A Great Baseball Read

If you haven't read this already, take a look at an outstanding piece written by Tom Friend of ESPN. It's a great story on Danny Almonte and Matthew Cerda, who were Little League World Series heroes in 2001.

You can watch a summary of the story here:

Eddie! Eddie!

The Twins acquired former Twins closer Eddie Guardado from the Texas Rangers today. The waiver wire deal is an outstanding one by GM Billy Smith. The Twins are in desperate need of any kind of bullpen help. But this kind of bullpen help is of the upper echelon.

Guardado is still one of the best left-handed setup men in the major leagues. Thus far this season, he is 3-3 with a 3.65 ERA in 55 games. The Twins gave up right-handed closer Chris Hamburger, a 21-year-old pitching at rookie league Elizabethton.

It was a heck of a deal and one that addresses the biggest of all concerns with this team.

Guardado has suffered injuries the past few seasons and struggled statistics-wise with Cincinnati and Seattle, but being back in the stable of the Twins and their coaching staff should help bolster his current great statistics even more. It was obvious the past four-plus years that Guardado desperately wished to be a Twin again. He often spoke of missing the Twins' style of baseball and the expectations of the entire staff. He struggled when he left. It is my opinion he won't struggle as he comes back.

Fans will undoubtedly chant Eddie! Eddie! each time he runs in from the bullpen to take the ball, complete an eighth inning and help solidify a Twins team that hopefully has another piece to overtake the White Sox.

From my spot catching in the bullpen, this looks like an outstanding move -- an absolutely exciting moment in a season that continues to get more and more exciting.

First place!

Honestly, who would have thought the Twins would be in first place on August 3? Hopefully Francisco Liriano will be the incredible shot in the arm he was a couple years ago. Hopefully he'll continue to pitch well.

For now, who cares? The Twins are pulling off an incredible season.

Thanks boys.

Insights and Thoughts

Here are some recent insights and thoughts about the Twins as they head into August:

• Though I hoped it would happen, releasing both Livan Hernandez and Craig Monroe came as a bit of a surprise to me. There was no reason to hang on to these two any longer and it creates space for both Michael Cuddyer (when he gets off the DL) and Francisco Liriano to get on the roster.


• This move also places the season and future directly in the hands of the young team and provides them with a catalyst of a team that should be together (ala the 1987 team).


• While milling about in the stands during the 5-1 loss to Cleveland Saturday I spoke to a scout about the current state of the team. I asked him if he thought the Twins would give in and make the 6-foot-5 (or taller) Joe Mauer a third baseman any time soon. He said at Mauer's height he's better suited to play first base, where Justin Morneau is likely to play for the next decade. That being said, Mauer may not be able to play third base -- something this particular scout emphasized strongly -- and another position may be needed for him. He said it's more likely the Twins would make Mauer an outfielder and backup first baseman than to have him play third. When pressed, he thought two years more of Mauer catching would be about all that we could expect, unless Wonderboy suffers another knee, ankle or other leg injury that precipitates a move quicker. If Mauer is moved to the outfield in the future, look for the Twins to trade one of their now young outfielders for whatever help is needed to fill out the roster (ie. third base).


• Oddest moment Saturday: Three straight bunts by the Twins in the thrid inning (Gomez, Span and Punto), showing Scott Ullger to be the greatest small ball (acting) manager since Phil Garner's Milwaukee Brewers of the mid-to-late-1990s.


• Coolest moment Saturday: In the middle of one of the most boring games in recent Twins history, the scoreboard had a sing-along with TC, the mascot. The song? "Sweet Caroline" by Neil Diamond. That's not unusual. What was unique were the 40,000 in attendance continuing to sing the song a capella for an extra few minutes, including the chorus and the "ba ba bum" and "so good, so good, so good" parts. Classic en masse self-entertainment.


• Hey, that guy in the TC bear suit hitting softballs into the upper deck before Saturday games needs to get paid more. He's the only entertaining thing leading up to the Saturday games and one has to wonder how he can hit so well with that big foam head on. Sign him up. Maybe that's Kent Hrbek under there.


• All the buzz around the Dome is about Sunday's start by Liriano. Even the scouts sitting among the players' wives are excited to see what the lefty can do in the series finale.


• The Twins continue the mantra that no deal was a good deal at the trade deadline because they didn't want to hurt the chemistry in the clubhouse. Odd that finding good fits in a clubhouse is suddenly an excuse after the Twins latched on to former Devil Rays bellyacher Delmon Young in the offseason. If his offense upside was more important than a bad attitude (remember, this is the guy who hit an ump with a bat in the minors), then why are the Twins suddenly so worried a good setup man in the bullpen would send the team downspiraling?


• Just to be fair, shouldn't Mike Lamb be released right now, too?

How About Some Trade Talk For A Change?

It's doubtful the Twins are going to make a deal within the week. It's doubtful the Twins will ever make a trade for a big-time player. It's downright positive we should doubt the Twins would act like a lot of other teams 1-2 games back in their division and make a run ... for the World Series, and not just another division title.

Doubtful.

Sadly.

So I am left with dreams.

I dreamt a bit of Manny Ramirez or Gary Sheffield or even (gasp!) Barry Bonds hitting in the Twins lineup.

Then I woke up and pondered: Wouldn't it be something if the Twins actually were in trade talks to get the likes of Mark Teixeira, Jarrod Washburn, Hudson Street, Brian Fuentes, George Sherrill or A.J. Burnett? Dreams, I know. But think of the drama and the debating. Heck, think of the potential homeruns or wins.

I have to dream because Minnesota is NEVER in discussions for these kinds of players. To make matters more challenging, Twins fans must be creative with dreams and wish for, at best, someone we've heard of before. That's the criteria -- potential and all that. This is the reason I can't even get hopeful the rumors of Adrian Beltre (3B, Seattle, .260 BA, 16 HR, 47 RBI) coming to the Twins being more than a pipe dream.

I even dreamt up the thought the Twins could swing a deal -- one that involved another team in a three-way style that would circumvent obvious issues trading with the very team you're trying to catch. The deal is someone for oxymoronic White Sox third baseman Josh Fields (Josh Fields, um, not well). Fields is only 25 years old and hit 23 home runs last year. Joe Crede also plays third on the South Side of the Windy City, so Fields may be trade available. He'd take a bit to get. Jason Pridie and someone like Glen Perkins.

I'll keep dreaming and see what I can come up with. I'll just have to keep it cheap, keep it low-key, and keep it creative. Otherwise the Twins will want nothing to do with it.

Sadly.

Liriano wins again for Rochester

Francisco Liriano went six full innings, allowing eight hits, four earned runs, struck out nine and walked one in Rochester's 10-5 win over Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in Class AAA International League play Sunday night. Liriano improved to 10-2 this year in Class AAA.

TradeFest '08

Baseball blogs across the country are steaming with trade possibilities -- including searing discussions in New York involving possible Yankee trades for Jarrod Washburn of the Angels and Cincinnatti slugger Adam Dunn -- but very little real swapping seems imminent.

The chatter is all around MLB: Matt Holliday, Mark Teixeira, Roy Halladay, Hudson Street, Casey Blake, Todd Helton ... big names who are "possibly" going to some other team. History tells us most of these folks will stay on their same team six days from now.

The Twins, in particular, are doubtful to make any move that would rise above the classification of being minor. Given the team's five-game losing streak and Francisco Liriano pitching so well in the minor leagues, it makes more sense for the team to work within its own system than make a deal. The culture of the front office has been to stand pat more often than not in trade deadline deals anyway.

With only five days left of speculation, my best bet is for the Twins to deal for a relief pitcher rather than a third baseman or right-handed DH. While a name like Arthur Rhodes (Seattle) is more likely to be in Billy Smith's mind, why not take a shot at Colorado lefty closer Brian Fuentes? The Mariners don't seem to be asking much in return (one rumor had the possiblity of the Mets landing him for the very average Adam Heilman and a prospect).