Exhale

The freaking out about the Johan Santana trade continues. I heard people on the radio, in print and online swear they will never watch the Twins again. People have said that construction on the new stadium should be halted. Carl Pohlad is the devil. And so on and so on.

It is time to exhale, everyone. Chill out. It's going to be OK.

I have heard some consternation from unexpected sources. And then I've heard some consternation from expected sources, namely Nick Coleman of the StarTribune.

As I have written many times, no other writer has the ability to raise my blood pressure quicker than Mr. Coleman. I actually give him credit for that. His hatred for Twins owner Carl Pohlad borders on an obsession. Pohlad doesn't give me the "warm and fuzzies" either, but c'mon. Now, I can understand how people are bummed about Santana being traded. I can totally understand the feeling that the Twins may not have received an adequate amount of talent in return. Nick Coleman, however, squarly blames Carl Pohlad for not signing Santana becasue Pohlad is RICH. Here is what he has to say:

"The Twins' best pitcher -- and one of the best in baseball -- was traded to the New York Mets for four stiffs no fifth-grader heard of before. The loss of Johan Santana, coming so soon after the loss of star center fielder Torii Hunter, is the kind of thing that breaks kids' hearts and gets them ready for all the callous, cruel and venal decisions life will bring them later."

OK, Nick. Step away from the ledge. Here's more:

"...when you're a kid, your town's team manipulates your immature emotions in order to get you to tug on daddy's sleeve and beg him to buy a pair of $50 tickets and a souvenir jersey so Dad can go to his grave knowing that his boy will remember him through misty eyes and support the next billion-dollar stadium proposal when the stadium opening in 2010 needs to be replaced a few years later. ... And forget the $50 tickets. Baseball is a con. The Twins just showed your kid that he and his doofus Dad have been played like cheap fiddles."

Ok, here we go. Here is where Nick laments the price of today's tickets. Hey, I wish they were lower-priced too. But the more pitchers we sign for $150 million over 6 years, the more tickets will cost - right? Here's more yet:

"From what I've been reading, it seems our crafty Twins are just doing what's good for business. Anyone who thinks differently is a kid or a dork. So. A team owned by a triple-billionaire who is getting a new stadium from John Q. Public (Johnny Jr. will pay taxes for this thing for 30 years) refuses to pay its biggest star the going rate for a top left-hander. And we are supposed to shrug and pass the tax collection plate."

So there you have it. Because the Twins did not give a 32-year-old outfielder $18 million a year for 6 years and a (admittedly wonderful) pitcher $150 million over six years, they are not worthy of a new stadium. Never mind that they have locked up Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddeyer for the next half-decade. That was not mentioned in the article. Never mind that the Twins will have plenty of money to spend on younger free-agents in 2009 and 2010 because of these deals. By the way, I will be the first to admit that if they do not spend this extra money on additional players, this trade looks worse. Here's the Pohlad part (you knew it was coming):

"They were "our" Twins all the while the team was begging for a public handout. But now that the new ballpark is underway, suddenly, they are not "our" Twins anymore.

They are back to being Carl's Twins. And we are supposed to applaud because he recently agreed to cover a $20 million overrun for the new park.

Oh, really? Hey, take away most of the zeros and I will offer the same deal to anyone in town: Give me $500, and I will give you $20. Without selling your kid's favorite ballplayer.
If they are "our" Twins, then "we" were robbed. Because "we" will miss No. 57, big time.
But all I've been hearing is that Pohlad is a saint on Earth, just waiting for his wings. It's only when you get away from Twinsville that he begins to look less like Mother Teresa."

And then, to end up, Coleman takes a swipe at the new Wild owner:

"Our" hockey team, by the way, was sold to a guy who married into the Johnson Wax company, whose products sum up the attitude of most sports czars toward the chumps who buy the tickets: Raid, Vanish and Drano."

Geez, sorry the Wild owner married into Johnson Wax. But, remember, Nick hates rich guys. Roger at work actually helped me figure this out. He told me that Nick Coleman lives in the 1950's. Back when owners built their own stadiums and players stayed with their hometown teams for life. Tickets were $3.25. Dad was in the Union down at The Plant. That all sounds wonderful, but it is not reality. Nick Coleman blames Carl Pohlad and the Twins for not living up to these 1950's standards. If you want to blame someone, blame the Mets, Yankees and Red Sox. They are the ones giving pitchers $150 million for 6 years.

It's happening again. Blood pressure. I've got to exhale. Chill out.

Jeff

Johan - Traded

News flash - Johan Santana has been traded to the New York Mets (pending a contract agreement). In return for Santana, the Twins will receive four of the Mets top prospects -- outfielder Carlos Gomez and righthanders Phillip Humber, Kevin Mulvey and Deolis Guerra. Let the moaning and gnashing of teeth begin. The Twins are already getting ripped by the public for this deal. Why didn't they sign him? After all, he was only asking for $150 million over 6 years. Not bad for a guy who pitches once every 5 days. Why didn't he take the 4-year $80 million that the Twins offered him? There are 150 million reasons for that question.

Folks, once again, the Twins simply had to trade Johan Santana just as they had to let Torii Hunter go. I cannot fault them for either decision considering the money that was spent by the Mets and Angels, respectively, on these two players. A team with a projected payroll of $70-$80 million cannot pay one pitcher $20 million per year (see Kevin Garnett - Timberwolves). Plus, I'd feel worse if the Twins had not already spent a massive chunk of change to lock up Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau and Michael Cuddeyer. I believe (What Jeff Thinks) the Twins spent wisely in retaining these three core players for years to come.

Now, whether or not the Twins got the best deal is a question that cannot be answered for a few years. The Yankees and Red Sox reportedly had offers on the table. However, I know this - the Twins were also widely ripped by the media and the public for each of the following deals:

Frank Viola to the Mets (irony) for Kevin Tapani, Rick Aguilera and David West.

A.J. Pierzynski to the Giants for Joe Nathan, Boof Bonser and Francisco Liriano.

Chuck Knoblauch to the Yankees for Eric Milton, Christian Guzman and Brian Buchanon.

The Twins were soundly criticized for each of these trades. Each trade, however, made the Twins better. And, the Twins were able to parlay some of the players received in these trades into future deals for good young players. The only past star players that the Twins have decided to keep for their entire careers are Kirby Puckett, Kent Hrbek and Brad Radke.

This is how the Twins have always functioned as a ballclub. This trade is no different. I believe the goal for this team is to field a great young team when the new ballpark opens in 2010. They are well on their way.

The Twins are gonna be OK.

Footnote: Here is a link to Jim Souhan's article on the subject that will appear in Wednesday's StarTribune. I did not read this prior to writing this post:

http://www.startribune.com/sports/twins/14848406.html

Jeff

Wolves - Celtics. Geez,Congratulations KG.

I'm a 41 year-old male with 3 kids. It's Friday night. Not a lot to do. So I decided to watch the second half of the Timberwolves - Boston Celtics game. Now I'm not much of an NBA fan, but like I said, what else am I going to do, go skydiving?

For those of you who weren't aware, the Wolves are 7-34 and the Celtics are 34-7. The game was at Boston. The Celtics have Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. The Timberwolves have Al Jefferson and some guys from the YMCA. Well, the Wolves led most of the second half and played their hearts out. But, as sure as the sun sets in the West, a rookie mistake and a horrible no-foul call led to a 87-86 Celtics win.

The Celtics reacted like they had won the NBA championship. Kevin Garnett (who I still respect very much) did that thing with his shirt where a player holds it out by the front so the fans can read "CELTICS" like they just beat San Antonio in 7 games.

The Celtics should be ashamed of themselves. The Boston fans should be embarrassed. Cheering for the Celtics in this game must have been like cheering for the Senior bully beating up a Freshman for his lunch money while the freshman put up a good fight.

Geez, congratulations Boston. That's like the Varsity beating, not the JV, but the 8th grade squad in a scrimmage.

Try not to spill too much champagne in the locker room, Celtics.

Peace,

Jeff

P.S. - Man, do I hope the Giants win the Super Bowl.

Intergalactic Sasquatch

There is no doubt that you have, by now, already seen this picture of Sasquatch on Mars. It is the number one most talked about story in the news right now, hands down. Dave M. and Roger and Steph have sent me links to the story. This photograph was taken by the Mars explorer Spirit in 2004. Photographs don't lie, people. Especially photographs from a Mars explorer. Some individuals are trying to pass the being off as a "rock formation." What - rocks with arms? That's stupid. I am sure the "it's a bear" crowd will surface, like they always do. A bear on Mars - come on.

Folks, it's a Sasquatch. My only question is: how the hell did (S)he get to Mars? Maybe UFO's and the Sasquatch phenomenons are linked! Maybe all of those flying saucers are carrying Bigfeet from planet to planet. You just never know. Actually, this "being" reminds me of that creature Captain Kirk fought on that episode of Star Trek. You know the one - where they were the only two life forms on that sand planet. It was one of the few Star Trek episodes that Kirk did not end up making out with some beautiful alien who looked like a human supermodel. In this tale, Kirk outwitted the creature and got beamed up to the Starship Enterprise without messing up a single hair on his head. Outstanding. But I digress.

I mentioned that Dave M. sent me a link to a video from CNN.com (which you can cut and paste to view from the comments on my last post) about this photo. Anderson Cooper found a lot of humor in this whole thing. Yeah, laugh it up Anderson. Sasquatches are real funny, aren't they? You know what I think is even funnier than Sasquatches? The fact that you have two last names. Anderson Cooper. Now that is funny.

Anyway, I don't know what else people want. The proof is in the pudding, as Denny Green use to say. There's a photo, for God sakes. The next time you see a streaking light in the nighttime sky, it could be a Sasquatch on an interplanetary journey across the universe. It can't be a bear in the UFO - that would be stupid.

Peace,

Jeff

Morning Reflections

Well, now that I've slept on it, I have come to the conclusion that the Packers just had their "Falcons game." Oh, and by the way, I did not have any new Visions last night. I think that I will put that whole concept away for awhile.

What I am referring to by "Falcons game" is the 1998 NFC Championship game between the Vikings and Atlanta Falcons. I am not going to rehash all of the gory details for you other than the following:

1. The Vikings were 15-1 in 1998 and heavy favorites to go to, if not win, the Super Bowl.

2. The championship game was at home, in the Dome. The fans were going crazy and the media was obsessed with the story.

3. The other team, the Falcons, were huge underdogs after having defeated a favored team on the road the week before.

4. The Vikings had a Quarterback, Randall Cunningham, who had MVP-type numbers in 1998. He couldn't lose, right?

5. The Vikings, who played with a "run and gun" style all year, suddenly got conservative and tight.

6. The game went into overtime. Largely, in that game, because the literally perfect Gary Anderson missed HIS ONLY FIELD GOAL of the year. After he missed the entire stadium knew what what coming.

7. The heavily-favored Vikings lost in overtime to the Falcons on a Morten Anderson field goal. No Super Bowl.

That, my friends, was my Least Favorite Game (LFG) in sports history. (What made matters worse is that somebody had the audacity to print up towels before that game that read "The New Title Town" with the Vikings logo. Think about that. Whoever thought that up clearly has no understanding of Vikings history or lore.

Anyway, those 7 points above and the Packers - Giants game last night are eerily similar.

It was the Packers "Falcons Game." What are your impressions, and what is your all-time LFG?

Jeff

Sorry

So, all that talk about The Vision sounds kind of ridiculous right now.

This, my friends, is why I do not gamble.

Jeff

Prognostications

For those of you not paying attention, the NFC and AFC Championship games will be played this weekend. Here is what will happen:

PATRIOTS over CHARGERS: The one game that I predicted incorrectly last week (along with the rest of the free world) was the Charger-Colt game. I give San Diego credit for beating the Colts in Indy with basically a back-up Quarterback and Running Back. Well, the buck stops there. The Patriots will beat the Chargers and their humble fans will experience yet another Super Bowl. I have this feeling, however, the Pats may suffer a major injury (Brady?). Also, as sure as the sun sets in the West, Randy ("I'm going to think long and hard about who was using my car") Moss is involved in another off-field controversy. No question that he wuz robbed and misunderstood. Patriots by 13.

PACKERS over GIANTS: Well, it's cute that Eli Manning and the Giants have made it to the NFC Championship. No doubt that after they get absolutely crushed in this game they will still be happy. There will be quotes about "nobody expected them to get this far" and "we exceeded everyone's expectations" and "nobody gave us a chance in this game anyway."

That is because the Giants have no chance in this game. None. Zippo. They should save on air- fare and not risk injury and simply forfeit. Seriouosly. They could blame it on the cold or fuel prices or something. Sure, the Giants are on a nice run, but the Packers have The Cosmos and Karma on their side. The Giants have no chance.

Packers by 17 only because of the cold. If it was merely 20 degrees the Packers would win by 27.

This sets up the Patriots -Packers Super Bowl. You know what happens then. Orgasmic Euphoria. But more on that next week.

That's the way I see it.

Jeff