Joe Gunderson's NBA Basketball fan blog

Hey Everyone,

First, allow me to apologize for the length of time it has taken to post again.  I have had a busy few weeks since my last entry.  I've gotten engaged to my long-time girlfriend (I honestly am not sure why she waited for me but oh so glad she did!). Christmas and New Years and my birthday have all come and gone and were wonderful and I miss my extended family already.  And of course there has been lots of baseball news, though not Twins related, the biggest of which happened just a little bit ago today.

The list of baseball news includes the following:

-Matt Holliday re-signed with the St. Louis Cardinals for 7 years and $120 million

-Cuban defector Aroldis Chapman signed with the Cincinnati Reds for six years and around $30 million

Continue reading "Just in case you thought I went away"

Hello Everyone,

Well the Annual Winter Meetings have just concluded and while there was a lot of activity, not much of it involved the Twins.  The Twins pulled off one move really, designating Boof Bonser for assignment and then early this morning they traded him to the Boston Red Sox for a minor leaguer to be named later.

There was some rumors about what the Twins would do at third base but none of those things have come to fruition yet.  They have apparently talked to free agents such as Adrian Beltre, Mark DeRosa, Joe Crede etc., as well as explored a possible trade with the San Diego Padress for Kevin Kouzmanoff, their young third baseman.  The two names from that list that really intrigue me are DeRosa and Kouzmanoff.  DeRosa because I think he's the best of the guys the Twins would possibly try to get and Kouzmanoff because he's the youngest and most affordable and could turn out to be the best in the long run.  Kouzmanoff's numbers were decent last year but remember that he played his home games in probably the toughest park for anyone to hit in, San Diego's Petco Park.  You could make an argument that his numbers there would mean they'd be probably anywhere from 5-15% better anywhere else.  And we don't know what the Twins new park will be like as far as whether it will favor pitchers or hitters more.

Continue reading "Winter Meetings conclude, Twins don't do a lot"

Hello Everyone,

Sorry I've been absent for a few days.  There really wasn't that much to report or discuss.  However, that has changed in the last 24 or so hours as the annual Winter Meetings are underway.  First, the Twins offered pitcher Carl Pavano arbitration as I said earlier and as of last night he has accepted this offer which essentially means he will be in the Twins rotation in 2010.  To make room for Pavano on the 40 man roster, the Twins designated pitcher Boof Bonser for assignment or release which means he will either be released by the Twins and be with another club for this coming season or he will start the season in the minors. 

There's not much else currently cooking on the Twins front other than that they could possibly look to trade starter Glen Perkins now that Pavano is most assuredly back.  The reason they could do this is because one, there doesn't seem to currently be a spot for him, unless he earns it in Spring Training, and two, he is not on managements greatest side after last season when he did not come forth with the fact that he'd been pitching with an injured shoulder until he had a really rough outing.  Then, when he was ready to return, he was sent to the minors, which upset him, because it meant that he does not have enough service time to qualify for arbitration himself.  He filed a grievance against the club to try and obtain some or all of his service time back, which he did get some, but not enough to qualify for arbitration.

Continue reading "Action starting to heat up in free agency, trade market"

Hello Everyone,

The Twins announced yesterday they've offered arbitration to only one of their pending free agents, pitcher Carl Pavano.  They've declined to do so with third baseman Joe Crede, pitcher Ron Mahay and shortstop Orlando Cabrera.  Cabrera had a clause in his contract that stated that whatever team he was on was to not offer him arbitration.  These moves were pretty much expected and does not mean that Pavano will for sure be back with the Twins, nor does it mean those not offered arbitration will be back or not be back.  All it really means is this, one if Pavano accepts the Twins offer, he could be back, but if he signs elsewhere, the Twins get a draft pick from the team that signs him.  If he does not, then he could still come back if they come to another type of contract agreement but if he doesn't and signs with another team, the Twins get nothing.  For those that were not offered arbitration, if they sign elsewhere, the Twins get nothing in return. 

Continue reading "Twins offer arbitration to Pavano, decline to do so on others"

Hello Everyone,

I don't have a ton to say today, basically because there hasn't been much going on in the world of baseball lately.  I mean, if you really want, I can break down the Blue Jays acquisition of Alex Gonzalez but I'm guessing you all would be in a coma by the end of that!

I just wanted to give my two cents as to why we haven't seen much action in the free agent market yet.  I believe that it's due to the affects of 1. a slow economy and 2. the fact that the date for clubs to offer or decline offers of arbitration to free agents hasn't come yet.  I really believe that once we see this date come and clubs make those decisions, the signings will start to happen.

Basically what offering or not offering arbitration means to clubs wanting to sign free agents is they find out if signing said free agent will cost them a draft pick or not.  Also, if the player accepts the arbitration offer, then he will go back to the team that offered it to him, which is why a lot of teams will not offer arbitration to some of their free agents, because they don't want him back!  Or, maybe they do want him back but for more than just one year in which case, they will want to try and work out a multi-year deal instead.

Continue reading "First ten days of free agency a real yawn fest"

Hey All,

Well, I don't have a ton to say today.  St. Louis Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols was named the National League MVP this afternoon.  He was voted this unanimously.  He received all 32 first-place votes and 448 points in balloting announced by the Baseball Writers' Association of America.  Florida's Hanley Ramirez, the NL batting champion, was second with 233 points, followed by Philadelphia's Ryan Howard (217) and Milwaukee's Prince Fielder (203), who tied Howard for the big league lead in RBIs.  This is the third time he's been voted the MVP in his career. 

No problem with this whatsoever on my part.  Pujols is definitely the best player in the National League, if not the entire sport and is most definitely the most feared hitter in the sport today.  Personally, my feeling is that Pujols is second behind Joe Mauer as best player in the entire league simply because he plays first base while Mauer is a catcher, a much more demanding defensive position.

Continue reading "Albert Pujols named NL MVP"

Hey Folks,

The results are in and yes, as expected, Twins catcher Joe Mauer has been named the American League MVP receiving 27 of 28 first place votes.  To read more about this, check out this story:

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/71639757.html?elr=KArksi8c

He is the second Twin to win the award in the last four years, Justin Morneau being the other in 2006.  He is the 5th Twin to win the award all-time.

Take care everyone.

Joe

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Continue reading "It's official, Mauer named MVP"

Hey All,

Hope your Monday is going well.  For those not aware, today is the day we find out who wins the American League MVP award.  The main contenders appear to be Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira of the New York Yankees and Joe Mauer of the Minnesota Twins. Mauer is said to be the odds on favorite.

If indeed Mauer wins as expected, this is both good and bad for the Twins.  It is good, obviously, not only because Mauer had maybe the greatest season ever produced by a catcher, hitting .365, 28 home runs and 96 RBI even though he missed all of April with an inflamed joint in his back.   But also because it brings more attention to just how great of a player he has been, is and will be for years to come barring injury.  It also sheds a good deal of light on the Twins as an organization who would have had two MVP winners in the last 4 seasons in Mauer and Justin Morneau.

Continue reading "AL MVP Vote to come today. Why Mauer winning is both good and bad."

Hey Everyone,

The National League Cy Young Award winner was announced today and it is Tim Lincecum of the San Fransisco Giants for the second year in a row.  He becomes the first repeat winner since Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Randy Johnson, who ironically was a teammate of Lincecum's this past season.

The vote was a close one with Lincecum beating out St. Louis Cardinal teammates Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright.  Only 10 points separated the top three vote-getters. Carpenter was second and Wainwright finished third despite getting the most first-place votes.

Lincecum received 11 first-place votes, 12 seconds and nine thirds for 100 points in balloting released by the Baseball Writers' Association of America. Carpenter had nine firsts, 14 seconds and seven thirds to take second with 94.

Continue reading "Lincecum wins NL Cy Young Award, free agency signing period begins tonight!"

Hey all,

Managers Mike Scioscia of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Jim Tracy of the Colorado Rockies were named the Managers of the Year in the American and National Leagues respectively today.  Ron Gardenhire of the Twins and Tony La Russa of the St. Louis Cardinals finished second in the voting in the respective leagues.

Of course I wish Gardy would have won the award in the AL but I don't have a huge problem with this.  Mike Scioscia is a great manager and his team plays much like the Twins are supposed to play, not a lot of stars, just a bunch of good players with low to no egos who do things the right way and win most of the time.  Also remember that his team went through a really tough situation earlier this year when rookie Nick Adenhart was killed by a drunk driver after his firt major league win this year.  To guide a team, after an event such as that, to the ALCS can't be an easy thing.  

Continue reading "Angels' Scioscia, Rockies' Tracy win Manager of the Year awards"