Joe Mauer is AL MVP!

Major League Baseball has just released that Joe Mauer is the 2009 AL MVP. Mauer received 27 out of 28 first place votes beating out New York's Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter.

I was definitely a little scared knowing that Mauer's main competition was two Yankees players, but the voters got it right. Don't get me wrong I think Jeter and Tex are good players, but There is no question Joe Mauer is the best player in the AL.

The stats are simply ridiculous. He led the league in batting average (.365) and on-base percentage (.444). He hit a career high 28 HRs, drove in 98 runs, and struck out only 63 times. Mauer catches nearly everyday, manages the pitching staff, grooms his sideburns, and he did just win his second Gold Glove. He is what every superstar should be like as person and he means the world to Twins fans. Take Joe Mauer out of the Twins lineup and there is no chance they make the playoffs. That is why he is the Most Valuable Player.

In a time where baseball is dominated by big market teams, steroids, and horrible postseason umpiring, Joe Mauer is everything that is right with baseball. Congratulations Joe, I will never forget this season and I am so happy the Twins took you over Mark Prior.

Also, could we get this man a contract extension soon!

ALDS Preview: Yankees vs. Twins

This is the game where the Yankees are supposed to roll over whichever crappy team ends up winning the AL Central (apologies to Fox for their stupid commercials where it shows the Tigers will be in the postseason). ESPN experts across the board picked the Yankees to easily handle the Twins (why not? The Twins are 0-7 against the Yanks this season), and most have picked the Yankees to go all the way and bring home their first World Series win since 2000, or an eternity if you're a Yankees fan. The Yankees recent postseason attempts haven't gone well, they've choked, choked, and choked some more. Oh yeah...and this. But talk to any Yankees fan and they don't wanna live in the past (unless they pull out the obligatory "kiss the rings" cop-out), nope, they're all about living in the now. Their team went out and spent enough money to buy Nigeria this offseason and are convinced that these are the guys to finally bring home another title.

But it's never quite as simple as that. Let's start with their "scary" rotation. their ace Carsten Charles Sabathia is a known postseason choke-artist (2-3 in 5 starts, the only thing scary about him is his postseason ERA of 7.92 if you're a Yankees fan), AJ Burnett has been real shaky as of late, Andy Pettitte has question marks of his own as of late. Then of course you have the king of postseason choking, Alex Rodriguez.

Anytime someone brings up the Twins' chances in this series, that magical word is always brought up... "momentum." Yes the Twins have been arguably baseball's best team over the past month, they just capped off a never-before-seen comeback to win the AL Central for the 5th time in 8 years. Momentum is definitely on the side of the Twinkies, even when they have more question marks on that team than I can even explore in one blog post, they're just getting it done any way they can.

So which team shows up? The team that hasn't been able to beat the Yankees over the past decade or the gritty team that finds ways to win no matter how much the odds are against them?

Yankees Player to Watch:

Alex Rodriguez, A-Roid is licking his chops waiting to show the world why the Yankees gave him a $700 billion contract and silence his critics once and for all.. or at least for a few days. The pressure is definitely on him, but will he choke? Try to swat a ball out of Michael Cuddyer's glove? Or yell "I Got it" as he rounds the bases on an infield pop-up?

Honorable Mentions: CC Sabathia, Mark Teixiera, Joba Chamberlain


Twins Player to Watch:

Brian Duensing

Congratulations rookie, in your 10th career start you get a trip to the Bronx to face the Yankees as a heavy underdog against a former Cy Young winner. If Duensing can keep up his unexpectedly awesome rookie season, that will be the key to the Twins competing with the Yankees. A good start from him will give an undoubtedly tired bullpen some much needed rest.

Honorable Mentions: Nick Blackburn, Michael Cuddyer, Delmon Young


The Prediction:

Momentum. Is. Everything. However, as tempted as I am to pick with my heart...and I really am, my head is prevailing and I'm saying the Yankees will handle the Twins in 4 games, thus continuing the recent struggles of the Twinkies against the Yanks. I do think the Twins will win one at the Dome behind a fired up crowd...and I do like the Twins chances to win at least 1 in New York, hell they came 1 run away from doing it 3 out of 4 times this season. Unfortunately I think this is the year the Yankees right the ship.

Yankees in 4.

It All Comes Down to This

If you would've told me a month ago that today the Minnesota Twins would be one game away from clinching the AL Central I would've called you a stupid liar, and an idiot... and I would've thrown a rock at you.

Well, here we are. The team that refuses to just go away like everyone thought they would is now finding themselves in yet another one game playoff to decide the AL Central. This has been anything but a dream season; our best pitcher is out for the season with a wrist injury, our former MVP has a fractured back, our 3rd baseman has a back made of glass, and Nick Punto and Matt Tolbert are in the everyday lineup. Our one-time unhittable prized rookie is now struggling to even come out of the bullpen. But somehow, some way, the Twins are finding ways to win. Players are getting hot at the right time (Delmon Young's batting .529 with 3 homers and 10 RBI in the past 4 days, Michael Cuddyer: 10 homers and 29 RBI in the past month, and Jason Kubel contributed 16 extra base hits and 25 RBI over the same span). Speaking of spans, Denard has been arguably the team's second most valuable player this season providing great defense as well as offense. He has been dominating the leadoff spot and is a huge reason the Twins are where they are right now. He's definitely an exciting player to keep an eye on for years to come.

I'm not sure what's more incredible, the fact that there's been a one game playoff for the third consecutive year or the fact that the Twins have been involved in the last two.

I know what the majority of MLB fans are thinking, "who cares who wins this game? They're just gonna get dominated by the Yankees anyways like they did all season...durf durf durf" Yes the Twins did lose all seven of their games against the Bronx Bombers, but let's keep in mind that these were not all decisive victories...six of the seven games were decided by 3 runs or less. Oh yeah, and three of those games in New York were decided on walk off hits; the Twins were very much in all of those games. What has history taught us? The team that gets hot at the right time tends to make the deepest run in the playoffs, just ask the '07 Rockies (who might've cooled down a little too much when they swept the NLCS and had an extended break only to be swept by the Red Sox in the World Series). Hell, you might even be able to ask the '09 Rockies in a few weeks. The Twins offense is getting hot at the right time, and the Yankees have been known to choke in the postseason as of late. I'm not terrified by their pitching either, I think the Twins would have a legitimate shot at beating them.

But before any of that happens, they have some work to do Tuesday night.

Is there enough Metrodome magic left for one last run before the Twins move outdoors?

I Miss Matt Garza and Jason Bartlett

Watching the Twins struggle of late makes me really wonder how we would be sitting if we still had Jason Bartlett and Matt Garza instead of Delmon Young and Matt Garza. What are our pressing needs right now? Middle infield and pitching.

Not that Brendan Harris has been terrible, but let's take a look at his and Bartlett's stats this year:

Harris:

BA	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG
.263	5	26	.306	.373

Bartlett

BA	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG
.341	8	41	.391	.522

Yeah.

I mean look at our middle infield!

Alexi Casilla

BA	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG
.168	0	6	.247	.203

And here I thought Alexi was having a Denard Span-esque breakout last season only to see that awesome .168 average this season.

Nick Punto

BA	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG
.202	1	18	.316	.241

WE'RE PAYING NICK PUNTO $4 MILLION THIS YEAR AND $4.5 MILLION NEXT YEAR.




Matt Tolbert

BA	HR	RBI	OBP	SLG
.178	1	12	.272	.225

Casilla...Tolbert...doesn't matter, both are having absolutely nauseating years at the plate.


Don't worry, Bill Smith has a plan! What? Trade for Jack Wilson or Freddy Sanchez? No way! Trade for Orlando Cabrera? No need! Hey what's Mark Grudzielanek doing? Nothing? Ya don't say! Get that man a contract! The sad thing is, if Grudzielanek does at least somewhat as good as he did last year he would be a drastic improvement over the rest of the garbage at middle infield. I never did get the Twins' fetish for giving ancient players one last chance... it never works. Why can't we just suck it up and make a trade. It's stupid front office moves like this that's gonna make Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau question if they actually wanna stay in Minnesota.

Anyways, back to the Rays trade.

I didn't like the trade from the beginning...I loved Bartlett and Garza and saw the potential they both had. Well that potential carried the TAMPA BAY (devil) RAYS TO THE WORLD F*#$ING SERIES! I was at least excited about the prospect of Delmon Young coming to Minnesota...former number 1 pick with a ton of upside. Well all I keep hearing about is that stupid upside and all he's done is grossly underperform. He was supposed to provide a power boost and solid hitting and has really done neither. Oh yeah and his defense kinda sucks too.

Can we please have a do-over? Between this trade and the Santana trade it's like all this bad karma is coming back from the A.J. Pierzynski for Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser, and Francisco Liriano trade. Or maybe it's just that Bill Smith is a jackass and far from a Terry Ryan.

The Metrodome Needs to Go

The Minnesota Twins are building a new stadium, Target Field, and it can't come soon enough. Living in Grand Forks, we're in kind of a dead zone as the closest MLB outdoor stadium is 10 hours away. I recently attended a few games this past week of Twins vs. Red Sox, and the Metrodome just isn't a suitable baseball stadium. While the "Dome" has been the site of many great moments, baseball is meant to be played outdoors, the experience is greatly heightened with the smell of fresh cut grass and slight breeze. Target Field is going to quickly make people realize what they've been missing for the past three decades. Many people will be upset when a game gets rained out or when it's 40º and snowing out, but I'll gladly trade a few rain outs for a summer full of great baseball outside.

While I've only seen a couple outdoor games including Miller Park and City of Palms Park, I plan on crossing a few more off the list this summer attending games at Kauffman Stadium (which I've heard is fantastic) and Busch Stadium. The thought of a game when 80º and the home team is rallying in the 9th with a beer in hand makes me want to drive to a game today!

Blogging Brothers

We haven't blogged in about a week now and I feel really bad that I haven't been able to share my witless and moronic thoughts to you lately. I've been training and getting ready for the NBA Draft so it's been tough to find the time.

The other day one of my friends told me about a blog written by Kevin Slowey's brother, Dan. It's called Blogonoscopy and it's pretty entertaining. He questions the interior decoration of the building that holds his doctor's office, investigates a neighbor's Transformers build, and shoots guns. I highly recommend that you check it out. Kevin also has his own blog that he updates during the offseason. If you don't know who Kevin Slowey is, eventually you will. He is a pitcher for the Minnesota Twins and he leads the team with a 7-1 record. He led the Twins to a win over the Red Sox on Wednesday and could potentially be an All-Star if he keeps it up.

If you take anything from this post it should be to go to Blogonoscopy and to go vote for Kevin for the All-Star Game. And if you don't I will kill you. Just kidding. But seriously.....

Red Sox Hit 4 Consecutive Homers... Again

The Red Sox were sure glad to see Brandon Lyon again. Mike Lowell, Jason Bay, Chris Carter, and Ivan Ochoa went back to back to back to back off Lyon in the 6th inning of yesterdays spring training game. This is the Brandon Lyon that is supposed to be competing for the Tigers closer roll this season. How would you feel with Lyon coming in up 3? I'd say not to confident. I can see this guy being like Joe Borowski with the Indians, bring him in up 3 and hope he only gives up 2. How you tally 45 saves with an ERA over 5 is beyond me. I don't envision Lyon doing much better in the ERA category, and at 4.25 million per you'd expect better. The Twins signing Lyon could have been disastrous with their already ongoing bullpen problems, but instead the Tigers signed him which actually helps the Twins out.

This happening brings back some fond memories that nearly bring me to tears, when the Red Sox went off for 4 consecutive bombs against the Yankees' Chase Wright (Yes I realize the video is a video game reenactment, but the audio is the best part). I remember watching the game at my apartment and freaking out to my roommate who is a Yankees fan after just two home runs. I think I passed out after the third one, because I hardly remember Variteks bomb to cap it off.

I can hardly wait for this season to start, and with the spring flooding happening here in North Dakota, also comes baseball season. For anyone debating whether or not to get MLB Extra Innings? Do it, best choice I've made in a long time. The awesome games you'll get to see, the interesting plays and the fans in the stands make it all worth it.

So here's to the 2009 MLB Season and all the excitement just waiting to burst out!

Spring Break!

JP and Ben15 are on their way to Florida to watch the Red Sox and the Twins play in spring training this week. Now that they are gone, I can finally wear my Bryant Reeves jersey around the apartment without being harassed for it. Hopefully they will do a post or two while they are in Florida and let me know what I'm missing out on.

With everyone gone for spring break this week I am going to be bored out of my mind. I imagine that I will just spend most of my time repeating the Grizzlies starting lineup over and over like the kid in the video below. I like the way she tosses the card after she announces Darko (who, surprisingly, had a double double in a win over the Pistons today).

Joe Won't Go

Why do Red Sox and Yankees fans think that Joe Mauer is going to be playing for them in 2011? There is no way the Twins would let Joe go. He's an icon in Minnesota and has been there his whole life. His favorite team is the Minnesota Twins and he has indicated that he doesn't want to play anywhere else.

There are some people who think that we should trade Joe, but they are obviously out of their minds. Twins fans know how good of a player Joe is and would poke their eyes out with a fork if they ever saw Joe in a different uniform. I just hope that the Twins give Joe the contract he deserves.

And if Joe leaves, who is going to play pogs with Morneau?