Baseball Talk

[Rick]

I'm looking for a few good people who know their baseball and know how to communicate it. If you play fantasy baseball, so much the better.

I need an expert on each of the following areas to start.

Chicago-Denver-Minnesota-Wisconsin

We'll have a little contest.
Pick your favorite team and tell us about them in this thread. Have at it

[friendlyfisher]

I will jump right in and throw the
twins in the mix. They will have what it takes again this year to win the weak American League Central. The White Sox just don't have the pitching. They loose to many late inning games do to a poor bullpen. The Twins starting pitching is starting to come around and the bullpen has been solid all year. The resent quality starts is the main reason the Twins have been able to open a three game lead on Chicago. As long as they stay healthy there should be able to win the central by 6 to 8 games. This is what I have to start, looking forward to a good second half to the season and hopfully the playoffs. Frindly

[BackHerUp]

Ivan "Pudge" Rodriguez (leading hitter in the A.L.) said that the Florida Marlins had the exact same record last year (at this time in the season), as his current team (the Detroit Tigers) do now.
As you may know by now, the Florida Marlins won the World Series.
They didn't have as good a hitting team as the Tigers, which are leading the A.L. in hitting (as of last Sunday)...and their team ERA was higher too...

GO TIGERS!!!!

------------------
"Shhh...I'm fishing"

[knoppers]

I think the tigers are still a year or two away from contending.
the twins are leading the divsion while not playing up to there full potential, mainly offense. many of the twins hitters are only hitting in the mid 200,s but have career aveages close to 300. the twins will win the division this year, the only thing they must overcome to getting back to the big one, is them ****ed yankees.(not the ted nugent yankees).

[Jarrod32]

I have played fantasy baseball for about 15 years now, mainly in a league that drafts from the AL West and Central...as a result, I am fairly well versed in Detroit, Minnesota, White Sox, KC, Cleveland, and the teams in the AL West.

Twins: Need Shannon Stewart to come back healthy, and the rest of the lineup seems to get better. Could use one more starting pitcher to cement their contender status. Still probably the best starting pitching in the Central, and the bullpen is also the best.

White Sox: Great lineup, need some pitching. They actually seem to have gotten their bullpen organized (trading Koch to Florida and giving Takatsu the closer role). Are considered one of the front runners to get another starter in a trade (Garcia from Seattle?).

Cleveland: They are only about five games back, and they have NINE blown saves this year. If they had a stronger bullpen, they would be right in the mix. Qutie a young team...as their young pitching develops (Lee, Davis, Westbrook, Stanford) they will be a solid contender as soon as next year.

Detroit: Marginal improvement at a few positions this year (Guillen at SS, White in LF, and I-Rod at catcher), along with a breakout year from Sancez in CF, has made them a much better team. VERY young pitching (Maroth, Bonderman, Robertson) with a high upside. Still a couple years away...as a previous post mentioned...but if those guys live up to their potential, they will be very tough in a couple years.

KC: In disarray. Their fire sale has begun (Beltran to Houston last week). Though they did do well in that trade, getting a few very good young players.

I won't go into the AL West, but could give you a similar analysis for each of those teams, as well.

I love baseball. I watch the Twins when I can, and also follow the above mentioned teams. I'm not so well versed in NL teams, though...

[Farley]

Where was that bullpen yesterday? Is it time to call up some minors yet?

[Guest]

Baseball...Rick, you KNOW it is my life

Gosh, where to start?

I guess I can begin by saying that I have been a Twins fan since I can remember. From the days of Rod Carew, Butch Wynegar, Roy Smalley, Ron Washington, etc, etc, etc. Remember Tim Teufel? Or maybe Larry Hisle or Mark Salas?

Who was ticked off when they traded Bruno for that stiff Tommy Herr? well I WAS!! I still wear his number on my softball uni to this day.

I stuck with them through the horrible years of the early 80's (Remember how bad of a manager Ray Miller was?) and after their series win in '91. No bandwagon jumper here folks!

Heck, I've even taken Dougie Baseball out fishing!! Great guy and I hope he never leaves the team!!

I eat, breathe, sleep the Twinkies! Tear down the dome and gimme some grass and starry nights because thats how baseball was meant to be played...OUTSIDE!!!

Well, that's enough for now. I'll save my best for later

[rvvrrat]

Tom,

Have to disagree with you...the sooner the Twins can replace Dougie BB the sooner they have a chance to win in the post season. Yes, he has a fantastic glove and footwork. This team in particular can't afford his lack of production at the plate. Another team with more power at other postions might be able to compensate, not this team.

He may be a great guy and you enjoyed fishing with him, but he is not a major league first baseman.

Pete

[Jarrod32]

Morneau will be the starter at first base by this time next year. He's almost ready...

[Farley]

Jeter was in a hitting slump earlier this season, now he's batting .385 in the last 7 games with 4 HR's. Maybee DM will come around after the all-star break.

[Guest]

Not a major league first baseman?!?!?

Where do you get that? If we did not have Doug's glove at first base, we would have 10 times the amount of errors and many more losses. What he lacks in the form of power, he makes up for in his patience at the plate, his leadership in the clubhouse AND his gold glove at first.

Rivas, Guzman and Koskie owe their careers to Doug. None of them can throw accurately and most of their throws would get by most if not any other first baseman. They would have been shipped out long ago, which I hope happens after this season (Maybe not Guzzie if he continues to do what he has been doing recently).

You want to talk about players who they need to replace? Start with those 3 right there and forget about replacing Doug.

1) Koskie might have some power and his fielding is stellar at times, but he has a knack for striking out in key situations (reference the playoffs vs. the Angels...pitiful!!), and is always hurt. He's on the downslide of his career and will be too expensive for this team to keep. Besides, a buck ninety four average just does not cut it.

2) Guzman has shown some promise the last few months but his fielding is sub par. Something has made him want to play, and I hope he keeps it up, but we have all seen what can happen when he looses interest.

3) Rivas? One number says it all- .169

Errors equal runs most of the time and runs equal losses. Doug has won many games for this team despite his average at the plate. I'll take his glove over power any day and most would too, that's why he is still here. He's also been hurting all year and this has shown in his batting numbers. Also having him bat second has hurt his stat numbers, a big mistake on Gardy's part in MHO.

And I would say that even if I had not taken him fishing!!

[This message has been edited by Tom Herman (edited 06-28-2004).]

[First Ice-Mike]

This thread is a great idea!!!

The Twins really need to get a starting pitcher if we're going to have any chance at keeping up with the Sox. Radke and Santana are outstanding, but we really take a nose dive after that. Silva has been good at times, but is inconsistent. Lohse has been bad all year - even taking into consideration his lack of run support.

I think we need to trade Lew Ford and a prospect (maybe Resto) for a solid pitcher. We need a guy that can pitch in the bottom half of the rotation and eat up some innings, especially with our bullpen starting to loose some steam. Lew's been great and his value might never be higher than it is now and the leauge will eventually catch up to him. I just can't help but be afraid we might have another Marty Cordova on our hands.

It's time to get Morneau to the big dance for good!!!! This guy is a stud!!

FI

[wade22]

There is no law or rule stating that first baseman need to be hitters. It's just common sense. 1st base is not a defensive position. That's why when you look at the top offensive producers in the Major Leagues you see an inordinate amount of first baseman.
I know the identity of the Twins. I believe Dougie has value as a defensive player. But compare his average and production to other first baseman and we've got a disparity that should be amended. Jim Thome is hitting .314 with 26 homers and 55 RBIs. Pujols is hitting .301 with 51 ribbies and 20 dongs. Your guy has hit three homers in a division that could really feature a power hitting first bagger. Yes, Guzman and Rivas are the middle infielders that I think they are. They've done just fine with Restovich and Morneau filling in. They did fine with Hocking filling in last year. It's not like their throwing error percentages jump up when someone else is playing first. At all. Yes the Twins are in first place. They're also in 21st place out of 30 as far as run production and homers go. Hey, the Twins play smallball. It's their method of operations and I love it. But right now we don't have the pitching to play small ball and the collapse of our bullpen cries out for a little more power in our lineup. But I suppose you're one of these guys who think losing Dave Ortiz was a setback
My point is, Dougie Baseball isn't the valuable first baseman you think he is.

[Guest]

What is this big fascination with Morneau? And what is the love affair with home runs anyways?

Sure he is a stud..at AAA!!! He is terrible in the field, his fielding % of .857 is almost last among all first basemen, and his big-league batting average of .238 speaks for itself. A batting average of .321 and 19 HR's are comming against MINOR LEAGUE PITCHING...a huge difference.

Granted, he has not had many chances, but the big leagues are littered with the bodies of minor league superstars that can't cut it in the bigs...the jury is still out.

I do know that Doug's glove will be badly missed if we let him go.

Trade Lew Ford? What are you saying? He is one of the best young prospects this team has. Besides, we need him once we loose Jaques to free agency this winter.

[Guest]

OK,
Let me ask you this....

Would you rather have Ortiz or LeCroy at DH RIGHT NOW?

I'll let you answer first before I tell you my answer and why.

[Farley]

Ortiz: 72 RBI's is pretty tough, 2nd highest in MLB I believe.

BUT, look at Ortiz's teammates, I'm sure it's easier to get a lot of RBI's when you have guys who can actually get on base. I'm not bashing the Twins, they can hit with the rest of them, but Boston has some big bats.

[This message has been edited by Farley (edited 06-28-2004).]

[Guest]

LOL...Farley, let wade answer..lol..but I would agree.

Ortiz NEVER had a real chance to show his stuff here. He was hurt almost all the time which made him expendable in the eyes of the front office.

Now that he is healthy, look what he is doing.

LeCroy's HR #'s are not what you would want from your DH...a position by the way that I would agree that power #'s are important..., but his batting average is what is a real laugher, it's even worse than Rivas!!

.118?

What kind of a joke is that and he's sposed to be your DH?

[wade22]

Right now I'd much rather have Ortiz. But if you think he'd have the same numbers batting in a lineup without Garciaparra, Millar, Damon, Nixon and Ramirez to pitch around, then you haven't done your homework me boy. Sammy Softball can hit the fastball. Something that Ortiz couldn't do the entire four at-bats he had here when he was healthy. I'm not defending Sammy Softball by any means but I'm tired of Twins fans loving up a first bagger hitting well under the Mendoza line.

[Guest]

He might be, considering Fenway and the dome are two different animals and the Central and the East are much different as well.

True, he would not have (maybe not) the same numbers, but they for sure would better than the stiff they have at DH now.

By the way, I'm not dfending Doug's #'s at the plate, that will be his downfall, but you cannot argue against his value in the field, especially on a team built around defense.

Yes, they are short on pitching, but when you let guys like Milty, and believe it or not "The Gambler" go, the only one you can blame is tight-wad Carl.

[Farley]

I think you two need to settle this over a game of MLB 2004 on playstation. Except they pronunce Dougs last name as Menkewits.

[wade22]

Let me ask you this...

Who would you rather have RIGHT NOW at first base for the Twins...Mike Sweeney, Paul Konerko, Carlos Pena or Dougie Baseball?

I'll let Tom answer then I'll post the stats and point out who is last in run production by 29 RBIs with seven less home runs. Any guesses?

[Jarrod32]

They won't trade Ford or Restovich. If they were willing to trade those guys, the Twins could've had Garcia. They'll probably trade Jones right before the trade deadline, and then give the job to some combination of Ford/Restovich. Punto is about to come off the DL...look for him to get a whole lot of AB's at 2B (as an audition for a starting gig next year). If he can hit in the upper .200's (.280 or so), he can steal a lot of bases. Punto (or maybe Cuddyer) and Morneau will be the right side of the infield for most of next year...and probably a few years to come.

[Guest]

If you had to go by stats alone, I would pick Konerko.

Of the 4, their fielding % are all .002 apart, so that is pretty much a wash.

Of course Doug's HR #'s are all below the other 3, but his OBP is second to Konerko's, his average is above Pena's and his RBI totals are way down, but that is expected when you bat in the 2 spot, not many RBI opertunities there normally.

Strikeouts? Wow! Pena has K'd 71 times!! But don't the "experts" say that's ok if the batter is a power hitter? Also a *****ic assumption.

But overall, their #'s are pretty close other than the power stats. Doug is better at drawing walks and they have all scored close to the same number of runs.

But, since I am a Twins fan, I'd pick Doug ...LOL

[Jarrod32]

Wade...you missed a couple of key 1B in the AL Central. Mike "ouch, my back hurts again" Sweeney is on his way out (fire sale in KC)...Ken Harvey (who has as many games at 1B right now as Mike "ouch, now it's my wrist that hurts" Sweeney) is hitting .335 with 8 HR and 32 RBI for the Royals. He will be solid for the Royals for the next few years, anyway (until the next fire sale).

In Cleveland, Travis Hafner is hitting .308 with 8 HR and 48 RBI. The Tribe got him for a song and dance from Texas (Einar Diaz and Ryan Drese).

Dougie's regular web-gems are fun to see, but who is to say that a more productive first baseman has to be weak defensively? Morneau will be just fine as a fixture at 1B for the Twins for the next several years...but be patient...he's only 22. Some more regular PT in the minors this season will do him good...he'll be the guy next year.

[Jarrod32]

Tom...I think you're a bit mixed up on LeCroy's numbers. The 118 is his number of At-Bats. He's hitting .271 with 6 homers and 20 RBI. Not real big numbers, but remember that he was hurt for a while. Only 118 AB's...if you extrapolate his numbers over a full season (500 AB), it comes out to 25 homers and about 85 RBI. Most full time players are around 250 AB right now...Big Matt's pace would have him at 12 HR and 40 RBI right now if he had that many AB's...