Bleacher Report - Articles by Padua Firetail

Justin Morneau's Slump: Should the Twins Make a Deal?

Padua Firetail — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 06:16:06 -0400

As names like Casey Blake, Adrian Beltre, and Hank Blalock continue to circulate around the Twins rumor mill, it’s clear they have to do something before they find themselves out of the playoffs.

Critics of the Twins have pointed their astounding .311 average with runners in scoring position as a key reason for their astounding success this year. As of yesterday’s 8-2 loss against the Yankees on the road, the Twins offense has scored 490 runs, good for seventh in the majors and fifth in the American League.

Now though, the Twins face a difficult decision in deciding whether or not to gamble their future and make a real run at the playoffs, or to stand pat and go with the roster they have.

With Gardenhire finally switching Denard Span and Gomez in the batting order, the entirety of the focus of the offense is switched to Jason Kubel, who is currently hitting fifth. It is up to Kubel to force teams to pitch to Justin Morneau.

Morneau is hitting .318 with 15 home runs and 73 RBIs. After going 5/5 with a game-winning home run in a 7-6 win over Detroit on July 23^rd, Morneau has not gotten a lot to hit.

Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland called for the intentional walk to Morneau the following day, which began a trend where Morneau has clearly not been getting pitches to hit. Beginning July 24, Morneau has since made use of his excellent eye at the plate and hit .231 (6-26) with nine walks giving him a .600 OBP.

Despite Kubel’s three failed at-bats after Morneau was walked in Tuesday's loss, Kubel has hit .250 (4/16) with four walks (.400 OBP). Kubel’s platoon mate Craig Monroe is .143 (1/7) with a walk.

Now, Kubel's season averages of .260/ .328/ .453 with 13 home runs and 48 RBIs is not the ideal batter to follow Morneau, but it is still too early to tell whether he will force teams to pitch to Morneau.

There is of course ideas swirling surrounding a possible Home Run Derby induced second-half slump since last year Morneau hit .243/ .318/ .384 after the break compared to .295/ .364/ .581.

As of this moment, Morneau is hitting just .188 with a .381 OBP since the break.

The idea of having Blalock, Beltre, or Blake to protect Morneau in the lineup is surely a tantalizing one for Twins fans and Morneau fantasy owners, but keeping in mind the youth of the Twins pitching staff and the rest of the roster, I suggest a wait and see approach to see whether these trends continue before they gamble away their future.

Boston Celtics' "Rejuvenation" Based in Money, Not in Team

Padua Firetail — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 06:58:53 -0400

While I was watching the ESPYs on Sunday night, my thoughts concerning the Boston Celtics ‘team’ were revived.

During the acceptance speech for the “Best Championship Team” award, Ray Allen summarized how all of the players came from different teams, and still came together during the season.

As much as I love the idea of “Ubuntu” and KG and company coming together for a two- or three-year run, I could not appreciate them.

The Celtics, with their acquisitions of Ray Allen and KG through trades and walk-ons such as James Posey (who has already left), Sam Cassell, and Eddie House, simply cannot be the emblematic idea of team.

As a longtime Timberwolves fan, I find myself constantly reflecting on the magical '03-04 season when Minnesota finally got out of the first round and made it to the Western Conference Finals, where they lost to the Lakers.

Admittedly, my hyprocrisy shines through, as Latrell Sprewell and Sam Cassell were major factors of that season.

Any true Wolves fan will remember that series as one in which the Wolves made Gary Payton look like the Payton of old, as injuries to various point guards resulted in 12th man Darrick Martin averaging 25 minutes per game.

That Lakers team, which grouped together an aging Karl Malone and Payton with Kobe Bryant and Shaq, was a truly unlikable team.

The Detroit Pistons were thought of as a more ideal team, but they admittedly acquired Rasheed Wallace during the season.

Has the concept of the truly ideal team as one which drafts and develops the majority of its roster disappeared as quickly as the notion of a player spending his whole career with one team?

Critics would be quick to point at the Spurs, with their core of Duncan, Ginobili, and Parker—yet even they hugely benefited from Michael Finley and Robert Horry.

Sadly, in 21st-century sports, it is the Celtics—who managed their salary cap and acquired the right one or two-year mercenaries—who are in fact the perfect representation of their era.

Belting Away: Adrian Beltre to Minnesota Twins

Padua Firetail — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:57:13 -0400

One of my favorite lasting memories from Yankee Stadium will be Aaron' Boone’s 2003 ALCS walk-off home run.

It was this homer and my memories of the 2001 Seattle Mariners juggernaut, which contributed to my enthusiasm for the Twins’ acquisition of Aaron's brother Bret in 2005.

After coming home from Bret's debut at the Metrodome, which resulted in a loss, I was faced with my dad's queries about Boone.

I commented positively about Boone's patience at the plate although the ball certainly did not seem to be jumping off his bat.

Boone never found his swing and went on to hit .170 in 53 at bats for the Twins with zero extra base hits.

Now the Twins are apparently discussing another trade-deadline deal with the Seattle Mariners.

After thinking about how the combination of Beltre and (the now released) Richie Sexson (Adam Dunn/Jack Cust come to mind), I responded to my buddy's question with this:

"The rumored Beltre to the Twins doesn't make a heck of a lot of sense. I mean, his contract is huge, so Seattle would have to pay for a lot of it. Buscher is doing fairly well for the moment, splitting time with Punto/Harris. Harris is actually starting to hit like he did at the beginning of the season and deserves a spot. Punto and Buscher can split time. Realistically the Twins need to just eat Mike Lamb's contract when Cuddyer comes back from the DL. I love their outfield... they are also set at 1st, C, 2nd/SS (Casilla will likely switch to SS next season)... so it could be worse. And there is the Liriano factor who could jump in at some point."

Seattle would be paying a substantial part of the contract and maybe they would take a package involving Mike Lamb/Adam Everett, Philip Humber, and a couple of high level, likely pitching prospects.

Humber, who was acquired in the Santana deal, is struggling in AAA with a 5.92 ERA, while giving up 37 walks and recording 54 strikeouts (1.46 K/BB ratio).

Will Beltre become the next Shannon Stewart who became a tremendous sparkplug for the 2003 Twins or Rick Reed who pitched well but was not enough to take the Twins to the next level?

Still the idea of acquiring Beltre is a very tantalizing one because of his .347 average against lefties, which would be a huge asset for the Twins.

His splits reveal Beltre is hitting the ball well of late with a .321 overall average in July (53 ab's). His ability to drive in runs coupled with his power (16 home runs, which would lead the Twins) would be a huge asset as a five hitter in the lineup to protect Morneau.

While Jason Kubel has hit better than expected, he still has not been able to make teams pay for intentionally walking Morneau (0/4 if memory serves correct, not including the All-Star game).

Likely though, I do not see the Twins actually making the move because they would have to give up way too much in terms of pitching prospects to acquire Beltre, not to mention the $12 million he is going to earn next season.

Bud Selig: The Happiest Man in Baseball

Padua Firetail — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 05:46:58 -0400

The happiest man in baseball this morning has to be Bud Selig. As Tim McCarver and Joe Buck informed viewers of the 79th All-Star game a little too much last night, the game was about one inning away from being called as another tie.

Yes, the events of 2002 with Torri Hunter's game-winni...err, game-tying catch of a potential Barry Bonds home run was the signature moment of the night, resulting in Bud Selig being booed were amazing.

It felt doubly amazing for Twins fans as the team had risen from the depths to become contenders and eliminate words like "contraction" from their minds. It was Justin Morneau who stole away the Home Run derby in a fashion similar to Josh Hamilton two nights ago.

Josh Hamilton was similar to "The Natural," the famous music was played towards the end of the first round. And "Jason" Morneau was very gracious and directed Erin Andrews towards Hamilton after he won. Hamilton was for sure the story of the night, but a slighted Morneau was the main story for the next couple of days.

Morneau got a little bit of revenge as he came a split second away from beating out an infield single after Tejada made an incredible play which would have ended the game. Still, he finished 2-4 with an intentional walk and two runs scored. While J.D. Drew justifiably won the MVP, it still capped off an incredible night and an incredible All-Star break.

Like the pre-game video montage following the hour-long extended commercial for Chevy, Yankee stadium appeared unwilling to say goodbye. It truly is a cathedral of baseball and I'm incredibly glad I was able to see it before they took it down.

While McGwire, Williams, and Pedro shined in Fenway Park in 1999 and helped to bring baseball back, this recent All-Star game—as TMC and JB told listeners way too often—will continue to keep baseball afloat despite all of the controversy surrounding the Mitchell Report, Jose Canseco, Balco, and Barry.

For one night baseball fans could forget about that as Yankee Stadium sure pulled off some magic.