2006 American League Awards

I don't have the energy to put all this all in one post, and it would get very long, so I'll just cut it in half, and go for the American League awards now:

MVP
More than any other year, there are lots and lots of legitimate candidates. Heck, I've seen guys that are as high as 1 and as low as 8 or 9 on some ballots... the class is that strong. Before he got hurt, I would have put Travis Hafner as my MVP. Obviously he doesn't play defense, but he was the best hitter in the American League this year when he was healthy. Manny Ramirez was also fantastic at the plate, but he had even less ABs than Hafner.

The toughest thing about this crop of candidates is that all of them are so similiar... Hafner, David Ortiz, Justin Morneau, Jim Thome, Frank Thomas, etc. For the most part, they're very good hitting 1B/DH. Other than Morneau, none of those guys contributes at all in the field.

Then there's the guys that contribute greatly not only at the plate but in the field. Joe Mauer is a gold-glove caliaber backstop, Derek Jeter plays an average SS, Grady Sizemore is a great defensive CF, and Jermaine Dye has a cannon in right. Personally I tend to favor these guys a bit (as you'll notice).

So who's my MVP? I'll give you a hint, he put up a .429 OBP while playing catcher. To a lot of Twins fans, Joe Mauer wasn't even the MVP of the Twins... but I'd obviously disagree. Mauer was the rock in the lineup, posting a great OBP at #3. Also, while he didn't hit a lot of HR, he did hit a good amount of doubles, which helped contribute to a solid SLG. He finished 7th in the league in OPS (right above Morneau). Oh yeah, and he played great defense at the most demanding defensive position.

1. Joe Mauer
2. Derek Jeter
3. Grady Sizemore
4. Jermaine Dye
5. Johan Santana

Cy Young
There's really no debate up top. Johan led the league in Wins, ERA, Ks, and IP. If he doesn't win the Cy, we'll know for sure the award is a sham. This should be his 3rd straight, but I guess I'll have to settle for #2.

After that is where things start to get real hazy. Kelvim Escobar (11-14) is 6th in the league in ERA. CC Sabathia, John Lackey, and Mike Mussina also deserve some consideration.

But the other factor is closers. Normally, I would say closers don't deserve to be in the discussion. Pitching 70 innings is just not as valuable as pitching 200 innings. However, some things are at work here. For one, there were a lot of legitimately great closers this year. K-Rod, Mariano Rivera, Jonathon Papelbon, Joe Nathan, BJ Ryan, and JJ Putz were all unvelievable this year. Combine that with mediocre starting pitching, and I think some closers deserve to at least be in the discussion.

1. Johan Santana
2. Roy Halladay
3. Mike Mussina
4. JJ Putz
5. CC Sabathia

Rookie of the Year
If only Francisco Liriano hadn't gotten hurt. Then we'd be talking about him as the easy ROY and a Cy Young candidate. He was that dominant this year. But there's no need to dwell on the past. Health was a big issue for the class... Papelbon also missed extensive time. Which I why I like Verlander the one pitcher to throw over 125 innings, and he threw 186. That's a huge margin.

After that, Liriano and Weaver were great in about 120 innings. Papelbon was lights out in the pen. Ditto for Joel Zumaya. In any other year, these guys are worthy winners. Nick Markakis was excellent as well. But I think the top 5 spots all belong to pitchers this year, who, if healthy, can wreak havoc in the AL for year.

1. Justin Verlander
2. Jonathon Papelbon
3. Francisco Liriano
4. Jered Weaver
5. Joel Zumaya

Any egregious errors?

is it really over?

6 months of Twins baseball. A 25-33 start, falling as many as 12.5 games back of the division lead, only to comeback and dramatically take the lead on the final day of the season. A batting champ, the probably Cy Young, and MVP candidates.

All erased in 3 games over the span of 3 games.

Did that really just happen? Can it really be over so quickly? What the heck happened?

I could talk at length about why the Twins lost this series, but I'll stick to this quick analysis, and stop with the negatives. Heck, there wasn't a whole lot of positives for the series. I don't understand how a team that won 96 games could look so bad. But I digress.

I'll just focus on what a fun and exciting season this was for the Twins. The aforementioned 96 wins and AL Central title. But that's just a small part of what made this the most fun season following the Twins of my life. What did I love about these Twins? Well, since you asked:

- Joe Mauer. What else needs to be said? The first catcher to lead the MLB in batting while playing Gold Glove caliber defense behind the plate. At age 23. It was a pleasure to watch Joe play baseball day in and day out.

- Another fantastic season for Johan Cytana. He got the pitching triple crown which all but locks up his 2nd Cy Young award. This should be his 3rd straight Cy Young, but voters are stupid.

- The electricity of Francisco Liriano. When he was on the mound, there was no one better in the MLB this year. Great fastball, great changeup, and an absolutely devastating slider. If he was healthy, things might have been a lot different. Come back healthy Francisco.

- Justin Morneau becoming the star everyone thought he'd be. Everyone knew the power was always there, but he became a very complete hitter, hitting to all fields. One of the most fun guys to watch hit the ball.

- The effort of Torii Hunter. Sure, he can make mistakes (see: Game 2). And he's lost a step defensively. And he can take some bad swings at the plate. But he gives it all whenever he's out there, and there's not much better about baseball than watching him play baseball. Friday may have been his last game in a Twins uniform... if that's the case, thanks for the memories Torii.

- Brad Radke. You can't say enough about this guy. Pitching with a torn labrum is bad enough, but he was also gutting it out with a stress fracture in his throwing shoulder. He couldn't do anything without pain, yet he was pitching great start after start, and truly left everything he had. Thank you Brad Radke, for a great season and a great career.

- Covering everything on Thank You Brian Sabean. I wrote about the Minnesota Twins almost every day for the last 4 months... which made me appreciate the good times more. I don't know if I'll be back next year with TYBS, but hopefully time permits it, because it was really a great experience.

So while the last 3 games were not exactly the storybook ending everyone was hoping for, it was an unbelievable and unforgettable season, and one I won't soon forget. From the division title to winning 96 games to getting back to the playoffs, it was just about everything I could ask for. And with a young team, we might be back here again next year.

Thanks for reading, thanks for letting me ramble, and see you in a few days. While it was a great year that I'll look back fondly on, it's still a tough pill to swallow being swept. So I'll mope for a few days, and start looking forward to next year, where I can only hope for half the excitement this year brought.

too depressed to write anything

From the Star Tribune:

Francisco Liriano, Minnesota's rookie All-Star, is out indefinitely with what appears to be a left elbow injury.

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In a quiet postgame clubhouse, Liriano, 22, seemed on the verge of tears, and his voice crackled as he described the pain, pointing to the inside of the elbow this time, beneath the muscle and possibly in the joint.

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"I couldn't even throw the fastball, slider, changeup anything," Liriano said. "It bothered me every pitch I threw."

From the Twins website:

But it's not even close to the type of blow that the Twins could receive in the coming days if the news on starter Francisco Liriano is as bad as it appears to be.

Liriano pitched just four innings in the club's 9-3 loss to the Tigers at Comerica Park on Monday night before being pulled due to pain near his left elbow that flared up again.

The Twins 22-year-old rookie phenom was skipped over for his last start, due to the inflammation that he had in his left forearm. An MRI revealed no structural damage to the arm and the thought was that 10 days of rest would solve the problem.

But this time, the pain returned in what Liriano deemed a different spot and it seems to be worse than before. It's something that has even caused Liriano to be a bit scared of what may be causing the pain.

"I am, because it really bothered me a lot and I don't know what it is," Liriano said of being more concerned than he was before. "I couldn't throw my fastball, changeup, slider -- it bothered me on every pitch I throw.

"It really bothers me because it's getting worse."

UPDATE: As far as this goes, things don't appear to be quite as bad as I was initially bracing myself for... there's definitely a chance he's done for the year, but worse things have happened. As long as there's no long-term problems, I'm ok and too depressed about it anymore!

What to watch: Francisco Liriano vs. Roger Clemens

Now, I'm not going to presume that I have any influence in what you watch... but if I do, take my recommendation and watch the Twins vs. the Astros. Why? Well, you should always watch the Twins. But more importantly, Twins phenom Franisco Liriano takes on Roger Clemens in his season-debut.

If you didn't know (or if you haven't been reading this blog!), Liriano is close to being my hero already, as well, as being a legitimate Rookie of the Year Contender (and possible All-Star), despite not even starting all year. The numbers are very impressive: 6-1, 2.16 ERA, more than 10 K/9 innings. Let me put it this way, if Liriano had enough innings to qualify, he'd be leading the Majors in ERA.

On the other hand, you have 5 fingers. But even deeper than that, "The Rocket" will of course make his 2006 Major League debut. He wasn't overly impressive in his 3 minor league starts, but you might remember him well for his 7 Cy Young Awards (oh yeah, and he was robbed last year).

In other words, just watch the game if you can. If you regret, I'll give you your money back.

Twins Update: Francisco Liriano is the cure to all ills

After yet another bad Carlos Silva start a couple of weeks ago, Ron Gardenhire finally heeded my advice and put Francisco Liriano into the starting rotation. Friday was his second start of the year, and it was a good one, as Liriano pitched 5 shutout innings on the way to a 3-1 Twins win. He's still on a pitch count (which I strongly support for a young guy like this), which is why he only went 5 innings, but he allowed 4 hits (walking 1) while striking out 6 in those 5 innings, which lowered his ERA to 2.51. As I said 10 days ago, pick this guy up on your fantasy team IMMEDIATELY if at all possible.

In other good Twins news, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty signed the Ballpark Bill at the Metrodome in a special ceremony before the game.

The new stadium will be located in the Warehouse District north of the Target Center, and it will be ready for the start of the 2010 season. The $522 million project -- $130 million of which will be paid by the club -- will fund the 42,000-seat, natural grass ballpark that has a view of the Minneapolis downtown skyline.

Currently, the Twins stand at 21-26, but considering the rise of Liriano and the new Ballpark that will be built, things could definitely be worse.

Fantasy Baseball Sleepers/Value Picks

We're about 1/4 of the way through the year, but there are still a lot of players that are undervalued at this point. Here's a few of them at C, IF, OF, SP, and RP.

Catchers

Josh Willingham - Florida Marlins - He's playing LF for Florida, but in most leagues he still qualifies at C, which is a good thing. He's batting .286, and he has 7 HR and 29 RBI. Florida's not that good, but Willingham is solid and batting behind Cabrera. He may be available in mixed leagues.

Johnny Estrada - Arizona Diamondbacks - Estrada's just a really solid hitter. The only reason Atlanta got rid of him of was to make room for Brian McCann, who's been excellent in his own right. Estrada is batting .314, has a few HR, as well as 25 RBI and 14 R. A nice option at Catcher.

Infield

Mike Cuddyer - Minnesota Twins - Qualifies at 2B, 3B, and OF, which makes him even more valuable. He has always had hitting talent, and always put up great Minor League numbers, but never really got comfortable in the Majors. Now, he's getting to play everyday in RF, and at age 27, is making the most of it. In May, he's batting .375 and he has 8 doubles. He's a nice option at this point as long as he continues to play everyday.

Mike Lowell - Boston Red Sox - Qualifies at 2B and 3B, and he is starting to play everyday and hit the ball well. In May, he's batting .340 with a couple HR, 11 RBI, and 9 2B. Also has scored 12 runs in the potent Sox offense.

Jose Lopez - Seattle Mariners - He's just been really, really solid, but not many people seem to know about him. He's got a solid .295 average, but he's also contributed 5 HR, 30 RBI, and 23 Runs. From a 2B, this is excellent production.

Bill Hall - Milwaukee Brewers - He doesn't really have a set starting spot, but he still gets a solid amount of playing time, and qualifies at 2B, 3B, and SS. Has a nice .291 average, and 8 HR when not playing everyday is very good. Also has scored 23 runs.

Outfield

Matt Murton - Chicago Cubs - His power hasn't really come much yet, with only 2 HR, but he's got a .271 average, 17 RBI, and 18 R, and he's even got a couple of stolen bases. Last year he hit 7 HR in 140 AB, so he has decent power potential.

Curtis Granderson - Detroit Tigers - Not playing really well right now, with only a .255 average, but he hits for decent power and he's fast. He has 6 HR and 3 SB, and has 20/20 potential. He's been batting leadoff for the Tigers, so he should score a nice amount of runs this year (21 so far).

Dave Roberts - San Diego Padres - He won't provide any power or RBI, but he hits for a nice average, and he'll steal a lot of bases. He's batting .284 right now, and has a very nice 14 SB in 15 chances. If you need steals and he's available, pick him up and he should shore that up for you.

Barry Bonds - San Fransisco Giants - He's obviously not a sleeper, but I do think he's undervalued. His numbers have not been good this year - .233 AVG, 5 HR, and only 14 RBI. Which is why he could be available for trade. I think he's still a very good hitter, just in a slump right now. I'd expect the average to be up around .270 at least by the end of the year, and around 30 HR. If you can trade for him at a reasonable price, I wouldn't hesitate to do it.

Pitching

Fransisco Liriano - Minnesota Twins - He's set to make his first start on Friday, and that's a very good thing for fantasy owners. I've written about him here and here, and well, let's just say I'm high on his potential. He's got a great fastball, and absolutely filthy slider, and a good changeup. It will take him a while for his arm to get to the point where he can go deep into games, but he should provide quality innings and a good amount of strikeouts, without walking a lot of guys. If he's stll available in your league, stop reading and pick him up right now. You won't regret it.

Tony Armas - Washington Nationals - It seems like he's been around forever, but he is becoming a solid, reliable pitcher. He's got 4 wins, and his ERA is a paltry 3.02. With a over 2/1 K/BB ratio, and a WHIP of 1.12, while playing in the large expanse that is the Nationals home park, well, I can see him keeping this up.

Dave Bush - Milwaukee Brewers - His ERA is a shade over 4, but he has a K/BB ratioof almost 5/1. And with a WHIP of only 1.09, and an improving Brewer offense, he's a solid pickup.

J.J. Putz - Seattle Mariners - Now that he has emerged as the closer in Seattle after the disappointing start of Eddie Guardado, he's a must-own, and should rack up a good amount of saves. He has 4 of them already, but his WHIP is under, and his ERA is under 2. He also has 28 K in 19.2 innings.

Joel Zumaya - Detroit Tigers - This is pretty much for really deep leagues only, because he's still in middle relief. But, he's been excellent. He has 20 strikeouts and 7 walks in 18.1 innings. He has a 2.45 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and he's holding opponents to a 1.88 BAA. If/when Todd Jones gets hurt, Zumaya will take on a bigger role, and that coule make him very valuable.

Any other big ones I missed?

Twins Update: Good Pitching + Good Hitting = Success

And just like that, the Twins are in 3rd place. With an 8-4 win over the White Sox, the Twins haved moved to 17-19, 7 games behind the Sox. Today, a hit by Justin Morneau (Bat-Girl's Boyfriend of the Day) in the fifth put the Twins up 5-4, and they obviously never looked back.

Radke was very shaky early on, but he did get the win despite giving up 4 runs in 5 2/3. Franciso Liriano pitched 2.1 solid innings, giving up just 1 hit and striking out 4. Juan Rincon pitched the final inning for the Twins.

Yesterday, in Game 1 of a 4-game set between the Twins and White Sox, the Twins took it to the Sox 10-1, getting 7 strong innings from Johan "Cytana" (1 ER, 10 K), and getting HR from Justin Morneau, Joe Mauer, and Tony Batista.

These two wins guarantee the Twins at least a split of the series, but hopefully they can finish the job and take at least 3 out of 4. On Sunday, Carlos Silva will pitch against Mark Buehrle. On Monday, Scott Baker will take on Freddy Garcia. Let's go Twins!

Twins Update: Ron Gardenhire, meet Francisco Liriano

Dear Ron Gardenhire,

I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but there's some guy named Francisco Liriano on your team. Coming into the year, he was considered one of the best pitching prospects in baseball, and nothing he has done so far has shown that to be false in any way. He has a 6:1 BB:K ratio through 16.1 innings. That's pretty good.

Well, I do know you're aware of this, but Kyle Lohse had another poor outing tonight. 4 innings, 9 hits, and 7 runs. This raises his ERA to 9.71. No, that's not a typo.

The point is Ron, with the team at 11-18 and looking more anemic by the day, shouldn't some type of change be made? If you're going to continue starting guys like Tony Batista and Juan Castro, can't we at least have a chance in the pitching staff? Like, put Liriano in the rotation and take Lohse out? Take a look at the numbers. Take a look at any numbers. I'll even give some to you.

(OBP/SLG)
Juan Castro - .269/.284
Tony Batista - .316/.400 (well, I guess that's not so bad. i'll bet you a wooden nickel it gets worse by the end of the year)

But hey, at least Jason Kubel's getting ABs down in AAA!

Signed,
Twins15

P.S. Are you as worried as I am about having to face Joel Zumaya for a long time as I am? He's going to be a great pitcher, whether it's in the Pen or in the Rotation.

Twins Update: What a game!

What a win for the Twins, coming from behind for a 12-10 win in 10 innings! Who says they have no offense?

The Twins fell down 9-4 after 5 innings in a game in which starter Kyle Lohse gave up 8 runs in only 3.1 innings, putting them in a hole and forcing them to go to the bullpen early. After a 4-run 6th cut the lead to 9-8, rookie Fransisco Liriano gave up his first run of the year (to raise his ERA to 0.96), but then Torii Hunter responded with a HR in the bottom of the inning to make it 10-9.

After an uneventful inning and a half, K-Rod was brought in for the bottom of the 9th. After the Twins loaded the bases with no out, Justin Morneau popped out and Tony Batista struck out, bringing up Lew Ford. After working it to a full count, Lew Ford drew the walk from Rodriguez, tying the game 10-10.

Joe Nathan worked the 10th, and in the bottom of the inning, with a runner on 3rd and 2 out, Pinch-hitter Michael Cuddyer (please, please start this man at 3B) hit a pitch to right-center field that cleared the fencing for the game-winning, walkoff Quadrangle. Twins win 12-10. What a game!

The Twins look to get over .500 and win the series Thursday night, and they will send Scott Baker to the hill. Baker is 1-1 with a 3.18 ERA on the year.

Francisco Liriano

If you haven't heard of this guy, now would be a good time to learn.

Liriano, age 22, was one of 3 players aquired by the Minnesota Twins from the SF Giants in exchange for AJ Pierzynski (the others were Joe Nathan and Boof Bonser), in what has to be one of the most lopsided trades ever.

Liriano has pitched in 4 games for the Twins so far this year, for 8.1 innings pitched. Thus far, the returns have been stellar. In his 8.1 IP, he has struck out 13 while walking just 1 batter, giving up 5 hits (.167 BAA), and a WHIP of 0.72. Oh yeah, and he hasn't allowed a run yet. He mixes a mid to high 90s fastball with a low 90s slider and a mid 80s changeup, which are all extremely good, especially for his age.

While he's coming out of the pen right now, I wouldn't expect that to last too much longer if he keeps pitching like this. With the Twins, winners of 5 straight looking like they could be contenders, it wouldn't surprise me to see Terry Ryan deal Kyle Lohse (in his walk year) for another bat, probably at 3B (although Tony Batista is hitting very well right now). If that happens, look for Liriano to join the already-good rotation to make it even more dangerous.

Francisco Liriano. Get to know the name, because this guy is going to be around for a long, long time.

Twins Update: Uh, not quite the start I envisioned

I realize the Twins had a really tough start to the schedule... 3 games at Toronto and then 3 at Cleveland, two teams that seem like they will be factors in the AL Playoff races this year, but still, 1-5 and last in the AL Central? That's a little disappointing.

In contrast, the Indians (5-1) and Tigers (5-2) are off to very good starts, and the White Sox sit at 3-4, which puts the Twins 4 games back already, and the season's only a week old. It's way, way, way too early to panic, but this has not been very encouraging.

Last year, they combined a really good pitching staff with a really bad lineup. This year? Neither is producing. They're averaging 4.5 runs per game, which is passable, but that number is inflated because they put a 13 spot on Toronto in the second game of the year. Look at this line: .225 AVG/.270 OBP/.370 SLG. That's brutal. Pitching wise, they have a 5.88 ERA, which is partly effected by a couple of subpar starts by Johan and a terrible outing from Lohse.

The bright spots? Shannon Stewart and Fransisco Liriano. Stewart has an OPS over 1.000 and Liriano has pitched 4.2 shutout innings and looked fantastic during them. Let's just say that Kyle Lohse is feeling the pressure.

Other than that, not much to cheer about. And they need to start playing better, because their next two series' are vs. Oakland and vs. New York, meaning that if they continue on this slide, they could find themselves in a very big hole.