Not a Great Night, But...

Update: I just read Jim Souhan's article, and noted some striking similarities in phrases he and I used and concepts we mentioned. For example, we both refer to the rotation as "Santana and pray for ...", although we finish it differently. And we both mention the Yankees as being the best team in baseball. Anyway, after reading it, I grew paranoid that someone might think I plagiarized, hence this note. Now, onto the original post...

1.) At least the White Sox lost too, and to those pesky Royals. I watched the end of the Royals game, and watched the White Sox chip away, and then chip away some more. They used singles, hit batsmen, and walks to draw within 2 runs, but couldn't finish the comeback. Considering that Carlos Silva was starting tonight, in Yankee Stadium, against the team that I think is the best in the American League (yes, better than Detroit), you had to figure the Twins would lose. As a result, running in place thanks to a White Sox loss is the best we could have hoped for tonight. If we can eke out a win in the next two days, I'll be pleased. Forget about the White Sox for now; any losses they get against the Royals are bonuses.

2.) Brad Radke appears to be done for the year. Let's face reality; two of the Twins best three starters are now on the shelf, and our rotation is Santana and pray for rain. If the Twins can make the playoffs, it'll be a miracle. But you know what? The Twins are only 1/2 game out of the Wild Card lead, and weird things happen in baseball. Let's hope Liriano can make his way back into the rotation in a couple of weeks, because his addition would give the Twins a shot. Without him, the playoffs look awfully far away.

2.) Justin Morneau is now tied with Harmon Killebrew '64 and Marty Cordova '96 for 11th All-Time on the Twins single-season RBI list.

3.) Give Phil Nevin some time before you decide whether or not this was a solid acquisition. From the sound of it, he had a heck of a long travel day, going from Chicago to San Diego to New York within about 24 hours. Add to that the fact that he's had no time to adjust to a new clubhouse (which is undoubtedly stressful), and it's understandable that his bat was a little slow today. In about a week, we'll know whether this was a shrewd move by Ryan to try to bolster the offense, or a desperate gamble akin to the Rondell White and Tony Batista signings. The story of his wanting to come to the Twins is a good one, and it should engender some support from the fans. I hope he's succesful here.

4.) Jim Kaat and Al Leiter were the announcers on the YES network today. That's a pretty talented mound duo. I still have a soft-spot for Kaat, but not because of his pitching; I'm much too young for that. Instead, I remember the announcing duo of Jim Kaat and Ted Robinson from back in the early 90's. Those were the years when I grew up enough to be a real Twins fans, and those guys were a solid announcing duo to grow up with.

5.) Rhetorical Question: If Baker pitches well tomorrow, who will Brad Radke or Francisco Liriano replace if/when they come back to the rotation? How much longer does Silva get before he's the odd-man out?

6.) Still no word on who was/will be removed from the 40-man roster to make room for Alexi Casilla. Something had to have been done, and I'm guessing it was removing Mike Smith, but as of yet there is no report of that transaction having taken place.

7.) I was out of the room when Alexi Casilla made his major league debut, but reading about it was kind of fun. Not really surprising that he would get a chance to come into the game during a blow-out, but I really would prefer that we not see him again anytime soon, except in pinch running appearances.