Notes from the Ditch, March 30, 2007
1. I was reading Rob Neyer's blog last night and I came across his entry on the decisions to send Garza down to AAA. Rob writes:
In terms of wins and losses in the immediate future, this decision means nothing. The Twins don't even need a fifth starter until April 11, and Silva could get skipped again after that. It's probably better for Garza to be pitching every five days in the minors than sitting in the bullpen, waiting for a chance at garbage relief. Except I would argue that we've been presented with a false choice here: Garza vs. Silva. Garza wasting away as the No. 5 starter vs. Garza honing his skills in the Rochester rotation.
What about Garza vs. Ramon Ortiz (the Twins' No. 3 starter)? What about Garza vs. Sidney Ponson (No. 4)? According to the best evidence we've got, right now Garza is Minnesota's second- or third-best starting pitcher. The Twins aren't stupid. They do figure these things out. Sometimes it just takes awhile.
It'll take until July, which is when the Twins can call up Garza without triggering him as a super 2 after the 2009 season. If Garza stays down until then and the Twins languish, you'll know why. And if he stays down until the end of May, it's because the Twins wanted to postpone his free agency to after 2013 until after 2012. This is all well and good, but at some point, you have to say, this team should try to win now.
2. Of course, Carlos Silva went out last night and threw 5 innings, allowing two hits and no runs against the Cincinnati Reds. He dropped his spring ERA to 8.44. And the Twins are thinking of moving Carlos Silva into the fourth starter role, according to Joe Christenson.
3. Luis Rivas got reassigned to the Cleveland Indians' minor league camp.
4. Oh my God. Michael Jackson is in discussions about creating a 50-foot robotic replica of himself to roam the Las Vegas desert, according to reports.
5. Number 20 is a doozy.
6. No silly, it's Hitler and then A-Rod. NY Giants Coach Tom Coughlin says that he's almost as hated as Adolf Hitler.
The Giants had no official comment Thursday after the Daily News quoted Coughlin saying this, in response to a question about the battering he received in the New York and national media near the end of last season:
"I hear some of it and I see it. You know [vice president of communications Pat] Hanlon tells me about it, what's going on. Hitler and then me, in that order. Unfortunate, but it is."
7. You see, college basketball is about scholar-athletes.
8. The Baseball Analysts look at the over/under numbers for each team in the majors set by Vegas. Arizona (which Nate Silver is picking to win the World Series) is at 77.5. I might even throw a sawbuck down on that. Oh wait, I don't gamble. Anyway, the Twins' over/under is 83.5.
Stay out of the Ditch.
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kg2005
Twins to push.
ubelmann
Number 20 is a doozy.
That's awesome.
kg2005
I actually laughed out loud when I looked at that. I woke my roommate up, but its noon so he needs to get his ass up anyway.
ubelmann
The Baseball Analysts look at the over/under numbers for each team in the majors set by Vegas. Arizona (which Nate Silver is picking to win the World Series) is at 77.5. I might even throw a sawbuck down on that. Oh wait, I don’t gamble. Anyway, the Twins’ over/under is 83.5.
Yeah, if I was a gambling man, I'd take the over on both of those.
kg2005
Gotta throw a lot of money at the under for Chicago too.
brianS
Arizona still plays in the NL West, right??? 77.5? Seriously?
ubelmann
Brandon Webb ought to be able to get them about 1/4th of the way there by himself.
brianS
Of course, Carlos Silva went out last night and threw 5 innings, allowing two hits and no runs against the Cincinnati Reds. He dropped his spring ERA to 8.44.
But what was his Spring Training ERA against Major League clubs? ba-dum-pum
kg2005
All that matters is that Krivsky has it in his head that Silva can pitch. You know the first person Ryan will call when he's ready to trade.
spycake
Rimshot aside, it was encouraging that it was a likely Reds ML lineup playing most of the game last night, and not the scrub lineups we'll probably see and field the last couple spring games.
twayn
I'm going to Vegas at the end of April, so I'm definitely hitting the sports book. I've got a C-note in the budget set aside for baseball bets.
SBG
Watch out for the robotic Michael Jackson. And, since he's now living in Las Vegas, make sure any kids with you look out for the real one.
SDfan
Deliciously snarky
rowsdower
Oh, that Michael Jackson. I thought you were referring to the beer guru. Bummer.
SBG
How about former Twin, Michael Jackson? He was a nasty looking guy. I'd hate to have a 50 foot robot of him with lasers shooting out of his eyes.
New Britain Bo
I remember Michael Jackson at Sherlock's Pub in Eden Prairie for some kind of scotch tasting event. Imagine - getting paid to taste Scotch and eat questionable English food. Course I don't know what he was getting paid - maybe the Glenmorangie 12yr and Shepherd's pie was his pay...
brianS
I'd almost pay money to hang with that Michael Jackson. He's a legend. I'd love to study at the feet of the Master and learn how to make a living drinking beer and spirits.
spycake
Michael Jackson is in discussions about creating a 50-foot robotic replica of himself to roam the Las Vegas desert, according to reports.
How can an article mention this and NOT mention the "Moonwalker" video? The one where Jackson transforms into a big robot?
If you're capable of downloading it, I highly recommend playing the "Moonwalker" arcade game too.
AMR
This may be obvious to many of you, but a co-worker just pointed me to BP's record predictions for the year. I'm guessing that this is what SBG used for that wonderful graph last year.
Twins average 90.9 wins (best in the division) and a 50.2% chance of making the playoffs, second-best in MLB (Yankees: 54.2%). Average record for the AL Central champs: 101.3 wins.
I find it interesting that the ChiSox are only at 8.0% to make the playoffs. Compare that to a 7.8% liklihood for the Drays to win the East.
I don't know how much stock to put in these projections right now, but it is interesting.
SBG
You got it, AMR. If you click on the team, it gives you the day-by-day fluctuations. I have the data stored from last year, but I never published the final chart. It's a beautiful thing.
Rhubarb_Runner
D:\Rays, I believe, based on your mugshot thread, AMR.
AMR
According to their home uniforms, they are now just the "Rays". For some reason, I thought there was a big "D" followed by "Rays"
"Drays" does make me think that everyone on the team is one half of mid-90's rap duo Das EFX. Maybe a minor league affiliate could be the "Skoobs".
Arizona's new home unis have a Diamond-like punctuation mark between "D" and "backs" (lowercase I now realize). I just wasn't sure how to type that. "D:\backs" is fun although "D<>backs" is probably most appropriate.
frightwig
I assume you've seen the "D-bags" parody of Arizona's new jersey lettering. Paul Lukas is right, AZ's new logo on the sleeve is a dirty joke waiting to happen, too.
freealonzo
The Gambler out until July at best. Here's the link:
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=ap-tigers-rogers&prov=ap&type=lgns
Before this, Detroit was my fave team to disappoint in 2007. Now I'm convinced.
ubelmann
Yeah, I think their defense will decline and everyone will blame the pitchers. In particular, Verlander will be said to be in a sophomore slump, when really, it's just that more of his balls-in-play aren't being converted into outs because the defense has declined.
Rhubarb_Runner
The good news, that Torii proved for us, is that Rogers can be out half the season and still take home the Fielding Grammy.
Will Young
The great thing about that NY Times article is that it actually, you know, mentions Georgetown had a player on it from a shady school. GW had 2 players from the same school (one has already graduated, the other is currently a junior in good standing with the administration), yet the Washington Post chose to throw the GW administration under the bus for recruiting players with such a questionable academic background.
Did I feel great knowing GW had played fast-and-loose with the NCAA admission regulations? No, but I also knew that Georgetown had one of their teammates on the team (something the Washington Post in its JT loving oblviousness failed to note) and that they were doing well academically.
Anyway, nothing much to add except it's good to see the media turn their attention to some of the bigger fish in the pool rather than just attacking those with weaker defenses.
Will Young
Did I feel great knowing GW had played fast-and-loose with the NCAA admission regulations? No, but I also knew that Georgetown had one of their teammates on the team (something the Washington Post in its JT loving oblviousness failed to note), that they were doing well academically, and that many other teams stretch the rules in a lot worse ways (cough... Myron Piggie... cough).
Fixed what I meant that sentence to say.