Site Update/Transactions/Notes

I have a lot of little stuff to touch on today, so I thought I'd throw it all into one post. Here goes:

SITE UPDATE
I'm nearly done updating the organizational rankings posts (which you can find linked on the right side of the page,) so they should be relatively accurate. If you check them out, you'll notice that some of them have limited transactions information for the season, and some don't -- I'm not going to be updating that for the 2007 rankings (and it's very incomplete information), but starting with the 2008 version of the rankings I'm going to make every effort to keep what amounts to a full transactions log with every player.

Also, sometime in the next two weeks, I also intend to make a post covering free agents who I think the Twins could end up pursuing. Also in the middle of the month, I'll be posting my thoughts on which players the Twins should add to the 40-man roster in order to protect them from the Rule 5 Draft. Of course, my college football rankings, posted every Saturday night, will also continue. Finally, as always, I'll periodically (every two days or so) be posting a notes column covering MLB (and other sporting) news.

Transactions
I haven't posted a transactions post in a good long time, and it's a good time for a new one, since the Twins just released a bunch of players. I'll comment on some of these names in a later post if I get a chance to, but for now, here's the list (courtesy of Baseball America):

RHP - Jose Acosta
RHP - Jose Castillo
RHP - Jesse Floyd
RHP - Danny Powers
LHP - Jesus Carnevales
LHP - Michael Rogers
1B - Nick Biagini
3B - Matt Betsill
OF - Wesley Connor

There are no names there that really stun me, but Danny Powers would be the closest thing to a surprise on the list. His 5.28 ERA in 59.2 innings for New Britain goes a long way to explaining his release, I would think. As I said earlier, I may comment in more depth later if I get a chance.

Notes
Just a few things I wanted to cover:

1.) The Tigers didn't wait long to start improving their team, picking up Edgar Renteria from the Braves in exchange for a couple of solid minor league prospects (pitcher Jair Jurrjens is particularly interesting). This move will apparently facilitate Carlos Guillen's move to 1B, where he'll replace Sean Casey full time. Hard to see that exchange being anything but a positive for the Tigers.

2.) Joe Torre and Don Mattingly to the Dodgers? Makes sense to me -- Torre isn't getting any younger, and at 67, the prospect of taking a year off probably doesn't sound particularly appealing to him. I don't know how things will work out, but this seems to be a fairly good fit.

3.) I said before that if the Twins didn't sign Torii Hunter before the end of the exclusive negotiating window on November 12, they'd lose him. Now, Hunter has decided not to negotiate with the Twins during that window. I understand his position, but I stand by my statement -- this move convinces me fully that Hunter will not be a Twin next year. When inspiration strikes, I'll write up some more detailed thoughts on what this means for the organization, but as I've said before, it ain't good.

4.) Can't wait for the NBA season to start tonight -- I usually don't care about the NBA, but for some reason I've been excited for tonight's games for about 2 weeks. Don't really know where that came from, but I'm not going to question it either. My TV will be tuned to TNT this evening, and to ESPN tomorrow. Also, I'm lucky enough (or maybe that's unlucky enough) for the Wolves first opponent of the season to be the Nuggets, so I'll get a chance to see the season opener on local TV (I'm in Boulder, Colorado, in case you weren't aware).

Site Update

Lest anyone think I'm slacking with my blogging, I assure you that I've been working on my "What I'd Do" post quite a bit today. It's turning into a bit of a monster, though, so I'm not yet ready to release it. I should finish it up tomorrow while watching the later playoff games (sometimes, school just gets in the darned way of the important things in life). Also this week, I'll be posting my choices for the major awards, and probably also taking a look back at my pre-pre-season predictions, originally made in mid-February. I hope you all get the chance to watch some playoff baseball tomorrow -- and go Rockies!

Site Update

I rather doubt that many of you care, but this is my blog so I'm going to mention this anyway -- tonight, I finally finished moving things out of my old apartment, and it's clean and ready to be turned over to the landlord. I've been in a slow-burn moving process for the last couple of weeks, and I'm very, very sick of it by now. The upshot -- theoretically I should be able to return to a more normal blogging schedule starting tomorrow. For tonight, congrats to the Twins on putting the Castillo trade behind them and picking up another win. We'll see if they have more to think about during tomorrow's game -- I'm frankly hoping for Juan Rincon and Carlos Silva to be packaged to someone, anyone who's interested. Heck, if Kyle Lohse can get traded, the Twins ought to be able to move Silva for something, right?

Site Update

Marty made a comment on my last past that, to paraphrase, asked whether my lack of blogging the last two days was an indication that I thought the Twins were out of it. This made me realize that it was time for a Site Update. First, yes, I think the Twins are out of the playoff chase. I said as much on Wednesday in my "Is it Over?" post, and nothing that has happened since has changed my mind.

However, this is not why I haven't blogged in two days. If you've read the blog recently, you might have caught the fact that I'm in the process of moving. That is the biggest reason why I haven't blogged the last two days -- I have to surrender my apartment on the 31st (at noon sharp, as the *ahem* wonderful folks *ahem* in the property management office have . . . erm . . . "politely" reminded me -- they rented the place out for the 1st, you see -- something of a quick turn around time). Today and tomorrow are my last two full days to finish moving and to clean, so I may very well be MIA today and tomorrow as well (although I shall try to comment on the games -- and if there's a trade, I will force myself to sit down and post my thoughts).

So, that's that -- for now, I'll leave you with this: I liked Brian Buscher's debut. He has a solid swing that looks to me like it's Major League ready, and while his defense isn't spectacular, it's not as bad as his one poor inning made him look, either. He is the best story of the Twins minor league season (although the re-emergence of Trevor Plouffe as a legit prospect is right up there, in my book), and I would love to see him have a solid enough 2+ months as a Twin to earn himself the job on a full time basis in 2008.

Until next time, go Twins.

Site Update

I find myself in the unusual position of not having watched much of the Twins at all over the past 3 days -- and that means that I don't have a lot to say about the games. This unusual situation is going to continue tomorrow, when the Twins play while I'm at work, and on Friday, when I have a going-away BBQ to attend for a friend who's moving to Seattle. As a result, my coverage of the games with Nightly Notes columns are likely to be spotty at best, and for that I apologize (I know there are some of you out there at least who enjoy reading what I post). I hope to get back to a more regular posting schedule over the weekend. For the record, I do intend to finish up the post on the First Half awards (but it's not happening tonight), which I will bump to the top when it's complete. I also intend to comment on the All-Star game before the game is played, so look for that probably on Saturday.

Until then, my apologies for the sparse posting of the past few days. I hope you all enjoyed your 4th (I know I did!), and also that your return to work tomorrow and Friday is manageable.

Site Update

I've been MIA the last two days because I've been busy signing a new lease, planning a mid-month move, and visiting with friends who will be moving away from Colorado soon. That, coupled with the ridiculous FOX exclusivity that prevented me from seeing any of the Twins game yesterday, means that I haven't been able to watch the games or had time to write about them. I'll be back with a nightly notes column tonight, and if I get a chance I'll also post my reactions to the All-Star rosters once they're revealed. At least I've enjoyed reading the ESPN write-ups on the games the last two days!

Site Update

I will be writing a notes column on tonight's game, although it may not be until tomorrow. I've picked up a lot of fodder by trolling on Joe Christensen's blog all night waiting for Justin Morneau updates, and honestly the biggest reason I'm not writing a column now is that I'd like to hear what's going on with Morneau before I write anything. Hopefully we'll know tonight just how serious Justin's injury was.

Another Site Update & Transaction

Alright, I've finally made my way through the Organizational Rankings (listed on the right sidebar) and updated everything, from where players are playing to whether they're on the disabled list to new additions (including the recent 2007 draft signings). I've been meaning to do this for some time, and can now breath a sigh of relief that its done.

On another note, the Twins signed RHP Anthony Slama sometime at the end of May. He was the 39th pick in the 2006 draft, so he actually appears to be the last ever Twins draft and follow signing, taking the post from Ian Mopas, who I wrote about last week. He's older than Mopas, so he just might start the season in Elizabethton.

Site Update, Notes, e-mail Interview

I'm not going to get a full fledged notes column up tonight, but it wasn't a great game anyway, so I hope you'll forgive me. I'll be back tomorrow with a regular notes column, hopefully talking about Johan Santana's 7th win of the season. I wanted to write up a column on the Elizabethton Twins tonight, talking about their roster for the season -- they play their first game tomorrow, after all. Unfortunately, they don't have a roster posted yet (there are a few players listed, but definitely not a full roster), so I can't. Hopefully, one will be up tomorrow for me to talk about.

Finally, I completed an e-mail interview today with Mets Today, where I answered 9 questions about the Twins. I pretty much wrote straight through my lunch hour, so it's fairly long. I know I made at least one typo, so be gentle if you read it.

Until tomorrow . . .