AL All Star Team...the Whole @#$%ing Team

All-Star Rosters are set to be announced this Sunday...time for me to work my magic and try and predict all 28 All-Stars for both sides. Take a deep breath and lets go...

Catchers: 

Joe Mauer* (MIN)

Kurt Suzuki (OAK)

1st Basemen:

Kevin Youkilis* (BOS)

Mark Texiera (NYY)

Justin Morneau (MIN)

2nd Basemen:

Dustin Pedroia* (BOS)

Aaron Hill (TOR)

3rd Basemen:

Evan Longoria* (TB)

Michael Young (TEX)

Shortstop:

Derek Jeter* (NYY)

Jason Bartlett (TB)

Outfielders:

Jason Bay* (BOS)

Ichiro* (SEA)

Torii Hunter* (LAA)

Adam Jones (BAL)

Carl Crawford (TB)

Bobby Abreu (LAA)

Starting Pitchers:

Zach Grienkie (KC)

Roy Halladay *(TOR)

Kevin Slowey (MIN)

Justin Verlander (DET)

Mark Buehrle (CWS)

Felix Hernandez (SEA)

Tim Wakefield (BOS)

Relief Pitchers:

Jonathan Papelbon (BOS)

Mariano Rivera (NYY)

Joe Nathan (MIN)

Brian Fuentes (LAA)

* Denotes Starters

The Twins Are Afraid Of Everything

As you know, I am a die-hard Twins fan. Some people may read this blog entry and call me a bandwagon jumper, but honestly I'm still a Twins fan albeit a frustrated Twins fan. What am I frustrated about. Well, the Twins are afraid of everything.

Every year, there's something that the Twins just can't do. In the early years of the Twins rise to relevancy, they had the fear of defeating a big market team. In 2002, they made the ALCS, but they beat the small market Oakland Athletics to get there. They promptly beat the LA Angels in game 1, and then dropped 4 straight including Adam Kennedy smoking three bombs in game 5. I think he has 5 bombs in his career and they've all come against the Twins. Might want to check that.

In 2003 and 2004, it was defeating the mighty Yankees in the playoffs. The most crippling example of this was Game 2 of the 2004 ALDS vs. the Yankees. The Twins had already defeated the Yankees in Game 1 and they were looking for more. Torii Hunter bashed a solo home run in the 11th inning to give the Twins a one run lead and they could have went into a deafening Metrodome with a 2-0 lead. Instead Joe Nathan's arm turned into a wet noodle, and the Twins went on to lose the game and the series.

Last year was the most frustrating of them all. The Twins had MULTIPLE chances to pull away from the White Sox and just couldn't do it. It seemed like every time the Twins had an opportunity to pull 2 games ahead of the White Sox, they would fold and choke in some strange fashion. The bullpen would collapse, someone would burn themselves while ironing, THEY SCORE TWO @#$%ING RUNS AGAINST THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS!!! If you don't believe this, check Justin Morneau's stats in the last two weeks of the season. Morneau shrivled up quicker than a guy's @#$% looking at nude photos of Whoopi Goldberg. He was 4-5 hits away from a MVP award and he choked, just like his team. Oh yeah, they finished one run short of the playoffs too...in a 1-0 game where they got TWO hits.

This year's Twins team is afraid of being two games over .500. The Twins love mediocrity this season and even when they have a favorable matchup, they find some way to screw things up. The Milwaukee game last week was a perfect example. Up by a run, Blackburn on the hill, man on first, 2 outs, and 2 strikes on Jason Kendall. Kendall lines one into the gap and the game is tied. No big deal. But Kendall tries to go to third and Blackburn launches one towards Bernie's slide in right field. The winning run scores, Hells Bells in the 9th, game over. 

Last night was quite pathetic too. Delmon Young is obviously deaf because he can't communicate with any center fielder. The only player who did anything was Morneau hitting his 18th bomb of the year (To Team Crishad's delight!). I'm getting sick of this. In the 8th inning, I wanted to throw something. At least we're battling our tails off out there, because that's all our manager wants. Just battle your tails off and don't worry about the division.

Well, Ronny, July 1st is approaching and you are now 4 games back of the Detroit Tigers who have a skitzophrenic pitcher, an outfielder having the worst season of their life, and a bullpen who has a WHIP around 2 (but that bullpen is still better than yours by the way). Also, you are now tied with the White Sox, who might have a big fire sale at the end of the year.

Last season, after Game 163, I found some solace in the fact that the Twins had plenty of young players they could count on and would probably win the division this season. So far, most of those young players have fallen on their face and the Twins are a mediocre team with no shot of doing anything past winning the division. I would like for our goal to be more than just getting to the playoffs, but getting deep in the playoffs. Give me something to cheer about please. I know the Twins are a better team than how they're playing right now, but maybe when the lineup gets healthy, the Twins can make a run. I really hope they do.

Here are the next 5 games for the Twins, a run where they need to go 4-1 in my opinion to get something going.

Today: Twins (Baker 5-6 5.17 ERA [3-0 in last 5 starts]) vs. Kansas City (Bannister 5-5 4.17 ERA)

Thursday: Twins (Perkins 3-4 4.70 ERA) vs. Kansas City (Meche 4-7 4.27)

Friday: Detroit (French 0-0 0.00 ERA ML Debut) vs. Twins (Slowey 10-4 4.41 ERA)

Saturday: Detroit (Jackson 6-4 2.49) vs. Twins (Liriano 4-8 5.62)

Sunday: Detroit (Porcello 8-5 3.90) vs. Twins (Blackburn 6-4 3.10)

And your standings watch for the day...

Tigers 42-34 

Twins 39-39 4 GB

White Sox 38-38 4 GB

I Told You So...

Last night was a very interesting night for your Minnesota Timberwolves. As I mentioned the past couple of days, the Wolves had obtained picks 5, 6, 18, and 28. Also as mentioned in previous posts, I thought that the Wolves would use some of these picks (especially 5 and 6) to rebuild the backcourt that was traded away for the 5th pick. Um, I was kind of right.

The Wolves didn't trade up like some had assumed to grab Hasheem Thabeet, but I think they fell apart once James Harden was taken by Oklahoma City at 3. After that, the Kings threw a monkey wrench into the Wolves plans at 4 by taking Tyreke Evans. That set the stage for David Kahn to get what he wanted: Ricky Rubio. So, now we just needed a scoring guard...Jonny Flynn???

Kahn believes that these two can play together on the court at the same time. I don't think that this is going to happen. Not because I don't think they can co-exist on the court at the same time, that's not the problem. Ricky doesn't want to be here. When Ricky was asked about Minnesota, Ricky replied "Too cold and depressing." This is the attitude of most NBA stars. Minnesota sucks.

The other thing is that Spanish players are incredibly immature. Rubio is 18 years old, he'll be 19 by the time the season starts. Most Spanish people actually live with their parents until they get married...at age 30. They also seem to whine a lot. Pau Gasol whined his way out of Memphis until he wound up playing next to Kobe Bryant and oh...getting a ring.

Rubio's dad has come out and said that Rubio may now play 2 or 3 years in Spain rather than paying the buyout clause. Great. Good pick by the Wolves. Sure, he's a great passer and all but he has no jumpshot and again DOESN'T WANT TO PLAY HERE!!!

A lot of people bashed the Wolves for taking Flynn with the 6th pick, but it may have been a good move in case Rubio continues to act like a punk. The other picks were just as interesting as the Wolves took a third point guard, Ty Lawson, with their third first rounder.

This was a big mistake by the Wolves as well, Lawson will be a franchise point guard and he's got a great mentor to learn from now in Chauncey Billups.  This could haunt the Wolves the next couple of years, but they did get an additional first round pick from the deal. Next year's draft should be deeper and the Wolves should be able to get a big man.

The Wolves got North Carolina SG Wayne Ellington with their 28th pick and dealt a couple other picks, but the one question mark is whether Rubio shows up. I hope he does, but he's not going to want to play in the fridgid  plains of Minnesota.

Here's our lineup so far...

C - Jefferson

PF - Love

SF - Gomes

SG - Ellington

PG - Rubio/Flynn

Pros and Cons

So, in preparation for tonight's NBA Draft, which is getting more exciting by the minute, I thought I would look at a couple players that the Wolves would be interested and do what I don't do when I'm looking at a tough decision. Evaluate the pros and the cons. Before I do that, let's take a look at what we know...

- Wolves still have picks 5, 6, 18, and 28 (not 27 as I said yesterday) in the first round

- They really want the #2 pick, but Memphis really wants Thabeet.

- Wolves GM David Kahn said he will NOT trade 5 and 6 to get 2. This means the Wolves will have 2 picks in the top 6.

Time to spin the wheel...

PG - Ricky Rubio

Pros: Wowed during the 2008 Olympics for Spain...has been a pro since age 14...compared to Pete Maravich with his passing skills and creativity.

Cons: Already hates Minnesota...Unknown player from Spain...has 6 million dollar buyout clause from Spanish team.

Here's one of my problems with the NBA Draft.  These Spanish players and their buyout clauses. I believe that if a Spanish player wants in the NBA draft, there should be no strings attached to it. You're in and you're playing the next year. Should the Wolves draft Rubio, I don't think the buyout is the problem, but some teams will draft a player, wait two years for him to get better, and then buy him out when he probably could go in the top 10 and help a team that really needs it. Anyways, if the Wolves draft Rubio at 2, I'll be very dissapointed. We really need to rebuild our backcourt, but we also really need a shot blocking big man. Rubio isn't exactly a sure thing, and I've heard a couple Jason Williams (Florida PG) comparisons which wouldn't be bad, but it's not worth it in a draft that is really deep with guards.

C - Hasheem Thabeet

Pros: Natural shot blocker...played in tight games with UConn during collegiate career...huge upside.

Cons: Limited offensive game...may be a project...is he worth Kevin Love?

This is an interesting one too. If you move up to 2, take Thabeet. I know that next years draft is full of big men such as Cole Aldrich and B.J. Mullens, but Thabeet is the shot blocker we need. If you didn't read my post yesterday, I think Thabeet is the missing piece in our front court.

SG - Tyreke Evans

Pros: A leader (Memphis won 27 straight after converting him to PG)...played out of position in college...very confident...great slasher

Cons: Hasn't really shown what position he'll play in the NBA...more of a combo guard

I'm starting to get really high on Evans. Evans could wind up a star in the NBA and the more I watch him, the more I fall in love. Evans could be the perfect guy to replace Foye and I really hope we get him.

SG - James Harden

Pros: Little more polished than the one and done players...solid jump shot...COMPARED TO BRANDON ROY

Cons: Body type is a little pudgy...struggled vs. zone defense in NCAA tournament...not as athletic you would like.

I've had a love/hate relationship with Harden. But I wouldn't mind him falling to 5.

PG - Stephen Curry

Pros: Great shooter...Led Davidson to Elite 8 two years ago...team player.

Cons: Hasn't shown PG instincts yet...really small...similar to J.J. Reddick

J.J. hasn't had a good NBA career...I just don't think Curry will get his shot off. And when you're compared to Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, it's just not a good sign.

PG - Jonny Flynn

Pros: Clutch...very athletic...quick

Cons: Size...could be a project...needs to work on defense

Wouldn't mind this pick. Better than Steph Curry. NBAdraftnet.com compared him to Damon Stoudamire, I see more of a Rajon Rondo.

So currently, this is what NBAdraft.net has for our Wolves...

5th pick: Tyreke Evans, SG, Memphis

6th pick: Stephen Curry, PG, Davidson

18th pick: Chase Budinger, SF, Arizona

28th pick: Jonas Jerbeko, SF, Sweeden (everywhere I look has us taking him if we keep this pick.

And to really get you excited for today's draft...let's look at the past five years of Wolves first round picks...grab you barf bags...

2008 - O.J. Mayo, SG, USC (3rd Overall; traded for Kevin Love)

2007 - Corey Brewer, SF, Florida (7th Overall)

2006 - Brandon Roy, SG, Washington (6th overall; traded for Randy Foye @#$%!)

2005 - Rashad McCants, SG, North Carolina (14th Overall)

2003 - Ndudi Ebi, SF, Westbury Christian HS, (26th Overall)

We're really going to @#$% this up huh?

Roll The Dice

For 14 years, Timberwolves fans have been a little optimistic about the draft. OK, not really. As a matter of fact, we fear it. Uncder the reign of Kevin McHale, the Wolves did get Kevin Garnett, but they also traded the likes of Ray Allen and Brandon Roy. Anything McHale did on draft night struck fear into the hearts of fans. Even when it appeared that Kevin McHale made the right move by drafting O.J. Mayo at #3 last year, Wolves fans awoke to the horrible news that he traded Mayo to Memphis for Kevin Love and contracts. The Love trade hasn't turned out as bad as we thought it was going to, but Mayo was the kind of player that David Kahn wants to get for the Wolves this year.

And what a year this is going to be. David Kahn vowed to make changes to the roster and in his own words, he even said that "Everything Goes" when it comes to who's shoppable. There have even been rumors about Al Jefferson being traded to Phoenix. Well, it appears that Kahn would like to build this team through the draft after Tuesday night's events.

For those of you not aware, the Wolves sent Randy Foye and Mike Miller to Washington for the 5th overall pick and a sack of ham sandwiches. For those of you updating your draft boards, this means that the Wolves now have four first round draft picks. (5, 6, 18, 27) So now Wolves fans are salavating at this wondering what Kahn is going to do now. There's even the hope that he won't mess this up! Well here are some scenarios...

Plan A: Trade up with Memphis to take the 2nd overall pick and draft PG Ricky Rubio or C Hasheem Thabeet.

This would be the most hyperactive approach, but the first question is what will it take? We've heard that the Wolves want two top 10 draft picks no matter what they decide to do. Many people think they will offer 5 and 6, but they could maybe get away by offering 6 and 18, or even a super trade where they gave away 6, 18, and 27...but that seems like way too much. If Kahn does this, he better get Thabeet. A lot of people like Ricky Rubio, but his questionable jump shot scares me. Thabeet fits a better need, and the Wolves could get their true point at 18 if they decide to keep it. People whine about Thabeet's lack of an offensive game, but all we need him to do is act like Gandalf from Lord of the Rings and scream "YOU SHALL NOT PASS" to anyone who even thinks about coming to the rim.

Plan B: Get Tyreke Evans by any means neccessary.

I love this kid already. The guy is incredibly confident and the more and more I learn about him, the more I see a future star. The problem is the 4 teams ahead of the Wolves prolly see the same thing. If the Wolves can convince Sacremento to move down to 6, they could go up to 4 and snatch one of the best combo guards in the draft. After trading Miller and Foye, the Wolves need to remake their backcourt, Evans would be a good start.

Plan C: Stay at 5 and 6

This is where things really get interesting. Who would the Wolves want at 5 and 6? People are starting to think that Rubio will slip to 5, but he also has a buyout clause in his contract with the Spanish club he's with. The Wolves also like PG Stephen Curry, but I'm concerned about his size. The Wolves could wind up with James Harden at 5, and take a point guard, like Johnny Flynn, at 6. If the Wolves decide to re-mould their backcourt with these two picks, they could grab a big man later in the draft, or even wait for next season when the draft will be chocked full of low post big men.

Bottom line is, it's an exciting time to be a Wolves fan right now. The fact that this might actually work is intriguing and if the Wolves do this right, they could wind up with a solid nucleus that would raise the franchise from the dead. Stay tuned.

Friendly Rivalry?

Tonight's major league schedule pits the Minnesota Twins traveling to Miller Park to take on the Milwaukee Brewers. This is the portion of the interleague schedule where Major League Baseball tries to force rivalries upon some teams. In most cases, these rivalries make sense. Twins and Brewers? Good job. Yankees and Mets? Solid. Cubs and White Sox? Excellent. But then again we also have the fierce rivalries such as the Padres and the Mariners and the Red Sox and Phillies. Oooh!

Most of these rivalries are filled with hatred. For example the Subway Series between the Mets and the Yankees are filled with foul mouthed scum from New York trash talking each other into oblivion with comments such as "I'm going to break you like a piece of bread from Biscotti's on 62nd street." or "You're so stupid you actually cheer for the Knicks! [pre-LeBron]" Yes, there is quite a lot of ill will towards each other, but when it comes to the Twins and the Brewers, there really isn't quite that much hatred.

There could several reasons for this. The most obvious is that they don't play each other all that much, six times a season to be exact. This was not the case before 1998, when the Brewers moved to the National League to accomade the arrival of the Tampa Bay Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks. But even then, the Brewers weren't that good, so there was no sense of a rivalry between the two teams. Remember, in the history of the Brewers, they've made the playoffs TWICE in nearly 40 years. So there never really was a sense of jealousy from Twins fans as they laid beatdown after beatdown on the crew. Kirby Puckett's 6-6 game with a grand slam in 1991 seems to stick out in most minds. Now that both teams are competitive, that might change if they were in the division and who knows? Maybe the Brewers would be as hated as the White Sox right now if they still were in the American League.

The second reason could be that the teams are almost mirror images of each other when it comes to their market. Neither the Brewers or Twins can go out and buy high priced free agents and usually when they do go for a free agent, the signee usually goes out and flops like a fish. Both teams have cores of players that are homegrown. (6 players in the Twins starting lineup were drafted by the Twins as 6 players in the Brewers starting lineup were drafted by the Brewers.) Because of this, these teams both have an underdog status. I cheer for the Brewers when they play the Cubs, and I'm guessing that Brewers fans would love to see the Twins beat the Yankees or Red Sox.

Finally, I think it's just fun to see the two teams play against each other. Don't get me wrong. I'm cheering for the Twins during this series, but I've been tempted to buy an old school Brewers hat. (The logo is the best in baseball in my opinion.) If the stakes were raised to...say a world series...I'd be shouting the same things at Ryan Braun that I do Brett Favre...oh wait...crap...anyways, the point I'm trying to make is this. We do want to see our teams win, but it doesn't have the same point of urgency that it would have if we were playing our divisional rivals. It's all about bragging rights, road trips, and, oh yes, sausages. So let's go eat for the sausage cycle (Hot Dog, Bratwurst, Italian Sausage, Polish Sausage, and Chorizo) and have a good time.

And by the way....GO TWINS!!!!!

People That I Hate: Brett Favre

I think everyone knew this was coming at some point. As you may have heard, Brett Favre is probably going to join the Minnesota Vikings. His arm is now pain free and he's throwing pretty well. It even looks like the Vikings already have settled on a contractual agreement with the future hall of fame quarterback. So happy days are here again huh? Apparently some slob radio personalities have been planning Super Bowl parade routes. I should be excited right?

Well, no. This is something that most people in my situation don't understand. For example, fellow WRFW commentator Renee Thony and I had a conversation about this and Ms. Thony left the conversation wondering just exactly what my mom smoked while she was pregnant. So, because I'm a man of many words, I'm going to let you into  my thoughts and show you just why exactly I hate Brett Favre...

1) I was trained to hate Brett Favre since I was 8.

Have you ever seen the Simpsons episode where Mr. Burns gets a hold of Santa's Little Helper and turns him into a ruthless killing machine by showing him videos of dogs getting abused? Well, I'm pretty sure that my uncles have done the same to me by showing me just what exactly Favre has done to make Viking fans lives miserable. It's a fact of life. How do you cheer for someone that you've hated for so long? That'd be like some random guy who cheated on your wife for about 15 years coming over and wanting to be friends with you to get back at the wife. That might actually be pretty confusing but I'm sure you get the point...

2) I'm jealous of the success that Brett Favre has had in his career.

I'll admit this, I would love to have a young Brett Favre on my team. The guy is the best statistical quarterback in NFL history. He leads in touchdowns, passing yards, and, of course, interceptions. However the biggest thing that I'm jealous about is that Favre has a certain ring on his finger. No Viking can claim that unless if they have jumped ship at some point during their career.

3) Everyone not in Minnesota or Chicago loves Brett Favre.

I didn't put Detroit in here because Detroit would love for anything good to happen to them right about now. If Brett Favre became the Lions quarterback, they would have a parade before the season even started. Anyways, I can make this point by mentioning one name: John Madden. I just love watching national television broadcasts with Brett Favre...

Sunday Night Football:

Madden: You know, Green Bay is a great team because they have Brett Favre. Brett Favre is Brett Favre and when you have a guy like Brett Favre, you have Brett Favre. When you don't have Brett Favre you arghhahahahaham don't have Brett Favre!

Cris Collinsworth: Brett Favre is just one of those special players, he's like the Dhali Llama out there. I mean, I should know because I played.

Monday Night Football:

Mike Tirico: BRETT FAVRE TO GREG JENNINGS!!! WHAT A GREAT MAN!!!

Ron Jaworski: Well you see, Brett Favre has mastered the art of time travel which enabled him to teleport to overtime and throw that touchdown by manipulating the pythagorean theorum of quarterbacking that simply states that the speed of the ball multiplied by the speed of the reciever and the distance of the ball to the 93rd power divided by the time the ball is thrown and that gave him the accuracy that he needed to throw the ball.

Tony Kornheiser: HAH???

4) Brett Favre has a Texas sized ego.

Packer fans love Adrian Peterson. I never knew why this was until now. Peterson is a humble athlete who a lot of fans can admire because of the way he does his business. It's the same reason Brewers fans don't hate Torii Hunter. Brett Favre is not the same way. Last year, Favre showed just what exactly he really is. He dressed in a separate room for the Jets and didn't do any public functions because in his eyes, he was doing the Jets a favor by playing for them. This is also the same guy who decided to retire two seasons ago for the Packers and then come back at the very last second. The situation was a lot like doing hockey games with Paul Winkels when he would say "Hey Chris, I'm feeling a little sick tonight. Would you like to do play by play." An excited Crishad would say yes, and then Paul would say "Nope, I'm fine." So to add a guy who loves the limelight that much would be a shot and not to mention Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels.

5) Favre gets preferential treatment from EVERYBODY

I mentioned the locker room, but Favre is treated as if he's Jesus. In 2004, my mom and I went to a NFC North Championship game between the Vikings and the Packers. At the end of the first half, the Packers had no timeouts and were driving for a field goal. Favre completed a pass in the middle of the field with three seconds left and was obviously short by a yard or two yards. The refs stopped the clock and got a measurement even though Jabroni Bob in the nosebleeds could tell that the Packers were short. The Packers rushed their field goal unit onto the field and got the field goal they needed. After this, the Packers would win by...you guessed it...three points. Commentators think he can stop time. Did you know that Brett Favre bodyslammed Andre the Giant at Wrestlemania III? He even challenged Chuck Norris to a street fight...and Norris declined!

6) Brett Favre chokes in the playoffs.

Super Bowl huh? I know what you're thinking, Favre has a ring. That's fine. But nobody remembers the six interceptions he threw up against the Rams in a playoff game. Nobody remembers that he tried to throw the ball through Corey Webster in the 2008 NFC Championship game when he had a wide open option downfield. The fact of the matter is this. Since Favre won his Super Bowl, he is 4-6 in the playoffs. (By comparison, the Vikings are 5-5, not much better but still they own a win OVER FAVRE in the playoffs from 2004. The infamous moon game.) The bottom line is that when Favre gets jacked up to play, bad things happen. That's why I fear that he'll be so jacked to face the Packers, we'll see a couple Charles Woodson pick sixes and if it happens in the playoffs...gulp.

I realize Favre is a great quarterback. I can respect what he's done, but when it comes to him joining the Vikings, I can't handle that. There's a show on NFL Network called America's Game and they highlight teams that won the Super Bowl and some teams who were great but choked before getting there. So, there was one about the '98 Vikings. John Randle was on there talking about how people viewed Brett Favre. To quote Mr. Randle...

"I got one thing to say about Brett Favre...@#$% Favre!"

Well said.