The Fall Of The M&M Boys

Five years ago, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire called slumping first baseman Justin Morneau into his office at Safeco Field. The Twins "slugger" was having an off season yet again, and Gardenhire's patience was running thin. The message in the meeting was simple: we need you to pull your head out of your #$% if we're going to contend. (NOTE: This was the last time Gardy has called out a player...interesting...)

Morneau got the message and a couple of months later, the Twins completed a historic comeback by winning the Central division on the last day of the regular season. Another month later, Justin Morneau won the 2006 MVP award over Derek Jeter.

Three years later, catcher Joe Mauer was returning from a back injury that sidelined him for all of April 2009. The knock on Mauer was that while he was a great contact hitter, he never seemed to hit for any power and couldn't drive in runs. Then, Mauer went nuts. Already the owner of two batting titles, Mauer won a third (no other catcher had won ONE in the American League) and hit 29 home runs to boot.

Just two years ago, life was great for the M&M boys as the Minnesota media has dubbed them. Now, it seems like their legacy, which once looked like the sky was the limit, has come to a screeching halt.

It's intriguing how two players still in their prime of their careers (Morneau is 30, Mauer is 28), could take such a downturn not only on the field, but off it as well.

Let's first take a look at Morneau. Between the two players, I think that a lot of people are very sympathetic with Morneau's downturn rather than Mauer. Last May, Morneau was the best hitter in baseball. While most players on the Twins roster were complaining about the trees in center at Target Field. Morneau, calmly and quietly, had the line of .345, 18 HR, and 56 RBI going into a July 7th game at Toronto. Uh oh...

Morneau got smoked in the head trying to break up a double play, and it was almost like our Canadian Cinderella suddenly had his awesome carriage turned into a pumpkin. Yes, people were furious when update after update had Morneau still feeling the effects of the concussion several months later. Morneau eventually was shut down for the season, but came back to spring training and was pretty much banging on the door for more playing time, but the Twins, as always, were cautious about letting Morneau return.

Compared to the other player in this piece, it hasn't been about a perceived lack of desire to play. It's just been the severity of his injuries. Since winning his MVP in 2006, Morneau has endured season-ending injuries three times. Even crazier, the Twins have been to the playoffs four years during Morneau's career. He has played in seven out of 13 possible postseason games. He has suffered a broken back, a pinched nerve in his neck, a nasty wrist injury, and, as we know, multiple concussions.

I'm not writing this like a eulogy for Morneau, but you have to wonder if all these injuries have taken their toll at once, and is it to blame for his worst statistical season since 2005? You have to wonder if he can ever bounce back to his 2010 pre-concussion form again.

The other member of the downfall is much more maligned. After his 2009 season, Joe Mauer signed the richest contract in the history of the Twins. Many...no...EVERYONE celebrated like the Twins had just won the World Series. There would be no need to throw out that Mauer jersey in the closet like our Johan Santana and Torii Hunter. Nope, Joe was going to be a huge part of the Minnesota Twins for the next 9 seasons! And since then...he has done nothing but disappoint, and even anger Twins fans.

The Mauer situation could be precedent with the signing of Kevin Garnett during the 1996-97 NBA season. The Timberwolves paid Garnett with a 6 year, 126 million dollar contract. At the time, it was the largest in NBA history and eventually lead to the NBA lockout in 1998.

Garnett, like Mauer, ruled the state of Minnesota as he lead the Timberwolves to their first winning season in franchise history. He even won a MVP award during the 2003-04 season. But Garnett was almost never fully accepted because he couldn't live up to the demands people place on a player with such a contract.

With KG, everyone wanted him to take the last second shot. It's what he was paid for in their minds. Even if Garnett was passing to a wide open Wally Sczerbiak, people got mad if KG didn't take that last shot. It was always thought the Garnett didn't have the killer instinct necessary to put the dagger into someone.

There are more differences with Mauer, but people are using the same concept. Garnett never had an off year once he signed his big contracts, and Garnett virtually played every game with the Timberwolves, before finally demanding a trade.

With Mauer, it's not the fact that he's been injured. (Look at the Morneau situation.) It's been the nature in which his injuries have come. The Twins have bent over backwards to make sure this guy is the king of Target Field. They routinely have given Mauer a ridiculous number of days off, using the backdrop of "he's a catcher." It's a legit excuse, but that's what he's paid to do.

Over the past couple of years, I've seen catchers go completely "four-on-the-floor" to help their team. Jim Souhan had an article in the Star Tribune about how catchers on other teams, like the Tigers' Alex Avila who is moving to third during interleague play, will do anything to help the team.

It almost makes me throw up in my mouth to see the other teams catchers make an incredibly physical play, and then have to think as KFAN's Dan Barriero coined it, "How long would Mauer milk it?"

Many people have even speculated that Mauer's two week rehab assignment in Fort Myers was spent on the beach. It's almost gotten to the point that if they had actually built the Mauer statue before last year at Target Field, people would be trying to run up to Target Plaza and tear the thing down.

To make things worse, Mauer has looked stunningly mediocre upon his return. We hear the rhetoric that Mauer needs to get his timing back, but other great hitters who have returned from injuries, like Rangers OF Josh Hamilton (broken arm), have picked up right where they left off with ease. It's also possible that Mauer is having a bad week (He was also called out by the Gordito Burrito Jose Mijares for his pitch selection), but with the path his first season of his extension has looked like, it's possible that Mauer...dare I say it? May never return to the form that we're accustomed to as Twins fans.

There's still plenty of time for both Mauer and Morneau to return to their past successes, baseball is a funny game where some people could find themselves horrid one year, and amazing the next. But it's pretty sad to see two players who were once so great, take such a fall from glory.

Interleague Play: Good or Bad for Baseball?

Back when I was about 9 years old, I really wanted to see my two favorite teams show up on the field and see who was the ultimate Crishad favorite team. I wanted to see the Atlanta Braves with their talented pitching staff of Tom Glavine, Greg Maddux, and John Smoltz take on my Minnesota Twins with...um...hang on...Marty Cordova...and Ron Coomer?

OK, maybe it wouldn't have been the best idea to see a Braves/Twins game in the mid 1990's, but seeing the Twins take on a National League team would be pretty cool I thought, and then Bud Selig pulled the trigger in 1997 introducing interleague play to the baseball world.

The idea was pretty good at first, but now it's come under fire for many reasons. There are good things and bad things when it comes to interleague play, so what's the right answer? I'm here to find out!

THE GOOD
1) Interleague Play gives opposing cities a chance to see players they normally wouldn't see.
We always see it advertised on TV that one day we'll tell our kids that we got to see ______ ______ play. What interleague play does is that it gives fans in random cities a chance to see some of the superstars of the opposite league. Without interleague play, fans wouldn't get to see Ryan Braun or Prince Fielder play. Back in 1998, the Twins were able to host Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa at the Metrodome, and if you weren't excited about that, you don't have a pulse (even knowing what we know now).

2) Interleague Road Trips
I've made the trek to Milwaukee to see the Twins play the Brewers, and I'll say that it's a pretty surreal sight to see Scott Baker grab a baseball bat and ground out to first. Fans in American League cities get to see some places they normally wouldn't see. For example, the Twins are in San Francisco tonight. A pretty cool stadium that some people wouldn't want to see if their team wasn't playing in it. It's pretty cool to see a stadium you normally don't have the opportunity to see.

3) Helps Baseball Grow
American League fans get to learn the differences in National League baseball. I didn't even know what a double switch was until I was a junior in high school. Bench moves have to be made more carefully, and there's more strategy. It just gives fans a different taste of what's going on in the opposite league.

THE BAD
1) Pointless Matchups
There are plenty of good matchups in interleague baseball. The Mets-Yankees, Cubs-White Sox, Giants-Athletics...all are good rivalries. But for every good one, some other team plays an absolute clunker. Astros-Blue Jays, Twins-Padres, Brewers-Rays...get the picture?

2) Disadvantage For The National League
Don Mattingly made this point...and he may be right. Mattingly said that he doesn't like interleague play because of the designated hitter rule. In the American League, a team might have a 40 HR guy hitting as their DH because they need one all the time. In the National League, you might be using a utility player. Travis Hafner or Omar Infante? Hmm....

3) Less Matchups That Matter In The Standings
The Twins play the Yankees six times in a season (typically). They'll have one series at home, and then there's one on the road. But in the AL, people want to see the Yankees come to their town. Maybe this is one thing that ESPN has a death grip on is covering the Yankees so much that people want to get to the ballpark so they can scream how much they suck in person. More importantly, if the Twins are chasing the Yankees (or any team outside the division) for a Wild Card spot, they have less chances to catch up and the better team may not advance to the playoffs.

WHAT TO DO?
The reality is that interleague play is not going anywhere. Too many people come in from out of town, especially in the rivalry matchups, to just throw it down the clunker. Way too much money would be lost.

With realignment being kicked around, the current model would suggest that interleague play should be going all season long. I don't think that's the right answer either, especially when a team might be playing an interleague team in the middle of a pennant race. (Example: Imagine the Brewers playing their current stretch of baseball against the AL East in September. Yikes.)

I think interleague should be at least cut down to one "regional rivalry". Yes, you would still have some flaws in that because not every team has a regional rival that's not in the opposite league, but if you gave 6 games to these matchups, you could have more AL games that counted outside the divisions. A team playing 6 interleague games would keep the idea of the money and everything else, but wouldn't dilute baseball to it's current state.

Plus, isn't baseball supposed to be FUN? Fun is getting to play the Brewers six times a year. So what if it doesn't count in the standings? I find it fun to jump in a car 4 hours and go get drunk in a parking lot, then watch my Twins play. It's something I can't do in Minnesota.

So in essence, interleague play can be shortened, but the fact is it makes the game fun, and isn't what it's all about? (Well, unless you're a newspaper editor...)

CM Punk(ed) By The WWE

I remember a couple of years ago, more like four or five years, when I heard on the radio, when Usher was interviewed and said that he "didn't like the way music was sounding these days." Usher's response was a Ricky Rubio clone known as Justin Bieber. Sadly, this is how I feel with the WWE creative staff these days.

It is a bit odd to start off a wrestling column with an Usher reference, but that's how I'm feeling these days when it comes to the WWE. Everything has gotten stale and the WWE claims that there isn't enough talent to keep things interesting.

That's the word I would use to describe the current state of WWE programming: interesting. Not because I'm interested in what they're throwing out there, but interested in how bad they're screwing up. The latest example of the WWE screwups is in the handling of CM Punk.

Last night on Raw, Punk won a number one contenders match to fight John Cena for the WWE Championship at Money In The Bank. In my opinion, this is a great booking for several reasons, but the biggest reason is the PPV is being held in Chicago, hometown of CM Punk. This will make Cena the de facto heel come PPV time, and in my opinion is that Cena is at his best when he's hated by the majority of the crowd. (Look at his feud with The Rock from earlier this year and more specifically, his One Night Stand match with Rob Van Dam a couple years ago. It's a Cena you'll enjoy watching as he taunts the hell out of the crowd.)

I'm getting a bit off topic, but it's a great booking...if CM Punk wasn't leaving the company. About that...it's not a bit. CM Punk's contract actually ends on July 27th and he's actually leaving the WWE after that. It's possible that CM Punk just wants to take the route that Chris Jericho has taken (He's currently on a sabbatical touring with Fozzy and participating on Dancing With The Stars) by simply taking time off and re-signing with the WWE when he wants to come back. But is it that simple? Consider this...

- While younger stars have been getting pushed with little to none mic or wrestling skills, Punk, probably the best WRESTLER on the roster has been buried in pointless storylines, most recently taking over the Nexus, when they already had a very capable leader in Wade Barrett.

- To add to that point, Punk has gone a staggering 2-19 in his last 21 PPV matches (He beat Rey Mysterio at Capitol Punishment Saturday). Yes, the matches are rigged, but one of the most talented wrestlers in the company can't even get a title shot here and there? Punk hasn't had a World Title Opportunity since Hell In A Cell 2009.

- Punk also disagrees with the WWE's label of "superstars". He believes that wrestling is an artform rather than entertainment. You can hear it in his promotional interviews that he always says superstars in a mocking tone as if he doesn't agree. It's interesting because he may be the best wrestler in terms of working the mic as well, but still, disagreements with management may be enough to tell the WWE to screw off.

- Another sticking point has been Punk's name. This could be labeled as the "Dudley Boyz" clause. Vince McMahon wants to own the rights to superstars names so that they can't use them anywhere else. So that's why the Dudleys, after leaving the company, were called "Team 3D" in TNA and Mr. Kennedy is now Mr. Anderson. Punk saw this and basically said "I AM CM PUNK, DAMMIT!" This is another key reason why Punk wants to leave.

After all of this, Punk is still getting his long awaited championship match against John Cena. So that begs the question: Is the WWE trying to convince Punk to stay by giving him a championship match in his hometown? Or is the WWE going to make it tough for Punk to leave by booking him as the champion as his contract expires?

From a booking standpoint, the WWE can't lose CM Punk. If they do, who steps up and becomes their top heel in the company? The Miz? Mark Henry??? R-Truth??? Yikes.

I agree that the WWE needs to thrust some fresh faces into the spotlight, but cutting one of their best guys is not the way to make room for the younger up-and-comers.

Raining Rubio

The Loch Ness Monster is a cryptid that is reputed to inhabit Loch Ness in the Scottish Highlands. The most frequent speculation is that the creature represents a line of long-surviving plesiosaurs. It is similar to other supposed lake monsters in Scotland and elsewhere, though its description varies from one account to the next.

While the Loch Ness won't be coming to a Minnesota lake near you, it's safe to say that the distant cousin of the Loch Ness, the Ricky Rubio Monster will be coming to Minnesota instead.

After two long years of negotiating and fear that Rubio might refuse to play in Minnesota, he agreed to a contract with the Minnesota Timberwolves that will pay him around 3 million dollars next season (and I'm assuming grows for a 3-4 year contract).

Rubio will also have to pay his Spanish league club a buyout of about 1.5 million dollars. The Wolves will pitch in 500,000 dollars, while endorsements and Rubio's new salary should take care of the balance of the buyout.

Enough business talk though. Can the kid play in the NBA?

From what we know of Rubio, it's that he's an amazing passer. Fans saw that a little bit in the 2008 Olympics in Bejing when Rubio executed plenty of highlight reel passes that made people say "woah".

The Timberwolves, looking for a franchise player in the 2009 NBA Draft selected Rubio with the 5th pick in the draft even though there were concerns that Rubio would never play for the team. It's been hinted that's still the case, but it's also known that Rubio's only way into the NBA would be to go through the Wolves, hence him signing the contract.

Another concern about Rubio has been his Euroleague statistics. Rubio hasn't exactly been filling up the stat sheet in Barcelona, as he spent half the season on the bench because of a foot injury, and then the other half on the bench...well, nobody is sure why.

So it begs the question again. Can he play in the NBA?

Recent history might be in the Wolves favor. In the same draft, the Milwaukee Bucks took Brandon Jennings, who instead of going to Arizona decided to play in Rubio's Euroleague. Jennings' stats weren't eye-popping and he dipped in the draft because of it. He turned out alright, as Jennings averaged 15.5 points per game and is considered to be one of the best up-and-coming point guards in the league.

But there's still concerns about Rubio's game. Rubio has not gotten bigger in terms of his wiry frame and he still hasn't put up numbers as a scorer, but some say that Rubio is simply too unselfish to ever be a prime-time scorer ala Jennings.

This may be exactly what the Wolves need. While many are hoping that Rubio can be the savior, it may be more beneficial for the Wolves to have a guy who can simply get Michael Beasley and Kevin Love the basketball.

Kahn's other pick in the 2009 draft, Jonny Flynn has not worked out (some say it's because of coach Kurt Rambis' complex schemes, which Rubio might not have to deal with) and Luke Ridinour thinks he has the world's best jumpshot (not so much). If anything, the Wolves need a guy who will be unselfish to let two of the most selfish guys in the NBA take their scoring ability to a whole new level.

When you think of it, Rubio might not be like Brandon Jennings, but he might be someone like a John Stockton, who could make a shot if he needed to, but primarily used a pick-and-roll combination with Karl Malone that everyone knew was coming, but could not stop.

Either way, Rubio brings excitement and anticipation to a franchise that desperately needs it. Now, can Rubio bring some wins along with it?