Quick Thoughts and Quick Rants

• Stan Van Gundy needs to lose his job. How the best center in the game is only averaging 11 shots a game is beyond me. Last night in the 4th quarter he spent the whole time setting picks at the top of the key. I don't remember a single time him posting up in the 4th quarter. When Rafer Alston is taking 5 more shots than an NBA 1st team player you have a problem. Van Gundy needs to go so they can replace him with someone who can utilize this team properly.
• There are just certain players that could really use a AAAA level, and Alexi Casilla looks like he might be one of those players. After struggling all year at the majors, he has gone down to Rochester and been the Joe Mauer of AAA going .462-0-5 with 3 stolen bases in 6 games.
  
• A lot was made of Casilla's struggles so far this year but I would guess that he will be back quick because Matt Tolbert does not seem to be the answer. He is not as good defensively and he is only hitting .190 so far. The thing he does well is patience at the plate drawing 4 walks already.
• The Twins need a middle infielder who can hit. Punto is hitting .200, Casilla was .167, Tolbert .190, and now that Harris has come back to earth he is hitting .174 so far in May.
  
• Whenever Joe Mauer hits a home run, I immediately start laughing. I have never seen a player who has the inability to pull a pitch. I don't think this is the start of the 20 home run seasons we thought we would get, but I can't imagine how anoying it must be to a pitcher to see Mauer slice a ball over the left field wall. He is playing the best he has ever played so far in his career because he is hitting but it is for power and not just singles up the middle. His OPS is currently 1.488.
• I do not get at all why Gomez is not playing. Yes, he is struggling at the plate but he is hitting .286 in the few appearances he has had in May. Even if he is struggling he is maybe the best defensive centerfielder in the MLB. I am still a fan of Delmon Young but currently he should be the odd man out. Gomez despite his struggles still has a higher slugging percentage than Delmon Young. He causes more issues on the base paths and miles better defensively. A crazy idea to help Gomez would be to bat him second in the lineup. With Denard Span on the basepaths and Mauer behind him he would see a lot more fastballs and with his increased patience at the plate he could see the kind of success that Casilla had in the 2 hole last year. When he hits 8th or 7th with Nick Punto protecting him he is not getting any fastballs or pitches to hit.
  

Twins Prospect Power Rankings - Week 5

Note: With a lot of recent demotions by the Twins there are a lot of players in the minors that I do not deem prospects (prospects to me mean players that have yet to be on the teams 25 man roster). To cover them I have also added a section of players of interest.

1. 3B Danny Valencia AA - New Britain
Previous Rank: 1
Age: 24
Stats: .275 3 HR 9 RBI
Did not play this week due to a sore wrist but should be back at any time.

2. C Wilson Ramos AA - New Britain
Previous Rank: 2
Age: 21
Stats: .269 1 HR 10 RBI
Is struggling a little on offense with a .289 OBP and a .344 SLG with only 5 extra base hits.

3. OF Ben Revere High A - Fort Myers
Previous Rank: 3
Age: 21
Stats: .308 1 HR 17 RBI 15 SB
Basically a singles hitter with only 3 extra base hits but he gets on base and steals a lot of bases when he does.

4. OF Aaron Hicks Rookie - Elizabethton
Previous Rank: 4
Age: 19
Stats: N/A

5. RHP Anthony Slama AA - New Britain
Previous Rank: 5
Age: 25
Stats: 15.1 IP 2.35 ERA 26 K
Has struggled a little recently but 26 strikeouts in 15 innings is a very good rate.

6. RHP Anthony Swarzak AAA - Rochester
Previous Rank: 6
Age: 23
Stats: 31 IP 2.03 ERA 23 K
A sign he is favor with the Twins brass. He has only walked 6 batters in 31 innings.

7. RHP Carlos Guetierrez High A - Fort Myers
Previous Rank: 7
Age: 22
Stats: 30 IP 1.50 ERA 19 K
Had his worst start of the season this year and it still was a quality start at 7 IP 3 ER and 6 K. Batters are only hitting .162 against him.

8. 3B Luke Hughes AAA - Rochester
Previous Rank: 8
Age: 24
Stats: .286 5 HR 20 RBI
Had a big week taking the organization home run lead from Parmelee. Has a very respectable OPS of .903.

9. 1B/OF Chris Parmelee High A - Fort Myers
Previous Rank: 9
Age: 21
Stats: .241 4 HR 21 RBI
Has done a good job recently cutting down the strikeouts striking out only 6 times in the last 30 at-bats. That may not sound impressive but before that he had struck out 15 times in 57 at-bats.

10. 2B Brian Dinkelman AA - New Britain
Previous Rank: 10
Age: 25
Stats: .337 1 HR 17 RBI
Is hitting .436 in the last 10 games but only one extra base hit which was a double.

Players of Interest
2B Alexi Casilla - .429 (6 for 14) 0 HR 4 RBI 2 SB
C Jose Morales - .300 (6 for 20) 0 HR 4 RBI
RHP Phillip Humber - 10.2 IP 5.06 ERA 8 K
RHP Juan Morillo - 8 IP 3.38 ERA 10 K 4 BB

Welcome to the 2009 Season Twins Fans

At roughly 9:55 pm on Tuesday, April 7th, The Twins 2009 season officially started. The problem is that they had played 17 innings that counted before that. Those 17 innings were filled with feeble at-bats and pitchers getting knocked around by a 39 year old Ken Griffey Jr. and Endy Chavez. It was brutal to watch and the Twins were as flat and lifeless as the fans. Then it happened, Gomez who already is taking much better at-bats coaxed a walk out of Brandon Morrow. Morrow then lost all control walking Kubel and Buscher (by the way I was suprised Gardenhire pinch hit for Punto). The Mariners brought in Miguel Batista but that was to no avail as Denard Span used his blazing speed to leg out a infield single and Alexi Casilla lined a single to center bringing in the tying and winning runs. In a single moment, Twins fans were reminded all over again why they love the Minnesota Twins. The question is now whether the Twins can play a full nine inning game. They should have a good chance of doing so against Carlos Silva tonight.

Way Too Early Reactions to the 2009 Twins

• Span does not look like he will regress into a AAA player. He just gives a quality at-bat every single time and with his speed gets a lot of hits he has no business getting. He is a very good lead-off hitter.
• Casilla and Punto might be the best double play combo in the league. They have looked very solid so far making a few amazing double plays.
• Gomez looks a lot better at the plate. He still takes a few bad swings but it isn't three in a row. He should have a much better year this year.
• Morneau looks off to another slow start. He didn't get a hit until his 5th game last year. He may start slow until Mauer gets back but he is still a lock for .290-20-100 at least.
• Crede may not be off to a quick start but him in the lineup is much more dangerous than Brian Buscher. He can hit a home run on any pitch. Buscher can hit a single on any pitch.
• Allowing opponents to bat .300 against him may catch up to Blackburn this year, I don't think he will be Silva bad but his ERA might be closer to 5.00 than 4.00.
• Jose Morales has not looked like a MLB player so far. I thought he could be a surprise and provide some offense but his at-bats so far have been brutal with 3 strikeouts in 4 at-bats. Did you know that he is actually older than Joe Mauer by two months. It seems like Mauer has been around for ever but he only turns 26 on April 19th.
  

The first two games have not screamed AL Central Champs but some of that can be attributed to Felix Hernandez and Erik Bedard who are no slouches and could both win a Cy Young sometime in their careers. These next two games against sub-standard pitching should give us a better look at just where the offense is at.