Minnesota Twins

Friday's Games of the Day

Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:40:00 -0800

The Fourth of July Weekend kicks off with a full schedule of games. The Yankees look to start a new winning streak against the Blue Jays. The Brewers and Cubs continue their seesaw NL Central battle. The Brewers need wins to stay ahead in the division because the Cardinals and Reds are battling for positioning in the division. The Mets and Phillies begin a series that will determine which team is in first in the NL East on Monday. These games, and many more, can be found in Friday's Games of the Day.

Toronto at New York Yankees: The Mariners broke the Yankees seven-game winning streak but are 7-3 in their last 10 games. They look to have A.J. Burnett and company start a new win streak against the Jays and Brian Tallet. Four of Hideki Matsui's 6 hits off Tallet have gone for extra bases, with one being a long ball.

Milwaukee at Chicago Cubs: The Cubs took the first game of this series on Thursday. The Brewers and Jeff Suppan look to even the season series back up at 4-4 against Carlos Zambrano. Derek Lee has 21 hits off Suppan with 11 extra base hits (4 home runs). J.J. Hardy is only 2-for-19 against Zambrano. Mike Cameron is worse, 1-for-13 against Zambrano.

New York Mets at Philadelphia: The Phillies have lost 3 straight and are 3-7 in their last 10 games. They're now tied with the Marlins for first place in the NL East. The Mets find themselves only 1 game behind. This series will determine who's in first place in the division come Monday. The Phillies are relying on Rodrigo Lopez to get the win. Wonderful.

Notes at Noon: Aviles, Ayala, Keppinger

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 11:55:00 -0800

Royals shortstop Mike Aviles will undergo Tommy John surgery and faces 9-12 months of rehab.
The Twins have released Luis Ayala after failing to deal him after designating him for assignment.
Jeff Keppinger is ready to play whenever the Astros put him in the lineup.

Thoughts:

Aviles hadn't been playing well this year, and the Royals need to hope he comes back strong from surgery.
For teams looking for cheap bullpen help, look no further. Ayala is super consistent, with FIPs of 4.37, 4.47, and 4.37 the last three years.
Just another bench player who wants to get back into the action now that the player they replaced is back from injury.

A Little Luck

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 00:05:20 -0600

As Clark pointed out yesterday, the key to any successful Luke Hochevar start is his ability to induce "substandard" contact via (mostly) his sinking fastball. Clark had a number of excellent points, but among his data was the better the Hochevar start, the more downward break - his average fastball is dropping around seven inches. Last night, Hochevar's fastball was breaking only 4.88 inches.

The result was interesting:

7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 2 SO

Hochevar faced 27 hitters... Ten of them put the ball in the air and nine of them hit ground balls. The fly balls were the result from him leaving a ton of balls up in the zone.

If we've said it once, we've said it a hundred times... The best Luke Hochevar starts are the starts where he keeps the ball down and gets the ground ball. His inability to miss bats (he had only six swing and misses in 98 pitches) make him incredibly vunerable if he leaves the ball up in the zone. And, make no mistake, he was vunerable on Monday night. Mauer just missed on a couple of swings (and got the ball in the air) but the result were a pair of harmless fly outs. He was also able to get Morneau to chase on a high pitch out of the zone for one of those swings and misses to close out the first.

One interesting thing about his start - his first 10 pitches were all fastballs and they all were between 92 and 94 mph. He didn't throw and off-speed pitch until pitch number 11.

Overall, it was one of the least impressive two-hit performances I've seen. However, to his credit, after being wild early and throwing 58 pitches in the first three innings, Hochevar settled down and found some command in the middle innings. He threw just 40 pitches over the next four frames. And given the Royals bullpen, the starter's longevity is probably more key than his ability to keep the ball down.

Still, don't let the two hit performance fool you. Hochevar was lucky.

A couple of other notes as I look through my Twitter log.

-- Alberto Callaspo and Miguel Olivo going back to back? Let's just say they wouldn't have been my first choice to do that.

When Callaspo went yard, I tweeted something about him moving up in the order. I was immediately called on it by people who obviously haven't read some of my previous posts. Quick refresher: I think his being "uncomfortable" higher in the order is overblown. If anything, find out where he's comfortable (fifth, cleanup, leadoff???) and put him as close to the top as possible. He's the only guy on this team who can make contact on a consistent basis for crying out loud. Keep the bat in his hands.

-- Love the Twins bunting in the first inning with no one out and a runner on first. I'm sure there's a time and a place for that, but I'm pretty sure that was neither the time, nor the place.

Thanks, Gardy.

-- I'm watching this on the tube, but I swear I heard a "Let's go Mauer" chant in the bottom of the third. As Royals fans, we've had to put up with a lot of crap at the K over the last few years. Wannabe Red Sox fans wearing Garciaparra jerseys, female Indian fans with Chief Wahoo tatoos on their biceps, White Sox fans on work furloughs and/or parole and any generic Yankee goober...

But Twins fans starting chants at the K? Circle me, that sucks.

-- Lost in the glow of a win, I'm not sure if someone remembered to ask SABR Trey his opinion of his buddy, Dave Owen holding Tony Pena, Jr at third base on the catch by Delmon Young in the top of the fifth.

To set the situation, Pena is on base after he singles to lead off the inning and moves to third after a David DeJesus single. That makes it first and third, no outs. The next hitter, Wee Willie Bloomquist lofts a fly ball to left center field. Initially, the Twins center fielder, Denard Span, calls for the ball, but Young drifts over and makes the catch.

Now this part is key: Young is running to his left. It was a long run for him and he was still on the move when he made the catch, meaning for him to have an accurate throw to home from the outfield, he would need to stop, plant and then throw. Plus, he's right handed. This means, given his momentum, it would be impossible for him to set up and get a good throw in the time necessary to cut Pena down at the plate.

It was a tailor made sac fly. Yet third base coach Dave Owen held Pena. Why? It made no sense.

To me a third base coach should be fairly inconsequential. Sure, they'll make some boneheaded calls from time to time, but it's usually a wash... Win some, lose some. Yet with Owen, it seems like we're always losing on the bases. He's sending runners when he has no business doing so and holding runners like Monday night. It's odd. It's like he's never seen a baseball game in his life. He has no feel for the game. Either way, he's costing us runs.

The Royals decided he wasn't worthwhile as a bench coach, so they moved him to third. Why? Because he's a FOST? (Friend Of SABR Trey) Honestly, there's no reason for him to be wearing a uniform at this point. How often can you point to a third base coach and say, "That guy is a liability."

-- Love the arrogance of the home plate umpire who wouldn't check with his crew on the disputed foul ball that went off the foot of Cuddyer. Replays showed it was foul, and I'm pretty sure the third base ump saw it that way as well. Pretty much everyone in the stadium knew it was foul, except the home plate ump. And Gardy got run. Hilarious.

-- I haven't been fully convinced that Joakim Soria was all the way back, although Monday's three strikeout performance has me feeling pretty good. Maybe we're both coming around.

MLB Top 10: Halos Grab AL West Lead

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:06:55 -0500

Sometimes when I think about this list during the weekend before Mondays roll around, things end up looking a bit differently than I pictured. This was one of those weeks. Over the weekend, multiple winning streaks were snapped, teams unexpectedly played poorly, and my top ten list underwent some major reconstruction. The result? A drastically different list compared to what we would've seen on Friday.

1. Los Angeles Angels (41-32)
The Halos have won five straight, including a series win over the red-hot Rockies last week. They followed up the impressive series win by sweeping the woeful Diamondbacks over the weekend, and they now hold a 1.5 game lead in the AL West over Texas. They get the chance to widen the gap this week when they continue their road trip in Texas, in what some are calling the biggest series for the Angels this year.

2. Tampa Bay Rays (42-35)
Don't look now, but the Rays are only two games back in the AL wildcard race after a successful homestand that saw them take two of three from the Phillies and sweep the Marlins. While they're in third place in the AL East, the Rays would be leading nearly every other division in baseball with their record -- only Detroit and the Dodgers lead their divisions with better win percentages.

3. New York Yankees (43-32)
The third of three teams in the Majors that are on five-game win streaks, the Yankees continued their dominance over the Mets over the weekend, capping off a strong week in which they also took two of three from Atlanta. Thankfully CC Sabathia is fine after an injury scare in Florida, and if Sunday night was any indication, Chien-Ming Wang may have everything figured out. Still, considering that they're only three games behind the Red Sox, you have to wonder if they'd be leading the division if they could figure out a way to beat Boston head-to-head.

4. Colorado Rockies (40-35)
Someone finally slowed them down last week, when the Angels managed to take a series at Angel Stadium. The Rockies don't appear to be rattled, though, considering their weekend sweep over the Oakland A's. With the Giants losing their weekend series in Milwaukee, the Rockies are now only a half game behind San Francisco for both second place in the NL West and the wildcard lead.

5. Detroit Tigers (42-33)
To be honest, I was planning on putting the Tigers at the top of the the list before their weekend series against Houston rolled around. They entered the series winners of seven straight, and were facing off against a pretty mediocre Houston club. What happened? The Tigers lost two of three, and nearly got swept before stealing a win in the 9th inning on Sunday. Still, the Tigers have won 8 of their past 10 games, and deserve a spot in the top half of this list.

6. Seattle Mariners (39-36)
No team continues to irritate teams needing a trade than the Mariners. Not only do they seem to refuse to fall back to Earth, but they're still threatening in the AL West -- not only won't they be selling anytime soon, but they may in fact be buying. This past week, the M's followed up a predictable series win over the Padres with an unpredictable series win over the Dodgers, holders of the best record in baseball. They're now three games over .500, but they'll face a real test this week with an East Coast road trip to New York and Boston. If they can survive that trip, perhaps Texas and Los Angeles have something to be afraid of.

7. Boston Red Sox (46-29)
There haven't been any crazy win streaks lately, but all it really takes to guarantee yourself a playoff spot is to win 2 out of 3 in every series. The Red Sox have lost two straight games exactly once this month, and have only seven losses in total. Considering the slump they finished May with, I'd say that's pretty good, wouldn't you? With David Ortiz hitting again, the Red Sox lineup has started to look more intimidating than it's been all year. With teams like the Orioles, A's, and Royals filling their remaining schedule before the All-Star break, there's no reason to believe that they won't continue to win 2 of 3.

8. Chicago White Sox (37-38)
They're still under .500 and their offense is still very unreliable, but they continue to get good pitching, and are capable of going on a pretty good run if the ball is bouncing their way. The ball definitely bounced their way in the past week, as the White Sox stunned the Dodgers and Cubs for series wins in a six-game homestand. They're still not much of an intimidating club -- you're not going to worry when you see them come up on the schedule -- but they're still only 5 games out of first in the AL Central.

9. Minnesota Twins (39-38)
They finally dropped a game to interleague rival Milwaukee last week, but that didn't stop them from taking another series from the Brewers. The Twins followed that series by going into St. Louis and effectively shutting down every Cardinal bat that didn't belong to Albert Pujols. The Twins, as usual, don't do anything great but do a lot of the little things very well -- even when Joe Mauer appears to suffer the effects of the Sports Illustrated cover curse.

10. San Francisco Giants (40-34)
They did lose a weekend series in Milwaukee, but they were one crazy bottom-of-the-ninth rally by the Brewers away from actually taking that series. Pablo Sandoval continues to carry the San Francisco offense (he's hitting .340 with 11 HR and a .965 OPS), while the pitching does the rest. Following what should have been an encouraging win on Sunday, the Giants now head to St. Louis for a huge four-game series that could have some pretty drastic short-term effects on the NL Wildcard picture. It'll be interesting to see if they can keep this up, or if the lack of offense will come back to bite them before they can trade for a big bat.

FB365's Morning Drive 6/29/09

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:19:25 +0000

Grady Sizemore is 6 for 20 since returning from the DL. There may still be time to buy low with owners still worried about a recurrence of his elbow inflammation. I am not incredibly worried about his previous injury. Will Carroll of Baseball Prospectus put it this way:

...the medical staff believes that they're beyond the recurrence stage. Bursitis is a painful condition, but once corrected it tends not to recur. It's just the "getting ahead of it" that often takes something like a DL stint or even minor surgery to help.

http://baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=9075

Aaron Hill keeps on mashing. 19 homeruns now on the year.

Brad Lidge allowed 1 hit (bunt single) and one walk, but did not allow a run to score in his action since landing on the DL. He got the save, but his stuff and control, slider in particular, did not look so sharp.

Tommy Hanson ran the NL East two headed monster this week and came out 2-0. The strikeouts are not there yet, but his stuff looks very good. I don't think he's going to make quite the impact the pre-season hype built up, but he should be a solid option the rest of the way.

Brad Penny matched up fairly well against Hanson, but was struck by the long ball twice (Chipper Jones and Garret Anderson). I'm not a believer in Penny, but maybe Mark from Fantasy Baseball Hot Stove can convince me otherwise.

Zack Greinke gets it done again, though he is clearly not as dominant as when the season started. I would actually be fine with selling high on Greinke for a top-notch hitter right now. After all Greinke did rank number 11 on Razzball's 20 Risky Pitchers for 2009. Also, strikeouts trending down.

Since I said buy low on Wieters he has gone just about o'fer everything. Killing me Matt, killing me.

B.J. Upton had a 5 star day. A homer, stolen base, 2 runs and an RBI. Can you say HUGE second half?

Alexei Ramirez added his 10th homerun of the season yesterday. He now has 10 homeruns and 11 steals. More importantly "The Cuban Missle" has raised his AVG to .267. Ramirez started out very slow last season as well. Does his game rise with the summer heat? I'd buy low to find out.

Brandon Inge hit a game winning homerun off of Jose Valverde. It was Inge's 18th of the season. I have to admit, I sort of liked the guy after his hot start to the season, but I never would have thought he'd be approaching the all-star break with close to 20 bombs. His K/BB rate is pretty much the same as it was last season, but his HR/FB rate is through the roof.

Matt Gamel batted leadoff yesterday. That's interesting if it sticks.

Was this the turning point for Francisco Liriano? Throwing 92-95 with a slider in the high 80's yesterday. I'm still not convinced, though he kept the ball down nicely yesterday. His last two starts have come against National League foes. His next start against the Tigers will be a big one.

Aaron Cook continues to pull a 2008 on us. Despite allowing 9.1 hits per 9 IP and a 1.61 K/BB rate, Cook continues to put the ball on the ground and get outs. Look, at this point you ride em till he bucks ya.

Jaun Rivera: 44.7% owned in ESPN leagues and 43% owned in Yahoo! Leagues. That's up from 5.3% in ESPN and 4% in Yahoo! On June 9th, but still, .305, 12 HR, 41 RBI...Those numbers are scary close to Carlos Lee right now.

I am going to mention Clay Zavada for 2 reasons. 1) He's awesome. 2) Shout out to Dave from Goose Joak for this sweet 1971 Topps retro card upon request.

Jose Lopez is now 8 for 12 in his last 3 games. He should be in for a nice second half.

As I passed along the other day, it looks more and more like Adrian Beltre will not play through the pain much longer.

Matt Kemp was actually able to fight off Juan Castro for the 7th spot in the Dodgers lineup yesterday. He hit his 10th homer of the year. I bet Mitch Kemp would bat higher than Matt Kemp if it were up to Joe Torre.

Francisco Rodriguez had an embarrassing outing last night. He walked three and allowed one hit, but the bases loaded walk to Mariano Rivera was the kicker. Come on Mets fans! I've watched Frankie pull this kind of stuff for years in Anaheim! Consider yourself lucky he hasn't done it more often in 2009.

Luis Castillo has reached base in all but one game since June 22nd. So why not move him (.279 AVG, .375 OBP) to the 8th spot and hand leadoff duties to Daniel Murphy (.248 AVG, .316 OBP)? Can a Mets fan please help me understand the wacky mind of Jerry Manuel?

How about that Chad Gaudin fella? One hit, 9 K in 8 1/3 innings against the slugging, albeit slumping, Rangers offense. His strikeout numbers are huge over his last 3 starts. His next few starts come against NL West foes. Go ahead and ride him out.

Scott Hairston hit his 9th homer of the season. The bottom line with Hairston is that he has the power for sure and his contact rate and plate discipline have shown improvements over last season. His AVG has been helped by a .347 BABIP and should end up closer to .270. The Padres have a bit of a situation on their hands trying to get playing time between Hairston, Gwynn Jr., Headley and Blanks in the outfield. Deeper leagues will find value in Hairston's power, but he may not get enough regular at bats for standard leagues.

Monday Ramblin's...

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:00:00 -0600

The celebrity death craze is so hot right now. After Hollywood luminaries like MJ,Ed McMahon and Farrah Fawcett kicked the bucket- TV pitchman Billy Mays went ahead and checked out. Frankly (and I'm being serious here) I think that the death of Mr. Mays was the most shocking and ultimately the biggest loss of the four. He was entering his prime and about to become the new face of Taco Bell. Sadly, we'll never know just how big he could have become. Let's pay tribute by seeing some of his best work here, here and of course, here... The Cardinals finally make a move. By trading Chris Perez to the Indians for Mark DeRosa, the Cardinals get a quality player that can play multiple positions and thrive as a swing man for TLR. 97 MPH hard throwing RH relievers are not easily found- but the bullpen has't been the problem for the Cardinals in 2009; it's the bats. Unimpressive in his debut Sunday, let's hope Mr. DeRosa hasn't been tainted by Ducan and Ludwick already... And that's why soccer sucks. I know that this 'community' is pretty tight knit, but fawning over a blown two goal lead in a FIFA event thaaaaaat close to the biggest win in the history of the USA soccer program by the announce team was really sad to watch. Leave the retrospective "look how much we accomplished" junk for the studio guys in the upcoming days and call it like we saw it- a huge choke job. And it would help if you'd raise your voice during a goal call as well. Is Joe Buck teaching a class now or something?... Settle down Honduras, we were only kidding about sending you Joe Thurston... If Albert Pujols can consistantly hit 2 HR's everytime it's some sort of Christian themed day at Busch Stadium, why don't we just erect a huge cross out there where Ballpark Village was supposed to be? Maybe we can all wear rosaries and have a seventh inning prayer stretch? He might hit 200 dongs with like 400 RBI's or somthing... The Twins at least were being honest about the situation...

Monday's Games of the Day

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:40:00 -0800

Twelve games are scheduled on Monday as we return to intraleague play. The biggest story is Roy Halladay making his return against the Tampa Bay Rays. We also have Boston facing Baltimore with Jon Lester on the hill. The Mets attempt to make their way past the Phillies in the NL East. Also, Albert Pujols and Tim Lincecum face off in St. Louis.

Boston at Baltimore: The Red Sox are 12 games ahead of the Orioles. The O's are 23-18 at home and the Sox are 21-19 on the road. That makes this an even series. What doesn't make the series even is the fact that Boston swept the Orioles in four games earlier this season. Baltimore's Nick Markakis does not hit Jon Lester. Ditto for Luke Scott.

Chicago Cubs at Pittsburgh: Rich Harden looks to get back on track while Zach Duke goes for his NL-lead tying ninth win of the season. Alfonso Soriano has Duke's number. He hits .517 off Duke with six extra-base hits, including two home runs.

New York Mets at Milwaukee: The Mets can't find a way to get ahead of the Phillies in the NL East. Fernando Nieve is 3-0 and takes the mound for the Mets in Milwaukee.

Saturday's Games of the Day

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 09:15:00 -0800

The final weekend of Interleague Play reaches its middle on Saturday. I think we have some good matchups. The Blue Jays look to run their mark against the Phillies to 5-0. Kevin Slowey goes for win number 11 while Tim Wakefield goes for his 10th. We'll also see if the good versions of Paul Maholm and Barry Zito show up to pitch. I've also made my prediction for NL Rookie of the Year. You can find that after the jump.

Philadelphia at Toronto: The Blue Jays continued their dominance of Philadelphia with a 6-1 win on Friday. They'll try to run that mark to 5-0 with Brad Mills on the mound. Mills made his debut on June 18 in Philadelphia. He pitched only 3.2 innings, giving up 6 runs (4 earned). He faces JA Happ. Mills could be the slump buster Jimmy Rollins needs. Rollins hit a home run off Mills when they last met.

Minnesota at St. Louis: Who knew Kevin Slowey would be good enough this season (10-2, 4.04 ERA) to prompt a desire to see a Kevin Slowey-Albert Pujols matchup?

Boston at Atlanta: Tim Wakefield is 3-4 against the Braves in 7 career starts. The Braves have lost three in a row and three-of-four against the Red Sox. Wakefield's opponent, Javier Vazquez leads the NL in K/9 with 10.64 and Boston has the fourth most strikeouts in the AL. J.D. Drew has 4 home runs and a .417 average against Vazquez.

MLB Notebook Looking for Part Time Writers

Sat, 27 Jun 2009 08:40:00 -0800

This is an official announcement for MLB Notebook:

MLB Notebook is looking for Part Time writers. I can't put a number on how many we are hoping to add, because if we get 10 really great writers that apply, I will be tempted to add them all. Here are some details on what being a Part Time writer is all about:

2-3 Posts a week - Could be more if you have the drive to do it, but we only expect 2 each week.
Love of baseball - If you don't love the game, we don't love you.
Writing Experience - We would prefer to add writers who have a proven body of work.
Volunteer - Technically this is a volunteer gig, because we have no real money to pay anyone. However, this could change depending on site revenue. But, even though you aren't being paid, the exposure you get here is beneficial.

This gig is great for someone who writes about a single team for another site (like Ricky does), and wants a place to write about other teams and baseball in general.

If you are interested please contact Zach via email: sportsnotebook@gmail.com

Friday's Games of the Day

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 04:30:00 -0800

Friday brings the final weekend of Interleague Play and the second round of some rivalry series'. Those series' are always fun to see even if you're not from Chicago, New York, or Florida. The natural rivalry series is why we have Interleague Play. Friday also showcases a some talent pitchers. We have good matchups in Toronto, New York, Tampa, and Milwaukee.

Chicago Cubs at Chicago White Sox: This game doesn't really feature a top-notch pitching matchup. But it is the Crosstown Series. It's tied at 1 game apiece after a rain shortened series at Wrigley earlier this month. Alfonso Soriano is 5-for-8 with 3 home runs off Jose Contreras. Derek Lee, on the other hand, is 3-for-16 against Contreras. Can hot hitting beat a history of inability to hit a specific pitcher? We shall see.

Cincinnati at Cleveland: Joey Votto powered the Reds to a 7-5 victory over Toronto on Thursday. He went 4-for-5 with an RBI double, an RBI single, a solo home run and 2 runs scored. We'll see if he can carry that momentum over to Cleveland. The Reds took 2-of-3 from Cleveland last month. The Indians counter with Travis Hafner who is hitting .355 with 3 home runs and 2 doubles in June. The game is in Cleveland, so he'll take up DH duties.

Philadelphia at Toronto: The matchup of two 4-3 starters, Cole Hamels and Ricky Romero, should distract me from the fact the Jays swept the Phillies at home last week. The Phillies should be alright, this is a road series after all. Scott Rolen has a thirteen-game hitting streak that he'd probably like to extend against one of his former teams.

You'd Better Watch Out (You'd Better Not Cry): The Giants Are Coming to Town

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 19:39:18 +0000

I have previously discussed why the San Francisco Giants will be an emerging force in the National League this year, and a dominant force in the Majors for a number of years to come. Thanks to the team belatedly getting its act together as far as prospect evaluations and player drafting, and its ability to carry a payroll zooming past the $80 million+ per year mark, there is an excellent chance that, starting in 2010, the San Francisco Giants will be a preeminent team in the Majors for a half dozen years.

Keep in mind, this team is at a tipping point despite an unimaginable number of catastrophically bad player signings the past six years. Here's a partial list of the worst of the worst (*currently being paid):

>Armando Benitez (2003, 4 years) $26 million

>Edgardo Alfonzo (2005, 3 years) $21 million

>Ray Durham (2 years) $14.5 million

>Dave Roberts (3 years) $18 million*

>Barry Bonds (final year) $16 million*

>Aaron Rowand (5 years) $60 million*

>Barry Zito (7 years) $126 million*

>Edgar Renteria (2 years) $19 million*

That's $300.5 million wasted on below average players over a very short period of time. Throw in what many consider to be one of the worst trades in MLB history, the 2003 Giants dealing Joe Nathan/Francisco Liriano/Boof Bonser to Minnesota to rent A.J. Pierzynski for one year, and you would think this franchise would be toast. And very burnt toast at that. But, despite dramatically poor decision making by the front office the past six years, the San Francisco Giants are still about to emerge as a serious force in the game. And that is testimony to their money and their relatively new ball park.

On a purely financial front, the Giants debt payment for the quasi-privately funded AT&T Park is approximately $20 million a year according to Forbes (I have also read that the debt payment is $15 million a year, and $18 million a year, etc.). That debt will be paid off somewhere around 2019, coinciding nicely with the Giants' huge investment in a mega residential/office space/concert venue/retail development project in Mission Bay, just across McCovey Cove. This is the same "retail/housing/multi-use" development mantra that seems to accompany every new MLB or NFL stadium proposal around the country.

What that means is the San Francisco Giants Baseball Club will become a mega conglomerate with multi revenue streams and an expanding real estate and business portfolio. As a result, in the years following the upcoming 2010-2015 "Giants era", the team could continue a high level of regular season and post season play, due to the unparalleled financial bounty required to support superior player drafting and development, and high end free agency signings. The Giants, in essence, would join the Yankees, Red Sox, and Angels in the top echelon of big money Major League teams.

And, starting today, please disregard the previous definitions of "small market" and "large market" teams. Someone (probably an owner) promoted the idea that the size of the metropolitan area in which a team resides determines the team's revenue stream. In reality, nothing could be farther from the truth.

Thanks to the era of "baseball-only" stadiums, an attendance base of 40,000 (with at least 25,000 season ticket holders), can turn a major league baseball team into a money printing machine. It's not the location, it's the stadium and the deal, it's the national and local TV and radio revenue, and it's the marketing potential. The Giants and the Oakland As are two teams on the far side of this economy: the Giants got what they needed and are prospering and about to prosper even more; the As are making money, but not nearly as much as they would with a new stadium and the attendant enhanced revenue.

But enough of the business of baseball. I promise to get back to the game--like what a pure joy it is to watch Pablo Sandoval play baseball every day-- because it is poetic, because it is raucous, and (most importantly) because it is pure fun.

FB365's Morning Drive 6/25/09

Thu, 25 Jun 2009 08:19:10 +0000

Geovany Soto is officially back. He hit his 6th long ball of the season and 4^th in the month of June.

Big Papi cranks his 7th of the season. See above.

Zack Duke improves to 8-5 with 6 IP, 1 ER effort last night. Duke now has lowered his ERA to 3.09 for the season. Like other pitchers getting by on groundballs and very few strikeouts (Nick Blackburn, Mark Buehrle, Kevin Slowey) there is always the distinct possibility for a complete falloff. However, given that all these guys should have cost you very little on draft day, who really cares. Sell high if you can, just enjoy the unexpected value you've received if you can't.

Sizemore goes deep for the first time since coming off the DL. That didn't take long. More on him later today.

Joey Votto is a bit rusty. Don't give up on him just yet. He was in the midst of a breakout season before taking some time away for some real serious reasons. He has the power and plate discipline to be a fantasy force in the second half. I don't think he'll hit anywhere near .350, but .290-.300 with 15 or so homers is realistic.

Scott Richmond continues to make the best of his opportunities. I'm still nervous about endorsing Richmond because of his GB/FB rate, which favors flyballs. His 21% line drive rate is a bit high too. I'd sit him upcoming against the Phillies.

Pat Burrell connected for his second homerun of the season. Burrell is only owned in 54% of ESPN leagues and there is no doubt that when healthy he can provide plus power. Much way I liked the pickup of Marcus Thames, I would say the same for Burrell, especially in OBP leagues.

Holy Joe Blanton! 10 K's in 7 IP. Blanton has been pitching much better since his rough month of May. His peripherals are actually much improved from last season. As of yesterday his K/BB rate stood at 2.79, which but him alongside Jered Weaver and just below Felix Hernandez, Cliff Lee and Jake Peavy. Keep him on your watch list for good matchups. Toronto is not one of those good matchups. Correction: Blanton's next start would be against the Braves. That is a go for a spot pickup.

David Wright goes 4-4 in an 11-0 rout of the Cardinals. He also added his 19^th stolen base of the season. Power outage!? With a .356 AVG and 19 steals, who cares!!

It might be safe to say that Rickey Nolasco is officially back. 7 IP, 7 K, 1 BB in a win against the Orioles. Nolasco hasn't given up more than 2 ER runs in July and has only walked 5 batters in 4 games. He walked 3 on June 7th, his first game back from the minors.

With the news that Marlins closer Matt Lindstrom was headed to the DL, the guessing game began for, "who will be the next Marlins closer?" Leo Nunez seemed to be the first in line, but perhaps his ankle injury was not 100%. I had a hunch on Reynel Pinto, but he was brought on to pitch the 8^th. The save went to Dan Meyer, who has been exceptional for the fish this season. Reports were that Fredi Gonzalez would use a mix and match to close out games so stay tuned.

Jason Kubel hit his 13^th homer of the season. Now Kubel's line stands at .311,.373/.512, 13 HR, 40 RBI. ESPN's "Player Rater" scores Kubel at 6.43, which is higher than the scores of Andre Ethier, Alex Rios, Bobby Abreu, Jermaine Dye, Carlos Lee, Matt Holiday and Nick Markakis. All of those players listed are owned in at least 90% of ESPN leagues. Kubel is owned in less than 64% of ESPN leagues. If he is available and you have the roster space, go get him.

Nick Blackburn gets hit pretty hard, but still manages to keep the damage to only 3 ER on 11 hits. Uncharacteristically, Balckburn surrendered 13 fly balls to only 9 ground balls. More of this type of outing to come.

Both closers struggled in the Kansas City/Houston game. Joakim Soria and Jose Valverde blew their respective save chances allowing 2 hits and one run each. They each are well enough along from their DL returns to think this was just one of those days and nothing more like an injury.

You may have noticed that Joe Torre doesn't think Matt Kemp is a valuable enough hitter to bat in the middle of the order. Well, last night he batted Kemp 9^th. He also batted Mark Loretta 6^th. I love you Joe, but you are driving me freaking insane. Too much wheatgrass I guess. All Kemp did was blast his 9th homerun of the season.

Forget BABIP, Dan Haren is the unluckiest pitcher in baseball! How does a guy with a 2.25 ERA, 0.81 WHIP and 104 strikeouts have a 6-5 record?

Frank Francisco, fresh off the DL did not come in for the save in a 2-1 game. Francisco entered in the 8th and pitched a scoreless inning. C.J. Wilson, who had been filling in for Francisco, was the one to come in and nail down the save. Here's the quote from the game recap:

C.J. Wilson then retired the side in order in the ninth for his seventh save. Washington is still undecided when Francisco might return to his closer's role. This was just his second outing since coming off the disabled list on Saturday.

But one thing that Washington does like: seven strong innings from his starter, and then Wilson and Francisco finishing up -- no matter in what order.

"That's solid," Washington said.

No Ron! We don't need solid! We need to know who is going to close games for the Rangers! Stop with all this real life, what's best for the team crap! My fantasy team needs saves!!

I own Frank Francisco in two leagues.

There has been a Garrett Atkins sighting! The Rockies said they were going to use interleague play to showcase Atkins and shocase they did. 3-4 with a homerun will do the trick. That raised his AVG to .216. Ian Stewart took an 0-3 and lowered his AVG to .218.

3.1 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. There's the Jason marquis I know and love!

Chone Figgins is now hitting .330, but has only 3 steals in the month of June. He has been caught stealing 4 times this month and had only been caught stealing 3 times in April and May. That smells a bit fishy to me.

Eric Aybar has as many steals in June as Chone Figgins. He stole his 4th of the season last night. I still think Aybar has 20+ steal ability and it looks like he is sarting to run a bit more.

Vlad shaved his dreads. Then he hit a homerun, only his 2nd of the year. If (and ONLY IF), Vlad continues to DH basically full time, he is a great buy low candidate.

Russell Branyan has a chance to enter the all-star break with a .300 AVG and 20+ homeruns. This guys needs to be at the all-star game. Not only for his performance in 2009, but also for how long he has purservered in a mostly dissapointing career. I mean Chris Davis has more friggin votes (ranks 5th for AL firstbasemen) and he might be at AAA by the break.

You can put Brandon Morrow on the backburner now. Control is still a huge issue and he has made no adjustment to get his fastball down.

Later today, the debut of "Trade Targets"

MLB Outsider - Who?

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:55:00 -0500

Everybody's heard of Alex Rodriguez. We all know who Johan Santana is. Lord knows we've all seen the towering homeruns of Albert Pujols. But as fascinating as those players are -- and it's usually a lot of fun to see somebody turn into a star and have a long, successful career -- there are a number of players in the '09 season who have put up heroic numbers... and yet most of us wouldn't be able to spot them in a crowd or even recognize their name in a discussion. Here's a short list of this year's surprises...

The Hitters
Pablo Sandoval - 22-years-old, the Giants rookie is batting .338 and is presently on pace to hit 50 doubles, 5 triples, 20 homeruns, and drive in 82 RBI. I'm sure that Giant fans everywhere know his name and are buying his poster, but outside of San Fran he's probably about as recognizable as I am. (Incidentally -- a third baseman listed at 5'11 and 246 pounds? That's a big boy.)

Brad Hawpe - 30-years-old, this Colorado right fielder lived under the shadow of Matt Halliday before this season. At this point Hawpe has had 3 seasons of 20+ homeruns, he's a career .287 hitter, he drove in 116 RBI in 2007, but if you said his name to a Yankees fans their eyes would probably glaze over. This year Hawpe is batting .332 and is on pace to hit 60 doubles, 25 homers, and to drive in 125.

Ben Zorbist - 28-years-old, Zorbist is probably the one reason a struggling Tampa Bay has kept in the hunt for a playoff spot. He's able to play six positions and is presently on pace to bat 293 with 34 doubles, 10 triples, 37 homers, and 103 RBI. And check this out -- before 2009, Zorbist had a career 15 homeruns. He's already matched that total this year.

Jason Kubel - 27-years-old, Kubel is on pace to bat .312 for the Twins with 29 homers and 95 RBI. He presently is batting nearly 40 points above his career batting average and his OPS is about 130 points higher than his career totals.

The Pitchers
Johnny Cueto - 23 years old, Cueto presently has a 2.55 ERA and is on pace to win 15 games in 220 innings pitched. Last year Cueto was 9-14 with a 4.81 ERA for Dusty Baker's Reds -- anybody who follows the NL Central knows his name and how much potential he has, but we have to wonder what will happen first. Will Cueto continue to elevate his game and pitch his way into Cy Young contention or will Dusty Baker destroy another young, talented arm?

Josh Johnson - 25 years old, Johnson is 7-1 so far this year and is on pace to win 16. His 2.66 ERA is the best of any Marlin and he is on pace to pitch 240 innings. This is not Johnson's first year of success - he won 12 for the Marlins in 2006 before missing most of '07 with an injury. In 2008 he only managed to make 14 starts, where he went 7-1 with a 3.61 ERA. In other words, if he can stay healthy he's one of the best pitchers in the game. But it's a pretty big "if."

Jair Jurrjens - 23 years old, Jurrjens (a native of the Netherlands Antilles, named after famed Death Star veteran Wedge Antilles) has a 2.89 ERA but only 5 wins for the Braves. This is his second full season in the majors - he went 13-10 last year. Since he's not yet arbitration eligible Jurrjens is making a meager $450k, making him pound-for-pound one of the most valuable pitchers in the game right now.

Kevin Slowey - 25 years old, Slowey has a mediocre 4.04 ERA but is tied for the lead in the AL with 10 wins. He's been a part of the Twins staff for portions of 3 seasons including this one, but he's never thrown more than 106.1 innings in a year. Still, in 13 fewer starts he's only 2 wins shy of his 2008 total - and if the Twins manage to overtake the Tigers in the Central, Slowey's success will be a big part of the reason why.

The Closers
Heath Bell - 31-years-old. I'm sure there were some hard-line Padres fans who were not happy with the departure of Trevor Hoffman. Well, while The Hoff has defied age brilliantly for the Brewers, Bell hasn't left many Padres fans longing for their departed closer. So far this year Bell has a 1.19 ERA, and is on pace to save 45 games. Oh, and so far he's only blown 1.

Ryan Franklin - 36-years-old. He's a guy with 1,074.1 career innings of work. He's pitched for four teams, including as a starter for the Mariners for an entirely forgettable 4 years. Since 2007 he's been with the Cardinals, pitching middle relief, until last year when he assumed the closer's role for part of the season. Since then he's been entirely unforgettable - he's saved 17 in 2009 while having blown only 1, with an ERA of 1.00. So far in 27 innings of work he's had a WHIP of 0.89 and he's shown no signs of slowing down. Not bad for a guy who nobody outside of Missouri knows much about.

FB365's Morning Drive 6/22/09

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:35:53 +0000

Great pitching match-up in Detroit yesterday between Yovani Gallardo and Justin Verlander. Both pitchers ended with similar stat lines, but Gallardo fell victim to a three run Brandon Inge homer.

Casey McGehee continued his torrid production going 2-4 and touching up Verlander with a homer. You can go ahead and add McGehee now and ride him while he's hot. I don't think this production will sustain the rest of the season, but when you're hot, you're hot. Hitting in the two hole will help.

B.J. Upton has raised his AVG 28 points in the last 10 days. His power seems to be creeping back after offseason shoulder surgery limited him early on. If you need proof, just check out this bomb he hit yesterday measured at 417 ft true distance by hittrackeronline.com. I am anticipating a huge second half from Boss Man Jr.

White Sox 3B Gordon Beckham followed up his first career homerun Saturday with a 2-3 Sunday. He's still only owned in 48% of CBS leagues. I'd add Beckham and stash him if I had roster space.

Toronto lefty Ricky Romero battled through 8 hits and 3 walks to earn his 4th win of the season and 4th quality start in a row. The Nationals best hitters were 6 for 18, but Romero did his best Mark Buehrle impression and kept the ball on the ground educing 12 groundballs. Romero's next start comes at home against Philadelphia. The Phillies are hitting .246 vs. left-handed pitching this season, and Raul Ibanez will still be serving his DL time. I'd give him a go in deep formats as the best DH options for the Phillies are lefties Matt Stairs and Greg Dobbs.

Jeremy Guthrie held the Phillies to 1 run on 3 hits over 7 innings. Keep in mind this was a Phillies lineup without Ibanez or Howard. I am not buying Jeremy Guthrie one bit

I am buying Cole Hamels, though that sounds like a no-brainer. For those owners that stuck with him through a very rough start, you may be in for a very nice second half. 10 K's and 0 walks yesterday.

David Ortiz hit a rocket over the Monster in left-center off Jair Jurrjens. It is safe to say that Big Papi has found his stroke and timing again. The blast came off a 92 mph fastball, which would have been blown by him or weakly popped up earlier this season.

Khaili Greene has 3 homeruns in 3 days. He got plunked by a wild Gil Meche pitch, but is listed as "day-to-day". There is no doubting Greene's power when healthy.

This just in...Albert Pujols is not from this planet.

Gil Meche got rocked by Pujols and the Cardinals. He just could not locate his fastball like I've seen in his last few outings, but the Cards were hacking at the ones he did leave over the plate. Pujols hurt Meche in the 1st with a base hit and in the 3rd with his grand slam. That was 5 RBI right there. I'll never fault a pitcher for getting beat by Albert Pujols, but the problem was allowing the base runners ahead of Pujols. That I do blame on the pitcher.

If you told me pre-season that almost to the end of June Michael Bourn would be hitting 80 points better than Carlos Gomez I would have said that Carlos Gomez would have to be hitting .150. But Bourn is a .300 hitter right now and he also has 17 more steals than Gomez. Bourn is certainly drawing more walks this season, but has also benefited from a BABIP of .377 and a line drive rate of 23.5%, which seems likely to regress. For being a slap hitter, Bourn does not make great contact and still strikes out over 20% of the time. I'd sell Bourn now if you can stand the loss in stolen bases. His AVG seems likely to finish more around the .275 mark.

Wandy Rodriguez got back on track allowing only 1 R on 3 H while striking out 8 and walking 3 in 7 IP. The one run came on a Michael Cuddyer homerun. As I have mentioned all season long; one of the biggest keys to Wandy's success has been is ability to repress homeruns. He's starting to give them up at a higher pace now. I still think he'll end the season with a good ERA, but now might be a very good time to sell high for an impact bat while his ERA still looks great.

Louis Valbuena is hitting .435 in his last 4 games with 3 homeruns. He's only owned in 5% of CBS leagues. As of now it looks like the Indians are set with him at SS and Jhonny Peralta at 3B. He's there if you need a quick fix at SS in your AL-only league.

Whatever it was that was bothering Geovany Soto earlier this season is past him now. That makes it 2 Homeruns in his last 8 at bats.

Andrew McCutchen just keeps on hitting (2-5 with 2 R yesterday)...

...and so does Clint Barmes (Homerun number 8 yesterday).

Kevin Millwood struck out 10 in 7 IP against the Giants. He also allowed 8 hits and 3 walks and has a strand rate in the mid 80% range. At some point the bend has to break...right?

Kevin Correia makes me look good with 6 2/3, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K's.

Dallas Braden also pitched well, but surrendered two long balls. His HR/FB rate has been low against his career average and he is allowing over 42% flyballs. I'm sitting Braden in his next start at home against the Rockies.

Felix Hernandez pitched good again...Joe.

Mark Reynolds did the only damage against King Felix with a 2 run jack. I don't care how many times Reynolds strikes out this season. Unlike Chris Davis, Reynolds is worth his weight in homeruns, not to mention the added bonus of 13 stolen bases so far.

CC Sabathia and his $26.8 million dollar bicep left yesterdays game with soreness (since the Yankees are paying Sabathia $161 M for his left arm I simply divided it into 6 parts; The shoulder, the bicep, the triceps, the forearm, the elbow and the hand). No detailed report yet, but it does not appear to be serious and Sabathia was said to be "day-to-day".

Marlins closer (for now) Matt Lindstrom is getting dangerously close to becoming a set-up man. He gave up 2 runs on 3 hits and 1 walk to just barely earn the save against the Yankees. Leo Nunez is waiting patiently and so too is sleeper Reyniel Pinto, a lefty who has been better vs. right-handed batters (.213 BAA) than left-handed batters (.308 BAA) in only one more at bat.

Jonathan Broxton is not 100% right now. His velocity has been dropping mid-inning lately. I would not be surprised if Torre gives him a couple days off.

Juan Pierre (3-5, SB) and James Loney (2 run HR) don't like me very much.