Star Tribune: Signing of White completes Twins' offensive wish list.
What?!? They're done? That's what Terry Ryan has been hyping? Rondell White? This is terrible. When was the last time he played anywhere close to a full season? 1997! NINETEEN NINETY SEVEN! That was back when he was a "stolen base threat" (according to the Star Tribune) with a smoking 14 steals. Ok, maybe he's got a decent OBP, but you can't get on base very often when you're on the DL. Man, we coulda signed Mark Bellhorn for half that money. Or kept LeCroy. You know he wasn't terrible. Does anybody else miss David Ortiz?
So to recap, the big wheeling and dealing that Terry Ryan was hyping like crazy is supposedly complete. What did we get? A good leadoff man. A guy who was kicked off his team in Japan for sucking, had one great year in the US that looks like nothing else he did (steriods much?), and will make Mike Cuddyer look like somebody who can get on base without GIDP (that's not easy), and a guy named Gimpy. Meanwhile, who's now playing in south Chicago? Forget Chicago, Kansas City been signing cheap veterans that can actually play.
I'm this close to buying a Royals hat.
Comments (6)
Yeah, how were we supposed to know that Ortiz was gonna take off? I've said it a million times, he was a choker with the Twins.
Cheap veterans who can actually play? Since when was Mientkewicz anything more than a good fielder? He still can't hit worth beans.
Posted by Ben | December 23, 2005 11:45 AM
Posted on December 23, 2005 11:45
i have a royals hat. but it's just because I went to thier stadium once.
Posted by zakcq | December 23, 2005 11:51 AM
Posted on December 23, 2005 11:51
Rondell may not be the greatest option in the world but he had a better season last year than either Piazza or Thomas did and those were really the only other viable alternatives and I don't see Bellhorn as a big upgrade over those guys either.
With Castillo/Batista we are gettting a huge upgrade and it doesn't have to do so much with how great those two are but how absolutely horrible Rivas/Cuddyer were last year. Castillo in particular will be a big upgrade considering the Twins didn't really have a true full-time 2nd baseman all season—they had Rivas, Abernathy, Punto, Williams, and Castro playing 2nd at various times throughout the year. I think T.C. the bear even logged a few innings there.
But what are you going to do? MLB is completely f-up and uncompetetive. Plus we live in a relatively small market with a payroll fixed at $60 million. The Twins just aren't going to swing any major deals any time soon.
I don't regret dumping Ortiz's butt at all. The man was on the DL more than Ron-DL White and never consistantly put any kind of good string of at bats together as a Twin. His numbers were weak and he cost too much. No one could've predicted what happened with Boston (plus with that kind of lineup protection—Manny anyone? and the short fence in right). I think I could hit 20 hr's at Fenway.
Posted by Chris D. | December 23, 2005 1:58 PM
Posted on December 23, 2005 13:58
Ryan,
Posted by Zakcq | December 23, 2005 8:27 PM
Posted on December 23, 2005 20:27
lots of people thought we should have kept ortiz. i had him figured for .280 / 30 hrs. I remember you couldn't shut up when he hit a home run with a broken hand. We thought he was the shit. I don't think he was injury prone at all. A broken bone and a sprained ankle kept him out for a long time, but only twice. White hasn't played more than 125 games in EIGHT YEARS. That's injury prone.
Chris, your defense of Rondell White consists of mostly arguments that Luis Castillo is good. I'll just have you browse down my site a few posts to see what I think of him. That was a week ago when I was still a Terry Ryan fan.
Also you guys have to keep in mind, Batista is not replacing Cuddyer offensively. Cuddyer is being moved to Right Field, where he'll still GIDP four times per game. Batista is a .240/20hr/70rbi/0sb (70 rbi in our offense at least) replacement for a .300/20hr/80rbi/20sb Jacque Jones.
Piazza had a better year than White, for sure. Hell, Thomas had a better year, and he only played in four games! I also see Bellhorn as a slight improvement. Sure he strikes out a lot, but he's a free swinger and still manages to get on base. And he's a gamer.
Posted by ryan | December 23, 2005 9:20 PM
Posted on December 23, 2005 21:20
LOL zakcq that picture is awesome.
--------Posted by ryan | December 23, 2005 9:22 PM
Posted on December 23, 2005 21:22