Twins reach mid-point of 2010 season
Following are opinions from Mille Lacs County Times editor-sports editor Gary Larson, reporter Luther Dorr and former Times intern Logan Marxhausen who’s now on the sports staff at the St. Cloud State University Chronicle. Note: This feature is written on Monday each week.
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•Question: The Minnesota Twins will reach the mid-point of the 2010 season this week. What player has been the team’s biggest pleasant surprise? Biggest disappointment?
-Dorr: On May 4, after the Detroit game in which shortstop J.J. Hardy made two big plays and was hurt, the Twins were nine games over .500 and looking good in the American League Central. In the nearly eight weeks since then, maybe partially because of injuries, the team has been three games under .500 and a very ordinary team. Five times the Twins have gotten to 11 games over .500 and then slipped back, the worst slippage coming on the just-completed 3-6 road trip. Joe Mauer has easily been the biggest disappointment so far and it’s a close race between Delmon Young and Carl Pavano for the biggest pleasant surprise. Young has as many RBIs as Justin Morneau and Pavano has been an innings-eater (top five in the league) and kept the recent road trip from being a total disaster. Mauer, whose stats look decent by most standards, hasn’t done much with the bat. Compare him to journeyman John Buck, the former Kansas City catcher now in Toronto. Buck, in 47 fewer at-bats, has 10 more homers (13) and 7 more RBIs (40). He’s grounded into only 4 double plays, Mauer 14. And Buck’s slugging percentage is 100 points higher than Mauer’s. Throwing out runners? Buck is at 24%, Mauer at 27%. Would you trade Mauer for Buck, or other catchers that are having better years? Never. But Mauer has to step it up if the Twins are to win the division. Maybe being at home where the team is 23-13 will help. The biggest help, besides better pitching, would be everyone on the team doing better with runners in scoring position.
-Marxhausen: The best player at the moment is Justin Morneau. He has done very well this season, still hitting .350, with 15 home runs and 49 RBIs. Delmon Young is the biggest surprise on the Twins roster for the first half of the season. If Young only drives in 12 more runs he’ll better his 2009 total of 60. The biggest disappointment is the lack of pitching in general. Carl Pavano has done the best for the Twins in the first half, but that doesn’t have to beat much. The rest of the starting pitching staff is 25-23 and hasn’t shown much domination on the mound.
-Larson: Left fielder Delmon Young edges out veteran hurler Carl Pavano as the biggest pleasant surprise. Young’s .293 batting average, 19 doubles, eight homers and 49 RBIs are impressive and he just might be headed for the “star status” that was once predicted for him. He’s certainly given the Twins a threat near the bottom of the batting order. And, who would’ve guessed Pavano was going to give the Twins back-to-back, complete-game victories, besting the Phillies’ Roy Halladay and the Mets’ Johan Santana?
Scott Baker, who was handed the lead position in the starting pitching rotation when the season started, has fizzled in that role and is the biggest disappointment. Although, after looking at Luther’s John Buck-Joe Mauer comparison, I may change my mind. Baker was 0-2 with a 9.58 earned-run average on the recent road trip and may have developed a sore neck watching the Mets’ homers fly out Sunday. Baker’s season record is 6-7, far from what the Twins were expecting.
One amazing statistic is that the Twins’ team ERA of 3.89 ranks second in the American League behind Tampa Bay. Team wise, Minnesota’s struggle to score runs has been a big disappointment.
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•Question: The Minnesota Timberwolves took Syracuse forward Wesley Johnson with their first pick in the National Basketball Association draft last Thursday, then made a trade to pick up swingman Martell Webster from Portland. Minnesota added other players but those two appear to be the ones Minnesota is expecting to have an impact next season. How much does the team improve with those two players?
-Dorr: Johnson will likely be a good NBA player, although probably not an outstanding one. I know nothing about Webster except that he has been nothing special to this point. Is the team improved? Probably. Will the Wolves do any better in the standings because of those two players? Probably not. My guess, without knowing much about the possibilities, is that the real improvement will come when and if the team signs a free agent of note or makes a trade that brings in a top-flight player. If neither one of those things happen it looks like another long season for fans of the Timberwolves.
-Marxhausen: Any type of change can help the Timberwolves after a 15-67 season. In picking up Webster the team traded one of the more stable players in its roster, Ryan Gomes, who has been somewhat of a presence on the court since Kevin Garnett was sent away. Timberwolves GM David Kahn said that he is working for a more athletic team. That is his reasoning for drafting Wesley Johnson instead of former Kentucky center DeMarcus Cousins. The trade for Webster continues a search for a more athletic player who can create a shot from the three-point line. The team keeps working on young players to become the new Timberwolves team, but that is only going to come with time. The team didn’t improve too much in the draft, but it may pick up a few more players to bring a more stable team with some leadership to build off of.
-Larson: I would’ve been tempted to take Kentucky’s Cousins instead of Johnson but the Wolves went with the safer choice. And, Johnson appears to be capable of making a contribution right away. But, he doesn’t appear to be the difference-maker the team needs to gain the playoffs and draw disgruntled fans back to the Target Center. Same thing for Webster.
Maybe, Minnesota can attract that difference-maker in free agency. But, what kind of future do the Timberwolves have to excite that player. Paying big money is the likely lure.
And, here’s a scary future headline: 44-year-old Ricky Rubio declines Timberwolves’ latest offer and will remain in Spain.
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•Question: The U.S. has been eliminated in soccer’s World Cup tournament (by Ghana 2-1 Saturday) after reaching the final 16. What are your thoughts on the U.S. showing and the tournament in general?
-Dorr: I jumped on the bandwagon and watched significant parts of all four games, wondering why it was the team always got behind, sometimes very early in the game, only to outplay the other team for much of the rest of the game. Other than the frustration for U.S. fans of always being behind, the games were enjoyable to watch, especially the third game when the team rallied to move on to the Round of 16. I learn a little more about soccer each time the World Cup is played and keep hoping the United States will do better than it has.
-Marxhausen: The U.S. played better than a lot of experts anticipated during group stage with England, Slovenia and Algeria, especially coming into the last game of the stage. The U.S. had to face a lot of controversy in its games, getting numerous calls against it. That is part of the game as it has been a problem in other games, including England’s game against Germany, but the players accept it and play on. The U.S. had numerous chances to pull out a win both on the offensive and defensive side of play, but showed up too late in matches to make the comeback. All in all, it was a good effort at the 2010 World Cup, but mostly a learning experience.
-Larson: I guess getting to the final 16 was a nice accomplishment. The solution to get a step or two farther in 2014 is to find better players. And, with the explosion in soccer at the youth level the past 10-15 years in the U.S. that should happen.
The event had very good TV ratings in the U.S., but that was when Uncle Sam was playing. It will be interesting to see how many U.S. TV sets are tuned in the rest of the tournament.
The big complaint I heard from locals I know was about all the ties. Many said the World Cup gives too much value to a tie and a shootout in some form should follow the “extra time” period. U.S. fans want a conclusion to a match but the rest of the world is satisfied with a well-played match and each team receiving a point.
It was nice to see that the World Cup isn’t immune from phantom calls and mistakes by officials.
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