MN Sports Blog

Well it seems Brad Childress has made up his mind. Sage Rosenfels was traded to the New York Giants along with promising return man Darius Reynaud for a pair of draft picks. The Vikings decided to go with the inconsistent Tarvaris Jackson as Favre’s backup and Joe Webb as their number three.

Rosenfels complete 31 of 51 for 402 yards, 4 touchdowns and 0 interceptions for a passer rating of 111.7 in the preseason. Jackson on the other hand was 12 of 26 for 46 yads, no touchdowns and no interceptions for a passer rating of 53.0.

For some unknown reason Childress is absolutely convinced that Jackson has the potential to be a star quarterback in the NFL, regardless of what anyone or any stats can tell him.

Nick Blackburn dazzled today against the Seattle Mariners coming just one out shy of his first career shutout. Blackburn gave up just two hits on the day while walking two and striking out six. Blackburn had two outs in the ninth but after walking the speedy Chone Figgins Gardy decided to make a move to the newly acquired Brian Fuentes. Fuentes came in to face the always dangerous Russell Branyan.

Fuentes is somewhat of a lefty specialist as they’re only hitting .132 off him this season. Fuentes nailed down his first save as a Twin picking up the strikeout and securing the victory for Nick Blackburn as he improved to 8-8 on the year.

Blackburn had struggled this year to say the least coming into today’s game with the highest ERA in all of baseball. This was just his second start since being recalled from Triple-A. Blackburn picked up the loss in his start prior to this but did manage seven innings but gave up three earned but this was also the game where the Twins were nearly no-hit.

In a bit of bad news for the Twins today slugger Jim Thome came out of the came due to lower back stiffness after grounding into a double play. Jason Repko filled in for Thome and went 0-for-3 on the day.

Up Next: Carl Pavano (15-9, 3.56 ERA) takes on Luke French (2-4, 4.57 ERA) for the final game of the series. The Twins have Monday off before starting a nine game home stand against the Tigers, Rangers and Royals.

The Minnesota Twins acquired closer Brian Fuentes from the struggling Angels. Fuentes had been decent for the Angels this year going 23-for-29 in save opportunities with a 3.52 ERA. Gardy said he plans to use Fuentes as a setup man to Capps and an occasional closer if Capps is unavailable.

Fuentes led all of baseball last year with 48 saves but struggles in the first half for the Angels. The Twins acquired another lefty earlier this week in Randy Flores from the Rockies but Fuentes is a much stronger addition. Lefties are hitting just .132 against Fuentes this season which will help make up for the absence of Jose Mijares.

Fuentes is set to join the Twins on Saturday as they take on the Seattle Mariners.

Vikings Pro Bowler Sidney Rice might miss the first half of the season after hip surgery. Rice had missed all of training camp due to the nagging injury but he also declined the same surgery early in the off season which is now going to cost him, and the Vikings this year.

Rice was one of Favre’s top targets last year with 83 catches, over 1,300 yards and eight touchdowns.

The Vikings are expected to sign veteran WR Javon Walker to add a bit of depth to their depleted wide receiving core. Walker played with Favre in Green Bay but their relationship was anything but positive.

The Vikings were already dealing with the uncertainty of WR Percy Harvin and now with the loss of Sidney Rice and potential addition of Javon Walker the season seems more uncertain now than even before Favre announced his return. What good is a top QB without his top targets?

ESPN is reporting that Brett Favre will not return to the Vikings for a 20th season after choosing to retire. Neither Brett Favre or the Vikings have confirmed if the story is true as of yet but multiple sources are.

This would be a fairly surprising announcement as it seemed all signs were pointing to him returning for at least one more year with Vikings after how last year’s season ended. Favre had a career year last year with the Vikings with 33 touchdown passes and over 4,200 yards only to lose to the Saints in the NFC Championship game.

This should make for a much less exciting season for the Vikings with either Tarvaris Jackson or Sage Rosenfels at the helm. I guess we could always hold out hope that he changes his mind…again.

The Good:

.434: Batting average for Delmon Young in the month of July. Young had 12 doubles, a triple and 6 home runs with 30 RBIs in that span. He has been on absolute fire with no sign of slowing down. He pushed his batting average all the way up to .335 and ranks fourth in the Majors behind Josh Hamilton, Miguel Cabrera and Justin Morneau. He is also tied for fourth in RBIs with the Phillies’ Ryan Howard at 81.

.453:  Batting average for Danny Valencia for July. Valencia played in just 16 games in July but he made them count. He had 24 hits in just 53 at bats with 6 doubles a homer and 11 runs driven in. The Twins haven’t had a productive third basemen in a few years so Valencia could be just what they’re looking for.

4-0: Carl Pavano’s record for the month. Pavano was outstanding for the Twins this month as he was undefeated while posting a 2.91 ERA 24 strikeouts and just 7 walks. Pavano was tied for third in the month of July for most innings pitched with 43.1 behind only Felix Hernandez of the Mariners and Johan Santana of the Mets.

33: The team-leading number of strikeouts for Francisco Liriano. Liriano went 3-1 in July and improved to 10-7 on the year while posting a 2.97 ERA in July.

.311: Team batting AVG – 1st in MLB

60: Number of doubles – 1st in MLB

143: Team RBIs – 3rd in MLB

15-11: record in July riding a 7 game winning streak

13: wins by starters

The Bad:

.232: Jason Kubel’s average for July. Kubel had a very streaky month of July where it seemed to be feast or famine. Kubel struck out 27 times in July which by far led the team with the next closest being Michael Cuddyer with 14. On the season Kubel is hitting .259 but he does have 61 RBIs and 12 dingers.

.245: Average for Denard Span in July. Span was on fire in May hitting .353 but he hit just .264 in June and now down to .245 in July.

8.00: ERA for the usually dependable Matt Guerrier. Guerrier was 0-3 in July giving up 8 earned runs in just 9 innings while giving up 12 hits and 4 walks.

Team Leaders for May

Batting Average:

1. Danny Valencia: .453
2. Delmon Young: .434
3. J.J. Hardy: .351

Runs Batted In:

1. Delmon Young: 30
2. Joe Mauer: 19
3. Jason Kubel: 15

Wins

1. Carl Pavano: 4
2. Francisco Liriano: 3
3. Scott Baker: 3

Strikeouts

1. Francisco Liriano: 33
2. Carl Pavano: 24
3. Scott Baker: 23

ERA

1. Jesse Crain: 0.00 (11.2 IP)
2. Brian Duensing: 1.83 (19.2 IP)
3. Carl Pavano: 2.91 (43.1 IP)

The Minnesota Twins traded their number 2 prospect in Wilson Ramos for a…closer? The bullpen obviously has it’s issues but to trade a great prospect like Wilson Ramos for basically another Jon Rauch is a little strange to say the least. The Twins hope to have Joe Nathan back for the ’11 season so this hardly seems like the most logical scenario for giving up one of their best trade options.

Capps was 26-for-30 in save opportunities this year for the Washington Nationals with a 2.74 ERA while Jon Rauch was 21-for25 in save opportunities with a 3.05 ERA. It gives the bullpen a boost by having Rauch available as a setup guy but the future in this move just doesn’t seem to make sense.

The Twins continued their absolute tear tonight against the Kansas City Royals as they pounded out twenty hits scoring nineteen runs. They even managed to do so against former Cy Young award winner Zack Greinke. Greinke lasted just four innings giving up eight earned runs on eight hits while somehow managing to strike out seven. Francisco Liriano on the other hand returned to form giving up just three hits in seven innings with six strike outs. Liriano improved to 9-7 on the season and lowered his season ERA to 3.35.

Offensively the Twins were absolutely unstoppable. They filled the stat shit early and often as five Twins hitters had at least two hits with Thome being the only starter without one. Joe Mauer made up for some lost time going 5-for-5 driving in 7 RBIs. Mauer hit his sixth homer of the year and falling just a triple shy of the cycle.

Danny Valencia was matching Mauer’s cycle attempt as he needed just a triple for the cycle. Valencia was 4-for-4 with his first career grand slam, four RBIs and two doubles. Delmon Young went 4-for-6 with an RBI and a pair of doubles as he continues his torrid pace. Delmon is hitting .410 in the month of July with five home runs, 23 RBIs and nine doubles. Young has pushed his average all the way up to .324 compared to .263 two months ago.

The Twins are in a much needed easy part of their schedule as they took three out of four from the Orioles, three against the Royals and then three against the struggling Mariners. The Twins are starting to do what they were supposed to do and really need to do which is beat the teams they’re supposed to beat. The month of August is a little more difficult for the Twins as they’ll face off with the White Sox for six, the Angels, the red hot Texas Rangers, and the Tampa Bay Rays.

In semi unrelated news Matt Garza, who was part of the trade that brought Delmon Young to the Twins from the Rays, no-hit the Detroit Tigers for the first time in franchise history.

Mikko Koivu wanted to stay in Minnesota and the Wild definitely wanted to keep him. A seven-year, $47.25 million extension made that a reality. The Wild captain was set to become a free agent next summer and Minnesota wasn’t about to let him test the waters keeping him through the 2017-2018 season.

Koivu is 27 years old and hasn’t been a huge goal scorer with his career high coming last season with 22. He was second in the NHL last year in winning face offs and the Wild believe his talent is much more than just his statistics. They believe his leadership and passion can help fuel the Wild to where they want to be.

The Minnesota Timberwolves are reportedly sending Al Jefferson to the Utah Jazz for two first-round draft picks. The remainder of Jefferson’s three year, $42 million contract will help make room for more new additions as well. The Wolves continue making moves this summer after getting Michael Beasley from the Miami Heat thanks to the LeBronathon. Beasley was a bargain for the Wolves who only gave up two second-round picks in 2011 and 2014.

Utah was searching for someone to fill the void left by Carlos Boozer moving to the Chicago Bulls last week. Jefferson averaged just over 17 points a game with 9.3 rebounds.