Today, Joe Posnanski has proposed the Dayton Game.* Basically, how many tools are there on your team that are 60 tools. 60 is a rating on the typical scouting scale, and well, I'm not a scout. Posnanski suggests that a 60 tool is an All-Star caliber tool and provides examples and such. Also, All-Star caliber is a bit misleading since you need to adjust for position to determine who is an All-Star, so, yeah.
*How much money do you suppose it would take to lure Posnanski to Minnesota to cover the Twins? At that point, I think I would just stop writing about the team and maybe stick to posting relevant numbers.
Anyway, how about the Twins? Let's see:
60 Tools
Mauer's arm
Cuddyer's arm
Delmon's arm (he throws to the wrong base a lot, but I believe that's a "makeup" issue, if we're playing pretend scouts)
Mauer's hitting*
Morneau's hitting
Morneau's power
Delmon's power**
Gomez's speed
Casilla's speed (I think, but then again his SB% is really awful)
Everett's defense (when healthy)
Mauer's defense
On the bubble, I would put:
Gomez's arm (strong, but can be erratic)
Gomez's defense (he's fast, but I'm not yet convinced he's great in center)
Punto's defense (if we're not adjusting for position, he clearly has a lot of defensive value, though I'm not convinced he's a special player on defense)
Punto's arm (good, but certainly has never impressed me from SS)
Maybe tempting, but:
Casilla's defense (he's fast, but I'm not impressed with his hands and he is still probably error-prone)
Cuddyer's power (he's had one good power year ('06) but overall has a sub-.200 career ISO)
Kubel's power (sub-.200 career ISO, could improve, but to All-Star levels?)
Gomez's power (it's good for a center fielder, but compared across positions, not really)
Kubel's hitting (pre-injury, I would have said .300 hitter, but these days I'm thinking more like .270-.280)
Tools that could become 60 tools:
Casilla's hitting (I glanced again at his minor league record, and he's just 23, and I decided that he might hit for good average)
Delmon's hitting (.286 career hitter as a 22-year-old, I think it could still be there, but the power is a big ??? now)
*We're doing things the scouting way, and hitting=hits for average.
**Just kidding.
I don't know really whether that's good or bad overall, but sometimes it's just fun to take a look at what the team is. (Certainly I have more tools listed than Posnanski had listed for the Royals.) The scale is subjective, making it prone to disagreement, but that might provide for a better conversation piece. Certainly hitting for average and hitting for power are pretty easy to quantify, so sometime it might be fun to try to quantify the scouting scale a bit.
New streak! Delmon in LF.
Im so excited.
I just cant hide it.
I have a bad feeling about this game. Frankly, I have a bad feeling about this series. I'd like to avoid the sweep.
I think we could see a lot of Yankee walks today. I hope I'm wrong.
I happened to waste five minutes of my life reading Top Jimmy's column today. What an embarrassment he is.
I havent read him in 5 years
Pat Borzi at MinnPost had an interesting article today about the Twins and attendance
Good jump by Abreu, but Mauer might have gotten him with an on target throw.
the Twins did not walk a batter in the KC series
it took what, two Yankees batters to draw one
There's a world of difference between control pitchers like Slowey and Blackburn pitching against KC and a guy with shaky control like Perkins pitching against the Yankees. And not even just like a Mercury world...more like a Jupiter world.
right. Plus KC is not known for taking walks
I just hope a walk in the first inning does not set the tone for the series. I guess Im a bit paranoid today :lol:
I think it's fair to be paranoid against the Yankees. :)
It's not that I'm paranoid, it's just that everyone's out to get me.
--Frank Burns
Ugh. Punto would've had that.
Dammit mlb.tv, I thought we'd finally worked out a nice, sound-free commercial break system.
Gomez got totally fooled on that. Oh well.
I'm still surprised that Mussina signed such a small contract to stay with the Yankees last year.
Nice platience by the laddie.
That was a really nice swing from Casilla to hit an offspeed pitch.
Casilla really has had some good looking plate appearances.
Casilla's been impressive at the plate in this little stint, better small sample size theater than his performance last year.
Yeah. I got to looking at his numbers at Rochester last year. Supposing for a second that he was a bit unlucky on singles last year, he was really pretty close to his minor league career numbers. And he's still young. I had almost totally given up on the kid after last year, but sometimes baseball is about patience.
Yankees snakebit. hopefully a game's worth
M11 would've gotten that.
Curse of the Dougbino?
It appears as if we are dealing with a small strike zone tonight.
W00t! Past a lunging Rodriguez.
Mussina is sort of getting squeezed here.
I agree, but Perkins seemed to be getting squeezed, too. As long as the Twins are willing to be patient, hopefully it won't be a big problem.
Okay, that second strike to Kubel was totally inconsistent with anything he's called so far. Wow.
Yeah, that call made my initial post seem stupid. Damn umpire
Hoo hah!
Nice "bite me, yanqui" basehit!
Heh heh, more like E-Rod
+10 beaut, dat.
on the
grillmenu tonight: Johnsonville brat, Doritos, diet Pepsi. plain and simpleLamb chops, fiddlehead ferns, and shittake mushrooms here.
Yowza, nice.
BST (bacon, spinach, tomato) sammies, tabouli from the Holy Land Deli, and a rather nice BV Coastal Estate Zinfindel.
H.L. Deli. Not shabby(ot).
+2 mitzvot, Bo.
Steak on the grill (first time with lumpcoal), steamed green beans, bing cheeries. A bottle of Scandia Ale.
Not in Madison. You'd get a long winded bag of crap about how evil Johnsonville brats are if you tell people that down here. Then someone else would walk by and call liberals idiots. It's the internet come to life down here.
It's the internet come to life down here.
That sounds like a dystopia if I've ever heard of one.
Well, there's loads of good beer around, so that helps.
Sort of like how the internet has a lot of porn lying around?
dude, it's spelled "pr0n"
BONUS - Drumsticks in the freezer!
leftover pizza
I haven't made a decision yet, but I was thinking about making some hash browns and an omelet. That might be too ambitious, though.
KUBEL! my man!
Delmon's day off do him any good? We'll see.
We're living on the edge hitting all of these ground balls with one out and the bases loaded.
I want at least a sac fly out of Del here.
Even better!
DY! Maybe he needs to sit more often (he says, knowingly)
W00t! Nibble, nibble.
Nibble.
Muscle past the Yankees with singles.
Almost even odds with Mr. RISP at the plate.
why couldn't THIS game be nationally televised? I wouldn't mind a good Yankee pimp-slapping in front of a large TV audience
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Let's not get ahead of ourselves here. With eight innings to go, no one has been slapped yet, let alone pimp-slapped.
I have my eternal optimist glasses on
Fair enough. I just have my superstition glasses on.
Anyone listen to the Cubs-Rockies game today... that one made even Jose Guillen cringe.
Nice catch by Delmon. There's something about the way he runs around out there that just seems weird. I can't put my finger on what it is, though.
Who's this new left fielder we got? He can actually catch the ball.
I dunno. Some kid skipping his college classes I think.
:lol:
The TV goes off during dinner. I turn it on and 4-1. w00t!
Here's hoping you didn't over-cook those steaks. ;)
Lucky me, the game is on TV in CT!
Brotha, what town're you in?
Man, Jeter looks great grounding out to third.
You could really sense the inspiration in his hustle to first base.
It even came through on Gameday.
Boy, Lamb's arm...leaves something to be desired.
He was brought in for his hitting right?
Yeah. He's actually showed some signs this last month that April was a fluke. Which is nice, since I had basically declared that he fell off the cliff.
The things that I find amazing?
Cuddyer's VORP so far is actually lower than Lamb's.
Not one, but two third basemen in the AL (Morgan Ensberg and Brandon Wood) have a lower VORP than Lamb.
Line-drive RBI single, diving catch and a nice cut off of a ball down the line and a perfect throw to third. Maybe days off aren't so bad, eh Delmon and Gardy?
Wow. Lexi pwned Matsui.
Casilla! Roll up your sleeve, son. We'll need two vials worth.
Man, Laddie's tearing it up.
okGO
Gameday delay. My apologies, AlexEE
Twins are really making the Yankees look old and slow in the first couple of innings.
Wasn't that TJ's thesis?
Joe's beard grows a little more.
How will all of that facial hair fit on his HOF plaque?
Interesting stuff from the Yankee tv crew.
1. Mauer is the third player in Draft history to be taken by his hometown team with the first pick.
2. Mauer had to be removed from his 4 y.o. tee-ball league because he was endangering the other kids with his hitting.
They didn't do the "only struck out once in high school" bit yet?
Maybe they're saving that for later
Or the "one of three #1 drafts to lead league in batting"?
Didn't he create the grand canyon while dragging his ax or something?
I hadn't heard that t-ball story before. Good stuff. (Though, in the interest of keeping Joe playing, they could have at least used a softer ball or something when he was up, right?)
I'm guessing he got to play with the older kids
Hmmm...good point.
Hasn't Barreiro already suggested that Joe is playing with softer balls?
I believe that Barreiro has suggested that Joe is playing with no balls.
;)
Earlier today, Banjo indicated if he was a bit more hot tempered, he'd take an aluminum bat to DB's knees. While he might get better bat speed with an aluminum, I think a wooden model would produce a much more satisfying sound upon impact. Thwack!
how 'bout a maple bat??
Boys are really making Mussina work tonight. Me likey.
That should be a double and an error on Gomez. He deflected the ball just enough to make it impossible for Delmon to field it.
"Off the glove of Lamb." That's a fairly familiar phrase now.
On the replay, the ball wasn't hit as high as I thought it was. It's always tough to judge reaction time, but Lamb's doesn't seem very good.
I'll give him a pass on a ball hit by A-Rod.
With variations on the theme, of course. "Under the glove of Lamb." "Just past the glove of Lamb." "Lamb almost got a glove on that one." etc.
"...quantum-tunnelled through the glove of Lamb..."
whoa - 'Lexi's BA is up to .356 now?! At this rate, in a couple weeks, he'll be batting over 1.100 or more!
4 runs will not be enough tonight.
Earlier tonight Gordo said the Twins were 13th in the league in fielding. I knew it was bad, but 13th? Frackin' aye...
Fielding percentage is meaningless. Our defense is not an asset (probably something like the 9th-11th in the league, but it's not 13th.)
60+ on that Cuddyer arm.
Giambi of all people testing Cuddyer's arm?
Gordo didn't even get excited on the call. He must've been out by a mile
he was
Neither did Dick. It was just a sort of "well, that was a dumb idea" tone.
Maybe he thought the golden thong was +2 to speed.
I'm thinking +4 for charisma. :-)
Giambi looking pretty scary in his mugshot
When's the last time he didn't look scary?
I thought the same thing. got a cross between the Dawn of the Dead / scary crackhead thing going.
I'm picturing Lenny from Of Mice and Men.
They just showed the replay, Harris missed the tag
Yeah, he did. Terrible effort on his part. But, the ball was there about 2 seconds before Giambi, so he gets called out.
Yeah, I don't really have a problem with that call, but it'd be nice if Harris could take care of the easy parts of his job.
Yanks tv guys refer to Kubel's injury as "some knee problems". I suppose that's technically correct but...
Flipped over the C's game. Rip Hamilton lying on the floor again. Wow, he's a pansy.
Trivia question, Mussina has a losing record against only one AL team, which one is it? (Hint, it's not us)
Yankees?
hmmm
Boston
Not O's.
I'm not going to find out until the bottom of the fourth, my guess is the Yankees
I looked it up after my guess. It is, in fact, the Yankees. 6-8.
what's his record against us? Wasn't it 19-0 at one point?
JP - you're a CT'er?
Yeah, I moved to Rocky Hill about a month ago
Welcome, neighbor!
I've got the game up on Fox My9.
Nice to actually get to watch one isn't it
Yeah, but after a while I get bored of the yanquis crax, mute the tube, and switch back to MLB Audio and Gordotopia.
Dick seems shocked that the Yankees could have more hits than the Twins and be trailing by two runs.
Ugh, McDonald's needs to end that awful commercial with the idiots rapping. I'm just glad I can pause it until its over.
12 Lamb's a leaping...
and 4 calling Berts, for that matter
Damn, I thought Mauer had him. Good call, though.
*takes off eternal optimist glasses, wipes them off carefully*
See, it's easy to be optimistic with a 3-run lead. Now you're being tested. :)
*sharpens up two #2 lead pencils*
Bring it on!
Duncan almost tripped on Cabrera's bat coming in to score.
Looked like Harris missed another tag. He did lol
Yeah looked like he didn't get it there in time to me, too. (Kind of seemed like Cabrera could have made a better slide and would have been able to avoid the tag altogether.)
Harris is the anti-Bartlett when it comes to tagging guys out.
Sort of a bartless approach to tagging, eh?
I loved how Bartlett would block the base and no one ever called him on it.
As opponents go, Royals>Yankees.
In the last two innings, Perkins has retired two batters. The other four outs came via a double play, a runner gunned down by Cuddyer, the pickoff, and a bunt.
Those left-handed pitchers are crafty.
It's Pony Power.
Red, white and black baby.
It always got plenty of snickers when people found out what our mascot was.
Is it Moo-sina or Mew-sina? Bert keeps saying Mew, so I want to say that's the wrong way.
Did anyone catch Dazzle saying Hochevar's name every way but the right way last night? Good times.
I've always said mew, that doesn't mean its right
His nickname is Moose, so I'd say moo over mew.
FWIW, espn.com says:
meu-see-na
+1 extraneous jump
Yo!
so, Perkins is really pwning that rotation spot tonight, eh?
Hey, he's matched Mussina run for run, so he's doing something right, eh?
Bert making fun of Top Jimmy.
He does always go for the easy ones right?
The ump isn't calling that a strike because it is off the plate. Seems fairly obvious to me.
Yeah, if Perkins wants that to be called a strike he should, you know, throw it over the corner of the plate.
Can't blame that on the dome, boyos.
Perkins so far today: 0 K.
Okay then, Perkins today: 0 K.
And i don't think he'll add to that
He could yet strike out later tonight with the blind date from the Pioneer Press personals section.
Hiyo!
So much for the pimp-slapping...
yeah, they need to work on that
man, where's Stat when you need him?
I think he got chased off.
Yikes. Perkins decides to try sending one down Broadway. He's lucky that only went for a double.
Matsui likes to play here because it reminds him of the Tokyo dome
So we brought in an extra lefty to face the Yankees' left-handed hitters and we bring in a right-handed pitcher to face two lefties with a runner on base? Okay then.
Bass reeled that one in!
Great fundamentals there by Bass, he did a super job with that rundown.
So we should believe Gardy asked for the lefty and Ulger knows better
Of course he does, the man is like a 200 IQ.
Good work there by the pitcher.
Between the legs!
Bass with perhaps a bit of luck to glove that, but he executed the run down very well.
He did, but I don't think he ever saw the ball until he took it out of his glove
Huh, pretty aggressive move by Girardi to go with the PH in the 5th inning, but I think it's probably a good move (though I haven't checked all of the splits.)
He forgot his glasses in the dugout?
Didn't help
cr@p - storms all around us right now. I'll be lucky to keep a connection, now that my modem/router aren't close enough to the UPS to keep power :(
Pretty good movement on strike three to Betemit.
Covered alot of ground there
Has anyone noticed Lance Berkman's start this year? He's leading the universe with 51.4 VORP so far. 51.4! That's a career year for a lot of really good players. For instance, in 2006, Morneau's VORP was just 52.
1.230 OPS, yikes
they just don't make replacement players like they used to.
Mauer needed better placement with that long fly ball.
To paraphrase Reusse: On the other side of the fence.
C'mon Cuddy - it's Business Time.
Rays homer to beat WS 2-1!
Laddie doubles them up!
nice!
FSN still bitching about Perkins not getting the inside strike.
Heck of a play by Casilla with that quick release. Wow.
Futile cheap shot by Molina - loser.
Twayn's wife: "Bleh, I don't find one thing about Jeter attractive."
Twayn: "You'll be glad to know that I don't either."
I thought every woman loved Captain Dreamboat
the terrorists have won
Gordo about LaTroy Hawkins: 'Hawkins, he was a good closer, good in relief, good starter...'
GOOD STARTER?!?!
Maybe the Yankees should move him into the rotation
hmmmm. in the minors? I don't remember exactly
He wasn't really much good as a closer, as I recall. One of those guys who traditionalists like to point to as an example of why some guys can only pitch in the 9th inning, and some guys must never pitch in the 9th inning.
he was a great closer...for a while
Yeah, that's probably right. I was pulling one of those anecdotal recollections off the top of my head.
I remember him having, what, 24 saves in a row at some point? then the wheels fell off
I always thought that the big difference was Rick Anderson. It coincided with LaTroy's move to the 8th inning, of course, so you can't definitively say either way, but I think that Anderson did the same thing with Hawkins that he did with Reyes--take a guy with a couple of decent pitches, and at least one pitch that can get ground balls--and get him to finally throw strikes and limit walks.
Also, I think his struggles with the Cubs were way overblown--a lot of his blown saves were one-run saves and he pitched reasonably effectively. I certainly would have trusted him more than, say, a Todd Jones or Joe Borowski.
Yeah, I think his time with the Cubs was some of what I was thinking of...I remember lots of those old-school commentators going "OMG he doesn't have the CLOSER MINDSET" or whatever...but I didn't pay too much attention to how it was actually happening at the time.
GOOD STARTER?!?!
Thot the same thing.
Mussina starts the 6th at 102 pitches and finishes it at 111
Gomez seems to have alot of trouble picking the ball up off the turf
Man, how nice would it be to have the financial resources to trade for a guy like Abreu?
Or enough Fembots to steal and secure his Mojo?
I was pretty outraged at the time when the Yankees were able to get Abreu for essentially nothing in prospects. With Abreu around, there would have been no need for Rondell White, TynyLF, or TynyDH.
before this game, Abreu had played 15 games against the Twins
.386 /.444 /.579/1.023
yikes
Good thing the Yankees are so old. That Abreu could use a walker to help him get around the bases.
I'm pretty impressed with his speed, to be honest. I haven't seen him play all that much, since I don't see much NL and make it a point to avoid watching the Yankees whenever possible.
Good hit and run there
Getting 4 runs in the first inning has it's downsides...
As does not scoring in any inning since...
ready! aim! Cuddyer!
I love that commercial
Jose Veras? Isn't that Spanish for "Joe Vavra"?
Only Cuddyer's 2nd and 3rd assists of the year tonight, is that right?
I'm not sure, but it's pretty hard to keep up a high assist rate because eventually word gets out and teams just don't challenge your arm as much.
according to B-R, before this game Cuddy had 1 assist in RF and 1 in CF.
Delmon has 7 assists
I just looked that up there as well. I was stalling for Encyclopedia ubelmannica, but couldn't wait any longer...
I feel a little used right now. ;)
Hey, smart baserunning play by Harris there.
and almost a bad play by Cano, Gomez almost beat that out
They could've easily gotten the go-ahead there.
there was a note about Chris Coste in the CoC today
well, he hit another HR tonight
What's "the book" on that play? Seems like you should make sure to get the lead runner, but maybe you can turn two often enough that throwing to first isn't a bad play. Betemit took about a week to get the ball out of his glove, in any case.
I thought the book said to get the lead runner, but the Yankees tv guys are gushing about how smart of a play that was by Cano to try for the unconventional DP
with a 2 run lead, I think it was the right play. The guy makes it to second, but if he scores its still a 1 run lead
True, with a two-run lead the one run doesn't matter quite as much. It's certainly a lot harder play with Gomez running than, say, Lamb or Cuddyer.
Safe on the Punto into first
Where have all the fundamentals gone? This sliding into first base is a menace to baseball! A menace I say! Now get off my lawn!!!
And the nominees for this year's Punto Prize goes to... (rips envelope)
I'll give Lamb some credit there. He protected the line and saved an extra base hit.
At least the Yankees guys say that its faster to run through the bag instead of lauding Melky's hussle
Jeter pops it up to end the inning. Incontangible!
Boom!
Upper decker for the Mountie!
That was in the vampire seats wasn't it?
Off the facing, so not quite upper deck.
One Canadian Rides Alone!
Nice, only one run back now. (I'm looking in Kubel's general direction now.)
We need to get one now so we don't have to see Rivera
I'm not as worried about Rivera as I am the prospect of him facing the worst part of our lineup. We'll probably at least see a Monroe PH appearance for Harris.
a big ol' Canadian w00t!
JUSTIN!
Hey, somebody take that Jeter comment of mine out of play.
Citizens of SBG Nation
SBG: 14813
brianS: 13607
ubelmann: 13231
E-6: 5922
Rhubarb_Runner: 5845
Twayn: 5001
Nicely done.
Incontangible
Is that a word? Is it in the WGOM Dictionary?
Looks like a word to me. It's got letters and a meaning and everything. Dictionaries are for squares.
I think we can get it included in the next edition
A true milestone, his 5000th comment and he invented a new word
Just doing what I can to help out the team. Trying to make a contribution.
That's some rarefied air, sir.
*ponders how to make "eye-roll" emoticon.
Don't look back, E-6. Something might be gaining on you. :)
Meh. I remember passing Moss. And giving him his avatar!
Twayn's wife: "Go, go, go.... OH, NOMEZ!"
Dear Carlos,
The shortest distance between two points is a straight line.
Frustratedly yours,
JP
hmm. OKGo to bat in the 9th; how well does Rivera field bunts?
I'm guessing well, he always seems so calm and collected
Why is Harris hitting?
What do I know anyway
Dear Dick and Bert,
Let the inside strike thing go.
Thanks,
ubelmann
Let's not forget that Lexi has home run power. This game ain't over yet.
Monroe on deck
That'll never work. What are the odds of back to back pinch hit appearances that result in home runs?
By the same player, that is.
Didn't LeCroy do that with the Twins a while ago?
Mebbe, it sounds possible. But I'd have to look it up, and I don't have the gumption right now. I'm ready to pop a cork and swill some dago red.
Mmm...sounds tasty. As to the back-to-back jacks part, the first one is half the battle. Monroe wouldn't have had better odds against Rivera if he struck out in KC.
May 19th, 2004 and June 1st, 2004 were back-to-back PH appearances for LeCroy and he homered in both of them. 4 PH HR that year for LeCroy.
Nice. If he'd hit one more in a row, he'd have tied a major league record. Found this on Baseball Almanac.
Here's the link for the May 19, 2004 LeCroy PH salami...helped them edge out the Jays in the ninth. Moss remembers it well...
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TOR/TOR200405190.shtml
NoGo
Ug
I liked out odds with Alexi better. You don't win the lottery twice in a row.
Our hottest hitter right?
Alexi gave us a better chance to get to Mauer, but Monroe gave us a better chance to win the game with one swing. I could go either way on that.
take us home, Oppy.
Really? Given the strike zone today, that's the pitch that ends the game? Disappointing.
Rivera gets called strikes the rest of the league can only dream of
A blast from the past.
At least we got close
In my book close DOES mean something!
file this under 'cant win them all'