powrwrap

Game winning walk off HR to beat the Royals today. Went 3 for 4 today, very
nice. Kubel got a double and threw a runner out at the plate. Morneau hit
another home run (ho-hum).

--
"When you argue with a fool be sure he is not similarly occupied."

See how the pros get their power!
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anne

Terry Tiffee is TERRIFIC! What an exciting game. I thought that
passed ball would do us in but alas, young Terry showed em big time!
Yippppeeee.

AnnE Yeah, yeah.....good for Justin too! <G>

Go TWINS One game at a time

brink

let's see... that's four games, 3 times he's hit a game winning RBI. he's
clutch!

he's really going to give koskie a run for his money for 3B in 2005. i'm
not entirely happy about that either. i really think koskie is worth
keeping around... if only someone could step into the SS role, whether
cuddyer or tiffee, a lot of things would fall right into place... i just
don't think that's gonna happen though. guzman will likely get the around
$5M that could have gone to koskie so we can ditch an above average 3B for a
below average SS.

that's the way it works though. unless terry is willing to go into the open
market for a relatively decent, affordable SS, i think that's the road the
twins are headed down...

aceswired

I like Rochester to win the Central this year.

No wonder Ryan didn't feel the need to make any big trades. Talk about
adding from within. Good lord.

Matt

brink

news:<20040904143318.22052.00000098@mb-m22.aol.com>...

i think it's safe to say rivas is officially expendable.

wish we could say the same thing about guzman.

powrwrap

Agreed, but I wouldn't give him more than a 2 year contract.


Tiffee has played first and third for most of his career. Don't think they'd
try him at SS. True, Cuddyer has played SS in the past but again, I don't see
the Twins trying him out there. I see no problem with giving the SS job to
Punto to lose so long as they give him a mild sedative before each game. ;-)

Although Guzman hasn't done anything egregiously wrong lately, and in fact has
made some nice plays, dump him and put Punto at short with Jason Bartlett or
Augie Ojeda for backup. Get rid of Rivas and let Cuddyer play 2B.


I think you're correct that Ryan will sign Guzman. If he plays like he has post
AS break all the time that would be nice, but not worth $5M, and still nothing
special.

Punto! Punto! Punto!
--
"When you argue with a fool be sure he is not similarly occupied."

See how the pros get their power!
http://www.powrwrap.com/press.htm

brink

yeah, i forgot about punto. looked like he would be fine to me, plus he's
cheap (which is a primary consideration here folks--why pay your
below-average SS good money? shouldn't that go to someone like radke?)

donovox

he's cheap (which is a primary consideration here folks--why pay your
below-average SS good money? shouldn't that go to someone like radke?)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hmmmmm..... c'mon guys, let's be realistic here. Punto has not proven in
the majors he can be an everyday shortstop. He has not proven he can hit
for a higher average over a long period of time. He has not proven he
can stay healthy. Although I like Punto, he is, well, basically
unproven. Guzman is the shortstop and should continue to be. On the
other hand, it'll be about money and whether the Twins can keep him.

powrwrap

On the other hand, we know Guzman. He's a lifetime .266 hitter with one good
year (2001). He's only adequate defensively at the most demanding position and
his OPS this year is .696 (lifetime .685) good for 18th best in the majors
among starting SS. Big deal. I would not want to pay this person $5M.

So yeah, the decision will be:

Sign a below average SS with no upside for $5M/year?

OR

Go with a promising guy who's shown flashes of very good play for about
$325,000?

--
"When you argue with a fool be sure he is not similarly occupied."

See how the pros get their power!
http://www.powrwrap.com/press.htm

brink

exactly. this is a cost/benefit consideration, mainly. the twins have been
winning with (in spite of?) having two black holes at SS and 2B for the last
three years. and this is not just offense we're talking about--defensively
too.

if guzman were an ace with the glove or the bat, his weakness in his
fielding or his hitting could be f****ven. but he's about to complete the
FA trifecta which should make any sane GM pass on him: he'll be below
average defensively, below average offensively, AND expensive.

if punto isn't "proven" enough, go find somebody else cheap. chris gomez?