MN Sports Blog

JJ Hardy saved the game for the Twins in the top of the ninth and then gave the Twins the win in the bottom of the ninth. After Nick Blackburn gave up a lead off homer in the 9th Delmon Young misplayed a pop fly that put Ramon Santiago in scoring position. But thanks to JJ Hardy’s magnificent diving stop and Santiago’s miscue rounding third, the Twins escaped with the tie still intact.

Hardy hit a deep fly in the bottom of the ninth that most thought was going to leave the park (Hardy included) that instead hit off the wall and put Hardy on third with just one out. Wilson Ramos came to the plate looking to add “walk-off hero” to his already growing and impressive debut. Instead a wild pitch from Ryan Perry gave the Twins the victory instead.

Hardy has seen his average take a roller coaster ride but he has been picking it up offensively and defensively hitting safely in eight straight games with four extra base hits and three RBIs.

Nick Blackburn’s complete game victory was huge in a few different ways. Mainly in the fact that the Twins bullpen is razor thin. Blackburn threw just 95 pitches through his nine innings of fairly decent work (11 hits, 3 ER, 2 Ks) to improve to 2-1 on the season. Blackburn’s ERA is still outrageous at 5.79 as he’s given up five runs in three of his six starts and three runs in the other three.

Up Next: Kevin Slowey (3-2, 3.77 ERA) takes the hill against Rick Porcello (2-2, 8.03) and the Tigers at 12:10 PM

Minnesota Sports Blog

The addition of long time Twins killer Jim Thome is a puzzling one. Though it’s fairly low risk at a $1.5 million one-year deal, you have to question the motivation behind it. The Twins already have a powerful, left handed slugger in Jason Kubel. Kubel obviously lacks the experience and career numbers of Thome, but Kubel’s career seems to be on the rise while Thome’s numbers are on the decline. Thome will also turn 40 this year while Kubel will be turning just 28. Gardy has said Thome will serve as more than just a bench player for the Twins filling for DH or even an occasional first base.

This signing follows the unfortunate trend of the Twins organization of signing players who are clearly on the decline of their career. Another key question of this signing is why sign Thome at all when we still have question marks in the rotation, bullpen and third base?

The Twins solved their outfield surplus trading away Carlos Gomez for JJ Hardy this off-season but now find themselves in a similar situation with finding time for Kubel as well as Thome. Kubel has expressed his interest in playing more outfield which creates an additional problem with finding time for Delmon Young.

Delmon and Kubel are about equal when it comes to fielding so there won’t be a huge issue there. The issue comes from playing time and plate appearances. Time and consistency are huge in baseball and dividing that time up between a few players and positions will only complicate things.

Jim Thome 2009 Stats

Jason Kubel 2009 Stats

Minnesota Sports Blog

It was announced just last week that all eight of the Twins’ arbitration-eligible players filed for arbitration and now the Twins announced they have signed all eight. For some unknown reason the Twins have decided to once again bring back Jesse Crain and his sterling relief effort. You can’t just let that kind of talent and reliability test the market. Crain gave up 27 earned runs in ’09 in just 51 and 2/3 innings posting a 4.70 ERA.

Pat Neshek is set to give the Twins’ bullpen some much needed help after missing the entire ’09 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Neshek was huge for the Twins in ’06/’07 posting a 2.19 ERA in ’06 and a 2.94 in ’07 with 127 strikeouts in 107 and 1/3 innings.

The list of eight includes:

• Relievers Jesse Crain ($2 million), Matt Guerrier ($3.15 M), and Pat Neshek ($625,000)
• Starters Francisco Liriano ($1.6 M) and Carl Pavano ($7 M)
• Infielders JJ Hardy ($5.1 M) and Brendan Harris (2-yr/$3.2 M)
• Outfielder Delmon Young ($2.6 M)

The list of eight cost the Minnesota Twins $25.33 million while still trying to figure out how to sign Joe Mauer. Mauer is owed $12.5 million for the 2010 season after which he can become a free agent if the Twins fail to get a deal done.

Minnesota Sports Blog

The Twins surplus of outfielders shrunk by one as they sent CF Carlos Gomez to the Milwaukee Brewers in exchange for shortstop J.J. Hardy. Hardy is coming off a rough season batting just .229 but was an all-star in 2007. Hardy also found himself in the minors due to his struggles last season. Gomez was the main piece in the Johan Santana trade which we will apparently not see develop into anything at least not while he’s in a Twins uniform. Gomez offered a fantastic personality along with his defense but consistently struggled at the plate. He was a fan favorite by his play and his bizarre bat sniffing antics.  After all of the struggles he found himself moving from the top of the order to the bottom and then to the bench.

This move also eliminates the question of whether or not the club would try and re-sign Orlando Cabrera. Cabrera was a great influence in the clubhouse that provided a crucial veteran down the stretch for the Twins. While Cabrera, 35, may be nearing the end of his career, Gomez was certainly just at the beginning. Hopefully the Twins can sign Cabrera and play him at second and move Nick Punto to third base. We’ll have to wait and see whether this move pays off in the long run but it’s clear they are both young stars with loads of talent.

There are still a few unanswered questions for this off season but now the outfielder surplus has been solved along with our lack of at least one  solid middle infielder.

Minnesota Sports Blog