The O-Dog's potential defensive turnaround

I probably won't be commenting on current Twins news/speculation here as much as I used to back in the day (that niche is plenty filled in the Twins blogosphere), but the most recent move I couldn't let slip by. The Twins signing Orlando Hudson to a one-year, $5 million contract to play second base is a fantastic move by the team and signals a big step forward for the franchise -- actually going out and procuring a veteran player at a position of need. And the best available player no less!

While many Twins blogs have done an excellent job breaking down the move (I happen to like Nick's analysis myself) I thought I'd share with you a little tidbit from Keith Law at ESPN.com. The article is behind the Insider paywall, but here's the paragraph I found the most interesting:

Hudson had an unusually strong year hitting from the left side, but even if he reverts to his previous form at the plate will give the Twins more baserunners and more thump from a position where they were getting marginally more offense than they'd have received from sending a good-hitting pitcher to the plate. Hudson was a premium defensive player while he was with Toronto, but spent the last four years with teams that emphasized defense less than the Jays did, and his defense suffered, with traditional evaluations and defensive metrics agreeing that he was average or even a tick below. It's possible that was just a function of age, but it's also possible that Hudson needs to be with a coach (or staff) who works with him constantly on his glovework for him to be effective on defense; it's one area of the game where coaching can make a huge difference, including areas like positioning. The Twins have generally run good defensive clubs out there the last few years, and they've been willing to sacrifice some offense for better defense -- it's mostly speculation on my part, but I think there's a good chance that Hudson rediscovers some of his lost defensive value in Minnesota.

If there was any criticism of the Hudson signing, it's that, despite having an excellent offensive first half in '09 (he actually hit third for the Dodgers after Manny's suspension) and winning his fourth Gold Glove, he might be on the decline and in danger of falling off substantially. Law brings up an excellent point here -- even though the Twins defensive reputation as a "small ball" team that "does the little things right" has been undeserved for the past two years, it's hard to deny that Jerry White and the Twins' coaching staff makes a point to coach infielders; Corey Koskie, Jason Bartlett, Justin Morneau and others have made great strides defensively during the Gardenhire regime.

Perhaps a chance of scenery will in fact help the O-Dog rediscover his lost defensive prowess -- something to watch for as the 2010 season gets closer.

Joe Mauer: ESPN Homecoming with Rick Reilly

It's going to take me a while to get back into the swing of things with this blogging business, so please bear with me if these start off rather disjointed and difficult to read.

It's only January, but with the Vikings out of the playoffs, Gopher basketball and hockey middling along and the Timberwolves... well, I won't even go there, Twins fever is slowly starting to catch hold. Wednesday night, I went with a few friends to watch the taping of ESPN's "Homecoming" with Rick Reilly, featuring the Hometown Hero himself, Joe Mauer.

ESPN crammed almost 4,000 people into Cretin-Derham Hall's new gym (which is pretty nice, by the way) and the event was definitely a worthwhile one. Some of the recognizable faces in the crowd included Twins' GM Bill Smith, former GM Terry Ryan, longtime Mauer teammate (and on-field mentor) Mike Redmond, agent Ron Shapiro and nearly the entire Mauer family.

Despite the length (over 3 hours in bleacher seating you couldn't leave) the event was an enjoyable one. Here are a few memorable moments:

- While most of Mauer's family was pretty "aww shucks" during their interviews (not unexpected) Grandpa Jake can, as advertised, can spin a "colorful" tale... He had a couple of gems that aren't likely to make it onto ESPN, I think.

- I've always thought Rick Reilly was terrible on TV (in fact, I've always believed he was terrible at everything other than writing for the back page of Sports Illustrated), and these notions were confirmed Thursday. He's like a cross between Jim Souhan and Jimmy Fallon -- he never stops laughing at his own un-funny sports cliches/jokes.

 - Ron Shapiro is a decent guy as far as sports agents are concerned, but he's still a showman -- he did his best to play up the Mauer Legend, even on the eve of a (probably) $160-$200 million payday for his client.

- The rousing boos that ensued when Reilly suggested Joe would be happy to catch Mariano Rivera on a regular basis were entertaining.

- Reilly would NOT stop trying to get Joe to do something outlandish -- whether it be dance the moonwalk (something his friends said he was good at) or break out his rap lyrics. Joe wasn't about to break character in front of 4,000 people and a national audience, and I give him a lot of credit for that!

- When asked if he'd rather play for a winner or play at home, Joe's response of "Why not both?" drew the biggest cheers of the night. Good answer... Several eyewitnesses say that Smith and Shapiro shared a little fist bump after the comment... Take away from that what you will.

- My favorite line of the night though? Reilly asks "Is there anything you're not good at?" The question elicits shrugs from the Mauer family, and Joe (truthfully) answers "I don't know... Probably this interview?" I thought that was highly appropriate!

Overall, even though Joe won't be winning any personality batting titles anytime soon and Reilly is about as smug and annoying as can be, it was a cool behind-the-scenes event. And in the end, Joe's personality (or lack thereof) is one of the things that makes us like him -- he truly is One of Us.

Coming Soon: An all-new era of Twins Chatter

Hello super faithful readers! I know it has been a long, long time since Twins Chatter existed in any real form (pretty much since 2004-05), but I never really gave up the idea that I would start it back up.

Well, after four years of inactivity, that time has finally come, and the impetious is the opening of Target Field. As a season ticket holder (part of a group), I'm planning to be at the new heart of Twins Territory quite a bit this year, and I'll populate this newly-redesigned (read: simpler) blog with my thoughts about the venue, with a few rants about the team thrown in as well.

I'm planning for there to be less writing and more multimedia (videos, audio, pictures); the old Twins Chatter format (a daily column analyzing the team and its performance) has fallen out of favor since the early days of blogging.

Who knows what will happen, but it should be fun! Stay tuned!

-Ryan

Touring Target Field

Even though there hasn't been a real update on Twins Chatter for quite some time (I did, after all, retire from blogging in 2006), there has been a recent uptick in the traffic to this site due to a couple of links floating out there.

Last Wednesday, I was lucky enough to be invited by Shane Nackeru (he of Greet Machine fame and a fellow employee here at the U of M) on a behind-the-scenes tour of Twins' new ballpark, Target Field. Talk about a great opportunity! Naturally, I was thrilled to go along.

The park was spectacular (and it helped inform my season ticket seat selection choice -- look for me in seat 1 of row 8 in section 124 next spring!), but I'm going to let others tell you about it far better than I could. Here are some links of descriptions (which, sadly, was without photographs) for your enjoyment:

Greet Machine (Shane)

Freealonzo

Twins Ballpark 2010 (Rick)

What Jeff Thinks (Jeff Thompson)

Guest Post: Devil Rays By Any Other Name

Sadly, this website, which was once the apple of my eye and one of the first Twins blogs out there, has fallen into disrepair - Lew Ford is now in Japan and I haven't posted regularly since the 2005 season.

But tonight, that's about to change - for the 10 of you who still click on this URL (whether or not you are real people... I have a sneaking suspicion you are all simply spam bots) are in for a rare treat. My friend Doug Vose, University of Minnesota athletic communications extraordinaire and aspiring would-be blogger, was in attendance at Wednesday night's big 6-5 Twins win. Check out Doug's thoughts below in "Devil Rays By Any Other Name."

The Twins returned to the Metrodome on Wednesday night to take on the Tampa Devil Rays after finishing off a seven-game, AL Central-flavored road trip that ended with the Twins’ bullpen squandering a pair of winnable games in Detroit. Buoyed by a three-hit performance by Joe Mauer and three shutout innings from their beleaguered ‘pen, the Twins pulled off a 6-5 win on Dollar-a-Dog night.

The Twins were in need of a few breaks to wriggle out of their recent rough patch, and the Rays were apparently feeling generous.

With the game knotted at five in the bottom of the eighth, the Twins began a threat when a bloop single by Brenden Harris moved fellow Rays refugee Delmon Young to third base with one out. Twins third-sacker Mike Lamb came to the plate and sent a soft fly into foul territory near the Twins’ bullpen, to which Rays’ perennial token All-Star Carl Crawford gave chase.

With Crawford’s only option of snagging the Lamb flare coming in the form of a sprawling lunge, everyone in the building was expecting the veteran outfielder to let the ball drop with Young poised to tag and score from third base.

However, Crawford demonstrated why the Rays are indeed the Rays - whether or not their new uniforms and new name say so. Crawford executed what would have normally been a Web Gem-caliber sliding catch. With no chance for Crawford to throw home lying on the carpet, Young trotted home to score the go-ahead tally.

In the span of four seconds, Rays skipper Joe Maddon aged a decade.

Closer Joe Nathan finished off the Rays in the top of the ninth inning, getting Crawford for the final out on a called third strike to secure the 6-5 win and to end the Twins’ brief three-game skid.

In another close game between the two squads last season, Crawford was the culprit on another crippling late-inning baserunning gaffe that cost the Rays a win at the Dome. FSN promptly ran tape of the play during their post-game coverage that featured Crawford turning a sure double into an inning-ending, 9-4-2-6 double play last season.

A player like Crawford illustrates the difference between a valuable fantasy performer and what makes a ‘winning’ ballplayer: Crawford has hit over .300 for each of the past three seasons and has stolen at least 46 games in each of his first five full seasons in the league in spite of the Rays’ perennial place in the sub-basement of the AL East. It is interesting how some fans often scoff at the notion of a ‘winning’ player when broadcasters make mention of the value of players like Kevin Youkilis and Chone Figgins, but games like tonight show why talent does not always translate into wins.

* * *

Wednesday also marked the much-anticipated (not really) return of Jason Bartlett to the Metrodome after the shortstop was shipped to Tampa along with formerly prized pitching prospect Matt Garza and farmhand Eduardo Morlan in November for the heralded Delmon Young, Brendan Harris and outfield prospect Jason Pridie.

Bartlett has been handed the starting shortstop job with the Rays, and will look to add some pop at the plate and to shed a reputation as an inconsistent glove man. If Wednesday’s performance was any indication, this quest will be an uphill battle the 28-year-old.

With Twins’ newfound ace Livan Hernandez clearly not in command of his already limited repertoire in the top half of the fourth inning, the Rays followed a one-out solo homer by Eric Hinske with a pair of sharp singles by Jonny Gomes and Shawn Riggans. Bartlett strode to the dish with a chance to chase the Twins’ aging veteran and get into the Twins’ seemingly vulnerable bullpen before the game was half over. On a 2-0 pitch, Bartlett waved at a slow Hernandez curve that looked as if it had as healthy of a chance to reach the plate as it did to end up in the first base dugout. On the next pitch, Bartlett bounced into an inning-ending 6-6-3 double play.

The game was tied with runners on second and third and two outs in the bottom half of the fifth inning when Bartlett showed Twins fans why they ought to entrust new general manager Bill Smith the same amount of trust they did with Terry Ryan. Delmon Young sent a routine hopper to short that Bartlett scooped up and promptly skipped past first baseman Carlos Pena to give the Twins a 5-3 lead.

Although one would think that a seasoned front office executive might be beyond such petty delights, Wednesday’s victory had to feel good for Bill Smith.

A New Era

Just like my last post (put up approximately six months ago) waxed poetically about the end of the Lew Ford Era of Twins baseball, today marks the start of a new one - the Livan Hernandez era! The early over-under on Livan's season ERA is 5.00... Any takers?

Yet despite the cynicism, I will still be among the 46,000 strong at Metrodome tonight. What can I say? I simply can't stay away. This is Twins Territory, after all.

End of an Era

I realize I never post on Twins Chatter anymore, but last week such a monumental event occurred that it could not go un-commented upon. Lew Ford, the Official Player of Twins Chatter since early 2004, finally saw his roller coast career as a Minnesota Twin come to an unceremonious end on Thursday when he was dropped from the team's 40-man roster. As it turned out, 2004 was the high point of his career - in addition to the AMAZING .419/.471/.710 he hit during April (including 17 RBIs) he hit a solid .299 with 15 homers and 72 RBIs for the season. It truly was a dream season for Lew, the Twins (until that whole losing-to-the-Yankees-in-the-playoffs ending) and Twins Chatter.

But now that legacy, just like the legacy of TC, has come to an end. Let's all pause for a moment to remember all the good times that we had.

Lew Ford: Official Player of Twins Chatter, April 2004-October 2007