Yardbarker: Justin Morneau

Brad Lidge Not "Clutch"

Wed, 08 Oct 2008 08:53:09 -0500

Brad Lidge, perfect in 41 save opportunities this season, was not named as a finalist for the 2008 Pepsi Clutch Performer award. What???

Projections Review: Hitters

Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:03:55 -0500

It’s always fun to make predictions on how the players will perform each season. About six months ago we did community projections for both the hitters and pitchers, and asked readers to give their predictions.

We thought it’d be a good way to end the season by looking back and seeing just how close (or far off) some of the predictions were. Next to each question and bolded is the answer. In the parenthesis are all of the guesses.

First up are the hitters.

Carlos Gomez:

Number of steals? 33 (50, 34, 42, 52, 48)

Outfield assists? 9 (15, 8, 11, 12, 14)

Will he be in Minnesota all season? Yes (All answered Yes)

Joe Mauer:

Batting average? .328 (.325, .324, .312, .308, .362)

Number of games? 146 (135, 135, 145, 139, 134)

Will he win another batting title this season? Yes (4 No, 1 Yes)

Michael Cuddyer:

Homeruns? 3 (22, 23, 24, 22, 26)

Outfield assists? 7 (15, 15, 14, 19, 16)

How long will he bat third? Injured(4 All Season, 1 Until Mauer)

Justin Morneau:

Over/Under 40 HR? Under (2 Under, 2 Even, 1 Over)

How many RBI? 129 (120, 125, 121, 139, 131)

Will he win a Gold Glove in ‘08? Unknown

Delmon Young:

How many HR? 10 (23, 22, 23, 30, 33)

Will he get to 100 RBI? No (5 Yes)

Will he play at least one game in center? No (5 Yes)

Jason Kubel:

Over/Under 15 HR? Over (5 Over)

How many RBI? 78 (80, 89, 72, 93, 81)

Will he last as the designated hitter? Yes (4 Yes, 1 Forty in LF)

Brendan Harris:

Double-digits in HR? No (4 Yes)

Games at second? 39 (140, 115, 135, 145)

Will he last the whole season as the starter? No (3 Yes, 1 No)

Mike Lamb:

Will he get close to 20 HR? No (3 Yes, 1 No)

How many errors at third? 5 (17, 15, 12, 13)

Number of at-bats? 247 (550, 145, 524, 512)

Adam Everett:

Batting average? .213 (.265, .235, .265, .274)

Over/Under 10 errors? Under (4 Under)

Will he hit at least four homeruns? No (2 Yes, 2 No)

Mike Redmond:

How many hits? 37 (50, 68, 62, 59)

How many runners will he throw out? 5 (12, 17, 9, 12)

Will he hit .300 off the bench? No (3 Yes, 1 No)

Nick Punto:

Over/Under .210? Over (3 Over, 1 Under)

How many games? 99 (90, 75, 78, 114)

Will he be with the team all season? Yes (4 Yes)

Craig Monroe:

Homeruns? 8 (15, 11, 14, 15)

Steal or Bust? Bust (3 Steal, 1 Bust)

Will he play in center at least five times? Yes (4 Yes)

Matt Tolbert:

Days in the majors? All Season - 41 Games (2 All Season, 1 Half Season, 1 11 Days)

Average in the big leagues? .283 (.275, .125, .282, .293)

How many games will Tolbert start? Unknown (25, 0, 15, 14)

It was interesting to me how close people were on so many of them. The ones that seemed to be way off all-around were Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and Michael Cuddyer. Cuddyer is understandable since we expected him to play all season and be a big factor in the lineup.

Young I think we expected to much from. He put up somewhat similar numbers to last season, but we all expected his power to increase drastically, and 100-RBI’s isn’t an easy thing. As for Harris, we expected him to play the entire season based on the predictions, and who would have thought that Alexi Casilla would have come along so fast?

The pitchers will be up next, so keep your eye out.

Delmon Young apparently thinks today's game decides the World Series championship

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:17:27 -0500

CHICAGO — An apparently confused Delmon Young arrived at U.S. Cellular Field convinced that today’s one-game playoff between the White Sox and the Twins will decide the 2008 Major League Baseball champion. “It’s pretty exciting, no?” Young asked Ron Gardenhire, manager of the Twins, about the game. “One game to decide the whole enchilada. Win [...]

Top Matchups For The 2008 World Series

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 12:21:03 -0500

We almost have our 8 post-season teams finalized. In the AL there's the Rays, Red Sox, Angels, and Twins or White Sox. And in the NL we have the Cubs, Dodgers, Phillies, and Brewers. So, which teams would make the most interesting 2008 World Series? Here are the top match-ups we'd wanna see. 1. Cubs vs Rays: The "Blue Moon" Series. The team with the longest World Series drought vs. the team that has never made it to the playoffs. Talk about two teams unlikely to meet in the World Series. Does anyone have a Farmer's Almanac to check if there's a blue moon rising? 2. Dodgers vs Red Sox: A New Curse in the Making? With the Red Sox facing their former stars Manny Ramirez and Nomar Garciaparra (under the management of their former nemesis Joe Torre nonetheless) what more could you ask for? Will Torre bring life to the Dodgers franchise while the Red Sox suffer another drought of titles under the curse of Ramirez? This could be baseball lore in the making! 3. Angels vs Dodgers: The Gang Wars Series Red vs. Blue going head-to-head in LA. Sound familiar? Perhaps Fox or CW should televise the Crips vs. Bloods to give us back-to-back double headers each night during the fall classic. 4. Twins vs. Phillies: The Swing State Series Lacking their stars from '07, Hunter and Santana, the Twins might be a bigger surprise to see this post season than the Rays. With consistent playing from Mauer and Moreneu, a Minnesota match-up against Philly could be good. Both teams are playing fantastic ball ? and the week after the World Series ends, both Minnesota and Pennsylvania (both swing states) will be deciding the fate of our next President. I hope both clubs votes for Obama!

162 Games Have Proven Insufficient

Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:02:54 -0500

At least so far. Minnesota neglected to capitalize on White Sox losses on both Friday and Saturday and now will have to wait and watch along with everyone else as the White Sox play host to the Tigers tomorrow afternoon in Chicago. The Twins received phenomenal pitching performances from the likes of Nick Blackburn and [...]

A lot to be decided in baseball's final weeks

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:32:34 -0500

here is my column from Sept. 20, sorry it's late We'll get to my football picks at the end, but first it's all about baseball this time of year. The regular season is winding down, and there are some honors still to be decided, as well as playoff spots in the final weeks of the season. Sunday, however, marks the final game at Yankee Stadium. Yes the new stadium next door will be called Yankee Stadium, and it will have the monuments and plaques, but it won't be the same. One of my favorite memories of action at that stadium was David Cone's perfect game against the Montreal Expos on July 18, 1999. That was a special day for all Yankee fans and a very vivid memory of mine. All of the stadium's magic will be missed. As for this season, many of the regular season's honors are yet to be decided, with many hinging on who makes the postseason. Starting in the American League, the MVP award this season looked to be Carlos Quentin's for the taking, but a forearm injury has derailed his hopes of winning now. There are a number of worthy candidates though on playoff contenders. Dustin Pedroia in Boston, Justin Morneau in Minnesota and Chicago's Jermaine Dye. Also worth mentioning are Alex Rodriguez in New York, Aubrey Huff in Baltimore, Grady Sizemore in Cleveland and Josh Hamilton in Texas. The award, in my mind, right now is Morneau's for the taking. If he can drive Minnesota into the postseason he is very easily one of the most valuable players on his respective team. The Twins weren't supposed to do anything this season, but Morneau has led the charge all year for them, batting above .375 with runners in scoring position with nearly 100 RBIs. Pedroia and Dye are going to be very close in the race though. The AL Cy Young race is much slimmer in the picking, with Cleveland's Cliff Lee having on of the best season's by a pitcher in recent memory. Lee was 5-8 last season with an ERA over 6, banished from the rotation to the bullpen to AAA. Now Lee is 22-2 with an ERA at 2.41 with 162 strikeouts, four complete games and two shutouts, the first two of his career. Francisco Rodriguez in Los Angeles has had a record breaking season, saving 58 games to break Bobby Thigpen's all-time mark of 57. But Lee's dominance is greater as a starter than K-Rod's as a closer. Roy Halladay, Mike Mussina and Daisuke Matsuzaka will also garner votes, but not many. Evan Longoria has been simply great this season, and with Thursday night's three homerun barrage on the Minnesota Twins, the Rays' rookie has started etching his name on the Rookie of the Year trophy. Others have played well, Alexei Ramirez of Chicago, Mike Aviles of Kansas City, Joba Chamberlain of New York, but none have played as well as Longoria. The National League is a different story. With a large number of potential MVP candidates, it may come down to who doesn't choke in the race for the postseason. Albert Pujols in St. Louis is having an award worthy season, as he always does. So is Lance Berkman in Houston. But neither of them is likely to be headed to the playoffs. Carlos Delgado and David Wright may hurt each other's cases if the Mets don't collapse this season. Ryan Howard hits a ton of homers, but the batting average under .250 will hurt him. Aramis Ramirez is good for Chicago, but not good enough. My vote is split 50/50 between Pujols and Wright at the moment, with Pujols maybe edging out the Mets' thirdbaseman a little. The Cy Young battles is just as heated, but in my opinion, the winner is clear. Tim Lincecum is playing on a very bad San Francisco team, but he just keeps winning. Similar to Lee, Lincecum is really the only bright spot in a bad season for his team. Lincecum is 17-4 this season with a 2.46 ERA and 243 strikeouts. His dominance should trump the higher win total for Arizona's Brandon Webb. Webb is 21-7 with a 3.26 ERA and 170 strikeouts, with his wins being the only key stat he beats Lincecum in. Johan Santan, CC Sabathia's half-season and Cole Hamels will also garner votes. Geovany Soto is the NL Rookie of the Year, there isn't any question or doubt. Soto has backstopped the best team in the league all season, has over 20 homeruns and 80 RBIs, and is a key part of that Cubs team. Jair Jurrjens and Jay Bruce have made good cases, but not good enough. The managers of the year should fall as follows. Joe Maddon of Tampa Bay over Ron Gardenhire of Minnesota in the AL and Lou Piniella of the Cubs over Joe Torre of Los Angeles in the NL. These awards and the pennant races should make for an exciting final week-plus of the major league season. On to my NFL picks. Last week I opened with a 10-5 record, not counting my big error in the Maplewood-General McLane game. This week I am taking Tennessee over Houston, Buffalo over Oakland, Carolina over Minnesota, Atlanta over Kansas City, Chicago over Tampa Bay, Arizona over Washington, New England over Miami, New York Giants over Cincinnati, Seattle ov er St. Louis, Detroit over San Francisco, Denver over New Orleans, Cleveland over Baltimore, Indianapolis over Jacksonville, Pittsburgh over Philadelphia, San Diego over the Jets and in the biggest matchup of the week, Green Bay over Dallas at Lambeau. And before I go, birthday wishes to my niece Madison Bancroft on Sunday, she turns 3. Also birthday wishes to me, I turn 25 on Monday. And a happy anniversary to my wife Kelly, we celebrated two years on September 16. Enjoy the weekend.

I said it first: Morneau the MVP, Cliff Lee the Cy Young

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 23:34:03 -0500

The Top 5 List is out-dated, but the top spot still belongs to Justin Morneau. http://www.yardbarker.com/mlb/articles/LIST_AL_MVP_Contenders/297460

Johnny Canuck for MVP

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 21:19:13 -0500

Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please. Now speaking on behalf of the Johnny Canuck for MVP campaign is a man that knows a little something about playing first base and winning Most Valuable Player awards in Minnesota — Hall of Famer Harmon Killebrew! Thank you. Being an MVP takes accountability and dependability. Being the one [...]

Johnny Canuck for MVP

Mon, 08 Sep 2008 20:28:04 -0500

Justin Morneau should win his second American League Most Valuable Player award this season -- and this is why.

September Baseball Preview: American League

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:45:09 -0500

Now that the Labor Day weekend is over and we are all stuck inside waiting for Hurricane Hannah to pass and Hurricane Ike to make its way up the coast, us sports fans are also settling in for the most exciting couple of months of sports of the year. Football starts this weekend with hockey and basketball right around the corner. But before we get too immersed in those other diversions, we have the most exciting month of sports right here and now. That's right folks, it's September Baseball. It's been a season full of twists and turns (especially if you're a Phillies fan), surprises and disappointments, as well as a little history. We've seen the emergence of the Tampa Bay Rays as perhaps the best team in the major leagues, the fall of the mighty Yankees who may not make the playoffs for the first time in well over a decade, and the Washington Nationals continue to be one of the worst teams in baseball (except for when they play the Phillies). So join us as we go through the major leagues conference by conference, division by division and predict with uncanny prescient wisdom how the rest of the season and the postseason will turn out. We start in the American League. American League East The Rays are certainly the biggest story of the 2008 season as they currently hold a two and a half game lead over the reigning MLB Champion Boston Red Sox and eleven games over the beleagured Yankees. Led by Scott Kazmir, their young lefty who continues to baffle American League hitters with a dizzying aray of pitches, the Rays have been atop the East for most of the season. Despite only have 11 wins this season, due to a stint on the disabled list, Kazmir is in the tops of the league in ERA with 2.99, K/9 of 10.00 and a WHIP of 1.22. On the hitting side, the Rays are led by one of the youngest and most talented lineups in the majors in a long time. Carlos Pena leads the team in homeruns with 27 and RBIs with 82, and is backed up by Evan Longoria at thirdbase and B.J. Upton in the outfield. This team has endured through its share of speed bumps this season, including injuries to Kazmir, Longoria, and veteran leader Carl Crawford and have maintained their first place lead throughout most of the year. They have been able to fend off charges by the Red Sox and the Yankees and appear to be finally earning the respect of the baseball world. The Red Sox continue to be one of the best teams in the league and are making a strong run at the first place Rays. Despite being two and a half games back, the Sox have won four games in a row and were bolstered by the return of staff ace Josh Beckett, who threw five scoreless innings in his return from the disabled list on Friday. Despite losing Manny Ramirez in a trade to the Los Angeles Dodgers before the trade deadline, that pain has been eased by the addition of Jason Bay (batting .274 with three home runs and 23 RBIs in his last 30 games) and Big Poppy David Ortiz appears to be back in form, batting .314 with 20 RBIs of his own over the same period. That being said, there are significant questions that plague the Sox. J.D. Drew is on his annual trip to the disabled list, and Beckett, Tim Wakefield and third baseman Mike Lowell are just coming off of stints of their own and it is unclear yet if they will be able to maintain a 100% level of play the rest of the season. Curt Schilling is, of course, out for the season and this is of course the time of year in which he is at his best and is most valuable. The Yankees are out of it at this point. They are eleven games out of first and have lost two in a row. They are going nowhere fast, which is unfortunate as this is their last season in the House That Ruth Built. This will be the first time in almost fifteen years that the Yankees have not made the playoffs. In the end I think the Rays win the division. Despite having to play each other six more teams, I do not think the Red Sox will be able to make up enough ground during those games and beyond it. The Sox still have to play Cleveland, who are one of the hottest teams in the majors right now, and the Yankees, who despite having a poor season always play them strong. The Rays, on the other hand, hanve handled the Yankees pretty well this season and Minnessota is the only real strong team left for them on the schedule. AL Central Speaking of the Twins, they are making a run at the White Sox for first place in the Central, just one and a half games back as of Saturday. Despite losing Torii Hunter and Johan Santana in the offseason, the Twins have defied all expectations behind the play of Kevin Slowey and Santana, Jr. Francisco Liriano, as well as closer Joe Nathan who has 36 saves this season with a 1.07 ERA. Former MVP Justin Morneau leads the team with 22 homeruns and 113 RBIs with a .311 batting average, supported by Jason Kubel, Joe Mauer, and Dmitri Young. They are chasing after the White Sox who held reign over the Central for the better part of the season, largely uncontested with the Indians and Detroit Tigers having such disappointing seasons. Carlos Quentin is the current front runner for AL MVP with 36 homeruns and 100 RBIs. Jim Thome continues to defy age and time with 29 home runs of his own, as does Jermaine Dye, who has 32 homeruns and 83 RBIs of his own. On the pitching side, the White Sox are led by an unexpected young former Phillie, Gavin Floyd. Floyd has 15 wins with a 3.61 ERA. This comes as quite a surprise to us Phillies fans, who vividly remember Floyd being absolute garbage. Mark Buehrle, John Danks, Javier Vazquez and Jose Contreras round out a veteran staff who understands what is required to compete in September baseball. White Sox win the Central. AL West The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are the best team in baseball and the rest of the division is garbage. Need I say more? No, but I will anyway. The Angels continue to dominate the AL West despite many predictions that the Seattle Mariners would finally wrest the title away from them this season. (The Mariners, by the way, are the worst team in the American League) Ervin Santana, John Lackey, Joe Saunders, Jon Garland, and Jered Weaver make up one of the most dominant pitching rotations in the majors. Francisco Rodriguez is having perhaps the greatest season in history for a closer, with 54 saves and a 2.43 ERA. K-Rod has 68 strikeouts in 59 innings pitched with a WHIP of just 1.23. Year after year the Angels are the most complete baseball team in America. They pitch well, they play small ball, they run the bases, and they can still hit for power. They are led, of course, by Vladimir Guerrero, who is batting .295 this season with 23 homeruns, 79 RBIs and an OPS of .863. Recently acquired first baseman Mark Teixeira has 29 homeruns and 104 RBIS, Torii Hunter has 20 homeruns and 72 RBIs of his own and Chone Figgins again has 30 or more stolen bases. The next best team in the West is the Texas Rangers and they are 17 games back. Needless to say, the division is in the bag for the Angels. Angels win the West. Despite the recent surge by the Twins, I still think the Wild Card comes out of the East. Whether the Rays or the Red Sox take East, the other will take the Wild Card. The Twins are five and a half games back in the Wild Card race and the Red Sox are just too good for them to make up that much ground. Red Sox win the AL Wild Card. Check back tomorrow as we preview the National League and make our playoff picks.

Lovin’ Those Teflon Confines

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:52:54 -0500

There's nothing like a little home cooking. Minnesota returned from a long, frustrating road trip to unleash a little Twins Baseball to improve their home record to 47-23 and got themselves back on track with a 10-2 victory with just 21 games remaining on the schedule. Francisco Liriano dominated Detroit's bats, Justin Morneau crushed MoTown's arms, [...]

Day Game Notes

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:41:53 -0500

The Twins have finally returned home, and in their homecoming knocked off the Detroit Tigers 10-2. With the win, they remained a game and a half back of the Chicago White Sox in the division. Scott Baker will face off against Justin Verlander today at 2:55 CT.

** Francisco Liriano is pretty good, we all know that. Since his call-up, Liriano has made seven starts and is 5-0 with a 1.44 ERA. In the win last night, Liriano walked just one Tiger and struck out nine.

** The Twins have had a tough go of it with their 14-game roadtrip in the past two weeks, but the White Sox have just hit some trouble. Third basemen Joe Crede could miss the remainder of the season with a back injury, and the team just found out yesterday that MVP candidate Carlos Quentin could be out for the season as well after having wrist surgery.

** Justin Morneau hasn't crushed thirty homeruns this season, and he likely won't as he needs eight more in the month of September to do so. However, he is still hitting .311 on the season with 22 homeruns and 113 RBI's.

** While talking about stats, you can't pass up on catcher Joe Mauer. Through Friday's victory, Mauer is hitting .322 on the season. While the average is good, Mauer finds himself in third place in the batting title race behind Boston's Dustin Pedroia (.332).

** On a final note, the Twins are now just three home victories away from the 50 win mark at the Metrodome.

M.V.Pedroia

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:07:39 -0500

Am I a homer? You bet. This however, is about what happens in between the white lines, for 162 games. The wild-card leading Red Sox have placed David Ortiz, Mike Lowell, and J.D. Drew on the DL in 2008. They've sent Manny Ramirez to Chavez Ravine, otherwise known as Los Angeles, and currently have baseball's 4th best record. Not many teams can afford to lose three to four sluggers for significant time and not feel it, then again, not many teams have a 5-7 second baseman hitting .330 and batting cleanup.

Taking a Look at The MLB MVP Race

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 08:04:40 -0500

The question has been posed forever. The chant has been yelled for decades. The nicknames have stuck for years. "O-ver-rated!" Just what makes a player overrated? Are we just dealing with emotions, or are other statistics and facts applied? Likewise, MVP chants have filled sporting arenas and fields for years on end. In the end, is the best player really chosen, or are they really "overrated"? www.rawsportsblog.com

Kevin Youkilis - 2008 MVP?

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:24:24 -0500

The whispers about Kevin Youkilis have gotten louder and louder all season. In April, they were 'yeah man, no way Youk keeps this up for the rest of the season.' Now it's August and the murmurs have become 'dude, I think Youk has a chance to be the AL MVP!'