressions never change. He can give up back to back grand slams and strike out the side and you wouldn't see the difference in him. To me it looks like he doesn't care sometimes, but he has better stuff than Slowey and Blackburn. Baker can get away with not having perfect location, but Slowey and Blackburn can't. I don't think Baker is going anywhere and Slowey/Blackburn are expendable in my opinion because we have guys in the minors that are basically the same pitchers...

Pavano isn't a long term building block so I doubt Seattle would have and interest and right now he is the ACE of the staff.

I'm all for Lee.... something tells me that Lee would even consider signing a deal in MN for cheaper than the open market. I think the field has proven to be pitcher friendly AND not everyone is cut out for the big stage in New York.

[PierBridge]

How long until he's out of the rotation?

That's a good question... I'll go with not anytime soon again!