Livan's gotta go...

That's it! Forget the conversations about which young arm needs to be sent from the starting line-up to the bullpen to bring up Francisco Liriano. The answer is simple - send the OLD guy packing. I don't care what you do...trade him if you can, release him or have him replace Brian Bass in the pen for long relief alongside another demoted starter - Boof Bonser. I don't want to see that 61 mph curveball anymore when the game is close (btw is his curveball speed the reason he is number 61?)

Seriously - he was a serviceable veteran in the beginning of the season for a young starting rotation. But I think that the need for his veteran presence in said rotation has come to an end.

Over his last 4 starts he is 1-3 with a 6.94 ERA, a WHIP of 1.84 and the opponents are hitting 0.352 against him...his only win coming against the mediocre Texas Rangers.

Bring back Liriano and add him to the Baker, Blackburn, Slowey, and Perkins rotation...NOW!

UPDATE: August 1, 2008 - Livan Hernandez and Craig Monroe were designated for assignment while Francisco Liriano and Randy Ruiz were called up from AAA. Liriano will take Hernandez's spot in the starting rotation and Ruiz will replace Monroe's ineffective bat on the bench.

Welcome Back Francisco!

Roy Smalley thinks he's a genius...I think he's overrated!

I know that this entry may not go over well with all of the Joe Mauer fanatics out there, including Roy Smalley, but having watched Joe Mauer ground into double plays in each of the last two games (which he does well too often - but I will not refer to him as 4-6-3, I promise) I can't hold back my feelings about our "Hometown Hero" any further. Joe Mauer is overrated - plain and simple. Oh yeah, and he shouldn't be batting 3rd in the Twins line-up (I'll get to that soon enough).

Earlier this season I was watching the Twins pre-game show on FSN North when I heard Roy Smalley call Joe Mauer a genius...and it almost made me puke. Don't get me wrong, Joe Mauer is a very good baseball player and just might be the best catcher currently in the bigs and I am glad that he is on my favorite team...but a genius? Really? Don't you think that some of the rhetoric about Joe Mauer goes a bit far? I most certainly do.

OK - so the decision to draft Joe over Mark Prior was obviously the right choice. However, he isn't the best player selected in that draft - that honor goes to Mark Teixiera. And OK - he has a "sweet swing"...for a singles hitter who hits the ball well to all parts of the field when he's not hitting it to the second baseman (I wonder if he and Ichiro compare notes).

But that goes to my point that he shouldn't be batting 3rd in the Twins line-up. He is a quintessential #2 hitter (I would almost say lead-off hitter but his 6'-5", 230 lb frame isn't spry enough for that position). Maybe my expectations of a #3 hitter are a bit skewed since I grew up watching Kirby Puckett own the #3 spot and lead the Twins to 2 World Series titles. But that is the burden Joe must bear by being put third on the line-up card night after night. But I guess that's not Joe's fault, that would be Gardy's.

If I had to guess, the next question from Mauer fans would be "Who then would they put in the three hole if they moved Joe up to the #2 spot?" There is only one good answer - Justin Morneau - the Twins best hitter. Don't you want the best hitter in your line-up guaranteed to hit in the first inning? I know I do.

I guess if I were putting the Twins line-up together (taking into account current injuries) it would be as follows:
1. Denard Span - RF
2. Joe Mauer - C
3. Justin Morneau - 1B
4. Delmon Young - RF
5. Jason Kubel - DH
6. Brian Buscher - 3B
7. Brandon Harris - SS
8. Nick Punto - 2B
9. Carlos Gomez - CF

When (If) everybody is healthy the line-up would look like this:
1. Denard Span - RF/LF
2. Joe Mauer - C
3. Justin Morneau - 1B
4. Delmon Young - LF/DH
5. Jason Kubel - DH or Michael Cuddyer - RF/DH
6. Brian Buscher - 3B
7. Brandon Harris - SS
8. Carlos Gomez - CF
9. Alexi Casilla - 2B