Thursday, July 31, 2008

"Livan" the rotation?

So I sat in the "Family Section" last night at the Twins game and watched as Livan Hernandez threw nearly 80 pitches in four innings, essentially blowing one of the biggest games of the season so far. He didn't even give them a chance to win. From my lofty perch in section 216, I could see that both he and the fans have had just about enough of this nonsense. The question is whether the management feels the same way. I never dreamed I'd be pining for Kyle Lohse over this guy. 

Anyway, the Twins dropped last night's game 8-3 in front of a crowd of over 42,000 paying customers. The White Sox fans got their money's worth, but we got hosed. Denard Span looked good leading off again with a couple of hits, and both Morneau and Delmon Young were good for RBI doubles. Thing is, when Livan is pitching, you need more. And that's a problem. Oh, and the White Sox were close to locking up Ken Griffey Jr. last night too, so that's great.

Speaking of problems, I decided to rank them last night because I was so frustrated. 
  1. Livan Hernandez - Everything about him makes me want to punch a wall.
  2. Third Base - Buscher is cool and all, but we think we can contend for a division with the guy? Really? We need a real hitter in this spot.
  3. Bullpen - I'm not sold on our relief situation, but it's not shockingly terrible, so it gets ranked #3.
  4. Second base/Shortstop - When Brendan Harris and Nick Punto take the field, my stomach turns. Defensively, they're fine, but looking at Punto in the no. 2 slot is maddening. 
If I keep talking about this stuff, I'm going to go berserk, so let's talk trade... as of 9:35 a.m. CST. Stay up-to-date on all rumors here. 
  • The Twins are in the market for a second baseman, and have been talking to KC and Baltimore about Mark Grudzielanek and Brian Roberts, respectively. Word is that Roberts is basically untouchable. 
  • The Mariners want Denard Span or one of our "Radke Clones" - Perkins, Baker, Slowey or Blackburn - for Beltre. Sounds like the Twins don't wanna bite. I'm a little miffed about their whiny attitude about moving pitchers in light of our terrible 3B situation, but maybe they'll budge before the end of the day.
  • Boof Bonser is being "dangled" (and I use that term VERY loosely) along with Craig Monroe. We'll see if the Rangers or Tampa Bay Rays try to acquire one of them today. 
  • Best of all, it looks like Liriano could be coming up in a matter of days.
Minor League Notes: 
  • The Rochester Red Wings pounded Pawtucket 8-3 last night, and RF Garrett Jones was a big part of the scoring surge as he bombed his 14th homer of the year. Jones is riding an eight game hitting streak right now, and has batted .419 during that stretch with two bombs and 10 RBI. 
  • Rock Cats Luke Hughes, Daniel Valencia and Steven Tolleson each had multi-hit games last night in New Britain's win. Hughes has now hit safely in seven straight games, and looks locked once again after some injury problems earlier in the year. Valencia smashed his second home run in seven days, and is starting to look very comfortable in double-A ball. 
  • Fort Myers RF Eli Tintor just keeps on hitting... he went 2-for-5 with two singles, and his streak is now at 13 games. 
  • Daniel Osterbrock now has two ridiculous starts in a row for Elizabethton (Twins Rookie team), as he once again struck out 12 Greeneville batters last night. This time, he gave up three runs on six hits instead of shutting them out, but still managed to pick up his fourth win of the season. 
Thanks so much for reading, and enjoy your (hopefully) trade-filled day!

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