Where in the World is... Matt Guerrier?

So, after reading the projected batting order on Lipgloss and Baseball, and then checking it out of the actual Twins site... I noticed that Shaggy is no where in the bullpen.

WHY THE HELL NOT?! Have we forgotten that we like him? That he had a decent ERA last year?

Dennys? Really guys?

This disgruntles me.

So here, have a loltwin:


LNP...what was this?

It's why you're not in the projected batting order, that's what.

A Little Bit of...Optimism?

Moneypenny and I have a mutual friend who is currently gallivanting around Europe with a sword, and she said something to me today that made me wonder why it didn't occur to me before:

"As I said before, if we cant win the World Series when we have the best players in the league, maybe we can win it if we DON'T have the best players in the league. I have faith in the twins."

Well said.

While I am not entirely optimistic about the upcoming season (SPRING TRAINING: T-MINUS 10 DAYS!), I'm not completely pessimistic about it either. Hopefully we can work things out during Spring Training.

Really, I am trying to be optimistic about it.

I feel like as long as I don't see Boof pitch, I'll be okay.

loltwins

This is what happens when I find ridiculous pictures of Nick Punto.

There are more waiting in the wings...and if anyone has any funny pictures of any of the Twins...send 'em my way.

"Believe it"

Johan Santana released a wonderfully sentimental statement, which you can find here, courtesy of La Velle E. Neal's blog (which is where I stole this wonderful picture from).

It makes me want to cry.

Ads Trump Championships

First and foremost, I would like to congratulate Moneypenny on her first blog post.

It WAS about damn time.

Secondly, I would like to congratulate the NY Giants on their Super Bowl title. I don't even like football and I got into the game yesterday. Living in Boston, Pats fan are everywhere-- they sell shirts outside Fenway that say 'Peyton Manning Sucks', and even ones that just say 'Eli Sucks Too'-- and I was glad to see the Giants ruin their perfect season. The Pats are cheaters. And I don't like cheaters.

Plus, I think Eli Manning is adorable.

It was an intense game, with a lot of complexity to it...well, as much complexity that football can have, any ways.

I liked when they would show Peyton Manning up in one of the booths-- he'd get so excited for his little bro. I am looking forward to more ads with the Manning brothers. One of my all-time favorite is Peyton's Mastercard ad... Rub some dirt in it!

Speaking of ads, the official Twins site has a new ad out for the '08 campaign. Let me be the first one to say our marketing team is brilliant. I love the Twins ads. The ad with Joe and Johan driving to the Dome last year was one of the best. I've shown them to people out here, and they all tell me they wish the Sox had cool ads.

World Series rings? Psht. We have cool ads.

With the Super Bowl out of the way now, the countdown to baseball season begins (unless, of course, you're a hockey fan...or basketball...) The Twins pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in T-minus 12 days.

Finally.

It's about damn time I wrote something...

Let me start out by saying that not all of my posts will be like this... but there are a few things I need to get off my chest. As a diehard Twins fan I think I've earned that much.

I start this blog with a heavy heart. It seems as though we are on the eve of one of the worst seasons of Twins baseball in Minnesota history. I men, honestly, the fact that now Scott "Scotty doesn't know" Baker being the new Twins ace is not all that reassuring AND the whole no center fielder thing kinda worries me (I know we have Carlos Gomez now... but lets face it, he probably still needs time in triple A). And to top it all off the Twins feel the need to put out an "official press release" to let the fans know that Boof has lost 20 pounds... OH MY GOD WHY IS THAT MAN STILL ON OUR TEAM?!?!? I could care less if over the winter he magically transformed his body to look like Brad Pitt in Troy, it's just not happening. I could throw a better fastball. Hell, my 4 year old cousin could throw a better fast ball. If you suck in the 1st inning, you're going to suck in the 7th--regardless if you now have the ability to get there. 

Another Twins move that pissed me off... the signing of Adam Everett. Why? I mean he seems like a nice guy (although he does look like he's 12, but that gives young Scotty a new friend to color and play hide-and-seek with) but... MOVE PUNTO TO SHORTSTOP! It is a defensive position! That is Punto in a nutshell, the man deserves an award named after him. I've seen him drive into the third row to make a catch. I've seen him make bare handed catches and then throw across the diamond. Isn't that what you want your shortstop to do? Why put a perfectly good player on the bench and sign a free agent? I know his batting average was low... but the goal of shortstop is to take away hits from the other team... not necessarily make them at your at-bats.

Don't even get me started with the Torii Hunter thing. I'm still pissed about that. The news of him signing with the Angels totally ruined my Thanksgiving... I holiday that is now no longer my favorite because of the memory of that day. I was at his final home game as a Twins, there are no words to describe what it was like. Every time that man stepped onto the field there was a standing ovation. I still get chills thinking about it. He was a once in a life time player, a true gentleman. He was my generation's Kriby. Now he's gone and on opening day I get to watch him come out smiling on the field with the same 48 on his back, but this time watch him take home runs and doubles away from my beloved Twins. It's blasphemy and I'll be crying on the inside when I see it. 

Then there's Johan, the man, the legend, one badass dude. Gone. Just like Torii. I think the trade was ok. For this season it sucked. I will be interested in seeing how Gomez does and if he starts as our new center fielder but the other 3 will still need plenty of time in the minors. I think in a few years the trade might pan out, but for now it's just a waiting game. Right now we need experience in our rotation... I hope to God the Twins are trying to sign some free agent. 

I guess for now we'll just have to wait and see. The 2008 season right now can be summed up like this... HOLY FRICK WE ARE GOING TO HAVE PROBLEMS! But somehow I still keep the faith. How? I have no idea... but it's there. 

It's Officially Official...

Dave St. Peter sent me an e-mail today in regards to the Johan trade. No, not a personal e-mail, but how cool would that be? It was kind of like that letter of apology The Mets sent out at the end of last season to their fans. It's official now, everyone has passed their physicals (not like we didn't think Johan wouldn't pass).

It made me sad how the franchise felt the need to say that we reached out to Johan, but ultimately Johan and his agent said ‘no’:

“As the club has stated many times, our first choice was to sign Johan to a contract extension ensuring he remained in a Twins uniform for years to come. Despite the largest multi-year offer in Twins history - one which would have rewarded Johan with the highest annual salary among all pitchers in Baseball - the team and Johan's representatives respectfully were unable to reach agreement.”

It seemed a little underhanded, but that’s just me.

It was nice to see some more stats on our new acquisitions, though. I read a nice interview with Carlos Gomez, and he seems like a good kid. I'm willing to accept him into the Twins family.

"This is my opportunity to be a center fielder… I have to prepare for a new organization, but I'm ready. The only thing I want is to play baseball and play every day…I don't want to say I can play like Torii, that guy is unbelievable, I'm just going to be Carlos Gomez. But I think I can play center. I have speed, I like to hustle and I like to slide. I think I play a good center field and hopefully the fans will get to see that."

He seems pretty excited and determined, and has a generally optimistic attitude about his new team. Really, we couldn’t ask for anything more…unless he can throw a mean slider left-handed.

Torii was also quoted in this same interview, and I was pretty touched by what he had to say.

"I don't think they are rebuilding. I think they are trying to put pieces in place around Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddyer. I think the bullpen is still the same. The starters, they are going to be young, but they are talented. This team has many of the right pieces already in place."

I’m glad to know he still loves us, and I’d really like to believe him about the not-rebuilding thing.

We do still have a lot of our clutch players. Mike Redmond is nothing if not clutch. I’m sure if we asked him to, he’d go out and pitch a few innings, then go out to center and climb the baggie for balls. Cuddy is consistent, both at the plate and in the outfield. Canada is still MVP worthy. And despite Joe’s rather rocky season last year, I have hope he can rebound.

Our bullpen is still strong, but I won’t try and tell you I’m not nervous as hell about our starting rotation (aka... Scotty as our ace and Boof as a permanent fixture IN said rotation). I’m hoping to see some of it at Spring Training, and then after that offer my opinion. I'm hoping Frankie can come back this season and pitch, and I've got great hope for Kevin Slowey (who is my new boyfriend now that Matt's gone).

I’ve just noticed that on the official Twins site, the cartoons/pictures at the top of the web page have been replaced.

I especially like the Gardy.