Big Unit has been pitching better of late and was real tough yesterday, but the Twins offense isn’t exactly Grey Goose or Kettle One. It is more like Blue Ox Vodka, made and bottled in Fargo. I thought Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau were supposed to provide this club with the power it has lacked in recent seasons. Well, Mauer has just seven bombs and 23 total extras (virtually none against lefties) while Morneau looks about ten home runs short of the 35-bomb guy he was advertised to be. These kids are still young and they may someday blossom into bigger power guys, but as of right now, they are not supplying the electricity that Minnesota expected. Here is a telling stat for Minnesota – Mauer is the only .800 OPS guy on the team.
Are the Yankees really considering signing Hideo Nomo? That is like lunging for that last piece of sushi that no one else at the table will dare eat. The Yanks are also reportedly trying to deal Carl Pavano for Joel Pniero and Randy Winn. Let me get this straight – the Ms are supposed to trade their crap for more expensive crap. What this purported deal says to me is the Yanks know Pavano’s injury is basically a season-ender.
The O’s finally won a game last night but it probably came against the coldest team in baseball Am I the only one who finds it disgraceful that Sammy Sosa is being mentioned in the same sentence as Frank Robinson this morning as a result of them now being tied on the all-time home run list? Borrowing a line from Scott Hastings, the only sentence that should contain these two names is as follows: “That Sammy Sosa – he’s no Frank Robinson.”
I have been waiting a couple months to see Paul Byrd get cracked and it finally happened at Toronto last night. Anyone notice that Steve Finley got shoved down to the eight hole against a tough lefty? Boy has he been a waste of money.
The Manny watch is on in Boston where Manram is reportedly unhappy and wants to be traded - again. Perhaps hoping to affect a trade, Manny refused to run out a ground ball last night and it almost cost the Sox a run. The absurdity continued today when Manny approached Terry Francona and begged out of today's game. According to Manny, he was promised a day off last week and was intent to cash in even though the Sox have an off day tomorrow. Is this just Ramirez being Ramirez or are we seeing a new and more lazy Manny? I suspect it is the former but am concerned it is the latter. And lets be clear - this has explosive potential since Manny can't be traded without the Sox agreeing to eat at least $15 over the next thee years. With that established, Boston is basically stuck with Manram (for at least another year) and you have to wonder what will happen if the dominican bomber suddenly starts sulking. Peer presure seemed to be enough to difuse a similar situation back in 2003 but there is no telliing whether the same tactics will work again in 2005.
Look at that – it took eleven tries, but the Royals finally beat the White Sox. Amazingly enough, the win came against Mark Buerhle who has been struggling ever since Cracker Jax started giving away those Mark Buerhle de-coder rings a couple weeks ago. In all fairness to Mark, even when he gets cracked, he does it quickly.
Hey Theo, the guy you traded for Tony Graffinino is 6-13 in Kansas City Oh, and another thing, the guy you threw into the OC-Nomar trade is hitting over .400 for the Cubs. Before you trade any more prospects, could you make sure they suck. I can feel it now – Annabel Sanchez will go to Florida for AJ Burnett and will end up beating Burnett to sixty career wins (AJ already has 44). Someone actually showed up and beat the A’s last night although it should be mentioned that the A’s got another great start. With five days to go, are the Indians buyers or sellers? Unfortunately for the Red Sox, I don’t see them selling Wickman.
The Assholes kept it going last night as Lee Harvey threw a gem. Lieber threw well for Philly, but he got caught up in Oswalt’s drive for the NL Cy Young. Craig Biggio hit his 250th bomb last year and even I am beginning to concede that this guy has a pretty worthy HOF resume. This guy is going to finish the year with 2800 hits and 1700 runs. It is not inconceivable that Bigs cracks 3000 if he can stay healthy and find someone who will let him play in 2007.
How in the world can San Diego still be leading the West after going 17-31? Los Madres have now lost eight straight and if Peavy losses tonight, that streak will hit double figures. During this losing streak, the Mads have scored just 14 runs in eight games. Unless you have Koufax and Pedro, you aren’t going to win many games with that kind of offense. How do you punish guys who turn down trades? In the case of Phil Nevin, San Diego has decided to make him catch.
It seems everyone in the world is assuming that the winner of the Big-10 this year will be determined in November when Ohio State travels to Ann Arbor. This is the assumption every year but in 2005 I would caution that Purdue may have something to say before it is all said and done. I say this because the scheduling gods have decided this is the year Purdue gets a pass against both Michigan and Ohio State this year. Talk about good fortune. That is like a Democrat running for president without having to play in either Texas or Ohio. The Boilermaker case is further strengthened by the fact that Purdue gets Iowa at home and all eleven starters are returning on defense. I guess that is a good news/bad news story since Purdue’s defense wasn’t exactly stout last year, but experience should count for something. Listen, Purdue still needs to prove it can replace Kyle Orton at quarterback, but the ingredients seem to be in place for a big year in West Lafayette. If a couple of things break right, it may not matter who wins that game at Ann Arbor since Purdue will have already sewn up the conference’s BCS invite.
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