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Wednesday Quick Hitters 7/23 |
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Written by Drakesax
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Something new. Once a week some quick thoughts on the week and why not on Wednesday. Call it a hump-day gift. Check it out!
Twins
- Denard Span moves to lead-off spot. Gomez to the nine hole. I think its probably time to give Gomez a little protection and let him work on his offensive game a little bit. I think its still the same idea of having a bunch of fast guys one after the other. Now, we've got Span-Alexi-Baby Jesus-Former MVP and if Span can keep his on-base percentage up that's just that many more RBI's for the heavy hitters.
- Liriano is cruising AAA. His velocity might not be back to where it was, but it might never be back. From the box scores it looks like Liriano is becoming more of a pitcher and less of a super-human freak. I think its time to bring him up and it might not be a bad idea to keep Livan around to help mentor him a little.
- Third-base isn't a true open competition right now but who should be have there everyday? Brian B has started to make the position his but if we are truly in a pennant race is now the time to season him at 3rd or should we be looking for a more established 3rd basemen? We have a few assets we could move like one of our six starting pitchers. If its just a rent-a-player I say screw that let's see what our boy B can do.
- Can Punto stay healthy? I hate his dives into first, his injured fingers, his injured hamstrings, and for some reason I just can't get behind this guy. I love his defense, I love his web-gems, I love the fact that he's a ball-player. I can't stand him at the same time. If he is healthy we've got a decent to good SS overall. His defense is excellent, his base-running has to be considered suspect due to all of the injuries he's brought about himself with his somewhat reckless style, and his bat is questionable at best.
- Cuddy, Cuddy, Cuddy...what do we do with Cuddy? We've got three outfielders right now that are all young and just starting to put their major league games together. It reminds me of the Soul-Patrol of Lawton-Hunter-Jones. Two years ago Cuddy was tight, now he's been injured for lengthy spells the last two seasons. Cuddy seems like a glue guy for the Twins clubhouse and he's a nice right handed bat in the line-up. If he can't stay healthy we can't play him and if he is healthy who do we sit? Kubel is starting to finally prove his ability is real so I don't think shifty Cuddy to the DH spot makes sense, the trial at 3rd didn't work and we don't need him anywhere else on the diamond. Does Cuddy become a high-priced bat off the bench? Maybe for the rest of this season we just let Cuddy get healthy in a rotation in the outfield/DH and then we look to move him this off-season, I can't see him being healthy before the trade deadline let alone being able to prove his trade value before the deadline.
- We need a fresh arm or two in the bullpen. Breslow sucks, Bass sucks, Boof is borderline right now and the rest of the boys are getting over-used. Don't think we have much down on the farm so it might be time to make some sort of move for the 8th inning guy or at least someone durable to help patch up the pen.
Vikings
- The #4 BS is getting really old. Let's hope the Vikes haven't done anything wrong in this case and then let's move forward.
- How are our rookie signings coming along? It looks like pretty much everyone has either signed or is really close to signing a contract.
- This season we've got the best up and coming offensive threat in the NFL. When it comes down to it 2008 is going to be all about defense. We aren't going to put up numbers like we did 10 years ago. That having been said the defense looks amazing.
- The D-line is sick, our weak link is Edwards. That's what I'll be watching through the preseason
- The secondary has a nice mix of youth and veteran leadership. I think Winfield and Sharper have at least one more season left in the tank each. I think we've finally added enough talented young players to really have a nice secondary in the coming years.
- The O-Line could be worrisome, especially if McKinney ends up suspended for a month. Cook needs to be a player so we can run to the right.
- Let's hope our TE's catch a few passes.
- A good season this year could really pay-off in more ways then one. I could see the Vikings being in a lot better position for public money to either build a new stadium or renovate the dome come next spring if we crush this fall.
Wolves
- Telfair in the fold. Foye/Telfair in the PG slot gives us something alright there at the 1.
- At the 2 we've got Shaddy/Miller depending on where we decide to roll with Miller.
- Brewer/Miller/Carney crushing at the 3.
- Love and Big Al at the 4/5 and we've got an interesting starting five.
- Will we bring back Gomez? I think its likely only due to the fact that no one else really have the full mid-level to give him and even if they do we can match it. I think we'll end up giving Ryan a 2 year deal so he can get paid (5 million a year for 2 years honestly should set a person up for life) and then in the 2010 season he can try for a real big pay-day. I think it works out great for everyone. The Wolves get a really great player for the next 2 years, Gomez gets to play on a team where he can probably pad his numbers a bit. In two years he ends up signing with a contender and probably ends up with a title within the next five season.
- We should probably pass on Doleac, buy-out Boothe and sign Richards to a two-way deal so we can let him play mainly down in the D-League. Maybe we bring back Synder on a one year flier, but I'm not worried either way.
Wild
- What the hell are the Wild doing? I hate this off-season. Let's hope there is some bigger plan that I'm just not seeing.
- We are going to be really young at the C position this season.
- Are we going to keep Gabby?
- Why are the Wild so damn cheap? Its not like the NBA where there is this killer free agent class coming up in a season or two. The Wild should be at or near the salary cap every year, we make amazing money and we owe it to the fans.
- Our defense is going to be the strong part of our team. We've got six quality starters and we've got three decent back-ups.
- Left-wing will be interesting next season. Nolan probably doesn't have a ton left in the tank.
- Is there anyone else out there worth bringing in?
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