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I wonder how good Jason Kendall is at defense

ubelmann December 12, 2009, at 1:56 pm 6 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) ,

The Royals' Kendall signing might not actually be that bad if he's good at defense. +5 runs/season is attainable for "above average" players at most positions. We don't really have a great way of evaluating catchers, but if Kendall is +5 runs/season, then he'd be 3.6 WAR over the last two years combined. Figure he drops a win off that total over the next two years for aging, and that'd be 2.6 WAR over the next two years. And 2.6 WAR for $6M would be a pretty good deal even in this market.

If Kendall's neutral or bad at defense, the signing looks worse. At +0 runs/season on defense, you'd maybe guess 1.6 WAR over the next two years for Kendall. That's $3.75M/win, about what the Twins paid for Punto. (A contract I could generally take or leave.) At -5 runs/season on defense, you'd guess maybe 0.6 WAR over the next two years, at which point there's not really any point to picking him up.

2009 Game 160: LAST SERIES AT THE DOME EEEEVAAR!!

sean October 2, 2009, at 6:00 pm 315 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , , ,

Time: 7:10 CDT
MLB.tv and radio

Starters:
Lenny DiNardo (0-2, 7.52)
vs
Jeff Manship (0-1, 5.81)

I don't know about you guys, but the media coverage of this has been nothing short of oppressive. All year had to deal with the talking heads blathering about the mystique and history of the Dome. Yes, yes, I know it's the only venue that has hosted an MLB All-Star Game, the World Series (twice), the Super Bowl, and the NCAA Final Four (also twice). And I also know it can get extremely loud and provides an unnatural home-field advantage and if you stopped paying attention to baseball in 1983, gives up something like 30 home run each game.

Nor do I know how the Twins are going to survive next year. Yep, it actually is subzero all year long. All those flowing water and other summery shots are stolen from other states. I know it was wrong, but we had to con peo— convince people to come here somehow. We were sort of hoping that global warming would fix this.

So yeah, we get it. You love the place and stricken with grief now that no other field can have remotely the same history as the Metrodome. No you can't use my hanky. I need it to contain my gagging.


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2009 Game 153: Minnesota Twins at Kansas City Royals

sean September 25, 2009, at 6:00 pm 264 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) ,

Time: 7:10 CDT
MLB.tv and radio

Starters
Carl Pavano (12-11, 4.82; 3.97 FIP, 4.43 tRA)
vs
Robinson Tejeda (4-1, 2.94; 2.84 FIP, 2.83 tRA)

Tejeda strikes out a bunch of people (11.05 K/9), but generally has no idea where the ball is going (5.60 BB/9). A fastball/slider pitcher with a changeup, he's taking the Liriano path to success. He uses the changeup more than Liriano ever has and the fastball a bit more, so he doesn't need to rely on the slider quite as much as Liriano did in 2006 (37%!).

The Twins are a season high six games over .500. They have a +31 run differential while the Tigers are a +8. With one more win against the Tigers, the Twins will be the home team in case of a tie.

2009 Game 122: Minnesota Twins at Kansas City Royals

sean August 21, 2009, at 6:00 pm 304 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) ,

Time: 7:10 CDT
TV: FSN HD
MLB.tv and radio

Starters:
Nick Blackburn (8-8, 4.29; 99 tRA+, 4.46 FIP)
vs
Luke Hochevar (6-6, 5.73; 91 tRA+, 4.86 FIP)

The Twins finally didn't lose a series. It would have been nice to win the series, but baby steps here. So the Twins get to visit the hapless Royals. They with the terrible offense and bad pitching. Just who the Twins need, especially since they avoid Greinke yet again. Yeah, I know the last series with the Royals didn't go as planned. But it's do-over time! Hmm, maybe facing Greinke would be a better idea considering how he's pitched over his last few starts and the Twins' inability to hit anyone named Jeremy.

Blackburn has officially regressed. His HR/9 is at league average though his HR/FB% still has some regressing to go. Two starts ago he lasted 1.2 innings. Last start was 2.1 innings. I think a solid 3 inning start is happening tonight. His last two starts don't even total 100 pitches combined. Maybe they could start him every fourth day with those easy workloads.

2009 Game 114: M&M’s at the Gentlemen

brianS August 13, 2009, at 11:10 am 225 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , ,

yet another freakin' morning game by my clock, but at least it's not at a gawd-awful 9:00. Game starts at 12:10 Central.

Pitching matchup:
Carl "the Smartest Pitcher in Baseball" Pavano (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5:0 K:BB, 7 innings) for the Twins
Gil "Ga" Meche (4-9, 4.50 ERA, 4.81 tRA, 4.32 FIP, 4.53 xFIP, 87:49 K:BB)

Meche is making his first start (in the Majors) since July 11, when he left a game with back spasms.

Royals farm notes: In keeping with their fascination with Bannisters, the Royals recently claimed RH John Bannister off of waivers from Texas and sent him to their AA club in Arkansas.

Bannister, 25, was 3-3 with a 5.96 ERA this season while splitting 38 games at Class AA Fresno and Class AAA Oklahoma City. He was signed by the Rangers in 2002 as a nondrafted free agent.

The Rangers designated Bannister for assignment last Wednesday. His addition leaves two openings on the Royals’ 40-man roster.

Also down on the farm, former shortstop-who-hits-like-a-pitcher, turned pitcher, Tony Peña, got some of what was coming to him in his Monday start in Surprise: his defense committed three errors behind him in 1 1/3 innings.

2009 Game 112: Kansas City @ Minnesota

FirstTimeLongTime August 11, 2009, at 7:01 pm 115 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , ,

Nick Blackburn (xFIP 5.01)

versus

Kyle Davies (xFIP 5.32)

Here is to hoping that Joe Pos is raving about Gardy tomorrow.

Royals Add To Collection of No-Talent Shortstops

ubelmann July 10, 2009, at 2:48 pm 8 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) ,
SS PA 2009 WAR
Luis Hernandez 53 -0.3
Tony Pena, Jr. 47 -0.6
Yuniesky Betancourt 245 -0.8
Mike Aviles 127 -0.9

Maybe GMDM can trade for Orlando Cabrera to complete his set and sell it on Ebay for a few bucks.

Mak and Moss cover Twins-Royals in Beautiful Surround Sound

Big Mak July 8, 2009, at 12:59 pm 11 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) ,

Moving is a frustrating endeavor. First off, it’s hard work, and secondly, we didn’t have any TV or internet so I wasn’t able to properly follow the Twins for quite a bit while we were moving in.

Fortunately there was a solution to both of those dilemmas. Wednesday afternoon found me and Mrs. Mak at Kauffman Stadium for the Twins/Royals series finale. Unbeknownst to us, the family Moss was also in attendance, although in their case it was part of a vacation trip to KC. Since we were both at the game, snapping away with the cameras we figured we could combine our photographic efforts and give the citizens of SBG Nation the full experience of the game.


Moss Jr. checks out the statue of Casey of the Mudville Nine at the Sheraton before heading to Kaufmann Stadium.


Moss Jr. ends the day by checking out the Royals' Statue of Liberty from last year's All-Star Game.

Moss Jr.'s shirt says it all - "If you want me to pay attention, TALK BASEBALL!" So in an effort to keep your attention, here's some baseball photos, after the jump.


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2009 Game 79: Minnesota @ Kansas City

FirstTimeLongTime June 30, 2009, at 6:09 pm 242 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , ,

Scott Baker (xFIP 3.98)

at

Brian Bannister (xFIP 4.54)

In the second game of a three game series the Minnesota .500's travel to play Kansas City Cinderellas.   In a match up that must have Joe Posnanski going nuts, it is his favorite manager against his favorite pitcher!  Rather than spending all of the game log talking about Joe Pos I am going to list a bunch of fun Twins facts from this season

  • The Twins are 4th in the American League in BB/K%.  That is to say, the Twins are not striking out.
  • Well, when I say the Twins aren't striking out I don't mean everyone.  _elm_n is striking out in 31.3% of his plate appearances.  I wonder how Young's theories on hitting differ from Joe Mauer's?
  • Another _elm_n fact.   Just when you thought it could not get any worse-- take a look at his BABIP.  Do you think that .361 avg is sustainable?  Yeah, me neither.
  • Joe Mauer, Matt Tolbert, and Nick Punto have been intentionally walked the exact same number of times so far this season; once.
  • According to fangraphs, the top 4 Twins hitters in "clutch situations" this season are Tolbert, Crede, Punto, and Redmond.   The bottom 4?  Mauer, Span, Harris, Morneau.

No wonder the Twins are so mediocre, all of their "best" players stink when the game is on the line.

2009 Game 78: Twins (39-38) at Royals (32-42)

spookymilk June 29, 2009, at 6:00 pm 368 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , , , , , ,

The Twins have one win on Monday this year.  May 4th.  One.  Thirty-nine victories, and these clowns have a single Monday win.  Here are the Twins' records going into my Game Logs:

April 13th: 3-4
April 27th: 9-10
May 4th: 12-13
May 18th: 18-20
May 25: 22-23
June 8th: 28-30
June 20th: 35-34
June 29th: 39-38

I know that would work for any day of the week, really, but there you have it: not a single one of them is as far as three games off of .500.  So what's the deal?  Are the Twins really under their heads, or can they be penciled in for 81 wins?  Or, and I'm just reaching here, are the Twins maybe just a reliever or two away from being runaway favorites in this division?

The good news lately is that the Twins have been performing on the road.  Probably the best way to keep up a trend like that is to visit Kaufmann stadium and the inexplicable preseason darlings the Kansas City Royals.  Even better: do it against right-handed Luke Hochevar.

RHP Nick Blackburn ERA 3.11; xFIP 4.99
RHP Luke Hochevar ERA 5.87; xFIP 4.91

Huh.  I knew those xFIPs would bring these guys closer together, but I didn't realize they'd leapfrog.  But because Blackburn leads Hochevar in LOB percentage - 74% to 54.5% - that does tend to muddy the picture a bit.

Despite the hilarious 41 Ks in 101 innings for Blackburn, he's found plenty of success in 2009 thanks to giving up just seven homeruns and managing a Slugging Against of .385.  Unsustainable?  I keep saying so to my wife, and she keeps laughing and pointing.  Nah, I'm just kidding...my wife doesn't love me enough to watch baseball with me.

Anyway, the further you dig into Blackburn's stat package, the more you figure the guy has a deal with the devil.  It doesn't necessarily look like the bottom drops out tonight, what with the Royals being the lowest-scoring team in the AL.  Still, whenever Nick's on the mound, I wonder.

Hochevar's numbers suggest he's a lot better than he looks, but now that everyone's sufficiently depressed, I'll back off.

Besides, it's Harmon Killebrew's birthday, so the Twins own this one!  It's not like he ever played for the Royals or anything.  ...right?

2009 Game 23: Kansas City Royals at Minnesota Twins

sean May 1, 2009, at 6:04 pm 169 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , , , ,

Game time: 7:10 CDT
TV: FS-N
Radio: TRN

Probables: Sir Sidney Ponson (ERA: 5.79, xFIP: 4.21) vs. Kevin Slowey (ERA: 4.44, xFIP: 4.89)

I think I speak for everyone when I say, Welcome back Joe!

The Twins meet up with Ponson once again. Signed by the Royals to be their inning eater, he's only had to bow out of one buffet early. This made him extra hungry in his most recent start with 8 innings, 3 R and 7/0 K/BB in a loss against the Tigers.

Last year Ponson was 2-1 with a 2.93 ERA (4.33 RA) in 27.7 IP against the Twins.

There's not a whole lot to say about Slowey. He was lost, but now is found. Welcome back too.

 

This comment got me intrigued about the distribution of catcher heights:

Height Number of catchers with minimum of 100 G career Some notables
>= 6' 6" 0 [1]
6' 5" 7 Sandy Alomar; Joe Mauer
6' 4" 19 Jarrod Saltalamacchia
6' 3" 50 Mike Piazza, Ernie Lombardi; Brian McCann, AJ
6' 2" 103 Carlton Fisk, Bill Dickey, Gary Carter; Jorge Posada, Victor Martinez
6' 1" 96 Johnny Bench, Gabby Harnett; Geovany Soto, Kelly Shoppach
6' 0" 126
5' 11" 111

Joe is tall, but not really freakishly tall. Considering average white male height (20-39) in the US is 5' 10.4", he's well above-average anyway. A quick count of every player 6' 6" or taller comes up with 253 total. Out of 13,643. Tall catchers are rare because a) tall people are rare and b) tall position players are rare: 228 of the 6' 6"+ and 76 of the 410 at 6' 5" are pitchers. Joe is tall. He'd be tall no matter where he played. Get over it.

Hmmmmmm! Now that I read the linked to article, I see Matt Wieters is also 6' 5". I am contemplating sending MacPhail an email urging him to keep Wieters at catcher as long as possible.

1: A quick search for any game with a catcher 6' 6" or greater turned up nothing.

Series Preview in Blog: Kansas City Royals (5/1-5/3)

Big Mak May 1, 2009, at 8:00 am 9 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , ,

The Twins host the KC Royals for three games this weekend. The Royals are currently in first place in the Central, one game ahead of the fourth-place Twins (in other words, nobody really distinguished themselves in the first month in this division). The Royals are starting off this road trip in Minnesota after taking 3 of 4 from Toronto (whatever, it's not like it's hard to beat Toronto or anything, the Twins totally beat them... once). Thus far Kansas City is 4-2 on the road, while the Twins are 8-6 at home.

One of the big stories for this series is the return of Joe Mauer for the Twins. In other injury news, apparently Joakim Soriah has an injured shoulder. First of all, this could explain some of manger Trey Hillman's questionable bullpen decisions (which are well-documented). Secondly, it appears the Royals were at least carefully controlling how and when information about the injury came out. This reminded me, albeit to a lesser extent, of the way the NHL injury reports are handled. In the NHL, the teams only say that a player has "an upper body injury" which could be anything from a minor contusion to a concussion that keeps a player out for 2 weeks or more. It's terribly frustrating as a fan to have absolutely no idea what is going on with a team's players. I hope this isn't the beginning of a trend of gamesmanship with injuries in Major League Baseball, which doesn't have the same excuse of hockey and football (opposing players could target the injury if they knew exactly what it was).


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File Under: “I’m not a doctor, but that sounds like a bad idea”

Andrew February 23, 2009, at 5:11 am 5 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , ,

Royals' Guillen out after removing ingrown nail himself

Fun with Upper Deck: 2008 Documentary, Game 51

Rhubarb_Runner January 28, 2009, at 5:30 am 4 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , , ,

2008_512008 Documentary: Twins Game 51

Card #1661/MIN51


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Kyle Farnsworth to the Royals

Andrew December 11, 2008, at 9:01 am 3 LTEs - (Sorry, but the time to add LTEs has expired) , , , ,

Sources tell ESPN that it is a two-year, $9.25M contract.  Can a meeting between pr0ff3ss0r_f4rnsw0rth and PECOTA be far off?

 
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